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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.

April 4, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: April 4, 2024, it’s bogus.
Five years ago today: April 4, 2020, the prospective annoyance.
Nine years ago today: April 4, 2016, storing the non-existent.
Random years ago today: April 4, 2009, leaving Wilmington.

           Nothing like a successful audition to set the week right. However, no dancing yet. There are a ton of logistics that have to happen first. Roberto is a combat vet who mentioned tunes I’ve heard. It’s the same familiar rule—you sing ‘em, I’ll play ‘em, but watch out when I get to play bass only, ha-ha. On the way home, I stopped at the Venezuelan market, wow, was I famished and as luck was with me, the lady who makes the perfect café con leche was just getting off duty. I needed that coffee, let me tell you she took one look as I hobbled in the door and put the water on. It was an active day so I got home tired. No work on the floor or trailer.

           Friday’s my day off, so let’s kick of the morning with this hearty meal of dumplings and buzz coffee. That’s what I’m calling the Black Rifle. The aroma is enough to end hibernation, this folks, is how you get sleepy heads up and about. I still need a break, I fell asleep in my comfy office chair until 1:00AM this morning. I’ve already cleared a drain today, I hate that job.

           That’s bloggable because it was unusual. You know those old crown bottlecaps? Not the thinner twist-off. There’s the odd one lies under the flooring and this one got trampled thin. That way it can fit past those kidney bean shaped holes in your kitchen drain. I have a double sink so there is a t-junction with a baffle. And that is just big enough to let that bottle cap jam in there. So for the second time this week I had the nasty chore of draining the sinks and clearing the drains. Funny that I get biomass and others to no, and I see the next batch is already starting.
           I’ve also had time to review the audition. If he can do the homework, it is a definite go. What’s this, Russell Brand has been accused of rape? I didn’t even know he was running for office. It’s a BBC report, so let’s see how far back into his past they had to go to find their accuser. A policewoman named Jarwal confirms these are “non-recent events”, ah, here we go. Back to 1999, then ahead to 2005. I always find it funny when women accuse a man of rape who is better-looking than they are. Now, it is partially his own fault for becoming rich and famous.

           Unable to get underway, I read some of the anti-Trump commentary on JimmyRuska, the amalgamater I user because they are often ahead of the MSM for breaking stories. Canada announces the formation of a trading bloc because the USA “no longer wants to lead”. Knowint inflation is a delayed effect, Kamala Harris recorded a bunch of “Trump causes inflation” videos a year ago. Leftist are making wild predictions in both directions so they can make claims if the tariffs change a single thing. The $2,300 price tag on the latest Apple iPhone is already Trump’s fault. It seems some people want to insist measles is not an ordinary childhood disease.
           How about the “tools” supposedly invented by sub-Saharan tribes? Large seams of chert have been unearthed that have naturally cleaved into the sharp cutting edges that archeologists have loved to call human technology. Oops. For years, weather science has relied on satellites, stations, and super computers to predict the weather. It now appears A.I. can do it on a desktop almost instantly. So there.

Picture of the day.
Ancient Ur royal board game.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Ha, have you seem what the end of the Green money-laundering has done to used car prices? Suddenly I’m glad I own two. Nothing out there less than $10,000 with less than 100k miles. The Hyundai is at 154k, but I bought it for $3600. The KIA is 178K, but also for about the same price. The KIA is in particularly good shape, which made it easier to put the $4000 transmission in, bringing the price to still less than anything comparable. However, that being said, based on used prices at the time I bought it, this van has cost me around $7,200 which is the going rate and the price the lot first quoted me.

           Vans with lower mileage are selling for that, but once again, I know there is nothing wrong with this unit. And, at the time of purchase, I did not have $7,000+. The new battery is installed on the KIA, that was $238.36. The old battery, which had plainly been in the vehicle for years, turned out to be 15-1/3 years old according to the warranty sticker. No wonder once it went, it resisted all attempts at revival. This is a Duralast Gold, which seems to survive a bit better than many, but these days they are all junk. No such thing a battery that reliably lasts five years any more.

           As shown, the battery is installed and I connected up the compressor to blast away8 months of leaves and dust. I started the engine and let it run ten minutes. The broken parts of the old transmission can be heard rattling and clanging. It’s still a smooth-running unit. I’m looking forward to it if only because it is a better work van. The Prez called to say he’s not planning on leaving for a few more weeks, so I have some leeway to fix some sides on the wagon. It is small, just four feet on a side. Anything longer than that has to be moved standing upright—and yes, I have lost my tie-down straps. They were last used in Miami in 2016.
           Some signal got crossed y’day and in spite of a text message and voicemail. The Prez went out to the Rec Center at 5:30PM, by which time we were long gone. Sorry about the waste of time, and since my phone was on the charger, even if he’d called to confirm, I would have missed it. We’ve slated a practice for Sunday. I may take the wagon for a test run. His kids up in Pennsylvania seem overjoyed that he’s moving there. But I still think the first really cold blizzard will have him wishing he’d stayed. When I hit just the edge of that blizzard last time in Colorado, I found the cold downright painful.

           I’ve also got the cables measured for the new kitchen outlets, and I find yet another wiring quirk, two runs connected to the same breaker. To meet code, there should be a single wire at the breaker box, and two runs branching out from a junction box. I would give a lot to just shut everything down for the rest of the day and drink coffee, if that is not asking too much. No such luck, I had to get out the tools to scrape the trailer, there are signs of surface rust to be attended and it is termite season so no working after dark with a light on.
           How goes the audiobook. Boring. So far it is not a saga of people who worked their way out, but a chronicle of the on-going bad mistakes made by the poor who do know better. So far we know a lot about the family history of our protagonist’s ancestors. The old came to America for a better life and didn’t find one, but at least they found hope. The rest you know, they try to save up $50 but have to keep raiding the piggy bank for emergencies. Alas, I have not put in any time on my book on how to defeat that enemy. You must learn to protect your investments and rule number one is to keep them a secret.

ADDENDUM
           Trump has suspended the “di minimus” rule, a 1930 provision that exempted good valued less than $800 from import duties, a.k.a. tariffs. I was late looking at this because I confused it with a different rule of the same name. That’s the tax law that says you can lend family members up to $10,000 and the interest earned is not taxable under certain conditions. One is that the loan cannot be used to generate income. Another loophole giveaway to the rich.
           Which led me to a recent article on Patsy Cline, the country singer famous for breaking the rules that kept women in the music trade. True, she was born into poverty, and I fully recognize that most rags to riches stories are based on the fallacy that poor kids with ambition can work their way out of the “misery belt”. I prefer a more balanced appraisal of her success. By the time she was a teen, the Federal government had poured untold millions of dollars into the poor white areas, including her town of Winchester, Virginia.
           But let’s be fair. She was singing on the radio at age 15 and inking record contracts just 6 years later. To me that spells a big more luck and a bit less talent, the opposite of what they would have you believe. I, too, was in a band at 15 and can state that all the talent in the world could not make up for the fact there were no radio stations or talent agents within 1500 miles, or any way to get there. And there were proportionately far more barriers. Sigh, in music the prizes are awarded by who crosses the finish line, not by the distance run.

