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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.

December 3, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: December 3, 2024, certainly I’m experienced.
Five years ago today: December 3, 2020, the pattern emerges.
Nine years ago today: December 3, 2016, I learn windows?
Random years ago today: December 3, 2006, doing important things.

           This is the new battery charger, testing this claim it can restore batteries. The device is fairly weightless, which supports the documentation that it is entirely microprocessor controlled. Oddly, the design show up with a major flaw. The clips on the battery cables won’t span a lug that is on the post. In other words, you can’t clip it onto the battery when it is installed in the vehicle. The documentation does not define what a repairable battery is, but I’ll take that to mean one that has dropped below the 10.7V recovery level.

           If you are new here, a 12V car battery that ever drops below 10.7V will charge, but it will gradually go flat again, a little quicker each time you recharge it. And it will go dead on you. This is why I’m testing, I believe the repair feature used PWM to remove the coating of sulfides that coat the battery plates, causing this problem.
           But, I do not know. I would have researched this first had not my batteries pushed me into trial & error. The charger, shown here, has been in this repair mode for several hours. The manual says if the process is successful, the regular charging feature will take over. When fully charged, the microprocessor switches automatically to a 2A maintenance trickle. This could probably all be done using analog components, but at what cost and weight?

           Politics, ha-ha. In the much heralded election in Tennessee where the Reb is, the Democrat party just lost a small fortune. They sunk millions into a sideshow. Always be suspicious when political races are “close” for that is a tip-off somebody is conspiring to win by a manufactured margin. This minor election was made into a big deal by the MSM as the turning point which was to start unraveling the Republican party. I could care less about that, but I wanted to watch them try.

           Yet, it was still a fun watch due to the aftermath. The loser normally makes a congratulatory concession speech. Not this time, she tried to use it as a forum to lecture the winner (a big Trump supporter) on how to do his job. She came across as a mildly retarded cuckoo in a room full of defending heavyweights.

           The rest of the day was routine cabin maintenance. Top agenda item is finding out why that plumbing joint repair is not holding. I’ve devised a tiny gadget that uses a larger diameter pipe to clamp onto the pipe. This is not a repair, it is to find out why the repair is failing. It was easy enough to modify this electric conduit with the heat gun to swage out the 0.882” outer diameter to fit the outside dimension of the CPVC. The small screws just grip the 3/4” CPVC, stopping the joint from moving and it is carefully marked to reveal the elusive weak spot.
           Four hours later we have a potential answer. It is not the joint that is failing, it is the pipe that is moving. Hmmmm, the knee-jerk solution is to make the pipe longer, but give me time to mull that over. I don’t want to be just transferring the problem down the road like a Miami city engineer. Plastic pipe is easy to work with that way. What’s scary is that it moves so far, 4-1/2”. Even this small task involves lifting the floor, so I’m calling it a day.

Picture of the day.
Fishing pier, Galveston.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Something is wrong, I have a twitch in my left arm, wrist, and little finger. Blog rules I record anything that could lead to my last. I’ve had them before, this one is not going away. I may got in if it persists until morning, which would completely disrupt any schedules. Now back to my day. Here’s a photo of the sag in the roof of the lean-to. This is an easy repair since I don’t mind adding a fencepost smack dab in the center. This was put there for a saw which never worked right, so it has become storage.

           I left the new battery charger on for eight hours and all it did was top off the voltage. A fully charged 12V battery with no load is 13.7V. I figure it must not have needed repair and never reached the condition where it could cease that function. I’m not up to humping batteries, so as long as it starts the van, I’ll leave it. But that battery started failing a week after the warranty ended. Tell me that wasn’t planned.

           Now that house up the road. They have had crews in there 24/7 for two days now, here is a view of them working at night. Pretty much every part of the building except the frame has now been replaced. Let’s see how the rest of the country is faring. The pillow guy, Lindall, is running for governor in Somaliland, Minnesota. That’s gonna hurt the leftoids bad. Without their USAID grift, they did not have the hard money to steal even a small election. I believe they chose the Tennessee race because they target elections with narrow margins because they cost less.
           This pic won’t mean much to non-robot folks. It is a lightbulb, now broken, that was the backlight for the clock in the Town & Country. It had a beautiful blue halo which I took to be blue LEDs. Nope, they were very finely made ordinary filament bulbs and I manage to break both filaments when salvaging the clock. Both these photos are from the new scope, showing the posts for the electricity and the tiny binding loops where the filament used to be. This made it kind of an expensive clock, but that’s why I tried to save it.

           I decided to watch a sci-fi movie on-line and ran across this German movie about this escaped prisoner on a planet who finds a space ship in the desert. The guard sent to capture him decides he wants out as well, so they fire up the ship and get off the planet. It’s a crummy theme, totally plagiarized, but what got me was I could not understand them. They were talking numbers and technical terms and I could not follow, my German is now so bad. I could make out the easy words. For the rest, I turned on the captions and folks, I’ve lost what little I had.
           My reactivated ad for an acoustic player is getting hits, but just lookie-loos. The ad is tied to my old e-mail account and I see MicroSoft has removed the “select all” option from the junk folder. Typical XYZ mentality, now you have to delete their SPAM one by one. So much for the business savvy of the greatest generation. Word is that Internet content is now 50% A.I.
ADDENDUM
           Let’s have a ‘boo at the best and brightest of the XYZ businessmen of today. According to my junk folder:

• Access to my cloud data is cut off from an account I don’t have.
• My Tractor Supply reward credits remain unclaimed.
• United Health Care wants to understand my needs.
• Exciting news about Starbucks Giveaway awaits me.
• Omaha Steaks says my free offer is ready.
• PhotoStick warns that my memories are at risk.
• Costco says I am going to love what is inside.

