Cold again. Or still. But it did get into at least the mid 50sF yesterday. I took my jacket off but kept my long sleeve shirt on for a while in the afternoon. It would be nice if today got even a little bit warmer, as long as it stays clear. Soon I’ll be wishing I had more cold days to work in the attic…
I spent the morning at the doctor’s office. Details are in yesterday’s comments, but the short story is- more testing. At least with testing we aren’t guessing. Much. Spent the afternoon doing auction stuff. Pickup, sorting, etc. Found a couple of things I didn’t realize I’d moved. Good thing I was too lazy busy to need them during that time.
Dinner was a pork loin roast frozen in 2022. It was tasty, but like most modern pork, too lean. I was careful to get it just barely cooked enough, but it was still a bit dry without the pan juices.
Oh, I captured a mouse in the kitchen too. Saw the little bastage on the counter, trapped him, and got him in a box. Took him outside to meet Mr. Shovel, but he escaped. So I set an electronic trap. I’ve got to do a deep clean now and I still haven’t figured out how he’s getting up to the counter or where he goes. I don’t want vermin in the attic or on the patio or in the garage, but I can’t abide them in the actual house with us. Time to refill all the bait boxes too.
There is always a new thing that needs doing. And I’m the man to do it.
Stack all the things.
nick
“Artemis 2 astronauts enter quarantine ahead of historic NASA moon launch”
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/human-spaceflight/artemis-2-astronauts-enter-quarantine-ahead-of-historic-nasa-moon-launch
“Artemis 2 will send NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a roughly 10-day flight around the moon aboard an Orion capsule.”
“The mission will not land on the lunar surface or even enter orbit around Earth’s nearest neighbor. Still, it will be the first crewed flight to lunar realms since Apollo 17 back in 1972.”
“As NASA’s Friday statement noted, the agency is eyeing a liftoff as soon as February. There are five potential launch dates next month: Feb. 6-8 and Feb. 10-11.”
I had no idea that Artemis 2 was getting ready to launch.
Thursday lunchtime. Good morning!
Snow on the ground here. Time to wrap up warm and go try to find Bambi’s mother in the woods.
Speak among yourselves.
Flight around the moon sounds like a repeat of Apollo 8.
I need to review the whole program Has there been a Ranger eqjuivalent to choose locations forlanding?
35F this morning. Kids are moving. Coffee is almost ready.
Time to get some breakfast and watch what happens to my level.
n
That flight was one of the most significant space journeys, second to landing on the moon. It was the first time a space craft, built by man, had left earth orbit and traveled around another celestial body. The math, the technology, the required burn behind the moon with no communication with NASA, and the return flight. All things that have never done in the past. It was a really significant event with lots of stuff that could go wrong.
Those early astronauts, doing things that had never been done, that looked good on paper, in an environment that is exceedingly hostile, riding on a machine that is driven by a controlled explosion, yeh, those guys were exceedingly brave or nuts.
I am at that point in my life that if NASA called me up to take a one-way trip to Mars, I would sign on in a heartbeat. There is nothing left here that I want to do and dying on Mars, or on the journey, or in a ball of flame at launch, would be a unique way to cease existence. I ain’t brave so I must be nuts.
Others in the cabin might require you to leave the suit on for the entire journey.
Just sayin’.
Damning new video shows Alex Pretti running at ICE agents and screaming in their faces before smashing federal vehicle’s tail light
For some reason his family has lawyered up.
Alex Pretti’s family hire former prosecutor who helped convict Derek Chauvin of George Floyd’s murder, after new video showed late nurse attacking cops
n
The smell would be intolerable!’ NASA gives a glimpse inside Orion’s cramped quarters where four astronauts will live for 10 days as they fly around the moon
With the first launch window for Artemis II just days away, NASA has shared a glimpse inside the cramped quarters of the Orion spacecraft.
– And Ray’s not even gonna be there :-p
n
I think the lunar reconnaissance orbiter is the go-to imagery source right now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Reconnaissance_Orbiter
I had a manager once who was a retired diesel submariner.
