So far, there’s no sign of the “bake on 400F for two-months” ending down here. Which leaves us with lots of “chill time” after updating our 5-ton A/C unit – which I’ll explain in a special ShopTalk episode this morning.
But the Fried, eh? refers to the birds we watch migrating at this time of year.
E-6s Matter – Maybe
We are, by our own admission, just a bit paranoid about how the future will arrive. Anyone sane glancing at the passing headlines would (or should) be.
My consigliere this week was keeping an eye on America’s “use during nuke war” air assets. Including the E-6s, which…
“…in the later afternoon of the 25th (ESDT) all 4 of our E-6’s were airborne at the same time, something I have never seen (NONE held in reserve on the ground?”
Yeah…so let’s talk about Doomsday command and control for a second. People will occasionally confuse the E-6B’s with the E-4 Nightwatch planes. Two different animals. 707 vs. 747 platforms.
For those not briefed up on militaria: the E-6B Mercury is a U.S. Navy airborne command-post aircraft based on the Boeing 707 that serves as a survivable nuclear command-and-control platform. Its dual mission is TACAMO—relaying National Command Authority orders to ballistic-missile submarines via very-low-frequency trailing-wire antennas—and the Looking Glass role of launching land-based ICBMs through the Airborne Launch Control System if ground control is lost.
Now, if he had a memory glitch and it was E-4’s? Much bigger deal. E-4B Nightwatch (USAF, modified 747): 4 in service. At least one is kept on 24/7 alert as the National Airborne Operations Center for the President, Secretary of Defense, and Joint Chiefs. They are being replaced by E-4C SAOC jets (747-8 based); five airframes have been bought for conversion, with plans discussed for a larger fleet of about 6–8.
But now comes the fine point of my consigliere’s observation: This is the time of year when you will see lots of summer NatGuard movements and other large-scale operational readiness work going on. A well-informed source reminded us about this hot watch time:
“Russia usually conducts its annual strategic nuclear deterrence exercise, codenamed Grom, in October, so it’s a little early to be responding to that. They sometimes in the past (usually mid-to-late summer) have sent major portions of the Pacific Fleet towards Hawaii, which, depending on the flotilla configuration, might raise some alarms. But this is also the time of year they tend to move [edit] north and east to the tippy tip of Russia, not far from Alaska (basically just across the Bering Strait). Depending on what sort of additional systems are sent along with them, and if they are doing live fires against sea targets, also might raise alarm flags. “
We’re thinking – with all the Hawaiian (shit_) “weather” the Russians might shift play elsewhere on the board. And so, the E-6bs (of which we have 16 and 12 operationally ready for tasking) and the four E-4s … well it’s “You show me yours and I’ll show you mine” time.
Wonder Week Wednesday Windage
With lots of pieces moving on the geo-board, markets are taking their time tipping the hand today. With the CIA boss in Moscow this week, there’s reason to be somewhat paranoid about ops pending for this weekend, or even Labor Day. But we don’t think so. If a major war expansion was in the offing, we’d see bigger “pattern flares.”
On the other hand, we are tracking a new centroid of data gelling in late September. So, if you drop by this weekend, we have a “Sunday Special” that is long but very-much worth reading because it features output from our Over-the-Horizon Software project. The Executive Summary ought to be enough to make you think harder and deeper about the future. And the charts, too.
But in the close-in view?
- Early markets today are still skeptical – though WTI and Brent crude are still down a bit at press time.
- Monday and Tuesday markets will depend on news-flow factors.
- But Tuesday morning we start Jobs Week going into Labor Day weekend.
- ADP comes Wednesday. Challenger job cuts Thursday, and federal numbers before elevator jam up full of people fleeing for three days of pressure relief.
For now, things look meh.
- Europe was running “all green” so that may portend a higher close in the U.S.
- Japan was up 273 on the Nikkei overnight.
- And silver was back over $70 an ounce while BTC was holding under $80k – the rally was nice while it lasted.
When a reporter gets old enough, you begin looking at numbers like cases of hot flashes and sweats – on the way to never quite “getting well.”
News Compressor: ON
Consular math on Nepal: “47–63 missing Americans” became “~90 impacted.” Nepal Police now 389 dead on the Nepal side; China reported 3 in Tibet; missing still 1,400–1,500+. 3 rescued, no confirmed U.S. deaths in this window. Not “climate gets real” as a verified cause this morning — official accounts still describe a mud/rock collapse into a river.
Timber Fire, Big Sur: ~19,000–23,000 acres, ~21% contained; Highway 1 closed again for backburns; 660+ structures threatened. NIFC: 73 drone incursions near wildfires YTD. Someone needs to review how drone regs apply in TFRs, if you follow. Hawk Fire (Reno) progress after 30+ homes lost; evacuees cut from ~90k to ~63k earlier in the week.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh gives his first Jackson Hole keynote this morning (~10:00 ET) with July inflation still ~3.4% and markets begging for rate talk he has refused to give. CME FedWatch Tool pegs odds of a rate hike at 35.9 percent at press time. Watch it post-Warsh.
Iran–Oman still pitching a temporary Hormuz corridor + mine clearance; a senior Iranian source told Reuters a final accord is not done. IRGC claimed shares/revenues agreed; that is an official claim, not independent verification. USS Theodore Roosevelt reported headed to the Middle East.
Inside Pages
- CDC cyclospora/iceberg lettuce: 11,458 cases, 495 hospitalized, 2 dead, 20 states after adding GA/TN/TX. Recalled Taylor Farms dates have passed. Bleu cheese, please and a side of shots?
- Judge ruled Pentagon measures against Anthropic “illegal and baseless.” He didn’t rule on “political” so far as we know.
