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August 20, 2008

Appliance Woes

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The dryer portion decided to stop heating the air. Oh, it still tumbles wet clothes forever. And washing machine works. It's all one unit.

Choices are not enviable. How many service calls and parts would it take to find/replace the heating element? Probably should replace the 16 year-old unit, but not until I get over the disappointment.

No, until then, we will drape wet clothes over staircase banisters, or possible espy a laundromat?

My lifestyle is regressing.

August 16, 2008

Thank God

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These are good people.

For those who might not know, Victoria Osteen was sued by a vicious tramp and her lawyer for an alleged "assault" on an airplane three years ago.

By all testimony, the whole trumped-up charge was beyond ridiculous.







Don't let anyone bully you Victoria.

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You've always been a model of class, and this experience, no exception.

As for Sharon Brown?

Well, she's obviously attractive, bright, honest, and decent.

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August 13, 2008

Weather Report

Five o'clock in the morning on a Wednesday in August.

82 degrees outside before the sun.

Air hangs as heavy as wet clothes in a dryer that doesn't work.

Sincerely,

Vasco de Gama Cortezman, from the outer reaches of Ecuador.

August 10, 2008

A Friend in Need

Life is Eternal





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This lady is genuine, and any assistance golden.

Paypal at



Happy Sunday all. :)

August 9, 2008

Too Many Yellow Pages - No Kidding

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I'm forever trying to get rid of these masses of paper. I'll maybe look in yellow pages twice per year? And never in white pages. Who needs to in the internet age?

I can't understand how this remains profitable. Think of all the Al Gore trees cut down, which otherwise would help fight global warming by eating carbon dioxide. It's an outrage.

August 4, 2008

No One Cares if my Computers Get Wet

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This storm is obviously personally intended for me.

I'm sorry if anyone else becomes inconvenienced.

I intend to stand on the roof, braced against the wind, like Lt. Dan in "Forrest Gump," railing against God.

"IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?"

Or maybe just cower with my dog in an interior closet with half supply of dingo bones and cheetos.

This is ruining a very important seminar I was supposed to attend tomorrow.

And what about dog pee and poop? How am I supposed to sweet talk myself out of that?

Electrifying. No power. No SoapNetZone. And oh my God, NO "GENERAL HOSPITAL!"

Here's a funny thing about preparing for a storm. They say, load up your fridge at coldest temperature and don't open the door.

What a brilliant idea.

Of course I have marshaled plenty of microwave meals to survive the aftermath. Anyone sense a lapse of logic in this formula?

Son of a Beach

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I don't have time for such a lovely interlude.

I have a very important class tomorrow that starts promptly at eight o'clock!

 

What part of that did you not understand, Mr. Poseidon?

 

lovely.gifYes - that is right over my house. Uncanny.


August 3, 2008

We Can Only Laugh and Love, Right?

Sick at heart about Christina Applegate's cancer.

I don't want that kid to die.

I contribute what I can to various cancer charities. Who knows if that makes any difference.

Then I think, "Mark, you are smart. Solve this yourself."

But it is so hard. This article

only skims the surface. The real problem with cancer cells, in my very un-educated opinion, is how they mercilessly reproduce, after a normal cell's life is over. It goes down to fundamental atom relationships.

I wish I were smart enough to figure out how to stop certain cells from "forgetting' they should die. But I am not. 

Let's support those who can. Meanwhile, take a breath.


Christina Applegate has Cancer

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they say she will make a full recovery.

What a sweet kid. She's only thirty-six years old.

And while I have not followed her career closely, I've respected her from a distance. She has been one of those "under-the-radar" beauties for me, as hard to believe as that might sound.


But I've been aware of her for a long time, sideways glimpsing, year after year, in this or that story, how she has survived growing up in the Bundy household, matured through a relentless Hollywood child-killing machine, into a lovely young woman.

Then comes a shocking day.

Regular MRI... doctor walks in.... "sorry to tell you this Miss, but you have breast cancer."

One month after her 26 year-old boyfriend died from a heroin overdose.

Dear Christina,

I don't know you honey. Just a quiet admirer. I like you for your looks, your humor, Bundy laughs, and survival through the Hollywood jungle to become a huge success in what you have chosen to do.

