Cooler last night, which was nice after another hot day. 90F at 9pm is pretty warm, and it was over 100F during the day. A bit less humidity made it nicer, but I still didn’t want to work outside.
I did computer stuff and read most of the day. The backache started and just got worse throughout the day. Then I made dinner. It was going to be just me and W, but the youngest ended up getting home in time.
Today I’ll be headed to the shop to sell an item that should be a nice little bump in my cash on hand. Too bad it’s not huge, but selling it will move stuff out and that’s a good thing. It was an impulse purchase for a potential hobby or expansion of a hobby along the lines of “I want to be able to make anything” but the things it would facilitate are far from normally useful. Better to have the money back, plus a good profit.
Stacks of things to sell are a good thing, if you actually sell them. I need to work on that.
Stack all the things! And work on the things that need work.
nick
Sunday. Good morning!
Coolth. Blessed coolth.
It was 16C (60F) and raining slightly when we got to the BOL last night. I almost had an Andy Dufresne emerging from his tunnel moment.
I slept like a baby. I even half woke at some point and wondered briefly if I should add a layer of bed-covering to my sheet. Wonderful.
It is almost 10am. W1 is still asleep. Perhaps I will have an additional nap in the coolth.
From Nick yesterday…
Thank you for all your behind the scenes efforts, Nick. I neglected to say that yesterday.
Sure they did. By encouraging kids in Uganda to be gay, they not only reduced the next generation, they reduced the current generation when the newly-revealed gay people were killed. Fewer mouths means more food for the remaining mouths.
Off strike?
(Might have been stated a while ago. I’m tired and stressed and distracted and my memory simply isn’t working right. Nor ability to focus. Nor… OK, my whole brain just isn’t working right.)
Just watched the launch of the Roman Space Telescope. Good stuff! During a break in the festivities, they cut to a discussion between a “talking head” and some expert from NASA or maybe SpaceX.
DEI has done so much damage. The “talking head” was a black woman, because of course it was.
20 or 30 years ago, she might have been picked for her competence. Today? You can be pretty sure that the first and only reason she was picked, was because of her skin color and gender. And if she actually is competent? Then she, of all people, should be pissed at DEI, because now everyone assumes that she is not.
Found her name: Megan Cruz. Not a lot of info online, given that she is apparently a major public relations person for NASA.
As has been discussed many times here, NASA is full employment in the Federal Government for space geeks.
My generation, which is beginning to retire, spent the entire productive portions of their careers at NASA building launch towers and tooling for SLS in the VAB
The Millennials will spend the entire productive portion of their careers at NASA stripping the tooling for SLS out of the VAB and disassembling the towers.
Legacy Mission Control was renovated in Houston, but that was a project paid for by local government to ensure the continued flow of tourist dollars.
Several of my hens are being dumb. (OK, OK, I realize this isn’t exactly breaking news.) One was looking up the ramp into the coop, one was in the doorway, and one was barely inside the coop with her tail feathers sticking out. Obviously a fourth was laying and these other three wanted to but couldn’t.
I’ll point out again that there are three bays in the coop. The hens use only one unless they’re desperate. And sometimes don’t use the others even if they’re desperate, if the hen currently in the bay gets pecky about anyone else getting near. I imagine I’ll need to look for eggs in the cage under the coop or elsewhere in the run.
The new coop that I plan to buy next Spring will have four bays, pairs separated by a couple feet. We’ll see if this allows two birds to lay at a time without conflict. Not holding my breath.
Concert level live Mariachi from 5pm until 2am last night. This particular neighbor’s house – a contractor with a fully walled compound – does this every summer.
Still struggling with the lack of sleep…
Update to the above: Each of my hens laid this morning. That’s not unusual but it’s usually spread over more hours. That explains the congestion in the coop a few hours ago.
