The Wrack Line Blog: Oregon Beach Info, along with Unique, Informative, and Often Philosophical, Articles
Welcome to the "Wracklineblog"!
In a world where you can't read much of anything without a subscription, and/or you must try to read while
pestered by increasingly intrusive and insistent advertizing, the Wracklineblog remains freely given
for your enjoyment, education, mental and physical health, and just good cheer.
Here you will find what I consider to be the most comprehensive
articles on many Home Improvement/Maintenance projects. Check out the "Building Fences" article for an example. I also
have articles on nutrition and good foods, as well as articles on eliminating muscle pain. There's some humor, too - check out
"The Standard Superhero Plot".
Want a list of the most moving music on the planet? Check out "Jimmie's top 500 Ambients"
(actually over 900 titles!) Finally, you will also find thoughtful essays and journal musings, including a "Going Deeper"
essay at the bottom of some of the D.I.Y. articles. You may even find some of these to be healing.
Further information, including the "About", "Contact", and "AD/Cookie policy" can be
found below, underneath our weekly Scenic Image.
So, a BIG difference from most sites: NO ads, NO subscriptions,
and NO cookies!
However I might note that, as an "Amazon Associate" I earn a small amount from qualifying purchases - also explained below.
Monthly Essay, Music, and Scenic Picture Below
What's NEW in the Wrackline blog?
NEW: Renewing your passport Online This is an article describing the process of renewing your passport online. It also has information on renewing your passport by mail, or in person.
Jimmie's Top 500 Ambients Added 104 new tracks! The total is now 1033 Ambients. Jimmie's Top 500 Ambients now offers names and links to music available on Bandcamp, where you can listen to the entire selection before purchase, not just 30 seconds.
Other than these recent updates, please forgive me for the recent dearth of new articles. I haved been busy publishing! My music is now available on Bandcamp! There are 9 releases available currently. I think you will find them to be quite relaxing. I offer one of them at the bottom of the picture below.
Here's the link: Jimmie's Ambients"
BIG UPDATE: Home Theater Made Simple". Added a comprehensive section on HDMI Settings. How to get the TV and the AV Receiver to work together, to get full use of "eARC" cability, and avoid the "No Sound from AV Receiver" and other headaches.
UPDATE: "Deciphering Light Bulbs": Added information on the type of LED bulb that can withstand being put into recessed light fixtures, along with "extenders" that help with heat dissipation. It's at the bottom of the article.
NEW: Jimmie's Guide to (Easily) Setting Up a New iPhone/iPad This is an article describing some VERY IMPORTANT things that should be done before starting a Setup and Transfer of Data from an existing device to a new one.
NEW: The Electoral College This is an article written on the day after the 2024 election, and is intended to show why the Electoral College elects our President based in large part on the vote of just seven states.
NEW: Installing Wall LIghts This is an extensive article detailing how you can add some wall sconces/lights. It shows how to add an additional light switch to an existing light switch box, among many other things.
COMPLETE RE-WRITE: The Common Cold I offer a comprehensive description, including the "little" details, on handling a cold and particularly, The Cough.
UPDATED: Coal Tar Compounding Added a completely new and much simpler method of compounding your own coal tar compound.
RECENT: Jimmie's Guide to Creating a Rock Border Elevated Garden Bed. Here I show how to create your own elevated garden. You can do this when you have really lousy dirt or want to grow some plants which require rich, friable soil (and almost all plants do).
RECENT: Jimmie's Guide to HVAC Systems I offer some information on the relative cost of replacing your whole HVAC system, with emphasis on Heat Pumps and their (significant) advantages. Included is a description, with some excellent graphics, on how heat pumps and air conditioners actually work.
Check Out "Growing Blueberries". Added new information on optimizing harvesting, and how to grow bigger blueberries.
Check Out "Growing Hebe Plants". Added 3 new varietals, along with picture updates showing hebes after 4 years of growth.
Check Out "Change Your Assumptions". Added a third example of how our assumptions can really interfere with our success in finding solutions.
Check Out "How to Build a Fence". Added some information on how to keep your new fence from turning grey after a few months.
Check Out "Assorted Useful Items". Added Light Bulb Socket Extenders. These are about 2 inches long, and will lower the bulb in ceiling "can" fixtures. This greatly extends the life of bulbs by reducing their ambient heat, and gives more light to your rooms.
