Tuesday, February 12, 2008

This week's Roaster Boy's playlist

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 1:16 PM 0 comments

This week's miscellaneous links

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 1:15 PM 0 comments

Monday, February 11, 2008

What we come to expect from the air

My mother liked the idea of the third place - a gathering place that's neither home nor work. With the nerdification of society, Internet connectivity becomes part of these settings. One thing that I don't think Starbuck's understands (besides not knowing how to serve coffee that isn't burnt) is that free wi-fi brings people to stay. The Panera Bread chain gets it. They offer free wi-fi. They understand that free wi-fi is like free air-conditioning, a part of the business that people come to expect.

I needed to spend an hour someplace today. I'm in Marlborough and had the choice between Starbuck's and Panera Bread. I chose PB because I could get free wi-fi. Simple as that.

[Update 2/11/09: Starbuck's is replacing T-Mobile with AT&T for their hotspot service. AT&T says that, beginning this spring, anyone who uses a Starbucks Card (a prepaid gift card, like one you would give to a friend) will be able to get up to two hours of free WiFi service per day at any Starbucks location with WiFi service.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:15 PM 0 comments

Between a rock and another rock

There's a strong and biting northwest wind, piling up snow drifts that are inches deep across the path to the wood pile. The temperature has sky-rocketed to 16. This is the winter weather that we missed in January. There's talk of heavy snow tomorrow night.

All of which makes me glad that I don't have to work outside, particularly in granite quarries. This morning's Boston Globe included an article about the difficult times for the Vermont quarries. Imports, it seems, are taking away their markets. Amazing. It's cheap to get granite from China, shipping it halfway around the world, than it is to get locally-mined stone.

Both of my grandfathers worked the New England granite quarries during their early years after arriving from Finland. My mother's father worked in the quarries south of Rutland VT before setting up a dairy farm in Jaffrey NH. My father's father worked in Milford NH, later to move to Gardner to work as cabinet maker in that city's furniture factories.

I guess it turned out that keeping the immigrants at home and buying stuff from across the ponds is much cheaper than having the immigrants come here to do the work. And cheap is what we want.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 2:05 PM 0 comments

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Closing

As I write this, the closing of the sale of my father's house is taking place. Our attorney is representing us, so we needn't be there. We've had tremendous support from our attorney, the real estate agent, Mike and his crew, neighbors, and friends.

So, the house where I grew up (to the extent that I grew up) is now owned by another family. A number of years ago, I was talking with some people at work and learned that I was the only one of the group who'd spent all 12 years of elementary and high school in the same school system. There were very few changes in the neighborhood. Don's family moved there when we were in the third or fourth grade; that's the only family with kids that moved in or out.

Sandra and I went through the house on Saturday, making one last check of the place. Both of us felt some sadness stir up. We remembered where and how my father lived during his last years and days. We admired the work that was done in the renovations. We left a note to the new owners, hoping that they love their new home.

I wonder how long it'll be before we'll want or need to ride down that road again.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 1:49 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

A touch of family

This morning, I received a call from my aunt, my mother's older sister. My aunt is 90. Her voice is strong and her mind clear. This was, probably, the only time that she called me directly. Previously, she called when my mother was living with us and then only if she hadn't heard from my mother in a while.

My aunt was eager to talk about her life at this time. She's in a Finnish-American nursing home in Florida, run by Karelians (people from what had been the southeast corner of Finland; Karelia was seized by the Soviet Union as a part of the settlement of the Winter War). She asked if I've been in contact with my cousins who live in Florida and asked that I ask them to give her a call.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:14 PM 0 comments

Dilbert on hobbies

In just about every first encounter with doctors, therapists, and even real people, they'll ask me about my hobbies.

I do have real friends, for whom I am deeply grateful.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 11:24 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

This week's miscellaneous links

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 3:20 PM 0 comments

This week's Roaster Boy's playlist

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Monday, February 04, 2008

The sky is the color that Bellicheck's sweatshirt should have been

We went to a dandy Super Bowl party at Mike and Lynn's last night. They've put a fantastic entertainment room above the garage. We ate well, enjoyed the crowd, and stayed for the first half. The high-def big screen was just what the game called for.

Of course, what was really called for was the Patriots team that played the first 18 games of the season. There was plenty of suck to go around last night - the coach, for not going for the field goal, Brady, for throwing bad passes, the offensive line, defensive backs, just about everyone.

The theme in the NFL for the last 20 or so years is that, on any given Sunday, any team can beat any other team. The quality of all of the teams is so high that it only takes a slight shift of skill, luck, or energy to raise up the low or knock down the mighty. The value of a team is what they bring to each and every game. Last night, the Patriots played as though they were confused and tired. In the past, their desire has overcome their confusion and tiredness. Last night, it didn't.

It wasn't a great game. Neither team showed great stuff. The Giants just played well enough to win.

So, now, we wait. The Red Sox equipment van leaves Boston for spring training next week.

And what the heck was the deal with that red sweatshirt?
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:58 PM 0 comments

Thursday, January 31, 2008

In a house where the average age is 72.5

"Don't make fun of my hearing."
"What? You think my hair looks funny?"
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 10:06 AM 0 comments

Mid-winter inventory (nocwyhfl*)

*nocwyhfl = No One Cares What You Had for Lunch, a blog entry that is full of minor details that are probably of little interest to anyone outside the immediate family (and, even then, only if their lives slow down for a bit).

