Common Knowlede != Truth

Remember that old myth about paper not being able to be folded more than 7 or 8 times?
Turns out a high school girl in Pomona, California found otherwise, and even wrote up a couple formulas for it. One for folding in a single direction (using a rather long sheet of paper), and the other for folding in two directions (alternating). All it took was a little motivation (free math credit if she could accomplish it), some gold foil, and $85 of toilet paper (1.2 km worth).

Of course, the first problem was thickness. Every fold doubles the thickness of what you're folding and halves its area. Doesn't seem like much, but it's kind of like that "you pay me 1 penny today and double it every day there after for a year..." little bits add up. She tried to get around that by using the thinnest sheet she could find, which was gold foil. Being a stickler for details, the math teacher reiterated that she must use paper (not foil). That proved to be a completely different problem, which was to find a manufacturer of paper that would be long enough (and/or) wide enough to test the formulas she came up with.

With an extremely long roll of TP, a large area of a mall (.6 km), and some precise measurements, she managed achieve her goal of 12 equal folds, reaching a thickness of 80 cm. A process that took over 7 hours. The strange thing is that this all happened back in 2002. What ever happened to the news? This is big news right? Oh, what's that!? Apple's releasing new iPods in 2 weeks, nevermind about that science thing.

Actually, Mythbusters covered it a while back too... must have missed that episode... wasn't that when the iPhone was looming?

I like Chick-Fil-A's marketing scheme!

Wow, I didn't expect that from the wholesome Christian chicken-sandwich company (why do I always crave their food on Sundays). Looks like a promising campaign. :-)

Actually, their new Chick-n-Strips(c) are pretty dang tasty. They are larger, but fewer in numbers (3 or 4 count instead of 4 or 6 count). The breading isn't as thick or grease laden, and I no longer get a weird aftertaste in my mouth after eating a batch. Unfortunately, it is also more expensive.

Does anyone else miss their old Chick-Fil-A sandwich honey mustard packets (before the honey-barbecue, not the dipping sauce or dressing either)? Oh well, when does the chick arrive? :-P

Firefly is coming out on Blu-ray this fall!

I would venture a guess that Firefly is the highest selling single-season series ever. I blame poor marketing and lack of sense on Fox's part (they didn't even play the series in order). Despite being canceled, the series gained enough of a following to deem it worthy of becoming a major motion picture, two successful comic book mini-series (with another on the way), a role-playing game, an upcoming MMORPG (though that'll probably fall through), a cruise, a bi-annual ball, and rumors of a second movie (unconfirmed, but highly welcomed). What does it take to get it through FOX's executives to put this series back on the air?

Needless to say, I think I found a reason to get a PS3 for Christmas. :-) What's not to love? Spaceships, cowboys, companions, and stick'n it to da man underdogs.

Oh, for those interested, Amazon has it up for pre-order for $62.95. It's due out on November 11. More info here.

812 degrees is "Normal"!?!?

Apparently, land can spontaneously combust underground. A 2-acre area in Los Padres National Forest in California is smokin'-hot!!! Literally.

Geologists theorize that this may be caused by oxygen seeping into the ground to party with hydrocarbons trying to escape from underground pockets of oil, gas, and tar... Must be one helluva shindig.

Firefighters said there's no fire present and that the area doesn't pose a threat to others, but don't most things start igniting below 500 degrees Celcius?

Not getting anywhere with your accusations against The Man? If you're in Texas, there may be another way...

No need to go all Punisher on your target (sorry, Marvel's wiki was down). Just get an affidavit stating that you are a "credible person" (you are a credible person, aren't you?) and submit it to a grand jury. The grand jury meets in secret and has the power to charge suspects with crimes which might otherwise have been overlooked by law enforcement.

In this instance, a man in Dripping Springs brought up the point that many of our elected law makers are not present when voting occurs and that they have others vote for them. He believes, as do I, that this violates a couple laws (impersonating a public servant and tampering with a government record). After numerous attempts to have it investigated by law enforcement and the DA, another lawyer mentioned the law about submitting the case to the grand jury.

In short, the grand jury found that no laws were broken. I'm guessing that is probably due to how common the practice is (voting for someone not present) and/or that they interpreted the actions as not violating the intent of those laws... ah well, at least it shed some light on the law so that the lawmakers can plug it up before it's used again. :-)

Back from vacation, absence of communications, and more...

Went on a two-week jaunt to NC,VA, and FL with the family.
Among other things, I saw family, friends, deer, rabbits, heron, lories, gorillas, tigers (went to Busch Gardens), tourists (which I apparently have become as well), and more. Some more notable findings were that the Royal Empress tree (paulownia tomentosa), which I wrote about earlier, is in fact invading much of the Appalachian area's disturbed land (roadsides, mostly) with already at few flowering/seed producing size (3+ years), and many, many more ending their first or second years of growth. As invasive as they are, I'm not so sure their harming their surroundings in any way. The leaves are great for natural composting as well as for wildlife, and with their fast growth rate, they'll help curb erosion. Really, the only downside I see so far is that these are growing in place of other native trees.

