tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91899992024-03-07T01:59:19.174-07:00this-n-thatA place for random gripes and observations.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-36588968596337840272022-06-30T22:22:00.000-06:002022-06-30T22:24:20.119-06:00Salutations, how are you blog?<div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.3pt;font-family:Verdana'>Blog<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.3pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.3pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.3pt;font-family:Verdana'><a href="https://bit.ly/3OvIi4B">https://www.google.com/search?q=scatron.send@blogger.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.3pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.3pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.3pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.3pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.3pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.3pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div>zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-40520605744116326262007-11-28T09:38:00.000-07:002007-11-28T15:02:38.687-07:00Black FridayWell, I did something I never thought I would - set an alarm for 4:30 am on the Friday after Thanksgiving so I could go to a 5 am sale on Black Friday.<br /><br />Circuit City had a Sharp 19-inch LCD HDTV on sale for $250 - normal price is $429.99. I've been wanting a new TV for our bedroom for a year or more. The current one was 19-inch also, but much larger then an LCD, and the video RCA input was dicey. I'd have to jiggle it every time I popped a tape in the VCR to get any image. Also, we use rabbit ears, and the reception of the channel we watch the most was terrible - snowy would describe it best. I knew the over-the-air HD signals would be a nice change, and the analog channels are disappearing altogether in January 2009.<br /><br />I'd been looking at prices on Amazon.com and the local Costco. Similar-sized TVs were in the $350-400 range, so the sale price was very attractive.<br /><br />So I got up and got to the store at 5 am - only to see the line was around the block. I figured 19-inch TVs weren't going to be the big draw, and I had a list of other places to hit so I went to Old Navy to get sweater for Girl 1. 30 minutes later the Circuit City line is only around the corner of the building, so I get in line. 25 minutes later, I'm in.<br /><br />First, let me drop some advice - scope out the check-out lines <span style="font-weight: bold;">before </span>choosing one. Find one that leads to the most checkers. For example, the line that leads to three registers instead of one. It will probably move three times as fast as the line with one checker. Don't listen to any employee if they suggest you shift to another line. They don't care how long you wait - even if it's 2.5 hours. Or more.<br /><br />Can you see where this is going?<br /><br />By the time I was done (about 8:45 am), I had the TV - there were plenty available - three Cruzer 2MB USB drives (for $8) and a camera case for $5.<br /><br />I was worth it, I guess - saving at least $100 for 175 minutes of my time in line. Plus, the HD reception is something to behold. The extra channels are nice too. There's a weather-only channel that's great if you miss the forecast on the news.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-41026471126427574792007-07-30T11:20:00.000-06:002007-07-30T14:05:24.151-06:00The most boring roadWe've done some considerable driving this year - to Southern California, Wisconsin and Western Oregon. We've driven across the full width of the following states: Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Minnesota (via I-90), South Dakota, Oregon & Nevada. By far, the drive along I-80 across Nevada is the worst. <br /><br />It didn't help that there were multiple fires in the area, leaving the sky a dull brown and reducing any mountains in the area to ghostly outlines. Rivers or creeks along the way were dry, the scrub brush was either a dull gray or burned from previous fires. The whole 410 miles was other-worldly, and not in the cool-it's-an-alien-world way, but more like a this-is-where-aliens-send-exiles kind of vibe.<br /><br />We passed the time by watching an empty soda can vibrate around in the cup holder. I even took video of it.