Bash Scripts amd Seq

Every time I write a bash script that requires floating point indexing, I forget the seq command. for z in $(seq 0 -.01 1) do echo $z done Darn useful and I hope writimg it dowmn wil burn it into permanent memory this time.

Whining Helps

The PA at the cardiologist who does most of my medical care went on vacation just after my test results can back.  Rather than wait,  I copied part of a medical journal article that said that unselected beta blockers such as carvedilol are contraindicated for patients with asmatha and mentioned that I have allergic asmatha.  One of the doctors in the practice put me back on metoprolol which is a selective beta blocker.  I have already taken my carvedilol this morning so it may take a day or two to see any benefits.  There are different half-lives listed for carvedilol but this indicates 28-50 hours for elimination.  Please, do not start the Revolution without me. :-)  BP 133/63 pulse 60.

More seriously,  thr Second Amendment solution is a deep and serious solution.  It needs to wait for something more severe than a show trial.

If a Republican Said This...

5/30/24 New York Post:

"California state senator fighting to throw pedophiles into prison for longer has blasted progressive members of her own party for trying to water down the new law, declaring: “I’m done with us.”

"Democratic Sen. Susan Eggman, who reps part of San Joaquin County just outside San Francisco, gave the fiery speech on the Senate floor last Thursday when lawmakers were weighing legislation that would make it a felony to purchase or solicit a minor for commercial sex in the Golden State.

“I’d like to say as a progressive, proud member of this body for the last 12 years, I’m done. I’m done with us protecting people who would buy and abuse our children. I’m done,” said Eggman, 63.

"“I don’t want to send more black and brown men to prison. I don’t want more people in prison, but I don’t want people buying girls. I don’t want people buying little girls anymore. I’m tired of saying it’s okay and that we have to protect the men who do it.”"

I am increasingly of the opinion that along with the Hamas and Green factions of the Democratic Party there is an Epstein faction as well.

With All the Criminal Court Behavior, Google News Seems to Have Died

But only on my phone.  Apprently not just me.Apprently not just me.

Trump Convicted of 34 Felonies

Banana republic.   If Biden suspends elections to avoid defeat, we may see scession or civil war.  I pray the Swamp is prepared to accept democracy.   The results would be horrifying.  This is why the Second Amendment exists but the results would be disastrous nationally and globally  

Major Victory: NRA v. Vullo (2024)

 You may recall that New York State government pressured banks and insurers to not do business with NRA expl;icitly as an attempt to interfere wityh NRA's political activity.  The Court ruled 9-0 (with Justice Sotomayor writing the opinion) that:The Court ruled 9-0 (with Justice Sotomayor writing the opinion) that:

Six decades ago, this Court held that a government entity’s “threat of invoking legal sanctions and other means of coercion” against a third party “to achieve the suppression” of disfavored speech violates the First Amendment. Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan, 372 U. S. 58, 67 (1963). Today, the Court reaffirms what it said then: Government officials cannot attempt to coerce private parties in order to punish or suppress views that the government disfavors. Petitioner National Rifle Association (NRA) plausibly alleges that respondent Maria Vullo did just that. As superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services, Vullo allegedly pressured regulated entities to help her stifle the NRA’s pro-gun advocacy by threatening enforcement actions against those entities that refused to disassociate from the NRA and other gun-promotion advocacy groups. Those allegations, if true, state a First Amendment claim. 

That Lenovo ThinkPad...

 Lenovo's service tech replaced the WiFi card and everyrhing works!  I spoke prematurely.   It works for minutes now not seconds. 

Early Memories

My mother, siblings, and me lived in Chula Vista on Woodlawn Street in what in retrospect was an okay two bedroom apartment.  It was on the second floor.  My brother Ron and I shared one bedroom.  My three sisters shared another bedroom, my mother slept in the living room.  I assume there was one bathroom although I have no memory of it.  The kitchen was adjacent to the living room and had a small window overlooking the elementary school where my youngest sister, Marilyn attended. 

I vividly recall helping my mother and sister putting up some sort of class president banner for Marilyn which makes me wonder if she was actually in junior high.  The banner was covered with matchbooks.  I think the slogan was either that she was matchless as a candidate or that was a perfect "match" for the job.

