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Amazing action scenes: Infinite (2021).

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September 23, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 2025, neither can most.
Five years ago today: September 2021, near the barking parrot.
Nine years ago today: September 2017, million candlepower.
Random years ago today: September 2023, you call this tired?

           This time I’m ready for the consequences, I got everything planned for the morning. It went fine, although I got nothing done. Moving that van y’day as in was enough work for two days. No excitement today. Just some editorial, but that is also a valid retirement day. Am I saying I’ll compare my nothing days to most? Perhaps. Let’s stay optimistic, since both myself and the neighbor missed Festus Tuesday, so we are planning an extra movie night. I’ll know by this afternoon, so don’t run away.

           Big event this morning is I went out and spent $80. See addendum for my critique. Sixty dollars in groceries left me only $12 for some pickets. The larger K-box style, I have enough for five. To keep busy and off the radio, which has switched to full anti-Trump mode. Mostly gaslighting and mostly echoing the theme that he is “losing support”. And I don’t care about the war, it is mostly being fought in the air and at sea. It’s a curious sight, the nation held together by one ideology, hate. It means they cannot surrender or there’s no reason for them to exist.

           Slow days bring logistics to the forefront, and I think the KIA battery may be okay. It died 26 days after the warranty, but the owner’s manual says it is supposed to automatically shit down if            drained to much. What you are looking for here is how well I am able to deal with things like vehicle maintenance. In America, if you can fix your own ride, it’s proof you are alive. The smart charger says the battery is holding a 60% charge.
And the Viking, the lithium zap charger may also be back, the one that would not charge past 25%. An overnight in the deep freeze has it registering 100% again. I seem to be okay with such small chores, but no mountain hikes show on my calendar. I also stopped at Wal*mart for coffee (we’re saved) and grits. (Fatigue can just hit me, and it did walking down the condiment aisle, I was home and snoozing within ten minutes.)
           Trivia. Remember those side-firing Gatling gunships of the Vietnam era? They fired 6,000 rounds per minute, and used up 97 million rounds to kill 5,300 Vietcong. That’s 18,300 bullets per kill.

Picture of the day.
Somewhere in Egypt.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           This thriller pic is the KIA tow chain and that’s today’s top story. Boring? Actually, the tow job was over and I was measuring the chain for the backyard job of straightening fenceposts. Did I mention that? Yes, I did, and now for an half-afternoon of browsing or documentaries or anything that does not involve lifting more than a coffee cup.

           What’s this, a “high-profile” hacker group with the millennial name “ShinyHunters” claims to have hacked the FBI files. No proof yet, but the word is they posted names, addresses, and phone numbers of 5,000 agents. Good, let them know how it feels to have strangers keeping files on you when you’ve done nothing wrong. But what got me was the reporting, not the breach.
           The news is cloaked in jargon with a single theme—that is is not a crime when the government does it. ShinyHunter is “black-hat”, indulging in piracy and violating “ethical standards”. And the poor little FBI is their victims. They are “disobedient” and “deceptive”, naughty-naughty. It seems every day now some Democrat mayor is being arrested or stepping down over corruption or sexual misconduct. Democrats have blocked immunity for Fauci’s secretary in return for her testimony. I say send her to jail anyway, she destroyed documents. Jail would clear her conscience.

           The only system I trust is meritocracy, but it has the flaw that there is not enough to go around. I heard the worst argument against it on-line. That meritocracy should be banned because it “destroys careers”. Then again, I am no stranger to watching losers demand their right to be losers—at your expense. No, you cannot escape paying, for example 30% of your health insurance is to cover sports injuries.
           We settled on a movie none of us had seen all through, the classic John Wayne “The Searchers”. Damn, that was a long movie, and the other neighbor, who how has the same back problem I do, well, we had to pause to go take our prescriptions. Even two years ago that would have given me a laugh. In the movie, Natalie was 16.

           Here’s a coincidence, I mentioned the neighbor gets meals on wheels. The hospital hooked me on pudding, but also something I would rarely eat unless free. Guess what the food wagon delivers that my neighbor, a diabetic, cannot eat? Applesauce. I have a bin-full in the fridge. Then my news alerts me a Burmese python had been found decapitated in the swamp. This interests me as I follow the effect of invasive species, both human and animal. It seems several swamp critters have discovered the pythons, for all their size and strength, are a vulnerable slow-moving meal.
           The video shows bobcats have developed a liking for the eggs and swamp birds have learned baby pythons are defenseless. Alligators, once eaten by the snakes, have learned to hunt them. There is a lot of hype about bounties and programs, but nothing works as nice as adaptation. While this is happening, I put hinges on my box made for drywall anchors and shrink tubing. If I had any grandchildren, I’d have to think what to say if asked what I did today.

ADDENDUM
           Here’s a oft-quoted statistic, the average American family now spends $5,000 per year on gasoline. That’s a lot of bucks total. Let’s check my gas budgets for this year and the five previous.

2021: $2,291
2022: $2,213
2023: $1,902
2024: $2,438
2025: $1,970
2026: $1,577 to date.

           For those without an effective budget, this is how it is done. Including a projection to end of this year, I will have spent roughly $12,900 on gas during this period, or around $180 per month. This is triple my “motorcycle” allocation of $66 per month. Not every dollar is on the budget, but of what is there, gasoline, telecom, utilities, and property taxes eat up 55% of my allocations. My original projections for telecom was $22 per month, utilities $121, and taxes $48.

           This is not as grim as it seems. That includes many trips to Tennessee and I do not skimp on electricity. If I drive only locally, my gas drops to $90. Two years ago I purchased more Internet bandwidth and quit going to expensive movies except with the Reb. Oddly, while I do not chase women in any big sense, they still figure very deep in the background of my budget. Barring some really stupid women I have met that don’t know a good thing when they see it, I know, for example, I still shop for many food quantities that show I plan for two. At my age, that’s stupid, like I don’t know that. And even Taylor is getting too old for me. What’s with that?