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-7012401763041547162007-05-29T14:16:00.000-06:002007-05-29T16:03:19.424-06:00How sweet is it?I love <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_tea">Sweet Tea</a>. We used to see it a lot when we lived in Missouri - Catfish Annie's in Lee's Summit, for example - but haven't seen much of it it Utah. <br /><br />Then we got a Chick-fil-A nearby and discovered they have Sweet Tea on the menu. They serve it like iced tea should - not pre-chilled, but poured into a cup full of ice. Now, <a href="http://www.arizonabev.com/csr/prodtypeitem.asp?item=1611&cat=1">Arizona Ice Tea</a> has their own sweet tea - the 23.5 oz cans are 99 cents at the nearby Harmon's.<br /><br />I was curious about how much sugar this stuff has, and was sort of amazed to find out it has about 25% less sugar then Mountain Dew. The Arizona Sweet Tea has 23g of sugar and 80 calories per 8 oz. A Dew has 31 g of sugar and 113 calories.<br /><br />I've tried to make it on my own using my Mr. Coffee ice tea brewer with mixed results. The brewer works like a drip coffee machine, with tea bags used in the filter instead of coffee, and it drips into a pitcher full of ice.<br /><br />I should be able to figure out how much sugar to add to the filter with the tea bags. Referring to the Arizona label, there's 23 grams of sugar per 8 oz of tea. If my pitcher holds 1.5 quarts, I should use about 5 ounces of sugar - about 13.5 tablespoons, or just over 3/4 cup. That seems like a lot, but I'll give it a try.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-32026707205871438542007-05-25T15:04:00.000-06:002007-05-25T15:14:33.805-06:00Recent Gas PricesHere's the recent price movement at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costco">Costco</a> near my home in Sandy, Utah:<br /><br />(price per gallon, all for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating#Regional_variations">85 octane</a> - we're at 4500 feet here)<br /><br />Feb 14: $1.999<br />Feb 28: $2.069<br />Mar 19: $2.309<br />Mar 27: $2.399<br />Apr 09: $2.539<br />Apr 11: $2.549<br />Apr 20: $2.639<br />Apr 25: $2.739<br />May 10: $3.049<br />May 23: $3.129<br /><br />That's a $1.13 increase in 98 days, or 56%.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-29324271058525278392007-05-25T12:48:00.000-06:002007-05-25T14:14:59.335-06:00Fantasy Baseball 2007I'm a fantasy sports nerd. I started in the early 80s with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strat-O-Matic">Strat-O-Matic</a> basketball game we had. I had cracked the code to make new player cards using current stats, but I also made my own 8-team league using a random-player generator I developed and played a 56-game season.<br /><br />From there I started participating in a turn-a-week basketball league run by L&L Activities in Terre Haute, Indiana. I'd write down my lineups and mail them in with a weekly fee dependent on whether I made any roster moves or not. I even won the overall (across all basketball leagues) championship one year with the mighty Maulers.<br /><br />With the spread of the Internet, all the work and expense for players has gone away. No longer do I need to sit and run through the free agent listings with my calculator to see if anyone is worth picking up - Yahoo! ranks them for me in their free fantasy leagues. It even keeps track of my results over the years (you have to log into Yahoo to view, however - go to the <a href="http://profiles.sports.yahoo.com/">Fantasy Profile</a> page, log in, then enter 'zaui' in the COMPARE PROFILES area and click 'compare') - since 1999 I've been in 35 baseball, football or basketball leagues and have finished 1st 5 times, 2nd 4 times and 3rd 9 times.<br /><br />Anyway, enough of my fantasy cred, I'm in 4 baseball leagues this year, but only really care about one and a half of them. One league I created, but only got six teams (I started late - after the season started), so everyone has an all-star lineup. This makes is much less interesting then a normal 12-team league, so I'm only caring about it half of what I should. The league I care the most about is a 12-team public head-to-head league, just because it's very competitive. <br /><br />I've made two trades so far this year, which is rare these days, just because folks are afraid to screw it up.<br /><br />My first was to get rid of Barry Bonds. The league draft was auto-pick, meaning the Yahoo computers ran the draft and players were assigned by their default ranking in Yahoo.