He said you get used to the smell, but whenever you go topside for a smoke, eventually you have to go back inside.
As you approach the hatch, you are greeted by the BO of over 50 men, plus diesel fumes, old cooking oil, and other bad smells.
Someone, EdH? asked if I could just post the link to the FEMA daily update, and I can’t because I don’t think there is one.
You can sign up to get one on your own though.
https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSFEMA/subscriber/new
I think that’s what I did way back in the day.
n
Scott Manley video about toilets in space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaDSuCXIRms
“Tesla is killing off its Model S and X cars to make robots”
https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/tesla-is-killing-off-its-model-s-and-x-cars-to-make-robots-010621101.html
“It will stop producing the two models next quarter.”
Huh. I guess this really means that they are losing money on the S and X. Or they are coming out with new luxury models.
“Too Many Democrats Want Us Dead”
https://discernreport.com/too-many-democrats-want-us-dead/
“After Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the multiple assassination attempts on President Trump, and the violent targeting of federal agents in Minnesota, non-leftists in America must accept that leftists intend to do them harm. There are no signs that Democrats want to de-escalate political tensions in the United States. On the contrary, at least since community organizer Barack Obama became president, escalation — including verbal harassment, stalking, physical intimidation, and outright violence — has been a key component of Democrats’ political strategy. Scaring political opponents into silence or subjugation is now standard operating procedure for the Democrat Party.”
This is a serious problem. It is devolving into a Us versus Them case. Next is the Civil War 2.0.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
“Battle lines being drawn. Nobody’s right, when everybody’s wrong.”
—
they been planning and wishing for it for decades.
n
Wolverines!
The new variable is how Trump triggers people with Daddy issues.
“Can You Feel the Excitement? Kamala is Back and in the Lead!”
https://www.frontpagemag.com/can-you-feel-the-excitement-kamala-is-back-and-in-the-lead/
“If you have doubts, that’s because you’re normal.”
Yes, please yes !
Wasn’t me, but yeah, looking around the site today I didn’t see the dailys posted, or an archive for them. Strange.
Pearls Before Swine: Stevie Nicks
https://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2026/01/29
No, no, no. Stevie does not do that.
Scott Manley video about toilets in space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaDSuCXIRms
I’ll just use a diaper.
Wait, where is the shower and hot water heater ?
Today’s Senate cloture vote to advance a spending bill due to RINOs. Seven RINO’s, including Paul, voted with all Dumbocrats. We can only hope that there is no dope deal behind closed doors. The 7 RINOs will help close the goobermint.
*failed
Yeh, they don’t call me the “Methane Monster” for nothing. Or Taco Bell Tooter.
Thursday, past bedtime, into Friday.
I thought I would check in to see how you all are and say goodnight, but having encountered the Methane Monster, I am just backing out again quietly. Nothing to see here…
Fixed it for you.
Spent some time at the shop sorting and cleaning. I really need to get out of my storage unit this weekend.
n
“There is always a new thing that needs doing. And I’m the man to do it.”
t-shirt worthy
When Mr. Ray gets to Mars, he can provide plenty of greenhouse gases to terraform the planet. The air will smell of Taco Bell, but what the hey, it would be better than the weed smell everywhere in NYFC.
“BREAKING: Deal Reached Between Trump and Dems to Avert a Total Government Shutdown”
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2026/01/29/deal-reached-between-trump-and-dems-to-avert-government-shutdown-n2670363
“We reported earlier today that President Trump and Chuck Schumer might have hashed out a framework for a deal to avert a government shutdown. Washington runs out of money on January 30. The winter storm and the recent shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis all but killed the initial House framework. Even without the Pretti shooting, some Senator—and it only takes one—would have likely objected to unanimous consent, delaying passage.”
“So, with the House bills, which funded most of the government through September, now dead, something had to be hashed out to address Democratic opposition to the DHS bill. The earlier vote that didn’t clear the 60-vote threshold wasn’t a shock, as that was related to the initial slate of bills from the House. The new approach splits the bills: the DHS bill will be voted on separately, likely as a two-week stopgap, so Congress can negotiate a new bill with added restrictions on ICE’s operations. Everything else appears to be slated for passage, which has to be done before midnight tomorrow. That’s a tough task, given the pace of this place. We’re likely in for a weekend shutdown, but not for every agency (via NBC News):”
Trump is getting screwed by the RINOs.
