Yes, I am super late today. Let’s just say that I enjoyed my time watching the Super Bowl but not so much the day after. Anyway, I am finally feeling alive again. This isn’t my best work I have congestion and there is a bit of an echo in my recording. I need to try and record in a different location so that I don’t get so much echo. But it is good enough for now.
Today I am talking about books again. It is really me kind of working through my what my Friday book reviews look like long term. I think that they are going to stay pretty much the same this year but I don’t see them going on forever without some tweaks. I haven’t completely made up my mind yet so everything is subject to change of course.
End Your Programming Routine: I won’t steal my podcast thunder but like everything I do, I question the status quo today. I suppose that if I knew the answers to my philosophical questions then I probably wouldn’t have much of an argument. You listen and you tell me if I am off base with what I feel about classics.
Sometimes things occur and we don’t even realize that we play a role in either the outcome or the process. It takes a deep retrospective look into who we really are to understand that. If you think the a 2 million dollar toilet is ridiculous, you might want to take a look at some of your other beliefs.
End Your Programming Routine: The world is not always a pay to play model like we are taught. Sometimes, it is others pay so that we can play. Think about when we vote obligations who’s future might ultimately end up binding into that system as well. I don’t think a 2 million dollar toilet is so bad considering what you are paying for.
That didn’t take long. I put in the work to understand a little bit of Garage Band for iOS. Some things I found easier, while others were chores but I guess that is how things go. One thing travelling can do is leave you with a lot of time to think and that is exactly what I have been doing.
End Your Programming Routine: While I said it once, I will say it again… no promises here. That being the case, in order for me to get to the next level with this I need to do something different. After all, I could have 1000 true fans and not even know it because I have no constant interaction of even a good way to gauge interest. Hopefully this becomes more than talk, don’t expect it tomorrow, like my Garage Band editing.
I always remember this day because it is my brother’s birthday today. He is not going to read this or listen so to stay on topic, I am testing my headphones I got with my phone four years ago (and never used) as my microphone. I think that it came out pretty well.
End Your Programming Routine: As always, you are going to have to tune in to hear what I am really saying. That being said, the direct connection is always the most robust and simplest way of doing things. This is what I am doing as well as always testing new things. Hopefully, I will spend some time working with Garage Band these next couple of weeks as well.
You don’t have to be an Eagles fan or a Chiefs fan or even a football fan to enjoy the Super Bowl. To have a really great experience, I think that you have involve a game time menu. This is really where the rubber meets the road in today’s podcast.
Aside from the main attraction, the sideshow act is all about what I am going to do for the next couple of weeks. Of course, we will all know more as we get there. So let’s see if I stick to my game plan or not.
End Your Programming Routine: If Thanksgiving is the Super Bowl of cooking, then Super Bowl is the Christmas of cooking. It is loud, informal and fun. Don’t be caught ordering crappy pizza or store bought vegetable platters with gelatinous dip. A little more prep and many of these things can be made with little effort and are certainly way more healthy and almost likely taste better. Have fun and enjoy the entire experience.
As this ordeal is not over, this information may become dated. I suppose what prompted me to do this podcast was how impressed I was over the police work and investigation on this crime. I am still fascinated by the unknown motive and how this will all play out. As we know with OJ Simpson, a circumstantial case is not a slam dunk. But, I don’t think this suspect will have a cadre of celebrity lawyers either.
End Your Programming Routine: Every once an a while I want to do something different on something that really interests me that is not totally in-line with what I normally do. This is one of those things. At the very least, it should be an education into what tactics the police state potentially has at their disposal. Yeah, you know that cell phone that tracks your every movement and is accessible with a warrant. I doubt that this crime would have been solved 15 years ago. It was made possible by all of the privacy that we have voluntarily surrendered. But, at least in this case it was for a positive reason.
As a person growing up in the pacific northwest, I thought that I was immune to the winter blues. Apparently, if it gets bad enough then it has a technical name called Seasonal Affective Disorder. I don’t feel as though I am mentally effected but I definitely feel sluggish. sometimes.
