ne year ago today: March 23, 2023, a doggies best friend?
Five years ago today: March 23, 2019,Goodwill “husband hunting”?
Nine years ago today: March 23, 2015, Bud on the beach.
Random years ago today: March 23, 2009, 45% off.
No gig tonight, a last minute cancellation. What was that lady’s name at the Legion? Last evening I popped downtown late. The entertainer was a solo guitar with backing tracks. It’s pretty good if it’s done right and he certainly invested a lot in his sound. I still prefer live music but I stuck around for an hour. I mean it when I say the Wednesday jams are a waste of time. It was a fantastic show, with that xylophone, but none of the other staff even heard any mention of it. That also means they have no empathy to people who drive many miles to attend the jam for nothing.
This diagram shows a circuit that operates on this effect. You may note how similar it is to the PNP circuit Wilford and I are examining. Shown here, the LEDs are operated by a signals from the input pins labeled down the leftmost edge. My design would not use diodes, but PNP transistors. Getting back to Charlieplexing, it works partially on a principle we’ve covered before, that you can turn a light off by adding an equal and opposite current. Things are a bit more involved using the Arduino. There are four states that two pins can exist in, that is both pins positive or negative, and where there is one of each. To complicate things, there is also another state where you can simply disable the Arduino pin.
Don’t try this at home, it won’t work. For openers the Arduino will barely drive the ten pins need for an 8x8 grid. The coding is intense enough to slow the microcontroller. Relays are not fast enough to keep the LEDs lit, remember, they are not actually “on”, they are flashing faster than your POV. You can look up your own demos or simulations of Charlieplex projects. Some of them are pretty resourseful. My dessign uses the controller to supply only base current, the transistors have their own power supply. I have a long way to go.
In other news, I can’t raise JZ by phone, I like to give a few day’s notice before I show up. I plan to leave a day in advance so I can take the scenic route around Lake Okeechobee. Maybe check if the lake is still there since you can’t see if from the north, west, or south. The town of Okeechobee is miles from the lake and it is mostly one big trailer park. Rumor is every tenth one is a meth lab. The area has one thing in common with Texas, as Bryne points out. Unless you inherited land or a house there twenty years ago, you are out of luck. There is no other economy around Okeechobee than sugar cane and that is 100% syndicate operated.
Tyson Foods are getting walloped. To me, the only effective economic sanction that works in America is the Boycott; With earlier outfits (Salvation Army, Target, Bud Light) there was some apathy, but by now the action is direct and rapid. And Tyson gets it with both barrels for shutting down American plants and opening new ones hiring only illegals. I urge people to make these Boycotts permanent. We do not want them to reform, we want them out of business. I am fully aware Tyson had its reasons but they went too far. How bad are woketards? Bill C-372 would give jail time to anyone who speaks positively about fossil fuels.
And no mercy on the New York landlady arrested for changing the locks on her house to get rid of squatters until we know who she voted for. That’s the dividing line between a victim and getting what she deserves. The lesson here is never involve the polcie in a civil matter like evictions.. It’s not alike anybody who lives in New York doesn’t know somebody who will do anything for fifty bucks. The MSM buried the report pretty deep, but the Attorney General in New York says Trump doesn’t have to pay that ridiculout $464 million dollar fine. The Left is incensed.
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)l
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Hokkaido milk, ever heard of it? From northern Japan where there are actuallly flat enough areas to dairy farm. Around half of adult Japanese are lactose intolerant, so there was not much milk production before schooll lunches were introduced. The problem is that feed costs so much, around half the cost of the cow. But on the other hand, it provides steady income, unlike most Japanese seasonal food crops. I want to try this milk, it is reputed to be very pure, pasteurized, and with a natural hint of vanilla flavor. Are you with me on this?
What other top events occurred today, even it was nothing? Hey, Ken, this is so you can compare it to one of your “nothing days”. First, I could not find any Hokkaido milk except these tiny 200 ml packets, the size if a Junior Juice. The price tag is $6.75 each, the same as a share in the Reggae prouject. Which will I choose. The Prez wants to schedule a rehearsal Sunday afternoon. That’s a good idea after over a month off, or a band starts to comp again. I replied I would try to contact either Jay or the new couple about song lists or attendance, but I can tell you right now none of those parties will have a fraction of the dedication to cause needed for even this casual group.
We are also in the process of changing some tunes for a more contemporary sound, which requires attention to detail that’s hard to recruit in others. I’m goinng to build another box to relax and I’m hearing wee critter sounds under the floor of my bathroom. There are a hundred ways for things to sneak into this cabin and it’s best to scare them off. This time of year, it’s likely baby rats. If the peach tree buds, it should be this week. I’m also planning to dissect a brushless (computer fan) motor. These have no commutator, but rely on electronics to keep changing the polarity of a ring of small magnets so some are always “pushing” the core around.
JZ was on the phone, good, because there is nobody around here to talk with. There are plenty you can talk to, but not with, as in there is no two-way information. While I don’t give JZ advice which he would not take anyway, the influence is there and that now extends to keeping a cash reserve. He never used to do that, now we discuss minimums, and if you recall, he is privy to the internal workings of my Caltier portfolio. It was with great interest he took the news of the recent sales, thining it would take a lot longer, and it a way so did I. But it is like stocks, buying is easy, deciding when to sell is not.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’s on the verge of finding a hobby. While I view hobbies as something to do when you get old, others think it is an admission of doing so. I imagine it’s bad enough to have nothing to do, much less lacking the skills to develop anything. So the sooner you get underway, the better.
ADDENDUM
More on Caltier. I like the alternative fund already. Decisions like this are never rushed, but meanwhile here’s more data on the operation. A whopping 85% of Caltier investors use the re-investment option. But only 16% use auto-invest. Caltier stresses they never see you banking information, but that also means they could upset your balances if you are not vigilant. I can’t link you to any info, as this offering requires a log-on. Called Caltier Inc Reg A, it has only been around for 17 days but you can buy in for as little as $189. It is already being called the “reggae fund”. It’s $6.75 per share suubject to rules and no fractional shares.
Another caution is that such investments rarely produce a cash flow. Those not willing to go the distance should steer clear. Investing in a startup can take years before it grabs a market share. Caltier has not said, but they do not have real estate in mind. It’s a risk, but a risk that people with deep pockets are readily attracted to. You can imagine if there ever was a loss, they have the political clout yo block it or bail themselves out. The rules of that game are well known. I’ll give myself time to decide, but you’ll be among the first to know.
