July 10, 2013

MORNING
           Here’s the red scooter getting some final touch-ups before a road test. It turns out the valves need adjusting, a major job. This follows the pattern that these Chinese scooters require a repair roughly every 2,000 miles. That’s Miguel topping off the tires to 35 psi. We also replaced the gas filter. American-made lawnmower parts are often superior to original factory parts.

           His own scooter is identical to mine so he works fast. But in a reminder that getting old is hell, I got back home around 5:00 PM today and can barely move. From just standing there and handing him the parts and cleaning anything greasy, I wound up exhausted. Difficult as it is to imagine, I had to lie down for six hours and awoke with every ache and pain. Anyone looking for fast-paced action reporting, you’ll have to come back tomorrow.
           Miguel is a hobbyist himself and has built a Tesla coil. It does not work. Actually, most of them don’t due to mismatched parts. I’ve examined the schematics available on the Internet. I can tell you right off the bat that you cannot get free electricity from the air, at least not in meaningful quantities. Sufficient electrical energy is simply not in the air in the first place.
           Let me explain. Electricity that is increasing or decreasing in strength produces a magnetic field. When that field passes a wire, some of the magnetism is changed back into electricity. Alternating current is continually increasing and decreasing from positive 117 Volts, back to zero, and down to negative 117 Volts, repeating this 60 times per second. Thus, a wire held nearby gets slightly electrified, but the important word is "nearby". The field strength decreases very rapidly with distance. Nonetheless, transformers which step-up voltages can accumulate these tiny increments in a capacitor which eventually can discharge in a small but relatively harmless “lightning bolt”.
           If you take that wire and wind it tightly, more of the wire is exposed to the magnetic waves per unit area. A Tesla coil is no different than any other wire coil. Even if it is not coiled, it will still pick up very tiny electromagnetic fluctuations (strongest when the length of the wire matches the wavelength) which we all know as “radio waves”.
           If you are looking for a source of free energy, the sun is a better bet. The air is full of light waves during the daytime and they can be used to preheat water before flows into your hot water tank, resulting in a savings in electricity. Here is a [rather busy] photo of Miguel’s device, which seems to have all the parts. I work only with 5 volt maximum direct current. Thus, I have no experience with this type of circuitry, nor do I want any. They are dangerous. If you look closely, he is missing a primary coil. This is because the on-line diagrams rarely show it.

AFTERNOON
           I’ll say again, Tesla and his work are highly over-rated. Yes, he did the groundwork for alternating current, but it was a concept he could not capitalize on. Other than his coil, which failed, he invented and accomplished very little else. The world is full of such people. Big ideas; little done about it. However, like chess and glassblowing, the concepts of Tesla have an amazing grip on the minds of the lower working classes. They have the cute idea that Tesla has been wrongfully neglected.

           The following topic is related to today’s addendum, but separated here as they concern a general principle as opposed to a specific instance. So you know, there is no law in the USA that requires you to give up hard drive passwords, but there are plenty of laws about what happens if you refuse. This contorted manner of thinking is typical of old English law, or Trial by Ordeal as it is better known. Demanding a computer password is akin to the presumption of guilt. How long before standing up for your rights carries a longer prison sentence than the crime one is charged with?
           There is one case in England where the authorities found a teen whose hard drive had a 40-plus character password. There was no suspicion of any wrong-doing and even the arresting police say he was of previous good character. But suddenly there is the presence of that damn password. The teen has never confirmed or denied anything, but he was jailed for 16 weeks. No matter what is on that drive, four months in the slammer was clearly the lesser of two evils. That poor kid has been crucified.
           The authorities hauled the kid before a jury which was repeatedly told, now careful here, that the teen had refused to give the password to police “who were investigating child sex crimes”. One, I suppose, should be grateful they were not investigating terrorism or tax fraud as well. The teen has never been charged with any sex crime, but after hearing those carefully planted words, the jury convicted him in less than 15 minutes.
           For those that do have something to hide, the preferred method is to use a bait drive. This is a layer of innocuous information with a password. This is important because it has become a de facto crime to “forget” your password. My preferred method is to never put anything incriminating in writing in the first place. Mind you, if they are out to get you, the lack of evidence in this day and age barely slows them down. I have nothing to hide, but I insist upon my right to do so should it ever become necessary. Unlike most people, I think ahead.
           What I can't figure out is why somebody hasn't invented a system whereby if someone uses a fake password you give them, it will automatically erase your hard drive.

           [Author’s note: In case there is any doubt, I’m against any manipulation of the law to further personal agendas. True freedom not only means a person cannot be required to testify against himself, it goes further and prevents him from doing so even if he is willing. Sadly, too many people don’t understand this. Take for instance the classical example of a person crossing the border with a suitcase. The authorities maintain the act of crossing is consent to be searched and a voluntary surrender of privacy. It isn’t. Unless you can explain to me what is "voluntary" about being questioned by a man with a loaded gun.]

ADDENDUM
           You know what is really disgusting? People who find the American Constitution keeps getting in their way.

           Ass-clown of the day is publicity whore Craig Barlowe, Attorney General in Utah. He went after a software company who demanded to see a warrant before handing over client data.
           Here’s a video of Barlowe the worm trying his doublespeak on the media. What a douchebag. The issue is NOT child porn, the issue is the Fourth Amendment. It has provisions to prevent bastard-rats like Barlowe from twisting the law for their own purposes. (He claims Internet data is not protected, but does not quote the phrase from the Constitution which causes that exception.)
           He can’t win on legal grounds so he plays the emotional card. That guy needs to get rid of his bad hairpiece as badly as he needs an exercise program. Catch all the bad guys you want, but obey the law to do it. Instead Barlowe cites as “precedent” other companies who have succumbed to his threats.
           Sure, I can tell you how that is done. Simple, you do the same thing as the police standing in front of your car when you have a right to leave. You turn the issue into a different, more serious crime. You get a court order, a much simpler process, so than when the defendant dares to insist on his rights, he is in contempt. I weep for America.

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July 9, 2013

           The red scooter hasn’t made the news. It’s been working fine. Up to today. I think it is a carburetor problem. I tried and failed to learn about small engine carburetors because it is the one thing I don’t have—100% hands-on experience. There isn’t even a decent Internet tutorial on the subject. I know all about how to learn to pass the test without knowing a thing that is practical. I’m equally adept at both to the extent I don’t like the company of those who totally choose one over the other. (That's not clear. What I'm saying is I can pass most tests without knowing the practical parts, but I think a mixture of both is necessary.)

