Realization

I'm four years younger than my father was when he died.  I wonder how he felt when he was my age?  Did he feel middle-aged, like me?

Stocks

My daughter tells me that she's enjoying a finance course, so we're going to do a little exercise. 

She's going to pick two or three stocks that she likes, write down why, note the value of each on a given day, then track them for a month or so.  At the end, if she's 'earned' money, I'll give it to her, and if she's 'lost' it, I'll take it from her bank account. 

This is my way of making it a little more real. She likes it.

Lending

Why is it so awkward to lend a large amount of money to people who need it?  Okay, I guess I know the answer, but still.....man.

Certainly, it's the kind of thing that people like us never do, usually can't do;  in fact its effectively a deux ex machina arriving to solve an intractable problem, and we know how often those occur.

The impulse is to make the offer once, and, if rejected, to drop it. Well, we tried. Because, if they take it, what then? What do you do?  Go on with life as if the offer was trivial? Ignoring it would feel as if the act is being taken for granted; talking about it would feel like you're required to be constantly thankful on the one side, or constantly wanting to be thanked, on the other.  It would be the elephant in the room -- can't joke about it, can't make passing reference to it.You might want to know if things are still okay between you - are we cool? - but you can't without alluding to the elephant. Better to not even offer.  After all, its not as if they expect it.

And yet - a good friend might have to change her life plans because of something that we can help to fix. Isn't it worth the awkwardness to try?

Fluxed

If you don't know what this is, it would be difficult for us to be friends.  Not impossible, just difficult.

Environmental Awareness

Being surrounded by hundreds, thousands of excited teen girls - sounds good, right?

Not necessarily.....

The Choice

[koff]

Got up a little earlier than usual this morning so that I could go for a walk with my wife.  Made breakfast, settled down at the table with her.  Took one bite,  started coughing and sneezing.

Oh, come on - cold season is here already???

Speaking

Sometimes the engineer in me -- he's very small, and spends most of his time looking for a lost pocket protector -- thinks that I should chart out the times when I feel like French is a waste of time, just so I can see if it comes in cycles.  And then I think I could know that a the-hell-with-this is arriving on the 4:03 from Tulsa tomorrow, and I wouldn't be able to do a thing to change it.  I know that the optimists would say oh but then you could PREPARE yourself, surround yourself with GOOD things, build up an emotional barricade to sustain yourself until you start seeing some positive stuff again.

To which I say Get back in your rabbit hole and let me be. 

I know that the only way to improve is to try, continually.  I do know that. 

Sleepless

Couldn't sleep, so I got up to do some reading, and along the way decided to do a little DuoLingo.  I should have stayed in bed.

"They are able to/They can" is Ils peuvent" (or Elles peuvent).

Ils is They, masculine plural, Elles is They, feminine plural.

Ils is pronounced Eeel. Elles is pronounced Ell. 

Peuvent is 'are able to' or 'can' - 3rd person plural.

Peuvent is pronounced Puhv.

So Ils peuvent is pronounced Eeel puhv.  Elles peuvent is pronounced Ell puhv.

I have known for almost two years that you do not pronounce the 'ent' ending of a verb. I know this.

And yet I still want to pronounce those Eeel poovent and Ell poovent.

I need to start studying more.

French, jamaica me crazy.

Reading, More

Waiting at the library for my wife, I picked up a thick book titled Brave Genius - A Scientist, A Philosopher, and Their Daring Adventures from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize.

How good is it?

I sat and read thirty pages.  And learned a little about history while I was at it, such as what actually happened in the Sudetenland negotiations, and why did the French think that the Maginot Line was such a great idea?  Interesting stuff.

On one hand, I think how relevant is this in an age of terrorism and infowar?  On the other, it's really well written.... and its got France as a backdrop.  And you know (probably) how I feel about France!

Reading

You know that you like a book when you start looking for fan fiction about it, even given how horrible (except to the authors) most fanfic is.

That's what Tour of the Merrimack is making me do.  I am eying the ever-decreasing pages to be read with dismay.

Relationships

Apparently, a good friend of mine is going to continue a relationship with a married guy, because he's very, very nice, very very smart, very very interesting, and because he makes her feel good about herself.   They're not taking it all the way, mostly because he's married, but they are not stopping, either.

I feel so badly.  I wish I could do more for her than just point out problems or suggest alternatives, knowing that in that situation, an alternative is weak beer, at best.  I mean, she loves this guy, and apparently, he loves her just as much.  He needs her, and she needs him.  Clearly. (She showed me notes from and to him, which is how I know.)

He's just, you know - married.

Pleasures of the Void

There is a certain pleasure in discovering that you actually have more money than you thought, because, as it turns out,  you'd recorded one transaction twice.

Photo, Finished

Preparing for my trip in October, I thought I need to buy a camera, the class said to bring one, I don't want to bring the 'real' one, and my phone has, at best, a suggestion of a camera which functions only slightly better than having a pen-and-ink drawing whipped up by the cabin boy.  (Its an old cell phone.  So old, it could have a crank and a mouthpiece.)  So I'm looking at cameras, and, what the heck, looking at new phones, because, hey, if I'm thinking of spending the money anyway, why not look at getting better overall functionality, right?

Then my wife said doesn't that phone that we use for overseas trips have a camera?  And it does.  Not as snappy as the new phones, but lightyears better than my regular cell phone.  So, good. I'm happy.

