THE WEISS CHRONICLES

Friday, July 31, 2009

George vs. the Evil J-Tube

The J-Tube under the sink in the hall bathroom started to leak. George took in the old tube and asked the information desk what to do. They sent him to the plumbing isle. He looked the situation up on the internet before going and it seemed that everyone uses 1.5" diameter tubes. So he got one, a metal tube (see image) to match the one that broke. It didn't fit.

So he looked it up on the internet again. This time he noticed that some tubes in old houses were 1.25" diameter so, since our house was built in the early 1960s, he figured he'd get a 1.25" tube. This was his 2nd trip to the hardware store in the day. By the time he came home with the 1.25" tube, I was home. After examining it, I said that, a. the 1.25" tube was too small and b. he should try a PVC tube (see other image) since they fit reasonably well over the brass kind we have now and the washers and nuts are easier to tighten and loosen.

So on his 3rd visit to the hardward store he got a 1.5" PVC tube. It fit on the main stem but not the sink stem. I looked at the situation and saw the washer was loose and suggested maybe he installed the washer wrong. He tried it again and it didn't work.

He then went back to the hardware store and examined the products once again. This time he noticed that 1.5" PVC should have had two washers and the one he bought had only one (but he couldn't prove it). He resisted the temptation to do an ad-hoc equalization and bought a stand alone washer. This made for his 4th trip to the hardware store but it also resulted in a completed repair as the two washers properly connected the PVC tube to the brass tube coming out of the sink.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 4:52 PM

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Josh Willingham Gets Two Grand Slams in a Game

In a game (July 27) at Milwaukee, Josh Willingham (left image shows him hitting the 2nd) hit two grand slams in a game yesterday becoming the 13th person in MLB to do so (8 of the 13 have been by teams now in the AL East). Before the game, Willingham had 14 HRs of which 12 were solo and had only 31 RBIs.

Oddly enough earlier this week (July 23), Mark Buehrle of the White Sox became the 18th (or 20th if you count games which went into extra innings where the first 9 were perfect) person to pitch a perfect game.

One reason there are more perfect games is that for the first 50 years of MLB, not very many HRs were hit (the first 2 Grand Slam game wasn't until 1936; there were already half a dozen perfect games by that year).

Postscript on Mark Buehrle: in the start after the perfect game he retired the first 17 batters. He also got one batter out in the start before the perfect game. That gave him a streak of 45 batters retired without walk or error.

The Washington Post Story is here.
List of players who hit two Grands Slams in a Game is here.
List of Perfect Games is here.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 11:41 PM

Friday, July 17, 2009

Atlantic City Trip

M was in Atlantic City July 12-15 with GBerg and ASackman.

This was basically a schafskoft event (called at one time Schafskoftsummerfest 2009). We didn't stay at the Trump Taj Mahal (shown in image) but we did visit there to go up to the upper floors and see the view. Also, they had a set of large chandeliers with changing light (went through the spectrum). We also did a comedy show and a few other things.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 5:59 AM

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Bye Bye Manny Acta

Manny Acta was fired as Manager of the Washington Nationals. There was a 'leak' on the 12th and an announcement on the 13th that there would be an announcement on the 14th. However, a lot of people figured it was going to happen about the time of the 2009 All Star Game.

The new manager, Jim Riggleman, is a coach who has had several manager gigs before. In 1998 he managed the Cubs and they made the playoffs but lost in the 1st round of the LCS.

Riggleman's first four games as manager resulted in no wins and 4 losses.

The last week or so of Acta's managerial tenure had seen some odd games. On July 8 against Denver, they lost a game in which the winning pitcher didn't throw a pitch (he picked off a runner to end an inning, Denver scored the winning run in the bottom of that inning and the Denver brought in a new pitcher for the next inning).

On July 9, the Nationals won a game that began 65 days earlier. The winning pitcher wasn't even on the team when the game was completed. The runner who scored the winning run for the Nationals wasn't on the team when the game began.

On July 10, the Nationals gave up a balk on an intentional walk (the pitcher stumbled).


Yahoo article on the July 8 game here
Yahoo article on the July 9 game here
sports Network article on July 10 game here.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 6:05 PM

Friday, July 10, 2009

After Several Decades, Ann Gets Her Rose Plant

We had climbing roses back in the late 1970s when we lived in Virginia. They were something of a maintenance problem. I also noticed that all the people with roses allotted a fair amount of time to pruning, fertilizer, insecticide, etc. Thus I resolved not to have roses. This despite the fact that Ann has wanted one since the mid 80s.

However, in 2000 or so, someone bred a variety of roses called "Knockout", that required very little of pruning (it only grew to about 4 feet in height and three feet in spread, needed no fertilizer or insecticide and had relatively soft thorns). Yesterday, I noticed on-line that HomeDepot had them on sale so I brought one home and planted it.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 8:50 AM

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Neighbor found a Parakeet

One of our neighbors (about a half mile away) found a parakeet in their yard on July 6 (yesterday). They sent around the image on the left to all the email addresses they could find in the two or three neighborhood associations within presumptive parakeet flight distance.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 9:34 PM

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Shiva Minyan Followed By Elk's Last Rites

We went to a shiva minyan. The husband of one of Ann's friends had died. After we did mincha and maariv, the Elk's Lodge had a last rites ceremony.

Three fellows in tuxedo came in. One carried a chime. The master of the rites said something about the Elks. They apparently have the following as core beliefs: charity, fidelity, brotherly love and justice. The charity is supposed to be done as secretively as possible. Then they struck the chime 11 times (I didn't understand why even after reading about it but it is said to come from the time of the Norman invasion of Britain) somehow it is symbolic of something), then one of them affirmed that the departed was faithful to their four core beliefs. Then another person said something about how the example of one informs the actions of the next. I didn't get it all but the mourner was very moved by this little ceremony.

FWIW, this is about what was said after the chimes:

"You have heard the tolling of eleven strokes.
This is to remind us that with Elks the hour of eleven has a tender significance. Wherever Elks may roam, whatever their lot in life may be, when this hour falls upon the dial of night
the great heart of Elkdom swells and throbs.
It is the golden hour of recollection, the homecoming of those who wander, the mystic roll call of those who will come no more. Living or dead, Elks are never forgotten, never forsaken. Morning and noon may pass them by, the light of day sink heedlessly in the West, but ere the shadows of midnight shall fall, the chimes of memory will be pealing forth the friendly message -- "

posted by Martin Weiss  # 9:27 PM

Yet Another Dream

During the afternoon yesterday I dreamed that I was the manager of a tour group that was visiting a 20 story tall floating hotel in the Pacific.

I was very nice inside with comfy lounge chairs, etc. However, the best part of it was that you could go to the top and see the arctic icecap from one side and the antarctic icecap from the other side.

Of course this type of 'seeing' is impossible (unless the hotel can move very, very fast). As can be discovered at this site, the distance to the horizon from the top of a 300' building is about 25 miles under normal conditions.

The image is an artists conception for a Swedish group's proposal of an at-sea, floating hotel.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 9:08 AM

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