July 31, 2017

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 31, 2016, the termite damage.
Five years ago today: July 31, 2012, a billionaire overnight.
Nine years ago today: July 31, 2008, I audition Boston Johnny’s, unsuccessfully.
Random years ago today: July 31, 2015, at the beach somewhere.

           Here’s an on-line photo of the house that is being used for a benchmark, the one near the library. It is a three bedroom and that means a smaller footprint in for the living room, shown here. I’m also not keen on the front door opening directly into that area. Both my door put you into the dining room, which is the least used part of the house. When alone, I tend to eat at my desk, same with having coffee. Anyway, this place is asking for the odd price of $83,904.00 exactly. Is this some new manner of pricing trend? Better ask my doctor.

           The price is way out of my range. The local situation is a little different. One is that there are very few rental properties available. That makes sense, since it costs much the same to rent or to own in Florida. Renting is still risky as this is not a community of new families. You got mining and agriculture and those don’t form the basis of a housing pyramid. What might save the area is that much-touted high speed Tampa-Orlanda rail, which people are beginning to suspect as being managed by NASA.

           Rainy weather, top story. It’s been drizzling for 18 hours. Mostly, I played music. I also watched the DVD “Fried Green Tomatoes” for the second time. I like the theme, an America that isn’t there anymore, small town justice, decent women, well, at least they look decent when they are young, which is kind of important like. No tattoos. I can’t help it, but I get a laugh followed by a snorting sound whenever I see a single mother with tattoos advertising for an LTR. Can’t help it, it’s instinctive. Ladies, when you have to permanently disfigure yourself to get a date, two weeks is long term.
           Then I read that tattoo removal is becoming big business. That’s wishful thinking since the laser doesn’t remove the tattoo. It breaks the ink up unto molecules small enough to be carried away in the bloodstream. Unlike any man who would date the tattooed lady, the outline of the scar tissue is yours forever. I’m not saying I don’t like tattoos, but if I had to choose between twin sisters, one with a tramp stamp, and the other without, my mind would be made up in less than a second. I’d choose the one I could at least imagine was, you know.

           In other encouraging news, the numbers for the past six months are in, that is, until the end of June. While the numbers stayed the same as the trailer court, in general, the quality of life has easily tripled. And beginning in December, I will once again be operating at an “economic surplus”, a euphemism for gaining in wealth no matter what I spend. Don’t get jealous over that point, it is not all roses. I still have to make sacrifices that belong to a man half my age. All you get for now is the budget highlights of Jan-Jun 2017. (It helps to remember my budget is heavily evolved based on usage patterns that make a difference to me, not to the world.

                      Groceries: $912 – but that’s the best of everything and supplying the troops as well.*
                      Coffee: $176 – this dollar-a-day constant (except Sundays) has not changed in 40 years.
                      Gasoline $404 – that’s right, including all those trips out of town, still $66 per month.
                      Office $349 – I still maintain a full office operation, largest expense postage stamps.
                      Books $89 – far below budget, but used books are cheap in the countryside.
                      Dining out $379 – mostly on highway trips, but also for convenience.

           Same as you, these numbers seen extraordinarily low to me for six months. Yet I do not skimp on a thing. These numbers don’t reflect that I’m renovating a house and have spent thousands on vehicle maintenance and repair. I don’t discuss my entertainment budget, but it has doubled since the move. I suspect those expenses that have increased have done so because they can.

           *That single trip to Card Sound earlier this month cost $88, for instance. Everybody else was broke. Get used to this when you retire, guys, it only gets worse for other people when they quit working. This is why my “practice retirement” was so important. The hell if I was going to let anybody else pay my way just because I could not work.

Picture of the day.
San Andreas.
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           Boeing is going for broke again. If you are not sure what that means, be aware that the development costs of each new aircraft design have become so astronomical that a failure will bankrupt the company. That’s why a lot of the changes are cosmetic. You only think you are getting on a totally new airplane. Here is a shot from JimmyR that shows the interior of the new 787 without the seats. It’s nice, but reflects the conservative influence these companies are taking.

           The older the company, and Boeing is old, the less chance for radical designs. They even have to be careful to ensure they don’t come out with a product that makes their earlier models obsolete. They almost did that with their 727 and alienated entire countries that had just invested in their predecessors. I was one of the first passengers on the then-new 727 and let me tell you, it outclassed everything. The biggest airliner I had been on before was a Constellation. Let me think, outside of sport aircraft, what is the smallest airliner I’ve ever been on? That would be a Dakota. The military version of the DC-3.