           Other than the bakery and exercise class, I got into the shade of my Florida room and, wait, there is somebody at the door. Just some spare parts being dropped off. Where was I? Oh yeah, I puttered around most of the time designing small modular working parts with cardboard and jewelry wire. More about this wire in the addendum. The summer heat has become unbearable again, I put away two quarts of ice water in twelve hours. If I’m not careful, I might also make a comment about the aroma in the gymnasium during Zumba.
           My shopping was at the local art store, the only place to get certain products and while I was there I found this block of modeling clay. Known generically as “Plasticine” when I was a kid, I would have thought the stuff was dirt cheap. I mean, it is dirt, isn’t it? Turns out it isn’t real clay at all. And it isn’t cheap. The slab I’m holding is $2.79 worth. It came is an impressive array of colors.
           At that price, I had to look into it. The formula for this stuff is a secret as it is designed to not bend under movie camera lights, but will bake solid at higher temperatures. What? Okay, in your oven, 230 degrees F, for 30 minutes. The various brands of model clay you can make at home are entirely different, most of the recipes call for an entire cup of salt, making it potentially dangerous for kids. Most unusual use of plasticine? They put a strip of it at the foul line for Olympic jumpers. If the athlete’s shoe leaves a mark, the jump is disqualified. And tidbits like that are what keep us coming back.
           Interestingly, the proliferation of cameras (cell phone camcorders) in the previous few years has resulted in a decline in UFO sightings. In 2006, I was practically the only person who carried a digital camera with me at all times. I kept it on a lanyard around my neck as phone cameras were not yet available. To this day I still carry it that way. Old-fashioned? Nope. The phones were too slow to get on the store shelves in time to convert me.
           “The Letter”is the Joe Cocker tune I’ve been knocking myself out over. Part of the challenge is (once again) that it is a style of muddy, rapid-fire, finger-rippling, indistinct type of bass playing that I normally would not touch. One school of thought says watch videos of live performances, where studio tricks cannot abound. But narrow-minded cameramen rarely zoom in on the bass player while anything else is going on within 300 feet. I’m quite the contrary bassman, playing every note as distinctively as possible. I can play the lines, but you know what they say: A good bass player is one who can play 64th notes, but doesn’t.
           I also tussled with Cocker’s version of “Feelin’ Alright”, one of the greatest bass lines ever written by my hero, Carol Kaye. I just don’t have her touch. Listen to “These Boots Were Made For Walking” with Nancy Sinatra accompanying Carol and that is the sound I strive for. Nobody anywhere who plays a bass with their fingertips will ever be as great as Carol. That includes me. In the end, I may opt for the simpler bass runs from the version by Gladys Knight.
           An early morning rain shower gave me a chance to hunt down and trap that $38 discrepancy on my books that was bugging me. No matter what I did, the accounts did not balance. It isn’t the $38, it is the chance of it being the result of a more serious error. Well, I found it. One of the formula fields in one obscure account had not been expanded to include the two extra lines added each month for an adjusting entry. Two hours later.

ADDENDUM
           I like small power tools, in particular electric types. Those who say you must learn hand tools first are liars. There is no truth that you’ll cut a straighter board with a power saw if you first learned on a hand saw. Yeah, I fell for that tale, but only once when I was a kid. Yet, I have no background in power tools. That makes me self-taught and probably inefficient. Unlike a lot of people who don’t realize how convenient small tools are, I fully appreciate the invention.
           This sudden interest in power tools is a backup for the 3D printer. The club has decided all the available printers are either too cheap or too expensive. They are too new and need some time. But they are here to stay. Congratulations MakerBot, who just sold out for $400 million. If a 3D printer shows up here, it will be something I bought on my own.
           Live and learn. The beautiful club drill press finally revealed why we got it for $200 off. It took a while, but between noticing a slight burning smell when drilling wood, and a little too much sawdust on the table, I found it. The drill shaft is slightly bent, causing bit wobble. This is consistent with the tool being struck from the side. While it works fine on larger projects, the wobble becomes increasingly noticeable at PCB sizes. It can still be used for most work that does not require excessive precision.

           In better news, we’ve found that jeweler’s wire, the stuff they use inside beads and necklaces, works well for wire-wrapped prototyping where uninsulated wire can be used. The base metal is copper, but it has a silver-colored tarnish resistant coating. We will be determining soon if this will take solder in case there is a need for a permanent join.
           Look closely at this test wrap to see the value of testing. Shown here is the 28ga jewel wire on a 22ga copper lead. The stock wrapping tool has a much easier time dealing with this more flexible product, but notice how it puts just 8 wraps rather than the orthodox 10. And it often messes up the eighth wrap as shown here. The base wire is round where most component leads are rectangular. This means the wraps cannot “bite” into the edges of the core as is supposed to happen. However, the joint is tight enough and the wire tests for very low resistance, meaning mechanically it is sound.

July 8, 2013

           It’s a standing joke how most people in North America today could not go back and pass their own high school exams. Myself, I get lost on some of the more advanced accounting techniques. But I remember their fashion. One was the calculation of the point where it was better to let stock run out than overstock and have unsold inventory on the shelf at closing time. This formula has been applied to newspapers in Florida. You cannot usually find a newspaper for sale after 5:30 PM in this town. It also works for store hours, so I wonder when that will take effect? (You’ll be able to tell when the shops start closing at weird times like 8:47:16 precisely.)

           Another slow day, though if it was too slow, there would not be so many people reading, would there now? Here’s me reading, but I prefer books. This morning found me on the batbike out in Davie, FL. Another round of blood and tissue tests for my study. I was out before noon and so tempted to just keep going on a trip around Okeechobee. What changed my mind was I only had twenty bucks on me. That kind of thing still halts my instincts.

           I should have continued to the lake. I’d just found out my prescription co-pay has dropped by $200 so it is like getting some free cash right when I could use it.

           Instead, I went over to Barnes to read for free in the AC. Well, not that free. A coffee and scone costs $5.00 these days. Hang on for a second, let me total up what I spent today. Yep, including $15 for gasoline, I shelled out $42.00 for basically a nothing day. It is scary how few people can afford that little unless they are working. Careful what I just said there.
           Trivia. I examined a sketch of a monorail crossing a canyon on a single piece of wire. Balanced on the wire like a tightrope walker. The cabin was held steady by a set of generators. The idea was to save on building expensive bridges. The date on the illustration was 1907. Other ideas that didn’t pan out are the traffic light built into the dash of your car (1932) and that the majority of people in the US would be living in mobile homes, constantly moving around (1935).

           What I was after was the latest on 3D printing. As JZ would say, it is out of control. Some sources refer to it as “additive manufacturing” but I find that hard to spell out and not any more descriptive. I’ve lost track in the sense I can no longer monitor the developments. For example, there is a company that will print your design and market it for you on their site. You need only supply something that sells and they’ll print it anywhere in the world for you, zero inventory, zero anything but your cost.
           This sounds innocuous, but it is ground-breaking. If you sold 20,000 objects in this manner, you would experience what the market calls a “passive income structure”. This is so disruptive to the existing manufacturing and supply chain models that I have no doubt there has to be an enormous backlash both soon and nearby. It propels the consumer into the front line and it guts the entire infrastructure. And the rich are not going to take that lying down.

