November 16, 2022

Yesteryear
One year ago today: November 16, 2021, actual work (for me).
Five years ago today: November 16, 2017, the Cash museum.
Nine years ago today: November 16, 2013, the train to Memphis.
Random years ago today: November 16, 2002, people & projects.

           Politics. Unless you want to hear about my great breakfast of steamed rice & chicken. Trump announced his candidacy in an obviously tired voice. He rehashed his old talking points. Something has changed. My guess is he’s weary of carrying the load for people who do nothing but bitch, which so far is 100% of his so-called supporters. (I’m not a supporter.) Thus, I think he’s running for the history books. He knows he’s old and dying and this could be his final lunge at immortality. The last man who tried to save the republic. He’s cost the left dearly. What they have to do now to meet their debts will likely cause the country to split.

           And in New Hampshire, the Democrat loser demanded a recount and, after finding some ballots in a desk drawer, won by 1 vote. There you have it. If a Democrat demands a recount, it happens same day. If a Republican wants a recount, that is a “threat to democracy”. Oh, and DC will lock you down again to teach you a lesson. It was a great breakfast, by the way. So here’s the photo, which turned out to be both breakfast and lunch.
           The titmouses are gone for the season. We are back to the red cardinals, the next generation, and mostly Mrs. Downey. She lands on the linden trees but does not feed on them. Makes sense if you know that the idea is to trap insects in the sap and that species is very dry wood. Once the little birds left, the consumption of birdseed fell to maybe a third of usual. That much seed spells out they’ll be back.

           The compressor wiring is done. Revealing again that house wiring is just a subset of robotic circuits, the system worked right first time once again. This isn’t just adding a receptacle, that is one stage of the job. This view shows two of the components. The receptacle at lower right is switched. A flip switch by the door controls the compressor, which is behind that wall. The bulb shown is too big, it will be replaced by a tiny appliance 40W or so.

The location is visible from both entryways and is a pilot light for the compressor. Leaving that on accidentally can hand you a real surprise of an electricity bill.
           Next in line is that vacuum. It will also be outside with a switch on the interior wall. The thing with that is it is also the best location for a fan switch and a yard light. Thus, I’ve dug out one of the old useless four-outlet plastic boxes and modeled a master panel. That’s a split plug and three switches. One outlet each for the fan and compressor, as these will be on a new circuit breaker, a corresponding switch for each, plus a switch for the yard light with pilot light. This picture shows the mockup.
           I toyed with the idea of making that pilot switch into a three-way and I may see if it can be done. I don’t know if it would gain any convenience, since the location of the second light is out near the red shed. So the three-way is just a challenge, to see how that pilot light could be wired to stay on if the other switch is thrown. Probably it would mean an extra wire and that’s too expensive Anyway, shown here left to right are the yard light, the fan switch, the vacuum switch, and the split receptacle.

Picture of the day.
Submarine cross-section.
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           I’m taking a break, it’s 3:30PM and I’m in the mood to read. Good, because I received a series of e-mails indicated not everybody is doing as well under the regime. Not that most were as well-prepared but in general the disastrous policies of the country are really starting to bite hard on people who thought it was all some game that others were playing. Now, the only way out is heap big trouble because so many of the bad guys will have to go. I bought this house when I could have blown the money on a bucket list. I could have decided a condo in Vero Beach was “carefree”. It seems now everybody is hurting in some way.
           This empathy does not apply to strangers. It’s not me who voted in even one of the big troubles of today. I’ve been against communistic incursions since day one. It’s not me who let the drag queens into the kindergarten or destroyed my own race to prove to nobody that I was tolerant. However, those are all other matters. I knew once I bought this house my tearing around the countryside and frolicking were coming to an end—and now I would not give up this house for anything. The more expensive places have now become first targets for the tax man. My property taxes have gone up 83% in six years, from less than $400 to over $700. But then I look at what has happened to rent.

           This current buzz phrase about 2030 goes you will own nothing but you will be happy. I guess that explains all the joyful peasants in India and Mexico. Here’s a famous bill posted on-line of the guy who went into the hospital for a minor heart issue. He checked out minus his bank account, house, car, and future. For the files, I’m 100% completely insured and most of my bills are paid in advance. None of this landed on my lap, so I do smirk a bit when I see such things. Those who followed along know this house didn’t just happen, it is the 509th place I investigated first.

           What about the homeless crisis? Hey, I entered the job market with no skills and so can everybody else. I had to take the jobs that were available and I had to more than once pack up and leave for where the jobs were. I did not go downtown and join the sidewalk-shitters. My solution is the same as when I was ten years of age—do not let the poor congregate into ghettos. What is it with city cores and these people? As a condition of welfare, require them to live one family unit each in a town with population less than 1,000. I didn’t say it would be easy on them. I never said they had to like it. Nor did I say it would address or cure the root causes of poverty. It would, however, prevent ghettos and since that would solve a lot of the contingent problems I say that is good enough.

           The temperature is dropping fast. Get inside. Turn on the heater. Make some coffee. Traditionally this is when I write letters. Later, it dropped to 54ºF and that’s a sign it will get worse. But after seventeen years on the Montana prairies, anything is better than 30-below. Cold can remind me of scout camp, where I did some of the cooking. If it was this cool in the mornings on a Sunday, I’d make something none of the other patrols ever managed. French toast. For some reason, the tucker box had a bottle of vanilla flavoring and it was the only time it got used. It was intended for pancakes but nobody used it, so I collected enough to always make 64 half-slices.
           Since camp was always at a campsite, there were cooking pits available. I’ll tell you my secret recipe. I remind you I was not motivated by kindness, but because the cook was spared more unpleasant duties. I quickly learned to get the “extra points” by always making a big pot of coffee and a small pot of tea (there were no silly health & safety issues back them). The secret was two little extras. One was to melt a stick of butter and pour it into the egg dip. The other was to lightly sizzle the toast on both sides and dip it again and finish cooking. Why 64 slices? Everybody wanted seconds plus the ulterior motive. Every meal had one of the pack leaders as a guest and they gave extra points if nobody went hungry, so I always made a few extra slices. Clever.

ADDENDUM
           The Amish are in the news, that farmer who made a balm from chickweed has been sent to prison for six years for “misbranding”. Anyway, the message is clear, the left-wing government is not going to leave anyone alone. They have bills to pay and them Amish were a parallel economy unto themselves. How dare them sidestep the political issues. I see no peaceful resolution of that or any of a dozen situations as the liberals panic. But I see no leaders. The Democrats financed the last election with a Ponzi scheme showing they have almost completely run out of options except now to steal at gunpoint.

Last Laugh