One year ago today: May 21, 2023, the dogs didn’t bother.
Five years ago today: May 21, 2019, my back is turned.
Nine years ago today: May 21, 2015, slam-dunk coffee.
Random years ago today: May 21, 2011, evil cookies.
Hot curry rice for breakfast, the birdies got seed & suet and the weather lady says it will be over 90°F by noon. I’ll contact the shop about that eBay account, as I have some things I’d like to sell as well, such as the BeatBuddy drum pedal I never use. Thinking I’ll need something a bit more accurate than the slingshot, I’ll price out the cheapest good BB gun, the kind where the spring aways wears down and the pellet only stings the critter. Maybe a Daisy, the favorite model of all the one-eyed kids. It’s not hot yet, so I have all the windows open in the cabin and the coffee on. Who could ask for anything more?
I would stress to the reader that this air rifle will NOT kill a squirrel. It is a $40 BB gun that will scare him, and if he’s hit might sting his arse a bit. Here’s the next stage in squirrel control. Yes, some folks may see it as cruel, but rodent control is not an option around here. What’s cruel is letting them get used to free food and overriding their instincts. Over the years I’ve spent a lot of money and time and this BB gun is a deterrent.. It’s a Daisy that take three pumps just to get the ammo to clear the barrel, if it was any slower, you’d see it. We shall see.
I’m getting edgy on the silence from Caltier entering their fourth week of “currently paused” status. It’s not worry, as the rest of the site seems operating as usual. One of the parameters I watch when available is now much unit rental increases once the fund renovates a property. It appears to be around $150 per month per unit. Still, some explanation would be nice. If you look at their web page, you are seeking Fund 1. I remind you this is NOT an REIT. I will give them another half-day to reply to my notes.
Today a half-million California workers start earning the $20 minimum wage, while a million lose their jobs over it. Silver holds at above $32, showing a real resistance to bank pressure. I found the power supply to the BeatBuddy, the drum machine pedal that turned out way to fussy to work with. In the end, I failed to find anyone to help with the drum box I designed for stage work. Imagine, a drum box that was pre-programmed to play specific tunes at the right speed.
Last this morning, I had to make a grocery run. There were not a lot of smiling people in the checkouts. As I’ve said, the CPI is meaningless, if you count only those things most people must buy, the inflation rate is 40% minimum. The cheapest eggs, which were 92¢ per dozen under Trump, are now $1.88. I got home and cranked the A/C up, fell asleep and did not wake up until 9:00PM, thereby missing Festus Tuesday. The average private sector hourly wage in the USA is now around $34 (Labor Stats. Still not enough to buy a house.
Samoan swimming pool.
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Whew, I had to walk across the parking lot at noon. It’s an inferno again for the rest of the summer. I’m making a template to cut most of my scrap lumber into “Jenga” blocks which are the shape of a small vacuum tube box. They are meant as markers when a tub is removed from the tray, as I found it easy to put the boxes in order. The trick is to keep them that way. I do not yet know what works best. The dimensions are exactly 1x1x3, but I may make them a bit taller to make them easier to move around. No word back on the eBay account. Let’s see what happened in the world during my extended siesta today.
I’m out of boxes. The truck is late, that’s what my contact at Dollar Tree said. He’ the guy who keeps the Jumex boxes for me. He showed me in the back the space where they keep the juice. Empty, he said the truck did not even arrive last week. It’s uncanny how Florida knows I needed those boxes, innit? We still have grocery stores by choice in Florida. Have you seen California? The looting has caused so many closures the State has a law you must give six months notice and, I heard, you can’t close at all unless you have another grocery store to take your place.
This joins the law that you can’t sell you property and leave the State or your will be taxed and fined. In other words, California compels you stay where you will be robbed. Here’s a stop sign where there used to be a traffic light in Oakland, CA. The homeless stole the copper wire that used to operate the lights.
Up late, I read two long articles. One was about the Raptor engine that Musk developed for his Falcon rocket. The numbers are impressive but I’ve known since I first looked at the V2 rocket how this is done. The V2 burns a mixture of liquid gas and oxygen. The Raptor converts the liquids to a gas first. The other topic was some alternate uses of universal plotting sheets. This includes calculating the distance and bearing between two locations out on the ocean, and also plotting a course. Not bad, considering I first set out only to learn how to use a sextant.
This is how I first learned of Linqto, a private investment firm that looks at rockets. They require you be accredited (think “worth a million dollars”) so I’m looking only. It is now later and I am capping Caltier at half the goal of $50,000 because of this unexplained “pause for compliance”. I did not say it was wrong, I said I do not like it. I have sent them e-mails twice inquiring an explanation “in ten words or less”. Zero response.
ADDENDUM
Having tested the BB gun, it’s a fun gun, but not a toy. It is remarkably well-made and the design is excellent. I have the .177 model, so if I need, it can use pellets. Pumped ten times, it would surely make kill shots. Provided your prey hangs around that long while you are working the lever. It has all the features, including a safety, visible magazine, and adjustable sights. It is quite accurate out to 30 feet, that’s the range needed to patrol the yard.
There is a twig near the papaya tree I use to calibrate the sights and I’m as good as I ever was out to 55 feet, but folks, the decline is obvious to me. I’ll set up a couple targets further away to find my maximum and optimum ranges but I can consistently hit a standard “four-inch” target at 65 feet. I am happy with this purchase, I call it a Daisy or BB gun generically, it is actually a Crosman 760 Pumpmaster.
Birdies, I like, but things with long, leathery tails just have to move on. The season gives us cool this month, from 6:30AM to around 10:00AM. This is my favorite typing time, so it conflicts things a bit to get me outside. There are no coffee machines in the yard. Also, you don’t want to be running power tools that early, though somebody could mention that to the church guy.
