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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.

If blocked, paste & go this link: https://old.bitchute.com/video/iLjCEmvPzHjO

Here is a cop & murder video The Kingdom (2007).

I attest the uniforms, Arabs, dialog, and portrayal of Saudi Arabia
are exceedingly accurate in this movie.

Be patient, this is a tricky process.
Getting the video to play through my world-class ad-blockers.
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You will forget and get hijacked by Google.

July 24, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 24, 2025, finding its limitations.
Five years ago today: July 24, 2021, bleak Okeechobee.
Nine years ago today: July 24, 2017, the stench.
Random years ago today: July 24, 2012, the latest blog protocols . . .

           Show of hands, how many recall that a gig-less Friday for me is a day off? Hmmm, that’s what I thought. To make amends, you get to learn lots more about boxes today. Here’s a box I’m about to cut in half because of a tiny sawing error y’day. One edge of one piece was off by a kerf width.

           That makes the box a reject, but not a rejected box. It has a top and bottom so it can be sawn in two. I want trays for my “loose” staples and brads. That’s when I have to swap a short bank, now they are organized in their own sweet little box. If I have time, I’m photograph the results.
           Another PPP, poor people do not stock up on business-size envelopes and I just ran out. I have to waste more gasoline, and because my security and scanning equipment is here, I have to return, then go back downtown to mail the letter. You watch, Wal*Mart will be out of the security tint peel & stick, so I’ll either have to drive to Winter Haven or buy a whole box of the wrong product. Florida is the leading edge of PPP, but you know, other places like Mexico and Canada are hopelessly worse.

           Meanwhile here are two assembled button boxes ready to be stained. One is the “naughty box” and a “radioactive” box. Don’t be too critical, they are both prototypes and I cannot find a good font for the lettering. This view is the two logo patterns suggested by Bryne at this is the photo he will get via e-mail. Along with a reminder to get into town for a jam session, you cannot go wrong in East Texas for that.

           I’ve nothing else but boxes so far today, so I’ll share more of the learning part. That box shown is repurposed. I warn beginners away from this as a plan. I’m saying, don’t plan to repair boxes as part of the build. For that can require too much and sometimes more effort than building new.
           Even if you succeed, the result is apt to be inferior. So why do I do it? May reasons which include I am not rebuilding the box, I am repurposing it entirely. I am dissecting looking for the source of the error. I’m saying until you have and experience eye, don’t bother trying to correct mistakes. Adapt, not correct.

           Next was more banking and more PPP. Because everybody was “too busy” to get me the updated ATM cards, I’ve had to make the deposits by mail. The bank slow-walks mail-in transactions because they are AOLs about it. Not a problem every other month, but this month ten deposits and they have begun holding back funds. Because other people are too friggen busy to go get me that new ATM card I asked for last April. Hold it, on this account, it was last October.
           I had to get downtown to verify the clearing dates, fortunately the money place had a business size envelope (for 25¢), which gave me time to get home, process, and get back downtown hopefully before last collection time. If I missed it, that is another PPP and the pieces are not even added up on that one yet. I’ve put 178 miles on the van, and tomorrow means another trip to Winter Haven.

Picture of the day.
Driving the Dolomites
(Italy)
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Another thing about data cables is they can go bad for no apparent reason. Slow Friday’s are a bit of an unofficial “test every battery in sight” day. And the blog rule to record anything unusual reports today we had 30 dead batteries. I have a load tester and the most dead were the most important. The back shed has a combination lock, and if the power goes out, trust me it is dark back there. I have dozens of those old plastic lights Harbor Freight used to give away (shown here dismantled) in excellent operating condition. Enjoy the view, that, folks, is your fancy picture for today. What other blog entertains you with dead batteries? Hey, if you like to see only the good parts of a video, there is always BitChute, har-dee-har.

           By late afternoon I just sat down. Man, am I pissed off. I opened the Caltier page and the friggen password has been changed again. And not to one of our standing password keys that would let me change it back. I’m not a happy camper. Neither is Norway, on whom California is trying to copy their wealth tax. That’s where certain things (such as a speeding fine) cost, instead of a fixed amount, a percentage of your net worth. Problem, rich people don’t hang around for that bull donkey. They move away. In the case of Norway, they took $50 billion with them. Now Oslo is going bankrupt because they can’t fund their precious social programs.
           Stress is something I avoid, so I sat down and put a layer of the pecan poly on a bunch of small boxes, including this morning’s. Time to think. I can’t fathom the Enigma mechanism yet but neither can most people. Did you know that after the war, the British kept the codebreaking a secret for another 30 years. Why? Because other nations like Russia began using the Enigma machines believing they were secure. I never said they weren’t, I said I find it impossible to accept that nobody anywhere suspected a thing.
           News, the MSM has a new tack, putting about that America is in danger because Trump has destroyed trust in their journalism‽ Apparently one does this by pointing out they are liars over a period of ten years.

           Here you go, the recycling of this morning’s box. Left frame shows the tiny lip difference in the cut, meaning the box cannot be made “square”. Middle frame shows the two small boxes resulting from the cut. Right frame is the “short bank” trays being placed into the staple box. This has to be done right before the saw cuts, or the lid won’t close. I’ve switched to a smaller but no cheaper 7/8ths staple for these smaller units. They must also be spaced properly.
           In that same vein, let me mention more about the pneumatic stapler. This is the tool I drove all the way to Parrish to buy on sale for $19. It is now an essential and anybody can use it with a few moments training. However, by learning what’s going on, I’ve discovered it is possible to make the staples look much better by positioning the tool carefully. Sorry, no close-ups, I use Vivitar, but I’ll bet you can’t even see any staples here.

