It appears that there is an award making its way around the Internet which the recipients are to pass forward.  I assume that this is the same concept as in the movie, “Pass it Forward,” as Barb (Rain) did to/for me.

“The Brillante Weblog Premio 2008 Award

The intent of the award is to pass this award and symbol on to five other bloggers who you enjoy.

The mentioned recipients may or may not be sites you visit however, I encourage all to take a moment and go check out the words and offerings of another. In passing this award forward it hopefully encourages everyone to visit new friends and keep on blogging.

Recipients please pass the award forward to five others you admire and enjoy along with the above understanding of the award.”

Before awarding this affliction prize to five bloggers, I want to make it clear that this has not been an easy task for me.  So many of my cyber-friends deserve this praise and recognition that I had a list of five people that was 24 people long.  I truly feel guilty naming only five of them.  If you find yourself grumbling at my choices, let me assure you that you were one of the remaining 19.  I will not reveal what method I used to determine the  *ahem*  winners.

“The following five people are those I am passing the award forward to…”

Frontier Fancies – Nae writes ramblings from an Alaskan wolf.

Puzzle – Puzzled in German and English.  Previously known as Caleidoscope.

SilverLizard - a Christian in a religious world.

Kathryn Magendie Howls – Howling from my Mountain. … A writer’s Words.

Witchy Woman - Park your broomstick, make yourself comfortable & stay a while, please sign my guestbook before you go... Thank you & call again soon... Blessed Be!

I would ask that anyone looking at these Spaces also have a look at the rest of my friends as listed at the very bottom of this page.  There are simply too many great bloggers to reduce to five.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

“Consider what you think justice requires, and decide accordingly.  But never give your reasons; for your judgment will probably be right, but your reasons will certainly be wrong.” - Lord Mansfield

For well over a year I’ve been researching my recent impulse purchase.  I wanted a new camera.  I still have my Minolta 35 mm bodies and six or seven lenses, but the processing costs are too much for all but the best of my accidentally good shots.  Almost eight years ago I bought what was then a good intermediate level digital camera – An Olympus C-700 with 2.1 Megapixel resolution and 10x optical zoom.  It was as good as I could get for what I wanted at that time.  It still works perfectly, but I have begun to feel inferior when I see the great pictures on my friends Spaces.  So I bought a new camera.

OK, OK.  So I didn’t do so well on my first couple of tries.  I really, really wanted a good Nikon body and a single zoom lens.  As I thought more about it and did more research, I found that what is available, and what I could afford were two entirely different things.  When I was younger, I took many nature photographs and, among others, had an 80-205 mm zoom lens, a 300 mm lens, and a 600 mm lens on a gunstock mount.  The main reason I got the earlier Olympus was due to the 10x optical zoom feature, which at least let me take advantage of its telephoto properties.  Other cameras in that midsize range cost about the same but were still only about 3.0 Megapixel with 3x optical zoom.

As I thought further about what sort of camera would really best suit my needs, I came down to three primary criteria.  It should be pocket sized, have as dense a Megapixel rating as possible, and have the best optical zoom I could find.  It would also be nice if I could afford it and trusted the manufacturer.  I knew that, as much as I wanted a good dSLR, I simply wouldn’t use it enough to begin to justify the price.  It would be like mounting a full photo-expedition to take it out of the apartment to get a picture of a chipmunk.  Even that older, “in-between size,” Olympus was too large to just stick in a pocket and walk out the door. 

Believe me, these are snapshots.  The only manipulation I’ve done is to crop the the photos to somewhere near the right size.  For reference, the third picture (of Bittle) and the very last one (of Stinky) are quite close to true colors.

So what camera did I finally buy?  An Olympus Stylus 1010 with 7x optical zoom and 5x digital zoom.  It has 10.1 Megapixel resolution, a black body, 2 Gigs of memory, and easily fits into my shirt pocket.  All these pictures are from the first 30 to 40 that I have taken.  If you care to see the exact specs on the camera, you can find them here.  There is a 12.0 Megapixel version available which has a 5x optical zoom, but the longer zoom of the 1010 made my decision easier. 

It should be fairly clear that I haven’t read the owner’s manual yet, but I have been exploring the various features.  I have discovered one which I am absolutely convinced that Olympus made specifically for me.  A reset button.  If you believe that you just killed the camera, have no idea why it started taking three pictures in a row, or simply get totally lost, it will reset to the original factory configuration with a single choice.   Thank you, Olympus!

