Cool and warm, wet and dry. Clear and cloudy. Oh not really. Pretty much like yesterday with a cold start, but warm later. Clear and a little breezy. Nice in other words.
I did some stuff yesterday. Not everything I had hoped to do, but I did get a couple of things done. Tried to drop the truck at the repair place, but he was too busy. Wouldn’t get to it until Monday, so I kept it. At least I’ll have it for pickups today.
Today I’ve got widely spaced pickups. Lots of driving. Some of it will be worth it, some not. I did get 5 buckets of Wise freeze dried food for $6/bucket… I think. I might have raised my bid at some point. That pickup is north, the other is south, and one in the middle is east. No range anxiety with a gas truck… Oh, and somewhere in that I need to stop by Honeybaked and pickup my ham for tomorrow’s party. In fact, thinking about that, I’ll probably rearrange my trip to go east, then south, then back north to get the ham, and on to the freezedrieds last. Can’t even pick them up until 3pm.
I’ll need to wrap my white elephant gifts and stop by my shop for some welding gear too. D1 is going to a local guy who volunteered to give some kids a quick lesson in welding on Saturday. Kid’s gonna be busy as she has work afterwards. Welcome to life, where there’s never enough time to do it all.
We can but try.
Stack all the things.
nick
The Child’s Windows desktop, used mainly for Steam games, crapped out yesterday. She tried a handful of repair methods, gave up, and wiped it and installed Linux Mint. So far so good, but it was late by the time she got it installed and she didn’t test Steam games, or much of anything rigorous. I did suggest that she run a thorough test of the SSD, just in case it wasn’t a random-but-expected-at-some-point Windows-craps-itself failure.
Yesterday I’d planned to do a handful of chores outside but the wind was a bit of an issue. It was chilly, low 20s, but the wind was the issue. The chickens got their feathers ruffled, literally and figuratively. But they liked their treats and had their coop and the cage under it in case things flying around bothered them too much.
The hawk in the forest behind the house hasn’t departed yet, possibly because the bird feeder on the deck is visible from the forest. I’ve seen it cruising past the deck several times, looking at either the small birds around the feeder or the chickens under the deck. I put the feeder on the deck so the senile granny could watch the little birds from the kitchen but this may have been a mistake. I’m thinking about what I can put up which won’t bother the wrens and jays (once they get used to it) but will disrupt a hawk’s stoop. Maybe just a couple of the tomato hoops, strapped upside-down to the deck’s wall.
EDIT: In your face, Denis the snoozer! First post!
Mornin’, chicken boy!
Yours truly was up early working this a.m. instead of talking to weirdos on the intertubes. Today being my last day before the Christmas holidays, I need to clear the decks…
I had an excellent steak dinner last night with an old friend from college. We stay in touch, but his work involves a lot of travel, so it is not so often that our orbits align. It was good to catch up.
W1’s fancy Asus Windows 11 laptop has got itself into a weird state in which it displays only the blurred background of its login prompt, but no actual prompt. I have been delegated to fix it. Alas, she vetoed nuking Windows and installing Linux Mint, so I will have to mess with Windows safe mode booting and recovery procedures. Joy. It seems to be a known failure mode, so I hope MS Help will have a fix documented online.
Just in case I have to nuke and reinstall the lappy, does anybody know how one can get legit W11 install media for a non-functional, but licensed, machine?
Happy Friday, all!
I am not a fan of curtains, but sometimes they are necessary or just appropriate to the style of a place. I agree with Paul that they should open wide enough to leave the window completely unobstructed. The days of pathetic glazing are gone, so we don’t need to use half-opened curtains as draught excluders.
The previous post reminded me…
My late parents had at one time some atrocious neighbours renting the property next door. They had a slew of feral adopted children, who were always causing mischief, some of it criminal.
On one occasion, someone was castigating one of the miscreants (rather more gently than the little beast deserved), when the goblin’s parent appeared and went apoplectic.
An amused bystanding neighbour waited for the man to finish his red-faced tirade, and rejoined, absolutely deadpan, “Pull yourself together, Mr Curtin!”.
The buffoon was so gobsmacked that he shrunk visibly before slinking off with the child in tow. Priceless.
