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PTINS

Burnt Ends
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Everything posted by PTINS

  1. Great update. Re: Power Generation needs Ukraine needs ~16 GW this winter and will be able to produce 12 GW. They need 4 GW of power, roughly 80% of the combined capacity of the 2 nuclear power plants in Texas. How much power is 4 Gigawatts? 10 Million Photovoltaic (PV) Panels 1,240 Utility-Scale Wind Turbines 400 Million LED Bulbs Roughly 5.2 Million Horses 8,000 Corvette Z06s 36,360 Nissan Leafs 1.6 Texas size Nuclear Power plants
  2. I'm guessing you didn't know that Pilot Knob is an extinct volcano, ~ 10 miles southeast of Austin, near McKinney Falls.
  3. The Houston area was a combination of a rain forest and a swamp. The Big Thicket People channelled the water to the bayous, useable land grew out of the drained swamps, the trees were clear cut and used, the flat land was farmed, people came, development increased, air conditioning became affordable, liquor by the drink was passed, Arab oil embargo, tons of people came, development exploded (no zoning), the "prairie" was developed, trees were planted for the homes and concrete was poured for the businesses. Yes, Houston was a prairie and trees were planted, but it wasn't always like that.
  4. I lived in Katy (Cinco Ranch) for 17 years. This area had buried utilities, and I think the longest power outage we had in that time may have been 4-8 hours due to an exploded transformer in the neighborhood. We live in Driftwood and had fallen limbs 8 feet deep across the yard during the ice/freeze. Fortunately we have buried utilities in Driftwood, and at most have lost power for maybe ~ 4 hours at the worst. Now Spectrum is another story. They have a monopoly/franchise in the development. The Centerpoint cluster fuck is hard to comprehend. I lived in Houston (Alief, Houston, Sugar Land & Katy) 4 times for most of my professional life and never had to deal with the shit that seems to happen every 3 or 4 years now. Had to deal w/ frozen pipes, but I don't recall ever losing power for more than 10 hours at a time. I always thought the uncoupling and deregulation of the power generation/transmission functions was a bad idea. Market forces drive innovation and efficiency, but some things should not be left to chance. Wishing you guys some good fortune.
  5. Nothing but the highest respect and admiration for Giorgia Meloni, and the leadership she has displayed in her support for Ukraine. Giorgia has taken her increased stature on the world stage, and made the most of it. She may be a bit smaller and added a little bounce to her hair, but damn... "Wendy Giorgia, let me in, I wanna be your friend I wanna guard your dreams and visions Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims And strap your hands 'cross my engines"
  6. I agree it is all the individuals and little things that make it work. But having lived in Houston 4 times, the local government led actions during Katrina was something to be proud of; Democratic Mayor Bill White (UT) reaching out to Republican Gov. Perry (A&M) for State & Federal resources (days away), and supplementing that with the more immediate local resources, HEB & Mattress Mack, etc. Before Rita, I flew home to IAH and didn't have enough fuel to make it to Katy, and Houston was out of gas, so I parked in a Best Buy parking lot and called my wife to come get me. A wrecker pulled up and the driver offered to sell me some gas, for $50/gallon (he was kidding, he didn't have any). I needed diesel. He told me of a station 2 miles away that was out of gasoline, but still had diesel. No charge, just asked that I keep it to myself. So sad to see so many who evacuated, only to be stranded at a gas station. After Ike, I got the kids situated, and loaded up my chain saw and tools and took off to help clear the downed trees in Katy. I was very disappointed to see that so many individuals had already beat me to it and had cleared most of the downed limbs in the streets. Later, I took my kids to find volunteer opportunities at multiple food/supply aggregation points, and each time was told to leave a phone number and they would call, as they were already fully staffed for their needs. Houston Works. From the top of the food chain to the bottom, people get things done. Help where you can. Yes, similarly, replacing a transformer is fairly straight forward. However, checking all the upstream and downstream connections before you energize the circuits is a labor intensive and tedious task (Why did it blow in the first place?). Our job is never so important that we cannot take the time to do it safely ... Best wishes for a timely recovery for all affected. Well, considering that in less than 48 hours (~mobilization to deployment to arrival time), the projected landfall changed from a tropical storm in the most desolate place on the Gulf Coast to a hurricane hitting the biggest city, 400 miles away, I'm not sure you can fairly lay that blame on anybody.
