Riding in the Convertible.

This is Finn riding her convertible, in two parts: the first half is from my perspective, and the second is after I taped the Flip to the scooter.

Staycation.

I’m back at work after a lovely four-day weekend with my ladies, where we didn’t go far from the homestead but got a lot of important things accomplished:

• Drained and cleaned one of the water barrels
• Moved the remaining container vegetables inside the greenhouse
• Took Jen in her inaugural first trip in the Scout
• Spent money at the Home Depot
• Mowed and edged the lawn (again, a three-week lapse)
• Mulched the flowerbeds
• Patched the side of the garage where critters have been entering and making nests
• Cleaned up the backside of the garage (moved large auto parts into the eaves)
• Brought in the lawn furniture
• Moved our brickpile from the driveway to under the porch deck
• Fixed the tailgate latch on the Scout

• Took the girl for a 1.5 hour hike with Mama
• Removed one of the legacy phone jacks in the dining room
• Battled an angry wasp infestation under the ledge of Finn’s front window (more on that story from Mama)
• Cleaned the front gutters
• Covered two open outlets upstairs
• Sprayed a radiator cover and the bifold doors to the pantry with two coats of bright white trim paint
• Finished trimming and caulking the new iceroom window in preparation for paint
• Started wrangling the data cables in the basement into one group and adding them to a punchdown block
• Fired up the furnace for the first time this fall
• Looked for used radiator covers at Second Chance (no luck)

• Cleaned the first floor of the house
• Picked apples and pumpkins with Finn and Mama

And just for the record, those are the best apples I’ve ever eaten.

Darkness on the Edge of Town.

Well, it’s final: I powered up my MacBook Pro yesterday and was greeted with a dark screen where I could only see the faintest hint of items on the screen. It looks like the backlight on my LCD has finally crapped out, which means one of two things: either the cables to the display have frayed and worn to the point of breaking, or I’ll probably have to replace the LCD/backlight assembly. Only some hours spent cracking the case will tell for sure. Unfortunately, I don’t currently see any replacement cables for sale.

If it’s the cable, we’re talking $30. If it’s the display, then we’re talking $300. In the meantime, I’m using remote desktop to work on my laptop from my work machine, which is like looking through a slightly blurry windowpane at my monitor—but still usable.

Enjoying the Sunshine.

Minus Fumes.

As noted yesterday, I put the soft top on the Scout over the weekend and drove it in yesterday with the windows down and the back panel rolled up. This morning, taking advantage of the mild weather and predictions of sunshine, I drove it in again but left the windows rolled up and the back panel zipped down mostly because I was running late. I’m pleased to report the fumes were almost nonexistent in the cab, which is a huge improvement over yesterday’s ride, and even having the top completely down.
This happened in my first Scout too—the aerodynamics of the body trap a lot of exhaust behind the tailgate and when braking it tends to creep forward into the cab; the fact that the carburetor is poorly tuned and leaking around the gasket to the manifold doesn’t help either. I think that having a proper set of door and tailgate seals will help keep out a lot of the exhaust from the rear (as well as soundproof the doors somewhat) and having the carb rebuilt/replaced will help with the smell of raw gasoline.

Covered Up For the Fall

I drove the Scout into work today for the first time in two weeks. Now that the soft top is back on, I’m noticing its glaring deficiencies-velcro stays that have dried up and come off, plastic snaps that are bent, and milky windows. I’ll have to invest in a boat snap repair kit and do some field modifications in order to keep the flapping and billowing to a minimum.

Otherwise, it was a great ride.

Baby Poop

This link to a visual guide to baby poop is making the rounds this week, which strikes me as funny for some reason. Jen and I get BabyCenter bulletins, and yes, we saw this, and yes, we looked at the poop. It’s surprising how analytical one gets about poop after having a baby.

No Exit: The never-ending lunacy of Betsy McCaughey

No Exit: The never-ending lunacy of Betsy McCaughey. A profile of the woman who’s trying to torpedo health-care reform.

Dragging Ass.

I’m fighting off some kind of cold which has my nose draining and my throat sore, and which also means I’m snoring (keeping poor Jen awake) and getting lousy sleep. So today I’m viewing a spreadsheet through half-lidded eyes.
One highlight of the day is that I’m using the magnificent Data Rescue II to resurrect our failed photo archive disc; After almost having given up on it, I’ve been able to snatch all of 2004, 2006, and 2007 from the jaws of digital doom.

Quick Updates.

Well, it’s official: Saturn is dead. I kind of knew it would happen, even when they claimed that Roger Penske was going to buy it (buy what, exactly? Build what? That whole story never made sense).
I’ve spent a good deal of quality time with OS X Server (Tiger) over the last couple of weeks, and my experience has been very good overall. I had a previous install to learn from, so doing things like setting up users, groups, share points and sharing were a lot easier to do than if I’d tried it out of the box. Opening up ports for HTTP, FTP and VNC went smoothly, and I followed some helpful directions to log into the server using SSH and then share via AFP over a secure connection. I’m curious to get a copy of Snow Leopard Server and look at the differences.
I also bartered some networking help for a used G5 tower, which means our setup here at the house will be current as of 2004. The big thing is to have a machine that will take a SATA drive, which are cheap and plentiful—I’ve been cobbling together servers with ancient hardware for years, so when I can put an enterprise-level terrabyte drive in a five-year-old machine for ~$100, it means I can finally collect all of our photos, music, video, and backups in one place. I started moving files last night, and with the help of a utility called SmartReporter, I’m hoping I can avoid the catastrophic failure of our last music server.
I did not know this before, but the 3rd generation iPod will not charge from a USB connection, which sucks, because Apple decided to drop FireWire 400 ports from the back of new Intel iMacs. Which means I can listen to what’s on my iPod from my work computer, but I can’t charge it unless it’s plugged into the wall.
We are inching closer to that new car, but it’s slow going.
I’m going to have to break down and dip into the home equity fund to buy three more windows for the front porch before the really cold weather hits. It’s chillier at night now, and I’m too used to being able to work out there quietly. Also, having two computers on the dining room table for a second year in a row is unacceptable—especially with all of the cords hanging at Finn-height. Meanwhile, I just ordered ten more Pullman window counterbalances for the rest of the upstairs windows. Ten is about all the budget for this month will allow, and it’ll take me a weekend or two to get them all installed. The next step is to figure out a good way to blow paper insulation into the empty window pocket cavities without getting it all over the house.