OK.  My apologies to you, too.

OK.  My apologies to you, too.

Thanks.  I’ll look just like those Facebook ads!

Thanks.  I’ll look just like those Facebook ads!

I bought several of them new. The ink simply would not flow. If I forced the nib, I could get a little ink for a minute or two, and then it would go dry again. I tried these pens for several weeks. I suspect that Lamy’s steel nibs aren’t manufactured to quite the same tolerance as those of, say, Mont Blanc (the MB of…

I bought several of them new. The ink simply would not flow. If I forced the nib, I could get a little ink for a…

One of my pens is 30+ years old. I figure it’s saved landfills from holding hundreds of $1 pens.

One of my pens is 30+ years old. I figure it’s saved landfills from holding hundreds of $1 pens.

Herbin bottled ink is excellent...and not at all expensive.  Good paper is harder to find, alas...

Herbin bottled ink is excellent...and not at all expensive.  Good paper is harder to find, alas...

I had a number of Safaris over the years and hated them all...until I realized something. You can read my apology to Lamy here:

I had a number of Safaris over the years and hated them all...until I realized something. You can read my apology to…

When you’re a hobbyist, you look for chances to build things. At 13, coming up with a simple circuit that would do I wanted and then proving it would work was the real reward. Coming back from a camping vacation with my parents and telling them they ought to check the food in the freezer was just gravy.

1. There are other valuable things than computers, but OK.

1. There are other valuable things than computers, but OK.

When I lived in Chicago, I was robbed twice. First time, three guys converged on me and politely requested that I remove all cash from my wallet and hand it to them. The second time, I was looking down the very large barrel of a handgun while the gentleman requested my cash. At the time, I was wearing a very…

When I lived in Chicago, I was robbed twice. First time, three guys converged on me and politely requested that I…

40 years ago?  Relays were obsolete by that time!  In 1980, SCRs were where it was at!

Concur.  Digital electronics have changed my world for the better!

Yep. But this was back in the day before true digital displays—most radio and audio equipment of any significant power used vacuum tubes—and the closest thing ham operators like me had to digital clocks was a thing called a Tymeter:

I’ve been doing this (for my office) with my Ring doorbell. If I can activate the camera, power’s on (the doorbell runs on a battery, but the router it connects to depends on line voltage).

50+ years ago, I built a circuit consisting of a momentary PBNO pushbutton switch, an AC relay, and a light. When the power in…

Can Trump drive?

It’s good. Milka is also very good, but I think Ritter Sport is the best.

I’m a solo practitioner, so I can go to my office without worries. However, I also am fortunate enough have a home office (pictured) which consists of a comparatively ancient Surface Pro 3, so I don’t have to haul my “good” laptop home every evening. Hidden behind the Surface is a docking station for same.

I bought a 2010 Fit with a manual transmission three years ago with 100,000 miles on it. I paid $5,000. It’s now at 155,000 miles and I’ve had to replace the tires once (I didn’t really need to, but at the start of COVID, after 50,000 miles, it seemed like a good idea), and an air conditioner relay.

In 1981, when I was an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota, I wrote my sociology honors thesis on the gay rights movement. Kameny’s name was one of those that kept coming up. In the course of that work, I discovered many of the same things that Cervini has, though his work is clearly much more comprehensive…

Brother laser printers FTW.

Brother laser printers FTW.

Another excellent resource—though it has so much information that it may intimidate some people—is:

Another excellent resource—though it has so much information that it may intimidate some people—is: