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A reminder to the reader this is not a political blog, but commentary on human behavior. I am not pro-Trump, but pro-American, plus I truly love watching liberal scum squirm. I am not for or against any political party. Liberalism is not a political party, but a social cancer. It is wrong to steal money and it is just as wrong to elect people to steal it for you. One more thing, never argue with a man who buys his printer ink by the barrel.

September 18, 2025

ursday Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 18, 2024, militarily, a master-stroke.
Five years ago today: September 18, 2020, left attacks campus speakers.
Nine years ago today: September 18, 2016, my own kitchen again.
Random years ago today: September 18, 2018, I finally name names.

           A lazy summer morning while I wait for the landscape to dry out and let me work. That doesn’t mean I fall victim to watching TV. That’s for losers, instead, here is another small amp circuit I’m testing. Still assembling the parts, you see a test for continuity. This demonstrates my tendency to include LEDs instead of plain wiring when it reveals a circuit segment is working. Think of them as multiple pilot lights. Seen here, the transistor (a 2N4401) is not yet affixed, meaning all we know here is that the circuit will accept a varying signal, and important test when your input signal arrives through a capacitor. The blurry presentation shows my new Vivitar lacks macro capability, dammit. A warning label should be required.

           9:00AM and the foliage remains soaked, so let’s find the Sun. My clock shows it is 13:01:32 over in England, so let’s choose another star in the northern hemisphere. Yes, the star is invisible in daylight, but that won’t stop us. Our tried and trusted 2014 Almanac says that day had a waxing gibbous (Moon) in the 23rd day of its cycle and the Sun was directly over 16°51’, which is usually over the middle of the Pacific when I’m navigationally active. So we choose the star Raselhague hoping for landfall.

           Where is the sun, anyway? Just north of the Equator southwest of Monrovia, of which I know nothing. The declination of 1.6982°N makes sense, as we are approaching the Equinox on about Sunday. But, where is the star? Aires is at W192° 23.3’. converted to Google-talk, this places Raselhague at W288.7856 N33.5328. We are on a riverbank south of Jarzawa, Pakistan. Spelled Harzawa in the Wiki, this, folks, is why I like to say, “The Chinese should get their own Internet”. The place is of such little consequence, it lacks even a TripAdvisor ad.

           She’s not drying out and I just found the problem with the cooler. The control screen goes dead if you leave it plugged in. Still, it is a valuable asset if I can get it to operate full blast, so let’s put it aside. The long term weather says an early winter and I did feel a blast of cooler air now and again y’day afternoon. That happens when the prevailing switches from west-northwest to north-northwest. That only changes during hurricanes, in which case the wind can come straight down from above your head.

           This damp fall weather brings out the mushrooms, and here is one right in my tire-tread where it best move fast or get run over. Is it edible? How would I know? Pencil for scale, it’s a bowlful if you want to chance it. Nearby see a video of the chore of clearing a space for the planer. This looks sturdy but I’m going add a 3/4" plywood base. Wouldn’t want folks thinking I was sleeping all day.
           Getting the unit into place will not be fun. I barely got it into the scooter shed, maybe I’ll take it out of the box over there, you can jump in and give me a hand. Staying at home a lot has doubled by coffee consumption, I won’t last the week at this rate. I have an excuse to go downtown. Sigh, it must be nostalgia, there has not been a pretty gal in central Florida since 1995, I’m sure.

           Staying under cover, I finished dismantling most of the microwaves, salvaging the microswitches that turn on the light and make sure the door is closed. This was the interesting part of my day, unless you’d like more fence talk. You would? Great, drop back this afternoon. Let’s see if there is any interesting news. Trump wants Omar removed, saying these foreigners have no business telling us how to run our country. The country that used to be England has approved 85 Sharia courts. When Jimbo’s show got cancelled he had less than 130,000 viewers, which does not compare well on some counts with this blog.

           And that latest Zuck demo of A.I. adds confirmation to my contention that it is not real A.I., just very advanced Bayes’ Theorem. I studied that back in the last century and know it when I see it. The shortcut to understanding is Bayes’ calculates the odds of an event occurring once another event has already occurred. See the lightning? It’s gonna thunder. Got it? No, not really, but that’s the premise. Now this is significant: back then, probabilities were based on sample size.
           What’s changed is the sample size. Surveys that once cost a bundle are now collected by methods like invading people’s privacy. On-line samples readily number in the tens of millions, thus diminishing the margin for error AND creating a complete illusion of “intelligence”. Now pay attention here, the next thing I say may be the most important comment you hear about A.I. this decade.
           When you consider the primary available free sample source was social media, it makes sense that all the original apps were chatbots. In fact, if one was to set out to fake artificial intelligence, that is probably the best way to go about it. This is the source of my original “Truth by majority rule” adage. You can no longer believe something is real just because that is the bulk data currently prevailing on the servers. Trust me, if you use A.I., one way or another, this is going to be on the exam.

Picture of the day.
Electric windows, A/C, 8 horsepower.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Here you go, the by-how familiar trussed fence rails I sunk another fencepost which isn’t light work. The temperature stayed in the low 80s and other than the post-hole digger, none of it was hard on my back. A two-man crew could make money at this. I had to scrounge around for pickets and ran short. There should be a video of the approach showing you cannot see into the back yard without trespassing. I trimmed all the plant life that was in the way and was scolded constantly until I filled the birdfeeders. Setting up the posts and rails is like 4/5ths of the job of fencing. And my 4-foot level broke again. A sure sign my tools get used.

           Yep we have another raccoon crashing in the shed. He or she will move on once they clue in there is too much activity to settle in. They do not mind the sound of the saws which scatters the other wildlife.

           The book on railroad engineering convinced me I don’t want that job. These are the steam locomotives, not the super efficient diesel-electrics. All those gadgets and pipes need to be monitored by the engineer. There is even a pattern that new coal must be added. I can not tell some situations by the color and density of the smoke, ig you see movies where it is whitish-grey, that does not happen by itself. There is a five page list of how the engineer has to monitor the water in the boiler. No thanks, plus he also has to clean it with “rape oil and paraffin”, even the color of the water has to be watched. I don’t think they were paying those guys enough.

