Can anyone even guess what this contraption is? Nope, I’m not saying, except that it did not work. I have only the basic beams and nodes of this top-notch prototyping tool by that industry giant Fisher-Price. Making any thing requires brains and imagination, meaning they quit making them in 1988, the same year the American Dream got terminal brain cancer. After that, it was all downhill, at first ever so gently, then the Internet of 1991 pulled out the chocks. I put in another eight hours on the resistor booklet, the basic layout is finished, I mean the part with the new pictures and diagrams. Rather than take each topic to the finish line, I divided the work into two sections. The second part is a heavier duty explanation of what went before. Here is a photo of my newest multi-meter from Harbor Freight. The topic here is showing how 1,000 ohm resistors have measured 983 since I ever began testing such things.
That is also the quality of the photos to be used. Not the sharpest but they are consistent. All the same distance from the camera lens, minimalist backgrounds, and a clear framing of what is being described. Seven photos and scans required four hours and I have the best non-commercial software available. Weren’t computers supposes to make all this faster and easier?Year end trivia. I was investigating coil wires and learned the following. Upright pianos were invented so they would fit in the generally smaller rooms of houses in the early 1900s. And when you depress the damper pedal, it shifts the hammers to hit only two of the three strings. I also didn’t know the “Last Supper” painting was life-size, it is one big work of art. Did you know that bezoar stones were once believed to prevent being poisoned [to death]? I came upon this in a 1603 court action for fraudulent stones although “how the plaintiff discovered the bezoar did not work is not discussed in the report”. Ha!
Okay, one more. The direction that icebergs drift is determined not by ocean currents but by the wind. And on the day of the fiscal cliff, midnight tonight, your president, congress, senators, and civil servants all get a pay raise. So, at least around me, will everyone quit calling them your representatives?
Year end stats. The scooter has 9,402 miles on it. In 2012 total, I traveled slightly over 10,000 miles, 65% if that was out of town. I was in three states I’ve never been before. My blog readership over the entire year was 597 views less than estimated, a fraction of a percent discrepancy. Vertically, I traveled from sea level to 14,100 feet. Bingo results have dropped 15%, consistent with 2011.
I’ve re-contacted three people I have not seen in over fifteen years, all thousands of miles away. The study of electronics means I’ve read fewer but more difficult books, my total for the year is only 37 including my favorite detective novels. This does not count magazines, articles, newspapers, or library books.
My fixed disposable income for 2013 will drop by $27 per month, mainly due to the rent increase. (That’s fixed, not variable.) With the last rent increase, this place becomes impossible to sell, meaning a loss of around $2,100 when I eventually move. I don’t like that, but at least it is now an affordable loss.
The computer business has dwindled to nothing, not even worth keeping up with changes any more. I’ve dated six women this year, what I used to consider a slow month. Pardon me, seven. I forgot about Lincoln, Nebraska. More than 72% of my 2012 income was plowed back into equipment, instruments, vehicles, and infrastructure. So look out 2013.
Much later, I did go out for New Year’s, sang nine songs in two hours. That has certainly changed out of all recognition. So has the material I’m doing, although my preference for “non-electronic” productions is a beacon in the dark. The amount of strict country I play has fallen to 20%, I’ve moved toward Jimmy Buffet after many of my older standards (that I personally resurrected with my own hard work) have been usurped by others. Prime example, “These Boots”.Estelle and I went to the club, stayed twice as long as planned, and drank champagne at midnight. JP, predictably, did not show. And he missed out meeting the gal of his dreams. I’m saying if he doesn’t get around to this introduction soon, people are going to find something else or move on.
