A Night of Improv

Once again this year, the cast of Whose Line is it Anyway? comes to Olympia, and once again, Amanda and me have tickets to see the show. It’s on June 3rd at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts (entitled “A Night of Improv“). They have already added a second show time at 9:30PM because of the popularity of this event, but we’re attending the 7:00 showing.

It should be just as fun as last year.

Back in Oly

We have returned to Olympia for the start of Spring Quarter. Tomorrow afternoon, we have matinee tickets to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch, then the day after that, classes begin. I’ll be going on campus to get my student card validated, though I may have to wait to register, as I don’t have the appropriate information to do so yet. Oh, well.

Prius Test Drive

Finally, after about a year of lusting after the Prius, I got to go down to Toyota of Kirkland and take a rather long test drive (about an hour). The car was a black 2005 with package 6 (every option known to man), which includes driver/front passenger seat-mounted side and front/rear curtain airbags, smart key system, security alarm, HomeLink garage door opener, GPS navigation, JBL premium AM/FM cassette/6-disc in-dash CD changer w/(9) speakers, vehicle skid control, fog lamps, and HID headlamps. This particular car also had a 5-piece carpet floor/trunk mat set, cargo net, and first aid kit.

If I only liked the car before, I really, really like it now. It drove flawlessly — no losses in power, very responsive to the pedal, and the control placement is ideal to ensure that eyes are kept on the road. It’s a very comfortable car, though there are some odd points, mostly in the way of visibility. Looking out the back of the car from the driver’s side seat, there’s a crossbar that divides the rear window into two window components — the angle of the rearview mirror or the angle of the window made the lower half appear tinted, which was a little disorienting, since the window itself isn’t tempted. There are also two very strange blind spots on either side of the rear window, which means that it’s not all that easy to see when backing up. This can be compensated for by being extra aware when backing. The car also has this cool little beep that goes off when you’re in reverse so that you know you’re in reverse. Now if only they would make an audio signal by default when your turn signal’s been on too long.

Admittedly, you don’t need GPS navigation in a car unless you have an annoying habit of getting lost, but it’s still a cool little feature. I glanced at it a couple of times when I was driving and it was fairly accurate — not perfect, necessarily, based on my knowledge of the area, but pretty good. Buttons on the steering wheel allows for control of interior temperature, the Bluetooth hook-in to the cell phone, and the audio system. It even has a trigger for voice activation, which is apparently wired into the navigation system in addition to the phone system. Thus, you can activate the voice feature, then say something like “Show me Chinese places” and it should, theoretically, show the nearest Chinese eatery. We didn’t test this, though.

It’s very, very hard to tell that the car’s on if it’s sitting still with the air conditioning and everything else off. This is probably the most impressive thing about it — I can actually hear conversations on the highway. In normal cars, this isn’t possible at all, and is quite nice for me. Cabin noise is minimal for the most part when the car is actually running. I didn’t have a single problem hearing both Amanda and my mother in the back seat when they were talking. I could probably rattle on all day about the drive, but it took us all over the place and (obviously, by requirement) showed off the major features.

The sales consultant also walked us through the package lists — I’m either looking at package 4 or package 6, with additional accessories (probably the exact accessories list that was on the car I drove today).

If you ever get a chance to drive a 2004 or 2005 Prius, do it — it’s a great experience, even if you don’t end up liking the car in the end. It’s surprisingly luxurious for a car of its size, and I quite enjoyed the experience.

A Letter to the U.S. Supeme Court

To Justices Rehnquist, Stevens, O’Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsberg, and Breyer:

Regarding the case of Terri Schiavo: thank you. Thank you for not trying to set a national precedence on how to handle our own deaths. Thank you for not taking an already painful and complicated case and trying to render it within our limited understanding of what death means to others. Thank you for deciding that, in cases like these, you have no voice in whether people live or die. Most of all, thank you for realizing that the priorities of the nation are better assigned to other cases.

I am not trying to say that the Schiavo case is not important, or that those issues don’t touch the inner reaches of what it means to be human in a modern world. It is simply my personal belief that such issues are not the purview of the highest court in the nation. Your recognition of this fact upholds my faith in the national courts.

Thank you for your work.

New Dell Laptop

I decided, due to the problems with autumn’s hinges and the fact that autumn is over three and a half years old (I’ve had her since August 29, 2001), that it was time to get a replacement laptop. I settled on a Dell Inspiron 700M, which is a nice little lightweight laptop unit. I’m going lightweight to save my back some strain when carrying the unit around; I’m also hoping to take my laptop on campus a bit more often than I currently do (whether I will or not has yet to be settled).

Specifications are:

  • Processor: Intel� Pentium� M Processor 725 (1.60GHz/400MHz FSB)
  • Display: 12.1-in WXGA (1280×800)
  • Memory: 512MB DDR SDRAM (1 DIMM)
  • Hard Drive: 60GB
  • Operating System: Windows XP Professional
  • Network Cards: Integrated LAN; Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g, 54Mbps)
  • Modem: Internal 56K Modem
  • CD/DVD-ROM: 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
  • Primary Battery: 65 WHr 8-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

The new laptop will be backed by a 4 year limited warranty with at-home service (plus nights and weekends), as well as CompleteCare Accidental Damage Service. Better to be safe than sorry, in my opinion, and the likelihood is that this new system will last about as long as autumn did.

