Summer will soon be over. Since the kids are back in school, for them and us it already is. But Summer’s heat lingers. At least for us. It was hot again, and humid, and will be again today. Highs still in the mid 90sF but lows might fall into the mid 70sF. Humidity to match the temp. Lovely.
So I did get stuff done. And I confirmed to myself that if I have auction pickups, I’m not getting much else done. Sure, I’m getting out of the office, and talking to people. I invited 2 people to come to my hobby meetings just yesterday. But then I only had a couple of hours to work on moving out of one of my storage units. It’s clear that I need to adjust the ratio of auction pickups vs doing real work from the list.
Today I’ve only got one pickup. Ha. But I’ve also got a trip to the bank, and dropping off a check to a landlord. Wife and D2 are supposed to be headed to the BOL for the weekend tonight, with me and D1 following Sunday. D1 had some things to do between now and then, so someone needs to stay home with her and that someone is me. Lovely.
Not much in the way of prepping happened this week. I received the propane conversion kit for my second Honda e3000is generator. Maybe I’ll get that installed Saturday. Or more likely, I’ll use the time to close out that storage unit. Gah. That wasn’t really on the list for this month. Saving money is a good thing though. So is going through the unit and selling off the stuff, if I can actually get that happening.
So much to do. So little time spent productively. Working on it though. Stack something.
nick
“Summer will soon be over.”
Days very noticeably shorter, by an hour each end.
79F and 90%RH this morning.
I’m up and moving after not enough sleep. I may get a nap this am. Tea is brewing.
————
guess it’s not so secret.
n
Idiotic DB. We reserved seats in 1st class for trip from Bielefeld to Essen. Got assigned coach 26, seats 34 and 35. There is no coach 26 on the train. They are supposed to be table seats so we found two empty seats with the table, and sat down. I hope it goes OK. Idiots.
The train is crowded, no names above the seats. I guess 1st come, 1st serve. I have no idea. Neither does DB. This is one of the older trains.
I used to think riding the German was unique, interesting, a little bit of fun. Nope, not anymore. The trains are a necessary evil that almost everyone in Germany hates. I can understand their reasoning.
The real life Tony Stark himself spouted off about building a tunnel at some point in the last few years.
The geology is all wrong for a bored tunnel in South Padre/Boca Chica. He could possibly build a floating tunnel like the George Wallace under Mobile Bay, but that isn’t “Stark Industries” for real.
Houston has the same problem with the high water table.
A “Stark Industries” approach would be a revolutionary new bridge design like what Florida opted to do when building the Skyway Bridge replacement 40 years ago
Of course that would be … boring.
Har har har.
More on acetaminophen:
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/08/you_think_opioids_are_bad_try_acetaminophen.html
What secret. Modern Dem protests are like Cracker Barrel has always been – corporate, sterile, and mostly run by women who graduated from “good” schools. The only question about funding is Who, but that’s been known too.
Even if the Dems get back into power next year and file Impeachment charges, the Borrower Defense time bomb keeps ticking at what’s left of the Department of Education.
Long article and paywalled, but has some interesting insights while still bashing Disney
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/opinion/disney-world-economy-middle-class-rich.html
The money line
— this has been true for some time, catalog companies didn’t send David and Harry or Lands End to the ghetto, but they got in trouble for it, and it wasn’t as accurate.
Free wifi in stores and having the store’s app running while you are there enables the same thing on a more local level. If it’s free, you are the product.
n
So the decline of the middle class started with…. closing the gold window which caused massive monetary inflation, a concerted push to get more women in the workforce which depressed wages and increased household expenses, and an EXPLOSION in the availability of credit cards and the subsequent increase in spending and consumer debt.
Hmm. If I believed TPTB were smart enough, I’d say it’s almost like they planned it.
n
Added– and it was only a couple of years after Ted Kennedy pushed to change US immigration policy to favor brown manual laborers over European tradesmen and professionals.
in vitro so may not be relevant, but…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-15043123/painkiller-advil-tylenol-antibiotic-resistance.html
n
Lands End’s existing customer base was bad enough abusing the return policy. Someone ordering from the catalog in the ghetto 30 years ago may have had more respect.
The evidence still lingers in the clearance racks of the last outlet store outside Madison. The amount of Clinton-era LE tags on the merchandise was astounding as was the poor condition of the items.
As long as you have the paper receipt or packing slip, LE will still honor the return.
