my journal: various subjects, opinionating, CW at times

Not-so-random thought: Why is it that in the far east, hand planes all have their handles on the sides?

This occurred to me while I was bumming around on You2b this afternoon. (Gotta do something when you're stuck inside the house with a sinus infection...) To see what I mean, take a look at the following:

@slowdecline48 I never realized that they're different in other countries. Yeah I'd totally be busting my knuckles open using those 😬 Pretty cool info Slow

Thanks, I do my best.

For the rest of you, here are some examples of western-style planes:

English "razee" jack plane, approx. 18th to 19th-century tech

"continental" (European) smoothing plane, 16th to 18th-century tech.

"Bailey"-type jack plane, mid-19th century to now (& my personal favorite).

Note that all of these, like Chinese & southeast Asian planes, are built to be pushed along/on the work, away from your body. The exception is Japanese planes ("kanna"), which are like other Eastern planes except they have no handles. At all. You use them by gripping the sides of the "toe" (front end) of the plane & pulling it toward yourself. For this to succeed, the kanna's blade must be hair-flinging sharp & you must move fast since the kanna itself doesn't weigh very much...not much mass behind the blade.

So yeah, no.... It's cool to watch eastern masters do it, but if I'm gonna plane something I need a proper handle.

@slowdecline48 I prefer the last one too. I didn't know this but they actually have wood planing competitions. I mean of course - why wouldn't they lol They have competitions for everything else but I was never aware of how big it actually is!  

Yeah, I saw one on You2b a while back. Don't get me wrong, it's impressive as h€ll...but I'm still not gonna buy one. 😄 Even a kanna of mid-level quality is expensive; ones with a top-grade traditional blade & iron can cost $1K or more.

That's one nice feature with Continental-style plane: German & French cabinetmakers & furniture builders usually pushed them to make a surface flat. But if pulling something feels more natural to you, a Continental plane can work fine with that handle on the toe. Just cup your other hand around the plane's heel & you can use it like a Japanese craftsman would. (You can do that with any plane, of course, but Continental ones are the best option)

Still sick but not quite as much...I'll get through this. Haven't been k!lled by any disease I've caught so far; there's little reason to worry about it now.

My current lease expires in August. Depending on what I can afford & how much time it will take to get it all done, I may just renew it for six months. Will figure it out soon enough. It all depends on what I find out there.

A few things I do know:

1. Have had more than enough of living in this anthill of cinder block, siding & beige paint full of people I have no relationship with. I hate it here...been hating it for a while now. Once I leave, the place could get hit by lightning & burn down for all I care.
2. I need a place of my own. Doesn't have to be a house as long as I can erect living quarters of some kind on it until I can build a proper house. It just has to be mine.
3. I don't want to live in town. Jax has some nice things about it (no, really, it does!) but while I grew up a city boy, I am no urbanite now. Was out in the sticks for a while in my past...now I can't go that far but I can get outside the urban core. Which would be great...just a place to do my art, maybe some woodwork if I'm up to it, grow old & d!e there.

My health has its problems but at the same time, in certain ways I am far more capable than most city people. If an EMP ever fried our Net & cell phone towers, I'd be one of a small minority who would not panic right away. Even half-crippled, I probably have a better chance of surviving the first week of that than most of the locals under 30 years of age.

Have adopted the following as my theme song: Off the Ground

@slowdecline48 It can take the phone and the Internet. There would be a lot of unhappy people because everything is either in the cloud or there's an app for that. I put in a pellet stove and there's an app for it. I didn't get the app but it's there. Cars have so much electronics in them. So the older the car the better. I would miss my iPod though 😕 Which that's a good song! I added it to my playlist

You named one of my ideas. Seems like a storage container house is a better choice in places that can have high winds. Those containers are bulletproof steel boxes that can be welded to I-beams set in concrete...no way would that ever go anywhere. A single-wide trailer home? Fergit it. Those get destroyed all the time.

@slowdecline48 Tbh I did think about a trailer but I remembered you live down south and being in a tin can probably wouldn't be the safest thing. I've looked into storage containers myself just because I think they're cool lol and I can buy one and have it delivered for under 3 grand. You'd be safe from just about anything nature could throw at you

Everything's gone but my cough...not sure why. I may get checked to make sure I haven't caught Covid. I sure as f*** hope not...right now that's the last thing I need.

