Ronald reader

Here's Loyal Reader Number Two enjoying the company of a very strange character we met at WalMart the other day. We really need to stay away from that store. Picture courtesy of the exclusive Treo-cam.

Even though they take pictures of the same size (a mere 640 by 480), I think the Treo-cam takes better pictures than the RAZR-cam used to. Do my Loyal Readers see the same thing I see? Of course, they're all Great Art - I'm just talking about the quality of the images.

Fine day - sunny and warm without being hot. In the South Bay, at any rate. I have no idea how it was in Lardville.

Talked to Loyal Reader Number Three in the early afternoon. He's trying to figure out how to get some use out of an old laptop computer. He's going to give Ubuntu a try, I believe. It'll be interesting to see if it can cure his CPU overheating problem.

Financial Juggernaut update: I'm up to $5.27! The money is just rolling in. I'm already shopping for a new Porsche. Plus an Elvis Is Alive Museum.

Finished a book on writing this morning: Quit Your Day Job, by Jim Denney. I recommend it with reservations. The good: some good advice on preparing for and taking the full-time writing plunge. It's mostly well organized and the author largely avoids repeating himself. He covers the important things. The bad: I've heard most of it before. And it really didn't help me get ready to quit my job. Just told me what to think about when I do. It's a good book to borrow from the library, but I don't regret not buying it.

I had some unusual dreams last night, including one I believe I've had before - I was trying to take off a t-shirt and absolutely couldn't get it over my head. Very frustrating, not to mention exhausting. So here's today's Morrowlife Controversy: What does this dream mean? I'm sure one of my Loyal Readers knows the answer. No fair cheating.

See you tomorrow.

Canoeists

Here are some of the intrepid canoeists from this summer's scout trip, participated in by Loyal Readers Numbers One and Two, and supported by Loyal Reader Number Four and me. Part of my famous Camping series.

Greetings from the train. Drove the Ranger back to Sunnyvale this morning - traffic was extremely heavy, not to mention slow. Friday afternoons and Monday mornings are not good commuting times. Sadly, when the pickup has to go home, that's when it has to be on the road. No matter how crowded the train gets, it has really become my preferred transit mode.

Which is a good thing. After today's trip, I still have fourteen paid-for round trips as well as a transit check for another ten days. That will take me partway into November, by which time I'll have received transit checks in the mail for ten trips in October and ten more in November. Those will take me well into December, by which time I'll have received ten more trips, which will take me into January, by which time I'll have ten more rides, which ought to take me into late January before I need to actually pay for a ticket with after-tax dollars.

Anyway. How boring. Must . . . come . . . up . . . with . . . better . . . content.

The weekend was fine. It was really hot and clear both days. Loyal Readers Numbers Five, Six, and Twelve came over for the weekend, as predicted Friday, which was nice. LRN12 looks like she's coming down with a cold, and it made her just a tiny bit grumpy - didn't sleep well and wouldn't go to church with us. Get well soon, LRN12!

LRN6 spent his entire Saturday helping LRN2 and me detail the exterior of the Ranger. It started the day out with hazy paint and filthy wheels with years' worth of cooked-on brake dust. It now has beautiful, shiny black paint and perfect, shiny chrome wheels. Great work, LRN6! And thanks for a great, relaxing day. Although it was a bit warm.

After the detailing work was done, LRN6 and I jacuzzified for an hour or so. I got in the pool briefly. It was pretty cool, but would have been swimmable if I had really wanted to stay in. But I didn't. Got back in the jacuzzi instead.

Loyal Reader Number Four spent all day Saturday at a training session for Science Olympiad coaches, of which she is one.

I was greatly saddened this afternoon to learn of the sudden, unexpected death of my friend John Reddoch. Apparently, he died last night in his sleep. If you have to go, that's the way to do it, but it was way too early for John. My sincerest condolences to his wife and family.

LRN4 told me we had a brief rain shower in Lardville today. Freak occurrence in September around here. Fortunately, nobody appears to have been harmed by this terrible natural disaster.

Maybe we should start naming rainstorms that happen here in the summer. That might give them that highly desirable hurricane/cyclone/tropical storm cachet. Maybe I'll call today's shower Rainstorm Achilles. What do you think?

Today's Morrowlife controversy: No controversy today. Nothing happened.

See you tomorrow.

Half Dome

Here's Half Dome.

