May 30, 2024

Yesteryear
One year ago today: May 30, 2023, outside the sushi place.
Five years ago today: May 30, 2019, yes, I’ve panhandled.
Nine years ago today: May 30, 2015, creative whining?
Random years ago today: May 30, 2018, a wasted day.

           What’s this, the second time in a year, I have bass player’s elbow and now a touch of thumb cramp. I’m well past any limits normal for any of this, I still play bass roughly an hour each day—on average. That excludes days traveling or visiting and so on. I rarely play less than six tunes twice each, once for memory and once for any nuances I can add. This morning I played “Lady Madonna”, an old Beatles hit. It has the closest I’ll play to a jazz bass line. I don’t think the Prez likes the song but it fits most of our criteria.

           So the New York governor called the thousands at the Bronx rally a bunch of clowns. Does anybody know what ex-governors do for a living? JZ finally answered his phone, he’s still got symptoms which I say is because he got the jab. But don’t argue with rich people, they don’t care if you are right, ha-ha. Do you want to know why JZ never learned to strum or drum? The real reason is stage fright. I know the concept, many people never write their book fearing it won’t be a bestseller. It’s a common condition, they don’t mind making mistakes in private, but an audience changes all that.
           Poor JZ, I tend to talk his ears off because there is nobody to talk over here. There’s a difference, I don’t care of somebody had dropped out of college, because you can tell right away they’ve been there. I do meet people who have finished school around here but they rarely are working their area of expertise. No, I don’t meet a lot of database managers. So how does that affect matters? Well, they are still educated but they have used it differently than myself. I have no inclination to join sports clubs or societies, nor engage in showy community activities and put on such airs.

           A couple hours in the yard, I did okay. Here’s the latest in slingshot handles. Notice the metal core? That won’t break ever. For those of you who say that looks a lot like the water hose faucet from Tennessee that broke in a week, good eye. A last minute count shows one of the twenties in the cash drawer was a fifty. Looks like we’ll be eating fine tonight. First, some target practice, see addendum for more info. I found my drill bits and guess which size I am missing? I know I had one, here the rest are soaking in oil (below) because they have not been used in a year. This shows the 1-1/2” bit, but typically, I’m missing the correct size. Later, I realize this photo is very hard to see, but unless it breaks any rules, once posted, a picture stays.

           No sign of my neighbor, however. His mom is still not well, so I’m keeping an eye on the place. He is around to feed all the cats, however. After years, the feral cats are still suspicious of me. By 10:30AM it 88°F so it’s shopping time, we’ll sidestep today’s after-rain sweat time. The Trump judge ordered the jury to return a guilty verdict by 10:00AM (the version you heard may differ), so let’s check GAB first. Their comments are almost instant these days.

Picture of the day.
Antanarivo.
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           One hour’s shopping, $44 for groceries. Up yours, Biden. The guy does not dare walk down a street anymore. He wiped out people’s savings and tried to blame it on Trump, which didn’t work. The jury is still out, not a good sign considering rumor has it that they have been told it’s eithr guilty or they will be sent back for deliberation until it is. The MSM are focusing on reports like Trump “shuffled” out the room looking “dour” and his attorneys looked “exhausted”. This trial, generally regarded as a fake, was supposed to tarnish Trump’s reputation, but instead it has solidified his support. Polls show the outcome will shift no significant votes either way. That has got to be hurting the Biden people.

           I don’t know what this judge is thinking but it is obvious he’s on the take. He doesn’t fear losing his job over misconduct, which does not happen in real life. History books are already labeling him the Benedict Arnold of our era. And now he must convict Trump or face consequences when Trump becomes his boss. It’s a good thing I have a batch of chicken and some muffins in the oven. Blueberry muffins, spiked with cranberries and chocolate chips. Yes, there’s enough for everybody.

           I made it to Harbor Freight, where I had to pick up the whole set to get my 1/1/4” drill bit. While there, see someone had opened one of the boxes with the $22 brass sextant. This enabled me to see and handle the piece and my advice is don’t waste your money. It really is brass, with a good heft for its size. This means with a bit more attention to accuracy in the milling and stamping, they could have made this into a reasonably good working device. They did not. The sights don’t align, the scale is wrong, and the micrometer is a fake. All the pieces are there, so it is a mystery why they exerted the extra effort to make it non-functional.
           While I’ve got you on this topic, watch out for similar rip-offs, and one you might not expect is Cassens & Plath an otherwise reputable European supplier. They offer a sextant chronograph, which is actually a Casio wristwatch set to GMT in a plastic clip. Price tag is 181 Euros.
           That’s where I saw this radio room clock, shown here since I doubt most of you will have ever seen one. Why? Because ships no longer have radio rooms. This clock is set to GMT and marked with red and green “no send” zones. These corresponded to two different emergency frequencies where traffic was to stop and all points listen for distress calls. I think it had something to do with the Titantic but I’m too tired to look it up.

