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TMOR (to my overseas readers): this blog
DOES NOT represent any average American life-style.

Warning. This blog has evolved through many phases and earlier posts did not allow for links that go dead or change. I never intentionally link to sites that require memberships or similar. Same with sites that don't pass my stringent filtering system. Thus, I encourage readers to NOT follow any links that attempt to redirect, use cookies, or are obvious wrong material for this publication, which is rated PG13.

A reminder to the reader this is not a political blog, but commentary on human behavior. 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.

Here is the movie Citizen Vigilante for free.

Oops, looks like it is blocked here already. You gotta move fast!
Later, I think I cracked part of the block. Just wait, leave the blank screen a few moments.
If not, cut and paste this link: https://old.bitchute.com/video/iLjCEmvPzHjO
May not work on Apple equipment at all.

July 5, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 5, 2025, even the good ones.
Five years ago today: July 5, 2021, way to go, Buzz.
Nine years ago today: July 5, 2017, tuning out: it’s a gift.
Random years ago today: July 5, 2004, Phoebe.

           Ah, feeling great, but I’ll wisely keep things low-key today. I have the dowel maker on the bench only to find the instructions are rather flimsy. The physics are fairly evident, so you can work along with me. Plainly not every piece makes a dowel and there is a left and right to the operation. It appears you run the wood one direction, then the other, or possibly a rough cut, then a finer shave. You can tell my looking most people are going to screw up with this tool.

           They presume I want ten-foot pieces. The kit arrived with no identifying marks, but I found a video called BAYSTMAN that looks the same. America awakens to the spectacle of the California rich getting a little diversity on their own turf. Thousands of blacks rioting on Newport Beach, where the elite thought they were immune. A black woman won the Benjamin Franklin look-a-like contest. And the majority is not silent, the media is silent about the majority.

           I don’t have a lot for you today. Here’s an history church in Franklin It has been torn town and rebuilt several times since 1811, but it billed as the genuine real deal. Maybe the phony museum business in Franklin is much bigger than I at first thought. My plans for today are to watch “Citizen Vigiliante” and drink coffee. And pancakes, I already made pancakes.
           Soon enough, boxes will take over this blog again, it is just the amount of exercise I need. And I’m getting closer to two final “small” designs. The spice box is nice, but dependent on finding a matching set of free knobs or drawer pulls. The smaller box, which I’ve taken to calling the “mini” is nice but kind of tiny to be practical. Maybe a desk organizer? All benefit from the Fake logo. I could not find a suitable laser printer this trip.

           Funny, innit? We have another flurry of A.I. videos on single World War II topic. Japanese and German POWs being sent to prison camps in the US. The theme is always the same, they thought they would be killed, tortured, starved, etc. Instead they were all astounded by the great food and abundance. Did I say funny? Because not one of these ever portrays the opposite point that is being made. If these enemies had nothing, no luxury items, no basics for survival, why was it taking the USA years to beat them rather than just weeks. Oops, that’s one of those questions they do not like to be asked.
           Found Money, not a household word, but my most famous account. It’s the money I find blowing in the streets. It has a sad legacy we can dodge for now. It’s the account where any unexpected money gets socked away. And the “White” account has over $1,500. This would include rebates, but mostly it is from my spare change bucket. The ADD (anti-dormancy deposits) are back and I have not emptied the bucket since August last year when I began feeling badly. I don’t know what is there but the box, a neat wooden box, feels over $60 heavy. That would be a good start.

Picture of the day.
How Elvis left the building.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           The vigilante movie is not what I expected, the plot is kind of disjointed. But the individual scenes are well done. As for the bad guys, talk about type-casting. Parts like the armored car shootout are overdone, but there is an good portrayal of the police shortcomings. I’ve pointed out before that police should be chasing criminals instead of handing out traffic tickets. Otherwise, they are too often nothing but thugs in uniforms. They cannot demand ID without due cause, so they call it a driver’s license, and nobody squawks. All they had to do was convince you driving was a privilege. You get the idea. The average person today believes the police have rights that never existed.

           The movie just passed the obligatory sex scene, I would have found some much better-looking extras.

           I’m examining the dowel pieces, they seem reasonably well designed but there is much they are not telling you. For example, the direction of the grain in the wood, the amount the end has to be tapered, and not to use a battery-powered drill. I’ve used a simpler device and have some idea what to expect here. First thing, this tool needs a nice wooden box.

           Here are the old and new calipers, with arrows toward the broken part. I wasted too much time trying to fix the old pair on the left. As can be usual with used equipment, when I fixed the first problem, the next one came along. It appears there is something wrong with my 40x objective lens. I suspect it had been lowered into smudge, sure signs some kids were playing with it. Dang, a good new model is nearly $50.
           I filled the birdfeeder and got ready to put some boxes together tomorrow. The right amount of exercise, I’m sure of it. I received a letter from LizJohn, it now takes 12 days for first class mail to get here from Vancouver Island, Giving computers to millennials was always a foolish idea. I mean, give them toys, but not tools. I’m reminded of that warning that supplying unlimited energy would be like handing a kindergarten kid a machine gun.
           The fake news is again about the J6 people suing Nancy for $350 million. It’s bogus, but I’ve wondered why they’ve never filed a class action. Pelosi has the assets to pay. The big Antifa jail sentences continue in Texas. One tried to kill herself but no news on why she failed. Six of America’s least-educated cities are in California. Saudi Arabia has banned all Christian churches. A California man who won $2 billion in the lottery took home just $624 million after taxes.

ADDENDUM
           I wanted a challenge so I took a peek at something I’ve used for years but never understood. Floating point numbers. This is where numbers, especially very large or small ones, are represented by a decimal number raised to an exponent. We are used to squares and cubes where the exponent is 2 and 3, but I do no comprehend number like 10 to the 6,145th power. I think I’ll leave that kind of arithmetic to the people who love such things.
           I’m also paying more attention to ArriveD, which is the same outfit as the Lofty.ai people I could not get to speak real English last year. They claim they are liquid because you can always sell your shares to other buyers. I dunno, that is not quite the same thing, Tyler & Brandon. I’m reaching the same conclusions as with Caltier. The rental market is much more stable than the housing market. Rents don’t drop 20% in a crisis.
           My attention fell on their Real Estate Fund. Rather than invest in shares of properties, this fund makes short-term loans to professional renovators and such. The loans are secured by the properties, though that is rarely a swift option in real life. I’m not to happy with Caltier sitting on things for over a year, but same thing, I am part owner of the properties. You always get your money, but it could take a very long time.

