sweet tooth

I suppose this posting is for historical amusement only. I got an email from a local retailer (Micro Center, if you must know) offering various capacity USB drives (private label).

Over the years I've often noted that capacity-oriented items (memory, disc, etc.) have a calculable Best Value, a/k/a the product's Sweet Spot. Today, that appears to be the 8 GB thumb drives:

Capacity	Retail Price	Cost Per GB
1 GB (silver)	$6.99	$6.99
2 GB (blue)	$9.99	$4.99
4 GB (black)	$15.99	$3.99
8 GB (green)	$24.99	$3.12 ("sweet spot")
16 GB (red)	$59.99	$3.75

Unlike hard discs, few people seem to care that USB drives vary in access speed. I do like the fact that Micro Center is color-coding their drives (1 GB=silver, etc) making it easier to choose an appropriate one.

Deep Thought: It would've been nicer if they'd used an industry standard color scale (e.g. ROY G. BIV) when assigning a color to a given capacity, but .. nobody asked me.

a fitting proposition

It appears there is collusion in the bird seed industry.

Yesterday, while Slow Dancing the aisles at an Everthing Must Go sale at Albertsons (1341 W Campbell @ Coit), I spotted a "Snack Basket" by Morning Song (Francesville, Indiana) that was marked 40% off. Being a sucker for both wild birds and EMG sales, I added it to my shopping cart, mentally noting that I'd have to add one of those pressed seedcakes at a future time (there's often Slim Pickings at an EMG sale - where ALL SALES ARE FINAL is the mantra).

That Future Time arrived within an hour or so after I left Albertsons, when I found myself a half mile away at the local SuperTarget. Sure enough, they had a seedcake, but it was made by Kaytee (Chilton, Wisconsin). What are the odds those two companies meet at the annual Wild Bird Seed Standards Committee, to hash out the details of interoperability? After all, these two companies are only 417.3 km (259.3 miles) apart. I eyeballed the seedcake and guessed that it would fit .. if not, I'd have to dig out a butcherknife and hack it down to size.

It would've been Way Handy to use SizEasy to Fire Up A Browser and compare the Snack Basket to the cake, but that would've required that I know the dimensions of the Snack Basket, now sitting in my car's trunk .. what are the odds that data would be online?.

Hmm: I smell an opportunity for a future entrepreneur .. who would sell this Dimension Matching Service to both parties.

Once I got both parts home, I unwrapped and "assembled" them - yes, they fit. I'm hoping that my local woodpeckers (and nuthatches and chickadees) are appreciative. For those of you who are interested, here is the detailed size comparison.

Three Days of the William

I've seen William-Bob 3 times in 3 days, which is a new record. First, it was lunch with he and John-Bob at Snookie's (they still have ostrich burgers on the menu, although I went for The Wednesday Special which was a turkey and guacamole wrap). I was surprised to find No Waiting, which was certainly due to the cold (2C) which turns Texas Natives into cowering wimps. I've surmised that if you dangle about 20 snowflakes in front of a native, they'll go running home to mommy; it's amazing. I watched as drivers clutched their steering wheels with a Death Grip, just in case they encountered an icy spot on the mostly dry roads.

At lunch, the three of us Solved World Hunger, after which W.B. thoughtfully pointed me to the Mister Deity website, which provided a few moments of frolic (the guy's trying to stoke an audience for a half-hour TV show -- uh, Good Luck With That, except maybe on FOX which provides Wholesome Family Entertainment™ - like The Family Guy; American Dad; etc.)

My second Brush With Greatness was at Thursday night's Unix User Group meeting, in their temporary space at BNI in Plano. Their meeting room holds about 40 people, cozily. The speaker was a local Red Hat "Guru" (I use the term loosely) who wasn't prepared for this crowd, which is known to eat presenters alive and toss their carcasses in the dumpster amidst the pizza box remnants. Why some people feel they can face a technical audience with a sales-marketing pitch is beyond me. I'm not sure I learned much about the upcoming (15 March 2007) RHEL5 release that I didn't already know, but did score a 3-pack of Red Hat Golf Balls, to be used at some future time.

