Wordle 1625 Hint

Hint: Today's Wordle is hot -- and it's not a dry heat.

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First Letter: M

Not Enough To Ruin The Series ...

... but they do bug me: Easily avoided errors in television writing.

In the case of NCIS, the errors are usually concerning fairly mundane military matters.

Yeah, I'm watching NCIS. I managed to go more than two decades without ever doing so, but after checking out the prequel spin-off NCIS Origins and liking it, I decided "why not," and have been watching an episode or two when I have nothing better to do for months now. Not terrible.

I'm in season six, and there were just two such errors in about 30 seconds.

1. "Joined the Marines four months ago. Scheduled for deployment next week."
2. A number, nine digits followed by the letter G. "Could be a military service number" (and it is).

As of 2008 (when season six of the show aired and was seemingly set), Marine Corps boot camp was 13 weeks long. That's more than three months right there.

Since 1989, all male Marines (and since 2018, all female Marines) attend Marine Combat Training after boot camp.

And then there's MOS school, the shortest of which are a month or so long (I haven't reached the part of the episode, if there is one, where the Marine's MOS is mentioned).

So we're well past five months already, even if the guy reported to boot camp the day he signed the enlistment contract ... which doesn't happen. That's usually at least a month, and many people enlist under the "delayed entry program" which gives them up to a year before boot camp.

No, the guy was not scheduled for deployment five weeks after joining the Marine Corps.*

As for the nine digits, followed by a G, being a "military service number" -- specifically that of Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the main character in NCIS -- no. Gibbs, according to the series timeline, joined the Marine Corps in 1976. The Marine Corps stopped handing out service numbers on January 1, 1972 (since then, your "service number" is your Social Security number).

Either the show didn't have a Marine-fluent military advisor for their writers, at least at that time, or they didn't have a very good one.

* I know what you're thinking -- maybe the guy did a hitch in the Army, Navy, or Air Force, then joined the Marine Corps and didn't have to go to boot camp. Nope -- a Marine can skip boot camp when moving to one of the other branches, but not vice versa. Ditto MCT. Maybe -- maybe -- MOS school in some cases, but boot camp and MCT already take up more than four months anyway, even assuming zero time between enlistment and shipping out to a Marine Corps Recruit Depot. 

Ah, now I see the catch

One thing I hadn't thought about before ordering a 1080p projector: How much power does it use?

According to Microsoft Copilot, an 18,000-lumen, 1080p projector typically consumes 250-400 watts, while a 55" LED television averages 80 watts.

So, setting aside power draw for external speakers, at the low end I'd get four hours of viewing per kilowatt hour out of the projector, 12.5 hours of viewing per kilowatt hour out of the TV.

Not a huge raw cost difference (right now, my utility charges 9.3 cents per kilowatt hours for usages above 1,000 kilowatt hours per month), especially since I will probably mostly use the projector when watching something with Tamara. When I'm by myself, one of my 24" computer monitors (20-40 watts and usually on anyway) will be just fine for anything except a recently released blockbuster.

Wordle 1624 Hint

Hint: In a(nother) word, surly.

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First Letter: G

How's Your Black Friday Shopping Going?

I bought a little bit of this, a little bit of that at "early Black Friday" pricing as we started moving into the new house (a process that isn't complete but that we made a lot of progress on this week; the really large furniture is here now and we're down to stuff that can be carried in or on the family vehicles). Other than my new monitors, it was all just household stuff that I decided to replace instead of move.

Last night, I made my one gratuitous ... sort of ... Black Friday purchase:  A supposedly "regular price $199.99" 1080p projector for $19.99, with a screen for it for $10 or so (I don't remember the normal price).

Our current "living room TV" is an older 55" Sanyo that belongs to my daughter (she donated it for household use when someone damaged my nice 55" Roku TV a few years ago while we were rearranging the living room). Pretty bulky even for a flat screen, and since we're moving into a pretty large living room I was thinking of getting something newer and larger. I was window-shopping 75" TVs when it occurred to me to consider a projector. Which, even absent the Black Friday deal, costs hundreds of dollars less.

In theory, I can position the projector 6-10 feet from the wall (probably on the coffee table in front of the couch), plug my Roku into it, and and get an 80-100" picture.

For "better than stock TV" sound, we have an older Sony soundbar that's been showing its age, sometimes cutting out, etc., and probably needs to just get thrown away. A couple of years ago, I picked up a pretty nice Bluetooth speaker cabinet for $5 at a garage sale. It's just "pretty nice" instead of "really nice" because its internal battery no longer holds a charge, which explains the $5 price tag. Other than that, it's solid. Since it's going in my living room, not on a tailgate at a football game, I can just plug it into the wall outlet. At least that's what I'm going to start with, to see how it works out.

