One year ago today: December 9, 2015, Tour d’Lakeland.
Five years ago today: December 9, 2011, propellers in 1944?
Nine years ago today: December 9, 2007, the trains at Aventura.
Random years ago today: December 9, 2006, I look at MIDI.
MORNING
At sunrise, I rolled over and went back to sleep until noon. But you still get a report, don’t worry, I won’t leave you empty-handed. I’ve been taking a closer look at the situation with that fence made of firewood. Since I can’t be the only one who’s noticed the similarity between woodpiles and fences, I thought it would be easy to find lots of ideas on-line. Wrong again.
Here’s a panorama shot of a regular woodpile which is way more than I need. I was looking for something a little more artistic and I may find something yet. This looks like some major firewood operation, I just need some sort of arrangement maybe two feet high. More to delineate the property line to keep people away from the barbed wire.
Another miscalculation was my guard-cat trial. I befriended one of the feral cats, hoping he would keep the others off my property. It was semi-successful. They stay away at night and when they know there is no food left in Zeke’s dish. No late-night howling or spit fights, but they still come around.
The military is has still not released all the archives. As I’ve never lost interest in my studies of military history, I try to read the documents as they become available. The authorities say they are releasing them all, and why not, the war ended 70 years ago. But suspiciously, there is nothing new in the material. No surprises, that is unless you are easily shocked by how the media has alwas\ys continually misrepresented the German side of the story. (Example, the SS were not “evil”, they were elite troops similar to the American Rangers or British Commandos. They got the bad rap from all the newspapers that were owned by you-know-who.)
I got around to reading a set of redacted American documents concerning Montgomery’s “narrow front” attack on Belgium. It was unpopular at the time because the Americans wanted a broad front advance into Germany. With the amount of war material available to them, a broad front made sense. But that was no excuse for the mess that Montgomery made of things. The Americans, having tons of D-Day equipment now made surplus gave Monty all the gliders and old amphibious trucks that he asked for.
But it is hogwash that the German defenses were strong or that the Brits were outnumbered. Other than said panzer troops (some of the veteran tank commanders were less than 20 years old) there were no first-rate German troops in the area. What the Germans did have was superior discipline and training. Here is a photo of German troops slaughtering British paratroopers in the sky. The captured maps made this type of target practice an easy outing for the Germans. The survivors were rounded up and marched to prison camps for the duration.
[Author's note: the accompanying pictures are not new, they are not part of the more recent literature I was reading today. As far as I know, these are stock photo stills from wartime newsreels.]
Yukon Territory, Canada.
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NOON
See my fancy gable vent? I’m tempted to use the cool weather to crawl up there and put a really powerful duct fan behind it. This photo was taken for Agt. R to judge the wisdom of my plan to put attic soffit vents only on the north side of the building. Where they would draw cooler air from the shady side with the trees. I now have time to think about such things.
This is the side of the building containing the kitchen. The open door at lower right leads directly into the kitchen, an area where I’m considering an island. I am so envious of Alaine’s island, how it completely modernized her kitchen by itself. Mine would have to be smaller, but no less functional. I do not plan to put in a large kitchen table. Two chairs is fine.
My article a year ago y’day about the treasure ship off Columbia was a winner. But I’m no authority on salvage. I know as much about it, I suppose, as people who watch TV for their news. During the year, I’ve heard nothing and JZ hasn’t said a word. He does not watch TV when I’m around. And since I’m the second or third person he would call if he bought a truck, you can bet that has not happened either. You can laugh, but the record shows when the two of us work together, the job gets done. But this time I wish he’d hurry up.
By the way, I have four people interested in a small club to exchange information on the Arduino. If I find six, I’ll approach the library for a free meeting room. I was there at noon today and the space they have is underutilized. And even an amateur robot club would far outclass anything other programs they’ve got running. I can’t get over how they let you drink coffee in the building. They’ve also said they run an annex with larger rooms if I want, but take my word on it, six is the right maximum size for a club that touches any academic topic. Even then, you’d be surprised how often a vote gets split down the middle.
