Cooler weather is nice. Forecast says ‘clear’ for a couple of days at least, and while it is getting hot in the afternoon, overall, it’s cooler.
Yesterday was nice. I even had the windows down on the truck for a while. Sunny and warm in the sun, but very nice. I did my pickups and took some of it to the shop where I’m piling up stuff for the BOL. I think I’ll head up this weekend by myself. Anyway, after that, I came home and made some steaks for dinner. One was from 2020 and was very tasty. The other was only from last year, so no big deal.
I didn’t get a layer of mud on my drywall seams so I’ve got that to do this am.
Then it’s a pickup or two, and a trip to IKEA for my pantry flat pack. It’s supposed to be ready at 1pm. I hope I get some sort of confirmation email in the morning.
Lots of stuff to do, and not a lot of motivation or energy. Time to grind.
Still stacking. Still working on improvements. Still lagging behind…
nick
Something to add to the to-do list: Make sure the daughters realize that one daughter is all any family needs, so one of them is excess, and you’re still making up your mind which of them is the unneeded extra.
#FollowMeForMoreParentingTips
Jeep Wrangler 4xe with the cr*ptastic Fiat turbo charged 4 cyl engine.
The engine will go splody anyway.
God only knows who did the control software.
The GM tech center in town is full of Colonists who prefer generally prefer Tonymobiles.
The four door Wrangler was a big midlife crisis vehicle around here for a while, but that was mostly white males.
Saw an electric Mustang? yesterday. Not an attractive or interesting looking vehicle. And a Mustang SUV? WTF?
——————
64F and 84%RH.
Coffee should be ready soon.
n
Hot Skillz plus someone probably got a Patent out of the OTA software update taking place while the vehicle was in motion.
The vaunted Go project at my employer was supposed to gather information about the state of the system in real time, but the inept design meant that a supplemental process in C++ was necessary to actually read the sensors and populate the data areas served by the Go code in order to have any hope that the readings would arrive within the timing specs.
The C++ process, designed with the “assistance” of AI, also has performance issues, but it comes closer to meeting the requirements.
I wasn’t involved in either. Management didn’t want to pay me as much as they did the younger developers responsible for those processes so, absent a promotion and raise, I stick to my niche on the project and everyone avoids spending the rest of their careers in depositions, arbitrations, hearings, etc.
The EV abomination with the “Mustang” nameplate is not a Mustang.
Iacocca laid it down 60 years ago. A Mustang must be:
1. Rear wheel drive.
2. Affordable
3. Something anyone could see themselves driving on a daily basis.
Iacocca still had enough pull at Ford to kill the idea of the Ford Probe platform becoming the Mustang in the 90s, a violation of #1, but he was dead and buried by the time Tommy Boy came up with the idea of putting the nameplate on an EV.
You can get a good look at Bankruptcy by sticking your head up a Mustang EV’s tailpipe, but wouldn’t you rather take the accountant’s word for it?
And, please, no one here should give me an argument that they might see themselves behind the wheel of the Mustang EV if the price was right.
What? Free?
Greg,
Love the “Tommy boy” reference.
The most time critical code that I was ever involved with was while working at the bank. Those check reader sorter machines, now basically dinosaurs, were time critical. There were milliseconds between when the MICR line was read and the pocket (1 of 24) had to be selected by the software. Based off the routing-transit (R/T) number, or account number for on-us items, the code had to determine the pocket. On-us was not too bad as it was just the account number involved. R/T numbers were tricker.
Extensive use of tables, loaded into memory, that could be quickly searched, were used for foreign items. Once the R/T was determined, one of several federal reserve banks, local banks, or on-us, the pocket was selected. Hopefully within time.
The code was so critical in time that much time was spent eliminating instructions, optimizing existing instructions, or using an alternate and faster instruction (INC instead of ADD). There was a special instruction when the item was read that placed the mainframe in control mode where all interrupts were ignored (processed later) and the entire instruction sequence had full control of the CPU. Control mode was released by another instruction once the pocket was selected.
I got involved more than once at customer banks when I worked with Burroughs. Their code would be a millisecond or two too long in processing in some cases. I was tasked with improving the instruction flow, eliminating bottlenecks and reducing the time. Some of those programmers were really clueless. When I went to work full time for one of my customers, there were three reader-sorters running on one mainframe. It made the process of pocket selecting even more tedious.
John Wilder brings the truth bomb.
https://wilderwealthywise.com/the-looming-a-i-market-bubble/
The economy isn’t doing great. Some few stocks are.
n
Cloudy Nights, my favorite astronomy forum did an ‘upgrade’ last week. It seems to be mostly back, but I can’t login yet. This morning I see others logged in with current posts, rather than the 2017 stuff of the weekend, so things are improving.
