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Amazing action scenes: Infinite (2021).

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September 26, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 26, 2025, he’s always golfing.
Five years ago today: September 26, 2021, WIP
Nine years ago today: September 26, 2017, WIP
Random years ago today: September 26, xxxx, WIP

           Do you know what a router plane is? A hand-held tool that chisels out hinge mortises, the cutouts I now make with a chisel. I’ve noted some chisels are better, so I looked at this tool because it looks like perfection. At $416, I would hope so. Hand me my chisel. By the way, nice box. It’s still pre-dawn and all I want t do today is build boxes, some special odd sized for some of my lesser used tools, like the Lucida (which I find difficult to work). Buoyed up by not having to spend $1,100 on the van transmission, we are happy this morning.

           Aha, Gulf overcast means a cool day. Later, I was several hours in the shed and we now have a box for my red floor jack, or shop jack, whatever. I cut the blanks for other boxes, but today was for my tools and instruments. For example, the Lucida drawing tool, which I have yet to put to the test, comes with a ridiculous drawbag. Difficult to carry it would bang against everything you stroll past.
           This jack box was a challenge in some ways, and I left it big enough (I think) that a tire iron will fit in diagonally. If not, I’ll cut a hole. One of my prize drills from 2014 had given up. That irks me because they have perfect storage and are not that much used because each has one standard bit. The jack box rivals some of the bigger boxes I’ve built. Using my early technology, boxes above 12” in any dimension use screws. The screw shanks are always the next size up from the recommended, with pilot holes to prevent cracking.

           I’m back inside running the laser, noticing that due to my flu, I’ve used up all my ginger ale. Big deal? No, but it’s an event not as infrequent as before, so I must report it. The undocumented life is not worth living. Here’s a picture of lunch, that’s an Angus beef pattie in the pan, I’m no longer fond of ketchup.
           ’ve misplaced my glue dip and can’t find my 18V drill. They are around, but waste time. This “memory loss” is nothing compared to others, at least I have a system. There is rarely any panic or running out. Any system is better than none, especially when you have to work next to such people.
           Kind as they are, I’ll have to ask the lumber people to let me again choose the pickets myself. They got the straight part, and no knows on the edges, but there is more to it. Some of theirs had high moisture content, split near the ends, edge discoloration, and things they could consider, like a mar in the wood right where the laser logo would be zapped. To keep them happy, I’ll give them each as small unique gift if only I could think of something.

           Here is the “jack in the box” without the lid, which has to be precisely made. This style will have a rope handle, possibly two, it is not meant to be portable. More like transportable. Y’know why this isn’t mu favorite picture today? Because everybody will look at the jack first instead of my lovely, careful, and practical work on the box. Sigh.
           Lovely, it did stay cool way past noon. I’m now inside with my laser, cooking up a couple fake boxes, and then two button boxes. This is the third time I’m tested resting up before any chores rather than after, and it seems to be a better way. I’ve used the laser so much it has become commonplace, like just another printer, I don’t even think about it. Totally routine.

Picture of the day.
French pastry chart.
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           Here is your mystery object of today. What is it? Not the background, but that thing sticking up in the middle. I’ll be nice and just tell uou. It is a small box being painted green resting on top of an old overturned coffee can, which is in turn capping an old metal fence post. It’s a great way to spray paint because there is 360° access and things dry fast in that sunny spot. We’ve earned a nice lunch, how about a cheeseburger deluxe on a Kaiser. Good,.wit some beef now back on my diet, no sense living on pudding alone. The Reb, who can see items on my budget, thinks that is hilarious. I say that anesthetic warped my taste buds.

           Let’s grab coffee and the news. Once more politics crowds out all, but the presence of alternate news sources is really put a crimp in the Democrat pre-election antics. They post a list of promises Trump never kept, but within minutes somebody is posting list of which Democrats voted to block each one, including their phone numbers. When they try the old gas-prices trick, the Biden prices appear right away. Remember his $8 per gallon? They were counting on you having forgotten.

