October 31, 2020

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 31, 2019, their lawful role.
Five years ago today: October 31, 2015, average balance, my eye.
Nine years ago today: October 31, 2011, the pay was lousy.
Random years ago today: October 31, 2012, that’s why they’re called spooks.

           It is confirmed, I lost an old friend from 1979 or 1980. It was sudden, so this morning was spent in quiet reflection. I spent two hour walking the doggies around the lake alone. I was moping a bit so the Reb piled me in the car and we went out to her old stomping grounds, Franklin, TN. I’ve never even driven past it unless it was in the dark by accident. That cheered me up, we stopped at an excellent restaurant, the Frothy Monkey. Everything made on premises, including the bread, worth it. A bit pricey for my wallet, but try it at least once. I had the smoked turkey sandwich.

           We walked a long way, including a tour of the old graveyard. Older than the Civil War, it began in 1799. I’ve never understood, with conditions so bad in Europe, why it took us so long to migrate into the Americas. It was bound to happen, mass migration is never easy on the aboriginals. But like Hawaii, they are actually damn lucky in the larger scheme of things. We sat outside on what is basically your perfect autumn day. Both our phones were left in the car, so here we are sharing the only hard-copy menu available. Excellent coffee.

           Franklin is an old city, the downtown is about all there is to tour except the nearby architecture. There are a lot of restorals, the downtown business community is touristy. No cultural anything, but there was a restored theater. Closed for COVID, mind you. Quite a few Halloween partiers were already on the streets by noon. The town is what you’d expect, the crowd indicates there must be some colleges or a university in the area. An awful lot of restaurants, a few bars, lots of furniture and antiques. Biggest perk, free parking. There’s a two-hour limit on the streets, though.
           We went through a few antique type stores. It’s all worth a look but beware the prices can be shocking, even by American standards. They have some fixed up public squares, although the nicest looking ones would involve dashing through the traffic. It’s a middle class community with the youth-oriented influence of the schools in the area, although I did not see any campuses or such.

Picture of the day.
Spiral staircase.
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           We took a walking tour around some the nearby residential areas. The town has a lot of architecture but I don’t know if it is all authentic. Here’s something I’ve never seen before. See this tree crossing the street? The guy is a hoot. He’s wearing a Ghillie suit covered with plastic vines. When posed on the sidewalk or a bench, he looks exactly like a potted plant. As you go past, he’s go a toy whistle that scares the crap out of you for a second.

           He fooled us until he scared a chihuahua into barking. He told me I could copy the idea, though I question the wisdom of wearing a full body costume in the Florida heat. The Reb is not fully recovered, so I’ll be here at least this week. Between that and the long dog walk earlier, I barely kept pace She knows I like used book stores, so we toured the only one in the area.

           I say toured, because it was more of a collector’s book gallery. I would have bought an old COBOL book, but texts and academic material was not strong in evidence. The Reb picked a paperback of the shelf and promptly put it back upon seeing the price tag. $80. It’s worth a look around the place, but I prefer an old-fashioned used book store where even the owner is not sure what he’s got. As for the average eatery, I know a lot of newer outlets got started with money from Shark Tank. A lot of them seemed to have opened around here.
           It’s more than plain now that I need a new vehicle. That van in the neighbor’s yard is still sitting there, getting older. He’s got to sell it sooner or later, so I should see if he’ll take $300 for it. It’s big enough to sleep in but would be cramped for camping. I would hesitate on most purchases just now due to the uncertainty of the immediate future. But if Trump gets in, the country will breathe a sigh of relief.

           Here’s Sparkie in his skeleton H’ween outfit. I had nothing to do with this. We have no trick or treaters in this area, being at the end of a no-exit winding sub-division side road. So we walked the dogs over in the next streets to watch the antics. I’ve never understood the big do about Halloween in this country since I was a kid. Pure commercialism if you ask me. And great for sales of that candy corn.

ADDENDUM
           Another hostage rescue. This time in northern Nigeria. I remain steadfast that Americans who lack the common sense to stay away from dangerous foreign places should be left to their own resources, or if they are rescued, should foot the bill. Instead, we get the ridiculous spectacle of America criticizing other countries for paying millions in ransom money while we spend tens of millions to rescue idiots.
           How about that professor who has the 13-point formula for predicting who wins elections? He’s been right every time since 1984. His tally shows that Trump will lose. His flub this time is, like the media and the polls, he has not waken up to the fact that Trump has changed the ground rules. There is a joke going around that Nancy Pelosi takes a shot of whiskey every time her people use the word “racist”, but that’s cruel so I won’t repeat it.

Last Laugh

October 30, 2020

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 30, 2019, the surest sign.
Five years ago today: October 30, 2015, on optimism alone.
Nine years ago today: October 30, 2011, an authentic western.
Random years ago today: October 30, 2018, a generic day.

           Yes, the sad news has arrived. See addendum I took the day and evening off. I put in a few hours reading, mostly the booklet on evolution and creationism. In seven of the nine chapters, the argument against evolution is the same, that there are gaps in the record. Yet, Darwin himself pointed that out. What’s more, I don’t think anyone has ever stated that there should be no gaps, or that the presence or absence of gaps prove or disprove anything about the theory.
           I have one new conclusion. It is the that not surprisingly few arguments agains evolution share a glaring fault. They could be used say things were created in any shorter period of time. It leaves your wondering if many people say it was six days if none of them had never heard of the Bible? There are a few other positions, but they are more questions than answers. One example is the formation of stars, though this is an example that things often get off subject.

           The case is that the stars could not be self-forming. After the big bang the unverse was full of hydrogen and helium, which quickly dissolved into hydrogen atoms from all the radiation. To start accretion, some heavier particles would be needed to start hydrogen begin attracting by gravity, yet, a heavier particles can only be formed from hydrogen in the core of stars. Therefore, only stars can begat stars.
           To me that proves only that we don’t understand how stars are formed.

Picture of the day.
Nantucket lighthouse.
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ADDENDUM
           A lifelong friend has passed away. We met in 1980 and were in fairly regular touch until two months ago, I just got the news now. It was sudden, that’s all I know. Whenever I went back west, that was the first place I stopped. Our business affairs became so intertwined I will have to begin again but the level of trust cannot ever be replaced. Expect haphazard posting for a few days hence.
Last Laugh

October 29, 2020

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 29, 2019, cashless, my eye.
Five years ago today: October 29, 2015, silver remains low.
Nine years ago today: October 29, 2011, rhymes with boot.
Random years ago today: October 29, 2007, only 7 cents per month.

