The national forecast has Houston in the clear for the next couple of days, and I really hope that the front just to the north doesn’t move south and change that. I could use the nice days even if I’m not feeling great. It was really nice yesterday. Sunny, clear blue sky, hot. Maybe too hot, but it’s Summer. School is out, so it’s Summer.
I am feeling better, but still not great. Still coughing. Still ‘half a bubble off’. Still snotty. I did get two pickups done. More aquatainers. Like gas cans, you really can’t have too many.
Today I’ll try to do the big TV pickup. I’m headed that way to do my remaining pickups for the week, so I might as well try. If I was feeling healthy and strong, I’d be stacking and clearing at the shop but I’m still not up to that.
I feel like I’ll be making a speed run to the BOL on Saturday to cut grass too. I won’t get another chance for at least 11 days, and that will be too long an interval. Assuming the grass grew at all since I was up there, and I’m pretty sure it did.
Tons of stuff coming up that is out of my control, and needs me to do stuff first, so I’m getting nervous and feel like I’m really behind with this getting sick business. Can’t do much about it at this point though.
Gotta keep pushing through.
And stacking. Water, food, security, health…
nick
Friday. Good morning!
Nick, I hope your recovery continues apace. You’ll catch up what you can, and the rest will wait. Try not to worry unnecessarily about it – worry does not facilitate your convalescence.
It is a beautiful summery day here, and the slight altitude makes the air fresh and the warmth tolerable. Really much too nice for working, alas. Maybe I need to get some chickens and work outdoors like SteveF …
I noticed while in the garden at base yesterday, that someone in the neighbourhood has got themselves a cockerel. By the sound of it, maybe a bantam or a juvenile – it is not very loud, thankfully.
I wonder how long the enthusiastic but noisy beast will last, with all those neighbours, cats and foxes. Or perhaps the owners themselves will tire of his singing; coq au vin, anyone?
Shocking but true: You can grab a laptop, a thermos of coffee, and a water bottle and work outdoors even if you don’t have chickens.
It also helps to have a screen extender for the laptop. I have a nice one which hangs onto the top of the laptop’s monitor and has panels going to each side, giving me three 1920×1080 screens. It’s too heavy for the laptop’s hinges to keep in place without setting its fold-out legs on a table, unless everything is properly balanced, so it’s kind of a pain to use when I’m just sitting in one of the Adirondack chairs outside, but otherwise works great. I had it packaged with the USB-C and HDMI-to-mini HDMI cables that it uses but it currently has no cables. And the spare USB-C cables I keep in the “computer clutter” box in my office either wore out (it happens) or grew legs and walked away all by themselves (it happens). My wife says that the display didn’t have any cables the last time she used it, so I guess their Schrodinger’s state of existence will remain a mystery. (As I keep saying, it’s not one thing, it’s the constant drip-drip-drip of little things plus the refusal to take responsibility for any of them.)
Since we’re talking about Democrats, that description doesn’t narrow down the field as much as it should.
He means Mayor Pete.
I think Hizzoner has passed his political ‘sell by’ date, however.
At this point, we know too much about Buttigieg, including his Deep State past.
I won’t go into nicknames regarding his sexuality because, honestly, at times, I think the “gay” schtick with him is just that … schtick.
Don’t perpetuate the myth. Like how Robert Francis will always be Robert Francis and not that ‘B’ word.
Robert Francis O’Rourke. Pure fourth generation Irish-American to the point that his adopted grandfather was Roosevelt’s Secretary of the Navy.
Faith and Beghorrah!
Is that the only office in Texas?
This state puts a lot of capex into the schools thanks to the bond ghouls. The party continues as long as the state has the surplus money to put into the property tax “reform”.
I don’t know about their financial structure, but, when I worked there, CGI’s “onshore delivery center” office in Belton was only profitable thanks to tax breaks and other incentives from all levels of government with jursidiction over their property.
I probably filled a hiring number and generated revenue for the company that way.
Our group was just a fig leaf to let one client with a very sensitive customer base claim that they “bought American” when selecting vendors.
Multitasking
You’re gonna love the alternate history. Season finale is today. Renewed for one more season.
I like “Bootyjuice” as a descriptor. It even sounds like his name!
Bootyjuice is just too gross. As someone currently on powerful antibiotics, just — ew.
———
Sunny and warm, looks really nice out there. Coffee should be ready soon.
Kids are asleep and W went to the office today.
Just me, like school days… if I pretend they’re not in the bedrooms. No loud rock and roll and cavorting naked to CNN I guess…
n
In reference to the discussion yesterday:
In my career, I’ve seen most organizations are the same. You have a small number of high performers, and larger group of competent performers, and an even larger group of incompetent workers.
