News Cycle.

Sometimes I think technology is destroying America. The capability of “instant news” combined with the 24-hour news channels is contributing the ever shortening attention spans of the American public.

Oh look at the bird in the backyard. Isn’t he pretty. Uh, what was I saying? Oh yes, short attention spans.

We have a television at the office that shows CNN. Since our Network Operations Center’s workload depends on weather activity and other natural or human made causes, it helps to know what’s going on in the country.

In the past three days, every time I’ve looked at the screen they are showing that guy from Taiwan that claims to have murdered JonBenet Ramsey. No matter what time I look at the screen, there he is, sitting on an airplane, staring straight ahead. He’s there, either waiting for takeoff or to disembark. For three days. There he is. On the plane. Talk about flight delays.

Now the murder of this young girl is horrible. I’m not denying that. I’m sure any clues or confessions would be a relief to the family. But my goodness, the rising death toll in the Middle East is abundently news worthy as well, but that’s hardly being mentioned. It’s old news.

Now we have the latest tropical storm hurricane tropical storm headed for south Florida. What’s it’s name? Ernesto? All the news outlets are headed down there faster than vultures on a dead carcass. I wouldn’t be the least surprised to find them doing some sort of wild hurricane rain dance in an effort to whip up the winds. You could just see the disappointment on their faces when Ernesto became a tropical storm again. It looks like Florida might just escape the floods and famine they were hoping to feature on the news. It might not make it to New Orleans. How ratings building it would be to see the beginnings of the new New Orleans crushed by a hurricane again.

Again, no mention of the deaths in Iraq over the weekend.

Then there’s the airplane crash in Kentucky. It appears the pilot was on the wrong runway. My heart goes out to the families of the crash victims. And then the news cuts to another plane crash in Indiana. “Maybe it’s just as bad or worse!” Turns out a four seater crashed in a pond, sorry, no death there, a bystander pulled them out of harm’s way.

I saw a plane crash once. A student pilot flipped a Cessna 150 into the gravel bed adjacent to the rural airstrip. I saw my Mom and a bunch of pilots and aviation fans pull him out of the plane and get him on his way for medical attention. My mom had tell his mother that her baby boy had just crashed an airplane and was on his way to the hospital. I don’t believe he ever flew again. But it was 1978.

It didn’t make the news.

28 August 2006 by Why. 0

Pensive.

I’ve been in this weird, pensive, slightly apprehensive mood today. And here I am rhyming about it on my blog. I can’t put my finger on the cause of this little bit of a funk I’ve got going on today. It’s nothing really bad mind you, I’m not going to go out and go crazy or anything like that. Perhaps I sniffed too many bleach fumes while I did laundry earlier today. Maybe the last vestiges of the skunk smell on the cat has gotten to me. Perhaps my head got jostled around yesterday on the ride at the State Fair.

Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s going to pass so I’m not going to worry about it. Let’s hear it for the new work week!

27 August 2006 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Crossing To The Dark Side.

I am writing this blog entry on a Windows computer this afternoon. That’s right, I said Windows computer. And said computer is in my house. It’s running one of the latest builds of Windows Vista Ultimate, pre-Release Candidate 1.

As a computer support tech, one of my responsibilities is to know what’s going on in the world of computers. That makes sense, right? Well, since Microsoft Windows is the operating system on most of the computers across this great land, then I need to be familiar with the ins and outs of the operating system. So I figured I’d jump ahead and start seeing what this Windows Vista thing is all about.

I’ve been messing with it for the past two hours and I do have a few comments.

  1. It sure is pretty. I really like the aesthetics of using it. It looks good.
  2. I’m still trying to figure out why things have been moved where they’ve been moved to. For example, to change your background picture, in Windows XP, you right click on the desktop and click “Desktop Properties” and go from there. In Windows Vista, you right click on the desktop and click “Personalize” then jump around in some dialog windows before getting to the familiar Windows XP screens. It’s a few extra clicks and may seem intuitive to a newbie, but I’m hoping Microsoft builds an “Express” option into the final product that lets power users click around like they’re used to doing in Windows XP.
  3. For a pre-release candidate version of software, it’s pretty stable and responsive. I wasn’t expecting that.
  4. It’s still Windows.

