Things, Stuff & Such

Last night I got a phone call:

Caller: “Hello, I am with the dealership and going through some paper work here I see you forgot to renew your bumper to bumper warranty on your 06 Tacoma.”

Me: “Really?”

Caller: “How many miles do you have…”

Me: “Actually, I got a 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty that I paid for when I bought the truck.”

Caller: <click>

Jerk off!

On the phone he sounded like a kid who was bored with being on the phone.  I did notice that while he was saying “… going through some paper work…” I could clearly hear him deliberately shuffling papers.  It was truely a half-assed attempt and we both knew it.

I got the shutters up well before the bad weather

I left work 90 minutes early yesterday so I could get home and put up storm shutters before the heavy rain started.
  There was a very light rain the whole time which didn’t bother me.  Except when I was standing some place where rain was pouring off the roof right on to my back… that was a little annoying.  It took me an hour and fourty minutes to get them up.  And the heavy rains?  They took much longer.

I really wasn’t unitl 4:30 this morning that things got interesting.  The wind picked up but I didn’t see any thunderstorms or lightning.  We would loose power every few minutes.  It was getting almost comical.  The power would go out - our generator would come on – regular power would come back on a minute or two later – generator would stay on for another minute then shut it’s self off – another few minutes later the

Not much happening at 2 a.m.

power would go off again and the cycle would repeat.  This when on for maybe 20 – 30 minutes.  I was starting to worry about the generator being cycled like that so many times.  Around 4am we lost power ‘for good’, you could say; until about 11am this morning. 

As with the last storm we had, each time we would loose power I would see a flash of blue light fill the sky directly to the east.  From somewhere on the other side of the trees at the end of my street.  I tried to get some pictures of it but it is almost impossible to time it right.  I guess I would have to be continuously taking pictures until it happened and just save the ones that caught it.

With the power out and nothing much happening but unimpressive wind and rain I went to sleep.  Even though the generator was running I had unplugged my TV and computers just to be safe.  I didn’t want to loose anything to a power spike.

I didn’t wake up until a little after 10am.  The generator was still running but the storm was basically over.  There was only slight winds and light rain.  After a little yogurt for breakfast and half a banana I started taking down the shutters. By 12:30 I had the shutters down and everything cleaned up. 

I was surprised to find we had mail delivered today.  Those guys really are not stopped by much.

I think I’ll take a ride and see what’s open and not.

Tropical Storm Fey is heading this way.  Hey, I just rhymed.  So, we have been keeping an eye on the storm all weekend.  Early yesterday I was thinking I should at least put up the shutters on the big front window.  Dad said he didn’t think we’d need it and I rarely turn down a chance to not do something.  By this morning the track had changed yet again so now we are putting up the shutters.  But I can’t do it until after work now.  And it may be rainning after work now.  Oh well, that’s live in the sunshine state.  I enjoy a good storm (as long as no one is hurt).  There is something about nature kicking up a fuss that I find exhilarating.

I have been looking for a used 2G iPhone for some time now.  My plan was to unlock it so I can sign up w/ T-Mobile and talk for free with my children.  Yesterday I found one locally on Craigslist.org.  I contacted the guy around 8am yesteday and we agreed to meet at the apple store at 1pm.  I was excited about jailbreaking and unlocking the phone to use on t-mobile’s network.  I picked up the iPhone and then headed to the mall to sign up with T-Mobile.  I had already talked to one of the guys at a kiosk (who is a friend of Lauren’s)about my plan.  I get there, buy a T-mobile Shadow phone and get my plan. 

I get the phone home and try it out.  I can’t get a signal!  I walk around my house searching for a signal… nothing.  I step outside to the street and still nothing.  My first troubleshooting step is to pull the battery for a few minutes and then replace it.  Still nothing.  I had checked the t-mobile website long before to verify I had service in my area.  This shouldn’t be happening.  Maybe my phone is bad.  I called tech support and told them my problem.  I had to speak with two different ‘techs’ before I was told to return the phone for a replacement.  Crap.

