26

3 shootings raise Baltimore homicide toll to 26

By Justin Fenton and Richard Irwin

11:03 AM EST, February 5, 2009

City homicide detectives are investigating the fatal shootings of three men whose bodies were found yesterday in separate locations in the city and appear to be unrelated. Police said no arrests had been made.
- The Baltimore Sun

Homicide Map for February 6, 2009: all victims

Homicide Map for February 6, 2009: white victims

Windlass Weekend

Today's temperature never got above 36 F, but the weekend is forecast to hover in the mid-50s.

Sounds like a good time to get back to mounting and installing Calypso's windlass.

Butterflies, Seagulls, Politics and Preaching

"The butterfly effect refers to the idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that may ultimately alter the path of a tornado or delay, accelerate or even prevent the occurrence of a tornado in a certain location. The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale alterations of events" - wikipedia

In 1961, meterologist and mathematician Edward N. Lorenz was using a numerical computer model to rerun a weather prediction, and as a shortcut, entered the decimal .506 instead of entering the full .506127 the computer would hold. The result described a completely different weather scenario than predicted:  "One meteorologist remarked that if the theory were correct, one flap of a seagull's wings could change the course of weather forever."  In later speeches and papers, Lorenz used the more poetic tern butterfly.

--   --   --

Wonder what might happen if the church stopped flapping its lips about politics, and dedicated itself to reaching people by preaching the gospel?

I'm guessing no man-made scenario could predict the result.

A Personal Post for Brent Sears

Brent Sears does lots of his own cooking; Brent Sears likes his chorizos; Brent Sears ain't scared of trying something new.

So I'm posting this Rice with Chorizo recipe from CubanFoodMarket.com just for him:

One day Brent mi hijo will report and meet me in Ybor City; we'll begin the search for the best Cuban sandwich on the planet. 

José Martí Park, Ybor City*

* The park technically belongs to Cuba: the title is owned by the Cuban government, which purchased the land in 1957 to commemorate Marti.  Jose Marti is considered the father of Cuban independence from Spain.

Notes on being slightly off-center

Here's another picture I took yesterday while installing the new faucet.

Hmmm.  Are you wondering why the faucet isn't centered, and is mounted offset so far to the left?

It's because the black cabinet door on the left slides open, while the door on the right swings open.  In other words that's the only place the faucet could be mounted, yet still allow each cabinet door to open.

(No, I didn't think of that on my own; I just used the original faucet's hole :-)

Righty Tighty, ADD Part 2

Are you wondering, What happened today with the faucet?  Well, what happened was that I spent two hours sorting out and re-fitting the hot and cold water supply hoses but now, yes, the new faucet works correctly.

I was gonna post a new photo as proof but after taking pizza-pictures for today's previous post, I forgot to turn off my camera ... and the battery ran down.

So there you have it.

Tomorrow the temperature's supposed to dip down to 14 degrees, but Friday I'll resume installing Calypso's windlass (an electric motor for raising & lowering the anchor) .

I've never installed (or even worked on) a windlass before, but on Monday I got all the holes drilled and everything bolted in place ... somehow without dropping the windlass over the side.

I think that's a good sign; we'll find out on Friday.

Nacho Mama's

Nacho Mama's is a Mexican restaurant on O'Donnell Square, about three blocks from the marina.  

Here's my three amigos: Mama's is reasonably priced.  Mama's delivers.  And the most important thing?  Mama's delivers pizza.

[Large double cheese, pepperoni, mushroom and sausage pizza; above]

Plus, Mama's delivers home-made salads and meatloaf, too.

[Mama's Ten Leaf Salad, with Honey Jalapeno Vinaigrette; above]

OK so tomorrow's forecast calls for snow, 25mph gusts and a high of just 27 degrees, so stocking up the fridge with leftovers seems right ... especially before business gets down to 14 degrees by the end of the day.

PS.  Oh this likeness of Elvis lurks outside on Mama's  sidewalk.