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

“Even overweight cats instinctively know the cardinal rule: when fat, arrange yourself in slim poses." - John Weitz

Sometimes Frequently I become overly concerned that I don’t do enough to care for the two little people in fur coats who live with me.  Of course they do nothing to dispel that notion from my mind.

Bittle is several years older than Stinky and has longer, finer hair.  It therefore tends to get twisted and clump up in thick, “knotted” spots much more easily than does Stinky’s.  Stinky actually likes to be combed and groomed as his hair is slightly shorter and thicker than Bittie’s.  Most of the time, anyway.  With both cats, combing and scratching their scalps, their ears, and their little lion’s manes are tolerated and even enjoyed.  As a general rule, the farther back on a cat one tries to groom, the more it upsets the cat, and the greater the potential for injury to the groomer.  I have learned this from practical experience over the years, but had a “reminder” of it today.  Bittie loves me.  I know this because he claimed me (again) and the left arm of the recliner chair by “spraying” yesterday. 

The immediate territory of the recliner chair is divided into Stinky claiming walking and sitting privileges on the right arm and Bittle claiming the same on the left arm.  Also, due to Bittle’s advancing age, I have him eating some food supplements and a treat that only he gets, and then only on, or close to, the left arm of the chair.  When either cat takes his place on a chair arm, he knows there is a possibility of combing or grooming.  Bittle is the more suspicious of the two because he is a more frequent visitor, and I take more opportunities to get small clumps out of his hair.

Today, serendipity, cruel fate, Doc with a comb in his hand, and a black cat all converged at the same space-time coordinates.  Bittle forgot himself and turned his back on me, thus exposing a portion of his anatomy that badly needed combing.

Bittle

Peaceful loving cat

To screaming biting wild thing

Do not comb his butt

I’m not quite certain how he climbed my right arm when I was holding his tail with my right hand, but the bleeding stopped fairly quickly so I suppose it doesn’t really matter all that much.  He ran at least four feet away, stopped, turned, and waited for his treat.  Just this once it was given on neutral territory, half way between us on the floor.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

“Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this.” - Anonymous.

Microsoft is now offering free tech support for Vista SP 1 via email, chat, or toll-free telephone. This offer is valid worldwide until March 18, 2009. The article I found that let this information be widely known is on Digital Inspirations by Amit Agarwal. When you have a look at that article, consider signing up for Mr. Agarwal's free e-mail newsletter. Personally, I find his efforts to gather truly useful information and articles to be superb. His newsletter is one of the first bits of e-mail that I read after family mail. Be careful. It is good enough to be addicting.

This information is also listed on Lifehacker and by Microsoft in its Help and Support pages for Vista.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

Technorati tags: Microsoft, Free Tech Help, Vista SP1

A few days ago, all the residents of this apartment complex received printed notices that the south entrance’s parking lot was to be resurfaced and that arrangements should be made to park in a different location on July 17th.  The south “half” of the complex is really the south two-thirds of the affected area.  The north side, where I live, will not be repaved for quite some time.  

Where would all the vehicles from the other side then be parked?  At least six to eight might be parked in the north side’s smaller lot.  A suggestion that some might be parked on Mosedale Street was made in the memo.  That street is perpendicular to the Fox River, running downward to the depths of the river valley at a steep slope of approximately 30 degrees.  Possibly another 10 daring souls with good parking brakes could park there.  The “offer” was also made that some could park at a nearby nature preserve’s space.  If one counted the number of painted lines there, it should have accommodated another six cars.  End of suggestions and beginning of paranoia and chaos.

The “Northsiders” became a little edgy about leaving their spaces after the evening of the 15th.  I lived up to my reputation and didn’t go out for necessary errands until the late morning of the 16th.  I had enough Pepsi and Ramen noodles to have physically survived, but I had to pick up prescriptions at the pharmacy and officially “do something” about the CD with the proceeds from the sale of the house or have it lock in automatically at 1.09%.  A parking space for a day or two was simply not worth $1400.00 (USD) to me. 

