This, That, and the Other

Feral Friend

I have been feeding feral cats the past few months. All of them have disappeared except one long haired female tabby. I call her junior because she looks like the smaller twin of an inside cat I am taking care of. She is eating a large amount of food. Today I noticed she is getting round in the middle. Ut, oh. Probably pregnant. My daughter told me I should have trapped and spayed her weeks ago. Need to start listening to her more.

When she was a bit slimmer…
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EmptyCup said:
Feral Friend

My daughter told me I should have trapped and spayed her weeks ago. Need to start listening to her more.

When she was a bit slimmer…
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Your daughter is right. I like this man in Istanbul (Turkey). He not only feeds the stray cats but also gets them neutered. Nevertheless it seems to be a fight against wind mills, like in the novel "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes.

Adorable Paws
 
George1959 said:
Your daughter is right. I like this man in Istanbul (Turkey). He not only feeds the stray cats but also gets them neutered. Nevertheless it seems to be a fight against wind mills, like in the novel "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes.

Adorable Paws
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I have watched his videos. He sets out many separate bowls and there is always enough for all the cats.
He must radiate a good aura since the cats are so peaceful (mostly).
 

Hot, Hot, Hot

It was 106F today. Still not out of the heat yet. Hoping soon. The early morning is still a good time to be out and about. By about 9-9:30 it starts getting uncomfortable. I remember one year it was unseasonably hot all the way to Halloween. I hope that is not happening again this year. Got to make the best of it in the early hours. Thinking positive.
 
Loyalty

At least that’s what I think it means. I bought this brass wall hanger/trivet at the thrift for $4. My son used to live in Japan, so I had to ask him what it meant- apparently it’s loyalty. I like it. I usually keep the patina on brass, but this one was really dirty and must have been used in the kitchen. Brasso to the rescue. Now every time I walk by it I will contemplate loyalty and remember the smell of Brasso!

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Smaller?

I was doing some soldering this morning on an electronics project and I kept bridging connections. I couldn’t seem to judge the distance between them using readers only. I finally had to use a lighted magnifier along with the readers. I kept thinking, are they making these PCB’s smaller or are my eyes getting worse? It’s probably both. At my last eye exam I still have 20/20 distance vision, but the close vision gets a prescription change each visit. Nothing to be done, just aging.

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Please!

I wish some drivers would PLEASE watch out for motorcycles and bicycles. Had a close call this morning with someone turning left across three lanes of traffic and didn’t see me until I was almost on top of her. Luckily, I am always on the lookout for this to happen. I almost had to lay a bike down last spring. Same thing. A man trying to turn left across three lanes of traffic. He wasn’t minding the cars either. Both drivers were elderly, hunched over the wheel, squinting (like Mr Magoo). I am not against older drivers - older drivers for the most part are safer and have good judgment.
BUT, if someone is driving with eyesight problems, early dementia, whatever, please don’t put others in danger.
 
AI or not, here it comes

Soon the iPhone iOS 18 will be packing AI features. Fortunately, this will be available for my older iPhone 15 Pro. I could download the 18.1 beta now, but… no thanks. I depend on the phone for many things, so bricking it would not be cool. Supposedly, another week or two. I want to try out those features! Especially any related to photo. Patiently awaiting.
 
Something New

After I retired in 2019, I resolved that I would try and do new things. Not only good for the brain, but something to look forward to each day. And I was really successful until the pandemic started. Then I had to learn to do a few new things I could have not foreseen. But, I am happy that period is now in the rearview mirror. Back to better new things. I am planning a couple international trips within the next year as well. Places I have never been before. Traveling solo.
 
The Widowmaker

I used to work with a guy from Australia. We would have lunch together on the campus under a copse of Eucalyptus trees. He called them “widowmakers”. Told me a heavy limb could drop off with no warning and kill somebody below. I didn’t fully appreciate that until I had a 100ft one out back of the house. One day years ago my daughters were kicking a ball around and a large limb dropped right behind them. Oh, wow. No wind, warning or anything! Very lucky.

Fast forward to 2022 and one night an intense thunderstorm came up around 9pm. I was reading and heard a whooosh and a loud bang, then the power went out. It was a microburst (a neighbor who followed the radar during the storm told me later). The Eucalyptus tree went down, luckily fell away from the house. It pulled down a utility pole and wires from my house and two others.
All good after insurance and repairs. But what a headache and mess.

The stump and the hole left in the wall. All rebuilt now.
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It was a Kick

Kick-Starter that is. One of the first bikes I owned. A 1978 Yamaha. It was a joy to ride. Happy memories. It did tend to get a bit buzzy up the handlebars past 60mph, but many bikes had that issue back then. The original color was dark green and I repainted it blue. I learned a lot about bike mechanicals too. It did have an electric start, but I loved the kickstarter. Usually got it going on first or second kick. Fun times.

