Monday, October 31, 2005
Dollars for Dean
If we trusted PayPal enough to use it, I’d be tempted to do this, though Dean certainly earns it more, in terms of type and volume of content. Even with the ads he has been carrying, that we lack, and his joining Pajamas Media, which we have backed off from doing.
I’d forgotten how a move can nickel and dime you, but that’s nothing. The camera is dying. It’s so close, one way or another we will be using a different one by Christmas. It’s increasingly hard to get good pictures, which has been part of the reduction lately. On top of it not wanting to turn on or off when so directed, and eating batteries or not accurately detecting when they hold an adequate charge. Now it’s doing more or less the equivalent of what a computer does if either the CMOS battery dies, or the CMOS itself is on its way out. We’ve started downloading the pictures in very small batches, lest we lose many when it gives up for good. What was a want has become a need.
That follows the need for other things like washer and dryer replacements. Sigh…
Take The Alito Poll
Hugh Hewitt, noted Miers supporter, has taken over the superb polling aparatus originated by the hiatusing Patrick Ruffini, and is using it to measure support for the Alito SCOTUS nomination.
Go take the Alito poll. If you go via this link, we should show as the referring blog in the blog-specific breakdown. That didn’t work when I tried it for one of Patrick’s polls, but what the heck.
Draft Rot
It’s become clear that our big bedroom closet is almost as good as open to the outside world. I still need to do a full examination of the place, detecting drafts and all, but I noticed today there seems to be rot in the wall in at least one spot adjacent to the window frame. In that spot, cool air comes out from behind the wallpaper’s edge by the frame.
It could be that they need to do some significant work on the exterior walls in at least that part of the front of the house. Doh.
Alito
I don’t know that I’m negative, so much as skeptical. I’ll wait a bit before I fall over myself in glee. We’ve got no real reason to believe that we’re getting what we think we’re getting here until we have more information. After all, Roberts looked like at least a nominal conservative until Schumer asked him about the Commerce Clause. At least we have some evidence that Alito won’t read that as broadly as Roberts apparently does. But the cases that everybody’s talking about this morning as proof that Alito is one brand of judge or another aren’t the whole story, and I’ll hold back from further commentary until we get a fuller picture of where this guy is coming from.
(Or until I do, anyway. It takes me a while to sort through the opinions about the opinions. Half the problem is figuring out what any given person means by “conservative,” but that’s something of a side issue, even if half the entertainment value of the Miers nomination was discovering just how many people think it means “will vote the way we want her to.” Pardon me if I’m also skeptical of a candidate getting effusive praise from those corners. Of course, to me “conservative” in this context tends to mean “has actually read the damned Constitution and appears to have understood the thing” so I’m probably never the right person to ask about judicial appointments. Heh.)
In The Mail
Well, actually it was in the mail several days ago. I just hadn’t gotten around to mentioning it yet. Courtesy of Rob May, I have a copy of More Space: Nine Antidotes To Complacency In Business.
Sadly, I am still reading book 11 of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, Knife of Dreams. The addiction comes first, and it appears to be the best since at least book 6. About time. It’s only going slow because I read mainly in bed, and a hardcover is tough to read that way, so I tend to put it down and go to sleep when my hand all too quickly gets sore. That and having been busy/distracted enough not to sit and pointedly read on through for hours. Last night I actually sat in the living room and read an entire chapter, but then Deb started talking about judges and her negative impression of Alito, and I got strangely sleepy. Heh. But I digress.
I thought the book looked fascinating, at a first glance, and impressively professional for what could be labeled a blogger vanity project of sorts (well, except things like this are Todd’s business). But it’s completely serious, and not your ordinary business book. Deb enjoyed the part of it she read, and is interested in reading more, despite it not being her usual thing to read business books. Obviously I can review it for real once I have, you know, read it. I just thought I ought to make people aware of it more timely to its official release.
How can you not appreciate a business book in which the first chapter, which happens to be Rob’s, starts with the sentence:
“I only need to drink five more beers.”
