I was Thinking, or Not

I think to much, sometimes.  I know, how is that possible.  Well I can tell you it is.  Sometimes it is better to just let shit happen, and sort out the details afterwards.  However that too can lead to unwanted consequences.  Finding some balance is not often easy.  That is or should be the goal, to find balance between cognitive constipation and irrational impulse. Bad habits multiply, so why does it seem that good habits seem to divide?  I do not know why, but that does appear to be the law of distraction.  Kind of wish the law of attraction worked half as well.  Once in the downward spiral, it becomes difficult if not impossible to show the momentum.  On the other hand, when climbing up, it seems there is no end to the work against falling down. I know there is a breaking point somewhere, and I know I've been there, but getting over that, is an effort most are unwilling or unable to do.  Then there are those that seem to persevere no matter what. I do not know the answer, bu

I feel like I was a bit bitter towards the Lifehacker site.  Not that it matters, they will never see my blog, and no one else will read it, so while those fuckers will make another 10k on their post about how terrible they feel about something, or how they are upset because they didn't get their package from Amazon in two days, I will remain anonymous.  Which is fine by me, I have better things to do than give a shit about such things.  Just sometimes I feel the need to say something, even if I know it won't make one bit of difference. Ok, said my peace, off the box now and back to the same old bs I usually post that no one reads. Peace JD

https://lifehacker.com/amazon-primes-promise-of-two-day-delivery-is-dying-1831235107 Everyday I see some article bashing Amazon because they are a horrible company for (insert reason of choice here).  Now I am no fan of Amazon, but I am a prime member.  I have been a prime member pretty much since that service has been offered by Amazon.  I don't even use it all that much.  I buy a few things here and there, just like I but things her and there from Walmart.  If I wanted to be some type of elitist who sticks my pampered nose up at any low end retailer, yea both of the aforementioned retailers would be in my list, along with several others.  I am not, I am a realist in this respect. I buy stuff I need, and I love on a fixed income (trying to fix that) so I shop at such places because they fit the budget I have.  I also do not want to waste a lot of fuel going from market to market trying to get the things I need. Enough of my shit, now about Amazon being a horrible company.  Hell

In the near future I am just going to travel around reviewing old taverns and inns.  I am going to start in upstate NY area, before branching out into wider areas. Of course I will have to wait until I get my license thing taken care of.  I got a bunch of fine and other things to pay off yet.  Then they is the issue of the transmission on the trailblazer.  Those are relatively minor issues, once I can get some cash stashed. I've got a storage unit full of stuff to sell, a wood stove, lots of smalls, and books.  Who reads books anymore?  What with readers from Amazon and others, ebooks are pretty much the thing.  Most of the book stores are gone, at least as far as I know.  There might be a couple of big ones left, but the little nook type places have completely disappeared.  Maybe in my travels I will do a small bit on hidden book stores too. Yes so before I went on that rant about book stores I was trying to say, I have a lot of stuff to sell.  This will give me some cash to ge

I was thinking of starting a blog, but I am not sure about what.  Seems there are a lot of them out there already, so I feel like I would just be one of millions.  How could I differentiate my blog from all the rest? I think it is a lot of hard work.  First off if you blog even twice a week, you have to create content every week.  Then you have to work the social networks, like Twitter .  To make any money, not a lot of money but any money at all, you should have an affiliate account, like Amazon or commission junction.  Then you have to build readership, you need subscribers to build brand. Mostly you have to blog about a niche someone, well a lot of someones, want to read about.  Then you have to consistently write about that niche at least a couple times a week. Then the social networks.  You have to post your post to the social networks.  I've heard good things about Instagram.  I do not own a smart phone, or any phone for that matter, so I could not say anything about it.

Lots of stuff went on today.  I got new glasses, bi-focals.  Apparently I am going blind. We went to Shamir's and spent way too much of our holiday money on feta that is to die for, and black cardamom seeds.  Then I bought cloves and all the rest of the fixings for hot buttered rum. The people at the liquor store were great.  I haven't purchased a spot of liquor in many years, and many of the brands have changed.  They provided me with a reasonable priced rum.  I have tasted it, and I do think it will work perfectly in our cocktail.  So far I think they have done me a great service. I used to know much more, but now I am just as lost as, well I was never this lost, but at least now I can see. We'll see how this goes, I will be trying to make them tomorrow. Peace JD