Check Out "Jimmie's iPhone Battery Tips". This is a comprehensive article on optimizing the iPhone battery life (and simultaneously reducing Cellular Data and significantly enhancing Privacy).
Check Out "Jimmie's iPhone Camera Tips". I have rewritten my previous article "iPhone Camera Tips" to include the remarkable camera in the iPhone 15. Example: You can use "Live Photo" to create a Long Exposure effect. Another example: You can edit camera settings just like you would do on a pro SLR camera. And one more: You can (with the iPhone 15) "Digital" zoom to 10x, and the results are almost identical to "Optical Zoom"!!
RECENT: Schizophrenia is not a disease. For many years, I have wanted to write this very personal essay. It represents a unique and different take on schizophrenia, depresssion, and other "mental" issues, based on a lifetime of personal observations and journal entries. You won't find standard medical definitions here!
Also, Check Out a related article: "Medical Science and Worry". Here I discuss Health and Spiritual trust vs Medical Science and measurement (and worry). It's under "Health and Nutrition".
Check Out Creating Graphics with Powerpoint. Want to create your own graphics for a class book, a technical article, or for your blog? You can create virtually everything you might need with Microsoft Powerpoint.
Check Out Amazon is Actually Indispensible Some (perhaps well-meaning) regulators want to break Amazon. I would assert that this would actually hurt many consumers, particularly those who live in rural areas. An article on this is under the link "Essays".
Check Out the four articles on Vegetarian nutrition and breakfast/lunch "recipes", for more readable layout, and some extra information. They're under "Health and Nutrition"
Check Out "An Assortment of Useful Items". Over the years I have discovered many useful items (or useful amounts for ordinary items).
Bangages in packages of 100 of the same size
Mechanical pencils (pkg of 12), pencil leads (pkg of 144, "2B" rather than "HB")
Pencil erasers that you can cut to size
And many more!
Check out "Jimmie's Top 500 Ambients". This is a list of some of the finest QUIET music on the planet.
Check out "Our 'Negative Pension' " This is an article on the Subscription Pandemic. It was written in 2018, and by 2023, just about every entity wants a subscription. Subscriptions have become so common that we now face a substantial and recurring payout of cash - a reverse pension.
Check out "Using a D.I.Y. site to Create a Will". Been putting off creating your Last Will? Here is an article describing my experience using a well-known D.I.Y. provider.
Check out "Replacing NOISY bathroom fans". Replace your noisy "builder grade" bathroom exhaust fan with a QUIET one
Check out "How to Rebuild Toilets". Shows how to completely renew most toilets (fill and flush valves, tank-to-bowl seals), for about $40 instead of $200-$300
Check out "Install Full Length Drawer Slides". Replace those irritating drawer slides that only come out 2/3 of the way.
Check out "Transforming the 'Builder White' Door". Tired of the standard issue "4 Panel Composite Door" - in Builder White? Try staining it. I show how in this article
Check out "Piping Terms Demystified". Do you find it unusually hard to find the right faucet or toilet flexible line? That's because acronyms like "IPS", "MIP", and "MPT" all mean the same thing!
Check out "Growing Hebe Plants". This article shows many varieties of Hebe Plants, which grow well on the West Coast.
Check out "Quick Luches from Scratch". Among other things, it has Instant Pot times for beans, rices, lentils, and others.
Check out "Vertigo Notes". It shows how to handle vertigo and to to even turn it into a positive condition: improved balance.
Check out Our two articles on Music Theory. The will provide a good introduction to the origin of musical scales, "major" and "minor" triads, and chords.
Check out "The Standard Superhero Plot"! It's a spoof on Superhero movies, since every superhero movie has essentially the SAME plot! Look in "Essays".
A NOTE: A longstanding part of this blog was "Entries from Jimmie's Journal." This featured quotes from my journals, which span from 1975 to the present. I have decided to remove this link. Why? Because I am planning to write a book containing these quotes! Please accept my apologies for removing this, but I do hope you will appreciate the book when I finish it. My plan is to self-publish on Amazon!
7/13/2024: On Depth-of-Feeling
While working on a project just before lunch, I found myself imagineing about conveying my life's thoughts about Depth of Feeling.
Some background: In college I went through an extended experience of low, sometimes nonexistent, depth-of-feeling,
which lasted many years. This absence of emotional strength prevented any kind of studying or other intellectual work, so I dropped
out of college in my junior year and did mainly physical work. This is what you do when you can't study.
