One year ago today: June 5, 2013, the mystery tool.
Five years ago today: June 5, 2009, at least it was Friday?
MORNING
What are they? Here’s two items I picked up at the marine store because I’d not seen them before. The item on the left could be a double-barrel roach clip. But why the rubber pads? The other item is a plastic razor blade. I thought the guy who said it was not allowed on airplanes was joking. It is surprisingly sharp but I would not want to shave with it. It does, however, a remarkable job of cleaning flat screens with nary a scratch. But the clip? You got me. It does come in handy for small soldering jobbies.
CreateSpace. Because it has to do with Amazon, I’ve never looked at it. Until y’day when Prof. Oz shows me a blurb sheet. He often signs up for programs that he doesn’t know how to use and promptly forgets how to log back on later. So, we’ll take a look. CreateSpace seems to be media download on command. I’ll see if I can use the prof’s account to test it, but I’m automatically leery of “publishing software” that indenture the author to exclusive sales and thus makes a company like Amazon the custodian of business records best locked up private in your desk drawer. I’ll see if CreateSpace has any offsetting redeeming qualities.
In overview, all I’ve time for just now, Amazon has learned their lesson about confiscatory fees and finally allow other formats than Kindle. But most attractive is the ability to accept ordinary computer files for publication, although in the interests of protection, I still would submit only portable document format (PDF). However, I see they have a feature to create a downloadable “DRM-free” single track. Meshing that with Collin’s idea of driving people to a sales sight comes back into focus. Right now, my only product is more publicity. Last, I notice that the Amazon guidelines and privacy policy are not conscience-based, but that obviously they have had their stupid asses sued off somewhere along the line.
Argh, without giving away the store, I must report that for the first time since I brought the subject up recently, there was a moment in time nobody on the planet was reading this blog. This non-event occurred at 6:30AM today. My readership actually dropped to zero. It is presently 7:30 AM with 30 readers. I am heartbroken and in consolation heading to the bakery for a coffee.
The sharp lady from the marine store last day gave me the web directions for a guitarist she knows, name’s Michael Jensen. Where do I know that name from? Well, upon searching, I find him in Missoula, Montana. I have not spent any time in Missoula since 1973. LizJohn and I had coffee near there in 1997, but that doesn’t count. But common or not, I know that name. I’ll check ReverbNation but I have this recollection of an acoustic guitarist who plays slow music. (Later, here is Michael Jenson. I still can’t place him but this music is folk rock with jazz substitutions. That’s a guy who has been playing his entire life. And that too often makes a guitarist unadaptable.)
DAYTIME
This is a photo of a kid’s view through a kaleidoscope. This picture was very hard to take but my motive is that such photos must necessarily be unique. If you have ever used a kaleidoscope, you will note this one does not have any apparent lines where the mirrors are located. Other than that, the picture is only here to give this post more visual left-to-right balance. Is that honest enough for you?
From what I’ve read, there is no special math involved, only basic arithmetic. I’ve read two books so far though I do not claim to understand these books. I already see reading the sextant and navigation as two separate jobs if you want it done right. A thousand miles out in the ocean you won’t care much about the inevitable compounded human error of one man doing the entire duty. Close to shoals or reefs is a different matter. One second equals one mile and it takes that long to glance at a wristwatch.
What’s more, the books avoid stating that the calculations are base 60 (Babylonian) and instead give examples how to add or subtract degrees and minutes. These are painless procedures for an old physics major like myself. Even if I find it easy, I intend to find the simplest and quickest method now that I know some methods are more complicated than others. And I’m beginning to understand why airplanes require an “artificial horizon”. How? Well, I’ve seen tables with columns of “dip” corrections which allow for the height of a ship’s deck in inches. If those minor altitudes need refining, an airplane at 30,000 feet must be looking around the curvature of the Earth. Must. Confine. Self. To. One. Subject.