           Here is a video of walking from the street toward the back yard. Excuse the mess, I’m still shifting things around. This took a considerable amount of planning, as I wanted the privacy without the annoyance of a gate. When I’m busy, I walk to the back yard a lot, so I had many factors to consider. Here is what I hope will do the job.
           Large objects, like the wagon, will easily fit around these fences with little extra effort. And nobody can claim they got anywhere near my back yard by accident. In reality, I am years behind others in this city who have done the same. Privacy fences now surround my property on three sides, six foot high. Ownership has taught me the real lesson that most people only want to be left alone.
           The fence only looks continuous from the street. Once inside the yard, the fence supplies no security at all. I first applied this formula on the north side, where a solid fence would have required me to walk entirely around the house to get into the front yard. I noticed the fence looked closed from the street and applied the same theory here. I think it does a good job of it. Yes, that is the old Town & Country, soon to be junked.

           What’s this, a new ladies-only night club closed up after opening night when nobody bought a single drink. Is it a meme? Hard to tell, the report came from several sources. I was looking into wages and salaries when I found that one, but what surprised me is the low pay now common in tech jobs. If this is the result of hiring coders instead of real programmers, that does not surprise me—but the day of big-pay tech jobs is gone.
           Anything else? Yep, the Target boycott for going woke has now cost them nearly $13 billion in sales. Minnesota again claims that school lunches are “free” from the State. And the nearby picture? That is the new Samsung refrigerator that brings gas-pump advertising blasting into your kitchen. Remember when I posted how some millennial got an award for slowing down the gas pumps so you had to listen to the entire ad? Well, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Last Laugh

September 17, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 17, 2024, ‘introductory offer’ CDs.
Five years ago today: September 17, 2020, it’s a hurricane.
Nine years ago today: September 17, 2016, ha, neither will admit . . .
Random years ago today: September 17, 2007, why I love Mation.

           Florida summer weather report. High 90° with 50% chance of showers. Best snooze in weeks, but I was out so long my override timer shut down my entire system, just doing it’s job. Took half this morning to restore enough to see silver is dawdling around $42. Here is the promised feature on the fancy box, which got put through the paces at the WPM last evening. Notice the embossed pattern. We remain undecided if this was branded or lasered, there is evidence for both. If laser, there are mismatches along the edges and the depth seems too even. If pressed by heat, it would be too hard to make it match while disassembled and would crush this wood if done after.

           The investigation took nearly an hour, so here are just the highlights. Most impressive to me is the bevel cuts, shown here in two lid positions. Closed, you can see only the hinge barrel, not the flaps. And when opened, this bevel hold the lid upright if you can see where I’m pointing. The box has been lined with a lighter wood, which I appreciate must be expensive. The open box shows how this lining is pretty as anything, and also provides a lip into the lid when closed, obviating the need for a clasp.

           As for the purpose of this, the inside has an aroma of cedar, possibly artificial. But not a hint of tobacco any of us could detect. If it is a cigar box, it was never used for that. Plus, it does not make sense to me why expensive Polish labor would be used to construct this. However, and this is a big however, I was unaware there are cigars that cost $400 to $4,500 each (or in their lingo, per stick). Here is a link to the cigar source used in this study.

           One restriction is that the cigars that would be used in this box would be available. Some sticks more expensive would at least have their logo on the wood, I would think. More expensive cigars are messenger-delivered, or will fly you by private jet to the factory where the product is hand-rolled by blind-folded or limited to 300 sticks per year. I did not know they grew tobacco in the Himalayas. Even if you are as disinterested in smoking as myself, I recommend you follow the above link out of sheer curiosity that some cigars sell for $1.36 million each. Later. When left outside to warn in the sun to 89°F, the cedar-like lining gains a very, very slight aroma of chocolate. What is this box?

           Next up, I got that LG portable AC up the steps and into the kitchen. It’s a heavy and substantial piece of equipment, I should probably have gotten help. If fired right up and all I can find wrong is it is stuck on 72°F. If that’s the case, that is well within my comfort range. I left it on in the kitchen and if is just enough to cool the whole room to comfort level, no more. We’ll test it a bit more, but the hot part of summer is over. So maybe this will save me buying a new unit over this winter. The website says it can also heat, which would save me buying a overhead as well. I have hopes for this unit. While it does not blast cold, an hour later it kept the whole kitchen an even temperature. This isn’t easy in Florida. I normally have to run fans to keep things constant.

Picture of the day.
Gran Habano #5
($185,000 each)
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Keep active, they said. This afternoon I did a five-hour tidy up and a zero-beer barrel burn. All I had in the icebox was a Heineken 0.0 that must be two months old. I left it and dove into the yardwork knowing the rain wouldn’t be long. In this case, it waited until 5:30PM, is yeah, I got a lot done. Since that’s the top story, here’s roughly how it went. First the recycle materials, that’s tin and plastic, then with the electric chain saw to slice linden limbs (I have lots) into barrel-size. I moved the scooter and wagon out of the way for the fence who’s main purpose will be to hide the back yard and hang tools.
           At a loss to make this interesting, I’ll go over what got accomplished. The pallet wood is all cleaned in record time. The scooter shed is forty paces closer to the center of the yard and the burn barrel. Makes a difference when you’re over 50, and hey, at least I have two things my detractors don’t. One, my own yard to clean up and two, the stamina to do it. The scooter shed is central but it has no windows and is dark enough to require electric light during the daytime. It’s wired well, so there will soon be fans, tools, music, and I ran in a temporary air line.

