The Wrack Line Blog: Oregon Beach Info, along with Unique, Informative, and Often Philosophical, Articles
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.
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.
BIG UPDATE: Home Theater Made Simple". Added an alternate option on how to configure the "automatic HDMI control" between Denon AV receivers and Samsung TVs. It's titled Still having Intermittent "No Sound" issues? Go to Manual Override! The idea is to set "TV Audio Switching" to OFF. You can then simply select "TV Audio" on the Denon Remote when changing from another source to the TV.
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"
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!
5/15/2025: The Democrats Need to Change
It's probably true to say that the majority of folks in the U.S. will be really ready for a change from the present administration
in the next presidental election. In other words, most of us can't wait to put the Democrats back in.
But if the Democrats want to stay in, they need to change their ways!
So to the Democrats, I would say:
Stop it with the rules and regulations, and the bureaucratic delays!
Yes, we want to protect the planet and to observe
safety preautions, but companies and other entities need to pursue their projects in a reasonably profitable way and to be
able to get their approvals in a timely manner.
And this regulatory overload is a fairly recent development. For years - starting in the late 1970s - both
Democratic and Republican presidents attempted to reduce the burden of excessive regulations. It started
with Carter (late 1970s), with his deregulation of the airlines and other transportation companies, along with
energy and telecommunications entities. This ongoing reduction continued with Reagan, who even established the White
House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB). It continued with Clinton, with his "National Partnership for Reinventing
Government". This initiative reduced regulatory costs by $28 billion per year.
But starting in 2009, President Obama reversed this trend of reducing regulations; his total regulatory costs are
said to have been $309 billion.
Trump, in his first term, reversed many of Obama's regulations (not necessary for the better in all cases!), and also made
reforms to the regulatory process by creating a cap on the economic costs that government regulations create.
Unfortunately, the progress in the regulatory budget stopped under president Biden. Indeed he repealed the budget, and even
raised the amount that a proposed regulation could not exceed (from $100 million to $200 million). The final total of
regulatory costs during his administration is said to have been $1.7 trillion.
Are we seeing a pattern here? Trump was elected in an unexpected victory after Obama. And Trump was "elected" again
in an unexpected victory after Biden.
According to uschamber.com/economy, there were about 10,000 total pages published in the Code of Federal Regulations
in 1950. There were almost 200,000 pages in 2023.
And, regarding government regulations in general, this constant change between presidents significantly increases
regulatory cost. Businesses endure heavy costs to comply with regulations only to have the regulation repealed
during the next administration. This is sucking up capital that could have been used for innovation and progress.
Quit interfering with the consumers choices in using appliances and other equipment!
For example, I am personally dreading the purchase of my next washing machine. Already I
am forbidden to use hot water on the quick wash, and forced to accept cold water rinse. Will I be able to use
hot water at all in the next machine?
And did anybody ask drivers if they actually want all the safety provisions on cars?
One of the worst (Lane Departure Assist) actually makes it hard to turn into the next lane.
This does NOT make sense if the driver has to make a sudden swerve to avoid hitting another car. And Consumer
Reports actually described a system that will stop the car if its software decides the driver is not paying attention!
This would be a disaster on some of the 70 MPH Texas highways. Further, it is problematic with the recent adoption
of intricate touchscreens.
And please make your regulations not so burdensome that manfacturers give up!
New USDA regulations on certifying Organic Products has become significantly more difficult. This new set of rules was effective as of March 2023, with a full implementation date of March 2024. Here's an example of the new intricate rules:
Require certified operations to develop and implement improved recordkeeping and organic fraud prevention processes and procedures; require certifying agents to conduct supply chain traceability audits and to develop and implement information-sharing processes.
So what is the result of this? Since 2023 and especially thoughout 2024 and this year, we have noticed that it is increasingly difficult to get organic food. For example, there are only 2 or 3 vendors of organic potato chips, and they're almost always out of stock in stores.
And. . . stop it with the excessive warnings!
The "instruction" manual for drills and other tools is 80% (or more) warnings. Actual instructions on how to use the product are minimal. And if I buy a can of spray paint or adhesive, the can has almost NO instructions for usage.
In other words, the Democrats need to stop assuming that the entire population is a bunch of helpless or careless people that need protection. This business is yet another example of the many being penalized for the misdeeds and carelessness of the few.
Actually, what we really need is a middle ground government.
The Republications (at least with the current administration) are far too destructive of the planet. And they force their tariffs
upon the economic market and their misanthropic Police State coerce and threaten people that they judge to be "foreign".
The Democrats are too prone to give away money to everybody. And they force their rules and beliefs upon the people.
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".