Not the weather silly, my task list. The weather will probably be the same, hot and humid, although the national forecast has us in the “could be t-storms and rain” zone. It certainly got above 100F yesterday afternoon. I’m hoping there won’t be rain today or tomorrow, but I’d rather get it out of the way before the weekend if we have to get some.
I spent the morning doing auction stuff. There was one item I really wanted, but I came to my senses and tapped out. It ended up going for one bid past my high bid. If it wasn’t north of Austin, and didn’t have to be picked up today, I might have gone a bit higher, but the pickup was obnoxious given my plans. I’m also pretty sure that I noticed an issue that can’t be fixed at any cost, that would have ruled out spending a bunch of money on restoration. Even restored it would have been on borrowed time.
Then I went to work getting the rest of the stuff out of my storage unit. That took a trip at 1pm, followed by a bunch of organizing at the shop to make room for the 5pm trip, and I went back at 8pm for the last scraps. They’re still in the truck, but I’m out of that unit, and only 6 months later than I should have been.
Today I’ll deal with the stuff in the truck, load up for the BOL, hit a dumpster, two pickups, and then head to the lake. If it’s not raining, I’ll probably jump on the mower and do what I can before losing the light. I want it mowed before any rain we might get.
Then I’ll do my decorating for Independence Day, and start working on the list…
Always be working to improve your situation, whether it’s your fitness, health, finances, or physical surrounding.
And of course, stacking is the easiest part.
nick
Cool and rainy here. Enjoying it, even though it means the garden projects are at a standstill.
So I helped a neighbor pour some concrete in a basement. Old house, built the same way our previous house was – completely at odds with modern standards. Dig some trenches, pour in some concrete for the bases of the walls – and that is also the only foundation for the entire house. We dug out a big for the concrete in the basement, but had to be careful not to undermine one of the walls – that’s how shallow the “foundation” is.
It’s stood there for a hundred years, so I reckon it’s fine…
Well done, Nick. As my father used to (mis)rhyme, “Patience and perseverance made a bishop of His Reverence!”
Wednesday. Good morning! Megaproject continues. I need some breakfast.
How do you people in warm climes deal with perspiration? I got sweat eczema on my neck from sleeping in my own juice on the pillow when the temperatures were so high last week. Changing pillows and pillowcases was only a temporary help, as the perspiration persisted.
It feels like a bad sunburn, just around the back and sides of my neck. Dr Internet says moisturise and apply cortisone cream is the treatment, which I am doing, and it seems to be working. However, I would like to know how to avoid the problem. I know, I know, AirCon in the bedroom… but absent that?
Lucky Brad. send some north, please!
Our current house, built in the 1960s, is like that. Other than a tiny part with a wine-cellar underneath, the walls are block layed upon poured concrete foundations, and the floors in between are just layed on the bare earth, with a plastic membrane to keep out moisture. We considered digging out to make a basement level when we bought the house, but there were many more important renovations to do, and money was tight. I really regret not having a basement (as we don’t have an attic either), but I will not do it before we retire and sell the house. It can be a job for the next owner.
The Hacker’s Diet by John Walker (yes, the CAD guy) has a spreadsheet for calculating a weighted moving average of one’s weight. It is useful for smoothing out day to day fluctuations, which are mostly water and/or excrement, and establishing a trend curve. It is a good, no BS, book about how to lose weight. The method works, if one can bear to apply it and stick at it.
If it was just the one comment, I’m a big boy and can take it.
Fourth of July. Right on schedule. Maybe a little early.
How about a little factoid about the ownership of the grocery store servicing God Forsaken Blue State U. If it isn’t a Kroger brand with 10% of the stock held by the Geico Gecko, then it is most likely Albertson’s-Safeway, 30% owned by these people.
Look carefully.
https://www.cerberus.com/our-firm/leadership/
Let the screaming commence.
I do this by setting my A/C to 73ºF. In Vegas, go to any casino for A/C, if you don’t have any. I swear, if all the casinos in Nevada turned off their A/C, World power needs would be solved.
Up and moving, coffee started…
———
I don’t have any issues with the sweat. Shower in the morning, shower before bed. I spent most of my life showering in the morning before school or work, often going to bed less than clean. Then I figured out shower before bed and the sheets don’t need to be washed as often, AND I’m more comfortable. Only lately did I overcome the programming of my youth and realize I could shower as many times as needed.
