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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.

May 30, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: May 30, 2025, early symptoms, folks.
Five years ago today: May 30, 2021, empty that jar!
Nine years ago today: May 30, 2017, I like the lady.
Random years ago today: May 30, 2020, made it 4% there.

           Kudos to the Briggs kid, the 12-year-old who took first place at the Science Fair. Built him a working model of a moonshine still. For my favorite ten reply posts, see addendum. I guessed right, the guitarist is sending tunes that I have long since aced for stage presentation. Junk like Hendrix’s “Hey Joe”. I believe I first played that tune in 1966, that is, sixty years ago. I have asked him to send only tunes he can sing and play. We are slated for Monday afternoon. This morning, I crawled right back to bed. I’m not ready for Tennessee.

           This morning’s interesting quip was than the majority of your happiest childhood memories involved being somewhere and doing something you were not supposed to. Nothing happened this morning as I devise a new schedule that helps to combat listlessness. It involves sleeping half the day instead of no planning at all.

           Here is a picture of a device in the marine shop last month. I failed to find what it is. My guess is some kind of metal or anomaly detector. I took many pics, this is the only one that turned out. The logo says TM BC-4, but that was no help. It has two loop antennas at 90° angles mounted on the cabinet, I’m holding one of them. Possibly a long range radar, but the antennas are fixed in place. I won’t be near that store again until almost September.
           Yes, the recent operation has altered my basic patterns, some of them 30 years established. It is 30 years since an alarm clock but I am once again waking every morning at 5:30AM, sleeping an hour more per day, and I’ve lost taste for really spicy foods. I hear the jokes already, that I’m turning into a part-time Canadian. Entering my fifth month of changes, time to plan ahead. Good, I plan to stay home and stay put, which is the plans I tried 20 years ago. The Internet has become just another piece of censorship junk, but there are still a thousand good movies I’ve never seen. Yep, planning time.

           Aha, I put the search on the overhead in the kitchen and look what I found. That is definitely a picture of a similar unit and you can make out the words “White TM808”, let’s see where that takes us. After I put on the coffee, I mean. Within a 60-foot radius of my coffee-maker, even curiosity has its limits. The only thing that size and shape I’ll carry is my bass for the next foreseeable year.
           The TM stands for treasure master and most of the videos are in Turkish. I gather the piece is super sensitive, as they recommend a special uniform with no metal pieces and rubber footwear. There is a headset and several photos of a headlamp with a camcorder. The unit seems popular on old battlefields but also reveal it is not so great at pinpointing. Since operating a shovel is part of the deal, I would want something that is more than accurate.

           I watched four of the videos and conclude this machine is no more useful than any other, really. It repeatedly failed to find planted decoys, although I would like to run one over my yard just to see. The proximity of that Civil War kitchen tells me the better tree cover this way would be attractive to soldiers wanting some shade. It is almost impossible to make comparisons, but I’ll tell you what I would like. All these detectors are passive, they locate by using two coils. The transmitter uses a magnetic field to induce eddy current in metal objects, and this is picked up by the receiver coil.
           I would like a far more powerful unit that directs a narrower beam into the soil. I once watched a video of ground penetrating radar and think that is a superior concept. And I mean a real beam, mounted on a dolly since few people prospect on mountainsides. I once saw a detector circuit board and it had just two chips. Plus, that was before cheap micro-controllers came along. Has the technology advanced enough? Be aware these “pulse” detectors do not work well in gold fields, where the entire ground is often full of crazy weird anomalies. You want sandy or salty soil. Like this yard is full of.

           When I was 25, I bought a metal detector and found it useless. A few bottle caps, and the feature called a discriminator was just a waste of money. Also, in Florida all “public-managed” land is off limits, anyplace else you must likely get some form of permission. You cannot dig more than six inches deep and anything your find over 50 years old is state property—you cannot even remove it from the ground and you must report it to the authorities. And while there is no law against it, if you metal detect at night you will probably get yourself arrested.
           Same if you operate on any historical district whether posted or not. You become a criminal even if you were unaware of the designation, and the same goes for all parks and forests. Hmmm, is the world in need of a stealth model, looking like a baby carriage or puppy wagon?

Picture of the day.
Coffee roast chart.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Music dominates my afternoon, will I build anything today? For band management theory, see the addendum, this part of about music performing. I now have eight tunes extracted from what he sent, none of which specify the key or version. This is expected, so I learned them all, with bass versions that “sounds more like the original”, one of my specialties. It involves playing each note with a different “accent” than a guitarist would subconsciously impart. I know the new guy expects to form a full band—and I will give him all the latitude he needs to do just that. By himself. I have no anxiety whatsoever he will run off and join some other band in Polk County.

           Before dark I ran a sample box out of scraps. It works, but that’s about all it is good for. It’s under the laser at the moment, as even junk boxes have appeal with the logo. We are getting a bit better with those, as well. Like putting a pencil under one edge so the pattern gets slightly blurrier like a branding iron, but not enough to trip the level sensor on the laser. I found you can work on an open file, but not open a new one until the laser stops.

