Lee.org

I Was Sick, But Now I’m Well

In September and October, I had a string of medical issues. It magically resolved itself but it was pretty weird and scary.

Starting in early September, each morning and evening I had terrible joint pain and muscle weakness. For example, I was completely unable to hold my big 32 ounce mason jar glass of water with one hand like I normally do. A few times in the late evening when Megan asked me to take the baby I refused, doubting that I had the strength to hold her. Scary! I found myself walking a lot slower on my commute, swinging my legs like lamb-chops. Everything hurt!

Then in mid-September, my legs puffed up with edema and red spots. I gained 10 pounds in water weight. Below my calf, everything tingled all day and I had trouble feeling some of my toes. My ankles were so stiff each morning that I walked ridiculously. To not move my legs was uncomfortable so I had to walk around and wiggle my legs. I went to the doctor after this kept up for a few days and my balance was suffering. I remember the moment walking down stairs needing to hold the railing lest I fall.

My doctor ran two batteries of tests. She knew I had elevated liver enzymes and decreased hematocrit (how many red blood cells I had) and she ran more tests which only told her I didn’t have what she was hoping I didn’t have (hep c, an autoimmune disorder, some vitamin deficiencies…) The end result of all the tests and the doctor’s opinion was, “It’s probably viral. It should start getting better soon. Call me if it doesn’t.”

That’s it? Yipe. Well, happily, it was already starting to get better and over a few weeks I returned to full capacity. But it was full-on-scary to be told, “Dunno.”!

My theory: a rare tropical virus made the rounds in Kensington

July: my niece and her boyfriend went to Vietnam. When they came back, they both complained of backaches and headaches.

August: My wife started having bad headaches. We went to the hospital twice, once because the headache was just so bad, and a week later because it seemed like she was having a stroke (!!!). All the fancy tests showed nothing abnormal and she was ok in a few days and better in a few weeks. Doctors said, “It’s probably viral.”

September: my shenanigans. My doctor said, “It’s probably viral.”

I Loved being an Airbnb Host. For a short time, I let people stay at my awesome pad in The Mission on the corner of 24th and Valencia. I met a lot of nice people, had fun, and made some money. At the time, Megan and I were getting closer so I was staying at home more infrequently. I started when Megan and I were going away  for “Island Time”. We had a friend tend to the place. It ended when, well, my landlord didn’t approve. But by that time I was spending much of my time in The East Bay with Megan anyway, so it was all good. Notably, the wild-west of short-term rentals in San Francisco has just ended with the passage of a few laws.

(right-click, open this screenshot image for best results)

Bright Private Studio on Valencia

Description
The Space

This cozy, private apartment is located in the heart of San Francisco’s historic Mission District literally at the intersection of the hip Valencia street corridor and the culturally rich 24th street corridor. This is the real San Francisco and you’ve got the apartment all to yourself! 2 blocks to BART, walking distance to the best culture, food, drink, and nightlife in the city.

FOR SILICON VALLEY BUS RIDERS: We’re at the closest bus stop to SV that is in a happening part of town.

ABOUT THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Here’s a -partial- list of what you’ll find within 1 block of the apartment:
– Arizmendi Bakery – A true gem. This worker owned bakery opens at 7am with lines out the door. Eat their blueberry scones and die happy. Have their famous daily pizza and you will already be in heaven!
– Valencia Farmer’s Market – a fantastic small market with great organic and regular vegetables and all the staples
– Fiore Caffe – Italian espresso café by day in a super-hip environment, dinner plates like Pappardelle Al Salmone by night!
– La Traviatta (2 blocks away) is an island of calm and perfectly served Italian dishes on Mission Street. Famous for seating opera legends old and new
– Papalote Mexican Grill – I would tell you that it is the best local taqueria but rivalries run deep among the many local burrito houses
– Muddy’s Coffee House – A great local coffee dive: open early and open late!
– Gypsy Honeymoon – Find unique treasures and antiques
– Campfire Gallery – A super hip art gallery that just opened in 2013
– Yoga Tree – Bring your yoga mat to this serene temple of yoga. I recommend getting their intro pass for your stay: 3 classes for $20!

This is a busy neighborhood day and night, light sleepers might want to bring earplugs or take some from my stash.

