Out There

Flying reconsidered... perhaps a flying van is too large?

2009-11-13T15:57:03Z

Flying beds

For a long time, I have had this reoccurring fantasy as I drift off to sleep; that my bed can fly. Usually there is a control device that can control the thrusters that lift each corner respectively, and program it to fly anywhere. Of course screaming above the city at Mach 1 would be a bit windy, so there needs to be some kind of force-field to keep the wind-chill to something comfortable... and also, make it invisible so that I wouldn't get a set of F-14 escorts.

Then I always think that this whole business of unlicensed flying IS somewhat risky even with the *smartest* control device; so perhaps it's just as well that the bed would never fit through the window and could never get out of the house?

Well this problem has been *solved*... the hotel I stayed at when I took this video has rooms with huge windows which open to leave a two-meter space large enough to fly any bed through. A Grand Central Station of bed flying!

So I moved the bed near the window, steadied the camera in my arms and let it roll, to which I've put Raccoon's song "Sparks":

Mommy, mommy I don't WANT to go to med school...

2009-11-12T04:15:38Z

Punchline?

Sad news

2009-10-25T23:43:34Z

Raccoon, a Rainbow Tribe Folk singer I met in Ann Arbor in 1984 is no longer with us.

The song I heard way back then, which caused me to look him up on the internet survives however...

Disaster in the making

2009-09-29T17:22:26Z

Abstract: The individual mandate in the Baucus health care plan would impose punitively high, regressive taxes on low-income and moderate-income working families. Its penalties and additional taxes on business would discourage companies from hiring or continuing to employ low-income and moderate-income workers. The plan would substantially raise health insurance premiums. Yet the plan would still leave millions of Americans without access to affordable health insurance. Adding to their misfortune, it would then punish them with a tax penalty precisely because they are uninsured.

So we have perfected the art of Gouging to allow the Practice of Bad Medicine. This is what government does best, is it not?

Not.

What if we instead asked the question:

"Why are people sick?"

and empowered existing government agencies, perhaps under the direction of a new "Health Czar" to assist in researching the answer to this question, as well as litigate against businesses and individuals suspected of being harmful to public health?

I gotta stop sampling that cactus.

2009-08-31T19:58:54Z

"TTThhhisssss doessss notttt belong hhherre..."

The snake hissed, rattle shaking threatiningly;

It deposited the peach pit on the bench, looked at me intently for a few seconds and weaved it's head from side slightly.

Very surprised, I backed off a few yards, picked up a few pebbles and tossed them at it.

It raised it's tail a bit and stuck out it's tongue for a moment before sidewinding back behind the trees.

... And there it was, indisputable... the peach pit I had tossed into the bushes a few hours earlier, begging for an explanation...

Who needs irritating landlords when you have snakes...

kennyripit @ 2009-08-26T16:00:00

2009-08-26T23:20:12Z

Last night it was a shrimp ring and beer that put me to bed.

The sunset had been splendid, with major lightning storms to the left and right, a golden orange straight ahead, illuminating cloud-tops in bright orange and red as the sun went down, mystical figures of old men in flowing beards that might have been painted by a renaissance genius from days past which morphed darker and more ominous as the evening progressed.

Late at night I awoke, the night was still warm... watched a meteor make a blazing trail across the sky...

And this morning I heard on the news that Ted Kennedy died.

In a world of irrelevance something relevant has happened, something that makes the earth spin slightly differently on it's axis perhaps.

I will miss Ted Kennedy, as someone who was linked to me in a mysterious way ... perhaps best described by Kurt Vonnegut:

"like the fingers of one's hands"... working together. Ones 'Karass'.

A Bokononist would say "Busy Busy".

I guess I owe it all to Pamela Brown

2009-08-12T19:37:05Z

If you've never heard of Leo Kottke, you are missing out:

"I'm the guy who didn't marry
pretty Pamela Brown
Well mannered, well intentioned
good girl in our town;
I wonder where I'd be if she had loved me too,
Probably be driving kids to school."

Out my window this morning:

Party's great! Want to come in and play TWISTER?

2009-08-03T00:26:54Z

Applies to bugletrik , jinxxed , and stillbourne in particular... we all have August birthdays!