As noted before, we should have half of our winter's wood supply remaining at the end of January. We do. Nearly all of it is wood that we brought from my father's house. I didn't measure our supply in the fall, but I'd guess that it was about five cords. We burn more wood now that I'm around all day long. In the spring, I'll place another order for the coming year.

The sun is bright today, so it's a good day for laundry. The extra minutes we get each day add to the drying time available on the clothesline. We still have to finish drying the clothes on a rack inside the house in the early evening, but the good smell still lingers.

Our winter project is to get our office clutter trimmed down. I've cleared out a couple of small baskets, tossing some stuff and sending other to deeper storage. I've saved perhaps 10 pages out of a half-dozen shirt-pocket notebooks. ("Burn our notebooks. What good are notebooks?") We've cleared about half the shelves, a tasty bit of progress.

It looks as though we'll close on the deal with my father's house next week. The closing was originally scheduled for today. The buyers requested an extension, but said that they might be able to make the original date. Given that we're just about out of the original date, we'll go for next week. We have our final chores as complete as they can be, so now we're just waiting. For all the work that's gone into the house and sale, we've been extremely blessed with a lot of help from many corners.


Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 6:39 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Department of why people hate computers

We have a new desktop system at home, a system that I plan to keep fairly clean and use only for household chores - photos, DVD-burning, home finances, stuff like that.

I'd been spoiled by working in a corporate networking environment where you could pretty much just plug a computer into a network port and you'd be connected to everything that you'd need. It's taken me about a week to get our old laptop to see shared folders and a printer on the new system (running Vista). It turned out that I needed to start two services - Workstation and Computer Browsing - on the laptop. Nowhere in the official docs did that appear. I stumbled on it in an IT forum and, even there, it was just an off-hand remark made by the poster on the way to another point.

And, here's what happened the first time that I opened Internet Explorer:

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 5:06 PM 0 comments

This week's RoasterBoy playlist

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 1:54 PM 0 comments

Multitasking makes us stupid and, oops, I've got to take this call...

"... certain studies find that multitasking boosts the level of stress-related hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline and wears down our systems through biochemical friction, prematurely aging us. In the short term, the confusion, fatigue, and chaos merely hamper our ability to focus and analyze, but in the long term, they may cause it to atrophy." From The Atlantic: The Autumn of the Multitaskers

via /.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 11:40 AM 0 comments

Monday, January 28, 2008

Party on

We had a great gathering yesterday at our house for Mike's birthday, 16 of us at the dinner table. A few items were overcooked and someone took the ice cream cake out of the freezer too soon. (Ice cream soup, anyone?) Still, everything tasted good and, most importantly, we had time to talk and just enjoy each other's company. A lot of it had to do with being relaxed. Instead of worrying that there were kids running up and down the stairs and from room to room, we said, "Isn't this great?" The older kids found Spiderman on TV while the younger ones watched a bit of Nemo upstairs in our room while other just found ways to play. Marley stayed quietly in his room and was rewarded with lots dishes to lick clean after the company was gone.

Happy Birthday a couple of days later, Mike.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 2:26 PM 0 comments

Department of Oxymorons: "How Murphy's Law Works"

If Murphy's Law works, does that mean it didn't? Howstuffworks "How Murphy's Law Works"
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 2:02 PM 0 comments

There is something going on here, ...

but you don't know what it is, do you, Mr. Olsen: YouTube - DEC - Glimpse of the Future, 1994
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 5:10 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 27, 2008

What your neighbors say about their religion(s).

237 - Regionalism and Religiosity « strange maps
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 8:40 AM 0 comments

A Compendium of 150 Monty Python Sketches

Lily knows the words to the Lumberjack Song because I sang it to her as a lullaby when she was a baby. In case you've forgotten the words, here's the sketch along with a compendium of 150 Monty Python sketches.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 8:37 AM 0 comments

Friday, January 25, 2008

Baby-sitting, part next.

The word is out that they think that, somehow, I know what I'm doing as a babysitter.

BTW, there's a special place in Hell for the people who design the packaging for children's toys. Imagine having a new collection of Disney figurines in a thick plastic package with each of the figurines also wired into to place so that you have to untie these tiny wires while a three-year-old is waiting to play with Remy and the other Ratatouille characters. We finally freed the characters and had a delightful time, in spite of my malevolence vibrations directed at the packaging engineer.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 5:55 PM 0 comments

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Scientists vs. Gray Beards

Even though Scientists say time is slowing down, they aren't saying so from the perspective of people living their lives. For me, the days are getting smaller. No matter how precious each day's activities might be (and precious indeed they can be), the bags get smaller and slide past more quickly.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 1:35 PM 0 comments

About the Patriots and winning ugly

Some days, we aren't great. Some days, in fact, we aren't even good.

The New England Patriots sneak into the Super Bowl. - By Charles P. Pierce - Slate Magazine: "His greatest gift always has been his ability to go completely egoless while playing a position designed for egomaniacs."
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 1:28 PM 0 comments

NPR: In Today's World, the Well-Rested Lose Respect

NPR: In Today's World, the Well-Rested Lose Respect

Listening to people claim how little they sleep reminds me of the "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch by Monty Python (and others).
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 1:12 PM 0 comments

The north county is falling apart

Pine Street in Gardner, where my grandparents lived, has been closed for several weeks because part of the old Heywood-Wakefield complex has collapsed onto the street. In addition, the part that hasn't collapsed is none too steady and could fall over in strong storm or a bad case of the hiccups.

