Cool and clear but wet later? Maybe. Or we could be through the rain for now. It’ll certainly be moist. We had some sun late in the day yesterday, but it was mostly overcast most of the day. Spring showers and all that.
I did sleep in, and felt better when I got out of bed, but I’m feeling poorly now. Cough got worse throughout the day and so did the feeling of being ‘sick’. Spent the afternoon driving around doing pickups, then dinner with the kid and her friends, then bedtime.
Today I’ll sleep in again, and maybe do a pickup, but probably not. Probably I’ll just go back to bed. It “wastes” a full day that I really need to spend at least partially doing stuff, but I will save the time by getting better quicker vs dragging this cold or whatever it is out by not getting enough rest.
I’m not in any condition to do anything demanding.
At least I’ve got stacks if I need something.
You should too.
nick
TGIF. Lunchtime, so I am having breakfast. Very busy morning at work… Monday is a holiday (Whit) here, so that will be nice, but everything for Monday needs doing today, if not yesterday.
Sorry to hear you are under the weather, Nick. Rest is the key. Fluids too. Maybe something OTC for the worst symptoms, if you can’t tough it out.
As my GP says: “A cold? With medication, 7 days. Without medication, a week.”
The sun is finally out, after some very disappointing May weather so far. Two loads of domestic bliss are in the works, one on the washing line already, and a third will follow.
The guys are still asphalting outside the house, so the laundry might have a little aliphatic note, but it needs to be done.
My car is in for its 105 000km service. The a/c coolant needs refilling, and the rear wiper blade is shot, but I hope all will be routine otherwise.
Have an excellent Friday!
re: permanent DST
“Gonna be dark when the kids go to school in the winter.”
Most kids in the U.S. are going to school in the dark for a significant part of the school year already.
Inasmuch as curbside service by bus and minivan seems to be the rule now, it’s not as much of a factor.
Well, darn. I really wanted to watch the Starship launch last night. But they had to stand down. They’ll try again tonight, but I have a long day tomorrow, so I can’t stay up till 2:00am again 🙁
One of my non-Colonist co-workers has been to South Padre Island to watch a launch.
He said the launch was spectacular, but the risk is always that liftoff will be delayed. SPI is about six hours from Austin, and that is driving under ideal conditions at night.
The Unbearable Blandness of the 2020s.
Preach it, sister!
Is she reenforcing her point with that bland office? White walls and nothing on the desk.
Heh.
91F in the sun, 88F in the shade. Feeling a bit better due to the sleep, but throat hurts worse. Cleaners are here so I’m trapped in my office for 45 minutes.
At least my coffee and food were ready.
Kid had birthday cake for breakfast but I’m having an egg sandwich. I’m holding strong.
—-
Restaurants all serve Sysco prepared food.
Cars all look the same because the designers all come out of one design school, and they all have to meet the same technical requirements. When that is not true, you get the cybertruck which, for its trouble, is widely vilified for styling choices. Or you get the niche asian vehicles that look like they came from anime because of their design influences.
Neil Stephenson wrote about it in Snow Crash, how culture gets blurred and smeared into a thin paste on top of everything when it goes global.
—-
n
Is she reenforcing her point with that bland office? White walls and nothing on the desk
– if she wanted to look the same, it would be two chairs facing each other, a neon sign, some raw wood on the wall behind, etc.
I think. I don’t watch too many of the ‘thinkers’ any more. Used to be there were ‘thinkers’ and ‘linkers’ in the blogosphere. Now I watch people doing things mostly, fixing something. I get an unearned sense of accomplishment and can tell myself I’m learning.
n
I link therefore I think, I think.
Tony literally promised that the Jesus Truck would walk on water for $40k delivered.
re: Cybertruck.
I was watching some of the starship preparation live stream stuff this morning and they mentioned in passing that the cyber trucks at starbase can’t be used as tool trucks, there is no way to add something to the sides of the back. So you still see RAMs snd Fords with their Anchor tool beds.
I guess they need a lot of filler for days of live streaming.
Well it would have helped if they had used a real truck designer.
I think, therefore I am – Descartes
I link therefore I think – dkreck
I stink, therefore I am – Ray
I cluck because I am chicken boy – Steve F
My Sweet Summer PaPa is on a roll today.
Fill your gasoline tanks up today. This is a long holiday weekend. The crazies are out and about.
I cleaned the house septic tank today and put four new chlorine tablets in it. The chlorine tablets weigh a half pound each and cost me about $6 each. It has been three months since last time and I am suppose to do it every six weeks.
It was 98 F in my backyard with the reflected sun on the thermometer. My dog normally runs rings around me while I am working on the tank. This time she just laid there and watched.
Well it would have helped if they had used a real truck designer.
