MORNING
More social media, that’s what the world needs. So I looked at Ello. Ad-free and anonymous, you tag everyone as friend or noise. Folks, it is the same crap all over again. Initially, you won’t get the same problems as Facebook (your name is already taken and the world is full of beautiful people you’ll never meet), but only for a spell. As soon as the user-base fills, it’s back to the same old. The next level will be the company that devises an uncrackable way to get back web anonymity—and flashes it out there before the authorities can ban it.
Okay, I admit to spending the morning watching paint dry. Seriously, blue exterior paint. But at my age, that’s better than doing the same thing while paying alimony or child support on top of that. I watched a documentary on a group that traveled to Pitcairn Island—the source of the colonizers on Norfolk, mentioned y’day. I had to laugh because they got stranded on Tahiti and don’t seem to realize they fell for every trick in the book. The captains “strands” them on the island, claiming the boat needs repair and sails away.
Despite it being a tourist destination, the islanders miraculously lose their ability to grasp pidgin English at roughly the same moment the island’s only ATM ceases functioning. Again. Every attempt to get an explanation about anything, even the time of day, turns into an argument with a Frenchman, who is mortally offended when caught lying, which is about every two minutes. Only when the passengers show visible signs of hunger and the locals know all cash has been extracted, the captain returns with a different boat in even worse condition. Minus their luggage.
I used to fall for this, but I was in my twenties back then. People’s needs are essentially the same everywhere, but non-English speakers just love to pretend there are incredible problems understanding you want food, clothing, and shelter. It’s all a scam, they know exactly what you want and are just putting you through the hoops. I remember one time in Venezuela I spend an hour asking the staff what time the movie started. Between twelve of them, they swore they did not know what I was talking about and kept telling me the movie was 90 minutes long. Talk about stupid, like anybody cares how long the movie is.
That’s where I got the brilliant idea on publishing a book on how to swear in every major language on Earth. But I only got as far as the pronunciation guide. I found the Pitcairn video hilarious, but not because it was supposed to be.
That was JZ on the horn. He wants to go partying on Xmas Eve, but only after I play Santa. Hmmm, if he can’t fit into that costume, how am I supposed to? I said we should, instead, take off for the weekend after Xmas but he’s got family obligations I tend to overlook. Maybe I’ll talk him into heading for the Lanai Kai. We will undoubtedly be talking real estate again, but the buying opportunity is gone until spring. Plus, the previous market plunge was when the yuppies were retiring, the next will be when they start dying.
Trivia. Playing the electric bass sitting down burns 172 calories per hour. (Sitting alone requires 147 of those calories.) Hmmm, ten percent of my daily energy is used playing bass.
NOON
A few days back I saw the neatest video of this old guy who build a metal crimping press out of door hinges. He did a demo on pressing a metal box out of thin sheet flashing. I didn’t bookmark that, now I can’t find it. I got up to Home Depot for the afternoon, spending a whole $21.00 but hey, it’s Xmas.
On the way home, I stopped at the coffee shop. Let me tell you about a guy I know who had nothing to hide. Including his credit history. I'll explain how that unhidden history just cost him a thousand bucks three days before Xmas.
He’s got one of those jobs that reimburses him for expenses. The catch is, he is expected to have the cash up front six weeks ahead of getting it back. He doesn’t, he uses credit cards. He goes to rent a car for two days in Orlando and they hit him for $950.00 “based on his prior usage and needs”. They looked up his credit history and determined he had some unspent money. He tried every work-around, even using his wife’s credit card, but they had that on file too. Serves him right and Merry Xmas. That's Merry, based on your prior usage and needs, of course.
NIGHT
Two weeks late, but my Goldwing clutch cable has finally arrived. This week is full of commitments but I would like to take it for a sprint. At least out to the Gulf coast for the day. The weather has been perfect for motorcycles. And it’s always perfect for learning things, so I tried to find that article about using nerve endings to control robots. I can’t find it, but it was around two years ago in Scientific American. A medical team succeeded in grafting an interface directly to nerve cells, as opposed to using muscle contractions. If anyone finds the article, leave a comment for me.
This is just a tuk-tuk (say “took-took”) but what I saw was a real car. More an older style non-American version, something like those Indian manufactured Ambassadors, if you’ve ever seen those. At any rate, when the Pope went to visit the islands, it was said he rode in tuk-tuks. Some say that was a hoax. Hey, it was the Pope, so who you gonna believe?
Anyway, enjoy the picture. If I recall, I was making a point about how in the better taxis, the front passenger seat faces backward—and yes, the door is made so it is easy to get in and out. But since leaving Manila in, what was it, 1986(?), I have never again seen such a taxi. But what a neat idea. And safer for the rider, too.
Return Home
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