If that setup works out, we'll have a 100" screen (if that's the size we settle on), and decent sound, taking up very little space and costing about $35 altogether.

If it doesn't work out, I'll go back to the 55" TV for at least a little while, and maybe we can use the projector for movie nights in the back yard or something. The cheapest 75" TV I'm seeing on sale is $400 or so; $35 doesn't seem like a bad bet.

Wordle 1623 Hint

Hint: Ongoing infant disconsolation.

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First Letter: C

NFL Week 13 Picks

Week 13 of the NFL season kicks off this afternoon with Thanksgiving football -- three games starting at 1pm Eastern. My picks:

• Detroit Lions beat Green Bay Packers
• Kansas City Chiefs beat Dallas Cowboys
• Baltimore Ravens beat Cincinnati Bengals
• Chicago Bears beat Philadelphia Eagles*
• San Francisco 49ers beat Cleveland Browns
• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Tennessee Titans
• Indianapolis Colts beat Houston Texans
• Miami Dolphins beat New Orleans Saints
• Atlanta Falcons beat New York Jets
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Arizona Cardinals
• Los Angeles Rams beat Carolina Panthers
• Seattle Seahawks beat Minnesota Vikings
• Buffalo Bills beat Pittsburgh Steelers
• Los Angeles Chargers beat Las Vegas Raiders
• Denver Broncos beat Washington Commanders
• New England Patriots beat New York Giants

"Upset" picks --  predicted outcomes that go against the majority picks among those playing ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em game as of the time I make my picks -- are marked with asterisks. If I change any picks, I will do so before the games in question kick off and clearly mark changes as changes in updates to this post.

Wordle 1622 Hint

Hint: Pay up (if you owe), or cancel a demand to pay up (if you're owed).

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First Letter: R

Wordle 1621 Hint

Hint: Not much of a house. Not a very big house. Not a very nice house. But hey, it's a house.

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First Letter: H

NFL Week 12 Results

Nine right, five wrong for the week. Correct picks in green, incorrect picks in red. I'm in the 76.1st percentile among players in ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em Game.

• Buffalo Bills beat Houston Texans
• Chicago Bears beat Pittsburgh Steelers
• New England Patriots beat Cincinnati Bengals
• Detroit Lions beat New York Giants
• Minnesota Vikings beat Green Bay Packers*
• Seattle Seahawks beat Tennessee Titans
• Kansas City Chiefs beat Indianapolis Colts
• Baltimore Ravens beat New York Jets
• Las Vegas Raiders beat Cleveland Browns
• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Arizona Cardinals
• Philadelphia Eagles beat Dallas Cowboys
• Atlanta Falcons beat New Orleans Saints
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Los Angeles Rams*
• San Francisco 49ers beat Carolina Panthers

Wordle 1620 Hint

Hint: What a defendant is expected to do when arraigned.

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First Letter: P

Wordle 1619 Hint

Hint: If you want to bake bread, you're really gonna knead today's Wordle to get started.

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First Letter: D

Wordle 1618 Hint

Hint: What's up, Doc? Today's Wordle is brought to you by my friend Bugs.

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First Letter: B

A Mundane But Satisfying "New Home"/Holiday Purchase

Part of the moving strategy is looking at things we have, deciding whether we need those things or can donate them to Goodwill (or throw them in the trash), and if we need those things, deciding whether to keep the versions we have or buy new ones.

Our 6-quart slow cooker is pretty old (we've had it since before we moved to Florida 13 years ago), its exterior has a dent in it (from that move), and I anecdotally notice over the last couple of years that its slow cooking is, well, slower (heating element starting to give up, maybe?).

And Thanksgiving is next Thursday. We generally cook a ham for family holiday dinners*, and I like to do that in a slow cooker, with half a can of Dr. Pepper for the liquid, and the ham lightly dusted with brown sugar.

Also, our new house has recently installed appliances -- refrigerator, range, dishwasher, over-the-range microwave -- all Whirlpool, all in stainless steel.

On a quick search, Whirlpool doesn't seem to make a slow cooker. But I came across a pretty good "early Black Friday deal" on Amazon (not an affiliate link) that at least matches the stainless steel part:

So that's on the way.

* We very seldom cook a whole turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas. More trouble than it's worth, and both Tamara and I really just like sandwiches from the leftover turkey much better than the holiday meal turkey itself. Sometimes we buy and cook a turkey breast, then pull/shred it, throw it in the fridge, and have turkey sandwiches for a few days as if we'd done a holiday turkey.