I first attended the DFW UUG's meeting at SGI (Silicon Graphics) near Preston/LBJ. When that location closed, the group moved to a nice space in the "JC Penney basement" (near Coit/LBJ) and were there for many years until being forced to relocate to Nerd Books in Richardson. The owner there decided he didn't want to stay late, so the group is meeting in Plano, but seeking a new location. User groups traditionally get the short end of the meeting space stick, fer sher.

Finally (well, the week's not over yet) I got an IM from William-Bob alerting me to the presence of 00E (a/k/a Bryan) who is visiting - one of his monthly trips from Maryland. Bryan was a -Bob until a few years ago. Yesterday, he bought a couple T-shirts from Poor Richard's after we fed there (me: veggie omelet Mit Grits). Only a few times in my life have I felt amused enough to buy a restaurant's T-shirt. Thinking about my current closet, the only ones promoting such places are in support of Dairy Queen (the institution).

Now, it's time to mosey over to Hollywood Video (across the street from Blockbuster) and rent a copy of Three Days of the Condor to see if William-Bob bears (bares) any similarities.

Aside: I finally Bit The Bullet and switched to the New! Improved! Blogger interface; if you spot anything peculiar, let me know. So far, I'm seeing minimal differences in the editor; it appears to post much faster, but that could be a Saturday morning aberration. I do like the improved Spell Check interface. And (oh yes) the Labels. I must make good use of The Labels.

Richardson ambience

It's not often that I find a hole-in-the-wall burger place. Part of the reason is that it's still about location-location-location. Most small burger places just couldn't compete with the chains, and have all but disappeared from the landscape. Or, at least it seems that way. Maybe there are more of these out there, but they're just so .. invisible.

A few Sundays ago I was in Richardson searching for a Japanese snack store that LayWah-Bob told me about (Aji Ichiban is at 201 S Greenville). After taking a wrong turn, I somehow found myself staring at:

Del's Charcoal Burgers
110 S McKinney Street, Richardson

This is one of those places you're unlikely to find unless you're looking for it. It's at the corner of Polk & McKinney - but this is a 3-block long McKinney Street - not in the same league as McKinney Avenue in downtown Dallas. Del's is closed on Sunday, but I promised myself I'd mosey back sometime soon. Today was the day; William-Bob and I met there to discuss The Future of Western Civilization, and feed our faces.

Unrelated: Del's Lemonade, somewhere in Rhode Island


Del's Charcoal Burgers, Richardson

Del's seats about 30 people, orders are placed/received from the counter, yet there is a TV in the corner (not tuned to FOX "News" - thankyouverymuch). The menu's pretty simple, and I have to wonder how they can support 3 employees, but .. it's been there many years so they're doing something right. I was mesmorized by the faux brick (atop concrete blocks) with life-size images of John Wayne, James Dean and Marilyn Monroe. The Christmas lights (luminarias?) add additional ambience, and it's obvious many of the clientele are regulars. Somehow, I was hoping Norm would drop in. Also noteworthy: "root beer refills - 50 cents"; green hot sauce at the table; lunch-only hours. Richardson is a dry city, with many restaurants avoiding it.

I wonder when Del's will add WiFi and valet parking?

now ain't that phat?

What a way to spend a Saturday. Inside the Dallas Convention Center with 600 people I'd never met before (well, except for Mayor Laura). This was part of Shaping America's Health .. the next seven hours in a surprisingly fast-moving 21st Century Town Meeting® called Shaping America's Youth.

Turns out this is the 2nd one of these ever held. The first was in Memphis, earlier this year. Dallas had over 1046 registrants but only 600 made it to the event. I guess that's a good turnout, especially on one of the 4 nice weekends in Dallas every year (otherwise it's too hot/wet/cold).

The meeting itself was reasonably hi-tech. Each table (10 people) had a Mac iBook connected on a wireless network to a Think Tank near the stage. As we Solved World Hunger, our ideas were passed to this group which cut-and-pasted them into a presentation, offering near-immediate gratification.

The session leaders were David Campt and Julia Sullivan; they did a commendable job staying on their feet the entire time. Many of the attendees (37%) were Hispanic; several accepted the offer of earpieces for a Spanish translation (see also: Avance Dallas). We were handed wireless "voting gadgets" which had a USB interface at the top; the thing was called an "OpinionCounterIQ" (sadly, I didn't think to take a photo of it).

