I stayed put all day and now want to go out for a couple hours. Me, go out, on a Friday? Let’s put this in perspective. I’m sure we all have had the situation of a dry cough that is okay in that it goes away until you think of it. Then you have to cough for a minute. I’m okay as long as I don’t think about it. That and the heat got me in a situation where staying put is exhausting. I’ve been drinking twice the daily amount of water, though I don’t know where that [8 glasses a day] comes from. I put a layer of primer on the trailer mesh and I’m drained. Mind you, this is not the exhaustion from a bad ticker. A good siesta or two does me heap good.
About that movie y’day. The smallest size of popcorn was $6.00, that’s enough to make anyone ill. These theaters have slit their own throats, though dedicated movie-goers like me will likely pay any price for my cinema fix. At those prices, though, I’ll stay indoors with some tea and the lousy movies that are still available on-line. Ah, and the UK with the porno censorship, didn’t I tell you they would not stop there? Within 24 hours of the law, they are already going after gaming, dating, and weapons sites. Told ya. (If only they could filter Michael Jackson and Nirvana.)
Here’s something I didn’t know, probably because I have no inclination to become aware of such things. Iced tea and skittles are two-thirds of the ingredients needed to make an intoxicating street drink called “lean”. The missing ingredient is cough syrup. I would not even have noticed the recipe had not the media recently made such a big deal about an 18 year old man who died after “innocently” going out for skittles.
My easy chair is under the A/C and between three fans. Unlike others at the phone company, it took me years to learn to sleep sitting up. Before I got this chair, sleeping while sitting would crimp my muscles. No more and today, I’m watching some 1950s and 1960s movies. “Wings of the Hawk”, “Yellowneck”, pretty corny. When I was a kid, I used to think the grating sound of the studio themes was due to poor recording techniques. Nope, the MGM and Paramount opening music bites just as bad as ever.
I took some time to study the theory of transistor motor switches. This may seem retrograde as I’ve worked with plenty of transistors already. But once again, upon review, I see how nearly every web posting and book I’ve seen on the topic (of transistor motor switches) leaves out something important. What is wrong with those people, I will never know. A good example, find a couple diagrams for yourself of a basic motor (off-on) switch. If they are different, probably both are wrong. It’s just a fact of life when dealing with the manner of geek-dorks that normally go into engineering.
What they don’t stress is that in electronics, switches are not ideal. To get around this, circuits are designed so the switch uses a different, much smaller voltage to activate a larger current which drives the motor. That’s another item they gloss over, that it is voltage operating a current. If that’s not clear, don’t worry, it took me months to figure out what the geek-dorks were saying. I’ve not yet finished the ROM project, but it is 90% there. Don’t be surprised if nothing gets completed during the hot season.
ADDENDUM
Have you ever read books like “The Bedford Reader”? I used to advertise that this blog was “journalism-free” because I’ve never had any writing lessons. Sure, I’ve had my grade school spelling and grammar, but no formal training. So I’m amused when I occasionally stumble across articles that analyze my style. According to Bedford, my style is a mixture of comparison and contrast, description, cause and effect, and persuasion.
One supposes all writing could be cast in such broad terms. In fact, writing without description probably isn’t feasible. I once saw Bedford as an authority, but now I look on recent editions and see second-year college material. First year, the journalism student thinks his mind to be broadened, by second year he feels qualified to write. The result is some flowery nonsense. Yet, I see how the training definitely brings about improvement to the average writer.
But I never set out to be an author. It would be nice to crank out a bestseller, but that didn’t happen. If I had any influences, it would be two men who focus on comedy, Dave Barry and Louis Grizzard. I do like lots of short sentences, to the point, and I know I tend to give examples in groups of three. If there is a formula to keep people reading, I have no idea what it is. The best description I could give of my own writing style is that I type at around one-tenth the speed that I think.
I also like to explain complicated matters in simpler terms, that [is something] I consider skilled labor. Repetition is inevitable in a daily journal. My style is not for the slow-minded but other than that group, my words aren’t all that intimidating. But there are certain aspects to writing I will not abide by. Such as [Virginia] Woolf’s ten words when one will do, or [Gloria] Steinham’s anemic topics. I probably write in a fashion that I would like to read, and that is why I’ve said coffee breaks are a prelude to this blog. I rarely spent a coffee break in idle conversation in my life.
How about a sample of my writing on a random topic? Here’s a joke I heard (jimmyr). The original version was twice as long. This is the way I would have told that joke in writing:
This guy is getting a haircut when a kid walks past. The barber says to the guy, “That is the stupidest kid in town. Watch this.”
The barber opens the till and takes out a dollar and fifty cents. He says to the kid, “Would you rather have ONE dollar or TWO quarters?”
The kid scratches his head, and takes the quarters.
The barber says to the guy, “See, I told you he was stupid.”
Afterward, the guy is walking past the ice cream store and sees the kid. He asks him, “Why didn’t you take the dollar?”
The kid licks his ice cream and says, “Then the game would be over.”