Wordle 1617 Hint

Hint: "Dumb as a post," brick version.

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First Letter: T

Quoth Captain Obvious ...

24" monitors are bigger than 19" monitors ...

I just didn't realize how much bigger they would feel in action. Definitely no more eyestrain ... and much better than the 14" Chromebook screen I used to work when I was at the new place the last few days.

While I was moving and renovating anyway, I bought a bracket to attach my Linux mini PC to the back of the right monitor instead of dedicating desk space to it. The Raspberry Pi (with a small keyboard and mouse) fits under the right riser and is plugged into the right monitor. I don't use it often, but sometimes I like to mess with it.

I'm going to have to cut a piece of 5/8" plywood to out under the left risers to level things up. I broke up a piece of sheet rock I found lying in the shed so that I could get things set up today instead of waiting.

Wordle 1616 Hint

Hint: There are five, sometimes, six, of these. You'll find three (including the occasional sixth) in the word "honey."

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First Letter: V

Pseudonymous Trolls Are Sometimes Actually Helpful!

I meant to order my two new $59.99 24" computer monitors -- actually televisions -- last week, but completely forgot as I was busy with other matters related to the move.

Then one of the trolls (or, more likely, one of the sock puppet names used by a single pseudonymous trolls) decided to play the "can you afford $600" card again (based on a past post about why I wouldn't pay $600 for a monitor when the $60 TV does just what I need anyway).

Thanks, pseudonymous troll! I just ordered two of these (not an affiliate link). I ordered through Amazon, but am picking them up in a couple of hours at my local Best Buy.

It makes more sense to get these during the move than to wait. I knew I was going to do it soon, but why get my desktop rig all set up, cabled, etc., with the old monitors, then have to tear it down again? This way I'll just have to do it once.

They're Amazon Fire TVs, but I doubt I'll use that functionality. If I want to watch TV, I'll do it on the living room big screen, which we have a Roku and an antenna attached to. They're "only" 720p rather than 1080 or 4k, but really how much resolution do you need for editing text, etc.? Even for watching TV, back before I upgraded to an unlimited bandwidth plan, I streamed at SDTV resolution and didn't find it burdensome.

I Think I May Just Keep It This Way

I've mostly been riding the Italica Bulldog 150 rather than the Lifan KP Mini 150 when running back and forth between the new house and the old house. It's a fairly short distance, and that storage compartment means I can carry a few small items.

Yesterday, I ran to a nearby store (there's a small town less than two miles from the new house) for some quick groceries. Wearing a backpack for bread, chips, cold cuts, etc., I was able to fit a 12-pack of soda in that storage compartment.

Today, I put the top box on the Bulldog, meaning I can carry even more, with no need for a backpack. I previously only used that for long/multi-day trips, but I think I'll just leave it on (and hit the attaching bolts with thread locker). The Bulldog will be my permanent "around town / cargo" bike, and the Mini will be my permanent "longer trips (with saddlebags as needed) / fun" bike.

NFL Week 12 Picks

Week 12 of the NFL season kicks off tonight as the Buffalo Bills presumably wallop the Houston Texans. My picks:

• Buffalo Bills beat Houston Texans
• Chicago Bears beat Pittsburgh Steelers
• New England Patriots beat Cincinnati Bengals
• Detroit Lions beat New York Giants
• Minnesota Vikings beat Green Bay Packers*
• Seattle Seahawks beat Tennessee Titans
• Kansas City Chiefs beat Indianapolis Colts
• Baltimore Ravens beat New York Jets
• Las Vegas Raiders beat Cleveland Browns
• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Arizona Cardinals
• Philadelphia Eagles beat Dallas Cowboys
• Atlanta Falcons beat New Orleans Saints
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Los Angeles Rams*
• San Francisco 49ers beat Carolina Panthers

"Upset" picks --  predicted outcomes that go against the majority picks among those playing ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em game as of the time I make my picks -- are marked with asterisks. If I change any picks, I will do so before the games in question kick off and clearly mark changes as changes in updates to this post.

Wordle 1615 Hint

Hint: I think I found a dead body in today's Wordle! No, really, I'm serious -- very serious!

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First Letter: G

Wordle 1614 Hint

Hint: We're supposed (according to some) to prepare prior to dying for a meeting with today's Wordle.

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First Letter: M

NFL Week 11 Results

Not a bad week -- 11 right, four wrong. Correct picks in green, incorrect picks in red. I'm in the 76.3rd percentile among players in ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em Game.

