Wednesday  31 Oct 2012           comment?

I'm ready to open the door with snake in hand, should any trick-or-treaters come— not that they ever do, but it's good to have a plan.

Tuesday  30 Oct 2012           comment?

Today I cut down a tree that had died over the course of the year. I'd been waiting for cooler weather, which we now have; and for reasons beyond the scope of today's posting it felt like just the thing to do today. Manual labor has a centering, grounding effect for me.

The tree is visibly missing, it was one of a row of trees whose rhythm is now interrupted, and its absence will be felt as long as its peers stand.

It never grew well because it was sited on difficult ground—the luck of the draw. The caliche on my lot varies from point to point.

Today I acknowledge how nice a day it was, how fortunate I am to have not lost my life or home in a hurricane as some did yesterday, and how good it is to have friends.

Monday  29 Oct 2012           2 comments

Online typos can be evanescent. For posterity, I hereby quote a mishap current on the NY Times web site, before they fix it:

With the storm growing in ferocity, it was not safe to send workers to dissemble the crane, a complicated operation even in the best of conditions.

I love this error not just because I like the word dissemble, which I was familiar with as an intransitive verb; nay, it sent me to the dictionary to see whether it has a life as a transitive verb as well—which it evidently does, glossed as "to hide under a false appearance". Reading the quote with that meaning in mind leaves me nodding my head in agreement about how tricky it must be to camouflage a crane even when not contending with rain and high winds.

Saturday  27 Oct 2012           3 comments

house guests.

Friday  26 Oct 2012           comment?

Friday  19 Oct 2012           comment?

I like that there's a musical instrument called a triangle, even though it's not quite a triangle (it's got a gap in it).

I like that square is the name of a tool, and that the so-named tool is not a square (although it is square).

Germans take their squares seriously, classifying them with tolerance classes as to how square they are.

And for some geek humor,

π/2

=

7 atan(1/4)  -  5 atan(1/32)  +  3 atan(1/132)  -  4 atan(1/378)

This last angle has been measured against the International Standard Platinum-Iridium Right Angle and certified adequate for any purpose of the U. S. Government, when used in conjunction with a conscientiously applied program of oral hygiene and regular professional care.

(from HAKMEM, listed in the index under "iridium" and "platinum")

Happy nineteenth, everyone.

Thursday  18 Oct 2012           2 comments

I came across this on the web, but on a page that gave the answer rather than offering it as a question. Consider the probability that a 13-card bridge hand has two (or more) aces, given that the hand   a. has (at least) one ace   b. has the ace of spades Which (if either) is more likely, a or b?

Tuesday  16 Oct 2012           2 comments

I saw two roadrunners on the road (where else) today. Such cool birds. Totally brightens my day to see 'em.

I'm told that red (automobile) paint costs more than silver. A lot more, even. Red must be faster.

I test-walked a dog at the shelter, an Australian Cattle Dog mix. He had the same way of looking over his shoulder to check in with me that a certain other ACD has. I can't put into words just what the look is but it's immediately recognizable and quite endearing. I'm not getting a dog (or so I think) but I still look when my travels take me by the shelter.

A friend was visiting when I had some clothes hanging that I had dyed.

friend:	You wanted that?
Tommy:	Yeah. You think it's a bad color or just not a guy color?
friend:	<silence>
Tommy:	It's OK to say.
friend:	It's not a guy color. I'd have to break my teenage son's legs to get him to wear that.

Thursday  11 Oct 2012           comment?

It hailed today, I took some pics, and my favorite of the lot was this one I took inadvertently while walking with the camera. The plurality of streaks in one direction is hailstones on the ground and the lone contrary streak is one that was falling.

And speaking of lines at oblique angles,
I counted the spirals of leaves on my Joshua tree today. 13 and 21.

Thursday  04 Oct 2012           2 comments

There isn't much excuse for "1 things".
I mean, it's not a lot more effort to code something like
   printf("%d thing%s",count,&"s"[count==1]);
instead of
   printf("%d things",count);
.

And in light of the ponderous amount of Javascript used to render a Google+ page, it would be a drop in the bucket to code it to not generate this subject‑verb disagreement:
I wonder if it's intentional. Maybe Google wants being had by only 1 to look so awful that you'll go out of your way to be further had.