November 8, 2015

Yesteryear
One year ago today: November 8, 2014, Interstellar, or inner city?
Five years ago today: November 8, 2010, Patty Hearst & welfare.
Six years ago today: November 8, 2009, the nicest house, once.
Nine years ago today: November 8, 2006, kerning, leading, & padding.

MORNING
           What is JZ doing weilding a 2x3 in the middle of the Everglades? I can answer that. Remember the photo of the horsefly trying to attack him through the window glass. JZ is the guy who, for unknown reasons, gets attacked by biting insects beyond anything I’ve ever seen. I did not believe it until I saw it. Here he is, preparing to dip into the nearby tall grass for a pit stop. The bugs attack him as soon as he opens the truck window.

           As for the 2x3, he doesn’t like iguanas and those African lizards either. This morning was so dead, I had breakfast in front of me in four minutes instead of the usual wait. Is it a long weekend or something? I dunno. I don’t care. I’m retired. And I did some further reading on a “surface planer”, enough to know that what I really want is a jointer. Which joins nothing, truth be told.
           These guys recommend either one. They both produce beaucoup sawdust, already a minor problem at my work station. I only have a small vacuum. Have you seen the prices of new hoses! I took the rest of the morning off to putter around the shop, repairing tools and such routine maintenance as needed. Did you ever find one of those situations where you just know the last guy was swearing his head off?

           That indoor-outdoor thermometer was just such a case. Why would a perfectly new device like that appear at the Thrift for a couple of dollars? I know—bad instructions. The thing could not be made to work, I thought at first I had been ripped off. But then I remembered I was dealing with engineers. When you change the batteries, there is a little note to press the “reset” button. That makes sense, you are changing the batteries in the remote when you install them for the first time.

           Well, the bloody thing blinks and beeps, but does nothing. I mean, it reads the temperature but does not connect to the main unit in the house. No how. This must have drove the previous guy around the bend, so he gave it to the Goodwill, cussing his loss. Myself, although the main unit came with the batteries pre-installed, I would naturally take the casing off and check them. In doing so, I noticed there was a second “reset” button on the receiver. Aha!
           It is now set to alarm when the indoor and outdoor temperatures are identical, signaling me to go work on the cPod. You see, the indoor temp is always ideal for me. JZ turns off his AC when he isn’t around, in fact, he turns off his hot water tank. I figure that saves him maybe fifty cents a day, but he has to wait twenty minutes to wash dishes or take a shower. Comparable electric bill? Him $28 per month, me $68 per month. But I live in relative luxury for that extra buck or two a day.
           That’s interesting. When it begins to rain, the temperature in my back yard falls 6.8F.

NOON
           The scroll saw blades being refined. Shown here, I am rounding off the backs of the blades to make tighter turns possible. I found it also allows the blade to flex less when cutting an awkward stretch. My home shop (never shown here in its entirety) now takes up almost one full desk top and is admirably equipped to undertake small projects. Start to finish. Take care, I did not say it was fine work, I’ve still never had a lesson and learn by doing.

           And one class taught me that saw blades for the Ryobi band saw, length 59-1/2” are pretty much impossible to come by. Even when Ryobi (Home Depot) sells them, they are in packages of three and priced to high. The three are assorted, meaning the two wood blades, coarse and fine, quickly break. So you install the deeper metal blade which can only flex enough to cut shallow curves.
           There’s usually a little or odd project on the table, this time it is a device to investigate the miles of wind per day. Huh? Okay, I’ll play nice. Remember that little propeller started to make from solid oak, which proved such a hassle, I set it aside. Until I got the belt sander, then I finished it enough to prove it works.
Then I mounted it on a shaft and noticed the number of time it spun in the breeze of the shop fan. By extrapolation, if I knew the wind speed and the rotation of the prop shaft at that speed, I could calculate the number of miles of wind that passed a given point in a day. Or, stated alternately, if that given point was the handlebars of a motorcycle, the number of miles of “air” driven though between here and Lakeland, say.
           But what good is a new-born babe?

           And I mulled over the guitar lady situation. Can I afford to not give it a chance? Understanding the role of rhythm guitar tells me what she strums is highly adaptable to duo arrangements. I notice what she plays now is not arranged at all. Same with all the musicians she jams with, each plays their part and nothing else. After age 30, most people grow bone-weary of such bands. They are not a musically rich listening experience.
           There is also the personality thing to contend with, although there is one aspect that got picked up right away. There were five other men probing the situation, um, guys, she is on to the cowboy hustle. Five men clustered around the one skinny blond while five fat Italian-looking women sit at the bar alone. One even got desperate enough to move over and sit next to me—although I was working the crossword puzzle. You see, fellows, trying to be the “nicest” guy in the mob gets self-limiting in a matter of seconds because you have to let the other guys cut in.
           Listened only long enough to hear that the other musicians were average and none had real stage personality. Some she knew as they had rehearsed the songs, but it was the opposite of how I do things. They learned the songs and then made them “mesh”. I make the music mesh before I start bothering which song. Get the feel of the music first, then “hang” the vocals on that background. Am I right? Remember the separate tip jar incident?

AFTERNOON
           Here is the lower 20” height configuration. Those who remember the first model may begin to spot the characteristic shape is returning. The side walls are 3” higher, the interior is actually the same width because I dispensed with the exterior frame. The shell is not complete, but I can pick it up with one hand to shift it left or right.