I still had not decided what to do with the relatively small portion that was above the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) maximum insurance for all deposits held in one name at any single bank or its branches.  With the debacle of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the weekend federalization of Indy Mac, the three largest loan institutions in the United States, it was definitely in my best financial interest to risk my parking place.  As I left for these errands (and a wireless mouse at Best Bargain – the last one of which Stinky hadn’t taste tested the wires was becoming intermittent) I was especially careful not to waste fuel with a “jackrabbit start.”  This was due more to the fact that I was in reverse and a large, stone-embanked planting was directly behind the car, than thinking Green.  The car is green in color.  That was good enough for the moment, at least.

Rather than describe the errands in detail, let us simply say that I accomplished them in a very short period of time and returned home as rapidly as possible.  I couldn’t believe it.  My parking space was still unoccupied!  I quickly remedied that situation and prepared to “hole up” for as long as six days.  It wasn’t that I was unreasonably paranoid.  The complex had made no provision for approximately 50 vehicles that would be “left over” after all the suggested parking sites had been taken. 

Surprisingly to me, the north lot did not begin to overfill until late afternoon on the 16th.  This made a certain amount of retrospective sense, as many would be returning home after work at that time, but it did not explain why retired residents, stay at home partners, night shift workers, and the like had not grabbed the good, protected spots during the day.  For whatever reason, they did not.  It seemed that the idea to move struck everyone at the stroke of five.  I have an excellent view of the parking lot and it was certainly good entertainment until dusk, even though there were no major accidents or fatalities.  There were minor arguments and confusion, but it wasn’t until dawn the next morning that that the chaotic parking became apparent.  Vehicles were parked behind already curb-parked cars, on any part of the lawns not protected by large rocks, at extreme angles with two wheels on the stone part of tree and floral plantings, and even fought for space blocking several of the dumpsters.

I had considered placing a sign on my Cavalier stating that the owner was armed and not above shooting any vehicle impeding its exit.  My downstairs neighbor had a much better idea.  He suggested a sign stating “Parking space available for $35.00.”  *sigh*  Why didn’t I think of that sooner?

Peace, Doc 

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

“Anyplace worth its salt has a 'parking problem'” -  James Castle

It was recently discovered that the spell checker in all versions of Vista and Server 2008 was “correcting” writers of words which were actually being spelled correctly.  On Friday, July 11, 2008, The Register published an article about this important bug.  Full details may be found at the Microsoft Help and Support page for the remedy to this urgent problem and a possible workaround.  The words?

• Friendster
• Klum
• Nazr
• Obama
• Racicot

That’s it.  Five words.  They must have given as much concern to these five words as was given to “the seven words you can’t say on TV” a number of years ago.  Why do I write of the apparent immediate need to correct these five words?  The correction is a 56.4 MB download.  Still another reason for sticking with XP Pro.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

“Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window.” - Steve Wozniak

It has been a traumatic week for our US Constitution and Bill of Rights.  The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) as amended (caved in to) by Congress was signed into law on July 10, 2008, by President Bush as the FISA Amendments Act of 2008.  On the June 20, 2008 it had been passed by the US House of Representatives by a 203 to 129 vote.  On June 26, 2008 a Senate vote had been delayed by a filibuster by Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) a recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, and Chris Dodd (D-CT)probably best known for his authorship of the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) and his past service as General Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

“Feingold said the bill threatened civil liberties in the United States.  Dodd has said granting retroactive immunity would undermine the rule of law.”^{[4] - Wikipedia}

“Feingold was the only senator to vote against the USA PATRIOT Act when first voted on in 2001.^[43] At the time, Feingold stated that provisions in the act infringed upon citizens' civil liberties.^[44]

When the bill was up for renewal in late December 2005, Feingold led a bipartisan coalition of senators that included Lisa Murkowski, Ken Salazar, Larry Craig, Dick Durbin, and John Sununu to remove some of the act's more controversial provisions. He led a successful filibuster against renewal of the act. This ultimately led to a compromise on some of its provisions. This compromise bill passed the Senate on March 2, 2006, by a vote of 89-10. Feingold was among the ten senators who voted nay, stating that the bill still lacked necessary protections for some civil liberties.” – Wikipedia

Despite the ongoing battle for civil liberties,  the US Senate passed the FISA bill, allowing immunity for past illegal acts to telcoms, ISP’s, cell phone services, and others, 69 to 28. 

