6/10ths (my better half) has been worried about our water heater for some time. It's over 10 years old and sits in our attic. While it is in a drain pan connected to a drain, she has no faith that the pan will be able to handle a catastrophic failure of the tank.
Based on the water released when other water heaters I've known have failed, I think she's right.
So we've been wanting to replace the heater before it fails, but have been procrastinating for a couple of years now. Friday's newspaper contained a Sears advert saying that major appliances (including water heaters) were 10% off, so she thought that was a good excuse to go buy one.
But Wait... we might be able to get an Energy Credit on our taxes — up to $300! IRS Form 5695 says that you can get an "energy credit" off your taxes if you buy a water heater with an energy factor rating of 0.80 or higher. Each dollar spent on such an appliance gets you $1 off your federal income taxes (up to $300).
"Cool," says 6/10ths. She goes to the Sears web site. Nothing about energy factors. She calls Sears. None of their gas heaters qualify. We go to Lowes' web site. They report energy factors on gas water heaters as around 0.60.
Huh? How can this be? What does it take to get this tax credit? We poke around some more. It seems that the only gas water heaters which qualify are tankless. They cost a lot of money. They would also cost a lot to put into my house because I'd have to run a bigger gas line to my attic, or a new gas line to some other part of the house, before I could install one. Sorry guys.
But wait, several of the electric units have energy factors over 0.80! Great!
Or maybe not.
I don't have a 30-amp, 240V circuit in my attic.
So how much do those electric puppies cost to run? For a 50-gal heater they range from $350 to $400 per year, compared to $209 for the gas unit we were looking at @ Sears (all figures from the yellow energy label). Hmm. Those figures are based on 2004 prices. How much does gas cost today? How about electricity? The yellow label says electricity in 2004 was 8.4 cents per kilowatt hour. Today we pay over 14. So that electric heater will cost us (for comparison purposes) $583 to $666 per year. EVIL!
The yellow label says that gas is about 91 cents per therm. My gas bill doesn't list therms, but the internet quickly tells me that a therm is about 10 times more than an MCF, which is how my gas company measures. A crude calculation (which ignores the fact that I pay a fixed $10 per month just for the privilege of being a customer), shows that I pay about $1 per therm, so the adjusted cost of operating the gas heater would be $230 per year.
So even if I had the choice of gas vs electric, it would cost me $350 to $430 more per year to run the electric one. Even factoring the $300 energy credit and the slightly lower cost to purchase the electric one, within a year and a half I'd be better off with the gas model. And with these puppies lasting 10 years or more, I'd be stupid to buy the electric model, wouldn't I?
On the other hand, how much would I save, purely in operating costs, with a tankless unit? Lowes doesn't show the energy label, so maybe I can assume that my Sears gas tank model has an energy factor of 0.60 and the tankless is 0.80. Does that mean that the tankless would cost 75% as much as the tank one? If so, then my yearly cost to operate the tankless would be $172, or almost $60 per year less. At that rate, the $400 difference in price would take over 6 years to break even. Factor in the cost of plumbing upgrades that are needed (the bigger gas pipe) and it would probably go out to 10 years or even longer.
Sorry, I can't afford that right now. Maybe if I were building a new house or doing some major remodeling. But not for an existing home.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Of PCs, Vista, and Office 2007
Our local elementary school PTA needed a new computer and I got picked to buy it and get it working.
Even though I've purchased two other PCs in about the past 18 months I was surprised by how much things have changed. For example, you can't buy 15" LCD monitors anymore and 17" LCDs are getting scarce (and cost as much as 19" monitors).
The monitor issue was a surprise and a problem because the PTA has very little room in which to cram the monitor and a printer. An awful lot of the 19" monitors were widescreen models, which were too wide for our space! So we ended up spending a relatively obscene amount of money for a 17" standard ratio LCD.
Another thing that surprised me was the size of disk drives. Only the very cheapest PCs have less than 320GB drives, which is about three times bigger than we really need for this application.
Another problem is that I was trying to buy in the middle of the performance range because I didn't know when the PTA would have budget again. But prices seemed to jump from $350 for a wimpy computer (which would probably be just fine right now) to $700 and more for just a tiny increment in performance (but a much bigger disk).
And Intel based boxes are expensive! I did my homework and I knew which Intel cpus were comparable to which AMD cpus. But virtually every system I found in my price range had an AMD processor. I have no problem with AMD — quite the opposite, actually; every PC I own has an AMD processor in it. But this time I thought I might actually get one with an Intel chip. I was wrong.
I was starting to think I'd be better off going the white box route.
Then I finally found a decent machine for a decent price. $400 for an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+, 1GB memory, $250GB disk, dual-layer DVD+/-RW.
When I first started, I was also rather shocked by how long start-up and shut-down were compared to Windows XP. It made waiting in line for a driver's license seem speedy by comparison! Fortunately, as I succeeded in turning off all the junk loaded by the PC manufacturer the process got significantly faster. The PTA PC now boots and shuts down much faster than XP. Well, I also turned off a bunch of "helpful" Vista stuff, too.
We finally found a page comparing the programs included in each of the packages and ended up buying Office 2007 Professional.
I was concerned because I've read many times that the user interface has changed a lot in Office 2007 and the implication was that it was changed for the sake of change.
So I was dreading what it would be like when I first fired it up. But you know what? I think I like the new UI! It will probably take a bit of getting used to, but at first glance it seemed really nice and pretty easy to use.
The biggest problem, and hardly big after the first 60 seconds, was that the File menu has been replaced by the "Office Button". No big whoop. I even figured out how to add a "print preview" button at the top of the screen (my wife likes that button).
I may change my tune after trying to actually use Office 2007, but since I still have older versions on the PCs I actually use (this one isn't mine) I'll have to wait a while for that experience.
EOB
Even though I've purchased two other PCs in about the past 18 months I was surprised by how much things have changed. For example, you can't buy 15" LCD monitors anymore and 17" LCDs are getting scarce (and cost as much as 19" monitors).
The monitor issue was a surprise and a problem because the PTA has very little room in which to cram the monitor and a printer. An awful lot of the 19" monitors were widescreen models, which were too wide for our space! So we ended up spending a relatively obscene amount of money for a 17" standard ratio LCD.
Another thing that surprised me was the size of disk drives. Only the very cheapest PCs have less than 320GB drives, which is about three times bigger than we really need for this application.
Another problem is that I was trying to buy in the middle of the performance range because I didn't know when the PTA would have budget again. But prices seemed to jump from $350 for a wimpy computer (which would probably be just fine right now) to $700 and more for just a tiny increment in performance (but a much bigger disk).
And Intel based boxes are expensive! I did my homework and I knew which Intel cpus were comparable to which AMD cpus. But virtually every system I found in my price range had an AMD processor. I have no problem with AMD — quite the opposite, actually; every PC I own has an AMD processor in it. But this time I thought I might actually get one with an Intel chip. I was wrong.
I was starting to think I'd be better off going the white box route.
Then I finally found a decent machine for a decent price. $400 for an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+, 1GB memory, $250GB disk, dual-layer DVD+/-RW.
Vista Home Premium
The new PC has Microsoft's Vista Home Premium installed on it. Of course it was loaded with bloatware and eye candy. It took over an hour to ferret it all out and remove it. But I was struck during the process by how pervasive the internet has become. This PC will not be on a network (but was during my configuration) because the school won't let us connect to their network and doesn't offer any external internet connections. It is amazing how many programs have options to automatically check the internet for updates or supplemental information of some sort.When I first started, I was also rather shocked by how long start-up and shut-down were compared to Windows XP. It made waiting in line for a driver's license seem speedy by comparison! Fortunately, as I succeeded in turning off all the junk loaded by the PC manufacturer the process got significantly faster. The PTA PC now boots and shuts down much faster than XP. Well, I also turned off a bunch of "helpful" Vista stuff, too.
