Saturday, November 24, 2012

Harmonograph






Work has returned after vacation--as i knew it would, but as a result of vacation, I seem to have misplaced by work verbiage truth translator---that part of my brain which translates stupid workplace verbiage into common terms---this part of our brain's automatically translates bossspeak from "I really want to know what you think" into the true message of just shut up and do what i tell you to do.


 The workplace verbiage truth translator keeps us out of trouble--but without it, emails full of workspeak positivity--and motivation have me shaking my head trying to figure out what the fuck is going?
"what the fuck is this person saying--i have no idea".
I had previously taken my workplace verbiage truth translator for granted I'm afraid---something i will never do again....i am spending this week desperately searching for it---leaving me helpless at the hands of co-workers advising "We are behind the power curve on this" and so on....without my work truth translator I am like Helen Keller at a Presidential debate.





I am very interested in the 10,000 year clock project from the long now---you could say that this is a great deal of money down the toilet that could be used elsewhere---but i do believe that this project is the Stonehenge of our time---this project is based on building a huge mechanical clock that works on a principle of tracking time over cosmic lengths is a first since it is a mechanical object---not digital, or electric or dependent on an outside power source.....



The clock is being constructed over a very long time frame and will reside in a man made cavern in Texas---if one is willing to hike for a day to reach it---it will be accessible to anyone. You can even help keep it running by winding it. The design is incredible--proven by an 8 foot test model---I have provided links to articles on the clock when explain the concept much better than I ever can....Leaving something standing for the ages is an important part of mankind--which creates mystery and joy...the Builders of Stonehenge and Gaza knew this---we need something physical bigger than ourselves to create awe for those in the future.




My Omax watch is in and is working perfectly--keeping excellent time and is comfortable to wear, easy to read and operates with perfect timekeeping for $22.00. It is however Chinese and not eastern European as i first thought------
it doesn't wear, feel or appear as a cheap watch at all.

The book "The Strange affair of Spring heeled Jack" was OK...just OK--- nothing special. I can't really recommend unless you are a total steam punk head.  The book on shaving was a total disappointment--nothing there...

The homemade cigarette concept is in full fledged usage. We have given up store bought cigarettes for more than a month now....

My safety razor and blades are in and will be tried out this coming week---






Currently reading: Roadside Picnic--by the Strugastsky brothers. A Russian SF novel written in the early to mid seventies...which has become the basis for the computer game STALKER.
The premise revolves around an Alien visit to earth during which time the aliens make no contact--they apparently camp or repair their multiple ships and just leave---with huge piles of their junk and contaminated zones remaining where their ships landed. A society develops around these alien dump sites of Stalkers who enter these very dangerous zones to recover alien artifacts. The concept is excellent, although the book is extremely Russian in that the main character RED describes the world as if he is in conversation with himself---a sort of tiring writing method to read---but still interesting....I can't recommend this for everyone---but it is something different both in writing style and in story line.




"An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself."
Albert Camus






Saturday, November 17, 2012

Tautochrone Problem



Vacation ends---nothing to see here---move along---reading, computing, thinking-----cleaning and organizing---smoking--writing. 






Oklahoma State Representative and religious fundamentalist,  Mike Ritze spent 3 years and $10,000 to put up a stone monument of the 10 Commandments in front of the Oklahoma State Capitol building--- the recently finished monument has two misspelled words.....Why is it that this seems to make some type of incredibly bizarre perfect sense?









Three days out from returning to work I am already preparing myself. I have cleaned and reorganized everything i use personally for work--all my EDC gear, laptop, shoes. Sharpened the knives i carry on a daily basis and cleaned my Conceal Carry firearms. In the next few days I will have washed, cleaned and organized the Prius for the commute......
I've purchased new equipment (see below), it makes the return to the work--sleep--work--- cycle less painful for unknown reasons to bear new gear on my first day back...we humans are senseless in many ways. But it is true and it does work for me. I cannot resist this process...I prepare to return to work as if I was jumping out of an aircraft into hostile territory. It is my personal method of survival against the......... out there....




Once again I am attempting to acquire the art of shaving with a straight razor. 

I am hoping that my difficulty in acquiring this skill falls within a lack of information category and not within fear or poor coordination classifications. Hopefully my current reading---"The Art of Shaving", a reprinted book from the 19th century, may provide the application technique information I am missing. I would so like to free myself from the corporate disposable razor demon and become independent in this area. I did purchase on Amazon a double edged safety razor and 100 blades all for a total of $15.00 (no shipping).





I am hoping that the safety razor and blades will cover me for the time it takes to understand and attain competency at the straight edge...but if i never do attain that competency the safety razor cost alternative is an excellent possibility. 



A new watch--an Omax H003 analog. A 50mm diameter face, all black cosmetics and priced at $22.00 on Amazon I could not resist. I really know very little about this timepiece I think it is Eastern European, Romanian or Bulgarian---Russian watches that I once prized for their low price range and quality are now out of reach in cost...as is everything eh?  I am therefore experimenting with inexpensive watches from unknown sources--a crap shoot for sure but still----with my increasing expertise in maintaining watches I have a greater sense of confidence. 




I required a change in how I carry both my daily personal equipment, my laptops and my firearm(s) in regards to work and my daily commute. Returning to a suit dress code at work has eliminated carrying a backpack. Rebuilding my IBM Thinkpad has made me wish to carry it for daily personal business, which in turn, will require a larger briefcase type bag. 
I am switching to a Galati Gear, Concealment Attache Case for EDC at work.
Large enough to carry my ThinkPad as well as daily personal and emergency supplies The Concealment Attache also has a concealed compartment for the carriage of a small handgun. What the world doesn't know won't hurt it.




