For some reason I was thinking about the new features on my new car vs. the old car, this morning while on my early morning dog walk. It isn't like there was any reason for it, that is just how my (intersting, strange) brain works.
New: electric windows - advantages can control all the windows (even the back ones since now there are usually no kids in the back) from the driver's seat. dis: I always forget to open them when we are parked when one of is still in the car; not good if in an accident and need to get out of the car.
Old: manual windows - adv : can operate them when car is off, easy to get out of the car if in an accident; dis: need to get others to open other windows when moving.
New: key nob (electric locks)- adv : can unlock remotely, don't need to put key in ignition, neat feature that just be close to door with nob in pocket or bag can open driver's door; dis: when in parked all doors are unlocked (can actually change this feature but it is also convenient most times) could be an attacker problem, also sometimes forget to lock it.
Old : key - had more keys, doors stay locked until opened.
New : smaller easier to park / drive but smaller.
Old: minivan - so more room.
New: better mileage.
Old: easier for others to see, higher seats gave better view.
So like most things in life, nothing is perfect and there are compromises!
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Back to Politics
Even though the temps are still up, I found some intersting (back to the big C so the iPad correction isn't in) articles (to me).
The Health and Human Services Department “was given a billion dollars implementation money,” Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg of Montana said. “That money is gone already on additional bureaucrats and IT programs, computerization for the implementation.”
“Oh boy,” Stan Dorn of the Urban Institute said. “HHS has a huge amount of work to do and the states do, too. There will be new health insurance marketplaces in every state in the country, places you can go online, compare health plans.”
The IRS, Health and Human Services and many other agencies will now write thousands of pages of regulations — an effort well under way:
“There’s already 13,000 pages of regulations, and they’re not even done yet,” Rehberg said.
“It’s a delegation of extensive authority from Congress to the Department of Health and Human Services and a lot of boards and commissions and bureaus throughout the bureaucracy,” Matt Spalding of the Heritage Foundation said. “We counted about 180 or so.”
There has been much focus on the mandate that all Americans obtain health insurance, but analysts say that’s just a small part of the law — covering only a few pages out of the law’s 2700.
“The fact of the matter is the mandate is about two percent of the whole piece of the legislation,” Spalding said. “It’s a minor part.”
Much bigger than the mandate itself are the insurance exchanges that will administer $681 billion in subsidies over 10 years, which will require a lot of new federal workers at the IRS and health department. (http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/07/lawyers-have-already-drafted-13000-pages-of-regulations-for-new-obamatax-law/)
It is bad enough to pass a bill "that we need to pass it to see what is in it", but to leave most of the work to government bureaucrats to actually write the implementation is unconscionable!
******
Much like Solyndra LLC, a California solar-panel manufacturer with a $535 million federal loan guarantee that went bankrupt, Nevada Geothermal Power (NGP) has incurred $98 million in net losses over the past several years, has substantial debts and does not generate enough cash from its current operations after debt-service costs, an internal audit said.(http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/4/lights-go-dim-on-another-energy-project/)
Alternative energy sounds great but it is still unproven and a waste of our money so far!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Rain, rain go away, come back another day!
Rain, rain go away, come back another day!
Well it is another day! We actually got about 15 seconds of rain today, enough to wet the street but not our sidewalk. We have not had rain for what seems like months. I was talking to someone at the Y and he said that a few miles away from us had over 3 inches of rain over the weekend, but of course except for the few seconds of rain ( which I would have missed if I wasn't watching the radar on the tablet and checked outside that the road was "wet") we just got we have had none.
I guess we are lucky that we are not like the east with loss of power, etc., and we don't have as many mosquitoes as we usually do.
I have been able to bike early to the Y twice this week. It has been too hot to bike in the morning or afternoon. But today I was only able to swim 22 laps, actually, I could have done more, but I was unusually tired at that time so I decided to just take a nice long shower and bicycle home using low gears so I wouldn't get too sweaty.
As you can tell, I lead rather boring life ( though it does suit me).
