A less crooked smile

"You don't strike me as someone who is overly concerned about how his teeth look."

This was what someone at my dentist's office said earlier this year. I have told this story to a few people, and everyone has been a bit offended for me. But it was a true statement, and I took it as such. They knew their audience I suppose. 

My teeth have always been a bit janky, with two teeth half hiding behind my two front teeth, but it has never been anything that I cared much about. When I was a kid, braces were suggested, but it wasn't for anything functional, strictly cosmetic. I of course never fully understood what the money situation was growing up, but I felt like there wasn't money to spend on something that wasn't strictly necessary. 

And of course who wants braces as a kid. 

At the dentist earlier this year, they told me that my bite was putting too much pressure on a single tooth, and it was destined to crack. The two options were a crown, which would be a band-aid, or get braces to fix the underlying problem. Since this seems to be the year to fix what is broken, and kicking the can down the road to "future me" to deal with doesn't seem to ever work out, braces was the decision. 

Of course things have changed dramatically since I was a kid. No longer would there be a mouth full of metal, but rather plastic trays that snap into place. You have likely heard of Invisalign, which is a brand name for this sort of system, and I have something similar made by SureSmile. 

My treatment would be a series of 30 trays, each worn for two weeks, with each successive set moving my teeth a bit farther from their original state, each successive set moving my teeth a bit closer to the final alignment. You are supposed to wear the trays for 20 - 22 hours a day, only taking them out to eat. 

30 trays times 2 weeks equals almost fifteen months of dental fun. I just put in tray 16 this week, so I am halfway there. 

I can't wait for it to be over. 

Not because I am excited to see my new smile (see above about not caring what my teeth look like). Not because my mouth looks funny with the braces in, or that my speech is particularly effected (this tech is pretty great in both respects). No, I just find it an annoyance every single day. Not a huge deal each day, it is just always there, being annoying. 

For the first few days of every two week cycle, the trays are very difficult to snap in or remove. At my first appointment when the dentist/professional was trying to get those first trays in, it was a major ordeal, and I just imagined fifteen months of this pain-in-the-assery of me trying to do it my amateur self, and I did not take it well. And of course your teeth hurt as they are being pressured to move where they don't want to.

And honestly I just want to be able to sip my cup of coffee leisurely at my desk without being on a timer to floss, brush, snap my trays back in.

Again, small potatoes in the grand scheme of things, and tiny in the medical complaints department, but to spend $5,600 (adult dental insurance is near worthless) to do something that is annoying, where you don't feel like your life will be any better for it, while people who care about teeth are so excited for you...ugh.

Am I vaguely curious what my teeth will look like in the end - sure. Am I excited about wearing braces at night forever, because apparently your teeth still want to go back to square one - no. Was it the right decision - yes. I trust and like my dentist, and slapping band-aids on problems is not a long-term solution.

Will I continue to be annoyed, and miss those slowly sipped cups of coffee for the next seven months - yes, yes I will.

Messing with the future(s)

The price of gas has finally leveled off at $3.91 at the Arco by my house. It is the cheapest in town, and other stations are already over the $4 mark. Prices often fluctuate through the year, but it was surprising how stable the  price was over the last year. It seemed to fluctuate between $2.97 and $3.03 forever. It has shot up over the past couple of months, and with my long commute, it puts a pretty big dent in the wallet.

There was a Seattle Times article a couple of weeks ago that tried to explain all that goes into gas prices. It does not follow strict supply and demand pressures, as most of the oil producing countries collude to set prices. The article mentions that the price of a barrel of oil is influenced not only by supply and demand, but geopolitics, the value of the dollar, and even weather.

It went on to say that the local gas station owner does not have much control over pricing. They are limited by the wholesale rack rate that can change every 24 hours, as well as what the station across the street is charging. Most live on margins of a few pennies a gallon. Like movie theaters, gas station operators make most of their money on the snacks we buy.

One major factor of pricing that was not mentioned in the article is the speculative market. Companies can buy oil futures to lock in pricing for large deliveries months down the line. This helps them smooth out pricing and allows for a little planning stability. Airlines are major buyers for example.

But I have read that up to 80% of the people who buy oil futures never have any intention of taking delivery. They are just speculators, gambling whether prices will go up or down. They not only fuel dramatic swings in the price of oil and gas, alternately creating and bursting bubbles, but they make an already unnatural market all that more insane. A butterfly farts halfway around the world, and the price of a gallon of gas goes up 30%.

