Speaking of Blondes

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Today is my niece's birthday.

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Did you hear the one...

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The iGoogle homepage has a feature called A Joke A Day. Unfortunately the repertoire of jokes is really limited. It is so limited I think they'd be hard-pressed to number them beyond the teens. The following joke is not from my homepage:

A Blonde on the Interstate

A blonde's car breaks down on the Interstate one day. So she eases it over onto the shoulder of the road..

She carefully steps out of the car and opens the trunk. Out of the trunk jump two men in trench coats who walk to the rear of the vehicle where they stand facing oncoming traffic and begin opening their coats and exposing their nude bodies to approaching drivers..
Not surprisingly, one of the worst pileups in history of this highway occurs.
It's not very long before a police car shows up.
The cop, clearly enraged, runs toward the blonde of the disabled vehicle yelling, "What the hell is going on here?"
"My car broke down," says the lady, calmly..
"Well, what are these perverts doing here by the road?!" asks the cop.
And she said....

"Oh... Those are my emergency flashers!"

It is, however, on about the same level.

Cat update:

It was quiet around here last night, but one of them was around this morning.

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Oops...

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It appears I may have been just a bit premature with my last post. The blond cat has a sinister partner, who is all black, just as noisy, but roams further afield.

come get them both

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Anybody want a cat?

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As unlikely as this sounds, someone's cat has decided to camp out in our yard... and whine about it constantly. This is a nice, healthy looking, blond cat. Feel free to come get it.

PLEASE

This is the way it should snow

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This link should look a whole lot better... and bigger, too.

The recent storm (Thursday night and yesterday) left plenty of the white stuff nearby, but not so close that we had to shovel it. Then this morning there were only a few clouds on the southern horizon.
I do feel a little bad for those folks who live in the hills who lost power.

would have felt real
bad had it been me

Revision

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BP mentioned, on Tuesday, I dislike the word normally. Dislike is perhaps too strong for my feelings about the word. I just believe that regularly and routinely are, in most cases, a better fit. It is perfectly alright to use normally. I won't correct you, or even admonish you.

You might ask why I've made this decision.

Well, it is because it occurred to me that strange is the opposite of normal and I would just as soon not call attention to that.

strangely, that makes
perfect sense to me

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So now what

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Yesterday morning the "cleanup company" came to the house and, using a number of handheld electronic devices, determined the ceiling is as dry as it is going to get. That is unless they remove the piece of plastic they taped up to encapsulate the mold they found.
I believe I mentioned they had sent a technician to test for asbestos and lead. My guess is they are waiting for the lab results. I may have also mentioned I don't think they're going to find any because this part of the house was constructed remodeled less than 18 years ago, well after the use of lead paint and asbestos was abandoned.
There is some level of uncertainty at the moment because all that has been achieved thus far is some drying. That was necessary to allow for the testing of the materials, which cannot be removed until such time as they're deemed "safe." It is only after the drywall is removed that the full extent of damage can be determined. The crawl space above the family room is almost inaccessible without cutting a hole.

Meanwhile, the local weather folks are all aflutter with visions of another snow storm in the North Valley. If you will remember, the last one did not visit Anderson, though some nearby communities were greatly inconvenienced.

the saga continues

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Odds and ends

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Clearing up some things from yesterday's post:

• Some remarks are in [not quite] invisible text
  
• Lest my sisters fee slighted, I meant before Mom and Dad met.
• The unanswered question has been answered. Yes! I will accept an award... shamelessly.
• Just about everything referenced in yesterday's post has a fuller explanation elsewhere.
• Yes, there are secret messages
  

The wet ceiling saga continues. The cleanup folks have been back every day with little gadgets, checking to make sure that the noisy dehumidifier is working to remove the moisture. Now that the holiday is over the phone is ringing more often regarding this situation.
There also seems to be some concern about lead paint and asbestos. It is more about the age of the house (35 years... maybe?) than about how long since we remodeled (18 years) and turned the garage into a family room.


BP called his office a junk hole. I will venture that mine is junkier. The expert just cringes whenever she walks by.
Speaking of BP he alluded to the fact that I wear cotton socks. It's true. They're comfy. I wear boxers for the same reason.


All of the others who were recognized in Suldog's award post were easily deserving. I've seen their blogs. I'm going to visit some of them again.




