Winter Driving

I've lived in San Diego since I was seven. But I spent a year in Salt Lake city in 79-80, working as a copy machine repair tech. During the winter I got all the snow driving experience I ever wanted.

Some of it was fun, like learning how to break the back tires loose as I rounded a corner and slide just far enough to leave me on the new direction. But when I did with my wife in the car, her reaction was, "Cute. Don't ever do it again with me in the car." Yeah, she knew I was doing it for fun, she just didn't appreciate it. And of course I was only doing it deliberately when there was no immediate other traffic that I could hit if I slid too far.

But my most memorable experience was a call that took me up to Park City, a ski town north of Salt Lake. I got up there and was driving up the main drag towards the address of the call when I came to a fairly steep hill. The last snowfall had been a couple of days earlier, and when I saw the blanket of clean, unmarked snow on that entire hill, I said to myself, "Man, if the locals won't drive it, ain't no way I am," and went around.

The great toilet seat debate

I have only one thing to say about it:

Isn't it better to find it up, and know it was lifted, than to find it down, and not be sure?



Me, I put the seat and the lid down before I flush. Do a search on "toilet plume" and you may just start doing the same. Mythbusters found E. Coli on toothbrushes several feet from the toilet when they tested it.

Thrift Stores and Games

I love haunting thrift stores for games. This morning I got a full complete set of Rummikub and the regular version of Scrabble for $6.

I've played Rummikub several times now and like it a lot, and I wanted a regular Scrabble set for taking to game sessions. My deluxe turntable edition is a bit awkward to carry.

I've also gotten Pictionary, Taboo, Catch Phrase, both versions of Balderdash, What's Yours Like?, Outburst II, Fact or Crap and Tribond, all from Thrift Stores, and all in fair to good condition. Occasionally parts are missing, but are usually easy to replace or work around.

If you're not locked into "I gotta have it brand new", thrift stores are a great place to find games.

You're Not There

You're Not There

Sometimes when I wake up, I reach for you beside me.

But you're not there.

Sometimes when I come home from work, I look for you as I open the door.

But you're not there.

Sometimes when I go the movies, I look for you, to ask what you want to drink.

But you're not there.

Sometimes I read a joke, and turn to tell you, to hear your laugh.

But you're not there.

When I go to bed, I look for you.

But you're not there.

I came home from work that day, and called out to you.

You didn't answer.

I opened the bedroom door, and saw you laying there.

You didn't move.

I saw your book, the glass of water, our cat beside you.

And I feared.

Then I saw the portable grill, the charcoal burnt to ash.

And I knew…

You weren't there.

The end of US manned spaceflight

is currently scheduled for November. Here's a bit of fiction to commemorate this historic occasion:

* * * * *


In 2058 the first manned mission to Mars ended in tragedy when the lightsail failed to deploy for the return trip to Earth. Attempts to free it failed, and damaged it beyond repair, stranding the 6 "Arenauts" in orbit around Mars. With no way to return to the surface or to Earth, each sent a final message home, then they bled off the cabin pressure, choosing the relatively gentle death of hypoxia over dehydration, starvation, or hypothermia . Citing the costs and dangers of interplanetary travel, further missions to Mars were canceled.

In 2069, funding for the second International Space Station was eliminated due to "excessive costs with no tangible return", and it was deorbited in 2071. Plans for ISS III never even got into the actual design stage.

Unmanned launchers had replaced manned vehicles for putting satellites in orbit back in the 2010s, and tele-operated robots soon replaced astronauts for satellite repair and retrieval.

By 2080, the era of manned spaceflight was over. Dwindling resources and increasing population pressure prevented Man from ever returning to space.

Almost a thousand years later, a disturbance outside the orbit of Neptune went undetected. No tracking station still operated to detect the burst of energy, and none of the great telescopes remained operational to track the giant object that fell inward past the outer planets. With careful use of gravity slingshotting and an immense lightsail, it orbited each of the inner planets in turn.

Some of the people living a feudal existence on the third planet noted a strange star that shifted across the heavens, and were enthralled by this promise of a new beginning, or terrified by this omen of disaster.

The probe orbited each rocky planet in turn, then worked its way back out to the outer system. Once it was far enough from the sun's mass, it folded the lightsail and transited back to highspace, that strange realm where neither Einstein nor Newton held sway, and transmitted its report to its builders, a quarter of the way around the galactic disk:

System 430307 survey completed. Third planet has intelligent life, formerly of a high technological level but now decayed to natural energy only. No distinguishing characteristics. Survey team not recommended. Awaiting instructions.

The reply came a few seconds later:

Report received. Recommendation filed. Continue to next system.

Return of the Coolth

After a month without Air Conditioning, I finally have it again. In the town I live in, A/C is not a luxury.

It's so nice to see the indoor temp actually below 85 during the day again.

I gonna go not sweat for a while.

Simple Pleasures

When you live alone, you learn to appreciate some of the simpler pleasures in life:

The first sip of a perfect cup of coffee.

A single piece of quality chocolate, melting slowly on the tongue.
The purring of a cat.

A row of half-a-dozen freshly ironed shirts all hanging on the clothes rod.
 
Cool water after an unpleasant, sweaty task.

Sometimes

Sometimes I wake and expect to see you laying next to me.

Sometimes I hear you moving around in another room.

Sometimes I hear your voice just before I fall asleep.

You left this world two years ago.

But sometimes, you haven't left at all.

The end of US manned space flight.

Three more shuttle flights, and then no more US manned space flight. At least when the moon flights ended, the shuttle was on the drawing boards, and NASA had the budget.

Now? Neither.

Obama axed the Orion lifter project right out of NASA's budget, a program that used as much already developed technology as it could to reduce costs and save time.