           Another weird platform is the ever-louder left saying the number of queers and trannies being elected is a sign of their acceptance as “normal”. Nonsense. Most people are comfortable enough to just want to be left alone, so it is the self-absorbed jackasses who get into politics.
           I was partial to the idea of going out, a rare nice Saturday, but my sore throat got progressively worse until I could scarely swallow without making a face. It’s the ordinary flu, I’ve had it before. I choose to stay put so it’s not like I’m dying. And what is this glue dip I mentioned? This is to address the problem of my glue joints where a crosscut meets the flat surface. It soaks up all the glue. I’ve seen how others apply a layer of glue and let it dry to seal the ends.

           That uses a lot of glue. But, I drained all my old glue bottles into one and found it makes a nice paste in which to dunk the ends. I don’t know if it works and that was to be tested. Given enough coffee, it will turn up. Note to myself, is that not around the 15th item I’ve lost track of in this manner?

           Here is my doorbell back on the bench for repair. And that is part of the challenge—it works on the bench but not on the wall. Applying a little robot club savvy, I quickly found the issue. See that resistor, the grey rectangle leaning at an angle? Was only letting 1 amp through, I needed 2 amps.

           Yep, I stayed home and watched some tutorials on A.I. Most of it appears to be text, modeled on millions of recorded sentences via cell phone technology. The aspect that most resembles what I want is called “long document preparation” or similar. It’s already having the same negative effect as other millennialware. Designed to make tasks simpler, it creates a whole workforce of people who use it to make things more complicated to save their jobs. Expect documents of extraordinary length with a year or two.
           Over the years, you’ve heard me mention public and private key encryption. It is formally known as RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) and has been the standard for decades. This is the system that uses factors of huge prime numbers and takes forever to crack. Until now, it seems. In a difficult-to-read Ars Technica it seems somebody has spotted a pattern. Really, a pattern?
           If certain parameters are known, there is now a process that predicts the private key without going through all the factoring. This is further evidence that quantum computing will easily crack the codes, but also provides for new algorithms that will eliminate those patterns. This, by the way, is the basis of the big stink over in Europe against the Apple cloud. It also gives you some indication how important phone tracking of your identity is. Apple’s Passkey is the same as the other cloud systems—except the Apple key does not require user identification. And that is really what the Eurocrats are going ballistic about. Your identity is more important than your data.

Last Laugh

September 25, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 25, 2025, one size bigger.
Five years ago today: September 25, 2021, the last low prices.
Nine years ago today: September 25, 2017, Palm Pilot sux.
Random years ago today: September 25, 2009, emptiness illustrated.

           I was up late watching A.I. generated documentaries. They are pretty damn good and, in a personal preference, they blast a lot of second-generation youTube junk out of the water. One primary dislike of mine was narrated stills posing a videos and lack of a way to filter them out. Videos like Blue Paw, while still “cartoonish” are often as good as the million-dollar productions.

           Check back in a day, as I test drive the van. It seems okay, but we fixed the problem, not what caused the problem. My voice is gone, definitely the seasonal flu. The Reb called, all is quiet but is that a good thing? I baked apple muffins and wrote letters and e-mail. Can’t get lighter duty than that around here. My inability to see objects on end three feet away is now definite and permanent.
           I took the day off. Shopping and nothing, the way they sell you retirement. They lie.

           [Author’s note: as usual, when you see a dumb video like this it means something else is being shown. Why it’s a dumb picture of me going in and out the kitchen door. Or is it? The game camera got left on facing this angle and what you are looking for is how that back wall is till torn apart from all the wiring last year. The lower half of the wall is bare to the studs.
           This means there are several entrances for more varmints and I believe we have another possum. They are sluggish and don’t wreck stuff like rats, but they carry hanta virus and cannot stay here. Tomorrow, I’ll bait the Hav-a-hart and see what we catch. Right now, it is small signs like a tipped pot lid or a seed husk. But he’s there.]