"What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do."
~ John Ruskin

think we'll skip the weather for now

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Pifflesquit*

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photo from here

I'm going to make a guess that nobody has been holding their breath waiting for this? It is new ground for me. I have been presented with an award. I guess this answers that unasked question from here?
I was notified of the award in the comments of a blog post I made about the weather. The notification simply said,

Suldog said...

"I more-or-less gave you an award over at my place. If you're anything like me, I'm in trouble."

I can't honestly say whether or not he's "in trouble." That is unless he really doesn't understand the meaning of more-or-less, then I'd venture to say he's in deep kimchi [1]. Sully tagged me before... not exactly an award... but a certain government agency prevented me from posting the response[2].

photo from here

Just to show I can post gratuitous smiling animal pictures, too also... and I know some big words and how to spell them when my left hand decides to cooperate with the signals the brain is sending[3]. Not exactly equal to being emotionally bifurcated.

After some time I have concluded that accepting and presenting awards for blogs is as much about misdirection as it is about the award itself. And in Suldog's case it also involves trashing the person who presents him with the award. He fancies himself as some kind of Don Rickles. I've heard he can do the work of three people... Curly, Larry, Moe. His motto is: If you can't say something nice about a person, go ahead. Some years ago I heard somebody say, "God only made a few perfect heads. On the rest he put hair." Suldog may be the exception.

I wasn't the only recipient. It seems there are some rules for presenting the award. The rules are a little sketchy because my source for them is Suldog. He claims, and I will have to agree, the print was too small[2]. So, I have to trust Suldog's rules because I couldn't read the fine print either.
Rules - I'm supposed to link here, tell some stuff about myself, then inflict this upon others and tell them about it. Before I go any further I want to add this disclaimer:

There are no STDs despite what Suldog says in his blog post.

I did the Link.
Here's the Stuff -

• My Brother was an only child until he and I were about eight years old
• I smoked non-filter cigarettes for 51 years
• I'm a pretty darn good pizza cook
• I was at Pearl Harbor[4]
• I took my first computer class in 1965
• There are a lot of blogs I have never visited and probably never will
• I have personally met Y.A. Tittle, John Brodie, and Joe Montana when they were starting Quarterbacks for the S.F. 49ers... no, not all at the same time.
• I'm a fourth generation Californian of Irish descent
• I don't really like telephones
• I tend to appear take things in stride - appearances are deceiving
• One of these three is me:

All of them are better looking than Suldog... well, almost all of them are better looking.
Some may wonder why I have gone this far without mentioning my wife, Grandma Skip[5]. Keep wondering. This is all about me. I was given the award and, as I've repeated often, "I may not be much but I'm all I think about."

This is the part where I present the award. But first I guess it is just as important to show it to you:

Versatile Blogger

Thanks, Suldog, for the award, even if you didn't say why you think I... or any of the other five... deserve it. If anyone wants to see who the others are you will have to go here
to find out. I am looking forward to their acceptance posts.

Finally, I am now supposed to pass the award along to some others. But before I do that I have something for Sully:

...and the nominees are...
Wait, that's wrong. The following are my candidates for Versatile Blogger. I hereby give them permission to sandbag for as long as they'd like before victimizing the next unsuspecting blogger. In no particular order, here's who's being afflicted gifted:

• Mariann Simms at Blogged Down At The Moment, because she posted about bacon at least once
• Carolina at Brinkbeest in English, because she's ambidextrous, or whatever it is when you blog in two languages and have more than one blog. And, well, I never would have gotten this award unless I'd discovered her blog and eventually gravitated to Suldog's. She takes really good pictures and posts them in a photoblog
• Matt Conlon at =]V[=, because I want to see what he does with it
• Craig at Running In the Yard Next Door because he used to be Desmond and he's a Michigander and I have an affinity for them... mostly because two of my brothers-in-law are Michiganders
• The Broad at ABroad with a View. Oh, come on, with a pen name like that she deserves the recognition... besides she's a follower
• The Brighton Pensioner, who can be found all over the Internet doing all manner of mischief, but particularly at Pebbles in the Sea[6], Because it's not fair for him to sit back and enjoy watching others sweat through these labours (I had to spell it that way because he's English). Besides he's trained his dog to blog and take photographs.