Yet another night of Extreme Short Shrift, only this time I really mean it. The Treo arrived tonight, along with its separately-shipped 2GB SD card, and I've been very busy playing with it getting it carefully set up. It's getting close, but I need to get to bed and finish tomorrow.

Good things about the Treo: It's comfortable to hold, I don't miss Graffiti much, I like the keyboard in spite of its tiny size, the screen resolution is great, all my old applications work on it, it comes with a much better version of Documents To Go, for which I was able to download both the Mac and PC desktop software, and my Bluetooth headset works with it (after messing around with it for quite a while, but I suspect that to be the headset's fault).

Bad things: You can't voice dial without spending more money, and there doesn't seem to be a solution that allows you to push the button on your headset and voice dial without taking the phone out of your pocket. That is hugely bad. That is totally inexcusable. Sigh. Otherwise, I have no complaints.

Took the truck home because I talked Loyal Readers Numbers Five, Six, and Twelve into coming over for the weekend, and LRN6 is going to help me detail the Ranger's exterior tomorrow. The drive was just as long as taking the train would have been. I'm enjoying the train more and more, I tell you.

That's it for tonight. See you Monday.

City Creek

Here's the City Creek Inn in beautiful downtown Salt Lake City. The first of my famous Motel Sign series.

Seriously. I've been thinking of going around the country, photographing old motel signs, and putting them in a coffee table book. I think it would sell a million copies. Well, maybe one copy. To my mother. If I give it to her for free. Anybody else want a nice motel sign coffee table book?

Oops. It's already been done. And they've only sold one copy. Well, mine will be much better. Place your order now! Christmas gift-giving idea!

No Treo yet. Sigh. I was sad to read in yesterday's comments about Loyal Reader Number One's unfortunate Treo holster accident, though. Note to self: refrain from jumping on an inflatable jousting arena while wearing new Treo holster. Thanks for the tip, LRN1!

Slept in and took the very late (9:45-ish) train. I spent enough hours on the road yesterday to make up for the lateness. There was plenty to do when I got there. A few personnel troubles, some lab problems, and a little bit of everything in between. On top of that, I got about 165 new emails the last two days. I never need to complain about not having enough to do.

I've never taken the very late train, although I did ride its counterpart once - the very early coming-home train. There are only two cars, and neither one is very crowded. It's nice to have it as an option, though. There were a whole bunch of senior-type citizens getting on here in Lardville this morning. I wonder where they were going. Never saw them getting off. The mystery will remain. Perhaps forever.

Today's controversy: Should this be required wear for people who jump on inflatable jousting arenas?

Apologies to Loyal Reader Number One for mocking him. I'm sure he had an excellent reason for doing whatever it was he was doing on that inflatable jousting arena. Didn't you, LRN1? See, I told you so.

Today's real Morrowlife controversy: Would you buy one of these? My answer: Yes. It would be perfect for writing, not to mention Palm and other low-powered platform programming. And it's the ideal size for the train. Christmas gift-giving idea! Of course, I'd rather have a MacBook Air. Even better Christmas gift-giving idea! Chip in, Loyal Readers! Maybe we can use the profits from the Elvis Is Alive Museum to buy one for each of us.

Keep checking out LRN1's blog, Loyal Readers. He's had several comments already, only some of which were from me. He's keeping it up so far.

See you tomorrow.

Mojave sunset

Here's the view outside the Miata's window this evening.

Welcome to Morrowlife Post 585. I should be hitting six hundred exactly three weeks from today. Wow.

Speaking of blogs, here's a shoutout to Loyal Reader Number One's new blog. He appears to be chronicling his experiences at BYU, which ought to be interesting. Check it out, Loyal Readers.

I'm back from Lancaster. The meeting finished almost exactly on time, and it took almost exactly five hours to get here. The Miata ran perfectly again, this time with the air conditioning on. I realized this evening that today was the first time I had ever used the A/C with the top up. It works great. Fortunately.

Speaking of Lancaster, thanks to A Different Chris (was it Loyal Reader Number Twenty Three or really a different Chris?) for the cool musical road video link. Now I'm really sorry I didn't get to try it out. They'll have to make another one somewhere. Maybe right here in Lardville! We could put it on the mile-long private driveway to the Elvis Is Alive Museum.

I got word last night that the Treo has already shipped. The case arrived today (AT&T is so prompt!) and the SD card should be here in a day or two also. I'm on pins and needles! Or something!

Time for bed. See you tomorrow.

Pool view

Here's the view from my hotel room. Better than a parking lot. We'll have to accept it as Great Art, since it's the only picture I have on this computer today.

