January 31, 2011

           Here's the Pudding-Tat. Again spending long hours sleeping beside me, usually while I spend the long hours reading. Say hello again to Florida's most famous blog cat. She patrols the neighborhood, making sure the local birds don't get too comfortable.
           Many changes at the scooter shop. The new mechanic has experience running things and the bustle is replaced with steady work. I helped him get photos off his cell (phone) and wrote up a few ads for Craigslist.
           Ray-B called. Nothing is written here, but there was considerable talk in my circles over the past three months about the suspicious advertising that's appeared from a place called Jacaranda. It may be the rip-off we predicted. It seems Ray-B has to, at his own expense, chase down the owner to get paid. I say again, the only people who object to a blacklist are those destined to be on it. I've been ripped off by club owners twice. Out west. One Friday gig told me I had to come back Sunday morning to get paid. It was on an island with no place to stay. I had to walk away from $75.

           My new companion blog, "Minutes" contains descriptions of some of my experiments. The radio item 009 has provoked lots of questions. All I can tell you is to try it. You can make a coil out of old wire and a toilet paper tube, the capacitor is nothing but tin foil and wax paper. You can buy a diode for 5 cents. It is the antenna that is most of the fun. Every wire around you is an antenna. We used to joke the best way to listen to the Blues was to connect the radio the the wire mesh of a garbage can.

           [Author's note 2016-01-31: in the end, I did not continue with that blog. Too time consuming and the same effort could be better used writing a decent book on the Arduino. Decent could just mean proofread, since what's out there has omitted that step.]

           Google has changed their search algorithm to include a space between words. How finally brilliant of them twenty years after they taught the world to do it the wrong way. And they screwed this up too, for if you don't want a space, it inserts one, does the search and later asks if you wanted the original space. It now breaks "very atlantic" into two words. Now everybody's memorized searches get the wrong response. No matter, the good blogs like this will always rise to the top again. Read on, just because it recognizes two words does not mean it understands their collective meaning.
           Meanwhile, Google finds a Boolean "AND" of the two words and returns garbage. Such as European travel guides and a company making storm shutters. Trust google to get it wrong again, since it still does not recognize the whole phrase, the two search terms don't even have to be close together in the text. Duh, google.

           I'm beginning a new mystery novel, "At Risk", by Patricia Cornwell. Have I read something else by her recently? I opened it at a random page and read "those stupid spinning hubcaps" and instantly knew I wanted to read this book. I think those spinning hubcabs are ridiculous. May they not last so anybody who doesn't know what I'm talking about, consider yourself lucky.

           [Author's note 2017: if you didn't follow the link in the last paragraph, it's worth a peek just for the mention that this author was funded by the wife of Billy Graham, the televangelist. This blog has had no such luck, or is that bad luck?]

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January 30, 2011

           I've re-read "Across The Outback", the zoo veterinarian's camel trek across Australia. That's the trip I planned by motorcycle back in 1998, had I not quit my fancy job. Actually, just before I quit, the company had made a new rule against banking more than 40 days off, right after I took that six months off in 1991 to go live in Los Angeles with my then actress girlfriend. Thus, I could not have made the trip as planned.
           It was a beautiful weekend day which I spent outside drinking tea and eating licorice (mmm, my favorite). Pudding-Tat is definitely spending more long hours back here and often ventures inside the house again.
           I rode my bicycle 8 miles just for the exerise. I talked to Alaine, who is still impressed I can do that. She remembers the week in early 2004 when I got out of Mt. Sinai and could barely sit up. I recall I had to eat soup with a plastic spoon when I could not lift a metal one.

           Still, do not over-rate a bicycle, as it does not exercise muscle groups needed for reptitious work activity. I still can barely walk any distance without discomfort though I bike all over town. Today, I drove past all the for-sale places on my log of mobile homes. Who should I meet up with but old Enrique. He's still flogging his tiny two-bedroom for $4,000. He's only getting offers from the Panera types, all talk, no money. I waved cash under his knows. He knows about the unit over on 5th that sold for $500 (five hundred dollars) last month and he's getting nervous.
           I also found a tiny but beautiful one bedroom. See photo. The same doctor has purchased all the mobile park land between Pembroke and Gulfsteam, including the place I'm at now. He's showing no inclination of moving on development, preferring to repossess the places that go into default. It's easy to tell how he is doing because he leaves them vacant.

           During my tour, I passed a 42 foot custom road bus. The owner came out, a French guy who recognized me as a "guitar player". That means he must know the couple from Seville who I used to jam with on the Broadwalk. The rig cost him $410,000 and it is beyond luxurious. I can't follow his words, but he owned a business in Quebec and sold out at the right time. He does the standard six months in each country and knows how real estate ties you down. He's proud he's wise enough not to own a real house.
           I was also over to see the scooter people. I take photos and help them post on Craigslist. They were the right people to support and deal with, they buy up the inventory of bankrupt dealerships and sell to me for less than wholesale when they get 'em. They are taking in two trades next week and called for me to go look. I've been slowly fixing up my piece of junk, but now that I'm listening to my real estate lawyer, I may be wanting something newer or even new.
           Finally, I spent $2.53 on parts and practiced soldering. I'm still ruining 25% of the joints. I'm soldering wire, not components. I've improved and many of my successful joints are starting to look like the textbook examples. Still, I saw a video of a guy blazing along doing a perfect job and that is my objective.

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January 29, 2011

           I spent three hours in the library. They've finally got the system to grant a half hour when not busy, rather than dribbling out that absurd fifteen mintues, much of it taken up by messages that your time is running out. Florida has enough money to hang boats up in the air, but nothing for enough computers to go around.
           Fred was over to pick up toys, the ones I get in my twice weekly trips to BK, the only dining out I'll be doing for the next two years. He's got grandchildren. I keep the electronic toys for parts as they are so cheap compared to the Shack.
           Bryne called to ask about a job as a gold broker. It pays well and after he hung up, my records show it is the same place I was about to join in early 2004 around the time of my first heart troubles. I'll look it up, it was a high stress position that paid $250,000 per year. Meaning I would not have to do it forever.
           Instead, I went to bingo, which is locally getting quite famous. As a reminder to all, I do not play bingo, I am the caller. The most popular caller in town, I'm told. The weekend before rent day rarely sets records. Tonight was okay. Scottie brought me a magazine about Kursk. He knows I know a lot about that piece of history, so it is agreed I'll check the article for accuracy. Ha!

           I was finally able to provide my real estate lawyer with some of the proof he's been asking for. Essentially, somebody owes me $4,800 for caretaking their property while they were out of the country. The office tells me there was a strange lady around today making a total ass of herself. The fake outside cameras were replaced with real ones last March, and we may have some pending trespass charges.

           [Author's note: the following is not for everybody, but it is a basic reprint of the "radio" article I did not publish in time. There are no diagrams, a consequence of the era in which it was written.
           When you move wires around a magnetic field, a current of electricity flows in the wire. In the reverse, when a piece of wire is crossed by flowing radio waves, a type of electromagnetic current, it also causes a current to flow. Right now, countless invisible "radio" waves surround us, and every wire around you has a current in it.
           Now a wire that matches the wavelength of those waves exhibits an unusual characteristic. It automatically acts as an antenna because it picks up radio certain radio waves better than others.
           If the transmitter uses very short "carrier" wavelengths and superimposes lower frequency "human ear" waves (20 to 20,000 cycles per second), a wonderful effect occurs. The short carrier frequencies are so rapid, they "flow through" the receiving antenna and lost. What's left is the much slower waves we can hear.

