Key Quote from Dostoevsky's Demons

I had been looking for this for a while and finally found it:

“Your Excellency,” said a policeman, coming up to him, “what if you were to try the repose of home? . . . It's dangerous for your Excellency even to stand here.”

This policeman, as I heard afterwards, had been told off by the chief of police to watch over Andrey Antonovitch, to do his utmost to get him home, and in case of danger even to use force—a task evidently beyond the man's power.

“They will wipe away the tears of the people whose houses have been burnt, but they will burn down the town. It's all the work of four scoundrels, four and a half! Arrest the scoundrel! He worms himself into the honour of families. They made use of the governesses to burn down the houses. It's vile, vile! Aie, what's he about?” he shouted, suddenly noticing a fireman at the top of the burning lodge, under whom the roof had almost burnt away and round whom the flames were beginning to flare up. “Pull him down! Pull him down! He will fall, he will catch fire, put him out! . . . What is he doing there?”

“He is putting the fire out, your Excellency.”

“Not likely. The fire is in the minds of men and not in the roofs of houses. Pull him down and give it up! Better give it up, much better! Let it put itself out.

Groton Road Race

Came in 52nd out of 490 finishers

Net time of: 44:47 with a pace/mile of 7:13

44th out of 284 men. 22nd out of 104 men in my age bracket (40-49)

Photo courtesy of Cool Running.

Added: Interesting numerology...

49 369 Andy Richardt 44:20 7:09 44:30 40 41/284 M 19/104 M4049

50 475 Daniel Gill 44:27 7:10 44:33 44 42/284 M 20/104 M4049

51 259 Randal Parradee 44:43 7:12 44:45 40 43/284 M 21/104 M4049

52 388 David Pecchia 44:47 7:13 44:50 48 44/284 M 22/104 M4049

53 574 Kim Blair 44:48 7:13 44:51 52 45/284 M 3/52 M5059

54 495 Brandon Lund 44:51 7:14 44:57 25 46/284 M 7/32 M2029

55 498 Eric Niemoller 44:54 7:14 44:57 13 47/284 M 3/13 M-19

56 286 Jeff Druzba 44:53 7:14 44:58 35 48/284 M 12/67 M3039

4 in a row in their 40's followed by one in his 50's, then one in his 20's, then one under 20 and finally one in his 30's.

What makes art valuable?

Rarity has got to be a big part of it, or else how to account for the fact that this just sold for $2.3 Million.

This was produced in 1617.

To me, it has much the same look as medieval art in that artists did not know how to do perspective or draw the human form.

Italian artists were making art which would make the Mughal work seem laughably rudimentary more than 100 years earlier.

Michelangelo's rendering of the Libyan Sibyl (Sistine Chapel between 1508 and 1512)

Or compare with this painting by da Vinci from 1478

Boring Plumbing That Suddenly Became Exciting

But not in a good way, though at a good time.

The little shutoff valve for one of the toilets started leaking a few weeks ago. I didn't know the leak rate, so I put a plastic container under it and checked it every once in a while. I needed to empty it once/week, then once/day and while I had decided to change it from when the leak was first noticed; the once/day schedule pushed this job to the top of the "to do" list.

I picked-up a ball valve that worked by a tight fitting rubber sleeve which would go over the copper pipe. I had reservations but figured if the hardware store is full of these devices then it is not like buying from a TV infomercial.

I couldn't tell how the original valve was attached until I tried to remove it--it was soldered on. Great! If I have to bring the torch into play, I might as well have gotten a valve which solders on. When I finished, I turned on the water to the house and maybe it was leaking, couldn't be sure. So the plastic container went under the valve to patiently tell me what was what. It leaked at about the same rate as the original valve. Fine! I'd get a solder version the next Saturday.

The plan for Saturday was first, a group run from Hopkinton to Boston College, then I would get some McD's in Drum Hill then off to the Sear's one block away. Well, after the 21 miler I was sick from fatigue and so blew-off the double cheeseburger for $1.29 deal and went home.

This morning at 8:00 AM the valve blew and this was noticed by water flooding in from the ceiling of the laundry room--directly below the bathroom with the bad valve. Like I said at the top--a good bit of timing. It could have blown when nobody was home or in the middle of the night. The hardware stores were not open for another hour, so I soldered a cap over the feed pipe and then turned back on the water to the house. Everything was fine except for one toilet out of commission and there are two others available.

Later, at the hardware store, I had picked-out a new valve and asked the guys at the counter if I should take the valve apart before soldering it in. "No, don't mess with the seals" they said. I planned to ignore them: It can't be good for rubber O-rings to get exposed to the heat from a torch. It can be ameliorated by opening the valve, since then the rings are not pushed-up tightly against the hot metal, but still, why not avoid the whole problem? Indeed, when I got home and read (via magnifying glass) the micro-print on the package, it said to remove the valve stem before soldering.

