rfg - the retired fuck gazette - tales of retired life

explosive times are these

2012-02-12T07:14:00.000-08:00

nothing weird ever happens to me. i attract no unusual vibes from the universe. i'm a typical, normal, usual kind of guy, just like you'd see walking down the street everyday. that's why i had a typical thing happen to me yesterday - a thing that could just as easily happen to any one else.

an extremely serious firecracker label collector came to my house. since i've been a hack firecracker label collector for about 40 years, we had a lot to talk about. and trade. and stare at in amazement.

wouldn't it just be normal that a buddy would call you, and let you know that he saw an ad on craigslist about someone looking for old chinese firecracker labels? i get tens of calls like this a week, and i'm sure you do too. so, it was just par for the course. and, that that's exactly what happened. i got a call that there was such an ad on craigslist, found it, and responded to it!

the guy is a really, really nice guy. it was a pleasure to meet him, and have him over to my little shack in the woods. he's a SERIOUS firecracker label collector!! he had his labels in small, individual zip lock bags. firecracker packs were in little plastic cases. he had three drawers full of packs, from the oldest (class 1) to the newest (class 6), with the drawers all labeled and classified as to their contents. he knew all the markings on packs of firecrackers. he could distinguish the year of manufacture for many of them just by looking.

and this stuff was barely scratching the surface, he said. back home, he had many, many more! he just brought a few things, requiring only 3 trips to the car.

as would happen with any two large sets of similar objects, we had a lot of overlap. but, i had a few things he was interested in, and he had many things i was interested in. he is a very fair-minded person, and was extremely careful telling me exactly what we were trading, what class each label was, and made sure that i was satisfied that the trades were "even". i wasn't concerned. i would have just given him the labels - i have thousands of them. what do i need them all for? nothing we traded diminished my collection at all. i actually gained some cool old labels!

i'll upload a bunch of them in high resolution format. click on the images to enlarge them, and see them in all their glory. i collect firecracker labels because i think the art is very cool, especially the old ones. oh, and i like blowing things up. and setting them on fire. yes.

a la quickie engineering fix

2012-02-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

earlier this week, i called my friend larry to thank him. years ago, he kept bugging me to take lots and lots of photos of my house as it was being built. he and i had both been in the cable installation business before, and knew that new construction is only open once. but, larry has been in the business a long time, and knows of which he speaks. after the sheetrock goes up on the walls, he reminded me, your chance to see what's behind them is gone.

over the years, i have had various issues with my house. any homeowner has. naturally, all these issues are unforeseen issues, because had they been foreseen, they would not have been allowed to happen in the first place. :-)

i had cable tv installed once i retired - and the cable had to come through a wall with a high-pressure sprinkler line running through it. having photos of the inside of the wall made it easy to locate a safe spot for the cable to pass through. i even drilled it from the inside for the cable installer to find on the outside. all he had to do was get the cable to where i drilled, and pull the wire through.

i showed photographs of the roof joists and skylight construction to current-day roofers. they have used the placement of the rafters underneath to determine the safest places to re-staple the shingles around the skylight flashing. they were able to finally stop my skylights from leaking after all these years!

and, i just used the photos again to solve a big problem in a very inexpensive way.

THE PROBLEM: suddenly, when i walked around upstairs over the kitchen area, i heard a loud rattling sound coming from the floor. i weighed myself, but i was still the same scrawny 135 lb. person i have always been. :-) i had my handyman listen to the kitchen ceiling carefully as i walked upstairs above it, and he isolated the sound. so, we knew where it was coming from, but not exactly what it was. while it did make the distinct sound of a pipe rattling, we wanted more proof.

if it was a pipe, john (the handyman) said that the typical fix is to cut a section of the kitchen ceiling out, reattach the pipe to whatever it fell from, and then repair the ceiling to look like no one had ever been there. but, anyone who's ever cut into sheetrock knows you can never precisely mimic the original surface. you can always tell it's been fixed.

i checked my huge stash of old construction photos, and found two that showed the very area in the ceiling in question - but just barely! :-) i am uploading the photos in high-res format, so please click on them to expand. the pipes in question are very near the top in both photos, and are very hard to see:

the pipes are very near the top, appearing to emerge from behind the post

here, the pipes have turned a corner, and are going toward the rear wall

so, we both surmised that indeed, it was a copper water pipe that must've come lose, and was hitting the top of the ceiling. i had an idea which we ended up doing. it was engineering at its most fun!

i proposed that we make two small holes in the ceiling: one for a bamboo skewer to lift the fallen pipe up off the ceiling, and a second hole to insert the spray-tube from a can of expanding construction foam. we'd hold up the pipe, then spray 3-4 seconds of foam below it. construction foam expands like crazy, and 3-4 seconds is probably even too much. :-) in theory, the foam would hold the pipe in place, and probably provide better vibration protection than little plastic clips nailed onto joists. it would also prevent future pipe-falls, if that's a real english word.

this we then did. :) the foam set enough that we could remove the bamboo skewer in just a couple of minutes. john had both small holes in the ceiling all spackled up, hiding any evidence, well before the foam had even finished expanding. you can't tell that it's been repaired at all. :-)

so, thank you larry! thank you for the suggestion, and for pushing me to take all those pictures. i wish i had taken more - they have always come in handy. i think i just saved many hundreds of dollars and have a much more elegant fix, to boot. all this because of x-ray vision and a little engineering inspiration. :-)

the new economy

2012-02-07T02:53:00.000-08:00

in the new economy, you must sell your assets in order to buy food and water. in the new economy, there are no such things as spare parts. should you find yourself plagued by excess inventory, you must divest yourself immediately! be lean! be efficient! live like a student all over again!

in the spirit of patriotism, then, i am selling off my excess inventory. one inventory item was a d'oh-nation from an espresso parts company that wouldn't take back an unused part. the second is a smattering of small mounting hardware parts, accumulated from years of buying and selling mcintosh stereo gear.

occasionally, there was a little bag of mounting hardware inside the box with the mcintosh gear. i'd always remove it. the stereo gear went on my stereo shelving, away from small metal parts, and the the little bag went into a drawer.

i did some MAJOR recycling here over the past few days, and went through that drawer. i found countless ancient goodies, including many such little bags. knowing they are from mcintosh equipment long-gone - and that these small parts will fit older mcintosh gear exactly - i am taking capitalistic advantage of the consumer and selling them at "mcintosh prices". :-)

paying for mounting hardware at a mcintosh dealer is a very expensive proposition - many times more than even the outrageous price i'm asking:

a small smattering of mcintosh mounting parts:
22 flat washers
10 angle brackets
10 wood screws
8 set screws
4 plastic fasteners

the price? a bargain at $25. this stuff couldn't be more than about $2.50 at ace hardware. mcintosh gear really holds its value.

also, on the auction block - the now-infamous Unneeded Pressure Stat:

Non-returnable part number 537030700

to sell this beastie, i'm going to have to take a beating. it was $200 new, but i'm asking $150. i may not get that - i may get nothing! here, the capitalistic consumer gets to take advantage of the seller, because there's no market for the product. :-(

no one wants these pressure stats. better ones are available more cheaply. even my espresso machine dealer here in santa cruz politely declined when i told him that i have one locally, should he need one. he said he'd use another pressure stat in a la cimbali machine anyway. if it doesn't sell on ebay this time around, i'll just keep it as a spare part.

so there ya have it! anything that's excess is being sold. let's hope it really doesn't come to this.

first really good roast

2012-02-06T06:31:00.000-08:00

i have been working on a problem of great social and political import. it goes like this:

oh lord, won't you roast me
a green coffee bean?
my friends all drink starbucks
i don't want to seem mean
i make one espressso
or maybe it's three ...
so lord, won't you roast me
a green coffee beeeeeeeeean!
that's it! cackle cackle cackle cackle ...

please see any historical reference of the 60's if you wondered what the hell i was talking about just now ... !

but the problem of great social and political import is really only important to me. :-) i have been working on a way to automate the defeating of a safety feature built into the new version of my coffee bean roaster. i have already blogged about the proof of concept device - the bent copper tube. it does work, but i have to stand there like an idiot blowing into the tube while the roaster thinks it's OK to keep roasting.

the problems come in at the most critical moments, naturally. all at once, the internal temperature starts to rise, fast. i have to insert the tube into the roaster, and get it positioned properly without being able to see it, then start blowing in it to keep the temperature down. simultaneously, i'm listening for the sound of so-called "fast second crack" - a stage of coffee roasting where the beans make a cracking sound in rapid succession. i need to note the time on the roaster, and be ready to eject the beans in 1 minute. all the while, i am blowing into the stupid tube, trying not to inhale coffee roasting vapors, and watching the temperature to make sure it's below 428, where the beans will get automatically ejected.

so, i have been thinking about ways to automate the "blowing on the sensor" part with small computer fans, funnels, or anything else that looks promising. while i ponder this world shattering dilemma, i want to feel less like an idiot while standing there blowing into the copper tube. so, i issued an engineering change order on the prototype, and came up with the following:

the improved prototype features a length of clear plastic tubing taped to the copper tube prototype using black electrical tape for that air-tight seal. :-) now, i can stand back far enough from the roaster to see both the temperature and the time - while blowing more easily into the tube like less of an idiot. positioning the copper tube is simpler with some leeway, and monitoring the temperature is easier because i can actually SEE the readout!

i got my first really dark roast this morning using the modified prototype. i could fool the temperature sensor long enough to allow the beans to roast 1 full minute into fast second crack. without blowing on the sensor, the beans would have hit 428 degrees quickly, and been ejected right as second crack was getting started.

i have high confidence about an automated solution with a small fan. and, i have a workable idea in mind. i'll post it here when i can show it up and running ... stay tuned. the world is watching.

the what?

2012-02-05T23:16:00.001-08:00

the super bowl was today? oh.

good guestimate

2012-02-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

almost 2 years ago to the day, i gave my best guess about when my industrial-sized box of poly vinyl films would run out. "the date which will live in infamy" is here.

a box of poly vinyl films, purchased at the price club in san diego, around 1982

the pancake which received the final wrapping!

on february 8, 2010, i guessed that i'd use up the film in 1 to 5 years. it turns out to be almost exactly 2 years. so, the guess was within range. woo hoo! :-)

my friend bruce wants the box and cutting edge for some film he has, but who's box has seen better days. he'll get the box and cutting edge, both in very good shape. i'll go to costco and get another box of industrial food wrap.

it's sad to think the box might outlast me! i've had my current film for about 30 years. if history is any predictor of the future, i'll be 84 when i use the last of this new film. chances are, it'll be a race to see who comes in first. i'd be delighted to have to buy yet another box. :-)

cables & bits, cables & bits ...

2012-02-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

ok, i am officially impressed. just yesterday, my new audio toy arrived - the ps audio perfectwave digital disc transport. it even has a very long name, so you know it's good. i wonder if it would be made better by a longer name, or if there is maximum length, after which, there's little improvement despite any additional words? i can't say, but i can hear, and i can hear this new transport loud and clear.

new toy, new toy, new toy

for those not familiar with the term, a "transport" is a box that reads bits from a digital disc, and sends them to another box along some type of cable. in stereo stores, you'll find "cd transports" which read the bits from a cd, and send them typically to a digital-to-analog converter. the next-generation transports are being called "digital disc transports" because they'll read many types of digital discs, including cds, and send the bits down a cable for further processing.

the big argument these days would be "why would one need a device like that"? after all, music is readily available from the internet, and now increasingly in flac and high-resolution flac formats. isn't it true that "bits are bits"? one can obtain the bits of any music, and play it back through network music players, or ipods. why buy stereo gear that plays one physical compact disc at a time?

to my astonishment - and delight - the next-generation machine lives up to its promise. bits ain't just bits, as dey sez. the way this transport delivers its bitstream to the cable (and the digital-to-analog converter) is currently unique in audio. the bits are read from disc, copied to memory, error-corrected, digitally timed to attain ultra-low jitter, and then sent down the cable from memory. the music you hear is all coming from memory, never the disc itself.

i can hear small tonal variations in music i thought i knew well. i have heard background vocals in instrumental solos which i never knew were there. cds which always played with a skipping sound played perfectly - because it's not the disc that you hear. you hear the next-generation bitstream, all error-corrected, and sent to the DAC with ultra-low jitter. we like this a lot - a lot lot lot.

i'm spending the day just playing cd after cd. not every cd sounds different than its last playing on another player, but some cds do reveal previously hidden sounds and subtle tones. for an audio geek like me, this is what all the fuss is about.

next step is to get together with my friend bob, and see about burning a dvd of 24-bit, 192khz sample rate WAV files. the perfectwave transport is supposed to play back these ultra-high-resolution digital discs. i have confidence. but, it remains to be seen - and heard. :-)

it was worth the wait. i'm glad the transport is here. i'm also glad that my old unit is gone. and i'm really glad that i'm listening to music in some new-fangled way!

pride of homeownership

2012-02-01T07:32:00.000-08:00

anyone who has a house knows all about the pride of homeownership. that usually means the pride (and price!) of maintenance. :-) having a spot to call your own is worth it. sometimes, however, homeowners allow "the list" to get too long.

we all know about "the list". that's the list of things that need fixing, replacement, upkeep, demolishing, storing, throwing out, organizing, re-organizing, donating or buying. there, i got that out before i could think about it too much! in my case, i have a few things to buy, and A LOT to maintain! but, i'm following my own advise: i'm using the services of someone who can do the myriad tasks better than i could. my only task is to pay him, and give him "the list". :-)

here's "the list". some of the items are done; some are in process; and some projects have yet to launch:

surround the cement pad outside the sliding glass door with pressure treated lumber, fill in the eroded areas beneath the cement, regrade the soil to divert future water runoff - DONE!
build a kindling bucket structure - DONE!
fix whatever is rattling in the kitchen ceiling - DONE!
biannual draining of the water heater - DONE! but boring :-)
repair drawer mechanisms inside waterbed pedestal, affix drawer faces with wood screws, paint faces bright red - in process
affix bathroom vanity baseboard and paint vanity white - in process
fix seismic cracks in walls, in two spots - not yet begun
design and build a kindling & log holder for chainsawing wood - not yet begin
repair a fallen wooden picture frame, and rehang two pictures - not yet begun
sand and re-varnish front door threshold - not yet begun

and a few photos to liven up a mundane topic:

the old way i used to stack large buckets of kindling

love the wood, hate the look

better, but still needs help ...

this new structure holds large kindling buckets, and is made of pressure-treated lumber to withstand the elements

corner construction

straight on view at center

primer'd and fixed waterbed pedestal drawers

vinyl baseboard attached to the bathroom vanity

cement pad outside sliding glass doors, with new pressure-treated lumber surround

the soil under this corner had been eroded away by rain - all fixed now!

should i or shouldn't i?

2012-01-30T05:25:00.001-08:00

i've been contemplating a question of national import lately. should i, or should i not, write a paper about what all the numbers relating to digital audio mean? i know this hot topic probably keeps most people up at night, so i wanted to address it. the problem is, it's so geeky i fear the explanation may itself prove to be the best remedy for the insomnia. perhaps there's a certain zen to it after all. :-)

i've received a lot of email on my mcintosh website lately. email comes in waves, and right now, the sets are breaking on shore pretty regularly. a few different people have asked "what does 24 bit data mean? what's a 96khz sample rate?" granted, only other audio geeks would ask such questions. it's either really sad that i know what the numbers stand for and can actually write a paper about it, or it's really good that i can write such a paper, because world peace hinges on this information. oh, the sacrifices we must endure for good quality stereo sound!

i'd like to refer all other audio geeks (who ask about digital numbers) to this paper, rather than stumble along as i explain small parts of it, a bit a time, arr arr arr. it's straightforward computer math, but most folks do not have the misfortune to know about computer math. :-) the math explains how you map analog music into a digital format, and then how you reconstruct the original music back from digital format. there would be a need for really good graphics to accompany and explain the math.

i am not certain i want to undertake the task. writing such a paper would be a formidable project. however, i do have the time. it's just a matter of choosing how to spend that time ...

would anyone, even blasphemous non-audio-geeks :-), care to read such a thing?

delete delete delete

2012-01-25T02:01:00.000-08:00

my new years' resolution was to have a spam-free year. however, i can't control the spam which is sent to me. i can only control what i do with it. so i decided to limit my resolution to not allowing any spam to appear on either this blog, or on my mcintosh website. i am thrilled to report a 100% success rate!

this past weekend was the annual san francisco tape music festival. last year, i stayed with my sister in san rafael, and drove into san francisco each of the three nights of the festival. this year, i stayed with my friend bob, at his house in menlo park - thank you again bob! i went to bob's after a few days at diane's, so i had been away from my own home for a long time. i came back to a boatload of email.

the biggest boatload of email was on the ucsc server. there were many messages with the special subject line "new guestbook entry". that's the subject line from my cgi script which handles guestbook entries. the script sends me all potential new guestbook entries as email, rather than posting them to the guestbook directly. reading the messages lead to very fun times!

some idiot had attempted to post spam as a guestbook entry six times. it came to me in the form of six useless emails. i took tremendous delight deleting it time and time again. there was one real guestbook entry in email, so i posted that straightaway. the spam never saw the light of day.

i have deleted numerous rfg spam comments, too. i'm now moderating the comments on rfg, rather than allowing comments to be instantly posted. it's again a delight to delete spam! it's more fun to receive a comment from a friend, and post it. however, spam comments are more numerous, so they make up in quantity what they most definitely lack in quality.

since i'm eyeballing each and every comment or guestbook entry, i am confident about the success of my new years' resolution. that said, i still take sadistic joy in seeing spam go to the bit bucket. better yet, it's really a joy to hear from friends about the goofy things i say online. :-) i am always interested in what my friends have to say.

green bananas

2012-01-24T08:27:00.001-08:00

i just renewed my domain, amsel.com, for 9 years. network solutions, the company i use to register amsel.com, has an on-going sale (making it not really a sale) for long-term domain name registrations. amsel.com was coming due later this year.

network solutions had a 20 year registration, but i wanted to start with 9. if i'm still kickin' in 2021, i'll go for another 9 - or maybe 20 and tempt the fates!

they say as you get older, you stop buying things so far into the future. some do not even buy their bananas green! so, i think it's very optimistic of me signing up for something 9 years hence. i'm optimistic that i'll be here to enjoy it, and that diane can still email there. i'd feel ripped off if she needed to email me at major_cadet@rest_home_for_the_spacy.com.

to this day, i still get email from people asking if they can buy my domain. but i'm keepin' it till i croak. after that, what do i care? once i'm dead, THEN it'll be up for grabs!

i got yer customer service right here ...

2012-01-17T20:05:00.000-08:00

ah, the joys of dealing with little minds. there's hardly a point in arguing. it only makes it worse for you, not for them. i have had the joy of dealing with a very small mind recently. btw, a small mind is anyone who doesn't agree with me. :-)

i attempted to debug my espresso machine a couple of weeks ago. following all the copper tubing, it seemed that the pressure stat was the broken part in the chain. so, i ordered one to make sure i'd have the part on hand when the technician came out to do the repair. here is the part in question:

la cimbali pressure stat
the technician found that the problem was not related to the pressure stat, but instead was a broken O ring. so, naturally, i wanted to return the pressure stat, as it was unnecessary. but here's where the aforementioned "small minds" come into play.

when i called pasquini.com in los angeles to return the unused part, i was met with both a Small Mind, and a Big Policy.

pasquini has a policy of "no returns on electrical parts". evidently, the pressure stat is an electrical part because it has a switch on it. even though the pressure stat is still inside its shipping box, unopened and unused, it is not returnable. they told me i should have been more careful diagnosing the problem before placing my order. so now i'm the one with a $185 part "in stock", not them.

what wonderful customer service! i feel good knowing that i can count on the full support of my espresso company with their compassionate attitude. i am so very inclined now to purchase more expensive espresso equipment and machinery from them, and to recommend them to all my coffee-drinking friends.

can you say "boycott"? eventually, my espresso machine will reach its end-of-life. i already know where i am NOT going to make my next large purchase ...

so long old friend!

2012-01-16T21:29:00.001-08:00

yesterday, i packed up and shipped off my old mcintosh mcd7009 compact disc player for the last time. it's making its penultimate trip right now, as a trade-in for a brand spankin' new type of audio device: the digital disc memory player. memory players, i predict, will become the new standard in digital playback.

mcintosh mcd7009 cd player
i was actually nostalgic packing up the mcd7009 player! i have had it since 1998, making it the oldest piece of audio gear i owned. it has held up remarkably well, despite a few trips to the service depot. however, when a mechanical device passes a tipping point in the repair:usage equation, it is time to let the old one go and get a new one.

as i blogged about previously, i'm replacing the mcd7009 with brand new technology: a digital disc memory player, by PS Audio. the model is the PerfectWave Memory Player.

PS Audio PerfectWave Memory Player
i'm actually waiting for the newest version of the PerfectWave Memory Player to roll off the production line! the new version includes additional circuitry to allow the playback of 24-bit, 192khz sample rate WAV files recorded onto dvds. the high-resolution flac files i already have on disc can easily be converted to WAV files with a computer, and then burned to a dvd.

the mcd7009 is on its way to urbandale, iowa, as a trade-in. the store in iowa will drop-ship the PerfectWave once they are available.

and the quest for audio perfection continues ...

it's the little things that get you

2012-01-15T08:05:00.001-08:00

ok, now i have to return the pressure stat i so diligently ordered for my espresso machine! actually, i'm glad. it was kind of expensive, and i should be able to get a full refund. the part is still in the original packaging, in its original shipping box. :-)

i'm so glad i had a pro come out and look at my machine. the guy who did the repair did an outstanding job. he was able to unstick, and properly refit, 2 pressure fittings. he tested my original pressure stat, and found that there was nothing wrong with it. so, he started a more detailed investigation ... with a stethoscope!

literally.

he had a modified stethoscope, and searched for air leaks all around the boiler. he found a small air leak coming a device called a vacuum breaker. a vacuum breaker closes under steam pressure, and seals the boiler shut. when the boiler is off, and the steam pressure drops, the vacuum breaker opens, and allows air into the boiler (breaking the vacuum).

