Buffon's Needle

Buddy, one of our Boston Terriers passed away this morning. He had been showing the signs of age this past week. It was as if all his years all caught up to him at once. He came into the kitchen, as usual, to have coffee and a smoke with JoJo and I at 0400. He curled up in his little bed and died. Like all things with him, he did it with kindness to us and much consideration to be sure and to not make a fuss.
We buried him out back so that he can watch the house and keep an eye on JoJo while she gardens..which he always did so well.  

I have been sampling the cigarillo world--what with the change in my smoking protocols due to the living on retirement income test we are under.

It is actually working well--smoking less and enjoying it more as they say..the most recently ordered variety is TUSKER...looking forward to trying these when they arrive. A side benefit of smoking cigarillo's is putting to use the unique little boxes or tins that they are packaged in..and enjoying the artwork on the packaging. 

I do, I hate being right--there is a recent article in the Atlantic magazine with a map of the United States, displaying the income inequality between the rich and the rest of us in America.............a subject of which i have written on extensively and often. 

The unusual thing about this map is that it then equates the inequality of income in that particular American town or area to which third world country has the same LEVEL of income inequality between citizens....for example income inequality in NYC equals the ratio of income inequality in Swaziland! Swaziland also holds the record for the world's shortest average lifespan's but i'm sure the good ole'USA is working at winning that one too. Chicago a bit better at El Salvador levels...and so on. So much of what is believed about our country, about what is important to address, and on who we are is propaganda put out from both Fox news and the pulpit and in America now there is really no difference between the two. 
What we really are is a Swaziland filled with nukes, religious zealots, and incapable leadership----the regular world see's this and fears us as you would an 8 year old with a handgun. 

we are a third world country

50.5 miles per gallon averaged this 380 standard mile work commute week. The Prius is just short of turning 100,000 miles without a problem. Every Capitalist in the business of making huge, disposable SUV's, and any and all Oil Baron's can bite me-----------

Why the hell did i not think of this---an article on how to carry multiples of those heavy grocery store plastic bags by looping them through a large Carabiner---I am going to try this since I have a rather large supply of big carabiners and doing away with the loss of blood supply to the fingers after grocery shopping cannot help but be a good thing.....these kinds of solutions to common problems are staring us in the face---it is just hard to recognize solutions when the world around broadcasts so much noise.

this i've got to try

The link below leads to an article on the 8 most useless, does not work, pieces of exercise equipment ever made. Nothing but advertising....

A friend of mine used to say " I love my bowflex--a great place to hang clothes in the bedroom." 

why do people buy this crap?

A group in Germany(?) has built an outdoor enclosure for chimps that were released, some after 30 years, of being laboratory test animals. They were never outside before, spending their lives in 5' by 5' cages. We humans would of course become psychotic and dangerous..read about what they do on being able to go outside for the first time---
We humans are sick fucks forcing this kinda thing on animals....sick.

Lab Chimps go outside for first time in 30 years

"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people

are conservatives."

John Stuart Mill

Jones Polynomial

51.2 miles per gallon this week as the Prius turned 99,000 miles. Not bad and as always George Bush and the other oil barons can bite me.
I had quite a collection of unusual news stories to link to here this week but after collecting them---i really didn't want to post them---it just felt better to write---it just felt good write about the stupid things i am doing....I am currently reading an SF novel Faith, JoJo and I are lost in streaming Stargate Universe from netflicks--(yes i know it's old and been canceled but what do we care)---- I am surviving work but with new rules I have written on below.
JoJo and I now have new hard working solar panels on the roof--finally---and all in all my personal, little world is not to,too bad. The outside world---now that's fucked.

This weekend I am planning on aging and applying patina to the white plastic, faux ivory grips i have on my Star S pistol. With these type grips the result is dependent upon the plastic used in their construction but----the process is to cook up a pot of very, very strong tea...add a handful of tobacco--stir---add grips---soak for 3 days...If one is lucky the plastic absorbs the tinting of the tea and tobacco and the grips--- none the worse for wear acquire that slightly stained, light tan coloring of old, used, ivory. I hope i get lucky, i am planning on carrying this pistol a great deal over this winter.