If it ever cools down I can start ranting again about politics.
Well it is another day! We actually got about 15 seconds of rain today, enough to wet the street but not our sidewalk. We have not had rain for what seems like months. I was talking to someone at the Y and he said that a few miles away from us had over 3 inches of rain over the weekend, but of course except for the few seconds of rain ( which I would have missed if I wasn't watching the radar on the tablet and checked outside that the road was "wet") we just got we have had none.
I guess we are lucky that we are not like the east with loss of power, etc., and we don't have as many mosquitoes as we usually do.
I have been able to bike early to the Y twice this week. It has been too hot to bike in the morning or afternoon. But today I was only able to swim 22 laps, actually, I could have done more, but I was unusually tired at that time so I decided to just take a nice long shower and bicycle home using low gears so I wouldn't get too sweaty.
As you can tell, I lead rather boring life ( though it does suit me).
If it ever cools down I can start ranting again about politics.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Energy Sapping
I sure whine a lot about the weather! It is hot again today. I don't feel like doing anything.
Here are the weather advisories via weather channel:
Lake Heat Advisory in effect until 11PM EDT FRI/10PM CDT FRI HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT /11 PM EDT/ FRIDAY TEMPERATURES HIGHS TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY WILL LIKELY TOP OUT BETWEEN 97 AND 103. HEAT INDICES AFTERNOON HEAT INDICES WILL GENERALLY BE IN THE 105 TO 110 DEGREE RANGE EACH AFTERNOON. A FEW LOCATIONS MAY PEAK OUT AT 115. OTHER AN AIR QUALITY ALERT HAS BEEN DECLARED BY THE ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY FOR TODAY AND THURSDAY FOR NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND FAR NORTHWEST INDIANA. EXPOSURE TO ELEVATED OZONE AND PARTICULATE LEVELS WILL ONLY SERVE TO INCREASE STRESSES ON THE BODY ESPECIALLY FOR THE VERY YOUNG AND VERY ELDERLY AS WELL AS PEOPLE WITH PULMONARY OR RESPIRATORY DISEASE. ANYONE IN THESE GROUPS SHOULD LIMIT EXPOSURE TO OUTDOOR AIR. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTIONS IF YOU WORK OR SPEND TIME OUTSIDE. WHEN POSSIBLE RESCHEDULE STRENUOUS ACTIVITIES TO EARLY MORNING OR EVENING. KNOW THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF HEAT EXHAUSTION AND HEAT STROKE. WEAR LIGHT WEIGHT AND LOOSE FITTING CLOTHING WHEN POSSIBLE AND DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. TO REDUCE RISK DURING OUTDOOR WORK THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDS SCHEDULING FREQUENT REST BREAKS IN SHADED OR AIR CONDITIONED ENVIRONMENTS. ANYONE OVERCOME BY HEAT SHOULD BE MOVED TO A COOL AND SHADED LOCATION. HEAT STROKE IS AN EMERGENCY CALL 9 1 1. A HEAT ADVISORY MEANS THAT A PERIOD OF HOT WEATHER IS EXPECTED. HIGH TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS STAY IN AN AIR-CONDITIONED ROOM STAY OUT OF THE SUN AND CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS. CHILDREN AND PETS SHOULD NEVER BE LEFT UNATTENDED IN VEHICLES UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE DURING HOT WEATHER WHEN THE CAR INTERIOR CAN REACH LETHAL TEMPERATURES IN A MATTER OF MINUTES!
I really like the tablets, you don't have to wait for the computer to start up, just unlock and go. You can do almost everything on it that you can do the big C. I need to figure out how to get pictures from the tablet to blogger and Facebook yet without going thru the big C.
When we went to New Haven for the AUSS convention we took the tablets, which were much lighter and more convenient. It allowed us to both use the Internet at the same while waiting in the airport ( I think it is great that the airports have Internet access, those 2 hour waits can go faster with the Internet ) or when we were in the room.