Office 2007
One of the PTA requirements was for Microsoft's Office Suite. Did you know that there are 4376 versions of the Office 2007 Suite? Well, it seemed that way. I don't know if you can find them all in the stores, but there seem to be way more versions than are necessary. And when you try to compare versions using the Microsoft web site the feature comparison didn't list programs — it listed "features". What kind of BS is that? No, don't answer. I already know.We finally found a page comparing the programs included in each of the packages and ended up buying Office 2007 Professional.
I was concerned because I've read many times that the user interface has changed a lot in Office 2007 and the implication was that it was changed for the sake of change.
So I was dreading what it would be like when I first fired it up. But you know what? I think I like the new UI! It will probably take a bit of getting used to, but at first glance it seemed really nice and pretty easy to use.
The biggest problem, and hardly big after the first 60 seconds, was that the File menu has been replaced by the "Office Button". No big whoop. I even figured out how to add a "print preview" button at the top of the screen (my wife likes that button).
I may change my tune after trying to actually use Office 2007, but since I still have older versions on the PCs I actually use (this one isn't mine) I'll have to wait a while for that experience.
EOB
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Black (and Blue) Belt
Wow! Busy couple of weeks.
1 of 2 was promoted to 1st Dan Junior Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do on August 3rd.
The whole summer has been very stressful for 1 as we've been preparing. To be honest, he's been kind of tired of the whole Karate thing for the last year. But we've put so much time (and money) into it that we wouldn't let him quit. Years from now he'll be able to look at that belt and have some real self esteem from having sucked it up and pushed through to the end, including a truly grueling Black Belt exam.
The two weeks preceding the exam were the toughest as we tried to polish up not only his technique, but his presentation. The worst, for me, was the one-steps and three-steps. These are mini sparring exercises and are designed, I think, to teach you how to deal with an attack and end it quickly.
One-steps start with the attacker throwing either a left or right punch. The "victim" dodges, blocks, or parries the punch and then delivers a series of blows designed to end the fight immediately.
Three-steps are like one-steps, except the victim doesn't try to kill until they've dodged, blocked, or parried the third punch, while stepping back from the onrushing attacker. I think the idea is convince witnesses that you really don't want to fight; you're not provoking the attacker; but you had no choice but to maim them.
When you start out in Tae Kwon Do they introduce one-steps as simple little things that involve a couple of punches or a kick, and they're all laid out and numbered for you. But by the time you test for Black Belt you have to make up your own (or copy someone else's) and most of them involve take-downs (so you can deliver a flying suplex? (sp?)).
My knees are still not completely right, but they are getting better. You see, in the final two weeks I was the attacker, so I was the guy getting his arm ripped off or his knee broken or his legs just knocked out from under him.
We need thicker padding under our carpet.
So we get to the test and everyone survived. Stress levels couldn't have been higher. 6/10ths is still upset about what they put 1 of 2 through. But he survived. He got his belt.
In the immediate euphoria of it being over he chatted about how he'd like to pursue a Black Belt in weapons. In the calm of the following day he said that he never wants to go within a mile of the dojo again.
Oh, and as we're driving away into the sunset, 1 of 2 tells us that he forgot his cup.
No, not his water. His protective cup — for the (future) family jewels.
At home.
He sparred I-don't-know-how-many matches, most against adult Black Belts, and even a 7-against-1 match (or was it two 7-against-1 matches?), without a very important piece of protective gear.
Somehow he didn't get kicked there the entire day. You're not supposed to kick anyone there, but it happens anyway from time to time.
So we're done. We survived. He survived. 6/10ths is still touch-and-go.
Contratulations, 1. I'm proud of you.
1 of 2 was promoted to 1st Dan Junior Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do on August 3rd.
The whole summer has been very stressful for 1 as we've been preparing. To be honest, he's been kind of tired of the whole Karate thing for the last year. But we've put so much time (and money) into it that we wouldn't let him quit. Years from now he'll be able to look at that belt and have some real self esteem from having sucked it up and pushed through to the end, including a truly grueling Black Belt exam.
The two weeks preceding the exam were the toughest as we tried to polish up not only his technique, but his presentation. The worst, for me, was the one-steps and three-steps. These are mini sparring exercises and are designed, I think, to teach you how to deal with an attack and end it quickly.
One-steps start with the attacker throwing either a left or right punch. The "victim" dodges, blocks, or parries the punch and then delivers a series of blows designed to end the fight immediately.
Three-steps are like one-steps, except the victim doesn't try to kill until they've dodged, blocked, or parried the third punch, while stepping back from the onrushing attacker. I think the idea is convince witnesses that you really don't want to fight; you're not provoking the attacker; but you had no choice but to maim them.
When you start out in Tae Kwon Do they introduce one-steps as simple little things that involve a couple of punches or a kick, and they're all laid out and numbered for you. But by the time you test for Black Belt you have to make up your own (or copy someone else's) and most of them involve take-downs (so you can deliver a flying suplex? (sp?)).
My knees are still not completely right, but they are getting better. You see, in the final two weeks I was the attacker, so I was the guy getting his arm ripped off or his knee broken or his legs just knocked out from under him.
We need thicker padding under our carpet.
So we get to the test and everyone survived. Stress levels couldn't have been higher. 6/10ths is still upset about what they put 1 of 2 through. But he survived. He got his belt.
In the immediate euphoria of it being over he chatted about how he'd like to pursue a Black Belt in weapons. In the calm of the following day he said that he never wants to go within a mile of the dojo again.
Oh, and as we're driving away into the sunset, 1 of 2 tells us that he forgot his cup.
No, not his water. His protective cup — for the (future) family jewels.
At home.
He sparred I-don't-know-how-many matches, most against adult Black Belts, and even a 7-against-1 match (or was it two 7-against-1 matches?), without a very important piece of protective gear.
Somehow he didn't get kicked there the entire day. You're not supposed to kick anyone there, but it happens anyway from time to time.
So we're done. We survived. He survived. 6/10ths is still touch-and-go.
Contratulations, 1. I'm proud of you.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Harry Couple of Weeks
There are people out there who have no clue about what's going on in the world. I doubt those people read blogs, but just in case they do (and happen to be reading mine), this post is about the phenomenon that is Harry Potter.
This past month saw not just one, but two (count with me: 1, 2!) major Harry Potter events:
So July was a very exciting month. Both kids wanted to go to the first showing of the movie, but I refused to go to a midnight showing of anything besides the Rocky Horror Picture Show. But we did go on opening weekend. In fact, we went to a 9:30 a.m. showing (because that was the cheapest ticket).
I liked the movie. The kids loved it. I'm sure we'll be adding the DVD to our set. I think there were two things that prevented me from liking the movie more: first was that there were so many things that just couldn't be made to fit in the time limits of a movie that I would really liked to have seen. I mean, my internal movie projector has imagined them, but it would be interesting to see them on the big screen. And second, there were several things that just seemed to be missing the energy they should have had, or were just plain done wrong.
Case in point: the very first scene. Privet Drive is in the middle of suburbia. English suburbia, yes, but suburbia nonetheless. So why is Harry walking through a wheat field? Maybe they were trying to highlight Harry's loneliness or feeling of isolation. But come on! What is more lonely and depressing and oppressive than mile after mile of tract housing? That's how I picture Privet Drive. Faux upscale tract housing; each house predictably different from the ones on either side but with a repeating pattern more obvious than wallpaper.
And then there's Mrs. Figg. She sure didn't seem all that fussed about the dementors in the movie, but why not? I fear that in trying to cut down all the stuff in the book they are tempted to keep only the exciting bits, and then they discover that having only high tension and excitement becomes numbing long before you reach the end. So they have to take emotion out of high tension or high excitement scenes. But then it just feels wrong. I think it would have been far better to settle us back down and set us up for the next jolt by using calmer passages from the book.
But overall it was a decent movie, and those who only watch the movies and don't read the books may not understand my feelings on this.