           I’ve got enough pickets to last the month, it’s neat because the staff has learned to save the good ones for me. One of the cashiers is a former respiratory nurse. She has the same flu I do, although she is a believer in COVID. She reports the symptoms last 20 days, which is not very popular with me (my usual bout is 10 days). I drove the KIA into town and now I have $13.51 left in the bank. Relax, I’m used to living small and have all the coffee and pudding I’ll need for a while.
           It’s activity and I pre-empted the expected fatigue, snoozing away. But this flue decided to give me a rough time, Over the years, we talked about phased array radars, which can be aimed by electronically using thousands or millions of tiny dishes, instead of one big one like your old satellite dish. The ultimate use today is Starlink, which uses SpaceX rockets to launch the hundreds of satellites need for coverage.
           I’ll give it the quick description. The Starlink satellites are much closer to Earth, but you need more of them for coverage, as they are not geosynchronous. They orbit horizon to horizon in around five minutes, during which time your phased array “flat dish” picks up the nearest ones. The satellite then beams a laser to another satellite above a ground station. I was curious to learn those stations each have nine permanently fixed phased array receivers in all the cardinal directions. For all our technology, the ground to space signals are mostly good old FM radio. Lasers don’t like atmospheric moisture. They work best in space and via underwater fiber optics.

Picture of the day.
Near Jasper, Alberta.
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           Driving back home I passed the old club, all dark and the classic neon beer signs in the window are gone. Speaking of gone, have you seen them exodus from California? Anybody with anything going for them is clearing out. And if the Democrats steal November, they bring in the wealth tax. That is the point of no return. It’s like New York and Florida, Wall Street is a joke. There are more traders, brokerages, investment firms, and hedge funds in Ft. Lauderdale.

           The last big companies have announced plans to leave, probably to Austin. My only interest in California is watching a leftist commie state collapse. Trump scores a big win with the okay to use citizenship to monitor voting. Yep, he’s playing their own game, told ya. The Hildebeest goes bonkers over the CNN White House ban, and for good measure, Trump kicks them off Air Force One.

           Here is the Converse sneaker ad that was doctored to look like a KKK poster.
           The Reb & I talked about A.I. for most of an hour. It is well-known in progressive, modern States like Florida, many retirees discuss such leading edge topics in quite some detail. After all, nobody wants to wind up shuffling around a rehab clinic like a zombie. I described the videos I had seen and the impressive quality, but also how they never missed a thing. II used the T-34 tank documentary as an example. You could read for a lifetime to find the Soviet slang terms for the view slit protectors, and the plate to rest the track pins. A.I. did not miss a thing.

           She reports there are some books and booklets appearing the are the same format as the Twins. Remember them? Back around 2020 we bought a lifetime membership in their publishing system. But it turned out to be just as much work and the killer was it involves recruiting others to do the work for you. Yes, the work must still be done, and if you have ever tried to find good reliable workers, you’ll know why we did not pursue this.
           However, she goes further to note both the Twins have wives and she recalls their maiden names. These are “too similar” to the new company that is cranking out these new publications. I’ll tell you what the decision was here, but first, a reminder that there is absolutely no way to get any good advice that isn’t couched as a lame sales pitch. Every Zoomer wants money, no Zoomer wants to do any physical work. I understand, in a way. There are no “real jobs” left and they are surrounded by people making money off others without working. But it was no different fifty years ago.

           It’s like this. I looked at the A.I. job ads and the various software options. I even managed to sit through the lecture by Anthropic’s Lupinski, no mean feat. Trust me, this lady is no programmer. But she does exhibit a grasp of how Claude works—and that is as close to any useful information I was able to find. My thinking is very linear at this point. What is the number on problem with publications this century? Content. A million products covering the basics, but no depth.
           I’m speculating, but how did that A.I production on the T-34 get so complete? Blue Paw Print (youTube) is producing these remarkable videos. But it is all material scraped from huge data files. Nothing original. The concept kicked around today is what could this Claude to with something this is original—like this blog? Most of the A.I. material out there is one thin thread topic each. This blog contains hundreds of similar or better threads.
           For example, I’ve tried to go through the material and find all the mentions of, say, song lists, or travel tales. Impossible, I cannot do it. But maybe Claude could?