I ran out of targets recipients because some of the blogs I've found just aren't conducive to reciprocating this stuff. I did, however think about targeting random blogs. One of the above may be totally surprised because I don't normally stalk them lurk on their blog. I think I have awarded them fairly. There are three ladies and three guys. Also three stayed in the U.S. and three went international. Also, three of them are pretty smart. They didn't post an email address in their blogger profile. There is one follower I'd have been delighted to hang this award upon. Unfortunately he is primarily a lurker. He has no blog and seldom comments.


So now here's what the victims recipients are supposed to do whenever they feel up to it:

1. curse Suldog and whoever sent it to him under their breath (this rule is optional but may be repeated as often as desired)[7]
2. thank me and link back to this post (thanking me is optional)
3. tell us a little about yourself (make stuff up)
4. impose upon six others to do the same thing to somebody else
   

[1] fermented Korean cabbage
[2] that's my story and I'm sticking to it
[3] there's a whole saga back in June and July 2008. It even explains a little the origin of this blog (Here, here, here, here, here, here, and here)
[4]on December 7, 1962
[5] don't ask. someday I'm going to make her tell the story.
[6] at one time I thought his dog's name was Pebbles
[7] This rule need not be presented to anyone beyond this point because I made it up

*it's gibberish for some
clown gave me an award

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Did anyone know that yesterday was Hoodie-Hoo Day*?



*yet congress took away George Washington's holiday and replaced it with a generic.


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Update

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There's still moisture in the ceiling

we return you now to
the regular program

Inconvenient

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Have I mentioned that we had some particularly nasty weather?
I don't mean nasty in the sense that it was like the worst weather I've ever seen. I mean it was nasty in that it was wet and windy enough to cause a leak in our roof.
Thursday afternoon
I noticed a wet spot on the ceiling of the family room on. Upon looking closer, I found there were three spots.
I called the insurance company.
They called an adjuster.
Friday morning
The adjuster called me. How do I want to handle this?
I think maybe they have more experience than I.
The adjuster called a contractor.
The contractor called me.
The contractor called again. They'll send out an estimator.
The estimator called. Can he come at 2:00?
Friday afternoon
The estimator called again. Can he come early?
The contractor sent an estimator. He saw that there were definitely spots on the ceiling that are probably caused by a roof leak. One is completely dry already.
A new adjuster called me. He is handling the claim now because I guess they can do it better from Ohio than they can from California?
The estimator is still here taking pictures, taking measurements and telling us that before they can do anything some cleanup must be done.
We sign some papers.
The contractor does repairs. A different company removes the damaged ceiling and dries stuff out. The contractor and the cleanup company are owned by the same folks.
Friday evening
The cleanup company called me. Maybe they can come out right away. They'll check and call back.
The cleanup company called back. They will have to wait until morning. What time is convenient.
10:30 is good for me because I have to be somewhere from 8:30 to 9:30.
Saturday morning
Grandma Skip starts putting away fragile objects. I leave the house.
I get home at 9:45 and the cleanup company is already here.
He takes pictures, brings out more paperwork to sign and takes measurements. His next step is to remove a piece of crown molding next to a damp spot in the ceiling....
Mold!
Cover up the mold with plastic and get a dehumidifier.
Wait. They'll be back again Sunday... and every day for however long it takes.
This is going to take some time.

did I say inconvenient

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Something useful

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I saw this in an email and thought it was worth passing along.

If you forward this correspondence, PLEASE delete the forwarding history which includes my email address. It is a courtesy to me and others who may not wish to have their email addresses sent all over the world. Deleting the history helps prevent Spammers from mining addresses and also prevents viruses from being propagated.
Thank you

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It missed us... so far

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Why should I be disappointed that it didn't snow here in Anderson?
When I went out... only because I had to... late yesterday afternoon, about every third car had snow on it. Many even had a fairly heavy accumulation. We're not done with this yet. We've had almost two inches of rainfall in the last 24 hours and cooler temperatures are forecast.
It's hard to believe we were in the 70s last week.

well it still is winter, after all

Note: There is currently no correlation between posts on this blog and the pictures posted on my other blog.

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Today should be a holiday

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It's my brother's birthday.



We're not going to disturb him today.


Happy Birthday, Niles

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Vermin, anyone?

