For the musical among us, instruments are fun to have around. In fact, one of those odd quotes that has stuck with me through the years mentions that “the one with the most instruments wins”. There are a few around this house, but there’s always room for one more. Today, an impulse purchase added that “one more”.
posted in music | Comments Off on Always room for one more | 288 words
The guy at the trophy store helped me out today. I have a small collection of Morse keys that need something more substantial for their respective bases, and he managed to find a half-dozen rectangular polished pieces of marble for a price that was better than fair. In his business, these are the foundation of something much larger. After all, who wants to be recognized as the “World’s Best” with a trophy mounted on cheap plastic.
posted in ham radio | Comments Off on Shining the keys | 364 words
We’re back home from the end of year concert. A celebration of the local school, a place where my sons have all passed years in the loop. A place where the walk home when you missed the school bus was possible, if uncomfortable. I live in the city, where schools have constant population and enough parents watching for governmental error. A school will last for a lifetime around here.
posted in education | Comments Off on Your school was too small to matter (much) | 354 words
My local vendor for magazines and bus books has the enlightened habit of playing music in the shop; he also sells used CDs, so it makes sense to let the client sample the wares. Today, the artist of choice was one that has figured in the “soundtrack of my life”. Without trying to date myself, we were listening to one of the early albums by the Moody Blues.
posted in media | Comments Off on Did you hear what I heard? | 306 words
Despite the occasional sore thumb, I tend to be what the software industry calls “an early adopter”. Ready to plunge in to unknown waters, I install products that are not ready for prime time. A beta player. Over the last few months, Microsoft has promised to provide a Service Pack for Vista (SP2), with the goal of improving my general life and making cheap food taste better (not exactly what they promised, but software is an incubator of dreams).
posted in computing, education | Comments Off on Service pack and assembly necessary | 281 words
This evening, through the wonder of home cinema, we watched a war movie. Or a political movie. The colours are certainly more vivid than in the old days, but themes vary little. War as politics; politics as war.
posted in history | Comments Off on With better timing and a cooler day | 259 words
So the local TV station wants to be saved. Is that in the religious sort of saved, or the swimmer in dangerous water sort of saved, or the instant balm of money from me sort of saved? I thought so.
posted in economy, media | Comments Off on Do you feel their pain, yet? | 321 words
What’s that got to do with the price of fish? One of those expressions that I remember from when I lived a bit closer to the shore, and Friday required a meal that had been caught with a hook (or a net). Nowadays, I don’t have any good reason to follow the auctions in Boston, and the local radio stations haven’t carried that sort of information in decades. Only when I come across some of the flash-frozen fillets that are available in the local foodstore does the question come up in conversation.
posted in economy, food | Comments Off on Might as well stay home | 263 words
My assumption is that the lawn must have looked larger than life in the light of day. While I was off to the markets, the family borrowed a lawnmower from the neighbour. There it sat, in all its glory, waiting for the magic touch. You see, our newly purchased reel mower will arrive, but not until next week, and a bit of sun and rain (in proper proportion) push the envelope in lawn growth.
posted in technology | Comments Off on Not just a simple tug to start things off | 265 words
My day was much like any other day. I set up a new computer. Truth be told, I do that a lot; sort of a professional requirement. Over the years, there’s been a lot of repetitive action at my desk. Today, though, things were a little different, because I set up a new computer for ME.
posted in computing | Comments Off on A new desktop machine in service, at last | 343 words
