dave's blog

Jessica has started on a 24 month process with braces. She has endured all the spacers, molds, & photos to get to the real thing today. The orthodontist is dealing with jaw alignment issues, crossbite, and class II malocclusion. Amazing to see all the colors available for braces now. She chose blue for now, but is already planning for red & green when they are replaced before the Christmas holiday!

Notes from Jessica: Well, first I had spacers, but those are out now. In my mouth now, I have an expander and (obviously) top braces. The spacers were the little plastic bands that made space between my teeth so the expander could be seated. The expander is also called a quad-helix because it's like a spring, all wound up, to push my upper teeth apart. My upper jaw is so narrow that I can't properly eat with a spoon because a spoon will not fit. Hence, expander. The top set of braces is just normal braces, brackets cemented on with a wire that will pull teeth into the correct position. The bands are twisted differently because the teeth are twisted differently. There are only 2 bands on, out of 10, that could be put on simply. The others had to be put on all twisted around or not even fully put over the bracket to increase movement in a certain direction. I picked "mediterranean" and "light blue" bands 'cause blue felt patriotic on Election Day. I have to get new bands in December, so I'll probably go with Christmas-y colors.

Jessica has been knitting again! I'm not (knot?) a knitting expert, but her work is really looking pretty good to my eye. She's getting very consistent stiches for long runs. She tells me that this yarn was 85% wool and 15% mohair. It just looks great! It's super-warm and very comfy. Jessica says that if she gets a little better, and manages to master making fruit jams, she'll officially qualify to be one of the older ladies at the state fair. I think she's got a few more years before she qualifies...

In the fine cinematic feature, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” there is drawn the great distinction between “bunnies” and “rabbits” when the troop encounters the Rabbit of Caerbannog. They are told that, “death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth,” in reference to the rabbit – which is obviously not warm and cuddly like a bunny. Therefore! I pronounce the critters I vanquished today to be dust rabbits!

A friend (who shall remain anonymous, to avoid being associated with the horror that follows) was having problems with his computer after installing new memory (RAM). The machine was decidedly unstable and quite disagreeable. I spent some time diagnosing the problem, finally discovering that one of the new “sticks” of RAM was indeed defective.

While digging through the computer I discovered the rabbits – they were everywhere! They had congregated beneath the cooling fan for the CPU – creating a lovely blanket of near-wool properties, ideal for summer computing!

There were rabbits in the video card fan, rabbits on the motherboard, and rabbits in the air intake vents. Those little beasties had multiplied over the years to take over the whole machine!

With vacuum cleaner hose in-hand, I conquered the evil monsters one-by-one. The machine should be more stable without the furry critters everywhere.

So, when was the last time you had a geek exterminate the beasties from your computer?
 

Seattle is known for its lush green surroundings, cold clear water, and temperate weather... except today. Today we set a new record for the hottest date in Seattle history: 102 degrees. Our normal high temperature for this date is 76. We'll be lucky if the low temperature is 76 tonight. The challenge for people (and pets) here is the inability to escape from the heat. The vast majority of homes have no air conditioning. Even many small businesses have no air conditioning. Those that have air conditioning are discovering that their systems can't keep up with this much heat, or are succumbing to power outages as demand races upward. My dentist's office called yesterday to warn me that they have to postpone my cleaning; the power was out.

Our house has pretty good insulation, so we close it up at about 10:00 a.m. (when the outside temp begins to exceed the ambient temperature in the house) and leave it closed up while the temperature races upward. We’ll keep it closed until the temps cool back down tonight – probably after 7 p.m. Currently, it's about 82 in the house (at 3:45 p.m.) and will probably climb to 84 before the afternoon is over.

Then we’ll throw open every window and turn on the whole-house ventilation system. Our furnace includes a whole-house mode that pulls in outside air to flush radon gas, which is common in the Pacific Northwest, out of the house. In the case of warm weather, it will also pull cooler air from outside and reduce the house temperature quickly.

It’s been a year of interesting weather – far more snow storms than usual, and a “real” summer. I wonder what’s next.

Sometimes geeks get a little extra time on their hands - and do weird things. A friend-of-a-friend is learning a Microsoft technology called, "Silverlight." He decided to create a web page to hone his skills. His page is a little wierd, very simple, and adictive. Do you remember the "cow in a can" noise makers from childhood? You'd turn the can upside down, and when you righted the can, it would "moo." He built a web page that does the same thing - although you can get differet "moos" based on how far you turn the cow. Point at the cow ON THIS PAGE with your mouse, then move your mouse away... MOO! Be sure to try only turning the cow part way to get a different "moo."