Cool to start, maybe getting nicer, maybe getting stormier… Supposedly some big storming is possible. It was certainly windy yesterday and cool. I don’t think it got above mid 70sF.
Yesterday was mostly calm, and uneventful with a little bit of work getting done, mostly trips to my shop with stuff from the house. I did do one pickup and a trash run. Oh, and there was the accident I got in on my way home. It’s in the comments yesterday. I’m fine, and the truck looks fine, but both will probably have at least some hidden damage. We’ll see over the next couple of days.
Today, if I’m feeling ok, I’ve got some work to do on the truck. Item the first is installing a new dashcam, since the one I have in there failed miserably. You had ONE JOB… And if I’m in the truck working, I’ll see about installing a stereo and maybe running some wire for the ham radio too.
I’d like to maybe get some lights or other decoration started on the house too. Sounds pretty ambitious for me lately.
Oh, and refilling some of the 1 pound propane bottles for the MrHeaters. I’ve gotten in the habit of sitting out by the pond for a while and I like it. It’s not as good as the lake but it does take the edge off.
Some quiet time is pretty important for most people, but men especially. Stack some if you can.
nick
The Child used “high-trust society” and “low-trust society” in conversation. The conversation had no relation to current events or sociopolitical studies. It was about world-building for a story and explaining why this village and that village are so different even though they should be the same. So she was listening, even as she rolled her eyes at me.
All of my autographs are obtained in person. I’ve never played the collector market to get one because I like to express my appreciation for the work and support the actor/actress.
David Tennant and his supporting cast did a lot of cons before the pandemic so their signatures will be out there on the market in large numbers.
Capaldi didn’t do many cons during his time, but his tenure marked the start of the modern series’ ratings decline.
Baker’s signature may be he most valuable of the three since his run predated the modern con circuit and he distanced himself from the show for decades after leaving the role.
The “Doctor Who” market has imploded in general since the last lead, Ncuti Gatwa, called the unhappy fans pigs in a Vanity Fair interview and suggested that we all go out and “touch grass” if we didn’t like the direction of the program.
Message received loud and clear, Ncuti.
The dime got dropped at halftime.
Disney/ABC ran this commercial during the first quarter, when I saw part of the broadcast while we were out of the house last night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wflxnS2330U
Seriously? I guess they don’t see a point in pretending anymore.
I didn’t see Draft Kings commercials, but I only caught one commercial break.
The fans are somewhat disappointed with David Tennant as of late for taking the money and running for his appearance in the 60th anniversary specials and, away from “Doctor Who”, the creative direction of “Good Omens” after the first season.
Matt Smith, Tennant’s successor, may be the most popular “Doctor Who” lead right now since he’s distanced himself from the current production team’s stupidity and has a whole new fan base due to “House of the Dragon”.
A Matt Smith and Karen Gillan picture with autographs would still sell.
Like everyone else in Disney/Fox Marvel, Gillan will be back for the next movie as The Mouse attempts to stave off Bankruptcy with the casting stunts in “Hail Mary” movies.
Trump calls the autopen bluff
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/11/trump_calls_the_autopen_bluff.html
Absent a clear paper trail, the Dems are left with the claim that a mechanically generated doodle meets the constitutional requirement of presidential approval.
Signet rings were the province of royalty, which we famously chose not to adopt when our nation was founded. The Bush DOJ issued the autopen figleaf in 2005. It’s past time for a full examination of what constitutes “signing”. Governance by doodle will not pass muster.
Nick, sorry to hear about the accident, and the dash cam issue. Hopefully minor damage & expenses.
I have a dash cam, given to me, but it was apparently of eastern block origin and a bear to use (heh) and I lost bits of it over time, I should get another. Not sure which tho.
Well, I’m up. No significant aches or pains. Bit of a weird head from the meds. Do not like.
Need coffee and then I’ll look at the truck again.
It’s a bit grey out right now, not looking like storming is imminent but not sunny and blue either.
Hmm.
n
Mr. Brad, are you running camera software on the NAS? My Synology has its own camera surveillance software (I currently don’t use it). I don’t think you can get Eufy cameras to just save to the NAS. I guess you could back up the Eufy hub storage to the NAS, but the software wouldn’t access the NAS, only the hub.