- Army plans $2B nuclear microreactors at 5 bases. No. This is not Lockheed Martin cold-fusion work. It is ordinary (if small) fission nuclear — uranium-fueled microreactors — under the Army’s Janus program with DIU. No, it’s not the “compact fusion” project Lockheed was working on. Aviation Week reported in 2023 that a Skunk Works executive confirmed the effort was halted sometime before 2021. Wikipedia’s current summary matches that: active roughly 2010–2019, then no updates and the division appears shut down.
- Mid-Atlantic/Northeast storms: NYC/NJ flash flooding Thursday; Lancaster PA flood warning into Friday.
- Extreme heat warnings still up across Inland Empire / SoCal valleys through Friday evening.
- Trump signed a U.S.-side rename of Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” Canada is not required to play along.
- NPR is worked up: administration proposal would let federal grants be killed “on a whim.”
- ICE officer released from a Texas jail despite a Minnesota extradition request.
- Tupac killing trial heading to closings (Keffe D).
- Peekachu, rescued beluga at Chicago aquarium, died. (Sounds fishy.)
Weekend News Outlook
- Warsh speech language vs. a September hike. Odds: 55% he stays foggy. Could matter after breakfast. (Nothing matters until I get food…)
- Another Northeast flood warning cluster appears. Fri–Sat. Odds: 30%.
- Oil $3+ move on a Hormuz or Warsh headline. Depending on news flows. Odds: 40%.
- Eyes open for left-field board-changing events.
Personally Actionable: Health
Best paper of the week (actionable): Yale’s Nature Medicine analysis of 111 DNA-methylation biomarkers across 51 human intervention studies. Press/summary out 21–26 Aug 2026. They tested diet, exercise, calorie restriction, fasting, metformin, semaglutide, rapamycin, HBOT, bariatric surgery, smoking cessation, and a pile of OTC supplements.
Takeaway they are pushing: diet + exercise consistently dropped epigenetic age. Metformin and semaglutide also moved clocks. OTC supplements mostly did not. They put the comparison table on TranslAGE.io.
Bookmark it! TranslAGE.io
That is the first decent “does this intervention even register on aging clocks?” scorecard, not another mouse-only story.
Also this week / just landing:
- GeroScience review, 22 Aug 2026 — “Integrating biological aging into clinical practice.” Framework for using clocks + clinical markers over time instead of one magic number. Useful if you already track labs; not a protocol.
- Nature Aging research briefings circulating now: exercise delaying ovarian aging in mice via adiponectin; trained older muscle keeping a younger multi-omic profile; urolithin A phase 1 — safe, more naive CD8 T cells, immune-metabolism remodel. The last one is early human, not a “buy this” result.
- Older but still the best practical dose paper in the current stack: eClinicalMedicine SPAN cohort — sleep + MVPA (moderate-vigorous physical activity) + diet together. Versus the worst tertile, the good band (~7.2–8.0 h sleep, >42 min/day MVPA, decent diet score) associated with ~9 extra years of both lifespan and healthspan.
- Smallest combo they modeled for ~1 extra year of life: +5 min sleep, +1.9 min MVPA, +5 diet-score points (half a veg serving or ~1.5 whole-grain servings). Observational, not a trial.
At the Ranch: ShopTalk Friday (A/C)
Son G2 gives me all kinds of grief when he visits the shop.
“Why do you have all this shit?”
True, the place is stocked better than some small hardware stores. But every once in a while, being “deep on parts” saves a bunch of time and, more importantly, money.
Thursday morning was one of those times.
Save $300 Before Breakfast
It wasn’t exactly rocketry figuring out the problem. Here were the symptoms:
- L1 and then L2 — legs one and two, if you aren’t an electrician — were sagging on A/C startup. High-speed lighting, meaning LED but not incandescent, would blink out for a flash.
- The compressor was making an odd, tone-like noise on startup, but the condenser fan sounded strong.
- And the monthly power bill had crept about $70 above where I expected it to be.
Simple, likely problem?
A failing start/run capacitor.
Potentially fixable in ten minutes. Which brings us right back to the chock-a-block shelves in the shop.
We had a couple on hand.
Buy One — Stock One
That’s a useful rule when people get serious about prepping.
You accumulate future meals inexpensively. Then you learn how to rotate the stock so nothing gets forgotten and nothing dies of old age before you do.
Same idea in the shop. Buy a saw blade? Toss the worn one, mount the new one, and put a second new blade on the shelf.
Same thing with fuses, relays, filters, bearings, switches, belts, pumps, connectors, and — apparently — air-conditioner capacitors.
There’s even a spare FlexMAX 80 MPPT charge controller sitting here for the solar system, plus a pair of imported 100-amp, 24-volt MPPT controllers. Need a spare 24-volt inverter? Yep.
That’s the drill.
So when the A/C began acting stupid, a 70/5 µF, 440-volt dual-run capacitor was sitting exactly where it was supposed to be. Because when you live out here in the Outback, needing a $20 part should not automatically mean burning half a day driving into town and back. That’s 30 miles plus gas.
If it does and you make frequent trips for parts? You may not belong this far out yet.
Where the $300 Bucks Came From
I had AI work up what a normal capacitor replacement call would probably cost from one of the very good HVAC outfits in town.
A weekday service call, truck roll, diagnosis, capacitor, and labor can easily land in the $200–$325 range by the time somebody has driven all the way out here. Mileage is time. On a 100°F summer morning, especially if you want same-day attention?
Add urgency. And another hunsky.
A perfectly ordinary little capacitor can turn into a $300–$400 event without anybody cheating anybody. No grudge, though: that’s just what trucks, technicians, insurance, inventory, travel time, and hot-weather demand cost.
