Tues. Nov. 1, 2022 – Seems crazy that it’s November…

Cool and damp.  Hopefully clear, so I can get stuff put away.  Yesterday was nice all day.  Not a lick of wind after dusk though, until 8:30pm when a ghost of a breeze started up.  It was just on the edge of sweaty with a long sleeve khaki shirt on…

Got my stuff done, and my display up.   Looked great, just like I’d hoped.  Pulled back the overall stuff to focus on the pirate ship and it worked well.  Didn’t quite get everything I’d have liked to do done, but that’s the breaks.

Today will be cleaning up and putting away…

Followed by auction stuff all week.  I’ve been letting it slide, but I have to sell some stuff and move some stuff out of here.   Time to start thinking about Thanksgiving (we’re doing it with additional family at the lake) and even Christmas.  Probably not a bad idea to get your shopping done early, if you can.  Avoid the crowds, if there are crowds.

I’m of two minds about that.   One says “crash is coming” and this Holiday season will be a disaster for retailers.  Majors are already cancelling orders and refusing shipments, so they think it will be a poor season too.   That COULD lead to deep discounts on non-core goods, ie deflation, if you’ve got the scratch to be a buyer.  Or it could mean higher prices if demand is more than forecast and there are shortages of things to buy.  Since I don’t have a crystal ball, or Gail for that matter, I’ll do what I always do- buy early for my own reasons.   Consider the possibilities, and act if that’s where your analysis leads you.

Food prices continue to be low for some stuff, high for others, and subject to regional variation too.   If for some reason you are not involved in shopping for yourself and/or your family, it’s still a good idea to be familiar with prices and availability.   Read the weekly ads.   Walk the aisles.   Know the challenges facing whoever does do your shopping.  You can’t spot a good deal, if you don’t know what ‘normal’ is.  Good deals will be increasingly important if you want to maintain your current lifestyle…

And if you find a deal, stack it up!  ‘Cuz those shelves aren’t gonna fill themselves.

nick

82 Comments and discussion on "Tues. Nov. 1, 2022 – Seems crazy that it’s November…"

  1. Greg Norton says:

    I’m of two minds about that.   One says “crash is coming” and this Holiday season will be a disaster for retailers.

    Another big year for arbitrage in Playstation consoles. This time last year, Sony announced that they would produce the PS4 for one more year and that’s it. Now that item is unobtainium, at least new.

  2. Greg Norton says:

    Another big year for arbitrage in Playstation consoles. This time last year, Sony announced that they would produce the PS4 for one more year and that’s it. Now that item is unobtainium, at least new.

    Of course, it doesn’t do much for Best Buy. I don’t know what they sell that makes them money anymore. The stores are always dead, even during the holidays.

  3. MrAtoz says:

    I visited the Apple Store at Northstar Mall on Sunday. Absolutely packed. You could barely hear yourself talk. And people were buying lots of stuff.

  4. Ray Thompson says:

    I failed to win Powerball last night along with a few million others. No one won. I matched 3 numbers out of my 50 numbers. No match on the power ball so no $4.00 back. About what I expected.

  5. Ray Thompson says:

    I visited the Apple Store at NorthStar Mall on Sunday. Absolutely packed

    About the same as most Apple stores. The store in Portland Oregon is the worst. People from Washington State head south to avoid the sales tax. On a $1,500 Mac that can amount to a little over $133.00 factoring in local sales tax. Worth a 3- or 4-hour drive. I would do it. On my last trip to Oregon in 2019 I purchased some electronics at Costco and Bose to avoid the sales tax in TN. But not worth a dedicated trip. If I purchased a top-of-the-line Mac Studio with monitor and extras for about $12K the tax savings of over $1K would make the trip worth it.

    The local store here in Knoxville is quite busy. When the iPhone 14 was available the store was appointment only and there was still a line control barrier outside the store. Probably 50 people in the store including Apple people.

  6. Greg Norton says:

    About the same as most Apple stores. The store in Portland Oregon is the worst. People from Washington State head south to avoid the sales tax. On a $1,500 Mac that can amount to a little over $133.00 factoring in local sales tax. Worth a 3- or 4-hour drive. I would do it. On my last trip to Oregon in 2019 I purchased some electronics at Costco and Bose to avoid the sales tax in TN. But not worth a dedicated trip. If I purchased a top-of-the-line Mac Studio with monitor and extras for about $12K the tax savings of over $1K would make the trip worth it.

