Here is the most unusual microscope I’ve ever seen. It consists of a (green) laser pointer shining through a drop of pond water held at the tip of a syringe. The blotch on the wall is full tiny plants and animals, quite live. The idea of laser scanning scopes is not new, but it took real genius for somebody to come up with this one for $50. The lab tech is Maker Magazine’s version of a babe. Hey, I kind of like her.
Today is the anniversary of Barbarossa. Sixty years since Hitler attacked Russia and sent the USA into the biggest boom-bust spiral in history. Look out the window and take a stab which phase we are at? Times must be tough, for I again looked on Craigslist for bands seeking bassists. I have to laugh at ads who want fusion or experimental or “serious” bass players. You know, the hypocrites wanting somebody original but who will “follow along”. Another tip-off is when they list their home recording gear or brand of strings. That entire mentality is such indoctrinated “guitar-think” it isn’t funny. There is an ad for bass lessons where the teacher totally blasts another theory, the one that bass is just a guitar with 4 strings. He details how learning guitar first can wreck you as a bassist, and here’s a direct quote: “The bass is surprisingly mysterious, especially to guitarists. It is a completely different instrument from a guitar with different techniques, different fingerings, different functions, different range, different tone and different needs and guitarists are often surprised how much they end up struggling when they try to transition to it under the assumption that it's just another guitar.”
Well put. I can think of several guitarists who could stand for bass lessons. No names mentioned. Names like the Hippie. Maybe they’d appreciate how little they know about the instrument and go into shock. But more likely they’d claim the teacher was wrong and anyway, they are into “new age” bass.
Craigslist is also interesting to see how the cheap-ass middle class does their advertising. Like they discovered craigslist or something. Want a laugh? Read the real estate ads. Was it Pat-B who likened things to people rearranging the deck furniture on the Titanic? There are sellers trying to unload mobile homes with pad rentals of “only” $650 per month. And you gotta love those real estate agents who slip in a listing for $2,600 in the buying section when that is the monthly rent on beachfront property. They are so smart I am at a loss for words.
Also being tracked was (past tense) the salaries of pharmacy technicians. I may discontinue this due to overwhelming reports of employer abuse and bad working conditions. It is not my next career, just one of those occupations chosen as a benchmark to watch developments in a medically-related field. The complaints are too consistent and detailed to ignore as mere spouting off.
Despite the nature of the defined job duties, far too many techs report they are being required to deal with customers and answer phones. Clerical work. Most common complaint: being blamed for errors made by employees higher up the food chain. Unusually high numbers of male workers are leaving the field, which instantly sets off my bullshit detectors. My guess is men are using the position as a springboard to better jobs. Besides, why go to school to make $8.87 per hour?
I could not help noticing the cost of airline tickets to Denver. All the major carriers, that’s Continental, Frontier, United, Air Tran and American Airlines charge the exact same amount: $309.00. You don’t suppose these people, like, know each other or something? And you thought price-fixing was only for the National Parks and inkjet cartridges.
Next, I found one antenna that my Darlington pair works on. Cable TV. Not every channel, though. It mysteriously seems to favor stations I don’t watch like sports, religion, weather and Latino stations. Question for all of the people who don’t believe in racial stereotyping: Why is it, on cooking shows, it is always the Chinese chef showing the Anglo how to cook? Oh, I see. I mean, I get it.
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