January 31, 2016

Yesteryear
One year ago today: January 31, 2015, I never did like Lego.
Five years ago today: January 31, 2011, beware of slimy club owners.
Nine years ago today: January 31, 2007, Trump billboard, no less.
Random years ago today: January 31, 2013, brunch with Estelle.

MORNING
           Here’s a photo so I won’t leave you without a picture for the day. What you see is not what you get. Here is my completely upgraded camera blind. On the outside, it appears to be a transistor radio, the kind an old coot would still own. To listen to old coot ballgames. Except, he’s actually listening to you in digital clarity from 65 feet away, and in discernable talk at twice that. All the knobs and buttons on this old radio still operate, but they don’t do anything. Just like mom always said, it’s what’s inside that counts.

           And in this case, literally, there is an HD camera, a nearly infinite power supply, 32 hours of recording time, and the headphone jack allows for real time listening and recording. You’ll need your computer to see the videos and pictures, there is no viewscreen. It’s an iCam, so the clarity is astounding.
           Not visible here is a surplus MP3 player that loops terrible jazz music whenever the Arduino senses anybody near enough to hear anything. The camera faces sideways, the sound cone faces forward, so it is not the ideal design, but the choice of the radio over the lunchbox is because aiming the camera looks like you are just repositioning the radio for better reception.
           That, and it plain looks funny when you plug a set of Sony noise cancelling headphones into a lunch pail. This unit is not yet Internet compatible, but that is merely a matter of adding another Arduino card. Although this camera will take excellent stills, when installed in this box it takes only movies.

           There is a tradeoff with the movies, as well. They are in Quicktime (Apple) format, the dreaded MOV files that requires software that often will just not do what you want done. Also, the newest version has something built into the format that nullifies all my existing conversion software. Sadly, I recorded some irreplaceable music videos before finding out Apple did that.
           So you are forewarned, what happens is the Apple format does not work well with Windows Media player and other Millennial crappy-but-standard players. If you try to reformat (convert) the files to wmv or something more widespread (like with Power Director), the audio disappears completely. And you may not get it back. One cannot help but suspect Apple does this on purpose.
           Also, this camcorder comes with only a fisheye lens, so all photos look like you looking through an apartment doorway peephole. In all, do not spend any more than the $20 I did on this particular camera. The still photos are also fisheye, but you know, I’ve never looked for software that can reverse that condition. There’s a project for me this evening.

Wiki picture of the day.
Paris, 2013
NOON

           Today, I’m going to get lazy and publish a CL (Craigslist) posting from Macon, Georgia. It could be from anywhere, but that’s the one that appeared on my feed. Note, this posting is for information only, the original has been modified, spellchecked, formatted for this blog, etc. It has a definite “Trump-like” ring to it long before his name is mentioned. Note from the math, this was originally composed in 2009, I just saw it now.

WAL-MART VS. THE MORONS (NOT A JOKE)
           1. Americans spend $36,000,000 at Wal-Mart, every hour of every day.
           2. This works out to $20,928 profit per minute.
           3. Wal-Mart will sell more from January 1 to March 17 than Target sells all year.
           4. Wal-Mart is bigger than Home Depot + Kroger + Target +Sears + Costco K-Mart combined.
           5. Wal-Mart employs 1.6 million people, is the world's largest private employer.
           6. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the history of the world.
           7. Wal-Mart now sells more food than Kroger and Safeway combined, and keep in mind they did this in only fifteen years.
           8. During this same period, 31 big supermarket chains sought bankruptcy.
           9. Wal-Mart now sells more food than any other store in the world.
           10. Wal-Mart has approx 3,900 stores in the USA of which 1,906 are Super Centers; this is 1,000 more than it had five years ago.
           11. This year 7.2 billion different purchasing experiences will occur at Wal-Mart stores. (Earth's population is approximately 6.5 Billion.)
           12. 90% of all Americans live within fifteen miles of a Wal-Mart.

FIX THE ECONOMY            You may think that I am complaining, but I am really laying the ground work for suggesting that MAYBE we should hire the guys who run Wal-Mart to fix the economy.

To President Obama and all 535 voting members of the Legislature, it is now official that the majority of you are corrupt morons:

           a. The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775. You have had 234 years to get it right and it is broke.
           b. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to get it right and it is broke.
           c. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it right and it is broke.
           d. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and they only want more.
           e. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44 years to get it right and they are broke.
           f. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get it right and it is broke.
           g. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure.

FAIL            You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our throats while overspending our tax dollars.
           AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM??
           We have lost our minds to "Political Correctness"
           Someone please tell me what is wrong with all the people that run this country!!!!!!
           We're "broke" and can't help our own Seniors, Veterans, Orphans, Homeless etc. and the last months we have provided aid to Haiti, Chile, and Turkey and now Pakistan ( the previous home of bin Laden). Literally, BILLIONS of DOLLARS!!!
           Our retired seniors living on a 'fixed income' receive no aid nor do they get any breaks.
           AMERICA: a country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed hungry, elderly going without needed medicines, and mentally ill without treatment, etc.
           Imagine if the GOVERNMENT gave U. S. the same support they give to other countries. Sad isn't it?
           I like the list of 13 things that I as a citizen want. This is why Trump zooming ahead. He is at least talking about issues that most Americans are concerned about.

MANTRA My mantra about Trump is this: We are usually in agreement with most of what he says but wish someone else was saying it.

Our Special Bucket List :
HERE IS WHAT WE WANT:
           1. Hillary: in prison!

           2. Put "GOD" back in America!!!

           3. Borders: Closed!

           4. Congress: On the same retirement & healthcare plans as everybody else .

           5. Congress: Obey its own laws NOW!

           6. Language: English only!

           7. Culture: Constitution and the Bill of Rights!

           8. Drug Free: Mandatory Drug Screening before & during Welfare!

           9. Freebies: NONE to Non-Citizens!

           10. Budget: Balance the damn thing!

           11. Foreign Countries: Stop giving them our money, charge them for our help.

           12. Fix the tax code.

           13. Respect the military and flag.


Last Laugh
It seemed apt:


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January 30, 2016

Yesteryear
One year ago today: January 30, 2015, go flamenco yourself . . .
Five years ago today: January 30, 2011, I find a new place.
Nine years ago today: January 30, 2007, Dr. Skrbc.
Random years ago today: January 30, 2009, it’s an Isetta.

MORNING, NOON, NIGHT

Wiki picture of the day.
Switzerland
           “I have as much authority as the Pope. I just don’t have as many people who believe it.” – George Carlin.

