Information Overload
I read the morning Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on Sunday mornings (that's the only day of the week I get it). First I drag the junk out (like classifieds, real estate, and glossy ads), perusing the front pages of each news section to see if there's anything I want to go back and read later. I see in the Target ad there's an interesting cabinet for sale that will work in my garage, maybe I'll get 3 or 4 of them. Looks like the Wisconsin Badgers win over Minnesota is worth reading, also an article about a guy losing weight. Read the funnies. Throw the junk away.
In my email every day, I receive the New York Times headlines email: Top stories, International, National, Washington, Business, Technology, Editorials, and Op Ed. I always look over the headlines and today's interesting Op Ed was about finding an original, long-lost Beethoven manuscript. I clicked the link and went to the NYT website. It didn't have enough info, so I typed "Grosse Fuge" manuscript into Google and found the main NYT article that showed a media slideshow with narration and photos of the manuscript.
At breakfast I read a Daily Bread devotional, and one from the Institute for Creation Research. That one's pretty interesting to me, it's about Jesus as teacher.
Now I finish my breakfast, back at my computer, and flip over to my OS X Widgets and read over my favorite comics. I use the very cool WIMIC widget to view: B.C., Rose is Rose, Garfield, Wizard of ID, Animal Crackers, Dilbert, Calvin & Hobbes, Foxtrot, Frank & Ernest, and a couple of others.
While I am looking at my widgets, I notice the precipitation map shows we probably won't have rain, and the weather forecast widget says maybe rain tomorrow. I click on the CNN Headlines widget to refresh the headlines, and note thankfully that the votes in Iraq are being counted. None of the headlines interest me enough to click on them, so I'm done with that for the time being.
All this before 7:30 am.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Our player piano
This is about our player piano.
My in-laws were given this piano (a Wurlitzer-Kingston player), as close as I can tell, somewhere around 1946. They were building their house in Syracuse NY right after the war and one of the neighbors came by and asked them if they wanted it. My in-laws said yes, so they all rolled the piano down the street on pipes, then alongside the house and into the basement. There it stayed for 50 years. My wife remembers as a kid playing the piano rolls. I came into my wife's life around 1980, and when visiting her home, I went to the basement occasionally to tinker with the piano. A little oiling, cleaning, etc. confirmed that it was still a working player.
My father-in-law decided they needed to do some basement cleaning in the mid-80's, and they asked us if we wanted the piano. We did, so we drove to NY with a UHaul to pick it up. Once we got it back home to Detroit, the first thing I did before anything else was to strip and refinish it. It had been painted chocolate brown. After refinishing, it is a beautiful mahogany. Unfortunately I could not save the Wurlitzer decal on the keyboard cover.
Now to the restoration. For years I tried patching with various combinations of cloth and rubber cement without much success. I got the piano working about 50-60% of what it should be. The air motor did not turn smoothly, and many of the keys did not play crisply. So the real problem was that the motor bellows and the key bellows were leaking, and the paper/cloth needed to be replaced.
Well, we moved to Wisconsin from Detroit, and we brought along another of my wife's inherited pieces, a metal porch swing. I stripped and painted it, and we decided we wanted a cover for it. From one of the gardening magazines, we ordered an all-weather cover. When the cover came, lo and behold, it was made of a lightweight, flexible, dense fabric (I still don't know the name of it) but to all appearances it looked to me to be the perfect fabric for rebuilding my piano. And the cover came in its own bag made of the same material, and there was plenty of fabric in the bag for the job. First I tried repairing the motor, using contact cement and this new fabric. It worked! The motor started running perfectly smoothly, with no erratic turns or dead spots. Wow.
So, during Memorial Day weekend in maybe 1998 or so, I took the whole player unit to my workshop and rebuilt 90% of all the 88 bellows. Some of the lower and upper bellows didn't need replacing, but most did.
Wow, once I replaced those bellows and worked on a couple of other linkages that were leaking air, did the player play nicely! Very crisp runs! Wonderful.
Sorry I don't know what that fabric is called, but it worked perfectly. It was a miracle.
Just found out that replacement fallboard decals are available. I'll get a replacement and also get some replacement knobs and rubber bumpers and felt soon.
My in-laws were given this piano (a Wurlitzer-Kingston player), as close as I can tell, somewhere around 1946. They were building their house in Syracuse NY right after the war and one of the neighbors came by and asked them if they wanted it. My in-laws said yes, so they all rolled the piano down the street on pipes, then alongside the house and into the basement. There it stayed for 50 years. My wife remembers as a kid playing the piano rolls. I came into my wife's life around 1980, and when visiting her home, I went to the basement occasionally to tinker with the piano. A little oiling, cleaning, etc. confirmed that it was still a working player.