I just received a re-supply of cigarillo's. I am trying a different brand on each order to determine which i may prefer. This order i went with Gran Habano cigarillo's. To tell you the truth they were on a great sale...can't lie about that...and right at the moment i know nothing about them...

I also ordered a cigarillo box, with holds more than a day's quantity, and actually has a humidifier built into it--yet it is small enough to fit in a coat or jacket pocket. Bond, James Bond.

After a few years of sanity at work in regards to the dress code---a  Hitler leader is wishing to Fuhrer over the masses attired alike in coats, ties and slacks. Whereas previously i could wear BDU pants, boots and warm outerwear in the winter---once again the concept of---- it is better to look good than to be good--- has risen from the ashes. It is impossible for me to attempt reach inside the small minds who demand everyone look the same----- to attempt to understand if there is actually a truth behind this concept, which i cannot grasp from out here.

But i digress---This random, personality based rule change costs everyone money---immaterial to those in charge, but still this has required a complete change of equipment carried, method of carriage and so on. Luckily Job requirement costs are immune from the retirement budget experiment, explained below...I decided i would fight back by adhering to the new rules---but only to the letter of them by developing a style I call, old white guy raids Samuel Jackson's closet.....black leather sport coat, black tie, blue black shirts only, black slacks, black backwards beret for a hat...and of course the white ponytail.....an old, fat, white Samuel Jackson is what they are going to get and it follows their rules to the letter-----Snakes on a mother-fucking plane is going to appear monday.......

We began our retirement budget living experiment Oct 1st. We set up a process where we removed from budgeting materials and expenses required by my still working day to day....such as commuting gasoline, lunch, vehicle maintained, work clothing requirements and so forth. We now are tabulating income and outgo based on projected retirement salary and required expenses based on the retirement scenario.

We are lucky in some respects that years ago we began the cutback to a more realistic lower income lifestyle--we have no cable bill, we hardly ever travel for vacations but if we do we camp out of the VW camper...we rarely eat out...no going out to the movies...we do no Christmas capitalism whatsoever, we have already reduced housing and debt. Our biggest cutback has been smoking---which we both love and can give the Russian's a run for their money at --- so reduction in smoking expense and spending on both of our hobbies is the major adjustment we are currently attacking.

 JoJo is smoking nothing but home made cigarettes--and I am smoking a combination of self-rolled cigarettes separated by the occasional Cigarillo---both of these actions appear to have satisfied our human tobacco requirements....my total tobacco expense yesterday during work was $1.48....which i would expect to cut completely in half if i was at home,retired and away from the stress of work which in and of itself creates an environment requiring additional smoking. My total personal expenditure this week(outside of work requirements)  was $6.50..

When retired and capable of cutting out 2nd mobile phones, 2nd car expenses, clothing requirements, and so forth my first thoughts are that we can make it--with even to spare all little for the occasional minor luxuries to feed our individual peccadillo's. 

This is the last posting on this blog regarding military modeling projects of mine---Oz, Bruce and I (the 3 armored nerds) are attempting to form a group of military plastic modelers to meet up twice a month at the local Starbucks--we've created a blog hoping to allow anyone else in the local area to find us and join in with us at http://roswellmilitarymodlers.blogspot.com/

I will now be posting information on both my individual and the groups work on that site. If you've been interested at all in my little modeling section 

http://roswellmilitarymodlers.blogspot.com/ will be the place to find my works in progress from now on. An interesting after the fact is that our group held it's first little meeting this Wednesday night at a local Starbucks and it was great, totally enjoyable...to me it was a small sample of how a good retired life could be made...we sat, talked modeling and military history, and drank coffee---this was the way my mind constructed spending positive time with others in retirement-----our little meeting gave me hope for the future and i want more experiences like this one. 

"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert,

in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand.

