Digital Choke Daynotes

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Reports

Returned from my special assignment late this evening... full details in Monday's post.

The special assignment that took me away from these pages since Wednesday was a rousing success...or a "mousing" success.

Our special assignment, which we agreed to accept, was for Pam and I to jump into my daughter's van with her husband and our two adorable grandchildren and travel to the House of Mouse (the one in California). We left about 5pm and got there about 1am and checked into a nice hotel (Comfort Inn on Katella). The drive was uneventful, except for the slight odor of smoke around Valencia (the home of Six Flags/Magic Mountain). Traffic was pretty light, so we made good time.

We awoke about 7am, did the usual morning thing, then went downstairs for a continental breakfast (juice, pastries, cereals, toast, fruit; included at the hotel), then off to Disneyland. Where we spent most of the day doing the usual thing. The grandkids had a good time, as did we. Joelle (almost 4) got autographs from all of the 'princesses', but didn't want to go near any of the other costumed characters. Liam (almost 2) had no problem with the costumed guys, although he was a bit shy but not scared. Of course, we took lots of pictures, of which you may be subjected to later.

We stayed down there until Sunday, doing both parks (Disneyland and California Adventure). and most of the rides. Disneyland had all of their Christmas decorations up, which, as one would expect, good day and night. The "Small World" (if you have ever been there, I'd bet you have that tune running through your head now) attraction was closed on our first day (Thursday), but opened up Friday with a complete holiday renovation. The entire ride was revamped, with new costumes, paint, etc., and a mixture of the "Small World" and holiday songs. An interesting thing about that ride is how the music seamlessly follows you through the ride. They must have 20-30 different tracks of music, all synchronized so that it comes from speakers outside the boat in one seamless performance. It was (and always has been) one of our favorites there.

The kids enjoyed the Dumbo and carousel rides, along with the other ones in Fantasyland. They were a bit scared on the Haunted Mansion, which had a combination of Halloween and Christmas themes. The old "Bear Country" area has been changed into a "Winnie the Pooh" ride. The "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride has always been one of my favorites, but it is getting a bit worn out.

Tomorrowland is also getting old. The "Autopia" car ride is still there, but the rest of the place also needs overhauling. The circular theater has been transformed into a technical innovation area, with some interesting technology.

Friday night was the big new fireworks show over the Fantasyland castle. Since it was the first day of "Small World" reopening, the place was a bit crowded. We managed to get a spot right on the street in front of the castle, so had a good view of the fireworks show. And we were able to experience the 'snow' at the end of the show (the snow is actually small clumps of bubbles, but quite realistic).

Earlier there was a parade down main street with all the usual cast of characters. This was a bit different, though. They grabbed about 40 visitors and made them part of the parade. They were put in groups of about 10, and given simple costumes to wear, and directed through various steps and dances by their leaders. It was quite humorous to watch. There were old and young people of all sizes and both genders, and all were full participants in the parade.

The California Adventure side is more of a carnival place, with lots of roller coasters, etc., although all of the coasters weren't running while we were there. There is a cute "Bug's Life" area for younger kids, and the forest area has a nice small play area for the kids to burn off a bit of energy.

Disneyland is always a great place to visit. There are the familiar rides, and a few new ones, but parts of the place is showing its age. We all had a good time during our three and a half days there.

But there is a lot of walking. I think they should have a "50-miler" patch, because it seems like we walked at least that far.

We got back late last night, and slept in this morning. A few errands, an early dinner, and some relaxing at home. Tomorrow is a holiday, so we don't have to return to work until Wednesday.

A quiet day today (much quieter than John Dominik's). Slept in a bit, had a nice breakfast (eggs, toast, juice; much better than the one at IHOP yesterday), then Pam and I left for some errands. First stop was Sam's Club to get some pictures off of the digital camera's memory card. There was one person ahead of us at the picture machine, and we gave up after 20 minutes of waiting. (Why don't they have more than one machine?). So we went down the street to Costco, who had a similar machine. You stick the memory card (or other media) into the box, and use a touch screen to view, crop, and select the pictures to be printed. Although the machine is a bit slow to read the memory card, taking about 30 seconds per eight pictures, it had a simple interface. The screen displays the picture, then you tap the screen to select the number of prints you want.

About 10 minutes later, we had selected our pictures, about 70 prints altogether (there were multiple copies of most pictures so we can share). At a cost of only 14 cents each for a 4x6 inch print, it was quite inexpensive. The pictures are printed on standard photo paper, and were ready in a bit over an hour. The machine will let you crop and touch up the pictures, but I may do that at home and burn the ones I want on a CD, as one of the choices is to just print all of the pictures at once. Getting the prints done that way is much easier than printing them at home, and probably much cheaper.

Then we went to Lowes to get another plunger (with a two-story house, when you need one, it's always on the other floor), and a Dremel cutting bit for today's outdoor project. We also got a cover for the BBQ to protect it from the rain.

