Yesterday was windy, mostly cloudy, and moderately hot. Very humid at sea level. Today is supposed to be the same with a small possibility of rain early. We’ll see. BTW, I didn’t cause an earthquake the other day, nor did my momma….
Had a nice day yesterday with a fun activity, good food, and an afternoon nap. Then more food and a comedy show that was actually pretty funny.
Today should be low key, with a technical tour in the morning, and the rest of the day to relax and chill. If the weather is mild, that’ll be a nice bonus.
I hope everyone is enjoying the good old days.
And stacking. Y’all better be stacking.
nick
Wednesday. Good morning!
I am sad that Nick preempted the Yo’ Momma earthquake joke. However, I am at least up before chicken boy! Haha!
Worked late on megaproject. It looks like my part of it might be less gruelling than in previous similar iterations. Slow start this morning as a result of being in bed late. Getting too old for burning the candle at both ends…
Have a beautiful day!
I believe the movie with the “assets” was “Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw”.
Gal Gadot. Dunno about acting, but she can bang… her drum.
https://youtu.be/-s-80f3v3C4
I wonder what Sir Kenneth thought as he reviewed the dailies.
“And enough champagne … to fill the Nile.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qvBY778pCY
The first “Wonder Woman” movie had its moments.
Sadly, the fallout from the “Snyder Cut” of “Justice League” is that Snyder’s “Army of the Dead” original franchise isn’t going anywhere soon given the director’s track record and current state of Hollywood.
“Army of the Dead” isn’t a great film, but it sets up an interesting story arc hinting at time travel which Matthias Schweighoefer explores with a much better film, “Army of Thieves” despite the prequel being mostly a “rom com” and a sort of spoof of the action blockbuster genre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ith2WetKXlg
“Brad Cage”
Loading day today. Later this morning I’ll pick up a 15′ U-Haul truck and my son and his friends will load all his belongings. He will then go to Tuscaloosa to close out his apartment there.
I will drive the truck to his new apartment tomorrow with the wife following. I have arranged for movers to unload the truck. I have (finally!) learned that my back just isn’t up for some tasks anymore.
We will stay there through Saturday morning and then drive back.
He starts his job on Monday. Time marches on…
Just think: that is the smallest U-haul he will use for the next 40 years or so, until senior down sizing starts!
Reeve’s ”Superman” and the immediate sequel had a much better supporting cast and Richard Donner approaching the height of his career.
Donner’s career high point is the first reel of “Lethal Weapon 2”. The opening minutes of that flick have more going on than most movies have in two hours.
The “Looney Tunes” fanfare at the beginning is the “Fasten your seatbelts“ warning.
Beware the interwebs!
I had an interesting experience last week. We are doing a rip and replace of all the lighting in my workshop. It was supposed to be just an update using the existing wiring, but we found that the previous owner didn’t mind just sending a single hot wire through the conduit and then grabbing a convenient neutral from whatever circuit was nearby. That works fine until it doesn’t, OK, time to replace everything overhead.
I’m letting my mid-20s son do most of the grunt work, but he had never wired a three-way light switch. No problem; rather than try to explain it, I went to a couple of different internet locations and printed the wiring diagrams. Yup, two different sources had similar diagrams that matched. I handed them to him, and after a while he came back and said it didn’t work. We checked the wiring, and it matched the diagrams. I then ran through the diagram circuits, and both of them had the same error: the line and load were each connected to one of the SPST switch nodes, not the “hinge”. It was easy for someone with experience to fix it, but I suspect your average homeowner would have to call an electrician (or the fire department).
Neither of these sites looked like AI slop, but I find it hard to believe that two different sites independently crafted the same error.
Truth! Last year I sold a property in another part of the country, and I filled an entire 53′ semi trailer with the shtuff I kept from that house.
Racist murderer “unfit to stand trial”
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/julia-cassidy/2026/06/10/man-who-murdered-ukrainian-woman-on-charlotte-light-rail-ruled-incompetent-to-stand-federal-trial-n2677497
Needs a 9mm prescription to adjust brain chemistry, followed by treatment of all the complicit judges and prosecutors that released him after previous crimes.