           And my thinking is, after over 50 years, unable to totally shake a concept I had since I was around 18. That pretty rich girls could get married to anybody they wanted until they were at least forty. Dumb, I know, but back then I did not know. However, I do know there is a desperate and frantic demand for good, stable, decent women of any age. It’s when none are available, that men say the hell with it and pick the pretty ones. There are othe
r factors, but that’s the big one.
Last Laugh

September 22, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 22, 2025, includes train stations.
Five years ago today: September 22, 2021, just another day.
Nine years ago today: September 22, 2017, 5:15AM.
Random years ago today: September 22, 2010, mostly computer talk.

           Trivia. Instagram, which sold for $2 billion, was created in 60 days in 2010. Knew y’day when I was able to walk around half the afternoon, I should plan an easy day. It is now 5:00AM and I woke extra early to make biscuits, gravy, and coffee. Gravy with mushrooms because last week when the critter raided my kitchen, the only spice he took was my umami. Gnawed the cap off and ate half. I will find half things to do today, let’s see what I come up with.

           You see, I just know one day somebody will read this and think there is some magic wand. A wand you wave and say, “hand me something interesting to do today so I don’t sit around with my finger up my [nostril] all day watching cable TV reruns like the population.” Nope, you want to avoid becoming a non-cosmic peon of the legume league, you got to devote some time to restocking the magazines.

           First on my list, after noticing I am out of coffee again, is this picture which requires context. What’s the big deal with plastic trays of plastic parts? Hours of frustration, that’s what. These are the two boxes I misplace the most often. I have wasted hours looking for where I set them. No more, today they get a special box of their own. I may also begin clearing out the spare room, due to the realization that I will not have the energy to put it into the shape I would like. So might as well convert the space to a convalescent, er, I mean, constructive area.

           Finally, noise. The fire engine over on Jefferson. That woke everyone up, at least those who get to sleep past dawn on Tuesdays. I can now grab the bass in the morning and play a half-set (about 20 minutes). Then a peek at Jimmyr, because I recall when it was a news amalgamator. Now it is 30% anti-Trump. Not anti-Republican, that would raise too many questions. Today they are lauding a mixed race couple who have been together 15 years, I suppose that is rare enough.

           What is the most common consumer complaint? Hint, it was first mention in this blog back in 1985. The Hewlett-Packard ink cartridge rip-off. The outfit that has over 600 cartridges, most differing only in the shape of a plastic fitting that prevents them from being used on other printers. Most common complaint is refills being denied over “non-HP ink”. So you’ll know, Cadbury’s chocolate is no longer made in England. The factory moved to            Poland years ago for the cheaper labor. It is owned by Kraft.
To be fair, Cadbury’s once had a royal charter, and they invented the chocolate Easter egg. Back in the States, the Director of Intelligence has suggested Trump pardon Assange and Snowden, then appoint them top authority in rooting out the Deep State. Stranger things have happened.

           Ha-ha, a quiet day off in Florida just because you are retired? A check on my lithium battery charger shows that just sitting in the last use in Miami (it should have completely charged on the way home as the car puts out 12 volts at 2amps). Nope it sits at 25% and doesn’t seem to want to take a charge at all, but I will leave it overnight. Then I checked the KIA. Stone cold dead with that brand new Everlast. I tested it with the latest charging model which says it has a 70% charge, but it would not turn over the motor. If the unit is kaput, the timing would make it another PPP.
           I can hear the kitchen radio from the front yard. Yes, I foolishly worked quite hard today, but think of what I got done. Do you have any idea what it would cost to pay somebody for this work? I’m fully aware one day I won’t be up to this, and I had to cancel Festus Tuesday, not sure I can keep awake when these simple chores can so long. Trump is letting in 17.500 legal South African immigrants and the Democrats are furious. Because they are all White.
           I missed the details, but Tampa radio is on about some lady whose kid was shot robbing bus passengers. “All he was doing was robbing them,” she cried. Single parent. Guaranteed. On welfare. Guaranteed. Odd, I thought, that Democrats would oppose the merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Ah, got it—Paramount would take over Warner. Paramount is Trump-friendly and Warner owns CNN. In about a week, getting banned from the White House is going to be the least of CNN’s worries.

Picture of the day.
Listening to their dead son’s heart
beating inside a recipient’s chest.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Since I’m in the yard, might as well haul out the chain and move the KIA, then throw it on the charger. I said no big projects today, I think I lied to myself. Here’s the hook-up and tow the KIA to the front yard. To ward off the snoopy city inspector. This required over two hours but that includes a number of times I had to saunter back to the shed to get something. For example, I had to use bolts instead of hook. Large bolts, which I had to remove from old camper panels since I don’t stock large bolts.

           I would caution most people not to try this at home. Chain towing is something you don’t do alone for the first time. A snapped chain can come through your back window faster than you can duck. There is no drama here, I had slipped a nut into a bolt without tightening and it came loose. You can see the procedure is straightforward, but all the mistakes and wrong moves have been edited out. Like how I used that wrong bolt because I dropped the right one and could not find it. Same with clearing the path and hauling gear out to the front yard. No siesta, I decided to get this over with despite some strenuous lifting and pulling. I also need that chain to right some fence posts and it weighs more than I probably should be lifting.
           The charger on the KIA battery has been running 1.5 hours, I keep an eye on this stuff. In an older vehicle, check everything. Ha, in the yard I was tuned out to sounds, but when playing back the recordings I heard it all. The birds from all around associate me in the yard with feeding. They were going ballistic and I never heard a thing.while I was out there. But that stupid new phone ignores my three years of blocked callers, where do they find these GenX ass-clowns? That’s the first thing you build into phone service—permanent blocks. But you are dealing with Tyler & Brandon who think thousands of telemarket calls means they are popular.

           I was amused to find that variable name styles have slang terms, prompting me to define my own. To establish what I mean here are some examples.

userName – this is camelCase, first word all case, others capitalized, no separators.
user_name -- snake_case – all small case with underscore separator.
UserName -- PascalCase – same as camelCase with first word capitalized.
user-name -- kebab-case or spinal-case, all lower case separated by hyphens.

