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There are times when technology can be a pain.

This particular instance of technology pain was caused by an aspiring young film maker. He and a couple of friends were up on the street in front of my house.

JARVIS

They were just trying to get a 1 minute video made to be used as part of his application to film school.

The surveillance camera in front of the house was going nuts because it kept seeing humans and movement.

My phone was dinging every few seconds.

They were using a large round diffuser to soften the sunlight and the surveillance camera was seeing the movement of the diffuser, then re-alerting, then the camera was focusing on the humans in the frame and alerting again.

Software is very cool for routine things, but the software in the camera wasn’t quite sure what to make of this situation.

Cortana

Eventually, the dog heard voices as the filmmaker moved away from his subject and was calling direction from further up the street.

I’d been watching the live feed and had a pretty good idea that they were filming, and the camera was always pointed in the models direction. Once the dog heard unfamiliar voices he demanded to go outside to check it out.

Thankfully, The dog didn’t start barking, these people were on the road and not our property so he just howled softly to let me know he saw something odd.

TheTerminator

At this point the filmmaker turned the camera to the dog who was watching from the side gate.

The other half stepped out onto the porch and asked if there was something these folks needed.

The filmmaker asked if he could take a couple of shots of the dog who is photogenic (and he knows he is), explanations were given and permission was granted.

Skynet

It was one of those times I wished I could converse with the surveillance camera and tell it everything was fine. Unfortunately there’s no way to have that kind of in-depth conversation with the device.

On the one hand I’d like a super intelligent AI like Jarvis in Ironman, or Cortana from the Halo franchise. On the other hand, I’m concerned that a super intelligent AI like that would decide in a couple of milliseconds, that humanity was a lost cause and take appropriate action based on that decision. Skynet from The Terminator springs to mind.

I guess I fall into the Steven Hawking camp. He was apparently concerned that AI’s could or would become dangerous. Even Asimov’s three laws might not protect humanity.

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I knew I should have bought that PowerBall ticket!

Oh well, 2 Billion dollars would probably have been more of a pain in the ass than it was worth.

That’s how I console myself anyway.

Winner

Then I really started thinking about it. 2 billion would actually have been a pain. Okay so you know you’re going to lose at least half to taxes. If you’re in California you’re going to lose 2/3 because California has to fuck you as much as possible.

But then after that, you’re going to have to take the millions you’re left with and put it into some kind of savings. I don’t know about you, but my bank would probably tell me “no”. Even if they said, “yes” the full amount of deposit wouldn’t be insured against the bank failing. (Not likely, but in this economy something to think about.)

So that leaves you with investment accounts. Have you seen the stock market lately? Crypto-currency? Oh hell no!

Let’s not even consider all the scam artists trying to get their paws on your winnings with “Can’t Lose” business propositions.

You can’t really gift money to your relatives because then the gift gets taxed again.

I could see myself paying off the house, credit cards, and other debts then hiring reputable contractors to do some maintenance and improvements to the house. After that, I’d be wondering what next?

I suppose I’d spend some time traveling. A tour of National Parks would be fun. I could see getting a 4×4 pickup truck with room for the dog and setting off on an adventure. Part of that adventure might be to explore with an eye to finding a quiet out of the way place to just live quietly. I’m not talking completely off the grid, but someplace with space and open natural vistas.

Nothing fancy or anything, but I’d like to be able to have a mailbox, postal delivery, and look out a window while having my morning coffee, occasionally seeing a deer or elk wander by.  I’d like a place where I didn’t have to put clothes on for the sake of nosey neighbors, and I’d like a garage, or a barn for vehicles but that’s about it.

The funny thing is that I could do these things with far less than the post tax-rape leavings from a 2 billion dollar win. I’d probably have a lot less headaches too.

Maybe I’ll just buy a couple of California Lottery tickets…

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Happy Birthday USMC

Happy Birthday Marine Corps.

USMC Birthday 19

I know, I’m pissing in the wind when I say this, but to all the Marines out there, don’t get too screwed up tonight. 

Have a great time, and be good to each other.

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On the nice side of life…

We had our first snow of the season last night.

IMG 2518

The dog is overjoyed! Me, not so much. But we’ve successfully cleared the decks, driveway, and a good chunk of the road.

My exercise ring is complete, the activity ring is mostly complete, and my stand ring has a way to go. My knees are aching but there’s no sharp or excessive pain so I think I’m good for the moment. What remains to be seen is if I’ll be able to move tomorrow.

Getting old is a challenge, but on the bright side I can legitimately be a crotchety old man!

The solar panels (which are still not online) appear to be clearing themselves quickly. The snow wasn’t high enough to block the black frames so they started heating up when the sun hit them. Then the more the panels were exposed, the more heat they absorbed and so on. I enjoy watching natural effects and seeing how they impact stuff in surprising ways. 

Honestly, I hadn’t thought about how the panels would affect snow sitting on them. I kinda thought that once covered, they’d stay that way until a thaw.

The poor UPS guy got his truck stuck, the driver had no idea how to handle Ice and snow. The more he struggled the more the truck started sliding sideways until it looked like he was going to hit an electrical pole.

A neighbor and I helped him out. I asked him how much it was worth for him to get out… I think he may have thought I was serious. We got him righted and I promised him we’d get him out without damaging his truck. 10 minutes, and a little instruction from the neighbor about driving on snow later, the UPS guy was on his way again. UPS should maintain their tires better. That truck had six bald tires and shouldn’t have been running up here or for that matter on a wet road.

Word to the wise, don’t screw around with UPS trucks on wet pavement, give them wide berth, the driver probably can’t stop even if they want to.

