Musings

With our own eyeballs, we could check the aftermath of the snowstorm that came through Kentucky and Tennessee the other day/night. I guess the deepest snow was along this stretch. Thankfully (and as we’d hoped), the Interstate was clean, clear, and dry, although sometimes the side streets were white with compacted snow.

We left Richmond (Kentucky) at 8am, eyeing the snow-crystals glinting on the trees and shrubs. Of course, as the sun brightened and the temps rose, that decoration melted/evaporated.

This was the pretty kind of winter, which we especially enjoyed through our somewhat smeared windows at seventy-ish miles per, without cold penetrating hands, feet, or noses.

Two things we did en route: 1) listened to July Flame, Laura Veirs’s new album, and 2) JCB tutored me in why the TD (JCB says the initials I propose stand for “tablet device” not “that device”) is a breakthrough—it is more multipurpose than prior machines that kept the machine from being between you the user and accomplishing what you wanted (you don’t need to know crap about printer drivers any more, I’m lead to believe).* We both decided, however, that we really want to hold/use it, before making final judgment.

* Kirk says it better than I…. Even Nobelist Paul Krugman is thinking about how the TD fits into his personal techological pantheon….

Posted at 4:48 PM | Comments Off on Sparkling snow

Technology blipped in and out of our consciousness today.

This was the earliest appearance, what The Botanist calls the Optimistic Thermometer, because The Guru installed it in a south window, and it would return figures far exceeding the actual air temps because it was basking in a wee bit of solar gain. Now, however, the instrument is installed in a shady east window, so its optimism is entirely muted.

As to the title, RDC is explained here…. I’m sure there are plenty of other remote data concentrators out there, but I am referring to the one that was in Ann Arbor (or nearby) some time back, in a location commonly referred to as the snake pit. (Which should be enough to get you to click on the link if you haven’t already!)

And, GNDN, you may ask? Click here if you don’t know…then muck around in your basement or somewhere and find an appropriate place to label thusly….

Posted at 8:45 PM | Comments Off on Five-point-four and RDC and GNDN

Usually, the Dusty Past I think about is not my own, unless we’re talking deep ancestry, many, many generations ago.

Today, I overheard JCB & Mom discussing this artifact, and had to fess up that I had made it aeons ago…. If you can’t tell, it’s a pincushion, but mostly it’s festooned instead with needles, including sewing-machine needles….

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Velvet above-ground

I have to say, the name is an appalling choice. They could chosen several much better names. I’m not even going to say/type it.

Me, I’m calling it TD, for “That Device” and pronounced Teddy.

I was so put off by the name, I haven’t paid attention to the details, but what it sounds like is an oversized iTouch.

On another note, kudos to the Pres for such a right-on speech. I especially like this point: y’all up in Washington on our dime, we put you there to make things better. If you’re not changing things you’re not making them better. ’Nuff said.

Posted at 8:02 PM | 1 Comment »

Southern Michigan is being cold right now, but, thankfully, sunny—for now. Cold means a high of something like 20°F.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Brrrrrrrrrr!

There’s a phrase—smoke on the water. Well, what we saw today was flurries on the mountains.

Posted at 10:22 PM | 1 Comment »

My favorite late-night show that I almost always watch time-shifted, courtesy of Hulu….

I don’t know enough about economics to know if I agree/disagree with Krugman almost all of the time, but I do have a new interjection courtesy of him: gah!

Here’s a sample sentence: Leno’s return to the NBC 11:30 slot—gah!

Posted at 5:17 PM | 1 Comment »

I was just paging through Bittman’s Food Matters (2008)—library copy!, which not only presents food philosophy, but also recipes. He advocates essentially eating farther down the food chain—more fruits and veggies. This also reduces your energy footprint (meat is expensive to grow).

Then, in the recipes, there’s one for roasted garlic. Take a (as in one) head of garlic and put it in the oven for 45 minutes.

There goes your green quotient down the tubes….

Posted at 10:22 PM | 3 Comments »

A neighborhood roofline with its nurse-tree….

Every once in a while we act like suburbanites, for an hour or so.

Today we did. That is, we went to the mall.

Actually, we drove around the mall to go to Fry’s, one of a chain of the largest electronics stores I’ve ever seen (and which also sells snacks and fridges).

Oh, what did we buy? Storage and management technology—that is three terabytes on two drives, one with a case and a naked one, plus a rechargeable battery charger and a little digital memory card reader (twenty-three kinds of cards!).

Yes, I believe we created a little bit of Christmas in January!

Posted at 5:36 PM | 2 Comments »

As a kid growing up in central Michigan, the colors of winter were shades of grey, and white. Down here in ATL, winter has colors. Here’s some lacy decorative cabbage, for example.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments Off on Shades of grey