Wet, but hopefully mostly clear. We got some rain yesterday. Some places got a LOT of rain yesterday. And in true Houston fashion, some got none. I’m hoping it moved through, as it was pretty nice last night.
Slept in a bit yesterday, then did some internet and office stuff, before venturing out to do two pickups. Unfortunately they were in opposite directions, so I wasn’t very efficient about it. Still, it’s done. Weird not to have a bunch of pickups.
Today will be more recovery from being out of town, but first I’ll have my monthly meeting. And it will be in a temporary space as no one made any decisions about our choices while I was gone. I’m about to withdraw myself from the process entirely.
This afternoon will probably involve yard work. After I put new carbs on the string trimmers, after getting my mail from the neighbors. There might even be some work on vehicles. Who knows besides The Shadow ™?
Some prepping is likely to happen too, if I’m not careful.
Maybe even some more stacking.
nick
Saturday. Good morning!
The concert was good. Vilde Frang played Bartók’s second violin concerto. She certainly can play. She had to borrow a violin for the second movement, as she seemed to break a string during the first, but she finished it. She is undoubtedly an excellent violinist, but I would have to say that neither the music nor her playing yesterday moved me. W1 enjoyed it very much, however.
I did enjoy the Brahms symphony in the second half, but I nodded off before the end, perhaps because I entered some kind of musical trance-like state. Greetings from megaproject, and I am becoming my father!
Sushi supper was excellent.
Have a lovely day!
75F at the moment. Sunny too. It was 80F when I went to bed.
Coffee is brewing, and breakfast is in the microwave.
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I am becoming my father!
– If I do, I’ll consider it an achievement. We didn’t always get along, but the older I get the more I understand him and what drove him.
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Hobby time!
n
I have been told that it is easy to buy gold and silver online. As paul would say “clickity click click and you’re done”. Payment can be electronic via ACH from your account, easy peasy. Paul is also right in that there are many places to hide it around your home. As Nick said, if NO ONE KNOWS you have it you are as safe as any other house in the neighborhood.
Lynn, thanks for posting the United Breaks Guitars link. I was shocked when I saw that was 16 years ago! I am getting older by the minute.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/06/another_new_trend_emerges_blacks_use_ai_to_pretend_they_re_urinating_on_austin_metcalf_s_grave.html
Trivial to alter such by substituting MLK, Jr.’s grave.
Reverend King would not recognize the black community today.
That’s terrible. Temporary spaces are just not good enough for Morris dancing!
– If I do, I’ll consider it an achievement.
I would too. My father was a wise, gentle, kind and saintly man; animals and small children especially loved him. I could not aspire to anything higher than to be like him, but I don’t think I will ever be that good a human being. I miss him.
You know what is nice about being in Germany? One can enjoy a bottle of frosty beer with second breakfast. Frikadelle and mustard on “Seele” bread. Heavenly.
My friends came up from SD to stay with me, there’s a wedding engagement party tomorrow – whatever that is, but apparently it involves free tacos so I’m down. OTOH it is predicted to be 100F with winds to 30mph, so I dunno…
Chihuahua’s have arrived. We are down to 3 from a high of 5, two quite elderly, one that needs a pill crushed into her food. Fortunately she is a glutton, no pill shooter required.
That would bring the wrath of the feddies on the people involved. Felony charges. You know, racist.
I’m enjoying watching the Dumbocrat commies crying over Musk’s money. Most of them never worked a day in their lives.
They hate tRump even more for using the military to take out drug terrorists instead of every other President using law enforcement to “catch and release” on the scum. Stop the drugs where they come from.
What’s this about the new Seattle Mayor?
Carpetbagger and Oxford dropout. Seattle deserves what they’re about to get.
LEGENDARY BACKFIRE
Ironically, if this were to come to pass, the average IQ in both the USA and Africa would increase!
@Ray – Benny Crump news!
https://www.flcourier.com/news/crump-discusses-legal-thriller-during-book-tour-stop-in-tampa/article_e80b8959-2fcd-41bf-a068-85577ebbe4b8.html
Crump can still cause trouble, but he peaked trying to get a known meth head elected Florida Governor eight years ago.
Do it.
I had a good friend visit this weekend – haven’t seen him for nearly a year. He has always struggled with weight, but…jeez, he has gained a lot of weight. I’d prefer to keep him as a friend for a while, but he already has health problem, and the weight… Oof.
– – – – –
On the positive side, I learned to weld this weekend. I bought a welding rig ages ago, but never got a round tuit. New project, neighbor who worked in construction showing me how, and…voila. I’m sure a professional would laugh, but hey – it works!
