February 22, 2014 at 11:43AM

Today, I've been reading the Facebook pages of Ukrainians who aren't hard supporters of any party, yet who comment on today's apparent ouster of president Yanukovich. One thing that shocks me is that some Ukrainian trade union and Jewish FB pages have recently said, in effect, our people have been beaten up by rightwing anti-government militants, so we condemn the violence of -- the government. Guys, if you think you can use neo-Nazis as your pet shock troops to overturn a government administration you dislike, you're making a big mistake!

Need a late snack? How about pureed mayo and shrimp entombed in lemon Jello, with boiled shrimp glued onto the sides and blackberries perched on the top like divers wearing mayonnaise tutus while preparing to do triple somersaults into the sea of canned asparagus that fills the center!

Point-counterpoint.

I haven't thought of this sitcom episode since it aired back during the Kennedy presidency. If you're an old fogie like me, you'll remember every line when I ask: Did Danny Thomas really have eyes in the back of his head?

It can be scary to be a parent these days!

We three Kings.

January 29, 2014 at 11:13AM

Looks like I can't use the generic mouse driver on this computer. The pointer jumps around whenever I move the mouse slowly, like it's having an attack of nystagmus or something whenever I'm closing in on a target spot.

No comment needed.

Here's a juxtaposition found this evening on my Facebook timeline that kinda startled me. Perhaps it's a message from the Void that my akashic record is skipping on the turntable of life. Or maybe not.

January 11, 2014 at 04:27PM

I hear screaming somewhere in the apartment complex. I guess the Seattle Mariners must have scored another basket.

January 08, 2014 at 04:38PM

I'm a little bit frustrated by Debian Linux this afternoon. I had an old laptop sitting around that had become obsolete, so I decided to install Linux on it for fun. Four or five installs and several weeks later, and it appears that Linux seems to be changing the login password I use, randomly. This glitch might lock me out immediately after the installation, or it might wait till the third time I try to log in to suddenly decide not to accept my password. (I've been locked out for half an hour. Tried again just on a whim, and Linux blithely let me in as if nothing had happened. Being locked out is bad. Instability and inconsistent operation is arguably worse.)

January 01, 2014 at 06:27PM

Been taking advantage of the (perhaps temporary) return of the PC's screen resolution to normal, to upgrade a few things, mostly related to telephony. The attempts to get my cellphone to sync with Skype, and to back up its address book automagically, didn't quite work. At least I managed to prevent one installation from re-setting the browser's homepage to MSN. But if you get an email ad from Bing that's ostensibly from me, I apologize in advance!

Owroe Yari, the traditional fireworks celebration in Suriname each 31st of December.

December 31, 2013 at 04:29PM

Had a meal at a sit-down restaurant for the first time in about a year this afternoon. Chicken tikka masala has my fingernails stained orange! I overheard one of the diners there speaking Dutch, so on my way out the door, I wished him a happy New Year: "Goed nieuw jaar, meneer!" This startled him more than I would have predicted. It startled me, too, to be perfectly frank.

Torrone? In huge blocks? There goes my diet....

Thank you, Microsoft, for "upgrading" the capability of the video card on this PC so beautifully. If this screenshot of what I'm seeing on the screen right now is an example of the coding that's coming out of Redmond these days, perhaps it's time to change operating systems after 30 or so years or so of DOS and Windows.

December 30, 2013 at 09:10PM

A Windows Update has crashed my monitor. After wasting all day, almost, trying to figure out how to get the screen to paint better than 4 colors, 480 pixels across, I'm rather bummed. It's like being in one of those '50 Mad Magazine parodies of advertising, where products are made much worse, but advertised as being "New! Improved for your convenience!"

December 29, 2013 at 03:02PM

Just realized that all the browser stalls this afternoon have been caused by a background virus scan that I'd forgotten was scheduled for today. Since I can't make myself less absent-minded, the only alternative is to think fondly about getting a new PC with more RAM, as soon as I can afford one. Hmm, let's see, how does the year 2057 sound? I should be flush by then.

December 29, 2013 at 02:16PM

"Ignorant people raise questions that wise people answered a thousand years ago." - Goethe True enough, but thank goodness that wise people today raise questions anew that other wise people gave the wrong answers to, for whatever reason, a thousand years ago!

1929: The "Spruce Girls" of Hoquiam Washington, showing off the industrial specialty of Gray's Harbor County by wearing spruce veneer bathing suits on the local beach.