This week I put new batteries in my front bike lights, 4 triple A batteries in one, and 3 double A batteries in the other. Then one of the smoke alarms began to chirp because the battery needs replacement, so I bought a half dozen batteries for the smoke alarms. I also recently replaced the C batteries in two flashlights, and two double A batteries in an Led flashlight before the remnants of Hurricane Sandy came through. I now have a whole bag of used batteries for drop off.
This weekend I will replace the batteries in each of two thermostats in the house. By the new year, I have to replace the batteries in two wall clocks. The batteries in our front and back door doorbells also were changed this past month.
More batteries, four triple A batteries in the bloodpressure machine we use.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Mussman's Curve
We were going to see Mussman's curve, outside of Livingston Manor on old rte. 17.
Due to some recent events, I had triggered memories of something that had happened 50 years ago.
We got off of the new route 17, now 40 years old, at the Roscoe diner. They have delicious rice pudding. My wife told the waitress I had been in a bad accident here years ago. She said her father had been in a bad accident in the 1960's. I said was it Mussman's curve? Yes it was, her father was the truck driver in a head on crash of a bus and truck, in 1964. My own accident had been 50 years ago in 1962.
We left Roscoe and went east on old Rte.17. My old paper clipping said it was about 1 1/2 miles east of Livingston Manor. The curve is easily found, there was a cross for a recent traffic death at the base of the curve.
At that time, in August 1962, I had gone with my older sister Lina and younger brother Malcolm to visit our grandparents and mothers sisters family, the McClellans, in Vestal, New York. My older brother Bruce and my dad were at Scout Camp at Camp Trimount in the Catskills, near Tannersville, NY. I was 7 years old, Lina 9 years old, Bruce 11 and Malcolm 3. My dad had helped start a scout troop, troop 172, in New Paltz with his good friend Charlie Hamilton.
My grandparents, Willis and Marion Dittman, lived in Walden by the time I met them. My mother was born in Yonkers in 1927, 3rd of 4 children. The family moved upstate when she was young to Walden. She left for Cornell, and spent two summers in New York City, working. Doris met my dad, Douglas, at Cornell. He was a returning vet from World War 2. They married June 28, 1949. Starting their household in Truxton, NY, my mother moved in with her parents in Walden with a new baby boy, Bruce, when Dad was called up for the Korean War to train troops up in Camp Pine, now Fort Drum. Back from the army, dad got a job as an Ag teacher in New Paltz, New York, where they were to live the next 50 years. Dad also went to work for the railroad, for apple orchards, then as a math teacher at New Paltz High until retirement.
On August 8, 1962, I was riding with my sister Lina in my grandparents car to Walden, NY. The car was a Renault, kind of small with a huge air conditioner that didn't put out a lot of air conditioning. There were no seatbelts, that requirement for cars had not yet come out. It was a rainy day. I was asleep in the front seat between my grandparents, my sister was laying down asleep in the back seat.
I woke up 5 days later in Roscoe Hospital. I remember a man across the room had given me a comic book. He had a hole in his esophagus to breath thru, and smoke cigarettes thru.
I remember I had a new cowboy shirt in my suitcase, but I never saw it again. My face was covered with bandages. In fact, I had to have plastic surgery two more times to help reconstruct my face. Those operations took place up at Albany Medical.
The accident was a head on collision with a tractor trailer truck. Two people were killed. By a convergence of events I can see now, I am still alive.
First, my grandmother threw herself on top of me to keep me from going thru the windshield. Second, some EMT from the Livingston Manor Rescue Squad pulled a bloody boy from the wreckage. Third, someone back at Roscoe Hospital stitched my face back together. Fourth, my father, who had come immediately when he heard of the accident, leaving Bruce in the care of the campers, gave me two pints of blood, we were a blood match.
My sister was in the back seat, she went to the hospital with glass in her back.