           Windows won’t allow further installations on this computer unless I perform and update. Typical millennial-think. For a while I’ve been getting a message that my version of Windows is past the end of its lifecycle. I can’t wait for MicroSoft to do the same. Good morning, and it is, I spent a few hours outside with the doggies, their reprieve before going to the vet later. Things are otherwise at a crawl, which is good. Everything here is back to normal but I’m not leaving until things are better than that.
           I used the time to tackle that huge Windows pagefile that builds up on your system over time. It’s eating up half my hard drive. This stores information used for your system when you run out of RAM, a very easy thing to do as Windows becomes every more idiot-friendly. I finally have up on trying to find a site that gave straight answers. One techno-nerd after another, blithering way off the subject.
           Here’s a picture of the Reb at the Whole Foods meat counter, today’s big story.

           I had another go at installing the Brave browser, but Win 10 insists I update first. I’ll look for a workaround. There’s little else going on except the election which represents the ultimate effort at takeover by the lunatic left. Forty years of collusion and indoctrination was about to pay off when Trump arrived. If nothing else, this election will show us how they’ve done. This is no longer a contest between two parties with America’s interest in mind, just different philosophies. It’s capitalism against communism and I suppose it had to happen. Nobody listened to the warnings that have been right since 1980.
           To eradicate the CNAME threat, I searched for the files in the registry. Guess what, they’ve finally managed to bury eulerian scripts where I can’t find them. For now.From what I understand, these are scripts downloaded along with MicroSoft “updates” that call home for tracking software when you boot up. By noon I was deep into DOS. There is a saying that some day a DOS person will save the world.

Picture of the day.
Lamborghini oil filter tool.
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           I rarely overlook a chance to jam with a guitarist with an ulterior motive. Why? Because regular motives have produced such a crop of ninnies that I’ve wearied of dealing with them. Today I connected with this guy who’s been playing most of his life with the same results as myself. Every time he gets a group going, somebody or something takes it down a garden path. What’s more, he has a similar background except he’s been playing the material twenty years more than me. Later, he’s texting me a song list, so check back and see how this goes. It is getting near th 1:88 ratio of success in auditions—based on groups that make it to stage. That’s correct, when you meet another musician to rehearse, there is only a 0.011% chance you will gig even once.
nbsp;          I have doggie news and it’s so-so. Sparkie has some new allergy and dang, it is persistent. Keeps him up at night which leads to other complications. He needs to be let out twice as often, not that inconvenient when I’m here. He needs a scan and the only lady in the area that does it is out with COVID. Trivia, right about now is the anniversary of the first SARS epidemic, back in 2002.

           [Author’s note: note the 19 in COVID-19 means the strain was identified in 2019, a completely idiotic naming system that will eventually cause confusion. The CO means carona, the VI means virus, and D means disease. The idea is the name should not “stigmatize” the source, which is the Chinese wet market in Wuhan. Gee, that is so considerate of the CDC.]

ADDENDUM
           There is no getting around election news in this country. Unless you live in a cave, which by the way, has been discussed by the Reb & I. (They are among the most exepensive US properties these days.) Only one station is covering the Biden crime family, but most people are very aware of it and the big coverup. Other than the welfare cities, there is no hope for the radicals. Once again, the electoral college will decide the vote. There will be riots in the Democrat zones, I think Trump should stand back and let it happen. (I believe individual subdivisions have the right to ask for protection.)

           Let those cities dismantle themselves. Once the businesses flee, it ‘s like Margaret Thatcher said, sort of. Liberalism is great until the other guy runs out of money. My position is unchanged from months ago, it will be a solid Trump landslide. As for the riots, like the Sun News (from Australia) says, it is a lesson America needs to learn. Trump is fighting the media, big tech, the liberals, the Democrats, the fringe groups, and the welfare class. Farange has righty pegged him as the bravest man in the world.
           Another picture, just for balance. I’ve heard some tragic news that is not yet verified. These are pics from today, but may not be relevant to the editorial.

           The left is using every dirty trick in the book to unseat Trump, as they have been doing since day one. What I wish all the media would do is shut up about the virus. Most people no longer care about it or who dies. The prevailing attitude is the same number will die no matter what, let’s get on with it. I know of noboded who wants to hear about it any more. Then again, I don’t associate with anybody infected with left-wing ideological nonsense.
           TMOR, do not believe any leftist US news, which is 99% of them. The “polls” showing Biden ahead are designed to discourage people into thinking voting for Trump is a lost cause, same as 2016. That is not working this time and neither is anything else. The advance voting shows Biden ahead, but that is largely because most Republican advance votes have not been returned yet. Around a third of all voters have advance-voted, which is sad because it does not give them a chance to change their vote as the Biden crime family episode unfolds.

           As for the Islamic attacks and beheadings in France, serves you right. I’ll say it again, old Europe spent two thousand years keeping the Islamics out and you think you’re smart letting thing waltz right in. Serves you right, France. It ain’t the first time since Napoleon the French have unconditionally surrendered to weaker forces.

Last Laugh

October 28, 2020

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 28, 2019, mountain fog.
Five years ago today: October 28, 2015, useless Android apps.
Nine years ago today: October 28, 2011, a pot of tea.
Random years ago today: October 28, 2013, heading west at sunrise.

           I found out Tennessee tests vehicles, I think it is for smog control. And it costs $9.00. A true exercise in futility, do they really save on smog a day when every car in the state has to drive to a facility? Tennessee is not a wild party city for those of us over 24, and from what I see out there, it isn’t for them as well. Certainly not on the scale of the 1960s-1970s sexual revolution that I went through with much confidence and poise. Cyber dating just isn’t the real thing when every woman describes herself as a princess. I want to see for myself. Today’s picture is the doggies on the front stoop, wondering I they really want to walk in the rain.

           It’s blustery enough we stayed home and had an afternoon discussion about evolution versus creationism. I’m quite aware that can sound ho-hum but one thing that never happens around here is boredom. And you know darn well what happens to every area of a relationship when you get boredom into the mix. What was the actual discussion? It’s how often creationists will sightly dodge the point when tasked on how they reached a conclusion. In my book, evolution and creationism are not opposites and refuting any detail of either one does not cancel the other one out.

           That is why it comes across as mostly creationists going on about how evolution is false, but not the other way around. It is hard to find literature that spells out the creationist arguments, but they center around the incomplete fossil record and that some fossils show that some animals began fully formed. No intermediate stages. My take on that is those who insist the fossil record must be complete and unbroken lack knowledge of how haphazardly fossils are formed.
           Next topic was about genetics. Evolution says species came from a common ancestor and the less fit variations did not survive. Creationism says all the genetic material was already present and the variations that died out leave the others to survive. This implies there will be a common descendant. One with fewer genes but immune to diseases and, well, pretty much everything else. Myself, I think it’s great to have somebody you can have such a conversation with.

Picture of the day.
Kitty condo with balcony.
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           I spent some time on my guitar strumming. My goal is to pick out the strum unique to each piece of music and to keep it distinct. Anything less is comping and you know how I feel about that. Here’s a picture of the soda rack display at Crackerbarrel. I also picked up one those old Linksys WiFi boosters, brand new, for 99 cents. This older model plugs into a receptacle and extends the range, but is not so great at speed. But I don’t need speed out in the shed. This odel, the RE6700 was disliked because it was considered insecure. And it was if you just took it out of the box and plugged it in.