And now he wants NASA to focus on getting to Mars, and developing "new and innovative" technology to get there. But does he say where the money will come from?

Nope.

So I still predict that when they stop flying the shuttle, that will be the end of US manned spaceflight. Forever.

Sure, private enterprise is supposed to pick up the slack, but "Three astronauts from Virgin Records have landed on Mars" just doesn't have the same ring as "Three astronauts from the United States have landed on Mars".

Upcoming movies

From the trailers at Clash:

Robin Hood: might see it in the theatre, but more likely to rent. They did not have "landing craft" type boats in the Middle Ages! Period! But other than that, it looks watchable.

The Losers: I'll rent it. It looks entertaining.

I'm not surprised, unfortunately.

Well, the new budget for NASA axes both the plan to return to the Moon by 2020, and the Ares rocket, the planned replacement for the Space Shuttles, which are scheduled to be retired this year.

My two bits is that they will extend the Shuttles usage until we have another disaster of some kind, and then stop flying them.

And that will be the end of the US's manned space program. We're already so deeply into financial mismanagement at all levels that nothing like the space program could possibly get started, and I don't think we'll ever see it even restart.

And that popping noise you heard? That was another dream getting busted.

Moved In

Moved In.

The movers called, and said they had a team available, they could be there at 8 instead of 9, if I was ready. I said "SURE!"

Two young beefy guys had every stick of furniture and every sealed box (about 95% of my possessions) on the truck within 90 minutes. Even with a flight of stairs to negotiate. They even had the tools to help disassemble the bed! (I'd already packed mine...DUH!)

I checked and they were padding everything very nicely, and nothing looked at risk.

I gave them directions because I had to let the cat out of the bathroom, and they headed out. I was on the road not far behind them, and paced them for a while. Nice steady 65mph. Very nice.

And they had me unloaded at the new apartment in about 30 minutes! Stairs make a HUGE difference.

Total was about $360, and worth every penny!

I then swung by the store for things I needed immediately (like a show curtain), then went back for the cat and another load.

Man, she hit some new highs on the trip. She hates being in her carrier, because it never means good things. But once we'd been on the road for more than the 5 minutes or so it takes to get to the vet, she started getting REALLY strident. I've never heard her so loud or so shrill.

But once we got to the new place, she came out of her carrier doing that head bob cats do when things are new. And she spent the entire time I was bringing stuff in looking around. No fear or insecurity there!

So I got that load in, and then set my priorities: Bed, Bath, Coffee, Computer. Bed, so I could sleep; Bath, because I needed a shower before I went to Bed, Coffee in the morning, and my Computer for my Morning Funnies.

Bed and Bath went fine. Unpacked the linens, made the bed, put away the rest. Bath was also fine: Hang the shower curtain and unpack the Soap, Shampoo, Towels, Shaving Stuff and TP.

Coffee: no problem. Unpack the basic Kitchen stuff so I could set up the Coffee Maker for the morning.

Computer: actually Computer and TV. TV's closer to the cable outlet, so I started there. The system went back together just fine, but I'm not sure where I put the TV will work. I think it's going to reflect the front window. Oh, well.

Then the Computer. Dig out and set up the Power System (controlled from switches mounted on my computer desk), Speakers, USB drive, Printer, Palm/Camera/Phone chargers/connectors, and finally the Computer itself (and keyboard and mouse). Double check everything, then Push the Button.

Sweet! Everything's booting. Normal starting routine, right up until "Windows had encountered and irreparable Registry Error, and can not continue" (or something to that effect).

Crap, crap, crap! Fine. Let's try it again, just to be sure.

This time it didn't even get that far.

Crap.

Okay, fine, it's time to hit the sack any way.

While I was showering I was reviewing my options:

1) try to boot from the Windows Disc, and do a System Restore. Not bad.
2) dig out the boot disk for my backup system and try to restore it. Also not bad, but haven't done it before, no idea how long it would take.
3) do a fresh, clean install on a new disk. It's way past time to do this any way, so this, while the longest, slowest and most annoying option, might actually be the best choice. I'll seriously consider doing that.

Next morning, even though I tried to sleep later (I'm about half an hour closer to work, now), I still woke up about 5:30, with the computer problem waking me. So I got up and did my normal routine. I went ahead and flipped on the computer, figuring it couldn't hurt, and would confirm that I still had the problem.

While I was feeding the cat her breakfast, I heard my normal Startup Sound, which doesn't play until late in the boot! I look and there's a perfectly normal boot in progress!!!

Well, Blessed Be, and Ave Tyche! I'll take it! I had my normal Coffee and Funnies this morning!

Admittedly, there's probably still a serious problem lurking, and it's still overdue for a full reinstall. This just makes it clear how badly I need to do that.

The next week will still be hell: driving to the old place for cleaning and moving the last of my stuff, arranging for Salvation Army to pick up the stuff I don't want, and getting it inspected by the Landlady.

Moving Day

Today I move to my new home in El Cajon.

I came so close to calling the movers and rescheduling, because I knew I would not quite have everything packed today. But then I remembered that the reason I hired them was to move my furniture.

And, once I shut down and pack up my computer, every piece of furniture that's going will be ready to go, along with all of the boxes that I do have ready -- at least 90% of my possessions.

I have gotten rid of so much stuff, I cannot believe it. I have half-filled the dumpster twice in these two weeks, stopping at that point each time and holding the rest until it's emptied. (I will not be one of those jerks that fills the dumpster, leaving no room for anyone else's trash all week.)

And I can tell just how badly I'm stressing it. Yesterday I woke up at 4AM (6-6:30 is normal on weekends), and today I woke at 2!

The full story will be posted after the fact, if you're interested ;)