I’ve also installed the Office 12 Beta, as I’ve heard wonderful things about the latest incarnation of Office. For those that have grown up with Office in the corporate environment, when you first fire this baby up you’re going to have a few moments of panic as EVERYTHING looks different. But once you start jumping around a little bit and start figuring out where everything is, it isn’t as bad as it first appears. Just for fun I’m typing this blog entry in Microsoft Word and then I’m going to cut and paste it into my blog entry screen. Let’s see if I can successfully do that before switching back to Ubuntu Linux.

This all being said, I must say that Microsoft is making great strides in the world of Windows. Windows Vista is going to take some hefty horsepower to run with all the bells and whistles (my test computer barely makes the grade with a 2.0mhz Processor, 768MB RAM and a Radeon GeForce 7600 GS video card), but there are quite a few improvements in the system that should make surfing a more pleasant experience for Joe User.

However, I’m still very much in love with our Mac hardware and offer you a toast of Apple Kool-Aid.

27 August 2006 by Geek 0

The Great New York State Fair.




Can You Find Me?

Originally uploaded by bluemarvel.

Earl and I made our annual pilgrimage to the Great New York State Fair. The word “Great” is actually in the name of the country’s oldest and I believe largest state fair. It’s an Empire State thing.

Surprisingly, the crowds seemed a little light this year. We didn’t have any issues navigating around the fairgrounds, despite the numerous baby buggies that have bucket seats, power windows, rack and pinion steering and oddly, no children to be found in the seats. But nevertheless, we walked through all the barns where we named all the chickens for their hairdos, chatted with some goats and smiled back at some llamas.

We also trekked through the various displays in the Center of Progress building. One booth there is the “handwriting analysis computer”. It’s been at the fair longer than I have and they haven’t really updated the display much. It’s groovy to see the 1970s style computers doing their work to tell you about yourself after taking a look at your signature.

I did go for my obligatory spin on the Tip Top amusement. Earl stayed on land and took some pictures of the event.

It was a good day at the fair. It’s sort of sad to see it’s arrival, because usually it indicates that the end of summer is here.

27 August 2006 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Fly Like An Eagle.

Earl and I went to see the movie “Invincible” tonight. This is the film starring Mark Wahlberg as Vince Papale, the South Philly native that joined the Eagles in the mid 1970s at age 30.

It’s the best movie we’ve seen this year, despite all attempts from those surrounding us in the theatre to make it a horrific experience.

Note to cinema owners: if you want to get the American public back in the theatres you have two options, build or retrofit your theatres to reject all mobile phone and wifi signals, or shove said cell phones up offender’s asses. I’m just sayin’.

First of all, I have to remind everyone that I am married to a die-hard Eagles fan. My boy from Philadelphia will always be an Eagles fan regardless of where we live. Philadelphia is in his blood, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Said Eagles fan turned me into first a football fan and then an Eagles fan. I wouldn’t be surprised if I was in the stands this season, painted up in Eagles colors and half naked on television showing off my assets in the spirit of the game. Again, I’m just sayin’.

Football fan or not, this is a great movie. We found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Go see it.

25 August 2006 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Dr. Doolittle.

So the whole animal experience continues on. If it wasn’t bad enough that the garage, which was temporary housing for Tom, stunk to high heaven with that unmistakeable skunk smell, I padded down to the kitchen to get started for the day and found a dead bird lying at the door.

Lovely.

I look out over the swimming pool and find two beautiful deer standing next to it, ready for a picture. Except the camera is upstairs.

So I go to get the camera when I look out the front door on my way to the stairs and there are over 30 turkeys of various shapes and sizes standing in the driveway. I continue my trek to get the camera when the deer dash off and the turkeys start heading around the other side of the house.