It’s a mystery to me why nobody ever invented a potato planter. That would have made me happy. At least until they found something else to teach me about hard work. I often wondered, if hard work ever taught the people who say hard work teaches the right lessons, why do they never insist on doing it themselves? Then again, there exists the far-off possibility that in my entire life I’ve met exclusively the assholes who think hard work teaches only the other guy a lesson. What do you think are the odds of that?
Country Song Lyric of the Day:
“I kissed my girlfriend on the lips and left her behind for you.”
NIGHT
I kind of stayed home like good bass players are supposed to when they have no gig. That means I took an hour to go see the Xmas parade. She was chilly and I was ready. I found out the hard way my Vivitar will stay on macro when you switch to video mode, so all my action files turned out blurry. Of them all, this one was the best because it shows the streets are lined with people. This is the type of small town I was looking for and without a major change in my situation, I intend to stay. That means until I die, in case there is any misunderstanding.
Main Street is just two blocks from here, so it’s quiet here from the traffic, but I get to see every parade. Once again, the procession had lots of filler, the folks with mistletoe tied on their golf cart. The event is great for kids. It was interesting to watch the cultural integration, you know the Latino kids fighting each other for the candy to stuff their pockets and the Anglo kids waiting their turns for one candy each and saying thank you every time.
I mentioned the lack of street noise and that’s had another effect. Over the time I’ve been here, I’m already used to the quiet and I can now clearly hear the train whistle. I must have been desensitized by the city din to not have noticed it before. It is a mile away so only when I’m awake. Some of the locals have talked about a “beer train”, and I thought they were kidding until I’ve heard it mentioned on the radio. Is there such a thing? I guess it makes sense that the trucks only make end deliveries, I suppose the beer has to get here from Milwaukee somehow.
Never have I been a drinker of hard liquor or wine, but I would like to buy a ticket on the beer train. That sounds adventuresome. And more fun than Amtrak.
ADDENDUM
As the parade wound up, I pushed the scooter away from the curb and noticed at least one of the brake shoes was grabbing. That explains the lot mileage and sluggish performance over the previous month. If you want any more wonderful stories of Florida’s most famous little red scooter, it isn’t good news. There are some nagging electrical problems that are only held at bay by the super powerful marine battery I have installed under the seat.
This photo shows I was working on the lighting system in the dusk. The lack of focus makes it semi-eerie and belies the problem. What I’m repairing is the headlight. You can see all three lights are equally bright. But the headlight is supposed to be many times more intense. I can’t find the problem.
A little bird told me I left some things out of my description of the big music jam last evening. Like how many people were there. Let’s see, musicians only, not including myself, there were seven. What age? Average would be early thirties. Oh, I see what you are getting at. Well, I tend to not make that comparison in public, but yes, I once again completely dominate the stage presence and stage experience departments. So you’ll know, I rarely do this on purpose, it’s more the natural consequence of having lived my whole life in a competitive environment with limited resources on my side.
In fact, the only time I’ve never been able to at least get an equal share of stage attention was jamming with the Hippie. He dominated every show by refusing to ever play even one song that featured another musician for more than a few bars. If he’d only conceded half the stage, we would have been unbeatable. But I can’t compete with a borderline kook who’s been playing the same song list for 34 years.
Let me do a quick mental calculation. What is the average amount of time I play the songs on my list without making any changes? I’m drawing a distinction here, because starting around 9 years ago, I rewrote most of my song list with custom bass lines so I could perform solo. Have I played any songs longer without making such changes? Ah, yes, there is one. That would be Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots”, which I’ve played the same now for 29 years without changing a single note. Probably because I always was able to solo with that song.
In fact, maybe tomorrow for a project over coffee, I’ll age my song list by how long since I’ve learned each tune. But I can tell you right now, it won’t be 34 years. Most songs on my list I’ve been playing less than a year.
Last Laugh
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