It’s a sunny day now, that should finish clearing the icy spots on our street, and will hopefully clear the roads in the upper elevations too. A couple of roads up, the houses are mostly vacation homes so there’s no-one to clear the streets or drives.

I’m guessing that we’ll have the first snow players up here tomorrow and then through the weekend. Maybe this year will be better than last and they’ll keep to the designated play areas. I know it’s unlikely, but I can still have a smidgeon of hope.

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Red Wave? My Ass, more like bathtub ring.

I’ve made a bigger wave dropping a deuce in my toilet.

Sorry for the crudeness but damn!

I’m guessing that the lawsuits will start immediately, the demands for recounts will provide entertainment through the Winter and in the end, nothing will have substantially changed.

It’s the same as is ever was.

Watching the election night coverage on ABC last night there were some things that really bothered me. The pundits kept talking about election deniers on the ballot, that was expected. One of the things that I found really annoying was how many times the pundits pointed out that Candidate X, Y, or Z was “at the capital on January 6th,”

I kept thinking, “So What?” There were a TON of people at the Capital on Jan 6th. It makes sense that some fractional part of those people may have chosen to run for office, to legally correct what they saw as a problem is not surprising. That’s called patriotism and following the law.

It’s the way the system is supposed to work. If you think the government is doing it wrong you have the right to protest.

If the protest doesn’t cause changes, then by God, if you think you can do a better job, you have the right to run for office. That’s not “Wrong”, “Suspicious”, or “Criminal”, it should be acknowledged and appreciated for what it is, The Love of Country.

What I saw last night on ABC was the pundits using someone’s mere presence at the capitol on Jan 6th as a cudgel. There are a lot of reasons people might have been at The Capitol on Jan 6th. They might have been there to simply voice their opinion without engaging in riots, guess what? That’s totally acceptable!

AOC and Nancy Pelosi were at the Capital on Jan 6th, you don’t see them being maligned by the media. There were people who were there to wait for the results in person, you know, folks who innocently wanted to be physically present for a little bit of history.

ABC kept mentioning the military candidates running. As if that was a bad thing or somehow wrong. Those military candidates already served the country, especially those who were career military. It is unsurprising that they would be among folks who, if they thought the country was on the wrong track would seek to correct course through the legal and peaceful mechanism of election.

I was very disappointed in the way ABC chose to cover the election results. I was reminded again why I don’t like main stream media.

When I went to bed last night, I knew John Fetterman would win. He got the pity vote from Pennsylvania. Yeah, he had a stroke that’s sad.

But it doesn’t qualify him to be a United States Senator. The man is cognitively challenged, plain and simple. But if Pennsylvania is moronic enough to want Fetterman as a Senator, more power to them. For my part, I’m not going to take any problem in Pennsylvania seriously. The people of that state electing someone who is obviously a mess cognitively, speaks volumes about the people of the state in toto.

Don’t mistake my comments about Fetterman as an endorsement of Dr. Oz. I’m not sure Dr. Oz has the right stuff to be a Senator, but at least his brain is fully operational.

On the plus side, Joe Biden will have someone to hang with at parties.

ABC was harping on about “Election Deniers”. I kept thinking, “So what? Why is that a thing, or even an issue? These election deniers are participating in an election, so clearly this still believe the system can work.”

I guess I think differently than most people. I will be interested to see how the media handles Democrats that lose and demand recounts and file lawsuits. By definition those candidates will be election deniers. Stacy Abrams I’m looking at you! Although Stacy did apparently concede to Kemp this time.

ABC was also mentioning abortion every 7 minutes. Then they started reporting the states who had amended their constitution to enshrine abortion rights. ABC didn’t once mention that this process was exactly what was supposed to happen.

Overturning Roe v Wade, kicked the issue back to the States.

Many States, including California accepted that responsibility, and guess what? They let the voters decide. Again, this is what was supposed to happen, Overturning Roe v Wade didn’t destroy the country, all the hand wringing, protesting, and wailing was completely unnecessary. The Supreme Court simply corrected Judicial over-reach on their part. Congress had almost 50 years to put forward an amendment to the US Constitution and they did nothing. So the Supreme Court returned the question to the states. Big Deal! So What?

Even the bastion of “oppression” that is Florida, says abortion is legal for 15 weeks, and they have exceptions in the case of rape, incest, and danger to the mother. Yes, I looked it up.

Why? Because my Stepfather was spouting on about how awful Florida was in its abortion stance. When I asked if he’d actually looked up the law he said, “no”. I pulled up the Florida Law, from the Florida Website, and showed it to him. He’d bought hook, line, and sinker, the abortion activists spin as reported by the media that Florida was completely abortion free.

My stepfather tried to make the argument that there have been cases of women not knowing they were pregnant. My reply was, “Then abortion rights to them, is irrelevant because if they didn’t know they were pregnant, they wouldn’t have sought an abortion in the first place.” That shut down the abortion discussion at my parents home.

Going into the election I thought perhaps we had a chance at making course corrections that would actually help the whole country. Now I’m wondering if the system irrevocably broken and just how dumb my fellow Americans are.

If the system is irrevocably broken then I have no desire to pay attention to, or participate in it. In my mind, that’s the equivalent of masturbating but never quite getting to the “Money Shot” for years on end. It’s not about my “side” winning or losing. This is about continuing to vote, participating in the system, and nothing ever changing except to get worse.

Even more frightening, is the possibility that the American People really are too stupid to survive. Maybe our nation is descending into 3rd world status not by nefarious design, but though natural processes. Perhaps, the “Great Experiment” is winding down to failure and America is getting what it actually deserves.

I hope that is not the case, but evidence does seem to be mounting.