A prime example of this was the spike in oil prices in 2008. With no sudden geopolitical instabilities, and no major shifts in supply or demand (demand was actually off, which would reduce prices in a normal market), the price for a barrel of oil shot up over 60% to peak at $147 before crashing back down to $40 by the end of the year. And while speculators gambled up the value of oil, we paid for it at the pump.

Like the unnatural market of credit default swaps that nearly brought down our economy, the oil futures market is similarly out of hand. Credit default swaps are essentially insurance against loss on an investment. But as an extra perversion to give them something else to bet on, people are allowed to take out insurance on things they don't even own. It would be like me taking out insurance on your house, betting that you would fall asleep while smoking and burn it down. Actually it would be like a hundred people taking out insurance on your house.

The size of the credit default swap (or insurance) market far exceeded the value of what was being insured. At $50 trillion dollars, it was three times the size of everything produced in the U.S., and larger than all the U.S credit markets put together. When the bubble burst, it just about took down the world economy. By comparison, while the speculators were pumping up the oil bubble in 2008, the average trading volume in oil futures was about 15 times the daily world production of oil.

Wall Street continues to make up new ways to gamble like Vegas does with the Super Bowl (although at a better tax rate). It has long since perverted the purpose of gathering together investment capital to help companies grow, and allowing the investing public to share in that growth. They continue to make up things to gamble on, and the ramifications of these bubbles spread far and wide to we little people just trying to get by. While they pump up bubbles of imaginary value, the cost of doing business goes up, prices increase, and it is more expensive for us to drive to our jobs where our paychecks are not similarly increasing.

This is a form of trickle down economics that actually works, but what is trickling down to us near the bottom is not money, but something much more foul smelling.

Taking care of the trivial

Well, it isn't entirely trivial. It is coffee after all.

(in my best Andy Rooney voice) "Did ya ever notice that paper coffee cups are often 'dribble cups' in disguise?" Have you had this happen to you? You stop at your local coffee shop or cart to get your morning cup of joe and the first sip ends up on the front of your shirt. The lid seems to be on tight, but it leaks just the same. The problem may be obvious to some, but when I've mentioned it in the past, I often get blank stares or exclamations of "that's what it is?"

Long ago, most places replaced Styrofoam cups with paper ones due to concerns about toxins leaching into food and the release of hydrocarbons into the atmosphere. The problem with the paper cups (where dribbling is concerned) is the seam along the side. The seam is where the paper edges meet and are joined by being folded over one another. The fold is thicker than the rest of the cup, and this creates a gap between the lid and the cup. If the drink opening in the lid is near the fold in the cup, a dribble glass is created.

This seems (seams) obvious, but I have never seen a barista look at the cup before placing the lid on the cup. Whenever I pick up my coffee, I spin the lid so the seam is on the opposite side from the drink opening before taking a sip. A family member used to work for a coffee company, and I used to jokingly give her crap about getting this 'major' problem fixed. My older brother overheard this and said that it bugged him as well, making me feel a bit less crazy for noticing this issue.

As a side note, I went to Google images to see if I could get a picture of a paper cup to point to what I was talking about. One was a self-created image from blog post complaining about this seam/dribble issue, so I'm not alone. Another was this one that shows that at least the cup manufacturers know about the problem.

Of course this was all solved by bringing in my own travel mug, thereby eliminating spills as well as paper waste. But I had another annoying (trivial) issue. In this super-sized society, the smallest travel mug I could find was a 16 oz one. But I really only want a 12 oz coffee. So every time I ordered 12 oz coffee and handed them my 16oz mug, they would look at me as if I was trying to rip them off. I would often say "just put a Tall coffee in there" or "leave an inch of room", but I would often get charged for a Grande coffee anyway.

I know, big deal. But it was silly and annoying, and I stop at coffee shops (too) often. If they would just make a 12oz travel mug, I would buy it. For a couple of years, I looked but could not find one. Finally, there it was sitting on a shelf at my local Starbucks, bathed in sunlight with angels circling overhead. I bought it and ordered a tall coffee, hold the distrustful looks, please.

