WTF-Beta

Hey, series are great too!

I've had a few more calls for sticking/sluggish parts as the wood of the action/keys shrink and cause binding. Ah, the seasonal piano dance for Chicago!

This has been a long cold spell for us & the pianos reflect that! Tuned at a high school today. It was 60%+ humidity when I last tuned and 30% today. As you might guess, they were about 35 cents flat of A=440 (100 cents = a half step, or sounding the next note)

Our current "together" watch is Gilmore Girls. I never watched it before!

the Hallmark romances. So predictable. Some not even too poorly acted.

They are my escape to what Steve mentioned about the world.

1. Meet cute
2. A little drama, excitement between the couple to be.
3. Crash and burn due to something or other.
4. Redemption, reconnect with the promise of "happily ever after" with a kiss..

Then I can go to bed.

What distracts you from the news?

How many people have your seen try to bring """service animals""" in somewhere that clearly weren't really? How many people don't quite honestly file taxes? How many people speed when they drive or don't come to a full stop? How many people aren't quite honest when writing a resume? The list could go on...

The way of the world - staying "just within the rules" is considered honorable. The example of the US government and the rich able to use the system to work outside of the rules sets the example to push the envelope as far as possible.

@Daniel said in "Minnesota has had it.":

The Minneapolis police, unlike the police in NYC, according to protestors, are standing by and doing nothing to help people.

You'd think the opposite if you listened to White House. Not that anyone here would do that.

It would make sense if local authorities focused on keeping local people safe - police, national guard. Too bad many in the police force seem to be more sympathetic to those working for ICE.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/combat-soldier-ice-minnesota-mercenaries_n_697a00a2e4b035e2a07a0a4a?origin=home-whats-happening-unit

"Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara stated publicly that, in 2025, the Minneapolis Police Department recovered roughly 900 guns from the street and arrested hundreds of violent offenders — and did not kill a single person.

Let that sit with you.

If the Minneapolis Police Department didn’t kill anyone in a year of active policing, and my combat unit didn’t kill anyone in over a year of war, Minnesotans — and all Americans — are right to ask why ICE and the Border Patrol have killed two people in my state in two weeks.

The answer is uncomfortable but unavoidable. Either this is their mission — or they are operating outside accountability."

@ShiroKuro said in Weather where you are thread:

@RealPlayer now that you mention it….

I’ll have to check Mr SK’s hat to see if his ear flaps also have ear flaps… an important mission for the day!

Yup, when you need to hear a little bit better, those little flaps are handy!
My challenge is face covering with glasses without fogging. I had cataract surgery on one eye years ago, so I can get by outside with glasses in my pocket. That's what I do when the wind is strong downtown and can cover everything except a narrow slit for my eyes. Fleece-lined pants and even adding long underwear as needed makes for walks that don't make us freeze. I've only worn my heavy coat once, I prefer to use a loose, light puffer as an outer cover with significant layers underneath.

My tuning layers prepare me for indoor temps anywhere between about 55 and 80+ degrees during a Chicago winter...

Lots of other cities to terrorize. They will have an excuse - say the crime is down, or something - "mission accomplished" and move on to the next.

I wonder if the ICE employees have realized all of that facial recognition technology and license databases that they are using will be directed on them in the future?

Maybe 8" downtown. It continued to snow most of the day and stopped around 7pm last night. Roads look clear, sidewalks still a mess in our neighborhood.

We got maybe 2-3 of inches downtown Chicago? Perhaps another inch into early afternoon. Still cold, temps in the low teens.

Defund ICE?
Abolish ICE?
Deport ICE! Give them and all enablers the same amount of legal respect they have shown to those in the US.

Time for observers to have burner phones handy for when they come collecting phones...

Just saw this explanation - sounds reasonable.

A lot of people are angry that Democrats didn’t force a shutdown to defund ICE. And being in Minneapolis, I get it. I’m living this horror every day. But here’s what actually happened, and why it’s more complicated than it seems.
ICE got $75 BILLION last summer in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. That money isn’t touched by this week’s vote.
With $75B in the bank, ICE can operate for YEARS without new funding. A shutdown wouldn’t stop them—not even for a day.
Meanwhile, every other agency in DHS would close: FEMA, TSA, Coast Guard, Secret Service. Workers wouldn’t get paid. Disaster relief would stop.
And ICE would keep raiding communities with that $75B.
So what were Democrats actually voting on?
The regular annual DHS budget ($10B for ICE). Here’s what they negotiated:
WINS:
All anti-LGBTQ+ riders stripped (bans on trans healthcare & school support)
ICE enforcement cut by $115M
5,500 fewer detention beds
Border Patrol cut by $1.8B
Body cameras required for ICE
FEMA funding UP $873M for disaster relief
Election security funding UP $40M
Coast Guard pay raises & sexual assault prevention funding
New restrictions on DHS moving money around
Training required on right to record police
These aren’t huge wins. But they’re real guardrails that a shutdown or continuing resolution would’ve eliminated.
Here’s the brutal truth about a shutdown:
It would’ve hurt working families right before an election, given Republicans perfect attack ads and most importantly, it would have NOT stopped ICE.
The IRS is already buried from the 43-day shutdown last fall. Another one means:
• Tax refunds delayed for millions
• TSA workers at airports unpaid
• Coast Guard families unpaid
• FEMA disaster relief frozen
• ICE keeps operating with $75B
The real fight was last summer when that $75B passed. Now? Democrats are stuck choosing between bad options in an election year where we NEED to win back the House. So they chose the Dems in vulnerable red or purple races to vote for the bill.
And don’t get it twisted, it’s ABOLISH ICE on this page- but in order to do that, we have to win the midterms. Pushing a government shutdown right now, would be a gift to Trump and Republicans.
Kerry Robertson

I always tell folks to call around to a few local churches and schools. You will likely find 1 or 2 names that get mentioned most often. Then check with the techs for local moving people.

Someone put together this listing - searchable by zip.
https://www.pianotechnicians.org/USA.php

Good luck!

Normal tuning day not far from wtg - beautiful sunshine!

When I was young, crazy-cold days were a reason for my dad to say "bundle up boys, we're going skiing! The lift lines should be really short!" I learned a healthy respect for the weather, but also know how to survive and thrive outside if desired. Walking to wine tasting and dinner in a bit...

Don't bring a knife to a gunfight.
Perhaps they realize that there really isn't much they can do in this situation - as much as we would like to think otherwise. Cut funding? When has that stopped the current Republicans from just taking money from somewhere else? Make laws? To an administration that ignores most every law that doesn't help them?

No, the only hope (slim though it may be with tampering of votes) is to get enough folks in the house and senate to actually take their co-equal branch of government seriously. I would bet there are many that are tangled in the pedo rings and are being blackmailed..

When an executive branch without morals is able to decide which laws to enforce and which to ignore (release the files), it essentially means that no laws really exist. It is a plan 30 or more years in the making as the hard right/money figured out how to manipulate much of the public by burrowing into many of America's institutions - media, church, state and local government and the courts. They finally achieved the 'perfect storm' with enough power and votes along with most of the courts to keep the elected Dems unable to do much of anything through traditional channels.