If I have a sweaty night, I shower in the morning too.
While I don’t have issues with sweat, I do use Gold Bond Medicated Powder on my nether regions. It prevents ‘monkey butt’ or ‘the red ass’ by soaking up moisture and by lubricating the skin. The cornstarch version doesn’t lubricate so I use my precious NOS when I’ll be active or mix in some actual talc. And never put your junk away wet. I use the blowdryer on myself and my feet. Looks funny but jock itch or athletes foot is no joke.
———
Time to get that coffee mug into my hand, and figure out some breakfast.
n
Scrambled an egg with bacon bits and some ‘salsa fresca’. Yum.
—
Time to do a little work.
n
Oh yeah, this was brilliant, and for some people, horrifying…
https://dronexl.co/2026/06/09/pokemon-go-scans-niantic-vantor-military-drone-navigation/
And I will call it “crowdsourcing”.
H/T Peter Grant
n
Hey, zendodeb’s site is back up.
n
“What exactly is going on with Beretta and Ruger?”
https://www.reddit.com/r/Firearms/comments/1s5sn5l/what_exactly_is_going_on_with_beretta_and_ruger/
“I understand Beretta has acquired a fairly significant share of Ruger and appears to be engaged in some sort of activity which certainly looks like a takeover attempt. Ruger do not appear to be keen on this.”
“Beretta have expressed concerns about Ruger’s business performance, while Ruger say they have a solid five-year plan in place and they’re quite happy with how things are going for the most part.”
This is not good. I am not happy about a foreign company taking over the premier USA firearms company.
“”Men and boys with gender dysphoria are not women or girls, even if they believe they are.” -Justice Clarence Thomas”
“Clarence Thomas Answers ‘What Is a Woman’…”
https://revolver.news/2026/06/clarence-thomas-answers-what-is-a-woman/
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
If it was just the one comment, I’m a big boy and can take it.
I know. I found it to be an indictment of the entire group. We do not need that kind of nonsense here. This is not reddit.
This is a retreat from the craziness of the world. People spreading hate and dissension are not welcome. People spreading honest and somewhat respectful comments are more than welcome.
Modern economy- I’m trying to source a particular item as giveaways for my non-prepping hobby convention in August. They are available on ebay from dozens of sellers for just slightly more than my budget, but sellers only have a few and I need over 200.
On alibaba I can get one, or three for around $1 each, but only a max of three. No one seems to be selling them in bulk, but someone must be for all the resellers to have them, and for them to be used as a loss leader ‘welcome’ gift on alibaba.
So far, ebay, alibaba, and google searches have all been of very little use.
n
@Nick – have you tried using duck.ai ? You can set it for totally anonymous use that will not save your chats. Let it do all of your searching.
Challenging but worthwhile. There are so many sources of bad information.
…
Like many of us, I’m trying to manage creeping weight gain. I don’t do any of the popular diets per se, but my best results are from avoiding carbs; anything more than 2 slices of bread or rough equivalent ends up around my waist. Of course, gluten seems to taste so much better than anything else when you reduce the amount of it you eat. I’ve also noticed that my current (for the last 8ish years) work schedule makes it harder to manage meals. I work 3 to 11 evenings, which means I load up before work, or eat too much after, frequently both. Soon I will be free, however. Hopefully that will make that part of life a little more manageable.
But with just a little effort from everyone, this could be 4chan. /b, yo!
And you can believe just as much of that as you want to. Likewise, that they retain no data which might be used to correlate searches or to identify users or machines. (Though I haven’t read their terms of service in years. I don’t know if they still promise that.)
Did someone page me?
Though my information regarding nutrition (and getting some sun and exercise) is usually good.
De Minimis ended for all countries in August. A few of any item in a box could slip through customs without a duty as “defective merchandise”, but more than that is impossible without proper paperwork and duty payments.
A lot of the resellers probably don’t have a clue yet about how to operate without De Minimis.
Try emailing your needs to Alibaba? They are dealers, after all.
Yes, I think Lynn might have… look:
Sodom and Gomorrah, here I come…!
I am told that the local supermarkets set up tables, chairs and free bottles of water in front of the chiller cabinets to give wilting shoppers a bit of a coolth break. Nice idea.
