July 23, 2015

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 23, 2014, Canaveral, you had one job . . .
Five years ago today: July 23, 2010, house prices, corruption.
Six years ago today: July 23, 2009, DNA and databases.

MORNING
           There I was, standing in line in Walmart. Long lines and Walmart, like twins, like two ends of the same rope. And I see Sterno for sale with something new to me. Face it, I don’t really know as much about Sterno as some people I’ve met. But I see they have finally developed the blue dot. Heat sensitive paint. It turns white when the can is too hot to handle.

           That’s a nice touch, ha-ha. On the other hand, it is tacit admission that the average Sterno buyer can’t figure that out for themselves. Or at least not after the sixth round, another ha-ha. By the same token, I see that IKEA has taken to babysitting. What a sad state of affairs. It seems some kids got killed tipping over a dresser. God forbid anyone blame the parents. It must be somebody else’s fault. Particularly if it is a large company with money.
           So IKEA is providing free wall clips, because they were so brash as to build tall furniture that can be toppled. That makes sense since there is no proof that IKEA was specifically requested by negligent parents to make and sell such objects. So you libraries and broom handle factories had better just watch your step.
           Sure enough, although I caught that overheating problem on the scooter almost instantly this time, the piston rings are damaged. You can tell by a distinctive “baking”odor when the motor is first started. It is not enough to change and check the oil to a fixed schedule with these Chinese copies. You have to check it before and after every major trip. I had checked it, but drove forty miles. It seized less than two miles from home. You wait, it starts, it runs, but I know that aroma. All too well.

NOON
           I learned about pneumatic fittings today. It was always one of those things, they either fit or they didn’t. Sure enough, there are two standards. The one you probably don’t want is automotive, as the couplers require a special type of seal. The standard size may be referred to as “industrial”. But, after I spend the money on what you see here, I discover there is a third type called universal.

           Buying one to try it, that is the one you want. I’ll attempt to get you a picture, but the coupling nozzle is easy to identify because it has three bands on the shaft. Others have one or two, you want the one with three.
           All else having failed, I finally am going after that smart rat. He is on to the wooden traps, so I had to spread some limited bait outside over the past two nights to keep him from roaming around my kitchen. That’s how long it took me to find one of the scentless plastic traps with the rapid kill bar. This rat has been walloped twice, but has escaped twice.
           And he has gauged the rate I can get up the stairs and has become brazen. He saunters away behind the stove, where there are several exits due to plumbing and wiring conduits.
           Speaking of conduits, JZ has located an extension ladder and we are fixing to inspect these “cool air ducts”, or “cold air ducts” in the building this weekend or next. We are aware that other buyers are ignoring this property, this unfamiliar technology could be the answer. And we stand to learn a lot in the process. Novices beware, calling anything in Florida “cool” or “cold” air that was built before 1955, well that is pure wishful thinking.
           How about the new trade deals with Cuba? No, it is not anything more complicated than that, so no sense calling it anything fancy. Face it, the current attitude in DC is that the US has had it too good for too long and must be brought down to the level of other countries. But there is one effect I would like to see—the ruin of the American expensive hotel industry. I did not say or mean luxury, just expensive. The entire US hotel (but not necessarily motel) business needs a good swift kick in the ass.
           Let’s see what happens when it dawns on the regular Florida tourist set that a week in Havana in real opulence costs less than one day at the plastic Diplomat. And this all takes place just as the Margaritaville resort is slated to open. Coincidence? Again? Maybe old Jimmy didn’t pay his dues on time or at the right office. Remember, this whole concept that City Hall can restrict the number of licenses is not, repeat not, corruption and we’ll thank you to quit saying it is.

NIGHT
           These Koran scrolls deemed original by carbon-dating raises my suspicions because the find is too convenient. Buried deep on page six of the Herald is the admission that old parchments were often washed and reused. So the text could be just about any age. And like the Dead Sea scrolls, it seems the only verses that ever get "translated" are those which support a specific point of modern view.

           The temperature this afternoon dropped to a balmy 92F, prompting me to head for the movies. This is the finale of “Testament to Youth” at the foreign cinema in Ft. Lauderdale. The Uber-less city where parking is always a hassle. However, the staff at the theater took an immediate shine to me and gave me a free parking spot beside their hedge. Just big enough for the scooter.
           You’d like this two-hour movie as a chick flick, as it centers on the young lady who wants an education just about the time all her brothers and lover head off for the Great War. Predictably they suffer horribly and she leaves Hogwarts to go be a nurse at the front. Where they promptly put her in a ward of injured German prisoners.
           It’s about as English a movie as you get, so although I identify with her loss and suffering, there is no way you will ever convince me of the central undercurrent in all these movies. It is that the upper classes, because they have “further to fall”, suffer more than we poor folk at the hands of any given disaster. That is just not so and quite frankly, I’m sick and tired of hearing it. The manner to which one is accustomed is total “English-think” that has no place in an equal or fair society. Should one ever arise, I mean.
           Later, I had a meeting with my financial people to discuss the possibility of purchasing this house within the month. It does not look good for me if they hold out on the price, but then again, we are looking at a two year loan, maximum. One curious item about those of you who use credit for daily living, do not use the ATMs at the race tracks, casinos, night clubs, or merely late at night. We have several confirmed reports of people who do so being denied loans and lines of credit.

ADDENDUM

           Well, that is interesting. You know how people trying to swipe Internet service will scan down a list of available connection settings to find one that isn’t passworded? How it lists all the WiFi routers? If you accidentally find the SSI of a router you don’t like, and rename your own with exactly the same name, it just amazing how many of that sites users will log on to your “free” service. And I’m just saying the next thing you know . . .
           See photo. Here is the last gift my ex bought me. I think I’ve finally figured out what it is. But first I’ll give you a stab at it. Today I made curried chicken stew and three gallons of peach tea. That is pretty much the only drink mix I allow on the premises. Other than cutting out soda due to the corn syrup, I’ve not been as fussy about liquids as other food.
           In other news, it seems Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law does not apply if the attackers are a very popular football team and their captain. Then you get 20 years. And there is so much money to be made in eradicating invasive species in the Everglades that Florida still refuses to ban their importation as “pets”.



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