Burst Pipes

I went down to check on laundry last night, to find running water on the basement floor, and all over the unused downstairs bathroom.

Our house was two apartments that we combined to one. I'm working on getting them back to two so I can rent downstairs. My latest project is doing the necessary utilities to move the washer and dryer to the attic. In the meantime, they are still in the basement.

It turns out that the hot water pipe for the tub in the bathroom broke. Someone used a brass elbow to transition between copper and galvanized. The galvanized was very corroded.



I don't know if it froze, or if the corroded area let go on its own, either are possibilities. I think it froze, because there's also part of the valve that has broken.

I turned off the hot water to the downstairs which slowed the rushing water to a trickle, but didn't stop it. No other valves except the whole-house valve, so I shut that off. I was able to find a plug, cut the offending pipe and plug the end at midnight so I could turn the water back on to the rest of the house.

...except this morning, there was still a slow drip from the cold side of the tub valve. That area looks corroded too, and there is evidence that something in the area has been leaking for a while--More than likely what I thought was splashing from the tub damaging the floor was actually that leak. Cut the supply pipe to that area as well, plugged the end, and it seems to be drying out now.

We have a partial basement, and the leak was over crawlspace. Luckily it is a fairly deep crawlspace. Unluckily, the leak made a nice bed of mud, and there are years of odd junk that have been tossed into the crawlspace. I think I'm going to put off repairs until that drys out.

For Christmas, my brother takes his son to the dollar store to pick gifts out. I like that, since Christmas should be primarily for the kids. Jack is currently 3.

This Christmas, Jack picked a mug out for my wife:

Not that fascinating, except for the bottom:



He picked the "Oralia" pattern. My wife's name is Oralia...According to my brother, he had no assistance in his picks.

Intrepid Ibex second attempt

When I tried upgrading to Intrepid Ibex, I had problems that were annoying enough to go back to Hardy Heron. Unfortunately, I hadn't made a copy of my home folder before the upgrade, so I wound up with config files from both versions. The biggest problem that bothered me was flash being unstable--However, this followed me back to Hardy. I finally deleted the config files and reinstalled Flash to cure it.

I decided to give Intrepid another try, but this time backing up my home folder and doing a fresh install, rather than an upgrade.

So far, so good. Sound worked from the beginning, and I haven't had any problems with flash. Dual screen is working great, and I'm not getting the odd lines from the last time. I've intentionally tried to trigger the keyboard bug, and can't.

The previous instructions for installing XMMS didn't work, but I found this:

http://launchpadlibrarian.net/111734...uild2_i386.deb

Worked perfectly.

It has only been a couple hours, but so far all is well. I'm moving config files over as I need them rather than moving the whole home directory--this way if I have a config issue, I've got a better chance of knowing what it is. It is nice having dual monitors at home, especially since I tend to watch computer video rather than television--I can keep the video on one screen while working on the other.

LED watches

The first LED watch was the Hamilton Pulsar in late 1971, with full production in 1972, retailing for well over $1000. This was an economic disaster for Hamilton--Most of the first versions were returned, and an entirely new module installed. The first LCD watches came out within a year, and not long after got backlights. It wasn't long before the price of LED watches dropped by 98% I found this one today at a flea market, with dead batteries, excellent condition, and including the manual. There was also a similar gold one. Really good price if all it needs is batteries, not great if it is actually broken. I took a chance, and with the installation of 2 new batteries, it works fine. Nearly new, with few signs of wear. The case says Compu Chron by Unisonic. The manual says Austin Watch Company. The module inside says Sanyo. The price tag says K-mart. Gee--I got less than $5 off a 30 year old watch with dead batteries....:)

Media bias

Virtually everyone I've known, either in real life or on the internet who has first-hand experience with a newsworthy story says the media got it substantially wrong.

In some cases, it appears that they don't even try.

Compare this news story

Rocky River: Metroparks visitor settles dog fight with gun

with this version:

Dog Killed: Family Pup Shot Execution-Style While Walking With Owner In Metroparks.

From what I've been able to figure out: A man with a concealed carry license was walking his lab puppy in the park. Another man was walking a rotweiller, apparently an adult dog. The rotweiller got loose--According to its owner broke loose chasing a small animal. The rotweiller attacked the lab puppy (confirmed by the police) and after unsuccessfully trying to break up the fight, the lab's owner shot the rotweiller twice.

In my admittedly biased viewpoint, the first story is a bit anti-gun, but it at least includes more of the relevant facts.

The second version is astounding in its bias. No mention at all that the rotweiller attacked the other dog, or even that the shooter had a dog--Making it sound like the gun owner shot a loose puppy for no good reason, then ran away. (it is more likely he ran due to his "duty to retreat" from a confrontation with the rotweiller owner) Old photos and video of the rotweiller as a puppy, making it appear that the dog was still that size.

It would have been reasonable to bring up the legality of shooting the rotweiller-It isn't a perfectly clear situation since the rotweiller was attacking another dog, but I think the lab's owner will be able to claim he was in fear for his own safety, making his actions legal.

(HT to David Codera)