A grinder and some paint, make of me the welder that I ain’t!
I changed the r/o filters. Not bad. Having a light in the cabinet makes a big difference. I didn’t mess with the membrane filter. The owner’s manual has an 800 number. I’ll just call them.
A tiny smear of silicon grease on the gaskets really works. I bought the tiny tub at some store’s plumbing department several years ago. Just enough for a shine. The directions say no vaseline. So I guess the old standby of wheel bearing grease is right out. K-Y is ok. I don’t have any of that.
I have a wash tub of stuff like Brillo pads and scrub brushes. Think of it as a drawer. Sometimes, seldom, stuff in the tub is damp. Nothing is wet. Everything else under the sink is dry. I found the problem. I saw it happen today. The r/o faucet is not properly sealed to the sink. So, get that area wet and in drips down the r/o water lines and into the wash tub. Now I know.
It’s never more than about half a teaspoon of water. If that.
Arc welding was invented and designed so that non-welders could weld, especially wire feed. If the metal sticks together, you did good.
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Home from a very long and somewhat contentious meeting. We’ll be meeting in the venue I found back in Feb. from now on. What changed? The president (who was vocally in support of his church meeting room first, then a room at a school he’s affiliated with) discovered that he’d be inconvenienced by us using the school. So suddenly he’s the biggest fan of t he place I found where HE won’t have to do anything except attend the meeting. Ah, small group politics.
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Time for some lunch and then to see what I feel like doing in 95F heat with the sun beating down.
n
I have been told that it is easy to buy gold and silver online. As paul would say “clickity click click and you’re done”. Payment can be electronic via ACH from your account, easy peasy. Paul is also right in that there are many places to hide it around your home. As Nick said, if NO ONE KNOWS you have it you are as safe as any other house in the neighborhood.
I worry about buying gold where your name and address get put on a receipt. I want to buy gold where I hand over cash and my name is John Smith.
When the federal financial apocalypse comes, the feddies will be looking for gold desperately. There ain’t none in Fort Knox. They will be going house to house in the populations that they have disarmed in the big cities. And they will go to the gold dealers and look at their receipts to find out where to search first.
I have two gold alloy back teeth that I would like to keep. I am reminded of the Nazi’s pulling teeth out of the Jew’s mouth as they entered the camps. I would prefer that not happen to me or anyone else.
Potential Mass Shooting in Georgia Stopped by Armed Citizens
https://bearingarms.com/camedwards/2026/06/12/potential-mass-shooting-in-georgia-stopped-by-armed-citizens-n1232848
Sounds like armed citizens defended themselves against a real racist, but details will emerge.
I called my HEB card just a bit ago. I use the app on my phone to manage the account. Manage as in check my balance and pay the bill. I can do it on my PC but, hey, clicky click on the phone is cool!!!
His answer was I need a cell phone because landlines don’t receive text messages. I can’t think that they ever sent a text message beyond “your statement is ready”.
My cell service at the house sucks. On a good day, 3 bars. Outside and away from any trees. Usually 2 bars and anyone I call misses every third syllable. So much for Verizon’s “can you hear me now?” Last week I had no service for almost two days. Re-booting did not fix it. Used to be 5 bars in the house under the metal roof.
Then I called Frost Bank. All my phone needs is wi-fi for the app to work. Does not need an active cellular account. I do most of my Frost stuff on the PC but if the phone app works on wi-fi, I don’t have to do Bank By Mail. Yeah, Bank By Mail still works and I still have a couple of dozen envelopes. She started laughing. But . I can still deposit checks with the Frost app on my phone.
I think I almost have an answer. Get an Ooma, splurge for the wireless handset, port my cell number to the Ooma land line. I have 911 service. I can have my Western Electric phone connected and use the handset for walking around.
Oh. I read a blurb that the Ooma handset uses generic AA rechargeable batteries. Not some special battery pack. That’s a plus.
Yes. I know the Ooma won’t work if the power is out and my UPS is dead. Neither will Starlink. So….. make sure the UPSs are all good.
Now to call Verizon and ask what my Secret Password is. The one you need to transfer your number.
Trump Says Iran Conflict Nears End As Deal Set for Sunday Signing
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/scott-mcclallen/2026/06/13/trump-iran-will-sign-deal-sunday-nuclear-program-to-be-dismantled-n2677724
That’s very nice.
Haven’t looked at the “prediction markets”, but I’d guess the mean time wagered for the first significant violation by Iran would be less than 24 hours.
