One year ago today: October 23, 2015, on charge controllers.
Five years ago today: October 23, 2011, tattoos – sexy or creepy?
Nine years ago today: October 23, 2007, these bicycles are dangerous.
Random years ago today: October 23, 2010, guitars, tax, chicken wings.
Pancakes. I never could make them. Once in a while, I make a batch that turn out okay, That was not today. This is why pancakes are an exception to my rule of not eating in a restaurant anything I could cook at home. That, and there is no recipe size of pancake for a single person and they don’t keep. Even as the famous scout camp cook, I never made pancakes. I gave it a try and here I am with a half-plate of uneaten food, drinking coffee, and smelling of liniment. Do squirrels like pancakes?
I took the morning off and studied the history of map-making. Not cartography, but the impetus behind the operation. This followed on my discovery of the compass rose background last day. It’s dandy to conclude mapmakers just want to sell maps but to do that before the last hundred or so years, only useful maps would sell to anyone going anywhere but the Levant. I found there is not that much material available on how these artists got their information.
The university talk is their sources were travelers and sailors. Now hold on there. Some of the most accurate maps came from towns that were not ports and nations that were not seafaring. If you’ve ever had to get across town to find a car part or asked for directions at a gas station, you are not going to know enough precise data about the lay of the land to draw any map you could sell. There is some large missing factor on how these old map guys got their facts.
So that you can filter them away, they are called “TO” or “T-O” maps. They show the continents in a “T” shape surround by a single “O” for ocean. Europe, the Sahara, and Asia form the T. These would not include the relatively correct maps of the Mediterranean, the moat of Europe. Destroyed by Merkel and the guilt-ridden German population who let her get away with it. Guilt-ridden? Yes, they’ve been indoctrinated since birth to think they were wrong because they lost the war. Europe, in my opinion, could not have existed without that sea blocking invasions from the south and southeast.
Middle of the Sahara.
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Wait for the photos, but we have a new feral cat in the yard. A very likely purebred male Siamese. Probably worth some money. The neighbor came over to ask if it was mine. Nope, and I never paid attention to the individual cats until he asked. Reminds me of Sapphire, from my married days. And what is it with these people who are divorced have to mention it all the time? Well, not constantly, but look at me. I, of all, should know the world does not give a damn about your petty marital problems. Divorce—even when it is not your fault, it is still your fault.
The poor thing was so tame and hungry, I caught it trying to nibble on my dry pancakes I set out for the bluejays. So I thawed the pork rinds and set him out a dish. This got me outside so I went shopping for some work clothes. As happens, some of those were nicer than what I was wearing, so now I have a complete new outfit for stage work. I only wish they made blue jeans in my size. Because I have a triglyceride condition, when I buy what fits my inseam or waist, the rest of the cut presumes you are either 6-foot-4 or 4-foot-6.
While in the shopping district, I priced out the tools and materials to finish leveling the bedroom floor. Just you watch, once I buy all that is needed to do it myself, five people will show up saying they would have helped. Yeah, well I’m behind schedule now and my backup plan always was to work alone. The only expensive tool is a 20 ton hydraulic jack, really. I also need some bookshelves. Not the temp work shelves that went up last week. Something really nice.
Why would buying work clothes be the top noon story? Well, it is the first time in years that I went out shopping for new work clothes. For so long it has been the Thrifts or older regular duds. I consider it one of those telltale indicators that rent is no longer the single largest monthly expense. People whose parents get them a house when they are young have no idea how lucky they are.
At the same time, I’ve never met one of those types (fat cats) who has made good on that deal either. Instead, they allow other expenses to expand and make up the difference, so by and large, they are as broke as the next guy. Remember, within the last year, it came to pass I do not know even one person in the entire state of Florida who could come up with $10,000 in cash. On that note, let me ask the reader a mental question. Don’t say the answer, just think it. If your bank accounts were seized and your cards frozen right now, how long could you last on the cash you could scrape together? Two days? A week?