My father-in-law decided they needed to do some basement cleaning in the mid-80's, and they asked us if we wanted the piano. We did, so we drove to NY with a UHaul to pick it up. Once we got it back home to Detroit, the first thing I did before anything else was to strip and refinish it. It had been painted chocolate brown. After refinishing, it is a beautiful mahogany. Unfortunately I could not save the Wurlitzer decal on the keyboard cover.
Now to the restoration. For years I tried patching with various combinations of cloth and rubber cement without much success. I got the piano working about 50-60% of what it should be. The air motor did not turn smoothly, and many of the keys did not play crisply. So the real problem was that the motor bellows and the key bellows were leaking, and the paper/cloth needed to be replaced.
Well, we moved to Wisconsin from Detroit, and we brought along another of my wife's inherited pieces, a metal porch swing. I stripped and painted it, and we decided we wanted a cover for it. From one of the gardening magazines, we ordered an all-weather cover. When the cover came, lo and behold, it was made of a lightweight, flexible, dense fabric (I still don't know the name of it) but to all appearances it looked to me to be the perfect fabric for rebuilding my piano. And the cover came in its own bag made of the same material, and there was plenty of fabric in the bag for the job. First I tried repairing the motor, using contact cement and this new fabric. It worked! The motor started running perfectly smoothly, with no erratic turns or dead spots. Wow.
So, during Memorial Day weekend in maybe 1998 or so, I took the whole player unit to my workshop and rebuilt 90% of all the 88 bellows. Some of the lower and upper bellows didn't need replacing, but most did.
Wow, once I replaced those bellows and worked on a couple of other linkages that were leaking air, did the player play nicely! Very crisp runs! Wonderful.
Sorry I don't know what that fabric is called, but it worked perfectly. It was a miracle.
Just found out that replacement fallboard decals are available. I'll get a replacement and also get some replacement knobs and rubber bumpers and felt soon.
Fixing the bass bridge on my piano
We have a player piano. I love it, it's great! Wurlitzer-Kingston (or is that Kingston-Wurlitzer). Made around the turn of the century (as in 1900, not 2000). I've restored it to about 95% completely functional. Someday I'll give you the details on my restoration.
One thorny problem has been the bass bridge, which has nothing to do with player action, it's part of the Kingston piano. The bass bridge, for those of you who don't know, is a curved bar of wood about 2 1/2 inches high and about 1 inch thick and about 1 foot long. The strings for the lowest notes on the piano are stretched across it in a slight arch, pressing the bar into the piano's sound board which amplifies the sound of the vibrating string. If the bass bridge is poorly installed, damaged, or poorly constructed, then sound from the whole lower range of the piano will be poor.
Where the strings stretch across the bar, they are also threaded between two pins, forming sort of a elongated "Z". The 2 pins are each angled toward the string, and fitted very snugly in holes in the bridge. Over time, because of humidity, dryness, age, sideways pressure of the strings, etc. the pins can loosen and even split the wood, again resulting in poor bass tone.
About 40 pins on mine were seated in split holes.
What to do?
Well, my dad was a carpenter of sorts, and a few years ago he took the original bass bar and duplicated it using a piece of oak and some of his woodworking tools. The result was fairly good but not perfect. There are three important dimensions: the bridge must make perfect flat contact with the sound board, the strings must zig zag between the pins; and the strings must make contact with the wood of the bridge at precisely the same point as they make contact with the pin, which means the bridge is beveled crisply across the pin holes. Getting those three dimensions right was a challenge: some of the strings didn't zig zag enough because of imperfect hole positioning, some of them were touching the wood/pin inconsistently, and I don't think the contact with the sound board was perfect. But I had his improvised bridge installed for quite a few years, and we have had lots of fun from from the piano.
A few weeks ago I started researching the issue, and found these options: (1) have the bass bar duplicated by hand (fairly expensive) (2) have it replaced with a generic blank (not as expensive but not as good and (3) repair it with slow-setting epoxy. I talked with a fellow online about having it duplicated and he didn't want to mess with it. So I decided to give epoxy a try. Step by step, here's what I did:
One thorny problem has been the bass bridge, which has nothing to do with player action, it's part of the Kingston piano. The bass bridge, for those of you who don't know, is a curved bar of wood about 2 1/2 inches high and about 1 inch thick and about 1 foot long. The strings for the lowest notes on the piano are stretched across it in a slight arch, pressing the bar into the piano's sound board which amplifies the sound of the vibrating string. If the bass bridge is poorly installed, damaged, or poorly constructed, then sound from the whole lower range of the piano will be poor.
Where the strings stretch across the bar, they are also threaded between two pins, forming sort of a elongated "Z". The 2 pins are each angled toward the string, and fitted very snugly in holes in the bridge. Over time, because of humidity, dryness, age, sideways pressure of the strings, etc. the pins can loosen and even split the wood, again resulting in poor bass tone.