The provisions of this act are summarized as follows: 

“Specifically, the Act:^[7]

• Prohibits the individual states from investigating, sanctioning of, or requiring disclosure by complicit telecoms or other persons.
• Permits the government not to keep records of searches, and destroy existing records (it requires them to only keep the records for a period of 10 years).
• Protects telecommunications companies from lawsuits for "'past or future cooperation' with federal law enforcement authorities and will assist the intelligence community in determining the plans of terrorists."
• Removes requirements for detailed descriptions of the nature of information or property targeted by the surveillance.
• Increased the time allowed for warrantless surveillance to continue from 48 hours to 7 days.
• Requires FISA court permission to wiretap Americans who are overseas.
• Prohibits targeting a foreigner to eavesdrop on an American's calls or e-mails without court approval.
• Allows the FISA court 30 days to review existing but expiring surveillance orders before renewing them.
• Allows eavesdropping in emergencies without court approval, provided the government files required papers within a week.
• Prohibits the government from invoking war powers or other authorities to supersede surveillance rules in the future.” – Wikipedia

The effects of the act are: 

• “The provisions of the Act granting immunity to the complicit telecoms create a roadblock for a number of lawsuits intended to expose and thwart the alleged abuses of power and illegal activities of the federal government since and before the September 11th attacks.
• Allows the government to conduct surveillance of any person for up to one week (168 hours) without a warrant, increased from the previous 48 hours, as long as FISA is notified at the time such surveillance begins, and an application as usually required for surveillance authorization is submitted by the government to FISA within those 168 hours.”

Not surprisingly, some groups and individuals are opposed to the passage of this law in its current form.

“In an internet broadcasted interview with Timothy Ferris, Daniel Ellsberg compared the current incarnation of FISA to the East German Stasi. Ellberg stated that the powers which were currently being given to the federal government through this and other recent amendments to FISA since the September 11th Attacks opened the door to abuses of power and unwarranted surveillance. Unlimited surveillance of the communications and conversations of American citizens by the federal government could be initiated by only the allegation of intent, regardless of fact. Abusive acquisition of information under FISA could conceivably be used to intimidate or suppress organizations or individuals in opposition to the governing administration. …

Netroots opposition to the bill:

A group of netroots bloggers and Representative Ron Paul supporters joined together to form a bipartisan political action committee, Accountability Now, to raise money during a one-day money bomb, which, according to The Wall Street Journal, would be used to fund advertisements against Democratic and Republican lawmakers who supported the retroactive immunity of the telecommunications company.^[6]

See Also:

• NSA warrantless surveillance controversy
• Defense of Democracies
• Protect America Act of 2007.
• Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008PDF, via Politico.com
• Accountability Now PAC

If anyone actually read this far, here are your rewards, a few funny cat videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUNmLuNdiL8&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypMl2RFTC9Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eLIMc4khe0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq3Lx2odOHw&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONmhQJy1ViA&feature=related

Peace, Doc

“How does it become a man to behave toward the American government today? I say that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it.” - H.D. Thoreau

Today I made an grievous error.  Actually, the beginning of the error likely occurred many years ago, but I wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it then, anyway.  I currently have to renew the CD into which I invested the proceeds from the sale of the house.  It matured on July 7th, with a grace period of 10 days during which I might obtain a new rate or term, redeem the certificate, or do nothing (allowing it to renew itself for the same term as previously held, but at a ridiculously low interest rate.)  I did not do this on the 7th.  By the 9th of July, the promotional CD interest rates for certain terms had dropped by nearly a full percent and by the 10th, my bank’s shortest promotional term (13 months) had dropped in rate by still another 0.10%.  Hmm. 

I have been searching online for promotional CD rates at nearly every bank or savings and loan in the vicinity.  I have learned much about CD’s in the past few days, the first being that I’m screwed.  One can glean much information when one actually talks to different bank representatives.  After speaking with several, some obscure bits of information have become clearer to me.  Smaller institutions that may be “in trouble” offer the highest promotional rates, and may do so for the term corresponding to when they expect the trouble or the change to occur.  One should never exceed the $100,000 FDIC insurance limit in a single account (not that I have that particular problem at the moment) because if the bank holding the CD goes under, one is only assured of getting back that amount from the Fed.  ALL of the facilities on which I checked CD rates, had their best promo rate occurring at a term of 23, 24, or 25 months, some with regular interim rates as much as two full percentage points less than this term range’s promo rates.  Again, hmm.

