One year ago today: July 7, 2017, he’s fired.
Five years ago today: July 7, 2013, uma, omg!
Nine years ago today: July 7, 2009, unremembered repetition.
Random years ago today: July 7, 2010, I still have that can.
The hot water is just not as big a priority for me as others, it would seem. The same doesn’t apply to water for my birds. Here’s a neat picture of a “solar still” that uses evaporation to clean undrinkable water. I had considered it as a source of purified water for my batteries, though it is cheap enough to bu it downtown. I would still like the technology. Now, look at the photo again. I got to thinking, could this be put to some other use? Visible inside the lid are two ordinary glass baking dishes. You fill them with water and as it condenses on the lid, it drips down into the water bucket shown to the left.
This is the new scooter key. It’s a battery cutoff switch, sold by Harbor Freight. Once again, do not follow the Chinese directions. Do not connect this device across the battery terminals, the instructions are worded funny. The directions presume you know whether they are referring to the cutoff switch terminals, or the battery terminals. The switch is connected via heavy duty cabling between the positive battery terminal and the load. This heavy cabling is why you never throw out old jumper cables. Copper prices are out of control.
That scooter is not optional. Chasing around over the new business venture has already cost my entire month’s gas budget into the tank of Unit 31. It’s the small V-6, at 3.0 cubic liters, but that’s still big enough to chew gas idling for five minutes. I hauled out the cpvc piping and laid out the pattern on the kitchen floor. The muggy afternoon drove me into the insulated back bedroom with the attic fan roaring full blast. Florida is a sub-tropical summer cauldron, it is not the time to visit. Well, unless you are a country-western babe and you know somebody discrete with an attic fan and such.
Next, I cranked Dwight back up on the speakers, full gig volume, and punched out my custom bass line to “All You Ever Do”. For any budding bassists out there, I play the line just like you hear it. Then between most of the notes, I hit the open tonic note and let it ring until I hammer on the next. It gives it an edgy feel, like it wants to drop into the next measure. I emphasize this with my left hand motion if only because I know most people have never seen this much less with a capo. The tune is full of Cajun instrumental breaks, but except for chording through a couple, I just leave them out.
Now for some editorial. This new European law about copyright infringement is no passing joke. The Europeans do not have a lot to lose by banning Internet plagiarism. Nor do they have a tolerance for American-style misleading advertising. And they are much better at cracking down on small scale swindlers, line anyone who advertises things for free. And their economy is not geared toward spectacular Internet billionaires, in fact, I cannot think of the last real earth-shaking invention or innovation that came out of Europe. If this law has teeth, it will alter the face of the Internet.
The effect of the legislation would be devastating to probably 90% of Internet postings and about an equal amount of spam. They would go after the local ISPs first, and I’m hearing tales of how even countries with terrible budgets and governments can block services and foreign web browsers. If you read anything to do with social media, like blogs for example, you quickly notice how little of it is original content. All of that is in jeopardy if anti-copyright software begins to filter the transmissions.
Wait, it gets worse. All the software that’s come out in the Millennial era contains tracking code, backdoors, keyloggers, and the American obsession with using anti-terrorism software to track sex offenders (it’s actually just another form of Federal overreach being applied) means nothing anybody does on-line is secure any more. Even those smart enough to be using encrypted e-mail and VPNs know that everything is recorded in anticipation of the day they can read it. And we’ve all heard tales of how the Internet has been used to track down people with 40 and 50 year old warrants.
Hence, there is nothing to stop them from going after people who have since cleaned up their acts, and that would apply to the Internet just as harshly. I myself do not worry much, as the pictures I publish here that are not specifically marked “veryatlantic” are plainly fair usage. FYI, links such as my picture of the day, are not banned. They are considered pointers, not copies, but that could change because it will undoubtedly spawn some new abuse. Think of it ahead of time, and you’ll be rich.
Now are we clear on this? It’s important because not only will the ruling instantly block copyrighted material off the ether, it will begin a witch hunt for who has been guilty in the past. I’ll label them the dPosses, outfits that will strip-mine the past records of who violated what. As usual, they’ll pick off the easy targets first. Good bye to youTube as a source of good material. Most blogs are culpable, as are websites that are mostly amalgamation.
[Author’s note: the above would have me dancing in the street, as this blog is pretty much entirely original. I know the last laffs are often copyrighted material—but I avoid posting anything that contains a copyright notice or watermark, on principle alone. Why would I be happy? Because of the way I am unhappy with how idiots have monetized the Internet. Those annoying Adsense popups and adblock notices, or those youTube headers that cannot be stopped. They are the ulcers of the Internet, and making money off copyrighted material that way is and should be against the law.
Then, you get this blog, which really is free. No membership, no requests for donations, I don’t even want or care to know who is reading. But I do know whenever I quoted something, if the author was known, I gave the credits. So, speculating, if this blog was one of the few left standing, some of you may recall my plan to make money from it. I’ll repeat my offer. For a donation of $1,000 USD, I will mention your name or company name once, in a list, at the bottom of my blog. No blurbs allowed, just the name, I’ll limit the list to five names per post, with a limit of one mention per month.
Sure, ignore such a wild idea now. But if this blog becomes one of the survivors, who’ll be laughing then? That’s my offer, Pepsi, Geico, Advil, and Verizon. Take it or leave it. The price for medicine sellers that list gross side effects and all life insurance companies, by the way, is $10,000 per instance. But I’ll consider a discount for any forward-looking outfits that have the brains to start sending me money now, as in today.]
