ironwood tree planting in tucson

12.1: proj.apt`yard/tree#n.ironwood replanting:
. being soaked made it heavy
and more likely to traumatize the roots;
but, I was hoping things would stay in place
if dirt was around before the sleeve was removed .
. the instructions are very different from last year,
saying to pull the sleeve without dirt surrounding it,
and then use your finger to pull some roots loose!
I stayed with last year's advice .
. I cut across the bottom,
and then around the bottom,
then checked that the sleeve would pull up
before packing dirt around it;
but I packed it too tight,
and the whole plant would lift
as I was trying to pull the sleeve out;
so I wondered if I ripped away a layer of roots
as they fell with the soil .
. the instructions reminded me not to add
any supplements like peat moss,
and I notice this was very dark soil
like what was brought in for the privets;
I also added several cups of vitamixed garbage
a few weeks ago,
but that was a small percentage of
what the roots will be exposed to ...
. in short,
I wasn't sure how desert-like the soil was,
so, I arranged the tree to be higher than ground,
with a deep moat around it,
so it's easy to both soak and drain .
. it got a shower to help pack the dirt
around the new root ball,
along with filling the moat .
. it smelled like the root ball's bottom
was overly watered a lot,
but the tree looks good .

preventing frame damage in tadpole trikes

12.13: gear/trike`frame/potholes need suspension:
. the trice front-suspension add-on is expensive,
but it's quite likely the frame will be ruined
unless speeds are low or potholes are avoided .

gear/trike`frame/potholes need rider pivot:
12.13:
. the trice already has rear suspension
which helps deflect rider weight from bending frame;
but that doesn't help z-axis rolling
where one front wheel is potholed but the other isn't
and the whole frame falls into a rolling motion
to one side or another .
. if the rider's chair is frozen to the frame
then the rider's weight is resisting that z-roll,
which could increase stress at the cruciform joint .
12.14:
. how rigidly can riders' weight
prevent rolling about z-axis for potholes?
# if rider's seat were not bolted to main tube,
but instead pivoted sideways,
then there'd be less stress on frame during potholes;
# if seat was closer to main tube,
with thick cusion under rider;
then z-axis rotation could happen stress-free
even without pivot .

12.15: gear/trike/replacing front suspension:
. the cheap sure-tech way to stop
frame bends from potholes
is to unbolt the seat from the z-tube,
make a platform that is anchored to
both the z- & x-tube;
and, bolt the seat to that platform .
. if steering doesn't fit with platform,
it can be moved from sides to center .

existence proof

12.29: relig/god/existence proof:
. you can't disprove this universe isn't a
conspiracy involving a centralized emotion maker
(emotions aren't personal, they happen against our will
and are a sort of natural disaster:
they alone support overpopulation,
religous wars, and mental illness);
likewise,
you'd hardly deny the existence of terrorists
just because there's no current proof of existence;
therefore,
it would be taking more risk than necessary
to assume there's no conspiracy
unless it causes a dangerous aversion to risk
(if mob's, plagues, or politics
could upset your plans,
then you might want to put god out of mind).
. the corollary of conspiracy theory
is that Shush Happens Inside There!
and, in the long term, a belief in conspiracy
can be a healthy driver of preparation for
several worst-case scenerios converging .

moving qubes`way on the mac

11.07: vm (virtual machine)-based security:
. an intro to security with virtualization
and a getting started manual for mac os x .
 .  this shows how some security experts have agreed,
vmware`Fusion can make the mac more secure .
[2013 update: my mac was destroyed while using
either vmware`Fusion/linux/pdf reader, or a usb stick.]

the higher power

12.20: relig/god/the higher power:

. recalling my blog of speeder cameras;
. along with my usual view that
human policing can apply the law unequally;
there's also a god-related issue
(significant since such issues are
splitting the country in half
so you'd expect little reminders of such):

. the god fearing young driver would be saved by
thinking a god is catching every cheating moment;
while the godless would be saved only by
the sure justice of knowing there are robocops
everywhere all the time;
therefore,
robocops could be a symbol of the godless,
and a hate of robocops could be a swipe at
free-thinking anti-dogmatic humanists,
or Democrats .

. can you actually teach kids to fear god?
in the political debate
it's always presented as an option!
(school prayer leads to kids praying;
and packing kids in school leads to
gang violence ... or lots of prayer!)

. I myself thought kids could be saved
either by
stressing the bible as proof of the supernatural
or by diligently watching kids until
their youthful minds became future aware;
but to nix both the supernatural training
and the constant guidance
is tantamount to saying
a kid should remain seeable because nobody sees
-- that is a likely future killer .

. then again,
if you think kids are better off god-aware
imagine how many adults are not god-aware
and yet still caught cheating?
I suppose they figure god is only the devil;
"( so what if God sees all? he loves everything! ).

. the real significance of god
is knowing who has your ears:
is it your selfish impulses?
or a higher power?
but when you call "(god) your higher power
(rather than, say, the Chinese Premiere)
what is your higher power saying?
my clerics say, my books say,
my big fat trust me really told you;
so, it's just my line in the sand,
having fun -- like I always do!

