Dentists

Periodontics - supporting structures of teeth, diseases, and conditions that affect them. The supporting tissues are known as theperiodontium, which includes the gingiva (gums), alveolar bone, cementum, and the periodontal ligament.

Endodontics - Endodontists perform a variety of procedures including root canal therapy, endodontic retreatment, surgery, treating cracked teeth, and treating dental trauma. 

Oral & Maxillofacial - is surgery to correct a wide spectrum of diseases, injuries and defects in the head, neck, face, jaws and the hard and soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial region.

Orthodontics - treatment of malocclusions (improper bites), which may be a result of tooth irregularity, disproportionatejaw relationships, or both.


Pediatrics - ok

Color Diamonds

Yellow diamonds - least expensive of colored diamonds

Pink diamonds -  there is only a single diamond mine in the entire world that recovers them on a consistent basis.

Blue diamonds

Green diamonds -  Colours range from daintily mint greens, through to the colours of the Caribbean seas.

Purple diamonds -  One of the most beautiful of colours revered by collectors and jewellery aficionados alike.

Space Shuttle Launches

2

2011.02.26 - Discovery's final lift off







http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11031097/ns/technology_and_science-space/

Seat Height in a Car

As you aged, getting in-n-out of a car may become a big issue. I learned that from many elders.

The relative vehicle height may not necessary reflect the same relative seat height (i.e SUV seats are higher than typical sedans).

Here are some interesting facts ..

Mazda5=
Ford Taurus=
Ford Fusion=
Honda CRV=
Honda Odyssey
Ford Explorer=

Stocks

As a result of this focus on globally diversified large caps, Tweedy, Browne has many of its largest positions in names that are instantly recognizable around the world.

Company	Market Cap	Known For	2011 Price-to-Earnings Ratio
Philip Morris International(NYSE: PM)	$105 billion	Marlboro cigarettes	13.2
Total SA (NYSE:TOT)	$136 billion	Oil	8.8
Diageo	$48 billion	Johnnie Walker, Smirnoff, Captain Morgan, Jose Cuervo, and Guinness	15.2
ConocoPhillips(NYSE: COP)	$105 billion	Oil	10.7
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)	$167 billion	Band-Aid, Tylenol, Listerine, Neutrogena, many other consumer and professional health care products	12.5

Texas CDL, Class A - in One Week; Class B Exempted; the 26,001 Pounds, Test Prepration

February 2011 - CDL in a Week

I received my CDL A license in 1 week.

Friday - Went local DPS office to apply for Class A CDL.

Saturday - Studied the longest section 2, and air brake, combination

Sunday - Studied cargo, pre-trip, passenger, and tanker and refreshed Saturday's study.

Monday - went in minutes before the 4:30 testing deadline. There was only have time to take 1 exam - the longest general knowledge test.  Finished with 15 minutes to spare before the closing. But no more tests were given out.

Tuesday - went in at the lunch break. No more wait in line, Decided to take the remaining tests (Passenger, air brake, combination, and pre-trip inspection).  Completed and passed tests in 40 minutes.

Wednesday - Arranged for the first lesson. 2 hours.  Lots of explaining about tests, and being reminded about bad driving habits.  Having trouble to get that "feel" of air brake.

Thursday - Started the 2nd 1 1/2 hours driving.  Being reminded about the importance of driving habits again.  Focused on backing and parallel parking. Once the trailer started to drift, It's hard to get back to the straight line.

Friday - Arrange with driving school (using their vehicle) for driving test.  Didn't get to try out the actual test route.  Passed the driving test with a score of 91.  Backing was bad - it drifted, didn't know whether to "go straight" at a tangent, or should be trying to "get back - the straight line".  Having trouble position truck for the left turn.

## ## #

Am I good enough to drive trucks on daily basis? NO, but I know enough to get that CDL inexpensively.

Study = 20 hours (self-study)

Driving = 4 hours (after hours practice in-the-head, parallel parking)

Written tests = 1 hour

Driving test = 1/2 hour

Wait in line at DPS = 2 hours

Total Costs $1,175 (Driving school charges $1,475 - if you take the study preparation)

# # # 

I peeked the driving school study guide on the Air Brake.  Surprisingly the practice questions are nearly identical to the actual tests.   Well - $300 prep class is worth it if you are not good at taking tests.

How did I do on the written exams - 90% plus, except the pre-trip exam. (The CDL handbook and test questions are worded differently). I thought checking for "missing, loose, broken, damage, not working" stuff was the "key", I was wrong.  81% right is good enough to pass the test.