Greetings from Lancaster, California! It was warm and sunny today. I had a pleasant ride up here (the Miata did end up getting the nod, and ran perfectly) and today's meeting went well. And tonight's sushi was outstanding - much better than usual for my favorite Lancaster-area Japanese place.

Important Tonsil Update: Loyal Reader Number Two's doctor is out on a family emergency all week, so Thursday's surgery is off. It's rescheduled for October 6th. Put those Morrowlife sympathy rays on ice for another week and a half, Loyal Readers.

Important Morrowlife Financial Juggernaut Update: I now have $4.77! Nothing can stop me now! I checked after Loyal Reader Number One's Juggernaut-related question the other day, which I forgot to answer. Here's my answer: Click away!

I believe that Loyal Readers located at the same IP address as me are prohibited from clicking. Anybody else is fair game. I certainly encourage my Loyal Readers and their friends to check out and purchase the fine products advertised on this fine blog. At least I encourage them to follow the links, anyway.

Enforced Short Shrift tonight. I forgot my computer's power cord, so this is a self-limiting activity tonight. Fortunately, I also forgot my VPN key, so I can't get into my work email anyway. Blogging will be my only computer-oriented activity today.

Well, not exactly. I also have some computer-oriented reading to do. I've started rereading the Pocket C Architect manual. I'm thinking it's essentially as easy to use as the Pocket C/Ccontrols combination, and it's way more useful, so I'll start Sudoku Solver over with it. Special question for Loyal Reader Number One: Does Pocket C Architect produce code that's usable on the Treo?

Anyway. I have plenty to read tonight, and then I hope to get to bed early. We're starting tomorrow's session at 7:00 tomorrow morning, so I need to get up no later than 5:15, which will allow me to get cleaned up, dressed up, packed up, breakfasted up, and onto the base in plenty of time for the meeting. I was a little late today, and I don't want to repeat tomorrow.

As all my Loyal Readers know, I'm a fan of museums, including some of the smaller, more offbeat ones. Well, I've found a great career opportunity! Of course, I'll need to have all my Loyal Readers chip in to be able to afford it, but I'll definitely make it worth your while - discounted admission and free parking for one year for all Loyal Readers who contribute at least $1000. And they'll be first in line to become docents (unpaid, of course). Who will be the first to contribute?

I missed this by mere hours! I just read about this cool stretch of pavement, I'm currently staying in Lancaster, and they paved over it today. Sigh. I would love to have driven on it, and I would have taken the opportunity tomorrow afternoon after my meeting ends. Double sigh.

Time to get reading. See you tomorrow.

Rocky river

Here's a river. With lots of rocks. Taken during our August camping trip at Clark's Fork. Fear not, Loyal Readers - I'm just about out of Great Art from that trip. Part of my famous Camping series.

Extreme Short Shrift yet again tonight. Home Evening is over, I have to get up as early as usual, and I have a long drive tomorrow morning, followed by a long meeting, both of which I need to stay awake for. As (probably) mentioned previously, I'm heading for Edwards Air Force Base tomorrow morning for a day-and-a-half-long meeting. I've been planning to take the Honda, but I've started wondering whether I might enjoy the Miata instead. Assuming it can make it that far, of course, but I have no reason to believe it won't. It wouldn't be as comfortable, but it does have air conditioning and cruise control, and the weather is supposed to be quite nice down there right now - ideal for open-air motoring.

Blogging will continue as usual, although Wednesday night is iffy, as I'll be returning home from the meeting and may not arrive until pretty late, depending on when we finish. Time will tell.

Loyal Reader Number Two is still scheduled to have his tonsils yanked on Thursday. We won't know the exact surgery time until sometime Wednesday, though, when he visits his anesthesiologist. I'll be at the hospital, of course. Keep those Morrowlife sympathy rays coming, Loyal Readers, and he'll get through it.

Got several of the planned weekend activities done, although not much on Saturday. Friday was work day and Saturday was goof off day. I did get some programming done, though. The Sudoku program draws its user interface on the screen and can now load a puzzle from its memo list. Lots more to do.

Sunday was restful.

Tragedy! The exclusive RAZR-cam is no more. Well, actually, it's the RAZR-phone that's not exactly working. The camera's fine. In addition to its dead vibrator (which I was just living with in a grumpy sort of way), the speaker portion of its handset has given its last full measure of devotion. I can still use the speaker phone and Bluetooth, but can't hear anything when I hold it to my head. And I don't think it's my ear that's defective.

