Hot. Humid. VERY hot in the sun. The temp never broke 100F that I’m aware of but I still had to come in and cool off several times. The humidity is just too high to cool off.
I did a bunch of work yesterday. Did some work on the park when I needed to move fast and not think much. Did the work on the walkway. I have it leveled, compacted, and half covered with weed barrier. I am almost ready to install the edge boards and then I’ll be ready to fill with gravel.
That’s what I’ll be doing today, getting the edges installed, and doing the last bit of leveling and compacting. I’m sure I’ll alternate with some of the other stuff on the list. I wish I’d taken a break before I sheared off the hose bib…
I think I will be taking more cool off breaks today. No point in getting hurt.
Meanwhile, I’ll be working. Always working. Good thing I enjoy working.
Stack up something you love.
nick
With the Senate seat vulnerable, the Republicans should limit the opportunities for new Dem leadership to emerge ahead of the registration deadline for the primaries.
The Faux News last night had clips of the usual Austin club member suspects including Gregorio Eduardo, whom I believe the Dems will eventually run against the Republican for the seat, but a few new faces were present as well, such as James Talerico, a Wine/Weed Mom and Joe Rogan favorite here in Round Rock, standing next to Pritzker, speaking to the presstitutes in what I assume is the Rosemont Hyatt ballroom.
Of course, the Dem freak show fit right in on the property this weekend with Flashback Weekend happening at the Hyatt. 🙂
No word on the number of “undocumented” cleaning the Dems rooms on the Pritzker family payroll.
RIP. Not many “WKRP” cast members are left as we approach 50 years. IIRC, Gary Sandy and Jan Smithers are still alive.
Of the two actresses who were permanent cast members on “WKRP”, one landed the role after working her way up in Hollywood with bit parts on TV for more than a decade while the other was known mostly for a Newsweek magazine cover shot prior to being cast.
Take a guess as to which one was Loni Anderson before clicking through to the article or hitting the Googles for the magazine cover.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2025/08/03/loni-anderson-dead-wkrp-in-cincinnati/85502216007/
“WKRP” creator Hugh Wilson was given a free hand with casting *except* for Gary Sandy, a favorite of network management, instead of David Letterman.
TV could have looked very different in the 80s.
77F with light overcast.
Woke up after my normal 5 ½ hours, went back to sleep. Woke just before the alarm the next time. Went back to sleep. Woke with the backup alarm, got up and ate.
I’m sore, especially my lower back, from bouncing around in the machines. The shovel and mattock work didn’t help.
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@greg’s up early!
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coffee so good
n
Well, the overcast turned into thunderstorm.
At least I have the weed barrier down to keep my red clay base from eroding. And I’ll get a chance to see if the changes I made to the park drainage work…
n
Actual Nazis in the American Midwest during WWII!!!
Article with CT scans of some lithium-ion batteries: https://www.lumafield.com/article/what-went-wrong-inside-these-recalled-power-banks
More about my cheap Evolve computer:
I did a backup of it, then shut it down and opened up the case.
I removed the flat pouch battery. There’s clearly puffing up on one side, and it’s still flat on the other half. The case mostly straightened out but the touchpad is still wonky and won’t seat flat.
For grins and giggles, I ordered a replacement battery online. It’s not like I need the computer, nor is it frugal to spend $40 and my time to repair a $60 computer, but I couldn’t resist.
I’ll take the battery to my Ham radio friends lunch Wednesday for show-and-tell, and then I’ll drop it off at the recycling dump at Home Depot. I’ve got a couple of old dead Ryobi tool batteries to go back, too.
The redistricting stunt will backfire on the “Republicans”.
The special session was originally supposed to be about closing the loopholes in the law regarding the THC products.
The USA DOJ officially notified Texas that it intends to sue Texas for the minority gerrymandered seats in Congress. Abbott does not want to lose the lawsuit so he added the redistricting to the special session.