           Here’s a bit of technical material on 3D printers, remembering that one premise of this blog is to present things in a user-friendly format. First, the printers get hot. They have to extrude the plastic, which means heat it up, squeeze it through an opening, and let it cool. That temperature is 425 degrees Fahrenheit, so leave it alone. I’ve heard bad reports of printers that are not enclosed in a case having cooling problems from ordinary air movement in the room. Also, the aroma of melted plastic really bothers some people, like me.
           Your next consideration is resolution. Smaller is better. The smaller the melted plastic nozzle, the finer the detail in your print. In some printers, the nozzle moves, in others the base plate shifts around. It is too early to know which is better. Consumer 3D printers use only plastic so far. The ABS plastic we talked about comes out like Lego, hard and brittle. The other plastic, I don’t know, I think they call it PLA, but it is modified corn starch. I have no doubt the factories which make both brands will follow Hewlett-Packard’s printer ink rip-off for chiseling the public.

           One item already being printed is replacement reef parts. The Australian government has mapped out the dead swaths of the Great Barrier Reef and they are 3D printing concrete scaffolding to replicate the coral growth that normally takes ten centuries. A surprise to beginners is the slicing software--it is not included, it must be mastered, and it takes its sweet time. Once you have a 3D design on your computer, this software “slices” the object into virtual layers which are the instructions the 3D printer can digest.
           The biggest disappointment for me was calculating how long it would take to print the 10,000 toothpick holders. Not counting the slicing, the cleaning, turnaround and who knows what other processes that take time, I would need the printer occupied full time for three and a half years. That’s a long time to be breathing melted plastic fumes. If I farm out the design, I’m still at the mercy of the system that kept me in poverty for the years of my life that mattered.


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July 7, 2013

           Club and band. That’s most of today’s waking hours. Since those are not the most thrilling reports, here is a picture of a famous movie star. Can you tell who it is? I couldn’t, yet there was a time I drooled over this babe. It’s Uma Thurman at 43. If I didn’t know it was her and, say, she showed up at the Lani Kai last week, I would not have hit on her. Maybe I’m not pretty, but at 43 I was in better shape than that. And so was every woman I’d ever been out with. There, is that controversial enough to get anyone’s goat? Good.

           The 3D printer was the dominating topic at the club meeting today. There were equal and opposite opinions at work that anyone can understand. The youth vote says wait until we can afford a fancy unit, the experienced vote says we get anything we can now before it is too late. What is too late? When a new area of law appears governing what can or cannot be printed, or when the printers are “detuned” to not print certain things, or when the printing itself is subject to fees or licensing. There are vast things that can go wrong once the powers that be wake up to how these devices will change the very way we live.

           The bottom line is that, as Secretary-Treasurer, I hold the purse strings so the final decision is mine. Also, I am the de factor protector of the club’s more valuable assets. The club takes care of its own, but everything that is in good condition was here. Not pointing any fingers, but it was not here that flooded the drill press, and the eBike has been on loan just a month and already the charger is broken, the rear rim has to be replaced, and the special key to the krypton lock is lost. I know that nothing survives unless it is privately owned so it’s not like I’m surprised the best equipment is here. And that is certainly where something as valuable as a 3D printer will be located.
           Don’t be getting the idea the club is a debating society. It is for open discussion and all manner of themes get discussed. Like living in a trailer (manufactured home). Agt. M. says he would not do it because women don’t like it. But he pays twice what I do to live in an apartment and cannot afford to take off to Ft. Meyers Land, see the paradox? He also makes some strong points on religion, one of the few times I’ll listen. Why, if Darwin was right, by now cats should be able to operate can openers.

           The topic of input to the printer is prominent to every one of us who cannot draw, by which I mean operate CAD (Computer Assisted Design). There is software that can render a 3D object, such as your face and head, from photographs, but it is one of those outfits that want to do it for you. You send in your photos, they return the file. Ha, fat chance of that, but there are enough stupid people out there to support the business.
           Hello, Romania. Why the sudden interest in my little blog from the east? I’m not planning any European travel and Nadia is taken. Ah, it must be the sparkling wit with which I present the newest topics in a user-friendly conversation. I know all about Romania, I’ve seen the Van Helsing movies. Send me your pretty countesses that want American citizenship. Don’t worry, after a while in Florida, they’ll be heading back.

           One more encouraging sign, at least for me, is the decline in page views using Internet Explorer. That is how much I dislike MicroSoft. Anything that gets them further from number one is okay by me. I’ve always felt the crushing monopoly of MicroSoft and their crappy products held back further computer development for thirty years. Now we find out they have been intentionally spying on everyone by building back doors into every Windows system. Then again, what have I been telling all the worried people all along?

           Band practice, which has finally become a social event, brought out some tunes so rare in my life I never thought I’d play them. The three that won out are Joe Cocker’s “The Letter” and “Feelin’ Alright”, plus “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” by the Righteous Brothers. (Righteous? And some dare call me fat-headed?) This is conformity, a move to music I never would have played on my own. We did respectable versions of all this music without really trying, suggesting the band is finally meshing. Here is a photo of us playing Chuck Berry music. You have to look close to see the bass behind my arm at extreme left.

           [Author's note 2015-07-07: it was not evident at first, but cracks began to appear very shortly after these "new" songs were chosen. It seems others were not able to learn their parts. I would bust my crackers to get the bass line perfect and get back the attitude that this was only possible because "bass is easy". Well, easy or not, if you can't learn your part, that puts the entire band on shaky ground. You know what they say about the convoy and the slowest ship.]

           This will sound strange to some ears, but I will define the circumstances under which an ordinary band flourishes, and why it is the most common type of band. My background by age 12 was as a band manager, not as a musician. This is not a subtle difference, because in fact, it means my viewpoint on bands is very opposite, often aggressively so, from those who fancy themselves musicians. No, I do not see myself as a musician, but as an entertainer. Big difference. The musician tends to think he is already good enough.
           What I’m getting at is [a description of] the environment that produces today’s average band member, and take it from me, most band members are 100% average. What causes this? It seems to be the result of a five year stretch (plus or minus) beginning for males in their early teens. (Now I was lucky with the ladies, and as I found out later, very, very, very lucky during those years.) I did not throw myself into music as if it was a salvation. Despite popular opinions otherwise, I already knew by age 13 that a guitar does not do much to improve the chances of nerds and geeks.
           That five years is critical to producing the supply of guitar players we have today. It is that period that forms the attitudes that persist long after they are of any relevance. Those teen years, when one can practice when motivated, are difficult to recreate once out on your own. It also helps as a teen to be surrounded by a variety of music and instruments, that’s something else I never had. But it is really the spare time, where one can practice and goof off with music in the cocoon of home and daddy’s money. Once they leave the nest, nothing much changes for the next thirty years. (This is a general statement not intended to describe any individual.)

