Authorities say inflation is 3%.
DOES NOT
represent the way the average American lives life.
Tales From The Trailer Court™
Thursday, April 18, 2024
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Authorities say inflation is 3%.
DOES NOT
represent the way the average American lives life.
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
April 17. 2024
One year ago today: April 17, 2023, another generation.
Five years ago today: April 17, 2019, daffodils barely grew.
Nine years ago today: April 17, 2015, maybe once a year.
Random years ago today: April 17, 2008, no more sausage.
What’s this, Brazil is wiping the floor with their journalists, as in seizing passports and assets? Something doesn’t tall, few people in America would have any objection to the entire staff at CNN or NYT being run out of town. For that matter, many want the lot to be hanged, so what if the nation loses the 3 or 4 good ones in the process. Silver stays over $28, will this be the one? Millennial marketing, you search on today’s silver prices and the top ten responses are shit. (Sign up here for daily silver prices, sucker, free membership.)
Nor can beginners be informed that metals are a bad first investment. Buying is easy, selling is fraught with hardships and danger. Do not believe sellers who “promise” they will buy back anything they sell you. (Sure, they will. By check, six weeks later, after your ID goes on a watchlist.) In fact, I advise you to not buy and sell at the same place. Stick with gold and silver. Trying to unload even an ounce of palladium will get your name on a watchlist. Never sell more than 100 oz of anything at once. Buy my book on investing if I ever get it written.
How [without advertising] will they make money? Easy, go get a job. Seriously, there should be either a separate youTube for people who want to watch ads or catalog shopping only for those who want to see it. And as you know, I do not approve of statistics that presume every last person who views something without watching the commercials is a lost customer. I purposely do not purchase products that use intrusive advertising and I believe there are millions like me. Advertise all you want—elsewhere. How about PETA holding that big anti-red meat protest in Wyoming. Nobody showed up. Did you know most Hindus are unaware that Christians are allowed to read the Bible for themselves?
The one that’s tough to judge nowadays is the on-line “sexploitation” scams. This is where boys are blackmailed after being conned into exposing their privates. To me, anybody stupid enough to do that are the same stupid grunts who laugh when old people are taken by telemarket operators. If you are that retarded to start with, you deserve to be taken for all you got. It’s how the roughly bottom half of Amercan society ever learns their lessons.
Something new, canned meat from Lithuania. At the Russian market, I found a can of buckwheat. Always interested in products that wiill keep, I opened it today it was a mixtrure of ground pork and buckwheat. Cooked to perfection, I instantly tagged it “K-rations”, it would make excellent survival fare. If you ignore the price tag, that is, four bucks a tin. The receipt said “tushenka”. This morning found me still flagged, I crawled back into the sack until late afternoon. I highly recommend it, after you fill the birdfeeders, that is.
Beepers are back in the news. A few smart people spot the advantages over a smart phone, but rest assured some millennial will turn it into a $500 device that accepts spam. The article, from the Pessimist’s Archive accurately recounts the “beeper scare”. At the time, most people knew it was not a took of the drug trade, but the loosening of society did let it cause an upsurge in early teen prostitution. I had one for years after cell phones arrived, they could not be traced.
The staff at Tucows.
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This will not do, another day down the drain. The warmer damp Miami weather is sauna-like for the shoulders. Back here, it’s a disadvantage when there is work to do; I’ll get working anyway. Tampa radio, millennials are now being advised to never say the word “yes” on their phones, another indication the world they built for themselves is only beginning to come back and bite them in the ass. Here’s what I got done this afternoon. I finished cutting and installing a large temporary shelf in the red shed lean-to. This is storage for the boxes of tubes not yet sorted. It frees up space in the kitchen.
Opting to not stray far from the coffee pot, I watched such documentaries as I found interesting. One was from Business Insider by this single mother who only dates men are not fathers. It seems the ones with children are sub-par and can’t devote their lives to raising her two sons. In other words, it is okay when she does it, but not you. She also wants a man who both works full time yet stays at home so she does not have to do “the lion’s share” of raising the kids. She’s not gonna make it, is she?
Usually I don’t bother with youTube unless I find an adequate ad-blocker. And it has been a while. Today I ran some searches and has that platform ever gone downhill. Around 80% of the results were not videos, but animations, and no way to filter them out. Even the best productions were sub-par. You ask for a documentary on Rommel and you get a cartoon. Way to go there, XYZers. Now your history is as plastic as your lifestyles.
My search for ad blockers was spurred by rumors encountered last week that youTube was again on a purge. No kidding, they burned right through my ad blockers. It’s like they not only want to force their poop medicine on you, they want to make up for lost time. I’ve tried everything I know and the ads remain, for now I mean. Forget AdBlocker with its fake “free” extention. It’s only free after you pay for it, yay millennials, truth and honesty mean zip to the entitled.
[Author’s note: that last comment has a precedent that I’ll publish if I ever find the paperwork. In the 80s, around two years after starting my chosen career, over a period of weeks I wrote out my reasons for not socializing with my new co-workers. This was my first “civilized” job, prior to that I had worked in mills and factories and forestry camps. And I was unprepared for what today would be called the “entitlment” bunch.
I was a novice at the game with no experience at office politics. But I was quick to notice the way that others around me talked about the job. When you work in a crew, you’d best not consider anything your right. Where I saw that paycheck as my barrier against cold and hunger, I was surrounded by people who’s main concerns were whether it paid enough for cable TV, a riding lawnmower, and a brand new car every three years. And they behaved accordingly.
These people voting themselves $20 an hour and voting away their student loans are no surprise to me. They will get theirs.]
ADDENDUM
unmarried couples on a yacht, I would have to be suspicious that the man disappeared. But the best line is about the navigation using “only” a sextant and a watch. It’s like nobody ever told the morons of the universe that is how it is done. For her next trick she crossed the pond using only a canoe and a paddle. But what one could really wonder about is how anybody on a yacht in 1983 could possibly be “caught” by a hurricane. You know, taken totally by surprise. I read the papers, I mean, and she isn’t reallythat good-looking. Then again, I’ve noticed lots of rich guys with girfriends you just know they are stuck with.
