Hot again, same as the last several weeks. It isn’t getting quite as hot in the afternoons, but it’s still pretty nasty to be out in it, especially in the sun. Everything was too hot to touch.
In the late morning I finally got around to starting my day. I showered. Soaped up and did all my scrubbing with a washcloth, then stepped into the shower and rinsed under the warm water from the pipes in the attic. I could do it every day if I had to. Not a big deal.
Then I decided to try troubleshooting the water heater. Unplugged it. Checked fuses. Checked continuity. Everything was ok. Plugged it back in to start following voltage around and it worked. Put it back together and called it a win. The second step of the Rheem troubleshooting guide says to unplug it and LEAVE IT unplugged for 5 minutes. OF COURSE I didn’t do that the first time, because I know better. I only unplugged it long enough to discharge caps, and then plugged it back in.
Turns out, it really needs to be unplugged for 5 minutes to self reset. Self resetting fuse? Safety feature because it’s gas fired? Who knows, but if I’d followed the instructions to the letter, I’d have had a 10 minute hot shower in the morning.
Seems to be fine.
Did my pickup and hit the goodwill outlet on the way home. Found a couple of things I’ve needed, and some resale stuff. Grabbed more media to rip. The store got their air conditioning installed and it makes a huge difference.
Took the stuff to the shop and did more sorting before heading home. Ate leftovers.
Today should be EXCITING and FILLED WITH DANGER! Or not. I’ve got the pickups I put off, and trying to figure out a birthday gift for the wife. I did pick up a card, and steaks, but I don’t have any ideas for a gift. My emergency jewelry stash is empty too.
Oh well, if I can’t think of anything I’ll put a bow on the window at the BOL.
Stack some presents. You might need them later.
nick
And why all of civilization should be glad that Ray has not turned his powers to evil.
Speaking of bad smells, the tray under the fridge still stinks. It’s a different stink, so I’m pretty sure it’s the source of our bad smell, but it is still a bad smell.
Time to try something else.
———
80F and the sunrise is big and orange. Pretty. Still wish I was in bed instead of seeing it….
——–
Snack made, kids moving. Soon the day begins.
n
Who says I haven’t? The people behind me in the aisle when leaving the airplane may disagree with your assertion even if no flames.
Tomorrow the new iPhone 18 Pro arrives, pickup at 1:00 PM. Burgandy, 512 GB. I will probably be at the Apple Store for an hour. Set the new phone up by restoring from a backup. Then transfer the eSIM. Finally erase the old phone and give it to Apple for the trade-in. Yeh, I could sell it for more on eBay but the scams are rampant. Claims of damage, missing product, misrepresented, etc. It is not worth my time and trouble.
I also ordered the gimbal that Mr. Atoz recommended except I got the newer model. It was on sale on Amazon. My wife said it will be my Christmas present so it will sit unused for three months. Which is OK. Next year I plan on using the iPhone to photograph a football game as an experiment.
And the tray doesn’t slide out? Maybe it slides out from the rear?
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2026/09/16/good-thing-his-wifes-the-smart-one-travis-kelce-hit-hard-by-illegal-scammer-n3819059
Famous fervent Biden supporter scammed for millions by illegal immigrant.
Brings a smile with your morning coffee, doesn”t it?
But again, a $31 million dollar scam and three charges plus restitution. Baloney. There should be a charge for every victim and every fslse financial statement given to those victims, and probably dozens of charges involving bank crimes. No plea deals for illegals. Convict of every charge, sentence them consecutively, and then process for fertilizer.
“Time to try something else.”
Wipe it down and fill to brim with strong bleach solution with a couple drops of Dawn and leave it outside in the sunlight for the day.
The sunlight will break down the bleach and evolve chlorine. Should do the trick.
Congratulations! That’s what I am thinking of getting, let us know how it goes!
TBH, the first thing I do is put an OtterBox
casebumper on mine, I couldn’t tell you what color my current phone actually is under that safety orange rubber.I’ve pretty much decided on the Duo. It is going to be weird using it as people will constantly “can I hold it/try it”. Uh, no. Get your own phone. I’ll probably try out the Apple Pencil “C” on it, but I wonder how the screen will hold up. The Apple Folio case for the Duo looks weird. I don’t want to open a flap to use the phone when folded. I’ll probably get a 3rd Party case.
Greed. That tells you all you need to know about Kelce. Same as the people taken by Madoff. Plus, how stupid can one be?
I put a case on my phones. I use the Apple silicon case. It works and is not that bulky. This will be my fifth iPhone and I have never broken a screen or scratched the back. The wife did manage to crack the back of her phone and I had to pay for repairs.
She has an iPhone SE as she likes the size. That phone is 5 years old, uses Lightning connector. We recently had the battery replaced by Apple. Apple really needs to make a new phone that size. But the scramble for more battery life requires bigger cases.
I would really consider a smaller phone, if the camera was the same. The Pro Max is way too big for my needs and wants. Other people like it.
Don’t just turn them down flat. Tell them $10 cash for two minutes.
I sometimes do that when people ask me to talk just for a couple minutes or want my opinion on something. Depends on who it is and on my mood.
It will be interesting to see how well it holds up over time. Knowing Apple I suspect it will do well. I would still consider Apple Care.
