This year, a breakthru in family Christmas tradition. Instead of all the children coming home to my place, I went down to spend the holidays with daughter Karen in DC. Due to the load of Christmas presents, including a cradle for the coming child, dislike for air travel, and desire to have the car with us in DC, we drove down from NH.
Looks to me like the infrastructure between here and DC is a pretty good shape. Even clapped out New York has down some work on the Cross Bronx expressway (I95) and the potholes are filled. Looks like they resurfaced it. Still a lot of medium bad chuckholes between the Connecticut border and the Bronx. New York is still the infrastructure fail in the North East. I'm thinking all the happy infrastructure talk on TV is coming from New Yorkers like Trump, who only see New York roads. And maybe DC roads, DC has a fine herd of chuckholes and waterbars so bad I feared for my suspension. Fortunately the Buick is pretty tough and nothing broke. NJ has finished widening out the NH Turnpike. The twelve lane wide part now is usable all the way to Philadelphia.
And the NJ tolls are fierce. The GW bridge toll is now $15. The NJ Turnpike toll from the bridge to Philadelphia was $11.80. Then with the Del Mem bridge ($4), the Del TP toll ($4), the Maryland TP toll ($4) and the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel Toll ($8) toll money is getting up closer to gas money.
Noticed a whole bunch of new pricey electric signs flashing harmless platitudes. More infrastructure money at work. And the shiny new mile markers, every 0.2 miles are spreading, like kudzu. Wanna bet each one of those mile markers costs us taxpayers $100 to buy and plant?
Daughter's DC neighbor hood is coming up. New condo's for yuppies under construction. They finally got the trendy H Street trolley car to run. Took 'em five profitable years. Everybody loves it, it's quaint, and it's free since they haven't figured out how to collect fares in cars with front and back doors. At least so says Daughter. The new cars have TWO, not one but TWO hinges in them to allow the car to handle tight curves. That's two hinged sections to leak rainwater. When the Boston T, with the sharpest curves in the nation, bought new cars from Boeing Vertol, they only needed one hinged section. And the hinge has leaked rainwater onto passengers for 20-30 years now. By the Way, the H Street trolley line runs straight as an arrow, no curves at all.
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Monday, December 26, 2016
Rogue One, The New Star Wars movie
Saw it today in the Smithsonian Air & Space museum Imax theater. Nice big screen , good sound system, good seats. It was in an annoying three D, glasses required. This three D system had a terrible depth of field problem. Everything in the foreground or background was really blurry, only the middle ground was sharp. PITA. Camera work was only fair, too many superquick shots, cut too fast. Too many scenes poorly lit.
Other than that, it was a decent flick, Better than the last one, far better than the three followon movies. The story is set before the time of the first Star Wars (A New Hope) and has a whole new set of characters, no reviving of the old traditional cast,except Darth Vader. The story line is the Rebel Alliance obtaining the Death Star plans that Luke and Leia will deliver in A New Hope. We have a dynamic and pretty heroine, Jinn sonething-or-other who has a good role and plays it well. We have a handsome hero, whose name escapes me, (whole flick was weak on names) who has a good role but Jinn has a better one. We have a blind and somewhat crazy Jedi master who is into whacking down Storm Troopers with a staff. We have a big ugly mercenary, with a heart of gold and a taste for heavy weapons. And a big long armed long legged Droid with a sense of humor. Lots of booms amd blasts and space combat and special effects, all nicely done. The flick keeps things moving and isn't too long.
A good Christmas flick.
Other than that, it was a decent flick, Better than the last one, far better than the three followon movies. The story is set before the time of the first Star Wars (A New Hope) and has a whole new set of characters, no reviving of the old traditional cast,except Darth Vader. The story line is the Rebel Alliance obtaining the Death Star plans that Luke and Leia will deliver in A New Hope. We have a dynamic and pretty heroine, Jinn sonething-or-other who has a good role and plays it well. We have a handsome hero, whose name escapes me, (whole flick was weak on names) who has a good role but Jinn has a better one. We have a blind and somewhat crazy Jedi master who is into whacking down Storm Troopers with a staff. We have a big ugly mercenary, with a heart of gold and a taste for heavy weapons. And a big long armed long legged Droid with a sense of humor. Lots of booms amd blasts and space combat and special effects, all nicely done. The flick keeps things moving and isn't too long.
A good Christmas flick.
Friday, December 23, 2016
On the road for Christmas
Posting may be a little thin, perhaps nonexistent for Christmas week. I am going to spend the holidays with my children, and may not get around to posting til I get back.
