October 20, 2023

Matt Gaetz offering himself up for censure if fellow GOP will vote for Jordan?

Yeah, the American People are behind Jordan? Except all politics is local, and representatives are beholden to their districts not "The American People". Why would they want to potentially lose their seat in purple districts because their constituents really don't want Jordan...

Republicans in disarray.

Haele

June 8, 2023

San Diego is trying to limit Short term Vacation rentals (Airbnb), but...

They weren't really careful and a LLC multi-property owner took advantage of a loophole to evict many of his month to month apartment and duplex leases into Airbnbs in choice vacation locations.
San Diego now has a lottery system (I think about 1000 a year, could be wrong) for licencing vacation rentals, partially to benefit the actual hotels (who pay the city hotel taxes, unlike the Airbnb hosts), and partially to slow the drain on available affordable housing these sorts of "investment" rentals have been creating over the last decade.

(Local news link below)
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/investigations/loophole-allows-ocean-beach-apartment-owner-to-get-more-than-100-short-term-rental-licenses/3241837/

We have a horrible housing shortage in this town, and his apartments are in locations where there's a lot of tourist businesses that need a surge in workers from May to November, but poor transportation and parking options for people to go there and work those jobs just due to the local terrain.

So when cornered, this guy says "he's had a change of heart" and will only turn his regularly vacant near the beach properties into vacation rentals instead of all 114 units? Right. He was caught.

Haele

May 1, 2023

American Idiots don't understand American laws don't work in Europe.

https://www.cbs8.com/video/news/local/chula-vista-man-accused-of-vandalizing-historic-anne-frank-home/509-6c392789-cc69-476f-a904-12b4b5cfe5ec

Idiot claims to be a "First Amendment Provocateur". Skipped bail and fled to Europe to get to some sort of Neo-Nazi homeland.

They don't play with that shit in Europe.

Haele

February 22, 2023

Wish me luck, second total knee replacement surgery is tomorrow. Update.

The first one last October, I recovered really well - except for that part two months later when I got tired of no one cleaning the kitty litter box for three weeks (because apparently walking short distances with a cane and being cleared to drive again meant I was all healed up) and I finally did it myself against doctor orders -and ended up spending the week before Xmas in the hospital with an infection below the surgery location that went septic.
Almost lost the leg below the knee; Aetna would have been so pissed after spending over $300k on that knee.

So now, everyone knows the drill. Grandma/Stepmom/Spouse does absolutely no cleaning that can scatter germs or bacteria for at least three months. Also, make sure Superwoman doesn't take over and start overdoing it with the "I can walk again" routine.

I can't wait for this last knee to be replaced. The pain really started ramping up as the weather got wet.

Update. The surgeon, who also did my right knee, declared this one was the worse he's seen once he opened it up and was pretty amazed I rehabbed to walking with a cane on it before. Bone spurs, no cartilage and indications that the lower joint was splitting.
Surgery went just fine, pain level (with nerve blockers still active) "four and sore" and the hospital food here is bourgie-good.
Four star level - dinner was Roast Beef Au-jus (Medium Rare) with roasted Garlic Red potatoes and Butter roasted Cauliflower with Parmesan, served with a fresh melon cup. Last time I was here, I had fresh made oatmeal with french toast that was like I would have made it at home.
Apparently the locals here come to the hospital cafeteria (where our food comes from) for low cost good food. My recovery nurse takes her boyfriend here for date night dinners.
This is Sharp Coronado Hospital in the San Diego Area. The rooms are horrible, the staff and doctors are great, and the food is better than a lot of restaurants in town. The staff complains they have to fight with the locals for tables in the cafeteria.

Anyway, going home tomorrow.

Haele

January 6, 2023

What we're seeing is the US branch of Republican Donor Club is done waiting.

That's what you're seeing now.
They're tired of the GOP House members looking like fools, because that will affect 2024.
They want the "critical items" - like in blowing up the Federal bureaucracy and oversight and privatizing federal programs for profit - on their agenda started now before the US public starts wondering about the maturity and leadership of their chosen Trojan Horse political organization.
As for investigations, they don't care.

