August 25, 2024

Yesteryear
One year ago today: August 25, 2023, most popular mug shot.
Five years ago today: August 25, 2019, nearly 90 years.
Nine years ago today: August 25, 2015, Jorge gets the boot.
Random years ago today: August 25, 2003, obscure policies.

           Hello after a series of delays at this end. I disables that “Genie” app on my network adaptor like I have many times before. It is not needed on my system and slows it down running in the background. But this time it also deleted the network adapter drivers. There you go, I can’t get the drivers back without the drives and it is Sunday, so no library. Ah, so now that I have the SATA drive, why not just rig up the 386? Because I cannot find the SATA power plug on that stupid Dell motherboard. It’s there, but I’ll have to trace every wire fron each device until I find it and honestly, I woke up tired.

           So here’s my plan. I’ll get in the van and drive to Frostproof, find a place for a cup of coffee, and call it a day. Except for franchise coffee, it is really difficult to fine a coffee in America these days. That’s another long-term miscalculation I made, that even if I lived to 105, there would always be a mom & pop diner in every small own in America. They were already getting rare in 2012 but COVID wiped them out. The popular attitude is that the Biden administration specifically targeted small cash flow businesses. That’s why he hired 87,000 agents, they say.

           It’s also the reason the Democrats will lose big time if there is anything like a fair election. I had the radio on Tampa all morning, listening to libtards and lawyer commercials. Unbelievable as it seems, they are still trying the old fake announcement route, hoping the lie will take effect before the truth catches up. Instead, they get slammed hard by Internet influencers who in many cases have more supporters and followers than most European governments.
           I dare to think it again—the only way the regime can stop Trump now is to prevent the election and that would mean violence. But this time they are very, very unlikely to get away with it. There is talk that the Marines and 80% of the military elite are read to defect to the Trump side, mind you, that is based on Internet surveys. Remember, I proposed that type of public opinion survey long ago. Instead of using samples, which lately seem to favor the left every time, poll ten or twenty million actual voters.

           And that is what Elon has done on X. The ratios are nearly exact to the ratios this blog is familiar with. That 16% of the country are permanent dupes. I only know three of them in my vast and long-distance group. Pity one is my guitar player, though that is not service-affecting, it means there is nobody to wisecrack about at the gigs breaks. I even avoid a lot of choice on-stage one-liners.

           All this took until noon and tuckered me out. Do I drive to Frostproof, or the bookstore in Davenport? The bookstore in Tampa is slightly closer but has the Tampa atmosphere. Then again, crawling back in the sack is always a Sunday option. Check back later for the update. Later, this photo of the old Frostproof City Hall tells the tale. It’s actually the old city hall, build before the interstate for a city ten times this size. From the looks of the boxes stacked up inside the window, it is used for storage. Let’s take a driving tour of Frostproof, Florida. It was a 68 mile round trip in just under four hours, but I took side roads.
The town is built between two lakes around a half-mile apart. Not a good idea if you are planning on a large downtown. This is the late too the east, which has a small park (entrance shown here) otherwise it is residential only. Time for a random one-liner. A thesaurus is a dinosaur that knows a lot of words.

Picture of the day.
Devon yarn shop.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Frostproof, another decaying old town as the population leaves for the cities, something that’s been going on for 100 years. This was another of the central Florida towns that was probably killed by the freeway being elsewhere. Here is the lake to the west, which had parking, boat launches, and imported sad to make a beach of sorts. This photo looking due west also shows the cranky summer post-storm weather. On the way in I hit patches with visibility down to 60 feet, around four car lengths, then clear sunny skies. You can see one of the Gulf downpours on the horizon and heading straight this way.

           There was what looked like an ice-cream stand, but it was sno-cones. I found no coffee shops open so it was shaved ice with vanilla topping, so I pretended it was ice-cream. The kiddie portion, a full cone size was $5, which I would not mind if it was real. The town has many decrepit buildings that show it was once on the way. An abandoned theater, one old lumber yard, and a pool hall that may have been licensed.