Last Laugh

December 2, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: December 2, 2024, at least 16 feet tall.
Five years ago today: December 2, 2020, baloney, ring tones, daybreak.
Nine years ago today: December 2, 2016, sunup and too hot.
Random years ago today: December 2, 2002, tattling on Frank.

           The gossip, as much as it exists around here. I contacted the trailer guy in Holiday to say I can’t afford that investment, but asked if he’d be interested in showing me the town for an hour. His blurb says he’s been there six years, so he could give me the guided tour of what I need to know. Where’s the beach, where’s downtown, where’s the pubs that have bands, and what parts of town to avoid. India has been more than distraught by whatever she is going through so I cancel that for now—but not the option to meet the musician’s she knows in Lakeland.

           Back when it was a nice place, I used to visit the Oregon coast. I remember when it began to fall to the libtards, around 1990. Today, I zip over to their Craigslist to check for some of the more asinine photos, for my laffs collection. I do have to keep a supply, you know. The latest theme is libtards complaining that when you won’t get the vax like they demand, it is you sticking your nose into their private business. Yep, I got out just in time.

           Here is an excellent shot of the bumper hitch y’day. The front plastic bumper was removed using four bolts and some generic clips. You can see the exposed metal frame and the chain clamp on the nearest beam. This is solidly in place. Apparently build by the guy’s (two brothers) father, they hinted they could build me one for a couple hundred dollars. I wonder what that must be like, you know, a father who could actually build things and brothers honest enough to go into business with.
           California pushes to replace their gasoline tax with a mileage tax. My opinion? They are libtards and a gas tax cannot be attached to your vehicle to log your movements and create a profile of your private comings and goings. Have a look at the old club battery charger. It finally gave out, or proved unrealiable. Like a girlfriend, items like this never get a second chance. For some reason, it will not charge a super-dead cell like it used to. The club markings that it was tested maybe ten uses ago can be seen, it says August 2019.

           Let me check the budget, yes we do have $75 set aside for a replacement. The newer units have a processor that knows when full charge is reached, which if overdue here. Same with this “desulfinator” mode I’ve been hearing about. The budget says it is cash, so all I have to do is go downtown, and I feel like doing just that. Check back. The old unit won’t be discarded, for it still measures will in the 2A mode, which means it may find life as a bench mounted trickle charger.
           To wrap the morning up, here is some terrible footage from Tampa Bay last Sunday. This is the new video, the better than nothing unit. And it is crappy. I had no tripod, but the camcorder was steady against a pylon. It not long has no steady-shot, it would not focus on that distant horizon. This is the best of several tries. My life has always been hounded by entities that cannot focus on any distant horizon.

           Hmmm, silver inches back over $58. That, if you read the deep theory, is not supposed to happen. Banks have the ability to scrunch prices back down. Or do they? There is no separate report page to distinguish between certificate silver and real silver.

Picture of the day.
Handmade leather belts.
(Laser-made, can you tell?)
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           The new charger is here, another portable unit for car batteries only. No test yet, as my last battery still able to take a charge left with the Town & Country. I’ll drag the unit from the Hyundai, as I want to try this claim that the microprocessor can rejuvenate batteries. It’s late afternoon on Festus Tuesday so don’t be waiting around. I also scored some ginger snaps, the only cookie I will not overindulge meaning even if I get back here before dark, I’ll not be moving much. This cabin may be the center of activity for my age group in central Florida, but I still need my coffee time.

           An hour later, there is the new charger sitting atop my suitcase and failing to connect with the old T&C battery. That suck is stone cold dead. I also picked up some wire strippers that sell for $15 a pair these days, but on sale for $3 and that was my afternoon. I not only need for rest, the same rest never fully gets you back up and running. I recognize from the after effects of twenty years ago.

           Over to watch Festus, it was an episode we saw so long ago, we watched it again, “Jesse”. Turns out the neighbor worked a couple years in Apollo Beach last century and confirms it was just as boring back then. He’s getting so deaf he has to put a new battery in his hearing aid every show now, he’s saved because he’s found an excellent house cleaner, I’m impressed.
           Back home, I go settled in to watch a half-hour video on box design, but boxes made from metal or cardboard. I fell asleep three times but kept going. Why? Because anybody who has any plans to ever build such a thing would eventually have to master what is in this lesson.

           I know that somebody, somewhere, would like this video for in the annals of box-bending with its K factors and bend radii, is a true masterpiece. 100% positive feedback in the comments. It was an app called Fusion 360 and I would not wish it on anyone who, like myself, wants to be able to say at least I looked.

           How boring was it? On a scale between watching paint dry up to listening to my brother explain why he is smarter than you, this was about an 8. This photo of the wire strippers is more enthralling. I’m looking forward to a day of raking leaves tomorrow just to inject some zip back into life. That got me thinking earlier, as I raked the driveway. I once took apart a paper shredder and it struck me, would that work on leaves? The Thrift often has these, at least until I want one, but if so, I’d like to give that a try.
           Here’s a link that says what I’ve been telling the world for years. Coders are not programmers and never will be. Finally, for the first time in 37 years, the US is not wasting money commemorating World AIDS Day. Here is a link to Boing technology. If you need instructions, you are probably reading the wrong blog as well.

ADDENDUM
           Another deliberate incursion by the Chinese off the Taiwan coast and articles about beefed up missile defenses. I imagine everyone who owns a laser sooner or later tests it on plastic, a common missile component. Lacking any missiles this week, I grabbed this piece of Styrofoam. Once and for all, let’s see if the beam can perform, though I’ve long noticed a lack of such cut pieces on the store shelves.