Our version? About a $20 part that was already on the shelf.
Other than banging my arm on sheet metal and working up a good sweat, the avoided service call saved roughly $300.
That’s the point worth sharing with your kids:
DIY makes you money.
And tools, parts, and competence that keep paying you back over a 30-, 40-, or 50-year service life are not “junk in the shop.” They are capital equipment.
Sidebar: This is a mindset thing.
We saw a lot of this when we were doing serious sailing. People were doing coastwise offshore without a radio and without a “hole kit.” That’s two hammers and a bunch of wooden cones you can hammer into a leak. Having line pre-cut so you can draw a storm tri-sail under the boat was an exercise. It’s why there was a radar reflector on the overboard pole; because we sailed in crap conditions at night and in fog.
Some people just don’t get it. Prepping always matters. Ask a Ranger, a fireman, a medic, a cop. OK, back to the story.
Warnings, Cautions, and Injunctions
Now the part where somebody reads this and decides, “Hell, George did it, so I can too.”
Maybe. But do not attempt this kind of repair unless you already understand residential electrical work and HVAC capacitors.
Real electricity can kill you.
As in d-e-a-d.
For this job I killed power at the source, killed backup and solar, killed the house A/C breakers, killed the outside disconnect, and then verified the circuit was actually dead with a properly rated meter.
Not “probably dead.” Not “breaker looks off.”
Measured dead.
And because capacitors can retain charge, you do not treat one like an empty beer can just because the disconnect is pulled. In commercial work I’ve used lockout/tagouts, too – because again, in real trades, every possible error gets made. Which is what keeps G2 working.
Use properly rated tools and electrical PPE. Ordinary nitrile gloves and rubber-soled shoes are not substitutes for electrical insulating equipment.
If any of that sounds unfamiliar? Call the HVAC guy. His $300 is suddenly a bargain.
Then — and Only Then
With the unit verified de-energized, I moved one connector at a time so there was no opportunity to get cute and miswire the replacement.
- Common first.
- Fan next.
- HERM last.
“HERM” means hermetic — the compressor section.
And yes, I use insulated tools and take pictures before disconnecting anything.
Paranoid? No. Careful AND Paranoid is surviving long enough to develop hobbies.
My replacement capacitor stock will be back to normal tomorrow. $28 for a pair.
Was It Bad?
Oh, yeah. Way gone. The nominal 70 µF compressor section had collapsed to 10.78 µF.
That is not “getting a little weak.” That is a capacitor standing in the doorway with its coat on.
The fan section also deserved a check against the actual marked rating and tolerance. Mine measured 6.68 µF, which is not something I’d casually call “fine” if the can is marked 5 µF. That side gets treated as suspect, too.
The important number, though, was 70 becoming 10.78.
Done. Toast. Finished.
Which explains the ugly compressor start. Oh, and the LED lights no longer blink.
The Bigger Money Isn’t the Service Call
Here’s where people get tempted to invent precision.
A badly degraded run capacitor can increase current, worsen starting, increase heating, create nuisance voltage sag, and shorten compressor life.
What it does not give us is some magical clean formula where “70 µF fell to 10.78 µF, therefore the house wasted exactly 327.6 kWh last month.”
Nope. Too many variables. Compressor design, load, outdoor temperature, head pressure, runtime, cycling, supply voltage, motor condition, and how long the capacitor has been declining all matter. So I’m not going to pretend we have a laboratory curve for:
“5-ton Goodman, East Texas, 100°F, capacitor nearly dead.”
What I will say is this: The $300 service call was avoided. The compressor is starting correctly again. The ugly voltage dip disappeared. And the possibility of turning a $20 capacitor problem into a several-thousand-dollar compressor problem just went down dramatically.
That is enough return on investment for me. If the power bill drops, too?
New Annual Checklist Item
So the A/C capacitor now goes onto the Spring-into-Summer Checklist.
Not because capacitors need annual replacement. Some last years; some don’t. Annual checking is cheaper than guessing. But checking one before the first run of 100-degree weather is cheap insurance if you already know how to do it safely.
If a capacitor measures materially outside its marked tolerance, starts bulging, leaking, overheating, or producing ugly startup symptoms?
It gets replaced. No heroics.
And please tell me I don’t have to repeat the kill the power, verify dead, discharge and verify, use proper tools, know what you’re doing warning again.
Because this is one of those failure points people overlook until the compressor is making a noise that sounds expensive.
Older readers will remember the vacuum-tube equivalent. Not ringing a bell? In the old radio days, failing electrolytic filter capacitors accounted for a huge percentage of the classic:
“Radio works, but hums like hell.” Different century. Same lesson. Capacitors are cheap. Consequences aren’t. I cannot count the number of LCD/LED monitors I have resurrected with cap kits. If you like big monitors, a power-supply recap kit or two may be an idea to consider.
ShopJimmy.com — search the exact board number printed on the PSU (BN44-…, EAY…, FSP…). US stock, same-day cut-off, a place techs actually use. Match the full part number, not just the screen size and brand.
And that, boys and girls, is why the shop has all this shit.
Write when you get rich,
So impressed that you pounded in the safety aspect here. I always remember the public service announcement of the ladder leaning against an overhead line with a huge arc while the commentator says “Don’t learn electrical safety by accident”.
This is a good example where having a service contract on these types of systems are a good deal. And G2 is 1000% correct, safety is paramount.
