Thur. Oct. 31, 2019 – Happy Halloween!

By on October 31st, 2019 in Random Stuff

Probably cool and wet. [WOW, my weather station says 39F and 87%RH] Hopefully warmer and dry later.

I like Halloween. Don’t care about any of the overt meanings or undertones. I like decorating and it gives me a chance to use some of my theater fag skills. Last year was rainy, and this year is rainy, so I’m a lot behind on decorating, from where I’d like to be. I had ideas for 3 new additions to my display this year, and I don’t think I’ll get any of them done. One of my rules is that it can’t take time away from other things, so they have to be pretty down and dirty, and quick. With all the other things I’ve had going on, I just didn’t find the time. Oh well, there is next year. Part of me is already planning the changes to my Christmas display…

Of course, with the rain and cold comes the aches and pains. It’s been about 13 years since I had the cartilage in my knees cleaned up, and they are starting to ache again. Joy. Hands hurt, knees hurt, neck hurts, hips hurt, oh my it’s a total whine fest this morning… still, a burden shared, and all that…

I better get my grumpy kids and sick wife out of the house. I do hope the weather gets nice for the trick or treaters.

n

45 Comments and discussion on "Thur. Oct. 31, 2019 – Happy Halloween!"

  1. Greg Norton says:

    I’m at work dressed in my “Clerks 2” Mooby’s shirt.

    My wife is over at the VA seeing patients while tastefully “gothed-up”.

  2. SteveF says:

    I’m wearing my regular work clothes (chinos, “attitude” t-shirt, and sneakers which sometimes are on my feet) but I am dressed up. I’m dressed up as someone who doesn’t want to bash his coworkers’ heads with a claw hammer because they WON’T SHUT UP. If they were talking about work that would be vaguely acceptable, but even such a low bar seems to exceed their capacity.

  3. dkreck says:

    The HOR is about to vote on an impeachment inquiry – to protect the constitution. Any democrat not towing the line may soon find their new office in a broom closet.

    Yesterday we got hit with the wind. No major fires but the air quality was bad – very bad. Last night I used the grill to cook some chops. Fine brown dirt on everything. Large branch broke on a tree at Mom’s house taking out another branch and the electric drop at about 3 in the afternoon. PG&E finally showed up at 7 and had the power back in about an hour. Fortunately the breach happened at the pole so no live wires came down. Now to get a tree service to clean up, probably be $1k because I’ll have the tree thinned too. So far calm today.

  4. Harold Combs says:

    Woke to ice on the cars this morning. Doesn’t bode well for trick or treating tonight. I am so far behind that I haven’t bought any candy yet. Wife’s health issues have taken all my energy and time. I do have minimal decorations in the yard but nothing like what we had in previous years. I usually sit outside on the porch dressed in my pirate outfit and banter with the kids who come by. Not tonight sadly.

  5. Ed says:

    20F here in the high desert. I’d feel sorry for myself but my brother texted that it’s 9F at his house near Reno….

    Water pressure is low, what I would assume is gravity fed levels from previous power outages. (I checked that no pipes had burst overnight here.) We have power at my place, so???

  6. Ed says:

    Rumor has it that the Expo’s have finally won the World Series…

  7. Nick Flandrey says:

    Still only 43F here with pretty strong gusts. Things look like they are drying out, so I’m going to start on the rest of my decorating…

    Spent the morning doing ebay listing and craigslist stuff, so I got at least a little work done.

    n

  8. Nick Flandrey says:

    Site is still slow today, it was glacial for me yesterday, and I think slow on Tuesday too.

    n

  9. Nick Flandrey says:

    Go Expos!

    n

  10. Greg Norton says:

    Any democrat not towing the line may soon find their new office in a broom closet.

    They’ll let a few vote against who are in swing districts.

    Dangerous game for Dem leadership. When impeachment failed 20 years ago, it arguably cost Newt Gingrich his job even though the Republicans held the House for another eight years under Dennis Hastert’s “leadership”.

  11. SteveF says:

    Dangerous game for Dem leadership.

    I think that’s why the hag was hemming and hawing on starting an actual impeachment process. She knows there’s no grounds which a majority of Americans support and she doesn’t want to lose her speakership. Too bad, so sad, the lunatics are in charge.

