Outbreak! Outbreak! Outbreak!
There are two botulism issues now. Canned green beans were recalled last week due to improper processing which may have resulted in a risk of botulism. So far there have been no cases of disease attributed to the green beans. Previously there were recalls of chili sauce and other products which have been associated with at least four human cases of botulism.
The third outbreak is the re-appearance of foot and mouth disease in the UK. Many agricultural exports from the UK have been cut off in hopes of preventing the spread of disease. Right now the cases seem to be restricted to a single farm and to cattle. Last time it spread across the country due to the movement of sheep to grazing pasture. Hopefully there won't be the need for the wholesale slaughter of thousands of animals this time.
Tonight's Movie
The Bridge on the River Kwai. Alec Guinness was a handsome man and William Holden isn't anything to sneeze at either.
Leaky Pool Fixed!
The hose itself wasn't leaking after all. Rather it seems that the hose had slipped enough that the connection was leaking. I put the hose back together properly and re-tightened the hose clamp. Now the water level is back to where it should be and I've given the floor a good vacuum.
Speaking of pool things...one of the chemistry measurements I take is total alkalinity. If the alkalinity falls too low, the pH will fluctuate rapidly with the addition of chemicals. With sufficient alkalinity, the pH changes are buffered. Alkalinity is increased through the addition of sodium bicarbonate or baking soda. I can buy "Alkalinity Increaser", which is 100% bicarb for about $4/pound. I can buy baking soda, which is 100% bicarb, for $0.43/pound. Guess which one I bought. :o) Had a nice float around in the pool today too.
New Website Management Gig
I was sent a link to the Antique Pattern Library in a message from one of the knitting lists. I noticed that several of the links in their website are broken, so I joined the Yahoogroup associated with the library to get access to an e-mail address to report the problems. I happened to mention that I could actually fix the errors for them if they needed the assistance. Sure enough, Judith said they were rather desperate for an HTML person and asked if she could send me the files. I'll fix the broken/wrong links right away and then look at re-designing the site to make it more user friendly and better organized. W00t! Which reminds me, I really need to get the website for my web development company built....
The third outbreak is the re-appearance of foot and mouth disease in the UK. Many agricultural exports from the UK have been cut off in hopes of preventing the spread of disease. Right now the cases seem to be restricted to a single farm and to cattle. Last time it spread across the country due to the movement of sheep to grazing pasture. Hopefully there won't be the need for the wholesale slaughter of thousands of animals this time.
Tonight's Movie
The Bridge on the River Kwai. Alec Guinness was a handsome man and William Holden isn't anything to sneeze at either.
Leaky Pool Fixed!
The hose itself wasn't leaking after all. Rather it seems that the hose had slipped enough that the connection was leaking. I put the hose back together properly and re-tightened the hose clamp. Now the water level is back to where it should be and I've given the floor a good vacuum.
Speaking of pool things...one of the chemistry measurements I take is total alkalinity. If the alkalinity falls too low, the pH will fluctuate rapidly with the addition of chemicals. With sufficient alkalinity, the pH changes are buffered. Alkalinity is increased through the addition of sodium bicarbonate or baking soda. I can buy "Alkalinity Increaser", which is 100% bicarb for about $4/pound. I can buy baking soda, which is 100% bicarb, for $0.43/pound. Guess which one I bought. :o) Had a nice float around in the pool today too.
New Website Management Gig
I was sent a link to the Antique Pattern Library in a message from one of the knitting lists. I noticed that several of the links in their website are broken, so I joined the Yahoogroup associated with the library to get access to an e-mail address to report the problems. I happened to mention that I could actually fix the errors for them if they needed the assistance. Sure enough, Judith said they were rather desperate for an HTML person and asked if she could send me the files. I'll fix the broken/wrong links right away and then look at re-designing the site to make it more user friendly and better organized. W00t! Which reminds me, I really need to get the website for my web development company built....
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