Sometimes, life gets in the way of trying to keep a blog up-to-date. Take this week, for example. I’ve spent most of it trying to get this new computer updated with the stuff I can’t live without from the old computer. I haven’t even started working on the stuff that TMBWitW needs on the new computer.

Yes, a new computer. No, we couldn’t afford it – but we also couldn’t afford to be without a computer at all, as most of you are in the same boat – your lives are inextricably intertwined with, through, and around either email, electronic checking and bill paying, or some other aspect of the computer in your daily lives. Originally I was just going to replace the hard drive in the old ‘puter and use the existing drive (reformatted) as extra storage. Fry’s Electronics had a one terrabyte hard drive on sale for $90 – isn’t technology amazing? – but then I started looking at the price of an operating system to make the new hard drive go. You see, the old hard drive was transplanted from the original computer, and it still had Windoze XP (home) on it. With the need to replace the hard drive (I have removed and replaced everything BUT the OS, and it still wouldn’t let me get on the internet in anything but safe mode) came the need to have a new copy of an operating system.

Don’t you love when the manufacturer gets to preload what they want to sell with the computer and not have to supply the original disks?

So – in the end, it was cheaper to buy a new laptop with Windoze “Vista” on it than to buy a hard drive and the OS separately. I know – I’m in the process of downloading Linux and getting it ready to run sideways on this computer. Then, maybe I can avoid this problem in the future. Maybe.

TMBWitW also took some time off this week – paid, this time – and suggested that I drive cab for most of the days she was off, to help make up the deficit from when she had to take a “furcation” – furlough, with out pay – last month. So, I drove yesterday, a twenty four hour shift. When I got home, there was a surprise from my wife waiting for me (remember, this is a “G” rated blog!):

Her note touched me. I cried. Can’t wait until I have enough time to sit down and watch the movie.

Got in bed this morning at 0515, got up at 0800 because the bug service was going to be here “promptly at 0830” – which, of course, means they didn’t show up until 1030 and then only after I had called and asked where they were.

Then, I managed to finish a project that needed installed for some time. finally, got BACK in bed about 1300, and slept until 1800. I’ll be going back to bed shortly, and getting up early tomorrow morning so I can do the cab thing again, this time for two days running. If I don’t see you for a couple of days, you’ll understand, right?

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Unlike certain liberals and other lower-than-whale-scum “life” forms, I will continue to remember why we have the freedoms we have, and I will continue to show my support for them as long as I breathe.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Hey there – remember back around Easter time this year, when David and Mary Jones were told by San Diego County that they couldn’t hold a Bible study in their private home?

Aren’t you glad it couldn’t happen in your own town? I was sure it couldn’t happen in my town. I was positive it couldn’t happen in my town.

Imagine my surprise when it happened, not only in my town, but to my own Bible study group.

Yes, the same place that I’ve been working on the gameroom – that had to be called a gameroom because the City of Phoenix wouldn’t let the Pastor build a multi-use room on his own property for the use of his family and friends.

We’ve been meeting as a group for a couple of years at the Pastor’s house. We used to meet in the garage, but it was going to be uncomfortable in the summer and we knew that. The Pastor started applying for permits shortly after moving into the house to build a building specifically for the Bible study group. His first mistake was in saying that he wanted the building so the Bible study group could meet in comfort. (the garage, while somewhat insulated and having two AC units fitted to it and having ceiling fans to help spread the cooled air, was still warm the first summer we were meeting there. in fact, the city inspectors noted that there were ceiling fans in the garage area – and then wrote a warning about them!) The city, in it’s wisdom, decided that he couldn’t build a church. Pastor didn’t want to build a church, he wanted to build a detached, separately cooled and powered room that could be designated as the meeting room for the Bible study group.

So, the hoops started. Pastor would jump through five or six that the city would set up, only to find out that he didn’t need to jump through the last two, but these seven over here instead. More than once he was given conflicting information by members of the same office in the City of Phoenix. During the same time frame, one of his neighbors was handed a permit for a media room – over the counter, without having to submit plans – while Pastor was spending lots of money on an architect and a General Contractor to get his smaller room built.

Here’s the kicker – video of the cops and the inspectors swarming the property: pardon my non-video embededness.

Like I said, I never thought it would happen in my own town.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

How about two? No charge for the extra one.