           The situtation produces a lot of guitar player clones, but it also kills the spirit. Unless you are a rich kid, music and a career don’t mix that well. No, it is not a matter of motivation. What are the odds that you’ll really get into dedicated music study after a shift at the plywood mill? Generally zero. Motivation may overcome such odds, but a life of ease works much better. Musically, humanity pays a dreadful price in creativity under this system. The best creative minds drown as wage slaves and the fat cats get recording contracts because they are the only ones left standing. How else can Michael Jackson be explained?
           Guess what? I never had that five years when I was a teen. I think I just had it now. When I look back on the past five years of how I ever came to play the brand of music this new band plays, I see a very familiar face looking back. Until y’day, to me Joe Cocker was just another English drunk whose band hated him. If Darwin was right . . . .


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July 6, 2013

           Nothing happened today. In that case, let’s take a look at what constitutes a nothing for me. This morning began with the horoscope reading at the bakery. You have to be there to win. My reading is always last because it is always the same. Get out there and conquer the universe. And usually wrong, as today it said my loved one would get on my case. First I’d have to find a loved one. Not so easy, because the one I want requires that I have brains and talent. If I had brains I would not have to read 34 hours per week. And if I had talent, I would not have to practice 15 hours per week.

           Who remembers the bass ukulele? I saw one in action. To the left is a similar instrument, it really looks like a ukulele with nylon strings. This is at the Hollywood Golf Club, where I met up with a table of musicians and wives. It turns out to be a lounge, my kind of place. Trust me, I’ll spend the extra buck a drink if it keeps the riff raff away.

           I was there for an intro to the band, but had to leave before their break. This band was interesting. It was fronted by the bass player who operated a standup. That’s my wording choice, you don’t play an upright bass, you operate it. He was lead singing and then hauled out this bass ukulele. He had it adjusted for a rather nice bass sound. I’ve often pointed out the electric bass is all wiring and need not be built large and heavy. Although the sound left a lot to be desired, he worked it just fine. It’s not for me, but neither is the characteristic sound of the upright bass. Far too restrictive, every song sounds the same.
           Then over to see Alfredo at the shoe shop. His converter box quit working. Since the end of the government handout, these boxes cost around $50, so I took a look. Found nothing, but the gadget is certainly very well manufactured. My guess is robotic assembly. It has, oddly, no CMOS battery, so here I am checking the power leads. My conclusion is that it might have a V-chip that needs hacking. The code to override the V-chip is 0711.

           Ah, I hear some say. If you enter that sequence it comes back and says “invalid code”. To them I say, “rookie”. That warning is to fool the uninitiated. Just enter it a second time and you are in.

           The only other event was bingo, and the boss and her husband are out of town. When the cat’s away, bingo takes on a different flavor. Call it “Redneck Bingo”. Here’s some excerpts:

           “Head’s up, you snooze you lose, B-14, s’matter you deaf?”
           “Ain’t got it? Tough luck. Play better cards next time.”
           “Why you lookin’ at me? Look at yer damn card.”
           “It’s pee break time. Get back here fast or we start without you.”
           “Hold yer cards but don’t hold yer breath.”
           “The pot is $38. Beats a swift kick in the ass with a frozen moccasin.”
           “Tip yer server. Don’t be a bunch of cheap bastards.”

           And here is more “Bar Still Art”. For reasons unknown, I got a surge in readership when I published the last one, so let’s see if I can do it again. Or find out if there is any correlation. The format is generally four objects on a bar counter, one of which is a bottle of American beer. The others are random objects some of which are unlikely to appear in combination. Shown here are a spring clip, my cell phone, and a yellow pepper. Why a pepper? That’s easy. Nobody had a tomato.
           On Saturdays, I get same as the rest of the staff, three free beers. No matter what my doctor says, I am not giving that up unless I meet a fantastic woman who doesn’t care for it. Some people plain don’t understand American tradition. Ice cold beer on Saturday. It’s same as apple pie and Apple computers. Part of the legend of this once-great nation.
           So, how does my nothing Saturday compare with any other nothing Saturdays out there?

           [Author's note 2017: see how nicely these old blogs look when given the 2017 format? This was actually done in error, but it still looks nice. See, I've been paying attention and learning.]


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July 5, 2013

           Here is a close-up of NeverWet. The initial test is to be my eBike handlebars. The way I must store the bicycle means the chrome is constantly attacked by moisture and develops a grainy rust pattern, that while easily removed, will eventually get through to the base metal. We’ve chosen the handlebars because they are not likely to be abraded, meaning this is a test of the exterior life of this product.
           Another lovely day off. That’s my schedule, folks, I get paid to go out on Fridays. Needless to say, getting paid for that day has not been happening lately. The music business has been terribly eroded by DJs and Karaoke. I don’t know one person who prefers canned music to live, so it all boils down to club owners trying to save money. It is precisely the wrong thing to do, but it works well in the short run because it gives the illusion of lower expenses. I’ll explain how it works in real life.

           Say a club owner decides instead of paying the live band $200 on Friday night, he’ll bring in a DJ for $130. For the first few weeks, nothing else changes, the owner pats himself on the back for saving $70. Then begins the decline. The number of regulars begins to taper off as they find places that are closer, cheaper, or with live music. DJs cannot keep a crowd. Even if there are nothing but more DJs in the vicinity, the crowd will tend to spread itself out evenly over what is available. You can confirm that on your own--but I've seen it a lot.
           The problem compounds as the club owner will desperately try almost anything to get his clientele back--except hire bands again. Anyone who thinks it is easy to get people back has obviously not tried it. It is easier and cheaper to get new people to come in and hope they’ll become regulars. But the one thing the owner won’t try is spending the money to get the bands back. The decline in business is gradual but the cost of the solution is rather instant. Often, the club can’t afford that any more. What you have left is a bunch of losing pubs that are pretty much alike. And before you conclude if the pubs are all the same, so just pick the one with the prettiest servers, you might want to know that pretty servers and bands underwent the same process of degradation. You'll see.

           A day off doesn’t mean inactivity around here. I like my nice Zumba class, it keeps me limbered. Long time office workers like me can use that. The heaviest thing I lifted at work since 1981 was probably a paper clip. I got all the exercise I needed in other ways. Today was haircut day, instead I cleaned and weeded the yard, vacuumed the kitchen and workshop, generally the things guys like me like to put off. I will never be a yard worker.
           How do you like that report about the post office snooping into your mail? They issue the postal workers with a card saying all mail to a certain address has to be taken to the supervisor for copying before it is delivered. The problem is, some guy got that card in his mail. Oops. Do what I do, assume all your correspondence is being copied and read, and don’t write down anything that could implicate you in the first place. Dumbest thing people post on the Internet: pictures with incriminating backgrounds.

           Trivia for the day. Here is a video of the Spacex vehicle making a successful take-off and landing. Watch for a new round of laws looking to shut down the launching and deployment of privately owned satellites. Biometric identity manufacturers are using the largest human face database in the world, it is called “Facebook”. A NOVA study suggests that while most people feel they have a right to privacy, they feel that others do not. The danger, of course, is that ID methods brought in to stop criminals are quickly turned on the innocent. (For example, people are now fingerprinted when arrested instead of after they are convicted.)
           Wait, there is more trivia. I’m not going to touch this one, but you can look it up yourself. Accidents really do happen more often to people who are assholes. Now I finally understand why so many people kept telling me my brothers were accident-prone. And according to anthropologists at Oxford, paranoia is largely an affliction of the less intelligent. The lower the IQ, the more the need to “identify” everyone around themselves. I can confirm that from my years at the phone company. That office was full of stupid people who were always complaining that my favorite answer to their questions was that it was “none of their business”.

