One year ago today: February 12, 2024, 16 million drunks.
Five years ago today: February 12, 2020, a bucket of periwinkles.
Nine years ago today: February 12, 2016, 8 hours is bull.
Random years ago today: February 12, 2011,the Wall-O-Matic.
It was the year 2012 I associated most with vehicles now being deliberately built so they would be difficult to repair. It was obvious to me because of the stupendous effort required to disguise the fact. Well, my 2007 Hyundai dispels that myth. The major changes are integrated parts (so you have to replace the entire headlamp assembly), special tool requirements, and non-interchangeable electronics. I did not know they even made a 11.5mm socket, where an 11mm won’t fit and a 12mm or the nearest standard gauge rounds the head corners off.
What’s this, the biggest tube sale to date. Check with me later, I’m taking the rest of the day off. A pair of rare RCA tubes, although I have not yet accepted the offer which is 24% below asking price—but the customer wants both and I’m easy.
The day was mostly spent in the van, novel enough to have its own tale from the trailer court these days. Nothing much else on my social calendar. I took the scenic route via Winter Haven, Haines City, and Kissimmee out to west Orlando. I shun that city, it has an artificial atmosphere and lacks character. This also meant I drove one of the worst road systems in a state known for bad planning. I see they are building a new road to Bartow, which predictably ends four miles north of town. Highways that end in T-intersections in the middle of nowhere are a Florida trademark.
I made two wrong turns. I’ve been on these roads before by motorcycle, which is easy to turn around. Not so, I have a situation to report that is probably wrong, but this is what appears to happen. This town called Poinciana has a toll road that is NOT marked or designated on Google maps. The entrance seems designed to look like the one you want that is another mile down the road, just out of sight. My GPS is set to ignore toll roads, yet this is the second time I got no warning on that route. Has some millennial discovered a way to remotely turn off the GPS filter? In theory, it's feasible. And, once you make that turn, there is no way to turn around before going through the photo-toll gate. My advice is avoid these gates as the photograph of your vehicle goes into a permanent profiling of your private life. No big deal at this time, but still, avoid them if you can.
Another business wiped out in America is the roadside coffeeshop. Nothing but franchises and gas stations left. The trip one-way is 62 miles and took me three hours each way, as I hit Orlando and noon and again at rush hour. And slurping a 16oz big gulp of coffee at a gas station with no place to sit down is not my idea of taking a break.
Latest far side of the Moon.
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This was a pleasure trip, I did not really have a shopping list. I found one of those 30W German soldering irons that is really 30W, you be careful with the hotter ones, they are for soldering wire, not delicate components. I spend over an hour just walking around. It would, I think, take a month to go through everything they’ve got. I found the proper switch for my van, but have not tested it yet. I had to get back on the road or risk driving the last hour in the dark against vehicles with their LED headlights blinding people.
Yep, I got caught in the dark. To avoid the worst of Orlando, I took Highway 50 west to Clermont, the citrus tower place. Then south to Deen Still, and old cut-off into Auburndale. I see around 300 other people had the same plan, yet this still saved an hour. I listened to the audio book and it is now deep into the drama. Alice has left Bennett after his father smacked her. Margaret, the radical one, is pregnant. There is a flood which turns out was worsened by the breach of a pond full of poisonous mine tailings. One of the library apprentice gals lost her mother’s custom made Cadillac with leather seats in the flood. While rescuing children, of course. And Alice has the hots for the guy who donated the library land and building. Smooth
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Here’s an item I have not used in years, a DIP switch. They were common at the phone company. DIP stands for “dual inline package” but these have a variety of names including “piano switches”. Imagine this one with a black casing and it makes sense. In total confirmation of my long bachelorhood, I’m designing a rack for my clothes worn once. Not a clothes horse, but something more substantial. While I am not immune to Florida hot and can sweat up a storm, I’m not a sweaty person. I can wear my shirts twice or three times in light weather, so I want a rack I can hand my worn-once work shirts. I think six is about right, a half a washer load I say we give that a try.
ADDENDUM
I discovered there are three common control designs for brushless motors, a study from y’day. They are mechanical design, a sensor, and the Hall Effect. The only one I’d pursue is the sensor, which can be adjusted by microcontrol. Speed, in every case is determined by PWM, pulse width modulation.