"dr. coffee" removed the vacuum breaker from the boiler, and took it apart down to its constituent nuts, bolts and springs. with a magnifying glass, he inspected a teeny, tiny O ring on the innermost part - and found an almost microscopic-sized hole. the steam pressure in my boiler was all escaping through that small hole. he replaced the miniature O ring, reassembled the vacuum breaker, refit it back into the boiler, and turned the machine on. viola! espresso once again. i have had three today.

i was very impressed with that debug. it was obvious he had spent a lot of time inside espresso machines. he figured the whole thing out, solved the problem, tested the fix, and had the machine completely reassembled in an hour and 20 minutes. i gladly tipped him for his work (a good tip!), and the shop will send me a bill for the time.

both the shop charge and the tip were money well-spent. i could not have figured it out, nor do i have a special stethoscope just for espresso machines. :-) and, now i know my machine will be good to go for a while longer - hopefully a very long time. but if not, i now know who to call.

new cd transport

2012-01-12T05:50:00.000-08:00

i think i have found my next cd transport! after the fiasco with my previous audio dealer, i spent the day looking at other, non-mcintosh cd transports. i think i have found a good one - all the remains is to hear it first, and if it sounds as good as the reviewers say, i'll buy it on the spot.

the beastie in question is a PS Audio Perfectwave transport. PS Audio makes a companion DAC for this transport, but i think i'll be sticking with my existing mcintosh DAC. there's no point in fixing something that is not broken.

here's a stock photo of the PS Audio Perfectwave transport:

the Perfectwave CD transport by PS Audio

this cd transport works in a different way than all other cd transports and players - and that's what sold me! the way it works makes great sense once you hear about it, and makes you wonder why ALL cds, dvds, and other digital discs, are not handled the same way.

the Perfectwave transport does not play music directly from the spinning disc, like all other transports, including mcintosh's. instead, the Perfectwave reads the raw digital bits from the spinning disc into a 64MB memory called the "digital lens". there is no error-correction performed on the disc reading, nor is any timing information read from the disc. data error-correction, and proper digital timing (to reduce jitter), are both done on the data in the digital lens. the now error-corrected and perfectly timed digital data travel down the cable to the DAC. the listener never hears physical errors on the disc surface, nor becomes the victim of a too-jittery digital transmission.

the price for the unit is $3k. it's a lot for a single-function stereo component, but isn't out of the price range i had in mind. i won't use the Perfectwave very much, and as a matter of fact, a cd transport really is just a convenience for when other people bring over cds to play. however, life is short! i'd rather not regret anything when i croak (as in being $3,000 richer than anyone else in the cemetery, but not having a cd transport in my stereo). i'll accept being a bit poorer at death, as long as i can be buried with my stereo. :-)

however, my search has only just begun. there may be other transports with their own version of a digital lens. if i do not find any others, and if the PS Audio transport produces the claimed sound quality, i'll buy it immediately. there is no time like the present, and there are many more cds to hear!

no longer worth buying it new

2012-01-11T07:25:00.000-08:00

sad times are these these when passing ruffians can say "ni!" to an old woman - roger the shrubbier

sadder times are these when mcintosh dealers alienate customers who call them to buy products - sherm the werm

these must really be sad times in the retail world, even here in silicon valley. i recently had the most unpleasant exchange with my (now previous) audio dealer. and the worst of it is - the unpleasantness actually had nothing to do with the question i had asked them!

i'd contacted my mcintosh dealership the way any sales organization would like to be contacted -i was looking for something to buy. i simply wanted to see what the latest offerings were. boy, was i in for a surprise!

it started with a skipping cd. i had friends over this past weekend, and was giving them a stereo demonstration. the easiest way to do that was to drop a cd into the cd player, and crank up the volume! but while the music was playing, the cd skipped - and the player had just been repaired, again. it's a 20 year old mcintosh cd player, but is showing its age. rather than continue the cycle of "repair & use, repair & use", i decided to just get a new one.

so i sent email to my sales person. it was her response that sent me packing.

it seems mcintosh no longer makes what i want - a plain "cd transport", not a cd player - but instead makes a digital-to-analog converter, with a cd transport built in. she claimed that the new DAC was mcintosh's newest and best, using new ESS chips rather than the older Burr-Brown chips. this new DAC was better even than the one i had just purchased from her about two years ago, so i might want to consider upgrading to this new unit.

the only problem was: she could not take my old DAC back in trade. the new unit goes for $10,000, where my DAC was priced at $8,000. she assured me i could sell it on ebay or audiogon.

oh, did she open a can of worms with that statement! i was not looking to replace my DAC, the logical and electrical centerpiece of my stereo. but, to hear that my old DAC, which is still under factory warranty, couldn't be traded in, left me with an icy cold feeling.

the reason i buy new mcintosh gear is precisely because it can be traded back into the dealership. i did not use that option very often, but it gave a slight sense of investment to very expensive audio gear. it would be worth at least half its value at the dealership, in exchange for a newer product. and, old gear could be 'disposed of' conveniently and quickly. but not anymore! there is no automatic half-price value to new mcintosh gear, and there's no convenient way to get rid of old gear.

why not just get all my gear used, since i will have to sell it on the open market anyway? why buy new, pay twice the price, and then have the extreme inconvenience of selling it myself on ebay? i may as well have purchased it on ebay for half price originally.

by the way, i'm still looking for a cd transport. i have asked my dealership not to try to help anymore. i'll be expanding my horizons, and seeing what non-mcintosh cd transports exist in the world.

i have essentially parted ways with my audio dealer of 20 years. i will still use their service department, if they'll have me. i'll be visiting a mcintosh dealer in san jose now, if want to buy new. but, i can no longer think of a reason to buy new gear vs. used. the party's over.

no espresso for you!

2012-01-07T12:06:00.000-08:00

i guess that would be no espresso for me! my machine, alas, is on the fritz again. i have simply resigned myself to the fact of having to dick with it every so often. owning an espresso machine means never having to say you're sorry you repaired it. :) they're finicky devices that need some pampering and maintenance every so often.

doctor, here is your patient:

side view

rear view

the culprit part is the pressure stat - the device that monitors pressure, and turns the heater on or off, as needed. it works just like a house thermostat, using pressure rather than temperature. my pressure stat gave up the ghost, and does not allow the machine to come up to operating pressure. here's a close up of the offending part itself:

so, i have placed my inquiry with an espresso machine company in LA that has parts for la cimbali machines such as mine. i'll probably replace it myself once the part comes in. oh boy, oh joy, can't wait to deal with pressure fittings! but, if i'm going to use an espresso machine on a daily basis, i'd better get comfortable with taking it apart, and putting it together again.

in the meantime, i have the hand-held espresso maker i got for burning man and diane's house last year:

red handpresso device along side two pods in their pouches

this little device makes very passable espresso! of course, it's not as good as a real machine, but for what it is, and the convenience - it gets my thumbs up.

who knows how long it'll be before i get my part, and then get it installed? i'll be making a lot of handpresso espresso in the near future. having a plan b never hurts. it'll make going back to plan a that much more delightful!

the project begins!

2011-12-24T02:50:00.000-08:00

due to overwhelming demand (that would be 2 comments), i am going to extend the "proof of concept" copper tube approach to coffee roasting! now that the concept has proven effective, i will do as much automation as i can - if for no other reason than to have something goofy to blog about. :-)

i did the "borg thing" on my previous coffee roaster. the "borg thing" refers to salvaging all the useful parts from a fallen comrade for reuse on another comrade. well, coffee roasters are my comrades, and one particular salvaged part will come in very handy for the automatic copper tube blower project - the small cover door that fits over the opening where the green beans go into the roaster.

the old cover door, which will become the new copper tube project

the new cover door, open to add beans

the new cover door, closed for roasting

with an extra door to use and abuse, there is some latitude about design. i won't have to come up with the perfect, most flawless design possible because i have only 1 chance to get it right. if i blow it, i'll only ruin my extra door. but, i'll try not to blow it nonetheless, and come up with the best design i can muster. :-)

so far, i envision a very tiny computer fan fastened on top of the door with some type of funnel device below the door, connecting to the copper tube. the copper tube will run through a hole in the front, flat metal and into the roasting chamber (just above the thermostat sensor). i further envision a small battery holder and switch next to the fan, but isolated from the heat of the roaster (raised above the door surface). when time is right, i'll swap out the normal door with the fan-equipped door, and flip the switch. that'll start the fan blowing, and allow the roast to burn to perfection!

i do not know if i can acquire the temperature signal from inside the roaster's electronics without opening it all the way up, and voiding the warranty. if i can, then i can make the fan-equipped door turn itself on automatically! but, if it's too troublesome, i'll just use a manual switch. it would definitely be ubergeek to acquire the temperature signal directly from the roaster. but, i'll start with a simpler design, and upgrade later, once the roaster is out of warranty.

'natch, i'll post pics as i create this very useful little beastie. :-)

newton's third law, amended

2011-12-19T01:57:00.000-08:00

just as a reminder, newton's third law of motion states that "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction". however, here at the rfg, we aim to prove that newton was close. newton did not count on a scorpio being the one providing the "opposite reaction". if he did, he would have cast his law to read "for every action, there is a big, fat, honkin' reaction, and if you don't get out of the way, it's gonna slap you up side of the head". there. that properly states the real rules. :-)

so, just how did a scorpio reaction come to pass? what earth-shattering event must have transpired to arouse the wrath of said scorpio? it could only be coffee, the elixir of life. and not the coffee itself - it's the roasting of the coffee beans that has caused the earth to shatter!

a few weeks ago, my old coffee bean roaster died, sniff sniff. :-( i am not exactly sure, but i think i had it for 4 years, maybe 5, and used it every week. i seem to go through about half a pound of coffee a week, so i roast up half a pound each week, and keep the pipeline full. after roasting hundreds of pounds of coffee, the machine finally gave up the ghost. it had lived a good life. so, i bought another one of the same make and model, just 4 or 5 years newer, and "improved".

i was NOT so enamored of their improvements! for my safety and comfort, the new roaster automatically ejects the beans if they reach an internal temperature of 428 degrees fahrenheit. ostensibly, the safety feature prevents the beans from catching on fire, which is a real possibility. as it turns out, however, the coffee beans reach the magic 428 degree temperature about 30 seconds too soon, and are ejected before they're finished! at least, they are ejected before i am satisfied with the roast. i like my espresso to have a burnt flavor, so the beans have to be roasted deeply.

it would be like taking popcorn off the stove 30 seconds before the kernels finished popping. you'd have a half-popped mess, mostly edible but not that enjoyable. it's the same with coffee. espresso made from beans which were not fully roasted tastes flat, and has little body.

so, i had to find a way to defeat the new safety feature, and keep my beans in the roaster past the point where they'd automatically eject. first, i had to see exactly how the roaster measured the internal bean temperature. the manufacturer added a thermostat sensor to the inside of the roasting chamber. the beans roll over the sensor during roasting, and their temperature is monitored.

i had to somehow trick the sensor into never reaching 428 degrees while allowing the beans to continue roasting. here's my engineering solution to the problem:

a little copper tube, bent just right for my nefarious purposes

what i do is insert the copper tube into the roaster near the end of the roast cycle, put the end of the tube right over the sensor, and then blow in! while i may be full of hot air, the air is still less than 428 degrees. so, my breath cools the sensor down just a few degrees, which is all it has to do! as long as i can keep the temperature reading below 428 for 30 seconds, my roasts are going to come out just fine.

the copper tube inserted into the roaster

here is a view directly into the roasting chamber. you can see the copper tube positioned just above the thermostat sensor

i had my first trial, and successful roast, this morning! :-) take a peek at the difference 30 more seconds in the roaster makes. you can see that properly roasted beans are much darker:

a previous roast, ejected about 30 seconds too soon

today's roast, with copper tube assist, burnt to perfection!

the "action" was to add fire safety features to the new model of coffee bean roaster. the "reaction" was to defeat the new fire safety feature with $2 worth of copper, and a little bending. never try to force a scorpio into patterns of behavior. we'll find some way to get what we want, even if it involves Ace hardware.

death and stuff

2011-12-13T02:15:00.000-08:00

i think about death often, however not obsessively. i am not obsessed with my own death, nor anybody else's. i know death is inevitable, but that's not what i think about. i think about the nature of the universe, which seems to include the death of everything in it. and i wonder about the nature of life - and why there appears to be a difference between life and death. is there?

we like to think there is. we like to think we're aware of our own lives. we further like to think that death is THE big mystery. we are not aware of our death, or rather, we are not aware of anything that could or will happen to us after our earthly life comes to an end. we can and do concoct stories about the so-called afterlife, most of which have to do with judging your life along self-imposed moral lines. if you lead a life according to your own moral sense, then your god will reward you, and punish others who did not share your values.

are these really the metaphysics of the universe? is life separate from death, really? while alive, we're aware that we will be dead. when dead, will we be aware that we will be alive?

what we can't seem to do is transfer our perception to the "other realm". we can't take a stroll down death lane for a while, and see what it would be like to be dead. i have had both professors and bosses who would seem to be counter-examples, but they turned out to be alive after further investigation.

similarly, it seems true (though i cannot verify) that if we're dead, we can't spend some time being alive, and then go back to being dead again. we must give up our ability to perceive the other side in order to go there - if you're alive, you cannot be aware of any part of yourself but the living part. there may or may not be part of yourself that is elsewhere.

perhaps being alive means nothing more than poking a portion of your whole being into 3-dimensional spacetime, à la the tip of an iceberg. we are aware of the bit that's currently "alive". perhaps being dead means that all parts of your whole self are simply managed differently, either by you or by others.

worse - there is no guarantee that we will find out anything upon our deaths. we all like to think that we'll get answers to life's mysteries when we die. what if we don't? what if there are no answers? what if we just die, and lose perception?

we've invented religion to ease the fear of this unknown. it's interesting to ponder the nature of life and death in a dispassionate way. as i get older, the questions become more fun to think about, though no more answerable than when i was young. i have no fear of being dead, though like anybody, i fear the pain of dying horribly, and over a long time. i just wonder if creatures like us will ever be in on the secret ...

the proper way to watch streaming video

2011-12-08T05:18:00.001-08:00

i hate advertisements of all kinds. i think advertisement is perhaps the single biggest blight on our whole planet, literally. my dislike of ads is so strong, in fact, it was the single biggest motivating factor for me not having watched TV as a kid, and beyond. i always disliked the ads way more than i liked the TV shows, with the possible exception of Star Trek in the 60's. and yes, i was around for original airings!

actually, i have a lot to be thankful for, due to my intense dislike of adverts. :-) my pea brain was not corrupted by corporations as it was still forming. i left it to other influences to corrupt my pea brain - and by the way, it is still forming.

now, though, i am retired fuck. i have a lot of time in which to entertain myself. there is a lot of streaming video on the internet, but all of it comes with a price: advertisements! very fun, and very funny, old TV shows are available on hulu.com, fox.com, cbs.com, and many more, but there are those pesky ads to deal with. so, i came up with a solution to the Universal Evil of Commercials.

the first step in problem solving is identification of the problem. so let's meet our problem face to face:

the hulu screen as it first comes up

as you see, it starts out innocently enough. hulu presents their logo screen, and then ... immediately drops into 3 commercials. the commercial play before the video starts. i'm afraid we cannot have that. here's the solution strategy:

remove your headphones or earbuds. NEVER use the computer speakers! it's too much trouble to reach over the monitor and turn the volume knob down. plus, advertisements typically remove the software control of the volume, so you have to hear the ad at FULL VOLUME. using headphones or earbuds allows YOU to control what you hear, not them!!!
cover the advert with a blank terminal window. the terminal will cover the majority of the offensive ad, leaving only the top part of the ad showing.
even the top part of an ad showing is too much! use a second browser window to cover up all but the "time remaining" portion of the ad window. here is a large photo of the completed task, followed by a close-up:

it's hard to see, but a terminal window covers the majority of the hulu window, and a second browser window covers the still-exposed top of the hulu window

close-up showing the terminal window and the second browser covering all but the remaining time until the video starts back up. as you can see, i was watching season 5, episode 4 of the new Outer Limits - until rudely interrupted with a toilet paper ad. :-(

sometimes, i click on news links or stories in the second browser window. i'd like to make good use of time while waiting for the horror of advertising to stop. and, that can evidently wreak havoc on bandwidth! occasionally, i see this screen as i am returning to the video:

oh, like i'm gonna fucking do that? what can they POSSIBLY be thinking? do they think i am a brain dead idiot who would actually report back to hulu about how i couldn't watch an ad? (well in fact, they might!) this is just so very wrong, so very very very wrong, and so very far from reality, that i can only conclude both hulu and their advertisers are literally insane.

i can add one piece of evidence to support my "insanity defense":

it's a little blurry, but they're asking "is this ad relevant to you?"

how is it possible to answer that question? if i say "yes", then i have played right into the advertisers' hands. they now know at least one ad was relevant to me, and they can feed me more ads like that one in the future. if i say "no", then hulu and their sponsors will ask "what ad IS relevant to you?", and proceed to fill my screen with that pollution!

no. not a chance. the only way to answer that question - just like the punch line in the movie "war games" - is NOT TO PLAY. i give the advertisers absolutely, positively no feedback whatsoever. that's the only way to steer clear of the trap of demographics.

so that's my solution to the evil of online advertising while trying to stay entertained. and i am most definitely stickin' to it.

happy retirement anniversary to us!

2011-12-07T00:01:00.000-08:00

it was 20 years ago today / sergeant pepper taught the band to play ...

and it was 4 years ago today when diane and i taught ourselves to play! :-) we began our new retired lives on december 7 and december 22, 2007. my last day at micron was december 7, and diane's last day was the 22nd, after her office closed for the rest of the year. december 2007 was the unknown-at-the-time, but official start of the so-called recession we are still in ("depression" seems more accurate, though less politically expedient). so, we started our retirement on a 'recessed' note, and have both felt like we're at recess ever since.

december 7 is also pearl harbor day, and the birthday of the son of a good friend of mine. lots has happened on this day, historically. but, for diane and i, retirement from the working world is by far and away the most important of them! we don't say this facetiously - we mean it sincerely - when we say we can't wait for all our long-suffering friends to join us as retired fucks! do it today.

retirement is primarily about choice: what you do, when you do it, and for what reasons you do it. anyone who's lived under the thumb of a professor or boss knows all about NOT having very much choice in your life, if you want to maintain the status quo ... there is always the choice to alter your situation completely, but there's risk involved with that, too.

a very wise daughter once said that important anniversaries end in 0 or 5. there's quite a lot to that. so next year, it'll be 5 years of retirement for us both. diane and i will make a bigger deal out of that than this year, a mere 4 years. still, 4 years out of the work force is worth celebrating! however, more is better, and 5 is most definitely more than 4.

i am looking forward to EACH anniversary, both with diane and about retirement, no matter how the numbers fall!

everything in moderation

2011-12-06T00:45:00.001-08:00

we all know the old adage "everything in moderation." we're supposed to take away the lesson that almost anything is ok if you don't do it too much. there's a lot of folk wisdom in that ...

and, i am taking the adage to heart! i am going to do a lot more in moderation, such as moderate at the comments for this blog before publishing them. my goal is to allow zero spam comments on the rfg.

i have had FABULOUS success moderating the guestbook entries on my mcintosh website. since i started, i have only received one spam entry in email. naturally, that entry went the way of the dodo bird ...

in the past, i'd receive some new comment on an older post. if blogger.com suspected that the comment was spam, it was held in a "moderation area" awaiting my decision. in almost all cases, if blogger suspected a comment was spam, it really was spam. but sometimes, blogger missed the mark, and allowed a spam comment through. forsooth an forsake! but that's what i'd like to avoid in the future.

so, i made a change. all rfg comments will now be moderated. NATURALLY, any comment from a friend will get posted straightaway. and just as naturally, all spam comments will go immediately to the bit bucket, accompanied by sardonic laughter, bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!

we bloggers have to stick together. solidarity is the key to a spamless existence - a good existence - a righteous existence! :-)

spam follow-up

2011-11-30T00:56:00.001-08:00

it's that time of the year once again. it's spam-time! spam-time happens every year after thanksgiving. the pre-christmas hype moves forward full steam, and spam fills my mailboxes. i do love deleting it now, and it's nice that most spam gets delivered directly to my junk mail folder. the usual suspects are sending me their fantasies:

paypal telling me that i have only limited access to my own account - click here to log in and fix it
sherman@amsel.com sells viagra, timeshares all over the world, and software updates
mrs. adele langley has my share of a $10 million dollar bank account in (fill in 3rd world country name)
financial information corp has a payment for me
bank of america, chase, citi and many other banks that i do have accounts with, show that these non-existent accounts have had recent unauthorized access - click here to fix them
all manner of christmas merchandise
gifts, toys, specials, discounts, bargains, trade-ins, leases, and give-aways
and there's always more!

i can recognize categories of spam now. it's easy to see which type of spam this one will be, and easy to predict the likely contents. there is no need to verify - i simple sh*t can it all, with glee.

i'll post an ongoing list of spammers as they spam me - as in a "hall of shame". i know it won't do much to assuage the spam, but it'll make me feel better. does anyone have spam they particularly hate? would you like the perpetrators names posted here? send me not your poor, huddled masses, but your poor, soon-to-be-deleted spam. i'll make sure it gets treated the right way. :-)

black widows - HATE THEM!