Last Laugh

July 4, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 4, 2025, I took any job.
Five years ago today: July 4, 2021, a rambling post.
Nine years ago today: July 4, 2017, at least a while.
Random years ago today: July 4, 2016, still a lot.

           Fourteen hours on the road, a wonderful trip. I’ll recount the day noting that I awoke without any reminders I’m still mending and fixed a breakfast of croissant bread, if you know what that is. Try it, you’ll probably like it. I stoked up on coffee and got away two hours late. In daylight, that is, checking in with the Reb every 125 miles. No rush this trip, also no radio or disk player.(until I hit the Florida “radio jungle”. I took I-65 directly south to Montgomery

           Beautiful scenery and light traffic. I didn’t really push the Hundy most of the time. Stopping only for gas in Huntsville and Camilla, I grabbed brunch at the Eufaula Capt. D’s. Just the noon special, fitters, fries, and shark. I was either famished or it was exceptional. A couple days back I bought some reading material including a paperback by a combat vet, a pilot with 7,400 hours. It is a bit like this blog, except with a lot more heavy equipment. Like this one time an Apollo crew showed up for training how to fly the lunar module. Makes sense that the controls would be helicopter-like for landing and hovering.

           This trip was 1,676 miles and burned 107 gallons of gas, including the chasing around in Hermitagel. Not bad, though the Hundy is just not up to this. Neither am I and I have not forgotten how badly driving once attacked my blood pressure. This days are gone, as in totally under control. This trip I took a “motorcycle” road east of Eufaula just to see. The area astonishingly nice, sadly there are signs everywhere that young people are not taking over the farms or businesses in the small towns.

           Before I forget, when I arrived in Tennessee, the smoke alarm beeper was active in the hallway. The Reb is away, so that leaves the place to Nate. Since I can tune out electronic sounds, I thought I’d monitor how long before the battery got replaced. It was still beeping when I left six days later.

           The trip was so nice, here, I made this for you you to enjoy a little part of it. I did stop in Eufaula for fish and chips and Capt. D’s. The cutover between Montgomery and south Georgia has no main roads, allowing you to see the pristine wilderness same as the pioneers must have. Anybody who thinks America does not have the potential to again dominate all opponents has never see the vastness of what isn’t even touched. That’s “opponents” I said, not dominate the world like some smaller countries are trying to do. This is a video of the off-ramp toward Union Springs. Never heard of it? Me neither.
           West Georgia is a lot of wilderness. I don’t recall ever eating potato from those fields, or that Georgia was a major supplier. They must be hugely into supply after what I saw today. I used the quiet hours to mull over plans for the immediate future. My investments have fallen behind in favor of helping with the album release. Anything from that direction would be a lifetime achievement even if my role was tertiary. Personally, I never got that close to success. One thing nice is that I’ve never heard of a one-hit-wonder who later starved to death.

Picture of the day.
Rare "landspout".
(They are a type of illusion.)
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           On the last leg home, I stopped at Kooter’s for one. No live music on America’s holiday. I drove past the old club. First time I have ever seen it closed early on a weekend. As I got away late and had to stop to repair that headlight, the last few hours of my trip were in the dark. You might want to peek at Payne’s Prairie, mentioned as the place I stopped. Wild horses grazing under palm trees.

           I had to plan this trip for daylight. The most common reason for a pullover is a broken auto light. But it was raining the morning and that gave me an narrow window of between the too-hot day and the fading sunlight to get that bulb replaced. As it happened, the shadows were just long enough as I passed Payne’s Prairie and I pulled into an abandoned truck stop. Silly me, I forgot my age again and this five-minute chore took me over a half-hour. Yeah, yeah, I should have allowed for this, but that’s my point. I did.

           The upside is I got to enjoy a lot of fireworks the way I like them best. On the horizon, too far away to hear, and paid for by somebody else. This trip faces a lot of accumulated paperwork and logistics, the happy spot for me was other than fatigue, I had no symptoms this trip and arrive back here with no needed recovery time. I’m getting there, so for the rest of today, let me see if I have any videos left from the trip.

           Here’s something, a better view of the flatscreen menu at KOI’s. Just something I’ve never seen before and find expensively fascinating. Everyone knew these were on the way and it won’t be long before the menu orders you. I’m also reviewing the hype on those pet collars claimed to translate doggie barks and body language into sentences on your smart phone.
           Here’s why I find that interesting: what you call A.I., I call advanced pattern matching. It makes sense if you study enough animals it would result in recognition of behavior. The block between you and your dog is all in the translation. So, it seems to me that this would be an excellent and accurate tool simply because A.I. such as it is, would gradually learn your pet’s behavior anyway. I can see how this is a terrifying prospect to many.

           I won’t keep you today, but I must document anything medical, even if it is just my own hunch. I returned from this trip ordinarily tired. But not the deeper weariness over the past few years. This could mean it was the accumulating effect of my weakening heart as opposed to what I took to be ordinary advancing age. It does occur slow enough to think that, and you get input from the environment that seems to confirm this. It must be what TV-addicts get from all those talk-to-you-doctor ads.

           At the same time, I was quick to notice the Florida climate is nicer in a sauna-kind of way. Here’s a video from tomorrow showing the best Texas breeze in months. It has to be just right to emulate the Lone Star and move the grasses just so. I grabbed the camera and this is the best of the best for a few seconds. Yes, the grass in trimmed and prepped and placed to show the sign, but after all, Texas is way across the Gulf of America on the other side.
           I had to get out there and do the clipping, but as ever, it gave me time to plan, and I have a list of things I should tend to on the Hundy. For example, it needs new brake pads and the belts and hoses may need replacing. The horn still does not work and that CD player didn’t last a week. My budget is $800. Time to give Agt. M a call. Remind me to get a new radio aerial as well. They snap off easy in the California car wash.
           Later, I am still reading the war novel, it is holding my interest if only because I've always maintained the only military service I could to is the Air Force. These pilots deserve most (but not all) of the bravado they exhibit. They are a significantly higher class of individuals even when their personalities give the heaves. I'll get you the details when I'm finished reading, but this gets a recommendation. You don't let just anybody fly around your $50 million-dollar chopper and it is not that easy to find somebody both smart enough and dumb enough to become a pilot Commander. This guy's reasoning for saying with the forces is plausible--each time his stint ended, the commercial airlines were not hiring.

