You know the AI mania is still alive when Nvidia jumps 7% after blockbuster earnings boost AI confidence.
The trillion-dollar server farm builds continue en masse.
But, as a skeptic and House of Cards fan? Nvidia’s GAAP EPS $2.46 printed above non-GAAP $2.22 because of about $7.77 billion in net gains on equity securities — profit from stakes in its own customers, not from selling more chips that quarter.
The Wider Economy?
Readers have the economy figured about like we do and better than many financial channels. LOOB caught our (earlier this week) ref to “masturbatory” economic numbers. “… a good solo session has more integrity than half the economic reports being spoon fed to the neighborhoods where reality never shows up.”
Still, we have more such solutions to offer. For example: We are planning to ask Canadian reader BIC to chair the Canadian-American Syrup Reconciliation Talks. On humanitarian grounds until tariff wars end.
How to Spot a Rally?
Website traffic to this-here ‘lil economics corner has dropped now to the 3-million-pages-a-year pace. Which often means a big bullish move may be ahead in coming days. I mentioned that earlier this week. So this morning we will explain how the “headline Dow” was “playing possum” again this morning in the early futures.
The whole premise of our Aggregate Index work becomes obvious when you consider this disparity: If you imagine three piles of money – all similarly sized (but they aren’t — just go with me on this) then the percentages of change become your calculation coach. Got it?
New Data
Some International Trade numbers:
And a side order of new Unemployment Filings.
Hell, if Trump can hold the H-1B visa crackdown, I know a lot of good brains who might last until full retirement age. Right now, they are thinking of “ringing out early” as imports suck up well-paying jobs in tech.
News Compressor: ON
In the Himalayan glacier-collapse flood on the Nepal–Tibet corridor: at least 273 dead and more than 1,300 missing after Wednesday’s torrent, including roughly 47–63 U.S. nationals among the unaccounted foreigners. So, is it “climate gets real” or “Glacier faces collapse”?
National fire posture is still Preparedness Level 5: 93 large fires, 22,356 personnel, year-to-date 7.92 million acres (165% of the 10-year acreage average) on the 26 Aug NIFC/NICC report. The Ross Fire west of Fort Worth was 50,000 acres / 8% contained on that official list; Texas A&M and ABC had it near 80,000 acres / 12% with Palo Pinto and Jack County evacuations and a FEMA Fire Management Assistance Grant. Hawk Fire near Reno: 15,085 acres, containment 85–93% as of 26 Aug, 47 homes and one commercial building destroyed; officials called it human-caused with no suspect named. Red flags all over the west.
Iran and Oman announced a temporary Hormuz navigational corridor and mine-clearing understanding. Oil extended a multi-session slide, Thursday quotes near Brent $87.24 / WTI $81.67. In the same window: U.S. “economic D-Day” sanctions that Tehran dismissed, a reported additional tanker incident, and a Trump “Mission Accomplished” line while the war continues. So this could help light up markets.
Escalation path to WW III is widening: Russia’s Maria Zakharova said Thursday Moscow could strike British military targets inside and outside Ukraine after Ukrainian use of British weapons and after London’s Monday grant of Storm Shadow production technology; she said Britain and France were “playing with fire.” The CIA director’s Moscow visit sets a 30-day countdown in our thinking. Which may account for the “end of September” cluster-build in our Over-the-Horizon software future scans. Public release here Sunday. Peoplenomics readers got it yesterday.
Almost laughably: The Kremlin said it would go to court against any revived EU plan to use frozen Russian sovereign assets for Ukraine. Like the system would allow them a win in court? Sheesh!
Inside Pages/Planning
Drought still about: SPC Day-1 outlook issued 27 Aug 1255 CDT: Slight Risk across parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast for damaging wind, isolated hail, and a tornado or two; hail and severe gusts also flagged for western–central Nebraska into northwest Kansas. But the west is still a baker:
Labor Day travel and outdoor work collide with PL-5 fire restrictions and lingering heat from Texas to the Pacific.
IT/GEEK Note: Here comes another vulnerability patch: Patch or isolate Citrix NetScaler and exposed SQL Server before Saturday if those boxes face the internet. Back up edge devices before the NetScaler deadline in case a rushed patch cycle takes a gateway down.
Global Strategic View: Economic warfare” is being treated in Washington as a substitute for new Iran strike packages, while Beijing and Tehran treat the same package as an attack on the dollar-clearing system. Evidence: Rubio’s “for the time being,” Bessent’s D-Day language, China’s “all necessary measures.” Matters for oil, shipping insurance, and secondary-sanctions compliance. Odds: 68%. 8 days to the Long Weekend – still room to rally (or exit near tops).
Around the Ranch: Age-Durable Investment
Here we are – on the doorstep of fall – and we are looking around wondering “Could we have played Life any better?”
