Far across the broad Atlantic where the storms do rage severe
Jul. 20th, 2025 10:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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People keeping suspiciously close tabs on the state of our home might remember that a year and a half ago our fireplace cleaning and inspection got our fireplace condemned with a note that literally any fire had in the past 95 years could plausibly have burned the house down. The question was what to do about it. We finally resolved to having the fireplace converted, with a small wood-burning stove squeezed into the space where it would be adequately insulated and ventilated. Also to actually be effective in heating the house, since our open-hearth fireplace was kind of not good for anything but having the lovely sight of a fire and warming up people who were within three feet of its opening.
After finally committing to the stove installation last winter, the fireplace people finally had the time to come out and put it in. This involved getting here terribly early in the morning and using the neighbor's driveway to fuss with the chimney some. Fortunately the neighbor, who's there on some AirBnB-style lease, didn't mind as they haven't been using the driveway (we're not even sure they have a car), and to make some fuss inside the living room. But by the middle of last month, there we were: with a cute black stove poking just a couple inches out the front of our fireplace.
This was not the end of things, though. First, they would need to cut an arched metal plate to go around the stove, so as to fit the arch of the fireplace this was filling up. Second, and a bit more distressing, the stove's new front was not parallel with the edge of the fireplace. It was enough off to be obvious if you stood nearby. Third also was that the city had to inspect it to be satisfied that it was installed correctly, but that would come in time.
This past week the city finally had the time to send an inspector, who gave us a pass for a ``rough inspection'', because the fireplace was not exactly as it would be when finished. Exactly would include having a blower fan at the base, which was not installed in the first place because (our best explanation is) they forgot to order it, and having the faceplate put on.
That faceplate would be put on this week while I was in the office. It's got a nice arch that matches the circle of our original bricks, and for reasons it's poked out an inch or so from the brick so we can still see the whole original. The fan's tucked in where it should be with a cord we need to, like, triple-protect as long as Athena is in her ``chew everything'' phase. And they straightened out the stove while installing the faceplate so that it's near enough parallel the wall for any reasonable person's needs.
Now we need just the final inspection and for it not to be the middle of summer and we're good to go.
Meanwhile! Have we seen enough of Cedar Point's petting zoo rabbits yet? I don't think we have.
I know this is just the brown rabbit asking the white for head-pettings, but white rabbit looks ready to do an Incredible Hulk transformation and start ripping the place apart.
I believe this is actually the white rabbit grooming themself with the brown trying to horn in on the process.
But the white rabbit gradually accepted the invitation to groom the brown, and the brown rabbit looks so confident that has gone exactly as desired.
Aw yeah, that's the good head-licking.
On to the rest of the amusement park. This is the water mill that, up until this visit, was usually left open. We haven't seen it open t the public since.
Here's a little, easily overlooked, patch of water and green space next to the water mill. It's just enough off the main Frontier Trail that you might never know it was there.
Trivia: Soyuz 19 astronauts Alexei Leonov and Valery Kubasov had a nearly ten-hour rest period before the reentry the 21st of July, 1975. Source: The Partnership: A History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, NASA SP-4209.
Currently Reading: Beyond Measure: The Hidden History of Measurement From Cubits to Quantum Constants, James Vincent.
Scene: the ex-Padawan is having an emotional breakdown because oh no, it's so scary having emotions and she hates having friends.
The Main Character is comforting her about this, and draws out that the reason the ex-Padawan is upset is that she's afraid something will happen to her friends.
So the MC gives a speech about, "it's okay to be afraid. But use your fear. Let it become anger that anyone would threaten your friends! Let the anger give you power, to fight to protect everyone you care about!"
(I had a better line earlier but it's nearly 7am and I need sleep...)
Sent from my iPhone
And now, while I build up strength for the next big reporting project, a bit of news around the home. Last time I talked about our bathroom lights I mentioned how I'd found the nonfunctioning bulbs above the mirror were actually just burned out, and I replaced them with LED bulbs that are bright, cool, and look fine.
So we had a new light problem break out. bunnyhugger turned the light on, it flickered a moment, and then the main light, not over the mirror, stayed on, incapable of being turned off. The other switches on the same switch plate --- the ceiling fan and the heater --- worked fine, but not the light. So, oven mitt in hand, I unscrewed the compact fluorescent that hasn't given up the ghost yet, and we called yet again on the electricians.