ADDENDUM
           I began a casual look for what those casings [from y'day] might be. They were there for a while, and I found more, but doubted they were termites for the simplest reason. There was no source of water or moisture. Here is a photo of more specks, and do they not look like they could once have been ovoid, but are now dried husks.

           As ever, I cannot think of a single person I know who could assist with this. Florida is chock full of know-nothings. I don’t even know anybody who works in a lab. Or, if I do, they keep it a secret. Weird, because there are dozens of labs in Winter Haven. Dozens.

           Around 7:30PM, I scrolled through some 800 pictures until I found this one, labeling the specks as “frass”. First time I’ve heard that word, and me over 25 years in Florida. It is termite poop, in this case a “drywood termite”. The literature says they do not require open dripping water, so that explains one thing. It also means if I want to live here until the end, it means another tenting, which is conservatively priced at $1,200. But there are bait controls I will try first. Termites are year-round in subtropical places, so I will start looking tomorrow. I will hit the attic first. I have not been up there since last summer.

Last Laugh

July 23, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 23, 2025, now that’s vegetarian!
Five years ago today: July 23, 2021, twice the honking price.
Nine years ago today: July 23, 2017, descriptions and prescriptions.
Random years ago today: July 23, 2016, hula-hoop earrings?

           What nonsense will I get into today instead of fixing my kitchen floor? Can’t say but how about an early peek at the options. I have that German car alarm controller that I’ve tested every way, it has remote keychain buttons that can be paired to operate the alarms. It is off on, but I have two other remotes I have not tested. The idea is to see if I can get at least one of them to work with the broken starter on the Hundy. Yes, I still operate that with the momentary switch under the grill. But that’s unpopular when it is raining.

           Here’s the gear on the work bench, it seems to require more amps than my power supplies to trigger the coil, so shown here I’m putting some clips together to make up some automotive test leads. That’s a decent task for me that involves no somersaults. The plan if it works is to leave the old switch in place as a manual override.
           Here is the controller and the clips, but not the keychain switches. This is kind of expensive an approach. It’s the challenge. It has become trial and error since the instructions are in German and have terms I have never seen before. What else while I’m out in the shed? There’s the dowel maker. One of my questions was how fussy is this contraction about the wood it will use? It has to be pre-cut to a list of sizes needed to fit into the assembly. The dies are in standard, the stick dimensions are metric.
           This is why I have the calipers out, and notice that they do not agree on any measurement using the test stick . The difference is miniscule, but these are supposed to be precision instruments. These are meant to calibrate other tools, not need this form of adjustment to start with. I will try to save space by having the sticks correct in two dimensions each, these are meant to be placed on the saw table to space the blade. Is this too ambitious? We shall see.

           I have not been satisfied with my work lately. My recuperation is fine in a big way that while relapses occur, they are never back to the helpless level of two months ago. I find myself dropping more things and bumping into furniture a big more, though that has diminished. I wrote letters to both the Reb and JZ to take it easy. I cannot commit to any visits, but there is a chance in August. The blog is experiencing a great bloom, the only bright spot for now, I will require some extra nap time. As said, I’m at a strange period of reverses that are getting progressively weaker. Hmmm, that reads funny. What I meant is I'm still getting fatigue bouts, but they are shallower and don't last--but still not any fun.

Picture of the day.
The real South Park
(Houston)
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           An afternoon tired spell had me checking the news for four hours, thank the stars I picked up 32 coffee pods y’day downtown. It took the father of another gunned down knife attacker less than 14 minutes to get on TV and say his son was “no threat”. Do these people have their speeches written and ready? Trump endorsements are running at 100% this year and I first heard of Nancy Mace. The first woman to graduate from Ft. Bragg’s Cadet school, were her father was the commanding officer, no less.

           That was enough nonsense, so I hiked to the shed and cut two “Naughties”. These are my ordinary button-box design laser inscribed with the logo “Naughty Things” and a third with the “radiation” warning symbol. Those are not too bad, and I’ve discovered the laser will ignore most yellow backgrounds. This is easy to do with a paint dropper but the logo takes forever to burn. But, the product has “hobby” appeal, here is the prototype for your examination.
           What did I learn this time? Other than the zero depth of yellow shading, I did not have to alter the original. On the top left, the logo is only partially burned. There is around a ten-minute time limit running the laser below 4000 mm per minute. One does this to make the etch darker [in a single pass]. You could make multiple passes if you have all day. This one fizzed out at 3500 mm. Also, these larger logos are harder to center, or I should say differences are more apparent if you don’t get it spot on. (Later, the radiation logos take ten minutes each, so this becomes uneconomical without a commercial laser,)

           In the background, I’m watching more video on the Enigma code machine, having a laugh at the sheer extent of propaganda shoveled into the facts. I mean, some of these videos were made last year and the 1940s brainwashing still works on some people. One thing mentioned in most videos that a “flaw” in the Enigma meant a letter could never represent itself. There is no explanation how this worked, so I’ll provide one.
           Every message is usually a string of random letters, so you write them out in two long strings, here is one string of sample code with a second string slid one position to the right and below. The codebreaker is looking for combinations, and if you notice on this short message there are three locations where the letters match up. The codebreaker knows not to bother with those combinations.

           He is going to keep sliding the bottom set of letters along until he finds a position where none of the letters match. This eliminates millions of combinations and now he begins seeking a probable known phrase, like the date or “Heil Hitler”. Another favorite was Nichts zu berichten, the German phrase for “nothing to report”. I have watched every major code-breaking video on line and not one of them explained this. I’ve seen videos of people doing it, but as far as I know this is the first place most of you will see it explained. “Spelled out”, one might say.

