July 21, 2023

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 21, 2022,robo-dogs & drones.
Five years ago today: July 21, 2018, his pineapples.
Nine years ago today: July 21, 2014, hilarious trivia.
Random years ago today: July 21, 2014, the Obese-icle.

           Aha, a dry morning. Let’s get under the house. But first, coffee and let’s see what makes it past my filters. What’s this, a COBOL job in Illinois. No thanks, can’t stand the people and the weather and I’ve never even been there. First beyond all, check the pay. Hmmm, only $115,000 per year, or $2,200 per week. They can stick it. Real programmers don’t get up in the morning for such peanuts. Here’s where it gets tricky for some people to follow:
           Based on what industry is paying coders, the imbeciles of the tech world, I would need at least $1,000 per day to even consider programming again. Got that? I did not say I was good, but based on what they pay the code-monkeys. Once that sinks in, then after that point I’ll say that I’m that good. Now do be careful, COBOL 6.3 is object-oriented and subject to the same flaws as code. It was, to be sure, an interesting read and had me grab a second coffee.

           This is a photo of the de-rusting spray working on the fire-pit thing which is destined to become a flower planter. It’s burning days are over. I hope you like it because no way I’m going to find much more exciting around here this morning. I sent Agt. L a request for what is involved producing a custom prototype board. Just an idea. The smallest commercially sold units have 170 holes, overkill for most amateurs. The existing “radio shack” circuit boards all involve soldering. I’m curious what it would cost to marry these technologies.
           The idea would be to have a kit specifically designed to fit a custom board. A lot of people find circuits difficult to “read” on boards like the one on the left. The other panel shoes the radio shack two-pack, the reverse side has copper traces in a generic IC pattern. I’ve used these a lot but they are finicky to work with. Unless you have a clamp handy, they are so light your soldering iron pushed them around.

           Back to work. A load of laundry, water the plants, noting a rat has developed a taste for fresh oregano, cut some wood for boxes (maybe later when the day gets hot, and move the van camper seat from the passenger side to across the back seats. I’ve discovered a way I can stretch mostly out in the 5-foot-4 space that is available by sleeping at an angle. I sliced up a dozen of the larger onion rings in case the 1-1/2” size works better. Just eye-balling it, the 1-1/4” seems somewhat too small for the birdies, but that is the recommended size for their nesting holes. And I got an e-mail from San Diego, another “I never liked papaya.”
           I spray-painted the smaller rings to look a bit sharper. I can’t find the right screwdriver bit to fix my broken license plate lights. I don’t do that much night driving but it is what is called a nuisance law, that is, a law that gives the police an excuse to shake you down. One day, somebody will invent a drill bit that does not fall out of the socket, and invent a drill chuck that does not come loose. Amazing these things have not been perfected in an era where computerized invention should be swamping the markets with real new products. Instead this generation “invents” toys to choose your lucky lotto numbers.

           At first I thought it was a typo, some of the old Radio Shack parts on Amazon were quoting “shipping fees” as high as $32. It’s come to that.

           I’m short a couple fittings so that’s my excuse to drive to Winter Haven this afternoon, maybe. The D-party is piling the indictments on Trump, they just don’t seem to grasp those old tactics no longer work—they’ve been exposed as political hits. Trump supporters are sticking with him no matter what. Even severely pro-Demodrat polling outfits are grudgingly admitting Trump is “likely” to be the Republican candidate. Likely? Hell, he’s got 85% of the vote already. And who will they run against him? Not one personality in the lot.
           The radical left and the media are working overtime to get Trump to no avail. Most people know they waited in some cases years to bring these indictments up after he announced his candidacy. My prediction stands, that some incident will cause the Patriot party to split from the Republicans, causing a collapse of the Republican party as they struggle along with the few RINOs too dumb to jump ship. The title, “America First” party is also being banted around.
           It’s dumbfounding the lengths the evil forces are going to downplay Trump’s popularity. To me, this November is no important deadline. But the boring people who follow these things considering these dates vital. Why, I ask, because whoever tries to run against Trump is destined to become the object of hate and ridicule. Mind you, there is so much money to be made being a famous loser in America that somebody will try.