           Nothing happened in South Florida today. It has been either too wet or too cold every day for two months now. No bikini-clad babes on the beach, but then, you don’t see as many of those as there used to be anyway. I stayed home, fixed tools, played guitar. I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that’s about the most the majority of people could ever hope for. Alas, the bakery is no more, the new owners removed the indoor tables, including my spot.

           Who remembers the electric brad nailer I bought that would not bury the nail-heads? This morning I decided to operate. Most of these tools have some sort of adjustment, but guess what? When I took off the “clip”, I saw that only one of the four “slots” had ever been used. And it was for the longest brads. So I removed the shorter ones he’d left in the case and put them back into the correct slot. Now it works like charm. And remember, it was brand new. Ha, got me a good one.
           When I said it costs $600 per month to do nothing in South Florida, I meant it. I now have the first hard figure for 2016. This month, I spent $664 on necessities. That would be food, rent, phone, gas. In other words, to do nothing. This is the amount I’m taking dead aim on because I know that situation can only get worse in the future. As with anyone, renter or mortgagee, the largest cost per month is accommodation.

           This, folks, is our legacy from the British Empire. An open, empty land, with millions of acres of timber, and it still costs a fortune for a place to live because somebody else who got there first “owns” the land until you pay them a lifetime of work to buy it. Here’s a barbed clip about Donald Trump back in 2004, see paragraph 3. By the way, the bakery is taken over by a crew of Venezuelans who seem to have no clue what they are doing. The connection is “the trump”
           The "trump", for those who haven’t been here all along, is the nickname for my breakfast at the bakery. Coffee, a crusty role, with lettuce and Hungarian sauce. You see, it started as a comment that for $2.19, I could do something the Donald could not. Have a relaxing morning without a care in the world.

ADDENDUM
           Now that I’ve knuckled down and learned Cash’s “Walk the Line”, I could kick myself for not doing that years ago. Not that I’ll ever play it, but it is one of those songs that “comes alive” when it has a proper bass line. In this case proper means the bass is playing the lead riff, and that’s my specialty. It was this effect that spurred me on to begin playing these passages. This is not to be confused with playing “lead breaks” on the bass. We all know how sucky that sounds.

           I can’t say when I first noticed this, this, what would you call it? It’s an impression or perception that makes the guitar sound better. This is not the same as hearing a bassist simply accompany a guitar player which you’ve all heard how many times. I call this my “rhythm bass” style because I am playing notes that get left out by the guitar and notes or melodies often played as fills by other instruments. And most of the time, that other instrument is the piano, which is why it sounds so novel.
           Most likely I would have perceived this when practicing with guitar players who had not learned their parts between rehearsals or left out hooks. If so, my claim that I’ve played bass the same way all my life is only 90% accurate. I still play the same basics, but I’ve learned to add those parts to the extent that I’m carrying more and more of the song by myself. These days, in some cases, I carry the entire song as a solo.


Last Laugh
Don’t lose your key . . .

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January 29, 2016

Yesteryear
One year ago today: January 29, 2015, I bought a recorder.
Five years ago today: January 29, 2011, generic post.
Nine years ago today: January 29, 2007, Beatles’ autographs, $39,000.
Random years ago today: January 29, 2004, marriage is unnatural, Greer.

MORNING
           Here’s a concept, from a Seattle company that raised close to $30 million with crowdfunding. It’s not a 3D printer, but a 3D laser cutter, although it is marketed as a printer. I instantly spot it as something far more versatile and usable than a 3D printer. That comes with a warning that such a device cannot be both powerful and safe at the same time.

           The video only shows it cutting cardboard, so beware. Some of the other photos show thick material, but it is really a think material overlay. Closer inspection shows it will cut select materials up to ¼” thick, thought the specs say you can reverse the design, flip the sheet, and cut from the opposite side, making a depth of ½”. That is still a considerable improvement over the true utility of a 3D printer. Retail begins at $2,500 but probably double that for anything useful. Note, this product is not a new idea.
           This is a globe assembled from layers of cardboard that excellently reveals the “slicing” concept of built up design. This lampshade requires more intelligence and creativity than the average person can muster. And remember, it still had to be assembled, meaning the user would also require some idea of where the continents are. That rules out Florida as a major sales center.

Wiki picture of the day.
These trees died 900 years ago.
NOON

           “If all our national holidays were observed on Wednesdays, we could wind up with nine-day weekends.” – George Carlin

           So this is our choice this winter. Either too cold or too wet. The consolation that if it is bad here, it is worse further north, only goes so far. Yes, all the Frenchies who arrived last month have lost their money and time. Even if it warms up now, the season is over. Ah, but why would I bother following the weather? Simple, this means another year that the Florida tourist economy cannot absorb. That makes for bargains on houses in the spring, not that long from now.

           And this year, we are poised and ready. How I would love some overextended dodo to be forced to sell. I see some evidence of that, yet the system still is a bit too resilient to give much. On the other hand, what if Trump doesn’t get in? There is no way the American debt will ever be paid, our only hope is to declare national bankruptcy. What that will do to the dollar is hard to say. It will not be pretty.
           Take a look at this blue doublewide. Why is this building not selling? If it’s familiar, I did look at it (on-line) last June, but it was overpriced. It is back on the market with a hefty $15,000 lower price tag than July 24 of last year. While it is still too expensive, it is evidently not moving, but why, oh why? It is also further away than most of the properties I’m considering. But, this year I have some cash to wave under his nose. Do you want to go for it?

           Before you decide, here’s some data. Built in 1976, this has a metal roof. It’s above the frost line so it has forced air heating. Two bedrooms, two full baths, it sold for $20,000 in 1999. It does not look like any improvements have been done on it since then, so maybe the seller would be happy just to get his money back out of the place. The area shows green on Trulia (relatively low crime) and JZ have been through the area often enough to semi-confirm that.
           It is a rehab, but nothing much, and I would add a workshop, or fill in the carport for a workshop and add a new carport in front, bungalow style. It would require a complete security system because it is a bit of a remote location and I could not say we would occupy it all the time unless I move there. But I’m done living in this town so something of that nature is pending. I’ll ponder this over coffee in the morning. Buying it would not break the bank over here, but the seller might be insulted. That’s why I make these offers anonymously.

