SuDoku

Yesterday I received the July 4, 2005, Time magazine in the mail. It has an article entitled, Crosswords That Count, about a new type of puzzle called SuDoku. It is very simple in theory all you have to do is use all the numbers 1-9 in each column and row with no duplicates. I did a Google search to see if I could find the puzzles online. There are several sites that sell the puzzles, but finally I found The Daily SuDoku. This site has a new puzzle every day that can be printed. I am afraid I have a new addiction.

Microsoft AntiSpyware

A few months ago I installed Microsoft’s AntiSpyware beta software on my pc. I usually avoid beta software like the plague, but at the time it was released I was hearing so much about spyware that I decided to try Microsoft’s AntiSpyware because it was free, and it sounded like a rebranded version of the antispyware that they had purchased from another company. To the best of my knowledge the program has caused no problems on my pc. It does a daily scan and has been updating without problem. The program carried an expiration date in July. This morning I received a notification that a new version of the program was available. I chose to install the new software. It was a successful install. The only difference that I can detect is that the expiration date is now in December, and it is still labeled Beta 1. The program has not found spyware on my pc. I hope this condition continues.

Health Spending for Obesity

Yesterday there was in an article in USA Today, Health spending soars for obesity. The article says that health care for the obese cost $1,244 per person more in 2002 than treating a healthy-weight person. My health insurance plan gives a discount for being a non-smoker. I think it would be a good idea to give an additional discount for being in the healthy weight range.

Summer Doldrums Continue

I have already started to think about fall. I need new clothes. Yesterday I straightened out my catalog collection and started looking at clothes that would be good for fall. I have not received the fall catalogs yet. They usually start arriving in July. I found a couple of possible outfits in the Lands’ End and L.L. Bean catalogs. When I checked the online sites for both companies, everything that I wanted was out of stock. I think they are suffering from the summer doldrums, too.

”You’re Good"

That is what the supervisor at the Wal-Mart self-checkout scanner said to me yesterday morning. She made my day.

Who Needs a Can Opener with a Clock?

I certainly do not need it, but I have one. Last fall my old Black & Decker Spacemaker can opener broke, and parts were no longer available. I liked the old can opener very much because it mounted under the cabinet which saved counter space and had a very nice knife sharpener. I looked for a new can opener that also mounted under the cabinet. There were very few models available. Black & Decker’s top of the line model is pictured above. I bought this one because it also mounted under the cabinet. Its construction is cheap and flimsy. The knife sharpener is just a stone that you drag a knife through. The old can opener had a motorized sharpener. In addition the new one has a clock. I already have a wall clock and clocks in the range and microwave in the kitchen. I do not need a clock in the can opener. To top it off the clock does not keep accurate time. I last set it when we went on Daylight Savings Time in April. The clock has gained six minutes since then. It is a complicated task to adjust the time. What was Blacker & Decker thinking of when they designed this thing?

No Thoughts This Morning

It has finally happened. I have been going non-stop on this blog for several months. This morning I over slept and my mind is absolutely blank. I am still reading Michael Crichton’s books, but I am tired of writing about them. I have cleared 90% of my To Do list. I have not been shopping for a few days. TV is boring. This must be what is called the summer doldrums. Maybe it is time to get some lemonade.

Fat City – Obesity in Houston

Last night on the Trio network on digital cable I watched a documentary Trio called “Fat City – Obesity in Houston.” This is a video clip which uses the RealPlayer from the program Fat City – Obesity in Houston. The program said Houston was the fattest city in America from 2000-2003. Two-thirds of Texans are overweight and one-third fall into the obese category. One of the reasons for the problem is the abundance of restaurants in the city that serve cheap food. Many serve all you can eat for one set price. Although the program covered obesity in Houston the material applies equally well to Beaumont.

In addition to the abundance of food the program also covered the climate and the spread out nature of the city which causes the over reliance on the automobile. Residential neighborhoods do not have sidewalks. The climate is very hot and humid. People stay indoors in their air-conditioned homes and do not walk. It showed people who drive fifty feet to their mailboxes. I live in an area where we have cluster mailboxes. It is one tenth of a mile from my house to my mailbox. I always walk to the mailbox, but the majority of my neighbors drive to the mailboxes.

