Monday, August 24, 2009

The Sweatshop, Circa 2009

Last Thursday, the air conditioning at work was broken. The temp was about 85 degrees when I came in at 8 and went up to just over 90.

So this was wheeled in to the room, to cool it down a bit for the computers. A real genius came up with this device. The Personal Air Cooler:

"Personal Air Cooler The new personal cooler is an innovative, compacy (sic) design that delivers 1000 BTU of cooling pleasure. Ideal for use in home or office, the unit is small enough to fit inside cubicles, or compact spaces. This unit does not require any ducting to outdoors, and is totally self contained in sleek, sophisticated design. The APC2000 features multiple fan speeds, programmable timer, LED screen, easy-to-clean membrane switch electronic controls, dehumification function, auto open air louvers, and convenient fold out ergonomic handle for easy portability for multiple room use. "

The operative words in the above are: This unit does not require any ducting to outdoors.

So although this miracle of modern engineering has an innovative, compacy design, it still did not mange to defy the basic laws of thermodynamics. So I shut it off and wheeled it out after about 2 minutes during which it only heated up the room a little bit more.

And I replaced it with this innovative personal air cooling system which was amazing effective at cooling me off, don't know about the computers:
The air conditioning was fixed at around 2pm, at which point the temp gradually went back down to the low 80's which felt cool.

Update: Today I came in at 8. The temp at that time is shown below:
Having demonstrated my machosity last Thursday, I had nothing to prove by staying at my desk. So I took my laptop and relocated to my mobile office (car in the parking lot) till my boss showed up. After he spent about 5 minutes upstairs, he agreed that whatever we needed to talk about today could wait till tomorrow, and I could work from home.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Waterfalls in New Jersey

Waterfall #1:
This waterfall is at the confluence of the Lehigh and the Delaware Rivers in Phillipsburg, NJ. Where when we went tubing today. Though not over the waterfall.

I am throwing in another picture from tubing, even though there is no waterfall in the picture.


Waterfall #2:
I went exploring the other day. While this waterfall is on the Raritan River, I am not sure if it is technically part of the Rahway River Park. So I am posting the photos here, instead of on the Rahway River Park Blog.





There are some beautiful places in central Jersey. But sometimes you have to look hard to find them.


By the way, it's been a year since I started the Rahway River Park Blog .

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Surprise!

Happy Surprise Birthday Party #3 Poot! (Had to cram them all in in 24 hours, due to short visit from Boston.) See how surprised Yoni was.

This cake was amazing! Your best ever, Aryeh.

Doesn't this look like one of those optical illusion photos?

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Wild American Backyard

These three have been showing up every so often. Their favorite spot is under the hammock for some reason. Maybe for the shade. I think the Synchronized Sitting Down is quite nice.

If they decide to sit in the hammock I'll take some more video.

Oh, and Happy Belated Birthday Poot!

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Sunday, August 2, 2009

Ads That Miss the Mark

Got this targeted ad in the email the other day.

Subject: FRESHLY PICKED A juicy book Just for you, Lill
The seller went to a lot of effort:
We've searched our independent sellers' 100 million books and picked the following recommendations just for you.
and described the choice as offering:
Find endless entertainment...

#1 choice? Way up there at the top of the "Juicy" list offering endless entertainment:

Jewish Way in Death and Mourning, by Maurice Lamm