    Canadians go to the Portland Apple Store to avoid the 20% (?) VAT and haul the computers home, either up I-5 or via the Amtrak Cascades. As a result, Portland is (was?) the busiest in North America.

    Sales tax in WA State varies wildly according to where you live. We paid almost 10% in state, county, city, and neighorhood sales taxes living just across the river, but, IIRC, the base rate is 6%.

    Until the Supreme Court reversed National Bellas Hess, however, buying online from out of state businesses didn’t result in sales taxes. I could buy from New Egg without paying  the 10%, and we lived close enough to Portland Airport that even “Eggsaver” delivery from their contracted private courier was overnight.

    Amazon was strictly for things we couldn’t obtain elsewhere and small enough to get delivered to a locker at a 7-11 near the airport south of the river. There wasn’t a point for much else, especially books and music. The local Borders lasted until the chain completely shuttered.

  7. Nick Flandrey says:

    Well, 63F and raining.  Slow drizzle and still dark out.   School bus was 25minutes or more late.  We gave up and my wife drove D1 to school.  D2 didn’t feel well this am, so stayed home.

    I will put away what I can, but I’m not putting wet stuff in the attic.

    ————————-

    It’s surely possible that some random local weirdo attacked Pelozi.  Like Harry Reid and his vicious gym equipment…    there was even some vandalism with paint on the house a few months ago, iirc.   But there are plenty of weirdnesses involved that make you go ‘hmmmm’.

    n

  8. SteveF says:

    I ended up handing out some candy last night. It was a nice evening so I sat on the front porch with my Kindle and a big bowl. Total of eight kids in two groups in something over half an hour. Whoop-di-do. I let everyone grab a handful and encouraged the two younger kids to take more.

    The only saving grace is that I buy only candy that my daughter or I like. (Or mostly like. There’s some hit-or-miss in the big mixed bags.) There’s still too much, though, as she doesn’t eat much because of her invisalign (it’s not a deal killer but she has to brush thoroughly after eating anything sweet and that takes most of the fun out of eating it; not a bad thing, overall) and my candy consumption averages probably half a dozen M&Ms per day. Not a problem. I know several families nearby whose parents don’t allow junk food in the house, so I give chips and candy to the kids, plus I’ll have The Child bring a handful a day to school starting in a week or two.

  9. ITGuy1998 says:

    Our count was down compared to last year. We sat on the porch as it was nice. We had both puppies out with us, and it was a good experience to help them socialize with others. The 6mo golden did pretty good, but took to hiding when she got overwhelmed. The 4mo golden is more adventurous, but also a barker. We have been working on that, and had some success last night. Progress.

    Extra candy goes with the wife to work.

  10. lynn says:

    Zero trick or treaters last night at the house.  Very few running around side roads too, we live on the main road.  Six of my neighbors were running their golf carts together but they only made a few stops and packed it in.

  11. lynn says:

    The neighbors were telling me last night that the motorcycle cop actually gave out a speeding ticket yesterday.  We routinely have people going 60 mph on our 30 mph road with no shoulders and deep ditches.  Makes the main road in front of our house dangerous.

    4
    1
  12. Greg Norton says:

    The neighbors were telling me last night that the motorcycle cop actually gave out a speeding ticket yesterday.  We routinely have people going 60 mph on our 30 mph road with no shoulders and deep ditches.  Makes the main road in front of our house dangerous.

    End of the month.

    My guess is that puts the court date at the end of December.

  13. Nick Flandrey says:

    @lynn, situations like yours are why Trunk or Treat events have a place.   Kids on country roads just can’t get enough candy per footstep to justify all the walking around.   I don’t know if they do a door to door at the BOL, but the whole county would be better served by a sponsored event at the high school or downtown, or a big church.

    n

    Rain has continued.    D2 is feeling well enough to eat some soup.  There was puking so she’s legit sick, albeit possibly with too much candy and too little sleep.

  14. Ray Thompson says:

    Voted. Republican if I had a choice, no vote if the only option was democrat, a couple of independents in local races and I voted who I wanted and actually knowing both of the individuals.

    It only took me 3 minutes to vote. Several people it took more than 15 minutes. One old guy was in the voting booth for 30 minutes. He was there before I arrived and was still in the booth when I left. There wasn’t that much on the ballot so I can only guess he fell asleep. Do we really want these confused people voting? May be better than a welfare leach voting themselves money from the public dole.

