March 14, 2019

Yesteryear
One year ago today: March 14, 2018, only classy junk yards.
Five years ago today: March 14, 2014, string arithmetic.
Nine years ago today: March 14, 2010, $17.30/hr, my eye.
Random years ago today: March 14, 2005, I decide on a bicycle.

           Most would agree with me that books of quotations and unusual facts have become alike for the most part. It’s the Internet. It kind of makes everybody with an IQ of less than 120 into a plagiarist. Am I saying if the average Joe says anything clever, logical, or profound on-line, he’s lifted it somewhere? Darn rights, how else is he going to come up with anything of the kind? So, what’s my reaction when I find a book that really does come up with novel examples? I’m not sure.

           In this case, it’s a book whose title I won’t say just yet. Why? Because many of the facts are related to regular topics mentioned in this blog. Thus, rather than quote anything, I’ll work as many as I can into my own material as warranted in the normal course we take. For instance, the subject of Artificial Intelligence, or A.I. as this blog punctuates it. Look at the headlines these days to see A.I. is a hot topic. Look in this blog to find the same hot topic has been prominent for decades.
So although I’m gleaning material from one source, I’m not rehashing the words Ripley-fashion. I’m picking what is relevant to my writing and working it in as spice. I’ll try to confine that to once per day, so consider it a brand of brain vitamin. Ha, I like that, and you heard it here first. Brain vitamin.

           You take one look at this picture and you just know what day it is. You can infer as well that mom is out of town. By now you’ve met Sparky and we are later this morning going to hold our own little parade up at Priest Lake. Hold on, I’m just informed not to call it Priest Lake, or “the locals won’t know what you are talking about.” It’s Percy Priest Lake. I’ll obey the rule and call it Percy Priest, even though I’m from Florida and gotten used to locals not having a clue what I’m saying. Or doing. Or thinking. Etc.

           Because let me tell you about two of the biggest wastes of time in my life. Maturity and popularity. Both false gods; obsessions for the tiny mind. Now don’t get me wrong, these two can form a mighty comfortable cushion for the shallow. But once any attempt is made toward real progress in this life, watch how fast such things lose focus. I think the one definable group left who dare to go beyond maturity without rejecting it are that elite cadre of successful male stand-up comedians. The women? Listen to their jokes (celebrity gossip, relationships, and menopause) and, well, they still have a long ways to go. You know who I’m talking about.
           The photo of the railway trestle is for looks. That’s the trail we planned to stroll Sunday but got flooded out. The river in the background is over the banks. This is another shot for the blues album jacket that I’ll make one day if I ever get around to anything. No time, and I know what you’re thinking. I could always quite wasting time writing blogs whose readership once fell to 25 per day. Hey, it was only one day.

           Argh, I say, this Tennessee living is growing on me. Out here, you can hear the wind blow in the trees, even when it isn’t hurricane season. The drivers are from the more civilized races and while I’m no vegetarian, the influence is beginning to tell. I mean, did I just eat fried rice and tomatoes for lunch? Is that wheat flour tortillas in the fridge? And doesn’t the sun ever shine in Nashville? Sure, that’s a rhetorical question, but I’m still waiting how long now?

           [Author’s note: that picture above of the St. Pat’s party charmed the panties off the west coast. Folks, this is why you call in the professionals when you want it done right. Ha, what a party and we didn’t even wreck the place.
           Here is a classic photo of another time I looked after this same lady’s pets. This picture is from 1992. With these sort of pets, the totally spoiled kind, I not only have references, I have witnesses. ]


Picture of the day.
Made in Pakistan.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Walking the dogs has turned out to be my bicycle equivalent of exercise. That’s good, because the bike paths here follow the Miami style. They are built to budget so they tend to be as long as the most recent street repair and go nowhere. Speaking of food, here’s some vegetarian spuds. Isn’t that an oxymoron? Depends, because if the package doesn’t have non-GMO and Organic symbols, it doesn’t pass muster. Ergo, vegetarian potatoes.
           As it stands, I have two cupboards and a fridge full of food I don’t normally eat with no preservatives. I’m working my way through it best I can, but one day soon I fear my car will wheel itself into a Burger King and not leave until I’ve had three orders of chicken byproduct. Oh, you know the things I mean, the pink crud, um, um, nuggets. That’s it. Chicken nuggets. They are my favorite fast food when I indulge.

           Recalling last Saturday, I was shopping at the Magnolia Plantation store on I-75 in southern Georgia. Here is one of several toy items. I have more photos if I find them, but here’s that game with the ball and cup. See the ball on the string? Myself, I don’t think even as a lad I had much use for this, but I can see the appeal. I don’t have the machinery to hollow out cups. What hit me was two thoughts. One, this is the kind of gizmo that would be allowed for sale at the annual Rendezvous. Two, the price tag of $9.99. At three bucks, I’d have bought one, but at ten bucks, that’s a toy for the tourists.
           This model I’m holding looks kind of spindly. The bark is still on the pieces, another thing I’d have to learn. It is real wood and anything I produce would have to bear that all important made-in-America sticker. Or lately I’m leaning more toward a branding iron. Stickers are so, I dunno, so Chinese, not that (as Seinfeld would say) there’s anything wrong with that. A branding iron logo, that ads $5 to the price.

ADDENDUM
           The more I learn Neil Diamond bass lines, the more I know he had a hand in how they are played. And it centers on those major 7ths with descending bass walks as he sings his verses, but not choruses. I don’t know but if old Neil was a bassist, I would have heard about it, no? I find it mysterious how he kept so many of the lines consistent over the years. Nor has the technique been copied very much. The explanation there is similar to how fourths are often skipped. They don’t leave the left hand in position to play modes, which is all what the bulk of them want to play all the time.

           Next, I followed up with the idea of the branding iron. One of the bigger suppliers is here in Georgia. I’ll leave it to you what you find interesting. What I learned the three most popular styles are torch heated, which are most similar to what you see on the oaters. Next is the electric brand I would consider. Last is a drill press model for when you need the imprint accurately placed. Custom stamps start about $84, but that’s with no accessories. Leather is the traditional substrate but there is a growing demand for wedding announcements burned on quality paper rather than printed.

           Say, this is getting informative. The torch is recommended because wood fires give uneven results from poor temperature control and tend to gunk up the iron with soot. That business card seared on a steak with a laser once mentioned in this blog has a close cousin in a logo branded on a burger bun. I’m not so sure about branding chickens. There’s even a portable hand unit heated with a Bic lighter, but I’m not going there. Each site I checked wants you to pay for a custom design, none seem to have an ordinary few in stock. The only stock item I could find was a tree, for branding the silhouette of a tree on something.

           The electric models slip into the end of a soldering iron, in which case the blurb says brass is the best material. This photo shows the no-nonsense gotta-hang-over cowboy model. I dunno, if it works as well as most soldering irons with regards to heat-up time, the performance claims are grossly overstated. There is a freeze branding type that uses liquid nitrogen. It works by altering the hair follicles to turn the fur white. Of the styles, the drill press seems the best, and at $250 to get started, they ain’t cheap.

Last Laugh