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.


Last Laugh


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Return Home
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++