Today was eaten up with routine maintenance at the shop and filling out government forms. Jackie, the caretaker from Jimbo’s, a.k.a was in today and I got him on the Internet for the first time. Jackie can’t read or write, and regardless of what they say, you still cannot navigate the Internet without those skills. I did not realize the extent it was true until trying to show him how to look at pictures of Europe.
I mentioned it before, but I cannot understand why two wireless routers cannot communicate. I was over to troubleshoot a system with two such routers today, and something was wrong because one of the routers did communicate. This is beyond my experience. And beyond any available research material I can find. Later, I got a call from the system owner who may have accomplished the task serendipitously.
It is trivia time. Krypton. The noble gas, not the Superman stuff. Now I can tell you how the CIA knew so exactly how much nuclear electricity the Soviets were generating. It seems air-borne krypton is relatively rare. It is a by-product of nuclear power plants. The amount in the air is cumulative, so here is how they do it. At the beginning of the year, you measure the amount of krypton; then you measure it again at the end of the year. You subtract the amount produced by western powers and what is left over came from the east. Since the formula is known, you can calculate the amount of juice the commies produced.
The government forms I mentioned carry a strange message. As I read the questions, I see that society has transformed. (My forms are for medical insurance.) It has become clear these social programs were first designed for some hard-working middle class that no longer exists. Where there was once enough to go around, the government has to question everybody when, in fact, they are trying to prevent a few from fiddling the system. Hence, questions like, “Do any relations of the spouse of your landlord live on the same premises?” That is something no born and raised here American would ever give a ratz ass about. But there you go.
Progress report on “The Sopranos”. Meadow, the daughter, is heading off to college. Good, because like real life, her backside is already twice the size it was when the series began. They only show her in dumpy exercise outfits now. That’s the trouble with hiring good-looking females. You have to film fast once the clock starts ticking. If she puts on another twenty pounds, look for a major revision in the script, like pregnancy or glandular problems.
Insisting on a quiet evening at home, I tried to watch television. It is only February and I know the three movies they’re broadcasting this year. That one about the Fedex employee stranded on the only island in the world with no birds or insects, yet another plotless Lord of the Rings and the eternal “Blazing Saddles” of 1973 or so. This lets me catch up on my reading, and according to Business Fortune magazine, 20.7% of people agree with me about one thing. The biggest growth (or as I say, the biggest change) in the next 20 years will be something nobody has thought of yet.
Limewire, the music sharing program, is on the way out. Something has changed with the newest release and it does no good to revert to an earlier version. Some downloaded music will not play. It shows the correct file length and type, but all known players either balk or stay at zero. I wonder why they bother since another file sharing program will just arise and take its place. Monday, I’ll see what I can find out.