           Later, this is the box sporting the latest in laser etching. I reviewed reports from users who ran shops, finding little that was not common sense. I conclude while one can develop a sense of what settings are best, always test, and finally found a video that admitted they have started fires. The more powerful your beam, the more you watch. Shown here is the better, darker images that benefit from experience with this fence panel wood.
I’ve yet to see a video of others using the last for this purpose. Instead most tutorials involve thin materials and multiple cuts or layering. There are cigar box logos but those flimsy boxes do not compare with my product.            Yet, my product has no use or demand. It is gaining because it is handy round here. It has no handles, but is easy to handle. It has no price or cost files and you may be able to see that, when built from scraps, there is a difference in thicknesses.
           This box, not a Golden Ratio size, was quick and fun to build. Hence, there is a good chance I will refine the design and cost it. Most likely changes are mitering the joints, or even box or rabbet cuts as I will soon have another saw in operation. These small fence panels are soft wood that is easy to work with. Fill it with tea bags and plastic grass and sell it for $8. I need some ideas, man. By request, here is the probably-A.I. picture of Briggs with his mini-moonshine still.

           The Amish don’t buy electricity, but they make it. I saw a documentary on the batteries and got a laugh. The commentator went on about how the poor Amish farmer was suffering because he could not buy from the grid. Nonsense, the rule is to independent of outside sources, the Amish have nothing against electricity. I’ve seen the battery rooms at the phone company designed to last 70 years—they are the same design as the Amish cells and why your phone keeps working when the power goes out. It’s an old system well-known since 1850.
           I should have been out tonight checking on that guitarist at Kooters, but I’m home watching old movies. That is what boring people call “discipline”. Old science fiction is too corny to tolerate, but I’m still watching “Cosmic Man”. Favorite line so far: “Are you married in any way?"

           Next, a report on anti-pirate measures off the Somali coast. What a joke. The rules basically prevent the ships from effectively defending themselves. They are not permitted, for instance, to fire on an enemy if he shows signs of “disengagement”. A better solution is to kill everyone who participates in an attack and sink their vessels. Take no prisoners. These rules which restrict only one side is how the US lost the Vietnam war.

ADDENDUM

           This is your archetypical bass-line from your Type A or B guitarist, or in shorthand around here, your “cult guitarist”. But I don’t know if that is the case here yet. Until we rehearse, there is no way to know if this isn’t the greatest fusion of Pre-New Age Rock and Piano-Rhythm Bass of the decade. Once again, cult guitarists never really hear what the rest of the band plays, those people are at best a necessary evil. You see, that bunch never achieve the level of musical mastery as the guitar player, and that is why it takes so many of them.

           The twelve-year-old with the still was legal, but probably not allowed. He has the costume down pat. It was a demo of “distillation apparatus” and the pic looks A.I. Nonetheless, it’s something I would have done given the opportunity, or at least allowed to create the opportunity on my own. Here are the best comments:

a) does he give free samples?
b) future W. Virginia brain surgeon.
c) he beat out the meth lab.
d) follow the science.
e) the finest in homeschooling.
f) multiple income streams.
g) what’s daddy do in his spare time?

Last Laugh

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May 29, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: May 29, 2025, staples & glue.
Five years ago today: May 29, 2021, I dislike SMT.
Nine years ago today: May 29, 2017, a remarkable achievement.
Random years ago today: May 29, 2023, where I really learned pallets

           If today gets posted, it is officially post number 8,000. That’s the point which a blog officially becomes a “super-blog”, making this the largest blot in the world without advertising or followers. That is correct, zero followers. And I’m surprised I’m still here, as in still alive. I’m the last of my crowd, you know. The good news is Trump has successfully deployed my oldest tactic, the Canary Trap. He announced a meeting, then cancelled it due to weather. But he told each department a different type of weather. Then waited for the new news reports. No word on what happened to the leakers, but another leak says there were plenty.

           Jack Smith, the anti-Trump prosecutor who was disbarred has filed for bankruptcy. He lasted 27 days. This picture shows a clock right twice a day. I bought it for the classic design, it’s a Westclox. Normally you find these in Thrifts for two reasons—other than the reason that only assholes “donate” broken gear like this. First is the clock has been dropped and the mechanism is broken, second is the jar has loosened the already flimsy wiring and it loses time.
           Don’t be fooled by replacing the battery and watching it tick—unless you hang it vertically. Why? Because the tiny weight of the hands makes a difference on the left side of the face as the gears have to work against gravity to raise the minute hand. The number 9 below is to be affixed to that board painted brown in the background. I decided against black paint as not individual enough. I thought the photo looked good, so here you go.

           By noon today, I finally get a response from the guitarist with some songs. We have a problem already, but I am so desperate to play on stage again, I will go along with it. The problem is, we have another guy trying to recapture the 1970s big band with hero-guitar. His list has nothing I recognize. Three of the tunes have simplistic 4-note bass lines. I never cared for anything by Hendrix, but know that is just me.

           Again, I am so desperate, I will give this a try, but his tunes require at least four band members to stage and he knows that is not where we could possibly go with this. Music is the same as building boxes. You can build all you want, but unless you can sell them, you go nowhere. I’ll wait for rehearsal to see, but too often you find these solo guitarists have a pipedream that a bassist can fill in for a four-piece backup band “if he’s good enough”. Right, Glenn?
           There is another defect harder to counter, it is how these boys never listen to what the other band members have to play. Instead of the requested song titles with artist names and keys, he sends me youTube links to himself shredding lead breaks in big bands 10 or 15 years ago. I should send him the same, but it is foolish to not at least give the sound a try. What’s more, I sent him my top ten weeks ago and know he has not touched them.

