Federer's Shot

Recorded 60 Minutes yesterday and when I watched later saw that the first 20 mins were preempted by the US Open.  Of course I got sucked into the tennis match only to catch the INCREDIBLE between the legs return.  When i saw it the 1st time I thought he lost the point and then when they did the replay and made it clear that he returned it AND that it was in I just lost it.  Have never seen anything like it in my life.

Woke up this morning expecting them to show it over and over on the news but it got secondary treatment to Venus' explosion which doesn't strike me as half as interesting.

Has The Cash for Clunkers Deal Really Expired?

The "Service Engine Soon" light on my 2001 Suburban has come on several times in the last few months but became more persistent as we headed home from Boston on Saturday so... I took it to the dealer for service yesterday.  Good news is that the remedy will only cost $320.  The full story was

• "Service Engine Soon" light referred to misfires on several cylinders.  Doesn't think it's electrical, like spark plug, so recommends cleaning the fuel injectors $320
• Driver's window motor, regulator, and the rubber channel that the window fits through is dry rotted $530
• Mechanic reports loud noise/rumbling coming from front and diagnosed worn hub bearings that should be replaced.  Replacement includes ABS and wheel speed sensor $1167
• Lubricant in front differential "like molasses."  Rebuild $830 + parts
• Transfer case is also bad.  Doesn't know if he can get a used one but new one is $1900
  

Will do the window motor, injector/engine cleaning, and replace the front hub bearings.  Never use the 4 wheel drive so will avoid the front differential and transfer case for now.

We're in it for the long term so I have no complaints about doing this work on an 8 year old car that has almost 150,000 miles on it.  A lot cheaper than buying a new car.

Underway

First day on the road we crossed into Canada at Niagara Falls on The Peace Bridge and stopped for the evening at The Holiday Inn in Burlington, Ontario.  Just nice to have a place to lay our heads after a long day on the road.

Chris and I were up early and managed some uncharacteristic exercise in the morning.  Chris went for a swim and I ran on the tread mill.  Later we played tennis and, when Kevie got up, she and I played ping pong.

Figured we had another 3.5 hours on the road to get to the cottage at The Bruce so we took time to check out the Huron lake front.  The picture is of Chris and I at the waterfront park in Burlington.

Stocked up on some goodies to share when we got to the cottage.  Got some bread from the bakery and an 8 pack mix/match beers (interesting concept) at the state run liquor store - LCBO.

The Network Problem

2.5 months ago Verizon FIOS was installed in my condo. While the tech was still on the premises I cranked up a browser and made sure that I could browse the web. Success!

I soon noticed that updates from Apple could not be installed on my Macbook. The message was that the downloaded files could not be verified. As the list of uninstalled updates grew larger I took the Macbook to the local independent Mac service place - Tekserve. The tech there successfully downloaded and installed an update then looked at me like I had a screw loose. He told me unequivocally that it was my network. Sure enough, I tried downloading other updates while I was still there connected to his wireless network and they all worked.

Other problems soon became apparent. The PlayStation couldn't download its latest software update. The Tivo couldn't download and install its update.

Did some research on the web and the problem is not ubiquitous. There are some reports of a similar ilk but few enough to make it obvious that this is not a generic FIOS problem. There was a lot of condemnation of the Actiontec M1424-WR router that comes as a part of new FIOS installs but I didn't pay much attention to the detail. Something about overflowing route tables.

A last resort call to Verizon support burned several hours of wait time and time with a tech but in the end there was no resolution and I was dumped off the call with him telling me that they do not filter any IP services. And how does that help me?

So I spoke with a fellow in the Accounting Dept and terminated my service. Ha, that'll show 'em! Then thoughts of it being a problem with the house cabling and/or having to fight Verizon r.e. early termination fees started to gnaw at me. An hour later I called them back and rescinded the cancel order.

Experienced a few afternoons at Starbucks downloading updates and then distributing them to different boxes once I got home. That gets old fast.

Next I tried replacing the Actiontec router ($50) via eBay. The replacement behaved exactly like the original.

BOAT = Break Out Another Thou

OnSite Marine replaced the exhaust manifold gasket on the starboard engine, outboard side, on Saturday. I had brought it to their attention because of a big increase in the volume of the engine's exhaust noise. Ken thought "it wasn't that big of a job" but after taking off the manifold and trying to grind both surfaces flat then re-assembling, it was still not a good seal.

Now the head comes off and goes to the machine shop to be milled. Estimated cost $2K.

In 100 Years

On an instinctual level I know this is true.