Last Laugh

April 3, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: April 3, 2024, they suddenly become poor.
Five years ago today: April 3, 2020, I discover fence panels.
Nine years ago today: April 3, 2016, I know I didn’t.
Random years ago today: April 3, 2021, shortcuts and biscuits.

           Is there more than one movie called “Dune”? I’ve never seen it, but after letting if play for a while as I worked, I see why. Corny as hell, bad special effects, and terrible actors. But now I know where the sand worms were invented. This version is so bad it may be a spoof. Nothing from Caltier yet. Looking more at WealthFront, it may represent the best of the worst. It’s averaging 4%, which is less than some riskless CDs I’ve had recently. And again, nothing happens until I get to Tennessee. When it gets right down to where the rubber meets the road, none of these damn “wired in” people know anything more than I do. They sure talk the talk.

           Same with a monetized version of this blog. Things are stuck where I last stopped looking, that was Synthesia. I even had the title chosen, “10,000 Days”. Again, asking for help from somebody who has actually done it is like stumbling in the dark. After peeking at WealthFront, I am bombarded by ads from some overseas scam called WealthFund. It gets mention because the site is A.I. generated and flawless. Perfect American English, except the one sentence that made me suspicious. They said they do not “take” commission. Right there, I knew something funny was going on.
           That linden tree I cut down being careful to sawzall the root bulb our of the ground two weeks ago? It’s back. There are three plants here, the big one is a foot tall within days. If it grows fast around here, it’s a weed. I do like the trees but I already have four of them.

           An early start which I attribute to a higher caffeine content in the new coffee. I’m very sensitive to all drugs since childhood. The question is, what did I get done this morning. You know the rules, never waste time because you can’t sleep. I tore the building apart and cannot find my battery charger. It’s not in the fancy box I built for it. The tow to the mechanic shop is arranged for sometime before Monday, whenever there is a backhaul. The new trailer hitch is installed, I may be luck as the ball is about the right height for the trailer tongue.
           The battery, however, is $200. That means unless everything else goes perfect, no weekend trip to Jacksonville. I have have to make two trips to Miami this month, which gobbles up all the spare change. The wiring for the kitchen outlets came to another $38. The old Town & Country has sunk to the axles. I was still able to see there is a heavy duty tow bar on that puppy and the neighbor says I can borrow his impact wrench. In the end, I did not get home until 1:30PM and I have that audition at 5:00PM.

           Rather than start any projects, I put on a large pot of carrots. Boil them a tad mushy, as they are going into the pickle jar. That last batch was a treat. Reminds of the statistic that home-owners on average weigh 15 pounds more than renters. I also bought some chicken for the weekend, so maybe, just maybe there will be a few dollars left. Just no cheering please. I need a siesta, but what is the delicious aroma?
           It’s pot luck, I saved the water I had boiled some spuds and onion to make hash browns this morning. Still using the hotplate, a device I’ve never fully trusted, I plopped the carrots into the broth. It’s just boiled carrots but you can drink in the aroma from the far back room of the house. There may have been a dash of paprika. As for the carrots, help yourself, I made two pounds. Silver declines at that steady rate that shows bank manipulation. And I just got the message, the Rec Center is slated for a wedding reception, so the audition is moved to 3:00PM.
           That means I’m leaving now and the Prez will miss out on our only chance to jam.

Picture of the day.
Swedish rail tunnel.
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           Here’s the latest on the trailer hitch, courtesy of my Panasonic camera which defaults to video when you only want a single picture. A last minute change of schedule means the audition moved up to 3:00PM and the Prez didn’t make it. The Rec Center got booked for a wedding, so we had to finish by 4:00PM. However, I can report a very successful try-out. Bands are build on personalities and you have to rapidly weed out the bad apples. Here is an instance of a singer who had recently figured out there are a lot of people in this trade who will waste your time.

           He is self-taught on the guitar meaning there was no clone aspect to his strumming. Normally, this play-what-you-know has to be relearned when people have taken too may music lessons. We’ve seen this before, he’s been trying to get something together for a year and has been told lots of lies about what doesn’t work—until you meet someone like me. The Prez missed a good audition since Roberto glommed onto the style after just minutes of being shown the ropes.

           What are the plusses? He just wants to play, not record. A recent convert to country music because of its crowd appeal, though this comes at the price of him not knowing the classics yet. But, I have all the notes, lyrics, and tabs, so that is surmountable. He’s a vet so that is an inside with the VFWs, one of the few venues that survived the COVID shutdowns. Best outcome of today is the music sound, he was not sure what I meant when I said having this element was all-important. And we passed that test. I’m super-exhausted but have time to fill in some details.
           He plays what he knows audiences like, a telling advantage. It was evident after a couple tunes that he has never met a bassist like me. Once shown what to listen for, he had to keep smiling at the sound of three instruments, making him a believer. We played through some 15 songs, including some of the favorites he sent. His reaction was one that we already know, that so many guitar players don’t think a duo like this can work, but it works just fine.

           His background is definitely singing, which makes his strumming an easy accompanist style that I find very easy to work with. We will supply each a list of 16 songs we can sing and play, I have 18 on my ready-list. Most interesting was his reaction to hearing the bass play fills and riffs. He accepted it as necessary for what we are doing, and do not underestimate this factor. A lot of guitar egos just will not have it. This time, we have a tabula rasa to work with. If all goes well, we will be gigging somewhere within a few weeks.
           Hopefully I’m wrong, but he may not be a computer person. That’s okay, I can show him the ropes in minutes. I don’t do Twitter, Twat, and social mafia, but I know how to get real work done on that machine. If you are nice, I’ll post the song list. Where the Prez was a Merle fan, Roberto is more or less Buffet and Croce, with a smidgen of that Eagles dude.
           Again, the Prez missed out, but if he’s anywhere in town, I will get him on stage with this new guy. Remember the Airbnb guy who just did not have the time to commit to music? The sound today was quite similar to that highly successful jam. With the Prez & I now fully adapted and experienced to this manner of stage presentation, we’d be real contenders. Argh, show biz.

Last Laugh

April 2, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: April 2, 2024, the best defense.
Five years ago today: April 2, 2020, this Forex, it’s MLM.
Nine years ago today: April 2, 2016, the cattle car era.
Random years ago today: April 2, 2007, Lynette Bartholet, sigh.

           Looks like I got the order for the transmission in just before the tariffs. We are looking at around next Monday or Tuesday for the installation. Here it is, the promised review of “America’s Coffee”, a.k.a Black Rifle Coffee Company’s “Kodiak Attack”. Drip-made to the highest standards on the best equipment, and tested the ONLY time new coffee is fit to be tried: early morning and first cup. What is the verdict?

