After my Atari 8 bit and 16 bit days, I tacked hard into PC clone land. My first build was a Mylex motherboard, with 640K ram, and a 286 CPU. I remember buying the components from a variety of sources, but since this was pre-internet (probably 1986 or so) I didn’t mail order anything. Probably got much of it at Fry’s Electronics. Added to this was an PC AT case and power supply, a...
Like everyone who makes it to middle age, I have a rich tapestry of memories. Today, while bicycling, I reminisced about my first computer, an Atari 800. The year was 1979, my freshman year of high school, and I got exposed to the new computer lab at school. It had (I think) 4 Apple ][+’s each with two disk drives, and small color composite monitors. I was in love. Of course, I...
Today on the drive home, I was behind a Prius who was hypermiling. In case you are unaware, there is a phenomenon in the hybrid car world of people who work to minimize their fuel consumption. The cars’ onboard computer very accurately tracks fuel consumption, and they challenge themselves to keep the MPG as high as possible. To do this, they very slowly accelerate from a stop light, and...
Life is a series of challenges, but some are more welcome than others. Today I bicycled into the office, showered and changed into street clothes. I brought in a pair of jeans, a polo shirt and the usual accoutrements. After showering, and dressing I made a stark observation: My jeans are almost too big to wear. Woo hoo, what a good problem to have. I don’t yet need to shop for more...
I had a cleaning and “new patient” visit a couple weeks ago. My first visit since I moved to Chandler from Tucson. All was good, but they did tell me that my amalgam fillings were beginning to age, and probably should be replaced. I was not surprised by this, as I had some major work done after my orthodontic work was removed. Some big cavities were filled, and this was 30-ish years...
A joy from my childhood was watching reruns of the The Avengers. Much later in life I bought the DVD’s on a whim, and I will admit to enjoying watching the old episodes. I have two years form the “pre Diana Rigg” Avengers. Honor Blackman (who was a Bond girl, Pussy Galore) did a fine job. It was clear that the production quality was a bit thin, and that showed through, but...
As last week was my better half’s birthday, and next week is our anniversary, I thought I would share what I have learned over the years in gift giving for the feminine half of the human race. I am sure this is out there somewhere, but I figure that it can’t hurt to repeat it ad nauseum. First, buy big durable goods. Cars work if you can afford it (and in fact Lexus does some...
Started the memorial day weekend well, took a couple extra days off, and haven’t wasted them. I had a serious plateau at 220 and 219 #’s. I was stuck there for almost week and half. Nothing is more depressing than counting every calorie you consume, and every erg you expend in exercise to not see any movement of the scale. Last time I did this, I had several plateaus and I know I...
The other night, after quaffing a couple fine Czech style pilsners at Gordon Birsch (highly recommended, I might add), I wandered the 100 or so feet to the Gilbert Apple Store. I am usually cautious at an apple store, because sometimes reason evades me and I find myself whipping out my plastic to upgrade to a new computer. I have studiously avoided getting up close and personal with a retina...
Last month, we visited my dad to celebrate his 80th birthday. A great accomplishment, and we had a great time with the whole clan together. (It doesn’t hurt that San Diego is a great place to visit ) One question that was asked of my dad was: “What is the biggest change in your lifetime(so far)?” I believe it was asked to try to determine what technology (was it the coming of...