Guns In National Parks, zomg, VOTE!

Now that the rule change is made and the carry laws of the State within which a National Park is located apply inside the park, Yahoo is running a poll: "Should some people be allowed to carry loaded, concealed weapons in National Parks?" Running about 60/40 in favor. Go vote and make sure the message gets across: It's okay. Law-abiding gun-owners aren't the problem.

(Update: not getting the link to work. Please stand by!) Link works!

Update, updated: here's an MSNBC poll you can get to, about 6.5% against.

The Money Pit

(Funny movie, though somehow not as funny now that I own a house).

0430, Friday: Suddenly, I'm awake and I don't know why. Warm under the electric blanket but the air seems even nippier than usual -- we keep the house at 68 to 65, natural gas being expensive. Something does not smell right and that's not a metaphor. I lay there, listening for...I don't know what

Comes a tapping on my door. It's Tam. "Are you awake? Something smells funny and I think it's coming from the heat vents."

Oh, goldfish.[1] The blower motor already shut down once last summer after running for two days; the low-bid guys the home warranty company sent knew it was unhappy but it did run once it cooled down and they couldn't replace it unless it was actually belly-up. Could it have died for good? "Probably is. Let's have a look-see." I get up, find my sandals, put on a robe and we check the house. No visible flames. No hot spots in the walls. Attic and basement okay.

About then, the furnace starts up and the blower goes through a longer, louder run-up than usual, runs a few minutes, stops and I hear the burners and draft fan still running. Then the motor buzzes and bumbles and restarts, runs a few minutes longer and the furnace cycles off normally.

Not. Good. The hot-wires smell (actually hot phenolic and motor-winding varnish, but who's checking such details?) got stronger while the furnace ran, too. I set the thermostat to OFF, went back to the basement, felt around the furnace for excessive heat (nope) and popped the covers. Motor/blower assembly is at the bottom, on the intake side,[2] and the blower is hot to the cautious touch.

Rang up my preferred HVAC firm -- they've never tried to BS me and only charge for what they do, unlike the lads the previous homeowner hired, from whom I have a receipt for "changing" a nasty permanent (so-called) filter noticed on the per-sale inspection and which I found they, in fact, did not touch -- and their service allowed as how they would call me at 0700. So I made breakfast and rigged the house to do without heat for a few hours -- tuned on most of the lights, simmered a large covered kettle of water on the range with the recirculating fan going, and set up a heating pad in a couple of layers of towels for Tam's cat. The computer room, home to the gears-and-vacuum-tube monstrosity that "The Adventures..." runs on as well as the slick, silent, modern mil-spec devices comprising VFTP Command Central, stayed plenty warm and my cats consider it to be their room, so that was okay.

I got ready for work and when 0730 (or was it 8?) had come and fled, called the HVAC fixers, to learn we'd not see them until well after the time I had to be at work -- so I left Tam with a blank check and strict instructions to not flee the country with the furnace man, no matter how good he made it sound. Oddly enough, they did not, and by not so very much later, I'd spent most of my budgeted Christmas money without trying (or even being there) and Roseholme Cottage was reported to be toasty warm. (My definition of "toasty" may differ from yours -- then again, I spent one Indianapolis winter in a house with no heat, it being a double with a shared furnace and a neighbor who couldn't pay her half of the gas bill and I could barely manage mine. 65 is warm).

It usually is always something but this one was, at least, resolved in jig time. Not freezing is worth quite a lot to me, really.