Random stuff:
0- Texas is the 6th fattest state; 63% of Texans are overweight or obese.
1- 35% of school-age children are overweight or obese; only 11% attend PE [Physical Education] classes.
2- David Campt (session leader) said that overweight Americans will die 19 years early, on average.
3- an upcoming TV show is due to be broadcast here on May 27th (channel 11); "The Biggest Generation" will be a good thing to TiVo.
4- Coming soon (April 27th): Bike & Walk to School day. Yeah, like parents will leave their SUVs at home to escort Junior to school. Right.
5- The Cooper Institute has program called "Promoting healthy behaviors in children"

Other speakers:
6- Bradie James (a Dallas Cowboy);
7- Alex Wolens - the mayor's 15-year old daughter;
8- Terry Wade regarding Marathon Kids (Richardson ISD);
9- Dr LeAnn Kridelbaugh, of the Dallas Area Coalition to Prevent Childhood Obesity (probably an offering of Children's Medical Center of Dallas)

Metroplex Mystery

There must've been something going on today; many stores were closed and the parking lots were empty. Maybe there'll be a story about this in tomorrow's paper?

Judy-Bob and I started the day at Kirin Court (Richardson, dim sum) which was packed, as usual. Ran into Billy Bob and Lay Wah Bob on the way out. Next, we stopped at Sarah Bakery (Richardson, Islamic grocery/bakery/restaurant) for some pistachio baklava; Medjool dates; baba ghanouj (ghanoush/ghanoosh); and a can of Unium's "Luncheon Loaf" (looks suspiciously like Spam®, but without the pork). Then, it was off to scan some photos for a promotional thing that J-B's doing, then back to watch To Kill A Mockingbird (1962), followed by a little TiVo. At about 10pm, I realized that I was supposed to go to Plano to see Trish-Bob, but I suspect she had her hands full with a visiting FIL and her new friend, the walking cane.

All in all, it was a productive day. If only I can figure out why the parking lots (except movie theatres) were empty, and why the highways were unusually free of vehicles. Maybe the Dallas Cowboys were playing, although I thought they were officially out of the playoffs. Hmmm.

.. with Jethro Bodine at the helm

Yes, I'll admit it: Wal-Mart makes me laugh. I'm not talking about their stores, I'm talking about their incompetence in Public Relations. I haven't been inside a Wal-Mart in probably 10+ years. When I'm in need of something they're selling, I go to SuperTarget instead. Target's stores are cleaner, they don't look like a warehouse, and the staff actually has a clue which way is up. Not to mention, their politics are all wrong .. 78% of Wal-Mart's political contributions back President Quagmire's regime.

Full disclosure: Target's percentage is even worse (83%) but the contribution was much lower: $181,060 versus $1,354,790.

I laugh at Wal-Mart partly because of this morning's New York Times article; it seems Wal-Mart's so afraid of Robert Greenwald's new movie ("Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price") that they commissioned their own propaganda film called "Why Wal-Mart Works & Why That Makes Some People Crazy" (directed by Ron Galloway - I guess Leni Riefenstahl wasn't available). The former film will be showing here in Dallas [14/11 at the FunAsia theatre in Richardson], but it's sponsored by the local AirAmerica group that banned me, so I'll have to find a viewing at someone's home that week (November 13-19).

There's now an official Wal-Mart War Room which has hired image consultants from both Clinton and Reagan's campaigns: fascinating.

Conspiracy time: curiously, today's Dallas Managed News (print edition only) has an article (Maria Halkias' "Wal-Mart's urban push") that says that Metroplexers spend 31% of our consumable goods dollars at Wal-Mart, leading all major cities. Wal-Mart claims a 27% share of the local grocery market, well past Kroger and Tom Thumb who have 15% each and are tied for second.

For what it's worth: they're building another Wal-Mart SuperCenter a few miles from me (not sure when it's due to open), and I won't be shopping there, either.

zero, zip, nada

What I didn't do this weekend: much of anything. I think I read some newspapers and tossed the remnants in the recycle bin. And I appear to have made a dent in The Pile that started to gather on my desk. I think I finally got around to watching The Emmys (thank you, TiVo) .. but, in hindsight, I can't recall making a Significant Contribution to the Future of the Human Race. Maybe next weekend?

