Unquiet Desperation

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Posts Tagged ‘United States’

Moving to L.A.: Three Days Out

Simone finally moves in
Creative Commons License photo credit: artnoose

The house transferred today. I am no longer a home owner.

I have mixed feelings about this. Everything little repair is no longer my responsibility, but we won’t be able to change things as much in the new townhouse, since we’re renting.

I will not miss yardwork, however.

My family and I have descended like locusts upon my poor in-laws, filling their dining room with boxes and miscellaneous items that were pulled from the house at the last minute. They are good, kind folks who someone should write a folk song about. They are driving out with us on the trek across these United States to help us get settled in at our new home.

Driving? Yes, indeed. Movers cost around $8000, and we would still have paid for our own gas and lodging for driving across country. We’re going to save about six grand for doing it this way. Sure, it’s harder, but it’s worth the cost savings.

The plan is this: pack and start driving on Friday the 15th. Stop and spend three days in Oklahoma to visit with my wife’s extended family (I’ll also be working during that time…projects demand attention). We’ll take off again on Thursday morning and get to [[[Woodland Hills]]] on the 22nd. We’ll unpack the truck on the 23rd, and I’ll have until the 27th off to get the kids ready for school, buy some necessities (a refrigerator, a car, bunk beds for the kids, etc), and settle in a bit. My first day at the Mahalo Mothership will be Thursday, Aug 28th.

Whew!

I’ll try to blog along the way. We’ll see how exhausting the driving is.

Evolution…observed

A major evolutionary innovation has unfurled right in front of researchers’ eyes. It’s the first time evolution has been caught in the act of making such a rare and complex new trait.

And because the species in question is a bacterium, scientists have been able to replay history to show how this evolutionary novelty grew from the accumulation of unpredictable, chance events.

Twenty years ago, evolutionary biologist Richard Lenski of Michigan State University in East Lansing, US, took a single Escherichia coli bacterium and used its descendants to found 12 laboratory populations.

The 12 have been growing ever since, gradually accumulating mutations and evolving for more than 44,000 generations, while Lenski watches what happens.


read more in Bacteria make major evolutionary shift in the lab – life – 09 June 2008 – New Scientist

Cleveland Rocks?

After spending 10 days in Santa Monica, the following info makes perfect sense to me.

Bizjournals.com looked at 50 U.S. cities to determine the most stressful metropolitan areas. Cleveland is No. 2 on the list; only Detroit is a more stressful place to live, based on factors ranging from finances and unemployment to traffic, crime and pollution….Of the 50 cities, Cleveland ranks 40th or worst in categories including percentage of possible sunshine; robberies per 100,000 residents; unemployment rate; rate of per capita income growth; and circulatory deaths per 100,000.
from Crain’s Cleveland Business: Take a deep breath

On this last trip, Cathy was able to make the trip to L.A. with me. 75 degrees and sunny. People out walking around and enjoying themselves. Places nearby that are open later than 10pm. I’d be lying if I said we were looking forward to coming home to Cleveland.

I’m trying. I’m really trying to love our grey city. Really I am.

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Victory: Another Podiobook Goes To Print

7th Son scheduled for 2009 print release

J.C. Hutchins, author of the successful “7th Son” podcast novel trilogy, has accepted a book deal to publish “7th Son: Descent,” the series’ debut novel. The thriller is scheduled for a 2009 U.S. spring/summer release by St. Martin’s Press.

“7th Son” is the story of seven strangers who have been brought together after the recent assassination of the U.S. president. The men discover that they are human clones, with identical childhood memories. These “John Michael Smiths” have been assembled to catch the man who murdered the president. Their target? Their progenitor, the original John Michael Smith, code-named “John Alpha.”

Hutchins is widely-known as one of the vanguard authors in a growing genre of free online audiobooks — also called “podcast novels ” or “podiobooks.” These novels are often read and recorded by the author, and are promoted online in podcasts and web blogs. “Podnovelists” like Hutchins leverage these new technologies — and the ubiquity of iPods and other portable devices — to find audiences for their work.

Read more at the official web site…

Congrats, Hutch!

Update your PC for the new Daylight Savings Time

clock.jpg

Daylight Savings Time in the U.S. begins earlier and ends later starting this year – which means your PC might not set its clock correctly when the time comes.

Microsoft’s published a list of products ‘affected’ by the new DST period which includes Windows XP and Outlook. To make sure your Outlook appointments and system clock isn’t an hour off starting on March 11, Microsoft’s offering a Time Zone Update tool as a free download. Additionally, hit up Microsoft’s online wizard to get your XP PC up to speed on the new time change period. Photo by lukasd2009.



from Update your PC for the new Daylight Savings Time, [Via Lifehacker.]