The Cybertruck was designed for the Moon and Mars. Not Earth.
Friday bedtime. Glad that work week is over. I was hoping for a quiet day, but that didn’t materialise. I did manage to find time to do laundry, pick up my car from the mechanic, and to eat an ice cream with my neighbours, which was nice.
We ate, chatted and watched the asphalt crew for a while. Those guys are hard workers, they were at it from 7am until almost dark, well after 9pm. It looks like they did a nice job. We’ll know when it rains. The new surface is noticeably quieter than the old, especially when the busses drive past.
Happy for the children whose school holidays are starting. They always seemed to me as a child like they would last forever, and I can’t remember a rainy day…
Plan for tomorrow is to further attack the garage at the BOL. Summer has finally made an appearance, so the basement garage is a nice cool place to work. Hunting stuff to maintain, sort and put away until it is needed again in July, and a lot more tidying to do.
I would like to find my anti-mosquito frames for the bedroom windows, and install them if I can. I had two of the little dears inside after I opened the window for only as many minutes just now. I must smell edible.
Tomorrow evening, I am invited to a 40th birthday party. That makes me feel old!
Goodnight.
About 90F out, light winds tho, not the predicted 30mph. Some smoke haze from somewhere.
Some cumulus to the north, hopefully not pyro-.cumulus.
“Department of War Publishes Second Release of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Files”
https://jdrucker.com/department-of-war-publishes-second-release-of-unidentified-anomalous-phenomena-files/
“Today, the Department of War is publishing the second release of declassified and historical Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) files as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE). The collection continues to be housed on WAR.GOV/UFO, and additional files will be released on a rolling basis.”
“Since the site’s launch on May 8, 2026, WAR.GOV/UFO has received over 1 billion hits worldwide, highlighting the unprecedented levels of interest in both this topic and the Trump administration’s historic transparency effort. The Department of War and our agency partners are actively working on the third release of UAP files, which will be announced in the near future.”
Somebody has an antigravity drive.
Battlespace prep. The announcement will come when they’re ready.
n
“Routine maintenance will be performed on XXXXXXXXXXXX
on Tuesday, May 26th between the hours of 9:00 PM and 5:00 AM
EDT. This maintenance is necessary to install a security patch
which will update your system to FreeBSD 14.4. Downtime is
expected to be less than 15 minutes.”
I don’t think that my web server is going to hit a month’s runtime this year before rebooting. I am at 15 days today. The FreeBSD O/S and Apache patches are coming hot and fast.
Tomorrow evening, I am invited to a 40th birthday party. That makes me feel old!
I showed my commercial property to a couple of potential buyers on Wednesday. They are Aggies also and graduated more than 20 years later than me. I am getting very old.
The launch site at Boca Chica is a humid salt water marsh just barely above sea level and prone to flooding even under dry weather conditions. It isn’t a great environment for electric vehicles.
I don’t remember seeing any superchargers in the parking lots the last time we went out there, but that may have changed. Absent charging facilities on site or inadequate power for Level 3, the nearest supercharger is an hour drive around the bay in Port Isabel.
“I yam what I yam”–Popeye
@Lynn
“I am getting very old.”
And the, suddenly, you don’t.
Embrace the flight of time’s arrow and try not to get shafted.
Check my reasoning here:
What’s left? Urban environments with temperate weather, short drives, and plentiful charging stations are good environments are not great for electric vehicles.
… Except that most large cities in the US are straining their electrical supply.
Silicon Valley, which used to be some of the most productive farmland on the planet due to the ideal weather conditions.
Kill all the
lawyersChief People Officers.Today’s Tyler Durden cowardice.
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/ceo-saves-his-company-firing-entire-hr-department
A Life After Layoff, who usually has sensible takes on employment issues, had a different take. He focused on how HR can protect employees from unjust firing and other bad corporate decisions. Let’s just say, I’m not buying it. Even with the limited number of years that I’ve worked for a corporation large enough to have an HR department, I’ve seen enough to confirm statements that they always go out of control.
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/ceo-saves-his-company-firing-entire-hr-department
Valuation dropped 97.3%.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolt_Financial
Bolt, Once Worth $11 Billion, Slashes Share Price 97% in Buyback (PAYWALLED)
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/bolt-once-worth-11-billion-slashes-price-97-in-buyback
Bolt is privately held, and there is no indication as to basisfor an $11B valuation, or who took the hits on the 97% decrease during the buyback. No indication of the basis for the current valuation, and nothing about market share or revenue.
It’s not a story of success except perhaps for the founders who probably made some money. Be interesting to find out how many pricey rides were repo’ed after the buyout.
If they’re not out of control they are lapdogs for management.