           Last for today, we discussed a topic for a novel. That’s all it is, just talk, but here’s the layout. This would be somewhat made-for-movie, since we bo
th really like revenue streams. We’ve got the basic story-line down. Some creative thought is needed to avoid cliches. The main character becomes psychic, but it needs to be sudden. Things already taken are the coma, the lightning strike, the alien abductions, and the time-worn autistic child of the overly successful single mother.
           Here’s how it would go. The protagonist has some traumatic experience. Shortly thereafter, he is in the neighborhood store when the owner tells him he can’t catch somebody who is shoplifting. He re-enacts the crime and discovers he can see the original crime through the perp’s eyes. Afterward he can remember enough things to catch the thief. The build-up is that he finds that re-enacting a crime gives him this ability. At this point we’ll need to decide. The Reb says the plot should be that each re-enactment causes him to adopt part of the criminal mind. I’m more thinking that the crimes get ever more serious and thus harder to re-enact. Either way the police enlist him to solve baffling cases.
           I’m for a cliffhanger, where a final crime is bad enough that re-enacting it becomes, say, worse than the crime. I’m thinking that they have a serial killer they know will continue, and society has to decide if they will allow him to re-create one murder to prevent many others. The Reb says it’s better if in the end he develops a criminal mind. After an hour of dead-end plot variations, we decided it was easier to discuss creationism.

           If you like controversy, evolution is a doozie. I’m about to read the chapter on birds. One theme creationists harp on is the lack of those intermediate fossils, the missing links. I say evolution involves so many hundreds of millions of years that any of a number of global catastrophes that could easily have wiped out fifty million years here and there. A missing link does not disprove evolution so I don’t understand why creationists make that claim.
           “Where are the fossils?”, is not a proof of anything in itself. Those who require fossils should maybe go looking for themselves rather than cast aspersions. I’m not finished the booklet, but the creationist arguments are getting weak and repetitious. They also object far too much that only the evolution side is taught in school. But the last thing most Americans want is the school system teaching our children about religion.

           Later, it comes as little surprise that the Reb has been advised in the past to take an entire year off. It’s well known that my presence this time was on the single condition that no extra work is to be taken on. After a week here, another particular is gaining traction. I’m insisting she contact the landlord about rehearsing. He plays guitar. If it flies she has agreed to stand in singing at times. Think about that, it’s not as fi I am unaware of the benefits to us both. It represents a full cycle back to 1987. For us, music is therapy.
           Now consider the circumstances of a year off. There are a number of ways that could be accomplished. Count them if you want, but there is only one way that is feasible right now here today. That, and the fact that on stage together, we are absolutely deadly. It was her that made me a country fan.

Last Laugh

October 27, 2020

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 27, 2019, via Athens, Georgia.
Five years ago today: October 27, 2015, on motorcycle travel.
Nine years ago today: October 27, 2011, sort of imitation.
Random years ago today: October 27, 2014, dangers and intentions.

           The election trounces everything, so I took the doggies for an extra long walk. No pics today, there is a two-day rainstorm pending, and I’m not leaving any time soon. It was a long walk at the lake, they’ve drained it a few feet in anticipation of the storm, so we were able to get out on the rocks. I wish there was more to report, I really do. Everything is all about the fake polls that are saying the same things they got dead wrong last time.
           TMOR I am not any authority on politics. That doesn’t stop me from opinions and this is what I see shaping up. Around a third of the total count have already voted, showing 60% for Biden, 40% for Trump. What this does not show is that a large segment of the Democrat party faithful have already voted. This could mean the massive “hidden vote” for them is just not there. Also, it’s looking more like Trump’s strategy to encourage people to vote in person, the largest element that cannot be manipulated.
           Thus, it is looking like a huge turnout at the polling stations could produce the one thing the left fears the most: an actual head-count majority at the booths. If Trump gets just 12 million more votes than 2016, it would not matter how many fake ballots are cast. If that’s his plan, it is brilliant.

Picture of the day.
Fake N. Korean propaganda village.
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           I’m still hoping to see mass firings of all civil servants who played partisan politics. They are hired to serve, not to form voting blocs. I don’t know of anyone who cares a twit what happens to career bureaucrats. I would not give a hoot if all of them were axed, starting with the DMV, then open season on the departments like Agriculture, Education, Regional Housing and Development, and end funding for leftist organizations like NPR, and others I don’t wanna say. Like exactly what does the Dept. of Forestry actually do, anyway?
           Today the subject of business ethics came up. This is always a lively topic around here, today’s example was Ray Kroc, the McDonald’s guy. I’m informed he did not give even 1% to the people he got the idea from, and eventually opened an outlet near their old location to drive them out of business. I’d heard a similar version that he’d bought them out for a fair price and then put them out of business because they would not stop suing him for more. This is America, it’s up to you which version you believe.

           Myself, there is a place in the world for people like Kroc just as much as other sorts. I don’t automatically side with the underdog and that is the case here. It could be said Kroc was uncaring when he worked his way to the top by taking other people’s money. But for every Kroc, there are probably a million unequally uncaring people who worked their way to the bottom. Welfare is also taking other people’s money. The question needs to be asked, which is worse, the person who worked hard for his money, or the person who sat back and took an unearned share? Sure, that’s an oversimplification, but why move on to complications until that searching question is answered?

Last Laugh

October 26, 2020

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 26, 2019, my idiot bank.
Five years ago today: October 26, 2015, printing’s the easy part.
Nine years ago today: October 26, 2011, batbike sneak preview.
Random years ago today: October 26, 2008, ketchup, cops, printer ink.

           Nuclear rocket motors make the news again, this time a Seattle outfit. The mechanics are the same, using spent reactor material that still has enough power to super-heat some compound and spray it out the nozzle. This new model uses fuel already available from the existing sources without much preparation. A small but constant thrust is all that is required to send missions to Mars in around 12 weeks. The challenge isn’t to built a powerful enough device, but how to protect the crew from said radiation.

           I say the ancient Polynesians solved this problem with the concept of the outrigger. In space, the reactors could be miles away on a carbon fiber tether. If they really need metal shields, build them out of the tons of space junk already in orbit. I don’t think it’s overboard to think the technology to do all this has existed since the last century. They are just not going to get any more out of chemical rockets.

           You gotta admire that German trade surplus. China’s surplus is falling due to the tariffs while Germany seems to consistently pull in $10 billion per month minimum. The simple explanation is quality and they don’t export the high paying jobs nor the technology. Merkel doesn’t dare pull a stunt like that. Europeans are less keen on morons than the USA, where we often lose $20 billion per month, but that is not the whole story. Allow me.
           Economics is weird because money is complicated. No matter what is said, there are an equal and opposite number of economists who bitch. I have a personal theory about all their shortcomings. Want to hear it? Sure. All economic moves have a delayed effect. The simplest example is probably interest rates. They rise and people save, which is good, but which takes money out of circulation, which is bad—depending on who you listen to. My position is that saved money eventually gets spent, net effect zero.

