One year ago today: May 8, 2019, the original patent troll.
Five years ago today: May 8, 2015, NASA documentarties, my eye.
Nine years ago today: May 8, 2011, a shapely redhead.
Random years ago today: May 8, 2018, I meant red blood cells.
At 2:38AM I woke up. And what woke me was dead silence. Even out here and inside a sound-deadened room, there is always some detectable ambient sound. Here’s a random picture of the old red scooter. It still runs but won’t stay running. Tonight was unusual on a number of counts. It was cool enough that I did not have a fan or the A/C running, and the attic fan shuts down at 82°F. The fridge was off, there was no wind. There is a highway a mile to the east, another to the north and a railway just beyond. Everything had to be exactly right in combination for this, I even stepped outside to confirm. This is probably the last time in my life I’ll hear complete silence. The good news is that my hearing is absolutely acute and I don’t suffer any tintinitus.
Or roughly circular, I should say. It is standard to identify each orbit by the closest approach to the sun. Some regularly pass near the Earth, but to the disappointment of movie studios, cause no tsunamis or mass extinctions. Some do get dislodged and have struck all the planets. There are around 150 impact craters known on Earth, but their distribution near population centers means these are just those most likely to be found. Meteors are more likely to hit the atmosphere because their orbits are highly elliptical and regular cross the path of the Earth’s revolution. They also differ more widely in composition.
We would likely be mining asteroids by now except for the wasted 30 years and 30 shuttle launches, NASA’s trillion dollar publicity stunt. This delay also led to follow-on complications which will dog the space program until private industry takes over. For example, all the Mars probes and rovers had to fly through the asteroid belt, and these spacecraft were as computerized as possible in their day. The first shuttle flight was in 1981, about the time MicroSoft was burgeoning. At this time, the spacecraft used Apple technology and it worked well enough.
There were still failures and I think one of the orbiting camera ships missed the entire planet. My point is, between 1981 and 1988, NASA changed to MicroSoft computers, which are programmed in C+. Prior to the switchover, most failures were mechanical. There were crashes and storm damage, but in 1988 a new problem arose. The spaceships were arriving and landing safely, then mysteriously going dead. I was studying OOPs programming at the time and knew instantly what went haywire. I had by then already developed distaste for IBM-style operating systems. NASA’s fantastically expensive machines were now using the crappiest and cheapest software available.
IBM and MicroSoft are the originators of computer systems that wear down with use. Disk fragmentation, registry errors, faulty memory modules, system clutter, corrupted drives, frozen screens, these were unheard of in Apple computers of the day. Think of how many times you had to reboot your system—and that you finally got rid of it when it would no longer respond to that. So, my dislike of PCs and C+ not only goes back a long way, there is a basis in fact. My contention is that the space software is constantly running diagnostics, essentially rebooting hundreds of times more often than you ever did. Go figure.
For those of you who don’t know, Apple began having their programming done by MicroSoft and the consequent deterioration of their products and reputation soon followed. Before then, there was no such thing as an Apple virus.
Qattara Depression.
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We sort of get Boss Hogg on the shed radio on Friday evenings, but with that Haitian background , only, for as long as you can stand it. Enjoy what you can because Saturday is no longer easy listening country It is tough listening half-swing jazz from before the war. It was getting bad enough with the “rock” hits I never heard but now jazz? That stuff petered out by the time Elvis showed up. Myself, since I was old enough to remember music, rock meant “She Loves You Yeah Yeah Yeah” and the rest was filler. And I was right. because I’ll tell you why.
After the first harvest, the peach tree really began turning out some lush green leaves. Here’s you photo that hardly does it justice. Notice the very consistent color. I like that as much as the peaches. I have to go downtown tomorrow again, maybe I’ll take a look at what they have. There is still a lot of panic buying going on. Thus, I’ve been unable to find any potting soil for the planter and may go ahead with the regular sandy type from the yard.
Did you get a load of that robot dog patrolling the park in Singapore. That’s American technology at work, helping third world countries keep the elite in power, just like we do here at home using the Congress, Senate, and covert surveillance. The dog robot senses people standing too close together and takes their pictures. For now. And another rock tune has succumbed to editing, this time the Door’s, “Love Me Two Times”. Gone are the repetitious parts of the guitar solo and the redundant repeat of the second verse. This shortens the tune by a minute. Tell you what, there’s a rule of thumb you likely don’t know. New bands that don’t like practice play the longest versions of songs possible.
It’s a rotten stage trick to kill time. If you ask me, that’s why so many rock bands play extended blues. They haven’t got enough good material. My tunes are getting shorter for a couple of reasons. One is to emphasize the bass at the expense of the lead guitar. Another is a demonstration that I can play most anything, but don’t necessarily do so. I need another house gig, those Friday’s at Jimbos for all those years spoiled me. I forget how long it was. Six years? My new show should rival what I did in those days, since it was during that time I devised the concept and methods to solo on the bass. I spent the five years up to 2018 looking for a guitar player who could keep up.
I even forget the final score. Something like 22 guitar players, none of whom could or would play my material. Learning their list is out of the question because that turns the group into just another hack. There are another two full sets of rock and country-rock material that could go under the software knife as I pursue finding tunes that highlight the bass work. If I’m going to solo, no sense going half-way. I’ve already chosen a few songs that I know outdistance many of the guitarists that I know and for musical diversity, I’ve got even the Hippie bested several times over. He could probably play my material, but can’t play won’t play are identical in the performing industry.
ADDENDUM
Here’s the progress with the drainage trench. It involved cutting two more roots that went fast. Amazingly fast to the ones that are hard to get at, wouldn’t you know. This is much more work than it seems, around two hours so far. I know what you are thinking, a guy my age and shape should not be doing this type of labor in this Florida heat. Thank you for your sincere concern, but I know my limits. I waiting quite a few days until I felt up to the task before I started this deep part.
If I get this section buried by dusk, I’m going out for a beer. On the shortcut to the Arkansas thrift, I pass a small club that is open. Mentioning this to Agt. R, he says the deal is that they have a food license. Such operations are allowed to re-open to 25% capacity. He reports his old club is going for such a license specifically for this reason. Up to now, everybody ordered in from the half dozen outlets within the block. Ha, this is America, watch how the licensing process gets delayed until the same point they are allowed to commence anyway. You could, of course, expedite the approval by a little grease, but there is no corruption in America. None, and you know why by now. This blog said it. Because in America corruption is not illegal. If it is not illegal, then it is not corruption. Most corrupt process in America? Immigration. If you have the money, you are in by next week. Same if you are president and your in-laws are Rumanian.