I run the latest Linux Mint with MATE on my “road” laptop which has only 4 GB memory and a Core 2 CPU marketed under the “Pentium” label.
The primary OS on that machine is Fedora, but I keep Mint as the “Ubuntu” distribution on that machine.
Microsoft. They make the ISOs available along with a utility to write bootable images to a USB drive.
“The Squad” is all about getting the strange on. That may enought to put Shot Girl in the White House.
People have weird kinks, and the higher the IQ and/or wealth, the weirder the kink in my experience.
Just garden variety fetishes like cigarettes or Bang Bangs can be problematic.
For all their faults, upper management at my current employer understands the problems with smokers in the work culture.
Bang Bangs are still a problem where I work, however. That one dies hard.
Swalwell is still in Congress.
And zuckerburger still seems to be married.
——
56F this morning with heavy dew and a light haze. I hope it will burn off.
——
SteveF, maybe some bamboo sticks vertically around the feeder? Or in a 50’s ‘atomic’ star pattern at the feeder if the feeder is too high off the ground? Little birds can avoid impalement as they fly in but a big bird would hit the pokey stick?
——-
I don’t believe people are voting for the squalid because of sex appeal. Even deviant sex appeal. That might cause someone to notice, or pay attention, but there has to be something else going on. I think it’s just women voting for women, because they don’t seem to care how F’d up someone is or their life is, there is just fellow feeling for another woman. Add feminized men (“allies”) and dems voting for dems, and it’s enough.
TPTB held up a nobody named Obamma at the convention, and then he was president. They held up A0c and suddenly there’s a ‘squad’ to draw focus. I never thought she’d be elected, nor stick around, and certainly not be “the future of the party”. Looking at the nothing burger Senator from Illinois and what happened with him, I should have known better.
n
Was it here, or ChatGPT? Anyway, someone/thing pointed out that – if someone is abusing my SSN – I ought to contact the credit reporting agencies. Never occurred to me, and I also had no idea that there are now five major agencies handling credit reporting. So…five more registered letters sent today: both to freeze credit, and to request current credit reports. It may be…interesting…to see what is on those reports. Hopefully, absolutely nothing.
I have also finally almost managed to create a login with a service acceptable to the Social Security Administration. Anyway, I found a combination of identity documents that work, and now I need to have a video interview where I wave the originals at the camera. I hope to finish that off tonight. Then I can see if I can actually create an account on the SSA site.
@brad, what a lot of hassle just to try to keep from being ripped off. High trust civilization was nice while it lasted.
n
This.
Enough people in positions of power want to get their strange on with The Squad that their time in the spotlight continues.
Dem females in the suburbs of DC and the tech hubs support whoever the media tells to support as the “smart” choice.
High trust societies depend on a critical mass of people willing to do the hard work. No one wants to do that anymore.
And not just physical labor. The pandemic made everyone a “made man” in the Work From Home Mafia, and any traditional white collat job which cannot get done remotely will be hard to fill.
No wonder Corporate America wants to believe in the Monkey Trick Even though most real IT people know better.
Observations:
USB-C is finally making inroads: a $9 rechargeable cat toy and a tiny rechargeable $22 Olite flashlight that arrived in the last week use them, rather than the mini-D (micro-b) connector. Chargers are still USB-A ports tho.
Thinking about it, up to this point I don’t think I’ve seen anything except an Apple device use them. I’ve never seen anything use a Lightning port other than Apple, either.
I’ve got one kindle paperwhite that uses C, as does my samsung phone. The rechargable c and d cell batteries I picked up recently all have a C port on them for charging.
I think I have a couple of gaming headphones with C ports too.
n
I have a couple of charges that have both A and C ports and some C to C cables
Apple had exclusive on Lightning for a while through the deal with Intel, but that is history along with the deal.
A lot of manufacturers have Thunderbolt ports.
Lightning is an Apple trademark.
I just saw an ad for those last night for the first time, I’m not sure what the intended use cases for those Is?
I suppose it means you don’t need a dedicated charger, you can just plug it into any phone charger? Useful for on the road emergencies, though your device will be inoperable until you charge & replace them.
I know of Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. What are the other two?
That would make for a massive ‘octopus’ of wires if you’re charging enough for a decent flashlight…
Brad is Europe. There are probably a couple in Europe.