  7. Just mousing around on this website, and ran an animation that ends up the plot Monday morning. Beryl in S. Texas migrating SE to NW, and the remnants of stormy weather near DFW moving NW to SE. With all the moisture in the area, it will be clear and sunny in the ATX. tropicaltidbits.com. (sorry, link to animation doesn't work)
  8. PTINS

    SEC Network

    Well, he is the Chairman of the Board of The University of Texas, which controls the University Lands that support UT & A&M, and he's paying Del Conte's tab, so ...
  9. Something you hardly ever hear when 2 people are arguing and disagree, "I don't know..." It is refreshing to see people disagree in a civil manner. They are speaking to each other in conversational tones, without having to resort to shouting, as if saying it louder makes it right. Ultimately, very disappointing to see young people that have been fed filtered information all their lives to the point that is all they know, and simply parrot and defend that information, without ever questioning it or considering an alternate view point. Where have I seen this before? I know I just saw it... where, dammit? 2, 1, x. Did I do that right? I learned to say... "I don't know ... TLDR
  10. So, does TAMU's course of conduct in willingly and knowingly paying coaches at TAMU while said coaches were employed by competing universities compromise their position? "E-Rob" (Elijah Robinson) was paid and coached A&M football for over 3 weeks after he had accepted a coaching position at a competing university, including actively working against TAMU by recruiting existing and prospective A&M players to play for Syracuse University. "... ex- former Texas A&M employees " FIF him.
  11. Not exactly sure what they hit, bit it appears to be 2 radio-telescope sites and the Command Center. It may not be in Russia, but it's role seems to be a critical piece of Russia's Deep Space communications, and communications with the various earth orbit satellites. It looks like Ukraine is regaining the momentum it had before the US influenced "Tom Herman Turtle-ing" of the UK war effort. The near open season on Russian war related infrastructure will pay dividends well beyond the immediate benefits to Ukraine. Sanctions will prevent Russia from monetizing the oil & gas production and reserves in a manner that lets them build and rebuild critical assets. The secondary influence of the sanctions on China will further reduce Russias access to critical $$$ needed for their own rebuild. Of all the good things I read to get caught up, this may be the best news. (Okay, maybe second best; Putin playing footsies with North Korea, and bringing South Korea and Japan to the table is muy bueno). Prime Minister Kaja & President Ursula were very outspoken out of the gate in their support of Ukraine, and have consistently maintained that posture. The supposed leaders of the western world have cowed down to the "what's in it for me?" mindset, at the expense of the slaughter of innocents in Ukraine. I realize those protectionist and isolationist ideals probably get you re-elected, but good v. evil should never be an issue. Thomas Jefferson would be proud as fuck for them, as am I. Thank you all again for the contributions and insights you bring.
  12. Maybe Alberto will spin a loop and head north? Now ~ 400 miles from Corpus Christi.
  13. Corey Redding came from North Shore. End of Story. During his recruitment, one of our commits was asked if he was going to tell Corey to come to Texas. He replied, and I'm paraphrasing here, "That's a grown ass man, I'm not telling him shit!" We need a few of those bad ass'. Texas not having coaches that could recruit and develop kids from a challenging environment is more of an issue with the Texas supporters and coaches than the schools they came from. The worst decade in the history of Texas football coincides with Texas moving away from North Shore, and others. Maybe if they changed their name to North Lake ...
  14. TM-76, Mace, Surface-to-Surface Cruise Missile, circa 1959-60. The Mace was a streamlined, more advanced version of the Matador winged cruise missile. Originally designated TM-76, the Mace was designed and built by the Martin Company (later Martin Marietta). Development of the missile began in 1954. The missile was powered by a turbojet engine which could produce 5,500 pounds of thrust. At launch, boost was provided by a solid-fueled motor attached under the vehicle’s tail. The solid rocket booster could produce a thrust of 100,000 pounds. Mace improvements over the Matador included a lengthened fuselage which doubled the vehicle’s fuel capacity. This resulted in increased range and warhead capability. Mace production began in 1958, and there were ultimately two versions of the missile. The Mace A, designated TM-76A, carried a Goodyear ATRAN terrain comparison guidance system.
