240 Comments

  1. Sean

    I don’t want any silly LEGO flower sets…

    *looks*

    Oh, bonsai tree…

  2. Nephilium

    Watched “Everything, Everywhere”, and was whelmed by it. For Christmas, I did pick up the orchid Lego kit for the girlfriend. She got it together with much less cursing then I expected. I believe I’ll need to get her a couple more of the floral sets now.

    • SDF-7

      …. always a flower girl, never a bride…

    • Bobarian LMD

      Used to get the grand-son some of the high-end Lego kits for Christmas.

      The amount of crying, pouting, huffing and general temper-tantrums made for an entertaining seasonal gift for the entire family.

      Probably would have trended hard on the YooToob.

  3. Pat

    Recently, there’s been some concern about whether or not PS5’s are safe to stand vertically.

    Vertical, horizontal, you’re still a console peasant…

    • Nephilium

      I’ve got a Switch, but mainly so I can walk away from the computer to play games once in a while.

  4. SDF-7

    “Sure the liquid metal thermal paste could leak out and your processor could throttle or die or it could short something… but c’mon, that’s not so bad is it?”

    I mean… that’s the stupidest take on a manufacturing problem I think I’ve ever read….

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        11% after delivery? Thatsanogood

      • SDF-7

        I read that as Thanosgood at first and was surprised it was under 50%.

      • SDF-7

        Yup. Been an interesting hardware season (The nvidia power cable melting was fun too… don’t remember if that turned out to be customer error (bending the cables for cases separating contacts) or actual manufacturing)… Almost certainly related to the current philosophy being “We’ll overclock the crap out of it and use more power than a 2010 HP Superdome to get some performance numbers” instead of targeting efficiency this cycle.

      • Sensei

        Mostly customers not fully seating the plug, but a few poorly made cables as well.

      • Penguin

        Wow. They need to move their production facilities from Pyongyang.

    • Ownbestenemy

      I remember when Microsfot switched to lead-free solder that had a lower melting point… thus failing solder joints..leading to the RROD

      • SDF-7

        I remember a whole round of cheap capacitors blowing a whole ton of stuff.

        And a solder issue on nvidia cards back in the day that took out a whole slew of laptops.

      • Pat

        There was a Thinkpad model from that era notorious for that issue, although I can’t remember which one now. Forums were full of people baking the motherboards in their ovens to re-flow the solder.

      • Pat

        Removing leaded solder from everything is the one of the most fantastically stupid fucking panics I’ve ever seen. The boiling point of lead is something like 1900 degrees C. Soldering temps are going to be between 200 and 350 degrees C. Vapor from leaded solder doesn’t contain vaporized lead. It’s flux burning off. Ironically enough, the flux used in lead-free solder is way worse for your lungs than old fashioned rosin used with leaded solder and requires more ventilation. And once the solder joint is formed and cooled you’d have to spend every hour of every day for the entire rest of your life licking fresh solder joints to ingest enough lead to even begin making you sick.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Yes. Lead-free solder is shit.

        I still have nightmares about transitioning to lead-free on our production lines.

        And that’s not even taking the long-term reliability issues into consideration.

      • Pat

        I tested some lead-free for the stuff I make. It was more difficult to work with and the joints were far less robust. I never switched. Thankfully I’m too small time for it to be any kind of a concern in terms of regulatory or industry standards compliance.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Lead-free has a nasty tendency to grow tin crystal whiskers when run through temperature cycles. It’s a remarkable material property, but it’s hell on electronics.

      • Tonio

        Oh, I’m going to hoard my leaded solder now.

      • Ownbestenemy

        We have leaded solder from the 60s still here in the tower. Not supposed to, but they can pry it from my fired hands!

      • Gustave Lytton

        *remembers flicking liquid solder onto the floor to clean the iron, instead of wiping it*

      • Ownbestenemy

        Sponges were for pussies.

  5. SDF-7

    “Everything Everywhere All at Once Is Letterboxd’s Highest-Rated Film of 2022″

    I picked that up from iTunes and have tried to watch it 3 times now… and just haven’t gotten into it. Someday, I guess.

    • Nephilium

      Movies that were released in 2022 that I both watched, enjoyed, and would watch again:

      The Menu
      See How They Run
      Smile
      The Batman
      Bullet Train
      Beavis and Butt-Head do the Universe
      Clerks III
      Confess, Fletch
      A Christmas Story Christmas

      I’m sure I missed a couple off this list as well.

      • kinnath

        The Batman
        Bullet Train

        that’s it for me.

        Movies are generally unwatchable these days.

      • SDF-7

        Huh… I’ve been off DC after the Snyderverse stuff… and Clerks II (not to mention Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) was so “Remember when I was funny?!?” that I just haven’t felt like checking out 3… didn’t remember B&BH.

      • Fatty Bolger

        Man, movies really do suck these days, don’t they?

      • Mojeaux

        Bullet Train
        Maverick

      • Michael Malaise

        See How They Run was fun but felt like it was missing something. Sairose Ronan was great (she usually is)
        Bullet Train was a fun time.
        The Fabelmans wasn’t bad.
        Not a huge fan of The Batman.

      • kinnath

        Batman was a solidly mediocre film, except it ran on 30 or 40 minutes past its natural conclusion.