           My convention, in use years before this jargon, is every variable or constant begins with a v. vUser-Name or vInterest-Rate. This tells instantly what you are dealing with. Also, the variable name should be a noun, the constant should be a “verb” in that it suggest its usage, sort of. This also wards off C+ errors where the declaration and variable have the same name except for a capital letter. So, what do I call my convention? Dunno, give me suggestions here.

ADDENDUM

           Here’s an honorary photo. Anybody been here long enough to know where this came from? It was my original caddy for my soldering iron. It has never had need of improvement or modernization. You can see the power supply, iron, and some supplies, and the odd black “T” is the carry handle. What you don’t recognize is the black box below it. This is a Micronta (Radio Shack) adjustable shut-off timer that has been a blessing for years—because all too often the iron gets forgotten when you move on. For $7.99 you can’t get better. (Current eBay price is $35.00.)
           The proposed $9,000 allowance for stay-at-home mothers isn’t an increased cost. It is the amount the government already subsidizes day-care. The treaty with Greenland basically puts a stop to any Russian or Chinese moves on the island. Strategically that is justified, but one of the two proposed US military bases is astride a huge arctic oilfield.
           Anthropic is hiring, so I scanned down the list of jobs on their website. None of the offerings had a thing to do with coding or computers. A typical posting is this account executive, which, if you strip away the jargon, reads like an ad for a vacuum cleaner salesman. So I checked Indeed, only to find the same. Working with already-made A.I. models. This was not a deep study. I would like to see some actual code but got nowhere on-line.

Last Laugh

September 21, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 21, 2025,crucial to enjoyment.
Five years ago today: September 21, 2021, Australian rookies.
Nine years ago today: September 21, 2017, $952 in fees.
Random years ago today: September 21, 2006, not an answer.

           I watched a video of a helicopter flying at speed 500 feet over some downtown parking lots capturing every license plate. Remember, all you nothing-to-hide people, without your on-line profiles so complete and up-to-date, most of those plates are useless. You have kept your files current, have you not? Brussels reports 23% of Irelands population is now foreign-born. The don’t mention another foreign 11% who were born in Ireland. How much longer, Irishman?

           It’s a new term on me, a “school refuser” is a child who refuses to go to school. Time to get out the belt. The number of new anti-Trump posting accounts on social media has quadrupled in the past week. And finally, we have our culprit, it is a nearly mature possum. Probably the one who has gotten away twice. Note how it has learned to shun the baited trap, but still gets up on the stovetop. No matter how clean it gets scrubbed, it looks like there are enough crumbs or it to nibble on. Tonight, we set the live trap. Who knows if it is a Hanta carrier, it has to go.
           That’s kind of it for the morning. In addition to the possum, I positioned the camera so it caught any activity in the near corner of the room. Would you like to see 421 picture of me opening and closing the kitchen door? Or follow my exciting review of the renewal dates on by debit cards, none of which have ever been used to purchase anything.

           For some days now I’ve been hit with fatigue in the late morning, including times I’m in the shed. Can’t have that. Today I skipped a nap to fight this and wound up doing a study on shaft couplers. In the past, I looked already so I know about alignments and vibrations, but now about small scale motors which I am checking what I have on hand. During this hunt, I saw something unexpected. Couplers made of plastic printed on a 3D. I had not planned on tackling that unit largely due to my early dislike of the design stage. But after seeing the price tags on flimsy meal couplers, that is due for a rethink.
           Another item not on the budget, but getting a plan is a tow chain. I have not bought such a thing in forty years. But I have bought chains of some sorts, I would also need a hook at least on one end. It’s a $40 purchase I might use once, but like my lithium booster and spare vehicle, it easily pays for itself the second time you use it. Money is really tight, I’m allocating $41 for this.

           Unable to get a human on-line, I plan tomorrow to stop in at some cardiologist addresses in Lakeland until I find one who will listen to my story. My ID and Medical numbers expired while I was in the hospital and about to. I need somebody to keep an eye on me until I sort this out. For reference, the last PCP billed me for $160,000 in the past two years, so somebody will see me. That’s the PCP, the one who’s candy-ass insulted me. Still begging me to return, so much so I might consider it if they were not 200 miles away at these gas prices.
           Speaking of gas prices, the libtards are going flipping out on-line that diesel is over $6 under Trump. They think nobody remembers it was over $7 under Biden. And few things beat the Democrats who swore illegals were not on food stamps now complaining that Trump is cutting off their food stamps. The pre-election Democrat merry-go-round. No, I am not a Trump supporter. I am the friend of anybody who hates liberals.

           Another PPP, my phone keeps rebooting by itself. On-line says to do a factory reboot, but the phone will not stay on long enough to hold the restart button. So I went on-line for instructions on how to remove the cover, as batteries are easy to test. It said to eject the card, which I did, and the card fell out. No, there was no warning, but the instructions said to reassemble, be sure the metal pin were facing “down”. Really?

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

           I had to get a new phone, $85. Wal*Mart the cheapest phone at the store was now $299. That means, including the $35 “setup fee”, a $100+ phone now lasts around three years. (I got my first smart phone on September 29, 2023.) And, since the old one died, it cannot be turned on, meaning all the data is lost. I have most of it backed up manually, but the situation is a good demo of how America’s “greatest” are setting themselves up for failure.
           It’s a riot listening to them complain. It’s ranting that used to be confined to “poor me” social rejects. The “wrist-slashy left-wing schizo-bitches, queers, and shout-your-abortion skanks whose social networks consist of fat slimetards trying to get each other to commit suicide”. The upcoming mid-terms have become vital out of all proportion. It is a contest between the Left, whose only hope is to steal the votes and the Right, whose only hope is to stop that.

           And I bought a 5/16ths chain, just enough to move another vehicle. Set me back $38 and like a said, no complimentary hook on one end like the good old days. This is enough to move a vehicle, but not tow it. The easy trip down town got me too weary to continue, so that is it for the day. I woke up at 3:11AM tomorrow morning.
           Another seven countries have elected “right wing” candidates since USAID was cut. And who has not noticed the lack of violent protests, arson, and riots as well? Let’s see, does anything else spark my interest? China does not allow foreign-made EVs near military bases. The suspect in the recent Mississippi lynchings is black and the media are silent.

