Paul's Miscellany

All photographs by Paul M. Clayton unless otherwise noted. Click on a picture to see it larger.

This is the current page, posts from 1/1/25 through today.

Older posts -

Worth Looking Up

Posted 06/17/25

With the NWS predicting afternoon highs of 90 or over all week, here are some worthwhile web sites to check out when it's too hot to go outside.

Tedium. Mostly short articles and analysis of obscure "under the radar" news. For example, a recent post, Not Universal Enough, looks at Microsoft's latest efforts to set standards for USB ports. As is pointed out, Microsoft had a lot to do with creating the current USB mess, where a seemingly-innocuous port can have or not have any number of attributes. Sort of a "you broke it, you fix it" situation. Another post examines the case of Cheap Tickets, and early winner in airline deregulation started by a serial company founder who tried to finance a regional airline by flying in coke from Peru (he got caught).

Military History Visualized. Main focus is WWII tanks and artillery, but frequent videos on other subjects, such as From the Front to Field Hospital: German Medical Services WW2. The site operator does primary source research in the WWII German war archives. This is dry material but for the amateur historian, or someone like me who just has an interest in military history, it provides a lot of good background information that is better sourced than a lot of internet content.

3 Minutes of Aviation. Just as advertised - three minute videos of airplanes taking off, landing and flying. Mostly unusual situations. Giant Antonov Flies Low Final Turn.

Phillip Reeve. Camera lens reviews. Everything from classic rangefinder and slr kit all the way through the new wave of Chinese artisan glass from Laowa, TTArtisan and Viltrox. The sample photographs are worth a visit even if you aren't interested in the lenses.

Blue Heron

Posted 06/01/25

A great blue heron (or is it a tricolored heron, hard to say), fishing below a weir that holds back a settling pond in Little Washington. Super Takumar 200/4.

Oven Spring

Posted 05/21/25

Is it bread or is it soufflé?

This is the best oven spring I ever got.

Max Velocity

Posted 05/19/25

One of my favorite weather channels is Max Velocity. Max is a degreed meteorologist who specializes in analyzing and presenting weather data. On the evening of May 16th, I checked the site to see if there was any potential for threatening weather, and found Max live-streaming a severe tornado outbreak which had already killed people in the St. Louis area and was progressing across the width of Kentucky. I had sewing work to do, so I kept the live-stream playing in the background and checked in now and then. Tornadoes were popping up every few minutes, and a particularly dangerous one appeared a few miles west of Somerset, KY. Max explained to watchers how he interpreted the radar data, and suggested that any minute the National Weather Service would issue a PDS (particularly dangerous situation) warning - in other words, a tornado on the ground, take shelter immediately. That sets off the sirens and other alerts so people have a minute to take shelter. As time went on, Max became increasingly agitated and upset, asking watcher who had friends and relatives in Somerset to call them immediately to spread the alarm. Moments later, the tornado blasted through Somerset, wrecking buildings and leaving at least one dead. Shortly after, the NWS finally issued a warning, but by then the storm was approaching London, KY, and it was too late for many people to take shelter. At least 19 people died in London and the surrounding area.

Max was beside himself at the lack of warning from the NWS. Eventually a listener emailed him explaining that the local NWS facility is one of the worst understaffed in the country. Very likely nobody was on hand at the late evening hour when the storm came through. That's the price we pay for a lean, mean government. In truth, the NWS has been underfunded and understaffed for years. But there's no reason to make it worse.

Amenity

Posted 05/12/25

A lot of new residential apartment buildings have gone up in Winston-Salem in the past ten years. To differentiate themselves and warrant top rental dollars, they have to offer amenities. Many have pools, balconies, ample parking and well-kept grounds. One thing that they don't all have is EV charging stations. The new complex on Cloverdale Hill does, and with the number of EVs I see driving around Ardmore, I expect it is a popular amenity. Legacy at Ardmore is the closest new apartment complex to Baptist Hospital with its well-paid and sophisticated labor force, the type of people who are adopting EVs at an increasing rate.

