Cool to start, and windy, but warming throughout the day. The strong, gusty breeze helps keep the ‘felt’ temperature down. It’s definitely feeling like Summer is getting started.
It took me a fair bit of time to get my truck loaded, make a stop at Academy for boat stuff, make a stop for an auction pickup, and make a fuel stop to fill 5 cans for the boat and gennie up here. I made it in time to mow the grass though.
In theory, I’ll work on the list today. In practice, other than using the string trimmer and maybe doing some tree pruning (so branches aren’t in my face while mowing), I’ll probably be doing boat stuff with W and the kids. No time for a big project like organizing the storage shed, or finishing the electrical work, but maybe I’ll find something small and quick to knock out. We’ll see. Dad and husband duties might just take priority…
I’ve already added to the stacks this trip, so there is that.
Keep stacking while you can, and while our fiat currency is still worth something.
nick
Messing about on the water. Doesn’t sound awful! Enjoy.
Sunday. My stay at the BOL is cut short because of a funeral I have to attend next week. Now cleaning and tidying the house, to leave it at least marginally presentable. I might also have some time left over to do a bit of putting-away, sorting and stacking in the garage, and for a visit to the local shooting club for a short hello and a late breakfast/early lunch in the bar.
Have a good Sunday!
79 F and a million percent mugginess at 7 am. Totally overcast but the weather liars say that we are not getting any rain today.
They do say that we are getting 5 to 8 inches of rain this week. That makes Houston exciting but not in a good way.
Gonna go to church then go see mom. She likes the first new wheelchair I bought her last week but it weighs 60 lbs. I bought a lighter wheelchair at 33 lbs also for day trips. The big problem is she can barely stand up now due to the swelling in her legs.
The new wheelchairs are 22 inches wide instead of 20 inches wide.
“Parliamentarian”
https://areaocho.com/parliamentarian/
“I’m sitting here looking at the Constitution and cant find where a parliamentarian has any authority to override Congress or tell them what rules they have to follow https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/senate-parliamentarian-nixes-trumps-ballroom-fund-budget-bill-rcna345518. We aren’t living in a representative republic. We live in a bureaucracy.”
Man, is that ever true.
The people that run an organization always add layers of shiite to give them more control and ways to punish and reward.
Cassidy out in Louisiana
https://redstate.com/joesquire/2026/05/16/cassidy-loses-louisiana-senate-primary-runoff-set-n2202409
You can buy plastic jugs holding a quart or two. They have markings on the side “1:50”, “1:40”, etc. Fill with 2-stroke oil to the line, then fill with gasoline to the top.
Carpe diem.
Make good memories.
Currently 80F and overcast, but pancakes are in my belly, a mug of coffee is in my hand, and I got more than 7 hours of sleep.
Time to face the day.
—
n
I was working yesterday evening, finishing around midnight. Fell asleep not long after. Woke at 0450 and opened up the chickens. Decided to see if I could sleep some more. Woke feeling unusually not tired, figuring I’d probably slept until late morning, probably close to noon. Checked a clock and saw that it was 0720.
“Listen to this trucker explain how “foreign” drivers are being sidelined just days after SCOTUS said companies are liable for them”
https://notthebee.com/article/listen-to-this-trucker-explain-how-migrant-drivers-are-being-sidelined-en-masse-just-24-hours-after-scotus-said-companies-are-liable-for-them/
“(Sikh Indians now own 20% of all trucking businesses in North America.)”
“He says foreign truckers are being hit HARD after the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that logistics companies can be held liable for hiring unsafe drivers.”
“Many foreigners, even illegals, have been able to game the system, getting CDLs issued by Democrat-led states like New York and California even though they are not qualified. CDL schools run by migrants have participated in this fraud for years.”
“Meanwhile, the number of deaths involving 18 wheelers on U.S. roads has risen 50% in just the last 15 years. Thanks to SCOTUS, that might reverse very quickly in the near future.”
Yup, if you hire somebody to do a job and they cause a problem, guess what. You get to share in the blame.
Hat tip to:
https://thelibertydaily.com/
Are the Spirit Airlines planes available? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jfd_MyDkBQQ
They do!!! They each had a tablespoon or so of brisket fat and a couple of tablespoons of meat mixed into their dry food last night. I didn’t want to give them too much fat.