Then, we learned that the Westminster library, where my mother worked and where I spent a lot of time as a nerd-in-training, was damaged by water from a broken pipe. The break occurred over the long weekend and was discovered on Tuesday morning.

What's next? A plague of frogs clogging the snow guns at Mount Wachusett?
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 10:01 AM 0 comments

Video Chronology of The History of British TV Comedy | MetaFilter

A terrific compendium of 50 years of BBC comedies: Video Chronology of The History of British TV Comedy | MetaFilter
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 9:58 AM 0 comments

Easy may be your word, but it's not ours.

I followed a link from Digg to this site:

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 9:30 AM 0 comments

Snow White and, um, Godzilla

Yesterday, Cassie and I hung out at my father's house while the good guy from Country Fuel cleaned the furnace. Cassie had a backpack full of figurines - princesses, princes, and a dwarf-sized Godzilla. We spread the toys out on the carpet in the den and played. The play mostly involved standing up the figurines and knocking them down.

It's hard to imagine, but we did grow tired of that after a while, so we switched over to hide-and-seek. This game, for the most part, had one of us hide in a closet while the other counted to 10, walked around for a bit, and then opened the closet door. The person inside the closet yelled.

The time passed quickly and we didn't have to try figure out other games to play.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 5:23 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

This week's miscellaneous links

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 6:54 AM 1 comments

What is your best quality?

What's Your Best Quality?
Your Result: Intelligence

Your best quality is intelligence! People like you because you are smart and always make the right decision. Your intelligence also helps you handle tough situations.

Loving
Personality
Ambitious
Sense of Humor
Out-Going
What's Your Best Quality?
Take More Quizzes
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 6:06 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

This week's Roaster Boy's playlist

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 7:46 AM 0 comments

Monday, January 21, 2008

Old work

A former co-worker used to pride himself on staying a couple of steps behind the technology. He said that there was plenty of work because no one was interested in working on the old stuff. That worked pretty until perhaps five or seven years ago when companies started to outsource the old work to India, Russia, or some other low-cost workplace. It's to the point now that many companies, including places where I used to work, have quotas on how much work they will ship overseas.

The pace of change is also present in the consumer market. Today, we tried to have the furnace cleaned at my father's house. It's an old burner, probably not original (more than 50 years old), but certainly more than 20. The guys from one company showed up, took a look at it, and gathered their gear and left. It was too old. They'd never seen one like it and didn't want to take responsibility, should anything go wrong. Fortunately, friend E. knows lots of people. I stopped by his plumbing supply store. We talked about who might have worked on it in the past. One guy was dead; another is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's. E. gave me three additional companies to try. The first wouldn't make a service call because we weren't an oil customer. (We probably would be an oil customer now if they'd been willing to do the work.) The second company was not only willing, but had worked on the system before. They'll clean the furnace on Wednesday.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 5:08 PM 0 comments

Of gasoline and grass clippings

The closing date for the sale of my father's house is approaching, so it's time to make sure that we have taken all of our stuff. It's easy to stop seeing things when you've looked at them for so long. Today, I brought home our lawnmower. It had been in the garage. It would have been a lot easier if I'd brought it home in November, before the snow, but, well, you know, .... My car smells of gasoline and grass clippings, a summertime smell, even though the temperature didn't make it out of the teens today. And then, once I got the mower home, I had to carry it through the snow to the shed in the back yard. (Our snowblower has been out of commission for a while, so we don't have a path cleared from the driveway to the shed.) The smell of gasoline and grass clippings is now on my clothes. It's not an unpleasant smell, just out of sync with the season.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 5:02 PM 0 comments

Howstuffworks "How Hip-hop Works"

During a mid-morning coffee break, we were discussing Tess's hip-hop dance lessons. "What is hip-hop?" asked Sandra's mother. I mumbled something about a style of dance and music that evolved from rhythm and blues, but I couldn't provide a very description of any of it.

So, once again, the Internet helps a family of white folks understand urban culture: Howstuffworks "How Hip-hop Works"
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 7:54 AM 0 comments

Saturday, January 19, 2008

More pork, please.

Prince Edward Island meat production businesses are in trouble. The hog processing plant has slipped into receivership and the large grocery stores are bringing pork products from other parts of Canada. The locals are pleading with Island consumers to buy local or their neighbors will go out of business.

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 2:49 PM 0 comments

PG-13 e-Cards

If you're looking for something edgier and, well, rude, here's just what you need.

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 2:42 PM 0 comments

Skillz I haz them

Most people over 30 will think of video games as, well, games, stuff that younger (mostly male) people do until they get around to growing up. The real world, however, is realizing that the skills learned while playing video games aren't completely useless. For example, we learn that surgeons hone skills on Nintendo Wii
. In addition, the military has found that "video games made better soldiers and sailors faster, safer and cheaper." In addition, businesses are finding that, along with learning manual skills, video games can teach leadership.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 9:56 AM 0 comments

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Diagramming the Preamble to the US Constitution.

From Diagramming the Preamble to the US Constitution. - Boing Boing

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 5:15 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Weapons of the winter war

On Monday evening, we were watching a news story about how much better the state and local public works departments handled Monday's (modest) snowstorm. I remarked that, for narrow streets, instead of plows, they ought to use flame throwers. I didn't realize that I was 35 years behind the times. (The ad is from 1972.)

Update: This article, in the 1/20/08 Boston Globe, describes how New York and Toronto use, and Boston does not use, snow-melting equipment to clear the streets.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 3:37 PM 0 comments

How tired are you?

Take the tiredness quiz.

