I Haz New Newer Mouse

Ordered it on Tuesday and it's here by Friday. New mouse on the left. Old mouse on the. Anyways, the pic don't do the pristine condition of the newer mouse justice. It's 'used' but not much compared to my 6-year-old mouse which the pic doesn't show all the wear spots burnished from surfing the Internet. I can navigate by using the keyboards alone to some extent. Mainly switching between tabs or browsers & apps but the bulk of the navigating is with mouse.

Of Mice and Mend

I ordered this from a seller who maintains a storefront on Amazon. It's a Logitech MX 1000 laser mouse which at least to me is the best mouse ever produced. I'm not alone in this opinion either. To more than the chagrin of many, Logitech discontinued the MX 1000 mouse about 5 years ago, however since than it has garnered something akin to a cult following with "still in the package" versions selling for $300-$400. Refurbished ones over $200. (See price list below)



One of the programable buttons stopped working on my 6 years-old MX 1000 mouse. But even after 6 years, the internal battery rarely needs recharging even after I've forgotten to place the mouse back into the recharging cradle throughout an entire day. I do take hours off from the Internet if you were wondering, lol. You may indeed spend more time with your mouse than you do with your significant other or with your kids. I understand and leave it at that. The point is that I paid $60 for the mouse plus a reasonable $5 for shipping and handling and it's well a necessary item around here. It was advertised as a 'used item' in 'very good' condition. The seller Emailed me these photos.





What makes this particular mouse better than the rest is the thumb rest on the side of the mouse. Actually, though, you end up not resting your thumb on the thumb rest but instead on the very edge of the thumb rest ledge. This led me to believe the average mouse is designed too narrow. Think about it .... the wider the mouse is, the more comfortable it is moving it around with your palm with your thumb in a more natural position, that is, a thumb not curled into your palm. When you reach out to shake someone's hand, your thumb's not next to your palm. Ditto when you rest your hand on the desktop .... look where your thumb is in respect to the rest of your hand.

You already know this, but what separates humans from apes and monkeys is that humans have an agile thumb that can be manipulated to face the palm of the hand. But that function is primarily reserved for gripping and if you keep gripping any object for too long your hand would grow numb. Thusly, narrow mouses may look sleek and all that, but they're mindlessly designed for monkeys and apes who don't know a thing about surfing the web or navigating through a webpage. The thumb in it's relaxed position rests apart from the rest of the hand. You rarely keep your thumb in contact with the rest of your hand unless you hold your hand sideways. For normal people. Unless you're under stress. Like digging for your last coins in your pocket to pay for a 99¢ burger. Never ever done that?

On a technical forum that I'm a member of, another member mentioned something about knockoffs. When a company discontinues producing a kitchen appliance, etc. overseas in a foreign country, the contracted company is suppose to immediately cease and desist manufacturing the items under the terms of the original contract at the termination of the arrangement between the two parties. However, we know that's not how things work. Instead the overseas company continues to manufacture the same items rebranding the contraband to hide their tracks and marketing the knockoff through their own devices.

This amounts to a niffy savings for the consumer .... until the overseas manufacturer exhausts their supply of surplus material that met the specs set by the contracting party. After that, the knockoffs that are produced with substandard materials generally don't last. For example, the switch in a rebanded blender fails because the switch in this instance was shoddy to begin with. With the MX 1000 mouse there's a few Internet sellers mainly in Hong Kong advertising 'new' MX 1000 mice for under a $100. This could go either way though since a mouse doesn't require difficult to find parts and materials not readily available from electronic equipment suppliers.


This I simply don't get .... why would anybody want tweeter that they bought a particular item. Even a MX 1000 mouse. Perhaps, I'm missing sumpthing.

$5.60 plus tax at Sears

That is a brand new metal punch for the moment still in its wrapper. I already have one the same size but it's somewhere not to be found inside my walk-in locker room downstairs in the apartment building packed to the gills. 'Not to be found.' As in, this time I didn't even bother to look for it, just so happens it's a metal punch on this particular occasion. Is $5.60 worth the anguish of searching for hours and not finding the older metal punch only because it got dark and there's no light bulb in the walk-in locker room? People living in houses with lots of storage space just don't know what they're missing. As far as storage, apartment living is akin to living aboard a boat (ship) in a harbor. The locker room is not adjoined on the floor plan. With a boat in a harbor, at least those moored to a slip, you don't have to paddle the dory to shore .... but in an apartment building you have to take the elevator downstairs. It's a back and forth routine, on a weekly if not daily basis. The question is, is a missing item du jour not upstairs because I left it in the locker room. Then later, it evolves into, "Is the paritcular item not in the locker room because I left it upstairs?" because it's nowhere to be found in the locker room. Where is it not?