My grandson began electrical trade school this past week. Smart kid, National Honor Society, Varsity football running back starter, FFA leadership committee, yada yada yada. I took him shopping a while back with his tool and supply list. No moms or Nana’s allowed on this trip. At the top of the list was composite toe safety boots. He calls me after the first day of school and tells me several kids showed up in sneakers or flip flops. They got to spend the day in a classroom in another building while the rest of the crew went directly out onto the training floor to see what kind of equipment and gear they would be seeing after the book work was completed.
Another good job on this one George.
Stay safe. 73
As as a ham see Ray’s deal on an sx-115 – envy…
Of course I did see that. Way to go Ray! Common answer is, Why can’t I find deals like that? But then I would need to find the time to be able to play with it. Can’t beat a chassis box of tubes and dials. DIgital modes just don’t get it sometimes.
“Why can’t I find deals like that?”
Cuz ya ain’t gots patience…
Seriously, I create a targeted search on eBay, Amazon Marketplace, Craigslist (there are probably several thousand local Craigslist boards. Most folks don’t know they can do a directed Google search of these sites, for instance:
https://www.google.com/search?q=hallicrafters+sx115+site:craigslist.org
(this is the same as typing
“hallicrafters sx115 site:craigslist.org”
into Google’s search box)
and will return any SX-115 hit on any Craigslist local board, anywhere in the 70 or so countries serviced by Craigslist. (You have to delimit the search at the Google end. I typically limit Craigslist searches to CONUS, in English only, and for just the past seven days. It does little good if your lone DD-1 hit is eight months stale, and in Cape Town.
You can use a similar format to search Facebook Marketplace. To search eBay or Amazon Marketplace using Google, you have to search each country’s Marketplace individually. Amazon.co.jp does not use the same database as Amazon.com, and ebay.com.sg is a completely different critter than ebay.com. I don’t know if Google sniffs sites like Rakuten, Mercari, or AliExpress because I use a Japanese search tool for Asian searches.
I have highly-delimited searches on eBay which I’ve had, in some cases, for well over 10 years. I use these to find specific items — usually artwork or collectibles. I check them manually, several times per week (because the nerds at eBay make changes to the site every couple of days, which make it impossible to script automatic searches using eBay’s search tools.) Amazon and eBay both use a fuzzy logic to broaden your search parameters, when your search returns few (or no) results. The delimited eBay search will find a specific item, IF it is correctly named, and listed in the proper area.
Every few months, one of these searches hits.
One of my best scores was a like-new soprano saxophone. I bought it for $28 — used average on that particular horn was ~$2400 at the time. The dumbassed seller didn’t know what it was, and listed it in the “children’s toys” area instead of the “musical instruments” area. eBay’s search didn’t find it — Google’s site search did.
Good luck and be patient. The deals will come…
Agree! Good focus on safety. I still remember the early 60s mandatory viewing of the USN film ‘Your Deadly Shipmate’, which showed a sailor drilling into a bulkhead, with a high voltage cable on the other side.
I also had an HVAC tech try to charge me an additional $450 to change the cap & the breaker during the $80 annual inspection on a 2 year-old unit. I looked at the breaker & cap. Breaker contacts were clean & I could buy a cap for less than $50. Declined offer & next year switched HVAC service companies from the large TV advertisers to a one man local company. He found no issue with either the cap or breaker the next year, or the next 5, & it’s still working well.
It was another example of companies attempting to take advantage of seniors. I have better results working with service vendors that need/want repeat business. With my degraded vision I can no longer do tasks that I used to do. It’s been a hard pill to swallow, but it’s my reality these days.
(“Agree! Good focus on safety. I still remember the early 60s mandatory viewing of the USN film ‘Your Deadly Shipmate’, which showed a sailor drilling into a bulkhead, with a high voltage cable on the other side.”)
Agreed…..years ago kids would go shoot the insulators on the high lines for a sport…. one kid was out with his buddies…and the line came down landed on his car…when the tires started smoking ( what other kids said) he went to move his car from under the wire..the rest is history…
they had a lecture in the gym with people from the power company give everyone a lecture.. now every year ..they have a meeting and a big part is powerlines safety..
Agreed as well. I use a company who has done this work for me for years. Like you I started with a one man show who took the best care of our HVAC until he passed away. I hear you about eyesight. I can’t see much of anything closer than arms length clearly anymore so I have to slow down, grab all three pairs of readers and think about it first. I had to have my granddaughter read the MAC address off the back of a control panel so I wouldn’t have to take the device apart.
Remember right now is the best time ever. There will never be another time just like it. Puts everything into a better prospective for me anyway.
Lunch is over. Back to work. Stay safe.
The average “Joe” has NO idea what a capacitor does nor that it hold a charge which can be deadly depending on it’s size. And you must discharge it safely to work on it, ( most of the time) Back in Electronics 101 we used to wire them to the work stools and see who we could give a shock to in the classroom, YUP we were kids! LOL I also live by the RURAL rule of living so far away from a store of any type that one ALWAYS more than one item. DIY is also the only viable survivor method for most of us. once again great work.
Personally my “GUT” instincts say we are WAY closer to a nuke war than the sheeple have a clue about. I hope I am wrong but from the past my “GUT” is generally VERY accurate. just FYI
re: “used to wire them to the work stools and see who we could give a shock to in the classroom”
Worked in a TV repair shop owned by two ex-Navy EM. Learned quickly not to catch the capacitor that was throw to you…
One word/name- BELGOROD
One boat holds more than a qtr of total world nuke power potential. And nobody knows where those Nuke Mole “Torpedos” are located. Must be placed at least 50-75 miles off of coastline..to create nuke tsunami .
NYC/LA , London, NATO HQ…
According to an A.I. search
The Russian submarine, Belgorod is believed to be in the north Atlantic. However, this has not been confirmed. through any media outlet.