And then yesterday I was hunting in my daughter's room for something and saw a small camera on her bookshelf. Small enough to drop into a pocket, any pocket. Where'd this camera come from?  Oh, I found it while I was cleaning out under her bed. So I email the offspring.  Does this work? Can I have it? And she replies Yeah, it works, I forgot about it, sure, you can use it. 

So now I have two for the trip.  More than enough.  But it does make me wonder - what else do we have lying around that we've forgotten about? 

Wordiness

I came across a fascinating article from the Financial Times.  I know: unless you're a quant, the FT is not known for gripping reading. My GOD Consley!  Did you see this piece in the FT on derivative pricing?  Oh, yass, Chartwell!  It was so exciting, I damned near wet myself in the limo!

But this article, on the subject of the correlation between the number of words/types of words used to decribe food, and the perceived value of the food, is actually pretty interesting.  Short form:  Big words, many syllables?  Is Good.  Short words, few syllable? Is Junk (which may actually be the eater's goal).

Priorities

I've heard it said that no matter who you are, how tough, how powerful, if a little kid hands you a toy telephone, you will pretend to answer it.  Certainly, in my experience, that's been true -- but I have an additional one.

It doesn't matter how much you just want to get to sleep -- if a cat curls up in your lap and starts to purr as you stroke it -- you will be there longer than you expected.

Spare Time

For years, I would spend spare time writing in this blog.   Most of it was just stream of conciousness, or talking about something that I'd found interesting.  Lately - pretty much starting when I started to take studying French seriously - it seems like I don't write very often.  However, the expected outcry hasn't arrived, so I guess that's okay.

Two weeks ago, we had some French friends visit with us.  I had been very hyped up about their visit -- I was literally planning in January for their arrival in July.  Once they were here, it seemed as if they'd been here before, because they fitted right into our home.  Of course, I don't know how they actually felt about it, but they certainly seemed to be having a good time, and I know that we were.  I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get to cook as much for them as I had wanted -- between things taking them away, eating out, and travel, we only had about half the meals that I expected to make. (And yes, I had a list of what I wanted to cook, when.) But that was the worst of it. Overall, we're glad that they came.

They did offer to let me stay in their house (they live in a different location during the week).  I'm not seriously considering it, because it would be impractical -- but I have to admit that I'm charmed by the thought.  As it is, I'm going to France in October to attend a one week total-immersion course on the French language, and then staying for another to visit with some friends - so the thought has occurred to me that staying for another week, or two, would be easy to do.  Won't -- but I'll want to.

Daughter's back in school.  Always pleased when she is home, but, truthfully, also pleased when she's back in school. Life gets quieter -- even though we do get the occasional email about hey, they're going to have a study abroad in New Zealand, wouldn't that be cool? Yes, it would.  You paying?

Visitors

For the past ten days, more or less, we had a French family living with us. 

We tried our best to make their trip memorable, taking them to Baltimore (they loved the Aquarium, were disappointed by the major league baseball game being rained out), having group photos taken (just them, their daughter and us, and the whole group), going out to dinner at very nice restaurant, lending them our car so that they could visit friends of theirs, and, at the end, taking them to New York City, where I spent three days with them, going to the Statue of Liberty, the World Trade Center Memorial (a punch to the brain and the heart), the Empire State Building (very nice but very long lines), and other places.  I knew they liked to walk, but I had forgotten how much -- I bailed on one little jaunt where they walked around midtown Manhattan for about three hours.  When they got back to the hotel, they said that they were exhausted -- and would be ready to go out to dinner in fifteen minutes.  Which they were.

When their daughter was with us, four years ago, she was a cute adolescent.  Now she has blossomed (insert suggestive eye roll here).  I knew that girls/women's fashions included underwear that was meant to be seen, so when I could easily see the sparkles on her pink bra, I wasn't too surprised.  But when I realized that she intended to wear it so that about half of her breasts (no, not 'the right one or the left one') was visible, I was astonished.  She's a very attractive young woman, and she apparently believes 'if you've got it, flaunt it'.  She does, and she did.  I was made a little uneasy by the display.  Some of it was that I was worried what signal she was sending, in Manhattan.  Then I remembered that her mother would refer to the girl's brother as 'her bodyguard', and noticed that yes, most of the time he was walking very close to her.  He's about six two. 

We were all very glad that they had come..  The only downside is that I noticed a slight change in my speech patterns -- when I was with them and needed to say Yes, No, More, or something like that, to a store clerk -- I said it in French.  Our visitors were highly amused.

Reading

I bought John Scalzi's Old Man's War not expecting much. The book turned out to be a one trick pony in terms of what made the title plausible, but the writing was good, and when I learned that there was a second book, I picked it up warily.  It was better than the original. Then I found that there was a third book,  and I picked it up too, a little more quickly.



Yesterday I saw the latest book in the series, The Human Division, had come out. I immediately picked it up. I didn't even look at it. I just picked it up. And now I am reading it.



I keep thinking get better please get better please get better.

France

Friends living in the center of France have offered to let me live with them during the winter and spring, if I want.  No charge.  They don't live at home during the week, so the house is empty, and since they know I'd like to live in France at least part of the year, they offered.  I could use the house as a base to go up to Paris, down to Aix-en-Provence, or just a place to hang out, see what it's actually like to live in rural France.  Be a quasi-native.

Almost certainly will not happen - little matter of the cost, not to mention that though I would like to be in France, I would not like being away from my wife for an extended period -- but man, that's tempting.

