Geeky Ramblings

Well, not really.

Ok, Kinda really.

I gotta be honest here … I’m done with the holiday season around December 1st of every year.

It’s not that I don’t like the holidays … I’m just fed up with all the paraphernalia (not the right word, but I can’t think of it right now) that goes with it. ..

1. The constant holiday music … I’m not talking about encountering the occasional caroler … I’m talking about the CONSTANT music that plays in the lobby of our (new) office building. Every time I go outside our suite the same music is playing. And it’s not just our office … stores, banks, etc.
2. Holiday decorations … and the people who go WAY overboard. Just peruse Ginny’s blog to see about some of the houses in our neighborhood (of course this doesn’t just apply to the winter holidays … there are some houses in our neighborhood that always have some sort of decoration up).
3. Retailers #1 … and the incredible lines that can form just getting into BestBuy, CompUSA, Sears, and the like. If it hadn’t been for amazon.com I would have probably gone insane years ago. This year Ginny and I got smart when it came to gifts for the kids in the family … we got them all Barnes & Noble gift cards. This way they can get themselves a book, CD, DVD , or some other neat item that B&N carries. So much easier than trying to figure out what they would like.
4. Retailers #2 … why do the retailers have to start setting up their winter holiday displays before Halloween? One of these years I expect them to take down the winter holiday displays January 1st … and start setting them up again February 1st.

Ok, I’ve gotten that off my chest … for now.

… at least according to my brother Mitch

He went over to Fry’s the other day for the very first time. Suffice it to say, he was impressed.

It ain’t just winter … it’s a Blizzard!

Here’s a picture of our front yard around 5:30pm today.

Of course traffic coming home was horrendous … luckily, since it’s the Thanks giving holiday, not as many people were on the roads … at least the roads I was traveling on. None the less, it took me at least an hour to get home. Thankfully, Brian (my boss), let us go home a bit early.

Got home without any big problems … and immediately started up the snow thrower to clear the driveway off. No problems there either.

I’m a bit worried now … no problems with either the drive or the snow thrower … I think I’m due.

Update 11/25 … went out and got some pictures today before the snow all melts … check ‘em out at my gallery.
Update 12/01 … This picture is the one we chose for our holiday card.

A few minutes ago I moved the laundry from the washer to the dryer … after I started the dryer I noticed a thunking noise. Usually this means some coins were left in a pocket and was rattling around in the dryer.

So I fished around in the dryer to find the rattling items … and I found a compact flash memory card. It apparently had been left in a pocket after one of our photo expeditions.

Considering it had been washed I figured it was toast. Scratch one Lexar 256mb 40x CF card .

Just for grins, however, I decided to put it in the reader to see if anything was recoverable. Lo-and-behold … the card appears to be working fine. Even chkdsk reports everything OK.

Cool.

Ok, this is going to sound kind of sappy … but when I was on the trip to Colorado where I met Ginny (my wife), while driving in the mountains, I saw a sign that said “Falling Rock”. It kind of stuck my fancy.

It’s the kind of name that really means nothing … has nothing to do with my profession or hobbies.

When the domain ‘fallingrock.net’ opened up, I grabbed it.

Ginny and I test drove the new Ford Escape Hybrid SUV today. It runs on both gas and electric power.

It’s quite a nice ride … very roomy, comfortable , nice pickup, smooth ride, good feel.

Kind of disconcerting, however, when the gas engine shuts itself off a few minutes after you turn it on.

I’m going to give this vehicle some serious thought when we go car shopping next year (the RAV is about at the end of it’s useful life, I think).

Only a few things really give me pause…

• The four wheel drive model does not have a high range and low range. This means it’s not all that useful if you get stuck in snow.
• The battery is included in the full vehicle warranty … which is 8 years or 80,000 miles. Unforunately, I tend to drive MORE than 10,000 miles / year. The RAV is 8 years old and I have 165,000 miles on it. I’m not sure if there is a extended warranty option
• It’s new technology … and largely unproven. Not sure if I want to be a ‘beta’ tester for a car. The RAV had been available at least 1 year before I got mine.
• Rather pricey … for a SUV. $28,000 is the base price (Not 100% sure on that). I could probably get a similarly equiped SUV (minus the hybrid, plus proper four wheel drive) for about $22,000.

Well, it’s certianly something to consider … we’re not going to be looking for a new car until next spring (unless something bad happens to the RAV).

I really like the autumn … I like the colors, the tempature, the smell, etc.

The one thing I don’t like about autumn is the fact that it doesn’t get light until much later in the day.

I don’t much like the fact that it gets dark a lot earlier either … but it doesn’t bother me near as much.

Note to self: Put a nice autumn themed picture on this post.

On the radio, I mostly listen to Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ 91.5fm).

During the transitions from one segment to another, they often make a reference to their underwriters and contributors.

A while ago I noticed that they are listing Navy Pier as one of their contributors. They are specifically using the phrase “Chicago Public Radio is supported by Navy Pier”.

This, of course, has double meaning … because Chicago Public Radio is located on Navy Pier. So, they are indeed Supported by Navy Pier as well as supported by Navy Pier.

Without Navy Pier being there … they would fall into the lake

My little tray-icon weather application is showing a wind chill for the first time.

I guess summer is officially over.

<sigh>

They have been resurfacing the street outside my office for the past few weeks … and today they are breaking up the concrete.

To do this, they are using one of those huge pneumatic sledge hammer devices … the kind that lift the weight up and then drop it down to break the pavement.

Unfortunately, this is causing our entire building to shake … which is really distracting and annoying.

I’m kind of worried that something is going to break … like a window.