Mon. July 20, 2026 – busy. Of course.

By on July 20th, 2026 in culture, decline and fall, personal

And hot as the devil’s sweaty taint. Again. Humid too.

Did as little as possible yesterday. Family came home. Did little after that. Lots of auction catching up to do.

Today, W takes D2 to school, then comes home and gets the HVAC guys going, while I head to the Dr, then come home to finish with the HVAC while W heads to work. Dunno what D1 has planned. Then things should stabilize for the rest of the day, until D2 needs her taxi.

I am tired of sweating in my own house. No one would live here by choice without A/C. It was over 103F in the shade at my house… and the humidity is 70% by my gauge. Despite the portable units, it was 89F in my office last night.

Sweating while sitting still is not fun or productive.

So my stacked units helped, but they aren’t the cure. Having the do re mi to pay the pros is priceless.

nick

75 Comments and discussion on "Mon. July 20, 2026 – busy. Of course."

  1. SteveF says:

    Been up since 0130. Not sure why. An unfortunate confluence of astrological phenomena, perhaps.

  2. drwilliams says:

    When the Moon,

    is in the Chicken House…

  3. brad says:

    We went to a nice concert of classical music yesterday. A small town here has somehow become known for it’s concert series over the summer. It’s a great place to spend a weekend (we only spend one night), with hiking, nice restaurants, and gorgeous scenery. Pretty much as remote as you can get in Switzerland – which still puts it within about 3 hours of anywhere in the country.

    What I do find odd: We were among the younger guests. The average age must be well over 70. Do only retired people go to classical concerts?

    On the way home, we stopped by the land that we bought, intending to built a house on it – but it got re-zoned before we could do so. Still a lovely piece of land. While we’ve had some good fortune were we are, I think I would still have preferred to live there. Instead of a town of 400, it is a town of…19. Hermits’r’us.

    However, it did get re-zoned. That happened when the tiny town merged with a much larger one, and the larger one decided it wanted to have all the buildable plots for itself. A bit short-sighted, if you as me – we would have been substantial taxpayers – but bureaucracy isn’t always smart.

    Who knows, maybe the kids will be able to build there some day.

    10
  4. Nick Flandrey says:

    Up and moving.  Still fasting in case Dr needs that for one of the tests, although with the glucose monitor I shouldn’t need to .

    Time to get dressed and on the way.

    n

  5. Ray Thompson says:

    gorgeous scenery. Pretty much as remote as you can get in Switzerland

    Sometime around 2003 we visited Switzerland. Lauterbrunnen was the place. Spent two nights there. We took the cog railroad to the top of the Eiger Mountain. It was a wonderful place to visit. There are a couple of hotels part way up the trip and I really want to spend a night or two in one of those places.

    Our hotel room faced the street. In the morning we heard bells, on cows, being herded through the streets. The herder had typical lederhosen. We could look to the left and see the waterfall that falls close to the road.

    We have also been to Lucerne and Bern. One of those places we took a cable car to the top of some mountain with outstanding views. We have actually made three  journeys into Switzerland on our various trips to Europe. We were guided by our German friends.

    Wonderful scenery. Only downside is one of those trips I was in a rented Mercedes. I had to pay for an Autobahn sticker for the vehicle, full year price, even though I was only there two days. I also had a problem with the vehicle as the gas cap would not open. Air operated stuff. I found a Mercedes dealer who got the gas cover opened and temporarily plugged the air leak. I complained to SixT, the rental car company and they did nothing. Did not even reimburse me for the tip I gave to the Mercedes mechanic who fixed the problem. I tipped because the Mercedes dealer did not charge me.

  6. Nick Flandrey says:

    Back from Dr. 

    Guys are working on the A/C.

    interesting thing at the office, they wanted a new history, and under vaccinations, NOTHING about covid.   Still tracking polio, but not covid.       No questions about guns in the home either.

    n

  7. Nick Flandrey says:

    Just get a new one…

    Buyers Trading In Vehicles With Negative Equity Face Record Monthly Payments: Edmunds

    by Tyler Durden

    Monday, Jul 20, 2026 – 10:40 AM

    Authored by Rob Sabo via The Epoch Times,

    The number of automobile owners trading in vehicles with negative equity continues to rise, with 29.6 percent of trade-ins in the second quarter showing more money owed on existing auto loans than the vehicles were worth, according to automotive insights platform Edmunds’s July 16 vehicle transaction report.

    Negative equity also pushed average monthly payments on “underwater” trade-ins to $944 in the quarter, the highest figure on record, the report said.