On a brighter note:

The price of silver in a year's time, as of about 25 minutes ago. If you buy any then you missed the move but right now is still a great time to get into it. A 1-oz. American Eagle can be under $40 if you're careful as to what online metals dealer you get it from. (Avoid eBay. Seriously) A silver Canadian "maple leaf" will likely go for even less. If you can afford it, do it!

A few minutes ago I discovered the two best emojis for me:

🫨 😵‍💫

They fit, perfectly.

💀 works pretty good, too.

[CW: my unfiltered thoughts]

What's up with that guy??

D. works for a local real estate firm. We've e-mailed each other a couple times. I was all set to see him in his office, then D. calls it off because his assistant needs to gather some more info (or so he said). Since then I haven't heard from the guy. I called & left a voicemail this morning. He should know by now which parcels I'm interested in.

I get that he's busy. For real estate in Floridastan, you have to be. But I'm as important as any other client out there. Why not more so since I'm not trying to qualify for a mortgage & can purchase a parcel outright? Is that the reason why he's slow? 😒 I don't know much about real estate firms, but I'm guessing there are incentives to getting a client to sign up for a mortgage & make payments instead of buying with cash on the barrelhead...that sweet, sweet intere$t. Especially now, when rates are up. Unless he's just an average fool & I'm expecting too much...or some combination of the foregoing factors.

I can get it now. Money is not an issue for some of the parcels listed. But I cannot buy more f**king time. No one can, not even Soros.

Either it's something about me or it's just Florida. A laid-back culture is fine when you need or want to vacate & relax, but when it comes to getting s**t done on time, good luck. *smh* From what I've heard, only Mississippi & Louisiana are worse. But they're basically part of the Third World of the US.

Maybe I'm trying to do this deal with the wrong man. The guy I'm dealing with is a realtor--he handles transactions involving houses. What I'm looking at is land, not a house. I've heard about people called "land agents"...maybe that's who I should look up instead.

The app I downloaded is keyed to D. Presumably I can change that...or should I work back from the parcel itself, see who owns it & deal directly with the owner instead? That could be risky, but if I can do that successfully it would avoid agent fees altogether. Decisions, decisions--& not enough time.

I hate it when average worthless people drag their feet. Let's get it done already, gad-d.a.m.n.

June 12th Edit: The dude finally got back to me. We should be able to meet soon...he said I'd have to qualify for "pre-approval". If he means for a loan, fergit it: I don't need a loan. I can just liquidate some assets & pay whoever I need to out of that. Hopefully he will be amicable to it. If not then I'll have to find another way...

In other unimportant news, I finally got around to sewing up holes in a few socks tonight. Got a friggin' appointment at 1130 hrs...as usual, I'm not getting enough sleep.

"GIANT PLASTIC BAT-MONSTER RISES OUT OF SEA, TERRORIZES FLORIDA"

(Details at 11)

Oh How I Hate to Get Up In the Morning

A few minutes ago I got news that might change things a bit...more about that later. In the meantime:

Christ & Moses in a Cadillac, I hope so...

"Still, some nights I grieved. I grieved as much at what I knew must be the fleeting nature of my present happiness as any loss, any past. We lived on some edge, if we ever lived on a rolling plain. Who knew what attack, what illness. That doubleness again. Like flying: the stillness and speed, serenity and danger..."

- Peter Heller, The Dog Stars

Lazy Sunday...takin' it easy & stayin' home, while all the church people swarm into every restaurant in the area & stuff their faces.¹ Once I renew my lease for the last time, select my land & sign the documents, there will be a s**t-ton of tasks for the rest of the year. So much to get done...I know I probably won't finish them all. Will have to prioritize 'em & do the most important ones first. Yes indeed...my life will be busy soon.

So I'm slacking off today. Tell anyone who calls that I'm out of the office, babe.

¹They do it every Sunday. They feel closer to their god when they do this...don't ask me why.

LATE-NIGHT THOUGHTS OF A CONFIRMED INSOMNIAC & CYNIC

In no order of importance -

1. Tom Segura might've been funny at one time, but his success & earnings swelled his ego like a pancreatic tumor...now he's just another bald a**hole with no self-awareness at all. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln: almost anyone can withstand adversity to some degree. To really test a person's character, give him/her a lot of money.
2. The fact that Segura hangs out with Bert Kreischer speaks volumes. Kreischer is over 50 now & still doing his "frat boy" shtick which, if current trends hold, will either k!ll him or make him get a liver transplant.
3. The two men described above are examples of 21st-century Western decline. The philosopher José Ortega y Gasset would know it right away, if he were here to see it.
4. Two nights ago I got a chance to stick to my indoor wildlife policy: murder the roach; smash anything that flies & is not a bird; spare the spider always.
5. I realize the above policy may have to change after I leave this 3rd-rate apartment anthill for wherever my spot will be.

