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Saying goodbye to an old friend
Today, I lay to rest an old faithful friend. She joined our household for Christmas in 2007, and has been a faithful servant ever since. Alas, the end must come for all, and that day is today. Of course, I am talking about our Capresso coffee maker. Back when I bought her, it was the…
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Walking Away – A Facebook Group was taking over my life
There is a closed community that I participate in on Facebook that I have been a member of for about 7 months. I was invited to join, and I thought I had found a den of like minded people to share our common goals. It was an amazing and safe place to hang out. Really…
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Whatever happened to … Adobe Flash
Remember a few years ago (was it really 2008?) when the iPhone was hot, Android was beginning to take root, and the big argument was … Flash support in internet browsing? Yep, I was just thinking about how much outrage that Steve Jobs dared to say that Adobe Shockwave Flash was awful. At the time…
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Initial Thoughts – Mac OS X 10 – Yosemite
I have been using the latest OS on my MacBook Air for about a week now, and in general I really like it. Not Earth shaking, but solid, and the improvements really add up to a better experience all around. The UI – briefly The first thing that you notice is the flat visuals. Bowing…
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Author Appreciation: Robert Ludlum
My first introduction to Robert Ludlum's books was back in the 1990's. I was traveling a lot, and my girlfriend at the time tossed me a book she had finished, Ludlum's "The Bourne Identity)". Not my usual read (science fiction), but it was an absolute page turner. I went on to read the rest of…
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Fleabag hotels and internet
In this day and age, pretty much every hotel has free wifi. Woo hoo. However, there is a nasty nasty trend. Shitty free wireless that sucks just enough to make you want to pay for the faster service. Yes, the standard wifi is free, but it is so often bandwidth capped, and metered, so that…
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Apartment Living: Parking hell
Unlike most posts, this isn't about our apartment, but instead the duplexes across the street. Last night was a 3 round doosy of a fight. All the 4 letter words were dragged out. The situation: Across the street are duplexes. Two unit "houses", with two garages. One garage for each unit. All of these garages…
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Getting Back in Shape
This weekend marked a milestone. I went out both days for a mountain bike ride in Santa Teresa park. Two trips up the gnarly Bernal entry road, a couple of loops of the trail, and two personal bests (as tracked by Strava). Encouraging signs: The initial climb, while still a ball buster, is tolerable. I…
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Solve California’s Financial Issues Forever
As with most states, there is always a bit of tightness in the budget. California, although our outlook has improved, still is on the precarious edge. I have the guaranteed solution to those fiscal woes. First step, raise the fine for texting while driving. California’s is the lowest in the nation at $20 for a…
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Bike Review – 2015 Specialized Crave Expert
Having sold my old mountain bike in the move from Tucson to Chandler, I found that there was something missing in my life. Having caught the mountain biking bug in the late 1980’s, and having thrashed the local trails here in the south bay mercilessly, giving it up left a hole. To fill that void,…