My current employer is a Fortune 500 company. Management and overall organization structure and function is the hot mess you expect.
For my group, I have 6 direct reports. We support multiple networks of various sizes and configurations. Windows, Linux, and Solaris. Each person generally stays in their specialized silo.
2 Linux admins, 1 senior Windows admin, 1 mid Windows admin, 1 helpdesk/junior admin, and 1 mid Windows admin who I also saddled with COMSEC.
I am the manager, but I keep active on the technical side. Partly out of necessity and partly to keep my skills up. I handle networking and storage. I am also the fixer when nobody else can.
Of my six employees, two are high achievers, three are competent, a one is borderline useless. Even among the high achievers, one has attendance issues ( as do two others). They can never seem to keep a PTO balance. A 5 day work week without missing is a rare occurrence.
The competent employees seem to be satisfied with just waiting for tasks to be assigned. No drive to be proactive.
Management is generally the same, but the politics is almost unbearable. As drwilliams said, the first priority of most managers is empire building. Then defending that empire to the detriment of anything else. Those who have kneepads get preference for everything. I have no desire to try to move up the management chain.
The generalizations apply to all the other groups in my company as well. I work closely with a lot of engineers, and they fall into the same distribution.
Sums it up…
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/blue-origins-new-glenn-rocket-explodes-florida-launchpad
There isn’t enough slack capacity to make up the missing launches.
Without enough Leo sats, can they add customers and scale up?
NASA is used to delays and no one expects them to meet a schedule, but this is one more nail in coffin.
n
I imagine that Blue will get the extension, NASA and the military really want a second player in the launch arena (and they’re correct in that).
SpaceX and ULA will have to launch more of the
KuiperLeo constellation though.In theory this will Artemis behind the chinese, but I strongly suspect they are going to have their own issues and slips, space is hard.
It’s especially hard when you have to steal all of the science and technology that you use and the biggest host has cut down on your parasitism.
Yep. But we seem to have plenty of people willing to sell or give it to them for free.
This reminds me, a couple of weeks ago I saw an article about an engine manufacturer, P&W maybe, doing some sort of co-technology program with the mainland. Insane.
Maybe less insane than corrupt. Cash for a few executives? Hookers for a few executives? Jobs for the idiot nephews who couldn’t get high-paying jobs with their 2.3 GPAs?
Monkey trick has at least a few more quarters in it…
—-
iPhone, iFood, iEVERYTHING is now aiEVERYTHING. It will continue to exist. Current players will be leaving the field, but the desire and ability to i- things existed. ai is the same.
We don’t use personal computers to store and organize recipes, but we use them every day.
n
“Bootyjuice is just too gross.”
Fits. All the ability of a wet fart without being as genuine. A no-talent box-checker. His last position was at least two levels above his natural Peter Principle Pinnacle.
Once upon a time, I had reason to visit the Stone Balloon in Newark, DE on a regular basis. I got to know the characters there, and the proprietor of the establishment would tell stories (mostly true, from what I can tell) about “Grasping Jill.” I remember them every time she is in the news…
—–
Thanks for all the helpful suggestions about shop organization. I’ve decided to put the specialty tools at the workstation/shop area used for related purposes (e.g. putting all of the sockets, wrenches, etc. in a cabinet near the garage entrance; slag hammers and welding magnets with the grippers and such near the metal-working tools…) I think I will have a central location for all of the DeWalt 20V stuff, and then the little tools for electronics and fine work will be stored at the associated workstations. All of the general contracting stuff related to painting, carpentry, electrical, plumbing will all go to the other end of the building near the woodworking machines room. The “nice” planes, chisels and such will be by my actual woodworking bench in the main shop area. I was previously afflicted with a debilitating disease known as FAFSS*, but I’ve had to conquer that; this led to having dedicated workspaces rather than one big workbench in the middle of the building. Like a lot of folks, I generally have several projects happening simultaneously.
I liked the idea of using heavy pallets to move machinery, but that doesn’t quite work for this situation. That got me thinking that I can devise some kind of universal mount out on the concrete pad and then modify the machines to allow them to lock in when they need to be out there. I guess that can wait until I actually need to bend pipe for an outbuilding or something like that.
*First Available Flat Space Syndrome
this led to having dedicated workspaces rather than one big workbench in the middle of the building.
– I did most of my time as a working carpenter and metalworker in Hollywood building scenery and scenery adjacent stuff. Our “normal” work area was a table big enough to built an 8x10ft “flat” or wall. We had dozens of those tables on wheels and 40k sqft to work in. Plus you could build a jig or worktable on folding saw horses anywhere. Every table saw had an 8ft beissemier fence and a catch table big enough for a whole 8×10.