Trees

The builder planted 2 trees in the back yard yesterday and I agreed to faithfully water them. The forecast for today was originally wet so was thinking that mother nature would stand in for me. But nooooeeee! Now only puny rain in the early afternoon.

This fulfills the builder's landscaping obligation but now we have a yard of mulch with some interspersed weeds. When we bought the place we saw that landscaping was part of what we were paying for in the association dues. The owners will soon form a board and wrest control of the association from the builder. No grass 'til then.

Summer Music

Tonight we'll ride bikes to Hoboken for either the Elvis tribute at St. Ann's Festival or Gene Plumber in Sinatra Park.

Attended the Weehawken Summer Concert Series last night and heard "The Revelations." They were great! Incredible energy. And the Lincoln Harbor venue is only 10 minutes away on foot.

Last Thu we saw "The Fave" in Hoboken. Great fun.

And most of this is completely free of charge.

Can you tell we're loving the easy access we have at the new house?

Digital Cables

After receiving yet another game console I ventured into Radio Shack looking for HDMI cables. These cables have quickly become the standard to connect game consoles and computers to a/v devices like TVs and stereos. Have you noticed what the retail stores want for these things? It's a significant fraction of what you paid for the device itself. Radio Shack wanted $35 for a 3ft cable and $75 was the cheapest 6ft cable in the store. I've noticed similar pricing in the big box electronics stores.

Ended up buying a package of four 2 meter cables on the web for $49 including tax & shipping. I know there are purists that will lecture on comparative bandwidth ratings. Come on, the cheaper cables support 1080p. Good enough for me.

Fun

NYC Restaurant Week

Didn't Know (or forgot)

Interesting - 25 Things You Might Not Know About IBM

Paralells and Function Keys

Tech support at Quicken & Quicken Bill Pay had asked me to use control and function keys to invoke special functions in the program. Within the on-line pop up, holding down ctrl-F3 and clicking 'Contact Info' allows refresh of the contacts with the QBP server. Holding ctrl-Shift while clicking File->File Operations->Validate does a "Super Validate."

Neither of these worked so, after some investigation, this is the resolution. Hold the fn key and then strike the function key to get the effect of just the function key in Windows. That is, to get F3, hold down the fn key and press F3. To get ctrl-F3 hold down ctrl, fn, and press F3.

The solution for ctrl-Shift is different. By default it is mapped by Paralellels as the key combination that simulates the right mouse click. You can change that mapping by navigating the Parallels menu thus: Desktop -> Preferences -> Keyboard -> Mouse Right Click. From that screen you can either turn off the emulation or remap to another key combination. Once that's done Windows will recognize the ctr-shift combination.

Acid Reflux

After being on OTC Prilosec for a while my Gastroenterologist put me on Nexium and it has made a big difference. On the Prilosec I could lie down after a big meal and still have the bubbling and gurgling but there's less of it with the Nexium.

Eddie Skuller

Went to the Guitar Bar All Stars concert in Hoboken last night. Check out this guy.

Ready for Sublet

We became unwilling landlords of the apt in Jersey City this month. After painting the place we didn't have the energy to clean the layers of filth so paid one of the doormen who has a side cleaning business to take care of it. What a great job he did. If you live in Newport and you want somebody to clean who takes real pride in his job, Mr. Diego Velastegui is your man.

Stop with the Swine Flu Headlines!

Aren't we all tired of the H1N1 publicity?  It's important to think about the numbers when you read about disease risk.  Less than 1,500 have been sickened world wide with 140 of those being in the US and Canada.

How do the odds of getting this flu stack up to the odds of getting a really deadly disease like Coronary Artery Disease?  Well, 13 Million people in the US have CAD so that makes it about 100,000 times more likely that we'll get CAD than Swine Flu. There is so much more to gain by changing our diets and quitting smoking than by buying face masks and keeping our kids home from school.

Let's turn off CNN and have a salad for lunch.

Yea New Windows

Window Wizards came today and replaced the junky basement windows with glass blocks!  $1,425.  We think it really dresses up the place.  Of course the rest of the downstairs is an eye sore but this is a step in the right direction.

Next step, get rid of the moisture by grading the property so that the water runs away from the house!

So Long Wall Street

Last year, in the wake of The American Stock Exchange (AMEX) being bought by The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), I agreed to accept transitional employment and a severance package that would start in the summer of 2009. And today was my last day with NYSE.

My plan is to take much of the summer off and engage my 14 year old in doing other things than playing video games. He and I will get to spend time relaxing at the beach AND will be constructive in setting up the new house.

