Eye appointment 5 weeks ago. My Rx changed, so, new glasses. Picked up the glasses last Monday and… they're wrong. Crisp for reading. Fuzzy and blurry for middle distance – distance.   Better if I tuck my chin down. This can't work.   It took me till yesterday to get a chance to go back… Continue reading

A commenter on a friend's post claims "[Guns] are nothing more than tools to complete tasks. The problem is irresponsible people who feel as though utilizing a gun to solve their problems is the ONLY solution. If you don't want a gun, don't buy one but, don't eliminate my right to obtain and maintain one… Continue reading

I just finished reading "Why Most Unit Testing is a Waste", a paper (PDF) by James O Coplien. I spent several years working as a "Quality Lead" in two companies that were writing Operating System code in C++. Unit Testing was "in" at the time (and the engineers would write their own tests and that… Continue reading

The first 13 Pixar animated short films are now available, together for the first time, on DVD Continue reading

I got my first pocket calculator in my junior year of High School. I wanted a computer in college, but those were the days of the Commodore Vic 20, the Apple II, and the TRS 80. Not really much of a much. And after all, what would I do with it? Store recipes? Balance my… Continue reading

Yesterday was the day of the Leopards Etc. Open House. The Open House is a fund-raising event where a small number (in this case, 64 max.) of guests pay to visit the Leopards Etc compound, eat lunch, and see the cats in their home environment. It's tax dedutable, for a very worth cause, and a… Continue reading

I've never much liked plastic grocery bags. At least paper is a renewable resource. Paper is easier to recycle and it breaks down faster if it does go into a landfill. According to the June 25 issue of ScienceNews*, "every year, the United States generates 25 million tons of plastic waste, but only about 1… Continue reading

Yellow Arrow calls itself "the global public art project of local experiences", its purpose being "to leave and discover messages pointing out what counts." In simple terms, Yellow Arrow encourages people to attach (with proper permission) yellow, arrow-shaped stickies to physical places – walls, buildings, park benches… even people (there are "yellow arrow t-shirts"). Each… Continue reading

NASA is studying one of my favorite activities 😉 Although many astronauts report feeling fully rested after only six hours of sleep, the fact is, sleeplessness can cause irritability, forgetfulness and fatigue–none of which astronauts need to deal with while piloting complicated 'ships that hurtle through space at tens of thousands of miles per hour.… Continue reading

I bought one of the very first StowAway keyboards (for my Handspring Visor) back in 2000. It was a way-cool idea — a "full-size" keyboard that folded into a compact little package. Unfortunately, I never liked the way I had to work to "dock" the Visor and I really never used the keyboard 😦 Two… Continue reading