Nothing exciting on the walk today – no crazy voles, no skunks, no stooping hawks. But it sure was beautiful!
We're going to head out to the left fork of Blacksmith River this evening to look for some more wildlife...
Monday, August 31, 2015
Morning in Paradise...
Morning in Paradise... Miki, Race, and I took our usual walk this morning, though on a slightly different route. The sun rose over the Wasatch Mountains when we were about a third of the way through our walk, lighting up the fields most beautifully.
Nothing exciting on the walk today – no crazy voles, no skunks, no stooping hawks. But it sure was beautiful!
Shortly after we got back from our walk, it was time to take Debbie in for her first day of hydro-therapy. That's her, in the therapy pool, walking on an underwater treadmill. The monitors in front of her are showing her various views of her legs and feet, taken in realtime by underwater video cameras in the pool. The therapist put her through a series of exercises with her about 65% immersed, so just over half her body weight was buoyed up by the water, and under half was actually on the treadmill. Debbie pronounced the experience “cool” and we're going back for more on Thursday.
While on the way back from that, we got a text from our neighbor Alan L. His wife Nikki gave birth to their latest child, Rockwell (at right); both mom and baby are in great shape. Alan is already bragging about the muscles on display :)
We're going to head out to the left fork of Blacksmith River this evening to look for some more wildlife...
Nothing exciting on the walk today – no crazy voles, no skunks, no stooping hawks. But it sure was beautiful!
We're going to head out to the left fork of Blacksmith River this evening to look for some more wildlife...
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Chicken and dumplings in Paradise...
Chicken and dumplings in Paradise... And all my readers should wish that they'd been here to partake! Debbie hit a home run on this one: a slightly creamy chicken soup with roast chicken (not cooked in the broth), simple dumplings, and the classic vegetables. From the first spoonful we knew she had a winner. Man, am I stuffed now, with such good things! And we has leftovers!
Even the dogs enjoyed the feast, in their role as lickers-of-bowls...
Even the dogs enjoyed the feast, in their role as lickers-of-bowls...
“About sums it up, I think...”
“About sums it up, I think...” So says friend, former colleague, and reader Doug S. I think he's got that about right...
Dog marketing...
Why big companies have trouble innovating...
Why big companies have trouble innovating... Nailed, by Scott Adams, in one strip:
Morning in Paradise...
This morning I was feeling very lazy, and had to force myself out on a walk with Race and Miki. Once I got myself in motion, though, it was just as enjoyable as always. No crazy voles or close hawk encounters, though. We did see lots of hawks again, including one quite large red-tailed hawk. They're very skittish birds, usually flying off when we get to within 100' or so of them. I speculate that this is because they're actually quite vulnerable to injury, their formidable appearance notwithstanding. It would be very easy for a hawk to suffer an injury that would prevent it from hunting – a broken wing, or even just a few key flight feathers pulled out – and that would kill the hawk by starvation. That makes the behavior we saw yesterday, wherein the hawk allowed Race within a foot or so of him, quite unusual. I don't know how to account for it...
Some photos from this morning's walk for you:
Saturday, August 29, 2015
The pistol-packing, Macified mama...
The pistol-packing, Macified mama ... has some beautiful flowers in her garden!
Imagine something this attractive, yet so close to Washington, D.C. Seems unlikely, doesn't it?
Imagine something this attractive, yet so close to Washington, D.C. Seems unlikely, doesn't it?
Morning in Paradise...
Morning in Paradise... Miki, Race and I took our usual morning walk. We had a little more adventure than usual, though. As we were walking past a mowed-down barley field, we saw a vole behaving very oddly, about 10 feet away off to my left. It was jumping up and down, as though it were trying to escape a predator nipping at it's heels, but no predator was visible to us. The two dogs immediately starting bouncing at the end of their leashes, snapping jaws just a couple feet from the vole, who kept jumping around and acting generally nuts. I was struggling to keep the dogs from dragging me, while at the same time watching the crazy vole.
With no warning at all, a medium-sized hawk suddenly stooped down, nailing the vole in one claw. Miki immediately ran behind me, stuck his cowardly little field spaniel head between my legs, and started barking like mad. Race pulled even harder toward the hawk and immediately entered full-on insane mode. Border collie spittle was flying in all directions, and I was being inexorably dragged toward the hawk – who didn't seem particularly perturbed by any of these goings-on. He puffed himself up and spread his wings, but when that didn't scare Race off he just took off with the vole impaled on his claw. As the hawk flew away, Miki came out from behind me and claimed all the credit for scaring off the hawk.
Dogs.
Yesterday evening we took a drive just before sunset to see if we could spot some wildlife up the Blacksmith Fork canyon, toward Hardware Ranch. Boy, howdy, did we see some wildlife, especially deer! Lots of fawns, including several sets of twins. We also saw blue herons, a couple falcons, some larger hawks, and three or four bazillion swallows. As we drove back toward home, a larger-than-usual moon, nearly full, hung low in the sky behind us. Very enjoyable, that drive was...