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 12:13 PM 1 comments

Where infinitives are always split





































via Miss Celenia on English
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:53 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Quadro the Snowman

Posted by Picasa
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 5:21 PM 0 comments

Huck stories - skis

When my father was a kid, he asked his father for money (maybe ten
bucks) for a pair of skis. "We're not paying for skis," the old gent
said. Instead, they went out into the woods, found a good, straight
birch trees, cut it down, and dragged it home. There, they cut,
carved, paned, and polished the wood into a set of skis. If I remember
the story correctly, Huck broke theis on the first or second time out.

RIP, Huck, one year ago today

--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com

Drink from the well and yield your place to another. - Jose Ortega y Gasset

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 2:55 PM 0 comments

This Week's RoasterBoy Playlist



Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 9:12 AM 1 comments

Monday, January 14, 2008

Should be standard issue for all cars registered in Massachusetts

From bookofjoe: Best bumper sticker of the year:

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 9:43 AM 0 comments

Upgrade time

If this hasn't happened to you, you haven't been trying.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 8:59 AM 0 comments

How Massachusetts are you?

Even though they get the pronunciation of Worcester wrong, it's a fun quiz:

Dude! You're 100% from Massachusetts!

Dude! Me and Sully and Fitzie and Sean are gonna hit Landsdowne tonight after the game, hang out at the Beerworks. I'll pick you up at the Coop at 6.

How Massachusetts are you?

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 8:54 AM 0 comments

The hand of God reaches out to us.

I've had a copy of this George Booth cartoon for a long time, 30 years maybe.






















Booth's cartoons appear regularly in The New Yorker.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 8:37 AM 0 comments

Saturday, January 12, 2008

"I'm an optimistic people"

President Bush and Prime Minister Olmert Participate in Joint Press Availability: I'm an optimistic people -- people say, do you think it's possible during your presidency, and the answer is, I'm very hopeful and will work hard to that end.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 7:40 PM 0 comments

Finding our way back to winter

When I let Marley out the back door so that he could chase the squirrel at the bird feeder, he made a quick left turn and hit the black ice on the deck. His body went forward, but all four feet went sideways. By the time he regained traction, the squirrel was mocking him from a tree far away.

Half of our yard is snow-free. The other half, sheltered from the sun, has, at most, four or five inches of wet-pack snow. We had thunderstorms with downpours yesterday, but the temperature stayed in the 30s, so there wasn't much more melting. We're closer to normal temperatures now. The forecast indicates that we might have a good-sized storm starting tomorrow night and through the day on Monday.

Happy Birthday, Krista.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 7:42 AM 0 comments

Friday, January 11, 2008

On the recurring battle against stuff

Most of us have heard George Carlin's riff on stuff. In brief, we spend a lot of our energy on our stuff, carrying it with us, finding places to keep, wondering where our stuff is.

Having cleaned out my father's house in the past year, we've come to appreciate how important it is to keep important stuff and how difficult it is to get rid of the stuff that isn't important. Thoreau wrote of the good men of Concord, pushing their barns in front of them:
How many a poor immortal soul have I met well-nigh crushed and smothered under its load, creeping down the road of life, pushing before it a barn seventy-five feet by forty, its Augean stables (8) never cleansed, and one hundred acres of land, tillage, mowing, pasture, and woodlot!
So, while some folks try to show us how to hang your books from the rafters, we're trying to find ways to trim the amount of stuff that wanders into the house and stays, thanks to Newton's first law. We've cleaned off one bookshelf in our study, sending a couple of boxes of books to the town library's used book sale and planning to sell a few on Amazon. I've decided that I can get by with six portable radios (three of them short-wave) and so will donate the extras to next summer's Phillipston flea market.

Thoreau also wrote of the Mucclasse Indians who, when the new harvest comes and when they have acquired new pots, pans, clothes, and furniture, would burn their old stuff, cleansing and simplifying.

Update: "Selfish capitalism is bad for your mental health."
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 5:43 PM 0 comments

Computer operators going the way of telephone operators?

In the early 20th century, the exponential growth of the telephone system caused some to estimate that, by mid-century, half of the people in the country would be working as telephone operators. Automation, of course, stepped in. Fewer operators were needed to support many, many more customers.

So, too, it seems to be happening in the computing world. In the early 90s, we started hearing the term "lights-out computing," referring to a computer room that pretty much ran itself, requiring no lights because there were no people in the room. That trend is continuing, such that, within a decade, there won't be a computer room, at least not one inside the business. It used to be that many business had to generate their own electricity. As the overall electrical grid system improved in capacity and reliability, businesses found it simpler, cheaper, and better to rely on a utility rather than manage their own. In time, we'll buy computing cycles in the way that we buy electrical and phone service.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 5:19 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

The reading cure | Review | Guardian Unlimited Books

My mother was a practicing bibliotherapist: "The right book to the right person at the right time." It's good to see that the world still recognizes the healing powers of books.

The reading cure | Review | Guardian Unlimited Books
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:18 PM 0 comments

It's a good thing we didn't read this article earlier

We've received a nice offer on my father's house and expect to close the sale at the end of the month. The buyers are a family relocating from Ohio.

This is the house where I grew up. Mike and his crew renovated the place this past spring and summer, so the place looks great. I believe that the new owners will like the house and like the town.

8 reasons why your house is unsellable - TODAY 101 - MSNBC.com
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:02 PM 0 comments

Monday, January 07, 2008

It's not often when Google is overcome by reality.

