Daynotes is one of the first blogs on the net even before the term was invented. I suspect admins are conferring on ways and means to continue the commentariat feature without the recent unpleasantness. That’s my hope.
I took 2 semesters of chemistry in college and did well. Well enough that my tests were taken off the curve so as not to screw the remainder of the studii. I asked this about chemistry at the end: If you word a question a particular way, I can get the right answer, but how do you know what will happen if 2 materials are mixed? The answer: Experience.
I will never be a chemist.
It’s almost like chemistry isn’t a science, but rather a list of reactions and observations. I know there is more to it than that, but there is no unifying theory, rather a series of special cases and conditions. Very strange, in my mind.
>”Where’s the renaissance of “good news”, chemistry talk, and astronomy observations that was supposed to fill the vacuum?”
Just to be clear, my comments on that subject were not intended to convey that I am unhappy with what Nick has been doing, and that extends to the regular commenters as well. I don’t know what Nick’s current situation is, but I hope he is just taking a well deserved break. Coming up with something to say every day is more than I could manage. I note that at least one commenter seems to be annoyed that Nick is not Bob, but complaining about that is useless, and making personal attacks is of no value. Bob was in the position of constantly trying lots of new things, and apparently had the ability to write about them at least ten times faster than I possibly could. I appreciate the time and effort that Nick puts in to keep this place open. It is a rare, if not unique, feat that he has made it survive Bob’s passing.
@ITGuy1998, @Lynn (partial reply to your earlier comments about organic chem)
It’s almost like chemistry isn’t a science, but rather a list of reactions and observations. I know there is more to it than that, but there is no unifying theory, rather a series of special cases and conditions. Very strange, in my mind.
People approach chemistry like mathematics, expecting the results to be tidy. That is sometimes true, but often not. A simple reaction of a strong acid and a base goes to completion and gives you an acid salt. Other reactions are not so clear-cut. Chemical equations are sometimes written with an “=” sign, which in not appropriate.
The correct symbol is an arrow, but there is not just one, but eight:
and the proper arrow to use in a given situation depends on knowing what happens with the reaction or being able to predict based on experience with similar reactions.
The website linked above has a pop-up that states:
Understand and remember 180+ organic chemistry reactions & mechanisms, eliminate exam-day surprises, and confidently pass (or ace) your next organic chemistry exam!
Imagine taking calculus and getting to second semester and and having to know 180 trigonometric identities to master integration.
There’s a reason that calculus is used as an early course proxy to weed out students who don’t have the intelligence to be successful in complex subjects. There’s a reason that organic chemistry is not used.
The nice thing about mathematics is that, absent science fiction, it’s not going to blind, maim, or kill you. Randomly mixing chemicals in the laboratory or the toilet has the potential to do just that. Safety in the lab is paramount, and everyone who has spent years with chemicals can tell stories. I had a co-worker some 40 years ago that told of doing an experiment in a lab hood that wasn’t set for proper ventilation, and they got a whiff of phosgene gas that was generated. I saw hundreds of people evacuated from a research building because a PHD chemist had an “unexpected” raction occur when he was disposing of chemicals down the drain. A few years ago one of the top researchers in a particular area of chemistry was exposed to a lethal dose when the standard safety protocol turned out to be insufficient. Dead man walking with no antidote as is took the better part of a year to die.
I’ve noted the responses requesting more chemistry, and I have some ideas that I’m working up for practical, useful, and safe.
I can get the right answer, but how do you know what will happen if 2 materials are mixed? The answer: Experience.
Our understanding of chemistry continues to evolve, largely due to better analytical methods. Undergraduate organic chemistry lab today is far more advanced than graduate classes were 40 years ago. Today up-front work is much more detailed, and once the experiment is performed the result can be analyzed in real-time with equipment that was not even available at national labs and large industrial laboratories in 1980.
“Chance favors the prepared mind.”― Louis Pasteur
If you look at the history of chemistry you find numerous examples of experiments that have produced products with unexpected properties. often the prepared mind was needed to recognize the opportunity. One of the famous examples said this:
You can encourage and teach young people to observe, to ask questions when unexpected things happen. You can teach yourself not to ignore the unanticipated. Just think of all the great inventions that have come through serendipity, such as Alexander Fleming‘s discovery of penicillin, and just noticing something no one conceived of before.
drwilliams>”Any homebrewers out there (I have a side bet on responses to that question) ?”
I used to get groups of friends together to brew every few months, but between getting involved with other things and not wanting to spread COVID, I haven’t made a batch in the last few years. My focus is more on refining the equipment and process and improving the economics than experimenting with all of the different types of beer, but I don’t mind experimenting with whatever my friends want to make. I made a few all-grain batches and made a few lagers, but I mostly stick to using malt syrup and making light ales. I did try using Fleischmann’s bread yeast once just to see how it would turn out. I thought it wasn’t bad, but no one has ever accused me of having a sensitive palate.
So, to recap, last time I had managed to get the passwords, and logged in. System was XP updated to Vista, and dog slow. The Wifi does work. (2x) 120GB drives.
—
Since last time I did a bit of online research: It is a 32 bit machine, so the Core2 T2400 can’t use any more ram than the 2GB that it already has.
Microsoft discontinued MSE for it, completely, in 2017, though a few patches have been issued. The last seems to be the removal of IE, though I didn’t bother trying to get it.
With zero free antivirus/antimalware available, Linux and DosEmu is probably the way to go.
Linux options need to be 32 bit as well, and 32 bit distributions are becoming a bit thin on the ground.
Mint 18 (EOL 2018, but I had it around), runs fine from a CD, wifi works. Currently the Mint people are supporting Mint 19 32-bit through April of 2023, then dropping it. Ram after install was 770MB of 2000.
I decided to try burning a Debian variant, despite always having issues with drivers with them, because they don’t look to be dropping 32-bit soon. It turns out that my CD burner on the laptop is shot. Perhaps I discovered this a while back, since it turns out that I do have RUFUS on that Win10 machine, and was able to “burn” to a USB stick.
So, recommended: Rufus for Windows.
I installed the current Debian-derived BunsenLabs 32-bit version “Lithium” onto a USB stick, since it seems low impact. It boots (once I changed the device boot order, and picked just-the-right-usb-slot), Wifi works (after I use the hardware switch to turn on/off once). Ram after install was 550MB of 2GB. Not bad.
There are warnings that power-savings and sleep don’t work, that’s expected, I’ve never seen Linux reliably do that.
—-
Future plans:
(1) Replace the spinning rust with a SSD that I have around in (if the controllers work),
(2) install BunsenLabs to the drive,
(3) Install Dosemu,
(4) Try out the abandonware educational programs that my friend wants to use,
@dkreck, JimB & EdH, I will be at Mother’s Tavern two weeks from tomorrow, Sat., Aug.27, at 1PM for a live country band, Road Kill Kings.
CowboyStu: Interesting. Thank you for the invite. Sounds neat.
I have tentative plans to be in NW Nevada, at the Massacre Ridge dark sky sanctuary for that day with friends, that is the dark-of-the-moon, but it isn’t completely locked down.
My first actual “vacation” in three (four?) years.
I did try using Fleischmann’s bread yeast once just to see how it would turn out
There is a mead recipe floating around, Joe’s Ancient Orange Mead, that uses bread yeast. The gentleman that developed the recipe was making brewing, with mead as the gateway, more accessible. Get folks thru that initial first attempt, hook them, then get them to dig into the harder more rewarding brews. His idea was make it a low effort entry. All the ingredients and equipment were at the grocery store or already in the kitchen. I made a couple batches. It was drinkable if not “good”. It certainly peaked my interest.
We‘ve got a pair of crab apple trees, huge, 40-50 years old, that are heavy producers. Last year I picked up a press and made sweet cider. This year I’m going to take a stab at hard cider.
We have a lot of brewers in my area. Drinking isn’t quite an Olympic sport, but there is a great appreciation for a good beer, or other refreshing adult beverage. We’ve got a couple of local shops supporting home brew efforts. Nice folks. They‘ve expanded their offerings to support cheese making and fermenting. The cheese making is complicated by the difficulty of acquiring suitable milk.
I like to learn. I enjoy developing new skills. I am puzzled by folks who lack the curiosity or will to delve into something new.
Imagine taking calculus and getting to second semester and and having to know 180 trigonometric identities to master integration.
That was pretty much my problem. That and the “usually or mostly” reactions. I have the same issue with Modern Physics. “Electrons get get trapped in an electric field, mostly. Except when they don’t.” See tunning diodes. Wait, what?
My podunk high school jumped on the AP band wagon my senior year. Took AP Calculus and AP English. Our local Junior College accepted the AP class as the first semester on the topic.
Math was brute force for me until that AP Calculus class. I loved it and dived in both feet, did my Calculus work first, genuinely enjoyed it. I think there were six or so seniors in that classroom, and a freshman. Brilliant young man. Our instructor was pretty good, she was new to teaching, first time she’d taught calculus. She had no ego. Sometimes she’d be teaching someth8ng and the only one comprehendI guess would be our pet freshman. She’d ask him to work a problem on the board. He’d talk us through it, and our brains would click.
I enjoyed that class thoroughly. Took me from loathing and dreading math to genuinely loving it.
Math is cool. It’s a shame it took that many classes before I figured that out.
It’s almost like chemistry isn’t a science, but rather a list of reactions and observations. I know there is more to it than that, but there is no unifying theory, rather a series of special cases and conditions. Very strange, in my mind.
People approach chemistry like mathematics, expecting the results to be tidy. That is sometimes true, but often not. A simple reaction of a strong acid and a base goes to completion and gives you an acid salt. Other reactions are not so clear-cut. Chemical equations are sometimes written with an “=” sign, which in not appropriate.
We model an incredible amount of chemical equations in our chemical engineering software. We support almost 1,300 chemical components such as methane, ethane, water, ethylene glycol, methanol, etc. I doubt we have 10% of known chemistry in our software. Probably more like 2%. We use known tools like Gibbs Free Energy handle our unknown equations. NASA has an awesome tool called CEA for modeling rocket engines, it handles solids, liquids, and vapors. They gave me the source code to it several years ago, I am going to add it to our software some day.
One of my partners, a PhD Chemical Engineer, estimated that less than 1% of organic chemistry is known publicly. He thought another 1% is known privately (data gathered but not published for competitive means). I have hundreds of books describing chemical equations and known properties of components. We call it our Wall Of Knowledge.
I can’t imagine a job that would be much more fun, and the only defects in the show are that at 25 minutes it is way too short, and it only lasted 4 seasons. I don’t know why it ended, but I wish I’d made a couple suggestions for shows. A friend of mine made custom surgical instruments for a surgeon at a famous med school, and I think that would have made a good program.
If you visit the website he has a video on the homepage that is a tour of his custom motorcycle shop.
One of my partners, a PhD Chemical Engineer, estimated that less than 1% of organic chemistry is known publicly.
I’ll never be a chemist. WAY too much memorization!
