Sushi Time -and- the Saga Continues

Sushi Time! - a 382-pound yellowfin tuna, caught off the waters of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, on Thursday, October 13.

The saga continues: HotFax MessageCenter had this pleasantry awaiting my listening pleasure when I arrived at my office this morning: "Hello? I guess you're not there." (The voice mail date/time was last night, 10:52 PM, so her assumption was correct.) "This is Debby. I was there yesterday about the Internet. I got hooked up through Netscape and everything worked fine for a long time but now everything's messed up. Can you call me please?"

She left no telephone number, but through the miracle of Caller ID, it was displayed by HotFax MessageCenter. I made a cup of hot tea with raw clover honey, settled into a comfortable slouch in my chair, and returned her call.

"Hello." It was after 9 AM, but the sound of her voice indicated that my call had awakened her. "Good morning, this is David from California Technologies, returning your call." "Oh, yeah," she said. "I got Netscape hooked up yesterday." "That should compliment your Wal-Mart computer," I interjected. There was a long silence. "Anyway, something happened, and now everything's messed up." I asked her to detail what she meant by "messed up," and her response indicated that her system was suffering from a severe spyware infestation. I told her this and said that I had time this afternoon to remove the spyware and install protection against future threats. I told her the charge would be $60. "I just bought this computer. It's under warranty." "Explain your problem to Wal-Mart," I suggested. "I went there last night, and they said they couldn't help." "I can help," I said, "and the charge for this service is $60." "That's nuts," she said. "Have a nice day," I said and returned the telephone to its cradle.

Just Because You Have Her Attention...

A lady came to my office this morning to inquire about Internet access. She said that she and her husband had just bought a computer at Wal-Mart. I cringed and gave her an overview of the various plans we offer -- dial-up, DSL, and wireless. She asked me what could be done to keep her teenaged daughter from "...going places we don't want her to go." I said that what her daughter chose to do or not do on the Internet would follow as a direct result of how well her daughter had been raised and what moral values she had developed.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked. I replied, "Your daughter will be guided on the Internet by the same moral values that guide her throughout her daily life." She shrugged and said, "Isn't there some way to just put contols on where she goes on the Internet?" "Yes," I said. "You tell her what is expected of her. If you employ software control upon her Internet use, she will be unduly restricted by the key-word restrictions used by software control. The Internet can be an incredible research tool and a great benefit to her for homework, but restricting her search results would be very counter-productive."

"So what are you saying?" she asked. I was amazed but longed for her $15 sign-up fee, so I continued. "You have had many years to impart to your daughter what is expected of her. If you have done this well and properly, you need fear nothing from her Internet usage. The basic operative principle here is respect." "She is a good girl and always does what I tell her," she replied, inappropriately sternly. "Just because you have her attention does not mean you have her respect," I said.

She shook her head so violently from side to side that I feared greatly that it would surely leave her body. Then, she departed.

The sun is shining. It is 68 degrees. All is well.

Cold But Dry -- Time to Vote

"A guy witnesses an accident." Get your morning's laugh here!

The rain stopped during the night, and it is 61 degrees but seems much colder because of the wind. Brrrr.

I am pleased that the rain has stopped for now, since this presents a greater potential for a good voter turnout for today's election here in California. As I mentioned in a previous entry, I vote absentee and recommend this highly. It costs 74 cents to mail my absentee ballot, but RAMMMMM would guzzle more than 74 cents worth of fuel to travel the six blocks to the polling place.

The sun is peeking out from the clouds! The wind appears to be abating. The Web cam is active on my desktop as a 30fps live video feed, which allows me to monitor the weather from the relative safety of my desk.

It seems that this month is passing quickly. Soon, it will be Thanksgiving. If someone is addicted to Thanksgiving leftovers, can he quit cold turkey?

The Rain Is Here

In case you have not noticed the Web cam today, the rain is here. It is still fairly warm (high 60s), but it is definitely wet here!

There will be no grilling tonight! Catfish is on the menu tonight, and it shall be cooked indoors! Wild rice will accompany the catfish. I am salivating at the thought; I have had only an apple today and am ready for a nice meal!

Today was spent removing some particularly nasty Trojans and a quantity of spyware from two clients' systems. I am weary from the travail. Regardless of how much I deal with worms, Trojans, viruses, spyware, and adware I always find it draining and loathsome work. It wearies me unduly.

6:40 PM Update: When I left my office at 4 PM, the rain was falling so violently that RAMMMMM's wipers were barely able to keep the windshield clear. It is still pouring, and if this continues much longer there will be significant flooding. The flooding here is not generally dangerous, but it can certainly be inconvenient!

The wild rice is cooking in the rice cooker and smells wonderful. It is time to put a dry rub on the catfish. Yum!

Sunday and Some Sunshine

This morning was breezy but not particularly cold. We departed for church sans jackets and were comfortable. We shopped at Sav-Mor Foods following church. Beautiful, ripe avocadoes were on sale at three for a dollar! We bought six. There were about thirty cases of avocadoes on display! We found an incredible London Broil -- nearly four pounds -- at only $2.68 per pound. We had intended to cook a cross-rib roast today, but this London Broil called out to me! I showed it to Laura, and she said, "That's beautiful, but we will have to grill it; we can't cook it like a roast." "Oh, yes we can," I assured her.

While Laura stowed our purchases, I sipped a frosty beverage (Smirnoff, orange juice, and lime juice) and made a batch of guacamole, with a quantity of hot, fresh salsa and two of the avocadoes. We enjoyed the guacamole with some Mission Salsa Roja tortilla chips, smoked turkey sandwiches, and Sierra Nevada Celebration Ales.

The London Broil was seared on all surfaces in some La Conda Ranch extra-virgin olive oil. A cup of California Merlot joined the meat, along with baby red potatoes, a quartered Maui onion, celery, baby carrots, onion soup mix, garlic powder, ground black pepper, and Cajun seasoning. It has been cooking since 2 PM and should be ready at 7 PM. It smells wonderful!