Being on the second floor, some of the neighbor hooligans would push my tricycle down the stairs.  The structure survived better than it should have.  The pedals would pop off and reattaching them requiring a cotter pin and pliers.  I am not sure why nothing was said to the hooligans' parents.   We were all poor people and perhaps good behavior was not expected.

There were garages behind and under the second floor on the west side of the building.  Woodlawn ran north/south just east of I-5 (or perhaps it was still U.S. 99)   There was a path through the bushes that let out directly on the highway so this was likely still U.S. 99.  An Interstate would have been fenced.  Looking at the map I had forgotten the railroad tracks we had to cross.

One day, my peers managed to score a six-pack of beer.  I think I was in first grade but maybe before first grade.  They made rather a big deal of this, using the school's hose bibs to punch holes in the end of the cans.  (Pull-tabs were still years in the future.)  

My first exposure to beer was a stunt by a babysitters husband when I was just under two and cans meant soft drinks.  The flavor was so disgusting that I never wanted to taste beer again.  Whike my peers were slurping beer I was keeping my distance. 

The San Diego Union, before its merger with the Tribune got a kick of making its readers multilingual.   They provided at very low cost books and records attempting to teach us Spanish, French, and maybe Russian?  I recall these vividly.

My brother was even then starting to exhibit the problems that would spiral down into schizophrenia.  As we were falling off to sleep, we would talk and he would mock me, repeating every word that I said.  

But overall,  relations with my siblings were good.  My middle sister tells me that zron was bored and taught me to read by two.  By first grade I was reading,  enjoying, and learning from his high school chemistry textbook.

My father worked for Todd Shipyards in San Pedro.  He was wanted by the FBI for interstate flight to avoid prosecution.  This was largely a misunderstanding when the bank without explanation closed his checking account just after he drove to San Francisco to look for work.

He lived in a tiny house on a hill overlooking San Pedro.  It was very old.  This is I think where it wasI think where it was. My sister taught me my times tables through 12x12 while we were there one weekend.

Did VMWare Go Away?

 I am trying to download it to my PC without success.

Oracle Virtualbox is installing linuxCNC at the moment.  I like being able to develop CNC programs in the house.

I Whined a Couple Weeks Ago About a Lenovo Yoga That Refused to Keep a WiFi Connection

 I pulled out my travel Lenovo to sit on the back porch and write C and the same problem appeared.  I suspect an out of date driver that is part of the latest Windows 11 update will solve it.  Of course to get that update over an unreliable WiFi was impossible but fortunately one of my routers had an unused RJ45 port so away we go.

And it worked!  I will upgrade the Yoga later today.

I may have spoken too soon.  The WiFi icon appears but browsers report no Internet, then it reappears.

No, it seems stable.

Better but connections keep dropping.   To my pleasure,  I see it is still under extended warranty  

That Discrepancy on the G02 Command

As I suspected the 1/4" end mill is actually  2215" diameter.   I will need to measure the mill diameter before writing the code.  This is enough of a nuisance that I will write a C program to generate the code for the future.

What I Have Been Machining When Not Working on Declarations for Court Cases

What us that white thing (the one attached to the black tube, not my Jaguar in the background).  The piece of white acetal is an adapter from the black tube that the maker of the telescope used to mount the finderscope.  (Attaching finderscopes when there is no solid telescope tube is often an interesting mechanical design.  The black aluminum tube is parallel to the optical axis and the picture below shows the maker's original design (sort of).

As you can see it uses a rectangle of Baltic birch plywood with a hole and a thin slice so that turning the wing nut tightens the wood onto the aluminum tube.  The original finderscope had a base that attached to the wooden part nicely but when it came time to upgrade the finderscope,  that base was too narrow.  The replacement piece made of black acetal turned out to be too narrow to get a proper coaxial relationship to the optical axis and it was pretty much hopeless to get the crosshairs to line up, so first I tried to replace the black acetal with something wider but the hex head bolt just kept splitting the plywood.

