October 16, 2023

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 16, 2022, just a survey, honest.
Five years ago today: October 16, 2018, 2% + 2% . . . . .
Nine years ago today: October 16, 2014, an incautious driver.
Random years ago today: October 16, 2017, around the house.

          One highly successful practice means an easy day. The raccoon got the latest two avocado seeds. Shown here, the weighted wire screen is ripped off the pot and other pots simply tipped over to get the goods. These pictures are taken all over the yard. Front, back, and side. The damage is total where possible. Now we will have to make some plans. The raccoon has learned to defeat mild physical barriers, but not medium. This next photo shows a seed inside wire armor fashioned from squirrel barriers. This is too expensive and requires much re-potting if the plant does succeed. We have noticed two things.

          The raccoon does not like wetness and shuns the Mexican oregano plant. The failed planter is still in commission, it failed because the Florida weather meant plants off the ground were easily dehydrated. The plan is covert it for potted plants and then fix up a wire cage that incorporates the old wire cloth lid, which I kept in storage. The raccoon also avoids older plants. We enter the next round of battle. Let’s not declare victory, however. Raccoons also have opposable thumbs. A couple juvenile squirrels have appeared. The real culprit is the coon, since the squirrels lack the heft to peel off those wire shields. There was an inch of rain overnight, as soon as it’s dry enough we’ll tackle this. That means out there by 10:00AM and I got the spools painted, my class plant stands. The gas motor on the weed whacker won’t stay running for me, such a common problem I know it is likely something I’m doing. I never did have a knack for that, even though I studied those carburetors.

          Strung out the air hose and cleaned a bunch of gear for half this perfect 68°F day. Again, the high points might not rate to gigs and even myself twenty years ago, but it was fun and I managed six hours. More than once I found myself explaining what I was doing to a non-present turtle. Since I’m not senile, I attribute that to being around JeePee for such long periods I was first motivated to not take it easy. That would be around this time six years ago.
          Looking at more Gab posts, I find the format superior to other sites accused of being right-wing. BitChute is plain hard to follow and Rumble is too long-winded. What wants to watch half-hour videos to get a point across. Gab is short snappers and some of them are genuinely clever. Do I invest? It’s an evolving format so there would be nothing stopping them from making changes that sewer themselves. Visits are growing, but at a much slower rate than 20 to 21 and I see certain powerful political groups have taken offense to Gab’s very existence.

Picture of the day.
NPR “spreader event”.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

          The raccoon seems unable to climb anything over a couple feet off the ground, so let’s paint that second wire spool to match and see about using a combination of the spools and raised planter to see if at least one method keeps the raccoon at bay. I heard him last night but it was too late to go shoo him/her away, the pronoun thing. Here’s the planter this time in partial shade. This is the object about to get a coat of white paint and a new lease. That shade, which is intentional, came out pretty good in this view. The box will soon be set up off the ground on concrete blocks. It’s about time I got serious about planting things—but I wanted things I didn’t have to care for.

          Next, haul out the bass and see how far the Prez has been turning me into a bluegrass junkie. The tune in focus it “Counting Flower on the Wall”, the Statlers. A more recent version by some guy named Heathly was popular in my practices 15 years ago, it takes a riff from the Statler’s third chorus and does it as an intro plus riffs through the whole song. The plan is we take that classic guitar strum, put it on acoustic while I adapt Heatherly’s bass line to a more piano feel.

          This 18V drill from Harbor Freight is toast. A new battery costs nearly as much as the old one that fried. That’s why it made the blog. The battery lasted only 52 charges or 1/7th as many as advertised. But it was millennial advertising that said “up to” 350 charges and they are schooled in combining the meaningless phrase with dodging responsibility. Where old farts would hide behind warrantee clauses, new farts hide behind semantics.

          This current music situation is harsh. How could anyone know a six-piece orchestra would show up just as we launch our duo? My stance, based on experience, is that such a large group is impractical these days. No way they are breaking even on $300 per gigs even allowing for tips. They represent a curious upset balance totally due (in my perspective) to lack of good management. Without research, I know this band is full of guitar players and screw anyone who thinks I have not seen this before.
          I fired off letter to Trent, Kaiser, and Bryne, the musicians whose opinions I value. What is that wondrous aroma? I was baking chicken while all this thinking and planning was underway. Well, okay, chicken plus garlic and pepper and all manner of ingredients that seemed right at the time. And I’m planning a major food prep day for tomorrow. Let’s see how far I get.

Last Laugh