So many jokes possible. Restraint is needed.
Yes, your reasoning is similar to mine, but Apple is convinced people want huge. Maybe it is the main device for many? I personally want plenty of memory and a good camera, and it has to fit in a shirt pocket.
I recall that I bought an iPad mini years ago, it was perfectly mis-sized. Too big to be held comfortably in one hand, too small for text to be read easily. Gave it away.
I applied for a class action settlement, Jackson vs Gen Digital, several months ago. I fully expected that any settlement would be a few dollars. I just got my settlement check, $616.12. Wowsers! Best I have ever seen.
https://www.classaction.org/news/9.95m-gen-digital-settlement-ends-class-action-lawsuit-over-alleged-prerecorded-marketing-messages
Kelce’s inlaws were execs at Merrill Lynch back when that meant something. They are the brains in that family tree.
Anyone still depending on a two percenter at Bank of America Private Wealth Management, whats left of Merrill Lynch, for a monthly trust check or a comfortable retirement at this point needs to reevaluate that decision IMHO.
Had a similar experience to Nick’s water heater. Wife’s computer fell of the network. Unplug, replug, swap cable – nothing. Reboot – nothing. Power off – nothing.
Following ChatGPT’ advice, I ultimately powered off the computer, unplugged it, hit the power switch to make sure any caps were really empty.
That did it. Apparently, the network card always has at least minimal power, in case you have wake-on-LAN active, and it had gotten itself somehow totally locked up.
Be sure to check the coils, fan and air paths leading to the tray. Vacuum any dust off the coils (should be done anyway). All that is part of the evaporation system. If need be and possible pull bins and look for drains leading to the trays. Pain in the rear I know ‘cause I’ve done it.
Don’t live in a swamp. 😀
You have to be careful with bleach & plastic. A dilute hydrogen peroxide solution might be an alternative, it is self passivating pretty quickly.
If you have a borescope you can try to take a look at hard-to-reach areas.
The trick is to get it vapourised without catching fire before you want the bang. Wheat flour is perhaps easier to manage, albeit less energetic.
Does one this understand that fixing bad smells is an activity hit by the strike? If so, might I suggest a wee smear of Vick’s VapoRub on the philtrum pending action by the strikees…
There’s your problem…
Makes my blood boil.
Give up nothing.
“… this understand”“… thus understand”
Ducking autocorrect.
Mosdef on that puppy. I always get AC on new phones. I’ll keep it at least through the next iteration, maybe two. The Duo may get AC until it is traded.
“Wheat flour is perhaps easier to manage, albeit less energetic.“
Pyrotechnicians use coffee creamer ignited by gunpowder to make the big fireballs in the movies.
And the tray doesn’t slide out? Maybe it slides out from the rear?
– that is what I expected and know from other fridges. Not this one. The tray has the topology of a city center, and is screwed in place. There are tubes, presumably from the ice maker, that go into an additional little tray that is above the main tray. Access to the tray is obstructed by all the mechanical crap that makes the fridge work.
“There is a stink in the kitchen.”
–“Huh.”
“!!!!”
—“ Huh. Probably the drip tray”
Days pass.
“There’s water and gunk in the drip tray and it stinks.”
—“huh, thought that might be the case.”
“!!!!!”
Much staring with intent later…
“It’s because you put meat in the fridge and the juice ran down into it.”
— “Huh.”
After days with the fridge in the middle of the kitchen, and the back off…
“Do you have any long swabs, I can’t reach all the nooks of the tray?”
—“ not here.”
“!!??”
Bringing us to the present day. The assumption that I’d fix the stink, that after identifying it, I’d somehow act. That after she made a mess I’d clean it up and finish the job – yeah, covered by the strike.
I’ve got some hospital grade stuff, and some outdoor rated odor killer, and yes, I’m going to take a look at it now. I still might not do anything, but solving the issue after others tried and failed might make a point that probably needs making. A point that we all usually go out of the way to AVOID making.
n
y’all are making me chuckle with your iphone upgrades. I just bought a new back for my S10e to replace it again, but now the backlight is always yellowish despite any settings, so I might have to replace it anyway.
I bought it when the S10 was new, and only then because cracks in my old phone screen were starting to shed glass that poked and bled me.
n
It’s funny how the auction stuff seems to go in waves.
I’ve wanted a fume hood for my shop for a long time. Bought one that turned out to be shop made, in a High School. It got disassembled and not used. I always keep an eye out for them since then. It’s been 7 years and this week there have been 4 or more fume hoods in different auctions.
One was new, but comes without filters, and they want to do an audit before selling you filters, so that you get appropriate filters. One was specifically for bio threats, used, and I was concerned about its decommissioning. Still looked dirty. Another was a great looking and perfectly sized enclosure but no filtration. Another was a ceiling mounted filtration unit designed for lab use, but no enclosure. Another was just the extractor and filter, designed to go on a storage cabinet…. and one was just giant.
All moot as I don’t really have space or time at the moment.
n
I was going thru stuff at the shop and opened a box shipped to me from one of my auctions… and besides the item I remember buying, there were two AR charging handles. I don’t remember buying them, but hooray.
n
Unleaded regular gasoline is now $3.699 and diesel is $5.759 at my local Shell. The big surge is still coming.