      • Michael Malaise

        It wasn’t bad, it just felt like we’ve been here before with this character. I did like the detective angle but his greenness should’ve had more consequences. And the end felt rushed from a storytelling point, even though it was as you said too long.

      • Compelled Speechless

        The Batman didn’t run past it’s natural conclusion. It carefully took it’s time to come to the correct conclusion that all white males are internet trolls waiting to become full blown terrorists for the disgusting far-right belief that people in powerful positions should be held accountable for their crimes.

      • Michael Malaise

        Confess, Fletch was a decent story that is probably more true to the Fletch universe (I have not read the books) than the Chevy Chase versions. The humor was different (of course) Had it come prior to the Chase films, it might be regarded more highly.

    • Michael Malaise

      I loved it. I think it was the best movie this past year. I’ve seen it 4 times. Yes, it’s totally bananas, but it was so emotionally satisfying by the end.

      Watched The Banshees of Inisherin last night. Very good, too. Martin McDonagh doing what he does best.

      • Compelled Speechless

        I think my wife and I are going to watch Banshees tonight. In Bruges is an all time favorite of mine. Can wait to see EEAaO. I think that about rounds out all the movies from 2022 I was even a little excited to see.

        I think I liked The Menu, but I need to watch it again. It was very funny and well done, especially the performances. Nicolas Hoult is very under-rated, but you’re really there for Ralph Fiennes. I just feel like the movie is exactly what it’s making fun of. It’s mocking pretentious, impenetrable art aimed at the over privileged and over educated by being pretentious, impenetrable and aimed at New Yorker readers. I looked up the credits and one of the writers previously worked there (of course).

      • Michael Malaise

        With Everything Everywhere, you have to stick with it. It’s a lot to take in for the first 30-or-so minutes but it hits all the right notes after that.

      • Compelled Speechless

        I’m sure I will. I’ve stuck with much worse for much longer.

  6. The Other Kevin

    We got my youngest kid (the one who turned 18 this week) some of those LEGO flower sets for Christmas. They are pretty cool. But we also got my 4 year old nephew a big “classic” box of LEGOs, with a lot of space-themed parts. He and I are having fun building things we just make up.

    • Pat

      That was my experience as a kid too. I only got a few of the expensive kits, but I had more fun just free-for-alling it with buckets of Legos anyway. Create anything your mind can imagine… then smash it!

      • Ownbestenemy

        Yeah no kits. I didn’t mind getting them and using them as an aide for my chillin to make once but after that, instructions tossed and into a bucket

      • Nephilium

        Sorry, I will not be tearing apart my ECTO-1 Lego set, nor the mini Mini Cooper one I’ve got.

      • Penguin

        Agreed. Just make sure you pick up every block when you’re done, or you might find your parents’ vacuum doing it for you.

        I’m amazed they’re still that popular, although Neph’s link showed me they’re fairly unafraid of innovation. Good for them (no sarc).

      • Pat

        Just make sure you pick up every block when you’re done, or you might find your parents’ vacuum doing it for you.

        During the height of my Lego days, my Lego station was in the basement rec room, right between my dad’s office and the basement fridge where he kept his soda and office snacks. His feet picked up more of them than the vacuum.

      • Ownbestenemy

        The dreaded late night walk to the kids room that had Legos and matchbox/hot wheels cars…shudders..

        I have nightmares

      • Nephilium

        /tosses a handful of d4 on the ground in OBE’s house

      • Ownbestenemy

        Up some is feet like a hobbit

      • Penguin

        Glad you didn’t suffer for it, Pat (or it sound like you didn’t). I should have thought about bringing mine into the basement. Mom had a zero tolerance policy for Legos under her feet.

      • Pat

        My dad could be a mean SOB sometimes, but he was actually pretty mellow about the Legos. I got more than a few “Goddammit, pick these things up!” over the years, but nothing worse.

    • The Other Kevin

      We had kits as kids. They had instructions for building what was on the package, then there were some other suggested builds at the end of the book. After I built it once, all the parts went into one box and I never followed the instructions again. I sometimes build stuff even when my nephew isn’t around. Usually he destroys it as soon as he comes over, but that doesn’t bother me. Usually I’m just tying to figure out *how* I can build something.

    • Michael Malaise

      Daughter (15) completed 2 of the LEGO flower sets (succulents and one other) after getting them for Christmas. She seemed to like them and is relentless in completing them once she starts.

  7. MikeS

    Thanks for the Lego flower heads up, Riven! Now my Valentine’s day shopping is compete. I drew my SIL’s name for Christmas this year and got her the iris and the cut flower bouquet and my wife got a tish jealous. Now she’ll get her own.

  8. The Late P Brooks

    Used to get the grand-son some of the high-end Lego kits for Christmas.

    </em.

    And not allow him to open the box?

    "This will be worth a lot of money some day, unopened. Think of it as your retirement fund."

    • SDF-7

      “You can store it next to your Beanie Babies and Franklin Mint commemorative plates!”

      • Michael Malaise

        Legos should hold some value.

      • Penguin

        Frikkin’ A. Just hold on to the complete set piece, with instructions.

  9. The Late P Brooks

    Good thing there’s no edit function.

