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Hey, didja hear? There was a blackout today in a bunch of US & Canadian cities! Woohoo!

Well, after a l-o-n-g hiatus, I returned to the scene of the crime today (which actually folows an attempt last week to get this shit working), and installed my boss’ VPN solution. It works! He’s got a new PC, and a remote access solution that will enable him to extend his already ridiculously long day further into the wee hours of the night.

Well, I’m back. The pilgrimage has been completed. I have gone to Oshkosh. I’ve been to aviation’s Mecca, and the simplest way to summarize the experience is this: Holy Shit.

Well, I still can’t believe it, but tomorrow morning at Morristown Municipal Airport (MMU) I’m going to squeeze into a Piper Aztec with four other guys and fly to Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

• you know the exact day that Microsoft’s new Flight Simulator 2004 is due on store shelves
• you actually go to CompUSA on your lunch break to purchase said program, precicely on that day
• you inform the CompUSA staff that today is the day it’s due out, after not seeing any copies on the shelf
• you dutifully wait by the “staff only” door with nervous anticipation waiting to see if the staff member returns from the stockroom with a fresh copy
• you purchase the very first copy of MSFS2K4 from the new shipment at the 36th Street CompUSA
• you call Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 “MSFS2K4”
• you install MSFS2K4 on your computer at work because you can’t wait to see it running
• you write about these dorkish traits and post them on your website, while MSFS2K4 is installing & while eating an entire sandwich in about three bites

Well, we got the little bastard. We set a couple of traps in the crawlspace, the humane “catch&release” kind. (Brenda’s idea, not mine.) I checked in on them daily for the first few days, but to be totally honest I completely forgot about them by Wednesday. But today I was putting away some tools (the aftermath of a very un-Norm Abrahm weekend last week), and I noticed that the traps were both closed. I thought of the scene in “Ghostbusters”, when they get the first call, and Annie Potts yells “WE GOT ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!”.

Having recently endured an assault on my inner calm by a jolly band of skunks, it appears that the forces of nature have decided to press the issue. Friday evening, Emma (our extremely lovable cat) began to get interested in the goings on around the baseboard heater in the dining room. Initially I thought there was a housefly or mosquito tormenting her, and let her have her fun. But she persisted, and began running from one end of the heater to the other, looking into the vent, looking quite interested. I signaled to Brenda that something seemed to be going on, and she went to investigate while I chatted with my friend on the telephone.

(chorus)

Well, Brenda & I just celebrated our one year anniversary in the new suburban home, and back in April we got a barbecue grill & patio furniture, so by now we’re getting pretty used to the idea of sitting outside and watching the sun go down, listening to the wind rustle the trees, sipping a beverage of our choosing, munching burgers. It’s all so suburban. After seven years on the fifth floor of a walkup apartment in Hoboken, this is really quite nice.

Well, this may piss off some people, but that wouldn’t be a new development. I really used to like Dooce’s website. Even posted some gushy tidbit about it. Even list(ed) it on my links to other sites I like. But it seems our favorite politically incorrect, profanity spewing friend living in the land of the Mormons has attained her life’s goal of getting preggers, and now, every time I tune in, she’s talking about bun-in-oven things. I don’t care. I simply don’t care.

• Chip Farnsworth
• Keith Richards
• Pasco DeLaguarda
• Corky St.Clair
• Jeffrey Lebowski
• Ted Leavenworth
• Frank Rizzo
• Mr. Bentley Some real, some made up; some famous, some not. All fun, and all easier to spell and pronounce than Guglielmetti, so the use of these aliases tends to speed the proceedings along with the parcel fellows.

Yes, that’s correct, I’m imploring you to go out and get a wedgie. I’m up late, I need to get to bed already; I have to work tomorrow (today), for chrissakes. But while half-watching a show about that chopper-idiot Jesse James, I heard this commercial soundtrack:

Brenda & I have to be the only two people in the history of the universe that can go away to friggin’ London, and come home with suntans. It’s true though; the last three weeks in NYC sported weather that tried very hard to emulate that of Seattle, and then upon our arrival in the U.K. our perfect weather record was extended—eight days in the U.K. in three years, and not a single drop of rain and only one day of overcast—so yeah, my pasty skin picked up a little color. Nice. I’ll take it. But I’m also being very cautious to file away these memories with the understanding that my perception of the U.K. is viewed through increasing layers of rose-colored filters. Anyplace looks great when you’re not working, drinking good beer, and bathed in sunshine. I know this. I just need to remember this tomorrow when I’m on the 8:13 express to Penn Station, as my blood pressure rises.

This morning, Brenda & I were taking in the 360 degree view of London afforded to one who climbs the 580 steps of Saint Paul’s Cathedral to the observatory. Tonight, I am typing this from my favorite chair in my house, while Emma The Cat is perched on the arm, inches away, purring. (Amazingly, she just jumped down and headed for the basement; apparently she’s already over our arrival. Cats are so damn cool.)

Here’s an amusing internet timeline. Enjoy.

I believe I have already discussed how aging sucks. One aspect of aging is the loss of visual acuity, a loss I have been experiencing lately.

You know, I try to keep politics out of this thing. I have enough to complain about, and piss off enough people just talking about everyday life. But I am really saddened and disgusted by what is going on around here.

mythTV, that is. Have you heard about this? This little nugget was the first of hopefully many discoveries I made today, after visiting my new best friend’s website.

This week I received an email from a total stranger, asking me if I’d help him test his Open Source Trackback module that he’s developing. My first thought was, who is this? Next I wondered, how does he know me? Then I thought about lunch.