    That’s $167 more per month than trade-ins without negative equity considerations, and those higher loans are expected to account for an additional $16,270 in interest paid over the loan term—another record high that’s nearly $6,500 more than the average new-vehicle loan issued during the quarter.

    “Consumers are incurring more debt than ever when trading in vehicles that are underwater,” said Jessica Caldwell, head of insights at Edmunds.

    “Buyers who financed at 2022’s peak prices are starting to come back to trade in, and they’re bringing thousands of dollars in old debt with them. With interest rates still elevated, this is creating a costly snowball effect for consumers.”

    It’s the highest number of underwater trade-ins recorded in the second quarter since 2020, Edmunds researchers noted. Trade-ins with negative equity eased slightly from the first quarter, when they tallied 30.9 percent, but they were up 3 percent from the second quarter of 2025.

    The average amount of negative equity—$6,884—was a record high for the second quarter of any year, though it pulled back from the $7,183 notched in the first quarter, Edmunds researchers noted.

    n

    Vehicles with model years 2020 or newer showing the most negative equity include Toyota Tundra (-$8,929), GMC Sierra 1500 (-$8,566), Chevrolet Silverado 1500 (-$8,516), and Ram 1500 (-$,8347). However, Edmunds also lists a handful of sedans and sport utility vehicles with negative equity of $5,000 or more, including the Kia Sportage, Honda Accord, Toyota RAV4, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Nissan Rogue, and many others.

  8. Brad says:

    I had to pay for an Autobahn sticker for the vehicle, full year price, even though I was only there two days.

    Yup. That’s how it is. On the other hand, it probably doesn’t cost as much as an equivalent drive through France, with all the toll roads.

    Really, we need to add some tolls or something as well, at least on the Gotthard tunnel through the Alps to Italy. During vacation times, including all summer, there is a multi-mile queue of cars trying to get through. The EU agrees that it will need renovated soon, but does not agree to having it closed. They want us to drill a second tunnel first, at our expense.

    Part of the traffic problem is all the trucks. We built a train tunnel (NRLA). Germany and Italy agreed to build terminals to put trucks on the cargo trains. Italy did. Germany…didn’t.

  9. Nick Flandrey says:

    Texas PUC Approves “Ride-Through” Rules For Data Centers

    by Tyler Durden

    Monday, Jul 20, 2026 – 09:10 AM

    By Diana DiGangi of UtilityDive,

    The Texas Public Utility Commission on Thursday unanimously approved rules that will require large computational loads, like data centers and crypto-mining facilities, within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas footprint to stay stable and connected to the grid through disruptions.

    interesting.  

    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/texas-puc-approves-ride-through-rules-data-centers 

    n

  10. Nick Flandrey says:

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/explosion-shooting-reported-outside-26-federal-plaza-lower-manhattan

    They rushed out and “apprehended” someone.   I guess they were watching on cameras so they knew who to grab?

    n

  11. MrAtoz says:

    I’m reading the first Harry Bosch novel. Some kind person gave me the first 22 novels.

    It reads better than the Reacher novels I’ve read. Pretty good for a first novel.

  12. drwilliams says:

    stay stable and connected to the grid through disruptions.”

    So the data centers can’t use onsite power generation or just shut down during price spikes, which would cause even bigger spikes for the remaining users?

  13. dkreck says:

    stay stable and connected to the grid through disruptions.”

    For critical business not peons

  14. Nick Flandrey says:

    It looks like there are technical reasons to keep the loads connected, but yeah, something seems fishy here.

    n

  15. EdH says:

    stay stable and connected to the grid through disruptions.”

    The PUC and ERCOT position is pretty normal and straightforward:

    Modern computational loads, Kenteel Engineering said in a June blog, are “engineered to protect extremely sensitive and expensive equipment,” and during a voltage dip are programmed to disconnect or enter momentary cessation.

    However, this presents a reliability problem, Kenteel Engineering said, as when “several hundred — or several thousand — megawatts of computational load all detect the same sag and drop simultaneously, the grid experiences a sudden, large loss of demand.”

    “As LCLs increase on the ERCOT System, similar events would be expected to increase in magnitude and frequency, leading to frequency instability and other reliability problems absent frequency and voltage ride-through requirements,” the Texas PUC rules state. 
     

    Kind of tone deaf of the various coalitions to argue against this, it’d be far better to take a ‘lets work together’ stance.  Best to pick battles wisely: if push comes to shove it’s unlikely that tens of millions of voting citizens will put up with what Nick is going through right now (Or freezing in winter).