Math is cool. It’s a shame it took that many classes before I figured that out.
I heard it said that you don’t really understand math until you take calculus. I enjoyed it. Not that even as an electrical engineer I actually USE it, mind you. I have solved exactly one calculus problem in my career: We needed to generate 20K g stress on a crystal and show the Phase Locked Loop stayed locked. We used a lathe and turned it off center to generate the G’s.
It is mid August and the rain is here. Fireweed is used as a local gauge for how early cold weather is arriving. Its anecdotally typical to see snow fly and below zero temps within weeks of the plant completing its bloom and going to fluff. looking in my backyard, the Fireweed is bloomed out and gone to fluff.
I got many, not all, of my summer projects done. I need to ramp up my winter prep efforts. I need to decide if I’m going to lay in lots of hay, straw, shavings and pellets, for the rabbits and chickens. It could save me several hundred dollars and save some angst for supply issues (already experienced unavailability of these items). It could be an expensive boondoggle if the shrews and mice and squirrels destroy too much of it. Storing a sufficient quantity to make it worthwhile is not a simple proposition. In addition to vermin, there is risk of rot from moisture and the sheer space it takes. I don’t have a suitable outbuilding. Snow, thaw / freeze cycles, 60-80 mph winds, all weigh into storage complications. Plus cost of building materials up here. Thinking it through and running numbers and weighing benefits in light of other projects.
I will reduce chickens to three, to make room for spring birds, reduce fighting, lower feed bill. I will improve the insulation in their hen house. Considering options to reduce effort for watering them. They’ll stay in the front yard another winter. That won’t please the neighbors. Too bad.
I’ve already reduced the rabbits to existing growouts, two does and a buck. I’ve got one litter that didn’t gain as well as previous litters at three months but not ready for freezer camp. Another litter about a week old. I just rebred my best doe. I‘ll rebreed the other doe at the end of the month and those will be my last 2022 litters. I’ll breed again around end of January. I’ve decided to carry the carport shelter another winter. Balancing the other projects against the rabbit shelter, the other projects took priority.
We still have a window of time to insulate the attic. I’m of the mind we need to get it done. Husband is looking at running new electric, network cables, etc, first. it would absolutely be easier and better to do before new insulation however we don’t have time or resources to do both. In the mean time we had a lot of heat loss last winter and some hefty energy bills.
Potatoes will wait until September. I need to either plant the apples or get them into bigger containers. And decide if we are overwintering them or sending them to the nursery.
An acquaintance is requesting help setting up a pay system on their web page. Not my strong suit so I’m trying to think of who would tackle it more efficiently and be willing to trade for her uniquely local skills. I really don’t want the work.
WRT to fruits, I bought a new one today at Trader Joe’s, Plumcots. Part plum and part apricot, quite tasty. 5 in the container and I will not have trouble finishing it.
One of my partners, a PhD Chemical Engineer, estimated that less than 1% of organic chemistry is known publicly. He thought another 1% is known privately (data gathered but not published for competitive means).
I can’t speak to the correctness of 1% for organic chemistry, or the 1%/1% ratio for public/privately held knowledge. Over almost fifty years in development of one sort or another I was at the forefront of several technologies. Reading contemporaneous patents in those areas was often painful. First because the patent examiners did not have the historical background and neither did the applicants, resulting in patents being issued that could have been easily contested in court on the basis of prior disclosure*. Second because the “new” idea was the nth discovery of something unpublished that was 5, 10, or even 20 years in the past to the leading researchers in the field.
*Probably worse now with the attitude that if it’s not on the internet, it doesn’t exist.
@Jenny: An acquaintance is requesting help setting up a pay system on their web page.
I’ve done this on several sites with PayPal payment buttons. Fairly easy to set up, although you have to create individual buttons.
If it is a WordPress site, there are PayPal (and other) plugins. Or WooCommerce if they are selling products.
If not WordPress, but PHP is OK, there are PHP ‘classes’ that you get get on GitHub that will reduce the work needed.
I have sites set up with PayPal on WordPress and PHP sites. Although PayPal takes a commission, they also handle all of the payment security requirements – which can be significant.
@JimM: Home brewer here. I brew 20 liters about every two weeks. Why do you ask?
FWIW, despite being an engineer, I pay little attention to fancy measurements, I just brew what I like, and when a recipe works, I keep it. At present, I have the following beers on the shelf: Pilsner, Kloster, Weizen, Dark Weizen, IPA, Dark IPA, Belgian, and Porter.
Today, I brewed the next round of the Belgian ale. The first two attempts were…not good. The third attempt was ok. A few minor adaptations, and I hope this round will be actually good.
We still have a window of time to insulate the attic. I’m of the mind we need to get it done. Husband is looking at running new electric, network cables, etc, first. it would absolutely be easier and better to do before new insulation however we don’t have time or resources to do both. In the mean time we had a lot of heat loss last winter and some hefty energy bills.
About 20 years ago I added insulation to an attic ahead of making some changes in electrical. Partway through I realized that it was going to be much more difficult to navigate, so I used a crude plum bob to locate and staple 3×5 index cards with arrows and sharpie notes to rafters so I could locate some things. Anticipated a new ceiling light and fan for one room, I located the future position, installed a 2×6 brace between ceiling joists, and drilled a ¼” pilot hole that I plugged with a short bolt painted white on the end. You could see it if you looked, and I figured that if I lost it I could find it again with a studfinder. The bedroom ceiling that was insulated before I planned ahead was a lot messier to add the fan to later.
>> An acquaintance is requesting help setting up a pay system on their web page. Not my strong suit so I’m trying to think of who would tackle it more efficiently and be willing to trade for her uniquely local skills. I really don’t want the work.
@Jenny, would using a hosted payment gateway (e.g. PayPal, Stripe, etc.) simplify things for whoever winds up doing the work?
hosted payment gateway (e.g. PayPal, Stripe, etc.) simplify things for whoever winds up doing the work
Absolutely. So naturally the acquaintance refuses those options -facepalm-
I’ve set up those solutions. Quick and easy. More expensive for the seller. I understand the reluctance. It’s annoying though. And the security piece worries me. I’ve explained these things to her but she’s one of those that gets an idea in her head and can’t be shifted.
Speaking of EVs (okay, just made that up), @lynn, how does your colleague like his new LEAF?
Anyone else out here besides me (2018 LEAF SL) currently driving an EV or seriously considering buying one?
His Nissan Leaf Plus is a 2023 model that costs $42K plus taxes. 240 hp electric motor, 60 kwh battery (200+ miles), and a separate heat pump system (the old electric heater was a battery killer). He loves the vehicle and plans on driving it for 15 years. The funky wheels are growing on me. Hits 60 mph in four seconds. The only thing he does not like is the black color.
@jenny – any site that takes credit cards will need to ensure PCI compliance, as you probably know. And there will be a fee for every transaction if credit card is used. Potential for big fines and lawsuits and more if you don’t do PCI right.
PCI compliance is not something you want to try to do on your own. There are payment systems that you can hand off the credit card processing to like PayPal. Which is the smartest thing to do.
If someone asked me to develop a payment system without using an external PCI-compliant process, I would refuse. Or quote some very outrageous price. Even then, probably wouldn’t do it.
So, they get PayPal or Stripe or whatever; I’ll do that. If not, they don’t get it from me – I would decline the ‘offer’ to develop something for them.
Thanks for the invitation, the most gracious libation offer, and especially the two week notice. I am slightly farther than @dkreck, but not nearly as far as @Jenny. I haven’t given up on meeting you. It will happen eventually. I will raise a glass in spirit this time.
My 100 YO aunt passed in February, so our trips to your area are greatly diminished. Today is her burial ceremony in Minnesota. I am there in only in spirit.
>”Today, I brewed the next round of the Belgian ale. The first two attempts were…not good. The third attempt was ok. A few minor adaptations, and I hope this round will be actually good. ”
I have yet to pour any of my brews down the drain, although a couple came pretty close. My system is based on converted kegs, so I can brew up to ten gallons in a batch. I’m planning to look into making soft drinks for a few friends who avoid alcohol. My father made root beer a couple of times when I was a kid, but we didn’t keep up with it.
My parents made root beer a couple of times. One batch was epic. They stored it in the tool shed part of the chicken coop. I have no idea why, but, middle of a Texas summer?
Hoo wee. Great stuff. Still drunk the next day.
I bought a beer kit from Sam’s Club once. It was a bag and by memory you boiled water, let it cool, and pour it into the bag. Shake it up and let it sit for a couple or three weeks. Never did that again. It was foul stuff.
It’s almost like chemistry isn’t a science, but rather a list of reactions and observations. I know there is more to it than that, but there is no unifying theory, rather a series of special cases and conditions.
The theory in chemistry is physical chemistry. That’s the intersection of quantum and atomic physics with chemistry. Very, very difficult subject.
I wonder how the electric work at the lake house is going.
I wonder lots of things. Right now, what’s for supper? I’ll go rummage in the freezer. I have stuff. Meatballs, ravioli, pork loin slices and chicken tenders. Plus more in the big freezer.
None of it sounds good.
What sounds good is a few boiled eggs. Peel while hot, smash with a fork and add butter and salt and pepper.
Fajitas on the grill sound great A pot of my chili (vs Wolf Brand) sounds good.
But I think meatballs in brown gravy with a handful of rice in the frying pan is what is happening. Maybe macaroni.
The only thing he does not like is the black color.
Because it is black or because it is hot getting in (due to not using the neweest IR-reflective black paints).
He wanted any color but black. Not sure why other than his choice. He wanted the car more than the color though. He puts a huge silver reflector in the front window.
>>Because it is black or because it is hot getting in (due to not using the neweest IR-reflective black paints). <<
Now that’s kind of cool. Is it only the IR frequencies which result in heat? I suppose either side of that creates a bit of heat but it’s all concentrated in the IR range? Somewhat related is the running debate I have with my cousin. He’s a big fan of astrophysics and he’s always looking up. Me? I I look down. I like tide pools. I think $uper colliders and trying to figure out what makes stars tick is a waste of time. I think money could be better spent on Materials Science and understanding what’s right beneath our feet. Like IR reflecting paint. That’s cool! How do chickens make their shells so thin? How do they make them at all? It’s just calcium carbonate. Certain plants incorporate silica into their cell structure. How do they do that? What kind of use could we make of that mechanism?
He wanted any color but black. Not sure why other than his choice. He wanted the car more than the color though. He puts a huge silver reflector in the front window.
Black cars are never clean. 5 seconds after you finish washing it, it’s dirty again.
Is it only the IR frequencies which result in heat?
No. Solar energy at ground level is roughly 50% IR, 45% visible, and 5% UV.
The appearance of color is the interaction with the visible part, so for black those wavelengths are absorbed. If a coating is engineered to reflect the IR the temperature can be much lower. Carbon blacks are inexpensive pigments and absorb about 95% of solar radiation while reflecting about 5%. Other black pigments are more expensive, such as iron manganese oxide and chromium hematite, and reflect part or most of the IR. The best results are obtained from layered coatings the put a very good IR reflective pigment under a topcoat of IR transparent organic black pigment.
