Semi-random thoughts

• There should be background checks for people who want to buy pressure cookers.
• I got a new computer monitor, because my old one died after about 11 years. HP uses HDMI connectors for digital input. HP includes a nice HDMI to HDMI cable with the monitor. But my two year old computer doesn't have an HDMI output--it only has a DVI digital output. Guess who made my computer.
• I hate it when I update an app on my phone and it wipes out my settings.

Semi-random thoughts

• I'd complain about all the ice bucket challenge things littering up the internet, but I'm just as tired of seeing people complaining about them. I guess I'm just as bad.
• Is a recipe that calls for just the egg whites racist?
• I have learned two things about IDs recently. First, many countries, including much of Europe, require US passports to be at least six months from expiration for entry. Second, standard NY driver's licenses are no longer valid for entry into Federal buildings. This will also be true for airport security, but not until at least 2016.

Semi-random thoughts

• I'm always amazed how people will comment on posts without reading the previous comments. I'm not even talking about the ones where there have been dozens of previous comments. Are people so lazy that they can't be bothered to read a half dozen short comments?
• After seven years, I've gotten a new computer. It's an HP "desktop." Quotation marks because it goes under the desk, not on top. There are a number of things I could say about this change, but for the moment I'll just mention one, which really surprised me. I love the mouse that came with it. It looks like a zillion other black mice, without even a logo. It's a tiny bit longer and wider than the Logitech I've been using. I thought this might be a problem, but it's not--maybe because it's not as thick as the old one. But the big difference is the shape of the sides. The Logitech has slightly convex, slightly inward sloping sides. The HP's sides are concave. It takes a small amount of inward force to keep a grip on the Logitech. It takes no force at all with the HP--the overhang of the concave sides keep my thumb and ring finger in place. The result is all of my effort goes to moving the mouse, and none to keeping my hand on it. It's great. 
• There should be a rule for all journalists: If you put a Manhattan address that's on an avenue in your article, you have to put in the cross street.

Semi-random thoughts

• I'm always a little angry when someone writes "Here, here!" It's "Hear, hear!"
• When burlesque performers have moving sales they post things like, "I will mostly have clothes, shoes, costumes, a few tables, wired shelves and a 6 ft tall carrot." UPDATE: I realize I have actually sat on that carrot (it's like a pillow). She had it at one of her shows.
• I could never be a plumber. For one thing, my arms aren't long enough.

Arizona State 32, Wisconsin 30, Officials 0

I can accept a loss when the other team out-plays us. But when mistakes (and I do mean plural) by the officials in the final seconds of the game deprive us of the chance to try for the win, that's unacceptable. (Arizona State 32, Wisconsin 30, Officials 0)

UPDATE: Pac-12 reprimands officials

Semi-random thoughts

• Fedex hates me. I firmly believe they looked at a map of the upper east side of Manhattan and said, where can we put our drop boxes so they're all 9 blocks away from Caprice? It's this beautiful semi-circle with Central Park on one side.
• I received an e-mail asking me to sign a petition directed to a Catholic bishop in Wisconsin. I'm sure he is really going to be swayed by a Jewish atheist from New York. Not. 
• Today I had my annual bone density scan. Getting strapped into position was serious (if brief) bondage fun.

Amtrak improves--slightly

For years I have been complaining about Amtrak's failure to properly inform ticket holders about changes in the trains' schedules. They have now improved things--a bit. I got an email from them with my e-ticket (a recent innovation) attached. I found this puzzling, because I had already gotten my e-ticket when I purchased my ticket, weeks before. Then I noticed that my return train was leaving 20 minutes earlier than originally.

There was nothing explicit in the e-mail about a change in schedule. Fortunately I remembered when my train was supposed to leave, and noticed the change. They really should have titled the e-mail "SCHEDULE CHANGE."

Well, at least they are now communicating something, which is more than they did before.

UPDATE (April 8): Amtrak is now doing it right, if slowly. I just received an e-mail from them detailing the schedule change.

It's always something

My American Express card, the one I use the most, has been "compromised." Their fraud unit caught it immediately and they are sending me a new card overnight. But now I will have to change my card number on a bunch of places where I have automatic payments. What a pain.

Whining about Facebook

There are two things I really wish I could eliminate from my Facebook feed:

• Pictures of people's pets
• Pictures with sayings on them

Traveler's insurance fail

Now I understand more fully why my automated credit card payment for my Traveler's insurance failed last month. I had made an extra payment on the credit card, as I was getting close to my limit and the charge was large. I just thought the payment got delayed. It seems that was not the problem.