And then there was the book. Don't worry, I won't spoil it for anyone. We were one of those million who pre-ordered from Amazon with the promise that it would arrive on the release date. And it did. But once again I refused to go to the midnight sale at the local Barnes and Noble or Borders. Noon delivery from the post office was good enough for me — I don't care if Evelyn Wood had already finished reading her copy and sold it to Half Price Books.
As it turns out, my kids were at their grandparents' house on the 21st, so we didn't get to start reading until that evening. But we stayed up late to read a few chapters out loud.
One promise I made to my kids was that I wouldn't read ahead and I wouldn't let anyone else read ahead. That last bit was required to keep 2 of 2 happy because 1 of 2 would've hogged the book while I was at work during the week and would undoubtedly have let one or two facts slip out accidentally on purpose, spoiling some excitement.
To that end, I didn't open the package when the book arrived. I waited until I picked them up that evening, opening it in the car and reading aloud while 6/10ths drove. And each night I hid the book until the next evening when I returned home.
By the following Saturday morning we were only about halfway done. But 2 of 2 had an ear infection and 6/10ths was feeling lousy and coughing her head off and I was feeling kind of down and had a headache that just wouldn't go away. So we spent practically the entire weekend reading off and on. We finished the book early Sunday afternoon.
I read the entire thing aloud. Did voices for all the dialog. Hagrid in any state (calm or angry) is the hardest on my voice. Yelling is also hard after awhile, and there is a lot of yelling in this book. The kids were particularly amused by my impression of Phlegm.
I don't know if this book just invited it, or if my kids are just developing, but there were a lot of breaks where we each offered our predictions about what would happen next, or what would happen to some character, or how some turn of events might affect things later on.
And we kept saying, "she can't kill Harry yet, there're too many pages left!"
But boy did he (and just about everyone else) find themselves in mortal danger at every turn. And strangely, I don't recall any mention of Mrs. Weasley's clock! I guess mentioning it would've been a forhead slapping, DOH!
I liked this book a lot. I liked the lot of them a lot, but I think this one might be my favorite.
I wonder if Ms. Rowling will allow someone to do a spin-off based on Luna Lovegood? They could probably make a pretty good sitcom around that character. And by "they" I mean the BBC. Us Merkins would screw it up.
This past month saw not just one, but two (count with me: 1, 2!) major Harry Potter events:
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the 5th movie in the series, was released on July 11 (I think that's right — it seems so long ago now)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last Harry Potter book ever, was released on July 21
So July was a very exciting month. Both kids wanted to go to the first showing of the movie, but I refused to go to a midnight showing of anything besides the Rocky Horror Picture Show. But we did go on opening weekend. In fact, we went to a 9:30 a.m. showing (because that was the cheapest ticket).
I liked the movie. The kids loved it. I'm sure we'll be adding the DVD to our set. I think there were two things that prevented me from liking the movie more: first was that there were so many things that just couldn't be made to fit in the time limits of a movie that I would really liked to have seen. I mean, my internal movie projector has imagined them, but it would be interesting to see them on the big screen. And second, there were several things that just seemed to be missing the energy they should have had, or were just plain done wrong.
Case in point: the very first scene. Privet Drive is in the middle of suburbia. English suburbia, yes, but suburbia nonetheless. So why is Harry walking through a wheat field? Maybe they were trying to highlight Harry's loneliness or feeling of isolation. But come on! What is more lonely and depressing and oppressive than mile after mile of tract housing? That's how I picture Privet Drive. Faux upscale tract housing; each house predictably different from the ones on either side but with a repeating pattern more obvious than wallpaper.
And then there's Mrs. Figg. She sure didn't seem all that fussed about the dementors in the movie, but why not? I fear that in trying to cut down all the stuff in the book they are tempted to keep only the exciting bits, and then they discover that having only high tension and excitement becomes numbing long before you reach the end. So they have to take emotion out of high tension or high excitement scenes. But then it just feels wrong. I think it would have been far better to settle us back down and set us up for the next jolt by using calmer passages from the book.
But overall it was a decent movie, and those who only watch the movies and don't read the books may not understand my feelings on this.
And then there was the book. Don't worry, I won't spoil it for anyone. We were one of those million who pre-ordered from Amazon with the promise that it would arrive on the release date. And it did. But once again I refused to go to the midnight sale at the local Barnes and Noble or Borders. Noon delivery from the post office was good enough for me — I don't care if Evelyn Wood had already finished reading her copy and sold it to Half Price Books.
As it turns out, my kids were at their grandparents' house on the 21st, so we didn't get to start reading until that evening. But we stayed up late to read a few chapters out loud.
One promise I made to my kids was that I wouldn't read ahead and I wouldn't let anyone else read ahead. That last bit was required to keep 2 of 2 happy because 1 of 2 would've hogged the book while I was at work during the week and would undoubtedly have let one or two facts slip out accidentally on purpose, spoiling some excitement.
To that end, I didn't open the package when the book arrived. I waited until I picked them up that evening, opening it in the car and reading aloud while 6/10ths drove. And each night I hid the book until the next evening when I returned home.
By the following Saturday morning we were only about halfway done. But 2 of 2 had an ear infection and 6/10ths was feeling lousy and coughing her head off and I was feeling kind of down and had a headache that just wouldn't go away. So we spent practically the entire weekend reading off and on. We finished the book early Sunday afternoon.
I read the entire thing aloud. Did voices for all the dialog. Hagrid in any state (calm or angry) is the hardest on my voice. Yelling is also hard after awhile, and there is a lot of yelling in this book. The kids were particularly amused by my impression of Phlegm.
I don't know if this book just invited it, or if my kids are just developing, but there were a lot of breaks where we each offered our predictions about what would happen next, or what would happen to some character, or how some turn of events might affect things later on.
And we kept saying, "she can't kill Harry yet, there're too many pages left!"
But boy did he (and just about everyone else) find themselves in mortal danger at every turn. And strangely, I don't recall any mention of Mrs. Weasley's clock! I guess mentioning it would've been a forhead slapping, DOH!
I liked this book a lot. I liked the lot of them a lot, but I think this one might be my favorite.
I wonder if Ms. Rowling will allow someone to do a spin-off based on Luna Lovegood? They could probably make a pretty good sitcom around that character. And by "they" I mean the BBC. Us Merkins would screw it up.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Peep! (Part Two)
Wow, I'm a bit stunned. In my previous post I whined about how smoke alarms never seem to signal a low battery at a convenient time. Then I bemoaned the inability to find a replacement of the same brand and how this was a problem caused by incompatibilities in the way interconnected smoke detectors are interconnected.
The second comment to that post is Anonymous, but it's pretty clear that it was posted by a FireX employee. I can guarantee that a Kidde employee wouldn't have included the comment about FireX making smoke alarms for over 25 years.
But it brings up a serious issue: fire safety and the impact of standards on safety. I'd like to ask the nice folks at Firex (and Kidde and all other brands) two questions:
Oh, and here's another one:
But listen now and the comment is somewhat different.
I know from personal experience that replacing the batteries in my old smoke alarms was difficult, and often physically painful. To start with, the battery was hard to get to — you had to remove the alarm from the ceiling to get to it. And far too often, twisting the alarm to remove it from the base plate caused the base plate to come off the ceiling with the alarm. And it was hard to separate the two pieces because there were no really good places to grab hold, and the alarms were large enough around that it was hard to get a really tight grip, and there were lots of sharp little plastic bits. When you did manage to separate the base plate from the alarm, the door was hard to pry open with a fingernail. And when you did get it open there was that infernal 9-volt battery connector that is so hard to get off.
Backing up again to that base plate problem: yes, I could put it on the ceiling so that turning the alarm wouldn't remove the plate with it. But then putting the alarm back on would make the plate come off! Tighten the screws holding the plate, you say? What a brilliant idea! Unfortunately, the screws only go into those stupid keyhole slots. Nothing to hold them tight but friction. And since we're talking about wired alarms, they're mounted over electrical boxes. That means that at least part of the plastic around the keyhole is over air. Plastic flexes under pressure. Do too much and you either break it or you deform it so much that the base plate no longer mates with the alarm. And if you find that happy middle ground, just wait a year and the base plate will have weakened enough that — wait for it — it'll come off with the alarm!
