the new modem

That was a little exciting. Our Internet connection was broken, and this is the first time with the new modem, which I don't understand as well as the last one. However, in the end, it just needed to be unplugged and plugged, and I managed to figure that basic routine out, and it's alive!

the random number routine

Wow, just did the random number routine, and it looks like we have another blurty day. I'm okay with that, but I kind of wanted a breather.

Cats

No Sammy. It has been a long time since all Three cats were not on the patio when I open the door in the morning. Sammy often would continue to lie down on the chaise lounge rather than come inside, but all three would be there. It makes me a little nervous.

There's a little moisture in the air, too, so I'm keeping Coco and Ash inside.

Sammy

There he is. Sammy. However, instead of coming inside and getting a bite to eat, he takes his position on the chaise lounge. Which is fine. It doesn't look like anything is going to come out of that hint of precipitation that I barely felt on my skin when I picked up the newspaper.

A crazy man

Great, I get caught doing one my little spinning numbers, by a kid slipping an advertisement at the gate. I guess I still have some youthfulness.

Hmmm, will I still be spinning when I am sixty? if I live so long.

As the kid walks on down the sidewalk, I catch him looking back toward the window. I wonder if it's an interesting enough story to share with others: "I saw this fat guy just spinning around. There was no music or nothing. He was all by himself." A crazy man in the neighborhood.

Is anyone up?

Sidetracked this morning. A post at Talk Politics was about a site that hosts grudge nudes. Largely men submitting pics of ex-girlfriends. That hint of nasty non-consensualuality got me excited, and it took me too long to realize that, in the end, we are just talking about basic nudes, and it is really taking time away from much hotter fare than that.

http://isanyoneup.com/

http://talk-politics.livejournal.com/1410840.html

post-nap

91 degrees, the first week in April. That's not even funny.

I noted last year that April is the new May, and I guess that I struck a truth with that statement.

I'm not dying without the a/c at this point, but I expect we'll be reaching that point before April is through. Last year, I put on the a/c in April and Pop didn't say anything, but it is obviously a very sensitive issue.

Well, at least I got up a minute before Pop pulled into the driveway, instead of going to bed only a minute before he comes. It helps to be in bed by three, I guess.

Kindle!

Gotta love Kindle!

GoodReads finally sent me a recommendation that I could jump on, the new cyber-thriller "Strange Flesh" by Michael Olson.

Twenty-five dollars at the store, I guess. That's the list price. To order it on Amazon, it is only fifteen dollars, but, still, on Kindle, I got it for a buck-ninety-nine.

Of course, it might not be so great if I had to lay out the two-hundred dollars for the Kindle in the first place, but I didn't. So, it's pure gravy for me. Stretching my nominal allowance a little further.

One odd thing, though. For the first time, there was a tax attached. Only sixteen cents. So, it doesn't really detract from my bonanza, but it was an unpleasant surprise. A new law? In Texas? Or does Amazon have to pay in where it is based? No big deal. More of an annoyance than a burden.

I have to finish "Great Expectations" first, but I'm two-thirds done with it.

Atlas Shrugged (1,1) A Dime

We are continuing with the opening scene, with the confrontation between Eddie Willers and the bum.

_ _ _

He reached hastily into his pocket. The bum had stopped him and asked for a dime, then had gone on talking, as it to kill that moment and postpone the problem of the next. Pleas for dimes were so frequent in the streets these days that it was not necessary to listen to explanations, and he had no desire to hear the details of this bum’s particular despair.

“Go get your cup of coffee,” he said, handing the dime to the shadow that had no face.

-- Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

_ _ _

You have to love the way that Ayn Rand reverses the old “Brother, can you spare me a dime?” meme. Remember: that started during the Great Depression, which represented a failure of capitalism. The chutzpah on this woman. She uses the meme to dramatize the failure of democracy and the New Deal.

Big Blue

I finally put away Big Blue. The heavy blanket that Mother made for me. I had been looking to do it for a few weeks, as I certainly haven't needed it, but I kept forgetting.

It's going to be a long, long time before we feel chilly again.

the water cooler

"Work, work, work!"

I have to steel my nerve just to change the water cooler.