<br /><br />My team started out like this:<br /><br />(round, pick#, player)<br /><br />1. (1) Albert Pujols<br />2. (24) Travis Hafner<br />3. (25) Derek Jeter<br />4. (48) Garrett Atkins<br />5. (49) Carlos Zambrano<br />6. (72) Gary Sheffield<br />7. (73) Billy Wagner<br />8. (96) J.J. Putz<br />9. (97) Matt Cain<br />10. (120) Josh Barfield<br />11. (121) Chad Cordero<br />12. (144) Álex Ríos<br />13. (145) Scott Podsednik<br />14. (168) Bob Wickman<br />15. (169) Pedro Martínez<br />16. (192) Bengie Molina<br />17. (193) Nomar Garciaparra<br />18. (216) Barry Bonds<br />19. (217) Ken Griffey Jr.<br />20. (240) Ted Lilly<br />21. (241) Kelvim Escobar<br /><br />Since dropped: Kelvim Escobar (hurt), Ken Griffey Jr. (old), Nomar Garciaparra (old), Bengie Molina (slow start), Bob Wickman (hurt), Scott Podsednik (hurt), Chad Cordero (no room - didn't need 4 closers at the time) and Josh Barfield (slow start)<br /><br />Picked up: Ryan Doumit (replaced Molina), Hunter Pence, Reggie Willits, B.J. Upton, Howie Kendrick, Dan Uggla, Ryan Zimmerman, Dan Wheeler (replaced Wickman) and James Shields (replaced Escobar)<br /><br />Of my top 5 guys, 3 have been disasters this year - Pujols (the #165 player right now, according to Yahoo!), Atkins (#699) and Zambrano (#878).<br /><br />It's no surprise I'm 37-32-1 and 6th place - but that's not bad - the top six teams make it to the playoffs at the end of the year.<br /><br />Bonds was a surprise right out of the gate - rocketing to a top-10 ranking in Yahoo. But I knew it wouldn't last - he's too old to stay healthy or be very consistent. So I put a note out to the league that I would entertain trade offers for him. There was only one team that responded. After some back-and-forth, they offered Joe Blanton and Mark Hendrickson for Bonds, then Luis González, Joe Blanton and Roger Clemens for Bonds & Shields. <br /><br />I rejected those and offered Bonds for Scott Kazmir - his 2nd or 3rd best starting pitcher. He took it right away, which made me think I may have been able to do better. But Kazmir is 23 and had a good season last year, so I thought it was worth the offer.<br /><br />Since the trade two weeks ago, Kazmir has been OK - 2 starts, no wins, 9 innings, 3.00 ERA, 13 K, 1.78 WHIP (walks + hits per inning).<br /><br />But Bonds has been awful. While I had him he was hitting .318/.520/.753 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) with 11 HR, 23 RBI and 24 runs. Since I traded him, he's 4-25 (that's .160 - all singles) with 4 runs and ZERO RBI. He's now hitting .282/.503/.618. <br /><br />I'M KING OF THE WORLD!!!!!!<br /><br />Ahem, anyway I've made another trade that will be in effect this weekend - Upton and Pence for Carl Crawford. Pence and Upton are two flavors-of-the-month this year - both doing very well (Upton is #22 and Pence is #75 after almost a month of play) after being ranked in the hundreds (Upton #187 and Pence #743) at the start of the year - but Crawford is a legitimate top-10 player. He's only ranked #43 by Yahoo right now, but he's too good to stay down for long. So basically I'm getting a first-round guy for two I picked up for nothing.<br /><br />I'M KING OF THE WORLD!!!!!!<br /><br />I have to come up with at better war cry.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-33400769890281391632007-05-15T10:49:00.000-06:002007-05-29T16:03:48.305-06:00Diet Coke Plus Caffeine ReportHarv asked about caffeine in the new <a href="http://zaui.blogspot.com/2007/05/diet-coke-plus.html">Diet Coke Plus</a>. My initial reaction was, "Don't know", but thinking about it more, perhaps the label can give us some clues. The first clue is the list of ingredients - Caffeine is after Acesulfame Potassium (an artificial sweetener) and before Zinc Gluconate. This should be enough to do a back-of-the-envelope calculation of the the upper and lower levels of Caffeine, since ingredients are supposed to be listed by descending amount.<br /><br />The lower bound is easy - the second clue on the label is that there is 15% of the daily recommended value (RV) of Zinc in one 12 oz bottle. A quick Google search found the RV for Zinc to be 8-11 mg. Picking 10 mg, 15% of that is 1.5 mg. Using the mole ratio of Zinc Gluconate to Zinc (455.685/65.39), the amount of Zinc Gluconate in the 12 oz bottle is about 10.5 mg.<br /><br />The upper bound is a bit more tricky, but at <a href="http://www.ific.org/publications/brochures/acekbroch.cfm ">this site</a>, discussing safe levels of Acesulfame Potassium consumption, it states that there's 900 mg of Acesulfame Potassium in roughly two gallons of beverage. This works out to be about 42 mg in a 12 oz bottle (12 oz/256 oz (two gallons) x 900 mg).<br /><br />So the amount of Caffeine is between 10 and 42 mg. Looking at a <a href="http://wilstar.com/caffeine.htm">table of Caffeine content</a>, this looks like it should be in the ballpark - Diet Coke has about 46 mg, Coke Classic has 34 mg.