As a last ditch effort I hop in my truck and drive two miles to the grocery store.  In the parking lot I fire up my phone and what do you know… I get a signal.  I nice signal, too.  I’m glad the phone works but a little ticked it won’t work in my house.  I swap the SIM card to the iPhone and fire it up.  After a few seconds of searching I get a signal indicator that says T-Mobile and three bars.  I’m excited to see my jailbreak and unlock worked but now I’m getting even more pissed I didn’t get this signal at home.

After slipping in the store to stock up on soda for the ‘hurricane’ I headed home.  Before pulling out of the parking lot I swapped the SIM back to my Shadow and checked the signal again.  Nice and strong.  I headed home watching the signal meter as I went.  From the parking lot with three bars I hit the main road and got full strength.  As I neared my subdivision it dropped to three bars.  Turning into the subdivision I bounce from three to two bars… not a good sign.  By the time I got to my street it was bouncing between one and two bars.  In my driveway was one bar.  I went in the house and still had one tiny bar hanging on.  I swapped the SIM back to the iPhone and was able to get my one bar.  At this point I figured I was stuck with one bar at home.  As long as I got a signal I would accept it.  I put the iPhone in its cradle and downloaded some free apps to play with.  After this sync I was unable to get a signal on the phone.  I again swapped the SIM to the Shadow and, again, no signal.  I never got a signal again until I brought the phones here to work.  I in the office the signal bounces from full to two bars for no apparent reason.  I think I have to give up on t-mobile and just go with AT&T.

Today is Lauren’s first day of college.  I’m sure she is very busy but I will call her tonight to see how it went.

I decided a couple of months ago that I wasn’t going to put any more money into my Sebring.  I have put more money into repairing my car since paying off the loan than the combined total of repairs before.  And it still needed work!  The last straw was the leaking roof. 

It started maybe two months ago.  I was driving home in a hard rain when I saw water drip from the front corner of the roof on to my left leg.  Suddenly, it became more than a drip.  It was a stream of water now.  When I came to a traffic light the water flow would lessen, gradually becoming a drip again… until i started driving.  For the last six years my convertible has not leaked a drop.  Now it wants to wet my pants and the slighest rain. 

Friday I finally bought a new vehicle… a Toyota Tacoma.  It is an ’06 Double Cab.  I needed the extra room for when the boys are with me (and Lauren, of course).  It is nice having a four door vehicle again (another issue with the Sebring was that one of the passanger seat levers to slide the seat forward was broken due to constant use).  I also like sitting higher.  The view from on high is nice and I feel a bit safer being able to see more of what is ahead of me.

I have always liked Toyota trucks.  After looking at and driving several different cars, trucks and SUV’s I decided on the Tacoma.  Actually, as soon as I drove the truck it was my number one pick but I wanted to have several different options before I made my decision.  I looked at the Dodge Nitro and Caliber, Honda Element, two Tacomas, Pathfinder, Nissan trucks, Ford Escape (inc. Hybrid) and Ranger.  I also looked into a Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic hybrids but they were more money than I was willing to spend this time around. 

Right now I’m diggin the truck and glad I got it.  It came with a 7 year/100k mile powertrain warranty to which I added bumper to bumper so I would not have to worry about major faiures for several years.  All in all, a good decision I think.

Yesterday evening I saw a hawk in my neighbor’s back yard eating a bird.  Initially, we were not sure if it was a bird or one of the bunnies that visit us daily.  All we could see was the trail of white ‘stuff’ in the grass.

I quickly went out to my car to grab my camera and was able to snap a few pictures.  The first couple did not turn out well because I was shooting through the lanai’s screen so, I slowly opened the screen door and was able to take a couple more pictures.  I thought for sure he would fly off as soon as he saw me come out side but all he did was give me a good stare and finished eating.

I wanted to get a close up of the hawk so I went back inside to get my other camera that has a 10x optical zoom.  When I returned the hawk had finished it’s meal and flown off.

… smoking.  Friday, January 11th I decided that I didn’t want to smoke anymore.  So far, I haven’t.  Feels like it’s gonna stick this time.  I do miss it but I feel good not having it controll me anymore.