They’re currently chowing down on some leftovers and scraps I brought them: cooked rice, drippings from broiling meat, and (drum roll) chicken bones with a fair amount of cartilage and meat shreds. In a while I’ll bring out the egg shells which were just put in the kitchen scraps bin. They’ll be devoured down to the last shard. Chicken feed has calcium added and many chicken keepers add crushed oyster shell to the feed bins. I do have a box of oyster shell but haven’t bothered with it in a while, not since I started giving them almost all of the shells from the eggs we use.
The Circle of Life.
——–
Off strike?
– not really. Stretching what benefits me. The hens were defrosted during the freezer issue so needed to be cooked, or wasted so I chose ‘cooked’. W asked nicely for a side dish, and so I caved a bit.
———
89F and part clouds. Buyer texted that he’s on his way. Should be here around 1pm. Plenty of time for me to stretch because my back is ON FIRE.
Coffee is brewing. I’ve had one tollhouse cookie. I’ll need more food than that.
n
Border Czar on CNN: ‘Get Them Out Quick. Open Those Beds Up”
https://redstate.com/wardclark/2026/08/30/border-czar-on-cnn-get-them-out-quick-open-those-beds-up-n2206253
If we run out of planes we should look to Africa to pick up some cheap ones with plenty of life left. Probably get some quality pilots, too. They had the chance to self-deport and get a top-tier ticket–done, done, done.
Made four breakfast burritos this morning:
12 oz center-cut bacon, cut into 1″ pieces, browned and set aside.
Whipped 11 eggs with salt, pepper, and a tsp of oil. Removed bacon grease but for two tsp. Added 1 pat of butter to the pan. Scrambled eggs.
Heated 4 large flour tortillas. spooned ¼ of eggs, ¼ of bacon onto tortilla, making an off-center rectangle. Added salt and pepper. Added cheese and chipotle sauce. Folded top down, sides over, then rolled.
Plated two. Added more cheese and chipotle sauce, salsa. Refilled coffee.
Last two to refrigerator for later meals. Was too impatient for hash browns this morning, maybe later.
Did dishes.
Off to Harbor Freight and home imp.
Roman Telescope Soars: 100x Hubble’s View of Hidden Cosmos
https://redstate.com/wardclark/2026/08/30/roman-telescope-soars-100x-hubbles-view-of-hidden-cosmos-n2206252
Part of what defrosted was a carton of HEB liquid whole eggs. It’s been deep frozen since before the wuflu and is just as good as new. Add some bacon, a squirt of hot sauce, and you’ve got tasty scrambled eggs.
I can absolutely recommend the product for long term deep frozen storage.
n
“HEB liquid whole eggs”
Any info on the carton about where they are made?
Wondering if they have other marketing channels.
Dinner last night included a can of Van Camps pork & beans with a BBD of 2024, they were fine.
“HEB liquid whole eggs”
I looked at the carton I have in the freezer. Distributed by HEB. Front of the carton says no cholesterol. So…. Egg Beaters but store brand.
I need to thaw a carton and try them..
An hour or two ago I let the birds out and emptied the kitchen compost outside of the run. They kind of pecked at the eggshells and sniffed at the vegetable scraps and watermelon rind but ran off to explore other things. I let them run around while I cut a new roof for the cage part of the coop; the old one was made of very cheap plywood, which was falling apart because of getting wet over the past three years. I still need to find some asphalt roll roofing; I need one square yard and don’t really want to buy a roll of 10-15 square yards.
Made several minor and one major mistakes in cutting the new board. Got it resolved but it’s further evidence that my brain is not working and I really need to not be doing anything. (It wasn’t a matter of measuring wrong. I did measure and mark and measure again. The problem was that the board already had lines scribed on it, presumably for the convenience of roofers or other workmen. I put the circular saw on one of the scribed lines, not the one I drew.)
Brought the hens back to the run and tossed the eggshells from the yard into the run. One fragment, maybe a quarter of a shell, landed on one bird’s back. Neither she nor the others noticed. After a while they were mostly done with the shells and the scratch grains I’d put into the feeder and all just settled down in the grass. A few minutes later, one of the others noticed the shell and stood up and took it. The bird who’d had the shell on her back got upset about being attacked, or whatever went through her little chicken mind.
