The big event yesterday was taking in lamps for repair. Three different places have parts of one of the lamps I got from mom. One to fix the wiring, one to make some new glass panels for the shade (they’re curved, and so very tricky to replicate) and one to fix the metal parts of the shade. Total cost for the repairs on that will probably be more than the lamp is worth, even by the most optimistic appraisal, but it’s one that’s been in my family for longer than I have, and I was feeling sentimental. With any luck, I’ll have it back by Christmas.
It surprised me a bit, though. I had been half-heartedly searching for places that do repair on lamps, mostly figuring that it was a small market at best, and there would probably be only one or two places in town that would do the work, since most folks would throw away a lamp that was going to need hundreds of dollars in repairs. Turns out I was mostly correct, and the secret was contacting the folks at Lightworks. They turned me on to Gaytee Stained Glass, who are pretty much the only folks in town who will craft new bent-glass. And the guy at Gaytee pointed me to Brinkman’s, who will fix the old metal, including manufacturing new pieces to replace some that have been lost for over twenty years. I mention it here because at some point, someone else in the Twin Cities will have a lamp they want fixed for sentimental reasons, and this might help google point them in the right direction.
- Warren thinks The Baseball Closer Role is Nuts. He’s near the right point, in that the rules for saves encourages managers to make pitching changes that aren’t necessarily in their best interest. [coyote blog]
- People have told me I’m paranoid when I don’t sign up for the “big savings” offered if you let the grocery store track all your purchases. Well, Supermarket Loyalty Program Used to Pinpoint Location gives an example of why signing up for these programs might not be the best bet if you value your privacy. [schneier]
- The Coburn Amendment helped the The Senate Get Its Temperature Taken. The prognosis is not good. I’d go so far as to say the patient is terminal, when only thirteen Senators voted to put some sort of check on pork. Things aren’t looking good for the porkbusters at the moment, and I think the solution is to throw the current crop of Senators out. [coyote blog]
- But Senate conservatives [are] set to introduce their own “Operation Offset” and maybe that’ll have some effect. [instapundit]
- At this point, I’m just hoping 2006 looks more like 1994. The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced the solution to all the spending in D.C. is to get back to a situation where the same party doesn’t control both the Legislative and Executive branches. Gridlock is good! [instapundit]
- Maybe I’m just cynical, but it’s no surprise to me that there are FBI Abuses of the USA Patriot Act, and that the oversight committee didn’t report those abuses to Congress. As Bruce says,
This week marks the four-year anniversary of the enactment of the Patriot Act. Does anyone feel safer because of it?
[schneier] - Hmm. Speaking of the Senate and Capitol Gains, did you know the average senator in DC beat the stock market by twelve percent from 1993 to 1998? Corportate insiders, on the other hand, tend to average about six to seven percent, but that’s so unfair as to be very heavily regulated. A great mutual fund will beat the market by two or three percent. Is it any wonder that Senators keep dispensing pork? What do you bet they make more money on stocks of companies who happen to get government contracts? [kottke]