September 25, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 25, 2024, silver breaks $32.
Five years ago today: September 25, 2020, both barrels.
Nine years ago today: September 25, 2016, $35 in groceries.
Random years ago today: September 25, 2010, no registration, for reasons.

           I plan a day puttering here and one priority is a heater for the kitchen. It’s this mornings big story, so enjoy. Last season I picked up an overhead garage or “chicken coop” heater that I am sincerely happy with. Other than requiring it be hard wired, this was doubly nice for me because it is ceiling mounted and floor space in this cabin is severely limited. I’ve since found it on sale for half what I paid, but it does a job I rate as magnificent. It has a build in fan that, matched to the correct room size, keeps the temperature constant in the entire space. Try that with a floor mount.

           It seems available only on-line, so I’ll pick it up in Tennessee. As with air conditioners, I’ve learned to pick the unit at least one size better than the specified room volume. Here is the 8500W unit I’m looking at, with a remote control. In the back room, the unit is easy to reach by the door without a remote. But my kitchen is full size everything and this one will have to be mounted above something. Like a fridge or a counter.

           I care not about the styling, this cabin is twice the nice as what I grew up in and the unfinished flooring makes the wiring a snap. My long-term readers have already figured out the floor is still loose because I did not finish the job before the hot summer weather arrived. And you know me, I’m now totally adapted to using the hotplate and coffee machine for three-course meals. I need just a couple more days of cooler weather and this has been a great autumn so far. Ask all the birdies.
           In my defense, I would mention that the lack of big projects during the hot season does not mean idleness. I tend to work on logistics in the summer. Examples are the sheds now better equipped, nicer tools in place, new gadgets (like lasers) tested, and work shelves installed. Summer’s also the time when many chance discoveries happen around here, such as the handiness of that simple tool box two days ago. It was the closest golden ratio size that would fit in the space behind the front seat of the KIA when both front and back seats were closest together.
           It is handy as all get-out, if I was smart, I’d build another three of them for items like my wrenches, which I always have to dig for. I might not have given this design a second thought until I found out that carry handle was a boon to lifting things out of the van or a car trunk. I’m kicking myself for not flagging a video of this Russian guy who showed how to connect up old AC/DC converters (wall warts) to any desired output voltage.

           That’s why I just had do spend $20 on an 18V charger—the original quit on me. And that was weeks ago, it’s not like I can uber to Harbor Freight just any old time. I either have to drive through town, or make the trip to Auburndale or Bartow, which believe it or not, saves time. Before anybody informs me there are tons of on-line how-tos on connecting transformers, don’t suppose I’m that stupid—the ones on-line all require the units have identical cores, wire gauge and windings. The video I saw used any types and I have a boxful of those in the shed. He was able to mix and match until he got the voltage he wanted.
           The good news is the 18V drill never did have it’s own box, which it should. Golden Ratio to the rescue again. It fits handily in a regular z-box, which I have some nearly-ready spares in the big shed. Here is part of my growing collection of cordless tools, of which half are drills.

           C’mon silver, pass $45 today and make me happy. I had time to search my old archives, finding all kinds of photos from pre-blog era. I glance at them and wonder if they will ever get published. Most pictures are taken on purpose but don’t have a blog history, which takes time to compose. My estimate is 6,000 pictures. And many times that lost because I had no way to store them or the negatives. Sigh. Best Buy says they are canning the Geek Squad. They got so expensive it was cheaper to buy a new computer. I crossed the Rubicon in 2010. ABC is claiming the return of a fired employee has generated 2.6 million hits. Pull my finger.

           A blocked ear canal had me on-line for a while, noticing the general but definite decline in quality since A.I. Search optimization is defeated, often returning only sponsored ads. Most videos are replaced by cartoon-like animations. Amalgamators parrot the left-wing version of every news item. It seems to me the large patterns (created by spying on your social media), upon which this so-called A.I. is based, now reflects how the majority of computer users have been brainwashed. Where one stupid post appeared, there are now dozens saying the same. Hence, my original expression about the Internet: Facts by Majority Rule. And it's cousin Truth by Majority Rule, that's mine also.

           Annoyingly they have the same worn-out (some say time-tested) titles that appeal to the shallowly-educated. “Twenty Things You Didn’t Know About The Ten Commandments”, type of bull donkey. “Number seven will blow your mind.” I like to read military tech and it’s been taken over by these no-minds. Hundreds of titles claiming this weapon or that battle “changed world history forever”. And until there is a fix for that A.I. nuisance, these cannot be filtered out. A.I. can easily predict what low-IQ people think they want to see.
           Later. It gets even worse. I did some standard searches, in this case a “WB26 datasheet”, a common inquiry for a small fan motor. Normally you get back the supplier’s web page with the manufacturer’s specs. Nope. Today I got back the following page of replies, all of which linked to the identical part, with prices ranging from $35 to $59. All used the same photograph.