           Here it is and it did not cut through the foam. Two visible (but unproven) details were that the surface was quite reflective and the material, being insulative, did not readily absorb the heat, See, no scorch marks. A single laser pass at default speed and 80% barely marked the path. The logical thing to do was hit the repeat button and see what it took.
           Shown here is the groove after ten passes. By itself, that makes foam uneconomical. You can see a few spots where the beam has poked through. That’s it because I do not have a cutting table yet and like the top of my desk to stay kind of a natural wood shade. But, does this mean a simple insulating reflective shield can defeat lasers? We know there is some unspoken reasons why the military has not jumped on these weapons.

Last Laugh

December 1, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: December 1, 2024, early thoughts on A.I.
Five years ago today: December 1, 2020, must’a been talking money.
Nine years ago today: December 1, 2016, these are the people?
Random years ago today: December 1, 2003, yes, it was true.

           Yep, all 7,793 posts of this blog were accessed earlier today. Interesting, like nobody out there could ever read that many, the material is free, and it is already backed up. Still, if anything goes awry, it just enhances the situation. I stayed up late and watched “633 Squadron” mainly because I admire the Mosquito. It’s based on reality, the only thing too real so far is the Frankie Avalon haircut on that Norwegian, gawd that is disgusting. Silver has passed $57. And a mass of Biden auto-pen judges are likely shaking in their boots.

           Cash for Gold, or what they call themselves now, reports than 70% of the people they do regular business with have been selling silver, gold, and jewelry to cover basic expenses. Good, because so few people have these items, the sooner that will run out. And nothing brings prices down like nobody having any money. Works every time. For this morning, I’m making gourmet meat loaf, show here is the pinade (I’m just informed that is “panade”, an Italian word), which is the step that makes the final product stay moist. For more info on this delicious dish, see addendum.

           There is one less headache around here, the Town & Country is gone. I called the guy and we tried everything to get it started. It ran fine last time it started, but no combination of batteries, cables, or chargers could get the thing to fire up, but it would turn over. I’ve heard fuel pumps go bad like that and for that vehicle it is not worth chancing such a repair. I sold it for junk for $200, which will all go to replacing the battery in the Hyundai. Total loss on the van since 2023, around $5,100. But that is chicken feed compared to the costs of any alternatives.

           Using the time charging the battery, I got the Hyundai running for a bit, all the while baking a chicken and planning an afternoon of sitting down and drinking coffee. I hauled out the club battery charger to discover it has finally given out. Shown here are some views of morning work, including inflating the tires and a potential good outcome which I’ll go over later (a tow bar). The guy’s two brothers showed up with a home made tow assembly that involved removing the front bumper and I want one.
           Compared to the Valdosta incident, I would have no qualms ripping off the plastic crap they call a bumper these days and gluing the thing back on afterward. It’s a tow clamp that they winch right on to the frame and away you go, maybe five minutes total and could be done by one person. These guys appear able to fix anything, this is the demolition derby tow guy that came by 18 months ago, I thought it was just a year. Personally, I think they did me a favor taking it off my hands.

           I’m looking for a local cardiologist and it is not so easy. These days you have to avoid the ethnics and DEIs, which leaves a smaller pool of specialists who often do not take my medical. So much for Obamacare. Part of the problem is I’ve long since lost my Medicare and Social Security originals. It should be a simple matter to have them call my existing people. Trust me, there is all the information could need to verify anything for sure.

Picture of the day.
DeFuniak Springs, Florida.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Here’s the sad parting of the ways, I really did like that Town & Country, even though I did not ever watch the two TVs and really camp inside it. Power everything, smooth sailing, but then came that engine overheating. I fixed it with a permanent fan switch, but once unreliable is too much in America. Recall, it went out in Miami and I was lucky to get home.

           I fired off an e-mail to Steve outlining what I had found, bass-wise. Two responses, both unsuitable. The best potential remains a gifted amateur and a tough-as-nails veteran, we could be playing in a month. We have 20 tunes we can do now, which is half a gig. I believe we should play it somewhere, even for tips only. As a newcomer, Steve does not yet see the bad actors out there as being a waste of time. Each false start, I found out the hard way, shaves a yearyou’re your musical career. That’s why I would stick with a jerk like the Hippie for six years—it wasn’t starting over, it was just putting up with crap.

           For an hour, I played the tunes most likely to make any new list we come up with. As said, it is more productive for me to learn what he plays that to wait for him to get around to my material. Except for the most simplistic tunes anyone can play. 10% of my songs have only two chords. (Memphis, Cocaine, & Jambalaya.
           Silver passes $58. What’s this, Trump is flagging all overseas transfers of more than $2,000. And a possible 100% tax on money sent out of the country. Does this mean I get my $5,000 DOGE rebate? We have a new round of whiners on-line, expecting their first job to provide a house, new car, and all creature comforts. I fart in their general direction. I got my first new shirt when I was 19 and I walked until I was 21. Let them spend cake.

ADDENDUM

           I doubt I’ve ever mentioned meat loaf because I so rarely make it. Maybe once every five years, using chicken and pork, never beef. Any recipe will do but I found a few tricks of the trade I still use. First, make a bunch of small loaves instead. It stops the first scout from spooning half of it onto his own dish and if there are leftovers, they are easy to throw in the camp cooler. I no longer use brown sugar, substituting turbinado, for the glaze. Meat loaf is about the only time I use much ketchup any more.
           If you do it just right, the loaves will slightly shrink from the sides of your pan. Spoon half the glaze into that slot twenty minutes before finished, once it bakes enough, the rest of the glaze goes on top baked until it is just shiny. Works for me. Here’s today’s half-recipe, the one on the left with more glaze goes in the freezer or for company, which I don’t have any more thanks to Tennessee, I don’t want any. Except Taylor, who’d best get a move on.