Of course, they have the complete records, but the line had to be drawn somewhere.
The only time I’ve ever received Harry and David for Christmas was the year I worked for James Clapper and the company sent a token gift basket. Things that make you say “Hmmm….”.
Everything in the order either ended up trashed or, in the case of the weird sparkling juice flavor, poured down the sink.
We’ve never spent money at Harry and David.
The beatdown on The Mouse is just getting warmed up.
It is glorious to watch unfold.
*Apple* has a bigger Summer movie than anything Disney put out this year with the possible exception of “Lilo and Stitch”.
@Ray: it’s a shame about DB, but they have been going downhill for decades now. Germany apparently doesn’t have the will or the ability to fix it.
No consolation to Mr Ray, but the German coalition government last week fired the DB boss for incompetence. DB is so obviously awful that somebody’s head had to roll.
No doubt there was a generous golden parachute.
They have not yet announced who the replacement will be.
My prior trips to Germany was with limited train travel. Not as many places to visit. The first visit we were driven everywhere. The next two visits we rented a car. The rail pass was too good of a deal to compete with rentals. So that is what we use.
My experiences prior to this visit were relatively positive. No significant issue, a couple created by me, got on wrong train, got off at wrong stop, rookie mistakes.
This trip I have been burned three times by DB. And I still have three journeys to complete.
Anyway, I am in Haltern for three nights. Living out of a suitcase, strange beds, and environments, getting up to pee in the middle of the night and having to think for a few minutes to figure out where the bathroom is located, is annoying. The balcony was tempting more than once.
Then 9/1 (September 1 for Brad) the big adventure. 15 days in the same location. We have never done that before.
The wife and I think it is a prelude to our exchange student wanting to send the two kids to the U.S. for a summer to totally immerse them in English. They would fly out with the kids, return without them, the kids stay the summer, then we fly back with the kids.
I have no issues with doing that. The kids like us and consider us grandparents. And they are really good kids. The wife and I think it is a good plan to help the kids get a unique experience.
Which 20 Year Ted Kennedy Memorial Amnesty Bill, the 60s version?
Or the 80s followup?
The 2000s bill is 20 years late so it will be folded into the 2020s Memorial Bill, which I predict Trump will sign with a lot of fanfare.
The 2000s bill got lost in the shuffle of the “wars”, and the Bush Cabal botched passing that one with the witless citrus family scion Adam “Opie” Putnam acting as Shrub’s point man in Congress.
Shrub was only slightly less dead from the neck up than “Opie”.
You only live once!
That sounds like a plan. My brother “fostered” the children of mutual friends from Germany for several months at a stretch each, to let them have immersive experience of the English language. It worked very well. The king ds and my brother had fun together, and the childrens’ English improved by leaps and bounds.
Time to head out and get some stuff done.
n
The B*tchy Doctor’s Wife had to put his foot down this week when the doctor in the house floated the concept of unpaid time off to deal with her migraines in order to shortcut certain red tape regarding sick leave at the VA.
Essentially, the B*tchy Doctor’s Wife’s income would once again be subsidizing the practice of medicine by the other adult in the house, this time putting money in the VA’s pocket.
Oh, h*ll no.
Perhaps an inexpensive LED penlight with a red filter left on overnight in the bathroom?
@Ray Thompson
Sounds priceless.
I don’t think I did all that much yesterday. Yeah, I did pee almost orange. Once. And my skin felt crispy with salt.
I guess it was the heat. My shoulders ache today. No particular sore spot but I feel it from below my shoulder blades to my elbows.
Yay for getting old! 🙂
The entire exchange program has already been priceless. Many times over if that is possible. There is no way I would have had the experiences in Germany, Austria, Norway, Croatia without hosting the students from the exchange program. It is impossible to repay a debt that has infinite value, other than to return the favor.
Don’t you mean “the Doctor’s b*tchy wife”? 🙂
Something like this but for ME going to Germany…. I can’t be 13 again but one can wish.
Call me crazy. I think my Dad would have approved. He would have given me a list of places to go take pictures of. It’s all German on his side of the family (that I’ve never met any of) and speaking German was suppressed. Because WW1 and after. Besides, We Are Now American!
Can you imagine my accent? Start with South California, add Oregon and Hawaii, then back to Oceanside for a few years. Then to Mobile. They said I tawked funny, I said no, you talk funny. Then we all laughed. Take all that and move to south Texas. Like, Mission. Def for sure, everyone there talks funny.
