October 30, 2023

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 30, 2022, mmmm, banana muffins.
Five years ago today: October 30, 2018, I opt for a fence.
Nine years ago today: October 30, 2014, the yellow-striped politician.
Random years ago today: October 30, 2009, that’s $5,166 in 1991.

          In Connecticut, the Big Mac combo will set you back $18. That’s the price of a luxury meal at the Reb’s favorite restaurant. The average across America’s 13,500 McDonald’s restaurant is just over $13.69. I’m not the only one who’s noticed there is nothing for $1 on the $1 menu. Trump continues to slam dunk the former Democrat bastion states as they keep him solidly in focus as their gag orders have the opposite effect. Am I the only one who notices mental illness runs in some families? (If so, the public should not be paying to house them.) I took 90% of the day off.

           You get like one picture of my broken camera lens shutter. Maybe I’ll look into the shed later, but down time is not a luxury around here. I watched more of the Mongolian worm movie, it moves too slow but I’m going out on a limb here. Around 1994, I went to a show at the Commodore ballroom up in Vancouver, Canada. There is a posh club a few doors down and I dropped in there afterward. I have a habit of hitting on the best looking gal in the place, I have no fear of rejection. So if I’m rejected, it is by the best.
           Well, I am 99% sure I at least chatted up that actress. I know nothing about her, but I will look it up later. That is her, she was a table with other women and I focused on her a few minutes before moving on. She was receptive and very smart but the others were not and I moved on. There she was, staring at me on the movie screen, she was a little less blonde back then but she had a perfect figure. That’s why I remember her so well. I got nowhere, but I tried.

           A documentary on the A7, the box-like German tank of WWI, got my attention because they filmed it from the inside. How they got 23 men in there I dunno, but 20 of the tanks had no chance against the Allies who would use 300 in one attack. The design is maligned a lot, but it worked reasonably well with its 200HP engine over dry level ground, when that was available. It was this tank’s disadvantages that let to the success of the early panzers in the next war.
           At a time the British and French tanks were still using signal flags, the Germans equipped every tank built after 1935 with a radio, and a damn good one at that. Panzer divisions would not have been possible without this ability to coordinate movement. Cavalry was more maneuverable than some tanks, but they had no way to communicate over the horizons. Even the almost toy-like Pzkw I with a radio could round them up.

Picture of the day.
Suspected Russian “Enigma” station.
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           I went for a nap before noon and woke up at 7:30PM. Told ya, fatigue gets more interesting with age. In the end, I had to follow my rule of getting something constructive done every day. An hour and a half later, the speaker cabinet is now resplendent with two coats of cherry stain. It’s not my favorite but I like it. This entailed removed all the hardware, including the screws. I drilled countersink holes that fit those plugs somebody gave me. It’s rather exclusive as far as road gear goes. This time each step was done proper, including two sandings, one with 80 and then 150 grit.

           Then I went back to the upgraded lumber planks and gave them a coat of a product I have not used before. Wood conditioner. It is supposed to even out the way the wood takes an oil-based stain. Let’s hope it makes a different because at ten buck for a half-pint, I want results. It has an aroma I never imagined, kind of like a faint walnut or almond but chemical as if they were slightly over-ripe

           It was pitch dark when I quit, since we switched to savings time on the weekend. A nice breeze let me work outside with these products but it was still muggy like the Everglades. I see animal control has been through. The squirrels and raccoon are gone, well, for now, they have an infinite supply of replacements. That’s today, folks. Unless you want to hear about how I lost my best tape measure. I think it’s fair, I get a break, you get a break. But no slacking off. I have not intentionally wasted a day in at least 50 years.
           That I saw forlornly, because of the downhill slide this country has been on. When I was growing up, there were plenty of examples to prove if you worked reasonably hard and kept your nose clean, you could have a decent life. Anybody born with the slightest advantage would have an easy life. I noticed the decline around 1985, though it was surely there before. Now, you had to bust your ass to make ends meet. Everything you tried to get ahead you ran afoul of something or somebody in the system.
           Prices climbed as fast as your union could negotiate a raise. Cars soared in price and real estate had begun a speculative climb that would last forty years. Thank my lucky stars and myself I’m not still in Miami paying rent.

ADDENDUM
           Jet lag without the jet. I’m now wide awake at 4:30AM watching “Red Dawn”, the 2012 version where there are fewer babes. The movie ended and linked to the next, called “The Way Back”. I believe I read this book years ago. These men escape from a gulag and walk thousands of miles to India. I’ll watch it a bit and let you know. They’ve made it into the forest, but if this is the same story, it is a pretty loose adaptation. They left out all kinds of details I thought were great, like the real planning for the escape. If they head for Lake Baikal, it’s the same story. The movie is different enough that it’s like different tale, so I’m still watching.
           Yes, it’s the same, they’ve met the Polish girl who escaped the collective farm. It is now 4:40AM and I’m going to lie down.

Last Laugh