Weekend Open Thread
Mountain range in Veneto, Italy (Olimpio Fantuz/Sopa/eStock/windows10spotlight)
These are the Croda da Lago Mountains in Italy. They’re located at the Cortina Dolomites Range, Belluno Province, Veneto District. This is according to commenter “Mark” on Windows 10 Spotlight. The title provided a different location. Possible credits also go to Olimpio Fantuz, SOPA, and eStock Photo. Enjoy your weekend.
Category: Open thread
FIRST!
Congrats KoB!
As usual, you are on top of it!
Today completely skipped my mind.
Next week!!
Yep, I was lurking at 4 and then I got called into a zoom meeting and completely forgot about the WoT.
Well hells bells, I enjoyed my week on the throne.
Here’s the orb and scepter to KoB you crusty bastage!!
Much love and happy Friday to all of you disgusting naval gazing, lint picking, cerebrally challenged folks.
Why don’t you just enjoy your french fried taters and have a lovely weekend!!
Chip
Tanks Troops. Damn thing sat there for a minute or so, orphaned. Took 3 shots for the comment to load. And I gave a 20 count at each attempt before I hit post. Good to hear that our Texicans are checking in, thawing out, and hanging tuff.
Got to play to win. Guess I just need to cut this thing off every Friday Afternoon.
I still have several comments on the Valor Friday thread that haven’t posted. The machine tells me they’re there/duplicate comment. Maybe they’re AWOL…or lost in cyber space? Chip coulda put them on the Mars Rover payload manifest?
Yep, still here KoB!
Rats of th’ Cong to ya’, again. Hope that if this cool spell heads to your AO it’ll be a bit more moderated.
Got into a squabble with a kid online who was upset when the Mayor of Colorado City, TX told folks it was not the city’s job to take care of them and he was tired of folks asking for handouts. I agree with him. She and her still-20’s friends think I’m heartless and cruel. Which may be true, but….
DaHell everybody at? HELLOOOO!!! Is this thing on? I had problems with comments loading on the Valor Friday Post and this one here just circled circled circled before it went POP!
King of Battle…King of FIRST!
Red Beans with Rice & Sausages, Hand Rolled Seegars and refreshing Beverages all around to my most miscreanted d’weeds and ‘specially the Adorable Deplorables…You know who you are!
For some ‘light’ reading, here’s Tom Cotton’s 84-page document on how the US should fight China economically, an ‘economic long war’, per the title.
https://www.cotton.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/210216_1700_China%20Report_FINAL.pdf
For those who want a summary, Vox, which leans pretty left, actually has a decent summary of some of the key points here:
https://www.vox.com/22289711/tom-cotton-beat-china-strategy-explained
It’s a good read, with some good points, and I’m quite sure zero political will to see it through in either party, especially since it requires a lot of short/medium term economic uncertainty, a whole lot of soft power, government spending and more. But when the current path is not sustainable, sometimes you need to consider, evolve and act on difficult alternatives.
Present!
Alrighty then, third! Haven’t been that high up the food chain in months.
45 minutes after the posting of the WOT and am still waiting for the appropriate word to be said by somebody (that won’t be DEFECTed/DELETEd) so that the Coveted Book can be closed out for this session.
First?
Nope, Sorry, SFC D, that is what I was waiting for, but CW already posted the appropriate word in his comment and he has been credited with the first “FIRST” and has been duly entered into the Coveted Book of WOT Firsts for this week./smile
Um, Claw . . . didn’t you see the 4:01 comment at the very beginning? What’s wrong with that one?
Just asking.
I’m so confused.
Congrats again to the KoB!
Well, it’s been a crazy week. Here in South Central Texas, temps in the teens and lower. Power out at the Norsky complex for 22 hours one day and 10 another. Water out for nearly one day. Needless to say it was frosty here. Power came on at 0230 yesterday and has been on ever since. Water is on, but a boil water recommendation until further notice.
Have enough food and other water to last for the interim.
Good news is that the weather is forecast to be in the 50s Saturday and 60s on Sunday! (If all goes well, I’ll be out on my Goldwing Sunday.)
So, fellow TAHers, everyone have a GREAT weekend and give my best to all!!