I gave it a thorough inspection and declared it dead. Spent several hours last night trying to decide on a replacement, and with Loyal Reader Number Four's encouragement, I finally decided to order a Palm Treo 680, which I accomplished this afternoon. It ought to be here in a week or so. Loyal Reader Number One has really enjoyed his, and I've liked all my Palms so far. So I have high hopes. Plus, here's an excellent Christmas gift-giving idea! Also, since some of my software development interest is in the Palm direction, it will be good to have a newer model.

Many thanks to LRN1 for his extra-special high-intensity Miata sympathy rays, which were evident in his earlier comment, as he pointed out on Friday. The Miata thanks you also.

And thanks to many other Loyal Readers for their suggestions for additional significant GM cars. How could those fools have missed such important milestones?

See you tomorrow.

Temple

Here's a very poorly composed exclusive RAZR-cam picture of the Salt Lake temple. It was a pretty day when we visited and I like the picture anyway.

Nice day today. Seemed like Saturday, since I wasn't at work. I tried to get all of my chores done, with mostly good success.

The very best news is that the Miata's problem was indeed the battery. I was able to find the right part at my neighborhood Autozone. The old battery was relatively easy to get out of the trunk and the new one slipped right in. The car started immediately and ran perfectly (well, as perfectly as it normally runs, anyway - it didn't learn to play the violin or anything). Thanks to all my Loyal Readers for their Miata Sympathy Rays. They really did the trick.

Got the repaired weed whacker back. It turns out it wasn't running because the head bolts came loose, eliminating compression, which, as many Loyal Readers know, is essential for combustion. Anyway, it works fine now and didn't cost too much to diagnose and fix. Also cleaned the pool filters but decided to let the pond go for another week or two. Or maybe I'll feel bad and do it tomorrow. Also fixed the pool timing.

Personal programming has been light at best. I'm discouraged about Android again. I'm pretty much convinced that the cell phone providers are going to take this cool platform and lock it down so they can charge for everything you try to do. I'm just reluctant to go through the learning curve, only to be unable to do anything truly useful with the platform. Cell phone providers ruin everything they touch, but they do seem to be remarkably successful at ripping people off.

Anyway. So I'm writing a Palm version of my Sudoku Solver, but that's pretty much a dead end too. I like the platform and I continue to love my trusty old Gadget, but I don't think there's any money to be made there anymore. I'm doing it anyway. At least I can send a copy to Loyal Reader Number One and get him to test it a little for me. I'm going to use my pitifully slow PocketC development system, so we'll see if I can make it run fast enough. It sure runs fast on Linux.

Lots of interesting Loyal Reader comments lately. Thanks, Loyal Readers! I just love it when there's actually some discussion.

Today's Morrowlife controversy will only appeal to those Loyal Readers who are interested in cars: Do you agree with GM's list of their ten most important cars in the last 100 years? My answer: For the most part, but where's the Corvair? The Vega? The '59 Caddy? The Nova? How about these ones? Or these (many of which, to be fair, aren't GM cars)?

Time for some shuteye. See you tomorrow.

Graffiti bridge

Here's a nice bridge over a secluded mountain stream at Clark's Fork. And it's covered with graffiti. Sigh. I'm with that guy a few years back who caught a teenager spraying graffiti in the middle of the night, took away his paint, and sprayed his face. Of course, the guy got in pretty serious trouble, but it might have been worth it. Part of my famous Camping series. The picture, that is, not the graffiti vigilante.

Extreme Short Shrift tonight. I've been doing other things, and it's already after 10:00. Besides, after yesterday's Special Bonus Post (thanks for noticing, Anon!), I think we can all agree that I'm way ahead of the game at this point.

Okay day at work. I found out last night that I didn't get the appointment as acting manager as I had hoped. However, the person they gave it to is an okay guy who isn't leaving his old job and therefore really won't be able to do the job. So I'll be doing it anyway. Just without the title. As usual.

Comfortable commutes in both directions. I'm at home tomorrow, meaning I'll only have to attend my morning meetings via teleconference. In my spare time, I hope to replace the Miata's battery (assuming I can find the special battery it needs, and if not, I'll at least get the new one ordered), pick up the repaired weed whacker, clean the pool and pond filters, shorten the lawn watering time to its fall-appropriate level, and work on some personal programming. There's plenty to do.

That's it for tonight. See you tomorrow, with a report on my many off-Friday activities.