    Confused the poll worker with the VA ID. She wrote down TDL (TN Driver’s License) and I had to remind her that she was in error. It was not a TDL. I see no reason to show any of these poll workers my TN driver’s license. Next election I will use my passport card and watch the confusion on their faces. Poll workers should be competent, these are not.

  15. Greg Norton says:

    Next election I will use my passport card and watch the confusion on their faces. Poll workers should be competent, these are not.

    I saw a passport card presented to the check-in person during the last election. They didn’t blink an eye, but we are closer to the border so the cards are more common.

  16. dkreck says:

    One old guy was in the voting booth for 30 minutes. He was there before I arrived and was still in the booth when I left. There wasn’t that much on the ballot so I can only guess he fell asleep. 

    Well at least he didn’t call out for TP.

    Confused the poll worker with the VA ID.

    I was listening to the radio this morning and a PSA came on for the DMV for RealID. They were noting how you will need it for boarding planes and entering military bases and federal buildings. Will it will be needed for voting? Not in California.

  17. Greg Norton says:

    One old guy was in the voting booth for 30 minutes. He was there before I arrived and was still in the booth when I left. There wasn’t that much on the ballot so I can only guess he fell asleep. 

    Well at least he didn’t call out for TP.

    Who else here has seen the original “Clerks”?

  18. Kenneth C Mitchell says:

    ID? In Cacafornia?  I lived there for 30 years, and they NEVER wanted to see an ID. 

  19. Nick Flandrey says:

    I tried to use my TX LTC but even though it is official state ID, it’s not on the list of valid forms for voting.  Might have changed since then.

    n

  20. dkreck says:

    ID? In Cacafornia?  I lived there for 30 years, and they NEVER wanted to see an ID. 

    Nor have I. I’ve now been voting 50 years(voting age was still 21 – I’m old).  Always voting and usually in person. Real problem nowadays in Cali is we pretty much have one party rule. Makes voting useless above local level.

  21. MrAtoz says:

    Nice flight to El Paso. I forgot to mention my last flight from Vegas to SA with Southwest was on one of their MAX jets. Nice inside with plenty of room. More than their 800’s I think. Most of my trips with SWA is on their 700’s. I ‘ve got big hips and fill the seat, knees  against the seat in front of me. We’re flying first class on AA to Spokane on Wed and back to Vegas on Friday. Give me first class, or give me death! Also first class on AA to/fr Miami for our cruise.

  22. Nick Flandrey says:

    Battlespace preparation.

    The number of US military veterans involved in domestic extremist attacks has QUADRUPLED since 2010, with ex-servicemen behind 10% of plots and attacks in the homeland, says House report

    • Veterans are behind ever more ‘violent extremist plots and attacks’, says study 
    • On average, 29 people with military backgrounds launch such hits annually 
    • Back in the 2000s, only about 7 veterans did so each year 
    • Most domestic extremists are right wing, but leftists, religious zealots and others are also blamed
    • Key troublemakers include the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and the Three Percenters
    • Veterans’ group calls report ‘dangerous’ for stigmatizing former service members
    • Pentagon should focus on veterans’ health and support, says Mission Roll Call
    • \

    we’re apparently passed the ‘damaged psycho’ era of disparagement, and into the ‘dangerous radical’ phase.  

    The actual numbers are low, and their favorite whipping boys figure prominantly.

    n

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11373645/Number-veterans-involved-violent-extremist-attacks-jumps-FOURFOLD.html

  23. Nick Flandrey says:

    Still drizzling.

    yech.

    n

  24. MrAtoz says:

    It always cracks me up when PLTs cry a river about requiring ID to vote. “Voter suppression!” “It’s a Constitutional right!” Then mention I shouldn’t need an ID to buy a handgun…”Killllll hiiimmm! He’s a terrorist!”

  25. Kenneth C Mitchell says:

    https://www.votetexas.gov/voting/need-id.html

    Here is a list of the acceptable forms of photo ID:

    • Texas Driver License issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
    • Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
    • Texas Personal Identification Card issued by DPS
    • Texas Handgun License issued by DPS
    • United States Military Identification Card containing the person’s photograph
    • United States Citizenship Certificate containing the person’s photograph
    • United States Passport (book or card)
  26. Brad says:

    They have added photo “proof” of delivery.

    Then there are the Ring videos of drivers taking the pic, then picking up the package and leaving. Or someone else grabbing it. 

    ID? In Cacafornia?  I lived there for 30 years, and they NEVER wanted to see an ID. 

