I just threw one of my pretentious, better then thou, bullshit positions out the window this morning. I used to love to say I haven't taken a pill of any kind for many years because it's been true and it somehow made me feel superior to all of the other sad pill-popping fools in the world.
The top of my poor bald head was throbbing when I woke up this morning. I was recovering from the Basal Cell removal surgery a couple of months back, that still hurts like hell, when I went in yesterday and had a Squamous Cell removed. So, I found those three heavy duty pain pills that I've been holding on to for years, and took one. I could have taken two or I could have just knocked myself on my ass and taken all three, but I just took one.
How do I feel? It worked, the pain is still there, but dulled to a manageable throb. Hopefully the destruction of one of my prized moral positions does not lead to the demise of others.
Something is in the air, and it smells like martial law. My dermatologist wasn't too concerned as he sewed up my head again after slicing off the last bit of cancer today. I guess he's too busy to notice the writing on the TV networks wall.
I'm sitting here in my little house at the end of a dead-end street in a small southern Tennessee town and I feel the vibration rippling across the country. I'm sensitive to vibrations in things and people, a physic ability I don't talk about much, but now I feel it on a bigger scale. The States are freaking out and I think dramatic notices are close to being announced. Riley just clued me into a rumor about Washington State but I'd already felt the vibe. Be ready folks.
I'm stocked up, guns loaded, truck is ready as I just canceled a road trip, and I still have power and internet, so I'm sending this post out. Hopefully it won't be my last for a while.
Man, I picked a hell of a time to plan a road trip :-) My truck is packed, primed and ready to roll. Steph agreed to set up residence in my little house to watch my cat, and I have plenty of TP and supplies here. Then I wake up, turn on the TV and hear that states are going to be putting up roadblocks at their state lines to take temperatures before allowing people to enter. What a logistical nightmare that's going to be.
To top it off all the talking heads on TV are saying if your over 65, keep your ass home. In other words, guys like me trying to drive across the country are going to be perceived as the enemy. Damn it all to hell.
Actually, to really top it off, my cat Piper gave me a shiner this morning. We have a cuddle position on my bed where she likes to plop her big old belly down on my hand. It's very endearing, until the arthritis in her back acts up and she jumps straight up in the air and one of her claws caught me in the eye. It's good that my eyes were closed or I might have lost one. As it is I have a puncture wound in my lower lid and the area is starting to turn black.
Afternoon update: Sorry governors, but I need to drive. You can chastise and harass me for doing so but I'm one of the most legal people I know. I'm a U.S. citizen with roots in this country going back to it's founding. I have no warrants, I've passed an FBI fingerprint background check, I had my ID run through the entry gate at Camp Pendleton, and I have a commercial drivers license and a passport. If the only thing you can get me on is driving while over seventy during a pandemic with a black eye from my cat, then have it.
Evening update: After dwelling on this a lot I have decided to get off my high horse, settle down, and stay put. The world doesn't need an old man running around in an old truck looking like a zombie with his blackened eye possibly spreading shit from one state to the next. If we all make it to summer, I'll travel then. Over and out...
The battle of Shiloh was fought on April 6, 1862 seventy miles from where I live now with 23,746 casualties. I woke up this morning still glad to be here. I'm not afraid to die and I will not hunker down and hide, nor will I fight my fellow man over a roll of asswipe.
Alright, here's the deal, the stupid world is shutting down around me. As I prepare to launch a road trip in my little truck the bars in Nashville are being forced to close after going through major tornados. Are you kidding me?
Well here it is Friday the 13th, I see the writing on the wall, and it is profane. Big events are shutting down everywhere, people aren't traveling and the economy is crashing. What everyone seems to be missing is what happens when the people that work in the grocery stores, the Walmarts, the Amazon fulfillment centers say screw this and stay home? What happens when truck drivers stop driving? What happens when the police stay away? Just sayin...
Phrases like Boomer Remover are sweeping the net but my favorite is: Does the unlimited drink package extend into the quarantine period? I don't think so...
Saturday morning numbers: Thank god, some good news. The experts are predicting that only 1.7 million people in the U.S. will die. Cool, and we only have 925,000 hospital beds in this country with only 1/10th available for the critically ill. I actually have more numbers but I'll just stop here.
My dear nephew Brian. My friend. So good to hear from you, it's been months since we last connected.
