I just found out that my mom is on facebook. That almost ruins it for me....and the wife agrees.
If you found out your mom was on facebook, how would you feel?
A. ruin it for you
B. yea - another friend to keep up with
C. indifference
I keep flip flopping between A and C.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Dune
I finished reading Dune by Frank Herbert this past week. You wouldn't like it, it's science fiction. But there was a movie based on the book made back in the 80's with Sting and the soundtrack is by Toto, so you know that's going to be awesome!
I can't stay off of facebook or wikipedia long enough to put down something to make this post interesting!!!
I can't stay off of facebook or wikipedia long enough to put down something to make this post interesting!!!
Friday, January 2, 2009
college textbooks
I just posted a couple of semesters worth of college textbooks that Amanda and I have been hauling around these 8 and 6 years, respectively, since undergrad, online to try and sell them. Some of them I still have the pricetags still on them, $75, $85, $65, ridiculously inflated prices. It is woefully disgusting how much money they cost us, and how useless they are to me now.
It makes me wish I wasn't so damn anal retentive when I was in school. I was one of those college kids who blindly went into the bookstore and bought what was recommended for the course. In hindsight that wasn't too bright.
Another good idea would have been to see if the professor even used the stinking $70 dollar textbook for the class! I made that mistake a couple of times.
It would have been smart to sell some of them back at the end of the semester. There were some I could have, some I knew I should keep and others that were in between. What would have been smart was if I sold them back when I graduated, by that time I had a good idea of what I found useful and useless. And which fields I wanted to get a job in --meaning which books I could unload back to the bookstore.
Flipping through some of them actually brought back sharp memories of aggravation, frustration, success and horrid disgust. Infinitesimal analysis *shudder*.
It makes me wish I wasn't so damn anal retentive when I was in school. I was one of those college kids who blindly went into the bookstore and bought what was recommended for the course. In hindsight that wasn't too bright.
Another good idea would have been to see if the professor even used the stinking $70 dollar textbook for the class! I made that mistake a couple of times.
It would have been smart to sell some of them back at the end of the semester. There were some I could have, some I knew I should keep and others that were in between. What would have been smart was if I sold them back when I graduated, by that time I had a good idea of what I found useful and useless. And which fields I wanted to get a job in --meaning which books I could unload back to the bookstore.
Flipping through some of them actually brought back sharp memories of aggravation, frustration, success and horrid disgust. Infinitesimal analysis *shudder*.
my kindhearted wife
Yesterday, Amanda, Xander and I were driving and I asked her what the speed limit was as we coincidentally passed some roadkill.
"Fast enough to kill a cat" she replied.
"Ha".
Then she says "...but slow enough to give it hope."
That kept all of us laughing for the next mile. That's something funny about our kid too, if we laugh he just starts laughing.
"Fast enough to kill a cat" she replied.
"Ha".
Then she says "...but slow enough to give it hope."
That kept all of us laughing for the next mile. That's something funny about our kid too, if we laugh he just starts laughing.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
book review...
Lately I've been fiddling around trying to read different genres of book and it hasn't been going as well as I'd hoped. In an effort to read something intelligent, I picked up a copy of The Golden Ratio by Mario Livio. It is about the number phi, 1.6180339887...; which is expressed more precisely as the ratio of the diagonal of a pentagram to its side. This number is often referred to as the golden ratio, or the golden number because it often appears in plants, artwork, poetry, architecture and music (and in geometry it's called the golden angle). It has been studied by many and has some very interesting properties.
What I thought was interesting about the book was the author discusses how we as people understood the concept of counting higher than the number of fingers we have. Have you ever though about how cavemen went about bartering antelope meat for lima beans? One antelope carcass has got to be worth a whole horde of lima beans, but how does Iggy (the hunter) tell Narg (the gardener) that he owes him 20 meals of beans for his one killed antelope. Well, it seems that there were some archeologists that found a baboon thigh bone from 10,000+ years ago that had notches on it. So I would guess that Iggy just notched his bone for every meal of beans he recieved from Narg.
