... you can talk all afternoon... but, once again, let's not use the café post to talk about Trump and the Trump resistance. As I did yesterday, I've given you 7 posts before lunch on Trump topics, so scroll down if you want to talk about that.
There's so much else in the world. Like all this ice. Have you fallen on the ice this winter? Have you slipped or tripped over anything recently? Did you put ice on it? Are your dreams becoming more detailed and interesting? Is your car holding up all right? Is the battery pesky? Could you — if your life depended on it — explain exactly how an internal combustion engine works? What is your favorite kind of hat? How good would a robot dog need to be before you'd pay $10,000 for one? What's your favorite lake?
Posts
162 comments:
How good would a robot dog need to be before you'd pay $10,000 for one?
Only way I'd pay 10k for a robo-dog is if I could upload my ancient (15yrs!) labrador's brain into it, also it the robot would have to be perfect simulacrum of a young lab.
Desolate and lifeless looking, though we know that not to be true. Some might say calm and normal. Pretty chilly I bet.
I fell twice last year, not on ice, but so far so good. There isn't any ice or snow on the ground in Missoula right now anyway. But I'm perfectly capable of falling on dry ground, so
Have you seen people drive cars onto a frozen lake? I remember once maybe 60 years ago on Lake Saint Clair near Detroit.
I enjoy Straight Lake State Park. I actually really like Rainbow Lake in that park. There is a 1 mile hiking loop around that lake, which is perfect for my kids and nephews. You can access other trails off that loop too. This reminds me to get my new state parks pass. There is so much to see close to home!
What is your favorite kind of hat?
*************
The gat worn by men during Korea's Joseon Dynasty...I want to try and make one. They are constructed with horse hair over a bamboo frame. Perfect for hot sunny days.
Favorite lake? Lake Ontario
I see no black people. What an inherently racist photo.
"There's so much else in the world. Like all this ice. …What's your favorite lake?"
Morning's reading is on the ice age in the upper midwest.
Having spent a lifetime wilderness canoeing, there are far too many lakes to choose from. Lately, am fond of Fallison Lake in Vilas County. Little lake with some topography to keep it interesting. Mixed hardwood forest, nice patches of shoreline pine. Easy trail; couple of miles. Big gabbro glacial erratic along the trail that provided me a sample for my collection.
Favorite hat? A fedora with a wide snap brim, up in back and down in the front, like Bogie wore.
Global warming has taken over and it has been a mild winter so far. Reading all the negatives about ice, I plan to crank up the heater on the pool and enjoy the sunny weather.
I live on a lake, and the view of it right now is sunlight making its surface sparkle.
Some ten years ago I ended a career in painting that at the time was pretty serious. I saw some success and it was probably the main focus of my life. But ten years ago I felt burnt out on it and decided to carve out a new relationship with it. From then on I would paint but only for myself, with no real interest in sharing the work with anyone else (though I did end up selling a few of them). I started to paint in this more abstract kind of way that I still paint like today. In the moment I enjoy what I’m making, but I usually end up with paintings that I don’t like to look at. I only enjoy them while I’m making them.
My favorite lake is Kraken Mare. I find the −290.5 °F liquid methane quite bracing.
When robot dogs get the robot dog nose and robot dog teeth they will rule the world.
'Dodger stadium was my address, but every ballpark was my home.'
Thank God for this weekend's NFL playoffs.
Internal combustion engines? yes. two stroke and four stroke.
Jet engines are still confusing me. I have asked Ag pilots to explain them to me and I've been through the diagrams and such on the internet, just not quite getting it.
To answer your query (some, not all) my favorite lake is Sebago in ME. I did slip and fall on ice just a couple of weeks ago. It was on a slight decline and my feet came out from under me. Fortunately I landed on the side of my ass that didn't have the iphone in the pocket.
No, yes, no, no, yes, no, yes, funny, pretty good, Heart.
If i could not have fedora; my next choice for a hat would be a bi-corne worn athwartships like Russell Crowe in "Master and Commander"!
My favorite lake is Waldo Lake. It's at 4000 feet, in the Cascades, and right now it's under about 12 feet of snow and ice. Which is exactly where ..... never mind.
Favorite lake? Muncho Lake in British Columbia. It was extraordinary when I was there 35 years ago.
I prefer lakes of data to the ones full of water, so I'm good with the 21st century virtual topography. No protozoa, for one, and the bottom isn't all mushy and gross.
Poor, naked wretches, where so e’er you are,
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
How shall your houseless heads, and unfed sides,
Your loop'd and window’d raggedness, defend you
From seasons such as these?
King Lear Act III, Scene IV, Lines 28-32.
I have just found out that Tommy Lasorda has died. My reaction to it really caught me off guard. One of my students told me about it and we watched a news story about it, and at the end of it I was crying. (The kids were really cool about it though)
It seems hard to believe now, but when Tommy was the manager of the Dodgers, times were optimistic, up beat. The Dodgers brought all of L.A. together, and gave us something in common to root for. There was Rick Monday saving the flag, Fernando Valenzuela stealing everyone's heart in 1979, Garvey to Cey to Lopes to Russell, Gibson's dramatics in 1981.....
Despite all the technological advances...those were better times.
R.I.P. Tommy, I'll miss you
Favorite lake? Muncho Lake in British Columbia. It was extraordinary when I was there 35 years ago.
