I’m no cat behavior expert, but aren’t these 2 just adorable?! We’re inside a week to their spay/neuter appointment on the 29th. Judging by the behavior, I suspect it won’t be a day too soon…
Difference?
Go ahead and read the long version with details and facts, if you feel the need. To me, there is really no difference, with one glaring exception not mentioned by the Sun’s political pundits: They are both lyin’ politicians, but only one appears to hold the critically important attribute of good personal judgement. For all the salacious misdeeds and arguably mistaken and flawed policy initiatives attached to both candidate’s political histories, only 1 – Gardner – has demonstrated the willingness to acquit a treasonous criminal, and support the oil and gas industry with a deceitful revenue-sharing program to burn the planet disguised as an environmental success.
Cory Gardner can suck my dick and choke on it.
![](http://stuff.is-a-geek.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Gardner-Hick-1024x576.jpg)
Round 3 Begins
I’ve come to expect dealing with the government on just about anything is always going to be a non-trivial exercise. Twenty years in the military followed by 13 contracting for them leaves me circumspect about my troubles with the VA. They fixed my hips, despite denying service connection, so still an overall big plus by any measure. Round 2 took over 7 years for them to recognize just exactly how messed up my c-spine is. They (VA) now await the paperwork on this:
19 OCT 20: Nothing really changed with the Gabapentin. Mostly I noticed stumbling around and dropping stuff all the time more than usual. Muscle relaxant before the surgery just made me constipated. The brace helps make uptime less uncomfortable, while my butt, quads, obliques and lo-back continue getting very stiff and sore. Feels like I been on my feet 10 hours every time I sit down. Pushing myself to walk 2 miles around a lake, whereas before the left hip went out I was doing 20 miles in the mountains for fun. Cannot stay on my feet for more than an hour or so without extreme discomfort. Been using the foam roller and bending/stretching every day for going on 2 years. Wondering if I should expect to make the brace a permanent part of my wardrobe? I already bought a new one last month since the Aspen velcro’s almost gone.
Overall improvement after the surgery was dramatic and steady for 4-5 months without constant pain from the injury. But it plateaued with this muscle strain/tension. I can now clearly tell I’m no longer walking right. Getting up stepping off, feels like the right side is a half second behind the left as I drag it along. Although maybe not really needing it, I seem to “want” to use the cane in the left hand and now always start with a little limp to the right. The related muscle symptom(s) has not changed appreciably since mid 2019. Top of the right glute and lower-right erector are pretty much continuously lit, like the right rhomboid at my C-spine. I feel exhausted at the end of every day, after not doing much. Pushing myself to do more leaves me wiped out. Sometimes the glute does this random twitching thing. Did it alot last year and up to the surgery. Stopped for a few months earlier in the year, started again, now including the right quad last month. Gabapentin?
I would really like a current medical assessment. What’s the story on this nerve root damage? Apart from PT, we have little-to-nothing for treating the symptoms, and it’s permanent right? Give me a call, email or message here if you or the Dr has any questions before our appointment. I have a couple more me and Dr. Donner are gonna talk about privately. We need to clear something up, and I want an authentic, targeted prognosis, not false hope or drugs.
Wildfire Update
The Cameron Peak fire nearest to us here in Frederick has grown to be the biggest ever. Fanned by winds kicking up in the past few days, it left everything here covered with a light coating of ash Saturday morning. The town of Lyons at the base of the foothills about 10 miles away is under evacuation order today. We’re not close enough to be in imminent danger – just the smoke. The new air scrubber is doing a good job inside the house after installing a floor return vent.
The Pointy-Haired President
Scott Adams guided my professional endeavors for decades and continues nailing it to this day:
![](http://stuff.is-a-geek.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Dilbert-Untrue_and_Easily_Debunked-1024x323.png)
We have prison cells awaiting these fuckers and several close cronies:
![](http://stuff.is-a-geek.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Bannon-Giuliani-1024x575.jpg)
The FIRST thing most knowledgeable people consider when it comes to digital crime/forensics of this nature is something called “chain of custody.” Without it, no crime could possibly be proven. The YouTube video of Giuliani’s interview is basically just a long explanation about why there is no chain of custody. Case closed. These people are just vile scum.
Too Big to Rig, Too Real to Steal
Glen’s turning the damn phrase on that one. Let’s hope he’s right. And Beau as usual, pointed out the obvious most oblivious overlook. Declaring ignorance on a topic like Qanon while heading the FBI tracking them along with other known dangerous, radical splinter groups like the Widmer gang, is a patently stupid lie on it’s face.
But then again, it’s Trump struggling to fit into his new role as a politician. Maybe he’s going for the benchmark definition on that one?
Worst Fire Season Ever
This group of blazes was one of the first to start, now grown into the biggest ever. It’s been unseasonably warm right through October so far. Still can’t believe Trump had the unmitigated gall to say/do that in California. This one has burned largely un-contained for over 2 months. Flaring here right outside 5712 into the 600’s on the PM2.5 scale today.
You’ve seen it with your own eyes living out here in the West. The only flora left is near shrinking waterways or where people are watering it. Natural growth is slowly dying out – and burning. What we have here, is the epitome of willful ignorance, leading the country:
Breathtaking Hypocrisy
It was unclear to me exactly what sort of hypocrisy we were talking about, but Mike reliably attributed it. Extreme hyperbole sufficient to illustrate the dastardly depth of this bastard’s deeds escapes me. It’s times like this I wish Hell was a real thing true believers faced, because if so, Moscow Mitch has a front row seat reserved with his name on it.