Sand Reclaimation

Oh, there's the beach. Wish I knew how to set the camera for bright sunlight shots, but I'll get there.



A barge moored offshore collects the sand on the bottom of the ocean that has migrated from the beach.



Closeup shot.



A giant pump siphons the sand to shore and piles into a hugh dune.



Then when the dune of sand gets too huge, a bulldozer pushes it to the left. ♪♪....down by the seashore shifting sand....♪♪

Microwaving Water!

The following from an Email I received ....

Donna Kleine
Nutrition Specialist
South Central Human Resource Agency
Head Start/Early Head Start

A 26-year old man decided to have a cup of coffee. He took a cup of water and put it in the microwave to heat it up (something that he had done numerous times before). I am not sure how long he set the timer for, but he wanted to bring the water to a boil. When the timer shut the oven off, he removed the cup from the oven.

As he looked into the cup, he noted that the water was not boiling, but suddenly the water in the cup 'blew up' into his face. The cup remained intact until he threw it out of his hand, but all the water had flown out into his face due to the build-up of energy. His whole face is blistered and he has 1st and 2nd degree burns to his face which may leave scarring and also may lead to partial lost of sight in his left eye.

While at the hospital, the doctor who was attending to him stated that this is a fairly common occurrence and water (alone) should never be heated in a microwave oven.

If water is heated in this manner, something should be placed in the cup to diffuse the energy such as a wooden stir stick, tea bag, etc, (nothing metal).

General Electric's Response:

Microwaved water and other liquids do not always bubble when they reach boiling point. They can actually get superheated and not bubble at all. The superheated liquid will bubble up out of the cup when it is moved or when something like a spoon or tea bag is put into it.

Here is what a local high school science teacher had to say on the matter:

I have seen this happen before. It is caused by a phenomenon known as super heating. It can occur any time water is heated and will particularly occur if the vessel that the water is heated in is new, or when heating a small amount of water (less than half a cup).

What happens is that the water heats faster than the vapour bubbles can form. If the cup is very new, then it is unlikely to have small surface scratches inside it that provide a place for the bubbles to form. As the bubbles cannot form and release some of the heat that has built up, the liquid does not boil, and the liquid continues to heat up well past its boiling point.

What then usually happens is that the liquid is bumped or jarred, which is just enough of a shock to cause the bubbles to rapidly form and expel the hot liquid. The rapid formation of bubbles is also why a carbonated beverage spews when opened after having been shaken.

To prevent this from happening and causing injury, do not heat any liquid for more than two minutes per cup. After heating, let the cup stand in the microwave for thirty seconds before moving it or adding anything into it.

and Aye .... Ah Aye-Aye, will always ....

Withney Houston had a tremendous voice RIP. There the obituary should have ended. However, true to form after leaks surfaced that drugs may have led to her death, the media is pouncing all over the windfall. Naturally, it was already in the contingency plans since Withney Houston's long affair with drugs was public knowledge and hard core drug addicts habitually end up as stiffs after taking their last two pills with a glass of water. On the other hand, had the pop queen passed away naturally on Saturday in her pajamas, by now, the media's eulogy on the pop queen would have waned having reached its peak at last night's Grammy's tribute, and the media would resume their momentarily pre-empted more macarbe duty of digging up Steve Jobs' grave instead of prolonging their autopsy on Withney Huston life battling drug abuse. That particular suite at the Beverly Hills Hilton will be available at a premium rate. Well, maybe. Then the star search is on for whom provided Withney Houston the poisoned vial of drugs. A sorta Conrad Murray thing. I don't have a gripe with the national media for this posthumous behavior largely because if one network refrains while the other networks resuscitate the same story that in itself puts the refrainer at a disadvantage. It's just that when Houston's story is rehashed so robustly as it is again and again on the local tv stations, then it's a what does that have to do with the local news. True, Withney Houston was busted for marijuana at the Hilo airport way back when. But she somehow managed a get on the next plane out and local charges were eventually dropped. However, other than dat?

$25 Billion National Mortgage Settlement

Out of the $25 billion settlement, Hawaii's share is a whopping $71 million. Even more whopping is the distribution to each Hawaii claimant .... $2000 per (actually up to $2000). That's like the bank wavering a month's mortage payment. Why who wouldn't be happy about that. Especially since you'd never ever finish paying the full mortgage even if you mailed in payments monthly for the next 50 years. There are band aids fixes and then there are band aids fixes so to speak. Also, $2000 pales in comparison to the $100,000 bonus that the bank's upper echelon gave themselves after the bailout money was in the vault. Why am I bringing up this topic? Well, the settlement should have provided for construction workers still outta work because of the fraud. True, construction workers were paid for building the new houses and new apartments units to meet the demand. However, they weren't paid anymore than their union wages. Then there's the issue of 'not working' where construction workers aren't earning any wages at all or very much of it. And since there's a backlog of unsold houses and foreclosed houses on the market, the construction industry will lag behind the rest of the economy even if this recession recedes. That might take years more.