Have stayed at Muncho Lake Provincial Park several times. There are a lot of lovely lakes and parks in BC. State-side, my favorite is Diablo Lake in North Cascades NP, WA. My favorite kayak camping site.
Apparently PM found out about the same time I did.
I did fall on the ice but not a single beer bottle was broken. Victory!
Favorite lake? Cotton Lake in Becker County, Minnesota. Nothing else close.
Listening to flute concerti by Franz Danzi. Reading a murder mystery.
Favorite hats:
1. Pendelton hat; brown and felt/wool; I wear nearly every day in the winter;
2. Panama hat I bought from 10th Street Hats in NM. This company has a GREAT selection; and
3. Santa Clara hat made by Legacy company.
Gibson's dramatics in 1981.....
Should be 1988. I can't believe I fucked that up.
It's glorious Winter sun here in center Mass. Hate the wsw Utah valley winter hoar frost. Too much like Siberia.
I haven't fallen on the ice since I learned the penguin waddle. Looks funny, but effective.
Gibson's dramatics in 1981.....
Should be 1988. I can't believe I fucked that up.
Actually, Kirk Gibson's greatest World Series HR came in 1984: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmukTdo-WuY
Reinjured my knee this morning taking out the garbage. Didn't necessarily trip on the ice, but ice was involved.
Seasonably (we're in a mixing bowl, halfway between north and south) warm weather. My pussy, Dante, is not wearing his hat, or boots.
Regarding dreams, after my son died I longed to have dreams of him, see him in my dreams, hug him in my dreams, speak to him in my dreams, but for an entire year the only dreams of him were dreams that he was lost and we were searching for him. This year the dreams have changed, they are sweet dreams of him as a child, dreams of him dropping by as an adult unannounced, dreams of him in beautiful places I don’t recognize. I actually felt him touch my head in my sleep or I thought I did anyway. Next I want to hear his laugh again.
Fedoras work on most men.
But only a few men look good with a trilby.
My reaction to it really caught me off guard.
Same happened to me last summer when I learned that one of my serious girl friends had died in 2018, cancer I presume, the obit only said natural causes. It was a shock, she was 10 years younger than I. Her father still lives, one of the few left who served in the 422nd Infantry Regiment in WWII.
I just found out that the marathon I was supposed to be running in February has been postponed. No surprise really, but disappointing. I guess I'll just go run a 26.2 time trial on the day and call that my race. Not the same. I was hoping for a Boston qualifying time. Maybe I'll BQ next year.
TSLA shares are up 41. Watch out! That is a reversal day in this stock.
They were up 68. Ho hum, another +6% or 7% day.
My favorite lake...the “beautiful” lake of course.
It may be a reversal day for the DJIA. New high overnight. Now red.
@AA
Sorry...didn't read carefully...thought it was an 'open' topic.
Deleted my politics-related post...will try again later if theirs an overnight thread.
The US is blessed with beautiful lakes from coast to coast (even in arid Arizona). But no discussion about US lakes begins without Lake Superior. It's the giant. So large it has it's own weather systems. It's an ocean surrounded by land. The discussion starts there, then all others. Personally, I love Lake Tahoe. Or Jordan Pond in Maine. And overseas I'd love to spend a couple of weeks around Lake Como in northern Italy. Hope to get there this year or next. I'm sure some of the readers have been there and maybe could give me their view on which of the towns around Lake Como we should stay in?
On the Wuhan/Covid side of things, we got our first dose of the vaccine here in Florida yesterday. Aside from the small extra head coming out of my neck, I feel fine. The nurse said we can sign up for our final dose in 4 weeks. And by then the extra head will be fully formed, and my original will dry up and simply fall off, like a branch on one of our palm trees. No surgery needed. That's a relief. And, for those who get their news via CNN or NYT, Gov. DeSantis and his team have done a great job getting this set up, and making changes on the fly- as necessary- to get it more efficient. I know many other states are still trying to figure it out. We're well into it. Got to also commend the county health departments across the state. Great job by all.
Looking forward to the NFL this weekend. 6 playoff games in two days. Gotta love that. Then Ohio State vs Alabama on Monday. This weekend is screaming 'Pizza' at me.
Inga, are you ok? I know what you are saying. You are a good person, I can feel it.
This makes me think of Robert Frost: 'Some say the world will end in fire. Some say in ice...'
Favorite lake is the Pacific ocean, favorite hat is a baklava, reading "From Here to There" about how human navigation wires memories to the brain, just made tiger balm, wintergreen-clove body butter and tiger butter balm with CBD-DMSO for elder athlete aches and pains and dry winter skin.
Inga, it sounds like you know how to work through your grief by finding the joy in your Son.
‘Inga, are you ok? I know what you are saying. You are a good person, I can feel it.’
Well, thanks for asking Lewis. I’m as ok as a grieving parent can be. I’m basically happy with my life as I still have other children and grandchildren and interests to keep me occupied, and I’m enjoying doing them more as the months pass by. Grieving changes, but the feeling of loss never goes away, especially when one has lost a child.
“Inga, it sounds like you know how to work through your grief by finding the joy in your Son.”
Yes, and he was a joy, even when he was a pain in the ass! I think that parents who have lost children understand how deep their love for their child really was/is. That love doesn’t go away.
“...favorite hat is a baklava...”
Does it taste good?
Every once in awhile, I happen upon one of the lousy Elvis Presly movies. They really suck. I think two or three of his early movies were kinda normal. Not great but not disgusting.