ADDENDUM
           Please, folks, do not send me comments that Canada is nicer than the USA. I delete them on the spot. Which country is better is largely a matter of what one is used to, and I am used to the USA. But to go a step further, I do not like Canada and I have valid reasons for not liking it. Only those who have never experienced real freedom would like or defend the Canadian system—and that means the majority of Canadians and nobody else. If you grow up thinking it is a perfectly normal lifestyle to stick your noses into everybody else’s business and can generally accept a lower standard in everything from food quality to wages, by all means, move up there.
           I opt for freedom. It means more to me than “free medical”. What is free about paying half your income in taxes (hence the low real wages) so others can live like kings. Every person on welfare in Canada “makes” the equivalent of $75,000 per year. The “free medical” is so bad, the rich in Canada opt for private insurance or head for the border. As I said years ago, “Canadian taxes make food so cheap that a lot of people can barely afford it.”

           I worked with Canadians for years, so I know what I’m talking about. People who try to get ahead in Canada are viewed with backbiting suspicion, as if one is trying to upset a well-balanced system. You need a permit to open any business even if they’ve never heard of it before; a permit that is little more than a document to alert the income tax department that you’ve shown initiative. They call themselves a modern country, but they have never invented or produced anything on a scale that justifies such a claim.
           The police (R.C.M.P.) (locally known as the "Mounties") are a federal police force used as much to enforce government policy as to enforce the law. Canadian police regularly use Gestapo (tasing people to death) tactics and are far more corrupt than their American counterparts because Mounties cannot be sued for false arrest. Canada is the only “democracy” that has ever had ex post facto law (Section 33, Canadian Bill of Rights, specifically gives the Crown (the prosecution) the right to rewrite the law if they can't convict you any other way). Remember Charles Vernon Meyer.

           Also, the Canadian system is designed to continually check up on you. Yes, I do mind constant red tape because I know it isn’t necessary. Every government department and bank in Canada behaves like a vigilante watchdog, ready to turn you in in an instant, and beware, the media is government controlled. Most Canadians know only the party line of any news story. Canada, although allowed as many political parties as they want, in reality has two. The Liberals and the Conservatives. The one in power at any time is the one who bought the most votes with the taxpayer's money. If you thought Mr. Obama invented that scam with his free cell phones and food stamps, wrong, it was perfected long ago by a Canadian called P. Trudeau. "Pierre" did it by expanding the civil service to 800,000 in a country with only 20 million people.
           In theory, Canadians are “nicer” than Americans, but watch the hell out. It makes Canucks sickeningly complacent. They are too nice to vote against their ridiculous immigration policies, too nice to oppose the excesses of their own government, too nice to protest the outrages of their tax department, etc. No matter how right you are, a Canadian will never side with you if they even think they might be perceived as “not nice”. This is a Canadian phenomena so extreme you cannot possibly imagine it.

           Canadians as a culture also have no problem lying. There is no general opprobrium built into the Canadian system nor into the Canadian individual as far as not keeping promises. (They just shrug their shoulders and walk away--they know you can't do anything. Just as American law protects the stupid, Canadian law protects liars by making it practically impossible to take them to court.) Lies are a significant daily part of Canadian life, and I’m not talking about little white lies at the office or to keep your kids in line.
           Even if you sue, it can take years and thousands of dollars to succeed, only to discover the legal system does not make big awards for pain and suffering. That makes it very difficult in Canada to collect damages. This breeds an entire cheating mentality on a national level. Where an American might gouge you, the Canadian will cheat you because he knows you can’t sue him. If you catch him stealing your car, the Canadian will scream you were spying on him and the RCMP will listen.
           And before anyone mentions crime, Canada leads the US in every major crime category except one--hand gun deaths. It only looks like there are 64 times as many handgun deaths in the US because the US refuses to delineate the murderers by race. If they did so, the white death rate is lower than Canada. Canada in general has 13% higher crime rates than the USA. Look it up for yourself. Furthermore, I believe Canadian crime rates are vastly under-reported because Canada has an arrest-the-victim policy in force. You are as likely to be arrested for reporting a crime as being the victim.
           Remember that ex post facto law can reach into the distant past--Canada's Statute of Limitations can be over-ridden by Section 33.

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July 4, 2013

           It was ten years ago today that we had our biggest gate at the San Diego Fair. That was our display of 1,000,000 toothpicks by invitation by Jeff & Jerry, two DJs from the real west coast. Frank and I drove the station wagon there for three long weeks [at the show], stayed at the Torrey Pines. Now THAT was fancy. We will be the only people you ever interact with in this lifetime who stayed at that hotel.
           Alas, digital pictures were not part of my life back then and what few photos I have are lost on the dozen or so old hard drives in this place. Thanks to MicroSoft, there was no easy way to keep the files organized and I don’t have time to hunt for them.

           Here is a rare, probably never-published picture of the toothpicks in the old Taurus. I’d guess this was taken in Miami since I don’t see any of our travel gear piled on top. The drive was, if I recall, 39 hours via Beaumont, El Paso, and Deming. I flew back as I had a job in those days. Worded differently, I conceived and executed this unique project while I was working full time. I was responsible for 67.5% of the counting, all the tools, and 100% of the cash for the materials and the trip. I don’t mention this massive task often because in a life like mine, it is no big deal.
           So much has happened in those ten years that it seems like twice as many. Once again, I have to chuckle at people who say things seem like y’day. Maybe they should get off their tushes. The toothpicks are still with me and in reasonable condition, though a little weather-beaten from being stored in the elements. One of the first items intended to design on the 3D printer would be a small clip to hold the picks square instead of round as they are now. I would need 10,000 of those clips.

           Singapore has been in touch about 3D printing as well, and expresses the same concern: we do not know how to create the CAD files needed to operate the device. My thinking is that there are plenty of sources of free designs, that it is more important that we learn the mechanics and operation of the printer first, worry about software later. I originally learned computers the other way around and regretted it. Today I can program anything but cannot fix a hard drive. Also, I graduated with my most senior programming degree the same year the Internet browsers arrived, so I have no idea how Zuckerberg coded or I’d do the same. As far as the 3D printer, everyone agrees we should start now. See Addendum.
           Independence Day. I recall when it meant something and was a cause for celebration. I’ll tell you who is celebrating. Forty million illegal immigrants, forty-six million on food stamps, and the 1% who let it all happen. I won’t get into it except to say I blame the Liberals for it all. True, the illegals take the jobs the Americans don’t want, but there is a reason Americans don’t want those jobs—those jobs don’t pay enough to survive. When you let illegals take them, the taxpayer has to pick up the slack one way or the other. Until the system goes bankrupt. It has been decades since an American kid or his father could find a decent part-time job for some pin money.