           The only technical part is that slower wave cancels itself out. Thus, a radio needs a diode that only allows half the signal to pass. Couple that half signal to an amplifier and it works like magic.
           Older radios needed long antenna wires up to 60 feet across the back yard. It is possible to add coils and capacitors that "tune" the radio to pick up different stations. It wasn't long before someone clued in that a "variable" capacitor worked better than varying the coil. I intend to experiment with a combination of wire lengths and capacitors just to see what I pickup.
           I already know this will be successful, for back in my office days, I always built a joke radio out of junk parts lying around. Phone wire, paper tubes, gum wrappers, etc. Now, I want to use real parts. Years ago somebody gave me a kit worth $60. During the next two years I put together every project in the guidebook and never learned a blessed thing. All kits teach you is how to follow directions. The real lesson is in the design phase. I gave the kit away at work.]

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January 28, 2011

           What was the name of that movie where everyone walked past the spy headquarters for years and never suspected a thing? Here is a candid shot of the Stratford, a biker bar near I-95 and Hollywood. Notice anything unusual? Well, there isn’t anything unusual about the white van changing lanes in front the instant he saw I was trying to take a picture. There are too many antennas on the second floor for a ham radio buff, can you see some of them?
           I was on my way to the Shack, when I met an old guy running around the McDonald’s parking lot. Lost his $400 4G phone. I let him use my cell to dial it, whence if finally turned up between the cushions of his car seats. That does it, even though I am over budget this month, I get some biz cards tomorrow. He looked like somebody important and I had nothing on me. The nonsense around here is getting to be too much for me.
           There were 171,000 foreclosures in Florida in 2010, the fact that the banks only repossessed 42,000 of those is because I told you they don’t have enough lawyers. Not a fraction of those houses have hit the market yet, but the longer they leave it, the bigger the disaster. Of course, the banks are waiting for the market to climb, however there is a limit to how long even they can manipulate the supply. Sooner or later, somebody is going to demand real money and the carnival will begin.

           A friend of mine who runs a trailer court with the name of Weiner’s told me today he raised the rent on Canadians up to $900 per month, over twice what he’d charge me (if he had anything for sale, which he does not at the moment). All of them paid up without complaint, he showed me there is not a vacant spot in the yard and a trailer home he bought at auction has to stay parked in his own slot. He is aware that one of them in three is here illegally on Canadian welfare and he sells Player’s filter cigarettes for $10 a pack.
           I did another day at the library, all study. I figure I’ve put in six hours learning just about LEDs without any idea why. Unless we compare it to how much time the rest have studied this month. Having made a mid-size pot of pork chili, I’m now back at Camp Kenora studying by lamp light again. It was never this primitive even in my college days. But it is not at all uncomfortable as I wait out the situation. I found, in my old tool box, a very expensive roll of copper wire that is not mine. Probably worth $80, I have not opened that box is five years. Chances are I just forgot somebody gave it to me.

           By late afternoon, it was getting too cold and I stopped at the Barn to read books they don’t have in the library. One of them, by MakerShed, contained an explanation of radio that I had intended to publish years ago and didn’t get around to it. They stole the march on me. Although they approached it from another angle, it contained the essence that the carrier wave is so fast compared to the modulated signal, that radio works because the high frequency “drops through”, leaving only the music or voice waves. My explanation is better but they published it first, so they get the credit.
           For those who care to look, I’ve slowly begun blogging my journals from 1980. Records are very scanty prior to that, as my parents left me destitute and there was no way to keep anything not needed for daily survival. I’m transcribing the hand-written originals. I don’t even know how these files wound up in Florida, but they contain the entire time I went from a chance visit to the Canadian city of Victoria which eventually led to a fifteen year gap in my life. That’s was a mistake I never made twice.

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January 27, 2011

           Not that I ever was a fan of changing car models every year, for it takes a certain dent in one’s IQ to get concerned with that. I mean, I recognize classics like a Mustang, but could at best place it within a decade. Which are you? Let’s put it to the test. Take a gander at this rather expensive-looking station wagon. What do you see? I see a hearse.
           Ah, new knowledge, I’m quite fond of new knowledge. I’ve learned what a millicandela rating is, abbreviated mcd. If any of you have been inspired to tinker with LEDs by my recent work, you’ll have noticed some LEDs are brighter than others, the brightest (and most expensive) appearing to be the blue ones. The LEDs are rated by mcd, ranging from 10 to 20,000 at the brightest. All this I found while confirming my theory about resistors and LEDs was correct. I still have limited understanding of why experiment 003 failed.
           Here’s something ponderable. I have every written instance of my work on file somewhere, but I regularly lose or misplace computer files. Sadly, one of those files was my extensive work titled, “There are 27 Letters in the English Alphabet”. It details the importance of the blank space “before, between, and after” words, that foreign languages sometimes lack this convenience, and why that blank space is necessary.

           The Englishman Berners-Lee who “invented” the Internet browser didn’t understand the significance of the blank and has already inflicted twenty years of his stupidity on the planet. Try to place two consecutive blanks in html, you’ll see. That’s part of the reason I consider hyphenated surnames as a telltale sign of inbreeding. If there had been a blank, Lee might not have been born. Bwaa-ha-ha-ha. (Deep humor there, son.)
           Yet these two blanks in a row are part of nearly every written sentence in the English world. Lee didn’t know that, yet they let the klutz work around nuclear energy! People who can’t type using a typewriter, but then, we also let them use birth control and drive cars. I even documented how often you get that kind of bozo in England, highly degreed using daddy’s money, but rated zero at understanding the consequences of their own ineptitude. In America we call such people “politicians”.

           [Author’s note: for those who have no idea what the following as about, let me explain. During the early part of the century, me and a friend counted out one million toothpicks to see what it looked like. There are sporadic referrals to that project all through this journal. We had no provisions for storing these large, heavy containers. But for transporting them, we had the venerable Ford Taurus.]

           The toothpick cases are deteriorating, my least favorite six-syllable word. For that reason, I contacted several (American) engineering firms about having a small mold made to hold the toothpicks in a square. The original picks are held by a rubber band, which were cheap in Florida since we used the tiny ones meant to keep hair braids in place. The best response was from the “Plastics Resource Group” . They have stated they can produce the piece at a cost of $2,500 for the prototype, which I know to be reasonable after totaling the true cost and delays of dealing with overseas suppliers.
           The inevitable design changes are $120 each, and the actual pieces another $1,500 to $2,000. I told them that will have to wait for a while, as we are looking at close to $5,000 which is more than twice the outlay for the entire project. The idea I have in mind is a square with interlocking tabs that could be twisted or snapped together to build up the larger squares. When I got to the end, I would slice off the last protruding tab. But the cost is too high for now. I would require complete stability of my home situation before that adventure could even begin. I’m working on it.