           Nice. Actually quite nice, but. This is a medium roast, I may have to try their dark roast. Plainly my experience with overseas coffee is an influence here. It could be stronger. This is an enjoyable coffee, but more for desert. Think of it like somebody handing you a little umbrella floof drink when what your thirst really demands is an icy mug of cold beer. The price tag was 50% more than Maxwell House, my rating is at 20% more I’d buy again. Compared to most medium roast coffees, this one has great bark but no bite.

           Last day in the pit, I missed a classic scene because I was too pooped to go get the camera. You’ll have to use imagination. While under the house I find the odd dead vine, which a pull out because they are strong enough to trip you. This one, I yanked out, and coiled up. I placed it inside a plastic trash bag. Over the next hour, I heard sounds and slowly watched how that vine, dead for years, slowly uncoiled itself inside the bag, then crept along the floorboards, back under the house, and pulled itself back into place. Never mess with Mother Nature, boys.
           Another unusual event, just after this journal went on-line back around 2005, I bought a set of matching dishes and cups with a lifetime guarantee. Today the last plate cracked to pieces inside the microwave. Hence, lifetime means twenty years. It was just heating up spuds like it has so many times and I heard the good-bye crackle. Later, I found I have one matching coffee mug left. I carefully tucked it away for special occasions, like maybe this Sunday.

           Here’s a picture of the buried wagon. The bed was quickly thrown together from untreated lumber for the quick move here. That has long since rotted away in the Florida wet-heat, leaving this pile of contents. Can you even see the trailer? Hint, the ball hitch can be seen just above the yellow dot at bottom center.

           Ah, here’s a contact. The guitarist says Thursday at 4:00PM. The Prez could not make that but I said okay just in case. However, I do not move unless I get a second confirmation and it is already in the countdown phase. I put in two hours playing some of the music on his list but I don’t arrange any of it until there is justification.
           There is no need to knock yourself out until you hear what it is the other guy can do. You do not want a picker, you want a strummer. And too may strummers, like the Hippie, will try to switch to lead picking as soon as the bass player shows up. Except for power trios, it does not work that way.
           Later this morning, news from the Prez. They got their asking price for the house and will be gone probably by month’s end. Tomorrow is probably the last practice. Mind you, his grandkids could win the lottery and admit they have always hated the cold winters and decided to buy fifty acres in Plant City and all move back here. He probably got $350,000, it was a nice neighborhood. People could walk around.

Picture of the day.
Neoplan Jumbocruiser.
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           A few hours later, here is the wagon out in the yard. It is not too bad, considering the neglect and outdoor storage. The wiring is intact but I have not tested anything. Signal and brake lights are only required if the tow vehicle units cannot be seen. The metal deck is missing, I think that might be on the hot dog cart. Also missing is my hitch mount and ball hitch, oh they are around here somewhere. But I’ve looked all the likely places and how that fridge has to be moved.

           The space between the two parked vans was too small to roll out the wagon and my back is too weak to lift anything like this, so I’ll leave it a another mystery how I got the wagon out into the yard here. This wagon is a foot shorter than when it was bought, it’s modified for motorcycle towing. I have to devote time tomorrow to get some sort of deck and tie-down straps. All of this chews into the floor repair schedule and that will not now be finished this week.

           Here’s some more band news. I got Roberto on the phone and this may be a break just in time. He is a singer. It was recently he learned to strum—for me a huge plus because he has no Guitar Center damage that needs undoing. Another positive is he was in an Elvis tribute group and thus is comfortable on stage. He’s been through the meatgrinder and no longer wants to play in a big show band. He’s just 56 but that is about the same age so many decide being rock stars is not always the way to go. He lives four miles closer than the Prez, so we are all planning a meet-up tomorrow at 5:00PM.

           My first question, is there electric power at the location? Nobody knows. So I hauled out the Yeti and put it on the charger. Here it is, taking eight hours to charge up eight hours usage. No, that was not made clear in the sales pitch. You want power overnight, you got to have it plugged in all day. Also, a CD player, not a big wattage item, will drain the Yeti in the same eight hours. The Yeti is a $550 better-than-nothing power source.

           By evening, I have iced coffee made from the Kodiak brand and I prefabbed the eight new kitchen outlets. That’s four duplex with one of them being a GFCI. Seems every time I go to wire in that interrupter, I have to relearn the wiring and make at least one mistake. Such was the case now, and it is time to relax. Put another way, if I plunk down again, I am not getting up again except for coffee. What tariffs? All we’ve heard so far is the screeching noises from overseas. It’s a simple but unfamiliar thought for them—you remove your barriers and we’ll remove ours. Something like 94% of the cars sold in Japan are Japanese. While there is no law, they just make it impossible for others to sell there.
           The tariff lists began appearing by 8:00PM and they are not enough. Not one of them even matches the amount the foreign country is charging us. They have use tariffs to make a profit for decades and that should be stopped. We got people struggling to get by here while the politicians are exporting billions. The fun is watching the libtards go crazy. They seem terrified the tafiffs must might work. They maintain the Biden economy was booming and Trump ruined it, and that he caused all the inflation, which was zero, they say, when he took office.

Last Laugh

April 1, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: April 1, 2024, two forms of rich.
Five years ago today: April 1, 2020, Happy Millennial Day.
Nine years ago today: April 1, 2016, I hate NPR.
Random years ago today: April 1, 2005, these Robert Half people . . .

           Good eye, those of you who spotted a disruption of events these past two days. I’m $5,900 lighter than when I got up this morning. A big chunk of it was the new transmission on the van. That’s the tail end of the Valdosta Event of August last year. The figure of $8,100 lost dollars is only the amount that was over budget. The actual total was a lot more. We now also have the heavy duty tow bar installed on the Hyundai. Ha, that tow bar is 15% of the price of the whole van. Ouch, but I’m not likely to forget that $1,520 tow job that could have been prevented by a $200 tow bar.

           That’s another tale from the trailer court. The Texan did say he’d install the bar for free. He did not say it would be another three weeks. Let’s pause and look at the real numbers. The tow bar was heavy duty, I paid extra, $240. It was also heavy, period, requiring two people to install it even when on a lift. The trick to getting it done for $80 is learning to speak Spanish 40 years ago. I tipped them $20 and now have after-hours access to a fully equipped mechanic shop, which let’s not underestimate.

           I was also able (in Spanish) to get the transmission price down from $1,614 to $1,365. I also got a break on the shop rate, but check with me next week as the estimate is ten hours. Scratch the whole morning since this kind of chasing around is no joke in Florida. The effect of the Trump resurgence in confidence meant two hours driving time this afternoon to cover 44 miles. The roads are full of traffic again.

           Here’s a view of the tow bar, yes, it is heavy duty. This is only one part of the expense and planning. While I’m not hoping for a test, one tow and it pays for itself. Here is a short video of the ONLY way to get anything done or fixed in contemporary Florida. And I tipped the guy $20 for accepting the correct brand of American payment that should be the only way people do business anymore. And for those who never see more than $1,000 except on payday, this is only one handful of the money that flew out the window today.