The FBI is politically corrupt and their laboratories have a history of making claims that do not hold up. Over a forty year time period they helped put hundreds of people in jail based in part on bullet chemical analysis, a technique that was later disproven and discontinued by the FBI. It is notable that they refused to assist in efforts to identify and revisit all such convictions.
The whole thing sounds like science fiction, but we’re getting close to being able to do this. Current estimates hold that fusion could be ready for prime-time in fifty years if the fuel situation can be worked out.
I can’t comment on EV, but I can on the Honda Jazz (Fit) hybrid. I have had mine for a few months now, having bought it in part because I really liked the technology. It has a relatively small battery, which it uses to maximise the efficiency of the car along with an Atkinson Cycle ICE. I think it does a great job and would definitely recommend the technology, which is also used in other of their vehicles such as the CR-V. Not a perfect vehicle, but happy with my choice.
Ugh. Looks like the Bunsen distro is a no go, the only web browser is something called, I kid you not, dillo, and it can’t open basic pages. the package manager can’t find chrome or Firefox at their site.
Not ready for prime time.
Oh well. Back to Suse or Mint I guess. Enough is enough. Waste of an afternoon I could have spent reading science fiction.
>> I can’t comment on EV, but I can on the Honda Jazz (Fit) hybrid. I have had mine for a few months now, having bought it in part because I really liked the technology. It has a relatively small battery, which it uses to maximise the efficiency of the car along with an Atkinson Cycle ICE. I think it does a great job and would definitely recommend the technology, which is also used in other of their vehicles such as the CR-V. Not a perfect vehicle, but happy with my choice.
@PaultheManc, what’s the range on a fully charged battery before the ICE kicks in? Is it a plug-in hybrid?
Speaking of EVs (okay, just made that up), @lynn, how does your colleague like his new LEAF?
Anyone else out here besides me (2018 LEAF SL) currently driving an EV or seriously considering buying one?
My cousin bought a Tesla 3 dual motor 130 kwh battery in 2019 for $69K. He has about 30,000 miles on it. Loves it with a serious passion. He replaced a ten year Honda Civic and a 15 year old Mustang GT 5.0 V8 with it. The Telsa goes zero to 60 mph in 3 seconds in sport mode.
I will reduce chickens to three, to make room for spring birds, reduce fighting, lower feed bill. I will improve the insulation in their hen house. Considering options to reduce effort for watering them. They’ll stay in the front yard another winter. That won’t please the neighbors. Too bad.
The wife and I went to an open house this afternoon in our neighborhood. There was a chicken coop in the backyard with three chickens in it. I was surprised as our HOA forbids chickens but allows horses. It was kind of a funny looking coop, kinda temporary looking.
My two cents? The past couple days have seen more reasonable discussion and more sharing of personal experiences. Those are pluses. The absence of links to heavily-biased sources like The Daily Mail is, I think, a good thing. Set the political noise aside and let reasonable people just chat.
“JK Rowling’s death threat from Iran-supporting Islamic extremist DID NOT violate Twitter’s rules after the vile troll warned ‘you are next’ in response to her support of stabbed author Salman Rushdie”
That’s a fancy looking house for chickens. Really cool. Chickens seem to lend themselves to temporary. I’ve seen some chicken chalets that were lovely. More often kinda temporary looking is the rule of the day.
Floated the index card / mark the important spots in the attic space. After a bit of quiet thought there was a ‘yes, that’ll work’. I’m relieved. I still need to go up there and -do- it. My height makes me uniquely suited for the task and I don’t mind. I’d hoped to do the work ourselves however with winter and higher bills looming I’ll call for quotes instead. It’s not a big or complicated space, mostly. For some reason, there are 4×8 sheets of plywood on the web of the trusses, all the way down. It is a shallow attic. I cannot pass from the center aisle of the attic space to the edges, the plywood prevents. We consulted and the plywood is not structural, it is providing storage space. Nonetheless, it is in the way of adding insulation and will need to be addressed.
I need to spend some time on the chickens. I’ve just been told that the nipples of their waterer are not delivering water. There are number of potential causes. This may be the kick in the hiney to come up with a plan b for winter water, though.
Bean soup made out of whatever is in the fridge for dinner tonight. Or pizza. We will see.
Bean soup made out of whatever is in the fridge for dinner tonight. Or pizza. We will see.
I did not get my corn fritters this morning. The wife called an audible and made banana cinnamon walnut pancakes this morning. After mild protestations I put some blueberry jam (suggested by the wife) on top of them and managed to get them down in about a minute or two.
I need to spend some time on the chickens. I’ve just been told that the nipples of their waterer are not delivering water. There are number of potential causes. This may be the kick in the hiney to come up with a plan b for winter water, though.
“How to Speak Chicken: Why Your Chickens Do What They Do & Say What They Say ”
The wife called an audible and made banana cinnamon walnut pancakes this morning. After mild protestations I put some blueberry jam (suggested by the wife) on top of them and managed to get them down in about a minute or two.
Thursday night the Friday weather prediction for Millbrook (Montgomery, AL) was scattered rain heavy at times. So I went to bed planning on working inside on the shop.
Friday morning the prediction had changed to cloudy no rain, for a couple of days. I needed to do some yard work (first time in months) and solve a drainage problem so I started with the yard cutting down some 3’ to 6’ weeds and clearing the vines in the drainage problem area. I dug up the 4-inch corrugated pipes that were too close to the surface and needed to be at least a foot in the ground not the 4 inches I had them. At 11:00 as I was headed for the backhoe the rain came down in buckets. The mud hole I wanted to fix was soon a pond.
I went in the house and fiddled with Gimp, Arachnophilia (an HTML text editor -(yes, I build my site with just a text editor), and FileZilla, installing updates relearning how to up date my site (again something I had not done in six months or more).
After lunch I saw that the pond had drained but was still too wet so I worked on the loft, drilling holes for electrical wiring and stringing it, which let me finish screwing down most of the OSB. I also finished putting up the last of the plywood on the wall between the shop and office area. Made some measurements and decided how I would build the landing at the top of the loft ladder.
This morning we had a prediction of dry weather for two days to I got on the backhoe and dug the 50 foot long trench, then hand shoveled it so the pipes would have a even fall. Took about three hours – two on the hoe and one pushing the shovel. I’ll lay the pipe this evening or tomorrow morning when the sun is not directly overhead. Pictures are on my site http://fordfe.info/AL-Shop.html .
After lunch I worked on the loft. The edge of the floor OSB over hung the wall at an angle that my son and I decided we would cut after it was fastened down. I thought it would be easy: measure the floor, figure out the offset needed to align the circular saw blade with the edge of the wall, nail a guide board to the floor, set the depth of cut to the thickness of the OSB, and make the cut.
Wrong. I started the cut but did not hear the blade making contact with the OSB. Checked all of my measurements. They were correct. Tried again. A little bit of contact at angle. Unplugged the saw as I didn’t want it to accidently start while I fiddled with it to see what was wrong. My son had a problem with this (his) portable saw last weekend. Took some time to pin down the problem: the motor and blade would flex away from the frame of the saw when you pushed the saw along the guide board. Moved the guide board and made a trial cut, moved the guide board again and the trial cut was where I expected it to be and finally was able to make my cut. A 15 minute task took almost an hour.
Next was building the landing for the ladder. I’ve never done this but wanted to step from the ladder to a landing next to the ladder, so you didn’t have to step around the ladder as you got on or off. Not sure how deep or wide the landing should be. Decided that 21 inch or so would be wide enough as the ladder was only 16 inches wide. I’ll also decided I would build a temporary landing out of scrap so I could test fit it. But I need the floor in place and that piece of the floor was waiting on me to design and build the mount for the loft crane (hoist).
The crane arrived in the middle of last week. It is a cheap Chinesium setup. I wanted to be able to lift a box of material that was going into storage in the loft. Nothing really heavy, just things that are awkward to carry up and down a ladder. My son and I agreed that items over a hundred pounds would not be going into the loft. But there were no instructions about how to mount the crane. (The typical use for the crane was in the bed of a pickup truck.)
The crane will be positioned over the wall between the office and bathroom the vertical load was not an issue; I built the wall with extra studs, ceiling joists and braces with the crane in mind. The floor plate of the crane is about ten by ten inches. I had to add some more cross braces between the joists. A picture of the braces is on my web site. After the crane is mounted to the floor, I’ll do some test lifts and to see if the crane is adequately supported.
I got my electric bill for the shop: $100 to run 4 PTAC heat pumps, the table saw, small air compressor, sanders, etc. Less than $3.00 a day. No complaints about that. When I think about it I’ll turn on the hot water heater.
Tomorrow I’ll lay the pipe for the down spouts and back fill that. All of this work is because the trucking company that is bringing the gravel to fill my mud hole/pond felt their truck would crush my drain lines if they weren’t deeper.
My two cents? The past couple days have seen more reasonable discussion and more sharing of personal experiences. Those are pluses. The absence of links to heavily-biased sources like The Daily Mail is, I think, a good thing. Set the political noise aside and let reasonable people just chat.
You are not reasonable and I doubt you know any reasonable people, except perhaps as targets you attack. You are a coward and unless you care to share some other nom-de-plume that you have used, the overwhelming evidence that remains, as well as that taken down but held in the archives, confirms that you have made not engaged in reasonable discussion, not shared of personal experience, nor made any contributions. Nick made a bigger contribution today with “open thread” than you could ever hope to aspire too. You are petty, mendacious, small, and without any visible merit accept as recruitment potential for the Biden administrations war on free civilization. There is no evidence that you have two cents, would recognize a good thing if it sat on you and squeezed you between the cracks of the floorboards, or have the ability to discriminate between a biased source and the laws of physics.
In response to your anticipated whining to Rick about enforcement of guidelines that you feel so free to violate, I am reminded of one of the fine amalgamations of the English and Spanish languages:
This morning we had a prediction of dry weather for two days to I got on the backhoe and dug the 50 foot long trench, then hand shoveled it so the pipes would have a even fall. Took about three hours – two on the hoe and one pushing the shovel. I’ll lay the pipe this evening or tomorrow morning when the sun is not directly overhead. Pictures are on my site http://fordfe.info/AL-Shop.html .
I like your shop ! Especially the insulation. My 3,750 ft2 office warehouse that I rent out does not have any insulation. So in the Feb 2021 freeze, my ¾ inch copper water pipe 16 feet off the ground (above the doors) froze and broke in three places even though the pipe itself is “insulated”.
If you use the index card trick there is one thing I forgot to mention: If a card placed flat against a rafter or truss would be perpendicular to your line of sight, fold it to an L-shape and staple the short leg, so the rest sticks out.
You might also consider using colored index cards, rather than plain white, it that provides better contrast.
