One year ago today: December 19, 2018, comments on dieting.
Five years ago today: December 19, 2014, neat concentric rings.
Nine years ago today: December 19, 2010, in Florida, $2 = $6.
Random years ago today: December 20, 2015, the ZIP code fake-out.
Did I just lose all my new readers? Could be, as Google has not yet given me back my own account for daring to log on with a different computer than the one they have on file. Google represents the modern American peasant class. Yes, we have peasants in America. They have nothing, do nothing, and live their lives in poverty toiling for the wealthy overclass. But that is not the distinguishing characteristic. What makes a true peasant is that they do not have to know what you are doing to screw you around. They need only detect that you are doing something—which is easy since they know all there is to know about doing nothing. Just when I get 1,985 new readers, they block my daily access. I have access, but have to get to the library. Yep, peasants.
Here’s the promised video of the local academy cadets on Xmas parade. They have finally included Marching 101 in the curriculum, but visibly not every plebe passed the course. They now resemble a troop of raw Russian recruits right down the drill sergeants themselves out of step. Still, this a marked improvement for the generation that will fight on the wrong side. My advice to the south is the same as it would have been 150 years ago. Do as much damage as you can until your first defeat, then adopt a defensive structure and mow them down.
I’m in Miami and once again, a day late waiting for my “one-hour” prescriptions. I got my chasing around done, but Fred has not ghosted a hard drive since we closed the shop. However, he has a draw full of old IDE drive and donated me a 320 GB, which is twenty times what I’ve been using. Now, what did I do with my ghost disk? For those who don’t know the lingo, to ghost a disk is a DOS program that exactly copies an existing disk up to a larger size including the installed programs. Those who have ever used the MicroSoft transfer cable that claims to do the same thing would appreciate how well DOS does the job.
While talking computers, does anyone get that annoying yellow message that a program is slowing down your Internet access? Nobody on line seems to agree what it is, but I’ve found it to be related to having apps or programs on you computer with 32 bit architecture on a 64 bit machine. No, 32 bit code is not forward compatible. MicroSoft made sure of that. Linux, which should have taken over 15 years ago, is still struggling because it is so alien and over-complicated. Have you ever tried to find anything in Linux, like your monitor settings? It takes the first hour to figure out what they named it.
Ishtan, capital of the Maldives.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.
Without much ado, I cleared out of Miami by late afternoon, stopping at Clewiston for a quick shop in the Goodwill, a spot for used books. I’m far from the only one who does not like the new Goodwill format. It began in 1902, with the slogan “a hand up, not a hand out”, taking garments from rich areas, and mending them using otherwise unemployable people. Today, they are that quirk entity in America, the “non-profit” corporation only with five billion dollars in business per year. However, Goodwill is one of the strangest of American companies.
Because Goodwill accepts donated material, many people believe they are akin to a church thrift, taking castoffs, repairing them, and selling second hand to the less fortunate. According to Charla from the Fubar, they are now administered by an outfit called Suncoast. That explains the rash of non-donated new material flooding the shelves. Like many, I never liked this new format at all. But they make so much off the illusion of charity, even I still shop there, albeit far less frequently. Their prices are too high.
The change is disliked by everyone who mentions it. Such changes rarely survive the marketplace. They still have decent cookware and clothing departments, which might wind up saving them—but they are also selling new socks on the same racks. With prices higher than Wal*Mart.
Convinced everyone wants news on the chickens, here is an interim report. I was going to cover the swing set (just the bars) with chicken wire. I got around half way and decided that looked too much like chicken wire. The turtle hutch looks much better. I’m determined to make something nice and keep the swing set for a planter. Rather than continue to burn yard leaves, I’ve decided to pile them up along the northern fence in an effort to blanket the ground against the weeds, vines, and camphor saplings that take root so fast. Upon discovery of a second matching headboard, I will keep those until I figure out what looks best. Maybe a blind for the garbage container which can only be conveniently kept in the front yard? You tell me.
