Well, we’re supposed to be getting rain today according to the national forecast. I’m betting on warm and moist. Very moist. But maybe no rain. It was partly nice yesterday, and partly overcast and damp. Still better than three feet of snow.
I spent the whole day moving, except right after lunch when I crashed out for an hour. Met my people to sell them the toilets. Did some cleaning, sorting, and organizing at the shop. Loaded the truck with trash and debris and got rid of that. Did an auction pickup and stopped in to see my local auctioneer – still no date for selling my stuff.
Did some other stuff too and made dinner. Go me.
Today I’ve got my non-prepping hobby meeting, and it’s our quarterly mini swapmeet too. And we have to talk about finding a new space for our meetings. Of course I think the nearby place I found is the best choice. I suspect it will be a long meeting.
After that, I’ve got a wife to treat to Valentine’s stuff. I’ve got a card, and I’ll cook, but that is really about it. I forgot to get chocolate, and she’s started going to the gym so maybe chocolate wouldn’t have been great anyway. At least that’s my story for now. If I disappear, you’ll know it didn’t go well.
One kid is off with friends for a birthday “girls weekend” (the girl’s mom will be present) and the other has a couple of school activities to do. I’ll be lucky if I get anything on the list done this weekend.
Sometimes it be that way.
Stacking is the least I can do.
nick
Saturday. Good morning!
Such a waste of an opening line for a novel!
Oh, goodness! Is it the middle of February already? Don’t panic, don’t panic…
@Denis, remember that “Mostly harmless” applies to the planet in general, NOT to the female of the species! Gird your loins and get some flowers and chocolate PRONTO.
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67F, I’ve started the coffee, and I’m up. SO wanted to sleep in…
But I’ve got meatspace stuff to do.
Time to shower, dress, and get to it.
n
Overcast and a light misty drizzle just started. Local forecast is for localize storms.
Joy.
n
I had to do that some time in the past to get access to the VA stuff. That now allows me easy access to many government sites such as the IRS and the Social Security site. I don’t remember a video call, but I did have to upload images of identification documents and I don’t remember exactly what I used.
I tried to apply for membership in Navy Federal Credit Union. I had to upload images of identification for me, and they actually wanted a live image of my wife. I get an email that I needed to upload identification. I did, again. I get another email I needed to upload identification. Neither email said to whom it applied, me or my wife, or why the uploaded identification was not valid.
I then get an email that my application was rejected because I did not provide valid identification. No mention of which identification was invalid. I called to find out why. I was told the image of my wife’s driver’s license had glare on one corner so the security features could not be validated. None of this was ever stated in any email.
Idiotic and clueless developers and the people that put in the procedure and the application process. Do these clods even use the software and procedures they developed?
NTSC cr*p video. Video Toaster.
Amiga Forever! Show Ya!
A lot of 90s TV was, unfortunately, edited that way.
Military credit unions are generally poorly run, often subject to the whims of base commands.
NavyFed was one of the worst offenders with regard to poor lending standards in my part of the Tampa suburbs during the housing bubble in the first decade of the 2000s.
NavyFed was one of three (!) Pentagon-related credit unions involved with my Colonel Bat Guano neighbors attempt at snagging a tenbagger out of their accumulated off-base housing allowance equity when they retired.
They thought they would fleece the rubes in Florida between the house next door to me and a condo near MacDill’s freak show commands where they worked as contractors.
This rube cost them about $250k in the end. I think they’re still paying for the disaster through the mortgage on their eventual real retirement property in Alabama.
I wanted to join because they have a certificate with 4.00% as opposed to the 3.80% I can get at my CU. Based on the hassle of joining, the extra 0.20% is not worth the aggravation. At least for my measly level of funds.
I got MrsAtoz flowers, card, and a box of Krispy Kreme’s this year. The variety box.
and
ame box of Krispy Kreme’s this yearFixed it for you.
I got creative, and made heart-shaped pancakes with red syrup for breakfast. W1 gave me a hyacinth. Balance is restored to the universe. Continue to carry your towel, nonetheless.
There is a dusting of fresh snow, and a bitter wind here today. I think I will light the log fire presently. If I light the fire and offer a rom-com on DVD after supper, I might be able to pry W1 away from the Olympics…
Saw this headline on a twitter feed:
Am I a bad person for reading that last name as “Hay-zeus”?