First – Saturday afternoon, after I got my cab, I headed for my usual stakeout spot, the Village Inn at I-17 and Northern. It is located at the confluence of four “zones” and away from where most of the cabbies hang out at Metro Center, so while I am in a hot zone, I have faster access to not only three nearby zones but about eight other zones up and down the freeway. My first call, after sitting no more than five minutes, was to pickup a passenger at the Residence Inn, just north of where I was on the frontage road. With 27th Avenue right next door, I used that to backtrack up the southbound frontage road and picked up the fare. It turned out to be two young ladies who were in town from Chicago visiting one of the girls’ family. Nice family, too – she had her own house, and that’s where they were headed. The house is at Warner and Higley in Gilbert – which, as it turns out, is a $78 meter. Not bad for a first run. On the way out there, the girls were chatting back and forth about the things that young Chicago girls chat back and forth about, and then one of them broke out a digital camera. They started critiquing the pictures they had taken of each other the previous evening. I thought maybe they were comparing shopping pictures, but it turned out they had taken pictures of each other wearing their new tans – and smiles. They thrust the camera into my face at one point, asking for my opinion, but I told them I was married, didn’t need to see them naked, and sure didn’t need that kind of distraction for the next twelve hours of my shift…

A few runs later, and I was dispatched to a house in Tempe. When I pulled up, the fare was working his way towards the curb with his walker. I jumped out and opened the door for him, took his walker and stowed it in the trunk, and jumped back into the driver’s seat. “Where to, sir?”

He gave me an address about five blocks away, and mentioned he was going to his son’s house for the evening. I asked him, politely, why his son hadn’t come to get him, and I was told in no uncertain terms that he was quite capable of getting around on his own, thank you very much.

Recognizing the attitude, I asked him which branch he had served in. He looked at me, and asked, “Marine?” I said yes sir, 80-84.

His eyes drifted out to about a thousand yards, and said “Third Marines, Second World War.”

“Iwo Jima?” I asked.

“Eventually,” he said.

When we pulled up at the address, I turned off the meter, retrieved his walker, and waited as he climbed out.

“How much do I owe you, son?”

“Nothing,” I said. “Any time a member of the Greatest Generation rides with me, the fare was already paid long before I was born.”

“Thank you, son. God bless you.”

“Thank YOU, sir.”

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

As I mentioned in a reply to a comment to the previous post, mine was acceptable.

A little background – about three weeks ago, a little piece of plastic and circuit board under the dash of the QX4 (my primary and paid for non-green transportation) decided that it would take the summer off. That little piece of electrical engineering wonder (let’s call it 27761N) is known as the Fan Speed Control Module Assembly. In a QX4 it’s job is to automatically control the speed of the fan to keep the interior of the vehicle at the pre-set temperature. Most new vehicles have either this or a similar system in it attached to the air conditioning and the heater. It also sends the signal from the manual fan control to the fan motor. Well, with 27761N on vacation, there is no way to make the fan blow. That means that there is no AC in my primary means of transportation. That means that I won’t go anywhere with MEG since I will not subject her to a 110 degree breeze from the windows.

Last Tuesday, TMBWitW’s work told her she would have a laptop to use from home, since the VPN had been shut off and our home computer would not support the new SSL. “Great,” I thought – “Now I can remove the VPN from our home computer and no longer have that annoying conflict that keeps me from printing and surfing at the same time.”

Boy, was I wrong. The VPN removal stalled out AND permanently conflicted the Internet connection – unless I boot up in safe mode. TMBWitW’s laptop works just fine on the same cable modem.

Friday evening the start/run capacitor on the house AC unit decided to join 27761N on vacation. I was driving cab, TMBWitW was spending time with MEG and our church family at the home of the Pastor, so didn’t know anything was wrong until she got home at 2130 and found the temp climbing. When I finished my 12 hour overnight shift, I fell into bed at about 0515 Saturday morning. MEG woke up at 0730, and TMBWitW got up to take care of her. She woke me up right after that to tell me the AC was STILL blowing hot air. $150 and five hours later, the issue was resolved. But, now I had to go to the cage on two hours of sleep and get in line to get in line for a cab for Saturday night. Friday had not been lucrative at all, and I was hoping I could make up for a little bit of that on Saturday. While I was waiting to get a cab, TMBWitW and MEG were with friends and church family at a BBQ and swim party. Saturday night was better for me, but still not as much as it has been in the past. Also, for the last week, the humidity levels have been bouncing everywhere and we had a little bit of rain Friday evening. I’m sure you all remember how that affects my body, plus, as a bonus, I have a sinus infection. Again. I did, however, get to spend about 45 minutes watching the fireworks show over Tempe Town Lake – I was in the East Valley most of the evening and spent a little time during the show (when no one was moving) playing spectator; once the show was over the streets were so jammed that it took me about an hour to get to a dispatched call that was only 3/4 of a mile from where I had sat for 45 minutes.

Sunday morning I got about 3 1/2 hours of sleep – which was an hour more than I needed if I wanted to get to church on time. I made it to church – but my body was hurting, my voice was not with me, and I must have looked like death warmed over, since everyone had a shocked look on their face when they saw me. TMBWitW and MEG overslept, too – I think we were all so exhausted that we slept through both alarms.

This morning I did some clean-up work at the church. My body was still not ready for hard labor, but it was stuff that needed to get done and I got it done. Now I can relax a bit and let my body recover and my sinuses unwind.

I hope your Fourth was patriotic and it reminded you why you are proud to be an American.

(quick note – the TEA party for my area was held on Friday at 1630, not the best time to get coverage since all the government offices were closed for the weekend and only mad dogs, englishmen and cab drivers were outside at that time…)

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!