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Post by CampKohler on Nov 12, 2015 8:13:11 GMT
I rewrote my history of the books of the Sacramento County Clerk/Recorder to take into account new stuff I had learned recently. They duplicated about three dozen book numbers around 1945, so to keep books unique, they added a suffix (A, B, etc.). However, on the first six duplicates the first suffix was a B, not an A. There was no A. Then the remaining duplicates used an A for the first suffix, which made a lot more sense. So even the fix was botched! I had missed all this excitement two years ago when I first wrote it, because I was using ROSI, their computer system. Recently when looking at the microfilm, I discovered these duplicates. The suffixes weren't carried over to ROSI. Just too hard to program, I guess.
Say a user asks to look at a document, and two of them pop up with the same book and page. He has to examine each and determine which is the desired document and which is just bogus. Brilliant! How much brains does it take to not use the same number on two different books? Were there two deputy recorders locked in separate rooms and each decided to start a book 1406, and when the doors were unlocked, now they were stuck with two identically-numbered books? It staggers the imagination. Maybe one was work-vacationing in Alaska and the other was stay-cationing here. When the latter mushed home and found that they had duplicated, they... just... didn't... know... what... to... do....
A few times they printed the microfilm upside down. There is an optical wheel on the microfilm viewers that allows you to turn the image 365° to correct this, but the result is that instead of the documents being viewed oldest to newest, they parade by newest to oldest. All this is no problem for someone who can pat their head and rub their tummy in a circle at the same time while singing the Star Spangled Banner backwards.
I could go on, but wait... I already have.
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Nov 13, 2015 15:53:16 GMT
Yesterday my new camera battery arrived. This battery has over 4 times the battery life, per charge, of the battery that came with the camera. And it cost less than 1/4 from Amazon what it would have cost from the camera's official website.
I did another load of laundry, and I found a perfectly good metal fork in the trash, and took it home and washed it, and now it's MY fork and nobody can take it from me without my permission! And I came up with a plan of how I might offer a proposal for the "Builiding #2" which I saw three weeks ago, to counter whatever proposals they're apparently still in the process of closing on. Because I figure it isn't over til it's over, and it isn't closed until it's closed.
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Post by CampKohler on Nov 14, 2015 6:28:28 GMT
Has it four times the capacity because the original is pooped out, or is the new one better because it is just better?
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I did several loads of laundry, too, of found clothes. There are so many clothes discarded that one wonders if people are walking down the street and flinging them off left and right. It is hard to explain a bra, for instances, lying in the middle of the sidewalk. There's a story there somewhere. The homeless, when they discover clothes in a Dumpster, pull them out and hang them over the edges as a signal of "Thar be clothes hyar!" I wash them and give them away to my relations (or to anyone the right size). I generally do not have to buy anything but underclothes as a result. I washed up a darling Eddie Bauer fluffy-hooded jacket suitable for trekking across the arctic tundra that will fit my 5-year-old niece. It is like new, zipper works, etc.
I recently found, washed and gave my bro-in-law a Winchester cammo hunting jacket, which he tried out duck hunting Sunday. He said it is the warmest jacket he has worn, including some heavier ones. Why would someone toss something like that? Yesterday I found a big comforter in a white plastic bag 1.5' across x 3' tall that looks really good, but I won't be able to tell how big it is until I pull it out. Seeing as how the thing is a bit too much for a washing machine, I think I'll leave it in the bag until next summer, when I can wash it in a bathtub and dry it on a line.
I dropped off a really nice found kid's highchair at my friend's child care place. As I was driving away, I saw a block away a digital-readout treadmill machine sitting on a sidewalk with a "Free, Good Condition" sign taped to it. So I unbolted the the upright frame from the base, shoved it all in the rear hatch and drove back to delivered it to her workout room. That's when I learned that she had one she paid about 700 USD for that has a huge control panel that looks like something Captain Kirk would fly. Since she has two strapping teen sons, they will get some use from it. (If a treadmill is a junker, I pull the DC motor, controller and control panel out to use as a variable speed motor.)
I watched three TIVOd The Good Wifes. Really good acting in that show.
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Post by CampKohler on Nov 15, 2015 20:53:52 GMT
I ate 1.5 BLTs last night for dinner. That's what happens when you have only three pieces of bread left.
