The Most’est of the Post’est

Tuesday, May 19th 2020… “It’s always something…”

The subject line… that’s what SNL’s Rosanne Roseanna Danna would say. I am trying desperately to secure my network at home and my website. I don’t want to have to spend so much time learning crap that helps me do these things. It’s a waste of my time, money, and effort. I’d rather be doing something else besides keeping assholes out – who have nothing better to do than steal from me. What is it these days? My website – has nothing of value to anyone but me at this point. A blog that allows no one to comment or post, that is away from search engines, that uses no advertising – a fucking anomaly. But yet, like clockwork, some asshole’s bot is trying to guess my password 5 times per day via a some proxy. I only have 1 user. That’s the funny part, if it wasn’t so sad. WTF, asshole? I needed to whitelist my WAN IP address, which brings me to my next problem.

My home wifi. I also have that buttoned down, except for some crappy modem/router that I get to use from my cable provider. It’s like swiss-fucking-cheese. First, I had better slow my roll… I’ll post about this again tomorrow.

On a different note (like the transition?), I just put the new guitar strap on with the locks. Started practicing – from the beginning (again). Hopefully, I can keep up the momentum. That’s one thing that my language app “Duolingo” taught me. That slow and steady wins the race. I’m learning Dutch! I will see if i can get my new inexpensive, plastic pedals on today. Did I mention that these pedals only cost me $14 dollars? The first pedals that I picked up were very sexy but were $119 – Yikes! They were metallic black and very industrial looking – machined to the hilt. They used words like “Black-Ops” and “Chromoly” (whatever the fuck that is). I think it’s a made up word actually, because chrome is one thing (shiny plating) and “moly”, short for molybdenum (a whitish-silvery metal that is an element and highly ductile, corrosion resistant and has a really high melting point) is another. I digress… that’s the problem with having a science background (I find everything interesting). Also, the problem with ADD is I get easily sidetracked. What I was going to say was, that I want to get my bike – trail ready for tomorrow morning. Also, i started looking for a used bench for working out in the mornings. I need something sturdy, not cheesy. I think “Letgo” will fill the bill.

-Rat

Thursday, May 14th 2020… Yeah, still working like a dog…

I think we should change “OK Boomer…” to “OK Mule…” Because, if you are one of the multitude of tele-workers of this economy, you are being overworked and burnt out. Companies have figured out or are figuring out that they don’t need their offices. You can work from home just fine now, they can save money, you can have no life, they can utilize no boundaries, and guess what? You don’t like it? Quit. Hahahahahaha…… Piss off!

Ok, I’m done with my rant. BTW, I also hate audit. Everything that makes sense, gets the microscope. Stuff that makes no sense. Who cares? Well I thought I was done. Ok, now I’m done.

It was raining all morning today and I still have 1 meeting left and need to go to Costco by 5pm. Ugh. A place I would like to avoid.

No light on my bike yet, no new pedals, no clean basement, my life is a mess. At least I have my work ethic. I did however order a new guitar strap and some Schaller straplocks for my Epiphone ES-335. Ive been scared to play it because it wont sit nicely on my lap like my Strat without guitar straps. It’s been “sitting” on the wall collecting dust for several years now. I don’t need a broken neck. I am motivated to practice and learn from listening to Billie Eilish this afternoon.

It’s also been interesting learning security stuff about my site and associated applications. I would have done it earlier but i just never made time to. It always worked – until it didn’t.

-Rat

Monday, May 11th 2020 … Hmmm, the recent stability thing scares me…

It’s been a month >crickets< - Nice! Anyhoo, my site still works. So, I got a pre-driven Trek Madone 5.1 road bike. I used https://www.bicyclebluebook.com and bought it from a gent in South Bend, Indiana. Sweet! It’s light as hell (carbon fiber). Did the trail last weekend with my neighbor, Chris. Was my first time out on a path this year. The cardio part kicked my butt. Did it again Friday and wasn’t too bad. Still a butt kicker but not as bad. I think I am going to put my light on the bike this week and see how 5:30am feels on the trail. Been working like a dog still. Got some more vintage stereo stuff and bought a Topping DAC D50s (see https://drop.com/buy/topping-d50s-dac) with a linear power source. The thing is built like a brick shit house. You could beat someone to death with it. It’s that solid. I’m going to pair it with my DVD changer. My mini-disk players have built in 192kHz 24bit DACs and they sound killer. So, this should work just as good since it has a Toslink optical up-link. Need to get some new cable with banana connectors for my speakers and run them to different places in the basement. I like sonics. So, I have 6 speakers, 3 pairs in different parts of the basement. I’ve been listening to vinyl lately and occasionally, flip to CD/DVD however, I don’t typically like the sound due to the low bit rates and crappy channel separation. The streaming sounds really good if I can find the right album version. I’m a bit of an audiophile.

