ShopTalk Sunday: SWL-dB, Toplogy (3), Ragu Wonder

by

First item on the agenda is the Shortwave database.  The idea is that in the event of a massive continental-impacting earthquake, EMP strike, or Web Hard Down event, it would be nice to have a printed out (laminated) copy of a Shortwave radio stations list.  To allow getting news and information from something other than an “offishul” source.

I’m thinking this project would be worthwhile because while it’s a misleading story that “Government never lies” we also know – as in Covid vax, as an example – that they will stretch the Truth or simply make shit up to maintain and exert undue power and influence.

Are we being a bit paranoid?  No, I don’t think so, but this is a personal value judgement. Hopefully based on past performance.

What Kind of Shortwave?

The shortwave radio market is not as important as it once was.  Although there are a lot of great radios out there.  While it would be “safe” to mention some of the “standards” – like the Sangean 909-series – our present favorite pick is the ATS-25 Max radios.  These go for about $150 on Amazon and basically if you have the antenna adapter (either BNC or UHF connector, depending on build) and a way to connect a 50-foot length of wire (not critical, alligator clips are fine) you will get a boatload of functionality.

While both radios will do single sideband reception (and the Sangean, with a bigger speaker may sound better) the Max has a built-in digital decoder. Which means being able to pick of good signals with Morse code content. The software inside the ATS-25 Max is being upgraded all the time. But with any of these field upgradeable receivers, we caution people away from the “bleeding edge” because if you don’t know exactly what you are doing, you can turn a great radio into a $150 paperweight.

Station Lists

That leaves only the matter of people contributing the database content so we can take the approach William (of the Radio Ranch) did in that great AM stations list a while back.

Another reader (Mike, thanks) suggested that you turn to the regularly scheduled ham radio Morse code reports that run daily.  Click the link for the schedule page and this is a perfect way to become familiar with the Max radio’s Morse decoder.

SWL idea, W1AW evenings, I sometimes drift off to sleep listening to code practice and CW bulletins. Takes your mind off things.

W1AW Morse Code Transmissions

Frequencies are 1.8025, 3.5815, 7.0475, 14.0475, 18.0975, 21.0675, 28.0675, 50.350, and 147.555 MHz.

Slow Code = practice sent at 5, 7-1/2, 10, 13 and 15 words per minute (wpm).

Fast Code = practice sent at 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 13 and 10 wpm.

Code bulletins are sent at 18 wpm.

CW frequencies include code practices, Qualifying Runs and CW bulletins.”

I’ve been what qualifies as a “high-speed” op (25 WPM and up) since my junior year of high school, so my decoder is always onboard.  But if you don’t want to memorize and patiently learn “the Code” then a radio with a decoder is a choice to consider.

Topology (3)

The world is undergoing a massive “change in topologies” of technology (poetic, huh?) in a number of fields.  I explained how my Big Desktop computer failed due to a lightning hit that the surge protection didn’t catch. Looks more and more like an i-9 mini computer is in my future with all the mass storage on a USB 3.2 and 3.2 capable hard drive array is in my future.

And then there was the change in radios.  Where once a radio came with no accessories and everything you wanted to add (like a CW decoder we were just talking about) was an external peripheral.

You will also remember that I talked about how this was happening with home grid-tied power systems.  Where one of our big Outback Power inverters was also taken out by the lightning.  This has us looking at migrating our Big System down to discrete “micro-inverters” that can live just about anywhere and can be replaced in modular fashion.

Hold on a minute, though, Bubba – don’t be too quick to jump said one of our readers who has been in the solar business for a quarter of a century:

“I would seriously think twice before you go with micro-inverters.  We’ve installed thousands of the various generations of Enphase units, and although they tout a 25-year warranty, that doesn’t include the time and labor to get the replacement unit and install it.  For a while, we had one guy whose whole job was driving around, pulling a panel in the middle of a customer array and replacing a single inverter!  Step and Repeat.

The basic issue is that the backside of a solar array tends to be a pretty hot environment.  If you want to convert continuous solar energy (DC if you will), into 60 Hz sine wave AC, you need some sort of local 1/60 second storage, ie. electrolytic caps!  Supposedly Enphase went to Nichicon in Japan and said something to the effect of “Mil-Spec electrolytics are good, but what do you have that is even more temperature tolerant”? Still there were failures.  On the other hand, the various DC RSD boxes and optimizers from SolarEdge, etc don’t have this issue since they are basically high frequency DC-DC converters and can get by with ceramic caps…

If you want reliability in a 48V battery-based system a SolArk 15K is currently probably your best approach (still made in China, but less firmware issues so far than the 12K’s).  If you want to go high voltage LFP take a look at Tesla Powerwall3’s.  SMA is also apparently trying to blow out the remaining inventory of 48V Sunny Islands in favor of the new high voltage hybrid units, physically large but reliable and pretty low idle energy consumption.

And yes, Outback has turned to crap.

If you are feeling lucky take a look at Midnite Solar’s new All in One.  Made in China but the folks in WA have a pretty good record of standing behind stuff.”