[Author's note: if you have any trouble with these links, it is likely a problem with the azzholes at SecureConnect, who block anything not compatible with the current Firefox update--UNLESS you allow Firefox to make changes to your computer registry. These are the millennial idiots who keep telling you your connection isn't secure. Bullsh, if you are on-line, your connection is fine. You'd have to be as dumb as a millennial to believe the problem is at your end. The problem is with the way they code their servers. They thought they were smarter than me when I warned them 25 years ago about the dangers of allowing C+ (and its mutations) to become a standard. That's IBM-think, allowing managers who can't program to hire programmers, and they got what they paid for. Managers who's promotions centered on saving money anywhere they could.
In case you are unaware, I've described many times over the years why C+ code is a nightmare to create and maintain. Even reading the code requires years of training--although almost any idiot can begin writing the code after just a few minutes instruction. The code is so full of cryptic commands, bad encapsulation, and whacked out punctuation that it is totally vulnerable to hackers. This is precisely one of the situations I was warning about - masses of trial and error code that lacks any standards. They don't fix it because it's gotten so scrambled they can't. Nor will they ever admit it. Instead they just keep cranking out more and more code trying to plug the more obvious leaks. But millennials are the wired in generation. Why would they listen to a guy who doesn't even own a smart phone or a credit card and still pays for his bubblegum with cash.]
Lampi Island (Myanmmar)
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Working right up until mosquito time, here is the installation progress on the cutoff switch. This is what it says, a cutoff. Once you start the motor, you can shut this off and remove the key. I could have installed it on the original starter bolts, but thought this method is both simpler and more secure. Up to now, anyone who figured out the key could be jiggled could swipe the machine. Old and beat up as it is, used scooters are a real premium in this area. I get a few offers every month and questions if I would sell. Nope, because like the rest, the new ones are too damned expensive.
Later, this key system works great although the size of the key is inconvenient, probably not intended to be kept on a ring or pants pocket. It’s good to have the scooter back, although I have not yet slimed that leaking back tire. I’ve gotten in the habit of topping it up with the club compressor every other trip. I also used the last of the custom heavy duty battery lugs, the ones made from copper pipe and hand-drilled to fit the smaller motorcycle battery terminal size. Then, to hell with it, I drove over to the old club. It was as dead as usual, but the married couples show up for Karaoke. Maybe I like to show the housewives what they missed out on, front man that I am.
The Karaoke jockey was that slightly retarded guy who should be selling shoes and he’s got these three overweight 40-ish women who show up husband hunting and sing awful songs about unanswered love letters and love boat fantasies. One thing, they get all gussied up in their Sunday best. If you think that expression is way out of fashion, you should see what they are wearing. They are good singers but they are hopelessly out of dates. Wait, shouldn’t that be ‘date’ and not ‘dates’. Hey, hey, hey, I don’t tell you how to read . . .
Some observations at that night spot as follows. My personality is firmly stamped on the place. JZ and I went there every time we were in this area back in 2015 and 2016. That’s when Agt. R was the bartender, and it was his personality that kept the customers. My personality? Yes, the TV is rarely the focus when I’m there, but other things. For example, when I arrive and there are no receptive females, I’ll take out my scribbler and jot things down. Immediately, it is okay for others to haul out their cell phones and pretend they are working away at something. Also, my Karaoke hit, “Tequila” has become the most frequently requested tune on Karaoke nights—and it is a consistent request whenever I am present. And I dare say most of those requests are from strangers to me.
Wait, there’s more. This is also the nightspot where I get asked most often what I’m writing. If they are nosey, I tell them, because anything technical quickly bores my family and other deadbeats who think they are putting me on the spot. Usually I point out the lack of available women, stating if it were otherwise, the last thing I’d be doing is pushing a pencil, which gets a mini-laugh, which is good enough. I’ve also watched some corny youTubes to add a few nerd-dork-millennial dancing styles to that spastic little shuffle I do while the instrumental parts of the song draw out. The moves are particularly off time because most people in that venue know I am an expert dancer, a former instructor. But I’m applying my bass philosophy which is to act like I don’t know what is going on and can’t possibly come in on cue. I’ve learned to add the odd line from my little black book of “Today’s Theme” of stage fame.
Tonight’s one-liner was, “I used to play the trombone, but lately I’ve been letting it slide.”
ADDENDUM
Another Yoakum tune gets resurrected. It’s another two chord special. Who remembers “All You Ever Do”? That’s the number. Not only is it an easy learn for the new guy, it has two special effects. One is that I capo the neck. This is very unusual on a bass, but I’m not content to just continually display my complete master of the fretboard, no sir, not when I’m on stage. I’ll brag all I want, it took me so long to get there. The other is that I capo it so I can emphasize some fancy pickwork utilizing open strings, which I purposely do because it is so flashy. And you never see the limp-wrist crowd even attempt this technique unless they utilize a foot pedal. Which, as we all know, is cheating.
Question. Why the capo? Why not just sing it in E? Because there’s two with vocal ranges that cause nosebleeds in E. Dwight Yoakum and Freddy Fender. Nuff said.
And one more thing, I mentioned my personality above, but don’t be confusing that with popularity. Popularity is bunk except for top-rated show hosts. For most people popularity is a concern of high-schoolers who have not yet hit the job market and found out what a joke and waste of time it was trying to be nice to everybody. Hence and thusforth, popularity is not on my resume. But the fact that, in the above example, my version of “Tequila” was not merely the most requested tune, it is the most requested tune that ever was and ever will be called in that bar. And who made it so? How much help did I get? That’s the kind of substance on my application.
Unless Taylor shows up. Then, for me, popularity will soar to new heights of importance.
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