Last Laugh

November 30, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: November 30, 2024, overages, a closer look.
Five years ago today: November 30, 2020, America is angry.
Nine years ago today: November 30, 2016, getting settled in.
Random years ago today: November 30, 2014, a different Sunday.

           Today we need adventure, even it if amounts to another box. The point is working with what we got, which should get easier as time goes by. Am I right? I have to go into Winter Haven tomorrow, so how about a day drive in the opposite direction? Done, and eventually I drove through Ruskin. On the way, I had all four van windows down and the radio off. Most of central Florida is flat scrubland and I take side roads to wind up in Wimauma. On the way I passed many more acres of the latest (legal) Florida cash crop. Solar farms.

           The truly sad part is these operations are not utilizing the thousands of acres of scrub. They are taking over prime dairy cattle farms, often evidenced by a beautiful 2-1/2 story farmhouse, now boarded up and fenced off. The operations seen before were way back 40 miles from the shore on old mining land. These new ones are on the scenic route. I’ve not been west on the Wimauma road before, so today's views, only a few minutes further, are all new to me, please enjoy. It’s 20 miles inland and this farm was some of the best farmland in America, with a twelve-month growing season.

           The coast in this area is the shores of Tampa Bay. That changes on a daily basis depending on the height of the tide, and changes quite rapidly during storm surges, ha-ha. The one effect I will always detest Biden for is how he crushed all the small businesses, but particularly the mom & pop cafés. Every town had a spot you could stop for coffee, now that is all gone. Nothing but sterile franchise players left. Urbanization starts around three miles past Wimauma and soon you get to Ruskin.

           Folk, I have seen some nothing towns in my long life, but damn, this Rusking place that is so frequently in the news, it’s a nothing dump. You cannot even get to the shoreline. I drove through downtown hoping for an historical district, but the whole down is kind of historical in the wrong sense. If there are any spots to view the bay, they are unmarked and not mentioned in my de Lorme. I soon recognized the name Apollo Beach, which for some reason I thought was on the other coast. It was ten miles on my way and that is where I stopped for a look-see.

           Quickly finding a road to the bay, I drove down a few dead ends, but one was this small park with an observation tower. It’s the Apollo Beach Nature Preserve and the only thing I found worth seeing. It’s on the mouth of a river, just a few acres with no services. I got some footage from the top of the tower, but you’ll have to wait. It reminded me of Texas, how once you get twenty feet off the ground, there is a nice refreshing breeze.
           Amusingly there was a retired and very talkative ex-boat captain at the top. He pointed out downtown Tampa and St. Pete’s, many miles away on the horizon. He described the fishing shoals and where he used to catch sharks. The signage warns against swimming or even wading in the water due to tides. He told of three people who drowned two years ago just fifty feet from the shore, a mother, her baby, and the guy who tried to save them.

Picture of the day.
Empty Jacksonville beaches.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Here’s the tower, yes, it was an obstacle course for me. If you are only in the area for an hour, this is probably the best deal. It’s quiet, no pets, no parties, no organized events, no loud "indie" music, and a security gate after hours, so the grounds are clean. No services, but there are restrooms. What caught my eye to the north was a massive electricity plant, then beyond that some port facilities including the bright yellow piles of sulfur I have not seen since I left the west coast.

           Our captain guy said the plant is being closed so the whole bay, which includes several river-mouths, is to become an international port. And this part of the shore is to be the tourist draw. St. Pete’s is a few miles to the southwest, I always took the whole area to be too shallow for cruise or cargo ships.

           Driving north from Apollo, I was soon in familiar motorcycle turf, so I took my old route via Turkey Creek to the highway back for a total drive of 113 miles, home by 1:30PM. Still tired from the tower, I find it sad how rapid my decline. Other than the captain, I was twice the age of anyone else who made the climb. I have some footage of the things mentioned, but most were a mile or two away from the observation deck.
           I’ve seen so much of flat old Florida that the usual no longer interests me, so what did I notice. A huge mound of grey-white dirt to the northeast. I mean huge, could be the true high point in the State. I reckon it might be gypsum. A few years back the Chinese were caught exporting radioactive drywall and I heard the US was building a factory. That would make sense, there is enough gypsum under Florida to colonize Mars. At ground level, the stockpile was not visible, but do check later because I really tried for some video for you.

           For now, all I’ve got is this snappy view of the KIA, parked almost between the pavement stripes. The sure mark of an old motorcycle driver. Hmmm, I did not know the roof was so faded. Speaking of views, once again during this entire mini-journey, I did not see even one sexy gal. Saw lots of squat ones, but that’s par. And other than a third of a tank’s gas, the cost of today was $0.00. Let’s check for messages and take a nap. Trivia, the Titanic cost three million to build, the movie cost one hundred million.
           It’s a reply from the band looking for a “mature” bassist. Yep, they are a new startup, the sort that come and go around here. No song list means no organization, and I correctly surmised they don’t have a singer. The point there is that I had to ask. I’ll hold back a while to let their youthful enthusiasm wane. I also asked about band size and it is the old seeking to add a keyboard and second guitar later. It rarely happens and if they do, it breaks up the band over logistics. That’s a factor that Florida bands have a real set of mental blocks over, right, Hippie?

           Moments after the blog counter reset for December, a new month with just 23 hits, something went haywire. Sometime in the next 25 minutes, the counter registered nearly 8,000 views. Since this is some anomaly, I’ll suspect a robot or A.I. or maybe an attack of something. This blog has no protective measures other than copyright. Am I, after twenty years, an overnight success? I would not mind being famous enough to make some money at it. And of course, the only source of new material is moi, so stealing the old posts is futile.
           Nonetheless, the number of hits exactly matches the total number of posts. Am I a victim or a hero? Does it matter? Why would somebody copy or steal something that is free? Maybe we'll see.