• New England Patriots beat New York Jets

• Miami Dolphins beat Washington Commanders

• Atlanta Falcons beat Carolina Panthers

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Buffalo Bills*

• Houston Texans beat Tennessee Titans

• Chicago Bears beat Minnesota Vikings*

• Green Bay Packers beat New York Giants

• Pittsburgh Steelers beat Cincinnati Bengals

• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Los Angeles Chargers*

• Los Angeles Rams beat Seattle Seahawks

• San Francisco 49ers beat Arizona Cardinals

• Baltimore Ravens beat Cleveland Browns

• Kansas City Chiefs beat Denver Broncos

• Detroit Lions beat Philadelphia Eagles

• Dallas Cowboys beat Las Vegas Raiders

The Chiefs' loss to the Broncos was disappoint, but not terribly surprising.

Chilly Morning Ride ...

... after the first night sleeping at the new house. Very dark and very quiet out there, although the other night my daughter was there, heard a noise, and discovered that a deer had wandered in the open gate and was trying to find its way back out. So now she knows to keep the gate closed.

Got up this morning before 4:30am (my usual latest rising time), got my first block of morning work done, and realized I hadn't thought to bring my morning prescription medicines with me. Otherwise I'd have waited until later in the day to return to what's now effectively the "prior residence" for various chores.

I don't mind riding in 40-degree weather, but 6:30am is a non-optimal ride time in any weather for this area. The morning traffic surge on the main road into Gainesville (which happens to also be the main stretch of road between the two houses) is only just beginning, but public school buses are already out and creating the "hurry up and wait" effect. That didn't occur to me until I had already passed the "shortcut" turnoff onto a less-traveled route that brings me out at a stoplight.

Wordle 1613 Hint

Hint: Once you've heard today's Wordle:

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First Letter: O

Starlink Speeds Are ... Highly Variable

I've got the "Residential" service, which supposedly gets satellite priority over "Residential Lite" (that seems to be the only difference), but nonetheless it's a wide range of download speed -- from 50ish Mbps to 400-ish. As I'm typing this, I'm seeing 300+ (using the "speed test" function in my Starlink phone app).

I've been working over the Starlink connection for a couple of hours now and haven't had any "not connected" moments yet. Other than that I'm working on my obsolete 14" Chromebook without the travel monitor attached (I probably won't move my desktop rig to the new house until the weekend), overall pretty pleasant.

Another referral link shill-fest: If you purchase their Internet service through this link, you get a free month and so do I. Unless there are regional variations in price, their "Residential" service is $120 per month, "Residential Lite" is $80 per month.  I went with the higher tier because my household has at least one, often two, people using the Internet most of the time (there's probably about a 4-hour period out of any given 24 when there's no one working, gaming, or streaming), and lots of whining if it's slow ... and the higher tier still costs about $30 per month less than Cox Cable's highest-speed, unlimited bandwidth plan (yes, cable -- no fiber available at the previous house).

Naturally, the day after the Starlink equipment arrived, one of my new neighbors told me she had a card in her mailbox saying that Cox is here now (they weren't as of early last week). So far I'm glad that they didn't catch me before I went with Starlink. Once the generator is set up, power and cable outages won't knock us offline.

Wordle 1612 Hint

Hint: Try to hold it together this morning while working on today's Wordle -- which, by the way, refers to a device for holding things together.

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First Letter: C

And THAT's Done, Too

This is post #650 for the year, meaning that even if I take the rest of the year off, I'll have met my post goal.

I won't take the rest of the year off, but huzzah and all that.

So, That's Done

Got Starlink setup and activated at the new house. Yes, that is a referral link -- if you use it to sign up with them, each of us gets a free month. Heck, for a free month of service, I'm happy to include a QR code:

The setup took a little while (mostly Starlink powering up, connecting, and self-configuring), but wasn't very difficult. Set the dish on the ground on its "kickstand," run a proprietary cable (15 meters long) to the router, plug the router's power supply in, create a wifi network in the Starlink phone app, then you get an hour of Internet service that you can use to set up your account. While you can use the Starlink app to figure out your best placement/direction before doing any of that, you can also tweak it for absolute best reception using the app once you're up and running. I'd say that the whole thing took less than half an hour, including running the cable under the house from the router location to the dish location.

I can't really comment on performance yet; there was a software update to install, and my understanding is that the speeds actually get better after using it a bit as Starlink picks out the satellites you're best connected to for optimal performance. And I was running it on my phone and on an old Chromebook, neither of which are really very fast no matter how they're connected. I'll know more when I get my work rig set up over there, which should be within the next week

As long as the performance is at all acceptable, I'll be happy -- not only is it cheaper than my current ISP, but I don't have to worry about my ISP's cables going down in a storm.