I may have gotten out of it just in time because my city is trying to pass a ban on smoking in public parks and most beaches.  I can’t say I agree.  Next people will only be able to smoke in their homes with the windows closed between the hours of 10pm and 6am.  Okay, it’s not the next step but it is the path these people are on.  And they are very egar to take whatever steps they have to so you don’t bother them.

Smoking is not illegal.

I got this link from DL.tv:

You are presented with a word and asked to select another word with the same meaning from a list of four words.  The site offers to send 20 grains of rice for each correct answer.  As you get more right your “vocab level” increases and the words become harder.

I got to level 40 with 1680 grains promised over two commercial breaks during an episode of “House”.  Another feature I found on my second visit to the site was the option to remember my vocabulary level and donation total on my computer.   Check it out.  It’s a great way to increase your vocabulary and help feed the hungry.  Next time the subject of how to feed the starving people of the world comes up you can bloviate about how  frequently you’ve helped.

Today we celebrate the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492.  The first thing that comes to my mind is the mnemonic device I was taught in Elementary school to remember the date: “In 1492 Columbus sailed the Ocean blue”.

One cool thing about my County gig is that I get holidays off.

Well, most holidays.  Not this one, though.

I know that Columbus’ discovery of the Americas brought about the rush of Europeans to the New World.  That brought the Pilgrams who formed colonies…

So I don’t really need the day off. 

Lest we forget, somewhere between Columbus discovering the Americas and the United States prospering there were many native peoples killed and opressed.

Maybe today is a day to think about what it took for our country to get here… and what was taken.

Okay, I wasn’t alive then but we’ve all had to learn about it in school.  My parents were only a few years old when the surrender was signed on September 2, 1945.  Today a coworker brought in a photocopy that his father had made of the surrender document.  It may be a copy of a copy or it may have been a photocopy of the original, he wasn’t sure.  The former seems more likely.  The coworker is, himself, over sixty and his father was a career Navy man. 

The paper it was copied onto was very heavy – maybe a thermal paper.  We have all seen images of the document being signed but I have never seen what the actual document looks like.  I don’t even know what an Instrument of Surrender consists of – though I’ve always thought my divorce papers were along the same lines.

Anyway – I thought it was neat so I scanned it for anyone who wishes to check it out.  It is only two pages which I found interesting.  I would have thought the surrender of a warring nation would warrant more documentation.

You can click on the image to open a higher res scan that will let you read the document and see the signatures.
Here are a couple links to more information:

Wikipedia.org

National Archives & Records Administration

It had been a while since I had seen birds or the bunnies in our back yard and I wasn’t sure why.  I thought maybe something had scared them off.  I saw that there was some seed still in the bird feeder but thought some fresh seed might bring them back.  Last week I bought a bag of bird feed and put it in the feeder – on top of what was still there – and waited.  For several days no one came around really, maybe a couple of pigeons but not what we were used to seeing.  Last weekend I was thinking that maybe the feed in the bird feeder was packed in to tightly for the birds to get it out so I went out and tried to dump what was in there on the ground.  Well, I couldn’t't get it to come out, it was really packed down tight.  I took a chop stick and pushed in through the wires to break the stuff up.  As pieces came loose I could see and smell the mold that had grown in the chunk of compressed bird seed.  It was nasty.  I broke apart what I could then took the whole thing around the house to where the hose was and pressure blasted the rest out and gave it a good rinse.  No more seed in there I guess.  At least not until after the rainy season.

For the next couple of days we put bird feed on the ground around the feeder and bird bath in the hopes of luring the birds back.  Now they are starting to return.  I saw a bluejay yesterday as well as the usual flock of pigeons.  Maybe Mr. & Mrs. cardinal will forgive us for the moldy food and return as well. 

Yesterday evening one of the bunnies came back to eat the seed and leaves.  He was there for a while,  eating and just hanging out under the bushes.  We got a pretty good rain that evening and the bunny stuck it out under the bushes right next to our lani.  It was cool to watch him.  I took some pictures and a little video.  I was amazed at how close he let me get.