Picture of the day.
Isle of Skye fairy pools.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Getting back from Winter Haven was an exercise in self-control in this heat. It’s 94°F on the gauge but that fools nobody. I went past Kooters and they have a sellout crowd in this weather, and it was only 5:30PM. The cardinals remain jittery but the smallest birds in the back yard have associated me moving around with food and water. The alyssum flowers have already sent up chutes, just 24 hours after planting. It’s not cooling off this afternoon so here’s a view of the relocated sleeping area in the van. I’m removing the headrests from the back two seats. Nobody ever rides there but the doggies who don’t need them. Otherwise, they just block the way.

           Chalk up zero progress on the water tank, and the squirrels are a bit lucky today. The remaining bag of pecans from Georgia have gone a little stale in the bag, but we know that does not bother Snowflake and his pals. Enjoy it, because here is the next phase of the big squirrel baffle. These are the onion rings I mentioned, now dried and ready for installation. I worked out there for two hours. And it was hotter than your girlfriend’s sister.

           I’ve not yet devised a way to hang the rings and every time I view the finished grills, like shown here, the holes seem too small for the birds. Tomorrow we put it to the test. Those are the 1-1/4” rings, if you see any white or unpainted ones, they are 1-1/2”. Both will be mounted on the same frame so as to see which is the more effective. The jury is still out on whether these squirrels can gnaw through PVC. But this is squirrel war time and a solution must be found. That reminds me, I’m still listening to the Desert War audiobook. Our desert rats are still chasing around the sand dunes, meeting other English doing the same. They give an accurate but unflattering account of the Arabs. Friendly enough but will do anything for money and the parts of western technology they value.
           For example, the Arabs don’t care for pistols. So one guy trades a jar of marmelade and some tea for a stolen brand new German Luger, with the wooden case and ammo. Both the British and the Arabs scrounge through any war wreckage found in the desert. For the Brits, the prize is Italian trucks. The Arabs leave behind any food they don’t like and all kinds of wine and tobacco.

           The desert raiders operate in secrecy, so it is a laugh how often they meet Arabs and journalists who know exactly who they are and what they are up to. As well, the journalists are better informed than the officers. I will attest to the accuracy of the audiobook, but not all the viewpoints. For example, the long-range groups operate far to the south of the battle lines on the assumption the Germans were too dumb to watch their desert flanks. Wrong, the Germans simply did not have the gasoline to go chasing around by the hundreds. They knew damn well the British were out there. The British rarely won except by weight of numbers.

           Long after dark, I decided to take a look downtown. It was a busy night but the entertainment was dismal. Remember my adage that bands cannot go below zero musicians? I was wrong. I forgot about disk jockeys. I revamped the list of my unpublished book to include this horrific situation. A friggen disk jockey? That even cuts off the house slice of the juke box revenue.

ADDENDUM
           The Supreme Court has ruled that Americans do have a right to bear arms, which rules against the Democrat premise that the Second Amendment means keeping a gun only at home. And as a reminder that refugee status is temporary, Norway is shipping 1,600 Somalis back citing that the situation in their country has improved. Advocates say 16,000 would be a better number. All persons affected were unmarried military-age males.

           France tried to block the release of the video showing White people slaughtered in the streets by rampaging Black “refugees”. One of the corpses was beheaded. Them French will either be the first to fall or the first to throw them out.

           Here’s some mushroom gummies. You heard me. Ingredients include Shitake, Lion’s Mane, Reishi, Cordyceps, Chaga, Turkey Tail, White Button, Black Fungus, Royal Sun, Needle, and Oyster mushroom, in each case specifying the “fruiting body”. The package states no dairy, lactose, eggs, fish, gluten, peanuts, artificial flavors, synthetic colors, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, or yeast.
           The purpose of these is claimed to be improved memory, focus, and “healthy brain”. The package is around here somewhere. Remind me to take then in the morning. Now, what was I saying?

Last Laugh