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Suldog has had his readers' sphincters in a knot ever since last Friday, when he started posting about four, six, and eight legged invaders of the pesky kind, you know... mice, ants, and spiders. I think I posted something about an adventure with ants once. But since there's no rhyme or reason to my filing system or to the labels on my posts and I am by nature unmotivated to find it, I won't... and can't provide a link.
A few of you are aware that I had a brief Navy career. Brief because as soon as my initial contract was up, I immediately volunteered for a career as a civilian. Some of you are even aware that the destroyer I was in was home ported at Pearl Harbor for a time. It had undergone a major overhaul in the shipyard there. I mean really major overhaul, where most of the superstructure and even machinery was removed and replaced... along with about 85% of the crew who brought her there.
This story is about another ship at Pearl Harbor.
It was related by a shipmate, 'Moon' Mullens, who had served aboard it before requesting a transfer to my ship.
Did you know that bugs grow pretty big in tropical paradises? Did you know that once they manage to ensconce themselves somewhere, they're pretty much permanent? The story 'Moon' tells pretty much lends credence to the idea of big permanent bugs... cockroaches to be specific. He didn't know where they came from because they were already there when he reported aboard. All he really knew about them was they never seemed to leave the ship and there was fierce competition between them and the crew for use of the fresh water for showers when the ship was underway. In fact, 'Moon' said there were times when the crew couldn't even get into the heads to use them because the cockroaches had them completely occupied. I wish I could remember his entire story... or some of the other ones he told. Then this post might be of some interest to anyone but myself.
Maybe I could tell about some of the nicknames some of the guys had? I might even remember how they got them.
Let's see. there was 'Moon', of course, who got his nickname, after a comic strip character, before ever getting to our ship. There was 'Greek', whose nickname had no rhyme or reason to it; 'Elmer' because his last name rhymed with Gantry, as in Elmer Gantry; 'Old Man' because, at 26, he was older than anyone else except the Chief and many of the officers; 'Howlin Gary' because he liked blue and Howlin' Wolf in particular; 'Sandy' because his last name was Sanders. 'Dingle' because his nametag said D. Ingle; 'Tubes' because there was a torpedoman named Burton and tubes name was Warburton and we got tired of calling him 'Wartubes;' 'Red' 'cause of his hair; 'Treb' because Robert spelled backward is Trebor; 'Big John' who once played on the offensive line for Notre Dame; 'Purdy Patrick' because he was from Mississippi and couldn't say pretty Patrick; I was O'B because Skip was out of the question. I'd had that nickname for most of my life already, and we were starting fresh (mostly). There were some others who either didn't have nicknames or whose nicknames weren't used in their presence and I'm not going to start now even though it's been 45+ years.

if Mayberry'd been around
it probably would've
ended up 'Opie'

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Since yesterday morning

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We return to our regularly scheduled programming weather.



It was nice to have that break. But, after a couple of weeks it was just a little disconcerting.

just don't like
going out in this

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Bacon is for lovers

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yeah, really

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Friday the 13th

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It is on Sunday this month

a regularly scheduled
feature of this blog

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Huh?

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I wasn't going to post today. Because it seems once I get started on the blog, I continue to the point where nothing else gets done.
I have some home repairs to be done. In particular there is an irrigation standpipe in the front of the house that was broken off right at grade level. Fortunately, it has a separate shut-off from the rest of the water system for the house and yard... well, most of the yard. Our guess is that someone was taking a shortcut at night and didn't see the pipe. They must've been moving rather fast when they kicked it because it is heavy duty schedule 40 PVC.
The broken pipe isn't the challenge. I know how to fix it. Oh, I know how to fix a lot of things. When you get to be my age you have broken enough things to write a fix-it book.
The issue is the parts needed to fix the damage... or rather, the part needed. I don't have the same difficulty with language when I go to the hardware store that my friend, Brian, has when he goes to the hardware store in France. The people at the hardware store and I all speak the same language, American English. Even the stores shelf labels are in English. I can walk up to the place in the store where the plumbing supplies are kept and read the labels for parts and sizes, which for my purposes are measured in inches. I have all of the tools needed for plumbing, indoors and out. I have pipe cutters, spanners (wrenches) and channel lock pliers. You name it, I have it in more than one size.
What I don't keep around are pipe fittings. All I really wanted was a plug to close off the end of the pipe so I stopped off on my way home from a meeting this morning and grabbed a three-quarter inch plug. It was that easy. So when I got home to finish the task, I grabbed the pipe cleaner fluid and the can of PVC glue. Then I went outside to the broken pipe. The plug I had wasn't going to work. I had half inch pipe. I was going to have to go back to the hardware store anyway because the PVC glue was dried up.
I took my receipt, went back over to the hardware store, went back to the plumbing supplies aisle, grabbed a half inch plug and new can of glue and went to the check-stand. There I was refunded for the first plug and they rang up my new purchases. Once I was home again, I set off to do the repairs. Unfortunately, the half inch plug was too big, too. It wasn't by much, but when it comes to plumbing fittings, exact is the only measurement you want.
It was off to the hardware store for a third time. This time I grabbed a piece of the broken pipe and cut it off to take with me. Then when I got to the hardware store I got a clerk to help me. It isn't going to be my fault if I can't get a fit. So I caught the poor guy off guard when I asked if their PVC was measured in metric inches. As I expected, he looked at me like I'm nuts. Then I explained what was going on and let him try to fit the plug.
Finally, after less than a minute, we determined that plugs wouldn't work and found a cap that did.
I wish I thought of that in the first place. Then I'd only have had to go to the hardware store twice.