I have some of those batteries. Purchased at Costco. The USB cable has USB-C and USB-A that slips over the USB-C on one end, four USB-C connectors on the other end. I can charge four batteries at a time using a single USB-C (or A) on the charger.
Congratulations, Brad! I always felt you were destined for greatness.
Hurray. My Christmas holidays have finally started. Back to work again only on 7 January. Selected colleagues have my phone number, and admonitions to use it only in the event of dire need.
I am so looking forward to having a lie-in. Dunno when, yet. W1 has projects for me this weekend. In lieu of a lie-in, I am going to bed early. Early to bed and early to rise, lets Denis post before SteveF tries. Goodnight!
&%^*())((_(#&%$ again. I am going back to bed.
Isn’t 4 PM a bit early to go back to bed? Oh, never mind, old folks do odd things. [grin]
“The ‘alien comet’ is on the way: 3I/ATLAS to make rare Earth pass”
https://www.chron.com/news/space/article/interstellar-comet-3i-atlas-earth-21239099.php
“Scientists are preparing for their best look at it yet.”
“Comet 3I/ATLAS, only the third known object from interstellar space to pass through our solar system, is about to make its closest approach to Earth. On Friday, Dec. 19, it will come within about 170 million miles of the planet while moving on the far side of the Sun. The alignment should give Earth and space-based telescopes one of their best opportunities to study it, and NASA says it poses no threat.”
“Astronomers have followed 3I/ATLAS since its discovery on July 1. Hubble photographed it on July 21 from 277 million miles away, revealing a teardrop-shaped cloud of dust wrapped around its icy core. The comet stayed visible through September before slipping too close to the Sun to be observed.”
The space ship is coming by for a look at us. I hope their telescopes are better than ours.
WTAF:
Scott Jennings Spots Insanity and Madness in What Happened After ICE Released Abrego Garcia
tRump should scoop up this illegal alien, deport him, and give the middle finger to the “judiciary”. I just don’t get why they can’t get rid of him. Tell Roberts to get off his dead azz and rein in these activist judges. Turd-bucket Garcia now gets to denigrate our great country while he is here as an illegal alien. Just rick-roll him already.
Drink the Geratol, change the diapers, remove the teeth and hearing aids, put down the glasses, pick the toe fungus, and go to bed. Who says I do odd things?
On 12/12/2025 11:13 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
Nice summary !
All four of the Thunder and Lightning books are in my six star list. They are serious retro Heinlein.
The Eight Worlds books are all at least five stars and the Titan books are ??? (been too long since I read them).
BTW, John Varley, RIP.
Huh.
Working in the yard, came back in to send an email and all my Safari tabs are gone, including pinned tabs that will normally persist even through poweroff’s. Strange.
We generally agree on SF, but I would give Dark Lightning a -5 stars. ‘Contrived’ is a too generous description.
BC: New Year’s Resolution
https://www.gocomics.com/bc/2025/12/12
That is not funny.
I am reading a new book where 500 million humans got snatched off Earth before Earth was destroyed. All of the humans got their bodies rolled back to age 25 regardless of their older ages. Everyone’s clothes were extremely loose due to significantly lesser weight.
“75-year-old McDonald’s, Wendy’s rival closes several restaurants”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/75-old-mcdonald-wendy-rival-223300898.html?guccounter=1
“With so many burger chains competing against McDonald’s and its over 44,000 worldwide locations, according to the company’s third quarter report, competitors have been reviewing their restaurant locations and closing units that no longer make sense to operate.”
Ten or so years ago, McDonald’s main goal was to have a McDonalds within a ten minute drive of 90% of the people in the USA. They may have succeeded but the cost was too high.
We generally agree on SF, but I would give Dark Lightning a -5 stars. ‘Contrived’ is a too generous description.
One man’s disappointing contrivement could be another man’s magic.
See Arthur C. Clarke’s Three Laws, specifically Law #3, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke%27s_three_laws
“The Stocks to Watch When Supreme Court Rules on Trump’s Tariffs”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stocks-watch-supreme-court-rules-204638666.html
“(Bloomberg) — An upcoming US Supreme Court ruling on the legality of the sweeping tariffs that President Donald Trump rolled out in April — briefly sending markets worldwide into a tailspin — could be the next test for stocks that have been flying high.”