The sense thing has been fairly interesting and enlightening. Had to hire an electrician to install, which was good because to get it on, he did have to take the central neutral off to get the induction clips on and that sucker is a huge wire. My circuit box is an upgraded 200amp. I bought this gizmo almost 2 years ago when it was in the prototype phase. You can check it out at https://sense.com I was using an electric space heater for the laundry room which is part of the currently unheated garage. It turned out to cost us an arm and a leg. I think this year I will re-pipe the existing garage heater. Last year at the beginning of the fall, I was hell-bent on getting it to run. I almost blew up the house in the process. Luckily I have a gas shut off valve for that line in the basement. In any event, I found out that my average vampire power is around 213v per second. Which as it also turns out, is pretty good. I was able to identify almost all electrical appliances in the house. Its kind of nifty with it’s own app and up to the second power consumption/real time information via my iPhone. Vampire power is the power that your “turned off” electronics use to keep their IC’s up to date with your last channel, channel line up, clock, configurations and settings, time, etc..

On a sad note, my friend Father Peter Jarosz passed away on April 26th, 2020 – I think from COVID. Nowhere is it really stated, nor disproved and frankly, I wouldn’t trust the data anyway. Using common sense and looking/thinking concerning the things that happened and length in the ICU on a vent, COVID-19 makes sense. Anyway, he was just a good guy to spend some time with or just sit and talk to. Rest in peace Father Peter.

I am praying for our first responders including my paramedic nephew Mike, my niece Megan who is an addiction counselor, and my friend who is a nurse at Rush.

-Rat

Friday, April 24th 2020… Get it while the gettin’s good…

Happy New Year! I’ve been trying to post but my site is really exciting for hackers to fuck with. I don’t get it. Whatever. I’ll figure it all out sooner or later, it’s just a matter of time. So, what all has happened, you ask? Hmm, Vintage Stereo Equipment fun, work like a dog (nothing new), looking for a road bike for this years bike season. Still shuffling the crap around in the basement. Getting there. No Taiichi recently which has been a bummer. Going to start treadmill again. Our electric bill has increased by 130% since last year March. That’s been a focus lately. I had a “Sense” electrical monitor installed in the breaker box. I think I’m having issues with it connecting to the internet via the downstairs network.

-Rat

Friday, November 22nd 2019…”OK boomer…”…

Wow, I never thought it would come to this. Yes, while I am an admitted baby boomer, albeit at the tail end of the range. I think I need to speak up for the baby boomers. Then, I need to speak up for the millennials and Gens. I don’t think anyone of my generation wants to destroy the environment or mortgage their kids futures. At least not on purpose. That said, I will not say the same thing for companies – either big or small. What’s the difference you ask? Well, the difference is that companies are only for making money, or strategically loosing it, and while they can also be entities with rights, they do not have emotions. Never let it be said that practicality or common sense will get in the way of making money in a capitalistic society. That society created by our forefathers is all about making money in the guise of freedom. Somewhere in the timeline our political system was corrupted, probably by some well meaning lawyer. In case, you haven’t noticed, almost ALL politicians are lawyers – except for one who is notable (I’ll get to him later). What are successful lawyers good at doing? Arguing points and laying out cases that they personally, do not believe in. In my book, I’d call that professional lying. Stretching a kernel of truth with fallacy. Co-opting their and your morals for money. Big companies lobbying for laws that are pitched on the surface to help people. In actuality, most laws only benefit companies. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. A little here, a little there, and over 250 years you have some meaningful corruption built on “good” change. That is, as long as no one is actually looking to deeply. Our political system is so broken to the point that I believe that there is almost no way to fix it. At least not without ripping it apart, examining EVERYTHING, and revamping it. I have only one question? Who or what entity would I trust to do this? It would have to be someone/something beyond reproach. There is nothing or nobody on this earth I would trust enough to do this. After all, it’s lawyers, politicians, and MBA’s who got us to this place. You wouldn’t get all the brick layers together to figure this out? Although that actually may be acceptable.

As far as millennials/Gens (GenX/GenY) are concerned, Boomers have to lay off the condescending judgement and keep their comments to themselves. After all, Boomers thought long hair, wide lapels, huge bell bottoms, and pastel leisure suits were in. And who the hell developed disco? And who the hell alienated their own peers having to go off and die in a war (Vietnam)? Boomers were not all that bright anyway. Who would sell their own mothers for a buck? A baby boomer. Who developed political correctness? A boomer, that’s who. Where did all the MBA’s come from? Baby boomers, that’s where. Most things that are bad with our civilization were exacerbated by baby boomers. Did we have plenty of chances to fix it? Hell yea. I’m really sorry kids that it took us so long to realize this and try and fix it with what we had available. Yes, that is Donald Trump. We tried before with H. Ross Perot but he was extorted and fell apart. Now, did we really believe Trump was awesome and good for the country? Not really, but he was the lesser in evils in our eyes. What I am saying is that I think that as country, we realized the political system is broken and we needed an outsider to see what they could come up with. Both sides (Democrats and Republicans) see him as a threat and are seeking to eliminate him from the narrative. I think that in time, he will be re-elected because there is no alternative outsider. We are pretty sure that he can’t fuck the political country up more than it is, and he might be part of some of the chaos we need to tear out the corruption – if only by mistake. Now, I am a fiscal conservative and a social liberal. I identify with both parties in principle. I think that Democrats needed to actually work on bettering the country instead of dividing it by spending all their god damn time and energy trying to get ONE person out of office – just to satisfy what they think is their base. Democrats say they are liberal, and anything goes socially, they appear youthful and charismatic, and “give handouts” in terms of social programs that are not really thought out – we’ll get em to vote for us if we give them something and can cater to their good nature and optimism. On the other side, if Republicans say they are conservative, and moral, they may “appear” wise, and if say they are fiscally conservative, – we can get em’ to vote for us – the right wing, moral and religious. Both sides need each other, and both sides need people to work. If no one is working, you can’t tax. You need a carrot and stick. We aren’t the Egyptians building the pyramids with slave labor.