           There is always a time lag between the two If the economists were doing their job, they would get better at determining all those delays and be able to adjust the system to their advantage. Instead, they prefer to wait until somebody else takes a stand and rag on him. You don’t have to be a career economist to know these people are more reactive than proactive. They also tend to toward an outdated concept of goods and services. The US economy has a huge surplus in services.
           But a large part of that money is spent by consumers importing cheap goods, primarily from China. It is those manufacturing jobs that were lost here. The more profitable ones are slowly returning due to Trump’s hard line on dumping. My position is these are jobs that require skills and infrastructure that America has which China cannot allow in their system or impute into their character. I doubt there will ever be a return to the manufacturing base that made America great, but nor is there any need to. America is geared to change and progress, I’ve often pointed out how Asian countries can copy that far easier than they can come up with anything of their own. But copycats are always past tense.

           By stepping through the menus again on my new smart phone, there seems to be a method to block calls without paying for an app. Await my testing, as there appears to be no manual on-line and the people that sold me the phone certainly have no idea about it. The procedure appears to be setting up your contact list and enabling a feature called Do Not Disturb. I see two sides to that coin, possibly three.
           One side says old people don’t know how to use new stuff, the other side says young people don’t know how to write good instructions The third side is, I suspect, a lot of the so-called power users don’t have this feature set because unless somebody tells them, they don’t even know about it. The people who sold me the phone are definitely category 3. I’ll set it up and let you know whether it works.

Picture of the day.
Royal poinciana.
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           I’ve not been at Cracker Barrel since so long ago I can’t pinpoint where. It was one of the first, where (if I recall) even the wooden chairs were for sale. Not the rockers outside, the actual chairs. And the goods for sale was a much smaller section. Today we went to the location on Donelson Pike. They’ve reopened with a shorter menu, most missed item is likely to be no more omelets. It’s pretty authentic southern cooking, I had the chicken dumplings. I’m glad the Reb was up to going out. We walk the dogs together, but that’s it most days.

           Get a load of these snowflake lamps. Why didn’t I think of that. Somebody thought up putting in a small pump to keep the particles swirling, kind of a take off on lava lamps. I don’t have the program with me to produce the gif, but the inside of this angel is swirling glitter. The place is great to look around if you’ve never been there. I think it was in New Mexico on a motorcycle sometime last century, so the chain must be doing it right. Except for the omelets.

           SOFIA, the flying telescope, has detected the characteristic infra-red signature of water in the shadows of lunar craters. To me, this says what I always have—that water exists up there if you look hard enough for it. So now we have found caves to live in and water to drink, there are no more acceptable excuses for not going there. Enough social programs, already. Trump needs to fire 90% of the civil service and phase out welfare, then use the money to set up shop on the Moon. Big scale, where there is water there is rocket fuel for Mars, enough for powered flight there and back.

ADDENDUM
           Big tech has a good spanking on the way. There are a number of methods to deal with their censorship, or whatever they prefer to call it. One plan I like is to call their support of one side over the other a political contribution. One way or another, around 80% of the upper level staff at these big tech companies need to be sharpened up for their callous disregard for the taxpayer. Every leftist I have ever met in America eventually revealed themselves to be two-faced, putting on a good show in public, despicable in private.

Last Laugh

October 25, 2020

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 25, 2019, a Karaoke tug.
Five years ago today: October 25, 2015, remember the smart gene?
Nine years ago today: October 25, 2011, no phone, no medicine.
Random years ago today: October 25, 2007, financially, the worst.

           This photo is a reflection of what life for me can be like without a band or a motorcycle. Pretty ho-hum. I set off the smoke detector, and it’s the morning’s high point because of the root cause. You cannot buy a decent toaster in America any more. They all have long waits for the first slice. After that it is okay. Some toasters can be tricked by turning the dial all the way to dark which makes the elements hotter. However, you have to be standing right there when the toast reaches your liking. I was 30 seconds too late. Hey, it's not my toaster.

           That’s the fun so far. Yep, Reb, the smoke alarms tests okay. No charge. No need to mention while I’m up on a chair resetting the thing, my rice boils over on the burner, causing it to set off again. It was actually funny unless you were here. See the alarm? I barely found it because there is no light in that part of the house. The good news is the thing is easy to reset, once you let the smoke clear, which means opening the windows, which freezes the houses, and so on. Fun, from the bog that dares.

           It might be low-effort posts for a while. I feel like I’m living in a deep freeze. I’ve been sleeping as much as the doggies. We did a major walk around the dam today, seems half the town with dogs had the same idea. Stayed in and did mostly research on matters of my own interests, like A.I. I saw a list of the jobs that could never be replaced by A.I. and it was skimpy. The industrial revolution replaced a lot of labor and the computer revolution dealt with drudgery. The advent of the Internet showed us that people with computers are no more creative than those without. And A.I is poised to replace that crowd. When they started working on Zoom, the demand for cosmetic surgery went up 57% in Wales and make-up sales soared.
           First we replace the muscle, now the brain, and what is left? It was recently thought that trades like lawyers and doctors could never be replaced by hardware and software. But A.I. is already doing a better job than the average human on those counts. I concluded that when I first looked at machine learning back in the 80s. My opinion is that the only reason it took so long to get A.I. to this stage was the massive sidetracking of computer development caused by the rise of the Internet. We spent the last 30 years making toys instead of instruments.

           Another claim says A.I. cannot replace management. Really? Say that were true, it overlooks the chance that these devices may do away with any need to manage humans. It makes little difference if a computer can’t show “deep empathy” when humans and their foibles are removed from the equation. To me it looks like just another round of low skill workers being replaced and that’s been a constant as long as I remember. These people price themselves out of the market. There are machines flipping burgers these days.
           Technology. I say it is harder to follow nowadays, with every headline claiming to be the experts. Developments I like are the UK’s plan to label products with repairablilty and reuseablily icons. Firms that build new products will be required to supply spare parts for a minimum of 10 years. If it was me, I’d make that 30 years for software support, particularly device drivers, on-line manuals, and backward compatibility.

Picture of the day.
1940’s real costumes.
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           For the first time ever, the doggies balked at going for an afternoon walk. That gave me time for reading, but I’ve read everything in the house except the odd New Age books. So I continued looking at technology. How about that apparatus that can paint walls? It’s complicated to look at, but consists of a few sensors, a motor, and a microcomputer. It would be interested to build an analog adder circuit using automobile relays. But not cheap, unless you can round up a supply of the relays. Up near Seattle, they’ve used tracking sensors attached to hornets to track down and destroy nests of invasive Asian species.
           NASA blows it again with their asteroid samples. The unit collected surface dust from an asteroid but pieces of the sample jammed the hatch. The sample particles are leaking away. In other words the door jammed open to the tune of $800 million.

