Thane Plambeck

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Spelling SkiLLz

When did I lose the ability to spell (well)? Or was I never a good speller, and am only now realizing it? I'm finding that many of my renditions don't pass muster in the dictionary when I check them. There's a thin yet indispersable (undispersible?) miasma of uncertainty as I type them in. Right or wrong? Must look it up.

No good examples come to mind, except brocolli. Or maybe broccoli. Dispersible—quite possibly not even a word at all? Undispersible? The problem extends to vocabulary. And grammar.

Satzbau. Wortschatz. Maybe reading other languages is my problem.

I'm certain that the number of c's doesn't equal the number of l's. And I would bet on 'broccoli,' rather than brocolli. Ha—got it right. But I guessed.

TOTOTOT

TOTOTOT
Originally uploaded by thane.

Jeep on Webster St, Palo Alto

Memorial day—Ahwahnee report

1. No sign of the bobcat.

2. A neighbor has put up an official-looking sign near a sideroad (maybe it's been there longer than I think):

3. Hiked up to Chilnualna Falls with Cole, Emma, Lloyd, Evelyn, and Colin, who wanted to do a six hour hike, instead. We got up there just as before, in just under two hours, and came down.

Cole at the summit

Near the summit, on the descent, meeting a guy and his girlfriend, I said "only 20 minutes to the top!" as we passed. The guy said "THANK GOD!!" but his girlfriend just smiled.

Cole and Emma on the descent

4. Lots of deer, quail, Canada geese, and rabbits (as usual).

5. There's a Starbucks in Oakhurst, guaranteeing the availability of the New York Times in an outpost that could hardly be depended upon to sell it a few years ago.

6. Still didn't find the time to play poker at the Chukchansi.

7. On the drive home, noticed many more photoops off Highway 99. It's hard to commit to pull off the highway, circle back on a side road, and wheel into position just to get a photo of a crappy sign that looks cool (and only to me). Maybe Jim and I can go up there with our impressive Canon outfits and fully commit to prowling around there between Modesto and Merced sometime.

8. Played quite a few hands of The Great Dalmuti. With eight players, the cards deal out equally to all players. Ascending to the throne as Dalmuti, I was ejected immediately by a revolution.

Life isn't fair... and neither is The Great Dalmuti! One round you're at the top of the heap, and the next you're peasant scum in this fast-paced card game of medieval one-upmanship.

The Kroloff crawl off

From today's New York Times, "Bigger Houses, Longer Commutes," by Elsa Brenner:

On weekdays, Julie Kroloff sets the coffee maker for 5:45 a.m., then speeds through her kitchen in Hopewell Junction, N.Y., and grabs a cup to fortify herself for the long drive ahead. If Ms. Kroloff, a self-employed consultant, is on time, she backs out of the garage just before 6 and makes the trip from Dutchess County to her office in Midtown Manhattan in just under two hours. If traffic is heavy, Ms. Kroloff's 54-mile commute can take two and a half hours or more...

Then:

Other commuters like Ms. Kroloff who rely on their cars for the long haul to work say that the drive gives them a chance to be alone and to gather their thoughts. "I can be in my own world without anyone bothering me," she said. "Sometimes when I'm driving, I just let my mind wander. Sometimes, I listen to music. I can create my own space in the car, and that helps me prepare for the day ahead." She and her daughter, Rita, 8, and her son, Steven, 7, moved into a new five-bedroom, five-bath house last fall. It cost around $750,000.

This sounds like absolute hell to me. Why do three people need a five-bedroom, five-bath house? Is it really that nice to plunk yourself down exhausted on the sofa after five hours of driving and think, "Yes, but think—even if we have a visitor there's no way I'm going to have to wait for the bathroom?" Couldn't they find an apartment closer to where she works?

Why do people need/want such big houses? I'm scared of a big house—it would be almost impossible to find my car keys. It's got to feel like being in an airport, strolling from one wing to the next in these architectural megaplexes. We live in a small house, but it's giant by Tokyo standards. When it seems cluttered, I always think—now's the time to throw all this junk out!

Isn't this not to be done before they hatch?

Eggs
Originally uploaded by brandon is a ninja.

The Lost Numbers, found

Bumper sticker on car in the parking lot of the Cubberly Community Center, Palo Alto.

