January 9, 2014

           Okay, forgive any confusion over today’s post. Blame it on MicroSoft, I must use two computers until I get one of their contraptions to work. The casino up the road has a midway. It was mainly deserted but you can see the Ferris wheel from Federal and it will be there three weeks. So I biked over to see. I was the only person who strolled through after dark today. And only then because my bicycle battery died. No need to tell them I said that as they probably think I was a tourist. They are hurtin’. And overpriced.

           A clever operator would set up a swing set and a seesaw. Charge 10 cents per kid per 100 swings and let the kids count the reps. Set a bench in the shade for the parents and rake in the dough. Speaking of dough, I stopped at a random booth in the midway and ordered a deep-fried Oreo. Yes, the famous cookie dipped in batter. Two bucks a pop. Um, I can’t recommend it since it tastes exactly like what it says.

           Yep, that’s me by the merry-go-round, an American invention. Did I tell you I never rode on one of these until I was something like 40? And I didn’t ride this one, either. Not at $8 a ticket. All the rides in this midway, I noticed, were brand new. Also they were computer controlled and very short. Maybe 90 seconds.
           If nothing much happened today, what does that leave? Gossip and old-wives-tales. Take your pick. Too slow! I chose for you. I know certain people spread the rumor that Jimbos is a dive, but the capacity of those who show up there on a regular basis is a good match for anything that you’ll find anywhere else in Florida. This is not at state that values intellectual prowess. One can drop into Jimbos for a conversation that beats anything you-know-who could possibly come up with. I have an example
           A comparison between darts and basketball came up early this evening. Is darts a sport? Is it a skill? Ordinary competitiveness does not a sports game make. I challenged the room to come up with three reasons how darts is similar to a sport, arbitrarily, basketball. We are looking for three equalities here. Think. Darts and basketball.

           1. Both are something you throw.
           2. You get more than one point for a goal. Whatever.

Egad, fifteen of us could not make a valid third equivalent (that makes darts a sport). For obvious reasons, we rejected “games played by blacks” and “games played in bars” although I was somewhat keen on games that required the players to go through hoops. And that none of the players are paid what they are really worth. My conclusion? Both darts and basketball are, content-wise, the same game. I can barely tell the difference. What idiots do with their spare time is not on my watch list.
           While this goes on, the TV, you know, that TV I donated, is on the movie channel. Others watch the program, I watch the commercials. Commercial plots move faster. I find it so strange the adverts that sell men on the deceitful concept that women are attracted by speed or cologne even get aired. (Guys, if that were remotely true, how did humankind even survive? Work an evening shift in repair and you will know that most women obviously don’t mind slow, smelly men. Because that is what most of them marry. (Ken, It is just you they don’t like.))
           Nor will I withdraw a single word I’ve said about MicroSoft. They aren’t even the original business ass-clowns, that credit goes to Sony. I believe I said how I used to own a Walkman with batteries that lasted months. Today a Sony battery lasts what, two hours? Back to MicroSoft, my point is that they have had plenty of time correct their mistakes if they ever had any intention of doing so. I’ve been using Win 7 for less than a week and it sucks. They never miss an opportunity to let you know they are watching. This new and totally different computer and router combination can display the preferences from my old unit. Yet it can’t find and copy my old drivers. Those MicroSoft bozos really got their heads on straight. There’s nothing a MicroSoft type hates worse than somebody who is satisfied with the way their existing setup works.

           Trivia. While reading on dihedrals, I found some facts about the Interstate Highway System. How, you rightly ask, are these roads connected with a study of airplane wings? The highway system was proposed in 1956 and I glanced at an airliner route chart from before that date. It shows the air corridors between major airports. Guess what? They bear numbers like I-10 and I-95. And the notion that sections of the Interstates are designed as wartime landing strips? Completely false. Even the Russians know that.
           A word about blogs. This may not be the oldest blog, but it is one of the very few that was planned in advance. It is very old in terms of the life span of your average blog. I do not rate against political, sports, or news which I do not consider as blogs in the ordinary sense, in particular any “professional” blogs on such topics. Those hardly qualify as personal transcripts or journals and they lack real character or depth. After all, the authors are hardly personally in the action.

           In response to questions about my readership, I decline to publish that information since Google annexed my original provider. But I can reveal my readership to be “in excess of 10,000 per month.” Another thing, the blog rules were part of the above said advance planning. We were aware of identity theft long before it became public knowledge, and that is the real reason you don’t find a lot of close up people photos in here. But you are reading an exclusive blog, indeed. I know of no other similar publication that has NEVER missed a single day’s posting since inception. Tell that to my critics.
           Have you tried to mail an SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) lately? Then you’ve noticed the slight change in standard envelope sizes. The old 9 x 4-1/2” business envelope has increased the longer dimension to 9-1/8”. Why? So there is no convenient way to put this size into another envelope without bending or creasing, which tips off the recipient that a re-mailing has occurred. I biked over to a postal and envelope supply center and checked for myself. Sure enough, the next size up is a much-too-big photo mailer that requires twice the postage. Don’t even suggest they aren’t doing this on purpose. All seven brands of 9” mailing containers were too small by just that much. Now that’s a conspiracy.

           Last, the cold spell is over. But not the soggy aftermath. Most changes of weather in Florida are accompanied by a day or two of rain showers. I spent a lively day repairing more music cables. You want to know something that is built like a brick shithouse? Those government issue digital TV converters. I took a non-working model apart. All I can tell you pilgrim is somebody out there does not want you taking the cover off for a good old look-see.
           I further examined this circuit board. What I’m wondering is why all the capacitors? This is not a versatile component, so why are there always so many of them? Their main purpose is to temporarily store and electrical charge. Unless there is something else nobody has bothered to mention. That would not surprise me, with all the Internet experts around these days. I’ll try to find out.

           Oh, yeah, the picture of the pretty blonde from Imgur. She stays. Now that's blonde. And that's hair.