Well, after 11 years without an upgrade it was time.
But now they want cookies.
People just look at their home‘s Zillow estimate and 401(k)/pension plan balances, counting on a “tenbagger” in both for retirement.
They feel wealthy right now, and that’s what counts.
Back from a quick trip to Laguna Beach to visit the in-laws. They are not doing well. Essentially, they are sitting in recliners, watching tv, waiting to die. There is nothing we can do, but it’s still tough to see anyways.
We also spent time looking around San Clemente where my wife grew up.
We also explored the southern part of Laguna, which involved a lot of stair climbing. We both love Southern CA. We are just 50 years too late to be there (maybe more?).
The last day we had misting rain, and the yesterday morning we had actual rain on our drive to the airport. As @EdH stated, the news was practically calling for the end of the world. I’m just glad the wipers actually worked on the rental car.
No flight delays. We flew through ATL to SNA on the way out and via DTW on the way back. TSA were their usual cheerful selves, but no extreme behavior was observed.
“You can get a good look at Bankruptcy by sticking your head up a Mustang EV’s tailpipe,”
looking for pen and notebook….
From yesterday
Two Win 10 desktops and two laptops. No sign of any MS nagware besides the usual. All are pro versions. I have been getting warnings now and then. I have to remind people lack of MS support is not that important. Use third party protection if needed. Stay off public wifi and use a vpn if you really need to.
A Farley family member currently runs Ford.
Riffing on the “bull’s a**” line is easy, but if you want to know the prevailing attitude of the C Suites in Detroit towards their customer base, employees, and stock/bond holders, pay attention to every line out of Dan Aykroid’s character’s mouth in “Tommy Boy”.
Heck. Forget Detroit. That’s the attitude of American management in general.
Redondo Beach was still surface nice when we went in April, but the ominous signs about the real state of the economy in CA were everywhere, even out there.
No nagging by Windows on my home built WIndows Pro 64 bit system. MS did install an update when I shut down and went to bed just after midnight. It booted normally this morning.
My Lenovo laptop installed Win 11 a few weeks ago. It only thing I have noticed is that it can transfer photos fron my iPhone without any problems and I can open them and save then as .jpgs. The apple .heic files are unreadable on my Windows 10 machine. I sure wold like to fine a way to convert the .heic files to .jpgs quickly. I have several hundred while I try to do a few each day I ususaly have a more that a few new ones each day.
You’re the best, my Sweet Summer Father.
My Lenovo so far so good. My experience with Win 11 is there are some difference to get used to but nothing major.
Yes I hate Apple pics too. W1 & D1 have apple phones. The format can be save as jpeg only I forget right now how. Was only painful while trying to figure it out the first time.
W1 sent me a note the other day and it wanted me to log into my Apple account to read it. Not happening.
Sticking with my Pixel phone and tablet.
Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I almost detect a bit of sarcasm there.
That said, I wasn’t even thinking of your situation. You had to tell four daughters that they were excess to requirements. Wow. I don’t envy you for that.
For myself, I’m not bothered by the Windows 10/11 issue, or Windows issues at all. I own a Windows laptop. It has Dragon NaturallySpeaking installed, which I used to use a fair amount but I haven’t touched in several years. Other than that, I checked various family members’ computers to make sure they were running Win11, could be upgraded, or they got the extended support. -dust hands- OK, I’m done here. Now back to my Linux and BSD boxes.
More panopticon.
I saw a youtube short yesterday that mentioned the Unplugged phone. I was curious, so in another tab, I typed u, n, p and the first suggestion was “unplugged phone”.
There is no way in heII that the most searched phrase starting with unp is a niche phone.
Someone got some juicy data about cause and effect and effectiveness…
Since the phone itself is anti- panopticon, I don’t expect to get a tonne of ads, and recommendations featuring it.
n
When D1 left to get D2 from her activity last night, I told her to “Be careful driving, my favorite daughter will be in the car.”
n
The Ukraine war is increasingly equipping and empowering drug cartels
Lovely. Just lovely.
The Uke war is a practice war to develop and evaluate new tactics.
They used drones, so they got counter drone tactics. Then they developed the fiber optic control for drones. Now they have rotating fence wires to cut fiber optic lines…
It’s a lab. I’m sure everyone has the specops people there, watching and learning, and taking lessons home for further development.
n
I checked my order acknowledgement and I will get an email when my IKEA order is ready for pickup. I don’t have it yet.
