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Wednesday, June 28, 2006
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Just wondering.
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I went to a local electronics store the other day. This is one of the few remaining "real" electronics stores left around here, they sell IC's, resistors, transistors and other stuff like that. And they DON'T sell cellphones. Anyhow, right nextdoor to them is one of those "dollar stores" that opened up just a month or so back. Everthing is one dollar. But this day there was a sign on the door saying that they are having a 30% off sale. What's that all about? Like a buck wasn't cheap enough, and besides, if stuff is 30% off, it's not a dollar store any more. What's wrong with people? |
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| thus voiced The A, Mistah @ 9:34 PM | |
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Thursday, June 22, 2006
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Six degrees and other junk...
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I heard someone discussing that "six degrees of seperation" thing last week at work. It jumped into my head today for some reason so I thought I would post a few near seperations from the archives of the Fetafilter staph. Everyone who knows us is familiar with Mrs. A's famous 15 passenger BIG GREEN VAN. Well, how many of you know that prior to us owning it, it belonged to none other that the world famous blues guitarist Ronnie Earl? Yes, folks it's true. We even found an authentic "Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters" guitar pick in it when we brought it home. Mrs. A gets the blues every time she drives it. That must be why. Yesterday, I went out to my truck to leave from work, and came face-to-face with this guy. Yes, that is the world famous Fred the Turtle. If you know anything about turtles, you know of Fred. This guy had an attitude. Just look at thos beady little reptile-like eyes. One of the guys grabbed him with a pair of fiberglass/kevlar gloves, and we sent him home. A true brush with fame. This has nothing to do with the topic at hand, but I simply could not help but post this. He's not famous, but he likely will be. Also unrelated, Mrs A. was standing in the kitchen the other day saying someting to the effect of "...that's the most DISGUSTING thing I've ever seen...." I grabbed the camera and went to investagate. She was carrying about the butter dish from the fridge, with a small plate on top of it. She lifted the plate and there, sluggish from the cold and near hypothermia, was this little guy. Again, just to good not to post. Closer to the "six degrees" theme, someone made note today that the "safehouse" that was hiding terroist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was first visited by a Paveway II GBU-12 laser guided bomb, dropped from an F-16. A close look at the photo will reveal a little round window on the nose of the GBU. That would be an optical filter, made on a piece of equipment that I helped design, build and service. It was made by guys I work with, and maybe even processed by the famous Sven. Interesting to think that it was the first thing on the scene. Of course in the grand scheme my contribution was minimal, but it is satisfing to have done a part, however small. From America with love, take THAT Abu. |
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| thus voiced The A, Mistah @ 3:55 PM | |
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Sunday, June 11, 2006
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Ramblings on "I want that..."
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Ok just for the record, let me state that I am not at all the sort of person that is envious other people or things. It's just not something I've ever seemed to have a big problem with. Perhaps because, all in all, I haven't gone without much. And while I'll admit to occasionally lusting after a better camera, a new lens, shotgun, or perhaps some obscure piece of machinery, there really isn't anything I WANT, in the sense that I would envy someone who has one. That said, I recently came across a guy worthy of just a bit of envy. This guy is a regular on a newsgroup that I frequent. In the course of an email discussion, I innocently asked him what he planned to do with some stuff he was aquiring. He replied that they were just items that he felt useful to have around, and would stash them for future use. He added that he was given to that sort of pack-rat reflex, that was why he and his wife lived in a warehouse. He included a link to his website showing his 15,000+ square foot home/warehouse. My jaw dropped. I had this idea 17 or 18 years ago. I even found one in Lowell that I wanted to buy, 5 stories of solid brick industrial revoloution era history complete with freight elevator and 18" thick wood floors. And a bargin to boot. There was not much of a yard, but with all that space, the kids could have had a basketball court, bike track and roller skating rink all indoors, on just one floor. And oh so much more! But it was not to be. Many factors converged to nix the idea. So it goes. While on the subject of things I wanted but did not get, here are a few others: I was discouraged from buying a small airport in New Hampshire by my wife. While I have to admit that was probably a great call on her part, mostly because what I know about profitably running an airport you can comfortably put in your eye, it still would have been way, way cool. I lobbied heavily to buy a hydroelectric dam, (I've wanted one of those since I was a kid) complete with land and house that I saw. Sue now wishes she went along with that one. I still don't have a scanning electron microscope. I am still working on that one. Time is on my side. I once considered weaseling my way onto an expedition to Antartica. That is another thing I've wanted to do since reading about Admiral Byrd in grade school. I knew a guy who knew a guy who was organizing one. I likely could have gotten a spot if I tried hard enough, but with a few very young kids at the time, I figured that the timing might not be ideal. So I did not go. Which is just as well because the plane crashed while attempting to land on the ice down there. A bunch of people got hurt, though all got out in the end. I'm guessing that plane is about 100 feet below the surface of the ice by now. So it goes. |
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| thus voiced The A, Mistah @ 10:04 PM | |
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