It snowed at the BOL yesterday! Enough to lightly cover the ground and cars. Wow. In Houston it was right around freezing until after dark when it got down to the mid-20sF. Today will probably stay below freezing in Houston, and maybe at the BOL too. For us, it’s definitely not the Snowpocalypse.
I do sincerely hope that it continues to not be a disaster for most people.
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Spent yesterday sitting at my computer. I ended up in hard core work avoidance mode and decided to do a bit of a refresh here. So I spent WAY too long messing with colors to get rid of most of the cyan and vaguely green edge to the blues. I kept the green accents, but might still change them if I find something I like better. Let me know what you think.
There are other things that are suddenly driving me nuts but I think I’ll ignore them. The biggest is the way no two elements line up vertically. Zoom in to a one column view and you’ll see what I mean. Content is more important than looks. And I’ve got a big list of other things to do.
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Today I’ll keep monitoring conditions at the BOL, but as long as there is power, it should be fine. I’m really glad I spent the time and money to put all the pex lines inside insulation. I also built a closet around the water heater and all the plumbing in the garage, so it should be warmer in there than the garage proper. I’m a bit concerned about the irrigation system, and the pump, but I did what I could to drain it a couple of months ago. The whole mess needs to be redone, but that is not at the top of my list.
I think I’ll bid a little harder the next time some pipe warming tape comes up in an auction. I can think of a few places it would be handy.
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If I get off my butt, I’ll do some more cleaning and sorting here, or at the shop, or I’ll work on networking stuff here. I’ve got the ubiquiti cloud key to install and configure, and a couple of ubiquiti WAPs that should give me better control over DNS and ad blocking than the ATT router and wifi. I might even get a pi-hole set up. If I can find my razberry pi…
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Stacks. Skills. Like minded friends. You need them all….
nick
There’s something about:
”I don’t know where the color comes from”
that is oddly satisfying.
Isn’t colour something to do with rainbows? It’s all about leprechauns.
Picky, picky: the pale green “submit your comment” button looks a bit bilious against the blue background. The dark green one is less offensive.
Monday. Busy, busy. Wishing you all a good day.
All the color looks good Nick except just below the bottom of the comment box the link to the previous day is a washed out orange. When you float-over it becomes a dark looking red or maybe purple. Not a problem, just ugly.
39F here in the hazy swamp of the San Joaquin valley. No real fog. Subject to change.
As predicted:
Hotel Horror: Rampaging Rioters Attack Twin Cities Hilton Believing ICE Agents Are Sleeping Inside
“Do what we say or we’ll burn down our own community.”
Probably paid outsiders.
We are all going to die:
Lab–grown LIFE takes a major step forward – as scientists use AI to create a virus never seen before
Gee, this could never be weaponized by the Chinese, right? Koof 2.0, COVID-X, and the new Chinky Flu targeting WHITEY! coming up. The Chinese are experts at stealing other peoples tech.
I was wrong simping for Mr. Pretti. He was killed JUSTIFIED. These three articles sum up what’s going on in MN:
Former Special Forces Warrant Officer’s SOBERING Post About What Is REALLY Happening in MN a MUST-READHORRIFYING New Details’: Rage Riot at St. Paul Cities Church Was SO MUCH Worse Than We Thought (Thread)We’re All F**KED!’ Anti-ICE Signal Chat PANICS After Discovering They’ve Been Found OUT (Recording-LOL)
It is clear in my mind now that Pretti et al are an organized, funded (foreign and domestic), insurgent force using terrorist tactics. tRump must send in the troops now to end these fucks.
Add this one:
You Can Run, But You Can’t HIDE: DataRepublican NUKES Every Alleged Donor to MN Anti-ICE Signal Group
Nobody wants to start shooting, but these aren’t protestors. Pretti and Good weren’t innocent bystanders going to work. They were paid to start an insurrection to keep the grift going. To instill communism in the FUSA. To make themselves the leaders of the FUSA.
Tampon Tim, his AG, and most of his cabinet are guilty of sedition and must be jailed.
Now, downvote me you fucking troll.