______________________

1. As in, "carp." Knowing how readily I type letters out of order, the rest is left as an exercise for the reader.

2. "Where they all are," you mutter, but you're wrong -- the double I sort of owned in Collegetown had huge, old round coal furnaces with scary gas conversions, burner rings almost a yard across with a pilot in the middle (Hisssssssssssssssssssssssssss... WHOMP! when they lit). My side had a 50's-vintage Sears add-on blower in the cold-air return but the other side had been "upgraded" in the late 1930s, with a huge horizontal squirrel-cage blower stuffed in the top of the furnace where all the hot-air ductwork exited and a "historical" electric motor hung in a fancy spring mount on the outside, driving the fan wheel with a set of pulleys (about 5" on the motor to 30" on the blower) and a fully-exposed belt. The whole thing flexed and wobbled every time it started and there was one -- 1 -- HVAC repairman in town who would so much as look at it when it acted up; even so, he tended to shake his head, say, "It's a wonder this thing hasn't..." and give low, wondering whistles quite a lot. That place was also my first exposure to tube-and-knob electrical wiring. And lead-and-oakum joints in the drains. And-- well, you get the picture. But it had the second-biggest bathtub of any place I've lived, which made up for quite a lot.

December BlogMeet

It's on!

(Shermlock has some very fine December BlogMeet artwork of his own, which I'll be happy to use once he has applied the date and location).

I learned It From You, Teach

In a news story earlier this week about a one percent (1%) decline in Language Skill scores of students taking Indiana's ISTEP tests, a local school official said, "It's disappointing but not statistically significant."

     No, by golly, a thousand times no, it must be one or the other.  It can't be both.  Either it's a meaningless fluctuation, or it is a trend you are sorry to see.  You cannot have it both ways.

     ...His statement reflects the sort of thinking one might expect a highly trained educator to recognize and avoid -- unless, that is, his language skills are deficient.  H'mm.  I do believe I'm starting to see a connection here, Watson.

Mom Said What

Sitting watching a program on Teh Toob about nifty declassified projects at DARPA, as the motherly-looking but nevertheless extremely mil-spec tough director of a group final-testing a remotely-piloted helicopter appeared on-screen, Tam commented, "Hoo-ah!"

RX: "Oh, yeah, 'My Mom can beat up your Mom!'"

Tam: "That's what your Mom said! ..."

RX: "Hah! --Doesn't always work, does it?"

Tam: "That's what your Mom said!"

RX: "Ow."

RX and Tam: (Helpless laughter)

Juggling Dynamite

If I understood what the ijit picture box was blathering about this morning as I floated to the surface of wakefulness like a squirrel in a gutter during a downpour,* there is talk in Congress of moratorium on payroll taxes.

     Oh, yeah, baby!  Go for it.  Let us plebes get a real-world taste of how much we'd get without the Federal parasite on our backs, then return to extortion-as-usual -- and see how many more citizens start wonderin' if payin' y'all to meddle in our lives is a wise idea.  

     Could be interesting.

________________

* Dazed, annoyed and chittering. 

December Indy BlogMeet

Help me pick the best date and location:

     14 December?  21?  28???  Broad Ripple?  --We'll want to avoid the superbusy shopping areas this month, I think.

     Let me know what'll work for you.  Me, I can usually manage a Sunday afternoon.

Conversations In A Starship

So, awhile ago coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade arrived via the shiny new ansible and they played it on comms monitors all over the starship. During a break in the wire-removing/rerouting festivities, I remarked that the parade "...looked like a toothless version of my friend Tam's dream of a twenty-foot flying predator to keep earthbound humanity from getting too complacent."

Conan The Objectivist: "They otta see what we have to deal with! So, you mean something that looks at humans the way owls look at mice?"

Me: "Yeah. Probably swiveling their heads all the way around, too."

Onlooker: "It is just freaky, the way owls do that."

C the O (sarcastically) "Owls are possessed by demons!"

Me: "I am totally not messin' with any demon that possesses a pet owl. No way."

Onlooker: "...er...?"

Happy times, happy times.

On Chronic Pain

Some people experience, to a greater or lesser degree, some form of chronic pain.  Migraine sufferers, for example.  

     It is useful to understand that in general, such pain is not caused by the actions of of other people, though some sorts can be triggered by changes in the weather.

     Usually, anyone who suffers chronic pain for any length of time knows how to treat it (my first choice is to treat it with contempt but ibuprofen is a good second option) and in general, the best thing you can do to help is to not worry too much about it.  For the sufferer, it becomes part of the scenery -- an annoying part, it is true, but there it is and there's no point stopping to boggle every time you encounter it.

