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re: re: few cities or states have been immortalized
08/12/2004 12:31 a.m.
phoenix

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"back"
07/15/2004 03:12 p.m.
whatever that means.

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Going on a short trip
07/13/2004 08:53 p.m.
to meet someone that isn't there.

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Eurtnu's troubles
06/05/2004 09:03 a.m.
Eurtnu doesn't exist, of course. I made it up. A dirty trick, I know. But ask yourself if you felt any different about the plight of this memorial and this city seal than you did about the Alabama 10 Commandments memorial and the LA County seal.

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Important days
05/19/2004 06:34 p.m.
I will be there, like I said I would.
I am currently Thoughtfull
I am listening to The Luckiest

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Cojones
05/18/2004 04:50 p.m.

There once was a man from Parnass,
Whose balls were made out of brass.
When they clanged together,
They played Stormy Weather,
And lightning shot out of his ass.



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05/14/2004 04:12 a.m.
so, so you think you can tell
heaven from hell,
blue skys from pain.
can you tell a green field
from a cold steel rail?
a smile from a veil?
do you think you can tell?

I am listening to isn't it obvious?

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Duty
05/11/2004 07:18 a.m.

The question of how much energy it takes to operate certain household items came up in the forum. It turns out you can’t just look at the UL label next to the cord running out of the back to get your wattage. Those are generally for peak conditions only, and you have to take “duty cycle” into account as well.

What is duty cycle? It’s the fraction of the time that an appliance is actually drawing power. This may not be the same as “operating time”. T

hink about a window air conditioner, for example. You might have a 6,000 BTU unit that is rated at 700 Watts. Tthat’s means it pulls 700 Watts to power its compressor and its fan and its on-board electronics. What happens when you come into your 80 degree bedroom in the evening after work and set the thermostat to 70 degrees? First thing that happens is that the compressor starts up, followed quickly by the fan. The heat exchanger starts to cool down on the room side and the fan blows room air across it and back into your room. At first the unit keeps the compressor on full time, but as the air in the room cools down, heat transfer isn’t as good, and the unit drops the compressor speed to 50% so that the coils don’t ice over. The fan is still going full blast, but now you’re only drawing 400 watts. And 15 minutes later, when the room hits 70 (You did remember to close your bedroom door, didn’t you?) the unit turns off. But slowly the room heats up, both from internal heat sources like the TV, the lights, and your metabolism; and from outside the room, such as through the glass window, through the crack under the door, and through the poorly insulated ceiling from the oven you call your attic. The unit clicks back on when the temp hits 72, and off again when it manages to get it down to 68. For the two hours you are in your room the fan is going 50% of the time and the compressor is at full for 30 minutes and half power for half an hour. So overall, for the two hours you were running your “700 Watt AC unit” you only averaged 225 W. That’s duty cycle. (Note that the less insulation you have, the more the unit will run. The longer it’s been since you cleaned the filter, the more the compressor is going to have to run. The more lights you have on in the room, etc.)

So! How much do appliances really draw on average?

lights

Exactly as on the bulb

computer in heavy use (PPS server)

400 W

average desktop

200-250 W depending on monitor (LCD better)

Average desktop, monitor off at night

130-150 W

Oven, roasting at 350 degrees

700 W (duty cycle is small after preheat)

Vacuum cleaner

1000 W, 1300 W if the bag is full

Bread maker

400 W, not including rise time

AC in my bedroom, later afternoon

350 W

AC in my bedroom, 2 am, lights, TV off

175 W!!!!

AC in my bedroom when I’m getting’ jiggy

I may never know.

How longer per day do you use these items?
lights 12 hours
computer 8 hours
oven 2 hours
vacuum 1 hour (riiiiight)
AC ??

And there's the problem... you turn on your AC and leave it on, you leave on your lights, you leave on your computer, etc. Go ahead, use your AC, but close the vents in rooms where you aren't, stuff a towel under the door and draw your curtains. And insulate that attic!


I am currently Feisty
I am listening to the groans of the earth.

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A first person version of another's tale
05/04/2004 07:47 p.m.
My son came home crying from kindergarten this afternoon. It seems as though, for the first time in his short life, he had found himself on the receiving end of a bully's taunts. As I brushed the washcloth over the tear-stained cheeks of my bonnie little boy, I listened to his story of the childish insults and verbal abuse cast at him by Jeffy the First-Grader. Taking his hand, we walked into the living room and I sat him on the couch next to me, my arm around his little shoulders.

"Mi hijo, I want you to think about something. I don't yell mean names at you, do I?"

"No, Daddy."

"And the teachers and aides at school, do they call you mean names?"

"No."

"Do they call Jeffy mean names?"

"No."

I looked down into my son's sad brown eyes, and I asked him,
"So where do you think Jeffy learned to yell mean names?"

I watch for a moment as he wrestled with the idea. "Do you think people call Jeffy mean names?!" he asked in wonder.

"Well, I don't know for sure, but when someone does mean things, they had to have learned it from somewhere."

His eyes widened and he asked in an awed voice, "Do you think Jeffy's Mommy and Daddy are mean to him? That's yucky!"

I proud in that moment. He had put aside his anger and sadness at being picked on, and tried to look to the causes. In doing so, I think he learned a bit about what compassion means. We talked more about how we didn't know Jeffy's parents had actually been mean to him, but that it didn't matter who it had been, he was treating people like he had been treated. I hope that the ideas that came into my son's head today stay with him.
I am currently Proud

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Religious Joke
04/21/2004 07:06 p.m.
A couple went to church every week, but every week without fail the husband would fall asleep during the sermon. The wife, being embarrassed by her husband's loud snoring, decided to bring a needle to the next service and poke him when he nodded off. The next week when they were in church the husband, as always, fell asleep.
"Who created the Earth in 6 days and rested on the 7th?" The wife stuck her husband with the needle and he jumped up and exclaimed, "Oh my God!" The preacher said, "That's correct." And the husband sat down mumbling to himself. He soon fell asleep again.
The preacher got to the question "Who died on the cross to save us from eternal damnation?" The wife stuck her husband again and he jumped up and exclaimed, "Jesus Christ!" And the preacher said, "Right again." With this, the husband fell suspicious of his wife and decided to catch her in the act. The husband pretended to fall asleep while keeping an eye on his wife.
"What did Mary say to Joseph after Jesus was born?" the preacher asked. The wife started to poke her husband again, but before she could the husband jumped up and exclaimed, "If you stick that damn thing in me again, I'm going to break it in half!"

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