# # ##

My truck driving school instructor keep the material short to the point, the best equipment needed to get that CDL.  The costs and lesson received are well balanced.

Google "CDL Driving School

photos:  hotel/apartment at Warsaw - nearby the train station


 February 2011 -  Class B Exempts



I was making plans to bring the bus home, the obvious question is how or am I qualified to drive this thing, and where am I going park this bus?

People said, you don't need "Class B" license to drive an RV.

I recall my same question to a local RTS bus dealer 10 years ago- He said "register the bus as an RV, the class B test is easy; you've finished college right?- you will pass the test". I didn't understand what was it all about, but his comment got me all excited - thinking owning and driving a bus can be a reality in no time.



This is for real now. I searched and searched the requirement for driving a heavy over-sized RV. It lead to the 2 important criteria when licensing the driver (a) weight of the vehicle (b) air brakes. The bottom line, every state regulates licensing differently. If you qualify to operate the vehicle by your state then the federal laws should grand you to drive the vehicle in other states.

Some states let you drive any size of RV with a Class-C, regardless of weight and air brake equipped vehicle. Some state have added endorsement requirement, and others require Class B.

Since I will driving the vehicle across several states, I shall get licensed by my home state- just in case the highway patrol officers are as confused as I was when I started my research on this topic.

Since the RTS weighs in over 26,000 lb, State of Texas is requiring CDL-Class B "exempted" license if it is converted RV or else - a full Class B CDL.

See The CDL-2 (Exemption Certification) form
It is used when operate a commercial motor vehicle that exceeds 26,000 lbs GVWR and requires a Class A or B license that is exempted by the Texas Commercial Driver License Act. RV is one of the many "exempted vehicle".

June 2009 - Class A B Driving Test


Wow, it has been 24 years since I took my first driving license exam.

I was able to renew my driver license online, and replaced lost license online too. Haven't stepped in the DMV/Department of Public Safety for the past 15 years (since the start of dot.com era), things shurely have changed.

The written tests are done on computers, but the vehicles waiting in line for driving tests are long as I've remember. May be it's summer when teenagers are eager to get their hands behind wheels during school break.

I took a long lunch break and visited DPS office. I waited for 10 minutes in the "Sign-in/Q&A line", to clarify the licensing requirement form the real McCoy. The staff went back to the office to verify the "official response" with colleagues.

Then I was handed the "driver handbook" and told to study the chapter 15 - special requirement for the written test. It's the same book I had 24 years ago, but I guess the contents must have changed/updated over time, right?


I flip to the chapter 15 and the back pages of "sample questions" - a shock finding - the single chapter had nearly 1/3 of the sample questions.

I will be visiting the DPS shortly to tackle the written test.

2.5" hard drive for notebook (12.5mm or 9.5mm); IBM BIO Beeps

February 2011 - Hard Drives USB
I found usb-sata cable for $6.00   it works if leaving the back/bottom side  (circuit board) exposed isn't a problem. (ebay, shipping out of China)

# # #

I want to have my notebook to have all the data on it, so I acquired a 2.5" notebook hard drive.

It didn't fit.  The original 160gb hard drive was only 3/4 the thickness of the 1TB Western Digital drive. Unlike the 3.5" drives, SCSI, SATA or IDE or not, they all come in the same height/thickness. Apparently, the industry standard doesn't work for the notebooks..

# # #

 thickness of 12.5 mm - the 1TB,

       there is no 9.5mm of 1TB drive on the market

notebook will only hold  9.5mm thick

       the 9.5mm is common for drives up to 500gb.  There are some 750GB drives on 9.5mm form factor.



 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^



1 long beep follows by 2 short beeps  - when powering on the beloved ThinkPad.  It was a bad video card, it failed to initialize.

When is it time to give up a notebook computer?  3 years? 4 years?

One of my old T42 lasted for 7 years, it stills going strong.

 

San Antonio - hazardous waste disposal

I visited the city run - "haz mat" recycling facility during my lunch break.  The line was short, the city staffed the place with plenty of helpers.  I forgot to bring a CPS bill, but the staff allowed me to drop off stuff without the proof because I look like a local/with local car dealer license plate holder.

I left many one-gallon paint cans.  Some of the latex paint were still good, and the center kept the good paint in a 55-gallon barrel for future use.  I was told the recycled good paint will be used in combating graffiti project.  Smart move!!

Eastern Block - The Fall

Poland
Hungary
Germany
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Bulgaria
Romania
Lithuania
Estonia
Latvia
Moldavia
Ukraine
Belarus
Russia
Slovenia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Macedonia
Croatia
Serbia and Montenegro

26.2 & 13.1 Marathon

I came across 26.2 and 13.1 white sticker and black letters on many vehicles.