One disadvantage when I have the tablet next to my belly, is that sometimes it ( my belly) causes letters or spaces to be typed; this happened when I was trying to bold a large section of this blog and the blogger is so quick to save that I had to retype it.
But in general I am very glad that we have the tablets! Plus they have a 10 hour battery life much longer than our laptop.
One interesting thing is that I can't get chrome to show the preview, I have to use safari!
Here are the weather advisories via weather channel:
Lake Heat Advisory in effect until 11PM EDT FRI/10PM CDT FRI HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT /11 PM EDT/ FRIDAY TEMPERATURES HIGHS TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY WILL LIKELY TOP OUT BETWEEN 97 AND 103. HEAT INDICES AFTERNOON HEAT INDICES WILL GENERALLY BE IN THE 105 TO 110 DEGREE RANGE EACH AFTERNOON. A FEW LOCATIONS MAY PEAK OUT AT 115. OTHER AN AIR QUALITY ALERT HAS BEEN DECLARED BY THE ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY FOR TODAY AND THURSDAY FOR NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND FAR NORTHWEST INDIANA. EXPOSURE TO ELEVATED OZONE AND PARTICULATE LEVELS WILL ONLY SERVE TO INCREASE STRESSES ON THE BODY ESPECIALLY FOR THE VERY YOUNG AND VERY ELDERLY AS WELL AS PEOPLE WITH PULMONARY OR RESPIRATORY DISEASE. ANYONE IN THESE GROUPS SHOULD LIMIT EXPOSURE TO OUTDOOR AIR. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTIONS IF YOU WORK OR SPEND TIME OUTSIDE. WHEN POSSIBLE RESCHEDULE STRENUOUS ACTIVITIES TO EARLY MORNING OR EVENING. KNOW THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF HEAT EXHAUSTION AND HEAT STROKE. WEAR LIGHT WEIGHT AND LOOSE FITTING CLOTHING WHEN POSSIBLE AND DRINK PLENTY OF WATER. TO REDUCE RISK DURING OUTDOOR WORK THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION RECOMMENDS SCHEDULING FREQUENT REST BREAKS IN SHADED OR AIR CONDITIONED ENVIRONMENTS. ANYONE OVERCOME BY HEAT SHOULD BE MOVED TO A COOL AND SHADED LOCATION. HEAT STROKE IS AN EMERGENCY CALL 9 1 1. A HEAT ADVISORY MEANS THAT A PERIOD OF HOT WEATHER IS EXPECTED. HIGH TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE POSSIBLE. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS STAY IN AN AIR-CONDITIONED ROOM STAY OUT OF THE SUN AND CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS. CHILDREN AND PETS SHOULD NEVER BE LEFT UNATTENDED IN VEHICLES UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE DURING HOT WEATHER WHEN THE CAR INTERIOR CAN REACH LETHAL TEMPERATURES IN A MATTER OF MINUTES!
I really like the tablets, you don't have to wait for the computer to start up, just unlock and go. You can do almost everything on it that you can do the big C. I need to figure out how to get pictures from the tablet to blogger and Facebook yet without going thru the big C.
When we went to New Haven for the AUSS convention we took the tablets, which were much lighter and more convenient. It allowed us to both use the Internet at the same while waiting in the airport ( I think it is great that the airports have Internet access, those 2 hour waits can go faster with the Internet ) or when we were in the room.
One disadvantage when I have the tablet next to my belly, is that sometimes it ( my belly) causes letters or spaces to be typed; this happened when I was trying to bold a large section of this blog and the blogger is so quick to save that I had to retype it.
But in general I am very glad that we have the tablets! Plus they have a 10 hour battery life much longer than our laptop.
One interesting thing is that I can't get chrome to show the preview, I have to use safari!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
More Hot
When the outside temperature gets below the inside temp, we open the windows and turn on a fan to try to get the hot air out. So we look at our weather station ( actually just the out and in temps) to determine if it is time to open windows. Usually this after 6, but today at 0602 the inside temp is 86 F and the outside is 12 degrees hotter. So obviously, it is not time to open windows.
