Carew and Gaylord Perry...
We're on the verge of a potentially historic end to the 2005 MLB regular season. Three A.L. teams (Boston, New York, and Cleveland) are competing for two playoff spots. There is even an outside chance of an unprecedented three-way tie between them, which would happen if Boston and Cleveland both win exactly two of three over the weekend.
Unfortunately, there isn't much chatter about it at work. I can get a bit of college football talk (which, really, is king around here) and maybe some NFL talk if I go looking for it. I can also find a bit of cricket talk, but I am only marginally literate in cricket. But there isn't much interest here in baseball.
I'll have to wait until tonight at the TV station.
Go Tribe!
Don't knock, don't knock, the Rock...
Friday, September 30, 2005
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Taking the Wireless Plunge
Friday night, the screen of the cell phone stopped working! :-(
The phone worked fine, but you couldn't see anything on the screen. This made it rather more difficult to use than a "regular" phone, which doesn't have a screen in the first place. We've had that phone (a Samsung SCH 8500) for more than 5 years, and it was a good phone. We'll miss it, but it's to the point of being disposable technology. I can get a new phone for "free", as long as I agree to another two years of service, whereas if the old phone can be fixed, it would certainly not be cheap.
My wife and I had been discussing getting a second mobile phone, so we each would have one. (The advantages to this should be obvious.) But, we didn't really see a need to have two mobile phones and a land line at the house. So, my initial plan was to try the two phones for a while, and then cancel the wired phone. I knew that you could change mobile providers and keep the same phone number with the new provider. However, I thought that was only for mobile to mobile. It turns out that you are also able to port a landline phone to a mobile phone [FN1]. So, I want ahead and requested that. The mobile phone port went through right away. Once the landline phone port goes through (likely in a business day or few), we'll be a completely wireless family. Except for internet (of course).
For those that want to update their phonebooks, you won't have to, which is the point. But keep in mind that the old cell number will likely become my number, while the old landline number will likely become my wife's number. But both will mostly work for both of us.
Oh, also, I didn't really know what kind of phone to buy, other than preferring a cheap flip phone. We went with one of two different models, mainly to have an easy way to tell them apart. It was either that or using a Sharpie marker to write our names on the phones. We went with the models below. The first one was "free", while the other one cost $10.
[FN1] Interestingly, when my group at work changed offices 100 metres within the same building, we weren't able to keep the same phone numbers, and all got new ones. So much for [insert company slogan here].
The phone worked fine, but you couldn't see anything on the screen. This made it rather more difficult to use than a "regular" phone, which doesn't have a screen in the first place. We've had that phone (a Samsung SCH 8500) for more than 5 years, and it was a good phone. We'll miss it, but it's to the point of being disposable technology. I can get a new phone for "free", as long as I agree to another two years of service, whereas if the old phone can be fixed, it would certainly not be cheap.
My wife and I had been discussing getting a second mobile phone, so we each would have one. (The advantages to this should be obvious.) But, we didn't really see a need to have two mobile phones and a land line at the house. So, my initial plan was to try the two phones for a while, and then cancel the wired phone. I knew that you could change mobile providers and keep the same phone number with the new provider. However, I thought that was only for mobile to mobile. It turns out that you are also able to port a landline phone to a mobile phone [FN1]. So, I want ahead and requested that. The mobile phone port went through right away. Once the landline phone port goes through (likely in a business day or few), we'll be a completely wireless family. Except for internet (of course).
For those that want to update their phonebooks, you won't have to, which is the point. But keep in mind that the old cell number will likely become my number, while the old landline number will likely become my wife's number. But both will mostly work for both of us.
Oh, also, I didn't really know what kind of phone to buy, other than preferring a cheap flip phone. We went with one of two different models, mainly to have an easy way to tell them apart. It was either that or using a Sharpie marker to write our names on the phones. We went with the models below. The first one was "free", while the other one cost $10.
[FN1] Interestingly, when my group at work changed offices 100 metres within the same building, we weren't able to keep the same phone numbers, and all got new ones. So much for [insert company slogan here].
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
2-Day Software Updates
I usually get prints made from digital images at the Wal-Mart photo centre. Not only are they cheaper than anywhere else, I have also been happier with the print quality there than at other places (as strange as that may sound).
Last night, I went in to get some prints made, and there was a little sign that said something like,
That's interesting. (As you know, I work in the software biz.) I'm not sure how the software provider can get away with that, or how much money it is costing their customer. Maybe the next time we need to provide a software update, I can try telling the customer that their system will be down for two days!
Last night, I went in to get some prints made, and there was a little sign that said something like,
Due to a Software Update, One-hour
digital print service will be
unavailable until Thurs.
digital print service will be
unavailable until Thurs.
That's interesting. (As you know, I work in the software biz.) I'm not sure how the software provider can get away with that, or how much money it is costing their customer. Maybe the next time we need to provide a software update, I can try telling the customer that their system will be down for two days!
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Rocket Again
Roger Clemens is having the best season of his stellar career at age 43 (at least in just about everything besides wins, which is very team-dependent). But also, when batting, his current on base percentage (.295) is higher than that of Aaron Boone (.293), and the same as that of Ivan Rodriguez.
I'm not sure if the Rocket is going to retire after this season, but he certainly deserves to be offered million$ of reason$ to keep pitching.