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42

OEIS explanation

Berimbau

Berimbau
Originally uploaded by thane.

People were playing berimbaus in the gym last night. I had never seen one before. This guy showed us how it works and carefully spelled it out for me as a typed it in to the cellphone message. He also was a beautiful singer. At least it sounded good with the berimbaus.

[ Flickr knows about the berimbau ]

First doubles, Stanford vs Miami, 2006 NCAA team championship

First doubles, Stanford vs Miami, 2006 NCAA team championship
Originally uploaded by thane.

Gloria and I watched most of the Stanford - Miami NCAA women's tennis championship yesterday—then we had to leave to pick up the kids from school.

From a San Jose Mercury News article about the match shown in the photo:

* * * *

Stanford's No. 1 doubles team of Alice Barnes and Anne Yelsey (ranked No. 1) rallied from a two-service-break deficit to beat Audra Cohen and Melissa Applebaum (ranked No. 2) 9-7.

"At 7-3, we just decided that we were going to go for it,'' Barnes said. "If you feel that you sat back and let them dictate and you lose 8-3, our attitude going into singles would have been so much worse.''

4-4, 6 cryptic

* * * * - * E A *
* * * V E R

I wrote in FOUR LEAF CLOVER, without much reading the clue.

Answer: BACK SEAT DRIVER

Barry Bonds ties Babe Ruth

SJ Mercury headline—FLIGHT 714

Waterpik

I got one of these things for Cole to help him with retainer/braces cleaning.

We charged it up and he gave it a go. Seconds later he was spluttering and half the bathroom was covered with water droplets.

I regained control of the apparatus. "No, let me show you..."

I put the thing in my mouth and turned it on. The water went down my throat, I instinctively pulled the thing out of my mouth and sprayed the remainder of water all over the countertop.

How do you use these things? In the dentist's chair, it seems so easy, although admittedly I'm not operating the damn thing—I'm merely doing the turning and the spitting.

Content in the continent continent

* * *
Mar. 22, 2005
Mexico Makes Major Water Transfer

AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry made the following statement concerning the major water transfer initiated by Mexico over the weekend:

"The large water transfer made by Mexico over the weekend is a tremendous victory for Valley farmers whose livelihood is tied to Mexico living up to its water treaty obligations. More than half the water debt is now paid off, and we look forward to Mexico transferring every drop owed in a few short months as they agreed to do recently. We look forward to closing this contentious chapter with a happy ending for people on both sides of the border."

What comes after the comma

As usual, I'm the only person attending a math meeting who has no "affiliation" (PDF list of Canadian Math meeting attendees).

At least the registration screens didn't demand that I fill in the Affiliation field. I had a response planned for that, and I guess I'm a little disappointed that I won't have a badge reading

Thane Plambeck, Nonesuch University

Norbert

Even though he's on his last legs with renal failure, Norbert still has the swagger that caused us to pick him from amongst his (many) mewing siblings back in 1990, at the Palo Alto animal shelter.

Gloria said:

"Why not that one? He seems a bit livelier than the others. Look! He's trying to bite my finger! How cute!"

"Cute"—right. One time I tried to capture him and bring him in from the backyard, despite his obvious wishes that this not take place. He bit me in the finger so hard I almost passed out. Later, my hand swelled up like a balloon from some sort of feline-specific infection, and I was prescribed an apocalyptic antibiotic that killed the bacilli but also triggered a visit by the municipal Animal Control Police.

"If he bites someone else, we may have to take him in,"

the animal guy said. Since then, we keep him mostly inside. Like federal detainees, he's confined to one secured location while receiving periodic exercise, medical supervision, and his meals in a controlled environment.

NJAS has a great list of G4G7 links

link

confusing the enemy

confusing the enemy
Originally uploaded by flickrwegian.

Signs produced to be deployed in the wrong locations to confuse a [WWII?] invasion force.

Palo Alto Apple computer store

New Left
Originally uploaded by kbibb.

Nebraska State Capitol

Nebraska State Capitol
Originally uploaded by kcbob.

Pearl loses her ball under the oven, but looks for it inside the oven instead

p3
Originally uploaded by thane.

"Not the smartest breed of dog," Gloria observed.

[View the slideshow]