Out of the Blue [Jun 08, 2023, 11:58 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
The smoke around here yesterday was worse than Tuesday. It looks a little
clearer thus far today, so maybe we're past the worst of it. I hope everyone
affected is staying safe. We should already have an air purifier in the
BlueTower due to MrsBlue's asthma, but we don't. I ordered one that won't arrive
until Saturday. I hope it will be too late because things will clear by then.
But either way, it seems like a good idea.
We didn't need further complications yesterday, but that didn't stop the kitchen sink from springing a leak. I've been able to accomplish simple sink repairs in the past, but this one is hard to work with, and I quickly gave up. Of course, the plumber took 30 seconds to fix this. It was just a loose connector. So I got to slap my forehead the way friends and family react to me when I solve their computer issues that quickly. Experience always helps. The good news is he figured out something else I screwed up. I complained that I couldn't get our newish water heater to do its job. The water wasn't so hot and ran out fairly quickly, even after I turned it up. He quickly identified our model as one with two separate thermostats (I had only found and adjusted one). Yup, having them at different temps was causing the problem and also risked burning out one of the heating elements. It doesn't seem having two thermostats that need to be in sync behind separate screw panels is a great design decision. But there it is. After a recalibration, I enjoyed a shower without running out of hot water for the first time in a long time. So even though we had to pay to get two trivial things cleared up, we probably got our money's worth.
Obituary: Pat Robertson Dead at 93. Thanks RedEye9.
We didn't need further complications yesterday, but that didn't stop the kitchen sink from springing a leak. I've been able to accomplish simple sink repairs in the past, but this one is hard to work with, and I quickly gave up. Of course, the plumber took 30 seconds to fix this. It was just a loose connector. So I got to slap my forehead the way friends and family react to me when I solve their computer issues that quickly. Experience always helps. The good news is he figured out something else I screwed up. I complained that I couldn't get our newish water heater to do its job. The water wasn't so hot and ran out fairly quickly, even after I turned it up. He quickly identified our model as one with two separate thermostats (I had only found and adjusted one). Yup, having them at different temps was causing the problem and also risked burning out one of the heating elements. It doesn't seem having two thermostats that need to be in sync behind separate screw panels is a great design decision. But there it is. After a recalibration, I enjoyed a shower without running out of hot water for the first time in a long time. So even though we had to pay to get two trivial things cleared up, we probably got our money's worth.
Obituary: Pat Robertson Dead at 93. Thanks RedEye9.
Clearing Round-up
Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.Story
Science
Thanks Max.
- Elastocaloric cooling system opens door to climate-friendly AC.
- Orcas rip rudder off boat and follow it all the way to port, in 1st known attack of its kind. The uprising continues.
- Virgin birth' recorded in crocodile for 1st time ever.
Media
- Coffee Roasting Explained. Thanks RedEye9.
- People Having A Bad Day - Funny Fails Compilation. Amazing heavy truck fails throughout. Thanks VideoSift.
Follow-up
- Fifa misled fans over ‘carbon-neutral Qatar World Cup’, regulator finds. Wipe that shocked look off your face.
The Funnies
- xkcd: UFO Evidence. Thanks The Flying Penguin.
The Flying Penguin wrote on Jun 9, 2023, 13:49:Shows what I know.
Yeah it's not even electronics. Those are mechanical. Good explanation here of what's inside one in the first 2 minutes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nifLZkI7bJI
Stephen "Blue" Heaslip
Blue's News Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, El Presidente for Life
Blue's News Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, El Presidente for Life
Burrito of Peace wrote on Jun 8, 2023, 22:55:"Metaphorically speaking," he doesn't exist. He's in a lifeless void lacking consciousness, where he rightly belongs.Kxmode wrote on Jun 8, 2023, 18:52:Burrito of Peace wrote on Jun 8, 2023, 13:14:He's not in hell. He's just dead. A lifeless, decomposing corpse. That's what the Bible says about death...
Rest in piss, Pat Roberts, and enjoy your VIP suite in Hell, metaphorically speaking.
Christian mythology "says" a lot of things. Thus the end "metaphorically speaking".
"...and now with sports. The Cointen Spinky Whompers flumped the Floing Boing Welfencloppers, 70-fluff to 40-flabe. At the tone, the time will be 26 railroad."
Yeah it's not even electronics. Those are mechanical. Good explanation here of what's inside one in the first 2 minutes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nifLZkI7bJI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nifLZkI7bJI
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." - Isaac Asimov
Blue wrote on Jun 9, 2023, 12:32:The temperature sensing device inside those thermostats is pressed right up against the tank so they can do their job.RedEye9 wrote on Jun 9, 2023, 11:44:That makes sense. But I don't understand why there isn't a single control for both thermostats if they need to be set to the same temp. As I say, they are each in a separate screw down compartment.The Flying Penguin wrote on Jun 9, 2023, 11:13:Benefits of a dual element water heater
Blue: A surprising number of standard (usually the tall versions) have dual thermostats and heating elements. It's been that way a long time. Not sure why, except for redundancy.
