Getting caught up...

I do not recall ever having much of a problem housebreaking the family dog. Shiloh, it seems, is energetically trying to snap the streak. So far, she understands that if she defecates outside, she can do so in my presence and be praised. If she poops or pees inside, and I see her doing so, she knows I will say "No!" loudly and otherwise communicate my displeasure. Therefore, she understands that I must not be present when she goes inside.

So, based on some reading and consultation with Karen (who owns two dogs and works part time as a dog obedience trainer in Pagosa), I have embarked on some serious crate training.

In doing so, I am wearing industrial-strength hearing protection (worn normally at the pistol range), as Shiloh doth protest her lot with vigor.

I've been trying to catch up on job-related paperwork. Despite the simplicity of my system for processing jobs, every once in a while - particularly when a series of short jobs land like a boxer's combination of punches - I put off the formal step of creating a folder for the job, and just start translating. This happened on Friday when one of the incoming jobs turned out to be a short "season's greetings" type of email.

Anyway, as far as putting things in order, I'm pretty sure I've covered my bases. And I'm pretty sure I've invoiced everything that's required invoicing.

Since leaving for my dad's funeral just over a month ago, I've gone from being caught up in knowing who has paid me to not knowing (and not knowing in a big way). This is a persistent weakness of mine (the drive to the bank to deposit checks being stronger than the drive to record the payment properly, or being altogether absent and leaving the job to be done by family), but when I am hand, I make an effort to hang on to the check "stubs" (the paper that's typically attached to the check, usually detailing what the payment is for); when Galina or Natalie deposit checks for me, there has historically been no residue except for whatever shows up in the bank's statement (and thank goodness for that!).

As a defense, I've gone to the extent of creating a spreadsheet in which I can enter up to five invoice amounts and the amount of a deposit, and if any combination of said amounts equals the deposit, I am so informed. This, of course, assumes that nobody ever gets cash back when depositing checks (I've never tried and I've been told, by members of my immediate family, that the bank won't allow it). My spreadsheet also depends on nobody ever sending me a check that's subtly wrong (e.g., off by a few cents). Despite these hazards, the spreadsheet has turned out to be useful.

The immediately "next" assignment involves 8,000 source words due Wednesday. I'm not sure how far I got last week before the work was bumped, but I suspect I was at least 1/3 of the way in. As it is a subject I am familiar with, I'm confident of making my deadline even if I don't lift a finger in its direction today (something that's not likely, but still...).

Then again, the only tangible reason I'd put off working on this assignment would be to go sign closing papers, but there's no news on that front.

* * *There's quite a lot of buzz about a new offering from Asus, something with the unlikely name of "Eee." It's basically a super-small laptop (7-inch screen) with enough guts to be useful, and cheap enough not to cry major tears if it falls under a truck or something (basically where I was with a PalmPilot back around 10 years ago). The Eee costs around $400, as compared to the Toshiba Libretto, at $1700, though the latter is a much more capable unit in additional to being compact.

I'm not sure I actually have a big need for this kind of appliance, but I am noticing that a lot of folks are lately expressing the kind of interest I've only noticed with, say, the iPhone.

Cheers...

What was lost was found...

A long time ago, I lamented having lost track of a book I picked up while standing in a checkout line at a Publix supermarket back in 1986, when we lived in Jacksonville. The title of the book was A Friendship: The Letters of Dan Rowan and John D. MacDonald, 1967-1974.

Rowan was half of the comedy team of Rowan and Martin, whose act was pretty hot in the late 60s, when they got a lot of exposure working on television, cultimating in their Laugh-In show. MacDonald was a prolific writer, best known for his series of books detailing the adventures of one Travis McGee.

Well, during this most recent trip to Pagosa, the book surfaced, like a bone in a simmering stew. I don't plan to let it out of my sight until I reread it.

* * *The house that's been under contract since, I think, April finally closed today. Hooray!

Cheers...

Jeweler's rouge to the rescue...

While in New York, I gave in to temptation and picked up a Sansa e260 media player, for a variety of reasons. Chief among them was the fact the unit can be managed (if one is not interested in transferring photos or video, and I'm not) simply by copying media files to the unit (in other words, it doesn't need anything like iTunes). Other reasons included the built-in FM radio and the capability to make voice recordings (not to mention recordings from the radio).

Unfortunately, over the past couple of weeks, I've not been particularly attentive in handling the device, and the unit's screen was starting to show it. Today, in going over some stuff in the closet, I spied a block of "jeweler's rouge" that I acquired while in Marine basic training (I think it cost something like 25¢), and it turns out that by wetting my index finger, I was able to transfer enough rouge to my finger to then proceed to polish the plastic screen on the Sansa.

About 30 seconds later, I used a tissue to wipe the rouge off, and the screen looks about 1000% better.

* * *I spoke with Natalie earlier today, and heard that she was coming by with Lili. Galina spoke with Natalie earlier today, and swears Natalie said she's coming home with her beau, so we haven't eaten dinner yet.

The suspense is... causing my stomache to growl!

Cheers...

Fry's management...

I stopped by the local Fry's today to check out a micro-SD card (there's a slot for one in the Sansa e260), and just for laughs, stopped by Customer Service to talk to the "person in charge" about the Asus Eee PC.

"The what?" asks the suit.

I explain.

The suit hasn't a clue, but goes into spin mode anyway. I tune him out, thank him, and go looking for the micro-SD card.

Is it just the places I visit on the Web, or is there a genuine buzz building about this product?

(I asked about the Eee in the back of the store, of the folks who sell laptops. They confirmed no such animal was in stock, but didn't feel obligated to feed me spin. I did, however, get an eyeful of something from Fujitsu, a $999 ultraportable (LifeBook U800, I think) that runs Windows Vista. It's even smaller than the Eee.)

Cheers...