The Code Wizard's Musings

Coca Cola and the devalued dollar...

gharris — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:46:00 -0600

I happened to notice (no really, just this weekend) that Coca Cola is being sold in 20 can packs. Not 24, 20. I don't follow this sort of thing regularly, but the price did not seem all that different than what I used to pay for a 24 can pack of Coke. So we are buying 20/24 = 83% of two dozen for nearly the same price! I guess this re-packaging gives us a realistic idea of what a devalued dollar means to our future.

Doesn't mean much when you are paying $6 for a 20 pack, but how about watching oil jump from $59 to $71, or a gallon of gas jump from $2.04 to $2.46. Those sorts of devaluations really hurt at the end of the month, don't they?

Something to think about...

gharris — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:39:00 -0600

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit." -- Aristotle

What A Sad All Hallow's Eve

gharris — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:55:00 -0600

Last night was such a sad Halloween. Not 10 years ago, our neighborhood bustled with children, the young ones appearing at dusk, and the older kids roaming until 9 PM or so. Last night, only four little trick or treaters showed up at our door. Granted, we don't decorate like we did when our kids were younger, but we still enjoy cutting a jack'o lantern and handing out candy. Saturday night just seemed so sad. It used to be a social event where parents with flash lights visited at the corners and on the curbs. But not any more. Now it's planned parties and "safe" activities. There's no quickening of the pulse because of dark shadows and strange growling from older brothers and sisters hiding in the shrubbery when their siblings passed by. It all seemed so sterile.

Home At Last! Home At Last!

gharris — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:28:00 -0600

I made it home for good this Saturday. No more San Antonio trips for a while. It felt good to put my head on my own pillow. It felt good to pet the dog, pat the horse and hug the wife. Life is good.

I have some humorous stories to relate when I get time to write about them. For the most part, my time in San Antonio was very enjoyable.

Are we headed for a surveillance state?

gharris — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:23:00 -0600

This is an interesting read from the NY Times: Britons Weary of Surveillance in Minor Cases.

Individuals in Europe have nowhere near the protections our forefathers wrote into the U.S. Constitution. If you have ever traveled to Canada, you may discover that you don't have any of the same protections that we take for granted in this country. Are we slowly, inexorably moving in the direction where all levels of our government(s) may constantly observe our actions? Do you really want your school board following you around, as described in the NY Times article?

Just some food for thought.

H1N1 - To vaccinate or not?

gharris — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:43:00 -0600

I have been very hit or miss regarding flu vaccines in the past. Occasionally, I'll get a vaccination for the seasonal flu (three times over the last ten years.) I am one of the odd fellows that prefers to contract the disease and then get over it. I prefer to stay away from anti-viral medications like tamiflu as well.

Why not get vacinated? For the most part, vaccines for the flu haven't been very effective in the past. If a virus doesn't kill you, you'll probably recover in 7 to 10 days anyway.

I also pay attention to morbidity numbers. An incredibly large number of people die in the United States every year after contracting the flu. (Which malady kills more people in the United States, influenza or automobile accidents?)

Another reason I don't bother with vaccines anymore? I am worn out from reading about the panic du jour. Hong Kong flu. (Remember that?) SARS. Bird Flu. St. Louis encephalitis. West Nile. Polio? Yes I am old enough to remember the worry on my parents face in the summer time. Salk vaccine was a God send for all parents in the deep south. I simply remember loving the free sugar cube I was given at Morningview Elementary as a child.

There are diseases for which I choose to take a vaccination: mumps, measles, diptheria, polio, tetanus, pertusis and whatever else was required for school attendence. There are other diseases I better be lucky enough to survive because I'm just not convinced the disease is worth all the hoopla. H1N1 is one of those viruses I will chance. Don't let this blog entry affect your decision, but I do advise you to research and read the facts. Don't believe the gruel being put out by the popular press.

Roasting Garlic in a Motel Room

gharris — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:16:00 -0600

OK, I've lost it. I'm living in a a long term motel (Marriott) in San Antonio.

