Insomnia

I am not sure if these are lone wolves or sleeper cells. First, the attack on a synagogue, ISIS supporters throwing pipe bombs in New York City, then this. 3/12/26 New York Post:

A heroic ROTC student fatally stabbed the crazed ISIS-linked gunman who opened fire inside an Old Dominion University classroom Thursday, preventing further carnage, law enforcement sources said.

Shooter Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, gunned down an instructor before the unidentified cadet jumped into action to put an end to the suspected terror attack on the Virginia college campus, according to sources.

Joliah had a prior conviction for attempting to aid ISIS. His first name is, of course, a coincidence. 

Photographs and Memories

I just woke up from a dream so powerful that I had that i had to write it down to share. The dream involved working somewhere where some of the people with whom I worked in my 30s at startups in Northern California were still around. 

There had been a wedding for one of my crew. I went on an emotional bender and failed to show up for work or call in sick for several days.

I suddenly found myself stuffing a time sheet taking those days as vacation into a cigarette box even though I have never smoked with a note explaining that the wedding brought memories of the best years of our lives, long but rewarding hours, first houses, children, happy marriages. (Best years of my life in spite of not yet being rich.) Somehow, I had a few inches of movie film with those positive memories to put into it for mailing (you know with stamps). The Jim Croce song "Photographs and Memories" was the sound track.

Verse 1]

Photographs and memories

Christmas cards you sent to me

All that I have are these

To remember you

[Verse 2]

Memories that come at night

Take me to another time

Back to a happier day

When I called you mine

After Much Struggle, the Android Tablet Controls the New Mount

I thought that i had installed the ExploreStars app from PlayStore. Actually I had installed something also from Explore Scientific that controls some utterly unrelated products. Once I found what I needed to install it all seems to work. Now I just need clear skies.

Watch Battery Surprises

The last time I went on Amazon to buy watch batteries, the reviews were terrible: batteries were clearly expired (assuming they were not low quality forgeries). This time I went to Bi-Mart and they turned out be 0V, I ordered some from Amazon and they were good.

Our Elites Are Self-Admitted Criminals

3/11/26 National Review article discusses how one of the New Yorker's niche publications about architecture is horrified to discover that some chains, like Whole Foods, have "jails," rooms where they hold shoplifters until police arrive. Worse they are holding members of the elite:

"DeLigter’s sample of thieves is hardly representative of the broader public. Her subjects include a “designer,” a “photographer,” a “sculptor,” and a “food stylist,” all of whom executed their heists in one of the highest-end grocers in America, each of which is located in some of the wealthiest zip codes in the United States."

If this was poor people stealing a loaf of bread because of hunger, the progressive sympathy for the poor might make sense, but this is just a sign of the moral degeneracy of the left.

Handles Everywhere

I was so pleased with how handy the Televue-85 is now that it has a handle that I bought a 3.5" center-to-center furniture handle and did they same to the 3" f/4.5 reflector. This is neither as clumsy nor as expensive as the Televue-85 but still makes it easier to put on a mount.

There Is No Substitute for Sharp Tools

That includes drill bits, saw blades, end mills, and today's subject, boring bars. I am boring an aluminum cylinder and cutting was going poorly. I looked carefully at the carbide tip and the problem was obvious. Fortunately, this is a rotatable carbide tip. To do that you need a teeny tiny Tor-X (T7) which is Alford slightly larger than this letter o on a 13" screen. (Do you remember 13" computer monitors?)

It bores so much better now.