You know, I thought we were probably being rooked when we signed up for that service contract with the plumber/electricians but we've now saved a bunch of service visit calls. Maybe our house should be falling apart more slowly.
So the problem was that the physical switch had at last burned out. Not a difficult fix --- the electrician didn't even bother turning off the circuit breaker --- and the only catch was finding a replacement faceplate to cover the three switches and the two electric sockets next to it. He found one but had to go four places for it. Once he had that, though? I can't say it was but the work of a moment, but it was pretty quick to do. And now we have a new and shiny white switchplate.
Sadly, this replaces the switch's old faceplate, a battered metal NuTone thing that was our only clue what model ceiling fan we had (and that was itself cut partway down to make room for the faceplate around the electric sockets). It also replaces the toggle switches with rocker switches that I'm still getting used to. They did a similar replacement of a toggle with a rocker switch when they changed our kitchen ceiling light. I don't know why. I can see sources claiming rocker switches are more durable because it's harder for contaminants to get in, but they also say it's only a little better. Maybe it's just the electricians' house style.
When he asked if there were anything else I did mention how nice it'd be if there were more outlets in the bathroom. Right now we just have the one next to the light switch, plus a socket coming off the mirror's lights that's only good for the electric toothbrush. He outlined the intimidating pile of things we'd need to do to get a new socket put in, and yeah, won't be doing that, however much it would make everything better. Too bad.
Anyway, light is working and we should probably make a note somewhere of what our ceiling fan model is since we can't use the faceplate to tell us anymore.
Back now to pictures of Cedar Point, and something everyone would really like to see.
Hey, what's that over in the petting zoo?
Aw hey, a fluffy white rabbit all set to be petted and have all kinds of attention pushed on her, that's great, right?
And here's another rabbit sinking in their dewlap.
I wonder if the white bunny is waiting around for someone to touch them!
Only thing to do is respect the rabbits' desire for petting by dangling your kid way over the fence with them.
Tragedy! Bunny is confused about which way to turn to get a person to touch them all over.
Trivia: On the 19th of July, 1975, NASA played ``Tenderness'', sung by the Soviet artist Maya Kristalinskaya, as wake-up music for the Apollo crew, but they slept through it. The 20th of July NASA tried again and this time woke for it. Source: The Partnership: A History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, NASA SP-4209. Mind, the wake-up time was 3:13 am the 19th, but then it was 1:54 am the 20th. Also I am genuinely embarrassed that I forgot this was the 50th anniversary of Apollo-Soyuz.
Currently Reading: Lost Popeye Zine, Volume 66: Uranium Hunter or the Living Geiger Counter, Ralph Stein, Bill Zaboly. Editor Stephanie Noelle.
I made the drive home from the airport sound like everything was fine. Most of the important things were, but there was a bit of noise coming from my brakes. Nothing big but certainly persistent. Over the next week the noise grew, getting louder and more insistent and the braking getting less smooth. Even I knew how to diagnose this, though: my brake pads were almost worn out. Or calipers, maybe. Doesn't matter; they're basically a set. When they're close to wearing out, they start making --- they're supposed to start making --- a noise too irritating to ignore, which encourages the car owner to get the thing fixed before it becomes unsafe to operate.
This was mostly just wear, as I've had the car for closing in on 50,000 miles and the car itself is well over 100,000 miles old. It's possibly hurried by the extreme emergency stop we had to make on the way to Detroit airport, but that would be only hurried rather than caused. Anyway, a trip to the dealer, the discovery they couldn't deal with it at the after-office-hours appointment I had, and my own trip by bus and the next morning my car was fine.
Except. Something started making a terrible racket in my suspension, something hard to miss over the course of a road trip covering suspiciously close to 1600 miles and you're going to read about every one of them. Usually when I was at low speed, reliably when I was braking or going over a pothole, and our particular street is nothing but potholes. I had to chalk it up to the suspension, annoyingly, being as old as the brake pads and dying at almost but not quite the same time, and brought the car in yesterday after work for them to examine.
They figured to have a diagnosis by about 5:30 and if they were lucky get it done by their 8 pm close. No luck and they texted that it they would need the morning to diagnose it. Either the problem was awful or they were swamped. This morning they didn't have any message for me and finally I texted them about noon to ask if there was word. They were still working on it but hoped to have an answer soon.