ADDENDUM
           That lady who hosted the Biden-Trump debate (Kristen Welker) was wearing so much make-up I thought she was wearing a plastic mask. I did not know she was black. Freaky-looking, if you ask me. The media praises how fair she was in the debate, but consider what they mean by fair. Too bad her silence on the Biden corruption will just make most of us wonder how deep the coverup really is. The memorable phrase of the debate may become Trump’s assertion that Biden is the reason he was elected.
           Speaking of elections, there is talk of converting voting machines to work with blockchain, which few people understand. It is similar to cloud technology where the information is spread out into millions of computers rather than a centralized database. It uses the same pubic and private key system already in place. A record is broken into small pieces, each with a hashtag to the piece before and after itself in the chain. Presumably, only a person with the correct private key could reassemble the pieces into a copy of the original record.

           I’m not the authority on this stuff but its operability is entirely theoretical. For example, it could make billions of daily transactions available for anyone to see, but encrypt all information about the parties. It is up to you if you think that is secure. I say no, because it is only a matter of time until the pattern of transactions reveals the end points. The blockchain adherents claim the system is unhackable where it really has many flaws. That is based on another theory, that to hack a chain, one has to gain control of over half the computers in the system, the “51% attack”. To me, that says it is only a matter of time.
           The system is vulnerable simply because the information itself is not private. It becomes possible to, what’s the word, cyber-steal by manipulating the system rather than having to steal or hack the actual information. This is always a danger when information is too public. Who was that gangster they caught because he made so many phone calls to a single restaurant? That’s the concept, they did not need to know the contents of the calls. We’ve become the country of such show trials. Remember Martin Shkreli. Remember Martha Stewart? Remember how they caught the Silk Road guy and gave him two life sentences?

           The Silk Road guy made the old mistake of not giving the right people a cut of the action. You can bet the system he devised is now in daily operation with the people who arrested hime. I don’t know the details but he used Tor technology to anonymize transactions, which attracted a lot of the wrong kind of people. (Section 230 protects the provider rom being sued, a civil matter, but does not help in criminal cases, as if nothing illegal is ever done on eFAG.) I disagree with the sentence given to the Silk Road guy because of the lack of proof he was actually responsible for any of the illegal activity. He was a video game coder.
           This is the danger of all pubic records. It is only time before they are used for other purposes than those given. Usage patterns cannot be entirely hidden and the Silk Road conviction shows that direct evidence is not even necessary. My guess is they simply followed enough bitcoin transactions to narrow down the search to the point where real evidence was no longer important—you remember that. A mere pattern is enough to put you away. The bottom line with blockchain is its entire claim to fame is that cracking their codes requires an “improbable” amount of computing power. Or one quantum computer.

           [Author’s note – these types of show trials are increasingly common, an unfortunate development in this country. People are being convicted on what is basically circumstantial evidence. It means people are being tried on testimony alone, no real evidence or witnesses present. Nobody arrests the phone company for enabling drug deals, but the small operator is vulnerable to this type of entrapment, It’s ianother aspect of police work that needs to be defunded, there are others. Hundreds of thousands of people have petitioned to let the guy go and are simpy ignored.]

Last Laugh

October 24, 2020

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 24, 2019, spare tire self-destructs.
Five years ago today: October 24, 2015, one man telling the truth . . .
Nine years ago today: October 24, 2011, gold-plated silver.
Random years ago today: October 24, 2010, every so often.

           Winter is not my idea of a good time. This morning made me appreciate the fact I live on the other side of these mountains. The good news is things are getting better and we’ve been actively around the area. Getting out of the house is one way I guage how well someone is coming along. Today we took the dogs out for a walk at the old golf course near Jackson Downs. That place got flattened by that tornado in 2018. Remember all those nice trees I pointed out, mentioning they were likely not native to the area? They got uprooted. There are still pieces of carpet and condo walls lying about.

           Which is where I saw this flower bush. It’s wild and my favorite shape of blossom. Pretty or what? I’m happy we were all out together, you know, quality time. Chilly or not, we walked for an hour and went for brunch at Nadeen’s. They’ve re-opened but trimmed the menu and we got there between breakfast but before the dinner menu kicked in. They say the guitar player is still there Sunday mornings.

           Speaking of guitar players, I responded to an ad from an acoustic player who wants to arrange music. As usual, they want a second guitarist. I sent a note that I’m interested. Guitar players can get crusty about trying new things but I assured him I can add a differenent dimension, let’s see if he takes a chance. I regularly comb the Nashville musician’s pages, or the ones that don’t demand a membership. We’ve entered a new musical era where the band itself has, I dunno, what’s the word, somehow diminished in the role to success. That’s a broad statement and I wonder who else has noticed.
           It has become common to get twenty bands looking for a bass player, and twenty bass players seeking a band on the listings, day after day. Does that seem right to you? Me neither. Something is influencing the situation. Myself, I think there is less tolerance than before, that possibly music lessons have created groups who can’t play outside their own space. This was an influence in why I quit caring for jams, sort of, I mean.

Picture of the day.
Adjustable bridge.
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           Siesta for everyone, even though siesta for me does not always mean sleeping. Nothing like crisp cold afternoons to get this bunch indoors. I made up enough spuds, rice, and sweet potatoes to last a couple of days, all organic veggie stuff. Yep, I eat healthy up here but it means feeling hungry more that back home. I’ll take the trade.

           This image shows the path, with the usual configuration. Sparkie in the lead, straining at the leash, Sammy in tow walking silently behind. He used to scare me by his trick of keeping in your blind spot when you turn around. You’d think he’d disappeared, the little sneak. The leaves are just starting to turn. It doesn’t make that great a color displaysay the locals, but I have not seen it start to finish since the 1970s. I miss the season, not the temperature.

           JZ called, he says he wants to drive up to the cabin for a break. His timing is terrible, plus when he did not show last two times, I gradually took everything out of the room incuding the sofa bed. My plan was some music practice space. I told him I’m not moving furniture on his account again unless he shows up to help He won $1,000 on a lotto but did not specify if it was the ticket that I sent him. What? You know I include random $5 bills and lotto tickets in much of my snail mail. It ensures the letters get at east opened. That’s a joke. Real mail is so rare these days nobody ignores it.
           I lost the post office key. Dang, it was on my special Nashville keychain. Hate it when that happens. All the movie theaters are closed which cancels one of our Saturday traditions. She follows the story more than I, the big studios stopped many releases due to the lockdown. The theaters showed a lot of colorized older stuff waiting for new releases that were promised but never arrived. A lot of businesses will never recover. Will the theaters be fine? If we lose them, whatever replaces them has to be a drop in real quality.