Good news for the left coast…
https://nypost.com/2025/08/04/media/start-the-presses-new-york-post-will-expand-to-la-with-launch-of-the-california-post/
ht: https://althouse.blogspot.com/2025/08/los-angeles-and-california-surely-need.html
Temps dropped as low as 68F during the rain, but they are back to 75F and climbing. I mostly napped during the rain. Felt good.
Now the rain has stopped and it’s overcast and cool. There are things I can do as long as I don’t mind the machines tearing up whatever I drive across and I don’t get them stuck in the clay mud.
I’ve had lunch so I should start poking at stuff.
n
Abbott sets 3PM deadline for today:
https://redstate.com/rusty-weiss/2025/08/04/greg-abbott-drops-bombshell-on-tx-dems-who-fled-state-return-or-be-removed-possibly-face-felony-charges-n2192407
@Nick – Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
The next time you are at Lowe’s, you may want to consider getting an office water cooler to keep in the garage or porch. Those 5-gallon bottles of decent-tasting water are a great visual indicator of how much water is being consumed. One of those lasts me about 3 days when I am doing a lot of work here in the swamp called central Florida. Next to each of my coolers is a 5-bottle rack from AMZN. I will probably add a second rack at my shop.
“I have friction burns on my elbows and knees…” is what she said. ;D
Well, *&#^&_)_!*&%. If it isn’t one thing, it’s another.
Kitchen sink wasn’t draining well. Had a plumber come out and clear the drain. While we are doing that, it is time to replace the shutoff valve to the house and the pressure reducer. Also look at the drain piping for the tube and washing machine. All told, it is going to be about $4K to have all the work accomplished. The piping for the drain apparently has many code violations and must be ripped out and completely redone. Bummer. The shutoff valve and pressure reducer just requires some cutting and soldering (or crimping).
I don’t do plumbing, period.
THE US BORDER PATROL HAS EXCEPTIONAL TROUSERS, OR SOMETHING:
Heh.
I would, but I’m not sure about the practical issues involved in stacking hot babes, age 17-23. Advice requested.
Bunk beds. Yep.
Rent, don’t buy.
Well, about $3,200 to fix the washer and tub drain, basically rip it out and replace with 2″ rather than 1.5″ with new traps. Replace the washer supply valves with quarter turn ball valves. Then replace the main water shutoff and replace with a quarter ball valve and replace the 50+ year old pressure reducer.
Such is the life of home ownership. I have put these projects off for at least a year as they were not critical, just annoying.
The next big expense is a new roof. That will be close to $35K if I was a guessing and betting man. I will have that done in October.
I’m looking on Big River for magnet mount curtain rods. I want to do something that looks classier than random magnets holding an old bath towel over the bathroom and laundry room doors windows.
It’s not a privacy thing. It’s a “freezing cold outside and I can feel the cold coming off of the glass from three feet away, so, the windows need blankets”. Plus the laundry room can use a curtain so I don’t have the blotch of glare on the TV in the late afternoon.
Funny. The new eight or nine years ago windows are all double pane Low-E and argon and whatever. Every option but built-in mini blinds. Hey, if we are spending this much, drop the extra $2000 and go top of the line. We are only doing this one time. The doors are double pane glass. I guess the Low-E and argon stuff actually works.
Let’s upgrade window coverings from White Trash to Hillbilly.
I might even get fancy and sew a rod pocket into the old bath towel. Instead of using a bunch of clothes pins to attach the towels to the curtain rods. Yeah, Suburban Hillbilly! Break out the vases of fake flowers! I have the towels. Or maybe I splurge and buy actual curtains. Who knows? Other than the Shadow….
The door windows are 20 inches by 30 inches long. I find plenty of magnetic rods that will work. Plenty of color choices. I want white. Although nickel would look good in the bath. But it’s cheaper to buy a pack of two versus one curtain rod. White it is then.