I lost all interest in the photographic moment at that point.

So now it’s lunch time and Tom smells decent enough to be allowed in the house, but the garage is still stinking. I have bowls of vinegar all over the place, as I read somewhere on the internet that that is what you’re suppose to do. Hopefully the house will smell much better when I get home from work later this afternoon.

I think we’ll go out for supper tonight.

24 August 2006 by Ponderings and Musings 0

You Smell Pretty.

Just as I was getting ready to call it a night last night, I was suddenly treated the unmistakeable scent of a skunk. Somebody’s cat or dog had picked the wrong animal to argue with and was now paying the price.

Then I remembered Tom was outside.

The last couple of times I smelled a skunk, Tom was innocently on the front porch awaiting his chance to come in the house. Not last night though. Of course not. I turned on the lights on the back deck and there he was, eye swollen shut from getting sprayed, right in the face. I could smell him through the door.

It only happens when Earl is out of town.

I herded him into the garage (ever trying herding cats?) where he carried on like a madman and I figured out my strategy. I grabbed some old towels, finally cornered him and got him in the kitchen sink where I washed him with everything but the kitchen sink. Shampoo, dish detergent, vinegar.

He then spent the night in the garage.

This morning he doesn’t smell too bad but the garage stinks to high heaven; I think it needs to be aired out. I’m probably going to leave the garage door open all day and hope some miracle wind comes through and wipes out this stench.

Such a lovely adventure.

24 August 2006 by Why. 0

No Worries.

Before heading to bed last night around 11:00, I realized that I had not written a blog entry yesterday. For a fleeting moment I thought about jumping out of bed and getting back onto the computer, ready to share some witty dialog about something I had found particularly amusing yesterday. Apparently it was so drop dead funny I have completely forgotten what it was and couldn’t reconstruct the blog entry even if I tried.

I was a little thrown off my blogging routine yesterday for a couple of reasons. Earl was heading out of town on business and at the last minute invited me to join him for lunch at one of our favorite haunts, Charlie’s Pizzeria. Quite frankly it wasn’t the nooner I was quite hoping for, but a hot veggie wrap with pasta salad will do in a pinch. Plus, I was thinking it was Monday because I had taken the real Monday off and I was all confused. What the current day of the week has to do with blogging I don’t know, since I tend to blog seven days a week. But it seemed like a good excuse.

I was also still reeling from Monday’s Horrifying McDonalds Experience in which I didn’t even get any food at the restaurant, I just used the store for a pitstop and it was still a Horrifying McDonalds Experience. Let’s just say I appreciate the eco-sensibility of hot air hand dryers on the wall instead of paper towels but it really doesn’t help in the situation of no toilet paper in the bathroom stall. I don’t think I will ever forget the look on the face of the woman enjoying her mid morning coffee at the sight of me walking out of the bathroom, with a sort of John Wayne-ish/too many guns on the belt, saggy pants gait in search of napkins, and then U-turning back into the bathroom for as long as I live.

So today I’m back on my game. Earl comes home tonight, I’m feeling pretty good and I had a wonderful blog entry cooked up in my head to share with you today.

‘Tis a pity I’ve completely forgotten it.

23 August 2006 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Alone.

Earl is out of town on work. He’s expected home tonight, so that has put a little spring in my step, but gosh I miss him when he’s not home. You’d think after 10 years of this I’d be used to it, but I’m not. That’s a good thing, I suppose.

When he is out of town I get to embrace the loner side of me. I go into full geek mode and play on the computer night and day. Daily chores get tossed aside as there are too many things waiting for me in the realm of bits and bytes; web sites need to be updated, e-mail needs to be responded to and there’s a Sim City awaiting my run as a mayor without cheat codes.

As I delve into the controlled chaos of my own little world, that little sense of loneliness follows me around. It’ll be good to see Earl’s smiling face tonight.

23 August 2006 by Ponderings and Musings 0

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

April 2024
S M T W T F S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930  

Mastodon

Mastodon