October 22, 2014
Something or high water
It's been raining pretty hard today, and now the runoff is overtopping the entire culvert.
It's not supposed to be like this; there are two big concrete pipes under the culvert which are supposed to carry the water, but they've been completely clogged up for years. Unfortunately, fixing them would either require scuba gear or a back hoe.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
12:45 PM
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And it's eroding it away, as water will do.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at October 22, 2014 01:25 PM (+rSRq)
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I've seen water undercut a dam in a situation like that. It was also a bridge. One side actually bent at almost 45 degrees; the thin point on the concrete looked
bent.
Posted by: RickC at October 22, 2014 03:42 PM (0a7VZ)
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A culvert *is* a big concrete pipe, so I'm not sure what exactly is going on here. Why do they have culverts crossing over each other, rather than draining to a common point?
At any rate, if a backhoe is what it would take to fix, then the owner of this thing should have a damn backhoe out there to fix it. Deferring maintenance on drainage control structures to this extent is almost always false economy.
Posted by: CatCube at October 22, 2014 05:55 PM (fa4fh)
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When this place was originally built, they used a backhoe and dug a long straight ditch through this property and the one just downstream. They needed a couple of ways to cross it, and in the park there's a bridge. Here they decided to cut corners, so they laid down a couple of concrete pipes (about 3 meters long) and then buried them with soil, which eventually grew grass on top.
But the pipes eventually got clogged up, and since water will always find a way, it eventually eroded a slot right next to the far side.
One time beavers built a dam just upstream from the culvert (literally; about 2 meters upstream) and eventually the county brought in some workmen in waders who spent a day pulling all the brush and sticks (and a few larger logs) out.
Yeah, it needs to be seriously fixed, but the problem now is that there isn't any way to get a backhoe into there any longer without cutting down trees. Fixing it with muscle power would be painful. So they've been putting it off, and trying cheap fixes. Like once they poured a whole bunch of river rock into the slot -- which washed away in the next big rainstorm.
The damage done to it today is a lot more serious than any before. About a third of the soil is completely washed away, and we're predicted for continuing rain through the weekend. And that culvert and the bridge are the only ways across it. And there are fences on both banks between them. So if you need access to the other side, you have to drive.
It is too wide to jump safely, especially since the banks are steep and muddy. You could wade across it when the water flow it low, but if you were to try to do it today you'd get swept away.
I called the manager this afternoon and told her she needed to look at it. It's up to her, and to the owner. The owner has been spending money to keep this place nice, so maybe they'll be able to find some money in the budget to fix this. Or convince the county to do it. (The land on the opposite side of the creek belongs to the county.)
Sharon told me one time that they considered building another bridge, but that would pretty much require at least a little heavy equipment, and there isn't any way to get it in there without cutting down trees.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at October 22, 2014 07:41 PM (+rSRq)
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OK, I think I understand the site. I'm guessing you're using the word "culvert" to mean the earthen berm and the concrete pipes underneath it. Culvert refers to a drainage pipe itself under another structure--I thought you meant that there was a culvert carrying surface runoff running 90° to the channel seen above which was itself served by two (plugged) concrete culverts, and an engineer who did something like that should be required to explain himself.
If they're concerned about the trees blocking site access, then all they have to do is keep putting off maintenance, and the water will eventually move the trees for them. Hopefully it'll move trees before moving buildings. Or, they could skip the upcoming grief and use chainsaws, but I guess I'm not a treehugger.
I just moved to the Pacific Northwest, and it's been raining pretty good here today (in Portland). Aren't you somewhere up here as well?
Posted by: CatCube at October 22, 2014 08:46 PM (fa4fh)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at October 22, 2014 08:49 PM (+rSRq)
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OK, that explains why Beaverton sounded so familiar when I got to the area. I recognized the name, and because it was my first time in the northwest, I couldn't figure out why.
Posted by: CatCube at October 22, 2014 08:56 PM (fa4fh)
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Actually, it's more likely that beavers will take out the trees than that the creek will. This creek only gets huge waterflow (like today) maybe 10 days a year or less.