Tonight we're going to the Trout & Berry Days dinner at the Paradise Town park. The video at right was taken at last year's event, by a Scottish tourist; it's quite funny, but captures the spirit of the event nicely. We're going to the dinner with our friends Bruce and June N., the couple who were our realtors when when we were searching for our new home last year...
With no warning at all, a medium-sized hawk suddenly stooped down, nailing the vole in one claw. Miki immediately ran behind me, stuck his cowardly little field spaniel head between my legs, and started barking like mad. Race pulled even harder toward the hawk and immediately entered full-on insane mode. Border collie spittle was flying in all directions, and I was being inexorably dragged toward the hawk – who didn't seem particularly perturbed by any of these goings-on. He puffed himself up and spread his wings, but when that didn't scare Race off he just took off with the vole impaled on his claw. As the hawk flew away, Miki came out from behind me and claimed all the credit for scaring off the hawk.
Dogs.
Yesterday evening we took a drive just before sunset to see if we could spot some wildlife up the Blacksmith Fork canyon, toward Hardware Ranch. Boy, howdy, did we see some wildlife, especially deer! Lots of fawns, including several sets of twins. We also saw blue herons, a couple falcons, some larger hawks, and three or four bazillion swallows. As we drove back toward home, a larger-than-usual moon, nearly full, hung low in the sky behind us. Very enjoyable, that drive was...
Friday, August 28, 2015
My Uncle Donald...
Progress in Paradise...
Progress in Paradise... Miki, Race, and I took a shorter-than-usual walk this morning, because we had to leave early to take Debbie to her physical therapy. The walk was beautiful, though. The air here is clean again, about normal for fall – there's no sign of the awful smoke we had last week, from fires several hundred miles away. Some photos from along the way this morning, just after sunrise over the Wasatch Mountains so the shadows are long:
Debbie's physical therapy went well. Wess G., her therapist, seems happy with her progress. He recommended that she try a couple sessions of “water therapy” next week, so we signed up for that. As he describes it, the water therapy is basically a giant, deep bathtub with a treadmill inside. The treadmill can be raised and lowered to any depth within the little pool. This allows the physical therapist to raise or lower the amount of weight your feet and legs are feeling. When the treadmill is low (deep in the water), the water is buoying you up so that very little of your weight is felt. When the treadmill is high (shallow in the water), more of your weight is felt. Should be interesting.
Early this afternoon we drove up to Zollinger's Tree Farm. Several people here have recommended it to us, and we need several things pretty soon. Top of my list: some weeping willows to plug “holes” in the trees along the irrigation canal that runs through our property. As soon as I drove in, I could see that this was my kind of nursery. There are no Home Depot-style displays of merchandise. Instead, there are simple display beds for the retail inventory. I got out of my truck and started walking around, and just a few minutes later a fellow came up and introduced himself as Ron (and I found out later that's Ron Zollinger, third generation owner of the nursery).
We spent a very pleasant hour or so wandering around looking at the inventory that might meet our needs. First success: he had three good-sized (about 12' tall, 8' diameter) weeping willows, all balled up and ready to go. They're tagged for us, and will be delivered and planted in mid-September. Second success: I need ground cover to go around our shed, 200 lineal feet of 8 foot wide ground. He recommended a prostrate sumac that has very dark green shiny leaves, an attractive informal form, and the ability to shade out any weed known to mankind. It's also easy to prune, grows very quickly to its mature size of 8' to 10' diameter, stays under 2' tall, and is hardy as hell. He didn't have enough for me in stock, so he's going to scrounge around for some more. Third success: I asked him for advice on a tree I love – quaking aspen. He recommended against putting any of them in (and he's stopped carrying them), because the valley's population is being decimated by the combination of a borer and a fungus that the quaking aspen are susceptible to. When I asked him if there was any tree that was similar in appearance but without these problems, he recommended paper birch. Then he told me he had five big ones in inventory that were a little beat up from being on display a bit too long, and offered to let me have them at a great price (and it was irresistible!) but still with their normal guarantee (they'll replace any tree that isn't thriving). He thinks it will take a year or two for them to recover once they're established in a new location. Fourth success: I started describing some of the landscaping challenges we have around the house, and he stopped me with this offer – given that I was buying a crapload of trees from him, he'd come out and scope out our place, and dispense some advice and perhaps landscape design, and waive his usual fee. Win! He'll be out to our place next week, and then we'll know a lot more. That was an afternoon very well spent!