           How’s the new smart phone? Without any instructions, I’m in the same position as most users. Except where they ignore all the collateral junk apps, I look to see what each one is up to. My impression is they know most people don’t check what’s really going on. As i dig deeper into what Google has on this phone, I’ve got less respect than ever for the average user. Most of this crap can spread only by drastic scales of complacency. I’mcontinually uncovering layers of stuff they plainly want to remain buried.
           Sparkie has the onset of kidney failure, a condition associated with larger, older dogs. He had all the signs and this was confirmed by blood work last week. I didn’t follow much of the clinical vocabulary. There are drugs to reduce the condition if caught early, which I believe is the case here. Then a low-protein diet. When it comes to dogs, I don’t now what that means. Is not protein one of the largest components of a dog’s menu? Where is Marti, she knows all this stuff.
On the suggestion of several web sites, I watched a video on subcutaneous fluid administration. This is some measured solution to use the bag & needle apparatus to inject between the dog’s shoulder blades. Word is the dogs tolerate it easily. You know me and needles, but I got used to them, didn’t I? I would get help the first time, after that I could manage what I saw.

ADDENDUM
           Amazing. The leftoids have gone crazy. Sending letters to homes with Trump signs on the lawn that will be firebombed. The Reb stayed home, I went out to Shooters for a few. We must have made a profound impression the one time we were there as a couple. I went over the replies I got from several ads I answered. Could it be there is a gut of mediocre bass players in this town? These acoustic guitar players are not only jaded in the same or a very similar way. I’m not around often enough to categorize what’s going on but I can understand guitarists looking for a bassist would have similar troubles to my finding a guitar player. There are just too many time-wasting clones out there.
Last Laugh

October 23, 2020

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 23, 2019, Pie Day.
Five years ago today: October 23, 2015, 22 Volts, but 0.0001 Amps.
Nine years ago today: October 23, 2011, Bingo buys breakfast.
Random years ago today: October 23, 2009, fifth anniversary?

           Playing with the smart phone. That’s an adequate description of what most people are doing. The damn thing is so millennialized even after I deleted six dozen useless apps, I discover another 89 hidden pieces of crap like “House Poker” and then find out the call screener is a pay-for-use feature. Funny they never mentioned that. I instantly began getting telemarket calls from some Optum medical group saying I could get free dental. I asked them where this free dentist was so I could go see him myself. They declined.

           How about the polls from that joke of a presidential debate? They are pouring in for Trump 84%, 88%, 91%. Like I told you. In classical terms, Sleepy Joe would have won the debating medal, but he managed only to prove how well he could dodge direct questions and lie with a straight face. Trump was a buffoon again, speaking out of turn and getting off topic. But it is clear he is a champion of the people and Biden represents the entrenched bureaucracy. Corporate Wall Street are the robber barons of our era.
           A panel would determine that it was Biden who won this debate for the simple reason he is a far more slick liar than Trump could ever hope to be.

           Due to popularity, I’m continuing with choice photos from the Punta Gorda car museum. If you are a Chevy buff, that is the place for you. This photo shows the typical leather interior and metal dash. This is what a car should be like, comfortable and roomy. There’s talk that the metal dash is a safety hazard but it is wiser to wear seatbelts. I do, whenever I’m driving and since day one. The Reb has one of those kiddy cars, the type that have the fabled big-car feel. For the first five minutes I drive one of those, I’m continually over-correcting the steering. Like the smart phones, these devices are a joke compared to what they should be.
           Don’t mistake what I’m saying as old-fashioned. There is very little new of anything on these phones that was not already available. My point is most of my use of phones and computers is for business, and that gets increasingly hard to do as these devices become more and more an entertainment center. It would be better if there was a mode you could switch to that had only basic phone service, or that you could exclude all Google products. But that would not jive with the millennial mindset. How are they going to make a living without shoving crap down your throat?

           What’s even funnier about the people who would call me out-of-touch because I just got my first smart phone y’day, it turns out they don’t really know much about it themselves. I asked a so-called power user to show me how to do a few things and he started navigating the menus looking for stuff (it’s an ordinary Android 10). I told him I can do the trial-and-error part on my own. You get that with computers as well, people who don’t know dick about how the thing works think they are leading edge technologists. They know less than I do and still think I’m the one not embracing the technology. Fancy that.
           I confirm Boost Mobile are scammers. A cell phone and a service plan are useless without each other. When you walk into one their outlets, the phones are on one wall and the payment plans on the other. In typical jerk-off fashion, Boost sees these as separate entitites, and in America there is absolutely nothing illegal about this sort of arrangement, although until recently being an idiot was frowned upon. The scam is the prices marked on the phones are fake. Unless you pay full price, which averages twice the advertised price, you cannot use any of the service plans on the other wall. So my $59 phone worked out to $166. No matter what excuses Boost can pull out of their asses, that is a scam.

Picture of the day.
Luxury cave house.
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           Noonish, I drove the Reb to a medical appointment in Franklin, Tennessee. She distinctly remembers showing me around the place years ago, but I tel you I’ve never been in Franklin before. I may have passed by the city at night two years ago around Thanksgiving, but would not then have known it was Franklin. It seems well-appointed, even the industrial parks, but I can judge such neighborhoods by seeing who shops at Whole Foods (for instance.)

           She did the shopping and I wondered about quite unhappy with what is happening to prices, not that Whole Foods was ever a bargain. Six bucks for a cup of blueberries, that turlte sometimes eats better than I do. But I was watching the clientele and it looks like an aging New Age crowd. I understand the lure of the city is strong, with Nashville on the horizon, but there was a complete absence of a younger, livelier crowd. Nothing wrong with that but I would not care to live there. I’d rather some day be the old guy on the block than live in a community that can’t party till midnight any more.

           This photo is a reminder both dogs are beagle mix. First thing they do when seeing a tunnel is check it out. The big culverts in this section of Franklin were a doggie jungle. Shown here, Sparkie ran inside faster than the leash could be locked. What is it with dog’s and holes in the ground? My guess is it used to mean supper. Get in there, Sparkie.

ADDENDUM
           So many Trump haters are uneducated enough to be hilarious. Did you catch that black lady lawyer in Arizona who thinks Mexican children are dragged across the border by actual coyotes? She’s serious, going on to describe how coyotes are too small. Yes, sadly, America does hand such people law degrees, they don’t dare flunk these minorities. Or the Harvard student who complained that Trump criticized Mexican coyotes but not American ones. That one has got to be a college prank, but the joke here is the people who take it seriously.
           I was right about the separated children—the problem is the parents, not Trump. They have all been located, mostly back in Mexico, but refuse to come forward to take the kids. They are using the kids as bait in case Biden gets in. Trump should have been more ready on that one, but he did press the fact that the cages were built by Biden’s administration.

Last Laugh

October 22, 2020

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 22, 2019, because I was buying.
Five years ago today: October 22, 2015, a rambling post.
Nine years ago today: October 22, 2011, The Ohm Depot.
Random years ago today: October 22, 2016, a number of good plans.