           But awake I am, so let’s find a geographic position. GMT 07:12:45 finds Aires at 106° 04.1’ plus an offset pf 03° 11.8’. I chose Denebola with a sidereal angle of 182°29.5’. Converting to Google, that star is above the ocean west of India at W291.7568° and N14.4720’. Now let’s find the nearest inhabited spot we have not seen before. Roughly equidistant from Mumbai and the Lakshadweep Islands, we choose to look at Agatti Island because it has an airstrip.
           About 1.2 square miles and 7 feet above sea level, it is touted as a luxury resort. Water is desalinated and there is a 100kW power station for 7700 people, 7500 of whom live in one town with more men than women. The island receives some kind of premium for “fighting” Carona virus, so they have had 64,429 cases. The place rates only this obviously staged tourist photo. With the plane on the beach.

Last Laugh

September 20, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 20, 2025, seasonal uptick.
Five years ago today: September 20, 2021, the shed gets electric.
Nine years ago today: September 20, 2017, Irma trimmings.
Random years ago today: September 20, 2004, macaroni & Bridgette.

           Having a background in data and statistics, I decided it was time to look into the lame “artificial intelligence” courses being foisted on the public of today. It was as disappointing as it sounds, but I can now see why it is popular. Some 90% of all data has been generated in the last new years and some people need more help than others about that. I expect no straight answers out of A.I. people and little more than sales pitches. This already stinks, but it is folly to ignore it.

           I found some videos on A.I., always an easier learn for me because I can do other things if the pace slows. Like the huge breakfast I’m just finishing. Once more, I conclude it is not A.I., but predictions based on Niagaras of data not available at an earlier time. See addendum for more.

           A good Sunday when the Reb calls to chat. She’s got access to the non-published blog material and knows I was the one who led the Salt Revolt of ’26. Somebody organized the pizza distraction while somebody in a wheelchair liberated that shaker from the staff lounge. And she knows about the doctors pretending to check were really checking the gossip that a patient in room 17 was really reading a textbook.
I had to promise to take it easy all morning and got some real study time in. It is not my field, but I learned about the EU law that requires anything that can be plagiarized by A.I. contain tokens that can later be identified. It was the nature of these tokens, since most anti-copyright detection software uses an assigned probability of words appearing together to spot cheaters. It requires constant tweaking so that is would spot “ghostly galleon” as unoriginal, but know that “Paris is in France” is not a stolen phrase.
           I took only two stats courses in college, but looked at more advanced stuff. That why I sort of recognize this chart from one of the websites I visited. It embeds these tiny pixel patterns in text and graphics. Apparently it only detects repetition, not source or authorship. But the fact the countermeasures are already going this far tip us off that even if GenX A.I. isn’t the real deal, it is fully capable of causing disruption of the worst kind. And computers have been heading in that path for two generations, the people doing it have no concept that it is both unoriginal and dangerous.

           The news that interests me today is mostly politics. Trump has finally made all grants to the health research community subject to review and approval. No more grants to study homos and sex workers. CNN and Politico are two major squawkers over being booted out of the White House press rooms for publishing fake news. They had it coming, listen to them about free speech when they supported Trump’s exclusions from dozens of platforms and refused to broadcast his rallies. Trump referred to the 30 top hoaxes they have participated in.
           As rumors of war loom across Europe, the military has stopped all advertising for non-White enlistees. All mentions of diversity have disappeared from recruitment ads, all radio ads are in native languages only and posters show only White males.
           Google has rolled out age verification in Canada, where it is illegal not to produce picture ID on demand. The picture will then be linked to years of your computer search history to determine you age. Called “age assurance”, Google has used A.I. to map out your entire on-line search history—unless you took measures to protect your identity. But everybody knows good citizens have nothing to hide. Only criminals, for those who forget in 2021 Biden made it a crime to go to church.

Picture of the day.
Before the Interstate.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Instead of fixing my dryer, I worked in the shed and put hardware on some boxes. One small project was an electric motor so I can make a small 4” saw that actually works. I’ve been cutting small pieces with the jig saw but I cannot make that tool work like the slick videos. I can’’t cut an even curve and I get a laugh over how-tos showing these guys doing scrollwork free-hand. Here is a rig made out of an old drill motor that I’m hoping to use for the saw. But talk about a weird motor. All I have on my premises are small DC motors under 12 volts, or AC at 110 volts.

           This motor sparks like crazy, a characteristic of old carbon brush models. You can see the sparks wrapping around the commutator but no well thanks to my cheap-ass Vivitar that will not macro. Still, you know which brand of camera is the best? The one that gets used. Which are the best pictures? The ones that don’t live in a shoe box and get thrown out when you die.

           I got some exercise out in the shed and the yard, that did me in for the day. A couple boxes complete and that put me into siesta mode. I did a bit of studying which is 100% of my reading this week. Um, I get a kick out of how many people who waste a lot of time on-line consider themselves computer-literate. I see such attitudes as parallel to people who think they are mechanics because they are good drivers. It works, until something goes wrong, and such driver’s lack awareness of what a car should or should not do.

           If there is anyone out there who thinks they know a lot about computers, or really anything, here is a video by [the lovely] Laurie Kirk concerning a topic I first studied in 1982, when relational databases were still in their infancy. She mentions FPGA at around the 40-minute mark. Oddly, I learned of Laurie because I was jealous of her work. How on gawd’s earth could somebody her age have access to gear and experience that I could only dream of?
           Then I discovered right out of school she scored a job with MicroSoft.

           And for the reparations crowd, that’s the people who want to pay reparations, only with other people’s, here’s the controversial sneakers ad. The company had to take it down because of all the implications being read into it by the lower orders. The ad was a dud to start with, but this version traces out what stupid people see. I figure anybody reading this blog would need at least some help with that.

