July 8, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: July 8, 2025, cults, witches, tarot.
Five years ago today: July 8, 2021, magic is very local.
Nine years ago today: July 8, 2017, this modified world.
Random years ago today: July 8, 2009, the answer is music.

           The inclusion of that link to the banned movie doubled my average daily viewership—for one day. It’s a good thing to know, but it is not a regular here. Because I’m not after ratings. I’m after breakfast, which is leftovers. It’s ready, but smells so great, I put it on simmer and grabbed another coffee. I like exterior doors that lead directly into a kitchen, don’t you? Here’s a picture of birdie paradise, showing the shadowed baths and the kuzu “tree”. Long as I can’t get rid of it, put it to work creating some shade.

           There’s another picture of some pink wildflowers, hope ou like. I awoke with unaccustomed energy, may you one day get your chance. At a price, mind you, I zonked for nine hours with all the lights and fans on. Still, that is a bargain. I slept through Festus Tuesday.
           I impute this extra zip directly to building boxes, so too bad if we get bored. The connection is that the therapy exercises produce nothing, they are more like a chore. With the boxes, it is much longer (often several hours) of less but constant exertion. Trust me, this pays off. Plus, it is not directly as tiring, that is, I’m more likely to knock off due to darkness or insects. Another useful design emerging is the “club” box, as in Robotics Club. It uses jigs already made, but turned sideways. They are smaller than the spice box and easy to handle without knobs.

           One design has been eliminated, the “small fake” because it was too similar in size to the spice box. This is a proven popular gift and is very sturdy. So popular, I am out of supplies. Will I have the pep & zing to go downtown this morning? Check around for a picture, I think I do. Peeking at politics, Trump has finally stated what we all knew 50 years ago—that the Arabs abuse ceasefires to re-arm. They view all negotiation or peace talks as a sign of weakness.

           News today of patients suing medical offices for breach of confidentiality. It was five years ago y’day I fired my cardiologist over the same issue. He’s lucky I did not sue, but I understand hundreds of other at a related facility won a class action. Old Mark could have salvaged at least his reputation my listening to me. (I foolishly thought he was working with me to find the leak.) And I just received my first spam phone call in nearly two years. Warning me I was to be tax audited if I did not comply. I’ve only recently learned such operations are still active in America. Florida has some of the tightest anti-telemarket laws in America.
           Trump knows he’s got the mid-Terms, but also the entrenched moles at the civil service can still cause damage. He’s gaining a confidence that should throw a terrible fright into recalcitrant bastards like the Spanish who will not pay their share. Like Canada, their commies take the money and give it away buying welfare votes. And he’s done dealing with the Iranians who he says are scum who would use the bomb as soon as they got their hands on it.

           I’m beginning to like this gal on social media who keeps posting articles that reach me. Today she points out the highest priced items of housing, rent, food, medical, and cell service are the exact things provided free to illegal immigrants. A decline in demand for soft ice cream may be what’s behind Diary Queen closing nearly 50 locations.

Picture of the day.
Lusitania smoking lounge.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Today I learned the rules for using A.D. and B.C. Forget that BCE nonsense for the simple-minded. I did not know that A.D. is used before the year in a sentence. As in, “It was in A.D.793 we adopted the Julian calendar.” B.C. is always after, to designate before Christ. It is not necessary to specify A.D. for a century. You can say in the sixth century without the A.D. unless you mean sixth century B.C. And, periods are always required. Got it.

           News has not yet arrived of the deaths in Tennessee, but the lawyer is gone and his secretary is not expected to make it. Mown down at a crosswalk on July 4th, we do not know if the driver is apprehended. If not, I know immediately who to suspect. Over here, I quicky paid up all the Tennessee accounts and topped off the joint account with my last $800. This is a stroke of unbelievable bad luck, but other than the Reb, it is not a loop I was kept up with.

           I took $20 out of the cookie jar and purchased ten select pieces of the best in small fence pickets. It took some digging but I found pieces with long narrow grains that ran along the length like I’ve not seen before. This could be my chance to try the waterfall effect, where the grain of the wood appears to “wrap” around corners. Here are the pickets “drying” in the sun. They are 11% moisture, but can be wet from rain. Two of these will be selected for experiments, but I am too weary to start.
           Later, a nap got me back, awakened by a ten-minute thunderstorm. Sounds directly over ead. I used the commotion to get you this video clip. This beautifully straight grain pattern runs the full length of these two boards. The superiority of these boards is clear to me. This video is the best I can make it with my existing camera, but see if you can spot what I was looking for. One small know in the entire length. The waterfall effect will require 45° miter cuts with the “short-end to short-end” (inside measurement) be precisely the width of the picket. I’ve done this before and it is bitch.

           The radio is non-stop war in Iran. To me, it is simple. In Iran, the Islamists won’t quit and the locals lack the will to get rid of them. Modern war requires factories and money. The Iranians will run out of both long before the USA. Drones, which America has not really embraced yet, will ensure the Iranians cannot win through endless guerilla war like Vietnam.
           I’m just finishing the paperback “A War With No Name” by the helicopter pilot who became a PTSD counselor. I can only partially agree with his assessment of mental conditions. He is accurate that most “crazies” are people who have never learned to take responsibility for their own behavior. I believe they can be taught the consequences of their behavior, and taught the hard way if necessary. He quotes the example portrayed in “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”, where people learn they can avoid consequences if they learn to act mentally ill.

           He quotes Glasser, the 1960s guy who came with “reality therapy”. He studied veterans. I can’t top that. But he studied the end product in a clinic, where I witnessed 24/7 the entire developmental process of people in the process of learning the very limits of social delinquency. I know just as much about it as any shrink. When juveniles early to blame others and get away with it--they hit the real world and find the only “acceptable” bad behavior is acting crazy. So they do. Put another way, all that’s lacking is a damn good whacking.
           Another 1960s studey (Srole) showed 81.5% of people are “somewhat” emotionally disturbed. I would also add unreliable and incompetent for the identical reasons—they got away with things as a child and think they can recreate that in adult life by forcing others to “cooperate”. Am I right? Did I just describe Liberals?
           Last, the cops in North Carolina asked the public to call their hotline to catch two men who cut down a Flock camera. Apparently the list includes Batman & Robyn, the Lone Ranger & Tonto, and some smart aleck sent in “Tweedledee & Tweedledum.

ADDENDUM
           Good news for me. It is Day 161 since the operation, and this is the second day of no symptoms. Accompanied by a noticeable increase in core energy, I still have side effects from the surgery, but they are nowhere near my heart. I do have a tightness in the chest area, but to the sides where the incision work was done. The ring and pinky fingers of both hands still have perceptible needle numbness and the nerve damage in my left outer thigh is very slowly mending. The incision itself if fading but will leave a large and permanent scar. I have lost ten pounds, not nearly enough, but it is mostly abdominal, which I gotta like.
           No symptoms means no related pains, but I can still cause pain if any pressure is applied on my fingertips, chest area, or legs. The blood vessel (thigh) extractions left scars. Chest pressure is odd, it is nerves that got tender from being sewn back up. It is not sharp pain, just letting you know to back off a bit when, say, pulling on a sweat shirt. This may sound queasy, but I can feel all seven of the sites where these self-dissolving stitches remain, slowly surfacing. There were eight, but one came out, leaving a small wound.

Last Laugh