ADDENDUM

           I found a small patch of white spots on one of my electrical cases. Grainy like sand, but I noticed the grains were the same size. So I threw some under the scope and here are two of the specks at around 400x. Definitely not random. Are they eggs or pollen? There is nothing here to test this. Being Florida, I’ll presume they are insect eggs or egg casings. At least I took a look.
           Next, I made a ham sandwich and watched video on casino cheating. I was hoping to see some sophisticated electronics. Most of it was nothing new. Card marking, loaded dice, hand signals, and crooked dealers. Still pretty interesting because cheaters have to keep coming up with new ways to do old tricks. I was looking for the impact of A.I. and there wasn’t any. That just tells me the casinos are using it, but not yet the players. That will change.
           By watching so many videos, I gather it is almost impossible for the house to monitor the countless ways of cheating, so they don’t. They rely on a small set of telltale signs, such as somebody winning consistently as well as information exchanges on known crooks. Myself, I’m just glad I never bothered with gambling. I don’t like the people at casinos anyway.

Last Laugh

July 22, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 22, 2025, 50% - 60% chance.
Five years ago today: July 22, 2021, two days early.
Nine years ago today: July 22, 2017, weather-dependent travel.
Random years ago today: July 22, 2008, the old Club X.

           A morning with the banker to iron out a plan to squeeze my pension account dry. This is too convoluted to explain, but here’s how it works. My pension account, set up 36 years ago, was absorbed by a big bank corporation with strange rules which I certainly never agree to. The upshot is I have not been able to check my balance for years. I’ve made withdrawals only to the last known good information, but we know those pensions have been adjusted upward for inflation. The usual rate is $40 to $50 per year, and there are two accounts. Do the arithmetic; this means there could be as much as $6,000 sitting there above what my records show.

           The plan is to write a stream of checks until one bounces. I had this plan at lease five years ago, and I not like letting too much money lie around like that. For all I know, there could be $10,000 and we shall find out in the next 54 days. For no good reason, this chasing around drained me. To cheer up, I see this blog is experiencing another bloom, this is exceeding all parameters. Good, did you know this blog has bee described as “essentially a unique institute”. I may reach my lifetime goal very soon.

           Who remembers Mitch, the Louisiana guy who moved to the Canadian moose pasture of Edmonton, Alberta. The trikke rider guy. He sends this video of little Albertan weather y’day afternoon. Or is that Albertonian, or Albertese? How should I know? I’m not an Albertic. I am scraping together some cash out of old corners, and one is my own private pension. They adjust it annually for inflation, which is a joke, but I carry the balance on my books at the historical amount. Thus, those small increases, often as little as $45 per month, have been adding up since 2017.
           I had to get into see my bank about all this, it is an advantage having a commercial account. You’ll find all the staff are far more seasoned than the street-level tellers hired off Zip. However, this wipes out the gas budget and I had to pour in another $40 to end the month. Is this a PPP? Yes, part of the reason is the van needs a tuneup, it is not getting the full combined fuel economy of 19mpg. More like 16mpg, and poor people don’t maintain things, an extra few gallons of gas beats the cash outlay needed for keeping things efficient.

           What is with this craving for cereal? I’ve got all the grits, porridge, a cream of wheat, but it’s cereal I need. And I’m out, so I sent my stunt double over the aisles of Wal*Mart. Well, damn, trust that shopping center to go overboard. You think you can just run in there and buy Cheerios? Ha, have a gander at the selection that hits you. The cornflakes could not be located in the allocated time frame, so the decision was Great Value [brand] toasted oats. Family size.
           Then, I settled in to watch selected clips of the Enigma move, the one that portrays Alan Turing as something other than a math nerd. That fails, but the scenes are hilarious, like the Brits faced an overwhelming onslaught from every direction. In fact, Germany had no real navy, no long range bomber force, and no craft to cross the English Channel. Other than that, we are to believe they were out to conquer the world.

           I have yet to see a documentary that does not portray the Germans as inept. Time and again the history people expect us to believe not one German in the entire High Command down to the telegraph clerks never once suspected the English were reading their messages. Not one German radioman ever figured out that “Station X” was a code-breaking outfit.
           I’d link if I could find it again, but I found a study that showed crime went down and people were politer if there was somebody nearby wearing a Batman costume. Airbnb is reportedly excluding blacks from their platform.

Picture of the day.
Diamond cut chart.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Here’s a view of a Ukrainian drone factory. Your tax dollars at work. This conflict has changed the face of war. That movie “Eye in the Sky” was far-fetched at one time. Today it's so real it is unreal. I’ve little else today, so here is a highlight of what the banker and I chatted about during an otherwise number-intensive meeting. He is keen on my theory that I can tell when a person is lying about certain topics by what they don’t complain about. And here is today’s example. Imagine some dude, who otherwise appears normal, saying we don’t tax the rich enough. Is he lying. Yes, but the path is very indirect. Not only is he not rich, he has never even tried.

           I know precisely what it takes to rise from abject poverty to at least a lower-middle-class zone, and plainly he does not. Okay so far? Okay, that means I made sacrifices and invested and lost a lot before I learned. Another thing he has not done. Being rich can be properly defined as making money from what you own rather than physical labor. Don’t broaden that for now, because that is what most people mean by “rich”.