“The S&P 500 Index has since rallied 39% from the lows hit that month. It closed at a record high Thursday, in part because tariffs have settled lower than Trump’s highest threats, while support has come from an artificial-intelligence investment boom and a US economy that has kept expanding fast enough to throw off record corporate profits.”
I wonder what SCOTUS is watching ? The tariffs are collecting about $50 billion per month now.
The last time I went to McD’s was with several other people. I wanted my Big Mac with NO onions. So everyone ate all of their food and I’m eating my fries. They finally brought my burger. Hot off the griddle. Freshly made with extra onions.
It wasn’t the tech, that’s just how SF works, some sort if hand waving and we move on.
It was the plot And characterization.
People act out of character.
It required getting rid the knowledgeable competent protagonists of the first three books, of Manuel, and more importantly Jubal and his wife.
Varley spent enormous plot time in previous books rehabilitating Jubal into a real person and not just an idiot savant rolled on screen for a plot point – which he is reverted to.
The 2nd amendment above-all AF officer has decreed no guns.
All the safety & rescue uses for squeezers mentioned in earlier books, not used.
Then there is the ships’ imminent danger, which, ok, a plot point for a YA doesn’t have to be too organic to a story.
The villian is cardboard.
—–
Taste’s differ, but like Weber’s Out of the Dark, I felt cheated.
Everyone is watching SCOTUS for decisions, but I wonder if Trump will refuse to endorse “judicial supremacy” finally, and go his own way.
The branches are, after all, co-equal, the Supremes opinion is just that: an opinion of one branch. Particularly in edge cases their opinion isn’t necessarily all that and a slice of pie. Tariffs, birthright citizenship, etc.
If I were Trump the first thing I’d do is insist that nationwide TRO and similar orders be signed by a judge from each district. And then none of the judges can instigate or join in another such opinion for the remainder of the President’s term.
So if you don’t agree with the US Supreme Court ruling, it’s OK to ignore it.
That will work out well.
It seems to be working out pretty well for any number of lower court judges.
Well, they have no way to enforce what they say. Lots of Stern Words, but. I think someone said the same a few years ago.
What I don’t get is letting various judges create a national stop to whatever. How does a judge in California have jurisdiction in Texas? And why does anyone outside of their district listen to them?
THIS!
You know what a pentagon, a hexagon, and a octogon are. University Of Texas football fans are finding out what a seasongon is.
So if you don’t agree with the US Supreme Court ruling, it’s OK to ignore it.
That will work out well.
At some point in the not so distant future, SCOTUS and the President will have severe disagreement. Will Congress come to SCOTUS’s rescue and impeach the President ? Will Congress come to the President’s rescue and impeach the SCOTUS members who are not Constitutionalists ?
Only the Shadow knows and he ain’t talking.
And then you have a President who doesn’t believe that he is subject to the Constitution and Separation of Powers.
But we already know that. Even though he agreed to honor and follow the Constitution when he was swown into office.
And then you have a President who doesn’t believe that he is subject to the Constitution and Separation of Powers.
But we already know that. Even though he agreed to honor and follow the Constitution when he was swown into office.
I was not talking about Trump. I was talking about AOC.
Trump is incredibly respectful of SCOTUS. Even of those pinheads Jackson, Sotomayor, and Kagan who are disrespecting Trump daily.
The USA President is the only person in the USA who is elected across the entire country. Think about that for a while.
“It’s time to ban foreign-born lawmakers — Ilhan Omar and Shri Thanedar prove why”
https://www.theblaze.com/shows/sara-gonzales-unfiltered/time-to-ban-foreign-born-lawmakers-like-omar-and-thanedar
“BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales believes it’s high time that we stop allowing foreign-born people to serve in Congress — because historically, their allegiance doesn’t seem to be with America.”
“The most obvious example is, of course, Ilhan Omar, who helped all these Somalians pull off all this fraud in Minnesota allegedly,” Gonzales says on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.””
Yup.
Ok…. So do Biden opening up the border for 30 to 50 million wetback illegals.
Don’t even bother trying to use reason. TDS is called a syndrome for a reason.
My local Shell station has regular unleaded for $2.299 per US gallon tonight. Unreal.