I was just sitting in an Adirondack chair near the run, relaxing and reading and watching the comedy.
Sunday. Nearly bedtime.
Arrived back at base about an hour ago. Unloaded two cars, repositioned all the houseplants back to their proper places from the communal watering spot, emptied my suitcases and put away the remaining clean clothes, put the dirty ones in the laundry basket.
Made a fresh pot of tea and am about to check Yew Choob on the TV to see what wonders my subscriptions produced over the last three weeks. Will try to sleep at a reasonable hour, all the same…
Goodnight!
@Nick, is D1 even aware of the issue?
(It wasn’t a matter of measuring wrong. I did measure and mark and measure again. The problem was that the board already had lines scribed on it, presumably for the convenience of roofers or other workmen. I put the circular saw on one of the scribed lines, not the one I drew.)
Been there, done that, made the extra trips to the lumberyard.
Colored Sharpies are my friends: silver for marking tar paper and the backs of shingles, blue, red, or green when marking OSB.
And had one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/FastCap-PSSR16-FastPad-Standard-Measuring/dp/B0001GUE3G?th=1&tag=ttgnet-20
in my last Amazon order. 16′ measuring tape with fractions and 16ths labeled on both sides.
Furlongs and hogsheads on the reverse?
I watched Kurtis at Cutting Edge Engineering pimping his Franna crane. Kurtis is to cutting disc as surgeon is to scalpel; mastery.
Bedtime. Beethoven’s Eighth on the radio. Sublime. Goodnight!
“@Nick, is D1 even aware of the issue?”
Making it up here…. I think D1 caused it all. Snarky HS Senior know it all. Let me explain.
I started college. Rode my motorcycle to school every day. I had my Flying Nun Moment and then almost a year on crutches. Somewhere in all of that my parents sold the house they had built and moved into an apt in town. Not a fancy place but clean and no roaches. But for some reason they decided that maybe me living at home while going to college AND on crutches just wasn’t compatible with going outside to the outhouse.
I got a 3-speed JC Penny bicycle for Christmas. Bright yellow with an orange tint. Just about the best Christmas present ever. I’d hang my crutches on the handle bar and go. Just go. Push with right leg, pull up with left leg.
The apt was a couple or three miles from Taco Tech Edinburg. So after a summer in the apt I moved to the dorms. Closer to classes and all that.
Now…. I had a sister a year younger and another sister three years younger. And y’all have heard females will sync their cycles? It is true. Sometimes I’d get home to the apt and could smell the estrogen.
And all three were all crazy. The tampon of choice was OB. They would, all three, use one take two. To stash. Then when the box was empty, go to the store a mile and half away for more? OH NO!!! Now they rummage through each other’s dresser drawers looking for “hidden supplies”. And not just rummaging through drawers, looking under mattresses.
I, with my sense of humor, decided to have some fun with the insanity.
Go pee, take one. Two a day. I’d stash them around the apt. Back of the silverware drawer. Up behind dishes in the cupboard. In a cook pot. In the vegetable drawer in the fridge. Between sofa cushions. Just random places. And then watch. OMG, it was like finding treasure for them. Easter Egg Hunt on frenzy.
Dad gave me “the look” and I told him what I was doing. We were not close after ‘Nam but he just started laughing like it was the best joke ever. Which was really cool, my dad likes me?
Then I moved to the Dorms. And that’s all I know.
So. Yeah. Females get weird. They can’t help it.
They can’t. One sister decided to get divorced. Next thing I knew she was here with her three daughters. After a couple of years, the oldest girl was 14. Next was 13. And sure enough, they all got synced. Having been through that before, I told sister to get out of my house.
Now I’m the evil one. Funny though. I’m the Big Brother and I’ve taken my sisters and my brother in when they needed a place to go. It’s what you do, right? My brother is cool. My sisters seem to hate me. Shrug. Whatever.
