Caroma Tazman 270 dual flush toilet, front view, Photo 02 by Don Tai
My Caroma Tazman 270 1.6L dual flush toilet has been going strong for over 22 years, quite astounding when you think about our throw-away society. Made in Australia, it was well rated when I bought it. As I recall at the time the City of Toronto had a $150 rebate on for dual flush toilet replacements, so I replaced two. The instructions that came with the toilet date back to 2002 Aug 15.
I’ve always hated using hose clamps. I’d buy them from Home Depot and curse when they are installed and leak. I’d tighten them more and they’d deform and sometimes break. It did not dawn on me that, like everything else, there are different quality hose clamps than the crappy “All Gain” ones I use. This is particularly true for my compressor hose, which, over time, loosen and then leak. My compressor only needs 125psi.
Ontario Provincial Election 2022 Jun2 02 used the Dominion Voting Imagecast Precinct tabulation machine. Photo by Don Tai
The world’s democracies hinge on elections being fair and above board. No party should be able to “steal an election”, with no vote rigging or other shenanigans. At the end of an election day, when election workers are most tired, the counting of votes is a critical final step to the final election result. The Dominion Voting Company’s Imagecast Precinct, or “tabulator” as we call it, is a vote counting machine that reads all votes throughout the election day. At the end of the election day the poll is closed and, “voila”, the election poll results are printed out on a grocery store sales slip-type of thermal printout.
I don’t know as I’m not old enough, and so I’m asking. I’ve not been through a war before. All these international human rights agreements between countries really useful an enforceable? We are witnessing wanton destruction and killings of Russia bombing Ukraine, as well as the more opaque China destroying their indigenous Uighur population.
Russia bombs Ukraine, destroying cities, killing and injuring countless people. Russia is a member of the UN Security Council, as is China. Both are also part of the UN Human Rights Council, and have been the chair on numerous occasions. Why is Russia and China able to chair these UN councils when they so easily violate the very principals of their council?
A third attempt at a single 260 penguin, with a beak, two little flippers, a fat belly, that stands up. Interpretations vary widely, but kids don’t quibble about such details. Photo and balloon by Don Tai
I am who I am, and that is a “Jack of all trades” and master of none. Not that I’m complaining, because I’ve been this way all my life. While it has often been to my disadvantage in certain situations, after trying to specialize I naturally revert to muddling through, good enough, then after seeing the shiny new penny, I get distracted and move in a different direction. Do this enough times and you’ll not convince yourself you can stay on the single path and go deep.
Usually a tiny 0.5mm difference makes no difference, but not in this case. The CR1220 battery has the right width, but the thickness was off, making the watch act up intermittently. Unknown to me was the cause, so I wedged the battery for years. Why did not Cardinal write the battery type on the inside of the watch case? The CR1225 is just a smidge thicker, 0.5mm, which makes all the difference.
Further, the CR1225 has a 25% higher mAh rating, so should last longer.
Inglis RBF175RA fridge, brand name logo, right side lamp shade. Photo by Don Tai
Over twenty years ago I moved into my house, replete with an avocado coloured fridge, an Inglis model RBF175RA, and a bunch of other old appliances. Through the years most have been replaced, but this fridge lives on. Getting older, the fridge has had trouble controlling its temperature, but today I repaired it with a new cold control thermostat replacement.
Canada Election 2021 DRO kit, ballot box, ballots, lots of papers. Photo by Don Tai
In Canada’s elections, there are hundreds of polling locations. Each polling location must have one or more polls, where a Canadian citizen over the age of 18 will receive a ballot, mark their chosen political candidate on the ballot, and finally drop the ballot into the ballot box. At the end of the night after polls close, the ballots in the ballot box are counted. Results for each candidate are then phoned into the local polling office. Results are then tallied up to larger and larger geographic levels.
Viruses have been with mankind before there was mankind. I don’t even know if we can determine when they were created. As with all things that persist for a very long time, they have grown and adapted in surprising ways in order to stay alive and flourish. Our newest, and certainly not the last, virus is CoVid-19, which has thrown the world into a pandemic. This virus, and other corona viruses, may not have a brain, but are extremely smart in knowing how to use our human behaviours in order to proliferate. We do need to give credit where credit is due: These viruses are remarkably efficient.