You have been a "fight against cancer" advocate long before discovering the terrifying truth it festers in your body as well.

I wish I were smart enough to cure it. But I'm not.

Have faith that this is not life-threatening. First prognosis sounds hopeful, but what a shock.

We all dance around the prairie, don't we? Hoping to avoid the meteor strike.




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Please don't let her die.


July 29, 2008

Journey of a Thousand Steps

begins with a Tuesday lurch.

Monday's orange juice search,

might as well have been left at church;

Except I didn't go, as we all well know.

Joel on TV was a compromise you see.

Thus ends my tale,

Gimme back Apple Mail.

 

The end

July 28, 2008

Wonder What Day it Is?

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Did you get the memo about the TPS reports?

July 25, 2008

Creechman Existence After Mac.com Failure

Copy mass email (well, it's "sorta a mass" as in less than the Chinese population...)


Hi guys,

Long story short. Apple's conversion from .mac accounts to .me, or "mobileme" has resulted in many of us to losing email capability through the .mac address.

I'm sending this to everyone in my address book, friend or foe, for the option of being able to communicate with me via email when/if you wish, via Comcast.

I think it might take a few weeks for Apple to straighten this out. You should read the Apple help forums. Wow, people are extremely angry. This is very widespread.

I found myself annoyed too. But after a week, well - venting helps nothing, so I will wait. Worst case? I have to re-register later and start all over with a mac address?

Tell that sad story to people starving.

Meanwhile, all my YouTube video references from my blog are still intact. You know, the Anne Heche one and a dozen others.


remain okay. 

I remain a friend on Facebook, which more and more I find is everything we want.

Have a great weekend.

Family, friends, I hope not permanent foes, squeal at me at creechmark@comcast.net

July 20, 2008

Apple Mail?

The mac mail server has been down for me since Friday night.

An astonishing lack of candor on any help websites.

Mystifying.

So I am not getting any emails. This has left me feeling.... not lost - but oddly reminiscent of a time before email existed. Remember those days?

Now it is "Oh my God!"

Well guess what? The sun came up this morning anyway. There's some good stuff on C-Span Book TV, my favorite Sunday morning endeavor. The dog is a happy camper.

Everything else is on hold. And if Mac Email does not come back, hello Gmail.

Here's some more "Pricess Bride" on YouTube, which is UP by the way. (taking note Steve Jobs?)








July 18, 2008

Dow's big bounce

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Will it last?

The answer is, "no."

July 15, 2008

The New Badges are Here!

Got my new NASA badge two weeks ago. Tomorrow a new company badge.

Two points:

1. It is not as exciting as it sounds
2. The guy in the picture is no longer frozen at age thirty, or whatever it was


July 12, 2008

This is Really Annoying

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July 11, 2008

Where is .mac? Is MobileMe a hybrid car that doesn't run?


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Look at this silly logo that looks like it was designed by a nine year-old girl, who obviously is the lead programmer in the highly-touted conversion of .mac to MobileMe or .me.

I guess the big Apple transition was too much for the "geniuses" to handle. The day after my forced conversion to a parallel ID "me.com" in addition to "mac.com" - access to .mac remains down, problems with sync, email shenanigans.

No technical notices or emails. The mac.com website simply implies "maintenance." And the mobileme.com still shows the promo with NO LOGIN.

At least tell us you had problems.


Meanwhile, busy week to say the least. Not much time for blogging or Twittering, Facebooking, other verbings.

Emerson's ultrasounds and X-rays looked good this week. I'll have to tell you my dentist stories later. Long saga that will hopefully end next week. Let's just say it is not my dentist's finest crowning achievement.
 
Meanwhile, I leave you with the latest absurd example of political correctness run amuck.

June 24, 2008

Evaporator Coil = Evaporating Money

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My A/C serviceman arrived at 6:30PM last night from a scheduled window of 9AM - 1PM on a workday. The verdict? Leaking evaporator coil.

What are ya gonna do? Gotta fix it. Can't lay out for replacement duct work, nor an upgraded condenser. This stuff ain't cheap.