And the first sip burned the crap out of my lips. It wasn't a dribble glass, but more like when drinking from a glass filled with ice. You can't get a sip, so you tilt the glass higher and higher until the dam of ice breaks and the drink splashes down on your face. Annoying with a cold beverage, painful with a hot one.

It took me one more cup of coffee to figure out what the problem was. The drink opening was small enough that no air was getting in. You had to tip the cup higher to overcome the vacuum. If you look at any disposable coffee cup lid, there is a hole somewhere to let air in to prevent this. But for some reason, the designers of my $16 travel mug didn't think to include one. So what is a guy to do? Grab your DeWalt driver of course.

Problem solved, and all is right with the world again.

He does not speak for me

An East Coast friend said she figured I’d be hearing a lot of rural tavern talk of how it was time to kick some towel-head ass. Well, sure. There’s always some loudmouth eager to swab the flag around like a World Wrestling Federation banner. But I have heard equivalent sentiments expressed on NPR and CNN, refined only in terms of diction and dress. Bigotry and extremism have a commonality: Both are difficult to eradicate; both respond poorly to benevolence; and both are an embarrassment to those impugned through putative association, whether we wear NASCAR caps or turbans. The battle for civility will outlast all others.  

~ from Michael Perry's essay in the days following 9/11, featured in Off Main Street.

I'm sure you have heard by now about the pastor in Florida that plans to burn the Quran as a way to commemorate the 9/11 attacks nine years ago. The church's website (which has been taken down, at least temporarily) claimed this is not an act of hatred, but an act of love. The pastor claims that by burning the holy book of Islam, he is helping to awaken the misdirected and confused who have not taken Jesus Christ as their personal savior. He tries to equate it to a parent pulling a child out from in front of an oncoming semi-truck. However, though they may be confused and child-like, he still calls them evil.

In the 24 hour news cycle that thrives on extremist hyperbole, this fanatic man and his plan are getting a lot of airplay. He claimed that he was praying earlier this week over whether or not to go through with it. My hope is that he chooses not to, but whether or not he goes through with his book burning, my real hope is that no news outlet shows up, and not a single picture is taken. His 15 minutes of infamy should be considered over already. Of course neither of my hopes will come true, and coverage of this will be shown around the world, images that will fan the fires of hatred and likely put our citizens and troops in more danger.

This man and his message disgust me. He may have his first amendment rights to spew his venom, but it feels like this could fall under the definition of hate speech, or the "you can't yell fire in a crowded theater" heading of endangering the public. But of course whether or not he is within his rights, we needn't listen or give him a slot in prime time.

And I don't believe that this extremist pastor represents the Christian faith, any more than the terrorists of 9/11 represent the religion of Islam. The fanatic messages of these people on the fringe do not represent the body of the whole, no matter how loudly they shout their toxic message. But that is the exact message that the pastor is selling - that someone who perverts the message of a belief system implicates everyone. That we shouldn't single out the criminals, but rather condemn the entire population. I can only hope that the people of our nation and the world don't think like the pastor does, on many levels.

I would say ignore him entirely, but if we do not speak out against this sort of message, history has shown that messages of hate can spread, particularly through a scared, struggling population. I can only hope that these messages of hate will create a pushback from people who will stand up and say that this is not acceptable. This is not who we want representing our faith, our country, our people.

"What does the Diary tell you that it doesn't tell us?!"

Vogel reaches out to slap Henry yet again, but Henry grabs his arm, stopping him.

Henry: "It tells me that goose-stepping morons like yourself should try reading books instead of burning them." 

~ from Indian Jones and the Last Crusade

Can you hear me now?

Maybe it is a good thing that I didn't jump in line to be an early adopter of the iPhone 4.

By now, I'm sure most of you have heard about the reception problems people are experiencing. There is a stainless steel band around the body of the phone that acts as the antenna. This was supposed to provide improved reception over the last model. However, if your hand touches the black line on the side of the phone, it appears that it crosses the antenna up, and cell reception all but disappears. If you haven't seen it already, this is one of the videos that demonstrate what happens

This is a rather major design flaw, especially when you are touting the design's improved reception. And what is Apple's response to consumer complaints? Essentially it "You're holding it wrong. If you can't stop holding it wrong, you can buy one of our protective cases (for $29)."

Gripping any phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your Phone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.

Other, cheaper fixes have been suggested, including covering the line with electrical tape, or by surrounding the antenna with one of those yellow Livestrong rubber bracelets. Apparently there has been an increase of visits to the Livestrong site lately. 