Last Laugh

July 3, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 3, 2025, a porterhouse this big.
Five years ago today: July 3, 2021, WIP
Nine years ago today: July 3, 2017, NZ, just in case . . .
Random years ago today: July 3, xxxx, WIP

           First thing in the morning, I get millennialized. All the how-to videos show how to replace the high beam, including the ones that specify low beam. I finally reached inside and pulled off the power cable. Once again, my make and model seem to be an Internet one-of-a-kind. This is ripe territory for your GenXgeniuses, who don't see click-baiting as trickery. As I've said, the big regret of many Boomers is we won't live long enough to see that pack of bastards stew in their own juice. By this time I was downtown, so I took a quick walking tour. I maxed out in a little over two blocks. I was hungry, so I peered into a half-dozen window to see the signs, "Summer hours 10:30AM to 4:00PM" and here I am at 9:00AM. Yet, this is tourist town and I saw a lot of good-looking skirt. Eliminate the ones with baby carriages or husbands in tow, you still get a lot of babes. While still not hippie-era head counts for single women, it was worth the tour. Think of it as a field trip at my age.

           The mother hens were also out in force. In Florida, you would never see two girls under 12 busking on the sidewalks. In America, money is the one legal thing that keeps the riff-raff out of the neighborhood. America was much better as a single-race society. You noticers should notice I did not way it was right or wrong, just better. I did not see much of the city center, I have to park where I don't have to get acrobatic. The Reb is busy until noon, so I grabbed some microwave fixin's and went home. Where my energy level just tanked as I walked in the door. But on the way back, I spotted the library was open. So keep reading, it might be a good day yet.
           I would have wrote that before the afternoon storm. Glad I didn't leave. I got stuck in the library so you get some extra edited videos, here are some street buskers. Working for money to attend music camp. This, folks, is the America that used to be. Safe and free. Here's another scene, a refurbished theater, which I'd like to see some day. Not now, I've never heard of Duncan Sheik, so I pulled up a video. Soon as I hear slow music, it's over. They are also shy about posting admission prices. There were wankers like that around back in my day, but they were never a majority like now.
           This banner shows a Jim Brickman, who I have also never heard of. These obscure characters sure win a lot of Grammies. Or is is Grammys?

           The Reb is back at work, just having time to say goodbye for now. And drop of my camera lucida. Remember that? It's the ancient drawing tool that lets an outline of the subject appear as a virtual image on a blank piece of paper. Low-tech, but still above my artistic abilities. It's been sitting in Tennessee a while until somebody remembered and now I need a subject that can sit still for hours. Here, Schoolboy, here kitty. I forgot it was ordered at $70 and the price has since dropped. I have my new microscope calipers, but not my new microscope camera.

Picture of the day.
Ice floe safari.
Adventures for the incredibly stupid.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Yep, if I must, I'll take the entire housing of that headlight to get at that bulb. I'll try a couple methods first, but that afternoon storm last quite a while. I ducked into the library and stayed there past 5:00PM when the thunder abated. That's why you see so many videos. The library has excellent edit apps though some are unfamiliar. We all love software that saves your files, but does not reveal where. That reminds me, I've asked Nate for copies of the photos three times. That means the fourth time I as if there is any reason he does not just fork them over. Maybe he's still too green to know that is a two-way street. I got a lot of research done, after 4:00PM I had the building to myself. I tried to find a couple how-to videos on the camera lucida and smacked head-on into the youTube goof squads. They need to give a good shit-kicking to the guy who started the "unboxing" videos. "Don't know what this is and I've never used one before, so I'll post a video because people like wasting time watching idiots."
           At the library, I mean they have video editing programs. But nothing for stills. Even basic resizing and cropping software did not seem to exist. Maybe all users except me get it perfect on the first try. I stumbled across a command that said it could make a gif, why not? Because the resulting twenty-second run required 42MB, and there was no apparent way to make it a tenth that size. For files that big, why not make it a real video and mute the sound?

New pop quiz for you. Quick - pick which apartment door is the Reb's. No cheating.

           This unboxing is not to be confused with somebody posting an inquisitive testing of something, where they have at least rehearsed their lines and have learned how to hold a camera. I will make some tests with the camera lucida later, but you don't get a video claiming it is instructional. I got home and prepped for the return journey. To test that device, I know I need a blank sheet of paper. This, peeps, is why I'll do business with people that I would never go partners with. I tore this place apart for twenty minutes with no luck. Either they have no blank pages or use them so rarely they are tucked away. I finally braved the rainstorm and got some in from the van.
           So, it's quiet and evening, let's try out this camera lucida. It arrives unassembled. The instructions are okay but still took a half hour because they presume you know the technical terms for the parts. What do you mean you don't know what a pea fixture is. (Try P fitting, but same thing, what is that?) I could tell you, but we know millies like to look things up. I got a semblance of the contraption to work and they are not lying when they tell you it requires practice.

           The subject has to be well lit from the correct angle to "project" an image. And if the image isn't pretty basic, you need to eyeball which parts of it require tracing. Now they are asking for talent and I don't have any. I chose a picture of Schoolboy lying on some tiles, hoping for good constrast. Here is a snap of the microscope calipers, if you've never seen them before. It is to measure and move slides. You will have to wait until I'm back in Florida for examples of the Lucida.
           The Lucida image does show colors, kind of pale, but a boon to painters. The "lens" has to look flatly horizontal at the subject and I found tracing the outlnes easy enough. Not so filling in the details, especially shading. You can get the image dark enough to see easily, it is too dark to see the tip of the pencil lead. But that is all lighting concerns and it seems lots of people have worked something with it. There may be a reason you see so many outdoor scenes. One issue I had right away was the need to super-secure your blank page. Mine moved slightly each time and it throws off the whole drawing. Wait a day or two, this is more tricky than it seems.
           It was fun to toy around with and a great way to spend a rainy evening. Back home I have to get that floppy disk working. I found several dozen disks that might have the Reb and I either music or posing back in the 1980s. If I didn't say, we heard her on the car radio again last evening.