ADDENDUM
           Later, I seem to have a great documentation of climbing the tower. Here is the best representation I can cut from the video, what’s the blogworthy component here? Simple, I do not know if this is my last tower tour or not. At least all the way up, I did not have to stop and rest, yet that day is no longer far off. At the top, there is a long shot view of Tampa on the distant shore. Check back, these videos take longer to process.

           Yep, the two ads on the musician’s board are the same people. I wonder if that fools anybody any more. Auditions are a ritual for me, from decades ago when I struggled to play the other band’s list to now, where music is around tenth in importance. Musical ability is now assumed before I even bother. Before dark I got out to the shed and slapped together another tool tote. My goal was to experiment build a box out of sawn lumber.
           Sawn into planks, I mean. Pallet lumber tends to have splits, which I just saw into useful lengths for the least fussy box parts, the bottom plates. It seemed a shame to do this with some of the nicer pieces. My plan was to use the grey saw to cut away the cracked spot.. This did not work very well. Other wood that is just trimmed a bit works well, but not the pieces I cut nearly down the middle, lengthwise. Using the same templates, I ran into a number of snags and the resulting box was not any better looking for the expended effort.

           Today’s Last Laugh is part of the growing trend in this blog to replace humorous photos with memes. Apologies to any purists, but it just became too increasingly impossible to find new material on-line. And A.I. is apt to make things even worse.

Last Laugh

November 29, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: November 29, 2024, Norene.
Five years ago today: November 29, 2020, my “pre-box” era.
Nine years ago today: November 29, 2016, and important 27 inches.
Random years ago today: November 29, 2013, some travel highlights.

           We awake to cabin living at its finest, a water leak. Or should that be the most famous of Florida’s “non-cabins”? No panic or sweat, folks, this sort of adventure is relatively commonplace around here and the cost of avoiding the odd repairs nowadays appears to be in the $200,000 range. You want ease, you pay for it. On the other side where I’m at, I’ve gotten to know the personality of this old girl, referred to in my assets as “Cabin 509”. No, I’m not changing the title to “Tales From The Cabin”, I’m just saying there is a lot to really living in your own place if you do the maintenance yourself. Is it really “your” lawn if you pay somebody else to mow it?

           That means this morning’s report practically writes itself. Here’s your clip of the already repaired junction, the one where the now-recognizable sound of the leak appears nine feet away from the culprit, this plastic jaw-joint union where old meets new. Plastic to the left of me, metal to the right—and this joint has failed repeatedly. Now we know why. The shifting of the building. Some of you will subconsciously congratulate me for my design of leaving floor-boards removable where I can get at the known trouble spots.

           Other than moving the floor panels, which is always an onerous chore, this repair was over in the time it took to sip a coffee. It was light work (some may disagree) made lighter by having all the proper tools, and said tools stored in nice, locatable, laser-labeled wooden boxes of recent origin. I’m now to record the mechanics of this leak. The materials are the best available for this sort of, well since it is two differing materials, I call it a fusion. Unseen in how inside that double-ended jaw splice, the pipes are inside to almost touching.
           Then, with the end-caps, a pair of heavy-duty rubber (maybe silicon) gaskets firmly pinch and seal, trust me, these expensive joint pieces are worth every penny. Same with how I took the time to install extra stop-cocks (valves) on every new section. I can trouble-shoot any leaks simply by turning off the cocks until the water stops. The fail on this joint is the building itself, it is still settling after 70+ years. This places a slight, but constant, strain on this joint, which, by the way, is located here for that very reason—ease of access.
           The metal side is fine, as the pressure causes the gasket to “bite” tightly into the pipe surface, which you can see has a rough finish. The plastic side is smooth. Even the slightest movement seems to relax the grip, and over time you get this third failure at the same spot. So today, we design two preventative measures. One is a marking ring that will reveal if the joint has moved, and two, a small collar around the pipe that adds resistance to the plastic section.
           The one remaining question is if I deserve that third cup of coffee. Check with me later. Oh, and the pretty college girl in the video is just to make sure you were paying attention. This could be a great day yet, as moving that floor did not tire me out. Or maybe I just think that because of the pretty gal.

           Now let’s talk music. It is the annual Snowbird let’s-start-a-band season and Craigslist did not disappoint. Suddenly everybody is forming a band again, and I see my old lead player is out of jail, I’d recognize his carefully worded ad anywhere. He plays lead breaks only and just stands there the rest of the song. The (now customary) four +/- ads for an experienced bassist where “experience” means you already play their material so they don’t have to do any actual work. After all, you are just a bassist, and all they have to do is follow along, right?
           One page got my attention, Lakeland band that specified over 60 and local gigs only. This is more important than it seems. You must avoid the annual crop of newcomers who think they can recreate the 70s—if (like the Hippie) they could only find some underlings who knew how to listen and do what they were told, dammit. And whose taste in music did not so totally suck.
           Then I took my time and played bass for awhile. Do you think it is true, these rumors that there are people who don’t play a musical instrument for at least an hour a day? What would they do instead? Watch television or something?

Picture of the day.
Qawra Best Western.
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           Ever on the lookout, I see a retired vet is seeking a mortgage for the property he is renting. The only reason I’m looking it is that this might include the land. I know that area from driving around and I could afford that investment if I had to. Running the numbers shows that it could produce a stream of income for 20 years, but that’s risky nowadays. One more Biden and your savings are worth about as much as an Israeli ceasefire.

           Later, here is a satellite pic of the property, and it includes the land. Running the numbers tells me this is $24,000 too expensive for me. The guy is asking $90,000 but my best offer would be $66,000. The unit came up on my now infrequent search for the least expensive inhabitable property in Florida. You would like this property, it is just across the inlet north of Tarpon Springs. It’s a mobile home in excellent condition, permanently rented, but financially just out of reach.
           There’s another picture below, showing the interior. This type of property is very rentable at over $1,000 per month. But my spidey-sense tells me things are going wrong in that a/rea of Florida. This is the fifth consecutive year of no Snowbirds. How about we just wait and see?

