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THE WEISS CHRONICLES

Chronological Account of the Weiss family with contextual remarks, some weather, sports and other news. You can write to me at: mhw20854@yahoo.com The people in the Weiss family are: Martin, Ann, Beth and George. I also sometimes write about other people or our pet.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

New England Sets Records Galore

In the last game of the regular season for the NE Patriots and NY Giants, the Giants had a 12 point lead in the 3rd period but NE came back. The victory made New England the first team to go 16-0 in the regular season* (this gives them 19 consecutive regular season wins). In the course of the victory, Tom Brady threw two TD passes to give him 50 for the season (a new record), Randy Moss caught two TD passes giving him 23 for the season (a new record). The Patriots ended the season with 589 points (a new record - almost 37 points per game) and 75 TDs (also a record). The only other teams who went undefeated in the regular season were the 1972 Miami Dolphins (14-0) and the 1934 and 1942 Chicago Bears.

* The regular season has been 16 games since 1978 with the exception of the 1982 (9 games) and 1987 season (15 games) when strikes shortened the season. In 1934 the Bears played 13 games and in 1942 they played 11 games in the regular season.

posted by Martin Weiss # 3:51 PM

Sunday, December 23, 2007

"Atonement" - Ann Loved It; I didn't

Saw the movie "Atonement" today in downtown Bethesda. Ann loved it - the acting, the imagery, the cinematography, the plotline convergence, etc.

I'll admit the acting was good. I'll even admit the other things. However, in addition to the chick-friendly nature of this film, there were two other reasons that disturbed me.

The first reason is that the actress, Keira Knightley (who plays the part of aristocratic Cecilia Tallis) is so thin her bones show and because her skin is thin and pale it gives it a somewhat ghastly look. Her eyes are beautiful but the stare, along with the thinness makes me think she is on heroin. The second reason is there is a logic flaw in the plot.
The story line is based on the fact that a young girl Brioney Tallis (Cecilia's young sister who becomes a writer and the 13-year old is played by Saoise Ronan - two other actresses play older versions of Brioney) sees a cousin (I think played by Juno Temple and I think the screen name is Lola Quincey) apparently being sexually assaulted. Brioney falsely identifies (and with a self awareness that it might have been a false ID) the criminal as Roby Turner (played by James McAvoy - a probable Oscar for Best Actor) but there is, in fact, no criminal as Lola was having consensual sex with a friend of the Tallis family (and she eventually marries him). So the logic flaw is that Brioney is on a 50 year guilt trip for her false ID, when in fact, Lola is the one who was faking being assaulted and, indeed tricked Bioney into the latter's false ID. So Lola is, in my mind, far more culpable than Brioney.

posted by Martin Weiss # 4:53 PM

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Two Dreams with a similar theme:

Last night I had two dreams about the annoyance of moderate wealth.

In the first dream I had tickets to a football game and not just any tickets. They were tickets to one of the sky boxes. There were two people with me, Arthur Sackman (a friend who has moved to Romania and whom I've been unable to contact for many months) and Dave Goldstein (a friend who died in 2000). Anyway we were sitting in the comfortable seats and enjoying the game. Arthur suggested we have some food and I used the chair phone to ask for a waiter to come take our order. Two waiters came and they were both illegal aliens - not here illegally from Mexico but here illegally from some other planet. I got mad and said I don't want aliens touching my food. The aliens apparently were very sensitive and their faces melted away at this insult and then their bodies melted too leaving a little puddle in the sky box. I woke up expecting an irate visit from the management of the sports venue.

In the second dream our family was renting a deluxe cabin in the mountains (similar to ones we've seen in McHenry Maryland). I was sleeping in one of the upstairs bedrooms. I heard the door to the cabin open and slam shut and from the sounds on the stairs I knew George had just come back from some nocturnal activity. I dozed off and then heard the door to the cabin open again and shut. I figured that George must not have locked the door and that the wind blew it open and shut. I got up, put on my bathrobe and went downstairs. I heard the TV on. When I got downstairs, I saw two people in easy chairs watching the TV and two other people in the kitchen looking for something. I said, "Can I help you?" Evidently, the people who just entered had rented a cabin near by and were in the wrong place. I woke up thinking about what signs I should suggest be placed in the cabin area to prevent this from happening again.

posted by Martin Weiss # 1:20 PM

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Another Really Bad Commute

Coming home today, I got to the WhiteFlint stop about 600pm Dec 11. Some people had already been waiting for the #38 since 520pm. The bus finally came by about 630pm.

This may be partially due to a new traffic pattern. Part of the Montrose Parkway opened between the morning and evening peak periods and eastbound Montrose Road traffic was routed to the Parkway.

posted by Martin Weiss # 2:00 AM

Friday, December 07, 2007

Way Cold Morning

A few minutes after dawn on Dec 6, Dulles Airport got down to 13F (about -9C). This was the coldest early December morning in about 5 years and not too far from the all time record for the date.

posted by Martin Weiss # 8:10 AM

Thursday, December 06, 2007

"Nice Hat." said the Congressman

Today I was briefing a Congressman on something. In the introductory smalltalk I noted that I had never been in an office with a stuffed warthog (he had not just a stuffed warthog but a stuffed bear, a stuffed lion and about 6 stuffed deer, ibex, etc. After my brief I was putting on my coat and hat (which were needed because today was really, really cold with snow on the ground) and the Congressman said, "Nice Hat" (I was wearing the one that is felt and you can fold and bend it).

So on the way home I noted to the people that I was with that this was the first time I ever got a compliment from a Congressman about my hat.

"and you think its sincere?" asked one of the people.

I responded that I had a hard time believing a US Congressman thinks its worthwhile to use insincere compliments to win a favor from a mid level bureaucrat.

posted by Martin Weiss # 10:29 PM

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

They really did misread the meter

We had a very high electric bill sent us in early Nov (about $204 for usage from late Sept to late Oct). I thought there must have been a problem because we don't use much electricity during the fall (with the air conditioner off, the heater not yet on and dark not quite full requiring more lights). I read the meter myself and it seemed to me that the company simply misread it - this is relatively easy because the dials move in opposite directions, some counterclockwise, others clockwise (this clockwise then counterclockwise convention is a relic of mid 20th century electronics).

Anyway, the reading in late November (which I just saw today), indicated that the electric company acknowledged that I was correct. Thus we have a $0.00 bill and also about a $36 credit toward next month. This is what it ends up looking like on the statement:


Payments Received Pepco	204.07	CR
Adjustment	204.07	CR
Balance Forward Pepco	204.07	CR
Current Charges This Period Pepco	168.24
Total Amount Due	35.83	CR

with the usage history shown below:

	Dec 06	Jan 07	Feb 07	Mar 07	Apr 07	May 07	Jun 07	Jul 07	Aug 07	Sep 07	Oct 07	Nov 07	Dec 07

DAYS	34	28	33	29	30	29	31	29	31	31	30	0	61
KWH	630	550	730	780	570	650	510	600	800	920	670	0	1160

posted by Martin Weiss # 6:41 PM

The 64/67 plan is working somehow

I didn't think it would work but neither Ann nor George haven't complained lately about the temperature in the house (I was worried about Ann). The thermostat is set so it is about 64F on the living room level and 67 on the bedrooms level. We've had about 4 relatively cold days in a row (40s or 30s for max).

Let's see if it holds up the rest of the winter.

posted by Martin Weiss # 6:34 PM

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