09:11 – We’re getting near the end of all three series that we’re currently watching on Netflix streaming, so it’s time to start sampling a few of the 150+ other entries in our Netflix instant queue. One of the series that we’re about to finish is Rescue Me, Denis Leary’s program about FDNY firefighters. That series is excellent across the board: great writing and an excellent cast. There’s not a weak member in that cast, but Barbara and I agree that one of them stands out even among that superb group. Callie Thorne, who plays Sheila Keefe, is stunningly good. She can do more with a raised eyebrow than most accomplished actresses can do with a Shakespeare soliloquy. We’re looking forward to watching her in other series.
Speaking of excellent TV series, the Canadian series Heartland reaches a milestone this evening, when its 100th episode is broadcast. Heartland is only the second Canadian one-hour drama series ever to reach 100 episodes. It’s also, along with Rescue Me, one of very, very few series I’ve ever rated five stars on Netflix. Alas, Netflix has only the first two seasons and the first 14 of 18 episodes in series three.
Meanwhile, I’m currently running an experiment in the kitchen. The biology and life science kits include a packet of lima bean seeds. The other day, I was about to order 5 pounds (2.3 kilos) of lima bean seeds from one of my on-line vendors when I was struck by a cunning plan. Those vendors typically charge $25 plus shipping for 5 pounds of lima bean seeds. But I can get 5 pounds of dried baby lima beans at the supermarket for $8 or so. So when Barbara made a quick stop at the supermarket yesterday, she brought home a one-pound bag. I planted five of those seeds in a cup of vermiculite, which is now sitting in the dining room, where it gets lots of morning sun. I’ll keep an eye on them for the next week or ten days. If they germinate, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t, we’ll just use lima beans from the supermarket in the kits. The cost savings would be pretty minor, maybe $0.10 per kit, but we do everything we can to keep the price of our kits as low as possible.
10:49 – The house just resounded to my Quack of Triumph. (Being a Linux guy, I quack rather than roaring.) A few months ago, I noticed that our washing machine was agitating intermittently. I ordered a replacement agitator subassembly with dogs a couple months ago. I think it cost $14 or something like that. As it turns out, I could just have ordered four dogs for about $3, but I’m just as happy to have the new agitator subassembly installed. As Barbara said, that should last the remaining life of the machine. It took me all of five minutes to do the repair, and four minutes of that was finding the correct socket and a long enough extension for my 3/8″ ratchet.
Which got me to thinking of just how valuable the Internet is, even in invisible ways. I started by searching Google for something like “agitation problem” “whirlpool washing machine” and got a bunch of hits. Among those were several on YouTube, one of which illustrated the entire process of replacing the agitator subassembly on my exact model of washing machine. Then I used Google to find the correct part number and find a good price for it, and order it. The next day, it showed up. Of course, it’s been sitting on the dryer for a couple of months waiting for me to get a round tuit, but the point is that I could have discovered the problem one day and had it fixed the next. That’s probably as fast or faster than making a service call, and certainly a whole lot cheaper. Before the Internet became what it’s become, I could still have made the repair, but it would have taken me at least a couple hours to find out what part I needed, check to see if it was in stock locally, drive over and buy the part, and make the repair. Thanks to the Internet, this kind of efficiency happens millions of times a day in one way or another.
I don’t know if Netflix has it or not, but you might like Ripper Street, a BBC series set in London’s East End in 1889. It’s a bit like the show Copper that was on earlier this year in the US, but much, much better.
Thanks. I just checked, and Netflix doesn’t have it, either streaming or on disc.
Ripper Street is currently airing on BBCA and I’m not sure how they treat online viewing of their shows. (http://www.bbcamerica.com/ripper-street/) I’ve still not pulled the trigger on a Netflix subscription, but I don’t remember seeing current programs when I’ve searched for something. We really enjoyed Copper but haven’t started watching the DVR’ed episodes of RS yet.
