Why would a guy like me, retired going on 3 years now, be worried about the job market? It’s because I keep getting calls and emails from recruiters. There must be something wrong if they cannot find qualified engineers younger than 59. Various warnings about the declining STEM (Science, Technology, Enginnering and Math) situation in this country have been bandied about for decades, but the problem won’t go away. It crosses boundaries between issues like immigration, national security and global economics. Kids need to get off the iPhones and on the computers.
CTD Interior- Final Update
There’s just two things left to do: Finish coating the floor and put it back together. The floor had 5 coats of bedliner on it in the 1st row pic. It had 10 before the last 2 pics in the 2nd row. Installing the new stereo equipment was the last of the hardware work, with the subwoofer install still remaining. Two mounting brackets needed to be fabricated to mate up with mounting studs already in place on the floor. (Later June update) The sub showed up on June 5th and it just barely fits between the seats with room to clear the stick shift in all gears.
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Cold Spring
I thought winter was almost over after not seeing snow for weeks around the middle of last month. But it’s been staying cold with freezing temps over-night half the time since then. This morning we woke up to this, at 33℉:
The Russkie Bots are Back!
The pattern is so obvious, it’s literally embarrassing. And they’re known as hackers. Meh. I guess they get a little annoyed when their Buddy Assad’s chemical weapons facilities get destroyed. Oh well, better luck next time…
Front Landscaping Complete
This project was on my To-Do list for many years. One of the 1st things I did after we moved here in 2003 was build a cinder-block retaining wall off the corner of the garage. At the time, it was just a quick ‘n dirty solution to creating a parking space for the trailer. I did all the rest of the landscaping around the house over the years in the Red River color scheme, so it eventually started looking a little ghetto, viewed from the north. 150 12″ blocks took me the better part of 3 days. That was the big one for this year out of the way:
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Spring at the CO Shaffer's
Things are greening up and blooming again after another fairly mild winter here. That one Forsythia bush bloomed real well this year.
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Another Great Haul
I decided to get started on the last landscaping project in the pipeline today. the north property line presently has a half-decent concrete block retaining wall I put in right after we moved here. But it doesn’t match the rest of the stonework around the house, so I’m finally getting around to upgrading it. First step was hauling a big load of retaining wall blocks from Home Depot. 100 of them comes to about 2,350 lbs. in the bed with 20 lbs. in the bag:
The last big haul with Francie’s party furniture demonstrated volume capacity, but was probably less than half this weight. Going down the road it looks and feels like it can handle more, but is technically overloaded at his point. Good enuf.
That's My Girl!
It happens so infrequently, I just love it when I am proven right!
Spoiled Cats
This was a rare catch. Kiki, the older grey female on the left, barely tolerates Marshall, the young tomcat. Maybe they are finally getting acquainted after about 5 years(?).
Trump's Latest Distraction
The Commander in Chump’s current obsession with Amazon is truly entertaining, to say the least. Despite their relentless late-night attacks, it’s easy to see why the comedians just love the Trumpmiester. You can’t make this shyt up. Stumbled upon just now:
“How much longer are the Lemmings going to support this idiot? FACTS: The Post Office makes a tidy profit carrying Amazon packages. Unlike the junk mail we are still deluged with. When will Herr Drumph go after those folks? Next fact: Amazon collects and remits sales tax in all the states which charge it. Unlike many other online businesses – most notably eBay. Trump is going after Amazon because its founder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post which keeps annoyingly publishing stories that are less than flattering to El Douchee and his Cabinet of misfits. Donnie – how about we discuss how you and your cabinet are fleecing taxpayers so you can vacation all over the world? Trump didn’t drain the swamp, he restocked it with new species of cretins and grifters.”
Thank you Micheal Steel, whoever you are, for posting the truth. Amazon is probably one of the few big companies currently doing an ethical, good job. They pay decent wages and provide employment to thousands of Americans in an expanding business, meeting growing demand. Comparing or tying that to the USPS in any way whatsoever is so flagrantly absurd only the Trumpster could come up with it.
He should be talking about privatizing the Postal Service (not the VA!). USPS has been a losing proposition almost since day one. What’s that old adage about “…good money after bad?” Would it take much more than re-painting a few thousand trucks and have about half their employees fill out new employment paperwork with FedEx or UPS?
It's Time to Shut Down Facebook
It keeps getting better. Funny how the closer we look, the more dirt (and vermin) we find under the Facebook rock:
“It’s interesting to note that none of the apps examined asked for user permission before starting to track individuals.”
A GooglePlay store review found that over 40% of the most popular Android apps are surreptitiously back-channeling to the Facebook “Audience Network.”