Sodom and Gomorrah again? 😉
I like Snake Brand powder for prickly heat. Lots of showers helped last week for temporary cooling-off and to cleanse the skin, but the perspiration while sleeping on a pillow is a problem. If we get more heat, as is forecast, I will be preemptively moisturising. I have promised myself mini-split A/Cs before next summer!
Megaproject is going anything but according to plan, thanks to certain internal “clients” constantly changing their demands and desired timings. They are not far off experiencing a rebellion on the part of the people at the coal face… Be nice, as a walkout may give offence.
For a while I was getting ‘free’ gifts in the form of a very small gloves in my orders of various things Amazon sourced from the mainland, small as in even too small for a grown womans hands. I don’t think that’s happened in the last couple of orders though.
This.
Google has become useless as a search engine. They so obviously give placement to whoever gives them money. The sites your are actually looking for are lost in the noise.
Same. I like sweets too much to abstain, but skipping most carbs with meals helps a lot.
My webserver has been up 19 days this time. They are putting a security patch in the AM and rebooting it.
I love having a managed dedicated server but, I dislike the frequent reboots.
How do you people in warm climes deal with perspiration? I got sweat eczema on my neck from sleeping in my own juice on the pillow when the temperatures were so high last week. Changing pillows and pillowcases was only a temporary help, as the perspiration persisted.
Air conditioning. I set our bedroom at 70 F.
I’ve tried contacting alibaba sellers with “thousands sold” labels but not getting responses. Last time I got a ‘no can do’ from the company I emailed.
———
OK, did my NVR maintenance, loaded the truck, time to head out.
n
“Not That Kind of Good Guy (Shadow’s Path)” by John Ringo
https://www.amazon.com/That-Kind-Good-Shadows-Path/dp/1668073390?tag=ttgnet-20
Book number one of a three book science fiction dark fantasy series. I read the well printed and well bound MMPB published by Baen in 2026 that I bought from Amazon in 2025. I am eagerly awaiting the second MMPB book that comes out in September 2026. And the third book in hardback will be out soon also.
Michael Edwards is 13 year old 5’10” genius white guy who grew up in Baltimore’s ghetto with a Black 6’4″ trans mother prostitute after his real mother was brutally murdered in an alley. He and the MS-13 gang are having running gun battles after he supposedly slighted them. When the MS-13 tried to murder him, he became one of Earth’s 300+ Super Heroes with invulnerability and an Earth mover. But, Michael is just not that kind of a good guy. He lives by the motto: “Big boys don’t cry, don’t snitch, and always get revenge.” Michael also views himself as a warrior for God and gets frequent help and direction from the secret Gondola society whose mission is to destroy child trafficking across the entire world.
I loved this book. It pushes many of my buttons and beliefs. And the Super Heroes are fairly goofy and hard not to like. And the villains, of whom there are many, are disgusting and easy to dislike. And I like the fact that Michael is part Native American since my wife is part Cherokee.
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (1,239 reviews)
Lynn
“Sling TV’s owner DISH files for bankruptcy”
https://thestreamable.com/dish-files-for-bankruptcy-sling-tv
“The company plans to continue woth an attempted restructuring agreement after filing Chapter 11 protections.”
Well, that is not a surprise. The surprise is that anyone would give them money to continue operations.
“It’s Time to Stop Pretending That “Migrants” Are Entitled to Equal Citizenship”
https://jdrucker.com/its-time-to-stop-pretending-that-migrants-are-entitled-to-equal-citizenship/
“(Alt-Market)—Yet another civil conflict is brewing this week as the Supreme Court tackles a number of foreign citizenship debates, including Temporary Protection Status (TPS) and Birthright Citizenship. The court has ruled that hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian migrants residing in the US under TPS are no longer safe from mass deportations (a win). But, they have also ruled in favor of migrant anchor babies (a big loss).”
“Both issues deal with changing American perceptions on what is “constitutional” when it comes to foreign access to citizenship. The Supreme Court’s decisions aside, I find it mind boggling that this debate has been ongoing for so many decades. Frankly, foreigners should not have any citizenship rights under the constitution until they have demonstrated assimilation. Until that time, there should be a separate set of rules handling newcomers (and invaders).”
Yup.