No doubt he was popular and had the girls swooning in the '50's, but the later stuff is about as bad as it can be.
Poor guy, he coulda been a conteder.
@stevew Ha, driven by Sebago many times going to Portland. Long Lake for me, on the Naples Causeway. Many happy memories there.
I'm not a robot, nor a robot dog.
Lurker21 3 1/2" 00buck for your robodogs.
FullMoon try April Love w/Pat Boone. Don't forget the barf bag!
Bowie also used a Fedora with great effect.
Veronica
Lake St Clair was famous for Ice Boating. Hard Core group!
Lake Champlain is quite nice in these parts. Its lake effect also helps keep Stowe skiable most winters. For pure charm as an alpine lake, Lake George is hard to beat. Personal favorite is Lake Placid -- it and its companion Mirror Lake are smaller and don't have any lake effect on the snow at Whiteface, but they do frame the NE's best ski town. Cuomo's covid lockdowns are unfortunately impacting both the skiing and the town.
mockturtle said...
Thank God for this weekend's NFL playoffs.
Yeah, we not boycotting any more?
Love the crowd noise. Way less annoying than laugh track on television "comedy" programs. Very consistent. No excitement over great play, no boo's over bad calls. Just a simple, low key roar. Kinda like distant mild ocean or freeway traffic
Last week, even the cardboard fans didn't show up for the games.
I once was descending a three step staircase in front of my building. Unbeknownst to me, the top step was iced and I slipped right off. Amazingly, I landed on the ice free first step - skipping the second one - completely sticking the landing on one foot.
For the record, it was either blind luck or divine providence. Agility is not my strong suit.
No ice where I live. There are flowers blooming despite the fact I live north of where Althouse does. Geography and ocean currents.
Yes, more dreams, because I wake up often. Having trouble staying asleep for some reason.
Had the car battery die because it was a wet day and I hadn't driven the car in a long time. Lockdown.
I can give the children's book version of how an internal combustion engine works, nothing more.
I live baseball caps because they keep the sun out of my eyes.
I would not get a robot dog at any price. Greyhounds are already the perfect dog.
I like Navajo Resevoir a lot. Many good memories.
Actually, Kirk Gibson's greatest World Series HR came in 1984: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmukTdo-WuY
Doesn't count, he wasn't a Dodger then.
BUMBLE BEE said...
FullMoon try April Love w/Pat Boone. Don't forget the barf bag!
Pat Boone's "Tutti Frutti" puts Little Richards version to shame.WARNING! LOTS OF FINGER SNAPPIN' HAPPENIN'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAwBa8Pqi6Y
And, Little Richard's weak attempt to copy Pat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSx91WBQLpg&ab_channel=Rock%26RollHallofFame
Jordan Pond is listed as an oligotropic tarn by Wiki. You learn something new every day. Took me 63 years to come across that one. Thanks Temujin!
Nigel Farage: Say no to a police state
This is about the UK; it isn't a fun subject at all. But it's important because, for one thing, it's probably coming our way.
6th Lake in the Sierra out of Big Pine, CA.
11,000 ft. Stupid beautiful. Good fishing.
Working from home and not driving much, I've had to jump start my car 3 times in the last ten months.
Hey- I just got a new fiddle! Wanna hear some tunes? — Nero
Fasting until 5pm today, and right now I would kill for a sandwich. It doesn't help that work is slow.
"Fasting until 5pm today, and right now I would kill for a sandwich."
Call me...I know a guy who knows a guy...
I was once told that you could be refused BA degree if it could be demonstrated that you knew how a refrigerator worked.
Whic reminds me of White Banners (1938) in which Claude Rains plays the guy who invents the fridge.
Could you — if your life depended on it — explain exactly how an internal combustion engine works?
I could explain how a Ford Big Block 390ci motor works because I rebuilt one many years ago. Now I drive a diesel and have only a theoretical notion of how it differs from a sparked motor.
Sometime in the 19th century, a delegation of government dignitaries visited Michael Faraday to view his electric motors and other inventions. One said "This is all very interesting, but of what possible use are these toys?" Faraday responded: "I cannot say what use they may be, but I can confidently predict that one day you will be able to tax them."
@tcrosse: Did you know that Einstein invented (and patented!) a fridge?
Hey- I just got a new fiddle! Wanna hear some tunes? — Nero
Nice, ICTA! ;-)
Gahrie- thanks for the link. That one still makes me smile from ear to ear. I was at that game. Will never forget it.
NY Post January 8, 2021
Study finds those with mild COVID experience loss of taste, smell in 86 percent of cases
'...In a study published on Tuesday in the Journal of Internal Medicine, researchers found that some 86 percent of people with a mild case of the coronavirus lost their sense of taste and smell.
The study involved more than 2,500 patients across 18 European hospitals.
“[Olfactory dysfunction] is more prevalent in mild COVID-19 forms than in moderate-to-critical forms,” the researchers said in the study, noting that according to their research, 75 percent to 85 percent of people regained their ability to taste and smell two months after their infection, while 95 percent of patients regained their ability to taste and smell at six months.
An estimated 5 percent of patients, however, still had not regained this ability by six months.
By comparison, only about 4 percent to 7 percent of those with a “moderate to severe” COVID-19 infection reported losing their loss of taste and smell.
Interestingly, the researchers also found that younger COVID-19 patients were more likely to lose their sense of taste and smell compared to older patients, though the reasoning behind this requires further analysis, they noted.