  12. Greg Norton says:

    I think that’s why the hag was hemming and hawing on starting an actual impeachment process. She knows there’s no grounds which a majority of Americans support and she doesn’t want to lose her speakership. Too bad, so sad, the lunatics are in charge.

    The Cocktail Waitress will be around for at least one more term until redistricting forces her to negotiate with party leadership for her seat. NY stands to lose 2 or possibly 3 seats after the next census.

    Now, Pelosi will now lose the Speaker’s chair if Impeachment fails, but she had to hold the vote to have grounds to subpoena witnesses. Damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t.

  13. SteveF says:

    Damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t.

    -sniffle- I love a happy story.

  14. Greg Norton says:

    “Damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t.”

    -sniffle- I love a happy story.

    If Trump doesn’t cut enough “John Glenn’s Space Shuttle flight” style deals with the Republican Senate, he may well have a problem if the case goes to trial.

    “Little Marco” will be interesting payola for a start.

  15. Harold Combs says:

    If the Republican Senate votes to convict, it will be voting it’s own death. 65 million voters will be done with the party.

  16. Greg Norton says:

    If the Republican Senate votes to convict, it will be voting it’s own death. 65 million voters will be done with the party.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority voted to convict but not a 2/3 majority.

    Mittens isn’t going to lose his seat, and Murkowski is similarly safe.

  17. SteveF says:

    If the Republican Senate votes to convict

    I think that’ll be the trigger to a hot civil war.

  18. lynn says:

    If the Republican Senate votes to convict

    I think that’ll be the trigger to a hot civil war.

    Rule 308.
    https://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/what-i-saw-at-the-coup/

  19. lynn says:

    I bought a new Ford F-150 4×4 XLT yesterday. Driving the clown car XXXXX XXX rice rod XXXX XXX Honda Civic was getting harder each day as my knees are six inches higher than the driver’s seat. Getting into it was a turn and drop. Getting out of it was groan – pull – groan – pull – scream – hoist – grunt loudly and longly.

    Anyway, I managed to talk them into dropping the price $1,800 from their stated web price plus the unstated goodies. The MSRP was $54,000, the web price was $40,556, and they added front window tint for $399 and spray on bedliner $699. Plus they had swapped the factory 20 inch wheels with Goodyears for the factory 18 inch wheels with Michelins with another truck. So they threw in the window tint for free, dropped the spray bed liner to $599, subtracted the list price of $1295 for the 20 inch wheels, and sold it to me for $39,860 plus TTL. I wanted the 18 inch wheels anyway and I was going to get a spray in bedliner. And I like window tint now.

  20. lynn says:

    Dilbert: Dogbert’s Sensitivity Training
    https://dilbert.com/strip/2019-10-31

    Yup, after going through that I would definitely want to kill myself.

  21. Ray Thompson says:

    I bought a new Ford F-150 4×4 XLT yesterday

    Good for you. Enjoy your new ride.

  22. RickH says:

    re: the impeachment thing…

    I will look at the evidence, ignoring the accuser(s) or defendant. Are the accusations valid and accurate, and are those actions ‘impeachable’ actions? Again, no matter who is the target — or who are the accusers.

    Does the evidence support the accusations?

    It’s just like when I have served on several jury trials. No matter what the prosecutors or defense state (or even the witnesses), the juror’s duty is to only look at the evidence, and whether the evidence supports the charges.

    Judge on the evidence, not the accuser(s) or defendant.

  23. Greg Norton says:

    Judge on the evidence, not the accuser(s) or defendant.

    Impeachment is a political act, not legal.

    Twenty years ago, Bob Graham, John Glenn, and other conservative Dem Senators knew what the evidence said, but they voted to acquit because of the political deals that Clinton cut with them.

  24. MrAtoz says:

    I bought a new Ford F-150 4×4 XLT yesterday

    Sweet. When I got/had my Tacoma, the dealer said all their trucks now came with integrated bed liners.

  25. MrAtoz says:

    I hope “impeachment” destroys the Dumbocrats. I believe tRump will get re-elected. Can you imagine another four years of this shit. At least the Dumbo’s are getting nothing else done. Crone Ginsburg will croak and another conservative SCOTUS judge HOORAH!

  26. Ray Thompson says:

    all their trucks now came with integrated bed liners

    Mine did not. I had Line-X spray a color matching bed liner. From a distance it is difficult to perceive that a liner has been sprayed. The drop in bed liners are crap. Will wear the paint off the bed and warp from the sun.

