March 15, 2023

Yesteryear
One year ago today: March 15, 2022, buyer beware.
Five years ago today: March 15, 2018, City Hall complicates things.
Nine years ago today: March 15, 2014, happy birthday, Arduino.
Random years ago today: March 15, 2003, my library list.

           This morning I will discuss women, for as I’m having my cream of wheat, this libtard feminist comes on the radio. But first, here is a shot of the camera bracket, with me pointing to where the angled hole will be drilled. Back to the radio. She had what I forty years ago called the “Ann Landers” mindset, that all women are automatically good wives and it is husbands to blame for any disarray. She insinuated a man who could not find a good wife is not getting out often enough. It would be curious to hear her explain my situation, where I was not only out, but on stage 30 hours a month for twenty years running. Is that “out enough”? Wait, she had an explanation.

           I was meeting the wrong kind of women in the wrong kind of places, she’d tell us. Let me interject. I’ve been an entertainer long enough to know that except for shut-ins (which you do not want anyway), almost every women good or bad sooner or later does some socializing in a drinking establishment. They represent the entire spectrum of what is available out there, from church-freaks to curb-hookers. There is no such thing as a place you can go to meet lots of good women. That being the case, you’d best go to where you have the broadest choice, partial pun intended. Pubs and clubs probably represent the best possible scenario for variety, which is a damn good substitute for wasting time trying to find a spot full of all-good females.

           Men learn quickly that the church is used as a dating club by emotionally shallow divorcees and on-line dating is legalized something or other. Never once did this feminist (Sophia) blame women for their own plight. The only point she got right is the majority of men do have trouble approaching women,especially the type of women I have trouble avoiding. She resorted to the last-ditch defense that my standards must be too high. At that point I found a country station in Bushnell.
           My standards are simple and easy, I ask for nothing in a woman than I myself do not have to offer in return. No way could such standards be too high, but no sense talking to a brick wall. My offerings have been well portrayed in the past, but to review a few, yes, I would ask the lady be employed or employable, or if not, self-sufficient. This is not 1930, folks. Not shacked up, good education, musical, close circle of friends, no blatant emotional baggage, and so on. Sophia suggests those are standards that must be dropped—and magically your entire life will become one of marital euphoria and contentment. She implies men can have no such thing as reasonable standards. Sophie wouldn’t lie about that, would she?

           The gas chainsaw has a perfect environment, so why is it sometimes so hard to start? The evident explanation is they are made that way. My list of cuts included getting rid of stumps in the yard, which have had time enough to dry and be cut with an otherwise “too small” saw. This spells the end of the Mitch Tree stump and the rest of the 60-foot tree cut down after I moved in. That one lasted so long partly because of the water tap buried inside it. That will soon be piped over to near the burn barrel, so I don’t have to string out the long hose. Note, both these stumps are large and must be cut away in sections. There should be a picture of the gas chainsaw in its custom wooden storage case, in is own compartment, inside the shed. It's a bad picture, but you can see the care taken. What more can a man do?
           ABC, the fake news outfit, was the laughing stock of the airwaves this morning. When a couple of illegal alien border-jumpers killed a bald eagle, intending to make chicken empanadas, ABC reported them as “two Nebraska men”. Recently laid off “tech” workers (with names like “Britney”) have claimed they were hired for no reason than to prevent them working for the competition. Oddly, I agree in the sense that I know from personal experience that missing a demographic window can put the knockers on one’s life quite permanently. In the American environment, finding work after age 28 has its roadblocks.
           I’ve never cared for American style car dealerships. They had a purpose in the once competitive pre-1960s market. But in an environment where the government makes it impossible to start a new car company, the system is a stain on free enterprise. Now Tesla is a startup, but is it a car company? If so, it is one that gets recalled because the steering wheels fall off. Anyway, some states are restricting sales because buying direct harms dealerships, they say. And we’ll be taking a look at NordVPN, which says it is a free service. Rule #1, nothing is private if you have to tell them your name and address to use it.

Picture of the day.
Anti-Mexican fence, Nogales.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Today was not productive. I burned a quarter tank of gas mailing boxes and some basic shopping. No gumption and I’ve received another set of instructions for test for conditions I do not have. Preventative medicine at its peak, it’s easy for me to imagine they do not want me getting sick or injured ever again. Hey, I paid in for everything I’ve ever gotten. And today was not a write-off. I got the squirrel traps reset, a load of laundry, and I stopped in at Lowe’s (lumber) to pick up supplies. That included these nails. One millennial aisle clerk asks (in a snarky voice) what I’m building. I told him “birdhouses”.

           So he follows me up to the till, rolling his eyes and elbowing his buddies. As I’m done and leaving, the mouthpiece guy calls after me to have fun building my birdhouses. I looked glanced over my shoulder to tell him, “And when they are done, I’m going to hang them from these nails.”            Have you seen the video making the rounds of that millennial who tried to pat a warthog? By late afternoon, I could not get started, yeah, I’m a bit worried. Work started, I mean, brains started. I’ve thinking what a boon if I could use the switches in old computer mouses. (This blog does not say “mice” for this gear.) They are ordinary microswitches, I can hear them. Three, left right and mousewheel. There are four wires but not a single source on-line that tell you the functions. So I may wire one up just to some lights, just to see. I burned out both my test lights an hour ago by ignoring my rule – one resister for each light, even if they are in series.

           Long after dark I’m still not moving, but I did wire up the mouse , though I doubt the existing configuration is any good. And rewiring it may not be worthwhile. I do not understand quantum computer configuration. I barely grasp the dual nature, where an atom is both a zero and a one at the same time but they can tell the difference. A single “cell” (called a qubit) can have four configurations, which are 00, 01, 10, and 11. Several videos went over the topic but I could not follow other than that the atoms are detected and moved magnetically.
           Here’s something useful, using existing components, it’s a gizmo that guides payload parachutes for model rockets back to the launch site. That’s a boon to the hobbyists who don’t own 4x4s and home submarines. Or those Magic 8 balls that answers yes/no questions? Now it can use GIFs, so something interactive won’t be long.

ADDENDUM
           How is the camera stand going? Be patient, it needs a little work to get the cameras to rest where they can see the work, not the back of my hands. The need for this stand is partially shown by this “robot club” photo taken earlier this morning. One of the holes to be drilled required this drill bit be swapped out, running into a problem. This photo details the situation, but it was difficult to take the picture. This view makes sense to Agt. M, but not so much others, so I will walk through it—remember this is the go-to blog for unique situations not of the my-cat-had-kittens sort.

           Shown here at I can only guess as 50x, looking from left to right. Out of the picture to the left is the drill bit, off to the right the shank that fits into the drill. The design is you unscrew the bit clamp, the rim of which is the vertical strip of rust on the left. Then undo the set screw to loosen the drill bit so you can swap it out. What could go wrong? For openers, the set screw would not move. It was microscopic investigation that revealed the cause.

           The bit clamp has a collar that the last person over-tightened. You can just see how the lip has been twisted past the very rightmost part of the hex screw. That explains the damaged flanges. The Allen (hex) wrench still fits but if he did not see the obstruction, chances are he twisted so hard on the wrench it stripped the corners. He gave up. What is the solution?
           A drill press. I will drill out the piece of metal and part of the set screw until it is possible to work it loose. I have a pill bottle of spare set screws if this one doesn’t survive. The tool is otherwise quite well made and I would hate to throw it away. If planning goes right, this type of photo will become far easier. I have four microscopes around here but none are convenient by themselves for this kind of duty.

Last Laugh

           x margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; margin-top: 1em; margin-left: 1em;