           I believe the new mold would also make the display lighter than 650 pounds, as the current containers are needed to hold the picks in place. The mold would turn the casing into decoration only. It would also allow a “block” of 10,000 toothpicks (100x100) to be picked up, something that is impossible right now. I would also need a small interior and comfortable room to begin the year-long process of transferring the tooth picks over. That is not so easy when one is surrounded by jackasses who have no concept of what a year-long project is, but again, I’m working on it.

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January 26, 2011

           Look closely to see the largest horizontal branch across the middle of this picture is snapped near the tree trunk. This is the front area of the forest. Near as I can figure, some passerby grabbed it and snapped it off, but not completely. I swung it back into position as it serves to block what appears from the street to be a natural approach to the patio. There were no tire tracks or other evidence that it may have been an accident.
           I tested something besides wiring over the previous week. Coffee. Who remembers instant coffee? I was raised on it but quickly learned to prefer drip coffee. I did some digging and found out the reason drip coffee is best is because all other brewing methods splash water of inconsistent temperature over the grounds which, I’m told, is not good.

           The most expedient way to make coffee without electricity is to brew it with a percolator. I compared the taste of several brands and guess what came out the winner? Maxwell House, although it is not really brewed. Nothing compares to drip coffee but Maxwell House instant is just as good as “camp coffee” and easier to make. You learn something every day. Well, at least we do, anyway.
           Back to electronics. It proves itself to be a most economical way to spend the day (costs less than $3). The only thing cheaper to do is read and I already do a lot of that. I’m struggling with reading sensors, an absolute must-learn for any type of robotics. I’m so close and yet I can’t get it. I’ve exhausted my resources. In another revelation, I’m finding that certain components are not easy to find. My former assumption was that a particular piece (such as a ZN414) was rare because there was not enough demand for shops to carry it. Things may not be so clear-cut.
           Anyway, I’m down to my last ten bucks and no word from Wallace. So I’m heading to the library for the day. Statistically I still have three of the eight average career changes to undergo in my lifetime. I’m permitted to make a certain amount each month, although I’ve never come near to making even half that. The fact is I cannot handle the stress. Sigh, I used to make that much on a good day. Way back when.

           I can, however, go to school. I don’t like being a dependent at all. It just does not sit right. So far, robotics study has not affected my blood pressure, likely because it is something each individual can only do at one pace—their own. However, driving the scooter has necessitated that I again carry a vial of nitroglycerine. There is progress but every step is a trade-off. I say, “Half steam ahead!”
           Talk about snags, I had a real obstacle course trying to learn more about the Arduino. Like the rest of the Internet, there is a ton of beginner’s material, nothing in between and the good stuff they want money for what used to be free. You don’t learn anything paying somebody to show you the easy way, although most colleges exist on that premise. This might be a good time remind all of my original mission.
           I set out here to learn a few basics about robotics only to [to be able to] say I had done so. Skirting the details, here is what I believe I’ve learned about the big picture. Robotics is not based on any really a new realm of digital electrical signals. It is basically the use of analog (old-school) sensors interpreted by computer code which then issues digital signals that operate other ordinary analog devices by use of pulse width modulation (PWM). I’m not near that stage mechanically, but I want my thoughts on the subject clearly spelled out right here. If only all those people so much smarter than me would do the same, eh wot?

           Not only that, but I must be moving too fast for a proper footing in this field. I’ve acquired a series of tutorials that I intend to work through first. Like computers, the MCU (microcontroller unit) requires you to slow down and step through the hardware until you grasp all the stuff they don’t seem to include in the lessons. Don’t expect much between now and then.
           Meanwhile, I had the displeasure of dealing with the scumbag telemarketing outfit called Molina Health Care. They take your personal private information like it was their own, profile you, and begin to barrage you with robotic telephone calls. You tell them you want that to cease, the bastards get an uneducated woman on the line to shine you up. Those people, and yes, I do mean those people, do not have the mental capacity to understand plain English, but will hang up the instant they can aggravate you into using stronger terms. Molina are festering low-lifes and I will drop them like hot trash at the first opportunity. Once that happens, it is one of the rare cases where I will report current real names, such as I was able to get out of them. They value privacy: theirs, not yours.
           Another fruitless late night with the Serial read obstacle. Even after the most careful wiring and triple-checking of every step, the serial monitor fails to display the values from the variable resistor. At one point, I created two detached circuits, the most complicated I’ve tried yet, to separate the input from the output, to no avail. The serial monitor just displays nonsense readings. However, it is the same nonsense for each configuration, so I’m on to something. It is 4:23 AM.

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January 25, 2011

           The Tat is spending more and more time back home. She comes out to meet me like the old days. Today is a long-winded detailing of computers, electronics and robots. Skip it if you want people news; otherwise settle back for the ride. I’ll explain why I have so much time on my hands today and will not mention that driving the scooter has brought back minor heart problems if I drive on the main roads, which cannot be entirely avoided because the freeways in Florida go right through town. Actually, it is the other way around. The towns cluster along the freeways.
           I’ve got the electric bike back here and a lot more information. No matter what I do with the bicycle now, the $40 was very well spent in results. For some reason, the producer of this elegant and compact electric kit (it is an after-market conversion) remains a bit of a mystery. I’ve analyzed the unit and understand how everything works. I met some people at New Age Cycles (corner of 19th and Harrison)who were beyond helpful.
           Sadly, their lowest price of $399 is still out of my range. Like most resellers, they have some parts such as batteries and recharges, but these priced together cost far more than the assembled product. This seems to be a trait of all transportation shops. If I eventually take that long bicycle trip, they have stated they will act as sponsor and festoon my rig with logos. I told them I cannot leave until I figure out how to recharge the batteries on the road. Otherwise, daily range is in the 40 mile stretch where my least average has to be around 185 miles, a lot of pedaling.

           Here it is only Tuesday and I’m already flat broke. Had to buy gas, lamp oil, nylon ties, a newspaper, coffee, it adds up pretty quick. That means today I get to read up on serial interfaces. I know what they are, but I mean how to program them with the Arduino. I have seen youTube videos of the Arduino reading serial input from a variety of sensors, but have no idea (yet) how to get the computer to store that data rather than merely display it.
           This is before your time, but as a lad I experimented with AI back when it was called “Artificial Intelligence”. That was in 1980, when 99.999% of you had never touched a computer or ever thought you would. It is the opposite of AI how some people I know who first checked their e-mail less than five years back will try to tell me how things work!
           I had one of the first pirated Apple clones; RofR sent it to me from Taiwan. We labeled it “typewriter parts” correctly figuring no customs agent would ever admit he didn’t know it all. I spent countless hours with this device, including visiting the dozens of boring bulletin boards in the Seattle area. Yes, folks, that was ten years before the Internet you are thinking of. And there was already a hooker on line back then.
           You can read the scope of my experiments by going back to August 4, 2008 in this blog. The point is I had found two distinct modes of AI. One is the obvious code that acts on information supplied by sensors. The less noticeable was how instead of acting only on the external data, I had the “bug” store data from previous events and base future decisions on what its memory showed had worked best before. Do go back and read it, for without being specifically instructed to do so, the “bug” quickly trained itself to kill.