Bose

Every time Bose sends a software update to the SoundTouch Wave -- which happens about once every four or five months -- the device stops working.  I run through the list of things that I did the last time, and sometimes it fixes the problem.  Sometimes. like this morning, I get to call them.

Initally, when the wireless service was new to Bose, I got what I think of as 'the A team' of responders -- fast, courteous, knowledgeable.  Now I get them sometimes, and sometimes the B team -- reasonably fast, reasonably courteous, reasonably knowledgeable.  They always get the device working, but not always quickly.

And, of course, afterward I wonder why should I have to call them at all?

Guests

Turned out that our friends were bringing their kids, and they were intending to stay with us.  Which of course delighted us -- we really like these people -- but also caused a couple of logistical problems.

There is a joke about a person whose home was in danger of being flooded during a storm. The police come and say that he should leave; he says no, I'm a religious person, and I know that god will save me.  The firemen come, the Coast Guard helicopter comes, the water gets higher and higher, his response is the same.  He drowns.  Facing god, he says I was a religious man, why didn't you save me?  And god replies I sent the police, the firemen, the helicopter.....why didn't you leave?

I am not a religious person.  But the ballgame in Baltimore would have caused us logistical problems -- seats in separate areas, not obvious how to connect up, and, of course, the thunderstorm predicted to arrive around the middle of the game.  Instead, a ferocious storm arrived hours before, and the game was rained out. Massive solution to a personal problem. Problem went away.

Hmmm......

Scheduling

Six months ago I picked a day to go to the ball game in Baltimore.

Today I find out that one day -- that day -- there will be a thunderstorm.  Nothing the day before, nothing the day after.  It is projected to start about two hours into the game.

Gah.

Visitors

We learned a few days ago that our friends from France would like to go to visit other friends of theirs while they are here.  Well, okay, we can handle that.  If necessary, we'll rent a car.

We learned today that they're bringing their kids. Here?  To stay with their friends? 

No. Freaking. Idea.

I've been thinking about this visit for the last six months, so I am, to put it mildly, a little freaked out.

BotWar

Why do we like apocalyptic movies?  Is it because of the same reason that we like roller-coasters?

SSS

Sometimes I worry about getting sick while travelling.  Call it Sudden Sickness Syndrome.

I don't mean something that needs a doctor's immediate attention, like appendicitis or malaria or getting hit by a bus.  I mean things like my blood sugar abruptly gets way low, and I don't have a source of glucose handy.  Or suddenly finding -- how to put this delicately -- that I need to know where a bathroom is, right the hell now. Or finding out that the result of that awareness is that toilet paper now feels like sandpaper. Or getting a sudden leg cramp while lying in bed, or a muscle spasm while slouched in a chair, or my back abruptly hurts, or I get an acidic stomach. Nothing lethal, but immediately urgent?  Oh, yeah.

These are all things that can freak me out just a bit when I'm at home, alone (in fact, one of them is how I ended up breaking part of my shoulder).  But the idea of them happening overseas, when I'm alone, not comfortably fluent in the language - like this upcoming trip in October -- that possibility actively scares me.  And I don't know what to do to address that fear. I have suggested hiring a cute Danish nurse to accompany me, but my wife seems to have a problem with that. 

Some solutions occur to me -- eat blandly, stay hydrated, carry drugs such as Pepto Bismol (unavailable in France!) and others that are common here. (I recall reading in Airborne, William F. Buckley's book about sailing across the Atlantic, that one of his older female relatives, on the trip, had a compact container of meds that the Red Cross would have envied.)  And even strange solutions - make sure you carry lots of tissues,  bring disposable underwear, always carry a high-sugar granola bar - occur to me. (So this is why American travelers wear those fanny packs!) But what else?  Without being a paranoid American traveler who should have stayed at home, what else?

We're in a position where we can travel -- we don't, a lot, but we can, and sometimes we do -- and when it's we, all is okay.  But when it's just me -- things like this scare me. I resent that fear.  It makes me feel old.

9/11

Talked with an Iranian woman who's in her late 30s, living in Iran.  I mentioned 9/11, and she said "What's that?"

Where was this...

.....when I still used business cards?

Wealth

I was looking at a few photos of Hearst Castle, at the paneling, the ornate ceilings, the massively tiled indoor swimming pool, all of that - thinking that it was obscene that one person had that amount of wealth. Thinking that no one should have that much more money than others, acquired in their lifetime or not.   (Why, yes, I do vote Democratic, usually.)

I had though the same about the Vanderbilt Mansion.

Then I thought about our bank account, versus the bank account of the vast majority of people in this country.  (I had looked at a Federal Reserve estimate of average household net worth, a few years ago, and was surprised.)

Then versus the bank accounts of people in most other countries.  Particularly the ones in Africa, most of the mid-east, that sort of place.

Oh. So this is what it's like to be rich, huh?

Flight

If you fly round trip from Dulles to Paris, it costs $2000 for Premium Economy, and $10,000 for First Class.  So what do you get for that extra eight thousand dollars?

You get a private entrance into the terminal.

You get a private lounge. And a "prestige car", whatever that is, to your gate.

You get a high staff to passenger ratio on the plane.

You get personally introduced to the crew. Though I guess that home phone numbers are not included.

You get a bigger seat with a bigger TV. The seat folds out to be a bed.

You get to get off the plane first.