NIGHT
           What’s this, 91 extra hits because I post a photo of microwave bread last day? What, are you a bunch of chow hounds? Folks, it dries out twice as fast as ordinary bread. Still, I can’t ignore 91 hits, so here is a photo of my corn bread ring. Serve warm. The corn (meal) is imported from Mexico. I don’t as a rule allow American frankencorn on my premises.

           It’s from scratch. Corn meal, flour, sugar, baking soda, egg, milk, cooking oil, salt. The “crust” you see is a mixture of wheat germ and Parmesan cheese. The pie plate and upside down glass are to make it easy to serve, but yeah, it looks fancy as well. Or maybe today I had an inking to take pictures of round objects. Pretending I know what I’m doing. “Par-mee’-zee-an cheeze, man, Par-mee’-zee-an.”

           I ran some spreadsheets on exactly what I can afford between now and the remainder of the year. Harsh numbers. Unless there is another bust or I shaft somebody, it will be a tight squeeze. But, living tough to the end of 2016 to buy a house beats living like a dog for 30 years. Those who go that route must often ask themselves if sacrificing their life for a mortgage was worth it.

           My standard no-gig Friday is spent right here at home. I ran through a set of new bass lines and finally sorted out the guitar riff for Johnny Cash’s “Walk The Line”. I’ve played this song a few dozen times on stage, always faking it. Nor is it part of my normal set. Since I have never heard a guitar player do it right, I took it apart and put it back together. Ha, I think I know why it gives them all a rough time. It is my specialty on the bass, playing thirds.
           Quick history. Johnny Cash had a penchant for playing thirds and also playing in the key of F. This is not a natural key for the guitar. I’ve met guitarists who capo it up one fret, or tune the guitar down a step to make it easier. Cash also had a tendency to “add on” his riffs to the usual two and four bar phrases of other popular music. So you’ll often get 4-1/2 bars in his tunes.

           Back to my theory (about why guitarists don’t play Cash right). When guitarists capo up, they are playing the same finger patterns as the key of E, and that means they don’t like thirds. For non-musicians, a third is the middle note when you play a piano triad. The guitar strings are tuned a fourth apart, so there is your clash of notes. To play a third on the guitar, you have to change hand positions, which makes it difficult to play certain passages. Myself, I learned from day one to play all bass hand positions with ease.
           This has an oddball side effect. It “looks funny” to people who have never seen bass played that way before. That, and guitarists who switch to bass often bring with them a dislike for thirds. On stage, I’m inclined to exaggerate these rapid hand positions for audience effect. That’s where my “wagging elbow” style is at its best.
           Worse news for your average guitar player is the riff in “Walk The Line”. When I finally work it out, almost the entire song is custom playing. Except for a few short interludes, none of the guitar work repeats itself quite the same. Now I understand why so many player just gloss that over. Not me. Starting tomorrow, I learn it right, on the bass of course. By now you know I often seek out passages like this where I can handily outshine all but the finest guitarists. On stage I mean, I don’t do that at practice. You think I’m dumb? Once a guitarist gets on stage, he’ll never quit.


Last Laugh


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January 28, 2016

Yesteryear
One year ago today: January 28, 2015, my dream motorcycle.
Five years ago today: January 28, 2011, 171,000 foreclosures, none for sale.
Nine years ago today: January 28, 2007, I’ll stick with the calendar . . .
Random years ago today: January 28, 2012, $2 in the bucket.

MORNING
           How about these hipsters complaining that the lady doctor who attacked the Uber driver should not be fired. Anybody, they say, can have a bad day, and the real issue is the bad publicity of her behavior being broadcast on the Internet. Really? You stoopid-ass Millennials, you are the generation that bought into this intrusive technology. You are the ones that thought it was better because it was new. Fools.

           It was your collective patronage that allowed the present system to afford to grow to where it can wreck lives in an instant. Maybe next time an older person says they don’t like computers, you might pause to think why that is, savvy?
           Then she goes on TV to stage a totally rehearsed and insincere apology. That met with a huge rash of comments telling her to quit lying. You see, she tried the phony 1980s angle of claiming that her father was in the hospital and she had just broken up with her boyfriend. Oh, well, then.

           Is that why she put on her white shorty-shorts in her 41st floor apartment in Opera Towers, and went out drinking all night? She is now hiding out, having received clear explanations of what would have happened to her if she tried wearing those shorts back in India. But that fake apology reeks a little too strongly of damage control. The Internet at work, from doctor to bedpan attendant in an instant.

           Well, lady, you wanted equality to do as you please. Now deal with it. Gee, feminist Liberalism ain’t so great when it screws you right back, huh?

           Argh, I lose another bet to Trent. You see, while Trump did not kick certain journalists out of his rallies, he refused a Fox-sponsored debate. Due to that horrid “Megyn” who tried to use an interview to set him up with prepared questions on feminism. Says Fox, Trump “isn’t going to pick the journalists”. We shall see. Without Trump, there is no Fox debate—and I love it. Because Fox will have to write all those refund checks to the advertisers.

           [Author’s note: I know Fox by reputation only. I do not own a television and I have never personally seen a Fox broadcast, except possibly in passing. Only recently did I learn it is a broadcast network, whatever that is.]

           Here’s another incident you’ll not see in the mainstream media. A fundraiser for Hillary that flopped, big time. You’d think by now these hopeless tenth-raters would clue in what’s happened to the political scenery in this country. The old parties have been shot down in flames because they deserved it.

           Here’s another picture of the 30-something “medical student” kneeing an Uber driver in the groin. Apparently, she even attacked the wrong driver. I think it such a treat to finally see the Internet begin to provide a little pressure of its own concerning self-corrective behavior. I hope it was her boyfriend that caught the incident on video. That would be such sweet justice, since she tried to play the victim. Yeah, victims don’t use the words she did on that poor driver.

Wiki picture of the day.
Bowling Ball Beach
NOON

           “If the Cincinnati Reds were really the first major league baseball team, who did they play?” – George Carlin

           I finished reading “The Shack”, a NYT bestseller. I would probably advise most people to not bother with this book. It starts off like a mystery, the abused kid poisons his step-father and runs away and winds up near Spokane with the perfect family. Until his little girl is kidnapped. This is about a quarter of the way through. But then the rest of the plot disappoints the hell out of you.

           The guy responds to a note signed “Papa”, and you’d expect some action. Nope. That is the nickname his little girl called God, and the rest of the book is basically a discussion of religious dogma with three imaginary entities. God, Jesus, and I don’t remember. Chapter after chapter about him confronting “The Great Sadness”, but then, religious types often think they are the only ones who ever experience the real thing.
           My ruling on the book: Don’t bother.

