One of the cranky old guys was an English major. The other cranky old guy recently went back to school and got a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. So who is the computer expert?
That’s right, the English major.
The EE cranky old guy has been part of the computer world since the days of word processors, but he has never really mastered the things. Oh, he can do basic tasks, and even some more complex stuff, but with any new program or procedure, he needs lots of time, and an old-fashion, hardcopy manual.
And until just recently, the EE cranky old guy had never bought a computer. The little woman did that. But for a variety of complex reasons, the EE crank decided he needed a home office. So he not only undertook his first computer purchase. He also went DSL (that stands for something having to do with something else called broadband) and wireless (meaning the new computer would be connected to the internet not by wire but through radio waves, or telepathy, or brain waves, or whatever).
The effort to get all this up and occasionally running required five frustrating, exasperating days. Let’s try to just hit the highlights.
In theory you just plug stuff in, turn stuff on, insert disks in stuff, and nature, or Bill Gates, takes over. In a perfect world, after some blinking and burping on the part of your stuff, you have a working computer effortlessly exchanging pleasantries with the World Wide Web (is that where www comes from?).
But in theory, FEMA is on top of natural disasters. We’ve recently seen how well that’s worked out. The real world in terms of installing, trouble-shooting, and operating computer stuff involves talking on the phone to someone in India, which the last time the EE cranky old guy checked was on the other side of the globe.
Surprisingly, at least to the EE cranky old guy, the someone in India was usually quite helpful. But the someone always seemed to be reading from the steps in a manual, which causes the EE cranky old guy to wonder how come he doesn’t have that manual. Manuals, he can follow.
One difficulty with the someones in India was that they were limited in their jurisdictions. The DSL someone would only go so far before telling the EE cranky old guy that he needed to talk to the computer someone, who would stop just short of solving the problem to pass the EE cranky old guy to the wireless someone.
But the EE cranky old guy finally turned to the ultimate source of computer knowledge, the English major cranky old guy. Although the latter’s knowledge is far from complete, he was able to mesh the advice from the someones in India to produce, apparently, a working DSL wireless-connected computer for the EE cranky old guy.
The real test will be whether this blog is posted.
Eureka!!
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Sunday, September 11, 2005
THE QUEST
Every so often, the cranky old guy feels the need to undertake a quest. The latest quest is to travel by kayak from Northern Virginia to North Carolina’s Outer Banks, a distance of 300 some miles. Several motivations are behind this quest.
First, the cranky old guy is tired of fighting the traffic to get to the Outer Banks. I-95 south, I-64 east, Rt. 158 south, over the Currituck Sound bridge: the possibilities for backups and delays are infinite, particularly with all the other idiots on the highways. There’s got to be a better way.
Second, the cranky old guy wants to test the emergency evacuation plan put forth several years ago by occasional Washington Post columnist (and Ben Bradlee’s wife) Sally Quinn. The evacuation difficulties the folks of New Orleans experienced with Hurricane Katrina have focused attention on similar problems that other metropolitan areas might encounter. Regarding the Washington area, Ms. Quinn has recommended kayaks as a means for the populace to get quickly to safety. A terrorist attack? Hop in your kayak and head for. . . , well, that’s what the cranky old guy wanted to investigate. Ms. Quinn’s proposal was a little unclear on that point.
Third, why not?
The water route from Northern Virginia to the Outer Banks is down the Potomac River to the Chesapeake Bay, down the Bay to Hampton Roads, across Hampton Roads, up the Elizabeth River, and finally through canals of the Intercoastal Waterway to Currituck, Albemarle, and Pamlico Sounds. Piece of cake.
This will not be an all-at-once trip. Initially, the plan is day hops: the cranky old guy’s spouse/chauffeur will transport the cranky old guy to a starting point by car, drop him and his kayak off, and retrieve him, hopefully, later in the day further along the route. Thus the trip will be underway for some time, possibly even years as enthusiasm waxes and wanes. On the other hand, the quest won’t ever be a failure, at least until the cranky old guy croaks, because the next hop will always be scheduled.
The first two hops have already been completed. Hop 1 was an 18-mile, 7-hour, trip from Belle Haven in Alexandria to Leesylvania State Park. Hop 2 was a 13-mile, 5 ½-hour, trip from Leesylvania to Aquia Landing in Stafford County.
From these first hops, the cranky old guy has learned several things. Sitting in a kayak for longer than about two hours is extremely uncomfortable. If ever captured by the enemy, the cranky old guy will blab like a baby if threatened with hours in the kayak position.
