February 9, 2020

Yesteryear
One year ago today: February 9, 2019, WIP
Five years ago today: February 9, 2015, not my neighbor’s.
Nine years ago today: February 9, 2011, free like for $69.
Random years ago today: February 9, 2018, 28 songs.

           Are you ready for the good news? This morning as I went out to check the yard, both chickens emerged from under my house like nothing had happened. They may have been traumatized into hiding for two days, but they got over it. They pranced out like, where’s my food, and followed me around for most of the morning. Isn’t that something, they’d been given up for dead. I’ve got this hunch that the money for a chicken run is about to happen. The chickens cannot stay under the house, they must get used to the Taj Mahal one way or another.

           Before sunrise I had dug 4-1/2 fence posts holes, repaired the garden hose and the washer problem. Two loads of laundry, and took measurements for the new north fence and the shed fence. I moved the fence panels into place and dug two pits for the peach trees. Actually four, because the first two measured slightly too close to the house. Can you see them, two peach trees fresh from the nursery. Wait for pictures of the chickens. The Reb is going to be happy with this news.

           How do you dig half a post hole? Logistics. In the back yard I hit something a foot down. That’s me pointing down the hole. It seems like a root, but quite a distance from the nearest tree. It’s not a stone, so I’m going in there with the sawzall later. By this time I’ve been working three hours. The sun was up so I had what I would define as a proper retirement breakfast. French toast, corn syrup, a light omelet and a mug of coffee.
           This brings my total number of fence panels in the yard to six. All are placed to shelter the work area, coop, garden area, and any storage from view from any outside angle. Nobody could say now they drove past and noticed anything except nice tall fences. By 9:30AM, I’m ready to knock off for the day. I’m reading the advanced chapters on javascript, the good stuff hackerwise. It’s another idiot language designed by and for idiots. It has a few redeeming features, but clean code is not one of them. Here’s an example that by itself is okay, but turns into a mess in the hands of idiots. Javascript distinguishes capital and case letters (as all computer code shouls). What could go wrong there?

           Easy. A lack of standards in variable names. It means that “MyVariable” and “myVariable” are two different animals. But they are pronounced the same and almost look the same. And there is nothing stopping a coder from using both in the same application. Do this a few times and you’ll see why driverless cars run down pedestrians. Can you just imagine two millennials trying to troubleshoot such code by smartphone? But Tyrone, I swear I did enable the “myAvOidPeDestRiaN” variable.

           When I program in ANY C+ language (such as Arduino code), all my variables start with “V-” that’s capital V dash, use dashes, never underscores. I’ll let the millennials figure out why ever using the underscore was a bastard idea from the get-go. Plus my names always describe what the variable is, not what it does. Think closely about that, a “noun”, not a “verb”. If you need to know what a variable does, read the associated command. Right there, I’ve lost all the top people at MicroSoft.
           I’ll say it again. All variables should be in a separate declaration section near the top of the program. C+ has them scattered all through the code, and with the organizational skills of today’s computer people, no wonder nothing works right.

           It’s a tree root at the bottom of that hole. Around three inches in diameter, so I had to cut it in slices. A tedious task that took two hours. Yep, of all the places that root could be in that big yard, right where I had no choice. I had to widen the hole enough to get in there with the sawzall but by noon we had us a fence. The chickens are back on routine, they know when it is feeding time. I may invest in a feeder. Charla donated a small roll of chain link fence and told me the best way to stop burrowing vermin. I was just about to trench it like a dingo fence, but she said no, just lay it on the ground and curl it up a few inches around the perimeter.
           Here, I got you a pic of the sawn up root, looks like pieces of dirty potato. It was an awkward chore, but there’s your demo of how deep the good dirt is back there. These were two feet underground. Now I’m tempted to run another two fence panels but I should be working on the bathroom. Agt. R is due to drop by this afternoon and we plant the peach trees. One is already starting to flower. Nice small pink flowers. I got the north fence completely repaired, the tree holes dug, load of laundry, and Agt. R never showed.
Trivia. Millennials spend $1,264 per year on their pet. They’re gaining on the Reb & I.

Picture of the day.
Downtown.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Here’s part of my haul from the church. Everything but the camera was brand new. That brass object is the capo, probably for a violin. It is now for the bass, yes, I will capo the bass for certain tunes in the key of C. The next picture is the Snark. I didn’t know if it would work on a bass because of the solid wood structure, but a new battery and it works fine. The cable is for connecting an MP3 headphone jack to a regular PA system. Handy when you need it, and I think I’m about to.

           The band last night was barely past the decent grade. Contemporary bands prove that music by itself is not always good entertainment. I left and drove out to the Karaoke in Bartow. That has changed a bit since I arrived in the area. There are two singers who frequent the place now that I would guess have professional training. I’m still okay, though, because they are overkill. One is this lady with dyed black hair who has an opera-like quality to her very precise vocals. The other is a guy who with a salt and pepper beard who wears a fancy leather jacket. In the Florida heat? Anyway, I’ve mentioned the importance of stage presence. They both have it, but that stage isn’t big enough for them. I liked their work but maybe it was just a mite too obvious they showed up only to sing? I’ll be watching.
           And because it is blogworthy, the mother from the all-girl band is back in town. Something has gone wrong and by now that’s not a surprise. That makes several consecutive weeks I’ve seen her in the audience instead of the stage during prime time. And the last time I saw her show, she spent the first half of the gig sitting at the bar while the guitar player that took over her band had all his buddies on stage. Yep, as I predicted, she appears to have really screwed up this time. And again, I’ll be watching.