“Changing Your Passwords Frequently Is Terrible Advice. Here’s Why”
https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/change-your-passwords-frequently-is-terrible-advice-heres-why
“We have been conditioned to think that good cyber hygiene means creating new, strong, and unique passwords every few months. Not so fast!”
I have thought this for quite a long time now.
Trump is getting screwed by the RINOs
– probably more than a few ‘wetting their beak’ with various illegal alien scams, repubs usually want cheap labor for big ag and the meat packers.
n
Finished “Flybot” by the guy who wrote the Bobiverse books. I liked it. Easy read.
n
Tyler Durden cowardice protecting a mainstream source reporting on the upcoming lawsuit tsunami over the GLP-1 medications.
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/my-colon-literally-blew-thousands-sue-over-glp-1-weight-loss-drug-side-effects
Cue Phil Hartman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku42Iszh9KM
“Attorney and Expert in Self-Defense Offers OUTSTANDING Analysis Showing Why ICE Shooting of Alex Pretti Was Justified (VIDEO)”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/01/attorney-expert-self-defense-offers-outstanding-analysis-showing/
– “The moment he makes contact with that officer, he’s just committed a federal felony good for eight years in a federal penitentiary.”
– “That’s why they were seeking to make his arrest because they saw him commit a forcible felony against a fellow officer.”
– “Then he’s noncompliant with arrest. He’s fighting them. Then they discover he has a gun…”
– “They take that gun. There are cries of ‘gun, gun, gun.’ The officers called to each other. He’s still noncompliant. They hear a gunshot go off. And Alex Pretty’s right hand comes from his waistline with a black object in his hand.”
– “That combination of facts is going to get you shot 999 times out of a thousand by law enforcement, and justifiably so.”
Very, very, very bad for the idiot to start this off by assaulting a federal officer.
Where does one go to find real, not fictional, statistics on drug adverse affects?
I had a chat with my doctor this week, and we discussed GLP-1 drugs. He’s against them. So am I, in theory. I’m also against being 60 pounds overweight and on lifelong drugs for gout and hypertension and one other diagnosis. This after losing more than 50 pounds on a variety of eating plans on my own over a period of years.
A lot of drugs are advertised or stigmatized based on “relative risk”, while hiding absolute risk. Using made-up numbers, you can advertise that, say, the HPV vaccine cuts your risk in half. But if the incidence is 2 in a thousand, that means it reduces your risk by 1 in a thousand. While carrying the entire risk of drug interactions, side effects, and adverse effects.
To put it in perspective, suppose I routinely buy 2 lottery tickets per month. My risk of winning is, say, epsilon. A very, very small number. Now suppose I reduce that to 1 ticket. My risk of winning is half epsilon, still a very, very small number, not substantially different. But my relative risk has been reduced 50%! If you cheat and look sideways, you could even lie and say 100%!
So the 4000 people suing over GLP-1 drugs? Out of how many patients? A million, that’s 4 per thousand. 0.4%. Out of 10 million? That’s 0.04%
Re-reading the linked article more closely, they say 31 million people are currently taking the drugs. So 4400/31000000 is 0.00014 or 0.014% of patients. This clearly understates the problem, because many people experience side effects that are temporary, or go away when they stop the drugs, so they don’t sue.
I’m still not committed one way or the other. I just don’t know if I have it in me to go back to hard-core keto/carnivore, the only plan that consistently worked. Not as long as I live in a house with other people in it, who eat “regular” food.
“Where does one go to find real, not fictional, statistics on drug adverse affects?”
Not available in this life.
The blueprint that built each of is is unique, excepting only “identical” twins”.
I have seen multiple instances of moderately complicated mechanical processing units that did not produce the same results no matter how closely they were studied and tweaked. At least to the point of diminishing returns. It’s a few decades later, and maybe now someone who was stubborn enough and lasered the living snot out of them could make them identical enough to give the same results.
