One year ago today: May 22, 2024, “hot” breakfast.
Five years ago today: May 22, 2020, $1.6 billion.
Nine years ago today: May 22, 2016, WIP
Random years ago today: May 22, 2018, I look lawyer-ish.
Do we have a new trend? Scrawling bomb threats on airliner bathroom windows? Good morning. Coffee, news, that’s it, I’m taking the day off, so let’s see what I get done. No word from the Reb except that she’s still away, which I know is a good thing in the entertainment industry. No word from my guitar player, but I have little concert that he’ll find any alternative to a duo. It’s a gamble, but at the speed he is picking things up, he will reach a preference for duo work before he tries a solo act. It’s a long shot, but in Polk County, there are very few people who will not waste your time and I believe he’s figured that out.
Any news? Zimbabwe begins slaughtering elephants for food. There is some kind of pattern here that I can’t quite put my finger on. Trump shook the Plaasmoorte scenes in the face of the S. African leader who could only blubber he didn’t know, That line was also used by the anti-Trump judge who is claiming she forgot what State she lived in. Otherwise, today is a noting-planned day. So I will catalog how things go. It is 9:30AM and I’ve had coffee. Before we continue, take a second look at this compound photo, you have seen both pictures before.
Within the hour, I have orders for eight more, so that is twelve boxes that will be built before I work on my own kitchen floor. But before that, while chatting with the lady two more potentially important issues arose. One, she is the best friend of the owner of that very popular pub in Winter Haven, and they are looking for local entertainers. If I’ve not mentioned the disaffection with Tampa bands out this way, I should have. They are just plain too slick, too formulaic, for their own good.
It turns out she pretty much has the say over who gets hired. I tell you right now a steady gig at a place like that would be a game-changer. Back to the boxes, I did my best to describe them until I can build some samples, and mentioned I would be laser-burning a logo on the wood. Also, I mentioned patience because I had to learn this technology from scratch, as there was nobody-but-nobody to ask for any help. This is where issue number two came up.
At this point, the gal at the far counter looks up, saying she had the exact same experience. As soon as she asked for any help, nobody around here knows nothing, she confirmed exactly what I was talking about. So I leaned forward over the counter to see who my new ally was and ker-pow. Instant total attraction, just like is supposed to happen. But this gal is less than a third of my age and this is no storybook treasure hunt. This was for real, even if it never happens between us, the chemistry was there. For all I know it’s a family unit, so play it by “year”.
Nashville, Arkansas.
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She mentioned she has an artistic side, but no medium to express it—and none of her contemporaries were of any use. Thus, my mention of learning the laser perked her interest. Double that because there is no other way to learn new technology in Florida that I’ve ever found, the closest we ever got was the robot club.
A bit of questioning shows she is computer literate and eager to learn. Meanwhile the owner lady is intrigued by the box design. I assured her it was no idle project, that many boxes were built before this design was settled. She knew about the golden ratio and was impressed by my easy answers to every question about its utility, yes, it has thumb-holes, is easy to stack, and will hold regular size typing/printer paper.
This is the now-standard Z-box design using the thicker “six-inch” fence panels. Shown here, these are carefully chosen from the middle of the lumber lift. We are learning.
Nobody else around here builds such boxes, I’ve a mind to burn serial numbers onto the. Yes, I explained, although I don’t have lumber to build twelve boxes, I have the complete shop and setup and will have at least two boxes ready by tomorrow. She texted me her contact info and another text concerning the night club, indicating they may need somebody in a hurry. More about that should it progress. Because the band is not ready. But we are half-ready.
So next I was downtown to buy the lumber. I my delight, it has dropped by 31% since a couple weeks ago. Trump. This led to questions why I was so keen on the price and which pickets a wanted, why they had to test 11% moisture, etc. I now have another buyer but told him he has to wait his turn. Guess what, he has been drumming since he was 13 and wants to play in a band without incurred the related headaches. I got his contact info.
By now, it is three in the afternoon, siesta time. Before I forget, the artistic gal from the swap meet is, I think, about to have her dreams come true. No, not that, I’m well past that sort of mobility, I mean that beauty of a 3D printer sitting in the shed. The wonder of me and a young lady creating something from nothing and bringing it into the world together even if it is only a gerber file. I’m going to play bass for a half-hour, then grab a needed siesta. How to you like my nothing day so far? I took apart the bass wiring and resoldered the weaker joints, that took twenty minutes. I also redrilled the mounting plate pilot holes and put new screws in case that was the mystery problem.
Cancel the siesta, moments later I receive several new texts, requesting that I commit to returning tomorrow with the sample boxes. Hmmm, what’s happening over there? I mentioned a retail price of $14 which I think she regarded as too low. I would guess she has already been talking to somebody. Instead, I took a half-hour break and read more on the Assembler programming rules as they stand today. I don’t like them, too millennialized.
For example, an if-then computer command is very similar to an OR-gate, where either condition produces an outcome. I was still looking at battery test code. If condition A, then B, if not A, then C. How can anyone possibly screw that up? Read on, grasshopper, it’s another fall-through trap for idiots. You ask the computer to perform different tasks depending on a test.
The code examples in the test are the epitome of what is wrong with today’s coders. They show a test for A, and if it fails, the code “falls throught” to the next consecutive commands. What could go wrong? Plenty. Their code never specifically tests for the second condition, it assumes that a failed A is a not A. That, folks, is how billion-dollar ventures fail or regularly nowadays. A good programmer write and active test for each condition and a module to handle any other outcome. On finding a match, there is a hard branch (jump or go-to) command to a specifically labeled memory address. Never allow a fall-through out of a condition or compare section.
Later, I cut the sides for three boxes, the heavier duty model. I also glued and stampled them together before the muggy-muggy drove me inside. The work shed has two big fans but could not keep the environment in the temperate zone. I got the bottom pieces ready for cutting before the furnace got too hot. I applied the yakisugi burn finish, moving fast because I have to turn off the fans or the torch won’t stay lit. Yes, it is that hot.
ADDENDUM
More woes, it seems, for the house across the way. One edge of it is clearly collapsing. The open wall has now been covered with heavy duty plywood, blocking where there used to be a door and a window. Now they have a crew that has dug under the foundation to shoulder depth. They do not appear to be having any fun over there.
Speaking of fun, there is an English site, that if they post a pic of a particularly ugly specimen of their women, I have a unique treatment. A typo taught me a special effect when it is accidentally set to 1. Seems I’ve had some impact across the pond. It makes the portrait’s eyes flicker 11 times per second and gives the freaky effect they are following you until you catch on. I’ve got about 85 “like” e-mails ranging from “lol” to “argh” to “WHYYYYYY? WHYYYYYY?”