           So, I have a savings bond. I did what was necessary to get that bond, I got no help from anyone. Taxing me amounts to some dork who contributed nothing demanding a share of my interest—and he wonders why I don’t like him and built a fence around my property. I say the same applies to the man who owns the factory. People who have never even tried are demanding a cut. So where is the lie?
           To me, it is implied. The dude is pretending he knows what he is talking about, but has never deprived himself of a thing that counts. Ut-tut, I said “that counts”, because if he did, he would be whistling a different tune. The lie is play-acting he as some clue what is involved. If he did, he’d be complaining about the rich being taxed too much. This, folks, is why the rich spend so much to protect themselves. They have to.

ADDENDUM

           Volkswagen lost a bet, and it was a bad gamble anyway. China has caused the beginning of 40,000 layoffs in Germany. It works like so. In the last century, China as touted as the upcoming mass consumer market. Dozens of stupid corporations, mostly American but including Volkswagen, set up factories and began to transfer technology and now that is coming back to bite them. The Chinese are masters at pirating and copying foreign designs.
           The plan is the same, flood the market with these cheap clones until the competition collapses. Then take over. Here is the Chinese Leapmotor, heavily government subsidized to a price tag of only $22,000 US. It has a range of around 375 miles when the battery is brand new and fully charged 36 hours in advance, but you can get an 80% charge in 20 minutes using their 800V zapper—but that punishment tapers off to 30% before too long.
           The Chinese factories have formed alliances with Canada, Mexico, and Europe to sweep away the competition and Volkswagen could very well disappear. What they did was called sleeping with the enemy.

Last Laugh

July 21, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 21, 2025, Foolish.
Five years ago today: July 21, 2021, regarded as normal.
Nine years ago today: July 21, 2017, strumming at the “Bicycle Shop”.
Random years ago today: July 21, 2013, blah.

           Dang, knowing that Dell will fire up, I used the early morning cool to shoot you a couple short videos. I normally trim off the start and stop footage. Today, the latest version of MovieMaker, which I do not want, clobbered my legacy version, and will not even let it open. Screw you GenX types. They lack any ability to create value is beneath disgusting. The best they can manage is to rope off an existing lot and charge for valet parking. And fancy themselves clever, how did those over-30s ever miss that one? Not one new invention or original concept in 30 years. Oh, that’s right, I keep forgetting their grandmother stole all the good ideas.

           Tennessee, what a mess. The options are walk away or potentially throw good money after bad. The first choice carefully avoids the topic that life expectancy can really damper starting over. Myself, I’m leaning toward continuing as luck is rarely totally bad if you go the distance. I sloshed an hour of this situation around in my head, but also make up this bracket for the dowel cutting kit.

           About now I’m seeing that it takes five business days for a first class letter to reach Nashville. I had fun today building the case for the dowel maker kit. Top panel shows the “dies” for different diameters, these arrived back in foam. The bottom pane shows the dies fitted into a wooden bracket of my own design. There is room in the case for other parts, plus a set of five blanks corresponding to the sizes of wood for each of the dowels.
           There are two dies for each size, a slightly larger coarse cut, then a smoothing cut of exact diameter. I have not used these yet, the achievement for me is this is my finest “instrument case” so far. Built to spec rather than just allowing generous proportions that I knew would fit. Looks pretty good to me.

Picture of the day.
OK Coral, today.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Festus walked across a desert with some old guy carrying gold We had Part 2 and no recording of Part 1, so I take it Matt and Newly were tracking him. The neighbor’s maid is now also his cook so he’s got roasts and whole chickens he don’t know what to do with. He’s noticed I’m absent from the shed a lot. From my viewpoint, I’m there quite a bit. I assemble four fake boxes after the movie and still had some energy to go for a beer. That’s been a while.

           But I was on the phone over an hour and my vote is that we carry on. A lot of things will have to be paid for over again. The recording studios are keen on concert touring experience and we do not have this. It’s kind of their backup plan that you prove you can do the circuit in case the album goes big time. Mostly, we offer that radio play and that has done well. To distract myself, I took along some plotting sheets.
           Sure enough, the joint was dead except for a couple housewives playing pool. I had a list of DR (dead reckoning) spots and decided to finally just plot so many of them that the problems solve themselves. The instructions are so contradictory the best path, was my thinking, to just do it until a system emerged that I can use. I was partially successful and now have 8 sheets of mistakes to go back and argue with badly written text.

           Around 4:00PM I experienced very strong cravings for cereal. Nothing like this in my life before. I ate all that I had in the house, granola, shredded wheat, toasted oats. My system is changing, cereal is mostly harmless. The time to worry is the cheeto munchies. I have some nostalgia. It was some 35 years ago and I used to like playing the original satellite trivia game, called NTN. That is a long story, the people I met, the women I dated, and the fun of, well, knowing that just walking in could dismay players addicted to it all day.
           The reason I stopped is well-told. They changed the format from real trivia to TV trivia and I moved on. I have, over time, found locations that still have it, but it is not the same game. Well, some people at the club were talking about this game app and I now know what happened to NTN. They are now called Buzztime. They folded in England but still have 3,800 locations stateside. Near by is an updated, but to me, entirely recognizable game console.

Last Laugh

July 20, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 20, 2025, not a cloud.
Five years ago today: July 20, 2021, not for $135k.
Nine years ago today: July 20, 2017, politics and mushrooms.
Random years ago today: July 20, 2007, on-bicycle trespassing.

           Day 171 and I did some actual work. One post hole is enough to convince me I’m on the way. Maybe not to the Olympics, but just maybe getting some work done on this building again. I would love to have a real kitchen once more. Maybe find out if my new hot water tank still works. I dug the hole, and did so without pausing or getting winded. This is a milestone, a level of endurance I was wondering if I’d see again. I never thought I’d thank a post hole. Let me recount the episode.