Unleaded regular gasoline is now $3.799 and diesel is $5.959 at my local Shell. The big surge is still coming.
Can you afford $10 gasoline and $15 diesel?
“By Inviting Canada to Join, the EU Has Revealed Their Plan to Transform the European Union Into a “Global Union””
https://americafirstreport.com/by-inviting-canada-to-join-the-eu-has-revealed-their-plan-to-transform-the-european-union-into-a-global-union/
“The European Union has a population that is larger than the United States, it has the second largest economy in the entire world, and now it wants Canada. Of course any form of membership in the EU will involve giving up at least some sovereignty to the bureaucrats in Brussels.”
“Is Canada really this stupid? The EU likes to dangle the carrot of economic prosperity to tempt prospective members to agree to entangle themselves in their tyrannical web. Of course once you are locked in, it will be exceedingly difficult to ever get out.”
Yes, I believe that Canada will do this over the objections of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
“Shaq moved his dad from a $60K Army salary to $500K a year — and gave his mom $750K. Here’s how it’s legal”
https://finance.yahoo.com/small-business/articles/shaq-moved-dad-60k-army-103500420.html
“Shaquille O’Neal has built a significant business empire, estimated at upwards of $500 million, since his days dominating opposing centers in the NBA.”
“Better known as “Shaq,” O’Neal achieved this through early strategic investments in tech companies such as Ring, Apple, Lyft and Google, as well as an expansive franchise portfolio — predominantly in restaurants.”
Shaq appears to be incredibly smart. I met him back around 1995 or so. I am 6’1″, he is 7’3″ and is really tall. His hand was at least twice the size of my hand when we shook hands.
I bought a Samsung Galaxy S21+ five years ago, and never had any problems with it, it has held up great in a simple case&holster from Encased. From time to time Verizon would offer me upgrade “deals” that seemed mostly designed to get me to upgrade my cellular plan and/or add a phone “line.” I found them entertaining in a “find-the-catch” way.
Last month the offer was a little different: trade in my S21+ for an S26+, no change to account details or price, 36-month payment plan at $30/month, offset by a $30/month credit on my bill.
As far as I can tell the catch is more use of AI in the system, more tracking, and more monitoring of usage and activity.
I took the offer. I don’t do anything on or with my phone that I am not willing to be public. If I die (from prostate cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or anything else) and my executor closes the account before August 2029, my estate will owe Verizon some money – but I won’t care how that gets sorted out.
Transferring everything over to the new phone was pretty easy, took a couple hours to get everything installed, upgraded, and configured. Shipping in my trade-in was easy, just had to stop by the local UPS store.
Only out-of-pocket expense has been $30 for a new case&holster.
So far everything is working well. I can’t really tell any difference from my S21+.
Now I am just waiting for my next bill to post, curious to see if it contains any surprises.
Being offered membership, even associate membership, in the EU is like being offered a spot on a Special Olympics team.
“Enemy in the Dark (Perry Rhodan #85)” by Kurt Mahr
https://www.amazon.com/Enemy-Dark-Perry-Rhodan-85/dp/1441660690?tag=ttgnet-20
Book number eighty-five of a series of one hundred and thirty-six space opera books in English. The original German books, actually pamphlets, number in the thousands with several spinoffs. The English books started with two translated German stories per book translated by Wendayne Ackerman and transitioned to one story per book with the sixth book. And then they transition back to two stories in book #109/110. The Ace publisher dropped out at #118, so Forrest and Wendayne Ackerman published books #119 to #136 in pamphlets before stopping in 1978. The German books were written from 1961 to present time, having sold two billion copies and even recently been rebooted again. I read the well printed and well bound book published by Ace in 1975 that I had to be very careful with due to age. I bought an almost complete box of Perry Rhodans a decade or two ago on ebay that I am finally getting to since I lost my original Perry Rhodans in The Great Flood of 1989. In fact, I now own book #1 to book #106, plus the Atlan books, and some of the Lemuria books.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Rhodan
BTW, this is actually book number 93 of the original German pamphlets written in 1963. There is a very good explanation of the plot in German on the Perrypedia German website of all of the PR books. There is automatic Google translation available for English, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, French, and Portuguese.
https://www.perrypedia.de/wiki/Der_Feind_im_Dunkel
There is alternate synopsis site at:
https://www.perryrhodan.us/summaries/93#
In this alternate universe, USSF Major Perry Rhodan and his three fellow astronauts blasted off in a three stage rocket to the Moon in their 1971. The first stage of the rocket was chemical, the second and third stages were nuclear. After crashing on the Moon due to a strange radio interference, they discover a massive crashed alien spaceship with an aged male scientist (Khrest), a female commander (Thora), and a crew of 500. It has been over seventy years since then and the Solar Empire has flourished with tens of millions of people and many spaceships headquartered in the Gobi desert, the city of Terrania. Perry Rhodan has been elected by the people of Earth to be the World Administrator and keep them from being taken over by the robot administrator of Arkon.
