" Furnace Repaired and Rearranging" written by Joe on estrip.org

Category: house

12/14/13 03:22 - ID#58447

Furnace Repaired and Rearranging

The furnace is fixed, we won't freeze to death!
last night (e:paul) called 72 Degrees Air Conditioning and Heating who claimed to do 24x7 repair. Not only did they want to charge $90 just to come out, they promised a visit in three hours and never called or showed up.

Since (e:Paul) knew it was the induction blower from the last repair and what he researched, we were able to call around for the part. First I called Seneca Heating and Plumbing, who didn't service York anymore, but were nice enough to direct us to Johnstown Supply out in Depew. Amazingly enough they had one blower left in stock, not so amazingly it was $260.

Paul and I drove out through some crazy snow and picked it up just before they closed. we got back, ate (e:Terry)'s delicious egg cheese thing, and replaced the blower. It was pretty easy to replace, literally involving 10 screws and some tubing connections.

While we were down there Paul and Terry capped the dead end duct full of asbestos. You definitely can notice how much more air flow there is through the other vents now its closed.

We also did some crazy cleaning and rearranging of the dining room. The buffet is now against the window giving way more room to nerd out and program in front of the fire. Now we won't piss off Terry by laying in front of the door.

Permalink: Furnace_Repaired_and_Rearranging.html
Words: 246
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/14/13 03:22

Category: computers

12/14/13 10:15 - ID#58446

Scroogled

Yesterday at work I had to open up Internet Explorer to get to the company time sheet. I noticed a big ad on the MSN page saying "Don't Get Scroogled". When I visited the site, it was this bizarre blog from Microsoft saying Google Chromebook sucks because its not a "real PC" that you could get for $250. I don't really think they were marketed as a desktop replacement. Plus are people even buying chromebooks? I feel like android tablets and iPads are probably bigger competitors to Windows than chromebooks.

The best part is the page couldn't even render correctly in IE 8.

Also related is yesterday (e:paul) and I found out you can download Chromium OS for a live USB installation. I still don't really see the point having an Android phone.

Permalink: Scroogled.html
Words: 134
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/14/13 10:15

Category: food

12/13/13 09:51 - ID#58445

Supermarket Sweep

I'm pretty sure I broke my personal record for grocery bills at Trader Joes and Target last night. $86.58 plus another $10 or so at Target. admittedly a lot of it was unnecessary - I ended up getting these fancy German waffle cookies, eggnog, and then these chocolate covered juice drops. They're so crazy good and blueberry flavored. Although looking at the ingredients, there are so many other juices they can't be more than a few percent acai maximum.

Also food related I opened up this tangerine today and it had this weird black spot. Is it some sort of blight? I couldn't identify it through Google and have never seen anything like it before.It smelled so gross.

Permalink: Supermarket_Sweep.html
Words: 132
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/13/13 10:30

Category: beer

12/13/13 09:26 - ID#58444

Bierklub redo

Winter beers that weren't too great but as usual the night was awesome. I ran straight to goodbar after working out at work - I ate so much popcorn. the mac and cheese soup smelled amazing, (e:terry) tempted me with it. Too bad it had bacon.

Handwriting practice - how can I shave your boss?

Permalink: Bierklub_redo.html
Words: 72
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/13/13 09:39

Category: internet

12/11/13 08:35 - ID#58434

Postcrossing pt Zwei

I got my second postcard today, this time from China. Just the picture on the card makes me want to travel somewhere far one day, especially now that I'm trapped inside by the weather lately. I guess I'm not really, I just need to go out more!

Permalink: Postcrossing_pt_Zwei.html
Words: 49
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/11/13 08:35

Category: food

12/09/13 10:05 - ID#58424

Erie County Health Inspection

So recently Erie County caught up with the rest of the country and finally put their health inspection records online. I love government transparency especially when its online.

I'm not sure if it's fun or terrifying to see what happens at some of these restaurants. For example, a recent inspection at the Towne showed this:

14-1.10(c)(3) / Food / Food area / Public area contaminated by sewage / drippage from waste lines
Critical Corrected During Inspection Sewage back-up in food prep area in basement
Plumbers unclogged drains in basement
14-1.10(c)(3) / Food / Food area / Public area contaminated by sewage / drippage from waste lines
Critical Corrected During Inspection Bucket of cut potatoes contaminated by sewage on floor in basememt
Food item voluntarily discarded by food worker
14-1.10(c)(3) / Food / Food area / Public area contaminated by sewage / drippage from waste lines
Critical Corrected During Inspection Floors in basement contaminated by sewage
Floors cleaned/sanitized by owner & food workers
14-1.100 / Supplies/ Equipment / Ice machine contaminated by sewage / dripping from waste line
Critical Corrected During Inspection Several unsanitary containers/trays/pans on lower shelving units in basement
Chef cleaned/sanitized all affected equipment in basement
14-1.100 / Supplies/ Equipment / Ice machine contaminated by sewage / dripping from waste line
Critical Corrected During Inspection Several pieces of equipment and shelving units contaminated by splashed sewage
Food workers cleaned/sanitized shelving units and equipment in basement
14-1.100 / Supplies/ Equipment / Ice machine contaminated by sewage / dripping from waste line
Critical Corrected During Inspection Box of waxpaper tray liners contaminated by splashed sewage on storage shelf in basement
Single-service food items voluntarily discarded by chef

I guess they caught them on a really bad day.