<br /><br />So Diet Coke Plus probably has a similar amount of Caffeine that 'normal' Diet Coke has.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-28233468871859899272007-05-14T16:47:00.000-06:002007-05-15T13:37:55.638-06:00Jazz-Warrior seriesI thought the Jazz were going to fall into the same trap in their second-round series against the Warriors that the Houston Rockets did against the Jazz in the first round - win two close games at home, get blown out in two games on the road, win a close one at home, lose badly again on the road, then lose game seven at home. Well, no such luck for Golden State fans.<br /><br />The young Jazz grew up a lot last night, down three entering the 4th quarter of game 4 last night in Oakland, they blow by the Warriors, outscoring them 40-23 on the way to a 115 - 101 win and a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.<br /><br />If anyone told you at the start of the season that the Jazz would end up one game away from the Western Conference finals, you'd think they were nuts.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-11284086590309829792007-05-04T16:13:00.000-06:002007-05-04T16:22:48.693-06:00Diet Coke PlusKids won't drink anything but soda? Can't get the little rug-rats to eat a balanced diet?<br /><br />Never fear, now they can have the new Diet Coke Plus, with 25% of the daily value of Niacin, Vitamin B6 and B12, plus 15% magnesium and zinc. <br /><br />That's right! Just enough so Coke can claim it contains Vitamin(s) and Mineral(s) in plural!<br /><br />(This stuff was being handed out as we exited the Huntsman Center after the NCAA Women's Gymnastic championships Saturday night at the University of Utah. We managed to accumulate thirteen 12-ounce bottles. It tastes OK, for a aspartame-flavored soda where the second ingredient listed is Magnesium Sulfate.)zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-10130645164792939212007-05-01T11:06:00.000-06:002007-05-15T13:38:37.315-06:00Warm spring, gymnastics and toiletsSunday was the warmest April day on record in Salt Lake City - 89 degrees at the airport.<br /><br />In anticipation, I turned the sprinklers on Saturday night, since some of the yard was getting crunchy. But the damn cover to access the water shutoff valve was frozen. After an hour of working on it, and discovering that when I was able to rotate the cover it was because the entire 3-foot long shaft was also rotating (I guess I was generating a decent amount of torque, judging by how sore my wrist was the next morning), I finally drilled some holes in the thing and popped it off with the claw of a hammer.<br /><br />Unfortunately, The hour it took was from 11:15 to 12:15 at night, because we were at the NCAA Women's Gymnastic championship that evening at the University of Utah for the event finals and didn't get home until 11 pm.<br /><br />Anyway, I still need to weed and feed. I was going to do it Sunday, but then something came up - a toilet was leaking. The tank had a crack and the gaskets were failing, and water was dripping down the outside of the waste pipe to the laundry room below. I thought I could just get a new tank and install it, but the bolt holes in the bowl didn't quite line up with the bolts in the new tank. So I bought a new toilet bowl and, $119 and 90 minutes later, we were back in business.<br /><br />It's a low-flush model - looks like about half the volume of water fills the tank. It makes up for less water by having a wider opening for the water to flush through - three inches, verses about two and a half on the old tank.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-1158857462889042042006-09-21T10:51:00.000-06:002007-05-14T17:03:03.973-06:00Life isn't complicated enough<p class="mobile-post">Now I'm getting 'Amazon Diet' spam sorted to my Amazon.com folder. Bastards.</p>zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-1140632945983195112006-02-22T11:29:00.000-07:002007-05-14T17:03:31.290-06:00Comic Crap<p class="mobile-post">Comics I can't finish because they are crap:</p><p class="mobile-post">Crisis on Infinite Earths - wow, can they try to get<br />more panels on a page? I didn't read this when it<br />first came out - too busy going to college - so I got<br />the trade paperback from the library, read half-way<br />through and lost interest.</p><p class="mobile-post">Avengers Forever - not sure what the purpose of this<br />is. Again, got half-way through and lost interest.