Here’s my idea of a pretty gal. That won’t change if I live to be a hundred. This is Barbara, whom I’ve never met. But she’s my ideal of a sexy babe, not the roly-poly types of today. Barb is here to boost my ratings. See, it is working already. Yes, that’s James Burke on the right side. Them Brits know a comely lass when they see one. In this episode of his old show, nobody was allowed to touch Barbara. That’s what I’d say, Jim! Git yer hands off her!
Not a lot of controversy happened today so I’ll have to cook some up as we progress. But don’t worry, my years at a corporate cubicle taught me how people can make trouble out of nothing. It was one of those jobs where if you didn’t take sides, everybody was your enemy. The money was good and an expensive habit I had back then has come back recently. I’ll often make a pot of coffee that I don’t drink for the aroma throughout the house. Today’s trivia is again associated with sailing ships. The ship of the line (Man o' War) was the terror weapon if its day, but it was the construction that kept me reading. None of the materials needed to build these weapons existed in the British Isles. By 1750-ish, there were no 80 foot pine trees or 100 foot oaks left anywhere on the island. So the lumber, they say 6,000 trees each, was imported along with the hemp to make the ropes and sails. The blocks were made by Isambard’s father.
These ships took so long to build, the war was often over. The first lot of twelve sat around for years. But like any militarized society, it didn’t take the upper classes long to pick a fight somewhere. They sailed against the Americans in 1776 and Nappy in 1805.
Today’s club meeting was held in the parking lot. That’s because we bumped into the neighbor with the 3D printer. He’s an Italian teacher who basically confirmed the conclusions I’ve reached. You still need a ton of artistic ability to run these things. When I say I’m not artistic, I mean not in a talented way. I can draw just as well as average.
Agt. M and I ran the discussion into overtime about laser cutters. These machines also require a drawing in compatible code format. I can’t create these files. The teacher tells us the laser scanners leave “holes” that remain to be finished by hand. All were surprised at my finding that all sites I’d seen used the laser at only one of the fifteen-step PCB process. Is there not one person in the entire USA with better imagination than our backyard club?
Call me grumpy, but once I fall asleep, I need six or more hours uninterrupted or I don’t derive the benefit. One of the main reasons I ran away home at 17 was to get some sleep. It’s not like I had money or any place to go. Like all peasants, my family thrived with in fitful naps here and there. (Schedules are only for people who think they’re so great.) I went 11 long years without ever getting a decent night’s rest, except once. The once they didn’t wake me was the day of my Grade 9 exams (which were career-determining in my day). Yes, I know you think I’m hyperbolizing. I’m not.
This is really odd trivia. When Swedes and Finns work in the same factory, the Finns suffer “significantly more” job accidents than the Swedes. Even stranger, the cause is strongly language-based. The two languages have different origins (Indo-European vs. Ural Altaic) and entails the effect of the Finn organizing everything for himself while the Swede behaves as a group member. This psychological effect of language is not a mystery to me. I’ve often pointed those who only speak one language can only think in one language.
And when you can only think in one language, the language often becomes shallow entertainment rather than an exchange of meaningful information. When I am in Thailand, I find myself thinking in Siamese to do things like ask directions. That’s the only way you’ll follow what they say (if you aren’t in a rush, he’ll give you the directions to his sister’s shop of delights). But when I meet, say, a Canadian or Australian tourist, it is right back to infantilisms. What’s your name? Where are you from? And they love it!
I watched several theoretical scenarios about global disasters including alien invasion. How small-minded people are. These videos, to a one, made the ridiculous assumption that the President and all the politicians would leap to a united defense. At the first hint of trouble, that self-serving lot will hightail it out of town as fast as their free limos and helicopters could carry them. Few things are as ridiculous as thinking a politician would lay down his life for anything. They’ll lay down your life for money and power, but that’s about it.
Nothing. That’s the results from Mars this mission so far. Religious opponents hastily declare this as proof of they are right about, well, about everything. Like the Earth being flat. My contention is that most of what is left to be found on Mars will require intense investigation, like seeking gold in Alaska or proving Fosset is really, really dead in Nevada. Expect massive delays finding anything since NASA’s thinking is to gauge success by counting hits on a Florida website, a policy best described as “certainly one fantastic piece of reasoning”.
More trivia. How did they know back in 1675 how fast light travels? The astronomers knew that moons have to orbit the planets at a fixed speed. So why was one eclipse on Jupiter 16 minutes and 40 seconds late once a year? The earth is 93,000,000 miles from the sun, which means there are 186,000,000,000 miles difference (93 million times 2) between closest and furthest approach to Jupiter. And 00:16:40 is exactly 1,000 seconds. The rest is arithmetic. And that is why I’m the best country bass player in Broward.
What’s the deal in Lantana, FL? All of a sudden two dozen mobile homes come on sale. I’d suspect a land-use change, but they are not related locations. One connections is that they are all in communities where the pad rental is around $700 per month. This is a big reason I’m out of this place as soon as I find something. When pad rent gets that high, you will never sell. Not when you can get a repo anywhere in Florida with payments of half that. The only difference with the current real estate bust is that the banks and government are in on this one.
This photo is typical of the way Trulia has lost control. This only looks like a detached house. Dozens of unscrupulous agents are listing townhouses like this as “single family homes” and Trulia turns a blind eye. It’s become like Craigslist or eBay. Why even bother with categories if it’s a free for all? The mobile homes with property (land) included are creeping back on the market. Tourist traffic has vanished for the third year in a row and that’s following a previous three years of steady decline. Even Quebecers are smarter than to pay $11 for a coffee and half a sandwich. I count only a tenth as many Canadians this year, but that’s a cursory glance driving past. I’m not the source for the real numbers. Still, it’s not easy to hide empty lots around here. As a reminder, I do not respond to ads for mobile homes that do not specify the lot rental—and neither should you.
The keyboard is mightier than the sword and it amazes me how so many people ignore that fact and behave foolishly. That’s because so few of them even know a writer. Folks, I am a writer. And I estimate my postings this morning will cost the State of Colorado many thousands of times more in lost tourist revenue for billing me $3.15 at a highway toll I would have avoided if there’d been a sign saying so. Sure, my part is insignificant, but it all adds up somewhere, Denver.
It cost me $1.19 for the money order, 42 cents for the stamp and an estimated 5 cents for the envelope, plus the scooter gas and time to buy and post everything. On top of that, I document and scan all such transactions out of experience. I know when I’m dealing with turkeys. But the only thing a Denver bureaucrat can see is their lousy $3.15 less their costs of invading my privacy. And you wonder why America can’t compete. For Christ’s sake Colorado, in the mountains okay, but a toll booth on the road to friggin’ Nebraska?
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