Last spring the beavers ringbarked one of our big maple trees and almost got another before the handyman noticed and wrapped its trunk with chicken wire. (One side of that tree is now dead; it only grew leaves on the other side.) The beavers eventually dropped the first one, and the complex had to hire a guy to come in with a chipper and cut it up and haul it away.
That was enough to convince the complex (and some other people) to hire trappers, who came in and killed two of them. But in the last few days there's been evidence here that more beavers are around.
This is the second time they've had trappers in, and both times more beavers found this are within a year.
There are beavers all through this watershed right now, which I for one think is pretty awesome. (Beavers in Beaverton!) But they can be a nuisance.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at October 22, 2014 10:28 PM (+rSRq)
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And here's what it looks like the next morning. It's entirely washed away a big part of the soil over the concrete pipes. One of them is now completely exposed.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at October 23, 2014 07:27 AM (+rSRq)
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October 17, 2014
Phone Phollies
The main function of my phone (HTC Droid DNA) is to solve the "I've fallen and I can't get up!" problem. (And the "I've had another stroke" problem.) I'm proud to say that since my stroke I haven't lost my balance enough to fall, not even once. But I've come close a couple of times, and it's a genuine fear, especially as I'm gradually losing control over my left leg. So I keep my phone with me as I move around the apartment, to make sure that when something bad happens, then if I'm seriously hurt I can call for help. It's always within arm's reach. (Even in bed -- my stroke happened while I was asleep and another one could do the same.)
The only apps on the phone I use are the timer app (when I'm cooking) and Accuweather, neither of which are particularly power hungry. Accuweather is only supposed to phone home when I invoke it, for instance, and when it does it doesn't actually say much. The phone has a healthy battery, and I'm used to having it go from 100% charged to about 90% in one day.
Starting a couple of weeks ago, it began to drop a lot more than that. The phone is nearly two years old and maybe the battery is losing the ability to hold a charge? Well, that wouldn't change so radically so fast. So I looked at the power consumption tracking info frames, and it showed my wifi being a big power consumer, and wifi running when the phone was off. Oh, dear; have I become infected with an Android virus? Am I now part of a botnet?
Yesterday I found out the real answer: the phone popped up and said, "I've downloaded a patch; wanna install it?" I let it, so now I'm up to date, and now the power consumption is back to what I'm used to.
This is the fourth patch since I got the phone, and the other three times it asked permission before downloading, which happened immediately and only took about 20 minutes. (Then it asked permission to install, which took maybe ten more minutes.) I'm not sure why it did the download surreptitiously this time.
So now I'm running Android 4.4.2 and the latest HTC stuff, maybe. I'm grateful that Verizon is still putting out patches for my phone because I read somewhere that Verizon doesn't sell HTC phones any more. Kind of a shame.
UPDATE: I just looked at Verizon's web page, and I'm wrong. They are still selling HTC phones. What I read was that all "Droid" phones are now Motorola, and I overinterpreted that. (And anyway, Motorola Mobility, the phone group, now belongs to Google.)
So what distinguishes a "Droid" from any other kind of phone?
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
07:19 PM
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As best I can tell, "Droid" is Verizon's marketing.
HTC had a couple of bad years, with a couple of notorious flops, like their Facebook phone, and I guess they didn't have many phones that were available in the US. Last year they came out with the One, which was supposed to be pretty good, and this year, they have a new version, the One M8 (the original One was renamed the One M7) which is also supposed to be quite good.
Posted by: RickC at October 17, 2014 09:54 PM (0a7VZ)
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October 15, 2014
Classy
This is Safeway's house brand of mozarella sticks. They're really good, too; 7 minutes in a 450 degree oven, and they're great!
But I like the name. Not too many house brands (or any other product, really) are willing to pun like this.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
07:27 PM
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Heh. That
is kinda clever.
