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Trip down to Hot Springs

That’s a picture from I-55 in northern Arkansas. Terrible place. Seriously. Their Department of Transportation has got to be the most inept in the nation. See the clear skies?! It snowed the DAY BEFORE and there was ice all over the place. It took us over an hour to go 15-20 miles toward Memphis.

There are more pics…feel free to check those out, of course…

Either way, that was on the way down to Hot Springs, AR. Brooke decided she wanted to go on a little trip, just to get away for a little bit. It’s a relatively easy drive (minus the aforementioned DOT from Arkansas), and a place neither of us had ever been to.

Anyway, it was a pretty good trip! Brooke made reservations at Hilltop Manor, a bed-and-breakfast right by the national park. The weather was pretty awesome, for the most part, so we spent Monday walking around the town, went up to the top of the mountain and went up in the observation tower, then walked along Bath House Row (and toured an old bath house maintained by the National Park Service), and otherwise chilled for the rest of the day in front of a fire place, reading and gaming (on the DS, of course :-)).

The trip back was less eventful than the one down, so that was a big plus. In any event, I’m glad to be back and catch up on all the TV shows we didn’t get to last week. And, maybe even get some science done tomorrow…

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Another Mardi Gras down…

Mardi Gras went off without a hitch, for the most part… I’ve put up some pictures on Picasa of the event, for those that are interested.

In summary, Kristen, Jake, Sarah, Ben and I went down to the parade and saw some pretty neat floats…and LOTS of people (shown above). The weather was in the 30s F, but since the sun was out, it actually felt pretty good out there! We ended up having a little less than 40 people come by our place after the parade was done…Brooke’s jambalaya didn’t last long! Most people were gone by 4:00, allowing me to fall asleep by 6:00, then wake up again to finish “Monk” and “Psych” with the wife later.

Overall, it was a good day! Lots of clean-up had to be done on Sunday after church, but oh well…it’s only once a year… 🙂

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Inside the Meltdown

The PBS news magazine, Frontline, ran this story, Inside the Meltdown, on Tuesday night. It’s an hour long (you can full-screen it at their website, or from here), but it’s well worth the time if you’ve got it.

Essentially, it goes through the events beginning with the Bear Stearns bailout (March 2008) and goes up through the end of 2008. It goes into a lot of depth, but makes it very understandable…arguably, the most “understandable” I’ve had all this craziness explained to me. For example, it explains by Bear Stearns was bailed out and why Lehman Brothers wasn’t, and it also goes into what was happening within the Treasury Department and on Wall Street while everything was going down. There were a lot of things inter-connected, but this explains it with relative simplicity.

The focus on Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is rather interesting, too, especially his deep aversion to government intervention in the economy. You can see the look on his face as he has to make all these announcements of how the government is buying up debt and taking stakes in banking companies. You have to wonder if he doubts his all-mighty “free market” after having to do all this.

Rather fascinating. Glad I don’t have much money in our mutual fund…

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It’s that time again…

Mardi Gras is this weekend, Saturday, February 21, in Soulard. More information can be found at the Soulard Mardi Gras website, with regards to parking and events. As we have for the past few years, we’re making our house available for warming and bathrooms (as the only other options are port-a-potties spread around the neighborhood), as well as Brooke’s jambalaya.

In years past, people will usually come by after the parade (so, after 12:30?) and leave by 2:30 or 3:00. You’re welcome to come by anytime, of course, but that’s when the largest group is there! If you want it to feel like a party…which it isn’t…just sayin’… A lot of people leave Soulard by 6:00, but there are events (concerts?) that go into the evening, if anyone’s interested…no big headliners this year though, it seems.

The weather is supposed to be a high of 34 F with a chance of snow in the early morning. That temperature will probably keep some folks away – last year (weather in the 50s F?) brought all kinds of people out, but two years ago, when it was in the upper 20s F, the numbers were down in the 60,000 range…last year, though, it was closer to 500,000 (so far as I can find…).

Should be a good time! Let me know (somehow) if you plan on being down here so we can watch for you!

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New Toy(s)

So, Brooke and I both got new toys today. My cell phone died (again), so thankfully, I was due for a replacement via AT&T and I grabbed an LG Vu from Wal-Mart, as their deal on the phone was significantly better than AT&T.com and the AT&T stores. It’s a touch phone, so it’s quite a bit different than I’m used to…and, I’m going to need to get some kind of case for the thing, as I guarantee I’m going to drop this phone (and, subsequently, it will die).

The other fun new toy is actually Brooke’s. Her Compaq Presario laptop (a Celeron-based system with 256 MB of RAM) has been slowly dying, mostly in the form of a slowed start-up (even after reformatting) and a battery that won’t hold its charge. She decided to give a netbook a try, an Acer Aspire One. These are a relatively new class of ultra-portable laptops that typically use an Intel Atom processor, has a 10″ or smaller screen (hers is an 8.9″ glossy LCD), and no DVD drive. The latter will take some getting used to, but the smaller screen is something she thinks she can handle. You can see the size comparison with my 15″ Dell XPS M1530 above (and below in another view). This thing is also 2.2 lbs, which is less than half of what my laptop weighs!

Obviously, the keyboard is a bit smaller, as well. The other thing that we realized is that it is near impossible to install Office 2003 without a disc drive, so she downloaded and installed OpenOffice 3.0, and that seems to work alright. Overall, the laptop is quite responsive, but we’re mostly curious about how battery life will be on such a small machine.