I grew up, Married Ginny Davenport from Stone Ridge. Ginny's family was big in sweet corn farming in the Rondout Valley. Her father had left the farm and branched out to Highmount Ski center in the Catskills. Ginny had gone to Rondout High School, then Keuka College, and attended the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park. We met as cooks at Mohonk Mountain House and resort, and moved to Syracuse and raised our family. This past weekend our son Gordon, who lives in Brooklyn was married to Audrey DeRocker, a girl he had met while attending the music conservatory at SUNY Purchase. Our daughter Carla is an artist who lives in nearby Rochester, NY.
Due to some recent events, I had triggered memories of something that had happened 50 years ago.
We got off of the new route 17, now 40 years old, at the Roscoe diner. They have delicious rice pudding. My wife told the waitress I had been in a bad accident here years ago. She said her father had been in a bad accident in the 1960's. I said was it Mussman's curve? Yes it was, her father was the truck driver in a head on crash of a bus and truck, in 1964. My own accident had been 50 years ago in 1962.
We left Roscoe and went east on old Rte.17. My old paper clipping said it was about 1 1/2 miles east of Livingston Manor. The curve is easily found, there was a cross for a recent traffic death at the base of the curve.
At that time, in August 1962, I had gone with my older sister Lina and younger brother Malcolm to visit our grandparents and mothers sisters family, the McClellans, in Vestal, New York. My older brother Bruce and my dad were at Scout Camp at Camp Trimount in the Catskills, near Tannersville, NY. I was 7 years old, Lina 9 years old, Bruce 11 and Malcolm 3. My dad had helped start a scout troop, troop 172, in New Paltz with his good friend Charlie Hamilton.
My grandparents, Willis and Marion Dittman, lived in Walden by the time I met them. My mother was born in Yonkers in 1927, 3rd of 4 children. The family moved upstate when she was young to Walden. She left for Cornell, and spent two summers in New York City, working. Doris met my dad, Douglas, at Cornell. He was a returning vet from World War 2. They married June 28, 1949. Starting their household in Truxton, NY, my mother moved in with her parents in Walden with a new baby boy, Bruce, when Dad was called up for the Korean War to train troops up in Camp Pine, now Fort Drum. Back from the army, dad got a job as an Ag teacher in New Paltz, New York, where they were to live the next 50 years. Dad also went to work for the railroad, for apple orchards, then as a math teacher at New Paltz High until retirement.
On August 8, 1962, I was riding with my sister Lina in my grandparents car to Walden, NY. The car was a Renault, kind of small with a huge air conditioner that didn't put out a lot of air conditioning. There were no seatbelts, that requirement for cars had not yet come out. It was a rainy day. I was asleep in the front seat between my grandparents, my sister was laying down asleep in the back seat.
I woke up 5 days later in Roscoe Hospital. I remember a man across the room had given me a comic book. He had a hole in his esophagus to breath thru, and smoke cigarettes thru.
I remember I had a new cowboy shirt in my suitcase, but I never saw it again. My face was covered with bandages. In fact, I had to have plastic surgery two more times to help reconstruct my face. Those operations took place up at Albany Medical.
The accident was a head on collision with a tractor trailer truck. Two people were killed. By a convergence of events I can see now, I am still alive.
First, my grandmother threw herself on top of me to keep me from going thru the windshield. Second, some EMT from the Livingston Manor Rescue Squad pulled a bloody boy from the wreckage. Third, someone back at Roscoe Hospital stitched my face back together. Fourth, my father, who had come immediately when he heard of the accident, leaving Bruce in the care of the campers, gave me two pints of blood, we were a blood match.
My sister was in the back seat, she went to the hospital with glass in her back.
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| Livingston Manor Times |
Monday, October 8, 2012
Our new bathroom floor
Our floor was a mess. The small tiles had come loose and were missing over the ears, and the concrete below had deteriorated in many places. So I carefully chiseled and cut out the concrete and tile, about 1 1/2", down to the floorboards below, careful not to drop any on our new kitchen ceiling below thru the holes in the boards.
