While riding my bike one afternoon about 42 years ago,
I saw a kid standing
at the side of the road a bit ahead of me,
talking to some of his friends, with one foot
on the ground and one on a skateboard, idly rolling the skateboard back and
forth, with his back to me, and I thought to myself, "he might just roll
the skateboard into my path"--which he did. I hit it and crashed.
He was really sorry. I told him I was OK and he shouldn't feel bad.
Earlier today I wondered whether anyone ever painted an airliner to look like a big creature (I couldn't remember seeing any instances thereof) and later in the day I came across this.
Earlier today I wondered whether anyone ever painted an airliner to look like a big creature (I couldn't remember seeing any instances thereof) and later in the day I came across this.
From a WaPo
article
10 days ago:
It's fixed now but there was at least one
attempted revision that was still saying 230 points was about 8% of
the DJIA.
(It's not.)
The NY Times, yesterday:
Renminbi
is the name of China's currency.
The unit is the yuan.
"5 million renminbi" is like "550,000 sterling"
when you mean that many pounds.
It's fixed now but there was at least one
attempted revision that was still saying 230 points was about 8% of
the DJIA.
(It's not.)
The NY Times, yesterday:
Renminbi
is the name of China's currency.
The unit is the yuan.
"5 million renminbi" is like "550,000 sterling"
when you mean that many pounds.
photo
by Kira Od
The
escapement from the clock movement I replaced this week (this wasn't
the part that wore out).
35 years of use corresponds to
about 700 million pendulum cycles.
I had to adjust the timekeeping after I moved from near sea level to 4500' elevation in 1997. The clock was losing about 2 minutes per week because gravity is a little weaker here.
35 years of use corresponds to
about 700 million pendulum cycles.
I had to adjust the timekeeping after I moved from near sea level to 4500' elevation in 1997. The clock was losing about 2 minutes per week because gravity is a little weaker here.
My clothes dryer failed today. It made a gnarly sound for a few minutes
and then seized up altogether.
I started taking it apart and hit a point where it wasn't obvious what to do next. A web search led me to a page that revealed the secrets and I got the dryer apart.
Enough parts are worn out that it looks like time for a new dryer. This one is about 35 years old, the same age as a mechanical clock I have that failed a couple weeks ago. (A new clock movement arrived today.)
Inside the dryer I found about a dollar in change and five pocket combs.
I started taking it apart and hit a point where it wasn't obvious what to do next. A web search led me to a page that revealed the secrets and I got the dryer apart.
Enough parts are worn out that it looks like time for a new dryer. This one is about 35 years old, the same age as a mechanical clock I have that failed a couple weeks ago. (A new clock movement arrived today.)
Inside the dryer I found about a dollar in change and five pocket combs.
My Joshua tree didn't get any taller in 2018 and I wondered whether that was
because it was saving up resources to flower in 2019. I hoped not,
for reasons as described in a
posting
three years ago.
But so much for my hopes. The J-tree is flowering this year. Photos to follow at some point.
But so much for my hopes. The J-tree is flowering this year. Photos to follow at some point.
|
Der Spiegel has a nice
slideshow
of pedestrian icons from walk/don't walk signs around the world.
This one—my favorite—is from Prague. |  |
Russian (Soviet era) slide-rule-like calculator on eBay:
Way cool logo.
[updated at 13:55 PST]
It's not a slide rule in the sense that the two scales don't slide relative to each other. One knob rotates the entire face and the other knob rotates the red pointer. Instructions here.
Way cool logo.
[updated at 13:55 PST]
It's not a slide rule in the sense that the two scales don't slide relative to each other. One knob rotates the entire face and the other knob rotates the red pointer. Instructions here.
I watched
Three
Identical Strangers yesterday and really liked it.
Intense subject matter.
And the setting was familiar: I'm about the same age as the triplets and also from New York. It doesn't spoil the movie to say that it reënacts a scene where a 19‑year‑old gets a speeding ticket on New York State Route 17. My first speeding ticket (68 in a 55 zone) was on Route 17 when I was 20.
And the setting was familiar: I'm about the same age as the triplets and also from New York. It doesn't spoil the movie to say that it reënacts a scene where a 19‑year‑old gets a speeding ticket on New York State Route 17. My first speeding ticket (68 in a 55 zone) was on Route 17 when I was 20.
Acting US Attorney General Matthew Whitaker was questioned by the
House Judiciary Committee today. I listened to the action this
morning (until it was time to meet a friend for some climbing).
Whitaker, like many before him in such situations, wasted time
in attempts to run out each representative's short allotment.
Questioners demanded yes or no answers, usually to no avail.
Whitaker is a dastard but at least
it was encouraging to see Democrats assert themselves more now
that they are the majority in the House.
As long as we're on the subject of how to deal with questions: I like how John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin handled a dopey request from David Letterman (at 8:20 in this YouTube clip from 2012).
As long as we're on the subject of how to deal with questions: I like how John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin handled a dopey request from David Letterman (at 8:20 in this YouTube clip from 2012).
| From an
appreciation
of John von Neumann in the Feb. 25, 1957
issue of Life magazine.
Speaking of dogs (mathematically named or otherwise), I watched Pick of the Litter this week and liked it. I can't remember any other movie making me cry as much as this one did. |  |