Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Grrr
My web host, for some reason, is totally slow tonight. Again. My style sheets aren't loading... even when my pages are. Sorry.
My web host, for some reason, is totally slow tonight. Again. My style sheets aren't loading... even when my pages are. Sorry.
Friday, January 23, 2004
A drain pipe clarification
It has been pointed out to me (by Mr. Vintage Reader) that in relating the saga of the frozen drain pipe I did not give enough credit to the heat lamp, which was his father's suggestion. And his father, it should be pointed out, did indeed used to be a plumber. Honestly, I still think it was the combination of blow dryer, filling the sink with hot water so there's a constant drip, and the vacuum we set up by running water down the drain on the other side of the kitchen drain. But it could have been the heat lamp.
Oh, and a friend of mine who also used to do plumbing pointed out that salt is probably not the best thing for metal pipes, although in our case it was probably all right because the pipe is PVC.
If you've found this site because you're looking for advice on clearing your frozen drain pipe, here are the helpful links again:
Frozen Pipes Help from the UK
Indoor frozen pipes: advice for homeowners, from the Washington, DC Water and Sewer Authority.
Oh, and a friend of mine who also used to do plumbing pointed out that salt is probably not the best thing for metal pipes, although in our case it was probably all right because the pipe is PVC.
If you've found this site because you're looking for advice on clearing your frozen drain pipe, here are the helpful links again:
Frozen Pipes Help from the UK
Indoor frozen pipes: advice for homeowners, from the Washington, DC Water and Sewer Authority.
Thursday, January 22, 2004
You might know me from such satirical folk-rock hits as "Mrs. Robinson"
"State police Capt. Louis Barbaria Jr. said the trooper didn't realize who he arrested until later, although Garfunkel told him he is a celebrity."
Art, Art, oh Art. You know I love you, man. Nobody else has ever made an album with the Oklahoma Baptist University choir AND Paul Desmond. Your version of "I Only Have Eyes for You" is the best ever. And "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her" is still one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded. But come on: if you have to TELL them you're a celebrity, it's not working. Next time, just hand over your ID and go quietly.
"State police Capt. Louis Barbaria Jr. said the trooper didn't realize who he arrested until later, although Garfunkel told him he is a celebrity."
Art, Art, oh Art. You know I love you, man. Nobody else has ever made an album with the Oklahoma Baptist University choir AND Paul Desmond. Your version of "I Only Have Eyes for You" is the best ever. And "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her" is still one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded. But come on: if you have to TELL them you're a celebrity, it's not working. Next time, just hand over your ID and go quietly.
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Monday, January 19, 2004
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Hey, free diner
Diner for Sale
But see post below about getting what you pay for. :-) Thanks to slacktivist for pointing this one out.
Diner for Sale
But see post below about getting what you pay for. :-) Thanks to slacktivist for pointing this one out.
We have achieved drainage
Not really sure what did it. We'd already tried the blow dryer, pouring hot water down the drain, salt, and a heat lamp, at various times during the day, with no success. Then Mr. VR tried the blow dryer in the basement while I filled the kitchen sink with hot water, and suddenly, after some ominous cracking and a big WHOOOOOSH, the sink drained and we had drainage. My guess is that the vacuum we set up by running water down the sink that's between the sink drain and the main drain helped pull the hot water from the sink through the pipe, which was warming up due to the blow dryer, and that all three of these things together did the trick.
Not really sure what did it. We'd already tried the blow dryer, pouring hot water down the drain, salt, and a heat lamp, at various times during the day, with no success. Then Mr. VR tried the blow dryer in the basement while I filled the kitchen sink with hot water, and suddenly, after some ominous cracking and a big WHOOOOOSH, the sink drained and we had drainage. My guess is that the vacuum we set up by running water down the sink that's between the sink drain and the main drain helped pull the hot water from the sink through the pipe, which was warming up due to the blow dryer, and that all three of these things together did the trick.
On getting what you pay for
Apparently my free comment hosting service went out of business... yesterday. Without any warning. Supposedly all of the users were transferred to another service, but my e-mail address isn't coming up in their database.
So... I'm not going to reinstate comments. I haven't received even one comment since implementing them back in August, and now I have to remove the link from all of my archived pages so they'll load correctly. Not worth it to have it happen again.
Apparently my free comment hosting service went out of business... yesterday. Without any warning. Supposedly all of the users were transferred to another service, but my e-mail address isn't coming up in their database.
So... I'm not going to reinstate comments. I haven't received even one comment since implementing them back in August, and now I have to remove the link from all of my archived pages so they'll load correctly. Not worth it to have it happen again.
Comments: MIA
The comments aren't showing up, and the link to my comment hosting service is throwing an error. I've disabled the link for the time being, because it's really screwing up my archives pages.
