Friday, December 28, 2007
Busy day yesterday. 2.5 hour lunch with one friend, and a 3.5 hour dinner with a different friend. For dinner we chose a diner where we could sit without being rushed out after the meal, and we went through his vacation photo CD, and then some photos from a photography class he's taking. And that was pretty much yesterday.
I mentioned to Roman on the phone Wednesday that I'd run out of oil, and had got an emergency delivery, and he said the same thing had happened to him, he'd run out, too, earlier than expected.
Now, Roman has this thing that drives me crazy. He argues. And he gets very superior and condescending about it. When I said that I was completely out, and got 253.1 gallons for my 250 gallon tank, he said that's impossible, that the tanks come in 200 and 275 sizes. I insisted that my tank was 250, and he decided I was wrong. It couldn't be. Either I have a 275 gallon tank and wasn't completely out, or I have a 200 gallon tank and got ripped off by 53 gallons.
Then we were talking about the price, and I said I was getting a discount for prepayment, and he said he pays current price. I asked how much, so he went and got his bill, and oddly enough, he'd got exactly 253.1 gallons, too! (Different oil companies.)
Smackdown time!
He he! Snork!
Gee, Roman, either you weren't completely out, or....
Even better, he paid a dollar more per gallon than I.
I was rolling on the floor hugging myself.
.
Friday, December 28, 2007
1616 CPR Study
Friday, December 28, 2007
In CPR classes they teach you to alternate chest compression with ventilation. A new study says that compression alone will suffice. The article (at http://www.physorg.com/news117889437.html) seems to imply at first that it's because bystanders are reluctant to do mouth-to-mouth, so compression alone is better than nothing. But the actual study compared ventilation plus compression to compression alone, and found no significant difference:
Earlier this year, the then-largest study comparing survival rates of cardiac arrest victims in the light of the kind of rescue efforts performed by bystanders concluded that chances of leaving the hospital alive were actually higher for patients who received Continuous-Chest-Compression CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation by bystanders with chest compression only (SOS-KANTO): an observational study; Lancet 2007:369:920-926).
Dr. Ewy says, “It is interesting that Continuous-Chest-Compression CPR, a technique that has not been advocated or taught and is most often performed by individuals not trained in CPR, results in similar survival as the guidelines-advocated approach, on which millions of hours and millions of dollars have been spent teaching and advocating.”
He adds that mouth-to-mouth ventilation is disadvantageous in cases of sudden cardiac arrest for three primary reasons. “A person whose heart suddenly stops, for example because of a heart attack, was breathing normally only seconds earlier so there is plenty of oxygen in the blood. The important thing is to move the blood around, and this is only possible by uninterrupted chest compressions. During CPR, blood flow to the brain and the heart is so marginal that stopping for anything, including ventilation, is harmful to the brain. In addition, research has shown that forced ventilation, including mouth-to-mouth breathing, increases the pressure in the patient’s chest, which in turn inhibits blood flow back to the heart.”
(Actually, survival rates are dismal in any case. But you have to try, I guess.)
So, CPR might become easier to learn. You still have to learn, because most people (even those who have taken the class) don't press in the right place. And you have to compress pretty quickly - more than once per second. And if you break a rib or two, you aren't compressing too hard - in fact, that's probably about right.
I will be happy to do away with ventilation. Not because I object to mouth-to-mouth, that really doesn't bother me (I carry a mask), but because when you're doing it alone, it takes time to get the head and neck in the proper position. I've seen even trained EMTs blow up the stomach instead of the lungs. (Besides not helping, it can lead to vomiting, which is a danger in itself, besides screwing up the rhythm. Bleck.)
I wonder if a change in recommendation will happen? And how soon?
.
In CPR classes they teach you to alternate chest compression with ventilation. A new study says that compression alone will suffice. The article (at http://www.physorg.com/news117889437.html) seems to imply at first that it's because bystanders are reluctant to do mouth-to-mouth, so compression alone is better than nothing. But the actual study compared ventilation plus compression to compression alone, and found no significant difference:
Earlier this year, the then-largest study comparing survival rates of cardiac arrest victims in the light of the kind of rescue efforts performed by bystanders concluded that chances of leaving the hospital alive were actually higher for patients who received Continuous-Chest-Compression CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation by bystanders with chest compression only (SOS-KANTO): an observational study; Lancet 2007:369:920-926).
Dr. Ewy says, “It is interesting that Continuous-Chest-Compression CPR, a technique that has not been advocated or taught and is most often performed by individuals not trained in CPR, results in similar survival as the guidelines-advocated approach, on which millions of hours and millions of dollars have been spent teaching and advocating.”
He adds that mouth-to-mouth ventilation is disadvantageous in cases of sudden cardiac arrest for three primary reasons. “A person whose heart suddenly stops, for example because of a heart attack, was breathing normally only seconds earlier so there is plenty of oxygen in the blood. The important thing is to move the blood around, and this is only possible by uninterrupted chest compressions. During CPR, blood flow to the brain and the heart is so marginal that stopping for anything, including ventilation, is harmful to the brain. In addition, research has shown that forced ventilation, including mouth-to-mouth breathing, increases the pressure in the patient’s chest, which in turn inhibits blood flow back to the heart.”
