September 1, 2026

Yesteryear
One year ago today: September 1, 2025, my overtime era begins.
Five years ago today: September 1, 2021, my retirement shelves.
Nine years ago today: September 1, 2017, I can’t find it.
Random years ago today: September 1, 2004, bottom left top right.

           Waking up famished, I must have dreamt I was in Ottawa the day before the welfare checks went out. You know how packages of instant scalloped potatoes? I happen to like them and there is only one ingredient I don’t care for. Add some chopped fried onions and sausage, and it’s a meal. It’s really two meals and I’m saying I ate them all. Because I needed all I could muster on this day. It is not bloggable, so we stick to what is top stories around this place. Today, it was weather, another big storm while I was asleep in the comfy chair. Made a wet mess of my yard. Pieces of things everywhere.

           A rather long conference call with Caltier has brought no progress, but did define some lines not to be crossed. One of those was when our contact mentioned other people’s woes. That is not an avenue I will go down, but you might find it curious how I blocked the path. It is long past the time that the company can claim the SEC filing is what is causing the freeze. What I did notice is they had acquired an interest with the Sundance Group, an outfit that I have never trusted. They don’t pass the smell test.
           How about my neighbor, he is prepping his house for paint. Now I have to paint my place. Or at least the front of my place.

           Meanwhile, I just put 58 miles on the van doing banking. The methods here are designed to prevent any overlap between accounts. I can explain that partially for you. I don’t know how individual bank policies work, but I do know they do not like high-skilled employees below management level. Thus, I have fairly good idea of how they keep their records and what they look for. It is the simplest and cheapest possible way they can find to do business. This is one reason I never transfer cash electronically. I walk the cash over, and I was doing that today for the most hilarious reason I have ever spent money—but it has to wait.
           Instead, I came home and got to my Arduino hobby. That’s when I found the accelerometer I misplaced so long ago. That’s because it was not the model I studied, so I set it aside—until I looked at the folder of example code that comes with the Arduino IDE. There is a sketch already in there, this I got to try. I’ve heard of this circuit being used for a number of not so nice inventions. It basically senses the tiniest motion when disturbed, and can print out three-axis results. Is this my seismometer? I have to see this for myself.

           Now a photo of the test motor work in progress. This is the control panel pilot lights, the red light indicates rotation in the counterclockwise direction, the blue is a pilot light indicating the motor has power. Be wary, the control components do not have the power to operate the motor. One such piece is the H-bridge shown here. It is for powering the signals only. The motor could use power transistors, but I’m more partial to relays.
           Last for this morning, let’s take a peek at some news. Seems the FCC may step in to stop the fake polls broadcast by the anti-Trump MSM. There is talk Trump is positioning the entire western hemisphere for self-sufficiency, not just the US.

Picture of the day.
Eshima Ohashi bridge.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.

           Here is Memphis, conferring good luck upon all who near my doorway. He may get moved if that spot is too rainy or sunny. You can also notice the area around my door know needs cleaning. This is the entrance were I regularly return from the shed with my hands coated with whatever I was working on.

           My other hobby, box-building, did not get much today, but one thing irritates me. I have some of the best recommended chisels and none of them work like the videos. I can sharpen them to a razor edge, but they will not “wiggle” away wood that most how-to tutorials demonstrate. Am I doing something wrong because no way can I chisel out a hinge mortise in a few seconds. Each recessed hinge requires four mortises (cutouts) and this takes me five minutes each with a lot of back and forth. I did not have time to work on the router plan for this.
           What I learned was the process of cutting the mortises a bit different. I always had the barrel (hinge pin) outside the box, but it turns out a better way to have it half-way buried. This, when you think about it, allows the full operation when the box is opened, right, two halves make a whole. I did cut two boxes, both experimental. Now, this is my blog so here is where I will list the seven box designs I build the most (updated from one week ago, now with description), along with some reminders of how they are laid out. Note the lack of "measurements, this took time to master. I don’t measure much any more, I use jigs or markers.

Button box – small pickets cut to small jig template in shed
Fake box – small pickets cut to small jig template in shed
Z-box – large pickets cut to full size template in shed, 3-slat bottom
J-box – small pickets cut to full size template in shed
K-box – large picket cut to width of bottom plate. Solid bottom
KL-box – small picket cut to full length to width of bottom plate solid bottom
Project Box – this is the odd one, it is the length of a button box, cut to solid bottom. They turned out to be a good generic size fo a lot of electronics. The parts are usually gathered first and the box is handy to keep them organized. It must be a solid fit because components can be very small.

           We got to Festus late, the neighbor was painting and I was snoozing. It was mostly drama, although both Matt and Festus got to plug a bad guy each. In this plot, a wimpy banker scares off some robbers and helps himself to some of the loot, except they come back and hold his barmaid wife hostage, causing her to finally realize what a hero he is. A very broke hero.
           The beautiful pecan shellac I was saving dried out in the can.

           Factoid: It was, in 1688, originally called Lake America before Canada arbitrarily changed it to Lake Ontario.

Last Laugh