One year ago today: September 12, 2025, a trip to Miami.
Five years ago today: September 12, 2021, a generic day.
Nine years ago today: September 12, 2017, utter.
Random years ago today: September 12, 201x, early Arduino.
It should not take 3-1/2 hours to hit the bank and pick up some groceries, unless in the Florida furnace, you maximum speed is DMV. The trip did include a stop for the doggie chow and some used paint. Today you get pictures of almost everyting. And we have another varmint raiding the kitchen and he’s smart enough to avoid the live traps. That seals his fate. I stocked up on coffee and veggies, we have $25 left until Monday. But the nice thing about home ownership is you don’t bleed as much money standing still.
That’s pictures I would like to see, as the IDF can hardly be trusted by anyone. Instead, here’s a picture of a $15 bottle of vanilla flavoring. What? How do you make something like that cost so much? Simple, look closely, it is “Harry Potter” brand.
I also dug out my oldest Arduino, an UNO with the oldest timing crystal I’ve ever used (see arrow). And it was still wired up. But we know long since there is no way to tell what is on the chip. It was wired to the 7-segments seen here, I just ripped them out. Does this old unit still even work. We shall see, but I doubt I even still have whatever sketches were uploaded since something like 2014.
Later, the card activates, but will not recognize any of the COM ports. Damn you, MicroSoft. I’m checking for virtual ports now. Moments later, got it. Port 14. It is working at a basic level, flashing an LED. The board has a built-in LED on pin 13, but I see I rigged up a brighter blue LED, something I general use to mean a pilot light. My programming since so long ago is long past the blinky stage. For now, I’m designing a quick sketch for something I meant to test back then. See, it’s coming back to me.
A survey of books and on-line travel tips reveals that 92% of the advice is about avoiding certain colors of people.
Swiss highway system.
Remember to use BACK ARROW to return to blog.
We are broke. Tennessee made a withdrawal on the 28th, probably legal fees, and I didn’t get the memo. No problem, I’ve got fifty things to keep me busy that cost zero. One of them is a reawakened interest in that 3D printer sitting in the shed. I will make room, for now I know of many projects I will never complete now. Out they go, something I’ve best get moving on, as I got the news that Bonnie Tyler died today. I only recall her one song, “It’s a Heartache” because, though I’ve never had it on my list, I’ve played it some fifty years and it’s a reminder of my own age. And reminds me of Bill Tronnes, who thought it the best song ever.
No work on the doorbell, but a problem appears. I measured the transformer with the el-cheapo multimeter and got 15 VDC. Meh, that’s a bad 12VDC reading, I figured. But turns out it is 24VDC. Twice the power of the coil. I will install a 3300Ω 2Watt, if that heats up, I have some 5Watt in the shed. To get the doorbell mounted, I had to bring out the long drill. That’s pronounced “the lo-o-o-ong drill”, shown here. This is private stock, for company officers only. No touch. What’s it for? To get a pilot hole through two back-to-back 4” fence posts. And stubborn bedroom walls.
Before continuing, let me get the bass and play that Tyler tune. And I’ll describe the Arduino sketch I plan to test. The bulk of the code is normally in a loop that continues as long as there is power. But there’s a small setup section that runs once, I’d like to devise some way to signal what is on the chip, even if I resort to Morse code. At this time, I do not know if loop commands will even execute in the setup mode.
When the Arduino powers up, a few lights flash. I would add a pattern according to which sketch (program or code) was uploaded. This would require a separate listing, a lookup table, but it is better than nothing. And who do we know that already looks things up in tables. Anyway, here is the matrix of the 14 possible sequences. This could be expanded to five easily, and I’ve entity.
At 9:00PM I zipped over to the old club in Bartow. It was busy, but a crowd where I recognized no one. That’s not 100% true, I did hear the screech owl ladies. Who didn’t hear them? There was Karaoke, but why bother with that bunch. Josh was on duty, so we know some facts. As predicted, the veternaran who is making a killing at Kooters is the only sincere offer. And he will need somebody to manage the place Good luck, the last manager ran off their local folloing and it will take five years of doing it right to get them back.
My advice is stand back and watch. Let somebody else take the dive and fail. My guess is some city outfit will again try to make it into a club. If they raise the prices even 25 ȼ they risk losing the three customers they have left.
ADDENDUM
Some health issues, I promised to keep records on the inevitable decline, and once again it is items triggered by the hospital. This is day 226, meaning to get back to par by now, I’ll need miraculous mending. That is not going to happen. The last 48 hours brought both gout and arthritis pains. How do I know it’s from the anesthetic? By the location and intensity. I was in intensive care a long time and there is no mistaking the timing.
My diet remains sparse, but I did change a few things to items easier to prepare. Generally I feel lighter on my feet, but that is offset by the energy drain required to stand up any more. I used to regard home as a comfort zone convenience. Now, sometimes out there I just wish I could quit what I’m doing and head home for the day. This is very new for me. I’m again tracking gas mileage and I ran over by 53 miles last month.
One of my staples in onions and the nice ones are now $2 a pound. I got fooled by tomato prices, a low-level millennial scam. Two identical bins, identical packaging. One bag was $2.27, the other one was $2.27 per pound. At least they were organic. And not Harry Potter. Don’t hit me!