Now, Apple has released a new excuse/reason for the signal drop off if you touch the black line - "you never had that many bars in the first place". Portions of Apple's letter read:

We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars, and it is both simple and surprising.

Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display 4 bars when we should be displaying as few as 2 bars. Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don’t know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.

To fix this, we are adopting AT&T’s recently recommended formula for calculating how many bars to display for a given signal strength. The real signal strength remains the same, but the iPhone’s bars will report it far more accurately, providing users a much better indication of the reception they will get in a given area. We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see.

We will issue a free software update within a few weeks that incorporates the corrected formula. Since this mistake has been present since the original iPhone, this software update will also be available for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.

So...the reception has never been that good, even dating back to the last two iPhone models. I might buy this since AT&T's coverage has not been very strong. But you've only made this "stunning" discovery with the new model, and only after thousands post videos demonstrating the reason for the signal drop. And we're to believe the software that (incorrectly) calculates the signal strength is somehow made more accurate by touching the black line on the antenna? Yeahhh....

Of course, every phone or electronic device has problems and glitches. But their responses to the first problem (you're holding it wrong) sound like the old joke about a man who visits a doctor, complaining that his arm hurts whenever he moves it a certain way. The doctor’s response? “Stop moving it that way.” 

And their new  software glitch announcement doesn't explain why the signal drops when you "hold it wrong". If the software update lowers the bars for all iPhones past and present, is it just lowering expectations. Disneyland is the master of this. When you get in line and the sign says "1 1/2 hour wait from here" and it only takes an hour, most are happy about the savings of 30 minutes, rather than irritated at waiting an hour for a ride. Is Apple hoping that people will now say "look how great the iPhone performs with only two bars!"  

And the conspiracy theorist in me thinks, "hmm, has Apple been masking AT&T's poor coverage this whole time since they were locked in an exclusive agreement?" And now it has been announced that the iPhone will be available on Verizon's network in January, so maybe Apple is less concerned with burning the bridge with AT&T and trashing the strength of their network.

Whatever. Apple will continue to sell hundreds of thousands of iPhones in the meantime. I wouldn't turn one down, and who knows, I may end up getting one after they redesign it for Verizon. But imagine the "I'm a Mac" ads that would be on tv if Microsoft responded to glitches like Apple has recently. I can already see John Hodgman as PC saying "just put some black tape or a rubber band on it. Problem solved!" And having him sitting at a table with an adding machine surrounded by paper, saying, "Ah, I see where the software calculation went wrong. I forgot to carry the one. Can't believe I didn't catch that"

Not how to run a company

So my temporary work delivering packages is over. The job ran (pun intended) from the middle of November to Christmas Eve. I had worked for them last year, and enjoyed it enough to sign up again this season. I hope I don't need to return next year.

I had written an acidic screed to post here about all the things wrong with how they run their company and treat their employees. I enjoy analyzing companies and procedures to come up with ideas to improve production, satisfaction, efficiency, etc. They gave me plenty to work with - yelling at employees, mindless procedures in place of real effort, awful communication and more. But I decided you didn't need to hear me bitching about a company when I should be thankful for the work. I will pass along one thing that seemed to put a nice bow on the experience, though.

December 23rd ended up being the highest volume day. By coincidence, they had chosen to make that day "Driver Appreciation Day". There would be pizza and other treats when the drivers returned to base. While out on the road, the drivers do a good job of taking care of each other. When there were 60 packages left to deliver, two other drivers came to take 20 each so no one driver was stuck out on the road.

After the busiest day of the year, and after helping each other out of a bind, they returned to the base to have some pizza and commiserate. When they got there, the cupboard was bare. Management and HR had eaten all the pizza, showing how much they appreciate their drivers. Some drivers were understandably pissed, while others just shook their heads thinking 'typical'.

It wasn't all bad of course. My driver was great, I lost a little weight, and made a little cash. Just not a company I would want to work for if I could help it.

What the...

I went over to the house today to check on things, refill the flyer box, and see how many business cards were sitting on the counter.

Each time I come home, the house is a little different. Lights are left on, blinds are left open, etc. Today was more disturbing. The door from the house to the garage was wide open and the light in the garage was left on. On closer examination, the garage side door was unlocked as well. In addition, the shed door was locked but not closed all the way, so the door just pushed open.