    Lynn would know, but it seems like supplying an equivalent Inductive/capacitive/resistive to the grid if the data center drops off would be a solution.  

  16. Lynn says:

    I just serviced the septic tank at the house.  It was backed up about six inches and the solid chlorine grate was ¾ plugged.  Again.  

    I may cut a hole in that chlorine grate, not big enough for the chlorine tablets to get through but big enough that they do not clog the grate.

    Found some fire ants during the process.  Or, they found me and bit my hands.  Lovely, just lovely.

  17. lpdbw says:

    I don’t know the specifics, but the maintenance crew on any large plant that consumes electricity must carefully manage a lot of factors all at once.  At the very least, it’s considered bad manners to consume power unevenly across phases, and your inductive load needs balanced across legs as well.  Imbalance causes reflection and standing wave  loss and heat on the transmission lines.  Power companies don’t like that.

    It’s easy to say “substitute inductive and capacitive load”, but I imagine you need to design your consumption around minimizing those in favor of resistive load in any event.  Building a large backup resistive load is straightforward, if not cheap and easy, but large inductors and capacitors are hellishly difficult.  They all get hot and sometimes ‘splodey.

    In the hobbyist world, we work in microhenries and picofarads.   The biggest capacitor I ever saw was 1 farad, and it was the size of a washing machine.   It scared me.

  18. Nick Flandrey says:

    https://www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/article-15990855/fairlife-cyberattack-milk-production-halt.html 

    1 in 4 households use their product.    That is far too many for resilience .

    n

  19. Nick Flandrey says:

    My science prof in college told me about a big cap that got accidentally shorted… one that was as big as a trash can, and used in radar systems.    The shorting link (installed to prevent static electricity from building a charge on the cap) had come undone on one end, and a guy unthinkingly just swung it shut.

    Big bang and no more shorting bar, and a guy learned a lesson that might have saved his life.

    n

  20. Lynn says:

    Lynn would know, but it seems like supplying an equivalent Inductive/capacitive/resistive to the grid if the data center drops off would be a solution.  

    Houston Lighting and Power dropped both STP nukes and the Parish Power Plant, about 8,000 MW,  because of the backfeed in July 1989 ??? when they were testing the switchyard at STP.  We went from fat, dumb, and happy to dropping three of our steam turbines from the steam turbines valves going wide open trying to get more steam out of the boilers that was not there since the frequency sag was so much.  

    We managed to catch it since we almost 100 steam turbines online but it was dicey there for a while.  We were below 60 hz for around ten minutes and the back end of the steam turbines starts to heat up below 3,550 rpm for a reason that I do not understand.

    In the opposite case, HL&P lost so many customers in Hurricane Alicia in Sept 1991 ??? that TXU had to drop load and take the power so that HL&P did not trip units offline on minimum load for a couple of days.  But the load drop happened over a couple of hours so TXU had the time to adjust and take the peakers offline.

  21. Ray Thompson says:

    Buyers Trading In Vehicles With Negative Equity Face Record Monthly Payments

    Hence my paying cash, cashier’s check, for the new Highlander. It did not much matter as I had the title on the old Highlander. I did have a loan on the old vehicle for about a week because the CU offered $200.00 for any new car loan. The interest was less than the $200.00. The CU was not happy I paid off the loan. They tried to tell me I had to keep the loan for several months. I asked where that verbiage was in the loan contract. Hey, it’s your rules, not mine. Maybe think the entire process before committing.

    At the very least, it’s considered bad manners to consume power unevenly across phases, and your inductive load needs balanced across legs as well

    I knew an electrical engineer through my tenure at Tau Beta Pi. He worked for Alabama Power, and his sole job was dealing with the large steel mills and their power systems. Lots of technology involved to balance loads, rush currents, power factor and stuff that was way over my head. Alabama Power basically had a big managed substation at each of those big steel mills.

    The shorting link (installed to prevent static electricity from building a charge on the cap) had come undone on one end, and a guy unthinkingly just swung it shut.

    Yeh, the old big color tubes used in TV’s would kill if the high voltage was not discharged from the tube.

    I know from experience that the capacitor in electronic flashes will produce quite a spark, and surprise, when handled without being properly discharge. Those ol’ electrons sitting on the plates really do want to get out and enjoy themselves, all at once.

  22. EdH says:

    The capacitor thing was mentioned last night at dinner.  
     