           Argh, I’m rained in and the only contact I can tolerate is NPR. Who is blowing up restaurant noise levels into an entire 2 hour talk show. The commentators (or whatever you call them) are the usual obsequious troop of dork-meisters and lackluster leftovers from obscure eastern academies. I could not name one of them, but the callers—that was a hoot. You know, Sparky, there is a reason the major stations don’t let callers on the air for more than a few well-guided segments.
           Now let me get this straight. There are actually people who repeatedly go to the Hard Rock Café and complain that the music is too loud. That defies just about any principle of logic I’ve ever known, but the manager over there phoned in to say yes, they have had complaints to OSHA, going on to explain OSHA told them they can’t complain unless they work there. Double duh. This is one of those instances where the other patrons should be allowed to complain about the complainers. Hell, I don’t even like it when the house turns down my juke box sound for the sports scores.
           Joke. This guy takes this blonde lady to the ball game, but they get there late. It’s the fifth inning so the guy asks the score. Nothing to nothing, the fans tell him. “Oh, goodie,” says the blonde, “then we didn’t miss anything.” Actually, I see her point.

           It’s wet out there and I’m cooped up. That means all the tools and motors are oiled and tuned. I also spliced in a new quick-release cable for my home-made videocam. I can now switch from battery to A/C without changing plugs at the camera end. Plus I enlarged the finger-holes for the more often used buttons and replaced the batteries in the majority of my multi-meters. This is a more common activity here than usual, which I’ll explain by giving you the inside tip. A multi-meter will work fine, sometimes for years, on a battery that is 9/10ths dead for any other purpose.
           Then, as I was cutting wooden cleats, a tiny glimmer of blue sky appeared on the western horizon. I might get that cup of coffee yet. As a matter of fact, quite a number of my otherwise unruly extensions cords and power cables have custom cleats to wind up on., Once you have a scroll saw, there is no real excuse not to have such things in abundance.

AFTERNOON
           All afternoon just tinkerin’ and experimentin’, I build an airtight coupler for old aluminum fire extinguishers that works better than my old system. And listening to my first Merle Haggard album, his top 11 hits. I’m reminded why I only like two tunes he every did, and even then only because I wrote custom bass lines to spice them up.

           It is pleasing to go “backwards” and build some of these projects, in the sense that I’m working backwards from what are mainly over-complicated robot skills. I’ll set up a precision drill press setting where a nail hole would do, and that goes for materials as well. Oak fittings and aluminum braces where scrap plywood is more than enough. How I regret not have these opportunities so many years ago.

           And bread. Home-made bread. Anyone says you can’t make bread in a microwave, show them this. I like home-made to be light and fluffy. I can even proof it in the microwave. This is not frozen, this is the real McCoy, but frozen I’ll tell you is just as good.. I see it is down to 69°F outside; time for chicken soup and a butter sandwich. Maybe finish off that jar of Russian pickles.
           Say, is that a saw in the background in the bottom photo? Yep, I used the microwave in the work room so I could keep an eye on things.

NIGHT
           Here’s a statistic, the large number of students from China that arrive to go to American universities. I thought their system was supposed to be the best. Nor does it make me happy to see the large numbers here to study drama. It drives up prices for American students. That’s right, drama, Chinese parents have enough money to fly thousands of teens across the Pacific Ocean to take acting lessons. Quick, name a famous Chinese actor from China. Yep, that’s what I thought. So what’s the real reason they are coming here?
           Or how about this uproar with the lady that died waiting for a transplant. They are trying to pin it on the hospital, which questioned her immigration status. In actuality, the patient died while all kinds of questions were routinely being asked, but the Liberals picked that one.
           You see, the hospital only has a duty to stabilize a critical patient, and that had already been done. But the lady had ingested poison and that hospital could not perform the transplant. The other hospital was under no obligation to admit a patient who was stablilized. Nor can any hospital schedule organ transplants, that is not how the organ donor system works. You kind of have to wait until somebody with the right parts die. Possibly the Liberals think we should have killed an American to get the liver for somebody who was probably not even supposed to be here.

           Trump has an opportunity to do some real damage to this Fox Network. I don’t suppose Fox is any worse than the others for using interviews as forums to push their own Liberal viewpoints, but I lost all respect when they suggested they has “won” against Trump because he walked away. This is schoolyard nonsense, claiming victory when the opponent walks away because he doesn’t want to wrestle with pigs.
           Mr. Trump, start scheduling your own appearances to coincide with the events where Fox makes its highest revenues. Hit them where it hurts. Americans are sick and tired of stations that angle news reports to express their personal opinions and hidden agendas.

ADDENDUM
           As for the shootout in Oregon, the Federal government is looking for trouble by vastly overleveraging its true authority at the state level, and they are beginning to find it. Like the meme says, firemen do not go out looking for fires and policement should not go out looking for people to arrest. The premise is that they should wait until they are called. The Oregon incident is being vastly downplayed by the media, who do not (or refuse) to recognize it as symptomatic of a larger crisis.

           Remember, Oregon is where the government told a man the rain that fell on his own land was not his property. Just you keep doing that out west and you are going to get a bloody nose somewhere along the line. In equally scary news, 54 senators voted to impose restrictions on what can be said in political campaigns. Basically, they want to preserve the system whereby anybody already elected (the incumbent) has a tremendous advantage over any challenger by virtue of having a “free microphone”.
           That’s partially why Trumps campaign is being referred to as a movement. He brought his own microphone. The smartest thing he’s done is use the Liberal media’s own rating system against them. I love it, and I'm not even that pro-Trump, I'm just anti-politics-as-usual.


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January 27, 2016

Yesteryear
One year ago today: January 27, 2015, Colt 45 Model 1911.
Five years ago today: January 27, 2011, Berners-Lee, half an inventor.
Nine years ago today: January 27, 2007, State Champion sleeper.
Random years ago today: January 27, 2010, is that a Studebaker?

MORNING
           This photo is proof of the level of sheer mental defectiveness that is considered a norm in the State of Florida. Applying logic, anybody wanting to sell anything should probably want to make the process as convenient as possible on the buyer. Particularly on big ticket items like houses. But no. Florida standards have sunk so low that being an idiot has become a case of “everybody’s doin’ it”. And real estate tops that list. You know, if I had time, I’d publish a web site concerning real estate simply stating whether or not I’d live there. But that’s probably illegal.