Last Laugh

September 24, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 24, 2025, I know 10 tunes.
Five years ago today: September 24, 2021, fake & prepared.
Nine years ago today: September 24, 2017, Rick got 4 years.
Random years ago today: September 24, 2013, 54 mph to Colorado.

           We got the second mystery critter. A juvenile rat, some typical Florida species. You can see him in the addendum, this was one busy day. By my standards, anyway. After a sober assessment of the cost on towing the KIA to the shop, etc, I talked to Howie and we fixed it. This was a big job, again that cap is a special bolt and we had to buy an adapter kit, Shown here is the filler cap that had to come off. It did not get that clean and accessible by itself. The battery is removed and a space cleared, Yep, this cap was half the work.

           An ordinary wrench that is big enough is too thick walled to fit in that tiny gab, if you can see it. We wound up getting a special set of adapters. We got that sucker off. This was no picnic. My logic was direct, I was wearing out my backup vehicle and this special transmission fluid did not seem to justify the expense for a vehicle that might not be repaired by that.

           I had a gallon of quality fluid, so try that. If it works, I save an expensive tow and time in the shop. The KIA is 15 years old, I will know right away if the fluid is the problem. Taking that cap off voided any coverage but there is no time for that any more. Pouring it in there took 15 minutes. But in addition to all the other similar periods, the Sun got high and fierce on us. The picture with the hood up shows how that is the hottest part of the yard just before noon. We persevered.

                      The repair took three trips downtown for supplies, during the waits I got some yard work out of the way [rest of sentence lost]. Last evening, the neighbor gave me a loaf of Sara Lee, which I never buy, but it is primo for French toast. He gets it from the wagon but can’t eat it, so that’s win-win. The strain of this repair job will have me inside most of the remaining day and I stocked up on coffee y’day. There is a method to the goings-on around here.

           Howie is now stocked up on excellent work boxes and who remember that painter’s pole that fell off a truck in Tennessee? I used it to clean my gutters and valleys, but at 16 feet fully extended, it was overkill. So I gave it to Howie. When he’s at his tractor shows, he has a stand that coverts it into the highest flagpole at the fair. There you go, I would never have thought of that.
           Food mention time, good, because for once this gave me a real appetite. I was late at the market last day and all the economy chicken was gone and I never did much care for the breasts. So it was a triple serving of rice (currey, ginger, garlic) and sliced pork sautéed with onion, celery and peanuts. The recipe you’ve heard of time-to-time in this blog. Could be Thai, could be Cantonese. This is the best sticky rice from the last trip to south Florida, it has a different cooking aroma, if you know what baharat is, but very faint.

           Remember a couple years back I mentioned the guy who was building private phones? No tracking, no nothing. I forget what happened but I did try to contact him. Well, today I saw his website Its Mark37.com, and I guessed right about the prices. Over 1 thousand each for the good ones. And the way cell tracking works, both parties must have one for a secure link, so your first call will cost you $2,500.
           Remember that Karoke last Saturday? I did not lip the mic, I never do, but I caught something anyway. Mild sore throat, nagging cough, but I’ve lost my voice. And I’ve already misplaced my nasal spray. That crap is not cheap.

Picture of the day.
Chateau de Crémat
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           There you have it, the test drive to the Confederate cemetery as also drop-off for our kitchen rat. A feisty one, he was. Wish I was. These last three days have been way over my effort quota. It’s good that I’m happy, I’m heading for the zombie zone, but I’m ready. This is day 238 lf the projected year recovery period. The news this morning from Canada is some guy only 55 fell off a ladder and 12 days later he was euthanized. Folks, get the hell out of there if you can. I will do a power nap and hope when I wake that Elon Musk owns CNN.

           Will I get the usual fatigue, or will my and coffee stave off the iinevitable? Here’s me testing the KIA, smooth and a generation newer than the Hundy. I was driving my backup vehicle into the dirt. It’s fine, but was never intended for that kind of endurance. Back and forth to Miami and Tennessee. Everybody who rides in the KIA remarks how wonderfully new it seems. Yeah, except for the driver’s door handle. By the way, the [Everlast (Wal*Mart)] battery took a charge.
           Later, yep, I’m zonked but not so bad. It’s getting marginally longer each time before I hit the wall. Today would not have been possible with out Howie, as I would not have attempted the repair for fear of doing something ignorantly wrong. He does not work on transmissions, but he’s been involved in the process. My thinking is it ran while low on fluid, so it’s not as fragile as I imagined. The manual says the wrong fluid can eat the seals and the wrong level can pop them. Maybe, but now all I need is the shop to check it, not repair it. And save $1.100. One cannot have a better neighbor than Howie.