</p><p class="mobile-post">Meridian - I can see why CrossGen went under. Very<br />pretty book, no doubt, but the story is crap.</p>zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-1136497470914598402006-01-05T14:44:00.000-07:002007-05-15T13:37:31.838-06:00Mine disaster reportingSloppy.<br /><br />That's all you can say about the media coverage of the Sago mine disaster. And their attempts to defend themselves are comical:<br /><br />Cable news networks defended their work. Jonathan Klein,. president of CNN U.S., said "two pretty good sources" had appeared to confirm the news - West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. At 12:28 a.m. ET Wednesday, CNN broadcast an interview with Capito. Asked what she could confirm, Capito said "12 miners (are) alive." <br /><br />Since when are politicians "pretty good sources" for an event like this? Next time someone is missing in an avalanche, let's hope the mayor of Salt Lake City is on the scene to update the media.<br /><br />I like this one:<br /><br />"Len Downie, executive editor of the The Washington Post, defended the media. "Our story was a reflection of what was being said at the time," said Downie. "I don't regard it as our error, but as an error by the people in charge of the rescue." <br /><br />Hey, let's get 50 people together and chant "The world is flat" and see if that<br />makes the papers.<br /><br />No excuses. Sloppy.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-1135977832756143742005-12-30T14:23:00.000-07:002007-05-15T13:32:47.080-06:00Gas PricingNo, not the cost of gas, that's been done to death. <br /><br />What I don't understand is why gas prices are expressed to the tenth of a cent. Anybody have a 0.1-cent piece? I don't. If I buy 1.000* gallon of gas at $1.949 will I get 5.1 cents in change? No, I won't. They will keep my 0.1 cents. <br /><br />We're all getting ripped off to the tune of a penny every 10 gallons. Wikipedia pegs gas consumption at 360 million gallons per day. That's $360,000 a day taken from consumers, or $131.4 million a year.<br /><br />*yes, the pump measures to thousandths of a gallon. That's 0.128 ounces (volume), 0.00625 pounds, 2.8 grams or 0.19 cents. I'm impressed with the resolution of the pump, but it seems like overkill to me.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-1135959168676001852005-12-30T09:12:00.000-07:002005-12-30T09:12:48.710-07:00A new focus<p class="mobile-post">I haven't really had a focus to this blog, and because of that, I haven't<br />posted much to it. But I've been inspired by Steve Jackson's Daily Illuminator<br />today ("Random Gripes" - see www.sjgames.com). For this blog, I'll strap on my<br />Mr. Angry persona and post my own random gripes. This is stuff that I wouldn't<br />normally post to any of the mailing lists I maintain (one for high school<br />friends and one for family & friends) so it's a good use of the blog, IMO.</p><p class="mobile-post">First up: gas pricing.</p>zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-1133541889749663362005-12-02T09:44:00.000-07:002007-05-15T13:34:40.273-06:00Mis-read HeadlinesGlancing at the Yahoo news headlines, I sometimes mis-read them. <br /><br />I saw this one today: "Greenspan renews warning on budget deficits" and started to wonder why the heck Greenpeace would care about our budget <s>devicits</s> deficits.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-1132681626510973662005-11-22T10:47:00.000-07:002007-05-15T13:30:31.353-06:00Gas BubbleFilled up the Civic yesterday at Costco and paid $1.969/gallon. Last time I filled up (November 7) it was $2.309. I think it's safe to say that's the largest drop between fill-ups I've ever seen - 34 cents in 14 days - almost 15%.<br /><br />This is the lowest it's been since March this year, but is still 12 cents higher then last year - 6.5% higher.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-1129219000469240192005-10-13T09:56:00.000-06:002007-05-15T13:29:15.740-06:00Revisionist Comics<p class="mobile-post">From Warren Ellis' BAD SIGNAL:</p><p class="mobile-post">--- WarrenE@aol.com wrote:</p><p class="mobile-post">> Every now and then, you just fall<br />> over a story. Doesn't happen to<br />> me nearly often enough, and I hate<br />> the people who have it happen to<br />> them.<br />> <br />> Rich Johnston, Satan take his balls,<br />> has found one of Those Ideas.<br />> <br />> St Joseph Copertino, named The<br />> Flying Friar for his miraculous<br />> hovering manifestations. THE<br />> FLYING FRIAR is a fiction based on<br />> his life, specifically his relationship<br />> with his best friend, the great-<br />> nephew of Martin Luther, whose<br />> first name was Lux.