One year ago today: August 3, 2025, playing with lasers.
Five years ago today: August 3, 2021, Bidenflation begins.
Nine years ago today: August 3, 2017, “evaluationware”
Random years ago today: August 3, 1980, RofR once said . . .
A brisk morning, pancakes, coffee, and a discovery on the laser. The unit gets its testing here, and one branch of that is how it works with various paints. The challenge is most paints will ‘melt’ and the brighter colors resist lasering. Both conditions make lettering too fuzzy. But at 6:00AM I found something that may work. Artist’s acrylic paint. It makes a clean edge and lets the laser get down to the wood without scorching. The downside is the stuff is expensive and releases foul burnt plastic aromas that must be toxic if you read the label. Sooner or later, I will find something unique and saleable.
This is my “Bent Nail Portrait”, all the effort I woke up thinking I’d have all day. I salvage all good fasteners but am still not broke enough to start straightening them. These show the variety of different junk I found in the recent salvaged lumber. Around a third of the screws had some size of hex head that did not fit anything I own. Metric? These have to be pried out with the nibblers, a tool that puts strain across the chest and I’ve only lately been productive with. This, from the only blog that features pictures of bent screws, except for the more metaphorically-inclined posts from the French Quarter.
Today was an internal deadline. Caltier has now failed to respond to reasonable business protocols. This now creates a messy situation in both camps, because the Reb is not fluent on how to deal with the intentionally uncooperative. It amounts to me writing business letters that I send her first, which always causes a loss of coordination. I basically had to send an open email to Caltier customer service, for the whole office to see. I’ve asked and gotten no other method to contact them.
I reminded them of their commitment to redeem the funds or provide a valid reasons why not, which was due on June 30, 2026. I included an appeal to their “sense of fair play” which means they can hardly refuse now without admitting they don’t have one. Do they have anyone over there who will spot the letter is also written to be published if need be? Way back in this blog, there are comments of how disappointed I have always been with the quality of their staffing. But back then there was a monthly payout to gloss things over.
That is another contentious point—they have never given any progress reports. As far as I know, they still manage 16 “B” apartment or apartment-like complexes in full operation. I am fractional owner and expect a share of the profits to date, even if I close the account. I have not but casually pointed this out to them with mixed reactions. Also, a year ago it was 17 buildings. If one has sold, I expect a fat bonus.
However it is presented, dealing with Caltier has not been an easy experience and there is little to suggest that will change. My plan is to leave a token amount in the account because of what they once were, but things have dragged on too long. There is also the bigger issue of near-total stagnation in the real estate market. We are entering an era when the norm has become 30-year mortgages at 7%. Time to get out, I think.
Rivers by volume.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.
Another small first, significant mostly to me. A cloudy day kept things down in the 80°s, so I went out to the shed to get things ready for building the wood shelter. That’s what I’ve taken to calling the lean-to on the east fence. While there, a slight breeze came up, which negates wasp attacks. So I went after some of the bushes. They were more extensive than I thought. I got the area cleared around the leaning post and hauled over the come-along. And before I knew it, I had been busy outside all afternoon. First in years, a solid bit of exercise and it felt great.
The photo shows the extent the pole has angled over and just visible at center is the orange handle of the ratchet. Overhead are two of the 16-foot 2x4s that will form the roof of the shelter. I now have lumber stored around the yard and I want my yard back. You can also see the two existing posts from the shooting gallery, not used enough to justify its upkeep. It is partly cleared now, but if you look down the gap between the fence and the pellet shield, you can see some of the intense growth I had to clear. That was done by hand so far.
That back fence did get ignored for years. The bushes and vines retain moisture that eventually will rot the wood. I’ll examine it once it is exposed. I also puttered with a few boxes inside the shed whenever I felt over-heated, here is a bit of box know-how. If I know a box is going to get banged around, I use thicker pieces of scrap wood. You’ll want to use considerably cheaper brads than staples. Such wood also tends to be more brittle, so the correct length of the brad becomes consequential. Too short won’t hold, too long will bend and poke out the side.
Shown here is the longest brad in general use. Even then, you’ll need sufficient practice with the nail gun. First I’m gauging the size, then loading the staple gun. I also build a light duty carry case for the airlocker tool. It has not gotten much use since the supply of pallets became chaotic. But, as always, another source will be found—and by then I hope to have most of my lumber under one canopy.
Let’s skim over the news. Capitol One, Banker to the Democrats, may be in hot water. These are the cucks that shut down Trump’s bank accounts right after the J6 hoax, and involved a coordinated attack by other banks to silence Trump. They failed. Now Trump has yet to have anyone seriously arrested, much less executed, but the Democrat’s chances in the upcoming mid-terms are in danger of going negative. The bank’s excuse? That Trump’s account “triggered” their anti-money laundering alarms. Good luck with that.
ADDENDUM
It is not true that Wal*Mart is opening in-store dental clinics. With express lanes for people with 12 teeth or less. The UK “high court” has moved to ban the display of the British flag by “unidentified” persons. If caught, they will face imprisonment and “unlimited fines”. I first heard the term “white-font” today, it is the brainchild of a college professor. He embeds homework assignments that produce identifiable feedback if the student uses A.I. In his first trial, he caught 32 of the 35 GenX types in his class.
Mrs. Taylor Swift has again changed her musical direction, sounding ever more like old Beatles music. SpaceX has finally reached the Moon, a Falcon rocket stage launched back in early 2025 will crash there on Wednesday.