    • Gender Traitor

      L

      • slumbrew

        E

      • Ownbestenemy

        I

      • Pat

        F

      • Ownbestenemy

        And fin

      • Pat

        But the question remains: Erikson or Garrett?

      • Michael Malaise

        Damn. I tried to post an E so we could spell out E-R-I-C-K-S-O-N but WP wasn’t having it.

        Maybe I should’ve tried G, so we could do Garrett?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Familial ties hope Eeikson

    • Tonio

      People who don’t thread don’t deserve an edit function.

  10. DEG

    The Lego flower sets look neat.

    • SDF-7

      If they are within my reach my wife would probably break my arms. 😉

  11. The Late P Brooks

    Whatever you do, don’t cut spending

    Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday notified Congress that the U.S. will reach its statutory debt limit next Thursday.

    After that, the Treasury Department this month will begin “taking certain extraordinary measures to prevent the United States from defaulting on its obligations,” Yellen wrote in a letter to new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

    The Treasury “is not currently able” to estimate how long those emergency actions will allow the U.S. to pay for government obligations, she wrote.

    But, “It is unlikely that cash and extraordinary measures will be exhausted before early June,” Yellen added.

    She warned McCarthy that it is “critical that Congress act in a timely manner to increase or suspend the debt limit.”

    Of course. The old “Nobody move or the nigger gets it” ploy.

    • SDF-7

      Are you f’ing kidding me? So the whole stupid omnibus bill was… “We’re going to fund the government but not deal with the next debt limit we’re going to hit in two weeks!”

      Clown Swamp.

      • Gustave Lytton

        It’s an opportunity to get the new Congress to be the government’s bitch right out of the gate.

    • The Other Kevin

      What a fucking joke. EVERY year they need to do this. Can you imagine calling a credit card company once a year and demanding an increase in your credit limit? EVERY YEAR?

      I wonder how the country survived as long as it did with the government spending less than a trillion dollars a year.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        “Can you imagine calling a credit card company once a year and demanding an increase in your credit limit?”

        I can and I did. Every few months when I was fresh out of college and still stupid. Then I was shocked at how quickly those interest payment add up. It was a painful lesson.

    • Gustave Lytton

      “taking certain extraordinary measures to prevent the United States from defaulting on its obligations,”

      Extraordinary measures like cutting up the credit cards?

      • The Other Kevin

        Woah, hold on there! Nothing left to cut, remember?

      • creech

        Of course not. Here’s what our local congresscritter (D/POS) announced in today’s earmarks from all you Federal taxpayers: improved pedestrian walkways in a local borough; a city park; after school programs; furniture and fixtures for a public library; a patient loading and unloading system for local EMT; behaviriol and mental health services for Hispanic community; upgrade electrical system at local food bank; a Social Innovation Lab for county United Way; and funding for “Moonshot for Equity” STEM funding at local university. All fine and dandy projects…for which local funding must have been lacking and required a suspension of the U.S. Constitution to
        fund.

  12. Nephilium

    It’s the second Friday of the month, and the girlfriend and I will be traipsing around a winter wonderland in one of the CLE suburbs tonight, so I present tonight’s unmoderated Zoom/Happy Hour/Bagging on my movie picks link for this evening. Should be open at 20:00 Eastern as is tradition.

  13. The Late P Brooks

    Congress in December 2021 increased the federal debt limit to about $31.4 trillion.

    Crumbs.

  14. Penguin

    ‘“Moreover, government enterprise, basing itself on coercion over the consumer, can hardly fail to substitute its own values for those of its customers,” Rothbard explained.’

    The points when the individuals in society should worry about tattoos are 1) When the government says you can’t have one and 2) when the government says you must have one.

    • Pat

      Everything not forbidden is compulsory

  15. The Late P Brooks

    The trajectory of the American economy between now and then will also determine how brazen Republicans become in their demands to cut spending in response.

    Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the top Senate Republican, has a long record of rejecting an increase to the debt ceiling unless fiscally conservative policies are included.

    A record of unparalleled success.

  16. Pat

    Joe Biden and the idiot elites

    So, is Joe Biden a threat to national security? Is he, in fact, a ‘national security risk unlike any the United States has ever faced’? Does he pose a ‘severe danger’ to the American people? Is he a ‘potent’ threat to the republic itself? All those things were said in the legacy media, in tones of apocalyptic fury, when it was discovered that Donald Trump had classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. So I trust the same will be said now that Top Secret docs have been found in the building that houses Joe Biden’s think-tank and even in Biden’s own garage.

    Of course they won’t. We’re about to witness a real-world enactment of that meme in which Homer Simpson backs into a hedge, as journalists who were consumed by dread and wrath over Trump’s stash of intelligence papers go quiet over Biden’s. Or decide that, actually, it’s not such a big deal for a politician to store sensitive memos in his home. Indeed, witness the BBC’s soft, sympathetic treatment of the Biden controversy. The discovery of these papers is a ‘political headache’ for the president, it says. It will cause him ‘embarrassment’. Poor Joe! The media said we should rage against Trump for holding on to classified documents, but they want us to feel sorry for Biden for doing the same.

    Around 10 documents, some marked ‘Top Secret’, were discovered in a storage closet at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington, DC. They were apparently in a box, alongside other materials. Then lawyers found a ‘small number’ – in the White House’s words – of ‘records with classified markings’ in the garage of one of Biden’s private residences in Delaware. The documents were from the Obama years, back when Biden was vice-president.