           Above is a view of the redundant fence, now properly weathered. It is the far left side that we don’t need, the right side forms the west wall of the scooter shed, but it is not affixed to the frame and can be removed. Ignore the mess, everything is being moved about. The second panel shows the section no longer needed, revealing the “truss” arrangement of anti-sag bracing. This does not show a fail, the braces were added after the sagging began and arrested it.
           So the pallet work went fast. Pop out the nails, slice out the good skid lumber, the rest tossed into the barrel out the east wall where there is no wall. It’s a firing range but I may seal it off as I’ll need tool storage when I move the planer. I cleared the space in the big work shed. It will probably fit, but again, I don’t know how much space is needed around the work space.
           I dismantled two old microwaves for the electric motors. The remaining components have no real use for my projects beyond that. I do not need the west wall on the scooter shed and it is comprised of a single large factory fence panel. It served as the original blind to the back yard. The new blind is 25 feet closer to the house, so I’m thinking maybe I’ll just move the old panel and use the lumber I save to make the scooter shed a bit nice to work inside. I’m back inside due to rain but I see the neighbor got flooded out again overnight. I slept right through, must have been a real doozie. That was my big day, proving you are never really broke as long as you have something to work with. Sure, I know it isn't always exiting, so I settle for informative--and that beats the my-cat-had-kittens bloggists, of which there are so many. See how nice I am to the world?

           There is a upsurge in media posting that people should grow their own food. I agree, but the movement does not consider the cost. Most people do not own a garden or the tools. I tried twice to grow potatoes in my north and east yards, where the textbook says conditions are good. Nothing sprouted but if I price my labor at $25 per hour (less that I was making in 1995), that first potato would have cost me $830.60 and the breakeven point was some time in the 2030s.
           I set the camcorder up to watch if the rain quenches the fire. Then spent an hour trying to convert the format to WMV when I decided on a coffee. I stepped out into the hallway and what a shock. That church AC had the entire kitchen and hall cold. The unit is substantial but I was not prepared for it to work so well. There must be something wrong with it or they would not have tossed it away. I found the reset button and now can set the temperature, but left it at 72°F. I was truly surprised how it set half my house cold.
           Mind you, this is the same church that threw out the two AC units that I still use in the worksheds when those get intolerable hot. They only crank out full blast but that is pretty welcome when you need it. This is an LG1415 and it has a heat setting I have not tried. The weather is dropping into the 70s at night but it was colder than that just now and that kitchen is the hottest part of the building, having no shade from the direct overhead sun. It’s missing the remote control, hardly a concern if keeps my kitchen both hot or cold.

ADDENDUM
           Ha, have you seen eBay pricing? The Trump tariffs are a percentage of selling price, so to get around it, foreign sellers have cranked up shipping fees. Your camera lens still costs $300, but they want $1,800 to ship it to the USA. I don’t imagine this will get them very far. NASA is shifting strategy toward claims of “life on Mars”, an obvious public relations ploy. They are dribbling out announcements about trace samples of organic compounds. On Earth at least, there are certain signature compounds that can only be produced by life. That fact is, we do not know that is true everywhere. I do hope life is discovered in my lifetime, and not life that can be explained away by the anti-Darwin contingent.
           Lately youTube has taken a real dive. There is no way to filter A.I. generated junk from real battlefield video. And the A.I. versions just parrot the propaganda long after it’s been exposed. Serious historians know that Montgomery was a loser and Patton’s big three “victories” (Kasserine, Sicily, Bastogne) were all over territory the Germans had recently abandoned except for rear-guard units.

           You have to really dig for facts, worse now than before computers, a telling commentary on how the quantity ousts quality. I was looking for action use of Soviet Sagger anti-tank missiles and was surprised by the lack of a large explosion when an Israeli tank was hit. You could see the misslile flare being guided right into the tank armor, but no big boom. This suggests and internal explosion but the tank does not always look knocked out. I could not find any video on the SAM missiles in action against the Israelis. That does not surprise me as you’d have to be standing beside a SAM and the Egyptians would not like that.
           The Arabs knew one thing, that their SAM sites take a long time to set up and after that they cannot keep up with advancing armor. They begin losing the moment they step out of SAM range. And the Israelis won’t release any footage of losses attributable to enemy weapons.

           One more thing, this test video proved popular enough that I'm including it here permanent. (That's blog-permanent, so supply your own grain of salt.) The test was to see if I could capture a file that had massive anti-copy protection. There is a surge of such antics every few years, but they never last. If it isn't free, does it belong on the Internet. Don't ask me, but if you do ask, wait to see what changes should I ever make money off this blog. If you must know, this video attracted an extra 732 clicks. But it isn't that kind of blog. It does, however, make me think past my Internet Golden Rule, that is, "If something makes money for you on-line, NEVER change the premise." Look at eBay, although they did such a shitty job to start with.

Last Laugh

September 16, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 16, 2024, worse than Danielle Steele.
Five years ago today: September 16, 2020, it’s therapy tape.
Nine years ago today: September 16, 2016, cry the Texas jungle.
Random years ago today: September 16, 2007, Kissimmee, Florida

           I have a treat for myself, in a way. This morning was more of what I had in mind for my retirement years—but could that be because I got no work done? Here’s the tale from the trailer court. I needed more pickets for the privacy fence. As chance would have it, I could only afford half but they turned out to be superb box lumber. Shown here, they are very smooth with the knots more that 11/1-2 inches apart. They are also slightly thicker, though I’ve never measured exactly. These are set out for drying and the rest are already in the back yard. So much for retirement.

           Back home, closer inspection shows these are the best box pickets I’ve seen yet. I almost hate to put a staple though them, but I need that second fence in place, one quickly learns in central Florida it is best not to allow the City to see any work in progress. I have just eight of these beauties, that’s eight boxes. Enough to keep me inside the shed as the temperature soars again. It’s noon now and I’m inside under the fans, I have only one working A/C unit and it has been running constantly for 66 days now. And if I didn’t say, we have a juvenile raccoon in the work shed, still small enough to fit under the door.

           Then an unsual score, this next photo shows two items of from this morning. That is an almost brand new Rexair vacuum, the kind with the water. Including both the carpet and mini power nozzles and all the hoses and fixtures. For $19. Again, barely used. It’s too large for me to wield around the house, so we shall see how it works for dust collection in the new saw area, which is too far away from the built-in vacuum that is not done yet.
           The vacuum is setting on another gem, this is the top grade of pine wood pallet. Enough for four great boxes. The pine slats are not split and are nailed only near the ends, yielding ten, in five pairs of matching grains and width, if you can see them in this photo. Nice except all this work takes me a lot longer nowadays, just loading that pallet in the van was a ten minute operation. I had to stop twice.