It seems to be working out pretty well for any number of lower court judges.
And a number of states who still insist the 2A is not an individual right despite the ruling to the contrary.
And any state that doesn’t honor other states’ Concealed Carry license, despite honoring driving and marriage licenses…
Even though he agreed to honor and follow the Constitution when he was sworn into office.
– every office holder in the country swears to uphold and defend the Constitution. How many will you call out for not doing so? The list is long- better get started. And don’t forget the cops who still profile, stop and frisk, or do drunk driving checkpoints.
The traditional punishment was tar and feathers and riding out of town on a rail.
n
@lynn, I paid $2.59 (credit) in Alvin today. Costco is well under $2.50 and even HEB is below $2.30.
Drill baby drill. And past time to refill the reserve.
n
“EIA Lifts 2025 US Oil Output Forecast to a Record High as Supplies Swell”
https://energynow.ca/2025/12/eia-lifts-2025-us-oil-output-forecast-to-a-record-high-as-supplies-swell/
“Reuters) – U.S. oil production is expected to hit a larger record this year than previously expected, the Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday, as expectations mount of a global supply glut.”
“The agency raised its forecast for 2025 oil production by 20,000 to average 13.61 million barrels per day in 2025, the highest on record. However, the EIA lowered its forecast for total output in 2026 by 50,000 to 13.53 million bpd. The step up in this year’s U.S. production forecast adds to expectations that the oil market is heading for a supply overhang after the International Energy Agency said last month that the global oil market faces an even bigger surplus next year of as much as 4.09 million barrels per day.”
Wow. The USA keeps hitting new crude oil production records. We have enough crude oil reserves in the USA to last 200 years. We have enough natural gas reserves to last 1,000 years. All because of directional drilling and fracking.
@lynn, I paid $2.59 (credit) in Alvin today. Costco is well under $2.50 and even HEB is below $2.30.
Drill baby drill. And past time to refill the reserve.
I always pay cash for gasoline due to the credit card readers on the pumps getting hit by the repeaters so often.
Biden sold 2/3rds of the USA Crude Oil Reserve so Hunter could get a piece of the action. But, we have huge reservoirs around the country and the shallow / deep oceans surrounding the USA.
I bought a bin with about 40 records in it. Almost all are Jimmy Swaggart. I’ve been checking solds on ebay and I’m frankly shocked at the prices they’re bringing.
Most are about $8, which is double typical pop records that everyone had in the cabinet.
I’ve got a couple that a quick search thru and scan of solds are worth $20+ and I may have a rare one that brought $145…
There is some early Elvis too that I need to look up.
I might have scored.
🙂
n
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15379415/cause-death-kevin-rodriguez-zavala-universal-rollercoaster-orlando-florida.html
no real explanation of the mechanics of his injuries, but he didn’t have use of his legs, so couldn’t keep them in place, and somehow hit his face despite the restraint still being in place. More questions than answers.
HOWEVER. If you don’t fit under the restraint system, you can’t control your body, and you already have rods in your back, you shouldn’t be riding roller coasters. Period. Full stop. The signs warn you not to ride if you have injuries or illness, head back or neck issues.
Policy should be “We can’t keep you off the ride, but if you choose to do so, you accept any and all risks including serious injury or death. And we mean it, this ride is physically challenging.”
n
‘Tis the season for porch pirate glitter bomb videos…
Today is the last day of classes at God Forsaken Blue State U, but the semester doesn’t end for another week.
Whataburger had a lousy franchisee in Florida when the chain attempted to enter the market 20 years ago. The company is going to try again but with company-owned stores.
The story might be similar in Georgia.
$2.39 yesterday in Round Rock at the gas station near work.
I usually get ethanol-free which is ~ $3.00 as of late, but none of those pumps were free.
‘Tis the season for porch pirate glitter bomb videos…
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2025/12/its-entitled-attitude-that-gets-me.html
It is probably AI though.
Oh stop it. $3.999 at Arco today which for California doesn’t seem so bad. (and this is Bakersfield which still is the heart of oil around here. Course it’s taxes not production costs.)
My last fill up was at CAD$1.189 / litre, or US$3.268 / gallon, in the oil patch up here.
