Daddy, do we have a yard stick?
-- Jr

It came to my realization that this ubiquitous instrument of metrology doesn't exist in our house, and likely doesn't in most houses of people around here. When I was a kid, growing up in the Midwest though, it seemed like everyone had one.

In reflecting on why we don't have one, I came up with a few plausible reasons for the lack of it:

1. We haven't ever gone to the county fair to get a bunch of swag like that. In Indiana, it seemed like the county fairs I visited (Newton, Jasper, and White) all had the pole barn or tent of local businesses trying to drum up more revenue by offering such things for free to whoever wandered by.
2. They're not as common among our generation. This is fodder for another post later on, but whether you look at Gen X or Millenials, it's probably fair to say that neither really has one in their possession. Possibly due to the trauma of being swatted with one as a reprimand in their youth, it's a passive protest now.
3. That's just a Midwest or rural area thing. Here in the greater Houston area, it's very city and those sort of things are just not common.
4. We have tape measures now! Sure, they're not rigid and of a constant 3 foot length, but they're compact and handy. I think I have at least one in my desk right now, and probably no fewer than 5 in the garage.

It's a funny thing, but a thought-provoking observation to share.

One of the many reasons I built GrumpLog is because I got so tired of having to walk on eggshells with what I posted here or on Facebook.

I don't understand why the world can be so pro-first-amendment and yet ridicule and judge someone for the open expression of things that frustrate them. In my case, it was often my health, my political views, or frustrations about work. It all came to a head when a friend approached me and asked if I was doing okay. They said that their spouse saw something I shared on Facebook and was concerned that I might be suicidal or homicidal as a result.

All I wanted was a place that I could vent and not have someone try to fix it. That's why GrumpLog exists today. I'm not allowed to post in my own sites, on social media, or talk to others about the things that frustrate me or make me angry because they'll either tell me I am whining too much or they'll try to fix it. I don't want either. If I'm sharing my frustrations with you, I want either a shrug or a nod. That's it.

I do want to mention that I am not [sui|homi]cidal. While I do often struggle with depression (caused by the mountain of medical issues I deal with), it's not so severe as to make me take action with it. The next part was redacted because of the frustration that lead to the bit above.

I still have to get the responsive/mobile layouts done, but for now this will suffice.

Use the comments to let me know how you like it!

I decided it was tim(e) to modernize the site a bit. I'm working on another layout that doesn't use tables for things, but instead uses Twitter Bootstrap's 12 column grid layout.

I haven't started with making it mobile friendly yet, but I will after I get the basic layout done. As I mentioned here, I am making it not-white-on-black. For me, this is a bit harder on my eyes, but I think for most others it will be a welcome change.

Stay tuned and maybe you'll get to see the results here!

In the past years, I've developed a couple of things that I want to make known as sites that y'all might find usefulness or entertainment in.

First, let me mention GrumpLog. This is the key site that I think would be useful for people, as it allows you to either publicly or privately get your frustrations out in a place where it's encouraged and doesn't lead to arguing or judgement from others.

On GrumpLog, you can post your frustration and flag it as public or private. If it's private, only you will be able to see it. I've established a commitment that I will not view your private Grumps, and I will hold to that commitment. If you want an extra layer of security though, you can set an encryption phrase in your profile, and all your private Grumps will be encrypted in such a way that makes it even harder for me to view. But the same commitment holds up here: I will not exercise any of the tools or technologies I have to dig into your private content.

If you post a public Grump, or if you share a private share link to your private Grump, others can see the content and can (if registered) cast an Apathy vote, or they can cast an Empathy vote.

• Apathy (noun): lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern.
• Empathy (noun): the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

All in all, GrumpLog is a great place to get your frustrations out any time you need to.

The other is a newer thing, DazeMaker. Simply put, DazeMaker is a platform of worker nodes that take a user submitted phrase (77 characters or less) and uses neural networks to "imagine" a picture that would relate to what was submitted.

It often results in some really odd things, but it also can provide some very thought provoking imagery for your given phrases.

The generated images, or Dazes, are presented in a thumbnail view, and can be enlarged for full 512x512 views of the things. In either case, users can vote a thumbs up or thumbs down on them and share them with others.

DazeMaker also has a Discord Community where a variety of users gather to talk about the images, gaming, investing, or whatever else happens to be going on.

I encourage you to check out both of these sites and consider participating in them. One is a therapeutic outlet, while the other is just a bit of fun and oddity.