March 14, 2014

           Here is that photo of the NYCTA fuse. That was a red herring, hello? It has nothing to do with New York City, I’ll leave it to the reader to determine the meaning of this intialism. No, it is not an acronym, it is an initialism. If anyone out there actually thought this fuse was stolen from a bus in the Big Apple, I suggest those types find some reading material more at their level. Like some weightlifting magazines, or maybe a little talk radio would challenge them. This is not a blog for the unwashed masses.

           I’m watching some grade B war movies, all in the Rambo mold. Renegade Russian generals, terrorist hideouts, African dictatorships, jungle guerillas. If was a sentry and I found somebody breaking in, I’d at least shoot him in the foot for starters. Instead, in the 1990s, they engaged them in hand-to-hand fighting, forgetting our guys were raised on Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.
           Now, am I making this next item up? If not, I just found out what C+ programmers do on their days off. Here goes. My Old Spice deodorant says that is uses “atomic robots” to” shoot lasers” at your “stench monsters” and replaces them with “scent elves”. Sadly, this is not fiction. But unlike C+, I like Old Spice. Did you know C+ was first created by people who had mental difficulties with the extraordinarily simple concept of global and local variables?
           Today is relax day and I intend to spend some time with Qbasic. The way to really learn programming is to bite off more than you can chew. I found an old music album database full of advanced coding features not even mentioned in the on-line tutorials. The trick is to key-enter this material and debug it. This is doing it the hard way, but that’s what separates the good coders from the rank and file—knowing what to do when things get rough. I am also slowly recording all my bass lines to the band, but in my own imitable style, quite unlike the “lessons” on the Internet. I first spell out every note and tab. Then introduce the song in sections if that applies. It would apply to Joe Cocker’s “Feelin’ Alright”, which has clearly different bass runs on the verse and the chorus.
           It is unfortunate, but I still cannot get Windows Movie Maker to work, it keeps telling me there is not enough memory. There is, but this is the program I’m most familiar with. This is another example of why I dislike MicroSoft. This error situation is not even mentioned in their manuals. Undocumented errors are a sure sign of poor intellect. Yes, you are supposed to cover every possible contingency when you write the rule book. They will never convince me I am the only person who has so many errors with IBM compats. Even their dictionary says there is no such word as “imitable”. Because like all their products these days, it is a “dictionary for dumb-asses”.

           The bakery was swamped again. They must raise their prices, they are selling out too often and the lineups are too long. Not for me, of course, I get the original prices and reserved seating. It’s who you know. And I thought I recognized some of the fan mail on the wall. This picture, which I thought was some distant relations back in Hungary. Nope, they were are the bakery and it turns out they are not just Olympic athletes, but gold medalists. Swimming, long distance. Early twenties. Wait, there’s more.
           The guy I’m pointing to is the team leader, famous throughout Hungary. He is also a medical student, and the ladies swoon. So, I hate to burst any bubbles, but yes, some people do have it all. Money? Well, they didn’t jet in from Australia on their frequent flier points, at least not to buy cheese pockets. There was a big private party on Sunday, but I was busy at band practice. Phooey on those who say environment has nothing to do with early success in life. At his age, I was piling lumber in Montana to pay off my student loan.
           The news today is that people in hardships can apply for exemptions to required medical insurance. This is typical of the declining intellect of this country, for a lot of the rules spare those most at risk and those who habitually show up at the free clinics. I don’t like the program period, because it has the side effect of criminalizing those who don’t want to be on yet another file—and this program can only be enforced by sticking the government’s nose where it does not belong. The whole issue smacks of saying those who want to be left alone must all be doing something wrong or they would gladly come forward and register. But you can't register without giving up your privacy. Remember the classic easy and harmless question, “Were either of your grandparents Jewish?”

