One year ago today: September 23, 2014, saloon inuksuk.
Five years ago today: September 23, 2009, ah, Pudding-Tat.
Ten years ago today: September 23, 2004, NASA sucks.
MORNING
The robot club has a rule that all experimental work be done in the lab, not the workshop. Today I find a tray of damaged chips (L293Ds, so I know they are club-issue) and a dusty breadboard. Sigh, that’s why the club has me riding herd. Quality control, so now we schedule a pep talk. This photo is what chip repair looks like. Yes, that is “plaster-seen”. The 293 (dual h-bridge) is on the left. When I say repair, I mean straightening out bent contact pins.
Nobody can argue or make comments about musical taste or ask for an explanation. No means no. Maximum number of active vetoes is three, not counting repeats. Thus, the learning of some tunes can be indefinitely postponed if even one band member really doesn’t like that song. But usually after 91 days, the band has moved on. Top of my veto list? “Hotel California”. “Who will rid me of that turbulent piece?”
NPR is featuring classical piano this week, mind you, with an excess of commentary. Do I really care where the composer was born and which academy trained the performer, or do I just want to hear the damn music? That’s your easy question for the day. I do have a favor to ask Canadian historians. When an immigrant gets off the boat and one week later receives a $1,500 check and a job offer from the CBC for his first concert, quit feeding us bull about how the guy “arrived penniless”. We’d sooner believe he phoned home for money.
NOON
This is Lord Howe Island, in the Admiralty chain, new New Guinea. It is just a placeholder, not anything relevant to this post, except that it is near to a place I almost hit with my navigational exercises. See addendum.
[Author's note 2015-09-23: for clarity, what I'm saying here is that over the years, I have kept names and stats on the major people I do not get along with for any reason. For instance, item 1 says that of the 152 people I don't like or don't mix with, only one was a lawyer, the rest were blue collar types. These are some of the patterns noted from that list, otherwise, it is just a list of no particular significance.]
How does one combine statistics with gossip and grudges? I found a way! As can be deduced, I have the names of everyone in this life where we did not get along. That’s 152 people, with 7 more on the pending list. Rather than percentages, let’s look at totals, remembering that categories can overlap.
Total: 151. With one exception, none were professionals. But I’m the first to admit I don’t get along much with working class heroes. And if you look at the number of wars going on, they don’t get along much with each other any better.
Total: 125. The largest single group is single males, of whom 92 were “dumb jocks”. Note that all men who get violent are included here, as I have never met an intelligent or educated man who was violent by nature. Only stupid people fight with their fists.
Total: 28. Married, middle-aged (28 - 48 years), slightly overweight women. Mainly from the phone company, for of my own volition I don’t socialize with married women, ever. And it is quite difficult for a married woman to not get along with me unless she imposes herself, uninvited, upon my situation.
Total: 27: Number of people who were 30, 31 or 33 (but not 32) years old when our mutual dislike began. Funny, I’ve always thought of that as the age spread where most people quite learning, that is, they are as smart as they are ever going to get. It’s pitiful, really.
Total: 23: Number of civil servants on my bad person list, ranging from customs agents to mayors. It would be strange for me to get along with those who support a corrupt and unfair system just to build their pensions. These days, it is mainly civil servants who get away with that.
Total: 14. Largest identifiable occupation of males who earned my disrespect—-policemen. And I’ve never been arrested or inside a jail, so that number is probably lower than average. Lots of people don't get along with policemen.
There’s a considerable number of other patterns in that list, but these are the most direct. Bear in mind that the definition of “to not get along” varies from mild dislike, to repugnance, to loathing. Also, I dislike people whose popularity derives from peer pressure and conformity, but I’m okay if one’s popularity is a result of admiration. One thing certain about the majority of people who don’t get along with me: something of mine is always bigger than theirs. (Ego, bank account, fan club, etc.)
Nor do I give much never-mind to the opinions of outright jackasses, so I make little effort to put up with them. I simply don't believe in friendships or relationships that I have to work at. They are a waste of life. I believe social pecking order is largely pre-ordained and only politicians and other con artists attempt to tinker with it.
There are exceptions, so don’t quote me as stating any absolutes, either. Much depends on one’s perspective on humanity. You know those food pyramid charts that show food chains, with single cells at the bottom and humans or sharks at the top? When I look what our American and Canadian societies have thrown away through excessive liberalism, think about it. It’s the worms that are really at the top [of the food chain, think about it].