(Actually, survival rates are dismal in any case. But you have to try, I guess.)
So, CPR might become easier to learn. You still have to learn, because most people (even those who have taken the class) don't press in the right place. And you have to compress pretty quickly - more than once per second. And if you break a rib or two, you aren't compressing too hard - in fact, that's probably about right.
I will be happy to do away with ventilation. Not because I object to mouth-to-mouth, that really doesn't bother me (I carry a mask), but because when you're doing it alone, it takes time to get the head and neck in the proper position. I've seen even trained EMTs blow up the stomach instead of the lungs. (Besides not helping, it can lead to vomiting, which is a danger in itself, besides screwing up the rhythm. Bleck.)
I wonder if a change in recommendation will happen? And how soon?
.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
1615 Speculation on Oil
For those who keep track of such things - I usually use 800 gallons of fuel oil per year. Last year was a mild winter, and I used only 500, a portion of which was even left over from the winter before.
I don't know why this winter is so "oily". It might be that we've had a lot more wind, and I'm high enough to be affected by it. It could also be that my new roof isn't insulating as well as the old one, although the snow cover stayed on the roof longer this year than ever before. It could be that the new larger ventilating fan in the attic is alowing the attic to get colder.
In short - as usual, I Don't Understand.
-------------------------------
Several years ago, a local realtor was trying to sell the land to the north of us. That lot had no access to our street, and their drive would have to go down to the main road, and the ridge was very steep on that side. The realtor visited us (Jay was alive then) and asked if it would be possible for new owners to cut a drive through the woods across the crest of the ridge to our driveway, for emergency access just during the snow months. Otherwise, she doubted she'd ever be able to sell it. We said yes, no problem, but then we never heard anything else about it.
The land sold about two years ago I think, and there's a huge house there now that I can almost glimpse when the leaves are off the trees.
My regular oil delivery man told me that the folks who bought and built apparently weren't familiar with ice and snow. Their driveway is very long and steep, with two "U"s in it, and turn-around or not, the fuel delivery trucks flat out can't chance it in the winter. So the owners had to put in several very large fuel tanks which they fill in the fall.
I hope they're better at estimating usage than I am.
.
I don't know why this winter is so "oily". It might be that we've had a lot more wind, and I'm high enough to be affected by it. It could also be that my new roof isn't insulating as well as the old one, although the snow cover stayed on the roof longer this year than ever before. It could be that the new larger ventilating fan in the attic is alowing the attic to get colder.
In short - as usual, I Don't Understand.
-------------------------------
Several years ago, a local realtor was trying to sell the land to the north of us. That lot had no access to our street, and their drive would have to go down to the main road, and the ridge was very steep on that side. The realtor visited us (Jay was alive then) and asked if it would be possible for new owners to cut a drive through the woods across the crest of the ridge to our driveway, for emergency access just during the snow months. Otherwise, she doubted she'd ever be able to sell it. We said yes, no problem, but then we never heard anything else about it.
The land sold about two years ago I think, and there's a huge house there now that I can almost glimpse when the leaves are off the trees.
My regular oil delivery man told me that the folks who bought and built apparently weren't familiar with ice and snow. Their driveway is very long and steep, with two "U"s in it, and turn-around or not, the fuel delivery trucks flat out can't chance it in the winter. So the owners had to put in several very large fuel tanks which they fill in the fall.
I hope they're better at estimating usage than I am.
.
1614 Thank You, Plow Man
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
I was up late last night, so I slept late this morning. Usually the cats let me sleep, but this morning Jasper was bouncing all over my legs by 10:30, and Miss Thunderfoot was complaining loudly. Very unusual for her. I was having a nice dream, and held out until 11, but finally gave up and got up.
Their complaint was that it was 60 degrees (F) in the house.
I have a programmed thermostat, so the temperature does drop during the night, but never lower than 63, and it should be above 70 by 9 am. Something was wrong, and the cats didn't like it. Not one bit.
Neither did I.
The furnace fan was blowing, but it was blowing cold air. The outside temperature was 32. Freezing. We had power. I went to the basement, and the furnace was "running", but it was cold. The fuel tank gauge said "empty". I knocked on it with a knuckle, and it was hollow all the way down. I have a 250 gallon tank. I got a delivery only two months ago. Ouch!
Remember my chief concern about getting the top of my drive cleared? So the fuel oil truck could get up and turned around?
I called the oil company and told them I was out and needed an emergency delivery, then moved the Aerio to the street to make sure the truck could turn around. Within the hour, I heard the "beep beep" of a truck backing up the drive.
Backing up?
It was a new guy, and he didn't know that Ms. Silk always makes sure he can turn around (although the dispatcher knew, and had made sure to send a small truck). I met him at the top of the driveway, and scolded him, "Sheesh! I did all this work (waving at the cleared top) to make sure you'd be able to turn around, and you BACK up the drive? But I've gotta admire your courage!"
I guess it was a scary trip. This complete stranger walked up to me and hugged me, with a relieved laugh.
It took 253.1 gallons, at $2.449/gal. $619.84 total. It would have cost a lot more, but I had prepaid in September, with a discount on the September price. I've got one more delivery's worth of credit, then I'll have to pay the real price.