           Back already? Okay, to add to the mystery, an accidental coding error in 1981 left a small gap in the 8 pixel frame. I thought nothing of it until the “bug” found it and disappeared off my computer screen. In around two minutes, it somehow began to “eat” parts of my computer memory and the system crashed. I had discovered what is now called a virus, but shelved it as a useless and dangerous failure. Isn’t that something?
           [Author’s note: there was the predecessor of this blog in pencil writing back then, I believe I documented these experiments. One day I will begin the laborious task of converting that vast amount of material to digital. But don’t expect too much, as most everything new was hand-coded. I often spent two weeks programming to get five seconds of running results. The one part I could brag about is back then I was already an accurate speed typist and did not have to spend much time debugging typos. But I won’t.]
           Fast forward to today. When I watch the kid’s robots battle it out I can see they are operating mainly on “mechanical” code. This makes sense, because you only see the kids building the robot parts, never actually designing the code, although I’ve seen them manipulate it. My thinking races ahead to the memory part, where in addition to active commands, the robot looks back into memory and determines each probability of success before blindly following the command. This is more than dreaming, for I did it once over thirty years ago and can do it again. Then I got a job with the phone company and everything came to a standstill for the next decade and a half.
           I’ve discovered the Arduino compiler is finicky. If you get a compiling error, make sure you go back and try it several times before going looking for bugs. Avoid doing anything else with the computer while the compile is underway. As usual, the error message is cryptic but did narrow things down to a loop with an error in either line 48 or 49 as shown here. The line numbers, however, are not displayed on screen, so you still have to guess the location.
           Come back in eight hours, after I’ve spent the day learning about serial interfaces. Why do I have a sudden craving for a bowl of corn flakes?
           Ah, you are back after only five hours. That’s good, it is almost noon and I’ve got information overload. Refer to the Minutes blog, experiment 008, to see what I did since this morning. The only sensors I have just now are photoresistors, so I used my computer keyboard as the input device. It kept things on a plane I could interpret because I remember the ASCII value of the letter A is 065.
           I also discovered how to use the Arduino analog inputs to supply power to the board and that a 9V battery has 400mW hours of juice. That means a fresh cell will power the 40mW Arduino board for around ten hours. Which is pretty lousy performance if you ask me.

ADDENDUM
           Later, I spent three hours at the library, about all I can afford to do these days. I was unable to discover any method of saving the stream of values that Arduino can read from a sensor. At this point I know it will be difficult to find out and whereas the Uno model IDE will display in a separate window all the values read from the brainboard, it cannot be copied. This is not a trivial problem in my mode of thinking.
           Cheerily, it is just possible my new “Minutes” blog may be unique. America is a big and heavy populated place so we’ll give it a while. I was lucky enough to find that nobody had scooped veryatlantic and tried to sell it back to me. As positive reinforcement, Mark from Hacktronics e-mailed to say my documentation was a good thing, indicating it may also be the first of its sort. We shall see. On the other hand, the Radio Shack crowd has become decidedly disinterested after just a few weeks.
           Then, try as I might, I was unable to get a variable sensor to send a stream of values to the serial monitor, but I’m on the right track because it is sensing something. It is after 11:00 PM, time for shut eye.

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January 24, 2011

           [Author's note 2016-01-24: notice the difficulty of placing properly sized photos in private blogs by as late as 2011. This graphic appears too large for the page because the next option for size made the print too small. It's an interesting exercise for anyone learning HTML to try to size some of these older pictures. This one was a screen shot.
           Oddly, due to MicroSoft-think, taking a screen shot does not scale the resulting shot to fit on a screen. Figure that one out. The significance of this photo is that it contains an ID number that may be compatible with youTube. That would be a boon for this blog. I remind the reader that daily photos in private (non-funded) blogs like this one were still fairly rare not that long ago.]

           Progress report. An early start at the robotics bench this AM. I’m thinking to publish the results in a blog, both for information and to see if posting dates can be manipulated to make the oldest blogs appear at the bottom (instead of at the top like you see here). I tested what I could about how the microprocessor controls the circuit. If you are interested, the “minutes” consistently go into greater detail this journal.

           Nearby is a schematic of my breadboard connections related to this day. While not entirely professional, it represents one small step for a man, and also tips off the reader that what I do is documented, a feature lacking for the learning curves of most adults. It also tells you I still do not have a decent camera that will take macros of the circuit.

           The progress is okay as far as I can say, though I have no idea how it compares to others. Don’t worry, if I’m going too slow, somebody will say something. I was amazed at the accuracy of that digital multimeter I bought at the flea market for $5.00. I was unable to test amperes, more by my lack of knowledge than the concept. I found the 9V battery connectors on the market use stranded wire, something you don’t want near your breadboard. However, the stranded is more flexible so I sacrificed a store-bought jumper to solder something I could use.
           Up at Kmart, I found a cordless Dremel tool for $25 or half the price that Home Depot charges for a chorded model. Granted, Home Depot is not a hobby supply store, but even the catalogs they have on display carefully do not hint at lower priced units. Most satisfying activity this day was soldering. When I went to solder the 9V connector just cited, I made the joint, tinned the iron, soldered and shrink-tubed it, being almost finished before I realized how automatic it is becoming. Wishful thinking or good luck I dunno, and the 9V Energizer is only 8.64V.
           This Currie Technologies must have the worst advertising department of the age. Their site repeatedly fails to answer searches for electric bicycles or conversion kits. It does appear down the page as Izip but that is not yet a household word.

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January 23, 2011

           I’ve located the source of the bicycle motor and learned that a Windows search cannot find words embedded in html tags. Another “duh” for MicroSoft. Here is the Currie Technologies electric bicycle conversion kit that retails for between $400 and $500, you supply the bicycle and labor. I was correct about the battery mountings but not so lucky at what this will cost. The two items I am missing shown here are the battery pack ($120), the large black box with the handle, and the charger ($40).
           The motor is brand new and was professionally converted by an expert, which is why I initially thought Schwinn was the manufacturer. Not shown are all the cables and controls for the handlebars, but they are straightforward. That battery is as big and heavy as it looks and the bike is designed to carry two of them. On a single battery, the range is 15 miles, 22 if you assist by pedaling. The bike is pretty hefty with just the motor. There is a Currie dealership just two miles from here.
           Therefore, this apparatus cannot be written off immediately. The scooter is costing me $45 per month in gasoline, and most of my trips are still less than four and a half miles. Look how fast that scooter paid for itself not even counting the convenience factor. The wheel shown here is the 26” adult bicycle size and is designed to fit into a “standard 7-speed freewheel”, which is exactly what I have on the famous Jamus.

           With the scooter demanding $1.50 per day, we’ll keep an eye on this kit. All is not roses. The battery pack is rated for 200 recharges, at 15 miles per charge, that’s 4.0 cents per mile operating costs versus 5.6 cents with the scooter – and it is impossible to calculate the electricity costs. That second battery may not be so optional considering it is probably a wise idea to drain the first battery cold before using up a valuable recharge instance.
           The thing not to worry much about was bingo tonight. New people make a significant difference. Saturdays have gone from the worst to the best night of the week, though not as wonderful for me. Like many gamblers, most of the winners need every cent they gain. I made a few bucks and I’m, for a change, going to spend it on myself. I find unless it is a perfect day, I’m not motivated to work outside. But if there is such a day, I want to go out and do something. Good thing I’m not married.
           Here is the Coleman under repair. Don’t ever do this unless I tell you it is okay. It is not okay. I found the sputtering problem and it is the one thing I cannot fix. A bent generator needle. I don’t even know how it works and Coleman ain’t talking. The lantern works again, but the light never gets really bright.