           Have you seen the stink the DEI people are making about Trump rating nursing as a non-professional degree? Well, it never was, I remember because my sister just squeaked by the year before they make it a Bachelors. She was not college material. The ruling was not actually about nursing, but about which degrees could qualify for which loans or forgiveness. Turns out most non-White nurses were never paying back the borrowed money. Speaking of DEI, remember old Ketanji Jackson, the Supreme Court appointee? Yep, it was auto-pen.
           Ann Coulter, and I admit to having read less than half her books, is back on the charts for the reason I read any of them. She takes top spot for accurate predictions of the world today often 15 years in advance. Pretty amazing. She rarely named Trump but she was right about a lot. The case against Trump in Georgia was dropped but ignored by the media. What won’t be ignored is how Georgia law that allows defendants to recover attorney fees when prosecution drops a case. If so, Fulton County now owes Trump about ten million dollars. Serves them right.

           A response already, the “band” in Lakeland is a startup, so not a band at all. I get the impression it is a guitarist and drummer who want to play the community center circuit. They have no ready list, mentioning Beatles and Petty, exactly the material you don’t want for the trailer park circuit. But, let’s hear what they have to say. Remind myself this is the band that wants a bassist “over 65” but they don’t seem to know what they are doing. They want to “get folks our age up and dancing”, which tells me they have not tried this before.
           There is something about the ad, who recalls that group with the guy whose father was the drummer? It can’t be, but that is the vibe I’m getting. The guitar player was excellent, it’s posted here somewhere but I’m too lazy to go look. Anyway, the guy was a former pro, but was still floored by my bass playing. That’s the guy who kept looking at my left hand to try figuring out how I was getting the right sound without any pedals, etc. He was sold, but he had this sour-ass old drummer who kept galloping.

           This gave me a choice, stick with a steady pace on the guitarist, or speed up with the drummer. Since such a drummer is useless, I opted for staying on tempo. This pissed off the jerk and sure enough, a few days later the guitar player calls to say the drummer convince him that sooner or later, I would cause an argument in the band. (Yeah, with him.) Anyway, who would choose a third-rate drummer over an excellent bassist? Aha, it’s his father.
           I had noticed, as I would, that the guitar player was the one single-handedly holding such a band together. As is usual, they are not very good at it. So I followed some of the links in their ad and found it was not their live material. It was sites of rock videos which means little to me. But, it would make sense because said guitarist was definitely dreaming of recreating the 70s and that old coot of a drummer had finally croaked. That’s all for today, hopefully you had a better Saturday.

ADDENDUM
           Using the line that I was low on coffee, I drove to the south end and spent $50. I listened to our Algerian now taking a stand against the French colonizers of his grandfather’s day. An Algeria where it is okay to sleep with your neighbor’s slave girls, but not your own. His speech pattern has also changed to liberal, constantly trying to slip in false facts but complaining if you stop him on the spot. It reminded me of how any look into my own past would find “dead” times when I had to associate with such people. In fact, allow me to explain why you cannot just ignore these people, you have to shut them out of your life.
           For me, such a period would be most of the years I was 9, 10, and 11. That’s when I learned to focus my energies on things that could not be divided. This is a process that takes time, but I have one example that tells the tale. I wanted to go downtown on the new bus system and was told I had to take my brother. What could go wrong with that?
           I spent the next month explaining to every kid in school that while my brother was there, “we” did not sneak on the bus, “we” did not smoke a joint, and “we” did not steal any candy. Okay, but how does that explain the dead time, why not just quit going downtown with your brother? Ah, I already told you that. Try it. Your mail disappears, you never get your phone messages, your bicycle tire keeps going flat. No, the only viable solution is to quit going downtown. The result is the apparent down time. But now I have to keep listening [to this audiobook] to see how many of the characters go full retard.

Last Laugh

November 28, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: November 28, 2024, a sampling of replies.
Five years ago today: November 28, 2020, by a vast majority.
Nine years ago today: November 28, 2016, parking at the front door.
Random years ago today: November 28, 2009, my 7th most popular post.

           It’s Chicken Sandwich war time, with Burger Kind and Popeye’s vying for top slot. At $11 each., I won’t be conducting any taste tests. Both chains are owned by the same corporation. It’s a bitterly cold morning which reminds me the vehicles are both in tip-top condition for Tennessee winter driving, so I’m inclined to take a small trip, maybe the book store in Davenport. Toasty warm in the cab, before that I have a treat for you. Recall last day when I was inappropriately touched by the burrs of the bush? This dazzling epic does not end there.

           While festooned with these briars, I walked directly to the shower. Now, inside my place in the winter is an old Venezuelan habit from my office in Cuidad Bolivar. I have a heavy blanket covering the doorways between rooms I want cooled or heated. Meaning I brushed past these blankets on my journey. And here is but one example of the result, utilizing my amazing new microscope table.

           This is one of the burrs after doing it’s job. It is pretty much saturated with my chest hairs and blanket fiber. As the superlative burr I have ever met up so close, I may go back into that yard to find one that is not used. Moments later, I found this second burr which clearly shows all the wee little hooks that gave me such a hard time. Yes, that is the laser etched grid behind this photo. There should be a nearby video of the back yard, showing it is now at least walkable. That would also describe the building up the road, where it seems the work crews have finally completely replaced the floor under the building. What a massive task that must have been.