But both sides are just full of shit. They are professional “can kickers” that want political power to make money because they really don’t want to work an honest job in society. This country is built on the backs of the people. Boomers want to maintain the status quo from the 50’s and can’t think to lose it. Millennials and Gens need to realize that politics HAS TO CHANGE and status quo will not do it. Don’t listen to the politicians or the media, they like status quo. They are funded by the status quo. Trump while appearing as a problem is really just a sideshow, a distraction. However, It’s how the solution needs to begin.

-Rat

Thursday, November 21st 2019… Whats going on?…

Well, Michigan plays Indiana this weekend at Bloomington. Go Blue! State is beaten and behind us, we are in 12th and need to spank Indiana big time to move up in the standings and then its on to Ohio State next weekend. Hopefully Blue won’t get complacent. I looked at my past posts for earlier this year, ha! Still on a diet and fighting the good fight of donuts – those insidious devil rounds. And fuck that devil den where they come from. DD. Started treadmill and pushups and am sore this week. Took today off. Back to it tomorrow morning at 5am. Today I picked up the Turkeys. Thanks Work!

The bathroom is completed that was started last year around this time. Still fighting the good fight with the basement. I think I’m going to work from home tomorrow. I need a slow day. My counterpart was out for the past 2 weeks working on his executive MBA. I need to create a list of things that I need his help or input on. My wife’s friend wanted to borrow my mini-van this week to get all her stuff together for the big craft show at the Odium (Villa Park). I am using her new/used Ford Explorer. My car stereo is way better. Hers is lacking fidelity and separation – lame. I would definitely need to bring it to the dealer to get it fixed. Sounds like crap.

-Rat

Wednesday, November 20th 2019…It never ceases to amaze me…

It never ceases to amaze me the coddling nature of the guilty or self-centered. I just read an article concerning the “Introverted Nature of Millennial’s”. Now I’m one for reading self help articles, but sometimes they just don’t pass the “sniff” test – meaning, well, they smell like shit. While Millennial’s may be introverted, it may just be their own fault – and they need to own it. Coddling, perpetuated by a guilt ridden parents, society that can’t bare to say what it is due to political correctness, or you might hurt someone’s feelings, companies that are afraid that they’ll miss the Millennial money train, new age psychologists due to monetary pressures that don’t ever teach that life is hard and anything that’s worth having is difficult. Hell, your parents should teach you that. The internet says lets use a life hack, take a short cut, social media says everyone owes you, I’m due, parents say you can be anything you want to be… no you can’t – not without doing the work. It’s not healthy, do the hard work. You won’t need all the other crap.

-Rat

Monday, November 11th 2019 …You gotta love Joe Ledger…

I get such a kick out of this guy. Jonathan Maberry is such a good writer, he makes this guy come to life along with verbal performance artist Ray Porter. I think they work wonderful together. I’ve read much and these guys keep it fun and interesting. I think I’m on my one-hundred and third audio book from Audible and have listened to over fifty books from Apple. I like being well entertained by decent literature. Nothing worse than a poorly written book.

-Rat

Monday, October 21st 2019 …ugh…sloth…

I feel like I need to write something today. My diet has been nonexistent. My workouts sporadic, my stretching more so, tai-chi nonexistent, yoga nonexistent, meditation nonexistent. I feel like I’m just existing, not really living. I think I need a reset, a vacation. My weekend was a whirlwind with 2 benefit dinners, taking my father-in-law to dialysis, Saturday, I put away all the patio/outdoor stuff in the shed and garage – busy, busy. Hell, I haven’t even gave my friends daughter her shower gift for the baby, by the time i get around to that, the baby will be graduating high school. Crap, this is even supposed to be a short week, but I still have watercolor class, Costco shopping, going to my daughters house to get a pallet and drop off a birthday card, a doctors appointment, still get in some workouts, maybe a bike ride, a work from home day, then off to Brown County.

-Rat