           We must be careful here we don’t have another Class A guitarist. A reminder that is one who talks the talk, but has no intention of learning any of your music. His idea of forming a band is handing you his song list. He can’t play your choices because he has the wrong brand of guitar, or the wrong type of strings, and (I love this one) his doctor told him not to sing like that. Right, Glenn?
           Of course, he’ll learn your material as soon as you’ve mastered his—but you will never get it just right. And did he mention he brought a surprise sax player to the gig? And he’s paying them a split of your share. And I think he tried to slip in an original in the links he sent. That’s never a good sign. But, for the third time just this morning, I say I am desperate. Now you see, I could go several ways with this. The bass line will either be too simple or a guitar riff. My usual treatment is to compose a super-bass line and let him wonder what happened. But not this time.
           Ah, a bit later he is sending me more material and it confirms he has never played with a real bassist before—but you cannot tell that to a guitar player. Because they all once knew somebody who was a “good follower” and could play anything after hearing it once. That, folks, is why they all wind up in the bassist’s elephant graveyard. Just you watch, he will now make a series of mistakes I am ready for, such as playing the “wrong” versions. This is always fun.

Picture of the day.
Rampage water park, England
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Who likes those “spot the difference” picture puzzles? If you’re a regular, you got it already, if not, I’ll help you out. Lok at the corner eave, the white trim directly above the ladder. That tiney decorative triangle is painted and replaced. Folks, I know my age has taken away the thrilling escapades of this once-dynamic blog, but the real reason for this photo is not the bit of wood. It’s the sound effects of all the ladies going “ooh” and “aah” that I climbed that ladder. Several times, actually. Ta-dah!

           More time in the shed, just shuffling along. Here are two boxes from last day now stained darker so the knobs stand out a bit more. The shortage of matching sets is now critical. I have a few that have been painted over which I will try to upgrade. I’ve needed a wire polishing disk for years, Is this my big opportunity to make one up? I sent a note to India if she wants to chat a bit at the club. Check back on that.
           What’s this, a test rocket just blew up on the launch pad? Eighty years and they still have not gotten any better than the Germans at the beginning. This got me distracted looking at flying boat hell designs, which somehow survived the 1930s. The idea was that they would perform better for patrol work if they could land on water. However, most stretches of ocean did not agree most of the time.

           So I yanked my bass out of the kitchen and into my comfy spot to learn the tune “Questioningly” by the Ramones. Gawd, you mean that was actually a hit in some people’s thinking. The tune is three root notes per measure, with a total of four notes in the entire song, namely D, G, B, A. One riff, lub-dubdub. I searched Wiki, Disco, Songfacts, Paste, and Global without finding any mention of this song. Finally, on youTube. It is not listed as one of their top hits, so we are dealing with another B-side specialist, gonna change the world.
           Still, it is worth a shot, who knows, ancient obscure guitar meets country bass done right. Wilford texted saying threw was a huge pile of pallets somebody wanted taken away. I went downtown to see him and had one beer. I never have one beer, but I did. And rejected the pallets. Closer inspection showed only one in twenty was new and the ad said all or none. I’ll pass all but the best deals for now. The club was dead, five people where there used to be fifty on a slow Friday.

ADDENDUM
           It doesn’t get lighter duty than reading around here and I continued with my review of COBOL. Good news is massive chunks of the more advanced COBOL features came back to me in the time it took to read the code. Videos took a bit longer. See, I behaved myself, the heaviest thing I lifted was my phone. There is no replacement for the current COBOL techs who are about to retire.
           The hope is that A.I. and a new generation of coders will save the day. But that brings its own problem, they are coders, not programmers. The massed billions of lines of COBOL code out there might one day be recoded. But where are they going to find the sixty years of accumulated experience and talent that wrote that code?
           I’ve found a few new items, like COMP number commands and something called FD, but nothing much has changed. This used up half my allocated time, but there is a change that intrigues me. Data input. In my day, we used punch cards. I will look at how it is now done.

           t was COBOL data that first got me interested in relative databases. COBOL was sequential and we were told the order cannot be changed and new records could only be added at the end. I took an entire course just on sorting and found the rules could be broken, but by tedious writing to create a new file, the classic “third empty glass” approach. But I loved how hardened COBOL naturally is against viruses and intrusion.

Last Laugh

May 28, 2028

Yesteryear
One year ago today: May 28, 2025, some damn help.
Five years ago today: May 28, 2021, Airbnb crooks.
Nine years ago today: May 28, 2017, a place in the country.
Random years ago today: May 28, 2008, that crazy lady.

           This morning brings the warning I’m not well enough to travel yet. I fed the birdies and stared at the back yard for a while. Then contacted Tennessee and canceled any plans for the next month. No more bouncing between good and bad days, I promise to rest up plenty before even thinking of a long trip. See, I can be reasonable when I have to be. Stick to what I know, music, boxes, electronics, studying, navigation, letters, and baking. Hey, that came out wrong. I meant relaxing. Why, isn’t that how people relax?

           There is no direct link with activity and rough days, I mean it hardly could get easier than y’day, and here I am, tired again. This bypass operation is far from easy to get along with. That applies to the Texan up the road as well. Even on a good day, he’s gruff as a grizzly. I’m going to donate him some small motors I won’t ever get to around here. All plans are now on hold for a month and I mean it.

           This does not apply to brain exercise. Here’s one of the labels from last day, it says “Alligator Clips”, but as usual when viewing such photos around here, that is not what is being learned. This label is attached with small nails. I learned that glue can take longer than you really want to wait. The label is also printed on a sliced bit of wood as opposed to the laminate strips found lying around like before. The laser handily burns the first layer of laminate, but the heat somewhat weakens the underlying bond.
           Other invisible aspects are the software needed to make these labels, which tend to be single layers. The laser interface reveals it is copied software from a much more capable unit, and in this instance, multiple layers. This has to be learned and will try your patience. They try to help by making the layers different colors. This doesn’t help me, as I’m printing letters and numbers, not artistic designs.