Still Fixing Shoes

Posted 05/10/25

I've got a newer pair of Sperrys, but these Dexters are so much more comfortable I decided to resole them so that I can wear them for another year or two.

145 Rubber Full Sole 1 Pair - Size 12. Trace the shoe onto the sole and cut it to size with scissors. Clean the bottom of the shoe and attach the new sole with contact cement, let dry overnight. Bead all around the edges with Shoe Goo.

Ardmore Garden

Posted 05/06/25

A tiny Japanese garden in Ardmore.

Mature Pine Forest

Posted 02/27/25

During the 1930s the CCC planted some old, worn out farmland in the Jamestown area of Guilford County with loblolly pine. Over the years, local resource managers have conducted controlled burns, which simulate the effects of natural fires caused by lightning, to maintain a healthy environment for the trees. After 90 years, the result is an unusual mature pine forest of a type more frequently seen in coastal areas than in the Piedmont.

The photograph is a three-shot panorama created in Hugin. Click on it to open in its own window and click again to open full size, then indulge in the amazing detail that the panoramic technique provides.

Pizza

Posted 02/23/25

I'm not going to claim this is a Chicago-style pizza, but it has some of the characteristics of one. Baked in a cast-iron skillet, it has a thick crust coated in olive oil, a layer of cheese, toppings, and then a very thick, highly-spiced sauce spooned judiciously over the top.

What Does it Mean to Run Out of Money in Retirement?

Posted 02/22/25

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finds that 97 percent of older adults (aged 60 to 89) either receive Social Security or will receive it. So, effectively, nobody runs out of money in retirement. When people talk about running out of money in retirement, what they mean is having to live on Social Security.

Doctors are notorious for being terrible at personal finance. Dr. Jim Dahle is the exception to the rule. He publishes well-reasoned, thoughtful financial advice for his fellow physicians and other interested readers at his website, The White Coat Investor. In a recent post, What It Looks Like to Run Out of Money, he analyzes a story in the Wall Street Journal about four individuals living on Social Security and how they manage. The first, a professional chef, had a retirement plan of "I'll work until I die" and then suffered a heart issue at 63 that ended his career. The second, a social worker who developed polio as a child and became disabled in middle age, never made enough money to save. The third, widowed at 70, evidently got taken advantage of on her husband's death because of a lack of fundamental understanding of personal finance. The fourth, with a small retirement fund, opted to retire at 62. Dr. Dahle analyzes each of these cases with sympathy, looking at what each did right and what they could have done differently.

I would guess that none of the few people reading this will end up dependent wholely on Social Security. I just wish that I could get it in the hands of more people in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s who could benefit from the lessons of these people's lives.

Flooding Deep River

Posted 02/13/25

Flooding on the Deep River in High Point earlier today, February 13th, 2025. Image is four frame panoramic stitched in Hugin. Click on the image to see in it's own tab, then click it from there to see full size.

Make Google Search Slightly Less Bad

Posted 02/13/25

We all know that Google Search is bad and all the other engines are worse, but we can change one little default and make Google slightly better.

The AI summary at the top of the search results page is an irritant. Granted, the answer is less likely to be completely wrong now than it once was (notoriously, in answer to the question "How to make cheese stick to pizza", it used to suggest glue), but personally I am looking for a list of identified sources of information to choose from rather than a crowd-sourced speculation. Another issue with Google Search is that the results page is cluttered up with sales ads and other graphics, and the useful returns are pushed to the bottom of the page.

An observant person may have noticed that, after a search, at the top of the results page there will be a row of tabs for "All", "Video", "News" and so forth. There may be a tab for "Web", or "Web" may be listed under ":More". Try clicking on "Web", and you will find a clean, simple page of results, very similar to how Google Search looked ten years ago, before the cruft started accreting. It is more in line with what I want, so I started looking for a way to make the "Web" tab the default.

I found a clear, concise set of instructions at Tedium.co (yes, that's right, it's a .co domain. It's legit. It's officially the country-specific domain for Colombia, but is sometimes used by über-geeky people who use url shorteners like twitter’s http://t.co and godaddy’s http://x.co, etc). The instructions at Tedium.co are for the Vivaldi browser, so take that into consideration if you use Chrome or something else. So maybe read Tedium.co's directions and mine together and you should be able to figure it out.