2011-11-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

don't worry; i am not going to post a picture of a black widow spider. i hate looking at them, and i REALLY hate coming across them in my woodpile. but, they're there, and i have to exercise extreme caution to stay safe around them.

anyone who's ever had a woodpile knows that spiders just love them! a pile of wood provides the perfect environment for many types of creatures. woodpiles are perfect for insects, lizards, squirrels and even birds. i often surprise birds feasting on little critters in my woodpile, and they go fluttering and flapping outta there as fast as they can! i see lizards sunbathing on top of the wood, camouflaged from overhead birds. i've uncovered a couple of squirrel dining rooms as i use the wood - evidenced by an abundance of sunflower seeds. i've found abandoned bird's nests. ain't it great to have mother nature right in your own back yard? :-) it's great until you pick up a piece of wood, and there a fucking black widow spider on it.

black widows scare the daylights out of me. it's instinctual. my limbic system does not like them at all. i don't like the way they look, how they act, or ANYTHING. they are mother nature's little monsters, with a bite that's quite potent. i never want to find out how potent. i never want to see a black widow. but, i have to deal with them to enjoy the heat i love so much.

i deal with them in a very precise way. like working with electricity, i do not vary my safety precautions at all, and make sure i am fully cognizant as i proceed. here's what it takes to successfully add a log to the fire:

put leather gloves on both hands
look for a piece of wood that's the right size
very quickly, flip the piece of wood over to reveal any spiders that might be lurking on the other side
jump backwards as wood flips over, in anticipation of seeing an ugly black widow
very carefully and suspiciously, like a cat, re-approach the suspect log ...
keep flipping it over, inspecting all sides, making sure there's nothing living there
once safe to touch, scoot the wood off the pile, allowing it to drop onto the ground, dislodging any critters stuck in the bark, or hidden inside cracks
with a leather log holder, take the still-suspect wood inside the house
put on elbow-length leather gloves for the stove
put the wood inside the stove, and close the stove door IMMEDIATELY, sealing in any creatures living unseen inside the wood

i do not store logs inside my house, only kindling. i use the "just in time" fueling system. :-) i want zero possibility of something crawling out of a piece of wood, later, unseen ... i get the shivers just thinking about that. and i should. it's the stuff of horror movies.

if i come across any black widows as i flip logs over - and i do - i also have a step 6.5, not listed above. step 6.5 is to take a hand-held sledgehammer and beat the ever-livin' crap out of the horrible black monster! i use my 135 lb. frame, and all my strength, plus a 3 pound sledgehammer in motion, to combat a 1/10th of a gram creature! but i hate them a lot. i want to make absolutely certain any black widows i see will be completely annihilated.

weapon of choice for black widow spiders

i have wiped two of them off the face of the earth recently, but missed a third one. as i was telling diane, i'm sure i will find it again. :-( and when i do, step 6.5 protocol will come back online (thank you 7 of 9 for the inspiration to say it that way). once the log is inside the stove, i don't care who comes crawling out of the woodwork, arr arr arr. all insects inside a fire should die. however, i do my very best to make sure i never test that theory!

getting out while you're still on top

2011-11-26T01:37:00.001-08:00

there's nothing like making a graceful exit when you're sure you're done. it's very hard to know when to exit, though. do you leave when you believe there's more to accomplish? do you leave when you're at the pinnacle, and where "down" is the only direction available? more, how do you know when you're at the pinnacle? these are deceptively simple questions with complex answers.

good thing i do not need to answer them. :-)

i know that i left at a pinnacle. by sheer dumb luck, i went to burning man the last year that tickets were available on a first come-first served basis. yes, there were close to 54,000 of us out there last year, and yes, that's about 4,000 more than the BLM permit allowed - but, i still just ordered my ticket online, and received it in the US mail. piece of cake.

this year, and no doubt from this year forward, tickets to burning man are available via lottery. you may or may not get one. but, there is no choice - burning man sold out last year for the first time in 26 years, so the demand has now exceeded the supply. i can't see this changing anytime soon.

here's a link to an article with details: burning man ticket lottery.

so i was able to leave burning man "while i was on top". i managed to have a great time out there last year (by participation in many activities); was able to get a ticket without waiting for the results of a lottery; there was perfect desert weather the entire time, with zero white-outs and no rain; and i was camping with a wonderful group of people.

i'll keep going to the 4th of juplaya. i do love that desert! burning man is a bit much for my tastes, not to mention the extreme hassle of getting there and back again.

it's satisfying to have nailed the time to leave without even trying. i can't claim any foreknowledge about it. i just know i'll never enjoy it as much again, and there's no point in ruining these good memories.

i'll enjoy watching the webcast of burning man from the comfort of my little house in the woods. yeah, that's the ticket - the one available without a lottery!

why i love spam

2011-11-23T01:28:00.001-08:00

and i don't mean the canned ham product. :-)

i've decided that i love spam. i love to delete it. i love watching it circle the drain, as it were, making its ugly way down the deletion pipe, into the bit bucket, and becoming no more. the end of existence. the big, long, dark, eternal nothingness; dull and horrifying. i gleefully commit spam to that underworld, taking sadistic delight in spam's suffering.

i have had occasion to deal with a lot of spam recently. spam cycles rise and fall like the undulations of vomiting, although spam is not made up of anything so palatable. :-) spam is on the rise in the two places i care about it: this blog, and my goofy mcintosh website on the ucsc alumni machine. here on blogger.com, spam filters are already in place. there are configuration settings which move suspect comments into a holding area, awaiting moderation. i have deleted numerous spam comments before they ever saw the light of day on my blog.

spam is a little trickier on the ucsc machine. the machine is available to ucsc grads, but it is a plain unix machine. there is no spam software like there is on blogger.com, other than "spam assassin" running on incoming email. so, we users have to deal with spam ourselves.

i wrote a small guestbook program for my mcintosh website on the ucsc machine. the guestbook program gathers user information from a form, and processes it into a database entry. when a user wants to read the guestbook, the database is read, and the entries are formatted into a web page. simple enough, but there is a problem - who controls the content of the guestbook entires? i started getting not mcintosh enthusiasts leaving comments, but all manner of spammers leaving inappropriate adverts for their products. :-( something had to be done.

i started writing spam filters for my guestbook program. if i detected that the first name and last name supplied by the user were the same, i'd call that spam, and not publish the guestbook entry. if there were certain sexual keywords in the comments area, i'd also call that spam, and not publish it. i kept adding "spam tests" as i'd get more spam, trying to defeat it. but, inevitably, the spammers kept coming up with ways to get around my spam checks, and get their spam posted, even if for only a day. i deleted spam entries as soon as i found them.

then, i thought of a much simpler, much more effective spam filter - me! i can recognize spam much better and faster than any number of machine tests. and, i thought of a simple way to store potential guestbook entries before they are posted: email. i changed my guestbook program to email me all potential entries, rather than post them automatically. i'll personally add each new entry to the guestbook if and only if it's not spam. guestbook entries which are spam will be deleted and laughed at. :-)

and, yesterday, i received my first "new guestbook entry" email!! indeed, it was a very long piece of spam, advertising (of all things) software that makes spamming easier. so, i felt doubly good deleting it. i hope for lots of spam now. i love it! i love deleting it. i love knowing all the work expended to create the spam will be wasted.

i imagine a dark, dank, fetid hole where all spam goes to suffer and die.and i get to send it there. what could be more satisfying than that?

all ones, reprise

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

and here's the second "all ones" blog entry for this year - posted on 11/11/11 at 11:11:11.

a second and final "happy onesday" for 2011!

hope the year has been good, and the day is a good one for you ...

happy birthday to me

2011-11-04T00:50:00.001-07:00

yesterday, that was.

fascinating, captain!

2011-10-28T04:44:00.000-07:00

i came across a most fascinating article this morning. where i thought i was just unusual - what else is new? - it turns out not to be true. well, i have to take some of that back already. i may be highly unusual in many ways, but the one thing i really thought made me as weird as possible turns out to be what most of us do.

here is a link to the article i'm talking about: the importance of letting your mind wander

one small paragraph at the end struck a chord as loud as a 10-foot gong with me. this paragraph describes the EXACT way i solve problems. and, the method works! at least, it works for me, and always has. if the real truth be told, i have never actually, consciously, ever, solved a problem. i feel like curly from the 3 stooges when i attempt to - i try to think, and nothing happens! :-) instead, what i do with ANY problem is to immediately forget about it.

but, i don't forget about it entirely. i forget about it in the sense that i am aware that the problem is being worked on by my subconscious, even as i do other things. i "toss the problem back" to the nether regions of my subconscious, and let the subconscious solve the problem. my job is to be aware of the solutions that pass through consciousness, pay attention to them, and pick the best one. i then pretend i came up with the solution all by myself.

nothing could be farther from the truth.

here is that small paragraph mentioned above:

The point is that it’s not enough to simply daydream. Letting the mind drift off is the easy part. What’s much more difficult (and more important) is maintaining a touch of meta-awareness, so that if you happen to come up with a useful new idea while in the shower or sitting in traffic you’re able to take note; the breakthrough isn’t squandered.

so there you have it. my thought processes laid bare. to further the baring of the soul, i have always felt embarrassment when people called me "smart". i have never felt smart, but quite the contrary. i feel like a moron most of the time. my SUBCONSCIOUS was the smart one; not me. i am the lucky recipient of the work it does, and my only task is to be aware of the wonderful solutions that pass before my mind - like a smorgasbord - from which i can freely pick and choose.

who would have thought that "laziness" is actually a fabulous virtue? i know all about laziness from my days of computer programming. a good programmer reuses old code out of laziness, but reaps the benefit of fast and efficient work. turns out, being lazy about solving problems matches the way we humans are built.

the older i get, the more i discover about thinking and life. too little thinking will make life very difficult; too much thinking makes life difficult as well. there appears to be a "just right" amount of thought. and, there also appears to be a built-in helper in the form of subconsciousness. so use your built-in helper. let it do the heavy lifting for you. use your conscious mind to enjoy the world around you.

MORE pride of homeowneship

2011-10-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

ah, the joy never ends! it is indeed sublime owning a home, especially when it needs repair. this year, due to la nina conditions, there may be more water involved than usual.

i received a call out of the blue about a week ago. it was a fellow paradise parker, asking if she could bring a friend over to see my mom's house. naturally, it was very ok! so, i went to my mom's house down the block to open up the windows and air the place out. that's when this year's la nina hit. as i was making my way around the house, my attention was drawn to a funny hissing sound. i swam to the source of the hiss, and found that the water line to the freezer had become disconnected! it was spewing water into the house at full pressure.

typically, i check my mom's house every month or so. some people had been in there two weeks prior, and there was no water leak at that time. so, at worst, water had been coming in the entire two weeks; and at best, just a few hours. checking the house further showed that the water had been coming in for at least many days. the carpet was SOAKED! water was dripping out of the back door, and through the carpet and flooring into the crawl space below. water had wicked through two rooms, and mold was beginning to grow in the cabinets in a bathroom 3 rooms away. i felt like an extremely proud homeowner, to be sure.

i was going to take pictures to post here, but pictures won't show the water very well. the photos would just look like the inside of a house. :-) i'll wait until the mediation and restoration work is going on, and then take photos of the crews doing the reconstruction. it's going to take a good bit of work to get all the water and mold out, not to mention the rebuilding. now, my sister and i want to redouble our efforts to sell it. once all the paperwork has been signed off, and the house is ready for occupancy, we are going to get a real estate agent, and sell the house asap. we don' need no more steenkin' badges.

i write blog entries when something "worth blogging about" happens, or i feel particularly inspired or silly. diane was just asking if i'd written anything for rfg lately, and i hadn't ... but, la nina paradise park is certainly inspirational and definitely worth blogging about. i think rosanne rosannadanna would have something to say at this point!

candid photographs, wink wink, nudge nudge

2011-10-18T03:22:00.000-07:00

well, perhaps not exactly CANDID, but unscripted, anyway. i thought i had already posted these links, but checking back told me quite the opposite. :-) here are three links for your amusement and enjoyment.

i volunteered for the "sunset supper club" at burning man this year. the sunset supper club is a camp that puts on 7 course diners for about 40 people a night, monday through thursday, during the 1 week of burning man. another volunteer was a photographer. he took photos of the first evening of the supper club. there are a couple of shots of yours truly in there. :-) here's the link to those photos: monday night sunset supper club photos

the same photographer also ran a time-lapse camera at the burning man gate. the opening rush, 3:15am -7:15am on monday, august 29, is crunched into a 2 minute and 49 second video. here's the link: burning man 2011 opening gate video

the line of cars and RV's never stopped. you can see how crowded it got, fast! 53,700 was the final population this year.

you can see exactly what it looked like from above. here is a link to a very high resolution satellite photo of black rock city, taken september 1, 2011: satellite photo of black rock city/burning man, 2011. i've seen my own camp in this photo, and have found my truck!

for a sense of scale, the distance from inner edge to inner edge of the city is 5,000 feet, almost 1 mile. the Man stands on a pedestal in the middle of that space. if you zoom way in, you get a pretty good view of the Man's slatted pedestal, and can even see his shadow. the thin-looking ring surrounding the Man was the L3K ring of lights. my friend bob and i took voltage readings of the 16 batteries than ran the ring each day, and swapped out lowest 2 batteries. the ring itself is 600 feet in diameter, with 4 openings (N, S, E, W) to allow people and motor vehicles to cross the ring without crunching the lights. :-)

happy anniversary to ... my house

2011-10-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

there are two anniversaries today - one famous, and one not so famous. first, there's the loma prieta earthquake of 1989. i was in the basement of a building on the ucsc campus when the earthquake struck. the building itself was not earthquake-proof, and was having its structural components drilled out, and filled with steel rebar and cement to make it earthquake-proof! so, the building was in an even less earthquake safe state than it was normally, and that wasn't too good. obviously, the building did not collapse, since i am here to blog about it ... :-)

the second anniversary is more personal. in 1995, my house was granted its certificate of occupancy by the city of santa cruz. that meant i could begin moving in, and actually occupy my brand spanking' new home!!! truth be told, i had begun moving in already. i had my stereo shelving all set up, and an early incarnation of the audio system had taken shape. first things first! music above all. with music in the house, everything else would just fall into place. over the next many months, i'd fill the house with all the trappings of modern society.

happy 22nd to the quake, and happy 16th to my house! i'm looking forward to many more with the house, and no repeats of the quake. but, you never know ... !

threes

2011-10-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

they say things come in threes.

last week, it was steve jobs. today, i learned of dennis ritchie, one of the inventors of the unix operating system (still THE operating system for all serious computing) and the C programming language. his accomplishments were no less astounding than steve jobs, though steve was a lot more visible.

dennis ritchie, ca 1997. RIP, good friend.

the Bible

it breaks my heart to ask: who's next to make it three? :-(

i always knew how wrong i was

2011-10-13T01:01:00.000-07:00

i knew it. it has always been my fault. i should have been human enough to step up to the plate, and take responsibility for my own actions. thank god there's microsoft to help me out in situations like this one: microsoft blames the user for PC viruses. microsoft claims that if you have a virus in your PC, you must have done something to put it there.

what fabulous logic! microsoft is 100% correct, and morally right to boot. you "did something" - for instance you bought a computer and used it - and therefore, anything else that happens to that computer is your fault. the same logic should apply to cars, boats and household appliances. you bought it and you used it - so you "did something". and your doing something means that you touched it last. the quality of the original product is immaterial.

we need good-hearted companies like microsoft to tell us the truth. we'd be lost without the guidance of microsoft, oracle, google, and of course, facebook. how dare we attempt to think for ourselves - it could have been a disaster! and, how dare we think that the products from these companies are anything less than perfection? i mean really. how could such a well-engineered piece of, uh, software, such as windows ever allow anyone to hack into it, and corrupt its intrinsic beauty and functionality? it MUST be the users' fault! how else could a virus have gotten in? it's so obvious ...

we've missed the boat with our other laws, too. if you're mugged, then obviously it's your own fault. you did something, like walk down the street without a cadre of body guards, and virtually ASKED all the criminals to mug you. rape? same thing. you did something, as in leaving your house, and therefore asked violent people to find you and harm you. losing money in the stock market? well, we know who's fault THAT must be! you did something, like believe the stock rating agencies, and put your money where you thought it would grow. tsk, tsk.

it's all your fault, and always has been. if it weren't for microsoft letting you know all about that, you might have the mistaken idea that an inferior product could be destined to fail, and to be infiltrated by any number of 12-year-old hackers who can out-think and out-program the folks in redmond. you might actually think that. but there too, you'd be wrong again. it's your fault. it's all your fault. it will always be your fault, too.

so thank you, microsoft! thank you for helping me to see this so clearly.

fuddy factor

2011-10-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

i have decided that i am an old fuddy duddy. i'm at least two generations behind in the Acquisition and Mastery of All New Technology (the Sacred Task of all Engineers). i still have, use, and prefer a desktop computer. i have a land line telephone with the slowest available dsl speed (more than adequate for me). i have never had a cell phone, nor a smart phone. i use a paper check register to balance my checkbook, and still write checks to utilities. then - GASP! - i snail mail the paper bill to the company, with a postage stamp and everything. the company cashes the check.

i'm no longer on facebook, and have not signed up with google+. i have no twitter account, nor any electronic device that starts with the letter "i".

the sheer number of ways and devices at peoples' fingertips to access information about other people truly boggles the mind. it's amazing to me now that people allow such intrusion into their privacy, but like i said - i'm a fuddy duddy. i just don't think it's a good thing to be that interconnected. maybe i'm just saying i enjoy my solitude very much, and am more private than the typical person. regardless, i don't mind at all as the new generation whizzes by on their digital platforms. i'm happy with the level of technology i've embraced. i guess this happens to every generation, and why kids often refer to their parents as "old-fashioned" ...

maybe there's a quantifiable scale that could describe the degree of fuddy duddiness, or just "duddiness" for short. just like the original dorkometer - a 100% accurate, scientifically approved device for measuring the dorkometric pressure of the day (or of the hour) - there can be a duddometer! the duddometer will measure the degree of duddiness, or dudd-o-metric pressure, as measured in a 100% accurate, and scientifically approved way. :-)

i wonder how i'll measure up on my own duddometer. once i invent it, i will post the results. :-) but for the moment, you can call me on my land line telephone, and leave me a message on my record-a-call.

happy anniversary to us!

2011-10-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

10/10/1992 - diane and i meet.
10/10/2011 - we're still alive, still together, and still enjoying unwedded bliss!

thank you, my love, for the best 19 years of my life. i could not have done it without you. i'm so glad we are in each other's lives.

looking forward to 19 more! well, maybe 20. :-)

very sad about steve (and joey and patrick)

2011-10-06T05:22:00.000-07:00

i just read the news today about steve jobs' passing. it hit me pretty hard. i did not know steve jobs personally. nor did i know joey ramone. nor did i know patrick swayze. i didn't know any of these people, yet each of their deaths affected me greatly. it makes no difference who you are, how much money you have, nor the connections you've made in your life. all of these individuals had all the money in the world; they had access to the very best medical treatments available; and nothing could save them when their time had come.

that's the part that gets me, every time. NOTHING CAN SAVE YOU WHEN YOUR TIME HAS COME. i'm not running from my own death in fear. i know it's inevitable, and only a matter of when. that's not the issue. what matters most is that you lead the life you want while you are here to do so.

i think about life, money, time and people an awful lot. i'm retired, and have the time to do so. what i always end up concluding is this: have fun while you're still here! i know it sounds trite, but in fact is profound.

indeed, it would be trite to say "have fun while you're still here without regard to anyone or anything". that would be pure hedonism, which the romans proved can't be sustained. "having fun" is profound in the sense of liberation. most of us do what we're told to do, we lead the lives we were told to lead, and we follow the straight and narrow. and, most laws - and ALL dictates of organized religion - are designed to prevent you from having fun and enjoying life. if pleasure can be doled out at the whim of someone else, you have created a seriously artificial authority. if you decide to have fun on your own, you are, by definition, going against dogma and the status quo. you've gone against the very authority you've set up, and you've given that authority the power to ruin your life. having fun sets you free!

my goal is to enjoy myself, my loved ones, and avail myself of the wonderful things this world has to offer. when i hear of the deaths of famous people of means, mortality also comes to mind. if those folks can die, then the rest of us can too - and much more easily! we will not have the benefit of the entire medical industry trying to save our lives.

since there is no immortality, and since you can't take it with you, i am left with the only conclusion i can draw: enjoy what this life, and what this world, offer NOW. do not wait. if you want to do something, do it NOW. TODAY. if you'd like to try something new, do not chicken out at the last minute. if you'd like to meet someone you admire, or write a book, or invent cold fusion - DO IT NOW. once your time has come, it's all over. no one escapes death. not even the very rich and very famous.

and, you don't have to be old to die rich & famous. we all know of the deaths of many young movie stars and rock stars. now we know of the death of the uber-est of ubergeeks, with enough money to buy his way to the head of the liver transplant line. it didn't help ultimately, but it did him these past two years. the point is still that no matter who you are, how much money you have, or how young you are, there's a time limit built in to each of us.

so the moral of the story? just have fun. have fun, enjoy your life, do the things you want to do, and don't wait even a second to start. it's all we have.

dancing barefoot

2011-09-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

my friend bob recently gave me a cd of patti smith's greatest hits. there's a tune titled "dancing barefoot" on the cd. i have worn a groove in the cd, if that's possible, right at that track. :-) it's my very favorite patti smith song. upon re-hearing it, i remembered just how much i really liked it. i also remembered how interesting the music scene was 20 years ago, and how utterly blase music seems today.

patti also covers "so you want to be a rock and roll star", and does a great job of it! i still prefer the byrds' version, but patti pulls off a very nice cover. there are other hit songs on the cd, such as "gloria" , "because the night" and "free money" , just as there should be. it's a great compilation!

i'll stop at streetlight records on my way out today, and pick up a new copy without the groove.

the twilight zone one step beyond the outer limits

2011-09-21T04:52:00.000-07:00

i've been watching the first season of the old 60's sci-fi show "the outer limits". i remember i liked it as a kid - it used to scare the shit out of me! i like having the shit scared out of me, but not in a horrifying way. :-) i like riding roller coasters, for instance. roller coasters are scary, but not horrifying, unless it comes off the track, which would be another blog post in itself. while "the outer limits" did seem scary to me as a kid, its corniness now cracks me up.

ever since "mad men", the '60's have been enjoying a resurgence. if "the outer limits" weren't already from the real '60's, i would have said they got it spot-on. the clothes, the customs, the cars and houses, the decor - plus, the idiotic plots and dialog! it's all so very 1960's that it's nostalgic, if not very, very corny. the special effects are beyond cheesy. however, i can see the propagation of these effects to future tv shows, like star trek. star trek uses the same fake boulders and the same inverse video to indicate that something supernatural is about to happen. :-)

you get your rental moneys' worth with "the outer limits" dvds. they are double-sided discs, with almost 7 hours of content. some might interpret the amount of content differently. :-) that's a personal choice. i'm having a good time laughing at the unbelievably bad writing, acting and special effects. yet, i am drawn to this crap. i'm going for "one step beyond" after i watch all the outer limits dvds.

one step beyond, the twilight zone, the outer limits - the '50's and '60's era science fiction tv shows - all have their particular slant of melodrama. the gestures were big. the computers were huge. the outcomes were highly improbable. the music was really bad! still ... there's something comforting about them, like campbell's chicken noodle soup. perhaps it's nothing more than me being brought up with these shows as a kid, and having a frightening (and enjoyable) time.

i have already watched all the twilight zone episodes. i bought them all after retirement, and spent a few weeks just watching them! the outer limits has just been released on dvd, and one step beyond is slated for dvd soon. i'll be scooping them up as they become available (well, from netflix anyway).

or should i start saying qwikster? :-) ok, that's another blog entry, too!

nature of the nature of the universe

2011-09-20T05:54:00.000-07:00

i just watched a couple of fascinating nova specials: parts 1 & 2 of "hunting the edge of space". the title itself is intriguing, as i think EVERYONE has, at one time or another, wondered about the "edge" of the universe. if the universe is everything that there is, and the universe is expanding, what is it expanding into? :-) where's the edge of the universe? can you see it from the outside?

i have never stopped being fascinated by the nature of the universe. i ponder it, and ponder it, and ponder it. after a while, i started noticing that what i was pondering was not the actual nature of the universe - to realize existence in 3 dimensions - but the nature of the nature of the universe. in other words, what type of thing is "pondering the nature of the universe"? i concluded that the nature of the nature of the universe is a question of constant emergence. the big bang never stopped. our universe continues to create, and generates the very space it expands "into". it's not really a question of "expanding into", however. it's more a case of creating new space, thus adding on.

there is no fictitious place outside the universe where we can see the edge of the universe. we cannot see an adjacent space that our universe is expanding into. our imaginations can put us in such a place, but i doubt it exists in reality. the universe defines all possible, real locations.

