Category: General

Things so normal as to not fit neatly into any other area.

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General Rants Technology

Two-fer Mess Up

I combined three things I’m really good at today to great effect:

  • Betting on the goodness of technology
  • Trying to make things go fast
  • Spending money

What I came up with was: an unflyable airplane and a dead hard drive. The airplane won’t fly because its internal wiring is so lengthy as to be its own distortion amplification device (aka an antenna). The hard drive died (less than 6 months old!) for reasons unknown to me, but it was being moved from one PC case to another.

There are a lot of other things worse in the world, but these two events have conspired against my state of zen today.

Categories
General Rants

Good Weekend / Bad Week

The labor day weekend was pretty good to me this year. I did as little as I possibly had to, flew one of my R/C planes, did some light work around the house, and generally avoided work email. I was all set to call it a good weekend all around.

Then I sat down and turned on CNN.

I had read about Katrina and the goings ons down in New Orleans, but I just hadn’t seen video of the situation. It certainly put things into perspective for me and reminded me once again just how much things (and people) are taken for granted. Thinking back to a year or two ago when I was in the French Quarter its hard to imagine that much of the area I’ve seen before is now utterly ruined, with many lives taken along with it.

I plan to donate shortly, but something nagging at me says that just won’t be enough. I really do feel for the displaced folks out there and I am reminded once again about what a complete inept government we have elected in recent years. Dumb.

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General Review

Review: Porsche 911

I had the opportunity to drive a 2001 Porsche 911 today. Actually my boss all but forced me to go drive it, as she knows that I?ve been waiting to get a sports car one of these days. First off I have to comment that there were two noticeable flaws in the car for me: the steering wheel hits my knees with the seat pushed all the way back; the other is a really heavy clutch.

That said, I?m still shaking from the drive. It?s been a good long while since I?ve driven a car that can move that fast, maneuver so deliberately, and stop so assuredly. It does feel like it rides on rails, even if that ride is a bit tight and tough. And when the car is driven right, when ?you drive it like you stole it? the car rewards you by leaving everything in the rear view mirror right quick. Shifts, though heavy, come fast and deliberate. Power builds very quickly and linearly. It?s not the same kick I?ve gotten from my old twin turbo 300zx, but when you hammer the gas this car moves.

At the end of the drive which happened all too quickly I was practically giddy from the experience. A guy on the highway sped away from me and with next to no effort I stuck right to him, well past the century mark on the dial. It?s been a long time since I could do that and I still have the stupid grin on my face because of it. Man, I need a sports car again.

Categories
General Technology

Jaguar Skills

A friend of mine has taken to the airwaves for a weekly radio shown in NY. As part of his weekly (or almost so) regiment he has started producing segments called Jaguar Skills. This is seriously funny stuff, well at least to me it is. Its a UK DJ that has “superfly ninja DJ skills” and who battles evil about as well as he combats telemarketers or STDs.

You can find out more at the Jaguar Skills website, or check out the audio episodes below.

  • Episode 1
  • Episode 2
  • Episode 3

Jaguar Skills, ho!

Categories
General House

Newer Furniture

What’s better than existing furniture? Why… new furniture! As I’ve been upgrading to new furniture around the downstairs of the house I’m weeding out the older, less desirable furniture. To my surprise I found this bookcase that looks like it now belongs. Here it is:

It fits so precisely that I’ve lost access to the power plug adjacent to the space. That’s why there are so many power cables running off to the side of the photo. When I get a chance to set my camera up correctly for low light I’ll be able to show you what all of those cables are for.

Categories
General Rants

Walking is rough stuff

It’s official: I’m a complete klutz. I was walking around today, doing some errands, and while stepping off a curb my ankle twisted and became my heel. The twist was so bad that a woman standing nearby actually cried out “oh my!” when it happened. It was a serious challenge just limping back to the truck and driving home.

Looks like there will be very little exercise for me in the near future and a whole lot more limping around and cold packs. Joy for me.

Categories
General House Photos

New Furniture

I recently added a new set of furniture to the homestead, this time in the form of a dining room table and chairs. They match my living room gear, more or less, and the table expands out to nearly double the size. It was good Scandinavian design and I’m glad to have it. Photos are below.

Categories
General House

Tile Floor Installed

The final touches are being put on the new tile floor in the master bathroom this weekend. This is the first big, costly upgrade to the place since I moved in last year. This should rectify the absolutely dumb setup that preceded it: carpet.

Strangely, when the carpet came up, there was at least one other vinyl floor beneath it, then the wood sub floor. Why people do this stuff is beyond me. Getting a toilet installed and tacking down the carpet is all that remains to get things back to work again for this newly upgraded room.

First up, what it was when I got here:

Now, what it is today:

I can almost feel the property value going up as I write this.

Categories
General House Rants

Long Waits and Big Bills

I found out today that my chase after a sports car has ended before it began. After consulting with several dealers it appears that everyone is “allocated out” for the year. That means that no one can special order cars until the manufacturer decides to extend an offer to do so. Bummer for me, and stupid for the car maker, since I have money in hand.

On the other hand I’m headed into a mini house overhaul for the master bathroom. Conservative figures put the upgrade at around $4K, but depending on what else comes along for the ride (new door frames, additional room painting, furniture, etc) it could go up from there. So much for saving money by buying a place.

Categories
General Rants

Common Sense vs. The Doctor

It’s now a few weeks on from my second, knee bending ski accident and a few more weeks further out from my snowboarder tackle accident. Things seem to be getting better, but slowly, so I figured why not go visit the doctor and see what the matter is?

The doctor told me, in not so many words, “don’t ski.” Thanks, I figured that part out. So now I’m supposed to wait another few weeks and see if things improve on their own, even though I have pain now (I should take Alleve, he says) but no visible signs of trouble. And I can’t even imagine how much money the healthcare companies get for this short visit.

Makes you wonder what we did before modern medicine (and HMOs) came about, doesn’t it?