You get personal escort to baggage claim.  Persumably, they'll get your bag for you.

And.......

You get a  nice little box of toiletries.

Hmmm......

Not enough.  What would make it worthwhile?

Well, for starters -- a limo that comes to my house to get me.  Not a van, an actual limo.  With a good selection of music and munchies for the drive to the airport.    Driven by a liveried TSA person who will waft me through their stupid security checkpoints. They handle the bags. And... and.....

Nah, I got nothing.  Nothing that's worth $8000.  $1500, maybe. 

Sorry, Air France.

pointy things

 I saw an ad for what is essentially a flat Swiss Army knife. It had several of the useful tools, including a knife and scissors, but they slid into something that was about the depth of three credit cards. I thought it sounded good - and then I thought about losing it forever if I flew and forgot that it was in my pocket.



I know, in the scheme of things, that wouldn't be a big deal. But it would be to me. Why can't the TSA mail stuff back?

Apple Q's

This is a recipe I found online.  Of course, we modified it!

Apple Quesadillas - makes two

1 medium apple    2 tortillas
grated cheddar    cinnamon


Core and slice apples into thin slices
Lay out one or two medium tortillas
Top half of each with grated cheddar and lots of sliced apples
Sprinkle cinnamon lightly over mixture
In large frying pan, melt some butter
Fold each tortilla over and place into pan
Cook for ten minutes until slightly crisp

Fanatics

So now people are suspected of having explosive devices surgically implanted, undetectable by current means, and headed here through major hubs in Europe. Which means we get to rachet up the level of discomfort and paranoia again. At what point does it stop? When we have assassinated every single person who could be involved in the Middle East's cycle of madness and revenge?  Which, I'm assuming, means just sowing the field for another cycle of it, ten years from now?

I hope there are some smart people thinking about it, because me, other than neutron bomb the whole damn place, pave it, and make it a parking lot for Africa, I'm pretty much out of ideas.

Things

I'm really getting tired of the Google soccer animations.  Part of it is that I'm not into soccer, part that their animations (not just these, but globally) frequently strike me as inane, and part of it was a comment I saw in a comic to the effect that they highlight something distressing: I no longer have the patience to wait all the way through a ten second clip.

Reading an issue of MIT Tech Review.  I had subscribed to it again, about six months ago, digitally, only to realize about three months later that  a) I was forgetting to look when a new issue 'arrived', and b) when I remembered, I had to go to their site to read it -- my RSS reader couldn't get it for me. Quelle horreur. So I told them to switch it to a paper subscription, which doubtless means that someone there marked me as a neo-Luddite.  The magazine was as always interesting, though, since this issue was almost entirely about the intersection of psychology and the workings of the brain, not that fascinating; personally, I felt a little squeamish, reading about the 'optogenetics' (I may have that word wrong) research into determining which neurons in the hypothalamus are involved with fighting, which with mating, and which (intriguingly) with both.  They're working on being able to tickle those neurons, leading to, say, a mouse becoming suddenly enraged by an inert object, or becoming abruptly amorous with the same inert object.  Okay, the concept is intriguing, but - I guess its me - I kept thinking of science fiction movies where people are remotely controlled and have little wires sticking out of their heads.  Silly, I'm sure: they'd be wireless.

Also read about a company that wants to sell a device that will plug into the diagnostic port of your car's engine, tracking info on the car's utilization and performance, streaming it on command to a smart phone. Nice.  This being America, there is another company that wants to piggyback on that driving information so as to present ads to you on that smart phone, based on how you drive.  And of course, there's the implication that the cops might be interested in that data.  Neo-ludditism starts to sound good.

Got a Pre-teen daughter?

Consider this....

Say What?

My French is no where near as good as I want it to be.... and the French people I talk with are bailing because its summer (and unlike here, they actually take vacation).  Ugh.

Handling It

If you agree to watch a neighbor's animal menagerie while they're away, you do.

The fish, no problem.

The cat, a quick scoop for input, one for output, done.

The dog.... the incontinent dog..... makes you contemplate if it's ever okay to have an animal killed because it's become inconvenient.   As well as making it very unlikely that we will ever get one.

Where's the Lysol?

Sleeping

Apparently, if you call French people at 630 in the morning, their time, they will still be asleep.

Someday

At the airport waiting to put my daughter on the flight to France, thinking about the French baggage handlers strike, and the disorganization of the woman who is responsible for this trip. I'm sure that someday this will be a funny story, but right now, I'm nervous.

Article

I'm not a fan of 'good news' articles, since they're often smarmy.

This one isn't.

Spies

I see where the British intelligence agencies say that they can legally intercept communications made on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media.  I have to admit, seeing whats going on in Iraq, that hotbed of death, makes me think well, okay, I guess its needed.  And I've never been a fair of the classic Those who would give up.....quote. Still, this attitude scares me.  I see it here, too, with those liars and sneaks at the NSA.  (We're not spying on Americans.  Well, okay, we are, but not intentionally.  Well, okay, yeah, but we throw the unneeded stuff away.  Well, okay, we don't exactly throw it away....) 

Short of donating to the Democrats, which I do, or to radical organizations, which I don't (and I include the ACLU in that; they do good, but they aren't very focused) -- I don't see what I can do.  I'm not one for marching on government offices, either, which is probably just the way they like it.

Obama's really depressing me, I'll tell you that. He's starting to make Bush look good.  And I feel the gorge rising in my throat when I think that.

Nervous Much?

