melting pot

 

Six pounds of newly alloyed aluminum bronze ready for casting.

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Something to consider...

Psalms 8:1  O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; 8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. 9 O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!  

Moley and friends...

 

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Bundling...

Decided to get a few more items for my "smart home".  Couldn't pass up this bundle deal from Amazon for $219.00.  Purchased individually, all these items would cost $369.95.  Will save a little more by re-selling the indoor camera that I don't really "need" (truth be told - I really don't "need" any of this as I have survived just fine my whole life without any of these items.  I just "need" new things to keep me amused - and the technology and price point perfectly foot the bill).  Video soon of how they will be put to work at TFL.  52,59,35,0,W

The $2500 shower...

 

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about to join the rest of the civilized world...

 

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feed me...

 

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for my evening viewing pleasure...

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good advice...

 Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.

Thursday and Friday...together

 

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armed...

 

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for my dumb home...

 

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more skulls...

 

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tomato season is still on...

 

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nothing blocking the view up there...

The first thing Starlink instructs you to do is check your area for obstructions that might block the dish's view of the sky - like trees or tall buildings. Neither of those to worry about here. I mounted my Starlink dish on the roof to avoid problems with javelinas, burros, and rabbits. Shot this slow pan with one of these. 65,73,29,0,B

The Periodic Table of Faith

 

adaptive...

Still pretty happy with Starlink.  No issues so far.  Planning on cutting the cord to Big Bend Telephone in another 2 weeks.  For now, I am waiting to hear back from complaints I filed with the FCC and the Texas Public Utilities Commission on whether or not BBT has to allow me to port my old landline number over to a cell phone.  A representative at BBT told me they do not allow it.  Seems the FCC instituted a law in 2003 that stated land based and cell phone networks must allow numbers to "change hands" between all carriers, but certain small wireline carriers were granted a waiver until the FCC could conclude and publish a study of the effects of number porting on them.  I can't find anything online about the verdict of "the study" and it has been almost 20 years since it was announced.  It could very well be that BBT has to allow it now, but they just don't know that yet.  I'm really not that attached to my phone number, but I would really like to know for sure if in fact I will have to get a new number when I get the cell phone.  In the meantime, I just received my Starlink ethernet adapter.  The Starlink router is Wi-Fi only, so I ordered this in case I ever want (or need) a wired line to it.  The adapter was only 20 bucks.  48,54,45,0,W

tile'n'grout

 

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Moley

Making himself at home...

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Govee

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more smart lighting...

 

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surplus...

 

Anyone care to guess what these are?  

Hint: they were very important to me when I first moved here...

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trouble sleeping?

Proverbs 3:19 The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. 20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. 21 My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: 22 So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. 23 Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. 24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. 

In the zone...

Fifteen tomato plants from the two I bought 3 years ago.  Keeping them from freezing in here while we still have frosty nights.  They may look a little ratty, but they have lots of new growth popping up.  47,54,16,0,C

telecommunications...

Hmmm...looks like I will be finally be making the move to a cell phone after all these years.  If all goes well with Starlink for the next 30 days, I am going to cut the cord to my Big Bend Telephone service.  Right now I am paying $101/month for phone and slow DSL.  Just phone service alone with unlimited long distance from my land line would be $57/month - so if I keep Starlink and cut off just my DSL, my monthly nut for phone and internet would be $156/month.  If I do away with BBT altogether and make the switch to Mint Mobile (big fan of Ryan Reynolds), I will have high speed internet and unlimited calling for $114/month - and a smart phone that will work just about anywhere.  When I am home where there is no cell service, I can access the network with wifi calling.  I will even be able to keep my old land line phone number by porting it over to Mint Mobile when I cut the cord.  They are currently running a special with $50 off select smart phones as long as I pay for 12 months of service in advance.  At $15/month for unlimited calling and texts and 4 GB data (the data cap isn't an issue since I plan on using it as a phone only), the total package for the $50 off smart phone I have in mind (Samsung Galaxy A01) and 12 months of service would be $249 (phone $69 + service $180). 

In the meantime, I dug up the old phone I got with TracFone service that I bought for one of my doctor trips to Odessa 5 years ago.  The service is no longer active on it.  While researching phone options, I came across an app that allows an old smart phone to make VoIP calls.  Installed TextNow and signed up for a FREE account.  Made and received a couple of calls with it and they were crystal clear.  I was pleasantly surprised as I had tried MagicJack 12 years ago and at the time, the call quality was kind of crappy.  Since TextNow is free, I thought I would give it a try just for fun.  This isn't really an option in place of a new phone and cell service with Mint Mobile as VoIP 911 service is a bit convoluted and unreliable and this old smart phone does not have the wifi calling feature in the settings menu to use it with a mobile phone service provider.  I guess I can use it as a backup phone.  34,41,18,0,C

Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day is supposed to be the day we get a sign of whether or not we are in for 6 more weeks of winter.  Funny thing is - today is our first real taste of winter for this year with below freezing temperatures that will last about 30 hours straight.  Got .13" of rain last night but it ended before it was cold enough to turn to snow.  After a small rise to the low 40's tomorrow afternoon, we are due to hit rock bottom for the year at around 20° Saturday morning - climbing to the low 50's by that afternoon.  Looks like we will be back in the 60's next week.  Pretty cloudy yesterday and today so I had to run my generator a little last night and this morning to give my batteries a bump.  The new power draw is the Starlink router pulling about 110 watts AC.  My old BBT router was only about 40 watts.  Starting to brighten up a bit this afternoon so I am back with a net gain from my solar panels.  15 tomato plants are resting comfortably in their protected zone in the greenhouse - kept from freezing (at around 45°) by the heat of my old propane grill on low.

So today is Groundhog Day.  The Field Lab bunny did not see his shadow this morning.  Take that to mean whatever you like... 

news from the hood

This guy was just a kid when I lived in this apartment building.  These apartments are 300 sq ft and he grew up here with a brother and 2 little girls and a little boy that were cousins - and their grandparents.  The mothers of the kids dumped them to be raised by the grandparents who were from the Dominican Republic and didn't speak any English.  The two little girls both ended up getting pregnant and having kids by the time they were 15 and I have no idea what became of them.  When I lived there, the guy (that was just arrested) got a scholarship to a college in Indiana and was the first in the family to get a shot at college.  I remember the day he left for school, the grandmother thought she was having a heart attack because she was so distraught about him leaving home.  He ended up getting expelled a few months later for having alcohol on campus and came home and ended up becoming a heroin addict.  He is still a junkie to this day.  His older brother died of an overdose about 5 years ago.  The grandparents died many years ago and this guy ended up inheriting a great deal on a rent-controlled apartment.  To be honest, I am surprised he is still alive.  44,59,54,0,B

pressure test before the tile...

 

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