Here is a “German” silver ingot. Something is afoot in the market, but what? The premium grades of bars have disappeared, particularly the Englehard. That’s doubly mystifying as they cranked their bar charge up to $4.50 and I’ve heard of $5.50 for the best brands. Silver should be selling for three times current and suddenly only junk bars are left on the market. Careful, junk does not mean valueless, rather minted by obscure companies.
I had to put down another little mouse. He got attracted by biscotti crumbs in the living room, so it was him or the guitar player. Mind you, in the recent past I’ve had other guitar players where the mouse would have won. My “weak” days are getting rare, but today was one. I had to stay put and wish I could be knitting something. A lengthy e-mail arrived from Singapore detailing the finer point of circuit logic. Singapore says the chip logic is nothing more that software gating and the output is little more than the digitalization of analog sensor input. You’d think I’d have had a robot built by now. Actually, I would have if programming was all there was to it. While I’m not a fan of kits, robot kits make sense since there is no real place to buy sensible assortments of components.
Here’s a sad item. I just waited at home for a measurable portion of my remaining life expectancy for a phone call that never came. I then went to the beach with my guitar and thought for two hours. This was made easier by the fact the entire population of the Broadwalk was 40 people. The exception was a very small crowd at the Bowl watching yet another city-sponsored plastic blues band. Not only was the Riptide empty, Johnny D was not present. They closed down early.
I went the four blocks [north] to the Walkabout to see patrons that I recognized from various gigs. That means they were regulars, not tourists. You could look at this several ways. But don’t overlook the facet that I predicted years ago that the entire Blues-Rock beach scene was dying. The crowd, if they could be drawn in to a gig, a single gig that is different than the same old, would have an astounding impact. How many years I played bass for others and watched the population walk past.
Well, you just try to walk past my show. I’m not saying country [music] is taking over, but it will be by far the biggest draw on that two-mile Broadwalk. Not just the country sound, but how the show itself has a better premise. The entire beachfront music has suffered from a stinky attitude for decades. Guitar players with the inbred mind-set that sheeple need to be indoctrinated into enjoying guitar-banger music. I am merely offering an alternative.
Back to silver, I did some research to find out why certain bars have disappeared. No information other than increased demand. One amusing mint is offering “Stagecoach Silver”, for when you “have to get out of Dodge”. Another form gaining popularity is the “quarter”, nothing to do with twenty-five cents. It’s a one ounce coin or bar scored so it can be easily broken into four pieces. Keep in mind the larger silver bars are only approximate weights, it is a formality that a 1000 oz bar can be +/- 70 ounces. They are traded on the stamped weight, not the actual weight.
Think of it like the poor man’s way of buying potatoes or apples. It is tricky for the seller to get exactly five pounds in a bag, so they generally put an extra in the bag. Use the store scales to find the heaviest bag for the same price. Except, the silver seller does not let you weigh the bars.
If there is a second universal reason to hate MicroSoft (after untoggable shortcut keys), it is the lack a way to easily turn off startup programs. It is bad enough they are invisible and that the Task Manager “end process” button is a sick joke, but everything from DoScan to rtvscan to TeaTimer don’t even appear in Control Panel. MicroSoft, you suck. Did you know I have never, ever purchased a MicroSoft product? Nor do I intend to.
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