Saturday morning started out well, then quickly deteriorated. I woke up at Ninas, and left to go help Ben and Anna move in, or so was the plan. I got to the parking garage and went to pay at the machine (before returning to my car.) The machine took my ticket but wasn't accepting cash. I tried to put my credit card into the machine, and it took it, but didn't register anything and refused to give me my card back. I tried to cancel the transaction and the LCD display would lead one to think that everything was fine, but nothing came out. No credit card, and no ticket to use to get out. So after calling every phone number in sight, I called Nina thinking I could get the credit card out if she brought down a pair of tweezers. No dice; the tweezers wouldn't fit in the slot I put my credit card in. We checked the whole garage to see if the attendant (who if there wasn't at the booth by the exit) but found nobody. We checked the lot next door, managed by the same company, but nobody was there either. Eventually Nina just let me use her pass to get out (she has one of those monthly passes you just have to wave near the reader to get out.) On the way home, I tried unsuccessfully to get in touch with Ben and Anna to figure out when/where we should meet them, but they were already down at their new place, and weren't answering their cells. Maybe we can help you next weekend if you still need it. I canceled my credit card when I got back to the house, and I should be receiving a new one in the mail shortly.
We went grocery shopping before the snow got really bad, and picked up some sleds from The Sports Authority in Beltway Plaza. Later, we went sledding on the hill outside the elementary school across the street. At some point, while I was running with Angel, I heard what sounded like keys falling out of a pocket. I checked, and my pockets were empty. After looking around a little and finding nothing, I figured what I heard was just Angels leash jingling while we ran. Upon getting back to the house, I found out that my keys weren't in my room, so they were somewhere in the field across the street. I went back later that night with a flashlight and spent about an hour wandering around, not finding anything. The next morning I went back, and was looking for about a half hour before asking our neighbors if they had a metal detector. Pauls dad suggested it earlier while I was leaving the house to go look, and I had thought about it earlier as well. I was in luck (this guy has everything) and after another half hour of digging through the snow only to discover that somewhere under a half dozen spots on the ground there were probably coins, or iron-rich rocks, I found my keys.
That afternoon we watched The Lord of The Rings, all three movies, extended edition. Got started around 1ish, and wasn't done until after midnight. I spent most of the time in the kitchen washing various pots, pans, cooking utensils, plates and bowls in a pot of hot soapy water on the stove and a rubbermaid bin of rinse water on the floor. The pipes in our kitchen have frozen, so this is how dishes must be done, with water taken from the faucet in my bathtub (but not bathwater, that would be gross.) It's like I'm camping or something. We ordered pizza and I sat down to watch the last movie. Tim cleaned any cups or silverware that needed washing at some point, so we now have clean dishes.
How was your weekend?
Monday, January 24, 2005
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Dryer details you probably could live without
So, Tim broke the dryer the other day. His load had finished and he was taking his dry clothes out, but some articles were hanging on those shelf-like protrusions that help spin the clothes. He spun the cylinder manually (as so many of us do) and heard a loud snapping sound. Then, the cylinder wouldn't move when the dryer was on. Great.
Yesterday we disassembled the thing and found the problem: the belt that spins the cylinder wasn't connected to anything. We also found a pulley unattached, lending one to believe that this was somehow the problem. Here's the catch: The belt is, topologically, a donut. As is the pulley (with a slight fuzziness applied to forgive the fact that it's a wheel attached to a axle with a little space between, and probably some bearings. The point is, the axle forms a loop with the mounting bracket, so there's no way to get the belt to go around the pulley. It's like trying to do that magic trick where you take two separate rings and transform them to be interlocked, like links of a chain. Now, I know how that works, but this belt wasn't designed with magicians in mind. We figured out how it worked: and I will try to explain this without using pictures. Good luck understanding it. You can skip the rest if you don't care how our dryer works.
First, one should note that there was a motor near the cylinder (but not touching) with an extended drive shaft (connected to the motor at one end, but left free on the other so the belt could be attached.) It was clear that the belt should go around that. The belt should also go around the cylinder. So the only question is what the hell to do with the pulley.