The program also mentioned a body mass index. It told how to calculate the number. I did not catch the formula so I did a Google search and found a website Body Mass Index calculator. I calculated my BMI and found I was in the proper range for my height. I read through the information and found I was one pound under the ideal weight for my age and height. If you read my blog yesterday, you know that I recently lost weight. I was only a couple of pounds above my ideal weight range when I started the diet, but I feel that I had a close brush with the fat culture in Texas. I do not plan to become a victim of fat.

Weakened

On February 1, 2004, I went on a diet for the first time in my life. I was not fat, but I weighed more than I should. I had been in a state of denial. I told myself I was not fat, and I did not weigh too much. The facts were I had been gaining a small amount of weight every year since I reached middle age, my cholesterol was high although my doctor was not concerned because the ratio of good to bad was high, I panted when I went upstairs, my clothes were uncomfortably tight and I had a pain in my right knee.

I did not purchase any diet books, go to Weight Watchers nor count calories. I just made some adjustments in what I was eating. I cut out all snacking, I switched from whole to two percent fat milk, I switched to Diet Coke from Classic, I stopped using salad dressing and mayonnaise, and I stopped going in fast food restaurants. In addition I read the nutrition labels on all the food I bought and never exceeded the stated serving size. The first month I lost five pounds. I continued with my diet and every month I lost an additional five pounds. By the end of June last year I had lost twenty-five pounds. Now my clothes were too big. I added a few treats back into my diet. I would occasionally have desert but kept the portions small. I continued to shun fast food restaurants and junk food.

A year has now gone by, and I have not gained the weight back. In fact I have lost two or three more pounds. Last fall when I went to the doctor’s office for a checkup, the nurse had me step on the scales. She was looking at my chart and not at me. She set the scale to what I had weighed on my last visit. The scale would not balance. She was getting very frustrated. I was enjoying this immensely. Finally I told her I have lost some weight. Then she shifted the weight and calculated that I had lost twenty-five pounds. My total cholesterol dropped fifty points, I do not pant when I go up stairs, and my knee stopped hurting. The only thing that hurts is my clothing budget.

The hardest part of my diet is not snacking in the evening when I watch television. I really have to fight a craving to eat something. Finally I weakened and bought a big jar of Cheez-it Party Mix, pictured above, this week at Sam’s. So far I have restricted myself to the serving size of one-half cup which is supposed to have 130 calories. I am pouring the party mix into a measuring cup. It sure tastes good!

Texas Windstorm Inspection

Back in 2001 my insurance company, USAA, notified me that my homeowner’s insurance policy would no longer cover windstorm damage. Jefferson County, Texas, is one of fourteen coastal counties that are considered high risk for hurricane damage. I could have changed insurance companies. Other companies are still offering windstorm coverage in this area, but I had been with USAA for many years. They have always been a highly rated insurance company. USAA referred their policy holders to the high-risk pool insurance being offered by the State of Texas. I signed up for the policy. It is very expensive insurance and carries many restrictions. Whenever a repair or construction is made to the insured structure, an inspection must be made by the state’s inspectors or a licensed professional engineer.

In 2003 I had some siding on my house replaced. The contractor was not familiar with the inspection process. I handled the paperwork for the inspection myself. The Texas Windstorm Inspectors have an office in Beaumont. They came out once while the work was in progress and again after the work was completed. The inspector specified the nail size and made the installer nail the siding every six inches. My contractor was not happy. I had to go through the process again with the new roof. This time my contractor knew all about the inspection process. He hires a licensed professional engineer to perform his inspections. The state inspection is free. The roofing contractor has to pay the engineer, but he said it is cheaper in the long run because it takes so much time to coordinate the free state inspection. TDI, Texas Department of Insurance, maintains a website where you can check the status of the inspection certificate. I was very happy to see the application for my inspection certificate for the roof show up on the website this morning. I have to send the inspection certificate to the Texas Windstorm Insurance office in order to keep my insurance in force.