Milton Friedman

Weierstrass Function

50.2 mpg for a commute average this week with the Prius--a few good evenings pushed me barely up to and over the 50 mpg line but i will take what i can get cause for me 50 mpg weekly average is the holy grail to the weekly commute. Back off me man, I'm a scientist.

I have another one full week of store bought smokes left before i switch to hand rolled only cigarettes---looking forward to it in an experimental way---like one of those medical monkeys they teach to chain smoke ---- but i must develop all new protocols involving smoking---that's the tough part.  

My reading has suffered greatly. A daily agenda of up at 0430, off to work by 0600 return from work at 5:00 PM and bed by 7:30 pm only to start over again the next day--reading is something i have been attempting  to fit in where and when i can--when other matters rear their head into those 2 hours per day of personal free time reading suffers and that is it's status at the moment---i force myself to understand that reading must come and go---and I have to flow along. At the moment reading is in the gone stage......

This year's SAT reading scores are the lowest they have been in 40 years. Many plausible reasons are given--my personal theory is lack of mean Nuns. Nuns in grade school were vicious but.....I can read and therefore can accomplish anything i set my mind to and write...and in a straight line---Nuns..mean Nuns we should draft them if there are not enough signing up-----

How low can you go?

Consider it a sign to run, when the Pastor actually dies during your wedding ceremony---no where to go but downhill from that point. 

This should end well?

I am still out of politics, but I gotta say this is just great...

Only Samuel L. Jackson could do this

I am on the search for a Beret like his in the video--

gotta have one.

My adopted state can be amazing at times---below is a link to an article on our recent State Fair this year. New Mexico is a state where the fair is important--lots of farming/ranching people---people who raise and keep big animals live in New Mexico---

So the Fair is a big Deal for Agricultural people---and the State Fair is apparently the place to pay for some strange as well since the link below takes you to an article on the 85 arrests for prostitution made at our recent State Fair---what did they run a tent with somebody like huggy bear from Starsky and Hutch out in front of it servicing the random passer-by or what???

Is it just me or does 85 prostitution arrests at an annual State Fair in a State that has 2.3 people per square mile seem a bit well--unusual? It is just New Mexico, not new and Improved Mexico as a friend of mine used to say....

Who'd thought ?

There has been another loss to the Royal Household--the Queen's Royal hand washer has died at 82 (see the link).  Why was i not informed by my high school guidance counselor that these types of jobs existed??? But sadly yes the royal hand washer has passed after a lifetime of service--although for the past bunch of years his duties only involved writing a letter to the Queen advising her he was available for hand washing if she needed him.....which would have made me want this job even more......

In regards to a previous posting I made on discovering the Queen of England has a "Dog Boy" official position, I believe i may have located a photo of said person--

I applied for this job but didn't get it

Worked on tool organization and detailing a diorama this week in my little modeling world. My wondrous wooden machinist tool chests came in and i was in nerd heaven filling the drawers, with tools, arranging paints...you have no concept of how pleasing this is unless you are somewhere on the OCD spectrum range...

This weekend i am planning on finishing a diorama i have been on and off working and when finished may post a photo---diorama's are never really finished...there is always more and more and more detail to add...and meanwhile i am constantly learning and creating a better product so there is always the "I need to redo this" factor.  At any rate, once i add a bit more background scene detail, another figure and one more vehicle, a motorcycle, i will have to declare it completed. I have also been working on how to protect my finished products from the dreaded nerd cave dust---at 1/35 scale and fragile preventing dust is an absolute...I ordered a clear Plexiglas type storage bin--with the concept of covering this diorama or even possibly two with this clear case...I may have to cut off handles or modify it in some manner but this process is much cheaper than purchasing the model display cases offered for this problem--like i say this is an experiment right now and I'll advise on the outcome....I am intending a photo session when i get some of these projects worked to the point that they are viable subject matter to use the camera on.

"I am not crazy, my mother had me tested."

Dr. Sheldon Cooper