That last phrase might sound odd coming from a guy who plays ancient Johnny Cash, but until you’ve heard how I play it, it would be prudent to reserve judgment. I have most definitely kept up. Now, I need a new bass amp that can handle the outdoors better. I’m not investing in road gear, rather something that has more punch. In the recordings of the show, my bass is barely audible.
We wound up playing the last stretch to an empty house, as the event was advertised to end at 9:00 PM. We were just warming up by then. Warming up is a metaphor, it was muggy hot monsoon season long after sunset. That means all but the natives found it uncomfortable. Plus, the stage, which has trees growing through it, forms a sheltered corner so there are no welcome breezes.
JP/JZ called to report the truck is tuned up and he replaced the spark plug wires. We had it narrowed down to one but I insisted he replace the set if I’m going to pay for half of the gas when we test drive it. He is still getting the runaround about the estate and I realize now when my father died, I should have gone out and hired a lawyer on the spot. My own mother divided the cash equally between six kids before I was paid what I had been promised for all my years of work on the farm.
This is the point where some inbred half-wit spouts off that children should work for free on the farm. That’s crap. Of six children, I was the only one required to work while the others watched TV. Also, I was promised I’d be paid and that says it all. I would not ever have done this type of work had I not been tricked into it. There were other jobs available in town which included career trades, but I was not allowed to take any. Ask the half-wit how that ever happened, and learn why he’s called what he is.
If anything of the kind happened today, I’d be pounding on the lawyer’s door. I see the same resistance to getting help is killing my buddy. Any demands pit him not just against the situation, but against peace and quiet. It is clear JZ needs a break. We need a break. Time off from the entire scenario. He’s now got a cell phone and slowly learning to use it. So no big deal if we get out of Dodge for a few days.
It’s also great to be back to a normal schedule. That’s what I call not having that deadline for the first performance of a new band. Regular matters should now re-emerge as the important developments, though that is not to confuse my regular with the other guy’s extraordinary. How relaxed was this morning? I inspected the scooter wiring and cheated on my bakery. I went to the Columbian joint across the tracks. It is a full service restaurant with a bakery attached, so there is no direct comparison.
But If I was going to compare, I’d say Latin American bread is “lighter” but with more calories, carbs, and starchy flavor. It fills you up fast but doesn’t keep you energetic. (So I like the Euro style better, as opposed to Mediterranean style.) Real pumpernickel, if you can find it, is $9 per loaf.
Pet peeve department, next four paragraphs. Don’t you hate those recycled plastic bottles that are so thin you need a countertop to open them? Because if you try to open them with your bare hands, you have to grip the bottle so hard that when the cap loosens, the pressure explodes the contents. I have no doubt that bottle was designed by someone who graduated after 1990. I know, because the last time I graduated was 1991, and I took a damn good look around me at the time. I strongly suspected I was the only person in the hall who could spell, think, and wipe my own nose.
My standing pet peeve with MicroSoft carries on. It’s their gimp features again, where a typo wipes out 17 of my files I’m trying to save in a batch. You see, somewhere in the world there is a little retarded boy who I don’t know and will never meet. His condition is not my fault, but I’ve been paying, via taxes, his way for life so I’ve done my share. But along comes MicroSoft and their gimp features and wipes out my files. All because their ugly rich-boy ex-owner has a compulsion to prove he’s something he will never be—as good a Steve Jobs.
I’m running short of electronic supplies and my don’t know any of the new people at Hacktronics. Prices have tripled and the big electronics sites like Mouser and DigiKey are horrifically bad choices. They need to know who builds something before they can even tell you a price. You want some red LEDs? Sorry, can’t help unless you know whether that is Fairchild, Cree, Panasonic, Lumex, or Parallax. Pick the first one, Fairchild Semiconductor. Okay, now what’s the part number? Pick, the first one. Is that red LED with a clear lens or a white LED with a red lens? Up yours, Mouser, just up yours, that’s all.
Last, this blog readership has topped a milestone. I kind of thought that would take forever, but it didn't. No, I don't let out the information but as I've said before, if I was in print, I'd be a bestseller. This is the point where the sappy authors thank their readership. No way, Jose. I'm working the assumption that anyone who reads this blog is here out of their own self-interest, and that's how you bet your money. The blog that invites you to over-think the situation. One day I'll start advertising, this blog will be huge because it is really updated daily and really contains useful knowledge, and you'll be able to say you were with it from the word go. Self-interest. It's highly under-rated.
ADDENDUM
No, I have not been ignoring the news about government spying on innocent people. I’ve always been against searches not based on reasonable cause, right down to preventing checkstops on the highways. The police stop everybody claiming to be after drunks. But everybody gets a shakedown, not just the drunks. Everybody is run on the computer, and if something is found, you get arrested. Oddly, some people find nothing wrong with this kind of state-run society-wide snooping. There is no place for such behavior, or such people, in a free and democratic society.
I’ve often speculated that the Internet is due for replacement. I’ve wondered why somebody has not thought of a way to use computers as individual nodes in a new network to bypass the big, corporate mega servers that are harvesting private data. All data would be encrypted so the only way the authorities could tap a line is by identifying the individual suspect and obtaining a warrant. That’s the way it is supposed to be, folks. And judges cannot sign that warrant unless there is sufficient cause.
Here is something called Meshnet that let’s you know I am not alone in thinking this. But I lack the skills to design it, in fact, I don’t even know where one could even learn to design it. Or I would. So, no, I am not sidestepping the Snowden affair. My silence is because I’ve already warned us plenty of times to protect your data and I cannot add anything to that just because some other guy got his name in the headlines.
Everyone has something to hide. Those who claim they don’t are the worst. Their secret is so horrific they hope the system will bog down catching others first. The funny thing is that if you think I’m wrong about that, it is because you are not thinking at all.
