PLEASE remember who pledged to dismantle Obamacare and who has worked tirelessly to reduce Obamacare subsidies (increase rates).
He is a pathological liar, hoping people are gullible. He does not think the rules of hinesty aply to him in any way. He is trying to bribe people to get votes. And he will do whatever it takes to reduce Obamacare subsidies (increase rates) as soon as the elections are over.
He's scared. And he's doing his usual schtick and jive. So transparent.
Think it through.
A trivial DIY project I put together about 30 years ago, but it became sufficiently popular with the family that I ended up making about six of them, some decorated by budding elementary school artists (our kids). A simple modification of a common uniform service tool.
Just some scrap 3/8-inch plywood cut to shape, sanded, held together with drywall screws, and painted. Not beautiful nor perfectly crafted, but very handy. We keep almost all of our clothes on hangers (double rods in every closet), so we have a lot of hangers. Taking the hangers out of the closet frees up space in the closet.
rev. 9-10-2026
In this case, there is no good commercial option. As common as these are, I have no idea why.
My F-24 trimaran has 8 of these hatches on the outriggers (amas), and when sailed in spirited conditions, they go underwater a lot. The hulls pant a little with the water pressure, and unless snugged down, they leak a lot. It can be gallons per hour. Snugged down properly, they get stuck. Keep em' clean, keep em' lubed, they can still stick.
Beckson makes a crappy wrench. People tap them with blocks of wood, use oversized Crescent wrenches, and even metal pin spanners, all of which can be damaging.
The solution is a DIY wrench made with custom fitted stubs that fit the pockets, bolted or screwed to a wooden handle. A bad picture, but there will be a better article in Practical Sailor.
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In fact, after further searching, there was a guy who marketed a version milled from King Starboard, out of his garage. That was 14 years ago, and the website is gone.
Easy Out Deck Plate Removal Tool
And now from the same guy, "Many people suggested changing the name of New Mexico, one of the great vote cheating states of all time, to NEW AMERICA. So much more prestigious and beautiful for the people of that potentially incredible State. Wow, I Love It!!!"
Third-grade diction and multiple mistakes. A sub-adolescent taunt, on both Truth Social and the White House X account, obviously intended to distract. "Look at me, holding this shiny ball." People fall for that. And of course, no one in the White House is embarrassed, or rather, they won't show it. I guess, working in (some positions-- there are many very good people) the White House is embarrassing on the face of it these days.
This is disappointing, disturbing, and frankly terrifying. We have an unstable man with his finger on the button.
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I promise, the next post will be about sailing. But there comes a point when keeping quiet is complicity. This is not OK.
The President is now pretending that he can change the name of Lake Ontario by signing an executive order, the obvious result being another humiliation United States citizens on the world stage. He ebarrasses himself once again, but is increasingly oblivious to the obvious. Let's just call it what it is.
Diminished mental capacity.
America was strong. Past tense. Now we are medium and trending downwards. It's hard to be strong with no friends.
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Just as with the Gulf of America change, Google Maps went right along with this embarrassing change. Wimps.
I prefer Mapquest anyway. Use Mapquest.
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So why did the UN choose this time, of major global strife and instability, to vote on a map? Rather obviously, it was a poke at someone who believes he can unilaterally rename stuff, like the Straights of Hormuz. That made it worthwhile, beyond the Equal Earth reasoning. Basically, he is being ignored, and it bugs him.
A year ago, I made the leap to lithium (LiFePO4). My lead AGM gave up the ghost, the result of a failed solar panel allowing it to go flat for too long. It was also long in the tooth. I wrenched my shoulder maneuvering it out of its hold, which was horribly located, so the decision was significantly based on its being half the weight.
I'd read up on lithium. I picked one that had been vetted by a battery expert I trust. The BMS (battery management system) would cut off charging below freezing, which can be an issue for me. We've all been told that charging below freezing is bad, resulting in lithium plating. But ...
One source said 0.05C (5% of battery capacity) may be considered safe. My panel can only charge 0.025C on the best of days, and typically more like 0.010C in the winter, when this would matter.
C= charging rate/capacity. Many of the studies were done at C=1 to 3, meaning that a battery could be fully recharged in 20-60 minutes. That's FAST for solar systems. I doubt many sailors can recharge the bank in less than 5 hours, and most, more like 10-20 hours (C=0.1 to 0.05).
They seemed to think that copper oxide or copper oxychloride were somehow different, because. obviously, bronze props foul.
These pipes were in the water for a year. The only one with no hard grow (zero) is the plain pipe with no anode.
Where did they think the idea of copper sheathing came from?
I think they slept through chemistry class.
... to the sole benefit of US Big Oil? I think so. This seems ... obvious.
We have radicalized countless people in the Gaza and Iran. How could we not have? With the rise of drone-based munitions, it won't take much to harass most anything, forever, including the Straights. You don't have to close them air tight to convince shippers to make other plans and to increase shipping costs. That is all that is needed.
Drawing out the war in the Ukraine serves the same purpose; US oil and LNG exports to Europe have surged. The longer it lasts, the hotter it gets, the longer it will take for Europe and Russia to normalize relations.
It seems we have intentionally created a new "warm" war, that won't end, at the cost of many lives, at huge cost to the taxpayer, to the sole benefit of Big Oil.
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I can see this. It seems ... Obvious. The only alternative is that Donald Trumps is massively stupid. Possible. But I think corrupt and self-serving is far more plausible and likely.
Can we afford such intentional mismanagement of world events? Forget your politics. By the time all is said and done, your PERSONAL share is going to be a new car. Bullshit.
Bald eagles were very nearly extinct when I was a boy. The first one I saw in wild was under a bridge in my 20s. Now they have become so common as to become destructive pests in the marina.
This bird was less damaging (1" = 1' scale model of my F-24, made from rebar and 3/16" wire):
The carnage: I'm not anti-eagle, but For the last two years I've given up on wind instruments aloft, after replacing two vanes, only to have them destroyed. I've been using shroud ribbons and bow vanes, which work very well.
