May 31, 2019

Yesteryear
One year ago today: May 31, 2018, I like the 2x3”.
Five years ago today: May 31, 2014, 4,660 real geniuses.
Nine years ago today: May 31, 2010, fall-thru programming.
Random years ago today: May 31, 2011, cloud computer, my eye.

           It was too nice a day not to make a field trip. Which we do in the car, me and the boys. Hey, at least we’re not playing poker and smoking cigars. Stones River, next to the Barren River, gives us a good clue as to the imaginations of the original explorers. I’d never heard of this battle, but the boys have long since learned how to operate automatic doors to get into the air conditioned lobby. Missing my sidecar, I took the station wagon down random back roads until we arrived in Murfreesboro. The 35 miles took a couple hours, but we saw the countryside.

           Once in Murfreesboro, we had a heck of a time finding out where downtown was. Forget Garmin GPS, it is only marginally worthwhile on the highway, and useless in town. “Proceed to Maple Street”. Has anybody informed Garmin that one of the reasons they purchase a GPS is because they don’t know where Maple Street is? Another favorite is “Proceed to highlighted route.” Except, you cannot see the highlighted route because it is obscured by those ‘tard ATM and restaurant symbols you cannot disable.

           I finally found what looked like a downtown, but no coffee shop. Lots of barber shops and vape shops. We found a guitar repair shop sign and peeked inside a few stores. Nothing of much interest. I know where the library is, but last time I didn’t have the doggies. It was the right time for a cold beer in a green bottle. I don’t normally drink anything in green bottles. Today I would have made an exception, except we could not find anything. Not a restaurant, I mean, but a honky-tonk. I want my cold Tennessee beers in a honky-tonk.
           This turned into a half-day touring the countryside. It was two hours at the historic site, one hour downtown, and another two hours driving. I’d say we are getting to know the turf to the east of Nashville. That’s all for now, hoping your day was at least this adventuresome. One thing I’m always on the lookout for is projects that I can make out of fence lumber. I may have found something, a six-pack carrier. It’s a chintzy design, but I’ll measure up the dimensions and see if we got some potential. Return tomorrow, I think, or Sunday. I still want to drink some beer in green bottles.

Picture of the day.
Oldest working windmill (Holland).
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           As the afternoon shade got better, we did a walking tour of the battlefield. It’s imaginative, with many cannon in place, though more strategically for tourists than military campaigning. They’ve restored a lot of the rail fencing and placed silhouettes of soldiers in the greenery. It’s a great walk, and if you want, a great deal of walking. We did a mile and packed it in. We drove the rest of the way, past artillery limbers and a lot of Texas license plates.

           Then we stopped for a picnic lunch, a tailgater. I keep frozen water bottles handy and the lads finished off half my supply. They are finally used to the station wagon and Sparkie only wants the odd boost to get inside. Of course, they made lots of friends today. None of the, sadly, were babes, which is sort of the whole idea most of the time. What? Oh, let me explain. I said meeting them. I always like meeting them. As opposed to meeting anything else.

           On the return leg we took a direct route, passing a much nicer part of Tennessee than what I’ve seen in the backwoods before. A motorcycle here in the summertime is a must if I have my say. There’s nothing new to report, the days have fallen into a routine. I’ve had time to do more research. Unless I find something really novel, I won’t report on it. That’s even though I get compliments when I do. Hey, I’m mostly just explaining things so that I myself understand them better. So you know, I’m still looking at mesh networking.
           Having most evenings free, I looked at some clubs and societies. We have no such thing in Florida, at least not the kind I’d care to join. There’s not much here either. I’d attend local meetings of any intellectual content. No luck. There is an astronomical society I’ve heard of. Give me some time and I’ll see what they have going on. I want to attend, not join up.

ADDENDUM
           Tennessee isn’t the place to hunt for a tow-behind camper. They want ten grand for junk, calling it vintage. If I’m spending more than a few thousand, I want something solid with metal sides. I do stay at the Wal*Mart Arms and I do not care for too much setup time. I’ve given up trying to find the right panel truck, though I may look again later. I took a look at the usual sites and forget it. Renting is out because part of the idea of a camper is not having somebody keeping tabs on your travels.
           Before anybody says that’s another conspiracy theory, real the tech news sites over the past six months. Unlike some, when it becomes imperative to travel anonymously, at least I’ll still know how. Remember the bet I won in 2014 that I could NOT travel across the USA by motorcycle without having my picture taken. I was snapped something like 27 times that I know of. Now might be the time to point a few things out in case any totally niave people have gotten this far into this blog by mistake.
           Here's a picture from Murfreesboro that captures the spirit of the downtown.

           Back to mass surveillance. They don’t care where you are going or what you are doing. To think that’s what they are after is a very shallow form of thinking used by the clueless to justify doing nothing. The information the system wants (mainly) is a profile to position you at a time and place. Tell you what, just watch the video “My Cousin Vinnie” and watch how the suspects get set up. Where they were going and why did not even enter into the trial equation. This portrayal is very accurate as far as movies go. Supposing all you have to do is explain yourself and they let you go, well, think again. One of the prosecution’s primary goals is to discredit your testimony. And they are experts at tricking you into mis-remembering details, while they have a video of you tanking up two blocks from the incident.
           This type of setup in the courtroom is usually based on two items. Proximity and time-line. Nobody can totally defend themselves from the system, so your protection is not a good defense. It is to keep yourself off the suspect lists in the first place. Those who called that paranoid two years ago are now whining about the use of cell phone records for mass round-ups. Think about it. What the system is using is meta-information, not the raw information itself. They don’t care what you were doing; they only care about fixing you at a time and place. The rest can be cooked up as they go along.

           It’s actually simple to institute basic counter-surveillance techniques once you become conscious of the “why” for so much surveillance. For example, whenever I pull into a gas station, I make it a point (when possible) to pull up to the pumps facing the opposite direction I’m traveling. If I become aware my photo has been taken, I will also pull out of the station in that direction, then backtrack. Sneaky, maybe, but not as dirty sneaky as whoever is surreptitiously recording the event. You might pause to reflect that although I drive a motorcycle, I have never in my life been pulled over and questioned as a suspect. I’m not saying there’s a connection, just that you ponder. You see, in cop-think, suspects do not drive toward a crime scene.
           There you have it. One easy tactic to protect yourself. I have dozens, but that’s one to get you started.

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