The Money Printers

Steven Guccione

Very seldom have I seen an issue that brings out such diverse and strong opinions as federal debt.  This is especially odd because it is about numbers, which usually involve firm answers and results.  But these numbers aren’t just ordinary numbers, they are  dollars.  Much of the fear, doubt and uncertainty is manufactured by vested interests on this topic.  A very good read from The Baffler with some ideas everyone ought to at least consider.  I will note that the people in the US government that scream the loudest about the debt quickly turn into the ones unapologetically running up that debt.

The Money Printers

Congress’s greatest con: “We can’t afford it”

Spectrum Outage Outrage

Steven Guccione

We has only one choice for internet: Spectrum, formerly Time Warner. It has been very erratic, irregular service literally for years.  My neighors have the same problems and we even believe we know the exact piece of equipment failing.  Still no fixes.  I found this Spectrum Outage Map on line.  How is this allowed to happen?  Vast numbers of people without internet in just about every major city in the US. And other providers don’t do this.  And yet they were just allowed to merge with Charter.  What is our FCC doing?  People pay a lot for this service.

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Faux Pho

Steven Guccione

Some instant packaged pho.  Didn’t doctor it up in any way, didn’t even follow the directions on the package.  Just threw it all in a pot of boiling water for three minutes.  Added leftover asparagus, beef, an egg and the last of my most recent batch of sauerkraut.  Made me miss going out for actual pho.  Ready for this pandemic to end.

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Sprinkler Project Power Supply

Steven Guccione

So I bought a 24V / 12V power supply (the silver box) to supply the 24V for the sprinkler valves and 12V for the relay board.  The relay board generates 5V for the Raspberry Pi Zero W board.  I learned last week that sprinkler valves use 24V AC, not DC.  You can get away with DC but it will take more power and is just not right.  This is ok, since I was never crazy about the big power supply.

So I bought this wall wart power supply to get the 24VAC and this neat little converter to get 12VDC from the 24VAC.  Hooked it all up and it works.  Oh, originally bought a Rasperry Pi Zero without the header soldered in.  Figured I could do it myself.  Didn’t have the right equipment and / or the skills and really botched the soldering job.  Bought another one with the header soldered in.  Good thing those Pi boards are so cheap.

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Cutting the Cable TV Cord

Steven Guccione

I have had a long running battle with Time Warner / Spectrum.  Our internet service has been very erratic over the years but alas, we only have one provider in this neighborhood.  Yesterday we decided to sign up for Sling Blue and dump TV channels.  Of course I can add capabilities on line very easily.  Removing them (and lowering my bill) required almost an hour on the phone.  45 minutes of wait and then a quarter of an hour talking to (or rather being interogated by) a sales rep.  I have to add this wasn’t the usual phone support person, but a pretty polished salesman.  I felt like I was buying a car.  In the end he offered me a special secret deal that wasn’t even on their web site.  $15 a month for 60 streaming channels.  He couldn’t even tell me what the channels were but said if I googled there were some 3rd parties discussing it.  I almost bit, since it was half of what I was paying for Sling.  But after my years of hassles with Time Warner / Spectrum, and an hour on the phone I declined.