           Today I learned two things. You can leave all the colors the same for lettering. All the words will still display but the only one that prints is framed by a light grey rectangle with drag handles. The other is that you can move the graphics around once the print is committed. I’ll explain that for my own benefit, it is because I do not have the fancy printing tray.
           Thus, each print sequence involves trial and error alignment of the print pattern, making I counterintuitive to even touch the unit once it begins to zap. Multiply that by as many passes as you intend, the laser is precise and the slightest jolt ruins a piece. For light-colored wood, two passes do the best job—but don’t even breathe on the laser assembly. I’ve mentioned long cutting times, so today’s test was how to work meanwhile (that is, do other things instead of waiting on the laser.) I got it. You solidly anchor the laser assembly, secure the wiring work separately, avoid the tmeptation to have them next to each other. I also found the design can be alter and moved without bothering the work in process. Previously, I always waited for the current design to finish.

           Here is the excellent sander, when tested it seems to be brand new. I don’t have a dedicated spot for sanding, this might spur me to making one. See how easily I can tempt myself into doing work like this? I’m optimistic I can learn laziness because so many have done that journey before me. Besides, recently my sleep and diet habits have changed, though that was somewhat less than voluntary.

Picture of the day.
Diagram: mountain wave turbulence.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Continuing with the laser, I took out the small blocks I’ve amassed over time, including Jenga blocks ad pieces of craft wood. Here’s some trials, showing stock phrases that were already in the computer and a Bible phrase. At least I’m learning an awful lot about how trinkets are really made. Then, I get a call from Tennessee to set me back on the path of New Age recovery, or what you’d call it. The Reb called and said stop working and hung up.

           How did she know I was packing up thatZoll heart monitor? As LizJohn used to call it, “woman’s indignation”. The Reb knew I packed that thing up two weeks ago. But how did she know I could not lift it until today. Anyway, this is the medical contraption to monitor the heart on-line. Years back I knew my ticker was operating at low efficiency and this time the number they gave was “30”.

           This is in the danger zone, so I kept the thing strapped on for over a month. Then came this infection which wasn’t an infection and they zipped me up a second time, however, there was no way to wear the monitor that did not put undue pressure across the new reapair, and it was left off for the third month. Then I wore it again, and here is what I think happened.
           The monitoring office got worried about their expensive machine and noticed my heart was not acting up. So they sent me the notice to send it back. Well, I will, today, soon as I marshal the stamina to get it out to the Hundy. And hopefully put an end to that segment of my life. Because at the moment, I barely had enough zip to write that all down. How did she know?

           Any screwy news? Sure, ICE detainees refusing to eat unless they get ethnic food. Lt me know how that works out for them. Are we really getting a $250-dollar bill with Trump’s picture on it? Louisiana is likely the next state to cancel racial gerrymandering. An Oklahoma attorney argues you can’t claim self-defense until you are standing inside the house where you reside. Melania seems cleared to sue the journalist Wolff for $1 billion over his statements about her and Epstein. I wish her well, Wolff is MSM.

           Seeing several ads for COBOL programmers appearing again, I checked the pay rates. What a joke, $61k to start? That is 1990 pay, but I was curious to see what’s changed since COBOL is now programmed on some type of environment, pardon if I use antiquated terms. The new terms suck, because there is nothing new about COBOL. IBM will produce a “visual” version but I’m about to read the underlying code where the work gets done. It’s been some 50 years since I really looked this deeply at the language. Sure enough, a COBOL program is now called and “implementation”, amazing how people get paid to come up with such nonsense.

           My university used IBM equipment so a big part of learning was memorizing design flaws and cursing how that company never got anything right. I can give COBOL two hours for review, that is it, and I will be relying on memories from the 80s. The feature I liked best about COBOL was the rigid variable, and PIC standards for the data. I hope they have not changed that, for it meant all parameters had to be planned in advance, not as you go along or patched up afterward like C+. It’s almost ironic that this aspect of COBOL gave the most trouble to what today I would call the “coder” crowd. I’ll post reports tomorrow and Saturday, I point out that I can already program “enterprise” COBOL, this is a review only.
           Ah, but what is “enterprise”? It is something I have always done while programming and did not know later in life what the hell it meant. If I programmed, say a price list, I would include modules for input and output, my specialty being formatted output. Others apparently see these as separate entities—which are probably sold separately, if you follow my dislike of all that.
           The guitar player texted, the guy is not a model of efficiency and he still has not got me his top ten list. We are rescheduled for Monday afternoon. I hung some extra curtains in the kitchen so he won’t think I’m totally content with the big mess around here.

ADDENDUM
           The Prez reports his eldest grandchild did very well with her solo, adding it was just a few lines. Mind you, about that same age, I did my first piano recital, Beethoven’s Minuet in G, and I know the jolt it puts on the nervous system. Especially since nobody told me if I took lessons I would have to play in public. There was nothing in my upbringing to foretell any type of musical ability, I eventually played three annual recitals, one piece each. The last one made me some enemies. Everybody knew Ingrid was supposed to get top billing.

           I just got scolded for not resting up more. But around here rest is not synonymous with doing nothing. A while back I mentioned how my weakened condition allowed ancient injuries to crop back up? That is where I am again. Shoulder pains from old factory jobs, a wrist sprain from grade school, even a bicycle kneecap hurt from my paper route. And of course, recent items like my supraspinatus, rotator cuff, and lower backaches. All mild enough, but enough that I know where they are coming from. So we plan accordingly. Look at me, I’m a wreck.