Let's hope it's a short winter.
.
I was up late last night, so I slept late this morning. Usually the cats let me sleep, but this morning Jasper was bouncing all over my legs by 10:30, and Miss Thunderfoot was complaining loudly. Very unusual for her. I was having a nice dream, and held out until 11, but finally gave up and got up.
Their complaint was that it was 60 degrees (F) in the house.
I have a programmed thermostat, so the temperature does drop during the night, but never lower than 63, and it should be above 70 by 9 am. Something was wrong, and the cats didn't like it. Not one bit.
Neither did I.
The furnace fan was blowing, but it was blowing cold air. The outside temperature was 32. Freezing. We had power. I went to the basement, and the furnace was "running", but it was cold. The fuel tank gauge said "empty". I knocked on it with a knuckle, and it was hollow all the way down. I have a 250 gallon tank. I got a delivery only two months ago. Ouch!
Remember my chief concern about getting the top of my drive cleared? So the fuel oil truck could get up and turned around?
I called the oil company and told them I was out and needed an emergency delivery, then moved the Aerio to the street to make sure the truck could turn around. Within the hour, I heard the "beep beep" of a truck backing up the drive.
Backing up?
It was a new guy, and he didn't know that Ms. Silk always makes sure he can turn around (although the dispatcher knew, and had made sure to send a small truck). I met him at the top of the driveway, and scolded him, "Sheesh! I did all this work (waving at the cleared top) to make sure you'd be able to turn around, and you BACK up the drive? But I've gotta admire your courage!"
I guess it was a scary trip. This complete stranger walked up to me and hugged me, with a relieved laugh.
It took 253.1 gallons, at $2.449/gal. $619.84 total. It would have cost a lot more, but I had prepaid in September, with a discount on the September price. I've got one more delivery's worth of credit, then I'll have to pay the real price.
Let's hope it's a short winter.
.
Monday, December 24, 2007
1613 Keen
Monday, December 24, 2007
This started out as a response to Chis's comment on entry #1611, where he asks if the strange noises could have anything to do with a fault zone. I decided to make my response to his query an entry itself:
Not a fault zone, exactly. But the house is perched on a rock ridge, about 2 miles from the Hudson river. Between here and the river is another ridge. Railroad tracks run along the banks of the river, and sometimes, not all the time but sometimes, I can feel the vibration of the trains. Something to do with the rock shelves, I suppose.
Sound carries very far, too. There was a police bagpipe band that practiced IN a firehouse a good ten miles away as the crow flies, across the river, beyond two ridges, and on summer Sunday afternoons I could hear them clearly inside my closed house. The back wall of the house is about half glass, and it collects and amplifies sound. Outside, no one could hear the sound. Inside, I had a concert.
The keening I heard last night could have been coming from 10 miles or 10 feet away. It sounded like a half-asleep hawk, or a fawn in difficulty. (Or a rabbit dying, but I prefer to discount that one.) It continued off and on for three hours. It's too early for fawns, so I don't know.
The last time I heard a similar sound I was convinced it was a fawn in trouble. There's a doe who parks her new twin fawns in the woods just outside my bathroom window, and I thought perhaps one had gotten trapped somehow. When I investigated, I discovered the red-tailed hawks who nest out back were teaching their fledgelings how to fly and dive and soar, and the sounds were calls, encouragement, and exuberance.
It just SOUNDED like a distress call.
.
This started out as a response to Chis's comment on entry #1611, where he asks if the strange noises could have anything to do with a fault zone. I decided to make my response to his query an entry itself:
Not a fault zone, exactly. But the house is perched on a rock ridge, about 2 miles from the Hudson river. Between here and the river is another ridge. Railroad tracks run along the banks of the river, and sometimes, not all the time but sometimes, I can feel the vibration of the trains. Something to do with the rock shelves, I suppose.
Sound carries very far, too. There was a police bagpipe band that practiced IN a firehouse a good ten miles away as the crow flies, across the river, beyond two ridges, and on summer Sunday afternoons I could hear them clearly inside my closed house. The back wall of the house is about half glass, and it collects and amplifies sound. Outside, no one could hear the sound. Inside, I had a concert.
The keening I heard last night could have been coming from 10 miles or 10 feet away. It sounded like a half-asleep hawk, or a fawn in difficulty. (Or a rabbit dying, but I prefer to discount that one.) It continued off and on for three hours. It's too early for fawns, so I don't know.
The last time I heard a similar sound I was convinced it was a fawn in trouble. There's a doe who parks her new twin fawns in the woods just outside my bathroom window, and I thought perhaps one had gotten trapped somehow. When I investigated, I discovered the red-tailed hawks who nest out back were teaching their fledgelings how to fly and dive and soar, and the sounds were calls, encouragement, and exuberance.
It just SOUNDED like a distress call.
.
1612 Kitty Update
Monday, December 24, 2007
I've had many cats in my life. Most of them went through a youthful phase where they wanted to climb everything, explore everywhere. Every one of them was delicate about it. They all could walk across a crowded knick-knack shelf and never knock anything off. They carefully tested the footing before venturing onto a heap of anything.
Jasper is a total klutz.