           Here is a great photo from the Baltimore, a swank place downtown Miami. This is an attachment from a friend since I was right here in my easy chair the entire day. I don’t myself care for fireworks. The sound and smell remind me of cannons, which I don’t care for either although there’s times I wished I had one, Patsie.
           More on the toothpicks. I know it seems like 20 or 30 years ago, but this is only the tenth anniversary of our big July 4th, 2003, toothpick show at the San Diego County Fair. We were the feature act and invited guest of the Jeff & Jerry radio show. 98%* of the mass of events in this blog have happened since then.
           These pictures are not identical, but they show the same scene. [One copy of the picture has been reduced to 0" x 0", so you cannot see it, but blog rules prevent me from outright deleting anything unless it is an error.] The duplicate photo is here because I need the placeholders for reasons. Two gals [are shown] posing on top of the display. Yes, it is that strong, being encased in bullet-proof Lexan. We donated, I believe $2,300 to charity from that one show. Or put another way, more than Obama did that year, and we ain't no millionaires.
           Let me crab a little. My original Internet accounts are still active from 1994. It is amazing the lengths to which Google and their sidekick Yahoo! have gone to try to sucker me into giving them my full name and phone number. I ask them in public, with the reputation you bastards have, do you actually think I’d tell you one scrap of personal information? Like, for "safekeeping". And if any readers out there are storing any type of personal information on the cloud, you must be some brand of ermahgerd.

ADDENDUM
           The club has spoken. We will look at a 3D printer, but not the $1,600 units from MakerBot, but at the $500 low-end units. This is another venture where most sources of information are useless. You have to buy the printer before you know what to look for. I’ve heard stories of massive setup times, clogged nozzles, malfuction in cold climates, and problems that were solved a lifetime ago now reappearing. That would be like having to completely restart a job if a single error occurs, and locking up the computer for hours during a print. There are tales of having to tend the print process to guard against filament tangles and such.
           It turns out there is already a $200 printer on the market. We would expect it to have most of the problems just mentioned, plus the difficulty of operation. If you read the specs, this is how we find out about problems in other printers. The Makibox A6 does not require “Kaption, perfboard, or raft” which is the first we heard of any such thing. But it does tip us off the other companies are being less than helpful on certain key points.

           The Makibox (say MAY-kee-box) arrives as a kit, however that does not bother me as I understand the exact technology used thanks to our robotics studies. It is basically some stepper motors and a nozzle. For all I can do, I have no ability to build such things on my own. I can design and describe them, but get no further. It’s like graduating from a Canadian university. Watch for developments soon as the club left the final decision up to me.
           I’ve also read of objections getting these things into schools because parents don’t want their kids breathing the fumes. My guess is such parents know first hand the dangers of prolonged inhaling the wrong things. Makibox is from Makible, don’t let the videos fool you, this company is Chinese and it is in Hong Kong. Allow eight weeks for delivery. The Internet is instant, not the world-wide transportation system.

* I do not obey that ridiculous rule of not starting a sentence with a number. It was created before the Internet changed the rules. The Internet rule says if it looks right, it is right.

PS: Aside to G. Marcy. Go ahead and fill out your silly little subpeona. There is not one person in your entire country who knows my real last name. My anti-ass-clown measures were in place long before you showed up. Sorry you've had such a run of bad luck lately but I warned you twice not to cheat and I have no intention of testifying on your behalf. Remember, you were on the opposing team and I still tried to help you.

July 3, 2013

           Chronological order today, this is the order in which things happened or were thought of. A recent statistic shows at any given time, every American is unwittingly committing three felonies. Still, it is a better legal system than Canada, where they retroactively change the law if they can’t get you any other way. So when I refer to that obscure ruling that every trailer court is required to have one smart ass, I’m just obeying the law. If you buy that, you’ll buy anything.
           What I’m referring to is a little flowery weed that started growing in the pavement crack in front of my driveway. I put a little ring of white stones around it, and watched it grow into a foot high bush. Then along came the trailer court and chopped it up and plowed it under. So this morning I placed a little cross at the burial site. See it? Hey, don’t point fingers at me. Another subsection of the same law says every trailer court must have a sexpot divorcee who waters her petunias while wearing fluorescent pink hot pants. They don’t have that here, so they started the ball rolling.
           Zetia, my new expensive prescription, has at least one bad side effect. It shortens one’s temper by keeping you slightly on edge. At first I just felt impatient with everything, but that isn’t unusual. Then I forgot to take the pill for one day. There you go. JZ just called, I’m giving him the cable box converter for his massive dinosaur TV.
           He can’t believe I never watch TV yet he of all people should know that. In return, I cannot believe he doesn’t drink coffee. When he does, he drinks it black. We are going to try to get some structural work done on this place as it looks like I’ll be here another year anyway. We are planning to put a new air conditioner in the Florida room, for example.
           After beginning to read Crichton’s “Micro”, I’ve decided to make a daily conscious effort to reduce my carbon footprint. He makes the point that despite environmental education bordering on indoctrination, most schoolchildren cannot “identify common plants and insects found in nature.” Of that, I am guilty and have no excuses. I know only the most obvious plants, some flowers, and a few insects including the mosquito. We’ll likely talk more of this.
           From y’day, I must tell that I do not know all the answers to 3D printing. The purpose of this blog is to get enough information to go looking on your own. The price on high-end units is a carefully guarded secret, another delinquent tactic of Generation Z. They won’t tell you the price until they’ve invaded your privacy. (I asked for a quote from MCAD who wanted to know first what I intended to print.) My interest in the printers is to bypass the years it would take me to learn to build things out of any other materials.
           And money, of course, the money to be made, that attracts me. There are enough single-owner million-dollar businesses out there to prove one person alone can do it alone. This has advantages I cannot begin to dream of. A business where only one person knows the details. No employees, no partners, nobody to steal, rat, argue, or compete. Nobody on the outside or inside, it is too much to imagine. Your perfect stealth business. Hey, you budding scriptwriters, there’s a concept for you.
           During the hot stretch of the afternoon, I wrote two more reviews. One on the hotel, saying it was an authentic Hawaii experience right down to the roaches, floor mold, and glacial elevators. I even gave it two stars because it is better than Motel 6, who I gave one star. And a review on the Goodwill bookstore, clearly stating that if you read only escape literature and have utterly no cerebral or academic brain activity, Goodwill can help you. My reviews are heralded as accurate because they are.
           Oops, the Ruskies have blown up another launch. There is so much more to getting it right than copying the other guy, as my own brother can confirm. Isn’t that the tenth fail since I started counting? That’s what happens, Ivan, when you recycle old ballistic components into new Protons. What? Cancel that last sentence. I’m not supposed to know about that.
           What’s this, the cable companies are complaining that people are opting out for free broadcast TV? Gee, after years of rate increases, substandard programming, and 32 commercials per hour, who’d have thunk that could happen? Not to mention their monopolistic attitudes and how it took a federal injunction to make them stop cranking the volume during commercials.
           For those who read this far, here is the real top item of the day. Here is the commercial version of NeverWet, the product that hates water. There is enough here to treat 15 square feet, although we don’t know what yet to test. Did I say test?
           Yes, nowhere in the advertising does it talk about what we need to know. For example, how long does the coating last on different surfaces? It is, after all, applied like paint. If you treat gloves, do they become slippery? Is there an antidote? There are no shortage of valid questions around here.
           In this picture, the NeverWet is part of a still life picture at the local pub. This is what a thinking man is likely to place on the counter, and in a moment I’ll tell you a tale from the trailer court. A friend of mine bartends on Wednesdays and I needed to borrow a 9/32” drill bit. Of course, we talked about the NeverWet and how one of the first treatments will be the lining of my motorcycle helmet. So it doesn’t get wet in the rain.
           But, not everyone has the right attitude toward progress. One of the nearby patrons, a guy we all know, blurts out that it must be nice to have nothing but free time, implying I had nothing else to do. Well! Let me explain something for the umpteenth time. I worked hard to be able to pursue my big ideas and useless dreams. I was born the poorest of the poor and the fact that I never made millionaire does not detract from the fact I got the hell out of that poverty cycle on my own. I can do as I please AND most importantly that is no thanks to not even one other person in this world. Those who owe favors are known for their lack of achievements.
           I’m a thousand times ahead of where I started and I’m glad that bothers people who have made no such accomplishment—they gave up, I didn’t. I am doing things now that require years of idle time and I’m proud of it. If I had been born rich, I’d have been discovering and learning things my whole life, and to blazes with what others think. Others play darts for a hobby, my, how intellectual. My creative life began the day I no longer had to rely on anybody.
           As it was, I had to waste the first half of my life working to stay alive. Be damned if I’ll waste the second half to keep the losers of the world at bay. I had received my life’s quota of jealousy, envy, and backstabbing criticism by the time I was ten, thank you.
           In the upcoming days, we will talk more about NeverWet. To the vexation of my detractors, I will make sure of it. Damn sure.

