stickmaker | Recent Entries

Planned to trim and mow at least some this morning, but it was still raining. Waited 'till after 11 and did most of the trimming. Took an unplanned break when I ran out of trimmer string on the new trimmer and had trouble finding the manual. Turns out that reloading is pretty easy. (I'm starting to love Ego products.) Soaked with sweat; cooler but still very humid. Will resume after 3 this afternoon.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: "I'm So Tired" by The Beatles.

How about a fanfic with Columbo meeting Kolchak?

It's surprisingly easy to bring those two together. Columbo is in Chicago, briefing the local police on a murderous cult which started in California, and trying to find them himself. However, the only person who seems to be taking these cannibals seriously is an eccentric reporter for a small newspaper. He also, oddly, it the only one with any hard information, though it doesn't seem real at first.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: None, currently.

Power was off here for just under an hour last night, after a huge lightning bolt in the distance which woke me. From about 1:10 to about 2:05. Not only did my UPSes start beeping, but at that time but the cordless phone in the charger lit up the whole room!

Then I woke early! I fed the cats, opened the cat door and went back to bed. Managed to sleep some, but the phone rang at about 8:50, with a call from Kroger pharmacy telling me my prescription is ready. They called me about that yesterday!

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: "I'm So Tired" by The Beatles.

"The thing is, we know who shot him and have him in custody."

"Yeah. All I'm supposed to do is determine if this was a hate crime. However, that means I need to check things for myself, including the scene of the crime."

"He was shot in the rotunda," said the cop.

"I beg your pardon?" said Vic, startled.

"The Ford Rotunda. The big Ford building, in Dearborn, with the Buckminster Fuller roof. The one that almost burned down in Sixty-two or Sixty-three.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: None, currently.

Masks 27 is out:

https://www.amazon.com/Target-Hero-Masks-Book-27-ebook/dp/B0H5FS66ZW?ref_=ast_author_mpb

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: "I'm So Tired" by The Beatles.

NASA did not invent the space pen. They didn't spend a fortune on it, while the Soviet space program used mechanical pencils.

First off, you don't use pencils of any kind in space. Writing with them generates small graphite particles. Graphite is a semiconductor, you don't want it to get in your switches. You also don't want to breath them.

Early on, NASA and the Soviets both used felt-tipped pens, and these continued with later missions. "Buzz" Aldrin even repurposed one to repair the circuit breaker he damaged during his last boarding of the Eagle lunar lander. (From Wikipedia: While moving inside the cabin, Aldrin accidentally damaged the circuit breaker that would arm the [ascent] engine for liftoff from the Moon. There was a concern this would prevent firing the engine, stranding them on the Moon. The nonconductive tip of a Duro felt-tip pen was sufficient to activate the switch.)

Paul Fisher invented the pressurized ink cartridge and the special ink for it on his own for other purposes, then offered samples to NASA. After some examination, they adopted it.

Current Mood: aggravated
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: The _F Troop_ theme. :-)

The first Masks stories have been published in a collection, with a bit of rewriting and some added material:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GZY67V54

Ultimate Masks Volume 1

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
Current Music: None, currently.

Patches the cat is fine. She fussed a lot, but her heart murmur is gone, and her pulse and blood pressure are fine. She got a dose of Revolution while she was at the vet's, and isn't due her vaccinations until October. I am unscratched! Despite her fighting going into the pet carrier.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
Current Music: None, currently.

Currently working on Masks 29. One section involves the Rescue Team in 1971. (_Thunderbirds_ was originally named _International Rescue_. )

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
Current Music: Guess.

Here are the URLs of the two current US Mars rovers and the US Mars orbiter

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity/

http://themis.asu.edu/

Current Mood: thoughtful
Current Location: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
Current Music: None, currently.

Why do people keep saying there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? We know they had nerve agents. By international agreement those count as WMD.

Last year NPR had a whole series on the difficulties faced by soldiers exposed to nerve agents during the occupation of Iraq getting important follow-up treatments from the VA. Their exposures were documented by the US military.

Current Mood: irritated
Current Location: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
Current Music: None, currently.

Had a rough night, and didn't actually wake up and get out of bed until 11:11. I was rather surprised to see the time.

I took two Imodium at about 5:30, woke and fed the cats a bit after 8 then went back to bed and back to sleep.

So, overslept, and not going to make Frisch's for lunch, today. Don't know, yet, if I'll make the gun show in Lexington this weekend. Probably not.

