October 14, 2023

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 14, 2022, doggie-otter slide.
Five years ago today: October 14, 2018, the importance of sheds.
Nine years ago today: October 14, 2014, 40 year old spreadsheets.
Random years ago today: October 14, 2015, below 10.7 volts.

           Yep, I’m getting rid of this “smart” phone. The last thing it wants to do when you open it is make a phone call. I have no problem with the most complicated gadgets made and these phones are a piece of shit. The worst problem is that every time it opens, it displays a different screen and you have to spend a minute getting back to phone mode. Only a brain-farter can come up with this. I’m fully aware this can be set right, but only useless people have the time to memorize it. Think of the overall loss for millions trained to do this without thinking. The generation of Gretas.

           More houses getting through my filter, so I’m raising the price drop limit. The houses dropping are in the half-million price range, tipping me off it is speculators dumping their dogs. Reddit is on some kick to popularize marrying women who already have kids, but most men know that’s like finishing some other guy’s saved game. The space probe Psyche, so named after its destination, an asteroid, successful launched y’day aboard the long-awaited Falcon.
           That’s the heavy lift rocket from SpaceX. It’s heading for the only known asteroid that has a metal surface (mostly nickel and iron). Nothing will happen until 2029. SpaceX send the launch bill to NASA, $130 million. The asteroid is about the size of Hawaii. That’s around $20 million over budget. The craft won’t reach Mars until late 2025 after two trips around the Sun.

           Since nothing else is happening today, let’s look at Psyche, the asteroid. If that metal was on Earth, it would be worth about $10 quintillion. That’s $10,000,000,000,000,000,000. And that’s not the top, the asteroid Davida weighs in at $27 quintillion. Greater than the economy of the whole world a billion times over. The probe is not equipped to bring anything back, it’s only about the size of my KIA, see photo. What would it take to bring a million dollars back for each person in the USA? Cut off welfare to able-bodied single black mothers for one month, and you’d have all the money you need.

           The asteroid was discovered in the 1850s but it’s metallic content not inferred until recently and the mission was proposed in 2017. I dislike the convention for naming these objects. My theory is that the reason Greeks words like Hercules and Sparta are famous is because those are the only ones college students could pronounce. I once tried to read a booklet on Delium (the battle) and decided it was not worth the syllables. The asteroid is believed to have once been a larger planetoid, but the outer layers were stripped away by collisions. I clicked off the NASA documentary the instant they mentioned “climate change”.

           This picture shows the work space I’m looking to recover. Because it had no light or electric (except extension cords) for so long, it filled up with items as sown here. Now, clearly seen are the lights and outlet that makes this now desirable and well shaded outside work space. At least the saw and planer are slated to get under there as we never have enough of that sort of space.

Picture of the day.
Northern Scotland, I think.
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           I dissected a printer cartidge, this is a Canon black ink model. The ink is held in a type of cotton batting, seen here. I was hoping to see more of the spray mechanism but whatever it is cannot be viewed without magnification. It was a nice day, I got some cleanup done, that’s all. I cleaned the Crate amp, but it must have gotten wet. The sound is garbled. It took two hours to get it cleaned up, shown here is the result. It was badly water-damaged and the covering had mostly peeled off. Now glued in place it is also held by approximately 60 staples. It was designed for guitar work, having a built-in distortion package.

           But the speaker distorts very easily, even on low settings at anything below middle E. That’s fret number 7 on the A string to non-bassists. There is a speaker out jack which I’ll tet tomorrow, but I think if that built-in speaker was replaced by a bass woofer, this puppy would have plenty of bass end. It has good tone if kept on low settings, I even wonder if this is a candidate for my battery powered bass, though it would require 120VAC. Some of the new lithium ion batteries could sold that issue.

           I cleaned the laundry deck for an hour, moving a set of metal shelves into place. The idea is to get the scooter canopy (above) cleared out, as that was intended as a work area but quickly filled up with storage because it kept paint and pesticides well away from the house area. I’m tempted to cover the shelves with pallet lumber so I can latch it up. I could not get moving fast today and decided to skip Karaoke for the excitement of stirring ashes in the burn barrel and doing some hand weeding in the back yard. No siesta, so I threw on a Zooey movie, but somehow I picked one where old broads played the college teens. Can’t wind them all.
           Confused reports about the HAMAS attack and some probably faked Israeli news footage. From my point of view, both sides were funded by the same people, that is, a war bought and paid for by international banksters. Sadly for the outdated propaganda skills of the mainstream, lies don’t have time to take root any more. The Israelis cut off utilities to Gaza and say they will level the place. The world then got treated to the spectacle of a rainstorm stalling the attack for two days.

           The Battle of Hastings was this week back in 1066, altering the course of English history long after the event. William had been promised the throne of England if Edward died childless, which he did in January. My studies centered on the castles, which were far more than defensive walls. They were each located within a half-days marching distance and there are instances of defenders holding off ten times their number. Castles left an invader two bad choices. One, to stop and lay siege, buying time for the outside enemy to organize, or bypass the castle but leave enough troops to keep it bottled up, weakening the rest of the army. It’s a fascinating topic.
           As with many Americans, I don’t understand the influence of this “Speaker of the House” position. It’s causing bitter arguments and there are many conflicting announcements. Some advocate Trump for the job, but Trump should turn that offer to one of his sons. I could care less, I never knew anything about it until a while ago, although I’ sure I heard the title before.

Last Laugh