July 2, 2013

           Get ready for a long post, as the trips like last weekend give me plenty of the primo space I need to review and think. It only sounds like we are yakking continuously, my mind is going Mach ten. Today was a trip to the bakery, to Zumba class, and a stop at Sears to get a quick connect drill bit holder, which costs $9 because it has Craftsman stamped on it.
           Time for some electronics, but since this is not an electronics blog, I’m afraid we are falling behind in tracking developments. Particularly 3D printers. There are now too many sources for me to monitor. The only thing stopping a proliferation of small companies is that nothing economical has yet been invented to 3D print. Everything is a specialty item though some of it is nearing the practical stage. No-slip shower faucet knobs, clips that can hold panels in all kinds of oddball shapes, and watch for super-animated movies as these printers crank out perfect working scale models of miniature army tanks. Ever heard of Kursk?
           This technology can no longer be ignored despite the price tag. I am proposing to the club this Friday meeting that we make a purchase. This will mean dismantling the recording studio set up just this last February in my Florida room. (I’m sorry, but the studio gets so little use I can’t have it occupying shelf space and if needed, I can record in a much smaller area with five minutes of setup time.) The printer and its operation would be a crushing sacrifice at this time, but anything is better than falling behind. The sad part is we may, like the Arduino, wind up getting very little use out of it once we master the techniques—but those techniques must be mastered. I now look at every Arduino project, realize how simple it is, and don’t bother with it.
           While we cannot presently 3D print anything in quantity, we could quickly print prototypes and molds that could be used for that. This purchase will not happen soon. I just want to get the ball rolling. How do we know we won’t invent a viral cookie cutter or those eyeglass inserts you can no longer find? The ones you stick inside cheap beach sunglasses to make them match your prescription. So you can see where you are going. Yeah.
           One guy is already printing power bar clips, shown here with foreign plug patterns. You know how hard it is to mark and drill the wall-mount holes for your power bar? Instead, you screw the clip into the wall and snap in the whole power bar. I even saw a model that I think (the producer was one of those gorks that blasted lousy music instead of explaining what was happening) was using 3D print software to crimp tin foil into new shapes. Remember those paper cutouts to make a working clock. It’s done. Or any Halloween mask you desire. The 3D revolution caught me with no money, it did not catch me with my pants down.

           Be aware that Generation Z with their warped marketing minds are already misrepresenting 3D printers. Right now the money is to be made in selling the printers, not using them, and the Class of 99 is hard at work conning dollars they don't possess the skills to earn legitimately. I have seen objects produced on a $250,000 Connex500 displayed as a selling point mext to a $500 Solidoodle. Keep your eyes open, but make no mistake about it, 3D printers are a game-changer.

[Author's note 2015-07-02: With a year, I was to conclude that the 3D printer is borderline useless without some device to easily design your product. There is currently no such thing, the design work is painstakingly produced on CAD software. Until there is a breakthrough where even I can create shapes, I decided against 3D. Instead, I reverted to building robot prototypes mainly out of good old wood. For clarity, it is not the printer I reject, but the lack of a quality input device.]

           The difficulty of wiring seven-segment circuits is not exaggerated. Here is a prototype I worked on that never got anywhere, but that explains how I’ve been going through packages of 500 red LEDs at a time. I was happy to see that I am not the only one who thinks these are difficult. I found one for sale at EIO for fifty bucks. They use more LEDs and have transistor switches instead of clothespins, but the concept is identical. (I’d show a photo [of the article] instead of this link, but there is some new and clever software that prevents me from capturing the photo except at very tiny size. I’ll have that cracked in no time.)


           Now music. Music and electronics. What a life. Is this retirement? It is if you do it right.
           Taking a survey of “modern” music, I once again see the vast leveling hand of the Internet at work. I listened to “Slightly Stoopid”, “Bajofondo”, “State Radio”, and “Zoot Woman”. I don’t care for it musically, although it is strongly based on the very same rock roots I grew up with. Just because someone makes a synthesizer does obligate you to use it in every last song, guys. I know their music is live, but “It’s Automatic”. Slight variations as the tune progresses is actually desirable a lot of the time, someone should tell them. There is nothing all that wrong with hiring a real horn player, okay?
           Lyrics have also gone for a dump. Download old and new music side by side and you can see the older material resembles poetry while most of the new is characterized by repetition. I believe it is the Internet that breeds this over-similarity. The market is so saturated that any band who experiences the slightest success is instantly copied.
           In general, their sounds are not new. Rock produced the electric sound. The bands that arose were completely distinguishable from each other and from what went before, you could instantly tell what band and what song. Not so with indie rock and the "new Nashville" sounds. Bands these days lack anything like that degree of originality. “Tosh” is just “Bob Marley” all over again and “Porcupine Tree” is a candy-ass “Deep Purple”.
           From the past generation, I like “The Eels” but not “Modjo”. I think the trick, guys, is if you are going to play a certain style, do whatever you can to avoid sounding like you went to school and studied it. Use a more simple drum track that doesn’t sound artificial. Avoid the disco-rap beat if you are trying to play rock. And it is possible to write lyrics about topics other than harsh love, death, and sex, which, by the way, you did not invent.
           Okay, I’ll be the one to ask the question. Yes, I feel sorry for the 19 dead fire fighters. But something doesn’t add up. My guess is they collectively took some kind of unnecessary risk, but of course I do not know. I’m simply going to wait for all the facts to emerge before I draw any final conclusions. Something is off kilter, and that is that.

