Under the Rainbow

05:48 Tuesday, 22 July 2014
Words: 77

An odd/interesting cloud configuration late in the early evening hours yesterday yielded a nice rainbow against a cloudy sky, with the palms lining the entrance illuminated by the rays of the evening sun. Liked it.

Cheese Danish: As I Was Saying...

21:56 Friday, 22 July 2016
Words: 771

Interesting Timing: So this poor guy, Charles Kinsey, is out in the street trying to help a distraught autistic person. The police arrive, responding to a report of an individual with a weapon. Mr. Kinsey lays down on the pavement, puts his hands in the air, and attempts to explain what is going on to the police, in order to prevent any use of force. And a cop shoots him. When Mr. Kinsey asks the officer why he shot him, his reply was reportedly, "I don't know." Which is probably an accurate account. Since then, NBC Nightly News tweeted that the police union in North Miami has announced that the officer thought Mr. Kinsey was in danger, and was trying to shoot the autistic man. I'm not sure how credible that story is. But, in the absence of a genuine, deliberate cognitive decision to open fire, some kind of story has to be made up to "explain" what happened. I believe the officer genuinely didn't know why he shot. By now, I'm sure he's convinced himself that he was trying to protect Mr. Kinsey and he's just a horrible shot. It sounds, to me, exactly like the phenomenon described in the Why You Don't Know Your Own Mind piece I linked to yesterday. The officer's response was, I think, likely influenced by the recent shootings of police officers, the unconscious fear of black males, and the threat-oriented reactive state of mind engendered by reports of an armed man at the scene. It's a volatile mixture. I don't attribute any malice to the officer, I just think he happened to bump up against the limits of volitional thinking and action in stressful situations with inadequate training. I'm only glad that it didn't end up worse. In other news: I've been trying to figure out why to get up in the morning. It's been kind of a remarkable, albeit sad, thing, this Bodhi-shaped hole in my life. I'm surprised to learn just how much of it was structured by my relationship with my dog. I've been going over to MItzi's more often than I did when Bodhi was alive, because I was always reluctant to leave him alone for very long. I've been taking fewer pictures because I'm simply not outside as often. My afternoons are fairly unstructured now, because I don't have to think about taking Bodhi out for a walk and feeding him. And I'm certainly here at the keyboard more often. But the biggest difference is figuring out how to start my day. For ten years, the first thing I did every morning was get up, relieve myself, get dressed, leash Bodhi, grab a camera and take a walk around the property. Sometimes that was at oh-dark-thirty, when I was training for a race. Sometimes it was a little later in the morning if I'd had a couple too many beers the night before. But it was always the first thing I did, no matter how I felt. And with him gone, it just hasn't seemed as if there was any real reason to get out of bed in the morning! So, as with most problems, I still hear my therapist's voice in my head, "David, what's your plan?" Gotta have a plan. Well, I'm fat. So the plan is to fix that. I've been using the My Fitness Pal app to track my caloric intake consistently and that seems to be worthwhile. And when my alarm goes off at 0500, I get up, I relieve myself, weigh myself, put on my workout clothes and head over to the fitness center. Right now I'm just hitting the elliptical for 30 minutes at a pretty good pace. It's too hot and muggy to run here these days, at least for me, and I'm happy to avoid the impact from running on the treadmill. I'm going to have to incorporate some strength training into this, but at least for now I have a reason to get out of bed in the morning! On my way back Action Dave's Cool-Guy Bachelor Pad™, I check out the sky and assess the chances for a cool sunrise. If it's looking good, I grab a camera after I get back and head back out to see what develops. Finally, As I Was Saying: At the end of June, I posted my lament that the internet has been a force for the promotion of ignorance, so I was somewhat pleased when Karl Martino posted a link to this Guardian piece in Facebook. I'm like Panasonic, "just slightly ahead of my time."

G'night moon II

10:16 Saturday, 22 July 2023

Current Wx: Temp: 87.62°F Pressure: 1009hPa Humidity: 70% Wind: 5.75mph
Words: 25

Grabbed the E-P7 with the Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake.