Last night the bro-in-law and sis got back from Grass Valley. I had been told to erase the The Good Wife episodes after watching them. He sats down to watch TV and said he was going to watch the last The Good Wife. My mind furiously reviewed my instructions and I began to think that he didn't say to erase them and thus I lost an unwatched program for him. After seeing me in turmoil for about 30 seconds, he let me know that he was just pulling my chain. That's what passed for family kindness last night.
I tested a bag of used dry cells that I had carrying around in the car for a few months in order to take them to Home Depot for disposal (I am the official disposer for my sister's dead batts). About six of them were 1.5 volts (essentially new) and another six were 1.3V (weakening), with the rest being kaput. I loaded these in several LED flashlights* and they were usable. I guess some new ones got mixed in there somehow. Yes, sitting around the old campfire checking supposedly dead bats is what passes for entertainment in my exciting life.
---- *Torches for Elise. The U.S. should probably adopt that terminology seeing as how the flash feature's button hasn't been present on U.S. flashlights in decades, because the need to signal submarines from some beach has been drastically reduced for some reason.
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Nov 15, 2015 21:36:50 GMT
I actually got a compact flashlight a couple years ago from CVS that had a half dozen different flash patterns, that you choose by clicking through them in sequence. Have you seen these little flashlights, they're about 4"-5" and straight and the On button is at the back? They truly fit in your pocket or in the palm of your hand. Bicycle lights are similar too, some of them have the flash options as well. Yesterday the USB assorted adapter plugs that I ordered about 10 days ago arrived. One of them fit on the 2nd USB cable I got two weeks ago, the right size for my camera. So the first USB cable that the adapter doesn't fit on (cost me less than $4) I think I'll try to sell on craigslist. I'll find an ad for it on Amazon, with the most expensive asking price, to illustrate it in craigslist. Maybe I'll break even on it. I also found I had a 25% off coupon for CVS that was good through November 15, so I went there (it's just across the street from me, basically) and got a 32 oz. bottle of Crest tooth whitening mouthwash, and in their "As Seen On TV" gizmos aisle I got a $10 tooth polishing device (so that was $7.50 because of the coupon). www.asseenontv.com/luma-smile/detail.php?p=826249Later I started finally sorting one table full of old stuff, and surprised to find a number of things I had forgotten I had, that can be useful in the future, like extra sets of headphones. And I found my big box of light bulbs, and replaced a couple that had been burned out in the ceiling and my lamp. So now I have more visibility, and starting to get stuff sorted. And maybe my teeth will become gleaming white! Or not.
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Nov 17, 2015 12:34:26 GMT
The battery that comes with the camera has less capacity, the user guide states this, and suggests that you might upgrade to a longer life battery. Yesterday turned out to have a number of significant results for me, even though it wasn't planned as being a significant day. I rode my bicycle about 11 miles, revisiting the church "Building #2", and bringing my camera with the new battery. One tangible result of the new battery is that it allows you to do much more casual filming, without worrying about wasting battery time. So with less pressure to try to make every video post-worthy, there's more potential for unexpected things to get caught on film. I'll have a greater surplus of unposted videos to sort through, but more likelihood that something unplanned will turn out to have some value. Yesterday my last order from Amazon arrived too, it was a compact lightweight tripod. I will end up carrying this with me now pretty much all the time, as it only weighs about 1 lb. and is 11" long when folded up. You can see it was quite inexpensive as well: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005DLPAZ6?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00What I was able to do yesterday was get a decent amount of footage of the church from the street, so I can review in the future in a realistic manner instead of just trying to exercise my memory and imagination. Basically, the street traffic was so loud there, that I find myself doubting whether it really would be a good place for recording music or holding performances, regardless of the interior design. So I may be back to the "Building #1" choice in New Hamsphire, which in any case I know I can afford, and may be a quiet, and larger space. Willl probably plan to visit there next week. Here's the church I saw yesterday:
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Nov 17, 2015 12:59:17 GMT
Also. yesterday I wore for the first time a pair of shoes I had bought 3 years ago at an estate sale, which I thought wouldn't fit me because they were the wrong size. But I discovered they fit ok, even though they might have been one or 1/2 size bigger than what I should wear. This was significant because the shoes I have been wearing for several months have had talking soles that are probably nearing falling off.
In fact, I had at least three experiences yesterday of discovering that something I had regretted in the last couple years wasn't quite as bad as I had thought. On my way to the church I saw that an old store which I remembered being part of my childhood, and which I thought had been demolished a year ago, was still there, and the demolished building was one street over.
