churchmouse

garden fail

2011-08-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

My garden is toast.

The heat has brutalized everything except the one happy, healthy
sunflower. I don't think I even planted that; must've been from a
visiting bird.

I think I am going to remove the fencing around it and let the chooks
eat up the random greenery (a few weeds).

written offline and synced later

acronym

2011-07-25T06:53:00.000-07:00

Overheard in the lantern restoration hobby forums. It describes clueless sellers who think their mass-produced widget is valuable because they saw something vaguely like it on TV:

ARMPIT = Antiques Roadshow moron, price instantly tripled

Another fine SUV driver

2011-07-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is in the psyche of aggressive idiots that makes
them choose SUVs, or if being in SUVs turns normal folk into aggressive
idiots.

Consider the following: tooling along IH635 with traffic flow, which is
to say a little quicker than posted. A fine fellow in his fullsize SUV
pulls up behind me at approx. 1/2 vehicle length spacing and leaves it
there. Nice, yes? Can't see any part of his grille in the rearview,
only half the hood and his windshield.

We both exit to IH30 east and he maintains his following distance. As
we merge onto the (currently empty) highway he decides now is the time
to strike. Does he take either of the two completely unoccupied lanes
on the left or pass me on the right shoulder? Yes, my friends, he makes
a careening, wild, no-blinker pass on the right shoulder. Pick of the
litter.

And he was on the phone.

Douchebag.

written offline and synced later

More offline fun with Thunderbird

2011-07-20T22:36:00.000-07:00

Google Reader no longer works offline; they have dumped Gears but HTML5 is not yet up to speed.

Liferea looked perfect as it syncs with Reader but no longer can auth with google.

Thunderbird does a decent job even though it's not mentioned. Like all the other solutions I've tried it doesn't download the target page, only the text in the RSS itself. No pics or other attachments.

Usage:

export RSS list from Reader
import into Thunderbird
when going offline it automagically updates feed list
read offline later; if I want to follow links or comment on something I email the article to myself using the Thunderbird Forward menu button and read it later.

Works fine.

Thunderbird is turning out to be a pretty good solution for folks too cheap/frugal to buy a mobile data connection.

Chess

2011-07-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

Although I tend to work solo overnight, there are brief periods of
overlap with other humans.

One of those overlaps sometimes includes a break period. A cow-orker
asked if I would like to play chess during this time.

I said I wouldn't /like/ to, but I would do so.

I have chess dyslexia. And I don't care for the game much. I can't
tell if there is a chicken/egg relationship there or not. I can't see N
moves into the future and I don't /care/ about N moves into the future.
You can see how this might affect ones gameplay.

Tonight during our inaugural game I figured it out; I dislike chess in
the same way I dislike office politics. I do this, trying to maneuver
them into doing that, which makes me do this and them do that. Arggghh!
Deeply annoying stuff.

I don't mind strategy, _per se_. I do have a plan in mind when storming
a field full of opponents in Halo. Do this to lure them out then kill
them. Protect oneself, pick weapons, and use resources wisely. Don't
know what the difference is between the two in my head but I certainly
feel different about chess and FPS games like Halo.

written offline and synced later

el cheapo PJ arrives

2011-07-13T02:58:00.000-07:00

Got the projector. Took less than a week from paypal to Chinese seller to delivery via DHL. Double boxed and packed quite well:

Since we were in the middle of playing Halo when the other PJ died we picked up where we left off:

It was dusk outdoors and you can see light from the windows in the top of the pic.

Our first impressions of the hardware:

it's not a small projector but fits on the small table we were using before.
very effective "squirrel cage" type fan makes some noise but keeps temps very reasonable: 100F on the case and 130F exhaust. I do not worry about overheating.
no zoom, which we knew ahead of time. Have to move it forward/back
remote and buttons on pj are generic but useful. 2x/aaa required for remote. It's strong enough to bounce off the projection wall rather than point at the pj.

first impressions of the projected image:

it was rather harsh and washed out.
There are several different profiles: standard, movie, vivid, and user. Movie was considerably better and less intense so we started messing around with the user-definable setting. We ended up with:

Contrast: 40
Brightness: 40
Hue: 50
Saturation:50
Sharpness: 40

At this setting I'd say the RCA/Svideo quality is about 90% that of the old PJ. The SVGA input is really good, and is at least as good as the old PJ.

Ran it for a few hours the first night: netflix DVD, netflix stream via wii, halo on xbox.

Netflix furor: "REACHED MAXIMUM NUMBER OF COMMENTS"

2011-07-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

Ok.

When your corporate blog article hits the "REACHED MAXIMUM NUMBER OF COMMENTS. NO MORE COMMENTS CAN BE POSTED" point (apparently 5,000 comments) that's either very good or very bad news. In this case it's bad news.

I am currently googling Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime.

beamer tragedy

2011-07-05T21:44:00.001-07:00

A bit more info about our projector issue[s].

I mentioned before that the original (used) bulb finally died after about 5 yrs.

The projector (pj hereafter) was business-style pj that was produced around 2000. I bought it on eBay around 2005-2006 for $300. At the time new pj units were still hovering around $1000. I bought a replacement bulb for $150 at the same time, since bulbs were going for $180-200. That's the bulb I put in.

The bad news: the bulb I just installed died after a couple of months. :-( Either the bulb was damaged or there is a problem with the projector. The cost so far has been about $90/yr for 100" video.

The very cheapest I can find bulbs (actually lamp modules) for it now is about $130, or about $100 if I disassemble the old module and put in a new bulb proper.

The quality of this projector is not HD; it's in the range of what are now called "game" projectors for non-HD game consoles. The native resolution is roughly S-Video although it can scale from component and SVGA inputs. And that's just fine with us. We don't have any HD / Bluray gear to pump into it, anyhow. Well, the MythTV box captures HD but it's in the other room.

New game-quality pj are in the $200 range now, and lamp technology has changed in some cases. Some use LEDs for 20k hours running time, and others use simpler metal halide lamps that cost about $30, and are rated for 6000 hrs. I think we are going the latter route.

Will keep you posted.

good day sunshine

2011-06-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

I have been researching small solar setups, of the type that feed a
couple 12v deep cycle batteries. I am interested in using a small panel
to charge and maintain a deep cycle battery in my camper shell.

The most interesting piece has been the charge controllers, the piece
that takes the varied level of power from the solar photovoltaic panels
(PV hereafter) and keep the batts optimally charged.

Both the inputs and outputs can be complex. Output is generally
three-stage charging: bulk (80% charge, acceptance (remaining 20%), and
float cycles (maintenance). That's interesting enough.

The input is somewhere between interesting and fascinating. The main
things to understand are:
1. depending on charge phase, the controller needs to put out 14.8vdc
at the most.
2. PV panels don't output 12v; the basic ones put out something like
18V max and many are much higher. This allows enough headroom for poor
solar condtions to still yield nominal 12vdc.
3. wattage ratings are given at highest power output, say 17.5vd x
2.58a = ~50 watts.

So, if the max you can use is 14.8v at the controller that would be
38.13 watts. Leaving a good bit (over 20%) on the table. Normal
controllers do this, effectively necking output from the PV to the
required voltage.

Another, more complex (and $$$) MPPT-type controller sweeps the panel's
output looking for maximum power. It does a DC-DC conversion dow to the
desired 14.8vdc (in our example); during this conversion the excess
voltage is yield as extra amperage. The output is very close to the
PV's rated output, minus about 5% losses incurred in the DC-DC conversion.

Under average conditions the MPPT controller yields about 10% more
power. In certain conditions it can yield 30% more. In rare conditions
when the PV is underperforming and PV output voltage is closer than 5%
to the very close to the required voltage* it can actually be less
efficient.

The question in my mind is this: is the better controller worth 3x the
price. The difference is about $100. Can I imagine a situation where
having 30% more power would be worth $100. Yeah. So I'm leanintg that
way. And the better controller would be usable with better gear later on.

I may grab a PV and see what kind of real-world vdc I'm getting from it.
If I rarely dip below 15.58vdc I may save up for the better controller.
Really cheap, basic controllers (not the one's we are discussing) are
available for $15, and could be used later for backup.

phase one: get deep cycle battery. build small junction box for
accessories (fan, laptop charger, phone chargers, LED lights). Set up
AC charging regime. Test accessories.

phase two: get PV panel, mount on camper shell. Measure real-world
output in volts. Make decision on controller.

phase three: install conrtoller

A final thought for those unmoved by solar: there are home setups where
you can take as much power from the PV as needed for your battery bank
and put the rest into your wall socke. This is called "grid tie".
The extra voltage is the remainder is inverted to 110v and plugs into
your wall socket like any other plug. The inverter reads wall
voltage/hertz and outputs what the wall wants. Since the inverter
matches what the wall is putting out if the wall power is lost the
inversion stops.

Might be 20w, might be 200w but the power is being put to use instead of
wasted. Think about the positive input on the grid if everyone did that...

* needing 14.8v, getting 15.54

posted by email

battery assault

2011-06-17T11:04:00.000-07:00

A coupla years ago I scored a 24v B&D electric mower off freecycle. I
normally use a reel mower but the electric is useful at times:

* can collect clippings to alter the green:brown ratio in my compost piles.
* can mow down tall stragglers in the yard the reel mower pushes over.

The electric has never been 100%; the donor said he put fresh batts in
it but I suspected them and the braindead charger that comes with. He
suspected the motor's brushes so I pulled them and touched them up with
a file.

I finally bought some replacement 18A 12v for the mower; they are wired
in serial when installed. Before installing them I charged each
seperately with a Battery Tender Plus 12v unit so they would be closely
mated, voltage-wise. Then I connected them and installed them in the
mower. I put them on the all-singing, all-dancing 24v BatterMINDer
charger (queue angelic voices) until I could test drive it.

Mowed some deep grass in the alleyway since everything was short.
Worked great. Composted the clippings and back on the 24v charger it
went. I feel good about this.

written offline and synced later

Sign of the economic times

2011-06-14T03:19:00.000-07:00

I'm still getting rejection letters from job I applied to in January or even earlier. Most say "sorry, we picked somebody else" but some say "sorry, our funding went away" or similar.

I think this means companies are either being very picky (because of the long delay, not because they didn't pick me :-) or are dealing with intermittent hiring freezes.

Super 8

2011-06-13T22:11:00.000-07:00

Went to see Super 8 at the Galaxy drive in.

Good movie that reminds us a blockbuster doesn't have to be stupid.

And, oh yea: Best. Train crash. Ever.

JJ Abrams is a master. Crowd actually clapped and cheered at the end.

PS: watch the credits.

Snyder's sea salt and cracked pepper pretzel pieces

2011-06-11T10:37:00.000-07:00

Found a bag at Big Lots, which likely means it was a market test that
failed.

1. 'pieces' = broken parts we wanted to use somehow
2. tastes just like croutons
3. fantastic

written offline and synced later

chicken attack

2011-06-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

Well, attack ON chickens.