After the charge didn't go through, I got a letter from Traveler's saying that my automatic charges to my credit card had been cancelled, and I had to sign up for it again. I did this, specifying that I wanted the charges to made on the 20th of the month. I then got another letter from them saying my credit card would be charged on October 22 (because the 20th is a Saturday).

The charge went through today, the 19th.

Thank you, Amazon

Now I'll really know when to expect delivery.

Your estimated delivery date is:
Friday, August 31, 2012 -
Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Semi-random thoughts

• It's "Hear, hear!," not "Here, here!"
• I can't say I like the new blogger interface very much. Aside from the temporary bother learning where everything is now, I'm not sure there's a way of directly viewing an old post you just edited. I've only used it once, but when I posted it sent me to my edit post list.
• Someone just visited a post I wrote the first week of my glob, back in 2005. It was fun seeing how I wrote back then.

Boo, Postal Service

CVS sent me a nice 20% off coupon. It is good on the 10th and 11th. It came today, the 13th. Does anyone wonder why the Postal Service is in trouble?

Only 29 days until no more Xmas music

I don't mind most of Christmas, but the ubiquitous music just grates.

Semi-random thoughts

• A high school athlete's "commitment" to attend a certain college should be renamed. They are so often changed they should be called "leanings."
• The Wisconsin football team's hopes for a national championship ended in the last few seconds of the game against Michigan State on Saturday. It was fun while it lasted, even though it was never more than a long shot. At least they can still win the Big Ten Championship and go to the Rose Bowl. Go Badgers!
• I hate websites that give the time of an entry in relative terms, like "1 hour ago." They are inexact and require unnecessary work on my part. If something is listed as happening "14 hours ago," I have to do the calculation myself. A computer could do the calculation much faster. I'm sure the website designer's excuse for not doing this is that they would have to know what time zone I'm in, but is that so difficult?    

Semi-random thoughts

• I was looking for a tiny brush to clean out the holes in a plastic spatula. I found some on Amazon, designed to clean out baby bottle parts. Now Amazon is suggesting I buy all kinds of baby bottle apparatus.
• I have installed WordPerfect version 15 (I don't care if they call it X5). This is at least my 6th version since I switched from DOS to Windows. Now I'll be able to read .docx documents, and edit PDF files. People keep chiding me about sticking with WordPerfect, but I like it. My only problem comes from file conversion issues like .docx files.
• It is sometimes surprisingly difficult to determine what state a news website is covering. A good number have it nowhere in their logos, their about us pages, even on their contact us pages--an amazing number give only e-mail addresses. There have been occasions when the only way I could figure it out was from the addresses in the advertisements.
• It's always sad when a restaurant you've enjoyed for many years starts going downhill.
• I saw a headline that said "Germany Dominates Austria" and I wondered if I had somehow gotten a newspaper from the 1930's. But it was only the soccer column in the New York Times' sports section.

Semi-random thoughts

• One day, for half the afternoon I was in and out, running errands, and the summer relief doorman was always jumping up to open the door or scrambling to grab the elevator for me, always super-polite. What he failed to do was the important thing: to give me the package I've been waiting for, which was delivered in the morning.
• Another doorman failure to deliver: upon returning Monday morning from my Sunday night outing, the doorman gave me a package that must have come on Saturday. It contained make-up, which I could have used Sunday, but the Saturday night doorman failed to give it to me. 
• My blog recently got a hit from someone in Abbottobad, Pakistan. That's where Osama Bin Laden was hiding.
• When I get a campaign mailing that doesn't mention the candidate's party affiliation, I know it's about a Republican.

Semi-random thoughts

• The price of bacon bits just soared 20%. grump.
• I'm loving the new SwiftKey X keyboard on my Droid phone.
• My glob recently got a hit from the Marshall Islands. That's a first. And I don't think I've seen one from Tunisia before, either.
• I really need to do some stretching exercises before I epilate my legs--especially if I want to see what I'm doing.

Semi-random thoughts

• I see that they're going to be doing a production of Peter Pan in The Theater in Madison Square Garden (the Felt Forum, back in my day) in December. It's starring Cathy Rigby. She'll only be 59 years old. 
• I still have my old e-mail address on mail.com. Occasionally I find it useful, but I don't always check it. Recently they put in a new version, and it is as buggy as hell. In the course of 5 minutes it bounced me out to the sign-in screen 3 times.
• The first car service I called refused to suggest a pick-up time to get me to Newark airport by a certain time. The second one I called did suggest a time. Guess which one I'm using.

Judgment day?

None of the advertisements for this rapture thing list a time. What am I supposed to do, wait around all day? The people running this are worse than the cable company.