I can only hope this was carelessness and not intentional. Each agent has to electronically sign in to obtain the key to the house, so there is a record of when they were there. Of course I have no idea who their clients are at this point. I am having my agent check the records to see who was there last.

When I was an agent, it was odd to walk through someone else's home, and now I am on the other side. As an agent, it was my responsibility to protect people's property and keep the house secure. I always did a final walk-through to make sure everything was buttoned up, especially if I had a client with me. It was my responsibility, so I couldn't just assume they had locked up.

I occasionally found doors unlocked and things that seemed wrong when I walked into a home. I made sure to call the listing agent to let them know what I had found so they could make sure nothing had been taken. We haven't heard from anyone, so I can only assume it was the last agent through that left things unlocked.

Feeling a little violated.

I need a checker up front

Why do places like Home Depot and Lowes have 10 checkout lines when they never open more than three? As a homeowner and former construction worker, I have been to these places often, and at varying times during the day. Weekdays, early mornings are busy as contractors grab the stuff they need to complete today's project. Weekends are the dominion of the homeowner, and it seems pretty busy no matter the time of day. Nevertheless, I don't recall ever seeing more than three lines open.

I stopped into Lowes this afternoon and there were three lines, ten people deep. So I sat there like a schmuck, wanting to just take off because I had to pick the wife up in 15 minutes, but then I'd only be burning the gas and time to come back later. All for a $2.84 purchase.

I just don't get it.

Look out behind you

I rode the RSVP for the second time a couple weeks ago. There are much fewer riders than the STP (1,500 vs 9,500), and they are generally more experienced bicyclists so there are fewer beginner mistakes. However I saw a mistake repeated through both days that is a significant safety issue. Many bikers when they went to pass slower riders pulled out into the lane of traffic without so much as a head check. Many times it was clear, but all too often there was a car approaching that needed to slow suddenly or swing into the oncoming lane to avoid a collision.

Just like any car attempting to pass another slower car, it is their responsibility to make sure they can do it safely. Many bikers seemed oblivious of the cars around them. There are times when I think they ride far out into the lane to prove a point/soothe a chip on their shoulder, but on this trip it seemed to be simple carelessness.

*Stepping on soapbox*.

I think bike riders should be required to have and use mirrors on these large bike events. I have been wearing one for the past year or two, and it makes a tremendous difference in my ability to ride safely, particularly on these larger rides. I am aware of both bikes and cars approaching and can make any adjustments necessary to allow either to get by.

When a faster biker is approaching a slower one, they need to check to make sure if it is safe to pass. If it isn't, tuck in behind and wait until it is.

*Stepping off soapbox*.

For those looking for some mirrors with a little flair, I saw these on the STP last month. It is one of those stupid simple ideas that almost anyone could have thought of (over a beer). But this San Diego company actually followed through and I hope they make a mint. The wire is made from a recycled bicycle spoke, and you can even send in your favorite bottle cap if they don't already stock it.

http://www.beerviewmirrors.com/

Checks in the mail

I recently bought a new computer system, some additional memory and anti-virus software. I spent an hour plus applying for rebates on all of them. There were 5 rebates in all totaling $165. Certainly worth my time and effort, but still kind of a pain in the butt.

Each one asked for a slightly different thing: rebate forms, copies of receipts, proof of purchase seals, original UPC codes, serial numbers, blood sample, etc. Of course it also means scanning everything so that I can have copies if/when the rebates don't come through.

Companies hope you screw up and forget to send something in, or just forget the rebate entirely so they can keep your money. Some companies have also started sending out rebate Visa cards, semi-forcing you to go out and buy more stuff rather than having the cash to pay bills, etc.

When I went to my desk drawer it became clear that I haven't mailed a letter in a while. I found $.39, $.41, $.02 and $.01 stamps. I had to jump online to verify what the current going rate is.

Some companies like Costco and Staples allow you to apply for rebates online so you can avoid the "lost in the mail" excuse. I seem to remember legislation being suggested to eliminate the whole mail-in rebate scam, requiring stores to take care of it at the time of your purchase. That would be worth of the easy button.

Saturday

This is our first weekend at home in a while, and it is nice to have an empty calendar for a day. The wife got some much needed rest, finished her book, did some knitting - basically took it easy all day.