Carefully edited for no personally identifiable information, this is as close to “current, state-of-the-art” in solar thinking as we can find. And we are deeply appreciative when professionals are willing to tell the truth about things based on first-hand experience.  Policy at Outback seems to be no working on gear out of warranty so in an upcoming ShopTalk maybe we will do an “inverter assessment” to see if we can repair the fault from the lightning hit.

Ragu

Well, I’ll be damned.  Somehow, this past week, with Elaine’s son here visiting us, I got the bright idea of making the kind of spaghetti cause all the Woptalian kids in our multicultural neighborhood were serving for dinner. Italians, you see have the National Franchise on “Tomato and starch anything” as evidenced by mastery of pizza, lasagna, and so forth.

I was shocked this week to find out that the word ragu is not a Brand.  Gosh, I almost made it through life not realizing the real definition of “ragu” is as a style of saucery in Italian cooking.

“(in Italian cooking) a sauce typically made with ground meat, onions, tomato puree, and red wine, and served with pasta.”

Our ‘hood, when I was young, was barely in lower blue collar, so the meat was seldom ground – and most often was stew meat.

Turned out that stew meat was perfect if you took the time to brown the meat (and minced onion) in a few tablespoons of extra virgin, first press olive oil. What accomplished cooks around here – like LOOB – shorthand as EVO.

Take a pound of stew meat and brown the hell out of it.  Hot a pan as you can find. I did a double batch, so a second pound was used.  But remember, this is about the browning, so do small batches that scorch up good in 3-minutes per batch, or so.

When you have all the meat dark brown, put it all in a pot, toss in what looks right (a jar of Neuman’s Own Marinara sauce) and a can of diced tomatoes. All that’s left is a half tablespoon of garlic (powder NOT salt) and 3/4 cut of wine.

Simmer for about two-hours, or until the meat will fall apart if you stare at it too long.

Serving is the key:  Line up some olives, an assortment of cheeses, and go through “assembly line” fashion.  Fish out some al dente pasta, ladle on two or three big scoops of the meat sauce, and then olives and cheeses to taste.

My preference – having been schooled in more northern Italian cooking by an ex-Buffalo mob hangout owner – is to use either cottage cheese of sour cream.  Seems to settle the tomatoes down a bit – some people get over-acid middle of the night from too much tomato anything.  Though adding a bit to sugar to the sauce (a teaspoon or two) will also (for chemistry reasons unknown) settle down the aftereffects.

Off to do inverter programming after a swing by 3806 LSB on the ham bands.  Have a great “what’s left of it” and write when you get rich.

George@Ure.net ac7x

54 thoughts on “ShopTalk Sunday: SWL-dB, Toplogy (3), Ragu Wonder”

    • Really? It was Italian women, mostly in their 50s and 60s, who taught my mother how to make real Italian spaghetti and meatballs.

  2. i’m con fuse d!
    i chose 400w bi-facial up to 500w panels to reduce heat. is this what was being referenced?
    https://apsmartglobal.com/
    i ask this because my combiner box is what did the rsd during “our” storms and if adding these are more insurance, well…perhaps a worthy pursuit.

  3. I would think that the way to handle dB listing for transmitters which move about by showing multiple records for known frequency haunts with a couple of observation time fields. A site like BBC or Air America might have dozens of records. Swiss International is still off the air as far as I know but they were great for international news. English language news sites would be valuable in an extended black-out. I wouldn’t expect local intelligence sites to stay on for long.

    For the most part, my definition of retirement is when you can’t buy a job, or crawl out of bed to participate. The mythology of American retirement is just that for most of us. Our employment just evolves as we get older. Being a fixed income cost-cutter can be a full time undertaking for some.

    • “Our employment just evolves as we get older.”
      .
      Our “enjoyment” just evolves as we get older.

  4. “Mob hangout owner”..was prolly a towelhead.

    Putting some Parm in da Gravy, some crunchy Italian bread in there, sure. Putting ricotta and or sour cream in da Sunday Gravy is a VIOLATION . Thats like some French/Swiss BS there Amigo..

    East Coast -You would be required to pull Ure Man unit out and lay on table for a Smack, if in youse put any sourcream or ricotta in that Gravy pot. Shameful behavior, no wonder Ure guy was sent out to the “boondocks”, like Rocky Balboa in Tulsa.

    Gravy is supposed to cook on Simmer ALL Day long, that way Peeps can make their way thru Kitchen(sneaking) during the day & adding more of their Fav spice..See Grandma in Garfields Christmas -https://youtu.be/GuE-kfQqyZo?si=pXVm0SRmUXLk3sIX

    Family in da House is a also a very important Gravy ingredient, wese call Luv. The more the merrier, and if the E A G L E S are playing a 1:00 o’clock game..Ure talking The Garden of EATING.
    – Mandatory Nap afterwards.
    Lets not forget the Red Blend (s)…Northern Italian red blends are Fine..something like Bolla Vollapocella( https://www.totalwine.com/wine/red-wine/corvina/bolla-valpolicella/p/1422015?s=101&igrules=true ), easy drinking, big bottle 4 Sharing..

