One year ago today: May 20, 2014, on free medical.
Five years ago today: May 20, 2010, Texas, Marconi, & Tesla.
Six years ago today: May 20, 2009, typical day?
MORNING
Stepper motors. They are a few generations ahead of the DC motors in your old washing machine, but it would seem almost nobody is aware of this significant advancement. Don’t run out and buy one, they require a specialized control board (a driver) and a knowledge of various commands (driver circuit) to make them work. Where have you experienced one? In your printer or scanner. This is the motor that moves things along in discrete little steps. Each of those carefully controlled.
So my project is get one of these to run. The challenge? To use the Arduino to issue those command instead of resorting the “libraries”. For non-programmers, these “libraries” are one of the worst aspects of C+, itself long since the worst computer language ever foisted on the world. They are submodules written by strangers that you cannot read directly, downloaded to make poor computer code work. Relying on others to write even one letter of mysterious code is a stupid and dangerous thing.
My personal experience is that of every 100 programmers, only 7 of them are any good. That’s not every 100 people, that’s every 100 programmers, and those 7 don’t touch C+. When you have to start adding “libraries”, often writing in other structureless languages, you are in deep doo-doo. That’s the real reason Mars missions crash. So, can I get a stepper to move by active code alone? We’ll give it a shot. Which, ha-ha, is one more shot than Nova could between them. Yes, I still have a sore spot for Nova wasting my time.
Today is dominated by some appointments in Ft. Lauderdale, but I get to ride there on a beautiful motorcycle. By the way, I gave the shop the go-ahead to order the new starter. Awake hours in advance, I have some video running on the overhead about these Muslim riots in Sweden, Britain, France, Spain, Australia, Russia and the USA. What I’ve never understood is the fanaticism of people who think the population of their countries must keep going up at any cost. Even the cost of their own freedoms.
Of these countries the one that provides the worst example is Sweden. And all I can say is it serves them right. They have proven themselves senselessly stupid time and again over this “feel-good” policity of allowing non-whites into their cities. Now, because of laws on their books that target and punish only native Swedes if they dare speak out, the country has gone down the tubes. And you know whose side the liberal media is on.
I could not believe the videos of large tracts of modern Swedish cities lying abandoned with burned out cars in the streets once the whites have fled. Too dangerous to walk the streets. The reporter that accurately wrote 100% of the skyrocketing rape epidemic is “dark” men on “white” women was arrested. Under Muslim law, provocation is justification for rape. Swedish women have taken to dying their hair black to protect themselves as the police will not.
Again, it serves the Swedes right. They’ve spent decades putting on their big superior circus show of tolerance for us uncultured boors. Now they reap the whirlwind. The problem is, the Swedes covered up the growing problem of “multiculturalism” so well that other countries followed suit. They were already listed above. I’m calling them crazy for an insane obsession that populations must always go up. It is too late for Sweden.
NOON
“I started out with nothing. I still have most of it.” –Michael Davis
The batbike beckons. To get to cardio, I have to take 595, known better to the rest of the world as “Alligator Alley”. Under perpetual repair, it is the main artery through the swamp to the Gulf. I had to physically wrestle with the batbike to stop from continuing on up the road. It was like having those cartoon figures on my shoulders with the devil winning.
The washing instructions are exactly what Sandy did with pantyhose. The only lady I ever dated who wore them. That’s the one who looked like Farrah Fawcett. If you are not sure about these special medical stockings, look here. The claim is that they eliminate Charlie horses (numbing leg cramps), the only symptom I have and very rare at that. We shall see.
Moments later, they certainly are comfortable. That could be either the novelty or what one expects from a $30 pair of stockings. The pressure is very even, not at all like an ordinary sock feeling. I don’t get the physics of it mind you, for the veins and such still have to lift the same mass of blood the same distance. The material is a medium-soft elastic that looks and feels like linen.
That’s the blog rules, the most interesting thing that went on by noon today. Except Armenian paper, new to me. It’s a product from the 16th century (that’s the 1500s, Ken) to deodorize the air. I gather it is strips of paper infused with perfume. You tear one off the sheet, fold it accordion style, and light it. Blow out the flame and it smolders, releasing the aroma. Along with, it transpires, a little formaldehyde as well.
Author's note: this just in. There may be a connection here with the formaldehyde and the belief prior to 1889 that the scented air would preserve food. If the smoke displaced the air in a container, this might have been the case. What happened in 1889? The Europeans discovered hygiene. Well, most of them, anyway.
NIGHT
Musically, I’m the type that never quits while I’m ahead. I mean why, it’s not like you can unlearn anything—certain company excepted on that one. So I tackled this Zac Brown “Toes”, moving it up to the proper key of C and laying down a complete bass line which is really the lead line. Hi, Ray-B, yep, I’m doing it again. Well, hey.
It turns out the weakest part of binoculars is the bracket that holds the eyepieces. When you twirl the focus knob, these are the stems that jut out from the center line to slide the assembly back and forth. Drop them once and you’ve got a pair of binoculars that will not focus easily, always having to pull one of the eyepieces out when in jams on the in position. Ah, and you thought it was just your binoculars.
I’m a predictable critic of the shallowness of the Internet, so why don’t you just try to find out the correct name of that broken piece. If I had to name it, I’d call it the eyepiece stem. Do you know the real reason China never dominated the ancient world? They invented printing, the most famous of all inventions—but they failed to invent the index. It's one item that makes books useful and it is a purely European discovery.
Well, the Internet is Chinese writing. In ancient China, if you wanted to know where something was in a book, you had to find the individual who had that particular book memorized. If he died without a successor, the information was there, but basically lost until somebody else memorized the whole thing. That is the design of an idiot and the design of the Internet, the World’s most vast collection of idiots. The people who design search algorithms do not possess the brain thrust to know what is trash.
This is not a recent trend. Look at the Nobel committee.
ADDENDUM
If you followed the link above back to 2009, you’ll note that I mentioned that Jimmy Buffett had copyrighted the word “Margaritaville”. I also mentioned Teresa, my first day as a cobbler, and the difficulty of renting out a room in Florida. Plainly, I knew there was some significance to the Margaritaville thing. But, I won’t say anything because I still encounter people who think it suspicious if I claim to be first with anything. Even first to write it down.
I spent a sleepless night thinking about food. It’s a mystery how a man who is 55 pounds overweight could get so hungry in twelve hours. Didn’t I once calculate I could go four months without food and still make my daily energy? Ah, I heard someone in the back say they know I did not waste the awake time. True, I designed another small project. My old camera tripod, the one with the clumsy shoe arrangement. If I drill a proper hole, I can mount a beautiful oak board.
On to which I affix a strap for securely holding my binoculars in place. Brilliant, for in stargazing, there is very little of the sweeping motion associated with scanning the horizon. That’s mostly Hollywood. This is the poor man’s planet viewer. In case you didn’t get the memo, Saturn will be supremely visible all night on Friday.
What’s this item, another dead jock? He did what? Jumped off a cliff wearing a wing suit? Trust me, the IQ was improved for 200 miles around. What? A nice guy? Nice guys don’t have to indulge in useless spectacularism to get noticed. The guy was an obvious mental defective. Like that jerk who skydives with his dog.
Last Laugh
Return Home
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
