Author Archives: David

ADT Finally

Well, ADT finally came and installed the new wireless backup unit.

Of course the upgrade wasn’t without it’s hitches …

  1. The guy who came wasn’t exactly the picture of professionalism. I assume he was a contractor and not a regular ADT field service engineer.
  2. The analog wireless unit was originally mounted in the basement … where we got a lousy signal (digital or analog) … so, after a number of false signal loss indications, ADT moved the unit to the kitchen pantry. The guy wanted to install the new digital unit back in the basement. I convinced him to install it in the same spot as the old one so we could get a good signal.
  3. He didn’t bring a staple gun … he had to use mine.
  4. He couldn’t figure out how to snake a wire behind a wall … I had to tell him to try fish a stiff wire (that I provided) up from the control panel up the wall and then attach the wire he was trying to bring down to the control panel so he could pull it down.
  5. He had a wimpy little pocket flashlight … so he couldn’t see in the closet that the wireless unit was mounted in … which caused him to wasted at least 20 minutes because he had secured two wires to the same contact point. I had to let him use my big maglight flashlight so he could see enough to get the unit wired correctly.
  6. He spent about 2 1/2 hours doing the install … I suspect that I could have had it done in 45 minutes.

All that said … the new unit is kind of interesting. It’s uses a GSM network … so it has SIM card. Not sure what the advantage of that is … probably just cheaper to manufacture.

Of course all this costs me $199 (less a $20 credit because they blew off the first appointment). I’m sure I’ll have much better service (picture sarcasm dripping off this sentence).

Barack Obama Costume

Ok, yeah, it’s Saturday Night Live … and, yup, it’s the election season … but I really enjoyed Barak Obama’s cameo on TV … [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/ndQM0X5rhfE” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]

And, yes, I still think that Clinton has absolutely no right to her current position in the Senate … and absolutely will not vote for her in the primary. If she happens to win the primary, I will do a write in vote for president.

David’s IPO

I’m planning on going to the health club today after work … but before I leave, I wanted to make sure my IPOD had the latest podcasts on it.

When I plugged the IPOD into my laptop I was informed that it had a very low battery … must have been from sitting around in my back pack with the lock switch off.

ipod-drive-d.gifAnyways, I get it synced up to the laptop … but I want to let it keep charging. So I plugged it into my desktop system here at work. Because I don’t have the iTunes software installed, the IPOD just shows up as a USB drive. But it’s assigned to drive D:. And the volume name is “DAVID’S IPO” … so it shows up as “DAVID’S IPO (D:)”.

Kind of apropos, don’t you think?

Ok, yes, I’m easily amused.

Reality TV

next_iron_chef.jpgI’ve never been a big fan of reality TV … but I have to say, I’m really enjoying the show “The Next Iron Chef” on Food TV.   I’ve always enjoyed The Iron Chef (although I do admit to liking the American version better than the original, Japanese, version … maybe because it’s easier to follow).

It really seems to show the pressure that the chef’s are under and the extraordinary challenges they are presented with.

I also see a genuine camaraderie amoung the chefs … they clearly know each other, know each others cooking, and respect each other.   They are friendly rivals instead of being out and out combatants.

I like the fact that Alton Brown, acting as commentator & moderator, is able to participate in the evaluation … if not acting as a full judge.

The other judges I could take or leave … they are unimpressive at the very best.   Boring in some respects.   This last episode, in the Lufthansa’s catering facilities, they included the head chef from Lufthansa … who added a unique perspective.   I really liked his inclusion in the judging.   IMO, he was probably the only person qualified to really judge this competition.