The Nashville tornados missed me but the one a month before went right over my little house while I sat at the screen door and watched.
Sorry to hear about Dave's broken foot from the snow machine but it's not like the guy has never had nothing broken before, sheesh... and I relate to quality time with your cat, it's the only thing that keeps me sane.
As to that ex-girlfriend, well, you don't need to pour booze on your hand, just drink it when necessary.
How am I? I realized today that this will be one of those periods in life that I will look back on someday and wish that I could recapture, because it's going downhill rapidly. Not that I'm feeling sorry for myself, just pissed that it's all finally catching up with me.
So what to do? I drank a lot of Corona back in my mexican beach bum days so I'm immune to that shit, so I should travel while everyone else is hunkering down like spineless bastards. It's not like this stuff knocks you down and makes blood spurt out of every orifice until you die a horrible death within minutes. Again, sheesh...
I will be heading your way at some point shortly in my trusty truck looking for new hot springs to conquer and smoke to soak in. We should hook up.
Your Uncle Jim.
Modern map API's (Application Programming Interface) use a data structure called GeoJson which represents geographical features and their attributes in JSON (Javascript Object Notation) format, to plot places on the map.
Over the many years writing map code I've devised a variety of ways to achieve this, most of them convoluted, involving PHP modules and MySQL databases.
My new app OMJRoute has now achieved a wonderful level of simplicity. The program reads a basic CSV (Comma Separated Value) file using some sweet JQuery asynchronous code, converts it to an Object, then into a GeoJson entity, and then places it on the map as a Layer.
The file format is simple and efficient: Longitude,Latitude,Name. For example, here's three Walmart stores with store number as the Name:
-96.770372,32.963375,8930
-97.578089,35.365702,7326
-86.492693,34.818134,7324
The file contains 4,339 entries for the US and is 113 KB in size, so it loads really quick.
You still with me? This allows me to create some cool layers on top of my Route Map showing things like Rest Areas and Flying J/Pilot fuel stations. The points are clustered so the further you zoom in, the more are displayed.
My ultimate goal is to apply the Places only to the Route. If it ain't along the way, you ain't gona see it, because it doesn't matter. I create this stuff to help me travel, and hopefully others...
I had the most profound dream last night. I was walking out of a large city towards skid row when I came upon an old black man struggling to pull a piece of plywood over a small arched bridge. I grabbed one edge and helped him carry it, glancing down at my arms and realized I too was black. There was a wild eyed crazed white guy on the other side pointing a large revolver at us, urging us to move on.
We came upon a mass of rundown apartments that we had to navigate to reach our destination. Behind us a throng of people several hundred strong had joined us as we walked through filthy kitchens and bedrooms, twisting and turning from one to the next. At one point we walked through a nursery with toddlers watching us in awe.
We finally burst through the last door to find a beautiful beach and sparkling ocean where we all threw off our clothes, ran joyfully into the water and bathed the grime of the inner city from our bodies.
Good morning America from southern Tennessee, I need to grab my coffee and get on with my code...
I've created a new map system (actually an enhanced port from OmjMaps) based on the great MapBox platform. Beautiful tiles combined with place clickable geocoding, this thing rocks! It functions inside a window, like Place, and blows out to full screen goodness like below. Click the map to try it and be sure to zoom around, change the style, and click on things. I reverse geocode everything and present them as clickable links lower left.
I am compelled to discuss here my position on the consumption of animals by humans. Fair warning if you choose to click the X. I've been developing a strong position on the sanctity of all life for many years and it's now affecting me directly as I no longer consume meat, period.
This is a moral issue that goes to my core. The animals that we share this planet with have just the same rights to be here as we do. We should not raise them or hunt them, just so we can slice them open, harvest their bodies and eat them, period.
The criteria I use to define an animal is that it has two eyes, a nose and a mouth. A lot of them are good stewards of the earth as they eat the same things we should be eating: grains, fruits and vegetables. Sure, lions eat deer and ravens eat road kill when the land is covered in snow, but they do that to survive. We have a choice.
All I have to do is look deep into my cats eyes as she nuzzles my nose with her's, to know I'm right. I've been to many state fairs and I've seen the same awareness in the eyes of the caged chickens, pigs, and cows. They don't deserve to die at our hands just so we can eat them. That's my old man position and I will carry it until I die. Maybe I could then be ground up and served at McDonald's, I am just another animal after all.
On that note, let's go for a drive...
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