Perry Rhodan is desperately looking for alliances to help defend The Terran Empire. Earth and Arkon with Atlan in charge have formed a mutual defense alliance. Atlan has a problem with the planet Opghan where the robot administrator has been destroyed so Atlan asks Perry Rhodan to investigate. Rhodan sends out a light cruiser over 10,000 light years to the planet and they find it to be a water world. And things go bad soon after they land on a small island.
Two observations:
1. Forrest Ackerman should have put two or three of the translated stories in each book. Having two stories in the first five books worked out well. Just having one story in the book is too short and would never allow the translated books to catch up to the German originals.
2. Anyone liking Perry Rhodan and wanting a more up to date space opera story should read the totally awesome “Mutineer’s Moon” Dahak series of three books by David Weber.
https://www.amazon.com/Mutineers-Moon-Dahak-David-Weber/dp/0671720856?tag=ttgnet-20/
3. Another excellent space opera series is the “Stand Alone: Wolfhounds – Book One” series by John Van Stry.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJT8JTBP?tag=ttgnet-20/
My rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 0.0 out of 5 stars (0 reviews)
Lynn
“Being Overrun”
https://areaocho.com/being-overrun-2/
“To those who keep supporting immigrants, watch as the city commission of Lake Worth Beach, FL disqualifies a candidate for City Manager because he isn’t Guatemalan and doesn’t speak Spanish.”
Unreal.
Speaking of iPhone cameras:
I use my phone camera to scan business and personal documents more than to take photos. I have about 6,000 photos in the phone library. Most of which are meh. That is a lifetime of cell phone pictures and transfers from early candybar and flip phones. Nobody will miss any of those photos since they are basically just in my library. That doesn’t include text photos. OTH, most of the stuff I scan with my phone is shared on the business server for the CPA for the 1120, grants, proposals, loans, etc., and personal stuff goes to the CPA for the 1040, loans, etc. The Kids will also need a lot of that upon my and MrsAtoz’s death. Almost all of that using iPhone scanning software, not their native stuff.
We have a Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner I haven’t used in years. Those puppies run in the $100’s. Our Epson printers have scanners. I used one once to see if they work.
I use Scanner Pro for the iPhone and can upload directly to our Synology NAS.
The least-used function on my iPhone is making actual phone calls. The few family calls I get a week is vastly outnumbered by spam calls.
Death to all spammers of all kinds.
“cracks in my old phone screen were starting to shed glass that poked and bled me.”
ProTip: Save money on expensive screen protectors. A roll of clear self-adhesive Contact paper will let you cut your own for years. It’s much cheaper than 6”-wide clear tape.
“Yes, I believe that Canada will do this over the objections of Alberta and Saskatchewan.”
Nice argument for secession.
Arlo and Janis: Shot Down Ideas
https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2026/09/17
Yup, my wife shoots down my crazy ideas all the time. I just go ahead and execute the ones that I think are important. Like replace her 14 year old car.
Student literacy levels in blue states with strong teachers unions more likely to be ……
https://nypost.com/2026/09/15/us-news/blue-states-with-strong-teachers-unions-have-lower-student-literacy-levels-study-shows/
Fill in blank.
“Yup, my wife shoots down my crazy ideas all the time. I just go ahead and execute the ones that I think are important. Like replace her 14 year old car.”
Next time she comes up with a crazy idea, ask if she is really sure, then go along. If it works out three times, let her have all the crazy ideas.
https://townhall.com/news/dmitri-bolt/2026/09/17/shannon-taylor-progressive-values-should-be-at-the-core-of-any-government-official-n2683153
We’ve done that. That’s why we don’t cut off thieve’s hands for stealing, or stone women to death for not obeying their husbands.
But calling insane cockamamie shit “progressive” doesn’t make it so.
I accidentally picked up on a spam call early last week (thought it was a doctor’s office call I was expecting).
Getting 5/6 “potential spam” calls a day ever since, despite being on the do-not-call list.
I suppose some might be election season advertising, as politicians have exempted themselves from that list, but nobody’s leaving a message.
https://pjmedia.com/rick-moran/2026/09/17/boston-cancels-report-on-reparations-when-researcher-found-to-have-fabricated-claims-in-her-book-n4957343
Can you please translate: “Although well-written”?
Sure, glad to :
Author or someone acting on the author’s behalf—probably the publisher—used elementary MS tools to check spelling and grammar. This did not alter the reality that the book is s steaming, stinking pile of garbage.
“Yup, my wife shoots down my crazy ideas all the time. I just go ahead and execute the ones that I think are important. Like replace her 14 year old car.”
Next time she comes up with a crazy idea, ask if she is really sure, then go along. If it works out three times, let her have all the crazy ideas.
She comes up with zero crazy ideas. She has very few ideas, she is a very basic down to earth girl. This is one of the reasons why I married her. Very smart but no ideas that require family resources to execute.
Painfully, slow, and agonizing. I have gotten 12 phone calls today from some spam organization dealing with Medicare. One of those calls I played along. When they asked for my Medicare information I said your caller stated they looked at my profile. So why can’t you? He said he needed the information to confirm it is really me and not someone impersonating me. So I made up a name, SSN, and Medicare Number. He said those were invalid. I said so is your phone call. I just wasted some of his time.
