That guy who owns the science toy store told me today he had a twin brother who died recently. Identical twin. It seems he regularly had heart checkups and has several stents, while his brother didn’t believe in such things. It is hard to believe, since the guy is active and fifteen years younger than me. I explained the business card plan and one of the fishbowls is on his counter.
At the shop, I got some email from the Nippon Corporation over in Doral. They need someone to decipher the Excel macros of an employer who “moved on” a few months back. I quoted them $30 an hour for Monday. It is a low buy-in to see what happens. The state of employee computer skills in that area [Doral] is appalling. Corporations that have money to burn need me so badly.
Six weeks it took to get the rebates on those Western Digital hard drives. One of the checks hasn’t arrived yet. I can see why people don’t care for those things, for I recall that it took a good hour to fill out the paperwork with instructions were not that clear. I went over to South Florida Paging but they do not have any wireless boosters. No market for them. Try Radio Shack, which I was going to but decided to have an extra cup of coffee instead. See below, I never got the coffee either.
Fred says that Dreamweaver creates its own stylesheets. I’d like to see this. He is already familiar with Frontpage so I am not sure a newcomer would find it so easy. I still have that 400 page Dreamweaver manual that reads like it was written in outer space. That alone turned me off to the software. These developers have forgotten that computers are supposed to make life easier. I want to actually see the code that is produced and compare it to what I do. I suspect it will be like the HTML code produced by these programs – it is so complicated and non-standard that you need the original program to maintain it.
That is another tale. The legendary bad service at that place. I usually go in and sit down to do a crossword or something while waiting. I’ve learned not to go to the counter if there is any lineup at all or nobody behind the counter. Today, I left after 35 minutes and never did get a coffee. This happens around 10% of the times I go there. It is hit or miss whether to wait or not, they often have three or four people doing things behind the counter, but nobody serving customers. The ultimate “not my job” scenario.
The electric bill was $76. I told you it was hotter than August. Global warming but don’t buy that story that the ocean is rising. It is actually all the fat women in Florida causing the state to sink a quarter-inch per year. There is some merit to the rumor that I said that just to see who was listening. Speaking of my controversial humor style, I finally found the number of that man who publishes the quarterly paper, “Cahoots”. Jeff Hansen at 954-929-9334. I left him a message.
Ruth called about the Fashion Show, and I had to say no for the first time. I can’t come in on Monday to do the clerical work. The Fashion show sent her a program of events, obviously they did not even read the message I sent, but I can’t let Ruth get spoiled thinking I’ll be there to do the work. I’ll be at Nippon Corporation Monday. That reminds me, Dickens called to see if I wanted to mind the shop on Saturday afternoon while he went to his daughter’s birthday party. Nope. Tomorrow I am heading over to JPs before 9:00AM and doing some serious bike riding in that town. I’m taking my bass along in case I decide to come back by University Drive.
I was shelling peanuts while I wrote tonight. For some reason, whenever I do that, I am reminded of being four or five years old and eating peanuts upstairs at an ice cream shop next door to my grandmother’s house. Everybody always begged the kid for ice cream but his parents made sure the cooler was locked up. Instead, we would sit for hours daring each other to eat one with the shell still on. It is one of those strange connections the memory makes.
That summer was also my first recollection of a “Tony Vacation”. That is where my father, Tony, would drive past an amusement park full of kids on go-carts and say “Driving those things is a lot of fun to do when you are a kid. Don’t ever forget I’m the one who told you so.” For years, I thought he was making a joke but to this day, I’ve never driven a go-kart. Hence, a “Tony Vacation”.
