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.
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