Last night the wife heard wild bocking noises and went out to find a cat
trying to get at the chickens through the chicken wire. No blood, but
the cat got a small clump of feathers pulled through the wire.

Suspect is a black cat with white feet. No collar. Looks like I'm
going to have to rent another live trap from the Richardson pound...

emailed in

Night Shift

2011-06-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

Some thoughts about the new job. If they make even less sense than
usual it's because they're all written around 2am for reasons that will
be shown below.

This job is strange. I think it is most similar to working in a network
operations center (NOC) only with things and people rather than data.
It's 95% visual, with maybe a couple of phonecalls per shift. It's also
95% transparent to the public. Nearly everything done on the job
(keyboard, mouse, etc) is published in near-real time. A minute or two
delay while servers sync up, maybe. If I write a sticky note and put it
on a co-worker's monitor that's about the only thing that's not directly
or indirectly visible, and there are times when you might see that, too.
Told you it was strange.

-= timeshift =-
First things first. This is a night job. I go to work in the evening
and come home the next morning and go to sleep. I've been doing it for
a few weeks now and my body is almost used to it.

Working nights is not hard, though it /is/ weird. Transitioning to
nights was brutal, however. The first week felt like impending death,
like a continual hangover without the headache.

Upside:
commute is generally better
outdoor temps are generally lower; I can walk outside on my lunch
it is very quiet. For 80% of my workweek I am the only worker
time off is very productive (see below)

The timeshift takes some adaptation. I brew a pot of coffee and bring
it with me in a big, industrial 1960s Uno-Vac steel thermos. I think
you could beat a shark to death with it if you had to.

Days off for nightshift people can go one of two ways:
1. try to keep a normal-to-others schedule. This allows for fragments
of Normal Life at the cost of continual walking death fatigue.
Basically it's changing body clocks 2x/week. Uh, no.

2. keep your working schedule. This means stay up all night on your
days off and sleep during the day as "normal". This is the approach I
have taken. Being up all night when the world sleeps feels like
time-expansion. The night lasts forever. I can get more done in one
night than in a week of normal free time.

-= 4x10 =-

This is my first experience working 10hrs x 4 days. The main benefit
would appear to be three days off in a row, but IMO the benefit is in
the 20% reduction in commuting (time, direct expenses like gas, and
indirect expenses like wear-and-tear).

-= Offline =-

Many employers let you check your email from time to time. Not so at
this gig. Fair enough, I get it. But there's not even a standalone
machine where you can check it during lunch/breaks.

If I had excess cash I'd probably buy a data plan for my android phone
and be done with it. But I don't. Subbing clobbered my savings and
credit card balances so it will be a few more years of intentional
frugality to get the debt monster back under control with my
regular-but-modest paycheck.

So I bring the Eee netbook for lunchtime email duties. I use
Thunderbird (mail client by Mozilla) for its robust offline abilities,
syncing the mail right before I leave for work and again when I get
home. It's not a total replacement for online email but most of it can
be read and deleted or replied to and synced later. Some of it contains
links or photos that need a net connection to see properly; I move
those to a Gmail folder called "offline" which I look at when I am online.

Theoretically HTML5 will get us offline gmail. Had that with Gears
until google took it offline (ha!) during the transition period.

I also figured out how to email blog entries like this one. The upside
is I can make blog posts for free during lunch. The downside is I don't
see a way to add labels, I can't see my past entries to remember WTH
I've rambled on about before, and I can't easily make links I don't have
memorized. But it works.

posted by offline email

mail to blog gateway

2011-06-05T06:06:00.000-07:00

Apparently blogger.com will let you set up an email/blog gateway.
We're about to find out...

Optimizing podcast playback on Optimus

2011-05-20T13:41:00.001-07:00

I ran CyanogenMod Froyo 2.2.1 on my old G1 but am trying to keep the vanilla 2.2 on the Optimus T.

The only thing I miss is the CM hack that allows you to do a no-look skip to the next track by holding the VOL UP button even when the screen is locked. I have reclaimed 90% of the CM podcast goodness using $3 of android apps.

ButtonRemapper (~$1) will remap your hard buttons to your liking. I remapped my completely-unused Search hard button to be Next Track. Works great.

WidgetLocker (~$2) replaces your lockscreen and lets you put widgets there. This way you can interact with the widgets without having to unlock the phone. I put the Music app widget on there so I can start/stop music from the lockscreen. If I had another hard button I wasn't using I'd map it to Pause so I could do that no-look, too.

The little bluetooth-badged droid up there is the BTmono ($1) widget for routing audio over a regular mono BT earpiece. I started using that after the author of BT Super Mono decided he didn't need to make his menus fit on screens anymore. He says this is because he only has hi-res screen Android devices to test with now. My responses to that are:

emulator in the SDK
stop hardcoding things like that. You introduced the problem for no good reason. Android allows you to let the device handle the display of such things.

Here's what it looks like now:

paid good money for that

2011-05-19T23:47:00.000-07:00

So I was searching for "ugliest car" for some reason, and this paid advertisement was displayed on the top:

beamer

2011-04-28T18:32:00.000-07:00

Our projector[0] lamp died after about 5 yrs of use. Bought it used, so who knows how much was on it in the first place. I've got a replacement bulb already in waiting and will let you know how that goes. And, yes, the bulbs are $$$.

We were watching ep9 of The Tudors[1] at the time.

[0] "beamer" in the UK and the Continent, according to Linux Outlaws
[1] netflix + wii

chickpeas are planted

2011-04-23T11:14:00.000-07:00

Report card on the pre-sprouted chickpeas:

Of 6 attempted,
2 made strong, 4" seedlings. Planted those today.
2 made weak, 1" seedlings. Composted.
2 did not come up. Composted.

pivot

2011-04-16T09:06:00.000-07:00

I finished my last day teaching yesterday. Walked the halls and said goodbye to some teachers and support folk who stick out as exceptionally devoted and talented.

Turned in my sub paperwork to the front office and headed out the door. It was close, but I got past all the kids in front of the school before I choked up. I was thankful for the sunglasses and for my parking spot way across the lot. Drove to the ISD offices and turned in my badge[s].

I've said before that this feeling reminds me of asking someone to marry you and they say 'no'. Future plans dissolve like smoke wisps and it feels like I'll be limping with an emotional stonebruise for a while. But life goes on. Keep breathing in and out and meet each day as it comes.

I am spending this weekend organizing and cleaning. I start a new job (and what feels like a new life) on Monday.

survey: the autoblog podcast

2011-04-13T12:18:00.000-07:00

"What do you like least about this show?"

Dan's incessant interruptions. If this is going to be The Dan Rant Show, let us know.

Seriously, if he wants to talk 100% of the time he needs his own d*mn podcast. Somebody needs to cut his microphone and ONLY turn it on when they want his input. He is incapable of letting other hosts finish their thoughts. If you don't believe me, pick ANY episode and listen for 60 seconds.

Dan is to Autoblog Podcast as Dvorak is to This Week in Tech.

callbacks, pt2

2011-04-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned earlier, I've been interviewing.

The position I really wanted never did make a 2nd interview but they make an offer. :-) I accepted, and I start next week.

It's not in teaching but I'd seen the writing on the wall already anyhow. I'd already doubled-, tripled-, and quadrupled-down on teaching. To continue down that road would require quintupling-down (working several more weeks without pay) and sextupling-down (re-taking more altcert coursework which 'expired') with no guarantee of work on the other side.

Anyhow. Everyone I've met at the new job is interesting, competent, and friendly. I'll do my best to be a productive member of the new team.

Once I turn in my school badge I'll probably make a few posts over on MBTRT with my thoughts on the education market, alternative certification, substitute teaching, and the State of the Classroom in elementary, junior high, and high schools around town.

nice garbanzos

2011-04-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

I sprouted some chickpeas (garbanzo "beans") and will try to get some 4" seedlings out of them. If they grow I'll drop them in the garden and see what happens. I will try some no-soaks, too, as that appears to be the preferred method.

More about growing chickpeas.

half day == playtime in the garden

2011-04-06T14:06:00.000-07:00

I had a half day off, so I slapped on some old shorts and planted the 2nd wave of seedlings in the garden.

I also started a 3rd wave of things that either need to be started cyclically for continual harvest (lettuce) and things that did not germinate well the first time (beets, radish, corn, carrot).

I don't know if I mentioned I'm also sprouting some seed stock left over from 2010. At this point there appears to be no difference in sprouting rate, growth rate, overall vigor, etc, between last year's seed stock and current.

These seeds are the first I've started in the sifted soil produced by the compost pile. Each container has a layer of vermiculite in the bottom, a thin layer of the soil, seed, then more soil.

puppy linux update

2011-04-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

Here's a screenshot of my little Eee 900 running Puppy Linux (LUcid PUppy 5.2.5) I upgraded to earlier today. It's hella fast on Puppy, even with a lowly 1gHz Celeron hamster running in there.

It's a free, modern, fully functional operating system that's about 1/20th the size of Windoze. (current .iso is ~130MB)

The stock LuPu 5.2.5 desktop stuff is openbox + fbpanel + conky + ROX-filer --pinboard.

long day, and it's only 3pm

2011-04-03T13:08:00.000-07:00

I think I'm gonna go take a nap.

Gardening

I planted another round of seedlings:

bell peppers, scrounged last year from peppers we ate. No idea what these will do.
tomatoes, three varieties. One leftover heirloom breed from last year, and two hybrids.
squash, two varieties
cucumbers, two varieties
more lettuce
corn
I forget the rest but it's on my garden planning sheet

Following the SFG model the tall/vertical/viney stuff is furthest away from the sun with shorter stuff in front of it. Alternated species instead of planting near each other to limit disease and bugs.

Composting

Tore down one of my composting bins for delivery to the (very kind and lovely) MIL. Will throw that in the truck next time we go to see her. Chickens were Big Helpers, which is to say they stood on top of the pile and kicked it everywhere but where you wanted it. They got pretty brave working around the hoe.

Tore down an active pile and sifted the compost before restacking/wetting the remaining big stuff. The filtered/finished compost was fine and clean-smelling, though both are difficult to judge from this pic. About 20# worth.

I learned this sifting trick from composting master Rob. I might make a two-tiered autosifter like he built. Maybe chicken wire for sifting the big stuff and hardware cloth or something for the smaller stuff?

Lucid Puppy 5.2.5

Upgraded the eee netbook to puppy 5.2.5.

Grocery shopping

Trip to Aldi. Completely full basket was less than $90. Put the groceries in the back of the truck (on the cargo platform I cobbled together quickly) and it worked out great.

ATT/Tmo = do not want

2011-03-23T05:14:00.001-07:00

I've used T-Mobile for for years and have received excellent value for money.

The best way to understand this merger is this quote originally from the WSJ:

"T-Mobile has long been an antagonist to AT&T and chief rival Verizon Wireless, offering low prices that kept pressure on rates."