           Here is a neighborhood in Winter Haven that is so dangerous, Google will not permit its drivers to enter the area. Yet this is not mentioned in the ads, only that the house needs to be remodeled. This is the area around Avenue Q in Winter Haven. You get the same thing on Bella Vista in Lakeland.
           I’m assuming here that the real estate listing services have some say in whether or not they list a property. How sad that America prevents people from selling dangerous drugs and dangerous cars, but any low-life can sell you a house in a dangerous neighborhood. Housing has become the ultimate case of buyer beware—by making it illegal to even try to find out.
           It was another fruitless day on the listings. So much garbage for sale, you’d think there would be one outfit smart enough to weed out the bad listings, or at least place the mobile home fake-outs in a separate category. Listing a mobile home without the land is not a “single family dwelling”. It is like rental property where you have to buy the structure as well as pay rent on it. Only making the practice illegal would have any chance of cleaning up that nonsense.

           I passed my quarterly medical in fine time this morning and wound up at the American Thrift. I’m a great consumer of used books. I found a complete book of piano concertos for 99¢. Turns out I amused the bystanders in the checkout line. Without realizing it, I was reading the notes and subconsciously started tapping my toe. Hey, that Wolfgang will get you every time.

Wiki picture of the day.
Vancouver Island cannibal, 1914.
NOON

           “The best thing about living at the water’s edge: You only have assholes on three sides of you, and if they come this way you can hear them splash.” – George Carlin.

           A January trip to the interior is out of the running. They do get winter in that part of Florida and it appears some tornados have been touching down. Myself, I’d go in a car, but I’m not the problem. It is the average Floridian who is a completely unprepared idiot. That’s who is going to flip his car into your path on an icy ramp, or step on the gas instead of the brake while aimed at a laundromat or fast food joint. And that is who is going to get off in court for killing you by telling the Judge he is sorry. So sorry.

           This picture is one of the most horrid album covers I have ever seen. I don’t know anything about it, but I fell out of my chair at those hairdos. I could not call them hair styles, but hairdos. What were these people thinking? Like today, 90% of the albums out there are schlock, but is that any excuse to make the jacket offensive as well?

           If you notice the green shield symbol, I’m including it to see if it makes any difference. This site would be, I feel, rated a mild PG-13. Even that is adults, not anybody who is actually under 13. Hell, only an adult would think somebody under 13, oh, well, never mind. I couldn’t stand such adults then any more than I can stand them now. They make me want to live at the water’s edge.
           But I disagree with Internet rating services on blogs but only because they have never asked for permission. True, if they did, the bad blogs would never grant it, however, that is a different subject altogether. Keep in mind, that is the same service that reports the value of this blog to be $397. If everyone who read this blog gave me a dollar, I’ve be living in a Houston penthouse.

           Here’s some trivia, but I decline to quote the source. It states that 88% of women using social media will judge a date by his grammar. My god, on that criteria, the entire hipster generation just went sterile. Grammar rates higher that confidence (at 84%), meaning I just might have a fan club out there somewhere. I also happen to know women like men with a very large vocabulary. (Um, I do tone this blog down a bit, but that’s for readability only, not to appeal to lower caliber of reader.)

NIGHT
           My Meet-Up feed is an amusing distraction. In the previous, say, six months, I’ve noticed an incredment in the number of women’s meet-ups. The themes are the typical pseudo-feminist empowerment material. You know, where the women all talk tough but scatter the instant a real challenge arises. Today’s e-mail included a nerdettes club, the premise is that this group will write software. What caught my eye was not the women so much as the claim that they intend to develop “beautiful” code.

           Whereas I very muchly appreciate that kind of code, and I’ve published some of my work here, I need to see. I ponder if this group and I have the same definition of beautiful. They claim to have 53 chapters, which they further claim is “diversity”, but I’ll be watching for this beautiful code. Why? Because at this point, I don’t think this assembly has utterly any friggen concept of how writing even the simplest computer code is going to bite into their time available for makeup application. Nope, no concept whatsoever. And don’t be calling me chauvinistic, I know exactly what I’m talking about. You can’t have it both ways.
           There is a term for having more than two programmers working on a single module of code. The term is “cluster-f(you supply the verb)”. This terminology did not arrise for no reason. Sure, there are large teams writing code. MicroSoft, for instance, and we know how flawless their products are. Their last good idea was somewhere around 1995, but nobody’s going to mention it.

           Having said that without sarcasm I might add, I may attend one of their meetings. Why? Because the male-dominated meetings are even worse. The “tinker tank” seems a repeat of the Nova waste of time robot fiasco. Their upcoming meetings concern drones and building a 3D printer, topics that are already outdated and stale. Plus, we’ve learned most people show up at these meetings to see if they can scoop TNBT, do a Zuckerberg. (Sorry, Ken. TNBT = The Next Big Thing.)
           Folks, flying a drone is a hobby club, not leading edge technology. If you can’t build it—and I don’t mean assemble a kit—assembly work is not innovation.

ADDENDUM
           Here’s some traditional Brit humor. I’ll have to tell it to you without the accent. Okay, this dour lady reports that a local workman had “turned to drink”. When asked how she knew this, she replied that she herself had seen his wheelbarrow parked in front of a tavern for some hours the day before.
           The workman, never said a word in his own defense. However, over the next night, he did leave his wheelbarrow parked in front of the dour lady’s door.


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January 26, 2016

Yesteryear
One year ago today: January 26, 2015, remember Lotus 1-2-3?
Five years ago today: January 26, 2011, depressing, at low ebb.
Nine years ago today: January 26, 2007, how Sheffield picnics.
Random years ago today: January 26, 2013, this blog 100/100.

MORNING
           What’s this, the Chinese stock market loses 6% in one day. Hmmm, I hope that continues for 16 days in order to reflect the true underlying value of those companies. After all, the very concept of “stock market”, let’s say the Chinese kind of borrowed the concept but not the underlying business model that created it. And the price of oil drops below $30 per barrel in the continuing squeeze by the real money to drive the small producers out of the market and scoop their assets for a song. Then you’ll see your $1,000 a barrel dinosaur juice, folks.