I was super spoiled by the big tables.
n
95F in the sun. I’m finally headed out the door.
n
The printing press in the Eccles building is running 24/7 now.
This won’t end well either way. We will either have mass white collar unemployment or a very large debasement of currency used to buy capital hardware which cannot be repurposed towards tasks significant enough to justify the cost and recoup the investment.
Embrace the power of “and”, Greg.
You know, I specifically paid for Apple TV so that I could just watch Murderbot and this.
Then I forgot to watch it.
Will rectify.
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2026/05/29/the-carney-val-continues-i-spy-with-my-little-eye-a-syrupian-recession-n3815410
Carney reportedly has a new plan to pump up Canada’s economy: Make MAID available to visitors. German granny sitting on a pile of deutsch marks and keeping the grandkids from living there best lives? Dad won’t give up the lake cabin and the Porsche? Take a little trip to see the wonders of Canada, including the “retirement” booth at the end.
looks like half my posts today were on yesterday’s thread
modern problems
Or a lack of beer.
It’s not from too much beer, your grammar and spelling is fine.
You know what this sounds like to me? Sounds like a villain origin story.
It is definitely an ‘or’, but both ways are mass economic ruin.
The numbers are too big at this point.
When the monkey trick rus out of steam, the C-suites will go back to importing Colonist labor and keep enough Americans on the payroll to make sure things work at a minimal level.
We’ll know for sure if he starts torturing prisoners by playing Marky Mark to them…
Confessions of a D-list Supervillian.
Corrected link for the above: Confessions of a D-list Supervillain
Thanks.
My ipad can be cantankerous about things sometimes, particularly the editor panel tools.
After I finished my pickups, I went back to the doc in a box. She listened to my chest and ordered a chest xray… I can hear the rasping… but it was clean. Ditto the tests for strep, flu, and chinkyflu.
I did get a nebulizer treatment, some prednisone, more cough syrup, and a rinse for my sore throat.
I feel sick. I’m not happy.
———-
Read and enjoyed the latest murderbot a couple of nights ago. Not quite as compelling as previous stories, but entertaining.
———–
So samsung inserted themselves into text (SMS) messaging on their phones, but now doesn’t want to or can’t keep up with the modern messaging paradigm or security model so we’ll all be switching to google messaging. I don’t know why it can’t just be sms in the freaking phone. I didn’t realize I wasn’t using SMS but samsung’s proprietary shite until I got the notice of the change. and joy of joys, google’s messaging has AI built in. All the better to sell me I guess.
———–
I just finished my dinner, so I’m going to have something sweet and relax a bit.
n
BBQ Brisket problems….
Story here: https://www.chron.com/food/article/texas-barbecue-brisket-restaurants-22281515.php
Huh, turns out there are some real downsides to using AI to generate imagery for you.
The guy in my hobby club that has been working on a snazzy flyer for us is very good at getting really eye catching stuff out of the AI. Unfortunately, I asked him if it was possible to edit the image, which is a no, you have to re-prompt. Too bad because he keeps getting stuff wrong, like the dates of the event, and the QR code for the event page… I guess I could do some edits and just cut and paste some stuff…
It’s stuff that would be trivial to fix if he’d generated the image himself… but instead a small town’s worth of electricity and water will get spent completely re-doing the image again and again.
On the other hand, Sarah Hoyt used one to do a video to go with her AI prompted song and it looks really cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7ftZoDH47g
n
DreamHost announced that discussion lists are going away July 21. That seems like an odd date. The third Tuesday?
Well. Yahoo discontinued lists a while back. The Crockpot list was moved by someone named Joseph to a groups.io address. I told him if he needed a moderator to help out, I’m available.
Ain’t seen Joe since. Not a bit. And I’m the only moderator.
Groups.io seems to be really fast. Not mIRC instant fast in the days of dial-up but def not “post to the list and what I posted has not shown up 45+ minutes later”. I guess the old p90 DreamHost is using for Mailman is about to die.
I sent a message to the list at 7:25 PM and now it’s a minute from 9 PM.
Not my my ‘net connection. My web site pops up instantly.
I’m working on this. It’s slow because of people do whatever when they wish. Al;so. we have until July 21st.
I made a new list at groups.io.. I’m folding two lists together. So far, it’s going great. Sure, plenty to figure out in the settings. Nothing major. It’s mostly stuff comparable to going from Win11 to Mint.
I got this.
I want this to work. One list dates back to 1999 and the other to May 2000.
“we have until July 21st”
Never underestimate the tendency of time to accelerate as deadlines approach.
You know this.
Discussion lists?
My organization uses a list server, that we describe as a “reflector”.