    That’s…horrible. How do they know who voted? That one person isn’t voting for 20 others? 

  27. Nick Flandrey says:

    SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Rocket Launches Classified Payload For Space Force

    –looks like another successful launch and booster recovery.

    n

  28. Kenneth C Mitchell says:

    ID? In Cacafornia?  I lived there for 30 years, and they NEVER wanted to see an ID. 

    That’s…horrible. How do they know who voted? That one person isn’t voting for 20 others? 

    “Honor” system? Once upon a time, that might have worked. But that’s ONE OF MANY of the reasons why we left Cacafornia 2 years ago. Another would be the 2016 law that “legalized” ballot harvesting, AKA voter fraud. They don’t even PRETEND not to do that there. 

  29. Kenneth C Mitchell says:

    Nick:   https://www.spacex.com/launches/ussf-44/

    Cape Canaveral was VERY foggy this morning, and I could hardly see anything on the video. But the two side cores landed back at the Cape, and y’know, a rocket landing in the fog burns off the fog quite well!  Quite beautiful; side-by-side rocket landings about a second apart.

  30. Ray Thompson says:

    That’s…horrible. How do they know who voted? That one person isn’t voting for 20 others?

    If the other 20 don’t want to vote, someone should do it for them. (Where is the sarcasm tag?).

    It happened to me; someone had voted using my name. Required me to get a provisional ballot after much argument with the poll manager. Makes me question why even have a picture ID if the poll workers don’t check the information.

    Got my Covid booster. I asked about a home test kit and if it was covered by Medicare. Apparently not. The booster was, but not the tests. Even though there were signs in several places that stated that test kits might be free, ask the pharmacist. Free for whom I wonder.

  31. lynn says:

    SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Rocket Launches Classified Payload For Space Force

    –looks like another successful launch and booster recovery.

    n

    Those six nuclear mervs are heavy !

  32. Greg Norton says:

    Those six nuclear mervs are heavy !

    Rods From God.

  33. Lynn says:

    “Astronomers spot ‘planet killer’ asteroid hiding in the Sun’s glare”

        https://www.chron.com/news/space/article/nasa-asteroid-planet-killer-17549612.php

    “The massive space rock could potentially hit Earth one day.”

    We are all going to die.

  34. Nick Flandrey says:

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/you-murderous-hypocrites-outrage-ensues-after-atlantic-suggests-amnesty-pandemic

    “You Murderous Hypocrites”: Outrage Ensues After The Atlantic Suggests ‘Amnesty’ For Pandemic Authoritarians 

    == might I suggest that we’re much more likely to see the phrase “hung by the neck until dead” than “bygones”.

    n

  35. Nick Flandrey says:

    And the march to war continues apace.

    Pentagon Confirms US Boots Are On The Ground In Ukraine

    by Tyler Durden

    Tuesday, Nov 01, 2022 – 01:20 PM

    Two bombshell reports by the Associated Press and Washington Post Monday and Tuesday have confirmed that the United States has boots on the ground in the Ukraine conflict. Crucially, these troops are performing tasks separate from mere embassy security. 

    The American troops are said to be performing “inspections” of US weapon caches after last week the State Department and Pentagon unveiled a new plan to track US-supplied weapons in efforts to implement accountability for the billions of dollars worth of arms and ammunition transferred to Ukrainian forces since near the start of the war eight months ago.

    A small number of U.S. military forces inside Ukraine have recently begun doing onsite inspections to ensure that Ukrainian troops are properly accounting for the Western-provided weapons they receive, a senior U.S. defense official told Pentagon reporters Monday,” the AP/WaPo reporting revealed.

    n

  36. Lynn says:

    Got my Covid booster. I asked about a home test kit and if it was covered by Medicare. Apparently not. The booster was, but not the tests. Even though there were signs in several places that stated that test kits might be free, ask the pharmacist. Free for whom I wonder.

    Have you gotten all five shots now ?  Buck on the replacement Rush show was talking about how many of the people with all five of the Koof shots have been getting the Koof, Biden and Fauci primarily.

         https://www.clayandbuck.com/massive-story-dhs-colludes-with-big-tech-to-subvert-democracy/

    Talking about 

       https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/cdc-director-tests-positive-covid-paxlovid-rebound-case-rcna54870?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma

  37. lpdbw says:

    might I suggest that we’re much more likely to see the phrase “hung by the neck until dead” than “bygones”.

    I posted a response to that op-ed over on Daily Pundit.  It contains thoughts, words, images, and vernacular which is not appropriate for this more family-friendly venue.  