Except for that one call, I answer the call, say nothing, wait until they hang up. The hope is that their system will recognize the number as nothing. I may be dealing with it wrong. In the future if I get an “Unknown Caller” I will hang up immediately. I have no idea which strategy is best. Sending 55,000 volts is not technically feasible.
I was plagued with spam calls as well, emphasis on “was”.
My policy is “If you try to call me with an advertising message, especially if you claim that I have a previous commercial relationship with you (which is the only reason the Telephone Preference Service (the UK ”Do not Call” list) allows, I will block you. No argument. Instant block.”
It’s 3 taps on an Android phone. I make no doubt it’s just as easy on an iThing. This makes for a much quieter life, especially since I don’t have a landline, since I went FTTH 2+years ago. I don’t know how long my blocklist is, other than, “It’s long”.
The only snag is that my phone rejects the blocked number automagically, but my phone provider (VodaFone) then sends me a missed call text, also automagically. I can disble this easily enough, but I don’t want to, just in case I get a genuine call, but don’t pick up, because reasons.
It’s a minor problem, because such spam calls come in infrequent waves.
And in UK, political canvassing calls are illegal.
G.
A good idea, offset by the fact that posting your thoughts on X, or anywhere else, is also illegal.
Someone recently posted the idea that we need a plan for securing the UK’s nuclear weapons from their muslim government. That’s one reason I am not completely unhappy the UK’s military is so disastrously undertrained, underequipped, and under funded.
Not picking on you, Geoff. Just lamenting the decline.
That blocks the number. Every spam call I get is from a different number. Blocking does not work and the spammers know this.
One of the spammers used an actual phone number that was in my contacts. They are spoofing numbers with no concern for the issues that such spoofing causes.
Then we have some legitimate organizations that have provided a name with their phone number and the number comes across as “Unknown Caller”. In reality the number was a doctor’s office or some other entity where I need to take the call. Yes, those companies should fix their problem.
GOP House Rep. Appears to Break With Trump Fully on Immigration in New Ad
“ Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far. In July, 50% of the 50,000 people that were detained had no criminal record. Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policy.”
https://townhall.com/news/mattvespa/2026/09/17/gop-house-rep-appears-to-break-with-trump-fully-on-immigration-in-new-ad-n2683148
They have a criminal record—they entered this country illegally and violated the laws passed by the congress that you are a member of. If you don’t understand this you are not fit to be a member of congress or call yourself a Republican
I have a Vodafone Pay Monthly mobile contract, which does not come with a bundled handset. For that, I buy mid-range Androids, every time my current handset goes out of software support, mostly because the SOC manufacturer ceases to proide security updates, which is normally about every 3 years in UK.
Then I buy a new, supported handset.
I still do this, but my last purchase was a Fairphone 5, which uses a Qualcomm industrial SOC, which is reputed to be supported to at least 2031. It was bit more expensive, but 6 years support instead of 3 offsets that, and for what I do, it’s more than adequate, even though it’s not top-of-the-line. It does 5G, and has a reasonable camera, not as good as later iThings or Pixels, but good enough for simple record photography.
It was about £630, 2 years ago. I normally don’t exceed £400. Top-line handsets exceed £1,000
I’ll probably buy the latest Fairphone in 2031, since my experience so far has shown no problems.
G.
Would you settle for 40,000 volts?
Or as the 51st state.
Ethanol free unleaded was $5.39 at the Quick Trip station close to my employer’s campus today.
That’s the first time I’ve seen unleaded in any formulation above $5 since we escaped Vantucky.
What’s this about Saskatchalbertawan?
@ray:
True, but that’s why my block list is so long. I used to worry about inadvertently blocking an important number, but the “missed call” text lets me check the provenance of each number ex post facto with one of the online “Who called me” websites (there are at least 6 such in UK) and every such number is reported as being operated by one of a (very) few call centres, all of which have long histories of TPS violations.
Trouble is, the TPS is completely toothless. probably all same your “Do Not Call” list. So one is left with local action. Mine appears reasonably effective, and takes almost no effort to administer.
G.
I have a third generation SE which replaced my first generation SE when my employer set new security guidelines for Outlook.
Amazingly, the first generation SE still receives important updates and I keep it around as a backup.
The iPhone 4 form factor shared by the first generation SE was the last design Steve Jobs approved so pulling the plug on the device will be an emotional moment in Cupertino.
“I have no idea which strategy is best.”
The cell phone companies are paid by the scammers to keep their networks exploitable and facilitate fake caller ID, allow calls of “unknown“ origin, and make it very difficult for paying users to reject telemarketing calls. ”Origin verified” should be standard and user selectable as a requirement for connection.
Apple’s last IOS update added new functionality that appears to be fully for the spammers benefit, such as letting them leave messages after one or no rings, leave prerecorded messages 10x longer than the actual connect time.
I should be in control of my phone and message mailbox: automatic rejection of calls flagged as spam, no messages from unidentified callers, etc. A simple customization menu with a list of toggled choices.
If a carrier ever enables micropayments to called numbers, I will sign up immediately. Any number put through by the carrier must have a micropayment credited to my account the same day—carriers can make their own decisions about putting through calls from OUS.
The NSA for sure and probably the FCC snd other fedgov departments know everything about every call and text carried by the networks*. Congress should require them to help design the tools needed to shut down organized criminal use.