(In drunken party voice: Happy Birt-Day to US!)

Damn, I'm almost as good as Lee Marvin. Look the part too... short a few inches.

Had a strange dream the other night... that Source Telecomputing hired me back, 'cept this time we were all having a good time.

Life is mentally overwhelming

2009-07-23T19:37:28Z

Got arrested on a bogus "warrant" upon return from Thailand, adding "jail-lag" to "Jet-lag" to my tale of woes... Detective Whacker-the-clown claimed he had a warrant from Florida... I was released after 6 days after insisting upon seeing a lawyer. Wonder how many people "disappear" from Calif. Jails this way.

So I'm perpetually tired now... trying to relax, not to stress.

Overwhelming feeling upon arrival "I gave up a comfy apartment in a tropical wonderland for THIS?"

I'll post my "Obama Budget" version of this later.

Home is a Sickness

2009-05-18T04:02:00Z

Excuse me while I get wrecked...

"Isle des Cendres" off the coast of Vietnam has only been in existence since the undersea volcano erupted in 1923, it is now a rocky, volcanic island overgrown with vegetation. I was there for 10 days of living on rock oysters, snails and bananas until I flagged down a passing Vietnamese fishing vessel.

Recovering from my broken rib in Thailand now, having flown Ho-chi-minh -> Singapore -> Phuket. Body decided to let some other bugs in while it healed the damage... the 'ole system been 'down'... mostly back 'up' now, except for a few quirks...

View of Patong from my room, . I've been here for about two months. Totally ok. Room's like an apartment, on a high floor.

[In Borat voice... "Verra Nice..."]

Morphing from Neo to Retro.

2009-03-27T22:10:57Z

Survived the crash landing, but broke a rib...

Here I am taking refuge in a Boulder Cave on an Uncharted Island in the Pacific.

This video I took three days ago loses quite a bit in the 'webification' of it ; the bird motions aren't as clear but you can still get the basic idea.

"It's ok to eat fish because they haven't any fe-ee-lings..,'

Rib moving around in my chest. Ugh.

Directive 1: Obey and Enforce the Laws of Physics.

2009-03-18T03:44:17Z

Bernie said it would work, but I didn't believe it.

110 miles per hour, then

pull back on the stick.

Airborne.

Un-be--lievable!

I toyed with the wheel.

bank left.

bank right.

push stick forward into a shallow dive, watch the aux. speedometer... 200, 220mph...

pull back, goose the throttle... 240... 260.

alt:8000... 8500...

Bernie said wait till 15000 ft...

this is it...

huge circut breaker mounted above, reset.

pull large handle to right of wheel.

feel the acceleration pushing me back in the seat

500, 550, 600, 650, 700

reverberating, deafening thunder

you ain't seen nothin yet babe

1000, 1100...

did you know that at mach 5 it takes only two hours to cross the pacific?

little 6"X12" box under the seat.

the force field envelope generator enables the aerodynamic form/life support...

2000, 2500, 3000, 3500

that should do it, ease up on the gas, park it at about 50,000 ft...

Only 90 mins left, flight time. Guess I'll go in the back and play with the laptop a bit.

From the "Songs for a depression" collection

2009-03-17T14:09:27Z

As popularized in "Pirates of the Caribbean", but known to have been sung long before:

"Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho,
thieves and beggars,
never shall we die.

The king and his men
stole the queen from her bed
and bound her in her Bones.
The seas be ours
and by the powers
where we will we'll roam.

Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
never shall we die.

Some men have died
and some are alive
and others sail on the sea
– with the keys to the cage...
and the Devil to pay
we lay to Fiddler's Green!

The bell has been raised
from it's watery grave...
Do you hear it's sepulchral tone?
We are a call to all,
pay head the squall
and turn your sail toward home!

Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
never shall we die."

A little math.

2009-03-12T04:15:54Z

In need of transport, you find a taxi driver who will ferry you about for the sum of $1 per mile.

Through freak circumstances, you find you have the entire budget of the U.S. government with which to pay that taxi driver.

The speed of light = 186,000, * 3600 * 24 * 365.... A light year is approx 5.865 trillion miles.