I woke up a couple of times last night and all I heard was snoring. No scratching or (looking at Penny) chewing of toenails at 3 AM. Just soft snores and some bugs outside and a couple of nightbirds. Plus an owl.
“Cuba’s Officially Out of Oil — Here’s What Happened”
https://thelibertydaily.com/cubas-officially-oil-heres-what-happened/
“On May 14, Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy delivered the stark admission: “We have absolutely no fuel oil, absolutely no diesel.” Blackouts in Havana now exceed 20-22 hours daily, with electricity returning for as little as 90 minutes. Power plants sit idle, reserves are exhausted and the socialist regime’s long-running energy crisis has reached its breaking point.”
“How did it happen? It wasn’t bad luck or an act of God. It was the direct, deliberate result of the Trump administration’s energy policy and the implementation of what has come to be referred to as the “Donroe Doctrine.””
“For decades, Cuba survived on underpriced — sometime even free — Venezuelan crude shipped by the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela. That lifeline ended abruptly in January 2026 when the Trump administration removed Maduro, seized effective control of Venezuela’s oil industry and redirected those resources toward legitimate hemispheric interests.”
“No more using Venezuelan oil to prop up another failed socialist dictatorship in America’s backyard.”
So much for the communist utopia. There is not a single utopia on this planet that has survived more than 3 or 4 generations.
Starlink’s “Residential Max plan” is a new name. I think. I know I started with about 150 down speed. It’s crept up to about 280 Mbps down with no rate increases.
I don’t recall ever seeing the 100 Mbps plan until Lynn mentioned it. I think there was a $80 plan for folks living out in BFE, er, New Mexico or Utah.
I figure I can downgrade to the 100 mbps plan and upgrade with a few clicks.
Ok. Mini is canceled. They are sending a shipping label. I’ll see how it goes before downgrading my plan.
I had the thought, maybe stupid, I can tether my phone to my PC. If lighting zaps the Starlink. I haven’t tried tethering with Mint. But my Win11 box is just sitting on the floor in the spare bedroom and it tethers just fine. I have some options.
I sort of vaguely feel bad for the peasants. Er, the regular folks just trying to make a living and feed their children. Then again, I don’t feel bad. They’ve had pretty much my entire life, since 1959 at least, to end the bull crap by killing all of the politicians. Have they? Even tried?
So, meh. Electricity wasn’t even much of a thing 140 years ago. People survived.
I don’t understand my PC. Sometimes I get up from my chair to get rid of used beer, get a fresh beer from the fridge and the PC has turned the monitor off. Other times I can do all the same stuff plus walk Buddy enough to let him pee three times outside and then feed the dogs. PC is wide awake.
It makes no sense. Doesn’t seem to matter if this place is the only open tab in Firefox or if I have 20 more tabs. T-bird minimized or closed doesn’t seem to matter.
Sunday night (now Monday) bedtime.
I am awake late because the YouTube algorithm hooked me with the Dorian mode. First, Grainger’s prelude for wind band (exquisite – play it at my funeral, please), then Rick Beato explaining the modes. Fascinating, but I ought to sleep… tomorrow (now today) is a work day.
Goodnight!
Mixolydian forever!
But then, I play harmonica.
Ok, all that’s left is shower and hit the road.
I did get a few things done. And W and the kids got out on the water. I got near the water. and my shirt was soaked with water. 84F as the day fades. It was overcast most of the day but it’s sunny and bright now.
n
Starlink sent me a note that my service is climbing to $130 a month, but $10 increase.
I’ve had it for about two years now, I certainly am not planning on going back to copper…
Two U.S. Navy EA18-G jets hit each other mid-air during an air show at Mountain Home AFB (about an hour southeast of Boise ID).
The base is out of lockdown now, the four airmen successfully ejected and are in stable condition.
The video is quite impressive. You should be able to see it by bypassing the FB login, although it is probably available in multiple news stories.
Do people watch air shows for the same reason that (some people say) people watch car races, in hopes of a crash?
I’m not interested in either (unless my brother or someone else I know is driving) and don’t talk much to people who do, so I have no first- or second-hand info.
