Were it not so well-written, “Moscow Rules” is in danger of joining the very exclusive club of books in my life I didn’t finish. The tale is certainly researched and lively but the characters are as plastic as a Hong Kong dollar. (Have you seen those things?) Anyway, the plot is copy-cat James Bond. Our Israeli spy is also an art forger, no less, able to change his appearance with nothing more than a passport, and speaks 146.3 languages. Without accent. Nothing new in this book. Bumbling Russian bad guys versus well-oiled agencies of the West (like the CIA), where everybody cooperates with Scotland Yard and everyone has known each other from before birth.The worst insult to intelligence is the stereotyped cast, who behave the way the lower orders imagine the rich. Art galleries, Parisian restaurants, Lear jets, it quickly wears away. According to this book, there are no rich people who enjoy a quiet evening at home, prefer good coffee to great wine, or are content to make their own sandwich at midnight. I too, have an imagination. And I imagine if I was rich I’d avoid almost every person and place mentioned in this tale. My gosh, if ones strikes it big, do they really force you to move to St. Tropez and live with the French?
Music. It stands to reason the earliest musicians in a new field are the most talented since all the latecomers are students. It may also follow that the latecomers introduce factors that make them into the next level of music. Before we all go buy a guitar, I add that the Element X is real talent. And I’ll tell you who had it. The Zombies. I’m playing their music for the first time. It is technically complicated and pushes the envelope. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they used special bass tuning, something only the over-smoked guitar brain would concoct.
Recently I said I’d cool it with all the band developments, but I did not say the same applied to music in general. The band has become so important it would eclipse everything else if I didn’t damper down. I need this band now that I’m satisfied the talent and commitment are there. These guys are professionals and that supplies the distance from the locals I was looking for. When they do a cover, they play it like one. No injecting a major lead solo just because some wanker insists.
Have you ever noticed the pattern to how people run? Or jog, whatever. Well, I’m the pattern guy, so here we go. Tell a person to run and a definite pattern shows up. They will run on the spot or they will run around a large path like the city block or park. What makes that a pattern? Because, I notice, they will not run around in a small area, such as their back yard or even a large driveway. Small circular or semi-circular patterns are out. It’s not the scenery. They also don’t like running in circles indoors except in gymnasiums.
For brain exercise, I’m going to plan a motel. But this one will be different. It will have honest advertising, honest pricing, and will be geared toward traveling singles. What is the rate at which I believe a motel should be able to operate while catering to the man who doesn’t want a swimming pool and a view? This type of business plan is easily within my skill set. Everything would be user-pay. A laundry room but not much else.
A motel with a single bed. One chair. Shower only. The type of arrangement for singles, though each pair of rooms will have an adjoining door. I have no intention of operating the business, but want a realistic idea of the costs and potential profits of such an establishment. It would either flop or be a magnificent success. No cable. TV in the common room, which would be the only really posh furniture. I have no experience with it, but the Internet shows lots of people are making money renting rooms in their own homes in direct competition to the overpriced hotels.
For those who’ve read this far, here is a gossip-like factoid. When I strolled into the shoe shop y’day, they had not seen me for several months. First thing, and I mean right off the bat, they noticed my complexion, which they said must be healthy from the motorcycle riding. Indirectly, they are correct. I told them about the moisturizers (three brands, each with a slightly differing effect). So there you have it gals, that pricey goop really must work. Anything that improves my face should make you a beauty queen. How’s that for an endorsement?
ADDENDUM
I had to break from music and get back to electronics. Music and electronics use different brain cells or something, since one rejuvenates the other. I remain intrigued by logic gates and admire the designs. Can anyone remember when I started studying this? A couple years ago. And I’m still running across information important to the beginner that was left out at every stage.
Today, for instance, I learned the two major classes of ICs are the result of power consumption levels. Those intended for battery power are designed to run cooler that those on commercial power, with certain trade-offs. Makes sense, but the way it was presented when I tried to learn it was to start memorizing scads of numbers and diagrams in apparently random order.
I’ve built several small testing devises, such as a twelve-volt test light to work on my scooter wiring. Cheaper, better models are available at WalMart, but I prefer the ones where I know when they aren’t working right. Progress has been very slow. If I was in college, I’d have been expelled by now. (At the same time, I’ve been in lecture halls full of such people who never invented a blessed thing.) I met people with degrees in this back in the phone company who, after they got the job, never even pursued it for fun.
Over the previous months, I failed to produce a successful latching circuit, the type used for memory. My prototype is still the only wired-up circuit that works, but darn tootin’ I know everything about how it works. So, I’m leaving it (temporarily) and have been peering at an arrangement called an XOR gate, for “exclusive or”. I find it expedient to choose one circuit and not move on until it is fully understood. When you can build one, then you know it.
