Another day at computers, pipe tobacco, grinding coffee, and Calculus

I started the day by adding some code to the Table 310.16 Calculator. It didn’t have any check entry code and sure as anything some one will raise holy cain if they enter negative amperes and come up with an answer. So I added some dumb and dumber code to make sure negative numbers and letters cannot be entered. There are also some code that checks to make sure the maximum ampacities given in Table 310.16 are not exceeded. But I am sure there are other places where some form of concoction of entry will produce some ridiculous output that I have not found. So be it.

So what about the pipe smoking? I quit smoking pipes over 20 years ago, but have always had an affinity for the smell of good pipe tobacco. I stopped by our one and only genuine pipe and tobacco shop in Fairbanks owned by Dave Shaw and bought a small pipe and some of his famous Black Bear tobacco mix and some Black Vanilla mix. I also ordered a couple of Kirsten pipes from the shop in Seattle. I bought my first Kirsten pipe in about 1970 while working at Singer Kearfott in Little Falls, New Jersey when I was working my way through college. I was going to teach math after college, but after finding out I was making more than my professors on my night job, I just kept on going for the electrical career. Electrical covers a wide range of work, too say the least, and the pay is usually very good. I suppose I was just not dedicated enough to be a teacher or mathematician. Of course, graduating college with a wife and two kids had a lot to do with it. It was always a balancing act, and the electrical with the money won. Also, in general, mathematicians have always been as poor as church mice.

Now, about the Calculus. I studied Calculus over 30 years ago, but have always wanted to study it more. So I ordered Thomas' Calculus over the Internet thinking I would get the same book we used 30 years ago. Well, things certainly have changed. This new book incorporates computers, graphing calculators, and Mathematica and Maple software. Just to add some more variety, I also purchased Stewart’s Calculus from the University of Alaska Bookstore. I think I would just love to go back to school at the University of Washington and study just one subject - Math. I really would, but probably won't. The Stewart book has a online calculus course that comes with it. The book cost $156.00 so I guess I was paying for the course, too. It will be interesting to see how they put together an online course.

Now, about the coffee. I bought an individual coffee bean grinder at Fred Meyers and a bag of Star Buck’s coffee beans. Talk about coffee, now that is what I call superb coffee. There is nothing like freshly ground coffee beans for making fresh coffee, and a pipe full of black vanilla!