Seriously, how hard can it be to design a simple, secure interface that can’t be messed up?

While it reeks of Big Brother, maybe we should just send everything to Google.  They’re good with interfaces and, well, simplicity.  Talk about statistical breakdowns tho…they could make many millions with this polling data.  Just return a nice percentage of the profits to beneficial causes and make the political machine wind up paying the world back for all the harm it causes on the front end.

Just a thought.

Flipping channels and see AMC is playing Interiors, notable for me not because it’s a Woody Allen movie, but that it was one of 2 movies answered to my 1996 question of Rusty, a guy I worked with during my internship…I asked for ‘good movies’ and I only got through half of it the first time back when. I don’t think I was ready for this type of thing. I went a long time wondering if he was playing me or not.

It’s awesome writing for ensemble…in a late-70’s intellecual snobbish way.

Bonus point for Sam Waterston being a younger and more restrained version of his law and order character. I thought he broke into his latter-day form for a bit but then he toned it down.
Young Diane Keaton as a smarty is hot. Definitely not Annie Hall hotness, but…ok, now that I think of Annie Hall I just have to stop. However, how much of this 70’s intellecualism actually made headway into and through the 80s? Makes me wonder how much of it is drivel.
Maureen Stapleton playing an active adult instead of a typical ‘older woman’. Older active adult, but still, spunky and without the white hair.
Still, it comes down to the writing. Between this and watching a great episode of Studio 60, where writers are main characters, I wanna make good stuff. Would love to make comedy, but I’ve never been able to write funny without a partner or more. I remember college freshman emails working in tandem, writing our girls from home who went to fancy schools, making some of the funniest stuff ever done. By us, at least.

Seems this and other movies tonight were picked by a guest host, Augusten Burroughs, author of the newly book-to-film Running With Scissors which looks like a fun movie to watch.
George Hamilton as Hank Williams? Wish I had a PVR right now to catch that at 4am…especially to look at the old him as compared to who his persona has become these days.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for Tom DeLay’s cousin to lecture me on the culture of corruption.” - Dustin McDaniel responding to Gunnar DeLay 2 minutes ago during the Arkansas Attorney General debate.

Oct 9, 2000. Six years ago was my first day on the job, and today I was basically given the reins of representing my section as we install telephones, networking and more on a new visitor center opening in a week, one which has created way more stress than probably should be.

Long day but got a lot accomplished…tomorrow will be the hard one, just because there’s so much to do. The weather, however, is PERFECT and it makes life really nice. The ‘high speed’ internet here at the motel I’m camped out at sucks in a serious way though. It’s about as slow as I’ve run into in years…like when we’d have 9 people at a location sharing a 56K frame-relay in years past. ugh.

Which, well, would be tolerable if I hadn’t been asked to remote into my work desktop and run an audit report for another section. 3 minute report took about, oh 90 minutes. Bleh.

Yikes!

Watching the Discovery Channel and they’re showing this great show on China.  In a transition shot, I saw a really neat idea…the streetlights also have clocks, showing the time go down in the color of the light that’s displayed, so that you have an idea of how long you’ll have green, or be forced to wait.  I think the simple uncertainty of not knowing how long a red light will last affects a lot of the stress involved.

Wholly unrelated, but a silly coincidence is that I’ve started making asian noodle dishes and while it’s not as good as my usual order at Saigon, I’m learning and I think it’ll get really good soon.

Maybe someday I’ll get a wok.

Have spent the past hour or so looking up and downloading podcasts that might be useful for the time I’m going to spend on the road and staying over at Bull Shoals next week.  Gonna be long, and probably quite lonely.  Discovering that there’s too much info for the iTunes window at a paltry 1024×768 (i’m limited to duo CRT’s til i get my LCD back and can at least go to 1280×1024).

While picking up an order for work at CompUSA last week I just happened to wander over to the macintosh section and started playing on that dual proc dual core xeon hooked up  to a 30″ monitor.  gush.  Was reminded of that while i was streching and shrinking columns within iTunes to read descriptions.
Could use 30 inches right now.  Duals, even.  yummy.