I do hope the U.S. Navy has it’s location.
48.3% of American Joes and Janes fall for classics like:
– The Gulf of America
– The Straits of America
– Lake America.
– “the Troops will be home by St. Patrick’s Day”….. 2026.
– Blockading the Straits of America will lower Homeland gasoline prices.
And now electrics.
Real electricity can kill you.
As in d-e-a-d.
Yes! Remember what happened to Oddjob in the Goldfinger film?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfl3DKbQ73E&pp=ygUYR29sZGZpbmdlciBvZGQgam9iIGRlYXRo
Let’s not forget the death of “The Thing” at 3:30.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XjuLZwlDxh8&pp=ygUdVGhlIFRoaW5nIDE5NTEgZGVhdGggb2YgdGhpbmfSBwkJEwwBhyohjO8%3D
re: Hawaiian Sensei’s Oddjob, Little Wolf & Abjad
feat: “The Touch of Death”, Quincy, M.E., December, 1977
“Ancient Children 546” maps future storm tracks? A minty cherry red 1977 Chevy Monte Carlo V8 rumbled alongside me on the drive today rewiring a few dots in mind.
Hawaiian-born Japanese-American Toshiyuki Sakata won a silver medal in weightlifting at the 1948 London Olympics. He drew moviegoers’ attention by the brimful in 1964 as Oddjob beside Auric Goldfinger. His appetite for cats remained in book form only. Mr. Sakata’s Japanese kanji name is ?? ?? translating into English as “slope + rice field” and “quick/clever + go/proceed”. Apparently terraced Asian rice fields are considered “golden” between mid-September and early October.
According to ChatGPT, the ’50th State Big Time Wrestling’ circuit card in Honolulu pitted Tosh “Oddjob” Togo against Chief Billy White Wolf on October 9, 1968. The latter wrestler was Iraqi-American Adnan bin Abdul Kareem Ahmed Alkaissy El Farthie typically shortened to Adnan Al-Kaissy.
His namesake Adnan led northern and western tribes in Arabia around the 6th or 7th century b.c. He is believed by Islamic adherents to be descended from Abraham, and is an ancestor of Prophet Mohammad. Al-Kaissy is a derivative of the Qays/Qaysi tribe (originally based near Dubai and Bahrain?). Qays power peaked late in the 7th century a.d. followed by a diaspora of its tribal confederation.
Perhaps past camel branding contests have given way in the 21st century to Arab youth with a cause expressed on their cars and roadways via three digit tribal identifying grafitti. According to Gemini, Qays tribal youth identifiers include 505, 511, and 705.
Tropical storm Lowell bearing down on Hawaii is a variant of Lovell. It derives from Old French “louvel” origins meaning “young/little wolf”. The Lovell surname reached England with William the Conquerer from Normandy. A famous carrier of the wolf heraldic crested family name was the 15th century supporter of ill-fated King Richard III, Francis Lovell 1st Viscount Lovell.
The 1st Viscount’s line ended with his children so that his properties joined his sister’s extant family line. Their current day descendant holder is the 14th Earl of Lindsey and 9th Earl of Abingdon. He is a cousin via his paternal grandfather with UK Prime Ministers Sir Winston Churchill and his successor Sir Anthony Eden. The latter allegedly took respite at Ian Fleming’s Goldeneye estate in November, 1956 as English and French diplomats attempted to distance themselves from the disastrous Israeli Suez Canal invasion. (Separately, the Shah of Iran congratulated #34 on the occasion of his second term reelection, and requested money to address “regional instability”.)
May I revisit the subject of three digit tribal youth identifiers noted above? Some credit those number assignments to origins such as neighborhood residential block numbers. However the AI leaves oddjobs behind and crosses a translation bridge onramp into Abjad (Al-Kibr) meaning “The ABC’s (of spiritual pride/arrogance [‘psychic state of perceived superiority’])”. Maybe they are Arabic equivalents along the lines of Roman chronograms (gr:”time letter”).
A translation of 546 as single digits into Arabic letter equivalents can yield letters ‘ha dal waw’ suggesting “calm, quiet, peaceful” in person, place or weather. Let us observe approaching STS’ monastic-like silence of Mauna (sanscrit: “profound spiritual silence”). This not to be confused with an island in Hawaii whose legendary namesake’s brothers pulled it up from the seafloor by fish hook.
Can Kill You..
Right before/or after it throws Ure ass clear across the main engine room #2.
Saw the charred dent, up on metal bulkhead on the “Forrestfire”, where contractor/electrician accidentally came into contact with a live 440 Volts trunk line, during USS Forrestals’ service life extension program at Philly Naval Shipyard. USN TAD’d me there 6 months for “cooling off” purposes.
High Voltage Electricity Experiment Revives Dead Man!
Indestructible Man (1956)
Charles “Butcher” Brenton (Lon Chaney Jr) is a double-crossed convicted robber and murderer who was executed in the gas chamber. His body is unlawfully sold to a scientist who plans to move his experiments into the cause and cure of cancer to human subjects by rejuvenating damaged human tissue. Benton’s corpse is subjected to chemical injection and massive jolts of high-voltage electricity in order to study the effect on human tissues. But Benton’s heart is re-stimulated and he completely revives (though rendered mute due to electrical damage to his vocal cords), immensely strong by accelerated growth of cellular mass and with his skin virtually impervious to trauma, scalpels, police bullets, even to bazooka shells.