Click on the three vertical dots at the top right of your Chrome browser, then click on Settings, then Search Engine. The current default engine will be listed, and below will be an option to "Manage search engines and site search". Choose that, then "Site Search", "Add", give it a name like "Google Web Only", a shortcut like "gw", then add this url:

https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14

Then click on the three vertical dots to the right and set it as default. This should promote it to the "Search Engines" section from "Site Search". At this point you should be good to go. Try opening a new tab and search for something. You should get a "Web" results page instead of an "All" page, without all the annoying cruft.

Why is it so bloody complicated? I assume so that the great unwashed masses will continue to use the "All" page that produces more ad revenue, while the cognoscenti will just change it instead of abandoning Google Search altogether. So, unless you like cutting off your nose to spite your face, I suggest you make this configuration change before you adopt some utterly hopeless alternative like Bing, Ecosia, Gibiru, Baidu or Yandex.

Singer 7412

Posted 02/04/25

I saw a listing on Craigslist for a Pfaff sewing machine cabinet, free, in High Point, conveniently located just a few blocks from Lars and Lex's house. I had read that Pfaff machines wouldn't fit Singer tables, so I decided to pick it up in case Joe needed it for his machine. It turned out to be for a modern Pfaff, with a strange top platform that lowered down into the case rather than a conventional drop down on hinges type. But it was a well-made box, so I took it, and it may be repurposed at some point.

Within two minutes of leaving with the cabinet, the phone rang, and it was the man who had given it to me. He said he had told his wife I fixed old sewing machines, and she replied that she had one that I could have. All he could tell me was that it was a Singer 7412 and it "didn't work".

Not having a clue as to what a Singer 7412 might be, I turned around and went back for it. To my disappointment, it was a modern electronic machine, but I hid my feelings, thanked them effusively and promised I would get it running and find a good home for it.

At home, I set it up, threaded it and gave it a try. It would run about six stitches, then beep a pattern and quit. Practically every other machine I have worked on had a seized mechanism or thread jam somewhere, so I went to work oiling and searching for stray threads, but didn't have any success.

An internet search turned up very little. A few people reported the same problem as mine, "runs a few stitches, beeps and quits". The consistency of the problem made it sound like it might be something in the electronic control system. I was inclined to believe it was a board, which I certainly couldn't fix. A couple of times I almost gave up and decided to give it to the mechanic at Triad Sew & Vac to part out or fix and donate. But after a few days I took a final look and noticed that what serves for a take-up spring looked bent or out of place. Close inspection showed that it had come unhooked on one end, and once I got it hooked back in place, the machine started sewing.

I've sewn a couple of projects with the machine, and while I can't say that I like it I will admit that it hasn't given me any serious trouble. It runs fast and straight, but the stitches are a little loose. The needle always goes to the up position when power is let off, a bit of a pain when turning corners. I expect this is so inexperienced users won't try to change the stitch with the needle down and bend it. The feed dog is unaggressive and has a hard time grabbing the fabric at the beginning of a seam, and the presser foot is stymied by even moderate humps. The two-bulb LED light is ludicrously dim, and one of the big selling points of the next model was that they had a third LED. But for someone who wants a modern electronic machine with lots of fancy stitches, this machine would be an option. For light-duty use it might last a few years.

What little I have been able to find indicates the 7412 model was built in 2005. There were a few more in the 74 sequence, and they were superseded by the Curvy models. In other words, an unremarkable series of machines from the low point of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Around 2013 Singer introduced their Heavy Duty line which has done a bit to resurrect their reputation.

Flour

Posted 01/24/25

U.S. Foods, a big restaurant supply company, runs a storefront in town offering bulk quantities of groceries at wholesale prices. Small restaurants and bakeries that can't place orders big enough for delivery can buy there, as can bigger clients who need something right away and can't wait for the next truck. The general public is welcome too. Prices are about the same as Sam's Club or Costco, but you don't need a membership.

