Nirvana

Remember that Buddha guy who claimed shedding all your desires is the way to happiness? Maybe he was right, I've just achieved true Nirvana myself. And I did it with a 52 inch TV, HD cable and a DVR. I'm recording the U.S. Open (tennis) on one channel while watching Barca play Sporting Gijon on the other, and recording that too! The wife will appreciate the tennis, and just now I was able to replay the lovely header that Keita (Mali) nodded in for a Barca goal. I was making a sandwich at the time, but didn't really miss a thing!

Added to all that, my plumbing career is over, at least for a while. Last task was to hacksaw off a sink faucet that was too rusted to unscrew and it must have been at least 30C in that upstairs bathroom. Dripping with sweat after a few minutes of that.

Just one feature I'd like on the DVR, when I'm watching a show why can't I fast forward into the future. I know this match is a replay, after all the game was played yesterday, so just let me skip halftime and I'll pick up from there. But then I would have missed yesterday's highlights which included a Kaka goal and Renaldo penalty kick. I guess those millions are already paying off for Real (big budget) Madrid.

In weather news, there is a huricane spinning up the eastern Pacific towards Baja. This will spin that famous tropical moisture up into eastern California (and Nevada and Arizona) creating heavy storms in the Sierra. Please be careful up there and don't get caught out without adequate equipment. Expect flash floods in the desert.

Why'd you get into this business?

This morning I was at the rental house to replace the downstairs bathroom sink faucets. One was leaking pretty bad and they were all rusted. Simple, huh? Bought a new faucet set, got my attitude into shape, brought my tools and went over.

The faucet thing actually went pretty well, took out the old sink, cleaned it up and unpacked the new kit. This was going pretty well, except I was still worried about what might come. This is not a good attitude to have in a repair situation with a limited time line. The tenants would be back around noon, and I needed to be done, and gone. I needed confidence.

Putting the sink back in, I realized the plastic nut on the drain was spinning. Each turn resulted in a cracking noise at the broken nut slipped over the threads. This was the last simple part of the job. Why did I need this?

Collecting myself, I took the parts and went over to my local plumbing supply. Presented my broken p-trap to the counter guy. I said "I just want to get something like this, I want to get the simplest thing to make this work".

His answer "Why did you get into this business?".

Why indeed? On the one hand, I was a bit proud that he thought I was a professional instead of the fumbling amateur that I really am. Thinking more while he went out to cut the one foot 1 1/2 inch waste pipe that I needed, I realized what he meant. In plumbing you typically start off with a simple job and then since everything is connected to everything and some of the things are really old and rusty, it becomes very difficult to draw a line and just fix up to that point and beyond that it'll just have to stay the way it is. This is especially difficult since you know there are things over that line that will break at some time. But is that my job? Where's the responsibility?

I got the p-trap replaced, hooked up the supply with new washers and think that will work. But there is always something behind the wall. And the sink didn't sit perfectly flat with the new hookups. I wonder if that p-trap nut broke because of a similar stress over 10 years or more.

Back at home, I'll take a shower and think it over. I'm tired, contorting under a sink for a few hours is quite a workout.

Save 50% on your food budget

There's a little known secret that the big guys don't want you to know! But I'll tell it to you for free! Not like those internet come-ons that want money up front for some worthless information that you already know. I'll give you, absolutely free, my proven method to reduce your food bill. Sometimes by as much as 50%!

You may have noticed that pretty much all food packages have a website address somewhere on the package. If you go to that website, there is sure to be a feedback page, sometimes these are hidden in the "contact us" area. Write a polite, detailed message regarding the product and why it was not satisfactory. If there's a lot number or other manufacturer code number on the package be sure to include that in your message, also include the store and date where the item was purchased. Remember, be polite, keep the message short and detailed.

Sit back and watch the coupons and free samples roll in! These companies will eagerly give you more product to make up for your dissatisfaction! Get your friends involved so that all the complaints are not just from one person. It's really fun! Remember, the product doesn't have to be unsatisfactory, anything goes! Everything you buy becomes "buy one get one free"!

Your results may vary. Stated results not typical. Side effect may include obesity and guilt. Must comply with manufacturer regulations. The U.S. Post Office is not to be used for fraudulent purposes. Jwilco Inc, p.o. box 40619, Normal, OK.

Hurricane Bill?

Huh? I know this is the casual age where we all can call each other by first names or nicknames or "hey dude", but how can I respect a hurricane named "Bill". In fact this one is playing out exactly as expected due to lack of respect, "Hey dude, Bill's making some big surf up Long Island, let's go".

How about, "William's pounding the northeast with ten to twelve foot swells." Now that's the way a storm should work, not like "hey, Bill's coming over, you want to hang?".

On the home front, Ramadan has begun. All you good christians think that means the moslem crowd will be all pius and fasting and stuff. Wrong. What it really means is that after the sun goes down there will be party, party, party. To my mind it can't be much of a party without booze, but the ladies just love it. They all dress up to impress each other, brag about their kids, talk about who's gained weight, or maybe they're pregnant or blah, da blah.

On the trailing edge front that I live on, I've gotten interested in electronics and learned enough to begin to actually make or fix a few things. While trying to make a digital clock, I've realized that my power supply has a problem. I have been able to figure out what might fix it, so I need a couple of parts. Two 2200 uf 50v radial lead electrolytic capacitors and one 100 uf 35v cap too. Of course I'm not sure that will fix everything, but when I opened up the supply and found a melted part, at least it's a good try to replace it.