"People who enjoy meetings should not 
be in charge of anything."
Thomas Sowell




Thursday, November 15, 2012

Projective Geometry



Enjoying the final few days of leave....finishing the odd small projects that take my notice...i need to find something to read material that interests me has become difficult to find recently....





I can surprise myself I've found. One gets into a habit of thinking of oneself in a particular manner--becomes established in daily protocols and believes that this is me...in my case being a hermit. I love my home and being with my wife. People I interact with at work consider me a hermit since I would rather be at home than anywhere else. I've amazed myself recently by becoming involved with a few other people in meeting every two weeks for coffee at a local Starbucks to discuss our shared hobby of military modeling. Not only am i dumbfounded in that i would actually do this, but more so that i actually look forward to it.....I've discovered that it is actually pleasant to go out to, what I call a third good place, a coffee shop, sit, talk and leave. I feel as if I am less controlled by the work-sleep syndrome and am actually using my local community a very, very strange thing for me to do----



I'll be out gathering Pecans. We were lucky in that we had a windstorm a few days ago which dropped this year's pecans into the yard. Now the raking and shoveling begins...I dislike this time of year..the gardens are dead and gone. Everything turns brown and what was once full of life now appears dead and trashed....because of the way the lot looks and feels I have difficulty doing anything of any value out there. 
We are still canning the results of the past excellent garden season, and this year for the first time we are canning meat as well...tonight i am planning on shelling and jarring some of this years pecans...

I finished our interior project for my fall/winter vacation in that i rebuilt our library area...and JoJo's computing area...building shelving..installing IKEA hanging desks..reorganizing..I admit that it was a more of a job and took more time that what i ever considered when planning on doing it...but...we will get years of use with the changes and I could not have done it over consecutive weekends---I would have lost my way. 




I have been struggling with an attempt to develop a level of positivity in my mental life...Not with the intent of becoming that insane type of positive human that drives everyone surrounding them crazy, you know the type---but to develop some type of a brain balance between positivity and realism...I have been wrestling with this thought experiment question over my vacation time--can one be a realist but not spent your life in a muddy, mental pit of what you see around you? 
Can one be a survivalist, a prepper, a homesteader, based on reason and not mentally circle around the depressive drain of everything is shitty?  Can one view the world rationally, without depression? At this point of my thought experiment i am unable to answer that question....I can only attempt changes then await and examine the results on me as an individual....but i am trying.



"The superior man understands what is right;
the inferior man understands what will sell."
Confucius



Monday, November 12, 2012

Sierpinski Numbers






Into the second and last week of leave from work---I've been cleaning, organizing. I managed to complete the Library project pretty much and JoJo is doing a tremendous job of organizing and decorating it---of course it turned out excellent because JoJo planned it all out---
I am now into the stage of trying to do little things that have eluded me over the past months---like tearing apart my shortwave radio to attempt to get it to work---(wish me luck on that one) cleaning all the vehicles--for i have a tendency to let the vehicles go when i am depressed...they wind up looking like a serial killer is living in them kinda thing......

Something weird did occur this week. My JoJo was watching some show on streaming while i was doing something and the background music for the show was from Sly and the family Stone....hadn't heard or thought of them in years, and they sounded so good I right away ordered their remastered greatest hits CD at a price of all of $5.00 brand new....to play in the Prius for the commute---i am going to try to improve my mood on my return to work via music---Besides, blasting SLY back at white dudes banging out rap next to me at a stoplight ought to be interesting.....to say the least.







The one thing this past election did prove---is that you uptight, close minded, intelligent design, anti-immigration, I want government benefits but only for me, Religious, better than thou, blame the poor, racist, no birth control, anti-abortion, Sara Palin loving, Tea bagging, anti-environmental, corporate lackey, Drug war supporting, praise family values while banging a love boy, phony preaching, Jesus praising, anti-gay, snake dancing, Sons of Bitches are done for......you can make all the noise they want, and of course you will always be a pain in the ass for the intelligent---seeing Jesus in a potato chip, and so forth...this election proves that you win by accident now....not because you are right or that the majority of Americans wish to follow your twisted beliefs...America has spoken and said "You Suck"...your hatred and weirdness lost.......






I've often read on the net that one's Prius can be used as a generator for the house if necessary...one can plug a simple AC/DC converter into the cigarette lighter (thank God we still have those) and run an extension line into the house. The link below documents an individual in NJ after the storm who has used this technique and after 7 days has used only 3/4 of a tank of fuel...try to power your house off of your Soccer Mom SUV that has a phony hybrid sticker on the the ass end of it? Just being thankful for it's excellent design I think I will wash my Prius this week----is there nothing it can't do?



It's been hard for me to find any intelligent life on our planet recently. A small glimpse of hope was provided in the past election when Washington State and Colorado voted to legalize recreational use of Marijuana  
There may be hope for us yet...failing to legalize weed has been one of the greatest disappointments to me of my generation....falling victim to that fucking Nancy Reagan Bullshit.....I will keep my hopes in check...awaiting the decisions of other states----and the Federal Government---there is a huge machine making money warring against Marijuana and smokers.....these people are not going to simply give up their profits and walk away.....but as i said it is a glimpse of intelligence---finally.






Pizza and a DvD's subject this week was The Raven with John Cusack.  I liked it. Many places on the web give it 2-3 stars but I thought it was an excellent film---of course I like both Poe and Cusack so my small audience of one was properly covered by this film. The Movie's premise is that Poe--although largely unknown (they point out he made $9.00 on the poem the Raven) had a cult following which led to his death by poisoning. 
The movie is very textured and very dark---If you like period pieces and are in the mood for a bit of gloom I recommend The Raven.




"What really matters is what you like, not what you are like.....
Books, records, films--these things matter. Call me shallow 
but it's the fuckin' truth."

John Cusack in High Fidelity