What’s the best way to grab a prize with the claw?

via Slate. "Claw-game experts recommend spending a few minutes on the sideline while others play to get a sense of the machine's idiosyncrasies. Claw games can be adjusted to make the prizes either easier or harder to grab. The difficulty is controlled by setting the length of time allotted for each attempt and the number of attempts given for each quarter spent. Operators can also change the strength of the claw's grip. If the prize is a plush toy or stuffed animal, aim for the chest, which allows for the firmest grip. If the claw has a weak grip, try knocking objects sideways into the prize chute. Experts differ as to whether it's easier to win with a three-pronged or a four-pronged claw."

As Scene on the TV

It slipped my mind again that Hawaii Five-O airs on Monday nights. They do show nice local scenery.



Last week, I actually remembered that Five-O was on, but when I tuned in to watch it live, it turned out to be a repeat broadcast. The previous two weeks before that, I forgot period. So I watched those episodes on the internet on replay. Oh, this week's episode, after the earlier scenes shown in the pics, the script relapsed back again into heavy on the soap opera M.O.



If you like trekking up hills then the Koko Head crater trail is thing for you shown in the same earlier scene. I've heard it's a splendid view from the summit. I 'heard.' Never have or would contemplated doing it myself.

Jellyfish Armada

If you take a look at the picture below, those white spots in the canal are jellyfishes. Usually, they don't make it this far up the Ala Wai canal.

Er, Truth in Advertising?

Stumbled upon these excerpts on the Web off an Costa Concordia ad ....

"When you choose Costa, you don’t just see Europe - you live it. You can meet dedicated staff with distinctly Continental perspectives. Barriers can dissolve in the high jinks of theme nights on board. You’ll visit picturesque harbors and ancient ruins."

Takeout Lunch

I was behind this lady driver with a plate lunch resting on the trunk of her car with a plastic fork sticking up. Amazing, the plate lunch didn't fall off even after half a mile. Don't know how far she had drove before I was behind her. Anyways, at a red light, I pulled up to her in the next lane and 'informed' her that she had a plate lunch on her trunk. She replied back it was the bartender's car. But she did glance back at the rear of her car, so I presume she heard what I said to her. Just her answer had nothing to do with a forgotten plate lunch, in that context, But whatever. This happened at about 7pm in the evening if that makes an aota of difference. As I said, whatever.

Print Edition

The mailman or mailwoman finally took the hurculean effort of stuffing MidWeek (a free local weekly advertisement newspaper) into our mailboxes. Usually the mail person just dumps a pile into a plastic bin on the lobby floor next to the mailboxes for whoever wants them enough that they're willing to reach down into the bin and grab a copy. You would use the newsprint for fish n' chips. Real fish n' chips are served on newspaper to absorb the oil (if you missed that). With malt vinegar as a condiment. Judging by the pile of Midweek's still remaining in the plastic bin at the end of the week, then only a few actually get read. Well, as long as the advertisers aren't aware of this practice all is well. That is, the advertisers pay a rate per page based on the circulation numbers. In that cents, the hundred copies delivered to our apartment building count as hundred subscribers. At least when the Midweek's were deposited into individual mailboxes this method of calculation had a ring of truth to it. However, most tenants would just tossed the Midweek into the lobby wastebasket anyways along with the junk mail. I actually read through the latest Midweek edition browsing through the advertisements and reading the human interest columns written by local writers/celebreties. Don't remember much, but what I realized was that I hadn't read any publication in it's paper edition for over a year. Does this mean we're saving a whole lot of trees, forests even. It might mean just that providing that the new law the city council is pushing doesn't pass. They want to tack on a 20¢ surcharge for each plastic bag at the grocery store or takeout lunch counter which only means paper bags are used in place of plastic. Oh, I almost forget to mention. "Another thing," as they say. As we speak, the new phone books are stacked on the lobby floor. I'm almost certain that the phone books are suppose to be dropped off at each floor at each tenants door step. But they aren't. Haven't been in years.