Then back home for lunch, and my project of the day. The previous owners of this place had a nice aluminum patio cover installed out back, with rain gutters and underground drainage. There's only one downspout, and I noticed during the first rain here that the gutter wasn't draining properly. A climb up the ladder to unplug it resulted in the realization that although the downspout was installed, there was no hole in the gutter where the downspout was connected. The previous owner never fixed that, which explains the water stains on the patio.

So, armed with my new metal cutting Dremel bit, I started cutting a hole in the gutter. The gutter material is about 1/8 inch thick, and didn't last long. So I got out the hacksaw blade and finished the hole, put everything back together, and rested from my labors.

I spent a bit of time working on the security slide show for tomorrow's staff meeting, and checking the mail at work and home. After wading through the home messages, I noticed one from Brian C. who noted the incorrect apostrophe in Monday's post (since corrected).

Brian also wondered if the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride at Disneyland was still "policitally incorrect". In the scene of the pirates sacking the town, there is one pirate that is chasing a wench (and has been for years). Brian says that the Pirates ride at Disney World in Florida has removed that tableau, "apparently in the interests of political correctness". I can report that the pirate in Disneyland is still chasing the pretty wench. And at the house next to that, the less-attractive lady is still chasing the pirate. Nothing has changed since the first time I went on that ride about 20 years ago. But if any of you have been to the other Disney parks around the world, I'd be interested if the wench-chasing pirate is at those locations.

Brian also mentioned that the Haunted Mansion is slightly different in the two locations. At Disneyland in California, the floor drops while the ceiling stays at the same place, revealing tall walls with scary figures. At Disney World (he reports), the ceiling rises while the floor stays the same. Either way, the ride is one of my favorites there, and the addition of the holiday decorations and songs were well done.

And, although Art Carney is gone, he will live forever in reruns of "The Honeymooners". He was a great comedian, and had a couple of serious movies when he was older.

Let's get some security news out of the way. I sent this to Dr. Jerry Pournelle's site earlier today. The image in there is the screen you get when you follow the instructions in that viral email.

This one is pretty clever. The text of the message (you can get it from the first link above) doesn't have the usual grammar or spelling errors. And, to the novice, it sounds like a reasonable request. So, this might be one that you should tell to your family and friends that might be susceptible to this kind of phishing expedition. You know the drill: Windows Update, Virus Updates, don't open attachments from anyone.

A small bit of rain has wandered into our area today. Nothing like the rain/snow/hail/sleet/wind etc. that other parts of this continent (see, I included my Canadian readers) have been experiencing. But, a nice change, and the moisture is needed in these parts.

So this weekend looks to be pretty quiet. Pam needs to work tomorrow, so I might also do some homework. And I may find some puttering to do around here. There is a balky electrical outlet in the kitchen that should be replaced. (Yes, I'll be careful. Thanks for asking.)

A quiet Saturday around here. Pam had to work today, so I was on my own. I was a good guy and helped around the house. I did a bit of cleaning, vacuuming, and mopping, and went to the grocery store. Sounds quite domestic, doesn't it? I never did get around to fixing the electrical outlet in the kitchen, though. Brian C. was kind enough to remind me about the perils of electricity, and that some outlets can have split personalities. Thanks, Brian, but I actually did know that.

I've done a bit of home improvement over the years. In our first house, about 27 years ago, I remodeled the kitchen. I did all the electrical and plumbing work involved in swapping the location of the sink and stove. I replaced part of the kitchen sub-floor, put down floor tiles, but had the cabinets and countertops done by a friend in that business. I also put in an electrical sub-panel in the garage, and a few extra electrical circuits out there. All of it worked when I was done, and it looked quite nice. We sold the house shortly after that.

Our next house was a new tract home. They built everything, but I did the television cabling wiring and made sure that there were phone outlets in all the rooms. In the garage, I had them put an extra dryer circuit in the garage, then used that for a new sub-panel and some outlets for the workbench. And in our last house, I did a bit of electrical work there.

I've also done sprinkler systems. My first was at my brother-in-law's house in Utah back in about 1970. For that system, we used galvanized pipe; he had the pipe thread cutters that we used. And I worked with him when he was building swimming pools, so have done some plaster and cement work. I put in the sprinkler system in the second house, and used my father-in-law's tractor at the second house to re-grade the back yard a bit. That house was at the end of a cul-de-sac, so the back yard was larger than normal. I also built a nice play structure at that house for the kids.

I've done a lot of painting (inside and outside). I painted the outside of our second house on a day when the outside temperature hit 110 degrees. (The paint dried very quickly.) There's been a lot of wallpaper hanging; I even cover the switch and outlet plug covers with the wallpaper so the patterns match.

So, although Brian's concern is thoughtful and appreciated, I do have a healthy respect for electricity. I turn off the circuit, then use a testing plug or a voltmeter to make sure that both outlets are dead before the outlet is removed from the wall. That was the plan for today, but I never got around to doing it. It will get done, though. Along with swapping the front light wiring so that the switches for the front porch light also control the lights outside the garage. Right now the garage lights are on the same circuit as the entry (inside) light. Since both switches are next to each other, it shouldn't be too difficult to get the right wires to the right switch.

It's not that there is a lot to fix around here. That's the advantage of an almost-new house. But we really like it here.

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