As for why those with mild cases of COVID-19 were more likely to report losing their loss of taste and smell, the researchers offered an explanation.
“The main hypothesis underlying the higher prevalence of anosmia in mild COVID-19 would consist of differences in the immune response to the infection in mild and moderate-to-critical patients. In this hypothesis, patients with mild COVID-19 could have a better local immunological response through a higher production of IgA, which could limit the virus spread into the organism. The limited virus spread in the host body could therefore be associated with a mild clinical form of the disease,” they wrote, in part, adding that more studies are needed to prove this theorem...'
https://nypost.com/2021/01/08/study-finds-those-with-mild-covid-experience-loss-of-taste-smell-in-86-percent-of-cases/
Journal of Internal Medicine
Prevalence and 6‐month recovery of olfactory dysfunction: a multicentre study of 1363 COVID‐19 patients
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joim.13209
Temujin said: "Aside from the small extra head coming out of my neck, I feel fine."
SCOOBY SNACK for the person that can name the movie where ad ad executive finds a large pimple on his neck that starts talking to him. I can only remember I loved this movie but can't remember the frackin' name! From the UK I think.
chickelit said...
@tcrosse: Did you know that Einstein invented (and patented!) a fridge?
Co-patent with Leo Szilard, who actually wrote the famous Einstein–Szilárd letter to FDR in 1939.
The Einstein–Szilárd letter was a letter written by Leó Szilárd and signed by Albert Einstein that was sent to the United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 2, 1939. Written by Szilárd in consultation with fellow Hungarian physicists Edward Teller and Eugene Wigner, the letter warned that Germany might develop atomic bombs and suggested that the United States should start its own nuclear program. It prompted action by Roosevelt, which eventually resulted in the Manhattan Project developing the first atomic bombs.
Inga, 1:11 PM:
“Next I want to hear his laugh again.”
I hope you will. In the meantime, take care.
"Did you know that Einstein invented (and patented!) a fridge?"
I did not know that.
Relatively interesting.
Wince, re “Szilard, who actually wrote the famous Einstein-Szilard letter to FDR in 1939”:
Now, I’ve known that for a long time, but it just occurred to me: Does this make Szilard the pioneer of the technique that if you have something profound to say, just make it up, put it in slightly awkward Central European syntax, and attribute it to Einstein, because people will figure they’d better pay attention?
(See also: “I know not with what weapons World War Three will be fought,” and, paraphrasing, if the bees go we’re all fooked.)
Been on youtube and amazon shopping for a new knife.
Been swapping out my Kershaw Leek and Benchmade Bugout, as my EDC for a couple of years. Lost my Kershaw Begleiter in the middle of a hail damaged soybean field taking stand counts early this summer, so its time to get back to a 3 knife rotation. (until the need for a 4 knife rotation rears its head)
Down to, Benchmade Crooked Creek, Kershaw Blur, and Spyderco Para military 2
What's in your pocket?
I'll show you some bad ice:
https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/07/vanilla-ice-postpones-concert.jpg
Sold off most of the remaining stocks I bought at the beginning of the year, and bought a violin which should be here in a week. I took lessons about 12 years ago, and played on and off over the years. It will be nice to get back into it.
"But only a few men look good with a trilby."
Funny thing, but Kim Philby wore a trilby.
Welcome to my humble chapeau...
Fasting until 5pm today, and right now I would kill for a sandwich. It doesn't help that work is slow.
Some say its a poor second, but I don't see why you wouldn't substitute an orgasm. If you do it right, it could distract you til five anyway.
JPS,
Certainly they knew because of Einstein's celebrity at the time the letter would be noticed.
Why would the resident retard drop a turd in this very nice punch bowl?
Fedoras work on most men.
But only a few men look good with a trilby.
I want tricornes to be back in style.
Inga- I have been unable to dream of my sister in any way but her being ill. I, too, long to dream about just spending time with her, but that is unavailable to me for some reason. Last night I dreamed about her being gone, and watching over her new grandchild. When I told my niece about the dream, she said she dreamt last night of the three of us meeting up. I'm glad her daughter gets to see her in her dreams.
I see her in other ways, though. Pictures that randomly get sent to my phone "memories for you" or songs that Alexa offers to play. Do you have any of that?
Car is 5.5 years old and has only 38,000 miles and I put 2,000 of those miles on it in the first week. So don't jinx me re a battery.
Favorite lake is either Tahoe or Veronica.
Joe Smith said...
"But only a few men look good with a trilby."
Funny thing, but Kim Philby wore a trilby.
Welcome to my humble chapeau...
************
I used to enjoy irritating my French-English girlfriend of years ago by intentionally mangling French.
The "tricoleur" flag was, for example, "beurre, blanc et rouge".
Parlez-vous Francais? "Un pneu." etc.
Juvenile, but fun to watch her reaction.
ALP: Sounds like How to Get Ahead in Advertising
Ask Wild Swan
Iowan2 said...
Internal combustion engines? yes. two stroke and four stroke.
Jet engines are still confusing me. I have asked Ag pilots to explain them to me and I've been through the diagrams and such on the internet, just not quite getting it.