So, if your competitor bugs you by giving customers a lower-cost option, just buy the competitor. Doesn't bode well.

Cycles of life

2011-03-20T08:09:00.000-07:00

No, not cycles of light, you Tron freakazoids.*

A few things happening this week which remind me of the ebb and flow of life:

First, moonzilla. That was awesome.

Second, finally got some seedlings in the ground. More in the greenhouse getting their first true leaves. We had some short, spindly wire fencing that the chickens have been unwilling to jump over so lined the garden area with that. Not convinced it's chickenproof but they don't seem willing to hop over the last few weeks it's been up.

Third, one of our hens ("Orange Chicken") had poop stuck in her butt feathers and down. Dear Wife held her still while I used the waterhose to soften and help remove the accumulation. Bird did great right until the end of the operation when she got a little annoyed at being held so long. Dinosaur growly noises...

The hen's vent was fine, not irritated or anything but she looked funny while she was drying off. She looked great after she dried.

Fourth, I traded my motorcycle for a small pickup truck. That was the bike I rode to Destiny's BD a couple of years ago. Took the truck down to Keller's for a shakedown cruise. Cheeseburgers, o-rings, a longneck and a lemonade. It's good to have a truck again. It's been a while. I feel more truck-related posts coming on.

Do I miss the bike? Sure. Did I need it? No.

Once I got the truck inspected (took a bit of mech work, but not bad) I sold my old commuter car which had been really good to me since I bought it in 2005. Total time from posting craigslist ad to cash-in-pocket: 1hr, 52mins. Thanks, internet!

* and I say that with love.

Gardening 2011

2011-03-12T08:02:00.000-08:00

Finally started some seeds this week. Depending on whose last-frost predictor you follow this means I'm about 3-4weeks late on lettuce, peppers, and tomato. Oh well; I've been exceptionally busy with the job searching/interviewing and something had to give.

This is how I organize the seeds. Some kind of aluminum & glass specimen containers I got cheap in bulk off eBay. They appeal to the science geek in me and work well. I have been storing them at room temp but will likely start storing them at 40F (ie, in the fridge).

I'm going to change my Google Calendar for gardening to include reminders so I'll be less likely to drop the ball. Even with the late start I predict an improvement over last year's garden due to:

return to hybrids. Heritage varieties really didn't work well in my poorly-conditioned garden. Might try them again next year.
chicken poop composted in the Fall and directly deposited in the Winter. This should help my nitrogen situation.

I did have some leftover hybrids seeds from last year. I started some with the new stuff this year. I'll consider it a bonus if the come up (because old) or do anything useful (as described above).

Chickens are "big helpers" when working in the garden, which is to say they want to get under your feet and investigate everything.

There were times when I was turning the garden today (see below) when they would get lifted up a bit by the shovel. Standing a little too close, birds?

The garden is small so I turned it by hand with a shovel. The chickens will break up the larger clods.

They were attacking the dirt right up to the moment I turned on the camera and they ran away. I think the sound of the lens motor spooked them.

Also moved the chicken tractor so they had to run in there and get reaquainted with it.

Core subject vs. Football

2011-03-11T13:36:00.000-08:00

It's Texas. You're probably not operating under any delusions, but just in case you're wondering whether core subjects or football is #winning:

REQUIRED CERTIFICATIONS: Social Studies From Grade:8 To Grade:12
POSITION: Social Studies Teacher (8-12) / Assistant Football Coach
JOB DESCRIPTION: Position Summary Provide students with appropriate learning activities and experiences in the core academic subject area assigned to help them fulfill their potential for intellectual, emotional, physical, and social growth. Enable students to develop competencies and skills to function successfully in society. Employment preference given to candidates with high school coaching experience.

APPLY TO: Complete on-line application and address questions to: Mr. [redacted], Athletic Director, [redacted] ISD, [redacted]

Yes, direct your questions about this academic, TAKS-tested core subject to the Athletic Director. Nice.

Dear Ron Paul

2011-03-07T15:36:00.000-08:00

Preface
I agree with almost all of your platform. We start from the same first principles and end up at many of the same conclusions. I have displayed your bumpersticker and yardsign.

Here's my beef
It is one thing to accept campaign contributions then drop out.
It is another thing altogether to ask those contributors for money AGAIN. What, in your words or demeanor, indicate you'd be willing to press the issue this time? What has changed?

Never thought I'd be quoting Bush, but: "Fool me once; shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

callbacks

2011-03-02T10:38:00.000-08:00

Have had two "second interview" meets this week, so we're still moving ahead. My first choice hasn't set up a 2nd yet, but it's more of a bureaucracy so I'm being patient.

wii, netflix

2011-03-01T05:14:00.000-08:00

The Wii interface to netflix is "pretty cool" as Miley Cyrus might say. There is room for improvement:

make the subtitle toggle available from within the stream
separate the pause/play and timeline controls a bit. I accidentally moved along the timeline a couple of times when trying to pause playback.
Allow a "mark watched" flag. If you don't watch a show through all the credits it believes (correctly) you didn't finish it, but this leaves detritus in the UI ("resume this show", etc).

I continue to be surprised at the quality of the stream, even on my cheapest-tier-possible cable inet.

I marked a stream I watched one star out of five (it SUCKED). Netflix followed up with a 2-second question about the streams visual quality. Nice! They are making sure I didn't downrate the show because of the stream instead of the content. Very smart.

Cancelled directv

2011-02-28T15:33:00.000-08:00

Pulled the satellite and serial cables so DTV couldn't send anyone down the line. Then called up and Precious walked me through the process with little fanfare. She did try to do the Retention Schtick: $50/mo instead of my current $72-something.

Nope. I did note, while I was online, that my service hasn't changed but the cost went up 12.5% (from $64 to $72) in the last 12mons alone. Nice.

To keep the DTivo from recording blankness and confusing the Now Playing screen, I cleared all the Wishlist and Season Pass entries. Turned off Suggestions and it clobbered all recorded Suggestions. Note to onlookers: if you want to keep your Suggestions, don't turn them off until you are done with them. No big loss, but interesting.

directv out, netflix back in

2011-02-27T15:20:00.000-08:00

DirecTV is $75/mo, so they go BYE-BYE after this weekend. It was a pleasant coincidence that one of the premium channels is having a free preview* this weekend. So I added those channels and kept the dual-tuner DirecTivo humming snagging movies. Tomorrow I'll disconnect the dish and quasi-landline** and call up to cancel.

We had Netflix before but wasn't using it much so we cancelled a few years back. They kept begging us to come back (free month), so I eyeballed how to stream 'flix to the Wii. Worked fine, as you can see in the inset pic.***

We were happy with the setup, so re-subbed with the the streaming+1dvd plan ($9.99/mo). Our approach is:

1. to pull down streaming content
2. check RPL for DVDs
3. use the Netflix mailed DVDs to fill in gaps from #1 and #2.

Bottom line: $65/mo savings over our current situation, with access to things like Mad Men on DVD.****

The mythbox is still cranking away recording broadcast tv. I set up His, Hers, and Both recording groups so we easily see what it's recorded for what audience.

Edited to add: we basically stopped going to the movies a few years ago. People are idiots in public. I have no desire to pay $20 to listen to cellphones ring and the unsocialized yell at each other. So we pop our own popcorn and watch movies on the wall. The projector was about $500 used off eBay 8 yrs ago and the bulb is still holding out. Does double duty for xbox/wii action. Awwww yeahhhhhh buddeeeeeeee...

* we don't have any pay channels, just basic stuff + locals.

** No landline, but I'm running the DirecTivo daily call through the mythtv box via serial cable. Werd.

*** LCD projector shooting on the wall. Didn't even move stuff out of the way because it was a test run. Still daylight outside, and windows open. The image as you see it is about 8' X 6'. Shot was from a season three ep of Drawn Together. Drawn is like South Park, only funny. If you have a high tolerance for offensive humor you'd probably like Archer. And why isn't Aisha Tyler a superstar? She's 12 kinds of awesome.

**** this makes the Dear Wife very happy

soft shoe

2011-02-24T17:02:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long time away. Been handling stuff on the home front.

After months of "no thanks" letters (and a kerbillion applications that went into the Great Beyond with no response at all) I have four job interviews within a 7-day period.

I don't know if this a fluke or businesses forecasting an increase in demand. Either way, I'll take the interviews. If nothing else it's an opportunity to put on the song-and-dance in front of an employer. Gotta be grateful for small things.

None of these jobs are in education (in any normal sense); even before the recent ISD Budget Apocalypse the writing was on the wall for me. The planned massive layoffs made me face the fact there is almost zero chance for an new alt-cert social studies teacher to gain a foothold. Could I still get a teaching position? Yeah. And I might win the lottery, and monkeys might fly out my butt. It's time to plan for a future outside the classroom.

In the Real World my family has to eat and we have to pay to live somewhere. I have been applying to positions all along, but I took each of the ISD snow days and spent 8hrs/day applying to non-teaching positions. Thus the non-teaching interviews.

Life goes on.

I'll let you know how it goes.

2nd impression, LG 509 Optimus T

2011-02-23T19:01:00.000-08:00

The bluetooth is incredibly solid. If I leave the phone centrally located I can listen to BT audio all across my house. Strongest BT I've experienced.

VNC Server works great on android. :-) The blurred widget is Pure Calendar. Cheap, and interfaces nicely with the free Dato GTasks app.

Battery life is vastly improved by underclocking with SetCPU. Performance unaffected. The phone spends about 85% of ticks at 122mHz, and 10% at (max) 600mHz. Before at the 12hr mark the phone would be about 60%; now it's 90%.

Lurv. This is a great platform on great hardware.

First impressions: LG 509 (Optimus T)

2011-02-11T16:54:00.001-08:00

As I mentioned before, my G1 is getting very stressed out with all I'm asking it to do. Not angry birds or anything like that, just some practical multitasking.

The Optimus reports 205MB completely free RAM and another 95MB accessible if needed (non-critical app memory). This is huge, huge, HUGE for me. No stuttering, no hangs, just multitasking goodness. I am a happy boy.

Although I do not really care about cosmetics, it is definitely a better-looking handset than the G1.

Better battery life so far, although this may just be my imagination.
{Update: not my imagination. Optimus lost less than 10% overnight; the G1 lost 25-40% in the same time period.}

Will post more as my familiarity increases.

More thoughts on Diamondcard SIP/VOIP, and phone service in general

2011-02-05T16:38:00.000-08:00

I logged in to check my balance on Diamondcard today. Haven't looked at it in a while since I've been using Google Voice for my VOIP needs, since that solution is (currently) free rather than 1.6 cents/minute. So my balance sits on Diamondcard awaiting the moment Google pulls the free rug out from under us.