    I would tell youse about Francis ford Coppola’s Turtle Inn in Placencia, Belize, CA. https://thefamilycoppolahideaways.com/resort/turtle-inn/

    Pizza grotto is situated among the Gardens out back of main restaurant, Tree growing right up thru middle of Pizza Bar. 2 pies fer 1 on Mondays.
    Enormous chicken coop/city off to one side of Gardens. Most expensive joint on the peninsula, but the Pizza outta the wood fired outdoor oven..Yummmm! and the ambiance/experience is off the charts.
    They do a MEAN Prosciutto& Arugula pie – all freshy fresh wit EVO drizzled over top the arugala..YUM! Holy Shit – somebody call me doctor, my heart is all a flutter..
    There are always Europeans/European families there when we go- looks and feels like some wheres on southern Italian coast. Frank also has a some super delish Red Blends on hand.

    – 4 Adults, 2 Pies w/fresh picked Salads, 2 bottles Coppolas red blend makes a for a wonderful evening. Personally I like a hitting a lil bit of “da kind” before hand, helps take edge off all the “dressed” fine dinners in the main restaurant, and turns off the “noise”.. at least I dont hear it anymore.

    ..Ill be the one in the T-shirt, Shorts, and flipflops and a big ol smile on my face.

    Color me – most Grateful.

    ShopTalk -NRG Experiment – Drone, 60ft thin copper wire, grounded motor with other side of circuit being Drone w/Copper wire..this shit used to be KNOWN as Aether or Chi/Qi. Cliff High posted a tiktok/ video yesterday of just such experiments with quote..Duh -Oooh!

    • re: Earth-616
      feat: TVA (Time Variance Authority) & “Rough Justice”

      BCN,

      The wheels of synchronicity are merrily going around in comments today. Interestingly “The Godfather” director was a publicly declared fan of a prior instalment of “Deadpool” whose latest Phase 5 offering to the MCU (Marvel Comics Universe) apparently was only released USA-wide two days ago with “Deadpool & Wolverine”.

      According to the creator of Earth-616, a parody of the Earth we are in, the universe’s naming is a tongue-in-cheek satanic reference. So it says in the Marvel Comics published article which underlies the original story founding dating back to the 1980’s. Would it be an oxymoron to raise a glass to sobering thoughts?
      https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/the-origin-story-of-earth-616-as-told-by-its-creator-writer-david-thorpe

  5. I do believe that he has just made some new friends.

    Former President Donald Trump recently unveiled his cryptocurrency plan at the Bitcoin2024 Conference in Nashville. He aims to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” by establishing a Strategic National Bitcoin Stockpile. This stockpile would be seeded with about 210,000 Bitcoins, valued at approximately $13 billion, which the federal government has already obtained through legal seizures.

    Trump also pledged to create a crypto-friendly advisory board and promised to support the industry by boosting U.S. energy production for Bitcoin mining.

  6. Reaching Net-Zero emissions is still a major goal for the Biden Administration., and according to Janet [ What am I doing here?] Yelen., it will cost three trillion dollars annually to accomplish that goal.
    The Administration is moving ahead with its plans.

  7. Biden’s withdrawal … Obama called Biden last Sunday to inform him that the VP prepared to invoke 25th Amendment with the concurrence of Schumer, Polosi and Jefferies.

    I know it it shop talk Sunday but thought this was important enough to post. Be sure to read BOTH X posts, second one is about the background details discovered by Seymour Hersh and adds lots of detail.

    https://x.com/LeadingReport/status/1817345944196669719?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1817345944196669719%7Ctwgr%5Ef9b567804f0d710d576cacdb128d537ffa9aef4b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.timebomb2000.com%2Fxf%2Findex.php%3Fthreads%2Freport-dems-were-about-to-use-25th-amendment-on-biden.647934%2F

    ———————

    https://x.com/amuse/status/1817318548668399836?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1817318548668399836%7Ctwgr%5Ef9b567804f0d710d576cacdb128d537ffa9aef4b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.timebomb2000.com%2Fxf%2Findex.php%3Fthreads%2Freport-dems-were-about-to-use-25th-amendment-on-biden.647934%2F

    • Nostradamus and The Third Age of Mars 2024
      G. A. Stewart, 2023, Page 275

      Nostradamus Quatrain VI-25
      Through Mars [War] contrary [to the] the monarch [King/President],
      The great fisherman [Pope] in ruinous trouble:
      The young Black [King]. red [Muslim] seizes the hierarchy,
      The traitors move on a rainy day.

      Although, Barack Obama remains behind the scenes, we know that Quatrain VI-25 predicts that “The young Black [King]. red [Muslim] seizes the hierarchy, The traitors move on a rainy day.”

      Clearly, I was wrong about this move being made during the Trump Administration. By process of elimination, this can only be Barack Obama moving against Joe Biden or Kamala Harris. Some event will force Barack Obama to come out into the open and seize control of the U.S. government.