It is not possible to predict the future all the time, and judges and prosecutors cannot be infallible. But there are times when the future is 100% predictable, and in those cases officials who fail in their duty should pay a heavy price.
Out working in the garden some this morning, and the neighbor commented about the heat wave. Only two weeks ago, we were assured that we were heading into record-breaking temperatures. Yup, sure enough. Today’s high is 14C (that’s under 60F for you barbarians). We are just burning up.
A couple of days ago there was also a major article in the Swiss news about a town in southeast Ghana that has been swamped by the ocean for the second time. The implication? Sea levels. Of course, the article carefully didn’t actually say that, because it would be a lie. The actual problems (not mentioned at all) are (1) a dam that is stopped sediment from reaching the river delta and (2) massive sand dredging along that entire stretch of coast, to produce concrete.
The climate alarmists are desperate to keep the panic alive…
– – – – –
I’m worried about what’s happening in Belfast. The outrage is totally justified, but rioting and burning isn’t the right response. That is way too reminiscent of the Troubles.
The right response is to storm the government and insist that all African and Middle Eastern migrants are immediately deported. Also civilian patrols to guarantee the safety of the streets, since the police are apparently not capable (or willing?) to do so.
The swamp cooler worked well, kept the house almost too cool yeaterday.
There is an occasional slight squeak, hopefully just start-up stuff, but it could be the
It is supposed to be 101° today, 101° tomorrow, 102° on the following day, then dropping to a cool 99°, so plenty of time to discover the culprit.
The 99° day will be the day of the outdoor wedding reception. I may just beg off on that, I’m really just an extra.
I filled an entire 53′ semi trailer with the shtuff I kept from that house.
– when I moved from San Diego to Houston I filled a 53ft trailer nose to tail. I moved my whole workshop and my apartment. I moved the sheet goods and stock too, because I’d already paid for the truck, and those materials. Why leave them behind?
——–
Lovely mostly overcast day. I got sun yesterday thru the overcast and despite the thin layer of sunscreen. My hands got dark enough that in some light they look dirty or stained.
———
I think the rest of today will be reading and relaxing. We’re on the ‘downslope’ of the trip so some good percentage of my worry and stress is done.
n
Embrace the healing power of “and”. The target of the riots and burning should be invaders and government. And recalcitrant police, too.
The Amish are outraged Amish murderer Anthony got 35 years. “It was only a 4” knife”. “It was manslaughter, not murder, ‘cause he black.” “Rayciiiis!” The usual reaction we’ll see is the Amish burning down their own community.
Jasmine Crock-O-Shite is leading the way with how Amish women suffer more just existing. Sure.
Looking at the list of stuff from the WWDC … not much there, honestly.
Some UI changes more AI cr*p everywhere, in-phone photo editing to catch up to where Android was two years ago.
LawDog just posted his take.
There is at least one generation, possibly two, in northern Ireland who grew up listening to tales of the glorious martial deeds of their elders, but have not themselves been involved in such exploits. This incident might give them the excuse and opportunity they need, with the added benefit of an enemy or enemies who are not each other, but are outsiders and the powers that be.
Ian might well be right about what will happen. If the weather over there is nice, it could be a hot summer.
Very true!
All finished with the loading. It’s really starting to sink in that he is moving out and not heading off to school and coming back. Above all else, I’m excited for him.
You are a good father.
And stacking. Y’all better be stacking.
The question, stack what?
I’ve got seven figures in various banks that I am trying to figure out how to protect against the coming financial apocalypse of the USA. And I have got nothing. I figure that the flailing about by the feddies in the final days will be them seizing everything in sight. The day they raid the $2 ? trillion in Fidelity will be a horrible day.
I want to move to the boonies in central Texas but I am hung here by my mother. And to be honest, there are no real boonies in Texas until you get west of Abilene.
The SpaceX IPO is a raid on “total stock market” funds held in 401(k) plans and IRAs at Vanguard , Fidelity, etc.
The S&P will not change their rules, but I doubt that matters with that fund type either.
I don’t think there is any way to protect your monetary assets if the Barackalypse hits. I guess you can convert it all to precious metals and hope you can barter with them, or, if the Barackalypse stalls, convert back into cash.