A few months ago, I tracked his progress through the house by the "Eeeep, Eeeep?" (he's a talker). Now I know where he is by the crashes and thuds.
He's my first (young) male cat. Is that the difference?
.
I've had many cats in my life. Most of them went through a youthful phase where they wanted to climb everything, explore everywhere. Every one of them was delicate about it. They all could walk across a crowded knick-knack shelf and never knock anything off. They carefully tested the footing before venturing onto a heap of anything.
Jasper is a total klutz.
A few months ago, I tracked his progress through the house by the "Eeeep, Eeeep?" (he's a talker). Now I know where he is by the crashes and thuds.
He's my first (young) male cat. Is that the difference?
.
1611 From Afar, Very Afar
Monday, December 24, 2007
Today I received a Christmas email from ... man, I'm not even sure who. Jay's mother had like 3rd-degree relatives in Sweden, and next summer some of them are coming to visit relatives in Mass., and Niagra Falls, with a short stay in the Rochester NY area. The woman sent the email to Jay's father, and Jay's sisters and I (although they probably thought Jay would be receiving the email - I'm still using his id) were copied. She hopes to see "us" while here.
My head is spinning.
How did she get the email addresses? Obviously she's in touch with someone....
In my family, my sister and I don't know where our youngest brother is. I have no idea where any of my 1st degree cousins are. Occasionally I find one, usually at a funeral of an aunt or uncle, but then I lose them again, and the aunt and uncle supply is dropping rapidly. But Jay's family hovers around each other constantly, out to the 3rd and 4th degree, and new members are cropping up all the time.
My entire family is dysfunctional. But although Jay's family looks so perfect from the outside, I know they're dysfunctional, too, just more subtly. His family has a very strict set of social standards that my family never subscribed to. Perhaps some might call it breeding.
Different dynamics.
-------------------------------
I'm getting strange noises in and outside the house again. Last night there was a weird keening in the woods. I've never heard it before.
Just a few minutes ago there was a thud somewhere in or close outside the house, exactly the sound of a heavy box being dropped on the floor. I hadn't heard anyone come up the drive, but I checked the porch anyway to see if there was a package. Nothing.
Sometimes birds fly into the glass walls on the back, or into the siding, but it didn't sound like that - unless it was a turkey falling out of the air onto the deck.
Mystery. I don't like it.
----------------------------
I've figured out why Jasper insisted his name was Jasper. He was trying to say Exjasperate.
.
Today I received a Christmas email from ... man, I'm not even sure who. Jay's mother had like 3rd-degree relatives in Sweden, and next summer some of them are coming to visit relatives in Mass., and Niagra Falls, with a short stay in the Rochester NY area. The woman sent the email to Jay's father, and Jay's sisters and I (although they probably thought Jay would be receiving the email - I'm still using his id) were copied. She hopes to see "us" while here.
My head is spinning.
How did she get the email addresses? Obviously she's in touch with someone....
In my family, my sister and I don't know where our youngest brother is. I have no idea where any of my 1st degree cousins are. Occasionally I find one, usually at a funeral of an aunt or uncle, but then I lose them again, and the aunt and uncle supply is dropping rapidly. But Jay's family hovers around each other constantly, out to the 3rd and 4th degree, and new members are cropping up all the time.
My entire family is dysfunctional. But although Jay's family looks so perfect from the outside, I know they're dysfunctional, too, just more subtly. His family has a very strict set of social standards that my family never subscribed to. Perhaps some might call it breeding.
Different dynamics.
-------------------------------
I'm getting strange noises in and outside the house again. Last night there was a weird keening in the woods. I've never heard it before.
Just a few minutes ago there was a thud somewhere in or close outside the house, exactly the sound of a heavy box being dropped on the floor. I hadn't heard anyone come up the drive, but I checked the porch anyway to see if there was a package. Nothing.
Sometimes birds fly into the glass walls on the back, or into the siding, but it didn't sound like that - unless it was a turkey falling out of the air onto the deck.
Mystery. I don't like it.
----------------------------
I've figured out why Jasper insisted his name was Jasper. He was trying to say Exjasperate.
.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
1610 Silent Night
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Simon and Garfunkel's Silent Night - 7 o'clock News - 1966. Set to various covers of TIME magazine. From: rsensorat3 .
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcGBcJKalrQ]
Silent night
Holy night
All is calm
All is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.
- - - - - - - - - - -
This is the early evening edition of the news.
The recent fight in the House of Representatives was over the open housing section of the Civil Rights Bill. It brought traditional enemies together but it left the defenders of the
measure without the votes of their strongest supporters. President Johnson originally proposed an outright ban covering discrimination by everyone for every type of housing but it had no chance from the start and everyone in Congress knew it. A compromise was painfully worked out in the House Judiciary Committee.
In Los Angeles today comedian Lenny Bruce died of what was believed to be an overdose of narcotics. Bruce was 42 years old.
Dr. Martin Luther King says he does not intend to cancel plans for an open housing march Sunday into the Chicago suburb of Cicero. Cook County Sheriff Richard Ogleby asked King to call off the march and the police in Cicero said they would ask the National Guard to be called out if it is held. King, now in Atlanta, Georgia, plans to return to Chicago Tuesday.