Wordle 1611 Hint

Hint: A fancier version of "use," often referring to weaponry or influence.

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First Letter: W

Wordle 1610 Hint

Hint: That time when you held on tightly.

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First Letter: C

Wordle 1609 Hint

Hint: If I described today's Wordle in shocking, sensational detail, today's Wordle is how you'd describe my description.

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First Letter: L

NFL Week 11 Picks

Week 11 of the NFL season starts tonight when the Jets and Patriots face off. My picks:

• New England Patriots beat New York Jets
• Miami Dolphins beat Washington Commanders
• Atlanta Falcons beat Carolina Panthers
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Buffalo Bills*
• Houston Texans beat Tennessee Titans
• Chicago Bears beat Minnesota Vikings*
• Green Bay Packers beat New York Giants
• Pittsburgh Steelers beat Cincinnati Bengals
• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Los Angeles Chargers*
• Los Angeles Rams beat Seattle Seahawks
• San Francisco 49ers beat Arizona Cardinals
• Baltimore Ravens beat Cleveland Browns
• Kansas City Chiefs beat Denver Broncos
• Detroit Lions beat Philadelphia Eagles
• Dallas Cowboys beat Las Vegas Raiders

"Upset" picks --  predicted outcomes that go against the majority picks among those playing ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em game as of the time I make my picks -- are marked with asterisks. If I change any picks, I will do so before the games in question kick off and clearly mark changes as changes in updates to this post.

A Thought on the Situation Room Situation: What if it's Really Not About Trump?

According to a CNN "exclusive":

Top Trump administration officials met Wednesday with a key GOP lawmaker about an effort in the US House to force a vote on releasing Justice Department case files related to Jeffrey Epstein, according to multiple sources familiar with the meeting. ... A source familiar confirmed the meeting in the Situation Room included [US Representative Lauren] Boebert, who has wanted the Justice Department to release its trove of Epstein files and has signed onto the effort in the House to force the vote compelling their release.

The most obvious big grain of salt is that the story is 1) from CNN and 2) relies on anonymous sources. So don't bet the family farm on it being accurate (White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that a meeting took place, but I haven't found anything confirming the claim that it was in the Situation Room).

Let's assume, though, that it is true that the meeting occurred, and that the venue was the Situation Room.

To my mind, that actually looks better, not worse, for Donald Trump when it comes to the question of why he doesn't want the Epstein files released.

The Situation Room really ought to be called the "Secret Shit What Relates to National Security" room. It's an "intelligence management complex," run by the National Security Council for the president and other top-tier officials. Meetings. Briefings. Routing of classified information within/between the executive branch / military. And so on, and so forth.

One need not go very far out on a limb to assert that Epstein was almost certainly, among other things, an intelligence operative who worked with Mossad (and possibly other agencies from other countries).

That reasonably well-established fact, coupled with a Situation Room meeting over the Epstein files, is at least plausibly explained by the possibility that those files contain material that would, if released "compromise national security" by exposing sources, methods, past operations, etc.

Which in turn would explain Trump's opposition to their release in a way that doesn't imply he himself was a participant in Epstein's sexual bacchanalia.

NFL Week 10 Results

I usually try to get these out on Tuesday mornings, but it's been a busy week. This week I went 9-5 as follows (correct picks in green, incorrect picks in red), and am in the 74.2nd percentile among players in ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em Game.

• Denver Broncos beat Las Vegas Raiders

• Indianapolis Colts beat Atlanta Falcons

• Chicago Bears beat New York Giants

• Buffalo Bills beat Miami Dolphins

• Baltimore Ravens beat Minnesota Vikings

• Cleveland Browns beat New York Jets

• New England Patriots beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers*

• Carolina Panthers beat New Orleans Saints

• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Houston Texans

• Seattle Seahawks beat Arizona Cardinals

• San Francisco 49ers beat Los Angeles Rams*

• Detroit Lions beat Washington Commanders

• Los Angeles Chargers beat Pittsburgh Steelers

• Philadelphia Eagles beat Green Bay Packers

The Chiefs had a bye week and I didn't bother watching a game.

Wordle 1608 Hint

Hint: A minor color tendency (e.g. shade/tint).

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First Letter: T

CLOSED

A little while ago.

I suspect it will be the weekend before we're moved enough -- Internet access set up, etc. -- to really be living there full-time.

Huzzah.