    The shift in the media’s tone really has been something to behold. ‘Trump was hoarding a metric fuck-ton of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago’, screamed a Vanity Fair headline in August last year. Possibly including ‘nuclear fucking documents’, it said, titillating its readership with dystopian visions of America’s nuclear codes falling into the hands of nefarious foreign actors. Yet now Vanity Fair seems totally relaxed about Top Secret stuff turning up in people’s homes. In fact, it’s still bashing the right, not Biden. It is fuming against the ‘right-wingers’ who are ‘revving up their outrage machine’ over Biden’s Top Secret stash. Pot, meet kettle.

    Everywhere one looks, media outlets are downplaying Biden’s documents. Only ‘10 classified documents’ were found in the Biden Center, compared with ‘more than 325 classified files’ at Mar-a-Lago, says the BBC. How many Top Secret docs is it acceptable to keep? Twenty-five? Fifty? Trump’s classified documents scandal is ‘more serious’ than Biden’s, says a headline in the Guardian. Some people aren’t even saying ‘classified documents’ anymore. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times refers to the docs found in the Biden buildings as ‘papers with classified markings’, echoing the White House’s wording. That’s so much softer than ‘Top Secret documents’, isn’t it? No one’s going to the barricades over ‘papers with classified markings’.

    Even the fact that the discovery of classified documents at the Biden Center was made six days before the Midterms, but only publicly acknowledged this week, has not given the Biden apologists pause for thought. Maybe, just maybe, he isn’t the stand-up guy you think he is? Some of them even think Biden’s being set up. ‘Just as we’re this close to getting [Trump], somehow these documents appear’, said Joy Behar on The View. They’re in conspiracy-theory territory now, seriously entertaining the possibility that some dreadful Trumpist in the deep state planted papers in poor old Joe’s properties.

    When the Mar-a-Lago scandal blew up last year, there was a huge panic about ‘threats to democracy’. Liberals are ‘inflamed’ by Trump’s documents stash, reported New York magazine, to such an extent that an NBC News poll found that ‘threats to democracy’ had become a top issue for some voters ahead of the Midterms. How striking that liberals seem far less inflamed, and positively unexercised, by Biden’s ‘papers with classified markings’. Is it only a ‘threat to democracy’ when the other side keeps Top Secret things? This is proof that tribal politics dulls the critical faculties. We can see it on the right, too: they threw water on the Trump documents scandal; they’re throwing petrol on the Biden one.

    • Ownbestenemy

      And the dimwitted electorate

    • Q Continuum

      Or, like I argued in the midday post, the talking points distributed by the DNC to the journolist will be to treat Biden and Trump equally harshly. This is their perfect opportunity to short-circuit Dr. Jill Esq.’s ridiculous elder-abuse ridden drive for Dementia Joe to run again.

      They can continue attacking Trump and get rid of Biden in the process. Win-win.

      • The Other Kevin

        We’ll see what happens, but right now the marching orders haven’t been sent out. It will be something to behold if and when they turn on a dime and go after Joe.

      • MikeS

        Oh, I think maybe they have been. This morning I mentioned an AP headline I saw today:

        “Biden political future clouded by classified document probe”

      • Ownbestenemy

        Hope you are feeling better. It is quite interesting to watch the political classes move in lock step. Like a flock of birds moving to their lead aviator

      • MikeS

        I am, thanks. Smell/taste is mostly back already. Weird.

        And yeah, like a flock of vultures.

      • KSuellington

        It won’t surprise me if it goes either way. I could see them using it as a pretext to get rid of Joe, but then again they would be stuck with Kammie. If she is not willing to play ball and step aside for what they are offering they will likely be soundly beat in 24. I could see them just as easily sweeping this under the rug with the compliant media parroting whatever bullshit excuse they choose to use.

    • The Other Kevin

      That was a good write up. Let us enjoy the continued own-goals and beclowning.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I would argue that it’s not Joe who’s the threat. It’s the apparatus around him.

    • rhywun

      Imagine if the GOP were half as nefariously successful as the left wants to portray.

  17. The Late P Brooks

    What Republicans have failed to say, however, is that, unlike a household that defaults on its debt, a U.S. government default would have massive repercussions around the world.

    A default on Treasury bonds could throw the U.S. economy into a tailspin as bad as the Great Recession, the research firm Moody’s Analytics warned in a September 2021 report.

    At the time, Moody’s also projected a 4% decline in gross domestic product and the loss of nearly 6 million jobs if the U.S. defaulted.

    Are we talking six million government jobs? Because I might could bear that burden.

    • Ownbestenemy

      4% GDP drop is not that big a hole to dig out of if government stepped outta the way

    • Brochettaward

      One might ask what the point of having a debt ceiling is if it’s supposed to be routine to up it and dastardly and irresponsible to attach any strings to doing so like maybe cutting spending.

      • Compelled Speechless

        Because everyone in DC loves empty performative gestures?

      • Brochettaward

        True enough. Perhaps we should just make it a law that the vote is only symbolic and turn it into a national holiday to celebrate the sweet, sweet graft is going to keep flowing.

      • Compelled Speechless

        Why would they want that? A holiday for them is a day that they can’t graft. It’s like their worst nightmare. Nevermind, holidays are for backroom grafting. The best kind!!!