Put in a Quart

Yesterday got a warning message that the oil level was low in the car.  The dip stick confirmed that it was about a quart low so I added a quart.  I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the overheating last weekend.  No bluish smoke from the tail pipe.  Doesn't seem to be burning oil.

Car Overheats

I noticed the temperature gage in the car climb during our trip to Millville on Friday and when we got off the highway the idiot light came on.  We stopped at the convenience store and bought a gallon of coolant that allowed us to limp home.

Our intention on Saturday was to rent a car and leave ours at the garage.  So, we picked up the rental but didn't make it to Foschi.  Pulled over a couple times to let the engine cool off and once I loosened the cap on the overflow and let the coolant geyser out only to refill it with cool water.  We might have done that 10 more times to get to the garage but what a phenomenal waste of time it would have been.  Called JC Towing who showed up in less than 15 minutes and towed it in.

We stayed Monday to give them a chance to work on it and it turned out to be the thermostat.  Complete repair including pressure testing the system $239.23.

The rental car was a Mercury Milan that I fit into comfortably.  Have to remember this should we find ourselves in the market for a car.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Every time I go to the theater I'm hoping for something real that doesn't talk down to me or signal when to laugh.  But what I usually get is mild entertainment.

Admittedly Vicky Cristina Barcelona has some characters that are really out there but the way they bounce off the more ordinary personalities is believable and very natural.  This movie is funny and there is no laff track.

The trailer said it was about two Women who go to Spain and are seduced by a local.  It brought back memories of Summer Lovers, a movie that I thought was too hokey, but this was just an hour and a half of fun.

Contract Signed

After being in attorney review for more than 2 months we finally have a signed contract for the condo in Weehawken. The sticking points were:

• Getting a list of fixtures, appliances, and building materials called a spec
• Getting a legal description of the property
• Changing the condo bylaws to allow pets

I doubt that we still have the property description or that the bylaws were changed. The truth is that the seller just waited us out but now closing has been moved to the end of the month which is not to his benefit.

We'll have the place inspected as soon as the kitchen appliances are installed and the loan should be approved early next week.

Back to Chestnut Neck

We cut the plastic off the boat and put up the canvas on Saturday. It is such a pleasure to have Chris help. He has a positive cooperative attitude that makes these things go fast. He and I dragged the plastic cover to the dumpster and were stuffing it in when one of the staff told us to stop. If we go back next season we'll know to just pile it up and leave it for pick up next to the boat.

We looked around for water spigots to connect the hose and found them only at great distances from the boat so we talked to a man at the marina store who told us, "The water isn't set up yet but they're working on it. There are only two guys in the yard and they'll get to it eventually." Not very helpful.

I took all the old zincs off and we stopped at Boater's World who was having a "Going out of business" sale. We were able to stock up for a couple of seasons on most of the zincs and got a good deal on the large one that goes under the swim platform - $50.

It was so windy and cold on Saturday that we had second thoughts about going back on Sunday but past experience has convinced us to take what we can get. It's easy to look at the calendar and think that there's ample time only to have the schedule close in on you. It was the right choice to go because Sunday was a great day to be outside with calm winds and temps in the high 60's.

Brought 200' hose and had ample length to run water to the boat. We boat soaped the entire hull and I used Teka on the swim platform. Afterward we told the yard that they could paint the bottom any time after after 4/20. She told us that they'd be glad to launch and do a sea trial with a week's notice.

AIG Bonuses

So, last fall you're an AIG employee sitting in your cubicle doing your job. You've heard some rumblings about tough times ahead but the first time you're sure that something is really wrong is when the bottom drops out of the company's stock price. That event is followed days later by headlines proclaiming that the company is out of money. Your reaction, "Holy shit. I better get my resume together."

Weeks go by and your colleagues are leaving. Some have been dismissed as the company cuts operating expenses to try and stay afloat. Others are lucky enough to find a new job quickly. One afternoon you're on the phone talking to a headhunter and your boss asks you into his office. "Jane" He says, "Your job is on a list of those considered crucial to the operation of the business. A lot of people around here think that the company will close its doors shortly but honestly, that's not going to happen anytime soon if ever. Just the same, to ally your fears and incent you stay through this debacle, we'd like to make you this offer." He hands you a memo with terms and conditions. "Notice that there's a bonus paid early next year should you decide to stay. Think about it and let me know."

You walk out of the office thinking, "I don't know. This is a really depressing place to work. It used to be kind of a family atmosphere but now so many of my friends have left... And I'm going to have to do the work of 3 people because the 2 other guys that had similar roles to mine are gone and they're sure not going to hire replacements."