“Trump DOJ Sues Gavin Newscum’s Commiefornia Over Glock Ban”
https://thelibertydaily.com/trump-doj-sues-gavin-newscums-commiefornia-glock-ban/
“(The Daily Caller)—The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit Wednesday taking aim at California’s ban on Glock pistols the day it was slated to take effect.”
“Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB1127 into law in October 2025, making California the first state to ban the popular pistol. The lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, targets both AB1127 and California’s “Unsafe Handgun Law,” and comes one day after Democratic California Attorney General Rob Bonta rejected a proposal to avoid litigation in a two-page letter to Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon.”
““The Second Amendment is a sacred right belonging to all Americans, even those in California. California cannot ban the most popular type of handgun in America,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a Wednesday release announcing the lawsuit. “We will work to stop this blatant trampling of our rights by the California government to protect the rights of lawful gun owners.””
And California has made it illegal again to sell pistols in 2028 that do not stamp a serial number on the bullets as they are fired. These people are nuts.
Well, first of the month and everyone’s Ivermectin doses are measured. I squirt it on the dogs food. I squirt mine into a spoon. Tastes fine, just a hint of the way green anti freeze smells.
I’ve been dabbing DMSO on the top of my feet where my toes attach. How do you count knuckles? Call it first knuckle. Around there and some on my toes. After the bedtime shower and again in the morning. It seems to be working. The feeling of wearing muddy socks when I wiggle my toes is getting better. But it’s just been 10 days.
Some outfit the Ooma says is called “HealthCare” has been calling. Three times a days seems a bit much. No messages. Their number varies. I got bored and called them back. “What number are you calling?” Oh, they can’t tell me because of Privacy Concerns. I have the cell forwarded to the new Ooma number.
Anyway. They want to sell me a Medicare Supplement Plan. Yeah. I’m going to buy such from a random phone caller? I might look stupid.
94f. Sunny. A bit of breeze so it’s not bad in the shade. Summer! Then a bit of cloud passes over and for a few minutes the light looks like it about to rain a flood.
Almost forgot. I changed the r/o membrane in the system. It does the drain gurgling noise while refilling the tank for just over two hours now. Instead of eight AM to three PM. Two gallon tank. A couple of almost two quart pitchers for the dog water dish. A pitcher for the Keuring. I did buy a pair of new Automatic Shut Off Valves so I’m going to install one. The existing valve is older than the 15 years the system has been in use.
It’s exciting around here.
Wednesday midnight. Passed my bedtime, but I was working until 23:00.
W1 just kindly woke me to tell me that Belgium-Senegal is a close thing. I am ecstatic. A pox on both their houses. Grr.
Goodnight.
If you like soccer, the Belgium-Senegal game was a bit exciting. Belgium down 2-0, then a Belgium come back to tie by the end of the 2nd half, then Belgium wins it with one more goal at the end of extended time (overtime).
USA game this evening.
If you don’t like soccer, FLASHLIGHTS.
And another hammering today because I am biased and unfair.
Well, I should have expected it. The global scifi community has hated John Ringo since the “Ghost” book and the puppy debacle at the Hugo awards. So they downvoted my new John Ringo review on reddit.
Bless The Hammers of BobTM. Troll must have missed its hormone shot.
I’d disagree with the ‘hammer’ on @Paul’s comment. He was expressing an opinion on the apparent ‘hammer inequality’ judgement that is occurring.
The ‘hammer’ is for obviously offensive commenting. It should not be used to remove comments or opinions that you disagree with.
@Paul’s comment should not have been ‘hammered’.
(And I wouldn’t be surprised to find that this comment gets hammered.)
Is “Paul” a regular? He is hiding behind a temporary email address.
Who’s Paul? Sheesh. I get off the PC to go watch a movie and I miss the drama of a budding flame war.
Dang it.
Anyway. Said move was the 4th disc of the Revenge of the Nerds set. All in all, first movie was best. 2nd was a blatant sequel. 3rd movie was about ten years later and lame. 4th movie, yeah, pretty good….. Booger getting married.
I’ll watch again someday.
Hey. I told you it was exciting around here.
Trump Admin Won’t Renew Trade With Canada, Mexico in Its Current Form
Trump should show the fentanyl seizure totals for both countries for the last month, declare no deals until it drops to zero, and announce the new incentive program where a U.S. drone fleet is loaded with the deadly drug interdicted at the borders and flown over the respective capitals and presidential residences on a random day the following month before landing at their international airports. Maybe soak it in some radioactive waste just the be sure it doesn’t get resold.