This year has been extremely hot, normally we get only a few hot days in the year, so A/C is not a necessary. But we certainly thinking of a portable A/C this year.
Last year we bought some Fly Paper ( you know curly sticky paper that you hang up and the flying insects get caught) and it really works. It has an advantage of not having pesticides or having to spray stuff. The only problem is that it is very sticky putting it up.
I just inadvertently pushed the publish button instead of the preview button. Sorry for doing that but I need to go.
This year has been extremely hot, normally we get only a few hot days in the year, so A/C is not a necessary. But we certainly thinking of a portable A/C this year.
Last year we bought some Fly Paper ( you know curly sticky paper that you hang up and the flying insects get caught) and it really works. It has an advantage of not having pesticides or having to spray stuff. The only problem is that it is very sticky putting it up.
I just inadvertently pushed the publish button instead of the preview button. Sorry for doing that but I need to go.
Photos of AUSS time
My LW talking to follow Chorus members in the lobby of the hotel.
More from the Yale walk.
My LW in our room.
Hot Day
My dog and I are sitting outside in the shade. I'm too far from the house to get connected with our WiFi. You have to be right next to it to see the signal.
He enjoys sitting outside in the shade because the wind makes it feel cooler then it really is. For some reason I caused the keyboard to split (on the iPad you can split the keyboard, I guess to make it easier for competent typists to be more efficient, not that it helps me because the size is smaller and I am not a good typist) but I was able to get it back. I took a picture of him at the top.
( I just tried mindlessly to use a browser to see if I could add a photo from the iPad to a blog entry, remember the beginning?)
Actually I found some grass I could cut in the backyard it is over the septic tank so it must be getting water from that, but it is too hot to cut it. See the green sections of yard, they are long "grass" ( many people call them weeds, but we like to be more positive then most people!)
Time to go in and get the dog some water!
Monday, July 2, 2012
More Boring
Well we made it back and are now waiting for our car at the Toyota dealer. It is the 6000 mile checkup, we have about 2600 miles, but fortunately it also is a 6 month checkup. They have free WiFi but it is not very good, coming in and out, so I decided to add to the boring blog entries!
The dog survived with our nice neighbor watching him! We got home around 2200 and basically fell into bed. I actually slept better in our bad bed then in the wonderful hotel bed!
I think the next trip will be to CO to visit the CO Shepards. We have to workout the details. It will be a driving trip so no airport problems.
I was expecting to have to cut the grass when we got home, but we have still not had any rain so the "grass" is just brown and not growing. Actually the weeds in the driveway are getting long but I don't think it is worth while cutting alone. My poor neighbors having such a lazy bum around them.
It is very hot and my poor dog is panting and not very happy. I suspect he was glad to see that we came back from the car maintenance ( it was nice the Toyota's comes with 2 years of free maintenance, which I think was a result of all the Prius brake problems a couple of years ago so it was free, the next service will be in another 6 months the 12000 checkup)and did not leave him for almost a week again!
The dog survived with our nice neighbor watching him! We got home around 2200 and basically fell into bed. I actually slept better in our bad bed then in the wonderful hotel bed!
I think the next trip will be to CO to visit the CO Shepards. We have to workout the details. It will be a driving trip so no airport problems.
I was expecting to have to cut the grass when we got home, but we have still not had any rain so the "grass" is just brown and not growing. Actually the weeds in the driveway are getting long but I don't think it is worth while cutting alone. My poor neighbors having such a lazy bum around them.
It is very hot and my poor dog is panting and not very happy. I suspect he was glad to see that we came back from the car maintenance ( it was nice the Toyota's comes with 2 years of free maintenance, which I think was a result of all the Prius brake problems a couple of years ago so it was free, the next service will be in another 6 months the 12000 checkup)and did not leave him for almost a week again!