           Here’s a better view of the fence cross-braces, the anti-sagging feature I wish I had discovered earlier. Once a fence gets grown into place, meaning mainly kudzoo, it is too much to affix the braces, a job requiring three hands. What you see here is not random. Notice the truss-like angles and how they do not meet in the center? Those are not 45° angles but custom sliced to leave that gap. The bottom rail is raised 4-1/2 inches more from the ground than the store-bought layout. The bottoms of the diagonals rest on this rail, but are not fastened to it, rather to the posts. Live and learn, and use only bone-dry lumber.
           Down south at the Pinecrest library, I found a book on how to operate steam locomotives. It’s written by this guy who worked his way up through the system, and reads like it, ho-hum. But he worked in the shop areas, not the rails, and has included dozens of pictures and diagrams of the boiler and cab interiors. Examples are the brick lining of the fireboxes most people don’t know are necessary and very clear drawings of how the wheel rims are attached and why. See, now he has my interest. The wheel rims are the only part of the engine that needed regular replacing, I did not know that.

           In other news, Charlie Kirk’s media got so many messages of condolence from Israel that many began arriving the day before he was shot. Oops! In Vietnam, bank accounts without “biometric data” have been seized. And here’s a cute development, I inadvertently pasted an old copy of my travel notifications that included the Space Hippies e-mail. He’s still out there, being the consummate little pest, still playing the dive bars. What’s interesting is after all these years, he still does not realize that I floored his guitar playing every time we were on stage. It’s as if down to this day, he can’t mentally process that’s what was really happening.
           The guy also has a fat head. He has a blog because I taught him what that was. Same with e-mail, same with computers and the Internet. Yet today he’d deny under oath he learned it all from me. (He hated computers and was still writing out lyrics longhand and photocopying at FedEx.) I sincerely tried to educate the guy on how duo stage presentation worked, but he was too wrapped up in himself to even hear much less listen. Instead he remains stuck on in his permanent vain-arrogant mode where he is the best and others are never more than his flunkies.

           Is he a good musician? I said before, he has an incredible talent to note-for-note others. But as far as adapting that to play in a band, he never gets off the ground. The six years I put up with him was probably a record. The fact is, we got off to a shaky start because of his inability to blend and it took the first year for me to realize he never would get past that. So to this day, he judges my bass playing by his own awkward blunders before I learned to just outplay him on stage. I thought he’d wise up, but instead he presumed he was getting better. Duh. So he sends me a snarky e-mail revealing he has not yet learned his lesson.

Picture of the day.
The Terraces, Caribbean
(about $200 million.)
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Once noon passed, siesta was no longer optional, I am curling up under the A/C.. The one weather report you can trust in Florida is when they say “hot”. Not as hot as for leftoids losing their jobs over comments concerning the Kirk assassination. Some smart aleck posted that his new hiring policy required proof of “non-vaccination”. I zonked out. So unless we get something swell for Festus re-runs, I’m calling it a day. It was the rain woke me, and this rain smells funny. Noticed it from inside the house, it smells like mown grass, slightly.

           Aha, you blinked! Now the pallet wood is stacked up ready for tomorrow’s sunlight to bake it even more dry. You see that wood with the red tinge? That’s going to be a beauty and even more so as my new thickness planer should soon be in operation.

           Jack the Drummer has his ad back on the bulletin board. If it takes him another seven years to find somebody to even listen to him that will place him in his mid-nineties. Folks, the skills to put a band together are different and often opposite to playing music. For openers, you will never have a band that does it your way, something Jack more than often mentioned he was seeking. If you’ve ever wondered why so many of the successful bands have leader as a namesake, try forming a group. Diana Ross, Charlie Daniels, Marshall Tucker, Tom Petty, all I can say is I can’t blame them. They are surrounded by followers nobody heard of before them.
           But, I did give it a try even if I was shy on the music part. I’m unique (so far), but not great. I reviewed the latest list of the top 100 rock bands of all time and did not recognize 8 of them, though I could later name one of their hit songs. Like Prince and “Purple Rain”. I don’t recognize bands with over five instruments as being true rock groups, especially recorded music. I also rate tunes on their adaptability to live performance with out a ton of road gear. Good luck, Jack.

           By 7:30PM, after Gunsmoke, the pallet is no more. When cut, it supplied only enough lumber for two really good boxes. And I have a box to determine that by, I picked this one up at the Thrift. It as several features I would like to copy. Plus a pattern burned or placed into the wood once it was ready for finishing. Most curious was a bevel cut that allowed the hinge flaps to be completely hidden, the hinge itself recessed into the frame, and the way the bevel allows the box lid to stand open. I’ll try for pictures but the latest camera has no macro setting. It’s a precious little box, I will likely save it for the Reb. Return tomorrow, when the blog that dares will feature what may be nothing more than a cigar box. (If so, I’d still be curious why it has a “Made in Poland sticker.)

           As for Gunsmoke, the recent showings indicate the serious westerns are over. No quick draws, no barroom fisticuffs, and only token appearances of Matt, Kitty, or Festus. Tonight’s feature performance was about saving a falsely accused drunk, almost totally soap opera. The old lady owns the town except for the saloon, which is owned by a lady who won’t sell because one of the old lady’s two sons is really hers, which is why the old ladie’s husband gave the saloon to the other son’s real mother, who is protecting him by framing a drifter for a floozie he accidentally killed, but not before she shot him through the shoulder, whence Matt finds the bullet in the door jamb. Like I said, soap.

           I’m not into the audiobook, “Holy Ghost”. If you are curious what I think is wrong with the police in America, this is a good source. My contention is that the police, right now, know exactly who 99.99% of the bad guys are. They also know that most first-time offenders are just ordinary people caught in extraordinary situations, think Rittenhouse. To solve the majority of crimes, the police therefore know precisely who to look for, and what’s more, to catch them all they have to do is watch closely until perp steps out of line.
           So why not do that? My answer is “Hollywood”. You see, nabbing the bulk of known petty criminals is boring. No shootouts, no high-speed chases, no trips to the stripper bars. Yet, if the police would focus their insanely huge budgets toward arresting the known bad guys, crime would sink to a fractional level. I remind the reader I am a half-redneck. That is, while I do think people are free to donate their own money, but should be shot if they try to donate mine.