ADDENDUM
           Having a mind for statistics, I clicked on the A.I. button that said data “study”. My eye, it was some queer university prof not realizing he was on about basics. I watched the whole hour and I’ll sum a few things for you that have nothing to do with A.I., but you should spot the connection. Take any incredibly large collection of data. Say, people’s phone calls recorded and sold to Google. Picture the data as existing in a great huge box. Okay, now imagine you draw any straight line of any orientation that divides the box roughly in half.
           Now compare the two halves. You will always find similarities and differences. If you zoom in or out, you will find even more. A classic example is the red ball and blue ball 50/50 mix. If one half consistently has more red balls, you can predict the color of the next ball. No intelligence required. How is this different that statistics? Because stats have a universe.
           That is, the balls are chosen from a fixed batch. If there are more red balls, the next is likely to be blue because, without replacement, it must be chosen from the other half, which by definition has more blue balls left. A.I. is largely drawing huge numbers of those straight lines and after enough iterations, seems to eerily predict the outcome. I intend to look into this further.

Last Laugh

September 19, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 19, 2025, here’s Mitch.
Five years ago today: September 19, 2021, Chinese stopwatch.
Nine years ago today: September 19, 2017, useless circles.r
Random years ago today: September 19, 2007, remember the Woodbine?

           These are the two routers with missing caps. Easiest to see is the one on the left that should have a large yellow-striped plastic cap over the expose spinning tab, the one used to stop the spindle when changing bits. This was the original “toothpick” router from 2003, it is over powerful so I will set it up as a semi-permanent millwork piece. Hey, I have all the box-making tools needed for that endeavor.

           My focus is still fixing my clothes dryer. It gets much more use since my stay in Miami altered by body chemistry. It’s not a bad change, but I now perspire twice as easily. I don’t like having to peel my t-shirts away, type of thing. And that hint of caramel, I notice it.

           Today, let’s take it in two stages. Why? Because I intend to visit the old club for their going-out-ot-business party. That will require some energy, plus I’d like the latest gossip. By now Kooters, which I estimate is pocketing $1,000 per day, has looked the joint over. Somebody knows something. I missed some good shots due to a faulty SD card, We have that varmint in the kitchen, or possibly more that one. See addumdum. The question for today is will I find that 94” five-rib 1/4” dryer drum belt?
           It’s Wal*Mart time, I have little choice. Get some coffee, remind me. Did you know the big selection of coffee in their aisle is really only about three companies? And the worst brand, Folger’s, has been around the longest. None of these brands are the original coffee companies, all have been bought out by conglomerates for their advertising an brand-recognition. Folger’s packaging clearly avoids any mention of grind date, altitude, or country of origin. These are what you need to know if you really enjoy your coffee.
           And read the ingredient list on any flavored junk. If there are only two ingredients and the first one is “coffee”, that means it can be only 51% coffee. There is no quality control for the other 49% and many brands use fillers such as chicory, soy, wheat, barley, wood plant fibers, and even the ground up coffee husks. Watch for carmelized sugar additives, it usually means there is corn in your coffee.

           This is interesting. In 2024, the EU put an upper limit of $10,000 for any cash transactions. Now they are shutting down the ATMs. How much longer, folks? Like in America, they swear they won’t ban cash, but continue building the framework to implement it. On that note, I fell asleep until noon, and now I have to get downtown or tomorrow will be a nothing day. And I managed to lose my foot-long drill bit. And remind me to pick up some Tite-Bond III. Then get back here for a nap. Or two.
           Another major corporation pulls operations out of California. Seems it is happening every other day. I don’t know the corporate name but they are the ones who make Santa Rosa packaged food. Satellites show nearly half of Cuba went dark as the power went out.

Picture of the day.
Restored log cabin wall.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Now we know, Wal*Mart no longer sells fan belts in the stores. Order only, and the appliance store over in Bartow is closed on weekends. Good, tells you it is a family business. And guess which belt both Lowe’s and Home Depot are out of? Think I’ll cannibalized the dryer from Tennessee, since I never did find the part to make it work and these days nobody will buy things that need even a minor repair.
           It was mid-evening before I headed down to the old club for the farewell night. And the place was packed with most of the old regulars. From the days when it was packed every weekend, the exact crown that moved on. There was also a large contingent of an entire later generation who sang along to songs I never heard of. With over 40 singers on the list, I was lucky to get one tune in.
           This video is hard to see and harder to interpret, I’ll explain. I normally show up late, as was the case tonight. So I get a chair way in the back, and this is how crowded the place used to be every weekend. The new Karaoke lady does not announce who is after next up, so it can take a while to wade through the crowd when called and you don’t want to miss your turn. If you look closely, you can see the “hand up” local signal that the singer is in the house, wait for him to get to the stage.

           I got in one tune, however, it was quite the tune. Brought down the house. Another noteable aspect [for me] was my subtle effect over all this time. I was an on-off patron for ten years and my influence on the presentation and song choices was everywhere. The staff and jockey are new so they saw nothing, yet it was conspicuous enough. Tunes copied right off my favorites list, including my original Karaoke hit, “Tequila” (complete with the joke about “always forgetting the words” and the undeniably copycat tactic of not looking at the screen).
           Funny thing, I can see Elliott reading this and denying it all. But that’s his nature [to say] “nobody is that great” and it must all be braggedocious imagination. The real telltale sign was that every singer who did what I just said was somebody who has repeatedly seen my show in the past -- but did not do these things before. Explain that one, Elliott and Billy-Bill. What’s more is I am not comparing because I myself have copied [others], rather just pointing out the degree tonight. And now it is all faded to history. (Mind you, I did not copy so blatantly in the same town and without adding something.)

ADDENDUM
           It’s either a small raccoon or an immature possum. If a possum, he’s been hit twice by the rat trap and knows to avoid it. I had set the game camera up over two nights, since the critter can get up onto the stovetop. I have to scrub it before each use. And there is a second critter, light enough to nibble at the bait without setting off the trap. Probably mice. The point is, I set the game camera up two nights in a row and got nothing. The SD card is swapped out, we shall continue until we are rid of this pest.
           The rat trap won’t catch a possum, but it will make his nose pretty sore. I bolstered today with hotcakes for breakfast, but had to make a management decision. Do I make up treats fro the birdies with the batter-splatters, or bait the latest trip? The trap won. The critter is large enough to get out of the rat trap—and do it silently enough I don’t hear a thing.