We got a ton of adventuring in. Saw most of the picture-postcard sights, have close-enough to perfect health for our odometer readings, and we live a life with a break-even point less than one-third of monthly cash flow.
But that’s the point of this “mention” because we have a three-day weekend just 10 days out and you may find “thinking space” in there somewhere. So here’s what we recommend as a planning construct:
- Ask: “What will the world be like in five, ten, fifteen, twenty, and twenty-five years out?” Best guesses are what you roll with.
- In such a world, what are the risks, pitfalls, prices to anticipate?
- What can we buy (commit to owning) right now that will be worth more in “that” world sequence we see coming?
This is not “simple pontificating” from an Old Man. It’s what we actually did. We looked at the “probable planet” from 2000 and decided a tentative path. So when push came to shove, we were prepared and made the Downsizing moves laid out in that book.
Not hard to do. And beginning any time is better than never. Just make the list of what’s important: rainfall, taxes, climate, personal mobility and health, food, education, technology changes that aren’t fairy tales. Then buy that “right shoe size for life.”
You’ll be glad you did. You’ll also find “the herd” listens to cockamamie bullshit and is led around by charlatans who come out every two, four, or six years, depending on office aspirations.
Owning your own future is the ultimate stress relief formula.
Ham Radio Note
I have been remiss in not mentioning my ham radio hobby (OK, addiction, then) lately. But if you want to be the Big Voice on the bands, there’s a used AM broadcast-band transmitter that caught my eye: an older McMartin. On eBay here and the price has dropped to $799. (Think of this as payback to reader Ray for all the “radio deals” he’s sent me over the years.)
As a platform for 160 or 80 meters, it’s retoolble as a linear amplifier. You know how to (carefully!!!) re-bias the finals to get into AB2, right? Don’t tell the XYL where you heard about it…
Legacy Ham Station Note: An old Hallicrafters S-20R will land today. This will be paired with a (homebrew) 12AU7-based keyer, an Eico 723 and a Halli HA-5 VFO to replicate life in 1964 for me. Back in LBJ days which was when a QSL card from Rhodesia meant something.
For Your Calendar: A “Sunday Special” this weekend on AI and what people are missing. I know you can work out “Which day?”
Write when you get rich,
George@Ure.net
Dolly Parton dead at 80.
Tim Curry, star of ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ and ‘It,’ dies at 80.
Who’s next?
Clint?
Dump is 80. Just sayin
re: “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, Tim Curry, 1975
not feat: alleged Project Monarch (1953-1973)
Rickie Schroeder is taking a lot of heat for his Covid-19 critiquing homage to his late costar from “Coat of Many Colors”, Dolly Parton. Goodness knows what he thinks of former tailor Jame Gumb’s quilted coat although it featured a different butterfly.
The A&E remake for tv of “The Andromeda Strain” appeared in 2008. Schroeder plays Major Bill Keane MD, a member on a bioterrorist team named “Wildfire”. Andromeda gets loose to create mayhem amongst people and plastics. The invader meets its match in the bacterium bacillus infernus (lat: “rod from hell”).
The actual bacterium was first found 30 years ago in the Taylorsville Triassic Basin about 40 miles from Langley, Va. which itself is situated on the Piedmont Uplift. The Basin dates to the Mesozoic Age of the Dinosaurs.
Curiously Wiki informs that the andromeda strain of the tv series landed at Piedmont, Utah. The only Piedmont in Utah that I can find is a plastics company situated between Salt Lake City and Orem.
However Piedmont, Wy. is a ghost town formerly known as Byrne (irish: “grandson of raven” [celtic:warfare/death/prophecy]). Today the town attracts tourists visiting its limestone charcoal kilns. They were built by Moses (heb: “one who is drawn out [of the water?]) Byrne. Since Byrne sounded like another town name, it required changing. Allegedly one of the two Mrs. Byrnes came from Turin in the Piedmont region of Italy. So the town of Byrne became Piedmont (it: “foot of the mountain”).
Andromeda (gr: “ruler of men”) in Greek mythology was a princess. She found herself in the predicament of being chained to a coastal rock. Perseus (gr: “the destroyer”) rode in on his winged horse Pegasus (gr: [water]”spring,”) to save her. Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” (Transformations) of 8 a.d. has the details. The Persians (Iranians) are said to descend from Persus (gr: “Persian”). He is one of the sons of Andromeda and Perseus.
Not related to today’s posting but gave me a chuckle as I thought about it: a news item said that in the Chinese robot olympics one had bested Bolt’s record in the 100 meter and another had jumped higher than Sotomayor.
I had a vision of a Chinese humanoid carrying an H&K MP5 and wearing a Sylvester Stallone mask. Maybe future wars will be more dependent on battery life than testosterone!
Not too hard to game out armed conflicts in 2026 and 2027, but 2028 and beyond?
“AI mania”
Over time some folks said MS was manic and told us how bad Windows and MS word processor software was to use. Don’t you use A.I.?