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Born to Shamble

18:05 Saturday, 22 July 2023
Current Wx: Temp: 77.2°F Pressure: 1006hPa Humidity: 78% Wind: 3mph
Words: 445

Was on the street by 0505, but didn't get off to a smooth start. For some reason, the interval timer app wasn't sounding the chimes, so my run intervals didn't start until farther into the route. Ran harder though, so finished only a few seconds off the first effort. Took two days off because my quads were really not happy with me. I suspect it'll be Tuesday before I try this again.

Startled a pair of dogs as I began a run interval, and they startled me. I didn't bark though. May have woken a couple of neighbors. At one point a frog chirped right next to me and I started running.

I need to relax.

Mitzi and I tried to go to the movies on Thursday. We were mostly successful, except for the part about actually seeing the movie. Showtime was at 1500, and the screen was still dark. They weren't even playing the usual ads they play as people are getting seated. We were in one of those Cinemark theaters with the reclining seats that rumble and vibrate and cost twice the amount of a regular ticket. But you do get to reserve your seat, which is nice.

There was a gentleman seated next to me, then someone I assume was a grandchild, and then the gentleman's wife. Who apparently loved to talk. And talk. And talk. And not in a soft, intimate voice either. In the confident tones of a person who was absolutely certain that what they had to say would be of interest to anyone around them.

About 1505, an employee addresses us and says they've changed a bulb in the projector, and they're just waiting for it to warm up. Another customer asks if they can skip the previews and go straight to the movie. Employee says yes.

Lady two seats down has been going on at some length about why old actors shouldn't revisit characters in movies. Harrison Ford, Sly Stallone. Apparently her grandchild's generation has "no frame of reference." (Are they "out of their element" too?) And then she started going on about how unsafe large cities are. Apparently four teenagers were shot in NYC the previous weekend. "And fifteen were killed in Chicago!"

"But," she said, "I don't know if they all died."

Which just about gave me a stroke.

Employee comes out about 15:20 and says they're canceling the show, they have "technical problems." We get rain checks.

We're going to try again on Monday. I'm bringing my noise-canceling AirPods and listening to something else before the show starts.

I'll probably wear my wrist beads too, to try to remember to be kind.

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Bird of Paradise

21:07 Saturday, 22 July 2023

Current Wx: Temp: 82.15°F Pressure: 1010hPa Humidity: 70% Wind: 11.5mph
Words: 178

Mitzi planted three of these bird-of-paradise plants last year and this is the first of them to blossom. This shot is from the Olympus E-420, which has a 10MP Panasonic CMOS ("LiveMOS") sensor. I posted some shots from the E-500 with the 8MP Kodak CCD sensor on Mastodon. The E-500 shots were SOOC JPEGs. This one I tweaked with some micro-contrast using the Definition adjustment in Photos.

Shot with the 25mm/f2.8 pancake, wide open. Probably should have stopped it down a bit for a little more dof, but it's fine.

I've been watching this thing for the last few days as it began to develop. When I went out for my run this morning, it hadn't opened yet, though the top had begun to split. I stepped outside a few minutes ago and noticed it was open, so I had to grab a camera. (Four of them, actually.)

Mitzi's kind of disappointed that the others haven't blossomed.

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Service Before Self

06:39 Monday, 22 July 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 75.24°F Pressure: 1017hPa Humidity: 93% Wind: 0mph
Words: 169

We were in the car, in Pennsylvania, when Mitzi's sister-in-law texted us, "Biden is out." We turned on the radio and listened to coverage from NPR.

Since we arrived at the hotel yesterday evening, I've read much of the coverage. Right now, it looks like the Democratic Party isn't going to form a circular firing squad, and is closing ranks behind Harris. That's the best news.

There have been many tributes to Joe Biden, and they are all well earned and richly deserved. For too many Americans, the contrast between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is a perverse one. Joe Biden is a decent man, a statesman, a compassionate human being, a competent leader. Donald Trump is none of these things, yet the Republican Party elevates him as their candidate. It's a bizarre trait in human nature. Some sort of self-loathing, self-destructive desire born out of fear and anger, and bad leadership.