           The old box had to come out. Examination of the soil shows that the protective layer of tar over paint was only partially effective. Rather than sink one deeper hole, I made a second hole three feet deeper and set a second post as a brace. They are level, but no tamping until that dirt has been soaked a couple times. The old stand needs a replacement board under the old mailbox, but this is nothing for me these days. The most successful Sunday in a while.

           I must ship a box to Texas as thanks for support, though I’d rather deliver myself and crash for two months. In October next, I have not been in Texas in ten years. Bryne’s seen more pics of the box than [shown] here and likes the concept, suggesting other hobbyists might be a good market. His suggestions include a radioactive symbol and a far better than plastic first aid kit box. He overestimates my skill, but then he’s the guy who refrets guitars. Poor guy had a tooth removed and has been in pain for six days—and I mean real pain or he would not mention it.

           Predictably, I’m not frisky this morning. I did a mail run and scored a couple more drawer knobs from the Thrift. To keep record of this activity, it is not quite as easy as scrounging the parts. Knobs are rarer than handles, and not all handles are suitable. If you examine the handles you’ll find there are two categories. Fixed and folding. The folding are best, since they result in a lower or narrower box profile. However, don’t forget to salvage those expensive “32” screws from the handles you cannot use.

           What makes a handle right? Symmetry. Especially the folding type, so avoid the ones that are half-round just for looks. Seek the nice ones that are full size. Here’s your view of the new oak stain I like. No hint of red and look how it spiffed up these two junk boxes. One box is for my USB-B cables which are getting scarce, and the others to separate the knobs from the handles. I may be tired from digging holes, but not too tired to find something useful to do this morning. Here’s another ordinary box, this one is band cables, transformed into a thing of beauty by a coat of stain. This stain, like sex, is best when it is free.

           Identity theft. It has become a modern-day excuse. Most often it ensues from people who pay bills through their bank account. This is not only foolish, it demands a level of skill most people never acquire. And no, Wells Fargo does NOT give you $400 to open an account. They carry it on their books as loan because they know most suckers don’t have what it takes to meet the criteria. What’s more, if you have so many bills that paying them on-line saves you time, you are not putting in the effort—because proper oversight takes longer on-line than manually. Don’t argue with me on that point, grasshopper. This follows my saying that I can tell a person is lying by what they don’t complain about.
           This relates to my guitarist, who is finally out of the hospital. Those bills keep going when you don’t and the odd part is it is not a PPP (poor people problem). Put another way, if you properly keep enough buffer to pay your bills during an emergency, you will not be poor very long. You heard me. Peering just that far enough into the future will eventually turn you somewhat wealthy even without your cooperation. When one door closes, another opens. It’s a door, that’s how doors work.
           Before continuing, here is a video clip of the shell of what used to be the best local lumber yard. Bought by third worlders on a government loan that was never paid back as they sold off the inventory and pocketed the money. This does not happen because foreigners are clever, but because America was once a high-trust society.

           So, what happened to Ricko, the Ramone’s guitar guy? He fell in the shower and cracked ribs. He got behind on the bills, I had to assure him it was not identity theft when you run out of auto-debit money. It’s from not keeping your records in order. Mine are airtight for good reason. If my account was hacked, you’d not see me accepting the bank’s rehearsed statements that my information was stolen. If so, they stole it from the bank, not from me. And I would go to court that it was the bank’s money that got stolen, not mine.
           The bottom line is Ricko is in no condition to play or move equipment. But he did keep in touch. That’s more than most in west central Florida, a musical dust bowl. The best thermometer for what’s available is Bandmix, even if you don’t use a paid account. Keep an eye on the postings and you find people there for years that go nowhere. Don’t wag fingers at me, if any half-decent guitarist came along we could be playing by this afternoon without remembering each other’s names.

Picture of the day.
Quick, find Pottawatomie.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Negative equity, that’s where you owe more on something than it is worth. Such is the case with almost 30% of cars in the US being traded in. The average deficit is around $7,000 which adds another $20,000 in interest before the loan is paid. The solution, of course, is to not buy on credit and perform basic repair and maintenance yourself. But that is expecting too much from people who don’t know what a standard is, or a window crank.

           Here’s today’s batch, plus I’ll make some small button boxes (another newer term) that I will test with the aforementioned combination paint and poly. These blanks are etched as a possible matching set. Possible because my facilities are not set up to produce such production runs. If it matches, it means I got lucky when sifting through the original picket lumber.

           A tiny error turned all these into fake boxes. One of the cuts has to be “sideways” and it is an easy mistake. All of these have it, making the bottom plates slightly the wrong size. That transforms them from spice boxes to fake boxes. I also had a chance to check on stain properties. The stains are made for a thin layer on smooth wood. The rough wood really soaks the stuff away. I was testing how fast it does this and under normal conditions this is impossibly costly. Ah, but there is a concept forming.

           The stain I use is free and I have never, while at the recycle place, ever taken more than a third of the stain that is available. If I had a stockpile of this material, I can now predict how many boxes can be made. The stain may be free, but after picking up the last batch, I have 128 miles on the van. The pecan stain with the poly behaves, when applied to rough lumber, just like any other stain. Here is the orange-like finish. It’s okay but does nothing for me.

           The Prez e-mails to say nothing music is happening. Too bad, plus his wife, who had the same operation as myself, is experiencing the same random recovery ills. Y’know, a better word than random would be haphazard.

