Hope you all had a very happy holiday. I spent the last week down in Buffalo attending to the various needs of my Mom and to visit with some cousins who were in from California. This year, we had rain for Christmas Day, but two days later I found myself driving in near white out conditions. Boy, do I miss those little lake effect snowstorms! It was a good chance to try out my new Blizzak snow tires.
I am writing this report on a brand new laptop I purchased on Boxing Day. We still need to get the other one fixed, but we also needed an upgraded computer, and this one cost about as much as the other one will cost to fix. Of greatest concern is the information we had not yet backed up from the old hard drive that crashed. Thankfully, our computer guru managed to recover most of it. I am constantly amazed by the relentless march of technology, and this new laptop, which cost about $500.00, comes with a large, high definition screen, a big hard drive, a DVD burner, and all the bells and whistles I‘ll never figure out how to use. My only fear is that Windows 7, the newest Microsoft operating system, will prove to be as much of a disaster as Vista was. I had no real problems with Windows XP, and wonder why Microsoft keeps screwing up their “improvements”. Really, all I use this thing for is to write my reports and to post them to my blog. As with any new software, there is a learning curve, but that's progress.
In the past six months, I have become almost completely reliant on reading glasses. The last time I went to the eye doctor, over a year a go, he said I’d need glasses to read from now on, but I didn‘t believe him. There were months of denial before the truth sank in. Then, I reluctantly purchased a pair of dollar store glasses, which worked great. The problem was that I never had them with me when I needed them. Subsequently, I have probably purchased at least fifteen pairs of dollar store glasses, and I have no idea where any of them are. I can’t stand those things that attach to the glasses and hang around my neck; I find them annoying. If I wear a shirt with a pocket it’s no problem, but often my shirts have no pockets. If I put them in my pants pocket, I usually end up breaking or bending them. Now my strategy is to have a pair in every room of the house, and to leave them there. I keep two pair in the car, because I can’t read a map without them. What really burns me is that EVERYTHING is in minute print these days. Instructions on frozen food boxes, directions for appliances … have you ever tried to read the ingredients on the back of a shampoo bottle? Fuggetabottit.
As the New Year approaches, we are once again bombarded with reports of the omnipresent danger which surrounds us. Some would-be terrorist named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up a Detroit-bound jet on Christmas Day by igniting a bomb sewn into his underpants. If I hear one more joke alluding to a “briefing” I’m going to puke. Luckily, no one was hurt, but certainly this was a red flag that airport security isn’t working. How did this bozo get on a plane wearing explosives??? I fear we will soon be awakened from our complacency when one of these zealous fools succeeds. By the way, I thought Reid "The Shoe Bomber" was bad, but how would you like to spend the rest of your days in prison listening to your inmates refer to you as “Umar the Underpants Bomber?”
As we bid adieu to another year, there will be the lists of famous people who died and a reprise of all the year’s momentous events. For me, 2009 will be most memorable as the year we finally moved into Jasper Bark Lodge. That little project consumed the past three years of our lives and there is still work to be done. May I suggest that if any of you decide to embark on a journey to build a custom log home … don’t do it. You might lose your mind. As we approach 2010, I generally resolve to be a good son to all my remaining parents, and, once again, not to say nasty things about the French. Happy New Year. Watch your balls drop, whack your piñatas (oh my), and let professionals do the driving. Have a happy healthy 2010!
Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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