The relatively cool temperatures here in the Chicago area since 2000 reflect the temperature trend for the planet since 2000--no warming has been recorded since 1999--and may point up the 0.75° reduction in the global temperature anomaly since January 2008.
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I have until September 10 to complete my on-line driving safety school course. *sigh*
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I'm a bit disappointed--but not surprised--that although I ordered a bunch of manga from Robert's Anime Corner Store early (like 1 AM) on Monday, I haven't gotten them yet. When I ordered a bunch of manga on a Wednesday I got them the following Saturday, and the USPS showed them as received and in transit less than 36 hours after I placed the order.
But the thing is, I expect that every Monday morning Robert et al come in to find a bunch of fresh orders awaiting their attention--and if that's so, then it makes sense that it would take longer to get them into the mail. As long as I have the books before I leave here at about 2 AM Monday morning, it's all good.
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...yeah: leave here at 2:20 AM in order to get to the bus station around 3:20 AM, so I can catch the bus at 3:50 AM for O'Hare in order to arrive there no later than about 4:45 AM. Check in, get my tickets, etc, etc, and be waiting at the gate until the flight boards.
When I get to Portland, Maine, at 11:20 AM, I expect to be ready for a nap....
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I'm also watching--with keen interest--the progress of my laptop parts. According to the UPS web site they are "scheduled" to be delivered today, but the tracking page shows that the box is "in transit to" Harvey, IL--from Hodgkins, where there's a huge-ass UPS hub. I used to drive past that place every day on I-294. It's got a huge phallic sign out front, and it's right next to a big intermodal facility. (That makes sense when you consider that UPS likes to ship its cross-continental trailers by train.)
I want to make sure my laptop will read DVDs before I go to all the trouble of burning a bunch of data DVDs of anime episodes. I need the DVD drive in hand to make sure it will fit and operate correctly--oh, the web site said it would fit my LT, and I believe it, but I'm paranoid.
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Right now Target has got an Epson "all-in-one" inkjet scanner/printer/copier for $40. I'm seriously considering buying one. Even if it ends up sucking, it's freaking $40--I probably wouldn't even use it as a printer. I'd just use it to scan stuff. I want to scan and copy a bunch of my manga pages so I don't have to take the originals with me to Maine.
But we'll be going out to Sears today in order to look at dishwashers and over-the-stove microwaves, so it wouldn't take much for me to make a quick side-jaunt to the Target store and gank me a printer/scanner/copier/WTF.
Of course, the copy machine at the library would cost me $0.10 per page.
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As a lark, I looked through the "software" category on Mininova, and one thing I saw amused the heck out of me: someone posted a "war3z" (cracked) version of Avast! Home Edition.
Avast! is what I use on this machine, and there's a funny thing about it:
The "Home Edition" is freeware. All you have to do is register it, but the registration is free.
Nah, there's no malware in a cracked version of anti-virus freeware! No security holes there at all! It's just so you don't have to register it, right? Of course it is!
Heh.