Good morning, gentle reader...enjoy your coffee.

Can't say I'm surprised. Between AI-generated "photos", deepfake vids & algorithms that write articles, in addition to their other issues, legacy media sources have lost much prestige in recent years.

Also:

I posted this thread weeks ago & it's still getting "likes" & responses... Had no idea it would get that much attention for this long!

@slowdecline48 My post on that thread keeps getting upvoted by the same person nearly daily too...It's interesting lol. I think the hearts reset daily to where you can heart a post again the next day.

@ImpudentIncognito Waitaminnit...by the same person every day? WTH... 😕

My OP keeps getting "hearted" by different people. For a while now I haven't recognized the names at all. At this point I don't know how many of them are bot accounts or just new people I haven't met.

@slowdecline48

     Yeah, by the same person. I kind of know them, but it's been awhile since I've talked to the person hearting my posts, since I don't go to the support groups room anymore. I'm just waiting for this member to respond to the post lol. I'm curious if they wanted to talk...Unless they forgot they hearted me and filling out a task? (I've done that maybe once or twice and went "wait a minute...I thought I hearted this post??"

Speaking of tasks...

     Apparently 7cups has this new feature on their website which tells members to do certain tasks daily that always change the next day. One of the tasks is "♥hearting♥" a post. Currently, it's not in my tasks list for today, but when I find an example...I can post it. Furthermore, I noticed one of my own posts keeps getting hearts. So I'm not sure if that is giving more visibility to posts???

     Apart from that...I said something slightly critical of 7cups in that particular post out of frustration that my words were getting censored, and I think maybe other people who have been on 7cups for a while were able to empathize making it a more popular post? It's just 7cups was rather different a few years back then compared to what it's like now, To put it bluntly, I used to have a consistent listener who was pretty great. I felt the support groups were pretty helpful, more traction in the forums too, but I feel like 7cups is a bit empty now...and I don't feel as connected to...today's climate, I guess, is the easiest and nicest way to put it? Not sure.

     Anyhow...Yeah. Idk, I think maybe people probably have a LOT of strong views on current 7cups -- that's why I initially gravitated to your post. I feel like it's something people should talk about, so I'm glad you made the post. I question why I'm here sometimes...and have thought about getting away from the online world, but I have an online addition every since I became disabled...it really "siphons donkey derriere" (since I'm going to get censored from saying the words I want to say LOL).

Been sitting here every since the "disability"(I really don't know if that's the word, that's what the docs call me, but I...feel weird saying it sometimes), dealing with chronic pain, and other medical issues since walking for more than 10-15+ minutes is stupid painful in my chest., like a knife stabbing me and/or bad heart palpitations..Doctors giving the round-a-bout saying "You're fine, don't worry about it. Take these pain killers which do absolutely nothing". I just want to be able to manage the pain and work again, but I'm getting the run around, don't like it. However if I had my druthers, I will have new docs soon that'll be a bit more helpful. That'd make me as happy as lark but, uhm, I digress....a lot LOL. Golly gee...

     My words feel like mush right now haha, running low energy and haven't been able to really sleep for many days, it's wonderful. Sorry if what I say is not super coherent right now....Just...can't sleep or do much. 🫠 I want to go offline one of these days and go for walks like I used to...fishing, hike mountains, see nature, go to the park, zoo...spend time with family more (son & my other half) and make new family traditions.... Can't roughhouse with son anymore or keep up with him as much, slowing down too much. Really just want these doctors to fix me already to how I was. Used to drink alcohol to cope with pain and smoke hippy herbs too, but quit everything. I wanted to not rely on substances, but I'm SOL most likely. Just been getting a lot of wear and tear on this body over the years due to...circumstances and job related reasons. When I was on those substances, it numbed my pain, but it's also not necessarily a good thing, it means I overwork my own body without noticing the damage I'm causing it right away. 

Holy mackerel haha, I need to sleep...just been busy with the move lately and now I'm rambling like a verbose Virgil haha. 

@ImpudentIncognito You certainly do digress. 🤨 I understand, though...as a chronic person myself, I know that physical ailments (& personal problems in general) can be quite absorbing to the person afflicted by them.

You might want to read this thread & maybe do a websearch for self-advocating strategies & tactics. The thread is US-based so it may only partly apply, depending on the laws of your country. (Based on previous comments/posts, it sounds like you're in the Middle East somewhere) Once you know how to talk to doctors & when to look for a better doctor, you'll have a better chance of solving your issues.