Seems somebody wants to make a movie out of it. Just don’t expect me to have much sympathy for anybody who has the money to sail around obliviously in the empty ocean southwest of California. I got ten bucks says there is no way they earned the money to do that, and my take on income taxes is it is the earning that is being taxed, not the income.
Mental illness makes the news again. Around 1960, the USA closed the mental hospitals. Cruel, said the virtue signallers, let’s scream about the patients and forget what happens to others in society when they are let out. You can surmise I have an opinion on this. I say there are different brands of craziness. And the one the taxpayer should not be funding is anything hereditary. Fund them all you want, but don’t force your neighbor to do it. This is pretty consistent with my take on similar situations. In Nature, the ones who don’t fit are taken out of the equation and that process should not be messed with.
This time around, I see the game plan. Homeless people. If you can classify them as mental, that’s a huge voting block. Folks, it was only in the 1940-1990 era that large swathes of Americans became homeowners, and if forced house prices through the roof. Prior to that, most people did not own a house and millions of people paid room and board. What’s more, they got bey without going on welfare. America has no shortage of AOLs who will bellow about the rights of a minority while ignoring the plight of the less-visible public who they force to pay for it. Look at abortion. I’m not for or against it, that is not my decision to make. But nor should I be compelled to pay for it.
It is unlikely I’d budge on the issue when any defect is hereditary. Thus, families who produce crazy should be held fully responsible for the consequences because dumping the problem on society is a woeful disregard for the safety and hard work of others. It’s the scenario where I don’t have the solutions, but I know which solutions are unfair to people who are in no way at fault. Help anybody you want, the real problem is trying to force it on others. Say, you know who else is back in the news? Miss Moneypenny, from the 007 movies. Now over 80, she is being ragged on for ancient movie scenes with minors. Her lasting good looks are probably all the explanation needed for that.
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
April 16, 2024
One year ago today: April 16, 2023, woring with copper.
Five years ago today: April 16, 2019, not unpacked enough.
Nine years ago today: April 16, 2015, the USS Sitting Duck.
Random years ago today: April 16, 2012, Fiat 500.
Here’s something you don’t see every day. A fancy boat being towed away. At dawn, I was ready to leave when JZ decided the best strategy for now would be to leave town for a few days, maybe a couple of weeks. This makes sense to me, as long as I’m not in the line of fire. It took JZ the usual two hours to pack a suitcase, and we were off to Punta Gorda. He put in $20 for gas so we took the scenic rout via the Everglades. I wanted him to see the new ramps and he was shocked. The south side had been a desertified wasteland before he was born.
Our goal was Harbor Heights, where we showed up three hours late. That’s where we saw this picture, a boat being impounded. The area is prone to hurricanes and they’ve mae a bylaw that you cannot park a boat with any amount of list, even on private waterways. Dead denter of this photo you can see the low, dark towing barge and the oat on the left showing it is distinctly low on the starboard stern. Looks like they waited until the owner wasn’t home for a week and away it went, down the river.
I’ve now met two people who have had the same spinal operation they have planned for me. Both say it was a slow time to recovery but in the end worth it. Similar to my case, they were not in pain but occasional discomfort. One year they said, no lifting at all but report they both did not have to wear the brace more than two months and both said they cheated and removed it so they could sleep better.
We stopped for coffee along the way but I guess we’ve just seen the place so many times the view has only nostaligic value. Remember the days those two sets of biker broads showed us their boobs? That was like, twenty years back. Naples was the same traffic jam it always is but we got through in rather exactly one hour. If Florida is a rich state, it is because of the persistent way old people move here to croak.
Gallium.
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Here’s the strategy for now. JZ is now in Harbor Heights and I may not be present for Earth Day this upcoming Monday. Turns out, except for a loosely scheduled lunch break, there will be little time for Alaine and us to visit. Instead, Cory strung out the big patio umbrella and the four of us chatted for half an hour. There is no getting around Alaine over-protective of others. She now is at the pet shelter three days a week.
The second thing is the property in Harbor Heights, and much of the surrounding McMansions as well, are still under repair. They got a good whalloping from the Gulf hurricane and there are repairs the insurance companies just will not do, such as screened-in patios and garage doors. Cory has build in a sturdier porch from that compressed artificial lumber and finally, the garage door. That explains this photo of JZ & Alaine in my rear view mirror as they unload some work supplies.
That [garage] door took on its own saga for a while. In the end, the sheer expense left it until last, but it worked out. The contractor arrived with only the model that was thousands more expensive, and able to do three or four doors a day by himself, installed it for the price of a regular unit. There’s like thousands of free dollars and for what little I know of metal doors, it looks super. I did work in a wooden door factory for a year before I started at the phone company. I add that I did not see the contractor install the door, but Cory was impressed with the efficiency, which is very difficult to do.
I’m back home and my plan is to do as little as the situation permits. The only thing I’m to lift is my bass. Three pages of medical tests show except for my emergent and predicable “junk food” type II diabetes count, I’m within all regular health parameters. Honestly, that makes re happy if only because it makes me “twice as healthy” as I was overall twenty years since. I got a stern lecture today that I’m not losing weight, in case I had not noticed on my own. I checked my mail and crashed, heavily. The Prez has replied, the kava bar is a go if only for the novelty.
I listened to Maroon 5’s “Memories” twelve times in this trip. Deep listening. No promises, but there is a way to combine that light guitar riff at the beginning a bass line that plays a generic form of the melody line. The concept is from the way Chapman’s “Gimme One Reason” produces that sparse but super-distinctive Blues accompaniment.
Two social media developments since I last looked. One, a rotten Democrat judge has refused Trump time off the phony trial to attend his son’s graduation, which has driven another few hundred thousand Trump’s to Trump. Everything Democrat turns to shit, only fanatics still support the other guy. Did you see that rally he held last week and only 28 people showed up? The second is people who are slandering Taylor. What’s her face, Colbane’s old momma and now that tubby one who tries to look White are saying Taylor is “insignificant”. (Coutney Love and Beyonce.) Pure outrageous jealousy and head-line scrounging. Taylor has something they never will. My admiration.
ADDENDUM
Something has come up and the Caltier fund is put on hold. Nothing is taken away, but for the next few months (anyway) almost the entire Honda money. Alas, you get no details except to say it is one complicated issue that came into our lives and left us little choice. Hey, on the right side, it also puts the lawn mower on hold.