Conviction of use of the telephone system to impersonate financial or government entities for the purpose of fraud should have mandatory prison time for the person making the call and increasing for all management levels above them, with every person financially benefitting getting a minimum of one hour for every dollar.
*Possibly excepting encrypted content.
For years @Greg has been saying how Americans are big weenies on gas prices.
The AI that answers my searches these days lists these facts for me. I paraphrased them and rounded to simple numbers.
An increase to $6/gallon would bring that to $300, or an extra $100 per month. $8, still slightly below EU prices, would be $400, or an extra $200 per month. That would bring the budget percentage to 6%.
I know a bunch of people are running on the edge. I also know a bunch of people could cut 3% of their spending to make up for high – doubled – gas prices and not notice it, just by adding a little discipline. Like almost every coworker I’ve ever had. The recent kerfuffle about $20 burritos comes to mind.
I don’t want gas prices to double. I just think the pain at the pump, while serious, is amplified by psychic trauma to an unreasonable extent.
Except the spammers will move overseas, and maybe already are, and use internet phone services. The carriers would never be able to force payment.
I used to look at my “Missed Calls” list for duplicates. The iPhone will add a number for how many times that number called. I used to. Now, if I doom scroll for a minute, there are no duplicates, except from people I want to call me.
“Except the spammers will move overseas, and maybe already are, and use internet phone services. The carriers would never be able to force payment.”
covered:
Any number put through by the carrier must have a micropayment credited to my account the same day—carriers can make their own decisions about putting through calls from OUS.
Carriers could refuse to connect the calls, or in turn require same-day payment from the internet providers
Since the cell phone companies, internet providers, and any other company in this expanding loop of responsibility are corrupt, tax legislation would be needed to designate losses from unpaid micro payments as not non-eligible tax losses.
Leaving Canada for status similar to PR would look good to a lot of people if the option is political affiliation with the EU. Although visa-free travel for vacations and for work would attract a fair amount of support in some parts of Canada.
I think you mean Manibertawan. If the Prairies are leaving, I think all three would go.
So the call would not go through. Problem solved.
I think the felt price is worse than that looks because Americans in general are paid more than Europeans and in general we’re taxed less. I’d rather see the price per gallon expressed as the number of minutes the typical car drive has to work to pay for a gallon of gas. Show it as both minutes worked at gross salary and minutes worked at after-tax salary.
On the flip side, Americans use more gas partly because our distances are so much greater and partly because our vehicles are larger than Europeans’. Of course, that latter is largely due to our gasoline being cheaper. Also, most of Europe’s population is crowded enough that public transportation make life without a car feasible, which is the case for only a fraction of the US population.
I tell new people to text me first, as I don’t have my ringer on. My fisherman buddy at the lake is mostly deaf, so has his phone on “ULTRA MEGA LOUD” with the “hello moto” ring tone. It interrupts us all the time and it’s almost never anything but spam. It’s really annoying.
I tell him he can have a ring tone for his wife and have all the others be silent, but short of doing it for him, it won’t happen.
He’s from a generation older than me, and rural, so the conditioning that phone calls are important is hardwired. I worked to break my conditioning, which was easier as I’ve been carrying a mobile since ‘88 and often in places where I had to lock it in a faraday cage or leave it behind, but I still answer if I see or feel it ring. Keeping the ringer off reduces the compulsion to answer every call. Now if I could turn off the alert tone when I get the useless voice message… also, when the phone is connected to the truck, the “spam” message doesn’t appear on the audio system, so I usually answer if it’s a local exchange.
———–
Traffic sucked and google added 30 minutes to my route by sending me thru a tunnel at rush hour, so I only got one pickup done on the east side today. I did get by my secondary and picked up a couple of things I needed, but I’ve got to pickup on the east and west sides of town tomorrow because of it. 2 extra gallons of gas, and maybe some tolls. Certainly an extra hour and a half. I’m p!ssed at google and myself.
————-
n
… changing Canada from a net food exporter to a net importer. Better fire up those fishing boats, eh, and hope that the Chinese haven’t overfished the shelves.
West Coast Chinese. East Coast Russians.
In the 80s, the Russians used to work the international waters of the Gulf of
MexicoAmerica with huge factory ships out of Cuba harvesting any proteins available for processing into a slurry that got canned and shipped back home.Hmmm. Tasty.
Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales leaders to meet tomorrow to plan breakup of UK: Report
https://www.firstpost.com/world/northern-ireland-scotland-wales-referendum-uk-breakup-andy-burnham-trump-pressure-14045533.html#google_vignette
So we could potentially add 5 new states. Have to check and see how many have an average income higher tha n Mississippi.
The EU knows better than to create a situation for themselves similar to what the US has with Puerto Rico.
I don’t know about phones. I played the “block the spammer” game for a while and finally decided that if the call is not in my contacts it is spam. Although there are exceptions…. like calling a local plumber and waiting for a return call.
I got the Ooma. Works great as far as I can tell. I have my cell forwarded to the Ooma number. I get a call or two a day and the caller ID says “some little town”, no name. I’ve returned the call a few times. Always the same voicemail saying they are not available.
Are the spam calls to my cell number or to the Ooma number? No clue.