      We have come to the first stage of the Barack Obama coup d’état prediction.

      https://theageofdesolation.com/nostradamus/2024/07/29/another-challenge-to-the-alt-media-the-obama-coup-detat/

  8. – Sat out in the vegetable garden late last night – I have an “old man rocker” and small side table where I can encourage, or curse [ whichever is required..,] and ponder the fate of the universe as I understand it. With a 28 pound rescue cat asleep on my lap., a few bats flying around over-head., a double bourbon on ice and a rum soaked cigarettello, I got busy ‘pondering’.
    – My take-away from last night?
    – Synopsis:
    No matter how hard you try, you can’t avoid it. The future is coming for all of us. How you perceive what the future may bring – is completely up to you., but, like it or not, it is coming for ya like a monster from the Id and you should do your best to prepare for it., however you see it.., or you won’t have much of future at all.
    .
    “Stay frosty !”

    • d’Lynn, much the same down here in Costa Rica on the dead end dirt road. Sitting on on the creek side deck with a smooth rum and a decent cigar. Just me and the rescue dog. Very, very peaceful but the thoughts of ‘What if” keep chasing themselves around and around. Just waiting for the next shoe to drop and then attempt to pick up the pieces. Sort of a difficult job! Main wile the future gets closer and closer. Need to buy a few more bottles of rum and another box of smokes so life will be bearable while picking up pieces.

      Cheers

    • If you have a 28 pound rescue cat asleep in your lap – YOU ARE PREPARED!

      May the peace of the felines follow you ever throughout your days…

  9. real quick, as im shifting gears. just now as im leaving the ranch to head to church this morning. someone parked a newer burn orange Dodge Demon at the end of the long driveway, by the gate.

    i have never seen one tha5 color except in my dream. the one i was driving as i left L.A in my dream posted here on urbansurvival. funny i was talking with The Eldest Last night of the Elders and He mentioned a cat.

    hmmmmm… interesting.

    same exact car, same exact burnt orange color.

    huh.

    perhaps it is a signal that is still in motion.

    when you see something in front of you, you are moving in that direction. when its next to you it is presentence. when it is behind you? you are moving away from it. if it is approaching you and you are sitting still, that means it is coming to you. you neednt do anything, but wait, its on its way.

    since i was driving towards the Burnt Orange Dodge Demon, that means im currently heading in that direction.

    tha5 is how all them angel numbers work. like 5555, 2222 and 3333. it has been my experiance, the same thing applies..example; if the number 5555 is moving towards you and you are sitting still? it is on its way. if you are driving towards 5555, it is your current ttajectory. if it is nex to you, it is present.

    if it behind you and you didnt pass it as you approached it, you are moving away from it or it is pastence.

    its important to know how to navigate the woo woo.

    lol

    well, im excited to go to Church today. i missed being at Church. haveing had to clear trains every sunday for the last few months. i sure missed going to church.

    • i understand now. i have two choices for duty stations once i complete Border Patrol Academyand then i do 6 weels on the Texas Wall OJT.

      they ask you what is two duty stations you want prior to the official offer. one is Blaine, Washington. my daughter is going to college in Bellingham. i can move there, buy a house and be close to here while she is in college at Western.

      the other i selected was Indio California. i can move back to my favorite place on earth. Palm Desert California. I can actually move back into Building 11, Condo 11. such a beautiful place. I still know alot of good and very wealthy people there.

      indio is 127.8 miles from LA.

      the roses are a symbol of my most favorite spot to meditate. and where i started this journry that took me to stand in the dry well, as the living water eventually to a living expression of a Merkaba which transported me to a scaled replica of The City of Gods.

      my favorite place ever to meditate, i spent every morning there for over 4 months is the Rose Artrium in Palm Desert Civic Park.

      its smells soo good.

      it one of the most beautiful places on earth. they have every single kind of rose there that grows in the world. all in a circle, spiral really. you can sit right in the center of them all.

      they have a picture at the link.

      https://www.palmdesert.gov/departments/parks-recreation

      The Language of Creation is suggesting im on my way to that destination.

      those symbols present mean, that is my trajectory. how i get the car and there, im not to worry about. i can always change my course. but time and time again……oh the Eldest said that to me. time and time again. its an old hopi prophecy that was never mentioned outside the tribe, but it relates to me. time and time again, i always end up where i will be, even when i try to go the other way.

      well, i gotta run.

      faster
      stronger

      the strength of ten men.

      wisdom.

    • The Eldest said to me. many ages ago a white man came to our tribe. He said to us. many stories told became prophecies that eventually became true. once they became true they became songs sung for generations upon generations.

      there is lots of stories in the world that are not true. but people believe in them none the less.

      the most powerful thing a man can do, is write his own story. when it comes true, he and his story becomes a song that is sung for generations upon generations.

      time and time again we are reminded of the three prophecies.

      the world is full of truths that are fake and stories that are true.

      The word kachina is broken into two words katsi meaning life and tsina meaning to bring. the blue and red kachinas are water and blood. both bring life.

      and then he said i imagine you dont age like the rest of us. haha. you have so much life in you.

      time and time again. hmmm.

