August 16, 2023

Yesteryear
One year ago today: August 16, 2022, word-of-meme.
Five years ago today: August 16, 2018, my first K-cup.
Nine years ago today: August 16, 2014, an early sextant reading.
Random years ago today: August 16, 2006, a dipthong.

           Aircraft engines. Not my area, but I watched two documentaries on piston power. It makes sense, the Europeans were all about speed, the rest of the world wanted reliability, range, and economy. Long ago I used to think rotary and radial engines were the same. What got my interest was an article on the engine used by the Wright brothers, a four-cylinder inline of 12 HP. It said this got the airplane airborne, but I knew that it was a falling weight that was really used. I got a two-hour lesson on why in-line engines needed superchargers.

           Funny how the two engine factories (Rolls Royce and Daimer-Benz) survived to modern times, but not the airplanes. I knew the Mustang (P-51) had the Merlin engine and now I know why. The Merlin was originally to have two superchargers, but somebody got the idea of a single two-stage unit and the result could fit into the sleek contours of the Mustang frame, though it required some expensive reinforcement. The original Allison models sold for $40,000. The definitive model, the P-51D, sold in 1945 for $50,985. That’s around $600,000 in today’s money. Compare with an F-22 with a price tag of $142 million.

           What kind of day should it be? Work, I say, let’s work and see how far we get. It’s 8:00AM and I’ve baked chicken, muffins, the rice is on, and I found the last pack of “best before” coffee in the shed. Where we have another smart rat. They can’t get at the food, but it is a clean quiet place to sleep. Here’s a closeup of the flower I’m trying to transplant. I know, let’s have a look at some dating sites, see what women are claiming these days. Our old rule applies, men will advertise what they have to offer, women will advertise what they want. Here’s a revealing list of what they don’t say 15 years ago.

           I predicted these sites would degenerate into “members only” formats whose purpose was to market your personal information. So let’s see if I can find one that let’s you view some samples without a “callback”. That rules out Zoosk, Silver, Fish, Elite, and eHarmony. I want one that tries to entice membership by displaying free samples, similar to that “Scientific American” club I checked out so many years ago. The one where most of the women lied about having degrees. It came to mind because I see most of the other sites have glommed onto the claim that their members are more “highly educated” than others. Skip to addendum to see what I found.

           Screw this, I’m crawling back in the sack until noon. Before that, take a look at the lawn tractor, with the new fuel pump that did not solve the carb problem. I watched a bit more of the more recently released documentaries on panzer warfare, but they are still peppered with solid anti-German comments and false claims, like how the Germans were drugged into a cult who believed in magic spears and other similar garbage we’ve heard since 500 BC. My own theory that the dominance of European warfare came from continual search for ways to ill the enemy at a longer distance. The old muskets took forever to reload, but they could kill pretty much 50% of the time at 100 yards. The killing distance got longer and longer until the Germans came up with an idea.
           If you can’t hit anything beyond a certain distance, then move the weapon itself closer to the target. And what better way existed than encasing it in an armored carriage and driving it through the enemy lines to where it could do the most damage. Enter the tank. But one favorite remains the way the British to this day claim Dunkirk was a victory and that they had planned it that way.
           The World Bank report on poverty reports that all countries where more than 80% of the population live in slums are, regardless of education, work, religion, foreign aid, or any possible positive influential factors including location and language, all Black. The closest non-Black country with 73% of the people living in slums is Afghanistan. I think I’ll read another chapter of my oil tanker book now.

Picture of the day.
Superbolts at sea.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           One of the articles of indictment against President Trump is that he advised people to watch Newsmax. Another states that telling public servants to do their job is advising them to violate their oath. Plainly these little laws were snuck in over a period thinking only the Left would ever use them. The fact is, these indictments have no effect. This raises the specter that they are going to have to resort to violence because they cannot let Trump win. They are basically out of options.

           Here’s the rest of the day, again more chores with nothing big accomplished. I put up a small shelf and raked the shed floor. It is dirt, which still gets into everything but I can work there in the full summer heat. I got some boards put up on the saw lean-to and made a small frame for my sifter. I’ll tell you about that project when the time comes. All plants are tended to and I tidied up lots of scrap lumber that I’ve accumulated.
           And chores are made easier the northside lean-to, shown here. The blue tarp hides the weatherproof area that includes a chop saw and some electric items. There is a cable run over from the silo. If this looks rustic, good. That is what wanted for so long. There is a workbench in the area and I’ll soon add a small rack for holding wood scraps, which I always seen to find a use for.