Posted by: Wonderduck at October 16, 2014 01:47 AM (BCjxQ)
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It has a 1950's/early 1960's vibe to it.
Posted by: Mark A. Flacy at October 16, 2014 04:34 PM (vEp0w)
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October 08, 2014
Nightmare of nightmares
I was being interviewed on TV about alternate energy source...
moan, whimper... It was worse than a no-pants dream.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
06:33 AM
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October 04, 2014
Return of the beavers?
I noticed this a couple of days ago: the creek is as high as I think I've ever seen. It's not as if we've had a storm, either; it's been clear and blue for the last week
The only conclusion I can come to is that we've been recolonized by beavers, and they've built, or repaired, one of the dams.
(I'd go out and see, except that I can't any more.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
01:33 PM
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July 03, 2014
boom bang pop-pop-pop
The neighborhood pyros are at it again, like every year. It's a day early, but who cares about that?
There's an Indian reservation about a hundred miles from here, and US26 goes right there from Portland, so there's never any problem getting fireworks if anyone really wants to.
The other side of the creek gets overgrown and by this time the grass has dried out, and it's perfect tinder for a huge blaze, so I'm always a bit afraid that someone is going to burn the neighborhood down. The complex hires someone a couple times every summer to clear it all out, and this year they did it about three weeks ago, so it's not a firetrap over there, thank goodness. Still, I'll be worried until the national celebration is finished, probably Monday.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
08:42 PM
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The town next to mine has a large fireworks exhibit on July 3rd every year. It's not far from where I live, so I can watch it without having to go downtown.
Posted by: RickC at July 04, 2014 08:54 AM (0a7VZ)
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May 16, 2014
Selfies
I guess "Selfies" are all the rage right now, and as ever I'm on the trailing edge of the fad. Below the fold are night-mare inducing pictures of me. (Gad.)
more...
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
07:22 PM
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I'd say it was the higher amount of 'glint' in the eyes.
Posted by: topmaker at May 17, 2014 11:35 AM (2yZsg)
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The lighting was different when I took the second shot. The first one was about noon, and was mainly lit by the sky outside my window. The second one was about 6:30 PM, and my kitchen light was on.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 17, 2014 01:59 PM (+rSRq)
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May 14, 2014
Bachelor Chef -- cheddar cheese french fries
These "steak fries" come frozen in a bag. You bake them in a blazingly hot oven for 18 minutes spread out on a cookie sheet and they aren't half-bad. So afterwards, put them on the plate and spread grated cheddar cheese all over, then microwave for about a minute. Serve with Bachelor Dipping Sauce (½ ketchup, ½ mayonnaise).
They're greasy as all hell, so I eat them with a knife and fork. Yum! Probably about 9000 calories. (Like I care.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
07:51 AM
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Mayo on fries? Ugh.
If you put bacon on that, and used a Mexican three- or four-cheese blend, you'd have something close to Outback Steakhouse's (or many other places') cheese fries.
Posted by: RickC at May 14, 2014 08:00 AM (ECH2/)
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In the Netherlands, if you order french fries they come with mayonnaise. But this goes back even further.
When I was a young coot (high school) there was a hamburger chain in these parts called "Arctic Circle" which had a special dipping sauce for their fries instead of ketchup. Took me a long time to figure out that it was a mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise. I always really liked it.
Apparently the chain still exists, but the local restaurant closed during the period when I lived elsewhere, and now there's a Mexican fast-food restaurant there.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 14, 2014 08:18 AM (+rSRq)
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Mayo on fries is heretical! And like many other heretical things, not half bad really.
I have a cousin-in-law who's from the Netherlands and once described a french fry vendor who had over fifty kinds of flavored mayo for dipping...
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at May 14, 2014 02:23 PM (zJsIy)
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Looks tasty.
Add a little bacon as already suggested, and maybe some ranch dressing, even more tasty.
I've never cared for mayo on fries, but I don't really like mayo on anything. I usually put BBQ sauce on fries.