Natural materials have many virtues but they are not very good at being threaded within the grain, so after several bad design starts, I took a piece of acetal,  cut into an L, drilled and tapped holes for the scope base, then cut a 1.256" hole through one of the legs.  Then I drilled and tapped a 1/4"-20 hole for a thumbs crew to secure the adapter to the 1.2515" OD aluminum tube.

gCode has G02 and G03 commands for cutting arcs and circles.  I spent a lot of time experimenting (learning from my failures to understand the command) before I got a command that should have cut a 1 25" hole.  It actually came out more like 1.247" ID, too small to fit.  I wonder if my 1/4" carbide end mill might be slightly smaller than. 25".  Anyway, I enlarged the radiua of the hole .022" and ended up with not quite a press fit.

You Think Bruen Did Not Matter?

 State v. Radowski (N.C.App. 2024):

When the application of a statute impedes conduct protected by the plain text

of the Second Amendment, it is presumptively unconstitutional. To overcome this

presumption, the State must demonstrate that its regulation is consistent with, or

analogous to, this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. The State failed

to demonstrate that regulating Defendant’s possession of firearms, which were kept

within a vehicle that was parked in the university hospital parking lot where

Defendant was seeking emergency medical care, is consistent with this Nation’s

historical tradition of firearm regulation. As an alternative ground for reversal, the

State failed to present substantial evidence that Defendant knowingly possessed a

firearm on educational property.

  

I Do Not Want to Laugh

 It is so sad to watch people call Floyd George the Chosen of God who died for us all.  5/23/24 Not the Bee 5/23/24 Not the Bee with a video that has disturbing parallels to Jesus:

“George Floyd died for each and every one of us. He was God’s chosen vessel.” Things get weird at ASU as they unveil an exhibit in Floyd’s memory.

Be Glad Grizzy Bears Are More Ferocious Than Analytical

 5/22/24 Cowboy State Daily 5/22/24 Cowboy State Daily:

The out-of-state man who was mauled by a mother grizzly in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park on Sunday apparently had a phenomenal stroke of luck when the apex predator essentially bear-sprayed itself.

The attack on a 35-year-old Massachusetts man ended when the grizzly bit into his can of bear spray, bursting it into her own face, according to a statement from the National Park Service.

The other encouraging news for those of us in bear country.  5/23/24 Ammoland:

Many readers are interested in how various handgun calibers have performed in defense against bears. This is a complicated subject. Sometimes, any caliber will do. Sometimes a level of power may be required. Sometimes, a level of accuracy or speed may be required. Many permutations exist.

The most important aspect, if a confrontation occurs, is to have a firearm available, easily and quickly accessible. The specific caliber is less important.

These updates include all the incidents we have been able to document to the date of the update, after several years of intense searches. We have always asked for examples of failures. We appreciate readers who help us document more cases.

Here are all the cases that have been documented where 9mm handguns were fired in defense against bears. 9mm is expected to be the common 9x19mm cartridge. These cases do not include incidents where handguns were used with other lethal means or a mix of handgun calibers were used. The incident is included if more than one handgun of the same caliber was used. There are  11 incidents in which 9mm handguns were fired in defense against bears (six black, five brown). They were all successful. The incidents are listed chronologically. 

Important note: FMJs appear to be pretty effective.  Even a grizzly bear knows to run from pain, even if it is not immediately lethal.  I am not planning to dispose of my S&W 629 in .44 Magnum, but I suspect 15 shots of 115gr. FMJ from my Browning will do the job, if the sound of ringing bells does not encourage distance.

Today's Tragic Spear-Phishing Fail

Human Res0urces Department.

I Need Some Help Here

I am trying to check some footnotes that came from an amicus brief that I helped write for the Heller case.  Before using this information in a declaration, I want images of these pages.

David Critchley, The Origin Of Organized Crime In America: The New York City Mafia, 1891-1931, at 285 n. 81(2009); Thomas A. Reppetto, American Mafia: A History Of Its Rise To Power 105 (2004); Sid Feder and Joachim Joesten, The Luciano Story 53-54 (1994).

Jay S. Albanese, Organized Crime in Our Times 141-42 (2011).