’
just below the bottom of the comment box the link to the previous day is a washed out orange. When you float-over it becomes a dark looking red or maybe purple. Not a problem, just ugly.
– ah, the link is a warm, grey, in the red spectrum and all the “visited links” are nearly the same color. It’s grey because presumably you have already been to yesterday’s post. I agree that it’s less than satisfying. The ‘hover over link color’ is “purple”. Also probably not super pretty against the new colors. ALL of them are, and have been for years. I haven’t changed anything to do with link colors…
FWIW, the Next/Previous post area is different on the ‘home’ page and on the ‘post with comments’ page. No idea why that is or how to fix it.
And that, Ms. Stewart, is why no one want’s to see your films, not because of tariffs…
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/01/hollywood-meltdown-actress-kristen-stewart-blasts-trumps-america/
So take your has-been skinny butt, and your shitty ‘art’ movies, and move. Then like Helen DeGenerate, you can come crawling back in a couple of years.
—————–
“Hollywood” is a specialized bank for making entertainment. They have been compromising their “art” for money since day one, but especially for the last several decades as the chinese and various woke interests have risen to prominence as funding sources. Movies are routinely altered to suit chinese requirements. They are written and cast to support social agendas in the US, and anti-American agendas abroad.
She’s either a liar or a hypocrite (most likely both) or ignorant on an astonishing level.
Don’t let the door hit you in the @ss on the way out.
n
32F and sunny her in Bayou City. Dunno why I slept so late, but it is better than being cold, and I assume I need it.
Time for some more coffee and something to eat though.
n
New: Trump Ignores the Online Noise, Makes Big Change in Minnesota Immigration Operation
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2026/01/26/new-trump-ignores-the-noise-makes-big-change-in-minnesota-n2198520
Tom Homan to Minneapoolis, reporting directly to POTUS.
Noem got out over her skis with the claims about Petti. Intent is doubtful and it looks like accidental/negligent discharge led to him being shot, but that does not make the questions go away:
Did he deploy to the area as a result of the clandestine Anti-ICE Signals chat, and if so, who sent him and how did he get there?
How did he come to be carrying to a protest/riot after he reportedly assured his parents that he would not?
How long has he had that Sig with the laser sight, what’s his practice/ammo purchase history, etc.
(Stephen Hunter seems very skeptical that the pistol/sight combo was just an innocent choice)
Videos online this morning include
Trumps TS post yesterday may have been the last chance for Walz and Frey. They’ve taken all the rope so far. If a journalist infiltrated the anti-ICE chat what do you think is the chance that the feds have someone in who has been making a list?
ADDED: If the chat handle attribution to Minnesota Lt Governor Flanagan is correct (and extraordinary claims do set a high bar) and can be proved, that can be handled at least three ways, none of them good for Minnesota.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/minneapolis-signal-gate-alleged-anti-ice-low-level-insurgency-command-exposed-messaging
– Welcome to the party Senor Oblivious.
–nice to get some validation if it wasn’t about being right about an insurgency…
n
I made Sausage Balls for New Year’s Eve a few years ago. 2016. Easy. Mix 2 cups of bisquick, a pound of bulk sausage, and 10 ounces of grated cheese. Shape into balls about an inch in size. Space an inch apart on a cookie sheet and bake at 400f for 10 to 12 minutes and golden brown.
They were ok. Spicy sausage might be better. I had plenty left over so I vac sealed and into the freezer.
Ten years later with a minute in the microwave and just like freshly made.
Speaking of ten years ago, I’m a couple of weeks from when I had enough and quit HEB.
I make monthly donations to DataRepublican on X.
She’s a rising star in the weaponized autism world.
I hope she stays safe.
“Yeah, So China Just Imploded”
https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2026/01/26/yeah-so-china-just-imploded-n4948747
“”Imploded” might be too strong a word, but Communist China just entered the growing ranks of nations with a fertility rate below a single birth per woman — less than half the replacement level.”
Wow, I figured that Chinese women would start having babies after relaxation of the horribly designed “one child” rule, but I was wrong.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
Number One Son is usually an a**hole, and given a chance to have more than one child, Number One Father usually wants a Number Two Son for Number One Son to push around.