           Another hour with the Arduino reveals there are dozens of aspects to the successful operation of the device that can only be learned the hard way. Right now, I cannot locate most of the wiring diagrams which match sketches I so carefully studied over the past year. I know the code and have already manipulated that far beyond the examples given in the texts, but I have ten or so well-studied sketches that I cannot find the schematics. The logical place to locate a cross-reference is in the comments in the computer code but that is far from a satisfactory solution. It is partially my fault for taking a year between studying the code and finally getting the brainboard.
           On the other hand, where most electronics techs struggle with code, I’m the other way around. I’ve already some theories that need examination from the point of view of the computer, not the hardware. I know this approach to be unusual and will play it to the hilt. If only my poor head worked faster, I’d move ahead right now.
           I sincerely put deep thought into the circuits today, and by the way, the factory-made jumper wires are worth the additional $5.00. I’ve designed a couple of tests to determine what whether it is voltage or current being controlled by the brainboard. That’s one of those things you are “supposed to know” that really need to be stuffed by the people who think so. That’s why I’m testing; I’ve been wrong about this type of thing more often than the rest of you put together.

ADDENDUM
           Some people are so insipidly stupid they are beyond redemption. Because somebody got greedy, this beautiful place, bought at a market low at the finest price, will now end up costing them in the end. Unbelievable thick-headed morons of the first magnitude.
           There was another eviction notice on the door today. That means people think it is okay to leave a place without electric power for five months and somebody else is going to pay top dollar to stay there. Duh. Will I ever trust Wallace again? Put another way: this is perhaps the only spot on American soil in this century where robotic study is being conducted by the light of a coal oil lamp.

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January 22, 2011

           It is still early, so I took a break from the Arduino work of y’day by reading an Ortho Booklet “The World of Herbs & Spices”, inspired by my stroll with Alaine through the fancy garden of her neighbors, the religious group. There’s nothing quite like watching millionaires plant some carrots, as they supervise the staff on the best methods.
           I’ve tried time to time but I’m not much good at recognizing non-vegetable types of garden leaves. I did learn lots from this book and here’s some to share. Did you know when a plant’s species contains “officinalis”, that means at some point it was used as a medical treatment. (Before discovering it was poisonous?)
           Tradition being what it is, the lack of that term does not mean the plant isn’t therapeutic. Sort of the Dewey decimal system of the botanical gang, the Charlie Brown multiple guess method. Most curious was the rating of each plant for grow-ability. Is it coincidence that the more expensive cannot be grown here? Allspice, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, cola nut, frankincense and myrrh are “not recommended”.
           What? No frankincense? How are people supposed to celebrate Labor Day? On the other hand, other advice made darn good sense. Like kelp, just you try starting your roto-tiller in twenty fathoms of water, or poppies, which are illegal in the USA, period. They steer you away from nettles as well, like you needed to be. An interesting book, light reading, if uninspired at times.

           Hello world! Success. 8:47 AM and the Arduino is blinking away. I’ve tested a variety of different delay command settings and all work precisely as predicted. The lower limit of 20 milliseconds corresponds to what little I know of POV (persistence of vision) and at that speed a yellow LED takes on a slight greenish tinge. The flashing on-board LED and the reason a non-programmed LED will flash is not mentioned in any of the literature I’ve read, representing a serious lapse in the performance of the Arduino documentation department.
           But you want to know about the driver trouble and how I fixed it. Well, old-timers with Windows will recall a quirk with the file structure. Take another look at the photo from y’day, shown here again. See how the FTDI file is five layers deep from its master folder? Windows, and incidentally your anti-virus programs too, really suck at finding anything more than three layers deep. So as to preserve my original filing system, I moved a copy of the drivers into the folder shown as -0022 and the device manager picked it up right away. Com port 6.

           I will admit that the Arduino unzip process does attempt to place the software in a top level folder, but that is not harmonious with my filing system, or for that matter any filing system that does not consider Arduino as the most important thing on the hard drive. I moved Arduino, as you see, into a highly organized file structure containing all my Arduino information. Still, success is success and time to move on.
           First, kudos, I must reward myself. I’d like to thank my support staff, but I don’t have any. It was me and myself the whole nine yards. For my next round, I will test if how the Arduino handles two loops and how volatile the uploaded software is with a non-USB power source. I do believe I’ve already independently done more with robotics than anyone within 500 miles, the operative word being “independently”. That calls for a special trip for coffee to Dunkin, and a real donut like I have not had in years.
           Before I got out the door, I tested another sketch and already found a serious problem in the Arduino procedure. The sketches do not cross-reference with the schematics. It becomes an easy mistake to run one sketch while configured for a different second project and your only indication will be that it probably won’t work. I’ve noticed the sketches are non-volatile and if disconnected from a power source, run again when the Arduino is reconnected to the computer. After two blinks of the yellow LED. Now I’m leaving for Dunkin, to see how long the [Arduino] memory persists.

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January 21, 2011

           This posting gets a little technical, as I am attempting to install the new Arduino Uno brainboard. Shown here is proof the Uno is detected, but that it does not configure itself as a new Com port, a condition that is necessary (I believe) to allow it to communicate with the computer. What follows is my commentary on the process of getting to this stage.
           We are having another spell of rainy weather, another day-long drizzle. Most un-Florida-like. Do you think I’m using more hyphenated words and expressions since I finished reading 1984? Newspeak? I powered up the Arduino Uno at 6:58 AM, which despite its alleged compatibility with earlier versions requires its own driver. But it does turn on the green power LED and flash a yellow LED labeled a user-friendly “L”.
           I’m having the expected immediate problems. That new driver, which I cannot find via support1@ftdichip.com, and the Uno may not be compatible with the 0018 (Duemilanove) version of the IDE. The one single thing absolutely required for the Arduino to work at all, and they screw it up somehow or make it hard to find and use.

           I’ll explain this in English. Everything you connect to a computer requires a small software program to make it compatible with your system. You don’t usually spot this with your keyboard and mouse, as those drivers are simple and usually included with Windows or whatever other operating system you are using.
           But you’ll remember when you bought your printer, it came with a driver disk. You did keep it, didn’t you? Same with other devices, they have drivers but normally you can download these drivers from the device manufacturer’s site, or sometimes from your computer manufacturer. You’ve heard me complain when these people don’t do things right. Not providing free drivers is as dumb as Schwinn not publishing their own bicycle manuals. If you have concluded that the drivers should be built in to all devices, rather than coded unto a separate and easily-lost disk, you are right but you’ll never make a good engineer.
           The IDE is also easy to grasp. It is like a small typing assistant, where you write computer code, but it is smart enough to correct small errors and check if your basic logic is sound. It stands for “Integrated Development Environment”, another case of nerds trying desperately to impress someone. When the code is syntactically correct, it changes it to machine readable form in a step called “compiling”, whence it can be “run”. The nerds would say it is “launched”, but that is something you do with rockets and charity campaigns.
           Either way, another day will be lost getting the correct software for the Uno, and this is a situation where one would learn nothing by asking for help until all possible avenues have been investigated. There is an IDE version 0022 which contains a driver folder, but when I tried to unzip it, it started a seven-minute episode of copying files to a temp folder. Nothing takes seven minutes to unzip, so I’ll try to locate the driver elsewhere.