Heck, I didn't even mosey over to the Cottonwood Art Festival (held at Cottonwood Park) in nearby Richardson. I've always enjoyed moseying under the trees, seeing the well-behaved canines with their owners, sampling the culinary delights that are common to street fairs, and even watching the scores of people taking their time to see (and buy) ART. Alas, it'll be back in six months; maybe I can try again?

Aside: did I ever mention the Rocket Scientists in the Dallas Parks Department who named one of their neighborhood playgrounds "Cottonwood Park"? If I didn't know better, I'd say they did so to confuse The Great Huddled Masses, since Richardson has a much bigger and nicer park (with the same name) about one mile away. Nah, that would infer a conspiracy. And that doesn't happen in America.

the joys of Sherman

I was wandering along Sherman Street in Richardson tonight, and found two things of note:

One: Sarah Bakery & Restaurant had a lot of cars outside, which stood out in this faux-warehouse district. If you can believe the comments, their Middle Eastern Cuisine is tasty, but the guy who runs the cash register is rude and obnoxious. Perhaps he's the guy who used to own Goff's Burgers before they moved across Hillcrest from SMU?

Two: this is an easy way to get to Kirin Court (Richardson's dim sum Chinese restaurant on the 2nd floor, southwest corner of Polk and Sherman - nearest freeway exit is 75-Central and Beltline).

Unrelated # sqrt(-1): In the "gotta git me one of them" department: The War on Terror T-shirt, Unix Geek Style. Priceless!

Unrelated # N/0: Yes, of course I updated the Sundry on Thursday blog. Do you think I'd leave you holding your breath?

Books, the dog

Last night, I wandered over to Nerdbooks.com in Richardson, to catch up on the local Unix user group. When I first became aware of the group, they were meeting at the SGI office (which no longer exists) near LBJ-635 and Preston. Then, for several years, they met in the basement of a JC Penney building (which is being sold) near LBJ-635 and Coit. Now, they're meeting in a bookstore near 75-Central and Campbell.

As far as bookstores go, NerdBooks isn't a bad place. While I'm sure the bulk of their business is conducted via the web, Nerdbooks(.com) is a place where you can go inside and wander the aisles, sit down and read-before-buying, and then go to one of their kiosks and buy the book online (to get the web discount!). I even spotted a soda dispenser where one's thirst can be quenched while geeking out.

Also, I have high regard for any bookstore where a Dog is allowed to wander freely. The chocolate Lab(rador Retriever) who calls Nerdbooks home is named Books. Perhaps a better name would've been Biff, but that reference would be lost on 99.486% of the people. Books, the Dog is friendly, yet (like Beta the Wonder Dog) gravitates toward anyone who has food. At the Unix meetings, pizza is always available; some traditions continue for years. An annual $12 fee buys you as much guilt-free pizza as you can stuff in your face. Ah, life is good.

The last time I saw A Dog In A Bookstore (before last night) was when I'd go to Opamp Technical Books (Los Angeles) and would have to step over the sleeping dog ("Let Sleeping Does Lie") to find the manuscript of my choice. I never learned that dog's name; he was a German Shepherd Dog and was probably named Hans or Franz or something equally Deutsch.

The only other hi-tech bookstore I like in the Metroplex is the one inside MicroCenter (75-Central at Spring Valley) which is near Texas Instruments. The one at Fry's Electronics is laughable in comparison to both Nerdbooks and MicroCenter, unless you consider an entire aisle dedicated to "Dummies" books worthy of your time (granted, it's amusing to see titles as varied as Wine for Dummies; Sex for Dummies; Lawncare for Dummies (you get the idea ...)).

quit fooling! who said that?

July 27 (Wednesday): am late for an evening, informal meeting. waddle into the bathroom, put left contact lens in eye. remove right lens, watch as it pops under the lens strainer. attempt to gently coax it to the surface. dreadful feeling as I watch the lens go down the drain, literally. decide not to attend meeting.

July 28 (Thursday): it's been 15 months since my last eye exam. decide to change from an optometrist in Plano to an opthalmologist in Richardson. call office, advise i'm a new patient. was told next available appointment is Thursday, August 11. i mention the reason i'm calling is due to lost contact lens. Hmm .. within seconds I'm told that they can see me Monday morning at 9am. go figure.