Give birth to Number One Daughter after Number One Son? Gotta try again.
I despise the use of the term “on the spectrum”, even if it is meant as a complement.
I hear it with increasing frequency, especially since we moved to Austin.
I’m sorry to offend you.
But Jennica is a profoundly deaf language-challenged data analyst and database expert.
While it may be over0used, I think it applies here.
Things I never really realized, we don’t have an actual ‘home’ page here as wordpress uses the term. The Journal part is a total of 10 pages.
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For Oldguy, the message about auto updates
and
n
Some scum has placed my cell phone number on a democratic platform that is texting me about stuff I don’t care about. I delete the messages and have them marked as spam. If I find the SOB that did this Mr. SteveF will be getting a call with a contract to sign involving significant pain on someone. I figure he may do it for free.
Or Xfinity sold the list of phone numbers because Xfinity is really a crappy organization that is not above doing such a practice.
Some scum has placed my cell phone number on a democratic platform
– I get democrat spam too, only with my wife’s name. I think they just scrape property records or something similar.
n
Where did they get my cell phone number? My cell phone is not associated with any of my property records. It is on some websites which means the websites were compromised, or most likely, sold the information.
Regardless, I report all such messages as spam. Which the messages most certainly qualify. In spades!
@Nick:
WordPress defines the ‘home page’ as the page that is set in one of the admin screens (found in the ‘settings’, ‘read’ admin menu choice).. You can set the ‘home page’ (the page that index.php redirects to) to any WordPress page, or a static page. I suspect that the ‘home page’ here is set to the latest blog-type entry (“latest posts”); most current post page displayed first.
You can delete the .svn folder and contents without any issues. (Rename it if you want to test that theory.)
The other error messages can be ignored. They are not ‘fatal’ errors, just informational. No real issues with them.
The ‘svn’ error may be causing the auto-updates to fail.
BTW, not good secops to post error messages with directory paths. You might want to edit your comment to redact those paths.
You might be surprised. Best place to check is the ‘Have I Been Pwned’ site https://haveibeenpwned.com/ . Good site, secure, not a risk, been around for many years. Recommended.
Someone out there aggregates phone numbers from various sources and sells access to the database. Given a name and address, the company can provide the 10 most likely phone numbers associated with the individual.
“Sweep In Peace (Innkeeper Chronicles)” by Ilona Andrews
https://www.amazon.com/Sweep-Peace-Innkeeper-Chronicles-2/dp/1518741282?tag=ttgnet-20/
Book number two of a six book paranormal fantasy romance science fiction series. I reread the well printed and well bound POD (print on demand) illustrated (kinda) trade paperback published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform in 2015 that I bought new on Amazon in 2023. I own books three through six in the series and plan to read them again soon. Note that “Ilona Andrews” is the pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team. And yes, this is science fiction, there are spaceships, teleportation devices, and beam weapons.
Dina Demille is an innkeeper in Red Deer, Texas. Only her Victorian inn is not like a typical bed and breakfast, it is an intelligent magical haven named Gertrude Hunt for aliens coming to Earth or using Earth as a way station. Dina does have a permanent guest, a retired Galactic aristocrat named Caldenia who is hiding from several bounty hunters, she paid for a permanent room and board. Dina’s inn was abandoned but she has restored it and has it back up to a two and a half star rating out of five stars.
There are many inns like the Gertrude Hunt on Earth, that is because Earth has been designated as Neutral Ground for the various Galactic races, many of whom don’t get along. That’s why Caldenia is safe within the confines of Gertrude Hunt, the inn has many powerful weapons to protect itself and guests. Several of the bounty hunters are still chasing Caldenia for the massive bounty and have taken on the Gertrude Hunt Inn to their dismay.
Dina has accepted a request from the Galactic Board of Arbitration to conduct an arbitration for the planet Nexus for three groups of people using the planet. Several other inns on Earth have denied the request due to the level of conflict. The Holy Anocracy (represented by House Krahr, space vampires), the Hope-Crushing Horde, and the merchants of Baha-char are all ready to kill each other on sight but have agreed to an arbitration to solve their issues. For now.