So, off to do other pickups.
n
Well, management in general. At work, I often refer to ‘manager’s disease’ to refer to practical problems due to prevailing management practices, like assuming bad intent on behalf of workers for any non-compliant actions, or good ideas only coming from managers, or assumptions about workers’ inability to know or understand information about the work they do in an absolute vacuum of context due to zero explanation by said manager. I’m not expecting any promotions.
Judge temporarily blocks the Trump administration from firing federal workers during the government shutdown
I coulda sworn that the Supreme Court put the kibosh on district judges issuing orders with national effect.
Illston was appointed by Clinton and took her seat 30 years ago. a) Color me surprised b) Yet another argument in favor of mandatory retirement of federal judges
I lived in Redondo Beach for a while. Nice little community but too close to ‘south central’ LA.
I didn’t get to the actual beach once while I lived in the LA area. That’s a couple of years. I’m not sure I got to the sandy beach in San Diego more than once in 13 years either. I’m not much of a beach guy.
n
I have been to lots of beaches, but usually don’t go into the water. I do love boating. You just made me realize that I have lived on a sort of a beach for several decades. The difference is that the local desert doesn’t have any permanent body of water. So, I guess I love the beach.
Oh, boating. Some people here have sand yachts, and I have always wanted to get a ride on one. They are fast, though probably not quite as fast as an ice boat. I got a ride on one of those, just once. C-c-c-old! Faaaaast! They can go several times the wind speed, and are low to the ice, so it seems even faster. I did some sailing on a lake as a kid, and it was best of all. Sometimes speedy, sometimes becalmed, always fun.
We went to Redondo Beach for Cannonball record-related tourism.
The Portofino is the end of the unofficial route. Of course the point is now marked by a large sign with clocks showing local time and Eastern.
“MEMO TO TRUMP: DON’T STOP” by Ann Coulter
https://anncoulter.com/2025/10/09/memo-to-trump-dont-stop-121/
“ President Trump has been a whirling dervish of activity. Since his inauguration, it’s been a joy to read the news. Nothing but good news all the time.”
“In a single day about a week after he was sworn in, New York Times headlines included these bangers:”
“— Trump Terminates Fauci’s Government Security Protection”
“— Education Department Employees Placed on Leave for Attending Diversity Training”
“— Thousands of U.S. Government Web Pages Have Been Taken Down Since Friday”
and many more.
Can you imagine our life right now without Trump ? Gun seizures. Millions more walking across the borders. Special rights for trannies. Christians being martyred daily by crazy trannies. A four or five trillion dollar deficit this year. On and on.
Judge Susan Illston has decided that she is all knowing and can rule the U.S. even though she is not in the executive branch. A single person making a decision that she says a single person (Trump) should not be making. How quaint. Saying Trump cannot layoff federal workers as it against the law.
OK. Don’t lay off the federal workers. Just don’t pay them for the time the government is closed. The workers can choose to stay or lay themselves off.
Oh, and don’t pay the federal judges either.
Kamala bestie Dana Walden as Disney CEO and all of Hollywood getting an emergency infusion of cash from the Federal Government.
Long term? Trump swinging from gallows built on the exact spot where he was Inaugurated in 2017.
Nothing else is going to satisfy a double digit percentage of the population at this point.
“Drone Warfare in CW2” by Matt Bracken
https://steelcutter.substack.com/p/drone-warfare-in-cw2
“Get up to speed, or become a casualty”
Hat tip to:
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-ukraine-war-is-increasingly.html
“The Fall of England: not with a bang, but a whimper”
https://steelcutter.substack.com/p/the-fall-of-england-not-with-a-bang
“The United Kingdom may surrender without a civil war.”
“I’m currently writing a novel set in Ireland a few years hence. In this excerpt, an Englishman is explaining the surrender of England to Islam from his own perspective. Because my novel centers on Irish resistance to the evil twins of globalism and Islamism, I didn’t want to write a long treatise on a possible civil war in the UK. In my novel, Ireland is where these twin forces reach their high-water mark and the pushback begins, after they have defeated most of the rest of Europe.”
Whoof.
“How Scott Adams is Beating Cancer”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdMkqWASCFI&t=85s
“Zuby is joined by cartoonist and author Scott Adams for a conversation spanning health, culture, and technology. Scott shares a health update on his prostate cancer, why he chose to go public, and how it’s changed his outlook. The two explore Scott’s legacy, the socio-political climate, and rising division. The discussion also turns to existential issues, AI, and the case for space colonization.”
Long term? Trump swinging from gallows built on the exact spot where he was Inaugurated in 2017.
Nothing else is going to satisfy a double digit percentage of the population at this point.