This physical activity (along with release of the Catholic Strictness business) did confer enough energy to allow me to go back and
obtain a degree in Psychology. I probably had a "C" average prior to starting the Psychology courses, but I aced every one of the
Psych courses.
Then I met someone who eventually gave my life back, and I married, got an Associates Degree in Electronics (aced those 2 years too),
and held various jobs. While those jobs were somewhat self-fulfilling, I found myself dealing with times of this same low
depth-of-feeling. I kept myself alive during these periods by spending time in the wild places, usually involving creeks, rivers, or lakes.
One spends time like money – yielding less time for really creative activity.
And yet without these times, I probably would not have not been alive enough to keep up the jobs and continue to support my
family.
How many countless people deprive themselves from this "compulsive" or sensuous activity and thereby keep themselves
prisoners of serious problems. . .
There are many "normal" ways that we conduct this business of keeping depth-of-feeling. We listen to melancholy and moving
music, enhanced at times with some wine or beer. Our movies go to great lengths to convey depth-of-feeling. There are the
thrillers and action movies. There are the dreamy fantasies with beautiful music. And some favorite methods that the
screenwriters use to try to promote sadness and pathos is to have one or both parents die or already be dead. Or they have their
characters develop a terminal disease, possibly after a euphoric period of happiness or success.
Note that these movies are conveying the wrong idea about life: We don't have to endure disease or failure in the midst of
an otherwise delightful life!
So, we have always had a fascination with the tragic in our plays, books, and movies.
And then there is the biggest, most powerful pursuit of melancholy and sadness-induced depth-of-feeling. This one has
accompanied all of us throughout all history. Indeed, we spend trillions of dollars on this one.
It's called war.
Delightful cloud formation
Here's my "Ambient 10" synth work. You can get it on Bandcamp (link is at top of page).
Ambient 10
Copyright © 2025 J.A.
Wrackline "about":
The Wracklineblog started started with the "Hwy 101 Beaches" links. These lead to individual pages covering more than 70 beaches from Astoria, Oregon down to Brookings, Oregon. Each page has beach/park information, usually a picture of the entrance sign, and one or more scenic pictures taken by the author.
Here's an illustrated sample
Over the years, the Wracklineblog has expanded!
Check out all the red links on the right side, including:
"Jimmie's Top 500 Ambients", an exhaustive list of the most moving ambient music.
Photography explained and simplified (for SLR cameras and iPhones).
Very comprehensive articles on Home Improvement, each having unusual and practical tips. Build your own fence, Reface your cabinets, Transform those Builder White doors by staining. Put together a boss Home Theater.
How to successfully grow berries and ornamental shrubs.
A substantial health/nutrition section. Learn how to stay young! Learn how to eliminate muscle pain!
And, you will find a "Going Deeper" section at the end of some of the D.I.Y. articles, offering up ome tidbits and ruminations on self-achievements, self-acceptance and other themes.
"HTML coding" references and a cool HTML color tool.
NOTE: The Wracklineblog may not be exactly "mobile-friendly" (except for the Oregon Beach information!) The term "mobile-friendly" simply means the web designer has excluded content and/or functionality in order to get the site to look good on a tiny screen! The articles here present a great deal of information, and are accompanied with numerous graphics and/or photographs. I highly recommend a tablet, laptop, or desktop in order to get the best experience for this site.
Wrackline "Contact":
(I figured that there should be at least some facility to contact me!) Please do note that I keep myself busy during
my retirement years, and may not be able to reply to all comments, however. Thank you for your interest in The
Wracklineblog.
I'm Jim Adams (graduate from University of Dallas in 1973). I can be reached at wracklineblog(at)gmail.com
Wrackline "AD Policy":
NO ads! NOTHING that moves! Period.
And NO Cookies, either.
However some of the sections have links that will allow you to purchase books and/or other items. For example,
the "Deciphering Light Bulbs" article has a link to purchase a 6 pack of "Cool White" LED lights - hard to find in stores.
And the "New Home Wishlist" article has a link to buy a special Night Light to use for stair lighting. So, if you have an interest
for any of these items, purchasing them by way of these links will provide a little extra income for the author, who is retired.
NOTE: Clicking on these Amazon links takes you to the same location that you would get if you searched for
the item and clicked on it yourself. The security level is the same.
Amazon has an "Associates" package, in which Amazon itself pays a small percentage to the referring web site,
for qualifying purchases. All the payment information is handled entirely by Amazon, completely isolated from any Amazon
"Associate".