BTW, the lead arbitrator is George Caramine from the previous four book Edge series by the authors.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0441017800?tag=ttgnet-20
A quote that I liked from the book is: “My future chef was an oversized, hysterical hedgehog with a martyr complex.”.
The authors have a website at:
https://www.ilona-andrews.com
My rating: 6 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (14,360 reviews)
Lynn
16 hours later, that dog, and none of the other named dogs, have barked.
As there’s no reason to be shy if the allegations are true, non-denial argues strongly that it is true.
Look for Flanagan to re-evaluate her desire to run for U.S. Senate and elect to “spend more time with her family”, which makes it less likely that Aimee “I eata da salada wit a comb” Kubblecar will step down from her U.S. Senate seat and run for governor. (She has filed but not announced. Her term goes until 2030. She will not step down unless the party has a lock on the next election and can appoint and keep the seat for the Dems)
Walz is not running and probably could not win if he changed his mind. Flanagan will probably be encouraged to retire quietly unless she wants that federal insurrection charge.
If Higby’s list is good, there are a bunch or up-and-comers in the Minnesota Democrat Party that are going to be never wases or stupid assis–take your pick.
https://x.com/Tyler2ONeil/status/2015520247898427874
You want to see real zero tolerance?
>”Fearing for the lives of my children, I did smite them and send them to the judgement of God.”
Ok, done poking at things for a while.
W is making baked chicken for dinner and the savory smells are killing me with anticipation.
GET IN MA BELLY!!!
n
Hegseth Greenlights Fort Snelling for Minneapolis Migrant Crackdown
https://redstate.com/wardclark/2026/01/26/hegseth-greenlights-fort-snelling-for-minneapolis-migrant-crackdown-n2198544
A military base near an international airport is a much tougher nut today than it was before 9-11. If you look at the map here:
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=fort+snelling+map&ia=web&iaxm=maps&source=maps
the base shares fence line with the airport on two sides and has limited-access highways on the other two, with a river beyond in each case. The entire north side of the airport is military, giving very limited access.
If I had been advising Mr. Hegseth, it would have been to give Fort Snelling the order to activate local surveillance before making the announcement. Suppose they have any FLOCK cameras that look like something else entirely?
It’s maddening.
Mr. Pretti is alleged to have had a CCW. Alleged because at the time of his death he did not have ID or his permit, which makes his possession at that time unlawful.
A not-so-small detail that most of the reports do not include.
That is one of several reasons that his method of transport that day is of interest. Tracking his phone would easily find his car if it was nearby, yet there has been no report of such. Find his car, or some other transport, with personal wallets tucked under seats or in the trunk, leads to inferences.
Duane Patterson:
Finding Out What Happens When You Bring A Gun To An ICE Fight
https://hotair.com/generalissimo/2026/01/26/finding-out-what-happens-when-you-bring-a-gun-to-an-ice-fight-n3811209
Wastes a lot of time here responding to the PLT’s claim that Pretti is the new Kyle Rittenhouse, but if you skip to the middle where he recounts the events of Saturday as known today (without the Border Patrol agents body cam, confirmed to be in the hands of the FBI) , he quotes the relevant federal statutes and makes some other good points before harking off on the Signal chat.
Closing Question: What’s the probability that the NSA does not have full unencrypted access to Signal?
Have we mentioned any chemistry this month?
The Brain Microplastics Claim and the Collapse of Scientific Restraint
by Charles Rotter
For a brief and revealing moment, the public was told—without irony—that the human brain is now “full of plastic.”
New York Post: New study finds entire spoonful of microplastics in people’s brains — and 3 times as much in those with dementia
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/01/23/the-brain-microplastics-claim-and-the-collapse-of-scientific-restraint/
[paper in Nature Medicine co-authored by no less than 22 idiots who should never see a dime of grant money or a clean lab coat out of a catalog]
A good response is published explaining the obvious: The methodology sucked.
Mr. Rotter does a fine job, but let me offer a prelude to the punch line:
Summary: The brain is a big gob of fatty tissue.
Rotter: “Fat looks like plastic when burned*. That is chemistry.”
and a footnote:
* the analytical technique used was pyrolysis aka “burning”.