Wordle 1607 Hint

Hint: In tennis, it means the game keeps going; in poker, only "high card" would be a worse hand than a pair of it.

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First Letter: D

Ah, One of THOSE Mornings

I don't normally take Armistice Day ("Veterans Day" to statists) off as a holiday, but I may not do a Garrison Center column today.

My work day is generally broken up into several 2-3 hour periods. The first one is 4:30am to 6:30am, when I wrap up the morning's edition of Rational Review News Digest and several other things. The several other things didn't happen during that period this morning because when I woke up my web host was doing MySQL database maintenance, meaning Wordpress was down. That meant a much slower, manual work flow, so I'm already behind the curve. The only REAL purpose of this blog post is as a sort of palate cleanser.

We're doing a "final walk-thru" of the new house this afternoon. I didn't know that was a thing, but the realtor called yesterday and asked if we'd like to, so why not? After that, between other other work stuff, I'll get some packing done. We may be taking our time getting completely moved, but we'll start moving stuff immediately, and once there's stuff at the new house, I think at least one person should be overnighting there. It's not a high-crime area, but why take the risk?

The Starlink equipment arrives today, so I'll probably get that service started by the end of the week at the latest and start working there too (our billing cycle for the provider at the current place ends/starts on the 28th).

Wordle 1606 Hint

Hint: A gadget in general, or a particular mogwai.

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First Letter: G

Wordle 1605 Hint

Hint: Cat type, designated by coat characteristic.

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First Letter: T

59 Doesn't SEEM That Old ...

... but that's how old I will be as of tomorrow.

I'm not ready to "retire" yet, or, probably, at 60.

But I have been thinking about how much I intend to blog next year.

IIRC, 650 posts has been my goal for two or three years now. And it's been a fairly easy goal, what with 365 daily Wordle hints and two posts a week during the NFL season. I'm almost there already, and it's only early November.

I'm knocking the goal down to 600 for next year. It's quite possible that I'll decide I'm tired of Wordle and/or the NFL.

If the former, I'll have a lot to do to cover the absence of that particular feature, probably with political posts (next year's midterm congressional elections should be interesting).

Giving up on the latter wouldn't affect my totals that much -- less than 50 posts altogether per year -- and I strongly suspect that the Chiefs "dynasty" since Mahomes came in has ended. They lost the Super Bowl last year and while CBS Sports still ranks them as the second mostly likely team to make (and win) the Bowl, after the Bills, I'm not buying it. All good things must come to an end.

So 600 posts in 2026 it is.

Bitcoin PSA

Whenever I spend any significant amount of Bitcoin, the price shoots up immediately after.

OK, that's anecdotal, but that's definitely how it seems to me.

I just spent $400 worth of Bitcoin*.

So if you've been thinking about "buying the dip" on Bitcoin, the next few hours is probably a great time to do that.

* Amazon gift card credit to pay for the Starlink hardware and some other "new house" stuff. Via BitRefill, and yes, that is an affiliate link. If you spend at least $200 there, we each get $5 worth of Bitcoin. They have gift cards for a lot of major retailers, so it's a great way to actually use cryptocurrency in commerce instead of just investing/trading in it.

Wordle 1604 Hint

Hint: Johann Sebastian Bach was known for today's Wordle as a musical composition type; Walter White for faking it as a mental state.

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First Letter: F

Still Mulling the Internet Situation (Experiences/Opinions Solicited)

Closing on the new house is now set for the 12th.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I talked with two neighbors about their Internet access. One says she uses AT&T, the other Starlink.

Navigating AT&T's web site and chat support, I was told there's no service to the new house's address. So I called and talked to a human who was very helpful.

Apparently the neighbor who has AT&T has some kind of old version that is no longer offered. She's older, so for all I know it may be dial-up! They're not accepting new customers for that service tier, and don't yet offer their "fiber to node" (DSL from node to home) or 5G service there.

The area cable Internet provider is also not yet offering service to the address (their previous ETA was the end of October, but obviously they're behind schedule).

That leaves satellite or possibly some 5G offering. Based on my manual test of cell reception there (2-3 bars), I'm not optimistic that 5G would be reliable.

If it's satellite, I will be going with Starlink. They've got more satellites in orbit -- more reliable high-speed access.

I'm not really happy with their "demand fee" add-on for the equipment ... but I see the equipment can be purchased via Walmart. Do any of you have experience with Starlink in general and Walmart's equipment delivery in particular that you'd care to share?