Mountain lake

Here's a pretty little lake up in the mountains near -- you guessed it -- Clark's Fork. Part of my famous Camping series.

Greetings from the conference room! Drove to work today. As mentioned earlier (yesterday?), there's a Team Dinner tonight that precludes my use of mass transit. Since there's no train-based post possible, I'm meeting-room blogging today in the hope of not disappointing my distraught Loyal Readers.

We had some discussion this morning on Lessons Learned. The group pretty much decided that term is overused and carries connotations we weren't anxious to imply. We needed another name. I suggested "Incidents and Accidents." I believe the term comes from an old Paul Simon song, although for the life of me I can't remember which one. A little help, Loyal Readers?

Nobody liked my idea.

By the way, did anybody ever come up with Loyal Reader Number Five's movie quote from the other day? Was the promised money delivered?

Slight disaster early this morning. I decided to drive the Miata - it's a perfect day for open-air motoring. Got my briefcase into the Miata's trunk, got myself into the Miata's seat, got my iPod plugged into the Miata's stereo and playing music, and turned the key. Nothing happened.

Well, that's not entirely true. One thing did happen. The electrical system went utterly and completely dead. Not just regularly dead, no. Automotive death was utter and complete.

I suspect it's the battery. We'll find out for sure on Friday, which is my Really Off Friday.

Otherwise, all is well. See you tomorrow.

Rock Hopper 2

Here's Loyal Reader Number Two doing a little rock hopping at Clark's Fork. Taken at approximately the same time as yesterday's picture. Another luminous part of my famous Camping series.

Greetings from the train! I need to figure out how to spend less time in front of the computer on an average weekday evening, and blogging on the train seems to help. Since there's no link, I still have to get the text into Blogger and add the Great Art and links, but I might be able to save at least a few minutes this way. It's either this or watch TV shows.

I'm typing this on my trusty old Palm and its nifty folding keyboard. It's a lot easier to get posts on my Mac from this thing than from the laptop, since this one connects directly to the Mac and dumps it guts. The keyboard/Palm combination doesn't work all that well, though. I can type a lot faster than this thing can accept data, and a few of the keys seem to be kind of intermittent - either I'll have to type a key several times to get it to "take" or a single key press will repeat the character five times. It's been that way since new. Sigh.

Happy Birthday to the Loyal Father! I chatted with him on the phone this morning. He seems to be happy, healthy, and doing fine. I hope to be in his shape at that (extremely advanced) age.

How nice to hear from Loyal Reader Number Eight again. Welcome back! Read all you want - I'll write more. Unfortunately.

Today was Day Two of my work-related Offsite Planning Event. We're starting to make some progress, but it's slow and I'm still not sure how we're going to achieve our Stated Goal. Time will tell. Only a day and a half to go.

Probably no blog tomorrow. We're having a Special work-related Offsite Planning Event Dinner, which I'm planning to attend. In exchange for free food for me, my Loyal Readers will have to endure yet another Morrowlife-free day. You have my pity, as always.

I've pretty much definitely (how's that for a firm commitment?) decided to port my Sudoku puzzle-solving program to Android. The first step to is come up with some kind of lame-o user interface capable of displaying a puzzle. I'm hoping to accomplish that part sometime this week. Next week's task will be to make it solve puzzles, after which I'll add all the doodads and geegaws. Like opening, closing, and saving puzzles.

Anyway. It seems like a pretty easy first project on that platform, and Loyal Reader Number Three and I are thinking very seriously of having spinfo.info develop some etertainment content for it. It seems like a great opportunity to get into a new platform on the ground floor.

Let's see, what else is going on? Not much news from Loyal Reader Number One. He's apparently doing well at school and finding all kinds of useful and enjoyable things to do. Drop a line sometime, LRN1!

The rest of us are fine. See you Thursday.

Rock Hopper

Here's Loyal Reader Number One doing a little rock hopping at Clark's Fork a few weeks back. Part of my famous Camping series.

Well, we finally heard from good old Anon again, reminding me of Friday's missed post. Thanks for checking in, Anon.

No post Friday, as already discussed. Loyal Reader Number Three arrived, along with Loyal Readers Numbers Five, Six, and Twelve. It was a great evening and I don't regret my decision. Although I'm sure my Loyal Readers do.