Something else that I found interesting is how we ended up with 60 seconds as our time base when we have a base 10 numbering system. The author explained that way back when, different cultures had different numbering systems. And as one culture was overrun by another the numbering systems were adopted, meshed or thrown out.
One other common theme of this book is the Fibonacci sequence and how the sequence approaches the golden ratio as the sequence approaches infinity. The Fionacci sequence is this: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 39, ... and is achieved by taking the previous two numbers in the sequence and adding them (1+1=2, 2+3=5, and so on). What is neat about this sequence is how it appears in nature as well. It is called phyllotaxis and it is when plant leaves or flower petals arrange themselves in this manner. This appears in the pineapples, sunflowers and roses. In some plants it also describes the arrangement of branches on a tree in relation to the trunk. Very neat.
There are also some very cool mathmatical examples which were shown in the book, like how Fibonacci numbers are related to Pythagorean triples. For example, if you take any four consecutive Fibonacci numbers, such as 1, 2, 3 and 5;
The product of the outer numbers 1x5=5,
twice the product of the inner terms 2x2x3=12, and
the sum of the squares of the inner terms 2^2+3^2=13...
gives the 3 legs to a Pythangorean triple. Also, note that the third number, 13 is a Fibonacci number. Pretty sweet, huh!
So I was able to find some gems in the dry roughage of this book. I really found it boring how he presented arguements concerning plagerism of certain mathematicians of the 1600's. And the chapters on poetry and music I skimmed them (that's being generous). But will admit that I would pick up another book by this author if I had the chance.
What I thought was interesting about the book was the author discusses how we as people understood the concept of counting higher than the number of fingers we have. Have you ever though about how cavemen went about bartering antelope meat for lima beans? One antelope carcass has got to be worth a whole horde of lima beans, but how does Iggy (the hunter) tell Narg (the gardener) that he owes him 20 meals of beans for his one killed antelope. Well, it seems that there were some archeologists that found a baboon thigh bone from 10,000+ years ago that had notches on it. So I would guess that Iggy just notched his bone for every meal of beans he recieved from Narg.
Something else that I found interesting is how we ended up with 60 seconds as our time base when we have a base 10 numbering system. The author explained that way back when, different cultures had different numbering systems. And as one culture was overrun by another the numbering systems were adopted, meshed or thrown out.
One other common theme of this book is the Fibonacci sequence and how the sequence approaches the golden ratio as the sequence approaches infinity. The Fionacci sequence is this: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 39, ... and is achieved by taking the previous two numbers in the sequence and adding them (1+1=2, 2+3=5, and so on). What is neat about this sequence is how it appears in nature as well. It is called phyllotaxis and it is when plant leaves or flower petals arrange themselves in this manner. This appears in the pineapples, sunflowers and roses. In some plants it also describes the arrangement of branches on a tree in relation to the trunk. Very neat.
There are also some very cool mathmatical examples which were shown in the book, like how Fibonacci numbers are related to Pythagorean triples. For example, if you take any four consecutive Fibonacci numbers, such as 1, 2, 3 and 5;
The product of the outer numbers 1x5=5,
twice the product of the inner terms 2x2x3=12, and
the sum of the squares of the inner terms 2^2+3^2=13...
gives the 3 legs to a Pythangorean triple. Also, note that the third number, 13 is a Fibonacci number. Pretty sweet, huh!
So I was able to find some gems in the dry roughage of this book. I really found it boring how he presented arguements concerning plagerism of certain mathematicians of the 1600's. And the chapters on poetry and music I skimmed them (that's being generous). But will admit that I would pick up another book by this author if I had the chance.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
all finished except for the....