I am trying to post a little more, yet I still hate swipe.  I guess hate is really to strong a word.  I just do not feel like it is the same as writing.  I especially like the feel of a fine nib as it snatches out words on the page.  It is almost like I am engraving the paper with the pen, only easier. All in, I am waiting, for the light.  Not much else to do, just sit here, and watch more videos.  I can see a future for us, as slim as it is, it exist.  I like to think of the future, yet sometimes I think is there any future for us really?  I am never prepared for the worst, because no matter what happens it could always be worse.  How do you plan for that? In the meantime; I wait, I think, yea soon, not real soon, but soon, we will get a break, and the ridiculousness will finally cease to plague us. What nonsense is this, man you can tell I haven't had enough coffee.  I will try to post something more better later. Peace JD

Today is a good day, so far.  It remains to be seen how much actually gets done.  Just drinking coffee, thinking about the weather, and wishing I was somewhere else. Load up the trailer, hook up the truck, get it all done before anyone else can say what, where or why. I don't think so well in swipe.  My thoughts flow much better in ink, I think.  Still I'm trying to make it work. I really just want a place for my dogs to run without threat of death or bothering anyone.  Where can I go where we can be left alone.  Where can we go, where we can have some friends over for a nice dinner and maybe a bit of brandy afterwards? These are the thoughts that run through my head.  I don't think to much about tomorrow.  If only I can achieve some sense of peace.  Some place to call home, that is all we want, without the hassle from the neighbors, or local bureaucrats. A hot shower, some clean clothes, a stove that works, maybe even a little space to grow a few vegetables.  Oh my w

I wonder who you are, where your entitlement comes from?  What commission have you been given?  What righteous indignation do you justify your actions.  Why do you carry that cross? There is no greater calling than the goodness of man.  While I am not the bearer of such greatness within my own self as well, I recognize the lack thereof.  The gain is unknown to me.  I know not your pain and suffering.  It must be of some immense transgression that your pretty hatred stems. I will not be the bearer of your stone.  I will not been my knee to your desperation.  Your decision is an ill gotten infection of your own inadequate capability to function somehow.  I will not lie in such mire.  For this is not the truth, and I shall not be the panacea for your perceived negligence. JD

All you fuckers should have left me alone.  I am going to enjoy this too much.  I did not start the fire, but I am going to feed it, she is a hungry beast. Ah, the challenge, well not really much of one, but oh the thought of burying these fuckers just made my year. Thank you, JD

Fuck this world, it is not worth the effort to try any more.  I am much too old to give a shit, and there is very little time left to make a difference. Thank you, JD

The other day my wife said I still have to get you a Christmas gift.  Out of hand I said, don't worry about it. Now that I think about it, I can not think of one thing I want or need really.  No, really, I can not think of one thing, one trinket that I would desire. I am thinking, what would be nice?  A pint of warm stout, a pipe of Cavendish, on a sofa, with my wife, the dogs, and a nice warm fire, with some sweet low-fi jazz on playing softly in the background.  I think a nice evening of peaceful retreat from the insanity that is this f'd up life. If you could wish for just one thing, just one simple thing, what would it be?  Medical technology that brings health back to my wife, so her life would not be a struggle to breathe.  To meet up with my old friends just one more time before memory wipes away all traces of their names from my memory. I just can not think of anything.  Maybe, just a quiet end to my evening would be the best thing I could hope for.  You cannot buy

How can a company take the same ingredients and make such an interior product? I have purchased Great Value pasta from Walmart several times, hoping that perhaps the first few times it was a fluke.  No, every time it is bad.  It is mushy, no matter how I cook it, it still comes out pasty.  I've cooked it per instructions, still pasty.  I've cooked it less time, rinsed it in cold water, still pasty.  I've cooked it and let it set, still mushy and pasty. It may be cheap, but somehow they have taken what is essentially a very simple to make product and made it so poorly that it is inedible. I think it must be either their process, or the quality of their wheat.  Maybe it is both, but something just does not work.  I have used other store brands, like Wegmans' brand pasta, not even their premium label, just their standard label, and it comes out good every time. Of course none of it is as good as fresh made pasta, but that is a different subject completely.  I do not ex

