Saturday Morning -- September 30, 2017 -- Taking The Day Off

Active rigs:

$51.64	9/30/2017	09/30/2016	09/30/2015	09/30/2014	09/30/2013
Active Rigs	58	33	68	190	184

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Taking The Day Off?

I can't decide whether to take the day off from blogging. It's an incredibly beautiful day here in north Texas, and a lot of family activities scheduled. And I have tons of reading to do.

So, for now, I will stop posting but start again later in the morning if the spirit moves me.

By the way, for the archives, and for the bragging rights with the time-date stamp: the tea leaves suggest a compromise has been reached, and two US Supreme Court justices have agreed to step down after this term. I did not see the interview, but those who did, suggest a Mona-Lisa moment. Cryptic? Yup, and wickedly fun.

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Nothing New Under The Sun

Guess when this was written, by whom, and where published:

The school shortage, the teacher shortage, the job shortage, the housing shortage, the hospital shortage, the power shortage, the shortage of roads, the forthcoming fight of labor for a guaranteed annual wage, the controversy over increased mechanization of industry, the disputes over wage rates, farm income, old age pensions, health insurance, and development of our national resources -- all go back to the fact that America has a severe case of growing pains.

The writer warned that if the economy slumped ... the United States might suffer a steep decline...America would struggle to care and prepare for its teeming masses, especially its poor and elderly, and lose its edge over the Russians. 

Those pesky Russians, again.

Answer here, page 196 from the source at this post.

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Wow, I Love Technology

I just got back from a half-day bike ride. I left earlier this morning and have been on the road until now (4:07 p.m. Central time). I stopped many, many places along the way, stopping to say "hi" to friends and re-hydrating, as they say.

I walked in the door and jumped on the computer, and my first google: nascar today. And, immediately, up pops: 7:00 p.m. tonight, Las Vegas. Amazing. If I had an Apple Watch I could have asked Siri.

I then googled: station showing nascar today.  Answer: FS1.

Yup, you guessed it, I googled: station FS1 on. Answer: any number of possibilities but most likely "channel 400." I didn't even know if our "package" included "channel 400."

It does, and I'm happy.

I've quit watching all sports for the time being except NASCAR and maybe  a little golf (I won't watch the President's Cup -- I don't like that format) and maybe a little baseball. Hopefully MLB players don't take a knee just as we enter the playoffs.

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Wow, I Hate Technology

I really, really want two new Apple products, maybe three:

• a new iPad;
• an iPhone, probably the SE; and, 
• an Apple Watch....

... but I've decided against all of them. First, it would involve another credit check and with the Equifax thing, I don't need to do anything right now, at least until this is all sorted out.

But, that's really not the big "thing" that keeps me from buying a new iPad, iPhone, or Apple Watch. I just don't want the hassle of:

• syncing everything;
• putting another Apple gadget in "the cloud";
• setting up the app to locate the gadget if misplaced; and,
• dealing with any glitch.

The first three issues ("syncing"; "the cloud"; and, the app) are not the big problems. I just find the whole process tedious. If I had a "geek butler" I would do that. Elton John says he does not have a cell phone. When asked how he can survive without a cell phone he says that usually one of his security folks has a phone he can borrow. LOL. Only in my dreams.

No, the really big reason why I don't want to purchase a new Apple gadget is I'm so obsessive-compulsive. I assume there will be no problems with any Apple product, but if there's any glitch it is so frustrating to have to "work" the glitches.

So, my series 2 iPad (way, way out of date) will still have to do; my Samsung clam shell (about ten years old) will still have to do, and no Apple Watch.

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Next To Go

For a list of statues that are due to be toppled; memorials to be removed; and parks, grasslands, mountains, forests to be renamed, go to this site. The good news: North Dakota has only one site at risk. The bad news: South Dakota has several sites at risk as does Montana.

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Short Takes

Emblematic of the EU.

Louisiana justice.

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Worth Re-Posting

On Route 66 to Oatman, going south from Kingman, Arizona