I was wandering through the Diamondcard site and re-read something I had seen before:

Diamondcard contributes, promotes and supports the following open source projects: Ekiga, Twinkle, Asterisk, FreeSWITCH, OpenSIPS, WikiPBX, Podwiki, FreeRADIUS, Linux, FreeBSD, Apache, Perl, Python, GNU arch. Our entire platform is built using these great tools.

Diamondcard funds Twinkle and Ekiga projects. The more calls you make with Ekiga and Twinkle softphones using Diamondcard, the more money donated to these projects. 10% of every recharge or online shop purchase is donated to these open source developers.

Diamondcard handles this kind of thing well. They put up detailed instructions how to use FOSS (like Ekiga and Twinkle) with their service, and donate back to the kinds of projects that they use or who send customers their way.

My current setup is that Voice rings both my TMO line (Android phone) and Ekiga on the desktop, set up to listen for Gizmo calls. Works fine.

Hitting the wall with the G1

2011-02-03T11:29:00.000-08:00

I think I could continue to use the G1 for a long while if it had more RAM.[0] The CPU is fine at 528mHz, the screen size is fine. The formfactor is dated but fine. The battery life is adequate if I exercise good charging discipline.

I've shoehorned froyo 2.2.1 onto it in the form of Cyanogenmod, and also used the 14MB of newly-freed RAM hack, which, IIRC, freed up some memory previously consumed by non-optimized radio code. I stuffed a Class 6 microSD in there and devoted some of it to a Linux swap partition which is mounted from the terminal. It works, but the poor phone is creaking.

What I need:

512MB RAM
more battery life (one of the newer, larger lithium batts like in the G2)
either vanilla Android, a tastefully vendor-modified Android (yeah, right) or the ability to slam in a custom ROM of my choosing.

What I would like:

A bit more flash memory space for custom ROMS, in case I want them.
A bit more flash memory space for apps; currently running 15 apps in my maxxed-out G1, and that is including things like update Gmail, Google Voice, Google Sky.
Comes stock with a modern Android like Froyo, or will get it OTA without hackery.
dock
miniUSB connector, quite out of style these days. I don't like those tight-fitting microUSB connectors. Ick.
Lose the trackball. I keep hitting it accidentally.
Physically kb, maybe. Up in the air on this one.
LED flash for phonepics.

Things I don't care about:

faster CPU
bigger, better screen
pretty / fancy
HD video or 92-kerbillion pixel photos. I usually crank down phonepics to 640x480 in the config anyhow.

My options

My first instinct was to try to secure a used Nexus One, which was at the time the One True Google phone. Specs are what I want (except the faster-than-I-need 1gHz CPU) but it has such cult status that used ones are going for $300+.

So I started googling android 512MB RAM and started stumbling across some promising hardware. The one I settled on was the LG Optimus T, an unlockable GSM phone. It's been getting good press (including a top 5 best phone list from Cnet), and several reviewers point out that while it competes in the android low end market (on price), it is no slouch. They are going for ~$150 on eBay.

512MB RAM. Yay! Over 2x what's on the G1, and same as the Nexus One.
512MB flash storage, ~170MB accessible by user. Again, over 2x what's on the G1 and very close to the 512MB, ~190MB on the Nexus One.
lost that trackball. Yay!
Stock with 2.2, OTA to 2.2.1 and allegedly to 2.3 Gingerbread.
downside: no physical kb; guess I'll have to learn swype. No LED flash. Volume buttons are supposed to be hard to find without looking.

[0] not the internal space for system or apps, but the actual memory in which apps run.

chickens made it through the night

2011-02-02T04:40:00.000-08:00

All present, and combs and feet looked good this A.M.

Went out to give them some fresh/warm water (hanging feeder finally froze last night) and some extra scratch for caloric boost. No one wanted to come out of the tractor and I don't blame them. Brrrrr....

From Pantera to chickens

2011-01-26T07:55:00.000-08:00

Here's a story about Phil Anselmo, formerly of Pantera, turning his life around. Luverly pics of his chickens.

I'm tellin' ya, they're therapeutic.

Texas shortfalls and my reality

2011-01-25T14:04:00.000-08:00

The shortfalls in the Texas budget directly affects all ISDs, which directly affects those of us doing our best to secure our first teaching jobs.

I haven't given up, but at some point a man has to start thinking in terms of an exit strategy. Maybe IT in an ISD? Since I'm already fingerprinted/backgrounded and employed by a couple of districts I'm hoping that makes me an easier hire than average Joe off the street.

Tweaks and new procedures

2011-01-16T08:29:00.000-08:00

It is common to post one's New Year's resolutions but I will try something different. I will post some things I changed in 2010 that seem to be working out.

Google Chrome

I tried to go Chrome earlier, but the absence of two plugins (since developed, see below) allowed me to make the change. Multimedia is better on my linux boxen than with FF.

Stripping out javascript

I went to blogtalkradio to download an episode of a show, and there were javascript elements inlined from sixteen seperate domains. Seriously?

Block this crap (and allow exactly what you want) with Noscript for FF or NotScripts for Chrome.

Page hacking with Greasemonkey

Your favorite pages the way you want them. The analog for Chrome is tampermonkey. Get some.

Google Reader

Dunno about you, but I am trying to track way to many things at once. I was originally using tab group functionality in FF/Chrome to eyeball sites and check for changes, but Reader does this for you using RSS. Track blogs, craigslist searches, whatever. Greatness.

CR-V3 battery pack

I had a decent prior-generation Pentax digital camera with a weird quirk; the minimum voltage requirements were quite high. This meant it would not always work normally on NiMH batts. It sat around for about two years until I saw a reference to a lithium pack shaped like two AA that fits right in there. Got it for $6 (shipped!) off eBay and the little cam is hummin'. It's just perfect now. I'm so grateful.

DE Wetshaving

Sounds more exotic than it is. Basically it means using a double-edged safety razor like your grandparents did. I had some 50s and 60s Gillette DE razors in the house but didn't really know how to use them correctly. I liked them but didn't love them. Enter the shave den forum. Here are the basics that really helped me:

take your time
remove beard bit-by-bit instead of all at once. This gradual process is called using "beard reduction passes"
no pressure; let the weight of the razor provide all the necessary contact force. Seriously.
work the shaving soap in a seperate lathering bowl; it takes about 60secs of whisk-like motion

The payoff is a morning shave that is actually enjoyable. Not joking: I actually look forward to shaving.

Kiva

Probably the best-known player in the microlending/microcredit arena. I add capital when I can, and roll over paid-off loans back into new ones.

Just like the process mentioned above makes shaving enjoyable, Kiva makes me more eager to share what I have. I fuh-reaking detest begging and storefront bell-ringing, but actively look forward to that time of the month when repaid Kiva funds hit my account and I can re-loan them.

Chickens

Yardbirds eat bugs, provide hours of amusement, create fertilizer, and lay eggs. Perfection.

Cloud

I edit documents in Google's cloud rather than on my machine for the most part. Doesn't work for everything but works for most things.

Google Voice

Same for Google Voice. Really helps me take control of my mobile phone.

That's it for now.

This is how we roll on NYE

2011-01-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

This is how we celebrate NYE at the maushaus:

Put the chickens to bed with a bit of extra scratch to ward off the cold. Dragged the chimenea into the middle of the yard and stocked it with chunks of wood from my father's land. (I was helping him stack some firewood and we'd throw the broken chunks and pieces/parts into the trunk of my car). Perfect night for it: ground damp, air cold, wind almost still.

Sat in front of the fire and stayed toasty as midnight approached and the temps dropped. I drank a homebrewed hefeweizen and Dear Wife and I talked for a few hours. Timed the fire stoking so that by midnight it would be just about done.

While the fire was still going strong we cooked some Jiffy Pop over the exhaust stack of the chimenea. We found that if you hover the Pop about 3" above the hot chimney it will be about right. Worked fine; 1 unpopped kernel and 3 partially-burned kernels. I will warn that the package warns specifically against this kind of off-label use of Jiffy Pop. You Have Been Warned.

Not much celebratory gunfire this year, for which I am grateful. A few rounds from what sounded like the Bowser / Belt Line area and maybe a few more from due east. Some fireworks complaints called in over the police radio but I didn't hear anyone complain of gunfire. Only saw one large bottlerocket type firework in our area.

After midnight we check to see the fire was out, then preheated the electric blanket. As Samuel Pepys would say: "And so to bed."

I hope everyone has a good 2011.

µReview: antiX linux

2010-12-24T13:08:00.001-08:00

Over the past few weeks I've heard folks talking about a somewhat-lighter distro called antiX. Took it for a spin in virtualbox. Came up quickly with no drama.

RAM usage in the screenshot above is 96MB with the browser open to m.cnn.com (accidentally typed the mobile version by habit).

I'm impressed with the snappiness and memory use of the livecd version. I didn't try to install it yet.

comparison
ISO, minimum ram, minimum HD, WM/DE
antix: 484MB, 128MB, 1.2GB, IceWM/Fluxbox
lubuntu: 546MB, 160MB, unknown, lxde
xubuntu: 726MB (!), 256MB, 2.0GB, xfce

I think this middleweight field is worth watching. I suspect the current economic environment will encourage people to get all the mileage they can out of previous-generation boxes. With middleweights like antiX you can "add lightness" without having to deal with the weirdness of puppy, dsl, tinycore, etc.

Review: jolicloud 1.1

2010-12-21T07:29:00.001-08:00

I have heard several trusted sources (on TWIG, Android Central, etc) referring to Jolicloud. One even said Google should quit wasting resources on ChromeOS and just rebadge a tweaked Jolicloud.

I downloaded the .torrent and installed it in a virtualbox instance.

Initial thoughts:

698MB? Really? Maybe my basis for comparison is wonky since I've been using small linuxen for a few years, but 698MB for a netbook OS seems excessive.
Torrent d/l is cool, but doesn't really seem to fit the target demographic.
live version is a bit wonky; can't do many things.
hangs for long periods in virtualbox: "initializing virtualbox driver" for several minutes during the install. Less of a problem once installed.
requires 2.4GB minimum to install. Yikes.
the integration with my.jolicloud.com is interesting
the integration with facebook is frightening. I do NOT like this trend.
requires a net connection - everything is in the cloud as the name suggests
updates happened automagically. See screenshot below:

Didn't crop some of the screenshots, sorry. In case you're wondering the desktop behind the VM is the fluxbox window manager on xubuntu linux bones.

This type of greatly-simplified interface in the shot above was widely panned a few years ago when it was tried on Xandros:

Reminds me of how everyone mocked the tablet form factor until Saint Steve blessed the iPad. BTW, here's an iPad joke:

Q: how do you know if someone has an iPad?
A: they'll tell you.

True, and annoying.

This is what my little Eee notebook looks like these days. It's running Puppy 5.1.1, weighing in at ~130MB:

"may involve the use of explosives"

2010-12-13T15:39:00.000-08:00

may involve the use of explosives and always occurs in a heavy industrial setting. A Class A or B CDL with HAZMAT is required, but can be obtained in the first sixty
days of employment during which time appropriate training will be provided. The job is physically demanding and requires being on 24 hour call. The job is in the field requiring work at all times of the day and in alltypes of weather.