What do you people want from me?  Want me to talk about politics?  To talk about Trump?  He is who he is, meet him once, many years ago, was having lunch in a place in NY City with my employer, her knew Donald.  Donald came over, I was introduced, we did not speak though.  Donald talked to my employer.  His Manor of speech that he uses is for the common folk, it endears him to his perception of his core constitutes.  That day he was loud and obnoxious to the waitress, but articulate and relatively intellectual to my employer, so take from that what you will.  He is not quite our worst president, definitely not a good leader, but he only wanted to run and win, he did not know what it takes to be an insider. The Republicans tried to get rid of Obama for eight years, so I guess it is only fair that the Democrats will try to get rid of Trump for four years.  I do not think he has the staying power.  So it is unlikely he will be around much longer, but we will get past this, and most likel

I do everything wrong, no key words in my title, no hot topics in my blog, but here I am again watching the same old shoot'em up, and the same old who done what to whom.  I don't know much about anything, I just know I keep putting these miles behind me, and no matter how far I roam, I'm still ten thousand miles from home. Hum this with a twelve four beat, it won't make it any better it will just be funny to me that some people will actually try to. What am I doing here, watching the dogs, as they go ballistic after another motorcycle, or some random noisey car.   

I did not think I would be effected.  I do not usually feel death the same as most people.  I mean people die, they go their way, and leave behind a useless cage.  I still had this weird feeling that he was going to come over and say it was okay.  He always did that, console me, tell me it will be okay, and I believed him, if even for the moment. He is silent now, not even the echo of his voice remains.  Memories linger longer, but even they will fade.  I grasp at them like reeds in a storm, the water rises, I am not a strong swimmer. They gave him a good christian burial, I know he deserved that.  What else could they do, they do not know any better, ignorant as they are.  Death is for the living, we even celebrate it.  The past fades, we slip into routines and accept the ghost as they are, memories of what they were.  Nothing remains once the remains are laid to rest. I should have said something, should have made a statement, a testament to his greatness.  People do that, they pr

Here then is this article, http://tcat.tc/112or2n, which discusses the making of your own religion, or thereby another copy of such religions as has been made before.  It does not discuss the making of a religion, but the re branding of current concept of religion under a new brand.  It is still the bronze age idea of "God" based religion. You can not make your own religion, because religion has too much structure, for it to work, it must conform to the conventions of current religions.  If you read the article, read some of the comments, they are as important to the discussion.  There are plenty of comments from people who profess to be atheist, which by definition is the belief in nothing, yet they believe they are atheist, therefore negating the entire argument. The author of the article states that human beings are hardwired to be religious.  This is not exactly true, we are hardwired to believe in somethings, no matter what they are.  Religions have this knowledge,

Been trying to get my head wrapped around this for some time now.  From the day I learned of his diagnosis, I knew the eventual outcome.  Still I thought it should not be.  I have been so distant, so remote, I did not know these people anymore.  Still I felt as though I knew my brother, I would see him here and there.  I still do not know what to say to anyone. At some point I had broken away from the family, and I have never reconnected on any level really.  The past I thought was behind me, ghost of a distant self, now haunt me from the prison of my mind.  Shadows stalk me from the shadows of those that before me tread these paths.  I am not alone here, but I am without something, something I never thought mattered until yesterday. Tom is gone, he gave me hope, reminded me of humanity, and I wanted that, though it was out of reach for me. A new person comes along, and I am still cautious, there is no reason, no rhyme, I should not have seen this, I am way beyond my time.  Am I jus

After nearly two weeks of frustration, I have realized one thing, building a blog on WordPress is not as easy as the YouTubers make it out to be.  It is pretty simple to set up, with one click install and all.  Setting up security, it is a little more difficult, but with a few plugins that is not too bad.  Then a few more plugins and you can have a fairly interesting site in a fairly short amount of time.  Just add content and you are all set. Add an ecommerce plugin like woocommerce and you have a decent site for your blog I guess. The truth is to do this, you need more than just a domain name, a web server, a CMS application, and an ecommerce solution.  Maybe I am wrong, most likely I am wrong. Let me give you a little background.  I started out with technology pretty much when it started.  I built my first computer from a kit.  I had to learn programming because there really wasn't any applications.  Some friends and me built applications, and just for fun we did some hacking

I've been buying from Amazon for quite a few years now, and have really increased my number of products I buy from them over the past couple of years.  I think it is time I went back on the site and actually provided some reviews of the products I have used. Oh wait, maybe what I should do is write the reviews on a blog, and then use a snapshot of the full review, with my blog site link in it, to post on Amazon.  And I could put an Amazon affiliate link in my blog post to the product, so when I publish the blog post and update my Twitter feed, it would have the affiliate link built in. Now I need to build a Twitter post frame, so that too enhances my brand.  Wait first I have to build the brand identity. I guess posting a review on Amazon just got a whole lot more complicated.  Well first I need to see if I can actually build a template for the blog.  There is a lot to do, I really need to get busy. Peace, JD