For the first time, my daughter is driving alone from our home down to DC and into the city.  Where will you park? I figure I'll just find a place. Do you have cash? I figured I would just use credit cards.

Whoo, boy.

observation

Apparently, 20 is not old enough to realize that you don't paint while wearing a new shirt.  Or blame your parents when the paint won't come out. Or flip your phone onto the carpetted floor in disgust and not expect to hear about it from said parents.

Maybe we DO do too much for her.

Selective Hearing

My daughter is going out with a friend, just as I returned from getting groceries.  You need money? I asked.  She said Yeah.  Okay, I replied, bring up the rest of the groceries and I'll give you some money.

Guess which part of that sentence she remembered?

North!

It turns out that Ottawa is not as dismal as I thought.  Don't pick the Marriott on Kent Street; its quite nice, but the neighborhood is barren because the hotel is deep in Government Row.  Find a hotel instead in the area of William and George streets, near the ByWard Market.  Though I did like it when the clerk at the hotel's Starbucks complimented me on my French (pretty good for Pennsylvania, she said after asking where I was from, and while that could be a sly snideness, I took it as geez, you're not as bad as I'd have assumed). That was nice.

The people are quite nice,  too,  particularly if you are fortunate enough to get to watch them doing some activities that they've never heard of here where I live, such as learning to fight with swords, and maybe a bit of martial arts. These was a fun group of deadly serious people, and I liked them. I also liked the woman who pumped gas for us and was eager to tell us that she had ridden a motorcycle from Ottawa to Nashville.  I told her that she was tougher than me. The gas prices seem absurdly low until you remember that they're per liter, and there are about 3.8 liters per gallon.

If you're driving, how to tell when you've crossed from Ontario into Quebec?  The red/yellow/green traffic lights are vertical in Ontario, horizontal in Quebec. And watch out, I mean really, for bicycles.  They're everywhere. So are Tim Horton's, which we fell in love with.

Rideau Canal is delightful.

The Canadian War Museum is amazing.  I had no idea Canada had been in so many wars, or how involved they were with us, back in 1776.  The bottom floor is absolutely crammed with tracked and wheeled vehicles of all kinds, mostly tanks and APCs.  It looked like the NRA Dream Parking Lot. I told the friendly guide my one tank story, and he was nice enough to laugh.  He also told me that I could buy some of the tanks (gun disabled totally) for only about $150,000.  I had to pass, though getting it through Customs might have been fun.

The Museum of Fine Art is a striking building, much more interesting to me than the contents (though my daughter was intrigued by the fifteen foot high leaning naked man, neither of us could figure out what it was trying to say,  let alone understand the single cable going diagonally across one otherwise barren room, or the elevated basketball court with symmetrical holes punched in it, or the room with music stands that had blank sheet music on them.  But we both liked the airplane with the boulder smashing it.  We felt that it said something.  Which was take the train.)

For beauty, look outside. The area around Ottawa is freaking gorgeous.

Planes, Trains...

Why is it almost trivial to go from Pennsylvania to a major city in France or Italy, but virtually impossible to go to a major Canadian city without going through Atlanta or Detroit?  And why does such a trip take so long?????

Attitudes

Attitudes are weird stuff.

Yesterday and this morning, I was thinking that I'm doing pretty good with French. Not perfect, a long way from that, but still -- pretty good. And then I saw a video where a person I know was speaking French... And I didn't understand a single word.

And now I'm thinking, why do I even try?

I'll get over it but at the moment it's irritating as all hell.

Hope, In a Land Without Hope

Balancing Act

I always get a slight frisson of pleasure when my checking account balances -- and even more when it doesn't, and I figure out why.  I really don't understand people who say oh, I'll just round up. Round Up is for weeds, not check registers. 

Weaponry

Yeah.  Because, you know, terrorists.  At least, that's the party line.

Observation

Some days are like a slow-motion train wreck.

Whimsy

What is it about the sight of a battered old piece of luggage that arouses the desire to travel in someone whose idea of roughing it is slow room service?

And while we on the subject of the imponderable, why does Blogger lately show me a picture of the image I'm trying to upload or link to -- and then freeze when I say okay, that one?

good and bad

Good news: my daughter is home from school.  Yay!



Bad news: no more walking around in my underwear. Boo!

Intersection

I don't know who or what Yeezus is, but the others seem about right.

Original found at ODDMAN, here.

Traveling

This month, I'm going to Canada, finally.  Well, Ottawa, definitely - there might be something dodgy about the reservation in Montreal.

Next month, my daughter is going to France for a study abroad.

At the end of June, my wife and I are going to Chicago to visit relatives, and to check out rumours that Chicago actually has a warm season.

In July, we're going somewhere.  I know this, because we're boarding the cat.  I just don't remember where.

And in October, I'm going to France for two weeks - the first is a total immersion class, where I will live and study with a small group and teacher, speaking only French. Paranoid?  Oh, you betcha.  And then the next week, I'm visiting with a couple of friends who live there, including one that I've met just once, for about three minutes, and one I've never met at all.

I wonder if we need new luggage?

So Wierd

I saw a picture of a pretty tropical resort, and wondered where it was.  Google Image Search suggested Six Senses Resort, at Ninh Vah Bay.  Gee, I thought, that sounds like....  I went to their web site, and read this:

The Hill Top Pool Villas feature plunge pools and are facing the mountain ranges of Nha Trang whilst offering majestic views of the East Vietnam Sea.