Personally I’m surrounded by foreign speaking ones. Trump failed at booting them. (Grab the Trump bibles and pray for the house cats of Ohio?)
These A.I. earbud translators are almost Star Trek level.
“The Timekettle W4 Pro are the best translation earbuds overall because they fundamentally change how multilingual conversations feel in practice. The One-on-One Mode is the clear differentiator: each person wears one earbud and speaks naturally, without tapping screens, waiting for turns, or holding a phone between them. ”
Crazy Trump on the other hand attacking Canada with tariffs. Trump supporters gonna support and here is a clear analysis:
City Asian Pop-Up Store
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMSNimhD6Go
Trump didn’t fail to boot them , the rogue communist judges ruled that they could stay, and johnni boi hasn’t bitch slapped them because he fears the repercussions.If Trump calls in the military, he’s a dictator. If the judiciary calls all the shots, who’s the dictator?
Trump, an innocent babe in the woods. Like a 14 y/o on her way to Epstein Island. >^. .^<
What happened to the military parades?
Were you one of the people screaming Russia,Russia,Russia?
Must be their first taste of Cat. The only place in western hemi I ever heard eat Cats was Hati. Dogs are on the menu in Aisa, specially Korea. But Cats ? There is like barely any muscle meat on a Cat, imagine youse gotta eat several to get a full Meal.
Guess here is the illegals figure out quickly the juice is Not worth the squeeze when it comes to skinny Pussies.
Like the Chick fil et red card Cow says, “Eat More Chiken”
It was a big thing here with refugees and transplants..back in the eighties Vietnam refugees use to come in with this stinky white meat..meow…one native American was caught hanging a live dog by the back legs spread apart with hooks through the legs..then beating it while it was still alive..tenderizing.. the meat..
today..they charge a substantial cost for animals from the shelter…but I hear the practice still goes on for the extremely poor..very few strays in the hood..
“We are planning to ask Canadian reader BIC to chair the Canadian-American Syrup Reconciliation Talks. On humanitarian grounds until tariff wars end.”
I would be happy to chair those talks starting with a huge pancake breakfast on the Gordie Howe Bridge linking our two countries. Gordie was my childhood Canadian hockey player idol that played years for the Detroit Red Wings when hockey was a uniting force between us.
I have resisted jumping in on the tariff wars now burning hotter than the recent forest fires in our two countries. I am more sad than angry and reflect every day on the good times we Canadians have shared with our American friends and families. We opened our homes to hundreds of Americans who landed in safety after 911. No tariffs. Just shelter, food and hospitality. We have helped each other many times over the years after hurricanes, floods and fires damaged our landscapes.
Over 40 years ago, I started and grew a business in Canada. 50% of my company’s revenue came from the USA when I sold the business in 2020. I had the opportunity to visit almost every major city in the USA at some point in those 40 years, both for business and for pleasure. I developed deep friendships with many Americans. I was always treated well and made sure my American friends were when they visited my country. Today I have almost as many family and friends living in the USA as in Canada.
Why am I sad? Because the tariffs are not going to economically hurt our Prime Minister or your President or most of their circle of friends. They are going to hurt my family and friends on both sides of the border as well as millions of other hard working Canadians and Americans. They deserve better. Politics be dammed.
For years I have enjoyed sending Canadian Maple Syrup to my American friends and family each year at Christmas. I would do so again this year except Canadian producers will not ship because of the tariffs and uncertainty.
So let’s meet on the Gordie Howe Bridge on “Thanksgiving” (ours in October or yours in November or maybe both) and have one hell of a big maple syrup pancake breakfast. No tariffs. Bring your syrup from Vermont and we’ll bring ours from Quebec and we can ask Ray to judge which is best.
LOOB can make the pancakes. I am sure he has a killer recipe.
Aunt Jemima would comment, but sadly, she was terminated.
Sad to..the story behind the woman is one of the most inspiring … she overcame racial discrimination and provided a way forward for young people facing astronomical odds..while today they seen her as discrimination her real legacy over her brand was inspirational.. just like the history of the native American tribes..it should be taught not hidden from view…
“while today they seen her as discrimination”
Who is “they?”
“They” are a tiny minority of vocal social perverts and anti-American Leftist (communist) and Rightist (anarchist) extremists whose intent is to destroy the country (burn it all down.) Their tools are several million “useful idiots,” mostly college professors, their students, and a complement of low-information / low-intelligence Leftist hangers-on. Their mechanism is to create divisiveness and chaos by any available means. The are the reason Aunt Jemima took a multi-year hiatus from pancakes and syrup and Uncle Ben no longer sells rice (‘cuz we can’t have successful Blacks who achieved a prominent station through merit.) It’s why folks in the Cuyahoga Valley lost their backbone and destroyed the legacy of the Major League Baseball team which was named to celebrate the American Indian who earned his way onto the team through merit.