           Say, wasn’t 2016 the year China was supposed to overtake the US in productivity? I guess it depends on who is doing the measuring. Public watchdogs or a government-appointed committee with clear guidelines on what is expected. So you’ll know, the 6% drop this year is an announcement to make the slow-witted forget that the index has fallen 20% since 2015.
           Note the inclusion of Formosa as part of the Chinese economy, when in fact there is not that much trade between these two separate countries. Separate for now, that is. See, the big country continues to insist that the small one needs to be “reunited”. Like the Union said about the Confederacy, and we all know what that kind of thinking leads to.
           They say gold prices have correspondingly jumped. And, thanks to the rain, I can’t check silver from here. That’s correct, sideways rain always affects data speeds in this area. Yeah, I know I could just go up and use the library computer. Except, I just finished telling you it was raining.

           Careful about what I tell you next. I am not suggesting anyone go on the Internet and plug in their personal information. Always have a set of alternate data ready to bypass any required fields on strange web pages. Especially credit-card numbers. I used to publish sets of such numbers but you can now get them at various on-line sites. And remember, everybody was born on December 17, 1985.
           On a lark, I ran my affairs through one of those innumerable on-line retirement planners. OMG, it says that I starved to death by 2007. I will have, it says, no accommodation or the means to operate a vehicle. It states 105% of my income would have been required since 2007 for rent, food, and medicine. According to this, no way can I travel to Colorado, dine in restaurants, go to movies, or travel up to St. Augustine. I ran the software backwards (by spreadsheet) to find out how much money they say I would need to live like I do. It came back and said $4,600,080. Four million, six hundred thousand, and eighty dollars.
           I’ll hunt around for it later today. It must be around here somewhere. You’d think.

Wiki picture of the day.
Barbara Streisand's pad.
NOON

           “May the forces of evil become confused on the way to your house.” – George Carlin

           We haven’t forgotten Lake Okeechobee over here. The theory that it was a meteor strike has evolved and has revealed many weak areas in my capabilities to handle the investigation myself. On the other side of that coin, I have zero specialized training in these matters and am calling on skills that went rusty back in the last century.

           And it’s not like I’ve got a ton of research facility on this one. Here is the map case at the local library. Basically road maps, political maps, and barley production statistics. Nothing in that cabinet even shows the dozens of lakes you pass by on any trip through central Florida. Now you stop to think about that. Areas as flat as Florida should have a random pattern of lakes, and that is not the case here.

           What’s suggesting itself is that the “meteor” was more of a splatter than a direct hit by one object. What I did find was that there are two different radial patterns splaying out from a point just south east of the geographic center of Lake Okeechobee. I have not calculated the angles yet but I have some measurements. Early along, I understood I’m going to have to make some assumptions. I’m going to describe one of those assumptions so you are aware that I’m doing my best on this project.
           Initially, I’m assuming the meteor struck from the south and was traveling due north. The reason for this is the two radial patterns just mentioned. Otherwise, I would just take a protractor and line up the angle of descent. I’m trying to account for the two “strips” of lakes. One through the Lake Kissimmee axis, the other through Lake Placid area (Lake Placid itself is not a factor here).
           Thus, if the meteor did strike northbound and skip like a stone, the turning of the Earth itself would account for two paths. This is called Occam’s Razor, or the simplest explanation I can think of. The lighter chunks of the meteor or meteor shower would “bounce higher” but remain on the same trajectory. I don’t know how to calculate ballistic arcs because I’ve never had a professor with the skills to explain to me how it is done. But I do know that at each point in the arc, it is possible to calculate speed and time.

           Thus, I will calculate the one vector that I can deal with on my own. The circumference of the Earth at the equator is 24,901 miles, therefore any point at the equator travels west to east at 1,037.5 mph. That’s 1,521.73 feet per second. My next assumption is that every lake that is not circular, which is most of them, has a center approximated by the intersection of a major and minor axis. Thus, once I commence to cipherin’, I should be able to determine roughly how high the meteorite pieces would have had to bounce to create the observable offset. Yes, that means another assumption is that the relative positions of the lakes has remained somewhat stable over time even if their shapes have not.
           The idea here is to see if the figures are even realistic. At this point, duh, I don’t really know. To those who want to emulate, remember that the lakes do not revolve at the same rate as the equator, being above 26°N latitude. But remember that little grid in the lower right corner of our celestial navigation sheets? That can be used to approximate the velocity, which should be adequate for out our purposes.

EVENING
           My weird neighbor came over with this newest gadget. This is the guy that flies the drones and rides a skateboard. Over 50, plays computer games mostly. This time he had some home-made glasses that made smart phone displays into 3D. Patent it, I told him.* Anyway I watched the forest animals and rode the shark cage. You clip your cell phone in the back and watch movies. It's old technology digitalized.

           The movies were designed by an obvious Millennial. Dead ahead there is a white dot at center. This is a type of cursor. You turn around and face backward to place the cursor over a set of icons to issue commands. But only someone as ignorant as hell would put the dot dead center instead of off to one side or something.
           So much for new technology. It is basically good old steropticon with the “postcard” replaced by two side-by-side animated images on a cell phone. And with about the same appeal in the short and long run.
           It is almost as easy to convince a Millennial something is new just because he's never heard of it before as it is a New Ager. But not quite. The New Age types often went that way after failing to master a technology. The Millennials have been spoon-fed that common-core crap since day one.

           That’s another thing I’ve noticed about Windows products since Android. This generation of programmers is repeating all the same dumb mistakes that had been ironed out long ago by real programmers. Example, a click often brings no response, so you click again, only to have both actions happen. What a waste of time. Or how using a word processor visibly slows down other apps in Windows Vista and beyond. These “systems” were obviously never designed to be used for anything serious. Seriously, you cannot type a letter while connected to a newsfeed without getting artifacts or key freeze.
           Am I right about Millennials or am I right? Consider the way the media treats Millennials as some kind of new life form. “Millennials have developed work characteristics and tendencies from doting parents, structured lives, and contact with diverse people. Racially diverse, Liberal, and build their own networks through social media rather than organized religion or marriage.” Who came up with that one? And who would have thought playing games on a cellular phone could make anyone unique?
           Get on your smart phone, Millennials. And remember, if you can’t tell which ones are terrorists, neither can your neighbor or your government. So don’t you be calling them “raciss”.

           *[Author’s note: that is a figure of speech. You don’t really spend the money or effort to patent things these days unless you have some mechanism to bring the object into production or circulation. Otherwise, you are just wasting your $2,600. Want a list of the things I’ve invented?]

ADDENDUM
           SuperRat. That’s the now-official title for the rodent that has found a way into my place. He is exceedingly reclusive, I’ve never seen him. So I’m only guessing it is a rat. There’s news. At 2:54AM last night, he got slapped by the big spring rat trap. There was enough thrashing to wake me. But by the time I got to the kitchen and flipped on the lights, SuperRat had gotten free from the trap.