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EmptyCup said:
It was a Kick

Kick-Starter that is. One of the first bikes I owned. A 1978 Yamaha. It was a joy to ride. Happy memories. It did tend to get a bit buzzy up the handlebars past 60mph, but many bikes had that issue back then. The original color was dark green and I repainted it blue. I learned a lot about bike mechanicals too. It did have an electric start, but I loved the kickstarter. Usually got it going on first or second kick. Fun times.

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Cool, I owned a used Kawasaki 500 triple cylinder. Screamer. Was yours a 2 stoke engine?

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I meant 4 stroke. Two Stroke...I don't think there is such an animal. Brain Fart! :) I thought it was, the sound of those bikes was sweet. Yea, no bike is perfect. The Mach 3 was too much like driving a road racing bike. It wasn't the kind of machine to take a long leisurely trip on. I sold mine because I was a new father and then almost got into aa bad accident. Scarred me into selling it. I had a lot of illegal fun on it. Passing 6 slow cars on a long straight country road. :)
 
Wild Spirit

A new sculpture on the bike path. “Wild Spirit” It’s dedication is in January. Interesting.

The other is a javelina riding a tandem. Funny. It’s been there a good while. Has some damage to the chain.

There is a strong art community in this town. Fortunate to be able to live here. Even better when it’s not HOT.

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The way of the Future

I remember picking up and reading this issue in the library in January 1975. I was between classes and had some time to wait. An article on scientific calculators too. The Altair launched Bill Gates and the future Microsoft/PC industry. Gates read this issue too, and developed (with Paul Allen) the BASIC interpreter for the Altair.

Handheld calculators would soon become ubiquitous. I bought a TI calculator later that same year. Used it for a very long time - until the battery failed and display broke.

That same month I met a girl I would spend a lot of time with for the next several years. What a month!

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Temperatures Fall

It was 46F this morning. A pleasant change. Cold front moving through. Bike path was almost empty except for joggers. And a couple of coyotes crossing near a wash. The team riders didn’t start showing up until near the end. They always pass me. I only go about 15mph on average. Maybe 20 on a slight down grade. Team riders are going 20 plus. Some pushing 30. You have to finish in less than 5 hours (men’s time) if you want a platinum medal in El Tour race. That’s about >21+mph average over 102 miles.

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Buzzin’

Something that I wondered about for a long time. This buzzing sound, almost like the sound a ratchet makes, when a biker is not pedaling. For instance, when a pack of team bikers is making a tight turn downhill.

I asked AI what it was and got a completely unrelated answer. So much for AI. I found it on Reddit. It’s the sound of the free hub not engaging. Supposedly, the more expensive hubs do this. I have heard it mostly on the race bikes. Shimano hubs are silent (what I have). Apparently, it’s a way of signifying “I spent a lot on my bike”. Go figure.

The day I spend $20K on a race bike is the day someone should take me for a cognitive test!
 
I Got Carded

At the library. I forgot my card. I then opened the app on my phone and logged into my account. No QR code or bar code. I asked the desk person what to do. She said I really need to bring the card, but she entered my account number anyway and checked the book for me. Lesson learned.

I recently started using the physical library again (stopped in 2019). It pleases me.

This has been a theme of my retirement. Doing the things that please me. Nobody to answer to. Remembering things I like and also finding new things. I’m finally off the hamster wheel of school, work, marriage, kids, etc.

Also, disposing of the things that no longer serve me. I have any ongoing project of getting rid of stuff that is of no use to me any longer, and my children would not want. It’s very liberating. We come into the world with nothing and leave with nothing. It’s all just stardust anyway.

Be Bold!

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AI Rabbit-Hole

I’ve been exploring the fascinating world of Artificial Intelligence, experimenting with the new iPhone features in version 18.1.

Okay, the sentence above AI rewrote for me. Not my style, but interesting.

I also edited out a branch that was partially blocking a picture I took of a hawk. A red-tail hawk according to intelligence. I wasn’t sure. Ha! It could be wrong.

Edited with branch gone. All I had to do was circle what I wanted deleted and poof!

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Stats

I was at the local grocery the other day and noticed that about half of the customers are probably over 65. If I go there when it first opens it’s about 75%. It’s like that at many of the places nearby, especially restaurants that serve breakfast. I looked up the census tract for this area and it’s 42% over 65! In fact, it is the oldest census tract in the metro area.

Why? It must be all the CCRC’s, nursing homes, and over-55 communities which are clustered around a large hospital. The ancillary clinics, specialists, etc are also nearby. It’s been staring me in the face all these years and now the penny drops! Also explains why I hear so many EMT sirens day and night.

And I am just one more added onto that 42%…

Note: This was not rewritten by AI.
 


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