Democrats pass $1.9 Trillion Covid-19 relief bill

 They passed it in the house at o'dark thirty, when every one had gone to bed.  Of the $1.9 trillion only about $o.38 trillion goes for Covid 19 relief. The bulk of it , $1.5 trillion, is pure pork.  Democrats don't care, they think any kind of spending stimulates the economy.  Republicans fear printing another $1.9 trillion greenbacks will destabilize the dollar and raise inflation. 

Rug Job

 My place is wall-to-wall carpet.  Laid down about 30 years ago.  At the door to my bedroom a worn trail was developing in the wall-to-wall.  Ugly.  On a pass thru Wallymart I spotted an area rug, just the right size, only $18.  Nice color match.  So I bought it.  Now to lay it.  The bookcase full of DVD's and VHS tapes had to be moved.  Loaded it was too heavy for me to lift and move.  I had to unload half of it.  Now the rug lay down nicely, it fit just right.  But, the door would not move.  I had to remove the door, jack ass it downstairs to the shop, and saw 3/16's off the bottom with my skill saw.  To get the door to lay flat enough to saw I had to remove the door handles.  Arrgh.  So, jack ass the trimmed door back up stairs.  And now the hinges did not want to go back together.  Much hammering, prying and cussing later I got a pry bar under the door and heaved up.  That did it, the hinges slide together and the hinge pins went back in with only slight persuasion from a ball peen hammer.  At this point it was 5 PM, I was exhausted.  Time for a drink.   Next morning I put all the DVDs back on the bookcase.

The door, loose, right for the shop.

    The door going down the basement stairs.

The area rug installed.

Why Texas lights went out

 I am reading that as the Texas system load went up and system generation dropped off line, the control center tried to keep hospitals powered up by blacking out all sorts of other consumers.  Pipeline companies had their power go away.  Which meant their pumps on the natural gas pipelines went away.  Which meant the gas fired power plants went off line for lack of gas.  Which reduced the power available on the grid to keep every ones lights on.  

   We ought to require the pipeliners to power all their stuff off the natural gas in their pipelines, no electricity required.  They will scream cause doing it yourself is more expensive than just using electricity, but doing it yourself is more reliable.  

Corona virus vaccine

 

I got my Corvid 19 vaccination today.  It was over in Haverill at the Horse Meadows senior center.  I am old enough to be in Phase 1B, eligible right now.  I had logged into the federal government’s “VAMS” system, three times before I got an appointment, for May, way up in Whitefield.  Littleton had suffered some kind of catastrophe where they cancelled all their appointments, “VAMS” refused to give me an appointment at Littleton, Best they could do was Whitefield. 

   Meantime Haverill called me an about a month ago and asked if I would be interested in an appointment if they got their clinic set up.  I said if they could do anything better than May I would be right there.  Haverill got back to me last week with an appointment today at 12:30.  They asked me to show up 10 minutes early.  So I set off for Haverill this morning at 11:45 and got there 9 minutes early.  They had a bunch of volunteers out directing traffic and checking names and dates and times.  I got a choice of right arm or left arm, we did right arm since that was the one on the car window sill.  Everyone was polite and cheerful and professional.  I got the Moderna vaccine.  They gave me in mice little wallet card that I can show to anyone who cares if I am vaccinated.  I got my shot right at 12:30 and was on the road by 12:45.  Good work by all hands

The Real Story: It's all climate change

 Thus sayeth Chuckie the Schumer.  The reason the Texas power grid failed, they did not consider climate change in the design.  Yeah right, climate change is at fault for everything.  

   The reason for the Texas blackout is a lot of power plants failed. I am still seeing conflicting stories on just which plants went down when.  Some say the windmills failed.  Others say the natural gas suppliers failed causing the natural gas plant to shut down.  The Wall St Journal blames it on the windmills.  Another writer gives an hour by hour megawatt by megawatt account which shows the windmills shut down first, but they were not providing much juice and the natural gas plants dropped off line later.  

There are some questions that no one is talking about.  Such as.  Why did the windmills shut down?  Some people have mentioned icing in the cold weather.  How does a windmill get stopped by ice?  The rotor has enough torque to turn the alternator under load, surely that is enough torque to break any amount of ice that might be obstructing the rotation.  

What caused the natural gas supplies to stop?  Again people have mentioned freezing weather.  Natural gas won't freeze at any temperature a winter cold snap can reach. What did freeze?  Or do the natural gas pipelines rely upon electric power to pump the gas thru the pipe?  

We need to get to the real causes of the Texas blackout and then make sure that New Hampshire does not have the same problems. 

The Jungle Book 1942

 I found this in the cheap DVD bin at Wallymart some time ago.  Just got around to watching it this afternoon.  It's pretty good.  It is in Technicolor, which was state of the art in 1942.  Sabu stars as Mowgli.  No other names in the cast mean anything to me.  It was shot in India.   The animals are real animals, with training that is to be admired.  Shere Khan is particularly wild and dangerous looking.  The plot does not follow any Kipling story that I remember.  Sabu is a good looking beefy teenager, which is older than most of the later Jungle Book movies which show Mowgli as a kid about 12 years old.  Mowgli has a thing going with a cute girl from the village.  Anyhow if you are looking for a new flick to show the children, this will do the trick. 

So what is the real story about Texas power failure??

 Lotsa people blame the power failure on the windmills going off line.  The greenies blame the natural gas suppliers failing to provide gas causing the gas plants to drop off line.  Me, I suspect the windmills did it, but I don't have any solid evidence.  All I know is what I see on the 'net and on TV.  And I have not seen anything convincing there.

Some questions for the intrepid newsies the answer.

What is this talk about the windmills freezing up?  Do they use water for something?  What might that be?  Do they mean ice buildup is blocking their rotation?  How can that be, the windmill blades produce enough torque to turn an alternator under load, surely that is enough torque to break any amount of ice, anywhere?  

What is this talk about natural gas wells and pipelines freezing?  Natural gas does not freeze at any temperature a hard winter freeze can reach.  Is it water freezing somewhere??  What is water needed for in a gas pipeline??  

What is this talk about failure to winterize power plants?  What does winterization do for a power plant?