The Valencia street corridor boasts some of the city’s best culinary delights. It honestly has too many places for me to list but some favorites include Boogaloo’s for breakfast, Range for lunch, and Garçon for dinner. It’s a very hip and comfortable place to stroll. And you -must- check out 826 Valencia, San Francisco’s best independently owned and operated pirate store!

The 24th Street corridor has terrific cultural diversity and food. Be sure to look for the famous Precita Eyes murals!

GETTING AROUND
The BART subway is just 2 blocks away and several bus lines are nearby.

At the gas station just across the street you can rent cars by the hour with the three major carsharing companies: Zipcar, City CarShare and Getaround. Consider signing up for one of these services before your visit. Try using Uber or Lyft as an alternative to a taxi.

Parking a car in the area is very tight during the week, parking is easier on the weekends. A paid lot is 4 blocks away.

HOUSE RULES
No smoking in the apartment or building
Maximum of 2 visitors at any time
Keep the noise down after 10 PM
Don’t hold the front door open for anyone, every resident has their own key
No parties
No pets

SOME TIDBITS
– The apartment building is quite secure with a locked gate
– You are fully welcome to use the full kitchen and have some of my coffee or soft drinks

My apartment home is the perfect starting point for your San Francisco adventure!

House Rules
No smoking in the apartment or building
Maximum of 2 visitors at any time
Keep the noise down after 10 PM
Don’t hold the front door open for anyone, every resident has their own key
No parties
No pets

Learn Arduino in one weekend.  My super-teacher-friends are running this class in Oakland this  weekend. They’ve got a few spots left. Look below for a discount code.

—————-

Bring your ideas to life at Workshop Weekend: Arduino!

Join us at Tech Liminal this weekend, November 7–8 to learn about electronics, programming, and prototyping. Get your project ideas on the right track, whether it’s citizen science, home automation, kinetic art, musical innovation, wearable tech, a product to sell, or something else entirely!

We’ll spend the first few hours showing you the electronic ropes: voltage, current, resistors, motors, LEDs and the basics of Arduino microcontroller programming. Then, for the next 10 hours over two days, we’ll help mentor you through our labs and your projects.

Don’t have your own project yet? Just want to learn? That’s great too! We have plenty of projects you can cut your teeth on, to prepare yourself for that brilliant idea still percolating through your subconscious.

Learn more and register online at http://workshopweekend.net/arduino

We’re looking for just a few more people to join us; sign up TODAY with special code ONEDAYONLY7887 to get $50 off registration and a special gift on site!

As always, discounted registration is available for those with financial need — please ask.

I hope we’ll see you this weekend!

Warmly,
J.D., Rolf, Anca, Smitha, Malcolm, Michael, Tenaya, Andrew and Gil

PS: Save the date! December 12–13 will be our next general Workshop Weekend. We are currently taking applications for workshops; if you’re interested in running a session, let us know: http://workshopweekend.net/teach — more on this event soon!

Here is the manual for our Frigidaire washer dryer.
Washer Dryer A02591501en

Looking for Ernest Ferranti’s Lackawanna Brewing Company!

I got a message from a man named Jim Torre. Can you help?
He writes:
I found you through your website lee.org. I live in Archbald, PA and saw that your grandfather was Ernest Ferranti. I found his name in a book that said he was VP and later owner of Lackawanna Beer and Ale Corp, which was originally Lackawanna Brewing Company, after the buyout from Pennsylvania Central Brewing. I’ve been doing some research on opening my own brewery and I am interested in using the original name “Lackawanna Brewing Company”. I looked in the Department of State database for PA, and found that this name is still active, even though the business closed its operations in 1897. So the reason I am contacting you is to find out if you or one of your relatives still own the shares in this company or if you know who the business was sold to in 1943.

Just two years ago I wrote how LED light bulbs vs CFL light bulbs were exciting but still “a wash”. My how tech changes. Over the last couple months, I’ve been replacing my 23 watt CFLs with 9.5 watt LEDs and getting the same lumens! My LED bulbs look terrific, last forever, and will pay for themselves in less than two years. If they were replacing incandescent bulbs, they’d pay for themselves in twDONE!

I’m using Feit Electric Conserv-Energy 60 watt replacement dimmable bulbs. Feit item# 144799. Available at my Costco for $10.50 for 3.

They don’t flicker. I’ve put them on my new Lutron Maestro dimmers and they dim very nicely down to a very low level (but I also had to put a regular 40 watt incandescent in with them lest the dimming circuit doesn’t work correctly).

