Thursday, March 12, 2015
A couple more paintings...
A couple more paintings... These are by friend, reader, and former colleague Larry E...
Shoelaces...
Shoelaces... Friend, reader, and former colleague Simon M. passes along this site he stumbled across that's all about shoelaces. Tagline:
The site was created by Ian Fieggen, the self-styled “Professor Shoelace”. He has written a book (“Laces”, now out of print), and has apps about lacing for iPhones and Droids. He apparently now supports himself through the web site and apps. Oh, and did I mention that he's Australian (as is Simon)?
Ian's Shoelace Site - Bringing you the fun, fashion & science of shoelacesSome of the stuff there looks genuinely useful. Most of it is far more about shoelaces than I ever wanted to know :)
The site was created by Ian Fieggen, the self-styled “Professor Shoelace”. He has written a book (“Laces”, now out of print), and has apps about lacing for iPhones and Droids. He apparently now supports himself through the web site and apps. Oh, and did I mention that he's Australian (as is Simon)?
Big rocket test fired...
Pi is a metaphor for the unexplained...
Pi is a metaphor for the unexplained... An interesting piece on why we're all fascinated by the constant π. One thing is very evident from that article: some of us are way more fascinated than others :)
Consumer Reports is anti-science...
Consumer Reports is anti-science... On GMOs, at least. I cancelled my subscription to Consumer Reports over 25 years ago, when I discovered that they use undisclosed non-objective factors in their rankings (things like “greenness” and political correctness). I've disregarded their ratings ever since...
Glowing vegetables...
Utah House defeats “Tesla” bill...
Utah House defeats “Tesla” bill... HB 394 would have cleared the way for Tesla to sell cars directly to Utah residents, but it was defeated on Tuesday. There were two major drivers for its defeat, one openly discussed, the other not so much.
The in-the-open reason was the fear that sales taxes from new car sales would decline. This is at least a real issue, but it illustrates nicely the inertia of an established tax. Once something is taxed and there's a dependency on the “revenue” from that tax, then it becomes very, very hard to do anything that would disturb that tax.
The not-so-open reason for the bill's defeat is the fact that the auto dealership lobby (which is vehemently opposed to direct sales of new cars) contributes a great deal of money to politician's campaign funds. There's nothing illegal or surprising about this; they're doing the same thing any business would do to protect their own interests. Politicians are perennially searching for campaign funds, so naturally they're going to think twice about pissing off a major contributor.
If we want a Tesla, it looks like we'll have to travel to Nevada or Idaho to buy it, or else arrange for delivery here. I've already informed my state legislators that their vote on this issue will be remembered come election time. Apparently I have no pull :)
The in-the-open reason was the fear that sales taxes from new car sales would decline. This is at least a real issue, but it illustrates nicely the inertia of an established tax. Once something is taxed and there's a dependency on the “revenue” from that tax, then it becomes very, very hard to do anything that would disturb that tax.
The not-so-open reason for the bill's defeat is the fact that the auto dealership lobby (which is vehemently opposed to direct sales of new cars) contributes a great deal of money to politician's campaign funds. There's nothing illegal or surprising about this; they're doing the same thing any business would do to protect their own interests. Politicians are perennially searching for campaign funds, so naturally they're going to think twice about pissing off a major contributor.
If we want a Tesla, it looks like we'll have to travel to Nevada or Idaho to buy it, or else arrange for delivery here. I've already informed my state legislators that their vote on this issue will be remembered come election time. Apparently I have no pull :)
Barn progress...
Barn progress... I installed about half the lights in the garage section of the barn yesterday (6 of 11); I should be able to finish the rest of those today. While I was doing that wiring, a building supply delivery truck showed up, bringing the wallboard and “mud” for my future office on the second floor of the barn. The builder will be here early next week to actually do the work.
The truck had a particularly long boom crane on it, designed to allow the delivery of heavy construction products up to five stories high, or 45' away from the truck horizontally. The photo at right (click to embiggen) shows the crane partially extended to deliver our wallboard. The crane operator used a belt-mounted remote control. This let him stand right where he wanted it to go, and then guide it in very precisely. The two guys on the truck humped all that wallboard up my stairs to the second floor. They were wishing I had bigger windows so that they could have used the crane :)
Later in the day, a Fedex freight truck showed up with a 494 pound pallet full of my new Grizzly dust collection system. Naturally it's a giant kit, with hundreds of parts. I unpacked it all (see photo at left) to make sure nothing was damaged in shipping. That thing is built like the proverbial tank – if any damage occurred, I'm certain it was on whatever the box hit, not on the dust collection system itself! The system is far larger than I was imagining. Assembling is going to pose some interesting challenges for this one-man operation. The motor/impeller assembly weighs about 180 pounds, and it needs to be hoisted to the top of a six or seven foot high device – I'm going to have to get some local muscle to help, or come up with some sort of hoist. One possibility: I can drive my tractor into the workshop, so I may be able to lift the assembly with the loader. Or I could mount a block to the roof, then pull it up with the tractor. What fun!