I will know the amount soon and it will be carried on the books as a receivable, but honestly there is very little n either my life or the Reb’s that was ever predictable. We talked at some length over this matter and not only does it bring other plans to a stop, will leave us in a vulnerable condition until August, minimum. Pray let nothing go wrong for that period, but that is a lot to hope for in this country. One parallel is when RofR and I were starting out fifty years ago, we discovered many “American” problems that were only solveable by throwing good money after bad. This time, it is the Reb & I.
Monday, April 15, 2024
April 15, 2024
One year ago today: April 15, 2023, the German Ocean.
Five years ago today: April 15, 2019, east of the mountains.
Nine years ago today: April 15, 2015, “actually knew how”.
Random years ago today: April 15, 2005, at Dania Beach.
One of the worst of days for me in twenty years. I’ll just pass on the events of the day without stopping too long on any one topic. Bottom line is, yes, I have a cracked spine and will require drastic corrective measures, some of which may not be permitted unless I get my weight down more than I’ve ever managed before. My gloom will pass but for now, how about some ancient news revisited? Who remembers the Cocaine Cowboy? Well, he is now dead of rectal cancer and I have no contact for over 15 years, meaning I could (but won’t) use real names. Read today’s addenum.
The clinic kept me until past 4:00PM so I ordered a half-sandwich that was this big, and a strong Russian coffee. The lady brought out the bread, at which time I said wait. Don’t cut it in half, I want the whole sandwich. Surprising myself, I ate that entire loaf myself, ithat’s eight slices of meat and four slabs of cheese. Plus lettuce, tomato, the whole nine yards. And that coffee rarely tasted so good. Yep, hunger is the best sauce.
There will be no more club meetings at Wiley’s Pub. It no longer exists. Shown in tis picture the Russian club, “Vobla Bar”. Some say vobla is a type of preserved fish, others say it is a type of smoked roach eaten in Russia. Take your pick, but the bar has the same atmosphere as all eastern European pubs. Tough-looking and tough-talking crusher type men and a few prostitutes who look just like what you’d see in the movies. Some of them are, I suppose, nice people.
This is around the time I noticed my camera was not taking pictures. I had some 70 excellent shots, including from the trip y’day. The lack of a good quality camera under $100 is plainly the result of manufacturer collusion. And one sign of said quality would be a button, that no matter what the other camera settings, when you press it, it takes a picture. This wisdom has never made it through to the camera giants of the word.
Abandoned fish factory.
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Not only is this camera unreliable, it seems to know to delete the pictures I’d want the most. Here is the only part left of my foot-long hero sandwich. It’s at least a bit psychosomatic, but my back hurts more (it seems) now that they found something wrong and told me. But I’m still doing better than some, even if I did not get out for a cold beer. I had only this bit of bread lef to show for the sandwhich and coffee, which cost me $24. And I was hungry a few hours later. You want to hear why I never go tthat beer? Sure, it went like this.
JZ has no vehicle, but he has a parking spot twenty feet from the building. You might conclude it is logical he would leave that spot free since anybody who visits him or if he needs a lift, that is where they would park, right? Wrong. JZ rented out the spot the next day. So any visitors have to drive up and down that entire parking long to look for a guest spot.
After rush hour, the only such places are a quarter-mile away near the canal bridge. Or you could drive around for 20 or 30 minutes waiting for a guest space to clear. I’ve waited as much as an hour to park at the canal. Then, you are faced with that quarter-mile walk, rain or shine, sore back or not, up to the apartment. At that point, even if JZ wants to go for a beer, it is not going to happen it would never cross his mind that renting that spot isn’t a good idea, much less the thought that it might be convenient for others. It’s just the way it is, wait, there’s more.
Never, in the course of some two decades has JZ ever make any real money renting the spot, even for the going rate of $50 per month. And he knows he’s never been paid more than once. But that fact changes nothing, you still must walk that quarter mile, stopping for a rest every two minutes. Because it works like this. The office has to approve the person who rents the spot, and they will only approve Cubans. When a Cuban gets the spot, after the first month, he quits paying the rent. If you make the Cuban move, or call a tow-truck, or let anybody else park there, he will slask the tires. Again, JZ is totally aware of this, but it makes no difference and it never will, so get walking.
ADDENDUM
Read this ture story. What other blog delivers such goodies if you read enough? The Cocaine Cowboy was, in his later years, one of my customers at the computer shop. He was out of jail by then and rumor is, he was advanced one million dollars by Warner Bros for the rights to his story. He did live in a mansion on the Hollywood (Florida) beachfront. He was a yahoo and I know him through his Russian bride. I liked her a lot, wait while I double check it has been 15 years. Yes, I last saw her in 2007. This is where things get muddy.
There are two departures from the official account, one you’ve heard, the other not so. First, the rumor is that although he was caught with $120 million, he stashed six more bags of money in the swamp. He was supposedly under constant [Federal] surveillance. And his lady had secretly recorded some very nasty, very naughty episodes he had forced her into. Again, this is nothing I’ve seen, only talk. But part of that talk was her hidden tape recorder, which she asked me to digitalize and put on disk. She pointedly said she chose me because she know I would not make copies if asked not to. (That makes me rare in the computer industry.) In the last year before the shop closed for walk-in business, I made six CDs of the material, and yes, I heard many things.
Now he’s dead and another rumor is that his partner, despite all denials, also know where the garbage bags of money were located and turned them over to the police. If so, it was quietly with no media coverage, that is, the cops pocketed the money. Two weeks ago, Fred saw her in the grocery store over on Young Circle. She no longer had a mohawk, was dressed modestly, and said she was finishing taking a course as a hair stylist. Meaning she never saw a penny of that money either. She had promised me a cut if any fame came of it. She would now be over 40 anyway and by the sounds of it still working for a living.
I was sad to hear the Cowboy had died. He owed me $150.
Sunday, April 14, 2024
April 14, 2024
One year ago today: April 14, 2023, $500 max.
Five years ago today: April 14, 2019, JeePee is whistle-trained.
Nine years ago today: April 14, 2015, as Borat would say.