In Chicago Richard Speck, accused murderer of nine student nurses, was brought before a grand jury today for indictment. The nurses were found stabbed and strangled in their Chicago apartment.
In Washington the atmosphere was tense today as a special subcommittee of the House Committee on Un-American activities continued its probe into anti-Viet nam war protests.
Demonstrators were forcibly evicted from the hearings when they began chanting anti-war slogans.
Former Vice-President Richard Nixon says that unless there is a substantial increase in the present war effort in Viet Nam, the U.S. should look forward to five more years of war.
In a speech before the Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in New York, Nixon also said opposition to the war in this country is the greatest single weapon working against the U.S.
That's the 7 o'clock edition of the news.
Goodnight.
Time passes. Only the details change.
Silent Night - Iraq. From: ChristellaKury .
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHFzQx53eGY&NR=1]
.
Simon and Garfunkel's Silent Night - 7 o'clock News - 1966. Set to various covers of TIME magazine. From: rsensorat3 .
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcGBcJKalrQ]
Silent night
Holy night
All is calm
All is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.
- - - - - - - - - - -
This is the early evening edition of the news.
The recent fight in the House of Representatives was over the open housing section of the Civil Rights Bill. It brought traditional enemies together but it left the defenders of the
measure without the votes of their strongest supporters. President Johnson originally proposed an outright ban covering discrimination by everyone for every type of housing but it had no chance from the start and everyone in Congress knew it. A compromise was painfully worked out in the House Judiciary Committee.
In Los Angeles today comedian Lenny Bruce died of what was believed to be an overdose of narcotics. Bruce was 42 years old.
Dr. Martin Luther King says he does not intend to cancel plans for an open housing march Sunday into the Chicago suburb of Cicero. Cook County Sheriff Richard Ogleby asked King to call off the march and the police in Cicero said they would ask the National Guard to be called out if it is held. King, now in Atlanta, Georgia, plans to return to Chicago Tuesday.
In Chicago Richard Speck, accused murderer of nine student nurses, was brought before a grand jury today for indictment. The nurses were found stabbed and strangled in their Chicago apartment.
In Washington the atmosphere was tense today as a special subcommittee of the House Committee on Un-American activities continued its probe into anti-Viet nam war protests.
Demonstrators were forcibly evicted from the hearings when they began chanting anti-war slogans.
Former Vice-President Richard Nixon says that unless there is a substantial increase in the present war effort in Viet Nam, the U.S. should look forward to five more years of war.
In a speech before the Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in New York, Nixon also said opposition to the war in this country is the greatest single weapon working against the U.S.
That's the 7 o'clock edition of the news.
Goodnight.
Time passes. Only the details change.
Silent Night - Iraq. From: ChristellaKury .
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHFzQx53eGY&NR=1]
.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
1609 Plowed on Yule!
Saturday, December 22, 2007
The Hairless Hunk has come through! I got a call this morning from a guy who plows, who said the Hunk had given him my number. He came. He plowed all around the edges of the turnaround. Now I can get oil deliveries! I'm so happy!
I'll trim around the edges and knock off some corners with the coal shovel and snowthrower this afternoon or tomorrow, and then it will all be perfect.
The snow banks on the sides are over five feet high. Lotta snow.
-------------------------------
The solstice was last night, actually early this morning. This is Yule, the natural northern hemisphere New Year, when the lifegiving sun returns, light triumphs over darkness, and the promise is renewed. Happy Yule.
Happy me.
Now if only I could get to my woodpile beyond that 5' wall of ice and snow, I could celebrate it properly. I think a cup of hot chocolate will have to do.
.
The Hairless Hunk has come through! I got a call this morning from a guy who plows, who said the Hunk had given him my number. He came. He plowed all around the edges of the turnaround. Now I can get oil deliveries! I'm so happy!
I'll trim around the edges and knock off some corners with the coal shovel and snowthrower this afternoon or tomorrow, and then it will all be perfect.
The snow banks on the sides are over five feet high. Lotta snow.
-------------------------------
The solstice was last night, actually early this morning. This is Yule, the natural northern hemisphere New Year, when the lifegiving sun returns, light triumphs over darkness, and the promise is renewed. Happy Yule.
Happy me.
Now if only I could get to my woodpile beyond that 5' wall of ice and snow, I could celebrate it properly. I think a cup of hot chocolate will have to do.
.
Friday, December 21, 2007
1608 Scary
Friday, December 21, 2007
There's an Ambien commercial wherein a streetlight bends around and sticks its head through a window, and examines a sleeping couple.
The ad agancy probably doesn't realize that that commercial is frightening to people who sat through '50s sci-fi movies featuring death-dealing alien robots with heads like the streetlight, and who then after the movie rode home on a bicycle through the dark.
Fifty-plus years, and that silvery head with a glowing eye on a flexible neck is still scary.
------------------------------
I called the number in the letter in the previous post, and asked what my temporary password is. The Verizon person insisted the password was in the letter. I read her the sentence. Several times. She still insisted the password was in the letter. I finally convinced her I was too stupid to figure it out, and she should give me another.
That's scary, too.
.
There's an Ambien commercial wherein a streetlight bends around and sticks its head through a window, and examines a sleeping couple.
