Naughty Santa!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

It must be the day for frustration, I'll tell you. I know it's the busy Christmas shopping season, but for Pete's sake I'm tired of crummy customer service!
In an earlier posting, I bragged about Buy.com and their fabulous deal when you use Google checkout. It's still a great deal, but WOW, they stink in the customer service department. You tell me why something that is still listed on their storefront as "in stock - ships in one to two business days" is STILL SITTING IN THE WAREHOUSE AFTER A WEEK.
OH, and to try to get a response to inquiries is nearly impossible.
And let me say, the folks at Apple haven't won any points so far, either. Last night I got an email saying they "couldn't find" the bank wire for my new laptop. How does a business like this misplace over 900 bucks? The email said to call their customer service line - which I did - and after navigating through "press one for repairs, press two if you know the party's extension" blah blah blah for 10 minutes, I finally got a real live person who told me.....
"Sorry, that's not my department."
The good news is, they found my money.
The bad news is, they aren't shipping the &$%#@ thing until NEXT WEDNESDAY.
Meanwhile, my Thinkpad is putt-putting toward a slow death and now won't even recognize the PCMCIA slot that my photo card goes in.
Cripes!
So, no photos of the cello - yet.
Is it almost Christmas? Pass the Xanax.

ENGINEERS RUINING CHRISTMAS

Thanks to Christopher Schauder - Bailey, CO:
There are approximately two billion children (persons under 18) in the world. However, since Santa does not visit children of Muslim, Hindu, Jewish or Buddhist (except maybe in Japan) religions, this reduces the workload for Christmas night to 15% of the total, or 378 million (according to the population reference bureau). At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, which comes to 108 million homes, presuming there is at least one good child in each. Santa has about 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 967.7 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with a good child, Santa has around 1/1000th of a second to park the sleigh, hop out, jump down the chimney, fill the stocking, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left for him, get back up the chimney, jump into the sleigh and get onto the next house. Assuming that each of these 108 million stops is evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false, but will accept for the purposes of our calculations), we are now talking about 0.78 miles per household; a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting bathroom stops or breaks. This means Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second--3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man made vehicle, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second, and a conventional reindeer can run (at best) 15 miles per hour. The payload of the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium sized LEGO set (two pounds), the sleigh is carrying over 500 thousands tons, not counting Santa himself. On land, a conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that the "flying" reindeer can pull 10 times the normal amount, the job can't be done with eight or even nine of them---Santa would need 360,000 of them. This increases the payload, not counting the weight of the sleigh, another 54,000 tons, or roughly seven times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth (the ship, not the monarch). 600,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - this would heat up the reindeer in the same fashion as a spacecraft reentering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer would adsorb 14.3 quintillion joules of energy per second each. In short, they would burst into flames almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them and creating deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team would be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second, or right about the time Santa reached the fifth house on his trip. Not that it matters, however, since Santa, as a result of accelerating from a dead stop to 650 m.p.s. in .001 seconds, would be subjected to acceleration forces of 17,000 g's. A 250 pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of the sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force, instantly crushing his bones and organs and reducing him to a quivering blob of pink goo. Therefore, if Santa did exist, he's dead now.

Sorry.

MACBOOK on the way!

Thanks to Ed's advice I have decided to go ahead with the purchase of a new MacBook from Apple. I chose the 2.0 GHz model with a built-in i-sight camera. Buying refurbished directly from Apple seems like a good way to save several hundred dollars and get the machine I want. Unfortunately, I went on a Christmas shopping extravaganza today (my day off!) and by the time they did final processing on the order I had gone over my daily spending limit on my debit card, so they can't process and send my new laptop until tomorrow morning. Dangit! I did, however, make a huge dent in the holiday shopping today and have only a few small gifts left to purchase.
My other news is that I believe I have secured a cello teacher for January, and Jerry's Music had a beautiful 3/4 size cello available that I brought home on a rent-to-own basis. The 3/4 size should be perfect for my smaller hands, and is a bit lighter to carry than the full size. It's gorgeous, and I can't wait to begin lessons! I'll post photos shortly.

Discovery Launch

The weekend launch of the shuttle Discovery. Great view!!!

Tsk, Tsk!