Random years ago today: April 14, 2007, bookstore single women.
It dropped into the 60s overnight and my peach tree stopped growing leaves. That was a surprise, it stayed cold until noon. That means you get more editorial. For music, today’s addendum is a gem. As for gigs, I have us a time slot at a north end kava bar. It’s super close to the Prez’s house. I stopped for a twenty-minute chat with not the gal running the place, but her boyfriend who I instantly spotted was a musician. Here’s the scoop.
Hello from Miami, I did get out of town but a number of hours late. It was and ideal drive, five hours for that three hour drive, one of which is the final 33 miles through town. The delay was a lawn mower, and you get the facts because it was a unique event. You see, before the dog attack last year, the Reb used to borrow the neighbor lady’s lauwn mower. But the metal rotd have made even the lightest clutch too strenuous, and that yard in Tennessee is quite large. By comparison shopping, the electric lawn mowers have doubled in price. Or rechargeable, I mean. Plus the spare battery scam is very well known.
Here’s a seemmingly bland photo but one that goes back a long ways. This is Tamiami Trail, the original road from Miami to Tampa and one of only two southerne routes through the Everglades. (The other is the famous Alligator Alley.) This shows something that was decades in the making, if you look both sides of the roadbed are green. In years gone by, the road blocked the flow of the “River of Grass) to the south side. I have pictures of how that area became a pock-marked arid moonscape.
Then the ecology people had a hand in having a single ramp around a mile long that allowed water to again flow into the area. The catch is it took forever. I would drive that route on the motorcycle, but speed zones, bad patches, aggressive reservation police, and endless construction finally got me taking Highway 27 most of the past eight years. Imagine my surprise this trip to find the ramp complete, plus two more that were little more than pylons last time I looked.
The south side of the road has rapidly turned green again, show even fifty years of drought barely affects Mother Nature. There are futher signs the ramps, around every ten miles, are being extended. Meanwhile the rest of the roadway from Miami city limits to Monroe Station remain as wretched as when I first say them in 2000.
Later,=. Not this Monday, but the following, we are invited to play the kava brewery. It is first-come, first-serve open mic, and the guy says we are welcome to play as long as we want if nobody else signs up. They have a house PA, so all we need is our own personal gear. I’ll clear it with the Prez and let you know. I was also late getting away due to the logistics of getting this show underway. Bill us as the oldest band that has ever played a kava bar in Florida history.
Fort Abraham, N. Dakota.
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My criticism of economical digital cameras proves true again. I stopped in to see Agt. M and family. Now with three sons, the guy is rightfully looks like he has not had a good night’s rest in a while. Ha-ha, but the camera let me down. I lost photos of the guitar, the toys he’s build the boys, and both vehicles he fixed up. One is a Volt (electric car) which I am slated to test drive in around ten days. I took over twenty photos of the motors, batteries, and interiors, none of which turned out. Way to go, Panasonic.
Getting in late, we went over the statements and letter since last meeting, then simple propped up our feet and watched is always-on free TV channels. There was a movie I’d never seen, called (I think) “Buffalo Soldiers”. A lot of Hollywood crap that never happened, replete with portrayals of honor and chivalry that was never there. I have permission to mention the drama. His lady, the one that nobody likes, was been evicted up in Miami Springs. The impact here is where will she live? This place it too small, even if she was able to crash on the old sofa in the living room like I do. I can sleep like a log and the noise from the road past the Mall, I just tune that out.
The simple facts are that he’s got a real problem this time and there is no solution. None. Whereas we get along a day or two, anything even a couple days longer is out of the question. I have no idea how this can be dealt with, but I do know the condo association would also not allow her around. I’ve told you before, she causes trouble everywhere. Stick around to see how this plays out, I’ve told him he can crash at the cabin. That’s 200 miles away. Yes, that is the same gal he has broken up with ten times per year since 1994. (This is not gossip, all of this is well-known to all friends and family, and most strangers within earshot.)
ADDENDUM
How are we fixed for some words on band management? The Wednesday gig was cancelled and we seem to be the only ones who got it figured out. I’ll describe it momentarily, but over the six months, my duo is the only one who got anything out of it, and that, folks, is the difference. Looking at the general reaction, the others are right back where they were in October 2023 and, if the facts were known, that’s where they were in 2003, in some cases 1993. The show was not managed and the people were not managed, simple as that. Such other musicians who showed up did so once each except for the lady who only knew two chords.
The fat-boy had a few flashes but his musical circle was two drinking buddies with the same song list. Yes, he did well at times. My guitarist did attend the jams for a couple weeks after I pulled the pin, but you see, after experiencing proper band management, it’s a chore to put up with the rest. Was the whole jam a flop? It depends. A lot of people were disappointed over showing up to find the show canceled without notice. I think Bradford may have bought one of his expensive amps thinking the show was going to last. They certainly got nothing in return.
On the other hand, my duo emerged from the 15-odd shows a fully experienced and popular show. The exposure is evident in our stage behavior, our song list has been revamped to match audience reaction, and we have the resilience to put on a show even with missing equipment. We probably played more full-time gigs than any of the other regulars have in many years. Musically, many unknowns were covered without the usual grind, such as who sings what, stage patter, and best of all, harmonies which we could not have learned any other practical way.
So, what went wrong? The Prez can joke that we’ve played three spots and “lost” all of them. (Not so, but that is another tale from the trailer court.) We have a solid working band and it was non-music that caused the canceled show. It works like this. For all those months there was nobody in the club until the bum’s rush at 9:30PM when the craft brewery up the road closed. How did things go awry?
The club wanted to get people into that two-hour dead spot, 7:00 to 9:00PM. They didn’t say they did not want any live music later in the evening when the other crowd showed up. My duo was the only part of the sjam with enough material to go past 9:00PM, resulting in many times we were still playing by 10:00PM. Visualize that happening repeatedly. The local guitarists get up in front of an empty house and quickly run out of material. There were rarely more than five patrons present except toward the end. But by the end, as the crowd begins to filter in, the only peeople with any fresh material left were the Prez & I.