     Yes, it's frustrating, but so's beating your head against the wall.  In either case, the fix is the same.

Beware Of Voltsuckers

...'Cos dead batteries suck.  Damnable ampires!

     Just sayin'.

     Also?  This.

I Always Thought It Was Self-Correcting

Goes to show what I know -- In Taiwan, traffic cops will draw their weapons if they pull you over for not wearing a helmet and think you might be fixin' to flee.

     Here in Indiana, we have "helmet laws" but they don't apply to responsible adults.  Young riders and those with learner's permits are not only required to wear helmets, they're not supposed to be on the roads after dark; once you've got an actual motorcycle endorsement, it's your decision.  --In practice, the opposite obtains and other than a handful of hardcore old school riders, the helmetless are far more likely to be youthful and/or on learner's permits.  One presumes they either learn the hard way or remove themselves before passing the riding test.  Hello, Mr. Darwin.

     Me, I'm lookin' for 10" studded snow tires for my Chetak -- but perhaps I should save  up for a rustproofing job first. 

100 Things

THINGS I'VE DONE (in bold):

1. Started your own blog. 
2. Slept under the stars. .
3. Played in a band.  (Orchestra.  Badly).
4. Visited Hawaii.  (Don't want to.  Miserable tropic hell).
5. Watched a meteor shower. 
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland. And Disney World.
8. Climbed a mountain. 
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris. (I'll stick with photographs.  I dislike long journeys.  Intensely.  I dislike tourists even more and don't care to be one -- blundering, inept, ordering deep-fired tractors, O spare me).
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea. (From the shore)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch. It's fun!.
15. Adopted a child. (Cats don't count?)
16. Had food poisoning. 
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty. (Can you even still do this?)

18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France. (See 12)
20. Slept on an overnight train. Coach class -- still good.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping. 
27. Run a Marathon. (On this knee?)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice. (See 12)
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset. 
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise. (No way).
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. (Might do it, if I can get over that aversion to travel thing)
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language. (Failed Latin two years running)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied. But not for long.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person. (See 12)
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo's David. (See 12)
41. Sung karaoke.  (There may be enough Seagram's in the world to make this happen but I have no intention of finding out)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.  (No, thank you.  Bit of mess most countries over that way, isn't it?  I'd just be in the way.  Also, it would involve travel.  Ick). 
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight. Alone.
46. Been transported in an ambulance. 
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person. (See 12)
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  (See 12, though I would consider it if the Condorde was still flying and I could hire a chauffeur/translator and get it all done in a day or two).
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling. (This, I'd love to do!)
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China. (See 12)
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class. 
59. Visited Russia. (See 12)
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Got flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma.  
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square. (NYC?  Not 'til I can carry my sidearm there).
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London. (See 12.  Also?  Yawn.  Nice lads, lots of snap but I'd almost rather watch golfers rust).
77. Broken a bone. (See "been on a speeding motorcycle")
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.  (See "broken a bone")
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book. Two.  But I didn't write them.
81. Visited the Vatican. (Lovely place, see 12)
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem. (No no no.  Not even with a teleporter.  Yes, all that history is there but it is all written down in books.  Books that do not get on the bus and explode.  Not exploding, I really like not exploding.  YMMV).
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.  (Oddly, no, never in order; I have read most of it, one time and another).
86. Visited the White House. (Washington D.C.?  Not until I can carry my sidearm there).
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury. (Can't get past voir dire: works in the media, shoots and own guns?  "Out you go!")
91. Met someone famous.  (Lots of 'em.  Even Werner von Braun -- I have his autograph somewhere).
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.  (I really should.  Also Dealey Plaza and the Book Depository; I've been in the same town twice).
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake. (Came close.  The smell is unbelievable)
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.
100. Read an entire book in one day.

...From Jigsaw's Thoughts.