July 2, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 2, 2025, identical iMac problems.
Five years ago today: July 2, 2021, you should show up.
Nine years ago today: July21, 2017, NZ, just in case . . .
Random years ago today: July 1, xxxx, WIP

           I was looking to get you some real Civil War museum pics today, but that did not happen and I'm not happy. My system quickly adapted to Tennessee, so that means take it easy again. The whole day. I went over to the government office and took one look. A forty minute lineup, standing, and I could not manage that. Tomorrow the day off for July 4, which hits on a weekend. It means every place will have lineups, so wet over to the beautiful library to familiarize myself with what software they have installed. Not much. Every browser except Firefox means they cater to crowd who can check their e-mail and the weather. There is no movie editing sofware at all. What kind of Tennessean library user would ever need something like that?
VIDEO HAS SOUND.

           The Reb called, so we planned an afternoon--if I can keep awake, har-dee-har. We wanted to try Hank's, a semi-famous breakfast joint but arrived to late. So we opted to share a bleu cheese burget next door. It was soon evident nobody in the place, patron or staff, had ever seen a couple work a crossword puzzle for the fun of it. Then again, I do know for people like my family, doing anything that requires brainwork is not fun in the lease. We made good on some plans that needed coordination, but we have too much going on just now to visit much. My last two Amazon packages have not arrived, but if they do, I'm wanting to go home. It would appear I'm past the stage in life where much else except home can wait their turn.

           We are great museum goers, and today I managed to pick one of the worst. That sign said Civil War museum, but it is a fixed up old house built before the civil war and not an artifact other than a cannonball came through the roof. That, sadly, other than a couple muskets on the wall they don't mention, is the only connection to the war itself. Unless you are interested in ornate hand-made period furniture, this is not the tour for you. Sorry, no photos allowed.

           The price is $17 per adult. And you cannot touch anything, which is because the artifacts are all exposed and there are only guided tours. I did not like the guide, a pushy feminist type with a memorized script. She knew the family daughter was adopted and got married "only once", and at age 55. The daughter went to Paris in 1880 and was the first women to win an art trophy, and you kind of get the idea how much I was interested. She did hold down on the "slavery" bull donkey, but did not like the concept of servants. (With her mentality, that makes sense.) Inside, the building is nicely restored, apparently a society was formed not long ago to save it from becoming a Mexican restaurant.
           Would I recommend the Lotz House? No, because it is too much house and not enough Civil War. The furniture and styles were not that different from the grandparents of kids I grew up with. Plus I feel the way the advertising and sign are designed, it is a smidgen too misleading. There was a skirmish to the south, where they have a fenced field with some cannonballs, but it was rear area that barely saw any action. It is not part of the tour. The ceilings inside were tall, as in 12 feet. So I had a hell of a time getting up to the second story, having to kind of wrap things up early.
          Again, no pictures--except the $4 prints you can buy in the gift shop. I would give a partial okay on this one, but even the scripted tours were boring. I wanted Civil War history, not a dragged out history of the family who lived there at the time. Later, yep, I was foolish to climb those stairs. The upstairs rooms were not much to see.
           They have have a couple Civil War cannons parked in front to contribute to the illusion (see photo nearby). Note when I asked a couple questions concerning this, they expertly dodged the issue and focused on the Reb, who would not wonder about weaponry. I know many a millennial who would say you have to do your research (before visiting a museum), but that is part of my point. The first item on the list of what is a millennial is a head full of ideas on what you are supposed while they stand there with their thumbs up their. The ultimate form of entitlement. Besides, screw you, I get paid to do research, so do your own homework. As for research, the one thing I'm really good at is being off work.

Picture of the day.
Ice floe safari.
Adventures for the incredibly stupid.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           The bottom line is life cannot possibly, in my condition, move any faster. So much for a relaxing trip to Tennessee. Mind you, the Reb does not skimp on comfortable furniture, so I fall asleep practically standing up around here. Again, we had to get into some intense financials but there is just enough light on the horizon, okay? You've all seen enough Hollywood [movies] to know it always comes down to the wire and in the end family are ones who stand by you. Well, not my family, but you get what I mean. It's been a while since any positive movement but this is the end of the predicted time-frame. I do not keep exact track of these internal dollar, but it is easily more than twice what I paid for my house. So, if it flops, which is possible, like I said the house is paid for. If it flies, baby needs a new pair of shoes.
           Here's the best movie I have of the inside of that monster liquor store from last day. Ignore the brat doing the photobombing. She's harmless. Most of the time. I thought they were not supposed to let juvenile delinquents into liquor stores anyway. Get me out of here, this is embarrassing and I woould not trade it for anything.
VIDEO HAS SOUND.

           Damn Google and damn anybody who does not damn Google. They just wiped out an hour of great blog material by refusing to save tomorrow's draft. You are now reading a repeat. The Reb & I had reviewed the past 48 hours and it is all we could hope and plan for. Thus, I would have headed back but my van needs a new bulb, that being one of the most common reasons for a police stop. If album sales move the needle, I'm happy but just being in the loop is, with the recording industry, more than you'd get from me any other way. I know she goes out of her way for me and I do not like it. So I would have headed home, but she went back to the studio. Apparently some of my toys have also arrived and I'd hate to drive to Florida without them.

           Needing more down time, I zipped over to the Pond, where the same demographic was present, just different faces. I sang "Guitars, Cadillacs" and "A Pirate Looks at Forty". Well-received enough but I had a couple ladies doing same-era material like "Bobby McGee" and some Bible types singing hallelujah that tended to set the pace. I had been there to write a couple letters, which I did to JZ and Hersh. Short letters, I mean. They want to hear about babes and tunes and stage stuff, while I was lucky to get by. The way I waddle by the end of the day is about as old-guy as it gets.

ADDENDUM

           The Legend of Schoolboy. This is the grey, stovepipe ash grey, kitty adopted by the renter. Did I ever nickname the guy, if not, it is "Nate". In keeping, all the pets here are rescues and Schoolboy is from Nate's upbringing. His grandfather used the term as a compliment and a taunt. The kitty has an eye condition but is not under the same umbrella as our own. (Not when the vet wants $700 for a cure.) But Schoolboy is not suffering at all and could scarely have a shot at doing better. I shall see about some good poses for you, there should be something that allows you to admire this somewhat large feline type. But not too close. Glad to see me walk in, he decided my ankle was game and drew blood. Oops, no pictures, and the video from Rosie's didn't turn out either. The camera just sat there. It always knows when I'm taking something important. Wait, there is a picture. Lucky boy.