Edward Behr, Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America 240-41 (1996).

Use worlddcat.org to see if any of these books are in a library near you.  I can interlibrary loan them, but we are coming up on filing deadline for a Rhode Island case.

If you can obtain these pages, even with your cellphone and an image of the title page, it would help a lot.

These are about states with discretionary license laws which issued carry licenses to mobsters.

I am impressed how fast you great people are signing up.

Are You Blind?

There are a couple books for which I need pages.  There is not time to get these Interlibrary Loan.  They are available on Internet Archive to those who are legally blind.  Can any of you help?

The Sharpness of the Tool Makes all the Difference

I wish that I had realized what a difference using carbide end mills made ten years ago.  I can cut acetal .5" wide x .1" deep at 25 inches per minute without any chatter or struggles.  I suspect cutting aluminum will be almost effortless.

is There a Way to Delete All Text Messages Containing Certain Words?

I get dozens of messages each day from the Trump campaign.  Thia is annoying and it takes a long time to block and delete each one.

Carbide End Mill Cuts Through Acetal Blindingly Fast

No surprise considerimh you can use it on stainless steel.

I Wanted a Gamma Ray Source to Test my Survey Meter...

So when I went in for my nuclear stress test today, using technetium-99 metastable isomer.   I thought I knew nuclear physics pretty well but metastable and isomer (at least for nuclei) were both brand new.  This produces gamma rays and beta particles.  The tech confirmed that my radiation survey meter should get excited in my presence.  

It appears to be true.  I zeroed the meter.  I tried the X1 setting on my abdomen (maximum tissue with blood in it) which gave between .01 and .02 roentgens/hour, and barely off the 0 on the floor, which is about what I would expect for whatever quantity they injected me with about 5 hours ago. (i think she said it was about 10 microcuries of Technetium-99.)

At first guess .01 r/hr seems plausible.  Unfortunately, roentgens are from a Civil Defense and public safety standpoint, obsolete.  REMs, or roentgens equivalent mammal are a bit smaller than roentgens. 

"The dose of radiation expected to cause death to 50 percent of an exposed population within 30 days (LD 50/30). Typically, the LD 50/30 is in the range from 400 to 450 rem (4 to 5 sieverts) received over a very short period."

Revoke Their Scholarships and Deport the Aliens

5/16/24 Campus Reform:

"PSYCHO: Masked pro-Hamas activists show up at UMich regents' homes in middle of the night, lay 'fake corpses' on lawn."

Bad but worse:

"The University of Michigan said that over 30 student protesters showed up at Regent Sarah Hubbard’s home early Wednesday morning and placed tents and “fake corpses wrapped in bloodied sheets” on the lawn, in addition to marching and chanting.

"Another regent, Jordan Acker, wrote on X that the protesters showed up at around 4:40 a.m. “with a list of demands” that included “defunding the police.”"

If they are U S. Citizens, this type of intimidation should cause the university to revoke their scholarship.  If they are an alien, deport them. Maybe they can become suicide bombers with a short fuse.

To Prevent Suicide

The argument that the mutilators use to get parents to mutilated their children is that trans kids commit suicide.  "You want to save your child, right?"

The abstract from "Risk of Suicide and Self-Harm Following Gender-Affirmation Surgery" in Cureus (2024):

"Individuals who underwent gender-affirming surgery had a 12.12-fold higher suicide attempt risk than those who did not (3.47% vs. 0.29%, RR 95% CI 9.20-15.96, p < 0.0001). Compared to the tubal ligation/vasectomy controls, the risk was 5.03-fold higher before propensity matching and remained significant at 4.71-fold after matching (3.50% vs. 0.74%, RR 95% CI 2.46-9.024, p < 0.0001) for the gender affirmation patients with similar results with the pharyngitis controls. Conclusion Gender-affirming surgery is significantly associated with elevated suicide attempt risks, underlining the necessity for comprehensive post-procedure psychiatric support."

How about comprehensive pre-procedure psychiatric support.  And maybe a society that is not actively promoting mutilation instead of asking why children are suddenly intent on self-harm?