August 1 (Monday): eye exam is mostly uneventful, save for one itsy-bitsy detail: doc says i'm borderline for glaucoma. mom has it (the drug Xalatan was the clue .. a fact I'd stored on my ever-present PDA) and I'm nearsighted, so I'm "at risk". Bloody splendid. My eye pressure is 24 mm Hg but this could be a fluke; he wants to retest next week. He's aghast that the Plano doc didn't pick up on it. We did the dilation thing, took some eyeball photos, and (after signing a form to allow release of my records) doc says he'll get my prior retina/cornea/whetever photos for comparison. I leave, wearing a pair of those fashionable plastic-film sunglasses atop my glasses (post-dilation, the eyes are very light sensitive).

August 3 (Wednesday): doc's office calls my cell, leaves a message. I often go days between checking cellphone v-mail but today's an exception. replacement contact lens has arrived. I can go out in public again without the Coke™ bottles: woo hoo. Am now reading what I can (pre-Braille) about glaucoma, hoping to Ace The Test next week. If not, will investigate having Beta retrained to be a Seeing Eye Dog.

Hard to believe

A few days ago, the guy whose Toyota was rear-ended on Campbell Road left a message on my cell, calling to say thanks, and to advise that the Richardson Police caught up with the driver of the (mostly blue) Land Yacht.

Hard to believe, but .. he didn't have insurance. I know, I know .. you'd think that a responsible guy like that would have The Best Possible Insurance Policy, but .. in this case .. you'd be mistaken.

The mirror is often a good friend.

As any student of real Chinese food knows, fortune cookies are an American addition (abomination?) to the cuisine. But, there I was, feeding on dim sum at midnight Friday, and was presented with a fortune cookie at the end. Mine read "The mirror is often a good friend" (in bed). These originated from a factory in Houston, and included the obligatory sets of lottery numbers on the back.

As far as I know, Lucky House Restaurant (1301 Custer @ 15th Street in Plano) is the only area place that serves dim sum outside the 11am-3pm Window Of Opportunity. And yes, they serve it waaay outside the normal window. Granted, this place is small -- nothing like Kirin Court or Maxim's (Richardson) or Arc en Ciel (Garland) -- so the dim sum is ordered a la cart .. even if there aren't roving carts prowling the aisles with Chinese delicacies. Having a "dim sum menu" was odd, but it seemed to work.

Lucky House is near a 24-hour McDonalds and an Albertsons grocery, so maybe 15th & Custer in Plano is where the Late Night action happens up there. Outside (trendy) downtown Plano, natch.

hit and run in Richardson

After a mid-afternoon of dim sum sampling, Judy Bob and I were en route Target when I noticed an old blue Land Yacht (1970s-era Buick|Oldsmobile) with a distinctive yellow hood .. and a companion yellow airscoop the size of Des Moines .. driving north on the 75-Central frontage road. I didn't think much of it at the time, other than it looking peculiar.

We turned west on Campbell and proceeded a half mile or so, before watching the "Yacht Owner" (in another lane) ram a Toyota (Cressida?) from behind at about 38 mph, in what appeared to be an unprovoked act (other than the fact the car was in front of him). We could see the driver, who wasn't fist-pounding angry .. it was just bizarre.

Fortunately, the Toyota's driver wasn't hurt and his car didn't appear to be damaged (good thing for plastic fenders). I called this into Richardson 911 who began searching for the Land Yacht. I wonder if the gent was impaired (drunk/drugged) at the time? After the ramming, he proceeded west on Campbell at a high rate of speed, and we didn't see him again.

This car is unique - and it shouldn't be hard for the police to find it. Lesson learned: if you plan to ram someone from behind, make sure you don't do it in the middle of a clear Sunday afternoon in a distinctive Land Yacht. Yeh, that's the lesson.

language barrier in Richardson

We fed at the Caravelle Restaurant in Richardson (in the China Town center on Upper Greenville) tonight. Cuisine is Chinese/Vietnamese. Boocoo choices (over 250). I had "Four Family" which consists of beef/pork/chicken/shrimp with garlic'ky noodles: yum. The "decor" of the place is PINK with a couple chandeliers. There was a bit of a language barrier, but that's usually a good sign, right?

burger battle in Big D

Sometimes, the spirit of competition makes businesses do unnatural things. A recent price comparison has made me aware of their other competitors, when I otherwise wouldn't have noticed.