“The Scarlet Pimpernel” still holds up 44 years later. Sadly, however, you will have to use Amazon Prime since the DVD is out of print and expensive.
We are getting close to finally shipping our household in SA to Vegas. MrsAtoz says it will all fit on the big Penske truck and that I’m driving it to save money. Ugh, two days driving that beast yet again.
I can’t wait to get all my hobby stuff and tools here. My Bambu X1C 3D printer has hardly been used and I backed the Anycubic Photon P1 resin printer which is scheduled to arrive this month. My laser cutter has been mothballed since we moved to SA. If it is dead, sadness…
Uh…
Fury as Trump’s policies ‘force’ giant car factory to shut at cost of 1,600 jobs
It failed because tRump says the taxpayer shouldn’t fund EVs for the elites? I agree, pay for your own ludicrous speed. It was probably going to be 1,600 jobs for illegals and indentured labor.
Wasn’t that the plant where the Koreans got caught using labor with expired H1B visas?
The big blow will be Rivian going under. An astronomical amount of taxpayer money has been poured into North Georgia to make that plant work, and the political stakes are huge.
Jay Leno recently went to visit the Slate boondoggle. The new PR push from that company tries to deemphasize the Girl Boss in the wake of Cracker Barrel meltdown, but in order for that to work they need to start by getting rid of the RayBan frames with clear lenses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6_9_HHLOSY
Go back two weeks, and going for “Holly Hunter in ‘Starfleet Academy'” probably seemed like a good idea.
Not anymore.
Saturday. Early bedtime for me.
We had a romantic outing: Belgian fries and beer in the frosty cold. It is carnival here, half the customers at the Frittenbude were in fancy dress! I felt a bit underdressed in my mufti.
Now, W1 is glued to the Olympics, so I can get an early night. I need it. Goodnight!
Gah, she’s got the vocal fry.
And the vehicle is supposed to be cheap, but then you have to wrap it, put in a stereo because there are no built in speakers, air conditioning, plus plus plus. I bet by the time it’s as accessorized as the cheap ‘bad credit no problem’ chevy shitbox, it costs more.
couldn’t watch more though.
——
home from my meeting. put away the stuff I didn’t sell. moved a few things. And we’ll be in my choice for a new location in April.
Still just misty drizzle but the wind is picking up.
n
One Reported Dead After Tucson Raid Connected to Guthrie Case
https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2026/02/14/one-dead-after-tucson-raid-connected-to-guthrie-case-n4949493
KSounds like Karma coming for prominent Democrat family in the form of incompetent crime-cuddly Democrat sheriff.
Reports are that he spent $200k sending evidence to Florida crime lab that his office had “previous relationship with”, rather than have FBI Quantico do the analysis. Why do I suspect that the “previous relationship” cost the Tucson taxpayers beaucoup money for sub-standard results just so The Shurf could flaunt his anti-fed chops?
Tucson is getting the government they voted for and deserve.
AWFL Videos Herself Giving Local Cop the ICE Treatment, and It Goes Hilariously Sideways
https://pjmedia.com/victoria-taft/2026/02/14/cops-are-now-getting-the-ice-treatment-from-awfls-n4949461
Thurston County, Washington.
Don’t have Karen’s name yet–we’ll get it. Hope her ass is well-chapped after the Sheriff put a commendation letter in the new deputiy’s file for his professional response to her bullshiite.
Fossil Fuels v. Green Energy, Part II – The Horrible Cost of Wind Power
https://redstate.com/wardclark/2026/02/14/fossil-fuels-v-green-energy-part-ii-the-horrible-cost-of-wind-power-n2199153
Ward Clark’s article gives an idea of the amount of resources needed to build a wind turbine, but is incomplete in many respects including translating those numbers into dollars and energy and computing ROI in dollars and KW.
The paragraph excerpted above partially illustrates the successful decades-long war on U.S. manufacturing that has been waged by the greenies fronting for China and Russia.
