This Sugar Maple is probably about 75-80 years old. The previous owners planted a row of them when they bought the house, and that would be about 76 years ago. I'm not sure how old the tree was at planting.
Having become re-energized with respect to learning to play my theremin, I went back and read my notes and various blog posts, and asked a question of the kit manufacturer about a suggested modification. After some back-and-forth, an engineer who remembered me and my theremin from when I built it ten (!) years ago suggested re-routing some wires and while I was at it to change three condensers and add a resistor to bring it up to current specs. He will mail me the parts, no charge. (I offered to pay, but no go.) Nice!
I left you a note at the bottom of the last thread.
Also, the Leaf's range of 250 miles on one charge would be just enough to get us to Daughter's house in Maine. We might actually want to pad that enroute by stopping for lunch somewhere we could plug in, as it is exactly 250 miles to her house. Ha!
I would like one that can go 300 miles and I imagine those are coming soon. Might have to wait 'til 2020.
I thought hybrid electrics would come well before they did. I expect that sooner or later automobile electric storages devices better than batteries (or at least better than current batteries) will come--ones that can take a full charge at a commercial charging station in less than five minutes--like filling a gas tank--and can go through many more charge/discharge cycles. Engineering groups all over the world have been working on that for some time now, and when (or if) they succeed, it will be a stupendous game changer.
The Fresno Bee has been flooded with anti-Nunes mail from local, state, national and international writers; they devoted the entire editorial page to a tiny selection yesterday. (Well, they put in a small editorial about it, and included an anti-Nunes cartoon. But otherwise a selection of the letters.) But this district was gerrymandered by the Dems to elect only a Republican, and to dilute the votes of city-dwellers. So of course their line that supporting the CA-22 Democratic candidate is a waste of money is self-fulfilling. Now, if Janz raises a potful of money from outside agitators (Nunes has about 3.5 million tucked away), and wins, he will owe the state and national Dem establishment in proportion to how much they kicked in for him. Which could be zero. I will be paying attention.
A thought reoccurred to me, listener. If the kiddos have a writing tool that only writes, or only writes well, if it is held in the "correct" grip (or an approximation thereof), they might learn quickly. Of course it depends on their age. I am thinking of those Pilot VPens, which are extremely rugged and inexpensive fountain pens, and of the Uni-ball Kuru Toga mechanical pencil (which is inexpensive and automatically turns the lead as one writes). But the student would have to old enough to be able to have a light touch--fine motor skills are needed. But a "real grown-up" pen or pencil might give some bragging rights, no?
Well, the child in question is only 4 years old. My recommendation is to let his body mature some more and when he is old enough for a fountain pen (3rd or 4th grade), show him the proper grip to use.
Four years old? WAAAAY too young to be thinking about anything like that. Could *start* with how to hold a pencil in first grade--the grip I learned was the same as for a fountain pen, or very close, and I was taught by a white-haired teacher who surely was trained how to teach classical penmanship.
A British doctor says: In Britain, medicine is so advanced that we cut off a man's liver, put it in another man, and in 6 weeks he is looking for a job.
The German doctor says: That's nothing, in Germany we took part of a brain, put it in another man, and in 4 weeks he is looking for a job.
The Russian doctor says: Gentlemen, we took half a heart from a man, put it in another's chest, and in 2 weeks he is looking for a job.
The American doctor laughs: You are all behind us. A few months ago we took a man with no brain, no heart, and no liver and made him President.
A public school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, a slide-rule and a calculator. At a morning press conference, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction. 'Al-Gebra is a problem for us', the Attorney General said. 'They derive solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values.' They use secret code names like "X" and "Y" and refer to themselves as "unknowns" but we have determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philosopher Isosceles used to say, "There are 3 sides to every triangle." When asked to comment on the arrest, President Trump said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes."
Slide rules use logarithms; if a logarithm isn't a terrorist device, what is?
And no, the error pages are not picking on you in particular, Susan; I've been getting them too. And I notice that Blogger is often letting me post without having to identify pictures.
Update after Dr. visit: Skin is closing nicely -- down to about 1 cm diameter. But my foot an ankle are still swollen, so they applied a pressure dressing that will remain on until I return Tuesday.
Tonight I learned that two of my cousins (who are sisters) are coming to visit me April 9-11th. SO!! We just snagged tickets to take them to see Celtic Woman while they're here. I can't begin to tell you how amazing this is! Early April in Vermont is after maple sugaring and before the cool museums open for the Summer. The one night they'll be here and free is a Tuesday night and just about nothing happens on a Tuesday night (no theatrical plays, etc). But I took a look at the Burlington scene anyway, just to see. And voila! The ONE big thing happening that very night is Celtic Woman. AND!! My cousins and I are linked by my Irish side of the family!!!!! I am so excited that this worked out!! 🍀🍀🍀
Trees are first.
ReplyDeleteI think that must be a truly ancient sugar maple tree; I understand that they grow rather slowly.
ReplyDeleteAlan
This Sugar Maple is probably about 75-80 years old. The previous owners planted a row of them when they bought the house, and that would be about 76 years ago. I'm not sure how old the tree was at planting.
DeleteHaving become re-energized with respect to learning to play my theremin, I went back and read my notes and various blog posts, and asked a question of the kit manufacturer about a suggested modification. After some back-and-forth, an engineer who remembered me and my theremin from when I built it ten (!) years ago suggested re-routing some wires and while I was at it to change three condensers and add a resistor to bring it up to current specs. He will mail me the parts, no charge. (I offered to pay, but no go.) Nice!