    My friend’s son is heading out overseas to do whatever he does with killer drones and mentioned being startled that someone at work referred to him as ‘an old hand’.   But at 27 he’s been doing his stuff for five years now.

    This sequed into a discussion of hazing of newbies, mild stuff as it is frowned on now.  Asking a guy to go fetch 100 yards of flightline from stores  is about the extent of it. 
     

    I mentioned that tossing a charged cap to the new guy used to be a rite of initiation in electronics shops.  
     

    Someone else mentioned tossing a hot penny from the forge was considered humor by blacksmiths – new guys & lookie Lou’s beware.

  23. nick flandrey says:

    Checkerboard paint, left handed screwdrivers, board stretchers, metric rope, a can of ‘beam block’ (lighting guys)…    

    Used to be a fun way to send the new guy to all the different departments and work areas.

    n

  24. MrAtoz says:

    Found some fire ants during the process.  Or, they found me and bit my hands.  Lovely, just lovely.

    My arch-enemy. I still have a round bite mark inside my left ankle. From 1995.

    Checkerboard paint, left handed screwdrivers, board stretchers, metric rope, a can of ‘beam block’ (lighting guys)…    

    “Get me a bucket of rotor wash and a roll of flight line” was the go-to for new crew chiefs.

  25. Lynn says:

    interesting thing at the office, they wanted a new history, and under vaccinations, NOTHING about covid.   Still tracking polio, but not covid.       No questions about guns in the home either.

    There are a couple of inmates XXXXXX people with the Koof in my mother’s assisted living place.  They have them quarantined, no sending them to the ER anymore. One of them went to Louisiana with her son last weekend.

  26. Lynn says:

    I just serviced the septic tank at the house.  It was backed up about six inches and the solid chlorine grate was ¾ plugged.  Again.  

    I may cut a hole in that chlorine grate, not big enough for the chlorine tablets to get through but big enough that they do not clog the grate.

    I was telling the wife we may need to put in a new septic tank.  Ours is 28 years old and a 1,750 gallon tank.  A couple of my neighbors have replaced their 1,000 to 1,500 gallon tanks with 4,000 gallon tanks.  It is only $12,000 and a backhoe and very large truck driving through your front yard leaving huge ruts.

  27. Lynn says:

    “Tropical Storm Bertha to form in Gulf, could impact Texas”

       https://www.chron.com/weather/article/tropical-storm-bertha-texas-22351796.php

    “Rain is likely to be the biggest impact, but current forecasts do show a Texas landfall on Thursday or Friday.”

    And here we go!  Nothing good will come out of a storm named Bertha.

  28. Lynn says:

    “The Squirrel on the Train” by Kevin Hearne
       https://www.amazon.com/Squirrel-Train-Kevin-Hearne/dp/1738279278?tag=ttgnet-20

    A second 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 several of the other novellas and plan to read them 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. Atticus also is keeping a pregnant Wolfhound, Orlaith, for his girlfriend, and has another dog, Starbuck.

    Atticus and the three dogs head to Portland on the train to check out the city and acquire a new teleporting spot. The dogs chase a squirrel riding the train in the train station and run into detective Gabriela Ibarra again who is investigating a murder. And the murdered person looks just like Atticus!

    The author has a website at:
       https://kevinhearne.com/

    My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    Amazon rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars (193 reviews)

    Lynn

  29. nick flandrey says:

    I just serviced the septic tank at the house.  It was backed up about six inches and the solid chlorine grate was ¾ plugged.  Again. 

    – @lynn, your experience, and other folks, was why I spent the extra for buried drip lines.  No chlorine needed.

    It seems like that’s the most common failure point.

    n

  30. nick flandrey says:

    While waiting to taxi youngest, I’m prepping ‘gimmies’ for our show in August.   I’ve got about 200 left to do.

    Open the plastic bag, remove shrink wrap, peel and stick address label on box.   Repeat.

    n

  31. Lynn says:

    I just serviced the septic tank at the house.  It was backed up about six inches and the solid chlorine grate was ¾ plugged.  Again. 

    – @lynn, your experience, and other folks, was why I spent the extra for buried drip lines.  No chlorine needed.

    It seems like that’s the most common failure point.

    I am still amazed that you got that permitted.  That would never be allowed here in Fort Bend County.

    So you do not put chlorine in your system, amazing.

  32. Lynn says:

    “’Acceleration without fuel’ – revolutionary thruster aces first tests on orbit”

       https://thesilicongraybeard.blogspot.com/2026/07/acceleration-without-fuel-revolutionary.html

    “News broke on Space.com this afternoon about successful tests of the first of its kind thruster that uses superconducting magnets to move a satellite in space. 