Nha Trang? Air Force base, Army, fighting, people with guns?

Apparently, not any more.

So wierd.

The Book of Purim

Committment, Lack of

I need to apply for Medicare, and I need to apply for Social Security benefits.

I just hate the idea of flagging down the Geezerdom Bus so I can hobble on.

Economics

I'm not a big fan of the Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal comic strip, but I think that they nailed this economic concept.

Observation

It's funny how someone can be important to you one day, and then.... they're not.  You don't wish them ill -- quite the contrary -- but abruptly, if they have problems,  it's no longer as significant to you.

Observation

Sometimes I value other people too much and myself not enough.

Suited

For reasons that I don't entirely understand, I've been thinking about buying a suit.  It's partially motiviated by the hope that when I go to France, I won't look exceedingly like a fat American tourist, which is of course what I will be, and what nothing short of lead shielding will prevent me from resembling.  I don't know why I don't want to, but there you have it.

The problem with suits is that they're all aimed at people much younger, much thinner, and much more limber than me.  For example, this morning I saw this -

and thought oh, that's nice.  I knew immediately that they were not specifically talking to me, but I went to that webpage anyway.  It linked to another (warning, that page plays music on loading), where I  found this at the top:

A Gentleman in Portugal

I´m Ricardo, 16 year old, from Portugal!

Yeah.  Umm....
   

But still, I'd like to try.  I may never wear the suit, or look good in something like that if I do, but I'm thinking of trying.

This is my current object of fascination::

Cooking

I really need to learn how to look at the ingredient list for a recipe and estimate how many servings it will make.  Says the guy who's going to be eating Baked Ziti until summer......

Back This Up!!!

Travel

I now have a legit excuse to go to France in October.

Rollin...

This is both fascinating and creepy.

Found at JoyReactor

Surviving

This is actually a reference to a comment that a Canadian friend made about whether she'd be able to handle it if a gift I had sent got lost in the mail  -- I mean, it's so far from the United States to Canada! -- but it reminded me of how much I like this movie:

Anki

I really like the Anki flashcard software, but its hard sometimes to remember that while having, say, five hundred words and phrases to review routinely is good, that does not mean that having two or three thousand would be ever so much better.  The effect on my motivation is in fact exactly the opposite.  I have to remember that.

But Anki itself is pretty cool.

As I Said About Paper....

From, of course, XKCD.

Observation

It's kind of self-defeating to write someone a letter to say that you've intentionally not been writing because you don't want to disturb them.

Anki

Anki's supposed to be this great flashcard system, and it kind of is, especially if you use Version 1 (which, by the way, isn't available any more, but I have it on my PC).  It uses the concept of Spaced Repetition for memorization, which really does work.

But then the guy who wrote it improved it, calling it Version 2, and it feels like he wrote most of it, then got tired of working on it, and when he came back he didn't remember how he'd done stuff before, so he did it another way instead.  I keep thinking that the reason I'm having trouble using the Version 2 of the tool is because I'm just not seeing it, but now I think no, it's Anki. It's messed up.  Buttons that you'd think would be there, aren't.  Deletes are not confirmable; you delete something, babe, its gone.  Tags don't seem to have any purpose. Templates seem to get created randomly.

And then there's CLOZE:  I still haven't figured out what that's all about.

I prefer version 1.

Yeah, What HE Said

Painting

I have a friend who's a painter.  She is successful, which means she earns money from it.  I don't really know how much, but enough so that she exhibits in galleries that are hundreds of miles from where she lives, and so that she was able to build a studio, separate from her home, which is big enough that it could be a home all by itself.

But she paints in abstracts.

I like abstracts.  One of my favorite paintings (okay, yes, its a reproduction, and I know that to some people, that's important) is an abstract of a city skyline.  You can tell it's a skyline, and you might guess that it's New York (though it could be Vladivostok for all I know, or possibly not exist anywhere but the painter's imagination), but there isn't much more detail than that.  The bulk of the buildings is vague, and that could be water in front of them.... or maybe not.  I like it.  I like the feel, I like the color, I like the shapes.

My friend's abstracts are different.  There's more of a let me throw colors on here feeling to them.  We visited once, and she was discussing a current work with my daughter, who said to her that she liked the painting, but it seemed as if it would be better, rotated.  So my friend rotated it 90 degrees (to the left, if that's significant) and they agreed that it was better.  To which I thought oh, this is some kind of in-the-club painter joke.  But my daughter swore to me later that it was better.

As I say, my friend is successful, and I'm pleased for her.  But to me - this, by Andrew Atroshenko, and found here on ODDMAN,  is painting. It has color, texture, form. You can recognize what it's a painting of.

If I could paint, this is what I'd want to be able to do.  (And yes, I have thought about taking a class.  One time, when my daughter was taking one during the summer, I met the woman who taught the class.  She was.... odd.  Nice enough, but things were important to her that I didn't even recognize as things.  The depth of this color, the shape of that line.  So, no.)

I may not know art, but I know what I like.

Persistance

The counter shows how many tries it took to perform a successful throw.

 

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Found at Joy Reactor.

In Canada....

....even the kids are cool.

Slavery

Keeping Track

A few weeks ago, my laptop started making a horrendous sound when the fan would run -- the result, we thought, of <koff> <koff> getting rice in there while trying desperately to ameliorate the effects of liquid on the PC.  That's what they say to do when you have that problem, but they never mention make sure the rice doesn't get inside the device you're trying to dry.