What are we going to to do with these people ?
Long term, we cannot live together with them.
A split into two countries might work temporarily but I doubt it. “People’s Republic (Kelly Turnbull/PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC)” by Kurt Schlichter
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1539018954
I called a friend the other night. Dang if I know exactly what I said but she hung up on me. We’ve been friends for like 40 years. She’s way dem and seems to think open borders are fine and dandy. My saying that diversity is not our strength, well.
So I called her again today. She’s fine. She had a shitty day and dumped it all on me.
But ya know? The way she went off on me, I should delete the contact on my phone. But 40+ years of being friends, yeah.
I don’t have a lot of folks to talk to. I have 36 contacts in my phone and of that maybe 20 are real people. And well, they don’t call me. And when I call them it always seems to be an un-convenient time.
So. I dunno. Delete all contacts? Or just turn the phone off?
Phone off, I think.
“What are we going to to do with these people ?”
Nah. Takes too long. Too much effort. Too little certainty.
Kill everyone.
That’s the way to make it stick.
I bought a 6 disc set of Bourne movies. All pg13. Entertaining. Uh, without the blood spray of John Wick movies. Uh, no killing of Daisy the puppy, either.
Six discs in a normal thickness DVD case. And the movies just play. No 45 minutes of previews and an hour of FBI and Interpol carp saying piracy is EVIL.
Decent movies.
“What are we going to to do with these people ?”
This will not happen. Sooner or later, the dumbrocrats will get in control of the House, Senate, and/or the White House. I can just about guarantee this.
BTW, stay away from dumbrocrats, they are dangerous.
“SCOTUS’s Review of the Voting Rights Act Is Getting Interesting”
https://www.independentsentinel.com/scotuss-review-of-the-voting-rights-act-is-getting-interesting/
“The Voting Rights Act, which was established to give Democrats the edge, is under Supreme Court review today. Justice Sotomayor, forgetting we had a black president, thinks no one will vote for black candidates without black congressional districts. However, attorney Mr. Moopan quashed her absurd argument.”
“It looks like the Supreme Court might allow Republicans to redraw Southern districts to eliminate 12 or more Democrat seats in the House. That would help us reduce the power of the Democrat communists.”
“They can’t win without their racist policies.”
@Lynn
This will not happen. Sooner or later, the dumbrocrats will get in control of the House, Senate, and/or the White House. I can just about guarantee this.
“They can’t win without their racist policies.”
They can’t win without cheating, and the racist policies are just a part. Wholesale voter fraud is another, and with a legislative majority in both houses, we go after that hammer and tongs. Along the way we get rid of the RINO’s.
Public education is another part. Trump is already squeezing the taxpayer-funded college and university left-wing indoctrination system. K-12 should not be too far behind. How about a federal law that makes all state “right to work” when it comes to taxpayer-funded education?
We can wish. But if we’re wishing, let’s repeal some of the Amendments too.
n
Secret Service Seized 65 Skimmers in New York, Stopped $67M in Fraud
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/scott-mcclallen/2025/10/15/secret-service-seizes-65-skimmers-in-new-york-stopped-67m-in-fraud-n2665012
Time served for crimes should have a component that reflects the time damage to victims, as well as the financial. The scammers hardly ever make restitution, and they get prison based on a scale that does not take into account the time their victims spend putting their lives back together.
Sentences should include four components consisting of traditional punishment plus restitution:
Wait for the mainstream media to implode and then go to work on the cell phone network.
No more subsidized phones or spectrum auctions for the CoDominium.
Remember, Bill Barr was General Consul of GTE who helped mastermind the Verizon “merger of equals”.
Trump already made a mistake letting TikTok live, but pricey cell phone service will put a crimp on that dopamine fix real fast.
The Chosen One put Sotomayor on the bench for no other reason than her being a Wise Latina.
I’m glad that meme has faded, but Rosanne Barr put Valerie Jarrett, mastermind of the concept, off limits until Obama’s puppet master assumes room temperature.
Rosanne deserves what she got IMHO. Of course, I always despised “Rosanne”.
Yeah, she’s not an appealing person, or character to me anyway. She’s got a pretty sharp mind though.
n
Best comment I’ve seen on this amplifies the observation about losing faith in the justice system.
Leftist judges release violent criminals who attack conservatives (or any White). This means that violent attacks against us may be de jure illegal, they are de facto completely approved. Encouraged, even.
I no longer go unarmed (with rare exceptions). It’s clear that the police and judges won’t protect White men. Or any victims of blacks or illegals. It’s up to us to defend ourselves.
I really need to upgrade my EDC gub. I own good ones, I just need better holsters.