[Okay, since I’m feeling all sciensy tonight, I have a question…
Everybody knows it’s elephants all the way down, right? But everybody also knows that elephants poop. So if the elephants are holding up something, they must be in a gravitational field, which implies that when they poop it must obey gravity and fall downward, passing each lower-level elephant on the way until it gets to the last elephant…
If it falls past the lowest elephant, then it’s not really elephants all the way down, is it? Of does it stop there and mysteriously transmogrify into hay, which if you think about it, what do the elephants eat, anyway, and that would be a neat recycling trick.
Niven just added attitude thrusters on the Ringworld, but Sir Terry is gone, and we’ll never know what insanely clever and involved method he would have manufactured if I had asked. Or maybe just the universal sign for “get stuffed, kid”
“Civil War Warning”
https://areaocho.com/civil-war-warning/
“How is ICE Doing ?”
“Pretti Good”
Everyone named Darn in Minneapolis is leaving now.
“We did not invade Venezuela”
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6-T48nBdy4hyphenhyphenKTzReS9AiCRAsz0BKKY7-BkeSahmMhb39q00Cz5rAqhCxjA18IEWKcqgHvA2wdCsRiH4aTVVKx-aMHL7gCK5vv38VIW0dZzSKjXPguHWD5FYtTfujc58w2AiLsDSCGtI4cTzPdNeH04NYzao_vodOlKx3PFreiofV-S_BRFMKAr94KeA/s600/Meme%20-%20undocumented%20visitors.png
From:
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2026/01/memes-that-made-me-laugh-296.html
8F early tomorrow morning. It never got above 20F today. The heater has been on a 50% duty cycle, 15 minutes on, 15 minutes off. Just using the first stage. Tomorrow morning the heater will start early as I let the temperature drop to 60F at night. The second stage will kick in the last 10 minutes tomorrow morning when the thermostat brings it back to 70F. The thermostat guesses how long it will take to get the temperature to 70F by 7:30.
Divemedic beat me to it.
I was riffing all afternoon on combinations of Pretti and Good and Shoot, but didn’t come up with the simple turn of phrase I wanted.
He did a better job.
Closest I came was something like: It was a Good shoot, but it wasn’t Pretti. Or: the Good shoot was a good shoot, but the Pretti shoot wasn’t pretty.
Larry Correia on FaceBook:
https://www.facebook.com/larry.correia/posts/pfbid0BKjxu9joTCSaLG8hZXbxqPNW6seYiKgPn3Zyi9WVN4sytqctE6zmUPokG5S5hjLLl
Cannot repost due to Larry’s fluent and colorful use of French.
Even Larry is too willing to make excuses for the guy.
n
Hell clearly froze over if the hags on The View are supporting the 2A…
Lucifer (feeling chilly) : “Watch me get the libs to argue for concealed carry and in support of the Second Amendment”.
n
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/article-15493075/francescas-store-closures-mall-exodus.html
n
Seriously, WTFittyFF is wrong with people?
Moment skiing tourist is attacked and seriously injured by a snow leopard while trying to take a selfie with the rare beast
A skiing tourist was attacked by a snow leopard after trying to take a selfie with the rare beast in China. The tourist was left seriously injured after the attack by the wild animal in the Talat village area of the Keketuohai UNESCO Global Geopark in Funyun County, northern China, at around 7pm on Friday. Video footage shows the tourist trapped underneath the leopard in deep snow before being helped away by people, clutching her face pouring with blood.
n
@nick –
Darwin Awards Nominee.
Too much caffeine and too much sleeping in.
Wide awake at 330 to no purpose.
n
Keeping me company, perhaps? I hope you can nod off.
I find these OTC melatonin, lavender, hops, valerian, magnesium and B-vitamin tablets help in a pinch, and after about only 20 minutes. They do seem to cause vivid dreaming, though, perhaps by forcing deep sleep…?
I don’t normally have any trouble sleeping, no matter my mental state or medicated state… but I had too much caffeine and too late in the day.
I’m watching youtube videos and thinking I should try to go back to bed.
n