Sweet baby Jebus. It's the landlocked analog of a crab fishing gig. If I were a younger and crazier man...

another interesting posting

2010-12-13T15:24:00.000-08:00

A really specific/interesting set of requirements on this posting:

Requisition Number: URS51210
Interest Category: Environmental/Sciences

Interest Sub Category: Archaeology

Job Title: Archaeology Caddo Expert
Employment Category/Status: Part Time

Type of Position: Temporary

Country: U.S.

State/Province: Texas

City: Dallas

Minimum Requirements: Ph.D. in GeoArchaeology

15 years experience in the field of archaeology field work and research with an emphasis on Caddo culture.

Must have specific experience interpreting and analysis of all aspects of Native American artifacts, specifically related to the Caddo culture. Must be proficient in all aspects of Caddoan and adjacent cultural areas. Extensive experience in leading projects, both in the field and with the analysis and the preparation of report of findings. Must be proficient in technical archaeological writing.

Proficient in MS Word, MS Excel, ArcMap, Access, and SPSS.

Proficient in using total station, GPS receivers, and post processing software.

from an actual job posting

2010-12-09T18:46:00.000-08:00

Applicants must check your e-mail randomly for an assessment sent to you from [company]. The assessment will need to be completed as soon as possible in order to proceed to the next step.

Really? That's not a good sign.

Reminds me of an online test I took for a well-known telco with offices in Frisco. It was 40mins of massive multitasking. For example, do this math word problem while we barrage you with IMs and emails that scroll by. Oh, and you have to be able to recall the content of the IM/email minutes later.

Translation: we have a totally f&$%ed up work environment; wouldn't you like to work here?

Now, you'd think that a beggar couldn't be a chooser. But I've taken enough messed up jobs in my life to know a bad one when I see it.

Saying good night to a good dog

2010-11-28T09:50:00.000-08:00

I would have thought this kind of thing would get easier with age.

All (chook) cylinders firing

2010-11-20T09:08:00.000-08:00

At, uhhh, 25 weeks the last bird came online with a small, light tan, roundish egg weighing a little less than 1.75 oz.

It's weird she was the last one to lay because she was the largest, plumpest, most hen-looking bird in the microflock. Goes to show what I know.

What is most amusing is her change in attitude. Previously she was fairly haughty around humans; now when she sees us coming she does the egg squat and waits for her back scratches. We dig in her back feathers a bit and then she ruffles her feathers and goes about her chooky business. It's pretty funny. Was it Hemingway who said we are all prisoners to our biology?

"Self-repair Manifesto"

2010-11-10T14:23:00.001-08:00

Good stuff, found here.

{clickable thumbnail, durrr}

2nd easter laying @ 23wks

2010-11-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

Came home after work and found three eggs; this means the second easter egger pullet is now doing her part.

Her first egg is a slightly different color, perhaps a bit paler and bluer. It was 40.0g, which is USDA Peewee.

The biggest girl, a Rhode Island Red, is still not laying or squatting.

Mystery can

2010-10-30T11:19:00.001-07:00

For years I have been begging vending machine operators to fill up one slot with random stuff and mark it "mystery", "random", or "guess". I in this morning's web browsing that somewhere someone finally did it.

1st easter egger comes online

2010-10-28T15:21:00.001-07:00

First egg from the nameless, spazzy EE. We call her "brown chicken".

Her first egg is quite small and weighed 40.2 grams. This makes it a USDA Peewee (seriously, that's an official size). Perfectly fine for a first effort from a non-production bird.

Broke some eggs to make a cheesecake and thought you might want to see the coloration of the inner and outer shell. The brown eggs are white shell with medium brown pigment layer on the outside. The slate green eggs are pale blue with a light brown pigment layer on the outside.

The outer pigment, if any, is laid down near the end of the cycle. In some breeds with very dark (chocolate) coloration it can actually smear or wash off a bit. This is not necessarily evidence of nefarious chromatic tampering.

Purty.

Whenever I pick up eggs from the nesting boxes I always thank the birds. Sounds silly but I think St. Francis was on to something.

Denouncement. Subset == headstomping libertarian

2010-10-26T14:13:00.001-07:00

Hey there, pal.

Permit me to suggest you need to spend some time reviewing the non-aggression principle. It's fundamental to Libertarian philosophy. The good news is you may find yourself with some extra time to catch up on said reading in the very near future.

Happy Birthday, planet Earth

2010-10-23T08:05:00.000-07:00

You are apparently 6,014 yrs old today.

EE pullet doing "egg squat"

2010-10-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

Birds are now at the 21 week mark.

Last week the smaller RIR started laying and she has produced an egg in the late morning for 8 straight days so far. Certainly more consistency than I expected.

This week the wilder of the EE pullets started doing the egg squat. This is a dropping-down movement maturing pullets do when approached by a rooster (or human).

It has three steps:

get low, and (optionally) spread the wings a bit. Maybe 1".
if touched more to the tail end than the head end, jack up the rear end (ie, present for mounting)
afterwards, ruffle feathers using the same motion dogs use to shake off water. I assume this move is to get all feathers back into place after the rooster's interaction.

The most interesting thing is that not only is the full squat dance sequential, but so is the development of the dance. Our young pullets start with #1, then #1-2 a bit later, then #1-2-3 about a week before laying their first egg.

I tell you that to tell you this: went out this morning and our largest EE pullet did the whole 1-2-3 egg squat. She started 1 and 2 earlier this week. It's hilarious because she has been the most skittish of our birds: couldn't get near her since she's been about 3wks old. But now her hormones are cranking up and she's compelled to stop and accept physical interaction. I can just imagine her little pea-brain is saying "WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME! WANT TO RUN! CAN'T RUN! WHY AM I DOING THIS? ARGGHHH!"

It's ok, bird. Adolescence is difficult, no matter the species. I'd show you my yearbook photos but you'd probably just poop on it.

tech support hell

2010-10-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

In my previous (pre-teaching) life I did technical support for about 15yrs. Long enough to see that sometimes situations can get hopelessly tangled and get worse from there.

Consider my experience today. Bought a refurb wifi extender to go in the back shed. This will provide better coverage in the back yard, but more importantly it will ensure a better signal for the video wificam that watches the back gate and alley.

The unit works fine. Took some configuration gymnastics, but nothing that a tech dweeb couldn't fight through. It's working but in a suboptimal postion. The reason for this will become more clear in the next step.
The device comes with two power adapters: one for mounting on the wall and one with a long cord for mounting elsewhere. Like in a windowsill away from the outlet, which is what I really want to do. Problem: the corded one will not power the device. Multimeter on the contacts shows no juice.
I go online to get an RMA; it says for power adapter replacement they just ship; no crosship, no return. Problem: you can't get an RMA without a case number (ie, have to work with a tech first). Fine.
I do an online chat, as I cannot always understand techies with heavy accents. Chat gets around that. Problem: chat support says my device is out of warranty. I looked down at the just-opened box and read the "90 day warranty" page on Linksys letterhead included in said box. No go. Call tech support. Fine.
I call tech support and waited on hold. Got a pleasant tech. Gave her all information since they cannot see the info I put into the chat earlier (contact info, purchase info, model, serial, etc). Got 75% of the way through the call. Problem: I turned around to look at something on the unit, got tangled up in the headset wires and tore the mic wiring out of my headphones. I cursed. Totally my fault, which made me madder. Went to the geek store and got another set of headphones.
Called tech support again, waited on hold again. Got a less pleasant but more savvy tech who figured out the problem immediately. Problem: tech says they can't ship just the power adapter, I have to return the whole thing. I protest, citing both the RMA page that specifically says they will ship the adapter seperately, and my reluctance to set up the danged expander again. Once was challenging; twice would be annoying. He says I can call customer service, but he will give me the case number I need for the online RMA. Fine.
I plug in the case number into the RMA form and submit. Problem: it promptly craps the bed:

Restart the browser and do it again. Problem: RMA stops in its tracks, displaying this popup about a backorder:

The popup says "will ship" but does not give an RMA # and the page will no longer advance. I go to check on the RMA with the Status Checker to see if the RMA actually went through. Problem: you can't check status by any method other than RMA #, which was not shown on the page.

I'll watch for a while and see if it comes in the mail. If not I'll try to resubmit. If that doesn't work I'll see if I can buy a dead unit off eBay and take the power supply off that. Grrr.

My guess is that there are no seperate supplies, only the ones packaged with the extender. This would explain the 2nd reps inability to ship. I've seen that happen in the support world and it's not something the techs themselves can control.

First egg @ 20 weeks

2010-10-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

First egg, found this afternoon after I got back from work.

This first effort is 2" x 1 5/8". It weighs 50.4 grams (1.78 oz), which makes it a "medium" egg according to the USDA. The math according to their formula works out like this:

Jumbo: 2.5 oz
Extra Large: 2.25 oz
Large: 2.0 oz
Medium: 1.75 oz
Small: 1.5 oz

My instinct is the RIR will start out with Medium and end up Large or slightly shy of Large. The EEs will likely start out Small and end up with Medium once they hit their stride.

I was feeling optimistic last week so I had already picked up this 25c egg-collecting basket from a thrift store in Plano. Baskets may look silly but experienced egg transporters know that eggs in hand, eggs in pocket, or eggs in pulled-up shirt will eventually result in tragedy.

It is common for egg production to be uneven in the beginning, so I'm not expecting much at this point.

Here are the suspects. It's got to be one of the Rhode Island Reds (pictured at rear) as they are the layers of brown eggs. The easter eggers (hogging the spotlight up front) will have blue and/or green eggs.

Even more MRI fun

2010-10-08T04:48:00.001-07:00

Got a call from the VA asking me to come in again for more MRI action on the shoulder.

I am in the odd position of hoping this is due to image loss due to incompetence or carelessness, rather than some kind of alien life form or extra kidney hiding in the joint. I know the original MRI 'worked' because I visited with the tech afterwards. She reviews all the slices as they come out to make sure none need to be reshot.

I'm bringing earplugs this time.

chickens at 19wks

2010-10-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

This is the microflock at 19weeks.

You will notice that when given the opportunity to free range they stood in or around a pot of [petunias? periwinkles?].

One of the RIRs and one of the EEs are starting to get reddening combs and wattles. Traditional wisdom suggests those two will be the first to lay. I'm betting on the RIR since they were bred for egg production and the EEs were not. Could be as late as the end of the year, but my reasonable guess is T-giving. An egg by Nov 1 would be a nice present from the girls to show their gratitude for all the grub and roof over their pretty, empty little dinosaur heads but I'm not holding my breath.

I've transitioned them from starter crumbles to Layena pellets (Purina chicken chow), which they really like. And there's much less waste from the pellets since when they drop/spill/fling a pellet they can find it and eat it.