What happens when batteries are too hard to replace? They don't get replaced. Is that the homeowners fault? Partly. But I think the companies who make the devices also share some of the blame. And they know it. How do I know that they know it? Because some new models have batteries that are very easy to replace. My new Kidde smoke alarms have a front accessible battery compartment and don't use that hated battery connector. I look forward to years of easy battery replacements.
But I noticed something. Not all Kidde smoke alarms have this easy to replace battery. FireX also has some, but not all, models with easy to replace batteries. Why not all? What possible reason can they give to justify the deaths that must surely occur because of unreplaced smoke alarm batteries?
And then there's the lifetime issue. Everything has a lifetime. Nothing lasts forever. I accept that. But why is there the vendor lock-in for those wonderful AC powered, interconnected smoke alarms? Are they looking out for the safety of the end-user with that proprietary connector and signaling specification? Or are they trying to support electrical contractors and their own market share?
The anonymous poster was right. Many people lack the skill or confidence or time or money to rewire their smoke alarms while replacing the whole lot. But why should they have to have any skill or confidence or even much time? Why should they have to replace them all at once? Why should they have to rewire? Why should they have to hire a contractor?
I had to replace one of my smoke alarms a few years ago. I was replacing all of the batteries and one alarm started sounding the instant I put in its new battery. Not chirping — full volume alarm tone. I pulled out the battery and called FireX. They replaced the unit and I was reasonably happy. But not anymore.
Again, I accept that everything has a lifetime. But when you're talking about something like this it would sure be nice to be able to replace them over a few months. But that wasn't an option because none of the local retail establishments carry FireX. Faced with the choice to leave a hole where the failed alarm had been (an old, failed alarm was what started this whole thing) and saving up the money, or biting the bullet and replacing them all right now, I chose to replace them all right now.
But why was that choice necessary? How many people can't afford to do what I did? And that isn't even considering the cost of hiring someone since I did it myself. How many people have no choice but to wait. And hope.
How do you sleep at night?
The second comment to that post is Anonymous, but it's pretty clear that it was posted by a FireX employee. I can guarantee that a Kidde employee wouldn't have included the comment about FireX making smoke alarms for over 25 years.
But it brings up a serious issue: fire safety and the impact of standards on safety. I'd like to ask the nice folks at Firex (and Kidde and all other brands) two questions:
- Why don't you make your batteries easier to replace?
- Why don't you make it easier to replace an old or failed smoke alarm?
Oh, and here's another one:
HOW DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT?Years ago you'd see a report on the evening news about a fatal house fire and the reporter would say in somber tones, "there were no smoke alarms in the house."
But listen now and the comment is somewhat different.
There were no WORKING smoke alarms in the house.That one extra word is huge, and it is the reason that I ask how the makers of smoke alarms can sleep at night.
I know from personal experience that replacing the batteries in my old smoke alarms was difficult, and often physically painful. To start with, the battery was hard to get to — you had to remove the alarm from the ceiling to get to it. And far too often, twisting the alarm to remove it from the base plate caused the base plate to come off the ceiling with the alarm. And it was hard to separate the two pieces because there were no really good places to grab hold, and the alarms were large enough around that it was hard to get a really tight grip, and there were lots of sharp little plastic bits. When you did manage to separate the base plate from the alarm, the door was hard to pry open with a fingernail. And when you did get it open there was that infernal 9-volt battery connector that is so hard to get off.
Backing up again to that base plate problem: yes, I could put it on the ceiling so that turning the alarm wouldn't remove the plate with it. But then putting the alarm back on would make the plate come off! Tighten the screws holding the plate, you say? What a brilliant idea! Unfortunately, the screws only go into those stupid keyhole slots. Nothing to hold them tight but friction. And since we're talking about wired alarms, they're mounted over electrical boxes. That means that at least part of the plastic around the keyhole is over air. Plastic flexes under pressure. Do too much and you either break it or you deform it so much that the base plate no longer mates with the alarm. And if you find that happy middle ground, just wait a year and the base plate will have weakened enough that — wait for it — it'll come off with the alarm!
What happens when batteries are too hard to replace? They don't get replaced. Is that the homeowners fault? Partly. But I think the companies who make the devices also share some of the blame. And they know it. How do I know that they know it? Because some new models have batteries that are very easy to replace. My new Kidde smoke alarms have a front accessible battery compartment and don't use that hated battery connector. I look forward to years of easy battery replacements.
But I noticed something. Not all Kidde smoke alarms have this easy to replace battery. FireX also has some, but not all, models with easy to replace batteries. Why not all? What possible reason can they give to justify the deaths that must surely occur because of unreplaced smoke alarm batteries?
And then there's the lifetime issue. Everything has a lifetime. Nothing lasts forever. I accept that. But why is there the vendor lock-in for those wonderful AC powered, interconnected smoke alarms? Are they looking out for the safety of the end-user with that proprietary connector and signaling specification? Or are they trying to support electrical contractors and their own market share?
The anonymous poster was right. Many people lack the skill or confidence or time or money to rewire their smoke alarms while replacing the whole lot. But why should they have to have any skill or confidence or even much time? Why should they have to replace them all at once? Why should they have to rewire? Why should they have to hire a contractor?
I had to replace one of my smoke alarms a few years ago. I was replacing all of the batteries and one alarm started sounding the instant I put in its new battery. Not chirping — full volume alarm tone. I pulled out the battery and called FireX. They replaced the unit and I was reasonably happy. But not anymore.
Again, I accept that everything has a lifetime. But when you're talking about something like this it would sure be nice to be able to replace them over a few months. But that wasn't an option because none of the local retail establishments carry FireX. Faced with the choice to leave a hole where the failed alarm had been (an old, failed alarm was what started this whole thing) and saving up the money, or biting the bullet and replacing them all right now, I chose to replace them all right now.
But why was that choice necessary? How many people can't afford to do what I did? And that isn't even considering the cost of hiring someone since I did it myself. How many people have no choice but to wait. And hope.
There were no working smoke alarms in the house.Standards are good. Standards save lifes. Ease of use is good. Ease of use saves lives.
How do you sleep at night?
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
PEEP!
What is about smoke alarms that causes them to peep (or beep, chirp, or whatever you call that sound) at 2 a.m.?
But as a founding member of the local chapter of the Procrastinator's Club (well, I will be when I get around to helping found it) I tend to put off replacing the batteries until one of them dies, causing the alarm to start chirping (at 2 a.m.). Actually, I tend to think that the first failure is premature and wait until the second or third before 6/10ths manages to force me to replace them all.
And I did just that — changed all the smoke alarm batteries — a couple months ago. So why did that smoke alarm start chirping at 2 a.m. last week? And why did it chirp 3 times, then stop? For a couple of days. Chirp three more times (at 2 a.m.), then stop? And why did the second one start doing the same thing? And maybe even a third?
After testing the batteries I came to the conclusion that the batteries were not bad, but the smoke alarms had crossed that magical threshold called "the end of the warrantee period". Unfortunately, further research revealed that they were probably well beyond the warrantee period. And when they tell you to replace your smoke detectors every 10 years, they mean it. If you don't follow that advice you can expect to deal with a lot of chirping that stops just before you manage to zero in on the offender. At 2 a.m.
I decided to bite the bullet and replace all of my smoke alarms. That's when I figured out why my builder's own house burned to the ground — it was probably torched by an irate homeowner who was ticked off by the constant and malicious use of products that are either non-standard sizes or regional brands from some other region than our own. Current example: Firex brand smoke alarms. Not sold at Home Depot. Not sold at Lowes. Not sold at Elliots. Not sold at Ace. Not sold at True Value. Not sold at Target. Not sold at Wal-Mart.