See how that works? The crowds and curtain calls invariabley happend after the jam was formally over and only when we were playing. But that is not (as we now know) what the club wanted. More explicitly, it was not what the barmaid in focus wanted. She was not there to see either the evolution of the show, the curtain calls, or the dynamite jams with the mandolin or xylophone. She hasn’t been around for two months and then finds a full show going on that’s now biting into her jukbox time slot. Nor was she present to inform anyone that was not the plan, so don’t go admonishing any musians whose goal is normally to play to the largest group possible.
Saturday, April 13, 2024
April 13, 2024
One year ago today: April 13, 2023, payday @ the mines.
Five years ago today: April 13, 2019, Shazam!
Nine years ago today: April 13, 2015, diverse & equally spaced.
Random years ago today: April 13, 2008, a quiet Sunday.
Good morning, Scotland, where their Paki government has outlawed owning a chicken without a government license. Reverse colonization. I’ was up early testing tubes, and yep, the need testing of the first four chose, two tested bad. It would seem the order of the test is also important, another skill that you memorize. The bad tubes have been set aside to be checked at the shop to allow for beginner’s dumb mistakes. It is a laborious process but I won’t need much more practice. I’ve already picked out the parts where you read the needle and those where you watch how the needle moves. Those small stems on the top of some tubes I’m beginning to suspect are there only for testing.
I do know more than the normal number of people with unusual names, so imaging my surprise to read one of my old flames is mentioned as the mother of some gal who was rounded up in some kind of big police motel raid in Canada last week. What the? I can tell you right off the daughter is far to old and overweight to be directly involved in almost anything. Give me time to check this one out, unless you know many women named Romalia.
Amazon now uses 750,000 robots yet remains the world’s second-largest employer (after Wal*Mart). We found the missing microphones by unloaded everything in the van, see photo. Same old story. The case was placed on the back seat along with all the other gear. Somehow, it rolled off the seat into a trash basket. That trash is paper only and I felt the extra weight as I went through every square inch of the van. I knew there was a gap beside the seat, but it seemed too small for anything like a microphone to fit through.
Andy Young, former senior software engineer at MicroSoft, has recently agreed that after XP, all their operating systems have downgraded performance. This is still shy of admitting they are full of spyware and remote triggers activated by so-called upgades. They know developing one good such program would put them out of business. You know those $9,000 made-in-Iran drones reviewed here last day? They work, in that the Brits are using $35 million-dollar jets to shoot them down.
Growing cashews.
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Dedicate this afternoon to another music arrangement session. Don’t confuse this with guitar practice. It was time for another review which always reminds the few musicians who do it that a plan is also always a set of restrictions. Our song list is geared to a three hour set, but the capability is four hours. This consists of 32 solid tunes and 10 floaters. We barely make it at 32 total, including a few rather shakey numbers. There are tunes like Lambert’s “Moma’s Broken Heart” and Daniels’ “Long Haired Country Boy” that are highly structured compared to average and are very challenging to arrange right for a duo.
Next, I tried to find a picture of a Rolex wall clock. Yes, they make them, starting at around $20,000. No luck, because I wanted one that was not for sale. Why? Because links to objects for sale don’t last long enough to be included in this blog. Hell, regular links fail often enough.
Trivia for today: the minimum toll for a freighter to sail through the Suez Canal is $400,000. Relax, if your yacht is shorter than 60 feet, it’s only $185.
ADDENDUM
Ah yes, the old “cup of coffee” argument. Can you really make coffee at home as cheaply as the coffee shop downtown? The answer is probably not. The coffee shop is probably far more cost efficient. If you include all costs, including sunk costs, setup costs, fixed and variable costs, that cup of coffee you make at home probably costs as much as ten times what you think. Only rich people who have never had to start from scratch think you can make a cup of coffee for 5 cents.
One easy way to learn true costing is to imagine yourself on a desert island, and you want to start a factory that can produce buttons for one cent each. You must pay for everything needed to be brought in from the outside. Chances are it could not be done for a million dollars. Where are you going to get the electricity to run the machine. If you’ve picked out we are talking again about infrastructure, kudos. Infrastructure is why all the money in the entire world can’t fix Africa.
Friday, April 12, 2024
April 12, 2024
One year ago today: April 12, 2023, a psychic twist.
Five years ago today: April 12, 2019, the right company helps.
Nine years ago today: April 12, 2015, yes, I’ve built gears.
Random years ago today: April 12, 2007, Delta with a “duh”.
I haven’t had time to tour the whole yard but the near hurricane gusts did plenty of damage in the neighborhood. The IRS, which I believe is in its death throes with the American public, is certain to turn A.I. on taxpayers. The most likely are the rich at first (who are able to shield income) so there will be no public outcry. But soon enough, they will get a turn. A hearty breakfast has me hopeful I’ve beat this flu or whatever. Today I search until I find that missing microphone case. It also contains a trove of cable adapters I’d hate to pay for again.
Now be fair, how many blogs are going to deliver such goodies? Navigation, band management, and now tube testing in the same location. There are dull moments around here, same as your place. But rarely an entirely dull day like some people I know. How this ties together is that y’day JZ mantioned again he hates putting weight. I think we all hate it but I say get used to it. (I am 61 pounds over my ideal weight where I once considered 15 pounds over to be my max.) This testing box weighs 40 pounds—and I know people that have not lifted that much in twenty years except by accident.
This would not apply to JZ, who is very active, so we were discussing diet. This is off the record, but the moment he’s weight-conscious, mark my words, he’s met a gal. Be patient, he cannot keep it a secret. I got ten bucks says he’s too chicken to just ask her out. How can some dudes be afraid of rejection their whole lives? Anyway, no amount of extra exercise is going to help. Myself, however, I’m gaining hopes my latest MRI tests will reveal something. I’d love to be able to walk full speed again.
For the permanent record, my weight gain since 2003 is NOT accributable to:
A) over-eatingIf anything I have always been a light eater, rarely going back for seconds, and I cut out deserts and sweets forty years ago. As for processed foods, I consume maybe 5% as much as others. I’ve done my own cooking for decades and have not touched many known fat-foods. I eat beef and ham maybe twice a year. While I don’t run marathons, nor do I sit idle on a sofa with a remote. I rarely stay completely still all day for more than a few moments at a time. Playing bass and testing tubes may not be aerobic, but those crates and boxes don’t move themselves. Can you spot the clay turtle in the above photo?