Piece of cake compared to the human body.
There is no limited set of test subjects big enough to give reliable data on all the drug interactions, and our understanding of the consequences of having the cell machinery formed by subtly different DNA will never be adequate.
Long-winded way of saying that you makes your own choices:
“ I’m also against being 60 pounds overweight and on lifelong drugs for gout and hypertension and one other diagnosis. This after losing more than 50 pounds on a variety of eating plans on my own over a period of years.”
Nobody gets out alive.
“So the 4000 people suing over GLP-1 drugs? Out of how many patients? A million, that’s 4 per thousand. 0.4%. Out of 10 million? That’s 0.04%”
If all 4,000 had kidney failure, or developed a specific type of cancer it would be one thing. But it’s likely that there’s dozens of different allegations, which gets us back to the unpredictable genetic interactions.
And as I’ve said for years, show me a water analysis that has a part per trillion of something the heartless corporation polluted to cause twenty different cancers, and my first question is “What else is in there in parts per trillion or more?”
My only contribution would be three individuals who have taken/are taking Mounjaro; Bill Quick (https://billquick.substack.com), my wife, and my brother, who have had/are having excellent results in losing weight.
Bill Quick had several posts over the last couple of years on his Substack.
My wife has been on Mounjaro for a year now, and has lost 100 lb.
My little brother has been on it for only a month now, and has lost about 25 lb.
None of them have mentioned any serious side effects other than a yeasty taste in their mouths, due to the slowness in emptying the stomach, allowing chewed food to start fermenting.
“Tucker Carlson Accuses Tim Walz And Jacob Frey Of Orchestrating A ‘Color Revolution’ And Civil War”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/tucker-carlson-accuses-tim-walz-and-jacob-frey-orchestrating-color-revolution-and-civil
“He asks:”
““Why would a state refuse to protect American citizens from murder, refuse to give the names or whereabouts of murderers and child molesters, and refuse to use its own cops to keep riots under control?”
“What could possibly be the answer?””
““Because they want riots, that’s why,” Carlson answered.”
Yup.
Democrats are evil people. Prove me wrong.
I just watched this all the way through, and it really clarified some stuff for me. It gives me some perspective that I might be able to apply to my kids, and explains some things about my own life that I didn’t have a good way to explain.
The voice and style are a bit … something. But if you are GenX or are used to interacting with GenX but now have to interact with the ones who came after, I think you will find something useful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXeEElTfl8o
The Last Analog Mind: A Psychological Autopsy of Generation X
Much of what the narrator says may seem obvious but then he pulls it together in a way that adds value and highlights the differences. It’s an interesting lens to view through.
————
I’m early GenX and had older cousins and friends so I skew a bit older culturally. I wasn’t a latchkey kid, but my wife was. By the time I got to high school and college the differences were much less noticeable, and I’m firmly in the GenX cohort.
n
Well, I didn’t win a pig.
One of our friends’ kid raised a pig for FFA class, but didn’t keep her grades up so she couldn’t put the pig in the school auction. This auction is a fundraiser for the program and pays the kid for their expenses and some profit raising the animal.
Young missy was $800 in the hole and no way to get it back. The best pig in the auction brought $8000 last year so she really missed out. Mom and dad took pity and got on our neighborhood group selling raffle tickets for the pig. Winner pays for their own slaughter and packing.
The young lady got almost all her money back and someone else got 150 – 200 pounds of hand raised pork for a $5 ticket, and $150 to the butcher.
I threw $50 at it, and was planning to split it with some people at that BOL, and we’d do our own butchering. Oh well.
She’s learned a good lesson and will not be making the same mistake with this semester’s lamb.
n
Time for bed. Blood sugar monitor thing is pretty cool to watch. I don’t know what the number really means but it’s almost always in the green part of the graph, usually around 100 between meals. Since my 8 hour fasting level was around 100 when I went in for my PET scan, that seems a bit low to me, but that’ll be a discussion with the doc in two weeks.
I think I’ll have a donut before bed, as I’m hungry again.
n