One year ago today: October 18, 2021, similar to cramming.
Five years ago today: October 18, 2017, Lake Place, FL
Nine years ago today: October 18, 2013, batbike at bakery.
Random years ago today: October 18, 2004, “Don’t drive in Miami”.
Here are the results of the Yeti 500X test. It fails. This was a carefully controlled Robot Club grade test. The manual specifies that the LED panel will display the number of hours left on the Yeti with the load that is presently connected. The battery was fully charged two days ago, then left idle for 24 hours. Following that, I plugged in a small device into one of the AC outlets, the configuration in which I am most likely to use the Yeti. One half-hour later, at 7:00AM y’day, I recorded the reading. It stated that I had 56 hours. That means, according to Yeti, if nothing else changes, the battery should last 56 hours.
Planning ahead, I dropped into the guitar store that sells electronics. The shelves were bare, whence I learned the story that the latest company that bought out Radio Shack has now decided to become a crypto-currency outlet. The warehouse they turned their parts department over to has been promising to ship their regular merchandise since last November. I say only a miracle can save them. They started going downhill by offering phones and electronics, thus losing their direction as a place for parts. The early success (before Sprint caught on and began opening outlets near the more successful Radio Shack stores) caused an expansion to 8,000 locations of which (I think) 90% are now closed.
I see Boss had a new digital “wireless” cable that’s finally the right size. Too bad it is eight times the price of the analog unit. If you want digital, be prepared for a $230 price tag, which is still less than the similar Sennheiser. I’ll settle for the cheaper units which, for bass, are okay for my purposes. It’s the vocals I really want wireless for two interrelated reasons. Which are I must wear a headset because I cannot play bass without watching my left hand. Not constantly, but for reference every few seconds.
Hold that equipment, mind you, because I have that old Shure transciever that worked okay for early bingo vocals. If that works for bass, and it should, that frees up another hundred bucks for a better quality headset for my decidedly amateur vocals. Hey, it’s one of my selling points. The Reb wants me to practice a “head voice” so I’ve been taking lessons. She can hit exactly an octave above the note I give out, which is a C#.
I clicked through the offerings at Sweetwater and I see the market is again flooded with offerings of almost duplicate microphones. This was common in 70s rock bands, tapered off, then back again with Karaoke, then weeded out again. What is the draw this time? I read the blurbs and it seems they are targeting the podcast and youTube people. We’ve seen this before, where some of the worst talent and unoriginal producers all have monstrously expensive gear. They think it helps, but really, is there a true difference between a producer’s microphone and a soundman’s microphone?
In predictable news, PayPal has blocked users from closing their accounts on-line. They must now report to customer service where they are told they cannot close their account until “outstanding issues” are solved. Ha, I love it. Die, PayPal, die.
Egyptian campus dorm.
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It’s too cold, we decided against going out for dinner. I made up a large batch of rice and have masalla chicken on to boil. Let me tell you a secret. For all the veggie philosophy, I know that they will snack on various items if you cook them well enough. And my chicken recipe is one of them. I’ve also got her to sample my arepas, which are regular Mexican recipe except double the sugar. I lived on a corn based diet so long in Venezuela that I less than prefer just plain corn in mixtures. It was good to have a big breakfast as I was out there in the yard working on the rest of the fence.
I’m not pointing any fingers,
but you know, when I’m up a ladder, the thermometer reads 38ºF and it is getting dark, it may not be my priority if the doggies are warm enough and the gate is closed. You know me, the dogs are either indoors or outdoors, none of this opening and closing the gate twenty times. First thing I train a dog in the yard is stay away from the gates unless told otherwise. The work had the same effect on me, I slow to half speed, and I’m ready for a nap. When I think back, maybe this runs in my family, it just took me a lot more decades to get there.
A nap and I’m awake at midnight, watching more of the movie, “Men of Honor”. I always wanted to use the word obsequiousness and that fits this movie. I mean, give me a break, he’s sending his navy pay back home in letters to mom. There are points the movie makes and others that it seeks to avoid, like the natural tendency of a man who must rely on others to hope they share the same value system. It may be unpleasant to distrust somebody with whom you have nothing in common but it is also human nature, which it is unwise to disregard.
Yet the movie has powerful messages about ambition and in the process shows two sides of that issue. One is how the world credits those who overcome obstacles, but also how the world ignores those who came close but lacked only a few resources. It’s a game where those who don’t even try get more than those who barely came close. It’s a difficult process whereby those who try and fail often disqualify themselves from what little other options may remain for them. I may not be describing it right but those who have sincerely tried and still failed know what I mean. The assumption is you did not try hard enough or there was more you could have done.
Ha, that reminds me of when I was 11, I had a guitar. But nobody to give me a ten-minute lesson on the right way to chord. I bought a book for 95 cents and all it showed me was how to pick “Yankee Doodle”, which bored me quickly enough. Yep, nobody anywhere in the jerkwater towns I grew up in who could have given me the heads-up even if they knew how and had wanted to. This may explain why I have no guitar heroes because it explains why others do.
The focal point is those who have the resources to be copycats all too often take the trophy. Did you know I was not even aware Paul McCartney was a bass player until I was over 40? Others worship Clapton and to me he’s just another flunky who copied the Blues. These people as heroes were just not as important because I was not deliberately trying to emulate them, I was too busy learning to play the instrument the right way.
ADDENDUM
What’s this copy of Dogster Magazine doing on my desk? I don’t read Dogster. Hang on, oh, now I get it. This edition contains the subscription renewal card. Ha-ha. Just kidding anyway, because I pay for all the subscriptions around here. Seems only fair. Not that many others are into robots, computers, weapons, code, and Martian techmology. The battery is on test, this time for the charging rate while under load. That’s where it seems to meet spec. You might say it acts as a giant capacitor.
To wrap up, some monastery in Turkey has announced they found the grave of St. Nicholas, the guy who became the model for Santa Claus. He was known for giving away money. What is not known is that he never worked for any of the money he gave away. Santa Claus inherited it. There's something familiar about that whole concept but I just can't seem to connect the dots.