It just started to rain. Nice. The grass is getting crispy.
Have you ever watched Downfall? That’s the movie where the Hitler is looking at a map and having a fit about whatever comes from. I’ve watched the DVD once. Just hit play, it had sub-titles, didn’t really notice until the end the whole movie was in German. Yeah, I read fast, but still, I didn’t miss a word. Even when going to the kitchen for a fresh beer. I know enough German to have a clue with a restaurant menu and how to ask for another beer. I don’t know how to say “donde’sta el banyo por favor?” in German. Yet.
I’m going to go look at the rain. It’s 91f and sticky, but it’s a cool 91. Go figure.
Either way, my role model is Christine Baranski’s Maryann on “Cybil”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYSLsswy6VI
The series ends on a cliffhanger with Maryann being arrested for killing Doctor Dick at the end of the episode.
I sorted it out as “the B*tchy Husband had to put his foot down”.
Don’t mind me. I was born on October 30. I’ve been told by many folks that I missed being a Witch by one day and one letter.
“The Minneapolis shooter’s insane “mandate””
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-minneapolis-shooters-insane-mandate.html
“Fellow blogger Big Country Expat has taken the time and trouble to photograph every page of the Minneapolis church shooter’s ramblings (I refuse to use his name – let him be forgotten!), and has published them on his blog, along with a translation of the weird mixture of English and pseudo-Russian, Latin and Cyrillic script in which they’re written. Click here to go to his place and take a look.”
“We need to remember, and be aware every day, that the proportion of mass shootings and other such crimes committed by trans people is out of all proportion to their actual numbers. It’s getting to the point where I think we might start classifying all trans people as at least potential criminals of this sort, purely to protect ourselves against the larger-than-usual proportion of mass murderers coming out of their number.”
My position is that all of the trannies are mentally ill. All of them.
“The $127 Trillion Global Stock Market In One Giant Chart”
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/127-trillion-global-stock-market-one-giant-chart
“This Markets in a Minute graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Jenna Ross in partnership with Terzo, breaks down the staggering $127 trillion global equity value.”
“The U.S. stock market is by far the largest, making up nearly half of equity value. Its share of the global market went up 7% from 2023 to 2024, the biggest jump of any country or region.”
Cool.
“Wild Splashdown Footage Of SpaceX Starship Megarocket”
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/wild-splashdown-footage-spacex-starship-megarocket
“After multiple launch attempts this week, most of which were due to adverse weather conditions and ground-based issues, Starship Flight 10’s launch was a wild success, with both the Super Heavy booster and the Starship Upper Stage successfully landing on their designated splashdown zones. ”
Super cool !
And with intentional damage to test failure mechanisms, wow !
“We need to remember, and be aware every day, that the proportion of mass shootings and other such crimes committed by trans people is out of all proportion to their actual numbers. It’s getting to the point where I think we might start classifying all trans people as at least potential criminals of this sort, purely to protect ourselves against the larger-than-usual proportion of mass murderers coming out of their number.”
Over-represented by about 600%, according to one estimate early this week.
I’d like to
seedemand a full statistical analysis by a federal task force with researchers who have no predispositions for the outcomes and full authority to get the data they need. No stonewalling by HIPPA and a grand jury empowerd to investigate and make it very expensive to be uncooperative. Something is wrong by definition.And, yeah, the entire Democrat Party with few exceptions is mentally ill.
They’ll get right on that just after they do the analysis of damages done by the Covid “vaccines”.
Which data, BTW, is readily available in any well-managed installation of Epic software. It would understate the damage, but I suspect it’s bad enough to clearly show up.
I can visualize a handful of charts that would show time-phased comparisons of blood clots, strokes, and myocarditis before and after the “vaccine” rollout, and specifically comparing mandated employees’ records vs. general population or even control groups, since there’s an ICD code for vaccination status now.