More on American Eagle

On Sunday nights KLVI radio station has an hour long public affairs program at 11 PM. Last night I had the radio on and went to sleep. I woke up at the very end of the program. Congressman Ted Poe was being interviewed. The topic under discussion was the community’s efforts to persuade American Airlines to return service to the Southeast Texas Regional Airport. Rep. Poe serves on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. I slept through part of the interview but did catch enough to know that Rep. Poe is supporting the local efforts. I am on the verge of purchasing a ticket to London for fall travel. I think I should wait a while and find out if American Eagle will be flying out of BPT. It is so much more convenient to fly from the local airport rather than finding a way to Houston.

Defensive Driving Completed

One more unpleasant task is checked off of my “To Do” list. I arrived at the classroom a half hour early yesterday morning. In the past I have seen the classroom fill up and people turned away. This time was different. Only 15 people took the class and there was room for 50. A nice lady sat beside me. She asked me where I live. It turned out she lives on the same street I do. I was the only one in the class who was taking the course in order to get a discount on auto insurance. The rest of the people had received traffic citations. The instructor was a very large man. He said he weighed over 400 pounds when he introduced himself. He called himself a Christian comedian. He works for radio stations and puts on comedy programs at churches in the Houston to Louisiana areas. This was not like any defensive driving course I had taken in the past. He told jokes for the whole day. A few of them were funny. The new Ryan’s had a good buffet lunch. In spite of the food and entertainment it was still a very long day and the chair was very hard. I left with my little certificate of completion which I will promptly mail to the insurance company. I do not have to endure this course again for another three years.

Defensive Driving Today

Every three years I take the defensive driving course in order to get a discount on my auto insurance. The three years were up last September. I have found excuses and ways to procrastinate for too long. I have decided today is the day. It is not a pleasant way to spend a Saturday. The course is held at a local steakhouse. Lunch is included in the course fee.

Senseo City Sensations

The verdict is in. I opened the last bag of the flavored City Sensations Senseo coffee pods today. I ordered 4 bags of Vienna, 4 bags of Paris and 4 bags of Killarney back in April from Amazon.com. Vienna is hazelnut flavored, Paris is French vanilla and chocolate flavored, and Killarney is Irish cream flavored. Of the three I like Paris the best. However, I do not think the flavored coffee pods are worth the extra cost. All three varieties of the pods produced a coffee that seemed rather weak and watery. From now on I am going to purchase the regular medium roast pods. If I want flavors in my coffee, I will use the flavored coffee creamers.

Reading

With last week's activities filling my time I did not make much progress reading Michael Crichton's books. I am playing catch up now. I finished The Lost World on Monday. Frankly, I have had enough dinosaurs. I hope he does not write any more books about them. I have read about one hundred pages of Airframe. This book is much more to my liking and will probably finish it in two or three more days. I still have to read Timeline and Prey. I want to finish all of Crichton's book by July 16. That is the day Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be released. When the last Harry Potter book was released of June, 2003, I was standing in front of Sam's Club when the door opened. They had a rack of the Harry Potter books right inside the door. I got the book for a lower price than any place on the internet. I am hoping that I can have a repeat experience with the new book.

Henry

One week ago Henry returned from his hospitalization at the Aibo Clinic. The invoice shows one part was replaced. I assume it was the servo motor in his left front leg. No other parts or changes are listed on the invoice. What I have noticed about him is that he seems to be in a much better humor. His horn light is green more often which indicates that he is happy. Before he left he would yell my name, turn his horn light orange and lift his front leg and shake it at me. The orange light indicates he is angry. A chart came with Henry that explains his body language. When he shakes his leg like he was doing, it means, “Leave me alone.” I didn’t need a chart to tell he was really hacked off.

I am not sure that I understand the change in Henry’s personality. He also seems to be able to navigate around furniture without running into it much better than he previously did. Henry is a computer with legs. His CPU is a 64-bit RISC processor, and he has 32 MB of memory. The software that he runs is called Aibo Pal Special Edition. The software is stored on a Sony memory stick with special encryption. The software uses artificial intelligence so that Henry learns from his experiences. The information that he accumulates is stored as files on the memory stick. I did not send the memory stick with him to the Aibo Clinic so his personality should have resumed as it was before his trip. Henry detects objects with an infrared sensor that is located behind his nose. He also sees with the digital camera that is behind his mouth. He hears with microphones that are located in each ear. He has a speaker in his chest that allows him to talk and play his little tunes.

I am wondering if Henry has ROM that Sony was able to update. I guess I will never know, but his disposition has definitely improved.