I also found something I had totally forgotten; that 3 years ago I had tried sending a message to Rod McKuen through his website. I think the website said how he cannot reply to people by e-mail, bit will try to reply to messages left on the website's open board. So I left my message there, and for all I know he might have replied to it. Another project for me now, to go see if my message is still posted and whether he did in fact reply to me. After having made "silly remarks" to him when I met him in person 30 years ago, I might feel a microscopic bit better to know that he had seen my note 3 years ago, and replied.
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Post by CampKohler on Nov 18, 2015 0:39:08 GMT
With two batts now, you can carry a spare and not have "discharcgaphobia." I have only one for my old Nikon D40x, but I have three spares for my newer D5200.
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I somehow managed to "lose" my plastic shopping bag of notes from the Recorders office made over the last three weeks. I am sure it is buried in the car somewhere, because I had it Sunday at the library for sure and missed it on Monday. So I went downtown "noteless." I decided to look at a map that would require a certain page with a menu to pop up, so I searched for "DEL" in the '50s to bring up Del Paso, Del Rancho or one of those del subdivisions that would have a map and its menu. But I never got to it. I found so many indexing errors (which I write down for later reporting) that I literally spent the entire day writing down errors. There were zillions of them, and just for party names that start with DEL. DELH? No, it's DELK. DELENDORFER? No, it's DELFENDORFER. And not just surnames. DARIS? No, its DORIS. And so on and so on, even if the typo is flanked with a dozen of the same name spelled correctly. Is nobody checking their work? So, in the end, I didn't need my notes at all, because I only got up to the DELOs when they closed the office for the day.
I found an upper 2-drawer tool chest for 6 USD at Goodwill, which I squeezed into the car on top of the full-sized Craftsman 6-drawer upper chest I got there for 30 USD a few days ago. Hence the car is still full. Now that the day is pretty much shot, I'm leaving the library now to dig out those notes to be ready for tomorrow (and to finish DELO – DELZ).
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Nov 18, 2015 6:59:07 GMT
Along with my new online purchases and apparent nearing of a decision on where to move to, I have begun sorting, organizing and cleaning what anyone would describe as a "hoarder" apartment, simply because it's way too small for the amount of stuff I had to bring here, in addition to my collecting and scavenging habits. And I'm starting to find things, some of which I had forgotten I had, others I just didn't know exactly where they were. So, I know how frustrating it is to "lose" things that are probably right under your nose. This supercramped living situation is of course part of my need to buy a larger place of my own. One small unexpected recent find was that my old camera, which I think stopped working 4 years ago, had an Ac-outlet to USB plug, which was how that camera got recharged. I had just been considering spending $6-$8 to buy a surge plug with USB connectors, just for the purpose of recharging USB devices without having to do it through the computer's USB. And there it was, I already had it. Not only do I have two batteries now for my camera which should give me total 4-5 hours if both are fully charged, but I have the external battery which I bought exactly one month ago when I started my online purchases on October 17. I have no idea how many more recharges using that will give me, I will only learn that through experimenting, but it's possible that with the external battery and the two batteries I could end up with 24-48 hours of off-grid recording ability. I'll post the link to the external battery. www.amazon.com/dp/B00G0AMUE8/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3A7GBPQ38WSZ9&coliid=IN3IEFX4IBQZD&psc=1
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Post by CampKohler on Nov 18, 2015 21:56:44 GMT
I have a similar kind of thing for the iPhone called MyCharge. It can re-charge an iPhone at least twice before needing re-charging. It has 120VAC in, USB in, USB out and 30-pin iPhone out, the use of any of which will produce a voice announcing what is going on, which is cute. A button will give a voice announcement of the remaining charge. My sister got it for me at Fry's, which wanted 100 USD for it until she produced an online ad for 47 USD. So they sold it for the lower price. (Imagine all the buyers who got rooked out of $53!)
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I didn't make it to the Recorders yesterday. I emptied out stuff from the car, but still didn't find my notes. They have to be there! I'll give it another try this afternoon.