MRI fun (shoulder)

2010-09-27T05:11:00.000-07:00

I tore up my right shoulder earlier in the year and it finally got bad enough a couple of months ago to go visit the VA orthopedics team.

My reading suggests rotator cuff.

Scheduled for an MRI on Sunday and got it done. I was surprised at how loud it was and how long it took. The tomb-like nature of the thing didn't bother me; I fell asleep a couple of times during the imaging.

When requesting the MRI, the Ortho said he'd call ASAP if there was an emergency, otherwise we'd talk about at a followup a coupla months into the future.

Tasker for Android

2010-09-25T17:36:00.000-07:00

[This post is derived from an email I sent a friend who has an extraordinarily nimble technical mind. "Normals" can read along, too.]

If you haven't looked at Tasker, check it out. It's priced in Pounds; when I pulled the trigger the exchange rate made it ~$5.

Basically tasker it's a macro system that can automate most functionality of the [Android] phone. When any given macro exits the phone settings are reset to their original values unless you specifiy otherwise.

Examples from my own usage:

Silence during meetings: watch the Google calendar. When starting an appointment marked "Busy", turn phone to silent mode.

wifi battery conservation: even when wifi is turned off, scan briefly every X mins to check if near a specified wifi access point. If nearby, turn on wifi, connect, and turn on auto-sync. Disconnect when leaving the area.

Same for celltowers, gps, etc. Name your poison.

This may be particularly important for folks that are too ~~cheap~~ frugal to have an unlimited dataplan.

To give you an idea how clever this stuff is: if you pick more than one location type Tasker starts with the lowest-power-consuming one. For example, a celltower + WAP requirement would use celltower first for a power-inexpensive sanity check to see if you are in the general
area, and only then trigger the battery-hogging wifi for fine-grained checks. So if you never get within celltower visibilty of the target the wifi check is never activated. Good stuff, Maynard.

Find missing phone: when receiving an SMS from a given number with a given string as the
message, turn on GPS, get a lock, and SMS back the coords, battery level, etc. This functionality is $99/yr for iPose users.

Podcast listening: when I connect with one of my named BT headsets it brings up an app that streams normal audio over BT. When I connect with a different, A2DP-enabled earpiece it dooesn't run that app because a2dp handles that duty.

Night mode: turn off wifi, bluetooth, and phone between 1-5am since I'm not going to answer
it anyway. Saves battery if I forget to cable it up for the night.

Power conservation: when on power cord turn on all the power-expensive toys you want;
bright screen, gps, wifi, 3g, whatever. Or maybe only turn them on
when the batt is fully charged, so you get fastest charge possible and then get the fun stuff.

Low battery: when below 20% battery, disable 3G and autosync, disable wifi+GPS,
turn screen to minimum, say the arbitrary words "arrrrghhhh, low on
battery!" or play a particular sound or whatever.

Denouncement. Subset == quaran burning preacher

2010-09-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

I denounce distasteful, provocative hate speech like that of the Terry Jones. Burning anyone's scripture is a bad idea.

On a personal level it's rude.

On a national level we would be better served to ally ourselves with moderates of ALL faiths in order to strip mindshare from extremists (including Terry Jones).

Denouncement. Subset == motorcycle stunters

2010-09-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

As a licensed motorcycle rider I denounce the idiots that endanger themselves and others on public roads.

The motorcycle community has a derisive term for this kind of rolling Darwin award winners: 'squids'.

Rent a track or a parking lot, Mensa boy.

Backyard Chickens at Dallas Green Festival

2010-09-05T12:13:00.001-07:00

I noted over on MBTRT that the Dallas Green Fest is happening on Sept 18th.

I bring it up here on my personal blog because there will be a backyard chickens booth (display, information, chicken-ranching [sub]urbanites) there. It will be organized by Dan Probst of Bageniece Farms in Quinlan, Tx.

Dan himself will be splitting his time between the DGF and another event across town at North Haven Gardens:

11AM - 2PM • Backyard Chicken Sale Buy juvenile hens & ducks for your backyard flock
...
2PM • "Winterize" Your Backyard Hens by Dan Probst, Bageniece Farms. Keep your backyard flock safe this winter from the elements with expert tips from Dan Probst.

This means the folks manning the Festival booth will be more like neighbors than experts. This should be a comfortable, friendly way to see some breeds and talk to folks that keep backyard microflocks.

If you do see Dan at either place be sure to introduce yourself. He's a friendly guy and the hardest working guy in the DFW chicken business. There's a pic of him on the right in this picture so you know who to look for.

chickens at 14 weeks

2010-08-25T07:20:00.001-07:00

They look like chickens now, although they are not completely filled out. The good-natured little beasties and love to walk around scratching in the garden and back yard, eating bugs and leaves of grass.

Anybody want to take over/under on first egg? The ag numbers suggest 20-25 weeks, which would be late October or early November. Because of the brutality of the heat I wouldn't be surprised if point of lay was delayed significantly. Their bodies are driving the process and produce eggs (or not) as they see fit.

If we get an RIR egg by Thanksgiving and an EE egg by Christmas I'll be happy. The EEs will lag behind in time and volume because they were not bred for egg production.

If you are interested in learning more about backyard chickens I recommend the www.backyardchicken.com forum and the Bucky Buckaw podcast (RSS feed, kinda hard to find).

New RNs, New Teachers

2010-08-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

This article is about nurses, but if you substitute "teachers" for "nurses" the pattern holds. I added the emphasis.

New RNs find job market tight
By Alison Young, USA TODAY
Even as a national nursing shortage looms, many newly graduated registered nurses can't find jobs because the recession has delayed retirement of experienced nurses, regulators and health care associations say.
...
An advisory for new grads published by the association warns that the market is "flooded" with experienced RNs who have come out of retirement, delayed retirement or gone from part-time to full-time employment because of the recession.
...
A June 2009 survey by the association of 2,112 spring RN graduates found 44% hadn't yet landed a nursing job.

How (not) to encourage drugs testing compliance

2010-08-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

This post is not about my position on the drug war, which may or may not be guessable based on my libertarian tendencies.

This post is about employee drug testing. Employees generally don't like it, whether for tactical or philosophical reasons. So how do you decrease the pushback against drugs testing in the workplace?

By having the direct supervisor tested every time a reporting employee is tested. In the case of a new hire, the manager doing the hiring gets tested. Simple, no? It gets the company even more of whatever they are trying to get by drugs testing. It is leading by example. Management is not asking anything of the worker that they are not willing to do themselves.

The opposite case is hypocrisy: drugs testing is good for worker bees but not bigwigs.

roller derby is not dead

2010-08-22T09:37:00.001-07:00

Went to a roller derby last night, a bout put on by the Assassination City league. Went down at Dad's Broadway Skateland in Mesquite.
Disjointed observations follow. I'll highlight keywords so you can pick and choose through the mess.

There were many interesting things to note, but the most interesting was that the bout was sold out and the place was packed. Who knew?

The second most interesting thing was the good-naturedness of the crowd, which was a Good Thing given the sardine can levels of packedness in there and BYOB policy. It had to be at Fire Marshall maximum. It was crowded enough that I made special note of where the fire exits were. And it was freaking hot. Dress very comfortably and lightly.

I think that is the highest percentage of people with tattoos that I have seen in my life, including motorcycle bars. Even the children had those applique tattoos. How to put this... the crowd was post-rockabilly, post-goth, post-hairband, neo-burlesque/pinup scenesters run through a post-911, DIY, community gardening steampunk filter. Strange folks, and good folks I think. Like a parallel universe where carnies are friendly, funny and ironic rather than disturbing and on the lam for prior indiscretions.

The PA was stupidly, painfully loud and the MC loved to hear himself talk. The music wasn't too loud, just the incessant announcing. Luckily I am a dork and carry earplugs with me everywhere I go. It paid off this time; I would have left because of ear pain if I had no plugs.

A couple more observations, these focused on the skaters.

Sometimes you see sports/games where the players pantomime sportsmanship because the formal or societal rules say you have to. At the roller derby the skaters genuinely loved what they were doing and treated each other well. Aggression, yes, but good-natured and integral to the game. It reminds me of minor leagues games where both the players and the audience are there because they love it, not because of the money or the spectacle.
I think it is healthy to see women comfortable with their physical selves. I am tired of the "you must look this way" crap hawked by Cosmo, et al, for the benefit of clothesmakers and cosmetic companies. And tired of the neuroses this encourages. The skaters play with feminine imagery and roles rather than being enslaved to them. Grrrl power, indeed.

106.7FM, la bonita

2010-08-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

It's worth a listen. Seems to be Spanish standards rather than Top 40 stuff. Definitely haven't heard any OOMP oomp OOMP oomp Tejano in there. No modern bachata or reggaeton*. I suspect it's what abuelo y abuela prefer.

My favorite is when it veers off into lounge/torch. When it's less successful it can be cheesey (though not obnoxious) pop.

Think 770AM with a sabor picante and you're getting close. It's earned a place on my radio presets.

churchmouse
* which I actually like. I was sad when the infectious danceparty KKDL/KDL at this frequency was booted.

PG digital proofreading sample

2010-08-18T08:57:00.000-07:00

Covered with snow in autumn, winter, and spring, and plentifully
spattered with snow all summer long, the vast, bare granite masses,
from which, in fact, the Rocky Mountains got their name, are beautiful beyond description.

US Govt pamphlet: Rocky Mountain National Park (1937).

A few of the projects I have worked on have made their way through the entire process and now appear on Project Gutenberg. Geeky fun.

android adventures

2010-08-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

I sold a couple of my WM smartphones on eBay to pay for a 1st-generation Android device, the original G1. Stop laughing.

Thumbnail: Android is awesome. Highly configurable/hackable. Plenty of free apps. Screen is beautiful. Awesome user community. Battery life is terrible.

On my love/hate relationship with Apple
Apple hardware is well-designed, but is not IMO suitable for power users. It's great for folks that want to do stuff but not understand how it works or venture off the official trail. I don't say this dismissively; that approach meets the needs of many people who have $ to spend. Using Apple is like wearing a great suit that gets you many compliments but you can never take off. (Exception: flashing rockbox firmware onto iPod is the best of both worlds).

I also find it annoying that good technology exists for years, then crApple* puts a slick design on it and the crowd goes wild. Then other companies knock off the crApple knock off.
Examples: smartphones, tablets, mp3 players.

iTunes is an abomination. I am pretty sure that iTunes use is a kind of litmus test for whether or not you will like The Apple Experience.

On this annoying swipe interface
Oh, Minority Report. How I hate you for those scenes with Tom Cruise manipulating/swiping/flicking data on a screen. That meme has positively infected high-end mobile devices. Arghhh. Cpu intensive, self-consciously blingy, and not terribly useful.

One of the nice things about Android is that the interface allows you to put things like nav dots on the screen to change homescreens more efficiently.

