Good morning!!!!

[scott_vt]

Good Morning Guys,
Ct, 34 to start going to 42 ! Another semi warm day, and maybe can get a little more work done outside ! The official rain numbers are in for our last storm. We received 4.6” of rain, which is pretty close to what I recorded in my very unprofessional 5 gal rain gage bucket !
One thing to remember is that we also had 3 to 4” of slush on the ground before the rain started , so the puddles in the basement were no surprise!
Unfortunately we have another rain event coming on Saturday!

Got a rotisserie chicken for dinner. Still can't be beat for $5. We get a few meals out of one, then soup from the carcass.

Ted, great minds think alike ! We do the same thing !

The furnace sucks off the bottom of the tank

GM Bill, and also all the sludge is in the bottom of the oil tank, that’s why changing that filter out yearly is a good idea !
Also couldn’t agree more with you on the generator comments the other day !

Lou, sorry to hear about your trees, although people that have those outdoor furnaces will burn that stuff or like Thomas mentioned, outside camp fires also !

Drew, best of luck with the dental issues !

Hope all have a blessed day !

 

[txdon]

Good morning! 35˚F heading to the 70s with sunny skies and South wind.
Today is prep day for next weeks cold front. The lows keep getting lower and the stores are getting crowded in anticipation. I bought a 125w heat lamp for the estate garage sink. My mom usually just let the water drip but they is no one there to monitor the house now so I will just turn the water off and drain, but the garage does not have a low drain.
Expected low is 12˚F here and 19˚F there.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Drew, I was quoted about $5k for implant even with insurance.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I was doing some research on ethics to help D in her role dealing with various issues that are relevant. She has pushed back on a lot of this in trying to influence her in her decisions. Basically 3 categories at play:

Favoritism, Cronyism, and Nepotism​

Taking on very senior people and writing about this in detail to defeat what she is being asked to do takes lots of guts
But so far she is winning the game

The 3 favorite things of government.

 

[Looking4new]

Good morning, the low is 10 and going to a high of 16°F. Wind ENE 2 mph. 40% chance of flurries.
We are under a winter storm watch, again. Another dusting coming on Friday and Saturday.

I gave this place a lick and a promise when I plowed yesterday. could have done a better job, but I didn't. Customers got the 'good job'.

Had a problem with one of my tire chains yesterday. Fixed it in about 10 minutes. Installed a screw clevis to do what the latch was supposed to do and cut the latch off. Angle grinders are great! I have two of them, one with a cut off wheel and the other with wire brush. Both are wired.

Dump run got moved up on me, today is the day. Then go to town for more rubbing alcohol, for the flies.
Squirt the pet friendly witches brew on a fly and within one minute the fly is deader than a door nail. First to go are the wings, then the hind legs stop working (they have 6 legs and when the hind pair stop working they can only walk around and drag the others behind). Been talking to other people in this area and they are also having a problem with flies.

I am going to asses my T 4s when they get here and that will be the deciding factor on my pending retirement.
I will also be talking to my accountant and let him tell me what my tax burden will be IF I retire. One thing is for sure, it will be $40,000.oo less than it is now.

Come April fools day we will be in this house for 30 years and still considered a 'transplant' in the eyes of the people that were actually born in this area.

Presently listening to Peter, Paul and Mary.

Have a safe day all

 

[daugen]

Favoritism, Cronyism, and Nepotism​

I show favoritism to folks who meet or exceed their job responsibilities
no room for cronyism or nepotism but it sure happens.
problem is when your view of nepotism is their view of family values.
lot of local cultural context.
North Americans generally think the caste system of India is a terrible idea.
They just think it's normal.
But at the end of the day, it's all about power and money.
Sadly not about ethics, personal freedom and personal rights

we have a long way to go globally
Best we can do is live our own lives responsibly

plus today you can get sued in a hurry by a disgruntled employee.
I bet the ability to seek recourse varies enormously from one country to another

big topic, the peddling of influence

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 38F @ 5:00AM. Sunny to partly cloudy. High 51F. Winds light and variable.
Showers on and off for most of yesterday left another 0.1" of rain in the gauge. Or at least that's about what fell, as the monitoring software for the weather station has been seizing up and losing data. I'll need to chase that down today.

I feel the same about Costco, Ted. The latest example: For the past few months I've been enjoying one of the Jim Beam brands of Bourbon stocked by the Chico Costco. Apparently liquor stocks very from store to store, because they don't have it down in Santa Maria, the closest one to Orcutt. So I've been stockpiling it for the day I'm no longer up here. Knocking on two cases so far. But the same thing has happened with lots of other things, from engine oil to granola. It's enough to make me question why I keep going there. One reason for staying is the prices, especially down south. The big box Winco grocery I use up here hasn't built one down there, and the selection at the nearest thing Food Max down there is awful. That Costco isn't great for selection, either, even though it's almost twice the size. But I can use it to help hold food costs down.