Yesterday, Sandra, Joe, and I went in to Boston to see Blue Man Group, a belated 13th birthday gift for Joe. Sandra and I have seen the show four or five times and it's still great, still capable of surprising us, making us laugh with their plain, blue faces. And that strange sound that I heard, well, that was the sound of my laughter, something I haven't heard much or often in a while.

It isn't often that Google lets you down twice. I searched for a place for lunch before the show and dessert afterwards. Google Maps reported that Fuddrucker's was at the end of the block and Anna Dessert Shop was a few blocks away. Neither place was in business. We had a good brunch at Rock Bottom Brewery, where Fuddrucker's was supposed to be and good desserts at a Chinese bakery on Harrison Avenue.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:58 AM 0 comments

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Let's defeat the terrorists and go shopping

Since I'm no longer working, I thought it would be a good idea to look through the coupons in the Sunday paper to see if we might be able to save a few bucks on our groceries. And, after doing so, I hoped that I could write a wry and witty commentary about the state of America's retail marketing lunacy. I found myself unable to meet the challenge of an ad for Palmolive Scrub BusterTM dish-washing liquid.
The ad in the newspaper points to a web site where I can find out how Doris Roberts (Raymond's mother on Everybody Loves Raymond) uses Palmolive products in her kitchen. Not only that, but you can have Doris call a (soon-to-be former) friend with house-keeping tips.

The other coupon inserts included gems such as the ubiquitous Smucker's Uncrustables (pre-made sandwiches without crusts) and $3.00 off of alarm clocks, headphones, and TV remote control handsets from our local pharmacy. Oh, and the hour-glass yogurt containers to make you think that you'll get thin if you eat their yogurt. And lots of different types of scented candles and air fresheners that you'll need after eating all of those high-fiber granola bars.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 8:23 AM 0 comments

Saturday, January 05, 2008

ibcnu

For all the talk about health care, insurance, and the like, let's not forget that some medical miracles have now become available to us on an out-patient basis. Last Thursday, Sandra had cataract surgery. Through a 22mm incision, the doctor removed the clouded lens in her right eye and insert a new, clear lens. We went to the hospital at 7:30 in the morning with the surgery scheduled for 9:00. She was back in her room by 10:45 and we went out for lunch shortly after noon.

Big kudos go to our wonderful ophthalmologist, Dr. Susan Yoemans, and the truly wonderful nursing and support staff at Marlborough (MA) hospital. They have a blanket warmer so that you can get, um, warmed blankets for the relatively brief time that you're in bed.

Sandra was back at her sewing machine later that afternoon, albeit wearing a patch that stayed on until the next morning.

"I can see out of this eye," Sandra remarked as we rode around the next day. Colors that had gone missing were visible again.

Arthur C. Clarke said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:44 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

G'bye, analog TV

We're going to be hearing a lot about this in the coming year and a lot of what we hear will probably be confusing and contradictory. In brief, over-the-air television stations are scheduled to change from analog to digital signals in February 2009. At that point, older television sets that receive their signals from an antenna will no longer be able to receive a signal that they can use. If you receive your TV signals from a cable provider, satellite dish, or something similar, such as Verizon FIOS, your provider will deliver a signal that you can use.

The federal government is making coupons available for those people who need to purchase a digital-analog converter. (We'll need one at the camp, for example.) You can find out more on the federal digital television web site.

Testing is showing, not surprisingly, that there are some uncertainties in the transition process. The problems haven't yet resulting in a delay in the changeover date, but stay tuned (if you can).
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 5:03 PM 0 comments

Monday, December 31, 2007

Good tidings we bring to you and your kin

We're back in winter again. The other day, we took a walk in to the camp. The mild air was melting the ice on the tree branches, so it was though we were walking through a rain shower. Snowmobilers had packed down the snow and the walking was easy.

You can't get anywhere near the camp without thinking about Huck. He died at home last January. An ice storm had knocked out the power. He slipped away in the quiet darkness. His friend, Elden, remarked how Huck could walk silently like an Indian in the woods. Karl remembers learning (albeit not very well) how to guide a canoe silently without lifting the paddle from the water. Huck may have left us quietly, but he also left us the camp and stories upon stories.

The camp has been a great place for parties in all seasons as well as time for vacations and just hanging around. We spent vacation weeks in July (with Sandra's cousin, Phyllis) and September. In July, we celebrated Sandra's 60th birthday with a whitewater rafting trip down the Deerfield River in western Massachusetts. Sandra attended another 60th birthday party, in California with a friend she's known since childhood. Add to that trips to Prince Edward Island in April, May, and August and you can see that we had good times at home and away from home. (MuscleCam gives you an idea of the wild times that can be had on PEI.) In November, the MacGregor family gathered to celebrate Woody and Marian's 65th wedding anniversary.

Illness and change were also a part of our year. Karl left his job in April due to what his doctors called treatment-refractory depression. In November, he was classified as disabled and eligible for Social Security benefits; in effect, retired. Early retirement is mostly a good thing, but it feels like getting a new bike in winter, a new toy arriving in an unexpected season.

Our family continues to flourish. The grandchildren excel in sports (Michael Francis, tri-captain and MVP of his football team; Krista making the junior high varsity track team in shotput and cross-country, Lily winning ribbons for swimming), music, and dance. Mike's business sponsored a food relief program for needy folks in the area. Adam, who was promoted to Sergeant this year, led a gift drive for a military police division stationed in Iraq. Jennie started a new job at Baystate Medical Center.