metric inch wbagnfarb

would be a good name for a rock band

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1952 BC

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Suldog's post today took me back to when I was a kid living on the Peninsula (south of S.F.), before it had been entirely developed. In those days El Camino Real was still Highway 101 and you actually had some separations between communities.

But this isn't about that. It's about our house. We moved there at the end of summer in 1951, right after my folks got married... or when I met my brother. But that's another whole long convoluted story that would only confuse the issue here. Our house, like many of the others in the neighborhood, was a sprawling, ranch style on a large lot. Some neighbors had more than an acre. Most of the homes were built post WWII, though there were some older, multi-story, even with basements, scattered amongst them. You could almost call the area semi-rural... almost! We were only a little over a mile from downtown Menlo Park and maybe two miles from downtown Palo Alto. It was a far cry from living in The City. It also required a little adjusting.

We found early on we were sharing our home with other critters, mice... whole bunches of mice. We had bedroom mice, bathroom mice, and we had kitchen mice, who lived in the wall behind the dishwasher. I don't know where the bathroom and bedroom mice lived. As I remember it, my stepdad was the only one who was really disturbed by the mice. At least he was the one who sounded the red alert and went into action. Mom more or less remained on the perimeter and stayed out of the way. My brother and I... well, gee, we were eight-year-olds. Dad was a do-it-yourselfer. Most of what he did, he did really well... most, not all.

Most of what he did had a plan. When it came to hunting, stalking, trapping, or whatever is done with mice, there wasn't a plan. There was a reaction, maybe even an overreaction. Do you know those scenes in cartoons when one character gets irritated by something and goes nuts with a flyswatter, club, or some other handy device and wreaks havoc? Yes? Well, that's kind of like pest control at our house. It really wasn't fun to watch. But memory is a funny thing so I'm laughing now. I'm sure the topic of getting a cat arose at some time. But we got a dog, a cocker spaniel named smoky. His job was to chase birds and squirrels so the mice had little to fear from him. It wasn't for another 12 years that any cats appeared on the scene. Then the only mice that showed up were the corpses produced by the cat.

BC= before cats

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Whole lotta shakin' goin' on

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I think someone would have to be a hermit to miss all of the news coming from North Africa and the Middle East. Earlier today this opinion piece from CNN showed up on my homepage.
My only hope is for the folks who are participating to get what what is best for them. Outsiders may not necessarily like it, but then who is it really about?

not me... that's for sure

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A new item, a widget actually... that's what Blogger call's them, has mad an appearance in the sidebar. For some reason it has been shrunk to the point where it is almost unreadable. However if you click on it, it will enlarge. Then you can ask yourself, "Why in the world did he put that here?"
If you're looking for an explanation, you've come to the wrong place. If you know me, you don't need an explanation. The reason I even posted this is to give a plug to Incidental Comics and blogger Grant Snider. Many of his comics are really funny. Unlike some bloggers he doesn't post every day. So you can probably view all of his posts in a reasonable amount of time.
I would put a link on the sidebar, but it is still listed on the first page of Blogs of Note.

yeah, every day,
sometimes more
than once

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Super Bowl

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I watched Super Bowl XLV yesterday... even enjoyed it... despite the fact that I had absolutely no care one way or another about the outcome. We went to a gathering of family and friends so there was lots of hooting and hollering at various points during the game. It was fairly obvious most of the attendees leaned at least a little bit in favor of Green Bay. The fellow at the other end of the couch from me kept busy looking at his copy of the football pool he'd joined. The last word I'd heard was he won $50.