Having said that, sometimes Costco has some nice surprises. One of the Camp Fire tragedies was the old Honey Run covered bridge southwest of Paradise. There have been numerous fund raisers to restore it, and they've got the foundations in already. A local distillery has put out a batch of honey infused whiskey, and I picked up a bottle at Costco yesterday. Naturally, it's a bit sweet, so it's more of a dessert treat, so a little will go a long way. Brought home a bottle of inexpensive Cabernet, but it was watery and disappointing. You get what you pay for, but it also shows that Costco is willing to sacrifice quality for price in their merchandise choices.

Winco had a nice surprise, too. A long time ago an old friend showed me how to tenderize skirt steak and roll it into medallions. They're delicious on the BBQ, and Winco used to have them all the time, priced very attractively, especially compared to New York strip. Yesterday I passed by the butcher as he was stocking a case and asked him for some, and he pointed it out. But he said to come along with him and he'd show me another case where it was a dollar a pound cheaper. There I found the packages marked flap steak, and they were large chunks of the diaphragm, not medallions. I got enough for six medallions, which I made up when I got home. One didn't even make it into the freezer.

I also dropped by the glass shop with the door handle that had the broken linkage. They had a new one, but had to dig around for it. Charged me nothing, as it was covered under warranty. Pretty amazing, since it was installed in about 1997!

On the way up the driveway yesterday I renewed my membership in the downed tree club again. It looks like one of the largest oaks on the property has lost a trunk. It had three or four that joined at the ground, and one on the downhill side broke off. The wind wasn't very strong this last storm, but live oaks have a tendency to decay that way. Not looking forward to working on that hillside for the cleanup, or burning the green wood on the brush pile. The smoke from it smells horrible.

Looks like I'll get a couple dry days, so today I'll get the box trailer back on the van and get it backed up to the garage for loading. Then start going through the accumulated junk in the office trailer. There are a pair of old kitchen base cabinets in there with an old door I used to use for a workbench in an extra bedroom, and I'd like to get that going again down south. Most of the rest of the contents will end up either in the fire or the dump.

Hang in there, gang, Friday's comin'!

 

[ronjhall]

Drew, I was quoted about $5k for implant even with insurance.

Lots of people make a trip to Mexico too get dental work done. Lots cheaper and good results.

 

[daugen]

that's a good point Ron. I'd have to drive and pretty far away.
Usually something breaks or gets infected, no time to plan.
thankfully I feel much better today after a day of penicillin. But xray at dentists showed
dark area under bridge, I guess decay. It's like buying a new driveway and then
a year later the base collapses...one hopes the top part protects the bottom part but not in my case.
My dentist did not charge me for the visit or the xray. A dentist that doesn't charge says something...
He's the one who built the bridge to nowhere last year.
I even use the 23 dollar toothpaste he prescribed, something with high flouride.

when I was 14 my dentist here told me I had soft teeth, no flouride in our well for sure, and would have lots of dental
problems. He sure was right. 6 teeth pulled, 6 years of braces, my teeth are straight and fine.
but seriously high maintenance. Admittedly I am hard on them.
have a little TMJ from too many years grinding on them.
So I've put about 300,000 miles on these teeth, have five or six crowns now, a bridge, but not yet ready
to start all over. I better buy some good dental insurance first.
so like so many other aches and pains you get, you try to baby them or ignore them.

going to take a peek in rv after lunch, set a mouse trap in there,
and plan how I'm going to get the engine cover off to install the noise deadening pad.
need some projects outside as the clouds leave and the blue sky heads in.
Cold weather coming in next week, need to enjoy this while it's here.

Actually I hope we get a little snow.
all those sledding memories around here, on flexible flyers and those big aluminum disks
later on my favorite was a sled with a real steering wheel.
now I can't do any because of my neck but kids need these experiences.

making a snowman is fun

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning! Low was 24°, heading to 32°. Cloudy now, snow supposed to arrive around 11:00. But, the wind that was supposed to be south, will be reaching up to us. 25-35 mph w/ gusts to 55. Wind coming out of the SW, so snow will be blown to the NE, forecasted amounts now 2" or less.

That's ok, still snow on the ground from last week. More snow in the forecast for Sunday/ Monday. No prediction for amounts for that storm yet.

Drew, sorry to hear about the crown / bridge. Good that the penicillin works. Hope you can get it taken care of quickly.

Fritz, D is one tough lady. On top of that, she's got class!

Scott, that's a lot of rain! A few puddles in the basement might be a good thing! (Could be worse!)

RNG, sorry that another tree went down. I was speaking with one of the Costco managers and they said the reason that Costco will stop carrying a certain item is due to price negotiations with the supplier. If the supplier won't meet Costco's price point, well they just stop selling the product.
At the same time, a lot of the smaller suppliers get bought up by bigger companies and then either drop the product or change the 'price point'....

We figured out the cost savings on gas alone will cover the membership, everything else is just icing on the cake.

Not sure what will pop up on the agenda today. Mini blinds for the addition are still sitting there, so might get them installed, been procrastinating for some reason.... I think I just keep forgetting about them.....

Wifey is putting on a batch of chicken soup.... smells good already.

Everyone have a great day!