You should visit the More Space site, which has more info about the book and the process of creating it, and allows you to read online or download chapters from it at no cost.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Speaking of Good Questions…
Dean asks who your choice is of most fascinating person of the 2oth century.
He puts forth Tesla. Definitely a selection I can get behind. How about you? Lenin? Hitler? Stalin? Churchill? Einstein? Spears? Rand?
The comments are fascinating and worth a thorough read. However, I would take exception with the idea that we need a Lincoln in the 21st Century. At least not if you include any of the bad with the presumed good.
What’s In Your First aid Kit?
As I was pulling off the bandage on my right big toe, in the shower where I stepped before remembering it, I was thinking about the need to update and improve my first aid kit. Thus a feedback/discussion post was inspired. Comment away please.
Years ago, I bought a premade Johnson & Johnson “Camping First Aid Kit.” At the time, I was going camping for 11 days, driving to a family reunion in PEI, then driving around Nova Scotia. One grandfather was born in Northam, PEI and the other in Kentville, NS.
The kit remains, less some expired stuff I’ve tossed. It includes an instant cold pack, light stick, latex gloves, tweezers, scissors, adhesive tape, antiseptic wipes, burn cream, gauze roll, large and regular Band-Aids, and gauze pads. It also had small packs of Tylenol and Immodium, and possibly other stuff I am forgetting. I’ve added more Band-Aids, a roll of adhesive tape, and my tin of Rawleigh Antiseptic Salve. That more as a convenient place to keep the stuff together and easily findable than anything, since it’s become a household first aid kit.
I’ve been contemplating what one would add to it to improve it, so the little “oops” things around the house, especially with kids, are not only covered, but also the appropriate items are together. Or more generally, in a “kit” or not, what one would be sure to have in the house for first aid.
What do you think? What items are must haves for home first aid?
How about for a portable first aid kit that would go in a car, or indeed, camping?
Clever Use of Pictures
I meant to point this out way back when it happened. Here’s a great use of a couple of Sadie’s pictures by permission. The respective pictures show when you hover over the “Enter” and “Go Somewhere Else” links. We thought it was a cool idea.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Logic most non-chronological: Narnia edition
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe comes first. This is not and has never been up for debate in my corner of the universe. Here’s a great article that outlines why I’m right and the publisher--and everybody else who disagrees--is wrong.
A Clue In The Leak Case
Today somebody is cooking with onion in another apartment; presumably downstairs. It smells like onion being sauteed down for addition to another dish, but getting a bit overdone. My father would enjoy it.
This is a first. We had the cigarette smoke problem, which has become far less pronounced for whatever reason - possibly only the fact that Smoker Dude has not been home much, but had yet to notice cooking smells.
This plus past experience on Deb’s part plus substantial reading we’ve done recently on how to seal an apartment well, and the possible legalities of airflow between apartments (it can be a fire issue; never thought of that before) have led to a strong possibility that part of the problem may be the vent above the stove. If they tie in together, you can get stuff from the other apartment.
Apparently they make “when not in use” covers, hopefully for sale at places like Home Dopes and Lowes, that might help. They’re also an energy conservation thing, which is why so much info on how to seal an apartment tight exists.
So there we have it; another clue in our own personal leak case. Of course, the bigger culprit is turning out to be the leaky master bedroom, where the temperature behaves as if there is an open window, but everything looks sealed as can be. Especially in the big closet, which is the worst place. A cold breeze flows under the closet door, into the bedroom, yet in the closet there is no opening to account for it. The investigation continues…
Spamming the Ecosystem
I was looking at the lowest ranked area of the blogosphere Ecosystem and was amazed to see there are over 41,000 blogs now listed. Last I looked, it was somewhere just north of 12,000. Wow!
Then I looked more closely. It seems most of them are spam. Speaking of things to say “doh” about. Doh! It also seems an awful lot of them are URLs for feeds, not for blogs as such. What’s up with that?
So either someone has way too much time on their hands or employs overly cheap labor, or it’s as easy to add blogs in automated fashion to the Ecosystem as it is to create new BlogSpot blogs. Not good. I wonder where all this is leading us.
Doh!
It’s snowing here!