Here is the pertinent note from the official comment guidelines:
Having no official capacity here, and being a fairly recent immigrant to this site, my only question is “Will that comment/commenter/troll be missed?”
From the occasional posts I catch before they are hammered, the answer is no.
The hammer is for whatever @Nick says it is. This rule is, by definition, not arbitrary, nor arbitrarily applied.
Whenever people say “should not be” about someone else’s rule, it’s a denial of reality. As much as I’d like the free speech norms from the mid twentieth century back, those are long gone. Democrats and deviants and feminism and black racists have destroyed them.
For those who want a leftist echo chamber, bluesky exists. I hear it’s pretty boring.
“Said move” should be “said movie”. Autocorrect I guess. I know I typed movie.
Well. Penny acts like it’s time for a walk.
Dogs run on solar time. I run mostly on clock time. Sometimes it all gets confused. Like a cloudy day tells the dogs it’s time for bed…. when sunset is a couple of hours later.
It’s all good.
Whenever people say “should not be” about someone else’s rule, it’s a denial of reality. As much as I’d like the free speech norms from the mid twentieth century back, those are long gone. Democrats and deviants and feminism and black racists have destroyed them.
You forgot communists and socialists. Oh wait, they are covered by Democrats.
I omitted several categories to be more succinct, and due to overlap as you noticed. There’s foreigners, Alinskyites, mohammedans, atheists (activists), fundamentalist evangelical Christians, bullies, AWFLs, HOA Karens, Gladys Kravitz’s, Tipper Gore’s, etc.
For deviants, I used another word in my first draft. It was the Q from LBGTQXYZ+ but I figured that would violate the de facto tone here.
“Booger” had a daughter graduate from Cambridge within the last decade.
Curtis Armstrong, Bobcat Goldthwait, and director Savage Steve Holland do the commentary on “One Crazy Summer” if you ever come across a copy in a discount bin.
Of course I have one.
About 15 years ago, the three tried to get studio money for a sequel, “One Awesome Fall”, but Hollywood stopped spending on comedy.
At this point, everyone probably recognizes that they are too old.
I have reviewed the call, and the judge’s decision stands.
“Kill all the commies” isn’t hate speech, it’s common sense.
n
Sooner rather than later.
There’s no need for them to show us who they are–their kind has demonstrated it time and again: murdering founts of misery that seek to rule and oppress while gathering riches to themselves
It was steaming hot when I got here, so I’m very glad the breeze picked up as the sun set. It’s 85F currently and that is falling slowly.
I did get most of the mowing done, although not all on my lot or the park. And I didn’t get to the string trimmer cleanup. If the rain holds off, I’ll do the details and the rest of the mow tomorrow.
Had my HungryMan ™ dinner. They are a decent alternative to other long term storage food, and very easy to prepare. No dishes, no cooking. And they aren’t bad tasting. There are plenty of things I’d rather eat, but when I’m alone and tired and just want some dinner, they fit the bill. (IF I had any leftovers from home, I’d have eaten those, but alas…)
Time to head down to the dock with a kindle and the shortwave for a tiny little fire.
n
I call for Paul (capital P) to continue huffing Nancy Pelosi’s farts. This will inevitably lead to his/its/zir’s death but he/it/zir will be happy until then and the rest of us will be happy after his/its/zir’s death.
I’ll let that stand for itself.
Nice tiny little fire, and when there was a cooling breeze it was pleasant. Very dark night, but too cloudy for stars. Missed the “strawberry moon”. Tonight’s moon is really just rising and isn’t above the trees yet.
Radio had a couple of cuban stations, one playing nice music, but the reception was fading and noisy.
Lots of wildlife hooting and grunting and calling out but only one really big splash and no animal sightings.
Once I realized I’d soaked up a lot of heat, it was time for a shower and bed. I love civilization and being cool, clean, and dry.
n
@Denis, re sleeping on hot nights, I bought 3 of the largest beach towels I could find and put one on the bed covering the pillow and reaching down to about just above my knees these stop the sweat getting into the pillow and mattress – change the towel every couple of nights. It also helps that I never wear pyjamas and from about May to September only have a very light “draught excluder” sheet covering me.