The comments aren't showing up, and the link to my comment hosting service is throwing an error. I've disabled the link for the time being, because it's really screwing up my archives pages.
Drain update
Drain: still not draining, at least not well. The salt seems to have helped a bit, but perhaps ice is not the entire problem.
Drain: still not draining, at least not well. The salt seems to have helped a bit, but perhaps ice is not the entire problem.
Vintage DIY
Living in a house that was built in 1925, Mr. Vintage Reader and I find that the advice of many of the American DIY web sites (the ones that aren't specifically targeted at old houses) just doesn't apply to us. For example... yesterday, after nearly a week of single-digit high temperatures, the drain pipe from our kitchen sink, as far as we can tell, became clogged with ice (probably because we were dripping water down the sink to keep the supply pipe from freezing).
Now, as I understand it, this isn't typically a problem in newer homes, because the drain pipes are usually closer to the inside of the house than ours is. So looking for DIY advice online was fairly useless because all the American DIY sites (and there are a million of them) were talking about frozen supply pipes, not frozen drain pipes, which are more likely to be hidden in walls, and can also be treated from the top of the drain, unlike supply pipes.
But this site from the UK had some great, simple, and environmentally friendly advice: pour salt down the drain. We're trying this right now. I'll let you know how it goes.
In the meantime, we also consulted Fix It Yourself: Home Repairs Made Easy, a Popular Science publication from 1929. It has some horrible advice for thawing supply pipes:
This is just WRONG. First of all, when the water froze, it turned to ice. Ice takes up more space than water, so it might have already caused stress on the pipe (that's what causes pipes to burst). When you aim a blowtorch at it, the area that you're heating up goes very rapidly from solid to liquid to gas (steam)--which takes up more space than the solid. Especially if there's still ice at either end of the part you're heating, the ice clog, now converted to steam, is suddenly taking up a lot more space than it was a few minutes ago, and the pipe, which was already stressed, is more likely to burst.
So do NOT use a blowtorch if your pipes are frozen. Besides that: well, you know, FIRE. In the enclosed space of your basement, where you likely keep highly flammable materials like paint remover. But to be fair, they didn't have blow dryers in the 1920s.
OTOH, Fix It Yourself does offer the salt cure for outdoor pipes, and it talks about a lot of things peculiar to old houses (which were new at the time). But on the whole, I think it's better not to rely on vintage books for home repair advice, even on old houses. Usually the This Old House Homeowner Know-How site or OldHouse.com are better resources.
Living in a house that was built in 1925, Mr. Vintage Reader and I find that the advice of many of the American DIY web sites (the ones that aren't specifically targeted at old houses) just doesn't apply to us. For example... yesterday, after nearly a week of single-digit high temperatures, the drain pipe from our kitchen sink, as far as we can tell, became clogged with ice (probably because we were dripping water down the sink to keep the supply pipe from freezing).
Now, as I understand it, this isn't typically a problem in newer homes, because the drain pipes are usually closer to the inside of the house than ours is. So looking for DIY advice online was fairly useless because all the American DIY sites (and there are a million of them) were talking about frozen supply pipes, not frozen drain pipes, which are more likely to be hidden in walls, and can also be treated from the top of the drain, unlike supply pipes.
But this site from the UK had some great, simple, and environmentally friendly advice: pour salt down the drain. We're trying this right now. I'll let you know how it goes.
In the meantime, we also consulted Fix It Yourself: Home Repairs Made Easy, a Popular Science publication from 1929. It has some horrible advice for thawing supply pipes:
"If you have a small blowtorch, the thawing process is an easy and quick one. Direct the flame of the torch on the frozen piping, being sure to start from the faucet or fixture end. Work towards the meter slowly but without concentrating the flame for too long a time on any one small section of the piping.
Contrary to popular belief, thawing does not rupture the piping, although the break or rupture only becomes evident during the thawing process."
This is just WRONG. First of all, when the water froze, it turned to ice. Ice takes up more space than water, so it might have already caused stress on the pipe (that's what causes pipes to burst). When you aim a blowtorch at it, the area that you're heating up goes very rapidly from solid to liquid to gas (steam)--which takes up more space than the solid. Especially if there's still ice at either end of the part you're heating, the ice clog, now converted to steam, is suddenly taking up a lot more space than it was a few minutes ago, and the pipe, which was already stressed, is more likely to burst.
So do NOT use a blowtorch if your pipes are frozen. Besides that: well, you know, FIRE. In the enclosed space of your basement, where you likely keep highly flammable materials like paint remover. But to be fair, they didn't have blow dryers in the 1920s.