Might be time to switch to a 40… except the 9 allows more chances in a melee…
Even my wife is starting to see the coming conflict. She updated me on the state of paper goods at the BOL. She said, “it’s not critical, it’s good for a while.” When I asked if it was good for 6 months, I DIDN”T get the eye roll, just a simple acknowledgement.
I’m going up this weekend and I’ll be updating some basic stocking. I’ve let the LP gas bottles run down, and if someone’s not stealing my gasoline, I’m not managing that stock level well either.
Food levels are good. Meds are good. Tech is good. Weaps, not as good as there isn’t a safe there. Time for that to change soon.
n
Coyotes yipping outside … neighborhood dogs are excited. They don’t realize that they might be the meal.
Or maybe they do, I don’t speak dog or coyote.
Time for bed. I resisted the siren song of a tiny little fire and some sitting out by water… but just barely.
I’ve got stuff to do tomorrow, and I will feel better if I’m rested.
n
I really need to upgrade my EDC gub. I own good ones, I just need better holsters.
I like gubs that do not require the previous round to fire correctly to fire the current round. In other words, revolvers that tolerate my tendonitis in my right arm.
I love my XDM .40S&W. I’ve shot a 250 out of 250 with it. But it will fail to load properly every fifth time that you limp wrist it.
I’ve never shot a Glock. I do not know if they are subject to limp wristing like my XDM.
I have two EDC favorites. A Ruger GP100 .357 seven shot 2.5 inch barrel and a S&W Airlite PD .357 five shot. Both in Sticky Holsters that I can slip into a pocket.
https://www.amazon.com/Sticky-Holsters-Lg-4-Large-Black/dp/B00D7NZPQ6/
I have yet to meet an autoloading handgun that isn’t subject to limp wristing.
Revolvers are generally reliable, but the few serious malfunctions to which they are liable usually put them completely out of service.
Perhaps an 8″ Taurus Raging Bull 444… Even if not functional, it’ll make an adequate club.
In other news, jump to 9:43 for some of the Isle of Man’s finest only ones competent…
https://youtu.be/hdUSErJs5NU
Speaking of proper prison sentences: Last weekend we had serious rioting in Bern. Supposedly pro-Palestine, which makes zero sense, since the peace process was in progress at the time. Really, it was just an excuse for idiots to vandalize and burn. Most of the people are “black bloc”, which is a movement where they dress all in black and cover their faces.
Which brings us to the problem: In order to prosecute people for the violence and damage they caused, you have to be able to point to someone and say “this person smashed that window there”. “this person attacked that policeman there”. And the “black bloc” strategy is effective, in that it is nearly impossible to attach specific actions to specific people.
Seems to me that we need some sort of law that enables collective prosecution. Even if a particular person never attacked anyone, and never smashed any shopfronts, they chose to participate in the riot. Of course, that’s a slippery slope: collective guilt could easily be extended in some very abusive ways…
The JUSO (Young Socialist) political party specifically called for people to participate in the riot, so there are also calls for the party to be presented with the bill for damages. No idea if there is any legal basis for such a thing, but it would be sweet.
I have yet to meet an autoloading handgun that isn’t subject to limp wristing.
Revolvers are generally reliable, but the few serious malfunctions to which they are liable usually put them completely out of service.
This is why one should be like Josey Wales and carry four gubs.
Bullet holes would help to identify the perpetrators for prosecution.
Done properly, it would be a posthumous prosecution.
Be like Max in Beyond Thunderdome, carrying so many that it takes three minutes to disarm.
But don’t be like Max. Don’t disarm. When someone wants to disarm you, it’s never for your benefit.
Astute observers will note the timestamp of this comment. Being woken at 0230 I think four days in a row now gets real old, real quick, even when I let some things slide yesterday evening and got to bed by 2300 instead of the usual 2400ish. Tried and failed to get back to sleep.
One can dream… I would settle for them being collectively responsible for the damages. At least $50 million, around 500 arrested people, so $100k each. If that were enforced, I’d be happy to let the criminal charges drop.
Work? Chickens? Kids?
I have two Glock G19’s (9mm). One is a Gen3, and it has jammed maybe twice in 1000? rounds through it. Extremely reliable. The other one is Gen5, and it is much more sensitive, and will jam if you limp wrist. At this point, I treat the Gen5 as spare parts for the other one.
I also have a G43 (.380) and it is also subject to jamming.
My wife’s gun is a Ruger LCP (.380) and it doesn’t jam, even with her shooting it. It is too small for me to shoot accurately.
It’s been too long since I’ve been to the range – need to correct that.