August 19, 2019

Yesteryear
One year ago today: August 19, 2018, via Zephyrhills.
Five years ago today: August 19, 2014, any embassy.
Nine years ago today: August 19, 2010, scooter law has changed.
Random years ago today: August 19, 2015, you want glue?

           Cancel the early morning plan to paint the lawn swing. There was paint in that can at some century in the past. So back to the picture frame and the coffee stain. I guess it would work if you had strong enough coffee and applied enough coats. Even with fresh coffee grounds, strong enough means to the point where cost becomes an issue. This is to make a liquid strong enough to brush on like the youTube demos. They are inaccurate because they cut out the immense waiting time, sometime eight hours between coats. I may try soaking the wood in a tray overnight. Here’s the back yard sewing machine from last year, sporting a nice green patina. Patina is Porky Pig’s girlfriend.

           In the end, I decided to just buy a can of stain. It’s $4 and you get consistent results. Just knowing things like kool-aid and walnut husks is enough for me. I picked up a can of English Cherry 233. It’s not a favorite, just the first color I ever used to any extent. The lawn swing is not worth buying new paint for and I see the local Wal*Marts don’t have a section of returns. You’re going to have to just lump that yard swing until I find something.

           Is it hot? Yes, and we can walk miles without seeing anybody. Today, I cut the walk to a mile because the boys were not enjoying it after ten minutes. Shown here on a trail through an abandoned campsite near the lake, they prefer to walk on pavement over grass. This means they get lively when scampering from one patch of shade to the next. One good sign they don’t know about is fewer calls are coming in to check on them. She knows they are in good hands.

           I got the invite to the rehearsal. I know that means observer status only. I want to see how the rehearsal is conducted and scope the personalities. The late timing means I may at best get to stand in for a couple tunes at the show. So, I’d best be prepared at the rehearsal so they get incentivized to choose tunes that I can ace. All in all, I’d rate the developments as success, since after all, my plan was to learn their song list for my own satisfaction. But that also means being ready, even if I’m not even officially the understudy.

           This week’s Hipster Championship goes to BMJ Journals for an entire research paper on the effect of negative pictorial warnings on cigarette packages—without ever once showing any of the pictures. There’s hipsters, and then there’s uber-hipsters, with that special kind of you-know. But what do you expect out of New Jersey? And that brings up another point I would like to get off my chest. I do not dislike mentally handicapped people. But I do dislike people who cause unwarranted interruptions and disturbances that disregards the quiet enjoyment of others. I’ve traveled enough to see the plight of the handicapped elsewhere. I feel sorry for them not because they are handicapped, but because they are destitute through no fault of their own. When I return to America to see the handicapped far from destitute and living on taxpayer funded welfare programs, no I do not feel sorry for them at all. Because they push the issue too far.
           Also, this bunching together of mental and physical handicaps does not address the situation correctly. They are not the same thing and it’s political convenience to pretend they are. I also draw the line between people with low IQs that prevent them from being self-supporting and ordinary IQ people who are just plain crazy. I do not have any solution for all of this, I’m just pointing out that when you say handicapped around me, it’s probably wise to have some idea what you are talking about.
           But if I was pressed for a solution, I’d say turn the whole lot of them over to the mercy of the churches, or start taxing the churches. Nobody should get any tax-free status unless they product tangible social results. Ut-tut, there, Moshe, I said tangible. Your sense of belonging does not rate. There, I feel much better now.

Picture of the day.
Red Lake Falls, Minnesota.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Who know the term “brake horsepower”? I didn’t and finally looked it up. The definitions didn’t help much. Horsepower is measured by connecting a dynamometer (a type of torque converter) to the motor to see what it puts out. This affects things like speed and acceleration. Brake horsepower is a measurement of the amount of braking needed to apply to the motor to stop it. Of the two, brake horsepower would be pretty obviously the more accurate. I got curious upon learning the Soviets were using the same 1940 motor in their tanks up to the 1970s.

           To my great regret, my hobbies of electronics and navigation have fallen off since I purchased my house. Not only is there no place to do the work, try to find the time. But I check for articles regularly. One place that’s great for diversity is good old Makezine.com, where today’s pick was a macramé periodic table. I said diversity, not common sense. Close rivals are a machine that prints Braille, the same idea published in this blog in 2012, and a projector that makes lines on carboard where to cut it for pieces that can be taped together to make massive 3D shapes, including model castles and sign lettering. The makezine site still, years later, has the annoying feature if you view one of the projects in the list, you cannot return to the list except back to the top. There’s ways around it, but eventually you’ll make the wrong click.

           Here’s the top story of practically this whole week, the picture frame. The stain is darker than I remember, but you get what it is these days. Stopping to think (got that, Glen, Ken, Teresa?) is learned a lot here. This is the first time I’ve made a picture frame to fit an object without trial and error. I learned from the Internet how to cut one end and make a tiny knick on the other kerf to make it fit. Here, I’m examining more closely the effect of staining and where I wasn’t careful enough with spots of glue. The frame is weaker than it should be as the corners are glued only. I seem to be very content with these small projects, however, so grant me the time to do more. Wait for a portrait of the jigsaw soon, I know how much we’ve all been anticipating that one.
           And I’ll repeat another lesson. One of my favorite tools has become the oscillating saw. At first I was highly disappointed—until I discovered the problem. The cutting blades, if any, that arrive with the tool are junk. If you want the tool to perform like the videos, shell out for the best quality blades you can find. I’ve had luck in the $7-$9 range (per blade, not the sets) and if possible, find the blades that are marked as “plunge” cutters. Harbor Freight is also offering an electric planer for $34. At that price, I’m interested even though I still don’t yet have my coveted table saw.

ADDENDUM
           Taking the dog to the vet. Another adventure in GPS-land, where there is no such street or avenue. It’s on Old Elm Hill, a location unknown to map-makers. There is an Old Elm Hill in Tennessee, but it is 84 file east of here. I tried every common variation, Old Elm Hill Parkway, Old Elm Hill Pike, and finally wound up phoning for directions. If the Reb had not driven past and pointed it out to me back in January, this would have been another classic wild goose chase. Situations like this are only the beginning signs of the pickle the millennials have created with their deadly, short-range view of everything.

           These are the people that want IoT (Internet of things) and they can’t find entire city streets? Theses are the people who will coding robots to drop bombs? What’s 84 miles between hipsters? Besides the other guy’s house, I mean. Am I the only one who notices every tech site is now dominated by extortion, breaches, and political interference? As predicted, Amazon has passed the cost of the new French tax on to the sellers. It’s the American way, corporations do not pay tax. I would fix that by taxing corporations twice the tax they pass on to others.

           Here’s the Sparkster at the vet, for once behaving himself. He has a natural fear of clinic-like atmospheres and shortly after this photo was reduced to that quivering terror he gets around explosive sounds. You want the results? Aw, see you do care about my critters. The lumps are nodules of fat associated with older dogs, nothing to worry about unless the change rapidly. The rest are skin infections treated with a topical antibiotic. It is now $213 later in the day.

Last Laugh