Merit can never be allowed to trump ideology…
(“They” are a tiny minority of vocal social perverts and anti-American Leftist (communist) and Rightist (anarchist) extremists whose intent is to destroy the country (burn it all down”)
exactly…. I personally would love to learn their lve,dreams,aspirations… the beliefs..thousands of years of history..I hate it when people try to keep it hidden from view..or bury it..Sad…
Well said…,
I’d flip a few.. my grandson was a waffle stick feind.. when he graduated he got a waffle stick maker..
I never put sticks in them…made thousands of them..but he couldn’t replicate my recipe..the residents at the facility gobble them down to..I make a few dozen at home and bring them in…
Lol I always said I wouldn’t keep a recipe a secret…here goes..
2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp of baking yeast
Wet Mix
2 cups cream (or 1 cups milk )you can use butter milk instead of cream..
1/2 cup of sour cream
2 eggs ( this is variable.. I sometimes add just one more egg..I love eggs so this is a popular variable like the sugar what’s an extra tbsp of sweet decadence)
4 tablespoons melted butter or oil ( I use butter)
The trick is..Don’t mix smooth Leave dome lumps lumps.Let the batter rest go make a cup of coffee for about 10 minutes.
That rest time is the difference between “tgese are pretty good pancakes” and “holy hell what did you put in these?”
douse them with real melted butter and real Canadian maple syrup.. then lean back and imagine did i just entered the gates of heaven…..
variations is bisquick…1 tablespoon cornstarch,1 teaspoon extra baking powder,1 tablespoon sugar ( I sometimes use eye measurements rather than measuring cups),Rest batter for 15 minutes rather than ten..
Anyway that’s grandpas waffle stick mix..I use the generic waffle or pancake mix also if I’m short of flour..measurements vary if you grind flour from wheat or oats..its your taste buds….we tried club soda to ..it just isn’t the same as cream or buttermilk..
So much #winning.
Trump nicked us with tariffs.
Trump nicked us on a new endless war impacting oil.
Trump is nicking us with more tariffs.
Trump is ruining the electric supply when America answered the oil pricing with electric cars. Not to mention data centers need electric.
Trumpers gonna Trumpet.
Nepolian era now… Franch was broke for 10 years… Tough time. spent to much on new world and British issues. Same with most regions.
“What can we buy (commit to owning) right now that will be worth more in “that” world sequence we see coming?”
I think one of the greatest and most important ‘things’ we can purchase right now on the “investing for our future” is knowledge. Learning ‘stuff’.
Examples:
Learning how to grow vegetables. Even if it’s a small backyard plot – knowing how to grow [ and do it right ] a few of the basics could be very beneficial. Possibly even ‘important’.
Learning how just a couple of solar panels [ and the required components ] could be very advantageous. It may seem daunting, at first – but it’s not, really. I managed it, then got lucky when I met-up with a local who knows a lot about it and helped me do the install.
There are several more, easily learned areas that can be very helpful and beneficial in the coming years. Take the time and try to imagine the future needs for you-&-yours. You may not be able to do it all., but you can certainly make a significant dent. [ you might be surprised what you can grow just on your back patio. Maybe a five gallon ‘Bucket-Rack’ – like this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1452463302/5-gallon-bucket-diy-garden-stand-15 ]
Knowledge is going to be very important if/when this all falls down. Getting a leg up on it will pay-off. Guaranteed.
* * *
I am not too good at reviewing books – as I have a tendency to reveal the plot and pivotal points…., But I can whole-heartily recommend the second book / installment of “Ancient Children”.., by our host. A very good read. Do it !
* * *
I agree with BIC. It is a very sad state of affairs. A tit-for-tat bitch-slap on commerce that will do nothing but hurt the already squeezed little guys.
I will ride the Harley up and volunteer to do the pancake flipping and serving.
I only know one Canadian. A retired Lt with the RCMP. I met him many years ago when I was on the trail of a sicko bad guy. Caught up with him in Victoria – thus ended-up having to have a very long conversation with RCMP. They had nothing on me – let me go – and we stayed in-touch all these years.
He thinks Trump is “going off his nut”.., and “the guy appears to be loony.” I couldn’t argue with his assessment.
This whole damn mess just wasn’t needed.
“Stay Frosty!”
(Maybe a five gallon ‘Bucket-Rack’ – like this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1452463302/5-gallon-bucket-diy-garden-stand-15 ])
that’s actually similar to my folding shelf idea..where the stand folds out to become a flat table..Like this..
https://youtu.be/6pcSBCV4rT4?si=DiV8Dr7lT05lwU1P
one surfing system on both sides and the nutrient system in the center..
Shelving…on both sides…one system would fold out to become a 4/12 garden..I just never had the funds to put one together..
(He thinks Trump is “going off his nut”.., and “the guy appears to be loony.” I couldn’t argue with his assessment.