RBT, since you have a Roku box, are you familiar with the free and subscription streaming options available from Acorn? http://acornonline.com/acorntv.aspx
I don’t think penguins quack. True, there are several kinds of penguins and so maybe some do, but this little guy is typical of what I found in surfing around a bit.
Agreed completely on information on the internet. I’ve used it a lot for car repairs, and for diagnosing whether a problem needs to be repaired and what on earth could cause symptom X. Several times I’ve heard various repairmen, car, appliance, and other, lamenting that they’re having trouble now because the secret, sacred knowledge is out there for anyone to find.
Even better. Hah. HAH, HAH, HAH!
Thanks. I wasn’t aware Acorn offered streaming, but as it turned out Barbara was. She said she’d been getting the Acorn Media catalog since back before DVD’s were available.
I’ll probably sign up for the 30-day free trial this week and if it works out go with the $3 monthly subscription for three or four months until we’re sure we want to keep it. Barbara pointed out that an awful lot of what they have is already available on Netflix streaming, but there are a few that aren’t.
Have you ever watched Poldark?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poldark
Here’s a great youtube video where “Shotgun” Joe Biden recommends women use a shotgun. After Biden’s comments, watch some average chicks using shotguns and then one using an AR fucking assault rifle that needs to be banned because Joe says chicks can’t handle them. Hilarious!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jafkVM-jnbE#!
Well, as I said, a 12-gauge with heavy buck or slug loads is too much gun for most women. A 20-gauge is more suitable.
I still say that a lupara is a better choice than an AR-15, Ruger Mini-14, or similar rifle for most women, especially ones who haven’t trained much. They’re much more likely to hit the bad guy with the shotgun, even at short range where the shot hasn’t spread much.
And, granted that the 5.56 mm round was originally criticized for blowing up on brush and so on, I’d still bet that on average a .223 bullet is going to penetrate walls more than even a double-ought buck ball. That’s a real issue in residential areas. Hell, I have some rounds around here that’d probably penetrate two or three houses on this block lengthwise, and they’re brick construction. That’s why I’d rather use a .45 ACP or buckshot load here. Neither of them penetrates walls very well, and if I ever have to shoot I’d hate to find out that one of my rounds killed a neighbor after penetrating two or three walls.
Oh, yeah. That video reminded me of the time in college I took my then-girlfriend, Karen Taylor, out for a walk along the railroad tracks. I was plinking with full-bore loads in my .44 Magnum, and she really, really wanted to try shooting it. She’d never shot anything but a .22 before, but against my better judgment I handed the pistol to her. She didn’t have muffs, so I stood behind her with my hands over her ears. She held the pistol in both hands, but had her elbows bent so the hammer was about 6″ from her nose. I started to shout “DON’T … !” but I forgot I had my hands over her ears. She pulled the trigger, and of course the pistol recoiled and bounced off her forehead. The hammer gashed her. It could have been a lot worse, though. At least she didn’t lose an eye.
Did you usually fire that pistol in one or both hands?
Two, definitely. The only time I’ve ever fired a pistol with one hand was during combat pistol practice, where you practice one-handed with both hands, on the assumption that your other arm has been wounded.
Ripper is in initial release on BBC America, so it won’t show up on Netflix or Amazon Prime for a while. I can get it on demand via cable and plan on starting it tonight.
BTW, don’t follow Biden’s advice on home self-defense with a shotgun. In most states you will get arrested.
http://www.jammiewf.com/2013/virginia-man-arrested-after-following-bidens-advice/
“I still say that a lupara is a better choice than an AR-15, Ruger Mini-14, or similar rifle for most women, especially ones who haven’t trained much. They’re much more likely to hit the bad guy with the shotgun, even at short range where the shot hasn’t spread much. ”
Would a woman, or a guy for that matter, want to carry one of those around if they weren’t expecting trouble? I would have thought a handgun would be easier to carry and more easily concealed.
Yes, I was talking about for home defense.
SteveF wrote:
“I don’t think penguins quack. True, there are several kinds of penguins and so maybe some do, but this little guy is typical of what I found in surfing around a bit.”
