TikTok Lives (for now)
Tuesday, January 21st, 2025 09:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudio |
Zero degrees Farenheight, going down to negative one, tonight... and clear.
So... TikTok remained up through FRI 17, and most of SAT 18, but went dark late Saturday night, while I was talking to Tim... around 10PM my time... 11PM Eastern Standard Time... an hour before the actual ban was set to take effect.
Sorry, TikTok isn't available right now a law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means
you can't use TikTok for now.
We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us
on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he
takes office. Please stay tuned!
So, I didn't try it at all on SUN 19, or MON 20, but finally checked it tonight, and it's back!
Turns out Trump signed an executive order, giving it 75 more days!
“The unfortunate timing of section 2(a) of the Act — one day before I took office as the 47th President of the United States — interferes with my ability to assess the national security and foreign policy implications of the Act’s prohibitions before they take effect,” Trump’s executive action said. “This timing also interferes with my ability to negotiate a resolution to avoid an abrupt shutdown of the TikTok platform while addressing national security concerns.”
So... a VERY interesting turn of events!
It REALLY puts the burn on Joe Biden, who signed the law without any hesitation!.. and makes you realize that, had Kamala won... she almost certainly would've enforced it!
They were supposed to be the heroes, but they turned on us!
And Trump, who, once upon a time, looked like the enemy of TikTok... instead swooped in to save it... after even the Supreme Court ruled unanimously to kill it!
He didn't have to do it!.. because Biden would've been saddled with the blame!
But I think he did it to flex... that nobody from either party, or any branch can tell him what to do?.. and also in some new spirit of magnanimity he's only recently gained!
He did lose reelection in 2020... and spent four long years being persecuted by the law!
And there were also two attempts on his life this past fall... and no guarantee that he'd win in November!
He had to process defeat...
Face the possibility of growing old in prison...
And face his own mortality...
Before he got his miracle, in the 11th hour, and not only won, but won the popular vote this time!
SO... I dare say, Trump is a changed man!
Or at least, he's a changed man right now!
But if this singularly magnanimous move (nobody else in US government could manage it) to save TikTok, gets him the kind of thanks and praise, from the people, that it actually deserves...
He may get a taste for this kind of thing!
So, by FRI 17, it was clear that a fairly brutal cold snap was about to decend on the region, and that's when I found out I'd have to come in for evening building checks on SUN 19 and MON 20!
Derick, the manager covering for Mark, wanted both morning and evening checks for the whole long weekend, and Cezar took both for Saturday, and mornings for Sunday and Monday, so I volunteered to do the evening checks on Sunday and Monday... meaning, around 4:30 to 6:30PM!
So, by Friday afternoon, I knew the four-day weekend would be a total loss... and I was right!
Friday night, I talked to Brian on the phone, and then Saturday, as the cold front moved in, I... just slept in and fucked off!
TikTok was getting banned... Trump was taking office... It was cold... my vacation was ruined... so... I never even put on pants, on SAT 18!
SUN 19, I slept in until about 2PM... fucked off for a couple hours... and then got my ass over to the building at 4:40PM!
Systems were holding, so I made it through the two hours, and drove back home in the dark... settling back in around 7PM, with the window closed tight, and the flat getting stale and smokey.
Just fucked off the rest of the evening... now not even able to watch Tiktok!
MON 20, same story!
But the steam coils on AHU 35 had frozen up over night, and ruptured... leaking boiler water out all over the floor of that mechanical room.
The, Outside Air, damper had been commanded 100% closed on Friday, for every air handling unit... but 35's damper had come loose from the actuator... so even though the actuator reported it as being 0% open... it was actually nearly full open... allowing negative 10F air to get sucked in all night... freezing the heat coils.
The probem was mostly resolved, by the time I arrived, at 4:10PM, but Tom had been called in to help the contractors tasked with repairing the leaky coils.
He left around 5:10PM, and my second hour was quiet.
Back home by 6:30, but... I knew I had to be up early to take the car in for the oil change, so there wasn't any point in getting motivated about anything.
Just fucked away the evening and went to bed.
I was on my feet by 10:30AM, with Alexa telling me it was -4F outside, going up to 4F!
But I did get my ass into the car by 11AM, letting it warm up in the garage, while sipping my coffee and playing Pokemon Go.
And when I did get to Jiffy Lube, I was the only person there!
They changed the oil, and all the filters, and I was back on my way!
I went straight to Aldi, to finally get groceries, and after that, I got gas.
But on my way down Galena, heading to the gas station, I noticed a dash light telling me I was in 4-wheel drive!
I couldn't figure out why, or how to undo it!
And then at the gas station, my engine light came on!
Not the, "Service Required," light, but the actual engine light!
Yet the car seemed to be functioning normally!
The tech at Jiffy lube had been messing around with my dash, trying to clear the, "Service Required," light after the old change, so... maybe he screwed something up there, and it's nothing?
We'll have to see!
But it was fucking three degrees out... I still had to get beer... and I just wanted to get back home!
The car made it back into the garage just fine, and then I had to stand outside of it, by the rear hatch, and get all set up for the march back to the building...
Beer strapped onto the luggage dolly... one grocery bag into the backpack... the other on the ground... as I rushed to get my gloves and scarf back on, and zip the jacket up.
Then it was off down the block, dolly in one hand, grocery bag in another, backpack full, scarf wrapped tight over my face, wind blowing, until I made it to the front door!
Back at home tonight, I've done two loads of laundy... the first for all my bedding... as they've absorbed a lot of smoke smell, this windowless weekend.
The second, just the clothes.
And I took my shower and all of that stuff, after all the laundry was back up here.
I didn't check TikTok until 9PM... just before starting this blog entry.
So this long, lost weekend, does end on a good note!
TikTok's back... Trump's not so bad... and tomorrow we're back up into the 20sF.
As for the car... we've got an auto shop at the high school, so I'm gonna see if the shop teacher can grab the engine code and tell me what's up!
As for the total waste of a good 4-day weekend... chalk it up to January!
Last year, January's week-long arctic blast of 13-below, fucked most of the month!.. between pre-blast prep, and post-blast damage control!
But... 2025 is young!
Still another whole week before February gets here!
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