A. Another first for me: replaced two dishwashers. No, I’m not hiring manager for a restaurant. Going on 16 years ago now, we went with two dishwashers in our remodeled kitchen – a good choice, very handy, especially with 5 kids at home at the time. But 16 years is like 90 appliance years – these things were failing in their final cause.
On Monday, I made the drive down to the former Sears Outlet in San Leandro to pick up 2 out of box display models of a couple cheapish but well-rated Whirlpool dishwashers, thus saving about $250 over the best retail prices I could find. Bonus: Worked in a side trip to a TLM in Oakland on the way back. Of course, this means I, at 63 years old, am hauling dishwashers in and out of my minivan. Fortunately, these modern units are very light.
Next up: watch a bunch of YouTube videos on how to install dishwashers. Then, spend a couple hours on my knees and back turning water off, unscrewing, unhooking, unwiring, and sliding old units out, then screwing in, hooking up, plugging in, turning water on, and shoving new units in. Only needed 1 (one) trip to Ace for parts! Ickiest part: a lot of gross stuff, including stuff mysteriously glued to the floor, had accumulated under the old dishwashers over the years. Cleaned it all up, so that, in a decade or so, when the next guy replaces the dishwashers, he’ll have a cleaner floor to look at.
Only difficult part: the drain hose hook up for the unit next to the main sink (the 2nd unit is connected to the rinse sink on the kitchen island) is to an air vent located way to the back behind our oversized sink. No way you can even see it; had to lie on my back and disconnect and reconnect the hoses by feel. Let us pray I did a good job – it will be a pain in the back most literally to fix it if it leaks.
Now to load the old units in the minivan and take them to the appliance disposal center, where, last time, it was about $25 a pop for them to take the junkers off my hands. My dad fu is strong. 😉
B. School starts again in a couple weeks. I will be teaching a combined History/Lit class to nine 8th and 9th graders this year. From Greece through the Middle Ages. Should be fun, especially since I will not be creating the class plans and assignments from scratch this year, and also since it’s a combined class, not two classes like last year. Maybe 3 total hours of classroom time per week.
C. Pizza! This Saturday, when it is predicted to be 100F outside, we will be holding a pizza party for the third consecutive weekend – younger daughter’s birthday, little brother’s family visit, and now kickoff for the new school year. I invited the Board, students, and their families – at least 25-30 people, could be much higher.
Should be fun. A pizza party ends up taking about 3-4 hours of prep, then 3-4 hours of standing in front of a blazing hot oven. I enjoy it, but it leaves me pretty worn out by the end.
D. Had to go see my doctor, where we eventually got around to discussing my non-vaccinated status. The discussion went nowhere. He was getting pissed by the end. I kept asking for numbers, he’d show me gross numbers, I’d try to explain what they meant, round and round. He’s convinced 600K+ people have died of the Coof; I point out that 2/3rds of that number don’t show up in the total deaths; I’d say his chance of dying if he caught it is about 1 in 50,000 (young healthy male) while he thinks it’s 1.7% – the gross number you get from the John Hopkins report, which includes all the sick, old people – of which he is not.
It was too rushed. That a doctor would confuse the risk of a population for his personal risk is not inspiring. Let’s say 50,000 Americans die of breast cancer each year (making it up) – his chance of dying of breast cancer remains zero (almost) – because he’s not a woman. I assume he understands that. But then to turn around and accept a ridiculous 1.7% fatality rate as applicable to him, when by far the major risk is to elderly, sickly people? I also asked him if 5 to 10 years of children hospitalization data was available, so that we can rationally judge if COVID has in fact measurably increased juvenile hospitalization rates. He ignored it.
Really nice guy, good doctor and all – but, like 99.9% of everybody, doesn’t understand numbers nor science. Facts do not speak for themselves – they require understanding of the factors that fed into them before they can be understood.
42.
ADDENDUM: Another family ‘tradition’: losing the can opener. Sure, we’ve had plenty of standard manual can openers over the years, but is seems we inevitably lose them until we have only one – and then lose that one, until ut turns up someplace we all swear we already looked for it. Most common use: to open cans of evaporated milk, which several of us prefer in our tea.
So, years ago, when one of our can openers broke, we fixed it. Broke again, fixed it again. Finally, the handle was unsalvageable, but the business end was still good, if unuseable. So we threw it in a drawer, because the next time I had the woodworking tools out, I would just make it another handle, and then we’d have *2* openers to lose.
That was years ago. This morning, I noticed the forlorn opener fragment, and said to myself, I did: why not now? So, I found a suitable scrap of walnut, grabbed a saw, a rasp, drills, sander, clamps, and got to work.
At first, it was going to be strictly functional – just get a handle on it that won’t give anybody splinters, through some tung oil on it, call it a day. Buuuuut…
It started looking good. Walnut is beautiful. So, by the time I had got it all fitted up, it was looking pretty cool. So, last step before oiling: glue in the metal part.