    Zenno Astronautics, a spin-off from the University of Auckland, has flown its new “Supertorquer” system on the Mira satellite built by California-based start-up Impulse Space. The tests began shortly after Mira’s launch in November last year aboard the SpaceX Transporter 12 mission and saw the shoebox-size device perform with flying colors, Zenno Astronautics CEO and founder Max Arshavsky, told Space.com.

    “Superconducting magnetics can convert solar energy input directly into momentum in space, by interacting with the Earth’s magnetic field, so the solar energy input takes the place of liquid fuels carried for onboard thrusters. The problem with this approach has been that the hardware to do it was too big, complex, and heavy to fit on a satellite.”

    Huh.

  33. nick flandrey says:

    So you do not put chlorine in your system, amazing. 

    – because there isn’t any way to come in contact with the treated water.   The drip lines are 7-9″ under the grass.   That way I avoid “dew” that is really  treated wastewater on my grass until 2pm when the sun finally lights up that part of  the yard.

    n

  34. Bob Sprowl says:

    Based on the comments here I canceled Boost and moved to Visible.  Boost charged me for data and while I don’t use much data, mostly for maps on trips, the Boost data charges seemed excessive.  

    Visible has connection problems.  I can’t call or text one of my grand-daughters, a friend in Las Vegas, or a local friend.  Their help pages suggested I check the signal bars, turn airplane mode on and then off, reboot the phone, update the phone, update the installed version of Visible. None of these fixed the problem. 

    My iPhone 14 worked fine with Ting and then Boost.

    Any suggestions?

    I really would like to call my grand-daughter as it’s her birthday

  35. Lynn says:

    “Texas flood destroyed or heavily damaged 135 Kerr County homes, Abbott said”

       https://www.texastribune.org/2026/07/20/texas-flood-kerr-county-homes-destroyed-greg-abbott/

    Wow!

  36. lpdbw says:

    I always feel bad when I recommend something that doesn’t work out well.  I’ve used Visible all over the country for years without issues, including watching youtube videos.

    I have no suggestions.

  37. Lynn says:

    My iPhone 14 worked fine with Ting and then Boost.

    Any suggestions?

    I really would like to call my grand-daughter as it’s her birthday

    Sean Hannity keeps on hawking  https://www.puretalk.com/ .

  38. MrAtoz says:

    Any suggestions?

    Mint Mobile has plans similar to Visible’s. MrsAtoz and TheTwinsAtoz use it without problems (Vegas). Mint is under T-Mobile.

  39. Lynn says:

    “Tom Homan Announces DHS Has Had to Release 65,000 Illegal Aliens Because of Activist Judges”

       https://rumble.com/v7czjlu-tom-homan-announces-dhs-has-had-to-release-65000-illegal-aliens-because-of-.html?e9s=src_v1_upp_v

    This should be ZERO releases.

    Hat tip to:

        https://thelibertydaily.com/

    10
    2
  40. Greg Norton says:

    Sean Hannity keeps on hawking  https://www.puretalk.com/ .

    I thought Cutie Pie shilled for Patriot Mobile.

  41. MrAtoz says:

    This should be ZERO releases.

    LOL. Downvoted. Because crimmigrants have rights here, or activist judges really run the country? Deport the judges with the crimmigrants.

  42. Lynn says:

    Sean Hannity keeps on hawking  https://www.puretalk.com/ .

    I thought Cutie Pie shilled for Patriot Mobile.

    https://www.puretalk.com/partner-endorsements

  43. Lynn says:

    “President Trump Just Squashed Mamdani’s Fever Dream of Arresting Netanyahu”

       https://redstate.com/rusty-weiss/2026/07/20/president-trump-just-squashed-mamdanis-fever-dream-of-arresting-netanyahu-n2204536

    “President Trump on Monday delivered a decisive verbal smackdown to New York City’s socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani, shutting down any notion of detaining Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on American soil.”

    “The president squashed Mamdani’s persistent fantasy of using the NYPD to cuff the Israeli leader over a non-binding ICC (International Criminal Court) warrant that the United States doesn’t even recognize.”

    Mamdami is a shame on the USA.

  44. nick flandrey says:

    My wife uses Visible all over the country without issues with an iphone.   Even at the BOL, where my ATT doesn’t work, her Visible works fine.

    n

    Added, which is to say that there is probably a setting in the phone that isn’t right, possibly the setting for which networks to use under roaming or data?
    n

  45. Lynn says:

    It is 102 F outside now.  Inside the office on the north side, it is a compfy 75 F in my office.