There were holes near the motor, on the inner surface of the bottom of the dryer body (not the cylinder) to attach the pulleys' mounting bracket, and what you're supposed to do is push a loop of the belt through the space between the pulley and it's mounting bracket, and have that loop go around the drive shaft connected to the motor. Since the pulley is close to the motor this takes very little length from the belt. The rest of the belt (on the other side of the pulley) goes around the dryer cylinder, and the tension is enough that of the loop that got threaded through the pulley and it's mounting bracket, only one direction actually touches the pulley. So to clarify: imagine you're looking at the dryer from the front. You have a large circle (the cylinder you put clothes in), and outside it, below and to the right, there's a small circle (the drive shaft connected to the motor.) Closer to the bottom of the cylinder (to the left of the drive shaft) there's a pulley (a circle larger than the drive shaft but much smaller than the dryer cylinder.) The belt, starting from the top of the cylinder and going clockwise, goes around the right side of the cylinder until you get near the bottom Let's say 4:30. There, it departs on a tangent from the cylinder and wraps around the pulley, heading right again. This begins the loop that was pushed through that I mentioned earlier. The belt then goes around the drive shaft in a clockwise fashion (let's say from 11:00 to 6:00) and departs on a tangent from the drive shaft, now heading left. Now, this part goes through the loop formed by the pulley and its mounting bracket, but doesn't touch anything there, finishing the loop that was pushed through. It then continues to meet the dryer cylinder at around 6:00, and stays on the cylinder the rest of the way up.
Aren't you sorry you read all that?
Anyway, that fixed it, and the dryer now works. Plus, we somehow wound up with an extra screw after reassembling the dryer. That's probably not good, but I doubt one screw is going to make that much of a difference. Unless, you know, that screw was holding down the "do not randomly detonate" button.
Yesterday we disassembled the thing and found the problem: the belt that spins the cylinder wasn't connected to anything. We also found a pulley unattached, lending one to believe that this was somehow the problem. Here's the catch: The belt is, topologically, a donut. As is the pulley (with a slight fuzziness applied to forgive the fact that it's a wheel attached to a axle with a little space between, and probably some bearings. The point is, the axle forms a loop with the mounting bracket, so there's no way to get the belt to go around the pulley. It's like trying to do that magic trick where you take two separate rings and transform them to be interlocked, like links of a chain. Now, I know how that works, but this belt wasn't designed with magicians in mind. We figured out how it worked: and I will try to explain this without using pictures. Good luck understanding it. You can skip the rest if you don't care how our dryer works.
First, one should note that there was a motor near the cylinder (but not touching) with an extended drive shaft (connected to the motor at one end, but left free on the other so the belt could be attached.) It was clear that the belt should go around that. The belt should also go around the cylinder. So the only question is what the hell to do with the pulley.
There were holes near the motor, on the inner surface of the bottom of the dryer body (not the cylinder) to attach the pulleys' mounting bracket, and what you're supposed to do is push a loop of the belt through the space between the pulley and it's mounting bracket, and have that loop go around the drive shaft connected to the motor. Since the pulley is close to the motor this takes very little length from the belt. The rest of the belt (on the other side of the pulley) goes around the dryer cylinder, and the tension is enough that of the loop that got threaded through the pulley and it's mounting bracket, only one direction actually touches the pulley. So to clarify: imagine you're looking at the dryer from the front. You have a large circle (the cylinder you put clothes in), and outside it, below and to the right, there's a small circle (the drive shaft connected to the motor.) Closer to the bottom of the cylinder (to the left of the drive shaft) there's a pulley (a circle larger than the drive shaft but much smaller than the dryer cylinder.) The belt, starting from the top of the cylinder and going clockwise, goes around the right side of the cylinder until you get near the bottom Let's say 4:30. There, it departs on a tangent from the cylinder and wraps around the pulley, heading right again. This begins the loop that was pushed through that I mentioned earlier. The belt then goes around the drive shaft in a clockwise fashion (let's say from 11:00 to 6:00) and departs on a tangent from the drive shaft, now heading left. Now, this part goes through the loop formed by the pulley and its mounting bracket, but doesn't touch anything there, finishing the loop that was pushed through. It then continues to meet the dryer cylinder at around 6:00, and stays on the cylinder the rest of the way up.
