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Post by CampKohler on Nov 4, 2015 20:21:51 GMT
Well, we agree on official GW out-back etiquette! But they don't throw anything away; it all (including garbage) goes in the wheeled blue bins that brings goods and is hauled back to their warehouse where it is sifted through. Anything to be tossed goes into a giant compactor, thus they have only one trash bill (per warehouse).
I went over to my friend's child care place and broke up the remains of the crapical-board cabinet I found for her that got busted up by her kids before I could rebuild it. What a total waste of time!
Yesterday I studied more law and otherwise fiddled too long on the PC until it wasn't worth driving downtown to the Recorders' office before closing time. I'm trying not to make that mistake again today. SO GOODBYE!
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Nov 5, 2015 14:14:26 GMT
I downloaded the video screencapture software that I purchased on saturday. Although it seems a little too complicated for a floppy bunny, and it's going to take some time devoted to figuring out how to use it. I refuse to use guides called "______ for Dummies" because I object to labelling myself a Dummy, but I think there should be a series called "______ for Bunnies". Make things actually simple, instead of just claiming that they are simple when they aren't really. This is what it looks like when I try to use it: there's a taskbar on the top, another on the left, and another on the right, and I have to sort of try out all the icons to see how they work. That's too hard for a dumb bunny!
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Nov 5, 2015 17:23:04 GMT
Then yesterday I found the user guide for my camera, to see if it would tell me the size of the round end on the recharger plug. It didn't, but it gave me the website address, which I looked through, and there you can buy a replacement charger cord that presumably works on the model I have (they have several different camera series), but it still doesn't tell you in the description of that cord what the size of the round plug is, and there are many different round plug sizes. So far I've bought two and nether of them fit in my camera. Just ordered this set of assorted adapter plugs. Hopefully one of them will be the right size for my camera charger.
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Post by CampKohler on Nov 5, 2015 21:07:16 GMT
Floppy: You could always take your camera to a Goodwill or camera shop (checking in at the door, of course) and find the one that mechanically fits. Then measure that one. Take a micrometer with you.
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Instead of plowing through more microfilm, I decided to look at every deed granted to the State of California in about the year I thought the road parcel would have been glommed onto by the tax collector. After about a half hour I found it! The reason I couldn't search it is that those deeds are indexed under the grantor (tax collector) and the grantee (State), but NOT the person who lost the property for taxes EVEN THOUGH the name is on the deed. And it was not indexed under 'TAX COLLECTOR," but the name of the guy who happened to be the tax collector at the time. Who knows him from a hole in the ground? It was just sheer luck. The road parcel was lost due to—get this—8.61 USD of tax! It was bought at auction 9 years later for $500 USD. Nowadays the law has changed in CA; the property stays in the owner's name until it is transferred to whomever buys it, so the chain of title can be searched.
I asked the the lady who was called to the public counter to answer my questions at the Sacramento County Tax Collector's office why they held onto it for 4 years after it went to the state. She said she was 4 years old when it happened.
I also went to the Planning Dept. to look at their aerial imagery for the fence across the road to get proof of its age. The 2014 imagery didn't show the fence, The 2011 (next oldest) didn't show it, because it wasn't built yet. But you could easily see it on Google Earth. You could even easily see the shadow of the fence. Your tax dollars not quite at work.
Last evening I entered all the road's deeds from 1913 to present into a snazzy Excel file. I've got to come up with some dates to fill in some blanks, but otherwise it is complete. I'll send a copy to the title company that insured the road's title, so that they can see what a pitiful thing their leased database is.
Last night I watched Monument Men on DVD with George Clooney, Matt Damon, et. al. It was OK I guess, but not spectacular writing.