  11. Let me NOT talk about solar power …

    (the website is saying this is a duplicate post of my previous one so it won’t post it – so need to add in some other content first – LOL)

    follow up to my post above wrt Biden’s FORCED REMOVAL from the Pres race:

    Seymour Hersh’s post wrt Biden’s withdrawal:

    https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/leaving-las-vegas

    Additional article that throws more light on the behind the scenes of the scheming to get Biden off the ballot:

    https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/07/26/who_engineered_the_political_coup_against_biden___151336.html

  12. i spose its important to note the signal prior to the occurance. we had a big wedding last night at the ranch. its a wedding venu as well as an arabian horse ranch.

    as i was leaving the house. there was a score and then some of white and blue roses in baskets. left over from the wedding last night. they are soooo beautiful. i said hey! i will take 2 or 3 baskets and put them on my deck. the lady ranch hand said i will stick them by your door.

    its not really a long driveway, its gravel and you can only do 5 mph to not kick up dust on the wedding platform.

    precurser wedding, white and blue roses, then the burnt orange dodge demon. never seen one before. only in my dream.

    facinating stuff.

    hmmm.

  13. elon musk just sent me a message, on X two words.

    It is.

    he never sends two messages to me. they are always blah blah blah and a rocket emoji. hahaha

    hmmmmm. interesting day. i almost went to tri-cities last night with a friend. helping them move. but i need to shave 3 minutes off my 3 mile run time. 22:13 is my current 3 mile run time. i want to get that below 20 minutes before i go to BP Training. and i really missed going to church. so i bounced to go to church and the gym.

    and its been a facinating morning so far. im excited to see what THE DUDE does next.

    oh i stopped by the dog poet smoke and mirrors last night. he was talking about the mitote’ of the current power elite.

    well, church has started. must be present to win.

    :)

    • the paster is wearing white pants and a blue shirt with white roses on it. the entire sermon is about spiritual warfare. he stops and says and i quote, “heres a dude. theres another dude. Jesus. jesus! is THE DUDE.”

      I about fell out of the pew.

      i kid you not. The Pastor said that verbatium.

      hahaha today is the day,

      ~ La Dolce Vita ~

        • well, if they werent such greedy bastards, and i had my way for once in my life. id be on the beach in fiji, with hot austrailian blonde for a fun partner, laying on the beach, surfing, working on my tan, writing books, dancing and singing at night.

          and not anywhere near LA or the use of a dodge demon car.

          my trajectory could very well be totally different.

          did i ever tell ya that in mansion i live. the entire entry you can park 2 cars under, grows grape vines. big fat graped im told. i was told the bees get in there for the sugar when they start to ferment. you can hold the bee in your hand and it will stumble around drunk.

          there is two different kinds wines. The New Wine and Old Wine.

          one is the Wrath of God.

          we have a little more time left, before the grapes are full and ready to be made into wine.

          lets hope, the wine produced here in The City of the Gods, is the good wine.

          ummmmm.

          how does it go again? oh…. yes! one pants. one waters and God gives the Increase.

          Yes!

          23$

        • A____ made two separate predictions: the dream you just referred to on 10/3/2023 which was an unattributed premonition, and a target list on 11/5/2023, which was an attributed prophesy. I haven’t seen anything that jumps out as a start of the fulfilment of the 11/5/2023 prophesy, but sometimes big things roll out slow and otherwise unnoticed. There were more than 31 targets referenced, which is a lot of real estate.
          I would score Stu’s coup interpretation as a possible hit.

        • Or the other dream interpretation – sitting on the back seat with the cat watching the scene unfold – who is the driver? Maybe not A?

          Just had a strange distraction while reading this thread. Was listening to a Taylor Swift song. When it ended this Lana Del Ray song “Love” started playing. Quite a trippy video clip and at the 2:50 and 3:04 mark an orange and white car (1969 Chevrolet Camaro) drifts into space towards the fiery orange sun……just as Lana sings “Don’t worry baby”…………..

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-NTv0CdFCk

    • geores great great great great great grand children will say my long distant papa knew him. he said he was a good man, an asshole, a funny an asshole but an asshole none the less. and he sure loved Jesus whome he called THE DUDE.

      and all the congrigation said, to THE DUDE. AMEN!

      Hahhahaahhahaha.

      hmmmm maybe we can come an alternate ending. one with a hot blonde austrailian lady and summer loving in fiji. america samoa works just as well.
      hahhahahaha.

      prettty funny. the thing is. its all true. hahhahaha. i really did stand there. i really did work in a living expression of a merkaba ‘ The Cheriot of Gods’ and i really do live, now, in a scaled replica of The City of Gods and my bedroom is exactly the place in that scaled replica of Golden Pyramid aka The temple of Quetzalcoat.

      hahhahahaha.

      legendary stuff, yo!

      hahahahahahha

      hmmmmmm…. well what do ya do.

      hahahahahahahaha.