ReplyDelete--Alan
*Very* nice, Alan!
DeleteI left you a note at the bottom of the last thread.
Also, the Leaf's range of 250 miles on one charge would be just enough to get us to Daughter's house in Maine. We might actually want to pad that enroute by stopping for lunch somewhere we could plug in, as it is exactly 250 miles to her house. Ha!
I would like one that can go 300 miles and I imagine those are coming soon. Might have to wait 'til 2020.
Speaking of 2020:
BERNIE 2020!!
I thought hybrid electrics would come well before they did. I expect that sooner or later automobile electric storages devices better than batteries (or at least better than current batteries) will come--ones that can take a full charge at a commercial charging station in less than five minutes--like filling a gas tank--and can go through many more charge/discharge cycles. Engineering groups all over the world have been working on that for some time now, and when (or if) they succeed, it will be a stupendous game changer.
DeleteAlan
Democrats Expand Battleground to 101 GOP Seats[Click]
ReplyDelete—Alan (who does not expect, but would be pleased to see, them target CA-22 (Nunes)
Andrew Janz is running against Devin Nunes, and he's getting grassroots support.
DeleteThe Fresno Bee has been flooded with anti-Nunes mail from local, state, national and international writers; they devoted the entire editorial page to a tiny selection yesterday. (Well, they put in a small editorial about it, and included an anti-Nunes cartoon. But otherwise a selection of the letters.) But this district was gerrymandered by the Dems to elect only a Republican, and to dilute the votes of city-dwellers. So of course their line that supporting the CA-22 Democratic candidate is a waste of money is self-fulfilling. Now, if Janz raises a potful of money from outside agitators (Nunes has about 3.5 million tucked away), and wins, he will owe the state and national Dem establishment in proportion to how much they kicked in for him. Which could be zero. I will be paying attention.
DeleteAlan
The huge number of political emails I get has recently included one opposing Nunes.
Delete"opposing" = seeking contributions to defeat
DeleteAlan, I just this minute found your note about children and grip for writing. Thanks so much!!
ReplyDeleteA thought reoccurred to me, listener. If the kiddos have a writing tool that only writes, or only writes well, if it is held in the "correct" grip (or an approximation thereof), they might learn quickly. Of course it depends on their age. I am thinking of those Pilot VPens, which are extremely rugged and inexpensive fountain pens, and of the Uni-ball Kuru Toga mechanical pencil (which is inexpensive and automatically turns the lead as one writes). But the student would have to old enough to be able to have a light touch--fine motor skills are needed. But a "real grown-up" pen or pencil might give some bragging rights, no?
Delete--Alan
Well, the child in question is only 4 years old. My recommendation is to let his body mature some more and when he is old enough for a fountain pen (3rd or 4th grade), show him the proper grip to use.
DeleteFour years old? WAAAAY too young to be thinking about anything like that. Could *start* with how to hold a pencil in first grade--the grip I learned was the same as for a fountain pen, or very close, and I was taught by a white-haired teacher who surely was trained how to teach classical penmanship.
DeleteAlan
From Facebook:
ReplyDeleteA British doctor says: In Britain, medicine is so advanced that we cut off a man's liver, put it in another man, and in 6 weeks he is looking for a job.
The German doctor says: That's nothing, in Germany we took part of a brain, put it in another man, and in 4 weeks he is looking for a job.
The Russian doctor says: Gentlemen, we took half a heart from a man, put it in another's chest, and in 2 weeks he is looking for a job.
The American doctor laughs: You are all behind us. A few months ago we took a man with no brain, no heart, and no liver and made him President.
More from Facebook:
ReplyDeleteA public school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, a slide-rule and a calculator. At a morning press conference, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement.
He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.
'Al-Gebra is a problem for us', the Attorney General said. 'They derive solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values.' They use secret code names like "X" and "Y" and refer to themselves as "unknowns" but we have determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philosopher Isosceles used to say, "There are 3 sides to every triangle."
When asked to comment on the arrest, President Trump said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes."
Slide rules use logarithms; if a logarithm isn't a terrorist device, what is?
DeleteAnd no, the error pages are not picking on you in particular, Susan; I've been getting them too. And I notice that Blogger is often letting me post without having to identify pictures.
--Alan
I'm getting Error pages sometimes when I try to open HEP. Is that just me?
ReplyDeleteHappened once to me.
DeleteHappened to me two or three times and my first thought is always "How am I going to fix this?" ~ so I guess I feel blog responsibility to you all. ♥
DeleteUpdate after Dr. visit: Skin is closing nicely -- down to about 1 cm diameter. But my foot an ankle are still swollen, so they applied a pressure dressing that will remain on until I return Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like good medicine, Bill. Hoping you'll see good results this week.
DeleteWhat listener said.
DeleteAlan
Tonight I learned that two of my cousins (who are sisters) are coming to visit me April 9-11th. SO!! We just snagged tickets to take them to see Celtic Woman while they're here. I can't begin to tell you how amazing this is! Early April in Vermont is after maple sugaring and before the cool museums open for the Summer. The one night they'll be here and free is a Tuesday night and just about nothing happens on a Tuesday night (no theatrical plays, etc). But I took a look at the Burlington scene anyway, just to see. And voila! The ONE big thing happening that very night is Celtic Woman. AND!! My cousins and I are linked by my Irish side of the family!!!!! I am so excited that this worked out!! 🍀🍀🍀
ReplyDelete