They're not getting the bang for their investment buck as soon as they want. And they're getting bored.

Haele

January 1, 2023

Using reclaimed water to brew beer...

https://thepointsguy.com/news/beers-reclaimed-water-jet-bridge-san-diego/

A niche Brewery in San Diego partners with San Diego International Airport to use jet bridge condensation for the water they use to brew two specialty beers specifically for the airport. Since it appears they only use half the reclaimed water the airport makes, I wonder how much this technology can be used to alleviate some of our future drinking water issues due to drought.

I'd be interested how much this costs the brewery.

Haele

December 20, 2022

Just finished talking with a co-worker who's SO is a high-end realtor and property owner...

We were discussing housing in Coastal San Diego county (between them there's 6 school aged kids and they need a bigger house). He informed me that since 2020, 1/3 of the house and apartment purchases have been investment or realty firms - the Blackstone/Zillow/Redfin type - and they've been losing their shirts.
They buy houses sight,-unseen at inflated prices to snap them up, then try to flip them for half again what they paid.
Unfortunately, Southern California homes are susceptible to termites and dry rot, especially those built from 1960 on that are approaching their major renovation needed age, which can easily end up being half the price they overpaid... apparently Blackstone has told all the realtors that that aren't adding any more to their San Diego county portfolios after the September purchases get processed.
So they're stuck with about 10k to 20k empty homes they either have to sell at a loss or try to rent. A 3500 sq.ft near the beach on half an acre in Carlsbad they had looked at that was selling for $3.2 million this summer, (Blackstone bought it at $2million in 2020) was just dropped down to $1.8 million, then taken off the market to rent for $9k a month. Which made him sad, as they were planning on selling two of her high end rentals and their current house to make a 50/60% down payment, putting it well within reach. And my co-worker said his SO figured they still needed about $100k in structural renovations when they looked at it -as she said," new hardware floors, granite countertops, and paint isn't the same as fixing dry-rot, updating the electrical, and leveling of the foundations that have gone out of true on a 60 year old house."
She comes from a family that builds and renovates houses.

So - the housing bubble is starting crack. And it's going to hit the most "deserving" corporate flippers first.

Haele

December 19, 2022

San Diego homeless man borrows construction equipment to help motorist.

Okay, I fixed the headline.

https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/local/homeless-man-arrested-for-stealing-excavator-to-help-man-change-tire/509-c5c857d4-45d9-4125-b944-1ae2e720c1e8

Hoping the guy gets good karma points in court.

Haele

November 5, 2022

One of the things about knee surgery - you need a good sofa for recovery.

One that the seat is preferably around 17 - 19" off the floor (including cushion sink when sitting) and around 22 -24" deep.
A couple second-hand recliner/loveseats and my IKEA "club chair" on risers just won't cut it. Especially since the cats have pretty much destroyed the recliner loveseats over the past ten years.

So, what do y'all think of this model set? This is a local company that carries made in America or Portugal.

http://comfortsd.com/product/sofas-sectionals1003/
(The second pic with the sofa, chaise, and club seat, especially...)

Laz and the kidlet are going out tomorrow to look at this for me. We have a very pale blue living-room with a lot of the cafe-black Billie bookshelves and Kalex shelving.

Hopefully, this set meets the criteria! Especially since I just got an amazing bonus for this year's work saving the Navy close to $1.2 million with a new process and reporting artifacts for accurately assessing interoperability.

Haele

November 3, 2022

Who says a "Woke Navy" with women is soft?

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2022/11/03/chief-select-gives-birth-chiefs-mess-pins-her-at-the-hospital/

The day after giving birth, she gets dressed in uniform, gets up, gets pinned, and then slow matches down a hospital ward pushing her newborn in bassinet saluting all the way. Without help.

And of course, she's going to be standing around for a good half-hour afterwards getting congratulations and chit-chats. All while being expected to act like a Chief.

That's a level of hardcore most people can't do.

Haele