I read, and watch a lot of stuff on the web about this positivity movement.  It is great, sure, but sometimes you need to have a reality check.  Sometimes you just have to recognize stupid for what it is. Now about here I could interject a bunch of wit about being a realist, or how life is not this or it is this, but I do not believe that is helpful. No, I will say if you want to delude yourself, and that works for you, go ahead.  The same can be said for negativity, if you want to hate all day every day be my guest, just do not do it in my house.  You see I am a classical realist, and I will see the truth, and I have no qualms of telling it like it is, with no sugar added. However I will say I do enjoy the company of a wide-eyed optimist over a white supremacist most any day. This brings me to a subject that I have not yet broken, but it has finally gotten to me, and I will be talking about it soon.  There is only one race of human, no matter what these pictuary idiots try to say.

One thing I want to make sure everyone is aware of, is that I am not a financial planner, or investment adviser, or any other professional designated person, and I do not provide any type of financial or legal advisement. That said, I am still suggesting that Tesla is a buy and hold for now, at least while they are still holding the orders for their commercial semi truck platform.  As long as they continue to develop in the areas of commercial transport, and commercial energy , they will continue to be a buy and hold prospect. One thing I am going to say about Tesla and I am surprised about this (though not completely) is that they did not build on the platform.  Therefore I do not think that Tesla should invest in building a pick-up truck.  Here is why.  If they wanted to build a truck platform, that would be good, but it would have to be a heavy duty platform.  That should be their first goal, build the platform.  Once they have the platform, they could build a heavy duty truc

I have watched a lot of blogs on financial planning, especially on writing a blog, and this one is one of the best I have seen.  Though it really is a 15 minute commercial for his free email handbook, and a way to include monetization into his video, I still find it valuable. Though I have not read it, I am going to suggest that you buy and read his book " Soldier of Finance ". If it is at least half as good as his videos, it will be full of useful information, irrelevant humor, and worth whatever it cost. I will likely buy the book and maybe even review it, but get it now, and start to help yourself today. Peace, JD

This is the best stream on the web, always entertaining.  Do not forget to like the video, and tell them you found them from the blog, if you want to. Peace JD

Well I signed up for my Amazon Merch account, and everything seemed to be going great.  I had to get an online savings account, because apparently Amazon will take PayPal as a form of payment (well only my debit card), but they will not pay out to a PayPal account.  So after about a week of faffing around with the bank, I finally got the account set up. Now my account is all set up with Amazon, not with PayPal yet, as the deposits haven't hit the bank account so I can make the deposits to PayPal, or some such nonsense.  This is all such BS, so much faffing around when I know there is no such thing as security, and the rest is all red tape crap for the government.  Anyway, the accounts are set up and I thought I was on my way.  Thought I would have a T-shirt to present to my readers, just a basic T-shirt with blog title on it, something to get the ball rolling. Nope, not yet, now Amazon is holding my T-shirt hostage for some unknown reason.  More delays, more faffing around.  I

Awesome, I just kind of, sort of made a few minor changes to my blog.  Mostly I changed a few of the sidebar things (took out the redundancy), and changed the colors of the backgrounds and text so it suits me a little more.  It is not perfect yet, I still do not like the colors quite, and now my links are all broken.  I do not know how changing the colors broke all the links, but it did, swell. So for the next few days I am going through every single blog post and changing the links so that they all work properly again.  I may toy with the colors some more to get it closer to my desired design, but for the most part I am done there. I do not foresee the link fixing as being all that enjoyable, or for that matter useful, but there is this thing about me, that I want the links to work, even if they will never be used by anyone. One bonus to this is that now I can go through all my post and insert Amazon affiliate links where appropriate, so maybe that will at least help me some. 