OTOH, Fix It Yourself does offer the salt cure for outdoor pipes, and it talks about a lot of things peculiar to old houses (which were new at the time). But on the whole, I think it's better not to rely on vintage books for home repair advice, even on old houses. Usually the This Old House Homeowner Know-How site or OldHouse.com are better resources.
Friday, January 16, 2004
Read the book
Roger Ebert reviews Cheaper by the Dozen, a remake of a movie based on a book about Frank and Lillian Gilbreth and their 12 children, written by the two oldest children, Frank Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.
From his review (and I tend to trust Ebert's reviews) my inclination is to skip the movie, stay home, and re-read the book, which was one of my favorites as a child. Even more of a favorite was the sequel, Belles on Their Toes, in which the Gilbreths cope with the loss of their patriarch (and a sibling), growing up in the 1920s, and having a mother who became an internationally recognized expert in a field (industrial management) that few women had even heard of at the time--although they used it, often brilliantly, in daily life.
One of the strengths of these two books is that Frank and Ernestine never get maudlin, and while it's obvious that they were very proud of their mother, they don't overdo that either. Both books are funny, and charming, and delightful to read, over and over. I always see several copies at the AAUW book sale; keep your eyes open for them in your own book sale adventures. There might even be an edition still in print.
BTW, I loved Ebert's reference to the bright orange binding. I can picture that binding too. That's part of the thing I love about vintage reading--Roger Ebert, who must be at least 20 years older than me, has the same memories of reading the same book that I have, that my mother has, that my sisters and my cousins have. All of us, at some point, curled up on a couch with Cheaper by the Dozen or Belles on Their Toes and drank a Coke or ate a peanut butter sandwich or an Eskimo Pie and escaped into the Gilbreths' well-ordered, efficient world for a while--and emerged better for it.
Roger Ebert reviews Cheaper by the Dozen, a remake of a movie based on a book about Frank and Lillian Gilbreth and their 12 children, written by the two oldest children, Frank Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.
From his review (and I tend to trust Ebert's reviews) my inclination is to skip the movie, stay home, and re-read the book, which was one of my favorites as a child. Even more of a favorite was the sequel, Belles on Their Toes, in which the Gilbreths cope with the loss of their patriarch (and a sibling), growing up in the 1920s, and having a mother who became an internationally recognized expert in a field (industrial management) that few women had even heard of at the time--although they used it, often brilliantly, in daily life.
One of the strengths of these two books is that Frank and Ernestine never get maudlin, and while it's obvious that they were very proud of their mother, they don't overdo that either. Both books are funny, and charming, and delightful to read, over and over. I always see several copies at the AAUW book sale; keep your eyes open for them in your own book sale adventures. There might even be an edition still in print.
BTW, I loved Ebert's reference to the bright orange binding. I can picture that binding too. That's part of the thing I love about vintage reading--Roger Ebert, who must be at least 20 years older than me, has the same memories of reading the same book that I have, that my mother has, that my sisters and my cousins have. All of us, at some point, curled up on a couch with Cheaper by the Dozen or Belles on Their Toes and drank a Coke or ate a peanut butter sandwich or an Eskimo Pie and escaped into the Gilbreths' well-ordered, efficient world for a while--and emerged better for it.
Monday, January 12, 2004
Print on demand, made easier (unfortunately)
This morning on NPR: Book-Binding Technique Could Revive Rare Texts
Seems this guy has come up with a new glue strip that makes it easier to print and bind books on demand. On the one hand, I like it that you could conceivably go to Project Gutenberg and download a book and get it bound and printed. Most of PG's stuff really needs pages to turn. Don't get me wrong; I'm a big fan of ebooks and have a whole library on my PDA. But I have two criteria for ebooks. They have to be entertaining, and they have to be able to be read in short snippets. Short stories are good; so are non-fiction books, which are typically broken up into more of an outline form. Many mystery and science fiction novels work well also, because they're quick reads.
Vintage books rarely fit those criteria. Yes, many of them are extremely entertaining, but they were meant for a different readership: a readership without television, people who were accustomed to sitting for long periods of time and getting lost in a story without getting up and going to the refrigerator, people who weren't reading while waiting in line to see the doctor or to have the oil changed in their car. Modern readers read in word bites, and authors have learned to accommodate us.
That's why for vintage reading, I don't like ebooks. I like the feel of cellophane on a cover, the smell of old paper, the look of pleasant old serif typefaces against a yellowing page. I'd rather spend a quarter at a book sale if I can, or in this case, spend a few dollars and print out any of the old stuff I can (if it's the content only that I'm interested in, and not also the cover art, the edition, etc.) than download an old book for free.
However...