the nova specials went over dark matter (allegedly 72% of the matter in our universe), and dark energy (the force that keeps the universe expanding). astronomers noticed the the universal expansion is increasing in speed, and that there is no universal contraction, as once thought. there won't be a big crunch, currently thinking states. astronomers are stumped about the increasing expansion rate. they're also stumped about where the energy that fuels the expansion comes from.

in retirement, i now have time to ponder this question. and, i have an answer! the big bang never stopped. it did not just explode, then stop exploding, and let everything simply fly away. no no! it exploded, and never stopped exploding. it's exploding even now, though the "center" is not a single point, as it might have been at the initial explosion. the "center" is our entire universe! we are living IN the explosion, and it is expanding (exploding) right this second.

the first part of the big universal explosion - the hot part - made us. it gave us stars, galaxies and light. but, then it slowed down. the explosion continued, but at a slower pace, with cooler, darker outcomes. the stuff that coalesced into matter is still coalescing, and we call it "dark matter". the force of the explosion still has magnitude, which we call "dark energy".

astronomers believe the universe currently has an increasing rate of expansion. they did not go on to say whether they thought, in the future, the rate would slow, stop, reverse - or continue to increase! that would be a very had question to try to answer. you'd need to ponder the nature of the nature of the universe just to provide context for your answer!

i wonder if anyone will be around later to find out? :-)

burning man 2011 movies & photos

2011-09-09T03:40:00.001-07:00

i didn't take too many photos, but i made a few videos on the playa this year. i'll share the best of them here. if nothing else, it is always colorful on the playa in the wee hours! however, there is always SOMETHING ELSE going on, somewhere. :-) burning man is always full of surprises.

here are a few vids and pics of this year's burning man:

panorama of the playa at 1am or so

one of the more interesting fire sculptures this year

what it looked like on saturday when i arrived

sunday

monday!

the Man at night

burning man revelations

2011-09-08T02:26:00.000-07:00

i've been back from burning man for a couple of days now. i still don't have everything put away yet, but that takes time. there is a lot of camping gear to deal with!

this year, i had a great time at burning man! i participated in all sorts of activities:

installation of the 600-foot diameter l3k ring of lights around the Man
daily voltage readings for all 16 batteries in the l3k ring
2 nights dishwashing, and 1 night cooking, at the sunset supper club

participation is the key to enjoying one's self out there - being involved in burning man's many activities provides an easy way to connect to like-minded people. plus, i felt more a part of it than i did as a "mere spectator". :-)

that said, i doubt i'll go back for many years, if i even go back at all. while i did have a great time, i discovered many things about myself which will keep me away from burning man, and will keep me going back to the 4th of juplaya desert camp-out.

what i found out is that it's just too much of a pain in the ass to go to burning man! it's not too much trouble to drive to the playa and camp out. it's burning man itself - the gigantic event - that is the real trouble spot.

and there's a little more: i couldn't care less for most of the people out at burning man. that is not to say that they are bad people! nor is it to say that it's a bad idea to socialize with folks out on the playa. it's much more a statement about me: i do not like having to socialize with the arbitrary people who happen to camp next to me. i am much, MUCH choosier about where and how i spend my energy than that, and who i call my friend. mostly, i can do without the inevitable drama of groups of people, though that was very low in camp this year. i can certainly do without the non-stop drinking, and would prefer to be among a group of smokers than drinkers. and lastly, i can really, Really, REALLY do very well without the extreme hassle of getting to - and leaving from - the burning man event.

here's a small contrast between burning man and 4th of juplaya:

the 4th of juplaya experience:

drive to the playa whenever you want
pick any spot you'd like
build your camp
enjoy peace and near-solitude in the desert with about 200 others, in a dozen or so camps, spread out across 20 miles of open playa
pack up when you're ready to go
drive off the playa and onto the paved roadway
come home
event cost: $0

a typical view during 4th of juplaya

the burning man experience:

drive to the playa at specific times and dates, or according to the date on any "early arrival pass" you may have
slowly move forward in your car, in the heat, for 2-4 hours, until you arrive at the first gate of unorganized people. they look at your paperwork and pass you through if it looks good.
move to the next unorganized group of people at the second gate, and wait in the heat some more while they take your ticket, validate your early entry pass, and put a band on your wrist to show that you are allowed in early. they disappear, and return sometime later, while you wait in the heat.
creep to the next gate, where yet another unorganized group of people want you to get out of your car, and hug them all. they are officially "greeting" you, and welcoming you "back home" - which is how they see burning man.
try your best to find a place to camp. no matter how early you get in, the close-in camping spots are long gone by folks getting in even earlier than you, or who are in so-called "theme camps" or "villages". camping space for theme camps and villages is pre-assigned by burning man. if you're not a theme camp or a village, good luck finding a spot!
attempt to hold onto areas you try to stake out for your arriving friends without having burning man come by and ask you to take down perimeter markings, or having someone else just build their camp with a "fuck you!" attitude.
live cheek-by-jowl with 53,700 people you have to make nice-nice to for a week.
be prepared to spend 8-10 hours traversing the 2 miles between black rock city back and the paved roadway. the "exodus traffic jam" is unimaginable. there is one access road only, and all 53,700 people must travel along that single road in order to leave burning man.
event cost: $280 (more or less) for a burning man ticket, which sold out last year.

a typical view during burning man

so, i'm much more of a 4th of juplaya kind of guy. i found out that what i really like is desert camping. i am just not that taken by the people, or the art, at burning man. the art can be very nice, but the people are arbitrary. to me, it is not worth putting up with all the hassle. i am there for the heat and the desert. i am not there to drink with people, nor to feel that burning man fills empty areas in my life. i think most folks are there for exactly those two reasons, though not all people, of course.

i'm glad i participated in many things at burning man. i figured out that that's why i had a great time this year, and why i did not have a good time in previous years. notwithstanding, burning man is too much of a pain in the butt to go to, camp at, and come home from. you'll see me out at juplaya still, just takin' it easy. that's what desert camping is all about.

headin' out soon

2011-08-24T02:38:00.000-07:00

apologies for the absence of new blog entries! i have been lazy about writing, but busy with other things: taking a wonderful trip with diane to palm springs, and getting ready for burning man. i think i'm ready for the playa - about as ready as i can be - and will be heading out this saturday. i'll be driving in a convoy with my friends john and rick. we're leaving at 6am, bound for the black rock desert.

naturally, there will be photos once the event is over. i'll post some of them here, and all of them in a picasa web album. but, i don't want to get too far ahead of myself! first, there's the actual burning man experience to, uh, actually experience. :-)

if anyone would like a letter postmarked from the black rock desert, please let me know via email. better hurry! i'll send you something from burning man - a newspaper or other playa-printed item - inside an envelope, which will have a hand-canceled stamp bearing the burning man logo. i have a few of these letters myself, sent from previous burning mans (or is that burning men?). they're not worth anything, but are fun to come across every so often.

they made me use a real, valid mailing address as the return address! :-( i wanted it to say "black rock city, nv" but NoooOOOooo!
closeup of the black rock city post office stamp cancelation mark

see y'all on the flip side! i hope everyone's labor day picnics and parties are a lot of fun, and sunny. don't forget to watch the webcast of the burn, saturday night, september 3. woo hoo!

made the cut

2011-08-12T01:03:00.000-07:00

lo and behold, the news arrived yesterday! i am on the crew of the sunset supper club at this year's burning man! woo hoo!

i'll be a "dishdawg" monday and wednesday nights. that's a fancy way of saying "dishwasher", or as richard high, the dishwasher at emile's restaurant in san jose used to say, the "crockery technician". on monday, i'll be dishin' with a guy from australia, so maybe we can say we're "crock techs". crikey!

the schedule inadvertently had me on the waitstaff tuesday night - so i sent email to the organizer saying that i was in a spot i was not supposed to be. i'm not a waiter - literally zero experience other than cooking school - and as much as i love people, i am not thrilled at all to wait on them. as a friend, i love to help others, but waiting tables just isn't my thing. so, i'm taking tuesday night off, and will roam the streets of black rock city like a wanton hussy. :-)

thursday night - the last night of the sunset supper club AND the night of the asian fusion dinner - yours truly will be on the cooking staff! :-) i have no idea if i'll be a prep cook, a saute chef, a line cook, or be asked to stay out of the way. i'm thrilled to be able to cook on the night where the food sounds like it's right up my alley. each night has a different menu; each night has a different chef; and each night has a different staff. i may even be able to get tickets to thursday night's dinner, and invite my campmates to enjoy the experience.

i'm very happy to have this schedule, and even happier to know it in advance. dishes monday and wednesday won't be bad. i'm an excellent dishwasher. cooking or prepping on thursday will be very cool, and it'll be nice to get my hands on some food once again.

while i am looking forward to burning man, i don't want to look too far ahead. next week, diane and i are going to palm springs. so, first things first! i am looking forward to enjoying espresso in palm springs with my new little gadget, and also to some very luxurious time with diane. the marriott resort down there is beautiful, and the restaurants are (mostly) very tasty. we'll have a good time. and i don't even have to cook for my meals! but then again, the meals won't be served by costumed, chanting waiters, dressed in apocalyptic garb, asking if you'd like a semi-automatic with your shake. it's the little things in life that make all the difference. :-)

possible pod improvement

2011-08-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

the handpresso ese espresso maker is a mechanical device. it uses air pressure (provided manually) to force boiling water through an espresso pod. most electric espresso makers are pressure devices. they use water in a boiler, and an electric pump, to force steam through ground espresso. there are a lot of variables that come into play with a real espresso machine. most variables have been eliminated with a pod machine that's pumped up first.

i've found that the coffee from the handpresso is just ok - not bad, but not great. and, i thought that there wasn't anything to do about it. i can't alter the coffee grind, the tamping pressure, or the water temperature (well, i can - i can lower it and make the coffee worse!). i figured i'd have to live with it, and just hope for the best.

but, i found a nifty little accessory that i have already placed an order for: a handpresso "ristretto" portafilter. ristretto in normal espresso-speak means a "short pull", or an espresso stopped part-way through the brewing process. a ristretto is stronger, more aromatic and not as bitter as regular espresso:

handpresso ristretto portafilter

in contrast, the same amount of coffee is made with the handpresso ristretto portafilter as with the regular espresso portafilter. it is just brewed more slowly. the ristretto portafilter has fewer tiny holes leading out to the spout. the boiling water takes longer to pass through the ese pod, so the extracted coffee has more body, more aroma and a stronger flavor. possibly, there will be more crema. i can only hope about that!

no matter what, the ristretto portafilter can only help. since i'm committed to the handpresso, i'm willing to try anything that looks like it'll work to improve the espresso quality. the new portafilter can't hurt. trying out a bunch of different pods will also help a lot. i think after just a little while, i'll have dialed in a good formula for good-tasting portable coffee.

portable coffee makes me appreciate real espresso all the more. however, i am thrilled to have found a solution to the ongoing problem of getting decent coffee while traveling. and, it's red! :-)

pod espresso

2011-08-08T01:36:00.000-07:00

i have used my new mechanical handpresso espresso maker 4 times now. it's a "pod" machine, meaning it uses so-called easy serving espresso (ESE) pods. ese pods are pre-packaged, pre-measured, ground espresso coffee, encased in coffee filter paper:

ese espresso pods

ese pods are individually wrapped for your safety and comfort. they look like condoms, though they might be harder to carry around in your wallet:

unlubricated ese pods

the coffee from the handpresso maker is just ok - not great. it's not worse than espresso made in a small, portable electric espresso maker. since it isn't worse, the handpresso has the great advantages that no generator, no gasoline, no power cord and no electric machine are needed to get the same half-way decent espresso. the handpresso will work at diane's house, in palm springs, in the black rock desert, and next year, in death valley. diane and i are going to the *fancy* hotel in death valley - the furnace creek inn - next year for our 20th anniversary.

coffee from the handpresso tastes almost exactly like coffee from my friend bob's portable electric espresso maker, which he brings to 4th of juplaya and to burning man. the coffee does not taste like espresso - it tastes like strong coffee with a thin layer of foam on top. it approaches espresso, but falls short of the real thing. however, both bob's machine and my handpresso have the big advantage of portability. dragging out and setting up a real espresso machine in the desert would not pay off in terms of effort vs. reward: the effort would be astronomical, and the reward insufficient.

i just ordered a sampler of espresso pods. having no idea of what's available, i think a sample of 30 different pods will give me a better clue. the tough part will be remembering what each pod tasted like! i might even keep a small journal so i can make an informed decision later about which pods to buy. right now, i have 2 boxes of illy brand espresso pods - a very common but good brand of coffee. however, i want to explore the Pod Universe, and see if one or more of the 30 samples strikes my fancy more than illy:

espresso pod sampler from podmerchant.com (26 of 30 pods shown)

so while the pod samples are on their way, i think i'll brew up a second real espresso for myself this morning. ahhhhhhhh!

feelin' the change

2011-08-03T00:34:00.000-07:00

while global climate change may seem far away, i can see it up close and personal. for the first time in 17 years - since i have been in this house - i need to make small fires almost every morning to take off the chill. typically in the summer, there is enough latent heat that morning fires are not necessary. as a matter of fact, the harbinger of fall and winter used to be the need to make a morning fire to stave off the advancing cold. no longer - i need to make a fire almost every morning now.

we used to call it "global warming". now, i think most of us call it "climate change" as it is not necessarily getting warmer in our neighborhoods. the climate is acting unpredictably vs. getting warmer. it can be colder than normal, warmer than normal, more rainy than normal, etc. in other words, "normal" becomes less meaningful day-to-day. being flexible, adapting and overcoming seem to be the watchwords of the day.

so, i've been burning a lot more wood than previous years. i've also been burning a whole lot more kindling than before - it takes the same amount of kindling to start a small fire as it does a large fire. i still have construction scraps from john's house, and diane's fence from the storm a couple of years ago, but my supplies are dwindling. i'll have to start drooling again every time diane and i drive by a construction site ...

i've noticed colder nights and warmer daytime highs here in santa cruz. of course, a single data point doesn't provide much perspective, but reports like mine are fairly common. the fact that one person in one little community can see the effect in terms of how much wood i need, and how fast i am going through kindling, means that multiplied out by all the people in the world, we'll all see the effect in our own living rooms within our lifetimes.

there are many ways to draw conclusions. there are many directions each person can go form here, and just as many directions governments can take. i think i'll stick with my tried and true method: make sure to have fun every single day. my method does not solve the problem, or even attempt to. its sole purpose is to make living bearable and fun.

might as well have fun! the world will go on as it always has; people will do what they will; and no one can change the entire world at once. if we don't make it as a species, we don't. it's only we who care about our continued existence - the universe does not. so, be sincere in your desire to enjoy life - just don't be serious about it.

fire under my butt

2011-08-02T01:45:00.000-07:00

it hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday - burning man is in 3 weeks! if i stand any chance to reclaim my dignity about bringing three projects out there, i had better get my ass in gear, and finish at least ONE of them! there is literally no time to spare.

and - i did it. :-) i finished up my blinky hat project yesterday. it only took 6 hours after i decided to get off my lazy ass and do it. here are some photos of the hat, plus a short video of what it looks like when it's turned on:

from the front

the main wiring harness

power termination points

burning man blinky hat

i have 2 other projects i will TRY to get done for next year. they are an electroluminescent (E/L) wire brain hat, and a sound-sensitive coat, also using E/L wire. at least i am not completely lame. i did 6 hours of work in one year. i think that's pretty good for a retired fuck.

massive dynamics espresso machine

2011-07-31T03:51:00.000-07:00

i face the terrifying Dilemma Of Espresso every time i go anywhere. even at diane's house, i am forced to wait against my will until peet's opens at 5am. oh the horror, the horror! since i'm ready for espresso when i get up, they should just be open. i'm taking a very cat-like attitude about it ...

actually, i'd be willing to make my own espresso at midnight using their machine, clean up afterward, and leave money on top of the cash register. i'd even leave a tip. :-)

during 4th of juplaya, bob brings his portable espresso machine and generator. it's great to have "pod espresso" in the desert! pod espresso is espresso coffee, pre-ground, and encased in little coffee filter paper pods. the pods fit into so-called ESE espresso makers (easy serve espresso). espresso pods clean up instantly - you just throw them away like tea bags. cleaning up loose, wet coffee grounds in the desert is pretty yucky.

bob isn't camping with the group of people i'm camping with, so i had to think about what to do to solve this heavy dilemma ...

and it isn't just the playa. in palm springs, i'm sure marriott thinks it's so great that they have a starbuck's right in their lobby, but it isn't. starbuck's coffee has no flavor. it's the weirdest thing. it's not that it tastes bad - it just doesn't taste like anything. so, i go to the local "it's a grind" coffee house about 5 miles away. but, in both cases, i'm still FORCED against my will to wait until they're open. some nerve! not being open when i want coffee makes me a very unhappy cat. rowr!

i found a product online that might solve all of these universe-level problems in one fell swoop - the handpresso:

handpresso portable ESE espresso maker

click this link to visit their website.

you pump it up by hand until it's green on the pressure gauge, pour in an espresso cup of boiling water, add an espresso pod, seal it closed, and then release the air pressure. the boiling water is forced through the espresso pod directly into your cup. no generator needed, but you do need something to boil the water.

this would work at diane's house, at a hotel (using an in-room coffee maker to heat the water), and on the playa (using a camp stove). i just convinced myself. i'm ordering one ... in red, of course.

busy summer ahead

2011-07-27T01:13:00.000-07:00

it's mid-summer, and the vacation pace is picking up! diane and i are taking a trip to palm springs soon, and burning man is about a month away. so, that means a lot of planning, packing and driving.

planning and packing for palm springs isn't too bad. there's a real hotel down there, and even stores & malls! if you need anything, it can be purchased locally. you do not have bring all your own food and water; nor is it required that you build a shelter immediately upon arrival. there isn't a ticket required for entry, although reservations do seem to help (except one year - but that's another story!). the only dilemma is the complete absence of an "early arrival pass" - otherwise known as check-in time - which seemingly is set in stone. an early arrival means a lot of waiting!

the lobby of the marriott resort in palm springs - not really too harsh a desert environment, except outside

planning and packing for burning man is another matter. everything not needed in palm springs is absolutely necessary in the black rock desert! you do need to bring all your own food and water, and you would be well-advised to build your own shelter immediately upon arrival. :-) there are no stores or malls there, although you can buy coffee and ice. i have my ticket and early arrival pass, so there will only be minimal waiting to get into the event. and once there, i'll be on at least two crews helping to ready the city's infrastructure:

before

after

here's an ironic factoid: diane was able to wrangle rooms at the marriott for under $100 a night! due to the large supply of rooms in august, the marriott hotel is almost begging people to come and stay. conversely, there are zero tickets available for burning man now. even the highest-priced tickets - $360 - are no longer available. they are literally all sold out. for the very first time, there are no tickets available at the gate. i've heard of $500 tickets to burning man on ebay. so pick your poison ...

speaking of picking, diane will be desert-bound for only one of these two trips. anybody care to guess which one that'll be? :-)

cheesy productions

2011-07-24T04:04:00.000-07:00

let the joy begin! where else but the rfg can you enjoy the cheesiest of productions?

as rod serling would say, here for your edification is the illustrated guide to cheese blintzes, old world style.

let's start with the recipe. the recipe is in two parts - the batter for the crepes, and the cheese filling. first, the crepe batter:

6 eggs
3 cups milk
½ cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour, sifted

from left to right, back to front: flour in a large bowl, eggs, salt, sugar, milk

mix the eggs and milk together in one bowl. mix the sugar, salt and flour together in a second, larger bowl. add the wet mixture into the dry mixture, and blend enough to moisten all the flour. allow to rest overnight. stir very well before making into crepes the next day.

blintz crepes have a lot of sugar in them, and will brown up very easily. they're also made a little thicker than a typical french crepe. cheese blintz filling is reasonably heavy and sticky, and the crepes have to hold up a bit more than your usual crepe. i know everyone out there has a usual crepe.

the flour settles to the bottom of the bowl after a night in the refrigerator. i use a wire whisk to keep the batter well-mixed as i make the crepes the next day. i do it in two pans to speed up the process. as a crepe finishes in one pan, a new crepe is started in the other pan. this way, one is always cooking, and one is always finishing.

crepe making setup: bowl of batter on the left (with submerged wire whisk and ladle), butter on a plate for the pans, and one steel pan & one teflon pan (i prefer steel)

the crepe in the teflon pan (right) is almost done, and a new crepe is starting in the steel pan (left)

close up of crepe cooking in the steel pan

cook all the batter into crepes. i just stack them up on a plate, ready for the next step.

finished crepes piled up on a plate

the next step is to fill the crepes with cheese filling. here's the recipe for the filling:

3 lbs. farmer cheese
1 lb. philadelphia cream cheese
4 eggs

ONLY use philadelphia cream cheese! anything else is simply inferior. friendship is the only brand of farmer cheese i have ever used - it's also the only brand i have ever found!

mix everything together by squeezing with your hand. DO NOT MIX WITH AN ELECTRIC MIXER! nor even a wooden spoon. the idea of this filling is a lot like home-made mashed potatoes. every once in a while, you'll come across a tiny bit of whole potato. with this blintz filling, every once in a while, you'll come across a tiny bit of whole cream cheese. it is not a 100% homogenous mix.

my grandmother insisted - only by hand! squeeze, squeeze ...

the finished cheese filling. the mixture is not 100% mixed. it is supposed to be slightly irregular.

so now, we're ready to assemble the final product! here's the setup:

here we go! the filling is on the left, cooked crepes in the middle, and a cutting board on the right.

take one crepe from the stack, carefully. put 2-3 tablespoons of cheese near the bottom.

fold the bottom of the crepe over the cheese

fold the sides of the crepe over the cheese

fold the whole blintz over, and press gently

continue until you run out of crepes or cheese. i ended up with about 3 dozen blintzes, and a few extra crepes (which i froze for later use).

to insure public health and safety, you must now test your blintzes to make sure they're not poisonous. you would not want to serve anybody a poison blintz! would you? :-)

here's how to run the test: cook up at least two blintzes, and serve them with sour cream and strawberry jam. be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice by eating them afterward. it's a selfless job, that's true, but if you're a mensch, you'll rise to the occasion.

fry the blintzes seam side down in butter

turn them over just once

serve the cooked blintzes with sour cream (easy to see) and strawberry jam (hard to see, next to the sour cream)

so please come by and have a blintz! i can now guarantee they're not poisonous. :-)

the end.

weekend blintzes

2011-07-22T05:11:00.000-07:00

get ready for your cooking lesson of the day! or should i say the weekend. :-) this weekend, i will be making cheese blintzes using my grandmother's very old, very tried and true, blintz recipe.