. the Buddha had it right:
the real plain truth is understood by
self agreeing with elders:
without elder checks there is foolishness,
without self checks there is corruption .

I love the bus? not invented yet

12.17: pol/I love the bus? not invented yet:
. love the bus? after years of
multi-transfer commuting by bus,
I'd once decided that each employer
should be providing their own housing
just so we could avoid the frig'ing bus!
. I was later reminded by industrial accidents,
that there are good reasons
for not living near work!
. reviewing the issue, I finally found
a bus I could love:
. each employer does provide housing for each shift,
and also provides a private bus that links
an employer's home site with their work site;
with such direct routes,
the bus involves no waiting in unsecured places .
. busing works for shopping too,
when part of the gated community model:
your secure id card is the way to get on,
they charge you by debit;
so, there's no more being sardined with
unidentified terrorists or nutty criminals .
. there are direct bus lines between every mall,
and every gated community .
. people with behaviors lose their license to bus,
and must either use pedal cars,
or let relatives do the shopping .
. with the efficiency and safety of
the gated community model,
the usa's citizens could be on the path to
being competitive with chinese communism
while still retaining their std of living;
assuming that std doesn't continue to involve
gross denial of unhealthy lifestyles .
. buses that run clean green fuels,
could significantly reduce usa's exposure to
carcinogens in oil-based fuels;
but the greatest carcinogen in the usa by far
is their ignorance of hormone issues:
diets that raise insulin and cortisol,
and the use of female hormones to control birth .

peace prize to the voice with no body

12.12: pol/peace prize to the voice with no body:
. the peace prize went to the right person:
the voice with no body!
that voice this year has crystallized the message
that the world's christian's should unite
on an apology to the world's jews,
and reserve an israel-sized chunk of the new world
for a peaceful place where
jews alone are welcome to govern jews, forever .

12.10: co.apt/pol/chinese do deserve nobel peace prize:
. the nobel peace prize winner,
chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, is a good american;
but in china where the system is not multi-party
he can only foment needless civil war;
and, one good reason for dictatorship
is long avoiding the centuries of civil war
that china has been subject to .
. the chinese leadership shows
true love for its people;
they are like the 2nd coming of christ
doing more for the war on poverty
than any other power on earth .
. they could have just exploited the energy
of an expanding population
to stay in power effortlessly,
but they so loved their people
that they risked their own position of power
by using it to force population controls
against a culture that is notoriously poor:
humans can have 14 girls in a row,
and the chinese traditionally keep having children
until they get at least one boy .
. this measure won't make leadership wealthier,
but in time it will bring wealth to all their subjects .
--
Liu Xiaobo launched Charter ’08,
the manifesto for democracy in China
which landed him an 11-year prison term .
the Norwegian Nobel Committee gave him the prize

valley fever surrounded by disbelief fever

11.1: web.health/valley fever/unbelievable illness fells baseball pro's:

. johnny bench got valley fever:

. Johnny Bench played at a golf tournament fundraiser
hosted by Buck Owens in Bakersfield
on a windy day in the early 1970s.
He contracted Coccidiodomycosis
and started exhibiting respiratory distress
a few weeks later with the Cincinnati Reds.
The doctors out there
weren't familiar with Valley Fever,
and before the possibility of cocci
(and a simple treatment with antifungals) was suggested,
he had already undergone a lung biopsy to remove the lesion,
which was suspected at the time to be cancer.

--
. imagine that, an athlete with valley fever;
when I had that I could hardly walk,
every joint I used or walked on
quickly became inflamed .
. this site is for a woman who got the fungus in her brain .

. disseminated coccidioidomycosis (valley fever)
with meningitis, the form of cocci
most likely to end in death.
. It's contracted from inhaling a fungal spore
that lies in the soil found in California's central valley,
where I had been visiting my parents.

. it's also in az, and nevada
-- 98.9 fm radio 11.10

. Here and Now host Steve Goldstein
talks to Dr. Hans Einstein, a Valley Fever researcher,
and Dr. David Nix of the College of Parmacy at U of A
about Valley Fever in Arizona.
The doctors answer listener calls
and explain what is being done to alleviate
the suffering of valley residents.

comments to valley fever blog:

. I am sooooo tired all the time,
pain in my joints, and so on.
. I am wondering about your valley fever;
I have been sick with VF for almost 6 years now.
It is so hard to find other people
who have had this experience
or a doctor that understands your problems.

Conor Jackson of the Diamondbacks

I just read that he missed the last 5 months
of last season due to his contracting
"valley fever"
... an illness caused by breathing fungi
in desert soils in the Southwest.
I have never heard of "valley fever" before.
Valley fever. Hmmph.

D-backs trade Jackson for A's Demel June 15, 2010

Jackson, 28, was a solid piece of Arizona's
lineup from 2006-2008,
when he batted .292 and averaged 14 homers and 71 RBI.
He missed most of the 2009 season
with what was eventually diagnosed as Valley Fever,
a fungal infection that saps the body's energy.