Asylum For Sale
[Back-dated from 10/11/03 to 8/31]
Signed realty listing with Nancy and Craig. Told neighbors Bill and Camie that our house is on the market.

Bryan arrived safely in Brussels.

Maria and I had dinner at Clouds in Santa Cruz. 

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Good Friends, Free Dinner!
[Back-dated from 10/11/03 to 8/30]
The Digital Crocus account is working. The Network Solutions site is back up but I still can't access their fulfillment system.

Bryan left for Europe. Strange feeling watching him go. God Speed, My Son. Be Safe.

Steve and Terry S treated us to dinner at Macaroni Grill (McCarthy Ranch in San Jose) before they leave for the UK again. 

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Domain Purchase and Hosting Problems
[Back-dated from 10/11/03 to 8/29]
Enjoying one day of vacation.

Tried to buy a domain at Network Solutions but their fulfillment system was down. Tried to buy a hosting account at Digital Crocus but their fulfillment system was also down. The whole internet seems to be toast today. Many sites return frequent errors. Later in the day, the home page of Network Solutions said the site was down for maintenance. Finally purchased a Digital Crocus account but it is not fully functional yet.

Heard from Jennifer M that her department at SJSU needs to update a web site but the former student webmaster is gone. 

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Bryan's European Vacation
[Back-dated from 10/11/03 to 8/27]
Bryan here for dinner. This is last family meal before leaving for his vacation trip to Europe. Flying into Brussels. Amsterdam, France, Spain, and Italy are all on his plan. Maybe others. Bryan's friend John D, formerly of Santa Cruz, will fly over from Boston to join him.

Installed Centrinity First Class client for OS X on Maria's Powerbook and iBook. 

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Rain? In August?
[Back-dated from 10/11/03 to 8/26]
Heavy rain, starting at 4:00 a.m., for about 30 minutes. 

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Sky Sparks
[Back-dated from 10/11/03 to 8/25]
Downloaded many software updates for the iBook. Watched much lightning over the forest around 11:30 p.m. 

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More Cleaning
[Back-dated from 10/11/03 to 8/24]
More general cleaning around the house and work on the new Malibu lights. 

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Bloody Chihuahua Toes
[Back-dated from 10/11/03 to 8/23]
Found out today that Neighbor Bill F has a packet8.net voip phone.

Nate helped with many chores: sanded 3 doors, mulched the garden, pulled up dead plants, and installed 12 Malibu lights around front walkway and trees.

Chihuahua Misty nibbled on her doggy toes and hit paydirt. Lots of bloody Chihuahua footprints all over the kitchen floor tile. Bandage bleeding doggy toes with Bryan. Several layers of gauze, then duct tape to keep her from gnawing through. Sigh... I should have taken digital pictures. Later, when Maria was home, Misty not happy when we unwrapped her feet. Had to gently cut away the wrapping a bit at a time. 

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Dreamscape
[Back-dated from 10/10/03 to 8/22]
Strange. I seldom remember any dreams when I wake up.

However, last night, I dreamt about old high school girlfriend Maggie W. In the dream, I was driving down a temporarily cone-constricted off-ramp when someone, walking towards me, waved at me. I slowed down and recognized Maggie. First thing I said was "You must have great eye sight" or something similar.

She worked at a college in the area. We talked at one of the (football?) games. I then helped her set up books in the library. Her boyfriend hated me. I don't recall who he was, but he seemed familiar.

Near the end, we were all standing on chairs that were stacked one on top of another, reaching close to ceiling. We were opening volumes of old encyclopedias and lay them along the top row of boookshelves. The purpose was to cover the other books, as a decoration for something she was doing for the library.

Then I woke up. Very odd. 

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Dead PalmPilot and Wireless Woes
[Back-dated from 10/10/03 to 8/21]
The new PalmPilot m125 was dead in the morning when I went to sync. Lost all data entered last night lost. Stretched the battery retainer clips to make sure it wasn't a loose connection since NiMH batteries are slightly smaller than regular AAA. Even putting in my freshly-charged spares showed only 50% power.

Termite inspection today.

Could not get my IBM ThinkPad X20 to access the home wireless network tonight. Finally discovered that a port on the hub was bad.

Found the reason I have not been able to get the iBook on the home wireless network. Our access point is configured to pass only specific MAC addresses and I had not added the iBook's MAC address. D'OH! 

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Realty Office Tour
[Back-dated from 10/10/03 to 8/20]
Walkthrough tour by Nancy's realty office. All realtors gave estimates for asking price. 

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Cleaning Deadline and Hot Shania
[Back-dated from 10/10/03 to 8/19]
Last day to clean before our realtors Nancy and Craig have their local office tour at our place.

Watched two-hour concert on NBC of 'Shania Up! Live In Chicago' taped in Chicago's Grant Park on 7/27/03. 

