(no subject)
I'm typing this on my laptop in a wireless-enabled café, but I'm uploading this after I get back home. Why? Because I can't find my frigging wireless card. Somehow, during last week's cleanup in preparation for Anne and Eddie's visit, I misplaced the thing.
I thought that getting this Thinkpad T20 freebie from work would postpone my personal laptop purchase, but it looks like I'm gonna have to buy one anyway because I can't get decent battery time on this laptop. With two fully charged batteries -- the main one and a second in the media bay -- the status bar power icon states that I've got an hour of juice. So I was at the Starbucks in University Village tonight, reading MSDN documentation while occasionally enjoying the view (pretty coeds), when I got the "battery low" alert ten minutes after power-up. The first time this happened weeks ago, I dismissed it as a fluke; this was the 3rd or 4th occurrence, ergo vis-a-vis in concordance these batteries must be dying. Now I'd brought my power adapter just in case, but I couldn't find an outlet inside Starbucks (I've noticed this to be true in several of their stores) so I got in my car and drove to the U-Drink tea place at 45th and University which I knew for certain had accessible power outlets.
One minor issue with the 45th and U area -- at night, it's kinda ghetto. I don't feel too safe walking around at midnight with a laptop in tow, especially one with critical company secrets on the hard drive. The main strip of 45th has the usual street people but feels relatively safe because there's plenty of normal folk about even in the wee hours. The real problem is the side streets which is of course the only places one can find parking.
Earlier today I was thinking of buying a hunting knife at Big 5 to carry around for personal defense. One of the few things I agree about with conservatives and libertarians is the issue of personal safety, that personal safety is primarily a personal responsibility. And since I don't know any kung fu, I'm gonna need some hardware to assist me. The idea came to me when my team manager started brandishing his knife as a joke during our team meetings. I might keep my knife's length within the legal limits, though (2 inch blade, I think), as opposed to my manager's which is crazy Rambo-sized.
Oh, something about the University Village mall amuses me. It's the fact that there are two Starbucks cafés in the mall, one visible from the other! U Village has a U-shaped arrangement of buildings with parking inside the U, and the two Starbucks are on different arms of the U. I suppose it saves the yuppies shopping at Crate and Barrel from having to walk across the parking lot to get their tall extra-hot decaf non-fat sugar-free vanilla latte fix.
U Village has really gentrified since I first visited it more than a decade ago. Not that it was ever ghetto; it always felt upscale, but it was still a good fit for the college kids in the area with their student budgets. Now it's got Restoration Hardware, Coach, a Crate & Barrel in the back. Definitely going for the yuppie bucks.
There's an exhibit at the U Vill of different kid's playhouses as designed by local architects. Very nifty, combining traditional treehouse charm with cutting-edge design and modern materials. I was reminded that, at one time, I was going to be an architect. Yes, I was an architecture major a long, long time ago; I had to change majors for economic reasons (I was poor, and I had a standing scholarship offer that required a science or engineering discipline, so I switched to mechanical engineering). Looking at the cool structures on display, I felt a twinge of regret at not having gone down that road. It made me wonder what sort of things I could've already built by now if things had been different.
I thought that getting this Thinkpad T20 freebie from work would postpone my personal laptop purchase, but it looks like I'm gonna have to buy one anyway because I can't get decent battery time on this laptop. With two fully charged batteries -- the main one and a second in the media bay -- the status bar power icon states that I've got an hour of juice. So I was at the Starbucks in University Village tonight, reading MSDN documentation while occasionally enjoying the view (pretty coeds), when I got the "battery low" alert ten minutes after power-up. The first time this happened weeks ago, I dismissed it as a fluke; this was the 3rd or 4th occurrence, ergo vis-a-vis in concordance these batteries must be dying. Now I'd brought my power adapter just in case, but I couldn't find an outlet inside Starbucks (I've noticed this to be true in several of their stores) so I got in my car and drove to the U-Drink tea place at 45th and University which I knew for certain had accessible power outlets.
One minor issue with the 45th and U area -- at night, it's kinda ghetto. I don't feel too safe walking around at midnight with a laptop in tow, especially one with critical company secrets on the hard drive. The main strip of 45th has the usual street people but feels relatively safe because there's plenty of normal folk about even in the wee hours. The real problem is the side streets which is of course the only places one can find parking.
Earlier today I was thinking of buying a hunting knife at Big 5 to carry around for personal defense. One of the few things I agree about with conservatives and libertarians is the issue of personal safety, that personal safety is primarily a personal responsibility. And since I don't know any kung fu, I'm gonna need some hardware to assist me. The idea came to me when my team manager started brandishing his knife as a joke during our team meetings. I might keep my knife's length within the legal limits, though (2 inch blade, I think), as opposed to my manager's which is crazy Rambo-sized.
Oh, something about the University Village mall amuses me. It's the fact that there are two Starbucks cafés in the mall, one visible from the other! U Village has a U-shaped arrangement of buildings with parking inside the U, and the two Starbucks are on different arms of the U. I suppose it saves the yuppies shopping at Crate and Barrel from having to walk across the parking lot to get their tall extra-hot decaf non-fat sugar-free vanilla latte fix.
U Village has really gentrified since I first visited it more than a decade ago. Not that it was ever ghetto; it always felt upscale, but it was still a good fit for the college kids in the area with their student budgets. Now it's got Restoration Hardware, Coach, a Crate & Barrel in the back. Definitely going for the yuppie bucks.
There's an exhibit at the U Vill of different kid's playhouses as designed by local architects. Very nifty, combining traditional treehouse charm with cutting-edge design and modern materials. I was reminded that, at one time, I was going to be an architect. Yes, I was an architecture major a long, long time ago; I had to change majors for economic reasons (I was poor, and I had a standing scholarship offer that required a science or engineering discipline, so I switched to mechanical engineering). Looking at the cool structures on display, I felt a twinge of regret at not having gone down that road. It made me wonder what sort of things I could've already built by now if things had been different.