Delicious complex hydrocarbons, slow-release sugars, soluble fibre, gluten-free, reduces cholesterol, nourishes, warms and staves off infections. When did you last see a horse with a cold?
Porridge is superfood, especially for those of us with Celtic/Viking/northern European genetics.
Bedtime. I had a nice time in the woods. It was less cold than Thursday. I got a fleeting look at a deer, and was able to study a kingfisher in his bridal plumage. Drinks and dinner with friends thereafter. Venison lasagna – very delicious!
Goodnight.
I don’t know how well it will play with a NAS. I have an EUFY box that controls the cameras and has local storage. There is no cloud stuff involved. There is also no need for on-camera storage. The storage cards are really cheap, so why not?
I moved the chickens to their winter quarters, to wit my patio. I’m not quite done because Problems Were Encountered, partly in the move (the net I put up to keep them in was snarled, tangled, and generally a disaster) and partly because of various family issues. No real disasters, just One Damned Thing After Another. I’d let them run free while The Child and I moved the coop and then I set things up (while she did homework, having done none while she was hanging out with her friend for the past three days) and then told them to Go Home. They all went to the run and then milled around in confusion because Things Have Changed. I got them to come the hundred feet across the yard, down a few steps, and onto the patio by luring them with treats. The greedy guts got over their confusion quickly once the crinkling of the package made it to them.
The Child had a good break, mainly because of goofing around with her friend, shopping, both of them coming here for most meals, staying up half the night, and in general doing nothing productive.
On the humid side today. Not bad. It clouded up and rained pretty hard a couple of hours ago and now it’s sunny and 75f. A front is coming and tonight’s low will be 38f and maybe some rain with tomorrow’s high forecast to be 45f and mostly cloudy. Ick. It’s the time of the year so no point in complaining.
I’ll grumble instead about my toes being numb from the cold.
I received a generic form letter from the county tax folks. Well, some woman there. Ok, they want to do an Ag Check. No problem. No guarantee of seeing the cows but there’s plenty of poop around. Hopefully two head is still enough, it was at the last check.
She could not inspect because “the gate was locked” or “we need more information about location” or “a dog prevented entry” or “or another situation”.
Well, if she can’t find the place with Google Maps, I don’t know what to say. The dogs are house dogs. The gate is not locked. It’s a push button to open. Because a push button is cheaper than a keypad and the keypad is wired just like the push button. Some security there, eh?
The nervous like they expect to get tased spider head guys from Big River know how to open the gate.
I hate the thought of someone from the Tax Assessor office, not clever enough to push a button, is coming to tell me if I qualify with two head of cattle. This place has lots of trees and rocky places. It’s not pasture like the pictures you see of Kansas. Hey, maybe I’ll need to get some goats. Goats are cool and they eat stuff cows don’t.
I sent her an e-mail. I tried calling but no one answers on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day.
I went and clicked the button to get the Starlink Mini. $5 a month for Standby Mode which provides 500 Kbps max speed. Free hardware.
Lighting does weird things. With the Mini I have a backup connection.
I misremembered a few days ago. When I first connected to the wISP from using dial-up the speed was 256 Kbps. Ten times faster than dial-up for me and always on. Not the 125 I think I said.
I also ordered the Starlink Mini as an add-on for my full-sized Starlink. I actually did that for BOTH Starlink systems; we have one here in San Antonio, and I bought (and pay for) another for my sister-in-law in Lancaster, CA, in the “high desert” area of Cacafornia, so that she can work remotely from her “office” in the San Fernando Valley. I figure, free hardware for only a $5/month additional cost is cheap at twice the price.
I’ll fire mine up and let you know how it works, once it arrives.
I ordered one too. We’ll keep it here as backup to the ATT fiber.
Spent the afternoon pulling wiring in the truck for the dash cam. I figured out why it wasn’t working for the accident- it was unplugged. I have a 3 way splitter I forgot about and it was half pulled out.
Finally got the app for my phone and did the real setup on the cam. Installed the back camera too, although not yet permanently. No good place to attach to in the rear window.