Travel Fun
Presently we are umpteen thousand feet in the air! We are on our way to O'hare field in a US Air plane with about an hour to go till we are there ( of course when you are reading this I'm probably, I hope, at home since I can't upload this until then being cheap and only having WiFi on my iPad and not paying to use WiFi in the plane).
We got up late and lounged around the hotel room and desperately trying to get all of our stuff into the bag to be checked into the plane. On the trip out to New Haven, we were able to get all of our stuff into one checked bag and the two each carry on bags thereby saving $25 which it would have cost for the second bag ( have I mentioned how cheap I am?).
At 1300 NH time, one of our group had arranged for 7 taxis to be at the hotel for our group for the trip to the airport. The hotel people called out that the taxis were there, one of our group called out to me that I was to make sure that they waited for him and his wife because she had gone to the restroom. So I went out and resisted the urge to grab a taxi even though urged by some people. Of course, the people I was waiting for came out and got the last taxi leaving us and another Person to wait. But soon after, another taxi came and we got to Tweed Airport. We got to the airport in plenty of time, as a matter of fact, we got there before the airline people and to wait a while to check in.
(This sure seems pretty boring, I hope you are still awake, not that it is going to get more interesting any time soon.)
We had a great time singing and the hotel was nice, not having to clean it ourselves. The hotel had a loyalty program that got us free WiFi ( have I mentioned I like free things?) and a choice of juice, or coffee ( I don't drink coffee) or tea, so usually we had just juice. They gave the option of in room service or knock at the door and leave it outside ( the option we picked) plus they had various 15 minutes intervals in which to have it bought ( like 0615-0630). It was very nice plus there is a drawing for a new ( latest) iPad which I'm sure we will win, I mean out of umpteen thousand or million entries our chances of winning are tremendous!
Hopefully for the next couple of conventions we should be able to drive. I am not a very good flyer and I prefer to be on my own schedule. They will be in Minneapolis and then the Chicago area. I don't like going through security at airports, I always feel guilty even though I'm not. Plus I always get flustered when I have to take off my shoes and all my stuff in the little trays. Plus I seem to always forget something in the trays. Well time sure goes fast when writing a boring blog entry. We are getting ready to land!
We got up late and lounged around the hotel room and desperately trying to get all of our stuff into the bag to be checked into the plane. On the trip out to New Haven, we were able to get all of our stuff into one checked bag and the two each carry on bags thereby saving $25 which it would have cost for the second bag ( have I mentioned how cheap I am?).
At 1300 NH time, one of our group had arranged for 7 taxis to be at the hotel for our group for the trip to the airport. The hotel people called out that the taxis were there, one of our group called out to me that I was to make sure that they waited for him and his wife because she had gone to the restroom. So I went out and resisted the urge to grab a taxi even though urged by some people. Of course, the people I was waiting for came out and got the last taxi leaving us and another Person to wait. But soon after, another taxi came and we got to Tweed Airport. We got to the airport in plenty of time, as a matter of fact, we got there before the airline people and to wait a while to check in.
(This sure seems pretty boring, I hope you are still awake, not that it is going to get more interesting any time soon.)
We had a great time singing and the hotel was nice, not having to clean it ourselves. The hotel had a loyalty program that got us free WiFi ( have I mentioned I like free things?) and a choice of juice, or coffee ( I don't drink coffee) or tea, so usually we had just juice. They gave the option of in room service or knock at the door and leave it outside ( the option we picked) plus they had various 15 minutes intervals in which to have it bought ( like 0615-0630). It was very nice plus there is a drawing for a new ( latest) iPad which I'm sure we will win, I mean out of umpteen thousand or million entries our chances of winning are tremendous!
Hopefully for the next couple of conventions we should be able to drive. I am not a very good flyer and I prefer to be on my own schedule. They will be in Minneapolis and then the Chicago area. I don't like going through security at airports, I always feel guilty even though I'm not. Plus I always get flustered when I have to take off my shoes and all my stuff in the little trays. Plus I seem to always forget something in the trays. Well time sure goes fast when writing a boring blog entry. We are getting ready to land!
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