So I'm told, only in America do adults drink milk. That doesn't happen in other countries/cultures. Okay, I could believe that statement.
I like milk and limit it's intake. Fat free milk is too bland so I drink 2% milk.
There is a sophisticated coffee system in my office that pumps refrigerated milk into a heater for different coffee styles. It uses whole milk... if not, you cannot get the frothy top on cappuccino or whatever exotic selection you choose.
They ran out of milk so I bought some during lunch.
I didn't want hot coffee. Instead of sending my selection to the heater, I poured cold milk to black coffee. Yeah, I like it better.
Whole Milk...
The 1962 cartoon series The Jetsons is a look at what family life could/would be in the future where every family had their own flying vehicle. YouTube has dozens of videos of experimental one-man drones labeled eVTOL. Vertical Takeoff and Landing.
While they all make lots of claims like no-license, ultra-safe, long flight times, I haven't actually seen any production models flying around my neighborhood.
This morning another eVTOL popped up on my technical radar. It's called the Jetson ONE. At a cost of $92,000 production for 2022 is already sold out and they have taken lots of orders for 2023.
All but one or two of these concept flying vehicles have the rotor blades at knee level and my first thought is they fail miserably with regard to safety.
While they have a cool 3 minute video of the Jetson ONE, it's promoted as a fun vehicle.
The website calendar shows they booked one per month in 2022 and a list of more than 100 orders booked for 2023. Yeah, maybe lots of people have $92,000 to spare.
Official site:
Someone reminded me that yesterday was 4/20/22. That's significant to people who smoke... dope. Not on my radar. Okay, I've blogged about things like this before.
I once worked for a guy who smoked a few times a day. Actually it was more than a few times. I did freelance work for him on nights and weekends and had to go outside when he lit up as it bothered me.
Anyway, I've read lots of profiles that say they are 420 friendly.
The normal selections ask if you smoke (cigarettes) and drink.
I've seen other sites having a selection for recreational drugs.
That would eliminate surprises dating someone who assumed you took drugs because they do.
If CS does some programming updates asking if someone is 420 friendly could be a selection. The same goes for Tattoos and piercings.
Some people are turned on seeing their mate 'inked up' and having a field for that would allow members to search on tattoos as easily as looking for a redhead.
Years ago I blogged about patenting a device that when pointed at a vehicle and pressing a button it would send a burst of energy knocking out the computer control of the vehicle.
My state of mind at the time was to fry the control making the car (truck, etc.) useless and the person would have buy a new computer chip.
Computer chips are very expensive and in most cases very difficult to replace when basically, all I want to achieve is a simple 'don't cut me off' approach... maybe a more sophisticated jamming device would be suited for this purpose.
When would I use it?
Lots of places. Tailgaters for example. No matter how fast you drive, which lane you use, there are some people who will actually change lanes to follow you and stay 2 car lengths at 70 miles per hour.
One click and Zaaaappp... the computer in their car resets causing the motor to shut off! Good bye tailgater...
I should be in the way to the patent attorney's office, instead I'm heading to work.
(NOTE: For those who don't understand humor in a blog... creating, owning or using such a device would probably be in trouble with the law)
The year of the -ologists continues.
Yesterday it was a visit to a cardiologist. My request for a change in blood pressure was approved. An ultrasound of the heart is scheduled and waiting for a call to schedule a stress test.
Yeah... I need to up my daily activity in preparation for the stress test.
Someone I worked with who is 15 years younger than me and used to jog 5 miles daily went for a yearly physical and it was requested he go for a stress test.
Technicians stopped the test and sent him to the hospital.
One week and 4 stents later, he was allowed to go home.
Are you serious??
I've heard people having heart attacks while testing...
A friend suggested I rethink the test.
A man was in the crawl space trying to fix a plumbing issue at his girlfriend’s mobile home in western Pennsylvania when he discovered another problem.
He tells her "I think there is a dead body under there."
He was right.
The woman has lived in the mobile home for about five years with her daughter and she sometimes thought a dead animal was causing a bad smell.
FIVE YEARS??
Something about this story stinks!
Link here:
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett appear at the Oscars ceremony and comedian Chris Rock jokingly comments about Jada's hair loss. Will walks up to the stage and slaps Chris and shouts obscenities.
A joke gone too far? Obviously, there is something deeper than a joke.
While it's been a few weeks since the incident, the repercussions aren't over.
I'm bothered that she had a affair that's been publicized. Maybe Jada should have been slapped...
A blog appeared last week about 18,000 illegals entering into the United States daily. I followed the name of the guy who made that claim to see he does podcasts and his website asks his listeners for money. I compare that to TV Evangelists and ex-presidents.
Anyway, one day they fell short of 18,000...
"Woman dies attempting to climb border wall in Arizona after being trapped upside down" News link here:
That story made it on Monday. Old news... right?
A generation ago, many of my pilot friends were spread out as much as 50 miles. Local phone service beyond 20 miles was considered long distance and when we talked it was as much as 25 cents per minute.
