Archive for November 2003

Getting Rid of Mold Smells

Alternately titled: It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling.

Of late I have been living in a basement. I’ve had some problems with mold smells… “mufa”. It can be really really hard to get rid of that smell because the mold itself is really hard to get rid of. Well, I’ve been using an anti-fungal powder on my feet and every day I’d sprinkle it on my feet, often getting a little on the rug by accident. It was easy enough to just rub my feet on the white spot where the powder accidentally fell. So I put 2 and 2 together and decided to give the whole rug an anti-fungal treatment. It works great. In 2 days, the mufa smell faded and hasn’t come back. That’s pretty amazing since the smell had been there consistently for the past couple years.

So, to get rid of mold smells in your basement, try using the large container of Desenex antifungal powder.

Wireless 802.11 USB adapter

After getting ready to be very mad at D-Link for selling me hope (only to have that hope dashed against the rocks of not-working-ness) I am happy with my new sexy little D-Link DWL-122 Wireless 802.11 USB adapter. Isn’t it just the cutest thing you ever did see? You see, I’m all excited because this is pretty much the first thing that I bought outright for Computer Guy. And hey, how often do you get to use so many buzzwords in the name of a thing… “D-Link DWL-122 Wireless 802.11 USB adapter”. Oh yeah.

I was about to send the darn thing back when I figured out what was going on… It’s really very simple. The channel I was on had too much static. I switched the router to channel 2 and it worked just peachy. Before that, I’d get terribly sporadic service… on for 5 seconds, off for 5 minutes.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. No, that wasn’t it. I moved 200 meg of data with it, now I can’t get a connection again. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

GRRR2. Maybe it IS it. I changed the channel to 3 and BOOM, it works ok now… GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

OK, now I upgraded that laptop (a Gateway Solo 3100) computer to XP and when I reboot, the adapter works right away. So it LOOKS like if I have Win98 SE on the laptop and I change the channel on the router while the laptop is turned on, the laptop will get a connection. If I have XP, the connection will work right when I turn it on. Of course, I can’t test the Win98 hypothesis on this computer any more because I’m not going back just for a silly test.

On Late Autumn

We are at that most peaceful moment
between sleep and waking
when even the most fearsome beast looks as a cherub.
It’s skin smells like a baby’s
It’s eyelids are beginning to flutter
Soon it will stand up as the giant that it is.

——————-

That is a thought I had while walking outside today on this calm autumn day.

Opulent Whirlwind Weekend

Friday night: Saw my good friend Marian Heller at Don’t Tell Mama. I (of course) got there a few minutes late AGAIN. I videotaped most of her show. Afterward, Marian, her friend Lisa, her new friend Don K. and myself went out to a very nice meal a few blocks north. NYC restaurants all try so hard to impress… and I’m so easily impressed. :-) Then we went off to Deutch’s Halloween party on 27th and 3rd. The party wasn’t to my liking. I went back to Marian’s after the party. Parking was (miraculously) not a problem near her apartment. Good sleepy-time conversation and a good night’s rest later, Saturday began.

Saturday: Back home for a breather and a nap. Then off to pick up my tuxedo in Woodbridge (see below). Off to pick up PPG. We were off to her company’s owner’s Halloween masquerade party. Wow. The place was wow. I felt like we were in a James Bond movie or at the new Bellagio hotel. One thing I’ll remember is the aquarium (10′ long x 6′ high x 5′ deep) with all manner of fish. For the first time, it didn’t look like “animals in a cage”. The sheer opulence of the whole place, the small section of wall in the dining room that wasn’t painted (oop! I -am- after all a QA guy at heart), The secluded walk around the back of the house. The most delicate chocolate mousse I’ve ever had in my life. I could go on listing… food, band, dancing, easy laughing, enticing the waitstaff, pewter glasses, cosmopolitans…

Sunday: After coming home from the party and sleeping in Edison, we packed up her itty bitty room and moved it all to her new place in Metro 2409! The place is terrific. It doesn’t have a movie theater, pool room, and bowling alley, but it -does- have wonderful country lines and angles, entirely new everything, a white picket fence, a warm homey feeling, a lovely backyard, and a short walk to Everything! We had dinner at Down to Earth in Metro 2409. I hope I never forget the powerful warm “everything is going to be alright” feeling we shared while sitting in the corner in the candle-light, eating chocolate cake.

Men: Don’t rent a tuxedo, BUY!



A few weeks ago, I rented a tux for my sister’s wedding. Final cost: $150 and 3 visits to the bridal shop (fitting, pickup, drop-off). For the Saturday night event, I wanted a tux so I went to Syms, picked one out that I liked from their pretty good selection, got a pre-done bow-tie, cummerbund, a tie-yourself bowtie (I vowed to learn but ran out of time for this event), and a nice shirt for… get this $210 total, tax included. If I wear it TWICE, it will have paid for itself. And most importantly, it’s exactly what I wanted. Oh, I suppose I should include in this cost the $20 extra I spent on the silk white handkerchief and the $50 I will likely spend on cufflinks and those shirt button-hole things. I’m very happy with the look of the hanky (my wedding rental tux didn’t have a hanky). I didn’t want to spend the money on the cufflinks but when I noticed that most everyone except for the caterer had them at the masquerade, I knew that I had to get them.

I want a raise. I want to go home. I want sex. I want a cookie

The Evolution Control Committee’s Plagiarythm Nation ROCKS.

What I Did on Halloween

Went into the city to see my good friend Marian Heller perform at Don’t Tell Mama. Afterward, we went out with her friends Lisa and Don to a fabulous NYC restaurant (aren’t they all fabulous? dining in NYC is always such a fantastic adventure!). Then it was off to the party with Deutch. Then crash-time at Marian’s. I’ve got a peaceful, easy feelin’. :-)

Tonight is the big black-tie costume event with PPG! I -must- nap before it so I’m 100%!

A Potential Advertisement for Computer Guy

It’s like junking your car because it’s June and you’re tired of driving around with your old Christmas tree on the roof. But you tied that thing on there so good that it’s, like… it’s never coming off.

But no, you just need a friend with a good knife. That’s me, The Computer Guy.