One year ago today: September 30, 2023, a typical loser.
Five years ago today: September 30, 2019, no guard rails.
Nine years ago today: September 30, 2015, the Kodak monopoly.
Random years ago today: September 30, 2008, probably poisonous.
We awake to the news that hick politico, Fetterman, gets arrested for punching a barista at Stabucks. Barista is the cover word they use because they probably can’t legally call them retards, so this incident is a 2-for-1. What do I have against Starbucks? I told you, they destroyed the American tradition of the free refill, but I also don’t like their collective attitude. That if you don’t like the way they do things, like having the cashier enrolling new members while you are waiting in line for half your coffee break, you need anger management. They really push this, that if you are not tickled pink over their system, you are some worn out old Boomer who can’t keep up with how the world is changing. Like you are the one who created the mess they are in.
Let me get my bearings. Okay, I worked in the shed until 6:30PM and it gets dark by 7:30PM. That means the camera time of 4:15AM is probably wrong. I will move the setting to take a full minute of video, at least for this type of capture. Other footage shows this is the old, old raccoon that was drinking from the wheelbarrow. She entered from the north, so she’s in that patch of trees where the three adjacent properties meet.
There, I feel better already. That also applies to my shoulders, I know you were all rooting for me over that one. There’s mild pain, but the pain of unused muscle mass being unlimbered. It’s a muggy after-hurricane day but we never know which September 30th will be my last. What adventure can we find in a land singularly lacking anything of that nature. You want fun in Florida? Either make it yourself or bring your credit cards. All of them. Left to its own resources, Florida will kind of just sit there working two fingers at opposite ends.
It’s not all roses, once you hit 60, most health issues are a tradeoff. The returned feeling and movement is not just my shoulders, but my whole back. And that includes the pain in my lower spine. I see now there always was some connection which is now present when I’m lying down. Never before have I been this apprehensive of a medical procedure. This month, including the heater, A/C, that new PA head, and others, I was hit for an extra $738. Even with my standard conservation measures, my food bill is still double that of 2020. But, between playing gigs and thus not going out and spending, my entertainment bill is half.
Experimenting with the GameCam, that’s game as in wild animals. It did not work much for monitoring the street traffic, but then it was a bad environment with leaves and wind, plus likely too far back from the road. So I took it in the shed all morning while I tended to routines and discovered neither of the two donated Dells have any sound hardware build in. I doubt I have any expansion cards left. The local stores will give that goof stare if you ask for them, like their new gear is any better. The rest of the computer checks out but over time I’ve forgotten various setting. All of it (XP) has to be relearned.
How did the camera fare inside the shed? Great at what it is supposed to do, taking action videos. The setting was 15 seconds, which is too short a duration for the way I enter a scene. It gives me just enough time to pick something up. There are setting for 30 seconds, 60 seconds, or 3 minutes. We’ll try all, don’t assume longest is best, as that means if I leave to get something from the silo, that’s a lot of empty footage. We know 100 fifteen-second recording fill up half an 8Gig memory disk.
It would take some clever planning, but yes, this could be used for a poor man’s time lapse or a short video. The infrared setting is spooky, but the daytime camera is more than great for amateur production. An hour later, what’s this? A rat. If you happen to be looking directly at the camera in subdued light, you can see it operate—but I could not see what was tripping it. Something in the direction of the white shed. Then I heard it. Where there’s one, there’s more.
Large pool hall.
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Here’s our darling again, moving slowly toward Howie’s place. It’s making sense, there is nothing to eat in the shed. It is a safe and covered passage between the trees and the tall grass behind Howie’s shed. What’s a mystery is the sheer number of tracks, as in humdreds of them every day over the same area. I guess we’ll know soon. Time to get the software up, and maybe leave the light on to get this in color.
I was in the silo for three hours. Not getting much work done, but installing software and generally enjoying the outdoor setting. The silo is exceptionally well built to be a hurricane refuge and it is habitable with just a fan running. A 20” fan. It had only radio until this morning, now we have memes, what a riot. Trump called Harris mentally impaired, gaining him another million votes for saying what everybody knew. Tens years ago they could have forced Trump to apologize, but that was the artificial era of political correctness that heralded the downfall of the Democrats. They thought they had the opposition by the short and curlies, terrified to even criticize a Democrat for fear of being labeled racist.
