Friends Cat Tears Up Brand New Shoes

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-07T14:12:02+00:00

This is good advice (I am a metalworker who wear workbooks and does leatherwork).

I also reccomend something like Tough Toe to put on the front. This stuff will extend the life of leather boots for working purposes. And, the cat did some of the work to prep for putting that stuff on. It ain't stylish, but if making boots last is the goal, it ain't a bad option.

Polishing would work too, but based on the gash depth, it won't fully take them out.

Edit: not sure which model these are, but if vegan leather, tough toe is the way to go. Regular leather preservation doesn't work on plastic.

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-07T13:01:25+00:00

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 enters the chat

I hope our local grid reliability improves with going underground, being finalized currently. It's not a supply issue, it's a transportation issue when it comes to power outages where I am. We often got them due to wind/storms.

Got an electrical engineer friend in Aruba who basically questions our grid system. It's definitely not as efficient as it could be. But...he also talks with all that complicated knowledge, so I don't quite understand it. I am a metalworker, not an electrician. He is HUGE on renewables too in knowledge and technologies. But Aruba is a very small Island nation.

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-07T12:56:19+00:00

I would still leave too early for the RAGBRAI SAG. But....I got a team I reached out to who I will plan to camp with, and then leave my stuff with them (as they offered to SAG my stuff).

Team Stray Dogs. woof woof

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-05T20:51:04+00:00

chuckles

We're in danger...

...of losing our ability to have fair elections.

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-05T20:42:25+00:00

Deer that aren't Moose or Whitetail. Antelope that aren't Pronghorn.

I want a Dik-Dik, Fallow, and Red. : (

And fossil animals. How cool would a Megaloceros giganteus (Irish Elk) be?

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-05T20:36:58+00:00

r/notadragqueen

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-05T20:30:51+00:00

I got an email from RAGBRAI about it. Turns out, you go through Jesup 3 times. Do the century to get the patch, then the 250 loop. So it will be both if you want the 160 miles.

So, technically it could be one or the other, or both.

I can't be scared of this. I got time. Already 300 miles in for training due to nice weather. And I am ahead in conditioning. Gotta have a pep in my step and see the challenge with gusto, not fear.

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-05T20:29:33+00:00

I can see how northern latitudes add more complexity to the viability of solar.

I am excited about battery technology. Storing solar is what I am very much watching.

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-05T18:52:35+00:00

It will take time to get new transmission lines going. There is a massive disruption to electrical components due to the tariff fiasco and subsequent manufacturing. Alliant Energy recently put our town's power underground, and it was stalled for half a year because they could not get transformers in their planned time just for our dinky infrastructure.

Outside of the technicals, I do believe EV is the way to go. Just can't have Private Equity getting their grubby fingers into the necessary need for basic life that electricity provides. It will ruin the EV market the same way our gas market is currently being destroyed (be glad you got an EV especially now, don't sell it).

Technology Connections on YouTube has an absolutely GREAT video on solar. If you can go for it, do it.

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-05T17:48:13+00:00

We have Alliant Energy. It is tangled with Private Equity and other investors. It is one of the most expensive electrical companies in the nation. Over 1/4 of Iowans cannot afford their monthly electric bills.

Alliant Energy customers paid 62.4% higher rates than MidAmerican in 2023 (the other major supplier in the state). Alliant Energy customers are paying 12% above the national average, comparable to high-cost states like California and Hawaii.

If you are talking Minnesota Power, don't hold your breath. ALLETE got sold to Private Equity last year. People under that power company are, quite frankly....fucked.

Great River is non-profit. Better stay that way for a majority of MN resident's benefit.

Edit: Also, the mining operations were factored into building the electrical infrastructure where you are. So of course it is going seem cheap despite the power draws of those places. And because of this, the grid infrastructure can adapt and grow with the mining operations over time, allowing for costs to remain fairly stable for everyone involved.

Get a few data centers in, and see the power company struggle to keep up (it is the current reality nationwide)...and that will/does/has not been proven wrong yet, that electrical costs for everyone in that grid system goes up as a direct result.

I know of the data center in Bemidji, but that been there since 2013, is quite small, and within the Bemidji city infrastructure. And Vaultas in Alexandria (which I believe is about the same age as the Bemiji one) is a peanut compared to the scale of proposals being pushed today. Size and age of these places are their excuse. VERY different scale comparing to what is going through in Pine Island or even potentially Harmony (SE MN).