           Sadly, one of the DC victims has died, it’s tragic, but watch for a far more USA-positive change in the way the National Guard deals with these potential threats. To a lot of Americans, probably the majority, this incident is regarded as the first actually open killing by the Democrat party, who have been provoking such violence. When will they go too far? The irony was listening to the people who flew them in expressing condolences to the families.

           Looking for documentaries of interest is now nearly hopeless on youTube. I prefer videos to most sources of new info. The reality is, A.I. has majorly destroyed content. The averaging effect of this so-called A.I. has taken over most of youTube with average information. And that seems to entail a 50% rate of errors and misinformation. I can’t figure out why nobody is complaining or worse, suing over some dangerous results. The content has really suffered with youTube now averagely stupid.

           Unable to resist watching this video of the guy who build a cardboard airplane, I was impressed by his thinking as he talks you through. He knows his stuff and almost flew. What really held my interest is I now know the theory and some of the practice behind his story of how things worked. Even the way he programmed the instruments and built the wing spars.

           At mid-morning it is still in the mid 50s. I’ve got another plan for a small box, this time long and narrow, just wider than a spice jar. For things that size that need to be stored in a row instead of in a box. I glance along my desk and see I have plenty of such articles that I don’t want to throw in a drawer. Two nasal sprays, a bingo marker, a salt shaker, envelope moistener, a coin tube, and bottle of glue. Nice day for a drive, but too cold and I don’t want to listen to that Algerian narrator who fancies himself clever. Silver over $55 per ounce makes it feel a little warmer.
           If you really want to get steamed up, there is a video series online (no link) where these feminists are asked to solve 66 + 34. The horror story is not that none of them got the answer, but the variety of tactics they used to avoid answering. It takes years of practice at entrenched stupidity to get that good at ducking. They possessed an ease and conviction at blocking the question, even accusing the questioners. One did demand a pencil, although she motioned because she could not think if the word “pencil”. It’s been so long since she’s used one. And folks, these are today’s top-rated marriage material.
           Something else I noticed was some women referring to shared info on dating sites about “bad” men, expecting the usual accusations. Instead. there were an uncomfortable number of references on how much money to expect the guy to spend on that pivotal first date. Guys, there are two types of people who keep tabs on you. The ones you know about, like your doctor, and the ones you don’t, like the police. All I can say is when somebody keeps records of what you do without your knowledge, they have already decided you are the enemy.

Picture of the day.
Alabama wildlife.
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           A new term is cropping up up, “ozempic face”. This is the hollow-cheek look of dramatic weight-loss. Prime example, Mike Obama, and the recent big attempt to look glamorous. I’ll reserve judgment on that one. I used the early afternoon to learn about a type of microtome I’ve never seen until y’day. This is the tool that produced the very thin section you see in microscope slides. I’ve only seen the expensive type that look like a miniature sausage slicer and cost a fortune. Now I see a unit that costs $60 and makes sense, at least for small or wet pieces.

           It could hardly be simpler. A piece of carrot or potato (called your pith material) in the tube and cut to wedge a slice of your specimen into that slot. In this photo, the specimen is too small to see, but it is in the middle of that carrot. I have never prepared a dry specimen before, only diatoms.
           When the cutting plate, the flat round disk is in place, you take a razor and slice it flat. Turn the dial on the base to raise the carrot 500 microns and make your second slice, known as your section. Peel this slice off with tweezers into a shallow dish of water and the carrot expands away, leaving your specimen [probably floating] there. This is so economical, I need one just to say I tried it.

           The sun never quite got warm enough, so I put on my only long-sleeve pullover and selected a book on various history. When I next looked up, it was 6:00PM and dark. What is new on a cold day like this? Two new items, either could be the start of something, here they are. At the center of this blurry photo through the splattered bathroom window and some latter rungs, you see a feral black cat that likes my yard. He’s found the safest place to lie in the sun, where he doubles to keep squirrels high up in the trees where they belong. The least we can do is build him a box to call home and find out if he likes chicken bones.

           Then, a picture of the letter A in the word America etched into this balsa wood. It isn’t clear because the depth of field with the microscope table is less than the depth of this cut. This could be an challenge, since whatever version of Windows is on this computer will not recognize a camera unless it activates Edge, which I have solidly blocked on all my computers and so should you. There is no such thing as a private operating system.

           There is some authorities stating that 92% of Biden’s executive orders were via illegal use of the autopen. Trump has rescinded all such orders, but the Senate and Congress are against him, meaning the orders will be back the instant there is another Democrat in power. A group was selling the orders for $250,000 each, including old Hunter’s pardon. There appear to be some minor police and ICE raids in Minnesota, but sending 8 or 10 agents to arrest each Somalian is probably just political theater.

ADDENDUM
           It’s not all work and no play, I like the odd puzzle game, and here is my score on Puzzmo, which I don’t like due to its membership policy. Here is something seen on a regular basis around here--besting all 40 GenX "champions". Why 40? Because they can't count any higher. That's a joke, son. But it is no joke that I am up against uber-gamers, supposedly their generation’s best, who spend all day on such puzzles and know how to cheat.

           Some news-slash-trivia. The trimmings on a new vehicle now add an average of $11,200 to the purchase price, with 20% of new buyers locked in to monthly payments over $1,000.
           And here is a great article from Cypher if you have time to read the comments. They are excellent and lay bare the myth that mail-order houses are cheaper. Best point made—these kits are just the exterior shell and interior partitions, the cheapest part of the house.

Last Laugh

November 27, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: November 27, 2024, flush the roach.
Five years ago today: November 27, 2020, an un-camera person.
Nine years ago today: November 27, 2016, east, like it or not.
Random years ago today: November 27, 2002, 750,000 by tomorrow.

