Happy Cheese Weasel Day!
That bit of musical cheese poetry comes from facebook and Charlotte!
The coldest winter I ever spent
Archive for the ‘General’ Category.
That bit of musical cheese poetry comes from facebook and Charlotte!
In 2012 I took an Abnormal Psychology class at CCSF. My honors project was a response paper to the book Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche by Ethan Watters. I loved the book and highly recommend it. Here’s what I wrote about it.
Introduction
Ethan Watters uses four stories to paint a picture about how American culture has a powerful influence on how the rest of the world understands mental illness. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes not, American culture is shaping how these mental illnesses are perceived and treated.
Americans think about mental illness in a very particular way. This thinking depends heavily on biological, genetic, and environmental factors. But largely missing in this view are the cultural factors that shape the course of mental illness greatly. This isn’t how the ill person sees themselves but how their local culture sees them. For example, the stories told about the origins of mental illness, be it spirit possession or chemical imbalance, have a huge impact on mentally ill persons and can alter the outcome of their disease.
Continue reading ‘Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche’ »
When I got a resin filling for a cavity a few years ago, it hurt for 2 weeks after. I had the sensation that the filling was “too tight”. The dentist said he hadn’t ever heard of a filling hurting afterward and that I should schedule another visit. But before I could visit the pain faded.
Last week Megan experienced the same thing, but it hurt quite a lot. The dentist told her to take a lot of ibuprofen and call in a week. The pain has been slowly subsiding.
I’m here to tell you that resin fillings sometimes ache something awful when you first get them. Take some ibuprofen and don’t worry too much about it unless the pain is steady for a week.
If the pain becomes very specific and sharp, as though you know exactly what tooth is causing the pain, you might need a root canal instead of just having filling pain.
Virgin Mobile has great cell phone service in San Francisco but terrible service in the East Bay. So this week I got a new Moto X phone and Aio Wireless. If you consider switching to AioWireless, send me your name and email address (mine is Lee at Lee dat org) so I can officially refer you, we’ll both get $25.
After playing with it for 2 days, the Moto X phone is super-cool:
And with Aiowireless (instead of Virgin Mobile) I actually have cell phone service! So far I haven’t found any dead spots. Ask me again in a week. Aiowireless costs just $35/month for unlimited talk, text, and 500mb of wireless data. I’m excited to think it’s all going to work out well on the cost-coverage front!
I had a blast this past weekend teaching an Arduino intensive class called Workshop Weekend: Arduino with friends to a great group of students!
Here we are putting on a little play, demonstrating how an Arduino takes input from a potentiometer and then controls a light. I got to be the Arduino!
The class was held at Tech Liminal, a great co-working and technology space in Oakland, CA.
I’ve been earning lots of airline miles and cash over the last several years with credit card offers. I often fly on miles alone. Here’s how.
Short form:
Every three months or so I sign up for a new credit card that offers me miles. I spend the money I need to on the card, then set the card in a drawer for a few months. Then I cancel the card. When I am looking to travel, I look in my little spreadsheet to see what miles I have, and fly for free!
Long form:
So you are wondering if a cell phone network might have good service in your area. Here’s a hint: There are just a couple big companies (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile) that have cell phone towers but there are many resellers. For example, the Sprint network is resold by several “mobile virtual network operators” like Credo, Virgin, Boost, etc. Here’s a list of what cell phone companies use what networks. All the secondary companies (like Virgin Mobile selling the Sprint network) are reselling a wholesale product at wholesale prices. That means they cost less and, like when you walk into a rug remnant store, sometimes parts are missing. What will work for you? I have no idea. Shopping for a new phone has been a big PITA for me. Caveat emptor!
In the US we’ve been doing the “2 year contract” thing with cell phones for a long time. There is a switch going on. Now the thing to do is:
For example: instead of going to the AT&T store and getting a $100 Android phone and spending $100/month on a 2 year contract, you go to the Google Play Store and get a $400 Android phone and spend $50/month with Straight Talk. Note that over the course of 2 years, the second option costs $1600 instead of $2500. The downside is that most of the resellers have less friendly customer service than the “full service” providers.
Megan has an Equity Insta-Set wall clock. I just wanted to put the manual for it someplace. Here it is:
Equity Insta-Set 40222B clock manual
I want a cell phone that:
It appears that my only option is getting an unlocked Droid Maxx on Aio Wireless. Droid Maxx claims to run 48 hours on a charge. Aio Wireless uses AT&T Mobility (AKA the old Cingular network) for good coverage for $40/month ($500/year)
It is silly that I seem to have so few options for a phone. What am I missing?
On the matter of battery life, every cell phone rep I’ve asked (at least 7 now) has told me that their personal cell phones run until about 7pm if they use them during the day, and they all seem to be OK with that. After my phone died unexpectedly one evening, leaving me stranded, I knew that a dead phone completely sucks. I’m not telling the truth: one AT&T rep told me that all of her phones run well into the night, every night, apparently due to her own special pixie dust.