Most people knew something was wrong, but part of the tactic is to make such people feel isolated, like they are the only one not confirming. Then Trump came down that escalator and provided a rallying point. At that instant, they lost their grab for power, but it would take another ten years for them to realize it. To add to Harris’ woes, the ad she plaster the airwave with showing Trump farmers switching to Democrats has been exposed. It was two paid actors, both long-term Democrat donors. Oops. Now they have supporters saying the hurricane is God’s way of punishing MAGA. These people sure know how to lose an election.
The sentiment at this stage is people expect the Democrats are going to just go ahead and steal the election and dare anybody to do anything about it. That would be a serious mistake. Tomorrow the longshoremen strike, demanding a 32% raise—so it could be a long one. You think food is expensive now? Remember what happened when they shut down the west coast? This will be much more effective. We have enough food here for 45 days. This just in, Califormia has outlawed voter ID. Few things spell desperation better. Most people are aware the Democrats just want Harris as a figurehead to take flak while their bureaucrats run things in the background.
The State Media is claiming Trump’s statements over Harris’ mental state are “vicious and dangerous attacks” by Trump who has fallen out of the picture and is trying to attention to himself. Meanwhile, this is the cheapest house for sale near Nashville. It’s out in Hendersonville and there must be something the matter with it. Asking price is $179k, so we know it is broken. Careful, some of the listings are fakes, the price listed is an auction minimum.
ADDENDUM
Hmmm, the 40:1 fuel-oil mix seems to give some people the heebie-jeebies. So, I’ll tell you the easy way to do it, provided one passed sixth-grade arithmetic, and I’ll even explain why the mix. First why. These two-stroke motors require the piston be oiled on every stroke. An injection mechanism is complicated and expensive. You will see two common ratios, 40:1 and 50:1. There are others, and the following explanation will work for those as well. Be as careful as you are able because a mixture too lean will score your piston and too rich will foul the plug and coat the cylinder.
The trick is to apply logic. A mix of 40:1 means you will wind up with 41 units of mixture. I say units, because that is what you need to calculate. I advise you to take a single can and use it to mix all the time, with the amounts indelibly marked on the can. When you mix, do not shake the can, but swirl it. You do not want bubbles. If you need more mix, pour the mixture into another can and repeat. This fuel mixture is reputed to last 222 days, but anything over 60 days risks condensation.
If you can buy it, usually at marine outlets (some will refuse to dispense except into boats), you are looking for 90 octane or better that has no ethanol Ethanol is distilled corn alcohol and it does not keep, absorbs moisture, and coats the lining of your carburetor or injectors. Avoid it, but it works if you use up the whole tank immediately and instead of turning the motor off, let it run dry.
Now the fun part. I mentioned you will get 41 units of mixture. Since you only have to do this once for each motor, use a calculator. What are your units? Are they ounces, pints, milliliters, or gallons? Determine the volume of your mixing container. Mine is 32 fluid ounces or 947 milliliters. Take that volume and divide it by 41. There’s your answer.
32 fluid ounces divided by 41 equals. 0.78 fluid ouncesFor reasons unknown, nobody has ever marketed a container of 41 ounces, with a metal cap for measuring one ounce. This explains my 32 ounce mixing can. I mix 30 ounces at a time, adding 3/4 ounce of oil. I have a large syringe that makes it exact. I also recommend that you take your time with this mixture and if possible make it a separate operation. Now you have earned some trivia.
941 milliliters divided by 41 equals 23.1 milliliters.
What is a fluid ounce? It dates back to English custom. It is a measurement of pure water that weighs exactly an ounce. However the units are volume, not weight, so expect a fluid ounce of other liquids to weigh more or less than an ounce. A fluid ounce of mercury would weight 13-1/2 ounces and a fluid ounce of gasoline weighs 2/3 of an ounce. Trust the English to come up with something like this. Um, a fluid ounce of air would weight apparently nothing.