           Funny that while this is taking place, I’m also hearing my second “Depression” audiobook. Between the two, I’m a captive audience. The plot of the book, meant to somewhat almost glorify poverty as the element of society that embodies all good, is unintentionally listing dozens of the evils and don’t-dos I’ve ladled out in this block for centuries. My half-written book is about the things you avoid when you are stuck in poverty, or more to the point, stuck around people who have the poverty attitude. They are far, far, far, far more likely to be your ondoing than any physical knife in the back. They know by trying to get ahead, you are burning up energy that God told you to was only to be used to become more like them.

Picture of the day.
Thiomargarita magnifica.
(World’s largest bacteria.)
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Now, let me record the smaller events. Blog is so a thousand years from now folks will know that America is a crud existence, but that crud is better than anywhere else in the world. I picked up the 25 feet of wire for the new outlets. That was $40. Those light-detecting dimmer went on sale, so I grabbed a couple. Our little mouse is now over in the Confederate Cemetery where his odds of survival kind of match the terrain. I played through some of the new guy’s music list, I always did like soft tunes like “Come Monday” that are over quickly.

           I’d have preferred getting work done today but so far it’s been chasing around, so here is a nice photo of the brass thermometer showing it is 74°F inside the house today. I have all the fans operating full blast, which will be needed since the next work day will be installing some electrical wiring on that kitchen wall. It has to last forever as far as I’m concerned.

           The schedule on the KIA is sometime next week. I shopped for a price on the install and all four shops came it at a price within $150. Gosh, what a coincidence. I went with the KIA dealership, the one that put all the free upgrades into the vehicle. I won’t tow it there myself, as my neighbor has a wrecker and can back-haul it for cheap. Today I bled money. Here is a shot of me planning the big budget ahead to March of 2026. There is talk of infusing the stolen billions saved by DOGE back into Social Security, which would be a massive shot in the arm for me and for America. There’s my budgeting equipment, a Budweiser, a pen, and some paper.

           It’s clear the austerity has to be long term around here. Good thing we are operating at a surplus, just don’t conclude any of that happened by accident. I spent a quarter of April’s food budget just on basics this morning. That includes a sample of the expensive fancy coffee, which I’ll review for you sometime tomorrow. I’ll keep it a mystery, saying only that it is heavily advertised and for an initial trial, I go for a medium roast.

           On the way home, I went past two of the old clubs. The Legion is open and everything seems fine. That’s where I stopped for the beer. The old club in Bartow was closed up and I had to check that out. A sign in the window says it is a temporary closure for needed repairs. That makes more sense than what I fear in a year or two, or if the Vegas people buy the place. Remember the Old Oregon Tavern. It isn’t there any more. The same process is taking place here. The new people want to make it a big city club, but the big city isn’t there.
           Tomorrow is tariff day. I ordered the new transmission ahead of any potential problems there. In the old days you could pick up stock before price hikes. Nowadays, it is just a keypress. How about this classic, a guy says he was fired illegally. It is so hard not to take sides when you see this kind of thing.

Last Laugh

March 31, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: March 31, 2024, the end of Dollar Tree.
Five years ago today: March 31, 2020, remember Forex?
Nine years ago today: March 31, 2016, no silver, no trails.
Random years ago today: March 31, 2018, “the kitchen is worse”.

           It’s awake to Bird City, what music, I slept in until 8:00AM and I feel like working today. First, the big breakfast and check the news. Here is a list of the countries that sent relief to Thailand when USAID was not available. That was one short list. In another revelation of how much my world has decelerated, this morning I was on-line looking for a good small frying pan. The one I have is that Korean brand that is never supposed to wear out, but somehow it now sticks a bit, and I like my pans slippery, insert groupie joke here.

           A slow day as much of the world waits to see if Trump is bluffing. He isn’t. I think the goofs who are screaming tariffs don’t work are about to eat their words. They mean only America tariffs placed by Trump, you see. My concern is will this affect the price of frying pans? Me, the mighty bass player, reduced to shopping for kitchenware.

           I fired off a letter to Mitch to make adequate repairs to that wall. The water damage can be seen on the siding. No king studs, no trimmers, no jack studs, he’s asking for problems ten years down the line if he doesn’t upgrade. He is very active, snowboarding and tryking, but I know his brother and the family is prone to aftereffects of any harsh exercise. He does not want to be repairing floors like I am when it’s the 2030s.
           MicroSoft has slipped in a command requiring new Win 11 installs to open an account. Good luck if you don’t have Internet. I have not seen it, but there is apparently a “new” version of Win 98 on the market that works with the latest hardware. What do they know? Is something about to change. And it appears somebody purchased a fortune in platinum futures just before the market closed yesterday. So, here’s some trivia. Rain that falls on the far western area of Lake Superior takes 204 years to reach the Atlantic.

Picture of the day.
The mayor if Istanbul.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           A wasted afternoon. It was plenty of work. I finally said to hell with trying to figure out how the last guy repaired that kitchen area, so I tore out the lower half of the walls to the bare studs. This involved moving the temporary counter I build, which proceeded to fall by itself, as the studs it was supposed to be screwed into were not there. I forgot the last guy was left-handed. Anyway, I’ll need another hour to sift through the dirt to find what fell there. I had planned on moving some wiring but it is now nearly 7:00PM. Don’t start wiring just before dark.
           April will bring change. Good or bad, Trump has disrupted the Deep State. They are still powerful and deadly but they will never have the sway of ten years ago, not in our lifetimes. If Trump flops tomorrow, someone will take his place. He continued to pursue policies that have overwhelming approval rates—although his slowness at deportations and zero arrests so far are biting into his popularity.

           Strange behavior in the gold market. It is up a thousand bucks in one year but hardly a ripple in silver prices. A pressure cooker? And April makes end of a second year of stagnant house sales. Nobody coming in at the bottom. It’s not the same but similar to what brought the market to a standstill in 2006 – 2008. But that was not the collapse it should have been. Something like a million homeowners were saved because the banks didn’t have money for enough lawyers to foreclose on them all. Miami, even if it is far away and not that big, is your indicator. Nothing is moving and existing houses, insurance rates have tripled in the past few years. Statistics say the average housing insurance, which is required by banks if you have a mortgage, is now $11,000 per year.

ADDENDUM
           Keeping an eye for unusual investments, I looked at Interlune. That’s the outfit that wants to mine He-3 (Helium 3) worth $9.5 million per pound. Problem, it’s rare but there’s some on the Moon. That crunchy stuff the astronauts walk on is regolith or crumbled rock and it seems to be ten feet thick. It has been bombarded by cosmic rays and samples from the Apollo missions show the He-3 is present—but I’d need convincing there are larger deposits. It is estimated there are less than 50 lb of it on Earth. What is the stuff used for?
           I don’t know the process, but He-3 has the property of remaining liquid down to just above absolute zero. It is used to cool the cores of quantum computers, a kind of super-refrigerant. What is the primary demand for quantum computers? Well, it seems there is a stop-at-nothing demand for the government to read your e-mail. I use protonmail, reminding people that encryption only works if both parties use it. You are wasting time encrypting then sending it to somebody with gmail or hotmail.