For the first time since the debate, I feel more confident, more hopeful.

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Headed South

06:54 Monday, 22 July 2024
Current Wx: Temp: 75.2°F Pressure: 1017hPa Humidity: 93% Wind: 0mph
Words: 259

Our vacation is nearly over. This afternoon we'll board the Auto Train for the ride down to Florida, avoiding a drive through most of Virginia, all of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Apart from saving mileage on the car, it'll preserve my sanity. I hate driving through South Carolina.

This is also the part of the trip that is utterly devoid of scenery. Driving through New York and Pennsylvania was beautiful. Traffic wasn't bad either. It was also relatively cool.

Having been away from the Finger Lakes for two years, the feeling of enchantment was very strong. Toward the end of our visit, I could somewhat place myself in my adolescent mind that lived in Upstate New York and took the landscape largely for granted.

But I could also recall my Dad, who never seemed to tire of the views of the hills and the fields and the trees. I don't think I will ever tire of them again, or take them for granted. It is a stunningly beautiful landscape.

To be sure, the region suffers economically and there are stark reminders of that everywhere. But there are also signs of renewal.

Apart from the landscape, there is so much history there. Not all of it is great, General Sullivan driving the indigenous people from the Finger Lakes under orders from George Washington in 1789 is a shameful legacy. But abolition and women's rights are two progressive movements that owe much to the region.

We'll be going back. Mitzi is as enthralled as I am.

I ❤️ NY.

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Train

12:53 Monday, 22 July 2024

Current Wx: Temp: 90.14°F Pressure: 1018hPa Humidity: 73% Wind: 10.36mph
Words: 266

We're all checked in. Boarding isn't until 3:30, but figured I'd kill some time here in the marmot.

I'm kind of impressed by the number of people here, and we got here right when they started admitting cars. It's a Monday, not near a federal holiday, mid-summer and still a lot of people, and their cars, take this expensive trip down to Florida.

Not a lot of kids and families. Probably skewed toward the older age demographic, as one might expect.

As an aside, my Quartiles streak continues, I think it's up to 72 days making Expert. I've never gotten all the words, but I usually get it down to something between two and six. It's the first thing I do in the morning, when I wake up and don't necessarily want to get right out of bed. I stay with it until I finish it, which doesn't take very long. It's not a hard game, but it does reward persistence.

I've got a bunch of pictures I still need to upload. Not exactly looking forward to that. Plus culling the hundreds I've already added to Photos. I could work on that today. We'll see.

Anyway, last time I did this was in 2019 and I didn't bring a laptop. I was using my new to me 10.5" iPad Pro with the attached keyboard cover, which doesn't run Tinderbox. I've got the iPad mini with me on this trip for Kindle and Books.

Anyway, that's it for now.

"All aboard!"

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Paperwork

06:06 Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 50.5°F Pressure: 1022hPa Humidity: 93% Wind: 0.72mph
Words: 437

Note the temperature, please. It's actually a little warmer up here, 52°F. I wore pants yesterday, instead of shorts.

I was thinking about what I was going to blog about this morning and my inbox provided the answer. I'd been updating our address at all of my various accounts. USAA noticed and sent me an email saying that our vehicle locations may have to be updated.

So I logged into USAA and began that process, which is probably something I didn't need to be doing at 0530, as it involves changing coverage since Florida and New York have different insurance regulations. I did the best I could to try and match our Florida coverage, and our premium is much less. Like $100 a month less.

Mitzi gets home this evening and I think we'll call USAA tomorrow and walk through all the coverages and make sure we know exactly what it is I've signed us up for, and then make any adjustments if necessary. Maybe we won't save as much, but I think it'll still be significantly lower.

I also learned we have 45 days to get the cars registered in New York, so there's that little chore. Plus getting New York drivers' licenses and voter registration.

