Octopus

Octopus

Flat Tire

 

J.R. Oregon Tires & Auto Care

Daughter got a flat tire this morning while she was driving up West Burnside road on the way out of Portland. Hit something hard, probably a pothole. She tried to fix it herself but immediately ran into a problem when she couldn't loosen the wingnut that was securing the jack in the trunk. So I got called to assist. She was right, the wing nut was tight. I couldn't loosen it until I applied some Channellock pliers. I know who the guilty culprit is. He tightens everything super tight. Now we need to get to the lug nuts. The YouTube video she has pulled up has mag wheels while she has steel wheels and hub caps. So the lug nuts are behind the hubcap. Lugnuts revealed, she tries to loosen one. No go. She stands on the end of the wrench. Bounces. Still no go. I stand on the wrench and bounce and my heftier weight (double hers) does the trick. That was the toughest one. Thanks, Costco. She was able to break loose the rest of them.

Got the tire changed and looked around for someplace to get it fixed (it's Sunday) and find J.R. Oregon Tires & Auto Care in Beaverton. It took him maybe 15 minutes to fix the tire and only charged $20. I call it a deal.

Now I'm on Google Maps looking for Streetview images of this place. The one at the top is the first and it doesn't really give a good view of the place.

Union 76

So I move to the corner, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but the old Union 76 gas station that used to be there. I dunno how long ago.

J.R. Oregon Tires & Auto Care

Switch to 3d view and we get a good, if distorted, overview of the whole place. What isn't shown is the pile of several hundred tires on the far side of the main building.

This is in a small commercial district in fairly unscale neighborhood. The commercial district has been on the skids for while. Half of it has been fenced off and looks like it is going to be demolished. The only remainging businesses there are Harbor Freight and DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles).

I think the last time I changed a flat was on our old Windstar van, and that must have been 20 years ago.

Technocracy

Technate of America

Technocracy was a political movement in the USA in the 1930s that aimed to put technologists in control. Technology is not yet in total control, but it certainly has us fenced in with roads, powerlines, train tracks and prison walls. Bombthrower got me started.

Technocracy Rally, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, California

Technocracy Inc. has a website, but the above picture is almost the entire content.

Drone Killer from the Giant's Kitchen

ThinKom Anti-Drone Microwave Weapon

It doesn't disrupt communications, it fries the target drone's electronics. It's a mechanical phased array powered by vacuum tubes. Don't know how much power it packs, but you probably don't want to be standing down range. Defence Blog has the story.

Funnies

10 Short Videos #6114

10 Short Videos #6114

Battery That Powers Latest EVs

Lightning is one of the leading causes of death for adult giraffes.

Fiber optic line for drones

Mini Compressor For DeWalt, Makita , Milwaukee and more batteries, Up to 150 psi best for Nail Guns

Crab riding on Jellyfish

Robot chasing razorback hogs

Testing a variety of archery bows for accuracy with surprising results.

Fish SPITS On Man Over Piece Of Bread

When you trying to impress your girl

the aluminum-ati

Money

Yes, it seems unfair that a few people apparently have all the money while all the rest have none. Insert whatever platitude, pro or con, that you like.

Zillionaire's wealth is almost entirely predicated on the value of their stock holdings. The value of that stock is mostly dependent on how much money the company is making, and the ratio of value to profit is typically around 20 to 1. So if a company sells a million dollars worth of widgets and makes 10% profit on that sale, the company would have made $100,000. Multiply that by 20 and you get 2 million dollars which is typically what the company would be worth on the open market, i.e. the stock market. So typically a company is worth twice as much as they sell.

There are also whims. Some people get so excited about a company's future that they will pay a premium for stock which is what happened to Tesla. If Tesla doesn't realize the enthusiast's expectations the price will undoubtedly collapse. Shoot, it may have already done so. I haven't been watching.

Whims sometimes also work the other way. People take a dislike to a company for some ephemeral reason and the stock price sits on the bottom.

The way to get rich used to be by saving money, but with the way inflation is running these days, saving money long term is just a slow way of going broke. If you want to increase your personal pile of cash, you need to be putting that money to work, and that requires keeping a close eye on whatever it is you are betting on. Mutual funds are a good solution for people (like me) who don't have the discipline to keep an eye on things.

The big problem is that over half of the people don't make enough money to have enough extra to invest in anything. Some portion of those people wouldn't make an investment even if they could. I like to think it's a small portion, but I really have no idea. Maybe that's why the poors are all poor.

I am a little concerned that technology has become so intertwined with our lives that should something bad happen we would all be in a world of hurt. Fortunately, all the physical stuff that we depend on is pretty reliable, like our networks for distribution of:

• natural gas
• electricity
• water
• food over the road

We might experience a pinch here or there, but there are enough people who are concerned about these things that they are going to work to alleviate that pinch.

I think that's enough rambling for today.