One nice thing about the Ooma is you can set how many rings before a call goes to voicemail. That gives me time to get to the phone. AND you can set a minimum time for a voicemail message. I like that feature..
Gonna say right now, “you sweet summer child”.
Canada joins the EU and what? Schengen and now all of the Arab and Sub-Sarahan trash get a free ticket to Canada?
It’s gonna be a very bloody war.
That is so basic that I feel like a retard for having never thought of that.
Leaving Canada for status similar to PR would look good to a lot of people if the option is political affiliation with the EU. Although visa-free travel for vacations and for work would attract a fair amount of support in some parts of Canada.
Is PR Perry Rhodan or Puerto Rico or something else?
NO. Must be contiguous.
Sorry about that Greenland.
Uh. It will, from what history I know, be very interesting to see Great Britain devolve down to Scotland and Wales and England and Ireland.
I don’t think it’s going to happen. Folks like their welfare checks.
And their council flats.
n
“Canada joins the EU and what? Schengen and now all of the Arab and Sub-Sarahan trash get a free ticket to Canada?”
How do you say “eh” in Arabician?
I’ve never looked at the “why” of Puerto Rico. It’s sorta like the Philippines. Which is another “why”.
Just sort of a half-assed colony. Not worth enough to become a State.
Worth less than Hawaii.
That’s got to sting.
But the a-holes in charge want to “be nice” and don’t have the guts to stomp their asses down like the English would.
Well, today I got an unsolicited phone call that I very much wanted. It was the fraud department at my main bank telling me that I have another check digitally washed for $9,962.49 for some idiot in Detroit. The name sounds like a towel head.
So my local branch called me later after I screamed (mildly) at the fraud person that I could not look online at my account because they were a bunch of idiots. The local branch then proceeded to delete my account and add a new account for me and magically I could see both accounts at that time. Magically.
So I can see the digitally washed check now that I refused to pay. Looks just like the previous one.
So we agreed that I am going to move to “Positive Pay” where my accountant will tell my bank the name, number, and amount for every check that we write. This is probably going to crank my monthly fee from $125 to $300.
Alberta and Saskatchewan can become their own countries. Or a country. It would be interesting to see King Chuck trying to enforce the Empire while he can’t control the borders of his freaking ISLAND nation.
Uh. I might be wrong but Canada is not exactly a country. It’s the Dominion of Canada and is ruled by the King of England.
Alb and Sask don’t have to become States of the USA.
I’ve never looked at the “why” of Puerto Rico. It’s sorta like the Philippines. Which is another “why”.
We “won” Puerto Rico as a result of the Spanish – American War.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish%E2%80%93American_War
My wife’s great great grandfather fought both in that war and the Civil War.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Wheeler
It is sad to watch the continuing degradation of Popular Science, a magazine that was always in my parent’s house when I was growing up, and which I later read in the stacks of a university library when I discovered contemporary 19th century accounts of American inventions.
I clicked on a link today claiming that archeologists had traced Lewis and Clark from their “mercury laden poop”.
Total b.s. The article cited one single excavation of a location in a congested area described in the journals. Then it described the mercury component of the calomel laxative used as “mercury chloride”, an incorrect term that would lose a high school chem student half credit as an answer.
And there is another glaring error that i suspect is units conversion relsted, but I am not sufficiently moved to check.
I’ve never looked at the “why” of Puerto Rico. It’s sorta like the Philippines. Which is another “why”.
We freed the Philippines of Japanese rule in WW II. So we “owned” it for a while. And then the muslims in the Philippines became a big problem so we kinda left. Kinda.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_the_Philippines_during_World_War_II
NO. Must be contiguous.
Sorry about that Greenland.
But Hawaii and Alaska are not contiguous?
Strategery as Shrub would put it.
Also, the special capability based in Tonopah has hangars in Puerto Rico, 500 miles from Caracas.
Canada has been an independent country since the Canadian Constitution was proclaimed in 1982.
BTW, I wasn’t clear with an earlier comment:
Should have been “if the other option is political affiliation with the EU.” I think the Prairie Provinces would see Puerto Rico’s association with the US would be a step up from the current situation, and better than being connected with the EU. Independence, or full US statehood would appeal to some as well.
Longer than that. The US Colonial Period started in the late 19th century, and some of the indigenous tribes are the reason the .45 was adopted as the US standard sidearm. The Japanese even framed their occupation as a liberation from the American overlords.
“NO. Must be contiguous. ”
How ’bout if we fill in later?
Well, after a tedious day, where I wasn’t very effective despite wanting to be, I’m going to bed.
I still haven’t got any idea for the wife’s B-day present. And I’m down to about half a day to figure it out.
BTW, our “Kenmore” fridge is an LG under the skin. She ‘did some googling’ which was really just fact checking me, about drip trays, why they are there, and how they work. She thought that after cleaning and drying the tray, it would stay dry. Nope. It’s called a “DRIP” tray. I guess she did confirm that it isn’t removable. Which I knew from looking at it.
Oh well. I did bring home a medical suction cup thing for separating fluids. I should be able to make it work with the vacuum cleaner to keep the wet out of the vac. That is, when I have to eventually take over and finish the job.
n
re: the price of gasoline and the cost of driving
Gas prices go up and down.
