It may be the 4th of July, but we must remember that it’s Independence Day.
Life
thinking
“The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.”
-A.A. Milne
There are no safe places
Some guy is going on a robbery spree in South Austin.
AUSTIN (KXAN) – Austin police are looking for a man who has robbed three GameStops and one Subway restaurant — all in the past four days.
The suspect started his robbery spree at a Subway in the 2200 block of W. Ben White Boulevard on Monday.
Over the next few days, he robbed the following GameStops:
Tuesday – GameStop, 4477 South Lamar Boulevard
Wednesday – GameStop, 5601 Brodie Lane #990 (in Sunset Valley)
Thursday – GameStop 13000 N IH 35
In all four cases, the suspect entered the business, showed the cashier a weapon and demanded money. It does not appear that the suspect stole any games or equipment from the GameStop’s.
The suspect is described as:
Hispanic male
Light skinned
Early to mid-20’s
5’8″ in height
160-170 lbs.
Short black hair
Scruffy beard
The suspect was last seen wearing a white t-shirt with lettering on the front and dark jeans.If you notice the man in the picture, you are asked to call the Robbery tip line at (512) 974-5092, Crime Stoppers at (512) 472-TIPS or text “Tip 103” + your message to CRIMES. You may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000 if your tip leads to an arrest or charges being filed.
The one security camera picture of him? If the time/date is correct, it looks like the Lamar GameStop was robbed at 1:53 PM.
Many people have a belief that crime happens only in particular areas, in particular places, at particular times of day. True, statistically speaking there are areas, places, times of day that are more crime-filled than others. But no place is crime-free. All these places are in good neighborhoods, in “upscale” shopping centers, middle of the day, people around. Ask most people and most would consider it unthinkable for crime to happen here.
But it happens.
I say this not to scare folks, but to give folks reality. No place is truly safe, no place is crime-free. You have to be mindful always.
And if you have any information about these robberies or can identify the criminal, please notify the proper authorities.
I haz a… that’s life
First I hadz a sad. Then I hadz a happy.
But now… it iz what it iz.
Had a brief scare yesterday afternoon as Momma Muscovy (Diamond) lost 2 of her ducklings. They are “teenagers” now, and as teenagers do, they wandered off somewhere. This morning on my return from the gym I saw the whole family together again, preening.
But confirmed that Momma Mallard (Vanilla) only has 2 surviving ducklings. I checked the nest, and there are at least 2 dead ducklings, I imagine overcome by the intense heat we’ve had the past few days. But then where the other 2 are? No idea. They may have fallen to the heat as well, but since they are out and wandering around now, who knows where their bodies are and if they got scavenged.
Life is what it is.
I hope the best for the 2 newborns.
I haz a happy
Now I haz a happy.
Just went and checked on the nest. Looks like 5 more ducklings hatched overnight. Yes, one confirmed that didn’t make it, but 5 did. No idea if there are any more to come… hard to see the state of the eggs in the nest (are they shells? whole? in progress? duds? can’t tell right now). I reckon if we check again this evening, whatever we have by then will be the total.
I haz happy.
Travis County Burn Ban in Effect
There’s now a burn ban in effect in Travis County. Not surprising with the lack of rain, and the intense heat quickly drying everything out.
I know the 4th of July is a week away – and let’s not forget fireworks are illegal to use within the Austin city limits. As much as I love fireworks, as much as you think you’re safe, responsible, and it won’t happen to you, it just takes one errant spark or ember to make a tragedy. Fireworks sometimes are faulty, and YOU can’t control that fact. It’s not worth it.
I haz a sad
Mother Mallad Duck (Kiddos named her Vanilla since she’s a “pale” mallard) had a nest in a bed across the street.
It’s been some time since the eggs were laid, and on a whim last night I went to go check.
The eggs just started hatching! I saw one duckling, still wet. Another egg had a hole and you could see a chick trying to break out.
Squee!
Later that evening tho I went back to check on progress. I saw a duckling in a heap, head on the ground. I didn’t touch (Momma wouldn’t want me near anyways), but after watching for a little bit it was evident it was dead. I couldn’t tell if any other eggs hatched as Momma was hissing and puffing up and fanning everything out as if to cover things. So it’s likely more hatched, but won’t know until I can visually confirm.
My guess? Temperatures in Austin reached into the 100’s yesterday. According to the thermometer in my truck, it was 108 when I was first checking on them. Momma was panting hard… it was hot hot hot. I’m thinking the little one just succumbed to the heat.
Witih temperatures expected to remain so high the next few days, this doesn’t look good for the little ones.
I haz a sad. 😦
Updated: I haz happy.
Smokin’
Woke up around 4:30 AM.
Lit the charcoal. It’s makes it easy to get started.
