metrology - 1 : the science of weights and measures or of measurement

I'm a metrologist!

This is who made the $10,000 GPS unit I use at work. It is the same Leica that makes cameras.

After walking through the Shedd Aquarium for three hours looking at fish, I was starving for fish! They had sole, yellow perch, salmon, trigger fish, etc.

On the train ride home I remembered that I have been meaning to try the fish dinner at Loco Burrito. I have seen a lot of other people get it, but have never tried it myself. It always looked very impressive. So I tried it, and it was SOOOO good. Sheri was a little hesitant to try it because of the looks, but she did and loved it. Very mild, flaky, sweet, and tender. It is sea bass. It is my new favorite there and am already looking forward to my next visit. I had already taken one bite out of it before I thought of taking a picture.

I think the Harvard Business School; Working Knowledge is a new favorite website. I have not spent too much time on the site yet, but it looks like a lot of mini HBS case studies. I read and enjoyed a lot of these during grad school. Today I read the case called Music Downloads: Pirates - or Customers. Pretty good.

We have been having a lot of rain in Chicago lately. Here is a picture of a couple of home owners inspecting their second story windows for leaks.

The 70-foot vessel, Waters, home ported in Homer, Alaska, sits grounded on top of a navigational beacon on a rock in Narrow Strait north of Kodiak Island, near the village of Ouzinke, Alaska, Friday, June 18, 2004. The crew boarded a skiff and went to shore to wait for the next high tide to refloat the boat. The Coast Guard is investigating the grounding.
(AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard, Sara Raymer)

The GE SmartWater water heater that we just had installed has a little tag on it that says it was manufactured by Rheem!

I submitted my name today to be a volunteer flour miller at this historic windmill that was built in the 1850's, and then moved to its current site in the Fabyan Forest Preserve in 1914.

I did a lawnmower tune-up today. Yesterday after I got done cutting the grass I drained the oil out while it was still hot and thin. Today I put in fresh oil, a new spark plug, and air filter. I also took off the cover to the self-propelled gear assembly and cleared away dead grass from the pulleys. Finally I wiped off a bunch of oil and grass dust from the engine block.

Yesterday I took off the blade that I have had on the lawnmower for MORE THAN A YEAR and put on a freshly sharpened one. I normally change the blade twice per season. I put on a fresh one at the start of the season, and then swap in a sharpened one about half way through the season. It makes a huge difference. The engine doesn't slow down when I go through a thick patch of grass with a sharp blade, but it does with an old blade. I also don't get clumps of grass left behind on the lawn with a sharp blade. The grass looks better to when it is cut rather than ripped.

I will take the dull blade I removed yesterday to the hardware store to have it sharpened so I will have it ready for the next blade change. It only costs $6.00 to have it sharpened and balanced.

I dug up 4 root balls yesterday from some evergreen shrubs I cut down in the back yard last fall. Today I worked the soil from the dig spots. I am just trying to loosen up the soil now. I will eventually turn some peat moss into the soil to get it ready for whatever we decide to plant there next. Mom and Dad are going to help us plan the layout later in the summer.

I am on the patio now taking a breather. I am going to put away all of the yard tools I have out while Sheri goes to the store for a watermelon. After I get cleaned up I will cut up the melon into a bowl and we will take it upstairs to the office to eat while I work on my resume.

We went to Jimmy's for lunch today. We like going there on nice days like today because they have a HUGE patio right on the street in downtown. It is fun to watch all of the people going in and out of the nearby stores while we enjoy our lunch. (Lots of cuties too!)

Gas has been about $1.96 - $1.99 for regular here.

I accidentally turned off our new gas water heater yesterday. I took me about five minutes to figure out how to relight it. I went down last night to turn the temperature up on the heater, and I thought the knob was set to "Light Pilot" rather than "On", so I turned it to what I thought was On. I thought the red button that you have to push while lighting the pilot was the indicator mark. It is not. There is a little molded-in notch on the front that I should have lined up the knob with. Sheri asked me this morning if I turned the temperature down rather than up because it didn't feel very hot. We don't need a match to light the heater. It comes with one of those buttons you push like on a gas grill. It makes a little spark and lights the pilot light.

I think the next three home investments will be a battery back-up sump pump, a new dishwasher, and a new air conditioner / furnace. The sump pump and dishwasher will probably happen this year. I am not entirely sure about the AC and furnace. The furnace is fine, but the AC unit outside looks pretty shabby. If I put money into the AC I would want to match the interior components to it. Maybe in a year or two. The dishwasher is also working fine, but the racks are starting to rust where the vinyl cladding has been damaged.

Sheri set up her hammock while I was working on the lawnmower and yard.

I bought a new push broom at Sears today, but the broom head and the handle have mismatched attaching points. I have to take one of them back and get the correct one. I used to have a really nice push broom, but I think it got left behind when we moved to Chicago.

The plumbers just left from installing our new hot water heater. Yeah!

The plumbers assistant, Joel, is in a heavy metal band called Chainwax. This is him:

Al-Qaida member charged with planning to blow up a Columbus, OH mall!

Our hot water heater has been dripping for the last couple of months, and I have been dreading dealing with it. Today we stopped into Home Depot to see what they have. The 50 gallon model with the 12 year warranty is $390, plus $240 if I have them install it for a total of $630 plus tax.

I also just left a message for the plumbing company that installed the one we have now for an estimate.

The brand of heater we have now is A.O. Smith. Never heard of them, but from their website it looks like they just sell to contractors. I don't know if that is good or bad.

The Home Depot carries the G.E.  SmartWater line of hot water heaters.

I bought another watch last weekend. It is from the Casio Wave Ceptor line which means it sets itself automatically every night from the atomic clock in Fort Collins, Colorado. I love it, and it was only $50 at Wal-Mart.

Sheri didn't have to work today because the markets were closed for Reagan's funeral, so I took off too.

We went to the movies today to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Very good. It definitely had the best effects and cinematography of the series so far.

Before the movie we had lunch at Gemato's Grill. I had the chopped BBQ pork special, and Sheri had the hamburger kids meal. It was the first time we were there and we liked it. They cook using wood.

Plasma vs. LCD TV Update

I don't recommend buying either technology yet, but new products in the LCD market show that LCD is going to be the way to go. The author of this article brought home an LCD model to evaluate, and when he put it next to his 3 year old plasma model he couldn't believe how much the plasma set had degraded in that short amount of time.

So if you have money burning a hole in your pocket for a new TV, hold on just a little bit longer until the LCD products finally catch up.

Sheri had a bad day, so we went out for Indian food for dinner, and then to Trader Joe's just for fun.

I don't know why I have NEVER IN MY LIFE done this before, but I have never calculated the gas mileage for any of my cars. I did it today for the first time for our 1996 4-door Lumina sedan and it got exactly 27 mpg.

My calculations were correct; my digital thermometer didn't register any higher than 210º.

For me next experiment I want to see how much the temperature will increase every time I add a tablespoon of salt to the boiling water.

I just calculated that the boiling point of water at an elevation of 725 feet above sea level (the elevation of our kitchen) and a current atmospheric pressure of 29.99" of mercury is 210.2º.

I am going to go make some hard boiled eggs now for pickling and will see how close I am.

I stopped and got a haircut after work. Sheri just called from the train station and she is going to bring an assortment of goodies home for dinner from a middle eastern restaurant we recently discovered nearby called "The Olive Branch". I requested that one of the items lamb kabob. She will surprise me with the rest. I am going to go cut the grass now before she gets home.