Early this morning, while we were at Debbie's physical therapy, the portable generator I'd ordered a month ago finally arrived. The freight company just set it down next to our driveway, without requiring a signature at all. The box was a little dinged up, so I was worried about what I'd find when I opened it up. I needn't have worried; it was packed well and was in perfect shape. Naturally it was a kit, so late this afternoon I put it all together and fired it up. The engine started in seconds, with an electric starter. The 120 V outlet showed on my meter as 121 V, with the nominal 60 Hz frequency at 59.9 Hz, both measurements with no load. I plugged in an air compressor that draws 6 amps, and both measurements remained the same. The electronic controls appear to be pretty darned good :) So now we've got a little bit of backup power for the first time.
We also have a project underway to put in propane-fueled backup generators, a 32KW model for the house and a 22KW model for the shed. The propane tanks we're installing will give us 4 days of run time on the house, and 2 on the barn, at full rating. We will normally be running at far below that, so in reality we'll have more like a week of run time. The propane tanks will be installed next week some time, and the generators should be installed before the middle of September. We'll be ready for the outages that winter typically brings.
Last night we had dinner at a neighbor's home: Gary and Elaine S., who live across Highway 165 from us. We feasted on fish they caught last week in Alaska, and fresh vegetables from another neighbor's garden. The company was great, especially the funny stories we heard about Gary's misadventures as a young man.
This afternoon, we feasted on more sweet corn and beets from Tim D.'s garden. Once again, I ate the beets along with all the greens – so good, they were. Past tense, unfortunately...
Debbie's physical therapy went well. Wess G., her therapist, seems happy with her progress. He recommended that she try a couple sessions of “water therapy” next week, so we signed up for that. As he describes it, the water therapy is basically a giant, deep bathtub with a treadmill inside. The treadmill can be raised and lowered to any depth within the little pool. This allows the physical therapist to raise or lower the amount of weight your feet and legs are feeling. When the treadmill is low (deep in the water), the water is buoying you up so that very little of your weight is felt. When the treadmill is high (shallow in the water), more of your weight is felt. Should be interesting.
Early this afternoon we drove up to Zollinger's Tree Farm. Several people here have recommended it to us, and we need several things pretty soon. Top of my list: some weeping willows to plug “holes” in the trees along the irrigation canal that runs through our property. As soon as I drove in, I could see that this was my kind of nursery. There are no Home Depot-style displays of merchandise. Instead, there are simple display beds for the retail inventory. I got out of my truck and started walking around, and just a few minutes later a fellow came up and introduced himself as Ron (and I found out later that's Ron Zollinger, third generation owner of the nursery).
We spent a very pleasant hour or so wandering around looking at the inventory that might meet our needs. First success: he had three good-sized (about 12' tall, 8' diameter) weeping willows, all balled up and ready to go. They're tagged for us, and will be delivered and planted in mid-September. Second success: I need ground cover to go around our shed, 200 lineal feet of 8 foot wide ground. He recommended a prostrate sumac that has very dark green shiny leaves, an attractive informal form, and the ability to shade out any weed known to mankind. It's also easy to prune, grows very quickly to its mature size of 8' to 10' diameter, stays under 2' tall, and is hardy as hell. He didn't have enough for me in stock, so he's going to scrounge around for some more. Third success: I asked him for advice on a tree I love – quaking aspen. He recommended against putting any of them in (and he's stopped carrying them), because the valley's population is being decimated by the combination of a borer and a fungus that the quaking aspen are susceptible to. When I asked him if there was any tree that was similar in appearance but without these problems, he recommended paper birch. Then he told me he had five big ones in inventory that were a little beat up from being on display a bit too long, and offered to let me have them at a great price (and it was irresistible!) but still with their normal guarantee (they'll replace any tree that isn't thriving). He thinks it will take a year or two for them to recover once they're established in a new location. Fourth success: I started describing some of the landscaping challenges we have around the house, and he stopped me with this offer – given that I was buying a crapload of trees from him, he'd come out and scope out our place, and dispense some advice and perhaps landscape design, and waive his usual fee. Win! He'll be out to our place next week, and then we'll know a lot more. That was an afternoon very well spent!
We also have a project underway to put in propane-fueled backup generators, a 32KW model for the house and a 22KW model for the shed. The propane tanks we're installing will give us 4 days of run time on the house, and 2 on the barn, at full rating. We will normally be running at far below that, so in reality we'll have more like a week of run time. The propane tanks will be installed next week some time, and the generators should be installed before the middle of September. We'll be ready for the outages that winter typically brings.
Last night we had dinner at a neighbor's home: Gary and Elaine S., who live across Highway 165 from us. We feasted on fish they caught last week in Alaska, and fresh vegetables from another neighbor's garden. The company was great, especially the funny stories we heard about Gary's misadventures as a young man.
This afternoon, we feasted on more sweet corn and beets from Tim D.'s garden. Once again, I ate the beets along with all the greens – so good, they were. Past tense, unfortunately...
Some branches of science are rife with fraud...
Some branches of science are rife with fraud ... and political bias. Climate science is just one of them. I'm saying this more bluntly than most writers will, but I have no patience for such shenanigans. Deliberate misrepresentation and cheating in science studies is fraud. Period. The perpetrators should be drummed out of the field to find new careers as burger flippers. But only with close and careful supervision...