July 1, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 1, 2025, a porterhouse this big.
Five years ago today: July 1, 2021, soon, every station.
Nine years ago today: July 1, 2017, NZ, just in case . . .
Random years ago today: July 1, 2014, for profit universities.

           Good luck finding the Franklin library. It is on Columbia (almost a mile south of the old downtown) but there is no number or address on the building. There's sign for the high school next door, but that's it. Fortunately, for the few of us left who know what a library looks like, I saw such a building. You drive around the block either direction and enter the building from the side street. I tried to bring up a map but all I got was an offer to turn the wallpaper into a jigsaw. To think Apple has fallen so far. It is 1314 Columbia but access is on Granbury Street, duh. Franklin is another of those towns designed by drunks where the streets run east-west, unlike the rest of the universe. But I did get there, and as I've said for years, Tennessee has excellent libraries. This one was typical, a parking lot choked full cars, but not that many people inside.

           Tennessee. Until I can get time and access, just read the addendums. If silver continues to drop, I may step back in. My target price is $48/oz to buy. Copper is now $6 per pound, and my wire-stripping device arrived. It's hand-cranked but I wanted on just to test the process. It slices the insulation, so you can easily strip longa lengths than by just knicking one end. I have several tools showing up, with luck when I get back to my editing software, you might geet a break from box pictures for a bit. Look, there's one now, an intentionally blurry snap of the Reb with the pooch in the park.
           Another tool arrived, this one will be put to work pronto--assuming that it works as advertised. The dowel maker. The iMac has no intuitive wasy to edit photos (I said intuitive) so expect some pretty random photos, and don't forget to cheack back on all "vacation" posts for things that got missed. The GPS kind of gave me an unexpected tour or the historical part of town they don't show on the tourist brochures. Thanks to my place in Florida, I was eaily familiar with the architectural period.

           I did not get much down time here, it was a lot of loose ends but this is the home stretch in some ways. I don't think I've ever spent any real time in Franklin, but I like the way the town is squeaky clean in quite a number of nice ways, including culturally and socially. It is nice to see people walking quietly along again. Try that in a big town.
           New construction everywhere. The place is having a mini-boom. It also means the end of many of the picturesque green patches that make the area nice to drive through. Like Florida, they are making the mistake of suddenly inject five hundred new dwellings into an area withouyt any improvement in the infrastructure. Franklin will be a mini-Miami in less than ten years, mark my works. Enjoy the break, I'm heading back to Florida soon as I can.
           The government offices are all behind schedule with long waiting times, so I'll make the appointments, which is what they always wanted to force on the public. Then their work load can be slacked off institutionally.

Picture of the day.
Khor Fakkan.
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           The Reb wanted a break. Ah, great, I'm good at that, a skill I honed for years on the job. So she got her pick of the movies, and it was a cartoon. Now, I know how that sounds, but she chose "Toy Story 5", which at least I had heard of. I don't want to be attending any under-advertised films. You already know we don't much go to movies any more except together. Don't mess with tradition. Yes, we made it to the theater, where they acted outside like the auditorium was full blah-blah, it was maybe 40% occupied, that is, there were all kinds of empty seats. They wanted to shunt us the the front row ten feet from the screen, telling us those were the only available seats. We found that an emotional support doggie lets you kind of take any of the vacant spots you might like.

           Heads up, according to the Reb this version (she's seen all, I've seen none) is not as much a comedy as before. The room had reclining chairs, so I nodded of a couple times. But I get it, the theme is anti-tech. It's true in a way, kids that play with toys would naturally have better imaginations. This movie portrays the addctive nature of interactive media. It is about a girl is ostracized because all her friends have the latest tech toys. The Reb has an affinity for animation, where to me they are cartoons. Afterward, we took a stroll with the doggie, opting for a bite at McAllister's. It's kind of Mexican but without the authencicity. Also. Chooksie found something on the floor and ate it, then before long barfed up. It wasn't bad, but the staff took forever to show up with a mop. My concern was, of course, only the doggie.
           Before we move on, this is a picture of a "photographer's box". I kind of looked askew at it, the purpose is general studio use. It's for props, lights, and I suppose for Tom Cruise to stand on when he's near Nicole Kidman. Anyway, the Golden Ratio dimensions caught my eye, so I asked what the price tag was. Gulp, $65? and it was sealed so you could not even use it for storage during off season.

           The Reb heading back to the studio, we concluded a long discussion by concluding we have to wait and see. That must sound like real progress, but it's still wait and see. I e-mailed the Kaiser and we headed over to Rosie's for a few. He's a military buff, you know how rare it is to find anyone who has delved how drones have changed warfare? Because that means they will ultimately change everything. It was a sweltering mid-Tennessee summer night but the beer was cold. We were three hours just catching up on details, one being that his truck is out of commission and, like so many Nashville musicians, works more that one part-time job. He's been on the circuit long enough to live through a demographic change in the clubs. Like myself, he's seen the clientele morph, but he's also dealing with a new generation of owners. Usually the sons of the owners. Yes, this makes a difference.

           We went over this in some detail as it appears a change in the music model for club entertainers. What happens in Tennessee will eventually happen in Florida. I noticed the Karaoke singers at the Pond were almost pushing a style of music on the crow, making my act seem almost a relief. Dang it, I had just got off the highway and forgot my camcorder in the van that time. He's getting a similar effect, but his gig triangle (Knoxville-Chattanooga-Memphis) is five times larger. The dicision is that if I return to Nashville in a reasonable amount of time, we will either go see some live entertainers he know, or maybe attend a couple jams to play our oldest material.
           If I did not say, the Karaoke people at the Pond that same night were terrible and one trio, you could tell, would go from club to club pushing their material. That never works, it never will, but they never stop trying. Meanwhile, here's the Kaiser at a lighter moment during our meetup. Honestly, we really were talking lots of serious stuff, like solving world problems. Besides, this was Rosie's. Other than the floozie with the tattoos on the last stool before the men's room, there were no women in Nashville, much less the outskirts.