There should not be any signing unless we have full buy-in from all of Iran’s neighbors, then signing should be accompanied by a discussion: After the implementation date, there will be no tolerance for violations.
And when the first violation comes, everyone fires. We take Kharg Island and turn every power plant and bridge in the country into rubble, knock Qom flat, and level every cell phone tower and communication center. Iran is a “no fly zone”, and any other transport is stopped at the border and inventoried–no assets leave.
Every Iranian asset outside of Iran gets impounded and used for reparations. Number One on the list is the return of the billions of dollars in cash that Barry Dumb-Ass shipped to them–Trump can use it to issue $500 checks to every Republican household in the red counties for excess gasoline prices. The Democrat households get nothing, because all of them thought the BDA did such a great job, and the Republican households in blue counties get nothing because we aren’t supporting corrupt regimes that steal billions from the rest of us.
Then we see is Hezballah and the Houthis want to be next.
I called Verizon. The local store. You just have to tell the AI thing you need a “port pin”. It’s good for seven days.
Quality Leering is happening.
The Feds didn’t go door to door searching houses when Roosevelt banned private ownership of gold by EO, and even the legends about safe deposit boxes being drilled were just that – legends.
When Congress passed the bill repealing the EO in the 70s, the text did not repudiate the interpretation of law that Roosevelt used to justify the EO. Instead, the law just rescinded the ban.
Ever hear Blanchard & Co. gold commercials during Cutie Pie’s show? Guess who lobbied Congress about removing the ban on private ownership.
I believe it was Amity Shoals who theorized that Roosevelt and friends were drunk and spitballing on the Presidential yacht Sequoia when the possibility of banning private ownership of gold was proposed.
I remember reading that somewhere.
Monkeys Hoarding Bananas: The Economic Confusion on X is Not Abating.
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2026/06/13/the-economic-confusion-on-x-is-not-abating-n3815929
There was a song titled “Signs” by the Five Man Electical Band that charted in 1971. You might remember the second verse:
The owner of the fence could have replied:
“Mother Nature asked me to put up the fence after you and the rest of the long-haired freaky people turned Yasgur’s Farm into a muddy outdoor toilet.”
BTW, this was another Canadian rock band finding an excuse to diss the U.S.
The Feds didn’t go door to door searching houses when Roosevelt banned private ownership of gold by EO, and even the legends about safe deposit boxes being drilled were just that – legends.
There is always the first time. The coming financial apocalypse will have all of the countries in the world demanding that their tbills be paid off in gold or else.
The Feds didn’t go door to door searching houses when Roosevelt banned private ownership of gold by EO, and even the legends about safe deposit boxes being drilled were just that – legends.
BTW, Roosevelt’s EO exempted personal gold jewelry from seizure. The next EO won’t. We will just be considered to be farm animals for shearing.
What would free healthcare for everyone cost? Bernie Sanders proposed this back in 2016 and some think tanks ran the numbers. It was something like $3 trillion per year. So Elon Musk’s entire fortune would cover about 4 months of free healthcare. Does Adam Schiff know this would not solve the problem? Probably. We all know he’s prone to lying for partisan advantage.
My and my wife’s Medicare is not free! We have to pay $190 per month each for Part B. Then we have to pay $200 per month for Part G which is on a sliding scale up to $430 per month for my 84 year old mother. And then there is our Part D which is “free”. Plus my wife and I, and our employer who is me, pay 2.9% of our total salaries for Medicare tax, about another $5,000 per year.
Ain’t nothing about Medicare is free.
a couple of random and unkind thoughts from watching people for the last dozen days.
– young man, they only get fatter, consider where you’re starting from…
– there is a style or fashion in women’s fitness that emphasizes muscular shoulders. It’s not an attractive look, throws off your entire body shape.
– if you are on a cruise, eating in the cafeteria style “free” dining room, and you ask the bus boy to bring you ketchup, from the condiment bar 25 ft away, you are an entitled jerk.
– there are lots of entitled jerks on cruise ships.
– the cruise ship crew is a LOT more smiley and welcoming when you board than when you are leaving…
n
The Feds didn’t go door to door searching houses when Roosevelt banned private ownership of gold by EO, and even the legends about safe deposit boxes being drilled were just that – legends.
The Feds now have a de facto and totally illegal database of gun owners. It is not complete, but it’s a pretty good start. Anyone who believes that the commie totalitarian Democrats won’t use it to confiscate guns has not been reading the statements of the leaders and the stupid prols that vote for them.