At some point you were all expecting this post, so here it is. I have been, and remain an advocate for the decriminalization and outright abatement of all laws pertaining to the use of drugs.  That is to say, I have some personal limits, I feel no need to disclose such here, as my use is my own issue, past and present.  However, that said, my stance has not changed on the use of all substances, considered to be illegal.  This really stems to a deeper level of my stance on the legislation of morality, but that is a ball I am not going to unravel at the moment, too much. In this "great" country of ours, currently there is this wave of debate as to the legality of cannabis use.  I have read extensive articles, treatises, and scholarly documents on both sides of this debate, and for me there is usually too much passion in either side.  This leads me to take either with a very large dose of skepticism. First let me state right from the beginning that I advocate for all subs

7 Principles of Highly Effective Conspirators Plan everything Commit plan to memory Destroy all evidence of plan or planning Speak to no one of plan, not even closest allies Forget plan completely Initiate plan accordingly Claim failure was due to “them” that conspired against you

Apathy is a circumstance that often seems the choice that makes some sense.  Why should I give a shit about anything at all?  It is not like it will make any difference. I once thought that I could make a difference.  I once believed that your actions mattered.  That you could effect change through deeds and even to some degree words and pictures.  I now know that it was a false hope that I harbored, and that because I did not have connections to the right groups, to the money chain, that I was just fooling myself. Sort of how I once thought this blog was an answer to something.  That what I wrote here mattered at least to someone.  I now know that is not the case.  I now realize that nothing matters, except where money is made.  There are no causes, only more subversive means to an end.  If it does not sell something, if there is no money to be made, it is a waste of time. That is why the gun issue is so hot.  It makes lots of money, no matter what side of the issue you profess

This video intrigues me, as all things concerning Lewis Carroll and his Alice stories.  I have said many times before that there is more truth in "Alice's Adventures Through Wonderland" than in most other books written, including the bible.  I have wondered about this, and even with my extensive study of other works, fiction and non-fiction, it has yet to be displaced.  What fortunate accident occurred to project this through his work is yet undiscovered, and even with this film (and others like it) only part of the truth is known. It is my belief that Lewis Carroll had some connection to the divine, or spirit world, but I do not know how that is.  Perhaps it is only through the eyes of a child.  Perhaps he himself was as a child, as the eastern beliefs profess, as to be a child, as to be without judgement, and full of wonder. I do not know, but perhaps one day I will.  Though I sometimes believe I am far too cynical now to have the eyes of a child ever again. Pea

I am not too certain I will be online much longer.  As I look at the future of online, I see the writing on the wall.  I already pay for too much, and as software as a service starts to really be a thing, it will be the end of software for me.  I mean sure there will still be some open source software out there, but for how long, and will it be able to compete.  One thing it will not do is it will not have access to the world wide web, though I believe that it will have access to the network.  We will be back to using IP addressing like in the days of BBS and 300 baud modems. We will have to build our own networks, from discarded surplus network switches, and wireless channels that haven't been used in ages, like the old renegade radio operators used to do.  We will also have to use burst, as I am sure they (the FCC or whatever corporate and government watch dog service they have at that time) will be looking for such impromptu networks.  Run a few messages, and then move, go d

I gave it a shot, but the new online version of SketchUp just sucks.  Sure maybe it is my network, but I can not change that.  So I am back to using the 2017 version of SketchUp which still works just fine.  Of course now I can not get updates to my extensions, or the program, but at least it works.  The unfortunate thing is that unless I go to the Professional version of SketchUp, I will not be able to use it after some time, as it will be degraded. Now I have to look for an alternative to SketchUp, that does not cost over a $1,000.00, which is hard to find.  I liked SketchUp, I liked that it was free to use for personal use, but I guess that was not okay with Google, for they have effectively said either you use this crap version on line that is almost impossible to use (I do more waiting for it to update the model than actual work), or you pay us our $1,000.00 for the Professional version.  A little like extorsion, almost, but not quite.  Certainly not what I would like to see fr

I was thinking of working on the SketchUp project today, but instead I think I will work on the OBS stream to Twitch thing. So yea, that is what I am doing, maybe. Peace JD

I just finished watching this video made by Gopher.  Though I have not actually watched him and Chay play this game (well that is not entirely true, I watched a few minutes of their first Twitch stream), and though I do not think I would probably play this game, in this video he talks about issues he is concerned with.  He talks about content, or the lack there of, cross platform issues, and micro transactions.  I feel this is an issue with many games, especially the newer MMO type games. I have many of the same concerns.  The one I would like to first address is Micro Transactions.  Like Gopher I can see the rationale for them to some degree, though I believe that if you pay for the game, that should pay for the development of the game if it is of sufficient quality to warrant its existence in the first place.  As for cosmetic things, I can see that too, lots of people want special clothes for their character, or in this case, maybe different paint jobs for their ship.  Like Gophe