Major Victory in Hawaii

In response to a suit on which I contributed expert declarations, Hawaii has revised their weapons laws.  A bunch of deadly weapons that used to be prohibited from open carry (clubs, switch blades, butterfly knives and handguns) are now only prohibited for concealed carry or if used in conjunction with a misdemeanor or felony while openly carried.

It would appear that open carry is now legal in Hawaii.  I would count on police stopping you and asking for ID for a background check.

Mike Moyle

The volume of RINO hit pieces on Mike Moyle claiming he is carrying out Obama's agenda is startling.  The left is spending a lot of money trying to defeat Moyle.  I am hoping all this is in hopes that California refugees with no knowledge of Moyle will go ahead and vote against him.  So if you know any recent arrivals, warn them that Moyle is a serious conservative and these nasty mailers are attempts by the left to put a RINO in place of Moyle.

Nuking Mortgage

It is the only way to be sure.

Rep. Mike Moyle (R)

He is Speaker of the House in the Idaho Legislature.  I have been receiving ferocious attacks on him for being a RINO, more supportive of liberal policies than not.

Looking at a summary of his votes on VoteSmart suggests this is a smear campaign by a Moby group.  His votes are pretty consistently on the right. While you might fault him for voting for an abortion ban law so defective that even some pro-life legislators believe it needs revision, the hard facts are that the exemptions are one of the big loopholes that pro-abortion forces use.  Getting this law right is important; getting it wrong the first time was almost certain to be wrong 

Closed Old House Today

We did the final paperwork to sell the old house today. Two more days and we get our money out.

Military-Industrial Complex

Eisenhower warned us about it.  How defense contractors can exercise unhealthy influence over military spending.

I was watching some video podcast and the guest was saying that even if it existed in 1960, it is not really the case now 

Raytheon gross profit 2023: $12 billion.

Lockheed-Martin gross profit 2023: $8.4 billion.

These are not trivial amounts of money but compared to:

Apple: $174 billion 

Alphabet (Google and cousins): $174 billion

Amazon: $270 billion

Now the jobs and especially when they are concentrated in a small number of Congressional districts or states might matter a lot, but Tech is more likely from resources available to corrupt our criminal class.

Post-Apocalyptic Films

There are more than I expected on Tubi (a free with ads) channel available through Google TV.  Mostly indie productions some very well done.  Cheap high-res cameras and video editing software produced a storm of films in the early 2010s.

Amazing! Not Every Drug Law Was Bad

After Oregon repealed its all drugs are legal law, another progressive/libertarian fantasy bites the dust.  5/7/24 New York Times:

"The government of Canada on Tuesday walked back part of a program allowing people in British Columbia to possess small amounts of drugs, including heroin and cocaine, without fear of criminal charges. At the request of the province and after a public backlash, people in British Columbia are no longer permitted to use drugs in public places.

Under the changes, which went into effect immediately, adults will still be allowed to possess small amounts of drugs. But they will now have to use them in legal residences, at safe injection sites and at other harm-reduction centers established by the health authorities.

The re-criminalization of public drug use in British Columbia underscores the difficulties that governments face as they grapple with the opioid crisis."

Harsh reality.  Drug laws exist for three reasons:

1. Drug addicts destroy themselves and it is not pretty 

2. They severely injured others. Some are family and acquaintances who must deal with various forms of abuse and violence by people while intoxicated causes theft, burglary, and other economic crimes and loss of inhibitions while intoxicated leads to murder, rape, and child abuse.

3. The violence and economic exploitation of drug dealers (including pharmaceutical companies who supplied B.C.'s "harm reduction program") was destructive.

I know all the wonderful theories of legalization and have made them myself in the past.  They make perfect sense for people with the sense to not destroy themselves and others.  Addicts are not strong on good sense.

Why Are Blacks Detaching From the Democratic Party?

5/7/24 Fox News:

"Gov. Hochul says she 'misspoke' when she said some 'Black kids' don't know the word 'computer'

"Hochul received criticism from Bronx officials after claiming 'young Black kids' in the borough don't know what the word 'computer' means"

Between the Initial Flash and the Shock Wave

If you live far enough from Ground Zero like I do, there is one important step to take after a light brighter then the Sun gets your attention.  If you are 20 miles back, the shock wave will take at least two minutes to get here.  Even a one megaton blast will produce only light structural damage this far out.  But that includes broken window glass. This is both a personal hazard from flying glass shards but also a dangerous mess to clean up.  

