One year ago today: November 17, 2014, the storm of ’53.
Five years ago today: November 17, 2010, selling the Taurus.
Nine years ago today: November 17, 2006, talkin’ women . . .
Random years ago today: November 17, 2012, where is JZ?
MORNING, NOON, and NIGHT
Here’s a day of musings, unless you want [yet another] full report on how the trailer rebuild is going. I will say, it is going six times faster, but I still take entire weekends off. So it spreads out. First unusual item is this block of flavoring. I think it is flavoring. I got it at the Russian market and nobody speaks enough English to tell me what it is. Remember when we had an immigration policy that worked? I do.
Sorry for the bad quality of the color, those berries on the wrapper should be blue, as in blueberries. The brick, with a chunk taken off one corner, is barely visible on the right.
So I did what anyone would, I mixed a chunk of it with hot water and stirred until dissolved. It makes a passable fruity drink. Next, I set up a motion camera to find out what the varmint in the kitchen was. It turns out to be a tinier than usual mouse. So tiny, he was not tripping the traps. These carry communicable diseases, so I have to catch him. He’s used to the mouse traps, so this time I baited not the tray, but the tiny holes in the trip plate, so he has to dig at it. I’ve filed the release mechanism to hair-trigger sensitivity. Dropping a marble nearby is sufficient. (This "new breed of smart" mouse has defeated such traps before.)
New experiment with the Yesteryear link, instead of six years ago, let’s try a random year or date. I’ll start with year, since that has logical curiosity. My little $40 table saw has finally worn out a blade, so I’m going to replace it with the thinnest available type. I am unaware of any safety issues using thin blades. I understand an overheated blade will warp. But my sawing requirements are minimal. That thickest thing I’ve saw in a rough-hewn 2x4 and anything longer, the bandsaw does a better job. Watch for a photo of this.
Strange, is it not, that Trump is mentioning Ann Coulter right on schedule? A predictable interval after she is mentioned here? I’m not making any claims, but the interval is predictable. Interesting.
JZ used to live in Puerto Rico more than thirty years ago. That was his “island” phase. Back then, it was like a colony, now it is reputedly a crime-infested ghetto. But you get that anywhere America puts in a welfare system. It saps incentive. The locals say there is no work, but companies say there are no local workers, so why invest in the place? What brought this up is my book on forts, remember that? The tip of the island harbor, San Juan, has a fort that was never bested by sea assault. It’s from the same area as St. Augustine, which was a wonderful tour if you ask me.
This led to a search for air fares (it is nearly impossible to get to PR any other way except by booking a cruise). It can be done for as little as $148 (out of Orlando) but JZ is not the type to leave town without having a hotel booked in advance. I’m the opposite, I’ll get off the plane someplace I’ve never been and walk around to find a place. If nothing, go sleep in the airport and find something next day I’ve done it. Airports I’ve slept in: Mexico City, Manila, Sea-Tac, LAX, Kennedy. He’s been in PR before so who knows, we might head there instead of Arcadia some weekend.
It is only in recent memory that JZ would take any type of trip without credit cards and what I consider to be oodles of financial resources. Not me, it just doesn’t take that much assurance to travel. After reasonable contingencies are paid for, the rest should be adventure. Not constantly worrying if you’ll break a leg or run out of money. I can even calculate my own limit, let’s see, up to what price would I consider Puerto Rico to be an affordable flight? Here we go, I'd pay up to $244 return, but I know I can get if for much less if I try.
Next, I finished fitting all the major body panels on the cPod, Mark III. I have enough hardware left over to build major projects, as in large robots. Around a hundred each of lag bolts, carriage bolts, hex bolts, all with matching washers and nuts, if any. Shown here is testing the sleeping mattress. Soon I’ll get you some pix of the camper in sleeping configuration. The “caboose” shape of the Mark II will be evident. This time the sleeping compartment is meant to have the hatch open overnight.
An open hatch (at night) is from experience out west. I miss seeing the stars. I did not have any weather panels when the lid was up back then. I stuffed a jacket or towel in any gaps to keep out any chill breezes, but this time I will install wooden skirts. The Mark III is designed to have the lip open all night, but if closed, the interior space matches the outside dimensions of the old Mark I, that is, 17” of headroom, comparable to a pup tent, but far wider and roomier.
This design has less storage space when closed. Previously, I threw everything from books to tools in the spaces between the mattress and the sidewalls. Such unplanned cubbyholes will be very limited on this model, hence my plans for locking exterior bins. Careful calculations show that when zipped up for travel, it will be possible to leave a circulation fan on inside the compartment at all times.