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Morning in Paradise...
Morning in Paradise... Miki, Race, and I took our usual morning walk, getting back before sunrise again. The air was back to its normal clarity, which sure was nice to see. I posed the dogs a few times near the recently-harvested barley field; they weren't all that thrilled to have to stop hunting voles :) We saw dozens of hawks this morning, including a half-dozen or so that were standing guard on recent kills. We also saw a hawk take vengeance on a crow that was harassing him, right over our heads. The crow made a tactical error in diving right after a close fly-by of the hawk – and the hawk instantly took advantage, diving on the crow and breaking his left wing. The crow started squawking, and fell in a spiral to the ground about 25' off to my left. The hawk was on him within seconds, and immediately started chowing down on the still-squawking crow. The crow was dead within a minute or so, but the hawk still looked very satisfied a few minutes later when we walked toward home.
If you're gonna mess with a hawk, just be prepared for the consequences of an error...
Yesterday we received a shipment that Debbie has been especially anticipating: a bronze sculpture of a mountain lion. It's now displayed in our cat room (aka “living room”), where it's one of a dozen or so pieces of feline-themed art. It's positioned so that you see it as you walk through our front door, which is kind of cool...
If you're gonna mess with a hawk, just be prepared for the consequences of an error...
Big acquisition in Cache County...
Big acquisition in Cache County... The LeGrand Johnson company is a big employer in Cache County, and a major construction firm. They work on everything from homes to roads. They did the excavation work for our shed, and paved our driveway. Our friend and neighbor, Tim D., worked there for many years before he retired as their paving supervisor. It was a family-owned business, well-known and respected by locals.
Now comes the news that LeGrand Johnson has been acquired by Summit Materials, a much larger conglomerate that went public earlier this year. The Summit management says that not much will change, but ... that's what the acquiring company's management always says in such a situation :) Locals are watching with concern, as the LeGrand Johnson company is such a large and important part of the business community here...
Now comes the news that LeGrand Johnson has been acquired by Summit Materials, a much larger conglomerate that went public earlier this year. The Summit management says that not much will change, but ... that's what the acquiring company's management always says in such a situation :) Locals are watching with concern, as the LeGrand Johnson company is such a large and important part of the business community here...
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Race misses his new friend...
Ceres, closer yet...
The people who take advantage like this...
The people who take advantage like this ... don't deserve having air to breath. I would support extreme punishments for such people, such as making them involuntary medical experiment subjects (without pain medication), using them for military target practice, or forcing them to listen to rap music. Or we could use them to extinguish wildfires. Or feed them to predators in the zoo. Pain and suffering should be involved, don't you think?
Yet another Big Government fail...
Yet another Big Government fail... Why on earth would anyone want Big Government involved in their health care, when you know things like this are going to happen?
Optical coherence tomography...
The OCT device uses computational tomography, a fancy way of saying that it makes heavy use of computing power to present the 3D images in a usable way. I was amazed that the sophisticated laser and other optics, along with a powerful computer and fancy software, could all be purchased for under $50,000. Even though I'm a technology guy myself, I still can't quite wrap my brain around the incredibly rapid advances. I wouldn't have guessed you could buy this capability for under a half million dollars. At the rate this seems to be going, you'll probably be able to do it on your iPhone 8, with a $10 laser/lens attachment, using voice control :)
Tea trees and toenails...
Tea trees and toenails... For 40 years – since I spent six months in the Philippines while in the U.S. Navy – I've been battling a persistent toenail fungus. Twice over the past 20 years I've taken a course of Lamisil (generic: terbafine), which did a magnificent job of wiping out the fungus. Unfortunately, within six months of finishing each course the fungus returned. Lamisil accumulates in the liver, so it's not something you can just keep taking. Medicine offers no better solution.
So for the past 10 years or so, every time I go in for a physical I ask the doctor if there are any post-Lamisil treatments for toenail fungus. A little over a month ago, I asked my new GP that question, and got an answer I didn't expect. She told me that a recent Mayo Clinic study had shown that Australian tea tree oil, applied directly to the toenails twice a day, was just as effective as Lamisil – without any of Lamisil's problems. It was safe to use continuously.
I couldn't find a reference to the Mayo Clinic study that my doctor referred to in an online search, but I did find a little information. It wasn't particularly optimistic. Though I couldn't help being skeptical of it, I bought myself a little bottle of that tea tree oil the same day, and I've been applying it religiously ever since.