We have a couple of family traditions to carry forward. When the grandchildren turn 13, we take them to see Blue Man Group in Boston. This year, it's Joe's turn. When a child turns 10, they get to fly to PEI with Sandra. Tess's turn is in May.

If we could get several days of hard cold and not too much snow, we might be able to get together at the camp (perhaps to celebrate Krista's 12th birthday) with skating, hot chocolate, and maybe even a sauna and a roll in the snow.

We wish you good tidings at Christmas and a Happy New Year.
With love from Karl and Sandra

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 8:27 PM 0 comments

Once more in the snow

I once had an old Saab, a three-banger (a three-cylinder, two stroke engine). The windshield wiper motor quit on me one winter and it took a while to find one in a junk yard. I could manually operate the
wipers by reaching under the dash and moving the levers, a bit tricky when driving a standard shift. But, if the windshield was cold, the snow would fly right over and so I didn't need to use the wipers.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 9:56 AM 0 comments

Apple of the earth, we salute you

Not only is 2008 The International Year Of The Potato (via Presurfer), but two Peruvian potato researchers were given the Order of Merit of the Diplomatic Service of Peru (from the Potato Museum blog via the Journal of Improbable Research).

Update 1/2/08: according to the CBC, there will be an international potato technology conference in Charlottetown PEI in February.

Update: Make your own Potato Parade.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 8:48 AM 0 comments

What's wrong with this picture?

I can hardly wait to get old(er). Property taxes are so high that towns are letting senior citizens work off their tax bills at minimum-wage jobs: Plan Would Let Seniors Work to Pay Taxes
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 8:41 AM 0 comments

Death takes the rest of the year off

From the Worcester Telegram and Gazette: http://www.telegram.com -

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 8:33 AM 1 comments

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Business language that I missed

MSNBC is reporting the Best business buzzwords of 2007. I guess I have to believe them when they report that people are talking like that in the offices and in emails. I still read the Wall Street Journal, several business blogs, and Dilbert, but managed to miss these slushballs.

Every business has its jargon and the computer industry is probably the worst of 'em all. Nevertheless, the principle of creepy language seems to have taken hold in business in general. You don't call someone to invite them to join a project; you "reach out to them," as though you are scooping drunks and bringing them to the local mission. You don't take responsibility; you "step up," as though you're Casey at the bat. These words and phrases inject the appearance of value and strength, not unlike the way that broth is injected into a turkey to make it less dry and lifeless.

The AP asked the presidential candidates what they would most like to have if they were stranded on a desert island. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-BrickWall-Colorado) responded, "Boat."
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 6:46 PM 0 comments

Wake up and smell the coffee « Biosingularity

We don't often get good news from medical studies, so celebrate on this one. Not only are one or two cups per day are ok, but each additional cup reduces the risk of death by 4%. Does that mean we can achieve immortality with 25 cups per day?

Did I mention that this study was done in Finland? You might want to be a bit suspicious of the data.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:13 PM 0 comments

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Anglican war on Christmas

The Archbishop of Canterbury says there were no kings, asses, or oxen at the manger, that it didn't snow, and that it didn't happen in December. What next?Jesus wasn't in the manger?
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 3:14 PM 0 comments

Wood association games

A few months after IBM acquired Rational, in October of 2003, I attended IBM's Basic Blue manager program in Armonk, New York. It was an intense week of training in not only policies and procedures, but also in guidelines for best practices for managers. Prior to the program, the people who worked for me filled out questionnaires about my management style. I don't recall the details of the survey results. Let's just say there was plenty of opportunity for improvement. I'd done good work as an individual contributor and several people on the team valued my leadership, but, well, wouldn't mind a do-over or two.

A couple of months later, I learned that the group I was managing was being disbanded and I needed to find another job. After looking hard and wide, I wasn't able to find anything inside the company. I was laid off in the spring.

The management program had finished up mid-day on Friday so I arrived home in the late afternoon. We'd just had firewood delivered in the back yard, so I spent the hour or so before sunset stacking wood and thinking about what had gone on.

Since then, whenever I stack firewood at home or bring wood in from the back yard, I remember that afternoon in October when my career and I were parting company.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 12:00 PM 0 comments

Send boxes of snow

In the 50s, we used to send boxes of clothing and food (always including cans of coffee) to our relatives in Finland. Europe struggled after WWII and consumer goods were often difficult to find at any price.

Now they need our help again. Southern Finland has barely enough snow to cover the ground. We in New England have enough snow to cover many grounds and could easily spare enough to bring a Hyvää Joulua to Helsinki.

By the way, this kind of stuff - heavy snow in North America, a cold winter in the southern hemisphere - puts torches and pitchforks in the hands of the global-warming deniers. We'll leave that discussion for another day.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 9:17 AM 1 comments

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Even web servers get the blues

File not found! Watch this page..
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:38 PM 0 comments

Monday, December 17, 2007

Latest salvo in war on Christmas launched by the Vatican. Wait, what?

The Vatican is moving the Baby Jesus out of the manger and into Joseph's carpenter shop to get away from "fanciful Nativity scenes."

FOXNews.com - Vatican Gives Nativity Scene a 'New Look'
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:04 PM 0 comments

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Snow. We Has It. Weekend Edition.

We picked up another seven to eight inches of snow before the changeover to sleet. We'll probably have a layer of freezing rain before it's done.



We'll wait inside where it's warm until the freezing rain has stopped.