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Another Apple Laptop
[Back-dated from 10/8/03 to 8/17]
Coming down the home stretch with the office cleaning. It now looks great.

Maria and Crystal looked at modular homes.

Maria bought a used Apple iBook at a 'potentially good price'. Picked it up from Nathan R, one of Nate's friends. This one is smaller than her PowerBook, somewhat faster, several years newer, and has a much larger hard drive. Nathan was glad he had the extended warranty, as the iBook has gone back to Apple several times for repair. He decided to finally switch to a PC laptop. We'll see how many more times it needs to be repaired by Apple.

We bought extended warranties with every Apple computer we've purchased in the last 7 or 8 years. Good thing, as we've needed them every time. Don't know why Maria likes Apple products so much. Their quality control is a joke. Prior to the iBook, we've owned two other recent Apple laptops and an iMac. Every one had multiple hardware failures under the extended warranty. Computers for the rest of us? Total bullshit. Our experience with three different recent generations of their hardware? A greater than 100% failure rate.

Apple brags about their ease of use. They don't mention their hardware reliability, because there isn't any. With the price premium Apple charges for their stuff, you'd think it wouldn't suck. You'd be thinking incorrectly. Apple's old 'think different' slogan? Maybe think about how different things would be if their hardware had less than a 100% failure rate. Be very thankful that they don't build cars, airplanes, or space shuttles.

Maria and I had dinner with Tom and Nanette. Sue and George's wife were also there, along with Bryan. 

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Lost in Office
[Back-dated from 10/8/03 to 8/16]
I spent most of the day cleaning out the office again. Nate helped by re-mounting and sanding several doors. He also power-washed the outside stairs, decks, and walkway as well as blowing off the street and driveway. The place is starting to look pretty decent. 

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Thumb and House Sale
[Back-dated from 10/8/03 to 8/12]
Maria received a splint and cortisone shot for her right thumb, which has been locking up recently. I sent email to Rona for the first time in 15 months. Time to be nosey about her house being listed for sale! 

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House Surprise
[Back-dated from 10/7/03 to 8/11]
Realtor friends Craig and Nancy sent us an interesting house listing. It was Rona's! A former student of Maria's, I carpooled with Rona several years ago. Haven't contacted her for a long time. Maybe it is time to open an old door. 

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Tired
[Back-dated from 10/6/03 to 8/10]
More cleaning. Took yet another carload of books, toys, electronics, color TV and speakers to Goodwill. Realtor friends Craig and Nancy came over for dessert to discuss our next steps. Bryan also received some tips for his upcoming trip to Europe. 

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Make It Stop
[Back-dated from 10/6/03 to 8/9]
More house cleaning; bedroom and office today. Will the joy never end? And, more importantly, where did I get all of this crap? 

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Toy Time
[Back-dated from 10/6/03 to 8/8]
First init of the new PalmPilot m125. Things seeeeemed to go OK at the time. Didn't do a clean install but let it migrate the existing applications. Mistake? Didn't seem like it at the time.

Bought a Canon digital camera battery on the way home. It will go into a 'care package' for Bryan's girlfriend. Kate is in Chile for the semester and was stuck without a spare. 

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New Goodies
[Back-dated from 10/6/03 to 8/7]
My PalmPilot m125 software and accessories arrived. No time to play today. 

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Ratted Out By Wife
[Back-dated from 10/6/03 to 8/6]
Parents called to ask about my little 'bad food' episode the other day. Evidently, Maria mentioned it in an email. Ratted me out in a heartbeat. 

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Bryan Bashing
[Back-dated from 10/6/03 to 8/4]
Son Bryan was rear-ended in his Corolla by an uninsured asshole driver at a stoplight. Bryan and Corolla both OK. The other driver said he'll pay for the repairs after Bryan gets an estimate. Right... when pigs fly.

Maria said the PalmPilot m125 owner from the auction is mailing me the software and accessories today.

Gasoline benchmark:
$1.729 / 1.849 / 1.949 for 87 / 89 / 91 octane 

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Day Be Gone
[Back-dated from 10/6/03 to 8/3]
Clean out the garage and under the house, briefly. Saw several houses in the afternoon with realtor friend Nancy. Hillary A. had her baby this afternoon after being in labor all weekend. Took Nate to dinner at Chile's for upcoming birthday. 

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The Never-Ending Clean-Up
[Back-dated from 10/6/03 to 8/2]
Clean out the garage and under house.

Put 4 sore feet up after dinner while Maria and I watched two Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn movies on TV. Forgot to note the titles. Both were good, but years apart. 

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Placeholder, Again
[Back-dated from 10/6/03 to 8/1]
I wish the calendar interface in Radio UserLand worked properly so this placeholder nonsense wasn't necessary. The next/previous month widgets under the calendar frequently point to days for which no post exists. 

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