i'll photograph the whole process, and post it here. i'll even post the recipe for those who are adventurous in the kitchen. it's not a hard recipe, but making the crepes can be a little tricky. blintzes are so good, i feel the method and recipe should be shared with the world.

and speaking of sharing blintzes with the rest of the world, these particular blintzes will be frozen and taken out to burning man. i am on a crew of cooks who put on 9 course dinners for 60 burners monday through thursday at burning man. i am bringing the blintzes for a staff meal only. due to health permit restrictions, all food served at the dinners must be prepared on the playa.

i'll pick up the main ingredient - dry curd, or farmer cheese - this weekend. i'll prep up all the mixtures on saturday, and cook the blintzes on sunday. so, this sunday's post will have a lot of cheesy photos, and even some sour cream and strawberry jam photos. :-)

anyone hungry? please stop by for a real treat! my grandmother made fabulous blintzes - i can only hope to approach her abilities in the kitchen. no matter what, you can never cook as well as your grandmother. i think we all know about that ...

it's the little things in life

2011-07-21T00:32:00.000-07:00

i've been suffering with a problem for many weeks which i just managed to solve yesterday. and, the solution was quite inexpensive - it was just a matter of finding the right person in the right place at the right time. oh, and having $5 handy. :-)

my BIG problem - plaguing the entire universe - was my espresso machine. not too much of a surprise there, as it is a very "sensitive" piece of machinery. it's kind of like a fancy sports car that requires constant tweaking. today's dilemma was something everyone in america knows the dangers of: a faulty O ring. think space shuttle challenger.

the O ring that ate my espresso machine (and didn't bring down the challenger)

in the so-called group head (where the coffee filter goes before espresso is made) lives a rather substantial rubber O ring. the coffee filter locks and seals against this O ring. steam is then forced through the coffee, making espresso. if the O ring wears out, steam and water escapes, and there's no espresso. there is coffee, but it's not espresso. espresso is created by high steam pressure being forced through coffee grounds.

last year, a guy from a local espresso store came out, and changed out my O ring, as well as tweaking a few other things on my machine. at his behest, and that of another machine technician, i now leave my machine on all the time. while that saves wear and tear on my machine, it evidently wreaks havoc on rubber O rings. constant heat hardens the rubber, and lessens its ability to form a seal. the changed-out O ring had developed a groove right where the coffee filter fits in - and pressurized steam and water was escaping.

once water and steam escapes from the group head, you might as well throw your "espresso" away. it is no longer espresso; doesn't taste like espresso; and has none of the creamy properties of espresso. it's just a tiny cup of strong coffee.

i was thwarted twice trying to get a new O ring. i went to the espresso store one day, but the guy who came out last year wasn't working that day. the woman running the cash register did not know anything about parts - she could ring up a sale if you brought her something with a price tag on it. i came back later that week when the website said they would be open - but the website lied! the store was closed on sunday, so i had to come back yet again. yesterday, i finally made it to the store when they were both open AND the guy was there!

so, i bought two O rings, since they were so hard to get. they were $5 each, or $11 for two, with tax.

i literally dug the old O ring out of the group head with a hooked tool. installing the new one is a bit of a trick, but i watched while the guy did it last year, and learned the secret. i got the new one in, and of course, had to try it out and see if i could now make real espresso ...

and that would be YES! :-) unlike the previous O ring, the new one had positive tactile feedback when the filter was inserted. no water escaped as the espresso was brewing, and the coffee streamed out of the filter just as it should. problem solved, for $5, with the correct part and the correct installation technique.

so i enjoyed a real espresso this morning for the first time in about a month. i won't wait so long next time. when the current O ring wears out due to constant heat, i will replace it immediately. i have a spare on hand. then, i can go back to the store, and buy two more without suffering poor quality espresso all the while.

i tell ya, it's the little things in life that make all the difference ...

truth or darey

2011-07-18T23:50:00.000-07:00

a friend of mine recently turned me on to a podcast of great dance music! i don't have an ipod specifically, but you do not need one to listen to a podcast. i just listen to the music as it streams to my computer.

the dj is matt darey, from london. i hadn't heard of him prior to listening to his podcast, but i know of him now. he assembles a mix of dance music, or has guests put on their own show, mixing dance music as they would. i've only heard a couple of the numerous podcasts available, and plan on listening to many more. it's perfect music for the 12am - 6am time period.

here's the link: matt darey's nocturnal music

give it a try, and see if it's the kind of music that works for you. it sure does for me, so thank you rr! always a pleasure to hear new, fun toonz ...

toasty ups

2011-07-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

mmmmm, don't you just love the smell of fresh toast in the morning? i do! the smell of baking bread is even better ... yum yum! most everything smells nice when it's toasting the right way, but some things ought not be toasting at all.

i was awakened by a funny buzzing noise a few nights ago. it was ill-defined, and was coming from a sort of generalized "over there" direction ...

so, i went back to sleep. but there it was again! i figured i'd better go see what was going on.

i followed the noise up to the ups's buried underneath my computer work table. one of them (which had been acting odd for a while now) was just buzzing away for no reason. so, i turned it off, and figured i'd deal with it in the morning.

so, i went back to sleep. but there it was AGAIN! i came back up to check it out, and the damn thing had turned itself BACK ON! it was buzzing even louder now. i'd pissed it off.

hard as i tried, i could not turn it off. of course, pulling out the plug didn't help. it's made to operate that way. holding down the power switch for many seconds didn't help either - a sysadmin's trick to force a computer to power down. nothing stopped it. i had to unplug everything that was plugged into it, and heft this 35 pound, HOT metal can out from under a mass of wires at about 9pm, which is the middle of the night for me.

what surprised me was the heat. the ups was HOT! really hot. the case was more than warm to the touch. nonetheless, i had to disassemble it and physically disconnect the battery to shut it down.

when i removed the battery, it was seriously hot to the touch. and it was heavy - about 27 pounds. i let it slide out of the ups case and onto a plastic office chair mat. later, when i picked the battery up to move it, there was a very deep, very flat impression in the plastic! it was still hot an hour later, and the impression in the plastic was deeper and flatter than just the weight of the battery would have made.

so, another ups bites the dust ...

i've since replaced it with a new ups. i have the joy of recycling the very expensive at the time but now useless old battery, and ups innards. i'll just chalk it up to living in the forest with highly unpredictable power. ups's have saved the electronic life of my computers and audio gear more times than i can count! the maintenance (and frying) of ups's is just par for the course.

i'm just glad i was here for this one, and not out in the desert. d'oh!

burning van

2011-07-15T06:06:00.000-07:00

i almost decided NOT to go to burning man this year. right after 4th of juplaya, the heat had beaten me up to a point that i wasn't sure i should put myself through that again - especially for 3 times as long! 4th of juplaya was 3 nights; burning man will be 10 nights for me this year. i wasn't sure i could deal with the desert for that long, despite my love of heat. it was too much of a good thing.

however, as bob and i drove off the playa, i was already thinking about how i could survive all those days at burning man ... and came up with a counterintuitive plan.

the plan has a small back story: what would make it possible to enjoy burning man to the fullest? the "best" part of burning man are the nights - the lights, the people, the flames, the illuminated art and camps - mardi gras out in the desert! so, i thought about how i could stay up all night at burning man, a thing i do every day here at home. however, there is a huge impediment: the unrelenting heat, light and noise of the day time on the playa. to stay up all night, one would have to sleep during the day. but the intense heat, brightness and constant din make sleeping in camp during the day virtually impossible.

then, the idea hit: rent an RV for burning man, and sleep in an air conditioned room, with sound insulation, and with sun shades, during the heat of the day. then, just like an edgar winter album, only come out at night, and enjoy the best of burning man!

the idea was counterintuitive because i have always just camped at burning man - i have always camped wherever i went, whenever possible. of course, going to a resort or a hotel isn't out of the question (like diane and i do at palm springs). but, short of planning a trip to a hotel, i have always camped out. i made fun of those who brought RV's rather than camped.

but, one's ideas change as one gets older. in particular, as i am getting older and finding it a little tougher each year to endure the desert heat, i'm changing my hard stance against RV's, and am seeing them as enabling machines for that harsh climate.

my plan was to rent a small "van RV" and sleep in it during the hottest part of the day. i'd get up after sundown, stay up all night as usual, and have a blast with the wonderful freaks!

alas, the best laid plans of mice and men ...

i am about 1 year too late to rent an RV for burning man. i checked the burning man resource guide for businesses that allow burning man RV rentals. mostly, the people on the phone at these businesses just laughed and gave me the scoop: the RV's are reserved typically right after the previous burning man. the folks returning an RV have right of first refusal, and most often reserve the same unit for next year. if i want to take an RV to burning man next year, i will have to get on the horn immediately after the event this year, and if there is a unit available, fork over half of the rental fee as a non-refundable deposit! and there's no guarantee one will even be one available.

so, this year, i'm "going commando." :-) i'll camp out as i always have, and try to find cool, dark places to sleep during the day. i am volunteering four evenings of time to the Sunset Supper Club, a camp that serves 9 course dinners to 60 people at sunset on the playa. they have a large camp, and maybe there's a place to crash during the hottest part of the day which i could worm my way into ...

so next year, if i get lucky, i will bring my own RV to sleep in. i'll also have some luxuries normally not associated with desert camping: my own bathroom, shower and air-conditioned bedroom. this will virtually guarantee enough sleep at the right time of the day to allow all night merriment. but it ain't cheap. the cost for a one week rental of the smallest RV is about $4,000. there's an awful lot of vacationing a person could do on a $4k budget besides go to a vast wasteland ...

so i have all this in mind for next year. this year, i am planning for the "typical" burning man experience. i will see how i hold up for 11 days on the playa. the sun won't be as strong as it was in july. i'm sure i'll survive, but i'll start saving my pennies now!

skew(er)ed ideas

2011-07-10T23:12:00.000-07:00

here's another rosanne rosannadanna for you: "have you ever had this little tiny thought, right there in the back of your mind, and everyone notices but doesn't say anything? you know, this little tiny thing just stickin' right there, and everyone can see it but you?"

well, that's my usual state of being when it comes to creative thinking. perhaps it's totally normal, but every time i have any idea that seems even slightly creative to me, i always think it's a stupid idea! i have never felt particularly inspired. i've also never felt that i was capable of coming up with anything original. i'm much more of a "do the obvious" kind of guy - plain old muscle very often gets the job done, even without fancy preparation.

i'm not opposed to pre-planning, however! i do see, and enjoy, the benefits of planning something in advance, like desert trips. :-) i'm just saying that i'm often embarrassed by creative thoughts because my creative thoughts are poor examples of REAL creative thinking! my imagination apparently does not extend to the limits of true originality. i've spoken my ideas out loud before, and have been politely patted on the head with a small smile. so, i rarely speak up any more, and leave the business of creativity to artists.

but, i broke radio silence recently. i put myself out there creatively, and to my amazement, did NOT get shot down immediately! woo hoo! how about that? what would rosanne rosannadanna think now? :-)

during 4th of juplaya, my friend bob mentioned something he saw in the "jack rabbit speaks", a weekly email sent to those who will be attending burning man. i had not read that weeks' edition before going out to the desert. bob had, and mentioned the "sunset supper club" - a club that serves 9 course suppers to 60 burners, for four nights, at sunset, on the playa. they needs all manner of kitchen staff to pull this off - waiters, bussers, prep cooks, line cooks, sous chefs and top chefs. i joined this group of people, and we're all in email contact with each other.

the sunset supper club asked everyone for supper theme ideas, which could be fleshed out into full-blown 9 course dinners. and, i had an idea. but, i was afraid to say it. :-( i was afraid of being put down once again for having too lame of an idea. my experience through life so far has shown me that my creative ideas are just not that exciting. but i took a chance, and sent my idea out via email. all members of the group could now see it. after i hit "send", i almost wished i could take the message back. what types of bland acceptance would i have to endure while people got excited about OTHERS' ideas?

and then i waited. and waited and waited and waited. other group messages came in via email, but no one said anything about my dinner idea. i figured i'd just made a fool of myself by revealing how little creativity there is in me, and what there was did not have a lot of oomph anyway.

but then, something happened! the leader of the sunset supper club emailed back that she LOVED my idea! and, a few other group members also thought the idea was very good, and even showed some excitement about wanting to be in the prep kitchen for it. wow!

the idea was for an "ob/skewer dinner". everything for that dinner - all 9 courses - would be served on a skewer. i was trying to encapsulate a large number of burning man considerations into one dinner idea: cooking on a windy playa without full kitchen facilities, keeping silverware and service-ware usage to an absolute minimum, honoring the "leave no trace" mentality of burning man, cleaning up a meal with little or no water, simplifying preparations for playa conditions, and sticking to the "tapas style" of cooking (everything bite sized).

skewers would make preparation simple, with little or no food waste. clean up afterwards involves burning the bamboo skewers. cooking skewered items is easy even in high winds. eating skewered foods at the table is also easy, especially if you eat directly from the skewer. portion control is automatic. creative skewer possibilities for REAL creative chefs are boundless!

even though i endured the time when no one responded to my ob/skewer idea (and i wanted to crawl under a rock and stay there), i am very glad i took a risk and said something. i'm amazed - and to be honest, flattered - that a creative idea of mine was not categorically rejected. i've actually had an artistic experience! so this is what it feels like when others like your ideas. i can see why people are attracted to it. for me, this type of a thing is a first.

i hope the sunset supper club decides to actually DO the ob/skewer dinner. really doing it would bring a kind of closure to a unique event in my life.

lived to tell the tale, part 2

2011-07-09T01:46:00.000-07:00

i did live to tell the tale of this year's 4th of juplaya. :-) it's not a sordid tale or anything - just the usual set of unusual things that happens on the way to, and once on, the black rock playa.

bob and i left the bay area around 4:30am on sunday, july 3, bound for the desert! we took two trucks, each with the gear we'd need to survive in such an inhospitable place. bob had two walkie-takie radios, so he gave me one in case we needed to communicate while we were driving. we hit the road, and began our 7 hour journey.

not long after we got going, we came upon a rather serious wreck on highway 880. two or three cars were spread across all the lanes of the freeway, with one car against the guard rail, on fire. the wreck appeared reasonably new, and neither bob nor i saw anyone moving. as a matter of fact, we did not see anyone, anywhere. another car had stopped after the wreck, so we assumed someone else was calling it in. i tried to use the walkie-talkies to call bob and say "wow!", but this was the first thing to go wrong: the rechargeable batteries bob had put in the radio had immediately failed. my radio was dead right away, and therefore became useless junk inside my truck. hate to haul useless junk all the way out to the playa. :-(

the trip was uneventful from that point all the way until we got to the black rock desert. we stopped and had breakfast along the way, and planned our next gas stops just in case we got separated. once we arrived at the playa, the new fun began!

we were not sure where we were going to camp - we literally just head out onto the playa, stop at an arbitrary spot that looks good, and camp there. any place is fine; they are all the same. the trick is both people must camp at the same spot!

i was in the lead, and was going a little too fast for bob to keep up with me. my truck generated a dust cloud, which bob said passed through another dust cloud. by the time bob had passed through both dust clouds, i was nowhere in sight. and, when i stopped at a nice-looking area of the playa, bob was no longer behind me. there we both were, on the playa, but no longer in sight of each other. crap!

i looked around, and drove around a bit, but did not see bob anywhere. after a few minutes, i had the idea to go back to the place we both left the road, and entered the playa. that was our mutually-known "last good place." so, i headed off the playa, back to the 12-mile playa access point.

unknown to me, bob was doing the same thing. we both had the same idea, which was excellent, provided that our walkie-talkies would not help us solve this problem.

i ended up getting back on the road at the 3-mile access point. bob ended up farther north, probably the 8-mile access point. we both waited for a while, and then started driving that road looking for the other person. we passed each other on the narrow road twice before we both stopped, and agreed to go back to 12-mile access. once there, i lead again, but this time more slowly. bob and i stopped at an arbitrary point, and set up camp there. we'd lost about an hour, so we had to set up camp in the heat of the day. not pleasant, but we had one shade structure set up within the hour.

once we were settled in, we saw something unusual in the distance: it turned out the be the so-called "dead dog dune," a sand dune which has been rising out of the playa for many years now. actually, there were three dunes all within a very short distance of each other. each dune had a BLM wooden fence around it, marking off the area but not preventing entry onto the dunes. we further found out that LOTS of people were camping for 4th of juplaya at the dunes! we were the only ones camped in the middle of nowhere; everybody else was gathered around the dunes. we'll camp there next year, but did not want to pull up stakes, and move our camp this year.

bob and i stayed on the playa until wednesday, july 6. we did not want to brave the holiday traffic on the way back. if we would have left on tuesday, july 5 like everybody else did, we were sure we'd be stuck in awful traffic. but, we're both retired, and could afford to wait an extra day. we watched all day on tuesday as people left the playa, heading back to civilization. and then it happened: bob and i were literally the only two people left on the entire black rock playa. 400 square miles of open desert with not a single light to be seen, nor a single camp out at any distance. i took a panoramic video with my camera of what the playa looks like with literally nobody but us chickens on it:

it was actually very spooky being on the playa alone! additionally, there was a 20% chance of rain, and we did see a raincloud to the northeast:

rain on the playa is very bad, turning the playa into a sea of library paste. we were both hoping it wouldn't rain on us, and wanted to get off the playa as soon as we could in the morning. there was no one there to help us, should we get stuck. :-(

the raincloud stayed to the north, and did not rain on us. we got off the playa quite early on july 6, and were on the road by 8:30 or 9am. we'd survived a disturbing-looking and ominous wreck on the way, getting separated on the playa, enduring 105 degree heat for the full three days (it was hot even for me!), and avoiding rain at the end. all told, it was a great trip! and just par for the course in the black rock desert.

lived to tell the tale

2011-07-08T04:14:00.000-07:00

i lived to tell the tale of the 2011 4th of juplaya! actually, it isn't that hair-raising. it did have two initial incidents, but cooler minds prevailed. ultimately, it was a great time on the playa - but getting harder as i get older.

all told, it was another great, relaxing, spiritually revitalizing time in the black rock desert. here are some photos of the desert, our camp, and some unusual sand dunes rising out of the playa surface bob and i just learned about:

looking south at miles of open playa

trego mountain at sunset

the completed moon camp

our camp from the other side, and from a distance

bob riding his bike out to dead dog dune. there are white RV roofs sticking up from the other side of the dune. three such dunes have been rising out of the playa surface over the past many years.

of course, of more utmost importance than even shade is espresso. no matter what - gotta have my fix! i'm glad bob is of the same mind:

bob's espresso machine on the playa

playa espresso in a van gogh cup

the nights were GORGEOUS! here's just a small sample of the clouds. there were also the stars - indescribable, because in cities, we never see this many stars, nor the whole galaxy. you have to see them in person. come out to the desert next year, and take a peek yourself! :-)

clouds at sunset

close up of sunset clouds

raincloud to the northwest on our last night

tomorrow, i'll tell the tales of the playa, what happened getting there, and what happened out there. today's blog is just the appetizer portion of the whole meal. :-)

off to the playa!

2011-06-29T01:45:00.000-07:00

well, the time has come! it's the 4th of juplaya once again! woo hoo!

bob and i will be on the playa sunday morning, july 3 and will stay until wednesday morning, july 6. by driving there on the sunday of a 3-day weekend, we're hoping to avoid holiday traffic. we're banking on people traveling friday and saturday so they can be where they need to be by monday, july 4th. similarly, by leaving the playa wednesday morning, we're hoping to avoid the return traffic on tuesday. :-) after 4 years of 4th of juplaya planning, we have found that it's all about getting there and back again while avoiding massive holiday traffic jams.

of course, the plans of kangaroo rats and men often go awry. :-) there could be a huge traffic jam all the way there, as people get out of town on sunday, everybody having the same idea we do. there could be road construction, as there was last year, creating the very traffic jam we hope to avoid. or accidents. or thermonuclear war. you never know!

the same considerations apply towards the return trip. here too, one must weigh the options against one's desire to go to a particular place. however, bob and i are reasonably certain that wednesday morning will have just normal traffic, perhaps busy, but not at the same level as the day before.

the annual july playa trip is still worth it! there may be difficulties - for instance, today it is raining on the playa - but we're willing to overcome the obstacles. the forecast is sunny for the next many days out there, so the playa surface should be dry and hard-packed by sunday morning. both of us are keeping our fingers crossed. and, we're optimistic. :-)

so, see you on the flip side - with photos!

my brilliant sweetheart

2011-06-28T03:12:00.000-07:00

i may be slightly biased, but i think my sweetheart is brilliant! she came up with a simple solution to my phone dilemma: turn the ringer off, and let all calls go to voicemail instead. i didn't think about that because of a "pre-existing" condition: my current telephone/answering machine combo does not have a "ringer off" switch. it only has a ringer high/low switch to change the ring from loud to soft. it's actually a small office telephone, so i assume the designers never envisioned turning the ringer completely off in an office. but, i have the phone in my home, and can easily visualize a no-ringer scenario.

since it is a phone/voicemail combination machine, i would need a new telephone that has a ringer on/off switch, and a new answering machine. both items together would only be around $100, so that's affordable. i like the idea of having a silent house, too - the ringing phone cuts right through the house, and demands attention. given that about 1 in 10 calls is actually for me, i wouldn't mind not even hearing the other 9 ...

my friend richard left a comment on a previous post about google phone. it is free, and they do what i was hoping to do by disconnection: filter the calls. google transcribes voicemails into emails, and you just check your email. hardly needing to answer an actual phone call in the future sounds very good to me!

i really have been divesting myself of as much technology as i can. i don't shun technology, but i have suspicions about it and about any actual need for it (balancing the consequences of using global technology). i have cut my cable tv, i have written to the state of california to get "unregistered" to vote, i deactivated my facebook account, and i have never owned a cell phone. the remaining technology would be a land-line telephone, and i'll have to ponder what to do about it. i have a few more arrows in my quiver thanks to richard. time to put my thinking cap on ...

considering complete disconnection

2011-06-26T01:06:00.000-07:00

rosanne rosannadanna would say "have you ever had a little thing just hanging from your nose - you know, a little, tiny thing just hanging there ...?". while i found the skit very funny on saturday night live, i did have a "little tiny thing" which wasn't hanging from my nose, and which i did NOT find funny whatsoever.

the late gilda radner as rosanne rosannadanna

i'm usually the one with a sense of humor for anything. but i wasn't amused at all by a crank phone call i received yesterday. i know now it was meant as a joke. however, it irritated me to such a degree that i am considering disconnecting my telephone. during the past few months, i've systematically divested myself of many technological trappings. disconnecting my phone would be just one more step in that direction. i'm torn because of the usefulness of phones.

i may go the nokia tracfone route - no service plan, only minutes to buy as needed. there would be no need to give my phone number out to anyone (except diane and my sister). i would set distinctive ringtones for diane, brana and reverse-911, and only answer those. i like this idea more and more as i think about it.

the phone call that started me thinking about disconnection was actually trivial. yet, it pissed me off to a very high degree - inconsistent with the call itself. it was my strong reaction which caused me to consider telephone disconnection. that call was simply the straw that broke the camel's back.

over the years, i have had such a large number of crank calls, wrong numbers, telemarketing idiots, fax machines that won't hang up and rude people who blame ME because they mis-dialed, that i am leery of answering the phone at all. i'm on alert whenever my phone rings. due to my decades as a support engineer, i have a negative pavlovian response to telephones: a phone call means someone else's problem becomes my problem. a ringing phone isn't my aunt janet calling to send me a fruit cake. a ringing phone means trouble.

that said, before i yank the wires out the walls, i'll need to consider how i'd stay in touch without a phone, and what to do in case of emergency. there may be no better way than with a telephone. so i may keep it. right now, however, i am inclined to get rid of it once and for all ...

beautiful day

2011-06-25T00:41:00.000-07:00

today is the most beautiful day of the year. why? because it's diane's birthday, and she is the most beautiful woman in the world!

there are those who would say i am slightly biased, but they would be wrong. i am highly biased. :-) but i believe i'm right nonetheless. what can i say? i'm the luckiest man in the universe to be with her.

so happy birthday, my love. and many more - please!

coming up fast!