If you have glass doors, open them so the shock wave will go past not through the glass.  Open all windows.  The outer facing panes may well break but likely be held from farther entry by the inner window.  Remember that most windows now are double pane.  I suspect that most combinations of four panes will prevent shards inside.

Of course, the outfacing windows may well be broken but close the windows and tape plastic over the broken windows to keep fallout from entering.

I am not sure what I am missing.  Hints?

Another Reminder We Need Commonsense Knife Control

3/27/24 WSAW:

"ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR/Gray News) - A man was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon after police in Rockford, Illinois, said he attacked and stabbed multiple people.

"Police and the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office said there were a total of 11 victims in the attacks, including four who died from their injuries. Police said not all of the victims were stabbed."

No real cook needs an "assault knife" with a 7" blade, and a serrated edge (like a military "weapon of war"). 

And yes, a real sociopath might sharpen a screwdriver by grinding it across concrete but think of the children.

Of course:

"Approximately 20 minutes after the first call came in, authorities took a 22-year-old man into custody. Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd said investigators do not believe any other suspects are at large. She says there is no clear motive for the attacks."

I have seen no other coverage.  Mental illness, perhaps?

Who -- And Why -- People from COW (Cal., Ore. and Wash.) Are Moving to Idaho

 Idaho's population is growing, thanks to a surge of California, Washington and Oregon residents moving in. Here's what new Idaho residents say drove them out of their previous homes. | Fox News

https://www.foxnews.com/media/red-state-expat-community-families-fleeing-western-liberal-bastions

Sort of a "Duh" Story, But On MSN?

 5/6/24 MSN:

New Jersey Denies Gun Carry Permits of Black Applicants More Than Double White People

Astonishing Honesty

5/6/24 Colorado Public Radio discusses how the assault weapon ban bill was pulled back by the author because it was unpassable.  An interesting admission from a Democrat who sounds sympathetic to a ban:

"Democratic Rep. Meg Froelich of Denver is sponsoring several gun bills this session with Sullivan this session. She acknowledged the ban is a thorny policy.

“I think it has always had a difficult path because the arguments against a ban are policy arguments, but the arguments for it are from the heart,” said Froelich. “The reality of the upper chamber where there’s a significant number of folks who don’t agree with the policy.” emphasis added

An open admission that they cannot come up with sound arguments for a ban but it makes them feel good.

The Decency of America Survives

My wife and I were running errands today.  On Midland Avenue, there was a duck leading her ducklings through a fairly complex traffic lighted intersection.  Maybe eight cute little fluffballs. People were waiting patiently for her to get her brood across a four lane road, no one in a hurry enough to run them over, no one so anxious to get to whatever appointment absolutely needed to be kept that they honked to get someone to go, even if they could not see the cause.  Finally, Momma and her little ones reached the curb and (barely for the smallest ones) climbed out of the street.

It gave me a good feeling about Idaho.

Signs of Coming Victory

5/4/24 New York Times:

"It has become the topic of the season at Washington dinner parties and receptions. Where would you go if it really happens?

"Portugal, says a former member of Congress. Australia, says a former agency director. Canada, says a Biden administration official. France, says a liberal columnist. Poland, says a former investigator.

"They’re joking. Sort of. At least in most cases. It’s a gallows humor with a dark edge. Much of official Washington is bracing for the possibility that former President Donald J. Trump really could return — this time with “retribution” as his avowed mission, the discussion is where people might go into a sort of self-imposed exile."

I think they are terrified that Trump might do to them what they did to Trump and his allies.  I think they are overstating the fear, although many officials in the intelligence services might have reason to worry about prosecution for what was clearly criminal intent and improper behavior.  

My reaction is the same as hearing Hollyweirds threatening to leave if whatever Republican horror of the day gets elected or re-elected: can I help you pack?  You can be replaced with lawful immigrants who love America.

