Blog – Page 28 – john paganetti

Election Roundup

So Obama won the presidential election – cool. But other things happened as well. In California, they decided against same sex marriage (prop 8), but decided that farm animals should be treated humanely – at least up to the point when they are slaughtered and eaten (prop 2). Good job, California.

In a mostly coincidental vote, the FCC decided that we can use white space that is just sitting around empty of data. Thankfully that decision was not left up to the good voters of this country, who would have likely shot it down out of fear that it would disrupt Oprah.

And the Obama advocates’ zealous support for their savior didn’t let me down. Yes, I think Obama is the best viable candidate and I’m glad he won. Yes, I realize that this is a historic election. But his supporters scare me. Thankfully, the Onion is there.

Yes We Can (make erection jokes)

Joe: i have never been this excited about an election
John: I’ve never paid less attention to an election
…
Joe: btw, when i started this conversation, i couldn’t help but imagine our opening statements with the word “election” replaced by “erection”
John: you know, if I were more motivated, I’d write a script to pull google news clips and just replace those words
Joe: this is a truly historic erection
John: I was looking for good ones:
John: What Will It Take for a Smooth Erection?
Joe: U.S. Stocks Finish Solidly Higher After Erection
John: The world’s American erection?
Joe: US Erection Captivates the World
John: Erection ’08 coming home in HD like never before
Joe: World Watches US Erection with Excitement
and the winner…
Joe: Wall St Rises, End of Erection Brings Relief

I managed to avoid all the pre-decision conjecture that CNN spouts for hours longer than they should be allowed to, and worked on redesigning the Juan Way site. It should look a little more professional now, and maybe people will give me money.

Also, I worked on a new dish, though I don’t have a name for it yet. It is a hotdog with a pancake for a bun. It is really tasty:

Don’t drink the water

Vote on Tuesday by Tea Leaf Green
[audio:http://www.archive.org/download/tlg2004-03-28.shnf/TLG20040328d1t12_64kb.mp3]

I had a Dave Matthews Band related nightmare last night. In the dream, I was in my bed, and the sheets were suspended above me – as if someone was holding them up. There was a deep voice saying “Don’t drink the water….don’t drink the water….” in the same timing as the DMB song. Then I woke up.

I’ve been fighting a cold recently, and I had to take a decongestant. I briefly thought about getting a drink from the sink, and quickly decided against it.

That’s about as bad as my nightmares are these days. In fact, that’s the first that I can remember in a long long time. Weird.

Forums

I was asked to set up some forums so we can discuss things, and not clog up the main site, so I did. You can see them at juanway.org/forum. If you’re already a user on this site, you don’t need to register again, and can log in with the same information.

Fun Fact

I was listening to something today about someone living outside a city, and I was thinking about how Boston and New York are both relatively near my hometown. So, I checked on Google Maps to see the distances from Middletown to Boston and New York, respectively. They differ by one minute. It is just over two hours to either. Cool.

From Cheney With Love

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Tank – Exploded Assembly, originally uploaded by somjuan.

No video, because there isn’t much tangible to show yet, and I figured it would just be a little weird showing Joe and I walking around real excited-like. Here […]

Tank – Exploded Assembly, originally uploaded by somjuan.

No video, because there isn’t much tangible to show yet, and I figured it would just be a little weird showing Joe and I walking around real excited-like. Here is a page of the plans for the tank, which is being welded together specially for this project. It’s a nice looking rig, and I should be able to post completed pictures soon.

Seeking Sponsors

Well, there is enough money to cover the conversion, but to make this project really shine we need a little more money. So I’ve started an official search for sponsors. Hence, the eBay auction.
If you know anyone who is interested, point them my way.
Also, I should be visiting Cheney […]

Well, there is enough money to cover the conversion, but to make this project really shine we need a little more money. So I’ve started an official search for sponsors. Hence, the eBay auction.

If you know anyone who is interested, point them my way.

Also, I should be visiting Cheney Tech later this week, and I’ll post video of what has happened so far, and what will be happening soon.

Applied Daydreaming Update

So, some updates. The first meeting of the club was really cool. There were 8 people all in all, and I didn’t know any of them. I’m pretty happy that so many people found out about it by chance, and came. I went with the audiobook of Moby Dick, and it was really boring. Though, it was boring to the point that I didn’t enjoy it. Next week, no one came, which amused me to no end. I went with Chillits over the audiobook. In fact, I’ve gone with Chillits every week since. Though it is still very, very small group, I’m hoping it can still grow. I probably need a better time for it.

One week, I got an email from a girl who wanted to write an article about the club for her journalism class. That was the second week of the club, and I was alone when she showed up. I’m not sure what she thought of me by the end of the interview, but her article was probably funny. This week, I’ve been contacted by someone who writes for the paper, and they’ll be by the club on Monday. That should be amusing too. At least I won’t be the only one there.

Conclusion: Schedule the club at a good time, and make the environment relaxed – not boring.

Update on the $2 per day thing

In class today, one of my professors showed statistics contrasting how households spent money in the early 1900s with how they did in 2000. While that isn’t important, one of the statistics from 2000 got my attention: Food 13.6%.

Assuming that percentage has not changed too much in since 2000 (which may be a big assumption – I’ve emailed the professor asking for a source and if there may be any more current stats), 13.6% of $21,200 (the current U.S. poverty line for a family of 4) is $2,883.2. $2 per person per day for a family of 4 is $2,920, a difference of under $40. In fact, the difference per day is about three cents.

I can’t really draw any conclusions from this until I know the source, but it seems that my findings may not be far off from the government’s.

UPDATE: Got an update from my professor: it is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and he pointed me to more recent reports, one of which actually breaks it down by income. Link to summary, link to full.

The Plan

I met with Joe today, and we went over the grand master plan for the bus conversion. The veggie tank, heat exchanger, and general configuration are all set. It is fairly simple, and each little step is easy to explain (I’ll show you everything once it is done). The trick is getting […]

The bus needs a little other work too. The brake lines need some work, and I’m certain that more will come to light after they make a real inspection. But all of that is still a ways in the future. The good news is that we now have a plan to follow, and I’ll be sure to keep this site updated with the progress.