Rehashing Ancient History on NHPR
Way back in 1953, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were tried, convicted and executed for passing the secret of the atomic bomb to the Russians. As far as the judge and the jury were concerned, the Rosenbergs had given the secret of the ultimate weapon to our mortal enemies. The Left (we called them communists back then) in those days called the Rosenbergs innocent victims of a judicial murder. In later years declassification of the "Venoma Papers", intercepted communications between the Soviet embassy and Moscow, showed the Rosenbergs guilt.
And so, better than 60 years later, NHPR ran a lengthy piece, rehashing the whole affair. Apparently there are two Rosenburg children, still alive, who are petitioning Obama to posthumously pardon Ethel Rosenberg, their mother. They feel she is innocent, and apparently, since they are only asking in her name, they finally think Julius, their father, was guilty as charged.
I'm so glad NHPR brought this bit of ancient history back to life, and as befits NHPR's rather lefty stance, they give the Rosenbergs a very sympathetic treatment.
And so, better than 60 years later, NHPR ran a lengthy piece, rehashing the whole affair. Apparently there are two Rosenburg children, still alive, who are petitioning Obama to posthumously pardon Ethel Rosenberg, their mother. They feel she is innocent, and apparently, since they are only asking in her name, they finally think Julius, their father, was guilty as charged.
I'm so glad NHPR brought this bit of ancient history back to life, and as befits NHPR's rather lefty stance, they give the Rosenbergs a very sympathetic treatment.
Wednesday, December 21, 2016
Executive Action by Tom Clancy
I wonder if Donald Trump has read it? In this novel, Tom Clancy's hero, Jack Ryan, becomes President of the US. Ryan receives plenty of sage advice on how the Presidency works, and the good guys win in the end. Plenty of US political ideas get tossed around, and in some cases nailed to the carpet. It's a fun read.
Should you warm up your car engine in winter?
Popular Mechanics and Road & Track are saying "NO!" I say yes. In proper cold weather, say below zero, your engine oil gets stiff and sticky. The oil pump may be be able to force enough thick and sticky cold oil thru the engine bearings to prevent damage to the engine. And, the defroster won't throw any heat til the engine warms up.
What you ought to do, is give the engine 20-30 seconds at idle to get the deep chill off it. Then drive away gently, no foot to the floor acceleration, until the temp gauge gets up somewhere near normal, or the defroster starts throwing a little heat. Takes a few minutes and then all is well.
There is no need to leave the car idling for 10-20-30 minutes before driving it, but you do want to keep your foot out of it until the engine is warm.
What you ought to do, is give the engine 20-30 seconds at idle to get the deep chill off it. Then drive away gently, no foot to the floor acceleration, until the temp gauge gets up somewhere near normal, or the defroster starts throwing a little heat. Takes a few minutes and then all is well.
There is no need to leave the car idling for 10-20-30 minutes before driving it, but you do want to keep your foot out of it until the engine is warm.
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
The NRA counts coup
The new American Rifleman magazine, the NRA house organ, got to me today. In it, the NRA leadership spent several pages patting themselves on the back for Donald Trump's win. NRA backed Trump from the very beginning and are overjoyed at his win.
Aside from a few Democrats bad mouthing the NRA, the MSM hasn't let out a peep about how effective they were. Actually, the NRA has several million dues paying members, mostly single issue, support of second amendment voters. The NRA magazine goes to all of them. Every election American Rifleman will have a two page center spread, listing every office in each state, from US senator down to dogcatcher, and naming all the candidates, and giving each candidate a grade, A thru F, on where they stand on the second amendment. The membership reads the magazine and finds it highly credible, much more so than any of the MSM.
I'm thinking that several million motivated single issue voters swung more weight in the election than anything the Russians could even think of doing. Funny that the MSM never writes about it. Probably the MSM writers are all city boys who don't like guns.
Aside from a few Democrats bad mouthing the NRA, the MSM hasn't let out a peep about how effective they were. Actually, the NRA has several million dues paying members, mostly single issue, support of second amendment voters. The NRA magazine goes to all of them. Every election American Rifleman will have a two page center spread, listing every office in each state, from US senator down to dogcatcher, and naming all the candidates, and giving each candidate a grade, A thru F, on where they stand on the second amendment. The membership reads the magazine and finds it highly credible, much more so than any of the MSM.
I'm thinking that several million motivated single issue voters swung more weight in the election than anything the Russians could even think of doing. Funny that the MSM never writes about it. Probably the MSM writers are all city boys who don't like guns.
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