Archive for 2013

Spring Theme

It’s March, the start of the spring quarter. Time for me to update the theme on this blog.

As is usual, it’s not much of a new theme – all I did was replace the images. Spring in the Midwest US means rain, and with rain comes erosion. Hence, the pictures are of waves and rocks. Good?

Anyway, here’s a slightly new look. Expect some tweaks in the days to come.

The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
The floods have lifted up their voice,
The floods lift up their pounding waves.

Psalm 93:3

Sing Along

photo of a bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo

photo of a bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo redone to look like Knees and Toes shampoo

photo of a bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo redone to look like Knees and Toes shampoo

photo of a bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo

photo of a bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo redone to look like Knees and Toes shampoo

photo of a bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo redone to look like Knees and Toes shampoo

photo of a bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo redone to look like Eyes and Ears shampoo

photo of a bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo redone to look like Mouth and Nose shampoo

photo of a bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo

photo of a bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo redone to look like Knees and Toes shampoo

photo of a bottle of Head and Shoulders shampoo redone to look like Knees and Toes shampoo

He said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today!”

2 Kings 6:31

Bedtime Stories

I used to read to Delta, but now I just hand him books. He used to get picture books, now he gets books with words only. For example, here was tonight’s selection:

photo of a baby reading Legal Fables

At first, he was skeptical that my choice would not be very interesting. But after perusing the back cover, he decided to give it a chance. You can see by the following photo that he was glad he did.

photo of a baby happily reading Legal Fables

For your own copy of Legal Fables, go visit Ray O. Sage’s Amazon page for Legal Fables.

But to the elders he said, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a legal matter, let him approach them.”

Exodus 24:14

Contract Restructuring

Tom Brady made headlines again. This week it was for restructuring his contract. Why it was notable was that he agreed to take less money. It was a refreshing change from the I-deserve-more attitude that’s prevalent today. Mr. Brady’s action garnered a bunch of positive comments, because he is putting the team’s needs before his own. By taking less money, he allows the team to spend more on other players and make the whole team better.

It certainly sounds about right. Brady has all the money he needs. His competitive desire is not for more money but for another Super Bowl victory.

All that news broke and was being reported before it was confirmed. That got me thinking “What if it’s not true? What if it’s a PR stunt or something?” And that made me think of this, the point of today’s post:

What if a team could indirectly coerce a star athlete into taking less money by leaking reports of his unselfish contract restructuring?

This could work for any team whose league has a salary cap. An athlete on the team is taking a disproportionate amount of the salary cap, but there are no negotiations to change that. An unnamed source from the team leaks a news report about how the athlete is agreeing to take less money for the good of the team. Headlines the next day tout the unselfish attitude of the athlete, radio call-in shows are buzzing about how nice the athlete is, blog posts abound with comments of how we need more people like him.

Later that day the athlete, his PR firm, and his agent meet. Their first reaction would have been to issue a statement saying the report is false and the athlete will be abiding by the terms of his current contract. But they realize that all the goodwill he has gathered that day will be lost and the public will turn against him and thus his spokesmanship earnings will be at risk. So they decide to issue a statement that says the contract is still is negotiation and the terms are not final. The athlete ends up taking one for the team, but not because he wanted to.

That would be underhanded of the team, and it would probably work only once. And if it did work, then what’s to stop the athlete from getting back at the team the next year? Maybe by leaking a false report that the first 500 people who show up at the manager’s house on such-and-such a date will be entered into a drawing for a free luxury box for the season, or call the team offices today for free jerseys, or – sticking with the monetary theme – the team will be lowering ticket prices 10% this season.

Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts..

Psalm 12:2

Family Conversations, Part 17

The Scene: Gamma is sitting on my bed.
Some Guy: Gamma, when’s the last time you went potty?
Gamma: Right now!
Some Guy, panicking: What?! Get off my bed!

What he meant was that he had gone potty shortly before I asked him. In the bathroom, like he should have.
He also refers to anything before today as “last night”. It could have been a year ago – all the past is “last night”.


The Scene: A child who will not be named is misbehaving at the dinner table.
Some Guy: Hey! Stop it! You know better than to do that.
Child: I also know worse…
Some Guy: Well, don’t do that either.

I’m already praying about his teenage years.


The Scene: My wife and I are discussing Delta’s upcoming doctor appointment.
Some Wife: Do we need to schedule any other kids for that day?
Some Guy: I don’t know if anyone needs shots…
Gamma: Nobody does!

He wasn’t supposed to be part of the conversation, but I appreciated his effort.

To give prudence to the naive,
To the youth knowledge and discretion,

Proverbs 1:4

Don’t Listen to Them

comic of horses voting down a proposal by saying 'neigh'

Transcript:
Council Meeting
Tonight at 8:00

All in favor, say “Aye”
“”
All opposed, say “Neigh”
“Neigh!”

The proposal does not pass.
Meeting adjourned.

Ever since the horses got on the council, nothing ever passes
They’re just a bunch of neigh-sayers.

All the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen or consent.”

1 Kings 20:8

Fitting Fundamentals

It’s a lesson that cost me $8.50, but now I know the difference between GHT and NPT.

I’ll pass the lesson along to you for free.

If you have 3/4″ pipe fittings, know which thread size they are before you buy a connector.

In my case, I had 3/4″ GHT on one side and 3/4″ NPT on the other. I didn’t know there were different thread pitches; I figured I just needed the diameter and I would be good. I got the right diameter, and they fit well enough that I didn’t know they were wrong, but the way water was squirting out I realized something wasn’t right.

GHT is Garden Hose Thread. It is always 3/4″ diameter. Its main use is for garden hoses, but it is also used for washing machines and other things that are not permanent fixtures of the plumbing system.

NPT is National Pipe Thread. It is of various diameters. It is used for permanent fixtures of the plumbing system.

In my case, I was connecting a washing machine spigot to a recirculating pump. The pump used NPT and the washing machine thread size was GHT. To complicate matters, the other side of the pump went to 1/2″ PEX.

Here is how GHT (left) matches with NPT (right):

photo of GHT and NPT threads on a pipe fitting connector, comparison of thread pitch

As you can see, it takes NPT about 5.5 threads where GHT takes 5 threads. It’s annoyingly close because the fittings will screw together for a few turns, enough so that you don’t know something is wrong until you turn on the water.

To make matters even more complicated, they don’t use just the acronyms GHT and NPT. No, they have to use Mips and MHT and FHT and Fips. The Ms and Fs are for male and female. Anything with an ‘H’ is for Hose, and anything with a ‘P’ is for Pipe thread. Match Hs to Hs and Ps to Ps.

There were two tenons for each board, fitted to one another; thus he did for all the boards of the tabernacle.

Exodus 36:22