But, these days, going to the electronics store doesn't mean capacitors. It means big TV's, PC's, games and all kinds of crap. I could have bought a million bucks worth of those things and never learned anything. The local Fry's does have some components so I went to have a look. Sure enough there was the slot on the shelf for what I needed, but empty. I pawed through a couple boxes of stuff waiting to be put back on the racks, but I didn't find anything, I guess there's no incentive for the staff to actually have things available.

I can order online, but it's not the same to me. I want to rush over to the store, smile at the clerk and rush back home and make something work. If I need to go back, then I can trade a joke and get the next part. That makes me happy, not filling in web forms.

Modern day bike riding

This morning I was out and about on what's becoming my usual short (1 hour) ride. After a brief stint on the trail dodging prams (I guess they're called strollers here) and dogs and what have you then I took off onto the local neighborhood streets. Much quieter, one of them is in fact named "Quiet Place Drive", can't beat that. School is still not open until next week so no mommy vans to contend with at this time in the morning. Very peaceful, the road smooth and cool.

Taking the Northbound trail, after the end of Walnut Avenue, along the canal, it was just me and a few walkers. In my mind I've named this stretch the "good morning" trail. Because most people that I meet take the time to say, or at least mumble, "good morning". I've noticed that these are generally older folks, the youngsters having I suppose gone off to work. I'm not sure whether it's because they just have the time, or because they were brought up in gentler times, but I really appreciate the greeting. I figure that I look like one of them too, especially when I haven't shaved for a few days, which is pretty normal, so with my gray stubble I am glad to return the gesture.

On the way back home, westbound, away from the sun, it's all downhill following the canal back towards my house. I noticed today a couple of examples of the latest in bike fashion, fixies. (as in fixed gear). We used to call them track bikes, stripped down to nothing. No gears, no brakes, as light as possible, built to be pushed around a banked track without any limitations. These two were made up from classic steel frames, one a Peugeot and the other a Schwinn. To slow down, you need to pedal backwards, or at least to push that way in hopes of stopping. The look is a bicycle about as clean as you can get.

I have a suitable Peugeot frame, but I don't think I could really take on one of these beauties. On the road or the track, my ability to take a crash is not what it used to be. In the meantime it's just great to get out in the morning and I do enjoy seeing those old frames getting the respect they deserve.

Enemy of Science

I have begun to realize that science is it's own worst enemy. The problem is that the scientific method allows (requires) that the results of different experiments be published. So a question that has had results published on both sides becomes fertile ground for meaningless debate. This then becomes a political question, with each side emphasizing the results that fit their political views and ridiculing the other results.

A perfect example of this has resurfaced again in the question of whether to add fluoride to drinking water. The city of San Jose is now debating this question. I'm not sure how long this article will be live, but I'll give you the overview. The original premise is that fluoride in the water helps prevent tooth decay and that is a good thing.

The opposition has their basis in the view that anything the government does is an infringement on the rights of citizens and should not be allowed. So they bring up a host of studies that show that fluoride is of questionable value and can be an outright danger for people with certain medical conditions. One logical argument from this crowd is that if they want fluoride, then they will get it themselves.

The other side then points out that poor people with less education and money will not buy fluoride tablets and so the society as a whole will be stuck paying for their dental problems down the road.

One of the basic problems here is that there is no clear cut experiment, it's not possible to take two parts of a population and test this question. So we are left with studies. Each side in this debate can pick and choose pieces of study results and quote them to support their viewpoint. And even better, each side can bring up secret results that haven't been published, scientific results that have been muzzled, lawsuits that have not been heard, professional groups (like dentists) that have vested interests and all kinds of conspiracy theories.

At the end of these conspiracy arguments there are usually negative comments about the other political party. (see the comments attached to that article).

How are we to move ahead on these kind of issues? With Oprah believers not vaccinating their kids and all sorts of other madness going on, it's hard to imagine what progress can be made.

Mystery cooking

With my wife, and sometimes me having lived various places, our pantry at home has some very puzzling items. There has been a box of Uncle Ben's rice on the top shelf for ages, I would have cooked it a long time ago, but the box is all written in Russian. At least I think that's what it is, lots of backward looking letters and accents. So today I just thought I should cook it, and I've started. Since American Uncle Ben's needs twenty minutes, then here we go. There is a little picture of an alarm clock with a 20 on the face, is that a clue? I wonder how old that box is anyway?

Last time the wife was in a place that would have Russian labeled food was quite a while ago. If it was Kazakhstan a while ago, if it was Azerbaijan, then a long time ago. Well, we'll see what happens. Maybe if I fry it with some egg it will be OK.

Meanwhile in America, Isn't it great how nobody ever does anything wrong? My late night TV buddy Billy Mays died and the autopsy found cocaine in his system. Did he really die? I see him on the tube just as much as usual. Anyway, the family is now saying that they noticed no sign of drug use and question the toxicology report and rebuke the coroner for releasing this information. Yes, they've got a lawyer and I guess a spokesperson, who says that "He was the model of a responsible citizen".

When I die can I have a spokesperson? What about a lawyer? Maybe not, I can't attract enough cash to bring in these sharks. Just let the guy go and shut up. I kind of enjoyed him doing his stick, let that be his memory, not the feeding frenzy of media and spokespeople. Next time I go to the county fair and see one of those pitch guys, I will stop and take a listen.