THE WEISS CHRONICLES

Wednesday, June 26, 2024

I was driving and noticed a warning indicator I had never seen before. I pulled off the road and got out the manual. It was the "Traction Contol Off" indicator. Even after reading the manual description I wasn't sure I understood what had gone wrong because the manual implied that I had pushed a button to turn this off and I couldn't find the button. Anyway, I didn't even know the car had traction control but it seems most cars have had this since about 2013 or so. If I understand correctly, there is a sensor in the tire control that measures traction. If it indicates a loss of traction, e.g. if the vehicle is skidding on ice, the power to that axle is reduced. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ Apparently the system reboots because I shut the car off for awhile and when I started it again the indicator didn't appear.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 4:16 PM

Monday, June 24, 2024

Consult before hip surgery and a perfect birthday 

This is a follow up from April 25. I went to Medstar (see image) for a consult with the hip surgeon (he also does knees). Parking was even worse of a problem then it was in April. Surgery on my left hip is scheduled for July 22. Surgeon is Dr Ken Vaz. He said he has done almost 1000 hip replacements. His number one concern is infection but that has happened to his patients fewer than 10 times. He said the second concern is a stroke but that has happened only about 5 times. They only do one hip at a time because they think the trauma is too great for some people and it would triple or quadruple the complications. They will take 6 weeks before doing the right hip. I can come home right after surgery if someone I know picks me up at the surgical center. Otherwise I would stay one night and I could take a taxi or Uber home. After surgery I should plan for at least 4 days at home and not driving (because I will be on oxycodone at that point). When home, I should plan to walk around the house with a walker, not a cane because falling and fracturing might cause secondary problems. After seeing the surgeon I got an order for a blood test. There is a Labcorp office in the same building. .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. When I was at the phlebotomy chair, the phlebotomist, verifying my identity, asked me what my birthday was. I said, April 21, 1950. She said 'Perfect'. I said, "well, somebody probably had rain that day".

posted by Martin Weiss  # 4:42 PM

Saturday, June 22, 2024

broiled salmon belly for lunch 

Last week I was at the caterer and they had cut up some 40 pounds of salmon. Customers only like the top of the salmon because it looks better when cooked but not the belly so the chef and I split about 6 pounds of salmon belly. The salmon belly has more fat in it than the top. I broiled it on Friday and we had it today (Saturday) for lunch (the picture is from the internet). I used some spices from the spice rack before cooking and some red onions after cooking as garnish. .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. I think it was far better than regular broiled salmon. The extra fat made for more crispness also.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 9:58 PM

Friday, June 21, 2024

Our Primary Care Physician Works for Amazon 

For many years it was Potomac Physicians. About 3 years ago or so they joined a group called "One Medical". Soon after that Amazon bought them. Their offices are in the Penthouse Suite of a 12 story building and the waiting room is actually quite nice. Click on image to enlarge. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... I asked our doctor if Amazon might move them into tight quarters to save money. He said that they had signed a 10 year lease with a substantial penalty clause for breaking it so Amazon probably wouldn't do that.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 6:53 PM

Monday, June 17, 2024

Touchpad fixed itself today - more than once 

My cursor sometimes goes dead, that is, it doesn't move when I use the touchpad. My fix has been doing a re boot. This takes about a minute or so and is annoying but not enough to make me get a new laptop or have the old one repaired. Today the cursor went dead. I didn't reboot because I had a phone call and it took perhaps a minute or so. When I went back to the laptop the cursor was alive again. It fixed itself. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ Later today the cursor went dead again and just as an experiment I waited about a minute and used the touchpad and sure enough, it was alive again. So the fix I had been using took about the same time as just waiting for a self fix. At least today.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 10:06 PM

Friday, June 14, 2024

Special day off earlier this year 

I was speaking with someone today. He was college age and wearing a tee shirt with the word 'Colgate'. I asked him if he went to Colgate Univ. He said 'yes'. I said, did they give you the day off (April 8) to see the eclipse (Colgate is a bit south of Lake Ontario and is either right on the edge of the totality zone or not too far away. He said, "As a matter of fact, they did." .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................]I expected a 'No'.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 5:41 PM

Sunday, June 09, 2024

Ice Cubes Overnight 

Sometime around 10pm last night I made a glass of ice tea for myself. I used about a half dozen or so ice cubes. The glass holds about 20 ounces. I went to sleep about midnight without finishing the glass. This morning, about 830am I sipped from the glass. The tea was still cold and I could even hear the ice cubes rattle around. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. So it seems the technology for making cold (and hot) cups have improved a lot over the past few decades.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 9:35 AM

Thursday, June 06, 2024

Tornado Hits Gaithersburg, next day another tornado warning 

Yesterday didn't start off like a tornado day. It was warm but not hot, cloudy but not threatening, some wind but not windy. However, while I was sitting around reading in the evening, my phone gave me a tornado warning, then another, then another, then another. I went to the local radar and saw some nasty thunderstorm echoes north of us. We eventually heard some thunder and got a few drops of rain. Gaithersburg is about 5 miles north of us and there was some damage and some injuries, although I didn't see any reports of fatalities and from the damage, I'm guessing the tornado was only an F1. ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................What is interesting is that today we had another tornado warning, this time in the early afternoon. Again, the weather in the morning didn't seem like a severe storm day.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 2:52 PM

Tuesday, June 04, 2024

A quick delivery 

I ordered some products from Home Depot's website about 1030am today. One of them arrived by about 1215pm the same day. It was deer and rabbit repellant. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Interestingly one product I wanted wasn't available for home delivery and one was delivered on June 6. Oddly, the June 6 delivery included, in the same container, a product Ann had ordered from a different company.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 3:57 PM

Sunday, June 02, 2024

Almost finished the Passover Chocolates 

Like a lot of people, I over buy for Passover. One thing I have overbought many years in a row is Passover chocolate (as in the image). I am finishing the last box of this in the coming week. There are some other chocolate items I will be finishing after that. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... I also have one frozen passover rotesserie chicken to unthaw and serve. I might get that done in the next two weeks.

posted by Martin Weiss  # 5:47 PM

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