That’s milk and cookies for me, as Estelle hasn’t called since before last week when I told her I had the flu. Too bad, these are fancy Italian cookies, with a best before date less than a month away. Here’s a mystery for you to solve. Why are there two quarts of milk in my fridge? I’ll provide two hints. One, it is not because a half-gallon jug won’t fit in the space. Two, yes, they are both open and nearly full. There is a reason, can you solve it?The newspaper I bought was the Sun Sentinel, the worst of its kind. But the Herald was sold out. Sun Sentinel is the newspaper that has no index. Today would have required searching 76 pages to find the crossword puzzle. I think it says a lot for the caliber of their readership that nobody has ever opening complained about that issue. Correction here: I have previously criticized the Sentinel as a Miami paper, when in fact it is based in Ft. Lauderdale and printed there. My error and my only explanation is that I’d read the ownership of the paper was based in Miami. And in my book policy follows ownership.
That same newspaper ran an article today that there is a “housing shortage” in Florida, causing “dangerous” price rises. I had to bring that up lest anyone conclude from my last paragraph that you can’t get any more stupid than full-retard. There is, below the depths of insufferable stupidity, “Florida-stupid”. Not as bad as a couple smaller places I won’t name, but still pretty ignorant. There is a shadow inventory of 100,000 foreclosed properties and they still got people trying to sign their lives away.
Still got nothing to hide? Police departments nationwide are investing heavily in a $14,000 system that tracks driver’s movement via license place recognition. The police swear it is not trolling, but only to “sift” for stolen cars and outstanding warrants. The problem is privacy—the files are not destroyed once a check shows no warrant. The authorities care little about the few vehicles recovered. The value is in logging the movements of private citizens, the majority of whom are innocent of any wrongdoing.
Soon, others will acquire this technology. Stalkers, telemarketers, bill collectors. The Constitution does not protect what you do in public, although it should. Even in public, there is a certain expectation that your activities will have only immediate or temporary relevance. Like giving a bad driver the finger or spitting on the sidewalk. Nor are those files private if the police don't use them. They are “public” information in a system where public is defined by them, not by you.
Free society cannot function when everyone who steps outdoors is subject to being recorded for later scrutiny, particularly by others with twisted concepts of what is normal behavior. Like politicians, police, and house burglars. Glance a little too long at that mini-skirt in the mall and you may have taken the first step toward the docket. How does getting arrested sound because you drove to the liquor store 36 times this week alone? You may be in court before you get the chance to explain you are the store owner.
Here's a little more real estate talk. Spring approaches and you know I’m planning my escape. Have you ever heard of Holiday, Florida? Neither have I. So I made an extra pot of coffee, which is not my usually evening fare, and took a close look. It is near Tampa, on the coast side, 93% white, and 52% female. I tend to glance at any real estate that matches my criteria for Florida. I said glance. This two-bedroom was a no-go, but represents a milestone because I could have bought it today. I have absolutely no sentiment or attachment to the area where I live right now and would move in a moment to a better place.
Think this through. The pad rent here keeps going up. It has already destroyed my chance of recouping. I’ve got a decent down payment ready should a good place catch my eye. But we also know the market is being milked by the banks, that prices are too high. These two factors (pad increases and foreclosure stuffing) mean I could be caught here longer than I like. The wise man plans. If I bought a place outright (with my down payment), I’d be banking an extra bundle every month. And own a place right now and forever, American style, to the center of the Earth. For now, I’m only keeping a lookout. And we are exceedingly well equipped to do just that over here.
Okay, the two quarts of milk. One quart tastes better than the other. The breakfast quart is slightly sweetened and slightly vanilla flavored. For my cereal. It’s a trick I learned to start the day a little happier. And works great if you got kids who won’t drink milk by itself. A big plus is if you make your hot cocoa with milk, like I do, the vanilla flavor makes a wonderful difference.
ADDENDUM
One aspect of electronics that is beginning to disappoint me is how little has changed. If you’ve followed along, you’ll have seen how my investigations have gone from [initial] bewilderment to now noting how little is new. I wrote off this lack of invention to the whole subject [of electronics] being relatively new and also to a lack of imagination on the part of engineers. I still hold to these and to the concept that what exists is representative of the first wave of products that come out after any new technology is applied to existing systems.
What do I mean by "applied to existing systems"? Take something ordinary and electrify it. Look at the gadgets available. Electronic slot machines, electronic clocks, TV remotes, that type of thing. These were mechanical devices first. This reveals a pattern of adaption, but few really new ideas off the drawing board. Don’t misunderstand me, the connections of these devices into telephone, Internet, and other networks was a phenomenal invention. But that’s a different topic. After the initial rush, there have actually been very, very few really new innovations.
And don't look at me. I stress that I am not an inventor. Never have been and make no claim to it. How would I describe my own interest in such matters? If I was an intellectual, I’d rate it as intellectual curiosity. I would simply rather know than not know. To peek sometimes a little and sometimes a lot below the surface.
Alright, so let’s peek together. Who was really first with all this electronics stuff? Yep, the Germans in World War II. My reading led me to a weapon that was revolutionary, yet mysteriously went nowhere. The Fritz X flying bomb that was operation in 1943. Forty years ahead of its time. I saw diagrams and watched videos that described how the Fritz X overflew the target, then arced back on it (indicated by the yellow arrow). The operator kept some crosshairs aligned and the bomb flew itself automatically. This was a phenomenal achievement; the commentary stated it was 80 times more accurate than conventional bombing. So, why did it suddenly disappear?
I wonder if that qualifies as intellectual curiosity. Not one sketch or circuit diagram of this bomb is to be found seventy years later. And remember, my life-long habit means some thirty hours of research for every hour I spent building anything. I don’t tinker until I understand what I’m building. I really would like to see how this thing ran. Because somebody out there does not want us to know.
