January 2010
eat here in The Mission http://bit.ly/9fWhlX
not prayer flags http://bit.ly/ah3Vqd
spirals http://bit.ly/9OId17
very much intrigued and wanting to read this book http://bit.ly/b00rqe
today the sun shines on a damp city. after a scone at Arizmendi Bakery, @Natterjack and i ride BART into San Francisco.
winter in Oakland is a recurring mid-autumn day, with rain showers probable, and fat lemons in the trees. #EastBay #Winter
Jackpot and i walk down and up hills, one of us pausing to sniff every single shrub or scrump of grass where another neighbor dog has peed.
dark blue moutains hush / blue hued clouds whispering to / the sun gilded sea. #PacificCoast #airborne #haiku
i’m out of Virginia and on to Baltimore, wrapping up local business here and there, before i take to the air.
nodding along with Lawrence @Lessig’s explanation of how and why the modern Congress prevents all reform. http://bit.ly/62Tld6
with more humor and panache than i possess, Ken Robinson shares the opinion i’ve had since late childhood. #creativity http://bit.ly/82WkK9
Do schools kill creativity? talk by Sir Ken Robinson on TEDTalks… http://bit.ly/82WkK9
listening to Jeff Rubin explain the impact of diminishing fossil fuel supplies on the global and local economy. http://bit.ly/8HCOLE
that was one more Taco Al Carbon than i needed. and exactly the right amount. #Salvadorean #food
eating a couple crisp, delicious slices at Flip Pizza. thanks, Dara, for the recommendation!
driving into range of WAMU just in time for The Big Broadcast.
everything but the toothpaste http://bit.ly/52QQ34
packing a carry-on bag fit to roam from temperate to semi-tropical states; then on to the day’s errands, spanning 3 states and 350 miles.
grey slush in the rainy dawn, the West Fork now runs brown from bank to bank, icy sheets disappearing downstream.
how does perforated yellow plastic attract a mouse? these new traps look like a contrivance of Wile E. Coyote.
has anyone tried the new Victor mousetraps: looks like old-fashion trap, except the metal bait pedal is been replaced by plastic “cheese”.
need to buy more mousetraps.
mousetraps killed 1.5 mice last night; i killed 0.5 just now. #unpleasant #fractions
making travel plans for the next 3 fortnights, with a particular eye on the warmer extremities of this continent.
“Rural people are keepers of the stars.” - Anne Herbert http://bit.ly/7jVEH3
baking frozen pizza, not so much because i crave it, mostly just because it’s too big to fit in a toaster oven. (i added spices, of course.)
snowflake bottomed flurry, from naked shrub to leafless tree, you risked the ground and cat, to carry off one seed. #Dark-eyed #Junco #poem
reading the letter Kurt Vonnegut wrote home, following imprisonment in Schlachthof Fünf, in May 1945. http://bit.ly/5klKMB
one drip:
…leads to another http://bit.ly/6E1q1y
icicles outside the River Room:
6 feet long, and growing http://bit.ly/4V3ll6
icicles outside the River Room
Mykl i am posted a photo:
6 feet long, and growing http://bit.ly/6YXgd8
how many frozen drops?
Mykl i am posted a photo:
living behind wall of ice http://bit.ly/8pXzpN
eating slightly burnt cheese, because tweeting takes longer than broiling.
broiling the cheese on my steak sandwich. because i can. (yeah, it’s a slow news day.)
in the kitchen, i keep reaching for the matches to light the stove. electronic ignition is magic!
running the dryer to heat the freezing pipes in the cellar. yes, that’s the way things work in this old house. #winter
good morning, shiny new oven. what shall i bake in you today?
after 4 years with only toaster ovens, a full-size oven is like driving a car after only a moped. i’m gonna bake all my meals this week!
i just re-lit every pilot light and used every electric-igniter in the house, and nothing blew up. [performs Mechanical Genius Dance]
positioned. leveled. tested. happy blue flames — and only where they should be. purdy blue fire. i’m gonna like cooking on this thing.
how tight is “overtight”? this question is often perplexing for us over-compensating weaklings.
(my measurements are of the outside diameter of the threaded male fittings.)
confirmed that my 3/4”-to-7/8” attachment threads into the 3/4”opening on the downstream end of the gas line valve.
using my pinky and canned air to clean old teflon tape out of threads.
happy to gaze directly into the kitchen gas value and see that it is indeed shut.
glad i watched eHow.com videos yesterday, which reminded me how to use a second wrench to “back off” when loosening fittings on fittings.
successfully removed too small fitting from gas line in kitchen.
found the valve in the cellar, and successfully cutoff the main gas line into the log house.
yesterday’s repeated soap-water tests showed zero gas leaking. still, if i can’t shut off all gas upstream, i’m calling in a professional.
there is a gas valve behind the stove, @Alasdaircelt. i seek a cutoff upstream of that, before i take wrench to those pipes behind stove.