This whole damn mess just wasn’t needed.)
Naw he got suckered into going down a path that’s not winnable so from what I see He’s not “going off his nut.” What we are seeing is classic narcissistic rigidity — the inability to step out of a losing situation because admitting loss would shatter the image he’s built his identity around. It’s not about intelligence or sanity…. It’s image over reality, and once someone with that personality type gets locked into a narrative, escaping it requires admitting defeat, which their ego simply can’t tolerate…. As for the financial instability.. the big if roll of the dice….win you get the oil and natural resources worth trillions that would become a great leader in history.. lose and become the next Nero playing his gazoo…Playing the theme of Halo and the history books painting him as bad as the JB administration…
https://youtu.be/l_DfCFHOD9E?si=wwBaYUDTpXf-FbmK
loob, ty for that excellent analysis, have you been following Dr Russell Razzaque (psychiatrist), he has many excellent YouTube videos on DT
Why Trump followers believe everything he says:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQslljSx-00
Explains why revenge is so important to Trump’s mindset:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcwR6r67tk4
Why a fragile ego is at the core of DT’s personality an politics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jRs3mMmc4k
I have seen a couple of his videos.. I have always been a fan of philosophy.. I’ve always liked philosophy, but most of my opinions didn’t come from books — they came from years of working as a floor assistant, the professional butt wiper job nobody glamorizes but everybody depends on when they are at their weakest point. When people are sick, everyone becomes equal. Status, money, neighborhoods… none of it matters when you’re lying in a hospital bed….
You meet people from every walk of life — CEOs, farmers, addicts, professors, veterans, saints, and the occasional troublemaker — and you hear their stories…. Their whole life journey spills out in those quiet moments…. In all those years, I can count on one hand the people I truly struggled to take care of. Most folks, once they’re vulnerable, drop the ego and become human again… because f all the people I have known is where I made my opinion of what I think..
during his last administration..remember when he announced we were pulling out of Syria..and the leader of Syria supposedly dropped chemical gas on his own people to get us to stay..they tried to sucker him into a win less war then..
That’s why I look at public figures the same way… Strip away the cameras, the titles, the noise, and you’re left with a person wrestling with their own pride, fears, and flaws… Some people get sucked into situations their ego won’t let them back out of like our president… I’ve seen that same pattern in hospital rooms — not just in presidents, but in regular people who can’t admit they’re wrong, can’t admit they’re scared, or can’t admit they’ve lost…
(Their whole life journey spills out in those quiet moments….)
where I get shocked is like a co worker… she had a heart attack..what was the trigger…a tube of toothpaste.. another co worker had pressed the tube in the wrong place…huh you mean you got so upset over a finger mark on a tube of toothpaste and it wasn’t even your tube..
a other one..he was one of the chosen ones..an important position in a prominent career..good money had the life by the tail..and he knew it.. treated his fiancee like a bag of trash..down graded everything she did to the point of being abusive…
at a memorial day cookout his fiancee made…baked beans….to go with all the other yummy things..like most abusive type people that want total control..they were like the mashed potatoes that’s never right..its not cooked long enough or its cooked to let ng..those beans were not like his mothers baked beans..he of course ranged and raved putting to the point of tears in front of everyone there..jumped on his bicycle.. hit the curb flipped over and broke his neck..he was totally paralyzed from the neck down..when he told me his story..as he had me frantically calling his fiancee trying to get her to stand beside him.. I said you mean you did this to yourself over beans..and alienated the one that normally should be standing by your side by not respecting her..those are the futile ones..
DONALD J. TRUMP IS INSANE
https://theageofdesolation.com/nostradamus/2026/04/13/g-a-stewarts-timeline-part-vii/
it takes a sane man to appear insane in an insane world
Phew…International trade numbers can jump 17% and looks fantastic from the insulated neighborhoods where real life never reaches, but out here in the wastelands the story is different…. Retail prices went back up, groceries rose, services added a couple bucks, and every $2 increase at the bottom becomes a $20 increase by the time it climbs the cost pyramid…. My facility is down three beds, hours get cut they have no other choice, staffing collapses, and private healthcare runs on ghost aides and extreme long waiting periods..( i use to joke that if they bought a but load of blow up dolls and put scrubs on them at least it would appear as if there was staff)while the VA is the only place fully staffed ( the only issue there is its run like a government office not a healthcare system where it takes six people to change a light bulb. The storm signs are obvious out here…. The people making decisions are sitting in the eye of the hurricane, mistaking calm for stability while the hail is already starting to fall…
I am not sure what the future holds..but it sure looks like those rowing the boat are circling a whirl pool where a Zimbabwean fixture with a writer type depression awaits the final plunge down the drain…
my fear is when it happens.. it will appear as instantaneous not something that they could have rowed the boat away..can we survive going over Viagra falls in a barrel?? not the future can tell us..