           The bird bath requires frequent cleaning, which is rough on the sprayer nozzles. I’m thinking of sinking another post into the dirt for a permanent fixture. An afternoon lightning storm produced no measurable rainfall. It was a one-quart peach tea day as I worked five hours with minimal breaks. Here is an excellent view of the avocado sprout. I estimate it could be up to three months old. It’s too soon to declare any recovery but I’m able to definitely notice improved vision on my far right side. Something is improving and if there is anything like real mending I promise to reward myself.
           This is important, so I’ll get it written down. My peripheral vision on my right eye clouded over around a year ago. I have no shape or movement perception, but can tell if there is light. It happened all at once one day while I was writing a letter. Beginning a few days ago I sensed something different. I could see more near the top edge on my right eye, but so slight that I thought it could be imagination. Then I saw that car for a brief moment. I was looking ahead and caught a tiny movement, turning to look confirmed it was a car approaching a half a block away.

           Then it was gone. I measured the blind spot by noting on the far wall what I could see off to the right of center. It’s small but there is improvement. This gives me two causes for thanks. First is that it proves the condition isn’t absolute and second, however gradual it is getting better.

           The suspicious Maui fire reveals some real sick behaviors—but also that the pursuit of wealth in America closely follows what has “not yet been outlawed”. The government and private interests have already tried to buy the properties, swooping in before the ashes were cooled. Sadly, some families will be forced to sell as there is no public safety net in America for anybody who has assets to lose. You must be broke and poor before the government will help. There is already a book about the fires, which causes an outcry because books take time to write. Or so they think. I wonder if A.I. could write such a book in the time since.
           Caltier. It’s there, it’s plodding along. I moved only $300 in there since a month ago, roughly what is needed to keep on track to reach the goal by 2030. But we’ll do much better than that. I suspect we will sell one of the cars shortly, probably the KIA. Although the Honda requires more maintenance, the Reb loves the luxury features, bless her. The fund has paid around 1% per month for three months running. If that keeps up, it will get the deposits from here. There is slightly more than $13,000 in the account right now.

           The pundits continue to say 40% of your investment should be stocks. I disagree because the stock market is run by crooks. They pay out just enough to keep you thinking there will be a big payoff—and the market has been rocked by too many scandals and arrests and bailouts. I have some bonds, but they are non-risky CDs. While remaining a shadow investor, that is, my name is not on any documents, I watch the developments at Caltier and they have recently hired some top-rated advisors. It tells me the fund is taking off and that we got in on the ground floor.
           I chose one property to keep an eye on. It’s 506 Austin in Webster, TX. This diagram shows a typical unit. This building was closer to the plan JZ and I had, of fixing up a multi-unit while living in one of the unfinished apartments. Or finished enough to make it comfortable.
           JZ has not followed these developments. He expresses interest in such an investment on his own, but I don’t know if he has the temperament. There is an element of blind faith that Caltier is honest and will always do the right thing. Such promises are easy to keep when things are going your way. While JZ should have such an investment, I’m not so sure he would never make withdrawals. But if he ever does [invest], he will catch up to my level in a matter of months.

           I was saying this building matches my concept of value added. They are sprucing up the units to a better standard. They call these Class C because they are not in top areas—which is fine with me, and the buildings need some work. They may also have management issues and that is where I really trust Caltier. It is in their best interests to get the best people they can find in charge of the buildings. I know these investments take time to bite and right now all my returns are from rents. If Caltier has flipped any of the properties, they have not said anything.

ADDENDUM
           Crap. That’s what I found. What did you expect? My earliest reference to the club is in November, 2012, called “Science Connection” which leads to a dead site. This was the site that claimed their lonely old ladies were smarter than your lonely old ladies by eleven times. Here are the sites I peeked at—all demand personal, private information of a marketable sort and a membership. I reject all, as one of my search criteria as “free”.

a) Match – site pumps you for sellable information
b) Elite – requires data to view
c) Zoosk – demands membership
d) Silver Singles – worse than AARP site
e) eHarmony – still the original, membership required
f) ChristianMingle – still crazy as they come
g) OurTime – very intrusive
h) OkCupid – fails all my SPAM & spyware filters.

           I rejected porn sites, Black, Jewish, and of course sites who had conditions on the word “free”, as in “free to join”. All of the sites listed had one thing in common—they were intensely interested in your birthdate. Not your age, your birthdate. You are not supposed to know that is the primary key in most trolling databases. I quit looking after a half-hour. The end product is just not worth that kind of effort.
           Instead, I pulled up some analysis sites. What else do these dating sites have in common beyond a thirst for your private information? All are over 52% women except the weirdo sites, which are dominated by men. Careful of OkCupid, it pushes mudsharking. Tinder was the everything site, now pushing “situationhips” and extra-marital hookups, so that’s a reject. Single, to me, always means no commitments. It’s not complicated.

Last Laugh

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