  18. Gustave Lytton

    Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

    Wtf?

    • Compelled Speechless

      Dial of Destiny > Raiders of the Lost Ark. I’m calling this one early.

      • Michael Malaise

        Yeah, no. Raiders is almost a perfect film, despite the fact that if the protagonist sat around and did nothing, the end result would most likely be the same.

        Although there is something about DoD that looks fun.

      • Compelled Speechless

        That was a completely sarcastic joke. It’s being produced by Kathleen Kennedy, with a story based around time-travel, staring an 83-year old action star, written by the woman who killed James Bond, who is also in the movie and rumored to be picking up the torch from him for the future of the franchise. The question is, will it be an entertaining “so bad it’s good” dumpster fire or a “the just murdered the last thing I still love from my childhood” dumpster fire.

      • Compelled Speechless

        The fucking title that they went with after years to ponder it and presumably dump trucks full of money on focus groups and marketing experts is “DIAL OF DESTINY.” Good god.

      • kinnath

        The rumor mill is that they use time travel to kill off Indiana before he has his adventures so that the girl can live those adventures.

      • Compelled Speechless

        Allegedly the leaks came from the person that correctly leaked the entire plot for Rings of Power before it was unleashed like a plague upon all of Nerddom. The trailer sure does seem to be consistent with those rumors.

      • Michael Malaise

        I should’ve known. Sorry, my meter was off.

        Here’s the rub: Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag is really fun and good. Why anyone thought she should have a hand in Bond or Indiana Jones is absurd.

      • Compelled Speechless

        Fleabag is really good. Killing Eve was fun for a couple of seasons before it really tanked (also, it’s staring my future wife Jodie Comer – if the USPS ever decides to deliver my many letters to her.) I actually really liked “Run” that got a single season on HBO that she wrote as well.

        You’re correct, nothing about that filmography says she should write for arguably the two most beloved hyper-masculine action heroes in all of cinema.

  19. The Late P Brooks

    People who don’t thread don’t deserve an edit function.

    Deserve gots nuthin to do with it.

  20. Q Continuum

    “Are Tattoos a Rational Use of Resources?”

    That, to me, is as stupid of a question as whether any leisure activity or non-essential product could be considered “rational”. Freedom means that people can use their resources however they want; some people will value tattoos highly and some won’t. Whether they are “rational” doesn’t come into the picture at all IMO.

    Economics only counts on rationality *in the aggregate* and can’t say anything about rationality at the individual level.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Is air inside a ball to kick around a rational use of resource?

    • kinnath

      Rational ==> “will it get me laid?”

    • Sensei

      First bar band I snuck in underage to see.

    • Gustave Lytton

      I dunno, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

    • MikeS

      That starts a new deadpool. Two to go.

    • Penguin

      Everything wears out eventually, even if it’s Not Fragile.

  21. Mojeaux

    Years ago, I took my kids to the school district’s robotics club showcase. There was a raffle there for a ginormous gift basket of Lego sets. I bought $20 worth of tickets and won. I doled them out to the kids as Christmas and birthday presents. I had no idea then, nor do I now, know how much that fucker was worth, but I wish I’d kept them.

    • The Other Kevin

      Once my kids outgrew theirs, Mrs. TOK and I rebuilt each one, and contacted LEGO to get any parts that were missing. We have a dozen or more kits in the attic, in their boxes, with all their parts.

    • Pat

      I had no idea then, nor do I now, know how much that fucker was worth

      Substantially more than $20, for sure, so you came out ahead anyway.

  22. Fourscore

    Thanks to everyone for the kind words.

    Life is full of unexpected events…reality is a M’er

    It will take some time, even for old guys…but life goes on

    • Ownbestenemy

      Thoughts from Nevada Fourscore.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      Best wishes; thoughts and prayers.

  23. slumbrew

    Say, Glibs, how often should one have maintenance done their furnace? The thought occurred that I haven’t done so in roughly, ever.

    It got in a little cycle of not quick kicking on last night – I popped it open and looked around but nothing – and then it worked ok after that.

    I think maybe it’s doing it again right now – last night I could hear the first blower(intake?) running, but not the main ignition then the main blower (gas forced hot-air). It would just cycle that first fan on and off until I poked at it.

    • Ownbestenemy

      Once a year

    • kinnath

      I have mine service every fall.

      • pistoffnick

        Say no more!
        [wink, wink, nudge, nudge]

    • DEG

      I have my boiler (oil) taken care of once a year.

    • Sensei

      Fuel? Type?

      Oil burner has much more frequent maintenance than Nat Gas. Forced hot air much more maintenance compared to a boiler.

      • slumbrew

        Nat gas. American Standard Freedom 90 single stage

        I think I gotta call someone

      • Sensei

        Basic maintenance is just replace the filters pull the side panel vacuum and inspect. This assumes everything is working as it should.

        You’ve got line voltage and a blower so if you aren’t comfortable with doing it – for sure call somebody.

      • Seguin

        They also clean out the pressure switch iirc.

      • Ownbestenemy

        And if relatively new has a bunch of internal safety checks so not much risk of blowing up or carbon monoxide.

    • Dr Mossy Lawn

      Oil furnaces need their filters changed.. One year it went over 12 months and I could hear the pump change in tone.