Wild Swan said:
Basically, many explosions vs. one prolonged explosion
In the internal combustion engine, regular explosions of gas caused by sparks in a chamber cause small rods in the chamber to go and down from changing pressure and the small rods are connected by thingys to a long, strong rod under that car such that the up and down becomes a round and round spinning the rod under the car which rod is connected by other thingys to a rod connecting the front wheels and the thingys change the round and round under the car to round and round on the rod connecting the wheels and more thingys connected in ways make the wheels go round and round the same way. But a jet engine just explodes and pushes against the walls of a chamber and by the explosion getting out one side of the chamber pushes harder against the opposite side, lifting up the whole. They put the pilot on the side of the chamber where the explosion is not getting out and on the other side of the wall so he goes up with the chamber and uses the wind of his speed on some sticking-out parts to steer. It's like a lightning bolt vs. a dynamo, so you're welcome but I'm too tired for more explanations on Wild Swan's Science Hour.
I adore you WildSwan
Mr Wibble said...
Fasting until 5pm today, and right now I would kill for a sandwich. It doesn't help that work is slow.
Wild Swan's Science Hour
It's five o'clock somewhere because oranges are round - although the earth is pear shaped. But which Pole has a navel if you use one of those?
iowan2 said...
What's in your pocket?
Nothing. I'm just happy to see you!
Thanks, Maybee, I like your comments, too. My father was a scientist and my mother read Emily Dickinson religiously and this is why I know things. But I still can't keep squirrels off the bird feeder.
Could I explain how an internal combustion engine works? Of course!
I learned this by reading my dad's old grade school science texts while I was around 10. I thought everyone understood the difference between 2 and 4 cycle engines for a long time.
People used to care about such things before "fix it" culture changed to toss it."
My favorite hat is a blue wool pillbox one given to me by my daughter at Christmastime quite a few years ago. I lost it about two months ago, probably in the parking lot of Walgreens in beautiful downtown Clare. Trusting someone is enjoying it as much as I did.
"I used to enjoy irritating my French-English girlfriend of years ago by intentionally mangling French."
Sometimes when I talk to myself I mix up German, Spanish, and Japanese.
Or I will ask my wife something like, 'Quieres Frühstück tabemasu ka?
Of course, she (rightfully) thinks I'm an idiot : )
I am just good enough with each to be bad enough with each.
Favorite hat: one that keeps my head, ears, and a lot of my neck warm and dry in the cold.
Lake experience limited, but my wife and I both like the previously mentioned Champlain and NY/Vermont lakes, and as serendipity would have it just yesterday I was Google-imaging Interlaken in Switzerland, where we spent a few delightful days one springtime long ago.
When I was a boy, the lake at Audubon Park froze enough for ice-skating every few years; my father could skate pretty well, which I guess was because there was opportunity when he was young, on lakes or ponds--I don't recall him or my mother mentioning indoor rinks, though there were some around in their day as in mine. I went to one. Once.
ALP--that plotline with the talking growth reminds me of a short story from the 60s(?) set in wildest Africa, where an evil white man is cursed with highly peculiar skin eruptions . . . I checked my spillover shelves of old paperbacks in the den to see if I still had the anthology of horror stories (Best of 1962 or something?) but I don't see it (and the genre is not a favorite so no surprise).
Our dackel spent most of Wednesday and yesterday licking his anus and booty-scooting, which usually means an impacted or infected anal gland; I took him in this morning to get it checked and to pick up some meloxicam he needed anyway. Turns out he did have that gland issue (again) but also a growth that they want to biopsy, once he's finished with the antibiotics in about a week. It may be benign, but it's still in a bothersome place.
Narr
I'm starting to need summer hats too, but can't find my style.
My favorite lake is Lake Powell. I have some wonderful memories of vacations on that lake.
There was Rick Monday saving the flag, Fernando Valenzuela stealing everyone's heart in 1979, Garvey to Cey to Lopes to Russell, Gibson's dramatics in 1981.....
Your dates are a bit off. Fernandomania was 1981 and Gibby's homer was in '88.
Also sad to see Tommy pass on. I was a Dodger fan from 1974 until this last season. While it was nice he got to see one more title, it's too bad he also witnessed their sellout to the thugs on the BLM left.
Iowan2 said...
Internal combustion engines? yes. two stroke and four stroke.
Jet engines are still confusing me. I have asked Ag pilots to explain them to me and I've been through the diagrams and such on the internet, just not quite getting it.
The first jet engines where turbojets. There are three main components
1) Compressor to feed high pressure air to the
2) Burner can, where the fuel is burned. The air after the burner can is very hot and very dense.
3) Exhaust turbine where the hot air presses against the turbine blades and pushes the engine forward. The engine also reacts against the momentum of the exhaust stream. The turbine is connected to the compressor by a drive shaft to turn the compressor.
4) A starter motor to get the turbine/compressor moving and burning fuel at a low rate. Just like the starter motor does for an internal combustion engine.
Later engines are turbo fan engines:
1) A much bigger fan driven by the exhaust turbine, but the rotation rate stepped down with a gearbox. The fan section moves a lot of air, slowly and provides more than 90% of the engine's thrust. The development in turbofan engines has been to increase the fan section diameter. Compare the engines of a 737-300 to that of 787. The 787 engines are big enough to stand in.
I had a lawn mower with a Briggs & Stratton engine on it that quit working one day following a violent sounding bang while I was using it. Decided to take it apart and see what was going on; what the heck, right? Turned out that the rod connecting the piston had broken. Again, what the heck, I removed all that broken stuff and debris, called my buddy Doug who had been working on engines since he was a little kid and asked for some advice. Noodled around the interwebs to find the replacement parts I needed, bought them and then put the whole thing back together.
