Random Thursday – The Weekend Edition

It’s been a while since I inflicted a Random Thursday post on you. Sorry; the vacation is over. 

  • I’m typing this on a Zaggmate bluetooth keyboard linked to my iPad. It’s like typing on a computer made for elves. The keys are just enough smaller and closer together to make you think you’re doing a better job than you really are.
  • “Just enough smaller…” Is that proper grammar?
  • The NBC Nightly News ran a story last night about the relatively small amount of legislation passed by Congress this year. According to them, fewer bills were passed this year than any time since 1995. The implication was that this was a Bad Thing and that our congresscritters were lazy and undiligent, whereas I was thinking, “wow…finally something to celebrate!” The less meddling by Congress, the better, but I wouldn’t expect NBC to share that philosophy.
  • Our company Christmas party was Thursday night. We rented the Cancun Grill, an upscale Mexican restaurant located in a downtown office building (for those who aren’t familiar with it), and had a great time. The centerpieces on the tables were a variety of toys, still packaged. Debbie and I had the privilege of delivering those toys on behalf of SM Energy to Midland Fair Havens yesterday, where they’ll be distributed among the children living with their mothers at that facility. Fair Havens is a great ministry and I’m happy to know that our company provides support for it (and in other ways besides toy donations).
  • During the aforementioned Christmas party, I enjoyed overhearing one of our young engineers share how he’d souped up his kids’ motorized (drivable) toy cars. He used deer feeder batteries to double the voltage to the cars’ motors, providing enough power that the kids can literally leave rubber on the sidewalk. I asked him if he also upgraded the tires to improve traction; he admitted that he’d actually considered that but didn’t follow through with it. Gotta love that engineering tinkering, even if it does give rise to the next generation of street racers.
  • Deer feeder batteries?! Who has spare deer feeder batteries laying around?
  • Sad news about the death of Harry Potter earlier this week. I didn’t know he’d been sick. Plus, you know, he’s a fictional character, and that pretty much ensures the end of the book series (although the writers of Dallas didn’t let a minor plot element like the death of a primary character slow them down). Still, it’s sad to hear about the death of one so young. What’s that? Oh…uh huh…I see. Um, never mind.
  • One of life’s minor mysteries is why the sky is sometimes crisscrossed with jet contrails, and other times the jets fly over without leaving a trace of their presence. There were at least a half dozen in the clear blue sky yesterday morning, including these two (and I also wonder if the pilots see what they’re leaving behind and whether they do it on purpose; any fighter jockeys in the audience?).

  • I posted this on Facebook this morning, but I want to document it here for posterity (realizing that posterity will likely not fully appreciate my diligence). We have a wonderful new multi-million dollar concert venue with an unwieldy name: the Wagner-Nöel Performing Arts Center (named for the primary benefactors). I think we need a more user-friendly way to refer to the facility in conversation, and I propose we begin referring to it as “the Winpac.” Referring to it as “the PAC” smacks of political action committees, and calling it simply “Wagner” or “the Wag” isn’t respectful of “Nöel,” and vice versa. I’m pretty sure no one will come up with a better idea, so I’ll expect all of you to start using the shorthand reference from now on. Thanks in advance for your cooperation. These are important issues and if I don’t handle them, who will?

9 comments

  1. Speaking of iPads… I don’t recall seeing you mention the More/Real stylus cap after you got it. Do you like/use it? I was disappointed in it as it seems to have too much drag to draw freely. I’m still looking (although not very conscientiously) for a good stylus for the iPad.

  2. Les, I’m glad you mentioned that…I’ve been meaning to write about it and just haven’t gotten around to it. I agree with you; I’m disappointed in it. I thought it would be more responsive. Even using it for “tap-typing” is sub-optimal. Perhaps my expectations are too high. I doubt that I’ll use it very much.

  6. I finally found my stylus… This new tip I got from Lehman is different than the two types he sent with the original stylus. It’s very slick and has a matte look that reminds me a little of teflon. Where the original tips looked and felt like rubber – and had the drag you’d expect of rubber, the new tip really glides across the screen. It’s a big improvement but drawing/writing on the iPad is still not comfortable for me.

  7. Eric, thanks for the link. I figured it was something like that. I suppose there are a lot of military jets flying around that we never notice until the conditions are right for lingering contrails.
    Les, that’s interesting. I wonder if all the backers will eventually get one of those tips. I’d at least like to try it out, although I’m not sure I’ll ever use a stylus like I thought I would.

  8. I got a plain bluetooth keyboard for the iPad and I can’t decide if it’s better than one that is “attached” to the pad via the case, like you have. Oh yes, I so need to get another gadget 🙂

  9. Patti, here’s my take. The Apple Bluetooth keyboard is much superior to the Zagg from a typist’s perspective. I’d hate to try to write a novel (or even a short story) with the latter; it’s just too small for my hands. But for convenience, the Zagg is just hard to beat. If you want to do a little work or play at a coffee shop or bookstore, it’s my first choice.
    That said, the Zagg also has some dedicated keys just for the iPad that enhances its usefulness.

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