           In theory, the most secure current key (2,048 bits) would take 100 centuries to crack, but a quantum computer could do it in less than ten hours. The Chinese have learned to harvest the He-3 from old nuclear warheads. Don’t look for it on eBay, since it is also used to cool super sensitive military radars that can actually see through walls. So the government won’t let anybody else have it. The gas used in party balloons is He-4, which behaves similarly. It is being looked at as a substitute.
           Meanwhile the race continues. He-3 can be used to detect medical conditions without using radiation. It is already used by customs to scan for smuggled nuclear weapons and I know nothing about how it is used to detect non-metallic land mines. This element caught my eye since it is the most expensive commodity, makes silver a joke. He-3 can also be used as a power source. It would half the time needed to get to Mars and back. End of research for now.

Last Laugh

March 30, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: March 30, 2024, 100% in our favor.
Five years ago today: March 30, 2020, more on Forex.
Nine years ago today: March 30, 2016, part of a convoy.
Random years ago today: March 30, 2008, job-hunting.
           For those who read the Yesteryear links, yes, that was a mention of Epstein Island in this blog 20 years ago. Except back then the place had no name. I hope you read the links, they are a lot of work but are also the best thing, blogwise, that I ever did for readership numbers. To this day, I don’t know if the clicks add to my counter. You can read how I rejected ATMs as “just another vending machine”. If you notice a certain amount of money and investment talk in the months of March, yes, that is usual. But not consistent enough to give anything away. This is still America and you are being watched.

           I’m staying home today. Here’s a statistic for you. In today’s dollars, the median household income in 1999 was $58,665 and today it is $77,444. Due to Boomers who still own the houses their children were raised in, the average household today is just 2.51 persons. The relevance here is that this works out to just over $30,000 per person, a good $12,000 less than the Census Bureau loves to report. This makes me glad when I planned 25 years ago, I always chose the lower figure, the pessimistic view.

           Here’s the mess in the kitchen as the wiring segment begins. This is normal clutter for renovating, you can see the tools are all handy, including nice wooded boxes for the valuable items. It’s been easier for some years now, like I knew it would be even when everybody said it was strictly a two-man job. Y’know, I agree with that, and even remind Alaine from time-to-time that it would be okay if she got JZ to actually drive out here some summer so we can get all of it done and give me back my spare room.
           This next photo should be more familiar. It is the area designated for the new stove. That’s my temp prep counter with the hotplate and coffee maker. You can see to the upper left (along the red level handing on the wall) the mess of old wiring I first discovered some years back. This is where I suspect an instance of that weird 220V wiring first seen at Wally’s. It must have been some odd way of using two 110V breakers to get a 220V, since the odds of seeing the same [wiring] as a mistake twice are infinitesimal.

           Yep, another Internet circus on the tune “Sister Golden Hair”. There is a clash between an F#m and C#m that is so indistinct, I thought, why I’ll just look it up online. Good luck. You’d think on a tune that old there would be some consensus, or at least one version that shows which note-chord match is right. There should be a separate Internet for music posters who are left-handed, tone-deaf, play too may sharps or flats, capo above the 4th fret, or change the original key. Or a prison camp, that would work just fine. It’s not so much their fault as the douches who program the search engines so you can’t filter out the asinine sites.
           Youtube needs to smarten up. They are supposed to be a video host, but they are hugely taken over by A.I. generated graphics and talking stills. Europe is having a secondary immigrant crisis. The Somalis and such have taken all the entry level jobs in Spain and young native Spaniards can’t find work. They have fled to other European countries and are choking up the hostels and welfare rolls.

           The deadline for tariff realignment is just 96 hours away. While it won’t affect me too directly unless other things go awry, this could be a huge adjustment of people living on credit. Not paying attention to real costs has allowed them to ignore changes in supply and demand for fifty years—all coming home to roost in a matter of days. You may know that auto unions have fat pensions, but are you aware that most of it does not come from wise investments by the union staffers. It is tacked on to the price of every new car.
           Things are way out of whack and a return to supply and demand is going to wallop a lot of these people hard. It’s notions about what is normal that will hurt them most. Did you know their taxes support more Holocaust museums in America than all other museums combined?
           One of the most useless on-line apps I have ever tried is this Podcast Name Generator supposed to enhance the success of your podcast. Or something. Examples: “My Life as a Podcaster”, “A Day in the Life of a Podcaster”, and “Podcaster Life”. Don’t you just love it already? Interesting how I rejected this sort of titling twenty years ago as being too damn trite for the onrushing computerized new world, but today it is considered top-tier material. Gag.

Picture of the day.
Abandoned US railroads.
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           It’s one of those days where it doesn’t look like much got done. This shows where most of today’s work was put in. A bit of good news is one of the joists that jammed into place will now wiggle slightly. This means the building is creaking back to more level on the older joists. So, let’s examine this more closely. You can see I had to remove a portion of the wainscoting. It was fake, but it was 3/8” plywood and I hated to destroy it., br />

           This exposed the studs, seen here along the bottom. It was that diagonal one that gave all the grief. It should have been a foot closer to the window sill. Directly above where it meets the place, you can see the dark blue square of a double outlet, there will be two of these, running off one of the three spare breaker slots. Where the whole kitchen used to have one duplex outlet, this wall along will have four.

           The old stove cable has to go. I ripped it out completely as the nearby picture shows the outer insulation is gone. That’s the bare copper shielding formed by the grounding wire. The new stove will be six feet further from the old connection and I can tell by picking this wire up, it is going to be expensive. It’s a priority but once done may cause a slowdown of the rest of the job. You know me when the living is easy and the food is good. I can live a while longer without a hallway light.
           I’m not the only one. Granny raccoon is nearly blind and deaf, more than I thought. From twenty feet she cannot see or hear me working. If you throw her a peanut, though, she can smell it instantly. I won’t let her get tame. She no longer bolts across the yard when I walk past on the paths to the sheds. She has taken to feeding in the daytime in the front yard, having learned that is a safe haven.

           You know who needs a kick in the ass? The millennial coders that changed the exchange rate convertors. To shove it down your throats that they are kewl, tolerant, and born assholes, the more popular sites no longer default to American dollars. Almost three quarters of the world runs on greenbacks, but they got to millennialize that. It’s been ten minutes since they last reminded you how wonderful and caring they are to everybody. Except you.