I’ve seen the good and bad of modern HR within the last five years. Large company HR is generally better trained than smaller company personne departments, but the “people officers” at a large employer are generally more beholden to the DEI policy imposed via requirements from the institutional investors and large banks.
A California Rancher’s Legal Crisis Shows What’s Wrong With The American Beef Market
https://thefederalist.com/2026/05/22/a-california-ranchers-legal-crisis-shows-whats-wrong-with-the-american-beef-market/
A trout in the milk is not the only evidence of dilution.
“David Gerrold’s Health and Leukemia Fundraiser”
https://www.gofundme.com/f/david-gerrolds-health-and-leukemia-fundraiser
He is 82 and recently diagnosed with HCL (Hairy Cell Leukemia).
He said he is going to try to finish book 5 of the Chtorr series. Who knows if he does, I kinda doubt it.
“The War Against The Chtorr (Book five)” preview, “A Nest For Nightmares”:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mFEhjdp_S_sJDhuFrRZfhhqRPp9ZeedY/view
He has expanded the Chtorr series to eight books now.
The War Against The Chtorr:
A Matter For Men
A Day For Damnation
A Rage For Revenge
A Season For Slaughter
A Nest For Nightmares
A Method For Madness
A Time For Treason
A Case For Courage
Georgia Supreme Court election results.
Approximate prediction market (Kalshi) before election:
Bethel 20%
Rankin 80%
https://kalshi.com/markets/kxbethelseat/ga-supreme-court-bethel-seat-winner/kxbethelseat-26
Actual result:
Bethel 51.1%
Rankin 48.9%
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-elections/georgia-state-supreme-court-results
Approximate prediction market (Kalshi) before election:
Warren 20%
Jordan 80%
Actual result:
Warren 59.3%
Jordan 40.7%
It would seem that prediction market ability to forecast election results can be very suspect.
“Iran Says 35 Ships Exited Strait Of Hormuz As Rubio Condemns Tolls”
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/iran-says-35-ships-exited-strait-hormuz-rubio-condemns-tolls
“The US blockade of the Iranian blockade is looking increasingly more porous.”
“Iran said 35 ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours in coordination with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Iranian state broadcaster reported on Friday. The navy had already reported on Wednesday that 26 ships had passed through the strait within 24 hours. On Friday, the data provider Kpler confirmed only 10 passages on Wednesday. This represented an increase from the four passages recorded the previous day.”
$2,000,000 each to the IRGC reputedly.
– HR works for the company. They exist to protect the company. Only thru chance or stupidity do they ever benefit the employee.
n
I don’t think that it’s generally claimed that the election prediction markets are especially accurate.
Only that they’re more accurate than MSM predictions.
I wouldn’t go that far. However, even when they benefit the employees, such as by preventing a bad manager from bullying them into unpaid overtime, it’s to protect the company from regulators or lawsuits.
I wish Mr. Gerrold the best of luck in his battle with HCL.
“The War Against The Chtorr”
Not a fan of Gerrold’s work*, and this series in particular. (sorry, @Lynn) (I read the first about the time it came out, and the others when they were issued. Nine years to get three books was doubtless part of the reason I stopped reading early books in series and watching tv series until they had 3-4 seasons.)
Evidently an opinion shared by most, as most of his titles have less than 100 ratings on Amazon despite being about forty years old. Lack of reprints is both a contributing cause and another indicator–book one was reprinted when two and three were published, but nothing since.
*Yeah, I know. Tribbles was a unicorn, and his best work was with Star Trek, and he did a lot of good things for the show, including helping shape TNG with the criticisms in “The World of Star Trek”. meh.
https://redstate.com/beckynoble/2026/05/22/no-more-honor-system-green-card-applicants-must-apply-from-their-home-country-n2202607
The original intentions of the law can be changed by changing the law, not by breaking it, and not by lack of enforcement by traitors.
They promised to go home and then didn’t. Leftist judges will elevate their failure to honor their promise to a new right. Screw them with a forked stick. File the cases in Immigration Court and get SCOTUS to deny the others jurisdiction.
Well, sadly, I didn’t run the tank down lower, so I didn’t hit a new record fill price. 93 octane was five dollars and nine tenths of a cent per gallon, but I only needed thirty-one gallons, not the thirty-six that I often need. Last Thursday’s $167 will remain the standard to top.
I have a couple of questions for the brain trust:
I am thinking about changing it to be organized by task type. This would lead to a stack of cabinets for metal-working tools with a drawer labeled “metal hammers” that would have my 2- and 3-pound drill hammers and my slag lhammers; however, my precious cabinet maker’s cross-pein hammer would be in the “woodworking” cabinet set….
Has anyone tried this, and did it work out OK?
