Tiger Balm all around

The recent election, this-that, same same.

More assholes wearing American flag pins on their lapels,

worshiping at the altar of money. Lapdogs of Billionaires.

I voted for Hope and Change once and all I got was dirty

business as usual so that was it for voting. 

Never again. 

Japan, to me, has always been the home of amazingly cool, very strange, stuff.

Below is the perfect example of Japan cool.

A plastic door you punch into the side of a bag of chips or what have you.

Want some? Just open the trap door get the chips you need and 

snap close the door keeping everything fresh.

Amazing!

Many years ago I so wanted a Semmerling pistol.

I could never afford one then.

They were only built for a few years in the early 1980's.

This manual action, single shot, incredibly small, .45 ACP, hide out pistol.

Each one was hand built from the finest materials.

These pistols are now six thousand dollars when auctioned.

It just proves that if you can't afford it when it first appears,

you'll never be able to afford it. 
That's the way our society rolls now.

Pending retirement is creating a few problems.

Through the course of years and years of

working, I have created an everyday carry system

based on work.

What i need to carry with me miles and miles from 

home or resupply due to the Protestant fucking work ethic.

In retirement what do i carry with me when?

Systems that i relied on for many, many years

and that served me well, no longer apply?

I also have a ton of gear that may now be useless?

So now i must re-learn what to carry and how to carry it.

This is probably going to be strange.

On analog tape

"We hang petty thieves, 

and appoint the great ones to public office.

Aesop

The Matrix is a system Neo

This was a full week of people having many needs.

This week was very hard to figure out while it was in progress.

Attempting to improve the sound of my mix

tapes via two new items.

I am hoping for results.

The first item, pictured above is Amazon's basic headphones.

Amazon basic products specialize in above standard performance

items which are totally without useless bling or unnecessary components.

My hope is much better sound quality compared to in-ear buds. 

The second item is a FiiO E6 headphone pre-amplifier.

My concept is to run a line from one of my Walkman's to this pre-amp

and then run a line from the pre-amp to the headphones.

This intermediate step allows for the pre-amp to fine tune both

the tone and volume at a precise level, and increase volume clarity at a 

lower level without distortion.

The FiiO is incredibly small--

charged via USB cable from my laptop.

My plan is to use this pre-amplifier both with my Walkman's and

as a fine tuning mechanism for recording as an  in-line equalizer between

my laptop and the recording cassette.

As an attempt to improve sound quality.

I spent this afternoon making a new mix tape and

I got a $24.00 deal on a Walkman off Amazon,

a WM-FX-251.

Playing NYPD Blue in the background

 while doing things.

This show will break your heart if you watch

too much of it.

I have been doing a considerable amount of writing.

To what end I have yet to determine.

The end result is in a manner immaterial.

It is the writing that is enjoyable.

"Nothing needs reforming like other people's morals."

Mark Twain

Strange days,Strange ways

And a week goes by....

Move along citizen, nothing to see here.....

This was unbelievably excellent...

This too...

Surprisingly this as well...

Interesting but, honestly boring.....
Non-fiction---the British establishing a 
base in Antarctica during World War 2.

I was unable to repair my Sony WM-103 Walkman.

Unfortunately it appears as if the motor is shot, it served me well since 1988.

I had hoped to honor it by keeping it working.

Just wasn't meant to be-----
Everything eventually wears out.
No matter the care you give it.

I prefer not too...
now...

"Life is either a great adventure,

or nothing."

Helen Keller