           Now, the exchange box pulls up the Euro. The drop boxes are still there, but if you push C, you no longer get Canada, but Cambodia. Best of all, when you push U, c’mon guess. That financial center or the world. Hint, the shilling. Another hint, 3,666 of them for a dollar. Yes folks, it’s Uganda. Them XYZ coders got a lot of nerve blaming others for their problems. The change is enacted by an unwanted software update, a millennial specialty. I ran my anti-virus right after I spotted the change and here is what I found.
           OpenCandy is still around. It only bothers Win 7 and later, but get it off your system. If you know DOS, this adware is so dumb it has its own uninstall capability. And just so you are aware of it, you should not download music off the Internet. You should play it and record it using your own software, preferably and older version of Audacity. And if you do use Audacity, don’t use the “Edit Meta Tags” feature when you export the file. Leave it blank.
           Going over the new guy’s list, there is a lot of opportunity there. The reason is simple, most of his tunes have three or more guitar parts. Listen to old Jim Croce. Lead, electric rhythm, and acoustic rhythm. The presentation depends on which instrument is chosen, and Roberto has twice written that he is not that great. That means he has likely chosen the obvious strum—meaning he has to leave out any riffs from the other guitars. And who do we know that can ace the best ways to arrange that type of music?

           For some down time today, I dug out the first “memory” circuit I built. It stopped working, but I had it for a while. It’s what is known as a logic gate, I built the actual gate out of transistors. It uses NOR gates, which I first breadboarded in 2012. This item goes by many names, the common one is SR latch, for set/reset. Understanding this gadget can improve one’s understanding of computer RAM, so I thought I’d run through workings. It is called a latch because it remembers whether it was last turned on or off. Ah, some say, so does a light switch. Yes, but that’s where the memory part comes in.
           When a circuit has a latch, once you turn it on, it does not matter if you continue flipping the switch, the light stays on. The light remembers it was set on. To turn it off, you need a second switch called a reset. It sounds weird, but you have two switches, one is “light on”, the other is “dark on”. But it does not end there, and this is important—you need several gates to make a latch work AND every style of latch has something it will not do right (a condition called ‘hysteria’).

           You need separate switches to turn the light on and off, and either switch only needs to be on for a split second. After that, you can remove them completely and the light remembers. That is because the circuit has its own separate power supply. You can also turn off the light by removing this separate power supply—but that also destroys the memory capability. You experience this every time your computer power cuts off and you lose what you were working on.
           There is a bit more to the NOR gate and I think I will build another complete unit to find out what went wrong. It requires four transistors to operate the gates. You can look the circuit up anywhere on-line, most of them are built by dorks who have no idea how it really works. This I know, because not one of the first dozen authors I read explained one of the most important points—that the power to the R or S is NOT left in place. It is a momentary pulse only.

ADDENDUM
           After an astounding response to y’days video clips (you don’t get to see them all), I need to address something. These are not A.I. generated for a basic reason—when you upload, you lose ownership of the material. That may mean nothing to most concerning content, but only because most people never go or get anywhere. I cannot find an A.I. video app that is downloaded to run locally. Even the software on-line requires a link to your bank account or credit card before it will work. (Ha, have you heard about the latest IoT appliances that won’t function unless you have an active subscriber link. If you fall for that, it serves you right.)
           I have looked at Canva, Vizard, Kapwing, InVideo, Reed, Renderforest, and most other that show up when you search for downloadable free apps. I know they have to make money, but the point is they lie by lacing their site with falsities. Furthermore, the trial apps that demand a log-on are also suspect. They are also much slower (on the library computers) than producing the same short videos I do here in often less than ten minutes.
           You’d think the millions of people who suffered front posting text and pictures on-line would have learned their lesson, but no. Now they are posting videos. WCGW?

Last Laugh

This one may be a bit hard to follow.
It is a group of anti-Tesla protesters.
Wearing DOGE shirts and MAGA hats.

March 29, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: March 29, 2024, rat season.
Five years ago today: March 29, 2020, checking out Forex.
Nine years ago today: March 29, 2016, the beautiful cPod.
Random years ago today: March 29, xxxx, WIP

           Here’s a file of my birdbath. See addendum for details, I did not get a lot done today. However, that’s by my standards. I hate a day to lapse without something getting done.
Decisions. And this morning I’ve concluded you’d rather talk music than floor wiring. We have an audition scheduled for Wednesday and I’ve selected three new tunes from the list sent by the new guy. I’ll learn new tunes but

           I advise newbies to stick with what they already know until we check out if we have “a sound”. This can’t be over-emphasized and part of that sound is accepting that the bass player’s role changes from the old-school guitarist’s backup support staff to full integral part of the presentation.
           New guitar people get immersed in a musical environment that they know they would have heard had they been really listening. How many times we’ve been through this, for if you want to avoid being just another hack band, you must move to the situation where the bassist is an equal contributing artist. The downside is some guitar players cannot abide by that. I suggest you weed that bunch out real quick or waste your time. Just be steady with your material and you’ll find if they survive a few initial practices, they become loyal adherents. Like the Prez did but that Bradford did not.

           It’s 5:30AM and my amp is still in the van. It will be a pity to lose a fully-trained player like the Prez. I’ll see if he wants to attend the audition. If not, I’ll set up the amp and get to work, since the tunes I’ve chosen I’ve not played in 20 years in some cases. Once you’ve strummed guitar to my piano-like bass lines, it is bland to the point of boring to play without it. Ask Bradford.
           Tell you what, would you like to listen to the notes I play to that Croce hit, “Operator”? Sweet Judy loved that song, for me it is a mite too jazz-like. The point is millions can listen to that song and not really hear the bass line, or mistake it for guitar runs. Here’s the link and here’s my how-to guide. You are listening for the notes, but the style is wrong. It suffers from being finger-plucked. Imagine the same notes played as smoothly merged into the guitar line, but never just playing along. It’s what is often called fusion, but without any edge. And that is how I roll, baby.

           The town is still laughing at what a flop that Disney made of “Snow White”, the figure of $43 million for opening week makes that a loser. Let me check something, The Reb & I have been to 16 movies in Nashville or Mt. Juliet. Since movies are always on me, I know the price tag was $680.05. We’ll disregard that I don’t buy myself $8 bags of popcorn and I take the senior discount, so we can average the price out at $21.25 per person per movie. Rounding that down to $20, and we see that means just over 2 million people went to that movie.
           A disturbing aspect of Disney is the number of accusations, arrests, and rumors of their child sex and exploitation reputations sharply limit their sales. Starting with Miley Cyrus, Disney moved away from their roots portraying American girls as wholesome. They began casting differently. More grooming of little sexpots, and how you get their latest cursing out people on social media.