So much for my blogging every other day resolution. Life gets away from you.
My dad's illness continues to be the biggest source of concern in my life. It's difficult to watch him get thinner by the day, his hair coming out in clumps. The bloody noses that won't stop, the visible tremors. I'm so glad to live next door so he can be here with me. I make sure he eats three meals a day and drinks plenty of Ensure, take care of his bills and banking, pick up prescriptions and take him to his doctor appointments. My fear for him is growing. The doctor says the lymph nodes are going down, but he's so terribly anemic - even the transfusion on Thursday didn't give him any pep. His oncologist says it's a delicate balance - wanting to wipe out the cancer while preserving quality of life. Right now his spirits are low and he seems ready to give up -but I won't let him. No way.
All the stress finally landed me on my back Saturday - the worst migraine I've had in 20 years resulted in a three hour trip to the emergency room. Dreadful, but I'm better now.
The next post will be more positive - really, it will.

Holiday Savings

If you're doing some holiday shopping, check out Buy.com for some great values, especially on tech gifts for Christmas. As a special bonus, if you use their new Google checkout feature, you'll save $20 on a $50 purchase. Many items are heavily discounted and some even qualify for free budget shipping. I've ordered many things from Buy.com, always with great satisfaction, and just ordered a great new cordless phone with big buttons for my dad and an ipod speaker dock to go with the Nano I purchased for Rowan for Christmas and paid less than $50 combined for both - one third of what I'd have paid at Best Buy. Worth checking out!
I'm also in the process of shopping for a new laptop and can't decide whether to stick with my beloved IBM Thinkpad line or make the switch that everyone tells me is the next step - to a Mac. Ideas, anyone? I don't want to spend a fortune and will likely buy refurbished or off-lease, but I want the most bang for my buck - and I don't want to be buying another one next Christmas, that's for sure.
What to do.....what to do???

The Visit

Krista's visit was a whirlwind of activity. We went to the theater to see the Nutcracker, and Devon did a great job - but after all the rehearsals and performances, he was really beat. We saw the Christmas parade, went out to dinner, took the kids bowling, and stayed up late every night talking. It was a great break from work and reality.

CSI Miami - Endless Caruso One Liners

Ever since this show came out, I have made fun of what we call "Caruso-isms" and the over-acting at the start of every show. I just died laughing as I watched this compilation of Caruso-isms. Enjoy - and don't forget your sunglasses!

You're ON NOTICE!

Put your friends and coworkers ON NOTICE!

http://www.shipbrook.com/onnotice/

Resolutions, Revisited

With only one month remaining in 2006, I took a moment to look back and see what my resolutions were at the start of the year. There were three. Two I managed, one I did not. I did re-enter the music scene and am back with the symphony, and I did receive word that an article I've written will be published in a mainstream magazine in early 2007. I did not, however, make any headway on the novel, despite many starts and rewrites, so I think what I need to do to make that happen is start with the basics.
One of the best writing schools in the country based in New York City offers online courses, so I've signed up for their fiction writing course to give my novel a kickstart. Gotham Writers Workshop comes highly recommended, and they offer courses in many facets of writing, from novels to screenplays. Interested writers should visit www.writingclasses.com for a complete list. If you think you want to write, but you don't want to fork out $400 for the class, Univeral offers a novel writing class for $50 worth 1.0 CEU's that is quite good. When I first began writing I took it and made great headway. The website is www.universalclass.com which offers all kinds of crazy courses in everything from tarot reading to knitting - but don't be fooled, Suzanne's class is outstanding and a true bargain.

My Office

Last year, I added a small office onto the house. I work from home for a music research company in L.A. as an analyst as well as the radio station. I've been doing the show from home for years, and this has given me a great, comfortable place to make it all happen. The southern wall is the brick that forms the exterior of the original house, and there are windows into the kitchen. I added a mudroom as well. I love the hardwood floor, the warm browns of the room, the wine refrigerator, my three dollar estate sale chair, and the odd angles of the ceiling. Recessed lighting makes it even better, and it's a great place to create - and to play my flute as well.

My Sister's Coming, My Sister's Coming!

My beautiful sister Krista is flying home from San Jose for a visit next week and I can't wait. She's coming to see Devon perform in this year's Nutcracker - she is his Godmother - and to spend some time with Dad. It's always fun when she comes home. We stay up late with my brother laughing and reminiscing over plenty of wine and good eats. Here are a couple of pictures from the trip I took with the kids out to see her this summer.

All I Want for Christmas is....