Once the dust had settled, and we decided we were replacing the sink and vanity and lights as well, we visited Tim at the Dewitt Home Depot for some advice and supplies. First I put down 1/2" plywood on top of the 3/4" floor boards. Then I put grout and a cement backerboard.
After grouting and taping the seams in the backerboard and drying out a couple of days, I started the tile.
I started at the edge of the room by the bathtub, as we have only 40 sq.ft. of floor. After grouting and leveling with a board and rubber mallet, the floor again dried for 48 hours before the finishing grout.
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| Starting Floor Removal |
Once the dust had settled, and we decided we were replacing the sink and vanity and lights as well, we visited Tim at the Dewitt Home Depot for some advice and supplies. First I put down 1/2" plywood on top of the 3/4" floor boards. Then I put grout and a cement backerboard.
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| Grouting and putting backerboard in |
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| Backerboard in, screwed down to plywood. |
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| Grouting and tiling the floor |
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| Cleaning the Tile |
After another two days of drying, we put sealant on the grout, then that dried and we were able to put the toilet back in. Next, we went to FW Webb, where my wife Ginny picked out a vanity, medicine cabinet and lights that will be arriving in about a month.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
A bicyclist died in Syracuse
This past weekend a bicyclist died. According to the newspaper a 19 year man was killed when his bicycle veered off the shoulder into traffic. The location was on South Bay Road under the route 81 bridge. It was 8:30 at night.
I am familiar with the intersection. At that location the road is a divided road with 4 lanes in each direction, including on and off ramps for route 81. And it is the only road connection in that area between Mattydale and Syracuse to the south, and North Syracue and suburbs to the north.
I talked with a fellow bicyclist who had recently come thru this area in an effort to find a bike path from his house to work. His experience was that is was very difficult to change lanes, and hard to cross the road. Very difficult in that area to get thru. We wonder if that 19 year old was trying to get across the road.
Earlier this summer another you bicyclist was killed across town, while crossing the street.
I know from my own experience how difficult it is to judge car speed relative to bike speed, especially if you are starting from a standstill.
I think the moral of this is to try to Minimize your road crossings. Certainly we pay the utmost respect to any moving vehicle.
What are the rules?
In New York State see New York Bicycle Laws. This includes riding on the designated bike path or far right by the curb when a bike path is not available.
Perhaps a solution for the tragedy I started this blog with, would be signs directing the bicyclists to a safer route. Though a quick glance at the map doesn't show me an easy route. Or a new route could be manufactured just for pedestrians and bikes. This area is not too far (1/2 mile or less) from the end of the bike path in a recent blog I had in Mattydale along Bear Trap Creek.
I am familiar with the intersection. At that location the road is a divided road with 4 lanes in each direction, including on and off ramps for route 81. And it is the only road connection in that area between Mattydale and Syracuse to the south, and North Syracue and suburbs to the north.
I talked with a fellow bicyclist who had recently come thru this area in an effort to find a bike path from his house to work. His experience was that is was very difficult to change lanes, and hard to cross the road. Very difficult in that area to get thru. We wonder if that 19 year old was trying to get across the road.
Earlier this summer another you bicyclist was killed across town, while crossing the street.
I know from my own experience how difficult it is to judge car speed relative to bike speed, especially if you are starting from a standstill.
I think the moral of this is to try to Minimize your road crossings. Certainly we pay the utmost respect to any moving vehicle.
What are the rules?
In New York State see New York Bicycle Laws. This includes riding on the designated bike path or far right by the curb when a bike path is not available.
Perhaps a solution for the tragedy I started this blog with, would be signs directing the bicyclists to a safer route. Though a quick glance at the map doesn't show me an easy route. Or a new route could be manufactured just for pedestrians and bikes. This area is not too far (1/2 mile or less) from the end of the bike path in a recent blog I had in Mattydale along Bear Trap Creek.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
The Battle of Long Island (Brooklyn)
We are staying in Brooklyn at 5th Avenue and 4th street, not far from the Old Stone House. In August of 1776, during the battle of Long Island, a group to 200 Marylanders, led by Mordecai Gist. Only 9 survivors, including Mordecai. However, the ferocity of their attack helped delay the British and Hessian soldiers long enough for Washington to escape across the east river in a pouring rain. Gist had served with Washington during the French and Indian war, and survived the war.