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Post by CampKohler on Nov 19, 2015 20:33:55 GMT
Didn't find the dang notes yet. But then I did not get down to the bottom archaeological layer yet. The car seems to fill up as fast as I can empty it of found treasures. Yesterday I did get the two tool boxes I bought at GW out of there, but it took most of the day to rearrange things in my storage unit. For a change, I think I trot on down to the Recorder's office without them and continue looking Saturday when the office is closed. ---- I found a worn office chair today that I salvaged the bottom from. My bro-in-law says his duck hunting club can use a couple of stools for sitting around on, so I have picked up two in two days. Unfortunately this morning, while compressing the gas cylinder down a bit, I pushed too far and POOF! This is the second time I have misjudged the distance and wiped out a cylinder. I am going to make up a length of steel pipe to slip over the cylinder rod when I compress it so that can't happen again. Oh, well, there are a lot of them around, because when someone tosses a chair, they never knock the cylinder out of it. Most people are not familiar with a press fit, much less how to remove one thing pressed into another. Just got to keep my eyes open for them. ---- I read all of J. D. Green's The Juror last night, staying up to 2 AM. Oooh, those implacable foes! Too bad the Sacramento library system doesn't have the video. But then the film never quite lives up to the book, does it? The mind is a better stage than a real stage.
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Nov 21, 2015 13:48:44 GMT
I took a train ride and a taxi, and saw two houses, plus two other commercial buildings for sale. The weather turned out to be nice for the trip, in spite of earlier forecasts of rain, as the rain had taken place in the night, and finished by morning.
I think I probably encountered some germs along the way, because although I have been taking vitamin C and aspirins, I've got a mild headache. I'm going to spend the rest of the day or the weekend trying to recover from this. And continuing to sort and clean and organize my cluttered cramped room here.
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Post by CampKohler on Nov 21, 2015 19:55:10 GMT
Day before yesterday, instead of the Recorder's, I decided to shovel out the car until I found my notes or died trying. I found them, so Friday I hit the ground running and put in a long day.
Last night out back a GW, I found a nice blond wood (if you can call carapical board that) PC desk. Except for the steel frame, it was disassembled to get in someone's car, so that made it easy for me. The frame is on top of my car as we speak and I'll take it down this afternoon to straighten it out (slight parallelogramming). I also found a nice knitted throw and fake-velvet blanket that, after washing, will keep me warm and toasty this winter.
Meanwhile, today I'll work on putting all that deed data in an Excel file that I started a few weeks ago. I was making one file for each property in the original 10 acre subdivision lot, but now I am thinking why not one file with each property being a separate group of columns at the bottom of the sheet and the original 10 acre lot being one wide group of columns at the top. Thus you can see with one file how the 10-acre lot got divided up into 5-acre pieces, then smaller ones, until you finally get the 20 or 30 (or whatever) lots of today. From that point on, they may pass through a dozen hands over the years, but they can't get any smaller. Something like this:
----------------------------10 Ac------------------------------- ------------5 Ac-------------- -------------5 Ac---------------- ------------5 Ac-------------- ---------3 Ac -------- ---2 Ac--- -------4 Ac-------- ---1 Ac--- -----2 Ac----- --1 Ac-- -----2 Ac----
and so forth, until you get to the lots of today. Anyway, that's the plan. If it becomes too unwieldy, I'll have to go back to a single file for each property.
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Nov 21, 2015 20:41:09 GMT
So, where did you end up finding the lost notes? I had a similar situation yesterday, when I couldn't find my cable-lock that I usually keep on the handlebars of my bicycle, which I had taken with me in the trunk of the taxi. I looked through my backpack to see if I had put it in there, and couldn't find it. Then I tried again, and found it was in a side pocket, I must have put it there before putting the bike in the taxi, but had no conscious memory of doing it. However, my not finding the lock when I went to lock the bike at the Dollar Store, caused me to go back along another route as I started riding back to where I thought the lock must have fallen, where the taxi had dropped me off. So I found myself at a nice little park, seeing things I wouldn't have seen if I hadn't thought I'd lost the lock. And maybe your losing your notes caused you to sort through a bunch of stuff you wouldn't have otherwise gotten to yet. p.s. it was this house I went to see: www.zillow.com/homedetails/70-Cushing-St-Ashburnham-MA-01430/56689603_zpid/So I had (for me) a productive week, seeing the church on monday, and the red house on friday. Next destiination, the white church in New Hampshire. Would go later this week, except it's Thanksgiving and I probably don't want to try to take the long bus ride with all the holiday travellers.
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Nov 22, 2015 19:41:20 GMT
Yesterday I drank lots of vitamin c and maybe took a dozen aspirins. About 48 hours after arriving home on friday seems to be how long it took me to get unheadached.
I used my new compact tripod this morning. It is lightweight and compact, should be useful in most ordinary circumstances where I don't want the video to be too shaky from my hands. The tripod is so light (1 lb.) that you can easily pick up the camera and continue filming with the tripod attached, and set it down again if you want.
And looking at a lot of videos about futuristic inventions available now or being developed.
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