I've been baking a lot of bread lately. Harris Teeter carries King Arthur whole wheat and bread flour but the prices have been creeping up. U.S. Foods' local store sells 50 pound bags of Sir Galahad and Sir Lancelot at about 50% of the price per pound at Harris Teeter. Today they were out of the Sir Lancelot, an ultra-high gluten white flour that I have been wanting to try, but they had plenty of the Sir Galahad, an all-purpose flour that is supposed to be easy to mix and strong enough to blend with whole wheat. I picked up a 50 pound bag for $32.

That's a lot of flour and should last me for several months. I wish I knew more bakers, but Marcia is the only one left, and I will give her 10 pounds to try out. Joe tipped me off that Lowe's and Home Depot sell food-grade 5 gallon buckets so I got one of them with a tight-fitting lid and packed 25 pounds in it. The remaining 15 pounds are in the refrigerator and freezer.

Some people think the King Arthur all-purpose flour sold in the grocery store in 5 pound bags is the same flour as the Sir Galahad, but while the gluten content is the same, the grocery store flour is a blend of spring and winter wheat, while the Sir Galahad is all winter wheat. I doubt if many people could tell the difference.

Superior Customer Service

Posted 01/20/25

Gutermann Tera is my favorite sewing thread. Amazon doesn't sell it, but I found I could get it from Sailrite or Cleaner's Supply. I needed gray for a project, and Cleaner's Supply didn't stock it. Sailrite shipping rates are too high on small orders for my liking. I looked around online and found Wawak, which had my color and, like Cleaner's Supply, had a fixed $5.95 shipping rate on orders under $99.(Cleaner's Supply and Wawak are owned by the same man in Conklin, NY). I needed a few cones of Tera to fill out my inventory and decided to make a small order to see if I liked their service.

I placed my order which was shipped promptly with UPS, using their service that hands the package off to USPS for local delivery. UPS tracking showed the package got as far as Butner, NC where it was handed off on a Friday with delivery expected Monday.

Monday came and went with no package in my mailbox. Tuesday, likewise. When the mailman worked Miller Park Circle on Wednesday but didn't leave me a package, I sent Wawak a quick email, asking them to try to get a USPS shipping number so we could find my package.

The Wawak customer service rep was horrified that I was still waiting on my package and promised she would send a replacement out, Fedex two-day delivery, and assured me I would have my thread by Friday. I guess it is no surprise that USPS finally made delivery on Thursday, after Wawak had sent the replacement. Friday it came, and I contacted Wawak, explaining what had happened and asking to make arrangements to return the replacement package. On consideration, they told me to keep it to use, donate or give to friends. I thought that was right nice of them. I'll be ordering from them again. The extra cones I will give to Joe and Faith so they can try out the Tera and see if they like it as much as I do.

It Be Good

Posted 01/04/25

It's known as pain perdu in New Orleans and other civilized locales, as french toast everywhere else. The cultural historians at Townsends tell us that it has been made to essentially the same recipe since the days of the Roman Empire. While modern Americans tend to eat it with pancake syrup, Colonials of the 18th Century commonly used a sauce made of equal parts butter, sugar and sherry. I tried it and it's pretty good.

Classic

Posted 01/01/25

It's a December afternoon, but warm enough to motor about with the top down, and early enough to be home before the Prince of Darkness causes the headlights to fail. The paint looks sufficiently sorry to be original, but everything else looks great. The driver tells me the car belongs to his neighbor, who doesn't have time to take it out. Wait, why don't I have a neighbor like that? It's a Triumph TR6, for any of you benighted souls who can't remember the waning years of the classic British sports car. Super Tak 35/3.5.

The Real Thing

Posted 01/01/25

Stuck in a little shopping development at 1701 N. Main Street in High Point you will find Granny's Donuts & Bakery, alongside the obligatory hair salon, computer repair store, nutrition shop and Papa John's. I'm not a knee-jerk "buy local" proponent, but I'd say this little shop deserves your business on sheer merit. The donuts are just better than Krispy Kreme's or Dunkin's, and the coffee is good too.

All photographs by Paul M. Clayton unless otherwise noted.

This is the current page, posts from 1/1/24 through today.

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