Tag: housekeeping

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A Remarkable Number of Posts

Friends,

It’s been a little while, but I just needed to convince my sore wrists that recreational typing is a good idea. Now I’ll put up a bunch of posts just for fun in no particular order. First, old computers!

This PowerBook 170 was a gift from my sweet friend Holly. It was her daily driver in college and she’s moved on. Unfortunately, its laptop-sized SCSI hard drive has also moved on. Time for the internal version of BlueSCSI and a nice System 7 image. BlueSCSI adds WiFi through a Raspberry Pi Pico, which is neat, so maybe its connectivity will go beyond LocalTalk. The battery is good, so it could potentially be a chunky road monster.

One must still be careful with the hinges, though.

PowerBook 170 display with printed repair standoffs.

Despite the repairs to the standoffs on the display covers, it’s still an iffy affair. The front cover is broken and its screw is pulling through on the right side, so it’s not as stable as it could be. The sweet 1-bit display is pretty responsive, though. I also love its trackball. I remember trying the trackball (lol. you were playing glider. – ed) at the Apple dealer on Balboa Avenue. Anybody remember the name of the shop?

It’s so close.

Your pal,

– bob

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Vicious Storm Update

A lovely centered picture of our boys hard at work
Friends,

As you are no doubt aware, our gal, The Idyllwild Weather Clam, works tirelessly to bring you the most accurate weather forecasts possible every single weekday when she gets around to it. She does this by dispatching teams of scientists from her tide pool to the four corners of the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa mountains and use the latest scientific techniques to tirelessly gather data for her prediction models. Yesterday was no exception.

Teams of highly trained meteorologists fanned out from the Secret Alpine Laboratory and collected a breathtaking amount of weather and climate data. These figures were used to compute The Idyllwild Weather Clam’s prediction that it would rain yesterday in Idyllwild, California.

It didn’t.

We apologize for the error.

Your best pal,

– bob

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Programming Note: Webcam Issues

A lovely centered picture of the computer room
Friends,

Just a brief note to let you know that the webcam server at the Damp Dog Lodge has gone down and it may be the end of the line for the old gal. The machine is almost 15 years old, which is nearly 400 in computer years, so it might be time to put it out to pasture.

The good news is that our crack team of engineers is working on the case and we should have a replacement ready to go in a few days.

All we have to do is figure out what this knob does…

Your best pal in the whole wide world,

– bob

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One Half AA?

Friends,

I’m sorry to report this morning that a) Southern California Edison is not very good at the whole consistently providing electricity thing and that b) the trusty old Power Macintosh that provides images for the Jaunty Little Webcam did not survive the last extended outage. The good news is that I think the problem with the Mac is its geriatric clock battery which is no longer charging and not keeping the clock alive. Wake On LAN and Restart After Power Outage? Yeah, they’re handled by the clock.

The good news is that replacement batteries are cheap. The bad news is they won’t show up until the end of the week, so we’re sunk until then. Save a good thought for the old Macintosh that she’ll live to see another day, won’t you?

Your pal,

– bob

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Hemet.

Friends,

I’ve taken a break, in case you haven’t noticed, to take care of life. It’s been a tumultuous month or so but you’ll be pleased to know that the tumult is largely over. I’ll get back to that in a little while, but you should know that I took a little trip to Hemet today.

I had a check to deposit and the closest branch of my bank is in Riverside County’s home of potato farming, Hemet, California. Once I managed to wade through the traffic, the incessant lights and the low-motor skill holders of driving licenses, I rolled up to the parking lot and caught the attention of enough skinhead loiterers that I thought I should head inside.

Once I was buzzed through the outside doors and the vestibule doors (not entirely unlike this, and you know how that turned out), I was greeted by a pudgy security guard who insisted on shaking my hand and disco playing from the overhead sound system. Friday. Disco. The teller at the end motioned me over, “I can help you.”

Then I noticed the name badge on her teller window. “Excuse me, can I ask you a personal question? Is your name really Shimmy?” “Well, my name is much longer, so most people call me Shimmy.”

“With the disco playing and your name, this may be the most fun bank branch I’ve ever visited.” “Why thank you,” she said. “We try.” 

So if you’re having a bad week, head to the Hemet branch of my bank. They seem to be having a pretty good time.

Your pal,

– bob

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Goodbye, Blogger

So long, weirdos.

Friends,

It’s been a very long time and we’ve had a lot of laughs, but it’s time to finally bid the Jaunty Little Blog at Blogger farewell. Their interface isn’t playing nice with the tools I use every day, Google has made it very clear in revisions to their terms of service that content I post can be sold by them however they see fit, and maintaining two sites has been a real impediment to my willingness to post new content. Something had to give and Google has made the decision for me. The nice people at Squarespace, on the other hand, have been generous with their support (maybe because I’m paying them a nominal fee) and their tools work all the time, unlike the advertising behemoth that Google has become.

I’ll miss the old site a little only due to nostalgia, but there’s more cool stuff to come at therieau.com, so please take the time and follow me over there. You won’t necessarily be glad you did, but you’ll be sad if you don’t.

Good night Blogger.

Your best pal in the entire world,

– bob

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Well, That Settles It

 

 

Friends,

Remember earlier when we had a little discussion about Google losing interest in Blogger? It turns out that they’re very interested, for reasons that I’m not very interested in.

