And a lovely day it is already. The Belize exercise was nice but my long-term local plan revolves around the traditional drop in prices here every spring as the tourist and snowbirds pack up. Locals who held on yet one more season hoping the good times would return are selling. Think $35,000 for a decent place with the land, well, let’s just say that price is within striking distance. I found one in Boca, remember I’m looking for a mobile or manufactured home, not a house. You can’t just walk away from a house. The only reason I said no to this three bedroom two bathroom with carport, storage, and sunroom is that it is a single-wide. Too small for me. No picture.
But I’ll tell you what is scary. Lot rentals. If you do not own the land, you are at the mercy of the park. And lot rents are soaring, as are rents in general. It is not uncommon to see single-wides asking $750 per month. I hope to be safely ensconced in my own place well before any real crisis hits, but some places have extra “association” fees that double the monthly cost. Naturally, all the con artists who advertise without mentioning that the land is not included are out in force. It is therefore a scam that must still work on some particularly slow-witted newcomers, Lionel, I mean the way the sellers persist with that baloney.
Speaking of slow, did you see that posting for the guy who wanted instructions on how to “rewind a DVD”. He says he tried everything but it didn’t work. Dang, life in Florida must be hard on some people. And if you need another reason to live alone (I prefer to date a gal with her own place and visiting rights, but in Florida, you’d be lucky to find a woman with a decent job), that reason is the recent ruling that the police don’t need your permission to enter and search even if you said no but your roomie, with no authority or financial interest in the property says yes. Look it up. How long before they can just wait ‘til you to head out for groceries and ask the neighbors up the road if it’s okay that they “look around”.
Dan Lewis today reports a fake entry in Wikipedia went undetected for five years. Apparently he doesn’t know there is a contest to see who can get away with that the longest. Did you know the only mechanism Wiki has for detecting fictitious posts is to cross-reference ISBN numbers? Because if you knew that, old Dan didn’t. The bogus article was by an author named A-b-a-a-a-a-a-a-b-a, I kid you not. Posting a fake gets your username permanently barred, so guys, don’t use your real name. Wiki has a log of faked articles. Don’t blame Wiki, their worst junk still rivals the Miami Herald.
Instead, I did a more customary activity, reading that newspaper cover to cover, excluding the sports section. I read it [sports] once on my paper route when I was eight. It hasn't changed. Let’s see, anything happening in the world today? North Korean launched some rockets, but so what? Yulia is out of jail in the Ukraine, now a blonde and corrupt as ever. The Herald yet again announces another end of the recession, trumpeting how the underwater mortgages in (hock) for more than twice the property value has “dropped” to 20.1%. Hooray. Fridays I read the weekend section and there is not a single cerebral or academic pursuit occurring in the entire Atlantic Southest this weekend.
My plans to spend this afternoon in the Main Library up on Andrews didn’t fly. The hours are not listed on the web page, although the sixth floor at that address is there, saying the place closes at 2:00PM. Wrong, the library is open until 6:00PM, but you have to go to a different on-line location to find that. So by the time I got home it to check it, 3:30PM was too late to head up there. I rarely go to a library for less than five hours. Unless it is the useless libraries in this general area. The main library is open only during working hours, closed Saturday and Sunday. That should give you some idea of the education levels to expect in Ft. Lauderdale.
What? Those strips of cloth? Nothing but wicks to keep the exposed panels drained during storage. I have enough materials left over to complete these structural changes. All are the result of experience. The pod is extremely secure when buttoned up, but overkill for parking, as it is difficult to enter and egress. To do so, you must already be prone. I can do it now, but will I be able that agile the future?
Rather than plan the sidewalls, I intend to construct the new sections rapidly and later empirically develop the best way to keep out the wind. Probably a few fold-down thin wood plates will do the trick. There was no trouble with the weather at the very coldest parts of my last trip, and there were portions well below freezing. It simply never got that cold inside the pod, as my medication monitor never fell into the danger zone. I estimate, other than labor, this modification will cost around $30. And this time, I have most of the tools and know-how.
In spatial terms, the current usable interior space (excluding the tool bin) is 34,595 cubic inches. The new sleeping area, in camping configuration will increase by 49,368 cubic inches, a nifty 249% improvement to 83,963 cubic inches. That’s a whopping 48-1/2 cubic feet, most of it where it counts. I also am looking at some small exterior storage bins, an extra gas can, and a bicycle rack. I further intend to move all the electronics into the soon to be empty tool box. After the problems finding a tire in northern Texas, I may also opt to take a [Honda] spare with me. The existing {Soviet] spare on the back of the sidecar is rusted permanently in place, it is for show only. But what a show!
To those with a flair for light construction, the ability to improve this vehicle so cheaply was influenced by my early studies of the German Mark III tank, which remained in service long after its competition was on the scrap heap. I will also install a much improved white noise generator so I don’t have to find a quiet corner. I have the funds now to make the unit downright luxurious, but will resist that temptation. I’ve already had trouble crawling out of the comfy sleeping bag into the morning frosts. I’m also adding a trap door for the pee bottle. We are getting efficacious at this.
Later, a pleasant evening found me out in the back yard taking measurements. I think I’ll replace the entire pod lid with a sheet of plywood six feet long and half the weight. This would simplify the conversion at minor extra cost, lighten the load, and allow the addition of three more solar panels. I checked the electronics for the first time in 60 days and everything is tip-top. But my earliest observation remains true. I need two days of sunlight for one overnight. Twice the panels may be the answer. They are not that heavy.
ADDENDUM
Since the pod electronics uses entirely parts learned from studies of the Arduino, although no Arduino is used here, Makezine is back in focus. One of the more useful sensors was the sonar and I was amused to see dozens of robots now available in kits that use this device to navigate. I have a pad full of similar sketches, but stopped short of building any. Why? Many reasons.
There was not enough sure money to guarantee a successful build.
I could not find instructions on how to etch the necessary circuit boards.
There were no clear directions on how to build an ATmega tiny board.
In plain English, without a circuit board, any working bot would tie up a breadboard and an expensive Arduino. What’s needed is a tiny board, which accepts the Arduino chip, and a circuit board to operate the motors. Breadboards are notoriously ineffective when used on moving platforms which jar them around. Once again, an opportunity is lost for lack of resources, but that’s still better than lack of knowledge, Glen.
The creepy part is the Internet has shown society that the more weaker-minded the individual, the more he (always a he) will begin replace human interaction with computer companionship. Now, instead of having his head slapped and/or ass kicked twice a day for anti-social behavior, he can wallow in self-pity until one day he takes a gun to school.
And what at first seemed like a convenient assistant for the elderly soon shuts them away even worse than before. What appears to be no more than an offshoot of computer gaming soon creates a permanent faction of media-seeking addicts. What is taken initially to be a cure instead will create an entirely new category of societal evils the system is not equipped to deal with. And the scramble to gear up and sell product to this new breed of losers will rapidly hinder any real computer and robotic development for periods measured in lifetimes.