           Around four hours of work got it to this stage by nightfall. At the center back you may note the extra metal brackets which will support the bicycle rack. Oh yes, this time I take my bicycle along. And maybe I will put in some windows.
The hardware is also lighter. This time I used only 1/3 as many screws, nuts, and bolts. I cut as many corners as I could, but face it, I had to learn where each one of those could be done. I’m not working off blueprints over here.
           The interior space is slightly larger than the old model, and this time all of it is used. There are not battery boxes or equipment racks in the way. When present, they will be hanging from the other end of the interior cabin roof. I was able to test the length but the glide rails are not yet connected. I don’t think they will support the full weight of the extension. I may have to install some leveling jacks. Not a problem.
           Here is another photo of the configuration when parked. This was to check the length and space required. When extended, the box is six or seven inches longer than the second full-size model of 2013. The one that went to the Grand Canyon. And spent a wild night in Sonora.
           I crawled inside the setup as shown here, since that is the final word. I was correct, the uneveness of the two floor panels falls right in the hollow of my back and above my hips, so the seam is not noticeable at all lying on the bare panels, much less once the mattress is installed. Which could be as soon as tomorrow. The mattress has to be able to fold over itself before the unit is buttoned up.

           What? Yes, two people could, in a hurry, fit inside, although crawling out is, er, I mean, would be a struggle. Not shown here is the “ceiling” of the slide out section which opens up from a hinge near the center joint. This emulates permanent caboose from the second model. That makes it possible to sit up on the “tailgate” with the “saloon door” wings opened out. The doors are not yet installed, but they are planned to offer some privacy when getting dressed in the morning.
           I’ve been in places where people nearby stopped and stared at me for twenty minutes in the morning. Knowing damn well I wanted to get out and get dressed and go grab a coffee. Just sitting there, staring. Now all they’ll see is my kneecaps and ankles. Ignoramuses. It cannot be seen, but the glide rails go an equal distance back into the box. They may wind up being guides instead of glides. We shall see soon.
           I have not yet decided on any type of tent or awning at the back for longer stays, but it is entirely possible. There is also more space above the trailer tongue where the “tool box” sat on the other designs. The bike rack goes in there. On the side of the wagon, on the blue panel shown and ahead of the trailer wheel, that is where I will mount the spare tire rack on one side for the trailer, the other side will have a storage box and small fold out work or coffee shelf. The solar panels will fit on the trailer roof, reinforced by the black 1x4s visible here.
           The interior is more utilitarian. A light, the charge controller, a fan, and a heating pad instead of an electric blanket. One sleeping bag, a white noise generator and a small wind-up radio. The controller has jacks for phone and computer rechargers. The battery is located on the motorcycle this time. The final working model will be painted a slightly shiny automotive black.

EVENING
           The high in my back yard was 88F. Beautiful work weather, tired me out. So I’ll be home tonight with a good book or two. Maybe re-learn the piano part in Buffett’s “Volcano”. I know, it is steel drums, but that is a piano riff, which I play on bass. That tune is an interesting example of my arranging, since the riff cannot be both played and strummed by one person. Hence, most guitarists leave out the riff, which in turn leaves me an opening to jump in and steal the thunder. A large part of my show is surprising people who don’t expect the riffs from a duo, much less a bassman.
           Another technique I use in nearly every fill is less obvious. I carefully reviewed what other people call “bass solos”. If they lasted more than a few measures, they lapsed into rapid-fire Pastorius-type noodling. The sure sign of a failed lead player. While doing this they play groups of either high frets or low frets, which I understand is contributed by the design of the instrument. I totally mix the two.
           Years ago, I watched how Chet Atkins did it. He essentially played bass on the two lower strings, rhythm on the middle two, and melody on the uppers. I took that to heart. So next time you are in the house, ask me to show you how I took that and applied it to bass. If course, I can’t to rhythm, but you’ll find I don’t need it. As I’ve said many a time, the audience can often tell exactly what song I’m playing just from hearing what I do on the bass.

ADDENDUM
           Amusing, some of the stats Annenberg and Pew come up with. They are now getting anti-Libertarian, and I am a Libertarian. Mind you, what they call a moderate Libertarian. Those people are attacking the stance by continually pointing out that 94% of Libertarians are middle and upper class whites. However, only 11% of those called Libertarians by others would call themselves by that label. Trivia, the word Libertarian comes from believers in small government, which is what the American Constitution intended.
           It is the stance that the government should take no active role in people’s lives or the function of business except to settle disputes and run the police and army, but little else. Such a government could not impose taxes, sign contracts, or tell the individual states how to conduct themselves. The individual is free to do as he pleases to the extent that nobody is harmed.
           These polls and surveys don’t address the real problem, which is once the white population becomes a minority, it will lose most of its freedoms. Actually, the damage can happen long before they become the minority. You see, electoral votes are divided up by population patterns determined by the census bureau. When they go into an area and count heads, the census types do not distinguish whether those heads are here legally. Thus, the very presence of large numbers of illegals is already skewing the patterns. Even if the illegals don’t vote, the fact that they congregate throws the system out of whack.
           On the other hand, I don’t care for waves of people who do not look like me who want the opposite things that I do.


Last Laugh


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