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The "I'm so old" thread game

The best childhood toy we had was a set of army men lead mold. We would melt down our disfigured army guys and pour the lead into the mold. We'd set them up and plink them with our bb guns. Melt them down and do it again. It wasn't entirely safe... but loads of fun. We also had a wood burning set. A set of wooden disks about the size of a coaster and a soldering iron with different decorative tips. It was an arts crafty toy that we used to customize models and fry ants and basically burn most everything half close to a power source.

E-Bikes

It's a beautiful morning and I'm itching to get out and enjoy it. It is the NO wind moving that has my attention. There is a weather front headed straight for my area so I'll only ride in town. I hate riding in the rain so being close to home will be the answer until the front has passed.

I went riding but wisely stayed in town. I was able to ride 15 miles before it started raining. It didn't rain much but it lowered the temperature. I came home and shut down the bike. I left the shed unlocked and the battery on the bike in anticipation of the weather moving out soon.

The threat of rain remained but the radar showed a riding window so I went out and finished riding out that battery. It sprinkled on me just a little bit. It was very light. I came home and grabbed another battery. It had dropped to 60° so I put on a little warmer gear and headed out. I stopped after my first loop and checked the radar. I stopped again after my second loop. I had time and then some before the rain looked to become a problem. After my third loop I stayed in town to be close in case it started raining. I'm home after riding out my second battery. It still hasn't rained again. I logged 72 miles today. It was a bit cool but there was no wind which made it a lot of fun.

Fatalities - 2026

Dash Crofts, of 1970s music duo Seals & Crofts, dead at 85​

Sadly, I report that Crofts of Seals and Crofts has passed away. The two made some great music that wasn't rock but fit right in to the music scene of the early seventies. Summer Breeze, Diamond Girl, Hummingbird, and so many more tunes are burned into my soul. Thanks you so very much for touching me with your music.
I listened to a lot of their music as well. RIP and thanks for so many great tunes.

UI building without XML or Compose

Hello,

independent of XML and Compose, there are also other ways to build your UI. I have written some helper classes and put together my UI with a kind of custom DSL. It works almost perfectly. 😊


override fun createLayout(target: FrameLayoutBuilder) {
instance = this
with(target) {
addLinearLayout {
setOrientationVertical()
add(ActivityHeader())
createContent(this)
add(ActivityFooter())
}
}
}


private fun createContent(target: LinearLayoutBuilder) {
with(target) {
addFrameLayout {
setLayoutWeight(1f)
addLinearLayout {
setOrientationVertical()
addFrameLayout {
setLayoutWeight(1f)
addSurfaceView {
setSurface(Playground)
}

addRelativeLayout {
setGravityBottomRight()
addTextView {
setVisibleFalse()
formatHint(this)
addReceiver(Playground.hint) {
setTextId(it)
setVisible(it != R.string.Empty)
}
}
}
}
createInfoLine(this)
}
addFrameLayout {
addReceiver(overlay) {
replace(it)
}
}
}
}
}

fun formatHint(target: TextViewBuilder) {
with(target) {
setTextSizeSP(20)
setTextColorID(R.color.hintText)
setMarginsDP(50, 10, 20, 20)
setPaddingsDP(20, 10)
setGravityRight()
setGradientBackground {
cornerRadii = getCornerRadii(getPixelFromDP(15).toFloat())
setStroke(getPixelFromDP(6), getColorFromID(R.color.black))
setColor(getColorFromID(R.color.hint))
}
}
}

fun createInfoLine(target: LinearLayoutBuilder) {
with(target) {
addLinearLayout {
setOrientationHorizontal()
setPaddingsDP(10, 0)
setBackgroundColorId(R.color.black)
addTextView {
setWidthDP(100)
setLayoutWeight(1f)
setTextSizeSP(16)
setTextColorID(R.color.white)
setFontId(R.font.nunito_bold)
addReceiver(Playground.mode) {
setText(
when (it) {
Play -> "Build Mode"
else -> "Play Mode"
}
)
}
}
addTextView {
setWidthDP(100)
setLayoutWeight(1f)
setGravityCenter()
setTextSizeSP(16)
setTextColorID(R.color.white)
setFontId(R.font.nunito_bold)
setText("V${BuildConfig.VERSION_CODE}")
}
addTextView {
setWidthDP(100)
setLayoutWeight(1f)
setGravityRight()
setTextSizeSP(16)
setTextColorID(R.color.white)
setFontId(R.font.nunito_bold)
addReceiver(Playground.currentBoardIndex) {
setText("Board ${it + 1}")
}
}
}
}

}

eine kleine Person
2

Any Time is Grillin Time

I owned a propane grill that wasn't good in the cold. It was the old style with a H burner of stamped metal that was covered in lava rock. It was a cheap 70s cooker. They have evolved a great deal since then. My father enjoyed grilling and was an early adopter of a natural gas grill. I'm guessing middle sixties or a bit earlier model. It was made of such heavy metal that you could cook on it long after the gas was turned off. :) It was old school enough that it had adjustable vents for air flow. The best part about that natural gas grill was we no longer had to eat his cooking over charcoals. He soaked his briquettes in gas. :) I can still see him tossing matches at the ol' charcoaler. Everything we at tasted like a 50's Studebaker :)
While I'm at it, I'll bore you with another story about that cooker. My parents were working out of town and I came home from college and invited my girlfriend over for the weekend. I cooked out burgers or steaks or something on that grill. The method was to turn it up all the way and let it burn off the left over fats when done cooking. I came home the next weekend and asked my sweetie to once again enjoy the weekend at my parents house. I went out to light the grill and found I had left it on high for a week. Needless to say... the fats had been burned off :)

What are you currently playing?

I had to give up on the bubble game. It got where every-time I cleared a lever it automatically went to a screen trying to get me to downland the fookin Royal King game and at first all I had to do was refresh the screen. then it got to having to clear the cookies and finally it got to doing it between each play ....


Tried a few other variations of the bubble game, even the candy match one did it.

Intercourse them, been game free for several weeks, now.

Fatality 2023.

Resurrecting (!) this thread to append more information in the wake of the charges resulting from Mr. Perry’s untimely death. Of the five people charged relative to his ketamine usage, three have now pled guilty (including a doctor) and are awaiting sentencing; the other two appear willing to roll the dice on a jury, where they could essentially receive life sentences if convicted.

All of the five people charged have been sentenced; I believe they all entered plea arrangements whereby they admitted their part in Mr. Perry's death. The most severe sentence is also the most recent; the so-called "Ketamine Queen" who provided the fatal doses. She was sentenced to 15 years, and it turned out that her supply had also killed another person in 2019, which was part of why the sentence was that long. Sad all the way around.

Junk Drawer / Tool Box

I have nothing but respect for my dad. He was a hard working honest guy. Kids just weren't his deal. He was the provider and my mother kept the nest clean and kept us kids in line. Later in life we became business partners and I tried to match his effort and work ethic. I am fairly certain that I received two gifts in my life that he actually wanted me to have and went out of his way to gift them. A pocket knife that I still have and my set of SAE sockets. They mean the world to me. I'm sorry that your sister snagged up the Bell tools. She likely didn't understand the significance of a man to his son relationship.

Samsung Galaxy

While Samsung is dumbing down the S Pen, Motorola is improving the stylus in the Moto G Stylus 2026... available April 16th in the U.S. At a third the price of the S26 Ultra, it has faster charging; a brighter screen; and, while it may have a slower processor (which won't matter for 98% of users anyway), it will sport a microSD slot capable of up to 1 TB external storage. How long has it been since a Galaxy flagship had that???

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