About 40 pins on mine were seated in split holes.
What to do?
Well, my dad was a carpenter of sorts, and a few years ago he took the original bass bar and duplicated it using a piece of oak and some of his woodworking tools. The result was fairly good but not perfect. There are three important dimensions: the bridge must make perfect flat contact with the sound board, the strings must zig zag between the pins; and the strings must make contact with the wood of the bridge at precisely the same point as they make contact with the pin, which means the bridge is beveled crisply across the pin holes. Getting those three dimensions right was a challenge: some of the strings didn't zig zag enough because of imperfect hole positioning, some of them were touching the wood/pin inconsistently, and I don't think the contact with the sound board was perfect. But I had his improvised bridge installed for quite a few years, and we have had lots of fun from from the piano.
A few weeks ago I started researching the issue, and found these options: (1) have the bass bar duplicated by hand (fairly expensive) (2) have it replaced with a generic blank (not as expensive but not as good and (3) repair it with slow-setting epoxy. I talked with a fellow online about having it duplicated and he didn't want to mess with it. So I decided to give epoxy a try. Step by step, here's what I did:
- I bought some slow hardening epoxy from Ace
- I mixed up an ounce at a time
- I used a wire to poke the epoxy down the hole where the wood around the pin was cracked or deteriorated
- I rubbed some vaseline on the pin and poked it firmly down into the hole
- The cracks were at the top, on the surface of the bridge, so when the pin poked down, it settled into place with the right position and at the right angle
- I made sure the epoxy was mounded up around the pin above the surface of the wood in order to have solid reconstruction of the area around each pin's hole
- I worked my way all the way down both sides of the bass bridge
- There were about 10 holes that were solid and didn’t need any epoxy, the rest I epoxied
- After the epoxy had set but not hardened, I used vise grips on each pin, gave it a little twist and pulled it out
- The next day after fully hardening, I used my orbital sander to flatten the mounded epoxy
- Then I used a small sander attachment on my Dremel (about 3/4 inch diameter) to sand the proper bevel across each hole or pair of holes
- I had a couple of holes I had to re-epoxy
- Finally after curing a day or two I installed it in the piano, inserted the pins (used a clamp to move each string sideways enough so I could insert the pin straight in its hole) and tuned it up
- Result: sounds really good across 3/4 of the bridge, from the low end up
- The upper end of the bridge I don’t think is seated firmly on the sounding board, the strings don’t resonate as well (there were three dowels for the bridge to set on and keep it in place, and the upper pin is broken so the bridge seems to be a bit off location at the upper end)
- I did not glue the bridge down (yet)
- So far there's been no sign of failure
Testing Cinnamon
After researching the benefits of cinnamon on cholesterol and blood pressure, and having high blood pressure (I take Diovan) and high cholesterol despite leading a fairly active lifestyle, reasonable weight, and eating pretty well, and since the good doctor gave me a prescription for Zocor, I thought I'd give cinnamon a try.
I purchased several bottles of 600 mg cinnamon tablets. I take two in the morning and two at night, for a total for 2400 mg per day. I've been taking it for a week on this regimen.
My normal blood pressure with Diovan is in the neighborhood of 115/75, which is good. So far preliminary blood pressure readings have been in that range. Today's reading was 114/63. One person on the Internet claims that with cinnamon plus Diovan their blood pressure dropped low enough to cause them some problems so I'm monitoring it closely.
I'm going to take it for two months until my supply is gone, keep my diet etc the same, then go to the doctor to have my cholesterol checked. I'm comfortable with the Diovan, but I'm a little leery of adding Zocor on top of it. My latest cholesterol reading with fasting and eating oatmeal every morning was total 258 LDL 190 tri 115. Will keep you posted.
I purchased several bottles of 600 mg cinnamon tablets. I take two in the morning and two at night, for a total for 2400 mg per day. I've been taking it for a week on this regimen.
My normal blood pressure with Diovan is in the neighborhood of 115/75, which is good. So far preliminary blood pressure readings have been in that range. Today's reading was 114/63. One person on the Internet claims that with cinnamon plus Diovan their blood pressure dropped low enough to cause them some problems so I'm monitoring it closely.
I'm going to take it for two months until my supply is gone, keep my diet etc the same, then go to the doctor to have my cholesterol checked. I'm comfortable with the Diovan, but I'm a little leery of adding Zocor on top of it. My latest cholesterol reading with fasting and eating oatmeal every morning was total 258 LDL 190 tri 115. Will keep you posted.
