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

Archives

09/01/2003 - 10/01/2003   10/01/2003 - 11/01/2003   11/01/2003 - 12/01/2003   12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004   01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004   02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004   03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004   04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004   05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004   06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004   07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004   08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004   09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004   10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004   11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004   12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005   01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005   02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005   03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005   04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005   05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005   06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005   07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005   08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005   09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005   10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005   11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005   12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006   01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006   02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006   03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006   04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006   05/01/2006 - 06/01/2006   06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006   07/01/2006 - 08/01/2006   08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006   09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006   10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006   11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006   12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007   01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007   02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007   03/01/2007 - 04/01/2007   04/01/2007 - 05/01/2007   05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007   06/01/2007 - 07/01/2007   07/01/2007 - 08/01/2007   08/01/2007 - 09/01/2007   09/01/2007 - 10/01/2007   10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007   11/01/2007 - 12/01/2007   12/01/2007 - 01/01/2008   01/01/2008 - 02/01/2008   02/01/2008 - 03/01/2008   03/01/2008 - 04/01/2008   04/01/2008 - 05/01/2008   05/01/2008 - 06/01/2008   06/01/2008 - 07/01/2008   07/01/2008 - 08/01/2008   08/01/2008 - 09/01/2008   09/01/2008 - 10/01/2008   10/01/2008 - 11/01/2008   11/01/2008 - 12/01/2008   12/01/2008 - 01/01/2009   01/01/2009 - 02/01/2009   02/01/2009 - 03/01/2009   03/01/2009 - 04/01/2009   04/01/2009 - 05/01/2009   05/01/2009 - 06/01/2009   06/01/2009 - 07/01/2009   07/01/2009 - 08/01/2009   08/01/2009 - 09/01/2009   09/01/2009 - 10/01/2009   10/01/2009 - 11/01/2009   11/01/2009 - 12/01/2009   12/01/2009 - 01/01/2010   01/01/2010 - 02/01/2010   02/01/2010 - 03/01/2010   03/01/2010 - 04/01/2010   04/01/2010 - 05/01/2010   05/01/2010 - 06/01/2010   06/01/2010 - 07/01/2010   07/01/2010 - 08/01/2010   08/01/2010 - 09/01/2010   09/01/2010 - 10/01/2010   10/01/2010 - 11/01/2010   11/01/2010 - 12/01/2010   12/01/2010 - 01/01/2011   01/01/2011 - 02/01/2011   02/01/2011 - 03/01/2011   03/01/2011 - 04/01/2011   04/01/2011 - 05/01/2011   05/01/2011 - 06/01/2011   06/01/2011 - 07/01/2011   07/01/2011 - 08/01/2011   08/01/2011 - 09/01/2011   09/01/2011 - 10/01/2011   10/01/2011 - 11/01/2011   11/01/2011 - 12/01/2011   