I haven’t been able to use them in a torchiere lamp with a built-in dimmer. If the light is set to dim and some appliance in the house turns on, the light turns off for a split second :-( The incandescent bulb only flutters a little and is much more tolerable.

The Best Arduino Class, November 7&8, Oakland, CA
If you want to get your feet (and knees and hips!) wet with Arduino, this is the best way. One intensive weekend November 7&8 will help make that project, that business idea, that general knowledge solid! When I’m not in school myself, I teach with Workshop Weekend.

Workshop Weekend: Arduino returns Nov 7-8!

Hi There,

Workshop Weekend: Arduino returns and registration is now open! Join us November 7 and 8, 2015 and we’ll introduce you to the world of Arduino and electronics in a hands-on two day workshop!

Arduino is an open electronics platform designed for artists, designers, and hobbyists. Makers and scientists have used Arduino to make drink-mixers, laser harps and other musical instruments, science experiments, power meters, flying robots and much more. We’ve compiled a set of Arduino starter projects you can start with at Workshop Weekend: Arduino on our Arduino Projects page – these projects are great starting points for future exploration. Or bring your own project!

Workshop Weekend: Arduino is designed to bring you significant experience with both Arduino and electronics, comprehensively leading you through all the key concepts, and giving you a platform from which to explore further. You don’t need to have any experience working with Arduino, electronics, or programming to attend! But if you do have some experience, we’ll help you take your projects to the next level!

Check out the full schedule and register here: http://workshopweekend.net/arduino/catalog

Saturday we’ll guide you through the Arduino hardware and software and work on Arduino labs. Sunday, you’ll work on your own project with our team of expert mentors at hand. Don’t worry if you don’t have a project yet – we’ll get you started with any from our project page. In the process, you’ll learn about topics like advanced programming, working with audio, motors and movement, and LCD character displays.

Use the coupon code NB7887 for $50 off admission!

New this time around, we’ve extended the age range to ages 15-101. And as always, discounted registration is available for those with financial need — please ask.

Please reach out to us if you have any questions at all!

I hope we’ll see you there.

Warmly,
J.D., Rolf, Anca, Smitha, Malcolm, Michael, Tenaya, Andrew and Gil

I think that it is unfair that, of late, every second of pleasure in my life costs at least two seconds of pain.

When I asked my doctor last week if it was official that my commute was killing me, she said, “No, but I think it is causing your edema and paresthesia.” However, she couldn’t say where the rheumatoid arthritis-like symptoms in my hands and feet came from. They faded on their own last week so, “it was probably something viral” is the standard answer.

Last night I got home after my wife and baby were asleep, did schoolwork til 11:45pm, got up at 6:30, and got to wipe my baby’s snotty nose just once before running out the door, late, at 7:15. Unfair to  mommy, baby, and daddy.

I could write about a great many problems but this is not the place for that.

From Propaniac, September 2015

Ever wonder how much propane is consumed at Burning Man each year?
Wonder no more…
20,020.7 gallons of propane were pumped on playa by the BRC Fuels Team this year (new record). This does not include all of the propane participants purchased off playa.
17,673.4 gallons was for art (mutant vehicles, theme camps, art projects)
2,347.3 gallons was for infrastructure (commissary, Gate, etc.)
Here are some fun facts about the 17,673.4 gallons of propane that were burned for artistic purposes this year…
74,228.3 pounds of propane (37.1 tons)… that is equal to the avg. weight of 6 African adult male bush elephants.
642,958.3 cubic feet of propane vapor… that is enough vapor to fill an area the size of a US football field (including the end zones) a little over 11 ft. deep.
1,617,151,446.8 btus of heat value released… To equal this amount, the 80,000 btu furnace in my house would have to run continuously for 2.3 years
224,784 pounds of CO2 were released… this is approximately equal to 10 years worth of CO2 emissions generated by one average US citizen.

And my followup…
224,784 pounds of CO2? That’s like nuffum. Super-nuffum! divided over 66,000 attendees that’s 3.4 pounds of CO2 per person for the whole week! I use more carbon on my BART ride EVERY DAY. Damn, if we all went to Burning Man instead of school or work, we’d save the world!

I’m looking for a good audiobook to take my kind off my commute. Any recommenations? Ive enjoyed Snowcrash by Neil Stephenson, Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, Neuromancer by William Gibson, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell…
I’m thinking some fun scifi to start.