For me, I can last one year without access to a bank. That’s correct, one year, and that is a low figure because I just bought a house. Normally I keep two years, though I would have to make it to Colorado. But to those of you who could not last a week, tell me again what a wonderful idea a cashless society would be . . . .
Ah, some of you say, but your account will never be frozen because you are a good citizen who pays all your bills. And you must also think the system is perfect and never kicks in the wrong door. Wrong people are never arrested and innocent bystanders are never shot. Thinking the system would never harm a law-abiding citizen, well, that’s like thinking to save time, just assume you are always right. Look at this number, your politicians are doing what is best for you, without being asked and all without the benefit of sound business experience.
national debt
Talk about fussy eaters. I vacuumed out the milo grit from the feeder and replaced it with pure sunflower, the only other feed I had left. The red cardinals returned within ten minutes. Too bad I’m not equipped to take nature photos, because that also attracted the squirrel, which got me to stand in the yard for a while watching. Sure enough, the red-headed woodpecker showed up as well. While my yard is not the shadiest nor brightest in the vicinity, it could be some sort of focal point for the wildlife.
I’m wondering if that may be because the house was vacant for six years. (So were other places on this street.) If the birds are that finicky about eating, maybe they are equally selective about feeding sites. I would try to take pictures with my Vivitar, but that has proven to be bad for staying focused. It has only the automatic setting and seems to have immense difficulty with objects that are the normal photography distance from the lens of three to five feet. It’s too far for the macro and too close for the normal setting. You’ve seen these fuzzy photos here often the past few months.
There’s more going on now that I’d ditching this flu. A half-hour conference call to JZ verifies he is amenable to the idea of a lift bucket. However, he is totally against the idea of me using it. I didn’t dicker, because that meshes with my concept that it is a two-man operation. We’ll just wait until he arrives. JZ has long since learned that around me you may not get paid the best, but you will get the experience.
I’ve sketched out a way to level the front of the house without ripping up the floorboards. It involves somebody brave enough to crawl under the joists and find the highest point. Then raise everything else to that level. This is only feasible because of the immense work done on the bedroom floor. It was fixed and ripped up three times. But the lessons were learned.
For instance, we learned that the house was uneven due to sinking, not rising. The sinking was always away from the center. That the termite damage was confined to the bathroom area. And that the problem was more on the south side than the north. And countless spinoffs, such as how leather gloves come out okay in the laundry and a refined idea of what each phase will cost.
A secondary purpose of monitoring the temperature in this place was to see the effect of insulating the walls. Yes, readers, it is necessary. Absolutely necessary. It must also be done right. I left the attic till last and can see that probably where I should have started. The digital thermometers I use are accurate to a tenth of a degree and indicate rising or falling trends. You can stand beside them and tell when a cloud passes overhead.
Being aware the evenings are cooler this far north, I noted the difference in temperature between the insulated and non-insulated rooms. The results were predictable yet I wanted to see for myself. Folks, it translates directly into money. As for materials, the insulation pays for itself at what projects to be $11 per month (materials, not labor). If you do the work yourself, then the payoff time is just two years per room. And I can live with that, if you’ll excuse the expression.
However, there is no comparison in comfort. Read back and you’ll see my comments on the differences between day and night temperatures in the living room. The bedroom doesn’t have these “mood swings”. That’s the room with the insulated floor. So, this time I agree with the experts. Insulation is not just for cold weather. If you can possibly insulate, do it. I would insulate my doghouse if I get one.
If you are interested, here is a bass solo from my era. Not that Gatling gun whacked-out Pastorius crap, but a real melody. In this case, the pretty song is Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven). I do not consider this a “pure” bass solo because he is tapping the strings rather than plucking them with a pick. Real bass players use a plectrum. But this is closer to a real tune than most bass soloists could ever dream.
Last Laugh
Bollywood.
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