I am seriously considering making maps.google.com my new default home page. Every time Google releases a new beta of this or that I have to wonder what else they have cooking in the R&D department.
The Network Solutions “whois” record for zanshin.net indicates that it was originally registered on February 20, 1996. Nine years ago yesterday in other words. In terms of real significance this doesn’t amount to much, but it does represent a fifth of my life. Oddly enough, this nine year span almost exactly matches the time I’ve known Michele and had her as a part of my life.
So happy birthday, Zanshin; many happy returns.
Ned knew that she and a young man had been courting, and he believed her tears must have resulted from something he had said or done.
from The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
My desk is littered with books, so it was difficult to select the one that was “next” to me. This one was closest and on top of the pile. If you care to play along, here are the instructions:
A year later and we are still victimizing Janet Jackson for “her” wardrobe malfunction at the 2004 Superbowl. Seems to me that Janet didn’t pull on her costume revealing her breast - Justin Timberlake did. Why isn’t he ever mentioned in any of the hand-wringing stories about this incident?
I’ll tell you why - because in this country we are taught that men are never the problem, and certainly never the victim of circumstance. Even if the whole event had been staged by both Janet and Justin ahead of time, he would still be fifty percent responsible in my eyes. To read about it then or now you’d think that Janet did a lascivious strip tease that lasted for 20 minutes while the entire nation was forced to watch, their television remotes suddenly non-functioning; ruining the moral character of tens or hundreds of thousands of impressionable children. When in fact her breast was exposed for all of 1 second, and only those people who did an internet search for enhanced still images of the few frames of video got to see anything of detail.
The puritanical streak in this country runs at odd angles to the truth of this country. We piously pretend to be shocked and appalled by the momentary exposure of a woman’s breast on television, but are totally accepting of the two soft porn commercials selling beer or automobiles that sandwich this scene. We can’t talk about or visually show sex in public, but we use it in nearly every advertisement in the country. We refuse to allow open, frank, and honest education about human sexuality in our schools and then we are appalled at the numbers of pre-teens and teens actively engaged in intercourse.
The United States tries to pass itself off as moralistic and “Christian” when in truth we are far from either stance. The continued vilification of Janet Jackson as being the sole responsible party for the half-time show at the 2004 Superbowl is just one small example of the willingness, eagerness even, of our society and media to find a simple (you’ll excuse the expression) titillating explanation for everything - even if that explanation is complete wrong. Just look at the every changing justification for our preemptive invasion of Iraq.
Until we as a people stand up and demand that our leaders and our media start treating us like adults, and start presenting us with the truth and not some pseudo-moralistic hype, we will continue to approach everything as lurid and unwholesome, unfit for consideration - even the truth. The truth isn’t lurid, or anti-Christian, or anti-patriotic. The truth is just the truth.
Was it unfortunate that two performers managed to sneak the entire nation a peek at a woman’s breast on television? Yes.
Is this incident the end of western morality and civilization? Hardly.
Do we need to stand up and take America back from the forces that would have us believe that finding victims and attacking them (Janet, Iraq, et cetera) is the only way for the only remaining superpower to behave?
Only if we want to truthful, honest adults in the world.
One of the many debates approaching near religious zeal in the Apple camp revolves around the continued one-button form factor Apple uses for their mice and track-pads. In order to access right-click menus or functions one must utilize the “CTRL” key or use a third-party mouse.
Today’s PowerBook refresh, while adding slight processor upgrades, Bluetooth 2.0, and a high base memory configuration, adds scrolling via the track-pad.
Last weekend we picked up a Kansas City Star to see the real estate ads, mostly to see what kinds of house were for rent or sale in town. There was a story on the front page of the real estate section about an open house at a development of maintenance-free, ranch style condos. So we planned to go a see the place this weekend.
Today, after a new mouse purchase and lunch out at Sweet Tomatoes, we ventured to the far east side of the KC metropolitan area, to Lee’s Summit, to see the homes at Courchevel. During our initial drive around we saw one that was for sale by owner and, after calling the posted number, we got a tour from the owner.
The house was very nice, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, a den/office, sun room, and 2 car garage. High vaulted ceilings, tile flooring in the entry and sun room, and a laundry room off the back entry. While the home was attached to its neighbors, one attachment was via the garage, and the other common wall was either kitchen, pantry, or laundry area. The kitchen was airy and well laid out. In a word we were impressed.
We then visited the office and asked to see the various models. While they had a floor plan that was larger, and one that was smaller, the one we liked was one we had seen for sale privately. The only differences buying from the developer would be (a) no prior owners, and (b) some control over carpet color and cabinet finish. The one available from the developer backs up to a green area and steep slope owned by the developer. It is not to be developed so we’ll never have a neighbor behind us.
Before we left we filled out a contract and made arrangements to leave an ernest money deposit tomorrow. They have a “family member” clause that allows us seven days to back out with no obligation. So tomorrow when people ask what we did over the weekend I can say, “we bought a house.”
Oh. My. God.
In Mouse Blues I chronicled my first steps towards having a Bluetooth enabled laptop and a Bluetooth mouse. Here, then, is the next chapter in this ongoing saga.
The Mouse BT After returning the Targus Bluetooth mouse I returned to MicroCenter and bought a D-Link DBT-120 Bluetooth UCB adaptor. This it appears is the only after market device to enable Bluetooth on older Powerbooks that didn’t come with Bluetooth originally. It’s a tiny little dongle, maybe inch and a quarter long. It worked instantly when plugged into the laptop.