Having two heating elements that run independently, dual-element water heaters are typically more energy-efficient than their single-element counterparts. Using less electricity can help lower your monthly energy bills and be better for the environment. Dual-element water heaters can also warm water quicker and more consistently.
In an unrelated oddity, each of those compartments has a foam rubber insulator that goes outside the thermostat and other works when you close it up. Nothing like trapping your electronics in with the heat!
If car electronics can handle it underneath the hood next to a hot exhaust manifold, a water heater ain’t nothing.
"I expect death to be nothingness and by removing from me all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism." Isaac Asimov
RedEye9 wrote on Jun 9, 2023, 11:44:That makes sense. But I don't understand why there isn't a single control for both thermostats if they need to be set to the same temp. As I say, they are each in a separate screw down compartment.The Flying Penguin wrote on Jun 9, 2023, 11:13:Benefits of a dual element water heater
Blue: A surprising number of standard (usually the tall versions) have dual thermostats and heating elements. It's been that way a long time. Not sure why, except for redundancy.
Having two heating elements that run independently, dual-element water heaters are typically more energy-efficient than their single-element counterparts. Using less electricity can help lower your monthly energy bills and be better for the environment. Dual-element water heaters can also warm water quicker and more consistently.
In an unrelated oddity, each of those compartments has a foam rubber insulator that goes outside the thermostat and other works when you close it up. Nothing like trapping your electronics in with the heat!
Stephen "Blue" Heaslip
Blue's News Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, El Presidente for Life
Blue's News Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, El Presidente for Life
The guy getting knocked off the ladder in that fail video: Happened to me 14 years ago except that it was a taller ladder, and the back of my head hit the chainsaw blade (which was braked thankfully). Required a few staples on the back of my head, and resulted in a collapsed disc. No surgery required for the back, but it was a long year of physical therapy with my gym trainer, before I got back to anywhere near normal. Two years before I was 100%. My mission was to build up as much muscle in my core as possible so it wouldn't bother me. Nowadays just some occasional mild sciatica on a bad day, but I got off lucky.
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." - Isaac Asimov
The Flying Penguin wrote on Jun 9, 2023, 11:13:Benefits of a dual element water heater
Blue: A surprising number of standard (usually the tall versions) have dual thermostats and heating elements. It's been that way a long time. Not sure why, except for redundancy.
Having two heating elements that run independently, dual-element water heaters are typically more energy-efficient than their single-element counterparts. Using less electricity can help lower your monthly energy bills and be better for the environment. Dual-element water heaters can also warm water quicker and more consistently.
"I expect death to be nothingness and by removing from me all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism." Isaac Asimov
Blue: A surprising number of standard (usually the tall versions) have dual thermostats and heating elements. It's been that way a long time. Not sure why, except for redundancy.
That said, I'm rather spoiled nowadays since we have an demand propane heater at the new house. The down side is a slight delay before you hot water.
---
Being a fan Larry Niven & Jerry Pournell's book "Inferno", I keep trying to decide what circle of Hell Pat would wind up in. There's so many sins that would apply. The 9th circle of treachery? The 5th circle of wrath? The 8th circle of fraud and false prophets? I'm settling on the 4th circle of greed. In Niven and Pournell's book, the damned in the 4th circle are encased in one ton gold robes and forced to keep walking. If you stand still it heats up slowly until you're roasting. If you move, it only cools slowly. Sounds fitting.
Fun read BTW. One of my all time fav sci fi books. 1976 Hugo and Nebula awards winner. Basically an atheist sci fi author dies and finds himself in what appears to be Dante's Inferno, but upgraded because Hell gets modern tech (eg: instead of vicious dogs, the wood of suicides is patrolled by driverless black corvettes - a great line from the book is "Why aren't there Cadillacs in Hell? Cadillacs belong in Hell."). Along the way he meets many famous figures from history as he tries to find an escape route, and find out the reason for the existence of The Inferno (is it an amusement park for people in the future? Was it created by aliens? Or is he really in Hell?)
Really fun read. There's a lot of ironic humor. If you're a fan of the Bobiverse series, I think you'd like it. I must have read it two dozen times.
This comment was edited on Jun 9, 2023, 12:27.
That said, I'm rather spoiled nowadays since we have an demand propane heater at the new house. The down side is a slight delay before you hot water.