I gave up on a “bug out” location when I hit 70. Now, at 71, I keep 6 months’ worth of freeze-dried food, water purification supplies, and some gubs on hand. If that can’t carry me through, the Mooslims or commies have completely taken over, and it won’t matter. I don’t see a financial collapse for at least 20 years, at which point I won’t give a shit, if I’m still alive.
I’m not worrying about it anymore. I’ll buy cars, drones, 3D printers, or anything else to keep my mind active until the big dirt nap. My pension, SS, and annuity will pay for everything else.
Same here. I am 75, and figure I have about 10 more years, some portion of those in dementia-land. Worrying about something over which I have zero control or influence (other than voting), is not productive.
At some point the U.S. financial Ponzi scheme will collapse, the fools in robes on the left side of the bell curve, the sub-humans with no regard for human life, the Anti-Gillette shaving crowd, the reekers of camel dung, the dirty sandal feet, (raycist, darn straight) will take over. Unless the democrats destroy everything first and give all the losers equal access to everyone else’s money and assets.
Insurance companies behind pension and annuity products will also be raided via fixed income paper which allows Anthropic and OpenAI to rent their server time.
Everyone’s retirement is in on the Monkey Trick.
I have less than $10K in the credit unions. There is no way to beat the run away inflation that is coming real soon. I spent most of my saving on my shop (real estate) and race car parts (fun and games = drugs and wild women).
My son is nearing retirement and has watched his 401(k)s and Roth savings shrink almost every month. We both wonder how long we will receive our military and social security pensions.
Indeed. All but 14% of my income is government funding. Some would say living off the government dole. I think otherwise as I signed a contract with the government, given a serial number as property, and was in a position to have to die for some political cause. Vietnam was a very real issue. The SS income is something that was ripped from my paycheck, without my consent, and squandered by the government, the LBJ administration I believe. In my mind I am still owed that money.
Yeh, if that collapses I am in deep doo-doo.
I might be a bit slow witted here. Actually, there is no might. With Mint / Ubuntu. It’s cool. Of course I don’t know “simple stuff” like I do in Windows. But… been messing with Windows since the days of 2.0.
Today Thunderbird did the “already running close it” thing. Ok. Is there a thing like Task Manager? There is!!!! It’s called System Monitor.
Is Thunderbird listed? Oh, heck no. So reboot and go through the fsck thing in recovery mode. Now that I know, it’s not scary. fsck /dev/sda2 and press Y all the way through
Odd thing. Stuff I have deleted was back in the Trash folder.
I’ve learned that sda1 is the actual boot sector slash drive that is giving me the instructions. So I think my SSD is fine.
Now, if it’s a thing, is to look for the linux version of defrag. To overwrite the same files that re-appeared in the Trash folder last time. I guess, to re-write whatever file (I forget the name) that Windows uses to know where a file is stored.
Oh, wait. Don’t need to defrag at all.
Well, I read a blurb somewhere about running automatically fsck at boot. I’ll have to find that page again.
Crockett and Chip Roy are lame ducks for the rest of the year.
As soon as I saw the ballot scanners installed at our polling place for the Republican runoff, I knew Roy was going to lose.
Crockett learned about those scanners in the primary.
SSDs don’t require defrag.
It sounds like Thunderbird’s programmers are extra paranoid about not saving changes until the program exits.
“ps -ef” in a command shell lists running processes and you could probably find Thunderbird’s easily unless the developers use an obscure name.
The first or second column of the output will be the process ID. Pass the process ID to kill on the command line:
# kill -9 nnnnn
Thunderbird shouldn’t run as root, and the kill command is relatively safe without admin privileges such as running with sudo or in a root user login.
-9 is the signal to kill most processes. I forget the details.
As for maintenance on the drive, periodically run fstrim on the root file system.
# fstrim /
If you created a separate /home partition, run fstrim on that one as well:
# fstrim /home
If the OS detects a problem mounting a drive, it should run fsck automatically upon reboot.
The default file system on newer Linux systems will be ext4 or something journaled.
And that my friends, is why Linux will never be main stream for the average user. Linux was made by propeller heads, for propeller heads.