Last Laugh

May 27, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: May 27, 2025, boxing day?
Five years ago today: May 27, 2021, embarrassing itself.
Nine years ago today: May 27, 2017, 24 outlets.
Random years ago today: May 27, 2007, never, never, never, never.

           What’s this? Seattle residents have resorted to building barricades around their neighborhoods. Libtards getting what they voted for, crime, chaos, and bullets flying. This view is in Capitol Hill, an area I once looked at, forty years ago. But by 1986 I had noticed the influx of Californian losers into the hearts of northwest cities. Directly to the welfare offices of sleepy cities who mostly did not suspect a thing. They only wanted to be left alone, not recognizing it made them the natural first target.

           The Babylon Bee reports that over the long weekend, every single resident in Chicago has been shot. I have nothing current for you today, but I have a tale from the trailer court that is lost in my writings. Years ago, probably around 1985, I spent a week in Delhi, India. Worst place on Earth. I may have mentioned the stranded Europeans I met there. They got there as back-packing hippies and now did not have the resources to write home and ask to be rescued. There was one couple I used to feed their puppy because he was dying of advanced distemper.

           Well, I just saw a video of a 33 year old man who had been abandoned as a child by his hippie parents in India. He survived by working the streets as a tourist guide until rescued back to Norway. It was the strangest thing to see. He’s White, but culturally Hindu. It’s a huge glimpse into what is in store for Norway. He speaks with an Urdu accent and blames the world that he has no job skills and is suing the government for not helping him. But the guy makes a fantastic poster child for what diversity does to White people.
           Unfortunately the video has features I won’t link to, but if you watch it, you won’t know if to laugh or cry. The message is clear. If you third-world even the most generically-advantaged first-worlder, he becomes a useless, complaining parasite on the system. It just isn’t natural. The neighbor came over to fence-chat and donated me a radio. I got some work done listening to Bartow radio. The station that plays good work music and for reasons I don’t question came in amazingly clear for a non-Spanish, non-Jesus, non-sports broadcast.

           Here is the only easy ceramic capacitor chart ever, I’m posting it here so I can always find it again. I’ve relapsed a bit and got off balance. I’m even drinking tea instead of coffee. If it’s boring for you, it is super boring for me. Let me do a star chart shoot. It is 02:06:29 GMT tomorrow, May 28, 2014. See? English time, tea time. I choose the star Eltanin. Never heard of it before. I see Aires at 17°12’ and Eltanin sidereal at 90°4’, placing the star at directly abve 08°57’W at a declination of 51°29’N.
           Convert that to decimal gives -08.9120°W x 51.4640°N, let’s have a look. From the satellite, I see the nearest landfall is a lighthouse on the south coast of what used to be Ireland. Ha-ha, notice how I slipped that in there? The nearest village is Clonakilty, north as you pass through Gortnagearagh and Clasharaggy, taking care not to make a wrong turn toward Lackenagobidane. The town is on a river enough inland to sport a harbor, probably fish boats.
           Known as “the Jewel of Cork:, most of the pubs are open until 11:30PM. Good, for there seems little else to do in that town.

Picture of the day.
Abandoned Indian grandparents.
(Emerging trend.)
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Lately I’ve found I have several small toy LEDs, in that they change colors without a controller. Is this something new or am I just noticing? There is no chip so the circuit must be built right into the LED. I don’t have my microscope set up, but I could peer into the bulb a handheld. It looks like a tiny array of filaments, quite a beautiful bright shiny silver aluminum.

           The color changes are the same pattern each time you restart, it is from a small Xmas toy ornament. If so, this “bulb” is a fraction of the cost compared to maybe five years ago. The colors must be hard-wired, greatly reducing the potential for much else. That’s it for thrills today and I am blog-obligated to record habit changes resulting from a short list of causes I am not revealing. But you can guess changes in money, eating, or sleeping are there. I tend to take 100 days for and it’s been about that for sleep. And you get to read about it.

           A missing day, nothing got off the ground. I stopped at the Thrift and got a brand new hand sander for $6, following my pattern of buying one too for each drill size or grit size, you know me. I was in to pay the Internet bill, which I overpay for the service because it is contractless and portable, which I will need the month later if I ever decide to cancel it. Overall, I estimate my wifi usage works out to 10ȼ per hour for the time I’m actually on-line.
           While in the shop, this older lady was asking the staff to please do something about her phone. She was getting, she estimated, some 50 to 80 telemarket calls per day. Of course, the staff told her there was nothing could be done. I asked some questions and she was blocking calls by the hundreds but they kept coming back. I opened her phone and did a force Google stop, so at least she would not be wasting her time. What a pity that problem still exists. But what can you do? Tell an old lady to quit using her phone for companionship?

           Any news of the world that interests me? Carroll, the Trump accuser whose sexual allegations were never proven (Trump was found liable for slander only) is now having her sources investigated. This could be fun. That’s it, except for the mass of anti-Trumpers trying to gaslight Gab. ‘It’s official, Trump has lost the 2028’ and such. I spotted a movie from the 50s I’ve never seen, ‘Cosmic Man”. Turns out to be very well-made. It has a description that the film has been digitally enhanced using A.I. It sure looks great for B&W.
           Later, sorry about today, I’m zonked. A relapse and reminder this path back to health is not over. I just have more frequent good days but this was not one. The Reb says record it so I would place it similar to early March. Total tiredness and ten-minute yawning spells. A sharp intermittent pulling of chest muscles, like they are knitting. Mild nausea, tasteless food, forgetfulness, and a listlessness unknown in my life. Still, I must have managed some goals today. Aha, yes, I did. I printed three labels. Computer designed, on wood, with a laser, and affixed them. I guess that would all seem like just nothing to somebody your age.

