January 14, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: January 14, 2025, a 3-box day.
Five years ago today: January 14, 2021, one word: nothing.
Nine years ago today: January 14, 2017, learning to putter.
Random years ago today: January 14, 2013, so much room.

           Investing is easy, first you take all the money you don’t have, put it someplace everybody else isn’t, and wait fifteen years. I’d like to update my comments on silver, the way it repels werewolves, it also attracts bullshit artists. This is what twenty ounces looks like, because 90% of the men I’ve talked to have never seen this. To them, I ask, did your brother just tell you about the silver, or did he show it to you? If you did not hold it in our hand, you may believe him, but I do not.

           Don’t talk to me about silver certificates and don’t tell me you’ve seen a pile of silver if you have only seen the outside layer. You are dealing with a man here who once counted to a million. Don’t tell me you have seen 100 ounces of silver unless you can show me right now with your hands how big a box you would need to hold it.
           What’s this all about? It’s like this, I may be immune to most of the bullshit but it seems a lot of people ladling out advice are not. If you didn’t see the silver and if I was able to describe exactly the dodges, chances are I’m right. And as always, one dead giveaway is when people do not complain about the right things. In equally important news, McDonald’s is clearing the hell out of Chicago. Screw that place.

           So, somebody in the government has finally figured out most third world immigrants wind up on welfare. And Trump is about to cut funding for sanctuary cities, something I though he did a year ago. After Valentine’s day, you can no longer buy Tesla’s self-driving mode, you can only rent it. For $99 per month. Can these Zoomers possibly be that stupid? Let’s go take another look at the Ingersoll-Rand as silver inches toward $94. Do you think she’ll get to $100 by the weekend?

           All afternoon in the yard and it is not the pressure switch. The problem is either the motor itself, or something in the drive train. Well beyond my capability to fix. The tank is salvageable but I have fifty priorities over that. I spent an hour raking while doing laundry and filled the old burn barrel with scraps. I have a lot of scraps and out they go. Some finishing work on a couple more boxes and call it a day. I even made a box specifically for drawer knobs. Some day, with luck, you too will find something like that worth mentioning.
           By the way, I found my potato peeler. Examine this photo and see if you can guess what it was hanging behind. I’m plainly past the point where potato peelers and spatulas play a pivotal point in my daily routines.

Picture of the day.
A 1907 Trenton.
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           SPAM. On occasion, I like it. I have no aversion to it (like I do baloney) and tonight I’ve a large pot of spam and beans. Beans do not bother me. It tuned cold at sunset. I have some pics but generally I spent the time getting everything working again, as in replacing dead lightbulbs, getting things put away, etc. All the stuff that the past month got behind while I was partying in Miami and scarfing key lime pie. I installed a light sensor on the laundry deck and repaired the hallway light. So here is a generic picture of the day's chores.

           These pics show my planned small table saw wood, the burn barrel, and a view of how quickly corners can fill up with scrap wood. All this is not the same as getting things the way I want. The kitchen floor is still plywood and the dryer hose needs re-routing. I suppose these may never get done unless they find all I need is a new diet or such. There is a spot of good news. You may have read ten years ago how I made lots of concessions to getting old. Every room in the house is on two circuits, so a breaker never causes a blackout. I even installed most of the GFIC outlets 32” off the floor so they can be reset without crouching or moving furniture. I’m glad I did, it makes life so much easier—the catch is I had kind of planned that would be ten more years from now instead of today.

           Taking a break to read some electronics I was again awed by the dead silence of the day. Once again, I could hear the clocks ticking, plus a faint ping. I got up and traced it. At least the silence isn’t my going deaf, it was a tiny drip at the kitchen sink forty feet away through two close doors. But it has to be fixed so I set the alarm for 7:00AM.
           No word back from the place that purchases tubes. A glance at the map shows the shop is in Orlando not too far from SkyCraft at all. So if something happens where I sell $250 in tubes, I’m going on one crazy shopping spree. Here is a view of the old compressor tilted up against the silo wall. I have nothing to lose removing the shroud and see if anything can be done. It was that rag that got twined on the rotor that burned the thing out. Pure rotten luck.
           I hope your day was as full. If not, try coffee. Works for me.

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