Old wood in attics is notoriously tough. Use heavy-duty staples.
Maybe the Florida press will be pro-active and share the names of the surgeons they used to get reconstructive surgery on the new ones she ripped them.
The nice thing about mathematics is that, absent science fiction, it’s not going to blind, maim, or kill you. Randomly mixing chemicals in the laboratory or the toilet has the potential to do just that. Safety in the lab is paramount, and everyone who has spent years with chemicals can tell stories. I had a co-worker some 40 years ago that told of doing an experiment in a lab hood that wasn’t set for proper ventilation, and they got a whiff of phosgene gas that was generated. I saw hundreds of people evacuated from a research building because a PHD chemist had an “unexpected” raction occur when he was disposing of chemicals down the drain. A few years ago one of the top researchers in a particular area of chemistry was exposed to a lethal dose when the standard safety protocol turned out to be insufficient. Dead man walking with no antidote as is took the better part of a year to die.
A friend of mine’s Dad built and ran a benzene plant in Louisiana back in the 1960s. All of the guys would wash their hands in one of the benzene taps since it got their hands so clean. His dad would wash his hands in the benzene before walking home for lunch each day. They did not realize that human skin is porous and their bodies absorbed the benzene along with the grease and oil that they were washing off.
All of the guys at the plant died of various blood cancers within 20 years. His dad, the plant manager, was the last guy to die, knowing that all of the workers died of the same thing. They just did not know back then.
I got my electric bill for the shop: $100 to run 4 PTAC heat pumps, the table saw, small air compressor, sanders, etc. Less than $3.00 a day. No complaints about that. When I think about it I’ll turn on the hot water heater.
How big are the PTAC heat pumps ? I am still thinking about turning the back of my 32 foot by 32 foot garage into a air conditioned Texas Basement. The cost of the labor and materials still has me astonished at the moment for a 10 ft deep by 32 foot wide by 8 foot tall insulated room.
The FBI is politically corrupt and their laboratories have a history of making claims that do not hold up. Over a forty year time period they helped put hundreds of people in jail based in part on bullet chemical analysis, a technique that was later disproven and discontinued by the FBI. It is notable that they refused to assist in efforts to identify and revisit all such convictions.
So if the FBI is so corrupt, how much can the Rust analysis be trusted?
And I’d guess Baldwin’s attorney would have an issue with this ambiguity:
Unclear if they did this testing with the same exact gun Alec used, or a separate but identical one — but what the FBI notes in their reports is … that gun, when working properly, will not release a bullet and primer simultaneously by just fiddling with the hammer alone.
(emphasis mine)
So possibly not the actual Rust gun, and if not, no proof that the Rust gun didn’t still malfunction. Not a stretch that this evidence is not admitted.
After looking at SUSE pages for a bit I just went with tried and true Mint. It went well.
There were two issues:
(1) Clicking in the download link automatically grabs the version for your hardware, which is OSX 64 bit or Windows 64 bit. Annoying, but the trick is to google search for a Linux mirror site (I used clarkson.edu) and drill down to the release you want, in this case v.19.3, 32 bit, xfce, and download *that*.
Then burn with Rufus.
It installed easily, no issues there.
The other issue, (2), was the lack of a shutdown button. You have to right click on the main menu button, select the “Panel”, then select the power button from there. WTH? There’s an about 10 step process for putting it on the taskbar that I couldn’t be bothered with.
So if the FBI is so corrupt, how much can the Rust analysis be trusted?
Not a bit. (But note that such a conclusion regarding the mechanical inspection of a firearm is not dependent on pseudo-science like bullet analysis that was not based on published results.) If memory serves, this is the second such claim about this model of revolver, albeit the first from the FBI.
The authorities in NM would be prudent to have such an analysis made before deciding on charges. It may be “unclear” whether the FBI lab was acting on such a request, but if not it begs the question as to why they are inserting themselves into such a high profile case.
If I were hired to address the question in a civil case, there are several steps I would take, with the last one being a test of the actual revolver. I would expect that getting access (after the state made their charging decision and any trial was completed) would involve litigation including resistance from Baldwin’s attorneys.
And, BTW, if I were hired in such a capacity, the contract would include a stipulation that the full report go to both attorneys.
Also catching up on my local politics. Conservatives are splitting the vote again, this time over the House seat previously held by Don Young. Alaska voters approved rank voting recently, and conservatives are finding self destructive ways to not cooperate. One method is to vote their first candidate and refuse to rank or vote any further on the ballot. This will all but guarantee the single liberal candidate wins. I’ve held several conversations with folks planning on doing this. They understand it’s handing the vote to the liberal. They express their intent to put their values first and refuse to play the game.
>> Black cars are never clean. 5 seconds after you finish washing it, it’s dirty again.
Silver is the best color for not showing the dirt. I had only silver cars for years except for the two most recent which are white. A very popular color here in the desert.
Or I could buy three Taurus .357 revolvers. But the Pythons are so beautiful.
I have a 1970s Python, blued with the six-inch barrel. The bluing is a work of art, and the whole piece is a joy to shoot, and very accurate withal – within the limits of my wheelgunning ability. I ought to practise more, but have you seen the price of ammunition lately?
Tauri – my experience is that they work, but elegant they are not. Internal fit and finish is mediocre, but can be improved with a judicious fluff and buff. This side of the Pond, it is also very difficult to get replacement parts for them. A friend bought an “as new” .44 Mag Raging Bull, which turned out to be missing some internal small parts, including some of the bolt mechanism. I suspect the previous owner took it apart out of curiosity, had a “sproing” moment, and offloaded it pronto. Because of spare parts unavailability, I ended up buying another identical revolver to be able to see what my friend’s missing pieces looked like and duplicate them for him. Anybody want a cheap, never used .44?
Silver is the best color for not showing the dirt. I had only silver cars for years
I regard washing cars as a waste of time, effort and valuable water. I also stick to silver, and have done so for years. I would consider making an exception for my next shooting break – those ought to be hunter green.
@Jenny, sorry for the delay, here’s the mead recipe.
Mead Recipe
NB. all measurements are approximate doesn’t to become over analytical 🙂 You’ll also need a largish saucepan, enough to hold 4-6pints. I assume you have some sort of brewing vessel with an airlock (a second one is also handy but not required). This mead is dry-ish.
1 gallon of water, I usually just buy a gallon of spring water from the supermarket.
3.5 – 4lbs of honey, any will do, but if you can get something from a local farmers market with a bit more flavour like wildflower honey it’s good.
0.4 oz of wine yeast.
Fistful of raisins
One medium sized orange.
Take 3-4pints of water and warm in the saucepan, stir in the honey until it is disolved, you may need to up the heat a little, DO NOT BOIL.
Start the yeast in a cup with some warm water and teaspoon of your honey, should take 30mins or so.
When the honey is dissolved add it and the remaining water to the brewing vessel.
Blitz the raisins for a few seconds in a food processor or just smoosh them between two large spoons.
Squeeze out the juice from the orange.
Add the yeast, raisins and orange juice to the brewing vessel, stir well and fit the lid with airlock.
Place in a warm dark place 20C – 25C (68F – 77F).
Wait, first fermentation usually takes 3-4 weeks, just wait for the bubbles to stop.
Siphon the liquid into the second brewing vessel, I usually add a couple of tablespoons for honey dissolved in warm water as well. Seal with the airlock.
Secondary fermentation usually takes another couple of weeks, just be patient and wait for the mead to clear.
Sterilize your bottles (I use 330ml/ 0.5pint bottles sterilized with Miltons fluid, used in the UK to sterilize baby’s bottles etc.)
Fill you bottles and store in a dark place for however long your patience lasts, I’d say wait at least a couple of months. It lasts well, I’ve had some I’ve left for 2+yrs and it’s still delicious.
@PaultheManc, what’s the range on a fully charged battery before the ICE kicks in? Is it a plug-in hybrid?
Your question is based on a misunderstanding of what the battery is there to achieve. It is all about efficiency. e.g. when the engine kicks in, the total power is often not needed to drive the vehicle – so the engine runs at optimum efficiency and the excess power sent to the battery – when the battery is deemed to have sufficient energy, the ICE stops and the vehicle runs on battery only. i.e. the battery is only there as to enable optimised efficiency.
On the question of plug-in, no it is not plug-in. For me, I believe this capability would have been beneficial for my personal use (daily low mileage) but the designers have to have a target user in mind, and that is probably not me. Enabling plug-in means adding cost and means carrying extra weight around, which, depending on your target customer, may not be optimal. Design is always a compromise, as is my purchase of the Jazz. I believe the Jazz Hybrid is designed mainly for non-highway use, achieving around 60 miles per imperial gallon. On the highway, it still uses the battery to optimise efficiency and driver experience, again round numbers, 50mph = 70mpig, 60 mph = 60mpig, 70mph = 50mpig.
There are a couple of excellent Honda tutorials on the technology via Youtube if you wish to know more.
Nick, Please come back. We miss you.
Where’s the renaissance of “good news”, chemistry talk, and astronomy observations that was supposed to fill the vacuum?
You know, topics that were more some folks “cup of tea” than what took place here just a week ago.
Speaking of pharmacists: https://nypost.com/2022/08/12/walgreens-is-offering-up-to-75000-to-recruit-pharmacists-amid-shortage/
Daynotes is one of the first blogs on the net even before the term was invented. I suspect admins are conferring on ways and means to continue the commentariat feature without the recent unpleasantness. That’s my hope.
I took 2 semesters of chemistry in college and did well. Well enough that my tests were taken off the curve so as not to screw the remainder of the studii. I asked this about chemistry at the end: If you word a question a particular way, I can get the right answer, but how do you know what will happen if 2 materials are mixed? The answer: Experience.
I will never be a chemist.
It’s almost like chemistry isn’t a science, but rather a list of reactions and observations. I know there is more to it than that, but there is no unifying theory, rather a series of special cases and conditions. Very strange, in my mind.
I read something, nut i do not understand what is happening here
>”Where’s the renaissance of “good news”, chemistry talk, and astronomy observations that was supposed to fill the vacuum?”
Just to be clear, my comments on that subject were not intended to convey that I am unhappy with what Nick has been doing, and that extends to the regular commenters as well. I don’t know what Nick’s current situation is, but I hope he is just taking a well deserved break. Coming up with something to say every day is more than I could manage. I note that at least one commenter seems to be annoyed that Nick is not Bob, but complaining about that is useless, and making personal attacks is of no value. Bob was in the position of constantly trying lots of new things, and apparently had the ability to write about them at least ten times faster than I possibly could. I appreciate the time and effort that Nick puts in to keep this place open. It is a rare, if not unique, feat that he has made it survive Bob’s passing.
@Clayton W.
@ITGuy1998, @Lynn (partial reply to your earlier comments about organic chem)
People approach chemistry like mathematics, expecting the results to be tidy. That is sometimes true, but often not. A simple reaction of a strong acid and a base goes to completion and gives you an acid salt. Other reactions are not so clear-cut. Chemical equations are sometimes written with an “=” sign, which in not appropriate.