I’m in your neighborhood, Mr Norsky. I drove for rideshare all week and made a small fortune. There is still one more day to go. Won’t be driving on Sunday as its a day of rest or if you’re a musician it’s time to get the boys around and do some jamming. Almost all of my customers commented on my driving with the biggest comment being, that I make it look easy. I just tell them that I spent too many years of my life either at, above or jus too near the Arctic Circle to have not learned how to maneuver in this environment. This caught a lot of people by surprise especially the power companies. Looks to be that the push for subsidized “renewable” energy brought us to the power emergencies. Here in So. Central Texas, I had electricity and water all the way through with no problems at all. BUT I had fun taking advantage of those that weren’t as lucky as I have been. These Texicans are just panicked at watching this stuff happen !!! So, if anyone can help me, I would really like to know why anyone would like 2000 rolls of toilet paper at any time in their lives ??? We each only were issued one asshole that requires said substance and generally that is a once a day event !!! Well, once a day, depending on how many and who made them, tacos were consumed !!! I did put up a bird feeder and was mobbed by birds as they were all wondering WTF was going on here in Texas. I had a cute little Texas Wren talking to me through the window while he/she was enjoying my food fare !!!!! I always love feeding the birds. They are such beautiful creatures, I truly enjoy watching the freedom they have on a daily basis as they go about their way of making a living. This is a pretty good read on the Texas energy situation. What with all the oil wells that are all over this place, one would think that we… Read more »
Your link provides further evidence that federal subsidies for wind and solar bear a good share of the responsibility for what occurred in the Texas power crisis this week.
By unfairly subsidizing the renewable sector of energy generation, the Obama administration destroyed incentives to improve and upgrade in the traditional energy generating sectors.
Yet now the coastal and urban liberals are claiming it is a failure of the fossil fuel industry that caused the Texas debacle.
They never learn…
5th, counting dupes. Apologies for letting it slide, checking the driveway and neighbors. It’s 2″ thick sloped sheet ice, they are fine. What melts today will refreeze tonight.
The difference being 5 miles from a county line… nearby counties are on ERCOT and had rolling blackouts. Knock on wood, power on here all but a few hours.
Not quite that thick here, David. But the neighbors are helping each other out here, as well.
God bless Texas.
I often wonder how the King of Battle makes it FIRST most weeks, and then I realized – it’s just the way things are! With that in mind, how about some trivia to wrap up the work week? DID YOU KNOW…? Is a radioactive grave located at Arlington National Cemetery? By Commissioner Wretched President’s Day. A holiday that exists only to combine two holidays. When I was a kid, we had Lincoln’s Birthday and Washington’s Birthday, and that meant – if either fell on a weekday – we had that day out of school. But then somebody decided we should honor all presidents, and combine those two birthdays into one holiday – and put it on a Monday, so government workers gets a three-day weekend. I don’t mind that, but I’m not sure we should be recognizing every president. After all, what has Chester Arthur done for you lately? My point is made. Instead of dwelling on useless presidents, let’s dwell on something else that’s useless – this week’s trivia! Did you know … … irony can be very strong? Astronaut Harrison Schmitt (born 1935), who walked on the Moon during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, developed an allergy to Moon dust. (Of course, he didn’t notice it until after he’d taken off his space suit, but still …) … you will never see a former President of the United States behind the wheel of his own car on a public road? Former Presidents are not allowed to drive at all. If they have to go anywhere, a Secret Service agent drives them. (I guess after driving half the country crazy, they don’t need to drive any more.) … an operation on one person actually led to the death of three people? In 1847, Dr. Robert Liston (1794-1847) was amputating the leg of a man and wanted to do it quickly. He did, too, finishing the procedure in 28 seconds. Unfortunately, his skill was not commensurate with his speed, and while removing the patient’s leg he also cut off several fingers from his young assistant. Both the patient and… Read more »
Love ya like a brother, CW – but I gotta tell ya you “blew it, bigtime” here:
The design for the SL-1 had 9 provisions for 9 control rods and 59 fuel assemblies. The core in use on the day of the incident, however, was loaded with only 40 fuel assemblies and was therefore using only 5 control rods.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1#Design_and_operations
The design wasn’t that good – with partial loading, the central rod (which was the one that was withdrawn too far, causing the incident) had far more control input on the reactor than the other 4 in use. It’s placement and movement was thus much more critical than the other 4.
