I have a dripping faucet that needs a new washer. Unfortunately, there is no shut-off for the sink. That means I need to shut off water to the whole house to change the washer. And that leads to today's plumbing tip:
Plan whole-house waters shut-offs for before or after doing laundry, not during.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Hitting the Slopes
For the last three years I have been lucky enough to be a chaperone for the annual ski trip that the middle school my wife teaches at takes. It works out great all around. I get to spend time with my wife, spend most of a weekday skiing, take a day off from work, and I don't have to drive myself home tired from a day of skiing. In exchange, I keep an eye on the kids, retrieve gear that got lost uphill, and try to help them out when they need it.
So I spent a day at Chestnut Mountain. It was almost a perfect day for skiing: about 20F, cloudy in the morning and sunny in the afternoon, nicely groomed runs. The only drawback was a stiff wind blowing up the slopes. There were times I felt like I needed to tuck just to keep moving.
My big accomplishment for today is doing something I have rarely done on skis in quite a few years. I fell, several times. Two were big, entertaining falls. Two were possibly entertaining, but without an outside perspective, I don't know.
Three of my falls came when I decided to check out the terrain park. I've never been much of a terrain park guy, but today it just seemed like a good idea. I had a few pretty good runs and was starting to get confident. Then I hit a jump, caught some nice air, and landed just about perfectly. And then I flinched, or overcorrected, or something, because I was suddenly sprawled on my side, sliding down the hill. I remember thinking "It's a good thing I'm still holding onto my poles" just as my slide turned into a half-roll and then a stop.
My next two falls were probably less dramatic. There's...I'd call it a tabletop, though I'm not sure that's the right term. Remember what I said about not really being a terrain park kind of guy? Anyway, there's a ramp up, a flat (ish) section (where, given the angles and surroundings, you almost have to land), and then a slope to let you get down. Having enough speed is important. If your speed is too low, too much of your forward momentum gets absorbed by your legs, while the rest is turned into vertical momentum by the ramp. Newton's laws being what they are, you'll end up slowly rotating, and your tips just might stick into the top of the table. Your bindings might pop, and you might drop on your face.
And if you made the same mistake a second time, you might get the same results a second time.
I actually didn't leave the terrain park because my legs were getting tired, or because of the falls. I was overheating. The terrain park was on the lee side of the mountain, and the shorter lift ride meant less heat loss. Going back to the regular runs seemed like less work than readjusting my gear, so I did.
Warpath is probably the second most difficult run at Chestnut. It's a fairly standard black-because-it's-steep run. If the snow is good, it's easy enough to manage. A few years ago, it was icy, and that was not fun at all. Earlier in the day, I had discovered that the snow was great on Warpath, making it a very enjoyable run. And so, right after leaving the terrain park and skating my way uphill into the wind on my jump-tired legs, I gave Warpath another whirl. It was a great run.
So I did it again.
The top half (*) was great. But then, somewhere near the middle of the crossover area, I must have crossed my tips or caught an edge badly. I don't remember exactly what caused the fall, but I do remember that I was suddenly sliding on my back.
I will pause at this point to mention that there is a chairlift that loads at the bottom of Warpath and unloads at the top of Warpath. Obviously, all of Warpath can be seen from that lift.
As I slid, I ran through a quick mental status check. Everything intact? Yup. Chances of stopping? Not going to happen; I'm going too fast and the hill gets steep quick. Where's down? Towards my head.
Once I'd taken that split second to figure out what was going on, I managed to rearrange the universe so that down was toward my feet (**). Having my skis down gave me a chance to try to get back up as I slid. It didn't work. Not even the third time I tried. Fortunately, trying to get myself back on my feet had slowed me down enough that I was no longer approximately frictionless. Within 50 feet of my third attempt, I finally stopped. Once the cloud of snow around me cleared, I realized that I had slid at least a quarter of the entire run. And as I pointed out earlier, this was in full view of the lift. Boy, was I thankful I still had my skis and poles attached--I hopped up and headed right for the lift, and then over to a different run, full of people who probably hadn't seen my slide (***).
I can tell I'll be a bit sore tomorrow. But I feel great. I pushed myself today. The falls show that. Nothing got injured. I probably learned something or got a little bit better at skiing.