           Later, I re-downloaded the 0022 version and it appeared to install properly, opening a new folder with what look like the correct files. Two hours later, the driver installation has completely failed, despite having complete step-by-step instructions. I’m using XP and the “Found New Hardware” wizard never appears, although the Uno board is clearly detected. The necessary driver, labeled “ArduinoUNO.inf” does not appear although device manager lists Arduino Uno under “Other devices” (as verified by previous photo).
           The directions say I am to use the (non-appearing) hardware wizard, but I duplicate that by going into device manager and browsing to the “Update Driver” option in the properties menu. Nearby is photographic proof I am navigating to the correct file. Yet the “Cannot Install This Hardware” message is as far as I get. I do hope after all this trepidation (the original sketch I am testing was keyentered on April 13 last year) that I don’t somehow have a bum Arduino. But what is left I could be doing wrong?

           The single event that does not make sense is the flashing yellow LED on the Uno board right next to pin13 and the ground. I took an LED and placed it into those pins, expecting it to just sit there. But it flashes in time to the on-board “L” light. I pushed and held in the reset button. Upon release, the flashing goes through 5 irregularly timed cycles, then reverts to the flashing pattern again. I’ll give this another day before seeking assistance.
           Last, close examination of the Schwinn indicates the motor as built by “Currie Technologies” meaning it may be a third-party conversion. If so, it is a very good conversion as even closer examination shows that there are two custom brackets welded to the frame and coated with matching original Schwinn paint. On the side mounting brackets there appear to be two locking mechanisms, likely for the expensive but missing batteries. A Schwinn video for a model called the “Tailwind” reveals that a locking but removable battery is a feature they offer. I’ll try to get photos for tomorrow.

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January 20, 2011

           Much as I’d like to lead such exciting lives as my critics, I’m kind of stuck for now. I did spend much of the day in a wig place in Bal Harbor that had hairpieces for dogs, such as the “Lady Gaga” version shown here. I’m not laughing and I never did, as today I viewed the prestigious world award from the Intercoiffure association to my client. I’ll try to get some photos of the trophy itself, but that is hardly the point.
           This is the doggie wig place I’ve worked with since day one and the lady that combed the hair of my heroes, The Beatles. Those who make fun now do so from the public sidewalks and rented balconies. The entire story of this adventure is available right in this blog, if you care to do enough reading. Still, I can’t snipe at those who laugh because I have not seen their journal for this day. Oh, and some sharpie scanned dozens (but not hundreds) of Ruth’s signed pictures and placed them on her web site.
           Why didn’t I think of that? For some reason, they left out what I believe would be very impressive signed photographs, including Burt Reynolds and Cher. Ruth has worked with all these living legends, have I not published sample pictures here at some point? It seems I have, but you know this blog intentionally has no index.

           Over the Lehman Causeway, I took the scooter up to full speed and it was exhilarating. From crossing the drawbridge at 65 mph to several minutes later standing behind some dismal gorf at the Aventura ATM as he tries to figure out how to withdraw twenty bucks. You know the type, standing there with his finger up his. Are they stupid because they cannot think or can they not think because they are stupid? Just the fact I’d travel that fast says I have confidence in my repairs. (This turned out to be the only time I ran the scooter that fast. Normal maximum is 45 mph, usual speed is more like 30 mph.)
           Meanwhile, I’ve run into snags trying to get the Arduino IDE to operate with a communications port. All existing instructions range from poor to extremely poor. Help arrived from an unexpected sector, Mark at Hacktronics, who may be a fellow investigative sort himself. Unlike the locals here, at least he knew about the Arduino site and its contents. Keep up the good work, California.
           Okay, excusing my lousy camera, this is the Intercoiffure award. It is solid crystal, inscribed as shown and stand about a foot high. The top is just beyond the tip of the star cut off at the top of the photo. The award ceremonies take place at the Fountainbleu, I’ve never been in there. Intercoiffure is the fancy international chain of hair salons that if you have to ask, you cannot afford. You’ve most likely seen their work in those mountainous model hairworks on the runways. I prefer my women with a simple blunt cut, halter top and cutoffs. Traditional. No tattoos.

           Schwinn, the bicycle people, do not even mention an electric version of their EcoTour. Possibly, it is a conversion kit from third party sites, I’ve found out the batteries are missing and that the system is (apparently) 24 volts. There is no internal battery as I speculated, and the twin batteries are only sold by Canadian Tire at $130 each. They are removable, as they are worth more than the bicycle but I’d hate to carry those into the movie theater with me. Challenging priorities means it may be a while before I dissect that bicycle despite the fact this is shaping up to be another record month. (I did not say what record.)
           Yes, I have definitely succeeded in hacking past the library block on youTube videos. They don’t seem to have issues with other downloads, which is odd as youTube has done an admirable job of self-policing their content. The library system is so primitive it works too well. (Here is a scene that got right past the library censors. It is not what it seems, rather a still from the Two Ronnies comedy team in a skit called “The Worm That Turned”. Yet by all standards I’ve seen at the library, it should have been blocked.)
           That means they are vulnerable. Who recalls that timing system I had for my old Internet Café in mid-decade? The program that prevented people from disputing their time by displaying it on-screen? It was called Screen Shield.
           I believe the library is using a similar system. As such, it is hackable. True, one is supposed to wait one’s turn, but then, the library is supposed to be a quiet place for reading and study. Not a day care, not a meeting hall, not computer classroom, not a cell phone call center, not a teen hangout, not a detox, you get the idea. More than most of the crowd has noticed I wear earplugs in the computer room and I suspect it may become a trend.

           A notorious noisemaker gets mention today, just for being such a prick. There is a skinny black dude who must have taken the Mavis Beacon typing course. He is about twice as fast as I am, but he makes sure to click the keys as loudly as possible. That is not his claim to fame here, though, but rather that he is like my family. Pretending they are just doing what they have to but always pushing the envelope of how much they can annoy others. I can hear the bastard even with my earplugs on, but I’m the master pattern-spotter and I’m detecting a pattern in what he is typing. Or pretending to type.

           [Author's note: what I'm saying here is that he is typing some kind of drill to try to impress people in the room. But I quickly spotted this because he cannot keep up a consistent speed. So often, I would wait until he got to the part I recognized he would slow down. Then I'd type right along with him for about twenty characters. Let him know we are on to him. But I never bothered to figure out what he was typing. I was just doing the elementary typist's drill on the home row.]