I'm happy (and a little surprised) to report that it seems to be working. It is certainly true that my toenails are in far better condition now than at any time other than during my two courses of Lamisil. What appears to be the case is that my toenails are growing in totally free of any fungal infection, and the affected parts are no longer infected (though they are, of course, still damaged by previous infection). It looks like within a few weeks my toenails will be completely clear. The only side-effect I've noticed is that our Savannah cat steers well clear of my feet – he doesn't like the smell of the tea tree oil :)
So for the past 10 years or so, every time I go in for a physical I ask the doctor if there are any post-Lamisil treatments for toenail fungus. A little over a month ago, I asked my new GP that question, and got an answer I didn't expect. She told me that a recent Mayo Clinic study had shown that Australian tea tree oil, applied directly to the toenails twice a day, was just as effective as Lamisil – without any of Lamisil's problems. It was safe to use continuously.
I couldn't find a reference to the Mayo Clinic study that my doctor referred to in an online search, but I did find a little information. It wasn't particularly optimistic. Though I couldn't help being skeptical of it, I bought myself a little bottle of that tea tree oil the same day, and I've been applying it religiously ever since.
I'm happy (and a little surprised) to report that it seems to be working. It is certainly true that my toenails are in far better condition now than at any time other than during my two courses of Lamisil. What appears to be the case is that my toenails are growing in totally free of any fungal infection, and the affected parts are no longer infected (though they are, of course, still damaged by previous infection). It looks like within a few weeks my toenails will be completely clear. The only side-effect I've noticed is that our Savannah cat steers well clear of my feet – he doesn't like the smell of the tea tree oil :)
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Vole Paradise Lost...
The major change we saw on today's walk is that the fields of barley have all been harvested, and their stalks cut and baled for straw. Aside from the obvious visual aspect (all those beautiful stalks of barley gone!), several hundred acres of prime vole habitat have just disappeared. Voles are not our favorite pest, so we're quite ok with that :) The dogs were reveling in the newly exposed voles – as the fat voles waddled from place to place wondering what the hell happened to them, the dogs practically pulled me across the fields trying to get to them. Race actually did get one, by darting from the road into the edge of the field, snapping up a vole, crushing it and swallowing it before I could even say “No!”. That dog is fast! He looked quite satisfied with himself when he was finished swallowing.
On the way back down I spotted some motion off to our right, in a clump of sunflowers. Neither dog saw a thing. It was a big striped skunk, and he was not inclined to tolerate our presence. As he stamped his little skunk feet and pouted, I skedaddled on down the road before he decided to make me a target!
Birds of various kinds have taken ownership of these barley fields. Sparrows and goldfinches were scavenging uncollected barley grains. Crows and magpies were doing the same, but they also appeared to be interested in the voles scampering around for cover. Each big field had several hawks perched around them, and we saw two hawks guarding kills – one vole and one weasel. We also saw a lone, confused seagull walking around as if to ask the other birds “What are you all so excited about? I don’t see anything here...”
It sure felt good to be out walking again...
My friend and neighbor Tim D. called us last night, just as we were tucking ourselves into bed. He's doing volunteer work at the Logan Temple early this morning (he has to be there at 4 am), and that meant he wouldn't be able to move his hand lines (irrigation) this morning. You could tell he was embarrassed to ask, but he wanted to know if I'd be willing to shut off the water for him, so nothing got over-watered. I told him I'd move the hand lines for him, and naturally he tried to talk me out of it. This, from the guy who spent a good part of last fall helping me dig trenches!
Monday, August 24, 2015
Buddhist monks and poblano...
Buddhist monks and poblano ... but not at the same time, unfortunately. Debbie and I drove down to Salt Lake City yesterday afternoon, as planned, to meet with my brother Scott's friend, Chook the Buddhist monk. We drove down and found the temple where we were to meet him without any problem. But ... Chook wasn't answering his phone, and we had no idea what he looked like! So I went into the temple, found someone who could speak English, and then we together searched for Chook the monk from Virginia Beach. Everyone there was amused by my search, but the temple's “abbot” actually managed to find him – in an ongoing ceremony that was running late. Fifteen minutes or so later, the ceremony finished and Chook came out to meet us.
When I'd called him earlier in the day, we planned to take him out for a meal at the Red Iguana, our favorite Utah Mexican food restaurant that has a great vegetarian menu. But Chook informed us that there were some celebrations planned for the evening that he had not known about – a surprise party, sort of, where he was the man of the hour. He couldn't say “no” to that, so unfortunately we only had 20 or 30 minutes to talk with him. Meeting him and his fellow monks (and their abbot) was interesting. They were all very friendly, and even jolly – lots of good humor was on display, jokes were cracked, funny stories told. The two monks there from Virginia Beach both know my brother Scott. The first thing they said upon meeting me was “But you don’t look anything at all like Scott!” I explained to them that my siblings and I all had grave doubts about the alleged shared genetic relationship, and they got a good laugh from that. I had a chance to thank Chook for being a good friend to my brother, which I'd wanted to do.
