One year ago today: May 31, 2015, how come you’re not rich?
Five years ago today: May 31, 2011, see, you’re smarter already.
Nine years ago today: May 31, 2007, I meet “The Troll”.
Random years ago today: May 31, 2014, csipos.
MORNING
Today is my rant and rave section. To start, my buddy didn’t arrive as planned and didn’t call until almost noon. He decided moving some rocks was a higher priority than my buying a house, but this kind of thinking is quite normal in south Florida. The thing is, if I’d known, I would not have wasted the last three days of good motorcycle weather. I could have made two trips.
And that’s what I’ve decided. I should do this move as I should have all along, and that is by myself. I’ve had all the damn help
I fully understand the school of thought that since my pal is giving me a hand, I should allow for things that affect his schedule. I had a lot of time to think about that as I moved all the gear and equipment from the front yard back into my storage shed. I’ve calculated that it will take just six trips to move all my gear with the trailer pod. This photo is the first load. The looming rainstorm held me back and there were other issues.
One such issue was the state of the sidecar tires. They have been mounted on the bike since around 1991, long before I bought it. The problem with rubber is that over time, it gets dry rot. The surface flakes due to the tiny amount of ozone in the atmosphere. This tire is a custom order, at around $160 and it has to be exact. Without a precise balance, the rig will pull slightly left or right, a nuance it took me a lot of miles to figure out.
War bond poster.
NOON
The tube is also a rare find, a 350x19. I never remember what those numbers signify. First stop was the Kawasaki dealership on 122nd and Palmetto, a superbly equipped and stocked motorcycle outlet. And they didn’t have it. But there it is in the picture (the little white box), so I found it. At Competition Cycle, less than five minutes from where I started driving this morning. I’ve decided not to have it installed until I return. Instead, I’m taking a small compressor along to keep topped up every few hours.
Last evening was a great open mic, I say again. And I met a guitarist who I may have gotten through to. Essentially what happened is he wanted to play that droner, “Turn The Page”, meaning I knew what he was going to say next. So I said I’d play it if he’d play “Gloria”. Naturally, he balked saying that was a beginner’s piece of music, something kids would play. I then told him to remember he said that before ever telling me “bass is easy”.
He got the message! Later, I got his contact information. He does like country and for the sake of an audition, I semi-let him think that is all that I played. My analysis of the gig is positive. The bartender got me and pointedly not the others a brew on the house. He is not in charge, but arrangements these days often mean a bad week can cost a bartender. He spelled out what he would like for entertainment and it meshes with what I can put together. Yeah, the week before I leave town.
The Hippie did hog a bit of lead break time, which could have been killing time, but it also kills the audience interest. There was a decent looking blonde alone at the bar, but I held back simply because when I looked up the address on-line and read reviews about the club, there were some three-year-old photos of the place. And she was in them. If she is there, say next week, I’ll move in for the kill. I told the Hippie she was eyeing him, but I lied. It was me.
AFTERNOON
Ah, I told you these Windows “updates” are funny. Updates don’t mess up your system and this morning, one got through and closed down this word processor. Something about Office Pro 2010 can’t verify the product code. This, folks, is why I do not buy MicroSoft products. Whether they have the fine print to do so or not, nobody should be allowed to discover what is on your computer without your express permission every time. Somehow they got into my system settings.
Since I’m typing away, you can figure I went into control panel and did a system restore back a couple of days, solving the immediate problem. That is not a permanent solution, so I’ll have to get some fake numbers and carry on. But note this system restoral is also buggy. I noticed it affected far more locations that required by a mere reverting to an earlier date. It’s all fishy and it has got to do with how Windows is trying to coerce everyone to switch to Windows 10. Even those who really don’t want to.
Don’t get me wrong, MicroSoft has every right to protect their property. But only pro-actively. If they find something is already wrong, they have no right to “correct” it by invading your computer. Recovering “stolen” property can only be cone by proper authorities. Ask OJ. As for exactly how scumbags like MicroSoft are supposed to accomplish their security any other way, well, let’s just say that is a grand opportunity for them to exercise the brains they always claim to have. As long as they don’t alter my computer.
I stopped at my mechanic’s shop to check the bike over. I’ll be fine once that tire is replaced. He also showed me how a single wrench can be used to remove the 27.5mm axle bolt and the smaller nut holding the spare. The downside is the wrench is $30 and it is wise to keep it permanently on the motorcycle, an expensive dedicated tool.
Then I sat down and finished “Abuse of Power”. There is something about the tale, maybe it was based on a real incident in the news. Or at least the part where the police bust up a rowdy party full of teens wearing gang jackets. But it turns out they are team jackets from two college football teams and the kid that’s killed, for instance, turns out to be the only son of this major corporate chief. The police try to cover it up and all hell breaks loose over how that panned out. I’ve read about this somewhere.
Make no mistake, the book is about the crap that goes on when those who are empowered to enforce the law start thinking they are the law. Justice ends where corruption begins, or something like that. Like the police who charged that seven-year-old with larceny for taking a carton of milk even though it belonged to him. Among other things the police report said he was “fidgeting” and “uncooperative”, which we did not know were criminal acts.
What, “Fidgeting like a seven-year-old when accused of something he didn’t do,” ask the newspapers. Mr. Trump, empower the police to obey the law, but not to use it as a shield for this type of monkey business. It has already gotten so that any suspect who does not confess is labeled uncooperative anyway.
Chittaranjan Andrade: Public Health, 2001. Chit is the chap in Bangalore who concluded that teenagers picked their noses. All links to information about this klutz are blocked by whoever is in charge over there this week.
Three quarts of peach tea. That’s what kept me going today. Even the first load, see photo above, makes a great improvement in my sorely overcrowded little abode. I measured out the living room of the new place is 2/3 the size of this joint. I don’t want to move major items until that tent is complete. Either way, expect some kind of interruption of your daily blog. You know I’ll always catch up and the longer I’m away, the more all-new material. But I am definitely going to have a private workstation in my new bedroom. Right now I’m in the Florida room, where I’m distracted by everything that goes past the windows. My new place, the main window faces a garden.
I watched the Trump rally (recorded) in Fresno. Whether he’s right or wrong, he has reduced his opponents to quivering, slobbering infants. They seem disoriented that all their standard bag of tricks aren’t working on this new guy. Same with the worst of the media. This Bernie guy is educated but strange, and I could not stand more than a few minutes of the Hillary material. That is one crazy broad. She really has nothing left she can do but lie just to see if that works.
I’m not the guy to question on details but I know it when I see somebody mopping the floor with jackasses who thought they had it all their own way. But the military side of things I know, and I know that this Hillary person had no business in Libya. Khadaffi was not the president or dictator, he was the leader by popular acclaim. I can only liken her hatred for Khadaffi with the way Churchill hated Hitler. The books don’t tell you that, but Churchill loathed Hitler for being everything Churchill could not—a popular democratically elected supreme leader during peacetime, and worse, Adolph was a “commoner” who did not have to kiss ass like old Winston did.
It is a joke to hear about Germany’s menacing re-armament in the 30s. All countries were supposed to disarm, Germany was the only one who did. And it left them helpless and surrounded, with an army of only 100,000 men with Poland massing troops on their borders. Time to put down the western newspapers and read what was really happening. Germany had no hope of defending herself unless they mechanized warfare. And they were put in that position by political intrigue as France and England began forming alliances with the countries surrounding Germany, thus breaking the Treaty of Versailles long before Germany did.
Last Laugh
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