From reviewing the files, it hadn’t saved any trips since June.
I’ve still got work to do, but I kept getting interrupted by moisture from the sky. The clouds would break, the blue sky would shine thru, and some misty drizzle would fall.
————
I poked at some other things, but felt kinda groggy from the meds, and didn’t want to work too hard with any body issues. I do feel a bit stiff, and like it wouldn’t take much to pull something.
Ordered the honeybaked ham and table coverings for the non-prepping Christmas dinner, and some other stuff for me.
Chatted with the Amazon driver. He isn’t sure if this will be busier than last year. He did note that the stores and mall seemed much quieter this year. And that drivers are worse than usual at running red lights.
————
We are supposed to go to the Renfair tomorrow, but I’m not interested if it’s raining. It’s supposed to be dressed for “Celtic Christmas” and my neighbor says the lights and decor are really nice. The other people we are going with want to leave at 3pm, but I’m only going if I can stay for the lights. I don’t have any plans except to visit the tobacconists and watch some smithing. And eating a couple of ribeye steak sandwiches.
n
“King George” killed himself earlier this year, and TRF is under new management.
The last time we went, the weed stench was so bad in the restrooms that even the stoners complained.
A new property tax break was on the ballot earlier this month regarding land used to store cattle feed.
I didn’t read too far into those other than voting ‘no’, but I believe that it passed.
If you don’t qualify because you only have two head, maybe you could qualify because you store feed.
Nick, I ordered a special “back window camera mount” from Amazon. Currently $8.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Y2Q4T7L?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&tag=ttgnet-20
I received the Starlink Mini offer, but didn’t act in time.
I have the standard unit & a Verizon smartphone, and my neighbor still has ATT for mobiles and a copper DSL, so I am not too concerned about emergencies. If something serious enough to take all of that out happens then I’ll probably have things to worry about other then catching up with whatever’s hot on TikTok.
Considering some travel next year, but no firm plans, so “no” is fine for now.
“A Rage for Revenge (War Against the Chtorr, Book 3)” by David Gerrold
https://www.amazon.com/Rage-Revenge-Against-Chtorr-Book/dp/0553278444?tag=ttgnet-20/
Book number three of a four book science fiction alien invasion series. I reread the well printed and well bound MMPB published by Bantam Spectra Books in 1989 that I bought new in 1989. I own a copy of book number four and plan to reread it soon.
The book is dedicated to “for Frank Robinson, with love”. There is also a thank you list for several people including Robert and Ginny Heinlein, Jerry Pournelle, and Richard Fontana, I suspect alpha readers and discussion buddies.
This is very hard sci-fi. Do not pick up this book without having many hours available to you to finish it. Once started, the book sucks you in gradually so that you say, “just one more chapter”. When you finish the book at 5:50 am the next morning, you will be exhausted as if you had just run a 10K. This also applies to the preceding and follow-on books.
I have read this book at least three times. Maybe four times. I lost count many years ago.
The first book starts off with a series of plagues that devastate the human population across the Earth. Then the weird plants start growing everywhere. Then the huge one meter to five meter long alien carnivorous worms show up and starting eating people, cows, horses, etc. The worms are very difficult to destroy without a combat rated flamethrower.
In the second book, Jim McCarthy is now a lieutenant in the Army Special Forces. And things are getting worse. McCarthy and Duke are drafted into an expedition into northern California to investigate secondary and tertiary worm homes but their assault helicopter crashes when the Chtorran airborn plants cause the jet engines to fail. Then things get very tough when the bunny dogs riding the worms show up.
I would advise skipping this book. The subjects are horrible and not for the faint at heart or the squeamish. All of the States in the USA except Hawaii have worm infestations with worm huts all over the place. Various cults of worm worshipers have sprung up of people actually living with the worms and feeding their … to the worms. There is also aberrant sex in the book.