But then we had to go on to our meal without Chook, something he should regret for the rest of his life. The food at the Red Iguana is really something extraordinary. Debbie and I heard about their special yesterday – a steak and shrimp in poblano sauce – and just put down our menus and said “That!” After we got it, we were very glad we did, for it was food for the gods. Debbie followed that up with arroz con leche (a milky, cinnamony rice pudding), and I had a chocolate flan (a firm, slightly sweet custard with caramel sauce, fresh strawberries, and whipped cream). Both were excellent, but I think I like the traditional flan better. We went home with very happy tummies.
The drive home wasn't so pleasant, though. As we approached Ogden, the traffic on Interstate 15 came to a complete stop. We were directed off the highway to a detour through downtown Ogden. Our assumption was that there was an accident, though we didn't see anything. Today that was confirmed: there was an accident that killed a man and his daughter, and gravely injured his wife and another child. Very sad...
When I'd called him earlier in the day, we planned to take him out for a meal at the Red Iguana, our favorite Utah Mexican food restaurant that has a great vegetarian menu. But Chook informed us that there were some celebrations planned for the evening that he had not known about – a surprise party, sort of, where he was the man of the hour. He couldn't say “no” to that, so unfortunately we only had 20 or 30 minutes to talk with him. Meeting him and his fellow monks (and their abbot) was interesting. They were all very friendly, and even jolly – lots of good humor was on display, jokes were cracked, funny stories told. The two monks there from Virginia Beach both know my brother Scott. The first thing they said upon meeting me was “But you don’t look anything at all like Scott!” I explained to them that my siblings and I all had grave doubts about the alleged shared genetic relationship, and they got a good laugh from that. I had a chance to thank Chook for being a good friend to my brother, which I'd wanted to do.
But then we had to go on to our meal without Chook, something he should regret for the rest of his life. The food at the Red Iguana is really something extraordinary. Debbie and I heard about their special yesterday – a steak and shrimp in poblano sauce – and just put down our menus and said “That!” After we got it, we were very glad we did, for it was food for the gods. Debbie followed that up with arroz con leche (a milky, cinnamony rice pudding), and I had a chocolate flan (a firm, slightly sweet custard with caramel sauce, fresh strawberries, and whipped cream). Both were excellent, but I think I like the traditional flan better. We went home with very happy tummies.
The drive home wasn't so pleasant, though. As we approached Ogden, the traffic on Interstate 15 came to a complete stop. We were directed off the highway to a detour through downtown Ogden. Our assumption was that there was an accident, though we didn't see anything. Today that was confirmed: there was an accident that killed a man and his daughter, and gravely injured his wife and another child. Very sad...
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Geek: great debugging stories...
Geek: great debugging stories... A nice collection of links to great debugging stories, hosted on GitHub. A couple of my favorites are in here, like the 500 mile email and the JVM having multi-second GC pauses (which we actually had, years earlier, on an electronic stock trading platform). I haven't read all of these yet, but those I've sampled are all interesting (but geekly!) reads...
Should be an interesting afternoon...
Should be an interesting afternoon... We're headed down to Salt Lake City to meet up with a good friend of my brother Scott. He's a Buddhist monk, and he's in Salt Lake City for a conference of Buddhist monks. Their temple just happens to be a few blocks from the Red Iguana, our favorite Mexican food place in Utah – so we're going to have some great food, and I'm sure an interesting conversation, with this monkly fellow...
Saturday, August 22, 2015
This has to be from California...
This has to be from California... Via my pistol-packing Macified mama:
A man was in his front yard mowing grass when his attractive blonde female neighbor came out of the house and went straight to the mailbox. She opened it then slammed it shut and stormed back in the house..
A little later she came out of her house again went to the mail box and again, opened it, slammed it shut again. Angrily, back into the house she went.
As the man was getting ready to edge the lawn, here she came out again, marched to the mail box, opened it and then slammed it closed harder than ever.
Puzzled by her actions the man asked her, 'Is something wrong?'
To which she replied, 'There certainly is! My stupid computer keeps saying, 'YOU'VE GOT MAIL!'
Veggies in Paradise...
Veggies in Paradise... A couple days ago our neighbor Tim D. brought over a grocery bag full of treats from his garden: beets, sweet corn, and green peppers. Debbie ate the corn, and I ate the beets, in an orgy of veggie consumption. I ate not only the beets themselves, but also the greens – all were young and tender, and oh my they were good. Debbie made yummy noises the entire time she was consuming four ears of corn. She had them all down her gullet within about three minutes. The green peppers contributed to a nice scramble Debbie made for our breakfast, and we still have some left.
I didn't think to take a photo of these until after we ate them :)
It's so nice to live in a part of the world that can grow good veggies!
I didn't think to take a photo of these until after we ate them :)
It's so nice to live in a part of the world that can grow good veggies!
American heroes in France...
A night at the sleep lab...
A night at the sleep lab... I spent last night at the sleep lab, inside the main hospital in Logan. I didn't get a whole lot of sleep there, though.