           Take a look at the painter’s pole, that’s the yellow thing leaning on the tree. Those suckers cost $50 these days. Hours later, I’m awake, with coffee in hand, so I took another look at Arduino libraries. I’ve used them, but like probably 90% of users, don’t know their contents, intents, or authors. In theory, the library is a piece of additional code you link to that is supposed to take care of some routine. Example is if you program stepper motor, you don’t want to have to “reinvent the wheel”, so you “include” a stepper motor library.

           This instantly ruffles me for a reason I pointed out fifty years ago. There is no way to “encapsulate” all the required files for a given program to operate. The lack of this feature still haunts programming today. They make attempts, calling them “code domains” and “repositorie” but they are all stating the same problem. Do you have all the files needed in one spot? GitHub puts them in a single directory, but I find their format a bloody mess.
           Also, the author of the library can make up commands and there is no easy way for beginners to find either the commands or instructions. I have used them but only for simple examples where the links are listed in a textbook or some other list of instructions. The coders also have a liking for dot notation, which I have never liked. is.fart.notation.brain.dot.a.

           Hinges, I’ve learned to do they by hand, but it’s finicky. I put on a set [of hinges] and could hear a webcast interviewing women who said men don’t approach them any more. It was the “any more:” that perked me so played back the post. The dating game does not change, but things like the Internet can shift the ballast. The host, Jack from Alpha, is not the sort to stilt his material, so I think he chose a fair cross-section of women to interview. And it was a laugh, the point is the same as ever. Ladies, if you want good men, you have to bring something to the table.
           What I see is a scenario where on-line dating has drastically ramped up the danger for men, and women who dress and act like skanks expecting perfection. I watched the full hour and there was not one “lady” there who I would hit on in a club, still the place I meet the majority of women—but remember I’m an entertainer. Lots of men meet women where they work. What I listened for was the women’s perceptions of why men “not longer hit on them.”
           The majority stated men were no longer interested in getting laid. Never thought I’d hear that one. I fully understand the fear of rejection, which is why I don’t fear it. But who can blame these guys, you try once you get rejected, you try twice you get arrested. I guess so, I never ask twice. It was also pretty obvious over age 22 you are dealing with some serious body counts. Gosh, suddenly they don’t want equality any more.
           There is an old saying that women only need three things to be happy. Everything, more, and something else. The message today was that tall, handsome men are the good ones, right? Around half these women were psychopaths. I quit chasing women at around age 26, having by then figured out the workaround. The other half of these women, by age 28, already have over a dozen years of wear and tear. I have not met one decent, respectable, single women in Florida since I moved here in 1999. Far from being fussy, my standards are pretty minimal, but there are some lines I won’t cross.
           This blog has numerous lists of the major reasons I reject a women. Consistently near the top are women who entertain passes while on my time. I’ve never met a single Florida gal with a decent job—most of them turn 40 with nothing. Asking for money will get you the boot—unless you are under 20, I suppose.
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ADDENDUM

           The KIA repair went well enough and the test drive suggests that fluid was the only problem. Double good because I was wearing the soul out of the Hundy. Now I have an evening of take-it-easy, or else. Sure I’m tired, but also impressed what got done this week. I hear Iran has hit the Amazon cloud server in Bahrain, causing “loss of customer data”. Gee, if was a real cloud, that could not happen.
           causing “loss of customer data”. Gee, if was a real cloud, that could not happen. Amy’s Kitchen, that’s the name of the food company leaving California, I could not recall it last day. And here is out little critter who got a ride in the KIA out to the west, where he can start a new life of his own. Even if he did run the wrong way after being released.

Last Laugh

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.
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           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