ADDENDUM
           Here is a list of what vaccinated people have at far higher rates than purebloods.

Autism.
Cancer.
Autoimmune disease.
Diabetes.
ADHD.
Tics.
Asthma.
Motor disability.
Speech disorders.
Mental health disorders.
Neurodevelopmental disorders.
Developmental delay.
Atopic disease.
Seizure disorder.
Food allergies.
Neurological disorder.
Brain dysfunction.
Behavioral disability.
Learning disability.
Intellectual disability.
Chronic infections.

Last Laugh

May 26, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: May 26, 2025, it happened to me.
Five years ago today: May 26, 2021, list of characteristics.
Nine years ago today: May 26, 2017, the road leaving town.
Random years ago today: May 26, 2009, scratch that diet!

           Another recovery day, which means a lot of time on coffee, the shed, and tinkering. See this picture? That used to be my kitchen. It’s always this way until the new guitar player decides he should rehearse on his own time. There will always be a path to the coffee maker and fridge, but meanwhile this is the view unti further notice.

           Two chats this morning. Howie was over with his fancy mower, checking if I was mobile myself. Yes, just whooped so I had to decline his invitation for a five-mile jog before breakfast, tempting as that was. I would have met Karen up for brunch, but her neighbor needed a ride to the hospital. Maybe I’ll make her a set of small boxes today, see what she likes best. Today is shaping up as average and that average is gaining, just ever so unevenly.

           Where is my box of Arduinos? It is actually a protective sealed trunk, but were did I put it for safekeeping? It will turn up, but I’m saying the process of getting one of those running is more complicated and delicate-fussy than the how-to offerings tell you. That’s why I leave it until last, mostly. You need to have the correct IDE downloaded and installed on a compatible computer. The programming can take hair-pulling hours unless you copy one of their useless examples, which is suspect means 95% of all users. Then it has to be downloaded via an obsolete cable to a properly wired circuit. And that’s if everything goes right.
           I was fine until mid-morning, now I’m crawling back in the sack and the rules say I must get this in writing. I awoke fine but began to feel a paralysis tingling in my left hand and several sharp jabs in the “neurological” areas, namely my left outer thigh and across the chest area both sides of the incision. These are familiar pains that are part of the healing process so you don’t hate them. But numbness in my left hand is never welcome. I’ll explain this laser ad in a moment.

           Unable to shake the tired, I took another look at a small bass amp circuit diagram—and remembered I have one of those amps. It uses op-amp technology instead of transistors so I am unfamiliar with the wire-up. The fact is, none of my other circuits did a good job. They were too weak, too trebly, or did not match the parameters claimed. Aha, I just found the chip, it is a LM386M brand new in the package. You’ll have to return another day to find the outcome, by noon I was asleep.
           By happenstance, May is the best month I’ve kept records for in over 50 years. There are gaps but overall May wins—although much of the material is not blogged. This is the month I broke up with my first “big city” girlfriend. A doctor’s daughter who I intended to marry when I was 28 and finished university. In those days, degree means something and was a near-guarantee of success. But there were things I didn’t understand. Top of that list is I was unaware that good-looking rich girls didn’t just go out and marry anybody they pleased at any time in their lives.
           She was 21 at that time and got married three months later, maybe four. I did not meet my promise to contact her on her 50th birthday, but I sincerely tried. It’s a loose end I should probably tend to. At 21, I was still in shell shock from exposure to a world that was hellishly different from what I’d been told. If I think of any good life lesson I learned before that age, I’ll tell you about it.

Picture of the day.
Birch plywood model.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Later, I scraped up energy to build the circuit. It’s not tested yet, the wiring has to be triple-checked before power is connected. The time-waster on this project was a 0.05µF capacitor. You’d think by now they’d color-code them or something, or get rid of than nano-pico system, but no. That’s it. Festus Tuesday and we could not find a shoot-em-up. Just a drama about a bronc buster who gets kicked in the head. I won’t list around ten small chores, I just kept busy. Turns out my neighbor knew a girl who was dragged by a horse and never rode one again.
           Not counting the tumult of intensive care, I now sleep five hours, wake up, and then get another three later in the day. This wrecks most plans I have between 11:00AM and 3:00PM. I hoped this would not become permanent, but it has been 100 days. I’m making deliberate plans tomorrow to see if I can break this one and get back a productive part of my day.

           We got us the latest feisty female critter overnight. She is with the super-rodent crowd that somehow avoid the Hav-a-Hart [trap]. She is indeed a lively one and she’ll need it where she’s going. Lots of energetic competition included what I now know are a lot of barn owls right in my own general area. The on-line community says squirrels should be taken ten miles to defeat their homing instinct. I can’t see it because it never happens here and that cemetery is just ten blocks away. How do I know? Because I normally trap 3 – 4 month old juveniles like this lady. And in Florida, ladies don’t show up back in your life any younger than when they left. I speak with authority.

           The Bolt Pro 32 is a laser etcher that got my attention. I should call them engravers, since that is what the larger watt units really do. Why this model? A price drop fro $15,000 to $200 tends to get my attention. It spells the unit is obsolete. However, the tiny unit I’ve got has gotten usage all out of proportion to what was planned. I rather enjoy running the unit and experimenting different materials. And I can verify a simple mirrored finish will defeat laser beam weapons.
           The Bolt slices through leather and wood. One idea I’d like to try is etching wood grain onto cheaper cuts of lumber. Once more, Billie-Bill, I did not say I invented this idea, only that it was independently derived.