26.2 or 26.2 miles equates to 42.2. It's same or close enough to the official distance for a full marathon.
13.1 is just 1/2 of that or half-marathon.

I searched the web, the top two search results were car decals and temporary tattoos.

All American 2.5L 72" width 190" Length

One of the most common type vehicles sold in America is the mid-size 4 door sedan. Over the years, the Japanese/Asian has dominated this segment of market.  American auto makers have been adjusting to this re-defined market.

The baseline engine is 2.5 liter 4 cylinder variants.
The car width ranges from 71" to 73".
The overall length ranges from 188" to 192".

Most of the vehicles nowadays have same safety features, 6-air bags, ABS, ESC, Brake Assist, and similar EPA fuel efficiency rating (within less than 10% of each others)

Each of the automakers would try to differentiate from each other by creating  different styling, driving dynamics and interior design.

For example: Toyota Camry is for quietness, but not for handling.

Arctic Blast of 2011 and 1985

2011 Feb 1-Feb 7 is one of the longest cold freezing period in the past 25 years. The last time was in 1985, from Austin to San Antonio, several inches of snows fell.  This cold spill has not produced the new record of snows but we definitely set a new feel cold record of low 20's 10's days in a 10 days period.

--- --- ----

1 - 66 - 22

2 - 29 - 19

3 - 28 - 21

4 - 44 - 21

Digital Camera Image Size; rules of modern photography

July 2012 - The basic rules of modern photography..

1. Composition - remember the 1/3, 1/3 and 1/3 rule

2. Lighting - understand the early morning and lat evening lighting do wonders to photos

3. Practice with camera - understand as many switches/functions

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/13-lessons-to-teach-your-child-about-digital-photography



February 2011 - Digital Camera Image Size

The sensor size found in digital cameras generally determines the qualify of photo images when special technology/hardware tweaking is not used.


The 35mm film size is often used as baseline for judging camera imaging system.  Somewhere, one research says, a 35mm film contains approximately 20-30 million pixels. When a compact digital camera utilize an image sensor size relatively small comparing to a 35mm film, but it is rated for more pixels count/image sensor size found in 35mm film. Um... 

The FX, DX and 35mm film have image/sensor size of 
35mm = 24x36 mm  20 million pixels steady/good pixel, or 12 million average or 4 million hand held.
FX = 24x36 mm
DX = 15.8 x 23.6mm (or 44% of 35mm FX)  


Two factors shall be considered.
1 .The JPEG image can be highly compressed (other than RAW format), therefore the contrast ratio is greatly reduced, or the paper used print the image is also a limited contrast ratio - therefore the reduction of contrast ratio found in digital camera is not a big deal, unless it is overly compressed image has lower contrast ratio than the paper/screen can reproduce.
2. The pixel counts are not 1-1, often the images are interpolated.  Any engineers use computation methods knows you can make more data point by averaging the surrounding data points. Therefore one should question whether the pixels are raw- pixel per pixel  or interpolated pixels.


Shooting in low light condition expose this deficiency well.

# # #

P7000 - 1/1.7-in. type CCD; total pixels: approx. 10.39 million 28-200mm f/2.8
P100 - 1/2.3-in. CMOS; total pixels: approx. 10.6 million  (26mm - 678mm)
L110 - 1/2.3-in. CCD; total pixels: approx. 12.39 million (28-420mm)

Leaking - High water bill

The water usage went 10 folds in the past month, from an average of 3,000 gallon to 30,000 gallon. I didn't know someone came to re-check the meter soon after the scheduled reading because the unusual escalation of usage.

I called 15 days later, to request another reading.  The finding was I am on target to hit that 30,000 gallon usage again. There is no sign of leaky toilets, sprinkler system were used at all.

The shocking findings
1. 27,000 gallon takes up a space of 24 ft x 24 ft by 6 ft
2. It takes on average rate of 2/3 gallon per minute to fill up the space in a month.
3. The ground can soak up 900 gallons a day of water, without showing sign above ground.

Sushi 78201

ETC? EV? Too Much Work..

If a workload schedule is loosely based on one's intuition, then is it bad? I often question the accuracy of those numbers when the scope of work covers hundreds of dependent tasks to be performed by multiple departments, and schedule (or do list with dates) doesn't include a plan man hours requirement (plan value) and no more monitors its progress (earned value).

A workload schedule, estimated man-hours/over time, shall be the result of resolving constraints like available head counts, reasonable work hours, tools/space etc.