I'm not sure if the Rocket is going to retire after this season, but he certainly deserves to be offered million$ of reason$ to keep pitching.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
New Comment Policy
I've been getting a bit of blog spam lately. Stuff like "Anonymous says, "This is a cool site. Check out my page where I'll try to sell you stuff"". Because of this, I changed the setting to only allow registered users of Blogspot to leave comments here. Let's see if this helps.
Send me an e-mail if you have a problem with this.
Send me an e-mail if you have a problem with this.
200,000 Miles
(That's 321,869 km for the metrically-inclined.)
When I was a kid, I liked to watch the car odometer as we rolled along. Thinking about it, this might sound strange to some people, but probably only the ones that don't know me well. When I was 7 or so, my step-father-to-be took me on a ride in his '66 VW Beetle, and I got to watch as the odometer flipped from 99999 back to 00000.
Since then, my family and I have never had a car that got to 200,000 miles, though just about every one went past 100,000. Until today that is. The Taurus just flipped to 200,000 miles, and now stands at 200,000.1 (which reads 00000.1). Unfortunately, I was alone -- I would have liked to have made it a family event, but it was not to be.
I think the car had ~95,000 (or maybe 89,000) miles on it when we got it, so we've only had it for the second half of its existence.
Is 300,000 next?
When I was a kid, I liked to watch the car odometer as we rolled along. Thinking about it, this might sound strange to some people, but probably only the ones that don't know me well. When I was 7 or so, my step-father-to-be took me on a ride in his '66 VW Beetle, and I got to watch as the odometer flipped from 99999 back to 00000.
Since then, my family and I have never had a car that got to 200,000 miles, though just about every one went past 100,000. Until today that is. The Taurus just flipped to 200,000 miles, and now stands at 200,000.1 (which reads 00000.1). Unfortunately, I was alone -- I would have liked to have made it a family event, but it was not to be.
I think the car had ~95,000 (or maybe 89,000) miles on it when we got it, so we've only had it for the second half of its existence.
Is 300,000 next?
On Dasher! On Dancer! On Savannah, Taylor, and Mackenzie!
At cheerleading practice last night, I heard the "coach" call out for Savannah, Taylor, and Mackenzie. I thought to myself, "Welcome to 2005." I mean, from my vantage point, these seem to be common girls' names that weren't common when I was a child. In my era, the coach might have called out for Robin, Tammy, and Diane, for example. (Now, these are more likely the names of the coaches.)
I don't have anything against trends in names; my kids have names that weren't common when I was young. Actually, they aren't common now, as the most popular one was #65 in the year it was given. It looks like we may have been ahead of the trend on another, as it was in the 130s when it was given, and is in the 50s now.
I also don't have anything against common names. I mean, I favour names that people are somewhat familiar with, meaning that there is a finite number of names to choose from. And, unless we have a completely even distribution, sombody has to have the most common names, be it Savannah, Taylor, and Mackenzie, or Emily, Madison, and Olivia.
I don't have anything against trends in names; my kids have names that weren't common when I was young. Actually, they aren't common now, as the most popular one was #65 in the year it was given. It looks like we may have been ahead of the trend on another, as it was in the 130s when it was given, and is in the 50s now.
I also don't have anything against common names. I mean, I favour names that people are somewhat familiar with, meaning that there is a finite number of names to choose from. And, unless we have a completely even distribution, sombody has to have the most common names, be it Savannah, Taylor, and Mackenzie, or Emily, Madison, and Olivia.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
The New Musician
(Considering what a used flute costs these days, if she decides she doesn't want to play it, I'll learn to play flute...)
The Missing Element in Gasoline Price Discussions
In the news, there have been some stories on the high price of gasoline, which around here seems fixed at $2.999. The illegailty of price gouging is mentioned, as are discussions about making price gouging more illegal. The "man on the street" soundbites are interesting, too, as it's always some guy saying something like, "It's highway robbery, what they're charging. Someone oughta do something about it."
It seems to me there is one missing element in the discussion. If you think that gasoline is too expensive, you could always, you know, use less.
Or, if that isn't possible, then maybe you are indeed up a creek.
It seems to me there is one missing element in the discussion. If you think that gasoline is too expensive, you could always, you know, use less.
Or, if that isn't possible, then maybe you are indeed up a creek.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Unfair and InflexibleSM
We're still thinking about getting a second moblie phone. If we do, then we'll likely do away with the land line to our house. (Just how do the traditional wired phone companies plan to make money in the future?) Anyway, Sprint has "Fair and FlexibleSM" plans. One reason I find this interesting is that this must mean that their other plans are Unfair and Inflexible, right?
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Into the Great Wide Open
OK, I'm watching the Oklahoma/TCU game, and there's a quick pass. The announcers say, "The receiver's wide open!..." And, the receiver may have come down with it too, if he didn't have two defenders on his back the instant he touched the ball.
So, when it comes to football, what does it mean to be wide open? Playing as kids, it means that you don't have a defender within 20 yards of you. At higher levels, closer defenders are probably allowed. But, let's not use the term "wide open" so liberally. "Wide open" is wider open than just "open". The way I see it, if you can't take at least a good step and a half after catching the ball before being touched by a defender, you weren't wide open.
Thank you.
So, when it comes to football, what does it mean to be wide open? Playing as kids, it means that you don't have a defender within 20 yards of you. At higher levels, closer defenders are probably allowed. But, let's not use the term "wide open" so liberally. "Wide open" is wider open than just "open". The way I see it, if you can't take at least a good step and a half after catching the ball before being touched by a defender, you weren't wide open.
Thank you.
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