    Eight tons of A/C helps immensely.

  46. nick flandrey says:

    I used to have trouble roaming with a “B” side network, and would have to do something manual.  I know I was poking around in my settings on the cruise ship to try to shut stuff off, and there are a lot of technical settings still, even though most stuff ‘just works’.

    n

  47. nick flandrey says:

    I’m still running the portables to help the main system cool down the house.   It soaked up a lot of heat during that week I was gone.

    n

  48. karlp says:

    Mamdani is a shame (stain) on the USA…

  49. Bob Sprowl says:

    I changed carriers to US Mobile and have the same problem. 

    The signal strength I thought I had is my Wi-Fi strength.  How do I see my cellular strength on an iPhone 14?

    Still can’t call my grand-daughter… 

  50. drwilliams says:

    “A couple of my neighbors have replaced their 1,000 to 1,500 gallon tanks with 4,000 gallon tanks.”

    Old people poop more. 

  51. drwilliams says:

    “President Trump Just Squashed Mamdani’s Fever Dream of Arresting Netanyahu”
     

    The UN Sec-Gen weighed in the other day with chapter and verse on the UN Treaty. Something Mundummy would have studied in elementary school if he wasn’t an alien invader himself. 
     

    Trump should have just told NYC that if they violate the UN Treaty he will have US Marshalls arrest them and send them to the ICCCourt in the Hague for prosecution. That would leave so many PLT’s fit to be tied we’d need a four day weekend to properly celebrate. 

  52. Lynn says:

    I changed carriers to US Mobile and have the same problem. 

    The signal strength I thought I had is my Wi-Fi strength.  How do I see my cellular strength on an iPhone 14?

    Still can’t call my grand-daughter… 

    Is that iPhone 14 4G or 5G?

    I was having problems with my Samsung 4G S10.  So I replaced it with a Samsung 5G S26.  The upgrade from 4G to 5G made the phone usable again.  

  53. Gavin says:

    Trump should have just told NYC that if they violate the UN Treaty he will have US Marshalls arrest them and send them to the ICCCourt in the Hague for prosecution.

    While it’s an entertaining thought, I wouldn’t want to see Trump do anything which even in jest suggests legitimization for the ICC.

  54. nick flandrey says:

    Minneapolis is lost.  Detroit is lost.  Chicago and NYFC are probably lost….

    Progressive Minneapolis official gets PROMOTION and pay rise after America’s wokest prosecutor gave him slap on wrist for keying six Teslas at dealership to avenge Trump win

    By ELIOT FORCE, US NEWS REPORTER

    A Minnesota state employee caught on video vandalizing six Teslas last year received only a minimal disciplinary punishment and has since been promoted and given a pay raise.

    In March 2025, Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) employee Dylan Adams caused more than $21,000 in damage while on the clock, allegedly walking around Minneapolis with his dog and keying six Teslas.

    When there are two sets of laws, there are NO laws.

    n

    11
  55. Bob Sprowl says:

    My about screen tells me that I have an iPhone 14, nada about 4G or 5G.  I have iOS 26.5.2 which I believe is the current release.  My primary carrier and network are listed as Boost. 

    Since is just changed to US Mobile that change obviously didn’t get setup properly.  I’m gonna  have a fun evening getting this corrected.

  56. Ray Thompson says:

    Since is just changed to US Mobile that change obviously didn’t get setup properly.  I’m gonna  have a fun evening getting this corrected.

    Silly question. Have you tried the tech support standard line of restarting your phone? Sometimes when changing carriers it is necessary to get a new profile, done at startup.

    You could also turn on WiFi calling.

    Search Assist

    To turn on Wi-Fi calling on your iPhone, go to Settings, tap on Phone, then select Wi-Fi Calling and toggle it on. Make sure you are connected to a Wi-Fi network before enabling this feature.

    Steps to Enable Wi-Fi Calling on iPhone

    To activate Wi-Fi calling on your iPhone, follow these simple steps:

    1. Connect to a Wi-Fi Network

    • Ensure your iPhone is connected to a Wi-Fi network.

    2. Access Settings

    • Open the Settings app on your iPhone.

    3. Enable Wi-Fi Calling

    • Tap on Cellular (or Mobile Data).
    • Select Wi-Fi Calling.
    • Toggle the switch for Wi-Fi Calling on This iPhone to turn it on.