Unfortunately, none of nearby computer retailers had in stock a Bluetooth mouse without an adaptor. I even went back to the MicroCenter where I had purchased the MacAlly Bluetooth mouse to see if I could re-buy the one I had returned in haste the day before. It had already been shipped back to the manufacturer. Looking online I discovered that while I could order a MacAlly mouse, their only available shipping method would require a signature upon delivery. Living as we do, in an apartment, getting deliveries is tough enough without requiring a signature. Time for Plan B.
I had seen ads in the print magazines for “The Mouse” from MacMice. This mouse is made to look like an original Apple mouse, but with a scroll wheel and two buttons. As an added enticement they had a model that was silver to match my Powerbook. I order one immediately.
The Mouse BT is visually appealing, and its size, shape, and heft are all perfect. However, I find that the having the entire upper shell form the buttons makes it hard to move the mouse without random clicks. The scroll wheel is a thing of beauty, smooth and quiet. After initial pairing with the Bluetooth dongle on my Powerbook everything seemed to be working fine. It did take me a day or two to figure out the best sequence of events for transporting the computer daily to and from work. I didn’t want to leave the dongle sticking out of the back of the computer while in transit, and pulling it out before turning it off seemed to lock the OS.
Once I had the proper on/off connect/disconnect sequence down I started enjoying the new mouse. Only its behavior has been quirky, and so has my Powerbook’s. The right-click menu for whatever application has focus randomly appears - when I’m not even touching the mouse. The mouse pointer jumps to the top of the screen all by itself, and there seems to be a conflict between the mouse and the screen saver that totally freezes the computer force a cold reboot. I visited the MacMice support forum and followed all of their suggestions.
All to no avail. So I have contacted MacMice to arrange a return of the mouse. Their support page notes that some percentage of The Mouse BT users are experiencing all the problems I am having, and further that, the mice in question when used on other machines work perfectly. So they feel there is no point in exchanging the mouse. Maybe soon they’ll have a solution, but for now this mouse is going back.
The Search Continues Today while we are out exploring I hope to swing by the MicroCenter and purchase a(nother) MacAlly BT Mouse Jr.
Ever since moving to Overland Park in late June last year, we have been trying to sell our house outside of Springfield Illinois. Initially we were basing our asking price on the loan valuation the mortgage company / bank gave us in order to load us money against the equity in the house. We had a slight tax problem, and borrowing against the house was the only way out.
Unfortunately, the loan valuation of the house was high, we were good customers who had placed 20% down on our home when we bought it. The bank was eager to loan us more money so they fudged the valuation a bit to make the numbers work. Our first realtor warned us that the house was priced too high, but we were insistent on starting in the mid-190s; we wanted to see some money from the sale of the house after all. After six months of no real offers we were throughly disillusioned and fed up with the entire process. Having a mortgage and a second mortgage there, in addition to the rent and normal bills here, was bleeding us dry every month. We had lowered the asking price again and again until at best we were going to break even, and at worst we would have to borrow more money to cover the shortfall at closing time.
Our realtor was never overly communicative, and we often felt at odds with her, so in early January we switched to a different one on the recommendation of a friend. The new realtor did a market appraisal of the house and advised us to set the price just $10 under 180,000. She feels we’ll get the asking price that way, but she doesn’t think we can get more than 180 for it. Depending upon the real estate tax escrow we’ll owe something like 12,000 at closing time if the house sells for 179,990.
I made a painful call to the mortgage company to ask what our options were; would they loan us the money, or should we start a “deed in lieu of foreclosure?” The mortgage agent I spoke with was very helpful, especially since she never once made me feel embarrassed or shamed by my situation. She agreed that the bank would work with us to write a new personal loan to cover the shortfall at closing time. She also said we couldn’t do a deed in lieu of, since we had two outstanding loans, one with the bank’s mortgage company and one with the bank proper.
In the end we feel like we have lost; lost the investment of the house, lost the potential equity it could have represented in a few years. But we also win; we win by getting the monkey of an empty house 400 miles away off our backs. We can rebuild our savings, and we can buy another house. We just have to let go of the current situation in order to allow that to happen. Yes, there is pain in the letting go, but ultimately it is less pain than we are suffering through by hanging on hoping for a miracle.
Ever since learning my mother had inoperable lung cancer I feel as if I have been operating at a diminished capacity. My thought processes have become muddy and indistinct; the mental sharpness that I normally possess is not currently attainable. There are periods of time where I just sit and stare, not thinking about anything, not processing any stimulus, not being aware of the passage of time. I suspect that were my thoughts sharp and clear I would be disturbed by this lack of focus. However, the silver lining of this malaise is a general lack of concern. I am too removed from myself to work myself up over much of anything.
The mindless drudgery of daily chores is a welcome relief; making dinner or taking the trash out is comfortably mindless. And the minor sense of accomplishment that comes from their completion is very rewarding in my diminished interaction with reality. Of course, minor setbacks seem huge and insurmountable now. Yesterday’s attempt at a pot of chili failed to have the flavor I was looking forward to enjoying. This “defeat” left me in tears. Not only is my capacity for cogent thinking greatly reduced, my resilience to criticism or failure is similarly reduced.
Michele and I have labored under so many sources of outside stress for so long with out a break that we are starting to seriously breakdown. We need an escape from all the large uncontrollable forces in our life for a time. We need to refocus on the little things where we can succeed and have some measure of control.
From the time I was in high school, until he retired, I spent the last minutes of every day with Johnny Carson. I was greatly saddened to learn of his death today.
Johnny Carson 1925 - 2005