What can you get at all those stores? Kidde brand.
I'm not trying to imply that Firex doesn't make good smoke alarms or that Kidde makes a better smoke alarm. I have no way of knowing and have had no complaints regarding my Firex smoke alarms (except for the 2 a.m. chirping). The problem is that all of my smoke alarms are wired together and there is no standard for such connections. You can't replace one Firex smoke alarm with a Kidde if they're wired together.
Aside #9V: If you have a night job (meaning that you sleep during the day), does your smoke alarm peep only during the day?If you don't know what I'm talking about then you're probably one of those sick people who dutifully changes the batteries in their smoke alarms each year when you switch back to daylight saving time (or are you supposed to do it when you go back to standard time?).
But as a founding member of the local chapter of the Procrastinator's Club (well, I will be when I get around to helping found it) I tend to put off replacing the batteries until one of them dies, causing the alarm to start chirping (at 2 a.m.). Actually, I tend to think that the first failure is premature and wait until the second or third before 6/10ths manages to force me to replace them all.
And I did just that — changed all the smoke alarm batteries — a couple months ago. So why did that smoke alarm start chirping at 2 a.m. last week? And why did it chirp 3 times, then stop? For a couple of days. Chirp three more times (at 2 a.m.), then stop? And why did the second one start doing the same thing? And maybe even a third?
After testing the batteries I came to the conclusion that the batteries were not bad, but the smoke alarms had crossed that magical threshold called "the end of the warrantee period". Unfortunately, further research revealed that they were probably well beyond the warrantee period. And when they tell you to replace your smoke detectors every 10 years, they mean it. If you don't follow that advice you can expect to deal with a lot of chirping that stops just before you manage to zero in on the offender. At 2 a.m.
I decided to bite the bullet and replace all of my smoke alarms. That's when I figured out why my builder's own house burned to the ground — it was probably torched by an irate homeowner who was ticked off by the constant and malicious use of products that are either non-standard sizes or regional brands from some other region than our own. Current example: Firex brand smoke alarms. Not sold at Home Depot. Not sold at Lowes. Not sold at Elliots. Not sold at Ace. Not sold at True Value. Not sold at Target. Not sold at Wal-Mart.
What can you get at all those stores? Kidde brand.
I'm not trying to imply that Firex doesn't make good smoke alarms or that Kidde makes a better smoke alarm. I have no way of knowing and have had no complaints regarding my Firex smoke alarms (except for the 2 a.m. chirping). The problem is that all of my smoke alarms are wired together and there is no standard for such connections. You can't replace one Firex smoke alarm with a Kidde if they're wired together.
Why would you wire together smoke alarms? Well, if your smoke alarms are wired together then they will all go off if one senses a fire. So the alarm is sounded throughout your McMansion, helping to ensure that everyone gets out safely.Guess what I did last weekend? Yep. I bought seven new Kidde smoke alarms and replaced the whole lot. I'm set for another 10 years.
End of Hiatus
I know I haven't posted much in the past many months. But I have a feeling that's about to change.
Why the drought? There are a combination of reasons, most of which I won't go into here, but one that I will mention is concern over any potential impact to my employment.
I started a new job at the beginning of April and, as one might imagine, there were a lot of things that I could have blogged about. After 10 years as a full-time telecommuter I find myself going into an office every day. That alone was probably worth a dozen postings. But even though my identity is fairly well hidden there are still people who might recognize references to my new employer and figure out that I am the author.
And it's not even that my new bosses are particularly evil or pointy-haired — they aren't — but it is a fairly big company and fairly big companies have a tendency to occasionally do pointy-haired things. They can't help themselves.
So while I could have blogged about my new pimps, I choose not to just to avoid the admittedly remote chance of offending them.
But I feel the urge once again and have a supply of topics about which I would like to write. I won't be winning any Pullet Surprises or Webbies; I might not even inspire (m)any comments. And that's okay, because I'm good enough, and I'm smart enough, and, doggone it, people like me!
Why the drought? There are a combination of reasons, most of which I won't go into here, but one that I will mention is concern over any potential impact to my employment.
I started a new job at the beginning of April and, as one might imagine, there were a lot of things that I could have blogged about. After 10 years as a full-time telecommuter I find myself going into an office every day. That alone was probably worth a dozen postings. But even though my identity is fairly well hidden there are still people who might recognize references to my new employer and figure out that I am the author.
And it's not even that my new bosses are particularly evil or pointy-haired — they aren't — but it is a fairly big company and fairly big companies have a tendency to occasionally do pointy-haired things. They can't help themselves.
So while I could have blogged about my new pimps, I choose not to just to avoid the admittedly remote chance of offending them.
But I feel the urge once again and have a supply of topics about which I would like to write. I won't be winning any Pullet Surprises or Webbies; I might not even inspire (m)any comments. And that's okay, because I'm good enough, and I'm smart enough, and, doggone it, people like me!
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Cinco de Mayo
Is it just me, or did we collectively forget about Cinco de Mayo this year?
We Americans take our melting pot history seriously, or at least we seem to be willing to celebrate any holiday from a country with decent beer. Oktoberfest and St. Patrick's Day are just two. Cinco de Mayo used to be a third. But this year we seem to have forgotten it, which is especially odd since it fell on a weekend. Weekend holidays are especially treasured because they coincide with our normal hedonistic cycle.
Even Google, which modifies its logo for everything, didn't have anything special this year on the 5th.
Or maybe Jay Leno gave us a hint when he joked that Cinco de Mayo means "they outnumber us 5 to 1." There has been a lot of news in the past year about immigration, most of which is from Mexico. Are we so fed up with talking about Mexico and Mexicans and Mexican-Americans that we don't even want to drink cerveza in early May? Can we really go from Mardi Gras (which bucks the trend by being from a country without a beer tradition) to Memorial Day with only one hangover?
I never thought I'd see it come this.
We Americans take our melting pot history seriously, or at least we seem to be willing to celebrate any holiday from a country with decent beer. Oktoberfest and St. Patrick's Day are just two. Cinco de Mayo used to be a third. But this year we seem to have forgotten it, which is especially odd since it fell on a weekend. Weekend holidays are especially treasured because they coincide with our normal hedonistic cycle.
Even Google, which modifies its logo for everything, didn't have anything special this year on the 5th.
Or maybe Jay Leno gave us a hint when he joked that Cinco de Mayo means "they outnumber us 5 to 1." There has been a lot of news in the past year about immigration, most of which is from Mexico. Are we so fed up with talking about Mexico and Mexicans and Mexican-Americans that we don't even want to drink cerveza in early May? Can we really go from Mardi Gras (which bucks the trend by being from a country without a beer tradition) to Memorial Day with only one hangover?
I never thought I'd see it come this.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Happy Emancipation Day
Thank God for emancipation!
Federal income taxes are usually due on the 15th of April, unless that day falls on a weekend or federal holiday, which bumps the due date to the next business day.
But there is another rule which says that taxes cannot be due on a holiday celebrated in the District of Columbia. Guess what? Today (16 days before the Kalends of May) is a holiday in my birthplace, Washington, D.C. It is Emancipation Day. Therefore, taxpayers across this great land are allowed to mail their tax returns (or applications for an extension) on the 17th and still be counted as on-time.
Don't believe me? Check out the following (poorly worded) posting on the IRS website:
Federal income taxes are usually due on the 15th of April, unless that day falls on a weekend or federal holiday, which bumps the due date to the next business day.
Aside #15: The 15th of April is not the Ides of April. Lots of people have heard the warning, "Beware the Ides of March," from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Those people can be forgiven for thinking that the Ides of every month is on the 15th, as it is in March. But those people don't have the friends I do, and so they don't know that the Ides is only on the 15th in March, May, July, and October. In all other months the Ides is on the 13th.Since the 15th of April (17 days before the Kalends of May) falls on a Sunday you'd also be justified in thinking that taxes were due on the 16th. In fact, the IRS thought that was the due date when they printed this year's forms.
