June 18, 2014

Yesteryear
One year ago today: June 18, 2013, scented shoelaces?
Five years ago today: June 18, 2009, copper cougar.
Ten years ago today: June 18, 2004, Doral, Florida.

MORNING
           The club meeting was held here to get a bunch of small projects completed. We concede that building a robot is beyond our financial reach. I traded that big 150 watt radio amp from here to the club for a much smaller and more reasonable Kenwood tuner. We also reworked the security system here to record all events, not just when movement is detected. For years now, the meetings have all been “working” events, where we work as well as discuss theory.

           Here is the tuner work in process for the security system being configured for a permanent power supply. I say tuner, as this unit will work as a regular television, a feature we are now insisting for all flat screen monitors. Notice how the red chair is very much in the way of getting work done. All parts shown here are from the massive inventory we’ve accumulated for practical no money over the past few years.
           As for the club and money, even though I am only the secretary, I have the final say on such things as who can get kicked out. I wanted to take club funds for gas to get in the Lexus and drive around Lake Okeechobee. I never thought that this was not a European custom, to take a car ride instead of have a meeting at a kitchen table. So I was outvoted and we went to Harbor Freight. Where I might point out a lot more was spent on dis-dat-and-de-other-thing than would have gone into that gas tank.

           Here is the club meeting continued at Harbor Freight. Some people say the tools there are cheap shoddy. Funny thing, when used properly, the tools I buy there somehow last forever or until they get stolen. Shown here is my fave part of the store, the drill bits. Hey, I’m the one who refurbished and cleaned up the drill press, so what did they expect? I even know what a Forstner bit is these days. I was not allowed to learn such things in school. I know as much about shop tools as some men know about the discount rates on a series E savings bond.
           Trivia. Let me scrounge up some trivia. Okay, the microwave. Does it really cook food from the inside out? Nope, except for small items like popcorn, the waves only penetrate maybe an inch. From that point on, they turn water in the food molecules to steam and cook by conduction. And since water turns to steam at only 212° F, you can’t bake bread or brown steaks, which requires 350° to 550° F. Now you know.
           You want more? Okay. My newest interest is the sextant, but did you know who else had a tricky hobby? Hint, he was also a musician, a violin player. He played duets with the Queen of England and considered physics a hobby. Albert Einstein.
           Last, have you ever heard of “Experiment #1”? A Stanford professor took 12 people “sane in every measurable way” and had them apply at different mental hospitals. They were truthful in every way to questions asked with one exception. They had been trained to say they heard voices in their heads saying, “empty”, “hollow”, or “thud”. All were certified insane by doctors at the mental hospitals and prescribed expensive medicines for as long as seven or eight weeks. The hospitals claimed to have cured the patients.

AFTERNOON
           The writers circle. Here are the themes of the books-in-process that I like the most after my third meeting. These are the writers who generally contribute something each time, so you begin to see the direction of their plots. This is recorded here only as a human interest element. None of these books are anywhere near being published.

           “Oberlin, OH”. In 1970, couple are awakened by a phone call from the wife’s mother, explaining that the younger daughter of the family has finally left the hippie commune and run off to Florida. But she abandoned her commune baby and now the mother wants the couple to take it. They say yes. They drive over to pick up the baby. It is black.
           “Prayat”. The twelve-year old bride who tried to commit suicide to be reincarnated to a better life but instead survives in a coma. Her twelve-year-old friend grieves. This book, if published, will embarrass the hell out of India and Pakistan. The problem I foresee is this book has a European standpoint. When Europeans are embarrassed, they feel shame. When Muslims and Hindus are embarrassed, they want revenge.
           “Pauley”. A substitute teacher takes the only job available, at a reform school in New York. He sees how the place is run like a mental institution. He runs afoul of the superintendent as is continually assigned to the rooms with the worst students. There’s the suspicion this book is an indictment of the school system in general
           “Union League”. A reporter who dislikes the way his editor changes his stories into political opinion accepts a job at another paper. But the owner of his current job invites him to lunch at the exclusive “Union League” country club to woo him to stay. He accepts the higher pay and other perks, but something doesn’t add up. This is an inside newspaper story, some parts are hard to follow

           This trivia caught my eye. Wiki reports 61,000 meteorites have been found on Earth, of which 116 are from Mars. They know this because meteors contain bubbles of gas from their points of origin, and Mars has a very distinctive atmosphere. Anyway, the meteor ALH84001 is the one supposedly containing bacteria fossils. Not bacteria, just fossils. Everyone has seen the fossils so here is a picture of the meteor beside a child’s toy block for scale. Somebody over in marketing ate the banana.
           Wait, there’s more. The experiment where a mix of early Earth atmospheric gasses brewed up some amino acids (Miller, 1953) has never been duplicated*. The reason is that every subsequent attempt to copy the experiment can be shown to be altered by somebody looking for something. This nullifies all but the original experiment where there was not outcome in mind. Yes, you can look all this up on your own.

ADDENDUM
           It has been a year on the cholesterol program, the one where I take the Star Trek injections. As expected, my results are in the top percentile, but I have always reacted well to all medicines. This is not a complete recovery. This study concerns only cholesterol. My cholesterol is under control and this time staying there. My system still turns any possible food it can into triglycerides and there is no easy out for that.
           However, the drawing of numerous vials of blood leaves me exhausted for half a day now. And produces a slight headache. It is no consolation to learn this is common. My annual checkup ended around noon today and I’m still not up to moving much. Return next day for anything new, I’m staying put. I have the supplies stockpiled to make 96 pots (not cups) of tea if I decide to sit here until August 5th.

           *Author's note 2015-06-18: that sentence is unclear. What it means to say relates to the scientific principle that all experiments are suppose to be consistently repeatable. That's why it is science and not faith. The rules have to apply. And since that original experiment which produced the building blocks of life, nobody has been able to duplicate the exact formula. Hence, there may very well be some other explanation for the original, such as contamination.

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