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Nov 5, 2015 22:44:26 GMT
Now bunny's floppy head hurts a littleI searched on Amazon for the same battery that sells for $84 on the JVC website, and seem to have found the same model, with USB connected charging unit, for $20. So, I ordered that, and now I will wait 5-6 days for these two items to arrive. Then we'll see what's what. Even with all the separate items I have ordered now for this camera battery, they still add up to less total cost than ordering the single battery from the JVC site would have cost, and potentially will give me more functionality than just ordering the spare battery would have. Now I will have two batteries; a separate charging unit, which can charge off the portable battery; and possibly also be able to run the camera directly off the portable battery (if the plug adapter fits) 1. $30 portable battery from microcenter 2. $10 two separate USB to round plug cords 3. $5 (8) generic adapter plugs 4. $20 camera battery + USB charging unit -------------------------------------------------- = $65 total And now after searching for the portable battery I got from microcenter, I see I could have gotten that for only $20 on Amazon.
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Post by eliseharris on Nov 6, 2015 23:58:50 GMT
Yesterday I met someone to discuss maybe working on a website writing about up and coming comedians. I tried to insert myself into a web series they were planning but apparently they want people who are already famous, but not too famous, and who appeal to women aged 25 and under. I was asked if I know anyone 'punky' and/or perky and pretty for it People who are 21 and model-like already have their thing. I was hoping there would be something to grow into.
I don't quite get why advertisers and broadcasters want to appeal to the very young as I don't remember having the money to buy stuff when back then and I doubt all that many younger people do now. Also most of the ones who do have the money probably don't really care about watching comedy web series.
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Nov 7, 2015 1:22:26 GMT
The harsh reality is that a person can spend a decade devoting hours every day to making well crafted, informative videos, and some teenage girl with absolutely nothing to say can come along and post a 30 second video of herself dancing in her pajamas or her underwear, and get more views in a week on that one video than the other person gets for hundreds of videos made over a decade, all combined.
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Post by CampKohler on Nov 7, 2015 9:16:07 GMT
I think it is all due to what demographics the programmers think the advertisers want, even if their reasoning is wrong. Life is brutal, eh, Elise?
----
Thursday, I spent about three hours at the Recorder's office reviewing the chain of title of my friend's road and getting the execution dates from the deeds. I got a few, but then one didn't come up due to a recording error of some kind, and, when I tried to use the microfilm instead, the roll with the deed was missing. The staff called around, but nobody claimed to have it, so the conclusion was that it was simply misfiled. So I killed a good hour going through the a couple of dozen 7'-high sliding drawers and checking the roll numbers to make sure they were all there. One was misfiled, but two were just missing and will have to be replaced. These drawers are right beneath a 3-foot-wide sign announcing the criminal penalty for removing materials from the room. But who would do it? Name anyone you know who owns a microfilm reader? No, somebody screwed up somehow.
One other problematic deed had the last page missing where the date would be. But I know why that is. A long time ago I found out that the image files during the era of recording by typewriter had the last page left off hundreds of documents because of a screwup when scanning in the microfilm images. What you do is go to the microfilm and look at it there. But the computer record in this case—Oh, how lucky I am—points to two different microfilm rolls, BOTH OF THEM WRONG! Yes, it is a double error. So next time I go, I will have to look it up in the old handwritten index where they don't make mistakes, find the correct roll and then look at the deed. Then I'll add it to a very thick stack of papers where I write down every error I have noticed in the last couple of years (roughly about a thousand so far).
Friday I spent cleaning out my car, which is a disaster zone and washing clothes.
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Nov 7, 2015 11:26:26 GMT
I think it's also quite likely that the people producing web series are just basically a bunch of guys who like making videos involving perky and punky young female models. Or that even if it is based on advertisers' financial motives that it is about the idea that guys of all ages, and women as well, are more likely to watch programs featuring perky and punky young female models. For the same sort of reasons that a 30 second video of a girl dancing in her pajamas will get millions of views very quickly.
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Post by CampKohler on Nov 8, 2015 5:10:38 GMT
I sawed a 1" x 2" stick into three 1/2" x 9/16" 18"-long pieces with a handsaw. What a pain! They will be used to replace the drawer runners on an old chest of drawers. It was donated to GW, but they took one look at it and said, "I didn't see anything." So I loaded it up on my friend's pickup truck to take to her 80-year old tenant who needed the furniture. Yeah, it was free, except for a couple of hours sawing away and rasping away until I got the parts to make the drawers work. Now I have to glue them into the chest and make it all work. A sawyer I am not! !