      Gas, probably not as much, but every few years, or download the procedure and do it your self. Pilot light? Igniter? carbon soot builds up, and just needs to be knocked off.

      • R.J.

        I have an orphan trained in furnace/AC maintenance that does that for me.

    • slumbrew

      Flashing diagnostic light indicates ‘pressure switch error’; vents appear unblocked, so a call has been made.

      This is gonna sting…

      • Ownbestenemy

        Our issue was actually the thermostat…no shitting. Once we got a new one, all our issues went away.

    • slumbrew

      TIL that “first blower” is called an inducer.

      • MikeS

        Did you look outside at the exhaust vent? I’ve gotten this error when there has been ice build up blocking it. Also one time the wind was howling in at just the right direction causing too much back pressure.

      • MikeS

        Also (I’m disappointed none of the IT geeks have said this yet) try completely killing the power to it and see if that resets anything.

      • UnCivilServant

        Look, I’m not on-call tonight.

      • slumbrew

        Yep, they’re clear AFAICT.

        The fact that percussive maintenance worked makes me think the diaphragm in the pressure switch is going.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Now that is how you phrase

      • MikeS

        Yeah, your super-high-tech diagnostic tests probably found the culprit. Go online and buy one and then cancel the overpriced flow chart reader that’s headed your way.

      • slumbrew

        Apparently, they don’t work nights or weekends anyway.

        Since I’ve never really had it serviced, I want someone to take a look. Just gonna have to be Monday, I think. Hopefully my “fix” holds.

    • slumbrew

      Victory!

      (temporarily)

      I employed the advanced ‘tap the pressure switch with the flashlight’ technique and we have heat. For now.

      We’ll see if the furnace guy even calls back tonight.

      • Ownbestenemy

        You could work for the Federal Government with that technique and bill the American public for at least 2-4 hours of work.

    • R.J.

      I saw that coming.

    • Compelled Speechless

      Mindy Kaling is a woke asshole and that shows up in her writing? Color me shocked.

      If she had actually produced something worth watching, then I would have been genuinely surprised.

    • Ownbestenemy

      “What else can we shit on? I know…Scooby Doo!”

  24. Grosspatzer

    Well, that was some video. Quite… inspiring. That’s it. Inspiring. In my younger days a multitude of other adjectives would have come to mind.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    Logic


    Richneck Elementary School in Virginia will install walk-through metal detectors after officials were alerted last week that a 6-year-old student who allegedly shot his teacher might have had a weapon but failed to find it after a search.

    Before last week’s shooting of a first-grade teacher, school officials were told that the child might have brought a weapon to school, according to Newport News Public Schools Superintendent George Parker.

    At least one school administrator was notified earlier on January 6, the day of the shooting, of the possible presence of the weapon, Parker told school families during a town hall meeting on Thursday, according to an email sent to CNN by school district spokesperson Michelle Price.

    Parker also said that a search of the boy’s backpack found nothing.

    Price told The Washington Post in an email Thursday night that she was unaware who initially reported that the student may have had a weapon.

    Officials are also unaware of where the weapon was hidden during the search of the child’s backpack, Price told the outlet Thursday night.

    The decision to install metal detectors was announced by Newport News School Board Chairperson Lisa R. Surles-Law in a press conference Thursday.

    The school board requested the metal detectors for Richneck immediately to get the students back in the building, Surles-Law said. The school has been closed since last Friday’s shooting.

    What about 3d printed guns? What about plastic explosive with broken glass glued to it?

    Strip the little bastards, search them, and then make them wear clear plastic trash bags in class. You can’t be too careful when teacher safety is at stake.

    • Ownbestenemy

      A long time ago when visiting my kids school when they lived with their mom it was very prison like. Specific tones throughout the school on when to leave class, when to eat, when to walk the halls. God I was a sucker to think they were okay with their mom.

    • rhywun

      So the next time there’s a playground fist fight, they’re gonna put all the kids in straightjackets, right? Then tut-tut about vIoLeNcE tOdAy.

  26. Sensei

    Last year when Tesla was selling every car it could make it jacked prices up significantly. Sales have started to slow again and now with Uncle Sugar’s and various state rebates price requirements Tesla has brought pricing levels down to roughly the level they were before they started this.

    The online angst at the Tesla forums is hysterical. I’ll give Musk credit – he has no problem adjusting price to supply something traditional manufacturers with dealers can’t easily do. Normally the dealers are the ones that charge premiums or discounts and the pricing transparency across the country isn’t there.

  27. Michael Malaise

    The worst big-budget movie of the year for me was David O. Russell’s Amsterdam. Ugh, I turned it off with FIVE MINUTES LEFT TO GO.

    The highlight of the movie (SPOILER ALERT) is Taylor Swift getting run over by a car.

    • Compelled Speechless

      Taylor Swift getting run over by a car you say? Take that scene and edit it into a 90 minute loop. How much to watch? Whatever it is, I’ll pay double.

    • SDF-7

      I’m sure she just shook it off.

      • Ownbestenemy

        She might have some bad blood afterward though

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      I got about halfway through before I realized I didn’t want to see any more of it.