B) processed foods
C) lack of mobility
It says here it will test all TV, radio, hi-fi, car radio, and industrial equipment. Okay. It also specifices a test for tube life expectancy. I like this already. The manual states it will detect “even the slightest problem” and again the similarity to phone line testing is remarkable. The unit further says the meter is so accurate that a screen and a lot of extra controls are not required. I also learned the short test is done first, since it precludes any more tests. I learned a 12AU7 is the easiest tube to test and considered a “workhorse”. More as I read it.
Near Norman Wells, Canada.
(I’ve been there.)
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Colorado got a free show today as a Democrat with the name “Faith Winter”, if you want to believe that, arrived late to a meeting to argue for the opening of a sex offender rehab next to an elementary school while she was drunk. Typically, when exposed, she made a big speech about going to alcohol counselling and headed right back to the saloon. I’m going out to the shed to find lumber to build a nice new house for my favortie box turtle. Without him, who is there to talk to around here?
While I’m not telling the location, here are some facts from a kid who was there so long ago. The hall is six miles out of town, in the middle of nowhere. There had once been a station for wagons to buy hay for the horses, but the railway put that out of business. The building has a new coat of paint, it was forever a dusty brown before. Because of water problems, the inside of the hall is raised a few feet, as you enter those doors you see a flight of stairs. The hall itself is small that it seems fom here, as the first third of the building is offices and storage.
There was formerly a covered porch around those entance doors, but it’s been built up and walled in to what you see here. There was no running water but the toilets were indoor and had to be emptied regularly. This is also the hall you’ve heard me tell had only one light on the stage. A single pull-chain bulb hanging from the ceiling. I had to screw in an adapter and plug in the whole band into that single socket. Two amplifiers, my keyboard, the PA system, and one flashing set of lights. Back then, you could not play the whole band through the PA system.
See that chimney in the back? Also the shed behind? The stage is at the far back of the main building and there was a pot-belly stove. We had to get there and chop firewood to heat the hall up before anybody showed up two hours later. This is not the 1930s, rather more like the 1970s. Of course, there were new halls with central heating that rented for $100. But only rich kid bands could rent those, This hall rented for $15 and the committee, knowing I got no help from family, would let us hold the “dance” first and hope we made enough to pay them. We always did, but I remember times the band made $3 at a time when the downtown groups made $200 easy.
We were all under 14, so had to beg local dropouts like Mike’s brother to help us move our Sears brand gear, hoping they would still be sober enough to help us get it back. We called them “dances” or the town would not allow it and it was these times that taught me how appallingly poor I was compared to other kids. I’d always known my parents never spent a penny on infrastructure but it was these $15 dances that made the lesson just bitter enough that I can’t look at these old pictures with much fond memories.
Later, I read the manual for the tube tester, it will quickly become routine. The box is heavy, not really portable. One same-brand tester was for sale for $310 and this is not a fast test device. Each tube is fitted into the socket and you must wait for it to warm up. I perform only those tests for which there are setting in the guidebook. Then, you just wait for the tube to cool down. I already wrecked one tube. You leave the old tube to cool, thinking you’ll start the next tube, turning all the knobs to the initial test position (looking for any shorts). This lets you forget the first tube and switch on the unit. In this case, I zapped 35 volts through a 6 volt tube. I told you this was fun. And now I know how to make a tube shine really bright.
Silver poked past $29 today but because of the 10% bar charge, I still think $40 is where I’ll get interested. After smoldering for over 10 years, silver is back on board. Let’s hope that curious behavior continues, where each dollar mark brings on a flurry that shoots it past the next one. My latest new venture, the commodity transaction, finally cleared this afternoon. Good thing I keep my own books, since the listing blocked the detail page for Caltier. It shows only the totals and I know exactly the brand of dumb-think that causes web people to make that error. My books are accurate, and now we wait.
Only by luck do commodity funds show any income in the short run. I’ve made the decision to transfer in my stimulus checks, yes, I still have that money put away. Doesn’t everyone? My records show I got $2,400 but somehow that doesn’t seem all of it. Well, no matter, that is the amount I’ll plow into the Caltier Reggae fund. Things are volatile enough out there that who knows what the big money will look to for safekeeping. Let’s hope it is silver. Weird, still no reaction from the big banks.
ADDENDUM
A review of the potential night spots we could perform shows a wasteland in the north part of town. The traffic is always so bad I don’t really know the area and the Internet is not a lot of help. Why? Because their listings are based on ad revenue, not popularity. I think people, especially single men, who go to a pickup joint, fail, and then review the food are sick bastards. I don’t care if the staff is cheerful, I want t know if any good-looking women show up there. Who cares about decor unless it has to do with receptive babes?
As a reward for reading this far, here’s some trivia for your next academic house party. If I had time, I would write a booklet on “why” trivia. Beyond the part the rank and file know, to the reaon for the trivia. Example. Today, many people know that the MicroSoft default font is Calibri 11, double spaced. Yay, good for you, Josh & Tyler. But WHY is that?
The answer is a dork over in Redmond. They know more about what you want than you do, and arbitrarily decided documents after Win 7 would be “consumed” on-line rather than ever printed out. So Calibir was to maximize computer displays. Ah, some say, but the default is now Aptos. That’s easy, once MicroSoft realized Calibri made printouts look amateur, they opted for a more “humanistic” font, proving they never learn from their own mistakes. The correct default is, of course to let the user decide for himself. One can already hear MicroSoft poo-poo that idea.
Thursday, April 11, 2024
April 11, 2024
One year ago today: April 11, 2023, 1/8th speed.
Five years ago today: April 11, 2019, my favprote recycle.
Nine years ago today: April 11, 2015, Archie, my comic idol?
Random years ago today: April 11, 2005, a long entry.
The long-winded Yesteryear of 2005 has an explanation. By April, 2005 I was at the very weakest stretch after my second check-in at the hospital. I could do little else but read and write, two skills that came in handy after all, Ken, Elliott, & Teresa. Another incentive to write so much was the many omens I’d never get another chance.