Gerrold has claimed many times over the years that there will be a fifth book and a sixth book and a seventh book in the series. I will believe it when I see it. He stated once to us on his email list that book 5 is so insane that he just could not finish several chapters in the middle of the book. However, there is a taunting preview of book 5, “A Method for Madness”, at:
https://web.archive.org/web/20060321170726/http://www.gerrold.com/chtorr-5/page.htm
I am hoping that if Gerrold does not finish the books then his son will publish the books when he passes on. Who knows ? Gerrold is very sensitive about people asking when he is going to publish the remaining books in the series.
There is another review by James Nicoll at:
https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/review/the_world_stood_still
My rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (45 reviews)
Lynn
“The March”
https://areaocho.com/the-march/
“The statistic is 40% of rent controlled housing is occupied by illegals. This limits supply and raises the cost of housing.”
“Pew research estimates that there are more than 14 million illegals in the nation. The Biden years saw an unprecedented number of illegal entries, aided by the administration’s active participation. My guess is that 14 million is low, perhaps by 15-20 percent, putting the real number at around 16 million. One in every 20 people in the US here illegally, and the other 19 people pay for it.”
“Now comes news that our judiciary is divided along political lines, with Democrat appointed judges nearly all siding with leftist policies instead of the Constitution.”
“There is no coming back from this. Trump is a speed bump. All the left needs to do is stall for three more years before continuing their march to communism.”
I am hearing 40 million illegals and 20 million legals in the USA. They are over working all of our resources and pushing us into bankruptcy.
@ken, thanks I ordered that.
n
@greg, the Tom Baker went for $18, and the Cast one went for $66. Kind of a surprise. I’m a fan, but haven’t watched in ages.
n
“I ‘m just a Borg boy”
https://accordingtohoyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/g6s2uucb0aa9i6s.png
From:
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2025/11/29/thanks-for-the-memes/
Dadgumit, somebody finished off the Pecan Pie. OK, that somebody was me.
If I buy another Pecan Pie, will it it cause me to gain weight ?
If I buy another Pecan Pie, will it it cause me to gain weight ?
– only if you then eat it…
n
The cheaper HEB pecan pie is not as good as the premium one they put up front by the doors. It’s still good, it’s pie after all, but not AS good.
n
“BREAKING: GOP Rep Troy Nehls will not seek re-election in 2026″
https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-gop-rep-troy-nehls-will-not-seek-re-election-in-2026
“”I have made the decision, after conversations with my beautiful bride and my girls over the Thanksgiving holiday, to focus on my family and return home after this Congress.””
Why ? TX-22 is a solid red district. Even the new TX-22 is a solid red district.
This is my congresscritter. He is a good guy.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
The cheaper HEB pecan pie is not as good as the premium one they put up front by the doors. It’s still good, it’s pie after all, but not AS good.
The $15 HEB premium pecan pie made out of pecan halves is fairly awesome. Even the $7 HEB discount pecan pie made out of pecan pieces is pretty good.
“BREAKING: GOP Rep Troy Nehls will not seek re-election in 2026″
And answered:
“BREAKING: Troy Nehls’ twin brother, Trever Nehls, announces run for brother’s congressional seat”
https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-troy-nehls-twin-brother-trever-nehls-announces-run-for-brothers-seat
Trever is a good guy too. He will make a good congresscritter.
– bad medical news, or soon to be unearthed personal failing..
n
Had a nice tiny little fire and didn’t need the propane heat. It was damp but not particularly cold out tonight.
Looks like I won another inverter generator, a Westinghouse 2500 this time. Used of course, and probably needs work, but for $105 with tax and buyer’s premium, I couldn’t say no. Hope it runs with minimal effort as my jobs related to generators keep stacking up.
Now I’m stacking up tasks as well as stuff. Too bad that won’t make the tasks worth more.
Now it’s time to lay me down to sleep…
n
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/lifestyle/article-15337369/simon-cowell-blood-filter-trend-age-backwards.html
– blood filtering. So the jokes about the swiss spas and the infusions of blood from kids are looking a lot less funny suddenly…
n
Looks like I won another inverter generator, a Westinghouse 2500 this time. Used of course, and probably needs work, but for $105 with tax and buyer’s premium, I couldn’t say no. Hope it runs with minimal effort as my jobs related to generators keep stacking up.
Just remember that Westinghouse is Circle Bar W.