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GRAFFITI -- April 05, 2004 thru April 11, 2004>> Link to the Current Week <<Last Week << Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun >> Next Week Welcome to Orb Graffiti, a place for me to write daily about life and computers. Contrary to popular belief, the two are not interchangeable. About eMail - I publish email sometimes. If you send me an email and you want privacy or anonymity, please say so clearly at the beginning of your message. |
 
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April 5, 2004
0722 - Good morning. We had a nice day yesterday, given the unseasonably cold and blustery weather. Marcia, Karen and Ron went off to church for a couple of hours early, then came back to build a brunch. Then we headed out and around the beltway, arriving at Arlington National Cemetary shortly after noon. An incredible place, really. I've got simply oodles of photos and a little commentary to go with them, but I didn't have the energy to do anything with them last night, so you'll have to be patient on that front.
We drove home through the District, heading up and out through Chevy Chase and Bethesda to meet the beltway and return home about 1615. Popped the turkey into oven, and everyone took a nap. Well, I didn't, but might as well have, for all that I got done. I'm fighting yet another light ear ache. Fortunately, I caught this one early with ibuprofen and decongestants, so it's already abating by this morning. Back to the events. When the bird was done, we had a quick supper, then Marcia and Karen went off to a screening of The Passion of the Christ. Ron and I read a bit, then watched most of the second Women's Final Four game. Some good play there, and we've now got U. Conn in the Championship game on both sides of the divide - for the women this would be their third in a row.
I've got a busy day at NERDS central planned, so I'd best be about it. Don't forget you're running an hour late already... You DID set your clock forward an hour yesterday, here in the US, right? Have a great day!
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April 6, 2004
1951 - Good evening. Not the best of days, not the worst by a long shot. A good day at work, a near miss of an accident coming home that whacked both wheels on one side of the car, and finally Lucy looned up on me when we were playing growlly ball and caught me in the jaw and lip. So Lucy isn't a growlly ball dog. Now I know. Anyway, I'll process some of Marcia's pictures from the last couple of days and get those up tomorrow morning. After that I'll be headed over to the wheel place to get a couple of rims, tires and alignment. Money I'd rather not spend, but that's life. Have a good evening.
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April 7, 2004
0706 - Good morning. I'm going online in a moment to find someone to take care of my car for me. But first, here are some pictures from the last couple of days with Marcia's touristing about the Capitol with Karen and Ron.
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Above, Marcia caught the Capitol building with the Sun right above, so the snap looks like a Saturn V is attempting a vertical landing on the dome. That one was from Monday. Yesterday, they apparently started at the far end of the Mall, and quickly visited the Jefferson Memorial. I mean quickly as in soon after arrival as opposed to finished quickly and moved on, as Marcia gave perhaps 25% of her pictures to this one subject.
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Above, leaving the Jefferson Memorial, you can see perhaps the best shot of the copious quantities of cherry blossoms available for photographing at this late date in the season. That is, the blossoms hit their peak last Thursday, and it's all downhill from there. Then, a shot of the Washington Monument from across the tidal basin caught my eye, followed by the last of the obsession with Jefferson. Then, among the cherry trees, our intrepid explorers came across the FDR Monument, and a lovely waterfall sculpture therein.
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Within the FDR Memorial are four areas (or rooms), reflecting each of his terms in office. Among the features are bronzes of Eleanor, and of FDR. Towards the end of their walking tour yesterday, Marcia got this last lovely snap of the White House from the south.
That's all the time I have for now. I'll try to get another batch of pictures up later this week or over the weekend, to help y'all complete your virtual tour of the US capital. Now, go have a good day.
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April 8, 2004
0740 - Good morning. Marcia and our lucky guests are continuing to benefit from some of the nicest weather we've had in months. This will be the fourth clear, sunny day in a row. And while Monday was relatively chilly, it's gotten warmer each day. Yay for them.
It took nearly three hours yesterday morning to get the car up on the rack, identify the problems, and find the parts locally before they could quote me on repairs. The quote was pleasantly low, but the parts won't be here until today, so I'll be using the Santa Fe to deliver Marcia, Karen and Ron to Metro, then toddle on to work. The other expensive issue is the rims. The left two were rendered unbalanceable, so I picked up the last two of those at a local dealership and dropped them off at the repair place. Finally, it was time for new front tires anyway, and one of the rears was damaged against that curb, so I busted for four new Michelins. All in all, it's a good chunk more than I'd really like to be spending before I have to send money to the IRS next week, but it doesn't break the bank. Life goes on.