The correct symbol is an arrow, but there is not just one, but eight:
https://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2011/02/09/the-8-types-of-arrows-in-organic-chemistry-explained/
and the proper arrow to use in a given situation depends on knowing what happens with the reaction or being able to predict based on experience with similar reactions.
The website linked above has a pop-up that states:
Imagine taking calculus and getting to second semester and and having to know 180 trigonometric identities to master integration.
There’s a reason that calculus is used as an early course proxy to weed out students who don’t have the intelligence to be successful in complex subjects. There’s a reason that organic chemistry is not used.
The nice thing about mathematics is that, absent science fiction, it’s not going to blind, maim, or kill you. Randomly mixing chemicals in the laboratory or the toilet has the potential to do just that. Safety in the lab is paramount, and everyone who has spent years with chemicals can tell stories. I had a co-worker some 40 years ago that told of doing an experiment in a lab hood that wasn’t set for proper ventilation, and they got a whiff of phosgene gas that was generated. I saw hundreds of people evacuated from a research building because a PHD chemist had an “unexpected” raction occur when he was disposing of chemicals down the drain. A few years ago one of the top researchers in a particular area of chemistry was exposed to a lethal dose when the standard safety protocol turned out to be insufficient. Dead man walking with no antidote as is took the better part of a year to die.
I’ve noted the responses requesting more chemistry, and I have some ideas that I’m working up for practical, useful, and safe.
@Clayton W.
Our understanding of chemistry continues to evolve, largely due to better analytical methods. Undergraduate organic chemistry lab today is far more advanced than graduate classes were 40 years ago. Today up-front work is much more detailed, and once the experiment is performed the result can be analyzed in real-time with equipment that was not even available at national labs and large industrial laboratories in 1980.
“Chance favors the prepared mind.”― Louis Pasteur
If you look at the history of chemistry you find numerous examples of experiments that have produced products with unexpected properties. often the prepared mind was needed to recognize the opportunity. One of the famous examples said this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patsy_O%27Connell_Sherman
drwilliams>”Any homebrewers out there (I have a side bet on responses to that question) ?”
I used to get groups of friends together to brew every few months, but between getting involved with other things and not wanting to spread COVID, I haven’t made a batch in the last few years. My focus is more on refining the equipment and process and improving the economics than experimenting with all of the different types of beer, but I don’t mind experimenting with whatever my friends want to make. I made a few all-grain batches and made a few lagers, but I mostly stick to using malt syrup and making light ales. I did try using Fleischmann’s bread yeast once just to see how it would turn out. I thought it wasn’t bad, but no one has ever accused me of having a sensitive palate.
Re: boring Ancient Laptop update.
So, to recap, last time I had managed to get the passwords, and logged in. System was XP updated to Vista, and dog slow. The Wifi does work. (2x) 120GB drives.
—
Since last time I did a bit of online research: It is a 32 bit machine, so the Core2 T2400 can’t use any more ram than the 2GB that it already has.
Microsoft discontinued MSE for it, completely, in 2017, though a few patches have been issued. The last seems to be the removal of IE, though I didn’t bother trying to get it.
With zero free antivirus/antimalware available, Linux and DosEmu is probably the way to go.
Linux options need to be 32 bit as well, and 32 bit distributions are becoming a bit thin on the ground.
Mint 18 (EOL 2018, but I had it around), runs fine from a CD, wifi works. Currently the Mint people are supporting Mint 19 32-bit through April of 2023, then dropping it. Ram after install was 770MB of 2000.
I decided to try burning a Debian variant, despite always having issues with drivers with them, because they don’t look to be dropping 32-bit soon. It turns out that my CD burner on the laptop is shot. Perhaps I discovered this a while back, since it turns out that I do have RUFUS on that Win10 machine, and was able to “burn” to a USB stick.
So, recommended: Rufus for Windows.
I installed the current Debian-derived BunsenLabs 32-bit version “Lithium” onto a USB stick, since it seems low impact. It boots (once I changed the device boot order, and picked just-the-right-usb-slot), Wifi works (after I use the hardware switch to turn on/off once). Ram after install was 550MB of 2GB. Not bad.
There are warnings that power-savings and sleep don’t work, that’s expected, I’ve never seen Linux reliably do that.
—-
Future plans:
(1) Replace the spinning rust with a SSD that I have around in (if the controllers work),
(2) install BunsenLabs to the drive,
(3) Install Dosemu,
(4) Try out the abandonware educational programs that my friend wants to use,
(5) Get it the heck out of my house.
CowboyStu: Interesting. Thank you for the invite. Sounds neat.
I have tentative plans to be in NW Nevada, at the Massacre Ridge dark sky sanctuary for that day with friends, that is the dark-of-the-moon, but it isn’t completely locked down.
My first actual “vacation” in three (four?) years.
@JimM
I did try using Fleischmann’s bread yeast once just to see how it would turn out
There is a mead recipe floating around, Joe’s Ancient Orange Mead, that uses bread yeast. The gentleman that developed the recipe was making brewing, with mead as the gateway, more accessible. Get folks thru that initial first attempt, hook them, then get them to dig into the harder more rewarding brews. His idea was make it a low effort entry. All the ingredients and equipment were at the grocery store or already in the kitchen. I made a couple batches. It was drinkable if not “good”. It certainly peaked my interest.
We‘ve got a pair of crab apple trees, huge, 40-50 years old, that are heavy producers. Last year I picked up a press and made sweet cider. This year I’m going to take a stab at hard cider.
We have a lot of brewers in my area. Drinking isn’t quite an Olympic sport, but there is a great appreciation for a good beer, or other refreshing adult beverage. We’ve got a couple of local shops supporting home brew efforts. Nice folks. They‘ve expanded their offerings to support cheese making and fermenting. The cheese making is complicated by the difficulty of acquiring suitable milk.
I like to learn. I enjoy developing new skills. I am puzzled by folks who lack the curiosity or will to delve into something new.
That was pretty much my problem. That and the “usually or mostly” reactions. I have the same issue with Modern Physics. “Electrons get get trapped in an electric field, mostly. Except when they don’t.” See tunning diodes. Wait, what?
My podunk high school jumped on the AP band wagon my senior year. Took AP Calculus and AP English. Our local Junior College accepted the AP class as the first semester on the topic.
Math was brute force for me until that AP Calculus class. I loved it and dived in both feet, did my Calculus work first, genuinely enjoyed it. I think there were six or so seniors in that classroom, and a freshman. Brilliant young man. Our instructor was pretty good, she was new to teaching, first time she’d taught calculus. She had no ego. Sometimes she’d be teaching someth8ng and the only one comprehendI guess would be our pet freshman. She’d ask him to work a problem on the board. He’d talk us through it, and our brains would click.
I enjoyed that class thoroughly. Took me from loathing and dreading math to genuinely loving it.
Math is cool. It’s a shame it took that many classes before I figured that out.
People approach chemistry like mathematics, expecting the results to be tidy. That is sometimes true, but often not. A simple reaction of a strong acid and a base goes to completion and gives you an acid salt. Other reactions are not so clear-cut. Chemical equations are sometimes written with an “=” sign, which in not appropriate.
We model an incredible amount of chemical equations in our chemical engineering software. We support almost 1,300 chemical components such as methane, ethane, water, ethylene glycol, methanol, etc. I doubt we have 10% of known chemistry in our software. Probably more like 2%. We use known tools like Gibbs Free Energy handle our unknown equations. NASA has an awesome tool called CEA for modeling rocket engines, it handles solids, liquids, and vapors. They gave me the source code to it several years ago, I am going to add it to our software some day.
https://software.nasa.gov/software/LEW-17687-1
One of my partners, a PhD Chemical Engineer, estimated that less than 1% of organic chemistry is known publicly. He thought another 1% is known privately (data gathered but not published for competitive means). I have hundreds of books describing chemical equations and known properties of components. We call it our Wall Of Knowledge.
I’ve mentioned this Eric Gorges before:
https://www.woodcraft.com/blog_entries/profiles-eric-gorges-full-interview
He was the host and producer of “A Craftsman’s Legacy” (2014-2017) which can be seen on PBS or the wbsite:
https://www.craftsmanslegacy.com/episodes/season_1
I can’t imagine a job that would be much more fun, and the only defects in the show are that at 25 minutes it is way too short, and it only lasted 4 seasons. I don’t know why it ended, but I wish I’d made a couple suggestions for shows. A friend of mine made custom surgical instruments for a surgeon at a famous med school, and I think that would have made a good program.
If you visit the website he has a video on the homepage that is a tour of his custom motorcycle shop.
Loved that show. He seemed to have so much fun.
I’ll never be a chemist. WAY too much memorization!
I heard it said that you don’t really understand math until you take calculus. I enjoyed it. Not that even as an electrical engineer I actually USE it, mind you. I have solved exactly one calculus problem in my career: We needed to generate 20K g stress on a crystal and show the Phase Locked Loop stayed locked. We used a lathe and turned it off center to generate the G’s.
It is mid August and the rain is here. Fireweed is used as a local gauge for how early cold weather is arriving. Its anecdotally typical to see snow fly and below zero temps within weeks of the plant completing its bloom and going to fluff.
looking in my backyard, the Fireweed is bloomed out and gone to fluff.
I got many, not all, of my summer projects done. I need to ramp up my winter prep efforts. I need to decide if I’m going to lay in lots of hay, straw, shavings and pellets, for the rabbits and chickens. It could save me several hundred dollars and save some angst for supply issues (already experienced unavailability of these items). It could be an expensive boondoggle if the shrews and mice and squirrels destroy too much of it. Storing a sufficient quantity to make it worthwhile is not a simple proposition. In addition to vermin, there is risk of rot from moisture and the sheer space it takes. I don’t have a suitable outbuilding. Snow, thaw / freeze cycles, 60-80 mph winds, all weigh into storage complications. Plus cost of building materials up here. Thinking it through and running numbers and weighing benefits in light of other projects.
I will reduce chickens to three, to make room for spring birds, reduce fighting, lower feed bill. I will improve the insulation in their hen house. Considering options to reduce effort for watering them. They’ll stay in the front yard another winter. That won’t please the neighbors. Too bad.
I’ve already reduced the rabbits to existing growouts, two does and a buck. I’ve got one litter that didn’t gain as well as previous litters at three months but not ready for freezer camp. Another litter about a week old. I just rebred my best doe. I‘ll rebreed the other doe at the end of the month and those will be my last 2022 litters. I’ll breed again around end of January. I’ve decided to carry the carport shelter another winter. Balancing the other projects against the rabbit shelter, the other projects took priority.
We still have a window of time to insulate the attic. I’m of the mind we need to get it done. Husband is looking at running new electric, network cables, etc, first. it would absolutely be easier and better to do before new insulation however we don’t have time or resources to do both. In the mean time we had a lot of heat loss last winter and some hefty energy bills.