           I have that smart phone, except for now it is configured to act as a dumb phone. Talk about useless overhead, the phone uses half its won 30 gigabytes of memory for pre-installed junk. I certainly i not ask for Play Store, Tidal, or Duo. But darn rights I’m now going to look to see what that nonsense is all about. Okay, Tidal is a music streaming service. For people who need to be entertained 24/7, I suppose. No thanks, I’ll stick to downloaded MP3s so I’m the only one who knows what I listen to. As for Duo, I got as far as reading it is from Google and I will now seek to delete it.

           And once again, you cannot directly deny Google Play Store. But I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again. Later, I got it. This Play Store appears in several of the drop menus. You have to find them and delete them all. In all, I deleted, denied, or blocked 72 “apps”, none of which I asked for. At the store, I went through one by one every app that was enabled automatically, getting each disabled or deleted where possible. Over 17 GB of the avaible 30GB was clogged up with Google funny-ware. The store manager said afterward he was unaware of a this evil happening on the phones he was selling.

           Tennessee is beautiful this time of year, the leaves are turning which I have not seen on this scale since 1979, when I saw too much of it. That’s the year I left for temperate climes, I hope I never see another blizzard. I may be in Tennessee a while, the daily routine is not that thrill-filled, so here is another picture from the car museum. Not only were the interiors larger, so were the engine compartments. Seen here, almost every part could be removed with dismantling something else. For motor enthusiasts, there were dozens of cars with the hoods up, enough to keep you busy a long time.

Picture of the day.
St. Petersburg (Russian) coffee shop.
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           Walking the dogs twice, we were outside for four hours centering on noon. I’ve skip over that except to say Sparkie is not going to recover without some drastic measures. This picture is also from the museum. This explained to me more than anything when i was younger about inflation. The system was so used to price increases that even six-cent loaves of bread needed a dial to keep up.

           Other than car rides, there are few chances for a break since house chores are endless. We’re ahead of it and I thought to watch the political debate, the first time in my life I’ve done so end to end. Again it was solidly anti-Trump. Questions were asked in a negative fashion against his stance. For example he was not asked how happy 40 million Americans would be to get their old health coverage back, but how sad 20 million would be to lose their coverage.

           Sleepy Joe is holding up, which surprises many. But he’s doing so by lying through his teeth in classical political fashion. Blaming Trump for the chaos in Democrat jurisdictions, claiming When accused he avoided specifically denying anything by saying things like, “It’s been confirmed that nothing was inappropriate,” By whom, Joe? Since when? And then immediately bringing “family” into it. The MSM will of course tout this as a solid win for Joe but it isn’t fooling many on the other side.
           A classic poitical move is to take the old I-could-have-done-better stance. Joe botched his first stab at virus control back with H1N1. He mixes fact with speculation, saying things like 200,000 Americans have died, a fact, which can only be countered by asking how many more would have died if he’d been in charge, which is speculation. The political class are experts at framing questions this way. And the moderater was not asking both guys the same question in an annoyingly pro-Joe manner, often putting in a twist after first hearing Trump’s response. I don’t people who do that.

           His worst lie was over medical coverage, saying nobody lost their coverage., but avoiding the fact their prices tripled in the process. Sounds too much like Obamas you-can-keep-your-provider fiasco. An hour before the end, the moderator showed her true stripes by cutting off Trump, but not Biden. And how dare Biden keep saying Trump has done nothing. That’s going to cost you, Joe. Same with his response on the stimulus package, he uses the phrase “all Americans” to include free money to illegals. All the time-tested liberal elements, but Joe has come up with a novel defense. That he beat 20 other Democrat candidates because he disagreed with them. He failed to describe what form that disagreement took.
           Joe thought he took the lead on the immigration question, which was not about immigration, but over re-uniting families. On he went about children torn from their parents arms, and that 500 of these children’s parent’s can’t be found. Question, why is it up to us to reunite them when the familes know darn well were they are? Why are the parents hiding, but of course that question will not be asked. Like where was the question of how many miles of wall have been successfuly built despite Democrat foot-dragging.

           The left has turned this debate into another joke. Overall, I’d give the edge to Trump’s non-political way of answering, but think he should have concentrated on Joe’s unfounded statements such as raising minimum wage does not hurt businesses. Joe, if it helped them, they would do it without your interference. I would rate the debate a Democrat success under the rules of the old corrupt system. Which is what people voted against last time.
           I for one am sick of hearing about climate change as a political issue. I’m not taking sides except to say they’be been wrong too often. Like most people, I don’t want to hear about it while the borders are open, we are swamped with illegals, and jobs are disappearing. Talking about it is a waste of time until immediate issues are resolved. The temperature may rise a degree in the next decade, but people need a job today.

Last Laugh

October 21, 2020

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 21, 2019, 8,500 per day minimum!
Five years ago today: October 21, 2015, intimidatingly beautiful.
Nine years ago today: October 21, 2011, at 4,000 miles.
Random years ago today: October 21, 2004, wierd post.

           It took the first 48 hours to get things on an even keel. No major problems, but I’ll say it again, do NOT rely on non-family over things that go wrong. They’ll gladly help when they can but when things go wrong for them, you are not a priority. That’s the fundamental situation. The neighbor who walks the dogs had a seizure, the other neighbor who was paid to tend the yard had to quit, and you get the idea. These are good people, but they are no better than most at being prepared for accidents. I drove straight here from Punta Gorda with just a few hours sleep at the cabin.

           This is your only picture today, which I will use to prove my point. Ask yourself this question. When things really go wrong, who is going to wax your turtle? It’s not that I’m the last hope, more that I’m the guy who knows their diet, habits, medications, and how far to walk them at their age. You can imagine I know the household as well and how to do the shopping and so on.

           You get this one brief entry, unless you want to know how long and hard I shopped. $182 in a wink. I made arrangements to finally get a smart phone and had trouble getting them to understand I did not want WiFi, just unlimited talk and text. They seem to have been trained to consider that a signal to upsell. I was setting them back in their places every few minutes. I finally got them to order me the phone, it will arrive tomorrow they said.
           I will have a bunch to say soon about the process of getting a smart phone. I purposely did not have one. Thus, I was not conditioned to put up with all the Google bullshit and tons of other nonsense that these phone providers have gotten used to shoving on people. Many times I had to stop them during the signup process because they were doing too much typing for the amount of information required. Their system would not let me connect a phone with out a “valid address”. So, you know that abandoned townhouse up the drive, the one where the roof caved in?
           It was a process of going through the phone and deactiving app after app, and even then in the end, I had to accept ten of them. Until I figure out how to delete those. Many of the Google features cannot be deleted. But I may be able to isolate them.

Picture of the day.
Eight-deck card shuffler.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Here's an evaporative air conditioner.

Last Laugh

October 20, 2020

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 20, 2019, typing 40,000+ spaces.
Five years ago today: October 20, 2015, more like pawn shops . . .
Nine years ago today: October 20, 2011, on the Moon, we’re cavemen again.
Random years ago today: October 20, 2007, why I like making boxes.