  14. re: Eau de Cologne
    feat: a ragoût on the Rhine

    Folks,

    You may have heard on the shortwave wireless about the latest from Ascot. Queen Camilla was pictured beneath number 2 event signage delightfully attired in a dress marketed as “The Montecito”. However her horse, Handcuffed, royally disappointed in the running of the Princess Margaret Stakes. Her spirits appeared buoyed upon encountering her first ex-husband ambling about the royal enclosure. His new partner was not present but would likely be instantly recognizable to television viewers as the acid-tongued presenter of the BBC game show, “The Missing Link”.

    Speaking of missing links, the stakes winner was French entry Goliath at 25 to 1 odds owned by the Austrian noble Baron von Ullman. The latter’s family had divested itself earlier in the 2000’s of their multi-billion dollar private Cologne bank Sal. Oppenheim founded in 1789. According to Wikipedia, the bank famously bankrolled the Kaiser in WW1 as well as after WW2 a German motor car manufacturer whose name in Latin means “listen”. Once unexpected legal stormfronts dissipated following divestiture to DeutscheBank, the comedy arm of the German public broadcaster ARD addressed matters in 2019 with “The King of Cologne”.

    According to broadcaster comments in response to a viewer inquiry last year regarding a missing link, it appears the broadcaster “cannot offer the program online indefinitely”.

    Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

    https://www.daserste.de/unterhaltung/film/themenabend-koelscher-kluengel/der-koenig-von-koeln-100.html

  15. A couple of posters here, have mentioned the term “street justice” lately…,
    – A moment from my past.
    Years ago, I was sitting in the shadows in a street side tea shop in old town Kyoto.., nice quiet street., beautiful shop., waiting for a local friend to show. This part of old Kyoto was owned and controlled by the Yakuza. You behaved yourself. I really liked the area., went there often., and behaved myself.
    Across the narrow street, to my left walking down the street was a well dressed man, in his late thirties., trim and lean and from his smooth walk I could tell he was athletic. Nice gray suit. Tagged him as ‘dangerous’.
    To my right, walking up the street towards him were three panku goutou – street punks, or street bandits, depending on how the words are used. Easily spotted by their leather jackets, chains, hair cuts and ripped clothing. You avoided them – nasty little critters. They were very out-of-place in this quiet, cobble-stone neighborhood.
    “Nice Gray Suit” stepped off the sidewalk, into the street and headed right for them [ this should be interesting…,] The three goutou saw him and came right at him., pointing and yelling Three against one. But I had an ‘odd’ feeling .
    “Nice Gray Suit” reached behind his jacket, with both hands as he closed – I don’t think the goutou saw it. Four, or five feet away “Nice Gray Suit” leaped forward.., in the matter of a few seconds all three goutou were squirming on the ground – bleeding out.., “Nice Gray Suit”., with a small knife in each hand, had slashed their throats.., each of them – twice. They had mere moments before they passed out, then die. No one was going to call an ambulance for ‘them’. They would wait a few minutes.
    “Nice Gray Suit” was good. He had done this before. He pulled a handkerchief and carefully wiped the blood off the blades, slipped them back into their sheaths behind his back and dropped the handkerchief. As he stood there securing his knives, straightening his jacket and checking his sleeves for blood splatter., he did a double take and saw me watching him from the shadows. I gave a big smile, nodded and tipped my tea cup to him. His expression never changed., [ probably hadn’t since he was six..,] but he closed his eyes, tilted his head and nodded to me., [ you’re welcome.] then slowly walked away, in the direction the goutou had come. Slow and calm. If anyone did see it, they would point me out as the culprit before ratting him out.
    I am pretty well convinced that he was a member of the local Yakuza. Despite what you may have heard, or read., the Yakuza liked a clean, safe and friendly neighborhood, they had a vested interest in protecting their neighborhood, their people and their shops from any and all that might cause a problem, including crooked politicians, and bad cops – and like those three goutou. Who had obviously been causing problems and “Nice Gray Suit” was asked to send a message and deal with them. He did. His way. Old World – Street justice.

    • Most mob related neighborhoods are strict … mind their rules you can have a great time safe secure .. they unlike the street gangs in the homes that thrive on the fear of the citizens and robbing local families.. the organized want the business in the neighborhood. the citizens there safe from harm.. misbehave and quick justice .. I was told that eating a great Italian meal in a wonderful restaurant the cook could have been my mom she was awesome.. the guy I was with pointed out an old woman with her bag of groceries..he said no one would touch her on her journey..for all anyone knew she could have mob money heading for a drop.
      my father lived in the windy city his father threw his life in grief into a bottle.. dad had to raise his sister.. once a week All Capone sent his boys around with a truck..at every home that had children a box of food was left..he opened soup kitchens and guaranteed every child got a cup of milk and a meal at school.. kids were not harmed and could play safely at the local parks. or else .. that I believe is one reason that no one would turn him in..those seeking his business owed him.. and he flourished..
      was he a criminal absolutely.. but a lot of things we take for granted started with them. fresh till they date on milk.. plastic garbage bags, vending machines, etc.
      in Chinese neighborhoods I have been told that chi was security has been brought in to keep those neighborhoods safe.. I don’t know if its true or not just a few of the young Chinese girls told me that at my favorite restaurant..
      they were robbed one night..now there’s obviously security posing as cooks..you can tell by their walk that they are there to insure its safe for staff and customers..