           This book is a revelation of how cops break the law when they can and bend it when that doesn’t work. There are no suspects but the city cops have arrived and on a campaign to “interview” every person in town. The purpose? To get their phone numbers, employers, political views, and sex partners on file—all information that myself and the Constitution say is none of their business, even if they have a warrant. But it is the oldest scam, police claim it is to “eliminate” you as a suspect, the exact opposite of your right to be presumed innocent.
           Ah, but listen to the pundits, if you have nothing to hide, why not tell them anything they want to know? Ask anyone who lives in a police state how well that worked out for them. The police have no right to your information but that will not stop them from putting the squeeze on you if you don’t “cooperate”. I’m on disk 3 and the cops are now going after some “Nazis” who they know damn well are innocent.

ADDENDUM
           Well, there is something with that $71 travel budget this month. Remember the trip to Clermont and to see that disappointing “island grove” area? I found a publication saying ten of the sleepiest towns in Florida are in that area, call it 50 miles west of Orlando. Upon opening the books, I see we have $86. I’m thinking.
           Certainly, I’d say a budget, properly applied, makes incredible difference. That’s why I’m mildly fascinated by the Merkhava “tank” pictured last day. I meant what I said it was no really a tank. Some reasons are that it cannot be upgunned to the modern 120mm cannon, but only the 105mm. But this combination of tank armor and gun make for a exceptional personnel carrier. I notice the armor is now some form of slab, probably Chobham, replacing the hull front and the turret seems to be a lighter design.

           Israel is proof a smaller number of better trained and equipped foot soldiers is repeatly better than big numbers. This makes each soldier more valuable, so getting him into action and back out again makes good sense. He’s only of use when applying force on the enemy. To an enemy who is more concerned with religious fanaticism the vehicle looks enough like a tank to cause panic. The Israelis are gaining two advantages. One, they don’t have to budget for whole new tanks, and two, I think they have around 200 or 300 of the old Merkhavas, and they never throw anything out, those guys.
           I have not yet studied the Trophy system. It works like a super fast shotgun when it picks up a missile traveling toward your vehicle. It looses off a missile of its own on the trajectory that sprays the incoming with pellets. As missiles aren’t armored, the kill rate is estimated at 95%. I’ve seen the tiny hexagon hatches on new Merkhavas, but never any action. It pops up, fires, and retracts in a split second, with tank crews often unaware until later there was an attack. I’m afraid to ask about the price.

Last Laugh

September 15, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 15, 2024, ‘1421’ blog coincidence.
Five years ago today: September 15, 2020, muggiest this century.
Nine years ago today: September 15, 2016, nice but twice.
Random years ago today: September 15, 2015, if I can crease it . . .

           Downtown before dawn to take care of some Tennessee financing. My bankbook has taken some real body-blows recently—and survived. It was a rush-hour drive so I listened to more of “Holy Ghost”, the audiobook of the Minnesota town that faked the apparitions but now has a sniper killing Catholics. Far more dynamic a tale than this feminist sensitivity crap last time around. Checking the radio on the hour, I see the Kirk assassination is turning out the opposite of what the MSM hoped for. We have a public outcry over the Democrat judge who set the killer free with no bail.

           How are you fixed for buying a $130 thermos. Yeti, the people who built my battery backup, have this puppy for sale. The battery they make big claims about running lights, computers, and small appliances will not operate my CD player for even eight hours. The thermos seems sturdy with lots of features like no-condensation surface. But it is $65 nice, not double that. It carries a gallon, so you don’t want to be lugging a full tank about for very long. "I hope you brought enough for everybody." (That's a phone company joke, peeps.)

           I got more fence panels, it is easier to put up a barrier fence than to keep the back yard pretty from the street. (here should be a nearby picture. Chicken was on sale, so I’ve got my largest pot on the stove boiling up drumsticks, the lo-cal option. On the way home, slower traffic gave me another four chapters of “Holy Ghost”, a stark reminder of why I got the hell out of small towns first chance that arose. The retail price on this book says $55 and it’s worth it. If you don’t know a lot about rifles, you will. So far, Wheatfield is a list of what I don’t like about small towns, but to be more accurate, about small town people. Everything is everybody’s business but nobody saw nothing.
           It’s also a lesson on how cops love to use one crime as an excuse to snoop into dozens of items that are not their business, particularly who is sleeping with whom. So far there are no suspects in the shootings, but the cops have complete files on who is bopping who, with particular emphasis on cheating housewives, and a policy of making every new cop who arrives from downtown is up to the minute. The only instant data I need is silver prices, which are inching toward $43. My hope is, as always before, there will be a scrunch of people afraid they’ll miss out and drive the prices insane.

           That was the Reb on the phone. Like I warned so long ago, now that they have all the good people on file, the scrunch begins. The post office wants documentation and a life history for any change of address. And they will not deliver care-of to any person who is not on their file, along with that person’s private data as well. This is tricky, as the bank accounts are in both our names—and my ID has “evolved” since those were filled out. She says the new requirements are as bad as she used to say I was too concerned about.
Bottom line is the state has slipped another past the voters. They slowly build until they have a critical mass, then make it mandatory for even those who disagree. Knowing that people already on file have a defeatist attitude and won’t try to stick up for others. Nor will they take intials, they require the first and any middle names spelled out in full. They no longer just deliver the mail, they now track it.
           The video of the murder of the blonde girl on the train has been completely blotted from the media except for private sources that keep reposting. A version circulating says the murderer is from a professional crime family and did the killing to get a cushy cell in an asylum rather than death row. I just saw a photo online of a creep I recognize from some club I played, arrested for issuing death threats. But where? If I remember, I’ll post, but that shit-head is no highschool student. Later, yep from Ybor City. He’s a drunk at the Lara, a dive bar behind Centennial Park.
           My theory is that over 30% of eBay accounts are fakes from the same people out to disguise their operation. Hotels in Vegas are installing sensors in the mini-bars to collect a $50 fee for anyone who puts their own items inside. Most major US airlines supply travel records to a broker who just signed a $5 billion contract for your personal information. So-called scientists have added porcupines to the list of bush game that Africans eat before catching Ebola. They like to minimize that the infected people eat a lot of monkey meat, which American charities keep as low-key as possible.