  27. lynn says:

    NOTE: This webcomic is NSFW (I stopped reading it a while back)

    Day by Day: innocent
    https://www.daybydaycartoon.com/2019/10/29/?post_type=comic

    Zed would hang his freak on if a judge were to take his kids for gender modification.

    Hat tip to:
    https://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/

  28. lynn says:

    all their trucks now came with integrated bed liners

    Mine did not. I had Line-X spray a color matching bed liner. From a distance it is difficult to perceive that a liner has been sprayed. The drop in bed liners are crap. Will wear the paint off the bed and warp from the sun.

    My new truck is white and the spray in bedliner is black. I’m not sure that I would want to have a white bedliner.

    I ran into a bit of trouble with it last night. I thought that 2005 Expedition and the 2019 F-150 Crewcab were the same size. They are not. They are the same height but the F-150 is two foot longer. So I had drive over the six inch lip and park the F-150 on the back side of the garage. With the big tires and the torquey 3.5L bi-turbo, it was no problem jumping the lip.
    https://www.winsim.com/F150-garage.jpg

    I checked the new used house today and the parking spaces in it are two feet longer so I don’t have to play that game after we move.

  29. JimB says:

    Lynn, back it in. Why is that raised part there?

  30. Greg Norton says:

    I ran into a bit of trouble with it last night. I thought that 2005 Expedition and the 2019 F-150 Crewcab were the same size. They are not.

    We almost had an issue with the difference in width between my wife’s 2002 4Runner and 2016 Exploder. Our garage is standard size, but each space has it’s own single car width door.

    With the mirrors folded in, the Exploder fits. Barely. We didn’t think of checking before we got the vehicle home, however.

    I’ve never liked the Exploder and miss the 4Runner. My wife thought she wanted that extra row of seats, however.

  31. lynn says:

    Lynn, back it in. Why is that raised part there?

    To tell you when you are too far in ? I honestly do not know, it is stupid to me. The garage should be all one level to avoid trip and fall hazards.

    I don’t back in anymore. I hit the garage door frame and broke a mirror. No more !

  32. SteveF says:

    the juror’s duty is to only look at the evidence

    In the United States, the juror also judges the law.

  33. Greg Norton says:

    To tell you when you are too far in ? I honestly do not know, it is stupid to me. The garage should be all one level to avoid trip and fall hazards.

    Do you have washer/dryer hookups in the raised area? Gas lines in the wall at the back of the garage? Living space on the other side of the back wall?

    We have a raised area at the back of our garage, but it is only wide enough to accomodate the water softener and various utility shelving. 18″ at most IIRC.

  34. lynn says:

    “A.F. Branco Cartoon – Who’s Your Baghdadi”
    https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-whos-your-baghdadi/

    “Democrats have come just short of making Baghdadi a saint in the press only because Trump gave the order. Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2019.”

    Wow. I saw his eulogy in the Washington Post. The first title was “Islamic Scholar”.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-islamic-states-terrorist-in-chief-dies-at-48/2019/10/27/0d004abc-663d-11e7-8eb5-cbccc2e7bfbf_story.html

  35. lynn says:

    To tell you when you are too far in ? I honestly do not know, it is stupid to me. The garage should be all one level to avoid trip and fall hazards.

    Do you have washer/dryer hookups in the raised area? Gas lines in the wall at the back of the garage? Living space on the other side of the back wall?

    No to all of the above. It is just a 15 foot extension to the back of the two car garage. A work / storage area.

  36. dkreck says:

    To tell you when you are too far in ? I honestly do not know, it is stupid to me. The garage should be all one level to avoid trip and fall hazards.

    Do you have washer/dryer hookups in the raised area? Gas lines in the wall at the back of the garage? Living space on the other side of the back wall?

    No to all of the above. It is just a 15 foot extension to the back of the two car garage. A work / storage area.

    It’s to keep things above any water that may be brought in on your vehicles. It should slope out but there is also usually a 2″ curb at the walls all around.

  37. JimM says:

    >”It’s to keep things above any water that may be brought in on your vehicles.”
    I had my garage built with a 6″ concrete stem wall and the floor sloped to the doors. It may not have been worth it; I haven’t had a car inside it for a decade or more.

  38. Nick Flandrey says:

    The 4″ raised area is a code requirement. Something about fumes that are denser than air settling, and NOT flowing toward the house. Or so I recall.

    n
    And congrats on the new truck. Sounds like they were ready to make a deal and that sounds like a smoking deal.