But money is only money. I don't look forward to waiting around for another appointment, although they say "installers" usually arrive more on time than the technician inspection hacks who work 16 hours per day in summer.

But I get a $5 rebate/coupon on the back of the business card for the company. Let's not forget that.

Guess I'd better start stocking up the work hours.

June 21, 2008

In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning...

Ain't got no picture today;

Ain't got no grammar;

In to work for a stay;

Pre-dawn stammer;

No glamor.


Work hours under the moon;

Call it flex time;

A/C guy come soon?

Monday's dime,

Eat a lime.

(that last line, wasn't fine. Rather sour, at this hour)


June 20, 2008

Hi-Tech Problem Resolution

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Yesterday I raced home from work, trying to beat the large thunderstorms coming down from the north.

As usual, when in a hurry, coincidentally something goes wrong that stops your progress. In this case, I needed to safely shut down my computer and unplug the power and internet connections for safety.

But the Mac was frozen with the spinning beachball of death. No reaction to the mouse. What?

Reboot!. "Wireless mouse not detected..." Wireless? I'm not using one of those. Wait...

Of course, the USB mouse plug into the back of the monitor had pulled out just enough to disconnect. Gently push it back in. Everything's fine.

But that has never happened before, and chose to happen at the precise moment I didn't have time to debug the situation.

Same coincidence as some piece of software performing a once-per-year upgrade at the same exact time you are on the phone, trying debug a problem, and the two events have nothing to do with each other. It just interferes with your problem diagnosis.

Many other examples in life, especially in traffic, like when just one lagging car prevents you from turning left on green yield, just before lights turns red.

It's the "are you kidding me?" or "what are the odds?" aspects of rude annoyances that sometimes make one think the universe is a malevolent puppet-meister.

I think I'll take one step at a time today.


June 19, 2008

I've Lost My Appetite

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$200 "gourmet" burger at a Burger King in London.

I don't think so.

However, a story like at least is not about playing politics with oil, or Oprah, or midwest floods, or tying up our court system with appeals from Guantanamo inmates represented pro-bono by thousands of american lawyers, or...

Well you get the picture. Maybe we all should stuff our face.

June 16, 2008

No No No No No No No No No

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Windows XP is not going to be supported anymore?

I don't want "Vista" for my PCs which operate the Emerson Cam, or contain Quicken records of how much money I've lost on Wachovia this past year (sing it with me -78%).

Bill Gates is getting out of Microsoft to pursue philanthropic efforts with his basketball-loving hottie of a wife, but where does that leave us?

Don't they know how much we enjoy trying to keep Norton anti-virus software up to date on three computers, or Windows updates, or various error message windows we nervously close, or the task manager window that shows a bazillion programs running and we have no idea what they do?

Don't take that away from us.

My Macs are primary, even more so now. If only Quicken had a reliable Mac version, these clunky PCs would get the doorstop recognition they so richly deserve.

June 11, 2008

Sometimes It Doesn't Go Perfectly

Not to pull on too many violin strings, but had a bad dental experience. The dentist and assistance worked efficiently, but still took a long time. My mouth is very small, so it was hard to keep it open, even with props.

But the worst part must have come right after I left with a temporary crown from the office. Face still numb, and tongue. I bit my tongue even while having just told myself to be careful not to do that. Pretty big gouge, way in the back. Not an experience to endorse.

So boys and girls, not being tongue-in-cheek, remember to be very careful with tongue and cheek when it comes your turn to be dummied up. A little life lesson there. This is going to take a few days to get over.

Me and Advil are experiencing an intense, short-term relationship.

PS Did not ask for, and was not offered, gas or Zantax. Just the novocane. Dentist said that uses of gas went out after popularity in the 20's and 50's. But I guess some dentists still use it (as an anxiety reliever?). I'm glad I wasn't loopy on top of careless, or I'd probably be in the hospital.

June 10, 2008

Dental Appointment

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Let's hope dental techniques have improved since the middle ages.

I need a crown, way back on the bottom right side. My mouth is small so hard to hold it open for a long time (don't say it).

Obviously, I'm looking forward to today with enthusiasm.