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Why Sauron Is Secretly The Good Guy In ‘Lord Of The Rings’

I’m a big fan of Cracked After Hours videos. At first I thought this would be their standard “pretty funny” but they really knocked it out of the park with this one. Come be a fan with me:

Steep Streets in San Francisco

I came across a blog post mentioning the steepest streets in San Francisco. When Charlotte and I lived there, there was one favorite steep street that I loved to drive down… I’d pull up to the corner of 22nd and Vicksburg in my Sebring, put down the top (drizzle or shine!) and look at the magnificent view. Then I’d slowly pull the car up the edge of the cliff; you couldn’t see any ground in front of the car any more. We’d pause there, on the precipice and I’d ask, “Ready? Set… Go!” I’d give it just a bit too much gas and we’d lurch over the edge! For a second you weren’t sure if we were flying or falling. It was wonderful!

I looked at the list and can say that the street I found was one of two contenders for “best drivable hill” in the city.

Filbert between  Hyde and Leavenworth ties our favorite street in steepness (31.5 degrees) and has a pretty darn good view. See it here!
Ripley and Peralta has the same steepness but the view is meh.
Baden above Mangels is steeper but it’s just a driveway. Disqualified!
Nevada above Chapman is another driveway with no view.
Prentiss between Chapman and Powhattan is another driveway!

Here is our view  at 22nd and Vicksburg.

Just over the edge.

Here are the two blog posts I saw with all the hill info.

And just so it doesn’t get lost, here are the contenders:

The Steepest Streets In San Francisco, For Real
1. Prentiss between Chapman and Powhattan (37% grade)
2. Nevada above Chapman (36% grade)
3. Baden above Mangels (34% grade) *
4. Ripley between Peralta and Alabama (31.5% grade)
5. Filbert between Hyde and Leavenworth (31.5% grade)
6. 22nd between Vicksburg and Church (31.5% grade)
7. 24th between Grand View and Fountain (30% grade)
8. Kearny above Broadway (30% grade) **
9. Holyoke between Karen and Woolsey (30% grade)
10. 25th above Grand View (30% grade)
11. Jones between Union and Filbert (29% grade)
12. Dwight above Goettingen (29% grade)
13. Folsom between Chapman and Powhattan (29% grade)
Source: Stephen Von Worley.
Notes: Ties are broken by the length of maximum slope.
* Crude, single lane pseudo-street, ** Grade unconfirmed.

Megan got me a remote control switch set for Xmas. It works great.

It’s the Etekcity Wireless Remote Control Electrical Outlet Switch for Household Appliances (Learning Code, 5Rx-2Tx)

Instead of trying to hold onto the manual pamphlet, I put it here:

Etekcity Essentials
ZAP L-Series

Uses 1 12V / LR23A battery in the remote control
maximum load of 10 amps
transmit frequency 433.92MHz

Programming the outlets
– Note: the outlets are pre-programmed for immediate use, but the configuration can be customized to meet your needs.

To program a remote control transmitter and outlet switch receiver:
– Plug the outlet switch into a socket and turn it on.
– Press and hold the programming button on the right side of the outlet until the LED indicator begins to flash.
– Release the programming button and then press the desired On or Off button on the remote.
– The pairing is successful when the LED indicator stops flashing.

Resetting an outlet (cancel all pairings)
To cancel all pairings so that no remote control will control it:
– Remove the outlet from the power socket.
– Press and hold the programming button.
– Plug the outlet back into the power socket while continuing to hold the programming button.
– Hold the programming button for approximately 5 seconds until the LED indicator begins to flash.
– When the LED flashes rapidly several times and stops, the outlet has been reset.