We can’t go out yet,
Got cabin fever,
We’re getting screwed by,
Howard County.

Plows just drive past us,
Ignoring our street,
We’ve got places to go,
And people to meet.

T’morrow a new storm,
More of the same shit,
We’re going nowhere,
Nowhere my friend….

Yesterday morning, we were talking to a fellow who, for whatever reason (I truly can’t remember) mentioned that he had taken his medication late. He went on to explain that, at the age of 40, he had beed diagnosed with ADD. He went on to describe his symptoms, and I thought, “Holy crap! That’s me!”

It would explain a lot, especially in the past couple of years, although some ADD symptoms have been with me for years, now that I think about it.

To some degree, I experience a large percentage of the symptoms on this chart:

Interestingly enough, I did not many of the usual ADD or ADHD symptoms as a child.

Skip ahead to today. I was hanging out at Border’s again while a prospective buyer was touring the house, and decided to see if there were any books on Adult ADD/ADHD. I couldn’t find any, but also came to the realization that I probably couldn’t get through reading it! (I used to love to read, but now have a difficult time getting through even a couple of paragraphs without having to go back to see what I’d just read!).

So, in addition to all the other things I have to during the week, I’ll be finding an appropriate professional to discuss this with. Hooboy!

Does the FCC have the authority to do this, after Congress spent years debating DTV/HDTV, finally issuing a mandate for change in US broadcast television? Probably not, as things stand now. But if two bills are passed (HR 3019 and HR 3125), they just might.

The bottom line is that, should this go through, a good number of people who can’t afford cable will lose access to a valuable service that has been upheld as paramount through the entire process — access to a wide range of free, over-the-air television programming that the government has forced them to spend money to get (the cost of buying a new TV or set-top-box tuner). Further, some people in outlying areas who do not have access to or cannot afford cable (or who cannot afford satelite) might be left with no ability to view TV at all (some are already in that position, as DTV signals do not penetrate into some outlying areas as well as analog signals did).

Frankly, IMO, this possible future could spell the death of local television entirely, especially in smaller markets, where stations are already struggling due to the costs of having to have switched to DTV in the first place. The extra streams afforded them additional sources of advertising revenue that may no be taken away with the stroke of a pen.

Now would be a good time to contact your Congressional and local representatives, and ask the to defeat HR 3019 and HR 3125, and to reign in the FCC.

Originally taken with a Canon Powershot SX110is (a mid-level point-n-shoot with enough horsepower to keep almost anyone happy), each of these images was managed and/or processed with iPhoto, which comes free with every Mac sold. I could have achieved similar results using Photoshop, but why? The point here is that excellent images can be made easily, without having to spend a lot of money.

Red on Green

Killing time in the cafe at Borders Books while our house is being shown, I’m playing around with pictures, iPhoto, and a few inexpensive add-ins I’ve bought. I really ought to be working on a presentation I have to give at the CMPG in a couple of weeks. But, I’m not.

Red on Green is not to be confused with Red Green.

Blu-Ray is definitely on my new wish list! My birthday’s comin’ up, you know…

Sunrise on the Deck

It only lasted a few minutes — just barely enough time to get upstairs and get my camera. But, this was the view from our deck this frigid morning.

There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] suggests, and try it.

The first part is easy. All it requires is simply the ability to throw yourself forward with all your weight, and the willingness not to mind that it’s going to hurt.

That is, it’s going to hurt if you fail to miss the ground. Most people fail to miss the ground, and if they are really trying properly, the likelihood is that they will fail to miss it fairly hard.

Clearly, it is the second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties.

One problem is that you have to miss the ground accidentally. It’s no good deliberately intending to miss the ground because you won’t. You have to have your attention suddenly distracted by something else when you’re halfway there, so that you are no longer thinking about falling, or about the ground, or about how much it’s going to hurt if you fail to miss it.

It is notoriously difficult to prize your attention away from these three things during the split second you have at your disposal. Hence most people’s failure, and their eventual disillusionment with this exhilarating and spectacular sport.

If, however, you are lucky enough to have your attention momentarily distracted at the crucial moment by, say, a gorgeous pair of legs (tentacles, pseudopodia, according to phyllum and/or personal inclination) or a bomb going off in your vicinty, or by suddenly spotting an extremely rare species of beetle crawling along a nearby twig, then in your astonishment you will miss the ground completely and remain bobbing just a few inches above it in what might seem to be a slightly foolish manner.

This is a moment for superb and delicate concentration. Bob and float, float and bob. Ignore all consideration of your own weight simply let yourself waft higher. Do not listen to what anybody says to you at this point because they are unlikely to say anything helpful. They are most likely to say something along the lines of “Good God, you can’t possibly be flying!” It is vitally important not to believe them or they will suddenly be right.

Waft higher and higher. Try a few swoops, gentle ones at first, then drift above the treetops breathing regularly.

DO NOT WAVE AT ANYBODY.

When you have done this a few times you will find the moment of distraction rapidly easier and easier to achieve.

– Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

e-Flite Blade mCX S300

Okay, not really learning to fly. I’m not even learning to fly a real airplane. Instead, I’m learning to fly a radio controlled helicopter. In my basement.

It’s all my dad’s fault. As a joke, for Christmas, he picked us each up a little toy chopper from Target. Playing with it was completely addictive. He’s an enabler. By Saturday afternoon, I’d decided that I really needed a little heli that I could fly inside to learn on. And on the way to go look at houses, I decided to stop by the LHS (local hobby shop) to see what I could see. I walked out with an e-Flite Blade mCX S300 (the little gizmo shown left).

A couple of things I’ve learned. First, since this chopper is so tiny, it’s amazingly susceptible to air currents. Fly too close to a heat vent when the furnace is running, and zip! Across the room it goes! Also, flying a helicopter is completely different than flying an R/C airplane. What makes an airplane bank left and right, makes a heli slide left and right. What makes a plane dive makes a chopper go forward, and what makes a plane climb makes a helicopter go backwards! About the only thing that acts sorta like an airplane is that the rudder control changes where the nose is pointed. I’m getting my head around it, slowly. By spring, I may actually be ready for a larger, more conventional one that I can fly outside.

Now, you might understand….  :)

Yesterday, I took pictures for the real estate listing. And then, it snowed.

Amazing Grace Techno – Computer Controlled Christmas Lights from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

FINALLY! The basement 1/2-bath is DONE!

FINALLY! All the painting in the master bedroom is DONE (just have to put everything away)!

FINALLY! The master bath is DONE! (except a little caulking around the shower door)!

FINALLY! The kitchen is DONE (just have to put everything away)!

Maybe we will get this thing on the market this week after all!

Now, off to find a missing cat…

There have been rumors for some time that WMAR will be shuttering their news department as well. Mary Beth Marsden has already left the station after 21 years at the bottom ranking station. This latest development could be another sign that channel 2 will indeed drop out of the local news market.

Obviously, there ain’t gonna be much cookin’ goin’ on in that kitchen for a while!

John, our agent and long-time friend of mine is great, helping us with a million stupid questions and putting us in touch with contractors to get the work done that we need to get the house salable. I don’t think we’ll make the December 1st target for listing the house, but we’ll see. Maybe we’ll go ahead and listed even before some of the work is done. We have our next meeting with John on Sunday, and we’ll discuss that possibility. We’ve seen pictures of lots of places on the MLS that are being made ready after the house is on the market.

We’ve also learned, I think, what we want in a house and where we’d like it to be. That will help John greatly in helping it find our new home over the next few months. We’ve certainly started to learn what we don’t want.

Anyway, off now to lunch!

I’ll be starting on that in my copious spare time. Yeah. Right.