All to help out those middle school students. Ah, what a great day it was.
* At least for the Midwest ski hills I've visited, with a vertical drop in the 400-500 foot range, the runs tend to cross into each other about halfway up. The crossover/junction area tends to be less steep than the runs that it's joining.
** The fact that my feet are still the lowest (i.e. "most down") part of my body should provide ample refutation to anyone who might suggest that I simply rearranged my body with reference to the hill.
*** I really was not too embarassed. Glad I didn't slide into someone and hurt them, certainly. But falls happen, and the sliding was pretty fun.
So I spent a day at Chestnut Mountain. It was almost a perfect day for skiing: about 20F, cloudy in the morning and sunny in the afternoon, nicely groomed runs. The only drawback was a stiff wind blowing up the slopes. There were times I felt like I needed to tuck just to keep moving.
My big accomplishment for today is doing something I have rarely done on skis in quite a few years. I fell, several times. Two were big, entertaining falls. Two were possibly entertaining, but without an outside perspective, I don't know.
Three of my falls came when I decided to check out the terrain park. I've never been much of a terrain park guy, but today it just seemed like a good idea. I had a few pretty good runs and was starting to get confident. Then I hit a jump, caught some nice air, and landed just about perfectly. And then I flinched, or overcorrected, or something, because I was suddenly sprawled on my side, sliding down the hill. I remember thinking "It's a good thing I'm still holding onto my poles" just as my slide turned into a half-roll and then a stop.
My next two falls were probably less dramatic. There's...I'd call it a tabletop, though I'm not sure that's the right term. Remember what I said about not really being a terrain park kind of guy? Anyway, there's a ramp up, a flat (ish) section (where, given the angles and surroundings, you almost have to land), and then a slope to let you get down. Having enough speed is important. If your speed is too low, too much of your forward momentum gets absorbed by your legs, while the rest is turned into vertical momentum by the ramp. Newton's laws being what they are, you'll end up slowly rotating, and your tips just might stick into the top of the table. Your bindings might pop, and you might drop on your face.
And if you made the same mistake a second time, you might get the same results a second time.
I actually didn't leave the terrain park because my legs were getting tired, or because of the falls. I was overheating. The terrain park was on the lee side of the mountain, and the shorter lift ride meant less heat loss. Going back to the regular runs seemed like less work than readjusting my gear, so I did.
Warpath is probably the second most difficult run at Chestnut. It's a fairly standard black-because-it's-steep run. If the snow is good, it's easy enough to manage. A few years ago, it was icy, and that was not fun at all. Earlier in the day, I had discovered that the snow was great on Warpath, making it a very enjoyable run. And so, right after leaving the terrain park and skating my way uphill into the wind on my jump-tired legs, I gave Warpath another whirl. It was a great run.
So I did it again.
The top half (*) was great. But then, somewhere near the middle of the crossover area, I must have crossed my tips or caught an edge badly. I don't remember exactly what caused the fall, but I do remember that I was suddenly sliding on my back.
I will pause at this point to mention that there is a chairlift that loads at the bottom of Warpath and unloads at the top of Warpath. Obviously, all of Warpath can be seen from that lift.
As I slid, I ran through a quick mental status check. Everything intact? Yup. Chances of stopping? Not going to happen; I'm going too fast and the hill gets steep quick. Where's down? Towards my head.
Once I'd taken that split second to figure out what was going on, I managed to rearrange the universe so that down was toward my feet (**). Having my skis down gave me a chance to try to get back up as I slid. It didn't work. Not even the third time I tried. Fortunately, trying to get myself back on my feet had slowed me down enough that I was no longer approximately frictionless. Within 50 feet of my third attempt, I finally stopped. Once the cloud of snow around me cleared, I realized that I had slid at least a quarter of the entire run. And as I pointed out earlier, this was in full view of the lift. Boy, was I thankful I still had my skis and poles attached--I hopped up and headed right for the lift, and then over to a different run, full of people who probably hadn't seen my slide (***).
I can tell I'll be a bit sore tomorrow. But I feel great. I pushed myself today. The falls show that. Nothing got injured. I probably learned something or got a little bit better at skiing.
All to help out those middle school students. Ah, what a great day it was.
