In light of the constant but small threat of hard drive crashes and other computer problems, I decided to protect our personal files by buying an external hard drive. About the size of an internal CD or DVD drive but much more attractive, every morning it automatically backs up the “My Documents” section of my computer where all of our personal files live. I can also press a button on the drive and back up the files any time I want. It was about $100 at Wal-Mart and very easy to set up. If/when we ever get a laptop, it will also provide an easy way to transfer our files from the old computer to the new.
Comments 2.0
Thanks to yet another geek who graciously creates WordPress plugins for free, I have upgraded the comments feature for AndyBox.com to support threaded comments and email notifications. You can track conversation threads in our comments and reply to specific comments instead of the post itself. When someone (such as me) replies to your comment, you’ll get an email so you can reply back. Cool, eh?
Try it out! Click Comments first to view all comments for the thread. Then instead of typing your comment like normal, click Reply under a post to which you’d like to respond. It’s that easy!
May Rants and Raves
I was in a really…feisty mood for most of Friday, so I thought it might be appropriate to throw out some rants and raves. Especially now that I’ve calmed down a bit. I get worked up sometimes. =)
- RAVE: My wife rocks. Seriously. Figuratively. Even literally (on Guitar Hero). We had a few free evenings this week, which is rare these days. Know how we spent them? Watching Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Destroyer, and playing video games. And she stays cool and calm despite raging hormones and a little boy in her belly that wakes her up all the time and makes it hard to see her toes. I am a very blessed man.
- RANT: This one is on Jenny’s behalf. Although common sense would dictate otherwise, some people walk up to Jenny and tell her how big she’s getting, as if they see such a statement as complimentary. Trust her, she is very aware, and you’re not helping.
- RAVE: If I drop $60 on a new video game, I want to be able to play it for at least 60-80 hours, preferably 100+. When you find games like that, your entertainment value per dollar is huge, especially compared to other activities such as concerts, sporting events, or going out to a movie. I found a PlayStation 3 game that’s absolutely huge, maybe 150-200 hours. It’s a role-playing game called Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, a typical RPG set in medieval times with fighting, quests, magic, weapons, armor, dungeons, and all that good stuff. I spent a significant part of my time off this week immersed in that game.
- RANT: I had several more, but I’ve decided to let them go for now in an effort to be less judgmental and more tolerant. It’s easy for me to forget that while many people disagree with me on any given issue, their disagreement doesn’t automatically make them wrong. Today I’ve been irritated by the FAA office that oversees Southwest, my neighbors, family members, my dog, my cat, video game designers, and the ATC tower controllers in Detroit, among others. But five years from now, will any of those irritations matter? Will I even remember any of them? Probably not. Thank you, Jenny, for helping me stay grounded.
Duck Derby Pics
I put together a slideshow of Duck Derby pics. Click the link and then click the “Play” button at the bottom of the screen. Perhaps you can join us next year! Here’s a little preview in case you can’t see the slideshow:
The American Effect
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram ran this interesting article about American Airlines and the airline industry in general. As you’ve probably heard or figured out, $130/barrel oil makes jet fuel extremely expensive. The airlines need to raise their fares significantly with the same traffic level to cover the added cost. Unfortunately, since the airline industry is so competitive, no airline can instantly raise fares that much without driving customers away to other airlines who haven’t matched the increase. To make matters worse, many customers are price sensitive, and are unwilling to fly if the fare is too high. Most airlines are responding by reducing the number of flights and raising fares, hoping to cram in more people to each flight and forcing them to pay more by reducing their flight options. Meanwhile Southwest continues to grow, albeit more slowly than in previous years, and fill in the gaps left by our competitors. There’s no easy way to fix the Americans of the industry, and I don’t know if I would even want to try. I just thank God over and over that I work for Southwest and hope to maintain that privilege for decades to come.
Speaking of oil, a friend sent another article in the Star-Telegram that provides a fascinating and plausible explanation for the ridiculous rise in oil prices. Check out Part 1 and Part 2.
Cigarettes
Time to stir up some controversy. One thing I don’t understand is why cigarettes, which kill hundreds of thousands of people each year, are legal, while marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and so many other drugs that kill a small fraction of that number are illegal. While some illegal drugs could have legitmate medical uses (marijuana for glaucoma patients, for example), I can’t think of a single medical use for cigarettes. In light of the lives they destroy both directly and indirectly, the billions of dollars in health care costs, and the general nuisance they present to nonsmokers, I propose making all tobacco products illegal. Discuss.