  39. Nick Flandrey says:

    Finished up with Trick or Treaters shortly after 830. Some years we’ve had them as late as 9. I got in all the most steal-able stuff, and turned off the lights. We didn’t give out glow bracelets this year so I don’t have a hard count, but I think we did between 100 and 120 kids. Most were little, less than 3rd grade.

    I offer a bowl of good candy and a bowl of small toys. About a third of the kids take a toy. I way overbought on candy this year. I’ll have to find SOMETHING to do with the leftovers. Hmmmmm….

    Weather was good. Clear with a light breeze, a bit on the chilly side. I got out one of my new Mr Buddy propane space heaters and fired that bad boy up. Works well. I used the catalyzed one that is approved for indoor use. Mainly I just wanted to try it. The classic one that sits on a bbq tank would have been a better choice for outdoors, as it projects the heat more. I like them both. Sure beats freezing my @ss off on the porch all night. Prepper WIN!

    Now I’ve got to eat something that isn’t sugar, and go to bed.

    n

  40. Lynn says:

    Good for you. Enjoy your new ride.

    I’ve been enjoying the electrically heated seats on this nippy day while “riding”.

  41. JimB says:

    “Nippy” TX version: below 70F.

    I tell my desert friends that, when it drops below 80F, I dig out my parka. 😉

    Not much of an exaggeration.

  42. lynn says:

    And congrats on the new truck. Sounds like they were ready to make a deal and that sounds like a smoking deal.

    We’ll see in ten years if it was as good a deal as the Expedition was 14 years ago . BTW, the wife says that the drivers seat at night looks like an airplane cockpit with all of the button and screens. For instance, the headlights knob has five positions, the last being automatic high beams. There are four buttons surrounding that knob that I have no idea what they do yet. There is an automatic trailer backing up system that I have no idea how it works. The A/C is manual with about a dozen extra buttons including heaters for each seat.

    I did get the Max Trailer Tow package which got me the electric locking rear axle (pull the 2H / 4H / 4Low knob towards you), extra cooling, transmission oil cooler, 36 gallon gas tank. I also got the FX4 package with the skid plates so I can go run the Mojave races with Slim. The radio with the 8 inch screen and backup camera runs Android ??? and can call the wife when I punch a button on the steering wheel and yell “call Pam”. Or “AM 740” to listen to Rush. BTW, the hands free calling is the cats meow. There is a second 4 inch screen in the middle of the instruments that allows you to surf the engine management system to get all kinds of useless data plus speed and and fuel economy graphs. Plus the four inch screen runs a 5 second “Ford is Tough” commercial each time the vehicle is started. And the fobs have remote start on them, if, if, the vehicle is locked (finally figured that out).

    I figured out how to turn on the ten speed transmission display on the dash. The tranny is shifting all the time trying to keep the engine speed at 1500 to 1700 rpm. Since the motor has 400+ ftlbs of torque at that speed, it runs very well. If you stomp it, she will accelerate like a gazelle with that 3.5L biturbo. But not ludicrously.

    I don’t think that she has radar though. No backing off on the cruise control and no panic stops if so. I have no idea how to figure that out yet. And the navigation on the radio screen keeps on wanting to tell me where I am going even though I could care less. But, it is a visual distraction.

    I love all of the buckets in the permanent console between the front seats. Four USB plugs. Two lighter plugs. The tranny shifter is on the column so that gave me more buckets. And some of the buckets have buckets below them for hiding places. All in all, very well integrated and totally oriented toward the driver.

  43. Marcelo says:

    @Lynn:

    … buttons surrounding that knob that I have no idea … I have no idea how to figure that out yet. …

    Oh, well, take your poison: RTFM. 🙂

  44. brad says:

    Ah, the joys of house building. We’ve discovered that the general contractor’s offer for our access road omitted one rather essential (and expensive) line item: the road requires a supporting wall for about 10 meters on one side. We could be nasty about it, and say it’s their problem. But, first, they’re basically good folk. And second, we don’t want to piss off the people who are building our house – there’s all sorts of ways for them to get even…

    So we’re up for a rather interesting discussion this coming week. The goal will be what we call a “Swiss compromise”: reach an agreement that ensures that everyone’s level of dissatisfaction is roughly equal.

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