* At least for the Midwest ski hills I've visited, with a vertical drop in the 400-500 foot range, the runs tend to cross into each other about halfway up. The crossover/junction area tends to be less steep than the runs that it's joining.
** The fact that my feet are still the lowest (i.e. "most down") part of my body should provide ample refutation to anyone who might suggest that I simply rearranged my body with reference to the hill.
*** I really was not too embarassed. Glad I didn't slide into someone and hurt them, certainly. But falls happen, and the sliding was pretty fun.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
A Detour Getting to GTD
Until today, my Getting to "Getting Things Done" plan had been working remarkably well. I was actually way ahead of schedule. I finished reading the substantial part of the book on Wednesday. Then I found time to finish the last few chapters on Thursday. That left Friday free to help a friend put up some drywall--after all, I was ahead of schedule!
The plan for Saturday (today) was to write a one-page summary of my personal implementation of the system. That didn't happen. I woke up to six inches of snow on the ground, with snow still falling. I ran the dishwasher, made breakfast, ate, wasted some time catching up on the Internet's latest, and noticed it had stopped snowing. After shoveling six inches of snow off the driveway, I headed back in. An emptied dishwasher and a few dozen wasted minutes later, I noticed the snowplow clearing the street. Back out the door to clear the snowplow leavings. Back indoors, shower, start laundry, make lunch, wash non-dishwasher dishes, get Christmas-stuff boxes, put away groceries, periodically check my eBay auctions ending today while folding laundry, out to dinner, back home, finish laundry, sore back from shoveling, feeling tired, brush teeth. End of day.
One positive aspect of this is that I took some good notes while reading the book. And I think the concept clicks more than the last time I read the book. I still want to implement the system, and I think the physical space-sweep and the mind-sweep are important starting points.
So what's my next observable physical action toward implementing a GTD system? I think it is still to write a one-page summary of my planned system. And I think I can plan next Friday or Saturday for beginning the space- and mind-sweeps.
I'm disappointed that I didn't make progress today, especially after being ahead of schedule. But right now I'm so physically worn out that I'm done for the day.
The plan for Saturday (today) was to write a one-page summary of my personal implementation of the system. That didn't happen. I woke up to six inches of snow on the ground, with snow still falling. I ran the dishwasher, made breakfast, ate, wasted some time catching up on the Internet's latest, and noticed it had stopped snowing. After shoveling six inches of snow off the driveway, I headed back in. An emptied dishwasher and a few dozen wasted minutes later, I noticed the snowplow clearing the street. Back out the door to clear the snowplow leavings. Back indoors, shower, start laundry, make lunch, wash non-dishwasher dishes, get Christmas-stuff boxes, put away groceries, periodically check my eBay auctions ending today while folding laundry, out to dinner, back home, finish laundry, sore back from shoveling, feeling tired, brush teeth. End of day.
One positive aspect of this is that I took some good notes while reading the book. And I think the concept clicks more than the last time I read the book. I still want to implement the system, and I think the physical space-sweep and the mind-sweep are important starting points.
So what's my next observable physical action toward implementing a GTD system? I think it is still to write a one-page summary of my planned system. And I think I can plan next Friday or Saturday for beginning the space- and mind-sweeps.
I'm disappointed that I didn't make progress today, especially after being ahead of schedule. But right now I'm so physically worn out that I'm done for the day.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Getting to "Getting Things Done"
I think this is going to be a busy month for me. I have at least two big "projects" coming up in the non-work realm. There's some exciting news in the personal realm, that's going to require an unknown amount of projects to be started and finished. And there are going to be a lot of general little things that need to be done.
Besides that, there are a few personal projects I want to start. Some of those have been bouncing around my head for months.
On top of that, I'm kicking around the idea of trying to get my M.S. in computer science (MSCS, not to be confused with MCS) while I'm still working.
Frankly, even without trying for the master's, I think the load is going to get crazy. And without going into detail--because I finish my Christmas vacation and go back to work tomorrow and I really should already be asleep--some of the load is because of poor organization and time-management on my part.
My plan to deal with this meta-problem of time management is to implement a "Getting Things Done" system. Sounds simple enough, but I still need to re-read the book and plan out the system. That's a task that could easily get lost in the shuffle of going back to work, then forgotten for weeks.