The new Sony Reader. Introduced at the 2006 CES in Las Vegas, it's a revolutionary e-book reader for bibliophiles like myself.
Part of the allure of the Sony Reader is its portability. It's lightweight (9 ounces) and fairly compact (6.9 by 4.9 by 5.8 inches), so traveling with the device, whether you're going on a long trip or just commuting to the office, will be a breeze. Plus, the Reader holds up to 80 average-size books at a time, and if you're an avid reader, there's optional Memory Stick storage media or SD card slot (yes, SD) for more. You're not just limited to books either. The Reader can access blogs and RSS newsfeeds when docked to a PC, and you can also view JPEGs, personal documents, and PDFs. As a bonus, you can also listen to MP3s on the device. Sony says the Reader's battery will last 7,500 page turns on a single charge.
The only drawback is the pricetag. $349 seems a little steep. At half the price, I wouldn't even have to think about it.

Leonid Meteor Shower

The annual Leonid meteor shower could produce a strong outburst this weekend for residents of eastern North America and Western Europe.
A brief surge of activity is expected begin around 11:45 p.m. ET Saturday, Nov. 18. In Europe, that corresponds to early Sunday morning, Nov. 19 at 4:45 GMT. The outburst could last up to two hours.
At the peak, people in these favorable locations could see up to 150 shooting stars per hour, or more than two per minute. Don't miss it!

Mysteries and Jazz

Fans of Michael Connelly will no doubt enjoy his latest installment in the Harry Bosch detective series, Echo Park, published in October. My former boss, the late, great Michael Kelly, introduced me to Connelly's works about a year before his death, and I have enjoyed every one. In addition to a wonderful read, Connelly often introduces readers to art, history, or jazz through the eyes and ears of his protagonist. In Echo Park, Bosch is obsessed with what he calls "miracle in a box" - John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk, recorded live at Carnegie Hall in 1957. The recording sat in a box in the archives for years, forgotten....until a Library of Congress worker accidently found it several years ago in pristine condition. It was finally released nearly 40 years after it's initial recording. Since reading the book several weeks ago, I have caught Bosch's obsession and have been listening to the CD every chance I get. It's available on itunes, but if you love jazz, order the CD - it has 17 minutes more audio than the CD download.

Thought for the Day

Here's your thought for the day. And by the way, Happy Birthday to Ed.
Cheers!

Deck the Halls

Holy cow, Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away. Today I recorded the ad for the 11th annual John Altenburgh Christmas Jazz & Blues Show at the Grand and realized just how close the holidays are. Several days ago, I took the photos for this year's Christmas card, which I always do this time of year, but it didn't really hit me until today that in just a few weeks I'll be putting up the tree. Wow! We had a little trouble getting the dogs to cooperate - as you can see - but finally ended up with a few good shots.

Cancer

They say cancer is the great equalizer, and after one day in the treatment room with my father, I can see why. The room was filled today with people from all walks of life. In one chair, a former neighbor.....in another, a former mayor. A 20 something young man in a Harley t-shirt. A young mother struggling with breast cancer. All filled with hope and despair as the poison drips into their veins - the "cure" at times as terrifying as the disease.
The oncologist tried a new drug on my father today - Rituximab - which caused a severe reaction. His sats plummeted and they had to stop treatment immediately. So scary. So....it appears we will have to revert to the "old" chemo, and I'm not quite sure how I feel about all of that. It's worked for him in the past, but he has never been this sick. It's in the bone marrow now, and all over his body. I can only watch and pray, and keep things as normal here for the boys as I can.
Yesterday marked the general election and of course I try to pass along a healthy respect for the voting system and our government in general to my children. Rowan takes it a little more seriously than I expected, though. Last night he asked if he could stay up late to "watch the election returns" - and at Midnight I caught him surfing www.cbsnews.com to find out whether the Dems took control of the House.
Alex P. Keaton has nothing on Rowan.

Catching Up

I've been awful about posting. Life has gotten away from me, it seems. It's my resolution of the week to post at least once every two days from this point forward.
I often laugh at people who hire cleaning people. In fact, I have used the word "pathetic" to describe people I know who pay good money to others to do what they could do themselves for free.
I am pathetic.
After a recent fruit fly sighting in my house, I have resigned myself to the fact that after working an 80 hour work week, volunteering on three boards, and raising two fabulous children, I simply can not keep my tiny house clean anymore, so I have hired someone to come in and do it for me.
Pathetic. But I can't wait.
On another note, my father's doctor is certainly taking his sweet time starting treatment. Dad had a bone marrow biopsy on Thursday and is getting results Tuesday, with treatment starting immediately after. Evidently, the biopsy will help the doctors come up with the right poison chemo cocktail to give him. Meanwhile, my father is getting weaker and sicker by the day....but I am doing my best to remain optimistic, especially for the boys. They have to think that life is normal.
All prayers appreciated.