I have a firm belief that books need editors, and cover artists, and book designers. The print-on-demand model takes that away. The inventor they interview in this story talks about how someone with a "really good book" who can't find a publisher can self-publish this way. Frankly, I've read--or tried to read--a number of self-published works, and I believe there's a reason no publisher wanted most of them. Even if they were publishable, a highly publishable work can still benefit from a good editor, as the less-edited-than-the-original re-release of The Stand showed.
And works that were previously edited still need proofreaders for a new edition, to ensure the integrity of the edition and maybe to remove errors that made it into the previous edition. Who's doing that for print-on-demand? PG has the Distributed Proofreaders to do it, but how about works that are scanned to text without that kind of service? And forget about it with self-published books.
Yes, the publishing industry makes a lot of money, and like other creative industries, little of it makes its way into the hands of the creators. But part of that is payment for services rendered to the people who make books more readable, more enjoyable to look at, and more likely to attract the attention of bookstore browsers. You take them out of the equation, and you might as well just put up a blog and call it a novel.
This morning on NPR: Book-Binding Technique Could Revive Rare Texts
Seems this guy has come up with a new glue strip that makes it easier to print and bind books on demand. On the one hand, I like it that you could conceivably go to Project Gutenberg and download a book and get it bound and printed. Most of PG's stuff really needs pages to turn. Don't get me wrong; I'm a big fan of ebooks and have a whole library on my PDA. But I have two criteria for ebooks. They have to be entertaining, and they have to be able to be read in short snippets. Short stories are good; so are non-fiction books, which are typically broken up into more of an outline form. Many mystery and science fiction novels work well also, because they're quick reads.
Vintage books rarely fit those criteria. Yes, many of them are extremely entertaining, but they were meant for a different readership: a readership without television, people who were accustomed to sitting for long periods of time and getting lost in a story without getting up and going to the refrigerator, people who weren't reading while waiting in line to see the doctor or to have the oil changed in their car. Modern readers read in word bites, and authors have learned to accommodate us.
That's why for vintage reading, I don't like ebooks. I like the feel of cellophane on a cover, the smell of old paper, the look of pleasant old serif typefaces against a yellowing page. I'd rather spend a quarter at a book sale if I can, or in this case, spend a few dollars and print out any of the old stuff I can (if it's the content only that I'm interested in, and not also the cover art, the edition, etc.) than download an old book for free.
However...
I have a firm belief that books need editors, and cover artists, and book designers. The print-on-demand model takes that away. The inventor they interview in this story talks about how someone with a "really good book" who can't find a publisher can self-publish this way. Frankly, I've read--or tried to read--a number of self-published works, and I believe there's a reason no publisher wanted most of them. Even if they were publishable, a highly publishable work can still benefit from a good editor, as the less-edited-than-the-original re-release of The Stand showed.
And works that were previously edited still need proofreaders for a new edition, to ensure the integrity of the edition and maybe to remove errors that made it into the previous edition. Who's doing that for print-on-demand? PG has the Distributed Proofreaders to do it, but how about works that are scanned to text without that kind of service? And forget about it with self-published books.
Yes, the publishing industry makes a lot of money, and like other creative industries, little of it makes its way into the hands of the creators. But part of that is payment for services rendered to the people who make books more readable, more enjoyable to look at, and more likely to attract the attention of bookstore browsers. You take them out of the equation, and you might as well just put up a blog and call it a novel.
Vintage comic reading
Golden Age, Silver Age... if those words mean anything to you in relation to comics, you'll enjoy Once Upon a Dime.
Golden Age, Silver Age... if those words mean anything to you in relation to comics, you'll enjoy Once Upon a Dime.
Thursday, January 08, 2004
Updates and changes and additions, oh my!
Still can't figure out why the two bars at the top never appear until you scroll down and scroll back up. Nor, really, why the logo overlaps the first bar, but I like it that way so I leave it. I figure it's one of those happy CSS accidents that occasionally happen to me. In any event, this is my favorite color scheme so far, so I hope you like it, because I'm probably going to be too lazy to change it any time soon.
However... I do hope to have the all-new, XML-based MapbackBase up and running soon. So hang tight, all you Dell mapback fans.
Still can't figure out why the two bars at the top never appear until you scroll down and scroll back up. Nor, really, why the logo overlaps the first bar, but I like it that way so I leave it. I figure it's one of those happy CSS accidents that occasionally happen to me. In any event, this is my favorite color scheme so far, so I hope you like it, because I'm probably going to be too lazy to change it any time soon.
However... I do hope to have the all-new, XML-based MapbackBase up and running soon. So hang tight, all you Dell mapback fans.
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
There she is
If your resolution is to be Miss America 2005, start
here. Actually, it's a little late now if you want to be Miss A '05, but maybe for '06 or '07.
If your resolution is to be Miss America 2005, start
here. Actually, it's a little late now if you want to be Miss A '05, but maybe for '06 or '07.
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