    Some of the words, chosen at random, were:  gibbet, baseball bat, barbed wire, buzzards.

    No, “bygones” was not contained in my comment.

  38. Lynn says:

    “A.F. Branco Cartoon – Chief Twit”

        https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-chief-twit/

    “Elon Musk buys Twitter, fires the top CEOs and the left is throwing a fit. Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2022.”

  39. Greg Norton says:

    Have you gotten all five shots now ?  Buck on the replacement Rush show was talking about how many of the people with all five of the Koof shots have been getting the Koof, Biden and Fauci primarily.

    That’s assuming Biden and Fauci actually got jabs and not sterile water on camera.

    Wait. Was Fauci’s jab even recorded?

  40. Lynn says:

    “Backblaze Drive Stats for Q3 2022”

        https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-drive-stats-for-q3-2022/

    “As of the end of Q3 2022, Backblaze was monitoring 230,897 hard drives and SSDs in our data centers around the world. Of that number, 4,200 are boot drives, with 2,778 SSDs and 1,422 HDDs. The SSDs were previously covered in our recently published Midyear SSD Report. Today, we’ll focus on the 226,697 data drives under management as we review their quarterly and lifetime failure rates as of the end of Q3 2022.”

    The Quarterly AFR continues to rise: The AFR for Q3 2022 was 1.64%, increasing from 1.46% in Q2 2022 and from 1.10% a year ago. As noted previously, this is related to the aging of the entire drive fleet and we would expect this number to go down as older drives are retired and replaced over the next year. A possible harbinger of what is to come can be seen in the 16TB models which as a group had an 0.80% AFR in Q3 2022. As these drives are used to replace the aging 4TB drives, the quarterly AFR should decrease.”

    So, spinning drives in continuous operation start to fail after seven years.  Interesting.

  41. Ray Thompson says:

    Have you gotten all five shots now?

    No, just four. Three of them were to keep working as a sub at the school. This last one was suggested by the VA as being necessary. Same as the shingles vaccine.

  42. Lynn says:

    “You’ll Have to Wait at Least Another Year for a Tesla Cybertruck”

       https://www.pcmag.com/news/youll-have-to-wait-at-least-another-year-for-a-tesla-cybertruck

    “Reuters tips mass production of Tesla’s Cybertruck by the end of 2023.”

    “During an earnings call last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company is in the “final lap” and is currently building the Cybertruck at its Austin, Texas, facility. “Yeah, that car’s gonna be sick,” Musk told investors. “Hall of famer. Next level. Sorry it took longer than expected, but there were a few things that got in the way, like insane global supply chain issues.””

    “Cybertruck comes with rear-wheel drive, 250 miles of range, and a towing capacity of 7,500 pounds. A more expensive version includes a dual motor, all-wheel drive, 300-mile range, and 10,000-pound towing capacity.”

    I would not be surprised to see the 300 mile range cost $90,000.

  43. Lynn says:

    “Xcel to retire Texas coal-fired power plant early, speeding up companywide exit from coal to 2030″

        https://www.utilitydive.com/news/xcel-retire-texas-coal-fired-power-plant-tolk/635437/

    “The Minneapolis-based utility company plans to add 11,700 MW of wind and solar across its eight-state system.”

    Oh crap, here we go again. Shutting down the reliable power plants for the intermittent renewables.

  44. Ray Thompson says:

    I would not be surprised to see the 300 mile range cost $90,000.

    And less than 100 miles towing range. Moving an 8K pound trailer takes a lot of effort. Such a limited range would be useless for many restricting the vehicle to basically moving stuff locally in limited capacity.

  45. dkreck says:

    Is Tesla so enthralled with high-tech they refuse to add one backup mechanical lock like all the others?

    Not really a new story, just one more.

    https://jalopnik.com/dennis-from-always-sunny-got-his-tesla-stuck-in-a-parki-1849682811

  46. CowboyStu says:

    Oh crap, here we go again. Shutting down the reliable power plants for the intermittent renewables.

    Worse yet, the wind machines are killing numbers of Bald & Golden Eagles.  Now, if I was in the back country with the wind machines and shot an eagle in the presence of a federal or state ranger, I would immediately be arrested, substantially fines and might also serve some slam time,

  47. Greg Norton says:

    I would not be surprised to see the 300 mile range cost $90,000.

    $100k for the Jesus Truck delivered. My wife’s unofficial source at Toyota’s truck factory in San Antonio has been saying that for a year.