Last Laugh

September 18, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 18, 2025, circuits, mushrooms, Raselhague.
Five years ago today: September 18, 2021, 71.
Nine years ago today: September 18, 2017, injectors, $550 each.
Random years ago today: September 18, 2006, school boards suck.

           England has told Apple to hand over their encrypted iCloud data, Apple says it will never allow such a thing. I side with Apple, it may be the only thing they’ve done right in thirty years. It’s 5:30AM and pitch black. I also side with coffee, soon as I clear a spot on my stove. That’s the best flat work area in my 18-month overdue kitchen these days. Before we get started, take a look at these K-box prototypes.

           These are pretty close to a finalized design. One has a thumb-hole, the other is plain. Both are identical otherwise, with the number of staples minimized to 26 per unit. The decoration says “Valdosta Limes” because that is what had last been test printed by the laser.
           The other box picture this morning is the production run so far. It shows the boxes can be turned out consistently and inventory can really “stack up” quickly. I need more supplies, slate that for this afternoon, it’s a mild day for this early in the autumn, plus I found a 0% Heineken in the fridge to remind me really have not gone out much lately. It was ice cold and sure tasted good—even if I’m no fan of beer in green bottles.

           Build time on these is pared to less than ten minutes each, not counting the laser. That step is still considered separate. The boxes are glued with the cheapest possible goop, dollar store white glue. It holds remarkably well but I will switch to Bond-Tite III, because if you price it, the per-ounce is roughly the same.
           The biggest time-saver is the bottom panel. It is one solid piece, cut from the same picket and held in place by 10 of the staples, thus needing no adhesive. Once more, the challenge remains selling this things. I lack the patience, and this is Florida. There is nobody else. The total materials works out to less than $3, but that is still too much unless these sell for at least $10 each. Like the original Z-box, a price of $15 is needed to retail these in the small quantities I can produce, or the game is not worth the candle.

           There are two planned changes, which amount to new prototypes. It’s those routers I dug out of the sawdust last evening. These are a rabbet joint for the end pieces. If that is successful, it could lead to a box made of better quality wood. For the same reason, a second plan is to set another router to make box joints. This is experimental at this time, both routers are technically broken. But, I have salvaged the Tennessee router table.

           Later, the neighbor wants to hold another movie night, so count me in. He prefers murder mysteries, alas I had to ask him to give me a call when they fix a time. I fall asleep easy these days. Long ago he gave me a small compressor to see if I could get it working, but the batteries and contacts had corroded out. I got it working this morning. The innards I mean, it is all torn apart and that was tough plastic that had to be cut away in pieces with a power saw. Hunt around for a picture.
           My real estate filter is again getting hits. I set it for a price drop of $30,000 and now I have to shorten the time frame. It’s picking up $420,000 shacks that dropeed to $390,000 since Oct 31, last year. And that is not what I want. I am seeing price drops of $45,000. But only at the most over inflated properties to begin with.

Picture of the day.
Modern dating.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Here is more plastic. This tube has had many plans, ranging from chicken feeder to terrarium, but this time I finally got it apart as a casing for my long awaited seismometer. This thing may be the apparatus that picks up my last thunk. You see, this morning brought on something most unwelcome—spells of lost balance and momentum. Nothing else changed today except I spent the last six hours stumbling and bumping into things. I’m not dizzy, I feel fine. But I’m not.

           It’s fading by early afternoon so I’ll just jot down a quick description. I walked past books and tools on the table and plunk, they are on the floor. Once or twice, so what, but maybe 30 times so far today. I quit before I break something important. Then I remembered Tampa said sunny all day and I had a sheet of panel wood in the yard. I had to saw it in half. Fortunately, nothing went wrong.
           It feels like my system is wearing in to my new heart. It’s my legs and back that get tired. Am I letting my great new pumper overtax the rest of me, parts which have a lot of hard miles on ‘em. If so, don’t complain, it means they lasted well past any warranty period. But it is getting to the stage where I think something else may be wrong. There is an old saying everyone has a million problems until they become ill. Then they only have one.

           How goes my dryer? I was downtown looking for the belt and came back empty-handed after an hour. There are many belts for the smaller 27” drum but mine is the 29”. On line, I found parts diagrams that showed the entire assembly—except the drum belt. It does not get more ass-clown millennial than that. The Wal*Mart site says they have it, but they always say that.

           For the record, the USA doesn’t want Greenland as territory. The issue is to not allow other countries to set up military bases there. Such as China, which is now supporting the Argentine claims to the Falklands. That one isn’t hard to figure out. And Trump has finally banned the worst of the MSN from the White House. Unable to move much, I thought to watch a documentary on the T-34/85.
           This is the Soviet tank with an upgraded turret and the new A.I. schematics that expand these are incredible. Instead, I found a movie titled “T-34”, which except for the “evil nazi” stereotyping, is not a bad production. I learned nothing new from the documentary, but such a video was unheard of until recently.

ADDENDUM
           A judge has allowed a doctor to sue individuals who were hiding behind a “medical board” shield, a perpetual problem in America. They suspended her license for “COVID disinformation” and now she can get them personally. As it should be, none of this “just doing my job” when it is a flagrant abuse of people’s rights.
           Legal wording is unfortunately a matter of interpretation, or so society’s losers would force us to believe. To me, "shall not be infringed" is pretty clear. Here is the disclaimer on my boxes. “Item is ornamental. Suitability for any other purpose is neither expressed nor implied.”

Last Laugh

September 17, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 17, 2025, anti-tariff shipping fees.
Five years ago today: September 17, 2021, more workspace.
Nine years ago today: September 17, 2017, I bought a car.
Random years ago today: September 17, 2011, privacy is absolute.

           Welcome to Millennial-Land. An Austin rider got taken on a 90-minute city tour in his A.I. taxi, charged him full price, and would not stop for a bathroom break. It’s Redmond all over again, where they know more about what you want than you do. I see women at York College are complaining about not enough protection from the police they voted to defund. (Besides, educated, strong, independent women don’t need men.)