Today (e:paul) and (e:terry) came with me to meet up with Lindsay, Emily and Carrie at Brewpub out on Transit. I'm now able to enjoy the amazing fries I just ate because they didn't have any critical violations. Then again neither does White Rabbit. Emily told us the craziest story about her Thanksgiving, I can't even imagine.

Cleversplitting the bill - probably took longer than pencil and paper, lol

Permalink: Erie_County_Health_Inspection.html
Words: 347
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/10/13 09:07

Category: food

12/08/13 08:55 - ID#58422

White Rabbit Yogurt

(e:paul) and (e:terry) and I headed out to the coop for shopping and then fro yo. (e:tinypliny), Ive decided to start documenting ridiculous food prices. ~~$3.29~~(Mobile typo!) $2.29 per grapefruit!

We then drove across the street to White Rabbit for frozen yogurt. I was so obsessed in the summer but I think I'm over it, back to ice cream. Paul and I were poisoned by the gasoline flavored banana yogurt, which the guy let us replace. the spoon knew about that life.

See ya soon Condrells!

Permalink: White_Rabbit_Yogurt.html
Words: 97
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/09/13 10:13

Category: beer

12/08/13 08:43 - ID#58421

Cask Bier at Goodbar

Last night, (e:terry) and I headed out after an afternoon of programming for cask beer night at Goodbar. (e:heidi), (e:dianne), and a bunch of the beer club were there. Apparently cask beer is beer minus the carbonation. It actually made some beers that I don't think I'd like normally taste a lot better.

I also discovered that 2:1 ratio for beers between Terry and me works out much better.

Permalink: Cask_Bier_at_Goodbar.html
Words: 82
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/09/13 10:31

Category: work

12/06/13 11:55 - ID#58415

Office Christmas Party

(e:paul) and I just got back from my work's Christmas party at the Dock at the Bay in Hamburg. I thought it was going to be super awkward but it really wasn't.

The food was good, (almost) everyone loved Paul and some of my coworkers made me feel a lot better about the future working there. I was even forced to sing Christmas songs with the other new employees. I wish (e:terry) could have come too.

Later Paul and I were talking about how normal it felt to introduce him to all my coworkers, and that it might not be that way even 10 years ago. That or I don't pick up on people's reactions to it. Either way, I don't care and we're part of a protected class in NYS.

Permalink: Office_Christmas_Party.html
Words: 134
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/09/13 02:06

Category: bikes

12/06/13 10:38 - ID#58414

Bike trains

Also in bikes, I read this NPR article about bike trains in LA. Basically they use this website to organize group commutes to work for safety and encouragement. It's an awesome idea that makes me wonder if Buffalo is big enough for something like that. It's definitely easier to commit to riding knowing other people are counting on you. The thing that really stood out to me was the quote from this sociopath, Jackie Burke.

"It's like they enjoy taking up the lanes," says Jackie Burke, who has lived in Los Angeles her whole life. She says bicyclists drive her crazy when she's in a car and has to slow down for them.

"It's very frustrating, to the point where I just want to run them off the road," Burke says. "I've actually done one of those drive-really-close-to-them kind of things to kind of scare them, to try to intimidate them to get out of my way."

Is she freaking serious? How is menacing and assault a reasonable response to being slowed down for at most thirty seconds? Not to stoop to her level but I hope next time she does that someone u-locks the shit out of her car because that's not even the least of what she deserves. If she ever hits someone I hope the prosecuter finds this quote and throws the book at her. Maybe after she gets out of jail they can suspend her license and she can spend the rest of her life on a bike.

joe writes at 09:46:13 12/09/13 - Comment #70900: Yeah I definitely know what you're talking about Dave. Drivers don't seem to know about signals and some can't seem to wait two seconds to yield or slow for a bike when they would do the exact same thing for a car.

I also agree with you (e:metalpeter) about both being in the wrong sometimes - but in so many situations it seems like drivers don't even consider or even exploit the fact that they are 2 ton vehicles against 150 lb cyclists.
Being able to operate something that big and lethal definitely puts the onus on you to be safe about it, which is why I'm all about strict liability laws for driver-bike/ped collisions (see the Netherlands :::link::: ). As opposed to the US where most drivers don't even get charged even in negligence (see :::link::: Corisanti for examples).

metalpeter writes at 05:49:15 12/08/13 - Comment #70898: The Problem is that a lot of cars and Bikes are in the wrong... If you ride in the street you have to go the speed of traffic ... I've all most been ran over by people on bikes who think they don't have to stop at red lights and people cut across lanes to other side of the street and all kinds of stuff....... As an example I bet many drivers don't get the hand single thing like how the roll through stop signs don't get that Yield means the people in circle have the right away and things like that .......

libertad writes at 09:28:25 12/07/13 - Comment #70894: That woman reminds me of a recent event I experienced. I was riding down Richmond and needed to make a left so I got as close to the yellow line as possible and signaled with my hand that I was turning and some guy in a truck stopped to yell "Get out of the f'ing road you idiot!" I was so confused because he easily could go around me without slowing down, not really sure why just being on the road enrages people so much. I wonder if the bike lanes confuse some people and makes it look like we are doing the wrong thing if we are not in them when we need to make a turn?