           That’s twice, remember, the other trap he actually got away by pulling out the staples that hold the spring in place. While I was away. I told you, this is no ordinary rat. Well, enough is enough. Today I invest in a Havahart big enough to catch a large rat or small possum.
           Some people have never seen a Havahart trap. This is a photo of the size you want. 18”x5”x5”. I believe it is called the model 1025. It works from either end. They retail for around $20 - $25, but one day, you too, will encounter your very own SuperRat.

           Wait, there’s more.
           Do you recall that photo from Sunday of the orange Homer lid? I had placed it on the floor in the back room to snap that photo. Guess what? SuperRat so associated that lid with a potential food supply that he gnawed pieces of it off again. That’s correct, while it was lying on the empty floor.
           It was the custom rat bait (from Wal*mart) that lured him to the [big spring] trap, but we know from experience he will not go near the trap again or take the same bait. So today, I buy a jar of peanut butter, which no rat of any species can resist. Will you confirm that, Patsie?

           Later, Mr. SuperRat got a temporary stay. Home Depot is out of 1025s. They have stockpiles of 1079s, for raccoons and even a 1099 for larger game. But I haven’t heard of any trap-line companies starting up in the past century, so I’m highly skeptical of why Home Depot has them on the shelves. Crazy, isn’t it?
           Say, have you see the price of peanut butter lately? Stock up maybe, or run the risk of snacking on bucket lids. Myself, I think I’ll take some of my four million fortune and buy some almond butter.


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January 25, 2016

Yesteryear
One year ago today: January 25, 2015, 1912 shopping menu.
Five years ago today: January 25, 2011, aw, Pudding-Tat.
Nine years ago today: January 25, 2007, a typical day.
Random years ago today: January 25, 2008, visiting Lake Worth.

MORNING
           Roughly on schedule, I have begun putting in low-ball offers on properties in the $30-40,000 range. That’s about all I’m prepared to spend in Florida and I could not care a twit if the other party loses on the deal. The places must still meet my full criteria, such as the land, at least two bedrooms and two full baths, low crime, and if possible a semi-rural setting near a large enough city. I could have made these offers as long ago as last September, had anything suitable come along.

           So here is a place I put in for today. My offer is plenty for anyone who, like myself, suspects another drop in the market any time. You may not see the potential in this place, but I do. It needs a new roof, but we would not know until we tear up a section. We have already priced out that such a roof is well within out budget and capabilities.
           This is a bank sale. They have two choices. The drawn out negotiations for a mortgage that may never fly, or take my offer now and dump it. JZ and I may leave as early as Wednesday for an inspection. And nothing works as well for “proof of funds” as cash in the bank. I’ll give you a little mental exercise: how much do you think I’ve offered for this place? It is setting on over an acre of shady property two miles from town. The same distance I drive here when I want to go shopping.
Wiki picture of the day.
Another useless map.
NOON & NIGHT

           “Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough money not to quit.” – George Carlin

           Aha, you get a follow up on the property from this morning, because it is the most “something” event of the day. And blog rules say I tell you about anything like that. It will be an eye-opener for some to follow along the events of this property, others can skip this. The system has taught us to be sophisticated debaters when it comes to REO, or as it should properly be called “bank repossessed property”.

           First, we got all the background information possible on the country records. The most important number is what the house last sold for and when. You see, attending those auctions last year taught us a lot, and one of the things we do is use the bank’s own methods back against them, I will get back to this. The case with this property is just that. We know the bank may have do dump it fast because it is not “mortgageable”.

           Here’s the satellite photo, no thanks to Mapquest. (If it was MapQuest, some retarded Millennial would superimpose address over top of the exact portion of the photo you want to see.) It is roughly this whole tract, which is more than an acre.
           The banks are not, or feel they are not, obligated to tell you what is wrong with a place. So, when we find the words “cash only due to condition”, we know that means the bank is will not qualify the place for a mortgage. Are you with me here? That, in turn, means there is water damage. To us this means the place cannot be sold except to a cash buyer and although the bank will say “people are buying $30,000 houses these days”, we know they are not buying houses that need new roofs.

           So next, we examined the 16 available photos of the roof to determine the roof leak must be on the left side facing the front. The rest of what looks like damage is good old Florida exterior mold. Of course, we would inspect the hell out of the place. The structure was built in 2001, so it must be relatively intact, even if we strip it down to the studs, a prospect that doesn’t scare us in the least.
           The satellite photo shows the front yard is huge. Good, I like that. Privacy. And more room for a barn or solar panels. Very well shaded.
           Now, we need to know if the roof can be replaced by anybody, or if the county or city has a bylaw whereby only “licensed contractors” who pay the kickback can affect the repair. Naturally, the bank said they don’t have this information. Both JZ and I in our younger days worked in truss factories, so although I don’t remember that much about building roofs, I have done something similar in the past.
           Next is the former selling price. It sold for $26,000 in 2006, bottom of the market. The real estate agents (two of them) were miffed that we based so much on that price. I’m saying it sold for that much just ten years ago—and it didn’t need a new roof back then. Thus, the place is actually worth less than the property value of $30,000 because it isn’t even vacant land. They were miffed at this angle of logic, and objected to us using the bank foreclosure figure of $26,200.

           Ahem, maybe they should quit publishing such figures as a click-bait if they don’t want them to be used? You see, I’ve learned how they calculate that figure. And if it is useless, they are the ones that shoot themselves in the foot by using it as a come on. Who remembers the house with the $2,500 tag in Arcadia? That when we got there, we found the bank had a shill in the audience authorized to bid the price up over $78,000. Well, now the shoe is on the other foot. We know the bank had to repossess the house for $200 more than they had sold it for.
           You see, we’ve learned that when we put in any offer, the bank is legally obligated to consider it. This puts a “pending” flag on the real estate listing, which discourages other potential buyers. And we know it. Read my lips, all of these “nasty” things we do were taught to us by the banks themselves in the last six months. They had figured we would just go away like everybody else. Instead, we learned the game.
           So, I left the bank with this offer. I won’t put in my low-ball bid of $15,000 while the listing is so new (about five days now). But if the listing begins to go stale, and I’ll be watching, I will put in my offer after 30 days provided if they still want more, they must finance the difference as a personal loan at zero interest for one year, and not as a mortgage. Hardball, so take it or leave it.
           Hey, I told everyone here around two years ago if I had found nothing by end of 2015, it would come to this. Waving cash under people’s noses is an accepted business practice. And the more so if they have got themselves into a cash jam. Not my problem, any more than they cared about forcing house prices up for the last forty years by spending borrowed money. You think they cared about those who couldn’t afford houses because of that? Don’t be saying they how were they supposed to live without credit. It is done all the time.
           So there.