The cocksuckers need to be properly dealt with in court – every single one of them, starting with the Z-boy himself. That little bastard has been attempting to deflect responsibility at every turn, feigning a lack of “deeper technical knowledge” about the issue in his own company. Today he declined a formal invitation to speak to the UK Parliament. Sorry dude, but if that is the case you shouldn’t be running it. Facebook is like a gallon of milk that’s been sitting in the fridge too long. There’s bad stuff going on in there, and the country had a big gulp during the most recent national election. It’s just one of those things that seemed great upfront, but turned out to be a really bad idea because nitwit college kids did not think it all the way through. And when the problems started cropping up YEARS ago they basically ignored it, favoring bigger piles of money instead. Dump it. Full story here.
“Facebook: Yeah, Maybe Now Isn’t the Best Time to Launch Our New Speaker Designed to Spy on You.”
“A lot of people don’t actually believe that Facebook feels bad that user data fell into the wrong hands. They just believe that Facebook feels bad it got caught.”
The bottom line insidious truth in all this is they always knew exactly what they were doing, and continued doing it with impunity for years until they got caught. This is the fundamental issue: the business model is paradoxically flawed. The more people crank up the privacy, the less revenue from targeted advertising and data analysis – in whatever form that takes, legal or not. It just doesn’t work in favor of the people they claim to support.
Don’t Just Delete Facebook – Delete Well.
Media Stupidity
Hopefully people are becoming more aware of the pitfalls involved with today’s media-enhanced society. Russian electioneering and Facebook foible outrage seem to be vying for eyeballs everywhere right now. But the problem runs much deeper and into just about anywhere you look online. Here is a perfect example of how a well-respected medical journal gets it wrong by trying to be everybody’s everything: WebMD Does BBQ.
Of course the findings are preliminary. I’m sure the data is good and they mean well. But where’s the chef? Or Grillmaster? Or just about anybody who understands cooking meat from a culinary standpoint – not just potential hypothetical scientific outcomes thereof. The data and study findings get lost in translation. They warn against high heat and flame as the means to avoid over-cooking meat, but the heat source is irrelevant. Intensity and time are the issues. Whether it is on the BBQ grill or in the kitchen frying pan makes no difference. The best steaks are quickly flame-grilled medium rare, IMHO.
The correct message they are trying to convey is “don’t overcook your meat.” Grilling and broiling do not necessarily over-cook your meat. Newbie BBQ buffs might need to develop better timing and heat control for this purpose. Apparently the problem also afflicts WebMD article authors. They overlook the carcinogen factor in searing meats, but that’s a different topic. Sort of.
After all, they’re just doctors, not chefs. Just presumptuous doctors – or maybe their inexperienced lab assistants? It’s hard to tell from across the Internet.
I wonder if this Includes Pharma Execs?
President Trump on Monday will release a plan to combat the opioid epidemic that includes the controversial move to use the death penalty for some drug dealers.
Last Blast of Winter
This was after the most snow we got so far this season (2 weeks ago) around 7-8 inches:
That was only the 3rd time we had any appreciable accumulation all winter and it’s been bone dry since. The forecast shows no precipitation coming anytime soon, so about half the state is considered back in drought status. Daffodils are up, so watering flora around the house has started again for 2018.
Looks like Spring is here in Northern Colorado – albeit a dry one!
Bye-bye Russians!
Please come back, but just let me know you are a legitimate subscriber! Otherwise get another email address and try again. And OBTW, it wouldn’t hurt to go vote in your upcoming election, with fresh knowledge of why you and/or your bots may not be welcome here.
New Tech Meets Old School
TV’s are now so thin and light! The new 70″ Vizio replacing the 15-year-old Man Cave Sony weighs 61lbs – just over half the weight of the old 60″ unit. They are all designed for wall-mounting these days and the stands, seemingly an afterthought, suck. At least this one does. It’s basically just pieces of bent wire rod bolted into the bottom and not the least bit stable or safe. A few welding, finishing and painting sessions later and we have a proper stand for the new TV:
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I ordered a cheap wall mount from Amazon rated at 80lbs. The wall attachment part was replaced with a horizontal pedestal using an old washing machine hub, bits of pipe and various other scraps. It is securely screwed to the entertainment center bottom middle section, with a (properly installed) TV attached. The factory stand mount points in the bottom corners are tied into the cabinet sides with steel brackets, providing a sturdy 3-point mount. I’ll fabricate 2 more brackets to connect into the cabinet top if/when the time comes for the stand to move upstairs supporting a really big OLED one of these days.