About two weeks ago, the noise was constant, and I shipped the laptop off to HP to repair it.  They had a cheery note that said they wouldn't touch the software unless it was necessary.  Well, heck, all they're doing is pulling the laptop apart and slapping in a new fan, why would messing with the software be necessary?

Heh.

After they installed what is apparently a backlevel version of Windows 7 (Now installing 1 of 178 updates...), I got to spend about ten hours reinstalling software. Even if they had backed up the program files as they did the Documents folder, there would be no guarantee that it would work, because software likes to install all over the place; for example, the APPDATA directory.  Sure, I think of that immediately when I'm wondering if I've backed up all the pieces of a software program.  Whatever happened to putting it all in one library?

I am telling myself that this enforced activity is a good thing, makes me organize my files a little more clearly, makes me ensure that the backups are backing up what I think they are (Usually, yes.  Totally, no.).  But along the way I thought, again, of how basically unstable a software-based record-keeping system is.  Something totally unrelated to, say, the financial records on your PC dies, and next thing you know, you're busily transferring files, trying to download new versions of your software, because the version you have won't work on the new PC, or trying to understand how to even use the software they've improved since the last time you touched it.  All because something decided to break. Or some idiot got rice in the fan. Which is related to the operating system how? .  It's like the old joke: if Microsoft sold cars, you'd have to buy a new one each time the ashtray was full.

I'd like to be able to install something and know that it's going to be safe when the next catastrophe hits.  We laugh at paper files, but when was the last time someone had to buy new paper because something happened to their typewriter?

I say, bring back paper files.

Moods

my daughter has never been one to embrace change. Whenever a change occurs, or is in the offing, it takes her a little while to get used to the idea.during this past week, she has spent some time with friends from high school, and as part of that she has seen some of them perform in the color guard unit that she was a member of for a long time. I suppose it is natural that you would assume they would remember you for a long time, too, so it comes has a bit of a surprise to find out that this is mostly not the case. As a result, she feels torn. On one hand, she wants to continue to participate and to celebrate their activities. On the other, they don't remember her, most of them, and even though she is only 2 years older than the oldest of them, in their eyes she's old. Someone trying to cling to their youth. that's not the case, but they don't realize it. It makes her feel old, not part of the group anymore, and she doesn't like it.

Aromas

Inhaling the evidence of my daughter having walked through the hallway, it occurs to me that one downside of having a beard is that I never use aftershave. Or cologne, for that matter. Maybe I should look into that, even though I'll never smell as good as she does!

Chilling

I am going through withdrawal pains at the moment, using a voice activated keyboard to enter this in two a tablet PC. I'm not even going to try to correct the errors, but instead just accept that it's kind of magical that this works at all. And I try not to think the magic is through Google which I think has long since forgotten its original don't be evil philosophy. now it's more how can we make money from this and how can we control the minds and hearts of everybody who touches our technology?



I sent my PC holf to be repaired yesterday. There is a problem with the fan such that it makes horrible noises when is running, and it is running home the time. what an interesting phrase running home all the time. I guess the artificial intelligence hasn't had his heart official coffee this morning.

Various things

This laptop may be dying.  Every so often the fan kicks on with this horrible sound.  I looked, and its buried deep in the innards of the device.  Expensive.   I don't much mind the idea of getting a new one, but I despise the idea of having Windows 8 on it.

I get emails occasionally from a conservative who asks me what I think about things he's seen on various conservative sites.  Sometimes there's something interesting, sometimes not.  The other day he sent me a link to a scary chart predicting that the stock market would crash in 4-6 months.  I spend about three hours looking into why that might not be the case, and sent him a response -- and along the way, I learned a little bit about how a double-Y axis can lead to confusion.  Amazed, because prior to that i thought that I understood it.

Took some time to make and bake pain au chocolat the other day.  Not bad but a litle undersized.  I'll probably make it again, but not really soon -- those things are rich. 

Still studying French. Still.

I have never dressed this nicely, and would look like an idiot if I tried. Still, I'd like to, just once.

Wx

Once again,  the local Pennsylvania weather...disappoints.  Last two weeks, they forecast heavy snow, and we got it.  I start thinking wow, maybe these people finally understand the local weather.

Two days ago, they're forecasting 5 to 8 inches, Sunday and Monday. Now? 1 to 3 today, nothing tomorrow.  I cancelled my Canada trip because I expected to be coming home to snow and ice, and now.....this.

Thanks, guys.

Rollin'

I'm making croissants.  I was very apprehensive about the 'roll out the butter' step, because the last time I tried, I just could not get any leverage on the butter with my rolling pin -- it was very difficult.  This time, I thought of the rolling pin that my mother's grandfather had made for his wife - two feet wide, and solid.  I laid the butter down on the hardwood slab that he'd also made for her, put some waxed paper around the butter, and just rolled it right out.  That extra foot or so of width let me put power into the effort, and it worked like a champ. 

I like to think that he'd be pleased to know that forty years later, his gift is still working.

Cancelled, Again

Twice now I've tried to get up to Canada.  The first time we actually got two hours north of here, stayed overnight at my mother-in-law's house, and had to cancel because of a surprise snow between there and Canada.  Today, I had to cancel again because of a surprise snow/ice mix that's arriving on Monday, which is the day I was planning to drive back.

Its not that I need to get to Canada, but this is irritating!