Since we're paid up on rent through the end of 2025, we'll be able to take our time moving. Unless I reach a decision quickly, I may buy a "pay as you go" hotspot that claims to work there and use it temporarily until I decide how to go on a permanent basis. Or there may be a period in which I work from here but mostly live/sleep there (it's a five-minute motorcycle ride).

Wordle 1603 Hint

Hint: When someone tells you "sorry, something just came up," they're saying a situation is doing this.

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First Letter: A

Wordle 1602 Hint

Hint: When working on today's Wordle, you're in danger.

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New to Wordle? You can play it at the New York Times, and here are some thoughts on how I go about solving each day's puzzle.

First Letter: P

Greatly Exaggerated

Rumors of the Republican Party's death, I mean.

I'm hearing a lot of that talk. Not just from Democrats crowing over their sweep of Tuesday's bigger (and some smaller) elections, but also from Donald Trump predicting the GOP's demise if the Senate doesn't uncork the "nuclear option" to end the federal shutdown.

Whenever I come across that stuff, I think of a 1996 book edited (and partly written by) my late friend R.W. Bradford of Liberty magazine. Title? The Last Democrat: Why Bill Clinton Will Be the Last Democrat Americans Elect President.

It's an essay collection in which Bradford and other libertarians, conservatives, etc. discuss the death of the Democratic Party 30 years ago.

Which, as you may remember, hadn't actually happened. And still hasn't happened yet (there have been two Democrat presidents since Clinton, even excluding life-long progressive Democrat Donald Trump from the count).

Yes, it's possible that one of America's two "major" political parties will collapse and be replaced by a current or future "third party," just like the Republicans eclipsed the Whigs in the 1850s.

Possible, but less likely now than then after 135 years of "ballot access" jiggery-pokery to ensure the Republican/Democrat duopoly.

And of course, someday the United States will cease to exist in its current configuration, possibly taking one or both of those "major" parties to the grave with it.

But that's not going to happen just because the Democrats won a mayoralty, two governorships, and a California ballot question. Especially since that mayoralty is more likely to help Republicans than Democrats in future elections.

It's too early to start predicting next year's US House and Senate elections, but even if the Democrats are able to get majorities in one or both houses of Congress, the GOP will still be a large (and the largest) minority party. Just like they were for about 40 years before the 1994 "Republican Revolution."

So, if you're a Republican who wants the GOP to survive, don't panic. And if you support any other party and want the GOP to disappear, it's years -- decades, even -- early to start popping the corks on your champagne bottles.

NFL Week 10 Picks

Week 10 of the NFL season starts tonight with the Las Vegas Raiders playing the Denver Broncos. My picks:

• Denver Broncos beat Las Vegas Raiders

• Indianapolis Colts beat Atlanta Falcons

• Chicago Bears beat New York Giants

• Buffalo Bills beat Miami Dolphins

• Baltimore Ravens beat Minnesota Vikings

• Cleveland Browns beat New York Jets

• New England Patriots beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers*

• Carolina Panthers beat New Orleans Saints

• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Houston Texans

• Seattle Seahawks beat Arizona Cardinals

• San Francisco 49ers beat Los Angeles Rams*

• Detroit Lions beat Washington Commanders

• Los Angeles Chargers beat Pittsburgh Steelers

• Philadelphia Eagles beat Green Bay Packers

"Upset" picks --  predicted outcomes that go against the majority picks among those playing ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em game as of the time I make my picks -- are marked with asterisks. If I change any picks, I will do so before the games in question kick off and clearly mark changes as changes in updates to this post.

Wordle 1601 Hint

Hint: Forget the usual admonitions to dig deeper and get beyond outward appearance -- today's Wordle is outward appearance.

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New to Wordle? You can play it at the New York Times, and here are some thoughts on how I go about solving each day's puzzle.

First Letter: G

Does pet cloning really "work?"

Tom Brady is the latest celebrity to publicly disclose the cloning of a pet, in his case his deceased pit bull.

I find the idea interesting, but I'm not sure I'd expect it to "work" in the sense of re-creating the characteristics of the old pet and the new.

Being genetically identical isn't the same thing as being temperamentally or experientially identical.

For one thing, the clone of your pet isn't going to have the same birth/litter experience as the original pet. To the extent that those things affect future "personality," that could change things.

For another, you're not going to relate to, or grow into your relationship with, the clone in the same way you did with the original. You will already have the benefit of years of hanging out with a particular animal and will have expectations/perceptions from the beginning that you didn't have the first time around. And the clone will be interacting with the older, not the younger, you.

If you're getting a clone because you liked the original pet's physical characteristics, that's one thing. If you're getting a clone because you liked the original pet's "personality," I suspect you're going to end up with a very rough approximation at best.