Trailer – https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jUgA7MYlFC8&pp=ygUhSW5kZXN0cnVjdGlibGUgbWFuIHRyYWlsZXIgY2hhbmV5
DIY will definitely save/make you money over the years. I grew up on a farm and my dad never took anything to a shop. We repaired everything ourselves. I have tried to pass that on to my three boys. Two weeks ago I helped my youngest change his back brake pads and rotors on his truck. We purchased them online. They were made by a company called Detroit Axle and seemed to be very good quality. Total cost was $125. I would guess that it would have cost at least $500 for a mechanic to do it. BTW he is a first year fireman.
Thank you for the inrush current lesson today George. I have two Goodman units and am going to add the caps to my stock.
Not advice got blockchain
Hmm..just had an ice cream cone…dipped in crushed peanuts…
chocolate shell…..
1 cup of chocolate chips (milk chocolate or dark chocolate)
2 Tbsp. of coconut oil
melt them together..
Extra?Thick Shell
Add 3 tbsp coconut oil instead of 2
Softer, Fudge?Shell (my favrite)
Add 1 tbsp butter + 2 tbsp coconut oil.
Peanut Butter Milk Chocolate Shell
Add 2 tbsp creamy peanut butter.
This one is dangerously good…. (I make a peanut butter shell to lol)
Malted Milk Shell
Add 1 tbsp malted milk powder.
Tastes like a Whopper candy over ice cream…
Peanut butter shell…hmm
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons coconut oil (refined = no coconut flavor)
1 tablespoon powdered sugar (optional, makes it sweeter)
Pinch of salt
( 1 tbsp. vanilla )
variations.. ( now a fun thing is dip in the peanut butter first then into the chocolate..)
1 cup white chocolate chips
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
Pinch of salt
Peanut butter syrup….
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup milk (or half?and?half for richer)( I use cream cause I can)
1/3 cup sugar ( powdered )( or 1/4 cup sugar + 1/4 cup corn syrup rather than the 1 tbsp)
1 tablespoon corn syrup (keeps it smooth & pourable)
1 teaspoon vanilla ( this is flexible I sometimes use eye measurements so a splash)
Pinch of salt
In a small saucepan, warm the milk + sugar + corn syrup until the sugar dissolves…..
Add the peanut butter and whisk until completely smooth.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla + salt.
Let cool slightly — it will thicken to syrup consistency.
(Pour over ice cream, waffles, pancakes, or swirl into milk.)
Rolling Stones – “She’s So Cold”
I’m so hot for her, I’m so hot for her
I’m so hot for her and she’s so cold
I’m so hot for her, I’m on fire for her
I’m so hot for her and she’s so cold
I’m the burning bush, I’m the burning fire
I’m the bleeding volcano
I’m so hot for her, I’m so hot for her
I’m so hot for her and she’s so cold
Yeah, I tried re-wiring her, tried re-firing her
I think her engine is permanently stalled
She’s so cold she’s so cold
She’s so cold cold cold
Like a tombstone
She’s so cold, she’s so cold
She’s so cold cold cold like an ice cream cone
She’s so cold she’s so cold
When I touched her my hand just froze
JC,
Stones’ drummer Charlie -Watts-was born and grew up in a post-war prefab house situated just northwest of a Friday fire in Neasdon. The house was demolished in 1972 according to ChatGPT quoting Brent civic council. Tourists may locate home foundation remnants near the south edge of Fryent Country Park at postal code HA9 9HZ.
re: fire smoke signal
feat: DBC pirate radio neighborhood
The London Fire Service website kindly informs via their following weblink of a large fire on Friday at a “waste transfer facility” in Neasdon, West London:
https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/incidents/2026/august/fire-neasden/
Google Maps points to the fire perhaps being situated adjacent to Amazon’s DHA1 and DHA2 locations. Neither of those warehouses presently appear in the directory page of third party fulfillment network Amz Prep. Their following weblink lists about 28 of Amazon’s alleged 30 UK fulfillment centres.
https://amzprep.com/europe/amazon-uk-warehouse-locations/
Not to drone on about this, but msm reports on the fire may have a similar ring to each other. Yahoo’s news aggregator looks to have sourced straight from the horse’s trough quoting Bristol, UK headquartered “SWNS” (Small World News Agency). “SWNS” obtained leads from their subsidiary “Talk to the Press”. Apparently a gentleman contacted them while standing on his 20th floor balcony in a Neasdon area residential apartment tower. “SWNS” distributes its news output to msm media platforms.
The “SWNS” page on Wikipedia makes note of company leadership. As chance would have it, one individual is noted as having been a “Downing Street Director of Communications” during the administration of former UK PM Boris Johnson. In fact it is alleged that the Director “…was running the country…” while PM Johnson was hospitalised with Covid-19.
DJ George may hold a stash of early 1980’s DBC pirate radio ephemera in the shop. Dread Broadcasting Corporation (Rebel Radio) hit the airwaves from a garden shed somewhere around Neasdon about 45 years ago. DJ Lepke along with his sister DJ Ranking Miss P curated the beat for the UK’s first Black pirate radio station.
What had been their publicized mailing address is elsewhere in Notting Hill on a less gentrified looking part of (286) Portobello Road than those seen in the Roberts-Grant Hollywood movie. As chance would have it, a longtime urban art gallery is situated next door at 284. They are described as experts regarding Banksy, Stik, Dotmaster, Alec Monopoly, and Mr. Brainwash. A Dotmaster mural covers the three storey building facade. Its image depicts a young girl reaching up to touch Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa painting which is tagged with a lucky horseshoe.
In high school electronics class , we would charge a capacitor and put it where it was in someones way. Or toss one to someone.