Posted by: haphazard1 at May 15, 2014 06:23 AM (Fr488)
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May 01, 2014
Droid update
Verizon just rolled out another firmware update for my HTC Droid DNA. This is the third since I got the phone in 12/2012.
It was huge. In fact, they divided it into two pieces. The first one downloaded without my noticing and when I turned my phone on I got told the update was ready, and that it was the first of two. So I let it install, and then I downloaded the other one (which took about ten minutes through my wifi) and installed it, too, which took a hell of a long time, probably another ten minutes.
One thing that changed is that it upgraded us from Android verson 4.2.2 to version 4.4.2, which (according to Wikipedia) is the latest release.
The feature list there says "security enhancements", so I wonder if 4.2.2 had the Heartbleed bug? (Wikipedia says it was in 4.1.1.)
They also changed the user interface again, but not very radically. (Not like last time, which changed how everything looked.)
It's nice to know that HTC and Verizon still care about us, even though they don't sell this phone any more. (And I hear HTC isn't doing well these days.)
UPDATE: Oh, also the installation process ran my battery down from 99% to 93%. I guess it rewrote nearly all the firmware.
UPDATE: Verizon spearphishing! Twice now I've received text messages informing me that: "Your Verizon Wireless account has been updated. A discount will be applied to eligible lines. Please visit http://tr.im/garbage".
I followed those URLS (different each time) and it went to www.forumbeta.in to a page that looked like the Verizon login. Uh, yeah, sure I'll give you my Verizon login and password. (".in" is India.)
The first message was from "952" and the second one from "256". Right.
But I bet a lot of people have fallen for it.
I wonder why Verizon hasn't blocked that address in its firewall?
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
02:47 PM
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Every so often my Sony Experia Neo updates. It's a real pain, I bought it unlocked off a source on Amazon, and it was originally configured to be sold in Portugal. Every time it updates it reloads a bunch of utilities for a Portuguese telecom, which would likely be no use to me even if I could read Portuguese.
Apparently the only way to stop this is to root it. I'm inclined to suffer rather than take the risk.
Posted by: Brett Bellmore at May 01, 2014 05:25 PM (HGNzm)
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I admit to being a bit nervous each time it happens, for fear that it will brick my phone. But it's been OK every time.
One time my battery was low, and the update refused to run until after I charged it. (Good work on their part.)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at May 01, 2014 06:11 PM (+rSRq)
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If it's anything like Nexus devices, your phone will have a double-secret menu (literally, you have reboot to access the first secret menu, enable the second secret menu, and then reboot again) that lets you recover even if an update has gone horribly wrong. With gigabytes of storage to play with, they have room to keep an entire spare copy of the operating system stashed away just in case.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at May 01, 2014 10:52 PM (PiXy!)
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April 22, 2014
From the nightmare file
I got groceries delivered today, and one thing I included was a package of bear claws. (One per breakfast along with my scrambled eggs and potatoes.)
I was looking at the ingredients and one of the last things was "locust bean gum". When I read it, though, at first it looked like "locust beam gun".
I tell you, there's the making of a B-movie horror feature there. A swarm of locusts armed with beam guns? Yikes!
Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at
02:30 PM
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Or a gun that fires a beam of locusts - BZZZT!
Posted by: Siergen at April 22, 2014 03:00 PM (WVGDf)
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But do they have frinkin' lasers?
Posted by: cxt217 at April 22, 2014 03:11 PM (G3pCP)
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I looked it up in Wikipedia, and "locust bean gum" is a thickener derived from the same plant that produces carob.
You'd think they could come up with a better name for the stuff, wouldn't you? Like how they renamed "rapeseed" as "canola"?
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 22, 2014 03:23 PM (+rSRq)
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at April 22, 2014 03:29 PM (+rSRq)
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Even without transposing letters it sounds wrong. Who would want chewing gum flavored like locusts and beans? Even if it were those sweet red beans they use in Japanese confections, that's still just gross.
Posted by: Mikeski at April 22, 2014 05:10 PM (Zlc1W)
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