Speaking of winning, another blogger posted last week about proposition bets. He even made some recommendations... or at least they were subtle suggestions... about how to win a few bucks provided someone was willing to wager. One of the things I don't remember seeing among his suggestions was anything about the odds and the over/under about the singer of the national anthem forgetting the words.

My next question has to do with team identification

Pittsburgh Steelers

Iowa Hawkeyes

Which team has the original uniforms?

yes, I know there's really
only one question

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Just in time for the game

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First Sunday... again!

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Once more Grandma Skip and I are off to work the Community Breakfast. I will be in charge of French toast and scrambled eggs. She will be waiting tables and making excuses for the French toast and scrambled eggs.
Later... if we manage to remain awake... we'll most likely be over at the nearest daughter's to watch... or ignore... the Super Bowl. I haven't been paying much attention to the hype, other than the attention to local (70 miles) player Aaron Rodgers. So I don't even care about know which channel to watch.
Can anyone imagine the amount of money being spent for a single 30 second commercial during the game? Add in the production costs and you're talking real money. Some of them are pretty darn entertaining, too. But they sure can mess up the continuity of the game for the fans of either team that's playing. I suppose, too, they mess up the conversations of those who are ignoring the game?

I suppose it's all the hype that irritates me. Their are so many more important things.

tomorrow's another day

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That's all folks

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Yesterday was the last post of the most recent series of vacation pictures on the other blog. There are no guarantees there won't be an occasional repost, but you may rest assured it is safe for the moment.

BTW - we don't have any plans for any more trips until July and August, unless you count San Jose or Sacramento.

...ready to leave now

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'If the enemy is in range, so are you.'
~ Infantry Journal

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American folklore says that if the groundhog sees his shadow on February 2, we're in for another six weeks of winter. My English correspondent informs us they have their version too:

If Candlemas Day be clear and bright
Winter shall have another bite.
If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain
Winter shall not come again.

It appears the same elements are involved?
I don't believe we have any groundhogs in our neighborhood, but if winter continues as it has for the past few weeks, it won't matter. Fortunately, for the rest of nation, the groundhog known as Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow.
I am almost will to bet that someone on the East Coast could handicap that and make you a proposition?


This weekend is Super Bowl weekend. The local TV station [I'm not counting the PBS station because it has little, if any local programming] would have us believe it had some importance. The last time I looked at a map, Green Bay, Wisconsin and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania were both on the other side of the Mississippi River. In fact the game is being played two time zones east of here.
So why are the folks at Channel 7 all excited? It's because some player whose family lives 70 miles away is playing quarterback for the Green Bay Penguins[1]. Seventy miles... that gives you an idea about our part of the state. We can drive twice that distance and we still haven't gone anywhere, unless you consider Oregon someplace[2]. Anyway, it seems there is a huge shortage of Green Bay paraphernalia.


Baseball season opens in less than two months. The first spring training game is only three weeks away.

no groundhogs were harmed in the production of this post,
but a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.

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[1]Yeah, yeah, I know its the Packers
[2]I couldn't resist. Actually Ashland, OR is a great place and right at 140 miles.

Things I learn on Facebook

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Differences like this.

oh, sure... already knew all that

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'You, you, and you ... Panic.

The rest of you, come with me.'

- Infantry Sgt.

This and that, and odds and ends

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I was scanning some other blogs. A couple of them are listed in the sidebar. Some others I visit only occasionally. One of them posted about the stats tab on the Blogger Dashboard. I'm guessing he was at as much of a loss for what to post as I? So, I thought I would look at this blogs stats. I can tell you this:

• There were 20 page views of my blog yesterday. [I'm guessing they were disappointed?]
• Outside of the United States, most of the page views were from China, Brazil, and Thailand. [At least somebody besides family is viewing]
• One of you is using a MAC [Hi, George]

There is a little more detailed information. It isn't of much entertainment value.

well, it's better than
talking about weather