I can’t check Youtube at the moment so I’m not sure what your little guy was doing. Perhaps Bob wasn’t listening to himself, and he actually gave a bray like the African Penguin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Penguin
From the article: “The African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus), also known as the Black-footed Penguin is a species of penguin, confined to southern African waters. It is also widely known as the “Jackass” Penguin for its donkey-like bray, although several species of South American penguins produce the same sound.”
Quite appropriate as you Yankees are always talking about ass.
Ripper Street is great! Thanks for the tip.
If penguins can fly, then they can quack.
“…don’t follow Biden’s advice on home self-defense with a shotgun.”
Typical imbecile politician/hack; he got it half-right; yeah, a shotgun, as Robert and I and others here have attested before, is good for home defense (and some other scenarios). But then he went and muffed the rest of the story, of course. Don’t listen to Biden, O-Bummer, or any other dipshit pol on anything at all. When you see their lips moving you know they’re either lying or spouting ignorant nonsense.
Wanna know about shotguns for home defense? Go to people who know what they’re talking about. Loads of material out there on this subject; Paladin Press is a good place to start.
And here’s some info on women and shotguns that ties in with what we’ve said here:
http://www.thewellarmedwoman.com/Does-A-Woman-Need-A-Gun-For-Home-Defense
That’s an interesting site Dave. I do have a question though: Why store a gun *unloaded* in a safe?
For the same reason I always store my epi pens, fire extinguishers, gasoline, etc. in a safe. It’s easy enough to unlock the safe and get them out if I need them in an emergency, and that way they’re safely (so to speak) stored, where kids can’t get at them. Jesus.
My guns are always loaded, cocked and locked.
There is only one reason I can think of to store an unloaded gun in a safe. That is if you live in a country with stupid gun laws.
Oh, wait, you were asking the other Dave.
Another reason to store an unloaded firearm in a safe is if it is very valuable, for example the derringer that Booth used at Ford’s theater and suchlike.
Um, that wasn’t my idea, it was the site’s idea, which I thought was daft.
I’m on the point of giving up World of Warcraft. I hate it, and it’s not really getting better. One of my characters was kicked from her guild after not having logged in for about two weeks – probably less. I can’t believe how anal these people are.
That does seem a bit anal. Our guild demotes people after 30 days of inactivity, and at some point after that, we kick them. I think it’s 60 or 90 days of inactivity, but I’m not sure.
Wasn’t WoW created for compulsively anal people? 🙂
We have a winter storm on the way. Very unusual for so late in the season. Normally the last storm of winter is in late February. I have a couple errands to finish before it arrives, then batten down the hatches for a terrible Tuesday, and dig out early Wednesday for job in Indy.
Meanwhile, my aunt and uncle are moving back to assisted living. My uncle has done very well in therapy, recovering from his hospital misdiagnosis that nearly killed him. They are moving from a one bedroom to a two bedroom unit. That will allow my uncle to sleep uninterrupted, while a caretaker babysits my aunt overnight in the other bedroom. They have done remarkably well in keeping her in bed all night at the dementia unit of the nursing home. Hopefully, that will remain the case back in the assisted living.
Bill wrote:
“Wasn’t WoW created for compulsively anal people? :)”
Yeah, probably. Which is why I don’t fit in.
Until Level 20 when you can get a horse you have to plod around on foot. Slowly. Very slowly. Navigating around cities like Stormwind is a royal PITA. I find it easy to go long way up dead ends before I realise it. The map isn’t well marked with stuff you want, like post boxes, auction house, inns, etc.
Then there are quests with completely inane completion conditions that aren’t obvious from the description the contact gives. I spend a lot of time in Google, the various wikis and Youtube looking stuff up, or asking guildmates for help.
WoW is nothing like City of Heroes/Villains, which had an effective tutorial and travel powers you could get at low levels. But NCSoft, damn their greedy souls, shut it down because it wasn’t making enough money. The bastards didn’t sell it (Disney was said to be interested) or open source it, and they’re threatening to sue if someone reverse engineers it.