The little end-cap that had saved breakfast, showers, breakfast cleanup & so forth; took back as much as it had saved. These copper pieces fit rather snugly. Not a problem when assembling a piece, since everything is cold. But when it comes to taking things apart, you have to heat until the solder is liquid and then use tools to do all of the manipulations. The end cap bound-up and I was never able to get it off. In the end, I redid everything from the wall to the toilet tank.

Done now and no leaks. My experience with copper and solder is that if it doesn't leak right away it will never leak.

more pre Nicks Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac -- pre Nicks

Sound thinking regarding global warming

We Visited Important Historical Sites

Mystery Woman in Old San Juan

It was a hot day. A hot day of trudging the tourist infested streets of old San Juan Puerto Rico. Things got interesting when a cool woman in a dark outfit walked into my life.

Actually, she was with me the whole time. Later we took the three kids to a place for some milk shakes.

Limestone

It is good for making caverns:

It also provides just the right setting for a radio telescope:

Modes of Transport

The trip to Bio Bay was so complex it made me feel like I was escaping from behind the iron curtain.

First, we took the rental car to a marina to catch a power catamaran for the crossing. Just to get out of the resort there was one guard and gate for the garage and another for the entrance to the resort. The boat was fast and rough; spray would wash over the front windows and across the top of the vessel. Some passengers felt a bit ill from the violence of the passage.

The crew, in keeping with wife and eldest daughter's observations about young Puerto Rican men, were were attractive and friendly. Also, they plied us with all the free rum drinks we wanted. As one of them said, "This is Puerto Rico, land of rum. If you want tequila, you are in the wrong country!"

After the crossing, we had a pleasant van ride to the restaurant. Along the way we enjoyed the scenery, including that of the feral horses that Vieques is famous for. The meal was served quickly since our orders had been called ahead.

The next mode of transport was by yellow school bus. I was really amazed by what a bus can do. Much of this leg was on narrow--tree branches brushing against both sides of the bus at the same time--and very steep, potholed and muddy.

Finally, there was an electric open top pontoon boat that took us out into the bay.

Returning, it was the same thing in reverse order: Yellow bus, van, high speed cat and then rental car and gate houses.

These nine changes in transport rivaled last year's whole trip to India: Car to airport, Plane ride to New Delhi, Van around Delhi, to Agra and on to Jaipur, Plane ride to Mangalore, Van around Mangalore then to Kapu and on to Udupi and finally Goa, Plane ride to Bombay, Van around Bombay, Plane to USA, Car ride home = 10! A three week trip had only one more transport change than this half-day outing.

Light, Very Distant and Very Close.

On Tuesday we went to Puerto Mosquito on Vieques to see the bio-luminescent display there. So far on the visit to Puerto Rico, it had been mostly cloudy and I was hoping for this to continue since the Moon was slightly more than half full. As it turned-out, the skies were totally clear, but the Moon didn't rise until sometime after we left.

Our guide was an expert on astronomy--at least that part of it involving the names of principle stars and constellations. He had a bright green laser-pointer with which he could point out features in the sky. My red laser pointer only creates a bright dot where the light hits something solid. The guide's would create a beam that seemed to go-off into infinity. I suspect that the higher frequency of his light (green v. red) caused it to have an higher incidence of scatter, also it was most likely more powerful than a usual pointer. In any case it allowed for a planetarium-like experience, which was helped by the very dark skies.

The only light seen from the water was from when a fish would dart about and from where the water was disturbed by the electric pontoon boat we were on. Even as the mechanism of this light is known--dinoflagellates, it was nonetheless quite magical. It got better though; we were able to get out of the boat and swim around in the bay. It was a chilly evening and the water too was cool, but the discomfort was well-worth it. Any movement however small, would cause a glow in the wake of the movement. The guides forced us to wear life-belts, which is totally understandable, but somewhat disappointing from an aesthetic stand-point. It turned-out to be beneficial in a couple of ways: The best bio-luminescent effects were from slow movements and this would be difficult given the need to remain floating. Rapid movements create a kind of milky cloud of blue-green light, slow movements create a much clearer light--sort of like champagne, where the tiny bubbles are illuminated from within and light-up the rest of the fluid. The best technique was to knife your fingers forward, just under the surface of the water. Light and bubbles would form at the tips of each finger and spread in a wake behind each one.

The best effect was from lying still, just floating. What would happen is that one would see small dots of light on your skin. If I recall correctly, these would occur both in and out of the water--so it might be droplets of water on the skin and air bubbles on the skin under water. Possibly, what I saw were individual Noctilucales, which can be 1-2 mm in diameter. Either way, they had the same brightness and apparent size as the stars above. It was odd, contemplating one dot of light coming from an incomprehensibly violent and large object which emitted the light I just saw many centuries before I was born and another dot, much the same in appearance but coming from a little single-celled organism on my arm.

All three of the girls were similarly entranced by the swim and were reluctant to get out when called.

Short Conversation At A Restaurant

Wife: Returning from the restroom; "I saw something interesting when I was in the bathroom"

Me: What was it?

Wife: Gestures for me to lean towards her so that the kids won't overhear what she has to say; I saw two women kissing in there!

Me: Did S (Daughter who accompanied wife on trip to restroom) see?