But there is another rule which says that taxes cannot be due on a holiday celebrated in the District of Columbia. Guess what? Today (16 days before the Kalends of May) is a holiday in my birthplace, Washington, D.C. It is Emancipation Day. Therefore, taxpayers across this great land are allowed to mail their tax returns (or applications for an extension) on the 17th and still be counted as on-time.
Don't believe me? Check out the following (poorly worded) posting on the IRS website:
Questions and Answers — April 17 DeadlineSo today I add a new reason to celebrate the freeing of the slaves. And we Texans get to celebrate it again in just a couple of months.
Monday, April 02, 2007
New Grindstone
After a longer time than I would have liked, I have a new job. I started today and can report that while the job search market has changed considerably since the last time I was looking, the struggles to get new hires productive are the same as they ever were.
I was told to show up at 10 a.m. But the "first day logistics team" wasn't there. Maybe that's because today was a Monday. I wouldn't ordinarily think that should be a factor, but several people expressed surprise that this was my first day because most people start on Tuesday or Thursday.
The building I work in is a secure building, meaning that there is a guard shack to get onto the property and a guarded outer lobby before you get into the soft, chewy parts of the building. Since the 1st day logistics team was AWOL I had to wait until a real employee (not a contractor) could come to let me in. I'm a contractor and even though my (new) firm has a boatload of people working in the building, none of them could escort me past the sentries because they're all contractors, too. But I did eventually get in.
Once inside I began the typical new hire game of "hurry up and wait". Except there was no apparent hurry. In fairly short order they did figure out my seating assignment, but my login and phone aren't working yet. Someone printed out a bunch of stuff for me to read and I sat down to, well, read.
ZZZZZzzzzzz. <snort!>
Oops. Sorry, I must've dozed off. My cube is in a very quiet area. It is in a single-file row, so there are hallways / aisles to the east and west and adjacent cubes to the north and south. The north cube is empty. Two of the three closest cubes across the east aisle are empty. There are no cubes across the west aisle. The cubes around me are occupied by introverted programmers. They don't call anyone. No one calls them. They don't socialize much (that's how you know they're introverts). You can't play music without headphones. There is no piped in music. The keyboards are pretty quiet. The HVAC system makes a soft sound. The lighting is dim — they must expect you to use the task lighting in your cube, but only one of my task lights is working.
In other words, it's dark and quiet. And I'm reading very dry material with which I can't really do anything.
Thank goodness for caffeine.
I'm told that my login might work tomorrow. I sure hope so because I finished all the reading today.
I was told to show up at 10 a.m. But the "first day logistics team" wasn't there. Maybe that's because today was a Monday. I wouldn't ordinarily think that should be a factor, but several people expressed surprise that this was my first day because most people start on Tuesday or Thursday.
The building I work in is a secure building, meaning that there is a guard shack to get onto the property and a guarded outer lobby before you get into the soft, chewy parts of the building. Since the 1st day logistics team was AWOL I had to wait until a real employee (not a contractor) could come to let me in. I'm a contractor and even though my (new) firm has a boatload of people working in the building, none of them could escort me past the sentries because they're all contractors, too. But I did eventually get in.
Once inside I began the typical new hire game of "hurry up and wait". Except there was no apparent hurry. In fairly short order they did figure out my seating assignment, but my login and phone aren't working yet. Someone printed out a bunch of stuff for me to read and I sat down to, well, read.
ZZZZZzzzzzz. <snort!>
Oops. Sorry, I must've dozed off. My cube is in a very quiet area. It is in a single-file row, so there are hallways / aisles to the east and west and adjacent cubes to the north and south. The north cube is empty. Two of the three closest cubes across the east aisle are empty. There are no cubes across the west aisle. The cubes around me are occupied by introverted programmers. They don't call anyone. No one calls them. They don't socialize much (that's how you know they're introverts). You can't play music without headphones. There is no piped in music. The keyboards are pretty quiet. The HVAC system makes a soft sound. The lighting is dim — they must expect you to use the task lighting in your cube, but only one of my task lights is working.
In other words, it's dark and quiet. And I'm reading very dry material with which I can't really do anything.
Thank goodness for caffeine.
I'm told that my login might work tomorrow. I sure hope so because I finished all the reading today.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
The Real Father Is ...
I'll probably get sued by all the media companies who are making a mint off this whole "whose the daddy" bizness with Anna Nicole Smith's baby, but the truth must come out (and it will make you free) even if it means that the media frenzy must come to an end.
The sad part is that I only figured it out this morning while I was lying in bed and fondly recalling the wild activities that took place last night (Valentine's Day). But context is often the key to recognizing relationships between things — or people — so I shouldn't be too hard on myself.
Anyway, I have a friend who is not only a big ANS fan, but is also a spy with the NSA. You remember them? When you're talking on the phone and think you hear someone else on the extension but you know it can't be true because neither you nor the person you're calling has an extension (i.e. you're both on cell phones) — that's the NSA.
Anyway, when it came time to tap the phone of Ms. Smith, I have no doubt that my friend would have been shouldering his way to the front of the line. And once he was on the job he'd want to make sure it was done right so he'd put in multiple taps, including some inside her house / condo / hotel room. Then, being the international man of mystery that he is, Ms. Smith would be overcome with desire and would end up in the sack with him.
Yes, this would happen even though my friend would be wearing some clever disguise. There's just something about the aura of international men of mystery that shines through any disguise and makes almost all women (and some men) lose all inhibitions.
So there you have it. My friend is, in all likelihood, the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby! The sad thing is that I cannot reveal the identity of my friend without being thrown in jail, tagged forever by all the president's men as an evil-doer. So poor little Danilynne will never meet her real father and he will never know the joy of raising a trust fund baby.
Ah, well, "'tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all". Surely those words will be comfort to many this day after Valentine's Day. On the other hand, for many others the phrase "yes, we have the morning after pill" will be more comforting.
The sad part is that I only figured it out this morning while I was lying in bed and fondly recalling the wild activities that took place last night (Valentine's Day). But context is often the key to recognizing relationships between things — or people — so I shouldn't be too hard on myself.
Anyway, I have a friend who is not only a big ANS fan, but is also a spy with the NSA. You remember them? When you're talking on the phone and think you hear someone else on the extension but you know it can't be true because neither you nor the person you're calling has an extension (i.e. you're both on cell phones) — that's the NSA.
Anyway, when it came time to tap the phone of Ms. Smith, I have no doubt that my friend would have been shouldering his way to the front of the line. And once he was on the job he'd want to make sure it was done right so he'd put in multiple taps, including some inside her house / condo / hotel room. Then, being the international man of mystery that he is, Ms. Smith would be overcome with desire and would end up in the sack with him.
Yes, this would happen even though my friend would be wearing some clever disguise. There's just something about the aura of international men of mystery that shines through any disguise and makes almost all women (and some men) lose all inhibitions.
So there you have it. My friend is, in all likelihood, the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby! The sad thing is that I cannot reveal the identity of my friend without being thrown in jail, tagged forever by all the president's men as an evil-doer. So poor little Danilynne will never meet her real father and he will never know the joy of raising a trust fund baby.
Ah, well, "'tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all". Surely those words will be comfort to many this day after Valentine's Day. On the other hand, for many others the phrase "yes, we have the morning after pill" will be more comforting.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Pine Wood Derby - Video!
Back on Candlemas I blogged about my kids' first experience with the Pine Wood Derby.
I actually took video using my in-laws' digital camera and wanted to post that video in my blog. But it turned out that neither Windows Movie Maker nor the version of Muvee bundled with our HP computers could read the .mov formatted videos produced by the camera. Muvee did offer me a special price to upgrade to a full-featured version that could grok the format, but I am a miser these days.