Aren't you sorry you read all that?
Anyway, that fixed it, and the dryer now works. Plus, we somehow wound up with an extra screw after reassembling the dryer. That's probably not good, but I doubt one screw is going to make that much of a difference. Unless, you know, that screw was holding down the "do not randomly detonate" button.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Deep Impact
I just got back from watching the launch of the Deep Impact spacecraft. That's probably the last we'll hear about it until July 4th 2005 when it impacts the comet Tempel 1. That should be exciting, since it will be the first time we (humans) intentionally impact a body other than earth (excluding landings.) I just posted a story to slashdot about it, so we'll see if they pick it up. It's times like this that I find my work exciting. I have nothing to do with the mission yet, but once the impact occurs, astronomers from around the world will upload their findings to a collaboration site I built. I'd show you the site, but it requires a login and I can't just give that information out willy-nilly, and it's really not that exciting.
So if this comet is really some extra terrestrial spacecraft, when you find out we did this, don't come to me. Actually, come to me. I know how to find the people who did this to you. In exchange for that information, I expect a few minor privileges when you enslave the Earth.
So if this comet is really some extra terrestrial spacecraft, when you find out we did this, don't come to me. Actually, come to me. I know how to find the people who did this to you. In exchange for that information, I expect a few minor privileges when you enslave the Earth.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
How I Spent My Winter Break, by Andrew Ducore
Okay, so I wrote this post once already, but blogger done not kept it. Maybe I could just say my dog ate it.
The Thursday before Christmas, Nina and I went to Thai Farm in Rockville and then watched Clerks. It'll make sense why I mentioned this later.
Christmas Eve was lazier than I had thought it would be. I planned on going to work, but I didn't. I slept in until 3:00pm and then got breakfast (or lunch, or dinner, or whatever) with Nina at IHOP. By the time we got out the sun was going down. We went to Linens & Things to get some last minute gifts, and in the checkout line I ran into this guy Eric. We took piano lessons from the same teacher back when I was taking lessons. Anyway, I went home to spend the night.
Christmas was a slow day too. The day began with me being forced out of bed by those who I guess were worried that if we didn't get downstairs in time the gifts would disappear. (run on?) I was perfectly content sleeping. But no. I got the same thing for Christmas as everyone else: presents. I stayed in my Pajamas all day except to try on some clothing I got, and all evening until around 11:30 when I got dressed so I could drive home.
The day after Christmas I went out with my parents to get an electric keyboard (a combination graduation/Christmas present.) We went to that guitar place around Cicis and the Melting Pot and picked out one that suited my needs. 88 weighted keys, a bunch of instruments, and settings out the wazoo. It even came with a pedal. Okay, so maybe that's not that exciting, but it's still nice to have a piano around. Later that evening I watched Chasing Amy with some people in the house.
Monday I went to work, then hung out with Colin and Ian in the evening. Ian wanted to watch Clerks, and after a while of searching, the DVD was found and played.
Tuesday I went up to Baltimore to get ice cream at this little Italian place Nina knew about, then we came down to CP to watch movies. We saw clerks. Again. Only this time, it was Clerks X, which had a different version of the movie (and an animated clip of what happens in the funeral parlor, Clerks Animated Series style.) So in less than a week I saw Clerks 3 times and Chasing Amy once. You'd think I liked Kevin Smith in that special way or something. But no, it's just about the sex.
Wednesday morning I drove up to New Jersey to visit family. I got to see my cousins (my moms sisters kids,) two of whom recently had kids (okay, one of them had a kid, the other was just the father... not of the same kid... some other lady had his kid.) The point is, two of my cousins are new parents with two new babies, and not twins. I got to play with one of them, Phillip Ray, and not like this is news or anything but I want to have kids. My parents say I don't need to have kids yet, and that I don't even need to be practicing either. Whatever, I'll play with dolls if I want to. Seriously, though, I want to have kids. I know I'm not quite ready yet, so I guess I'll settle with wanting to practice. I hear it's all the rage in high schools these days. I drove back to MD late Thursday night.