I was actually able to make a video stream, on Hangout OnAir, and it worked, sort of.  The audio quality is pretty bad, and the video quality is not that great, but I was able to do it.  It is not available on my channel, because it is not ready for primetime yet. Next I will try to make a video using OBS, and will see how that goes, but not today.  I need to check my Twitch settings, and see what I can do to improve the audio quality.  I do not expect that I will be doing many videos in the near future, but as I work through the process I am learning to do them, and perhaps in a while I will begin broadcasting them both on Twitch (live) and on Youtube (condensed versions). As I get this down I will be able to set up Arleta's channel and using the Nikon or her phone (most likely the phone) will be able to make videos for her as well.  These will likely be the more popular videos as she is not only doing things that are interesting, but she is also much more social than I am.

Making pipes in SketchUp is not all that fun, but necessary if I want to be able to show all the mechanicals.  I thought the creation of a bracket was difficult, how wrong I was.  I know there is probably some pre-made things in the 3D Warehouse, but I have never really had much luck with fitting those models into my model, so I just make everything myself.  Sometimes I want to just buy some of the extensions that do that sort of thing, they look so useful, but I have to have the Professional version of SketchUp first, and that is at least $700.00 out of my range at the moment.  So I make it work, and it does, but it is definitely a process, and an exercise in frustration sometimes. Yesterday I fought with the program for about an hour with no results, today, I was able to get it to do basically what I wanted in a few minutes.  That happens a lot. In a related issue, I am fighting with trying to livestream on Youtube using Hangouts on Air.  I was able to do a few seconds of stream

The 300ish square foot cabin based on the Euclidean Phi ratio so far.  Still a lot to go, and the single deck bracket is just there to illustrate the bracket, I will have to lay out the deck first to place them on the beams properly. The beams are built up beams from rough cut 2"x10" boards of various lengths so that no seams are beside another seam break.  They have 1/2" CDX plywood (exterior) between each layer of dimensional lumber, and are glued and nailed.  They are nominally 22' long giving the entire deck dimension of 13'5/8" by 22', which maintains the ratio of Phi (mostly).  The deck will sit on top of the beams with double ends, double centers, as the deck will be built in four parts, put on the beams, bolted together, and tied with the beam to deck brackets.  The deck will also have joist hangers for the deck joist.  The beams are also tied to the concrete pylons using brackets.  Each pylon has two J-bolts that are bolted to the brackets

This took me the better part of an hour. This is the top beam bracket for the end of the beams that sit on the concrete pylons to tie in the deck joist.  It is set up for a double deck end joist.  I will post more later. Peace JD

It's augmented reality ready for work?  My take on it is that not quite.  I liked Google glass, but I see the problems.  I also see the potential, but it is only one part of the augmented reality.  In addition to vision, there needs to be other senses.  In addition the devices need to interact with applications, and with the world around us. I am thinking it will take a while, but there are some VR offerings that are getting better, but they lack the ability to interact with the world.  It will be a while, but at least things are moving, and that is something. Peace JD

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/01/teslas-model-x-a-lovely-roadtripper-with-stiff-daily-driving-competition/?amp=1 This article is a decent in-depth look at the Tesla X, the SUV from Tesla.  Like a lot of their offerings, for most people it is too soon, but given another five or ten years and they will be definitely a great choice to make. Still if you have the money and just have to be that person, then any of the Tesla offerings would be a good choice.  As of right now, their stock is the thing to watch.  I think if they continue to work on the commercial vehicle and powerplant areas, it really could propel the company forward. Release of the model 3, will help, if they can work out their issues and continue to innovate, they will at least be a good but for quite some time. Peace JD

Not even going to attempt to post an updated picture of the design, as I have to start over.  I realized I was doing the post completely wrong.  I tried to make it work, but I want to do it right, so back to the scratch pad.  I am going to try to use the newest version of Sketchup Make, the one that is on the browser, and see if that is any better.  It might be easier as I might have better access to the warehouse, so I won't have to construct all the materials myself.  This will be especially useful when it comes to the post ties, as I am using concrete pylons with 6x6 post above the grade. I thought I was making good progress, and then the whole thing just dawned on me that it was all impossible to accomplish the way I was doing it.  It is not that big of a deal, but it does set me back some, and I won't be posting any new pictures any time soon as the detail work is definitely far more detail than I like to do, so I do so in small burst. I will try to post some in the n