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All posts for the month January, 2026
Type / to choose a block
For those NOT on WP, that is what I see before adding content, as little as said content (like this) might be. Now you know.
I’ve mentioned I have recently been invited into the Amazon Vine program that lets me request a few things within certain limitations. I get them “free” of monetary cost to me, but I am expected to review what I get, and must retain ownership (no selling or even gifting) for at least six months. No big deal, really. It’s been an interesting first few weeks. There are a few categories. Well, many, but three big ones:
There is the supposedly personalized “Recommended for you” which often has nothing at all. Sometimes it has wildly wrong things (HALF of a women’s bikini?!)[1]. But when it has something AND gets it right, it’s really good. There is “Available for all” which seems to be almost always just very specific auto parts – the couple times it had something of any interest, others must have requested whatever small quantity was available as I tried to request such and then got told “out of stock.” And finally there is “Additional items” which has many categories and can be mildly entertaining to go through, even with search. It is rare I find anything of interest thus, but it has happened. A lot is very specific repair/replacement components.
As these are all “freebies” of a sort, I know I am in no spot to complain. I just find it interesting – and when something of interest shows up, well, things can be interesting in a good way.
I posted on Chaw That Ain’t about the caffeine pouches a bit ago. How impressed was I? Enough so that I’ve ordered (regular order where I paid money) a few tins of such. Are they The Best Thing EVAR? No. Do they simplify things enough to be worthwhile? Yes.
[1] As a (reasonably?) healthy male, I have no objection to women choosing to wear only half of a bikini. I also fully comprehend that this is a rare choice for most times and places. And realize that such times and places will be when and where I am not. Dadgummit.
And now it’s coming out that there is a Signal chat group organizing the “protests”, complete with Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in (on) it, among other Big DFLers. Yeah, corruption all over.
This means that it is possible for them to charged with conspiracy… and since it got someone killed, murder.
And the names…. well, there’s a strange sense of humor involved:
And yes, Minneapolis. Maybe The Twin Cities Area (Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the surrounding urban areas). It’s NOT “Greater Minnesota” (which means the Twin Cities are, by definition, LESSER Minnesota). I live In Minnesota. Not the Twin Cities. Know how much protest nonsense I’ve seen or even heard of locally? Did you guess NONE AT ALL? If so, congratulations.
Something far worse than freezer-burned sausages. Dynamite. Too old dynamite. Dynamite that the nitro is coming out of (sweating)… so… Very Unstable. And no, I did NOT take this photo.
“…and it’s down that old road, with cigars that explode.” — Mark Russell
During or before the recent Cold Snap there were (at least) a few silly stories about exploding trees. Yes, SILLY. Trees do NOT explode (alright, lightning, or teenagers or drunks with access to things that can go boom, all bets are off.) I’ve been in The North as most might view it for decades now, with only a week or two here and there, now and again, in places that do not get FULL-ON WINTER. Oh they get Winter, sure…. it’s just the light beer version. What I NEVER encountered, experienced, heard,. or even heard OF until fairly recently? Exploding trees.
Now, yeah, the bark or what’s just under it can crack and supposedly it can sound like a shot. But… 1) that’s NOT a tree explosion. I suggest you look at lightning-struck tree to see what a tree “explosion” really looks like… but really, it’s better if you never are close enough to even remotely hear/see a tree “exploding” thus. And 2) that’s for REALLY SUDDEN temperature changes. A ‘cold snap’ in January (in Minnesota..) is bit “So what?” really. Yeah, it’s unpleasant and anyone who can stay in will do so, but… it’s also just a day ending in ‘y’.
I have a couple Baofeng handheld radios. I have computers that run Linux (Mint). And I have cables that should allow me to program the radios with my computer(s)… that requires a program called “chirp”. I’ve tried to get it going, but have run into troubles. It seems the most recent version(s) of Linux Mint and chirp are… not exactly happy with each other.
Thus… I ask, what am I missing? I know it CAN be done. I just don’t know how yet. Enlighten me. I am willing to install flatpak or similar if need be.
And before you tell me to just use the Synaptic entry… I’ve tried that. I started it before noon. It’s [now] 7:30 PM and I’ve let it run. It’s hung up at “Processing triggers for gnome-menus (3.36.0-1ubuntu3)” — and has been since before noon.
Ideas?
But they take work. That’s something too often forgotten. There is good reason it’s called WORKING a miracle.
Even A Miracle Needs A Hand…
The Elegant Ungulate 