Mike's company Christmas party is scheduled for late this afternoon. Not only does he have to worry about people attending the party, but he also has customers who will be waiting to have their driveways plowed. Krista was born on the night of a big snowstorm. His customers called him and said, "Congratulations. And, oh, when will you get to my driveway?"
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 9:05 AM 0 comments

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Christians' War Against Christmas

Even though Bill O'Reilly would have us believe that Christians have long supported Christmas in America and that Christmas is the ultimate American religious holiday, America's religious history is bit more complicated.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 11:40 AM 0 comments

Friday, December 14, 2007

Does not auger well



The main auger on our snowblower is acting lazy, even in the fluffy snow. It took twice as long as it should have to make the path to the wood pile and the general cleanup. (Mike plowed the driveway.) The forecast calls for an evil mix of snow, ice, and glop late Saturday into Sunday. It'll be important to clean out quickly because near-zero weather will follow.

We had about nine inches of snow.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 3:42 PM 0 comments

Thursday, December 13, 2007

How to see cats

When Sandra and I stayed at The Red Lion Inn recently, their house cat, Simon, visited us in our room, staying a while for nap under the bed. Some years ago, we decided that we would add no more pets to our household, but Simon's visit has made us waver.

Neatorama reports on a Japanese rent-a-cat service where you can spend time with cats without the care, cleaning, and furniture repair that are required when you have a cat at home.

Lore has it that cats can see in the dark. With the magic of cloning, cats can be made fluorescent and so we can see back at them.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 10:04 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Panel hears songs against cosmetic pesticides. Wait. What?

Charlottetown, The Guardian: News | Panel hears songs against cosmetic pesticides
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 8:26 AM 0 comments

News from PEI: some headlines don't need a punch line

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 7:49 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

The FMLA Blog: Leave Due to "Depression" Insufficient Notice for FMLA Protections

The FMLA Blog: Leave Due to "Depression" Insufficient Notice for FMLA Protections: "the FMLA does not 'include depression in all of its forms.'"
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 6:04 PM 0 comments
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Will there be a Christmas? Jesus action figure out of stock at Walmart

Trends: Talking Jesus Action Figure Sells Out At Walmart
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:23 PM 0 comments

Turning over a new leaf sometimes leaves it upside down

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 3:53 PM 0 comments

Google Maps Streetview hits Worcester « Daily Worcesteria

Google Maps Streetview hits Worcester « Daily Worcesteria
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 3:41 PM 0 comments

Monday, December 10, 2007

Google Blogoscoped: Monsters of the Programming World

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 5:15 PM 0 comments

Why it's better to be the grandparents

The author of this article used instructions for squirrel-proofing a house, changed the word squirrel to teen, and found domestic tranquility.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 6:39 AM 0 comments

Living healthy with Google

So I thought it would be a good idea to find out more about organic fruits and vegetables for sale in this area. Google offers a handy package of applications for the Blackberry so that it's easy to download tools such as GMail, Picasa, Google Docs, Google Maps, and the venerable search page itself.

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:33 AM 0 comments

Friday, December 07, 2007

Freedom requires religion?

Massachusetts has a time-honored tradition of putting nut-job politicians on the national stage. Remember, this is Kennedy country. So, even though Mitt Romney was a one-term, undistinguished guvnuh, he showed good form in his speech on faith in America the other day. Without religion, he lectured us, we cannot see, appreciate, and apply the deep thoughts required to sustain freedom and thus are not strong enough to receive the gift of liberty.

Um, no.

Article VI:
... no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 8:58 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Continuing the search for the

Continuing the search for the lost hippies. This time, they've been sighted in N. Adams MA, where graybeards play the fiddle in coffee shops.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:10 PM 0 comments

Bug-compatible

People who use any piece of software (or, perhaps, anything) long enough will become accustomed to its fault, regarding those misbehaviors as quirks of the system. Some of the quirks are interesting enough to be regarded as features.

Then, when it comes time for an upgrade, users will howl like three-year-olds fixes something that they've already adapted to. This story is a fine example of what we at a former company used to call a bug-compatible release.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 8:20 AM 0 comments

Sunday, December 02, 2007

On demographics

'Splain this. On the local Fox affiliate, before and during a rerun episode of the Simpsons, we see ads from the following:
  • Hilary Clinton
  • Mitt Romney
  • Rudy Giuliani
  • Olay Regenerist (a facial treatment, not a third-party candidate)
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 8:03 PM 0 comments

Venturing out

Sandra and I had a nice day while waiting for the storm to come. We first went to Bodies, the Exhibition. (The website has an annoying amount of Flash.) The exhibition shows detailed views of human bodies and organs, delicately preserved and well-presented. It's not for the squeamish, particularly the section on human embryos. It is for anyone who wants a good view of bone, muscle, skin, blood vessels, nerves, lungs, and naughty bits.

Afterwards, we wandered down the road to the newly renovated, upscale mall, Natick Collection. So, they have Nordstrom's, Neiman Marcus, Brooks Brothers, and lots of single-name boutiques. But, they also have a guy selling Black & Decker power tools in a kiosk. The mall wasn't very busy. As expected, the non-crowds were pretty much white - stylin' teens, young families and screaming kids, football widows, and a grandmotherly-type woman with long gray hair and a Bluetooth headset. We didn't buy anything except lunch. (Service at the Nordstrom Cafe was very strange, but they gave us a bowl of French onion soup and a bread pudding to compensate for our waiting a half hour for our meal.

It was a bid sad to look around at the clothes and other stuff that I might need if I was going to go to work. Nordstrom had some cool and colorful socks. Good for them. I have plenty of sock and can't bring myself to buy any more, at least not now.

