My challenge for the Comcast installer

We have a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) cable box. Actually this is our second. We used to have one when we had dish network in our old house too. It's been a few years since we have watched regular TV with commercials. Anyway over the past week, the cable box/DVR has been on the fritz, "resetting" itself. This has had an added annoying effect. See the cable box has a convenience outlet on the back of it, into which you can plug other things. When I followed the extension cord plugged into that outlet, I discovered that it was my wireless router, and network hub that were plugged into that outlet. This means that every time the cable box “reset,” my computer network wired and wireless would also power cycle. Uggg.

After a rather annoying half hour with a Comcast technician talking me through some troubleshooting (most of which I had already done), she finally agreed that I needed a service call, which we scheduled for last Saturday. Owing to some brain fart, at the exact time the technician was scheduled to come I was off taking my child to dance class. This left Mrs. Bob alone at home to deal with the tech. Now Mrs. Bob is not tech-dumb. In fact she’s pretty smart. However, our AV installation is a little geekier in setup than she can follow. Apparently she’s no the only one.

So, I got a call when the tech was nearly done. They were having trouble with the remote control of all things. Seemed the tech concurred that we needed a new box, which he had apparently already installed. I was surprised to hear that he didn’t need phone help from me earlier (note geek warning above). This is where I was happily surprised to hear about the inventiveness of the tech. Apparently he was a little surprised by the installation as well. So much so, that he took a picture of the back of my cable box with his cell phone, so that he would be sure to hook things back up correctly.

If you ask me there was nothing really unusual about what was plugged into the back of the cable box. However I am glad he bothered to take the picture. Box correctly replaced. Woo hoo! So, would you have wanted a picture? Or is it the receiver below the cable box which is really scary?
Who’s the Geek now?

Confirmation of yesterdays question

Okay. For quite a while now, I have encountered students that I teach (yes even graduate level students) who weren’t even born when I graduated High School. I try to live with that. Growing older is natural, right? Along with age come experience, perspective, and hopefully wisdom right? So I usually don’t dwell on it, but apparently this week, musical memories are my downfall, witness yesterdays U23D post.

Last night Mrs Bob noticed that Billy Joel was coming to town sometime soon. I lost interest in Billy Joel’s music right after the 52nd Street album. Really...”We didn’t start the Fire?” What the %*&! was that? She knows this, and was just tweaking me to see if I was interested in going. But I digress.

After Mrs Bob poked the bear, I started to respond “The last time I saw Billy Joel in concert…” and then my mind quickly not only filled in the blank (1978), but also did the math (just short of 30 years ago). OH MY GOD, and I thought the last time I saw U2 (The War tour) was a long time ago.

Well, I can comfort myself with the fact that while it says something about my age, it says even more about Billy Joel’s age. He was 29 when I saw The Stranger tour in 1978. You do the math.

I am glad I still feel young inside, even though I keep being reminded that I have a longer history of experience than I feel someone my age should.

Am I old, or just a geek?

So I heard this article on NPR yesterday about the new movie U23D. I was captivated by the review, and was instantly eager to see it. There are two things that really grabbed my interest. One: The Music of U2 in a well filmed concert movie. Two: a well done 3-D movie with content aimed at an audience above their teens.

So does this mean that I am old, because I really like U2? Or are younger hipper (as if that's really a word with any contemporary relevance) people interested in U2 these days also. Hmmm. I feel old, just asking that question.

Alternatively, it could just mean that I am a geek. The idea of 3-D movies has always been interesting to me for some inexplicable reason. I even liked the "It's a bugs life" show at Disneyland (or was it California Adventure...whatever), because of its 3-D effects, cheesy as some of them were. Guilty pleasure I guess.

Maybe I am both, if I have to wonder. Oh well. I guess one simply has to embrace what one is. So, if I am an old geek, I am an old geek. But I still want to see U23D. Now I just have to find a local IMAX, and no the science center doesn’t count. That is an OmniMAX theatre, and in my option, IMAX movies are very hard to watch there.