I didn't do a whole lot more. I slept in a bit and I went for a bike ride in the afternoon. The weather was near perfect and I picked a route that took advantage of our local trails. The Interurban trail took me south to Greenlake, then I headed down to Freemont to pick up the Burke-Gilman trail.

It is Seafair weekend, so there was the occasional thunder of the Blue Angels flying overhead. I stopped for a bit to watch them fly in formation, climb straight up into the sky and dive back toward the lake. They really are impressive to watch.


The hydros are running this weekend as well. People spend all weekend on their boats stationed near the logboom surrounding the race course. I assume being up close to the race is a cool experience, but to me it is like any other race going around in circles - kinda boring.

I was pulled up at a stop sign in Wallingford. I had some music playing on my i-ride speakers to keep me company. This song was playing - "When You're Falling" by Afro Celt Sound System. Now my speakers don't exactly crank out much volume, but the woman in the car next to me rolled up her window, I assumed to stop my tunes from messing with hers. Then a second or two later she hit the power locks and locked all her doors. Strange.

I don't see myself as an imposing figure, much less threatening. Not sure what her concern was, but maybe it had something to do with the recent confrontation between some bicyclists and a driver during the monthly Critical Mass ride. After being surrounded by bicyclists, a driver lurched forward and back, knocking and/or dragging bikers to the ground. Other bicyclists then drug him from his car, hit him on the head, slashed his tires and broke his windshield.

Regardless of who's version you believe, both sides overreacted. But in my opinion it is the bikers that created the situation for tempers to escalate. The original intent of the monthly Critical Mass bike rides was to demonstrate for bicyclists' road rights. But like many demonstrations, the original intent is hard to find behind the actions of demonstrators. Here is a description from one of the riders of the practice of blocking and surrounding cars:

Normally, the term known amongst the Critical Mass participants for the defining of a traffic perimeter using bicycles and human bodies is "corking". Corking generally takes place at intersections. The collective pack of Critical Mass bicyclists travel without regard to traffic signals. This disregard for the rules that motorists follow requires that cyclists take measures to control car traffic. Cyclists use their bikes and bodies to make barriers designed to block cars that would otherwise try to travel directly through the crowd, which is obviously dangerous to the cyclists...The goal of corking is to keep bicyclists from getting hit by cars when drivers choose to ignore the fact that hundreds of human bodies are a physical obstacle to forward motion.

So the Critical Mass riders demonstrate for bicyclists' rights to the road by practicing a "disregard for the rules that motorists follow". I think the point has been lost and these riders are doing nothing to promote cycling.

I think there are some jerks in cars and on bikes as well. I have seen my share of inconsiderate drivers and bikers, but there are people who go out of their way to endanger the lives of others on both sides. A car is a much more deadly weapon, and unfortunately it might be the innocent biker the driver next sees who pays the price for the antagonizing (and illegal) behavior of Critical Mass.

Resistance is painful

Apple's niche of world domination can be frustrating.

When shopping for a MP3 player, I chose not to get an Ipod. The main reason was the inability to replace the battery. When I was shopping, Apple was having a brief publicity problem. The first wave of Ipods were having battery problems as they have a expected life of about 18 months. When people contacted Apple to get the batteries replaced, they found out that there was no way to replace the battery, and that they should just buy a new Ipod. This guy actually sent his Ipod addressed to Steve Jobs and found that "Buy a new one" was the company policy. They later changed their policy to charge $99 to replace the battery (now $67)

As I am not a fan of disposable products, I bought a Creative Zen Micro. It has a replaceable battery, and the package actually came with a spare. I have been happy with its performance, and the battery is still taking charges. As it is not an Ipod, 99% of the supporting products out there don't work with the player.

The real problem has been buying songs online. Until recently, Itunes was about the only game in town where you could buy a single song without paying a monthly fee. As my player was not an Ipod, Itunes vast library was no help as the file type is proprietary and not compatible with other players. Thankfully Amazon.com has entered the market and I can now buy MP3 files online.

Except...there are artists that are exclusive with Itunes. I went looking for a U2 song last night and I could only find it on Itunes. In order to get the song, I would need to add the Itunes program to my computer, buy the song, burn the song to a CD, then rip it back off onto the computer as a MP3. My laptop has a nearly full hard drive and is already moving very slowly, so I had no interest in adding another program to gum up the works.