After 15 seconds of looking around, I opted for Super Glue – because, you know, there was a tube in the junk drawer. Checked the fit and alignment one more time, then shot some glue into the cavity, applied a little to the plastic sleeve, and started twisting it in…
And the glue instantly set up about halfway in, with the business end at an odd angle. The amount of force it would take to move it would have broken the wood:
Oh, well. We’ll just lose it anyway.
Yard Sale of the Mind 
Wha … you went to a TLM? Oh, right, you’re under Cordileone aren’t you? Does that mean he still allows it? Was it in a parish?
We’re under Bishop Barber, Oakland diocese. I didn’t hear him make a position statement, but he regularly said mass at the local TLM parish and said publicly how much he loves it. It’s where his priestly vocations are going to come from. So, yeah, still going…
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248408/bishops-issue-guidance-in-response-to-pope-francis-document-on-the-traditional-latin-mass
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco told CNA July 16 that “The Mass is a miracle in any form: Christ comes to us in the flesh under the appearance of Bread and Wine. Unity under Christ is what matters. Therefore the Traditional Latin Mass will continue to be available here in the Archdiocese of San Francisco and provided in response to the legitimate needs and desires of the faithful.”
More areas listed there, too.
I read that when it came out. Love ++Cordeleone. Our Bishop Barber made no official response of which I am aware (but I’m not very aware) but has been super supportive of the TLM parish. Bishop in Sacramento reportedly privately reassured his TLM priests that they were good to go under him.
Wow, I had no idea, thanks! Of course that may not do me any good down here but it cheers my heart anyway.
Joy of a universal church, no?
Something going well elsewhere DOES help you.
I went to a school board meeting last night, because a bunch of people had been putting the thumbscrews on the board to reverse the mask-optional policy it had adopted two weeks earlier. They moved the meeting to the high school auditorium because they anticipated it drawing a large crowd, and it did — the place was packed. The board allows members of the community to speak before the meeting begins if they register ahead of time, and there were about thirty of us who did (highly unusual for these things). The people who argued for mandatory masking outnumbered those of us who argued against it, and it was truly mind-boggling how uninformed/misinformed most of the pro-mandate people were. They talked about covid as if it were ebola or cholera or bubonic plague, and as if children were dropping dead from it right and left. Fortunately, despite all their tearful pleading and angry demands, the board’s mask-optional policy survived.
Wow. Good for you!
I know when they started streaming video of “community meetings” in Iowa, the tearful,. scolding and misinformed were frequent fliers all across the state. At least one turned out to be from Nebraska, IIRC.
The discussion went nowhere.
This won’t make it MUCH better, but– I have heard of doctors demanding the names of doctors who are less than 100% behind this week’s insanity on the Kung Flu, so that they can try to get their license to practice suspended for spreading misinformation. (Which doesn’t have to be false– it can be current, direct quotes from the CDC that are inconvenient.)
The local TLM is run by the FSSP, so no issues with me. A quick 40 minute drive and I’m good.
I went to faculty meetings this week at my new school, a non-denominational Christian school – the pay is not high, but it is also about 6000 or so dollars higher than what I made last year.
We just learned today in my state that all teachers will be required to either get the !vax or get coof tested twice a week. Since this is a Christian school, I’d wager at least half the staff are not vaxxed. The headmaster, caught in a barrel, promised all of us that she would get on-site coof testing – nobody would be forced to get the !vax and we would not be required to pay. Good for her. Insane that this is a thing. Masks are more complicated. Short answer is, they’re not really required but if a student wants them we’ll have to wear them when we’re within ten feet. It’s pretty much all politics.
Still, I am very lucky. I’ll be teaching high school Computer Science, high school TRIL (Technology Research and Information Literacy), and Middle School Logic. I’ll also be starting a Robotics club and tutoring students in English and History. I have my qualms with this – I would be teaching English or History if I had the choice – but ultimately I’m teaching high schoolers, which I wanted, I’m working full time, and my school is not going to fire me for not getting the !vax. Win-win-win.
Besides, Logic could be kind of fun.
That’s great. Meanwhile, I have friends playing every card they can come up with to keep from getting fired for not getting the jab.
I would note that if I was at a Catholic School, it would probably be a very different story.
Yeah. Makes me sad.
Indeed. Still altogether I am happy. I took a risk leaving my last job but in the end it paid off, literally, with a better paying job. Cut it a little closer than I would have liked but hey, God provides.
No insurance but this is not actually a huge deal in my state. I am still poor enough that health and dental don’t cost all that much.
Yeah, I may be in that position soon enough. We’re still on maximum telework but I dunno how much slack I’ll get cut if and when we go back. My guess is not much.
You just need to be really, really terrified of getting COVID so that you simply need to work from home. Make HR, Home of Karen, sweat. Doesn’t she know the jab doesn’t work? Only 91% effective! (in studies. About 50% in real life!) And that the effectiveness fades rapidly? And that it doesn’t work against new strains? You simply MUST work from home!
Nice can opener. Walnut is beautiful!