I arrived at 8 pm dressed in my pajamas, as the instructions asked. I had to buy a pair of pajamas for this purpose – I can't remember ever sleeping in pajamas before, so even just wearing them was strange. Walking through the hospital parking lot in pajamas and slippers was also kind of weird. I got lots of smiles on the way in; one couple asked me if I had just escaped from somewhere :)
Once in the sleep lab, Sage (the sleep technician) showed me into my own little room, like a miniature hotel room – a bed, closet, and private bathroom. Then she started wiring me up. This happened in two stages, and involved lots of wires. She put electrodes all over my head and face, so that they could monitor eye movement, eyelids opening and closing, teeth grinding, mouth position, and brain activity. Then there were electrodes on my chest for monitoring heart, and two straps around my chest to monitor breathing. She strapped a microphone to my Adam's apple to record snoring. Then she stuck an air flow and temperature sensor up my nose. Finally there were more electrodes on my legs to monitor their movement. In addition there was an infrared video camera filming my whole night, and a microphone recording any noise in the room. By the time she was done, at 10:30, I was quite a sight (about like the fellow at right)! All those wires led into a shoebox-sized junction box that contained a data concentrator; that was in turn connected to a data recorder that had a network interface. All this stuff allowed Sage to sit in her monitoring room and see a great deal of information about me, all in real time. All this was being recorded as well.
For the first part of the night, until 1 am, Sage collected data on my sleep. I was able to go to sleep fairly quickly, and slept well until she had all the data she needed and woke me up for the second part.
That second part involved fitting a CPAP machine to me, and experimenting with different pressures to find the setting that would work best for me. This is a special CPAP with the ability to have its pressure set remotely by Sage. For this to work, I had to be asleep – and with this machine strapped to my face, making noises and shoving air into me, that wasn't happening. I wasn't able to sleep more than 5 minutes for the rest of the night. Sage was able to collect a small amount of data, but she's pretty sure she did not get enough for the doctor to set a pressure. That means ... I'm almost certainly going to be told to go back for another night at the sleep lab. This next visit will be all night with the CPAP machine, most likely on some kind of sleep medication so they can be sure to get their data. Lovely. Can't say I'm looking forward to that!
Also, after the not-so-pleasant experience last night with the CPAP machine I'm wondering whether the cure is worse than the problem. That will be a topic for discussion with my doctor!
I arrived at 8 pm dressed in my pajamas, as the instructions asked. I had to buy a pair of pajamas for this purpose – I can't remember ever sleeping in pajamas before, so even just wearing them was strange. Walking through the hospital parking lot in pajamas and slippers was also kind of weird. I got lots of smiles on the way in; one couple asked me if I had just escaped from somewhere :)
For the first part of the night, until 1 am, Sage collected data on my sleep. I was able to go to sleep fairly quickly, and slept well until she had all the data she needed and woke me up for the second part.
Also, after the not-so-pleasant experience last night with the CPAP machine I'm wondering whether the cure is worse than the problem. That will be a topic for discussion with my doctor!
Friday, August 21, 2015
Progress in Paradise...
Progress in Paradise... Today was Debbie's third physical therapy session, and it's clear she's made big progress. She used crutches for the first time today, and even walked a bit on a single crutch. The therapist thinks she's only got two real issues at the moment, both of them perfectly normal for her situation. The first is that the bones in her joint are still reporting pain when she puts weight on her injured knee. He says those nerves need to be retrained to understand that putting weight on them is ok. The second issue is that her quad muscle needs to be built back up; the weeks on “no weight bearing” caused it to atrophy quite a bit. That's just exercise, and the exercise bicycle and practicing walking are the main routes to success there.
I'm headed up to the hospital in Logan tonight for a sleep study. My doctor thinks I likely have sleep apnea, but they're going to do some tests tonight to prove that. Somehow I'm supposed to sleep with electrodes on my head and my chest, a sensor mask over my mouth and nose, and sensors strapped to two fingers. That ought to be interesting!
I'm headed up to the hospital in Logan tonight for a sleep study. My doctor thinks I likely have sleep apnea, but they're going to do some tests tonight to prove that. Somehow I'm supposed to sleep with electrodes on my head and my chest, a sensor mask over my mouth and nose, and sensors strapped to two fingers. That ought to be interesting!
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Morning in Paradise...
Morning in Paradise... Miki (already less resplendent), Race, and I took our usual morning walk, but it was harder than usual. The air this morning is notably worse than yesterday; the smoke is now thick enough to feel raw on the throat, and it made my eyes water. When we started out on our walk, the sun was over the Wasatch Mountains, but was a red ball so dim I could look directly at it. By the time we were done with our walk, it was a bit brighter, but the day still looked like a heavily overcast day. In the last photo you can't really see the Wellsville Mountains (west of us) at all, whereas normally they are so clearly visible you don't realize they're 15 to 20 miles away. It will be nice indeed when this smoke clears off...
Why we should legalize murder for hire...
