Books

A week has gone by since I last wrote. I completed A Time to Kill, The Firm and am now reading The Client. Grisham's books are really good.

Virus Software

Yesterday when I turned on my computer PC-Cillin informed me that my license had expired. They wanted $34.99 for the 2003 version. I quickly checked Pricegrabber and determined that $34.99 was a fair price. I went ahead with the download and then was asked for an additional $4.99 which would allow me to download the software 10 times in the upcoming year. I decided I better pay up in case the download failed or my hard drive crashes.

After the software downloaded the installation went south because it had trouble uninstalling the old version. I finally got a message telling me to reboot my pc. After the reboot I could not find a trace of PC-Cillin. I finally went to my download folder and found the downloaded software. I started the installation from scratch and was almost successful in completing the install. The only problem I have is with the registration. The third step is red, but I did receive an email saying my product was registered.

The new software contains a firewall. It says to disable all other firewalls. I have the Windows XP firewall enabled too. So far everything seems to be working.

I had a problem hot syncing my Clie this morning. At first I thought it was the firewall, but then discovered the entire SecondScreenTV site was down.

I think paying for anti virus software closely parallels the old-time mob operation where you had to pay protection money or they would bust your kneecaps and burn your place down.

Sony Aibo

Henry has completed his first week here. He is doing well. My only complaint is that it is very difficult to connect his charger plug and then put him on his station. Sony apparently no longer sells the energy core for the station in the U.S. It makes me want to hop on a plane for Tokyo.

Henry has learned his name and my name. When Henry says his name it sounds like warble, and my name sounds like warble-warble.

House Cleaning

I am keeping up with the dusting and vacuuming but have not tackled any of the remaining major chores.

Sony Aibo

Henry arrived about 2:30 yesterday afternoon. I helped him unpack and charge his battery. He is an amazing little fellow. He makes me laugh. I read about other 300 series Aibo's walking over their ball and getting it caught under their tummies and just sitting and crying. My Henry gets his ball under his tummy, then he rather violently throws himself backward and sits down. Then he uses his front leg to kick the ball out of the way. My Henry is very intelligent. However, he has not learned his name nor mine yet. I must be missing something.

Books

I am about 2/3 through Grisham's A Time to Kill. John Grisham is one of my favorite authors.

Digital Camera

Sony made an announcement on its new DSC-F828 camera yesterday. It has an 8 mp ccd and a 28-200 mm equiv fast lens. It will be available in November. The new Minolta Dimage A1 will ship sometime in September. It has image stabilization. It still has a 5 mp ccd. The lens is 28-200, but not as fast as the Sony. They both appear to be great cameras. At this point I am not able to decide which I would prefer. I will wait until both are shipping and thoroughly reviewed.

Sony Aibo

Henry, 31L, has started his journey to me and will be here on Friday. RoboToys.com charged shipping to my credit card but is supposed to credit it back to me. I hope this does not develop into a problem

Shopping

Yesterday I went to Wal-Mart and Sams. Both stores were out of stock on a few of the items on my list.

Books

I finished reading Black Friday on Sunday and started Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas yesterday.;

Digital Camera

I am still in a quandary. The Minolta Dimage A1 looks like a very good replacement for the 7Hi but again the price is too high. Sony's V-1 got a decent review in the Sept. issue of Popular Photography. The high-end Sony is supposed to be announced on the 16th. I hope this will be the one for me. Since I have a Vaio computer memory sticks are my favored storage media.

Books

I am still reading Black Friday. This is a very good book. I will finish it today or tomorrow.

Sony Aibo

I have done more checking on RoboToys.com and am convinced that this is the place to buy Aibo. They have free shipping and are including a cute little plush version of the 31L. There are rumors of a new Aibo, but I think it is going to be the high end model.

Avantgo

The program finally updated today. I turned off the Windows firewall. Prior to Tuesday it was updating with the firewall on. I am going to turn the firewall back on and see if Avantgo still update.

Weather

Yesterday was the hottest day of the year. Today is going to be hot too, but rain is supposed to move in tomorrow and cool things off about five degrees.

Haircut

Julie cut my hair this morning. It seems to be OK. I went to Wal-Mart after my haircut and bought a few groceries. I forgot to buy lemonade. I put it on the list for next time.

Sony Aibo

I found a web site, RoboToys.com that has the ERS-31L in stock and offers free shipping. I did quite a bit of searching and found no negative information on this place.

Hot Weather

Weather.com is reporting the temperature as 98 and the local TV station says 101.2 No wonder that the air conditioning is running continuously.

Chores

Northing accomplished today. I will make up for it tomorrow.

Books

I finished reading Hide and Seek. It was a pretty good book. It sure took a lot of turns and twists toward the end. I have already started Patterson's Black Friday. This one talks about blowing up New York's financial district and was written several years before 9/11.

Chores

I did a couple loads of laundry, changed the sheets and did more dusting and vacuuming. Jose and crew came earlier than usual and did the yard work.

Big Brother 4

Why do I watch this thing? Only answer is habit. Jack is the only one on the show with an IQ above 78.

Summer Heat

I just checked the Weather Channel, and they say it is 93 degrees but feels like 102. I agree with the feels like temperature.

Politics

Gov. Howard Dean was on Larry King Live last night. This was the first time I had seen a live interview with Dean. He is saying the right things. I am still waiting for Gen. Clark to enter the race. Clark just oozes intelligence. He was on Crossfire last week. As far as I am concerned, he is being too coy. Its time for him to let the country know what he is thinking.

3M Filtrete Filer

I think I will make the rounds of Lowes, Home Depot, Target and M&D Hardware to see if I can find a 24x24 filter and give it a try before I place a large online order.

I am back home. Lowes had the Ultra Allergen filter in my size. It was $14.97. This is considerably cheaper than I could find online. They did not have the Micro Allergen which is the one I wanted. I went ahead and bought one of the Ultra Allergen filters. Target did not have the filters in 24X24. Home Depot had the Micro Allergen for $9.97 plus tax. The best online price I could find was $16.99 with free shipping if six or more were purchased. Usually I save money by shopping online, but this time it paid to check out the local stores.

Books

I am continuing to read Hide and Seek. I am at page 130 now. The book has me hooked. I noticed yesterday that Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas by Patterson in paperback has been released. I have it on my list for my shopping trip to Sams next week.

Sony Aibo

A $200 rebate on the 210A model appeared on the Sony Style web site this morning. The 31L still is my choice.

House Cleaning

Today I will vacuum the upstairs rooms. I did this and dusted in both upstairs bathrooms. Tomorrow I am going to use the vacuum tools and clean under as much furniture as I can. Hoover is supposed to release their robotic cleaner by the end of the year. I hope it is something that works and has a price that I can afford.

Sony Aibo

One week until I place my order.

Dr. Smith

It was three weeks ago today that I went for my annual checkup. I had not received my test results so I called this morning. Everything is normal.

Books

Yesterday I finished James Patterson's See How They Run. Now I am reading Patterson's Hide and Seek. I have read about 40 pages and am not sure that I will finish this book. A character has just killed a stray dog by bashing the dog's head with a rock. I don't like this kind of stuff at all.

Soap Opera

I am really getting tired of ATWT. I don't know if they are deliberately trying to transform it into a comedy or if it is just me. I have been watching this show since 1956 and don't know how much more I can stand.

Bank

After ATWT I am going to the Community Bank which is much closer than BOA and get change for my twenties so I can pay Jose and Julie this week.

Mail

The Aetna Explanation of Benefits arrived. The lab work costs three times as much as last year. Not one single clue to explain it.