ADDENDUM
This is about my 3.5" floppy disk reader:
           I have a USB powered floppy disk reader. It shows up on the disk menu, but it will not read even the filenames. And Win 11 cmd does not recognize the disk drive itself, or just displays an icon that does nothing. I’ve got the parts to build a 386, but what a hassle. It’s a few lines of code in the kernel to run real DOS, but the bastards had to mess with that. They just could not leave well enough alone. They have a degenerate obsession with proving to themselves they are smart or something.
           The snag here is that those disks were the standard for years and there are tens of millions of them out there. What’s more, they contain priceless information and files that are untainted by embedded millennialware and worse, cloud stupidware. Some of the 3.5s I kept have printouts of my best COBOL and FORTRAN program dumps and now, with going through hoops, I cannot access them. I’ll get it, I’m just saying these punks deserve every bit of hardship that is surely coming their way.

           The period 1992 through 2003 there was not journal. But these disks contain tons of data and information of the day that I had intended to post one file at a time. I even have the original installation disks for both the operating system and the programs, which are now called apps. I only kept around 60 disks, but in those days there was very little file overhead written to disk, so it’s mostly good stuff. The disks are pretty damn old, but kept dry and seem in great shape.

June 30, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: June 30, 2025, I didn’t say wrong.
Five years ago today: June 30, 2021, 7 just for rent 5.
Nine years ago today: June 30, 2017, my last Amtrak days.
Random years ago today: June 30, 2007, a 4F.

           Am I in Tennessee? We won’t know until I get to library in this new town. I do not know Franklin. I’ve driven around a couple of times. Everybody except me is filthy rich. There is no computer for me at the new place, so if the library is not user-friendly, I may have to drive all the way to Hermitage. You’ll know if you see pictures. Scenery has become integral to this blog. Did know nearly 100% of the photos (excluding graphs, memes, and obvious borrows) you see here are originals by the author? Not bad for a Boomer. Or a Zoomer, even. Aha, we have photos. But I cannot edit them. I'm old enough to remember when Apple was a good computer company. I tried a few like "Capto" and "Cleanshot" but the very fact there were 24 options told me not to waste my time. We'll the library asap.

           Ah, back in Tennessee and what a long and quiet snooze. It is morning but I'm underway, trying to find the cat food. It was in the closet. The Reb left me a present, coffee and Carnation, bless her. But will she be home today? Check in later. I got the old iMac working except it will not Wifi, so I am 35 miles away in the old library. But that means I got most of my chores done. I found out why my insurance was so cheap. Remember that rebate they mailed in January? I never received it, so they applied it to the new policy. I have the Hundy registered, but in my dossier I do not have the plate number of my KIA. So I have to make another trip back here. If you see any pictures, then you know I'm getting somewhere. Sigh, life was better when the Internet was a free-for-all. If you disagree, ae you a brainwashed addict?

           What's getting difficult is renewing ATM cards. I aslo discovered it is almost impossible to leave money to a minor, or leave it for a minor now, but not payable until they are over 18. I was hoping to establish an account for our youngest club member. Just check in later, as in a month, and we'll see if there are any workarounds. Meanwhile, hurry up and wait, I'm very busy this trip. Somehow I managed to get here with all power cables, no data transfer models. I think when Europe mandated all deviced must use a USB-C cable, the market has become flooded with models that are power only. I ran into this problem months ago. Now it seems the majority of cables are power only--and there is no way to tell just by looking. If you can see any photos, then you'll know. I tried several dollar store USB-C and none of them worked. I donated them to the library, telling them the problem, which I take it they were having troubles over long before I got there and spelled it out for them. Interesting, this smartest generation ever.

           [Author's note: Upon arriving in Tennessee I see nobody here appears to be even aware of the USB cable problem. Allow me to elaborate. The European Union passed a law that all power charges must use the same end, a USB-C. The market was soon saturated with power cables, but not data cables. They are identical, the only way to test them is to make a connection with a known good device. Like your camera. If it is a power cable only, other than a red power indicator light, nothing will happend. If it is a data cable, and your computer and the device are both powered up, the computer will recognized the camera as a new device. Also, many cameras will display a data transfer screen, and good quality units will automatically open the correct path to view the files.
           I've mentioned this to a few people already, but do be careful. You get a lot of gamers and other such weak-minded users who "won't believe" you. That's happened here, too. What do old guys like me know about computers if I don't play "Game of Thrones" till 3:00AM most weeknights? I know this one guy who told me could use spreadsheets, so I let him update a real estate price list. The bastard actually went in an overtyped all my formulas, then informed me the software didn't work.]

           I was in the bank quite a while, my conclusion is that there was enough resilience built into my investments to absorb the recent inflation, which for my consumer items was over 60%. (See that last picture--that's my bank, neener, neener.) But if another bad government takes over, that isn't going to suffice. Thus, a new ten-year plan is in order even I don't make it that long. This theme will probably recur, same as Caltier did for so long. It is a learning experience that had to be taken simply because there was no way to get a straight answer. It's a real ass-clown situation, these on-liners with their invented vocabularies. They know exactly what information you want but fancy themselves clever. And stand ready to be offended at any hint otherwise. This isn't as much of another start-over because we now have experience dealing with these people.

Picture of the day.
3D topographical print of Ireland.
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           This afternoon was all business, but we made a mini-visit out of it by having a bit of fun. First, we decided on some pro photos, considering how close I came to posing for the last time. Chooks is old now and indifferent to most attention. He wags his tail and comes over when I call, but I think his energy lives must be about the same as mine. Since his now a registered support critter, we took him along to the sushi place. I'm not that much into squid, but they always have Thai on the menu. And what a menu it was. Not a tablet, we've seen those around a while. But a real almost paper-thin menu display. If you ask, the meal was $86. Here's a pic, when I get back to the cabin, remind me to get you a video.

           We had a lot of business to go over and have decided to go ahead with the ArriveD account or something similar. The experience with Caltier reinforces my contention that despite all their wild claims, the best way to learn how the software works for a given "e-business" is to wade into it yourself We also kicked around the license to publish from the twins back a couple years, but we never followed up. The license is good for life, so I will take another look to see if A.I. has made it worthwhile. I'm saying I'd trust A.I. to generate a book long before the ghost writers the original plan suggested.