Then I read a news item in a tech rag about free on-line movie editing sites and decided to try it out. So what you see below is thanks to eyespot.com.
Hope you like it.
I actually took video using my in-laws' digital camera and wanted to post that video in my blog. But it turned out that neither Windows Movie Maker nor the version of Muvee bundled with our HP computers could read the .mov formatted videos produced by the camera. Muvee did offer me a special price to upgrade to a full-featured version that could grok the format, but I am a miser these days.
Then I read a news item in a tech rag about free on-line movie editing sites and decided to try it out. So what you see below is thanks to eyespot.com.
Hope you like it.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Deal or No Deal?
I bought my gas guzzler in the days of cheap gasoline and telecommuting. It is rapidly approaching 7 years of age and just passed 192,000 furlongs on the odometer (24,000 miles to you Philistines). It is actually classified by the feds as an LEV (Low Emission Vehicle) and the Republic of Texas came this close to passing a law at the turn of the millennium that would have given me a rebate for purchasing an LEV!Me: "Hi, my name is William-Bob and I drive a
gas guzzler."
Crowd: "Hi, William-Bob."
It is a crew cab three-quarter ton pickup truck that averages 80 furlongs per gallon in mixed city and highway driving. Since I've measured it getting 136 furlongs per gallon on the interstate (at 560 fph) I shudder to think what the city figure is.
All this comes to mind because my next job will most likely include a commute. One possible employer is 352 furlongs from my house, so you can imagine my new-found concern about fuel efficiency.
The problem is two-fold: first, my truck is paid for; and second, I would probably be lucky to get $10,000 for it. Actually, my problems go deeper than that. Whatever I buy now will probably become 1 of 2's car when he starts to drive a few years from now, so I don't want to skimp on safety features like stability control and air-bags all the way around. That severely limits the used car selection and results in higher prices, which also means financing. A $250 car payment would be low for a decent new vehicle.
So how much money could I save on gasoline if I trade the Fuel-ossiraptor in for something a little less thirsty?
According to the napkin spreadsheet, my F-250 would use about 8.8 gallons per day if I got stuck in enough traffic each way each day. By contrast, a Toyota Corolla might use as little as 2.2 gallons each day if I managed to avoid rush hour. That's a very extreme comparison, but it serves to show the limits of savings potential.
That 6.6 gallon per day differential equates to $19.80 per day if gasoline is $3/gal. If there are 4.33 weeks per month and 5 commute days per week that comes to $428.67 per month savings by trading in. Not bad. But if gas sells in the neighborhood of $2, as it has recently, then the savings is only $285.78, which doesn't leave much wiggle room for the car payment.
And, of course, that was an awfully unfair comparison. If I assume the same commuting environment for the truck as for the car, then the fuel use of the truck drops to 5.17 gallons and the $3 gas savings goes down to $192.90 per month, with the $2 gas savings coming in at a paltry $128.60 per month.
In fact, the true comparison has to factor in that I don't really want something as small as a Corolla. Substitute a Camry (33 mpg) or a RAV4 (30 mpg) and the gasoline savings continue to drop.
Those savings would still be okay if I could trade vehicles straight up. But when you add in car payments there's a really good chance that trading in the battle tank will end up costing me more money than keeping it — maybe to the tune of a couple hundred per month.
So do I buy a new vehicle or not?
Friday, February 02, 2007
Gravitational Drive
I know I've been slow, but trust me, I have a really lame reason! The issue at hand is my procrastination in posting about my kids' first Pine Wood Derby race.
If you'll remember, they both decided to join Cub Scouts this year. And if you're in Cub Scouts then you have to enter the Pine Wood Derby. I remember one Pine Wood Derby car from my own youth. I don't remember actually racing it, but I remember the car. Sort of. What I remember may not bear much resemblance to the truth, but I remember it well!
Back then the PWD car kit had a notch already made for the driver's seat. In profile it looked something like this (in ASCII art):
I show a couple of other notches on the bottom. I think that you glued some sort of axle housing into these notches. The idea was that the front of the car was on the left (in my drawing) and the rear was on the right.
PWD racetracks come in various configurations, but I think the most common one is an immediate slope from the starting line going into a long straightaway to the finish. Like so:
Way back when, the cars must have been held at the starting line by something the wheels rested on, because my dear old Dad, an engineer, figured out that if we reversed the design of my car, so that the front was on the right of my drawing, then we could get almost a full inch head start on the other cars. Unfortunately, the race organizers were not cowed by the brilliance of my father and they insisted on racing my car backwards, in the traditional orientation.
I mention all this because my experience as a Dad of Pine Wood Derby racers is very different from my childhood recollections. First of all, there is no longer a notch pre-cut for the "driver". It actually makes reference to this in the directions which come with the kit, so I know that this part of my memory is not flawed. But instead of a big notch for some axle assembly, there is merely a pair of cuts for the axles (nails) to be pushed/hammered into. And the cars are held in place at the starting line by a peg in front of each position. So it really doesn't matter where you put your wheels or which end is your front — your car is held in-line with all the other cars.
And the rules specifically forbid you notching your front to allow it to extend forward of the peg!
So my children both entered cars, shown here with the awards they won:
The orange car on the left belongs to 1 of 2 and is the external fuel tank of the Space Shuttle (notice the NASA emblem). The red and white striped car on the right is 2 of 2's and is a stick of Fruit Stripe Gum, complete with Yipes, the gum's zebra mascot.
Actually, the zebra on the car is named Zak and was obtained from Vacation Bible School a couple of summers ago (they had a safari theme and we got a zebra, an elephant, a lion, a giraffe, and a bird of some sort). And Zak/Yipes had a rough first race: when the car hit the foam at the end of the track, Zak was ejected from the vehicle and left for dead on the track. 2 of 2 had to run up and rescue him before they started the second heat.
Speaking of heats, they have a lot! Cub Scouts are divided by grade into dens: Tigers (1st grade), Wolves, Bears, Webelos I, and Webelos II. Each den competes separately and there are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each den. They also have a siblings category for brothers and sisters of Cub Scouts and a parents category for the adults. The siblings raced first, I assume it was to shake out any bugs in the track management system.
It's all computerized, including electronic timing down to thousandths of a second! We have four lanes on our track and each car races on each lane. If only four cars are entered (as was the case for the bears) then there are four heats with each car racing once on each lane. Points are awarded in each heat (1 point for 1st, 2 for 2nd, etc.) and the car with the fewest total points wins. If there are more than 4 cars then there are more heats with cars racing against different mixes of competitors as well as on different lanes. I think most dens had twenty (20!) races before they could declare the winners.
It was a long night.
So about those awards:
If you'll remember, they both decided to join Cub Scouts this year. And if you're in Cub Scouts then you have to enter the Pine Wood Derby. I remember one Pine Wood Derby car from my own youth. I don't remember actually racing it, but I remember the car. Sort of. What I remember may not bear much resemblance to the truth, but I remember it well!
Back then the PWD car kit had a notch already made for the driver's seat. In profile it looked something like this (in ASCII art):
+-----------+ +-------+
| | | |
| +---+ |
+-+ +-+ |
+---------------+ +---+
I show a couple of other notches on the bottom. I think that you glued some sort of axle housing into these notches. The idea was that the front of the car was on the left (in my drawing) and the rear was on the right.
PWD racetracks come in various configurations, but I think the most common one is an immediate slope from the starting line going into a long straightaway to the finish. Like so:
Of course, the slope isn't quite that severe and the transition to the straightaway is more fluid.\
\
\
\
\__________________________________________________
Way back when, the cars must have been held at the starting line by something the wheels rested on, because my dear old Dad, an engineer, figured out that if we reversed the design of my car, so that the front was on the right of my drawing, then we could get almost a full inch head start on the other cars. Unfortunately, the race organizers were not cowed by the brilliance of my father and they insisted on racing my car backwards, in the traditional orientation.
