Category: Random Stuff

36F and wet out. That feels pretty dang cold BTW.

Up early because it is family dentist day, YEA! Or not. We’re all in pretty good shape so there shouldn’t be any uncomfortable surprises, nor expensive ones, but I’ll touch wood just in case.

Making sure your health care is up to date is an important prep. Don’t let things fester. Literally.

I guess we’ve got a couple of days to see what the world and markets do now that we’ve put Nancy and a bunch of haters in the House. Anyone think we’ll get a new Camelot? No? Didn’t think so. Pity that time travel doesn’t exist. Imagine a world where Teddy died in a ditch alongside Mary Jo. No change in immigration policy from europeans to third worlders for one. That would have a HUGE impact. Now take out Bill Ayers and eliminate that long game. Those two edits alone might have been enough to save what we had. Maybe interfere with Woodward and Bernstein just enough to prevent the toxic erosion of faith in government, and creating the idea that the activist was the highest form of journalism….

You see Johnny, one person CAN make a difference.

n

45F and drizzle. Another dreary day.

A small reminder to give thanks for a roof over my head, indoor plumbing, and central heat…

Hmmm, apple is down almost 10% on some probably honest remarks (that the rumors had been talking about for a while now), construction layoffs are high, Tesla down as it admits it’s having trouble making and selling cars, Ford and GM have previously cut outlooks, luxury real estate is way down (why sell at huge discounts unless you need the money or see bigger opportunity elsewhere?), a whole bunch of the smartest guys in the room have seen their hedge funds crash, and a whole lot of other portents are becoming undeniable. The economy is crashing, at least the money side of it, and the money is what makes it all work. These guys are NOT gonna sit idly by. I don’t see T doing any motorcades any time soon, and he better keep the family close too.

and CHINA landed a rover on the moon!

n

(Remember Jerry’s comment, man will live in space- but there’s no guarantee they’ll be speaking English.)

51F and damp. Nothing new there. Did get nice for part of yesterday.

Kids have a birthday party to attend this am, so I’m in a rush to get ready and out the door.

n

57F and sunny, instead of the rainy forecast. I’ll take it.

I should be doing a round up post, or a ‘coming year’ post, but I’m too tired.

I thought I would just read a bit, then fall asleep. Nope. Read most of the book.

Perhaps more later…

Until then, I wish everyone a Happy, Safe, and Prosperous New Year.

Nick Flandrey

48F and wet. A dreary end for a dreary year.

Last day of the year. We no longer go out, too many amateurs on the road, and too many kids at home…. I won’t be able to sleep until I see that we got through another Times Square Ball Drop without an attack. It’s just the way I’m wired.

To my mind, that’s the biggest target in the US. Much more visible than a building or concert. No way it can be adequately secured. Every year I’m grateful when it’s over. This year, all it would take is a dozen people infecting revelers who go home to infect others… and you have The Night When Everything Changed ™.

Enough gloom for this morning.

I was dreaming about using reanimated dead people as fighter pilots, and attack helicopter pilots and that was fine. But when I thought of using them as restaurant workers, my sleeping brain went “That’s not right!” Strange way to wake up, and it set my mood.

But the normal rhythms of life call, breakfast needs cooking, wife and kids need feeding. Those are the things that tie us here, don’t let them pass unnoticed.

n

46F and saturated. Good thing I don’t want to take down the decorations yet, they won’t dry in this weather.

Did I mention that I ate the two oranges I got off the tree this year? Tasty, but almost/kinda/soon to be woody. So I waited a bit too long. I don’t know if they were too long on the tree, or in the fridge. Hopefully we’ll see next year.

Got a tiny bit of stuff done. Replaced the tail light bulbs in my Expy. The right side burned out, so I changed them both, and the reverse lights while I was there. Took some scrap metal to the scrapper. LOTS more just waiting for the time and weather…

I dropped my phone again and got some more little cracks in the corner. The digitizer is starting to lose accuracy, so I think I might have to replace it. It’s the Samsung S7 (non-‘splody version). It is showing its age after a bunch of updates with some increased lag, and the battery isn’t lasting as long. I don’t really want to go thru the whole phone search again, don’t want anything bigger, or much smaller, don’t want wrap around edges, and WILL be buying a case this time. New old stock of the same phone is very cheap, but that won’t solve the bloat and lag issue.

ATT fiber continues to suck. It goes down several times a day. Usually only for a minute or two, but that breaks streaming. It happens often enough that it breaks my pages reloading when I’m just messing around reading sites. It’s fast. But not stable.

Unrelated, but I use Kodi on a SFF pc to watch youtube in bed on the TV. It works well and has a decent interface. BUT on weekends, especially late at night, it runs out of whatever licensing scheme it uses to connect to youtube, and youtube refuses the connections, saying it will reset at midnight Pacific time. There is a workaround involving signing up as a developer, getting your own keys from youtube, then installing those keys on Kodi, but it’s a pain. WTF does youtube gain by limiting connections? I usually just read or close my eyes early when it happens but it is puzzling.

Along with everything else, it’s time to start thinking about my garden, and getting the beds ready. More manure. More soil. Some veg seeds. Beyond that, I haven’t a clue yet.

And I should get this up and the kids fed,

n

51F and grey out. Yesterday was grey most of the afternoon with scattered showers. Every bayou I crossed was swollen with runoff.

Sleep glorious sleep! I feel like $100 bucks. If only I could keep my bladder from waking me, I could sleep like the dead.

Mixed bag today. I should go see a client and give them an invoice. They’d like to have the expense in this year, I’d like to get paid. Just a couple of niggling little networking issues remaining.

Well, kids to feed, sick wife to minister to. Better get going.

Keep stacking, nothing has changed for the better and the cracks are showing…

n

46F and slightly below saturated…we finally got some blue sky late in the day yesterday. We’re forecast to be on the edge of the bad weather today. We’ll see.

I’ve going to do some work for a client this morning, and make a trip to the airport later in the afternoon, so I’ll be hopping all day.

Last work day of the year and I’m working. Huh, who’da thunk it?

n

55F and drizzle. Or grey yuck.

Feeling much better after a night’s sleep. Slept in until 8am. Fed the kids cereal. Back hurts, but that is normal for a couple extra hours in bed, and a dreary cold and damp morning.

Only a couple more days left in this year. NOW it feels like it’s taking forever. Funny how subjective time is.

Now it’s time for me to start my day. (Nice segue huh?)

What’s on your minds at the close of the year?

n

Probably somewhere in the 60s and damp, but I’m writing this early so who knows. It’s probably not 89F though.

Meant to get to sleep, but wasn’t really tired. Read the fourth book in Horton’s series about the collapse after the terror attacks, his Borrowed World books. Read the whole book. Probably shouldn’t have started it at 11pm, but I didn’t really think it would suck me in. It did. His writing continues to improve.

And I miss my dad. I’ve been skirting the issue most of the last couple of days, but it caught up with me. I’d turn a corner and expect him to be calling to me with a question or suggestion. So I kinda didn’t want to be alone with my thoughts in bed. Caught me anyway, and now it’s 4am… and I’m still not sleepy. Tired, but not sleepy.

Duty calls however. Kids, wife, and guest will all be up in a few hours and want breakfast. That’s the daddy’s job, at least here and now. I better try and get some sleep or I’m gonna be one unhappy, grumpy camper.

n