Recently, I stopped at Burger Street (probably for a cherry limeade - yum) and got their usual Comment Postcard with my order. Along with this was a chart comparing their burger (1/3 pound = 5.3 oz), French fries and milkshake prices with no less than 15 competitors. Naturally, their comparison shows they have the lowest price for a "combo meal" among everyone:

6.37 Burger Street
7.89 JC's Burger
8.25 Ball's Hamburgers (8 oz)
8.28 Purdy's Richardson
8.45 JG's Burger
8.47 Steak n Shake (6 oz)
8.65 Gazeebo Burger
8.95 Fuddrucker's
9.13 Chips
9.23 Chuck's Hamburgers (7 oz)
9.24 EZ's Burger
9.20 Cheeburger Cheeburger
9.28 Purdy's Addison
9.32 Scotty P's (6 oz)
10.75 Snuffers (8 oz)
10.97 Chili's (7 oz)

The ones in bold are the ones I've patronized.

Their chart doesn't contain the usual "4 point type" legal disclaimer, so I'm left to wonder:

how do the portion sizes compare? ...
1) French fries?
2) milkshakes?

what about the nutrition in the ...
3) hamburger?
4) French fries?
5) milkshake?

6) what about the type oil used for the fries? Can you say "transfat"?

7) what about the condiments on the burger? are they normalized with the same amount and quality of lettuce, pickles, onions, tomatoes, ketchup, mustard?

8) are all the buns made of nutrition-challenged white bread? do they contain poppy seeds, which could make me test positive on a drug test?

9) do the milkshakes contain all sorts of unnatural ingredients whose sole purpose is to increase shelf life (while making the shake taste like a soggy bowl of cornflakes)?

Lessons learned

0) A lot of places sell burgers.

1) It's cheaper to eat in Richardson (than Addison). The price difference must be due to the ambiance.

2) I need to check out Ball's Hamburgers (Midway @ Northwest Highway, or Snider Plaza) because they have a bigger (8 ounce) burger at a good price, and we Americans have been trained to seek out the best value. Was that what Burger Street was trying to tell me?

3) By omission, they're telling me who they don't view as competitors: the national/regional burger chains! Nowhere did they say anything about Burger King; Denny's; Jack in the Box; McDonalds; Wendy's or Whataburger. Nor did they mention the King of Cheap Burgers: 7-11 Stores. Hmm. Nor did they mention Jill-Bob's favorite: Addison Pointe (must be that ambiance thing again).

boom goes the dynamite

Sunday, JB and I moseyed over to Kirin Court in Richardson for some dim sum. This is the place that was formerly called Hong Kong Royale; it sits on the 2nd story, near 75-Central (about one block south of Beltline). We munched (?) on octopus; scallops; shrimp and clams; in addition to the usual pot sticker fare. There was also a semi-dessert which was some barbecued meat surrounded by a fluffy bread dough. Needless to say (?) the clientele was almost all Asian and the signs identifying the foods were written in Chinese. The prices were quite reasonable, even if the parking could stand improvement:

which means (in theory):

Attention
Please do not park in the parking lots of our neighbors. They will enforce towing on their properties. Thank you for your co-operation. -Management

We spent the remainder of the day watching movies: Paris, Texas (1984) (clearly one of the most bubbly films of all time) and then Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle (2004) (a highbrow documentary, also of epic proportions). What can I say, but .. boom goes the dynamite!

Speaking of dynamite, the nearest White Castle (aka The WC Lounge) appears to be in St Louis, a mere 637 miles away (the Nashville location is 23 miles further). Anyone up for a road trip?

Mochi-Mochi, ya'll

Have I inadvertently created a monster? I introduced Judy-Bob to Mikawaya's Mochi Ice Cream this weekend (I had some Green Tea flavor at home) and now she's addicted! I found it at May Hua in Plano, but Hong Kong Market Place (Walnut @ Audelia) also carries it. Best I can tell, Asia World Market in Richardson doesn't carry any ice cream. I haven't spotted Mochi in any of the non-Asian groceries yet, but I'll check from time to time.