The ad agancy probably doesn't realize that that commercial is frightening to people who sat through '50s sci-fi movies featuring death-dealing alien robots with heads like the streetlight, and who then after the movie rode home on a bicycle through the dark.
Fifty-plus years, and that silvery head with a glowing eye on a flexible neck is still scary.
------------------------------
I called the number in the letter in the previous post, and asked what my temporary password is. The Verizon person insisted the password was in the letter. I read her the sentence. Several times. She still insisted the password was in the letter. I finally convinced her I was too stupid to figure it out, and she should give me another.
That's scary, too.
.
1607 What's My Password?
Several days ago I attempted to open an account with Verizon. I understand that I can send photos from my cell phone to that account, and then just download them.
So, I went to the website. The procedure was that they would send me a password, as a text msg to my phone. For some reason, they couldn't. I don't know why. So the website said they would send it snail mail.
This is the letter I received Thursday:
"Your temporary Password for My Account is ."
Very helpful. Why am I not surprised?
.
So, I went to the website. The procedure was that they would send me a password, as a text msg to my phone. For some reason, they couldn't. I don't know why. So the website said they would send it snail mail.
This is the letter I received Thursday:
"Your temporary Password for My Account is ."
Very helpful. Why am I not surprised?
.
1606 A Musical Gift
A gift for y'all.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8]
You know, I never knew the words, anyway. Sounds fine to me....
.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8]
You know, I never knew the words, anyway. Sounds fine to me....
.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
1605 Santa?
Thursday, December 20, 2007
I awoke to another inch of snow on the driveway. Sigh. My arms are too sore today to attempt more shovel chopping, and the forecast is for some above freezing days with sun, so I'm going to let the drive go a little longer, I guess.
I walked down the driveway to go to the post office and grocery store this afternoon, and walking back up I could see my roof.
There's a trail of footprints on the roof, starting (or ending) at the garage, going across the ell, and then across and over the main roof. They're rather large dents in the fresh snow, spaced about two or more feet apart. I'd guess squirrel, except that squirrel prints would be in a line. These are alternating left and right, like human footprints.
'Tis a mystery.
.
I awoke to another inch of snow on the driveway. Sigh. My arms are too sore today to attempt more shovel chopping, and the forecast is for some above freezing days with sun, so I'm going to let the drive go a little longer, I guess.
I walked down the driveway to go to the post office and grocery store this afternoon, and walking back up I could see my roof.
There's a trail of footprints on the roof, starting (or ending) at the garage, going across the ell, and then across and over the main roof. They're rather large dents in the fresh snow, spaced about two or more feet apart. I'd guess squirrel, except that squirrel prints would be in a line. These are alternating left and right, like human footprints.
'Tis a mystery.
.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
1604 Tired
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
I got the snowthrower tire back late yesterday (they could find nothing wrong, and it's holding air now), put it on the snowthrower today, and tried to finish the driveway. The crust is now so firm the snowthrower won't push into it. I had to chop the snow ahead of the snowthrower with a coal shovel (the snow shovel wouldn't break the crust) at 8" intervals, then use the snowthrower to toss the resulting chunks.
We're talking several thousand lifts, stabs, and levers of a heavy all-business shovel. My biceps are in knots, and I am so very tired.
All I've got done is about 300 feet of the drive. I have not cleared enough of the turn-around at the top to get my car up yet. Well, actually, I can get it up, but there's not enough room yet to turn it around, and there's no way I will attempt to back down. I have to clear the turn-around, or I won't get a fuel oil delivery, and I suspect I'm going to need a one-a-them before the end of winter.
I have been unsuccessful at finding someone to plow it. My usual guy's truck is out of commission, the backup guy is taking on no new business before Christmas, and others take one look at the area at the top and say "No way!" (You have to be very good at directing the snow deposits. Requires finesse.)
More chopping and clearing tomorrow. I just hope my arms don't escape overnight.
.
I got the snowthrower tire back late yesterday (they could find nothing wrong, and it's holding air now), put it on the snowthrower today, and tried to finish the driveway. The crust is now so firm the snowthrower won't push into it. I had to chop the snow ahead of the snowthrower with a coal shovel (the snow shovel wouldn't break the crust) at 8" intervals, then use the snowthrower to toss the resulting chunks.
We're talking several thousand lifts, stabs, and levers of a heavy all-business shovel. My biceps are in knots, and I am so very tired.
All I've got done is about 300 feet of the drive. I have not cleared enough of the turn-around at the top to get my car up yet. Well, actually, I can get it up, but there's not enough room yet to turn it around, and there's no way I will attempt to back down. I have to clear the turn-around, or I won't get a fuel oil delivery, and I suspect I'm going to need a one-a-them before the end of winter.
I have been unsuccessful at finding someone to plow it. My usual guy's truck is out of commission, the backup guy is taking on no new business before Christmas, and others take one look at the area at the top and say "No way!" (You have to be very good at directing the snow deposits. Requires finesse.)
More chopping and clearing tomorrow. I just hope my arms don't escape overnight.
.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
1603 Snow Emergency Pooping
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The previous post, by some strange mental connection, reminded me of a tale told by a friend who had spent some time in Antarctica some 30 or 40 years ago.