So here's my plan:
So by next Tuesday, I should be running my life through GTD. Sweet planned-out goodness.
Besides that, there are a few personal projects I want to start. Some of those have been bouncing around my head for months.
On top of that, I'm kicking around the idea of trying to get my M.S. in computer science (MSCS, not to be confused with MCS) while I'm still working.
Frankly, even without trying for the master's, I think the load is going to get crazy. And without going into detail--because I finish my Christmas vacation and go back to work tomorrow and I really should already be asleep--some of the load is because of poor organization and time-management on my part.
My plan to deal with this meta-problem of time management is to implement a "Getting Things Done" system. Sounds simple enough, but I still need to re-read the book and plan out the system. That's a task that could easily get lost in the shuffle of going back to work, then forgotten for weeks.
So here's my plan:
- Tomorrow night I'll un-bury the book from my desk. I'll pre-skim it (look at the table of contents, skim a chapter or three to refresh my memory). I will find a notebook and a pen, and put them with the book where I will see them.
- Tuesday, if I am feeling ambitious, I will skim a few chapters (Tuesday nights tend to be busy).
- Wednesday, I will read the first half of the book. As I read, I will jot down notes relevant to implementing and running a GTD system.
- Thursday will be a busy night.
- Friday I will read the second half of the book. Like on Wednesday, I will jot down notes relevant to implementing and running a GTD system.
- Saturday I will write myself a one-page high level summary of the operation, reviews, and checks on the system. Then I will read the chapter on starting a GTD system. Then I will take a deep breath.
So by next Tuesday, I should be running my life through GTD. Sweet planned-out goodness.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Why I'm Glad Christmas Season is Over
Another Christmas season is over. The gifts have been unwrapped, the cookies have been (mostly) eaten, the visits have been made, the carols have been sung, and the Advent series has been preached.
I'm very glad it's over.
I enjoy Christmas season. I like the snow, the cold, the vacation, the gifts, the cookies, seeing family and friends, the celebration of Christ's birth. Frankly, though, I'm not so keen on many of the carols, and definitely not keen on the "standard" Advent series.
The carols and the "standard" Advent series focus on the events leading up to the birth of Christ. In a nutshell, God sent an angel to tell Mary she was going to have a baby. She submitted to God and said "I'm a virgin, but okay." Joseph was righteous and was going to send Mary away quietly to avoid disgrace, but God told Joseph to marry Mary. They went to Bethlehem because of the census, Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable, and the shepherds and the wise men gathered 'round and praised God.
All of that is important. It's the fulfillment of prophecy and the forcible entry of God into our world for our sake. Without God becoming human, we would still be alienated from God by the wrong things we do because of our addiction to ourselves.
But the baby, Jesus, "whose birth the angels sing", did not save anyone (*). Both Joseph and Mary submitted to God, and we would do well to follow their examples. But there are many other individuals throughout the Bible that submitted to God. Why these two young people? Why this baby, divine though he was?
Why does Christmas get a month of lead-up, celebration, preaching, caroling, and TV specials? Why do Christian artists put out Christmas CDs, but not Easter CDs?
My untestable hypothesis is that Christians like Christmas more than Easter for two reasons. First, because celebrating birth is easier for us than celebrating death. Second, because we are uncomfortable with the supernatural. Babies being born is normal and commonplace (**). Jesus, for all of his divine nature, was still a baby, presumably cute, sleepy, and drooly. That's easy to smile at and celebrate. Much easier than, say, God's only son being nailed to a cross (***), physically dying, then coming back to life and claiming his resurrection meant we should listen to him (****).
The second reason, that the supernatural is uncomfortable and that we are even more uncomfortable with God taking a personal interest in us, is the more important of the two.
The birth of the Son of God to Mary should be celebrated. But when celebrating that birth, we need to remember why. We need to sing the sixth verse of The First Noel. When all ye faithful come, all ye should adore not just the newborn King, but the risen King.
To put it another way, the events recorded in chapters 1 and 2 of Matthew and Luke are far too important for a twelfth of the year to be spent studying them. Jesus came to change us. He came not simply to be an object of adoration, but to be a teacher, a Savior, and Lord of the Universe.