Chance of finding Mochi at Wal-Mart: Z-E-R-O.

Trips to Asian grocery stores are entertaining; if nothing else, it opens your eyes to a world that doesn't revolve around the red meats that the American diet has devolved into; this diet's still centered around fish: fresh, frozen, or dried. Just stay away from the durian: pee-yew!

No sign yet of urchin-flavored ice cream, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

I've always liked the taste of lychee, but like anything else, if I consume it too often, the taste gets old. So, I picked up some "lychee pudding" (which is nothing like chocolate pudding); lychee yogurt; and a can of lychee drink. I decided against the lychee gummy (something like individually wrapped Gummy Bears), thinking I might overdose.

Unrelated: I stopped by North Haven Gardens (on Northaven -- only one H -- Road) to pick up some dried molasses. I will experiment with it this season, for fire ant control. Could Gene-Bob be going organic, whole hog? Stranger things have happened.

it's a long (Seg)way from Oklahoma

I spotted five (5!) Segway® Human Transporters in Richardson this morning, as I made my way south from a rendezvous with Todd-Bob at Starbucks (the one at Coit/Spring Creek in Plano). Seems the City of Richardson closed northbound Coit Road to hold a Christmas Parade, and I'm guessing those Segways were one of the "floats".

The city's website included this one-line explanation:

The Christmas parade starts at 9 am on Saturday Dec. 4th traveling the streets of Promenade then north on Coit RD to Melrose.

No clue why those five Segways broke from the parade and were heading south (toward Dallas) but I was surprised to see them here at all (in the land of pickups and SUVs).

What I could see of the parade (as I moseyed south on Coit) was typical small-town: lots of pickup trucks and a few haywagons converted into floats, and a marching band or two. The sidewalk crowd was very light (probably related to the bone-chilling 50F weather); I'm not sure how many years they've held this parade. Today is the first one I've ever heard of!

anyhoo .. back to those odd-for-Texas contraptions: Segway's website says there's a dealer in Houston (about 250 miles south), but the nearest one is in Oklahoma City (about 200 miles north). Wonder how long it took those Segways to "drive" those 200 miles, and how they found enough sidewalks for that distance? Hmmm.

9 December update: the Segway FAQ says that top speed is 12.5 miles/hour. The range for most models is 8-12 miles (only 6-10 on the p Series), and the recharge takes 4-6 hours. Given that, my NapkinMath™ says it would take about 4.5 days (110 hours) to "drive" a Segway from Oklahoma City to Dallas, assuming I could recharge it in 5 hours, every 10 miles. Or maybe I could make it in 20 hours, assuming I could (a) carry 19 spare/charged battery packs or (b) use solar power (not offered)

circuit boards looking for a good home

I called a few local recyclers, trying to find one who's willing to take some electronic components off my hands. All are prehistoric relics that have no business becoming part of the water supply. I thought that Recycled Computers International (located in nearby Carrollton) would work, but they'll only accept stuff from businesses, not individuals.

One of the aliases I'm on mentioned First Saturday which I've never been to. Then someone else chimed in, suggesting other places with used computer parts (who may presumably be willing to take this stuff off my hands):

Universal Technologys [sic]
11508 Reeder Rd Ste 112
Dallas TX 75229
972-247-4469

Electronics Discount Sales
908 E Pioneer Pkwy
Arlington TX 76010
and
4070 N Beltline Rd
Irving TX 76034

Computer Junction: Richardson
1730 N Greenville Ave
Richardson TX

Tech Computer Service: Dallas
laptop and printer repairs

Tanner Electronics
1100 Valwood Pkwy Ste 100
Carrollton TX 75006
972-242-8702

22 December 2004 update: Anne Kandra wrote an article for the January 2005 (print) edition of PC World titled "A Computer Is a Terrible Thing to Waste" which has some good pointers to computer recycling. Places that are New To Me include the National Recycling Coalition and TechSoup.

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For those of you who haven't been able to sleep since last week, be advised that the Sundry on Thursday blog is now updated. Please put down your gravy ladles and resume eating leftover turkey.