a new addition to the family

Well, this was easy. I'm entering this blog posting from my new PowerBook G4 which arrived either 7 or 3 days early, depending on which shipping story you believe. I ordered it on my 2nd day back at work, long before my badge or LDAP entry was up. The setup was trivial; it didn't even ask for my timezone yet seemed to figure it out without any problem. Ditto for the Maxtor Shared Storage box, which is my home (300 GB) fileserver .. it found the CIFS/SMB workgroup and all I had to do was login. Windows XP itself should be this easy.

Photo: two currently popular laptops:
Apple's PowerBook G4 and Acer's Ferrari 4005

The Blogger interface is missing a few buttons but I'll probably figure that out in a day or so. I have a few networking issues to settle here at home, including upgrading my Ethernet hub from a 10 Mb variety to something of this century, and slapping a Wireless-G network atop my ADSL circuit. That can wait a few days, while I learn more about Mac OS X.

Mystery solved!

Someone finally explained to me what these bumper stickers mean (I've been seeing them on SUVs for the past few years). They identify the driver as mentally handicapped, and others are advised to maintain a safe distance between your vehicle and theirs.

the danger of Too Much Information

There are times when it's wise not to say too much. Such was the case when I went to get a document notarized this morning.

I was attempting to complete an affidavit for my attorney; it's for a small claims issue and is only a single page long. It states a couple facts and is targeted at mom's bank, which (due to acquisition) has branches here in Dallas. So, I thought it would be proper to have this notarized at one of those branches, since they could verify the account balance as stipulated in the affidavit.

I ran into a roadblock in the form of the branch's Vice President*; she refused to notarize the document, citing confidentiality laws. The trouble is that the role of the Notary Public is not to attest to the (presumed) facts in a document; rather, they are simply confirming that the person who signed the document in their presence is who he claims to be.

I left the branch and proceeded to another bank. This time, I simply advised I was there to have my document notarized. This Notary Public asked to see my Driver's License, watched me sign the document and then affixed her official stamp. Done. Was that so hard?

* Banks are notorious for paying small wages, and they compensate by giving grand titles to most folks who work there.

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This morning (~8:30am) the weather forecast was:

...WINTER STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM THIS EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON...

FREEZING RAIN WILL BEGIN THIS EVENING...WITH PERIODS OF PRECIPITATION CONTINUING THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON. SOME SLEET MAY ALSO MIX WITH THE FREEZING RAIN...BEGINNING ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON. TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS IN EXCESS OF ONE QUARTER OF AN INCH OF ICE AND SLEET ARE EXPECTED THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON.

As such, the town's in a massive panic, and the lines in the grocery stores are long. There's nothing like fear to motivate the locals, who might otherwise run out of pork rinds and chicken wings during this impending catastrophe.

Thursday: short sleeves. Friday: parka?

As DMN columnist Alan Melson opined:

"Just 24 hours after temperatures in Dallas-Fort Worth reached the mid-80s, forecasters are expecting a high Friday afternoon of just 39 degrees - and a good chance that freezing precipitation will hit the area as commuters make their way home."

Indeed, it's 84F as I publish this entry, but a strong wind started at 17:38 which may signal The Cold Front coming through town. I suppose I should do what all Texans are trained to do when the temp drops below 50F: go to the grocery store and buy anything remaining on the shelves.

Unrelated: I went back to work Monday, after "a few weeks off" .. but haven't been able to do much because I'm not yet In The System. I've been able to gather information on the teams I'll work with, but not much else yet. Maybe by President's Day (the Holiest holiday in the USA).

I was told that I'd need a laptop, so .. throwing caution to the wind .. decided on an Apple PowerBook G4. If shipping schedules can be believed, it'll be in my hands next week. I've never owned a Mac before and I anticipate a steep learning curve. I suppose I should set it up on a wireless-G net here at home? Maybe one of my ever-so-thoughtful neighbors has an unsecured network that I can tap into? Hmm. Decisions, decisions.

liked it so nice, they named it (more than) twice

I often use both the Mozilla browser, and Internet Explorer. Lately, MS-IE is really starting to annoy me, in that it fails to exit properly when I File/Close it.

Today, the system seemed sluggish so I checked Windows Task Manager to find 17 (yes, seventeen!) copies of the iexplore.exe image in memory. Oy, veh. Who writes this crap?

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speak-o Spanish-o, anyone?

on the southeast corner of Coit/Spring Valley (near Fiesta Mart)

road trip : day eight (final)

My roadtrip of 2,153 miles (through seven states*) is complete. I was too tired to make it all the way to Dallas, and spent the night at a nondescript motel in Lindale, TX (according to the receipt). I didn't stop for The City Tour, which included yet-another Cracker Barrel restaurant and yet-another catfish restaurant.

* Texas; Louisiana; Mississippi; Arkansas; Missouri; Tennessee; Kentucky

While in the car (4 days of about 500 miles per segment) I survived on a diet of lots of hot coffee, assuming I couldn't find Starbucks doubleshot (espresso & cream) and Moon Pies in the various truck stops and/or gas stations.

While making my way down I-55 to Jackson MS (before hanging a right onto I-20) I used the AUTOSCAN feature of my car radio, which finds the 6 strongest signals and programs a special bank of buttons. After deciding I couldn't stomach either country music or rightwing talk radio, I happened across an NPR station, affiliated with Mississippi Public Radio. I was amazed to find voices of reason amidst the flatscape that defines the Mississippi Delta.

I made a brief stop at a Love's Truck Stop in Van TX, hoping to find a ballcap with their logo for sale: no such luck. It rained (lightly) the rest of the way into Dallas, which included The Morning Rush hour at about 7mph.

This afternoon, I went to the post office to retrieve my "held mail". I wasn't asked for any ID before the postal worker just forked over the week's worth of mail. So much for protection from identity thieves!

Miscellany #7: two businesses didn't comply with the Credit Card Truncation regulations (a flower shop in Mississippi and a hotel in Texas). Eight others were in compliance. I wonder if that 80% compliance score is a nationwide average: I hope not!

Miscellany #83: My car requires premium unleaded fuel. I paid between $2.38 and $2.62 per gallon during this trip.

road trip : day six

The hard part of the trip is now behind me; now there are no schedules to keep, other than being in Grenada tomorrow to handle various financial details.

This morning, I stopped at the National Corvette Museum (Bowling Green KY) for about 90 minutes. I took quite a few photos, but wonder what I took that thousands before me have not.


1958 Corvette in the Mobilgas exhibit

En route from Memphis TN to Jackson MS (on I-55), I passed through Batesville MS (known regionally for a factory outlet mall that has The Usual Suspects -- clothing, china, books). Nearby, I passed the Batesville Casket Company, where both my parents' caskets were made. I wondered what happens if anyone ever stops in for a "factory tour".

Deep thought: I visited Costco last year and noticed they sold caskets, but I didn't inspect it for the manufacturer. I wonder how their sales have been, and if the market will soon be flooded with low-cost imported caskets from China.

Not having constant access to the Internet on this trip was a pain; the local public library in Grenada MS (which I'd used before) had a sign in the window that said "NO INTERNET" with no additional explanation; maybe they didn't pay their ISP's bill? When I get back, I'll have to investigate "sepsis" to see what it's all about.