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January 19, 2011

           I’ve got a mechanic who will trade repair time 1:1 for computer maintenance. This is a productive arrangement, because we show the other how it is done. Thus, you can see him demonstrating how to change scooter brake pads. In return, I showed him how to operate “grooveshark”, an Internet radio that does not gobble up resources like the gluttonous Pandora. If the pace continues, I’ll soon have the $500 scooter I originally wanted and it will work just as well. The difference is, I’ll have learned how to do it myself. I ordered a $25 shop manual for study.
           And study I did today. I was not up to physical par, so it was over to the library after dropping off used computer parts to swap for scooter parts. I lost the little plastic speedometer receptacle repairing the handlebars. I heard it drop but could not find it. At the library, I found plans for a one-transistor radio that looks promising. It can be connected to an 8 watt amp, which I think I can also build, both at a total cost of $3. Do check back, it will be my first transistor anything.

           The library babe was on duty today. As Huey used to say at the mill, “I love her so much and she doesn’t even know I’m ALIVE!” Dang, I can’t inflect like Huey could, he was talking about that babe who works in the office at every site full of men. And who always finds some reason to walk through the yard in cutoffs every hot summer day. Well, the library babe is a little past the cutoff stage. But so am I.
           Looking for an 8-channel mixer again, I’ve only found more junk. By junk, I mean those mixers billed as 8 channel that only have 6 sets of controls. It is typical of the current crop of engineers, thinking they are so smart it will fool anyone. The problem is, the price for what is really a 6-channel is as high as an 8-channel.
           Proving again that engineering is basically a field of one scumbag after another. For every one that does any good in this world, there are 10,000 useless bastards, most of the worst of whom seem to work at the phone company. Hello engineers, who brought us the bag of peanuts that only rips open down the side they spill out and the grocery bag that has to be doubled to carry a quart of milk.
           Here is a picture of a “12-channel mixer”. Count the rows of controls, there are eight. Now you know what I am talking about. A scam is a scam Is a scam. Why doesn’t Mackie just add another row of inputs and sell it as a 24-channel?

           That fix-it shop up near Dania is looking for help. The part-time jobs I’ve been able to find are a couple hours a day instead of a couple of days a week. That makes a gigantic difference in logistics. I’m also against traveling somewhere for less than a couple of hours if the pay is by the hour. If a two-hour job paid minimum wage ($7.25/hr) and you rode the bus ($3) it would not be worth it to get up in the morning. I’ll see what they have to say.
           For those who are curious why printers can mysteriously stop working, I can suggest a cause. HP printers are the usual suspects, they have a different driver for each of the 600 models on the market at any given time. Some of these driver numbers do not match the model number. As an example, if you have an older Dell computer, the driver for the networkable 7700 printers is the 990c driver. The world loves HP logic. Sometimes when you use the print icon instead of the print command, the software will attempt to use the wrong driver if it is present in your registry. You’ll have to change it back. Hey, don’t blame me. If it was my call, HP would be required to pay to alter your system registry and pay again to restore it if you don’t like it.

ADDENDUM
           But worst are the time-wasters. I include with such scum the people who advertise something for free when it really isn’t. Most of us feel the same way. Today I found a “free” oscilloscope (“Multi-Instrument 3.2”) which after the labor of downloading it and taking it home, turns out to be a 21 day trial (buried in the third paragraph of the EULA). That’s what I mean by scum. If they had labeled it as a limited offer, I would not have bothered. It is the responsibility of the marketer to ensure their “for sale” crap does not return on a search for free products, or in the alternative, display a huge warning. Virtins Technology can kiss my. I can’t turn back the tide, but I can advise you not to deal with people who will lie to get your money.
           What I'm saying is the law should be changed to "seller beware", at least to the extent that we get rid of idiotic things like real estate title searches. That amounts to charging the buyer a fee to see if the seller owns what is being sold. Ridiculous.
           I found an interesting circuit simulator, but can’t get it to work right out of the package. Called Solve Elec, it seems intelligently designed but most of the components on the menu will not drag and drop onto the design screen area. Check back after I’ve had time to read the manual.

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January 18, 2011

           Here’s the con laundry. Don’t I mean coin laundry? Naw, look close. They know how much dryer time you get for a quarter. I stopped by Panera at 7:00 AM (a half hour after opening time) and no sign of Pete. An hour later, after shopping for essentials, still no Pete. I had a bagel and waited more, using the time to calculate that PVC fittings fit into the joint sockets 11/16ths of an inch. That’s on each end, probably designed so genius plumbers could to the reckoning in their heads. Right. I cut some pieces in standard sizes using the thin walled “Charlotte” piping.
           JZ has a birthday this week, we were going to take him to Tony Roma’s, but I had to cancel out. Just can’t afford it, last time I was at Roma’s was an Xmas party in 1985 and it cost me $19.00. Come to think of it, I know somebody from Calgary, Alberta, who’s birthday is also this week. Bob Lineham, that’s the guy. His parents owned all the land around Midnapore, a hamlet that got surrounded by the city. They were selling it by the square inch last I heard. Bob married a gal called Linda, had four kids, became a school teacher. Last I heard means about four years ago.

           Next came a call from Ray-B. Like myself, he is certain the pent up inflation of the past ten years will begin a reign of terror, but is not sure how to react to it. The Internet is suffocating with predictions for tomorrow at the latest. In reality, time will creep along and those with any items of real value (meaning no cash, certificates of investment, or mortgaged real estate) will be sitting pretty. So will those with any trade in demand, as opposed to the old skill sets of the people retiring now. I explained this type of investment demands several layers of understanding at once, so it is not for everybody.
           This demands closer inspection. Cash will inflate, but it is not easily recognized that certificates are really loans you gave to others. Their performance is historically not tied to intelligence, but a surging market. Time and again huge houses fail when the true underlying lack of talent is revealed. Nobody out there in the traditional market is beating the system any more. Mortgaged real estate will be unique, as 85 million people thought home equity was their lifetime “store of value”, and it has already fallen 30% nationwide.

           It is 19 days until the crunch begins. It won’t be big at first, as the US economy can absorb 10,000 casualties per day for quite a while. We are watching for the domino effect. First one old couple discovers their $800,000 dream home is now being taxed as such, and they voted in the taxman like the good citizens they were. Even going back to work at jobs they used to sneer at won’t pay such taxes. They will eventually dump the house. That first domino.
           I also predict what happens in Ft. Lauderdale will lead the way, so keep an eye on the locality. Only 23 Broward properties sold last week, six of them short sales. Let me clarify what a short sale is amid this atmosphere of fuddled thinking by people who only think they know. Say a house is mortgaged for $300,000 but is only saleable at $250,000. The bank and the owner can agree to sell it for the lower price if the bank agrees to take the $50,000 loss. Since it costs more to foreclose, the bank is not doing you any favors by negotiating. They lose $50k, the big-talking ex-homeowner loses a lifetime of mortgage payments and is now worth diddley-squat, home-equity-wise. Love those self-created hyphenated words, I do.
           And it serves them right. I got sick and tired of their bragging back in my twenties. Glory to the person who first said, “Let them spend cake.”