@slowdecline48  I slept this time, hopefully won't be digressing anymore lol. I'm in an English speaking country currently -- my first language is Spanish. I'll still check out the link, it's good info to have regardless. Will have a new doctor soon since I'm moving anyways -- I plan on going legal with the past doctors for their screw-ups and how it's affected me. I won't let them get away easy. 

Also, remember that an online platform having a new feature is not an obligation to use it. I've never used that scheduling thing, & don't plan on using it at all. My phone's calendar already helps to keep me on schedule, or at least let me know when I need to be somewhere or do something.

@slowdecline48 I've only tried it once, never was interested in the "paths" thing that 7cups had. I tried it, but it's repetitious. I think other people are using that feature -- I keep getting hearts on a certain post that I'm not particularly happy about. I was at my lowest point. Tempted to delete it but...if it helps other people, then I guess I'll leave it. Idk yet.

@ImpudentIncognito Which is really weird because we get a limited amount of hearts now. I'm not sure I understand the logic of it but then again I don't quite understand most of the "updates" because they seem pointless or just add to the frustration of how they do things here

@mytwistedsoul Yeah, I'm not really a fan of the updates either to be honest. I also don't understand why some comments are hidden and we have to click to expand them? I don't see any particular trigger words on those replies either? I noticed as soon as I reply to certain things, it automatically hides my comment. I wonder if it happens too when we say something critical about this website. The more I'm on 7cups, the more I kind of just want to leave but I guess I like punishing myself lol. I've been here since...2019. It kind of feels more like it's targeted for more..."happy go-lucky" vibe? Which...doesn't really help for people like me (diagnosed with PTSD) idk...if it helps others, kudos to them, I suppose.

@ImpudentIncognito For the most part I think it hides any negativity? They definitely don't like you to say anything bad about the site and alot of times it'll be deleted. Google if this is a bad place sometime. Someone even wrote a book that's on Amazon about it. "The toxic truth of .... " I'll leave the name out because there's probably something that sets off the algorithm to alert a mod to delete it. So even though I spend alot of free time here off and on it's best to just be aware and cautious

@mytwistedsoul Yeah, that's the impression I've been getting from you & Cog here. Not a pleasant one but I can't say I'm surprised, as I've seen online communities go downhill before. Seems like 99 times out of 100, when an online community is established its best years come first, or after the initial startup phase....then, sooner or later--as inevitable as the sunset--the community passes its peak & slowly begins to slide downhill. I just wish I'd found 7Cups in its early years...oh well.

Your Semi-Regular Reminder that the UN has Been Biased Against Israel Since At Least the Early 1970's

As always, the UN reserves all its concern for the Palestinians. If thousands of Israelis were being taken out right now, High Commissioner Turk & co. wouldn't say a word. Whenever rockets or suicide bombers were inflicting casualties in Israel, it was business as usual in the halls of the UN.

Predicting the future is a tricky business, but reading the following passages this afternoon was sobering:

If the author is right, we may not get back to 2% per year...maybe between 3 & 4%? If so, that would be harder for borrowers & easier for people with savings accounts...

The things I do to get enough sleep before an appointment... 🤦🏼‍♂️

...I never thought I'd feel any kind of gratitude for the maintenance peones riding the mower & using trimmers, but they actually helped me wake up this morning. I'm woozy & my tinnitus is piercingly loud right now...am not looking forward to going outside.

Yes, I need caffeine now...

"Better living through chemistry"

@slowdecline48 Ahhh caffeine 🤤 nectar of the god's. Be careful out there Slow. There's crazy people every where and it's hot AF. Hope the appointment goes alright 

@mytwistedsoul Thanks, Twisty. It went well...better than expected, actually.

Right now it's too early to call but so far, things are looking good... I might be able to get my parcel of land this year. If it all works out--as of now, I think it will--I will only be in my apartment for another six months.

...yes, things are looking pretty good from here. 😎

@slowdecline48 Hey that's great news! Congratulations! I really hope it works out and you get your land! 😊 No more apartment living! No more having someone yell you what you can and can't do! It's exciting! 😁 You'll be able to build a shop to do your wood work! We gotta do a happy dance! 🥳 😁

So in response to the good news I end up watching Jim Carrey in a clip from one of his weirder flicks... 😆 But seriously, thanks. Yeah, it might be a reason to celebrate in the next couple weeks or so.