           This is the dissembled dryer drum, hard to see in the long early morning shadows. I beat the heat and got the pieces ready for the new belt and reassembly—provided I can find a belt. I was correct, go on-line and there is not mention of Series 90 belts unless you order them with shipping from some specialty stores at $25 a pop. Seems everything is a swindle on-line.

           I took a close look at that sorry-ass belt that was on there, thinking it maybe had already been repaired once. Nope, the machine screws were factory new and painted in place. Kenmore really did make this piece of shit. The belt is stamped “Made in America” but bears four numbers, none of which are the length of the belf, which is 94”.
           Thanks, Vivitar, I could not get you a good shot of this terrible product. I tried to cross reference the numbers on-line and came
up with nothing. Remember what I said about the Asshole Age, you see, if Kenmore printed the size, somebody for sure would find a cheaper, better belt that is locally available. Can’t have none of that Boomer do-it-yourself manure going on in Genexville.

           It stayed cool well toward noon, so I did some painting and cut some box plates. Yes, I felt energetic but also know that is not always a plus. So I stapled a few utility boxes together and brought the rest inside for laser work. I wish there was some way to make a little cash at this because a year later it turns out I do not mind the work at all. Today’s fictitious logo was “Valdosta Limes”.
                      We have another varmint. This time I think I know how they are getting in, so the game camera is set up with the trap right on the edge of the kitchen stove. I say possum. Did I mention the neighbor took his dryer to the shop because it would not stop squeaking? This was around a month ago. He got zapped for $675. And the squeak is still audible. It is the drum rollers, they need to be hit with silicon spray, not WD-40.

Picture of the day.
Amish cheese factory.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Here’s the perfect coil for my seismometer, that elusive project I’m looked at for years. There was a website you could load in your location and specify which apparatus you were using. I wonder if it still there, did you know it takes three operating locations to pinpoint a quake? I’d like to see that in action. The shock waves do not travel in straight lines. The principle of the device is a shell sturdily attached to the ground. Inside, there is a magnet on a sting, handing above a coil.

           When the ground moves, the magnet stays still, inducing a current. I’m thinking after that, the process is much like doing a celestial navigation fix except there is no North Pole. The transformer is not used as is, I want only the side with the most windings after I take it apart.

           But not today. That dryer drum had to be lifted just enough to clear the rollers. That sapped me, and it is not heavy at all. By now, I should be well along. This correlates with my appetite, the more tired and activity makes me, the more I gain a yeaning for “grain” foods. Bread, pancakes, muffins, biscuits. I thought at first it was psychological since that’s what we got in the hospital. Nope, it is real and I just finished a bowl of cereal in the middle of the afternoon.
           I’m even too tired for coffee, so let’s see what news interests me, if any. McDonald’s stock in plunging, as expected when their prices skyrocketed. Over $4 for a shake worth maybe 50 ȼ. Paramount studios has had it with California, taking $20 billion a year in revenue with them. And over 50,000 jobs. Georgia’s youngest mayor, a black, made it almost ten months before being charged with fraud. Kamela, a sure loser, is eyeing the Democratic nomination for 2028. Why? Because her name is consistently on top of a list—of nobodies. I read that the word “Czechoslovakia” in Russian is slang for “doormat”.

           Later, a cool evening had me in the shed, where I built two K-boxes, the biggest and latest design, purposely using up all my large pickets. These boxes are big enough to prop the laser on top. They can be constructed outside and brought in for decoration later. While out there, I dug out the two “broken” routers and blasted then clean. One is the original “toothpick” router, which is very powerful. That’s because when I bought it I had no idea about what was what. I worked a construction site at the time, so there was nobody to ask, if you get my drift.
           The other is some kind of super-high-speed, both tools check out fully. They are missing plastic housings but I’ve required them to spec and are destined for table work. One to rabbet my boxes, the final design concession, the other to see if I can make box joints. Why not? I also did some design work on the L-box. It is too narrow on the ends for a thumbhole. They do look excellent with knobs but they are a thirsty stain.

ADDENDUM
           We know what the Arduino does when a one-byte counter goes past 32,767. Pretty much nothing. The program keeps on running and the counter drops to -32,768 and starts counting toward 0. I was up late and saw it, but recorded it anyway. If there’s time, I’ll show you. I left it running. Watch closely, the picture is moving.
           And nine years ago, for the first time since around 1987, I bought a car. I had not driven in 14 years (a car, just motorcycles) and had lost my driving “muscle memory”.

Last Laugh

September 16, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 16, 2025, Jack, the dodo.
Five years ago today: September 16, 2021,only two breaks.
Nine years ago today: September 16, 2017, the panic aisle.
Random years ago today: September 16, 2015, their own kind.

           More year-end planning says times are going to change for the worse, and millions of retirees are going to get caught empty handed. One Catch-22 is that although there may be some inadequate provisions made for them, it won’t benefit me much as I have so little in common with them. I picked two programs to look into. See addendum, for “Plan 75”. Meanwhile, let’s go look why that dryer isn’t tumbling. My bath towels are in there and it is bloody summer in this neighborhood.

           By noon, I got around half-way. As usual, there is no on-line video for your exact make and model, and there is always some design change that you break or bend in the process. This was tough and dull work, the appliance has to be manhandled. Maybe that is why I have never met anyone who repairs these for a living.

           This repair means a lot of back and forth to the shed, an excellent workout. I got two more F-boxes finished with stain as I look at what the capabilities of my system is. I cam product the F-boxes in fairly matching pairs, which might sell for $10. It just seems a more logical package deal. The Morse count is at 26,703 so we may get the rollover some time tonight. I wondered why over the years the texts go on about the maximum number, but never say what happens. Sure, the counting hits the max, but does it start over. Does it stall? Does the code keep running? Does an error result?