Saturday. Dark and foggy. Good morning!
I got petrol the other day, and paid EUR 1.44 a litre, which is the cheapest it has been for a long time. According to Wolfram Alpha, that is USD 6.35 a gallon.
Just after getting that fuel, my car’s odometer ticked over from 99999 to 100000km, and I even managed to get photos as it happened. Happy Birthday, little Toyota!
I hope Lynn’s source is correct, that there is a glut of supply and prices are coming down globally.
The European Commission this week very quietly dropped the bombshell that it is stepping back from the regulatory goal of no new internal combustion engine vehicles by 2030. That ought to be good for petrol prices too, as producers are reassured that demand for their product is not being phased out after all…
Congratulations to D2, Nick! What solution did you come up with regarding an instrument for her? I noticed recently that Wessex were offering free shipping to the US around Black Friday, but I neglected to mention it here, sorry. Perhaps the deal is still available…
Text entry on this Android phone does a weird thing. There is a prediction bar which offers me buttons to tap to complete the word I am just typing. For example, if I have typed “exam”, it offers “example” and “examples”, for instance.
Occasionally, I will tap the button, and the system inserts the offered word, but with a spelling error. The spell-check function then doesn’t recognise it as an error. Weird. Must be due to global warming… or maybe SteveF’s chickens programmed the app.
Wishing you all a beautiful Saturday!
I hope Lynn’s source is correct, that there is a glut of supply and prices are coming down globally.
There is a glut in the USA due to directional drilling and Fracking. The rest of the world is sucking wind as most of the large crude oil reservoirs have been tapped out and have converted to natural gas as their cavern pressures have dropped significantly. The only crude oil reservoirs not sucking wind are in Russia, Iran, Iraq, Libya, etc. Saudi Arabia is an unknown to their awesome management of their three main reservoirs.
Or the crazies in the UK that do not allow drilling of new wells in the North Sea and the old wells are getting water saturated as flooded crude oil reservoirs do over time.
Plus, the crazies in Nigeria have chased all of the white devils offshore to the production platforms in moderate (200 feet) to deep water.
Plus, nobody that I know of is using Fracking outside the USA because of Global Warming. The Netherlands could use Fracking extensively in their Shale formations (that is why Shell Oil is called such because of the Shale formations in the Netherlands) but they do not believe in using fossil fuels anymore. I guess their 350 hp tractors are being modified to run on pixie farts.
I forgot Venezuela and Mexico. Both are incompetent, Mexico is trying to entice idiots to invest in their oil fields and refineries again while they are importing 4 or 5 million gallons of diesel and gasoline from the USA daily. Venezuela keeps on forgetting that the only refineries that can process their 300 molecular weight oil (some people call it tar that must be heated to at least 130 F to flow) are on the USA Gulf Coast.
This is the reason why I think that NATO will lose a war to Russia in quick order. In war time, a nation’s energy needs double or triple. Manufacturing heavy equipment requires huge amounts of energy. Running that heavy equipment requires even more energy, tanks are rated in gallons per mile, not miles per gallon. BTW, that heavy equipment forges were shipped from Germany to China about 30 years ago. There are still forges in Poland but …
During WWII, the USA shipped several BILLION barrels of sweet crude oil to the UK and Russia. First, we do not have the oil tankers nor do we have the oil fields conveniently located to deep water ports anymore, those in Texas, Alabama, and Washington state were drained during WWII. Second, the current administration will tell NATO to pound sand, they brought it on themselves. We will not impoverish ourselves again.
All of which is well-known, making 50 years of infrastructure dismantlement look like a long-term plan to weaken the EU and make it easy pickings for the Sovs.
Now add unrestricted immigration from craphole countries, and a judicial system that strips the native population of their rights.
All of which is undeniable, now that we have decades of evidence and the internet to let us share and see the evidence.
The real question is, what do the soi disant betters think they’re going to get out of this? Do they plan to wreck everything and hole up in their bunkers for a century until things settle down? Some, at least, have made arrangements to go to New Zealand in a crisis, but NZ is on the same slide and also won’t be able to maintain a first world standard of living if they can’t trade with the rest of the first world. Are they so arrogant – ie, deluded and deranged – that they think they can control the destruction and turn it off when it’s gone far enough?