I don't have an oven, but I love roasted garlic. I decided to try this on my two burner stove in the motel room.

Trim the top off the pointed end of a garlic pod so the cluster will lie flat in pan. Place a tablespoon of olive oil in the bottom of the pan. Turn the burner on as low of a setting as possible. The stove top in my motel room produces too much heat, so I had to position the pot so that only about 25% of the bottom is over the burner. I placed the garlic in the olive oil for about two hours, checking often for too much browning. The garlic should begin to feel soft and the exposed clove should be slightly brown. Here's a picture of the results after two hours:

I turned the garlic over to the root side and placed a lid on the pot to hold in the heat/steam. After about 30-45 minutes, the garlic was soft, almost like a ripe avocado. I liked the results, the garlic is slightly brown and creamy in texture. (You may also be kicked out of the hotel if you do not open your windows.)

Enjoy the roasted garlic. I like to squeeze the pod on the root side, which pops the garlic cloves out of their husks for easy consumption. You can save it in the frig or eat it whole after it has cooled off a bit.

The Abdominal Wheel from Hell...

gharris — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:18:00 -0600

I've been working out pretty hard on treadmills and eliptical machines while I am living in San Antonio. I purchased an abdominal wheel yesterday and called my son on the best way to use it. He uses an ab wheel in his swimming workouts. Folks, I do crunches and situps twice a day. However, after 25 reps with the ab wheel, I am an now a disabled person. My upper stomach (which should be my chest if I weren't sagging so badly from old age) hurts when I move. My son described the exercises his coach makes the swim team perform and I was able to do about 5% of those exercises.

I'll write some more tomorrow after I recover from BEING TO SORE TO SIT UPRIGHT! Today is definitely a lie on the couch and watch football day. I'll try to do a few reps with the wheel after I take some Advil.

Roll Tide Roll!

Here's what I was watching while using the ab wheel: (yep, that's Texas and OU!)

As you can see, my apartment is nice. The only defect it has is 476 miles from my wife. (I am definitely buying a big screen TV when I go home. I am not much of a TV watcher, but an LCD TV is nice when watching football.)

Microsoft Essentials - A Good Deal

gharris — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:46:00 -0600

After my affair with Windows 7 ended (not by choice), I was able to work through reinstalling Windows XP Media Center 2005 on my laptop. It wasn't fun, and Acer was of zero use, but Windows XP Media Center is back up and running. Normally, I would install AT&T McAfee suite, but I was intrigued by a Microsoft Essentials hyperlink shown when I installed Windows 7. It turns out the Essentials is free for home users. So I thought, what the heck, I'll try it for a few days.

It works great! Did I mention it is free for home users? What do I like about it? Simplicity. No special firewalls, no "network setup". Just a simple virus scanner.

I don't know how long free will last, but I'll take it for as long as it lasts.

Going Home!

gharris — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:49:00 -0600

The good news today is I am returning to Edmond from San Antonio. I've been in SA more or less continuously since July 5^th. It's been a long haul. I've been working long hours against some tough schedules. It's been a lot of fun, interesting and I really like the team I am a part of. I am also glad to be going home for a little while. There is nothing like sleeping in your own bed and using your own coffee maker. I miss my wife, the kids and the dog.

I am back to working on the WTLPrint project that I started a while back. I've been working in a non-Windows, non-C++ environment for quite a while and it's nice to get back to a programming environment that I know and understand. However, this weekend, there won't be much programming.

Oh, and back to my sojurn into Windows 7. The few hours than I had it installed, I really liked the product. It seemed to be much quicker than Vista. I also liked the fact that membership in the Administrators group means you aren't being asked for Admin approval six times before an action is performed. Windows 7 also caused me to re-think Mac as my next purchase. The OS definitely has some nifty features and I really like what I see in the SDK. Perhaps, if MS can get a version out that works with the sound card on my laptop I'll reinstall the product.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!