PartSelect
GE Appliances
Appliance Parts Pros
Parts Dr
Appliance Parts 4 All
Café Appliances
eReplacement Parts
partadvantage.com
Reliable Parts
PartsWarehouse

           None contained any datasheets, only advertising (“durable, for roasting and baking”), I was seeking the voltage rating. Then, A.I. parsed my search and separately listed pages of datasheet suppliers, in particular the suppliers I avoid. These sorry-ass GenXers have no idea what a pit they are digging. The WB26 is a very common part that should be a snap to locate.

           [Author’s note: if any of you seek to salvage such fan, be aware that it does not operate by itself. It requires an electronic controller to match the rotor timing to the electric input. This is a science in itself.]

           Even later, this is really bad. The traditional parts lists and specs have disappeared. Or I should say, they are there, but every search is hijacked to sponsored ads like the above. I’ll locate them eventually, but what about the warehouse that has twenty employees to retrain. Worse, this A.I. search feature cannot easily be turned off, and anyway, it keeps turning itself back on. These all have countermeasures but they require time and experience.

Picture of the day.
Rotten tree stump.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Don’t you hate it when pictures get deleted in error? Fifty years later, MicroSoft has still not produced an app that verifies by showing you which pics are pending. Instead, they persist with that error prone system where the key that selects individual files is right next to the one that selects all between. This, and demonstrates how money allows people to remain stupid for half a century. This photo does not show my latest vitamin pills. It is the ends of dowels as I design the smaller tool box.

           Why don’t I just size everything down? Because real world doesn’t work that way. Here’s some of the quirks encountered.The handle, to be truly flush, has to be cut after it is in place. Variations in the wood make it tricky to measure, so you mark it. There are also cuts that are too small for the chop saw and items that must be drilled or stapled from the interior, which is bigger tools won’t fit inside the cavity, but trying to do it in advance results in misfits.

           Even later, parts searching has become really bad. The traditional parts lists and specs have disappeared. Or I should say, they are there, but every search is hijacked to sponsored ads like the above. I’ll locate them eventually, but what about the warehouse that has twenty employees to retrain. Worse, this A.I. search feature cannot easily be turned off, and anyway, it keeps turning itself back on. These all have countermeasures but they require time and experience.
           Ah, thank you silver. $45.13. I smell panic, I smell fear. C’mon, you geniuses, mortgage the house, silver is going to $1,000 in a week

           Continuing with our thrilling exposé on dead microwaves. The only other usable part is the AC motor, which normally turns at either 3 or 6 rpm. If you connect them like an orrery, you’ll get some special effects. There is also the bulb, shown here being tested. These are a complete unit, you cannot buy just the bulb part and they are designed for 120VAC. Shown here, I’m using 16VDC. They make handy “safety” resistors for small circuits you don’t intend to leave on for long. 60Ω is just enough to stop LEDs from frying but also burn battery life.

           There’s no ignoring politics. Trump has said Obama will be charged with treason, though he said that in a much longer sentence and could be misread. Obama is generally recognized as a left-wing puppet implanted to soften America up for Hillary Hethen overstepped his position by using Democrat control of the civil service to push through detested and anti-America policies. Then became leader of the anti-Trump mechanations behind the 2016 attempted steal, then sabotage against the first term, and a steal of the 2020. Rumor has it this was supposed to put the Democrats back in “their rightful place”, but they all underestimated both Trump and his supporters.
           Another leftoid tactic is the threat to shut down the government. But they’ve worn that out and the mood now is let them do it. Trump is ready to keep the basics going while the massive Democrat welfare and kickback systems will fail first. And there is a growing sentiment that a shutdown might make the average citizen realize how little he needs most government services.

ADDENDUM
           Not lions or hyenas, I watched a documentary on Africa’s most dangerous predator, now numbering in the millions. The baboon. They travel in packs of 30 to 50 and can easily turn door knobs and window latches. They enter cities and strip farms, very cunning and unpredictable, sharing a lot of human DNA with the locals. They prowl around until a food source is found or they find a disabled animal, then pounce as a pack. They have powerful teeth and you cannot outrun them. One does not have to see very many videos of this behavior to draw conclusions with many American cities.
           Nor is Canada immune because of cold weather. I watched a report on wild boars that can survive the weather extremes and I would say they have a huge problem. It’s not a few herds, it is millions of them. They got the right idea, issuing hunting licenses to cover the cost of feeding the meat to zoos and such. Oddly, I’ve seen wild boar on some restaurant menus but never tried it.

Last Laugh