           To wrap up the day, which was pretty ordinary around here, I replaced and assembled enough parts for this computer—but it will not boot. Dells have a funny version of Windows. Shown here, I think I’ll take it into the shop for diagnostics. I’m thinking the problem is these form factors use the hard drive off a laptop and there is some elusive compatibility issue.
           The back panel has something I’ve not seen in ages, a serial port. I’ll need to re-read the chapter on how to get that working with microcontrollers. It’s a hassle, just one port, because computers can only use one at a time. And one is needed to upload to the Arduino. I’ll have to think this over since I’ve not used terminal software in at least twelve years. I have some old mouse adapters in the shed, or I’ve seen them on Amazon for twelve bucks.
           This would be a boost to my studies, as I have a DOS background and I read that the highly-praised FPGA (field programmable gate arrays) are designed to use HyperTerminal, which I don’t know even a thing about anymore. But serial communication is not a priority around here, just a challege.

ADDENDUM
           Social media strikes again. I detest anyone who breaks American law to defend illegals. That also means 84% of Americans agree with me on that. It was a telling revelation that most foreigners who attended the recent sports events came away with astounding stories of how they had been misled about America in their home countries. Let this post assure all that these leftists, trannies, liberals, Karens, queers, misfits, and commies are a tiny minority in the US and they are hated by everyone else. ICE (more properly I.C.E.) has been using water cannons to sweep the streets of protestors.

           It is legal to protest in America, but if you want to use the streets, you must get a parade permit. These are no longer granted as automatically as under the Biden administration. So, here are my favorite comments to the question, “Should ICE be allowed to use water cannons to clear the streets?”

a) only if the temp drops below -10°
b) they get a free bath and a little ride
c) use bullets instead
d) also at home in bed at night
e) real cannons for all we care
f) use ink (also glue)
g) a case for the manure cannon
h) are we out of flamethrowers
i) waterboarding as a sport

           TMOR, I would remind you that the press is biased. Most Americans do not like any hint of socialism or communism. It is the media’s mission to convince you there is violence and the left is a majority. I have personally never witnessed a shooting or a riot. And folks, I get around, though not often down the street with the Mexican embassy. I have an example of the American mood—and it will not match the phony “sympathetic” angle pushed by the news.
           People do not like these Mexicans and don’t want them here, that’s an 84% polled majority. So when the news announced two “Americans” were killed by Iran, everybody knew they must be Latinos a.k.a. “part of the reason the USA has not won a war since 1945”. That’s not me, that is the main public opinion. The standing joke is the missile hit the motor pool.            The Democrats are reported to be pushing death certificates as acceptable voter ID.

Last Laugh

July 19, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 19, 2025, no excuse nowadays.
Five years ago today: July 19, 2021, rare larger box.
Nine years ago today: July 19, 2017, airlines & Amtrak.
Random years ago today: July 19, 2023, the excitement scale.

           Gold is fast being gobbled up. Historically, the price ratio of gold to silver is 16:1. This morning it was 73:1, another demonstration that silver prices are one of the most manipulated of commodities. Silver should be around $250 per ounce. You get many pictures today for a reason subject to interpretation. Is that guy who just had a quad bypass crazy enough to dig a post-hole by hand? For a start, that is impossible. Don’t even think it. Demand proof. It the wee hours while the insects are in tupor, the sensible Florida man goes on Wasp Patrol.

           This routine is where you discover so many other critters love the climate around here. Here is a leather glove with a bit of rat-damage. Now you know why used gloves around here have their own storage box. But these had gotten wet and I left them out overnight. Yes, the glove is still in use. Later, this view was a video, but the file is lost. I hate Win 11. Later, I found the video. Five nest destroyed this season so far.

           Bryne to the rescue again. He replies to e-mail 5:00AM Texas time with another “box” idea. He recounts having a jar labeled “Naughty Things”. It’s English humor, but he’s the guy who came up with the logo idea that let to the laser. Next, I have a treat for you, some ancient box wisdom, lore from 2021, now with today’s technology. That’s my best shot at making this morning sound mesmeric.
           Left to right, this demonstrates the problem with cutting the lids. Here is a box absolutely clamped in place so that the saw cuts would line up—and look at the result. A good 3/8” off around this small perimeter. Um, relax, the stain makes the box look nicer than it is.

           And that is why I tend to blame the tool, yes I know the old saying. That’s why I tested and tested. In the middle are three unfinished boxes that are nice. And I don’t want to wreck them by a mismatched cut. I can fix the cuts by sawing the pieces again, but the grain never quite matches up when you do that. The last photo is unusual. This is a small parts box built to withstand most anything. It is glued and carefully fastened with long (2-inch) brads. The uneven finish is unequal sanding, but this style of box is not meant to be pretty. It will contain microscope lenses.
           Yes, the small box on top of the middle pile is supposed to be a little off square. Good eye. I’m disappointed as one of my favorite on-line puzzles, a word challenge, has changed their format. It used to be timed just right to make myself a cup of cocoa. Now I am regularly defeated by British phrases and sports teams I’ve never heard of. Pity.

           Frankly, I don’t have any plans to do much except more boxes, as I know that any forward motion is better than what goes on with most people. By that, I mean 2032 is the projected collapse of Social Security, and those who do not prepare now are kind of stupid. Even if it never happens completely, and hard facts are nowhere to be found, the plan will be funded only by new contributions. That will not go far. Neither will boxes. But do not discount the possibility that boxes are at least something when others don’t even have that. Boxes are a better plan than sitting around for the next 72 months hoping the predictions don’t come true.

Picture of the day.
French tractor factory.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           The question on everyone’s lips, did that Boomer actually fix that mailbox by himself? I know without real video, this is not proof. But these photos seem to suggest the work got done. Tell you what, if you return tomorrow, I promise a video of the dig—if in fact, the tale from the trailer court is really true. Did that hole get dug like I said? Perhaps.

