After living with three consecutive minivans, the idea of moving to a smaller car had one sticking point. What about all that cargo space? What if there is suddenly a need to pack large objects for transport? What if? Tonight, my first test case, and the Versa did right by me.
posted in technology | Comments Off on Small is beautiful (or, size is an illusion) | 287 words
Twenty years is a good, long run. Tonight, my prized lawn mower gave up the gears, and is no more. Lots of spin and sound, but the cut wasn’t exactly the deepest. I’d come home last evening to the news that the grass was still in grow mode because there was no power available at the curb. Tests on the extension cords showed that all was in order, but still my pretty pink powertool wasn’t particularly useful. The transmission was over and done.
posted in environment, Idol | Comments Off on Push comes to shove | 290 words
Time to rant. Television is supposed to serve as a diversion during prime time. Fun, laughs. So what is this obsession with shows devoted to police techniques and courtroom filibustering? Why is the world going CSI? This afternoon, some of the shows that won’t be back next season were announced. Next season is losing another block of silliness.
posted in humour, Idol | Comments Off on Less fun for next season | 277 words
It’s fun to finally put a name to a face. Or rather, a face to a name. This morning, still in long weekend mode, I watched several hours of documentary footage about heavy metal music. Come on, we all need to know more about the logos and hand signs and power chords.
posted in music | Comments Off on Putting a face to a name | 258 words
There. I fixed it. Only took three tries and a cry of desperation, but my Vista-powered laptop does TV (again). There’s the rub, as Willie said. My laptop did TV, and then it stopped, and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the why. Nor, as it happens, as to why it now works. I simply kept reinstalling and erasing until things finally worked. One more reason to wonder if there is magic in the way this stuff works.
posted in computing, media | Comments Off on Wanting to record past triumphs | 313 words
A little warm weather, a few dandelions and the soul starts to remember summer. This afternoon, I had an odd craving for one of our favourite vacation foods; off to the kitchen, to try and mimic the taste of campground nourishment.
posted in food | Comments Off on Rolled with purpose | 304 words
Tonight is the first time in, well, ever that all three of the sons are out to parties. Not together, although that happens, but it is the first time that our youngest has decided he also merits a social life. Within months it will seem pretty mundane, but for now I’m in a novel situation. The phone will probably ring before the evening goes much further, since I also run an answering service. Parents do what they can.
posted in environment | Comments Off on The nest is temporarily empty | 278 words
The question my daily newspaper should answer runs along the line “What the world really needs is…?” Based on current content, that isn’t even close to what fills the front page. Let’s see what this week has offered up (think of this as a way to provide material that will be useful in a restrospection some years down the line).
posted in media | Comments Off on Old stories on the front page | 275 words
There’s something about island life. I’ve lived, not just on The Island, but on several islands; all by choice. That security belt of open water does something to the psyche. Tonight, we paid a virtual visit to an island just down river from here. Maybe, when the summer gets rolling, we’ll pile in the car and go, because I liked what I saw.
posted in travel | Comments Off on Life on an island is good | 264 words
Nature abhors a vacuum, and municipal governments abhor empty public space. If there’s a field, then there should be a public park, or a building, or a highway running across (going nowhere fast). If there’s money in a budget, it must be spent. One thing that always raises a polemic is art in the public space.
posted in environment, politics | Comments Off on Presenting a blank canvas | 337 words