I know..I gave these recipes before..but back then..margarine was on sale three ponds for a dollar..today the price is what six times more per pound..
https://www.amazon.com/Silicone-Walfos-Non-Stick-Standard-Tablespoons/dp/B09XQNH9P4/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?
this is the whisk I have..great for making chocolate….you can whip it pretty smooth.. not like coaching it but better than most…
https://www.amazon.com/CIRCLE-JOY-Rechargeable-Cappuccino-Chocolate/dp/B0G3PDFXJS/ref=sr_1_7?
Cream based margarine
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup neutral oil (sunflower, canola, grapeseed)
2–4 tablespoons coconut oil (more = firmer)
1/4 teaspoon salt
you can use a little more coconut oil.. yellow food coloring..
with ought the coconut oil you get a spreadable margarine whip in the neutral oil…
Then there’s basic margarine…
1 cup oil( olive, corn)
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt (adjustable to taste)
1 tsp.powdered milk
3/4 teaspoon lecithin (liquid or granules — emulsifier)
food coloring
melt the coconut oil…then drizzle in the regular oil while whipping it..just like making mayonnaise… then drizzle in the water with the powdered milk mixed in it..
Very firm (butter?like)
1 cup coconut oil + 1/2 cup neutral oil
salt
coloring
The Little Giant Fire in now the largest wildfire to ever burn through Chelan County.
Chelan County Emergency Management Specialist Rich Magnussen said at 155,000 acres, they’re no longer expecting to put the fire out as much as just try to contain it and protect structures.
The fire has been burning for almost two months and right now is only 23% contained. Magnussen tells us the fire started on July 15th from a lightning strike.
“A lot of the fire experts are predicting it may go until the snow starts flying this winter, maybe November,”
* * *
Not the news we wanted to hear.
.., oh, well….., [ Note: Order more HEPA air filters. ]
Somebody with large wheels on his/her truck managed to score two doors on one side of my car in a parking lot and then left. No cameras in sight, so I got stuck with the damage. Big dents in both doors and rubber all over both of them. I managed to remove most all of the rubber with WD-40 and elbow grease, and the remainder with brake cleaner. Then used the double suction grippers used for bathroom handholds to pull out some of the big dents. Finally I ordered a cheap DIY Paintless Dent Removal(PDR) kit from Amazon for $42.00. I figured it was worth a try. The key is using their special hot glue to attach these plastic pull tabs to the dent. When cool, that glue has surprising strength for a few hours. The tab can be pulled with an included slide hammer or T-bar, but that was not enough, so I chained a two ton come-along to the T-bar and pulled against my tractor. The tabs held and pulled most of the dents out without having to remove the inside door panels which are a nightmare on this car. Sometimes the tabs would pop off the car when the metal moved – no big deal. The glue comes off with rubbing alcohol so the car is clean and the tabs can be reused, with only one tab actually breaking under extreme force. I’m no artist and I’ll do what I can, but I care more about a reliable car than a beautiful one. Some paint was damaged and will require spot touchup and I might still need a touch of bondo, but not much. Total cost so far – $42 plus tax. I had everything as supplies on hand except for the PDR kit. It was definitely worth it. After spot painting, you actually have to look to see that the car was damaged.
Regarding A/C caps, my daughter had one fail on her A/C in Oklahoma many years ago. She diagnosed it and safely replaced it. I’d already warned her about capacitors and their ability to store power at voltage. She did everything right, including shorting the terminals. The A/C worked well until she eventually sold the house. She’s not an electrician at all, but pays attention and researches things well. She also calls dad when in doubt.
i warned you all yesterday of the internals in gold . follow the pied pipers , and the fake lemonade stand nvidia , and the rest of them . do as you like
“Son G2 gives me all kinds of grief when he visits the shop.
“Why do you have all this shit?””
Just remind him that: “Son, someday all this will be yours”.
If he shrinks away in horror, remind him of Proverbs 13:22 :
“A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children”
The DIY gene sometimes skips a generation.
G3 might have more in common with you than G2.
Not till he can find a worthy g-other-half – glad I am not in mate-seeking mode in this world
It’s almost impossible to find a compatible female that wants to share work and a bed on the first date. They probably exist, but most are already attached.
Teach your children well …
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.
Teach your children well,
Their father’s hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dccreams
The one they picked, the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
And you, of tender years,
Can’t know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.
C,S,N & Y
Those who come after are a product, sum of, what they learn from us (Elders). E2 (at 33 YO) can do MANY things _his_ friends cannot. It gives him “stick” or status among his fellows. It’s my mission to leave behind the many things I know.
The other things? Break out the checkbook. Can’t help ya. Or won’t. I have worked with and around enough high voltage to hire Journeymen. Sometimes we have hired several (Sr dude to be osha safety guru over others) breaking off busbar feeding 480 hot to banks of railroad locomotive sized machines.
I could have played a non administrative role but, ‘electricity can kill a fella. Back in youth, when dirt was new (it wasn’t even dirty yet) I had a large crew inbound to paint interior of a large factory. First recon, the large machines were still plugged into enormous 480 boxes with ginormous ceramic triple plugs.
Damn. Can’t ask worker bees to do what I dint, or wouldn’t, so set aside clearing between machines and the to be painted walls, including unplugging feed. One ceramic male end went to dust as I spun to unplug.
480 makes very exciting interior lightning. Best to stand way back. Lucky I wasn’t blinded from flash. Called Co owner splaining he could unplug them -or- hire a Journeyman to do so (he needed one to rewire that one machine anyway).
And so ends Egor’s hands on with current.
Friends have been hit by lightning.
I’ll take my chances …
Egor [insert sunken yacht icon]
“In the old radio days, failing electrolytic filter capacitors accounted for a huge percentage of the classic: “Radio works, but hums like hell.”