           I chose a six-foot post, as the proximity of big trees means I will be hitting big roots. Rather than replace the short older post, I decided to double them up. The old post was painted and in pretty good shape. This time I will chop roots to get right down to the yellow dirt that underlies this property everywhere I’ve dug so far over ten years.
           The process is evident in the sequence shown. Match up the sizes, then positioning the post, then as the sun creates deep shade, you can barely see the post so I put the yellow level across the top. Note the neighbor’s John Deere in the background. I missed the shot, but remember my DIY humidity gauge? It was flat this morning. So I know it works.
           Let’s build some boxes. Or at least launch into the process, for I’ve got the motive to check the stains picked up y’day morning. I prefer the lighter stains because they show the laser better, but notice the darker hues suggest (correctly) that the wood has been repurposed. I cut four more sets of blanks, then assembled and stained two junk boxes. Whaddaya know, I found a darker stain that I like, it is called “Golden Oak. Sure looks nice, though I remind us for the nth time, this lumber really soaks up the stain. That makes it only possible if the stain is free, a supply that cannot be guaranteed.

           I know I’m getting better at technique and should bring us up to date. As said, around one box in six has minor defects. That’s down from 100% when I began, no joke, and the defective boxes are now usable rather having to be reworked. Other than using the wrong length of fastener (a very easy mistake), most defects are cosmetic and I’ve somewhat learned a variety of fixes. What’s new is that the opposite is also happening. Around one box is six turns out super nice. Both outcomes are unpredictable. I reserve the nicest for installing hinges. I still have not succeeded producing a good hinge jig.
           Here is a beauty of a yard mushroom. They grow best in the front yard, but I can’t open a farm because they grow best where the van tires roll.

ADDENDUM
           Florida claims success over dumping leftovers into the Gulf of America. And they may be right. Do your own research, but the State began dumping hundreds of tons of oyster shells back into the water. That was around twenty years ago. From restaurants and factories, what I admire is that nobody knew if this would work, but they went ahead. Ocean stocks have been declining for decades. Here is what appears to have taken place, I am not a biology/botany sort.
           When the shells sank, they formed reef-like anchoring shelves. Why is any of this on my agenda? Because the anti-biotic spray that was upsetting my taste buds was to prevent formation of biofilm. This is good for bacteria, not good for you or hospitals. So I read how biofilm grew all over these shells, which alters the chemistry of the nearby water, what with all the calcium. New oysters tend to grow where there were oysters before and they filter tons of crap out of seawater. Which is why I won’t eat them.
           But damn, I saw the photos. Turtles, fish, dolphins, swarming around the piles that quickly began to grow coral. I have not seen coral in the Gulf for years. And you don’t see dolphins unless the water is good. Time permitting, I hear there are tour boats out of Clearwater and I’d like a look.

Last Laugh

July 18, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 18, 2025, a day off.
Five years ago today: July 18, 2021, the Peltier effect.
Nine years ago today: July 18, 2017,a lengthy critique.
Random years ago today: July 18, 2022, early pallet apparatus.

           Okay, what’s the joke? I still got way too many blog hits on July 22, 2012. It must be some so-called metric I don’t get. Here are the drawer pull pics promised, these are the best for the spice boxes. It is the addition of the knob that changes it, the laser logo is optional. I guessed accurately, twelve are a matching set. Remember to salvage the screws, they are normally an expensive fine thread. You can see two of the knobs have been painted over, which often turn out to be real gems. There are also five well-worn brass pieces that usually respond to a good buffing.

           For anyone curious, this is around $120 in hardware. These are heavy solid made-in-America pieces. I stopped at the club last evening to give Wilford his souvenir fake silver ingot and ran into Olivia, who is again divorced, single, whatever. She also has a marketing account, great timing as India has [essentially] dropped out of the picture. Sooner or later I will connect with somebody who can do the job.

           Ah, the sun has appeared. Check back later to see if the world will leave me alone long enough to build some boxes today. Also, we need a trip to the dog pound, I have already put 75 miles on the van, almost half my budget, but there are reasons for all that. A leisurely breakfast of your done-right spam and onion omelet and the Tampa news, or actually the counter-news. Because they always spin it opposite.
           Once again, as elections approach, the attacks from the left are not on policy, but on Trump. I loathe the radical left, not Democrats, but sometimes it hard to tell the difference. I’m tending to agree with the theory that Trump is exposing the 2020 election fraud with an eye to bypassing the corrupt justice system. I’m not up to speed on how it works, but that can only be done by declaring martial law—exactly what the Democrats had planned for him. The trick is to do it without infuriating the public.

           If you listen closely, Trump is stressing the foreign interference. Under law, the President can declare any American citizen who collaborates with enemies to be a combatant. And that means military tribunals. Quick, fast trials with sentences carried out immediately same day. (It [dead convicts] cuts down on the endless appeals.) But he has to be certain the people know it is necessary. He still has to put a few more people out of business. Like revoking the press licenses of networks that did not cover his speech?
           Only the lamest on-liners think the low numbers to date are unknown to Trump. He is, methinks, focusing on bigger prey and satisficing the small stuff. Satisficing is a 1980s word meaning to not fix a problem, just make it go away and deal with it later. Things like appointing some guy's sister, thinks like that. Trump could be just refusing to get bogged down--he learned his lesson on that.

           To bring it up to opening time [in downtown Winter Haven], I watched a video on extracting gold from old computers. By half way I can see why it might be easier to dig the stuff out of the ground. I was past the tech shop returning from the doggie place and dropped in to check on old gear. Seems it’s been a while since they’ve even seen a 486. They’ll keep an eye out but it looks like I may have to build one myself.
           Near the doggie place is the used paint shop. This [see photo of can] is a product I have not used because I don’t trust paint, and by extension stain, as combined with any other step. This says stain and poly, we shall see. I know it is 13 miles to the pound, then the bank, the total mileage was 53. I’m closely monitoring the gasoline to adjust my budget. Like many, I wonder how the miles can stack up using half my allotment in a third of the time left.