<br />> <br />> The bastard has lucked into the<br />> true story of a flying saint who<br />> knew someone called Lux Luther.<br /><br />Dude probably wrestled bulls and started fire with his eyes too. DC keeps trying to infuse earlier eras with similar stories as their modern characters (Gorham by Gaslight) or do alternate history (Red Son - Superman if he landed in Russia). I'm not sure it's all that interesting really. I guess it sells, since it keeps happening.<br /><br />Marvel's not immune to it either, as evidenced by 1602. I'm a Neil Gaimen fan,<br />so I have the hardbound TPB and it's a beautiful book (thanks to Scott<br />McKowen's gorgeous woodcut cover art - see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1602_(comic)">the 1602 Wikipedia article</a>), but I hope they don't make a habit of it.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-1128956696061016582005-10-10T09:04:00.000-06:002007-05-15T13:26:51.607-06:00THE PACK IS BACK...in the win column, at least.<br /><br />The game wasn't on TV here and when I saw the score I thought my screen was a little fuzzy. 52 points? Can't be.<br /><br />Oh well, good win, even if it's against a team without a home. On the down side, we* lost Davenport for the year.<br /><br />If the offensive line gets their act together (was Flanagan the problem?) and<br />Ahman Green can get healthy (hello bye week) maybe we can eak out a few more wins.<br /><br />Here's how I see the rest of the year going:<br /> <br />Oct 16: bye week - coming at a good time too. We need a healthy Green.<br />Oct 23: at Vikings. Who knows with this division?<br />Oct 30: at Cinci: no way.<br />Nov 6: Steelers at home: no way.<br />Nov 13: at Atlanta: no way if Vick is healthy. If not?...<br />Nov 21: Vikings at home on MNF. Could they both be 2-7 going into this game?<br />Nov 27: at Philly: no way.<br />Dec 4: at Bears: I hope so.<br />Dec 11: Lions at home on ESPN: Who scheduled THIS game in primetime?<br />Dec 19: at Ravens on MNF: could be another dog matchup.<br />Dec 25: Bears at home: all I want for Christmas is...<br />Jan 1: Seahawks at home: no way.<br /><br />So I'd say at least 5 more wins - one Viking game, the Raven game, both Bear<br />games (TBSS**) and the Lions game. 6-10 and a high draft pick.<br /><br />But, if we get some teams when they're banged up? Falcons? Philly? Seahawks? <br />Who knows? 9-7 will win the division. Heck, 8-8 may win this division.<br /><br />* yes, I can say 'we', I own a share of the team. And since I am an NFL owner,<br />I will start to petition the town I live in to build me a new, bigger house<br />using taxpayer money.<br /><br />** The Bears Still Suckzauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-1125345777726514132005-08-29T14:02:00.000-06:002007-05-15T13:23:48.390-06:00Love that dry heat!Whenever we have a low pressure system approaching from the west, it's circular movement causes strong south winds for hours before it comes. That's why our snows don't last that long in the winter - when another storm approaches, the warm south winds melt the previous snowfall.<br /><br />Anyway, the south wind is whistling today - it's hot, but we have a wind chill of 5 degrees because the humidity is so low:<br />Temperature: 97F <br />Feels like: 92F <br />Humidity: 11% <br />Dew Point: 33F <br />Wind: 23 mph S<br /><br />You don't see this in the midwest.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-1123599307975175582005-08-09T08:55:00.000-06:002007-05-15T11:52:37.201-06:00The Crackpot Index<p class="mobile-post">The only thing missing is a scale to rank crackpots. You know, start with<br />"mildly amusing" and proceed up to "inducing insanity in others".<br />-------------------<br /></p><p class="mobile-post"><a href="http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/crackpot.html">The Crackpot Index</a><br />John Baez</p><p class="mobile-post">A simple method for rating potentially revolutionary contributions to physics:</p><p class="mobile-post"> 1. A -5 point starting credit.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 2. 1 point for every statement that is widely agreed on to be false.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 3. 2 points for every statement that is clearly vacuous.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 4. 3 points for every statement that is logically inconsistent.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 5. 