MORNING
Finally, I am ready to take my celestial navigation on the road. My books have exam questions and I passed. Every location in the western hemisphere is now my backyard, the other hemisphere can wait. Now I just need time on the sextant, the only mechanical part of the process. This stage took five month instead of five weeks, but let’s be fair about this, because I did not pursue it full time. (In the end, if you don't celestial navigate every day, it becomes just another hobby.)
Plus, I learned the process itself, not just memorize the formulas, I swear some of the authors I read did that. And it is wrong because doing it that way means errors are not evident until the end of the process. That means waiting for them to go over it again, hoping to catch the mistake. On the other hand, I can work backwards from the table and pick out the problem right away. What confused me the most was the terms. Minutes is a distance. So is angle. Now to refine what I’ve learned.
The tip off was how every one of the women described an orgasm as not something fun in itself, but rather something that “happened” to them. They detached, it was an external event, the responsibility of someone else to “give” to them, while they remained slightly unwilling participants unless everything was perfect. Which it never was. Fortunately, in this world, I’ve met four women who were not like that, so I know such idiocy is not universal among that gender. True, all the other women I’ve met were much the same, but at least I know. My ex would have died laughing at what that video.
NOON
Here’s a progress snap of the cPod renewal. This shows the axle assembly removed. It has to be repositioned five inches to the rear to preserve the correct towing balance. It’s only noon, so I may have it finished by nightfall if my single rechargeable battery holds out. I never thought I’d be using it to drill 10mm holes in steel beams. This is the first metalwork I have ever done in my life. And learning to measure robot parts has really paid off. It should be impossible to tell the finished wagon from factory issue. Note that the emerging importatance of buying a house put this rebuild on the back burner for six months!)
Before we move along, I want to say one thing. I do not believe the law is doing a good job. The laws passed since 9/11 are, in my opinion, been misdirected. You cannot prevent crime, you can only deter it, and the best way to do that is make laws that people voluntarily comply with. That is where America has failed. For example, taxes. I believe that most people cheat on their taxes—but not because they are bad people, but because the tax law is so damn unfair. The American public was not asked if they wanted income tax any more than they were asked by the electric company if they wanted a "franchise charge". These were imposed upon the unwilling, so anybody who acts surprised when people cheat is an idiot.
The specific case [discussed] was crowdfunding. The government tried to shut it down, claiming it was the equivalent of selling shares without a license. But it was clear the true motive was they had no way of tracking the money. Under a fair tax system, people paid their share, I’m old enough to remember when people felt they were getting a good deal paying up in full. Nice roads, great schools, safe bridges. Now, instead of working toward a fairer system, the government only wants transactions they can tax up front so there is no option to cheat. Crowdfunding is “too anonymous” for their liking. There’s the real issue.
I just read a passage on the way that the study of history has changed since it was a science. The methodology of history should be to uncover and present facts. From what I read today (various sources), universities now teach almost the opposite, that historians should not only draw personal conclusions, but to further present a one-sided case. This is more akin to yellow journalism from my viewpoint, which necessarily does report any facts which do not support said view. (But this is not to denigrate yellow journalism, which is often the sole outlet for legitimate dissent.)
To make life easier for anyone who might have the onerous task of reviewing my life, I can help out. Every record or document I have ever handled in my adult life has some kind of distinguishing mark on it. No exceptions, I was on to the record-keepers from day one. While others did not suspect a birth certificate as a form of draft notice, I was always careful. Some indicators to look for are a pinhole in the lower left corner, an innocuous looking stamp with an unspecified additive in the ink, a crayon mark over any perforated edge, and in the case of documents that won’t be accepted if altered, a distinctive position of the envelope fold.
These are nothing unusual in my field (accounting) and doing things this way. And, it has saved my bacon countless times. I will always know immediately if a document is an original or a copy, and whether it is a forgery—and I have run across those. Lesson learned, I do not write checks unless I expect them to be held as a record against my will. (Remember when banks used to return your checks? There’s a reason they don’t anymore, and it ain’t to save the postage like they told you.)
AFTERNOON
Those new cPod side marker lights are nearly works of art now. Despite being identical to the rear markers except for the lens color, the amber ones were always problematical. I ripped them out, onto the shop bench to rewire every joint. They are now also soldered and all grounds are scrapped down to bare metal, then oversprayed with rubberized anti-rust paint. They are now permanent, I’d hate to have to replace them, but hey, they weren’t working right. I suspect in the original design, the ground wire was somehow too long, if that is even possible. This time, the ground is bolted to the chassis.
.JPG)
This brand of work is unfamiliar to me. Where I prefer to plan in advance, this work constantly presents situations that need solving on the spot. This must be maddening to the impatient. The smaller dimensions of the new cPod mean I can’t merely downsize what worked before. The biggest improvement to the original pod was the caboose which doubled the interior space around my head and shoulders and allowed me to sit up. I’m stymied and may have to sacrifice the caboose except for entering and exiting the sleeping compartment.
There’s no panic about the problems I encounter. The cPod is a proven concept. Ten days on the road saves me a thousand dollars and thirty hours of travel time. The new format will allow me to camp overnight just about anywhere, at least once anyway. And America is one damn big place. You know that the money freed up is always put to very good use. If you’ve been following, last year I arrived back in Louisiana with enough surplus cash to take the train to Memphis. When’s the last time you came back from vacation with spare money?
ADDENDUM
I am now officially old. So this is what it’s like. My hearing is still perfect and my eyesight has been the same since I was twelve. It’s a mite longer getting going in the morning, but then I have not had a hangover in twenty years either. Unless I get struck by lightning, it looks like I’ll be one of those “active seniors” who show up at all the free concerts at the beach band shell. Except I’m more likely to be on the stage than in the audience. Yet, I am officially old. My last “middle age” birthday is gone past.
And I have eleven years experience being “retired”. I wish I’d discovered this freedom earlier in life, but I was raised to believe if you were not born rich, living was a constant struggle for one’s daily bread. Then I found out you don’t need a new car every three years or a credit card to go on holidays. The law has turned marriage into hell and kids into hoodlums. You learn a house ties your down and being alone is better than with the wrong kind of girlfriend. You don’t keep pets because it is cruel.
Thus, I find since 2004, this has been the most productive part of my life. I learned to sing, became a professional bingo caller, got rid of all the deadbeats I knew, and took on huge challenges not the least of which was navigation by the stars. I’ve managed to get out of town at least once a month for three years running, and sometimes I get across the nation like nobody else. I’m even looking to buy a big place cash and convert one room to a workshop.
Since I quit relying on others to keep their promises, I’ve got a comfortable place. My friends are fewer but dearer, hundreds of thousands of people read what I have to say, and I’ve managed to get rid of 90% of the junk food in my diet. And I have never been broke since the day I quit working for a living. Who could ask for anything more?
Return Home
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