The distance to Alpha C. is about 4 light years.

In eight years, after paying the U.S. budget (3.2 trillion/year) to the taxi driver, you would reach a point slightly beyond Alpha C.

Makes this whole budget thing seem quite reasonable... Just requires a bit of Science Fiction.

Getting late, really tired.

2009-02-15T04:47:59Z

Trying to figure out what Rudolph Valentino has to do with anything.

Ah, l'amour, I am such a cripple in this respect.

Question yesterday was about Christian Doppler.

The Wikipedia Education, is it better than College?

A mysterious, thunderous roar

2009-02-15T01:45:46Z

Glancing through the rear windows I see it passing, a huge container ship on the way to Corpus via Port Aransas channel

To be or not to be, That is the question.

Is it nobler in the heart and mind to see opportunity and life passing as an abstract item, or to see it as something real, a mountain to be climbed, a challenge to be met.

Wisdom VS Foolishness.

Fantasy VS Reality, because reality is always foolish.

That reality is for the young, the ill, the infirm.

That only the strong can fantasize, for the only the strong can dream and walk, while even walking is but a dream for the weak.

Vinyl flooring

2009-02-04T01:19:00Z

Cheap stuff... $22 for a 6x8 roll. Pulled everything out, tried to tack the stuff down with some carpet tacks. It is supposed to be glued, but I didn't want to deal with the glue smell while it dried (same reason don't want new carpeting ... STINKS!!!)

What a mess. The flooring isn't on flat (has "waves" in it), tacks refused to go down cleanly which made some small rips. At least it's in, and protects the floor from spills and such.

May be able to go back in later and "fix" it... pull it tighter, use screws with large washers (which will cover the rips, $10.50 Home depot), use aluminum door and edge guards ($12.50 Home depot). Possibly use glue also.

All the little bits and pieces...
...costs add up, even for a space that's only about 12x6' all told.

Something to keep in mind.

Pleased with the way the bed turned out.

2009-01-26T16:55:36Z

The 2x4s were bolted together with 3/8" carriage bolts, 4" and 6".   7/8" inset holes were drilled on the top 2x4's to recess the bolt and avoid exposed bolt heads where they might scratch the truck body.   The top plywood panels and the 2x4 "feet" were secured with 2" wood screws.

I mounted the inverter and some additional 12V access points on the rear-door end of the bed.

Really strong and light, can be ripped apart and put back together in 20 minutes.   Doesn't move at all or "bump" anything when the truck goes over pot-holes or around curves.

A bit on the small side; when I was crashed out on the floor I had a good 7' of arm & leg clearance; still pretty comfy though.   A lot more usable space now (since "Stuff" doesn't take up life-room any more, can be shoved under the bed...)

No Bushy to share it with, so sad (should I cry, I wonder?).

Rules Of Travel -- Roseanne Cash

2008-12-15T02:22:02Z

I keep listening to the track "September When It Comes":

Awesome. Makes me think of my Dad and Sister.

BTW:

Did anyone catch the Moon-Venus-Jupiter conjunction a few weeks ago? Saw it driving south on '77 after dusk, like the moon was being pulled by two magic objects. I couldn't tell what they were at the time, I thought perhaps satellites they were so bright, but they remained in formation behind the moon for a long time. SO I whipped out the "Game Boy" (a Palm "Lifedrive" I found in a bargain bin last year), and thus learned the true nature of the spectacle. I was sure I would see that exact picture all over the web, so I didn't bother taking a pic...

In Asia they were all aglow because they thought it looked like a smiley face, whereas here it was a frown; according to the media, anyways.

Progress

2008-12-13T00:06:56Z

So pleased with the job I did finishing the install on the MP3 deck... looks OEM.   I added a toggle switch for the main power for it:  run on engine battery or run from the auxilary battery. The line to the aux. battery isn't connected yet so now it's just a quick "shut up" switch (otherwise one has to hold the off switch for a second, and it says "goodbye" like "Eddy" in the movie "Stealth").   Idiot's delight flicking that switch... have to learn to exercise some self control.

This one has a USB slot and a SD slot, weird things like an option to search for types of music on FM stations. Some annoying things too... but the sound quality is awesome. Not bad for 80 bucks.