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These guys again . . .

January 24, 2016

Yesteryear
One year ago today: January 24, 2015, Bill Gates advocates cashlessness.
Five years ago today: January 24, 2011, finally, I can solder.
Nine years ago today: January 24, 2007, Cort’s Coffee House.
Random years ago today: January 24, 2012, read these lists, bro.

MORNING
           Say, didn’t I just mention that strange event where Arcadia, FL, went from a relatively safe place to live to mostly orange and red on the crime map? Last evening my research reveals that 70% of adult males in Arcadia are convicted felons. Maybe now would be a good time to as for a show of hands over who is in favor of all the research I do? Plus, it looks like another recession unless some miracle crops up. I can’t point to anything specific yet, but you will recall I just lived through one of these not that long ago.

           Sunday is also another sweep the housing market day and I see another pattern has emerged. The early year mobile home ad in a trailer court masquerading as real estate. Folks, look up the definition, if it does not include the land, it is not “real” estate. Now I spot the timing, every January begins with a flood of ads carefully designed to not reveal it as rental property, or at least to bury that fact as deeply into the ad as possible. Possibly they think they will “sell” you on the place before you discover the scam.
           Here’s the place that wasted nine minutes of my time this morning. Finally, after scrolling to the bottom of the last comments page, there is a note saying that “Swiss Village has lots of activities like shuffleboard”. No direct mention of the $6,000 per year rental fee, which amounts to misrepresentation. Not stating such a material cost is a scam. Some might say it is only nine minutes, but it adds up when you are looking at ten properties a day.

           The good news is this tactic also seems to presage a late winter or early spring rush of true property listings. Still, it is a waste of time for the consumer that should be addressed. My solution is to ban non-real estate listings from the same location as those which involve land sales and let the industry itself come up with a solution.
Wiki picture of the day.
NOON

           “Most people with low self-esteem have earned it.” – George Carlin.

           What’s this? It’s the handywork of SuperRat. No, I still have not caught him. This is the new breed of super rodent Darwin would have pointed to. Survivors of the urban environment, they are wary of all traps and poisons. That includes the New Zealand trap even when descented and baited with specially bought rat lure compound. But traditionally, I simply make sure there isn’t enough food for a rat to survive in here.
Instead what happens is SuperRat just drops by every few days on a raid. I know how some species specialize in this behavior, having once lived in New Orleans.

           So look what he did to the lid of my emergency supply container, a Homer bucket. He never got in, but have a gander at the number he did on the lid. The black material is the rubberized seal that is supposed to be waterproof. And inside the bucket, the food is all sealed—except some packages of rice that were in plastic bags. That means Super Rat detected the rice through the plastic and through the sealed Homer bucket.
           Makes it kind of hard not to admire the little bastard. He’s got more survival instinct than the 1,316 guitar players in this town. He will gnaw into containers for hours that are setting right next to tempting easy bait. (You can see the edge of the baited trap at upper right. It’s now a pity we are going to get this guy. Like Liberals, he is a product of our society, with fifty year’s cumulative experience on what he can get away with before the world catches on. And like a Canadian bureaucrat, he exists in a system where his ancestors have ensured that to survive, he needs to know little else beyond where you keep your garbage at night.

NIGHT
           Trent was over and we got some recording done on the Tascam. This is not a situation where anyone should expect amateurs to produce surprising results. It don’t work that way. These tracks were for the same music I’ve stated were suitable only for backing tracks to home video. We have several versions of “Maybe Time” and some sparse but original rhythm to “Buckaroo”. It should be called maybe “Bassaroo”, but I don’t like the way that sounds.
           This technique of reversing the lead and bass has promise, but only for easy listening at best. Essentially, the bass plays a familiar or catchy melody and the guitar provides the rhythm chops. None of the arrangements are complicated, although that’s moot because of the brain-thrust needed to find and put each of the tunes together. Not everything out there is suitable for these arrangements.
           That’s it. We recording tracks. Nine of them, and drank tea. It’s too cold out there for anything else. While we were talking real estate, four prospective houses came on the market at once. Actually five, but I’m now rejecting Arcadia until I find out what is behind the wave of crime stats. I believe I’ve cited the large number of houses on the market at this time that are in or near high crime areas. It’s a sign of the times.
           It’s entirely possible that the Florida police system uses Arcadia as a training depot. I look not just at the number of crimes, but the nature of those crimes. Shall we say, I consider there to be a difference between “armed robbery in progress” and “livestock on roadway”. But that’s just me.

ADDENDUM
           For the month of February, I’m planning a feature for you. A small note each day concerning “Green” living. No, not becoming a vegetarian or planting a garden on your roof. Rather, a month’s collection of facts concerning the growing impetus for green living. It’s more than I thought, so it deserves mention. Here’s an example. Do you know how many trees, on average, were cut down to build your dwelling? Around a thousand. I would have thought two, maybe three hundred. That’s why I have to write about it.

           Here is another green roof. There are entire supply chains that specialize in plants designed or whatever to be suitable for rooftops. One assumes these plants have shallow roots and grow thickly matted enough to prevent other life forms from taking root. What happens when you get ants?

           As for the picture of the day (see above) from Wiki, that feature is also new and only partially follows what Wiki publishes. The reasoning works two ways. It is always interesting to see what Wiki considers important enough on a given day as compared to me. And two, there are certain photos that Wiki publishes that are just not appropriate for a semi-technical blog like this. Examples of would not be shown here include any Liberal viewpoint that denigrates white society, dangerous sport activities that children might emulate, or any topic that is overly one-sided (such as Holocaust photos).

           How’s this for a name: “Capability Brown”? That’s an English architect, and the one who designed the landscaping of y’days Wiki picture. Never heard of him? It was predicted in his time that would happen. That’s your trivia for today. You see, his work so closely mimics nature that most people do not know they are looking at such carefully landscaped terrain. He has gone so far as to dam rivers to flood the lower half of bridges so that the bridges look better.
           See Vanbrugh’s bridge.
A joke of that day was that people hoped they died before Capability, so they could get to see Heaven before he improved it.


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