“Storm Furies (Elfhome)” by Wen Spencer
https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Furies-Elfhome-Wen-Spencer/dp/1668072823?tag=ttgnet-20/
Book number seven of a seven book science fiction fantasy series. Some people call this a paranormal romance series. I read the well printed and well bound MMPB published by Baen in 2025. I skipped the book of short stories previously and have purchased it now for reading as I should not have skipped it due to the plot lines of books 6 and 7.
https://www.amazon.com/Project-Elfhome-Wen-Spencer/dp/1481482904?tag=ttgnet-20
For some reason, Amazon has separated the listings of the MMPB and hardback novels. All of the reviews are on the hardback novels at:
https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Furies-Elfhome-Wen-Spencer/dp/1982193549?tag=ttgnet-20/
Alexander Graham (Tinker) Bell, Elf domi of the Wind clan, has brothers and sisters that she never knew of. Two sisters have been born on Earth and others not born yet. Her sisters and unborn siblings made it to Elfhome from Earth just in time for a war between the four elf clans as their older sister destroyed the hyperphase gate connecting Earth, Elfhome, and Onihome, stranding the entire city of Pittsburg on Elfhome. And the Skin Elf Clan is invading Pittsburg with Oni, Wargs, and mutated horrors to kill off the humans and the elves.
The book really jumps around a lot between the major players. But, the transitions were easier with this book.
My rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars (I want to rate this 5 stars !)
Amazon rating: 4.8 stars out of 5 stars (771 reviews)
Lynn
“Texas regulators trim, approve $2.7B CenterPoint system resiliency plan”
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/texas-regulators-trim-approve-27b-centerpoint-system-resiliency-plan/758476/
“CenterPoint’s January resiliency plan had a $5.75 billion price tag. A settlement cut the ask to $3.2 billion, and the Public Utility Commission of Texas trimmed further on Thursday.”
Just remember this with the next Cat 2+ hurricane. Centerpoint wanted to upgrade the electrical grid and the Texas PUC threw out half of the improvements.
https://redstate.com/streiff/2025/08/29/did-pete-hegseth-just-save-the-day-or-is-he-a-contender-for-the-too-little-too-late-award-n2193391
Stunning. Send them all to Hell and let the Devil sort them out.
Anyone involved in this who has retired from the military should be recalled and court-martialed.
The country accepts young men into the services and sends them around the world to get killed and meanwhile the brass is making decisions like this.
Did my pickups. Moved more stuff from my storage unit, and went back for more. BUT then the bad weather started and I was worried about my precious things getting rained on. So I beat feet with what I had loaded and made it to the shop before the rain came.
Now it’s back to hot and muggy, with no breeze at all.
Wife headed to the BOL, but left me BOTH kids because they wanted to go to a football game tonight. She’ll get some alone time at the lake which she probably needs. I get another day to move my storage unit.
The kids get to sleep in.
Plans. I’ve got ’em, but no one cares.
n
I’ve mentioned before that I once met the proverbial “lesbian trapped in a man’s body” who seemed to me to be a perfectly reasonable individual. However, he (because pre alterations) had gone through the full DSM IV recommended pre-op counseling and therapy to ensure there weren’t serious underlying issues. Thanks to the changes in DSM V, the desire to change gender is no longer considered a symptom, and has been replaced by not being the desired gender, which puts an entirely different spin on treatment.
Epic will end up as part of Microsoft, under BillG’s control.
Or maybe BillG will skip the Microsoft ownership fig leaf and just buy Epic outright himself.
Either way, Epic will not be used as a tool to gather evidence for any Nuremberg-style tribunals.
“Bondi Cans DoJ Staffer for Flipping Off National Guard”
https://thelibertydaily.com/bondi-cans-doj-staffer-flipping-national-guard/
“(Patriot TV)—Attorney General Pam Bondi has terminated the employment of a Department of Justice paralegal after evidence emerged of her repeatedly disrespecting National Guard troops stationed in Washington, D.C. Elizabeth Baxter, who worked in the environmental defense section, was removed from her position effective immediately following an investigation that included witness accounts and security footage.”
Sounds good to me. If this mentally ill person has disrespect for another person, who knows what she will do ?
Finally watched Idiocracy. Funny. Some really funny bits. But too close to home.
n
Finally watched Idiocracy. Funny. Some really funny bits. But too close to home.
Didn’t used to be that close to home. We have been accelerating.
And the part with the medical diagnosis tool with one part that goes in your backside and the other part in your mouth is hilarious when the tech gets them backwards.
>> Yeah, I did pee almost orange. Once. And my skin felt crispy with salt.
One of my meds turns my pee bright orange…and interferes with “If it’s yellow, let it mellow…”
The FAFO is strong with this administration.
Last day of my summer holidays today. Up early to clean the accommodation and packing the car. About 24 hours of driving, ferry and train travel are ahead. Wish me luck…
Have a good weekend!