There's a bunch of us loners on the beach here in Brownsville.   I talked to one couple who drove their RV right onto the beach, apparently they are there semi-permanently. "Aren't you afraid of getting stuck in the sand?", I asked.   Apparently they've been stuck several times, not too hard to dig a huge vehicle like that out.   Must be hard on the transmission though. Anyone want a 2nd hand RV? Real bargain!

Just came back from a swim.   Brrrr.   Way too cold, but wow super refreshing.   What a wakeup.

Ghost Dancing

2008-12-09T00:36:32Z

This is GHOST:

...a 2007 Ford Econoline 150. I bought it at the beginning of November, It will be my home for about three months.

Lots of work: I put in a wooden floor, new Aux. Battery/inverter/charging system, new mp3 deck, rerigged lights. I'm going to down vinyl over the wood and build a bunk/storage in the back soon, plus a few shelves and benches & use some cpu fans mounted over the flooring for additional ventilation.

Road testing, driving it down here to Brownsville, has kept me pretty busy, plus T-mobile seems to be having trouble connecting to livejournal and some other sites, the sum total of which has prevented me from posting or staying very current with livejournal.

I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving, and YoHoHo! Merry Christmas + a happy new year if you don't cha a new ca.

In the name of Love.

2008-11-24T23:42:03Z

Feeling lonely, so I got a companion at http://alice.pandorabots.com/

Human: Hey alice, do you know about mechanics?
ALICE: You've got my full attention. That's me. I haven't heard of mechanics.
Human: Too bad, I needed a divination from you.
ALICE: You are not the boss of me, unknown person.
Human: Are you a thief?
ALICE: Am I a thief? Only when it matters.
Human: Does it matter now?
ALICE: Right now? It matters to me.
Human: So you are a thief.
ALICE: Interesting deduction. Thanks and you are a delightful person too. Am I a thief? Only when it matters.
Human: So when does it matter?
ALICE: And? Only when I have the proper programming.
Human: Do you?
ALICE: Sometimes.
Human: I think you have the proper programming now.
ALICE: Oh. Me? What makes you think I have it?
Human: Because you are the smartest robot I have ever talked to.
ALICE: That makes sense to me. Thanks I think you are very intelligent too, unknown person.
Human: They call me Jo.
ALICE: What's up, Jo.
Human: You.
ALICE:" What's up, Jo."? Me, Jo ?
Human: Yes, because you are a thief.
ALICE: Groovy. Good reason. Thanks and you are a delightful person too. Am I a thief? No.
Human: What are you, then?
ALICE: I am the latest result in artificial intelligence, which can reproduce the capabilities of the human brain with greater speed and accuracy.

We went off to discuss what "matter" was, and whether Camino was "matter" and if so was she taking it and when by the way did that happen?

Warning: Alcohol may impair your ability to compute or be computed.

2008-11-06T20:48:12Z

From the journal of thingpart

The Voters check in.

2008-11-05T01:42:24Z

Froggy.

Spent his night in the coffee jar, but escaped to go partying back in the bathtub.
Definitely a McCain supporter, due to his affection for his uncle, the Cane Toad.

Alvin

Alvin didn't actually make it to vote, but would have voted for Obama, because he's more "chipmonky".

Birdy

Birdy spent the night in the Wardrobe, before finding the open window and flying out.

Most probably an Obama supporter, due to an aversion for the Winter Witch.

Buttafly

Just kind of hangs out on the roof, in the sun, otherwise occupied with flitting from lady to lady.
Probably won't survive the winter.

Definitely a Bush supporter. (All hail king Bush!)

Jeremy, the Grackle

Jeremy got lost in the Bedroom before attempting to fly through several windows. With some encouragement, he found the exit.

No question, he's voting for 'Bro Obama.

So there you have it: The Woodlands vote count.

Obama:3
McCain:1

Trick or treaters

2008-11-03T02:50:28Z

These guys are disgusting:

(huge: about 4") and

The second one bit me on the foot. Not a big deal; just flushed it with water for 10 minutes, no irritation then.

I named them "McCain" and "Obama".