    • Pat

      Weird Russian army recruitment video with glam gun-toting women ‘sexualises Ukraine war’

      Well that’s bound to be a huge turn off for 19 year old Russian cannon fodder…

      • Compelled Speechless

        I thought watching an entire room full of celebrities blow Zelensky live during the Golden Globes the other night was “sexualizing the Ukraine war.”

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        👆👆👆

        Hollywood is happily fulfilling its role as stupid whores for hire

      • Ownbestenemy

        It must be so weird to attach your name to a cause in which you have no stake in, no knowledge of and for sure no interest beyond social signaling about. Almost like going to Africa and begging for pennies a month to feed the children.

      • MikeS

        …while being overweight and wearing a $2000 outfit.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I applaud those that put their wallet where their mouth is. Even that crazy Angelia Jolie or even Sean Pean when he isn’t dipping his dick in politics.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        Is Penn still slobbering over the grave of Chavez?

      • MikeS

        For sure. I was just remembering back to the poor optics of those Sally Struthers commercials.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        The wild part is you have idiots like Chastain and Stiller traveling to Ukraine to whore for the cause. At least Stiller can claim family heritage, but I’d bet very good money he doesn’t have a fucking clue about the last twenty years of history there.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Jerry Stiller must be thinking…WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING! But Ben’s daughter is growing into her shoes to oogle

      • Ownbestenemy

        I get to use huge missiles to penetrate the enemy?

  28. The Late P Brooks

    Feline antics

    A search is underway for a clouded leopard that escaped from its habitat at the Dallas Zoo Friday morning, officials said.

    The incident, described as “a serious situation,” prompted the zoo to shut down for the rest of the day.

    “We have an ongoing situation at the Zoo right now with a Code Blue — that is a non-dangerous animal that is out of its habitat. One of our clouded leopards was not in its habitat when the team arrived this morning and is unaccounted for at this time,” the zoo tweeted.

    ——-

    Officials believe the clouded leopard is likely on the zoo premises.

    “Given the nature of these animals, we believe the animal is still on grounds and hiding. We will share updates and more information as soon as we can,” the zoo said.

    Looking for new and different kitty toys, no doubt.

    • Mojeaux

      Went looking for the catnip stash.

    • Pat

      If they want him to come back, just close the enclosure door and you’ll find him waiting there within 5 minutes.

      • R.J.

        Haha! So true.

        Or just sit down and start typing on a laptop

      • R.J.

        It’s long gone from the zoo. Some little old grandma that feeds strays will get a large surprise fur baby soon.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Maybe it will be a blind old bat and wonder why ‘kitten’ has such a rough tongue

      • Ownbestenemy

        Excellent choice

  29. Shpip

    Looks like that rounds out this week’s celebrity death pool.

    Almost. The last of the flying Knievels has returned to earth.

    Unlike his dad, he was never able to make the jump from “daredevil” to “Got-damn American icon.”

  30. Ownbestenemy

    In case anyone was wondering, it was…*checks notes from 2017* Trump’s fault!

    https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/12/politics/biden-documents-final-days-vice-president-aides-scramble

    Those competing objectives – to use his office until the final minutes even as it was obliged to shut down – made for a muddled and hurried process that left aides packing boxes of documents and papers late into the night, even as more material kept arriving.

    One day our brothers and sisters will wake up…maybe…okay maybe never. *I have a large pantry of goods and ‘other’ items for trade*

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      That’s lame, even by CNN standards

      • Ownbestenemy

        Not lame if they know they can propagandize to their base and use the lightning rod that is Trump to focus them onto.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      She especially loves the short ones.

      • MikeS

        The windows in them taste better.

      • Ownbestenemy

        They taste like snozzberries?

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        It’s cringe-worthy when she tries to act like a normal human. “I rode a school bus! Raise your hand if you rode a school bus!”

  31. The Late P Brooks

    That’s lame, even by CNN standards

    It really doesn’t matter, because everybody KNOWS Joe Fucking Biden, All American Boy, would never ever use those papers for any but the purest ends.

    Trump would sell the nuclear launch codes to the lowest bidder, and assist in retargetting all those missiles to fall back on the U S of A.

    • R.J.

      Stahp it

  32. Shpip

    Up in Jacksonville, a local school decided to pull the plug on a student production of a play that “explores a flashpoint in Jewish and queer theatrical history.”

    Sonya Duke-Bolden, a Duval County district spokesperson, told The Associated Press the decision was made because the play “contains adult sexual dialog that is inappropriate for student cast members and student audiences. It’s that simple.”

    Of course, the usual suspects are bleating (without evidence) that the school is caving to the recent legislation that has been strawmanned as “Don’t Say Gay.”

    I read the article, but I must admit, the first thing that came to mind when I saw a pic of the playwright was “Goddamn, Al Franken has let himself go since he left the Senate.”

    • R.J.

      Holy crap. That observation os spot on

  33. The Late P Brooks

    https://www.npr.org/2023/01/13/1148987754/the-u-s-renames-5-places-that-used-racist-slur-for-a-native-woman“> War on communication

    The U.S. Department of the Interior announced Thursday that it has given new names to five places that previously included a racist term for a Native American woman.

    The renamed sites are in California, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas, completing a yearlong process to remove the historically offensive word “squaw” from geographic names across the country.

    “Words matter, particularly in our work to ensure our nation’s public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. She called the word “harmful.”