There is Only One Fix to This

5/4/24 NBC News reports on how illegal immigration is no longer just from Latin America but from nations throughout the world.  An interesting and important quote from a "humanitarian volunteer" who helps illegals cross the border:

“Any person on American soil — and it doesn’t matter how they got here — is allowed to start due process on an asylum case,” Schultz said. “Anyone. So as long as that is true, people are going to attempt to cross the border and get on American soil. Why would it ever be any other way?”

This is why nothing short of an actual physical border can stop this.  Tall, with razor wire on top.  And a constant advertising campaign reminding Americans that increasing the number of workers, especially low skill workers, will impoverish poor Americans. 

There is another fix: every American working for ten cents an hour.

I Went Out to Buy Cheerios...

And test drive a Cadillac CT4.  This was the AWD, turbocharged 2.7L 4-cylinder.  Definitely more acceleration than my Jaguar or last Corvette.  It had pretty impressive cornering although on a test drive I did not push it too hard to avoid terrifying the.salesman.

The seats were adequately firm.  These were not the 14-way adjustable seats.  (How many adjustments does a human body need to get comfortable?). Cadillac has been taking lessons from Mercedes whose seats seemed too firm when you first sat down but were absolutely perfect after a couple of hours.

It has an adequate back seat for my M1A and 5" refractor but not for adults.  I do not think my granddaughter (who is part giraffe) could sit back there.

They had no CT5s in stock.

Dan "Kenneth, What's the Frequency Kenneth" Rather is Back

 For those of you to remember, ChicagoBoyz reminds us that what finally demonstrated that the memo supposedly destroying George Bush's reputation in the Air National Guard was created in 1974 with Microsoft Word using Times New Roman.  And the left is still defending the accuracy of this time travel project.

Logitech Z313 Speakers With Subwoofer

 I bought these for the old TV with awful speakers.  I no longer need them.  Get a bargain on eBay.

Sold!  I think eBay suggested too low a price.

The New TV Has Bluetooth So I am Selling These Wireless Sennheiser TR 165 Headphones on eBay

Get a bargain on eBay.  They look terrible, but work great.

Metal-Free Belts?

The last time I passed through a federal courthouse security check, it made me realize how weak TSA security theater really is.

Nonetheless, it would be nice to reduce the metal that requires removing.  There are a variety of belts that do not use metal buckles (often Velcro to hold the belt tilt). Some are leather, some are nylon which has a little stretch which is useful because sitting down puts demands on the belt that are not there when standing 

Can any of you recommend a metal-free belt that fits in dress pant loops?

When Your Water Turns Yellow

A week or two after we moved in to the new house the water was coming out of the tap clear and after a few hours turning light yellow.  Second semester freshman chemistry involved memorizing the color of all the oxidation states of transition metals (and that is as hard as it sounds).  I remembered that yellow was one of the iron colors.   +2? +3?  That was 40+ years ago.   But one of them was yellow.  Googling established that ferrous iron +2 comes out clear then yellows on exposure to oxygen.  There is a monstrous reverse osmosis/ozone generator that is supposed to remove iron.  

There are also two 10" long filters in the sequence: one carbon; one pleated paper for 30 micron grit.  Both were lovely shades of yellow and reddish brown.  It appears that the big canister did as much as it could and ferrous iron was slipping past.

A call to the local Kinetico dealer got us replacement filters and the water now stays clear.

I Am Not Sure How the Rest of the Movie Goes...

The opening couple minutes of Night Into Day without a word of dialogue captures a young L.A. couple falling in love getting married, moving into their first apartment, and then the relationship goes bad and just as they are signing divorce papers, they get Emergency Alerts on their phones Ballistic Missile Alert for Los Angeles.  Expertly done indie film for first 10 minutes.

I stopped part way through.  It was too depressing partly because the couple is getting sicker and sicker and without the right symptoms for radiation sickness and partly because I fear too many Gen-Zers will simply be this unaware.

A Clear Message

5/1/24 Yahoo News:

"After police arrived, officers lowered a Palestinian flag atop the City College flagpole, balled it up and tossed it to the ground before raising an American flag."