October 25, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: October 25, 2024, an early yawning spell?
Five years ago today: October 25, 2020, unless you were there.
Nine years ago today: October 25, 2016, checking out heaters.
Random years ago today: October 25, 2011, behavior of the idiot.

           That distant heavy pounding noise began at 7:00AM, so I’m okay for a morning bass session. That new gas station west of Bartow is nearly up and running. They paid to construct a completely new access lane, but they will make fistfuls of money. That intersection has always been a mess. Not now and the stations along the bypass are likely not so happy. Fine, they had used politics to keep new locations from opening in town. The highway is different, this strategic location means you cannot get into Lakeland directly without passing one of their locations.

           This is the fabled 30-ton jack. You might say this puppy has made me $50,000. Judging by recent selling prices, this place is now worth a definite $200,000. (It’s worth a lot more to me.) You see, the major repair was getting the floor level and as of today, the joists are done. I’m tired and I just turned the bath water a deep black color. But it is done.

           In the end, I decided to quite measuring the joists, and dragged a panel of plywood underlay into place. Then I leveled that, took it up, and braced all the joists where they rested, or in some spots, did not rest. Up top the floor is level and solid. So if I had listed the place for $180,000 the first thing anybody who walked in would notice was the unlevel floor and knock $50k off my price. You could tell something was off perpenzontal by looking and it felt a bit odd. I had gotten used to it.

           Here’s a view of the terrible working conditions, but also the reason this floor is now absolutely solid. That’s the offending house corner under the kitchen counter, with a mix of new an old joists running underneath. I learned from the other rooms to leave the old joists in place and run new ones 12” on center, scabbing them together at any co-locations. It is not clear from this view, but there are two new beams across the joists, the toughest one is parallel to those cupboards. It had to be threaded around pipes and wires.

           You might see a jumble of wiring just left of top center. This was the evil part, where the flooring was sunk 2” at this spot and 3-1/2” under baseboards. But the hard part is over. I will leave access hatches over the spots where there are junction boxes or plumbing joints and finally shop for my new kitchen stove. There’s some tidying up to do and this is only half the floor. But the asking price is now $200,000.
           Hence, that floor jack has, in a sense, made me $50,000 just like that. Not so with my look at titanium. When I read the refining process was difficult, I sought to understand. Nope, it is also a hyper-sensitive trade secret. I lost track after stage 30 or 35. All manner of poisonous and toxic processes behind blast walls and pressure chambers.

           This occupied my day, I placed three new pylons, taking around an hour and a half each. That’s around three times longer than in my prime. These are the usual Florida cabin concrete blocks. Here’s a photo showing them going into place, a dusty task as they have to be brought reasonably close with a trowel, the shored up the last tiny bit. This involves using the jack to raise the joist just over, then letting the weight of the building compact everything into place. I takes only a bit of experience to estimate this right the first time. It’s wedging the blocks into position that saps you.
           To play it safe, I worked sitting down (where possible), placing a 2x6” crosswise. It’s heavy duty work as well as dusty. It’s wise to stop every inch or so and check around. The kitchen drawers now work fine but the main door scrapes the floor. Those mysterious groans and creaks from 30 and 40 feet away are not commonplace. I’d hoped to zip downtown for Karaoke, changing my mind because I know I was a bit too busy for a it too long. You should try it.

           The $50,000 was on my mind, since I have had a back-up plan long ago to go boondocking. If you forgot that term, it means to live in a camper full time, that is, living on the road. This was always risky business for me as the costs of such a lifestyle are too volatile for me. Off the opt of my head, if I invested the full $200,000 to the best of my ability, I would take home just $1,250 per month.
           With people like Biden wiping out 25% of your value in no time, that makes travel very vulnerable. Not to mention I’ve been hit [by other drivers] at least five times, and if you live in your wheels, you are at the mercy of local mechanics. However, that amount of money would rent a nice place off the beaten track. As long as I can build boxes and repair joists, I am not interested in ever renting again.

Picture of the day.
Lake Texcoco.
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           Some big critter, bigger than a raccoon, tore though the back yard overnight. I heard something and looked out, saw nothing. This morning I found knocked over tools, objects lying where they were not, and fence pickets pushed in. That bottom panel in the Valdosta box just was not right, so I chopped up a piece of select new wood and built a super panel, three biscuits and two symmetrical slats, held in by sixteen 1-1/4” brass plated screws. This is no toolbox, this is a family heirloom.

           Thing is, I can’t find the box from September I was using as a template. I had the measurements to get this far, but the box itself must be under something. This makes about the tenth large object I’ve misplaced this year, not a great omen. I know it is underneath something but that isn’t the point. Never mind, I found it. Under those two wings I took off the grey saw. The new cordless jig saw is a time saver but I don’t have the knack. On-line, every flunky can cut along a perfect smooth curved line, while I can’t even get the blade to stay perpendicular. The on-line how-to videos are useless.

           Aha, here is a better picture of the joist work. So you don’t think it’s a totally disorganized mess. That’s y 4-foot level, my hammer, and in the upper right, my DIY hand rake. That’s hopefully one of the last photos you’ll see of this chore. Let’s quit for the day and get some news, it’s one week until EBT Wars. Predictions range from grocery grabbing to mass shoplifting, anything except get a job. We’ve heard all the sob stories and are no longer listening. Personally, I think there will just be more food banks, which is the way it should be in the first place.
I           t’s pretty much only non-taxpayers who support free food anyway. Most of the bad neighborhoods already have the food locked up. Sure, there will be problems, but there is simply no pleasant way to kick 41 million parasites off welfare. The biggest problem is liberals who allowed welfare to get too luxurious. Who’s going to get a job to pay for all things welfare supplies for free. They allowed welfare to become an entrenched lifestyle, so sure, separation is going to hurt.

ADDENDUM
           “Memories” by Maroon 5. I have completed picking out a totally new bass line that emulates that catchy riff in the middle sound of the original. What’s this, that person in Callifornia who won the $2B lotto got $242M after taxes. The Microsoft “Teams” app finally admits it has been letting your boss track your true location all along, buy stating it is a “new” feature.. And you guessed it, the Tesla “Autopilot” setting that lets you zip in and out of traffic (a.k.a. “Mad Max mode”) is reinstituted despite hundred of millions in wrongful death suits.

Last Laugh