All of that is underpinning Mac OS X, but Steve Jobs first used a bunch of Ross Perot’s money to hide the complexity of open source BSD Unix under NeXT Step for about a decade and then Bill Gates’ “investment” in the 90s to move it on top of FreeBSD with a custom kernel.
It mostly works. Mostly.
Until it doesn’t.
I disagree. Windows has almost all of the same features but they are already automatic. Or there is a GUI in Control Panel.
This machine with Mint boots in about 40 seconds from power off to showing the Desktop. Win11 was almost 2 minutes.
As for Windows …
https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366644117/Microsoft-smashes-record-for-biggest-ever-Patch-Tuesday-update
“Another Tough Guy”
https://areaocho.com/another-tough-guy/
“Karmelo Anthony was found guilty after only three hours of deliberations. Of course, there are tons of his fellow blacks out there claiming he should get a new trial because his attorney was incompetent. or that he is going to win on appeal. That isn’t how it works, but then again, they don’t understand the law any better than they understand self defense.”
Me too, this is a good candidate for Old Sparky.
I don’t know off hand what my file system is. When I installed Mint I had the choices of FAT32 and NTFS and “other”. “Other” was the default choice. So that’s what I did.
I did run System Monitor. Had T-bird open and not minimized. There was a thunderbird.bin and I killed the task and T-bird closed.
Today’s crazy was that there was nothing “thunderbird” listed at all. But Cinnamon or whatever said the program was running.
Anyway. Just little pot holes on the road.
I suppose part of my problem is that I copied all of my stuff from the W11 drive and then sifted through and deleted more than half, pushing two thirds. Like from 650 GB to 205 GB.
I got four new Michelin Defender LTX M+S 275/65-18 tires for the truck today at Sam’s Club, $1318. I got a new Sansung S26 phone for my Verizon account Samsung S10 phone, $900. And I ran by Mom’s after her breathless phone call that she needed help. Turned out she needed me to order some compression socks.
I am exhausted. And I need to sync my new phone with my truck and everything else. The sales dude moved all my stuff across for me.
I agree. But perhaps a public hanging. And not a snap his neck hanging. Let him dangle and twitch as he suffocates.
Then again, maybe a hanging that pops his head off of his body. Y’know, lots of blood spurting around as his carcass twitches on the ground.
As an example.
Worked late on megaproject. It looks like my part of it might be less gruelling than in previous similar iterations. Slow start this morning as a result of being in bed late. Getting too old for burning the candle at both ends…
I worked until 2am last night on my Fortran to C++ conversion project. I am very close to my second benchmark point. And then I got woken up this morning around 8am by our bedroom a/c cycling the blower on for 20 seconds, not turning on the compressor, and turning off. Endless repeat.
I texted my a/c guy and he agrees now that the a/c zone computer has dementia.
I don’t have a problem with a large amount of bugs being patched. A big portion of those bugs are ones that have been found by AI agents, and the patches are to fix those bugs. Many of those bugs were found by various ‘researchers’ along with the folks at Microsoft.
The AI agents are good at finding the bugs. Machines are usually faster and more efficient than humans, in any industry, when used responsibly. And you can bet that the ‘bad guys’ are using similar AI tools to find bugs they can exploit, to the detriment of users. Yes, there might be bogus results from AI, but overall the AI tools can be a good thing, if used responsibly.
So, I’m glad to see a ton of bugs being found in Windows. I suspect that there are tons of bugs that can be (and probably are) found in Linux-based OS/apps. But many like to point to bugs in Windows because MS is the ‘evil empire’. So the MS bugs get hyped to get clicks on the stories.
Bug patches are good. People coders make mistakes. AI bug catchers, along with knowledgable people coders, are both good. The bad guys are using AI bug catchers to find exploits they can leverage to their advantage.
Bug patches are good. Install them.
Just think: that is the smallest U-haul he will use for the next 40 years or so, until senior down sizing starts!
What is this senior down sizing that you talk of?
I just threatened my mother for the umpteenth time that I am going to come into her apartment with a wheelbarrow and take out half of the stuff. She has boxes of crap lined up against three of the walls now.
How does a 84 year old crippled wheelchair bound lady manage to obtain so much junk, most of it paper?
From a friend:
It is 199 days to Christmas.
You have been warned.
ahem.