Not sure I've ever felt as satisfied as I did when I fired the reworked motor up after my repairs. Worked great for several more years.
BTW, for ten fucking $K I don't want a dog, I want a hot girlfriend.
Narr
Or two
“I see her in other ways, though. Pictures that randomly get sent to my phone "memories for you" or songs that Alexa offers to play. Do you have any of that?”
Yes I do. You know how your photo app, at least on Apple products, puts together videos of pics for you occasionally and sets it to music? One night I was especially upset and couldn’t sleep and ding! at around 3 AM, off goes the notice on my IPad pointing me to a new video that had put together for me. It was entirely of my sons life as an adult in order ending with a pic of my daughters holding my sons ashes when they flew to Maine to retrieve them. It was uncanny how a photo app put together these random pics from all the pics in my photo albums and set it to the perfect music.
That was just one of several.
Inga, to transmit the death of your child into poetry is inconceivably brave. What a fine family you have.
"BTW, for ten fucking $K I don't want a dog, I want a hot girlfriend."
Depends on how hot, but that's 2-4 hours worth of 'girlfriend.'
Might be great for your next high school reunion.
Thank you Tina.
Favorite lake: Crater Lake in south central Oregon. Deep cobalt blue with Wizard Island in the center. There's a scenic rim road that encircles the lake. The lake is about 500-ft below the road. There's a trail down to the lake to a boat service that will take people to Wizard Island.
I was at Indian Lake today. Alas, the hat I wore kept inching up above my ears. This was not optimal.
I'm giving up on following politics closely. It's too aggravating. I'll continue to vote, and will keep an eye out on things in general. And push for free speech, of course. But this business of living and breathing it for hours a day is for the birds.
I'll be working on becoming a single-digit handicapper. Need to work on my short game. Also, I'll be joining the Professor in retirement next year, so I'll have a lot more time to devote to hobbies.
The next two years are going to be ugly. Hurricane Harris. Best to nail boards across the glass windows and stockpile foodstuffs. Weather the storm.
Lake Harriet in south Minneapolis, in the part that wasn't looted and burned.
The ocean doesn't freeze, around here anyway.
Inga: my mother was a little Italian life force, tiny, funny, agoraphobic, verbal, crazy as all get out, resilient. That's what Bed-Sty does to you in the 40's. Cared for my chronically ill family members, and of all the things I imagined would ever happen to our family after all the other things that happened, I never once imagined she would go first, practically overnight, three months lung to brain before we knew it.
All those cigarettes. Smoked in emergency rooms and ICUs. The one vice the nuns didn't manage to beat out of her. Can't really blame the nuns: they were busy trying to achieve mastery on the volleyball court.
I light a 7-day candle on my mother's birth date and death date just to be close enough to imagine hearing her voice saying, "Put that damn thing out. You'll burn the house down."
We mourn vices and quirks and flaws more than virtues. Virtues are dull.
Let's make a deal, you and I: whoever goes first will light a candle and argue politics with the other one, who can only answer by the flickering of the flame.
But watch that flickering. It speaks volumes.
Not sure I've ever felt as satisfied as I did when I fired the reworked motor up after my repairs. Worked great for several more years.
Yes, fixing something in this day and age is unusual.
I gave my son an old chain saw, when I got the itch to upgrade. I had a case of 2 inchitis. Just another 2 inches of bar length was keeping me from happiness.
Anyway, after several years it stopped working, he replaced it with a new saw,(with a bigger bar). Then come winter he cleared his workbench and tore the machine completely down and started replacing worn and broken parts. Success. He got it up and running, with the exception of getting the fuel settings perfect.
Youtube has been a huge asset in providing videos of almost anything you want to fix.
I like Althouse priming the pump re topics for commenters re these threads.
I’d like to combine a couple of her suggestions. “Is there a $10,000 car that you’d buy?”
For me there is. Every now and then I think about buying an Alfa Romeo Milano Verde. Reasonably good ones tend to be only a wee bit above ten grand.
They’re so weird (the parking brake? WTF?). And a 3 L Busso sound is epic. So what if they’re not beautiful like older Alfas. They’re cheap!
I already have a good vintage Alfa shop for my cool Alfas, so based on my experience I have no doubt that a seemingly fine $12,000 Milano could easily need six, seven, eight or more grand for.....whatever. Sure, the dollar amounts are not big, but the hassle of the repairs and the potential on-road breakdowns would be very disappointing/annoying for a car that is meant to be a super cheap and fun lark.
Maybe that’s the answer: there is only one car worth having for near ten thousand dollars, and it is a Milano Verde, but only if you are sure that you don’t need to spend more than six grand to fully sort it, and you will only be left on the side of the road w/ a broken Milano one time.
Of course if you include the twelve grand plus the six grand, you’re getting close to what you’d need for a sorta tattered (but still OK) Mercedes 190E 16 valve. Cosworth! So maybe that’s my choice for a car that costs around $10,000 ($18,000).
Of course at that price that is almost certain to have a hidden eight or more grand re work that will need to be done.
So, my final answer is that Mercedes model, but I’ll need one w/ almost no miles and it needs to be the EVO II version. I’m sure that’d be perfectly sorted. Of course the best examples of that get close to four hundred grand (some go over, w/ the auction house fees added in), so I’m just joshin’ re that re a ten (eighteen) grand budget.
