Bang

August 30, 2009

There was a gunshot about a block from my building after midnight about a week ago. A few minutes afterward, several police cruisers arrived with lights flashing. It seemed to happen in front of some kind of bar or restaurant that I could see from my bedroom window.

What the hell’s going on? Chill out, people!
Posted by willfaught
Filed in apartment, gunshot, night, police, seattle
Leave a Comment »

Fleeting Expertise

August 24, 2009

I discovered a web site that’s great for learning how to shop for products I’ve never bought before in a short period of time. When I shop, I want to buy something I know will satisfy my needs for the foreseeable future. I don’t want to have to buy another one because it broke or a newer one came out that I want instead. I want to do the comparison shopping and deal seeking just once.

This web site helps me do that. It covers a variety of products, from electronics to kitchen. For each kind of product, they tell you what to look for, how to make comparisons, and then list several products they’ve concluded to be the best in several categories according to a variety of sources like Consumer Reports and the Amazon.com customer reviews. It’s a great way to get to the bottom of it all and come out feeling like you’re making the right choice. I’ve used it for buying my television, my mattress, and my paper shredder.
For example, here are my notes from this web site about down comforters:
  • Egyptian cotton and white goose down. Feathers and synthetic are bad.
  • Fill power is the space occupied by one ounce of down. It provides warmth, insulation, loft, and overall quality. More is better. High quality: 700+. Excellent quality: 600-700. Good quality: 525-600.
  • Thread count determines softness and durability. Higher is better. A high thread count keeps fill in and impurities out. Examples: 325, 400, 600, and 700.
  • Baffle box construction (“baffled”) has vertical cloth walls sewn in to spread out the fill. Not all have it, so check.
  • The warranty can indicate its quality. It can range from one year to lifetime.
  • Must get a duvet. It should be 100% cotton and have a high thread count.
  • The size should be specific. For example, “Queen”, not “Full/Queen”.
  • Measure your bed to ensure it will fit properly. It should drape down the sides of the bed.
  • Gusset edges surround the outer edge and maximize loft.
I have a problem with my current down comforter. The down pokes through the comforter and duvet, and looks like a mess on the duvet cover. After reading this web site, I learned this was because the thread count of my comforter and duvet are too low. Who knew? Not me.

The web site is consumersearch.com.

Posted by willfaught
Filed in comforters, consumer search, down, expert, expertise, fleeting, shopping, web site
Leave a Comment »

Scammed

August 9, 2009

I met my friend Chris from work at a piano bar in the Pioneer Square neighborhood of Seattle a few weeks ago. It was around 9 or 10 p.m. and I had never been to that part of town at night before. Let me tell you, that is one shady place. There are a lot of homeless people there. It doesn’t feel comfortable to linger outside.

I parked my car a few blocks from the bar. I crossed a street, and saw an ATM nearby. I needed more cash, but it didn’t seem safe to use it. I debated whether to risk it. No one was close by at the moment. I waited another minute, then hesitantly approached the ATM. I noticed out of the corner of my eye someone crossing the street as I had and coming toward me. I slowed and diverted a little from the ATM, pretending that I had just been meandering. It was a man a little older than me. He was muscular, tattooed, and he wore a white wife beater. He approached me and rambled about getting out of jail and trying to get somewhere and needing money. I was alarmed and wanted extricate myself immediately, but he had already been talking for half a minute, and I couldn’t figure out how to disengage him. Finally, out of desperation, I gave in and handed him my only twenty-dollar bill. The relief was almost palpable as I walked away. Fortunately, there was an ATM at the bar.
While I was listening to him, I wondered whether it was true, and I realized that I had no way to verify his story, and that I didn’t know whether prisoners were given some means of using transportation when discharged. If he was honest, he sure picked the worst possible time and place to ask someone for help. Since so many alarm bells were going off in my head, I should have followed my instincts and walked away. Now I know that if I stop walking in those areas, I open myself up to experiences like this one. I want to be kind to strangers, but not when I feel uncomfortable about it, and not when I suspect I’m being scammed.
Posted by willfaught
Filed in piano bar, pioneer square, seattle
Leave a Comment »

Switch

August 9, 2009

You may have noticed that my blog’s look has changed. I decided to move it to Blogger for several reasons: I wanted to have multiple blogs so I don’t bore my family with my computation musings; Blogger’s servers are faster than the one I was using; and Blogger has gotten a little more polish than when I last used it, and seems sufficient for my publishing needs. I just don’t have to work as hard with Blogger. WordPress is great for one or more authors working on a single blog, but can’t do multiple blogs. Also, it’s a pain to upgrade, and it seems to be full of security holes. Who needs that kind of hassle?

Posted by willfaught
Filed in blog, blogger, move, wordpress
Leave a Comment »