Anyway, after Brooke has gotten to use the thing a bit more, maybe I’ll write more about it. So far, she seems pretty pleased with it, but to be fair, she only got to use it for a few hours before bed, and that entailed installing software…especially Firefox… It’s great that she complained about having to use IE at all, even when she was using it to go straight to the Firefox download page… 🙂

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My V-Day

Here’s how my day went:

  • Cleaned up the house (it needed it pretty badly…)
  • Watched “CSI:” and “Eleventh Hour” with the wife.
  • Watched “Sarah Connor Chronicles” and “Dollhouse” while the wife took a nap.
  • Played some Resistance 2.
  • Took the dog on a walk.
  • Did some dishes.
  • Played some Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, ’cause that’s the version the wife likes. I won, but she got close.
  • Helped the wife make dinner (she did most of the work, of course…)
  • Watched “Scrubs,” “The Office,” “Psych” and, finally, “Say Anything…” (the latter of which neither of us had ever seen…and dude, a young Jeremy Piven was in it!). Started a fire (in the fireplace) and drank some Moscato d’Asti. It was glorious.
  • Did some more dishes.
  • Played some Red Alert 3 with Ryan.
  • Went to sleep.

    • Best. Valentine’s. Day. Ever.

    🙂

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    What goes around, comes around…

    I credit the headline to the wife, for the record…and for the following reason…

    While I was at work on Sunday afternoon, Brooke called to tell me about a little adventure the dog had… The front door hasn’t been sealing all the way and, apparently, when I left, it didn’t seal very well… Brooke was in the kitchen for about 10 minutes and, after entering the living room again, noticed the door was open…and the cat was laying at the bottom of the stairs! So, after grabbing the cat (relatively easy compared with what he usually does when he escapes), she noticed that the dog was nowhere to be seen. She walked around the block(s) where we usually walk her and, again, no Edie.

    Well, thankfully, when she returned, there was a message on the answering machine from a few nice ladies that had capture the puppy. Apparently, they were driving down to Soulard for a few drinks before the Super Bowl and saw a random dog crossing Russell Ave. right by the Bastille (across from Joanie’s Pizza). They opened the door and she hopped right in! After looking at her tag, they called the phone number and left the message, so Brooke met them and picked up the dog (offering to buy them a beer, of course, but they said that they hoped someone would do the same for them if their dog had gotten loose!).

    Needless to say, we’re being much more careful about checking the front door when we aren’t downstairs to keep an eye on the animals.

    Anyway, I got home today around 4:30 pm to see Brooke out on the street with Edie for her afternoon walk…with another dog (a Red Coonhound, apparently). This one was loose, but very friendly and was being very nice to Edie, despite her typical whining. So, Brooke looked on the tag and saw the address and phone number (over off Lemp Ave, across I-55!). I called the number and a young woman answered, saying “Charlie’s never gone that far, before!” Anyway, she came over promptly (I had gone inside to get Charlie a rawhide to entertain him until his Momma arrived) and said “thank you” multiple times.

    As the great Alanis Morissette once said: “Isn’t it ironic…dontcha think?”?

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    New Star Trek Trailer (?)

    SciFi Wire had this little highlight on a YouTube mashup featuring what the new Star Trek movie won’t be. Personally, I can only barely tolerate most of Will Ferrell‘s recent movies (I think I made it 20 min. into “Anchorman” and couldn’t continue…soooooo unfunny… “Old School,” on the other hand, was glorious), but there are all kinds of people “featured” in this clip (including Colbert and Stewart, making this automatically hilarious).

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    Keira Knightly set to star…

    I saw this blurb on SciFi Wire tonight…

    The publishing company (Quirk) describes it in this way:

    “[It] features the original text of Jane Austen’s beloved novel with all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie action. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Complete with 20 illustrations in the style of C.E. Brock (the original illustrator of Pride and Prejudice), this insanely funny expanded edition will introduce Jane Austen’s classic novel to new legions of fans.”

    So yeah, definitely never read the book…nor will I ever…but if I can read this version, I may consider it… 🙂

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    Great Moments in Presidential Speeches

    Update: From David Letterman’s “Great Moments” re-cap on January 16, 2009:

    I ran across this page at Rawstory.com and decided to replicate it here, although I already have a similar page up in my Quotes section of the blog. Needless to say, I’m trying to help celebrate the end of the Bush Presidency… w00t, January 20th! Can’t get here soon enough!

    ———————————————————————–

    “They misunderestimated me,”
    — Bentonville, Arkansas, November 6, 2000

    “There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on … shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again,”
    — Nashville, Tennessee, September 17, 2002

    “I’ll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office,”
    — to Israeli journalists in Washington in an interview published May 12, 2008.

    “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we,”
    — Washington, August 5, 2004

    “For a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times,”
    — Tokyo, February 18, 2002

    “I’m looking forward to a good night’s sleep on the soil of a friend,”
    — on the prospect of visiting Denmark, Washington, June 29, 2005

    “Thank you, Your Holiness. Awesome speech,”
    — Washington April 16, 2008 to Pope Benedict XVI.

    “I remember meeting a mother of a child who was abducted by the North Koreans right here in the Oval Office,”
    — Washington, June 26, 2008

    “I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully,”
    — Saginaw, Michigan, September 29, 2000

    “Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB/GYNs aren’t able to practice their love with women all across the country,”
    — Poplar Bluff, Missouri, September 6, 2004

    “It would be a mistake for the United States Senate to allow any kind of human cloning to come out of that chamber,”
    — Washington, April 10, 2002

    “Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?”
    — Florence, South Carolina, January 11, 2000

    “You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test,”
    — Townsend, Tennessee, February 21, 2001

    “My fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended… The tyrant has fallen, and Iraq is free,”
    — USS Abraham Lincoln at sea off the coast of San Diego, California, May 1, 2003

    “I’m the decider, and I decide what is best. And what’s best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain as the Secretary of Defense,”
    — Washington, April 18, 2006