The difficult part of the contingency planning for me is not the finances and trust. All three kids are capable and willing to handle things on that front if I need them. What I need a contingency plan for is if something comes up where it’s difficult to live by myself, even for a period of time. I live alone ,with my children thousands of miles away, in a neighborhood where I don’t know anyone. I’m at an age where I’m constantly reminded of this. three of my closest friends have had an event in the last year that impaired their independence. The one with a daughter living next-door to her has quite a bit of time to figure out what she wants to do next. the other two had to scramble to find someplace more workable to live in a very short timeframe. So I figure the next move I make,whenever it is , is to some form of more communal living. I’d like to put that off as long as possible, but if you shop potential spots the nice ones have considerable waiting lists.

Saying hi from Linux Mint! It went reasonably well... about 6 attempts, but three of those were because I kept going back to make sure I wasn't overwriting what Windows calls my "C:" drive. A few hitches with compatibility but easily fixed. It was almost like being at work again. One glitch was quite alarming (it was fatal) because it couldn't write the boot partition, but again, that was a compatibility problem that was, after some fretting, an easy fix. So, $35 for a 512 Gig flashdrive from which to install Linux and 2.5 to 3 hours work and waiting. Much better than forking out for a new PC or MAC (which I seriously considered). And when I want (unlikely) or need (probably) to go back to my Windows PC, it's still here. Bye, Windows. It's been an interesting 40 years.

Those utility offers are often a great deal. I insulated the attic at one house for exactly what the utility rebate covered. Even better was the water company offer to swap older toilets for new ones. I swapped out 6 toilets in the apartment building, mostly because the old ones were shot.

Thanks for the link! I'll have to steel myself before I read it....

And now arresting police officers: https://abc7chicago.com/post/ice-arrests-police-officer-radule-bojovic-hanover-park-illinois-accuses-being-us-illegally-montenegro/18019608/?ex_cid=TA_WLS_FB&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+New+Content+(Feed)&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawNfGH1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHgkZH-nNJ6OCNBhiJ9edCdmkdyTlHNPwqnd4Hi6WSVTeWFRCNYgaTXmxBjtX_aem_bYCCBgpBe7E6T0sX1Y1Z9g "Background checks performed by the FBI, Illinois State Police reveal no criminal history," Craig said. "If Officer Bojovic did not hold federal work authorization, he would not have been hired."

This is immeasurably upsetting. It really seems more and more like the bad guys are winning.

Edit as of late Thursday: University of Pennsylvania and USC have joined the “no, thanks” list. The battle for academic freedom and institutional sovereignty in higher education continues to play out as another university has rejected a White House offer for expanded access to federal funding in return for agreeing to a series of demands. Brown University on Wednesday declined an offer by the Trump administration to join a compact that would potentially give preferential funding in exchange for a list of changes to school policy, including no longer considering sex and ethnicity in admissions and capping international enrollment. The letter was sent to nine universities at the beginning of the month. The compact is aimed at “the proactive improvement of higher education for the betterment of the country,” according to a letter sent to the universities. Out of the nine offers, only Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have rejected the proposal. Other schools – a mix of public and private universities – have either said they are reviewing the compact or haven’t commented publicly. https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/16/us/trump-universities-compact-funding

Another breakthrough in computer graphics and simulation: Link to video

@Bernard

Have wondered where all the tariff money goes. Do I want to know?

Will wait for the movie.

I am an alcoholic living with a Parkinson's patient. Having no luck trying to find a joke for this.

@wtg said in About those shutdown firings: “And we have laws here, and the things that are being articulated here are not within the law.” Louder for the people in the back!!