Teenage me, allowed to run the radio on the midnight shift in a concrete bunker on Field day. Watching the meters religiously, not making any changes, just calling and logging. A sudden explosion like a 12ga shotgun went off under the bench, followed by snowfall of tinfoil and paper, that left me deaf and everyone else rushing in to see what happened. The radio was still working.
Power supply chassis was on the floor next to my legs. It had ‘paper can’ upright caps on the chassis. When I finally looked, one cardboard electrolytic was blown wide open… like a shotgun shell. Radio owner was a bit miffed, but I had done nothing to provoke it. So he gave the OK to keep operating overnight…. with a little more hum.
Betch that was a heathkit HP-23 supply which hadn’t been recapped yet?
Early chocolate…
Until coconut oil was imported animal fats were used..
1/4 cup lard (fresh, neutral-smelling)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup powdered milk
1/2 tsp vanilla (optional
Pinchsalt
the health benefits from fresh coconut milk are amazing and gives the brain a healthy energy..Some Alzheimer’s brains have impaired glucose metabolism.
Ketones can act as a backup fuel…. making coconut milk an important part of their meal prep..if you separate the oil from the fresh milk then use the lite coconut milk as a cooking agent..rice and potatoes soups etc..
then the leftover can be dried and ground into flour…nothing goes to waste..
Use a coconut oil margarine…As a brain energy source..
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup of a neutral oil (sunflower, olivve, grapeseed)
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon lecithin (keeps it emulsified)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp powdered milk
This is a simple, clean home made margarine that uses coconut oil as the firming fat….It spreads like margarine, melts like butter, and gives you a steady source of MCTs….This simply gives the brain another fuel source…
now you can make a stronger by using MCT oil..which is a purified coconut oil..
Why do you have all this shit……….
It’s simple son. You can’t do something with nothing.
I hope you have several children Len – great wisdom there!!!
“Why do you have all this shit?”
It’s simple, son.
You can’t do something with nothing.
When we had eight grandkids running around, making pasta wasn’t a hobby — it was survival. Same with chocolate, same with everything else. I share my life’s journey because every tool, every skill, every odd gadget came from a moment where I needed something and couldn’t afford to buy it.
So I’d get the high bid, the low bid, then calculate the DIY version with my own hourly wage.
Low cost won every time.
People don’t understand that during catastrophic times, you still crave a quality of life. That’s where homemade gifts come in for xmas… Learn to make the things that keep your family’s spirits up. Tools aren’t clutter — they’re insurance against helplessness.
I learned some pretty awesome things the hard way.
Roasting coffee, for example. If I hadn’t been in a situation where I had to beat grain I gathered off the ground into a crude gruel… or drag old coffee grounds out of a restaurant trash can… I never would’ve discovered how incredible fresh roasted coffee really is.
Most folks get comfortable. Need bread….. Run to the store. Need fuel… Run to the station. Want an onion… Grab one off the shelf. They take the everyday luxuries for granted because they’ve never had to replace them, or do without..
Me… I keep tools so I never again have to see that wistful look in my wife’s eye when she says, “I wish I had a little wine.”
Now I can make it… I make the regular then make the odd and rare in between..
Most people don’t have a clue…. its always been at arms reach…
Like my grandson wanting to make s’mores with the little girls who escaped the Seattle ghetto — he had a dollar, candy bars were three. So we made candy bars for s’mores for a few cents apiece.
That’s the real inheritance:
knowledge, resilience, and the ability to improvise, adapt, and overcome.
(“Proverbs 13:22 :
“A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children”
The DIY gene sometimes skips a generation.”)
(““Why do you have all this shit?””)
You know, Proverbs says “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.”
Funny thing is… that inheritance isn’t always what people think……
https://youtu.be/YHjYt6Jm5j8?si=2W8Ys1AQh0Dp5NfE
My dad had one prized possession — a gold Rolex passed down from his father, who got it from his father. Back then employers treated workers like family, and gifts like that actually meant something. My dad wore it with a cheap wristband, didn’t care about the “collector value,” just the story behind it.
When he passed, the watch came to me. I put it away until I could afford a proper band from the same era. Hard times hit — disability insurance that might as well have been printed on Charmin, doctors’ offices laughing at the policy like it was a joke. We went a year with no income.
One day I went to the drawer… everything was gone. In its place….. Toilet paper tubes for the grandkids’ school projects. My wife said, “Oh, I tossed all that old crap away,” and figured the drawer would get more use for the kids dioramas.
All I could do was laugh … was that watch truly a treasure….
Because that’s the truth about what one sees as value — it’s never universal.
One person sees treasure, another sees clutter. ( each of us has the things we see as value)
One sees inheritance, another sees junk….
One sees gold and silver as security, another sees clean water as priceless.
And sometimes the thing you thought would save you — a policy, a watch, a shiny object — turns out to be worthless when you actually need it…..we buy the policy in the thought ..what if… while if they decide to cover it they send someone to tell you its worthless or the claims department starts laughing at your stupidity for trusting in its value….
Value only exists to the person who understands it… or desires it and collects it… (gold isn’t something that is readily seen as valuable or spendable..the guy that sold it is the one that buys it at a discounted price)
Sometimes the real inheritance isn’t the object.
People forget that proverbs wasn’t written to sound poetic.
They were life lessons, survival notes, reminders from people who lived through droughts, wars, famines, illnesses, and family drama….
Some folks read them and say, “What is this old crap wnd is it saying i should collect what others say has value..tge what if insurance policy that was to slick to even use as toilet paper”
But the truth is, Proverbs was basically the ancient version of Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome…life lessons to guide future generations…
The ancestors just said it with fewer syllables…..