Second, moving slowly on a large open body of water can be the epitome of boredom. The scenery changes are barely perceptible. The immediate landmark one is paddling for just doesn’t seem to get any closer. And the feeling of progress in general is pretty much absent.
Third, the mansions along some stretches of the upper Potomac serve to remind the cranky old guy that he missed the brass ring as far as wealth is concerned.
And finally, Sally Quinn is nuts.
DSH
First, the cranky old guy is tired of fighting the traffic to get to the Outer Banks. I-95 south, I-64 east, Rt. 158 south, over the Currituck Sound bridge: the possibilities for backups and delays are infinite, particularly with all the other idiots on the highways. There’s got to be a better way.
Second, the cranky old guy wants to test the emergency evacuation plan put forth several years ago by occasional Washington Post columnist (and Ben Bradlee’s wife) Sally Quinn. The evacuation difficulties the folks of New Orleans experienced with Hurricane Katrina have focused attention on similar problems that other metropolitan areas might encounter. Regarding the Washington area, Ms. Quinn has recommended kayaks as a means for the populace to get quickly to safety. A terrorist attack? Hop in your kayak and head for. . . , well, that’s what the cranky old guy wanted to investigate. Ms. Quinn’s proposal was a little unclear on that point.
Third, why not?
The water route from Northern Virginia to the Outer Banks is down the Potomac River to the Chesapeake Bay, down the Bay to Hampton Roads, across Hampton Roads, up the Elizabeth River, and finally through canals of the Intercoastal Waterway to Currituck, Albemarle, and Pamlico Sounds. Piece of cake.
This will not be an all-at-once trip. Initially, the plan is day hops: the cranky old guy’s spouse/chauffeur will transport the cranky old guy to a starting point by car, drop him and his kayak off, and retrieve him, hopefully, later in the day further along the route. Thus the trip will be underway for some time, possibly even years as enthusiasm waxes and wanes. On the other hand, the quest won’t ever be a failure, at least until the cranky old guy croaks, because the next hop will always be scheduled.
The first two hops have already been completed. Hop 1 was an 18-mile, 7-hour, trip from Belle Haven in Alexandria to Leesylvania State Park. Hop 2 was a 13-mile, 5 ½-hour, trip from Leesylvania to Aquia Landing in Stafford County.
From these first hops, the cranky old guy has learned several things. Sitting in a kayak for longer than about two hours is extremely uncomfortable. If ever captured by the enemy, the cranky old guy will blab like a baby if threatened with hours in the kayak position.
Second, moving slowly on a large open body of water can be the epitome of boredom. The scenery changes are barely perceptible. The immediate landmark one is paddling for just doesn’t seem to get any closer. And the feeling of progress in general is pretty much absent.
Third, the mansions along some stretches of the upper Potomac serve to remind the cranky old guy that he missed the brass ring as far as wealth is concerned.
And finally, Sally Quinn is nuts.
DSH
Sunday, September 04, 2005
INITIAL REFLECTIONS ON KATRINA
The cranky old guy has some thoughts on the disaster that has descended upon the Gulf Coast, and the responses of us pathetic humans.
(1) This was a catastrophe of the first magnitude, certainly among the most devastating in American history. But the cranky old guy is not willing to jump on the bandwagon of the we-should-have-been-totally-prepared crowd. Yes, in an ideal world we—meaning governments and individuals—would be prepared for any eventuality. But the ideal world is not constrained by limited time and resources. Our real world is. We can’t be perfectly prepared for every disaster that descends upon us.
(2) That having been said, we could have been better prepared for Hurricane Katrina. Long-term, the preparation failures included the unwillingness on the part of successive Administrations and Congresses to provide funds for improvements to the levies surrounding New Orleans. Short-term, governments at the local, state, and federal levels all seemed to have been somewhat lax in pre-positioning personnel, supplies, and equipment for the recovery effort that was sure to follow the landfall of a category III-IV hurricane.
(3) But in the cranky old guy’s opinion, the most condemnable immediate failure resides with the federal government. By late Tuesday, anyone watching television coverage knew that human suffering of epic proportions was unfolding. Consequently, by late Tuesday a massive influx of federal resources, including substantial forces of the U.S. military, should have been on the move to the Gulf Coast. Yet it appears to have been several more days before the decision to commit these resources and forces was made. The failure to make that decision in a more timely manner should be counted near the top of the negative column in any list of the Bush Administration’s pluses and minuses.
