Author Archive
Monday, May 12th, 2008
Concrete, mortar, portland
As a public service, I’d like to line out some of the finer points of masonry technology. The basic building block of modern masonry products is portland cement. It is the component that, when mixed with water, causes concrete and mortar to set up. As soon as water is added, it begins to cure. Portland [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Rant by bryan
Friday, February 22nd, 2008
And then I did what I didn’t want to do
Because business is slow and I have bills to pay, I went out and got myself a job working for “the man.” And by “the man” I mean Lowes. On one hand, regular work scheduled by someone else blows a bit. On the other hand, I get money for my trouble. Decent trade, I figure.
No Comments » - Posted in Life by bryan
Thursday, January 24th, 2008
No user servicable parts. Lies.
After picking up a new hot surface igniter for a furnace, I was on my way back to the site of the aforementioned broken furnace when I realized that I don’t understand what it would be like to not fix stuff myself. I don’t give a second thought to cracking into a broken or malfunctioning [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Introspection by bryan
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
Yay for DSL
After too many years to mention, we here in the broadband no-man’s land finally have DSL. We and our neighbors literally ordered the week it was available. There has been much rejoicing. Ticker tape and confetti, even. Alright, that last bit might be an exaggeration.
The transition to DSL means that my venerable Citynet account will [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Life by bryan
Saturday, October 13th, 2007
So once a month isn’t bad, is it?
I won’t pretend that I’ve been so busy for the last month that I couldn’t possibly fit in a moment to write. I haven’t exactly been working 8 hour days and filling my spare time with lots of travel and/or overly exciting projects. The last two weeks have been somewhat more eventful than usual and [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Life by bryan
Friday, March 2nd, 2007
What’s a man gotta do?
One of my very few goals today was to get my grubby paws on some Tazo Chai. In the past, Starbucks has provided the necessary “hook-up,” as the kids are calling it these days. With business to take care of at the mall and some time to fill, I wandered to Borders and once there [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Life by bryan
Friday, February 9th, 2007
Let’s Talk Energy
You may or may not have heard the good George W. talking about two energy-related topics recently: the “Hydrogen Economy” of the future and ethanol, the goal of both being to wean America from its foreign oil dependence. Both have huge problems and I’d like to point them out for you here and now. First, [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Rant by bryan
Thursday, February 1st, 2007
Sugar
I want to chat about my favorite disaccharide, sucrose, also known as table sugar. Since the development of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), every food and beverage producer that could replace sugar with HFCS has, but why? It turns out that the US government has imposed steep tariffs on sugar imports since the Civil War. On [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Rant, Science by bryan
Wednesday, January 31st, 2007
Recount
As if anyone really cares, I actually checked out my numbers on the heat pump. It turns out that at full tilt boogie, the compressor, fan, and water pump pull 2.9kW. This lowers the cost-per-hour to $0.1531, making it an incredible cost savings over gas. In cold weather, most heat pumps switch over to electrical [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Science by bryan
Wednesday, January 31st, 2007
Let’s Talk Health
We are what we eat, right? There is a very interesting article over at the New York Times. It is a look at how science has, over the years, worked to make our diet “better.” What the article points out is that as we have fooled around with our food in the name of nutrition, [...]