When they start breaking down doors–or simply shooting citizens in their driveways–does anyone think that they won’t have another column for “gold purchases” right next to the guns? How about silver, jewelry, etc.?
The banks and credit card companies conspired with the federal government to squeeze gun dealers out of business. Is it realistic to think that they would hesitate to extract purchases for whatever the fascist Democrats want?
As Summer Begins, Let’s Give Thanks For A Life-Saving American Invention: Air Conditioning
https://issuesinsights.com/2026/06/10/as-summer-begins-lets-give-thanks-for-a-life-saving-american-invention-air-conditioning/
Cold kills more people than heat. It’s just a shame that California has such a temperate climate.
Not always. Temps in the central/upper Sacramento valley today are above 100F.
But humidity under 25%. And overnight temps are in 65-75F range.
Overall, you are correct, though.
I worry about buying gold where your name and address get put on a receipt. I want to buy gold where I hand over cash and my name is John Smith.
You could drive to Shiner TX. Local pickup by appointment only (it’s on the contact page lower right corner)
https://texmetals.com
I’ve bought and sold to US Coin on I-10.
n
“Science”
https://areaocho.com/science-3/
“When people say “believe the science” they are displaying a complete lack of understanding of what science is. Science isn’t a religion, it’s a process. Science is a process—specifically, a systematic method for acquiring knowledge about the natural world through observation, hypothesis formation, experimentation, measurement, data analysis, peer review, and iterative refinement. Its core features include:”
“This contrasts sharply with religion, which typically centers on faith, revealed truths, sacred texts or traditions, rituals, and beliefs about purpose, morality, the supernatural, or the unobservable. Religions often involve dogma (core tenets accepted on authority) and are not required to make falsifiable predictions in the same empirical sense.”
Global Warming is a religion.
“Party of Small Government”
https://areaocho.com/party-of-small-government/
“A 5% tax on Elon’s net worth would fund every community health center in America for the next 26 years. I’ll say it again. Tax the rich.”
A tax on wealth in the USA would shut down the growth of the USA starting from that moment on. All of the entrepreneurs would move elsewhere.
These people are breaking the 8th and 10th commandments of the Ten Commandments.
I’ve bought and sold to US Coin on I-10.
Did they take your name and address?
All true. However, they just don’t have the manpower to get very far. Once started, any such active operation will inspire terminally active resistance. Any uniform, badge, informer or relative of same will be indiscriminately targeted. Not to mention elected officials or their staff. The bloodbath won’t end without a radical rearrangement of authority. I wouldn’t want to be a postman.
That is the reason for the 2nd. And the 4-500 million shootin’ irons distributed everywhere.
@lynn, no, it was cash deals, well under the reporting limits.
n
@lynn, from Schneier’s Cryptogram
the part I put in BOLD sounds like winsim…
n
Had a tiny little fire while I read, since the temps came down into the 80sF. Frogs are making a lot of noise tonight. One skinny black cat crossed the yard a couple of times, but that was all the wildlife I saw tonight. I did see our Constable patrol on our street.
This morning on my way to my meeting I saw a different kind of wildlife… on the corner of two major streets there were several wild and homeless looking black men hanging out, shirtless, disheveled, and one was carrying a hatchet openly. There are a lot more crazy looking black men in the neighborhood, just hanging out on corners or bus shelters than there used to be. One of our local homeless was engaged in conversation with the two crazy looking guys. Not really what I want to see at 8am, or really any time.
I am starting to consider W’s desire to move to a different neighborhood. I know that zip code doesn’t guarantee safety, but crazy looking mostly naked amish carrying hatchets is certainly new and unwelcome.
n
And just before 10pm three guys were dropped off for the halfway house next door. This crop of residents has been using the front door, which seems normal, but is also different from the rules we were told they were supposed to follow. Looks like the sponsoring org isn’t enforcing the rules, or they are losing control. Not a good thing, and bears watching.
n
I asked a friend who does a bit of buying (not a lot, just now & then, they have kids in college).
He said least one pm dealer around here will do cash sales (legal) in a location set by them, no ID – after they verify you are legit. So you are there in their (paper) ledger as a number for a xfer for accounting purposes, but thats all.
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The wedding announcement party went well yesterday, it was hot but there were mature tree’s for shade and a nice wind break. Afterwards we went to a minor league soccer game at the remodeled local minor league baseball stadium, mostly out of curiousity about the remodel, it was done well. A beautiful evering, balmy even, and the correct team won.