The weekend was nice also. LRN3 headed for home with his new jalopy on Sunday morning. And he made it all the way to Mesa with nothing more serious than some strange noises and other ghostly automotive phenomena. Hooray! LRN5, LRN6, and LRN12 appear to have relocated this morning, although nobody saw them go, so their exact whereabouts remain a mystery. While they were here, LRN6 helped me detail the interior of the Ranger, which came home on Friday night for just that purpose. It looks a lot better now. Loyal Reader Number Four even told me she's no longer afraid to get inside. It's back at the Santa Clara railroad station tonight.

Other activities of the weekend were limited. It was mostly visiting, although Loyal Reader Number Two and LRN3 went with some friends to shoot at each other with Airsoft guns. Joy.

Oh, and I got a minor little technical problem with the Suburban fixed on Saturday. The brake master cylinder I had installed in February decided to spill all its fluid on the street sometime during the past week. I took it back to the location from whence it had come and, after some serious arguing, got them to replace this obviously defective component without charge. Fortunately, it was the last visit I'll ever make to that establishment, as their materials have been proven to be second-rate and their workmanship has been amply proven to be shoddy. And they appear to change management and/or ownership every couple of months. I've been Midas Touched once too often.

On the positive side, my friend Dave told me about a local shop he really likes - it's a guy who works out of his barn. He's apparently not cheap, but he's good.

Already time for bed. See you tomorrow.

Plant life

Here's some true Great Art from our recent camping trip to Clark's Fork. I just love Still Life, don't you? A marginal part of my famous Camping series.

Extreme Short Shrift. Stayed up too late last night and it's already time for bed. So I'll make this a quick one.

Spent a lot of time on the phone this evening with Loyal Reader Number Three. He was struggling with some Math homework. I gave him some (possibly spurious) advice and enjoyed the chat. We'll see how much he ends up enjoying it when his graded assignment comes back.

We're getting more excited all the time about his weekend visit, which starts tomorrow evening. Safe journey, LRN3!

We have some interesting, thoughtful comments on yesterday's controversy. Of course, the airline was apparently looking for people who are already bald, but I think that's just pure discrimination. What's the difference between a bald head and a shaved head? Other than stubble. And the real possibility that their Living Billboard might let his hair grow and collect the money without ever really advertising at all. Of course, the bald guy could just wear a hat. So it's totally fair.

Anyway. I think we'll go with a new Morrowlife controversy. Namely, this: Should the City Fathers of Saugatuck, Michigan pay this guy's bill? My answer: Yes, and put him on the payroll permanently. He's probably cheaper than the lousy help they already have.

Here's one more slightly controversial topic: they're now using dogs as witnesses in court. I can't see any problem with that, can you? I hate to think what Loyal Pet Number One might do to me in court, given the chance. I might be spending the rest of my life in a small plastic kennel.

Time for bed. See you tomorrow.

Closed to hang gliders

Here's an interesting sign we found at the entrance to a hiking trail up at Clark's Fork. I wonder how many hang gliders they get deep in the woods. Probably a few. Part of my famous Camping series.

Fine day, as usual. Took the train, also as usual. I still have twenty one prepaid rides left, with a new ten-ride ticket coming every month. If my calculations are correct, I ought to catch up sometime around the end of October or the first week in November. After which I'll get yet another ticket. The good news is that I haven't bought any gasoline for a week or two now.

Downloaded iTunes 8 last night, as discussed previously. They now offer hi-def TV shows, and they were giving away several free downloads to celebrate. Or to bait people. Whatever. In any case, I downloaded the free ones. I finished watching a Psych a little bit ago and now I'm watching Monk. They're both recent shows and I had seen the Psych, but at least they were free. There are a few others, but I'm not sure I'll like them. They're not My Shows. If you know what I mean.

Also downloaded a few more MST3K episodes. I'll start converting them before I go to bed, and then they're on the iPod playlist by tomorrow. Cool.

Anyway. Today's Morrowlife controversy: Would you shave your head to make a thousand bucks (well, 666 bucks American)? My answer: Probably not, but I'm willing to hear them out.

While I was searching for today's controversy, I found this really cool web page with some science videos. Remember kids, don't try these at home. Really. I mean it.

Time for bed. See you tomorrow.

Distant mountain

Here's a picture of a far-off mountain taking during one of our recent camping trips. Doesn't it look like part of the scenery from a model railroad? Part of my famous Camping series.

Nice day. It did indeed cool off, as predicted yesterday. It's just after 9:00 in the evening, and it's already down to 64 degrees. Big change, and it feels good. We might even need to use our blanket tonight. Predictions are up to the lower- to mid-90's for the next ten days, with nighttime temperatures down to the upper 50's. And sunny every day, of course. Zero percent chance of rain. I'll take that weather anytime.