Picture of the day.
Harvesting cherries.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Here’s a preview of the 2026 model Merkhava, that’s Israeli for “iron chariot”. It’s a remake of the 1970s Merkhava with some extras. The tank is designed for crew protection, with the motor in the front, a format common when you have more money than people. It has redesigned armor belts with the reactive panels built into the frame. The biggest change is the motor, it is now a diesel-electric making for very smooth acceleration. It also has a battery mode for super-quiet stealth operation and a very low infrared signature, much harder for top-down drone attacks.

           The barrel is chrome-lined for higher pressure shells, including programmable air-burst munitions. Handy against terrorists who hide behind walls, churches, civilians, that kind of thing. The cannon is also A.I. controlled and the rate it can shoot up enemy tanks is classified. Cameras inside give the crew a full 360° field of vision and it still carries six infantrymen. And best of all from a user standpoint, this puppy is air conditioned. Add it up, and I say this is not a real battle tank but a battle limo, more designed as an emergency evacuation vehicle. Paid for with your tax dollars.

           I got the small fence section finished, now the entire back yard is private, as it should be. There is a gap still visible, but rather than fuss with a gate, I’m putting a second fence section to block the view, leaving twelve feet access space between. That means I also (at my age) sunk a second fence post, see photo. Notable was that hand building that second 8-foot long fence cost me exactly $50 and no cents. It was a good workout, I had to string out the compressor which took minimal time as I now have plenty of Nashville fence experience. Plus the sawzall had me down in the pit cutting a one inch root. That was one solid piece of vegetation.
           The fences are as solid as walls, a technique learned the hard way. I copied the ready-made design [from Home Depot] that used 2x3” rails. All of them, mine and theirs, sagged within a few years. The solution was asking the lumber yard for the lumber skids. I cut them the same shape as the cross-braces on my doors and gates, which have stayed true for up to nine years now. I was out there over three hours, a truly magnificent day with just a hint of cooler temps on the way. We have a new motor for a belt sander, the church on Pearl threw out a portable A/C unit. (Setting it up for a test, it seems to just need a little tweaking. This design is new to me, time to learn something new. It’s the kind on wheels you hang the hose out the window.)

           What’s this? Trump is suing the New York Times for $15 billion. That should put them out of business, and they are as guilty as it gets. Years of hit pieces and participation in hoaxes. Here’s something kind of off the record. When I post on social media, or I mean this smart aleck I know who really knows how to aggravate libtards, I go to lengths to make the comment stand out. One of my favorites was discovering how to make any titles display on a colored background, which is supposed to be disabled by the web page. Well, today I discovered how to make the titles double-size. The neat part is if some jerk cuts and pastes, the formatting does not copy.
           England has limited the population to two airplane flights per year each. Removing the clamps from my microscope case and making ready to set up the thickness planer, well that’s a lot more work than it would seem. I had the radio on, only Tampa, but I did finally find the antenna wire. We may just have decent reception soon as I misplaced that wire some eight years ago. My bad. And that’s the big news of the day.

ADDENDUM
           Still reviewing my original investment strategies, in some cases now over 50 years old, though I would point out that I could not act on them at that age. Yep, I’m back where I started with my “funeral account”, the money I intend to die with it in the bank. One change I disliked was the bank policy of introductory special CD rates, we already talked about that. How they give you 4% to start, hoping you will forget the renewal dates and roll it over at 1%. I’ve developed a plan to get me that magical $1 per day income that is all it takes to get ahead in the world. Maybe just to prove it was not lucky break, and yes, I've had that suggested.
           Ignoring the fact that 95% of people never get that happening, and staying home last night instead of the planning meeting, I’ve developed three strategies to do this using only $8,675. Depending on my property taxes this year, I could have up to 20% of that in the next 71 days. The catch is not letting the two banks know about each other—and these days who is better experienced at that than me-myself?

Last Laugh

September 14, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 14, 2024, Excel has no “copy exact”.
Five years ago today: September 14, 2020, work shed progress.
Nine years ago today: September 14, 2016, after I spent it all . . .
Random years ago today: September 14, 2018, nothing went right.

           All’s I can tell you this morning is if the libtards thought they gained anything with the Kirk assassination, they are sadly mistaken. Since the extent of my politics is sort of Trump Bad Trump Good, I gather Kirk was saying things the Democrats don’t like. So to me the issue is whether or not this galvanizes anything. That, and the murder of the Ukrainian girl, if these are not culminating incidents, they are getting close. I’ve seen calls to have the Democrats declared a terrorist organization. That would be something to see, if only because it would reveal how weak they are when forced out into the open.

           Here is the latest photo of the work bench going in the scooter lean-to. It’s along the right side of this view, with the planks piled up for now. If any of you think that is quite heavier duty than usual, you are right. That is deck planking as this bench is to solidly hold two chop saws in place. You can see the matching set of boxes starting to pile in the upper left corner, and on the lower left is the thickness planer still in the box.

           This area replaces the smaller bench I had along the north fence, the area prone to hurricane wind damage. This new location, which by the way proved to be very dry to wind-blown rain, is sheltered on three sides. Longer pieces can be worked without a tree or wall getting in the way. The downside is this is too far away from my projected vacuum system and that planer is a known dust producer. This view also reveals that the space was built as we went along, no real big picture, no coordination.
           Hence, I’m tempted to put a couple lesser used tools out in this spot as well. If I do it right I may be able to shoehorn that planer into the big shed. Why not just do that? Because right now that is the only space I can cut anything longer than 8 feet 1 inch. This was planned, meaning that spot is 16-foot-1 inch long. It proved most useful when slapping the sheds together, it also being the only dry area during Florida’s almost-daily rain showers. Since then, it has barely been used. I have no plans to build boxes 16 feet long.