The Price of Shade

The borough that I live in has a shade tree identification program, to promote the planting and care of shade trees particularly those near the sidewalk belt. I am proud to say that our residence figures in this local database, with several Norway Maples that overhang the sidewalk. We also have three Maples of indeterminate variety, in our side yard. All of the trees tower over our three-storey house, providing ample shade, helping to keep our house cooler in the summer.

This afternoon I paid the price of this lovely added benefit to our house. I spent six hours, blowing, raking (until the rake handle broke) and kicking the leaves to the curb. The pile of red leaves between the cars are from our side yard. The pile of yellow leaves behind Mrs. Bobs PT Cruiser are from the maples that overhang the sidewalk.

The good news is that the borough workers come along during the week with a giant leaf sucker and suck them up from the curbside. Then they take them off to be mulched. I raked all of the leaves today, because according to the borough web site, this coming week is the last week of leaf-sucking before the borough trucks get fitted for their plows for the winter.

Whew! That was some invigorating physical activity. Where's the couch?

Good, fast, or CHEAP?

You may remember from a previous post that I went to the eye doctor, and got a new prescription. I even tried on a couple of pairs of glasses at that eye doctor's office. Now, as I am getting older, my glasses needs are more specific, and therefore more expensive. And you could see from my comparative photos, that I wanted to get e new look.

The news was, even with my optical insurance reimbursement, those pairs of glasses I was looking at were going to be $420 or $480. I was gulping and remembering that the last time I bought glasses it was nearly $400. Even though I was not happy about it, I was prepared to shell out, all in the name of better vision.

Then Mrs. Bob runs into an ophthalmologist friend of ours who tells her about this on-line place she buys glasses from. Glasses on-line you say? You need to learn a little more about the specifics of ordering glasses, taking a few measurements with a metric ruler (which you can print off the internet by the way), and you need to be very familiar with the specifics of your prescription. But these things are not really hard to learn, in my experience.

Ever the comparison shopper (Mrs Bob is rubbing off on me), I research a ton of on-line discount eyewear companies, and find myself right back at the place that our friend recommended. My journey took me about 5-6 weeks to shop around at local retailers, including Costco, comparison shop on-line and finally place the order. Then the usual 2-week shipping time from the place that I bought them from got extended a little because to quote the customer service person "a large order of glasses was held up longer than usual at customs." Qua? Whatever. They were on the way and I got them within a few days.

So for $78 I got these rimless progressive focus, glare coated glasses, with not one, but three pairs of magnetic clip-on matching sunglasses. You know, those things go missing frequently.

So what do you think?
I got them at a place called Zenni Optical

Tourist Sites of Minneapolis

Last weekend I was in Minneapolis for the Production Manager's Forum fall meeting. This was the first tourist sight I stopped to look at. Actually I was just walking by, and there it was. I couldn't resist taking a photograph.

Is my sense of humor somehow warped? I didn't bother to go in. I wasn't sure where I was supposed to put my feet and I didn't want to chance it.

Serously, in a couple of days I will take a few minutes to leave a post about the PMF meeting.

Kids today...

Every once in a while, I practice for becoming an old man by scrunching up my face, shaking my fist in the air and grumping "Hey you kids, get off my lawn!" I was reminded of this when I came to work this morning. First I had to get over this sight sitting smack in the middle of the parking lot entrance.

Once I calmed down a little and stopped worrying about the implications of the Bomb Squad sitting in the parking lot, I got to thinking "Not again!" See, this is the third or fourth time that we've had a bomb scare on campus this semester. Apparently this is a trend on campuses this fall. I don't remember a bomb threat in the past four years, and now three or four this semester.

In this post 9/11, homeland security era, I can't believe anyone is stupid enough to try this. Not only are they stupid enough to make a bomb threat, the threats have been e-mailed in. Not only are they stupid enough to e-mail the threats, in two cases they e-mailed them to a "general administration account" late on a Friday. In one case this was on a long weekend, so the e-mail wasn't even retrieved until the following Tuesday afternoon.

And when I think to myself: "Kids today..." I wonder how old I really am.

Oy!