Astronomers are taking a closer look at interstellar space object Oumuamua. Might it really be a probe from … out there? I usually dismiss such claims as media and true-believer overreaction, but this is definitely an odd one. Like Wendy McElroy, I’m glad Roy Moore lost yesterday. Whether he’s a pedo-predator remains unproven. That he’s a theocratic demagogue is fact. A Vice investigation reveals that shootings by cop are far more common than previously reported. Now it’s a matter of distinguishing righteous shootings from the activities of Officer Thug and Officer I Am Scared. How “smart” do you want your…
Author: Claire
Home improvement marathon yesterday after a slow start. (The Wandering Monk does not do either mornings or Mondays.) In two sweaty hours we insulated the attic above the kitchen and living room — me running up and down the ladder with 12-inch thick fiberglass batts and the Monk putting them in place. Normally my lungs and throat object to fiberglass even when I’m properly masked. But for some reason both the Monk and I both did okay. Any day I can handle insulation without hacking and gagging is a good day. It’s noticeably warmer in here already. After insulating, we…
You know how Joel writes so entertainingly over at TUAK about those days when everything goes haywire? When mad bulls charge into his yard while he’s lying in the mud fixing busted plumbing and his homemade bread is in the house caving in while packrats are eating the wiring on his Jeep? Those days. Joel days. So I closed the computer earlyish this morning, pledging to work on the new RebelFire story. But of course I can’t write until the house is clean. So I start cleaning. And organizing. Which reminds me that since my second backup heat source is…
Well, that’s saying a lot, isn’t it? And maybe saying way too much in an era of daily debacles. But yesterday’s many hours of CNN-driven fake news were pretty much inexcusable. As is the network’s embarrassing refusal to reveal how they perpetrated their “mistake.” Glenn Greenwald gives a good explanation.
Since I had the afternoon off from home improvement (thanks to the Monk’s malfunctioning truck), I thought I’d get a few useful things done. Ava and I have walked in the sunshine and I’m headed to the drug store shortly to get myself shot up a pneumonia vaccine. Meantime, I finally — almost — talked PayPal into doing something I badly needed it to do. Now before I explain this PayPal something, let me reiterate that I am not-not-not soliciting donations. I’m sitting quite pretty at the moment (thanks to the usual help from my friends) and won’t be having…
The Wandering Monk returns later this morning. I have him here for two ambitious days. We’re going to try to: Insulate 500+ square feet of attic; Prepare the ground for a new propane tank; Frame the closet for the bedroom-to-be; Finish drywalling the bedroom (just one more sheet) and drywall the new closet, both inside and out (the back of the closet also being a wall in the laundry room); And I’m going to attempt to finish the bedroom ceiling as the Monk interrupts his other work to help with tricky cuts and removing/solving various weirdities that are interfering completion…
You should hear this from me before you hear it from them (via an email you’ll receive tomorrow). I’ll also be posting this on my Patreon page. As of December 18, Patreon will be adding a surcharge of 2.9% plus $0.35 to your monthly pledge. I realize this isn’t what you signed up for and that it will seriously change the picture, especially for some of you $1 or $2 patrons. I’ll understand completely if you withdraw your pledges. This isn’t actually a new fee, believe it or not. Previously, we Patreon creators have been charged a 5% flat fee…