Potatoes will wait until September. I need to either plant the apples or get them into bigger containers. And decide if we are overwintering them or sending them to the nursery.
An acquaintance is requesting help setting up a pay system on their web page. Not my strong suit so I’m trying to think of who would tackle it more efficiently and be willing to trade for her uniquely local skills. I really don’t want the work.
Rainy Saturday, no rest for the wicked.
WRT to fruits, I bought a new one today at Trader Joe’s, Plumcots. Part plum and part apricot, quite tasty. 5 in the container and I will not have trouble finishing it.
@Lynn
I can’t speak to the correctness of 1% for organic chemistry, or the 1%/1% ratio for public/privately held knowledge. Over almost fifty years in development of one sort or another I was at the forefront of several technologies. Reading contemporaneous patents in those areas was often painful. First because the patent examiners did not have the historical background and neither did the applicants, resulting in patents being issued that could have been easily contested in court on the basis of prior disclosure*. Second because the “new” idea was the nth discovery of something unpublished that was 5, 10, or even 20 years in the past to the leading researchers in the field.
*Probably worse now with the attitude that if it’s not on the internet, it doesn’t exist.
@CowboyStu
A friedns recommended plumcots about five years ago, and I agree–very tasty.
I will have to look for them if they are in season.
Speaking of EVs (okay, just made that up), @lynn, how does your colleague like his new LEAF?
Anyone else out here besides me (2018 LEAF SL) currently driving an EV or seriously considering buying one?
@Jenny: An acquaintance is requesting help setting up a pay system on their web page.
I’ve done this on several sites with PayPal payment buttons. Fairly easy to set up, although you have to create individual buttons.
If it is a WordPress site, there are PayPal (and other) plugins. Or WooCommerce if they are selling products.
If not WordPress, but PHP is OK, there are PHP ‘classes’ that you get get on GitHub that will reduce the work needed.
I have sites set up with PayPal on WordPress and PHP sites. Although PayPal takes a commission, they also handle all of the payment security requirements – which can be significant.
@JimM: Home brewer here. I brew 20 liters about every two weeks. Why do you ask?
FWIW, despite being an engineer, I pay little attention to fancy measurements, I just brew what I like, and when a recipe works, I keep it. At present, I have the following beers on the shelf: Pilsner, Kloster, Weizen, Dark Weizen, IPA, Dark IPA, Belgian, and Porter.
Today, I brewed the next round of the Belgian ale. The first two attempts were…not good. The third attempt was ok. A few minor adaptations, and I hope this round will be actually good.
@jenny
About 20 years ago I added insulation to an attic ahead of making some changes in electrical. Partway through I realized that it was going to be much more difficult to navigate, so I used a crude plum bob to locate and staple 3×5 index cards with arrows and sharpie notes to rafters so I could locate some things. Anticipated a new ceiling light and fan for one room, I located the future position, installed a 2×6 brace between ceiling joists, and drilled a ¼” pilot hole that I plugged with a short bolt painted white on the end. You could see it if you looked, and I figured that if I lost it I could find it again with a studfinder. The bedroom ceiling that was insulated before I planned ahead was a lot messier to add the fan to later.
>> An acquaintance is requesting help setting up a pay system on their web page. Not my strong suit so I’m trying to think of who would tackle it more efficiently and be willing to trade for her uniquely local skills. I really don’t want the work.
@Jenny, would using a hosted payment gateway (e.g. PayPal, Stripe, etc.) simplify things for whoever winds up doing the work?
@Brad
Sounds like you should be the one posting about home brewing.
@RickH, @Alan
hosted payment gateway (e.g. PayPal, Stripe, etc.) simplify things for whoever winds up doing the work
Absolutely. So naturally the acquaintance refuses those options -facepalm-
I’ve set up those solutions. Quick and easy. More expensive for the seller. I understand the reluctance. It’s annoying though. And the security piece worries me. I’ve explained these things to her but she’s one of those that gets an idea in her head and can’t be shifted.
@drwilliams
index cards, attic
Brilliant and elegant in simplicity. I’ll float this idea and see if we can get that insulation in after all.
Speaking of EVs (okay, just made that up), @lynn, how does your colleague like his new LEAF?
Anyone else out here besides me (2018 LEAF SL) currently driving an EV or seriously considering buying one?
His Nissan Leaf Plus is a 2023 model that costs $42K plus taxes. 240 hp electric motor, 60 kwh battery (200+ miles), and a separate heat pump system (the old electric heater was a battery killer). He loves the vehicle and plans on driving it for 15 years. The funky wheels are growing on me. Hits 60 mph in four seconds. The only thing he does not like is the black color.
@Lynn
Because it is black or because it is hot getting in (due to not using the neweest IR-reflective black paints).
@jenny – any site that takes credit cards will need to ensure PCI compliance, as you probably know. And there will be a fee for every transaction if credit card is used. Potential for big fines and lawsuits and more if you don’t do PCI right.
PCI compliance is not something you want to try to do on your own. There are payment systems that you can hand off the credit card processing to like PayPal. Which is the smartest thing to do.
If someone asked me to develop a payment system without using an external PCI-compliant process, I would refuse. Or quote some very outrageous price. Even then, probably wouldn’t do it.
So, they get PayPal or Stripe or whatever; I’ll do that. If not, they don’t get it from me – I would decline the ‘offer’ to develop something for them.
I suspect you already know this, though.
Thanks for the invitation, the most gracious libation offer, and especially the two week notice. I am slightly farther than @dkreck, but not nearly as far as @Jenny. I haven’t given up on meeting you. It will happen eventually. I will raise a glass in spirit this time.
My 100 YO aunt passed in February, so our trips to your area are greatly diminished. Today is her burial ceremony in Minnesota. I am there in only in spirit.
The first Robert Francis yard sign sprouted in my neighborhood this weekend.
Quite a change from four years ago, when it seemed like every other house had one.
>”Today, I brewed the next round of the Belgian ale. The first two attempts were…not good. The third attempt was ok. A few minor adaptations, and I hope this round will be actually good. ”
I have yet to pour any of my brews down the drain, although a couple came pretty close. My system is based on converted kegs, so I can brew up to ten gallons in a batch. I’m planning to look into making soft drinks for a few friends who avoid alcohol. My father made root beer a couple of times when I was a kid, but we didn’t keep up with it.
My parents made root beer a couple of times. One batch was epic. They stored it in the tool shed part of the chicken coop. I have no idea why, but, middle of a Texas summer?
Hoo wee. Great stuff. Still drunk the next day.
I bought a beer kit from Sam’s Club once. It was a bag and by memory you boiled water, let it cool, and pour it into the bag. Shake it up and let it sit for a couple or three weeks. Never did that again. It was foul stuff.
The theory in chemistry is physical chemistry. That’s the intersection of quantum and atomic physics with chemistry. Very, very difficult subject.
I wonder how the electric work at the lake house is going.
I wonder lots of things. Right now, what’s for supper? I’ll go rummage in the freezer. I have stuff. Meatballs, ravioli, pork loin slices and chicken tenders. Plus more in the big freezer.
None of it sounds good.
What sounds good is a few boiled eggs. Peel while hot, smash with a fork and add butter and salt and pepper.
Fajitas on the grill sound great A pot of my chili (vs Wolf Brand) sounds good.
But I think meatballs in brown gravy with a handful of rice in the frying pan is what is happening. Maybe macaroni.
@Lynn
Because it is black or because it is hot getting in (due to not using the neweest IR-reflective black paints).
He wanted any color but black. Not sure why other than his choice. He wanted the car more than the color though. He puts a huge silver reflector in the front window.
Are you still in negotiation about charging the vehicle at the office?
Production on those was rumored to be ending soon if it hasn’t happened already.
>>Because it is black or because it is hot getting in (due to not using the neweest IR-reflective black paints). <<
Now that’s kind of cool. Is it only the IR frequencies which result in heat? I suppose either side of that creates a bit of heat but it’s all concentrated in the IR range? Somewhat related is the running debate I have with my cousin. He’s a big fan of astrophysics and he’s always looking up. Me? I I look down. I like tide pools. I think $uper colliders and trying to figure out what makes stars tick is a waste of time. I think money could be better spent on Materials Science and understanding what’s right beneath our feet. Like IR reflecting paint. That’s cool! How do chickens make their shells so thin? How do they make them at all? It’s just calcium carbonate. Certain plants incorporate silica into their cell structure. How do they do that? What kind of use could we make of that mechanism?
Black cars are never clean. 5 seconds after you finish washing it, it’s dirty again.
~jim
No. Solar energy at ground level is roughly 50% IR, 45% visible, and 5% UV.
The appearance of color is the interaction with the visible part, so for black those wavelengths are absorbed. If a coating is engineered to reflect the IR the temperature can be much lower. Carbon blacks are inexpensive pigments and absorb about 95% of solar radiation while reflecting about 5%. Other black pigments are more expensive, such as iron manganese oxide and chromium hematite, and reflect part or most of the IR. The best results are obtained from layered coatings the put a very good IR reflective pigment under a topcoat of IR transparent organic black pigment.
FBI disproves Baldwins key claim in Rust shooting:
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2022/08/13/alec-baldwins-big-claim-about-rust-shooting-just-got-busted-by-forensics-n611694
The FBI is politically corrupt and their laboratories have a history of making claims that do not hold up. Over a forty year time period they helped put hundreds of people in jail based in part on bullet chemical analysis, a technique that was later disproven and discontinued by the FBI. It is notable that they refused to assist in efforts to identify and revisit all such convictions.
Nick, Please come back. We miss you.
Maybe Nick is testing us to see if we can play nicely among ourselves without his constant supervision.
>> Production on those was rumored to be ending soon if it hasn’t happened already.
The LEAF will be around for another couple of years…
https://insideevs.com/news/598303/report-nissan-leaf-phased-out/
https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2022/08/13/breakthrough-ignition-confirmed-at-california-fusion-reactor-n489445
So the U.S will continue to invest billions in this research every year with no discernable benefit for another half-century?
How about we pull the plug on this one, like we did with synfuels and the super-collider?
We’ll have a trillion dollars invested and then the commies in our government will hand it over to their Chinese friends. No thanks.
I can’t comment on EV, but I can on the Honda Jazz (Fit) hybrid. I have had mine for a few months now, having bought it in part because I really liked the technology. It has a relatively small battery, which it uses to maximise the efficiency of the car along with an Atkinson Cycle ICE. I think it does a great job and would definitely recommend the technology, which is also used in other of their vehicles such as the CR-V. Not a perfect vehicle, but happy with my choice.
Sure, but shade is much better. 😉
Same for those reflective things inside the windshield. A white canvas window cover is better.
Ugh. Looks like the Bunsen distro is a no go, the only web browser is something called, I kid you not, dillo, and it can’t open basic pages. the package manager can’t find chrome or Firefox at their site.
Not ready for prime time.
Oh well. Back to Suse or Mint I guess. Enough is enough. Waste of an afternoon I could have spent reading science fiction.
