It was 99 degrees out there today. That is hard to deal with anywhere. I had a callout this morning and by noon there is no way I was going to work on the new floor. Of course, me caught without air conditioning in the car and that short in the driver’s door so I can’t open the window. One day I’ll fix that, but I don’t use the car much unless I’m making money so I’ll get around to it.There was a lengthy process with tech support on over a new Netgear adapter (wireless antenna). This put me more than four hours behind schedule. Netgear only makes the laptop model now, there is no stubby wireless antenna.. The thing perplexed me for an hour until I called the Philippines. Another hour with the tech and it turned out to be the new AT&T wireless modem. The thing has a WEP (scramble) code that cannot be changed. Yet the first thing I did for security was change it to something else. When the modem is turned off for any reason, it reverts to the default WEP code which is (get this) stamped on the bottom of the case. Yessir, AT&T, you sure had your security thinking cap on tight for that one.
This also means no work got done on the spare room. I’m not at that stage, but I’ve kind of planned out the electrical system. I will wait for Wallace on that one. The existing wiring seems a little slapped together. It has the right idea of not putting the ceiling lights on the same breaker as the outlets in each room. That concept is for people who like to work in the dark. One can’t help but look at the layout and wonder why the previous owner never put in a clothes dryer. I’m ready to go the orange box [Home Depot] to buy 2x6s and get shocked at the price of degrade unsanded [plywood flooring].
For all the years I’ve heard of SimCity, I’m just trying it now. This is another troubleshoot, as it seems to have the wrong monitor resolution in some configurations. I’ve noticed that the game appeals to the whole range of one of my client’s daughters, which alone merits a good evaluation. SimCity 3000. A good sound track, but what does this game do? Stand by. There is a neat little bulldozer that flattens things. Nope, I can’t say this game rates with a good pinball machine. It fits its reputation of a game where you build a city.
Despite that fact that it is clearly based on the English model of city building, there are no buttons for corruption, bribery or paving contractor kickbacks. Where are the red light districts and the police that arrest the girls for around twenty minutes each shift? Missing are the panhandlers, winos and drug addicts. No spray-painted walls and muggers. Where are all the petty City Hall “safety” licenses whose real purpose is to make you prove that you are who you say you are and haven’t had “any unexplained absences” in the prior eighteen months. (Anybody who has lived in Canada can tell you about those.) This simulated city must be on Mars somewhere.
As I was leaving my last callout, they ordered pizza. Let me say, my love affair with pizza goes back a long time. I never had a real pizza until I was 17 and I used to be able to eat a medium myself. Not bad considering I weighed 120 pounds at the time. That’s a real medium, not the rubbery imitation and paper-thin salami disks thing they call medium these days. You know, the one with crust made from sawdust shavings. The aroma was still making me dizzy, how I love pizza. I came home to a plate of vegetables and cheese so I’m healthy but dang.
Sadly, I got home too late to play the Jimbo’s gig. So I have no pizza and no music. What a fine howdy-do. This is no way to spend a valuable Friday night. On mySpace, there is an ad for a remake of “Get Smart”. It goes to show you how little originality is left in this generation. Get Smart is the last random show I ever watched on television. Random means when you sit down and start to “see what is on TV” because there is nothing else to do. At least, I think it is a TV show. If so, it must rate right up there with SimCity for things to do on payday.
For the chronically bored, there is a new fad they are playing up in the media. It is called “ziplining”. They string a long wire across some sloping scenery and you ride down the line on a pulley. Do you ever wonder why reporters are fans of such idiotic sporting events? It is because these are very cheap and easy news, of a sort. They say that television alone saved baseball from extinction. Hey, it worked for Michael Jackson.