Okay, so it’s a mere flurry, flitting back and forth with rain, but still. Coldest day so far, and yet 70° expected Monday.
And in things we miss about the old place, digital thermostats rock. Here we have a particularly old, hard to read one with the traditional slider. Since I turned it on a few days ago (or up, anyway, from being down all the way to maybe 55° or wherever the bottom is), it’s been at what appears as if it might be about 65°, but could be a couple degrees off either way.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Because this is just dying to be a full-fledged meme…
American Snapshot
According to the book, a majority of Americans:
• Eats peanut butter at least once a week
•Prefers smooth peanut butter over chunky• Can name all Three Stooges
• Lives within a 20-minute drive of a Wal-Mart
• Eats at McDonald’s at least once a year
• Takes a shower for approximately 10.4 minutes a day
• Never sings in the shower
• Lives in a house, not an apartment or condominium• Has fired a gun
• Has a home valued between $100,000 and $300,000
• Is between 5 feet and 6 feet tall
• Weighs 135 to 205 pounds
• Is between the ages of 18 and 53
• Believes gambling is an acceptable entertainment option
• Grew up within 50 miles of current home
Damn. That’s pretty average.
Of course, the weight thing will be right out the window in a couple of weeks at the rate this kid is growing, but let’s not think about that right now…
Sadie’s A Real Handful Sometimes
Thursday, October 27, 2005
How about this guy?
Now that we’ve somehow miraculously avoided a furthering of the Harriet Miers debacle, it’s time to think about another candidate.
Seems like there’s a judge loose in Virginia who would be perfect for the job. He’s obviously read the Constitution, and he’s got cojones of steel…
Rest In Peace Heather Bare
I unfortunately wasn’t able to post about this sad news yesterday when Laughing Wolf updated me by e-mail.
One of the several - meaning rather few, in the wider scheme of things - bloggers I have met is person was Heather Bare, known to the world as Momma Bear. Despite her living mere towns away (probably a mere 10 minutes, since we moved), we met at the first New England Blogger Mini Bash in New Hampshire in 2004. I gather this was not long before she turned up sick. I treasure having had that chance to meet her, and her late husband, despite not having taken her up on a standing offer to have me visit and shoot with her, made when I was a new blogger in 2003.
While long expectation has softened the blow, I remain saddened by the news of her passing.
There are tributes by The Gray Monk, Laughing Wolf, and Kathy Kinsley. Laughing Wolf has added links to numerous other blog tributes.
Happy Birthday
To blogger Donnie of Cadillac Tight and previous blogs.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
When I Move…
I have moved, and mail arriving for me at the prior address is null. Dead letter. Previous occupant. Toss or return.
It doesn’t matter if the place is currently occupied by someone who knows me. It is no different than if the previous occupant were a stranger.
That is all.
And The Number One Reason…
Why I need to get a desk and set Deb’s computer back up is so she can go back to helping me with timekeeping. It saves me a surprising amount of aggravation to be able to e-mail time to a dedicated account, have her enter it daily, be able to check where I stand on any given day, and be able to generate bills quickly as soon as the month ends.
Ugh.
Wal-Mart Surprises Us
We eat a fair amount of frozen vegetables, and I usually buy store brands. Recently we’ve found that Wal-Mart has superior store brand veggies. At least in the form of peas and lima beans, both of which were among the best examples of the genre I have ever had.
How unexpected. And they’re inexpensive.
We’ve also found that Hannaford’s aren’t great; possibly not even as good as Shaw’s brand. The generics at Roche Brothers are better than either, but no match for Wal-Mart.
Conceptual Leaps
Sadie has identified that hair on illustrations of Dr. Seuss characters corresponds to hair on an actual person such as herself.
Happy Birthday
To celebrity blogger Pat Sajak.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Carnival of the Capitalists
It may take a while, but I have started work on a blog-based replacement for the longtime Carnival of the Capitalists hosts and info page, which will also incorporate the role of the previous hosts page, and be more besides.
I am open to suggestions. This is a good time, since so far it is nothing more than a default page and a header graphic.
