Still wet, but sunny
Jun. 20th, 2009 09:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoPoor Tess didn't get to go out today. Her pasture is flooded again. Hopefully this mess will drain now that the rain has stopped.
Storm had worse results than I even expected. At least one person was killed when a freight train derailed just west of here. Apparently a section of track was undercut by the running waters and the end result was a dozen tank cars full of ethanol that derailed, caught fire, and exploded. Evacuations were necessary.
Catalpa trees are blooming, in spite of the wind and rain yesterday.
Digging through some old stuff out of my desk from when I was at Columbia, found this quote:
"In 50 years, the computer you are using to view this will be landfill, but your slide rule will just be nicely broken in." --Sphere Research Corporation (http://www.sphere.bc.ca/)
It's true, too. No batteries, nothing to burn out, the student model I used in high school physics still works perfectly. I have Gary's Post Versalog sitting here too, and a Pickett N-515-T Electronics model, made in the 1960s especially for the Cleveland Institute of Electronics' students to use. That one has special scales on the back for reactance and resonance, as well as a quick reference to electronics formulae printed along the edges. Much faster than a calculator for working out practical math, and the batteries never go dead. (No, you can't balance your checkbook with it, for that you should have an abacus.)
Storm had worse results than I even expected. At least one person was killed when a freight train derailed just west of here. Apparently a section of track was undercut by the running waters and the end result was a dozen tank cars full of ethanol that derailed, caught fire, and exploded. Evacuations were necessary.
Catalpa trees are blooming, in spite of the wind and rain yesterday.
Digging through some old stuff out of my desk from when I was at Columbia, found this quote:
"In 50 years, the computer you are using to view this will be landfill, but your slide rule will just be nicely broken in." --Sphere Research Corporation (http://www.sphere.bc.ca/)
It's true, too. No batteries, nothing to burn out, the student model I used in high school physics still works perfectly. I have Gary's Post Versalog sitting here too, and a Pickett N-515-T Electronics model, made in the 1960s especially for the Cleveland Institute of Electronics' students to use. That one has special scales on the back for reactance and resonance, as well as a quick reference to electronics formulae printed along the edges. Much faster than a calculator for working out practical math, and the batteries never go dead. (No, you can't balance your checkbook with it, for that you should have an abacus.)