I'm all finished with the bathroom except for the....baseboard. Daaaaah! Bloody baseboard. It wouldn't be a problem except I broke some on the removal. I bought replacement baseboard and tried to color match it to the trim on and around the door and it's not working well. Luckily I've got another project lined up for the baseboard so I don't feel too much guilt in going back to HD and searching for pre-stained baseboard.
Oh, and I'm waiting on the sewing department to sew me up a new curtain. Waiting....waiting...waiting. Once those two hanging chad tasks are done, then the bathroom will really, really be complete.
And by the way, it looks awesome! The tile turned out great, the soft pink walls are soothing, the drawer pulls and towel rods all match and a fresh batch of caulk has been caulked into place.
So stop by and see it!
Oh, and I'm waiting on the sewing department to sew me up a new curtain. Waiting....waiting...waiting. Once those two hanging chad tasks are done, then the bathroom will really, really be complete.
And by the way, it looks awesome! The tile turned out great, the soft pink walls are soothing, the drawer pulls and towel rods all match and a fresh batch of caulk has been caulked into place.
So stop by and see it!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
TSA and weightlifting
Did you hear that the TSA has a new method of screening for terrorists and other lawbreakers?
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20081118/1a_offlede18_dom.art.htm
I had read about this last week, but the article that I read didn't go into detail about what the new screening methods consist of. This morning while returning home from a work trip to Boston I think I may have experienced those new methods....
After receiving my ticket and proceeding to the line for the X-ray machines into the terminal at Boston Logan I got into line and waited to be screened. Up ahead next to the TSA agent who looks at your ticket and ID was another TSA agent that was chatting with nearly everyone in line. I make my way through the line and I try and avoid talking to the woman (I hate talking to strangers at airports) but she asks me in a friendly-getting-to-know-you way where I'm headed, how often I travel, if I'm from the area, if I'm looking forward to the holiday...blah blah.
I joked with my coworker that this was there new terrorist screening method. Which seemed funny at the time because she looked like she should be taking her grandkids to the zoo instead of screening for terrorists. Maybe this is their new method...deploy extra agents to chit chat with those in line and see who acts out of character. Or, was she just a bored TSA emploee. I wonder.....
I finally joined the 1000 pound club this afternoon. It's no official club, but it is when the sum of your squat, bench press and deadlift are equal to or greater than 1000 pounds. I had a squat of 385, bench press of 290 and a deadlift of 365 --totaling 1040 pounds.
The squat and deadlift are new personal bests for me. Just 5 more pounds on squats and that's all the weight I have to use! 390 is all I have!
Happy Thanksgiving!
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20081118/1a_offlede18_dom.art.htm
I had read about this last week, but the article that I read didn't go into detail about what the new screening methods consist of. This morning while returning home from a work trip to Boston I think I may have experienced those new methods....
After receiving my ticket and proceeding to the line for the X-ray machines into the terminal at Boston Logan I got into line and waited to be screened. Up ahead next to the TSA agent who looks at your ticket and ID was another TSA agent that was chatting with nearly everyone in line. I make my way through the line and I try and avoid talking to the woman (I hate talking to strangers at airports) but she asks me in a friendly-getting-to-know-you way where I'm headed, how often I travel, if I'm from the area, if I'm looking forward to the holiday...blah blah.
I joked with my coworker that this was there new terrorist screening method. Which seemed funny at the time because she looked like she should be taking her grandkids to the zoo instead of screening for terrorists. Maybe this is their new method...deploy extra agents to chit chat with those in line and see who acts out of character. Or, was she just a bored TSA emploee. I wonder.....
I finally joined the 1000 pound club this afternoon. It's no official club, but it is when the sum of your squat, bench press and deadlift are equal to or greater than 1000 pounds. I had a squat of 385, bench press of 290 and a deadlift of 365 --totaling 1040 pounds.
The squat and deadlift are new personal bests for me. Just 5 more pounds on squats and that's all the weight I have to use! 390 is all I have!
Happy Thanksgiving!
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