Android in general
I'm sold on Android. Good stuff. I even downloaded the SDK and look forward to compiling the 'hello, Android' app. :-P Will keep you posted. My understanding is that Android uses the Java language but not the official Sun/Java/Oracle libraries. The VM is different but I don't understand the significance of that yet.

I'd like to see less attention on bling and more on performance and battery life.

Battery
I think Android is pretty bad on Android in general. I don't think it's necessarily a function of my old G1.
Recalibrating the battery gauge may help somewhat.
Turning off unneeded services (wifi, gps, whatever) will help, as will dimming the screen backlight.
I do not pay for a data plan on my carrier so I use wifi; this probably makes matters worse.

I had gotten used to plugging in smartphones every 2 days or so to top off. Android requires a paradigm shift; if you are near a power source it is in your best interest to plug it in. A dock would be nice.

Multitasking
Android multitasks for real and does a good job of it.

Quasi-"Multitasking" on the iPhone is derided by many folks but I don't have a problem with it. Task switching plus limited background functionality is good enough for my purposes. It's basically what PalmOS did and it works fine. Should be easier on the batts, also.

Android apps and market
As of this writing the Market is populated enough with freeware that I unplugged my Treo 650 and cradle and put it away. I put the Dash phones up for auction without a moment's delay.

G1 specific
The G1 looks incredibly ugly in photos. In person it is only a bit ungainly. It is not aggressively ugly.

I don't use the trackball except in the Amon RA recovery image menus or to keep the screen active if I don't want it to time out (I use the 15sec backlight for batt purposes).

The hardware is minimal (528 MHz. 256 MB ROM, 192 MB RAM) so I needed either SD swap or compcache to run without lag. Currently using compcache.

The camera is pretty bad.

*crApple is a term used by Fab on the Linux Outlaws podcast, which was a tweak on his penchant for saying "it's crap!!!" about whatever he didn't like. Using it here for amusement rather than evaluative purposes.

lawn mower adventures

2010-08-10T08:10:00.000-07:00

I have been using a Scotts reel-type mower since we moved into this house.

Pro

Quiet! Can mow late or early without bothering anyone. Can listen to music on headphones at low levels
retro fun, simple, "good enough"
relatively cheap to buy and maintain
clean scissor-like snip, rather than blade whacking
similar to exercise!
the "green" angle is a welcome side effect.

Con

twigs will stop forward progress right now
too-tall stalks (like 8" weeds) will usually bend under the reel rather than be snipped by it. Gotta bend over and pull them or break them off short.
blade alignment takes some practice to learn

It's still my go-to mower. But I inherited a "needs help" electric lawnmower off Freecycle. The donor thought there was a problem with the motor as batts had been recently replaced.

I put it on a 24V BatteryMINDer smart charger I already owned to charge other 24v devices. The mower ran for about 2 mins. Hmmm.

I suspect a bad batt or at least uneven charging so I put each battery individually on a 12v BatteryTender which I got a garage sale in Heights for $5. Each battery charged seperately. The mower ran about 3 mins.

When I put the mower back on the BatteryMINDer this time it charged then indicated sulfation and began the desulfation cycle. This cyle ran about 2 days, reported ok again. While the batts got massaged I pulled the brushes and filed them a bit. Then the mower ran for the entire time required to mow the front yard. (I had already done the back yard with the reel). I don't know if it was due to desulfation, brushes, both, or neither. I'm betting on desulfation.

Put it back on the BatteryMINDer and it's been desulfating for 3 days. Hopefully the desulfation will help the batts limp along enough to do at least the front or back yard. I'd be ok with that.

Google voice + SIP = free phone

2010-08-08T08:16:00.000-07:00

I have been using Google Voice with great success. My google number acts as a front end to my cell, pc, and any other lines I choose to associate with it. It is massively configurable and I'm still figuring it out.

Through lucky coincidence and my geek research habits, I am one of the minority who can get the most value out of Google Voice. Google Voice + Gizmo + [sip client] is a way to get a phone number and make outbound calls, inbound calls, and SMS from your PC for free. This is the functional equivilant of getting SkypeIn/SkypeOut/SkypeSMS for free instead of paying $80+/yr for it. And I think it's a better solution than the paid Skype product. And it's much better than paying for a landline.

A friend saw my setup and wanted to duplicate it. My reply was lengthy and oversimplified to the point of inaccuracy, but it might be a springboard for your own cheap VOIP ideas.

I don't think [routing Google Voice to your PC] is directly do-able at the moment, unless one already has a Gizmo/sipphone account.

First things:
* gizmo was a particular SIP provider. SIP is the main open source VOIP protocol, and is what the mighty Asterisk PBX servers use.

So far I have used the Ekiga and Twinkle SIP clients here on my box. I bounce between them.

* you can think of SIP as similar to Skype's functionality, only open source. It's not really accurate, but will help get the head wrapped around it. You do the same kinds of things with a free SIP client as you would do with Skype, except there are no easy SIP-Skype gateways. Skype definitely has the "mindshare".

* Google bought sipphone/grandcentral/gizmo.

* gizmo registrations are suspended, but they do have a "notify me" form for when it reopens

Then:
* Google voice DOES allow setting up a SIP account as a phone
* BUT it currently only allows Gizmo accounts

Therefore:
* until Google either reopens Gizmo registrations or allows non-gizmo SIP routing "the game is locked and nobody else can play."
I think if/when Google allows non-Gizmo SIP it will be a game-changer.

Water. Weatherford not has it.

2010-08-02T17:21:00.000-07:00

Weatherford has zero water at the moment; at the time of the link above they had minimal flow. As of 6pm "all the taps in the city are dry" and "may be without water for an extended period of time."

So, how much water do you have in the house in case the normal water system is disrupted? Enough to get through a day? Two days? Three days? A useful rule of thumb is one gallon per person per day. That's enough to drink, cook, and do light hygiene like brushing teeth and doing moist cloth wipedowns until more water is available.

If you have no water preps, you can start simply and cheaply by rinsing out 2L soda bottles and storing tap water in them. Date them with a Sharpie so you know when to rotate/use/refill. Since I am a homebrewer I use brewing sanitizers to no-rinse the bottles, but that's likely overkill.

{edit s/burleson/weatherford/g}

"Opulence. I has it."

2010-08-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

Best commercial I have seen in a long time. I won't spoil the delightful ending.

Here on youtube.

vertical tomatoes

2010-07-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

I don't remember whether or not I shared this, but after a couple of years of sad garden results I finally tested the soil. pH was neutral (very near 7), phosporous ok, potassium ok. But nitrogen was so low as to be almost unmeasurable by the kit. D'oh!

I have been laying on compost this summer, and will winter the chickens over the garden later this year. Both of these should increase Nitrogen for next spring.

So I don't expect much from the garden this year. But I did want to share my experiment with vertically growing tomatoes. Here's a bit of scribble I emailed to my father about the experiment:

I think it's a promising idea; I got it from the Square Foot Gardening guy. It's basically a way of increasing density in small plots.

When/if we get any fruit I'll support those vines with additional sisal.

Theoretical benefits:

Since they are vertically planted, other/lower plants can be planted on the sun-side.

The majority of the plant is held up out of reach of ground-level bugs and standing birds. I trimmed the leaves about 1' up to minimize rot/mildew from watering.

no rot induced by fruit laying on ground

toms appear to enjoy growing vertically; not bushy/hunchbacked like when I grew them in cages. They aren't hard-tied to the verticals at all; just guided alongside the vertical with loose sisal loops.

Smartphone, again

2010-07-20T14:48:00.000-07:00

You may remember (or have suppressed) my ancient smartphone geekout.

Since then I swapped to a WM Dash I got for $4 off eBay. :-) They thought it was dead but it just had an alarm bug which I fixed and patched. The hardware is fantastic BUT:

google Tasks cannot be synced yet. Boo! Tasks are essential to my PIM life.
WM calendaring is awful on smartphones and Today screen hackery doesn't get me where I want to be. PalmOS PIM handles this nicely. Interestingly, the Calendar on the older Treo 600 is better (IMO) than that on the Treo 650. {After writing that sentence I found freeware KSDatebook, which duplicates the functionality of the old 600 calendar. Perfect. Kerbillions of useful, free apps is one reason the old PalmOS rocked. "Yeah, there's a free app for that."}

So I am using the Treo 650 at the moment. If Google ever publishes the Tasks API I might swing back to WM earlier. My old (pre-Dash) WM phones are sealed in bags in my bug out gear. They have wifi and miniUSB charge ports, which makes them more useful in emergencies IMO.

tree down

2010-07-20T11:05:00.001-07:00

Part of a tree is down in the back yard this AM. No damage at the moment. Will post more as I get it figured out.

--later--

Ok, got it largely sorted out. Redbud had some trunk rot, and half broke off. I used my small electric chainsaw to hack up everything of appropriate size in order to make working room and get the limbs under COR 7' specs.

The fall didn't destroy anything, but the remaining trunk was revealed to be hollow and dead. Called a couple of tree companies to come and estimate the rest of the removal of the 36' tree before something bad happens with the remainder of it.

great weekend!

2010-07-11T20:54:00.000-07:00

Saturday
Visited a local poultry breeder just south of Quinlan.The wife took a liking to this turkey hen:

I liked the naked neck chicken in the lower left of this pic:

Yes, they're supposed to look like that. They are heat-tolerant, good layers, and have good personalities. Dear Wife says "no, too ugly." :-( Good thing she gave me a second chance when she met me...

On the way to Quinlan I saw my first Porsche Panamerica (turbo, even) in the wild. It was interesting, not nearly the ugly beast the automotive critics have been whining about. I rather liked it.

Sorry for the indistinct pic but he was making rapid progress in the left lane. I think this was on Hwy 80.

On the way back we swung north to Greenville where I bought my first new motorcycle and first new car. The old city square appears to be dying off. :-(

Then went and visited some small towns that feed Commuinity ISD: Nevada, Josephine, Copeland. Excellent night drive, but the rain and lack of lighting made it a bit stressful when facing oncoming.

Sunday

Spent a bit of time with the chickens, who are developing into recognizable hens these days. This pic is from a day or so earlier but they didn't change much in 48hrs. :-)

This is them today enjoying a dustbath in a cool patch of dirt under the bushes:

No, they're not dead or injured. Just piled up and playing in the dirt.

water recapture for compost

2010-06-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of "you got chocolate in my peanut butter", I submit the following:

I have two AC units that both generate a good deal of water from condensation. My old central air generates about 5gal/day, vented outside via PVC pipe in the style of the 1980s when it was installed. There's also a window unit in the workshop that I keep barely turned on just to keep temps in there below 90F. It generates about 1.5gal/day.
My compost piles are quite dry. I try to remember to water them from time to time but the heat has been incredible.

So, now I put buckets under the drips and rehome the water to the compost piles. I'm putting most of it around the periphery as that seems to the be the driest part when I restack piles. I don't think I'm overwatering the piles because the heat is so bad, and because the piles are stacked in wire mesh cages. Excess water should flow out the bottom or evaporate out the side.