Over the next couple of weeks you talk the offer over with friends and family. Your job search isn't taking off and reports from others you know who are looking confirm that finance jobs aren't easy to come by. Companies are laying off and nobody is hiring. So you tell your boss you're staying and you sign the memorandum that promises a bonus.

Over the next few months you get a few nibbles from people calling you about jobs and you start to think that maybe you acted hastily. But a deal is a deal. Mid March comes and you're paid a bonus. You think that now you can pay off some debt and life will be a little easier.

But all the sudden Washington is abuzz with how unfair it is that those unethical, immoral, AIG bozos who ran the company into the ground were paid a bonus. You don't know anyone that you'd classify as unethical. The accusations fly about how the company took on too much risk and should be punished for their inept behavior. Risk? You're not quite sure about risk but the water cooler gossip says that Moodys had rated most of what had been sold as A+ or better. Inept? The people you know are pretty sharp and interested in doing a good job. Now there's talk about passing special tax laws that would make you pay your bonus back to the IRS.

Diggin' in the Back Yard

What a beautiful weekend. Temperatures in the 70s both days.

We had given up running the washing machine because of the overflow problem so on Friday I contacted the septic service and they agreed to come out on Sat. When Gary got to the house he poked around in the back yard for a while but didn't locate the lid of the tank so he decided to come back on Sun with a small back hoe. He dug from the house along the pipe and eventually located the top of the tank about 10 ' into the back yard.

After he cut roots out of the drain pipe K filled the washer and drained it a couple of times without problem. Gary built up the top of the septic tank with cinder blocks so now the lid is under only inches of dirt. We were curious about whether we had a field drain or a cesspool so there was more digging to discover where the exit drain went. He found a cesspool about 15' further back from the septic tank and declared it to be in good shape. We asked him to build up the top of that too so its lid should be easy to find if we ever need to.

He pumped the tank (1000 gal capacity) and called it a day. The real test will be this coming weekend when clothes washing starts in earnest.

Total cost for digging, raising the 2 lids, and pumping was $860.

TV Continued

I had concluded that the vertical bar on the screen had disappeared and when the dispatcher called me on Tue I told her to cancel the ticket. It started to eat at me soon after I hung up the phone so I inspected the TV again and the bar was back. Whoops. I called the repair place back and and re-opened the ticket. Since then I've noticed that the distorted bar fades in and out. Sometimes it's very apparent. Other times it's not noticeable.

The tech came today and dragged in a box that was about the size of the TV but it wasn't a replacement. It was a new panel. The equivalent of a new picture tube in the old days. The first thing he said to me was, "I don't know why people buy plasmas." "Huh?", I said. He said, "They're always breaking." Wish I had known that before I bought the TV.

Took him about 40 minutes to swap out the panel. TV looks great!

Bid Accepted

The agent called today to let us know that the seller accepted our bid. The fun begins.

Adding to the Gadget Collection

Over the last year I've read about more and more media content becoming available over the internet. Whether it be old, new, free, paid, high definition, or standard definition there's a lot out there. Sources include iTunes, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Joost, and many of the TV networks.

I had mixed results with Media Center PC's in the past. In 2005 I was interested in cable TV through the PC but there were no HDTV cable card tuner cards for PC's. In addition the Gateway PC I was using could not connect to the DVI connector on the TV and I had to fall back to component. I knew that the picture was degraded because the Comcast cable box connected directly to the TV's DVI port and displayed a beautiful hi-res picture. I used the Windows Media Center for several years but was busting for a better HDTV solution.

When they came on the scene in 2007 I grabbed a Tivo HD and have never looked back. It's a great machine that keeps many hours of stored HDTV shows ready for viewing at my family's whim. And it plays music from iTunes over a home theater sound system via a digital audio connection. It even displays my pictures from iPhoto right over the network. In addition I can watch streaming video from YouTube, Amazon, and now Netflix. But what about all the junk that I can't watch via the Tivo? I need more hardware.

So about a month ago I had the idea to build a media center around a Mac. The first thing I did to check the feasability was to connect my MacBook to the DVI connector on the HDTV and Voila - a nice hi-res renedering of my desktop! This had a lot more potential than my old Windows Media Center configuration.

I considered the expense for a while and decided to pull the trigger on a Mac Mini ($585). After upgrading the memory($28) from 1GB to 2GB I gave it a place of honor between the stereo and the TV and started connecting cables. Great picture on the TV but there was an overscan problem. That is the TV only displayed about 90% of the image from the computer. Hmm... Never had this problem on a Mac before. They've always been just plug and play with any chosen monitor. But I knew from Windows that there were great drivers and auxillary programs that let you adjust the video ten ways to Sunday. Nope, not on a Mac.