The latrines had been built a short distance from the housing. Nowadays I suppose they use chemical toilets or something, but back then things were more primitive, and not so ecologically conscious. He says it was just holes dug in the snow pack under a heated outhouse. Painted half-moon on the door and all. I guess they figured anything deposited there would freeze, and they'd just fill in the hole when they left.
It didn't freeze.
Unbeknownst to them, it moved. The deposits flowed down the slight slope, under the pristine surface. An underground brownish-yellow river. ("Kitchens uphill, latrines down!") They didn't discover what was happening until the first guy broke through the crust and almost got buried alive. It got to where folks were afraid to walk outside, because they weren't sure where it all went.
He also talks about penguins. The penguins would bunch up at the edge of the ice, peering over into the water, looking for killer whales. They had to go into the water, because they had to eat, but no one wanted to be the first in. So they'd bunch up, and then one penguin would bump another, knocking him in, and they'd all rush to that spot to see what happened to him.
If he was safe, they'd all go in. If a whale got him, they'd all go in (figuring the whale was busy, I guess).
That's REAL testing the waters.
.
The previous post, by some strange mental connection, reminded me of a tale told by a friend who had spent some time in Antarctica some 30 or 40 years ago.
The latrines had been built a short distance from the housing. Nowadays I suppose they use chemical toilets or something, but back then things were more primitive, and not so ecologically conscious. He says it was just holes dug in the snow pack under a heated outhouse. Painted half-moon on the door and all. I guess they figured anything deposited there would freeze, and they'd just fill in the hole when they left.
It didn't freeze.
Unbeknownst to them, it moved. The deposits flowed down the slight slope, under the pristine surface. An underground brownish-yellow river. ("Kitchens uphill, latrines down!") They didn't discover what was happening until the first guy broke through the crust and almost got buried alive. It got to where folks were afraid to walk outside, because they weren't sure where it all went.
He also talks about penguins. The penguins would bunch up at the edge of the ice, peering over into the water, looking for killer whales. They had to go into the water, because they had to eat, but no one wanted to be the first in. So they'd bunch up, and then one penguin would bump another, knocking him in, and they'd all rush to that spot to see what happened to him.
If he was safe, they'd all go in. If a whale got him, they'd all go in (figuring the whale was busy, I guess).
That's REAL testing the waters.
.
1602 Snow Emergency Parking
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Many of the municipalities around here have snow emergency condition rules. Some say that during a snow emergency (which is apparently defined as "We gotta plow the streets") you have to park only on the even side of the street until 8 pm, then switch to the odd side until 8 pm the next day, back and forth until the emergency conditions are over. At least two local towns say that during actual snow storms, there is NO parking allowed on municipal streets at all. Even during business hours.
If you screw up during a snow emergency, your car is towed.
Yeouch!
I've never lived anywhere that I didn't have a driveway or parking lot, so I don't understand at all how people cope with that.
All these municipalities have apartments upstairs over shops in the business districts, and no alleys or lots. Many people park on the street because there's no where else to park.
What do they do?
How do they know how long the SE lasts? It seems to have nothing to do with whether your street has already been cleared.
Street sides have to be switched at 8 pm. What if you work second shift? How do you move your car?
I live two miles outside my village, and I don't have the faintest idea when or whether they enforce SE parking rules. I have on occasion passed through the village at like 3 am a day or two after a storm, and have found that they block off streets and go down them with enormous machines that gobble up snowbanks and fill dump trucks, and during that operation there are no cars on those streets. Some of them are residential streets, where few houses have driveways. Where are those cars? I have this picture in my mind of the enormous augers gobbling up cars and spitting them into dump trucks.
It's not like I don't know anyone who lives with these conditions - I just forget to ask.
.
Many of the municipalities around here have snow emergency condition rules. Some say that during a snow emergency (which is apparently defined as "We gotta plow the streets") you have to park only on the even side of the street until 8 pm, then switch to the odd side until 8 pm the next day, back and forth until the emergency conditions are over. At least two local towns say that during actual snow storms, there is NO parking allowed on municipal streets at all. Even during business hours.
If you screw up during a snow emergency, your car is towed.
Yeouch!
I've never lived anywhere that I didn't have a driveway or parking lot, so I don't understand at all how people cope with that.
All these municipalities have apartments upstairs over shops in the business districts, and no alleys or lots. Many people park on the street because there's no where else to park.
What do they do?
How do they know how long the SE lasts? It seems to have nothing to do with whether your street has already been cleared.
Street sides have to be switched at 8 pm. What if you work second shift? How do you move your car?
I live two miles outside my village, and I don't have the faintest idea when or whether they enforce SE parking rules. I have on occasion passed through the village at like 3 am a day or two after a storm, and have found that they block off streets and go down them with enormous machines that gobble up snowbanks and fill dump trucks, and during that operation there are no cars on those streets. Some of them are residential streets, where few houses have driveways. Where are those cars? I have this picture in my mind of the enormous augers gobbling up cars and spitting them into dump trucks.
It's not like I don't know anyone who lives with these conditions - I just forget to ask.
.
1600 Who's Sicker
Becs has left a new comment on "1597 Storm Helps Travelers":
Another recent headline:
Ike Turner Beats Tina to Death.