           This afternoon, I’m going shopping at the Thrift in the SE end. Over the months, whenever I shop there, I leave the coins. They started putting them in a separate jar for me last year. It’s so I’d never run a few cents short and make them break a twenty or a fifty. But that jar has gotten so full that these days they just give me the cheap stuff for free. You see, I also told them that if any destitutes are also short, to also take it out of there. Especially single ladies—if they are wearing a dress. Why sure, I can get away with that. Can’t everybody?

Quote of the Day:
“A bulldog can whip a skunk
but sometimes it’s not worth it.”
~ J. Nowell
           The robot club would have been proud of me. Later in this day I stopped for a sandwich and the lady behind the counter was in a tizzy. There was a bar across the street and all the regulars were an hour into their routines, for, you see, the lady’s vape was not functioning. This was none of my business as I took an hour to do the crossword (LA Times weekend, tough), but naturally when I’m surrounded by grease-balls and other social leftovers, I’m taking it all in. I let them do their numbers on her but eventually I took pity. I used to smoke and I could see she was tired of listening. So I stepped in, verbally, I mean. Ma’am, what’s wrong?

           Her vape-thingee would not charge. It was an amazing robot club situation, guys you would have loved it. A series of quick questions narrowed it down to the connection between her charger and the internal battery. Normally all the barflies would have chimed in by now, but things quickly moved past anything they could contribute. Peeling apart the charger revealed a circuit board I could not decipher, but I spotted a ring of insulation. Ah, the device is chassis grounded. I determined the loose wire, which I taped together. What a robot club classic. Remember the oven at the bakery and the Hungarian ironing board? This was on a par with those repairs. It is difficult to describe the sense of accomplishment this whole robot thing turned into over the years.

           Basically, once I figured it out, I told her to hold her thumb on this piece of tape until the light was red and not to breathe on the circuit until she could smoke again. It worked, no need to tell her or the roster of contenders that I concluded it was the connection to the outer casing. I learned the various models of battery, shown here, all fit the same recharger. When concentrating, I speak out loud, so anyone who was listening, and some were, you get a demo of how logic works. The deductive reasoning process. I wonder if they suspect how easy it was? The lady set me down free beers until I left just after dark.
           The situation was a robot club masterpiece. It was discovered early on that we did our best diagnostic work when everybody was talking out loud at once. So watching the process is somewhat theatrical, since the person who hits on the solution is the momentary hero. Many a time people have told me they’ve learned about something that had always baffled them, by listening to me solve a problem out loud. Even Wallace used to be fascinated by the logic I used solving Sudoku puzzles. Probably because I speak in the vernacular. Of course, in the room tonight, there was no need for drama, since it was obvious I was the only one sincerely interested in actually fixing the charger, if you get my meaning. Too bad the lady was not my type.
           This next element was supposed to be temporary, but it generated 408 hits, so it stays. Enjoy, because I thought it was a repeat. Repeats are very difficult to control in a large blogs.



ADDENDUM
           What a horrible experience. I just spent, for the first time ever, two consecutive days in the house without going out. I don’t think that has ever happened before. Even in hurricanes and blizzards, I was out of the house at least momentarily. This means I just had a sobering indication of how some people lead their lives. This must be how homebodies and couch potatoes waste away. I have worked with people like this. They have no life outside of the office, they spend their vacations at home.

           I grew up with family who lived this way. They’d get up in the morning and throw on the TV to “find out what’s going on in the world”. And everything about them revealed this is where they got their input, I used to call it “TV smart”. I did not watch TV even then. So today I read two books, made tea, and coffee, and baked ribs. I made repairs, played music, and all the household chores are done. But last time I was outside, it was for a 51 mile motorcycle trip through the countryside and a cold beer on the way home. My oath, I cannot imagine the lives of people who just sit inside their apartments all day until they die. But obviously the televisions stations can.
           Here’s a photo of a nest from my wilderness trip last Saturday. I could not see the bird clearly (this is a telephoto shot), but I think it was a buzzard. Note, thanks to the electric company for leaving these two poles in place. All the rest were removed, notice no wires. I would not have seen this if I had not gotten out of the house, lads.

           And while you’re up, check out this 3D printing site. The sintering process was discussed here years ago, advising consumers to wait until some better way of designing what to print came along. That still applies, but check this out, but if you do, read the whole article or you will not have a real idea of the implications of this technology. Less than ten minutes well spent, or just watch the three-minute video.
           For those who remember the article here about different film formats, and how the sprocket holes along the film edges are different for each standard film brand, the movie “Dunkirk” is in 70mm. This is also called the IMAX format, so to really see the movie, you’ll have to find an IMAX theater.


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