Hondo … thank you for the correction! It will be fixed in an upcoming column. I will make sure of that.
Yes, don’t play with the dry ice… got first-degree burns on my hands (just like playing with something hot) for doing that.
CW,
The word you’re looking for, for the change-of-state of dry ice is “sublimation”. A sublime word, indeed.
Thanks, my friend … I knew the word but didn’t use it. This is actually a newspaper column run in six or seven weekly papers in rural areas of Georgia and South Carolina, and I wasn’t sure how many of my readers would know about “sublimation.” So I used a term everybody could go with instead.
Hack Stone apologizes for being late to the Weekend Open Thread, but there was a crisis at the proud but humble woman owned business that sells software to the federal government. It seems that the Vice President of the firm received a rush purchase for a box of grid squares, and he had Hack driving him all over Montgomery County trying to find a store that he could purchase some from. Alas, it appears that someone cornered the market, because every store he went to was out of them.
Hack, You should have just stopped by and seen me. They (grid squares) are readily available here at Stately Claw Manor:
6675-00-266-6880 Coordinate Scale and Protractor (GTA 5-2-212) UI: 10 Pack
GEE WHIZ Hack Stone, I could have helped you out with a box of grid Squares AND I’d have topped it off with a FREE box of Ground Guides as well,, BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE, ACT NOW and receive a FREE package of Chem Light Batteries, CALL NOW at BR-549!!!
Are those standard batteries or rechargeable?
IIRC, they are rechargeable and come in a kit with a standard 11″ x 17″ Solyndra solar panel. 🙂
17th!
Here’s a collection of Lockheed Martin (LM) and Lockheed legacy company products. There are also a few that don’t belong but are just cool pictures (hard to take a bad picture of a B-2). Some are non-LM planes with LM stuff on them like the B-52 with the AGM-183 ARRW or D-21s on it. Another example is the AH-1Z with the LM sensor.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/EBneeQFZgbrbaJcw9
Lots of great pictures.
They even have a picture of AW1ED’s first carrier launch.
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOfoWwB_C658qQugq9E5KPe6nO35dizPAngtyRiqRGQA3PzoUUfzt79WGLSo-gzag/photo/AF1QipMAEfVIqSHFMjmBvvOKeU8UDxcv2sHuyh8U2uPQ?key=Y1pGaWhjZmlpTnhDYkFCNGpjRkE2VnlnZHV2Z1Zn
Thanks for the link to the pics. There is a terrific one of my father’s aircraft type, in flight, the PV-1 Ventura. He was a Lockheed trained PV-1 mechanic, Aviation Machinist Mate 1st Class and a plane captain.
Hondo … thank you for the correction! It will be fixed in an upcoming column. I will make sure of that.
What a week with the temps in the mid 80’s, sleeveless and tank top tees and shorts all week and now with a cold front coming it’s going to be in the 70’s which is a little to cool for me unless I’m not in the wind and then it’s in the 80’s.
love ya Jeff, but eff you very much.
Finally past the hard freezes! Two more nights at about 40 but essentially the worst is over. Took the space heater on the exposed water lines out (note to self: make up for idiot builder who didn’t insulate attic water lines and install some pipe insulation!) and closed the attic stairs door so I am not heating the house and attic too. Gonna leave the roof vents plugged a week longer. Out to break up driveway ice… maybe I can get to the Covid shot today. Might even try some non-homedone cooking and give the frau a break.
Late to the WOT Party – but here.
First time the roads have been safe enough to make the 15-mile run to the grocery stores. Not surprisingly, a few things (e.g. milk, bread, & cheese) are not in stock. We have enough powdered milk in stock to make it until the trucks can run again.
We only had one minor leak in the GB Compound on Airborne Son’s place. Granddaughter had a major PVC fracture in her kitchen, however. Some damage to the flooring. When the ground isn’t a mudpuddle I’ll be under the house to determine whether to buy one or two sticks of 1/2″ – I probably have the connectors to fix the rest. We’ll see.
Rolling blackouts ended for us Wednesday night/Thursday morning. We had power enough to keep the well pumping and the heaters keeping the various facilities warm-ish.
#1 Son re-installed a wood-burning heater in his house, and a neighbor gave him some wood from neighbor’s deceased-father’s stockpile. We kept check on each other throughout.
