Some Blog Site

Continued from last week

Day 3

Our hosts offered us the use of their jetski. But not just any jetski – it was a stand-up jetski.

For those of you who have ridden a jetski: it’s not like a normal jetski. The difference is like between driving a car and driving a motorcycle. It requires a lot more balance and a lot of concentration. With a normal jetski you can slow down or stop and not have to do anything. With a stand-up jetski you must balance all the time. Imagine riding a bike or motorcycle and not being able to put your feet down, or a kickstand either. Because there’s not ground under you.

And the handlebar moves up and down when you don’t want it to. That was the hardest part for me – I wasn’t keeping the handlebar down all the way when I was starting and I couldn’t steer very well. Anyway, here’s some guy on a stand-up jetski:

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Day 1

After last year’s excursion to the west coast, we took a shorter vacation this year, staying in the Midwest.

First off, we drove to Green Bay, WI. I had fond memories of going to tour Lambeau Field, so I wanted my kids to experience that. Actually, I have only one memory of the tour, but I do remember going when I was a kid. So day 1 of vacation was driving to Green Bay and then going on the official tour of the stadium.

First up: the statues. We parked near the statues out front. One of Curly Lambeau

And then one of Vince Lombardi:

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If I asked “What is the largest mountain?” you would probably answer “Mt. Everest”.

There is an unambiguous meaning concerning what makes mountains big: it’s the height.

If I asked “What is the biggest lake?” you would probably look it up and find there are two answers because there are two meanings concerning what makes a lake big: area or volume.

My vote is for area.

What is the purpose of a lake?
To provide lakefront property? That requires shoreline, which is a function of area.
To run boats and jetskis? That requires area.
To provide scenic views and relaxing sunsets? No one cares about the volume of the lake for those.
To give waterfowl room to live? They care about the area.
To hold water for humans to use? That’s not a lake, that’s a reservoir.

Part of the problem is that we don’t have a word to describe area like we do for height. You can ask what the tallest mountain is. That is specifically for height. How do you ask what the lake is with the largest surface area? What is the area-est lake? No, you ask “What is the biggest lake?” Same thing for volume. What is the hold-mostest lake? No, you ask “What is the biggest lake?”

Any ideas for a word that means “largest surface area”?
Any ideas for a word that means “largest volume”?

And no, you are not allowed to suggest “loudest” as the answer for that last question.

I like my cars simple. One reason is because they’re easier to work on, but another is that the kids who are learning to drive will learn to be better drivers if the cars do less for them.

Here it is, illustrated:

Let’s use blind-spot detection as an example. If the car always tells a kid when there’s a car in his blind spot, he won’t feel the need to check his blind spot himself and thus he won’t develop the good habit of doing so. Conversely, if he learns to drive with the needs to check his blind spot before changing lanes, he will develop that habit.

Kids, or anyone for that matter, need to get the good habits when they start learning to drive. It’s a lot harder to gain new habits once the subject has been learned.

There are a number of other safety features that have been added to vehicles lately, and they all work fairly well in that they accomplish their goals.

It’s not limited to vehicles either – there are other examples such as tamper-proof outlets. You can’t always protect people from their own foolishness.

I needed to help out some of the ductwork in a section of the house that wasn’t getting as cool as the rest of the house. It was due to poor airflow, so I had to add a return and a duct booster fan. I went through a few different types, so I’ll try to help you out should you ever need a duct fan.

I’m starting with the cheapest fan and working up from there.

1. The Big Box Special

This one can be picked up in stock at various home improvement stores. The other fans in this post have to be ordered.

While it does move air, it doesn’t move it much and it’s rather noisy. If you aim this fan at a butterfly, you would be suggesting a direction to the butterfly.

2. The Better-Constructed Version

This one is more solidly constructed, which helps with NVH. And durability too, I expect. It moves slightly more air. The butterfly will have to put in some effort to overcome this fan.

3. The Best One

This one has a different style. There is actually some engineering going on in there – not just a tube with a fan in it. I got the Silent version and it is much quieter. I wouldn’t say it’s silent, but you don’t need to raise your voice to be heard over it. It also comes with an Off-Low-High switch, which is handy. The butterfly will not get a choice with this fan.

4. Overkill

This one is ridiculous. It is a centrifugal fan. It moves a lot of air. It has to spool up – I turned it on and thought “That’s not very impressive” but after 5 more seconds I changed my mind. It needs to be attached to something secure because of the force the spinning produces. Have you gone to a science center or hands-on museum that had the display where you hold a spinning bicycle tire or other rotating mass and you felt it pulling you left or right depending on which way you tilt it? If so, then you know how this thing feels while it’s going. And it is very loud.

If you aim this one at a butterfly you will kill it. Also, do not wear a necktie near this fan.

Those are my thoughts on various duct fans or inline boosters or what-have-you. The best one is not that much more money than the better-constructed axial fan, but the performance is much better, so I’d say it’s the best value. I’m sure there’s a use for the centrifugal fan, but not for anything residential.

I’ve noticed that Google is announcing their gaming platform, Stadia.

All that reminds me of is one of my favorite pairs of shoes. I wore a white-and-gray-with-blue-accents pair of Stadia tennis shoes for a significant amount of time. I don’t remember exactly when, my guess is late junior high / early high school timeframe.

I don’t remember any of my other shoes from that time, other than my spikes I used for cross country and track. I didn’t use the Stadia for anything in particular, just my normal daily shoes.

What was memorable about them was the logo: a stylized Roman coliseum. I’m picturing it on the top of the tongue, in blue.

They don’t make ’em like they used to.

Speaking of shoes, I heard an ad for Skechers shoes on the radio the other day, and it amused me. Their main line was “No shoes are as comfortable as Skechers.”

I enjoy ambiguous grammar that I can misinterpret.

So, Skechers company, you’re saying that going barefoot is just as comfortable as Skechers? In that case, I can save my money and use no shoes rather than buy Skechers.

I remember a comic had a routine that included the observation that people in cubicles always look out at people passing by.

I’ve tried not to look at people passing by my cubicle so that I would be the exception.

But then I noticed that I’m still part of the problem, because I glance into other people’s cubicles as I walk by them.

I don’t know why I do that.

I know the people already. Do I look in to see if they are the type to look out at passers-by? I should make an effort not to peer through cube doorways as I walk by.

On a related note, if Pavlov were making conclusions today, he might have been inspired by the response of project managers to the sound of someone joining a conference call.

*ding
“Hello who joined?”
“Alfred”
“Ok, welcome. On slide 3 you will s-”
*ding
“Hello who joined?”
“Hi, Ted here.”
“Alright, the timing cha-”
*ding
“Hello who joined?”
*ding
“Hello who joined?”

They develop an instinct of whenever they hear that chime/ding of the conference call system, they have to know who joined the call. It’s fascinating.