Lardville is a great place to plan a picnic in the summertime. It simply doesn't rain. I have no idea where the water comes from in our numerous rivers around here.

Otherwise, situation normal. Work is going just fine - did I mention that my boss is leaving at the end of this month? Probably not. I think (hope, actually) this will be a good thing for me, giving me a chance to manage the group without her help. We'll see what happens.

The pickup continues to run smoothly. I just need to figure out when to bring it home to detail it. I need to find a weekend when Loyal Reader Number Six, the Official Morrowlife Auto Detailing Services Provider, is available. He'll be here this weekend, but with Loyal Reader Number Three's visit, nobody is really sure whether this will be a good time for it. I still have a good 48 hours or so before a final decision needs to be rendered, and I plan to take pretty much all of it.

Apple announced some new iPods and a few new services in the iTunes Store today. They were accompanied by a new version of iTunes, which I downloaded this evening. The jury is still way out on the changes. I'm not a fan of the new Album view yet, but maybe it will grow on me. I've never bought any TV shows, so I don't care that NBC is back and HD TV shows are available. I've never bought any of their movies, so I don't care what's going on there. I don't have an iPhone or iPod Touch, so I'm not interested in the changes there. I did turn on Genius mode a few minutes ago. It's still inspecting my library, so I have no idea whether I'll like it or not. Initial media reports are not encouraging. I'll keep you informed, Loyal Readers.

Today's Morrowlife controversy: What would they have done if he told them he cleaned sewers for a living? My answer: Free plumbing work!

Time for bed yet again. See you tomorrow.

Wolf head

Here's another work of Great Art from the BYU professors' show. In fact, this one was painted by the same guy from last Friday. I don't know whether the perspective is goofed up or the painting just isn't square. The background looks straight, doesn't it? In any case, I'm sure my Loyal Readers will agree this Art is Great.

This will not be a good week for blogging. Short Shrift is the order of the day today, as it probably will be on Thursday (meeting night) and Friday (Loyal Reader Number Three's arrival). I'll just have to find ways to pack the maximum amount of content in the minimum amount of space. And time. Especially time.

Good weekend, notable for nothing. Loyal Readers Numbers Five, Six, and Twelve visited us - it was murderously hot both at their place and at ours. The chief difference, though, was that we have air conditioning and a swimming pool. Anything to get them here. We had a pleasant weekend. Relaxed, goofed around, read to LRN12, played with legos with LRN12, etc. No complaints.

I should have been washing cars and working on things, but I didn't. They'll wait. It's supposed to cool way down this week - it's not supposed to be above 93 during the day and will be getting as low as 56 at night. If you believe the Weather Channel, of course. Fortunately, the Weather Underground is largely in agreement.

I always feel a little bit shady when I look something up on the Weather Underground. It sounds just a little too much like some kind of Sixties Radical organization. I half expect to see the forecast for peace marches and love-ins there. It's just the weather, though. Far out, man.

All's well otherwise. I'm sorry to hear that Loyal Reader Number One wasn't quite ready when the people from InfusionSoft (no link to their site - it plays music) called, but I hope he'll get another chance with them. I'm just delighted they called in the first place! It proves there's a market for the product. I'm sure he'll be devoting some time to getting the project in shape, and maybe they'll still be interested.

Today's Morrowlife controversy: Do you believe this? My answer: I'm still working up to the "caring" stage before I even consider the "believing" stage.

Time for bed. See you tomorrow.

Pink dress

Here's some true Great Art. Well, at least a photo of Great Art. Taken at the Harris Fine Arts Center on the BYU campus. Part of a faculty exhibition. Reproduced here without permission. But with the best of intentions. And I'm sure my Loyal Readers know Great Art when they see it. That's why they're here, after all. Picture ever so slightly touched up to eliminate a perspective anomaly.

Short day at work. Which is fine with me, since it was also a free day at work. I'm not too crazy about the off Fridays I have to spend at the office. But I do it anyway. The bright point was that I got to drive my new pickup. Did I mention it yet? Did I say anything about its stunning pickupish beauty?

Spent most of the afternoon installing, updating, and configuring Windows XP under VMWare. It's working fine, although it does seem a little less stable than my Windows 2000 installation.