But I really wanted the song. My desktop computer has a new, relatively clean hard drive so I decided to load Itunes there. Unfortunately it is not connected to the internet as the phone jack is dead in that room. So I downloaded the program on the laptop, transferred it to the desktop, and installed Itunes. Since I couldn't get online, I had the wife buy the song on her laptop (she has an Ipod Shuffle, but no cd burner) and I copied it to the desktop. After jumping through all the hoops I was ready to start the burn to CD/rip it back off process.

Except...the song is right-protected. The wife bought it on her laptop and it needs to be authorized for the desktop. I typed in the password and waited for it to unlock, but it needed internet access to complete the authorization. So I dragged the desktop out to the living room to plug it into the wireless router.

Clearly it is time to upgrade from DSL to fiber optic and get the desktop back online. Plus I recently received a free Ipod Shuffle, so now Itunes is set to partially absorb me. The Shuffle is still in the box for now. It is best if we step away from each other for a bit.

Song price 99 cents - but it was no where near that cheap.

Oh to be in Lemon Grove again

After all, it has the best climate on Earth.

Seattle weather: colder than Siberia!

From the Seattle Times this morning:

It doesn't seem fair, but it's the cold, hard truth — accent on cold: While Seattle hasn't seen a 70-degree day in more than two weeks, Fairbanks, Alaska, has had six of them in the past 10 days.

Just about everyone, it seems, is toastier than we are. You've heard of International Falls, Minn., the self-proclaimed "Icebox of the Nation?"? It's had four days this month in the 70s, topped off with a pleasant 75 on Sunday.

Across the Atlantic, the northern destination of Oslo, Norway, has been passing the 70-degree mark nearly every day recently, while even the Siberian city of Tomsk, Russia, hit the 70s last weekend.

Meanwhile, shivering Seattle residents, hearing about snowplows back at work on Snoqualmie Pass this week, probably have only dim memories of the 77-degree high of May 24, the last time the mercury crept into the 70s here.

On Tuesday, state highway workers clearing away the last of 7 inches of snow on Interstate 90 could remember only two other times in the past 30 years that snowplows have been called out this late in the year.

Frustration

Ever have one of those days...

Things are going great, then some random thing derails you with such force that you are tempted to take your ball and go home (or throw it over the fence so no one else can play). David Miller was racing toward the finish in the Giro de Italia when his chain broke. His reaction is sudden, kind of funny, and one of those childish moments most of us wish we could get away with once in a while.



I remember a similar instance from a Seattle to Portland ride a couple years ago. A couple was on the side of the road, and the woman was clearly having a bad day. She threw her bike to the ground and was shouting her frustration to her husband/boyfriend for TALKING HER INTO THIS STUPID RIDE. It was going to be a tough road for both of them.

I can only hope that after throwing her bike, stomping around and generally throwing a tantrum, that her frustration dissipated. Hopefully the guy took her venting for what it was, and that they could both move on, together.

Stupid writers strike

The season (and possibly series) finale for Scrubs aired last night. It was clear that the episode was not intended to be a finale. Not only was there no cliff hanger (or closure), but the episode wasn't even sequential in the season. Kelso, the chief of medicine had retired two episodes ago, but he was back to work in the finale. The episode was probably picked because it was a themed fantasy episode that was distinctive.

This was originally supposed to be the last season for Scrubs. There are rumors it will be revived by ABC, or that the missing episodes will show up when the final season is released on DVD. Scrubs is one of my favorite shows, so hopefully the fact that the strike messed up this season means they will come back to finish it off right.

More on spam

- they have found Views from two wheels. I have had ten or so comments posted that were spam pointing to websites. They seem to pop up right after I post, so it seems to be automated somehow.

When I first started the blog, I had comments sent to me by e-mail before they posted. I figured there might be some random inappropriate ones that I needed to filter out. It ended up being unnecessary, until now. I may need to reinstate some sort of filter. Thank you for all your comments, and my apologies if it becomes a little more difficult in the future.

If it were only this easy, part 2

The wife and I both noticed a billboard on the way to Eugene. On the billboard was a picture of a woman's ripped midriff. Something like this:

Was it an ad for a gym? Training program? Bowflex? No, it was advertising for liposuction.

The billboard not only implied that they could give you a muscled stomach like this. It actually spelled it out that you could get it "without sweating" by getting liposuction. Maybe it's that simple. Maybe we all have six packs hiding under all that insulating fat. Nurse, suction please.