As for the lack of posts, the mountains aren't exactly friendly to the wireless service industry. Neither is low population density, as AT&T didn't have any services available (not even roaming) in Clarksville, VA. Having zero bars every now and then is a nice change. Especially when relaxing in a lake.

With all that said, I must now get back to work. Oi!

When installing new outlets...

We needed a couple extra outlets in the garage. Luckily, that's where the circuit breaker is. Even luckier, we needed it just below it. Even luckier-er, one of my friends is an electrician. So we-err- he got it installed in less time then it would have taken me to look it up on the internet. The lesson? Start at the outlet and work your way back to the breaker. No risk of shock that way. Thanks again Ben!

July 4, 1826

President John Adams and President Thomas Jefferson both died on this day. 50 years after they signed The Declaration of Independence.

We have a police officer on the block.(yay!)

While walking with Connor and Susan to get the mail we met up with a few of our neighbors and their kids (Great bunch, by the way). Well, low and behold, we meet another great neighbor. A very friendly, informative, and helpful police officer.

As a result of meeting her (the officer), Susan may be helping to coordinate a neighborhood watch. That's something our neighborhood has needed for a while as the some of the kids have become a bit unruly...

The Paulownia Tree

In searching for ways to help cool our home and prevent more $250/month power bills (all windows already have blinds, and are UV coated), I thought I'd see what mother nature could offer in the form of some quick shade without breaking the bank buying a already semi-mature tree ($150+ for a 15 ft tall oak? c'mon). I figured that I'd need something that can grow at least 40 feet when mature, and shade at least the sides of the house over the next couple of years... Have you seen the sunny side of our house? The Dark-gray shingles don't help much either.

It's not like my yard is without trees as I have some a few Texas persimmon trees (little dark green trees in the front), a few honey mesquites (seeds/seedlings are a pain in the arse foot), and the two required trees from D.R. Horton (of the oak variety), all of which will look beautiful in 20 years or so, but what am I to do in the mean time? So, I looked around the interwebs to see what types of fast growing shade trees are available. Central Texas Gardener was very helpful, as was the USDA's PLANTS site, and DavesGarden.com, Then I stumbled onto the Royal Empress Tree on fast-growing-trees.com and thought I had found the holy grail.

The Royal Empress Tree, also known as paulownia tomentosa grows 10 - 15 ft. per year, provides a wide, even shade canopy, is freeze tollerant, somewhat drought tolerant, loves full sun, and even produces a number of beautiful flowers in the spring (which Susan will love). That's when I started thinking, this must be too good to be true (which it was). Conveniently left out of the sales information was the fact that this particular species produces millions of tiny seeds that take to the air with the slightest of breezes, and that it is considered invasive by the USDA, as well as the states of Connecticut and Kentucky (other states too, but it really looks like they just copied what CT and KY wrote... lame...USDA did too, DOUBLE LAME). So, just as I was about to settle with Central Texas Gardener's (great show/site, btw) recommendation of a Monterey or Lacey Oak, I found out that there are other species of paulownia available. The most popular of which are the elongata, kawakamii, orienta, and fortunei.

Long story short, I found out that these other species are not invasive and don't spread seeds. They are grown for a number of lumber uses (surfboards, musical instruments, and furniture). They absorb a ton of carbon, and help clense soil of toxins (which means you have to be careful with herbicides and pesticides), and their leaves make great compost (more benefits here). So, come the end of July, I'll be planting two of them. One orienta for the side yard which will grow to about 50 ft, and one kawakamii for the back yard which will grow to about 35 ft. I'll post a few picts when they get here.

I Believe I've Over Committed.

E-gads, wasn't this supposed to be a daily blog? My apologies to myself and anyone else, but every time I sit down to write something, I either get writer's block (what to write, what to write), or writer's jam (should I write about this, that, the other, the other this, the other that, etc.). ...Sometimes I think the jam is worse than the block.

So (in hopes that putting this in writing will help to cement it more in my character) over committing is far worse than under performing.

I hope to keep this up to the best of my ability as there are a number of things that I'd love to get down in writing. I must now tend to my other obligations, namely the corvair site, and the cruisin' classics site... as well as adding some newer pictures to our family's photo site... Oi!

More to come...

I learned how to moblog...

... and that i like some cigars.

Moldy cheese isn't necessarily bad.

I read DIYLife's site every now and then as it sometimes has handy tips for checking off "honey do list" items in a faster/easier manner. Plus, I find that reading about other people doing something that I need to do makes me want to actually do it (I admit I have low self-initiative, but that's another post altogether).