I never said that it would be voluntary, or that it wasn’t actually necessary and a good thing…
After cleaning nonstop here for the last few days … tbh … the idea of getting rid of crap begins to seem attractive.
MS bugs get the attention because MS is like 90% of PC operating systems. Linux and Mac have bugs but who cares about “those losers?”
I don’t think there is any way to protect your monetary assets if the Barackalypse hits. I guess you can convert it all to precious metals and hope you can barter with them, or, if the Barackalypse stalls, convert back into cash.
I gave up on a “bug out” location when I hit 70. Now, at 71, I keep 6 months’ worth of freeze-dried food, water purification supplies, and some gubs on hand. If that can’t carry me through, the Mooslims or commies have completely taken over, and it won’t matter. I don’t see a financial collapse for at least 20 years, at which point I won’t give a shit, if I’m still alive.
I’m not worrying about it anymore. I’ll buy cars, drones, 3D printers, or anything else to keep my mind active until the big dirt nap. My pension, SS, and annuity will pay for everything else.
I figure that the financial apocalypse start period will be somewhere between 2029 and 2039. 2029 is a good nostalgic date for the USA. Then it will be 20 years of hell as the feddies flail about about for cash as nobody will buy the tbills.
I cannot decide if they will be bold enough to institute means testing for Social Security to get rid of half of us. Means testing for Medicare will cause a civil war.
“Civil War 2.0 Weather Report: All It Takes Is A Spark”
https://wilderwealthywise.com/civil-war-2-0-weather-report-all-it-takes-is-a-spark/
“My advice remains. Avoid crowds. Get out of cities. Now. A year too soon is better than one day too late.”
He ain’t wrong.
And “What they want is to get rid of you.”
“When I started writing the Weather Reports eight years ago, I thought that Civil War 2.0 would be ideological.”
“It won’t be.”
When ICE Visits Your Plant and Your Employees Drop From 100 to 24? That’s All on You
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2026/06/10/when-ice-visits-your-plant-and-your-employees-drop-from-100-to-24-thats-all-on-you-n3815802
When the plant manager and human resources manager come in and sit down, explain to them that the prosecution will be seeking jail time on each count to be served consecutively, not concurrently. Each count is a separate violation and each stolen identity represents a person whose life has been screwed up. Justice demands no less. When they’re looking at jail time for each of the 48 workers arrested plus the ones that got away plus the ones that are probably documented in the files, they may want to cut a deal to provide evidence against more managers.
The illegal aliens should be fast-tracked though the immigration courts and deported after being deposed for all the information they have to build the case against the company and its managers. They should be treated humanely but leave with nothing as an example to others, and with sentences suspended unlss they are ever caught in the U.S. again.
“The Purloined Poodle” by Kevin Hearne
https://www.amazon.com/Purloined-Poodle-Kevin-Hearne/dp/1738279243?tag=ttgnet-20
A novella added to the ten book Iron Druid fantasy series. There are several other novellas for the series also. I read the well printed and well bound POD (print on demand) trade paperback published by Horned Lark Press in 2024 that I bought in 2026. I own one of the other novellas and plan to read it soon.
The Iron Druid Series starts with “Hounded” released in 2011:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051XU2PE?tag=ttgnet-20
Atticus O’Sullivan is a 2,000+ year old Druid living peacefully in Arizona, USA in modern times. His Irish Wolfhound Oberon is also many decades old due to Atticus’s special teas. They are in a dog park one day and pick up that several prize winning dogs are missing. Atticus and Oberon decide to investigate the mystery.
The author has a website at:
https://kevinhearne.com/
My rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (2,667 reviews)
Lynn
Senior downsizing.
When I retired, I finally had both time and money to indulge in my hobbies. What I lacked was space, since I live by courtesy in my GF’s house.
Coming from the midwest, I always thought of a garage as a usable extension of living/shop space, and I grew up with basements to handle storage of “stuff”.
In Texas, there are no basements, and the garage is where things and people go to die in the heat.
I converted my office into my ham shack on one side, and my electronics workshop on the other, and books and ammo and gubs scattered wherever I could. Tubs of antenna parts and spare radios and parts are sequestered here and there, including, unfortunately, the garage.