The "great" debate

I watched the democratic debate from last night. It is the first debate I have seen so far this season. Hillary did a bit better than I expected, Barack a bit worse (I had higher expectations going in for Obama). It was actually relatively civil.

Unfortunately, the first hour they were asked questions about flag pins, sniper fire, who loves America more, who's bitter, what the people they know believe, etc. They led off mentioning that historically the runner up in the primary used to become the vice presidential nominee. They then put both canidates on the spot to pledge that they would do this. Akward silence and laughter followed at this somewhat moronic question.

The economy, which the commentators say is American's #1 concern, was finally addressed in question 16 in the second hour. ABC has put themselves in the sensation over substance corner of journalism, a corner that is large enough already.

Sorry, another rant.

We did not have the best experience getting our new windows installed. Some of the experience was detailed here. An abbreviated time line:

4/28/07 - signed the deposit check. Estimate of 5-7 days for measurement, 6-8 weeks to have them installed (roughly 7 weeks total).

5/16/07 - 18 days later after numerous calls from me they fess up that they haven't called anyone. They come out to measure.

7/26/07 - 13th week - scheduled installation. They call that morning to say windows weren't ready after all so they weren't going to show up. Offer $250 for my skipping work, moving furniture and taking down blinds.

8/9/07 - 15th week - windows installed, but one of them is cracked.

8/29 through 9/6 - many unreturned phone calls. Finally reach a human and express my frustration. They promise to take up with manager.

10/8/07 - 24th week - window replaced.

10/19/07 - they call for payment. No notes in file about our many discussions or any contact with the manager. Spoke to Gary who says "Are we terrible at customer service? Yes." He says they have new systems now which should help in the future. He will only knock off another $250 for my trouble.


3/18/08 - I receive a bill for $249. Three days on the phone to get a human, I find out that there is no note regarding Gary's $250 deduction. Finally transferred to Gary who says he will take care of it.

I suppose I should expect the $249 to show up in a collection account soon. The name of the company for anyone in the Washington/Oregon area is Evan's Glass. You have been warned.

Stupid Brother

So I wanted to go Office Space on my fax machine the other day.

It is a Brother 1860C machine that has black as well as color printing. Somehow all four ink cartridges either were out of ink or low, all at the same time. Not sure how this is possible since I have never used the color inks. So I pulled all of the cartridges out, gave them a shake, and put them back in. Now the black cartridge was fine, but the yellow showed it was empty.

This shouldn't matter since I was trying to send an outgoing fax. But apparently it does. The machine wouldn't work. I looked in the manual to see if there was some sort of override, searched the machine menus, and pushed every button I could. I needed to have the fax sent in the next 45 minutes, so I had to go into work. I decided not to mess with it when I came home since I was already pissed off.

Coming back later brought no solution. I went online to see if there was a remedy. There is a remedy if the ink is low, but not when it is empty. So I sent an e-mail to their support group. Their response started with a bunch of unrelated crap about using their ink and information about computer printing (which mine doesn't even do). Their response to the disappearing ink is that the machine uses some when it cleans the printer head.

The best part was the last paragraph that said

"The positive aspect of the Brother ink jet machines is that Brother took into account that ink does get used and has designed machines with an ink jet technology that will save consumers money. Many other manufacturers incorporate the print head and ink cartridges into a one-piece assembly. Even if only one color is empty, the customer is required replace not only the print head itself, but ALL colors contained in the cartridge as well. This usually leads to a more expensive ink cartridge. Brother, however, manufactures the print head and cartridges as separate consumables. With Brother's Print head and Ink Cartridge technology, you replace only the empty ink cartridge, thus reducing your cost per page."

In my response I pointed out that their system does nothing to save money since their machine is obviously designed to waste ink since all the (unused) color cartridges ran out at the same time as the black ink. Now I need to buy four cartridges when I only need one.

I will see if I can refill the cartridges. I have been doing so at Rapid Refill Ink in Edmonds for my printer. I found another place, Eco Cartridge in Kirkland, that looks like it takes care of more models. Refilling cartridges can save you 40%, and of course reduces waste. It also takes oil to produce the cartridge and ink, and of course oil is now $110 a barrel.

I may just sell the %#&* thing. I can't wait until my industry goes all electronic.