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Life is busy
- Up at 5:45 am
- Make a cup of coffee (with cinnamon--I'm exploring whether cinnamon can help my blood pressure and my cholesterol level)
- Check my email
- Grade a set of quizzes and record them in my spreadsheet
- Check new link from college intranet to college Outlook calendar from home, doesn't work
- Access college email from home, figure out why calendar doesn't work
- Fire up GoLive, make the URL change, test, works now (needs https not http)
- Drop an email to IT administrator about accessing Outlook from home
- Look at Land's End catalog for dark gray pants (Year 'Rounders)
- Look up bulk pecans on Internet
- Look up bulk ground cinnamon on Internet
- Found interesting website on world's healthiest foods, read about cinnamon
- Went online to try to figure out how many milligrams in a teaspoon (one cinnamon source said 5000 mg per day--how many teaspoons is that?)
- Emailed the URL to Cindy (http://www.whfoods.com/)
- Fired up my old information database in Filemaker Pro and transferred all the graphics from it to DevonThink Pro--all done
- Deleted old information database
- Started this blog
- Accessed Lands End website, created & modified My Model
- Selected dark charcoal heather wool year 'rounder pants; tall long sleeve 60/40 buttondown pinpoint shirt; not ready to order yet ($100 total)
- Checked blood pressure
- Hotsync'd my PDA
- Ate breakfast (oatmeal w/brown sugar & cinnamon, 2 1/2 strips of bacon, water)
- Read the morning paper
- Checked email
- Fired up Interarchy, new version available, downloaded & installed, logged in to intranet, downloaded new projectsoft manager directories
- Set up a GoLive file to manage the projectsoft application on the intranet; found out permissions aren't quite right, emailed tech support
- Got an emailing ready to send assignments back to T & M class
- Studied Adult Bible Fellowship lesson for tomorrow
- Worked on requirements for garage wallboard & insulation
- Updated podcasts on my iPod
- Got dressed & ready to work outside (10:00 am)
- Worked outside
- Picked tomatoes
- Pulled weeds from the lawn
- Used the edger to cut checkerboard grooves 1' apart in the lawn to admit water and fertilizer; applied fertilizer (1/3 of lawn done)
- Spoke w/contractor re: insulation and wallboard in garage
- Cleaned up the garage some in preparation for wallboard
- Ate lunch
- Unloaded wallboard & insulation w/contractor
- Mowed 1/3 of lawn
- Picked beans, broccoli, raspberries
- Cleaned the beans (Kentucky Wonders)--they're dried for soups while watching an afternoon movie
- Wrote check for contractor
- Ate supper (chili & corn chips & zucchini muffins!)
- Showered & shaved
- Went to violin recital
- Researched on the Internet for a replacement piano bass bar for our player piano
- Watched TV with my wife
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Back from Peru, School's Started, Home Jobs
Peru was busy. Two weeks of teaching. Registered and developed arribaperu.org. Took a lot of great pics of people in Lima:
Maybe upload more later.
Back from Peru, long but safe trip. Started faculty inservice immediately.
Wow, what a hurricane down South. Iraq drags on. Go Judge Roberts!
Cleaned out my garage--going to put up wallboard and a pull-down stairway.
Worked on the new side flower garden. Moving flowers/plants away from the house, putting in a stone path, grouping roses together.
Fresh raspberries every day! Fresh veggies for supper every day! I love this time of year.
Adult Bible Fellowship lessons are on the book of Joshua. Lesson 2: Rahab. Good stuff.
Brother in law visiting from Phoenix, bringing new wife to visit and meet us. Nice time last evening at Mom's with them.
Maybe upload more later.
Back from Peru, long but safe trip. Started faculty inservice immediately.
Wow, what a hurricane down South. Iraq drags on. Go Judge Roberts!
Cleaned out my garage--going to put up wallboard and a pull-down stairway.
Worked on the new side flower garden. Moving flowers/plants away from the house, putting in a stone path, grouping roses together.
Fresh raspberries every day! Fresh veggies for supper every day! I love this time of year.
Adult Bible Fellowship lessons are on the book of Joshua. Lesson 2: Rahab. Good stuff.
Brother in law visiting from Phoenix, bringing new wife to visit and meet us. Nice time last evening at Mom's with them.
Monday, August 01, 2005
In Peru
Well I'm down in Lima for my teaching assignment, "Media-Enhanced Speaking." Actually it's Media-Enhanced Communications. We cover communication, visual design & displays, transparencies, photographic composition, PowerPoint presentations, and digital video. All in two weeks. So far so good with all my gear, it seems to be all working ok. I even resurrected one of the student's ailing laptop. It was freezing up randomly. Took the memory chip out, cleaned the contacts with a pencil eraser, then inserted it into the laptop in the cleanest slot (the one it was in was kind of dirty). It worked, and she was thankful.
I need to learn some more Spanish beyond "como esta usted" "muy bien y usted" "muy bien gracias." Gotta get those Spanish tapes out...
I need to learn some more Spanish beyond "como esta usted" "muy bien y usted" "muy bien gracias." Gotta get those Spanish tapes out...
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