Took the briskets out of the fridge. These are from the calf we recently bought. I thought about only doing one, but like all cuts from a calf, they’re smaller than you’re used to. If I’m going to run this much fire, might as well do them both. They’ve been sitting in the fridge for about 24 hours with dry rubs. Didn’t feel like putting my own rubs together, so I’m trying two commercial seasonings/rubs. One is rubbed with Good Shit. The other with McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning. They might turn out awesome. They might suck. Either way it just means one must make more brisket in the future. Either way it’s a fun experiment. I am expecting the Good Shit to turn out pretty nice. No idea how the Grill Mates will turn out given how salty it is.
Around 5:20 or so the charcoal was ashy. Threw a few good-sized chunks of mesquite wood on as well as a nice oak log. I’ll be working to keep the temp in the 200 to 250 degree range all day. I’ll use mesquite and oak for the first couple hours, then oak only the rest of the day. I really like the flavor mesquite imparts into beef, but I also found if that’s all you use for long smokes like this it can be overpowering or even too much and get bitter. Oak works great for long smokes.
After another 20 minutes or so to stabilize the temps and ensure the wood caught, put on the briskets. I’ll check every hour or so. After the first few hours, I’ll wrap them loosely in foil. I usually don’t do that, but given how small these guys are compared to regular brisket as well as how tender the meat is from the get go, something tells me that’s a wise thing to do. The plan is to smoke them 10-12 hours.
Poured myself a Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale. Never tried it before. May not try it again. It’s a good ale in and of itself, but I’m so damn tired of everyone trying to make the most bitter, most hoppy beer. I had no idea when I saw the bottle in the store… that’ll learn me. Tho while at the store I also picked up some Brooklyn Lager. Never had that either, but it’s been on my radar so I figured why not try it.
Once everyone else in the house is awake, I have salsa to make.
We received about a pound of tomatillos in our CSA box this week. Wife found a simple roasted tomatillo & garlic salsa recipe online, so I’ll give that a try. We also had peppers and tomatoes and other goodies in the box, so I’ll also throw together a basic tomato salsa. Just tomatoes, a couple serranos (those were the peppers in the box), onion, garlic, cilantro, some lime juice, salt. Whirr it in the blender to smooth it out but still be somewhat chunky. No idea of the proportions… just going to wing it. 🙂
Should be a good day.
Socialization
Whenever people learn we homeschool our kids, the follow-up response tends to be something asking about…
Socialization.
“But what about socialization?”
My response these days is that we let our children out of the dungeon for 30 minutes a day, they get to walk the perimeter of the yard twice, eyes downward, then it’s back into the cage.
Usually that response works because people see the exaggeration and realize the absurdity of not only my response, but their question. But for a moment yes, this is about what people think. That just because our kids don’t spend 8+ hours a day surrounded by others of their age that somehow our children will turn out socially retarded.
Today I hear about this story, of a 68-year-old bus monitor receiving all manner of abuse from middle-school kids.
Here’s the original video
What sort of socialization leads to this sort of behavior? Where 13-year-olds find it not just acceptable — but enjoyable — to abuse and drive an elderly woman to cry.
I refuse to allow my children to be around this is the sort of socalization.
So yeah… what about “socialization”?
on testing and qualification
ToddG reveals something that many wouldn’t like to know — the truth about police shooting qualification courses.
For the non-gun public, I think the thing they’ll probably be shocked to realize is how little many police forces actually shoot their guns, and how when standards are made “more realistic” lots of cops can’t pass the minimum requirements.
The anti-gun folk say things like only police should have guns… you know, people with training and skill. You would be shocked to see how many don’t have either. Just because your job requires you to have a gun doesn’t mean you can use it (effectively). Conversely, just because you’re a normal Joe Citizen doesn’t mean you don’t have nor can’t acquire good gun handling skills, and their skill level can surpass those who have “gun” in their job description.
This is not to say it’s this way across the board. Many police officers are good shots, and a lot of PD’s are realizing a need to up the ante — which is ultimately the crux of Todd’s article.
What’s sad is when people blame the test instead of looking at themselves. It’s like anything in life. If something fails or goes wrong, where does the blame first go? It ought to be on you, to examine yourself and see what you can do better.
But it’s like any sort of mandated government “test”, be it a police qual or be it standardized testing. There’s lots of politics, lots of wrangling, and lots of weight put onto the test — even if the test has nothing to do with anything in the real world. But because such weight is put onto the test, all “education” then becomes is prepping for the test. So we don’t prepare people for the real world, we just prepare them for a test that really doesn’t matter much in the world — but it matters to some pencil-pusher or politician somewhere.
Well, at least in this area of life it seems some are trying to get it and improve the way things are.
Stuff From Hsoi 