June 21, 2024

Yesteryear
One year ago today: June 21, 2023, incompatible US pipes.
Five years ago today: June 21, 2019, a relaxed couple.
Nine years ago today: June 21, 2015, another Miami flat.
Random years ago today: June 21, 2014, 44 devices.

           An early start is good on days like this one, hotter than Florida. How those pioneers made it sometimes mystifies me. I’m total enjoying the book on ships that changed history partly because I’m familiar with many of the ships already. For example, Great Eastern, the ship that placed the first successful transatlantic cable. I knew about that, but not that it was haunted, never sailed full of passengers, and the only profit she made was when scrapped, the copper sold for a good price. I was fascinated by how the Monitor and Merrimack were crewed, and why. They indeed did damage due to their ability to sail right up to wooden ships and blast them to pieces. Such advantages last only until the enemy does the same.

           Here’s JeePee getting his vitamin D. I gave him just an hour, as there really is no place to get away from the heat in that back yard. I know, millions of years of evolution, but this guy is one of the happiest. I suspect the tyke has not had any mashed spuds since I was last here. Sadly, the videos of him going wild on the stuff did not turn out.

           I took more measurements of that back door. I’ve never been keen on leasehold improvements, or anything you have to leave behind. This pillar is a bigger job that meets the eye and I didn’t bother bringing the drill I keep just for this place. What happens is the wood swells when it is hot and brother, it is hot. To make it fit will create a gap when it cools. The new jam would be wide enough to seal it, but there is no easy way to affix it to the existing frame.
           Thus, you can find me at the wonderfully air-conditioned library until after the mid-afternoon inferno. I’ll need supplies from the lumber yard, I cannot believe I’ve used up all that lumber I stored under the porch just a few years ago. Even the shed door needs attention. One cabin is enough for me. And I have not yet seen the most expensive lawnmower of my life yet. If I find it, here are pictures of three gas mowers I got running.

Picture of the day.
Nile River seaport.
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           Here I am, practically in the country music capital of the universe, and do I head out to a cowboy bar? Nope, I shop for some hardware, walk the dogs, and go over to Old Hickory for a coffee. Here it is folks, the big event of the afternoon. Buying these hillbilly cupboard hooks, they have a technical name, something like hook & eye. They are for the doggie gate, which I notice has needed replacing for a couple years. And for the porch as temporary while I fit the new pieces.

           That porch door has become a focal point for the boys and I. JeePee in the playpen, the boys lending moral support. As for the Reb’s company, nothing. Not even volunteering to help. Well, gee, some might say, maybe they are not handy fixing things. Hey, I learned, didn’t I? Somebody left some tools in the shed, they are getting put to good use. Some of them are pneumatic, the owner likely thinking they’ll not get touched. I mean, who shows up with a compressor and air lines to work these tools.

           It was a quiet evening, mostly JeePee and I. I have a second book on ships, this time about the exclusive club of five-star admirals of the US Navy. I believe there were four of them back when the Navy was more concerned with boats than with airplanes and missiles. I guess, because I could name four. Halsey, Nimitz, King, and Spruance. The book will tell me if I got that right. None were sailors, but all from professional military families, backgrounds, and academies. Everything in the USA sooner or later becomes a bureaucracy and those with relatives to show them the politics always take the better positions regardless of who is the most qualified.
           I’ll get you details of this second book, the first one is still being read. Something as simple as the weight of the book can determine its readability. You see, I read myself to sleep, been doing that for some sixty years and I have the ex-girlfriends to prove it. If a book is too heavy, I’ll drop it with a thump and such tomes have to wait for coffee breaks, holidays, and time off.
           Here’s JeePee enjoying a carrot salad, turtle style The format is MP4, there is sound.

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