NO ONE says how far the rods extend from the door. Half inch rods? Got it. Width from X inches to XX inches? Absolutely.. Can hold from 1 to 50 kilos of weight? Got you covered.
The window frames in the doors are about a half inch thick. Standard stuff.
Hang on. I just found what I want. https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Adjustable-Diameter-Curtains-Installation/dp/B0FCFZZ38L?tag=ttgnet-20 They have curved ends so maybe my towels or actual curtains will totally cover the window for draft purposes. One inch from door to curtain rod.. White is out of stock. Black works. Spray paint is a thing if black looks tacky to me.
Passed my heart stress test #7 or #8 today, who counts these ? Passed my echo test with “your valves look like a 40 year old’s valves”. Had the chemical stress test this time, much better than the stupid treadmill where I was hanging on for dear life last time at an estimated 45 degree angle (it sure felt like 45 degrees).
Have been having afib on and off since Saturday night, but no tachycardia, Dr. Hong took care of that. Am dizzy but not real dizzy. Heart doc says the dizzy will go away. Maybe when I die ? He wants to see me in six months this time due to the afib coming back. And another stress test next summer.
Rent, don’t buy.
And devise a test to separate the crazy ones out. Maybe as simple as “when do you think that the global warming will cause the oceans to cover the Earth ?”.
That is very good news.
@Paul: You might want to search for “storm window inserts” on Amazon, a lot of choices come up.
Stacking “hot babes” is
likestacking trouble … inadvisable.We went with metal. The heavy gauge. Almond / Sand color. The paint has a 30 years warranty. Yeah, ok. But the metal is galvanized. So 30 years to get through the paint and then about, oh, guessing, another 100 to rust through…. down to the original asphalt shingles. It’s wasn’t much more than getting “premium shingles” and it’s a one time deal.
A forever roof.
A metal roof affects radio reception. So your FM antenna in the attic is now just a thing to watch for so you don’t poke out an eye while doing stuff in the attic.
I just saw a hook and ladder fire truck at our big hospital (Sugar Land Methodist) in Sugar Land try to go under the new skywalk between two buildings. That did not happen by about two feet and they were smart enough to post a watcher before things got entangled. Looks like to get to the ER they have to go in through the front, not the back anymore.
That is an amazing shortsightness on some architects part, pun intended. Right now, that architect is probably getting reamed out and threatened with loss of their license. Oh wait, probably an Indian architect in India.
Now, wow. That’s some interesting stuff. Plastic so you still have a window for light and view but a sheet of vinyl attached with a magnetic strip to stop the draft of cold from the glass. Cool!!!
I’m good for actual air leaks.
Hey, where is Rick?
Good to know they’re checking these things out in calm times, before there’s an emergency.
A big part of patient survivability in the event of fire is horizontal evacuation. Plan A is moving patients from one wing or end of a hallway to the other, away from the fire. They have fire doors to close off hallways and the beds roll.
They depend on fire supression equipment and the fire department to extinguish fires. I wonder if the ladders can access all parts of the hospital now? Or if they’re blocked from some portions.
Vertical evacuation is Plan B. Or Plan C, maybe. My training didn’t go that far.
Hey, where is Rick?
RickH has apparently chosen to do something else. He has many irons in the fire and is writing books now.
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Richard-Hellewell/author/B07MMLMX8J?tag=ttgnet-20
paul, I want to ask a dumb quesion.
My windows are aluminum. Magnets would be useless.
Have you checked where magnets would stick?
They depend on fire supression equipment and the fire department to extinguish fires. I wonder if the ladders can access all parts of the hospital now? Or if they’re blocked from some portions.
Fort Bend County has a new 12 ??? story ladder fire truck. It is apparently 110 feet long and has multiple sections.