>> I can’t comment on EV, but I can on the Honda Jazz (Fit) hybrid. I have had mine for a few months now, having bought it in part because I really liked the technology. It has a relatively small battery, which it uses to maximise the efficiency of the car along with an Atkinson Cycle ICE. I think it does a great job and would definitely recommend the technology, which is also used in other of their vehicles such as the CR-V. Not a perfect vehicle, but happy with my choice.
@PaultheManc, what’s the range on a fully charged battery before the ICE kicks in? Is it a plug-in hybrid?
Are you still in negotiation about charging the vehicle at the office?
Production on those was rumored to be ending soon if it hasn’t happened already.
He just charges it on the weekend. He has a 200+ mile battery and only drive 15 to 20 miles per day.
He got his car. There are others getting theirs. The car is in very high demand.
Speaking of EVs (okay, just made that up), @lynn, how does your colleague like his new LEAF?
Anyone else out here besides me (2018 LEAF SL) currently driving an EV or seriously considering buying one?
My cousin bought a Tesla 3 dual motor 130 kwh battery in 2019 for $69K. He has about 30,000 miles on it. Loves it with a serious passion. He replaced a ten year Honda Civic and a 15 year old Mustang GT 5.0 V8 with it. The Telsa goes zero to 60 mph in 3 seconds in sport mode.
I will reduce chickens to three, to make room for spring birds, reduce fighting, lower feed bill. I will improve the insulation in their hen house. Considering options to reduce effort for watering them. They’ll stay in the front yard another winter. That won’t please the neighbors. Too bad.
The wife and I went to an open house this afternoon in our neighborhood. There was a chicken coop in the backyard with three chickens in it. I was surprised as our HOA forbids chickens but allows horses. It was kind of a funny looking coop, kinda temporary looking.
https://www.har.com/homedetail/5842-sagamore-bay-ln-richmond-tx-77469/10650062?lid=7147328
My two cents? The past couple days have seen more reasonable discussion and more sharing of personal experiences. Those are pluses. The absence of links to heavily-biased sources like The Daily Mail is, I think, a good thing. Set the political noise aside and let reasonable people just chat.
“JK Rowling’s death threat from Iran-supporting Islamic extremist DID NOT violate Twitter’s rules after the vile troll warned ‘you are next’ in response to her support of stabbed author Salman Rushdie”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11108543/JK-Rowling-gets-DEATH-THREAT-Islamist-Salman-Rushdie-attack.html
You know, Twitter is just a bunch of scum. If Musk does take charge, I suspect that he will clean house top to bottom.
@lynn
chickens
That’s a fancy looking house for chickens. Really cool. Chickens seem to lend themselves to temporary. I’ve seen some chicken chalets that were lovely. More often kinda temporary looking is the rule of the day.
Floated the index card / mark the important spots in the attic space. After a bit of quiet thought there was a ‘yes, that’ll work’. I’m relieved. I still need to go up there and -do- it. My height makes me uniquely suited for the task and I don’t mind. I’d hoped to do the work ourselves however with winter and higher bills looming I’ll call for quotes instead. It’s not a big or complicated space, mostly. For some reason, there are 4×8 sheets of plywood on the web of the trusses, all the way down. It is a shallow attic. I cannot pass from the center aisle of the attic space to the edges, the plywood prevents. We consulted and the plywood is not structural, it is providing storage space. Nonetheless, it is in the way of adding insulation and will need to be addressed.
I need to spend some time on the chickens. I’ve just been told that the nipples of their waterer are not delivering water. There are number of potential causes. This may be the kick in the hiney to come up with a plan b for winter water, though.
Bean soup made out of whatever is in the fridge for dinner tonight. Or pizza. We will see.
Bean soup made out of whatever is in the fridge for dinner tonight. Or pizza. We will see.
I did not get my corn fritters this morning. The wife called an audible and made banana cinnamon walnut pancakes this morning. After mild protestations I put some blueberry jam (suggested by the wife) on top of them and managed to get them down in about a minute or two.
I need to spend some time on the chickens. I’ve just been told that the nipples of their waterer are not delivering water. There are number of potential causes. This may be the kick in the hiney to come up with a plan b for winter water, though.
“How to Speak Chicken: Why Your Chickens Do What They Do & Say What They Say ”
https://www.amazon.com/How-Speak-Chicken-Your-Chickens/dp/1612129110?tag=ttgnet-20/
@Lynn
The wife called an audible and made banana cinnamon walnut pancakes this morning. After mild protestations I put some blueberry jam (suggested by the wife) on top of them and managed to get them down in about a minute or two.
Sometimes you just have to soldier on.
Thursday night the Friday weather prediction for Millbrook (Montgomery, AL) was scattered rain heavy at times. So I went to bed planning on working inside on the shop.
Friday morning the prediction had changed to cloudy no rain, for a couple of days. I needed to do some yard work (first time in months) and solve a drainage problem so I started with the yard cutting down some 3’ to 6’ weeds and clearing the vines in the drainage problem area. I dug up the 4-inch corrugated pipes that were too close to the surface and needed to be at least a foot in the ground not the 4 inches I had them. At 11:00 as I was headed for the backhoe the rain came down in buckets. The mud hole I wanted to fix was soon a pond.
I went in the house and fiddled with Gimp, Arachnophilia (an HTML text editor -(yes, I build my site with just a text editor), and FileZilla, installing updates relearning how to up date my site (again something I had not done in six months or more).
After lunch I saw that the pond had drained but was still too wet so I worked on the loft, drilling holes for electrical wiring and stringing it, which let me finish screwing down most of the OSB. I also finished putting up the last of the plywood on the wall between the shop and office area. Made some measurements and decided how I would build the landing at the top of the loft ladder.
This morning we had a prediction of dry weather for two days to I got on the backhoe and dug the 50 foot long trench, then hand shoveled it so the pipes would have a even fall. Took about three hours – two on the hoe and one pushing the shovel. I’ll lay the pipe this evening or tomorrow morning when the sun is not directly overhead. Pictures are on my site http://fordfe.info/AL-Shop.html .
After lunch I worked on the loft. The edge of the floor OSB over hung the wall at an angle that my son and I decided we would cut after it was fastened down. I thought it would be easy: measure the floor, figure out the offset needed to align the circular saw blade with the edge of the wall, nail a guide board to the floor, set the depth of cut to the thickness of the OSB, and make the cut.
Wrong. I started the cut but did not hear the blade making contact with the OSB. Checked all of my measurements. They were correct. Tried again. A little bit of contact at angle. Unplugged the saw as I didn’t want it to accidently start while I fiddled with it to see what was wrong. My son had a problem with this (his) portable saw last weekend. Took some time to pin down the problem: the motor and blade would flex away from the frame of the saw when you pushed the saw along the guide board. Moved the guide board and made a trial cut, moved the guide board again and the trial cut was where I expected it to be and finally was able to make my cut. A 15 minute task took almost an hour.
Next was building the landing for the ladder. I’ve never done this but wanted to step from the ladder to a landing next to the ladder, so you didn’t have to step around the ladder as you got on or off. Not sure how deep or wide the landing should be. Decided that 21 inch or so would be wide enough as the ladder was only 16 inches wide. I’ll also decided I would build a temporary landing out of scrap so I could test fit it. But I need the floor in place and that piece of the floor was waiting on me to design and build the mount for the loft crane (hoist).
The crane arrived in the middle of last week. It is a cheap Chinesium setup. I wanted to be able to lift a box of material that was going into storage in the loft. Nothing really heavy, just things that are awkward to carry up and down a ladder. My son and I agreed that items over a hundred pounds would not be going into the loft. But there were no instructions about how to mount the crane. (The typical use for the crane was in the bed of a pickup truck.)
The crane will be positioned over the wall between the office and bathroom the vertical load was not an issue; I built the wall with extra studs, ceiling joists and braces with the crane in mind. The floor plate of the crane is about ten by ten inches. I had to add some more cross braces between the joists. A picture of the braces is on my web site. After the crane is mounted to the floor, I’ll do some test lifts and to see if the crane is adequately supported.
I got my electric bill for the shop: $100 to run 4 PTAC heat pumps, the table saw, small air compressor, sanders, etc. Less than $3.00 a day. No complaints about that. When I think about it I’ll turn on the hot water heater.
Tomorrow I’ll lay the pipe for the down spouts and back fill that. All of this work is because the trucking company that is bringing the gravel to fill my mud hole/pond felt their truck would crush my drain lines if they weren’t deeper.
@Naned
My two cents? The past couple days have seen more reasonable discussion and more sharing of personal experiences. Those are pluses. The absence of links to heavily-biased sources like The Daily Mail is, I think, a good thing. Set the political noise aside and let reasonable people just chat.
You are not reasonable and I doubt you know any reasonable people, except perhaps as targets you attack. You are a coward and unless you care to share some other nom-de-plume that you have used, the overwhelming evidence that remains, as well as that taken down but held in the archives, confirms that you have made not engaged in reasonable discussion, not shared of personal experience, nor made any contributions. Nick made a bigger contribution today with “open thread” than you could ever hope to aspire too. You are petty, mendacious, small, and without any visible merit accept as recruitment potential for the Biden administrations war on free civilization. There is no evidence that you have two cents, would recognize a good thing if it sat on you and squeezed you between the cracks of the floorboards, or have the ability to discriminate between a biased source and the laws of physics.
In response to your anticipated whining to Rick about enforcement of guidelines that you feel so free to violate, I am reminded of one of the fine amalgamations of the English and Spanish languages:
shovito
This morning we had a prediction of dry weather for two days to I got on the backhoe and dug the 50 foot long trench, then hand shoveled it so the pipes would have a even fall. Took about three hours – two on the hoe and one pushing the shovel. I’ll lay the pipe this evening or tomorrow morning when the sun is not directly overhead. Pictures are on my site http://fordfe.info/AL-Shop.html .
I like your shop ! Especially the insulation. My 3,750 ft2 office warehouse that I rent out does not have any insulation. So in the Feb 2021 freeze, my ¾ inch copper water pipe 16 feet off the ground (above the doors) froze and broke in three places even though the pipe itself is “insulated”.
https://www.winsim.com/warehouse_west_side.jpg
https://www.winsim.com/warehouse_east_side.jpg
@jenny
If you use the index card trick there is one thing I forgot to mention: If a card placed flat against a rafter or truss would be perpendicular to your line of sight, fold it to an L-shape and staple the short leg, so the rest sticks out.
You might also consider using colored index cards, rather than plain white, it that provides better contrast.
Old wood in attics is notoriously tough. Use heavy-duty staples.
Christina Pushaw is changing jobs:
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3598340-desantis-press-secretary-christina-pushaw-resigns-from-governors-office-to-join-his-campaign/
Maybe the Florida press will be pro-active and share the names of the surgeons they used to get reconstructive surgery on the new ones she ripped them.