AFTERNOON / EVENING
I stopped by to check on Agt. M and he’s thrown his back out again. Unable to move, I brought him a sandwich. After taking a break, he felt well enough that I coaxed him into going back to the marine store. He was like a kid in a candy store. He bought a hundred dollar fishing pole, and was checking out a $200 offshore Internet antenna before I hauled him back into orbit. The deal is if he catches a big fish, skins and cooks it, I’ll come over for the feast part. Hey, that’s fair, he borrowed the hundred bucks from me.
Up late I was last evening, studying the sextant and navigation textbooks. I’ve decided this is a worthwhile pursuit, so I decided to spend this month’s discretionary on properly learning the basics. I now have an artificial horizon (I’ll explain that in a day or two, but it has nothing to do with the kind in airplanes) and a plumb bob. As far as the “double-barrel” roach clips, the staff [at Sailorman] does not know what they are either, but suspects it is electrical. I don’t think so because of the rubber insulation. The double clips remain a mystery.
The spritely lass was at the counter again, self-assured beyond her years, which is a quality few men appreciate. She expressed interest in learning music and has no idea she has hit the jackpot--providing she is serious, mind you. I think she is still getting over finally meeting an older guy who isn’t trying to jump her bones. I get the vibes that she is fed up with all the pretty boys and the small talk. She’s already detected I’m the safe type to hang out with, but yes, I regret the huge difference in ages. I won’t hold it against her, though. I sure like the way she latches onto supremely confident men. Could be they are in short supply in south Broward?
The new sextant is here. Return probably tomorrow to see photos and work through the initial readings with me. It is tedious, but by no means as difficult as it seems at first. Anyway, the artificial horizon has to be filled with liquid and I’m immediately replacing the flimsy lanyard that came with the unit. Which you will see looks brand new. It was a consignment. I learned it has a small illumination diode for night readings. See, another toy for the club and as usual, once I learn how to work the thing, so will others who will then act like they knew it all their lives. Hey, welcome to planet Earth.
And speaking of Earth, I’m having to work at watching “Dune”, the movie. The setting is 21,000 years into the future, or 22,914 AD. You’d think by then they’d have outlawed gossip and intrigue, or at least selectively bred those predisposed to such behavior out of existence. So now, let me go practice my bass, since I’m getting rusty on old Doors tunes and all too quickly forget anything sung by Annie Lennox. Act now, mark my words, somebody will come knocking on the patio to visit just as I start deep learning the bass lines. Happens every time.
From earlier: Amazon has plainly learned a few lessons they desperately needed to be taught. Just let me say that as far as I'm concerned, the gradual lowering of prices by Amazon since 2002 is, in my opinion, motivated by their self-interest in avoiding a MicroSoft-style anti-trust action. Amazon is a monopoly and engages in price-fixing, but they at least play more fairly now.
ADDENDUM
Have you ever read Utopia by Sir Thomas Moore? This book is from a time that could not imagine a nation existing without a king or emperor. The nation was so “advanced” that every day was a festival day, or holiday, or religious day, every government position was filled by the capable sons of the previous bureaucrat, where every non-royal person performed a duty or trade that depended on birth station. This harmonious arrangement, at least for the upper crust, is indeed utopia.
For the first time today, I watched the 1984 movie “Dune”. It is evident now how influential Utopia was on that movie and “Star Wars”. If you wonder why these high-tech interstellar societies are so alike in Hollywood, there is your common denominator. Note the real book is a big novel, not the snippets seen in the link. “Utopia” is likely why, when I saw Star Wars in 1977, I was probably not as impressed by the amount of “science fiction” in the movie. And why I never bothered to watch “Dune” until today. It is running in the background as I study celestial navigation. To movie-makers, science fiction must equal fairy tales. Monsters, slaves, princesses and banquets represent the height of non-originality.
Having said that, “Dune” is mostly boring with grade B acting. After two hours, they are still chasing around the south coast of Oregon and uncovering traitors in the midst and flies in the ointment. There must be a reason science fiction is centered around feudal societies, and I find nothing romantic about such societies.
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