So back to the question: if I had ten grand to buy a car, and it’d be my only car, I’d get an as lightly used as possible Hyundai Santa Fe for nine grand, and I’d hope the extra grand would cover whatever comes up. [Typing that made me sorta emotional re how life would be completely terrible re that sorta constraint. F me, I’m a prick and a total asshole elitist. Wonderful people need to think about budgeting (I know plenty of them). Anywho, I need to keep working on being more humble. IMHO.
“Let's make a deal, you and I: whoever goes first will light a candle and argue politics with the other one, who can only answer by the flickering of the flame.”
It’s a deal, we need to be careful not to cause the flame to light up into a blow torch when the debate gets really hot. ;D
And Tina, your mother sounded like a wonderful and powerful woman!
Pinecrest Lake in California is probably my favorite. I've been going there since I was a baby. #2 would probably be Bled in Slovenia, but it became overrun with tourists in the Before Times.
My favorite lake is Lake Powell. I have some wonderful memories of vacations on that lake.
"No, it's too white for Bellatrix."
“my favorite is Diablo Lake in North Cascades NP, WA. My favorite kayak camping site.”
How can you go there and not get to Ross Lake?
The floating cabins are super cool (but can be tricky to reserve). And the cabin folks will transport you and your kayaks from Diablo. And you can camp in several places on the lake (including an island) in addition to the floating cabins. And, you can hike up to Kerouac’s fire lookout.
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/18/travel/climbing-a-peak-that-stirred-kerouac.html
Why does no one seem to remember this?
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/inauguration-2017/washington-faces-more-anti-trump-protests-after-day-rage-n709946
Why does no one seem to remember this?
Because the Left gets a pass. That should be obvious by now.
Higgins Lake, Michigan
But no discussion about US lakes begins without Lake Superior.
This is the right answer. All the other lakes are really unimpressive in comparison.
As for hats, fedoras and homburgs are nice, but a newsboy won't bump your headrest and you can fold it up when you walk indoors. It's far more practical.
JaimeRoberto said...
Why does no one seem to remember this?
The rule is:
See just one side, have double standard.
When you have hair like mine you don’t wear hats.
I wonder what will happen when AIs gain the ability to identify pictures of crosswalks.
I bet we will be fucked.
As our high school shop teacher taught us regarding the 4 stroke internal combustion engine (in the most simplistic terms):
1) Intake
2) Compression
3) Power
4) Exhaust
My plan for my next car is an early 1980's 5-speed diesel Rabbit.
You want large jet engine diameters to drive the fuel cost down. The fuel cost goes with the exhaust energy, the thrust goes with the exhaust momentum.
So energy goes like exhaust velocity squared, and thrust goes like exhaust velocity.
Thrustwise you can move twice as much air half as fast. But that also gives you one half the energy (double mass, quarter velocity squared, net is half the energy).
So keep moving more air slower and the fuel cost goes to zero, except the exhaust velocity has to be at least the speed of the airplane, at which point moving more air is counterproductive.
@Sprezzatura
Perhaps invest in a decent set of spanners, pop the bonnet and geve 'er a go!.
A spot of motor grease 'neath the nails. Like the plebes.
JZ said...
Have you seen people drive cars onto a frozen lake? I remember once maybe 60 years ago on Lake Saint Clair near Detroit.
Oh boy. My Dad grew up on Ghost Lake, Spider Lake Township, WI. As kids, we’d spend the week between Christmas and New Years at the cabin, ice fishing, snowmobiling, and driving the family station wagon on the ice. Terrifying. No wonder my mom developed high blood pressure in her early 40s. Well, that and the 8 kids. And yes, Ghost Lake is my favorite lake. 64 years of memories, mostly happy ones.
PALE FIRE
(A Poem in Four Cantos)
CANTO 1
I was the shadow of the waxwing slain
By the false azure in the windowpane
I was the smudge of ashen fluff--and I
Lived on, flew on, in the reflected sky,
And from the inside, too, I'd duplicate
Myself, my lamp, an apple on a plate:
Uncurtaining the night, I'd let dark glass
Hang all the furniture above the grass,
And how delightful when a fall of snow
10 Covered my glimpse of lawn and reached
up so
As to make chair and bed exactly stand
Upon that snow, out in that crystal land!
Nabakov.
Anyone else notice how the postal service sucks since COVID. Got three letters today:
Discover Card statement dated 12/16/20
Allstates Flood Insur Prem notice dated 12/16/20
Travelers Work Comp premium audit notice dated 12/28/20.
I like Apple moving to ban Parler owing to its hate speech. Deny them banking services etc. If you're woke, you're woke, and zero tolerance is zero tolerance.
Twitter doesn't permit me to post anything and never has, but I think it's because I don't have a mobile phone and they demand its number.
Buy home insurance on Amazon and get it in two days, if you're on prime.
I wonder what will happen when AIs gain the ability to identify pictures of crosswalks.
My robot dog can already identify pictures of fire hydrants.
So he writes most of my comments.
A Big Move to Ban Realtor ‘Hate Speech.’ At Work. Anywhere. 24/7. “In what some consider one of the most far-reaching social policy moves in the corporate world, the National Association of Realtors, called the nation’s largest trade organization, has revised its professional ethics code to ban ‘hate speech and harassing speech’ by its 1.4 million members. . . .
Dream big and just ban all realtors from talking. At work. At home. Anywhere. 24/7.
“Is there a $10,000 car that you’d buy?”
That's the book value of my 2005 Audi TT. I'd buy that.
Ann Althouse said...
“Is there a $10,000 car that you’d buy?”