The nice thing about mathematics is that, absent science fiction, it’s not going to blind, maim, or kill you. Randomly mixing chemicals in the laboratory or the toilet has the potential to do just that. Safety in the lab is paramount, and everyone who has spent years with chemicals can tell stories. I had a co-worker some 40 years ago that told of doing an experiment in a lab hood that wasn’t set for proper ventilation, and they got a whiff of phosgene gas that was generated. I saw hundreds of people evacuated from a research building because a PHD chemist had an “unexpected” raction occur when he was disposing of chemicals down the drain. A few years ago one of the top researchers in a particular area of chemistry was exposed to a lethal dose when the standard safety protocol turned out to be insufficient. Dead man walking with no antidote as is took the better part of a year to die.
A friend of mine’s Dad built and ran a benzene plant in Louisiana back in the 1960s. All of the guys would wash their hands in one of the benzene taps since it got their hands so clean. His dad would wash his hands in the benzene before walking home for lunch each day. They did not realize that human skin is porous and their bodies absorbed the benzene along with the grease and oil that they were washing off.
All of the guys at the plant died of various blood cancers within 20 years. His dad, the plant manager, was the last guy to die, knowing that all of the workers died of the same thing. They just did not know back then.
I got my electric bill for the shop: $100 to run 4 PTAC heat pumps, the table saw, small air compressor, sanders, etc. Less than $3.00 a day. No complaints about that. When I think about it I’ll turn on the hot water heater.
How big are the PTAC heat pumps ? I am still thinking about turning the back of my 32 foot by 32 foot garage into a air conditioned Texas Basement. The cost of the labor and materials still has me astonished at the moment for a 10 ft deep by 32 foot wide by 8 foot tall insulated room.
>> FBI disproves Baldwins key claim in Rust shooting:
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2022/08/13/alec-baldwins-big-claim-about-rust-shooting-just-got-busted-by-forensics-n611694
The FBI is politically corrupt and their laboratories have a history of making claims that do not hold up. Over a forty year time period they helped put hundreds of people in jail based in part on bullet chemical analysis, a technique that was later disproven and discontinued by the FBI. It is notable that they refused to assist in efforts to identify and revisit all such convictions.
So if the FBI is so corrupt, how much can the Rust analysis be trusted?
And I’d guess Baldwin’s attorney would have an issue with this ambiguity:
(emphasis mine)
So possibly not the actual Rust gun, and if not, no proof that the Rust gun didn’t still malfunction. Not a stretch that this evidence is not admitted.
@Robert “Bob” Sprowl
Thanks for the update.
Photos show car with 6 speakers mounted on roof that Wilmington police said caused noise complaints in 3 towns
https://www.masslive.com/police-fire/2022/08/photos-show-car-with-6-speakers-mounted-on-roof-that-wilmington-police-said-caused-noise-complaints-in-3-towns.html
Nothing a fire hose couldn’t take car of.
Ancient Laptop update:
After looking at SUSE pages for a bit I just went with tried and true Mint. It went well.
There were two issues:
(1) Clicking in the download link automatically grabs the version for your hardware, which is OSX 64 bit or Windows 64 bit. Annoying, but the trick is to google search for a Linux mirror site (I used clarkson.edu) and drill down to the release you want, in this case v.19.3, 32 bit, xfce, and download *that*.
Then burn with Rufus.
It installed easily, no issues there.
The other issue, (2), was the lack of a shutdown button. You have to right click on the main menu button, select the “Panel”, then select the power button from there. WTH? There’s an about 10 step process for putting it on the taskbar that I couldn’t be bothered with.
Next, Dosbox…
“Colt Python with 3-Inch Barrel: The Snakelet Returns”
https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/colt-python-3-inch-barrel-review/463259
Me want one. Only $1,500. “snicker”.
Or I could buy three Taurus .357 revolvers. But the Pythons are so beautiful.
@Alan
Not a bit. (But note that such a conclusion regarding the mechanical inspection of a firearm is not dependent on pseudo-science like bullet analysis that was not based on published results.) If memory serves, this is the second such claim about this model of revolver, albeit the first from the FBI.
The authorities in NM would be prudent to have such an analysis made before deciding on charges. It may be “unclear” whether the FBI lab was acting on such a request, but if not it begs the question as to why they are inserting themselves into such a high profile case.
If I were hired to address the question in a civil case, there are several steps I would take, with the last one being a test of the actual revolver. I would expect that getting access (after the state made their charging decision and any trial was completed) would involve litigation including resistance from Baldwin’s attorneys.
And, BTW, if I were hired in such a capacity, the contract would include a stipulation that the full report go to both attorneys.
Colt Python with 3-Inch Barrel chambered in ,357
Not sure whether Elmer Keith would laugh or give a one-word evaluation.
Colt Python with 3-Inch Barrel chambered in ,357
Not sure whether Elmer Keith would laugh or give a one-word evaluation.
Most definitely a better shoot than my .44 special Charter Bulldog with the one inch barrel.
This was an interesting article comparing rate of maternal deaths in the 14 months before and 14 months following Covid lockdowns. It amounts to an extra death per week across the country if I did my math right.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11106785/Maternal-deaths-increased-staggering-68-COVID-19-pandemic.html
Also catching up on my local politics. Conservatives are splitting the vote again, this time over the House seat previously held by Don Young. Alaska voters approved rank voting recently, and conservatives are finding self destructive ways to not cooperate. One method is to vote their first candidate and refuse to rank or vote any further on the ballot. This will all but guarantee the single liberal candidate wins. I’ve held several conversations with folks planning on doing this. They understand it’s handing the vote to the liberal. They express their intent to put their values first and refuse to play the game.
I‘d have more understanding but there is no plan to go with this action to overturn the rank choice voting. Another contingent is trumpeting “Rank the Red” ticking off the “Vote your Values” crowd. Here we are again, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
https://mustreadalaska.com/notes-from-the-trail-kenai-classic-a-nasty-zoom-bomb-at-a-native-forum-and-keeping-up-with-candidates/
>> He wanted any color but black. Not sure why other than his choice. He wanted the car more than the color though.
He just needs it painted blacker black.
>> Black cars are never clean. 5 seconds after you finish washing it, it’s dirty again.
Silver is the best color for not showing the dirt. I had only silver cars for years except for the two most recent which are white. A very popular color here in the desert.
I have a 1970s Python, blued with the six-inch barrel. The bluing is a work of art, and the whole piece is a joy to shoot, and very accurate withal – within the limits of my wheelgunning ability. I ought to practise more, but have you seen the price of ammunition lately?
Tauri – my experience is that they work, but elegant they are not. Internal fit and finish is mediocre, but can be improved with a judicious fluff and buff. This side of the Pond, it is also very difficult to get replacement parts for them. A friend bought an “as new” .44 Mag Raging Bull, which turned out to be missing some internal small parts, including some of the bolt mechanism. I suspect the previous owner took it apart out of curiosity, had a “sproing” moment, and offloaded it pronto. Because of spare parts unavailability, I ended up buying another identical revolver to be able to see what my friend’s missing pieces looked like and duplicate them for him. Anybody want a cheap, never used .44?
I regard washing cars as a waste of time, effort and valuable water. I also stick to silver, and have done so for years. I would consider making an exception for my next shooting break – those ought to be hunter green.
Thanks to whoever added the link to https://www.craftsmanslegacy.com/episodes/season_1
I love those kinds of documentary videos. Here are some other links to old handcrafts:
Hands: Old Irish Craftwork
https://youtu.be/14MR9xONaMg
Eugenio Monesma
https://youtube.com/c/eugeniomonesma
You might also like Jack Hargreaves’ short documentary films
https://youtube.com/c/DaveKnowlesFilmmaker
And Norm Abrams’ New Yankee Workshop.
>> https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2022/08/13/breakthrough-ignition-confirmed-at-california-fusion-reactor-n489445
So the U.S will continue to invest billions in this research every year with no discernable benefit for another half-century?
You’re obviously forgetting the huge benefits to all of the politicians from California!
@Jenny, sorry for the delay, here’s the mead recipe.
Mead Recipe
NB. all measurements are approximate doesn’t to become over analytical 🙂 You’ll also need a largish saucepan, enough to hold 4-6pints. I assume you have some sort of brewing vessel with an airlock (a second one is also handy but not required). This mead is dry-ish.
1 gallon of water, I usually just buy a gallon of spring water from the supermarket.
3.5 – 4lbs of honey, any will do, but if you can get something from a local farmers market with a bit more flavour like wildflower honey it’s good.
0.4 oz of wine yeast.
Fistful of raisins
One medium sized orange.
Take 3-4pints of water and warm in the saucepan, stir in the honey until it is disolved, you may need to up the heat a little, DO NOT BOIL.
Start the yeast in a cup with some warm water and teaspoon of your honey, should take 30mins or so.
When the honey is dissolved add it and the remaining water to the brewing vessel.
Blitz the raisins for a few seconds in a food processor or just smoosh them between two large spoons.
Squeeze out the juice from the orange.
Add the yeast, raisins and orange juice to the brewing vessel, stir well and fit the lid with airlock.
Place in a warm dark place 20C – 25C (68F – 77F).
Wait, first fermentation usually takes 3-4 weeks, just wait for the bubbles to stop.
Siphon the liquid into the second brewing vessel, I usually add a couple of tablespoons for honey dissolved in warm water as well. Seal with the airlock.
Secondary fermentation usually takes another couple of weeks, just be patient and wait for the mead to clear.
Sterilize your bottles (I use 330ml/ 0.5pint bottles sterilized with Miltons fluid, used in the UK to sterilize baby’s bottles etc.)
Fill you bottles and store in a dark place for however long your patience lasts, I’d say wait at least a couple of months. It lasts well, I’ve had some I’ve left for 2+yrs and it’s still delicious.
@Alan
Your question is based on a misunderstanding of what the battery is there to achieve. It is all about efficiency. e.g. when the engine kicks in, the total power is often not needed to drive the vehicle – so the engine runs at optimum efficiency and the excess power sent to the battery – when the battery is deemed to have sufficient energy, the ICE stops and the vehicle runs on battery only. i.e. the battery is only there as to enable optimised efficiency.
On the question of plug-in, no it is not plug-in. For me, I believe this capability would have been beneficial for my personal use (daily low mileage) but the designers have to have a target user in mind, and that is probably not me. Enabling plug-in means adding cost and means carrying extra weight around, which, depending on your target customer, may not be optimal. Design is always a compromise, as is my purchase of the Jazz. I believe the Jazz Hybrid is designed mainly for non-highway use, achieving around 60 miles per imperial gallon. On the highway, it still uses the battery to optimise efficiency and driver experience, again round numbers, 50mph = 70mpig, 60 mph = 60mpig, 70mph = 50mpig.
There are a couple of excellent Honda tutorials on the technology via Youtube if you wish to know more.
@Norman
mead
Thank you sir – I look forward to trying this. Straightforward recipe, looks pretty reliable. And tasty. Much appreciate your sharing.