In the old version, I regularly aired out the interior every few days, although it did not appear to require this. The wooden case meant there was never a humidity problem inside, not even any morning clamminess like you’d get in a tent or on fiberglass. I’ve noticed the fan keeps the interior more climate-controlled, in both hot or cold extremes. I like that.
As completion nears, there are dozens of little snags that could not be anticipated until encountered, such as small gaps in panels with hinges, screws that occasionally poke through, and the design is not stable without leveling jacks. I’ll build something in. It’s not all problems, for instance, there is an unexplained gap between the lid and the roof, just the right size to fit in a spare half-sheet of plywood. Now I can just cover the rear doors rather than bolt on a heavy “barn door”. And I can still pick the whole assembly up by myself. And immediately set it down again, but you get my point.
That’s correct, in my condition , I can pick the entire camper and wheels up off the ground. Ta-dah! And look, I found a picture of the panels being tested. Shown here are all the important exterior features except the rear doors. You can see the waterproof paint, the short box, the drawer glides, the caboose hatch in raised position, the shortened tow bar and get an idea of how closely the overall “open” position matches the size of what went before.
Shown here, the structure is solidly held together by just 96 screws and 16 metal corner brackets. I dispensed with nuts and bolts, since they made no difference in 15,000+ road miles and are far harder to work with. I’ll keep an eye out for any problems, but give me hex-head wood screws for convenience.
I’ve also redesigned the power system to include protection against the wagon ever having to draw power from the small motorcycle battery at all. In the old system, if the big battery went low, there was a way for power to leak into the trailer electronics. That is gone. The trailer is independent, although a flip of the switch will allow alternator power into the brake lights only and strictly if necessary.
Last item, I keep my old desk calendars from work, which used to be quite a basis for this blog, but now, I don’t really have a job. But I did notice on this day in 2004, I had in my savings account a balance of $17,600.00 even. Those were the days. And except for small personal loans, I have never owed anybody a penny in my life except for the first mortgage RofR and I took out when I was 22. I learned my lesson right there. Only live in the house you can afford to pay for cash. Or rent, I’ve rented. Because sometimes what you can afford is not the best area of town, but I mean in general.
From the same calendar, I apparently checked house prices in Tampa, Muskogee, and Wichita Falls. Don’t ask me why, those are places I’ve stopped for coffee only. Hold on, I once went to a museum in Muskogee. That was the time I drove sidecar down the west bank of the Mississippi to look around. That was in 2012, if I recall. Because that was the trip when gas in Arkansas was so expensive it took $25 to fill the Honda tank.
Gee, that was three years ago already?
ADDENDUM
Later, I thought to check air fares to Puerto Rico. Did you know, in 1994, I came up with the idea of a service to check various sources for the cheapest fares? I did it by fax machine, but it would have easily expanded to the Internet. Another brilliant idea too early in time. I only got a few customers before the local travel agents figured out I was playing them off against each other and quit responding.
As for the on-line system today? It sucks. No two of the “guaranteed lowest price” will come up with the same fare. And the sites are designed by crazy people. TripAdvisor, Orbitz, Bootsnall, and AirFare all quoted lowest prices of over $200 when, in fact, the lowest price was $153 from Spirit. So you read the fine print and they mean the lowest price on their own proprietory system, and their lowest-price guarantee applies only to same-grade seats on the same airplane, not the comparison between carriers that takes forever to come up on your monitor.
Jerks, there could a plane beside you on the tarmac going to the same place for half what you are paying, but they don’t have to tell you. I understand they have to make money, but I also understand “lowest price” should not have eight paragraphs of fine print. It should say, “Lowest price in our system may not be lowest price available elsewhere”.
It is plain that airlines, like taxi companies and drum machine manufacturers, have conspired between them to carve up the territory and offer only a uniformly third-rate quality of product and service. I will repeat what I said in 1994. We need a single-stop shopping service that finds the lowest fare of all for a week, month, or 90-day period surrounding any departure date. There is hardly a person that would not book a flight a week earlier or later to save $1,000.
Worst on-line experience? FareCompare. What a pack of useless bait and switch assholes. Nothing bus useless overpriced garbage comes up screen after screen. I simply could not find the $120 fare advertised (see below) in their search title. Gave up after 15 minutes. They are probably lying about it, anyway.
(Aguadilla is an old army base on the western tip of the island, 74 miles from San Juan by car.)
And you know what else grinds my gears? That song, "New York State of Mind". I don't like that song and I don't like people who like that song. To a one, they are listeners, not musicians. But that's a lifestyle, too.
Last Laugh
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