Happy Birthday

to darklady_produc and morgan_gw

Hmm. The two of you might get along well. On the other hand, I'm not sure the world would survive...

Irony

Went to the store to pick up some drinkables and somre cold cuts (today is supposed to be in the 90s, so I don't want to cook).

I also decided to pick up a new one of those foam rubber can holders. The one I got was:

"A Goverment big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have."
- Thomas Jefferson

The irony is the "Made in China" sticker.

Still need to get some stakes for the tomato plants. They've outgrown the cages.

I also want to get a sort of "sprinkler on a stick" that I've seen in the past, so I can stick it in the middle of the plot and water things with less of it getting blocked by the tomatos (and brocolli and cauliflower, all of which have tall leaves and stuff to block the water).

I know they have the sprinkler on a stick things with the sprinklers that have the weighted arm that swings back and forth to turn the head. But those are way too long ranged for my garden. I'm hoping for something like the vertical spray that hits the "fan" like thingie to scatter it. After all, if I stick it in the middle of the bed, it's less than 5 feet to the farthest corner.

Backups are important

Had the 2TB drive I was using for backing up a bunch of stuff go wonky a few months back. The drive is ok, but the file system went south.

Finally was enouigh ahead to get another one this montyh. I'd *like* to have done an "image" backup of the "bad" drive, so I could try recovering files, but the drive Fay has been letting me use to back up stuff from the media server is getting kinda full.

So I'm gonna hold off on the recovery and just back up stuff. I got the drive Friday, and I'm slowly getting stuff copied on to it (1.3 gig of files take a *long* time to copy & verify).

I got a "docking station" gizmo from ENU to put the drive in.

http://www.masscool.com/product_detail.php?pid=&id=119

It works with USB or eSATA, so I'll be covered well regardless. I'd intended to get a card to add eSATA to the box I'm using it on, but they didn't have any in stock.

Remarkably, in spite of the heat the apartment, the drive in the docking station is not overly hot. The media server on the other hand is *way* hot (it has ventilation slots but no fan. Stupid design. Fortunately, at the moment, I'm copying files from one of the drives I'd been using to back up part of the server's files. So it isn't loaded.

By the time I've got those copied, the weather will be back in the 70s and 80s.

Yeah, it takes *forever* to copy 100s of gigs of files. Especially when both ethernet links and USB are involved. But I'll get there.

Hot weather tip

Something I should have mentioned in an earlier post.

A trick I picked up from one of the SCA mailing lists. If you are prone to cramping in hot weather, besides doing electrolytes, and bananas and the like, if you can tolerate the taste, try drinking so tonic water. The quinine (which is responsible for the bitter taste) helps prevent cramping.

Do double check with your doctor/pharmacist in case it can cause problems with any meds you are on, but if not, go for it.

I buy it in cans, because that way I can drink *just* a can and not have the rest go flat.

Freedom of religion? Not!

East Texan files racially charged lawsuit

He fundamentally misunderstands freedom of religion. He has the right to practice his religion. He does *not* have the right to demand that others take actions to comply with his religious beliefs.

Alas, that sort of thing is far too common. Though usually it is "Christians" demanding that the rest of us live in accordance with their beliefs.

Me, I'd have pointed out that the odds were good that his groceries had been handled by a black at *some* point along the way. The bagger being black is just a case where he was *aware* that a black was involved.