One friend owned an electronics repair shop and got us into CB radio so we could communicate by car when getting to the flying field. It was also good when we broke for lunch and did a caravan deciding places to eat. Under normal circumstances car to car reception was only good (at best) for a few miles with a standard 5 watt radio. It was easy to tune the amplifier circuit and get more output. Add on an an external power booster of 150 watts and you could be clearly heard 10 miles. Talking on the radio became normal for us.
The guy with the repair shop took his hobby to extreme and in his house he had a 2,000 watt amplifier and specialized directional antennas that were on a tower with a rotating motor so he could point the array and easily talk 50 miles! It didn't take long for me to do the same. We were buying high quality ham radio gear and modified things to talk on CB frequencies and beyond. I always received good reports that my signal and audio was balanced and ultra clear.
My neighborhood was very 'radio active' and you could easily find someone nearby that would talk to in a group setting. If I wanted to go for dinner and asked if someone wanted to meet... a few people would jump into the announcement and join me.
With 40 channels to talk on, we were often separated by different groups. Rednecks stayed near channel 19 that was the call channel for mobile operation. the 'brothers' were on channel 7. Latinos could be found on 23. Teenagers often hung out on channel 1. Most of my friends would go to the higher channels as there was less traffic there.
Heterodyne is a noise made when 2 people try talking on the same channel at the same time. Neither can hear themselves and others listening would hear the strongest signal or when both were nearly equal in power a mixed signal. Sometimes. it a squeal and other times it's a buzzing sound. Often in group chat 2 people will talk and not know their signal is heterodyning with another operator.
When several people are in a fight you get several signals and different sounds of heterodyne. Most of the brothers were using a few hundred watts in their own neighborhoods as 'watts' dictated power. If you had sufficient power your signal could cut through heterodyne and block out the other signals.
The problem with too much power on tweaked CB radios is they 'splatter' sending a distorted wide signal that bleeds across several channels making it impossible for people to talk on adjacent frequencies. That's the reason for the different groups separating themselves across the 40 channels.
One day, I was getting splatter that affected hearing a neighbor. Someone was driving down a main road near my house. I knew he was a 'brother' and from the audio I knew he was running a few hundred watts. I turned on my amplifier and went to the channel the guy was on. He was telling his friends that he needed to get some 'motion lotion'.
Although I was an avid CB'er I usually refrained from CB jargon. I knew motion lotion was CB talk for gasoline. But, I wanted to rattle his cage as he was only a few blocks from me. I asked if the motion lotion was because his girlfriend was 'dry down there' and suggested he visit the local pharmacy.
Yeah, that touched a nerve and he started screaming some obscenities in retaliation. I could hear some heterodyne howling from his friends a few miles away.
Knowing I had considerably more power than him and operating with an antenna on a tower, I keyed the microphone and told his friends to tell him 'he got dusted'
To be dusted means someone with considerably more power comes over the top of your signal with the strength to eliminate heterodyne.
This week, I've gone back to watching YouTube videos about the life of Nikola Tesla and the common thread is he gave too much of his talents away... so much that it drained him. He died at the age of 81 after being hit by a taxi. Many years Tesla had been living alone in hotels leaving behind unpaid bills.
As a young man coming to America, Tesla had worked for Thomas Edison. This was a double edged sword as Edison had cheated him of money and inventions. However, Tesla had the chance to grow and expand his experiments in the laboratory environment.
Edison's idea was to power homes by direct current (DC) generators. The problem with direct current was the limitation of traveling long distances. Thick wires and power stations every few miles were needed to conduct this type of electricity.
Tesla didn't agree with Edison and had invented motors and generators that worked with alternating current (AC) so he could run much longer distances with thinner wires.
His use of alternating current was less expensive and was gaining in popularity. He partnered with George Westinghouse to provide AC power distribution.
This was affecting Edison's business to the point where Edison started a smear campaign of fear mongering the dangers of alternating current. In retaliation, he began to use alternating current and horrified spectators when he publicly executed animals.
Anyway, I find it ironic that the most famous electric car in America named Tesla, is powered by batteries that supply (DC) direct current.
I'm surprised to see the clarity of highway cameras. In the video below a car loses control entering a highway and slams into a box truck heading for an overpass. The truck hits the rail that retains the vehicle from going over the edge but the bursts into flames (like a Hollywood movie) billowing black smoke until (about 8 minutes later) the emergency fire truck arrives to cool things down.
It appears COVID-19 (and variant) numbers have gone down, so people have forgotten about social distancing, sanitizing, etc.
A designer I met with a month ago didn't respond to my emails on a project she brought to me. I know her family spent a few days together during Spring Break vacation.
I spoke to her on the phone. She and her entire family came down with COVID. A week later her daughter and husband suffered fever and flu-like symptoms are getting better.
Her 2 sons didn't do well, they had some respiratory problems. She's got the worst of it, despite double vaxx and booster, she's been coughing and having difficulty breathing.
More than a week later she's still testing positive for the virus.
I've heard that's possible, whether it's false readings, she isn't going anywhere until the coast is clear.
Letting your guard down...
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