September 18, 2000

hings are starting to return to normal, finally. Saturday, I spent half the day and reassembled my A/V stuff. As you may recall, I had a lightning hit several weeks ago which damaged my Tivo, and apparently also my satellite box. The Tivo was replaced, but the satellite box was still malfunctioning (Tivo couldn't change channels on it). Along about the same time, the seals on the apparatus that the apartment complex requires me to use to transfer the satellite signal through double-paned glass (no, you can't drill a hole, no, you can't leave your window open 1/8th of an inch) failed, so that it was no longer connected to the glass. Heat may have caused it, it has been a rather hot summer, so I went off to Radio Shack, where I'd purchased it, and had to special order replacement seals. A week later, they came in.... in the wrong size. After a week of trying to contact the factory, I finally went to another Radio Shack, and found that the first one had ordered the wrong size, so I was able to place the appropriate order. Again, another week went by, but I wasn't in a huge hurry, since the satellite box itself was in the shop being repaired. Well, everything came back last week, and I finally had time on Saturday to install it all. Thankfully, everything is working. It's nice to be "hooked up" again. It was almost like being disconnected from the internet for several weeks. Of course, it is all just in time for the Olympics, and I've been sucked in watching almost non-stop.

There was an interesting call on Car Talk this weekend, from someone asking about etiquette for merging when two lanes become one. This man is of the opinion that you should pass as many people on the left before getting to where you have to merge to the right, under some notion that this helps speed up the merge process. I've been thinking a lot about it all weekend, in terms of rudeness. It seems to me that it is a necessary component of our society that we occasional make sacrifices of ourselves for others, for the sake of politeness, and to avoid being "rude". People who zip along a large line of already merged vehicles to get to the front of the line strike me as being extremely rude. They're just saying that "my life and time is much more important than yours, so I have a right to get in front of all of you people who have been patiently queued up to get through". It is sometimes necessary, in my most humble opinion, to sacrifice the thing that you want in order to be at one with society. Occasionally, you have to give up dinner with your significant other to go to that office party you don't really want to attend, give up eating at that particular restaurant because most of your friends want to go somewhere else, see a film that isn't on your list of favorites because the group wants to see it. Sacrifice is part of society, part of being polite. I often wonder when I see people being rude (like the guy who cut me off on I-70 this weekend) if it is because they consciously believe that their own lives are more important than others, or are they completely without a clue about how their choices impact on others. I'm not sure that either one of those excuses these actions. Unfortunately, I know at times I've been rude, and for that, I apologize. I do try to make an effort so that I don't offend people. It doesn't always work (especially when my temper gets in the way). One of the nice things about living alone is that it gives me time to be selfish. I can watch what I want, when I want, without worry. But I still try to be polite when I'm with other people!

Trundled off yesterday to help Jeff install his satellite dish. The new house is about 20 minutes away, and quite a nice drive. I got there, and started putting together the dish, and looking for a break in the trees through which to point it. At that point, a situation arose that pulled me away for an hour, but when I returned, it didn't look any more promising. Jeff's come to the decision that it just won't work (and I agree) so he's going to pack the thing up and send it back. I'm sorry I couldn't have been more help... but those damn trees are just too tall. Jeff said (and I don't know if he was being polite or what) that it will just give him the money he needs to get a lawn mower. That's looking on the bright side!

Random comments: I'm delighted to see that the answers to Dave's quiz are running 4 to 1 on keeping shirt collars buttoned. And I haven't even had to stuff the ballot box! My brother's fixed the problem I was complaining about last week, where the text was sliding off the page on the right, without providing me a scroll bar to see it. Corey may be winning the battle of the cold (I'm still pulling for you!) Texas lady appears to be giving wine to her floors. I always knew she was odd.

Just 6 days to the Formula 1 race. I'm getting excited!