Mike asked last night "What happened?" I was trailing a silver Accord at about 25-30 miles per hour in a yield/merge onto the south end of 564. As he reached the end of the merge area, he slowed and pulled off the roadway. Then suddenly he swung his front end out in the beginnings of a U-turn. By then I was well outside of him, and about one and a half car lengths back. I wasn't going to be stopping, and I didn't have a hope of cutting back right and slipping behind him. There was (fortunately) no oncoming traffic in the other direction, so I swung hard left, then hard right, to clear his nose. I made it, but whacked both left side rims hard on the curb at the far side of the road. No body impact at all, as both rims hit simultaneously. If I'd had 6" more roadway, I'd have made it clean. Anyway, the schmuck saw me stop in the E-lane up ahead, then completed his U-turn and sped off. I didn't catch the tags. But the front control arm and both rear control arms were bent, the rear quite badly. Sigh.
Okay, enough dwelling... I've got a new machine to install, and bunches of updates to apply to other machines at a client site. But first I've got to drop the tourists off. So I must be moving on. Have a great day!
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April 9, 2004
0645 - Good morning. The car's back and fixed - the local Sears Auto does very good work. Now, unfortunately, it's time for me to go do very good work, too. So I'll leave you to your own devices, enjoy your Friday.
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April 10, 2004
0911 - Good morning. Marcia set the alarm for 3:30 to get up and drive Karen and Ron to the airport. In hindsight, we're pretty sure that she set the alarm for PM instead of AM. Karen woke us at 4, and we hopped out of bed, into our clothes and into the truck in record time, me stopping only to grab a cola on the way out through the kitchen. And still we got them to the airport on schedule at 0430. Thank goodness for little to no traffic.
We were back in bed by 0500, and slept until just a few minutes ago, when Lucy reminded us that she likes her breakfast at breakfast time, and we were pushing the envelope. Looking at the forecast, I think I'd best get out there and do a bit of lawn maintenance before the rain comes in. Have a great day, I'll check back in later.
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April 11, 2004
0843 - Wow, I've been wasting time. Good morning. I found myself ensnared at photo.net for the better part of the last hour. I ended up at photo.net via a link from Jon Udell's site, landing there by a Google search on references for my next topic right here: Rick Hellewell. Why research Rick? Well, he's the latest addition to the Daynotes.org/.net site and deserves a better intro than I can give him off the top of my head. But instead of doing that thoughtful research, I've been looking at pretty pictures, so I guess I'll let Rick introduce himself:
My wife and I live in a nice house in a suburb outside of Sacramento, California (USA). My oldest daughter is married, with two cute children of her own, as you will learn by visiting often. My son lives nearby, and is very creative with music and video on his computers. My youngest daughter is at college in Idaho, aiming for an RN and Bachelors degree in Nursing.
I work for a governmental agency in Sacramento as the Senior Information Security Officer. I've co-written several computer books (mostly out of print now), and a fictional story about the collapse of the Internet, called "Digital Choke".
And he always writes such interesting questions. He's been a constant correspondent to many of the Gang over the last few years, and he's been writing his own Daynotes for over 16 months now, starting on December 30, 2002. There, that's enough of a push, you're on your own now, to see how Rick's writing and his site design have evolved over the last 16 months.
When I left you yesterday, I was headed out to do lawn maintenance. I did that, for about 4 hours. I assaulted the dandylions in the front, one at a time, a trashbag full. Then, just to have something to do that didn't involve crouching, I mowed the back 40. Then I came inside to collapse for a bit ... but I didn't do that. Instead, after a few fits and starts, I went and got a copy of Xandros Linux. I've heard some good things about this distribution, and wanted to see for myself. Let me tell you - first impressions of this distribution are marvelous. It installed with very little input from me, and just works. Connections to network resources like printers and Windows Shares just works too. There are a couple of outstanding issues to discuss there, and a full review to write, but I think I'll need to have Bob try this one out shortly.
Now it's time to get ready to shop. Have a great day - Happy Easter.
Do a friend a favor and stake that Tax Collector out on the anthill.
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Visit the rest of the DAYNOTES GANG, a collection of bright minds and sharp wits. Really, I don't know why they tolerate me <grin>. My personal inspiration for these pages is Dr. Jerry Pournelle. I am also indebted to Bob Thompson and Tom Syroid for their patience, guidance and feedback. Of course, I am sustained by and beholden to my lovely wife, Marcia. You can find her online too, at http://www.dutchgirl.net/. Thanks for dropping by.
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