2011-06-24T01:37:00.000-07:00

all of a sudden, it's almost the 4th of july. that means desert camping for me - another 4th of juplaya! i'd better get my camping gear down from the rafters, get some water in the freezer, and get my small pickup truck all packed and ready to go!

i'll be staying with diane next week - and taking off for the desert directly from her house without coming back to santa cruz first. it looks like my friend bob will be going out to the playa, and maybe another burner buddy, dennis. bob hasn't gotten a firm yes or no from dennis, so we're just playing it by ear. he may show up on the playa, but it would be pretty tough finding us out there without having driven all together.

i always look forward to three nights on the playa around the 4th of july. the playa is uncrowded at that time of the year. there is nothing but space and desolation as far as the eye can see - beautiful!

i'm going back to burning man this year - same place, but a couple of months forward - and the desert will be quite crowded then. we burners are squeezed into black rock city, the festival-slum created for the one week of burning man. 4th of juplaya lacks all the "city" services provided by black rock city - public art, public transportation, ice sales, real espresso, porta-potties, medical and emergency services - but makes up for it with open space, no physical perimeter, and a hugely reduced police presence. the sheriffs come around during 4th of juplaya, but stay their distance and observe. the sheriffs drive around all day and all night in black rock city.

despite the speed with which the year is passing - and the speed of the approach of the 4th of july - i'll be prepped and ready to go out there next sunday. looking forward to three glorious days in the desert!

oh well

2011-06-21T02:51:00.000-07:00

i ended up not buying that bike after all. oh well! i guess it turned out not to make any difference after all!

here's one more of my dad's sayings, appropriate for this situation:

the deal of a lifetimes comes once a week. :-)

things that make no difference

2011-06-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

my dad taught me a few extremely useful things. he taught me many things, but among them all, a few things stand head and shoulders above the rest. he said:

you'll never buy anything at the lowest price
you'll never sell anything at the highest price
if you make a profit on something, be happy with what you make

simple little sayings that contain profound practical wisdom. i heeded this advice and have never been sorry.

now that i am getting, uh, more mature, i have a saying that i can add to this list. rather, i aspire to add my saying to my dad's list! i can only hope it pans out as well as his did.

my new saying is: it is possible to assign zero concern to things that, ultimately, will make zero difference. i have an illustrative case in point: a "playa bicycle" for the 4th of juplaya and burning man. i just bought one on craigslist, and will be picking it up later today. it's a schwinn beach cruiser - been looking for one for a long time. $80, and it's mine.

for a moment, i had a concern that maybe i paid too much for it. maybe $80 for a bike that will no doubt need some work before it is ready for the rigors of the black rock playa was too much to pay. what if i could have found one for $60? or $40? if i waited, and didn't respond to the first ad i saw? could i have saved a few bucks, or could i have gotten a better bike?

after having that little consumer anxiety attack, i realized the lunacy of it all! d'oh! so what if another bike could be be had for less? so what if i am being taken for a ride (no pun intended :-) )? so what??? $80 is within my budget, and now the problem is solved. i most often go with the first thing i see, so even if i looked at other bikes, i'd probably end up right back at this one anyway.

i assigned the anxiety zero significance. zero! who cares? i'll get a bike, fix whatever needs fixing, put EL wire all over it, get it ready playa night rides and viola! all done. over the time i'll be using this bike, it won't any difference how much i paid for it.

there was a time in my life when $80 meant a lot more than it means now. it's still a nice wad o' cash, but is no longer the difference between eating all month or not. in the bigger scheme of life, i have stopped having "consumer anxiety" about these types of things. you can't take it with you. spend it now, smartly and guilt-free.

whatever goes up, must come down

2011-06-12T02:58:00.000-07:00

that might mean "whenever there is an update, there will always be a downdate". since english is my native language. i always feel entitled to make up new words as i need them (or to pronounce old words a new way). i invented "downdate" just now to mean the opposite of an update: an update clarifies choices; a downdate obfuscates them.

i have a downdate from wolf range. :-)

they won't engage their entire design team on my behalf, and construct a 42" custom built rangetop. they declined to go through the design, analysis, testing and certification phases for any new stove, in order to produce just one unit for me. i think that's pretty crappy on their part. they should have been waiting by the phone since the inception of the company for my call. they couldn't possibly have anything better to do, could they?

so, i am back to zero options on a new stove. good thing i am only looking to change out one working stove for another. i'm now a little worried about what might happen if my existing stove stops working - i'd have nothing to replace it with, except a smaller stove with stainless steel spacers. ugh.

it's always something with a house, isn't it? i love living in this house, but there is a definite and in-your-face price to pay maintaining ANY house! i am very lucky if these are my only problems ...

and let's not even contemplate how lucky i am to have diane in my life! some things in life defy description or any attempt at explanation. i'm just ecstatic that she is. i know this has nothing to do with stoves. i just wanted to put in a plug for my sweetie. :)

stickin' with the stove i have

2011-06-11T01:02:00.000-07:00

well, rats. it turns out there are exactly zero stoves made that will fit the space i have for a cook stove. there is one discontinued stove - the viking vgrt4214g - but there isn't any "new old stock" in any warehouse anywhere in america. i checked all day yesterday.

i have a 42" stove space - hugely uncommon! more common are 36" or 48" spaces. as a matter of fact, among the 65 brands of cooktops sold by university electric (a high-end appliance dealer), one and only one came in a 42" size - viking. and, viking has given up the 42" size after selling about twenty total 42" stoves! they have de-tooled the line, and make only 36" and 48" stoves now.

so, unless another manufacturer creates a line of 42" stoves, i am literally stuck with what i have now. it is highly useable. it's just not ideal.

i'm optimistic. i'll keep looking. you never know.

UPDATE #1, 2:47am: i just emailed wolf range, my first choice in cooking stoves. i axed them one simple question: how much for a custom-built 42" rangetop like one below only wider? :-)

thinkin' about a new stove

2011-06-10T06:43:00.000-07:00

i've been mulling over a new cook stove lately. the one which seems to have everything i'm looking for is the viking vgrt4214g:

viking 42" wide gas rangetop, with 4 burners and 18" center griddle

i have a russell range cooktop right now. it is actually two cooktops: a 4 burner stove, and a gas griddle. the griddle, however, is not thermostatically controlled, and is therefore kind of useless. the stove burners are high output and very nice! the only complaint i have is the lack of a very slow simmer. even the lowest heat setting is too high. :-( large pots must be pulled part-way onto the burner for slow simmers, making it a bit tricky to get just right.

this viking stove, in contrast, has an ultra-low simmer setting and monitors the gas flame. the stove re-ignites the flame should it go out! the center griddle is thermostatically controlled, and also has a grease trap - which my current griddle lacks. i could genuinely cook on this griddle. i miss a large, flat, USABLE cooking surface. :-) my diet is far more varied when i have one.

the stove model appears to be discontinued, but there may be a few still available. there might be a replacement model. viking is a large enough company that parts will be available as long as viking is in business, so i'm not worried about that. there will need to be a professional installation accompanying the professional purchase, so this would be a pricey proposition should i go forward with it.

still, it would be less than some single pieces of stereo gear. if i live another 25 or 30 years, would i be glad i had the bitchin' cooktop that whole time? i'm pretty sure i would. so if not now, when?

i think i'll start pricing around and asking questions. who knows what will happen? i'll post more blog entries as i work through this process ...

first times

2011-06-08T06:54:00.000-07:00

my old roommate barbie has been visiting these past few days. being scorpio herself, she and i parade around endlessly as scorpios, extolling the virtues of being scorpio, and the sad and lonely detriment of being any other sign. we know we're obnoxious, but now that we're both older, we know how to do it more subtly. we keep it on the down low, as they say. but we do it. and we mean it. :)

one of barbie's daughters, julia, is scorpio.

revenge is a dish best served cold, and barbie has her hands full with little miss scorpio daughter. she's 15, and a perfectionist! does this sound like anyone you know? :) she apparently beats herself up terribly if she doesn't do everything right the first time. no amount of consoling seems to help. perhaps help is not what's wanted. regardless, barbie wishes she could do something to relieve her daughter's angst.

i mentioned to barbie that maybe all julia needs is someone to tell her that most people never get it right the first time! i know i certainly don't. as a matter of fact, i allow myself two full attempts at something before i begin questioning if i can do it at all. i KNOW i'm gonna blow it completely the first time through! but i started out more like julia.

it took me T-I-M-E to allow myself the luxury of just screwing it up! funny how we call it a luxury, yet most everybody needs at least one practice run at any new task or creative endeavor. i think we're programmed by our culture to assume instant success for instant gratification, all the time. we just assume we will. but in reality, we all need to gain some experience to do new things well. :)

all someone has to do is tell julia! maybe i should do it - she doesn't know me, she has no reason to hate me (yet), and i am outside her normal sphere. she just might believe me. it's really just an excuse to go to southern california and reciprocate barbie and mitchell's visit. :-)

but in the meantime, houston, we have a problem. the most critical psychological balances occur at beginnings of things. julia should be told it's ok to mess up initially while she's still small. after she's too big, the Monster Scorpio will have emerged, and woe unto those who cross her path! that is, until she's in her 40's. then, the Scorpion will retreat - if we're lucky.

off of facebook

2011-06-03T01:40:00.001-07:00

i deactivated my facebook account. i did not turn into a pumpkin at midnight. :-)

i got tired of facebook, and the silliness. even though i am retired, i felt i was wasting time on facebook. i ended up blocking literally all games and about 1/3 of my "friends". i quote friends here, because facebook friends are not like real friends. i received too many idiotic "click to see what such-and-such person said about you!", or "so-and-so just answered a question about you!" from such friends. who cares? my real friends simply tell me what they think.

it's not that facebook is bad! i've just had enough of the lunacy, despite liking that i said "hi" to many old high school acquaintances. well, ok, the reunion's over, and now it's back to my normal, reclusive life.

email me, call, or better yet, come over if you'd like to see me! and again, even though i am retired, my schedule with diane keeps us both very busy. if i can come to see you, i will! but don't look for me on facebook - you won't find me there anymore.

weekend visitors

2011-06-02T07:02:00.000-07:00

i'll be having some visitors this weekend - my ex-roommate from san diego barbie, and her newly-discovered half brother. it ought to be very interesting.

they're staying down at my mom's house, so i'll need to remember to turn the heater on tomorrow. the house takes a day to heat up, and they're arriving saturday.

i haven't seen barbie in about 30 years, so it'll be a pleasure to see her! i'm going to costco today to stock up on munchie things, and see what kinds of real foods they have, too ...

too bad the forecast is for rain all weekend! :-( the weather report changes very frequently here, so there's no need to despair just yet. with luck, there'll be at least sun some of the time. i am optimistic! :-)

can't wait to hear the stories!!! barbie's stories of our old friends is going to be edge-of-your-seat stuff. i'll be making popcorn, and getting ready for some interesting tales.

workin' cheap

2011-06-01T03:32:00.000-07:00

well, i did get my deposit waived from yesterday. sadly for me, the job market is depressed and so are salaries - and i did not make the $764/hour i'd planned. but then again, i was using modern calculations from wall street! so it's no wonder. instead, i made $191/hour, which still isn't too bad. :-) i was on hold for 2 hours.

but, i didn't mind. i was calling their 800 number, so the call to nevada wasn't costing me a thing. i was using a headset with a very low volume setting - i could walk around and do other things while half-way listening for a real, live person on the other end. i did a bunch of household tasks, and then watched a couple of "weeds" episodes on the streaming video player.

then, a real, live human being answered the phone. it only took 5 minutes, and the deposit was waived.

i'm glad i waited on hold. i knew it would have been a bad idea to hang up with my place in line saved, and receive a call-back. their estimated wait time was 30-56 minutes at the moment i called - so that's when a person who opted to hang up would have expected their call-back. however - and this is a big however - it would have come a lot later! i was on hold slightly over 2 hours when someone answered.

a person waiting for a call-back is even more in the dark about their status than someone on hold. at least i could hear the idiotic recording looping endlessly in my earpiece, but i knew i was still in queue. if i was waiting for a call-back in 30-56 minutes, and still didn't get it in 2 hours, i would wonder if i was lost in the system ...

bottom line - chores done, weeds episodes watched, money saved, problem solved. :)

enjoying paying ma bell

2011-05-31T10:35:00.001-07:00

i am on hold right now. i've been on hold for about 5 minutes. per the little recording i can't stop hearing, i have about 30 minutes to go. they did offer me the option of hanging up and having them call me when it's my turn - they claim i would not lose my place in line. but, i don't trust them. and, i can write a blog entry while i'm waiting. AND, i used an 800 number to call an energy company in nevada - it is costing THEM money as i sit on hold, and wait for them to get to me. i'm liking this a lot.

i'm on hold because i need to speak with a customer service representative, otherwise known as a droid. i have 2 accounts at 2 houses in las vegas, and yet i received a bill for $382 to begin new service at a third. :-) i'm sure it's a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, as i have an excellent credit history - with them! so, i'm calling to see about having the deposit waived. i'm sure it won't be a problem. i did not find a way to make this request online (other than an email to support), so i'm stuck talking to a droid.

however, when i think about it, i am really raking in the cash doing this! here's how i plan to use modern economics to count my chickens before they hatch - for all i know, i will end up having to pay the deposit anyway. :)

i'm thinking that nevada energy is paying for the call. 800 numbers are not magical; they simply charge the called party for the call, rather than the calling party. so, it's as if nevada energy called me, and then put me on hold. i don't mind them spending as much money as they'd like as i write this blog entry. if i make a lot of typos, nevada energy pays for each and every one of them - and their corrections!

also, let's say i am successful at getting the deposit waived. further, let's say it does take them 30 minutes to get to my call. by my modern calculation, i've just made $764/hour! i waited half an hour, and saved $382. not too bad for a morning's work.

so, i'm still on hold, but i've done a few other businessy things while waiting. i think i'll post this blog entry now. might as well! i have nothing but their time and money to waste while getting my deposit waived. :-)

all about monogamy

2011-05-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

recently, i had what turned out to be a frustrating discussion with my dental hygienist. most people probably don't discuss anything with their dental hygienists other than gums and teeth. but, my mom, my sister, and my sweetheart have all worked at this particular dental office, and i have a vested interest everybody there. as a matter of fact, one of the assistants is coming to paradise park to stay in my mom's house over this memorial day weekend. we're all very friendly, which makes for a much better dental experience. believe me, over the years, i have had far worse at the hands of dentists and hygienists who i did not know as well - i'm sure we all have!

so while i was sitting in the chair with instruments and gloved fingers in and out of my mouth, kris the hygienist asked "what do make of this thing with arnold?". for those who don't know, she was referring to arnold schwarzenegger's "love child," fathered via a staff member. i of course, think it's a tragedy to bring any child into the world, especially this way. i also thought that arnold had broken his word to maria shriver as he obviously had slept with another woman. kris's response was not to agree with me as such - her response was much more general and accusatory: "you men! why can't you keep it in your pants?"

i was not about to let this go unexamined. :-)

i came back instantly with "it's mens' nature to want to have sex with as many different woman as possible, and for as long as you can keep doing it." i don't believe there is a single guy on the planet who would disagree with me. there may be a lot of married men who agree with me too.

kris came back with "but doesn't he realize what he's doing? didn't he promise to forsake all others when he got married? what about his family?". i retorted that i'd agreed that he'd broken his promise to maria. and she came back once again with "but why can't he keep it in his pants?".

it struck me later that we were approaching the issue from two completely different perspectives. kris is a devout christian, and marriage for her is something superstitious. she believes that marriage is literally made in heaven by her god, and is so sacred that nothing should be more powerful. i hold no such superstition, and think that marriage is a social institution created by people for the purpose of rearing children and controlling money. for kris, infidelity itself is a sin, and that fact alone is all the analysis necessary on the subject. arnold was wrong necessarily due to infidelity. i thought arnold was wrong but not necessarily - he was wrong because he promised to be monogamous to maria, and broke his promise.

i allow for the possibility of an open marriage, or a relationship where the partners agree to not keep fidelity with one another. i would not want that myself, but believe it is possible to structure one's relationship that way. kris does not allow for that possibility.

the point i attempted to make to kris was lost in her inability to conceive of any relationship other than the one she has. my point was that men by nature are not monogamous. if we voluntarily choose to become monogamous for the sake of our marriage or sweetheart, then we deserve credit for that. women should not take their man's monogamy for granted, and i think they do.

consider the polar opposite: men who desire certain types of sexual favors from their women which the woman is not thrilled to provide. when the woman does provide it, you bet your ass she is going to want credit for having done it! any man who fails to give this type of credit where credit is due runs the risk of losing all sexual favors. why? because the woman would feel used, and unappreciated. so how do you think we men feel when a supreme sacrifice made exclusively for the benefit of the woman never gets acknowledged?

it has been my experience that men who remain monogamous DO NOT receive one iota of credit. instead, women expect it, as if it's their right. it's not. we just do it that way in our society (primarily motivated by superstition, also known as religion). other societies set themselves up with different rules, and operate just fine.

my real point to kris was that she should be grateful to her husband for keeping his promise to her, and ignoring his true nature. she should thank him once in a while. her point to me was that men are bad people because they have this nature in the first place. further, there's no need for thanks. men just shouldn't be like that.

we'll never agree. she can't see my point, and i think hers is ridiculous. all that said, her husband is monogamous with her, and i am monogamous with diane. it's our choice - mens' choice - to remain that way. of course, women can choose to break their promise, too. but anyone who does keep their promise to their mate deserves thanks.

have you thanked your mate lately?

logged outta facebook

2011-05-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

well, i've taken the second and third steps towards ceasing all activity on facebook - i have logged out of the site (as opposed to just leaving the page), and stopped mirroring my blog into a facebook "note". all that's left is to deactivate my account, and close it. i haven't taken the last step, as it might be useful one day to have access to the photos on facebook, or a long-lost friend's email address. but i won't be logging in anytime soon.

in a very scorpio way (all or nothing), i simply got tired of facebook. at first, it was a thrill to be back in touch with old friends! i still think that's the best feature about facebook. but, after about a year, i found that i was only in touch with the facebook friends who i already was friends with in real life. i did not advance old friendships beyond the initial "wow, it's been a long time, how's life going for you?" stage. as a matter of fact, the reasons i did not stay in touch with most people after high school became apparent - we were never really friends to begin with.

but, i am still in touch with real friends through email, phone calls, lunches, and just hanging out with them at my place, or theirs. facebook is a great way to get in touch with people, but it can't do anything magical. facebook cannot create friendships where there wasn't one before. there are natural limits to what any form of communication can accomplish. facebook is a great central meeting place, but i think i've already said hi to everybody who's showed up ...

so, that's it! i will be blogging more again, and won't be on facebook in the foreseeable future. and, most importantly, i will still be in touch with the people who's company i value, and who also like me too. :-)

the form remains the same

2011-05-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

i have a geek audio dilemma. the form of the solution - the actual algorithm, or series of steps which will solve the problem - remains the same from problem type to problem type, however. it is the same for engineering problems and audio problems alike. it's the same here too, and that makes me laugh at myself a bit. :-) the earth-shattering dilemma i'm grappling with is this: which audio interconnect cable should i use - fiber optic or digital coax?

there's a choice with digital audio - coaxial or optical? you can actually use them simultaneously if you're a real geek. :)

first, a bit more about the form of the solution. i always end up solving problems almost the same way. i think everybody has some variant of this familiar method: focus on the items that should or will have the greatest effect on the outcome. try various combinations in thought, and guess as well as possible about what would happen this way, or if it were done that way, and so on. eventually, there's either a clear solution, or else a host of solutions, each with some trade-offs. does this sound about right? :-)

i always take a step back, however, and size up ALL the solutions at once - is the problem worth solving at all? will there be any actual improvement after the expense and effort?

that's exactly what i did with the problem of audio interconnect. recently, i got a new network music player capable of playing high resolution audio files. the higher data rate got me thinking about the cable that connects the player to the digital-to-analog converter. i'm using a fiber optic cable right now, but the audio community claims much better performance with a digital coaxial cable. the benefits of switching are in the alleged better sound of coax cables, due to less jitter and greater bandwidth than optical cables. so, should i switch?

a digital coaxial cable, with a solid copper center wire. digital data in the form of electrical pulses travels down the center wire, shielded from electrical interference by surrounding metallic foils.
a fiber optic cable, with a glass or plastic center filament. digital data in the form of light pulses travels down the center filament. light pulses are not subject to electrical interference.

the problem has an added dimension: the cost for quality audio interconnect cable is a lot like diamonds. they are expensive enough that you don't go around buying 8 or 10 of them, and then see which one you like best. :-) a diamond has the further advantage that you can inspect it before you buy it. but you can't hear a cable in your audio system UNLESS you buy it, and then it cannot be returned. grrrrrrrrrr.

since i can't listen to one cable after another and make a decision based on what i hear (or else conclude that there's really no difference between any of them, so the cheapest one is best), i have to decide using only the written testimony of others. so i read. and read. and read and read and read. i won't bore you with the details (and it was VERY boring), but the upshot is: i doubt i'd be able to tell the difference between the fiber optic cable i'm currently using and a comparable quality coaxial cable.