ADD: Day of Daze

Several months ago it seemed like a good idea to replace Calypso's 26-year old plastic galley (kitchen) faucet [below] with a newer model ... one that included a a spray attachment, for doing dishes.

According to Amazon, the faucet came with 1/2" IPS fittings. But 1/2" IPS fittings didn't fit. Nor did 3/8" IPS fittings. You can see the difference, below.


I thought they looked like 3/8" compression fittings, so I called Kohler's Customer service and was assured, "Oh Yes definitely, your model only comes with 1/2" IPS fittings." It's just that my model was different.

Long story short: I took the supply lines loose, got a ride to Home Depot, and spent 15 minutes in the Plumbing aisle until I got the right size ... 3/8" compression, as I first suspected. It took almost two months, but finally I had all the parts to get started.

So this morning I unbolted and took out the sink; that's the only way I could reach and unscrew the old faucet's huge Plex nut (below).


No problem so far, right? Things went so smoothly I decided to add a water filter to the cold water supply, too. The job ended up taking about six hours, but I finally got all the fittings right n' tight ... with no leaking at all. None.

Shoot I even replaced the sink's drain hose, while I was still on an enthusiastic Completion roll. Notice how good the new faucet looks, below:



Yes sir, good deal.

Then around 5 PM, after cleaning up and admiring my work, I realized I'd reversed the Hot and Cold supply lines: the faucet worked backwards. Huh?

Does that make me sound like a moron? How could I make such a simple mistake? Why couldn't I just C-O-N-C-E-N-T-R-A-T-E, make a list, pay attention to what I was doing, etc.?

The best answer is that ADD is like that.

Especially when you've got two supply lines, two shut-off valves, one water filter ... and 12 different 3/8"/MIPS/FIPS/Plex/1/2" Barb/Compression fittings, couplers & adapters, 76 pounds of nut drivers, wrenches, locking pliers, chisels, Vise Grips, sockets and extensions ... plus hose clamps ... and enough Teflon plumber's tape to gift-wrap the Eiffel Tower.

That's something like 86 aggravations and 1440 possible things going on at the same time, that's how: concentrating and becoming fixed on one thing means losing sight of the next thing.

Oh well, it's not like I'm not used to it.

So guess what I'll be doing tomorrow?

Super Bowl re-cap

(football humor)

Before going any further, you gotta understand one thing first.

I'm just visiting Baltimore, but I ended up being here long enough to learn that no group of people on earth despise Pittsburgh the way folks in Charm City despise Pittsburgh.  I mean, if there's one thing here that brings people together, it's a shared contempt for P-burgh.  

So here come the jokes ... and Go Ravens!

Pittsburgh is the home of sports teams like the Pirates and the Steelers ... the only teams in America named for their city council.

Q: What's the only sign of intelligent life in Pittsburgh?

A: Baltimore: 245 Miles

Did you hear about the power outage at the Pittsburgh airport?

Forty Steelers fans were stuck on the escalator for three hours.

Today YOU can visit New Spring Church no matter where you are

Just click here at 11:15 AM Eastern Daylight Time (04:15 UTC).  Download the Study Guide here.

For other time zones, check the International Time Converter.

"More Dangerous in Every Dimension"

Georges St-Pierre first stunned, then dominated and dismantled BJ Penn in a one-sided defence of the UFC welterweight title in which the Canadian showed that his strength, speed, power, game plan and versatility knows no bounds.

Quite Simply, GSP looked faster, stronger and more dangerous in every dimension, rendering any thoughts of a Penn upset against the favourite, and welterweight champion, futile. GSP is the man. Indeed, he rendered Penn's Octagon skills ineffective.

The bout was called off after four rounds, with ringside doctor William Berliner having inspected Penn, and Penn's brother gesturing that it should be over.

-Telegraph.Co.UK

What do you mean by "Eternal Life"?

Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

-John 17:3

-- -- --

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?"

- Matthew 22:18

And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness
Can’t drown out a single word.