Oh, yeah, one more thing. I can't let a day at a mall in December go by without saying, "I know that this has something to do with Jesus, but, darned if I can figure out what it is."
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 7:28 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

"many corporate names now have the ring of a collection of Dr. Seuss characters"

The following two articles showed up in my reading list today:
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:38 PM 0 comments

Never get lost again, almost

The mobile version of Google Maps now has a built-in location finder, such that it can detect where you are, even if you don't have a GPS-enabled phone. On-screen, it shows your location, along with a disclaimer that says that you may or may not be exactly at that spot. (It'll depend on the proximity of the cell towers and other stuff.)
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:33 PM 0 comments

Eine kleine Blogmusik

A sidebar on this blog's home page includes a blurb about the music that I'm listening to or thinking about. Folks who subscribe to this blog via email or rss won't see the blurbs. If you'd like to receive the blurbs, you can sign up here.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 3:47 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

One great song

Tina Turner's birthday was yesterday.

When River Deep, Mountain High came out in the late 60s, I'd load up the jukebox with nickels (yep, five cents a play) and punch its number over and over. There are a lot of great songs, but this one is worth your last nickel.

Here are a couple of videos from the early and later days (YouTube).

And, it goes to show you something. Two of the creepiest guys in the music business, Ike Turner and Phil Spector, collaborated to make this song into a great record. It's a reminder that, while we can't ignore the off-stage or out-of-studio behavior, that behavior can't wholly negate the talent that they brought to the recording. Republicans are stepping through this thicket as they embrace Rudy Giuliani's 9/11 performance while pretending not to notice that he looks like he's having a bit too much fun when wearing women's clothing.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 8:09 AM 1 comments

That year-in-review letter

Euphemizing the year gone by:

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 6:26 AM 0 comments

Monday, November 26, 2007

What does a change change?

My application for Social Security disability benefits has been approved.

When I first read the letter, I was pleased, as though I'd achieved something of note. I guess that's true. With the help of family, doctors, friends, and others, I've been able to make a clear and truthful case that I'm unable to work. Clarity and truthfulness are important parts of the humility that supports a good life. So, there you have it. By way of federal paperwork (web- and paper-based), I've learned that, according to the rules of the SSA, I am disabled and unable to work because of treatment-refractory depression.

Knowing our limitations is a good thing, but that knowledge, by itself, is a death sentence.

Whether we're looking for a path out or just a path forward, we need to be able to see beyond our limitations. That ability to see beyond can come from many places. Some would call it a higher power. Others might call it reframing. Still others might find it on a long walk in a cold morning. The important thing to know is that any truth worth knowing is a truth that is in transition. A truth that doesn't change is a dead truth.

The disability benefits include a modest income, access to rehabilitation programs, and, in a couple of years, eligibility for Medicare. I'm permitted to work under some restrictions.

My life and my career(s) are filled with stuff that I didn't set out to do, most of which turned out to be better than I'd expected. Here's another one.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 1:48 PM 0 comments
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Friday, November 23, 2007

Make sure that you arrive at Baby Jesus' manger

Get what you need for a do-it-yourself oil change - oil and filter from Pep Boys

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 8:47 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

About teleworkers

Many large companies allow or even encourage people to work from home. It's been estimated, for example, that approximately one-third of IBM's workforce do not have a permanent office in an IBM facility. Some work from home most or all of the time. Others are work primarily at customer or partner sites.

As a result, IBM has taken steps to ensure that teleworkers have the same opportunities for healthy living as employees who work in traditional facilities. This article in last Sunday's Boston Globe describes some of the wellness programs available to remote employees.

AT&T, on the other hand, calls teleworkers back to cubicle life. (via Slashdot)
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 4:59 PM 0 comments

And Uncle Remus can't tell you and neither can Santa Claus

"I never knew it was gonna be this way
Why didn't they tell me the day I was born"
-- Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie

Yesterday, on the NPR show, Fresh Air, I heard an interview with Todd Haynes regarding his new movie, I'm Not There. In the movie, multiple actors play different personas of Bob Dylan.

I can remember the jolt at the rock and roll on Bringing It All Back Home and the country tunes on his post-motorcycle-accident John Wesley Harding. It was, as noted in a later Dilbert cartoon, paradigm shifting without a clutch. Dylan rarely bothered to try to make any connection between what went on before and what he is presenting now. If we wanted to try follow the threads, we were welcome to do so, but he wasn't going out of his way to help us. He was too busy with what's next.

Adam's 20th high school reunion is this weekend. Some months ago, he and I were talking about how difficult it is to make connections between who we were in high school and who we are now. There are pictures of teenagers that we hide from others and, often, even from ourselves. The chronology of events includes a bunch of sudden breakpoints where the energy jumps like a spark across the gap rather than moving in a steady flow. That's fine. The energy gets there; you just have to handle it a bit more carefully is all.
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 11:05 AM 1 comments

Why people hate the phone company

If you don't spend enough money on long distance calls, they'll charge you for it:

Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 10:07 AM 0 comments

Monday, November 19, 2007

The death of e-mail. - By Chad Lorenz - Slate Magazine

Last week, Michael asked us to review his college application essay. He sent us the essay via email. He did a great job; Sandra found just one needed-correction. It was, IIRC, the first email exchange we've had with any of our grandchildren. We've exchanged IMs and SMSs, but email is something for the old folks.

The death of e-mail. - By Chad Lorenz - Slate Magazine
Posted by Karl Hakkarainen at 5:22 PM 0 comments
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