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June 28, 2009
The Little Joys Of Home Ownership
The exhaust fan in the master bathroom died yesterday. I pulled it apart and confirmed that it's bearings are shot after 20-odd years. The enclosure (light+fan) were made by Aubrey, since bought by Braun/NuTone. The motor itself was made by Uppco (since bought by A.O. Smith).
A stop at Home Depot last night revealed they don't stock parts (let alone parts that old) - and a new enclosure means drywall work (blech). A bunch of googling this morning (and another trip to Home Depot) suggests that I need this motor, but with a longer pig-tail.
Both HD Supply and Grainger are local (Kent and Tukwilla, respectively) and claim to stock the item, but both are only opened M-F.
For the moment, I've stolen the fan from the matching enclosure in another bathroom, which gives me 'till my folks arrive in a couple of weeks to get it sorted.
Posted by dberger at 12:02 PM
June 26, 2009
Further Thoughts On The Year of Living Biblically
When I started the introduction to The Year of Living Biblically, I thought I recognized the author's starting point (a skeptical-sounding agnostic Jew, raised in a not-particularly-observant household) and was pretty sure I knew where the book would end up going.
Specifically, I figured I was signing up for a longer, and more carefully constructed, Letter to Dr. Laura. In other words, a farce - pointing out that it was impossible to live the bible literally, as it's language is ambiguous and often self-contradictory.
I was mostly wrong.
Continue reading "Further Thoughts On The Year of Living Biblically"
Posted by dberger at 8:24 PM | Comments (1)
June 24, 2009
Everyone Rises To Their Own Level of Hypocrisy
On Dawnise's recommendation, and 'cause it grabbed my attention at the local library just before our recent trip to SF, I read A.J. Jacob's The Year of Living Biblically. I'm sure I have more to say about it than "it was good," but sitting here, mulling it over, I'm not sure exactly what that would be yet.
So I guess all I can offer at the moment is that it gave me pause - and made me think - which is more than I expected when I sat down to read it.
Posted by dberger at 9:18 PM
June 20, 2009
They're Nothing if not Persistent
After a 9 month lull in the fighting, the battle for the basement was rejoined today. I went in search of some oil, and found two very dead rats in two of the four traps (at opposite ends of the basement, no less). The other two traps had been stripped of bait without being sprung, and there's other signs of recent activity.
So I removed the carcasses, re-armed the remaining traps, and made a mental note to pick up a few more while we're out tomorrow.
Rats...
Posted by dberger at 8:24 PM
My Bike is Getting Old...
My Trophy is 10 years old this year - and it's starting to be expensive.
Continue reading "My Bike is Getting Old..."
Posted by dberger at 12:19 PM
June 18, 2009
Cognitive Dissonance
"an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously."
The 3.0 release of the iphone software was released to much fan-boy-fanfare yesterday (never mind that it "adds" features - like cut-and-paste, and search - that most other smart phones have had since release).
Dawnise has a 1st gen iPhone that I assembled out of two dead ones - one with water damage, and one with a shattered screen. It's been jailbroken and software unlocked to work on T-Mobile's network.
Continue reading "Cognitive Dissonance"
Posted by dberger at 8:48 AM
June 16, 2009
How Would You Spend Two Weeks in the UK?
I've been to the UK once, a loonng time ago (like c. 1994, I think). I was in Stockport on business, and managed to swing a weekend in London with my colleague. Dawnise has never been.
We're thinking of taking our first "real" vacation since our trip down under toward the end of this year, and the top contender is a couple weeks in the UK.
Aside from several days in London (a weekend is too short, trust me), where would you go?
Note: feel free to post responses on Facebook or directly on my blog, but know that if you post a response on Live Journal, I'll probably never see it - 'cause they still don't seem to have a way to email me when people post comments...
Posted by dberger at 8:23 PM | Comments (1)
Score One for the iPhone
While in SF, Dawnise had her iphone, and I had my blackberry.
Her phone wins, almost hands down. The browser is way more functional, Google maps easier to navigate, and ibart sealed the deal.
My blackberry was sufficient for email, and the lack of push notification to the iphone was still hellishly annoying, but once the new firmware is released, and jailbroken, and carrier unlocked, I'm hopeful that annoyance will vanish.
Now if only someone would write a rules-based email alert app (wake me up when messages matching a specific pattern arrive), it might be able to replace my blackberry.
Posted by dberger at 9:06 AM | Comments (1)
June 15, 2009
What Have I Done?
Newegg had an indoor digital/hdtv antenna for $20 after rebate, free shipping. So in a moment of insanity, I ordered one.
It arrived while we were in SF, and I hooked it up tonight long enough to prove that it works, and that we get several channels, a couple of which are even in HD.
And then I unplugged it and put it back in the box.
I feel dirty.
Posted by dberger at 10:01 PM
The City By The Bay
Despite WWDC being underwhelming, Dawnise and I had an awesome trip to SF.
Continue reading "The City By The Bay"
Posted by dberger at 9:14 AM
The World as a Stage
Just before leaving for San Francisco, I stopped at the library so Dawnise could pick up some books that she had on hold, and while perusing the "new and interesting" shelf ended up picking up Shakespeare: The World as Stage mostly 'cause it was by Bill Bryson.
Continue reading "The World as a Stage"
Posted by dberger at 8:48 AM
June 9, 2009
Spending Money on Vehicles
While giving the Trophy it's first pre-ride check after the winter, I noticed some fork oil where it shouldn't have been (which is to say, anywhere other than in the forks), and a bit of coolant on the engine block. I consulted the service manual, and decided that rebuilding the forks was more than I wanted to get into - which left me with a problem - the authorized Triumph shop 'round here isn't my favorite, and I wasn't sure where else to take it...
Continue reading "Spending Money on Vehicles"
Posted by dberger at 12:22 PM
June 8, 2009
Nothing Like Last Minute...
I'm off to SF tomorrow for a conference (yes, that conference), and due to a long-unnoticed snafu, didn't actually have a flight down 'till Friday. (SF->SEA != SEA->SF).
Continue reading "Nothing Like Last Minute..."
Posted by dberger at 6:35 PM
June 2, 2009
Ahh Choo!
Allergies are kicking my arse this spring. Last year was good - very mild (probably 'cause we never really had a spring, went straight from winter to June-uary) but this year, it's all about the itchy eyes and sneezing.
Blech.
Posted by dberger at 11:03 AM