“Politics of Caving”
https://areaocho.com/politics-of-caving/
“For decades, the way things have worked in Washington politics is for the Democrats to demand something, then offer a quid pro quo in order to make a “compromise.” Wash, rinse, repeat. It’s how we incrementally get more and more gun control, taxes, you name it. You give me a billion in funds for my district, and I will give you something that you want. The law then becomes a behemoth of special interests, graft, and corruption.”
“In the latest version of this, Chuck Schumer is holding Trump’s cabinet nominees hostage in exchange for Trump caving in and giving the Democrats $1 billion in cash for their favorite charities, which thanks do DOGE we now know will be funneled to provide funding for leftist NGOs, leftist movements, and ultimately into the pockets of Democrats themselves.”
No more caving.
Mike Rowe is hawking a company that sprays your roof with a chemical, if you have petroleum based shingles, instead of a new roof. It is supposed to strengthen and heal the shingles. I like Mike Rowe so maybe worth checking out.
Domestic. Diversity contract.
Or maybe the architect was banging the old woman chairing the hospital foundation board making the decision about which firm to hire to design the new addition to the hospital.
Heck. Both were factors.
“Foreign Visitors May Soon Be Forced to Pay $15,000 Entry Bond Under New Visa Crackdown”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/08/foreign-visitors-may-soon-be-forced-pay-15000/
“The U.S. State Department is set to roll out a 12‑month “visa bond” pilot program requiring some foreign tourists and business travelers to post bond amounts of $5,000, $10,000, or up to $15,000 before even stepping foot in America, according to AP News.”
“The regulation is expected to take effect August 20, 2025, with final details published in the Federal Register 15 days beforehand, consistent with federal notice rules.”
“The policy promises a full refund, with interest, only if travelers exit the country on time and via designated ports. Otherwise, the bond is forfeited to the Treasury, ostensibly to offset illegal-immigration enforcement costs.”
“According to AP News, most adult applicants will likely be asked for $10,000, while children may be charged $5,000 unless specifically flagged as higher‑risk, in which case the maximum applies.”
I like this. But it will cut tourism to the USA.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
The end result won’t be much different than what is currently in place given the composition of the House and current leadership.
Trump is looking at places like Williamson County which is increasingly blue but he still managed to win by double digit percentages. Colin Zachary won the Senate race in the county, however, and, sooner or later, the big corporate interest based in the area will get ownership of one of the House seats it has been seeking to keep the FedGov cash flowing.
Our district in Williamson is so gerrymandered by the 2021 deal that we are “represented” by McCaul out of Houston, spouse of one of the ClearChannel/IHeart heirs and, thus, one of the wealthiest members of Congress.
Yes I have checked. The new widows are vinyl clad whatever. Not magnetic other than the screws that attach the latches. . The doors I want to curtain are steel clad.
For aluminum windows I imagine there are much better glues available now than even 10 years ago. I really don’t know what is available..
I found this today via Amazon Vine. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CT6484CL?tag=ttgnet-20 It may well be a useful as taping a plastic trash bag up there. But it promises insulation. I want this for my whole house fan. I can smell my attic when the dryer is running. So, yeah, I have sealed the house up quite a bit over the years. Oh, and if it goes well, I’ll add a layer or two of floor padding, that stuff is rated R4.
I have seen ads on TV for a local company that is providing the same service. The roof is 30 years old and there are some structural issues such as drooping on the edge gables. The roof needs repaired and replaced.
So? The whole world has beautiful places that I’ll never see. Some tourist missing a trip to the Grand Canyon and some tour guides and motels missing the business is not on my radar. pfttt.
Please, God, let this be true.
If you want to understand why, the character in the picture at the top of the page is a good place to start.
A Klingon-Jem Hadar “shipping” end result, portrayed by a heavy set black actress, a creation of the DEI-fueled writers room.
Of course, Holly Hunter’s unrestrained accent is enough IMHO. Even Bakula wasn’t that obnoxious in the pilot of “NCIS: New Orleans”.