I drug out this old notebook to finish setting up the new controller in the greenhouse and was surprised to see Urban is still here. I thought George had retired the site recently. A pleasant surprise. Coffee with George was always a good start to the day.
I spent 3 semesters at Lake Superior State in Sault Ste Marie on the Canuk border until I ran out of money and enlisted after living on Strohs beer and the student special giant hamburger and a huge bowl of soup or chilli at the Antlers bar. A group of us made many trips across the border and always had a great time. People were the best.
For the past few months I have purposely avoided the news with the exception of a few minutes of the local stuff and weather. I decided that there is not a damn thing I can do about any of the Bullshit going on with any government anywhere. If they chose to bring their nonsense to the ranch they will stop at the gate and if they insist I will deal with them as needed. I spent enough of my precious time in the southeast Asian conference, the middle east septic system and a couple trips to Africa so I have seen enough of that crap and I am done. After DIana had her heart attack I declared Caterpillar Ranch a Bullshit Free Zone. I get all the information I want or need when we visit friends at the farmer market, the AG supply places, and can’t forget church when enough folks decide to show up. I quickly noticed my stress level dropped to nearly non existent and I found I was using the F word a lot less frequently.
Since the evenings have cooled a bit Diana and I will go out to the screened in patio and watch our shows, aka the stars. We fell asleep out there last night until the dogs woke us up chasing something off. Tux the cat likes to join us. He is the Tuxedo stray that showed up a few weeks after Recon, also a tuxedo cat, passed. Weird thing is he talks like Recon did too. He calls Diana Mom and mostly ignores me. We have tried to do the math and just can’t see how Recon could have hooked up with another cat before he passed. Diana was planting some Iris bulbs by the pet semetery when Tux came out of the brush. Not too long after he started with “Hi Mom” but all he ever says to me is “Where Mom”. He hangs around most of his time with Louise our last Pyronese. Thelma passed away last month so Louise just lays around in the shade by the pet semetery except when she comes down for dinner. Tux keeps the other dogs away while she eats. Starsky and Hutch, the Anatolians, New Girl the Rhodesian RIdgeback and a rescue South African Mastiff are all scared of him.
Stay safe. 73
“We are planning to ask Canadian reader BIC to chair the Canadian-American Syrup Reconciliation Talks. On humanitarian grounds until tariff wars end.”
No need! I’ve got mine from Northern Wisconsin, and Ray knows where all the good American stuff is tapped. Let the Canucks suck their own sap!
Just don’t stop sending us pineapples Hank. Best in the world.
You will never taste the best unless you come here. I’m growing the rare White pineapples… sugar sweet with no acid. We cannot ship them as they rot too fast. Need to get them fresh off the vine.
an observation . i have watched physical gold trade for 30 years . i do not like the physical internals up here . not good id say . but of course follow the pied piper here. do as you like
I should introduce to you the Chinese and Russian Gold traders.
Talk about made up numbers, fuckery and hiding the SAUSAGE, both of those countries Gold holdings are GROSSLY underestimated by western fin media/officials. Just like our own Financials are completely rubbish.
In udder news Bessent has been dropping Gold “hints” for past 2-3 months, starting with public prognostication of all the Gold is in Fort Knox..No Audit -ever..for Military, NOT Federal Reserve, Fort Knox – ITS ALL BULLSCHEISSE.
From the very beginnings of Human history GOLD has been A#1 most Valuable Commodity ..none of the High Tech ET stuff works without it, including the ancient, defunct star gates along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Prezactly like Bitcoin – I dont trade Phyz, just accumulate and HODL.
Selling Dolla’s to buy MOAR Gold & BTC.
If we couldn’t laugh we’d all go insane.
Gotta lighten up and enjoy the eclipse. Daughter was born exactly at the ful eclipse. I got to go outside and lay on my back in the grass and watch it right after she joined us. Has always been a total intuitive being, nothing but love.
Laugh, love, live. Nothing else matters.
My gold coin will have to stay behind.
Stiks
“there’s a used AM broadcast-band transmitter that caught my eye: an older McMartin.”
‘Mc Martian’…. the cheapest available broadcast box. Cheap-is as cheap-does. I’ve had a couple of McMartian boxes to maintain in my career. Maintenance headaches. Why are they replacing it? I see four big tubes in the window pane. Power hog. New solid state stuff is much cheaper on the electric bills. One FM had a ceramic variable padder capacitor on the grid input socket base of the tube… right in the air blast of the blower & airflow for the tube above. No matter how clean and filtered you thought your air was, that cap got embedded with dust once a month and drifted the grid input tuning of the tube. Required shutdown and a toothbrush to scrub it clean. And THEN I had to retune the grid input of the tube. Nice accessible place full of high voltage and air blast while the damn thing was operating.
Cheapass design.
