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Update: Due to software problems, my weblog is now here:
http://www.phpsolvent.com/wordpress
question: when I write an inernet enabled java program for my PC, my firewall (zone alarm) asks me if it is OK for javaw.exe to access the internet. How do I tell my firewall that I want that particular java program to access the internet but perhaps not other programs running under the java virtual machine?
Here I am in Ottumwa, Iowa.
I made an important discovery while driving last night.
If you are falling asleep at the wheel, start talking to your wife about your relationship and you will wake the hell up. The wilder the accusations flung, the wider awake you will become.
TIM: (eyes rolling to the back of his head, swerving out of his lane) "unnnhhh...You spend too much money."
KATE: You mean like buying books at the book store that I could get out of the library? Oh wait, that's you.
TIM: Ahhhh....the burning... I am so awake!
I rode the bus this morning and for some reason remembered this time in
3rd grade where the teacher, Mrs Kawecki, handed out a packet of
mimeographed pages, about 20 pages long, that contained detailed
instructions for a bunch of crazy exercises. The teacher said it was
very important to follow the directions for this packet and that the
first direction was to read the exercises first, the whole way through.
Of course, every kid began to do the exercises right away. I was too
lazy to start right away, so I started browsing through the packet,
curious to see if the exercises on page 20 were as bizarre as the ones
on page 1. When I got to the end of the packet, there was a page with
the instructions: "Do not do any of the exercises. hand the blank
pages back to your teacher"
I did that and sat there while the rest of the class enthusiastically
completed the exercises like draw 20 ears of corn on one page and draw a
large circle with 45 smaller circles inside it, write the alphabet with
one a, two Bs, three Cs, etc.
When they got done, I was singled out as the only person who followed
the directions. I felt some pride at this even though it was purely by
accident that I read to the end of the packet. I can't think of an
exercise that could be better at teaching the class that our work was
meaningless, that our ability to draw nice looking ears of corn was
meaningless in comparison to our ability to follow directions
automatically and completely.
http://www.auto.com/industry/iwire9_20010209.htm
"Mexico's estimated 375,000 freight trucks have been in service for an
average of 15 to 20 years, compared with 5 years for most U.S. trucks.
Industry leaders say it would take annual investments of $1 billion over
the next 10 years to get Mexico's fleet into an age bracket similar to
that of U.S. trucks."
"It scares you (when the brakes goes out), but in Mexico you constantly
face scary situations going down the road. Driving in Mexico is much
more dangerous, so we could definitely handle driving in the United
States." :-O
The Supreme Court removed the last legal roadblock to Mexican trucks
rolling across U.S. roadways, siding with the Bush administration Monday
in a long-running dispute with labor union officials, environmentalists
and consumer advocates.
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2004/06/07/ap1399518.html
homeschooling cartoon:
http://www.clowncrack.com/cartoons/large/political/homeschooling.htm
Exotic plants: http://www.sniggle.net/plants.php
The sun came out today in full glory. Maggie and I set out for the kids beach, but somehow got lost in the two blocks to the kids beach and ended up walking two miles to a full fledged adult beach. Oh the sea shells. we collected buckets of them. Maggie has only experienced sea shells as untouchable tchotchkes. Today she saw driveways paved with the things, seagulls dropping them on rocks, and mounds of intact ones of all shapes and sizes littering the beach. and enourmous severed crab legs and crab bodies.
Slept like dog crap last night. Stupid bullshit insomnia. I was awake from 2:30 to 6:00 while the worries of the world were paraded before me. Also, there is a dwarf in the heat duct running some kind of after hours metal shop, grinding away all night. I got up and read the New Yorker from cover to cover. Inspiring article on Barack Obama. The following made me laugh from the article:
"Jan Schakowsky told me about a recent visit she had made to the White House with a congressional delegation. On her way out, she said, President Bush noticed her "obama" button. "He jumped back, almost literally" she said. "And I knew what he was thinking. So I reassured him it was Obama, with a "b" And I explained who he was. The President said, "Well, I don't know him." So I just said, "You will."
Last night was great. We had dinner at Lowell and Betsy's house (notice the first name basis!), who are Amanda's parents. They are great hosts. I felt so comfortable there, I could have frisbeed the steak across the lawn to the dog and still felt accepted. They have a yard with sandy trails leading off in all directions through scrubby terrain. And the fog rolled in, so the kids, the dog, and some adults went out to get "lost" in the fog. great fun. Maggie tried steak for the first time and decided she liked it. Reminded me of a baby eagle getting nursed back to health at the Raptor center, choking down hunks of meat. I do wish that Kate, Frank and Maureen were here.
Ho. Here I am at the Nantucket Public Library. I had a vague memory of a book about Nantucket from when I was very very little. It featured a walrus living in a lighthouse and a man with a very salty beard. I searched and searched on the internet to remember the title, but I couldn't find it. Just now, I browsed the Nantucket shelf of the children's section and recognized the book by its binding:
John Tabor's Ride by Blair Lent
Out of print since 1980
what a warm feeling to find this book.
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