ConEd Outage Visualization

My little neck of the woods.

After Hurricane Irene swept through the New York area, many of my neighbors and I lost power for several days. This is my attempt at graphing the number of households who lost power / regain power over time.

As ConEd stated during the power lost, pretty much everyone regained their power by September 1st.



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Stealing Mona Lisa: A Mystery

Stealing Mona Lisa: A Mystery by Carson Morton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was happily surprised that how much I enjoyed this book. This period novel built around the events surrounding the theft of the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. Some of the events and personalities in the novel were directly from the true event. Other characters were made up for artistic enhancements. The author also move other events in that time period to create drama in the novel.
I'm willing to give the author's artistic liberty because the plot works. It was entertaining and still somewhat educational. I didn't know that the Mona Lisa was ever stolen or that there was a great flood in Paris in the early 1900s. "Stealing Mona Lisa" was a entertaining read.



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The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci's Arithmetic Revolution

The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci's Arithmetic Revolution by Keith J. Devlin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was definitely an interesting read. At 150 pages, it was just the right length to learn about the man who introduced the Hindu-Arabic number system to the western world. Without his practical instructions, the advances in the western civilization definitely would have been delayed.
This was also a very educational read. I learned many facts about Fibonacci that I didn't know or wouldn't know to ask. Such as Fibonacci is not his real name, it's Leonardo (another talented Italian Leonardo). Or that he's from Pisa (just like Galileo Galilei). Or that this Lenardo didn't invent anything per se, but made a new and difficult concept palatable for the masses. Many of these facts are trivial, but someone who loves random knowledge, it is a worthwhile read.
I wished the book delve more into his famous numbers sequence, but the book is titled The Man of Numbers. I will have to go read up on the Fibonacci sequence in another book.



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Potty Mouth in Wal-Mart

I blame it all on the Mister.  Four letter words rolls off his tongue much freely when the little girl is around him.  I know he doesn't mean it, but it happened enough times for her to pick up "oh sh*t!".  She even uses it in the right context, such as when things aren't going her way or when she bangs her knee on something.  I subscribe to the concept that if she says it, I won't comment on it and she will eventually forget and will find another way to express her feelings.

But, I still can't get over the hilarious but embarrassing "oh sh*t!" moment in our local Wal-Mart.  The Mister and I took the little girl for an errand run that included trips to Home Depot, A&P, and Wal-Mart.  By the time we got to Wal-Mart, she was pretty mellow but definitely getting tired.  The adults were also getting a bit tired too.  So, we walked in, found the nearest shopping cart, and put her in the child seat, a bit too roughly I guess.  She lets out a louder than normal "Oh Sh*t!".  She's not done.  Before we registered what was happening, she let out at least 3 more " Oh Sh*t!"s.  Each louder than the last.  Oh the looks we got!  I had no clue what to do except to push the cart as fast as I can without calling more attention to ourselves.

Now, our goal is slowly get those words out of her vocabulary.  Her new form of exclamation is "Oh Man!"  I'm hoping that will stick and replace the less acceptable word.

 
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Iron House

Iron House by John Hart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm glad that I won John Hart's Iron House and discovered this exciting author and book.
Iron House follows the events surrounding Michael in his search for his brother and the truth. The action and body count starts early and does not stop. John Hart was skillful in weaving different plot lines and creating memorable characters. I was able to create vivid images of all the characters just with Mr. Hart's words. I can practically feel myself walking inside the Iron House and the mansion.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a rare book that I can label as a true page turner. Completely entertaining.



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