I found that on Wednesday, July 9th, the Federal Reserve had held key short term interest rates steady, rather than continuing the partial percentage decreases following a steady series of rate cuts.  *Shrink asks self if this is possibly only a coincidence with the abrupt change in CD rates on that day.  Self does not think so*  I then found that home loan interest rates are at a nine-month high, there are inflation concerns, and that on Friday, July 11th, the markets closed lower, and that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant mortgage companies which are crucial to the mortgage lending sector and to the economy, in general, took a wild ride on fears that a government bailout or nationalization of the two would adversely affect their stockholders earnings.  "On Friday their shares fell 29 per cent and 23 per cent respectively in morning trading, after suffering losses of 14 per cent and 22 per cent on Thursday."  Their shares fell to a 19 year low before the market closed.  Triple hmm.

The more I searched and talked, the more I “heard” an implied, but not clearly stated, assumption by the banks that this two year time span is the period that our recession is expected to last, and that they want to lock in customers for that period, even if it means taking a slight loss (in the case of smaller facilities) to make certain that they have enough working capital.  I have explored many alternatives, from insurance and annuities to municipal bonds and stocks.  Oh, how I wish I had possessed the money to buy GOOG at it’s IPO.  I had done some minor beta testing for Google and I knew it would go up fast.  It quintupled it’s IPO price in under two years.  I suppose that is one of the “bygones” of which I am to "let be."  I still haven't decided what to do.  My realistic choices, as I am forced to decide by the 17th, are either to lock in a lower but stable rate at a larger bank, or to renew my current certificate for one or two months at a laughably low interest rate to simply wait and see what happens, meanwhile exploring my choices in more depth.  Unless there is a financial consultant in my readership who believes otherwise, I am leaning heavily toward a short term, low rate renewal.  *sigh*

Before reaching this decision, desperation overcame me and I made the mistake of using a somewhat feeble-minded online calculator to determine my financial picture in retirement.  According to the results from the data I entered, I must increase the percentage of my income saved by 1,500,183.51% and that in the first year, this works out to $750,091,753.00 (USD.)  I can try, but I don't believe this is quite within my reach.  Perhaps I have made another error.  I certainly hope so.  And so it goes.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"I am opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position." - Mark Twain

In approximately an hour, a bookcase that I ordered is to be delivered.  Initially I had wanted an imported Bavarian antique piece, but the price of $36,000 (USD) put me off somewhat.  At least the one that is on its way is a notch above those made of particle board.  It is a four shelf Barrister style in planked cherry finish.  It is truly not anything very special, but is a style I have liked ever since I “noticed” furniture.  I even managed to scavenge one for my office at the hospital over 25 years ago.  It was missing the pivoted, sliding glass doors for each shelf, but one had to make certain concessions.

I don’t believe I am allowed to reproduce a picture of the bookcase, though it would be good advertising for the maker if I did so.  Therefore, what you see is a drawing with dimensional specifications.

I am anticipating its placement at an angle, in a corner of the living room, where either visitors or I can easily view it.  It seems to me, therefore, that it should contain such of the stuff of life that pleases me.  It will certainly contain a shelf of family books from 1834 on through some of my own childhood tomes (The Little Engine That Could, Mr. Wizard’s Science Secrets, Rocket Manual for Amateurs, Working with the Microscope, and others.)  It will also contain, or have placed atop it, items of particular significance such as pictures of my mother and of the Nolan family, an antique microscope owned by my grandfather, possibly a wooden model of the schooner Bluenose I built “a few” years ago, and maybe even my Teddy bear.  This plan leaves two or three shelves unfilled, and frees up a shelf or two in the other bookcase in the room.

With what should I fill them?  A Chevy 327 13.5/1 stuffer piston with a background of crossed breaker bar and torque wrench?  Archival or entertainment DVD’s inside an appropriately antique appearing box?  A cat?  (Really.  Given the cubic interior dimensions, either of the two lower shelves could become a haven with carpeted floor, sleeping cushion, and toys.)  A collection of psychology journals – uh, no.  They would have looked good, but I’ve disposed of them.  A lighted shelf or shelves to display small but valued objects?  A collection of precision tools?  An extra case or two of Pepsi?  These and other ideas have been considered, some of which are a bit too strange even for me. 