           Up late with the microscope idea, it was easy to print a grid. What is not so easy is printing the grid to an exact scale, or numbering that grid. It was fun and I have a pattern that will work, but failed to find a suitable vector file for free. Because I won’t pay for lines. Since I only need one for now, I set the laser to the 1 hour task of burning the jpeg file. This laser does not excel at cutting such patterns and I see now why the overscan setting is important. I further learned except for extreme cases, the actual grid size isn’t that important. You mostly need a reference.

           Here’s a graphic from the future, that is, this afternoon. Those of you who stuck around, we did it. This is the working prototype of our “flatbed” microscope. It’s not finished and it is not fancy, but it works exactly as intended. Congrats, our first such endeavor. The concept was significantly more complicated (and finicky) than designing a box, but all our experience here was brought into play. As we know from robotics, the hardest phase is deciding what to do next when you hit a snag that stops the whole event—and there were plenty.

           Now here is a Thanksgiving post worth reading, the adventures of Chester. Two guardsmen have been shot in DC and FoxNews is already on about possible CIA and Afghan connections, it’s almost formulaic. I’m not hungry today of all days. Except for apple pie. It’s okay, I remembered to set my scale back ten pounds. Pie with nutmeg instead of cinnamon, I’m easy to please, pie-wise.
           Later, it’s pie that takes the cake as it were, this morning was another dense fog, this one unusually cold. No mention of rain in the forecast, but all that humidity has to go somewhere and it isn’t up. I double-checked everything was under cover and it wasn’t long. Flood conditions. The directions said to let the pie cool for 20 minutes. I wonder which Boomer came up with that one. There is also a good wind so let it freeze up there, I have the coffee to survive whatever they throw this way. I’m not the only one who takes cold weather personal.

           Agt. R never did come pick up his railroad jack, so I’m throwing it out. All seized up anyway, though if I can I’ll make a yard decoration out of it. He would be impressed by the setup here these day. He has more sheds than I do, but they are full of yard maintenance gear that cannot much be used for anything else. And you know what has become hard to find? Those multi-meter leads (probe wires) that had that neat little spring-loaded hook on the end to say in place. No, not those stupid alligator clips with the stupid covering that slips off your fingers. These had a little plunger grip that hung on to the wire when you let go.
           They were once called probe hooks, but not the mini-grabbers which are meant for connecting wires. Those are too flimsy. There are probe hooks, but only with useless banana plugs on the other end plus they want $12 a pair for them. I need a trip to SkyCraft.

           What’s this, 525 extra views last day? Must have been my tale about the semaphore message. There is one more canned message left, let me get it for you. Ready? CHANGE COURSE THIRTY DEGREES NORTH. That wasn’t worth the effort. The chosen exercise allows the message to be sent backwards, maybe that is the correct next challenge.

Picture of the day.
The chainsaw massacre station,
Today, Bastrop, TX
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           This is the most something Thanksgiving in a while, because I build my first real scientific instrument. It was a incredible, and I mean that, departure from the box skills I was just started to get proud of. Other than the bulk cuts of the wooden frame pieces, here was a project that got me hauling out some of the most specialized tools in my shed, some of which have been used once. I must say this was an unexpected adventure; I’ll record the short version. Shown here is the first photo taken by the assembly, some #8 copper wire.

           The primary purpose of this handheld scope was to determine if a specimen was worth examining further, and it badly failed that one. The scope had a dial 50x to 1,000x, but the dial was so stiff, it had to be taken off the sample and guess-worked by hand. I set it at a kind of okay size and left it there. Then I cut a series of wooden blocks that approximated the distances I has used by hand. I did not know that was the easy part.

           The design needed a flat table cut to fit where the lens was positioned, which in turn meant measuring the diameter of the instrument in several places. None were consistent, so three concentric holes had to be exactly spaced for the curving diameter of the microscope barrel. This was accomplished by a complicated series of tacking together wood blocks, using the tiny 1/8th inch brads I just knew I kept in that old tray for the past five years. By carefully drilling matching pilot holes and some back and forth, I got the barrel to fit, then pried away the sacrificial blocks.

           Yep, I see the people who do this for a living in a much better light. Like anyone who’s done this, and I get it, most people don’t, each step triggers inventiveness. You can visualize several improvements you could have made, but have already butchered your pieces and must forge ahead. I was soon using drill bit sizes I’d never touched, like 1-3/8ths and digging out my set of nut drivers to get at screws now buried in tunnels recessed by Forstner bits.

           Bottom line, this work required a lot of specialized tools and skills. The adjusting assembly, the t-nut screw, does not stay level, plainly wood is not the ideal material. These metal parts are what I have the least experience with, so we are not giving up. It doesn’t work well, but it does work, shown here by this instant photo of a penny. It’s tricky to adjust but the precision is astonishing compared to before.
           I’m turning a screw to get this focus, meaning with a proper knob, super fine clarity of most surfaces should become routine. Like myself, you may have noticed the sparkle in the metal today and y’day is not gold, but am effect of the LEDs built into the camera. Best of all, these photos were taken in a few seconds on the first try. My guess is this [microscope] is finally useful and a good demo of prototyping skill.

ADDENDUM
           My secondary plan today was to plant some avocado seeds. Over the years I’ve tried the seed in water until it sprouts, but none have succeeded. That is, they get a foot tall, the size recommended for transplanting to soil. Then they slowly expire. I didn’t get to this due to a drop in temperature into the 50s. The back room has the overhead to keep toasty and the bath room is on a timer, that’s how predictable my patterns are. It was again so dead silent I could hear the kitchen clock ticking. Not even the distant rumble of family arguments. Later, the radio says she’s dropping to 42°F, time for research. Since I don't do the Black Friday thing, I've never missed it. They shop, I play bass. They spend, I cook. They're broke, I'm not. There's a pattern here but I just can't quite connect the dots. How was your Thanksgiving?

Last Laugh