Google revealed its shared endorsements scheme in a change to its terms of service. The updates state that going forward, friends, family, “and others” may see a user’s Google profile name, photo, and any endorsement they’ve created for a company alongside ads for that company. For instance, if Jon Brodkin gave the new Nickelback album 5 stars and said in a review that the band is “the voice of our generation,” the next time someone searches for that album, Brodkin’s rating and praise could appear alongside a sponsored placement.

Time to hold a pillow over the mirror on Blogger until it stops squirming.

Good night, Blogger site. Please adjust your bookmarks accordingly.

Your best pal,

– bob

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A Note From The Editor

Artist’s representation. Not to scale.

Friends,

I’ve been a bit lax in keeping up with the demands of work, home, and this fine journal of nonsense and paranoid delusions. I know it, you know it, and my editor certainly knows it. Here’s his note describing his displeasure with the current state of affairs…

(listen. i’ve just about had it up to here with you and your inability to get any sort of quality output done lately. i took a big pay cut when i signed on here ten years ago, because i saw real promise. now it’s pieces full of phony outrage, photo posts and something about deer? why don’t you call me when you wake up and start writing the stuff that people used to come for, even though i don’t remember what that was. – ed)

Well, there you have it. A well-deserved upbraiding from the editor. Guess I should do something about it.

Your pal,

– bob

P.S. Coming up later today, a financial incentive for me to unplug my dryer and what it means for smart meters! Exciting conspiracy therories!

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A Little Housekeeping Is In Order

I hate it when you can't figure out what they're selling.
Friends,

I’ve been away for a little while doing a couple things, but I’m back and ready to use this to avoid having to write some other stuff on a deadline! Now that’s taking the bull by the horns! (and getting gored anyway. -ed) Let’s review:

  • I went on a little trip with The Man From S.T.I.N.K.O. from Chicago back to California. More on this in a bit, but in the meanwhile, think how you could use your lottery winnings in a systematic way to destroy Oklahoma. My secret plan has something to do with genetically engineering a super army of hammerhead sharks, but there are some kinks to work out.
  • We’re rebranding the Far Eastern Outpost of San Diego’s Omnipresent Charitable Organization and the whole thing drops in a week and a half (hope you like russet and taupe! -ed) so I’m going to be writing more here for the procrastination reasons stated above.
  • If you know somebody in rural Riverside County who has fire wood for sale at a cheap price, drop me a line. It’s still kinda chilly at the Damp Dog Lodge and I’ve run through my cord and a half of oak.

More stuff has happened since the last post those many weeks ago, but you might find those things sort of boring. I do have some pictures from the trip though, so you’ll see those in a little while.

Your pal,

– bob

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Let’s Review The Jaunty Little Traffic Logs!

Hey, I see what you're doing there.

Friends,

I noticed a big jump in traffic hitting this here hot little mess and upon closer review noticed something stunning—the giant spike is coming entirely from Bulgaria. That’s right. The Black Sea former communist nation of 7.4 million has taken a shine to this proud beacon of American values, including japery, tomfoolery and general sniping as well as this annoying itch that we can’t seem to get rid of even with the most powerful over the counter liniments and tinctures.

Welcome aboard Bulgaria! We’re glad to have you as new members of our minor chattering society. Please do feel free to leave comments and let us know how we’re doing.

Your pal,

– bob

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We Now Return To Our Regular Programming, Already In Progress

Friends,

I’ve taken the last two weeks off (basking in the accuracy and prescience of your election predictions? you were mostly right, except for proposition 23, which failed pretty miserably. -ed Aw, thanks. Shame about the 23 thing, but voters will continue to vote against their own interests, I suppose. Maybe redistricting won because it sounds cool, like wearing a fez.) and am rested and sufficiently rejuvenated to lay down some amazing wordy things. Right here! And on its doppelganger site as well. Did you know I maintain two versions of this mess? It’s true!

Why all this newfound energy? Maybe it’s because of yesterday’s victory by the arbitrarily-selected NFL team that I’ve decided to follow. Perhaps I’m finally shaking off the deleterious effects of the time change. Who knows? Maybe it’s the haircut.

– bob

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Things To Know And Share

Paul, during happier times.
Friends,

First of all, you should know that bobtherieau.com is having problems, so pictures (including, sadly, our gal the Idyllwild Weather Clam) may not show up properly for a while. I also can’t post new pictures, so the picture above of the late, great Paul the Psychic Octopus is here under the GNU Free Documentation License.On the subject of Paul, he was the cephalopod who predicted outcomes throughout this year’s World Cup in South Africa. Genius!

We’re also mourning, here at Jaunty Central, the passing of Alexander Anderson, Jr. who with Jay Ward, developed Rocket J. Squirrel and his dim pal Bullwinkle J. Moose. Our thoughts are with Mister Anderson’s family today.

Your pal,

– bob

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Happy April 1st!

There could be consequences!

Friends,

Today is the first day of April and you’re not going to find me making cheap jokes or perpetrating silly pranks. This site is far too dignified for that brand of lowbrow amusement. We have standards to uphold!

– bob

image via LA Observed. Thanks!

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A Delightful Programming Note

It's a gots-to-go situation.Friends,

I’m headed out on a little vacation today and will return in a week. We’re going to one of the country’s more expensive national parks – the one with the reasonably predictable geyser, if you’re wondering. The plan is to take a ton of pictures, but the weather may not cooperate. Cold and rainy is the prediction for whole week, so we might spend more time enjoying the interior of the rental RV than we’d hoped for.

Let’s go camping!

– bob