5 points for each such statement that is adhered to despite careful<br />correction.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 6. 5 points for using a thought experiment that contradicts the results of a<br />widely accepted real experiment.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 7. 5 points for each word in all capital letters (except for those with<br />defective keyboards).</p><p class="mobile-post"> 8. 5 points for each mention of "Einstien", "Hawkins" or "Feynmann".</p><p class="mobile-post"> 9. 10 points for each claim that quantum mechanics is fundamentally<br />misguided (without good evidence).</p><p class="mobile-post"> 10. 10 points for pointing out that you have gone to school, as if this were<br />evidence of sanity.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 11. 10 points for beginning the description of your theory by saying how long<br />you have been working on it.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 12. 10 points for mailing your theory to someone you don't know personally<br />and asking them not to tell anyone else about it, for fear that your ideas will<br />be stolen.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 13. 10 points for offering prize money to anyone who proves and/or finds any<br />flaws in your theory.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 14. 10 points for each new term you invent and use without properly defining<br />it.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 15. 10 points for each statement along the lines of "I'm not good at math,<br />but my theory is conceptually right, so all I need is for someone to express it<br />in terms of equations".</p><p class="mobile-post"> 16. 10 points for arguing that a current well-established theory is "only a<br />theory", as if this were somehow a point against it.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 17. 10 points for arguing that while a current well-established theory<br />predicts phenomena correctly, it doesn't explain "why" they occur, or fails to<br />provide a "mechanism".</p><p class="mobile-post"> 18. 10 points for each favorable comparison of yourself to Einstein, or claim<br />that special or general relativity are fundamentally misguided (without good<br />evidence).</p><p class="mobile-post"> 19. 10 points for claiming that your work is on the cutting edge of a<br />"paradigm shift".</p><p class="mobile-post"> 20. 20 points for emailing me and complaining about the crackpot index.<br />(E.g., saying that it "suppresses original thinkers" or saying that I<br />misspelled "Einstein" in item 8.)</p><p class="mobile-post"> 21. 20 points for suggesting that you deserve a Nobel prize.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 22. 20 points for each favorable comparison of yourself to Newton or claim<br />that classical mechanics is fundamentally misguided (without good evidence).</p><p class="mobile-post"> 23. 20 points for every use of science fiction works or myths as if they were<br />fact.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 24. 20 points for defending yourself by bringing up (real or imagined)<br />ridicule accorded to your past theories.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 25. 20 points for naming something after yourself. (E.g., talking about the<br />"The Evans Field Equation" when your name happens to be Evans.)</p><p class="mobile-post"> 26. 20 points for talking about how great your theory is, but never actually<br />explaining it.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 27. 20 points for each use of the phrase "hidebound reactionary".</p><p class="mobile-post"> 28. 20 points for each use of the phrase "self-appointed defender of the<br />orthodoxy".</p><p class="mobile-post"> 29. 30 points for suggesting that a famous figure secretly disbelieved in a<br />theory which he or she publicly supported. (E.g., that Feynman was a closet<br />opponent of special relativity, as deduced by reading between the lines in his<br />freshman physics textbooks.)</p><p class="mobile-post"> 30. 30 points for suggesting that Einstein, in his later years, was groping<br />his way towards the ideas you now advocate.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 31. 30 points for claiming that your theories were developed by an<br />extraterrestrial civilization (without good evidence).</p><p class="mobile-post"> 32. 30 points for allusions to a delay in your work while you spent time in<br />an asylum, or references to the psychiatrist who tried to talk you out of your<br />theory.