I was skeptical about these mirrors

They're really small. They look like something you might see coming toward you at the dentist's office. 

But they looked pretty solid, and my main problem with bar-end mirrors is that they tend to not want to stay in place and require constant adjustment while the bike is moving if I want to see the road behind me.

And they were cheap.

Before ordering them, I looked into Florida's motorcycle mirror laws. There's no minimum size -- just a requirement that they allow the rider to see the road 200 feet behind the motorcycle.

Put them on and took the bike out for a test ride yesterday. They work fine.  In fact, so far I like them better than my larger mirrors; My height, the handlebars' height, and the positioning of the mirrors happen to combine naturally to require less head and eye movement on my part when checking them, and they give me a clear view.

Wordle 1600 Hint

Hint: Solving today's Wordle shouldn't take long.

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New to Wordle? You can play it at the New York Times, and here are some thoughts on how I go about solving each day's puzzle.

First Letter: S

Closing on Friday ...

... it was supposed to be Thursday, but the financing guy needed an extra day.

That's a rear aerial view of the property. At the very top you can see the "road" access (the entrance to the property is at the top right). The rear 1/2 to 2/3 of the property, with the house on it, is fenced with two gates (a walk-in gate directly in front, a vehicle gate to the left in front of those outbuildings).

The outbuildings are an electrified shed (reddish roof, well is right behind it; I'll be building a protective wellhouse for it Real Soon Now) and what looks like it may have been a dog kennel (green roof); I plan to turn the latter into a chicken enclosure. I plan to almost immediately purchase one of those fabric "garages" large enough to hold my two motorcycles, push mower, etc. and put it right outside the vehicle gate.

I rode out there yesterday for a specific purpose: Checking cell reception. The local cable Internet company was supposed to be ready to serve that area by the end of October, but isn't. So we're trying to decide between Starlink, AT&T DSL, or 5G.

I think 5G is probably a bad idea, as I only got 2-3 bars while walking around the house. While there, I met three of my neighbors. The first one didn't respond when I asked about Internet access options:

Of the other two, one uses AT&T and is happy with it, the other uses Starlink and is happy with it.

We're paid up on rent at this place through the end of the year, so we get to take our time moving. I may grab a cheap pay-as-you-go hotspot and use that at the new place until we settle on a choice (the cable company may be out there very shortly; my son prefers DSL, I lean toward Starlink, my wife is undecided, my daughter doesn't care).

NFL Week 9 Results

This week I picked nine games correctly and five incorrectly, moving up to the 72.1st percentile among players of ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em Game. Correct picks in green, incorrect picks in red:

• Baltimore Ravens beat Miami Dolphins
• Chicago Bears beat Cincinnati Bengals*
• Detroit Lions beat Minnesota Vikings
• Green Bay Packers beat Carolina Panthers
• Los Angeles Chargers beat Tennessee Titans
• New England Patriots beat Atlanta Falcons
• San Francisco 49ers beat New York Giants
• Indianapolis Colts beat Pittsburgh Steelers
• Denver Broncos beat Houston Texans
• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Las Vegas Raiders
• Los Angeles Rams beat New Orleans Saints
• Kansas City Chiefs beat Buffalo Bills*
• Seattle Seahawks beat Washington Commanders
• Dallas Cowboys beat Arizona Cardinals

The Chiefs' loss to the Bills was disappointing, but not unexpected. As far as the claims that there's some dark officiating conspiracy to benefit the Chiefs, I only saw one really bad call in the game, and its badness was in the NFL rules, not in the officiating itself:

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes drew a flag/penalty for intentional grounding, when what actually happened was that the ball got tipped in the air by a Bills player. It wasn't so visually obvious that the refs couldn't be forgiven for not seeing it. The Chiefs threw a challenge flag, but that particular type of call was not reviewable on replay under NFL rules, so the penalty stood.

It may or may not have changed the game's outcome. Coming into this game, the Bills had been beating the Chiefs 57% of the time when the game was in Buffalo, so like I said, not unexpected.

#Wordle 1599 Hint

Hint: If today's Wordle is an event, this is where it's happening.

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First Letter: V

Wordle 1598 Hint

Hint: I was asleep. Now I'm not. What did I do?

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New to Wordle? You can play it at the New York Times, and here are some thoughts on how I go about solving each day's puzzle.

First Letter: A

Wordle 1597 Hint

Hint: In the old days, this clinical presentation might have been described as "hydrophobic."

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New to Wordle? You can play it at the New York Times, and here are some thoughts on how I go about solving each day's puzzle.

First Letter: R