I’m having a nice day with arcane technogadgets
I have this nifty power adapter that connects from my Macbook directly to a cigarette lighter, perfect for when I fly American Airlines and am sitting in a seat with electric power beneath it. On the end connecting to the cigarette lighter, it’s actually two pieces: The actual end is an old-school four-prong that connects to a funny airline seat connector (that I saw on my international flight last year), then there is a little doodad that has a four-prong connector on one side and the cigarette lighter connector on the other. They hook together perfectly. Well, guess who lost the little doodad… So I flew a flight without my power hook-up, and I was steamed. I couldn’t even get to an Apple Store to get another $20 dealie because, wouldn’t you know it, there is no Apple Store in the Poconos. Anyway, I was here at home, cleaning up, when LO AND BEHOLD I found another doodad in a cables-and-wires box I keep nearby. The found doodad fits perfectly. It’s black, and the rest of the adapter is white, but hey, NOW I’M GOOD TO GO the next time I fly American Airlines. Except I’m flying Virgin America this week, and wouldn’t you know it, Richard Branson and them put actual and normal three-prong electricity sockets at every seat - so there’s no need for the actual doodad. Nevertheless, next time I fly American, I’m good to go.
THEN I went to transfer some files to my brother’s computer. I lost my flash drive (paging Act Six students that attended my workshop, I think I left it at the AV unit in the room), so I was trying to figure out a way to connect my computer to his. Of course I can do it via airport wireless networking. But I as fished through another box of cables and wires I came across a yellow ethernet cable that is created for computer-to-computer connections. A normal ethernet cable will not allow you to hook directly from one ‘puter to another. But this one does. (I learned the hard way about this particular ethernet cable when my son Samuel was first in the hospital for leukemia in July 2004. I tried to hook up to the in-room internet at Children’s Hospital on Sunset and it wouldn’t work. Then I learned I had the wrong ethernet cable, this yellow one. I later when and got a normal ethernet cable and that worked.) Anyway, it’s good times now. Though I would really like to get my flash drive back. The drive is empty, but there is this little Huarache sandal, made in Honduras, on the drive keychain. I’d like to see that thing again.
Hot Sunday Afternoon Linkage:
posted Aug 10, 2008, 3:27pm by Rodolpho Carrasco
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good article on Bush.
Glad to see you are conceding that his presidency has been mostly a failure, with a couple of bright spots. I am also glad that you agree that his first administration was disastrous, at best.
I am sure your favorite lines include:
Bush’s basic conception of a “global War on Terror,” to take but the most obvious example, has been poorly thought-through, badly implemented, and has produced many unintended costs that will linger for years if not decades.
re change in policies- “It doesn’t reflect a change of heart so much as an admission of failure; the old way simply wasn’t working.”
For years, even after it was apparent to almost everyone that the Iraq strategy was not working, the administration stuck to its guns. But by 2005, the failure was simply too large to ignore, so some efforts to repair the situation were made—mostly tactical and incremental moves, like searching for a better Shiite leader and trying to slow down the process of de-Baathification.
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So, I guess we can all be happy that Bush and his cronies were only terribly slow learners, but not completely, radically stupid. they have noticed how badly they screwed everything up and have changed some of it, of course, without any acknowledgment of their sins (not a good example for Christians to follow- change a little when our lives are totally screwed up, but take no responsibility and don’t acknowledge our wrongs).
thanks for the article by one of my favorite writers. he is on target as usual.