Picture of the day.
Transfagarasan road.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           The old black cat is a goner. She can’t cross the yard any more so I’ve taken to feeding her extra milk and meat trimmings. At the recycle, I saw this for the first time. It’s a pallet made entirely of wood chippings and bond. The material is brittle, I saw a few cracks. It’s also light and seems durable. Does this mean the end of pallet-scrounging? Or just something I missed? Pallet wood is vital to the brotherhood of amateur woodworkers of America. If Benjamin Franklin didn’t say that, he should have.

           I opted to read some evidence transcripts from the old Scott Peterson case. That’s the guy whose pregnant wife disappeared on Xmas Eve, 2002. I have no interest in that particular trial, but after reading the book, I automatically suspect any trial in which the prosecution pays for “expert witnesses” who have, all too often, simply been wrong or outright lied.
           Think about it, the "witness" knows without a conviction, he'll not see such easy money again any time soon. The accused does not have equal access to the money and labs being stacked against him. This means he cannot have the "best defense possible" which he is entitled to under law. Once the Innocence Project takes on a case, there is something afoul about the trial every time--you can bet your ass on that.
           So what is the issue? The big picture is that the court is allowed to declare exculpatory evidence “inadmissible”, which is unconscionable. The small picture is that the age of the fetus in her womb is different than the prosecution witness determined by ultrasound. More accurate DNA tests show the mother was alive at least five days after the date the court ruled she was murdered. I’m not even suggesting he is innocent, but I think he deserves a new trial. I do not trust any trial where the witnesses are paid by the prosecution or by the conviction, which is unequivocally the environment here. For clarity, the court people involved are NOT disputing the new evidence--they are fighting the Innocence Project like hell to stop a new trial.
           Think that one through. Most people are unaware that "expert witnesses" are under no obligation to reveal any exculpatory evidence they find. They are thus a hostile witness at the minimum.

           The rain kept it in the temperate zone, so I was out to the shed to do some cutting. In this case, four boxes. Shown here ready for lasering. The [for me] perfect workout therapy largely because all the tools are arranged so I must be standing up. Try that with stamp collecting. Don’t underestimate this until you’ve had your turn. I also had a drawer I could not get the handles off, so I brought it home. It seemed an easy and fast box to simply cut the joined pieces to spec. Nope, I was most careful on four tries and they all come out slightly off-square. They are still nice boxes if you want them.
           The price on these boxes is [you] listening to some advice. I’m remeasuring the construction process. I know the reason for no sales is lack of advertising. Boxes are a gigantic market and these are good boxes. I will stumble across something that works, or somebody who is not all talk. Again, the holdup is I cannot be at the computer all day waiting for orders or ship according to somebody else’s schedule because he’s broke. That is a modern-day work protocol designed by people who have never had a proper job, if you ask me.

           The primary goal today was to map out multi-tasking. I cut the boxes rapidly, and know I can glue and assemble four per hour. That is the number shown in the photo. The logo and drawer pull are huge selling points but also extra steps that take time. The small laser is slow, but I’ve arranged for that to happen while I’m editing blog material. Four boxes, one logo each, takes 40 minutes, the daily minimum time allocated for blogging. Minimum.

           I think I got this pretty fine-tuned by planning in advance. And I got lucky with a box, this is nifty. I had planned for the 4V screwdriver to stay in the car because, get this, it does not require a separate charger. Just plug it into any USB-C. But the box has to stay in the car to be useful. I’ve had to drive past good finds because I’d left the drill on the charger back in the shed. Anyway, share my delight at this perfect fit!
           I finished the laser step on time, discovering another trick of the trade. The American-made drawer pulls can be heavy. Some will over-balance too small a box, or a box not long enough to begin with. Watch that center of gravity, guys. I need to mull over this fundamental change in procedure, but one thing the Boomers did no lie to you about is to find some work you enjoy. Mind you, they are still mostly useless because they don’t tell you how to do that. Plus, too many people enjoy farting around. They don’t tell you because they don’t know and think you don’t know they don’t know. (GenX only think they have a monopoly on stupid.) Nor do they [Boomers] tell you it can take fifty years to find your boxes.

ADDENDUM
           A couple years ago a meteorite crashed through a ceiling in New Jersey at 32,000 mph. The quick-thinking owner, noticing it smelled of sulfur, capped it in a glass jar. It is now the purest such object ever found and is 4.5 billion years old. The two-pound rock reveals it was once soaked in salty water. That, and its chemical composition, show that it could, in those conditions, produce all the chemicals necessary to create life.
           There is more tech material available at Science Advances, but what got me is none of the sophisticated detection gear picked up the sonic boom after the strike. Instead, it was recorded by doorbell cameras.

           In other news, Amazon is returning to the original rule that no team should be larger than can be fed by two pizzas. Makes sense. Everybody on a team should know what all the others are doing. And Trump continues to hit the Democrats below the belt, that is, in the wallet. They have been illegally misdirecting Federal money for ages, including using it as election funding and handing welfare checks to illegals. Rumors are hard to confirm, but he may have just cut Illinois off some $8 billion. That’s the state run by that FF called Pritzker, a.k.a “Twinkie”.
           A CNN poll shows that 125% of Americans don’t believe Trump about election interference. Sick New Jersey has lost their crazy bid to ban rifle and gun publications.

Last Laugh