Just heard about the rolling, on-going drive-by shootings in Austin. At least one “suspect” is in custody. No word on whether any suspects go by “Greg”.
Montana Air Show crash; https://twitchy.com/justmindy/2026/05/17/navy-jets-collide-gunfighter-air-show-n2428297
Ken’s Instant Analysis; Based only on this video, the two EA18 Growlers were both in high bank turns AWAY from each other, so they probably couldn’t SEE each other. The jets touch, and something holds them together and they start to fall. The jets are belly-to-belly, because both crews ejected “safely” (for varying values of “safely”), which would not have been possible if they were cockpit-to-cockpit. At any rate, there were four visible parachutes almost immediately after the midair.
What held them together? I don’t know enough about what the underside of the Growlers look like, or if there might have been antennas or pods that could become entangled.
I’ve lived on or near a LOT of military air bases, and I’ve seen LOTS of air shows. I never wanted to see an aircraft accident, My hope has always been to see some neat flying and for everybody to go home to do it again next week.
This airshow was a near-tragedy, but not nearly as bad as the one on November 12, 2022 (Wings Over Dallas airshow at Dallas Executive Airport, Texas) when a P-63 Kingcobra mid-aired a B-17 amidships and cut it in half. Nobody had a chance in that one.
I have a vivid memory of when I was six. My dad took myself and my two brothers to airport in San Bernardino. One of my father‘s friends was taking off of in what, according to my memory, was an old WWII two seat fighter plane. It crashed on takeoff and my father quickly drove to the crash site on the end of the runway. The pilot was still strapped in burning cockpit, siting upright, on fire. My father quickly drove us away. Nightmares for weeks.
Ken’s Second Look RE-analysis: Sorry; I played the video again and I can see that the two planes collided heading pretty much the same way with similar orientations. The “lower” aircraft was climbing, while the higher plane was climbing less, and a little slower. I still don’t see what kept the two stuck together, but the cockpits were just enough separated to allow for the ejections. And it looks like they were close enough together that the second crew to eject probably got an up-close look at what the bottom of an ejection seat looks like. Might have been a little toasty, even.
‘Implausibility’ Ruling Leaves Net Zero Fearmongering in Tatters
https://hotair.com/headlines/2026/05/17/implausibility-ruling-leaves-net-zero-fearmongering-in-tatters-n3815021
I am not inclined to be uncharitable by nature, but when science is perverted by fringe politics and forced to the public as “truth” I’m perfectly willing to take up the flame and pitchforks and barbecue the people responsible while enjoying the screams, because the fact is that their perversions have effectively killed masses of people.
It’s going to take decades to cleanse STEM departments at universities from the dual infections of global warming and DIE. Professional societies may get cleaned up a bit sooner, because there are a lot of intelligent people that didn’t buy into it, and the societies may have some legal exposure in some cases.
Already repoed. The repo men were waiting in some airports while the last Spirit flights carried passengers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moEixIux1b0
“Life of a repo man is always intense.”
—–
Home safe. Light misty drizzle started about one hour into the drive and continued all the way home. Not many street racers, nor cops out. Not as many broken down cars either. Still felt harrowing and I’m keyed up.
—–
That video is crazy. Looks like they both pulled up and hit the throttle, maybe they were in the same slipstream? It looked like a tailstand when they ejected.
And to me, on the first look, it looked like they were one inverted and the other normal flight, maybe the idea was to do a belly to belly flyby? I’m sure more info will come out, but will it make the news?
—–
Time for a snack and bed.
n
“Night life of a backpacker is always in tents.”
That’s two more T-shirts!
I watched it several times and it looks to me that the upper aircraft was overtaking at relatively low speed and drove a stabilator into the back of the lower aircraft’s rudder. The low closing rate is the only reason there was no aircraft-shattering kaboom! during the impact. There were parts visible falling off immediately after impact, suggesting structures tangled together at that point, preventing separation. The lower aircrew is alive only because the fuselage was offset from the upper bird.
Four out of four, especially in a single incident is first class. Ejection was about 5 seconds after collision, and about 6 seconds prior to ground impact. That’s a tiny window and they managed it.