Now comes “The Contest.”  What should Doc put on the shelves?  I don’t believe that I’ll offer prizes.  The last time I tried that, the prize was to be a haiku and one of my friends made repeated comments about developing and marketing an anti-haiku cream.  I will give full credit for any idea actually used, however.  Really, I don’t have much decorating sense and would appreciate suggestions.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

“The only really good place to buy lumber is at a store where the lumber has already been cut and attached together in the form of furniture, finished, and put inside boxes.” - Dave Barry

Addendum:  I forgot to mention an important thing (to me, at least.)  The bookcase was made in the USA and the brand was largely chosen for that reason.  I'm about to start assembling and arranging it, but if it sucks, I won't tell you.

I have been wondering for some time now about the answer to life, the universe, and everything, but found that “the simple answer” was already available in Douglas Adams’ series The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.   The answer was found in only 7.5 million years by the computer Deep Thought.  It is 42, a rather impressive number, actually. 

"I think the problem is that the question was too broadly based..."

"Forty two?!" yelled Loonquawl. "Is that all you've got to show for seven and a half million years' work?"

"I checked it very thoroughly," said the computer, "and that quite definitely is the answer. I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you've never actually known what the question is. … “

“I always think that the chances of finding out what is really going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is to say hang the sense of it and just keep yourself occupied. … What does it matter?  Science has achieved some wonderful things of course, but I’d far rather be happy than right any day … [But I am not,] that’s where it all falls down, of course.”

Ah, but I have the temerity to believe that I have an answer that is more applicable to a mortal, sentient being like myself.  Hehehehe!  It’s a haiku!  Rx:  Repeat as necessary.  Gag Halfrunt would probably disagree with me.

Cry live breathe eat grow

Play learn love work save spend age

lose grieve sicken die

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

“"Vell, Zaphod's jist zis guy, you know?" – Gag Halfrunt

Celebrate!  Celebrate!  Dance to the music!  Umm, sorry.  I become a little gleeful and giddy when I perpetrate vengeful acts upon objects, establishments, and even people who thwart me.  I gloat.  I even take sinful pleasure from planning and researching these acts of reprisal.  I shall elucidate.

When I got home and thought about how absurdly predatory the pricing of the previously mentioned USB cable was, I searched for anything I had in the apartment with a similar cable.  I actually found one the next day, which surprised me somewhat.  I’m not at all certain why they are used on the large capacity Maxtor USB/FireWire hard drives, but they are.  Once I knew I had a temporary substitute, I called the Circuit Place to determine if they would accept the return of an unopened purchase.  A sleepy sounding female voice said that they would.  It was the 4th of July, so I leaped upon the opportunity and went there immediately.  I had “neglected” to mention that I did not have a receipt.  Upon arrival, I went directly to Customer Service and apparently found the same young woman I had spoken to on the phone.  She was telling a co-worker how much she just wanted to go home and and take a nap.  We had started the refund process before she asked for the receipt.  I clearly stated, “Mumble, mumble, lost, mumble, didn’t get, mumble.”  She didn’t appear to care very much and simply refunded the price back to the credit card I had initially used to buy it.  It is quite surprising, really, how instantaneously the profuse “Thank you’s” in the store turn into wicked, elderly cackles of joy when one passes through the entrance door on the way out.  Gotcha.

I did not immediately go to the store where I had found the same cable for $17.00.  That is because I had found them on Tiger Direct’s website for $6.99.  I also found long stretches of Cat5e cable (50’ and 100’) for $12.95 to $13.95 to go around corners, over closet doors, and get to the desk in the next room.  I am still of two minds on that issue.  I could simply drill a hole through the wall and use a much shorter run, but the assistant manager of the apartment complex lives downstairs.  I’ll have to give that a bit more thought.  I recall that the lease said something about not having lengths of wire strung about the place, but made no mention of drilling holes through walls.  Likely another oversight, as was the failure to forbid building a ‘41 Willys C/Gasser in the living room.  Anyway – Gotcha II

I did find out further bits of intelligence while doing the online searching, however.  I found that Systemax is the parent company of Tiger Direct, and has very recently acquired CompUSA.com.  Ooh!  A larger stock and more goodies to cause me to drool on the keyboard. 