    Haaland, who took office in 2021, is the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency.

    Just change all nouns to randomly generated sequences of letters and numbers.

    • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

      That would just sound like a bunch of squawking.

    • The Bearded Hobbit

      I used to be “whatever” when it came to that word, “just another woke change.”

      However, years ago I discovered the actual meaning of “squaw” and, no, it doesn’t mean “woman” , it means a woman’s genitals.

      “Cunte Valley”, “Cunte Ridge”, yeah, even this hard-hearted curmudgeon finds that offensive.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Cunte Ridge is where men died in vein

      • The Bearded Hobbit

        Trying in vain to find the Man In The Canoe?

  34. The Late P Brooks

    In western North Dakota, the new name Homesteaders Gap was selected by members of a small community as a nod to their local history.

    Mark Fox, tribal chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, welcomed the change, telling The Bismarck Tribune that the slur “really causes serious and strong emotions and resistance to that term.” In a statement to The Associated Press, he said it was long overdue, and “we are pleased that the racially insensitive and offensive name has been removed.”

    Phew.

  35. The Late P Brooks

    Last year alone, authorities renamed 28 Wisconsin sites to remove a racist word, a panel recommended the name change of a Colorado mountain tied to a massacre, and the federal government renamed hundreds of peaks, lakes, streams and other geographical features with racist and misogynistic terms.

    Next they’ll have to change the name of elephant Head Mountain because it’s offensive to fat people.

    • rhywun

      Is it Year 0 yet?

    • Ownbestenemy

      Though stealing old internet bits…the Internet apparently isn’t forever.

  36. MikeS

    I need some quick help from the A/V nerds. Is there an app that will record streaming audio? My nephew is going to be in the booth at the local college hockey game and I want to record it in case he is brave enough to speak on air

    • Ownbestenemy

      Off a streaming video? Try ScreenCapture?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Or just put your phone in record and tell everyone to shut the hell up

      • MikeS

        Haha. Yeah, I’ve seen videos like that on YouTube.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Gives off that 80/90s vibe. Kids these days have no idea

      • MikeS

        A streaming radio audio feed. I’ll check that out

      • Pat

        In VLC, click “Media” then “Open network stream” and paste the URL of the stream. Now click the small drop-down arrow next to the “Play” button and select “Convert” – pick your favorite audio format and bitrate to save the stream locally.

      • Pat

        Alternatively, play the stream in whatever player or web browser you like, then use Audacity to record the stream by selecting “Stereo Mix” as the recording device.

      • MikeS

        I forgot about VLC. I scrambled and found “Cool Screen Recorder Studio”. Despite the stupid name it is working pretty well. It was in the Windows store, so I’m hoping/assuming it wasn’t full of adware. So far so good.

        I’ll get VLC downloaded for the future.

      • Ownbestenemy

        All your passwords now belong to us

      • Pat

        For screen capture on Windows, OBS is good, but complicated. vokoscreenNG is less good, but simple. Both FOSS. Whichever screen capture software you use, make sure you’re capturing audio as well as video.

    • MikeS

      All this work and he got stage fright and didn’t say much more than “hi”. Kids.

      • Ownbestenemy

        I don’t blame him. At least you got a ‘hi’

  37. KSuellington

    Anyone betting on Wild Cars Weekend? It usually is the best NFL weekend of the year. Some good matchups. My picks are SF -9, Jax +1.5, Miami +13.5, NYG +3, Bal +8.5, TB +2.5

    I think Miami and Baltimore will lose but plus 13.5 is high for a playoff game, even without their Qb, same as plus 8.5 for Ravens. Giants I like with 3 points. They may lose but I think it will be close.

    • Ownbestenemy

      +3 Lakers is my bet.

  38. Ownbestenemy

    Remember folks there is no propaganda in regards to the Ukraine/Russia conflict to try and sway a population of who is right or wrong.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5qs7iHIL94

  39. Ownbestenemy

    Thoughts if HBO fucks up “The Last Of Us”?

    • UnCivilServant

      I thought it was a given.

      • Ownbestenemy

        Warhammer will be better, I promise

    • Pat

      Didn’t the game devs already do that?

      • Ownbestenemy

        Proper response. I wonder what it is like to be given a good story and totally screw it up.

      • Pat

        I’ve never played any of the franchise, I just remember the seething rage of the fans when the 2nd one came out and they had a tranny kill the beloved MC in the first 30 seconds, followed by the girl becoming a lesbian with a distaste for bigot sandwiches.

      • Scruffy Nerfherder

        An entire generation of idiotic asshole writers with only one axe to grind.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      Of course they did. Assholes.

  40. UnCivilServant

    Other contributers – is there an easy way to make four images appear in a grid within a single caption box? I have the four linked to the individual full images, and just want to put them into a square instead of a column.

    • Pat

      Easiest is to just grid them in an image editor and upload it as a single file, I would think.

      • UnCivilServant

        I want four separate links, that’s why I was asking about making wordpress format it correctly.

      • Pat

        Just leave the individual links as footnotes, Tonio loves that.

        (Sorry, I am of no help here)

      • UnCivilServant

        I think I’ve found the trick. I also managed to break wordpress. If I could edit it again, I could undo the break. I guess I’ll have to delete it and start over.