December 1, 2025

Yesteryear
One year ago today: December 1, 2024, early thoughts on A.I.
Five years ago today: December 1, 2020, must’a been talking money.
Nine years ago today: December 1, 2016, these are the people?
Random years ago today: December 1, 2003, yes, it was true.

           Yep, all 7,793 posts of this blog were accessed earlier today. Interesting, like nobody out there could ever read that many, the material is free, and it is already backed up. Still, if anything goes awry, it just enhances the situation. I stayed up late and watched “633 Squadron” mainly because I admire the Mosquito. It’s based on reality, the only thing too real so far is the Frankie Avalon haircut on that Norwegian, gawd that is disgusting. Silver has passed $57. And a mass of Biden auto-pen judges are likely shaking in their boots.

           Cash for Gold, or what they call themselves now, reports than 70% of the people they do regular business with have been selling silver, gold, and jewelry to cover basic expenses. Good, because so few people have these items, the sooner that will run out. And nothing brings prices down like nobody having any money. Works every time. For this morning, I’m making gourmet meat loaf, show here is the pinade (I’m just informed that is “panade”, an Italian word), which is the step that makes the final product stay moist. For more info on this delicious dish, see addendum.

           There is one less headache around here, the Town & Country is gone. I called the guy and we tried everything to get it started. It ran fine last time it started, but no combination of batteries, cables, or chargers could get the thing to fire up, but it would turn over. I’ve heard fuel pumps go bad like that and for that vehicle it is not worth chancing such a repair. I sold it for junk for $200, which will all go to replacing the battery in the Hyundai. Total loss on the van since 2023, around $5,100. But that is chicken feed compared to the costs of any alternatives.

           Using the time charging the battery, I got the Hyundai running for a bit, all the while baking a chicken and planning an afternoon of sitting down and drinking coffee. I hauled out the club battery charger to discover it has finally given out. Shown here are some views of morning work, including inflating the tires and a potential good outcome which I’ll go over later (a tow bar). The guy’s two brothers showed up with a home made tow assembly that involved removing the front bumper and I want one.
           Compared to the Valdosta incident, I would have no qualms ripping off the plastic crap they call a bumper these days and gluing the thing back on afterward. It’s a tow clamp that they winch right on to the frame and away you go, maybe five minutes total and could be done by one person. These guys appear able to fix anything, this is the demolition derby tow guy that came by 18 months ago, I thought it was just a year. Personally, I think they did me a favor taking it off my hands.

           I’m looking for a local cardiologist and it is not so easy. These days you have to avoid the ethnics and DEIs, which leaves a smaller pool of specialists who often do not take my medical. So much for Obamacare. Part of the problem is I’ve long since lost my Medicare and Social Security originals. It should be a simple matter to have them call my existing people. Trust me, there is all the information could need to verify anything for sure.

Picture of the day.
DeFuniak Springs, Florida.
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           Here’s the sad parting of the ways, I really did like that Town & Country, even though I did not ever watch the two TVs and really camp inside it. Power everything, smooth sailing, but then came that engine overheating. I fixed it with a permanent fan switch, but once unreliable is too much in America. Recall, it went out in Miami and I was lucky to get home.

           I fired off an e-mail to Steve outlining what I had found, bass-wise. Two responses, both unsuitable. The best potential remains a gifted amateur and a tough-as-nails veteran, we could be playing in a month. We have 20 tunes we can do now, which is half a gig. I believe we should play it somewhere, even for tips only. As a newcomer, Steve does not yet see the bad actors out there as being a waste of time. Each false start, I found out the hard way, shaves a yearyou’re your musical career. That’s why I would stick with a jerk like the Hippie for six years—it wasn’t starting over, it was just putting up with crap.

           For an hour, I played the tunes most likely to make any new list we come up with. As said, it is more productive for me to learn what he plays that to wait for him to get around to my material. Except for the most simplistic tunes anyone can play. 10% of my songs have only two chords. (Memphis, Cocaine, & Jambalaya.
           Silver passes $58. What’s this, Trump is flagging all overseas transfers of more than $2,000. And a possible 100% tax on money sent out of the country. Does this mean I get my $5,000 DOGE rebate? We have a new round of whiners on-line, expecting their first job to provide a house, new car, and all creature comforts. I fart in their general direction. I got my first new shirt when I was 19 and I walked until I was 21. Let them spend cake.

ADDENDUM

           I doubt I’ve ever mentioned meat loaf because I so rarely make it. Maybe once every five years, using chicken and pork, never beef. Any recipe will do but I found a few tricks of the trade I still use. First, make a bunch of small loaves instead. It stops the first scout from spooning half of it onto his own dish and if there are leftovers, they are easy to throw in the camp cooler. I no longer use brown sugar, substituting turbinado, for the glaze. Meat loaf is about the only time I use much ketchup any more.
           If you do it just right, the loaves will slightly shrink from the sides of your pan. Spoon half the glaze into that slot twenty minutes before finished, once it bakes enough, the rest of the glaze goes on top baked until it is just shiny. Works for me. Here’s today’s half-recipe, the one on the left with more glaze goes in the freezer or for company, which I don’t have any more thanks to Tennessee, I don’t want any. Except Taylor, who’d best get a move on.

Last Laugh