More than likely, since it’s a 60GB drive, I’ll immediately be installing Fedora Core 3 on half of it and Windows XP Professional on the other half, giving both 30GB of space. I continue to use a dual boot for cases when I need to check displays of web pages in Windows, or when i want to use Windows applications and ensure that they run well without worrying too much about emulation.

So what happens to autumn? I will likely be recycling her through Dell, along with all the component parts that I can fit in the return box. I already have enough computer parts to get rid of, so if I can save myself the hassle, I will.

Spring Quarter 2005

I’m not actually taking a program next quarter — instead, I’m taking an eight-credit independent contract. I decided not to take a full-time 16-credit load in order to allow myself a bit more flexibility in my schedule and the ability to take on a 19-hour work schedule without worrying about balancing it with a long class schedule.

The contract is entitled Inkslingers: Creative Writing and is actually what’s called a cluster contract with six other people also doing independent work in creative writing. Cluster contracts basically mean that there is some group work, but that it isn’t the primary component of the contract itself. I’ve posted a PDF version of the contract minus some crucial details needed for registration, but the text is the same as the version being submitted to Registration and Records and the Dean’s Office.

I am working once again in the Writing Center next quarter for what is currently a limited number of hours — nine out of a possible nineteen per week. The other ten hours are going towards a programming aide position for Algebra to Algorithms and Designing Languages, taught by Brian Walter and Judy Cushing, respectively. Both of these faculty are excellent , and I’ve worked with them both in the past. I’m hoping that I get to grade some assignments instead of being just a lab aide, but we’ll find out what happens — the first lab meeting is on the 31st at 8AM, and Brian told me to just show up and details would be sorted out from there.

It’s looking to be a slightly more relaxing quarter than it usually is, but, again, that’s intentional — we’ll see how relaxing it really ends up being.

Autumn Damage 3/12/2005 – Summary

At some point yesterday when autumn was sitting out in the living room, I happened to be adjusting the angle of the screen when I noticed that the bevel that holds the power button and a number of other function buttons specific to Dell Inspiton laptops had popped out of space by a very noticeable amount. Looking at the side of the laptop, it became clear that something wasn’t quite right, though the extent of the damage wasn’t obvious. After spending about ten minutes looking at Dell support manuals, I shut down the computer and set to work.

It took a little bit to remove the bevel that had popped out, primarily because I hadn’t noticed that the screen had to be all the way back for the protective bevel to be properly removed. After we removed it, there was fairly obvious damage to the hinge on the left side of the laptop. We had to disconnect the LCD from an anchor point on the back of the plastic, then we were able to pull the LCD unit out of its retaining slots. After we did that, a side-by-side comparison of the hinges that allow the LCD to open and close became quite easy. It was quite clear that the left-hand hinge was badly damaged while the right-hand hinge was still intact.

Apparently, at some point within the last couple of weeks, the protective metal encasement on the left-side hinge began to bend back so that it was no longer covering the vast majority of the hinge. This seems to be supported quite well by this image, though the length of time it took for this damage to happen isn’t clear.

So after some consultation with Amanda, we decided to bend the hinge back into place if we could. Using a pair of needlenose pliers, we tried to do just that, but the deformed metal component ended up snapping off instead. Well, no biggie — that fixed the problem either one. But now the hinge on the left side is busted, though the bevel fits correctly again. This doesn’t seem to have drastically affected the usability of the LCD itself, though if I push the LCD too far back, it’ll go back as far as it can without my prompting. Well, I’m willing to live with slight defects.

My Ideal 2005 Prius

I did it again, darn it — I customized a 2005 Prius.

<exasperated sigh>

4-Dr Gas/Elec Hybrid Constant Variable Transmission (1224) MSRP
  $20,875.00
Delivery, Processing and Handling Fee $540.00
Exterior / Interior

Tideland pearl (06S9)/ Ivory/Brown (FA08)
Options $2,190.00
50 state emissions, Package #5 (AI) includes: Rear Intermittent Wiper, Driver & front passenger seat-mounted side airbags and front & rear side curtain airbags, Security Alarm, Homelink Garage Door Opener,JBL Premium AM/FM/Cassette/6 disc changer w/9 speakers
Accessories
Preferred accessory package includes: Cargo net, First aid kit, carpeted floor mats & cargo mat (Z1)
Total MSRP $23,605.00
Standard Features

  • Rear Spoiler

    • Comfort & Convenience

  • Auto Climate Control w/Air Filtration
  • AM/FM/CD with 6 Speakers
  • Remote Keyless Entry/Engine Immobilizer
  • Cruise Control
  • Solar Energy Absorbing Glass
    		•