           This cycles us back to this new bench. The scooter lean-to is open on the side, that’s how we can look down the length in this photo. That makes cutting boards of most any length I’ll ever need because I don’t care if the other end gets wet. This is big work for anyone my age and condition, so don’t expect overnight results. I may have to sink some new 4x4” posts and do some more wiring. Just now, Sunday morning, the neighbor has started his lawnmower, so we get to play bass until the stores open. Hmmm, this worked out okay, how about that.

           You see, I’m out of air minutes until the kiosk opens in around two hours, so let’s relax this morning and go over some bloggish-like topics. I still have no side-hustle investments. By the 26th of this month, a Friday, I should be on the way to investing again. Yes, I’ve looked at Lofty and similar operations—the roadblock there is that I cannot get a straight answer out of any of these on-line people. They seem to think jargon and contrived obfuscation is something new in this game. Caltier is still stalled and the offering comes to a close in three months. However, the account is still showing some kind of return and stands at over $26,000. Nice, but I would prefer to know how it got there.

           I’ve reviewed my office operations and the pity is that I am very well-equipped to track any investment that pays daily, or even hourly. This is a factor that tempted me to look at Forex. I’m wise enough to know the Internet has bent the traditional business laws, keeping me inclined to seek a company on-line that has a closer affiliation with the downside of such investing. At this point, bank interest has paid me more than selling boxes, it just isn’t as much fun. My budget to the end of 2025 is not much, about $500 per month. Caltier would get it if they’d smarten up.
           This will be a long morning, so how about an overdue review of where best to invest. Tradition tells me what worked before was slow and steady, although that has never stopped me from sticking my neck out. A fast buck when young cannot be beat in the hands of us who know better than to blow it on a big party. That’s why just now I pulled some of my oldest files that relate to planning, in this instance one of my original spreadsheets. It contains embarrassing errors, so you don’t get to see it. Overall, the direction is clear—I knew what I was up against. So here is the long-winded version.

           The overriding principle is that the long range plans that got me here today were haphazard. True enough I refer to them as a solid and unified motive. Nope, I had dozens of paths I could have followed. I tried everything I could afford, all of which failed between 1982 and 1990 except my semi-famous “reverse retirement” calculations. You know about that, how I figured out how to emulate having one million in the bank. Well, today I found the spreadsheet that worked out how to make $1 per day. Some of you will recall over the years how I’ve kept coming back to this formula. Because it worked. And am I right back there?
           For that matter, it is the same challenge 40 years later—there were no investments that paid daily back in 1982. The world was not equipped for that. Daily bank interest was still a concept, as most banks did not have a computer. Realistically, that [daily income] has not changed unless I want to risk the no-answer people on-line. Here are a couple historically odd tidbits from my 1982 work. One is how often planning errors tend to balance out. In this case, I estimated that “tax and inflation” would cost me 30% of any income and got laughed at.

           Instead, my original equations that split monthly income into daily estimates is still in use today, in this case Caltier. I still use the original Win 95 Excel spreadsheets, which I hated at the time. They still work today but you have to know how. For those unfamiliar with how corrupt MicroSoft has always been, here is the original backstory on Excel. The first spreadsheet was VisiCalc, for “visual calculator”. What happened was MicroSoft began tweaked DOS so it produced intentional errors when importing VisiCalc, while simultaneously offering Excel in a bundled package, essentially giving it away for free.
           This is illegal, but it was also new and there was no body of law specifically addressing software at the time. MicroSoft promised and promised to fix the error, and they finally did with a big apology—the same month that VisiCalc declared bankruptcy. Like most at the time, I never did trust Excel, but it had two features that made it far easier to use. One was the ability to lock (F4) a cell in either or both dimensions and the other was replicating became drag-and-drop. Yes, I have 2,400 cell spread sheets that had each formula custom entered—so Excel was welcome on that count alone.

           However, to this day I still check certain Excel functions on a calculator and get a laugh out of those who blindly trust Excel. They have lost the ability to “check for reasonableness” and their space probes still crash which, to them, is a mystery. Then again, it has always amused me how most people seem to have only the barest grasp of what is going on when the do anything on the computer. Talk about blind faith.
           Wow, still two more hours till the stores open, gets me because I was right past there this week and forgot. Rather than wait, I’m driving over to Bartow where the store opens early. Should we make a Sunday mini-trip out of it? Say, go visit the bookstore or something? We have $71 you know. Or wait until next weekend? Check back and see.
           Later, wait for next week. I opted to buy $39 worth of gourmet bird seed, including some special worms for the smaller birds now appearing as regulars. Let’s see if the squirrels like that diet. And a finch sock, is that also squirrel chow? We are about to find out.

Picture of the day.
Boone, longest USA rail bridge.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Here’s a great view of protestors in England overwhelming a police blockade with sheer numbers. Now the lone-gunman theories have already begun. My stance is simple, kneecap anybody found crawling around on a roof near a political event and you will be right most of the time. That was JZ on the phone, an interesting evolution I have seen in roughly two dozen people in my life. It’s where they are nice to everybody and don’t like the way that I treat some people and my attitude toward some strangers. They think I’m mean-spirited. The operative word is “some”.

           What changed with these 24-odd people is that later in life, they decided to get off their asses and accomplish something. Funny, innit, within a year at most, they are no longer nice to people who jerk them around and they don’t like strangers who get in their way. In other words, they now act like me. Not one of them, included JZ, has ever admitted this. Yet, last day he hung up on a secretary who was giving him the third degree because he wanted a doctor’s appointment instead of playing twenty-questions.