Other similar clubs use groups.io, and I find groups.io to be slightly easier to use and more modern feeling. I don’t know that it’s functionally different. I can search and view old discussions on either one, and ignorant people can reply to digest messages with the full text on either one.
There’s some contentious discussion about changing to groups.io, but there are two speed bumps.
Groups.io costs the club money. The list server is bundled without hosting fee. And the 10+ year webmaster is fond of the listserver and sees no reason to change, and takes the suggestion to change as a personal affront.
I need to check if our hosting service is phasing out the listserver. If so, groups.io is the only real fallback, and the sooner we switch, the better.
I don’t need this complication in my life. I have a board meeting and a report due next week. Oh, and my second cataract surgery.
Once upon a time, I had reason to visit the Stone Balloon in Newark, DE on a regular basis. I got to know the characters there, and the proprietor of the establishment would tell stories (mostly true, from what I can tell) about “Grasping Jill.” I remember them every time she is in the news…
Taking your husband to Waffle House for a late supper after you think he just had a stroke is grasping for new heights though. I would hope that my wife would take me to any hospital.
Read and enjoyed the latest murderbot a couple of nights ago. Not quite as compelling as previous stories, but entertaining.
I got attacked on reddit for my recent Murderbot #8 review. Basically my review sucked because I did not talk about my feelings (why do you think I like Murderbot so much?). And Murderbot #8 sucked because there was not anything earth shattering about the book, it was just more Murderbot being Murderbot (which is why I read the book!).
https://www.reddit.com/r/printSF/comments/1tek4pj/platform_decay_the_murderbot_diaries_8_by_martha/
Just another day on reddit.
“Microsoft Threatens Researcher Over Bug Reports, Triggers Cybersecurity Uproar”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/microsoft-threatens-researcher-over-bug-reports-triggers-cybersecurity
“Microsoft says it will coordinate ‘as needed with law enforcement’ after a disgruntled researcher exposed Windows bugs without proper coordination.”
Just Microsoft being Microsoft. They want a year before you crow about your zero day exploit that you found in one of their products.
No. What they want is if you find a bug, tell them about it so they can fix it before people get attacked by the bug. And you might get a reward for your responsible disclosure.
That hacker found a major bug, and published the code that exploits it. Without telling Microsoft. And exploits quickly started exploiting the bug for their own nefarious purposes – within one day of publishing.
@Lynn …. if someone finds a bug in your software that exposes your intellectual property or customer data or breaks your software, don’t you want to know about it privately before the exploit code is published for use by nefarious types? You have complained before about hackers using your product without payment. What if I find a bug that can be exploited to make your software product free?
OK, I am getting closer and closer to hating the USPS with a hate that approaches the surface temperature of Sol.
I found out today that the USPS Post Office in Port Lavaca, TX has been ignoring my FOURTH Change Of Address request for my mother. None of the forms I filled out were in their computer system. So they advised that I use the online Change Of Address instead of the paper Change of Address.
I did that tonight. The online Change Of Address refuses to let me specify the P. O. Box that my parents have used at the Port Lavaca Post Office for the last 30+ years. They do not even have a mailbox at their house.
I am beyond disappointed that USPS could not even inform me of this problem with the four forms that I filled out since January. You know, like send me a letter.
So, I put their physical address in the online system which took it. But they do not have a mailbox, they only have a PO Box. This should be interesting. Probably another failure coming down the pike.
Not per the claim made by the researcher. He says he reported it and they refused to pay the bug bounty and refused to discuss it.
“Stephen Miller Roasts the Crap Out of Texas Senate Candidate James Talarico”
https://rumble.com/v7ajg8s-stephen-miller-roasts-the-crap-out-of-texas-senate-candidate-james-talarico.html?mref=8g74p&mrefc=4
“Tala-Freako ran a vegan campaign”
“bold, one could even say brave, that the Democrat party would choose Texas of all places to nominate their first transgender Senate candidate, who’s clearly transitioning into a female”
“this man has less testosterone than Jasmine Crockett”
>>You know, I specifically paid for Apple TV so that I could just watch Murderbot and this.
W2 came across it just scanning Apple TV for something else to add to our ‘to watch’ list. Same for ‘Your Friends &Neighbors.” Will give MurderBot a try as well, thanks. Have you checked out “Plur1bus?”
Apple needs to do a much better job with their advertising…maybe see if ‘Don Draper’ is available. I do enjoy his Carvana commercial where ‘he’ drops into fluid Italian (or is it dubbed?)
Dang it, I meant to go to bed early today.
n
A smal town’s worth of electricity and water … and his immortal soul.
When the price is “free” as in beer, the product is you. That hasn’t changed in the age of AI.