Yesterday I saw a robin getting small sticks. This morning I saw one getting mud from a plant pot in one of the garden ponds. Sort of ready mix for robins nests.
Hillard and Harry
Harry and Hillard formerly fought. So much so that we kept one inside when the other was out. But at some point I grew tired and let them both be out. After a couple of years of that, they are rarely more than 20 yards apart when they are out. One is always watching the the other. If one is getting pats, the other will approach and act like he needs to be patted too. If one is watching squirrels, the other is watching him. It is so funny.
But today they both smell like the clothes fresh out of the dryer. Something about the hot sun of a warm day caused their fur to smell like hot clean clothes.
Elvis and Hillard
Elvis if feeling better now. He seems very perky.
Hillard on the other hand does not like his medicine and spits it out. He may have heaved a bunch of cat crunchies this morning. I only saw the evidence, not the cat responsible. I hope that either he does not need the medicine, or in the alternative, he is getting enough of it to knock out any infection.
Headliner
There is a sign posted on a power pole on a road that I travel. It says “Do you need a headliner replaced?” with a telephone number. I suppose I should call the number to find out if the person behind the advertising is a repairer of automotive interiors or an aspiring entertainer.
Michael Masley
One of the CD’s that I just took off the player is by Michael Masley. I think that I bought this one near the corner of Jefferson and Hyde in San Francisco in 1999 when I was there for a SHARE conference. I guess that Michael Masley is still going strong as attested by his own web site and the number of Google entries. But most especially by the Wikipedia article. A very intense, dedicated, talented and interesting fellow. He played on the street outside Mac Expo in January.
Cat Bed
I have made a number of beds for the cats. This is a fairly quick and simple project. You need a table saw or a router with a 1/4 inch cutter that will cut to 3/8 inch depth.
I noticed that the cats liked cardboard and corrugated boxes and box lids of a certain size. This is the size that I made the box out of wood. The sides are a little higher than the preferred lids but my wife makes Polar Fleece “puffs” to fill the bottom and the cats seem to like them.
The first box lid that the cats liked was the tray that came in the citrus fruit from Florida. This tray had doubled sides and seemed to be a particular favorite of the cats and so became the model for size and proportion. This one is 16 by 10 1/2 inside. This makes the length 17 1/2 and the width 12 inches.
The basic idea is simple. Four sides and a bottom. The bottom is fairly fixed. It is 1/4 inch plywood. The sides give lots of options.
The first option is the choice of material. Pine, oak, and cedar are good choices. Pine is inexpensive and easy to find and work with. Oak is pricey and pretty. Oak looks good indoors and ages gracefully outdoors. Cedar is rot resistant and can be pretty. Not too expensive but cedar splits easily if the corner screws are over tightened. The height can by the 5 1/2 inch width of 1 by 6 or the 7 1/2 inch width of 1 by 8. And a couple that we have are from 1 by 4. Of course the 1 by is 3/4 inch thick.
The box construction is straight-forward. A rectangle with the long sides (length) overlapping the ends (width). The bottom is set in a groove around the bottom. The groove is 3/8 inch deep in the 3/4 inch thick sides. Cut the plywood about 5/8 inch wider than the width and 7/8 inch shorter than the length.
For the box above, this would be 2 pieces 17 1/2 inches and 2 pieces 10 1/2 inches. The bottom is 16 5/8 by 11 1/8.
NOTE: Follow all general and specific safety instructions for the tools you use.
Cut the side and ends to length. Set the saw blade (or router cutter) height to 3/8 inch above the table and remove the splitter so that you can dado a grove. Be very careful if this leaves the blade unguarded. Check the height with a piece of scrap and adjust it until it is just the right height. If you are using a router, you and your router may be happier and your cutter may last longer if you make several passes increasing the depth until the final depth is reached.
Set the fence so the close edge of the blade is 3/8 from the fence. Carefully make a pass through each piece. If you are using a 1/8 inch saw blade go on to the next step. If you are using a 1/4 inch router cutter, skip the next step.
Reset the fence so that the far edge of the blade is 5/8 from the fence and just a scosch more. Test it with the scrap. Try the plywood bottom for fit in the slot. If it is loose, move the fence closer. If tight, move the fence a bit farther way. When adjusted, make sure that you hold the previously cut edge toward the fence and carefully make a pass through each piece. When you have cut both sides, you may need to clean out the bottom of the groove with a 1/4 inch chisel.
You now have a 1/4 inch groove in all 4 pieces.
Trial fit the sides and ends against the plywood. The plywood should fully close the bottom. The sides should mate up tightly against ends.
Drill and countersink a hole in each side 1 1/4 inch from the bottom and another 1 inch from the top. IMPORTANT: Assemble with brass screws. Steel screws and galvanized screws will leave stains on the wood. Brass screws will turn a pretty verdigris if they do anything.
Line with a blanket made from Polar Fleece. Make sure that there are several thicknesses and that the ends and sides of the liner extend beyond the wooden sides.
