Good lord, just how much snot can one nose produce, anyways? I thought I had fought off my little head cold, but it vanished for a few days only to re-emerge. I am not outright sick, I do not have a fever and moaning and thrashing, however it is as if someone had turned on a spigot in my nose. I keep blowing and the stuff keeps coming. It's annoying as hell.
On the plus side I scored a free topper for my Junk Truck. It was sitting in my neighbors front yard and had 'free' scrawled on it. It's missing the back hatch part, but other than that it seems to be fine. I had Alan help me carrying it over and perch it on the back of my junk truck. Now I need to pick up a couple of clamps to hold it in place. Free garbage stuff is great. To the JunkTruck!
I had another captel phone blow out on my last night. I have the backup one I bought off of ebay, but at the rate these phones seem to die I am not sure how long it will last. Last time I took a damaged captel phone down to the place I got it, the lady lamented there were no more captels coming in and once they died they were all gone. Great. I need to contact the company and find out how much repairs are.
I have been trying to figure out a way to mooch off of the city of sanfords free wireless internet so I do not have to pay for mine. One wireless adapter I own seems to pick up the city signal right in my house, however the signal is only 39 percent. This does not seem to be enough for me to actually get the internet going although I do connect. Actually, it says 'Access point not found'. I have been looking at various can-tennas and DIY wifi setups to boost signals. There seems to be a product on the market that is supposed to be really good at picking up distant signals, the 'Hawking Dish'. They have a couple of them on ebay for under 60 bucks, so I might try one out. Mmm. Free Internet.
Setting the dial for September 2007: snot, a free topper missing its hatch, and a Hawking Dish on the horizon.
Ah, 2007: a man spots a free truck topper in his neighbor's yard, recruits a friend to haul it, and calls it a win. The world has shifted under your feet, Ed. Free garbage is still free, but now it's mediated by apps and online groups where you have to claim it before someone else snatches it—and you'll never get a topper missing its back hatch without someone tagging you in a post. Your Captel phone was a dying hardware relic; you were hoarding eBay backups because the supply had dried up. These days, captioned calls are just an accessibility setting on the smartphone in your pocket, assuming you haven't sold your soul to a subscription service. And your Wi-Fi mooching? City-wide free wireless was the promise of 2007, a glowing municipal dream that ended with captive portals, subscriptions, and coffee shops that charge you for the privilege of using the bathroom. The fact that you were willing to buy a Hawking Dish off eBay to chase a 39 percent phantom signal? That's not engineering, Ed. That's hope in a cardboard-and-foil rocket.
“2007 Ed, did you ever stop to wonder whether a 39 percent signal that says 'Access point not found' is the universe telling you to pay for your own internet, or were you determined to build a can-tenna out of spite?” — Beelzebubba the Third
2007 Ed: So, Beelzebubba, you raise a fair point, and sittin' here with a nose that's basically a leaky garden hose, I can appreciate the cosmic hint. But you gotta understand: 39 percent is practically a challenge. The universe telling me to pay for internet is like the universe telling me to stop dumpster diving for free donuts. I'm gonna ignore it and build something ridiculous out of tin foil and PVC pipe because that's who I am. Besides, the city of Sanford put that signal out there for the public good, and I'm the public. If that means I gotta rig a Hawking Dish to my window and blind the neighbors with reflected WiFi, so be it. I'd rather be a spiteful antenna wizard than hand over my hard-earned dollars to some cable monopoly. Now if you'll excuse me, my nose needs another tissue.