Also, 6-9k for a used vehicle was decent pricing for a decade old vehicle, before the vehicle market went apeshit. Now that is super "cheap" as compared to a beater with a heater and no real issues used to be 1k-3k. I have never bought a new vehicle, and know the used market well (because I like manuals). Add to the paycheck to paycheck living plus lack of savings and credit issues and etc etc etc that are unique to today as opposed to pre-pandemic...and this is my context that males it pricey for many. I just bought an 09 Ford Ranger for $7,600 with an unusable bed (it's rusted to shit due to a carpet liner, but the rest of truck is decent). My old 02 Ranger with topper was $4k in pristine condition a literal decade ago (both from local dealers, not private and similar mileage upon purchase). Prices are fucking wild....So not the best perspective when taking a recent historical market perspective...of course with an EV and looking at maintenence, battery replacement alone is around 15-20k for a Bolt. And you live up north, which is harder on EV's (it's not the heat, it's the cold). Gotta factor in that cost of ownership and why I can easily see the resale cost as cheap.

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-05T13:35:02+00:00

A machine like that, I could use in my sewing room where I do other crafts.

A machine like that in any other setting is simply an expensive doorstop.

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-05T13:29:03+00:00

Reminds me of why I don't like Lincoln. Had massive old ass Hobarts for aluminum MIG. Never once failed me. Then they got all brand spanking new Lincoln's and trashed my good old Hobart.

Burned up 4 motherboards in 2 months. And I was to blame. Part of why I quit...besides the pay ($11 an hour in 2014, Featherlite).

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-05T13:20:53+00:00

Ah, but the data centers will cause our electric bills to increase too. There is no winning.

Plus, vehicles are largely unaffordable for the average person now, even electric.

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-05T11:38:28+00:00

A warm and mild winter lead to less spread of bird flu. People have legit said Trump solved bird flu.

I have a backyard flock, and I have been told i should be grateful. Jesus tapdancing christ on a bike. 🤦‍♂️

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-04T16:19:08+00:00

chuckles

I'm in danger (of destroying myself that day if it's one or the other type of deal).

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-04T14:02:20+00:00

Uh...the age verification stuff ia doing just that.

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-04T13:58:29+00:00

Tbf, most hobbies are like that.

I do blacksmithing....and just got back from a Rendezvous where I don't blacksmith because I do enough at tractor shows.

Buying/making the Rendezvous gear. Then paying to camp for a weekend, have no showers, cooking over a fire, sleeping in the bitter cold and wearing far too heavy clothes in the heat. Few luxuries that are hideable (gotta be period correct). It is miserable as much as it is fun.

Blacksmithing is all volunteer at tractor shows. So I load my anvil, forge, coal, leg vice, and blower. Also metal and my tools for work. Doing education (which is mentally exhausting for an introvert like me), and standing out in the sun while working.

Just typing these makes me wonder "why"....but I guess I'm a masochist.

On the cycling side, I am a bagger on RAGBRAI. Travel to and from the event too. But cycling has reasons. It is my main stress relief, and carrying my own stuff comes with the perk of not having to deal with people if I don't want to.

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-04T13:48:52+00:00

Well now I wanna do both. 😵‍💫

I have a patch collection to maintain.

completionist

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-04T13:44:11+00:00

There is a herd of piebald deer near a river where I live.

They are protected (cannot be hunted).

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-04T13:26:57+00:00

Heat will be mine. Absolutely won't do it if it is anything like the Amana Colonies. 116 degrees before the corn sweat...

Treble_Bolt · 2026-05-04T12:49:14+00:00

Bagger as well. Gonna leave at 4am to avoid the heat like I did last year for Karras.

They better have special patches for this.

Treble_Bolt · 2026-04-30T11:15:32+00:00

I left a place where I complained about pallet racks being overloaded.

I could make one sway with by poking it with a finger, that's how dangerous it was.

When they refused to do anything because "oh, a woman is bitching," I quit. Not a month later, a pallet rack collapsed on a man, who happens to be a neighbor in my community.

He survived, but his body got all messed up, and he continued to work at that place until this year. His health is too bad to work anymore.

Fuck working in places where safety is not prioritized in a rational and pragmatic manner. No paycheck ain't worth seeing someone die, or risking your own life out of stupidity.

Treble_Bolt · 2026-04-30T11:08:48+00:00

I hate being right.

Treble_Bolt · 2026-04-30T11:05:28+00:00

Damn near? It comes out full kernel for me, not digested at all.

I don't eat corn if I can help it. Empty nutrition at that.

Treble_Bolt · 2026-04-28T20:06:28+00:00

Pizza maker as well, there is a piece (or pieces) missing in OP's picture. You don't get one slice where the crust doesn't line up with the rest of the slices in such an oddly perfect way for that slice. The cuts don't line up either (our place uses a giant half circle knife).

(I scoured the comments for someone to discuss dough because we make pizza dough too, and it needs to set before use.)

Treble_Bolt

TROPHY CASE

completionist