ADDENDUM
           Just when you think Tampa radio could not sink any lower, they step up to the plate. It’s that morning show with the queer, who like most, fancies his innuendo as clever. Last week he was an hour over filling a hole in his wall, “I’ve never filled one so big before”, saying he was afraid. Well, now they have this talk show where they have callers go on about their falling apart situationships. It solves nothing because they can never get the one side to tell the truth.
           It’s the only radio station that isn’t religion or sports that survived the Biden purge. Even the now defunct Armed Forces radio was superior to this crap, not made any better by that DJ who nobody asked for but who never have their own radio stations. As the saying goes, they don’t want their own bicycle.

Last Laugh

May 25, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: May 25, 2025, I discover fire.
Five years ago today: May 25, 2021, Zoom sucks.
Nine years ago today: May 25, 2017, no blog – nobody remembers.
Random years ago today: May 25, 2025, nobody will believe me, anyway.

           Finally! Day 122 and overnight I crossed some threshold. Other than the physical wound sites, I feel 100%. I’m not fooling myself, but this is a welcome day. Now back to work. No word from the guitarist. I’ve got a hand dolly to fix and the shed beckons, this is an outdoor but in the shade day. But I’m also tired, so let’s see what wins out. Aha, I told ya, we will see a trillionaire in my lifetime and it will likely be Musk. The primary contributing factor is inflation.

           Not bragging, butI checked my e-mail, fell asleep in the chair, and woke up at 3:30PM. Here’s hoping you get to do that when your time comes. Nope, no contact from the guitar guy, but I dealt with that like a Kennedy. Remember that old sequence, if not, see the addendum. I have an overall sensation of returning vivality and I’m heading to the shed. This is the high point of the day unless Taylor shows.
           She’s taking her time, but I understand, being a billionaire isn’t easy. Here is a generic photo of the cabin on it’s tenth anniversary last Saturday. You get a bunch of blurry pics today because I hit the wrong button during the download. Here are some random examples. First the fleet, two vehicles in the driveway. The KIA has the hood up to tend to that low battery. That would not please me to find an electrical problem as that battery is brand new.

           I set it on recondition mode, the one that is supposed to shake the molecules loose. But it was over in two minutes. Still, I don’t trust it and I’ll be watching. I told the guitar player if he can get over here, we can test his battery and see what gives. My battery tools are stored in one of the first large boxes I ever built, which today I discover has a leaky lid.

           The center pic is the slightly oversize new tire on the rear of the Hundy. Kind of racy, don’t you think? I don’t, it’s just a tire to me. I did manage to slap this box together while in the shed, mainly to suppose I did something. The ends are mitered, this box is to test a design for small devices, like my moisture meter and laser tape measure. Stuff I can never find in the drawer when I need them.
           Another returning capability is flexibility. This morning I could again work at chest height, that is, lift light items as high as my shoulders. We have a new pair of birdies, no pic yet unless they stick around. Greyish brown with black and white at the shoulders and around sparrow-size. You see, chest-high for me is filling the birdfeeder. Remember the 5x7 LED? I got it rigged up and was able to get predictable lights to word—but it is wired so wonky it took this mess of 14 wires and a mini-board. There has to be a driver chip, nobody does this by hand.

           I cut this custom strip of perf-board and it still took a hour. I had to solder the jumpers in place to get them to stay put. This component would require a microcontroller to make it display anything fancy at all; O dpibt an ordinary binary to decimal chip would produce anything remarkable, try as you might. Last, I have these wood labels that are now drying, these were dunked in the solution. It’s not great but it’s prettier than before. I don't want folks thinking I was sitting around all day like I was from Florida or something.

Picture of the day.
Lotte – world’s ugliest tower.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           The next view is my idiot snag of a rag—into the blades of my planer. On the left you see it jammed solid and no way to release the roller. They build them so you cannot do that. Next photo is after a half hour of pulling the threads out by hand with a pair of end-cutters. These pics, I know are hard to see, but trust me, that rag is snagged and I have the plastic roller cover removed. Do those end-cutters have a proper name? I call them nibblers.

           How about some generic views? Here’s a close-up of the battery charger, this is in recondition mode. See the LED printout? It makes the too very easy to use. Then there is the empty mailbox. This, around here, is a sign of success. There is nothing like being far enough off the grid you don’t get junk mail. You will never guess what that last picture is. On the side of the roof with peaks, there is a small decorative trim. This piece is cut fill the small pot between the eaves and the gutter. Probably the only cosmetic wood on this building.
           It fell loose years ago and has been sitting waiting for me to get off my tush and pain the house. It finally got a coat of paint, drying in the back yard, waiting for me to set up a ladder to fasten it back in place.

           That’s no idle comment. It means moving the ladder and climbing it. The thought alone has me refilling my coffee-maker, let’s make that the benchmark for tomorrow. Can I muster the wherewithal to affix that in place and take a photo of it for you? I would so love to repaint my little cabin and I’ve been saying that ten years now. Don’t even mention the shingles. Dang, the origin of this blog as a captain’s log is telling on my laziness.


ADDENDUM
           The referral here is to the 60s, a historical message from Moscow reached the White House and Kennedy was about to accept the terms. Then a second message arrived that was unacceptable. Nobody knew what to do until Kennedy’s brother suggested why not just answer the first message? It worked.
           So I pretended my day was not wasted and sent a text hoping his car was back on the road soon and we should reschedule. If he’s a true band member sort, he’ll go with that.