  16. A minute after “Nice Gray Suit” walked away and I had just finished my tea., my friend hurried into the tea shop., in a bluster.
    Looking at the carnage laying in the street he blurted out: ” We must leave.., hurry.”
    Just as we got to the door the owner of the shop rushed out and spoke very fast to my friend. Too fast for me to understand.
    My friend looked at me: “He wants to know if you saw what happened?”
    I smiled at the owner and shook my head: “No. Didn’t see a thing.”
    My friend translated back to the owner., the owner nodded, grinned., slightly – then a small bow.
    ., and then he brushed us out the door, with – “Iku Iku.” [ eekoo – eekoo , or, Go Go.]
    It all depends on – who’s street you’re on – and what kind of justice is required.

  17. One year later., about six blocks from the above location – I was sitting at street-side noodle shop., on a stool., it had just stopped raining and I was slurping up a great bowl of noodles and shrimp and talking with the owner., nice lady.., when a neatly dressed man walked up quietly and look at her – didn’t say a word.., she raised her hand in a “just a second” fashion and turned around to pickup six elegantly wrapped bento boxes and placed them on the counter for the neatly dressed man.
    He laid a nice stack of yen on the counter, bowed politely and started to walk away – then stopped.
    I was wondering if he recognized me. It was “Nice Gray Suit”., from last years course in street-dissection of goutou.
    He slowly turned back around and looked at me. I gave him a big smile., a nod of my head and tipped my tea cup. [Just as I did a year ago.] He nodded several times – [“Yes., I remember you.”] .., and actually smiled at me., then nodded politely as he closed his eyes – and slowly walked away with his six boxed lunches.
    .
    I never saw him again – but have often wondered what became of him. I have always had a feeling that I had met an old world samurai “Captain of the Guard”. He reeked of honor and duty – always well dressed and polite. Deadly. A world long sense gone.

    • “You meet the nicest people”… don’t you?

      After purchasing several million $ of their broadcast TV gear, I have been to Japan twice, as an honored guest of Sony Corp. Meeting with the CEO the day after our evening arrival, we had to calm him down after he chastised our local rep. for taking us out for saimin the night before. “These are our honored guests! You don’t take them out for ‘poor man’s food’ to welcome them!”

      We all hastily explained that on a cold and rainy night like that in Hawaii, hot noodle soup is indeed honorable ‘comfort food’… especially after a seven hour airline trip, and that was what we requested. We were assured we would have an honored welcome dinner the next night. I do remember we talked to the noodle shop owner. He was proud of his homemade noodles, and they were indeed delicious. We slurped loudly to compliment him.

      • “You meet the nicest people”… don’t you?
        .
        That was my life for about 25 years. I met a lot of people like him.

      • I got to thinking about that.., ‘meet’. I never actually met him. Never learned his name. You just didn’t ask those things in public.
        When I went back to my noodles the lady behind the counter looked like she had been slapped.
        “You know him??” She asked quietly., leaning over the counter.
        “We have met before.”
        “You do not go with him. He is hogo-sha.”
        “Hogo-sha ?”
        “umm.., Guardian. He is very dangerous. You should stay away.”
        “Hogo-sha.., yes.., very dangerous.”
        .
        I would have like to have talked with him, though.

    • A couple nights later we had a formal Japanese dinner of four courses, representing the four seasons as it was explained to us. Tiny portions on large plates with much formality. Afterwards, our local Sony rep from Hawaii went back to the hotel and left us engineers on our own. We looked at each other and someone said, “Is anybody else hungry for more saimin?” We all headed back to our favorite saimin shop for more loud slurping. “DO NOT say a word to anyone about this” we reminded each other. Such is honor in Japan.

  18. Dammit George! You went and published my top secret personal spaghetti sauce recipe! Except I use hamburger and ‘Prego’ sauce. And mushrooms. Yes, the added sugar is the secret to avoid the tomato acid ills.

    I know WmORR published the AF 11175 shortwave frequency before, but a friend gave me a more complete list:
    USAF High Frequency Global Comms. EAM Freq. (USB)

    4724
    8992
    11175
    15016

    After ‘the date’ passed I felt OK. Now the appearance of the orange demon has me on edge again. We are not out of danger yet.

    • Confirm all as currently in use.
      11.175 & 8.992 is 95% of the traffic.
      Heard the other two (4 & 15) once or
      twice.

      • I imagine the REAL IMPORTANT stuff goes by satellite to the planes anymore … at least until the satellites no longer work, ie: the HF backup.

        Satellite antennas for receiving are super small anymore. For various reasons I put an add on portable Sirius radio in my car vs activating the one on the car radio and the antenna for it is about 1/3 the size of a business card and only about 3/8″ inch thick (with a very strong magnetic base, goes through the car washes just fine). No problem putting such a receive antenna on any plane. For transmitting from the plane to the satellite that is an entirely different issue, but in times of trouble most of the critical communications will be one way, TO the plane.