    My guess is that Tony will play the Ford game that has been running for the last few years in the trucks. If you get an upgrade, you can have the vehicle immediately. Wait for the promised price and you’ll be waiting until 2025 or later.

  48. paul says:

    Win11 is slowly being beaten into submission.  I think.  I still don’t like hiding of scroll bars.  On a 32″ monitor, come on. 

    Today’s chore was getting Filezilla to work.  I use it for my website.  The old version I had?  Nope.  The newer version I didn’t like?  Nope.  I messed with both trying to connect to my website.  No joy.  I know the passwords.

    Deleted both.  Installed a new version and “click” I’m connected.  I even (I think) made it save downloads to the Desktop so I don’t have to dig around in Exploder to find the stupid file.

    Oh.  There is the option to save your settings in the Registry.  Or save settings in an xml file in the Filezilla folder.  Yeah, I missed that little detail a few years ago.  Xml files, here we go.  So maybe Filezilla is now actually “portable”? 

    Then I start messing with PuTTY.  Because the PiHole needs updating.  Typing in the password is a PITA because the cursor doesn’t move.  I found a fix.  Make a shortcut to PuTTY, like so:

    C:\MiscUtil\putty.exe -ssh pi@192.168.0.24 -pw .Secret.

    Change as needed for your system.  Clicky clack and PuTTY opens.

  49. Lynn says:

    “From Pitless Cherries to Softer Kale, This Startup Is Using CRISPR to Make Better Produce”

        https://singularityhub.com/2022/10/26/from-pitless-cherries-to-softer-kale-this-startup-is-using-crispr-to-make-better-produce/

    “A startup called PairWise is out to help change the way we eat by making fruits and vegetables more appealing. The company is zeroing in on traits that may deter people from consuming produce and tweaking those traits using CRISPR gene editing. Their hope is that the resulting products will not only pique consumers’ interest, but keep them healthy and keep them coming back. Tom Adams, PairWise cofounder and CEO, shared details about the company and its products in an interview.”

    What could go wrong ?

  50. Lynn says:

    “Elon Musk enlists more than 50 Tesla workers, 2 Boring Company staff, and one Neuralink employee to work at Twitter post-takeover, report says”

        https://news.yahoo.com/elon-musk-enlists-more-50-125749953.html

    I am not surprised in the slightest.  I suspect Musk knows his top people by their first names.

  51. Greg Norton says:

    Then I start messing with PuTTY.  Because the PiHole needs updating.  Typing in the password is a PITA because the cursor doesn’t move.  I found a fix.  Make a shortcut to PuTTY, like so:

    C:\MiscUtil\putty.exe -ssh pi@192.168.0.24 -pw .Secret.

    Use puttygen to generate a public/private key pair and add the public key to the PiHole user account’s authorized_keys file. Then, on your Windows machine, add the path to the private key to “Default Settings”, category “Connection→SSH→Auth”, in the text field down at the bottom of the window.

    That will save you the hassle of the password without the security problem of the password on the command line.

  52. Greg Norton says:

    “Elon Musk enlists more than 50 Tesla workers, 2 Boring Company staff, and one Neuralink employee to work at Twitter post-takeover, report says”

    Probably some not-so-benevolent dictators to watch the pull requests and merges going into the Git hierarchy to make sure some mischief doesn’t get introduced. My guess is that the source repository servers have been offline since the “let that sink in” stunt.

  53. Nick Flandrey says:

    Is anyone really surprised that Musk would want trusted and known employees at his back?

    n

  54. Alan says:

    >> Not a lick of wind after dusk though, until 8:30pm when a ghost of a breeze started up. 

    Yeah, we see what you were doing there… 

  55. Nick Flandrey says:

    Yeah, we see what you were doing there… 

    but you missed my Crystal Gayle reference  😛

    n

  56. drwilliams says:

    @CowboyStu

    Worse yet, the wind machines are killing numbers of Bald & Golden Eagles.  Now, if I was in the back country with the wind machines and shot an eagle in the presence of a federal or state ranger, I would immediately be arrested, substantially fines and might also serve some slam time,

    Makes you wonder what the bag limit for wind turbines might be…

  57. Greg Norton says:

    Is this really the end? 

    https://www.sj-r.com/story/entertainment/dining/2022/10/30/mcdonalds-mcrib-sandwich-to-begin-another-farewell-tour/69598023007/

    I’d guess not unless McDonalds has another faux muscle tissue pork sandwich which is testing better or the material is being sent overseas for some menu entree we won’t see here.