Much to do this afternoon and tomorrow. Among other problems, landline phone is out again. Again due to copper theft. AT&T won't let me change to Wireless without a lot of baggage I don't want, so they have to pay for new copper wire and its installation, which they haven't done yet! Still have my cell phone, though.

Current Mood: Rested
Current Location: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
Current Music: None, currently.

Politician: "Friends, let me tell you about MAHA..."

Curly: "Aha! Razbanyai siati benefuchi timinharongi. Paradeecke mahiha."

Current Mood: confused
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: Guess...

I spent much of the past week doing long-planned work in the upstairs bathroom. I installed a second, higher shelf (after having to buy more support brackets when I couldn't find those I bought a few months ago) and put some items on it, freeing room on the lower, earlier shelf. I had to change my design a couple of times, mainly due to not being able to locate a stud despite careful measuring! (There are now lots of small holes in the wall.)

The past couple of days I've devoted to scraping and painting the wooden surround of the upstairs bathroom window, which is now in the new shower. After putting on the first coat I resolved to find a better brush for the second. I found a better brush. I also found the missing shelf brackets! The second coat looks much smoother than the first, partly due to the better brush. After checking for coverage I tossed the brush and what was left of the can of paint.

I'm using the downstairs bathroom for my showers just now anyway, so there will be plenty of time for the paint to dry. I still need to remove the masking tape, sweep out the shower pan and reinstall the shade.

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: None, currently.

Spent a large part of the day napping. Thanks to the COVID booster I got yesterday. Small breakfast, good lunch, no supper.

Current Mood: sick
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: "I'm So Tired" by The Beatles.

I really like this You Tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@WristwatchRevival

"YouTube

Wristwatch Revival

I'm Marshall, I love watches and found a passion for watchmaking. I like to find broken or neglected vintage watches and bring them back to life, restoring history and letting someone enjoy them for years to come. I'm not a watchmaker by trade, but I do love the hobby and I hope you'll see why on this channel!"

I just wish I had the fine motor control to do this work.

Current Mood: enthralled
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: None, currently.

The album with my Seattle WorldCon photos is on Flickr at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/116299515@N07/albums/72177720328580019

Stickmaker

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: "I'm So Tired" by The Beatles.

Of course Putin isn't negotiating over the war in Ukraine. Ukraine wants a ceasefire and that means (in his mind) that they don't have the will to fight and will surrender any day now. Only losers want to quit fighting or even talk about quitting!

Current Mood: angry
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: None, currently.

I'm currently reading and enjoying _A Square Meal_ by Jane Ziegelman and Andrew Coe. This book is about how diets in the US changed during the Twentieth Century. I'm up to the early Thirties.

There's a lot of material about the effects of the Great Depression and various relief efforts on what and how much people ate. One of the strongest arguments against relief by politicians and businessmen was that there was work available but people just didn't want to work. That giving them food (or anything else) would just make them lazy and dependant. Many programs intended to help people had work requirements for "able bodied" men which had to be fulfilled before their families could receive any government help.

This didn't work any better then than it did any other time it has been tried. Yet people keep trying it.

Not only did getting work depend on work being available, but many people had "invisible" disabilities which prevented them for medical reasons from doing physical labor. Many of those making the rules didn't take this into account; if the person wasn't obviously disabled, they couldn't be disabled. They just didn't want to work. Others in authority simply didn't care, claiming that these people were able bodied no matter what doctors said. Some of those making the work requirement demands did so for political reasons, or to excuse their own inaction. Others cared more about their budget than the people they were supposed to be helping. Having someone starve because they didn't meet some arbitrary standard was handwaved away, or simply denied.

You see the same thing happening today. There's nothing new, except the increasing accumulation of history showing us what works and what doesn't.

Current Mood: angry
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: The _F Troop_ theme. :-)

Perhaps the greatest duet in the history of TV:

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGUs_aE6uJs)

Current Mood: artistic
Current Location: United States, Kentucky, Frankfort
Current Music: Guess...

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Touch of Magic

Fighting the Mundane

Recent Entries

Joys of Home Ownership

Fanfic Idea

Lost Sleep

Anyone Else Remember This?

Another Masks Novel!

A Bit of Debunking

Ultimate Masks Collection, Volume 1

Cat Update

(no subject)

Mars Images

No WMD in Iraq?

Overslept

What I Hear

Bathroom Work

Pfizer COVID Vaccine

(no subject)

Seattle WorldCon Photos

Ukraine

Nothing New

Their Only Duet?