This MeFi thread on letterpress printing may be of interest to some.
Wrist
Huh, an RSS reading feature referred to as ‘clips’ appeared in my Gmail today, interesting.
IP
Oh, and I finally got my IP assignments from my ISP. Whoop de doo.
Imaginary blog entry here
You would not believe it if I told you, and I can’t tell you about it here. Suffice to say that today is, of course, Pearl Harbor Day, and torpedoing is involved. No one is actually dying and no specific future is threatened, but my abiding faith in a universe of cruel hopelessness has been affirmed today.
Also the Seattle Smoking Ban goes into effect tomorrow. Hit the Comet, people.
Router routing
After discussions with Qwest, my ISP, and some research, I have an RMA for the router that Qwest billed me for, the only problem being that within the past 30 days I WAS NEVER SENT A ROUTER BY QWEST. The router I was billed for is nonexistent. I was sent a router several months ago, which I paid for, and I’m inclined to return it. But alas, less than a week ago, I trashed the shipping material.
My ISP assures me that a) the router they installed is generating rental income for them and b) no router they would install would be billed to me by Qwest, as they are separate operations.
My vanishing phone number has been explained, as well. It seems that my ISP, unbidden and unapproved, dropped a whole new line to the house in order to establish ADSL, instead of regular DSL. In so doing they thoughtfully moved the existing handsets onto the new circuit, presumably allowing them to bill me for the “service,” in addition to whatever other charges are to be levied. A swift call to them identified that balance as a mere $123 and some petty coppers.
Ah, the sweet, clean air of the free market, where service is sublime and price competition flattens cash outflow. The hell with that! Nationalize ’em! Slow and ineffective service that costs little and is subject to my will as a voter beats slow and ineffective service that costs a shitload and is beyond recourse every single day of this century or any other! Citizens, why do you tolerate this sort of crap?
Rootabaga ingeniosity.
TWO HUNDRED FUCK YOUS
Qwest is billing me 200 dollars this month for a phone number that does not work and a DSL router I actively fought delivery on. Wish me luck, persistence, and restraint in my interactions with customer “service” personnel.
Type
Halfway through the New Yorker thing on type designer Matthew Carter, I check to see if it’s online. Alas, no dice. Note to self, readers, and bitwise archaeologists: I will have to save my mag to give to Stacey B.
Broken Dreams
Holy moley! That soulless rapscallion Reynolds over at Fantagraphics hijacks me yet again! He kindly points out that stone comics genius Kim Deitch will be appearing in Olywa upon the morrow, at Danger Room Comics, more or less.
Done!
Just over thirty days after the remodel started, Petr is packing up. The top floor is ready for us and the debris is hauled.
I called him on October 25 or so, and he called me on the 27 saying he could start the next day. He estimated two to three weeks and it came out to just over four. Additionally, the weeks he worked were far from 40 hours long, which was fine with me. The remodel cost about twice what we hoped it would but our initial budget was developed based on an expectation of double overruns, so as much as I would have liked to hang onto the money, I’m happy with what we received for the cost.
We did not cash out our savings in entirety by any means, and I’m confident we’ve enhanced the value of the house. Now I have to figure out how to keep on the beam for the next few years addressing the deferred maintenance issues and the additional improvements and alterations that could benefit the place, such as doublepane windows, an upgraded power system, and so forth.