Virgin Mobile is inexpensive but has crap coverage everywhere in the east bay (their coverage map lies like a rug)
When I travel across country to visit home, I often bring home a few pounds of home-made frozen cappelletti made by my aunt Dorothy. The trip takes about 12 hours door to door. I tried to wrap them up in my luggage with newspaper and blue ice but when I get them home they are all a bit mushy. Yes, they refreeze but they loose some of their delicate texture.
I use dry ice, but you need to know a few things about travelling with dry ice, else will be trouble at the airport. Basically, it is best to not actually carry dry ice onto the plane. Here’s how I do it:
I have traveled like this successfully several times and my frozen ravioli make it home in perfect condition.
The last time I flew, I broke the dry ice up with a hammer and sprinkled it around the inside of my bag for about 2 hours before the flight. At the airport I removed the pieces that were left and checked my bag with hard-frozen ravioli and no dry ice to declare. The food made it the 12 hour journey home with no problem.
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Don’t let the rest of this article frustrate you. The info above will work and you can stop there.
Don’t discard your dry ice in the bathroom of the airport. Running water on it will make it sublimate and go away but it could take 20 minutes and it’ll make a LOT of fog (hmm, sounds like the voice of experience!). And don’t throw it in a garbage can because this unseen hazard could be bad for a garbage collector. Maybe throw it in your backyard, or driveway, or outside under some plants.
What’s the fuss with dry ice? Despite all the paranoid mutterings you might have heard, it is worthless for making a dangerous bomb. One article I read claimed that 2 people have been killed by dry ice bombs… EVER. And both were accidental. For comparison, lightning strikes kill about 50 people per year in America. The real danger, I believe is that a pet in the luggage compartment might suffocate on the carbon dioxide gas that the dry ice gives off. If you don’t label your dry ice luggage and they put your bag next to a pet in the luggage compartment, it could kill the pet!
United Airlines charges $100 to check a bag with dry ice. American Airlines doesn’t . At least that’s how it stands this month. Google “Dry ice [your airline]” to read more.
The FAA has rules about flying with dry ice. Your airline might be more strict (as United Airlines is about “hard sided luggage” and fees)
Allowed: Up to 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs.) of dry ice per person in carry-on or checked baggage in a package that allows venting of carbon dioxide gas.
Not Allowed: Dry ice in air-tight packages.
The actual regulatory text: (10) Dry ice (carbon dioxide, solid), with the approval of the operator: (i) Quantities may not exceed 2.5 kg (5.5 pounds) per person when used to pack perishables not subject to the HMR. The package must permit the release of carbon dioxide gas; and
(ii) When carried in checked baggage, each package is marked “DRY ICE” or “CARBON DIOXIDE, SOLID,” and marked with the net weight of dry ice or an indication the net weight is 2.5 kg (5.5 pounds) or less.
I had trouble flying United Airlines out of West Palm Beach in April 2013. I followed the dry ice rules on their website to the letter (see the bottom of this page for their rules) but they wouldn’t let me fly because of their EXTRA dry ice rules in the “Perishable” section of their rules. See below. They wouldn’t let me travel with dry ice in my hard framed, soft sided carry-on. Pshaw.
The United Airlines Dry Ice rules as of 1-30-14
United Airlines will accept packages containing 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg) or less of dry ice as carry-on baggage or checked baggage. The container or package must be ventilated to permit the release of carbon dioxide gas. The container or package must be marked as containing dry ice and must show the net weight and the identity of the perishable item. Styrofoam coolers containing dry ice will not be accepted.
For tickets purchased on or after March 9, 2011, a $100 USD* service charge applies to the transportation of dry ice as checked baggage on flights within or between the U.S. and Canada, and a $200 USD* service charge applies to the transportation of dry ice as checked baggage on flights to all other destinations.
For tickets purchased before March 9, 2011, a $35 USD* handling service charge applies to the transportation of dry ice as checked baggage on all flights.
*For departures from Canada, the fees are $35 CAD for tickets purchased before March 9, 2011, and $100 CAD for tickets purchased on or after March 9, 2011, for travel within or between the U.S. or Canada, and $200 CAD for travel to all other international destinations.
All fees referenced here are for one direction of travel only, and apply only when checking in with United.
Dry ice in quantities greater than 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg) will not be accepted.
Dry ice packaging used must allow the release of carbon dioxide gas, must be clearly marked as containing dry ice, and must show the net weight and identify the perishable item being preserved by the dry ice. Each container cannot have more than the maximum allotment per customer. Multiple customers cannot pool their portions together, even within the same traveling party.
And here are the EXTRA United Airlines dry ice rules, found in the “High-value, fragile and perishable items” section
Perishable items must not violate agricultural rules for the destination country. Perishable items may be packed in hard-sided ventilated containers with a maximum of 5.5 pounds (2.5 kg) of dry ice. United will not accept perishable items packed in Styrofoam coolers or in containers that include wet ice.