Peter and his family are coming over tomorrow for his annual birthday party. This year, it’ll be brunch, a meal that easily incorporates one of his favorite foods, bacon.
Even though he elected a brunch menu, we will still have his traditional birthday cake for dessert: 4 chocolate layers with mocha whipped cream filling, topped with a chocolate ganache.
Mechanical Ability
Save being able on a good day to hammer a nail and drive a screw, I have no intuition about how things are put together, especially electronic and mechanical devices.
I’m pretty good with sniffing out software issues, but that only came with years of banging my head against the cyber wall and learning from mistakes.
Fortunately for all of us, Peter is amazingly talented with electronics, especially computers.
Last night, he was able to repair my cell phone, which had decided it wasn’t able to send calls or to turn itself off.
This morning, my neighbor John, who is an equally incredible mechanic, managed to get my furnace blower going. He’s downstairs now, tinkering.
Like Peter with electronics, John can fix almost any machine. He has that intuition about where to look and the skills to make things right.
Thank goodness for people like Peter and John. Otherwise, the rest of us might as well give up and move to a one-room hut with a firepit, a privvy and a nearby fresh water supply.
Chance of Snow
Parts of Texas and the Midwest got hammered last week, and snow is predicted for this week in this region.
After a mild November, it’s finally settling in that winter is coming, soon. Will it be benign, like last year, or will we be buried, like the year before?
Monster Behind Bars
Michigan taxpayers will have the dubious pleasure of housing and feeding Lisa Holland, the murderer of her 7 year-old adopted son, for a long time: she was sent to the slammer for life yesterday.
Her equally despicable husband, Tim Holland, was sentenced to 30-60 years earlier this month by Judge Paula Manderfield.
User Group
I’ve been more or less leading the local Microsoft user group since 2002, although for the last year and half, haven’t really pushed to find speakers or call meetings.
Our membership has been +- 7% or so over that time period, and we are still pretty small, about 153 people on our current mailing list, with maybe 8-10 people showing up when we do have meetings.
The Globe
According to an AP story on MSNBC, a group of Boston businessmen, including Jack Welch, are interested in buying the Boston Globe from the New York Times Co.
“Welch, Connors, and O’Donnell began discussing a potential bid for the Globe several months ago. An analysis done for them by investment bank JP Morgan Chase & Co. valued the Globe at $550 million to $600 million, about half the $1.1 billion the Times Co. paid for the paper in 1993.
“The Times Co. reported last month that advertising revenue for its New England Media Group
Wow, I Coulda Had a Stroke
Diet Coke, which has no nutritional value, also won’t give you a heart attack: it has only 40 mg of Sodium.
On the other hand, V8 juice, which is supposed to be so healthy, has 880 mg of Sodium – 37% of an adult’s minimum daily requirement.
Black Friday (Missed It)
Once again, I’ve missed out on buying even one essential-to-life, in-store special, like a diamond pendant, a “Monster House” DVD or a 30 inch tall Flounder Pillow Buddy.
Midterms and High-Tech Cred
Prior to the elections, CNET News.com graded Congress on technology votes covering such topics as the federal Can-Spam Act, taxing online purchases and making the ban on Net-access taxes permanent.
Considering that the election was supposedly about big ticket items like Iraq and Congressional corruption, it seems that arcana like Net neutrality wouldn’t have captured the public interest.
That’s probably true of most of the country, but not necessarily in the geographic regions with a large population of high tech workers.
Here’s a rundown of how the highest and lowest-rated Senators and Representatives who were up for reelection fared.
Dogs
I wish that I liked Golden Retrievers. I’ve tried, but to tell you the truth, that breed and I just don’t get along.