           Today was not my favorite. While everything was carrying on as expected, there was one that fe1l short. The millennial business model. It doesn’t work. Or maybe I should say it won’t work that well until everything else is brought down to its level. I’m going to get away with giving one seemingly weak example, but it portrays a much more serious problem. Over the centuries, business has learned there are certain principles that make things work right. And those things are not dependent on the technolgy used to conduct them. This is a lesson of history that the wired generation seems to need to discover the hard way. From the blog that dares, here is that promised photo of the uneven tread wear from the flat tire y’day. Yep, that was the fun part of the day.

           One of those major principles is deadlines. What I discovered repeatedly is that too many people are relying on technology to keep things going—and the newest technology will alwayw let you down unless the people using it are top experts. The average office flunky doesn’t make the grade. My example is the number of deadlines nearly missed when I arrived. I say nearly, because my system caught them. There were a number of causes but the one I point the finger at is relying on technology, in this case the smart phone, to do things for you. It does not work on its own and works even worse then applied to standard business practice.

           Yes, I know that over time those standards will change. But they have not changed yet and it is fooiish to use software and gadgets that work on futuristic conditions. The records and files were here but time and again I’ve seem wired in people miss the boat on deadlines that were more than mayber four days into the future. I won’t go long-winded on this, but it is no surprise to me when things go really wrong. The American system works best when there is a sense of mutual purpose. These computerized systems are, in my viewpoint, defensive. Everybody is tweaking the system to look out for themselves, whereas not that long ago it was mostly the banks doing that.
           Each participant has to do it because he thinks the other side is using a computer for the same things. Well, I showed up, took the pile of business documents and marked the deadlines on a good old fashioned calendar. One check for nearly $500 had “90 day expiry period” that ended tomorrow. A pencil and paper worked. True, there is probably software out there that takes care of this—but I just finished saying you need people who are practically experts or it ain’t gonna fly. All my magazine subscriptions have expired and bank statements appeared that I really needed last month. Yet, the Tennessee system works fine for years for the on-line ventures the Reb undertakes. I see the ambiguities in my comparions, but I say again that is why people with many times my income barely scrape by.

           At this stage I would like to point something out. I am not against change and innovation. When I say the average millennial is stupid, consider a few things. Stupid does not mean uneducated or unindoctrinated in this sense. It means a failure to learn from experience,. I have not singled out the millennials for criticism, every generation has its dumb bastards. I’ve seen the beatnks, the hippies, the yuppies, the genX-ers, watched them adapt, and paid attention to their group behavior. If I was some codger who could not keep up, I would have said the same thing about each of those demographics. No, I did not see real, collective, herd stupidity until the millennials arrived. Those that came before had the seeds of self-correction. I know people who throw their monthly bank statements in the trash unopened.
           They probably could learn just like the rest of us if they saw any good reason to do so. But we’ve been over their refusal to do that many a time. If it was pre-Internet, they block it out somehow. I caught most of the errors and immediately clamped down on how paperwork is processed, until deadlines (and other related items) are properly done. I expect there will always be a group that will bely-ache that makes me a dictator. But hey, they are talking about my money, not their own.

Picture of the day.
The Tioga at Coos Bay.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.
           Sparkie has a hip problem. He was born with it an now it makes me sad to see him in pain he does not understand. And he has a kidney problem. A change of diet and some supplements gave good results, not that his diet was not amongst the best available before. I took the boys for a walk this morning and both were tired after ten minutes. Sooner than me. So i let them lie on the foam matteress they so love. They slept for an hour, it’s funny how dogs dream. Chasing rabbits? Here’s the Reb in the late afternoon Tennesssee sun.

           I went shopping, I’m talking a major shop. Things go fine when I’m not here, but I tend to keep somewhat larger stockpiles on hand. It’s a Florida thing. items ranging from paper towels, to coffee, to baking supplies. Wow, $182 in no time for what some would say was overkill. But how recently have they seen panic shopping? The Reb & I walked the dogs an hour to make for the short morning shift, she reports they gain back energy later in the day. But I noitce how they detect instanly when we are turning forhome and lean on the leash the whole way.

           [Author's note: I was unaware that the above picture would be the last (and loneliest) picture of a family walk together. It is the saddest picture ever of us together.]

           So, in order to give the libtards full opportunity to insult and harangue while pretending to answer questions, the microphones will be muted for the final debate. It’s hard to say who that will benefit, since they will be asked six prepared questions with two minutes each to answer. If this goes like before, Trump will use the time to answer the questions, Biden will use the time to fling accusations, insult Trump, and insist he’s not against white supremacy. Others say the muted mics will force Biden to talk more than 30 seconds and he will talk himself into a corner.
           The liberals have basically announced that if elected, they will establish a commission to go back and punish everyone who supported Trump. Hard to believe this is America. The huge overiding factor if the left takes over is that this has never been done or even tried in a country where the population was fullyarmed. Also, the left would not be able to enforce such draconian measures without the police and military, both of which are strong Trump supporters. Note I did not say right-wing, because to the left every other position but their own is evil incarnate. No middle ground recognized or permitted. Seems to me I remember reading about this in history books.

           I’m siding with McDonald’s on a history issue. For half a lifetime I’ve opposed the courts keeping evidence on file after an accused person is found innocent. I’m even against the courts keeping a record that an innocent person was even charged. Keeping such files is a form of character assassination. In Hialeah, a McDonalds has a tape that shows an attack in their parking lot. The courts want it and McDonalds says not so fast. We’ll give it to you on two conditions. You don’t give any copies to the media and you give it back afterward. Well, every two-bit establishment lawyer is going ballistic on that one. How dare you tell the courts there are conditions.
           Well, courts, you finally got called on your bullshit. The issue is not the evidence on the tape, as you like to make out, but the threat of a limit on your power to do as you please regardless of the consequences for innocent people, or in this case, an innocent business. I support McDonalds, if only because the tapes are for their security, not to assist the government in catching criminals, which they are already paid more than enough to do if they’d get off their asses. Another point is McDonalds is not charged with any crime and should have the right to prevent harm to themselves, to not get involved, and be allowed to take precautions that anything they do turn over will never be used for any other purpose. This type of reform is long overdue in America. Yes, the courts should have power, but not the power to do anything they please.

ADDENDUM
           My concerns about Sparkie are not based on the facts as others see them. The Reb knows and trusts her vet and so on. I’m okay with that but also influenced by what I saw long ago, and I feel when a pet dog gets old, they begin to lose some cognizance. It’s usually momentary. They will get protective of their food, snarl at familiar people, and seek out a different sleeping spot, especially outdoors or where it is cooler that usual. Like they are trying to get comfortable. I believe they have an awareness when the end is near, that is a necessary instinct. I say, this is just my opinion. He’s getting the best of care. Little things have changed, indicating arthritis here and there. He might have years left for all I know.

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