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Nov 8, 2015 5:12:43 GMT
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Post by CampKohler on Nov 8, 2015 21:22:08 GMT
Wow, if that house was in CA, that would be a dirt cheap price. I can't say I would like to spend my declining years climbing up and down stairs, though. I read somewhere that the R factor of bricks is on a par with aluminum, so I hope it is well insulated inside. If it is getting chilly in your area, you could take an IR thermometer with you, measure the inside and outside wall temps and get an idea of how good the insulation is. I imagine potential buyers in your region routinely request to see heating and cooling bills to get a feel for things. ---- After my bro-in-law and sis got back from two days up at their vacation house in Grass Valley, I spent yesterday keeping him company watching TV while she played Pickleball and then went to some big Pickleball doin's where they watched a video of the senior class championships (yawn!). I took his dog for a walk whereupon I found signs on the gates proclaiming new codes were effective Nov 2, but the old code still worked on the 7th! The girl at the clubhouse counter said both codes should work until the 29th, when the old code would be removed. She couldn't get the concept that a mechanical lock can't have two codes, only electronic locks. It was like discussing nuclear physics with a dung beetle. Then I found that the electronic lock to the clubhouse area had an intermittent 1 key. More physics lessons. For dinner, he fixed us 3" x 6" x 1.5" steaks on the BBQ. Confronted with such a slab, I cut off a 3" piece... then a 2" piece... and then ate the remainder. I did not explode. Mmmmm.
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Nov 8, 2015 22:12:37 GMT
The asking price on that house seems to be about 1/3 the assessed value. I think this is mostly due to the condition inside, as the description says it is "in need of some updating", but perhaps more due to there being some kind of new gas tank or water tank or maybe power station that seems to have just been built right next door. It's so new that it doesn't show on the satellite photos, but does appear on the Google aerial images.
Real estate prices are crazy in Massachusetts, and houses near Boston can cost 20-30 times as much as an identical house would cost 50-60 miles away. This same property if located where I live now, with 5.5 acres included, would probably be asking 2 or 3 million dollars, or more. I really do want to get away from Boston to somewhere like Ashburnham where the values and the atmosphere are more reasonable and comfortable. This house might be my chance, as long as I can tolerate living next door to that new tank thing. The barn too looks nice, which would give the kind of space that made me interested in that church in New Hampshire for.
The infrared thermometer is interesting, thanks for that link.
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Post by CampKohler on Nov 10, 2015 22:29:22 GMT
Well, check for dead bodies in the basement while you are at it. ---- More Recorder's office work yesterday. I found two deeds of my friend's that has an actual property description error, so we will probably have to get the title company (a different one) to re-record a corrected version. Last night at GW, I bought a Craftsman upper tool chest for $30. It's used, but in good shape. With a little cleaning and lubing, it will replace the brand new one that got burgled from me a couple of years ago. They said it was full of tools which they sold, but I must have been too late for those. I'm surprised the chest stayed around for the afternoon. Tomorrow is Veteran's day, so, as ex-USAF, I get free all-you-can-eat at the Golden Corral buffet. I could try for the Applebee's, too, but I just can't put it away like I could only a couple of years ago. I guarantee you that the empty parking lot here will be jam packed and the line a thousand feet long.
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Post by floppycatlovingbunny on Nov 11, 2015 17:39:10 GMT
Yesterday I engaged in a little French conversation in a YouTube video comments. I got 1 lb. of powdered vitamin C delivered that I ordered from Amazon friday night. So it took three and a half days to arrive. Then I went out for a little walk, and got this blue china teacup and large saucer (with forget-me-not designs) that someone had left on the curb with a few other things. I deliberately left the other items, including this silver (plated?) heart box. But it was going to rain yesterday, and this morning all the things I had left there were still there, so I decided to take the silver heart after all.
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