May 11, 2020

Yesteryear
One year ago today: May 11, 2019, at the sanctuary.
Five years ago today: May 11, 2015, banking, farms, & Mandela-land.
Nine years ago today: May 11, 2011, hint, the loop runs once.
Random years ago today: May 11, 2014, such women don’t exist.

           I put in nine hours, aren’t you proud of me? Okay, much of it was on the shed floor. I didn’t know* knock myself out. Hardwood floors are rather labor intensive but they do make it easy to working around plumbing structures and odd-shapped corners. That stack of oak flooring that rooted through (despite being properly piled and covered) was a disappointment. I began slowly salvaging the best pieces and if you see a photo, it is progress on the flooring. I’m likely to run short of the oak boards. I also need some pressure-treated 2x3” studs. What, Lowe’s and Home Depot, am I the only one? Get it together.

           The shed is still the priority. This is how far I got on the floor, and I may run short of the oak pieces. The floor is solid and looks fine, really, for a laundry room and such. I’m not expecting a lot of ballroom dancing in there but we’ll be okay should it happen. Here’s an excellent view of the oak flooring. It is mismatched as the pieces are from different room that weathered at different paces. Don’t be too impressed, the wood for the most part is old, brittle and would easily bow under foot pressure if not supported by 12” on-center joisting.

           What looks like a long, slow recovery has begun. Not unlike the conditions after a major war, with small businesses having to effectively start over. And cash-rich corporations looking for ways to adapt. After WWII (to Millennials, World War Eleven), for example, the nitrate bomb factories were now closing and needed a new outlet. They found it in artificial fertilizers and the result is the frankenfood of today, record obesity, rampant food allergies, and gastrozombies. This round, the product is all the personal data they’ve amassed—there needs to be an economy based on selling that.
           Although some people try, it is the height of folly to suggest Trump caused the problem. The last thing he wanted was economic downturn—which is what he meant when he said he was not responsible. It was also wrong for the politicos to use the police to enforce civil law (referring to the arrest of the lady bar owner in Texas). Such moves are never popular in America. The average person is not far more suspicious of the government than before and nobody thinks the civil service got all this power just since the Trump administration. Are people ready to elect somebody to begin dismantling the federal power system? Don’t laugh, Reagan ran on that ticket and only succumbed to threats after he was in, just like every President since the New Deal. All broke their promises to curb federal power. Presidents elected since then have less power than the bureaucracy. But Trump is damn close, when he calls the system corrupt, that’s who he is talking about, not just other politicians.

* may the person who invented auto-complete rot in hello.

Picture of the day.
Denmark’s iceberg building.
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           Here’s my newest back yard resident. An indigo snake with no name yet. They are non-venomous and keep the yard free of rat-like creatures. This little guy, about a yard long, has a sunny spot picked out near the chicken coop. According to Agt. R they are aggressive to other snakes, particularly venomous species, so having a good one in the yard means there are no bad ones. Later in the day I had Agt. R drop off the new fence panels. He was supposed to help he install them but as usual, showed up in a big rush to go elsewhere.

           They are not installed, just stood up and tacked in place. So let’s hope we don’t get a sudden windstorm overnight. In the soft dirt of this yard, the panels are integral to the strength of the fence. On the north side, where I had that temporary fence made of the oak pieces, the posts moved and will have to be re-dug and repositioned. That’s always fun.
           In the lean-to, there is a corner I would like to use more 2x3” studs, but they will be exposed a bit. I asked Agt. R if they make pressure-treated lumber that size. He says yes, but it is for making gates and is over in the gardening department. Meaning I’ve walked past it how many times now? In other yard news, the planter has a layer of undercoat and is ready for lining. All the potting soil in town has been bought up still, and I’m going to plant more avocado seeds despite a 100% failure rate so far.

           There is also a steady supply of this pallet wood showing up at the curbside over by the highway. Shown here are two pieces, the wood is new, clean, and very easy to work with. Sadly, it is held together by bent-over nails. Hard to extract and damages the wood. I’ve also got the area for the planters raked up and what an amount of debris. This house was built in the 1940s, which is well after the era when people buried garbage in the back yard. Most troublesome is I keep finding shards of broken glass. Something was torn down back there
           Last, I have the second medicine cabinet ready for installation. It was on sale, $40 off. Thus, in the end that new bathroom came in pretty close to budget. That budget was not for fancy fixtures. Now everything is new except the bathtub. And yes, since the floor was leveled, the enclosure panels continue to separate from the walls. But since it does not leak, there is no rush getting around to it.

ADDENDUM
           Aside to Jolly Time and Orville Redenbacher. I accept that your product of today contains 20% more un-popped kernels than thirty years ago. In return, you accept that I call you a pack of dismal assholes for it. Blame it all on those non-1100-watt microwaves you are so certain are out there. Apparently by the millions. If you find more kernels in the bottom of your popper these days, it isn’t your imagination. This popcorn is bred to contain exactly the right amount of internal moisture to pop. So I ran a test to see if these residual grains could be make to pop at all. Nope, they will scorch first. Since moisture content is easy to measure, how are all these bad ones getting in there? Easy, they are introduced at the factory level.

Last Laugh