Thanks, as always,
CD
Yes and yes, but not the same situation as you’re looking at. I had 5 gallon buckets (from driveway seal) and had a few tool pouches designed to fit over them. I had one for plumbing tools, one for painting stuff (minus the trays), and one for miscellaneous house upkeep. I grabbed the appropriate bucket from the cellar when I needed to work on the house. (Wife and I had bought a three-family house which had been allowed to run down pretty badly. Needed lots of work, the first year or two.) Tools useful for car work were kept in my car and borrowed if needed for other tasks. (Because we’d bought a house which needed a lot of work, I didn’t have the spare money to buy multiple sets of screw drivers, vice grips, etc. Especially because that wife couldn’t/wouldn’t keep a job and couldn’t/wouldn’t stop shopping “because she was depressed and shopping made her feel better”.)
I see that Trump is staying in Washington DC instead of attending his son’s wedding. He says that ‘circumstances relating to government’ is the reason why.
I’m wondering if it is a four-letter word for a country starting with ‘C’, or another four letter word for a country starting with ‘I’.
Or maybe both?
Nah. I read the wedding is in the Bahamas somewhere. And the entire presidential security stuff would screw up the bride’s day to be all bridal.
So, skipping the wedding makes sense.
I’m inclined to have all of the hammers in one place. All of the saws in another place. Because if I need a hammer, I know where to go. Sort within that area. I don’t have to think of what kind of hammer… like ball peen or sledge or little magnetic ones you use for finishing nails. Hammer? All right there!
But that’s me.
I totally grok sorting tools by task. It just feels like an extra layer of clutter in my head.
“a word for a country”, not “the name of a country”. Hmm. “Crap” is the C-word and applies to any number of countries, including but not limited to Cuba. A four-letter I-word, though. Hmm. “Inbreeds” has too many letters, as does “Idiots”. Hmm.
Oh, I got it! “Icky”.
It’s probably like writing, folding laundry, or any number of tasks: There’s no one best way to do it. Whatever works best for you is best.
That’s why I’m asking. 😀
If it helps, I tend to focus on one large project at a time, rather than my younger self working on 22 simultaneous projects. Also, I just finished a big project today, and the last task was putting away all the tools. That’s what started my brain ticking…
Ok. I’m thinking stupid here. What’s new?
If Mailman is gong away, what to do?
I looked and it appears I can have an e-mail address forward to many addresses. How many? I don’t know. The plus here is folks post to the same address as always. Not sure DreamHost is gonna go for that. The minus is all the admin sh!t is on me.
Then Plan B. You, (not you personally) make a contact for the list in your mail program and have like 60 addresses in it. Getting folks to do that is about zero. And I have no clue how long it would take to send an e-mail to a group that large.
Ok, Plan C. groups.io. Plusses include other folks can be Admins. The two lists are combined and have a new address, like blah@groups.io. However, I can make the existing address folks already post to forward to the new .io address.
Groups.io is free if under 100 members. Otherwise it’s like $20 a month but with that $20 you get a lot more storage space for the inevitable grand baby pictures.
Yeah. Trying to make the move invisible.
Well. I have a couple of months. I’ll get it sorted.
“Obama-appointed judge DISMISSES smuggling charges against Kilmar Garcia — and blames ‘retaliatory taint’”
https://www.theblaze.com/news/kilmar-garcia-smuggling-judge-dismiss
Oh, I know where the retaliatory taint is and the so-called judge is in the middle of it.
I’m not exactly a paragon of tool storage, but I tend to keep small toolsets for fine work, like electronics and soldering, and a big cabinet for carpentry tools, and yet another for automotive. Painting stuff goes in big rubber bins. Which includes drywall patching stuff. That falls under “painting”.
There is some duplication, and my sheet metal tools are in carpentry, but I use them to make cabinets for electronic kits, too.
To my horror, I’ve finally sorted out all my loose sockets and drill bits and screwdriver bits. I’m appalled to discover how many partial sets I’ve collected over the years. I bought some organizers, but the true answer is going to be to throw away a bunch of duplicate 3/8 and ¼ drive sockets. It’s a waste of tool storage space.
Speaking of horror…
I’ve suspected for some time, and received partial confirmation today, that my PLT girlfriend’s son’s GF is gender confused. A year or two ago, she became they/them, changed names to an ambiguous one, and became less feminine. Not that she was really that femme to begin with.
Found out today she’s undergoing some autoimmune treatment, and she’s receiving hormone treatments, specifically T. I would not be surprised to discover these are related.
GF overheard “them” talking to a nurse today and used the word “trans”.
I will from this point forward be more diligent about my firearms storage, and also the son’s guns, which are in my care. Trans violence is a thing, and even if they don’t act out against others, 50% or more of them commit suicide.
I can’t do anything about the bladed weapons that are all around their apartment. He’s a HEMA competitor.