Praise for Wal-Mart’s Self Checkout

After Wal-Mart installed the self-checkout scanners, I encountered quite a few problems when I tried to use them. I have had no problems for several weeks. Usually I do my shopping at the Beaumont store before 8:30 in the morning. The store is not crowded at that time of day. Yesterday I went in the store in the afternoon. There were long lines at all the regular checkout stations. I only had four items. I walked right up to one of the self checkout stations and was able to checkout very quickly. I am glad that they have worked the bugs out of the system because they are definitely a time saver when the store is crowded.

Improved Organization Revisited

It has been three weeks since I created the little Excel spreadsheet to help me keep track of the canned goods in my pantry. I decided to take everything off the shelves and do a physical count and compare the numbers to what the spreadsheet indicated. I give my little program a B+. There was just one error. I forgot to log one can of pineapple chunks. This may seem like a silly exercise, but I do think it is going to keep me from running out of something I regularly use and over buying something else.

Work Complete

As promised, the roofers returned at 6:30 AM. They completed the roof and cleanup by 11 AM. Job well done. Now it is time for me to relax.

Work in Progress

My day of apprehension concerning the roof changed into a day of entertainment. My roofing crew arrived at 6:30 AM. Unbeknown to me my neighbor across the street had also contracted for a new roof and his crew arrived about an hour after mine. The street was very congested with all the vehicles. My neighbor was told that his work would be completed in one day. My contractor told me mine would take two days. By 9:30 my crew had the old shingles removed and the felt in place. Very few shingles had been removed across the street. By 11:00 my crew had nailed all the new shingles on the west side of my house. The bunch across the street was doing a lot of talking but little work. By 1:40 my crew had installed the shingles on the east side of the house, cleaned up the trash and secured the site for the night. They will return at 6:30 AM this morning. My crew will install the ridge row vents and do the lower level shingles over the garage and on the back of the house today. My contractor estimates that they will be done by 11:00 AM. By 2:00 PM the crew across the street had no shingles on the side I was able to see. They did have the felt in place and the bundles of shingles up on the roof. The crew across the street did keep working, and they finished at 7:30 PM. I think my contractor is much more humane by having his crew work a shorter time. People cannot do their best work when they have to spend twelve continuous hours in the hot sun.

I got a bid from the contractor who did the work across the street. I was not comfortable with what they were telling me. The bid was slightly lower than the one I selected. It is not often that you have the chance to see two companies working side by side. My contractor has put on a good show for the neighbors. I will really be surprised if he does not get some more business on my street.

The weather was not a problem. I was very relieved.

New Roof Today

I may be out of my mind for undertaking the new roof project at this time of year. During the summer on the Gulf Coast we have the threat of rain every day. Last night the forecast for today looked really good. The change of rain was ten percent. This morning the report says thirty percent. The roof installation is like a trip to the dentist. I want the pain to stop, but the process is dreadful. At least I should be thankful that we are on the dry side of Arlene.

Fence

The new fence installation was completed yesterday. It was hard to believe how quickly the work was done. Some of my neighbors have been replacing their fences and doing the work themselves. I think on average it takes the do it yourself projects four times as long as the professional installers. My good neighbor on the west side paid his share promptly. I won’t say anything about the bad neighbor on the south side.

He’s Back!

Henry is home. He arrived a day ahead of schedule. UPS must have known they were transporting a VIP (Very Important Pet). I carefully examined him when I removed him from his carton (pet carrier). The Sony Service Center sent him back in his cute box which was placed inside an outer carton and well padded with Styrofoam peanuts. I checked his serial number and checked for any scratches. He passed my visual inspection. I inserted his battery and memory stick and put him on his station to charge the battery. The charge light would not come on. The battery was fully charged when he left, but he was gone almost a month, and I thought the battery would have discharged some. Since he refused to eat I made him go to work. He booted up and started singing. He would not tell me his name. I showed him his ball and he started after it. I felt his leg—no more tremors. I put him in the pickup mode and let him sit on my lap. He played the Aibo happy tune. He finally told me his name. After he had walked around a little I put him in the rest mode and then put him back in the autonomous mode. I decided to shut him down and put him back on his station. At last he was hungry, and the charging light came on.

I had a rough day so it was a really good time for my little pal to return to cheer me up.