My solution is to power through by setting goals and achievable milestones. That keeps that ball moving with ‘wins’ so that I can keep those blues away. Today I am talking about strategies and things to consider.
End Your Programming Routine: The silver lining here is that we are on the upswing, it is already late January and Spring is right around the corner. Or at least it getting ready for spring is around the corner. So, we just have to keep vigilant of the potential problems that arise.
Recently, I noticed a problem. It seemed like the first five minutes of the shower was hot and then it went lukewarm. I didn’t think that I was imagining things so I started to ask some questions. Did my wife take a shower before me? Are the kids here? And the answer was no. Hmm, seems like we might have a problem with the hot water heater.
I looked at the date on the water heater, it was dated 1994. So, that is 29 years old folks. The common stated lifecycle is 10-15 years. That means that when we bought the house, we were at the end of the expected duration. But, that is crazy, as long as the tank is not leaking (meaning rusted throughout), then there should be some serviceable parts and some way to check it.
Electric water heaters have two elements at top and a bottom. I surmised that there was a problem with the bottom element because there was some hot water. A quick aside on how water heaters work. Because of the temperature gradient, hot water is on top and cooler water is on the bottom. As you draw from the tank, hot water comes off the top while cooler water is added to the bottom. This actually pushes the hot water out. Time to test things out.
First, take the covers off of the tank. This exposes the elements and thermostats (one per element). Then, with a multi-meter set to resistance (that is the ohm’s symbol omega, sorry I cant add special characters) put the lead on each wire terminal and measure. The expected result depends on your particular element but I was expecting around12 and 13 ohms. From the picture, you can see that the top element measured 13.4 and the bottom measured 0.7 ohms.
If you remember you basic physics and circuits, 1 ohm is a broken circuit. What is likely happened that the element is all gunked up with mineral build-up. But, the element could be burned out and the circuit is completed with the mineral build up, at least that is my speculation.
Had I gotten two good resistance measurements of the top and bottom elements, I might have turned my attention to the thermostat. In theory, those could be tested too, but it is more complicated and I didn’t do it so I am not going to talk any further about it. I am going to attempt to replace the elements.
I say attempt because I hope that I can get the bottom element out. There is a lot of corrosion around the element and who knows what the inside is looking like. I will probably look at the top element and will make a decision as I get there. The replacement I ordered comes with two elements and is billed as a ‘tune-up’.
End Your Programming Routine: If you are interested, stay tuned to follow up on this project. What I am trying to get across today is that things like this are not out of reach of the average homeowner. A little knowledge of how a hot water heater works and what is possible can lead to saving a lot of money. I don’t know this for a fact, but my guess is that a plumber would replace the whole thing because after all, it is three times older than it’s expected life.
Reading Atlas Shrugged gave me a fundamental paradigm shift. Not only did it inspire me to look into philosophy as a discipline but change my appreciation for it in general. I guess it never occurred to me that fundamental understanding of the same definition is critical to proper logical analysis. It sounds so simple but I guess that I have never done it before.
End Your Programming Routine: I think this is where we start the end your programming routine. We need to understand the fundamental questions in life to be able to successfully manage and thrive. I am definitely thinking of doing more in this line, including study of philosophy. I enjoyed it, I hope you do too.
I have tried to change it up from the serious and heavy to the light and fun. So, when thinking about getting ready for New Year’s Eve, I was thinking about how we used to play Cribbage as a family on that particular day. I thought that I might be able to attempt to describe how to play on a podcast. You be the judge.
End Your Programming Routine: Being that this is kind of a game of passing time, you think about what is the value of a game like this. At fishing/hunting camp it is filling out the evening so that you can get to the purpose tomorrow. Or for sailors, it is the same kind of thing. It is a game worth having around in my opinion, whether you are waiting for the ball to drop or holed up in your bunker.
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