The cool thing, though, is that I was finally able to install the music server for our built-in Sony music player in the kitchen. It came with the house. The software only works on XP, which I didn't have until now. It allows you to connect a music collection on your PC with any number of music players throughout the house, of which we have one. The software's a little buggy, but I think it's really cool anyway. I can control it from either the PC or the wall unit, including being able to turn it on downstairs from my desk upstairs. That'll keep Loyal Reader Number Four on her toes.

Oh, I also downloaded the new Google Chrome browser. As with all things Google, it's simple, elegant, and cool. I have no idea how they do that.

Good weekend planned. I've decided to actually learn Android, which will require me to become a competent Java programmer, which shouldn't be too hard. I also need to get familiar with the Android API, but that's doable too. I hope to find some time tomorrow to study and maybe run through a tutorial session or two. I found some excellent Android introductory videos, which I've started watching on the train. Maybe I'll see some more tomorrow or Sunday. Otherwise, plans are nebulous.

It's way past bedtime. See you Monday.

Tiny reader

Here's an extremely old picture of Loyal Reader Number Twelve having a quick bite, thoughtfully provided by Loyal Reader Number Five. Can you believe how much she's grown in such a short time? Me neither.

Extreme Short Shrift tonight. I went to my Thursday night leadership meeting and got home right on schedule, otherwise known as too late to blog.

But I do want to address Loyal Reader Number One's question in yesterday's comments regarding the Windows XP installation on Loyal Reader Number Two's computer. The answer is that we haven't tried installing it yet. LRN2 isn't quite sure he's ready to muck around with his computer in such a serious way. I'm thinking of installing it as a new virtual machine on my Mac first, just to see if it will work. I'll keep my ever-curious Loyal Readers fully informed, of course. That suggests a possible new motto for the blog: "Way more information than you want." What do you think, Loyal Readers? I'll probably stick with "Marginal content, twenty-seven readers."

No new controversy again today. I need Dave Barry to get home from the stupid political conventions and start doing his job. Namely, being the Official Morrowlife Controversy Research Department.

In the meantime, what do you think of this delivery truck driver? My answer: Well done, compadre.

See you tomorrow.

Ranger

Here's the new pickup, courtesy of the exclusive low-quality RAZR-cam. I'm quite sure all my Loyal Readers will agree that's true Great Art, regardless of the actual image quality. Note the delicate lines, the majestic sweep of the fender, the timeless beauty of the wheels. Wow. Part of my famous Machinery series. But only dubiously so.

Speaking of which, maybe I need to join the Ford Ranger Club. I never joined the Miata club (although I do use their excellent tech forums often to figure out how to fix my car) or even the Accord club (they don't seem overly enthusiastic there, do they?), but this may be different. I think I may skip this club, though. Don't have the scooter. I like their Ranger attitude, though.

I'm recommending that Loyal Readers Numbers Three and Five join this club. Now that's the definition of cool.

No new controversy today. I've looked in all my usual spots, but there's just nothing controversial going on in the world. So I'll have to satisfy myself with Loyal Reader Number One's controversy from last week. I agree completely with LRN3's take on the issue. There's nothing like a pair of Mormon missionaries to strike fear into the hearts of the fearless. That may be the ultimate home security device.

I tried to download Google's new browser, Chrome. Sadly, the current beta will only work on Windows XP and Vista. No Mac version yet. And my virtual PC on the Mac is running Windows 2000. So I'm not included. Sigh. Have any Loyal Readers tried it out yet?

Time for bed. See you tomorrow.

Gravely Ford

Here's a fascinating historical marker we found in Nevada on our way to Utah last week. See if you can pick out the date this thing was posted. Picture courtesy of the famous low-res RAZR-cam. Sadly.

No posts Friday or Monday. Sorry. We had company Friday. At Loyal Reader Number Four's brother's house. Old friends from Virginia came over. Had a nice time, but posting was impractical. Monday seemed like Saturday and I forgot. Fortunately, good old Anon hasn't noticed yet.

Good weekend. We got home Saturday afternoon in time to welcome Loyal Readers Numbers Five, Six, and Twelve for the weekend. Which was pleasant. We all got sunburned at the ward picnic on Monday afternoon, especially LRN12. Poor her. Get better soon, LRN12!

Things at work were pretty much unchanged today. That's probably a good thing. The great news, though, is that my pickup was untouched by human hands. I finally got to drive it today! My Loyal Readers will be delighted to learn it's still working perfectly.

Anyway. Things have returned to normal and life is running at its usual pell-mell pace. And we're having a great time at it.

See you tomorrow.