Cement is produced by combining limestone and clay, firing at high temperature in a rotary kiln, and grinding the product with gypsum and minor additives. The U.S. has an abundance of the raw materials required, and an abundance of natural gas to run the kilns. It is also worthwhile to note that while such manufacturing uses a lot of natural gas, it is supplied on an “interruptible” contract, meaning that when the supply is needed for other uses such as home heating, cement manufacturing either switches to fuel oil or shuts down temporarily.
When you drive manufacturing off-shore that includes interruptible users of natural gas, and one result is less flexibility in the market and pricing spikes, like the 20x increase in costs for some days in January and the resulting gas bills that much of the country is enjoying.
Astronomers discover unique ‘inside out’ planetary system
https://warwick.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/astronomers-discover-inside-out-planetary-system/
Neither the press release nor the intro to the article in Science contain the essential information that the star in question is 116 light-years away.
The press release in particular makes it sound as though the investigators grabbed a pair of binoculars to look at the edge of the adjacent meadow.
Many of these claims in the past have been based on thin evidence run through a statistical sieve, bulking a handful of actual photons into an artist’s concept of a planetary system.
Maybe if they’d looked closer to home they would have recognized that a star-rocky planet(s)-gas planet(s)-rocky planet pattern sounds like our own solar system before the planet deniers kicked Pluto out of the club.
I like it.
Rain is a little heavier and there is some thunder not too far away. We’re getting wet for sure.
n
Majority of the rain has passed. GF is making our steak and asparagus on the grill with a mushroom cream pan sauce, and we’ll have espresso martinis served over ice cream for dessert.
Still need a rom-com for after. Maybe “Royal Wedding” or “It Happened One Night”.
It took almost two hours today to log into ID.me. Then the IRS wanted selfies twice before I could get into Freefile.
I did something wrong in Freefile and had to start over and again they wanted a selfie.
I finally finished but what took about a half hour in the past took just over 5 hours today.
I wrote my own tax prep program many years age and would update each year. I haven’t done that for the last couple of years as my income is only my military retirement and my Social Security. Interest is less than $50, no stocks, etc.
I went with “The Princess Bride”.
I actually found our DVD of “Royal Wedding”, but it was an awful dollar store bin copy. Even the titles were fuzzy and tilted. It went into the trash. Pity, Fred Astaire did some good solo work with a hat rack.
How can such an execrable human being as Rob Reiner make such good films?
I was reading the credits at the end and realized what a huge pool of talent was involved in ‘The Princess Bride”. Norman Lear, Mark Knopfler, etc. And all the actors I respect. And a few I don’t, although even they carried their roles well.
“Climate Scientist Who Predicted End Of “Heavy Frost and Snow” Now Refuses Media Inquiries”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/02/06/climate-scientist-who-predicted-end-of-heavy-frost-and-snow-now-refuses-media-inquiries/
“More than two decades ago, renowned climate scientist Mojib Latif of Germany’s Max Planck Instiute for Meterology, based in Hamburg, warned the climate-ambulance chasing Der Spiegel that, due to global warming, Germany would likely no longer experience harsh winters with heavy frost and snow as it had in previous decades.”
I am shocked.
Everybody knows until suddenly everyone else knows it’s wrong.
Spontaneous generation.
Lamarck.
Classical physics.
AGW.
Consensus isn’t truth.
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Time for bed.
n
I would agree with you, but…
Sunday morning. Awake too early, but it is getting bright outside. The days are getting noticeably longer. That’s nice.
Lots to do today: return to base from the BOL and get the house in order for a visit from W1’s mother and godmother.
The guest bedroom is full of stuff that needs to be disappeared, and I must replace in the guest bathroom the innards of an in-wall toilet flush mechanism that was leaking.
We have very hard water, and the original gizzards became calcified to the point that adding citric acid to the cistern wouln’t fix the dribble.
I have the replacement parts, so I just have to finagle them into the cavity. Plumbing supplier tells me that the new version has been modified to make it less sensitive to hard water problems, which sounds good.
The tricky part is going to be removing the old gasket at the lower orifice of the cistern. I have to get that out because the new gizzards have an integral gasket there. I doubt my arm is long, thin or flexible enough to reach it. I forsee fiddling with long pliers and inspection mirrors. Meh.
Wishing you all a lovely Sunday!