    The invention of the McRib solved a huge problem for the pork processing industry of what to do with otherwise inedible pieces of protein from the pig. I think the subject came up here once which is how I learned the truth about the “meat”.

    Of course if the source for the raw material is Smithfield, the Chinese own that now.

    Maybe the new McRib will be made from bugs. Hmmm hmmm. And you thought eating pork cartilage was sketchy.

  58. CowboyStu says:

    Makes you wonder what the bag limit for wind turbines might be…

    Part of the Prog lie.

  59. Ray Thompson says:

    Maybe the new McRib will be made from bugs. Hmmm hmmm. And you thought eating pork cartilage was sketchy.

    I don’t the McThorax has the same ring.

  60. MrAtoz says:

    plugs being a sponge-brain:

    President Joe Biden AGAIN says his son Beau died in Iraq

    Beau…Beau…Beau 

    Rules for Radicals: say it enough and they will believe it. NOT!

  61. Greg Norton says:

    Beau…Beau…Beau 

    Rules for Radicals: say it enough and they will believe it. NOT!

    Even when Beau was in Iraq, he wasn’t really in Iraq. He continued to serve as Attorney General of Delaware and put together an exploratory committee to run for his father’s Senate seat from the “combat zone”.

    Please tell me that wasn’t Biden’s speech in Florida campaigning for Charlie Crist. Governor DeSantis had a *real* combat zone experience in Iraq.

  62. Lynn says:

    Maybe the new McRib will be made from bugs. Hmmm hmmm. And you thought eating pork cartilage was sketchy.

    My understanding is that we eat everything from a pig except for the “oink”.

    I love the McRib.  I first went to a McDonalds in Norman, Oklahoma in 1967.   Ronald was there, it was a good day.

  63. lpdbw says:

    Is anyone really surprised that Musk would want trusted and known employees at his back?

    This was Trump’s biggest mistake.   He needed Trump fanatics in charge of everything, and instead he put RINOs and even Dems in place.

    He made other mistakes that didn’t help.  Like trying to make peace with the RINOs, thinking they’d be fair and honorable.

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  64. Kenneth C Mitchell says:

    He made other mistakes that didn’t help.  Like trying to make peace with the RINOs, thinking they’d be fair and honorable.

    If Trump is re-elected in 2024, he won’t make THOSE mistakes again. I’d suggest that he not hire ANY staffers within 100 miles of DC, to get people who are NOT in the Beltway “swamp”.  Perhaps people from flyover state governments, or from industry or tech, but few lawyers. And I’m sure that he’s keeping track of helpful people during his rallies. 

  65. drwilliams says:

    @Lynn

    My understanding is that we eat everything from a pig except for the “oink”.

    Oscar Mayer: “Everything but the squeal.”

    On a given day, the processors calculate how to disassemble a carcass for maximum profit. Yeah, that hog’s head goes on a pike and power tools are used. “Remove cheek meat” is a listed operation. Face shield required.

    Nothing to see here–move along.

    Anyone with Czech/German ancestry probably has a parent/uncle/ Grandparent with a fondness for one of the traditional sausage or sausage-related foods. Blood sausage. Head cheese. Scrapple. Offal. Or the related delicacies associated with butchering: rocky mountain oysters, etc.

    When calories were in shor supply, we will food anything.

    Consider, for a moment, just how it happens that we got to Jello?

    Robert Heinlein listed “Butcher a hog” in the list of skills a human should have. One of many things tha i would have enjoyed discussing with Mr. Heinlein, not only for the specifics of that particular entry, but why was “plan an invasion” on the list and “zero a rifle” not?

  66. drwilliams says:

    Like trying to make peace with the RINOs, thinking they’d be fair and honorable.

    Just mentioning, again, that I would like to be on the committee that has the post-election meeting with Mittens.

  67. RickH says:

    My opinion – getting Trump elected again would be a mistake for the country.  Someone who is so full of himself that he can admin no wrongdoing, or cannot face the facts, and keeps spouting (blustering?) conspiracies against him (“they are all out to get me!”  – and – “Don’t bother me with the facts, my mind is made up”) is not a person I want for President.

    I had some positive hopes last time that he would be good. Or at least better than his then opponent.  Those hopes were not realized. There might have been some things that he did that were positive, but they are outweighed by all the negative.

    If he was nominated, I’d have to vote for whoever was his opponent.  