Tracing Bush Derangement
I pointed out to Deb the other day something I’d long been thinking, and she said I should be sure to post it because she’d never seen it anywhere else and it made an intriguing amount of sense.
Bush has lost his mojo. He’s befuddled. He’s allowed fringe elements to dominate, resulting in downright crazy behavior and putting off the more moderate, centrist, and libertarian elements that represented the bulk of his and the Republican party’s support.
What changed?
Condi.
He sent his closest advisor off to be secretary of state, changing her sphere of influence and role in the administration. She was not only national security advisor, but also by his side, helping to keep him from crazy moves more generally.
The nonsense started when she changed jobs.
Of course, by the same token you could credit the departure of Powell, and perhaps that was a stabilizing factor too, but Condi was the one close to Bush.
Just a thought.
Happy Birthday
To blogger Denny Wilson, the Grouchy Old Cripple, who notes that this is also St. Crispin’s Day.
Happy Birthday
To my niece, Michelle, who turns 13 today.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Apartment Adventures
The landlord had his son lined up to install the new dishwasher Saturday morning at 9:00. We had plans in Burlington at 2:00 in the afternoon.
Just after 9:30, the landlord himself showed up. His son was at some messy emergency. He did most of the installation, but about the time he was puzzling out the hardest part, both his son and his wife showed up.
The dishwasher is purty; nice and modern compared to the ancient one that was removed. Which apparently did not have a hole inside causing the leak. The hole is allegedly an inflow that’s supposed to be there, based on a discussion Deb heard them having. The landlord grumbled in response that it leaked either way and still needed to be replaced.
While they were working on it, I showed the landlord’s wife the spot of wallpaper she’d forgotten in the bathroom, to her chagrin. Her husband ribbed her “and you do this for a living?” Heh.
I also asked her about the smoking thing, and while she was surprised it was coming up, she was not sure what could be done about it and the place is not officially non-smoking. My hope is that it starts the wheels turning for them to think about what might leak and to mention it to those people and see if they’ll do more stepping outside. Which I doubt, based on my knee jerk avaluation of the personality of the guy who is probably the lone smoker. We also need to see what happens when we seal things up more fully for winter. My experience in Quincy was that the smoke all but stopped coming in when all the storm windows were down, because they were better sealed and my place became a chimney. Trouble is, a couple of the windows don’t have those here.
As time passes, I’ll try to identify exactly where the leaks are. Ditto for the cold air in the master bedroom, which is at least 10 degrees below the rest of the house at all times, and where we already have almost all the blankets we own in use before winter arrives. What I need is a good method for detecting air flow; making small drafts visible. Any ideas?
I also discussed the shower issue and got enthusiastic permission to swap the shower head, which should help a lot with splatter. There’s a grooved seam around the enclosure, which appears to be poorly caulked, is moldy - she expressed surprise the person who prepared the apartment hadn’t cleaned it - and channels water out of the enclosure where it can get to the floor. I figure I’ll either caulk it or use something to block the ends.
Anyway, they got it all installed and left it doing a first run empty, to test and clean it out.
As they were loading stuff in the van, we had a Niagra in Middleboro experience. Deb started grabbing towels while I turned it off and ran down the stairs to tell them it had flooded.
Luckily there were several large bath towels waiting to be washed, so we didn’t have to soil clean ones. It took that many, and some mopping.
Significant time later, they left, bad valve in hand, just barely in time for us to make the thing in Burlington. A brand new Hotpoint dishwasher and it had a bad valve, so it didn’t know when to shut off. Doh! Earliest they could get a replacement was Monday, so they’ll be able to come finish it today or after.
That was an adventure. Poor landlord.
It’s a great diswasher! I can’t wait to be able to use it, even though I don’t mind hand washing.
Happy Birthday
To blogger Jay Tea, by special request! I actually had his birthday wrong by over a month, so I’m please to have a timely correction. What a great day for blogger birthdays.
Happy Birthday
To blogger Lionel Mandrake.
Happy Birthday
To blogger and all around great guy Jeff Soyer. He claims to be 51, but you’d never know it.
