September 10, 2015

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 10, 2014, there’s a time and place . . .
Five years ago today: September 10, 2010, 4,500 rockets?
Six years ago today: September 10, 2009, things have changed . . .

MORNING
           What a find! This perfectly good linear drive mechanism was lying on the street. Two perfectly good stepper motors of excellent quality. They were inside one of those motorized massage recliners. The upholstery was shot so somebody threw it out. The controller was built into the armrest. You can see us testing the functions. It works perfectly, but is old-school. I’ve already got plans to connect it to an Arduino. You should have seen us go at it, we had the working parts stripped out of it, roadside, in less than an hour.

           Plus we got two more motors, one from the foot massager and another that ran the recline mech. However, these have fancy attachments that are destined to be used for electric bicycle drives. It was a boost for me as well, for I learned that despite my total lack of mechanical background, I had guessed correctly all the essentials to assemble my own version.
           Then, to make my day, the bakery donated two dozen raisin buns for the clubhouse. So we worked until mid-morning made it too sweltering to continue. But coffee and raisin buns, that’s how you assure attendance. Add to that the club no longer supplies margarine, only real butter with no additives or salt, which makes these snacks back into health food.
           Things are not going entirely my own way. In a month, I still have not gotten a stepper motor to operate properly. It’s frustrating because I’ve read all the instructions and so many different sources that I know I’m doing everything right. That usually means one outcome around here—that I will find, in the final analysis, that the problem is something the jerkboys left out. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve run into that nonsense. “Oh, you’re supposed to know blah-blah-blah.”

NOON
           Okay, I’m getting talked into one of the tankless water heaters. What’s scarier is that is the most exciting thing that happened today. So far, I mean. Suppose the tank only lasts a short while, I intend to be gone in a short while. And I did say I’d look at real estate, so let’s have a ‘boo. Foremost search criteria is always what I could afford right now today, like, if I had to move today.

           This property is in Winter Haven, which I like. Three bedroom two bathroom, I’ve got the price down. Basically, it would mean financing, but using the auction fund as a down payment, my land contract payment would be just $315 per month for less than five years. That’s half what I pay now. As before, this is a mobile home where I own the land. The owner is willing to finance. Chances are, I’d bite the bullet and pay it off in a year.
           At the other extreme, what is the most I could buy if everything went perfectly and I pulled out all the stops? Here is a log cabin near Sarasota. It has a huge barn, workshop, swimming pool, two houses on the ten acre property, fenced, with a small orchard. The price tag is very reasonable and I’m now familiar with the area. It is nice and far away from Miami, which has turned into a total cesspool except for the gated enclaves. The remainder has been culturally enriched all to hell.

           In between, there is a mild selection of places gradually returning to the market after a month of nothing. One area that keeps appearing on the searches is called Fort Ogden. It is south of Arcadia and we’ve driven through there twice. I don’t recall seeing a town. Maybe it is time for another look around. However, after that near-screw-job in Punta Gorda, I’m super careful. Remember that? The real estate agent who said he had a right to lie to cover up defects in the property, even when directly asked, “Is this a safe place to live?”
           The area is nice enough, but it is also near that stretch where I noticed a few months ago that all the properties for sale are on one side of the road. There remains no acceptable explanation for that. As for what deals I can afford in cash, there are even a few places beginning to reappear in Deland, barely a trickle. They are, however, still too close to the southwest end of town.

EVENING
           Ah, free time with a good book. After a certain point, that is what it is all about. I’m still working on the third generation electronic counter, the one that goes to 99 million. I don’t have to stop there, but I ran out of display digit chips. I only had eight and they were actually the wrong kind (common anode) so I had to wire them backwards.
           Knowing I had once studied these upside down circuits, I dug out my old notebooks since 2012, three volumes. That’s the year I began to look at electronics in earnest. By some miracle, I managed to take the right notes and keep on track. I say miracle in retrospect because now I have a firmer idea of just how many crappy textbooks and terrible actors there are in the field.
           I would give anything for an equipped shop where I could fabricate heavier duty gear. I can’t afford both that and a house, so meanwhile, I build things where my kitchen table is supposed to be. Did you know I have a relative that is so rich she once bought all 30 farms to the west of her place so they would never be developed and “spoil her view of the Rockies”. And here I am, with no workshop. Hardly fair, it would seem.


Last Laugh

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