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 33. 40 points for comparing those who argue against your ideas to Nazis,<br />stormtroopers, or brownshirts.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 34. 40 points for claiming that the "scientific establishment" is engaged in<br />a "conspiracy" to prevent your work from gaining its well-deserved fame, or<br />suchlike.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 35. 40 points for comparing yourself to Galileo, suggesting that a modern-day<br />Inquisition is hard at work on your case, and so on.</p><p class="mobile-post"> 36. 40 points for claiming that when your theory is finally appreciated,<br />present-day science will be seen for the sham it truly is. (30 more points for<br />fantasizing about show trials in which scientists who mocked your theories will<br />be forced to recant.)</p><p class="mobile-post"> 37. 50 points for claiming you have a revolutionary theory but giving no<br />concrete testable predictions.</p><p class="mobile-post">© 1998 John Baez<br />baez@math.removethis.ucr.andthis.edu</p>zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-1123102709328619142005-08-03T14:58:00.000-06:002007-05-15T11:51:08.145-06:00ICE - In Case of EmergencyA couple good ideas from various sources:<br /><br />#1:<br /><br /><br />A Cambridge-based paramedic <a href="http://www.eastanglianambulance.com/content/news/newsdetail.asp?newsID=646104183">has launched a national campaign</a> with Vodafone to encourage people to store emergency contact details in their mobile phones.<br /><br />Bob Brotchie, a clinical team leader for the East Anglian Ambulance NHS Trust, hatched the plan last year after struggling to get contact details from shocked<br />or injured patients.<br /><br />By entering the acronym ICE for In Case of Emergency into the mobiles phone book, users can log the name and number of someone who should be contacted in an emergency.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/icephone.asp">Snopes </a>has something about this also.<br /><br />#2:<br /><br />Plastic-laminate a card with four emergency contacts on one side and any critical drug allergies on the other. Stick it in your wallet next to your driver's license. The license and/or insurance card is all they want in the ER, they won't dig through your wallet if they find those items 1st.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-1119993069240876622005-06-28T15:11:00.000-06:002007-05-15T11:45:41.256-06:00Too ironic, in a sad wayFalse Alarm Policy Delayed Response During Atlanta Courthouse Murders<br />Verification attempt designed to reduce false alarms, deputy attempted to<br />verify alarm four times.<br /><br />ATLANTA -- When a gunman opened fire at the county courthouse in March, a<br />deputy followed a new policy and tried four times to verify a distress call<br />before sending help, a newspaper reported Friday.<br /><br />The policy, aimed at reducing time wasted on false alarms, was issued in<br />January by one of the people killed in the rampage, <a href="http://www.securityinfowatch.com/article/article.jsp?id=4614&siteSection=349">The Atlanta<br />Journal-Constitution reported.</a><br /><br /><s>(I need a tutorial on blog hyperlinks)</s> This is a lot easier now.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-1119568192424882382005-06-23T17:09:00.000-06:002007-05-15T11:42:48.062-06:00OSHA DART listSee who's hurting their employees more than average at the <a href="http://www.osha.gov/as/opa/foia/hot_11.html">OSHA DART list</a>. <br /><br />There's a .dbf file that can be downloaded and read in MS Excel. There are<br />13,919 companies on the list, but some states are missing altogether - they<br />have their own OSHA departments.<br /><br />Of interest to me:<br />JONES DAIRY FARM FORT ATKINSON WI<br />REDI-SERVE FOODS LTD PARTNR FORT ATKINSON WI<br />WISCONSIN PACKAGING CORP FORT ATKINSON WI<br /><br />Lots of health care facilities on the list too.zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9189999.post-1118948344555626822005-06-16T12:59:00.000-06:002005-06-16T12:59:04.570-06:00Ground control to Major Tom<p class="mobile-post">(maybe I should use song titles for all my subjects)</p><p class="mobile-post">Posting this via the email option to see how it performs.</p><p class="mobile-post">If it works well, I'll take Harvey's advice (over at www.badexample.mu.nu in<br />his 'How to Start Blogging' area) and post a little background.</p>zauihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15673888178326979571noreply@blogger.com0