Strange and wonderful day today. My libido has been on the upswing for about a month now, and I really haven't been doing anything for it; it's just a cycle I guess.
Anyway, this morning I found that stack of credit and debit cards I had stashed before leaving for Mexico last fall. It was right in my back-up bug-out bag, right where I was sure to find it when I came back. Not. I brought my primary bug-out bag back from Mexico this time, and have been using that instead. So I never thought to search the other.
I got a little job on a local "black market" Facebook group yesterday, and made an appointment to go to Sebastopol today and look at it. It was a nonfunctioning electric fence. It looked like it should be working. The power light was on, and it was clicking at about 1Hz, indicating a pulse being sent over the line. But it wasn't hot. I checked with a 1MΩ resistor, not wanting to risk my old ticker with 5kV. Couldn't use my meter on that high a voltage, so I decided to check the 12V in. Once I got the red and black nuts off the terminals, I realized, whoops, this is the high-voltage output. But I took each wire out and put it back in, just to make sure there was no corrosion buildup. When I put the ground wire back in, it sparked. I thought it over a bit; was there any way, if the power were going out the other wire, this one would spark? I couldn't think of any possible way. So I said it's reversed. Did someone else work on it? Nope. So I swapped the wires. She asked, "Isn't the problem on the inside?" I said yes, but the factory wasn't likely to have shipped it this way, and this will make it work. Then she remembered they had replaced the circuit board. Oops.
Anyway, touched the fence again through my resistor, and got zapped. It worked. 10-minute job. She offered me some fruits by way of exchange, but I asked for lamb meat. She didn't have any. I said "How about some cash? You pick the amount." So she came back with a $10 bill. I thanked her and went on my merry way. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
I didn't want to spend another $1.75 or whatever the senior bus fare is for the return trip, so I made an expedition out of it and rode my bike all the way home.
I found out, I can loop my shopping bags through that half-balaclava I use as a facemask, and it keeps them from sliding off my shoulders. I guess with enough weight it could choke me, but with just a few pounds it was no problem.
last updated 2021-06-09 22:32:31. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com