There are some historical plaques in Prospect Park, the center of a lot of the fighting.
The Dunbar Oak, felled by American Troops and used for cover as they defended the Battle Pass. But then the British army came in from behind as the colonials were routed, and an army of 2000 colonials was annihilated by a British army of 5000.
There are some historical plaques in Prospect Park, the center of a lot of the fighting.
The Dunbar Oak, felled by American Troops and used for cover as they defended the Battle Pass. But then the British army came in from behind as the colonials were routed, and an army of 2000 colonials was annihilated by a British army of 5000.
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| DunBar Oak plaque |
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| Battle Pass Plaque |
A Bicycle Path in Syracuse
We stopped at Syracuse Bicycle to see what we could get to facilitate getting my wife's new bike, to fit onto a bike rack on our car better. They had a bar that we attach to the bike so that it will hang on the bike rack similar to the mans style bike.
Then we went to the Bear Trap Creek Bike path. Parking at the head of the trail is on Seventh North Street. We went North, along Route 81, 1.6 miles to the backside of Mattydale Plaza. The path is paved and in good shape. Beware some speed bumps along the way, however.
We stopped at Syracuse Bicycle to see what we could get to facilitate getting my wife's new bike, to fit onto a bike rack on our car better. They had a bar that we attach to the bike so that it will hang on the bike rack similar to the mans style bike.
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| The Beginning |
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| Cars on the left, nature on the right |
Along the way north, we went over a bridge over the thruway. The Bear Trap Creek trail was built during improvements to Route 81 in the 1980's. We had seen the beginning of the path over the years, as it is just before the turn onto Route 81 from 7th North. But assumed it just ended in a nearby neighborhood. It was a pleasant surprise.
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| Along the Way |
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| Bear Trap Creek with Duck |
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Paperless Office
I have spent the last 30 years working in a consulting engineers office. We have always used a lot of paper to prepare working drawings and project manuals for bid for construction of buildings. I do not believe the volume of paper for those purposes has changed.
Some portions of our work have paperless. I am able to access code books and design books online. My ASPE membership gives me access to the ASPE data books all of which are on line. These books cover the whole range of plumbing design. I have access to the current New York State codes for fire protection, for plumbing, for general building construction. They are all posted online for free. Thru my NFPA membership I have access to the NFPA family of codes which includes the national fuel code, national electric code, all of the fire codes. At work we have a paid subscription to the International Building codes online. I also accumulate pdf files of miscellaneous codes.
I am able to research online for information.
Another paperless benefit is the electronic transfer of drawings and other documents between different offices and locations, allowing for bettr coordination of projects. A sidebar to this is teleconferencing and videoconferencing, allowing people from multiple locations to join in real time collaboration.
The advent of BIM programs like REVIT will require looking at a building model on a computer. Though for the time being, we will continue to generate contract documents for bid on paper.
Some portions of our work have paperless. I am able to access code books and design books online. My ASPE membership gives me access to the ASPE data books all of which are on line. These books cover the whole range of plumbing design. I have access to the current New York State codes for fire protection, for plumbing, for general building construction. They are all posted online for free. Thru my NFPA membership I have access to the NFPA family of codes which includes the national fuel code, national electric code, all of the fire codes. At work we have a paid subscription to the International Building codes online. I also accumulate pdf files of miscellaneous codes.
I am able to research online for information.
Another paperless benefit is the electronic transfer of drawings and other documents between different offices and locations, allowing for bettr coordination of projects. A sidebar to this is teleconferencing and videoconferencing, allowing people from multiple locations to join in real time collaboration.
The advent of BIM programs like REVIT will require looking at a building model on a computer. Though for the time being, we will continue to generate contract documents for bid on paper.
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