This Is What You Get
…for a Trump SCOTUS nomination. Last time it was a beer-swilling womanizer, now it’s a bible-thumpin’ baby factory that cannot even recite the 5 points in the 1st article of the document defining the job. It was a softball question from Sasse(R). The Trump Presidency is no longer just your typical travesty. It’s the indelible stain of greed and hubris on a lifetime of American Democracy – maybe the last.
Female members of the human race should be worried.
Dangerous Incompetence
I’ve been harping on it for more than a year. Took awhile, but high-profile expert opinion has finally become public. The Journal is historically a-political, but apparently feels compelled to speak up after a bloviating fuckwit turns a public heath crisis into a mass murder weapon. Still waiting for paperwork out of the Hague.
The journal’s editors write: “The death rate in this country is more than double that of Canada, exceeds that of Japan, a country with a vulnerable and elderly population, by a factor of almost 50, and even dwarfs the rates in lower-middle-income countries, such as Vietnam, by a factor of almost 2000.”
Fucking Cee Goddamned Dee Cee, my ass.
Internet Anonymity
It’s the new bandanna – I call it my bandito-kerchief, donned at the doorways of all public buildings I enter these days, fewer and less frequently than ever before. 100 years ago they only showed up on the occasional bank robber or cattle rustler around here. 2020’s bandito-kerchief is called Internet Anonymity.
Despite online service providers’ attempts to reign in the problem, it’s not going away, because it simply cannot. The ease and speed with which bogus accounts may be created and exploited on various social media platforms fuels their cash engines. Zuckerberg could not possibly care less who or what generates his revenue, as long as he can stay on the right side of the law – law only recently going into development.
Take this blog for example. There is little to be found here not contained in public records or seen by simply walking past 5712 Wetland Loop on the sidewalk. The problems start, where people have things to hide. The Internet is showing it’s teeth after a 20-year gestation period. It’s hungry and social media is feeding it the wrong information.
In “Book III of Odes,” circa 20 B.C., Horace wrote: ‘Our sires’ age was worse than our grandsires. We, their sons, are more worthless than they; so in our turn we shall give the world a progeny yet more corrupt.’
Covid HVAC Upgrade II
OT&E with the new air scrubber turned up some interesting data. Filtering 2.5um airborne particulate in a house turns out to be a little tricky. That stuff is REALLY small – and also one reason why it’s bad for you. Toxic/carcinogenic, who knows? Combustion itself produces some nasty stuff and the fires burn everything in their path.
Ambient static fire season air conditions run as expected near Cameron Peak when we’re not in the plume: ~30, ~20, ~15, outside, ground level, basement, respectively. But (BIG but) when the fires are really choking us out, the new scrubber can’t keep up. The way it worked (or not in this case) was to pump the basement full of particulate. It seems to behave kinda like the Radon hazard, pooling closer to the floor by gravity, depending on air circulation.
Too early to tell how this will go, but there’s an additional 3″ of high-flow depth in front of the air path now. I doubt normal ambient levels will change. We had considerably lower normal static levels inside before. So the system works great, continuously circulating and scrubbing the air. It just needs more capacity to keep up with high concentrations of wildfire smoke.
OBTW, as long as we’re worried about pulmonary hazards, vaping creates ALOT of particulate. AQI jumps to >200 temporarily after a half hour vaping a Pax bowl in the basement. Still need more/better air circulation down there. It’s a new science project. The scary thing learned so far is what happens after closing the windows, if it was done due to smelling wildfire smoke. Dangerous levels of airborne pollutant get trapped inside, circulating until they either settle out, or next time the windows get opened on a clear day. If you’re running forced-air HVAC, they never settle out – except in your lungs and other surfaces they might stick to.
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Late Update 10/11: Morning readings are dropping into the single digits, so it’s on the right track. I’ll try adding an additional exhaust vent in the basement if circulation continues to be an issue after higher fan setting tests.
Late-late Update 10/14: An additional return vent solved the circulation issue. It’s filtering on that return now as well, with static morning readings dropping into the mid single digits – ISO Class 2 Clean Room territory. It might be too late to confirm wildfire performance again this year, but Cameron Peak flared up again last night…
America's Dumbest Criminals
People saw this coming years ago. The cultural rot gnawing at this country’s frayed edges gets interesting when the man starts overtly encouraging it. I bet the guys at the FBI regional office had 3 different office pools on what stupid shyt these imbeciles were getting up to.
Death Is Everywhere
RIP Eddie. Late Update: Lung Cancer.
https://www.jambase.com/article/eddie-van-halen-letterman-1985-1995
Find It
A Mind Boggling Mix
Being an information broker can be a confusing endeavor at times. I’m one of those people a mile wide and an inch deep in most places. But recently I ran across somebody to help me out in one area I’ve seemed to be on the wrong side of at times: the Law.
I could once again throw out the, wait for it… “unprecedented” nature of this surreality. Instead, I’ll just embed a few genuine facts and un-retouched photos in a YouTube stream and hope the words get through to some boggled minds. Mr. Kirschner is clearly experienced, insightful and authentic. In a world full of alternate facts, ALWAYS consider the source.