in every testimonial, and for every fiber/coax comparison, each reviewer concluded that for short (1 meter) cable lengths, like i use, there's hardly an audible difference between similar-quality cables - and no difference between optical or coaxial. there are audible differences between good and bad quality cables, and there are audible differences between good quality and finest quality cables. however, without spending a bloody fortune, changing from optical to coaxial for a 1 meter run would really not benefit me.

so in the final analysis, the problem was not worth solving. the solution was too expensive to try, and the alleged benefits too mysterious to worry about. so my real-life action is to stick with what i already have. this new player sounds great to me - what more could i want?

but i suppose that's another question entirely ... !

will be blogging more

2011-05-24T23:51:00.000-07:00

i haven't put much effort into blogging lately. i've either been lazy, or else it's easier to ignore the rfg and go on with retired life - as hard as that is! but i think i have another clue about why. i also think i'll be writing here much more often ...

i've been using facebook more than blogging for quite a while now. but recently, my interest in facebook has waned almost to zero. it's not that there's anything wrong with facebook - i guess i'm just old-fashioned in many ways. i prefer face-to-face communication. of course, i like hearing about what friends are doing, but is reading "i just had a sandwich at my favorite deli, yum!" the same thing as having a friend describe that experience to you, with hand gestures and facial expressions?

in a not too atypical way (for a scorpio, that is), all of a sudden, i have no interest anymore in writing little notes "to the ether", which may or may not be responded to. at least with a blog, the notes can be larger, and i am not writing them to get instant responses. i'm writing them to satisfy a need to write. facebook status notes are short enough that there is no "writing for writing's sake" going on - it's all about seeing what others have to say. there's nothing wrong with that - i just don't feel like playing that particular game anymore.

i won't deactivate my facebook account, but probably won't check it that often, either. instead, i'll try to blog more, and attempt to come up with topics that will hold the reader's interest until at least the end of the entry! i know i won't always succeed, but i will always try. :-)

impressive improvements

2011-05-11T00:51:00.000-07:00

this week, i replaced my old music server with a new one. my old server was a network attached storage device known as a "readyNAS". readyNAS's came out about 6 years ago, and took the market by storm, so to speak. a readyNAS looks like a black box with disc drives inside (for data storage), but it also has something special: a network processor chip, allowing the storage device itself to run various programs.

some networking gear, and new readyNAS duo

one program the readyNAS can run is called "slimserver". slimserver is logitech's server software for music streaming. slimserver wirelessly connects to logitech's squeezebox network music players. my setup is just that: a readyNAS running slimserver, connecting to a squeezebox network music player. the music player connects directly to my stereo. viola!, one instant music server, capable of streaming music all day and all night.

the problem was that my 6-year-old readyNAS was beginning to show signs of age. i started getting temperature warnings in the log file. 2 of the 4 disc drives in the readyNAS were running dangerously hot. that means the spindle bearings were beginning to wear out, and the discs would need to be replaced. i had one spare disc drive on hand, but not two. rather than locate an exact match for a 6 year old disc, i decided to get a brand new readyNAS instead. turns out to be an excellent decision!

first - the original readyNAS plus 1.2T of disc space (four 300GB drives) was about $1,500 in 2005. it yielded 777G of disc space after formatting. the new readyNAS with a single 1T disc drive was only $250, and yielded 921G of usable space! WOOT!

second - the original readyNAS had the power supply, fans and all four disc drives right inside the box. it was a rather noisy device. the new readyNAS has an external "brick" power supply, only one disc drive in the box, and one small, almost noiseless fan. the new readyNAS is a lot smaller, a lot quieter, and runs much cooler.

third - a user interface called "squeezecenter" was added on top of slimserver. logitech did a very good job with squeezecenter. they successfully combined the functions i used with the original slimserver into one user interface. previously, i had three browser tabs open, each with a different view of the server, or the music. squeezecenter runs in one tab, and has three internal frames showing the same types of data. nice!

fourth - the database software has improved BIG TIME! despite that i have over 14,000 tracks in my music collection, i would often hear the same tunes time and time again when slimserver was playing music in random order. there were artists and tracks that seemed lost to my old server. music i knew was on disc would not show up in the database unless i knew exactly where to find it, rendering the database kind of useless. the new slimserver database has had 6 years' worth of improvements, and it shows! those vanished songs and artists have reappeared in the new database. hallelujah! i've already heard music i never knew i had. it's as if i also received a new music collection when i bought this new server.

so, credit where credit is due! i'm impressed with netgear (makers of the readyNAS) and logitech (makers of the the squeezebox music player and slimserver/squeezecenter software). netgear bought infrant.com, and acquired infrant's readyNAS business. logitech bought slimdevices.com, and acquired slimdevices' squeezebox and slimserver businesses. both netgear and logitech have risen to the occasion with the companies and products they've purchased.

and i'm the happy recipient. :-)

ET, find another way to phone home

2011-05-10T01:41:00.000-07:00

i heard some distressing news this morning: micro$oft has purchased skype for $8.5bn. so, all ET's who use skype to phone home will need to find a new way ...

once micro$oft gets its hands on something, that something ceases to work. the first example was hotmail.com - does anyone still have a hotmail account? :-) once micro$oft bought hotmail, they immediately changed the hardware from sun sparc stations to micro$oft nt workstations, and guess what? hotmail stopped working! they had to put back all the sun sparc stations to get it up and running again. micro$oft has always produced inferior quality software, or has made inferior products out of previously good ones.

bill gates once proposed the idea of "stamping" email, just like regular post office mail. you'd have to buy virtual stamps, and attach one to each email you send. bill wanted us to pay a fee every time we emailed someone. hey, that's a great idea!

micro$oft is also responsible for the doomed zune mp3 player, the failed windows live mobile service, the pathetic windows for workgroups networking attempt, and the nt workstation that halted a battleship in mid-ocean due to constant reboots. major bugs in windows versions are legendary, as are entire versions themselves (read: vista). micro$oft is single-handedly responsible for *lowering the bar* in computing. :-(

so, now micro$oft buys skype, and we still expect skype to work, and be free? think again! skype will immediately be recoded, and fail to work properly for anything but a windows system. and, it still won't work perfectly under windows! skype will begin costing you money to use, just like regular phone service. if you have any problems with the new version, you can forget about technical support. oh, and did i mention - all older versions of skype will stop running until you download the new version, which will then not run at all, unless you are currently paying for a windows license? ok, i'm mentioning that now.

skype users, use your skype accounts while you still can! it'll all come to a grinding halt in the future, so be forewarned. find an alternative now, before you HAVE TO. knowledge is power.

how i know i'm ready for summer

2011-05-07T13:11:00.001-07:00

there are six ways i know i'm ready for summer:

it's not photoshop. i was very happy to find my favorite sunscreen at a good price on ebay. so i bought 6 tubes.

i have 3 desert trips planned this year. i'll need all the sun protection i can get. this sunscreen is by far and away the VERY BEST i have ever used. it's basically liquid tin foil. :-) fallene total block dries clear, and provides a barrier to all light - sunlight and light bulbs. there's nothing that compares to it at all. it's the best because it's unique and works extremely well.

i get no color at all with fallene total block, even in the black rock desert, outside all day long. with other sunscreens, i always get a little pink. i stay pasty-ass white with this stuff!

i'll use at least 6 tubes this year. i carry around banana boat factor 50 sunscreen as a backup, but it's not as good. 2 trips to the black rock desert, and 1 to palm springs, are sure to provide plenty of opportunities to cover myself from head to toe. how else to enjoy the desert heat but in only a sarong wrap and sunscreen? :-)

when did it happen?

2011-04-30T00:39:00.000-07:00

i must've not paid attention to the newspaper one morning ... or else, i've been asleep like rip van winkle and have now awakened to find the world a very different place all of a sudden. i'm not sure which of the two happened, or if a third option was to blame. but, things have happened that make me question WHEN they happened ...

when did it happen that "billion" became the old "million"? used to be that politicians and real people spoke of great wealth in terms of millions, and millionaires. government projects, even really big ones, were always spoken of in terms of millions of dollars - now, even paving a road costs "billions of dollars". we measure great wealth of individuals in terms of billions, not millions. a millionaire would be considered poor by the worlds' rich these days, and they'd wonder how you could ever get by on just a few hundred million dollars - oh, the poor dears!

when did it happen that work and real life became indistinguishable? previously, there was a clear separation - a VERY clear separation. work was what we all did from 8-5, m-f. evenings, weekends, holidays and vacations were ours to abuse in any way we wished. almost everyone (except perhaps doctors) divided their lives into 2 big chunks: the "business hours" chunk, and the "real life" chunk. ne'er the twain shall meet under this model. but nowadays - after the iphone and blackberry - there is no difference between "work time" and "personal time". employees (read: slaves or indentured servants) are expected to be available AT ANY TIME, day or night, weekend or holiday, vacation or not.

i retired primarily over employers' mentality of owning employees like slaves. when did it happen that personal time was erased? why did we voluntarily give up our freedom in order that we pray at the altar of the almighty iphone? it's pathetic that we're lulled into compliance by the lure of seeing someone reply to our last facebook post - and pay the price of being electronically bound to employers until you quit, get fired, or die.

when did it happen that prices for everyday things became so ridiculously high? of course i'm aware of inflation, oil prices, global instability, financial collapse, etc. but when did a loaf of bread become $3.50? i just bought baker's yeast to make some bread, and it was $3 a package! that's not going to break the bank, but last time i bought yeast - a mere month ago - it was $1.50 for the same product. that's a 100% increase in a month. i'm a fish & seafood lover - so when did salmon go to almost $20 a pound from around $8 a pound? although this one happened long ago, cars still make a good example: when did an automobile go from around $9k to over $50k with no upper end in sight?

what night did all this occur? did i go to bed too early and miss the announcement? perhaps it all happened so slowly and stealthily, it seems like it just snuck up on us all. there could have been a tipping point involved so that no one really noticed until the scale did tip. whatever way it happened, all of a sudden, people no longer own their time (your employer does), and no longer own their own wealth (it'll be drained away as quickly as possible by big corporations). i must've been asleep at the wheel because when i awoke, i was on a completely unfamiliar road ...

welcome to the paradise hotel!

2011-04-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

here, you can check IN any time you like, but you can never leave - because you'll never find your way out. :-) i have had many folks stop their cars after driving around the block a few times, and ask "how do you get out of here?" i try my best to keep a straight face when i tell them "you can't. now that you're here, you might as well buy a house and just stay."

speaking of buying houses, my mom's house has been for sale for a few months. it's just 4 doors down from me, so either there goes the neighborhood, or else the neighborhood was long gone ever since i arrived lo those many years ago. despite that, my mom's house has been, and continues to be, a wonderful way station for people passing through, or needing just a night or two with a bed and a bath. i'm afraid there's not much beyond ...

i've worked over the last few months to get everything out of there, and now it's mostly done. only a couple pieces of furniture remain, and the furnished upstairs bedroom. that's the actual paradise hotel, so it has to stay intact.

last year, my sister's friend and her two daughters spend a few days at our mom's house. more recently, two relatives stayed in the house for a night as they finished up the sale of their house here (that's a whole story in itself). i had some childhood friends over for a weekend away from sacramento. coming up around memorial day, a friend of diane's and mine will stay there as a weekend get-away. the following week, my old roommate barbie and her brother will stay there for a few days.

i hope my sister and i don't sell the house while we're still "booked." once we do sell it, i'll lose my hotel, parking garage and laundry facilities. ah well! but while it's still on the market, i'm enjoying all that the house has to offer.

if anyone wants to stay in paradise for a weekend or longer, just let me know! it's first come, first served, and is pretty spartan but will work for a few days. there's no tipping of the porters (because there aren't any), and your presence here is more than enough to excite the staff. so, make your reservations now! time's a-wastin'!

future imperfect

2011-04-22T07:26:00.000-07:00

diane and i have been watching a variety of apocalyptic documentaries lately. we have roku players, a netflix account, and plenty of time. so, we waste some of it entertaining ourselves by picking and choosing items from netflix which look interesting to us. we've latched onto documentaries which look into the future - both near and far - and make predictions. one future prediction isn't too much of a prediction: oil and energy.

we all know one day, we'll run out of oil. the big question is: then what happens?

to get a glimpse of what life without oil may look like, imagine the way earth was, say, 300 years ago. what did life look like before the industrial revolution? how did people do things without machines, and what was the "look and feel" of life back then?

well, one way to imagine this scenario would be to conduct the following thought experiment: what did people use for energy back in the 1700's? they used wind for sailing, solar for growing food and drying things, wood (and maybe coal) for heat, and animal & human power for agriculture and building. when it got dark, there were just candles. when the sun was out, people got up. most folks in the 1700's did not travel too far from where they were born. they lived their lives around their villages or cities. they only ate what they could grow, or what a neighboring village could grow. there was no refrigeration. each day's tasks included all the motions needed to stay warm, eat, and keep a roof over your head.

in the 1800's, we discovered the amazing amount of energy contained in oil. and, our culture embraced oil in the biggest way possible. we all know that oil frees us up, every single day, from a life of mundane drudgery. we refrigerate our food so it doesn't spoil before we eat it (no fair looking in MY refrigerator, however!). oil moves asparagus from chili to america when asparagus is out of season. we think nothing of living a great life at night, lighted and warm. oil has enabled all of this for us.

the thing that shocked me most while watching various documentaries was that there is no replacement for oil. there is nothing else we know about which contains that amount of energy. all of our green alternatives - wind, solar, geothermal, tidal and wave action, and all of the rest - pale horrendously in comparison.

plus, you can't fill your car's gas tank with wind, or solar power, or anything, really. oil and its by-products have the huge advantage of portability. you can take your fuel with you. that's not true of any other form of energy we currently know about - even the electric car depends on oil (think all the way from digging the metal ore out of the ground, transporting it, refining it ... EVERYTHING depends on oil).

what really got me sad - and very few things can do this - was the realization that there will be no "star trek" future. there will be no bright future for humanity, filled with starship enterprises, coin-sized power plants that run your whole house, or planets filled with people, lights and abundance. rather, our long-term future will look an awful lot like our past. "awful" is the operative word here. we are not advancing. we're having a party while supplies last, and then the lights go out.

imagine what life will be like when we run out of oil. after the "transition period" (where the wealthiest among us use that wealth to buy the last of the oil products), humanity will find itself once again in the 1700's.

with no oil, we cannot sustain gargantuan populations. we could neither grow the food, nor transport it. we also could not refrigerate it, and keep it from spoiling. out of, say, 6 or 7 billion people on the planet, maybe 2 or 3 million could survive. the survivors would be those who know how to grow and preserve food, and know the skills of old, now long forgotten but by a few. we'd have the sun, the wind and oxen. that's about it.

it's really sad. and, it's really true. but for the moment, the party's still going on. we flip on our lights, heat our homes, cook our food, and travel to the ends of the earth every single day. however, when we're out of oil, it'll be over.

what then? holy cow.

stacked

2011-04-18T01:43:00.000-07:00

i'm down to my last 1/2 cord of wood to stack. it'll arrive today, after lunch. this is delivery 6 of 6, so i've been busy stacking cord after cord of wood. this year's wood is HUGE, meaning the logs are very big. i'll have to split them at least once before burning them - many will need splitting two times or more.

last year, i had all small firewood. this year, i have all large firewood! you never know what you're going to get. flexibility (and a good splitting tool) are crucial to success (which means staying warm during the cold spells). :-)

2 of the 3 cords are green, so those will have to season (dry out) before they're usable. i have the remaining wood from last year, plus a cord of seasoned madrone to burn in the meantime. it takes at least 6 months for firewood to season, but a year is better. so, the green oak will be ready this winter, just in time for the cold rainy season.

i am SO glad it's nearly done! i'll stack the last of it once delivered, cover it with a tarp, and that's that - until it's split and burned. stacking wood is no one's fun, but a good task to finish. marshmallows and hot dogs, anyone?

i wood say that

2011-04-15T06:38:00.000-07:00

this saturday, once again, wood rules the roost. i'll be receiving and stacking yet another 1/2 cord of green oak firewood. this will be the 4th delivery (of 6) from a local concrete contractor who also happens to sell firewood on the side. his "firewood" is about half-way there: the logs are huge, and will most likely have to be split at least one more time. many of them will work as-is (for long, slow burns overnight), but sometimes, all you need is a quick, small fire to take the chill off.

in addition, i'll need to assemble two tubular steel log racks. they hold about 1/2 cord each, and raise the wood about 6" off the ground. that's enough to prevent most insects from setting up their homes in the wood, and helps keep water damage to a minimum. naturally, the steel racks will need assembly prior to the wood delivery.

like all home owners, i'll have to make space to store the "new thing". SADLY, all i have is the parking space i use while diane is visiting. now, it'll be filled with wood for the rest of the year. she and i will stay warm, but i'll have to park down the street at my mom's house. that's only a bad thing when it rains.

this saturday will be busy, and labor intensive. i still have more tree work to do at my friend's house, so "trees" have been the order of business for a few months now. however, we're getting a lot of the small, dead trees out of his way, and i gather up a little wood for the effort. i'll be happy to see this year's wood work done and over with, and be able to enjoy warmth this winter.

there's one looming job coming up - the GIGANTIC coastal oak at my friend's house that's growing in a most unfortunate and inaccessible place. once split, i guesstimate 5-10 cords of wood (!!!) but the problem is getting the rounds up the hill.

the oak is at the bottom of a local low point, and green oak wood is unbelievably heavy. my friend doesn't want the liability of day laborers from the local home depot (i.e., no insurance in case of injury). he's arranging the services of a local lumberjack to cut the tree down so he won't have to pay huge bucks to a tree company. actually getting the wood up the hill, splitting it, and moving it to paradise park will be both an engineering and social challenge, but will be worth it.

all this effort is about comfort! it takes a lot to stay warm in the winter, and i'm not even in a cold state. still, there is something very psychologically comforting about a wall of wood in one's garage, and a set of storm clouds on the horizon. burn baby burn!

paresseux derriere

2011-04-12T03:32:00.000-07:00

they say anything said in french sounds better. so, i am a paresseux derriere - a lazy ass in english. it does sound better in french, doesn't it?

even though i'm an rf, i haven't touched my burning man projects for months. it's not that i don't have time for them. it's just that i haven't gotten off my paresseux derriere and done anything with them!

my friend bob asked me what it means for retired people to take a vacation - do we get part-time jobs? :-) it's in that spirit of humor that i can't believe i have not wired up my goofy hat, nor started working on the various peripheral circuitry i'll need for the coat project. i simply have to take the time to start working on them, and make that the priority of the moment. retirement can be very zen in that way. one can immerse one's self in the moment completely.

while the formula to complete a project is:

(how long you think it will take) multiplied by two, plus an additional 20%

the formula for the speed of an approaching deadline is:

(how far away you think the deadline is) divided by a million, minus 100% of your free time, especially as the deadline is in sight

in other words, i'd better get a move on! i'll shame myself by posting my progress as i go, or sit on my, well, you know. :-) we shall see.

what's old is even older again

2011-04-06T00:27:00.000-07:00

retirement provides a unique perspective. as a retired fuck, i pretend to see the world from the fictitious position of an outsider looking in. of course, i am part of the world (though many will shudder in horror upon hearing this), so i can't be outside of it. but, i pretend really well, and so far i haven't met any resistance.

from my non-existent perch, i read with interest an article by john chambers, ceo of cisco systems. the article caused a small epiphany, but one i have had in various forms over the years. what's old is still old, and as a matter of fact, is even older than we all know! john was speaking about the trouble his company has had lately, and about the employees. my epiphany was about employees' actual value, and what corporate messages say between the lines.

for the uninitiated, here is another translation table you can clip, fold up, and keep in your wallet or purse. refer to this handy table whenever your boss says anything to you - anything at all. it's probably on the translation table, and knowledge is power. know what's coming, and have the power to do something about it.

so let's start at the beginning!

what he said:

"We have been slow to make decisions, we have had surprises where we should not, and we have lost the accountability that has been a hallmark of our ability to execute consistently for our customers and our shareholders," Chambers wrote. "That is unacceptable. And it is exactly what we will attack."

how employees should understand it:

"management has been too stupid to actually manage. we think we're smarter and better than employees, but we're not. we just aren't going to admit it. instead, we've pulled sales projections out of our ass, based on marketing research from the same place. it's YOU, beloved employees, who have FAILED to realize our vision. your inability to create highly technical products from our poor guidance shows a serious lack of professionalism on your part."

and let's finish at the end! what he said in the middle doesn't matter.

what he said:

"Bottom line, we have lost some of the credibility that is foundational to Cisco's success - and we must earn it back," he wrote. "Our market is in transition, and our company is in transition. And the time is right to define this transition for ourselves and our industry."

how employees should understand it:

"bottom line, you'll have to work harder, longer, and more thanklessly than ever before. there's no way to recover from the history of poor management decisions made until now unless we impose slave labor upon each of you.

the competition now makes products better and cheaper than we do. so the time is right to assign blame. we'll call it a "layoff".

those who stay will be expected to work nights, weekends and holidays for free. you will also always be on call. do you think you can get another job in this economy? think again! pretty soon, you'll be paying US to work here."

i see this very clearly from Retirement Land. am i cynical? only slightly - i think i'm saying it just as it is, only with a little twist. do i think we're unique in history? no. it's simply our present.

technology may get cuter, but people stay the same.

intense day

2011-04-03T05:47:00.000-07:00

today's going to be a scorpio day. it might start out innocently enough, but pretty soon, it's going to ramp up! it all starts with a visit from a scorpio brother; brother bri nussbaum, of the eternal order of scorpions. i'd better copyright that - i just made it up.

brother bri is even more whacked and intense than me! it's really refreshing. i'm sure he thinks i'm more whacked and intense than he, so we balance each other out. we've known each other more than 30 years. we met as employees of fairfield's bar and grill, a dive restaurant in la jolla. fairfield's claim to fame was a roof that opened. even with the beautiful southern california weather, neither of us ever saw it actually open.

fairfield's also sported an occasional oyster bar, manned by bri, and buckets of peanuts on the bar. you eat the peanuts and throw the shells on the floor. it was a very 70's concept that had squeaked over into the 80's. bri and i worked there as cooks and general kitchen help. we walked out one night in the middle of service for probably ridiculous reasons, and never went back (except to get our paychecks).

and, that was not the last job we'd both walk out on. we've walked out on way better than fairfield's! :-)

first things first once bri gets here: scorp-acinnos! a scorp-acinno is just like a double espresso, but a lot more intense.

as if we needed any more energy, we're going to get all hyper, and then drive about 30 miles south to phil's fish market, in moss landing. phil's make a highly acceptable seafood ciopinno, though i have heard others say that make the world's BEST ciopinno! i'd love to taste some one day. :) today, however, it will be phil's:

now that we'll be way stuffed (the ciopinno comes with a salad and garlic bread), we're going to see the current sci-fi movie so we can make fun of it later. most sci-fi movies are decent enough, but they inevitably descend into plot tricks or silly things that even a sci-fi lover can't believe. that's when bri and i really go to town. we still make fun of "krull" for the ridiculous spinning knife and the extra-wooden acting of the fire mare. we're glad we saw krull. it's given us 20 years of laughs.

speaking of, if any of you have a dungeon in your basement and an extra mace, i have good news! you can now recycle it into an espresso machine! kits are available online:

if your slaves make the espresso, and then serve you on their hands and knees, it'll taste even better.

enjoying the block

2011-04-01T07:57:00.001-07:00

that doesn't mean the block i live on. :-) i do enjoy that, but i'm writing about something else today. i'm enjoying the block put on virtually ALL internet ads by what's become my favorite firefox add-on: ABP - ad block plus.