Auto insurance is monotone increasing.
So it the price of autos.
Someone do constant dollar plots of the principal contributors to the total cost of driving–including crude oil–then tell me what they should be crying about.
I suggest you do a little research. Chuckles the third is King of Canada. Check out the Statute of Westminster before you make any statements about the Dominions of the British Empire. Americans tend to suck at history that isn’t their own,
I still haven’t got any idea for the wife’s B-day present. And I’m down to about half a day to figure it out.
Putting a bow on the new window at the BOL sounds good to me. But, women are weird and I ain’t one so, you are still on your own.
“Bad news. Im not sure what to do.”
https://www.reddit.com/r/f150/comments/1wiu8w5/bad_news_im_not_sure_what_to_do/
“2018 F150 XLT. So my wife used my truck last night and called me saying im going to be mad at her. We’ll she hit a concrete post at a gas station. Now im not sure what to do. Im worried if I make an insurance claim tjeu will total my truck and id rather not have to buy another one. Ive owned it for 4 years and it will be paid off next October. Do I make the insurance claim and risk it being repaired or totaled, or do I spend $2500 and go to a junk yard and get a new bed and door?”
I am fairly sure that I would keep my wife if she did this to my truck.
And that is a nasty fix for all that aluminium.
“Americans tend to suck at history that isn’t their own,”
Yup. Most of us think The Dominion lost the war with Captain Sisko.
No apologies. 8 billion people on earth and most of them want to come to the U.S. and live on welfare while they figure out how to set up a grift.
As for the U.K., who would have thought that the formerly greatest maritime nation on Earth can’t even deploy a decent-sized warship? Or would elect a government that welcomed foreign invaders to r*pe their women?
The next generation of U.S. schoolkids will learn that England is an island near France that was conquered by Muslims.
I just hope they wait until I’m gone before they return the Elgin Marbles.
“I am fairly sure that I would keep my wife if she did this to my truck.”
Depends on age and condition. You might be able to trade her for the repairs.
That’s a broad brush. I’m not saying you’re wrong, mind you. Here’s a couple of equally valid rephrasings:
Americans tend to suck at history.
Americans tend to suck at history that is irrelevant or inconsequential.
Europeans (including Canada) tend to suck at history that isn’t their own.
If the last one bothers you, remember you just stated you have a British king, and Britain is on the European continent.
I remember sitting at a table of Canadians at a training class in Chicago in the 90’s, and they told me then that if they could ditch Ontario and Quebec, they’d join the USA in a heartbeat.
Scientists made an ultra-black wool. And it turns saltwater into drinking water
https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/09/scientists-made-an-ultra-black-wool-and-it-turns-saltwater-into-drinking-water/\
So get out of the lab and prove it.
Predictions: It’s cheap, but the U.S. will have to subsidize it. And if they deploy it, the locals will discard the salt, destroy their soil, and blame us.
“ still haven’t got any idea for the wife’s B-day present.”
Flowers. To start,
Do not succumb to the urge to buy “Appliance Repair for Dummies”.
How about a nice FLASHLIGHT?
We got both Puerto Rico and the Philippines in the Spanish American War. Teddy’s charge up San Juan Hill for PR, and “You may fire when ready, Gridley” in the Battle of Manila Bay. And Cuba too, for that matter.
The Japanese did invade the Philippines, when we were running the place in 1941; the battle for Corregidor and the Bataan Death March, and MacArthur’s “I shall return” promise may stimulate your memories. After WWII, we set the Philippines up for “independence”, but almost no Asians were ever culturally suited to be self-governing democracies. The P.I. went through a few cycles of kleptocracies and idealistic “reformers”, of whom Ferdinand & Imelda Marcos and Beningo & Corazon Aquino were probably the most infamous and famous examples.
Puerto Rico was being groomed for self-rule after WWI, but again, the Puerto Rican people were never accustomed to self-government and eventually negotiated a “commonwealth” status; sort-of but not quite Americans; American citizens, but unable to vote in national elections. There is still an active independence movement there, but enough people there are happy with the current system, and know that becoming independent would cut them off from Uncle Sugar’s largesse. Democraps keep threatening to push PR statehood to create another certainly Democrat state, but I don’t think that will happen. At least, I HOPE not!
I can’t speak for other provinces since education is a provincial responsibility but when I was in high school (late 50s, early 60s) all we got was European and American history up to and including grade 12. Canadian history was taught in grade 13.
No, the point is that Chuckles is the King of Canada. We share a monarch with the UK but he rules Canada as King of Canada. You may think there is no difference but there is.
Most Canadians would move to the States if they had the opportunity. Almost always for what is perceived to be better economic prospects. Hell, I thought about in my twenties but the opportunity never came up. Now in my eighties, even if I could I wouldn’t.
There are aspects of American society that I admire but I don’t want to be an American. I would rather see us adapt them to our Canadian society.
A friend hit a deer on a rural road in Oregon last year in his F150 and the insurance company tried to total it, sight unseen by an adjustor. He rejected that and they paid for the repairs without a lot of complaining. They don’t mind taking the simple and easy route, but arguing with customers is a pain in the ass.
He is still driving it today. Getting expensive in SoCal tho.