Sunday blahs

 I guess it's the Sunday/weekend blahs. 

Bend, Oregon mother gets her 15 minutes of fame; book deal pending

 I'm sure she's proud. Her son, who she bought the gun for and taught to shoot it, has killed some kids and a teacher I think. It's made the news which takes more than 1-2 deaths in the US. It will all be forgotten about in a week anyway but might as well write about it now. 

This happens over and over. Parent or parents find themselves at 40-something, not having accomplished as much as they thought they ought to have, so they have one final chance at some fame, which to Americans is life itself. Teach their kid to shoot and point them towards a school! 

Then when the dust has settled, there are book deals, made-for-TV movies, etc.  Not to mention the morning talk show circuit with types like Regis Philbin. 

I got up today, did a quick run to the bank and to Whole Foods, and got back here in time to take the packages I'd packed to the post office and FedEx. 

The run to/from the bank was interesting in that the zombies are out, and in force, due I guess to the warm weather. Makes 'em more hungry for brainnnnnnnns I guess. I even had one on a bike start to follow me I think, I *think* the thing trying to ask me for money. I just don't understand the scumbag dialect and I guess they're intelligible to each other but they're sure not to me. I started to get my pepper spray out, and increased my pace a bit, and when I next checked the thing was no where in sight. 

Even on the shipping run, the damn things were around, and it gets dark early now so the rule applies that one generally hears a zombie before they see it. 

 

Looking forward to homework

 By which I mean, filling out my ballot so I can mail it in. 

Ken came by last night, I got my pay check (dated for *last* Friday but he means this one) and while Ken still hasn't signed the new lease,  I got him as far as sending the landlord a text and an email, and he looked up their new office address so he can go in person. 

It seems his laptop, still running Windows 10, was used by hackers somehow to send spam emails to the other workers at his job. So he turned it into their IT guy, who's "working on it". The trouble is, Ken says, the guy hates him and he hates the guy. I said that should not interfere with getting the problem taken care of, but it might be time to see about getting a newer laptop. One of his sons works for a company where he can obtain laptops and Ken says he'll get one from him. 

(Meanwhile I have a Windows 11 laptop waiting in reserve, but I may have to pay a place to install my preferred browser on it). 

So Ken's been essentially experimenting which how much he can piss off the landlord, to hopefully(?) be put on the month-to-month rent rate, which will be at least $1000 a month more. 

If that happens I think things can hold together here until mid-September next year, probably. But not certainly, and I need to be ready to move out sooner. 

After Ken had gone and I'd recovered a bit, I realized I was very tired so I just practiced and then went to bed. The practice went very well. The practice before, the night before, had gone so-so, but this one went quite well so this shows that regular practice is a very good thing.  

A Generalized Theory Of Boomers

 Yes, the generation of psychopaths. 

To keep it short and quick, the theory is this: Starting with the "Progressive Era" there was a great push to educate the general populace in the US. Along with this and improving technology, there were tons of "how to" or "self help" books published, and a big market for them. Around this time, there were "modern" theories of child-raising, advocating things like, "If a baby's crying, ignore it and let the little fella 'cry himself out'". 

Mothers and babies were separated right at childbirth, only meeting a day or two (or three) afterward. And so on. It was a sort of "be cruel to be kind" theory, that children would be "spoiled" if they were treated like humans. 

Naturally this theory would have been strongest among the most educated, the most "striving", the working and lower-middle and middle class striving upward. 

This would mean not only Boomers but my grandparents, raising my 1930s era, "Silent Generation" parents. 1930s - 1950s. 

Enter Harry Harlow and his experiments with infant monkeys. By the late 1950s to early 1960s, his theories, developed from work from the 1930s, showed that babies need love, full stop. That you end up with some psycho monkeys if they're not raised with love. And this extends to humans. 

Harlow's work, starting in the 1930s, published  in the 1950s, and not getting through to the same public who read those "be cold to your kids or you'll spoil 'em" books, until the 1960s, would explain why most (but not the later ones) boomers and also Silent Generation people like my parents would be, basically, psychopaths. 

While boomers are considered to be those born 1945-1965, I'm going to say there was a real change after 1960s. The real deciding factor is, ask yourself, was Woodstock a thing you went to or were of the age to go to, or a thing you saw ads for T-shirts for in the back of comic books as a pre-teen in the 1970s and wondered what the hell it was? A lot of the "hippies' who went on to be "me-first!" yuppies were actually Silent Generation, not boomers. 