           [Author's note 2016-01-18: the above prediction was based on a demographic formula that the baby boomers would begin retiring at 10,000 per day, a calculation based on nine months after the soldiers began returning from WWII. The assumption was that the banks would have to obey the laws limiting their quantity and total value of repossessed housing. Thus, if I had been right, banks would have been forced to place 110,000 houses on the market at one in Broward County alone. I could have picked up oceanfront property for $50,00, which is about what it is worth. I was unaware the banks did not have to obey the law. Five years later, those houses are still kept off the market.]

           Some point to the 1930s inflation, where the German banks were paid off with useless currency. But back then, the prevailing wages kept pace with inflation and workers were taking home wheelbarrows full of cash. That will not happen this time, in fact the recession has lasted as long as the depression in Germany and there is no sign of things getting better. Very few jobs pay a living wage now. You wait until millions of seniors discover they can’t live on their pensions and try to re-enter the workplace. Milk already costs more than gasoline.
           Much more fun is the fact Ray-B caught me at morning coffee over at Burger King. The PVC from last day has taken form, and here is a sneak preview at the X-ray machine. Imagine taking a look through the two “eyepieces”, which are nothing but hollow tubes. See the gap between the tubes? Anything opaque inserted in there will block the line of sight. Or will it?

           Those with long memories or time to go back far enough [in this blog] will recognize this is merely a plastic version of the wooden model presented years ago and works on the same principle. I’ll see if my cheap camera can photograph the effect, which I assure you is not trick photography but a real picture. You will really be able to see what is not there, and you are welcome to look at it on your own. Shown here is the basic non-working model awaiting a few modifications to make it function.
           Also mentioned was the consensus that the Hippie is the single person most responsible for the troubles on the Craigslist musician’s room. I don’t need to look to see his rambling, misspelled lashings out at the system that just will not let him get away with breaking the law. He is probably the only person on that board with an anti-fan list. I’ll take a look tomorrow afternoon to see who he is mean-mouthing now.

           It took all day, but I’ve repaired the light bulb problem on the cycle. I had to drive up to Ft. Lauderdale. One gets used to spending a lot of wasted time, this town is not efficient and if you try to be, it will cost you. Florida teaches efficient people a hard lesson in how to do business. I managed to lose a speedometer cable on the way. It was loose and couldn’t be tightened; now it is gone. But I have the speakers and mouse pads for the cycle shop and I’ll be up there soon as I can be in the morning.
           Meanwhile I made a big fish stew with onions and tomatoes on the propane stove, a batch big enough to stay home all evening and calculate the best way to approach the immediate future which holds all the telltale signs of disaster if people don’t smarten up and do the right thing. My real estate lawyer is amazed I’m still looking for an amicable solution. I’m amazed that I’ve found a substitute for porridge in the morning. Betty Crocker sweet potatoes, the instant mixture. Mid-calorie and no hot spices.

[Author's note 2016-01-18: I later dropped all Betty Crocker products from my diet due to their use of genetically modified ingredients. Please don't eat poison.]

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January 17, 2011

           This photo proves a point. There are two questions, one easy, one maybe not so easy. The easy question is what do you see here? The tricky question is what do I see? I’ll provide a few clues. Look at the X-shaped fitting at lower left. From a plumbing viewpoint, it is about as useless as imaginable. But they sold one to me, did they not?
           Actually, that joint has a purpose, which is to (inefficiently) spread out a sprinkler system. But I said useless, because whenever anybody parks their car on the lawn at your 30th birthday party, it cracks these pipes underground. And nobody has answered my second question.
           Nobody likes this weather. Everyone gets to say, “I never thought it would rain all day.” It is rare in Florida, where tropical downpours are more the norm. I began by shopping at Big Lots for cat food, now that Pudding-Tat is cautiously returning. Big Lots is across from the Panera, where I dropped in to notice Pete is nowhere to be found (as usual). Do you suppose maybe he’s sick again? Health insurance companies know if you are ill more than 90 days, your chances of recovery are near zero. Pete keeps bouncing back evermore to their dismay.

           Then I went by Dave-O’s, who is still laid low by the germs and sorely in bad health. I cannot relate because he is basically a tough guy, or didn’t I say? He assures me his recovery is progressing and that he doesn’t need anything. None of that was verified by his general appearance. I started for Ft. Lauderdale only to get caught in the rain that would not quit. The nearest shelter was Home Depot, where I picked up these PVC parts. It is weird how so many people cannot think of a single usage for PVC other than to do plumbing.
           By mid-afternoon, I was famished and bought a McDonald’s Happy Meal™, 430 calories and climbing each year. It came with an Avatar toy, upon which I decided I wanted the flashing circuit inside to construct a battery testing device for my microphones at Jimbos. Remember my odyssey of taking apart that laser code pen from BK? This figurine was even thornier (is that a word?). I gave up and drove to Jimbos in the rain (I have a poncho). Their parking lot contains every tool known to civilization safely stored in automobile trunks. McD’s builds these toys to prevent children from dismantling bite size pieces, and they do a fantastic job.
           They have to. These days, when somebody else's kid swallows your toy, even if his mother gave the kid the toy, that is somehow your fault.

           It took forty minutes to dismember the thing, during which we got so much unsolicited advice, I finally dumped the package of the PVC fittings on the counter. That kept the rank and file busy for two hours, with a visible dividing line between the dummies and the thinkers. Sammy and I spread the rumor that we are building a time machine to go back and get Marilyn Monroe or to bet on some fights. Eddie’s girlfriend says she is not riding the thing until one of us comes back. I’ve christened this vehicle “The Spirit of St. Jimbos”.
           During all this fun, I took some careful measurements on the electric bicycle motor. The battery is tiny, around the size of two D cells. The harness or coupling looks similar to a computer power supply clip, but is a custom design. There are also some thick cables from the motor running to what at first seem like a part of the mounting bracket, but on inspection seem to be some type of stator or assembly to control the current. I’d have looked it up and hooked it up, but the libraries and post office were closed today. Martin Luther King’s death date, I’m told. Hey, we take a break for Santa Claus, do we not? Increased public holidays are the classic sign of the empire in decline.
           Here’s a partial answer to what I see, giving the world a chance to spot any difference. Or is my thinking so simple all can be guessed by the millions of people smarter than I am; the ones too smart to spend good money on PVC when they don’t even own a sprinkler system? You decide.
           I’m just showing my version. I will contact the manufacturer (Mueller) to see of other joints are available. Either I’m too dumb to figure out these basic shapes would take care of most situations or I already have situations where they aren’t sufficient. You decide again.

           Most curious to me is that 90 degree elbow. Inside the joint, the theoretical cross section at the 45 degree position must increase and form an ellipse with the major axis the root of the sum of the squares of two semi-major axes. I don’t have the focal points or any “string and pins” to draw such a shape, but somebody somewhere does. That reminds me, I found software that converts jpegs to rapid-fire avi movies.
           Last, I discovered part of what was causing my solder joints to fail. At the phone place, solder was heated onto custom made wrapping pins, not circuit boards. On the circuit boards, I was carelessly letting the hot iron touch the substrate. Nobody told me I couldn’t. I reviewed my training manuals, including publications by CuriousInventor.com and Elenco Electronics. In the seven expert videos and articles I carefully studied before beginning, this totally essential fact was not even mentioned. So, time to start over again.
           Poco á poco.

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