The latest version of Scrabble, known as Scrabble Together, is aimed at stupid people. Mattel discovered 75% pf people aged 25 to 34 could not play the game without looking up words. Which is borderline retardation. The solution? Dumb down the game. Looks to me like they added twice as many vowels, but then, do public school grads know what a vowel is? The woke version allows people to pick the “level” of English and play as a team instead of competitively. The degree of ignorance in these follow-on generations is staggering.
When it is this windy at dawn, we are in for it. These windstorms are like mini-hurricanes, so batten the hatches. I’m baking ribs for breakfast. A sober assessment of the amount of work put into that jam last evening says time to admit the old gear is too heavy for the job. The PA head is itself twice the weight and power we’ll ever likely need. Remember the Hippie bought that Fender Passport? Well, he did it because it was cheap, but you know what I mean. Anyway in the music business, cheap is just as valid a reason as any.
Silver inches past $28 and no reaction from the big banks. Ycharts display no significant changes in volume for days. How odd? What is going on? Could be they are waiting this one out. I’ve looked at some PA systems, there are a couple candidates. The nearest big store is right across town, an hour each way.
Rumor has it the Paris Olympic swim may be canceled due to “fecal matter” floating in the river. A nation destroyed in one generation without a shot being fired in resistance. Why am I glad I never moved to Seattle in 1999? Here’s group of line dancers from Texax who were kicked out of a contest because their costumes “triggered” some libtards. One in five homes in San Francisco are now bein sold at a loss due to crime and taxes. What’s this? O.J. Simspon is dead? I never heard of him until my late teens when RofR's father mentioned he was a sports star, then nover again until he was arrested.
Caprock Canyon, in Texas.
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And that was the biggest event this afternoon. I’m still deep in fatigue mode, so I got lots of research and reading. My investigation centered on the latest in voice dictation, the software they say will replace typing. My experience with Dragon Natural proved it was much too cumbersome for entering this journal. To be clear, it would enter what it thought you said, but then so much time was needed to go back and correct errors that there was no real gain. It also reacted differently when I was speaking or when I was reading aloud.
Be careful here. There are at least a dozen products that fail to spell out their limitations in a field where many funtionalities overlap. For example, voice recognition is not the same as voice control, transcription, or voice notes. If you want to talk into a device that then types the text for you, the item you seek is called dictation software. You’ll want a standalone (off-line) version that operates in real time, that is, you can instantly watch it type the words right after they are spoken. Yes, I know, in a sane world, you should not have to go through these hoops to get what you want. Oh, and not one of the product pages mention a word about security.
Is there a product that couples A.I. with voice recognition? The system used by my phone chat, I find amazing. Even when I use non-standard phrases, it invariably gets the spelling right. While chatting is not a fair test up against the vocabulary in my blog, from what I see that is one of the few realistic options left to ever have my side of the story published. If I find something, I’ll report back to you within the day, but any on-line apps are rejected for obvious reasons.
Further automatic rejects include phone or tablet apps and anything that requires an Internet connection to function. Also, sheer distrust says no subscription-ware or MicroSoft products. This narrows the field cosiderably. One flag is the claims of the products often reveal that for them to say something, the feature must be missing or substandard in other products. Example, many products say they change speech to text, implying that others do not? How in hell does that work? Am I missing something here?
Arrest the student.ADDENDUM
Git dat boy to an eye doc, fast.
Probably plied him all the fried chicken he could eat.
Was it a school for the blind?
Tell me it was Special Ed.
Scarred for life.
I’m getting hounded for being “too fair” over my assessment of the jam last day. In reply, I will give an alternate explanation that is wrong, but demonstrates that I did consider both sides. Here’s the acerbic view of what happened.
First off, the staff there is in a world of their own. To me, playing the music you want to hear instead of what the audience wants is a mistake if the first magnitude. Yes, I’ve made that mistake myself, but when I was twenty, not when I was forty. Also, the staff is not there consistently or often enough to spot any trends, so every decision they make has elements of short-sightedness.
Fact. My group shows up early in order to play our weaker material when nobody is there. If you’d show up once in a while and check out reality, you’d know this. There was nobody there between 8:30PM and 10:00PM, I even started late and nobody noticed. Let’s put something straight, my band shows up there in the spirit of getting the session going. When you hire fat goofs from out of town to run your jam session, and they show up once every few weeks, that is why there is no consistent crowd. It isn’t the band causing the problems. We are an excellent pub duo and I have the videos to prove it. What we are not is a weekend show band stuck in the Eagles era.
Nor do you people appreciate that it takes a lot to put on a show. You act as if packing equipment in and out the door is something you never asked us to do. How grateful can you get? This may one day be a rap-disco bar, but a lot of your customers will have to die before that ever happens. What happened tonight is the barmaid showed up for the first time in a month, listened to our practice set, then shut the show down just as the crowd I planned on began walking in the door. So the people, including any who may have wanted to hear live music, got the juke box.
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
April 10, 2024
One year ago today: April 10, 2023, it’s a gizmo.
Five years ago today: April 10, 2019, my turn to choose.
Nine years ago today: April 10, 2015, what did I learn?
Random years ago today: April 10, 2009, remember Teresa’s sub-prime condo?
Put on the coffee, we are not moving this morning. Heavy chest congestion, so let’s use some of the time to look at the audio-book player with the brand name “Playaway”. The premise is that they must have used some kind of jack to upload the files. So far, no luck but I ran across a video of some guy speaking a foreign language, probably accented Urdu, which interested me [the video] because he went about the hack using techniques I used decades ago. Find the I/O pins, solder some leads, connect it to a PC, keep trying every option until the files display. Then try every trick in the book to make them play.
No link, but that could have been me twenty years ago hacking a DOS disk. He tried everything to open the files, including copying them to other computers. He tried renaming, converting, and uploading new files to the player to see if it would recognize any. Unlike so many, I can tell this operator has tackled the procedure systematically. So even though he failed, as I often did, I watched the entire video because such thoroughness is rare.
This is a galaxy photo by the Webb telescope. Using various enhancements, the invisible parts fo what looks like a stellar explosion are revealed. You know, much as I find these things fascinating, I just don’t buy the cover story. You know, that details on the formation of the universe billions of years ago are pressing questions. One reason is most other sciences have resulted in here-and-now improvements many people could point to. So while I’d rather see my tax dollars going into outer space than single mothers, I don’t see pictures like this as “vital to our understanding”.