And I'm not saying leaded gasoline, the Cold War, Ayn Rand, and all those awful "Cowboys 'n' Indians" movies weren't factors. But I think this "Be tough on 'em from the day of birth on" child-raising philosophy, widely popularized, is also one of the major factors. 

Gen-X and later are properly horrified at the standard American boomer practice of kicking their kids out by age 18, being determined and loud about not leaving them any inheritance, and even in some cases charging them rent and for their food etc. from when they start working in their early teens. People in normal countries are horrified at this also. 

And we can't discount the influence and control of the small-hats. An atomized mass of goyim are easier to control and exploit then a unified goyim with a sense of Folks. The USA is Exhibit A on this subject.  

Anyway, I think this (as far as I know) undocumented drastic change in what was considered the best way to raise children might account for "the generation of psychopaths" and could be worth doing a fully researched article or even book (does anyone read actual books any more?) about.  

The Great Clean-Up

 I was up overnight packing something like 25 things. Since I'd taken that big thing to FedEx earlier in the day, all the things I packed actually fit in two cloth Whole Foods bags. 

Then I did a practice session and it went well. There are underlying things that just practicing, period, trains. Breath control and "support" etc. 

I was up at 3, out the door at 4, and took my 25 or so packages to the downtown post office. Then I went over to Sakura Market for some coffee, stopped at Nijiya on the way back for some cilantro, and got back here. 

On my way back, I checked where I'd "harvested" all those boxes from. It was probably my best packing materials "harvest" ever, since they're just the right size and in fact I'd used three of them last night. The area was completely clean. Not only the five or six boxes of random junk but the old tires and even the bed headboard that had been there for a months. Plus the long box I'd left on this side that once held some kind of big probes, was gone too. Absolutely great. 

 

Did I ever sleep pt. II

 Up at 4PM today. At almost 5, I get a call from Ken. "Why was I supposed to come to the shop today?" 

The new lease still hasn't been signed, and I called Ken at 1:30AM because I knew he'd be home, to remind him of it. He was watching some TV show, LOUD and I had to ask him to mute it so I could hear him. The landlord's secretary had sent him something called Adobe Sign, but he's been having problems with his laptop so as he put it, "I haven't been doing computer stuff" lately. 

OK ... So first he decided he ought to come here and use my computer, but then we decided the best thing to do is to go the the landlord's office and take care of it it there, tomorrow since today's a federal holiday. 

So just now I got this call, since Ken only remembered that he needed to come here to the shop, or something. I got him back on the right sheet of music and hopefully he takes care of it. 

I think I really need to be ready to jet out of here sooner than mid-September 2007, if it comes to that. Ken seems determined to fuck up the lease signing and get us onto the month-to-month rate which will be at least a thousand dollars a month more and will wreck the already delicate finances of this operation - and Ken's household. 

Thus, I'm glad I got all the sensitive papers I'm discarding - "popcorn" - all burned up and will keep up with that stuff from here on out. I need to get my "Real ID" but now have the papers I'll need easily at hand. 

Last night I got rid of another bulky hunk-O-junk that I was tired of moving out of the way in the shop - this big X-Y table. I ended up taking it apart because there was one neat motor on it plus a couple of worm drives, couple of sensors, some bearings, etc. Neat stuff. 

I also practiced and I simply need to practice daily, at least an hour each session. It's not possible to progress in technique if I don't have the basic practice in. And Christmas season, and Christmas songs, are coming up. 

The post office is closed today but I called FedEx and they were open regular hours, so I packed up a test instrument for a guy, that's one of HP's final hurrahs in their age of building test equipment by the pound. I think we only got $50 for it, too. I'd have some out ahead taking it apart. The guy bought it and a circuit board so I packed both in a big box and a few cables for another guy who'd "rather get them sooner than later" that I could send by FedEx. 

After dropping off the packages at FedEx (which involved helping a lady put a big box into her car, so I could use the FedEx cart which she'd used) I went to H Mart and had KFC - Korean Fried Chicken. And a can of coffee. 

I wanted to get the calories in because I had a feeling I'd be pretty busy and I was right. On my way out I'd spotted what looked like some nice boxes, brand new, behind Galli Produce. So on my way in I checked them out again and they're really nice. And really heavy since they're flat and there were three big boxes of them, so I want to say 150 of the things. They're sturdy, a handy small size, and only say "QMedic" on them, and that's easy to put the shipping label on top of. 

