Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"[...] this goes back to the whole notion of worldview. If your worldview is that it's all about that handful of banks on Mount Olympus, then you have a different notion of what the problem is and you have a different notion of what the solution is. If your worldview is about 117 million American families, households, and you understand the kinds of pressures they are under and the problems facing them, you have a very different vision of where we need to concentrate our resources and where we need to start solving the problem." -- Elizabeth Warren, on the PBS television program Charlie Rose, 2009-05-11 (video and transcript)

A sequence of thoughts, in the right order but omitting several "I'll get to it later"s and replays:

• Y'know, I'm starting to think this Vaio laptop has potential.
• But the wrong kind.
• I should check.
• Ah, sure enough, it floats[1]. Or at least the case does ...
• ... The corner of the case where the paint rubbed off measures between +0.11V and +1.2V relative to my skin, depending on exactly how I hold the probes.
• Gosh, it feels like so much more than a Volt when it brushes against the back of my arm! (I was really expecting it to be between six and eight Volts.)
• But I get the impression that it shouldn't really have any noticeable potential relative to me, should it?
• Of course, since I'm not grounded, I guess I'm floating...
• Okay, since all the extension cords coming to the bed are two-prong, how much hassle is it going to be for me to find an earth ground to measure the corner of the laptop case, and myself, against?
• Problems like this are why desktop computers and power tools use three-prong power cords, huh?

And an unrelated thought (though it relates to why I'm posting this right now): I really, really, really, really hate it when my legs keep me awake so long past when I've gotten too tired to be effective at getting anything done. (And this morning it was both legs.) I think they've gone from twitching & cramping to just sore, so maybe I'll finally sleep. On nights like this one, I start wondering what keyword to feed to Google to determine the odds of amuptation solving the problem, versus phantom-limb effect just making the whole thing even more maddening. Comes a point where one just desperately wants to be allowed to sleep. (It's not always the leg cramps-and-almost-cramps that keep me up when I can't sleep, but when I started to nod off several times and had a shooting 2/3-pain-1/3-tickle sensation run down the bones in my left leg, or a cramp start up in my right to jolt me back awake each time, I think it's safe to blame this one on my legs. Let's see whether I'll finally be allowed to sleep now, or will still be bothered too much by what my left calf is doing)

[1] I am assuming quite a bit here: that the case is supposed to be connected to chassis ground, and that chassis ground is ideally supposed to be at 0V relative to earth ground even though the connections from wall to power brick and from brick to computer are each two-conductor; thus, that any voltage I see constitures a floating ground. I'm also assuming that I understand the terminology as well as I think I do.

I was playing mandolin earlier, and was having fun chasing a riff that popped into my head, and ran out of strings. Found myself reaching for that fifth pair, what would be the bottom of a mandola. The tube distortion and delay may have been factors in my improvisation being drawn in that direction. (Yay headphones.)

I don't see a ten-string mandolin ever being in my budget, so I'll have to try to recapture that ephemeral inspiration a fifth higher, or on guitar.

(I know there are five-string violins, extended down to cover the viola's range, so I'm assuming that ten-string mandolins must exist somewhere as well. Not that it mat... -- Waitaminute -- I want a solidbody electric mandolin as well, so I should add this to the list of Projects I May Or May Not Ever Get Around To: a ten-string solidbody. I'd need a pawn shop mandolin with a decent neck and a crappy body (and a largeish headstock), a set of 12-string guitar tuners, a pickup, a nut blank (I hate carving nuts but hey, it'd be worth it), and enough wood to screw up on a few times with power tools before I get it right.)

I really like mandolas, by the way, and am easily distracted by them when I enter a music store that has a selection of mandolas within reach. Someday ...

[If you're reading this on one of the sites where I have enough icons to keep the Vader icon in the lineup, that's a bouzouki in the icon rather than a mandolin. Otherwise, you'll be seeing my default icon or the "Can you hear me now?" one, which feature guitars.]