Creepy yet funny too.
................And those folks thought I was sick, for Billy's Balloon? Love it! Love it, love it, love it!!!
Another recent headline:
Ike Turner Beats Tina to Death.
Creepy yet funny too.
................And those folks thought I was sick, for Billy's Balloon? Love it! Love it, love it, love it!!!
Monday, December 17, 2007
1599 So Snow
Monday, December 17, 2007
The local TV news just did a piece on ER visits due to snow, from auto accidents to heart attacks, to slip 'n' fall. The doctor interviewed?
Dr. Sosnow.
They pronounced it "sauce now", but it was written across the bottom of the screen, and I read it more appropriately. With an exclamation point.
Incidentally, I read today that the Lear guy of Lear jets named his daughter "Crystal Shanda". Is this true? When I was teaching in high school I had students, twins, named Candy and Clark. Children of a Dr. Barr. Really.
.
The local TV news just did a piece on ER visits due to snow, from auto accidents to heart attacks, to slip 'n' fall. The doctor interviewed?
Dr. Sosnow.
They pronounced it "sauce now", but it was written across the bottom of the screen, and I read it more appropriately. With an exclamation point.
Incidentally, I read today that the Lear guy of Lear jets named his daughter "Crystal Shanda". Is this true? When I was teaching in high school I had students, twins, named Candy and Clark. Children of a Dr. Barr. Really.
.
1598 Bah, Humbug!
Monday, December 17, 2007
Load of bad stuff the past two days. Bad news from one friend, and the final load of crap from another. I sympathized with the first, and will worry until things get better, and I told the second to go to Hell. I've had it with her tearing into me every time something doesn't go her way. She screws up and then blames it on me. Things I had nothing to do with. I'm just available and (until now) didn't fight back. Her meds are messed up, and her getting high all the time doesn't help, and I've tried to be patient and understanding, but I've had it.
Yesterday's storm was snow and sleet alternating, so what's out there in the driveway is crusty, strong enough that I don't break through walking on it. I started to clear it with the snowthrower, which was difficult because it wanted to ride on top of the crust instead of breaking through. The wind was blowing the thrown snow back into my face. At one point my face was covered with snow, and I was having trouble seeing, and when I took my glasses off I found that the snow had built up between the lens and my eye, was actually touching my eye, which I hadn't noticed because my eyeball had frozen solid (well, almost), and it was no flipping wonder I couldn't see.
I was making headway, three passes up and down, when the tire lost pressure again, almost came off the rim, and this time the compressor had no effect. Luckily, the Aerio was parked at the bottom of the drive, and was the first thing I cleared on the first pass down. So at least I can get out.
Ok, gonna have to get plowed. There's more snow coming Wednesday. The Hairless Hunk has plowed for me in the past, but his truck is out of commission, and he has passed all his plowing business to others. His wife said she'd ask him when he got home if he could recommend someone else.
I took the wheel off the snowthrower (luckily, it was held on with a cotter pin and was easy to get off), propped the axle on a flower pot, and took the wheel to the John Deere dealers in the village. They promise it will be fixed tomorrow. I told them if there is such a thing as a SOLID tire to fit my machine, I'll take two.
Snarl. Oh, well. Pretty good coping for a 4' 10" 63-year-old widow lady. I'll try to be satisfied with the fact that I CAN cope.
.
Load of bad stuff the past two days. Bad news from one friend, and the final load of crap from another. I sympathized with the first, and will worry until things get better, and I told the second to go to Hell. I've had it with her tearing into me every time something doesn't go her way. She screws up and then blames it on me. Things I had nothing to do with. I'm just available and (until now) didn't fight back. Her meds are messed up, and her getting high all the time doesn't help, and I've tried to be patient and understanding, but I've had it.
Yesterday's storm was snow and sleet alternating, so what's out there in the driveway is crusty, strong enough that I don't break through walking on it. I started to clear it with the snowthrower, which was difficult because it wanted to ride on top of the crust instead of breaking through. The wind was blowing the thrown snow back into my face. At one point my face was covered with snow, and I was having trouble seeing, and when I took my glasses off I found that the snow had built up between the lens and my eye, was actually touching my eye, which I hadn't noticed because my eyeball had frozen solid (well, almost), and it was no flipping wonder I couldn't see.
I was making headway, three passes up and down, when the tire lost pressure again, almost came off the rim, and this time the compressor had no effect. Luckily, the Aerio was parked at the bottom of the drive, and was the first thing I cleared on the first pass down. So at least I can get out.
Ok, gonna have to get plowed. There's more snow coming Wednesday. The Hairless Hunk has plowed for me in the past, but his truck is out of commission, and he has passed all his plowing business to others. His wife said she'd ask him when he got home if he could recommend someone else.
I took the wheel off the snowthrower (luckily, it was held on with a cotter pin and was easy to get off), propped the axle on a flower pot, and took the wheel to the John Deere dealers in the village. They promise it will be fixed tomorrow. I told them if there is such a thing as a SOLID tire to fit my machine, I'll take two.
Snarl. Oh, well. Pretty good coping for a 4' 10" 63-year-old widow lady. I'll try to be satisfied with the fact that I CAN cope.
.
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