(4) The Bush Administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina has something in common with the campaign in Iraq. In both instances, the Administration has been reluctant to commit substantial manpower. In Iraq, the failure to have adequate forces on the ground following the end of initial hostilities—when the mission was declared accomplished—turned a difficult task of establishing law and order and restoring the infrastructure into a debacle. On the Gulf Coast, the failure to have an immediate influx of manpower resulted in substantially greater, and unnecessary, human suffering than would have otherwise been the case.
(5) In the first hours and days after Katrina’s landfall, the media performed yeoman service in alerting the rest of the nation to the extent of the disaster. By the following Sunday’s talk shows, however, the media effort was actually threatening to take the edge off one of George W. Bush’s worst weeks. As the federal government and the nation focused on the enormous recovery effort ahead, the Sunday talking heads concentrated most of their efforts on playing Gotcha’ with Administration spokespersons. For example, in an interview with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer could pursue no subject other than “whose fault was it.” Chertoff had ample opportunity to give what is becoming the Administration stock response: it is a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions and our focus now should not be on recriminations but on the huge task ahead. By beating the subject of fault to death, the talking heads are making George W. a sympathetic figure to much of middle America.
(6) Finally, and on a lighter note, at least to people with a more secular bent, the religious interpreters are in action. The disaster is being proclaimed as the Almighty’s response to gambling on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, to the sins of New Orleans, to evil in general. Well, the cranky old guy is not adverse to such an interpretive approach. Only, as the cranky old guy looks around, he sees other things about which the Almighty might be irritated. How about this possibility: the Almighty is irritated because we put such an incompetent group in charge of the nation?
DSH
(1) This was a catastrophe of the first magnitude, certainly among the most devastating in American history. But the cranky old guy is not willing to jump on the bandwagon of the we-should-have-been-totally-prepared crowd. Yes, in an ideal world we—meaning governments and individuals—would be prepared for any eventuality. But the ideal world is not constrained by limited time and resources. Our real world is. We can’t be perfectly prepared for every disaster that descends upon us.
(2) That having been said, we could have been better prepared for Hurricane Katrina. Long-term, the preparation failures included the unwillingness on the part of successive Administrations and Congresses to provide funds for improvements to the levies surrounding New Orleans. Short-term, governments at the local, state, and federal levels all seemed to have been somewhat lax in pre-positioning personnel, supplies, and equipment for the recovery effort that was sure to follow the landfall of a category III-IV hurricane.
(3) But in the cranky old guy’s opinion, the most condemnable immediate failure resides with the federal government. By late Tuesday, anyone watching television coverage knew that human suffering of epic proportions was unfolding. Consequently, by late Tuesday a massive influx of federal resources, including substantial forces of the U.S. military, should have been on the move to the Gulf Coast. Yet it appears to have been several more days before the decision to commit these resources and forces was made. The failure to make that decision in a more timely manner should be counted near the top of the negative column in any list of the Bush Administration’s pluses and minuses.
(4) The Bush Administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina has something in common with the campaign in Iraq. In both instances, the Administration has been reluctant to commit substantial manpower. In Iraq, the failure to have adequate forces on the ground following the end of initial hostilities—when the mission was declared accomplished—turned a difficult task of establishing law and order and restoring the infrastructure into a debacle. On the Gulf Coast, the failure to have an immediate influx of manpower resulted in substantially greater, and unnecessary, human suffering than would have otherwise been the case.
(5) In the first hours and days after Katrina’s landfall, the media performed yeoman service in alerting the rest of the nation to the extent of the disaster. By the following Sunday’s talk shows, however, the media effort was actually threatening to take the edge off one of George W. Bush’s worst weeks. As the federal government and the nation focused on the enormous recovery effort ahead, the Sunday talking heads concentrated most of their efforts on playing Gotcha’ with Administration spokespersons. For example, in an interview with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer could pursue no subject other than “whose fault was it.” Chertoff had ample opportunity to give what is becoming the Administration stock response: it is a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions and our focus now should not be on recriminations but on the huge task ahead. By beating the subject of fault to death, the talking heads are making George W. a sympathetic figure to much of middle America.
(6) Finally, and on a lighter note, at least to people with a more secular bent, the religious interpreters are in action. The disaster is being proclaimed as the Almighty’s response to gambling on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, to the sins of New Orleans, to evil in general. Well, the cranky old guy is not adverse to such an interpretive approach. Only, as the cranky old guy looks around, he sees other things about which the Almighty might be irritated. How about this possibility: the Almighty is irritated because we put such an incompetent group in charge of the nation?
DSH
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