I guess it'll be pretty "official" then, even though I doubt we'll have closed on the sale of our house in Florida.

Apple sent me an alert in Maps that they'd addressed the issue of our address pointing to the wrong house. Inexplicably, they have not. I sent another issue, with more pictures, this time including a screenshot of their "issue" interface, a drone shot of the address from the air so they can see where the house I'm pointing to is, as well as shots with the house number on it. It's an incredibly broken system.

The good news is, Amazon seems to have figured out where we live. Finally. If doing business with Amazon can be considered "good business," which is probably debatable at best.

I got little done yesterday, which is what seems to happen on days when I work out. Having made that effort, I usually have little motivation to make any other effort. Today I have the incentive of getting things squared away before Mitzi gets home.

Mentioned the fence was done the other day, but there's still the matter of the t-posts leaning up against the shed. I'll ask the neighbors if they want them. Mitzi doesn't want to deal with FB marketplace for something that is less than $100.

Guess I better get going if I'm going to get anything done...

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Breaker, Breaker

09:49 Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 65.03°F Pressure: 1022hPa Humidity: 70% Wind: 2.95mph
Words: 644

I'm taking a break. My brain's tired.

One of the projects that I started back in May when I began the move was to document the circuit breaker panel. It was not well documented on the panel door, and I had little idea what breakers controlled which outlets and switches.

So I turned off breakers one at a time and went around the house and tried to see what didn't work, and put little round stickers on them with the breaker number. (I discovered just a few minutes ago that I mis-read "18" as "16". I think I need to go over the numbers on the panel with a Sharpie.)

My intention was to make a document that had all this stuff documented so I knew what controlled what and where.

But there's that step where you convert intention into action, and that little project always seemed to be a lower priority than, say, taking down the fence.

Well, Mitzi's pretty tired of the colored stickers everywhere, so I figured I'd get that little project done while she was away. She's coming back today, and of course it's not done. So I figured I'd knock it out this morning.

Well, fans of science fiction are probably aware of Anderson's Law:

I’ve yet to see any problem, however complicated, which when you looked at it the right way didn’t become still more complicated.

Yep. Not as simple as I'd hoped. But I think I've got the structure right now. Just have to add the data.

This house has only four rooms, the main space, the bedroom, the bathroom/laundry and the utility closet. But switches and outlets need locations, so I've divided the house up into eleven spaces.

I created a "Space" prototype in Tinderbox with three Displayed Attributes, Switch, Outlet and Appliance. Switch and Outlet attributes are sets, numbers separated by semi-colons with no duplicates. So each switch in the house will have its own number, as will each outlet.

I created "Switch" and "Outlet" prototypes that have Breaker and Space as Displayed Attributes. (It occurs to me just now that I'm going to want to document what is usually plugged into each outlet. So that'll be another attribute, maybe call it "Serves.") The Breaker attribute will just be a number, naturally; and Space is a string.

I created an Appliances prototype for equipment that is always connected, either hardwired or plugged in, which have their own breaker.

Breakers are a little complicated because we usually draw the number of the breaker from its location in the panel, but some breakers are ganged together, occupying two spaces in the panel that aren't numbered consecutively. That's kind of easily displayed on the drawing on the panel door, but it's a little funkier when you're trying to do it in an outline, or as a list. Not a big deal, but it annoys me.

So, how to go about numbering switches and outlets? I'm starting in the utility closet which only has one switch and one outlet (but three appliances), so that's easy. Then we step out into the bathroom where there are four switches and three outlets. What convention do I establish for numbering them? Counter-clockwise (because we're in the northern hemisphere, of course)? Or clockwise?

Because it kind of has to be the same for each space. I think I'm going CCW, and that way when I step out of the bathroom I'll start with the kitchen and work my way around the house and do the bedroom last (counter-clockwise in there as well), with the final outlet on the exterior of the bedroom wall that divides the bedroom from the bathroom and I doesn't fit neatly into either the bedroom, the kitchen or the bathroom.

Well, I'd better press on, or it's not going to get done at all.

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