           Ah, some cloud cover just past 4:00PM. I was out there sinking two posts for the new shed wall, raking a space in the lean-to, and moving parts of the old Sears saw, my first table say that never did work right. I may have some good news on that. The post hold digger is always a workout but it is done and I have the tarp over the frame. I still have to get that old tree stump down and my chain saw is too small for the job. We’ll get it.
           Moving the saw turned into a major operation. It is solidly built, but somehow the blade or shaft has been damaged and it never cut true. The move reveals the base and work table are very well built. And, there is some kind of plate near the saw throat that may be designed to accommodate a router. I have the model number and tomorrow, after a planned breakfast of fried grits and sausages, I’ll see if the manual or parts are still available for that. Again, extremely well made, the plate has four inset hex screws and a disk with some sort of inscription.
While this is happening, NPR is ramping up the anti-Trump rhetoric to grotesque proportions. And            Democrats in Illinois, who love to pretend they are addressing issues, have proposed that “offender” is too harsh a term for hardened criminals. They suggest “justice-impacted individual” as the replacement, which would cost millions to change over all the legal documents.

           In late news, Trump has been convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying tax documents. This make him the first president felon and a landmark in historical election interference. Whether this makes any difference, it is the best shot the Democrats have at any chance in the elections. It will instantly to go appeal, but the American system has long been geared to on-going punishment of anyone convicted even if acquitted. There is a question of jail time, timed to occur just before the major Republican election meetings. It is commonly believed the jurors were threatened, in quite legal terms, to obey the will of the prosecution.
           The conviction states that Trump falsified tax records to cover up a payment to a prostitute, who has denied in writing that anything happened.. Even if it did, it was a settlement out of court, which is quite legal in the USA. Apparently one of Trump’s accountants may have declared it a business expense, but the Democrats have now succeeded in building that into a Federal case. Trump’s support is now firmly solidified, which was the opposite of what the other side wanted.

           The DOJ now has ordered Google to release the name and addresses of people who in the past have viewed certain videos. To anyone who said I was paranoid by never giving Google my information in the first place, I’d like to hear you say it again. Ha, serves you right.

ADDENDUM
           Want an invention idea? You know how wet glass can be slippery? Sometimes you don’t want that, but you still want clear class and the ability to see the contents from all sides. Invent something that you can spray on the glass that permanently makes it easy to grip. This comes from set of empty spice bottles I use to keep small quantities of things like mineral spirits and polishing oil on hand at my inside work desk. These come with plastic labels that peel off, leaving a residue.

           That’s where my idea takes over. Once the label is off, a layer of glue remains on the glass. Problem, it is too sticky, so I used acetone to remove it. Until a week ago, when I ran out of curry. This jar could not be cleaned of the glue. I tried turpentine, acetone, goo-gone, degreaser, brake cleaner, and scraped the glass with a razor. It remains slightly tacky, I can tell which two sides had the labels. This is where the idea could be expanded.

           This jar is easier to pick up even with wet hands. It appears clear when cleaned, but after a day or so, the glass gets cloudy again. What I’d buy is a product that leaves this feel to the glass, does not wear off, and remains clear so I can see the contents.
           Another idea less likely to take off is papaya practice. Some way to paste a target on a papaya that does not peel off after ten head shots. That’s the minimum one lies to put between the eyeballs of a detestable person. It solves my surplus papaya problem but makes them harder to eat. Yes, the BB gun easily drills though both sides of a rock-hard unripe papaya., with, if you dislike liberals, makes a rather gratifying sound.
           If you get out to the lab, here’s another idea. Air mattresses, often described as for when you want to sleep on the floor, just not all at once. Why not build a small pump that automatically inflates the mattress as you sleep? Except for the sensor or sensors, all the parts you need including the pumps and power supplies are in the shed.

Last Laugh