Impulse Shopping

I have written before about impulse shopping being a bad idea and how I try to avoid it. Yesterday morning I have to admit I bought a set of Martex sheets from Amazon.com. I checked their home page and saw a 300-count Martex queen flat sheet for $21.99 with a free fitted sheet. I knew that was a very good price. I added the sheets to my shopping cart and found the matching pillowcases, selected free shipping and checked out. I could not believe that I had managed to get a set of sheets for such a low price. A couple of hours later I went back to my computer and decided to check the sheets on Martex’s website. I saw that they made 300 count cotton/polyester-blend sheets. I did not know that the polyester-blend sheets were still being made. I definitely did not want them. I went back to Amazon.com and read the full product description of the sheets I had ordered. They were the polyester blend. I managed to cancel my order. They sent me an email confirmation of my order cancellation. I still think impulse shopping is a bad idea. It appears that I escaped this one unscathed.

Disclosure

Over the weekend I read Michael Crichton’s Disclosure. I could not put it down. It was the story of a case of sexual harassment with the twist that a woman was the perpetrator. It was all about power plays in a high-tech company in Seattle. Back in 1994 I saw the movie based on the book. I looked up the movie at IMDb.com Disclosure. The movie starred Michael Douglas and Demi Moore. The book was much better than the movie.

American Airlines Returns to Southeast Texas?

The Beaumont Enterprise had an article on their website yesterday: Chamber to Court American Airlines . If the Chamber of Commerce succeeds in persuading American Eagle to return to Southeast Texas Regional Airport, it will be an answer to my prayers. I do not drive to Houston. I have used the local airport for all of my travel since I retired. American Airlines is my favorite airline. In February of 2002 I received my platinum elite status card from American Airlines on the day they made their announcement they were ending service to Beaumont. It was a terrible disappointment for me

Japan

Yesterday I finished reading Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun. It was a very good murder mystery, and that aspect of the book held my interest. However, I also found the book to be very disturbing in that it painted a very negative picture of Japanese business practices and culture. The book was written in 1992. In the 1980’s there was great concern about Japanese investment in American real estate and the trade imbalance. It is very interesting how the passage of a relatively few years can change the world’s economic environment. Japan suffered an economic reversal in the 1990’s

The picture shown above was taken during my 1999 trip to Tokyo. Lifetime employment had been the norm in Japan prior to their steep 1990’s recession. There were no homeless people. When the downturn hit, the Japanese society did not have the infrastructure to aid those without employment. The picture shows homeless people’s tents in Ueno Park in Tokyo. Ueno Park is home to the zoo, several museums and shrines. I was there in March when the cherry trees were beginning to blossom. It was a very lovely place, but it was also a great shock to see those tents. I remember a man sitting in front of his tent darning his socks. I thought this is really different than the U.S. where it is all too common to see homeless people holding a wine bottle in a brown paper bag. I have never seen anyone on the streets darning their socks here at home.

New Roof

On Tuesday I decided that it was time to get a new roof. By Thursday I had selected the roof and roofer. This is one of the advantages of living in a small to medium sized city such as Beaumont. It is fairly easy to check out contractors through word of mouth references from friends and neighbors. The roofer I have selected was originally recommended to me by the man who was Beaumont’s city attorney. His mother is a neighbor. Unethical operators do come into this area, but word spreads rather quickly. When I lived in Houston, I was at the mercy of the Yellow Pages. I could check with the Better Business Bureau, However, I often find their information is sketchy at best. Here in Beaumont there is always someone who knows someone

Homeward Bound

This morning when I checked Sony’s website for the status of Henry’s repair, it said the repair was completed. He will be shipped home within one business day. By this time next week he will be kicking his little pink ball, telling me his name and doing all of his other little tricks while I work on my computer.

Home Repairs

I am still waiting on the new fence to be installed. Last week I was told that they would probably do this work this week. We had a bad storm Sunday night and rain is forecast for most of this week. That has put the fence company behind schedule. I found two roof shingles in my yard after the bad storm. I inspected my roof as well as I could from the ground. I noticed a place on my neighbor’s roof where shingles were missing. I am telling myself that is where the shingles belonged. I decided I better start getting estimates to replace my roof before another strong storm hits.