I managed to set up my electronic keyboard in the dining room, but that’s far from ideal. I can’t really get my guitars out, there’s just no room. Both of those have been on hold pending resolution of my cataracts and some sinus problems, which are now over.
I’ve culled my books down to the point where there’s just one 6 foot bookshelf of mostly non-fiction, and if I want to re-read fiction, I buy it on my kindle app.
I suppose I need to take a good, hard look at all my hobby stuff and reduce down to things I will actually use. Take ham radios, for instance. I probably could get by with one at home, and one to operate portable at parks. But then I wouldn’t have spares to loan to new hams to get them started, or having multiples to compare in the parks.
Wah wah. First world problems.
Throughout most of human history, most people’s prized possessions could fit in a buckboard wagon with room to spare.
Throughout most of human history, most people’s prized possessions could fit in a buckboard wagon with room to spare.
According to my mother, that is not even a good start.
““Secret Mission”: Watch Trump Reveal “100 Million Barrels of Oil” Making Way Through Strait of Hormuz”
https://thelibertydaily.com/secret-mission-watch-trump-reveal-100-million-barrels/
““We took out the other night 22 ships, late at night with no lights ’cause they don’t have any radar ’cause we blasted the crap out of it. That’s why oil is $85 a barrel.””
I was wondering why crude oil tanked recently.
“ActBlue CEO Pleads the 5th 3 Times When Asked If She Lied to Congress on Fraudulent Donations”
https://rumble.com/v7b3faq-actblue-ceo-pleads-the-5th-3-times-when-asked-if-she-lied-to-congress-on-fr.html?mref=8g74p&mrefc=9
Wow! Why was she not arrested there at the hearing?
Revolutionary war cannon salvaged from Savannah River restored at Texas A&M
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/workers-dredging-the-savannah-river-stumbled-upon-19-cannons-that-had-been-underwater-since-the-revolutionary-war-180988928
Pretty neat work.
I enjoyed the Iron Druid series although I accidently skipped two books when I grabbed the last one to take on a trip. Seemed pointless to go back after reading the end.
“Wow! Why was she not arrested there at the hearing?”
Orange is the new black, coming to an ActBlue CEO near you.
I am 80 and to my son’s delight I have started down sizing. In the shop, If I can’t recall what something is or what it fits I (usually) throw it out. If I can recall but doubt if I will ever use it, he gets to decide if we keep.
I’m also culling my library. Most of the college textbooks I kept went in my move after my wife passed away. Old paper records are thrown out when I bump into them. Old family records have been recorded onFamilySearch.com with photos if I have them. Didn’t realize we are linked to the Plymouth Colony founding but we are.
I still need to thin out the technical books but that will probably be his problem. What he will do with 20 books on Basic, or Atari Technical data, 6502 assembly language, System BIOS / DOS for the IBM PCs, O/S 2.0, SpinRite, Norton Utilities, etc.? I did get rid of Desqview (sp?), Banyan, Arcnet and Paradox stuff a while back. He won’t even recognize the assembly language stuff from my SACCS-465L programming days.
Oh well…
Nice relaxing day, and a beautiful evening. Even had a tiny little fire.
Early start tomorrow, then a fairly long day.
The end is in sight.
n
We did that when we moved to our current (retirement) house. The thing is: we have started to accumulate again, and we have too little storage. Things like fencing that we put up in the winter, to keep the deer out of the garden – no place to put it in the summer. We have added a small shed, but really, we should have added another room to to the house. Of course, then we might not have downsized so aggressively.
I sometimes wish for a magic button: mark everything that we haven’t touched for 10 years. That might help. Then again, it might not, because “hmmm…might need that…”.
Part of being in a new-build house: I find myself doing a lot less DIY. So I have a lot of tools I haven’t used since we moved in. I don’t miss being in a 100-year-old house, but at the same time…I kind of do miss the continual list of little projects…
Just rambling before class starts. Last day of teaching until mid-August. Two student presentations tomorrow, then a nice, long break. 🙂
@brad and other fiddlers with Linux I recommend a neat program called stacer – gives you a bunch of useful info about how your machine is running, easy killing of unwanted processes, editing of startup progs etc. also let’s you recover a bunch of storage taken updates files and caches.