One year ago today: January 3, 2021, 257 antonyms.
Five years ago today: January 3, 2016, glazier point stapler.
Nine years ago today: January 3, 2012, Sylvia became Sylvester.
Random years ago today: January 3, 1982, My Defender score: 32,000.
Not every day has a high point. Today’s would be going out to Mt. Juliet for a quick shop. You have a choice of nothing much or filler material. I’ll make you a deal, let’s go for the filler and see how it compares to what you might call a mostly nothing day. Let’s begin by my finding that there are some great brands of gluten free pasta that don’t cost double the price. That was at Target. Sammy actually prefers to walk on pavement so we toured a lot of the parking lot. How am I doing so far?
I found the stop watch that I want for my navigation calculations. It’s $60 so that might not be my choice. Several of my texts say go for a digital and get one with an AM/PM indicator. I’ll continue shopping since if I’m doing digital, I want one with the exact features I need. Even Wal*Mart sells what looks like 30 different models. Maybe a dual display, since a clock set to GMT is required. Not that Greenwich Mean Time is not the same as universal time. They are close, but not identical, since mean is an average and the Earth does not remain a fixed distance from the Sun all year round.
Due to circumstances partially beyond my control, you get this nonsense video.
For another challenge, I am tackling calculus again. My approach is to not memorize the formulas as before, but to understand. It’s a tedious process, though I can follow the reasoning of how two points are needed to calculate the slope of a secant. If you forget all the school stuff, a tangent is a straight line that touches a curve at only one point. A secant touches it at two points. The difference is, you cannot calculate a slop with ony one point. And I’m running into my old nemisis, my mental block that does not like equations with unknowns on both sides of the sign.
Nor do I care for functions that have the same variable on both sides. I learn that f(x) = x any time, and forget it just as easily, since this has little practical use in my daily life. I found the book store was open, Books-A-Million. It was busy considering the COVIDiots have everybody wearing uncomfortable masks. Um, without regard to any feedback or other issues, I did note that there was ot one good-looking woman in the bookstore, or Target, or in the entire shopping plaza that I saw. This country has changed for the worse for girl-watchers. I’ve tried most learning methods and when it comes to deep understanding, the Internet cannot compete with a well-written textbook.
Human cannon.
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I flipped through dozens of books and found nothing of interest. That’s a telling comment for me at the book sellers and I’m sad to comment. I have not spent my $60 per month budget allotment pretty much since the big shutdowns of 2008. It’s one of those items that does not roll over or accumulate. Since even a MAD magazine is $16 these days I found nothing worth the price tag. I quickly noticed even Almanacs have changed, the columns of figures are more user-friendly but contain a lot less information.
Needing a couple pairs of work slacks, I stopped at Goodwill. They’ve shut down their fitting rooms to “prevent the spread of disease”. Whatever that means in the context of trying on clothes, I don’t want to know. So I walked out buying nothing. Screw ‘em I took the doggie back home where I drew the thermal curtains and made myself a mug of Swiss Miss. The doggie, I should record, has become an even more fussier eater now that his big pal is no longer around to finish anything he leaves in his bowl too long.
I finished the book on Nicaragua, thinking it would give me some insights into the logistics behind the early plans for a canal. They have a lake you can sail into from the Caribbean that is only 12 miles from the Pacific. If you read a lot, that is the same lake they know was once connected to the Pacific due to a species of fresh-water sharks that are unique to the location. The book was more into the politics and in-fighting, but gave some candid views on why America expanded west rather than south. The inhabitants have, shall we say, views about politics that make them too incompatible with democracy. Their very presence makes even the land not worth governing or investing in.
Worse, although the book is mainly concerned with politics of the 1800s, it inadvertantly covers a spetrum of factual points that today would have the far left screaming racism. Let’s just leave it at the two cultures were no more congruent in 2021 than in 1821, despite the fact huge changes have taken place in America.
I spent time on the guitar, following up my concept of playing to a bass line that isn’t there. It sounds great, I’m on to something. It has also revealed some aspects of guitar playing I’ve not been kind writing about. There is a constant tug toward comping everything, which I will not do from a professional standpoint. I’m even more convinced now about the laziness of your average guitar player. Damn rights it is work. But is is basic level technique that, if you don’t do it, don’t claim to be an entertainer. And keep out of my way.
Today I mostly ran over guitar strums. This is what works for me, going over each tune often enough to acquire the nuances that made it unique and a hit song. It’s easier because I can “hear” myself playing the other parts as distinct from just hearing them. It’s revealed yet another bunch of shortcuts other guitarists take and I don’t care for this sort any more just because I now understand them.
ADDENDUM
Some big priority speech from the White House was blocked by the mainstream media y’day, so naturally I had to go to my overseas sources and give it a listen. It’s the usual accusations of voter fraud, but this time they are quoting real numbers. One of those was the fact that polls show 50% of people who voted for Biden are totally unaware there is trouble and ongoing investigation. Man, talk about your “captive” audience.
Myself, a big part of suspicion is why only one side is going all out to bury this thing. Why nearly 100% of the questionable votes were for a single candidate. Why there were upsets only in states that had queer voting procedures. And why there has been so much pressure by the media to just quit asking questions and go home. I don’t really understand what all the fuss is about getting Republican senators to stand up against the weird things that have been going on.
There is the further issue that the Democrats want 16-year-olds to vote, because they are like adult Democrat voters. You can easily persuade them they can vote themselves something for free. And I find it hypocritical that they are accusing Trump of the things they accused him of in reverse back in 2016. If the entire Democrat party were my best friends I would still find this situation just a little too damn cute. But they had this coming and the least they are going to wind up with is a power Trump opposition to most everything they try to do, plus four years of turmoil that will further uncover their massive corrruptions. All followed by a massive voter backlash in 2024.