           Ah, the neighbors are awake and pounding nails. I see a new juvenile woodpecker at the feeder. They don’t last long, as the area is maxxed out with established pairs. Maybe we’ll get some pics, I set out the camera. Let’s see if today brings either adventure or accomplishments, I’ll take either. Honestly, I feel like just writing all day, if you want extra words today, I can do that. Over to the library, I picked up eight new audiobooks, including one I think I’ve heard of, “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”. Its reputation is about growing up poor but I expect it will be about hope and humor.
           Later, I drove downtown for an hour and listened to the opening chapters. So far, it’s what I thought, presenting the “pretty” side of growing up in poverty. The myth that it builds character. A rich folk’s notion of little brothers and sisters picking rags for pennies and a spoonful of milk in your coffee on Saturdays. Or the fantasy that poor kids stuck together. I don’t buy any of that nonsense “we’s-poor-but-we’s-folks”, but now I must hear the rest of this book. The book is really describing how the lazy poor act when they think they are being watched.
           For example, there is no mention how you are pestered for money because of that one time they found out you had saved up a dollar when you were eight. Fifty or sixty times a day, year in and year out, and the only way to stop is it is to clear out. True poverty is a horror story, and there is no such thing [as poverty] in America any more. In fact, I support the Texas move to limit what can be purchased with food stamps. I say, bulk food only that has to be cooked before it can be eaten. Rice, potatoes, flour, nothing hot, nothing ready-to-eat. This law would be a good test of whether reality is gaining traction. Five years ago even proposing such a change would get you in trouble.

Picture of the day.
China-Laos train tunnel.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Another change I’d like is to welfare itself. Workfare. They must put in a forty hour week at something gainful. Welfare is then just to bring them up to a minimum wage. This is not to be confused with people who cannot work, who are on disability, not welfare. We are talking able bodied people who should get nothing. Like I said years ago, they should have to show a paycheck to get any help. (They already do. They get tons of free stuff just living in America.)

           This picture turned out great for showing the boxes I’m hoping to sell. There are two styles here, both with the same cut lengths made on the same jigs. The difference is primarily the size and thickness of the lumber. The boxes on the bottom are heavier duty, the one on the top is general purpose and you’ve seen this model before.
           The ratio of good to bad boxes remains at 1:5. This variation in quality makes it imperative to sort the boxes. Simply put, every sixth box has some defect or flaw. Shown here are the best units. Not bad for fence pickets, huh?

           Question – when there is news of a strike against the Houthis (“hooties”) why does the US use so many expensive missiles? I’ve long lost track of all the brands and designations, but I notice when they are used in situations where bombs would work. I figure the deal is the missiles Houthis have are Russian models captured from the Yemen government. And right next door we got Iran, who have attended American universities and know how to modify them into anti-ship weapons.
           The launchers are mobile and made to move fast after a launch, as most US missiles use GPS and counter-fire is rapid. Hmmm, what are they shooting at that justifies a million-dollar rocket attack? My guess is something the Houthis cannot easily replace. Their own missile radar operators. Russian missiles are semi-active. They need a radar beam bouncing off the target until the missile is close enough to engage on its own. Aha, there’s your answer. Click on your radar and you die, so they use a bunch of radars switching on and off rapidly. Some smart cookie in the US Navy spotted a pattern and went after the operators who were likely in nearby buildings. Clever.
           My reasoning is the size of the missiles the US loosed. Small warheads can knock out the launcher, but the US missiles came from destroyers. That’s the big warheads with a huge blast radius. They were after the ground crew.

ADDENDUM
           The birdbath. Lately, I’ve seen how Granny Raccoon is having a hard time finding fresh water. You’d think that would not be an issue in Florida. But I followed her tracks for a few days and see she sometimes hikes way over to the church trough, and that is not the nicest water. I found an old mixing bowl that I will see of she’ll take to it. Can’t leave her using the bird bath as she knocks it over when I’m away.

           I conclude the birdbath is popular because of the dripper. It’s on a two-hour timer and ensures there is fresh water in the bath signaled by all the bird activity. I’ll try to get some footage of Granny moving around, it is Nature’s way but most of the time she has, I think, really bad arthritis. I can’t afford to adopt her, but her presence keeps the constant Florida rat problem at bay, so I’ve been giving her snacks. Usually leftovers, plus Florida bums are fussy. They won’t take things like split peas or kidney beans from the library food bank.
           The staff says take it, I was up there this morning for new audiobooks, yes, I did mention that already, and got some yellow peas. I boil it for her, using any potato water and such because I also suspect there is not enough salt in her diet. For vitamins, she gets a sprinkle of turtle powder which lists all the vitamins and minerals. This photo shows some rice and ham, she’s gonna like that.

Last Laugh

March 28, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: March 28, 2024, the County Fair.
Five years ago today: March 28, 2020, once in 14 years.
Nine years ago today: March 28, 2016, the road to Ona.
Random years ago today: March 28, 2013, no one-ticket rides.

           Some recent articles about the riders (I refuse to call them astronauts) on the ISS about their diet. Many assume the station is a lab for growing space food. I don’t see it, since that is not where such food would be grown in the foreseeable missions to the Moon or Mars. It would hardly be economical to lift the food growing apparatus into orbit. But one you land, then food becomes a priority. You can only recycle so much. See addendum.

           Here is a picture from the frozen north. It’s Mitch’s place and he is repairing a water leak. This makes the blog on several counts, the major one that spending 10x as much money was no guarantee of quality. Now don’t go faulting the guy, he is no more of a trained construction expert than I am. But take a closer look at the photo. That is 24-inch on-center studs on an exterior bearing wall. There are no jack studs, the sill is a single plate, and the header is nothing but another 2x4”. He’s not in a hurricane zone, but that is just asking for trouble.

           Worse, he has an upstairs bathroom and you can clearly see those a manufactured chip-board joists. Very susceptible to water damage. Allow me to explain the seriousness of this. Mitch’s house is in a climate that freezes every winter. He usually shuts the place for the season and visits out on the relatively balmy west coast. For the repairs shown in this photo, it means his plumbing is, at least in part, inside those exterior walls.
           If the rest of his house is as flimsily constructed as this corner, I have no doubt the plumbing froze while he was away. He was damn lucky to check in when he did. If he’d returned after spring thaw, he’d be replacing walls and floors. This news just came it overnight, so this morning I’m not so ticked off about a little floor job around here. Hmmm, y’day I drank eleven cups of coffee. It’s proof I’m not invalided yet. It’s hard to believe he spend $185,000 on that place. Or was it $235,000. Either way he’s lucky he bought when he did.

           Not so lucky are 10,000 filing clerks at the Health and Human services, that bloated bureaucracy athwart the vast medical billing waste cycle. So, this makes a total of 60,000+ jobs eliminated without a lick of difference to the overall health of Americans. As for the reporter who is claiming he was sent secret war documents, he’s lying through his teeth.
           My executor is back from Mexico, but no pics. She is a firm believer in MSM, climate change, orange bad man, and is convinced she has COVID, which gives you an idea of how firm a grip such ideologies have over the media. Now don’t single her out, I worked at the same company and there are thousands of people whose entire contact with the outside world is the TV and the phone. But I need her to be okay, healthy, and happy.
           I’d be in a very bad position should anything happen to her. She’s much younger than I am and stayed on the job another 24 years after I quit, so she’s doing very well financially. She’s never run a business but I trust her judgment on such matters.

