Anyone out there know what a reasonable lifespan for a very heavily used laptop would be?
Mine is 3 years old and starting to overheat again on occasion, and I’m trying to figure out if this is the beginning of the end or if taking it to the shop would make sense. (Even if it is a huge pain in the ass and I’m not sure I want to shell out a lot of money on repairs if it’s just going to be a band-aid fix.)
At the moment, all words fail me, but I’m sure I’ll have several FCC banned things to say tomorrow on the subject.
Haven’t been there in forever, I swear it’s smaller than it used to be, but still fun.
Big disappointment - the vendor that used to sell gator was not there. :( But, all your other standard street fair foods, except I didn’t see any funnel cakes anywhere. Could have just not been looking in the right place.
I love how you’re welcomed with this cheery sight:
Once inside, I had to get my pirate tattoo. The ink didn’t last too well in the heat, but here is the design:
Stop looking at me like that - I ASKED if they were only for the kids! It’s not like I got one of the balloon swords.
More pics… (more…)
NBC news just cut into programming to annouce that Tim Russert died this afternoon.
One of the few broadcast journalists I really liked.
Seriously, click it - it is TOO ADORABLE!!
I’ve had the interesting opportunity to observe some court sessions (and happily NOT participate) under multiple judges lately. I think I’ve figured out how the system sort of works, at least in some cases.
First, get a lawyer. Make sure it is just a plain old good lawyer and not a grandstanding twit. (Elaboration later.) If you’re lucky, the judge will kick you up to room 201 to get a lawyer if you don’t have one already, and if you’re not lucky, they’ll let you hang yourself with your own rope. Not good. Said lawyer will also assist in trying to get a judge that doesn’t want the death penalty for everything.
Second, when you have a court date, look decent. At least thrown on a clean dress shirt and a pair of khakis. (Seriously, I have been amazed at the number of folks that show up in jeans/shorts/t-shirts to court.) And take off your damn hat - there is at least one baliff who will happily remove it for you, along with your head.
Depending on your judge and the severity of the offense, first offenses will get you a suspended sentence, fines and probation.
It’s the probation violations that can get you in real trouble down the line.
If it’s a compliance issue, ie, “Do x & y in the next 6/9/12 months” and you’ve not finished yet, it seems that you have 2 tries to get your probation extended and get it done. Come back a third time and it’s not done, you’re out of luck.
If you’ve been convicted of something else and that results in a probation violation, well, you’re just screwed and you’ll be a guest of the county for a while.
If you expect that your probation officer is actually on top of things, think again. If your probation is up in January and they say, “Yes, you’re good to go, just pay the final admin fee,” don’t count on it, because you could be served with a notice of violation anywhere from 3 1/2 months to a year later (I saw that whole range) once they get caught up on their paperwork. Also, don’t expect the probation officer to say the same thing in front of the judge as they do to your lawyer 10 minutes before court convenes. The case that they are just as happy to have put to bed as long as everyone behaves suddenly becomes something they want to “make a point with” in front of the judge.
If your lawyer is a grandstanding twit, you may also suffer, given that the judge can’t really do anything to the lawyer, but they can do things to you. Like make you serve 60 days on a probation violation (traffic violation) because your lawyer had you drag your daughter into court so he could show off your single parenthood. (The baliff actually walked over to the other adult looking after the child after it was over and said, “Don’t bring her back here again.”)
I plan to never need this information, but it has been interesting.
BIG storm went through here this afternoon - little bro just tried to go out and run a couple errands and it would seem that we’re the only neighborhood that still has power. Tree down over on Burke Road, rendering it closed until someone can get over there with a chain saw. Lots of traffic lights out, and the local shopping centers are apparently dead in the water.
Tornado was spotted over in Falls Church abot 6 miles from here. Last time I saw straightline winds like today was in a typhoon - I really thought we were going to lose at least one of the trees in the backyard the way they were bending.
Did a quick walkabout on the street - no major damage here, just little tree branches, lots of leaves, and the storm sewers are working overtime. I’m sure there will be a few flooded basements.
Yes, it’s time to really get in gear about moving elsewhere.
It’s quite one thing to have an increased and visible police presence in neighborhoods that are having crime problems. It is quite another to be impeding the flow of travel of a supposedly free citizenry.
Don’t get me wrong - I’ve been in this area for over 20 years and yes, DC does have a crime problem and in some neighborhoods things have improved, and in others, it’s gotten worse. But just closing off areas isn’t the answer.
And yes, there are situations where controlled access to an area is appropriate. Aftermath of a tornado, hurricane, flood, building collapse or other disaster. But while the crime problem isn’t trivial, it isn’t the same.
Went to the cardboard boat races today. It’s been going on for years and this is the first time I’ve gotten over there. Should you ever decide to go there, a few observations…
– There is a PITA chokepoint getting in and parking because they do charge for parking for the event. I spent 20 minutes traversing an length of road that normally would take 1 minute… The parks department might want to think about throwing an extra body at parking $$ collection
– Bring a nice picnic lunch. Even though there are food vendors, they’re just not quite ready for prime time. Not very long lines, but slow as all get out.
– The spectators are kind of vicious. There is as much, if not more cheering for capsized boats as for the winners.
– The range of boats is pretty spectacular, from a bunch of cardboard boxes taped together with packing tape, to a space shuttle.
– It’s really worth the $4 parking charge and the bit of a wait - very fun and I’d do it again.
Scavenged cardboard: $0
Paint & Magic Markers: $15
Being able to say, “We did it ourselves!” AND winning your heat? Priceless.
Boat: Swordfish
I’m fairly certain the little one on the right was the one I heard later saying, “Dad! The boat tipped over and we fell out! Did you see it?! It was AWESOME!!”
More pics after the jump
No fate but the fate you make for yourself.