Wife: No.

Me: (Excitedly) So, what did they look like?

Wife: You wouldn't be interested. They were not television lesbians.

Me: (Disappointedly.) Harrumph.

Baked Stuffed Fish Recipe

This is a modification of a baked cod dish* my college room mate (and cousin) would make. Any white fish will do, but cod is really good. Haddock is really nice too--the key is good quality fresh fish.

*It has been a long time, but the main differences (that I can remember) are that he did not pre-cook the onion and used bread crumbs instead of cracker crumbs.

First: Make the stuffing by dicing and then cooking one medium sized onion till golden, Then add fresh parsley and/or celery--the leafy top parts are best. This is done in a fair amount of olive oil, butter, ghee (clarified butter) or some combination of these.

Next, cover the bottom of a well oiled metal baking pan or ceramic dish with crumpled (just crush in your hands) Ritz crackers. Choose a vessel just large enough for the fish to fill it in one layer. It is easiest to entirely fill the area available if the fish is cut into roughly 2 oz pieces.

Prepare a coating for the fish by mixing (this is for around one pound of fish) 1/3 to 1/2 cup of sour cream and a tablespoon or two each of mustard and mayonnaise. Coat the fish on both sides and lay gently onto the crumbs in the bottom of the pan.

Crush Ritz crackers into the cooked onion stuffing in the pan you cooked the onion in and gently mix with your fingers. It should take around twice as many crackers for the stuffing as it took to coat the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the fish evenly and then bake at 330 F for around 30 minutes.

You can test if the fish is done by looking to see if the flesh is opaque. The dish should be very moist but not soupy and the topping just starting to brown. Serve with fresh lemon. The mustard and sour cream give a bit of tartness, so you may find yourself using less lemon or skipping this condiment for this dish.

Luxury and Necessity

Everything I did at the start of today was stuff that really doesn't need to be done--at least not by me, but for various reasons I did them anyway.

First, I released the hound. Well, our Caviler King Charles Spaniel, from her crate and took her for a walk. Normally my wife does this as it is primarily her dog, but it is nice for her to sleep-in every once in a while.

While everybody was sleeping, I set about roasting coffee. Yes, I am aware that it can be purchased pre-roasted but it is far better, in terms of the cost of quality beans and freshness to do this yourself. It does smoke-up the house and is a pain and is still well-worth the extra effort.

After breakfast, my wife had plans to make a few ground beef intensive dishes and so I did my part by grinding the meat. Again, it is cost and quality; nice chuck roast is inexpensive and makes a far superior hamburger than what the store grinds for you, also it is fresher when you do it yourself.

There is some definition of luxury as having things done for you and I can see the logic in that. But for me, a more important kind of luxury is having a superior experience; a perfectly cooked meal or a great tasting cup of coffee. Work provides rewards. If you work hard at your job, you will generally make more money, with which you can get more or nicer things. By the same token, extra work in your home life pay off in the same way. The effort of being a skilled cook pays-off in inexpensive yet fancy eating.

Necessity intrudes though. The unremitting snow this Winter has resulted in ice dams and a bit of leakage into the house. Today was relatively warm and drizzly, a combination which will transform the two and a half feet of snow on the roof into an even larger problem. The situation demanded action! Up on the roof I went, snow shovel in hand.

Nothing could be closer to civilization than the roof of a suburban house. Yet, in the thigh-deep snow, I felt like a wilderness explorer. The work was very physical in that it took a lot of strength as well as aerobic effort. It is also a two story house, so mortality was on my mind. As it was, the troublesome ice dams provided a flat surface along the edge of the roof. The slope helps but the huge volume and mass of the snow to be removed has left my body in a jelly-like state almost 6 hours later.

Necessity is reactive and sucks. All the effort is just to avoid consequences which are greater than the effort it takes to prevent them.

Guacamole Recipe

First! This is important:

Juice one lime. Lemon is okay if that is all you have. Juice from the little plastic lemon or lime is NOT okay.

Open two small avocados or one large one. They need to be ripe! Your best bet is to buy them a few days ahead of time and then make guacamole once the fruit yield to a gentle squeeze.

Mash the avocados into the bowl containing lime juice. The reason you do it in this order is that the avocado flesh turns brown very quickly when exposed to the oxygen in air. The citrus juice prevents this.

Add around 1/4 cup of finely minced red or yellow onion and a similar amount of chopped fresh tomato.

Add a jalapeño or other hot pepper--finely chopped or a few shakes of Tabasco Sauce is good too.

Complete with garlic powder, cumin, salt and black pepper. You may also wish to add a couple table spoons of sour cream. Minced crispy bacon is also a nice touch.

The President's "Plan" For The Country (Picture)

Who knew?

Dinner (A couple of nights ago)

Pizza!

Detail...

Sauce, Three cheeses (Mozzarella, Gruyère and Asiago), Hot Italian sausage, Olives, Artichoke Hearts, Red Onions, Jalapeño Peppers, Fresh Mushrooms and Crushed Garlic.

My Daughter Is Evil

Here she is, torturing her cousin.