Entrepreneurs

Found here.

 

TED

On the Road

Snow will be falling tonight in the area where we live as well as at our destination. 

Tomorrow, snow will fall in the area that we're passing through on our way north.

We're really hoping we don't hit any.  Let alone, have to go back home and shovel out the driveway.  Again.

=================

Two interesting conversations today.

One, with a woman who lives in southern France. She's always a pleasure to talk with.  I joke that I would pay her to talk with me, and she laughs,  but, truthfully, I would. She's simply and totally a delight. She's coming to the US for a quick visit in August with her sister, and I am going to try really hard to meet up with her, just to say hi.

And the other, a French woman who speaks English fluently - with a strong British accent.  Somewhat disconcerting,  but an interesting conversation nonetheless.  All in English, though.  Next time, French!

Conference Calls

This is dead on accurate.

Losing

After Bill Clinton had a heart attack, he lost a lot of weight.  I read that this was not particularly difficult for him because he has a private chef who was skilled in making things taste good while being sensitive to the need to reduce calories and carbs. 

Why doesn't the world work like this for the rest of us?

For example, I'm reading one web site which says:

If you are trying to lose weight, look at the calories. Comparing products can be helpful to find those lower in calories per serving.

To cut risk of heart disease and stroke, look at saturated and trans fats. Look for products with the lowest amount of saturated and trans fats per serving.

For people with high blood pressure, look at the sodium. Look for foods with less sodium.

- See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/understanding-carbohydrates/carbohydrate-counting.html#sthash.3RECODJj.dpuf

 If you are trying to lose weight, look at the calories. Comparing products can be helpful to find those lower in calories per serving.
To cut risk of heart disease and stroke, look at saturated and trans fats. Look for products with the lowest amount of saturated and trans fats per serving.
For people with high blood pressure, look at the sodium. Look for foods with less sodium.

Which is probably right, but leaves me thinking holy hell, so watch out for everything?  And I think of those people who say Eat only plants, and not too many of those. 

If you are trying to lose weight, look at the calories. Comparing products can be helpful to find those lower in calories per serving.

To cut risk of heart disease and stroke, look at saturated and trans fats. Look for products with the lowest amount of saturated and trans fats per serving.

For people with high blood pressure, look at the sodium. Look for foods with less sodium.

- See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/understanding-carbohydrates/carbohydrate-counting.html#sthash.o36oRc5s.dpuf

If you are trying to lose weight, look at the calories. Comparing products can be helpful to find those lower in calories per serving.

To cut risk of heart disease and stroke, look at saturated and trans fats. Look for products with the lowest amount of saturated and trans fats per serving.

For people with high blood pressure, look at the sodium. Look for foods with less sodium.

- See more at: http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/understanding-carbohydrates/carbohydrate-counting.html#sthash.o36oRc5s.dpuf

Why I Had Only One Daughter

Found here.

Alors...

Got a call from the hotel in Ottawa that we booked for this weekend.  Turns out they drastically overbooked, but hey, theres this other hotel you can go to.  So I'm thinking what, the good places are booked but this place still has openings? How good can it be? And then I find out that another serious storm is heading our way, possibility of 5-8 inches (which, even if its only 3, will be significant.  All of which is leading me to think maybe this weekend wouldn't be a good time to go traipsing up to the frozen north....

And then I mention to the woman who had planned to visit us, bringing her daughter along, that my wife was a little apprehensive, since neither of us had ever met her before, and she immediately says you're right, lets scrub this and do it only after we meet face to face.  Say, your next trip to Paris? Which is (only roughly) planned for next summer, when god-knows-what-else will come up....

And my daughter tells me that there was a murder in Blacksburg, involving two former members of the Corps of Cadets.  Hoo, boy.  And, oh yeah, she still hasn't found out where I might be able to stay when I drive seven hours south of here so that she can hang with a friend who's getting married soon.  Well, Jessica said I could stay with her! Great, and me?  She's working on it.

What. A. Day.

Observation

It would be nice to have a grandchild, I think.

FSR

I am really, really tired of hearing the phrase For Security Reasons.......

Selective Justice

Found here

.

Deported

Oh...

In doctors office for a blood test.

"You can just put your jacket on that hook."
"No, its okay, I'll lay it here on - "
"Um, that's a motion activated faucet."
"-the sink aw crap."

Nurse thought it was quite funny.

Two Weeks

Found here.

La Neige

It's nowhere like what I remember from when I was growing up, let alone the thunderingly high snow that would occasionally arrive when I lived in South Dakota -- once, I recall, I walked around outside the building on a Launch Control Facility, and the snow was so high over my head that I was suddenly glad that security guy had insisted that I take a radio, for all that I was, perhaps, twenty feet from the door -- but still:  it's whiting out.  Again.  Good news for kids who want the day off.  Bad news for kids who want to get out of school on time at the end of the year.

Me, I'm sitting here drinking coffee and studying French.  Again. Because even though it looks like I won't be going to France in June -- it was a long shot -- and even though our friends arriving in August will be speaking English, pour la plupart - still, next year, we will be going back.  So I need to keep trying, however frustratingly slow my progress is.  Even if the French word that comes to mind most often is merde!

Thoughts

Found on KGB Report, here

The President said we must stay vigilant against foreign threats...yet Justin Bieber remains a free man.
-Bill Maher.


Maybe if we all e-mail the Constitution to each other, the NSA will finally read it.

Too Loose