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July 1, 2013

           The thrill of a trip backs down fast to the mundane so fast around here. (That's a hard sentence to follow. I mean that once the trip is over, everythings seems slow.) Face it, I live for those little jaunts around the countryside. Today this report may ramble since it is written in sections as we go along. I’m transcribing music tabs so I get little breaks where I remember this and that. Quiet, yes, but I’ll compare to most other Monday blogs, know what I mean?
           The most exciting thing today was this picture taken at the beach before sunrise on Saturday morning. That’s the Gulf of Mexico. I was trying to get a time exposure out of my Nikon, a fruitless task. I will never own another Nikon of any model. A company that puts trash like this on the market cannot be trusted at all.
           Let’s talk music. One thing I did note, there are more bands playing on a given night in Ft. Meyer’s Beach than in all of Broward County. That’s quite a difference. I’ve noticed the DJ ads are taking direct aim on full size bands. Pointing out every detail right down to how their equipment takes less floor space, presumably meaning more room for dancers or tables. And the consistency of these ads means they must be having success at it. That’s scary.
           May I point out that there is not enough work to go around by any standard. I laugh when I see these musicians advertise for a working band, “must be gig-ready”. But more specifically, I mean no work for small guitar-centric groups or solos with backing tracks. People, the market is flooded and overflowing. Success under such duress has little to do with talent, except a real talent for finding new venues to play at. The standard tactic of undercutting the price has been tapped out, and same with telling the club owner you have a following and hoping you can trick other musicians into showing up for a “jam”.
           Travel upsets my bio clock, I was up until 7:05 AM listening to A Prairie Home Companion and watching old U-Boat videos. Can’t say which was more entertaining this week although the companion has its lighter moments, as in, “Why did Leonard leave me for that 22 year old actress? I thought he liked older, heavy-set women.”
           Travel implies, at least for me, a certain abandon. I’m glad I did so much of it when young because I now have to follow regimens that come along on every trip. Remember Colorado when I had to go seventeen days without my prescriptions? That’s what I’m talking about. My advice—which only applies if you want adventure and learning—is travel while you are young but not in the military (you won’t learn anything). One must also come to grips with the very real problem of weight gain while vacationing.
           The challenge is what to do today. How do you top an ace weekend in a new town? Worse, Monday is laundry day. It’s an old German custom. Trivia. Over half the U-boat crews, which themselves were volunteers, were metal workers. Things are pretty much back to routine already, as you see.
           I get a laugh out of modern (contemporary) portrayals of bands in the 60s and 70s. They who make these documentaries were not born yet, but it reveals how the myths have taken hold and I have no doubt this contributes to the terrible attitude of most guitar players today. To assist them, I’ve written the dialogue for their next video “Iron Butterfly”.

           “Wow, like man, Doug’s got a new harmonica, man.”
           “Cool, Jerry. We should like make a song with a harmonica, man.”
           “Darryl’s got this guitar riff, man, it could use some harmonica, like.”
           “How ‘bout you, Danny? Are you like, into it, bro?”
           “Great, then, let’s make another, like, album, man.”
           “Like okay, man, like, you know, like.”

           This is interesting. On a lark, JZ and I decided to look at the real estate prices on Cape Coral, just across the river from Ft. Meyers Beach. There appears to be no listings in the local papers and the agency publications focus on high-end mansions. So we stopped and asked directions several times. Guess what? We found nothing, but when I got home, I found all the locals had sent us into the expensive sub-divisions despite the fact I had asked for “the oldest part of downtown, you know, with fishing shacks”. Scumbags.
           But when I got home to my contacts, we found something immediately. An abandoned cabin that needs exactly the kind of work we know how to do. More as it happens but I felt Wallace and Patsie should know the price is $18,000. Sound familiar? Guess where the money came from? Serves you right. This is a vacation spot, not a live in. You might call the whole shebang an “ensuite”, but I somehow I don’t think you will. This has nothing to do with my search for a house in Boca or Boynton.
           In the end, I will advise not to buy. Upon checking around North Ft. Meyers and environs, although a healthy distance from Lehigh Acres, where you do not want to be, there appear to be quite a number of abandoned buildings. That means squatters and I have no doubt what would happen to a place that was vacant a few months of the year. Don’t suggest rental, it is too far away to keep an eye on the property. Still, actions like this show we are on top of the situation and something is bound to happen soon. Mind you, I am not particularly interested in giving anybody a fair deal. The seller is automatically to me one of the Yuppies who drove house prices out of sight with borrowed money.

ADDENDUM
           Funny thing, three months ago I sent a stern e-letter to the editors of a half dozen sites (not revealed here) pointing out uncanny similarities between their writer’s output and the topics of this blog. There has been a vast improvement in the situation and I have not seen a plagiarized item in 90 days. But remember, I review only the most popular non-Facebook sites. That doesn’t stop anyone who wants to be sneaky about it.
           Myself, I fully admit to finding up to a sixth of my trivia on-line. The remainder is from reading library books and that definitely qualifies as research. That is vastly different than the act of patterning an entire article around a single pilfered idea. I regular decline to mention all kinds of topics here for the very fact they came from one source. Did I word that right? What I mean is I’m so against plagiarism that I rarely quote two consecutive facts if they came from the same book.
           Is there a pattern to what I quote? Yes, but it doesn’t show. Will I tell you? Sure, why not? Have you ever read a what’s-new section and seen new things you’d assumed had already been invented, or seen something that you wish you’d thought of? I trust my judgment when that happens to me, and you’ll see regular posts of such items. Like today I found out you can tell what day of the week bread was baked by the color of the plastic bread clip. I never knew that.

           How about an example of 3D printing? I found this on Imgur, and claim fair usage because I am not quoting any part of the text. I am indeed using their picture, but this blog contains some of the earliest interest in 3D printing that exists anywhere. If a complaint arose, I could argue (like patent trolls) that it is their picture that is exampling my original work.
           I am reporting something new because I think it is important. Here is a light-weight cast that is stronger than plaster. Now that is a brilliant application of the technology. My editorial here is not about the cast, but about the emergence of new ideas, of which their picture is merely one instance that supports my predictions. So, no link here, as I cannot add anything on casts and casts add nothing more to my opinion.

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