Obama's State of the Union

I thought Obama's speech wasn't long enough. If you're from the islands, we're really gonna miss Obama when he's not the president anymore. If Obama doesn't win the next election, this would be Obama's final State of the Union address. That's mainly why I felt tonight's speech wasn't long enough, in addition, to the fact, that Obama is a tremendous orator and time pass swiftly than listening to a usual lengthy State of the Union speech which has it's obligatory boring moments. Then there's the rousing standing ovation becuz the audience has been already bored to death and glad it's over until next year. Not with an Obama speech. That's irregardless where Obama deliveries a given speech. Obama made history by becoming the nation's first black president. The next election Obama will have to defy history by becoming the first president to be re-elected with the kind of negative economic numbers he has on his hands. Even Obama in an interview acknowledged the possibilty. As you already know, I don't like Mrs. Obama a lot. Not as a person, because I don't know her personally. There might be a lot other people who feel the same way and this might cost Obama votes. Me, I'm just voting for the local boy made good despite my dislike for the current First Lady. There's been enough commentary made analyzing the State of the Union speech for me to add anything to .... now what was tonight's speech about? Oh, the usual utopian themes.

Any credible Republican opponent has good odds of defeating Obama. But that's just the problem the Repubs have with Gingrich leading in the primary elections. 4 years is not long enough to erase the memory of the Bush disaster and replace Democrat Obama with a Republican who is no better than the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise liner. In that sense, Gingrich is the best thing that could happen to the Democratic Party. This clown while criticizing Clinton for his affair with Monika Lewinsky was back at his office cheating on his wife with a female staffer. His own political party members forced him to resign his Speaker of the House position. I thought Romney was a formidable opponent in light of the down economy. But Romney may be history and that's a good thing for the Democrats. Oh, I will say one thing about the state of the union .... I don't think the US accomplished anything worthwhile in Afghanistan after 8 years. True, had the military not been diverted to fight the needless Iraqi War, the Afghan War would have been long over and the Taliban well the Taliban wouldn't exist. But as things stands, the reality is that after the final US troop withdrawal, the Afghans will go back to growing their poppy fields and life will continue on as it has been for centuries. If Obama doesn't get re-elected and if it was solely left up to me he should be our next governor. However, another 4 more years as president is better. This isn't gonna happen again soon. Local boy as president of the USA. You're done well, Barry.

The Persistance of Memory

This is the second week in-a-row that I've forgotten to tune in to watch Hawaii Five-O. You know that tv series shot on location in the islands and airs on Monday nights. I don't watch much tv at all if that factors into the forgetfulness. Remembering to watch tv doesn't come with the territory so to speak certain shows on certain days of the week as part of a standard routine.

Tuesday's Tupperware

I said previously that I ripen fresh fruit from the grocery store in the microwave. Fruits are usually shipped green to Hawaii. I forgot to loosen the lid on the tupperware container as it was cooling down. As you can see for yourself. Musta been too preoccupied on the Internet or sumpthing of that nature.

Saturday's Walmart

Dear Reader, does your Walmart have four doors at each front entrance. And do shoppers leaving the Walmart, exit through the left door instead of the right door? And do shoppers entering the Walmart, enter through the left door instead of the right door, as well? Or does this only happen at the Keeaumoku Street Walmart in Honolulu?

In Soverign Air Space

T'was an uneventful morning along the Ala Wai except for a helicopter hovering over the adjacent Ala Wai municipal golf course within a few hundred feet range from my apartment lanai (balcony). I felt like a birder taking a pic of the helicopter (photo above). It's a 4x telephoto. Then dang it at the very moment I was down loading the photos from the SD card to my computer. And why wouldn't it happen that way .... the helicopter did a flyby at eye level to my lanai bearing down the canal. Dang it. That woulda been a Kodak moment, emphasis on 'woulda'. A few minutes later the helicopter returned upstream and started hovering over the golf course again just like it did before. Perhaps they're gathering film footage for a future Hawaii Five-O episode. As you can see, there's a huge camera mounted in front of the helicopter cockpit. I don't think they're taking pics of the talapia. So I rested my camera on the lanai railing and motioned, too far for an audible, to the helicopter to do the flyby at eye level to my apartment a second time. I don't care .... just do it anyways. If you really must know .... I want to post a pic of you on my blog. Is this too much to ask er request er from one filmographer to another (over and out). So, on my cue, Mr. Helicopter Pilot, camera, lights, action. Like I said, I was feeling like a birder. Well, it did happen again. The helicopter started to descend and then fly low above the Ala Wai canal with a trajectory that would take it's flight path pass my lanai again. However, my trusty 4 megpixel camera which I always keep handy has a 1½-inch LCD viewfinder. When the helicopter flew by within arm length pass my lanai I wasn't able to find the darn bird in my tiny viewfinder. Remember it was a moving helicopter to boot. I was this close to heaving ho the camera into the Ala Wai canal many feet below. The fleeting kodak moment, below.

Another Voggy Day

But not too bad for paddle practice ....

It'll be a Voggy Day