That's why I'm glad the Christmas season is over. I'm ready to be done simply celebrating a birth, and ready to continue celebrating Christ.
* A brief sketch of the argument for this: If God is good, and would spare his son any suffering that is not required to redeem humanity, God would allow Jesus to redeem us as early as possible. Jesus underwent trials (e.g. temptation in the desert) during his life on earth. God did not spare Jesus that suffering, so by the initial postulate, that suffering was necessary. Therefore, God's redemptive work was not finished with Jesus's birth, nor would it have been successfully finished had Jesus died for humanity as a baby.
** Yes, the creation of a new life is still amazing and miraculous. But I don't think you can argue that something that's happened more than six billion times is uncomfortably rare.
*** Ironically enough, for upsetting the established order of God's people and making them uncomfortable.
**** If nothing else, we know how to celebrate a baby's birth. Emily Post doesn't have anything that describes proper behavior at a crucifixion/death/resurrection party.
I'm very glad it's over.
I enjoy Christmas season. I like the snow, the cold, the vacation, the gifts, the cookies, seeing family and friends, the celebration of Christ's birth. Frankly, though, I'm not so keen on many of the carols, and definitely not keen on the "standard" Advent series.
The carols and the "standard" Advent series focus on the events leading up to the birth of Christ. In a nutshell, God sent an angel to tell Mary she was going to have a baby. She submitted to God and said "I'm a virgin, but okay." Joseph was righteous and was going to send Mary away quietly to avoid disgrace, but God told Joseph to marry Mary. They went to Bethlehem because of the census, Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable, and the shepherds and the wise men gathered 'round and praised God.
All of that is important. It's the fulfillment of prophecy and the forcible entry of God into our world for our sake. Without God becoming human, we would still be alienated from God by the wrong things we do because of our addiction to ourselves.
But the baby, Jesus, "whose birth the angels sing", did not save anyone (*). Both Joseph and Mary submitted to God, and we would do well to follow their examples. But there are many other individuals throughout the Bible that submitted to God. Why these two young people? Why this baby, divine though he was?
Why does Christmas get a month of lead-up, celebration, preaching, caroling, and TV specials? Why do Christian artists put out Christmas CDs, but not Easter CDs?
My untestable hypothesis is that Christians like Christmas more than Easter for two reasons. First, because celebrating birth is easier for us than celebrating death. Second, because we are uncomfortable with the supernatural. Babies being born is normal and commonplace (**). Jesus, for all of his divine nature, was still a baby, presumably cute, sleepy, and drooly. That's easy to smile at and celebrate. Much easier than, say, God's only son being nailed to a cross (***), physically dying, then coming back to life and claiming his resurrection meant we should listen to him (****).
The second reason, that the supernatural is uncomfortable and that we are even more uncomfortable with God taking a personal interest in us, is the more important of the two.
The birth of the Son of God to Mary should be celebrated. But when celebrating that birth, we need to remember why. We need to sing the sixth verse of The First Noel. When all ye faithful come, all ye should adore not just the newborn King, but the risen King.
To put it another way, the events recorded in chapters 1 and 2 of Matthew and Luke are far too important for a twelfth of the year to be spent studying them. Jesus came to change us. He came not simply to be an object of adoration, but to be a teacher, a Savior, and Lord of the Universe.
That's why I'm glad the Christmas season is over. I'm ready to be done simply celebrating a birth, and ready to continue celebrating Christ.
* A brief sketch of the argument for this: If God is good, and would spare his son any suffering that is not required to redeem humanity, God would allow Jesus to redeem us as early as possible. Jesus underwent trials (e.g. temptation in the desert) during his life on earth. God did not spare Jesus that suffering, so by the initial postulate, that suffering was necessary. Therefore, God's redemptive work was not finished with Jesus's birth, nor would it have been successfully finished had Jesus died for humanity as a baby.
** Yes, the creation of a new life is still amazing and miraculous. But I don't think you can argue that something that's happened more than six billion times is uncomfortably rare.
*** Ironically enough, for upsetting the established order of God's people and making them uncomfortable.
**** If nothing else, we know how to celebrate a baby's birth. Emily Post doesn't have anything that describes proper behavior at a crucifixion/death/resurrection party.
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