Three
Things
One:
I know this paints a somewhat rose-less picture of
the normally-sleepy suburbia where I hang my
hat but last night around midnight someone tried
to torch
the
rent-house
next
door to
my home.
Now THERE'S something you don't hear every day.
Luckily,
I was
awake when the fireball
went up, just outside my office window,
and quickly quenched the flames before the fire department
arrived. The smell of gasoline was thick in the air
so I knew
it was
arson.
The house
escaped mostly unscathed but the fire
department made a terrible mess of the walls and
ceiling tracking down
any stray embers.
Needless to say the neighborhood
was in a tizzy far into the night. This is the sort
of thing that makes you want to sit on the roof until
dawn with night-vision goggles, a fire extinguisher
and a high-powered rifle.
There's suspicion that the former tenants had a beef
with the landlord but there are, as yet, no suspects.
Two: While on my daily walk yesterday
evening I listened to a review of the new Steve Jobs
movie
on All
Things Considered. Most of the conversation
dwelled upon how unscrupulous Jobs
may or may not have been. There was repeated rumination
on the part of the reviewer if Mr. Jobs was "a
word we can't say on NPR".
(The word is "asshole", as if you couldn't
guess.)
Yes, Steve Jobs could be an asshole but you know
what? Don't care. Don't. Fucking. Care. This man
saved the entire Earth from being owned by Microsoft.
Can
you
imagine
the horrible computers and software we would now
have to endure if there'd been no Apple? A world
of Zune-quality
consumer devices, all running Microsoft's Version
Who-Gives-A-Shit OS? Not
even Windows but DOS 37+ Office Edition and Bob.
So thanks, Steve, for being the asshole the world
needed.
There's no doubt that iPhones are a different kind
of plague on humanity but that's a rant for another
day.
Three: I'm not a Luddite. I like
useful technology but I don't own a smart phone.
Don't want one, don't
need
one.
The main reason I'm smartphone-less is that I
work
out
of my
home so
I rarely
need advanced telecommunicative capabilities. Besides,
iPhones don't have FM receivers and, in my opinion,
its music player is too inflexible.
My cheap little T-Mobile phone handles talk and music
with simple aplomb and serves me well as I cruise
my 'hood. Except for the volume, that is. Even turned
all the way up
I have
always
had trouble hearing
the music or news over the roar of traffic. My little
phone was flexible but not
very
powerful... or so I thought.
Last week my trusty, behind-the-neck headphones
stopped working so I did some research and chose
to order a pair of JVC
HA-S160 over-the-ear headphones,
$15 shipped. I tried them yesterday and they're terrific!
Excellent bass response and so loud I had to reduce
the volume to 50% for the first time ever. I liked
them so much that I ordered an extra pair, because
I know the cats will not endure my happiness for
long.
=Lefty=
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