Another Timberland Sale

The Beta Version of Our Home

Lani and I have precious little time to work on our new apartment. We'll have a cleaning service come in every two weeks starting next Thursday. It's worth the $60 cost.

So far we've placed our furniture where it should approximately go, and set up our electronic gadgets, but the wires for the gadgets have to be organized so that I can close the doors on the credenza and hide the mess. We've ordered a dining room table and 8 chairs (We passed on the DWR chairs: no thigh support). We still need to pick out a rug for the dining room and a runner for the hallway. And we have pictures to hang. The TV takes up a lot of room, and we haven't decided where to put it. We really want a slim LCD TV.

Labor Day

What Work Is- by Philip Levine

We stand in the rain in a long line
waiting at Ford Highland Park. For work.
You know what work is--if you're
old enough to read this you know what
work is, although you may not do it.
Forget you. This is about waiting,
shifting from one foot to another.
Feeling the light rain falling like mist
into your hair, blurring your vision
until you think you see your own brother
ahead of you, maybe ten places.
You rub your glasses with your fingers,
and of course it's someone else's brother,
narrower across the shoulders than
yours but with the same sad slouch, the grin
that does not hide the stubbornness,
the sad refusal to give in to
rain, to the hours wasted waiting,
to the knowledge that somewhere ahead
a man is waiting who will say, "No,
we're not hiring today," for any
reason he wants. You love your brother,
now suddenly you can hardly stand
the love flooding you for your brother,
who's not beside you or behind or
ahead because he's home trying to
sleep off a miserable night shift
at Cadillac so he can get up
before noon to study his German.
Works eight hours a night so he can sing
Wagner, the opera you hate most,
the worst music ever invented.
How long has it been since you told him
you loved him, held his wide shoulders,
opened your eyes wide and said those words,
and maybe kissed his cheek? You've never
done something so simple, so obvious,
not because you're too young or too dumb,
not because you're jealous or even mean
or incapable of crying in
the presence of another man, no,
just because you don't know what work is.

Categories:Work

Logitech MX Revolution Mouse

This rechargeable laser mouse is the best mouse I've owned. The wheel and keys can be assigned custom functions that are unique to the application that is active. And it comes with a charging cradle.

The scroll wheel has 2 modes. Normal click wheel, and free spinning mode. Change modes by pushing down on the wheel. In the spinning mode, a quick flick of the wheel sends it spinning for 7 seconds. Scroll left and right by tilting the wheel.

The second 'thumb wheel' doesn't rotate, but nudges forward and backward. Its default setting switches between open applications.

I use the keys above the thumb wheel to change the volume, and the key behind the scroll wheel to open iTunes.

Categories:Gadgets

Truckin'

There's a fashion amongst the lumpen proletariat for covering the tail lights and turn signals of their trucks with stickers. This is the worst example I've seen. Had he wanted to change lanes, I wouldn't be able to tell. The owner of this Dodge truck might be the nicest guy in the world, but he's also pure white trash. To solidify his white trash status he added chrome naked lady silhouettes to his back window. A true lady's man and connoisseur of automotive fashion...

Twist and Crawl

Our cable connection enters our apartment through the dining room. That's about as far as physically possible from the TV. Rather than tack the cable along the edge of the floor, I decided to run it through the crawl space between the ceiling and roof. The 'attic' has just enough space for a human to crawl through on their belly. I climbed up through the narrow hatch in the closet and wiggled into the ceiling. Then on my elbows and knees I crawled towards the west end of our apartment The roof sloped down towards the wall where the cable was, and I almost gave up. But then I noticed light, and moving my head around a roof beam I could see the hole I'd drilled from the outside of the building. I was just able to reach the hole and push the cable through. I rolled on my back and rested for the long trip back.

It was quite an ordeal. I was covered in sweat and dirt when I came down. I peeled off my clothes and put them in a plastic bag, then took a shower.

Then I turn on the TV and the image starts to pixelate! I dread going back in the ceiling!

And today the cable modem cuts out, so I call Comcast. They discover the problem is in the basement, and not with my wiring in the ceiling! Everything is fixed. Cool.

Aston Martin For Sale

Ford has a long history of design and manufacturing in Britain, so it's not really thought of as a foreign company. Ford ownership of British Aston Martin has been a comfortable arrangement. Ford has been a good parent to AM: Giving them money and not telling them what to do.

But now they're for sale, who will buy Aston Martin?
I'm guessing Renault will buy them. Lets wait and see.


Photo from Aston Martin Racing
Categories:Cars

1930's Acoustic Locators

Before there was radar, the only ways to detect incoming aeroplanes was to look and listen. In Britain this took on greater importance in the late 1930's as war seemed likely. These acoustic locators were probably kept secret at the time, then ignored and forgotten after the discovery of radar. The massive cement structures are still there, and presumably still work.

Thanks We-Make-Money-Not-Art
Categories:Science

Corbin Sparrow Update

The three wheeled electric Sparrow was a financial disaster for Corbin (I wrote about it here). Now Meyers Motors of Ohio is taking a stab at making the same car under the NmG name. O-60mph in 12.5s. 70mph top speed, and 30 mile range. The price has jumped up to $25,000.




Thanks Jalopnik
Categories:Cars

Abandoned Pod Hotel

What looks like a failed modern utopian community is a failed 1960's resort/hotel complex on the outskirts of Taipei, Taiwan.

More here

Thanks Tropolism
Categories:architecture