The stack nearest the 5gal bucket gets a little a day then I dump the rest at the base of the trees in the front yard.

first watermelon of the year

2010-06-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

Ate my first melon of the season. Ok, but not really good. Haven't had a REALLY GOOD melon in about 3yrs.

:-(

BTW, if you ever wondered if chickens like watermelon rinds:

That's the pink and white innards chowed down until the green shows.

How to coach (I mean "teach") History in Texas

2010-06-22T07:39:00.000-07:00

I run many canned searches each day. This is how it came up this morning (note: I was not searching for coaching in any way).

Teacher-Coach-Assistant Basketball-Social Studies Composite

Basketball-Social Studies Composite Location: Roosevelt HS REQUIRED CERTIFICATIONS: Social

Teacher-Coach - Social Studies Composite/Ass. Football

High School Social Studies Composite Teacher, Softball/Volle...

School Social Studies Composite Teacher, Softball...

Teacher-Coach-Social Studies-Assistant Football

Social Studies Teacher/Coach

Social Studies Composite/Asst. Football & Basketball Coach (...

Teacher-Coach-Social Studies/Asst Girls Basketball-Softball-...

Teacher-Coach-Social Studies Comp./Head Softball Coach

I bring this up so folks getting into the field will see how it works. When making life plans it's useful to have someone point out the hidden obstacles.

I will close with a quote from Bierce:

ACADEME, n. An ancient school where morality and philosophy were taught.

ACADEMY, n. [from ACADEME] A modern school where football is taught.

Not done with the DMN survey yet

2010-06-15T10:12:00.000-07:00

This one is about the survey structure itself, not the content.

I hated this survey. I actually yelled at the screen a few times while taking it. It was full of suck. Let me count the ways:

Flash is slow and unnecessary. Stop it.
Don't make us fill out 48 (4x12, not joking) panels from scratch. Use defaults from the previous page and let us fine tune them as we go.
Don't put the "stop and come back later" button in the default Submit location, particularly if you can't Back to the previous page. I had to go back to the original email invite 3x. Grrr!

Piece of crap. Piece of crap. Piece of crap.

DMN survey is not good news

2010-06-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

Looks like folks that are registered on dallasnews.com got a survey invite:

The Dallas Morning News and DallasNews.com would like to invite you to participate in a survey that will help our writers and editors learn about your opinions on digital media and the news. If you participate, you will help us provide better news and information through both traditional and new personal digital products. All answers will be treated as strictly confidential

It would be in poor taste to publish all the details, but overall the survey suggests that DMN is so freaking out of touch with the online audience that they couldn't "find their ass with both hands", as my father used to say.

Behold the lunacy:

All subscription options involved a contract of some kind. A contract. A committment. Really?
All subscription prices were based on particular subject areas (shopping, entertainment, etc) which are bought separately, at jaw dropping prices you will see next
All subscriptions per subject area were $1-$6 per month, up to a max of $20. That's up to $240/yr! Ha ha ha ha ha! Yer killin' me! hahhaha! That's a good one!

My professional opinion: someone/everyone is smoking crack at DMN.

My unsolicited advice to DMN

The cost: You might get $20/yr for all content combined out of some people. You definitely aren't going to get $20/month in your wildest, most unrealistic, incestuous/inbred boardroom strategy sessions. If you could make that $10/yr for all content folks might consider that a good deal and might do it just to support their hometown paper.[0] For $240/yr you can get low-end internet feed. THE ENTIRE INTERNET, not DMN.

Rewarding print subscribers: If there is any kind of paywall, the online content really should be free to anyone who is still has one of the dead tree edition subs.

Rewarding crowdsources: if you start a paywall, you BETTER be giving free access to your citizen contributors like Destiny and others who are doing your freaking job for free. Pay attention: if you charge us and don't give contributors access for free, then your contributors will monetize their own blogs instead and let the free market teach you a painful lesson.

The contract: Don't do that.

Sincerely,
ex-DTH subscriber
daily dallasnews.com reader

[0] regardless what they did to the DTH in the past. Bastids. v

my nonexistent pressure cooker

2010-06-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

I bought a Presto 8qt pressure cooker (model 0128204) off Amazon a couple of years ago and was looking for regulators and other parts for it. Apparently that model number is a figment of my imagination even though it is stamped in the aluminum pot. As of this writing there were three (3) google hits that positively listed that model number, and none had parts.

So I called Presto and asked about it. The rep seemed to sidestep the issue a bit, but when I asked if the listed 0128202 used the same gasket, overpressure relief and regulator she said it did. She also advised the only regulator for this unit is 15#. I would like to have a 5# and 10# for it like I do for my 22qt Mirro canner. 10# would be a bit gentler on my agar media, I suspect.

Posting this bit of trivia here so some other lost soul with a 0128204 wouldn't have to duplicate the effort.

Transition to the tractor

2010-06-12T19:48:00.001-07:00

Chickens are a month old today, and it's warmer outside than it is inside the brooder. Over the past week I put them in the tractor for increasing amounts of time, up to 8hrs. They are much bigger, and are starting to pick up chicken proportions. At this point they are bigger than pigions but a bit smaller than the giant crows I've seen this year. They'll end up around 6# or so. In the pic one of the RIRs is pecking at a piece of corncob to get the little edible bits out.

Thursday night we put them out but they were scared and cried. We picked them up around 1am and put them back in the brooder.

Friday we put them in the brooder all day and they all went to sleep around 10pm. They went upstairs to the nesting area around midnight. They peeped quietly a bit then fell asleep.

Today (Saturday) we moved the tractor a few feet to expose a fresh bit of chicken-yard interface. This evening they nested by sundown. I left them a little 25w "nightlight" to calm them. They need it less and less but I want the transition to outdoor life to be as easy as possible.

They roost a bit but end up sleeping on flat surfaces. At some point they will start to roost more as we used the recommended 2" width, sanded the edges to make them comfy, and made them a bit higher than the nesting area.

scope of war

2010-06-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

"There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket."

Attributed to General Smedley Butler, USMC

What some call isolationism, others call tending one's own garden first.

teaching, tilting at windmills

2010-06-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

Introspection and explanation.

It's been a year and a half since I left a corporate/technical job to pursue teaching. My timing turned out to be quite bad; the economy immediately tanked and the teaching market constricted mightily. School districts like Richardson have quit accepting applications altogether from alternative certification folks like me unless one is in a high needs area (Math, Science). I'm not. And I can't get into a high needs area without getting a certificate in my non-high needs area first. This in spite of recent findings that there is no particular edge that traditional hires bring to the table.

I promise this isn't a whine or a complaint. My mood is one of acceptance and reality. A new alt cert applicant asked me the other day if the job market was depressing or scary. "No," I replied, "depressing and scary was about a year ago." I should point out that she asked me this during a 30-hr block of Saturday classes I'm having to retake for TEA because I didn't get the internship before the 18-month limit timed out. And I wasn't the only one like that in the classroom.

I tell you that to tell you this: I just filled out my first application for a non-teaching job. The market may pick up soon but subbing doesn't pay enough to keep me from burning through my resources: savings, checking, retirement, eBay/craiglist-able nonessentials and credit line. Subbing every single day (no days off, no cancellations, fully booked) yields a max of about $16k/yr. I figured I'd sub until I got a teaching job or ran out of resources, whichever came first.

If I do not get a teaching job for the Fall it's safe to say it's over. Neither the mortgage holder nor student loan officer will accept good intentions or dreams in lieu of cash, and I don't blame them. I gave the public school system first right of refusal and they exercised it. Fair enough. But I do feel a tiny bit like a fellow who had his proposal turned down on the jumbotron at the ballpark, or a volunteer the Peace Corps wouldn't accept.

I continue to email, hobnob, apply to ISD websites, look at 40+ ISD/charter/private school job listing pages each day but it appears the die has been cast. I'll keep trying to get a teaching position right up to the point I get hired to do something else.

Edited to add: even if I get a non-teaching job I'll continue to teach on my own time and my own dime. It's a vocation, and finds its way to the surface like St Francis preaching to the birds. Maybe I'll teach the chickens in the backyard.

Anyone getting grounds from Starbucks?

2010-06-08T05:13:00.000-07:00

Apparently some Starbucks locations will give away used coffee grounds for composters.

Anyone tried this at Richardson locations? I generate my own coffee grounds each day :-) but it might be useful for others.

Seriously? Graham cracker looting?

2010-06-07T12:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, that appears to be the case.

If we are willing to commit theft on so petty a scale I am pretty sure Dallas would look like a 3rd-world postapocalyptic madhouse if any major disasters occurred here. Plan accordingly.

A more strident Libertarian than myself would use this opportunity to reflect on how nanny state paternalism encourages the devolution of character.

"Do not sell your honor so cheaply."

the Archers

2010-05-31T07:46:00.001-07:00

The Archers (BBC) is radio's longest-running serial of all time.

Although I have a fondness for (and massive collection of) Old Time Radio shows I had shunned serials thinking all were the quality of TV soap operas.

The Archers is topical, well-written and -acted, and each daily episode is about 10mins long. It's delightful and available as a podcast at the link above. I've been listening for about a year.

Here's an intro for newbs.

First video of chicks

2010-05-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

Chicks in the tractor for a visit. My first attempt to crudely edit video, so don't laugh. Or at least don't point.

WWI poster: "Uncle Sam Expects You To Keep Hens and Raise Chickens"

2010-05-29T18:46:00.000-07:00

Uncle Sam Expects You To Keep Hens and Raise Chickens

Two Hens in the Back Yard for Each Person in the House Will Keep a Family In Fresh Eggs.

EVEN the smallest back yard has room for a flock large enough to supply the house with eggs. The cost of maintaining such a flock is small. Table and kitchen waste provide much of the feed for the hens. They require little attention — only a few minutes a day.

An interested child, old enough to take a little responsibility, can care for a few fowls as well as a grown person.

Every back yard in the United States should contribute its share to a bumper crop of poultry and eggs in 1918.

In Time of Peace a Profitable Recreation
In Time of War a Patriotic Duty.

For information about methods of back-yard Poultry Keeping suited to your location write your state agricultural college or United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.

Two weeks with the chickens

2010-05-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

Guess whut? Chicken butt. (over there in the pic). First day out on a short, enclosed foraging expedition. Peck, scratch, run.

The birds are larger and starting to get feathers on their neck and back.

They scratch in the shredded paper bedding and try to take "dust baths" in it.

Painted the tractor

2010-05-24T14:23:00.000-07:00

Sunday: Got the two hinged doors on the nesting end (egg access and food/water access doors). Painted white.

Installed a primitive roost a few inches higher than the nesting area; my understanding is that is what they like.

Monday: got most of the chicken wire up; the end you see here in the pics is still un-covered (pic was after painting but before chicken wire).