(warning, spoiler ahead)

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Old Sayings Nobody Actually Said

I found these on another site … thought they were worth republishing…

  1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me, either. Just leave me the hell alone.
  2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire.
  3. It’s always darkest before dawn. So if you’re going to steal your neighbor’s newspaper, that’s the time to do it.
  4. Don’t be irreplaceable. If you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted.
  5. Always remember you’re unique. Just like everyone else.
  6. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
  7. Many is the man who has drowned in a lake whose average depth was only three feet.
  8. It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
  9. It is far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help.
  10. If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments.
  11. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in his shoes. That way, when you criticize him, you’re a mile away and you have his shoes.
  12. If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.
  13. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat & drink beer all day.
  14. If you lend someone $20, and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
  15. Don’t squat with your spurs on.
  16. If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.
  17. If you drink, don’t park; accidents cause people.
  18. Some days you are the bug, some days you are the windshield.
  19. Good judgment comes from bad experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
  20. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.
  21. Timing has an awful lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
  22. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
  23. Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side & a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
  24. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.
  25. Generally speaking, you aren’t learning much when your mouth is moving.
  26. Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.
  27. Never miss a good chance to shut up.
  28. If you think there is good in everybody, you haven’t met everybody.
  29. The mind is like a parachute; it works much better when it’s open.
  30. We are born naked, wet, and hungry. Then things get worse.

The Producers

The ProducersYesterday Ginny and I saw The Producers at the Marriott Lincolnshire theater.

In a word: Fantastic!

The singing was great, dancing incredible, acting wonderful.

Guy Adkins was absolutely hilarious as Leo Bloom (played by Matthew Broderick in the movie).

Oddly enough, we received a letter from the Marriott Theater indicating that some people might find the content of the production offensive. The theater was offering an alternate show if a subscriber wanted to skip The Producers.

To be honest, anyone who might find the content offensive is pretty weird in my view. Even though the play makes reference to the Nazi’s … it’s clearly a parody.   But you probably knew that 🙂

All in all, a highly recommended play.

ADT Once More

Yep, ADT missed another appointment.   At least they called before hand.   That doesn’t mitigate the fact that I took off early from work again.

I don’t know why I expect anything better from ADT … they’ve established a clear pattern.

I’ve rescheduled once again … I’m seriously thinking of calling ADT tomorrow, speaking to a supervisor, and informing them that … if they miss this next appointment … I’ll be invoicing THEM for my time (which, I suspect, is worth a lot more than their’s is).

It absolutely boggles my mind that service providers have no compunction about telling customers to be be home for a 4 hour span of time … and then not showing up.

“Important Message” in Quicken

I’ve been using Quicken for many years … and for the past 8 years or so I’ve had this annoying problem. Every time I would download transactions from my bank, I would get this dialog box popping up …

Important message from Bank One (Chicago)

Of course Bank One had been bought out by Chase a few years ago, so the message was clearly wrong.

I finally got fed up with the annoyance and started searching for a solution … and I found one on the Quicken Community forums.

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Honu

Today was our first full day on Maui … I woke up really early … around 2am Hawaiian time (due to the time change). Dinked around with the computer a bit (of course I brought it along). Around 4am I made coffee for Ginny and I and we watched the day break.

Ginny and I went for a walk on the beach with our cameras … nothing amazing to see though. Ginny decided to go to church, so I was on my own for a few hours. I sent for another walk on the beach with my camera … tried to get some longish exposure shots of the waves breaking over rocks. I haven’t downloaded those pictures though … so I’m not sure how they came out.

After Ginny got back we went snorkeling … the water was kind of rough by then, but we gave it a go. It was kind of cloudy in the water, but not too bad. I managed to get a really cool video of a turtle though.

(sidenote: A bit of an observation … this is the first video I’ve uploaded to YouTube … and I noticed that, in a lot of the similar videos (of turtles in Maui), the videographers got REALLY close to the animal. This is expressly forbidden by the Fish & Wildlife authorities in the islands.)

After snorkeling, and rinsing off, we wandered around Kihei and grabbed lunch. Then it was back to the condo for some serious relaxing.

For dinner we’re going to try and grill some fresh tuna we bought at Safeway yesterday.