Too bad I was slow getting to the shop today. A couple hours before I arrived, a guy walked in with a top-of-the-line video camcorder, a Sony. Brand new in the box. Worth around $1200. He needed the money and sold it for $40. It’s the times combined with so many people who failed to prepare. And I missed the deal of the year.That’s not to say I was lazy. I put nine miles on my bicycle blanketing the entire downtown and out to west of I-95 with my advertising. This business card in the window is so fast and easy I’m wondering why nobody else seems to have thought of it. Around one car in thirty has a newer type of seal around the windows that is so tight, I just ignore those cars. I’ve learned to avoid certain other cars, for example, those with handicap stickers, but I’m not saying why and besides, that is a trade secret.
I did not perform tonight. Instead I watched Harry Potter on television. Not because I’m a fan, but that I find it so quaint how the more idiotic features of medieval English society dominate the scripts and characters. I know the plot is based on the fairy tales, but everything is so stereotype. Not one new creature or concept is introduced. Even the names are laughably English, “Neville Longbottom”.
Millie-Belle and the cat are finally able to sleep in the same room. They are not exactly friends yet. There are supposedly 81,420,000 cats in America. I’m curious how they got them to hold still while somebody counted. See the wonderful things one gets to ponder while riding a bicycle down the shady streets? And you thought I was doing heavy math.
Actually, I was just early running more numbers. As time passes, and more accurate data arrives, I can fine-tune my projections. So you know, I have a monthly plan that ends on December 1, 2027. That is the normal time-frame I plan ahead. Despite the uncertainties rippling through the economy, it looks like my strategy won’t have to be altered much even if the stock market collapses. Now that’s planning.
There was actually some informative programming on television. A novel take on pirate “technology” answered some questions, like how were they always able to overtake their victims? The pirates simply stripped their ship of all pieces that weren’t useful for raiding. They also used larger sails. Another program showed a variety of crowd dispersal weapons. These included stun grenades, slippery goo and robots. Most eerie were certain wave-emitting devices.
For instance, there was a type of microwave that causes a burning sensation 1/64th of an inch deep. Anybody in the beam has to run for cover (although they could carry a mirror). Even scarier, the beam’s aiming device is software used to identify individuals in the crowd. Another approach was the use of highly directional sound waves, called the “Warbler”. It induces painful ear-splitting sound (as long as nobody is wearing ear protection). Last, a beam of pulsing light, called the “Puke Light” that causes the target to shield his face and experience nausea. The shocker was the huge range over which these waves were effective. It looked like a good half-mile.
There was no commentary on why the government is developing these appliances, who they intend to use them against, or at which point and on whose authority a legal public gathering becomes a “disturbance”. I thought mass government record keeping since 1972 put an end to protests by ensuring everybody in the front row would be identified as a troublemaker and ruined for life. Eliminate the people leading the march and you produce generations of nothing but cowards. There are no real anti-war heroes any more. But expensive ray guns mean that somebody is getting ready for them anyway.
Could it be the banks will need something when the foreclosure troubles get really bad after 2011?