           Next a long doggie walk behind the restaurant. For them, not me. I didn't make it more than a block. What's become of me, like watching the kids play. I'd wanted a bottle of port [wine] so the Reb said I should see this joint called Total Wine. A twenty minute drive but I saw the grandest liquor store of my life. It's huge and I asked permission to take a photo of their most expensive item. A bottle of cognac for $12,500. Did my picture turn out? I took several for bottles in the $5,000 range. No promises, but the Reb & I are nearing the end of the scrunch from the middle of last year. But, that will not include any bottles of whiskey that cost twice as much as my automobile.

           Again, be patient, software companies are notorious for not making apps backward compatible. I actually have a surreptitious video of the inside of this monster liquor store. But neither the iMac or library Win 10/11 crapware will open the file. (It's in ordinary AVI format, audio-visual interlaced.)

ADDENDUM
           It’s been fifteen or more years since I’ve assembled a computer from parts. But today I discovered most Win 11 computers will not play a 3.5” floppy. Who would want such a thing. That’s easy, anybody with a brain that knows the world ran on those things before Millennials turned the computer into a plaything. Here is a history lesson the kind you won’t find in the books, and I was there. I hold computers responsible for the sad, almost deplorable state of colleges today. Sit down and listen.
           I repeat, I was there. By 1995, I had been familiar with how proper programmed was done for over 20 years. By 1985, I had many qualifications based on courses I had challenged. You still had to pay for the course, but just show up to write the final exam. The schools did not like that, they began to track attendance and pile on pre-requisites. They also began to not recognize identical courses from other institutions. More than once, I had to repeat courses I had already passed with honors, just to be allowed to attend an advanced class required for a degree.

           Now you multiply that out to today’s price-gouging low-standard schools, and you see there is a connection. They do not care if you learn anything because computers have changed their fundamental business model. Notice carefully, you now needed the degree on the wall regardless of whether or not you actually knew how to program. I wound up with two senior degrees part-time over roughly nine years. (Part of the delay was the company putting our department on rotating shift work in 1991.)
           Already a programmer, I had to return to get those degrees, which as I just explained, became an expensive and tiresome process. I avoided university, having made that mistake once, and went to a top-notch trade school. It was during those nine years that I witnessed the downfall of the programming profession and decide it was not for me—but I still loved the subject and still do today.

           I’ve said before how 213 of us began in this then-new faculty. Nine years later there were 7 left. It was a small graduation party indeed. Toward the end, I shifted away from computers only toward accounting, which I use mostly today to lead a pretty darn good life. I’ve worked accounting jobs, but I’ve never been an accountant. I abhor the way schools are run these days, they should be fined for false advertising. Standards are so low you never hear of anyone failing to learn coding, though it probably happens.
           Return tomorrow to see how this ties in with 3.5” floppies.

June 29, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: June 29, 2025, a conviction absolves . . .
Five years ago today: June 29, 2021, by the thousands.
Nine years ago today: June 29, 2017, twice as many.
Random years ago today: June 29, 2004, a camel, you say.

           If you are reading this, I am on the road to Franklin, TN. Via Gainesville, Valdosta, Macon, and if the mood hits me, through to Montgomery to get on Hwy 65, a slightly more scenic and sane route. This trip will be incomplete before I start. I require a document I cannot find. It is in my black travel case—but were is the case. I tore my place apart this afternoon, so I know where it is not. I probably left a 6:00AM this morning, the good news is I found that clasp with the $35 worth of postage stamps that went missing last year. That helps. Sorry if there are not pics, maybe later. The millennial/GenX heroes have two identical type of USB-C cables. On that transfers data, and the power cable that just sits there.

           You’ll have to return later for the ever-popular trip details. It’s the turnoff at Tipton I’ve never been west of. Gas is $3.89 per gallon, so we’ll need at least 102 gallons for this [journey], which may have to be repeated within 60 days. But by August I’ll be over the scrunch. I contacted Tonio in Valdosta, but no reply yet. I put his box in the Hundy just in case, or maybe catch him on the way back.

           Arrived in Franklin just after dark, settled in and headed up the road to the Pond, an old club north of downtown. Had one hell of a time finding the new place (it is an apartment, not a condo this time) and the numbering scheme was shacked out. Imagine a town where instead of the houses having orderly numbers, house 101 is on street 1 but house 109 is on street nine. Somebody in Tennessee needs sharpening up with a tire iron.
           The trip was the un today, and quite a time it was. I got away 90 minutes late, but traffic was nice and the day was perfect. I have Valdosta just before noon and met up with Tonio in no time. He’s got a major mower, shown here, and was on duty. The object here was to hand him the tool box from last year. I had just got my laser and knew not much about box joinery. This was a utility box, made from what was at hand—not meant to be pretty, meant to be used.

           To just north of Valdosta, it was all familiar territory, so no surprises, except no traffic really. I decided to finally take the secondary over to Montgomery. The mystery city, because it has no tall buildings and cannot be seem from the surrounding roadways. This turned into my treat of the year, what a wonderful scenic drive, around 200 miles. Just north off Tipton, there’s a junction toward Albany. I’ve passed through there before, but always north-south. West Georgia and East Alabama is like a storybook. I longed for my motorcycle the whole time.
           This is a business trip, I stopped only for gas, which I saw as low as $3.21. Hold on, I stopped for some road grub at the Valdosta Wal*mart, a stop I now know from automobile breakdown days. Westbound from central Georgia is though rolling hills, heavy forest like in the movies. I rolled down the windows for an hour. Two-lane most of the way, but I was alone, approaching Eufaula (population 12,882) from the southeast. Through a tunnel of trees. I will remember this trip forever.

           Running two hours late, I didn’t stop even for coffee, not at Eufaula is an easy place to find any. The connected road to I-65 is another lost corridor well worth the drive. More forest, rolling hills, and the odd farm clearing. Just make sure you have GPS to get past Albany sideways on the map or you will get lost. What a jumble of junctions. Meanwhile, the day got broiling hot, it just be another summer heat wave. But my A/C is top-tier and I listened to anti-Trump radio (NPR) a few times. It fakes because my aerial is still broken off.