12/01/2011 - 01/01/2012   01/01/2012 - 02/01/2012   02/01/2012 - 03/01/2012   03/01/2012 - 04/01/2012   04/01/2012 - 05/01/2012   05/01/2012 - 06/01/2012   06/01/2012 - 07/01/2012   07/01/2012 - 08/01/2012   08/01/2012 - 09/01/2012   09/01/2012 - 10/01/2012   10/01/2012 - 11/01/2012   11/01/2012 - 12/01/2012   12/01/2012 - 01/01/2013   01/01/2013 - 02/01/2013   02/01/2013 - 03/01/2013   03/01/2013 - 04/01/2013   04/01/2013 - 05/01/2013   05/01/2013 - 06/01/2013   06/01/2013 - 07/01/2013   07/01/2013 - 08/01/2013   08/01/2013 - 09/01/2013   09/01/2013 - 10/01/2013   10/01/2013 - 11/01/2013   11/01/2013 - 12/01/2013   12/01/2013 - 01/01/2014   01/01/2014 - 02/01/2014   02/01/2014 - 03/01/2014   03/01/2014 - 04/01/2014   04/01/2014 - 05/01/2014   05/01/2014 - 06/01/2014   06/01/2014 - 07/01/2014   07/01/2014 - 08/01/2014   08/01/2014 - 09/01/2014   09/01/2014 - 10/01/2014   10/01/2014 - 11/01/2014   11/01/2014 - 12/01/2014   12/01/2014 - 01/01/2015   01/01/2015 - 02/01/2015   02/01/2015 - 03/01/2015   03/01/2015 - 04/01/2015   04/01/2015 - 05/01/2015   05/01/2015 - 06/01/2015   06/01/2015 - 07/01/2015   07/01/2015 - 08/01/2015   08/01/2015 - 09/01/2015   09/01/2015 - 10/01/2015   10/01/2015 - 11/01/2015   11/01/2015 - 12/01/2015   12/01/2015 - 01/01/2016   01/01/2016 - 02/01/2016   02/01/2016 - 03/01/2016   03/01/2016 - 04/01/2016   04/01/2016 - 05/01/2016   05/01/2016 - 06/01/2016   06/01/2016 - 07/01/2016   07/01/2016 - 08/01/2016   08/01/2016 - 09/01/2016   09/01/2016 - 10/01/2016   10/01/2016 - 11/01/2016   11/01/2016 - 12/01/2016   12/01/2016 - 01/01/2017   01/01/2017 - 02/01/2017   02/01/2017 - 03/01/2017   03/01/2017 - 04/01/2017   04/01/2017 - 05/01/2017   05/01/2017 - 06/01/2017   06/01/2017 - 07/01/2017   07/01/2017 - 08/01/2017   08/01/2017 - 09/01/2017   09/01/2017 - 10/01/2017   10/01/2017 - 11/01/2017   11/01/2017 - 12/01/2017   12/01/2017 - 01/01/2018   01/01/2018 - 02/01/2018   02/01/2018 - 03/01/2018   03/01/2018 - 04/01/2018   04/01/2018 - 05/01/2018   05/01/2018 - 06/01/2018   06/01/2018 - 07/01/2018   07/01/2018 - 08/01/2018   08/01/2018 - 09/01/2018   09/01/2018 - 10/01/2018   10/01/2018 - 11/01/2018   11/01/2018 - 12/01/2018   12/01/2018 - 01/01/2019   01/01/2019 - 02/01/2019   02/01/2019 - 03/01/2019   03/01/2019 - 04/01/2019   04/01/2019 - 05/01/2019   05/01/2019 - 06/01/2019   06/01/2019 - 07/01/2019   07/01/2019 - 08/01/2019   08/01/2019 - 09/01/2019   09/01/2019 - 10/01/2019   10/01/2019 - 11/01/2019   11/01/2019 - 12/01/2019   12/01/2019 - 01/01/2020   01/01/2020 - 02/01/2020   02/01/2020 - 03/01/2020   03/01/2020 - 04/01/2020   04/01/2020 - 05/01/2020   05/01/2020 - 06/01/2020   06/01/2020 - 07/01/2020   07/01/2020 - 08/01/2020   08/01/2020 - 09/01/2020   09/01/2020 - 10/01/2020   10/01/2020 - 11/01/2020   11/01/2020 - 12/01/2020   12/01/2020 - 01/01/2021   01/01/2021 - 02/01/2021   02/01/2021 - 03/01/2021   03/01/2021 - 04/01/2021   04/01/2021 - 05/01/2021   05/01/2021 - 06/01/2021   06/01/2021 - 07/01/2021   07/01/2021 - 08/01/2021   08/01/2021 - 09/01/2021   09/01/2021 - 10/01/2021   10/01/2021 - 11/01/2021   11/01/2021 - 12/01/2021   12/01/2021 - 01/01/2022   01/01/2022 - 02/01/2022   02/01/2022 - 03/01/2022   03/01/2022 - 04/01/2022   04/01/2022 - 05/01/2022   05/01/2022 - 06/01/2022   06/01/2022 - 07/01/2022   07/01/2022 - 08/01/2022   08/01/2022 - 09/01/2022   09/01/2022 - 10/01/2022   10/01/2022 - 11/01/2022   11/01/2022 - 12/01/2022   12/01/2022 - 01/01/2023   01/01/2023 - 02/01/2023   02/01/2023 - 03/01/2023   03/01/2023 - 04/01/2023   04/01/2023 - 05/01/2023   05/01/2023 - 06/01/2023   06/01/2023 - 07/01/2023   07/01/2023 - 08/01/2023   08/01/2023 - 09/01/2023   09/01/2023 - 10/01/2023   10/01/2023 - 11/01/2023   11/01/2023 - 12/01/2023   12/01/2023 - 01/01/2024   01/01/2024 - 02/01/2024   02/01/2024 - 03/01/2024   03/01/2024 - 04/01/2024   04/01/2024 - 05/01/2024   05/01/2024 - 06/01/2024   06/01/2024 - 07/01/2024   07/01/2024 - 08/01/2024   08/01/2024 - 09/01/2024   09/01/2024 - 10/01/2024