D1 was the trigger, W failed to back me up.
n
Sold my item. $450 in my hobby envelope. Probably made $300. Nice guy. Divorced, sold all his stuff, rented a small place then drove to Alaska and back. Now lives on parent’s 20 acres waiting out the calendar… retired early as his bills are significantly lower. Does what he wants. Camps a lot. Seems happy as he takes up a new hobby.
———
Spent some time afterwards re-lamping the trofer lights in the shop office. Then spent some time sorting. Stuff will go to the auction again soon.
———
Time for dinner.
n
While the current carton is in fact this
https://www.heb.com/product-detail/hill-country-fare-real-egg-original-32-oz/1412027
the cholesterol free version, I normally stocked a different product that was whole egg and didn’t say anything about being cholesterol free. Looks like they aren’t selling it atm.
I have to say that I didn’t notice when I made my scramble.
n
I’m fumbling for the exact thing I want to say. Typing vs face to face is just different.
I don’t think I’m crazy. I’ve pretty much always been able to be alone. As in go sit in the library reading books. As in no roommate. Me and some cats and a couple of dogs, I’m ok. I have what? Critters that love me? No… that’s way too shallow.
I think I’m a good man. I do my best. I’m not perfect. Sometimes I have horrible BO. What else can I do?
I’ve lost a connection. To something. Somehow. But it is gone. I think that maybe it is just that I’ve just outlived everyone.
Somewhat expected what with being 15+ years younger than everyone else I socialized with.
I don’t know.
The younger folks I know seem like they don’t want to talk to me.
Again, I don’t know.
Well. It is what it is. Whining isn’t going to fix anything.
That part I got. What I’m wondering is whether D1 is even aware she triggered anything. Is she connecting cause and effect? Is she even aware there is an effect she should be noticing?
What’s the resolution? Are you hoping she will apologize to you? Are you hoping she will start to pick up some of the slack? Or will you just ignore each other until you go your separate ways?
The younger folks I know seem like they don’t want to talk to me.
– yeah, you’d think I could talk with my neighbors, that we’d have kids or the neighborhood in common, but that 20-30 year gap is REALLY BIG. They will say hi and briefly chat, but that’s it.
I have better luck talking to strangers in the store.
n
That part I got. What I’m wondering is whether D1 is even aware she triggered anything. Is she connecting cause and effect? Is she even aware there is an effect she should be noticing?
What’s the resolution? Are you hoping she will apologize to you? Are you hoping she will start to pick up some of the slack? Or will you just ignore each other until you go your separate ways?
– unless she’s dumber than I think, she knows she messed up. W certainly knows but won’t apologize because I think she really believes I don’t do much. W could talk to D1. I’ve told W I’m keeping it up until I get an apology.
On the other hand, with D1 going away to college in the fall, it’s about time she started shopping for food and TP. So maybe it’s a bit of both.
I think I’m going to start making invoices for the stuff I end up doing anyway. Dunno if I’ll every give them to anyone, but I’ll have a stack if anyone says they don’t think I do anything around here.
n
You can always chat here, Paul. With the observation that fellowship through text is rather hollow. And a further observation along the lines of “I refuse to me a member of any club which would have me as a member.”
Are there any organizations like the Moose or Elk clubs near you? They’re mostly made up of older men, so far as I’ve ever seen.
Always a tricky question with teens. Doubly so for pretty girls, which you previously indicated she is. The unearned attention leads to entitlement, which leads to the brain shutting down.
The unearned attention leads to entitlement, which leads to the brain shutting down.
– and the social media psych weapons to show them how to use those feelings, and how to get more.
n
I just saw my first “Talarico for US Senate” sign in The Colony. I am ashamed of the person, they call themselves a Texan.
The signs are all over the place in my neighborhood, including one in the yard next door.
Teachers.
Hang in there, Mr. Paul. You can chat here.