ABP is a little piece of software that you can download and install from within firefox (or any browser, i'm sure). ABP does exactly as its name implies - it blocks ads and commercial messages that appear in/on webpages you're viewing.

ABP comes with a rather good set of pre-made filters. filters are just a list of web addresses. if a match is found by ABP as a web page is loading, ABP blocks any data coming from that address.

i find great joy in blowing away ANY ad that has the audacity to appear on my screen. i dislike ads more than most people, it seems. they offend me, very deeply. as a matter of fact, one BIG reason i discontinued cable tv is because of commercials. i refuse to watch ads, and do not like anything on tv enough to suffer commercials. that most tv shows can be viewed as streaming video on the internet made the decision to cut off tv a simple one. i do not miss it at all, and i have eliminated virtually all advertisments from my daily life.

similarly, when viewing webpages, i will not tolerate advertisements! ABP lets you click on the offending message, add its web address to ABP's filters (they have it all listed for you), and poof! that ad is now blocked, and will stay blocked.

of course, you may have to add new filters as advertisers make their ads come from different addresses. but, 99% of the time, once filtered, offending messages stop appearing on webpages you're viewing. :-)

if adverts bug you as much as they bug me - or even half as much - i'd recommend ABP. it's free, it works, and hallelujah for pure content!

reward

2011-03-29T00:43:00.001-07:00

i was rewarded with a godshot of espresso this morning! i think i have the pressure adjustment set at the right place for me.

today's espresso took 28 seconds to extract (right on the numbers), created a very thick layer of crema, was only slightly bitter and burnt tasting, and was syrupy and viscous. perfect!

not all espressos will be godshots, but i'm glad about the cup this morning. it confirms that the pressure won't be the reason a particular espresso came out badly. :-) i like eliminating as many external points of failure as possible, leaving it all up to barista technique instead.

my coffee shop is now open - please stop by, and enjoy a cup on the house!

what a mechanical stud i am! part 2

2011-03-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

ok, now, not only am i a mechanical stud, i aspire to demi-godhood! i have braved the espresso machine not once, not twice, but three times! they say the third time is a charm, and i think i finally have the pressure dialed in to my liking ...

you see, it is all about your personal tastes. i happen to like my espresso slightly bitter and burnt tasting, with a thick layer of crema on top, and syrupy coffee below. if you like your espresso otherwise, you'd use a different pressure adjustment. it's like spices for food, or music.

so, the first adjustment yesterday was better than before, but not perfect. the pressure was still too great. the coffee came out too burnt tasting, with a poorly formed layer of crema. this morning, i took the machine apart again, and lowered the pressure further. the espresso from that was disappointing - it tasted like very strong coffee, not espresso. i bit the bullet, disassembled the beastie a third time, and tweaked the pressure up just a tad. that was the ticket! just over the border of coffee into espresso-land, thick crema and syrupy liquid. mmm mmm, good!

so, why am i a mechanical demi-god? i knew exactly how to open the machine, and how to make the adjustment quickly and accurately. i knew the length of time needed for the machine to stabilize before changing the pressure. i had it apart, adjusted, and reassembled in about 10 minutes. i even emailed the technician who i've been in contact with, and told him the simple way to disassemble and reassemble this particular espresso machine. there's no need to go through the trouble he did. the student passes along knowledge to the master.

my karmic debt has thus been repaid. :-)

what a mechanical stud i am!

2011-03-26T04:33:00.000-07:00

i hate to break my arm patting myself on the back too hard, but - i just disassembled my espresso machine myself! i have watched two technicians do it before, but that's like watching a mechanic fix your car. when you get in there with your own tools, and your own hands, the situation is completely different.

i knew it was very tricky for both of the service techs before. i saw where they had problems, what the problems were, and how hard they had to work to overcome them. i also saw places where the natural tendency would be to take the thing apart, but it turns out not to be necessary. they just had to re-assemble it later, and attach the combined piece.

i haven't been too happy with my machine since last time it was serviced. the pressure was increased to solve a problem, but the actual problem had nothing to do with the pressure adjustment! that fact only came to light afterward. :-(

making espresso at a higher boiler pressure is trickier than usual. the water is hotter, so it's more difficult to get to the perfect extraction temperature of 202 degrees. it's harder to get a good seal with the portafilter as well. water and steam are easily forced out from around it. i wanted to get the pressure lowered back to normal.

i emailed the technician for a service call. he replied that he no longer lived in santa cruz, but would talk me through a DIY pressure adjustment. what a guy! he'll be calling at 10am this morning.

so, i had to open the machine up. a real italian espresso machine is a rather intimidating piece of equipment! but, i knew where to start, at least, and what to try first ...

i was able to get the 2 side panels off, and remove the back, by just loosening up two screws on the top (not removing them), and then removing 4 screws on the back itself. i have watched both techs struggle with getting the top screws back in place, after removing them. the screws are offset from the screw holes, making it particularly tough to get them in place. but it turns out, you do not need to remove them! the side panels come off by just loosening one screw one each side. :-)

removing the side panels reveals 4 screws that hold the stainless steel back plate on. removing those screws lets the plate just drop off. viola! i'm all done for now. the technician can call, and i'm ready to go. he can guide me through the delicate pressure adjustment, and then i can put the machine together again.

but this time - no need to deal with offset top screws, re-assembly of stainless steel side panel parts, or assembling the pieces in the wrong order. it'll take a little patience and lining things up correctly, but reassembly ought to go very smoothly. only 4 screws to put back, and 2 screws to tighten up.

after that, i think i'll enjoy a nice, fresh double espresso, made with the correct pressure. and after THAT, i'll skype my honey.

i always save the best for last. :-)

update: i did the pressure adjustment myself. the espresso that came out of the machine was excellent! i am SUCH a freakin' stud! :-)

how much wood would a woodstack stack if a woodstack could stack wood?

2011-03-24T07:51:00.001-07:00

today's task is re-stacking wood. oh boy! stacking the wood is not the hard part. the hard part is dealing with the critters what have made comfy homes in the logs ... it ain't pretty!

this year has been particularly cold. i'll have burned 3 full cords of wood in just a little while, and need another half cord or so. i'll be looking online today, and also arranging for 3 1/2 cords for next year. admittedly, i do like it HOT inside, so i probably burn more than the "average amount".

i have 4 small wood piles which will merge into one large pile this morning. that'll free up space for more wood, to be stacked. at least it isn't 10 cords! some folks from montana need 10 cords per winter, and that's A LOT of stacking. i'm only doing girlie stacking compared to that. still, arnold would be proud.

it's raining today, so stacking firewood is a perfect activity. i can do it from the inside of my car port, out of the rain. then after that - i'll be soaking up the heat from the logs already in the wood stove. they've been stacked, then unstacked, and now are being lovingly burned. :-)

i'm mentally prepping for burning man, as well. it's good to get used to burning things. you can never poke too many things on fire with a stick.

well, i'm out to stack ... braving the rain from within a car port. the rain does smell good! i'll still be glad to see summer, and mornings without the need for a fire. :)

important observations about star trek

2011-03-21T04:41:00.001-07:00

i'm watching some original series star trek episodes, and have noticed some incredibly important things! all trekkers should know about these things, and look for occurrences in other episodes. these important observations may alter the very fabric of time and space ...

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observation #1: the floors on the starship enterprise are made from a different material than the walls and machines.

implications: while fading into another dimension, you may be able to pass your body through machinery or a wall. BUT, you cannot pass through the floor, because then, you'd fall through! if the floors were made of the same thing as the walls and machines, everybody would end up floating in space, and the episode would be over.

exceptions: romulans can pass through floors if it means being thrown out into space during a fight.

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observation #2: the warp drive effect changes over time, and affects how warp drive operates.

implications: the first warp drive effect showed the ship and crew in half-transparency, with the captain looking very stern while walking around the bridge, against a moving translucent star field, while the 'star trek' theme song played. it took exactly the length of the theme song to reach their destination. if the theme song were shorter, would it take less time to get places? if it were longer, could you go to more distant locations? these are puzzling and extremely important questions.

subsequent warp drive effects used a winding-up mechanical noise, and little star-dots going by the view screen. the captain no longer needed to look stern, and there was no requirement that the theme song finish before you arrive at the destination. the star-dots on the view screen made it possible for sulu and chekov to see the controls more clearly: they themselves weren't half-transparent, competing with the moving translucent star field.

was the wind-up noise a warp drive transmission? when it wound down, was someone in engineering downshifting? if so, is the enterprise manual, or automatic? if it's automatic, would warp drive be labeled "W"? what would the other letters be?

exceptions: sometimes, they'd just be lame, and magically appear at wherever it is they were going, in, like, no time at all. you have to assume they warped there, but they just arrive immediately - yeah, like i'd really believe THAT could happen!

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observation #3: the enterprise automatically reconfigures itself to the needs of the episode, and goes back to normal afterward.

implications: you can get a hot meal in the transporter room if and only if you beam up hungry. normally, there is no food dispenser in the transporter room, but there could be! and, one will be there if needed. but next episode - gone! that's because everyone got lunch before they beamed up.

science viewing stations can also appear and disappear in the transporter room, and the transporter room itself grows and shrinks to accommodate.

any glittering instrument may be used to find out and analyze any data, and can make the results accessible in very simple language. the computer can change voices and genders as needed, or by mistake. any button pressed on any console will instruct the computer to do what you're thinking.

exceptions: when aliens try to abduct the ship, they can just press buttons too, but it won't cause the enterprise to do what they want.

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i hope this information will be useful to you in life, business, and all aspects of spirituality. knowledge is power, so use these little gems to their full advantage! if you'd like to make a donation because your life suddenly got so much better, i'd blush and be flattered, but would humbly accept your generous gift. however, nothing is expected, as long as the cause of star trek knowledge has been advanced ...

what's old is old and new again

2011-03-18T07:33:00.000-07:00

my old roommate barbie and i finally were able to talk! after my itchy nose (which, according to barbie, means someone is thinking of you), and my subsequent snail mail letter to her (which was answered), plus a few modern-day phone tag messages left for each other, we finally were both home when one of us called the other. :-)

i really should say when *i* was home, and barbie was close to a phone. she called me from her car, with her kids (now in their 20's), while i was at home, with my land line telephone. that whole mobile phone business is another blog entry which i won't bore you with twice. but, we did get to catch up (which was the point), and had a whole lotta fun, too!

i was almost worried that when we did hook up, we'd only have 3 or 4 minutes' worth of conversation. i have had that 3 or 4 minute experience before, meeting up with previous friends. it feels very bad - embarrassing at the least - and awkward. it means you really weren't as friendly as you thought you were, or that the time for this friendship has come and gone. and there you are, looking at the person, feeling awful.

barbie and i spoke for an hour and a half, and we only got off the phone because she had reached her destination.

she's planning a trip up north to visit. she'll bring her kids, but they're in their 20's, and aren't children (who i want to cook and eat) anymore. they'd put up too much of a fight now. i should've gotten to them when they were smaller. but, since i didn't, they can stay at my mom's place, down the block, and save on hotel fees. :-)

barbie caught me up on all the happenings in her life, and the lives of our mutual friends from san diego in the 1980's. some things have changed, while others have remained exactly the same.

first things first - barbie is still barbie. :-) she is a very intense scorpio girl. she is an absolutely no bullshit, bottom line, say-it-like-it-is type of person. she always has been, and i'll bet she always will be.

she's so non-BS that she left the marriage she's been in since san diego because she simply was not in love with her husband any longer. rather than stay in a relationship like that, she chose to leave at this stage of life (in her 50's), and start again. she's not looking for love specifically, just a new and meaningful life. you have to hand it to her - that takes guts and determination. but, that's barbie. hardly a soul stands a chance against her once she makes her mind up.

our san diego roommate pamela also hasn't changed, but life isn't going as swimmingly for her, according to barbie. pamela too is in her 50's. she was, ahem, asked to leave her marriage because she was caught sneaking out of the bathroom window late at night, after her husband went to bed, for a sex rendezvous. if barbie is the consummate scorpio girl, pamela is the consummate party/good-time girl. barbie reminded me of something i had not - cannot - forget: mornings in the old house, drinking coffee in the kitchen, waiting to see who would come out of pamela's room today. it could be anybody.

very, very sadly, two of our mutual friends are lost causes. andrea and laurie have both become meth addicts, with lives that naturally follow. andrea was always a spacey girl, but a smart person who just needed a little motivation to accomplish anything she put her mind to. laurie was a cute-as-a-button blond girl who used to make kentucky fried chicken commercials for tv. one commercial even featured a close-up of laurie's full face, singing the idiotic kentucky fried chicken jingle. both women are lost causes, according to barbie. how horrible to know what became of these two lovely people. :-(

i'm really looking forward to seeing barbie once again. it's been 20 or 30 years, i don't even know anymore. she'll come in a whirlwind, swirl things up while she's visiting, and then leave in a tornado. like i said, barbie is a very intense person. we scorpios are all intense people. i wouldn't have it any other way.

undivided time

2011-03-15T04:12:00.000-07:00

have you ever noticed how any scheduled thing divides your time into "before the thing" and "after the thing"? just recently, i changed my behavior in a very scorpio way. all of a sudden, i stopped watching a television show which started at 4am, and also another show, 3pm friday. i also canceled my cable tv, as i only watched those two shows.

well, now, time has taken on a new shape. i was so conditioned to flipping on the tube at 4am that time itself was divided into "before 4am", and "after 4am". the early mornings went from when i had espresso (around midnight) until washington journal (4am). mid mornings went from after washington journal (7am) until lunchtime, whenever that was. the rest of the day was evening and bedtime, somewhere around 6pm. now, without the 4-7am washington journal in there, my mornings seem VERY long! there's nothing to break up long stretches of hours.

it's a good thing i like it. i like long stretches of very quiet hours in complete darkness. it's the perfect time to listen to new music, listen to the local college radio station, read the online newspapers, hear of breaking stories and news events, and ponder the universe.

however, the difference in how time appears is huge! a way to think about it would be to imagine a vast, featureless plain, like on mars. but imagine it fenced off into large areas. you spin slowly around, from some height, and see all the fences and all the areas going off into the distance.

now, the fences start disappearing. this leaves fewer areas, but they're larger. then, at one point, the last fences disappear. as you spin around from your lofty position, the landscape appears uniform and boundless in all directions. nothing stops your vision no matter which way you look. even one fence would mark out something, but there is none.

and without something to do at a specific time, time itself appears uniform and boundless to me now.

a very big part of retirement is keeping yourself entertained. there is all the time in the world - provided you don't croak - so you'd be very well served by having things you like to do. usually, there's not enough time to get bored. but it's up to you to make sure you don't fall into boredom and depression. i'm re-looking at this vast landscape of time, and thinking about the best way to use it ...

and one thing comes to mind - burning man projects! there's never enough time to complete them all, it seems. and, i've been sittin' on my fanny about them for a few months now. time to get crackin'! and, they'll make fun blog entries, to boot. ok, i think i just figured this new time thing out ...

giving up washington journal

2011-03-11T05:47:00.000-08:00

for the past three years, i've watched "washington journal" on c-span most every morning. it is broadcast live from washington, d.c. at 7am their time, 4am west coast time. since i get up at midnight or 1am, turning on the tube at 4am is not a problem! as someone once pointed out, only i can use the phrases "later today" and "4am" in the same sentence. :-)

but just today, i decided to give up watching. i've been a loyal viewer for 3 years. i have never called in, but have emailed and sent tweets. a couple of them have even been read over the air. but, i'm through with it now.

diane and i chat about most everything. our conversations are typically all over the map, and can take off on a tangent just as easily as staying on a topic. we sometimes speak of politics, but that's now changing. about a year ago, diane "dropped out" of political discussions. the goings-on with politicians, washington, and world leaders simply stopped being interesting to her, and were a cause for distress actually. so, we limit our talk of politics, and take off on another tangent to get away from it.

and now it's happening to me.

for years - well, forever, if truth be told - i have had the notion that all political discussions are mere rationalizations. it is not that i think politicians rationalize specific decisions (which perhaps they do). my skepticism has much deeper roots. i have always believed that politics and government (read: authority over you) are mere puppets for the most basic principle in nature: might makes right. the mightiest one makes the rules for the weaker ones, and the weaker ones have no choice but to follow the rules, or die. no matter what anyone says, i believe that's the root of all politics, and the goal of every politician. they desire to control you through some type of might.

that 'might' may be in the form of a gun (the most obvious and unsubtle might); it may be in the form of laws (rationalized might); it may take the shape of religious doctrines about how you should live (superstitious might); or it may appear as a role model which you should emulate (peer pressure might). in all cases, the principles upon which the rules are to rest comes highly into question. the principles themselves are just so much BS - all that matters to those who seek power is that they get it. the deceptions provided as the underlying principles for laws and rules are exactly that - deceptions. there are no principles given inalienably by god, or by the masses, or by ANYBODY. there's only one thing that matters: are you mighty enough to impose your will on those who are not able to resist?

as i listened to republicans, democrats and tea baggers argue their various points, i had a moment of clarity. i saw the same tired arguments being espoused by the same tired parties, for the same tired reasons. the arguments, and the espoused points of view, are not the real issue. the real issue is who gets to control what goes on. if actual logic were employed in political discussions, there would be fewer, and much shorter, discussions. logic comes nowhere near a political debate. political debates are about emotionally grabbing the audience, and bringing you over to "their side", thus increasing the might of that side. there is strength in numbers, and the mightiest number will win the election.

i am joining diane in summarily dropping out of politics and political discussions. i see no merit anymore in staying interested. i do not know whether this means i've opened my eyes or closed my mind. whichever it is, i'm through. i see now that all that matters - all that has EVER mattered - is who is bigger and who is stronger, and who gets to have their way.

all i hope is that there are enough material resources to keep me happy and comfortable the rest of my life. i'm no longer interested in who's in the white house, or which group of people we deem worthy of warring with. i'm tuning politics out. i'm turning off political debates. i wonder if i'll even bother voting anymore. i used to naively think my vote counted for something - now i have my doubts. the world will be the same whether i watch "washington journal", whether i actively engage in political thought, or whether i abstain completely from all of it.

i'll simply be more peaceful if i ignore politics. that chapter is now closed.

blast from the past

2011-03-10T01:34:00.000-08:00

i lived in san diego in the 1980's. it was a wild time in history - before AIDS - and the "scene" reflected it. i lived (among other places) in a house with three female roommates. ALL men should live with female roommates in their early 20's. let's just say i received an education that no amount of money could buy.

two of my roommates were unforgettable in the extreme! the other roommate was forgettable only in that she was almost normal - except for her motorcycle maintenance routine. she used to push the kitchen table aside, bring her bike in, and work on the engine right there. she'd put some newspaper on the floor, wear dolphin shorts, sit right down on the ground, and wrench away.

like i said, she was the *normal* one!

but there were two others - barbie and pamela. and here's where the story gets fun and interesting ...

when i answered the classified ad for a room for rent in the newspaper (do any of you remember 'classified ads' and 'newspapers'?), i was told to come by the next morning and take a look. i went to the house the next morning, and knocked on the door. no answer. i waited a few minutes, and knocked again. this time, there was a slow answer. i could hear someone coming towards to door, but not in any hurry. then, the door opened, revealing a 5'2" vivacious redhead, dressed only in panties and half a t-shirt. she said her name was barbie. yes it was.

she also said they'd had a party last night, so the place was a bit of a mess. as i took the "house tour", i saw just how much fun people must've had at this party. one guy was passed out in the kitchen with his head lying across the stove burners. they weren't turned on, but i don't think he would've gotten up even if they were.

i met the other two roommates during the tour. pamela was passed out, and in a state of partial undress. she was a big blonde girl, with a big mane of hair. susan, the normal one, came out of her room with her two cats and her boyfriend. everyone seemed very bleary-eyed and hung over.

i took the room on the spot.

over the next 3 years, i was privy to all manner of private female conversations. i heard things we men only dream of, and wonder about. YES women talk about us all the time. YES they think we are easily manipulated and stupid. YES women lure men constantly with the unfulfilled promise of sex. YES women do plot and plan about how they can get what they need without having to do it themselves. women's lib? that's for ugly women who can't get men to do their bidding for them, according to these gals.

oh, but this is not the worst of it! not by a long shot. there was part 2, the ACTING on their plans. had i not seen it with my own eyes, i would never have believed it. but i did see it and now i know. that's why i say all men should live with women early in life - but not as lovers. live with women as roommates, men, and see what you're up against. and if you think i am kidding, i'm not.

so now 30 years have passed. we've all gotten 30 years older, and with luck, a minute or two wiser. initially, i remained in contact with barbie and pamela. however, over the years, we've lost touch with each other - until now! as barbie puts it, either my ears were ringing, or my nose was itchy, which means someone was thinking about me. and, that would be barbie herself. she was trying to get a hold of me even as i was trying to get a hold of her!

i found her using the internet. not knowing if it was really the right person, i sent a real snail mail letter to her. she replied via email, and indeed it really was her! barbie said she'd called my mom last year looking for me, but my mom did not hear her very well. that's probably true, as my mom did have hearing problems, and was in the midst of cancer last year. so now barbie and i have each other's contact information. i'll be calling her this weekend, and catching up with her life.

she married her main boyfriend from san diego, and had at least two girls. she still lives in san diego, and is in touch with the owner of a cantina and disco we all used to frequent. i have questions about whatever happened to pamela and susan. it's going to be a fun conversation, for sure. barbie's girls must be near 20 by now, and i wonder if she is going to let them live in a roommate house, like barbie's mom did for her? the answer to that question will be very telling!

this phone call will be like a high school reunion. so much time has passed, and we knew each other during a very formative period of life. will we have more than 5 minutes of catching up to do? will it be like no time has passed, and we just pick up the conversation as we left it 30 years ago? have we learned things along the way? has life turned out as we each envisioned it, way back when? there's only one way to find out, and that'll happen this weekend.

stay tuned.

from daze gone by - pamela on the left, chris wakefield in the middle (a visitor from england, who we introduced to tequila), and me on the right, when i had hair in my 20's ...