Plus there was a bunch of junk left out here that was a combination of my stuff and my neighbors' stuff. So I did something like 5 trips back and forth, getting rid of stuff and getting those boxes moved back here. And I had to get rid of the tons of little very flat boxes I'd gathered a while back and never used. So I was busy! 

 

 

Did I ever sleep

 Yesterday was kind of productive. I cleared stuff off of a rolling equipment rack and got it into the office, cleaned it up, then put it in an area of the warehouse just on the other side of the office/warehouse door where it's easy to access, and to show to anyone who wants to buy it. 

To do this, I had to move this huge dewar, basically a giant Thermos, that's really heavy. I had to do what's basically a sumo training exercise, to "ninch" it millimeter by millimeter into a space by the breaker box which, surprisingly, it first into fine. Sure it will take some monkey-crawling to get to the breakers, but I can' do that and once I'm gone it's someone else's problem. Not really hard for any fit person to get to. 

I also dragged a big motor I'd wanted to get out of here, out for the scrappers, and took apart the high voltage power supply that had been in the rack (and already had the good parts poached) and took apart another thing, and put those scraps out too. 

Then I photo'd 30 things and listed 17 of them. I'll list the rest today and credit those to yesterday, and for today, plan to photo and list 30 more. 

So the result of all of this is I slept until almost 5 in the afternoon here. And woke up and weighed myself and I'm 3 lbs down from last week. 

One thing I've fallen into lately is watching, of all things, metal detecting videos. It started with watching Robert Ferguson, and I've been following Monterey Magnet Man and Seek And Detect. Just guys who detect on the beaches of Orange County, California, my old home area for many years off and on. 

I had old neighbors (Greatest Generation) who were into metal detecting and for the longest time I thought they were making a fortune out there. It finally came out that, as they put it, they were making enough for their (greatly discounted due to being local residents) parking fees, lunch, and new detectors every few years. 

I know they had a big hoard of gold jewelry because they went off on vacation once for a month or so, and had hidden their gold. When they got back they couldn't find it, and were convinced I had taken it. I insisted I hadn't of course, and after a while they found where they'd hidden it from themselves and I was off the hook. "I told you I didn't want your old gold", I said. So they were saving up the occasional really valuable find, as it seems many detectorists do.  

But the reality is, nowadays as well as back in those days in the late 80s, that metal detecting has as its advantages that it gets a person out getting some exercise, because it pays a little is far more affordable than tennis or golf, and there's the fun of finding weird stuff. My neighbors were very proud of their collection of Mac Tonite toys. 

The present-day detectorists seem to share some characteristics. First, it's very important to live with, and live off of, your parents. Robert Ferguson and Monterey Magnet Man both do this and I'm sure in both cases their parents just sigh and say to themselves, "Well, at least he's not on drugs". Seek And Detect hasn't mentioned living off "the folks" yet but eventually he will, or there will turn out to be a trust fund or disability settlement or something  in the background, funding his realities of life. 

I won't lie to myself, detecting looks like fun. But it's a lot of hours digging up pennies and bottle caps and bits of foil. What I think is underplayed is the natural resentment of the general public who see someone detecting on the beach and Hey, their grandmother lost her ring there a month ago, bet this guy's got it. 

Plus the general equipment is expensive. A person can get started with about $500 worth of stuff but these guys are out there with a couple grand worth of detector, scoop, etc. Said equipment has to endure hours on end being used, and electronics equipment has a way of eventually breaking. 

I *do* have the idea of, once I'm back home, obtaining a "pin pointer" and using it to find coins, fishing weights, and hopefully jewelry in the little bowls and channels created in the rock on certain beaches that I know of. The "pin pointer" wouldn't even be 100% necessary as it sure wasn't necessary for me to dig tons of coins out in the past, but it can make the difference between finding those last dozen pieces of split shot or that gold earring. But that's a simple, $200 a most, piece of kit that is easy to carry to the beaches, by my planned method, the bus. 

If any of these guys I've been following had any musical skill at all they might be out busking, at least in the case of Robert Ferguson who seems to be living on next to nothing. But having musical skill and being inclined to go out busking is a very, very rare skill. 

To give an idea, back when I thought I'd learn to draw people's ugly noses well and be a caricature artist, I estimated that there are probably only about 300 caricature artists making a living doing it in the entire country. That makes that skill/occupation genuinely one in a million. I'd say the same applies to "professional" buskers. Especially after the great acceleration of the killing off of culture that was facilitated by the Covid epidemic.