Too bad Hunter couldn’t channel her character from “The Piano”.
https://cosmicbook.news/starfleet-academy-season-2-canceled-rumor
Yellowstone. Old Faithful. The elites hate the lines. I’ve even heard Glenn Beck rant about it.
Closer to home, go down to the Riverwalk in San Antonio on the Sunday night of Labor Day Weekend and tally the number of non-Asian/non-Indian tourists you see on the tour boats whizzing by as fast as the speed limit on the water will allow, even pushing midnight.
I believe the boats operate until 11.
I doubt you will count a single white face.
“Labor Day Weekend”
Well that’s your problem A sane person does not go to Lake Travis on holiday weekends. Splash at Hippy Hollow is fun but you gotta anchor out the day before. I would think the River Walk is just as stupid full of morons.
Add to the insulation thing. I installed recessed can lights in my dining room. Trim rings sized for 150 watt floods. I forget the name of the bulb size. PAR whatever. 40? I’ve always used 75w floods. So, a smaller bulb but I like the way it looks. You get a recessed light source vibe. Pretty sure Nick understands.
Anyway. Dining room is not on dimmers. When I went to LED floods, yes sir, 75 watts of light for 10 watts of juice? Dude. I taped the various slits and screw holes in the light fixtures. Aluminum tape. Great stuff. Stop the draft…. because each fixture has about a 50¢ coin worth of holes in it.
With LED floods, it’s all of 10 watts of heat. pftt.
I did the same to the recessed lights in the bathroom. Sealed it all up.
I have the house sealed up enough I smell the attic when running the clothes dryer. Time to close that hole.
“A Klingon-Jem Hadar”.
Not possible. Jem Hardar are hunter warriors. Right? They are all clones and sterile and have enough dick to pee with, maybe.
So a big fat, of course she’s gonna be huge and fat, human negress crossed bred with a sterile and bred to kill race makes total sense.
Naw. Good lord, I hope if we ever get to StarTrek times the negro hippos will not be around. Beyond being stupid that’s a lot of extra weight to take to warp speed. And the smell, washing the wrinkles of fat folds?
What the F are these folks smoking?
I was thinking about the cross breeding in StarTrek. How is that say, Vulcans who have their guts arranged differently than humans can cross breed? Ditto for Klingons. And Cardassianens. And then the fine folk from Bajor and Romuulus. Everyone can make babies with human woman.
Not sure about breeding with Ferengi. Ick.
It seems it’s all human women are mud sharking and the kids all look like their father.
Even, Tom Paris with whats her name the half Klingon, the baby looks Klingon.
Kurtzman Trek.
The “Lower Decks” finale declared all of it to be non-canon so anything goes at this point in the writers’ room.
Jonathan Frakes was yakking about “Starfleet Academy” when I saw him speak last summer so I assume the first season is done by this point and Skydance finally got a look at what they bought.
“Abbott orders arrest of absent Texas Democrats as critical House vote awaits”
https://www.chron.com/politics/article/texas-democrats-abbott-arrest-20801822.php
““This order will remain in effect until all missing Democrat House members are accounted for and brought to the Texas Capitol.” Abbott said.”
Plus a $500 fine per day per person for missing their constitutional duties.
“The discourse over the Shipley sale is Whataburger all over again”
https://www.chron.com/culture/article/shipley-california-sale-donuts-20797906.php
“Some Texans still haven’t recovered from a Chicago-based investment firm getting a majority stake in Whataburger.”
Say it ain’t so !
You assume that Ferengi men would be thrilled at the prospect of breeding with hooman women.
I view “The Siege of AR-558” as one of the most important episodes of “Star Trek” ever made, but the hour is really huge character development for Quark with practically every one of his lines quotable.
Plus, Quark once again demonstrates that he is very good at killing Jem Hadar.
Kurtzman Trek? Huh? I’m going by what I’ve watched watching DS9 and Voyager.
You, Greg, are much more into ST than I. Which is cool.