New Years eve was spend running errands and getting ready for the party, then the party. The party wasn't bad. More people showed up than I had thought would (Ben, Anna, where were you?) Colin came over from a party down the street with some people I went to high school with, then he brought me over to the other party. This party down the street was more "happening" than ours. They had around 50 or 60 people (I'm guessing), while ours had a couple dozen. Their house was cool too; from what I understand it was built by some architect who lived there in the 70s. I came back to our party before midnight, and stayed there. I'm surprised how little I drank: two beers, a car bomb, and a champaign flute of, well, champaign. I didn't get drunk, unlike some people whose names I won't mention, Nina.
New Years and the day thereafter were spent sleeping in and watching movies on the TV. It was fantastic.
In conclusion, Libya is a land of contrast.
The Thursday before Christmas, Nina and I went to Thai Farm in Rockville and then watched Clerks. It'll make sense why I mentioned this later.
Christmas Eve was lazier than I had thought it would be. I planned on going to work, but I didn't. I slept in until 3:00pm and then got breakfast (or lunch, or dinner, or whatever) with Nina at IHOP. By the time we got out the sun was going down. We went to Linens & Things to get some last minute gifts, and in the checkout line I ran into this guy Eric. We took piano lessons from the same teacher back when I was taking lessons. Anyway, I went home to spend the night.
Christmas was a slow day too. The day began with me being forced out of bed by those who I guess were worried that if we didn't get downstairs in time the gifts would disappear. (run on?) I was perfectly content sleeping. But no. I got the same thing for Christmas as everyone else: presents. I stayed in my Pajamas all day except to try on some clothing I got, and all evening until around 11:30 when I got dressed so I could drive home.
The day after Christmas I went out with my parents to get an electric keyboard (a combination graduation/Christmas present.) We went to that guitar place around Cicis and the Melting Pot and picked out one that suited my needs. 88 weighted keys, a bunch of instruments, and settings out the wazoo. It even came with a pedal. Okay, so maybe that's not that exciting, but it's still nice to have a piano around. Later that evening I watched Chasing Amy with some people in the house.
Monday I went to work, then hung out with Colin and Ian in the evening. Ian wanted to watch Clerks, and after a while of searching, the DVD was found and played.
Tuesday I went up to Baltimore to get ice cream at this little Italian place Nina knew about, then we came down to CP to watch movies. We saw clerks. Again. Only this time, it was Clerks X, which had a different version of the movie (and an animated clip of what happens in the funeral parlor, Clerks Animated Series style.) So in less than a week I saw Clerks 3 times and Chasing Amy once. You'd think I liked Kevin Smith in that special way or something. But no, it's just about the sex.
Wednesday morning I drove up to New Jersey to visit family. I got to see my cousins (my moms sisters kids,) two of whom recently had kids (okay, one of them had a kid, the other was just the father... not of the same kid... some other lady had his kid.) The point is, two of my cousins are new parents with two new babies, and not twins. I got to play with one of them, Phillip Ray, and not like this is news or anything but I want to have kids. My parents say I don't need to have kids yet, and that I don't even need to be practicing either. Whatever, I'll play with dolls if I want to. Seriously, though, I want to have kids. I know I'm not quite ready yet, so I guess I'll settle with wanting to practice. I hear it's all the rage in high schools these days. I drove back to MD late Thursday night.
New Years eve was spend running errands and getting ready for the party, then the party. The party wasn't bad. More people showed up than I had thought would (Ben, Anna, where were you?) Colin came over from a party down the street with some people I went to high school with, then he brought me over to the other party. This party down the street was more "happening" than ours. They had around 50 or 60 people (I'm guessing), while ours had a couple dozen. Their house was cool too; from what I understand it was built by some architect who lived there in the 70s. I came back to our party before midnight, and stayed there. I'm surprised how little I drank: two beers, a car bomb, and a champaign flute of, well, champaign. I didn't get drunk, unlike some people whose names I won't mention, Nina.
New Years and the day thereafter were spent sleeping in and watching movies on the TV. It was fantastic.
In conclusion, Libya is a land of contrast.
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