Since I was up at 4:30 (yes, AM) I ran the new booklet printing software through the paces. Produced by some guy in Germany, it seems to work on-screen though I have not yet printed any hardcopy. Reason: a simple four pages of this blog quickly runs into a booklet of 40 pages. Despite some truly lousy directions, the program seems to work well. That is, it takes what you typed and orients and arranges the pages so that when they come off the printer it is simple to fold and staple them into a booklet.Now listen closely, that is 40 booklet pages, not 40 sheets of paper. The number of pages depends on the number of paper folds. For example, an eight page booklet measuring 8x5” would require just two sheets of paper. That’s 2-up printed on both sides, you can do the arithmetic. Either way, the printer selected for the test is my old Brother 420CN (for color networkable) and for that, I will need electricity.
I’d also need $50 worth of print cartridges. For those who recall 1991, I was one of the original employees of Kinko’s and the only one on Ventura Boulevard who understood typesetting on a computer. Thus I know there is a limit to how many pages can be folded and stapled, think it is 16. My existing equipment can cut and pierce maximum ten sheets at once. Fine, since beyond that it is no longer a booklet.
Maybe my first booklet could be writing some decent instructions for the software. For instance, he does not make it clear the displayed pages are non-editable, which confuses Adobe and Corel users. His interface is a preview only, your changes are made in the original document. This clever programmer (Walter Eckel) has caused the unlicensed trial version to print every fifth page full of his own advertising. If it prints true, I’ll send him the $20.
Finding I must take it easy today, I typed up a materials list for a solar water heater and I’ll bike up to Home Depot this morning to get some prices. My estimate is around $200. This is a fact-finding trip only, a look-see. I discovered a lot. Plastic piping cannot be used in Florida because the water temperature in the solar well exceeds 130 degrees. (Jesus, why are we paying for heat?) Both the PVC and the jointing compound deteriorate at that hotness.
That temperature is too hot to take a shower or bath meaning you have to turn on the cold water to get comfy. The recommended material south of the Carolinas is copper, not plastic. I have no equipment or knowledge to join this metal. The copper will heat the flowing incoming water so rapidly that the temp in the electric heater is always lower. I didn’t know any of this. Furthermore, such heat will melt regular fiberglass insulation, albeit very slowly.
Trivia. Why do the airlines require people to wear their seatbelts while the plane is taxiing? It is not for passenger safety, but because once the plane begins to roll, the pilots have very little control until the plane gains sufficient forward speed for the ailerons and flaps to bite. During this period, any shift of weight can cause serious instability. Keep them fat ladies buckled down, for as we all know, “shift happens”.
The following is a short series of records I’m keeping to calibrate an electronic device I am working on. Temp: 75 Press: 31 Humid: 74. You may see these recorded here over the next little period. If you want to know if it is raining or cloudy, look out the window. If you want to know if it is raining here, you don’t have enough on your mind.
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