           Let’s talk music. The newest guy, who I’ll try to call Roberto, has carved out some time and sent a list. It’s pretty standard and contains the typical groaners, but that is not a deal-breaker. It’s that I know what he is listening to and what he’s thinking. It depends more on if he wants to sing the material, because the more he sings, the better job I do on bass. And I know exactly what he’s expecting. For most guitarists, I am the first bassist they’ve played with that supplies the full bass line they know is there, but usually have not heard a good bass arrangement.
           Let’s take two from his list. Remember “Sister Golden Hair Surprise”? The bass line is dull as dishwater—until the chorus, and that sort of bass line is my specialty. Give it a listen again and you’ll see the opening where he cannot play both parts. He also has Buffett’s “Come Monday” with another humdrum bass part, that is, until you hear those “middle notes” played on a second guitar. Now, does that sound like piano or what.
           However, always ease the new people in and we’ll see what he can sing first. I need him to front at least half the material, so his list is more important than he thinks. The Prez learned all this from scratch, which is pretty damn impressive, but this new guy says he’s rhythm all the way, so hopefully he can strum the parts already.

Picture of the day.
Utah gold claims.
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           You learn something every day, at least if you are around here. And here’s something I’ve been doing wrong half my life. We’ve known forever that meters will read small batteries, as full voltage unless there is a load. I’ve always reached for a small resistor and you are not measuring the voltage, but the current across the resistor. It differs per resistor. I did not know I have a drawer full of cheap meters that will test these cells under load. Mind you, screw the engineers who mark this function with what looks like a small capacitor and the instructions that call it something else.

           It works only for 9.0V and 1.5V batteries and it is deadly accurate. See diagram, and it is marked that you should read 25 milliamps for a good 9V and 4 milliamps for the 1.5V. There you have it, Sunshine, I’ve been doing this wrong for twenty years. On the other had, there are very few sources that will tell you the necessity to test under load. You can go on-line right now and find 50 experts who will tell you to measure the voltage, including the A.I. sites.
           There’s your proof of what I said about on-line crap thirty years ago—truth by majority rule will be the downfall of the Internet.

           I received the oddest letter from the city, saying a new balance has been posted to my utility account. That’s been true every month since I arrived, so I called my real estate lady. She’s heard nothing either. She got hit by the storm surge from Hunnicane Helen, but did not say how much until today when I asked about the coast. The surge came in four feet deep and hit 3,800 houses, including hers.
           She’s had to replace drywall, plumbing, and generally most of what was four feet under water. That includes her nearly new $10,000 golf cart. Ouch. She had just replaced the batteries and those are gone once salt water hits them. Oddly, my cell phone does not call her number unless she is in town so I had no chance to offer help. She’s amused by how I managed to fix those joists without any outside help. I didn’t want to tell her I’m not out of the weeds myself yet.

           Later, I report nothing but a 35 mile round trip today, but to banks and shopping. That doesn’t count as a break. I got some electrical boxes Then, the day just brought itself to a standstill. I did not get the fancy coffee or any groceries and I’m down to rice mostly. I did stop at noon for fast food, a shake and some nuggets. The stop on Sunday at the market didn’t seem so bad when McDees soaked me $8 for the snack. I’m out of audio books, the Texan wasn’t home, I did not even check the sheds or the cull lumber cart at the lumber yard. I was the picture of listlessness—then it hit me. I need to review the finances. That’s all I’ve got for you today.
           During the next 35 days, we are recovered from the Valdosta Disaster of August 12, last year. I have not yet farmed out the new transmission. I will, as they say after April 2, if the world doesn’t smarten up, the tariffs will add $6,000 to car prices. That makes my older van even more valuable. Caltier remains static, the pause of ten months has had me looking for alternatives and nothing has made the grade.

           Here I am, out of ideas. I’m hearing about these on-line loan services but everybody wants money just to tell me how they work. The parameters for me are the same, I must plan for the days I cannot work and that means taking advantage of what I do have. Spare cash, patience, and a tolerance for risk. Hang on here, we have a tube sale. And it’s a nice one, $25 for me. Give me that a couple times a week and I’d be happy. Why is this GE tube so expensive? Let me look into that and I’ll be right back.
           Got it. There seem to be a demand for tubes that are imprinted with a hexagon. Possible some mark of quality, but double the price. Order processed in nine minutes, I’ll drop it in the mail tomorrow. I’m due for a payout. I have not checked with the place that says I can display the boxes, but I’d like an inventory of 30 units before commencing sales. I have no idea if these will even move. Now, where was I? Looking for a business that works because I have cash and the other people don’t.

           I’m suffering because I don’t know anybody who can show me the ropes to use this advantage on-line. Noting the growth in robo-advising, I may dabble in that. Nothing makes the stock market crash like you investing in it but I’m out of other ideas. There is no magic to this investing. You fill out a survey that outlines your goals and a computer algorithm goes to work “balancing” your investment toward that end, bypassing dealing with a broker. It’s good-old “dollar cost averaging” from the old days.
           The market is volatile due to politics, and I have not forgotten the shaft job by Robin Hood not that long ago. Some people leveraged a gaming stock and were poised to make millions when the stock fund froze their transactions. But rather than sit on the money, I’ve chosen the one that tops several lists. As with Caltier, the initial idea is to learn the system, then after than monitor the performance. The one I selected is WealthFront. I stress, I am at this point just looking.

ADDENDUM
           Vegetables have been grown on simulated Lunar and Martian soil, but they cheated a little bit by mixing straw or grass. The soil up there is powdered rock. It’s been analyzed to have all the major elements for food production but has never undergone the “terra preta” process seen in South America. The Martian soil is also full of salt but that is no big deal now that we know there is probably lots of water available.
           Watching the videos of this simulated food production shows many common vegetables but there is a glaring omission. None of the videos state if the food it good to eat. The plants absorb nutrients from the soil, but is every nutrient good for human consumption? Recently, we’ve seen that food is only one problem with people in isolation. There have been major personality clashes in space and at a station in Antarctica. I see the common theme with the Biosphere experiment in Arizona.

           All kinds of theories came out of that experiment because there was lots of social pressure to avoid stating the real problem—that some people have parasitic personalities. They cannot survive without getting something for nothing out of others, and generally that something is demanding behavior that others consider reserved for more private relationships. One of the worst is when there is pressure to be nice to someone so they won’t cause even more trouble.
           Having even one such person (a woketard) on the crew will destroy group cohesion if not the mission itself. Years ago I wrote the trouble stemmed from letting people self-evaluate. And that the solution was to let the others decide who they wanted on board. But I started paying closer attention once Trump entered politics in 2015. I see now that parasitic personalities become champions at disguising the trait for years, even decades, to cajole into a situation where they think they can exert control.

           That one I have no suggested solution for. You can’t just walk away on a spaceship. Can you imagine the horror if one of the crew refused to perform his duties unless everyone else “cooperates”? Is there a term for this? I saw it a lot when I worked at the cube farm. Remember Don who would not take his turn of the trouble calls unless you listened to his constant faggot talk, or Gary who slept half his shift and complained when you wouldn’t help him catch up? If you can’t isolate such people on Earth, you can’t do it on Mars.

Last Laugh

Gerrymandering.