One year ago today: October 15, 2015, Amtrak woes.
Five years ago today: October 15, 2011, on JP Morgan.
Nine years ago today: October 15, 2007, looking at e-book ideas.
Random years ago today: October 15, 2013, unpainted cPod.
MORNING
Mr. Cardinal showed up at 7:55AM sharp, announcing it with his feeding chirp. He’s now tame enough to stay on the perch up to five minutes and allow the finch or wren type birds to use the other perch. The feeder is designed for only two birds at a time so they cannot see each other. Let me get my trusty Almanac. Sunrise was 7:06AM, so let’s see if there is any pattern to the interval before he shows up. Sometimes I don’t hear the song right away.
How come nobody much writes a song about Saturday? It’s got everything Sunday’s got, plus the stores are open. We need to dedicate a day of the week to honoring Saturday. Even if it is raining and I’m making fudge brownies and tea. That’s tje breakfast of aging, slowing down, former champions. As they way, better a has-been than a never-was. I’m well-rested after my first night in the master bedroom. Synopsis: despite $80 in soundproofing, I can still hear a few noises, but to be fair, the drywall is not installed yet.
There’s another set of Latino renters a block over who like to rev their motorcycles early in the morning. They won’t last long. The other bunch with the big trucks seen to have gotten the word while I was away. Anyway, I invested in a rain gauge, the old analog brand made from a test tube. I’m not interested in rainfall, I can get that from the radio. What I need is the amount of water that makes it through all the oak trees to my front yard. How else does one measure rain? I have that variegated lemon tree underway and I want it to survive well. It’s costing me $200.
Ah, we have a new visitor. It’s a small bird, though bigger than a sparrow. And though mainly grey, ti has a pale blue head with a crest. Possibly the female of some species. Wouldn’t that be something to have both a red bird and blue bird in the yard. And I can hear the definite song of a chickadee to the west, possibly the same bird? I don’t know what a chickadee looks like, but I will in about twenty minutes. I’m library-bound. I should establish a log of these birds, since at least six species have appeared that I know of.
That’s the cardinals, the eagle, the finch-like bird, the new bluish bird, the wren/sparrow bird, and the woodpecker. The woodpecker has never returned. The birdfeeder is a focal point and I may consider rigging up a camera. Today, I connect the wireless outdoor weather sensors to the base station in the bathroom. Nobody walks out of my bathroom devoid of adequate meteorological fluency.
Shadows
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NOON
One of the two mystery birds is definitely a chickadee. Here’s a stock photo off the Internet and that is the bird. The other with the pale blue crest has to wait, but it may be a type of bunting according to my field guide. Good, I have no idea what a bunting is. And later, a woodpecker has returned but he was too high up the dead tree to tell if it is our old friend, the redhead.
I was in the library and all the computers were full with people watching the latest Trump news. I’d say election news, but face it, this is all about Trump. The opposition can no longer field a candidate so they are absorbed in a smear campaign over things he said long before he was running for office. That’s pretty dismal. But I say, watch out these people are professional operators and it’s to the point if they don’t do something soon, they are going to get their asses kicked.
To speculate further, I wonder what kind of antagonism Trump will get once he’s in. Remember how the feds refused to give the Antelope cult’s police for access to files and records?
That’s despite the fact they were as legal and legitimate as any other force. I predict the insiders will pull the same on Trump but this time they’ve met their match. Trump’s not going to back down when he asks for the records on Roswell, or the Kennedy assassination. Or what’s really in Fort Knox, what about that?
I’m not saying they’ll find any answers, but that it will expose the mechanism of cover-ups that has turned around every other president since Kennedy after his election, even Reagan. He tried but could not get past the first few layers. If you think Trump has made history already, wait until they try to give him the runaround. He’ll make mincemeat out of them. If he can take on the Clintons, he can handle the military and the office of foreign affairs.
As for the last minute dirty fighting between Trump and the entire establishment, with their political hacks, left-wing press, and non-issue accusations, the Don is sloughing it off. When he’s in, he can safely say that it has never taken so long to have his ass wiped before.
AFTERNOON
I did make it to Homeland. I took Old Fort Meade Road south from Lakeland. It winds through all the little towns. Talk about Americana, it is rural Texas with palm trees. Here’s a tree tunnel on the deserted road a few miles south of Bartow. The main highway is less than a half mile to the east, so this once upon a time highway is now a rural road. It’s neat because the old highway signs and business still dot the downtown areas. For example, the post office is 116 years old. I stopped to send a letter to Marion.
A friend of mine who moved to Canada years ago writes to say she has signed up for Helpx, an online service that lets people stay at your house in exchange for some daily labor. I don’t know about that, but she has a couple from France arriving for two weeks. I’ll wait to see what the report is on that. I understand this service is not available in the USA. Can’t have anybody doing any work under the table unless they are here illegally, you know.
NIGHT
I ‘m going to get you a picture of the squirrel as soon as he holds still long enough. He cannot get the birdseed, but he snacks on the bits that drop to the ground. I put out a few peanuts for him since he is behaving. I was in a good mood since my meatloaf turned out a mini-masterpiece. That’s the thing about scratch meatloaf, knowing when to stop adding ingredients. This one had about 14, including the oats, crumbs, and spices. How do I keep it so moist? Carnation, old chum.
Next, I chatted with that guitar player I met at the market three months back. He has a small business on the side, installing networks and fixing cell phones. That last one I would love to learn, but first the music. I’ve already had the chat with this guy and he fully understands the tradeoff between perfection and now. You want to play now, you forget perfection, and vice versa. He’s clear that this is not “a guitar-centric power duo”. He doesn’t sing at all, but that tends to signal that he knows a few excellent instrumental tunes. And folks, I can show you the true meaning of guitar-bass instrumentals.
Question, am I missing something about that song “Diggin’ Up Bones”? I’m next to certain I heard that back in my early days. Yet all the links say it is a recent Chesney hit. I listened to it and that is the version I remember, so what gives with that? If I can hit the high notes in the chorus, I’ll give that song a fair chance. You can fake the notes but I’d rather do a good job.
ADDENDUM
Continuing my studies on the difference between world empires and Europe, I see the downfall of all empires and nations is due to politics. There is much lip service about decadence and economic woes, but those cause hard times, not collapse. The empire forces a standardization that stifles all innovation except those which can be capitalized by the ruling class. Classic example is China. Peasants who invented paper and gunpowder got nothing because the only inventions that survived were those taken over by the state.
Make no bones, the United States is an empire. It controls the land masses beyond its borders with money and military might. Yet if you invented things like the motorcycle or toaster today, you would not be able to sell them. Nope, too “dangerous” and the ruling class has seen to it they have a monopoly on determining what is safe. If they can cash in, it flies. If not, well, that’s why we have 157 government departments who know what is better for you than you do yourself.
Last Laugh
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