Anyway, I stumbled upon their stumble upon another site's article (as often happens in blogs) on the shelf life of cheeses. Turns out that the blue fuzzy mold on cheddar's and the like is just on the surface and can just be brushed off. Other things of note are that ricotta's, mozzarella's and the like (soft white uncased cheeses) last only a week (their mold issa notta so good), blue cheese almost never goes bad when stored properly, and that plastic wrap without paper is a no-no unless you like the taste of plastic wrap.

So, our last power bill was $250.

Long story short, 80 degrees Fahrenheit is quite livable... Just be sure to call/knock before coming over. :-)

I think I've wasted a lot of money on gas.

In planning the budget for an upcoming vacation, I realized I've wasting a bit of money of gasoline. Nothing big like sitting in an idle car all night (it was a cold night, and I was in no shape to drive... and my truck lasted about 8 hours), it's all the little trips here and there.

I would take a trip to the local grocery store in my 20 mpg truck or small suv (if bringing the wife and kid) about 4 times a week. For me, it's about 1.5 miles each way. Add in a cold start (equivalent to about 1/8 a gallon for me) and that's .275 gals or $1.10 (if gas is $4/gal). Then there's the trip to the Super Wal-Mart, Target and/or Petsmart (I'll refrain from the links here) made at least twice a week, which is 4 miles away with 2 cold starts (cause let's face it, we almost never run in and out of a Super Wal-Mart). That's .675 gals or $2.70 for each round trip. Finally, since our kid goes through milk, apple juice by the gallon and diapers by the box, we make a trip to Sam's Wholesale Club at least once a week which is about 8 miles and another 2 cold starts (same reason as the Super Wal-Mart) and totals out at $4.20 per trip.

4 - $1.10 trips to the grocery, 2 - $2.70 trips, and 1 $4.20 trip = $14 a week in gas just to buy weekly essentials.

Ok, $56 a month may not seem like much for some, but that's a night of babysitting for us. So, in order to help earn us a night out (or more likely pay down some debt), we're making a few changes.

First, on a recommendation from a friend, I bought a new high performance air filter and timing advancer for my truck. I spent about $100 total (installed) and now get an average of 1.3 mpg more than before (6.1% increase). For me, that's like getting another gallon of gas per fill up for free, so they should finish paying for themselves in another couple months.

Second, and most important, we're changing our shopping routine a bit. Sam's is on the way to work, so I can stop there on the way there or back, and since I'm trying to get to work/home, I'm not as prone to exploring (time saver). Also, we're only going to go to the grocery store and the Super Wal-Mart/target area once a week at most (so we say). Plus, if we time our trips to the Super Wal-Mart right, then I load up a gift card and use it for gas, saving $.03 per gallon.

Last, I'm trying to get the hang of hypermiling... it's a bit tougher then it sounds (at least to produce any noticeable results).

Feel free to share any other tips.

Oh (last minute tip), don't forget that Discover Card holders get 5% cash back on gas purchases July-September ($4 gas will cost $3.80). Not bad.

The "Moon Illusion" or "How our minds misinterpret perspective"

So, with the Summer's Solstice Full Moon upon us, Physorg.com brought to light one of those things that we assumed to occur for one reason, but turns out to be for a completely different reason.

As the moon rises above the horizon the next couple of nights, take notice of its size... big, huh? I always thought this was due to some type of lensing effect from the atmosphere that made it look bigger.

Turns out that is not the case... Turns out, it's all in our head. Don't believe me? Take a picture of it (zoomed out all the way, of course), wait a few hours and take another picture and compare them (same zoom setting). Don't want to wait? Supposedly (I haven't tried this yet), you can also lose the illusion by looking at it upside down.

Of course, I plan on checking all this out tonight... hopefully my next post won't be about not trusting everything you hear on the net.

Gene Roddenberry was a Futurist

Gene Roddenberry foresaw the automatic sliding door, flip-phones, and hand-held computers. He believed in equal rights, VLDB's (the LCARS system), and a galaxy filled with exoplanets. Above all, he was able to present his (and others') ideas of the future in ways that inspired the public to bring them to life. In the vast emptiness of space (where no one can hear you scream), he showed that hope, determination, and respect of others can get you from alpha to delta and back again.

Some newer Star Trek type technologies making it to reality include: the medical tricorder; cloaking; cloning; the holodeck; instant translators (no Klingon yet though).

If I accomplish nothing else in my life, I hope to inspire those around me.
(I'm sure someone said this at some point in the history of men, though it may have been expressed as "ugh.")

Something Lernd - about the blog/me

In an effort to help get a few thoughts down on paper in writing (as well as improve my initiative), I've decided to start cataloging a thing or two I've learned each day. Possibly akin to Doogie Howser's personal journal, but without all that silly moral of the story crap. Look for something new each day or so. Perhaps you'll lern something too...