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Sunday, January 4, 2026

Grapes

 You could write a freakin' book on grapes and the people picking them.
I won't.
This is a train of thought that starts with a picture.
(You could write *another* book on GMO products, good vs scary)




The train:
Peru?!
Butch Cassidy and Sundance...
Where is Peru? (Where is Bolivia?)
Uhm, Trump?
(Where exactly is "Idaho"?)




"Contradictory trade environment" (Their words, not mine)
Yeah, I was wondering....
Don't we (US) grow grapes?
No one to pick them?
Tariffs (protection money) 
Ahh, nevermind.

Edit: 
The answer (apparently) is: Seasons!
We're freezin' our asses off in buckets of rain while they bask.
(Off with their heads! Up the tariff!
(Got oil?)


And we need grapes for some mindless tradition I just found out about.
But you also need a chiming-clock.
You can get damn near any clock to beep noises but the ones with piano-strings and hammers....?



















Saturday, January 3, 2026

The sensitive and the cold



 
Which is why the head-nurse or whoever keeps it freezing cold (less than 70F)

But funguses don't give a shit, they adapt, they thrive, they struggle to be free!!
And cockroaches too 


My new "chauffage seulement" thermostat was written by english speakers, but I misconstrued.


"Clip" instead of cut.

so, uhm, uh, O! "clip" can also mean "attach" two wires together.
FU, "RTFM" a-holes@!

If I'd installed in ignorant bliss, I would not have clipped.
Fortunately it doesn't seem to have mattered, (yet)

(ble?)

It seems so obvious now.
I get F (not C, thankfully)

WILL it cycle (on or off, I don't care) without me touching it?
Yes (dammit) of course the thing works if my finger pushes a button, it's *cycling* (on or off) I'm looking for.
But (it's way too long to explain) I'll just wait til night. O, it cycled!
It clicks and I thought I saw a teeny spot on the side flash red..
The display doesn't change a lot. Some guy on amazon complained about that, but I'd think most don't care.
If I cared to unclip the connections,
I have a gargantuan soldering gun from 1963, that someone gave me (it was in his fixer-upper-house)

But no solder.

I'd rather have a dinky cordless iron, 
But it's all so expensive.




The corded one from whoever is prolly cheaper (I hope)
But if it is not, um

Practically disposable (so if it goes missing no one would cry, much)



Soldering is a skill that isn't very useful for most people. (But don't repeat that)
Will your cold / burned solder joint work?
Yes.
Do dinky cordlesses work better?
Prolly. (freebie shills and vine-people agree, lol)
The NON shill people have horrifying stories (should soldering-irons be narcoleptic?)
Should the tips break so easily?
Would you really want a 5lb battery attached to a base with a cord?
I get scared away.
A burl-ives guy says "Don't be shy" and reads the fucking MANUAL online, (it's more of a catalog)
And then another horribly disappointed guy gives you his story.

I wanted to fix my clipping while the thermostat was on the wall, but I would prolly have to dismantle it and take it down, so I don't need cordless.
Hell, it works, and I could always learn the metric system. 25c? Sure, why not.

 



Guys online in one video anyway, wanted to prove themselves by mentioning the solder-gun I had, and all the models of Isotip ever made (orange, red gray blue) and I got to thinking that they must've been unhappy with their continual purchases. But they treated the video like some DIY show, and they were mighty proud of their little workbench-museum.
I think I'd be more like my dad who soldered using matches, or somesuch.
He conformal-coated with clear nail polish (It wasn't known as "conformal coat")

Um, doing more with less is always a status-plus (take "MacGyver" for example)
The pen one (that falls asleep) looks nice and is not as expensive as Isotip.

But
Hakko is the snooty brand, apparently...I'm not sure I'd trust an iron that charges more for different colors...apparently Blue and yellow is the one everyone gets.
It comes with nothing, costs tons, people love it. Or they have a real good PR dept.
*I* thought, you buy a tip for the work, and a decent amount of wattage, and solder away.
Buutt noo, they all want a temp control now.
I'd also like to point out that there are six different kinds of solder now... profitable business.