Everyone knows that the quality of American-made products has taken a turn for the worse in the last 30-40 years. I would laugh at anyone suggesting I buy a car from Detroit rather than a Honda or Toyota (though I’ve been reading that the Saturn Aura is supposed to be a true response to Japanese quality…we shall see) and I drool with dreams of getting a Panasonic plasma tv.

I’ve had two notable American-made products fail me recently.  My awesome 19″ Viewsonic LCD monitor has been plagued with an on-screen display that won’t go off screen.  It got so bad that I just stuck the thing on a shelf and went back to CRT’s.  For some reason last month I looked into the warranty of the monitor to discover that it’s actually 3 years, not 90 days or, dear me, a whole year.  No, 3 long years.  Date of manufacture?  October 2003.  I got my RMA number over lunch today.  I think 20 bucks in shipping will completely offset the purchase price of a new monitor.

As a broke audiophile, I’ve had to find ways of making-do, feeding the cravings for a $15,000 or higher sound system for the mere pennies I have to play with.  I discovered about 5 years ago that headphones are a nice cheater’s way to high fidelity.  I started with some Grade SR-60’s which completely rock the midrange, but are essentially open-air and being the private kind of guy that I am, it doesn’t suit well for music out in public, or at work.

So I went to the Sennheiser HD280 Pro sealed phones.  Yes, they’re sealed and private, and the sound is very good, but the headband is way tight and the earvups get hot and stuffy and, well, music is meant to be enjoyed, not suffered through.

Then, last summer, after many years of lusting after some Etymotic Research ER-4’s, I broke down and got… an impulse buy when I saw the Shure E2c’s for sale at Best Buy. I don’t even want to try the Ety’s anymore.  I am sold on Shure.  They’re comfortable, completely sealed (I used em for earplugs when shooting guns, even), and have a wonderful sound, and this is just for the bargain basement (relatively) low-end of their product line.  Would love to try their higher models, or if I have a grand, the audiologist-personally fitted Ultimate Ears…but until then, the E2c’s are mine.

Trouble is, the rubber sheathing near each earpiece broke down and exposed wire, and yet they were still very usable until a month back when one channel finally started cutting out.  I was heartbroken, thinking that my beloved ‘phones are dead, and on top of that, I’m out at least another $100 for my next Shure product.

For some reason, I checked out Shure’s warranty page.  My goodness.  I must simply quote them:

Question
	How do I send in my Shure earphones or Shure personal audio product for repair under warranty?
	Answer
	Shure Personal Audio products are covered by a two-year warranty, and will be repaired or replaced FREE of charge (Less shipping the product to us…we pay the return shipping) if the product proves to be defective within that period. This includes internal defects such as faulty or intermittent speakers, faulty cables, connectors, or external defects like cracked housings or loose/broken nozzles. Within the United States, all service and repair issues for Shure products are handled directly by Shure Incorporated at our facility in Niles, Illinois. Our shipping address is: Shure Incorporated, Attn: Service Department, 5800 West Touhy Avenue, Niles, IL 60714-4608. When packaging your product to be repaired, please download, print, and complete the Repair Correspondence Form found at the bottom of this answer. Include a description of the problem, and a copy of your sales receipt if available but not necessary. Write “in warranty” in the section for credit card information. There is no need to send in sleeves, accessories or case (UNLESS you are returning an E500PTH…Please include all packaging, accessories, case, etc.). Just the defective earphones. To check the status of a repair, you may contact the Service Department directly at 888-88-SHURE, or service@shure.com. Current processing time is 3-5 business days plus return shipping once we receive the product. If you do not have a receipt and cannot remember if your earphones were purchased within 2 years we can go by the product number on the connector of the earphones. This number is a 3 or 4 digit number. For instance if it says 234…the earphones were manufactured on the 23rd week of 2004. If the there is a 4 digit number it reflects the day. 2334 means the 233 day of 2004. If no receipt is included with the earphones we will determine the 2 year period from the product number described. If your earphones are OUT of warranty,we can replace them for a flat rate. Please contact us for pricing.