           Trump. He’s innocent, but don’t sit back. The liberals have repeatedly demonstrated they are one evil pack of sore losers. He called them sleaze balls and other formerly incorrect terms. The consensus is that they needed calling out. Nobody can now deny the whole impeachment thing was not about justice, rather a desperate lashing out to prevent Trump from running again. I’ve suggested this might spell the end of the Democrat party as a viable entity. That would be the American dream come true. I’ve not said the Republican party is the proper answer. However we are now looking at an overwhelming majority everywhere it counts this November.

           One more Trump administration and he could wipe of trillions off the free handouts engineered by the left. The real American tragedy is not the upper class getting billions, but the welfare class getting trillions. Like most Americans, I believe the poor should be helped—to get a job. The liberals have let in so many unskilled laborers that the economy has dumbed down to that level. Why should the rich hire Americans at $30 per hour when then can open a tomato ranch? And what do all the people with caronavirus have in common? They’ve never been vaccinated, not just against the virus, but against anything. Funny that isn’t the front page news.

           While I can’t thank Trump personally for taking my advice and going after the telemarketers, he gets the gratitude of millions. I’ve had three calls this year. The solution was, as this blog suggested, follow the money and pinch off the supply. The next thing Trump should do is get that wall finished. Let the leftists scream it won’t work. We’ve just seen how much value there is in their ranting. Mexico only changes regimes by armed revolution. That is one culture we don’t need to import.
           The third thing the Don should accomplish is systematically go through the entire civil servant structure and find out who the foot-draggers have been. Out they go. That’s the swamp he was talking about. The real solution is removing civil servant’s right to vote because that has become the tail wagging the dog. Workers should not be electing their bosses. What the Democrats are trying is similar to a leverage buyout. Promise the voters anything to get elected and then buy them dinner with their own money.

ADDENDUM
           I worked all morning and here is the new fence. The posts are only two feet deep, if they move, I can sink then another half. The neighbor’s chain link fence is seen 3 feet behind if you see it on the left. Turns out there was once a row of trees in that space. It was the hottest day this year yet, so I fixed the north fence, put in this fence, did some repairs to the laundry area and dug the holes for all three trees. Agt. R was to help me take them out of the pots and plant them proper.

           He never showed.

           And how about that Tesla scam? You know, it was MicroSoft who pioneered the scam, read the fine print. You don’t really own your version of Windows. When you sell the computer, you are supposed to uninstall the opsys and return it to Redmond. People are buying second-hand Teslas and finding after a short while, the autopilot quits. The cost to have it reactivated is around $7,990.00. Mr. Trump, you really need to crack down on this Sony-style scam, where the warranty and such attach to the purchaser when it should attach only and unconditionally to the product. It should be none of the sellers business who owns the product during the warranty period. And MicroSoft should be charged with theft for disabling my shut off button for their crappy upgrades. There is a current report that a MicroSoft bug is preventing people from turning off Windows 7. When Redmond first heard of this, they replied, “What bug?”

           Oh, and as for Trump retaliating against impeachment witnesses? And the libtards are screaming. But, you see, the clause (18 USC 1513(e)) that he can’t retaliate doesn’t apply here. It only protects against harm if they testify. By the inclusion of the word “truthfully”, it does not protect them if they lie. My opinion is they were lying through their teeth. The liberals are running out of options, so now they are ramping up a big campaign not to back any of their own candidates, but to run ads suggesting any pro-Trump news is “misinformation”. Ha, I think they should try the tactic they use for queers. Suggest that anybody who doesn’t like Democrats for what they are is “afraid” of them. Mr. Trump, keep draining that swamp.
           This opens up a lot of jobs as the liberal ranks get thinned of the worst specimens. I’d like an ambassadorship, maybe to Italy or maybe Germany. I don’t speak the language or know the customs, but that has never been a requirement in the US of A. Trump is a champion for getting rid of the worst abusers, the ones who get into a government position and represent nobody but themselves. These Democrat’s prime failure is regarding tax money as something that belongs to the government rather than the people.
           I’m not that political, but I know when I see things going wrong. The people who want Trump removed are a tiny minority trying to act like a tidal wave. This will cost them badly this November. Some of them are being laughed and booed of stage in their home constituencies. Serves them right. Most people, certainly the 63 million who voted for Trump, see him as the engineer of our returning prosperity. He’s got the highest approval ratings since his election. Ann Coulter says he should ask Pelosi to impeach him again. Her book, “Resistance is Futile” says the biggest triumph of the Trump era may be the liberal institutions total loss of credibility. Ha!

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