Our pond got ice on it Monday, and even with temps up above freezing today still has some. It was 3/8″ thick this a.m. – not much by northern standards but amazing for here.
Several churches in our greater AO had major leaks and will not be able to hold services this Sunday.
The husband of a dear friend of ours, the retired LtC F.D. Cross – Army, passed away last Sunday/Monday, after some years of ill health. Will be going to his service this coming Tuesday.
Y’all take care, and have a great weekend.
Sorry for your loss. Keep y’all in our thoughts and prayers while the power grid comes back up.
Thanks, Mason. We knew he was failing quickly – just a bad time for it. (Like there’s a good time?) A strong Christian, so our grief is mitigated by hope.
Honestly, at the GB Compound we are in much better shape than in many of the towns around. We have a Co-Op that is excellent about keeping our power going in the worst of conditions. Everyone out here has their own well. We are able to help each other with whatever the other needs.
In sort, we are greatly blessed here.
As the municipalities get their water pressure back up to a good level, the boil-water notices will be lifted.
As Hank Jr. sang: “Country folks can survive.” By God’s grace, but we survive.
Here in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas, we got snowed in several days ago, but luckily the sleet and freezing rain that preceded it didn’t bring down the power lines as it has in the past. So we’ve managed to retain power in our all-electric village in spite of the deepest snow and coldest temps in decades.
We’ve managed it well as we have plenty of food and beverage stocks thanks to ol’ Poe’s insistence on maintaining backup supplies, in spite of Miz Poe’s accusations of paranoia. Last night she actually apologized for her previous derision and promised she would never doubt her husband’s wisdom again.
We’ll see how long that lasts…😜
What are the odds on Monday, 2:00 or before, for Miz Poe’s amnesia to kick in?
I’ll put 10 on it for fun. (That is, 10 PVC couplings in various sizes.)
Want a really good recipe for bean soup from scratch, Poe?
It would give you an excuse to use up those ham hocks you’ve been holding back.
I know people here love to hate her, but AOC managed to raise $2M for Texas in the past 24 hours:
https://thehill.com/changing-america/resilience/natural-disasters/539664-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-raises-2-million-in
For all the people defending Cruz by saying, “What could he do? It’s not his job!”, that’s a solid answer, in my opinion.
Wanna bet Chuckie Schumer isn’t looking at those kinda headlines with a very jaundiced eye?
Too bad she doesn’t display a capacity to act like a decent human being more often. Or maybe decency wasn’t her motivation.
Whatever her agenda, good on her for doing the right thing for once. Maybe.
Raising it and spending it wisely are two different things. If all she does is donate to the state Dems, I am not impressed.
As usual, HEB grocery stores and Mattress Mack in Houston came through again. When power went out, many HEBs told customers in line to just take their groceries and go, no payment needed. Mattress Mack (noted local Houston philanthropist, owner of Gallery Furniture) let folks driven from their homes shelter at his furniture stores. Might be worth noting he did this during Hurricane Harvey, too… funny how some local big name “Christians (cough cough Joel Osteen) refused to let people shelter at their sanctuaries. I suspect if MM ever decided to run for governor, the Houston vote alone would probably elect him in a landslide.
The money goes to five different Texas organizations that are helping out, not politicians. Donors can opt to distribute it to whichever they like, with the default being a five-way even split. From the article:
Fully concur on Joel Osteen being a pathetic excuse for a human being, too.
Always thought that HEB was a pretty classy outfit when I was in Corpus Christi back in the late 80’s.
Doesn’t surprise me about Osteen… seems like some ministers forget about their fellow man when bad things hit the fan.
Variation of the stopped-clock principle: even a brainwashed, abject fool can sometimes get one thing right.
PRESENT and Honorary First once again.
((((OVER))))
I refuse to post in the WOT.
TWO local DC Capitol arrests made NATIONAL news this week.
1st, the arrest of Leo Brent Bozell IV, the son of
Brent Bozell, head of MRC and a talk face on FOX.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/brent-bozells-son-arrested-for-suspected-involvement-in-capitol-riot
And yesterday, the arrest of a local township cop.
Arrested on the job, held in jail, no bail, hearing on Tuesday.