That's the book value of my 2005 Audi TT. I'd buy that.
Yeah, but if you sold it, celebrity value probably betweeen $15,000-$20,000.
Right up there with Jon Voight's Chrysler
June Lake will always hold a fond place in my memories too. We took our son there for his first vacation and stayed at Gull Lake Lodge. Our son was only one and a half. We got there late since it was over a six hour drive (and the longest drive we had taken him on). The manager left keys in an envelope for us. The envelope had a note inside that told us that my husband’s mother had called and wanted us to call and let her know we got there ok. This was obviously before we had a cell phone.
She was a hoverer, but I sure do miss her. I don’t miss the Heffalumps and Woozles song though.
Nonapod: THANK YOU! I knew the title of that movie was a play on the concept itself - you'd think that would help me remember it.
Ann: I get such a chuckle when you point out that *this* post is not for discussion of Trump, please go to the *other seven posts* I have *already provided* about the subject - do not post that stuff here.
Question: is harder or easier to manage a roomful of law students, or the folks here commenting on your blog? Or pretty much the same level of irritation?
Renewed my membership to Princeton Club Express for another year, free of charge. Thank you Silver Sneakers!
Have you fallen on the ice this winter? Have you slipped or tripped over anything recently?
No, not that there would be much risk of injury if I did. Pretty much the first thing they teach you in judo, ju jitsu, or aikido is how to fall without hurting yourself. About five years ago I fell and sprained an ankle, and was lamenting my lost muscle memory to the ER doc. The ER doc looked at me strangely and told me that most people in my situation would have broken my ankle, not strained it. He deduced that I went with the fall, and rolled out. About a decade before that I stepped on a piece of fruit in front of the salad bar in the company cafeteria. I went down hard and the cafeteria manager bustled over, sure I was in need of an ambulance. Not only was I unhurt, I hadn’t even spilled anything off my tray. At that point I hadn’t stepped on a dojo floor in about eight years.
Are your dreams becoming more detailed and interesting?
I never remember them in the morning.
Is your car holding up all right?
Yup, but I take very good care of it.
Could you — if your life depended on it — explain exactly how an internal combustion engine works?
Yes, also the difference between a four stroke versus a two stroke, and how a diesel works. In my younger days I worked on my own cars, changed my own oil, spark plugs, and air filter, set my own timing, stuff like that. Routine stuff, but not what most computer geeks could do even then. These days it’s a lot harder to work on your car without special tools and diagnostic equipment. I have been taking my cars to mechanics for years now.
What is your favorite kind of hat?
A cowboy hat, of course. Cowboys worked hard (still do) under challenging weather conditions. Their clothing is chosen to support them in their work. Did you know that those wool felt hats are water proof (the good ones, that is, it the $10 kind)?
How good would a robot dog need to be before you'd pay $10,000 for one?
Damned good! But it had better not poop on my lawn or pee on my mailbox post.
rhhardin wants to ban hate speech. Who defines what hate speech is? Apple? Google, Ann? Me?
Everything rhhardin says is hate speech, so he must be banned. Doesn't matter that he's making a good point, it's hate speech. There's someone somewhere who will define it as hate speech, so he must be banned.
The so-called climate crisis is also being held up as orthodoxy, anyone who dissents is a heathen and must be burned at the stake. There's no crisis, just hysterical left-wing propaganda. At one time, plate tectonics was just a fringe theory; it took about 20 years for it to be accepted. It went against the orthodoxy of a fixed earth. Now it explains earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
I like homburgs, I guess, because my father used to have one.
As for dreams, well, I had one the other day in which I was visiting some friends in a chess tournament at what seemed to be a library with very cramped conditions and had to use the bathroom at one point. There happened to be a stand-alone toilet all by its lonesome under the main stairs, which put my business in highly public view - not even any stall construction, not the merest bit of concealment - but I was desperate.
Iowan2 said...
Down to, Benchmade Crooked Creek, Kershaw Blur, and Spyderco Para military 2
What's in your pocket?
My needs are probably different from yours, but chiefly due to legal concerns as well as convenience, I usually carry a Gerber EAB, and/or a tiny wonderful 3Coil Crane (or a Chinese knockoff of same in brass). They have disposable contractor or scalpel blades so can be expended or sacrificed at need.
When I need more grunt, I have a couple of Spydercos in the back of a drawer, but the laws in NY are nasty so those are not EDC. Carried a Boker gent's knife to work for a short while, but it failed me (the blade ceased to reliably lock and would pivot past straight) in some impromptu sheetrock work and neither countycomm.com nor Boker would make good, so F them. Any tool must ultimately be disposable, or you shouldn't risk it by using it.
Inga: my mom was unbelievably funny. She sent Christmas cards to people she had met just once on a public bus. She had a special place in her heart for screwy homeless pervs.
More strangers than family came to her memorial. Somehow, she had the capacity to pull the most important story out of every person she ever encountered. There was a children's book called Frederick the Mouse about this. I do blame it for setting me on the awful path to graduate school.
We never know how we affect people. Your politics angered me. How trivial. Your son disappearing off a dock gives you my heart. As they say in the great show, No Offense: you've got my heart; I have your back. This show is the only thing I recommend to anyone in mourning. May the hills rise up to meet you. As some Irish drunks say. I'm not Irish. I really can't see how that's a good thing, but the intention seems sincere.
Thanks again Tina. I think your mom lives on in you.
Post a Comment