        • SXM antennas are bi-directional, and SXM “receivers” also transmit. It is through 2-way communication and individual radio setup that the specific channels available to you, based on your subscription plan, are set up and maintained in the radio. I get zero music channels. My radio is capable of receiving all SXM music channels. My plan can be set up with a received subcarrier, but the plan is maintained by SXM polling the radio periodically, to ensure I haven’t hacked it.

          Don’t allow yourself to be fooled by the size of the radio or its antenna. The doojee you plug into your OBD-II port to save 10% on your Progressive, State Farm, Allstate, etc., insurance is a data-collection computer linked to a bi-directional, enhanced GPS and satellite transceiver, and it’s smaller than an XM Roady-2.

  19. Go with Enphase Micros. They have the highest warranty and top notch service and are #1 in the world for a reason. Older versions did have some failures, but not too many I’ve had to deal with pre 10 years ago.

    The other competitors are ‘restructuring’ currently, in high volume (layoffs).

    In a ground mount, heat becomes less of an issue and replacements are easy to swap (one bolt, two mc4 connectors = done).

    And ya, I think Outback got sold again due to financial stress. Nothing like my vintage xantrex (Trace) still chugging along after all these years (though I don’t like Schneider who purchased them – no service at all for recent off grid systems I sold and installed).

    Accountability will become king, in a struggling economic plane.

  20. i wonder George if in a thousand years from now they will tell the story and sing the song.

    about how when a great sickness spread over the world, a man named Andy came and stood in the dry well as the living water. he went to great festivals and hung out with legendary singers and song writers. he left them and went to the valley of enoch and road the chariot of God to the City of Gods and rested and dreamed in the Golden Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl, as legend would have it with the strength of 10 men, he resude a native princess and road out of the city of angels on the back of an orange demon escaping the end of the world.

    so we are gathered here today to remeber his final words

    fuck around and find out.

    hahahahahahahahahahahah who knows. could happen. hahahahahhahahahahahha

    i gotta run. its been swell.

    hahahahhahahahahaha

  21. oh. one last lil bit of observation. before my return to urban survial here this time.

    as you know i sit on the deck and think. quite a bit actually. i just sit and watch the world flow and think.

    prior to my return here and the bp position. i heard in the distance for 3 days straight. meriachi music playing. way off in the distance. i love meriachi music. my roomate said you hear that. i said ya. meriachi music. they been celebrating for 3 days now.

    a week or so goes by. all is quiet but the damn donkey we got now. chasing the horses. and he is so obnoxious loud as hell. he hasnt been around the last few weeks. i think they got rid of him. i wanted to go down there and knock him out one morning at 3am. i even yelled off the deck. shut the f up! asshole.

    haha

    anyways. 3 days straight in the distance meriachi music. then a week to 10 days later. obnoxsious donkey the a 3 days to week later rapid gun fire. lots of it for about a week or so. big gun type gun fire and 3 round burst type gun fire.

    i talked to cowboy joe and he said oh off there in the distance is a old gun range that is membership only. once and a while you will hear them out there. i said oh. i never knew that. he said its a private club and most of the members have the pre ban stuff. i said i did hear the the 3 round bursts.

    so prior to my return to urban survival, and prior to the BP postion.. in the distance i heard meriachi music for 3 days, followed by silence and a loud obnoxsious donkey for a week, then silence for 7 to ten days followed by rapid gun fire. yes that is the order. the exact order.

    defeninently different than what i heard sitting quiet on the beach at alki and definently different than the sounds i heard in soda springs and star valley wyoming while sitting quiet, drinking coffee, having a smoke and a think a while.

    other than that. its been quiet with the exception of an occasional prop plane flying over.

    hmmmmm more will be revealed. and i gotta get my ass in gear for training.

    • Mariachi music “in the distance” means you are going to be closer to Mexico.
      the donkey means you will be working for an ass (Myorkass)
      An the gunfire bursts mean you will be righting (for the ass) on the (Mexico border) for three (encounters, day, weeks, months, seasons).
      Reread Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, young Glaucon. Also known as chapter 10 of the Republic (Plato).
      You will see the “first sight” of your future on the cave wall. Then a rest, and then in much more clear relief with more teachings along the path.

      Me? Woke up with an allergy reaction on my left foot. Which informs us “someone on the left is going to “try to take a foot” and is itching to start.
      Time to get the popcorn ready for the show in August
      …

  23. Had a computer nightmare at the Costco warehouse today. Sunday only half the registers were manned and there were long checkout lines, when everything came to a stop as the system and all computers went down. Lines stretched all the way to the back of the warehouse. They told us what was happening, with no timeframe for recovery. Then they called every available clerk to man all checkouts, and after about 30 minutes began checking out again. But the system was crippled, going up and down. Long waits between item scans before it registered. One clerk quipped “Have patience folks. We’re on Dial-up now.” Guy in line behind me said “I haven’t heard that since the last century!”
    Some people just abandoned their carts and left the building empty handed. We did make it out, eventually, but it really drove home how dependent we are on technology.

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