Finally the answer: it looks like a bit of road debris got into a shield near the suspension, which was causing the trouble. And I suppose its natural movement might explain why the low-speed groaning stopped this past weekend, though the pothole and braking noise kept going. Must have shaken loose. But they got it and cleaned it out, and what's left looks good.
Of course, as I write this, I haven't driven it yet so who knows what's next ...
In pictures, now, what's next is a bit more Cedar Point during the no-longer-bonus weekend that's before Halloweekends but after Ordinary Time.
bunnyhugger discovering that while the Kettle Corn place was set up, it wasn't running. We would never see it open that fall. But coffee was open and she would get coffee at least.
The chickens are on the prowl!
``You coming, Mabel? C'mon, time's a-wasting!''
And then bunnyhugger noticed trouble approaching, and started whistling that theme from West Side Story.
``You're just lucky my chick's here!''
Although Halloweekends hadn't started yet there was a group lined up at one of the haunted house areas, next to the petting zoo, and the door opened up to let people in. So I got this view of what might be inside which looks like a 50s-ish diner?
Trivia: Chinese is the only script to still be primarily used for the language it was originally developed for. Source: The Greatest Invention: A History of the World In Nine Mysterious Scripts, Silvia Ferrara.
Currently Reading: Lost Popeye Zine, Volume 66: Uranium Hunter or the Living Geiger Counter, Ralph Stein, Bill Zaboly. Editor Stephanie Noelle. The living Geiger counter is a creature named the Beekl-Bokl and it looks kind of like ``What if Eugene the Jeep were a bunny-tailed platypus?'' (he glows and ticks when detecting radioactivity).
So if my humor blog isn't about letting Robert Benchley write it, then what is it about? ... How about if it's just a lot of explaining Popeye storylines? That works. Here's what you can catch up on:
So next up on the photo reel is, of course, an amusement park. We got to Cedar Point on the weekend between regular weeklong operations and the start of Halloweekends, once upon a time known as a ``bonus weekend'' and now just kind of there. Here's what's there:
Part of the lawn approach to the entrance that we never go to because we're never coming from that side of the parking lot. But this is where they moved the Peanuts topiaries that used to line the Causeway.
Turns out they're completely artificial --- I had assumed they were actually sculpted --- but that does mean they could be moved rather than killed when the park decided not to have them line the Causeway.
Halloweekends wasn't really going, yet they were getting the decorations up, letting us be there in a weird liminal zone.
Also it was still summertime hot so all the Halloween theming felt out of season.
Decorations on the main midway where they used to have the ride graveyard. The graveyard's moved, but it does mean the sickest joke --- Sky Ride car #13 on the ground, smashed --- is spoiled.
I believe the fountain in the middle is one of the set Cedar Point snagged from the 1904 St Louis Exposition. Here, it holds a bunch of fake pumpkins.
The mummy here is an alien from one of Cedar Point's early-2000s Halloweekends haunted houses, the one about the secret of the Mummy, which is that he's an alien.
Banners that look like bunnyhugger's parents' Halloween decorations, along with an un-eclipsed afternoon sun.
The Pumpkin Spice Gourds. I don't remember if they were playing any music, but the placement of flowers in front does a good job at making it look like they're playing to an audience. I guess it's okay that there are only three of them. The joke would be a little stronger if they had five and they could be matched to the actual Spice Girls but it probably wouldn't be funnier enough to nearly double the materials cost.
The brake run and the first drop of Blue Streak, seen from the queue going up to the ride. I like this kind of inside-the-ride photo, especially with all the many soothing lines of a wooden roller coaster.
Photograph from the Millennium Force queue of ... well, the back of the Panda Express. Why? Because nobody ever photographs that for any reason ever is why.
And here's Millennium Force which, despite this being their tallest operating coaster at the time and a top-notch ride and it being a gorgeous Sunday didn't have much of a line. Sometimes that happens.
Trivia: Maize was an important enough crop in the inland Chinese province of Henan to be mentioned in a regional history in 1555. Source: Food In History, Reay Tannahill.
Currently Reading: Lost Popeye Zine, Volume 66: Uranium Hunter or the Living Geiger Counter, Ralph Stein, Bill Zaboly. Editor Stephanie Noelle. As teased, radioactive bears block buried treasure.