Adah
Adah has become a bit of a frustration as she does not want to go outside. Even when she goes out, she “pees” on the rag rug on the garage step. Or else she uses a clean catbox inside. Between Elvis, Adah, and Tabbie, there are about 10 boxes per day on a rainy day. So today was a clear, warm day. Adah was to spend the day outside. I was working on my car. She likes to come inside the peaceful interior of the Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser. Her little gray exterior goes so well with the the Cruiser’s gray interior. So she was there in the backseat while I working under the dashboard in the front seat.
Self Assessment
Here is another tax idea. Real estate taxes are based on a “fair market value” assigned by a person who is an alleged expert in assessment. As a result, the fair market values are completely unrelated to the actual market value and completely unrelated to the “recently sold in your neighborhood” value. As a result, I (and you) pay much more (or much less) real estate tax than is proper. I have little faith in the government determining what is “fair”.
The new idea is that the owner of the property sets the value, not some government functionary or contractor. The basis of the idea is that the owner is the one best qualified to estimate the “real market price” of a particular property. The owner of the property would set a “public offering price”, file a report with the taxing authority (city or county) and that would be the basis for all real estate taxes.
Wait! I hear you cry. Joe down the street would say his house was only worth $10,000 and his taxes would be a pittance. Ah I say, that is why you need to understand that it is a Public Offering Price. When the value is declared, you are saying “If you pay me this price, I will sell it to you”. There is a TV show that sort of does this. With the self-assessment idea, everybody does it. Beg or borrow $10,000 and buy Joe’s quarter-million dollar mansion. He can’t refuse if you’ve met his price. Re-sell it and pocket the $240,000 (minus the transfer tax), move up, or rent it out to Joe who still needs a place to live.
“But I don’t want to move” – Build in enough “profit”, “excess”, “value added”, whatever to discourage people who do not want your house but see it as a good investment. Sorry but you will have to pay taxes on this additional value. But should you not? To you it is real value. Besides, everyone else will be doing the same thing (recognizing the real value) so the rates will be lower. The county will still collect the same amount of taxes, it is just that the distribution will be owner determined, not arbitrary.
“Businesses will not pay their fair share” – Most businesses are expensive to move. They are also good at determining costs. They will use a sharp pencil to make sure that that “location, location, location” is not bought out from under them.
Did I mention that part. Public Offering Price means just that. If you get a valid offer to buy, you must sell at that price. Well maybe not. If you decide that you have previously made a mistake in valuation, you can declare a higher value now. When you file the higher value, just pay the taxes on the difference for this year and the last 3 years. Simple.
Eminent Domain? No problem. The price is set. The you and the government agreed on the correct price when the government accepted the taxes. They cannot pay you less.
“The market won’t pay my price and I need to sell.” No problem, sell at any price you like. The selling price becomes the default value until another POP is declared. Sorry, no refunds on taxes. Buyer, make sure you do not get caught with a market clearing price. Declare the margin that made you see it as a good deal, file, and pay that tax promptly.
Real Estate Agents and Assessors out of work? Hardly. The Agents still can advise on proper pricing, facilitate sales and all the things they do. Assessors can still work but they will have to be a bit more accurate that they are today. No more “drive by” assessments. And banks are not going to be wanting to write a mortgage on an incorrectly valued property.
So talk up self assessment when your County Council Election comes up. You may have to wake up your state legislature as well. They will all tell you dozens of reasons why it can’t be done. Now they have control. With self assessment, you begin to take it back.
Hillard Goes to the Doctor
Now it is Hillard who gets to see the doctor. He had a bite on his paw from some overnight conflict. He will have 10 days of 1.5 ml of cephadroxil as Cefa-drops. He is pretty easy to medicate with the supplied syringe. I put it in the corner of his mouth, get him to unclench his teeth and squirt as 2 small shots.
Reviving the Hammond
I have a Hammond organ. I have had it since my dad moved it from his garage to my house in Connecticut. Before that it had been in my grandparents house. I used to play it occasionally in Connecticut as did my wife. But since we have lived here, it has been played maybe once. My wife re-arranged the room that it is in about 8 years ago and the speaker cable got disconnected and it has not been powered on in all that time.
Tonight, my son, 17, decided that it needed to be played. We had tried it a couple of weeks ago and knew that it was stuck. The oil had dried out and it was not turning when the start switch was on. Tonight when his friend was here, they picked it up and moved it out a bit from the wall. I took the back off and loosened up the rotor shaft. The start switch would get it to turn but it would not run. I got some light oil and put it in the oil cups. It dripped down the tubes and into the wicks. Still no go. We went and did something else for about half-an-hour. Now it ran but the bearing was still a bit noisy. After a minute of playing, it settled down and was quiet. Phillip played it for about an hour trying various combinations of drawbar settings. Quite exciting. This little bit of machinery and electronics was made sometime between 1935 and 1940. The predecessor of the Hammond B-3. We need to make sure that we play it often and that we oil it with the proper Hammond Oil next time.