           Back to reality, here is this week’s bonanza. A medium size box of heavy duty diodes rescued from the dumpster. This is about a third of the haul. I prefer to work with the heavier duty components now and leave the exact voltages and miniaturization to engineers. Engineers are very good at following orders. Very good at cleaning up after others, is what I mean, how they think they are original but really they just follow orders and directions. Very ho-hum,actually. I’ll bet a lot of engineers play guitar.
           Whew, 90 intense minutes later, I leaned back from the programming code. It is working in modules, my specialty, but I’m out of practice making the variables line up in the correct order. That's because there are some internal security checksums and non-printing variables that upset the patterns. Actually, that is a misnomer because I’ve disabled the printer. Nobody sees this database unless they are at a terminal with the right knowledge and equipment. I’m also finding the system time-clock does not like to stamp the records but that is pure string arithmetic, which I’ll fix pronto.
           Another 90 minutes later and it works. From here on, it is just enhancements, such as input filtering and report designs. Input filtering? Of course, because there are still people out there who write their dates in mm-dd-yy instead of the correct format that has been used here for nearly twelve years. That database was challenging, but I needed to show myself I have not forgotten a thing.
           Programming is a young man’s game, even if they play the game badly. Think of it like carpentry. After you learn the trade, it is better to hire young and stupid men to do the work, then check it for errors. Ergo, the only old carpenters are the ones who never learned the trade. Or is that drywallers? Anyway, the only time older men code is special occasions or original ideas. Otherwise it isn’t worth the hassle, just go buy the software.

ADDENDUM
           How goes the tailoring? I need practice, but I got my first shirt modified. It’s wearable but not at all as fancy as I would like. As par usual, the easiest way to tell I really do things and don't just make them up is to wait for me to report the mistakes and difficulties that only hands-on experience can cause. Here my tribulations with needlework.
           But first, isn’t that something? How I pick up a needle and thread, and automatically put on my safety glasses. I quickly discover this sewing activity requires something I do not have. A large flat, clean, uncluttered work surface. Not around here, by Jove. You give me a flat area and I’ll find something to store on it. I learned working with Canadians if you don’t use something as fast as you acquire it, the sumbitches will help themselves. Any sign of operating at a surplus means they can see (and yes, they are definitely watching) that you visibly must not “need” the extra, so the minute your back is turned . . . Don’t bother calling the RCMP. I tried that. Once.

           Pressing on (ha-ha) I learned fast that there is a way to handle cloth I have yet to master. I required twice as many pins as the lady that taught me. She said to pull in the underarm hems an 1/8th inch shorter, but I think she said it right but got it backwards. I also tend to sew around twice as many stitches as she did, it is from my only other related skill of crochet where I take pride in a hundred stitches to the square inch.
           What else did I learn that proves I really did this? Okay, I require a needle threader, one of those little wire thingees. I’ve always used needles that were too large and now have to break that habit. I learned the pins I’m using are too short, I looked it up to find what I want are called “quilt pins”.
           I further note that I’m getting “puckering” and need to “ease out”. New terminology around here. Next, guys, throw your general purpose scissors back in the drawer. They ain’t near sharp enough. I finally got a pair of manicure scissors and honed them to a pitch with the oilstone. Then bench-ground them to a needle point. The lady also showed me to trim any thread ends early in the process and cheap scissors don’t work. Soon, I will invest in a proper and very, very sharp pair.

           Here is me modeling the shirt, note I did not say finished product. I may take this apart and fix all the mistakes. Say, look at me strike that catalog pose, not bad for an old guy. Easy, ladies. Anyway, something looks wrong, the sleeve to picture left seems to ride too high on the outside, but looks okay on my other arm akimbo. This is my prototype, I think it would look better with a bit of a cuff.
           My purpose was to have some short-sleeve shirts which are not quite so casual as seen these days. See how this shirt seems too fancy for the blunt cut of the sleeves. You can easily see I left an extra inch of material to allow for this problem. I need a casual shirt that is still on the semi-formal side. To distance myself from the polo shirt crowd. One doesn’t want to be mistaken for a drywall contractor.