    4. Confirm Your Address

    • You may need to enter or confirm your address for emergency services.

    5. Check Status

    • Once enabled, you should see “Wi-Fi” in the status bar, indicating that your calls will use Wi-Fi when cellular service is weak
  57. Greg Norton says:

    I was having problems with my Samsung 4G S10.  So I replaced it with a Samsung 5G S26.  The upgrade from 4G to 5G made the phone usable again. 

    Tri-band WiFi 7. AT&T must have an “unlicensed spectrum” transceiver nearby.

    5G can use WiFi spectrum for voice and data when necessary.

    While I don’t recommend TP Link routers as a primary gateway, I have two of their triple band WiFi routers I experment with in access point mode, one WiFi 6 and another WiFi 7.

    Right now, the WiFi 7 router is offline since I don’t own any devices capable of using the full capabilities of the protocol.

    The 6 Hz band of the WiFi 6 router is really cool for my newer ThinkPad and our work laptops.

  58. Bob Sprowl says:

    It took 90 minutes to get it fixed.   

    The US Mobile chat person “Faizan” was very patient with me and taught  how to take and send screen shots from my iPhone.  We found  both Boost and Visible eSims installed.  And I had an SOS at the top of my iPhone screen.  (Still don’t what that means.)  We installed an eSim from US Mobile that completely locked the phone and then had to remove four eSims before we reinstalled their eSim.

    But my phone is now working and called my grand-daughter on her birthday -YAY!

    Now I will fix and eat a late supper.

    12
  59. nick flandrey says:

    @bob, I’m glad you got it sorted out.   That’s a bit crazy that it got so mixed up.

    n

  60. Nick Flandrey says:

    I think I might head to bed.   I’ll read for a bit, but I’m tired.  Up early and not great sleep, plus the last week of really hard work, and I have some catching up to do.

    Too hot for  a tiny little fire.

    n

  61. drwilliams says:

    @Greg Norton

    “Trump should have just told NYC that if they violate the UN Treaty he will have US Marshalls arrest them and send them to the ICCCourt in the Hague for prosecution. That would leave so many PLT’s fit to be tied we’d need a four day weekend to properly celebrate. ”

    Say anything to make PLT heads explode, kind of like playing Slim Whitman for the Martians.

  62. OldGuy says:

    I can guarantee downvotes about this, but there is a very funny satire group on FB called “Baby News Network”. The mini-movies are AI generated, but use baby versions of world and political figures, with dialog that sounds like the characters. Impressive production quality.

    Most people here won’t like the targets of the satire; they are a bit left-leaning. (There’s some vids that satirize Democrats.)  But you gotta be impressed with the production quality of the ‘little guys’.

    I haven’t looked, but the content might also be on the YouTubes. Here’s the FB link to the group: https://www.facebook.com/BabyNewsNetwork .

    Go ahead and downvote. But it’s funny stuff, IMHO.

  63. drwilliams says:

    Canadian Wildfire Smoke Just Crossed the Border—And It Blew Up the Fantasy of Carbon Emission Trading

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/07/19/canadian-wildfire-smoke-just-crossed-the-border-and-it-blew-up-the-fantasy-of-carbon-emission-trading/

    Tell the Canadians we want to implement CET retroactive to the first of the year, and they owe us 1.73 trillion Real Dollars so far for 2026.

  64. drwilliams says:

    There are 3 types of farters. Which one are you? 

    https://www.popsci.com/health/types-of-farters/?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=popular-science-newsletter

    Note the illustrating photo that features three AWFL’s walking down the sidewalk.

  65. Gavin says:

    I fixed a problem on my ‘06 Sierra 1500 today, so of course another problem immediately presented itself. The oil pressure sender had failed, showing max oil pressure at all times, so today with the help of several yootoob videos I replaced it. While doing so, I found out that the heater core quick connector (some fibrous plastic) was due to fail today, and it did so, providing me with a shower of coolant. Fortunately, the engine had cooled down enough that it was just warm, but still tasted terrible. Cue much rinsing and spitting of water, which didn’t quite get rid of the taste. So I have exchanged a nuisance problem for a non-driveable problem. Glad I have a backup vehicle.

  66. drwilliams says:

    Canada’s Toxic Wildfire Smoke Kills More Americans Than 9/11?

    With toxic smoke from Canada’s 2026 wildfires once again invading the United States, a major peer-reviewed study published in Nature provides an estimate of the potential death toll from wildfire smoke.

    Researchers estimated that smoke from Canada’s record-breaking 2023 wildfire season caused an enormous health burden across multiple continents.