Why we should legalize murder for hire... Excellent piece, but ... you have to read it to the very end to understand why I said that. Via friend, former colleague, and dogged reader Doug W...
Seen in an ad...
Seen in an ad... This appears in a free classified ad hosted by a local news web site. The news site is trying to provide a useful service to its audience, but this kind of leech is taking advantage of it. What makes me most sad about this is that ads for ludicrous, obviously fraudulent products like this must occasionally work – there's no other reason why anyone would bother to place them. Most likely the person they do work with is the kind of person you'd least like to be victim to it: the elderly or weak of mind. I've redacted the contact information, as I don't want to give this despicable parasite any additional exposure...
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Why should you be skeptical of climate models?
Why should you be skeptical of climate models? One reason might be that a simple model (so simple you can do the math on a calculator or slide rule!) does a better job of predicting temperatures than any of the IPCC models...
Geek: evil code commit...
Geek: evil code commit ... to make before you leave your job. This assumes, of course, that you're willing to burn a lot of bridges, with geekly napalm.
The closest thing I've ever seen to this was a “code bomb” that an angry employee committed about a week before he left. This was at an electronic stock trading company, and the code bomb added a random number of shares to an order, intermittently (a few times a day). So, for instance, a trader might place an order to sell 1,000 shares of IBM, and it would be turned into an order to sell (say) 1,400 shares instead. Fortunately we caught this during testing, before the software ever got released to a real trader. That one could have been bad. We just fixed it and moved on; the company never took any action against the ex-employee. I don't think we ever even told him that we'd found his bomb...
The closest thing I've ever seen to this was a “code bomb” that an angry employee committed about a week before he left. This was at an electronic stock trading company, and the code bomb added a random number of shares to an order, intermittently (a few times a day). So, for instance, a trader might place an order to sell 1,000 shares of IBM, and it would be turned into an order to sell (say) 1,400 shares instead. Fortunately we caught this during testing, before the software ever got released to a real trader. That one could have been bad. We just fixed it and moved on; the company never took any action against the ex-employee. I don't think we ever even told him that we'd found his bomb...
Turkish is an interesting language in the first place...
Superconductivity at -70°C!
Superconductivity at -70°C! I was all excited when I saw that headline – that's a far higher temperature than previously found. Then I saw this little detail: the superconductivity occurs only at 1.5 million atmospheres of pressure. Sheesh. I won't be doing that at home anytime soon!
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
And another nice day in Paradise...
And another nice day in Paradise... Race, (the resplendent) Miki, and I did our usual walk this morning, but the experience was anything but usual. The haze we noted yesterday was far worse today. Mountains more than about 4 miles away were completely invisible. The air smelled like a wet campfire at some distance. Though the sky was cloudless, the sun was dim and the lighting diffuse. The wildlife all seemed subdued; few birds were in evidence. Wildlife, in general, react strongly to fires. This probably smells like a possible fire approaching to all the animals and birds...
After our walk, I poked around for a few hours moving and setting up sprinklers. I've now finished putting quick-disconnects on all my hoses and sprinklers, which makes the job of setting them out much less tedious (no screwing and unscrewing hoses).
Then it was time for Debbie's second physical therapy appointment, and like the first, it went very well. Observable progress was in evidence, and if you watch her it's clear she's gaining confidence and strength. She'll be on her feet soon!
As a treat, we took ourselves out to Jack's Wood-Fired Pizza. Of all the restaurants we've sampled in the area, this one holds the strongest claim to being exceptional – not just “for the area”, but in an absolute sense. We had a truly enjoyable meal: mushroom soup (a lovely soup with a light broth and a touch of cheese), pizzas (we each had our own tiny pizza), and lemon cake with fresh berries for dessert. Scrumptious!
After we got home I had a brief respite until the UPS man drove up. He dropped off several packages, amongst them Debbie's new recumbent exercise bicycle. Naturally it was a kit, with a dozen or so major parts and a nice collection of hardware. Thankfully the directions were crystal clear, all the parts were there, and they even included all the necessary tools. Two hours later, I finally got it all put together and working. It's a nice piece of gear, and at least right now looks like a good value for the money...
After our walk, I poked around for a few hours moving and setting up sprinklers. I've now finished putting quick-disconnects on all my hoses and sprinklers, which makes the job of setting them out much less tedious (no screwing and unscrewing hoses).
Then it was time for Debbie's second physical therapy appointment, and like the first, it went very well. Observable progress was in evidence, and if you watch her it's clear she's gaining confidence and strength. She'll be on her feet soon!
As a treat, we took ourselves out to Jack's Wood-Fired Pizza. Of all the restaurants we've sampled in the area, this one holds the strongest claim to being exceptional – not just “for the area”, but in an absolute sense. We had a truly enjoyable meal: mushroom soup (a lovely soup with a light broth and a touch of cheese), pizzas (we each had our own tiny pizza), and lemon cake with fresh berries for dessert. Scrumptious!