I was always a loner and still don’t have any best friends. When I got married, MrsAtoz’s family opened their arms and hearts to me so I have that. And the kids. I raised the Twins. They look like me, talk like me, and have similar interests. It’s almost as if I planned my life around them. Heh. We watched the cartoon “Gargoyles” this week. Nerds.
This video explores several U.S. military operations involving A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft, B-52 Stratofortress bombers, and the U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers USS Spruance and USS Mason. Across these operations, we examine how U.S. air and naval forces can work together during complex missions — combining long-range bombing, close air support, maritime surveillance, air defense, precision-guided weapons, and naval strike capabilities.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJXb4pJ_Dcs
Thanks for the egg link, @Nick
@Paul,
I have a couple of hobbies, and to be honest, I get a lot more pleasure out of socializing with my fellow hobbyists than I do pursuing the hobby activities.
Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy learning the more arcane and technical parts of my hobbies. I just don’t actually DO much with them.
But the clubs, park events, annual outings, and weekly lunches are central to my life for the social interactions.
None of those fill the British/Aussie “mate” role. I’ve got no one outside of my sons who’ll cry at my funeral, but 20 guys will hold a celebration of life. And one of them will be burdened with selling off all my specialty hobby equipment since no one in my family will be interested in inheriting it.
I joke about Nick’s “Exploring history through interpretive dance” hobby, but you’d be surprised how many niche hobbies are out there. For a while, I joined a ukulele jam session club. Also, a German Language club.
Maybe you could pursue something like that.
It would, unfortunately, require leaving the house.
I’ve lost a connection. To something. Somehow. But it is gone. I think that maybe it is just that I’ve just outlived everyone.
Somewhat expected what with being 15+ years younger than everyone else I socialized with.
I don’t know.
The younger folks I know seem like they don’t want to talk to me.
Yup, I noticed that this weekend. We had the funeral for my 70 year old brother in law yesterday, Saturday, in Frisco.
The people age 50 and older gravitated together and talked together. The age 20 to 49 people were chasing kids. The 0 to 19 people were chasing each or imagining hurts.
We are all Church of Christ and went to church together today and then lunch. And then our separate ways.
My son and I visited my 83 year old aunt and 84 year old uncle in Red Oak, my dads younger sister. They live in one side of a duplex their daughter and her husband own. My cousin is teaching her 15 year old son to drive. The first lesson ended with my cousin crying, not good. Her son told me she better not do it again or he will be scarred for life.
So yes, people group to common ages.
Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy learning the more arcane and technical parts of my hobbies. I just don’t actually DO much with them.
Hey, that is what I do when I go to my engineering conferences. Very arcane and technical. And makes me so glad that I am not a field engineer anymore. 5 years was enough for me.
We watched “The Sheep Detectives” at my sister in laws house tonight and ate Marco’s pizza. Really good whodoneit with Hugh Jackman as the murdered shepard.
Had my tiny little fire after dinner. Quiet night. Some distant sirens but no aviation at all. Funny how that ebbs and flows.
Having my snack and then it’s a shower and bed.
The universe waits for no man.
n
>>DEI has done so much damage. The “talking head” was a black woman, because of course it was.
Yeah, but was she also a lesbian?
>>Maybe you could pursue something like that.
Have you checked on Meetup?
Weekly penny/nickel/dime poker game?
>>It would, unfortunately, require leaving the house.
A few good splashes of Old Spice and skip the shower…
A nice cool night and a slight breeze, I slept well. No bands. A gorgeous orange moon in late evening.
Daytime/night-time temperatures should continue dropping as a bit of the tropical storms currently off Baja hit Southern California this weekend. The Labor Day weekend probably isn’t a good time for that, but despite the climate alarmists, no one actually controls the weather.
—
I never had a cologne I liked much. I actually had a friend of the female persuasion tell me that my clothes smelled nice, that was ‘Cheer’ laundry detergent…
AI code ‘assistants’ and off-shoring, what could possibly go wrong?
Microsoft Admits Windows Update Breaks Mouse Cursors With Wallpapers…