    They combined global atmospheric models, satellite and ground-based observations, wildfire-emissions inventories, population data, and established exposure–response relationships to estimate how much fine-particle pollution reached populated regions—and how many deaths were attributable to that exposure.The study estimated that smoke from Canada’s 2023 wildfires alone resulted in:

    • 4,100 acute deaths in the United States
    • 41,900 premature deaths across North America
    • 82,100 premature deaths worldwide

    The 4,100 U.S. acute deaths were part of an estimated 5,400 short-term deaths across the United States and Canada during severe “Canada smoke days.”

    The U.S. estimate alone exceeded the 2,977 people killed on 9/11.

    Wildfire smoke contains particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, microscopic particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream. Exposure can trigger inflammation and oxidative stress, worsen asthma and chronic lung disease, and increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, respiratory failure, and premature death.

    https://principia-scientific.com/canadas-toxic-wildfire-smoke-kills-more-americans-than-9-11/

    Hah! Someone has been using the software! Dated 10 September 2025.

    Reckless murderers. They’ve had years to take corrective action.

    And don’t forget the fentanyl deaths.

    All told Canada may be killing more of our citizens than Fauci The Butcher.

  67. drwilliams says:

    “While doing so, I found out that the heater core quick connector (some fibrous plastic) was due to fail today, and it did so, providing me with a shower of coolant.”

    Another reason to wear eye shields when under a vehicle.

  68. Lynn says:

    I had no idea that Uvalde got nailed by the flooding also.  “FLOODING IN UVALDE, TEXAS, July 2026”

    If you want to donate, this is a good place to do so.

       https://www.churchesofchristdrt.org/

  69. drwilliams says:

    WNBA’s Issue With Viral Meme of Sophie Cunningham Once Again Proves This League Is Weird

    However, the league’s union is blocking authorized dealers from licensing the moment on merchandise, calling it “derogatory.”

    https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2026/07/20/wnbas-issue-with-viral-meme-of-sophie-cunningham-once-again-proves-this-league-is-weird-n2679812

    Poor little black lesbian flowers might get hurty feeling.

    No word on blue shiitehole cities t-shit sales featuring black lesbians choking and punching Clark after she’s been fouled to the maple.

  70. Rolf Grunsky (a Crimson Tory) says:

    How about we stop sending smoke and fentanyl when you stop sending illegal handguns to us. At the moment it would seem that all new handguns here are illegal.

    Note to gun control enthusiasts;  the only people walking around with handguns in Canada are cops and criminals. Seems to be working really well. The government’s solution to this is to make them more illegal!

  71. Lynn says:

    How about we stop sending smoke and fentanyl when you stop sending illegal handguns to us. At the moment it would seem that all new handguns here are illegal.

    Note to gun control enthusiasts;  the only people walking around with handguns in Canada are cops and criminals. Seems to be working really well. The government’s solution to this is to make them more illegal!

    Are you ready?

    Are you ready to be annexed by the USA?

    BTW, all we want is Alberta, aka Texas North.

    5
    1
  72. Rolf Grunsky (a Crimson Tory) says:

    Are you ready to be annexed by the USA?

    No fucking way!

  73. Ken Mitchell says:

    On flatulence:  In the mid 1980s, one of the Mather AFB (Sacramento, CA) flight surgeons had apparently worked on Project Mercury, the first astronaut program. During the classroom part of our annual altitude chamber re-qualifications, the old flight surgeon discussed some of the research done with flatus, which had previously never been studied in detail. Several men were given specific diets to eat, and then ordered to walk around in the swimming pool. Other researchers followed along to catch the farts bubbling up for analysis.  I gather this took several weeks in total. The end result was that farts were mostly methane, with some ketones and aldehydes, but nothing that would be dangerous even in a pure oxygen atmosphere, which was the focus of the entire exercise. 

    11
  74. Gavin says:

    nothing that would be dangerous even in a pure oxygen atmosphere, which was the focus of the entire exercise. 

    Combustion isn’t the only hazard of flatus in a low pressure environment, which an O2 atmosphere would be (between 20 and 25 per cent). Prior to flying in high performance aircraft (fighters), air- and ground crew take a simulated ride to high altitude to experience hypoxia and sudden decompression, to ensure they would recognize the symptoms. Prior to the explosive decompression phase, instructors would be VERY insistent that you pass any flatus because the pressure change could cause effects from mild to severe discomfort to potentially fatal tears if you had a prior weakness in the intestines. 

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