Lunchtime with Cormac McCarthy

It used to be that a dear friend of mine (previously a literature professor at a local university) and I would get together on the pretense of drinking over-priced coffee and talk about life. I have no lack of friends but lately I have found myself more and more pressed for time. My friend tells me that our coffees together were good for him but I'm sure that I got the better end of the bargain. Because of one of our conversations, my friend gave me a copy of "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy.

Seriously, if you haven't read this yet and you need a good read go get this book.

Also, if a book that I might enjoy is being made into a movie, I try to read the book first. So I had no trouble when my wife called me up (both of us acting like I didn't know that she was shopping for my birthday) and she asked me to "tell her a book title". No Country For Old Men (also by Cormac McCarthy). This book now goes with me to work and I leisurely read a few pages on my lunch hour. I learned my lesson with The Road - I couldn't put it down and I was done *too* soon. I'm gonna take my time and savor this one.

"Work really cuts into your free time." - I honestly don't remember if I heard that somewhere or if I made it up myself but its very true.

"What does not kill me makes me stronger." - This one keeps getting attributed to Nietzsche but it was originally said by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. I know that "Johnny" beat "Freddy" on this one because Goethe died twelve years before Friedrich Nietzsche was born.

I guess Nietzsche had a better agent.

Two dollars and 97 cents !!!

Right now I'm sitting on a big fat full tank of gas because the Aziz Quick Stop on Jackson & Nolana is selling gasoline for $2.97 !!!

I CANNOT believe that I am happy to be paying $2.97 for a gallon of gas. Of course, I was listening to Lars Larson this afternoon (he's broadcasting from Israel this week) and he said that in Israel gasoline is over EIGHT dollars a gallon right now. Their per capita income is less than the per capita income of the U.S. and they still have traffic jams.

Sir Arthur C Clarke, dead at 90

Here is a link to the March 19th entry of TimesOnline blog. It has a YouTube video of Sir Arthur C Clarke on the occassion of his 90th birthday (December 2007) and a lot of good links to stories about his death.

Here's a good article about his life. By the way, if you've never read his 1953 book Childhood's End, you should.

Toward A Simpler EULA

So I'm dragging my heels again (technology wise) and just finally getting around to installing a webcam on my wife's computer. I have ZERO excuse here because the webcam was a Christmas gift (sorry Moose).

It occurs to me that we could really simplify the "End User License Agreement" (EULA). I am apparently among the 2% of computer users that actually read the EULA (have you ever read one) and they all seem to be very similiar to me in essense. So why not save some words, simplify things for the consumer and raise the percentage of people that actually read these things all in one fell swoop?

It would be a short, simple four point document.

1. This software can only be used on this one machine. If you want to install the software on other machines, buy more software.

2. This software can only be used for the purpose stated on the package. You're forbidden from using it to write you own code, you're forbidden from taking the software apart or anything of the like.

3. If you should choose to install this software, you can't blame us for any run of bad luck. If your machine bursts into flame, if your significant other leaves you, if you get fired or if you run your car into the ditch, you can't blame us. Sucks to be you.

4. Any dispute over this EULA will taken care of in a jurisdiction that is most favorable to us and least favorable to you. (Just like your credit card)

I'm just saying...

Where's George?

So I got a 20 dollar bill out of the ATM at the bank the other day. I registered at Where's George? and listed the bil. Where's George? told me:

This bill has travelled 466 Miles in 1 Yr, 199 Days, 7 Hrs, 40 Mins at an average of 0.83 Miles per day. It is now 466 Miles from its starting location.

I'll spend it in a few days and then check back on it in a week or so.

Domestic Electric

And now for the very mundane. I love my electric company. Yes, you read that right. But, you see, I have a very good reason.

Previously we lived in a small house where the electricity was provided by CP&L. (They service much of Oklahoma and Texas) When we moved into our current home, we almost doubled our living space. I was bracing myself for horrendous electric bills because, like our last house, this is an "All-Electric". When the first bill came, I read it over and over. It was almost the same amount that we were paying monthly in the tiny house. There is one key difference between that house and this house.

Now we get our electric from an electrical co-operative. Magic Valley Electric Cooperative. And the service is better, too.

I told you it was mundane.

Colder than a brass...euphemism

Well a cold front blew in today and its colder than .... you know. It was a stiff wind that came out of the north. This front blew in hard this afternoon and before i got home my wife sent me this picture.

Darn. I liked that tree (sorta).
Later i took a shot of it laying on the fence. I was just about to fix that fence, too. Now I'm glad that I hadn't fixed it yet.

I know what I'll be doing on Saturday.