Three Things



One: I know this paints a somewhat rose-less picture of the normally-sleepy suburbia where I hang my hat but last night around midnight someone tried to torch the rent-house next door to my home.



Now THERE'S something you don't hear every day.



Luckily, I was awake when the fireball went up, just outside my office window, and quickly quenched the flames before the fire department arrived. The smell of gasoline was thick in the air so I knew it was arson. The house escaped mostly unscathed but the fire department made a terrible mess of the walls and ceiling tracking down any stray embers.



Needless to say the neighborhood was in a tizzy far into the night. This is the sort of thing that makes you want to sit on the roof until dawn with night-vision goggles, a fire extinguisher and a high-powered rifle.



There's suspicion that the former tenants had a beef with the landlord but there are, as yet, no suspects.



Two: While on my daily walk yesterday evening I listened to a review of the new Steve Jobs movie on All Things Considered. Most of the conversation dwelled upon how unscrupulous Jobs may or may not have been. There was repeated rumination on the part of the reviewer if Mr. Jobs was "a word we can't say on NPR". (The word is "asshole", as if you couldn't guess.)



Yes, Steve Jobs could be an asshole but you know what? Don't care. Don't. Fucking. Care. This man saved the entire Earth from being owned by Microsoft. Can you imagine the horrible computers and software we would now have to endure if there'd been no Apple? A world of Zune-quality consumer devices, all running Microsoft's Version Who-Gives-A-Shit OS? Not even Windows but DOS 37+ Office Edition and Bob.



So thanks, Steve, for being the asshole the world needed. There's no doubt that iPhones are a different kind of plague on humanity but that's a rant for another day.



Three: I'm not a Luddite. I like useful technology but I don't own a smart phone. Don't want one, don't need one. The main reason I'm smartphone-less is that I work out of my home so I rarely need advanced telecommunicative capabilities. Besides, iPhones don't have FM receivers and, in my opinion, its music player is too inflexible. My cheap little T-Mobile phone handles talk and music with simple aplomb and serves me well as I cruise my 'hood. Except for the volume, that is. Even turned all the way up I have always had trouble hearing the music or news over the roar of traffic. My little phone was flexible but not very powerful... or so I thought.



Last week my trusty, behind-the-neck headphones stopped working so I did some research and chose to order a pair of JVC HA-S160 over-the-ear headphones, $15 shipped. I tried them yesterday and they're terrific! Excellent bass response and so loud I had to reduce the volume to 50% for the first time ever. I liked them so much that I ordered an extra pair, because I know the cats will not endure my happiness for long.



=Lefty=





