Input Change

So finally, after three service calls, of which we only had to pay for one, the AC is (hopefully) fixed. Bob, the AC guy, cleaned out the runoff line and installed an input line so we can add a cup of bleach every month or so. We had that before and I'm pretty sure the lack of it was the major cause of our current problem. I guess in a month or so, we'll see if I was right.

Walking around the hall today, I made an unhappy discovery. Not only have I gotten older...I've also gotten grouchy, cynical and very negative. I am going to work on reversing that trend! Once, many years ago, a friend said to me, "I don't know anyone who doesn't like you!" I wonder what she would say if she knew me now?

Gay Conservative Group Endorses Romney....GOProud, the group that represents gay conservatives and their allies, announced its endorsement of Mitt Romeny for president, saying that, “The truth is that gay people are living in the disastrous failed Obama economy too.” And here I was believing that gay people were among the brightest. I don't care what you may think of Presixdent Obama, there's just no way an intelligent gay person can even think of voting for Mitt Romney or any other Republican given their current attitude toward the GLBT community.

Boy, does France need THIS!!! AI can resolve customer complaints 

Start-up teaches foreign languages, translates the Web

Light up seesaw

Make way for renewable energy’s Blade Runner

T-Rex breaches U.S. borders

Phase change memory breakthrough could lead to gigahertz-plus data transfers, make SSDs seem pokey

10-year-old cracks science puzzle and co-authors paper

Dumb Law of the Week: In California: Community leaders passed an ordinance that makes it illegal for anyone to try and stop a child from playfully jumping over puddles of water.

À la prochaine, mes amis

Shingle Eyes

I was checking places on the internet last week when I noticed that the new Bier Garden on Wilton Drive has a two-for-one special on Tuesdays. We got there shortly after 21h00 and found the place nearly empty. There weren't many tables inside, but we found one that wasn't too close to the five blaring TVs showing various sports. The waiter brought us a menu which we could barely see because there were no lights in the section in which we were sitting. But it didn't really matter because the waiter came back and told us the kitchen was already closed. We decided we would go to Cafe Seville. We were met by the owner who told us the kitchen was already closed. We came home and ordered a pizza from Domino's. Apparently, they weren';t very busy either because the guy showed up in less than twenty minutes. The pizza was one of the best we've ever gotten from Domino's.

A new development in the Shingles Saga: I have flunked my driver license eye test! I believe I mentioned that the shingles was affecting the area around my eye. Well, apparently, it is also affecting my vision. Now, I have to go to an eye doctor, have my eyes examined and get the doctor to complete a form the Bureau of Licenses gave me that indicates that my vision is correctable. So today or tomorrow, I will go to Sears in the Broward Mall where my neighbor Dave is the Optometrist. UPDATE: I saw Doctor Dave today, and he told me my eyes aren't anywhere near as bad as I thought they were. On top of that, the shingles aren't causing any problems at all

Saturday night, we had my birthday dinner at Cafe Seville. Robb had a veal dish and I had yellowtail snapper. It was almost finished before I became accustomed to the taste. It wasn't bad, just not something I was expecting, or used to eating. On their online menu page, the showed they had a spanish cava, but the waiter told us they had changed the menu since then and we drank an Italian sparkling wine. As we usually do, we ended up with a conversation with the waitress, whose husband was born and raised in France. He, too, joined us and the four of us talked for quite a while.

Could aliens have created life on Earth?

A Star System 12.9 Billion Light Years Away is the New Most Distant Galaxy

Landmark microbiome study surprises and redefines health

European Extremely Large Telescope 

Austria’s UNESCO heritage Hallstatt village in the south of China

Vodafone creates a signal-boosting, solar-charging umbrella to juice your cellphone 

A sugar fuel cell to power prosthetics 

Dumb Law of the Week: In Arkansas: A man can legally beat his wife, but no more than once a month. !

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Video Advertising

I'm sure I've mentioned here several times that I don't watch TV because of all the commercials, and because my hearing isn't so good and I need to turn the sound too high. Two channels I do watch are MSNBC and CNN because, although it's possible to find them online, they're usually just segments and not the full show. I watch everything else on my PC at either Project Free TV, or TV Links. My PC has a 22-inch screen which is a nice size for watching shows and movies. But one day it hit me....why don't I just hook up my laptop to the TV and watch that way? It's not involved and only requires an HDMI cable. So that's what I've been doing for the past week or so. The other night, we again watched "Midnight In Paris", the fantastic Woody Allen movie with probably the best shots of Paris I've ever seen in a movie.

I want to thank the people of Wisconsin for once again proving me correct when I wrote: There cannot possibly be a dumber animal on the face of the earth than a Republican!

Someone seriously needs to do something about the amount of commercials appearing in videos on the internet. If you confront the maker of the video, they deny it's their doing. If you confront Google or You Tube (one and the same) they claim it's the person who made the video. Whoever it is NEEDS to STOP NOW!!!!!

Saturday was an eventful day for us. First, the brand new A/C decided to go south around 20h00. Thankfully, it was relatively cool, so with the ceiling fans going, we slept okay. I called the A/C guy first thing on Sunday. Then, I was channel surfing and I came across a Haitian channel broadcasting in French (channel 578) which was showing a concert by one of our favorite French singers, Francis Cabrel. Sadly, we only got to see him perform two songs, but that was more than we ever expected to see in South Florida.

Bob, the A/C guy called first thing Monday morning and showed up around noon.  The problem turned out to be a plug that automatically turns off the air conditioner when the water backs up, thus preventing your place from being flooded.  He showed us how to take care of it ourselves and didn't charge us for the visit.

If You Kill Someone, Don’t Google How to Do It First

Plants may be able to 'hear' others 

Poppies make more than opium

It exists! A bed that makes itself

Dumb Law of the Week: In California, it is illegal to use underwear as rags!

À la prochaine, mes amis.

C'est Possible

We're trying to get our trip going in spite of the problems we've lately encountered. In addition to apartment prices rising unbelievably high, we've never had so much trouble putting a trip together. The latest blow came when the owner of the apartment we wanted to rent in Paris, informed us that it wouldn't be available for the time we had chosen. The good news is that there are beaucoup apartments available in France. We may have to pay a little more than we wanted, but it still seems do-able.

I wish those people who "LOVE" black and white pictures could actually live in a black and white world. I don't think it would take very long for them to beg for color.

Why Some Cancers Come Back 

Hubble reveals unavoidable collision between our galaxy and Andromeda

Animal aviators: Unusual creatures take to the skies 

In Tanzania people get paid for safe sex

Coming soon: a vaccine to end all allergies 

Dumb Law of the Week: In Vermont, it is illegal to publically deny the existance of god! (So much for separation of church and state!)

À la prochaine, mes amis.