           I glanced down the main street of Eufaula to where that babe I once met worked, the one who wanted to show me where the library was when she got off work. The building was vacant and for rent.
           As I passed Montgomery, I slowed down and drove the freeway via “Traffic Jam Birmingham” and past the Decatur ramp. Slower after realizing I was 15 degrees further west and would arrive in sunlight. This route adds less than 30 miles to the whole trip and has a lot more countryside. But just as may jerks on the road, the latest crop with no highway savvy.

Picture of the day.
Monument, Custer’s Last Stand.
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           Arriving in Franklin, this is an unfamiliar part of town, but there is good news in a moment. But at the turn off, I startled a deer on the roadway, yes it froze. I hit the brakes and did a slider through the gravel, yes, a few inches from rolling the car. But it was all instinct that rattled me good for an hour. Welcome to Tennessee. Next, it took 40 minutes to find the apartment. First of all, it looks like townhouses and even people who live there could not tell me where building 9 was located. Later, of course I found it, but it did not help these look more like townhouses than apartments.

           The Reb is out of town, but aw, she left me coffee and Carnation, she knows me well. The photo guy was awake and looking out the patio for the view, what do I see? The old Pond, it is a pub known for always having entertainment. You get that in the Nashville environs. It’s in a shopping center almost within walking distance, if I could still walk distances, I mean. So we piled in his Cadillac and got there around 10:00PM. Yep, Karaoke, so I put my name on the list. Turns out the photo guy has never seen my act.

           Discovering the Pond does not serve Budweiser and only has Yuengling on draft (what’s become of America?), I went of High Life and did not recognize a single tune from the singers before me. That includes trios who got on stage with rehearsed material. So, and the photo guy has all this on video, I got to work. (The place was a third full, mostly people two generations behind me. I recognized a few personalities from Nashville, but did not say hello as a professional courtesy. )
           What can I say? Actually, a lot, because I have the video, I brought down the house. It was stunning to see 15 years after I’ve performed without the lyrics, people still glued to the screen like it was their stage buddy. The stage was 60 feet away, so I saved energy and sang right beside the bar. At first, I had a couple old-lady sourpusses scowling at me, but once I had the entire back of the place singing, they came around.

           It was truly a resounding applause, but I was tuckered. I move to leave and the DJ, bartender, and owner rushed over. Apparently I am now welcome there any time and have priority of sorts on that stage. They plied me with another ice cold beer and got me up singing next. Did it again, the whole room singing. I’m invited back, maybe I will. A ton of people introduced themselves to my assurances I would never remember. But not any of the personalities, it’s, um, a professional courtesy.

           Isn't that dandy, the video did not turn out. How many computer revolutions will it take until mankind is smart enough to make a camera that works right all the time? It appears the camera was facing the stage during setup. When it saw no motion for five minutes, it shut itself off. Like the DMV, all this without even being asked. So here is a view of the new neighborhood, very quiet mostly.

ADDENDUM
           Going over the budget reveals while we are doing better than average, another Biden Administration puts everybody in the doghouse. This November could end the empire, with both sides planning a knockout blow. And if the Democrats try their old tricks, it means civil war or the equivalent. The budget that endured the best is the one here, at the cabin in Florida. It is based on the expenses of operating a household of one or two people.
           As such, it includes gasoline, but not the cost of the vehicles. But even those limited categories of food and entertainment, allow for only $1,000 per month. This is why I mention categories that spill over as warning signs. My telecom costs have gone from $20 per month to $133. Gasoline from $66 to $156. Yet the only year in which my “household” income actually fell was 2025, due to a disastrous second half, and even then by just $150 (kudos to my financial resilience).
           Now, these do not include investment or business income which has suffered badly for some time. Zero sales, zero gigs—and don’t underestimate gigs just because some items are not recorded. I once lived years on just my tips, but don’t want to be a Boomer accused of trying to turn back the clock. Note both sales and gigs are earned income (an accounting designation), and I drew the line on that. The Reb has not learned to manage financials, yet that is the only portion of the equation I would even bother to trust.

           The diagram of this would look like a giant circle. I started off in the early 80s massively in student debt. I bought my cars with loans, paid rent, and relied on credit cards as emergency funding. I knew by 1990 there was no getting out of that in a lifetime without drastic measures. I took those measures, by the way. That includes no mortgage and thus no marriage and children, but as I would point out, even those people who had these things wound up no better than I. What good is an ex-wife, alimony, support, and children who don’t know them? But that is a different issue.
           The facts are there, time to presume I’ll live another ten years. That the completion of the giant circle, back to the original starting point where you get rich by getting poor slower than everybody else. My projections show that with my traditional abilities to average 7% per year, a quarter-million is needed to move the needle. But a smaller investment of $50,000 would pay my groceries and gas.
           I would point out that I do not directly withdraw investment money to pay such bills. Rather, equate the income to money I would have invested if I had not spent it on, say food. This may sound dumb to outsiders, but it works for me. If I did not have to buy food, there is a 100% chance I would invest that money, since I know it is a sunk cost either way. Shall we say, there are some who would not make it 100%. They know who they are. I got little use for them. They are usually troublemakers as well. Not big trouble, more the water-dripping-at-night variety.

           My investments are further conditioned by political “bewareness”, a term you have not heard me use directly. You cannot protect your money from determined clutches, but you can take measures that give you at least some warning before they kick in your door. Like, for example, your big-mouth neighbor with nothing to hide? Watch his door, the government picks the easy fruit first. Ask Bernie. The end result is my curious attitude about privacy. Not secrecy, but privacy. Secrecy implies you have something to hide that is somebody else’s business. Privacy means none of their business.
           This also discloses why I relate often back to my formative years. Simple, my upbringing was divided. It was capitalism for anybody who showed initiative, but communism for the lazy. Folks, I was on to today’s America long before the current strife. I had learned by age 8 a number of lessons, which lucky you, I will share at the level where they happened.

a) If you do not spend money as soon as you receive it, that is proof you never really needed the money, therefore you will receive no more.
b) If you invest, that asset becomes the first target of envy and greed. All the lazy see is the cash, never the value.
c) Showing aptitude is folly. Driving a nail could obligate you to driving nails for everybody who, it seems, never become as good at it as you, ahem.
d) Do not volunteer for anything unless it extends you the right to exclude those who did not volunteer.
e) People would like nothing more than for you to fail so they can pick your bones clean.
f) Learn your personal limit to getting ahead. When it comes to money, the trick is to out-think Shylock without becoming one yourself.