---
Being a fan Larry Niven & Jerry Pournell's book "Inferno", I keep trying to decide what circle of Hell Pat would wind up in. There's so many sins that would apply. The 9th circle of treachery? The 5th circle of wrath? The 8th circle of fraud and false prophets? I'm settling on the 4th circle of greed. In Niven and Pournell's book, the damned in the 4th circle are encased in one ton gold robes and forced to keep walking. If you stand still it heats up slowly until you're roasting. If you move, it only cools slowly. Sounds fitting.
Fun read BTW. One of my all time fav sci fi books. 1976 Hugo and Nebula awards winner. Basically an atheist sci fi author dies and finds himself in what appears to be Dante's Inferno, but upgraded because Hell gets modern tech (eg: instead of vicious dogs, the wood of suicides is patrolled by driverless black corvettes - a great line from the book is "Why aren't there Cadillacs in Hell? Cadillacs belong in Hell."). Along the way he meets many famous figures from history as he tries to find an escape route, and find out the reason for the existence of The Inferno (is it an amusement park for people in the future? Was it created by aliens? Or is he really in Hell?)
Really fun read. There's a lot of ironic humor. If you're a fan of the Bobiverse series, I think you'd like it. I must have read it two dozen times.
This comment was edited on Jun 9, 2023, 12:27.
"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." - Isaac Asimov
Kxmode wrote on Jun 8, 2023, 18:52:Burrito of Peace wrote on Jun 8, 2023, 13:14:He's not in hell. He's just dead. A lifeless, decomposing corpse. That's what the Bible says about death...
Rest in piss, Pat Roberts, and enjoy your VIP suite in Hell, metaphorically speaking.
Christian mythology "says" a lot of things. Thus the end "metaphorically speaking".
"Just take a look around you, what do you see? Pain, suffering, and misery." -Black Sabbath, Killing Yourself to Live.
“Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains” -Jean-Jacques Rousseau
“Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains” -Jean-Jacques Rousseau
RedEye9 wrote on Jun 8, 2023, 20:13:
Trump indicted.
it'll be a miracle if the case is resolved before the next election. i don't expect him to win, but you can bet your sweet ass if he does, he'll quickly clarify his stance on whether a president can pardon himself.
RedEye9 wrote on Jun 8, 2023, 20:13:Some would have you believe this will lock in his primary win, if not a general election win. I have no idea if they are right. There are way too many idiots to predict their behavior.
Trump indicted.
“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” -- Carl Sagan
Trump indicted.
"I expect death to be nothingness and by removing from me all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism." Isaac Asimov
jdreyer wrote on Jun 8, 2023, 15:56:I liked when the guy mistakenly threw his phone in the water instead of the fish. The 18 wheeler getting picked up by the wind and the plane landing on the road were both impressive.
People Having A Bad Day - Funny Fails Compilation.
Amazing how that truck ended up on top of the roof like that. The best ones for me however are man v squirrel and man v cats.
This comment was edited on Jun 8, 2023, 20:23.
“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” -- Carl Sagan
Maybe those orcas finally caught the Orca movie (I remember that flick!) on some obscure streaming service, and aped it!
Trae Crowder - Canada, Climate Change, and Crazy People https://youtu.be/w9_fWW8opPY
"I expect death to be nothingness and by removing from me all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism." Isaac Asimov
Burrito of Peace wrote on Jun 8, 2023, 13:14:He's not in hell. He's just dead. A lifeless, decomposing corpse. That's what the Bible says about death...
Rest in piss, Pat Roberts, and enjoy your VIP suite in Hell, metaphorically speaking.
"...and now with sports. The Cointen Spinky Whompers flumped the Floing Boing Welfencloppers, 70-fluff to 40-flabe. At the tone, the time will be 26 railroad."
jdreyer wrote on Jun 8, 2023, 15:32:Too late
Orcas rip rudder off boat and follow it all the way to port, in 1st known attack of its kind.
Hollywood is cooking up a Planet of the Orcas movie as we speak.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orca_(1977_film)
People Having A Bad Day - Funny Fails Compilation.
Amazing how that truck ended up on top of the roof like that. The best ones for me however are man v squirrel and man v cats.
Amazing how that truck ended up on top of the roof like that. The best ones for me however are man v squirrel and man v cats.
If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends. Slava Ukraini!
Orcas rip rudder off boat and follow it all the way to port, in 1st known attack of its kind.
Hollywood is cooking up a Planet of the Orcas movie as we speak.
Hollywood is cooking up a Planet of the Orcas movie as we speak.
If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends. Slava Ukraini!
Queue Jeff Goldblum Jurassic Park quote, "Nature finds a way"
Seriously, a female croc asexually reproducing is crazy.
Seriously, a female croc asexually reproducing is crazy.
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