I mention all this because my experience as a Dad of Pine Wood Derby racers is very different from my childhood recollections. First of all, there is no longer a notch pre-cut for the "driver". It actually makes reference to this in the directions which come with the kit, so I know that this part of my memory is not flawed. But instead of a big notch for some axle assembly, there is merely a pair of cuts for the axles (nails) to be pushed/hammered into. And the cars are held in place at the starting line by a peg in front of each position. So it really doesn't matter where you put your wheels or which end is your front — your car is held in-line with all the other cars.
And the rules specifically forbid you notching your front to allow it to extend forward of the peg!
So my children both entered cars, shown here with the awards they won:
The orange car on the left belongs to 1 of 2 and is the external fuel tank of the Space Shuttle (notice the NASA emblem). The red and white striped car on the right is 2 of 2's and is a stick of Fruit Stripe Gum, complete with Yipes, the gum's zebra mascot.
Actually, the zebra on the car is named Zak and was obtained from Vacation Bible School a couple of summers ago (they had a safari theme and we got a zebra, an elephant, a lion, a giraffe, and a bird of some sort). And Zak/Yipes had a rough first race: when the car hit the foam at the end of the track, Zak was ejected from the vehicle and left for dead on the track. 2 of 2 had to run up and rescue him before they started the second heat.
Speaking of heats, they have a lot! Cub Scouts are divided by grade into dens: Tigers (1st grade), Wolves, Bears, Webelos I, and Webelos II. Each den competes separately and there are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each den. They also have a siblings category for brothers and sisters of Cub Scouts and a parents category for the adults. The siblings raced first, I assume it was to shake out any bugs in the track management system.
It's all computerized, including electronic timing down to thousandths of a second! We have four lanes on our track and each car races on each lane. If only four cars are entered (as was the case for the bears) then there are four heats with each car racing once on each lane. Points are awarded in each heat (1 point for 1st, 2 for 2nd, etc.) and the car with the fewest total points wins. If there are more than 4 cars then there are more heats with cars racing against different mixes of competitors as well as on different lanes. I think most dens had twenty (20!) races before they could declare the winners.
It was a long night.
So about those awards:
- the medal between the cars was given to 2 of 2 for participating in the race (i.e. he didn't place in the top three)
- the trophy behind the rocket fuel tank is the third place trophy won by 1 of 2's car
- the trophy behind the Fruit Stripe Gum is second place for Most Imaginative Design
Fusion Power Here At Last!
More than 60 years after the first public demonstration of fission power comes Fusion Power, and you can hold it in your hand!
Well, to be completely truthful, what I'm holding in my hand is the un-powered version of Fusion, but it comes with a $1 coupon for the powered one.
The battery powered one vibrates, which supposedly "enhances" the shaving experience. One can't help but wonder where they're shaving! Do they have a version for women, perhaps with a bigger handle?
Anyway, the Fusion razor is the latest salvo in the shaving arms race. It has no less than six (yes, 6) blades. Five of these blades are lined up to give you an extremely close shave while the 6th is positioned on the top edge to help you get those "tricky areas". Again one must ask just where they're shaving!
After thinking about it, I'm sort of surprised that Norelco hasn't touted the number of blades in their electric shavers. Each of those round thingees must have 20 or more blades and there are at least two of them (and often three) in each razor. Remington, which uses a different technology, probably has thirty or so blades in their products.
Then again, the knock on 'lectric shavers is that they don't shave as close as a "blade", in spite of their vastly superior number of cutting surfaces. Is there a number of surfaces beyond which the efficacy is reduced?
Well, to be completely truthful, what I'm holding in my hand is the un-powered version of Fusion, but it comes with a $1 coupon for the powered one.
Aside #mc2: I wonder if physicists use Fusion.I am, of course, talking about the Fusion razor by Gilette. They sent me one in the mail along with a selection of coupons for blades, the battery powered version, and shaving creme.
The battery powered one vibrates, which supposedly "enhances" the shaving experience. One can't help but wonder where they're shaving! Do they have a version for women, perhaps with a bigger handle?
Anyway, the Fusion razor is the latest salvo in the shaving arms race. It has no less than six (yes, 6) blades. Five of these blades are lined up to give you an extremely close shave while the 6th is positioned on the top edge to help you get those "tricky areas". Again one must ask just where they're shaving!
After thinking about it, I'm sort of surprised that Norelco hasn't touted the number of blades in their electric shavers. Each of those round thingees must have 20 or more blades and there are at least two of them (and often three) in each razor. Remington, which uses a different technology, probably has thirty or so blades in their products.
Then again, the knock on 'lectric shavers is that they don't shave as close as a "blade", in spite of their vastly superior number of cutting surfaces. Is there a number of surfaces beyond which the efficacy is reduced?
Note to self: Write up research grant application to investigate limits of increasing number of blades in razor. Should be worth a few million of taxpayer money.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Skillz Te$t
Today I had my the second interview "test" of my life. 17 years ago I had applied for a job at Convex and one of the interviews was with a group of programmers who spent an hour or so grilling me on everything I claimed on my resume. I had to write programs or functions in C, sed, and awk, evaluate the order of computation for an algorithm, and other computer gymnastics. I guess I passed because I was offered the job (which I turned down).
Today's interview was a screening interview for a consulting company. But it wasn't conducted by anyone at the company that might hire me. It turns out that there is at least one company whose major business is conducting technical interviews. They questioned me on AIX/Unix, project management, SDLC, leadership, SQL, C, Perl, and Korn shell programming. It was a bit nerve-racking.
I was surprisingly nervous the instant the phone rang. I didn't have a really good handle on what they might be testing me on because I've never seen a job description for the position. Plus, I've never done a technical interview on the phone, or at least not one that had been advertised as a "test". So I think it was all just so different that it was a bit discombobulating.
I think I did okay, though I stumbled on a couple of (hopefully minor) questions. The interviewer will send a report within a couple of hours and I hope to hear from the potential employer in a few days.
Update — 23 January:
I just got a call from the (in-house) recruiter and I passed the test. I have an interview next week.
Today's interview was a screening interview for a consulting company. But it wasn't conducted by anyone at the company that might hire me. It turns out that there is at least one company whose major business is conducting technical interviews. They questioned me on AIX/Unix, project management, SDLC, leadership, SQL, C, Perl, and Korn shell programming. It was a bit nerve-racking.
I was surprisingly nervous the instant the phone rang. I didn't have a really good handle on what they might be testing me on because I've never seen a job description for the position. Plus, I've never done a technical interview on the phone, or at least not one that had been advertised as a "test". So I think it was all just so different that it was a bit discombobulating.
I think I did okay, though I stumbled on a couple of (hopefully minor) questions. The interviewer will send a report within a couple of hours and I hope to hear from the potential employer in a few days.
Update — 23 January:
I just got a call from the (in-house) recruiter and I passed the test. I have an interview next week.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
The Great North Texas Blizzard of 2007
This closed schools across the DFW metroplex. To be fair, that's ice pellets, which can be tricky to drive on. Indeed, the traffic reports on the radio are very short: "accident every 100 yards on all highways and major surface streets."
But still, it lacks the visual impact of the recent snowstorms in Colorado.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Fraud! Chicanery!
If you think that public school is full of thugs and other ne'er-do-wells, well, I think you're right. And now I know why! It's because they teach kids to be dishonest.
I know, I didn't believe it at first, either. But today 1 of 2 came home and told us that he had to forge an old letter. He was to make it look as if written on parchment and singed in some fire long ago. His teacher gave him manila paper to write on. He had to use black ink and write like a girl. Then he had to crumple it up and burn it.
Here's the result:
I'm aghast!
I know, I didn't believe it at first, either. But today 1 of 2 came home and told us that he had to forge an old letter. He was to make it look as if written on parchment and singed in some fire long ago. His teacher gave him manila paper to write on. He had to use black ink and write like a girl. Then he had to crumple it up and burn it.
Here's the result:
I'm aghast!
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