  15. Tumen River - Britannica Tumen River forming the northeastern frontier of North Korea with China and Russia. The Tumen originates on Mount Paektu (9,022 feet), the highest peak of the Changbai Mountains along the China-Korea border. Flowing swiftly through mountainous, heavily forested districts, it is the third longest river in Korea, with a length of 324 miles; but its drainage basin is only 4,059 square miles, and the plain area is formed only downstream, in the southeast. It is navigable for only 53 miles. The districts through which it flows contain mining industries. The Tumen has been crossed for years by North Korean refugees defecting across the Chinese border. The river is considered the preferred way to cross into China as it is shallow and narrow. In some areas it can be crossed on foot, or by short swims. It also freezes in winter allowing dry crossings. In looking at Google Earth, the largest boat on the river is ~ 75 feet long, and nothing to speak of in terms of an ocean going dock/port. More like a Texas River than the Mississippi. This looks like a precursor to the Houston Ship Channel before it was dredged into Galveston Bay and to the Gulf. Given the remoteness, this does not look like a significant economic venture in terms of trade. However, giving China access to the Sea of Japan, and theoretically, territorial rights by proxy into the Sea of Japan (Chinese fishing boats) would be problematic. Vladivostok is less than 100 miles from this the River, and ~ 30 miles from China at the closet point. Me thinks letting China into the hen house will result in China bordering the Sea of Japan. Where's Putin? Great party, Vlad!
  16. Tropical Storm Allison in June, 2001 dropped 40" of rain on Jefferson County (Beaumont), flooding 70,000 houses in SE Texas( ~50 mph winds). It was unusual in that it kept moving and still dropped a lot of rain the all the way up the Atlantic coast. Other rainfall totals: Port of Houston 36.99" Thibodaux, LA 29.86" Florida 11+" in one day N. Carolina 16" Pennsylvania 10.17" New York 3" in one hour Rhode Island 7.1" I
  17. There wasn't anybody in that part of the terminal, other than the gate we landed at. For Security I presume. A major airport's closing down is a rare event.
  18. Some offshore platforms found fish on some of the upper decks above the main deck, ~ 110 feet above the water line. I flew into IAH from SLC before they closed the airport. Very eerie feeling, dropping under the clouds, and no signs of life anywhere on the ground, no cars, no people. Only people at the airport were the National Guard, with weapons ready. My SLC colleagues were concerned I was going into a hurricane. I advised them, don't ever confuse Texas with Louisiana, or New Orleans with Houston. More important, New Orleans is below sea level, Katy is 100+ feet.
  19. Seems like a chip shot for the good guys, but unless he's very close to his extended family, (relationship wise) having the whole fam damily up in your business when you just want a bit of independence may not be ideal. Thank you, Junior. Our family Holiday Party has 100+ people every year, my mother (age 94) and my aunts and uncles, my 20+ 1st cousins and a bunch of other cousins. There is no substitute for that kind of support network, based on generations of mutual respect. Everybody know the elders eat first, and the kids need the most support. Growing up with that instills a desire to make them proud, which can only be a good thing. In 40+ years, nobody ever got all up in my business. The only time I ever talked about business, or career moves or relocating, I brought it up. I have a lot to say grace over, and only once or twice has anybody asked me for something other than the occasional HS fundraiser. Even then, they never really asked.
  20. Tracked v. rubber tires. Seems like most of the drone videos show tracked targets over wheeled vehicles, except for the Ladas.
  21. Point taken. I should have qualified my post. For 95% of the country, when they ask, " Where is Port Arthur?", the answer is, "Outside of Houston." Texas UIL Regions Region 1 goes from El Paso to Dallas Region 2 goes from Killeen to Dallas to Longview to Houston, and Cypress, Klein, and Conroe Region 3 is within 30 miles from Downtown Houston ( ~1% of Texas) Region 4 goes from Round Rock to Del Rio to Brownsville to Bastrop The issue is not whether there are quality athletes in a particular school district. They are in everywhere in SE Texas (the "Houston Area"), always have been. If you're not serious about recruiting the area, it doesn't really matter. For most of the last ~ 15 years, Texas has not effectively recruited SE Texas.
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