           Budgetwise, It looks like time to start over again, even if it’s too late in life for me. It’s more of an exercise for me because I know not just the formula, but how to work the formula. It’s covered from many angles in this blog, but let’s see if you remember how to do it, say, over a lifetime. First, set a goal, call it $50,000 invested at 4% per year, paid monthly. Very easy to calculated, but how do the numbers work?
           They don’t, it you who has to have the discipline to leave the money alone and die with it still invested. You only get to withdraw part of the interest after you turn 65, or older as the case may be by 2099. How much do you earn per hour? If you put 10ȼ of it per hour in the band AND left it there, you would be a more successful investor than the next 100,000 people who lack discipline. Run the numbers, that 10ȼ will get you your $50,000 in 50 years, that is, in 600 months.
           The trick is to get that 10ȼ per working hour in the bank without “peeling it off your paycheck”. You need a lump sum, and that lump sum is, ta-da, $7,200. I round it off to $7.500. The rest is the iron discipline to leave it there through thick and thin. Most people never do. I didn’t. But what I did was supplement the account every month with a deposit of, you guessed it, $19.34. (In the end, it was that $19.34 that paid off.) I quickly had $10,000 in the bank, but thanks to Tennessee and a heart attack it is all gone now. And I don’t care.

           Later, I must include that the energy expended just moving the dryer into place was the end of my work day. I’m by no means well-recovered. Once I plunked down for a rest past noon, I did not get up again except for coffee and (much later) a burger. I did have the gumption to get some video work done, this was a sugary moment for me because I used 2026 tech to solve some 1999 challenges. The only easy spot was that the original files had been digitalized, I just forgot because I was, back then, also recovering from basically the same medical procedure.
           And I realized the know-how had gone full circle. Nobody today who knows damn well all you do is click a couple buttons will ever appreciate the ground that had to be covered. (Nor realize that also prevents him from ever producing anything original.) In 2005, it took an hour for me to create 240 seconds of video. Now, anybody can do the opposite without ever knowing what was lost to make that happen. Mind you, that is why I still laugh when I meet so-called computer experts today. They may know their own software, but experts, they are not.

Picture of the day.
Snap Specs, $2,195.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           While not great, there is some slight good news from Tennessee, let’s just say an obstacle has been removed. But good news is so rare, I call it a victory. I repeat my ancient saying that almost every problem in my life has been from people who want me to do things their way without paying me for it. This requires them to set up an entire system of coercion, so yes, I read more into slight successes against such things.
           I’m having fun going through some old digital renderings of videos in 1999. I found the disk in the shed while looking for a camera driver. These must have been made from my old Parallax gear as this technology did not exist for what I’m posting, if you care to link to August 1999. There seems no theme to the photos, so I’ve divided them into logical clips. All I recall is I drove east for seven days, stopped, and got a job the next day.

           This brings back memories. It would be hard for anyone today to appreciate the effort needed to commence this blog back in early 2005. That was near the time of my second heart failure and I wanted the world, or some part of it, to know my story. There was no A.I. back then, no training manual, now youTube how-tos. And same as today, absolutely nobody with a clue. It all had to be learned from scratch, which is why I captured this still. It shows a fraction of the needed research—and that is when the original Argus 1600 appeared for a moment on one video, see pic. Now I have a date [for this recording], and it was January 2, 2005.
           A fraction, I said. Each required skill or step came with it’s own 200-page manual. My gear could only edit files on disk, so that had to be learned without help. You can see my voice recorder and notebooks, all needed for the most basic video work of the time. That’s the Argus that took 26 pictures and the first digital camera under $200 (I think that was my target price on that) and I found this [camera] on a pharmacy sales rack. Like it was a toy or something. It also took short videos, I would love to someday find that disk.

           This camera is what brought this blog into its current format. Before this date, any digital pictures are injected. It required several days of intense study plus trial and error, but I believe was only a few days later I was finally able to include pics from the same [posting] day, something that seems trivial now. At the time, the Hippie and I decided to check out the possibility of using this new technology, new in that except for the uptown sellers, who knew less than I did, nobody had used it around here. Digital recording and DVD movies were largely something you contracted out.
           Like any such project, the other guy was all talk. And of course, thought it was easy and I was wasting time reading the user manuals. In the end, as ever, I did 95% of the work, so he’s booted off the list. However, once I had covered the entire task, from learning what to buy, how set it up and use it, then learn to work the cameras, both pre-edit and post-edit software, and product the finished project, I hardly needed any help, or criticism, from the computer dumbo gallery.

           It is recorded elsewhere, but that first job in 1999 paid $12.50 per hour, as much as the phone company I had recently quit. I wound up staying in North Carolina for the next five months. That was the same pay as I got after 15 years at my career, and all I ever heard from that company is that I was overpaid. I wrote it all down somewhere.
           These are essentially my family photos, and I’m publishing them so they don’t eventually get thrown out in a box like everybody else’s. Several videos seem scrunched together as my Parallax gear did not like to top and start. So each video is the full 47 minutes and that’s how long it takes to preview. The speed controls do not work, nor any playback settings. So the pics from 1999 took six years to adapt to what appears today.

ADDENDUM
           Food. It has tripled in price and will get worse. Gas is $9 in California, but they deserve it. Like Canada, put a third of your population on welfare and sooner or later the taxpayers give up. The neighbor gets Meals on Wheels, which struck me odd because he has more than once let it slip he has $2 million in the bank. But that is America, welfare eligibility is based on income, not wealth. One’s house, car, investments, interest, and inheritance are not “income”. I do believe his only income is Social Security. He could get food stamps if he wanted.
           I don’t want any free help, at this point it is too “expensive”, but I’m not 75 years old yet. When I do, I will have Plan 75 in place. By legally paying $800 per month rent on this cabin, I qualify for a number of programs. I’ve never asked the neighbor about Meals on Wheels, but occasionally he mentions some of it is pretty good. However, I am put off by the programs emphasis, not on food, but who at age 60 are already homebound, companionless, and “struggling with isolation”. I don’t readily care to be identified with people who own several vehicles and houses, but get their food from a soup kitchen.
           People with $800 phones, Toshiba laptops, seven pets, and $240 per month TV bills are not my idea of who should be getting free help from anyone.

Last Laugh