There is a program called DisplayConfigX($12) for the Mac that lets you add new resolutions to the list of available ones in the System Preferences pane but I spent a lot of time reading about the effect of such adjustments as horizontal front porch and vertical back porch followed by hours of trial and error only to emerge with a right sized TV image that vibrated up and down. As a last ditch effort I sent an email to the developer asking what I could do about the picture that moved up and down BUT it is 2 weeks hence I have still not heard back. I am not that patient!

A couple days after sending the email I began to seriously consider a flat panel TV. I thought that at 1080p resolution it had to be compatible with the Mac. If not I could always fall back to good ole VGA. Yeah, yeah, VGA is analog but I've seen some great looking VGA monitors. Guided by Consumer Reports and other research on the web, I decided to purchase a Samsung PN50A550 ($1,486 delivered) from butterflyphoto.com. A few days later the delivery men brought it upstairs, unboxed it, looked it over with me and said, "Please sign our voucher indicating that there was no damage in delivery." I did. I swapped the new TV for my old one. Plugged in the cables and... Holy Shit, still an overscan problem regardless of what resolution was selected in System Preferences. After bouncing around for a while I found that the TV has a video setting called 'just scan'. They should have called it 'perfect fit' because the computer image fits perfectly. The only downside is that if you try to watch the Tivo with the TV in the just scan mode you'll see the carrier modulation at the top of the screen and to get rid of that the TV's picture mode needs to be switched from just scan to 16:9.

That night, as I was watching the TV, I saw a vertical bar of distortion on the left side of the screen about .5" to .75" wide. It was faint and only visible in certain scenes with particular colors and brightness. So I called ButterflyPhoto who directed me to Samsung warrenty repairs. I was not pleased but have learned that the easiest way to resolve these situations is to follow their guidance and, if it's not resolved their way, then you can bitch and moan about how you followed their instructions and it's still broken. The Samsung rep seemed to think that this was SOP and agreed to send a tech to the apartment. It has been 6 days since my conversation with Samsung and the tech never showed up or called. I've not gone ballistic because the bar seems to have magically disappeared.

Bidding Opens

We put a bid on a condo in Weehawken this morning. Started at 15% below asking. Our RE agent was horrified! By the end of the day the seller had asked for our best price which turned out to be 7.5% below asking. So we wait.

House Maitenance

After the CO detector went off this weekend I scheduled a furnace repair call with Riggins to find out if the furnace was malfunctioning. They came out today and told me that the heat exchanger was fine. He said that there would be a distinct odor in the house if the exchanger was cracked. He did think that the blower was turning off too soon leaving the furnace very hot. Maybe hot enough that dust and ash were burning leading to the CO alarm so, he adjusted the blower's thermostat, replaced the gas filter and a nozzle ($103). I'm not sure I buy the diagnosis but I was in the house for several hours this afternoon with no alarm.

We talked about how the bedrooms were always cold even when the living room and kitchen are warm and he showed me how to adjust the dampers in the basement to favor the bedrooms. Now I have to remember to open them up in the warmer weather.

Since I was at the house anyway I asked Elliott's Septic to come out and diagnose a problem we've been having with the washer. When it drains the water backs up and gushes out of the pipe where the goose neck goes in. He poked around in the back yard and couldn't find the lid for the septic. Since the problem is kind of mild he suggested that we wait until the weather gets warmer OR the problem gets worse. Seems logical to me. I paid him $35 for the service call.

He told me that many of the houses in the area have cesspools instead of septic tanks. I guess we'll find out when the weather gets warmer.

Cheers

Went to Bill and Tom's last night for their regular after the holidays party. Plenty of low key interesting conversation with healthy doses of warmth and humor. Probably talked enough "Tivo" with Tom to drive many from the room. He has 3 Series 2 Tivos! One of the party goers was Remo, a real estate attorney that I'd like to use when we buy our next abode this summer.

Replaced Drive

Been receiving errors on disk 3 in the ReadyNAS on and off for the last 6 months. Lately backups have begun to hang so replaced it today with a Seagate 250GB SATA ST3250410AS. $57.24 from buy.com including shipping.

Happy New Year!

Went to a small gathering at Vic and Susan's. The highlight of the evening was playing a rotating ping pong game where the players formed a circle around the table. Each would hit the ball once, put down the paddle for the next person and move on. We all laughed a lot and Victor emerged victorious. The game was Kieth's creation.

We brought fireworks left over from our days of traveling to South Carolina but stocks are running low. I read something last July 4th about big fireworks stores in PA so will have to do some research and replenish.