My computer just informed me it is shutting down for updates. Up yours, MicroSoft. I was working on something. You won’t log on the Internet, but you’ll install updates that come from there. And the “proper” function now capitalizes the letter after an apostrophe. MicroSoft has become sadistically stupid.
EVENING
I have the song new list and I see these are also arriving in zipped Calibri 11. I was hasty with my old lead player for compressing the files. Now I see he was not doing it on purpose, but like I told you, MicroSoft forces things their own way by controlling default settings they know the masses won’t change. There are 61 songs on the list, of which I’ve heard of 8 and can only play 3. Their definition of classic country is three generations ahead of me.
But, it had to happen sooner or later. It is again in my best interests to be out there playing in order to meet those who play country music. This list, while it has the big names, would not sell that great in a lot of places. It is mainly country schlock, the new stuff being cranked off word processors. I swear there is an app somewhere that inserts country keywords into any lyrics.
I hit the library again and stayed for the trivia. Did you know metal pen nibs were originally designed so they could draw uniform lines on music sheets? And a store was a building that had larger windows on the ground floor than in the residence above it. The Queen Mary moved 33 mph and was the fastest transport of its day, beating out even the trains.
I have a question for you. When you meet a small group who is disliked by half the world, do you blame the small group or half the world? I was at the Young Street library. I noted there were 6 new books on anti-Semitism in the research section, where the encyclopedias used to be. I glanced through many of the tables of content, but could not find a single reference or chapter regarding Jews themselves accepting any responsibility for anything that ever happened to them.
They are always portrayed as innocent victims under every circumstance. All recommendations to combat anti-Semitism called for action on everyone else’s part—never the Jews themselves. If that is their game plan, it ain’t going down no matter how many times they jiggle the handle.
ADDENDUM
Oh boy, more navigation. By now I hope I sound more comfortable with the topic. It must seem like I’m perpetually announcing victory, but that comes from me knowing where I lean back or have and “aha moment”. There’s many times I thought I’d reached the end only to turn the page on yet another set of formulas. Now I know, the starting point is a sextant reading, the ending point is two lines drawn on a map at least five times per day.
Which brings me back to that sextant reading, the event which got this whole ball rolling. It turns out to be uncomfortable to take sun readings in Florida. Nearly every dawn and dusk presents you with unbearable heat and the need to establish an artificial horizon or go to the beach. There’s the additional hindrance that I’m rarely un-busy at the best times for a reading. The stars are rarely visible even overhead and certainly not in lower parts of the sky. What to do?
That question took some answering. What is something that is generally visible in Miami? The Moon. Why, that’s obvious, or is it? The Moon has a reputation for being difficult. I see it now after three months of chasing the Sun. You slowly realize the extra brain-sweat over the Moon is really one more calculation. All celestial objects move predictably east to west, I finally got that down. The Moon also moves from north to south rapidly enough that you must allow for it, there’s the rub.
Therefore don’t be surprised shortly if I start reporting Moon sights. Now careful what I say here next, I’ve found I can take reasonable readings without the horizon. How? Because around here I generally know where the horizon is supposed to be, if I could see it. These readings would be too wild for navigation, but most times my calculations are within 60 miles.
The Moon means just another step and it would be most convenient compared to the Sun. It is often beautifully visible at times when I’m already active. What’s more, the southern horizon is often visible on the darkest night because of the glow of Miami. But there are pre-conditions to what I’m saying here, so don’t run out and try it. Example, how to allow for the diameter of the Moon. You probably don’t know that.
And editions of the 2015 Farmer’s Almanac are appearing on the stands. They are useless for navigation so don’t waste money on them. Unless you are planting broccoli at sunrise. In which instance you can use the booklet to kneel on so your knees don’t get damp. (I still purchase and read the Alamanac, for the same old reason. I don't believe most of that, but I know a lot of women who do.)
Later. Admiralty Island. I’ve hit another island, but this time with my first totally accurate Moon GP for “geographical position”, though not having been to the fancy schools, I call it the Ground Point. This time, and by time, I mean six pieces of information 2014y 09m 24d 92h 17m 04s (it is tomorrow in England). The Moon is at 218° 37.5’ GHA and 01° 19.2’ S DEC. Slightly northeast of Admiralty Island in the Bismarck Archipelago. I was off, Admiralty is 146° 57'E and 02° 05'S. The 72° is due to my unfamiliarity with East longitudes.