           Off balance or not, I got to work in the yard while doing a load of laundry. That is actually a standing joke. I drove to the lumber yard for wood, unloaded the van, and spread the lumber to dry. Then I dug a post hole and got an 8-foot landscaping timber into place. That includes the cross-rails and standing up eleven pickets which I will fasten tomorrow. Then I cleared space in the scooter shed, measuring out the thickness planer. I think it is going to fit unless it requires some clearances not shown in the literature.
           Next, I glued up the next set of panels for the microscope case. This has to be done in sections with a day between. I can now biscuit join lumber in a matter of minutes. The laundry quip is based on a vocalist I had back in the 90s. She did none of the logistics, only showing up to cherry pick and get paid. Annie, the elephant poop lady who starved to death, that one. Your prime example of what happens when you get too far behind to ever catch up and still think you’re the community standard. The joke was how we’d ask Annie why she was always barely on time and exhausted.
           You see, she had been on welfare since she was 24, so that makes 31 years. What did she do all day that took so much of her time and energy? The laundry. And I have, in my time, met countless women who think doing a load of laundry actually compares to real work. Makes you wonder when was the last time they dug a post hole.

ADDENDUM
           ‘Scuze if I got the name wrong, but Scott Adams(?) posts an interesting view. He noted the people losing their jobs over cheering the assassination have something in common, other than being mostly teachers. They all thought they would [get away with hate speech because] nothing would happen to them. Adams compares it to applauding that Hitler was dead—in American most people would agree with you and, indeed, nothing would happen. Ergo, these brain-dead Democrats must believe that most people agree with them—and this is a rude awakening. Makes sense to me.

Last Laugh

September 13, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 13, 2024, saving the Gigrac.
Five years ago today: September 13, 2020, I added that window . . .
Nine years ago today: September 13, 2016, the confusing op-amp.
Random years ago today: September 13, 2008, Peggy was a good egg.

           Back home with a big session of insomnia (lifelong for me), I used the time to toy around with the camera remote. Some of the best footage this trip was when I turned it on by mistake. I can see getting to know this feature better but I cannot create better scenery. And I’m determined to take life easier as best I can. I reviewed the video and notice where things are decelerating. Last evening I added more oatmeal flakes to the bird feeder and they are ecstatic. Let me check the game camera for when I was away. Why, yes I do. Lots' of birdies.

           This is another new juvenile, probably a female, and she looks a little beat up. That’s seconded by the clock and thermometer in the background. She gets to the feeder long after the usual birds. I’ve seen Mr. & Mrs. Red III feeding on both sides of the tube simultaneously, that’s exceptional. And also more frequent with the oats. Have I stumbled across something? No, but if it makes me think it, hey. I will try an oat feeder to test this theory.

           Feel welcome to ID the other birds that appear time-to-time. I probably looked them up, but nothing really sticks in the brain but the cardinals, my original cabin companions even if they are what I take to be third generation. Once again, there is no ignoring the news when Trump is around. He makes the Left-wing sources really stand out as disgusting. Well, it seems there are two stories not fading at the usual pace. The murder of the blonde lady and the assassination. These have not worked for the Democrats, rather it’s pushed the concept they they are an evil group that should be rounded up. In this part of the nation, that means Tampa and Orlando. Some of them were cheering the killing and have lost jobs over it, with the voters screaming for more.
           For a laugh, check out Biden’s “Presidential Library”, as these ventures are funded by donors. Except, Biden doesn’t have any. Word is the whole shitteree is failing from lack of interest. The first such failed library in US history, and soon to be followed by Obama’s stalled effort. It is hard for outsiders to realize how much the US is different than portrayed by the state media. The parallels to 1933 are astounding. Hate speech becomes speech they hate. Murder is openly cheered as “defending democracy”. Queers march in the streets.

Picture of the day.
New York City “sex workers”.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           My circadian rhythm is wonked out, another sleep-a-thon had me out of commission for the afternoon. Let me record my activities like a good little blogger and call it a day. The partially reconditioned battery on the mower is enough to kept the pathways open. I got a 4x4 post under the new work bench in the scooter shed. I began the glue-up of the front and back of the microscope case, there should be a photo. If you see a mass of clamps, that’s it.

           Then I popped some brads to make a small box for my glue bottles. My ear canal is still blocked, I’m still moving slow from all the walking last day, and I don’t feel much like dancing. So instead I drove over to the old club at 10:00PM, just before the normal end time for entertainment. However, the Karaoke was that same lady who remembered my coaching, so she regularly goes overtime for more money when the crowd is partying. From what I gather, that turned into a rather successful arrangement for the house, so she bumped me to the top of the list.
           The weekends are busy again but it is not the regulars. It’s more a boisterous spillover from the other nearby clubs which close around 9:30PM. She also has a following of three or four women who are quite good but they are not professionals. Myself, I don’t claim to be a vocalist, but my presentation is top-notch at it showed tonight. She appreciates the higher standards but what’s in it for me is I’m hoping she knows of gigs I can’t find on my own. I’m guessing she turns down smaller gigs based on her super-loud volume and the ton of equipment she uses. Her PA system is designed for a small auditorium.

           I watch the crowds closely and this is not a steady or reliable bunch. A lot of noisy locals from the surrounding towns which have no entertainment. I’m amused by the music most of them sing along with, it’s corny but that can be said for a lot of generations. I tend to present classics and rarely had a flop. Plus tonight was more a crowd of rowdies, already drunk by the time I showed up. There is a tendency back to country music but the old crowd is long gone. I recognized only two of the younger women, both not my type.
           Finally, I found the version of “Tequila” that became my Karaoke theme song. It’s by a 1950s band called “The Champs”. If I ever knew that, I’d forgotten it. My teen bands played instrumentals like “Wipeout”. Nobody knew the studio recording used two drummers.

ADDENDUM
           Interesting, my test results are back (by e-mail) already. Well most of them, the tag says two tests are sent to another lab. These reports are required by law, but not that they be in plain English. I’m looking for changes and there aren’t any, except the persistent higher than usual cholesterol that dogs the majority of America. I’m in the lower range of concern and I note an increasing number of “old guy” tests being insisted on by the insurance people. The clinic gave me an anti-inflammatory to use as needed, but after the first dose, I have not needed it.
           What’s a bit worrisome is these newly required tests tip us off what they look for and or expect in my age group. My hearing is 20/20, no digestion, liver, or bone problems. Ha, but does this mean be on the lookout, I mean, why such tests? The only thing I can be that vigilant about is slim, proportionate women. Give me a prescription for those a few times a week and I’ll stay healthy until they finally land on Mars.

Last Laugh