Must be their first taste of Cat. The only place in western hemi I ever heard eat Cats was Hati. Dogs are on the menu in Aisa, specially Korea. But Cats ? There is like barely any muscle meat on a Cat, imagine youse gotta eat several to get a full Meal, less of course talking Maine Coon Cats, but even then 50-50 Fluffy Fur to Body.
Guess here is the illegals figure out quickly the juice is Not worth the squeeze when it comes to skinny Pussies.
Like the Chick-fil-et red card Cow says, “Eat More Chiken” or in Ure case Steal more Chikens
Tourist occupancy is down 54 % – Tourist revenue is down 56 to 58 %. One of the worst years on record.. Several business may be forced to close., many are going to lose their jobs. It is a tourist based economy here.
The Cause. ? Smoke from the Little Giant Fire – now over 150,000 acres. According to one report the smoke that has socked-in the City and Lake Chelan., may not be gone until the first snowfall – over two months away. Can’t see the hills today – eyes start to burn in about five minutes. Have gone through four filters for the air conditioner.
Over 200 soldiers from Fort Lewis are here.., and 80 Aussie’s.. Some communication problems with the Australians – as our slang is not the same as their slang [ who would have guessed !?] But they have worked it out.
For now – nothing is going to change for some time – the fire is just too damn big and in remote country.
.., damn !
“Stay Frosty !”
(“Tourist occupancy is down 54 % – Tourist revenue is down 56 to 58 %. One of the worst years on record.. Several business may be forced to close., many are going to lose their jobs. It is a tourist based economy here.”)
the same thing here…ok..let me recall..my worst and my best christmas…the business climate.credit was cheap easy..farmers were out in number buying half million and million dollar tractors hundred plus thousand dollar pickups…
my siblings Maguire is cheap piece of trash compared to some of the green machines..
Tourist revenue collapsing truly isn’t the cause — it’s the symptom… Tourism is discretionary spending — the first thing to vanish when households tighten.. The same pattern is happening everywhere. Credit is cheap, wages are stagnant, food and utilities rise, and every $2 increase at the bottom becomes a $20 increase at the top. My facility is down three beds, hours get cut, ghost aides fill the schedule, and private healthcare runs on fumes while the VA is the only place fully staffed — even if it takes six people to change a light bulb..a it’s only problem is..its ran like a government office not healthcare….. We saw this in the roaring 20s, the dirty 30s, the Reagan recession, 2008, and COVID. Every serious depression rides on the velocity of cash….those at the bottom spending to keep their lifestyle…. When people stop spending, the flow stops, and the bottom gets cut to keep the top lifted…. From where I sit at the bottom, it looks like the perfect storm is forming — not because of politics, but because the mechanics rhyme with every strain cycle in history…..
It’s a pattern thousands of years old…. The companies that survived the hard cycles were the ones where industrialists took less profit, lived on less wages, and built a real work family keeping their success in the local economy. Today everything is top heavy — skeleton crews at the bottom, perks at the top, and floor workers treated as expendable. I tell every kid… before you apply, sit in the break room and listen. That’s where the truth is…. At the hospital I worked for, executives got condos and cruises while the rest of us got a cheap birthday card and a sticky note Christmas bonus. One year they didn’t seal my card, so I slipped a crisp twenty into it and opened it in front of everyone… I said, “Damn, only twenty this year.” The whole break room almost rioted. That’s how starved the bottom is — not for money, but for acknowledgment…
my fathers employer the colonel never learned his name new my father and mother and all of us kids..my father was a delivery boy and he had thousand of employees world wide.. my boss wouldn’t get up out of his chair if some one fell in the parking lot..the place I’m at now..is like a family..low income but better place..
Sam Walton had f Wal-Mart.. he was like the colonel..a man to be admired..got a great Sam story…a girl I worked with at a grocery store went to Wal-Mart to work..they started everyone at 4.25 an hour almost a dollar more..she was a single mom..
I ran into her several weeks later and asked..so..how do you like it..she said its great now..but when she first started the store manager was an ass.. chewed her out about everything..her daily ass chewing..she was night stocker …trying to get the store ready for a grand opening..she came back from her daily butt chewing and started to cry..the nice old man stocking with her was snoopy and asked..what’s wrong honey..she vents…the old guy says oh no that’s not Wal-Mart quality..the nice old man stocking with her..was Sam…she stayed he left and she b st retired from Wal-Mart… great company at least for those that work by Sams guidelines.. great insurance for the staff or at least they use to..I know Costco to get on there someone has to die or retire..
Loony Tunes – Trump just signed an Executive Order – renaming Lake Ontario – to – Lake America.
Can he actually do that !?
.., damn !!
Only to the middle of the lake.
“I rebuilt that army, and I rebuilt the military, and we rebuilt it like nobody has ever rebuilt it before.”
– Trump
Over/under when Vance starts politicking next year he says, “We got to rebuild the military – mail server. Biden, birth certificate, left the military in shambles.”