           I don’t normally care for pool halls, I grew up in a small town where that was the only form of entertainment for anyone between 13 and 21. All the drop-outs and toughs hung out there, a bunch I never ran with because they were so boring. I passed the car museum place, but it was closed. Except for vehicles, the town was totally deserted except for a couple families at the lake. That reminds me, I have not set foot in the water since Fort Meyer’s beach, that’s around 15 years ago. There’s a picture of my sno-cone.

           There were a couple good-looking gals in cut-off, but only just and even them because they were teens. There was an ice-cream place as I headed north out of town, but too late, This is definitely Trump territory judging by the lawn signs and other displays, such as what looks like an old train depot turned into a coffee shop. But closed Sundays. In fact, after what the Democrats did to this already failing economy, they would be wise to not spout their philosophies around here.

           Cranking the van AC, I took Scenic Hwy 17 around more side roads through Babson Park. It’s another place I’ve heard about in idle conversation. Another nothing place, one confenience store, no real downtown, it is too close to Lake Wales to ever be more than a bedroom community. The whole terrain is covered with orchards and there are signs of the blight. There are new trees being planted, each in a canvas bag. That coffee shop, see photo, looked unique enough fr me to consider a special trip. The Ultra-MAGA signs all over the side kind of indicate they prefer Trump.
           Did I see anything new or different? No, just more of the town. I likely drove down every major road. Downtown Frostproof is called Wall Street, with around six or eight businesses not including the banks and real estate offices. They have a fitness center. Most all else is boarded up or falling down. They have a McDonalds. The condition of the roads says people commute to Avon Park a lot. I listened to my audio book during the empty stretches, I do not really know the area to the east of Hwy 27. Of the few times I’ve been around there, I’d say this town, if left alone, will probably not exist in another 30 years.

           Since I was around, I used my De Lorme to drive though another couple dots on the map. Fort Meade is larger than I thought. The place’s rough reputation is reinforced by the degree to which abandoned properties are boarded up, locked, fenced, and plastered with warning signs. This concludes our mini-documentary on Frostproof. I think the rainstorms tired me out more than the community. I’m going back to the cabin and staying there.

           Watching “Step Brothers” I was hit by how long since I’ve been to Santa Catalina. There’s scene in the movie, sigh, I think it was 1985, so round it off to 40 years ago, which impacts me a lot more than just the number. No, 40 and 50 years ago does not seem like y’day, I believer that only happens to people who lead nothing lives. In that circumstance, it might as well be y’day. I moved to Florida 25 years ago, quit smoking 21 years ago, and have not had any kind of job in 20 years.
           That’s misleading, but I mean a job-job. The alarm clock and lunch break kind. I now understand the different view point of people who prefer self-employment. I suppose many more would if the had the resources to live while the business builds up. That normally means a head start from daddy, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who really, really did it from scratch. I do know a few who made it through sheer dumb luck, but that is a different subject entirely.

ADDENDUM
           The wild and whacky mix that made this blog the semi-success it is today is partially the random “journal” aspect, but there is a pattern to the themes that recur. One is food, home-cooked healthy food, no special prep, not a lot of secret ingredients. And my chronicle of aging, you know, the small facts and if you want the big picture, either wait or add them up yourself. Today’s example is a scratch. Just the ordinary kind any handyman gets. Last afternoon, and this one would not stop stinging. It did not stop me, but four hours of it. This morning, nothing, just back to a scratch—but something was off kilter for that.
           Now the Maxwell House. I knew the moment I popped the container it was a superior batch. See that look on my face hovering between happy and content? Coffee is a factor on most such occasions. After considerable thought, I’m relocating the last of my accounts and resources away from Miami. This process will take at least six months, and no, I have had no contact with JZ since that woman moved in. The big dog is not testing the fence, I have no news on the new fridge, but could mention I’ve needed a new one of my own the past five years.

Last Laugh