‘No Regrets and Give Zero Shits’: PA Police Officer Charged in Capitol Riots
https://www.thedailybeast.com/pennsylvania-police-officer-joseph-fischer-charged-in-capitol-riots
I THINK that it’s kinda funny that when a mob of liberal maggots loots and torches part of a downtown area it’s a “peaceful protest”, but a few looney-tunes get loose from a crowd of Conservatives and go berserk it’s labeled as a “riot”.
It’s not a riot, it’s an insurrection. And what has been occurring throughout the summer was not s riot nor an insurrection, but a mostly peaceful protest.
Dumbass. Too late for the weekly stupid criminals article.
Mason,
Maybe not. Possible for next week.
Fischer’s initial hearing is Tuesday,
whether he gets bail (or not).
Ironically,
Bozell has lawyered up (DC/McLean, Va prominent attorney)
is free on no bail,
and his 1st hearing is in April.
In this Republican county (I’m Republican, too),
it appears to be “different strokes” already,
not lost on the local FakeBook comments,
which run the gamut of left and right wingnut conspiracies.
There may be more.
Total of 4 countians currently charged.
Apparently, a county busload of 47 went to DC,
and over 40 behaved themselves,
but at last a handful did not.
With additional arrests forthcoming,
this area will look like a GOP idiot colony.
Bozell getting himself on video in the
2021 Impeachment Trial didn’t help.
Ugh.
Did Commissar have a run in with the Hammer of Ban? Haven’t seen him post in a while.
I broke my taint…. it hurts so bad!!!
I was wondering the same thing, but don’t have an answer. But in keeping with the old tune of “Since we’ve nowhere to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow”, here’s a few other things to ponder:
Why does the guy toting the pig in the Three Servicemans Memorial have all his 7.62 belts pointing the wrong way?
Why does GySgt Hartman’s ribbon rack have an upside down N/MC Presidential Unit Citation?
Has anybody told Greta Thunberg yet that despite Texas having 13 million head of cattle, their farts failed to warm anything up?
When will Alaska Bobs DD214 finally make it (mailed out 23 Sep 2019) to the newspaper editor?
Just some things to think about./s
There has to be a way to collect expelled bovine stomach byproducts, e.g., methane released by the bovine in question, instead of just letting it slouch away on the breezes.
That is perfectly good methane that, after proper treatment and cleaning, could be used as a very low cost version of natural gas.
This suggestion is not meant to interfere with the production of cow pies or cow-created lakes of ammonia. It is simply aimed at not letting a new source of cheap fuel go to waste.
Some more things to keep you up at night:
Since Daniel Bernath’s timely demise, has anyone been vacuuming the coils on his refrigerator?
During his time incarcerated, did Stephen Cio Burrell have to relinquish his title as 4th Most Dangerous Man In The World because he was unable to fulfill his duties?
What is the longest period of time that Dennis Chevalier has gone without meeting a woman online, moving in with her, and draining her life savings?
Since Ronald Mailahn pretended to be a Sergeant Major, did he coerce his imaginary troops to make allotments to Navy Relief?
How come none of the troops from the 75th Ranger Regiment never showed up to William Derek Church’s wedding, given the fact that Round Ranger’s bestest buddy in the whole world said that he saved many of their lives? The list they could do would be to buy him a $10 gift card to Dollar General.
D’oh! Hack Stone just reported his comment to the site.
Getting back to Hack’s follow up comment, has anyone ever seen this website? Quite a few of the Adorable Deplorables made the cut of being named by Stephen Cio Burrell.
http://www.stephencioburrell.com/
Better watch out, Hack… looks like little Stevie has a man crush on you and wants to pop you in the pooper!
He must be confusing Hack with Rita.
You guys are in need of a leader. I will be your leader. I am transforming to be this community’s leader. While I am in the cocoon state, I will not be gifting you guys with my superior knowledge and wisdom. I did not go away. You guys are my mentees. I would not be a good mentor if I stopped impressing you with my wisdom.
Does your transforming involve getting some cajones and an addadictomy, cuz we know you are already a pussy? Asking for API.
A belated RIP to the “talent on loan from God”
I was out motorcycle shopping in tax free N.H on Friday, missed the multistrada by by one hour. And decided to visit the Bass Pro shop in Hookset, it was the first big ammo shortage walk thru for a few years, the bullet isle was ammo free and the days allotted ammo for sale was on a small push cart of oddball calibers and under close watch.