Furthermore:

Question
	The casing that covers the wiring has started to tear on my E2C’s. I love the earphones and they are still working great, but the wires are getting exposed due to the plastic is cracking and separating. Is this covered by the 2 year warranty?
	Answer
	Yes it is. Please send them in under the 2 year warranty for replacement. Click below for more info.

I mailed off my package today at lunch right before getting my monitor RMA.  I know I’m being presumptuous, given that I have yet to have satisfaction in a returned product, but just for the sheer cool factor of a company standing behind their product, especially when it comes to wear-and-tear, AND making it so easy to do a return, all I gotta say is:

BUY SHURE.

I am flat-out endorsing a product.  They make GREAT stuff and this foreign concept of customer service is mind-boggling.  This is how you keep customers and win new ones.  Not asking for altruism.  Just simple coolness.

Now to find a way to get me a Moosejaw girl.

In other news, went for my 2nd ride in the last few weeks tonight.  The most recent one was a forgettable experience last monday where I flatted out and then due to user error with the CO2 inflator, I blew out my only replacement tube.  Bleh.  And it was a self-sealing ’slime’ tube, which exploded in goo over everything.  Double bleh.

I made it out to the Big Dam Bridge tonight.  It’s so beautiful at sunset and people were just congregating around the base.  It’ll be a really neat socializing area.  I didn’t get on it though…I want to wait until I can ride across with Kelly, since she’s the impetus behind me getting back on the bike anyway.  I’m a dork that way.

After tilting the saddle down and moving it as far forward I was able to avoid the pain for about 10 miles, but those last 5 the hurt returned and it’s gonna be awkward sitting for the next few days again.  I think I’m out of options and have to concede that my tailbone is simply no match for this device of torture that came with the bike.  There’s a few replacements I’ve had my eye on, but when it comes down to it, I really don’t have much disposable dough to blow on a new seat.  But boy does it make my bum hurt.  Triple bleh.

14+ miles, though.  Not so bleh.  Very tired and went between horrible stretches of 8mph and times of feeling strong at 16mph, plus a lot of my usual 13.  Way outta shape and paying the price for long periods of dormancy inbetween rides, but very reassured that the muscle I’ve been building in my leg is still there, and after every ride like this I’m going to be getting stronger and stronger.  Too bad there’s not an expressway between huge thigh muscles screaming for food and the big harvest belt around my midsection waiting to donate its surplus.

It’s great mentally too.  Had to run to the store afterwards and as I walked in I felt like I was 5-10 lbs lighter.  If only.  Bleh.

I admit it, head hung in shame and all that jazz…I really like watching tv this fall. Monday, Tuesday AND Wednesdays I like shows. Like tonight…I enjoy watching Heroes… I like the whole overarching graphic novel feel, and I can’t remember a show since ‘Golden Years’ (and don’t even think Betty White, moron) that made me shiver in suspense just a little bit.

Immediately following is Studio 60, which is pretty awesome just because it’s Aaron Sorkin writing again. Simply love it…and while I know there are a few who probably share the delight, there’s a small thrill in watching Carlos Jacott play on the show. Gotta admit, I’m secretly hoping he’ll drop to the floor while hiding from the cookieman, or come to work in a pajama top.

So I’m being fashionably late to the party and setting up my flickr account. I’d signed up months ago (still way late) and started using it just a couple weeks back. It’s more of a snapshot folio, and it’s just getting started so no boos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrinehar/

But what got to me is that while there’s all sorts of my friends on MySpace, I coupld only find Colter using his account with any regularity. Looks like Amy and Alicia have accounts, but never use it.

So if anyone’s on it, lemme know and send me a link. I wanna add ya up as cool contacts. Plus, I really want to see what my friends are shooting.

Do it already. Jeez.