    And, not going to argue this with anyone here. Just my opinion. 

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  68. drwilliams says:

    ok

  69. drwilliams says:

    @Greg

    Thanks for the Zevon/Letterman link. I finally got around to watching it.

    Not sure if I posted this before:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZtroXOw91s

    The second best thing that Jesse Ventura did in his gubernatorial excursion was have Zevon at his inaugural ball Unfortunately, that video doesn’t seen to be available at present. 

  70. Lynn says:

    Anyone with Czech/German ancestry probably has a parent/uncle/ Grandparent with a fondness for one of the traditional sausage or sausage-related foods. Blood sausage. Head cheese. Scrapple. Offal. Or the related delicacies associated with butchering: rocky mountain oysters, etc.

    I have eaten blood sausage.  Never again.

  71. Greg Norton says:

    If he was nominated, I’d have to vote for whoever was his opponent.  

    He won’t be the nominee. Despair is a sin as Dr. Pournelle used to say.

    The Republicans have a deep bench out in the states, and new stars will emerge.

    Chances are that Governor DeSantis will be in the mix, but the party should not repeat the Bush 43 mistake and decide the nomination in a couple of weeks.

    I’m sure DeSantis has his Kenny Boys just like every other politician.

  72. Greg Norton says:

    Thanks for the Zevon/Letterman link. I finally got around to watching it.

    Letterman had some great musical performances on the show.

    My personal favorite. No offense to Warren Zevon

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwv7FYqV2Wo

    Another one gone way too young.

    And the genius of Paul Schaffer – Palmer took the stage in Chicago less than 24 hours after Letterman’s producers tracked him down in Switzerland.

    Yeah, David Sanborn. And Dominic Miller I believe. 

    Dave may well have saved Robert Palmer’s career that night. I believe BB King cancelled, creating the hole in the show during Sweeps.

  73. Nick Flandrey says:

    U.S. is running out of common children’s antibiotic amoxicillin – forcing parents to shop around multiple pharmacies 

     

    Four drugmakers who sell nearly all the amoxicillin in the US have limited stock of some doses of the liquid form of the medication. The FDA has blamed an increase in demand – as child infections soar.

    civilization was nice while it lasted.

    n

  74. drwilliams says:

    the genius of Paul Schaffer

    amen

  75. Greg Norton says:

    Four drugmakers who sell nearly all the amoxicillin in the US have limited stock of some doses of the liquid form of the medication. The FDA has blamed an increase in demand – as child infections soar.

    civilization was nice while it lasted.

    Amoxicillin comes and goes in terms of effectiveness due to resistance. 

    A lot of hysteria is being stirred right now ahead of the midterms, and the Mail likes its schadenfreude reader base in the UK.

  76. Nick Flandrey says:

    Not being able to keep one of the oldest and best known ABX in stock isn’t a good thing.

    And the line about the unseasonable increase in sick kids is a bit worrisome too.

    n

  77. RickH says:

    I recall school teachers always knowing that the start of school would bring, a couple weeks later, an increase in the number of sick kids. Back to school meant increased exposure to shared germs. 

    I think it’s always been like this. But there is increased ‘paranoia’ about every little increase in sickness, fed by the media (traditional and social) grabbing on to every little story and making it seems like ‘the end of the world is nigh’.

    And, there are parents who think that antibiotics will cure everything,  so there probably has been some oversubscribing.

    Global supply chains interruptions over the past two years hasn’t helped either.

    As far as I can tell. Not a doctor. An increase in sick kids when school starts has always been around. We’re just more paranoid about it. 

  78. Nick Flandrey says:

    @Rick, but school’s been in session for months… so it’s not just start of school term.   Heck, my kids have both been sick, and they are really healthy most of the time, far more healthy than a lot of our friend group…

    I think two of the greatest  boons to mankind have been antibiotics, and pain relievers.  To have  a basic one out of stock is crazy.

    n

  79. Lynn says:

    I think two of the greatest  boons to mankind have been antibiotics, and pain relievers.  To have  a basic one out of stock is crazy.

    Clean, pressurized water is number one.  Sewage treatment is number two.

  80. Alan says:

    >> Ronald was there, it was a good day.

    And exactly where is Ronald these days? And why? 

  81. Alan says:

    >> Probably not a bad idea to get your shopping done early, if you can. 

    My sense in terms of holiday shopping is that to some extent October was the new November after seeing the volume/depth of deals that were out there. 

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