New computer bliss

The dreaded finally happened to me last week. I suffered some whacked out combination of trojan horse and spyware hijacking that my 5-year old Dell just could not recover from. Not for a lack of trying, however. I spent, literally, four days on the phone with a combination of Dell and Microsoft tech support folks (all very helpful despite their insistence to begin their workday at 7:00 a.m. on my four day weekend between jobs!). Finally, after four days and utter physical and mental exhaustion, I gave up and ordered a new Dell. I clicked the "Buy" button on the first day of my new job and five days later, on a Saturday, my mother called to inform me that the delivery had just been made, the new Dell had arrived at their house.

I was like a kid on Christmas morning, scampering down the stairs in footed pajamas, racing to see what was left under the tree by Santa Claus. Only I was wearing Lands End boots and plaid flannel pants and had to jump in the Camry for a 3 mile ride, and I knew what was there waiting for me. I'm just trying to tell you how excited I was. Pretty. Darn. Excited.

Because only people who love computers like I do know what it's like to crack open the box and fit the right plugs into the right holes and crank a brand new PC up for the first time. And the smell of fresh plastic that hits me every time I walk into my office. Heavenly.

And I swear, this time, I'm doing it right. Not that I didn't before, but I'm not going to load programs I'll never use. I'm not going to visit potentially scary sites that might give me another Trojan Horse. And I'm not using Symantec Internet Security again. Not for anything, but I was fully protected and still got wiped out. I'm taking recommendations for new protection (AVG is the leader thus far). My old Dell didn't owe me much, I'd used it way beyond what its useful life was, and I'm adapting quite nicely to my 19" wide screen flat panel monitor. But that old Dell and I traveled a lot of miles together here on the desktop. It's in a computer lab now for an attempted back-up of some stuff I think I want. After that, appropriate services will be held for my old friend. Arrangements to follow.

He's all ours for now, but look at the alternatives...

So George W. went down under and managed to humiliate himself and us as we might expect he would anytime he's taken out of his playpen at the White House.

First, he referred to the APEC meeting he was attending as OPEC. Then tried to cover that by saying that the Australian Prime Minister had just invited him to the OPEC meeting. Which is all well and good, if Australia or the US were even members of OPEC.

Then, he thanked our Austrian (yes, that's right, missing the crucial "al" syllable there) colleagues for supporting us in Iraq. Right part of the alphabet, George W., wrong hemisphere. I'm sure it happens all the time though, they're used to it.

And just in case you wondered if this was all just a dream, W. headed off toward the wrong side of the stage and nearly plummeted to his death. The aide who caught him needs to be eliminated, post haste.

Finally, when the group shot for this APEC meeting was taken, the photographers must have said "Everyone wave with your right hand...." And so, look at our man (far right). How proud must we all be.

But what of our alternatives. In the recent Yahoo debate, the candidates were asked how they managed to vote to authorize the war. Their insinuation was that Bush had tricked them into voting for it with his false information. But as Bill Maher gently pointed out "So now you want us to vote for someone who's been tricked by.....George W. Bush?" Ay, there's the rub.

Blogging on the news

Lots of little things today...

The Brady Baby -- other than the fact that it was quite possibly the longest human gestation in history, or at least felt that way, why do we care about the spawn of Bridget Moynahan and Tom Brady? This pregnancy was followed like the British press follow a royal birth. But why? She's a former model with some not-so-great tv and movie credits to her name, he throws a ball for a living. Nothing special there. The one thing I can admit to, however, is that I am thrilled that Bridget opted to name the child Moynahan rather than Brady. Despite what Ann Landers says (that this kid will always be known as the "Brady baby"), I just can't stomach rewarding the elder Brady with a namesake when he was clearly taking calculated risks in the lead-up to the break-up, leaving poor Bridge "devastated" and, consequently, knocked up.

Really, it's ok -- so another Republican has been caught in some kind of unexpected sexual situation and he's found it necessary to steadfastly deny that he's "not gay and has never been gay" rather than equally vehemently deny that he solicited sex from a prostitute (albeit of the male persuasion). I find the latter troubling from a moral perspective, whereas the former is not the least bit offensive. I find it more troubling that the Republicans seemingly need to declare their innocence in the "Gay or Not" debate, when really, what does that have to do with how well they govern and represent their constituents? In a word, none. Yet, Republicans like Mitt Romeny are doing their best to distance themselves from this evildoer. Further, even if he did solicit a prostitute, does that change whatever good he's done for his district? This all harkens back to the Clinton era, when said Republicans actually tried to impeach Clinton for having "sexual relations" in the Oval Office. Not for some egregious national security breach or fatal mistake he made in governing our country, but for simply getting it on with a woman. Again, completely overlooking the effectiveness of the individual and souly focusing on the "wrongdoing" of having sex, whether it be with a male or female, is pretty narrowminded. Unless, I guess, you're a bible-thumping conservative in the Red States.

People from the South should pay too -- so now Massachusetts Transportation officials are thinking about charging south shore commuters for using Route 93 northbound. Well finally, it's about time. If you're from the North Shore, you pay just about any way you drive into the city, whether it be the tunnel or the Tobin, it's $3. Even folks out west get hit on the Pike, paying by the number of exits they pass. I'm sure South Shore folks will be all up in arms about this, but hey, with bridges crumbling around us, I'm all for making them pay their fair share as well.

Now this is why I love Italy

Once again, our fellow Earth inhabitants have taken something that would be frowned upon otherwise and made it beautiful. Rome has taken steps to encourage the expression of love shown by and between its citizens and turned it into a beautiful public display of affection. A book and movie recently released in Italy planted the idea of lovers writing their names on a padlock, locking that padlock to the bridge and tossing the key into the Tiber. They were symbolically locking themselves together and literally tossing away the key.

When said expression of love started to damage the architecture and accoutrements on the bridge, politicians at first tried to eliminate the problem, but then moved to make it acceptable by providing safer (for the bridge) alternatives for the lock-ees. While some lock-ees find it more scripted and less romantic, others are glad that this form of communal artwork will remain.

I say Bravo. Here in Boston, said padlocks would either destroy the already decaying bridge completely or be continually disposed of by the city. But certainly not encouraged. Alas, I'd say our romantic wings are most likely clipped on an issue like this.

Either way, just another reason why I love Italy.

Starbucks hasn't lost me yet....

So Starbucks has announced that they are raising prices again next week by 9 cents a cup. For all the scuttlebutt this seems to have caused others, including the business media, this doesn't even make me flinch. Nine cents? Nine cents? This is all you need to keep paying the baristas who make me smile every morning, keep providing clean, classy stores, and keep giving me coffee that doesn't taste like donuts or scalded grounds? I'll pay up, not a problem.

Starbucks is the most generous employer I've heard of in food services. They pay tuition, full health and dental, have profit sharing and a stock purchase plan. Let me remind you, I only get 2 of those where I work now. And Starbucks' generosity shows in the way its employees treats customers. I haven't had shoddy service once in over 10 years....

In the grand scheme of things, nine cents is nothing. Granted, I've converted from the cadillac drinks to straight up coffee with cream (a savings of $1.28 and 300 calories a day) on a daily basis but still, even a raspberry mocha frappucino light is worth the $3.92 it will cost next Tuesday when the increase takes hold.