While searching online, it came to mind to look for book cases.  I found two four-shelf models which I liked much better than the overpriced three-shelf unit at Big-Box emporium.  Planked cherry or classic cherry colors are available, rather than the light oak color of the three-shelf unit I was considering.  All my other furniture type “stuff” is in darker colors.  And how far would I have to drive to get one of these items, one might ask?  A full-line retailer is located about 1/2 mile south of the Big Box store.  Though it was July 4th and the store was closed, I stopped to peer into their showroom window, at least until the police car slowed to have a suspicious look at me.  Definite potential Gotcha III.

Finally, I have two serious, heavy-duty “wants” bouncing around inside my head.  A good pocket sized digital camera, and a “good” PC.  I have found an acceptable Olympus Stylus for about $250 online or $300 at the Big Box.  Monday is “Seniors Day” at the Big Box, with 15% off on general merchandise and apparel items.  If electronics are considered general merchandise, the base prices would be within $5.00.  I can’t quite decide, however, because the online price would come with no tax or shipping and I could add a 2 Gig memory card and a second battery pack for a bit over $300 and, even with the senior discount, The Big Box one is over $275 with sales tax.  The Oly itself is a 10.1 Megapixel with 7x optical and 5x digital zoom.   I won’t even start on want number two, the computer, again.  My brain already hurts.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

“Old age and treachery will triumph over youth and skill every time.” – Proverb.  (Probably initiated by an old person.)

I try to be a good Green person.  I plan my shopping trips to make the best use of miles and gas as possible.  My only explanation for yesterday is that, for some unknown reason, the gods were pissed at me.  I got up early , showered, shaved ( a pretty good bleeder was produced, but nothing life threatening,) trimmed my beard, and put on clothing fit for public viewing.  I even got my dentures out of the little porta-potty looking thing and wore them.

That’s where just about anything positive ended for the rest of the trip.  My first stop was at the same Medium-Box Circuit store where I had previously had a less than cordial discussion with the manager over a LCD TV.  At that time I had waited nearly half an hour for anyone to notice that I might want to buy something and wait on me.  On that occasion I left before “being helped” and called back when I got home, getting some personal satisfaction from biting the manager and getting a gift card for my trouble.  On this trip I went there first to use the gift card, only to find that a USB A plug to USB 5 pin mini-B cable was over $31.00.  I grudgingly turned in the gift card and used a credit card to charge the rest of the price of a damn piece of wire which I am certain was produced in China for under $3.00.

On to the pet store.  I got the boys their favorites, but when I got to the register, I was charged $2.00 more than I expected because a particular bag of anti-hairball food was priced that much lower on the shelf upon which it sat.  I also embarrassed myself by getting out the wrong store’s discount card.  Grrrr.

I finally went to the Big-Box grocery and general merchandise store that I usually patronize.  The first irritation was the discovery that a knee brace like the one I had bought there on my last trip was now 20% off.  Drat!  I don’t know why I do things like this to myself, but I wandered into their relatively small electronics section and found exactly the same cable I had purchased (rebranded) for $16.00.  Double drat!  I then looked for a filtered water pitcher that was supposed to be on sale for about $17.00.  All were sold and the ones available were over $30.00.  Foiled yet again.  Button batteries for a $2.00 LED flashlight and laser?  $6.49 – I think not. 

Then came an item that I had argued with myself about purchasing, a Barrister bookcase; the kind with a glass front for each shelf which raises and slides back above the books on that shelf.  I had discussed with myself whether it was a need, a want, or some combination of the two.  I had gone so far as to measure the available trunk height and width (just in case.)  I even took a tape measure into the store to be certain.  When I discovered that the price had risen by $20.00 since my last trip, “maybe need” was quickly lowered to the “only want” category, and I sullenly wandered on. 

I then continued to do my regular grocery shopping.  It was here that I found my only bargain of the day.  Pepsi was on sale at two cases for $9.00.  No more surprises.  I just bought my regular supplies and want home.  At least the car didn’t break down on the way.

Oh.  One more thought.  I either never received or lost the USB cable receipt, so I can’t return it.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

“If men liked shopping, they'd call it research.” - Cynthia Nelms