Last Laugh

May 24, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: May 24, 2025, boring/generic day.
Five years ago today: May 24, 2021, why I hate banks.
Nine years ago today: May 24, 2017, the ten worst.
Random years ago today: May 24, 2015, swim to Portugal.

           Welcome to MillennialWorld. The one best idea I’ve got for the 3D printer has a warning not to print such things. It’s early so I’ll explain the idea. You know those special “D” power cables that fit mostly only the back of computers. Y’know, I could not find a convincing reason except to sell you a longer cord or something like that. The cover story is you can match the length of cable to you needs but that hardly justifies launching a new formal incompatible with other power cables.

           You see, any other system, you would just grab an extension cord. With D cables, you are more likely to find this situation, where you need to string two short lengths together and it can’t be done. My idea was a simple adapter that allows such ends to be joined. Once again, if such a gizmo exists, you have to know what it is called before you can search for it. You’d think such a thing would be almost universally available these days.

           Here’s some #20 biscuits stained for labels. They are not test on the laser yet where too dark a color can obscure the “brand”. I’ve not used stain since I began box-building around a year ago. It was fun to open the cans, see what survived, and how the various stains took to this compressed wood. These are dipped into the can and shown here matching up to see how they fit on top of good old Jenga blocks. These may be my only source of drawer pulls if I don’t find another source.

           No news on the smoke last evening, it could have been somebody burning an incredible pile of leaves. It is just past noon with first rehearsal slated for 2:00PM. And you know, I’ve got some misgivings. While no doubt I’ve met dozens of suitable guitarists, that is just one component of the band. It’s probably nothing, but I will record my hunches.

           Getting him to first rehearsal has been a month-long task. I know that serious contenders will carve out the time. First it was his place, then that didn’t happen, so it’s my place. That is not a solution until I get that kitchen A/C replaced. Then, his lady wrecked his car, so it was motorcycle, then it rained this weekend and back to the car. Which had a dead battery as of his message just now. True enough, this could all be incidental but a fail on any one of those counts is a deal-breaker. That plus his barely disguised ambition to join a full big band.
           I got up early and spiffed up the kitchen. The small PA is set up and I threw curtains over the worst parts of the view. It takes four industrial strength fans to keep the room just tolerable in this heat wave. He called just now to see if I had an extra guitar. Just the Ibanez. My spare is in Miami and the Fender is in Tennessee. And it is now past 2:00PM start time and no guitar player.

Picture of the day.
Bird of Paradise flower.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Almost 4:00PM, no guitarist, no phone, no messages. I’ve been here, waiting and reading datasheets. I found some 5x7 LED components, the bad design model. How does one design a bad LED array? Easy, put the pins on the upper and lower edges, and make the size overlap the last rows of the breadboard so there is no way to connect wiring. Here are some bad pictures, as I finally put the new $30 Vivitar through the paces. I discovered it does NOT have a macro setting which I would have preferred to the crappy telephoto capability.

           The photo of the clock face shows the maximum telephoto setting which I am trying to see might be tricked into thinking it is a macro. That makes for difficult shots and usually requires a tripod. The clock dial was taken with the maximum 16x setting. When the guitar player was late, I thought why not take a nap. You guessed it, I slept past 8:00PM.
           ’ll give the guy the benefit of the doubt, maybe his phone battery went dead or he got stranded, or something. My KIA has an on-board sensor that shuts the electric off if the battery voltage drops to 11.8V. That is also the lowest the [battery] plate design can tolerate. That means if your car battery ever drops below that voltage, it may charge up again but will never be reliable. You’ll need a new one—and I get the feeling that may be a pinch for old Rick.

           In the background, we have world news. The Democrats continue to infuriate the electorate by releasing murderers into the streets. If their plan is to create chaos so thy can declare martial law, it is failing miserably. The Philippines is introducing death by firing squad for stealing public funds. Lindall, the pillow guy, is leading in Minnesota primaries. I don’t know the issues, but if he’s running I hope he wins. Musk has “declared war” on Soros, a most interesting scenario.
           Not long ago, I devised a method to get gifs to play backwards. But I did not document it. Somehow, I was able to rename the files into a new order. That order was in reverse, so I could create a gif that played backwards. Interesting special effects. Well, if I did it once, I’ll do it again.

ADDENDUM
           Here’s a rare [blog] photo showing the unfinished kitchen floor and me standing beside the practice PA. In the end, rehearsal did not happen. I’m beginning to suspect old Rick is broke as hell. In itself, that can be worked around but folks, welcome to America. You must have a newer vehicle, or incur the expense of at least two like I must.

           This photo reveals the problem with my legs. Some say it is not all that bad, but I can see it. My left leg is visibly larger from lymph swelling. I don’t like it. I guess you can’t see the kitchen floor all that well. The point is, I’m standing on plywood. I should be atop some kind of space-age oak flooring material. Then again, I did not waste my life paying for a fancy house to die in.

           Nice and awake from my snooze, I stepped through every menu option on the laser etcher. I found nothing new but here are some burns. Evident is the more confident look of the product. In this case, the generic “Spices & Herbs” show is to see if there is a difference in staining before or after. I’m hoping no difference, as it is quite a walk to the shed if I have samples way up here in the office.
           Harder to spot is the difference in centering of the lettering. Without and expensive optional table, it is impossible to keep the logos consistent. I got lazy, return tomorrow for the picture.

Last Laugh