What is a bone density test? I’ll find out on the 23rd or so. My next MRI scan, plainly a favorite insurance billing item, says I’ve never had one since age 60, which you finally got me to admit I’m past that. Further information is that injury has healed, but this is the year I get several things looked at that I’ve been skirting, such as skin tags. Never had them until Florida, same with lots of people.
Mind you, the spring has been perfect, if you don’t mind chilly nights. Only sometimes, I mean, last night the low iinside temp was a nice 76F. Can’t beat that. I called Bradford, who was unable to confirm whether he or the fat guy would show up tonight. Now, folks, this is where band managment comes into play, even if some types don’t want to recognize it as a separate skill. Bradford was the one who told us the fat guy would be absent for a month, but when I called this afternoon,it was like I was waking him up and reminding him.
This is no idle oversight. It involves things like loading up vans and people driving over 40 miles. The fact people complain to me is all the evidence needed who is the natural leaders, but unless I accept the role, I don’t want aspersions on my record. This is not the music part, to if you’d like some more depth on the matter, read the addendum. That’s the politics, not a review of the event.
718 Perry St, Helena, AR 72342
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This was the final “jam” at the club, at least in this format. This decision was based on a number of disconnects. The one not mentioned is that the staff is a full generation and a half younger than the clientele, which plunks them squarely into that bracket where they trust their own judgment instead of reading the room. The jam was not working out like any of us wanted and tonight drew attention to that. Nobody showed up except Bradford. As with previous weeks, instead of my duo showcasing only our best material, we were spending up to two consecutive hours on stage. What’s more, is following my lifetime of experience, we are not a loud band, in fact, loud detracts from our audience appeal. We play about average jukebox volume, better than too loud.
With that in view, my decision is to look for a better match for our material. Two places spring to mind. There is a wine club that has sidewalk music. They would be a simple yes or no for say, $60. I would take it as it keeps us gaining stage ti
me, by far the most productive part of what we do. The other is several local jam sessions with differing formats but and older age grou
p.. One that interests me is where you sign up for a slot, it’s a restaurant over in Bartow, a genuine improvement suites us, for example, my plan tonight to catch the late walk-ins fizzled. Because the staff signalled us to quit early (for the jukebox) exactly where I had timed our best material.
One big disappointment for me was not finding any clubs in the area hear the Prez’s house. Ten miles north of him is bluegrass country, which I don’t rule out but it’s fforty miles away. Utilizing all resources, I cornered Bradford for information because he shows up at every possible jam or get-together in the township, even checking out restaurants that have sing-a-longs. I’ve told you, he’s been here his entire life, so invite him to his own places he wants to play and chances are, fi there is a guitar player, he’ll know the guy.
At this time, I advise patience with the whole music part. There is a suspicion that the fat boy has complained to the club about us performing in his absence. It is known, for some unfathomable reason, the head barmaid is a fan of his. It would explain a couple of things. I’ll follow up with what leads I have. The local market has been saturated for years, every gain is another’s loss. I am
The band itself? Let’s pause for assessment. This is not A-room, we have worked consistently toward that “amateur” sound described elsewhere. Despite the normal challenges, the organization remains solid, in fact it is often now the Prez who wants to schedule extra rehearsals. It’s me who lacks the old energy. Further on the positive, our song list is continually being honed toward a core of great tunes, and we do not pretend to play newer material that is not conducive with our style or target audience. We are not a band for everybody but have plenty of times we’re connected with a crowd half our age.
ADDENDUM
My decision for this evening is based on a number of elements which I am under no obligations and owe no explanations. Hey, that’s a two-way street and nobody keeps me u
p to date. Last week I cleared with the barmaid to start later so as to catch the bum’s rush from the craft brewery up the way. They close at ten, but like to be out of there quick, so they begin an often aggressive last call as early as nine. Experience at the jam says nobody shows up until around 9:30PM anyway.
Hence, my plan is I will show up around 7:20PM. If the fat guy is there, I stay for a beer & leave – depending on circumstances. The Prez has been stung too many times showing up to find nobody there. That reflects the other guy’s complete lack of professionalism, not even a phone call. Other people have been likewise disappointed. The staff’s attitude is not helpful, that it’s a jam so no big deal if they show up or not, like that xylophone couple that drove all the way here from east of Lake Wales. Others don’t appreciate what it takes to just show up at a jam.
Thus, I will know well over driving time for the Prez if there is any activity. It also leaves me time to set up my gear at a leisurely pace and not be unaware of who is in the audience that showed up to play. The Prez has stated he will not make the trip any more without proper notice, so that excludes everyone else who has ever played that jam. Every one of them is unreliable, yet they decry any form of management. So tough if they get left out of the loop.
At 7:20PM, if there is nobody there, I contact the Prez, who will make the 22 mile drive. He is now retired and does not have to get up at 5:00AM, but a good band manager respects the parameters. This gives him time to show up, I could run the show myself but do not want to, I spent years locating the right guitarist for the job. And you should hear the guy now. If the fat buy is there, I won’t play except by request, which is a 99% no, I’ll stay for a beer, maybe two, because I have not been out of the house since last Friday. I’ve invited the xylophone couple and the guitar player who does the Frostproof circuit.
If it is a go, this will be our first full-scale gig at the club. Every time before was a simplistic jam with other hosts, or a late start, wrong equipment, always something but a go-ahead tonight is telegraphing that my band wants to work there. It would help if the Friday barmaid takes over for reasons mentioned elsewhere—although she is a fan of the fat boy, which is a mystery to me. I will attempt to video the show if it flies.
Nor is this any of the interpersonal drama part. What I’ve described here are the ordinary logistics of putting on a show. I wish it would go away, but it never will. The best I can do is keep the drama at a surface level and I find the people wh
o are motivated to play eventually draw the correct conclusions. No wonder only one startup in 88 makes it to that first gig. And if you blame yourself, you won’t make it even that far. Band management, I find, has never been documented on the level where all this actually takes place. They only write books about the easy part of finding gigs and such. Now, break a leg.
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