I went through my phone contacts today. I’m down to 40 contacts. Pretty sure all but twenty can go away. And will go away soon. Wacky.
I’ve called folks. I go to VM. No problem. I don’t answer call from folks not in my contacts. But I get no as in zero replies. I guess I’m not worth their time?
Yeah. Bleh. Maybe they have died..
I’ve spent way too much of my life in front of a lot of movies and TV shows.
Kurtzman Trek is all of the “Star Trek” produced for Paramount Plus over the last decade by Alex Kurtzman and his Secret Hideout production company.
“No more caving.”
Trump 2.0
Time to backfill the caves.
“Nice blue shiitehole you have there, Schumie. New budget has zero line items for NYC. “
You’re forgetting the recent sale of Austin-based Chuy’s to Darden, complete with relocation of corporate HQ to Orlando.
Sit down chain Mexican on a nation-wide scale has never worked, but Chuy’s has done well in Orlando, which caught Darden’s attention.
And the clearing of contacts, well, there’s a lot of his contacts. I have no need to call his insurance company.
Lots of his relatives. They are all mostly just names to me. Nice folks but you know… Why call them?
I don’t know.
Paul your dryer will work better is there is inlet for air near by.
Years ago I solved a cold basement problem by putting a duct to the bottom of basement furance from the outside. It had been pulling air from the garage on the far side of the basement.
My wife mentioned that the nearby clothes dryer as working better so we had two payoffs.
Yeah, if you are pulling in attic air, you need a fresh air inlet. There is a risk of CO poisoning too with gas appliances.
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Most stuff dried out but my red clay soil was still wet and squishy at 830pm. I’ll give it another day for sure.
Did a lot of road grading in the park/HOA lot/boat ramp area instead. That was a bit mucky but isn’t precision work, and it was shaded all day.
Tomorrow, I’ll get on the mini-ex and do some more of my stuff, assuming the forecast is good and dry.
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Since it was wet and red clay soil, I put on my contractor boots. Everyone here has a pair of leather boots in the truck that pull on, have a smooth sole, and are water proof. After wearing them in the skid steer all day, the sole completely separated on one. The upper is stitched to the midsole, but the actual sole is just glued to the midsole. And both are plastic. The glue failed. another argument to only buy leather, repairable, and rubber soled boots. They were from goodwill so not a monetary loss, but annoying.
—————-
Time for dinner and I think I will have a tiny little fire on the dock tonight. I’m not as tired or sore as yesterday, and it’s 77F.
n
Ok, hive mind, here’s a new one.
I have a need to digitize some old 78 rpm records.
But I don’t have a turntable/cartridge/stylus/preamp to do so.
This stuff looks expensive. A teeny bit of research says I’m looking at about $600 minimum to buy new hardware. Teac turntable, Stanton or better cartridge, 78 stylus seperate purchase, preamp in the turntable. Collectors and audiophiles say it’s more like $1000 to get started. Or spend hours refurbing old professional equipment.
I would also like to do 33 and a third and 45, but that’s actually not required. I have hardwre already for that.
The Great Farm Basement cleanout that gave me my dad’s audio tapes also gave me 5 moving boxes full of albums, at least half 78s, and I know some of them are rare, like Blind Willie McTell’s East St. Louis Blues.
I’m not asking you to do my research. Just what you know based on your own prior research and experience.
After you digitize them there is software to remove clicks and pops, and hissing.
Beyond that, I know there are less expensive turntables designed for digitizing, but the 78 rpm might throw a monkey wrench in that.
$600 sounds like about 2x more than I’d guess… I bought a cheap pyle brand phono preamp for testing turntables and it was about $30, and works.
n
Radio was mostly noise tonight. Some religious broadcaster at 9.945 was booming in, and the Canadian time signal in 40M was booming in too. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that one, the 3.333Mhz signal often comes in.
I didn’t spin the dial through the other bands.
The damp was getting to me, so I’m headed to bed.
nick