Johnny talked about the harmonic convergence (planetary alignment) on a recent rerun from a show that originally aired during 1987. Sprinkled through the show he mentions the Mayan calendar, 2012, etc.
S01:E10 – Animal Antics With Joan Embery (8/25/87)
https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/518638/s01-e10-animal-antics-with-joan-embery-8-25-87
“Back in LBJ days which was when a QSL card from Rhodesia meant something.”
I claim the world’s rarest DX. K5K on Kingman Reef… on 6 meters! I challenge anyone to present anything rarer. There is only a single handful of Hawaiian stations that got that one night. And best of all, I talked to a local friend of mine down there who was on the expedition providing generator services. He billed himself as “Kingman light & power”.
Come on Ray – I can’t top it…
Nor I… I concede.
AAaand here comes another one! Welcome to the storm-a-week club. Tropical storm Lowell will be a full hurricane next week and will be heading our way. Nice hot El Nino’ lights up the E. Pacific and tosses these ‘bowling balls’ at us. I have not put away the generator.
God you know to have fun out there. Do I need to remind you of my box kite antenna history. Or, are you already one-upping me with the fireproof version to sail ofs Mdm Pele?
(Think of this as payback to reader Ray for all the “radio deals” he’s sent me over the years.)
Not interested. My purchase this month was a museum-quality SX-115 (for less than the 1961 SX-115 price) to go with my HT-32b + 33.
Nifty radio but usually highly overpriced. Seller made an offer I couldn’t refuse…
Reader Note: Both Ray and I are “old timers” in ham radio. And we have similar tastes in great equipment. His SX-115 is no slouch. One of the best receivers ever made. Surprisingly, it doesn’t rate too highly in eHam reviews such as https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product/6357 where it was a 4.0 outy of 5 stars. My pick (for that station here – old Halli,, not the sx-177 mini S-Line) WAS THE sx-101 which scored 4.4 stars at https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product/1683
Still, I agree with Ray’s taste (and use of cash) – I think I may have seen the one he bought – if it was the recent 799 asking on eBay. What he paid for it? My guess is around $00. Because when we look at retail in 1961 this was not a cheap radio.
$599 (Ham Radio Museum / radioing.com listing for 1961–1964).
$599.50 (CatalogIt notes citing QST May 1961 and Allied Radio catalogs 1962–1964).
$600 first-year sale price (Radiomuseum.org).
$595–$600 range (DXing.com).
$595 MSRP (eHam reviews, with owners noting it as the original list).
Oddly, we both have HT32’s – His, however is the later (and a bit better looking on front panel) “b” version. WEe both have HT-33 linerars amplifiers (although I have a spare like-new PL-172 final tube. (Not sure why, exactly – they last virtually forever if you don’t over-drive them.
But a Museum grade SX-115 for under $600? Well played Ray!
I had the privilege to be blessed with an R-388 in Greenland, paired with the nearly worthless BC-610. That was the best receiver I ever had the honor to operate. It could pick up a mouse fart on the moon.
Actually no. I saw the one on eBay. I was following the SX-88, but more to see where it sold. I believe the one I bought is much superior to the one on eBay, and I scored it at a more reasonable price.
The SX-115 was Hallicrafters’ first triple conversion receiver. It gets iffy reviews on eHam because it is drifty until it is thoroughly warmed up, which takes, sometimes, 20 minutes or more (depending on both ambient and time between uses. The 115 does NOT appreciate being a shelf queen.)
Da young’uns gots no patience…
Wow new CD machine..I wonder if I became a ham..would I be able to transmit ..we live in a hole to have a normal tv antenna it has to be roughly sixty feet in the air..before the cell tower you had to climb on top of the roof with aluminum foil hat to get a signal..
LOOB depends what kind of ham radio you’re talking about. VHF/UHF walkie-talkies are line ofd sightd to top of a repeater tower – no ideas where yours are. HF radio on the low bands will work just fine and near-vertical incident skywave rules. On a few hands, like the right below maximum useable frequency, it’s nice to have $3000 worth of tower at 70 feet with rotator and ‘n’ dB of gain. But even with a simple vertical 10 feet off the ground (like a Xiegu VG-4 you can still “work the world” even from “down in a hole.”
And it depends on mineralization of the hole. High iron content is different than sand and so forth, wet hills are less friendly than dry ones.
Old timers (me, Ray, Hank, Jim to name a few) who have been around long enough to know anything CAN work. But then it’s how reliable will it be?
About here, you will want to learn about the Strange Antenna Challenge contest. https://www.arrl.org/Events/view/158258
This is a great event and one of the guys in our local club (Jeff) has even worked a number of contacts in several states in the past; including “loading up” a US Army (display) tank at the local NatGuard Armory. In another one, the Vertical Rails monument at the Rusk end of the Palestian tourist railroad worked OK, too.