So we’ve been having intermittent net problems. They sent and Level I tech and he removed a splitter on the pole but the problem wouldn’t manifest while he was here.

So this evening around 7PM the net service failed again. I got them to pass me to a Level II guy. Turns out he could see the issue – that it’s something past my connection on the pole. But he and I got to talking and he asked if I’d ever read Orwell’s 1984. Of course, I asked if he’d ever read Huxley’s “Brave New World” and he had. Then we got talking about the system they use and how if cable modems should be replaced every 3 to 5 years so too should amplifiers and the like. I did mention the new book I’d gotten called “Warnings: Finding Cassandras to Stop Catastrophes” by Richard A. Clarke and R.P. Eddy. Also told him about Claude Shannon – the father of information science.

 

 

So for the past two weeks we’ve been seeing the net connection go down at approximately 10AM and between 10PM and 12AM.

Last night it worked my last nerve. Now some months ago I’d purchased a cable modem on Amazon. It was cheap enough and when you compared the price to what Cox Communications was charging me per year it made sense. But through inertia it never got installed, until of course early this morning.

Got the customer service folks on the line and I said I had a spare modem I’d purchased. She recommended we do the swap. Gave her the serial number and HFC MAC address and an hour or so later good to go. HFC if I remember correctly is Hybrid something Coax.

I replaced the Cisco (Now it’s not all Cisco gear in the house!) with the Arris/Motorola SurfBoard6121. The art has changed considerably – they use RGB LED’s in this puppy. Or at a min Blue/Green.

 

And I’ll be returning that Cisco cable modem to Cox today. Take it off my account thank you.

 

It’s quite simple really. You see as it exists in many communities the elected representatives choose the members of the re-district board.

But let’s do it in random fashion. Set it so that the following conditions for selection are used:

a) You must be a registered voter.

b) You must have voted in at least the last three general elections

Simple rules – then for selection the following:

9 member redistrict board. Board comprised of four Democratic voters, four Republican voters and one Unaffiliated voter.

If we did it this way there’s no chance of districts favoring either a Democratic or Republican candidate through gerrymandering. And because it’s a random selection good luck buying the members of the re-districting board.

So I got a 2017 Nissan Frontier to drive via Zipcar. Nice truck – cloth seats, 4×4, it’s got gusto and I haven’t yet tried to chirp the tires.

Includes tilt wheel, bluetooth and usb connectivity, but perplexingly no rear view camera. Granted it’s a pickup with high visibility.

One thing though – most Japanese vehicles get squirrely up around 80MPH. Not so this pickup truck. Dead stable at 80, 85, 90PMPH. Now it does drink gas visibly but I could almost forgive that due to the stability of the platform.

So overall Nissan gets a solid A minus on this truck. Pretty much does everything right.

So yesterday on the train there were about 8 ot 10 guys – all in their late teens or early twenties. They were pretty fucking obnoxious. Very loud, to the point where the train conductor had to ask them to tone it down.

But then there was also the element of homo-erotic to them. They’d sit with their arms around each other. Very touchy feely with each other.

But it brought to mind, that men should be placed in barrels with a bung driven in until such time as they reach the age of thirty to thirty five. I found myself in agreement with that term yesterday.

So this past holiday we got the nephew and nieces Amazon Fire tablets. That and a $50 Amazon gift certificate. Not a bad gift if you ask me.

But when I buy books on Amazon lately they get sent to my Fire Tablet and the 2nd who I don’t know which child has. If they read any of the books I’ve sent they’re in for a real education and a treat.

For example, books like “Seeing Through Christianity: A Critique of Beliefs and Evidence” or “The Invention of Capitalism” of even “Inviting Disaster: Lessons from Edge of Technology” to “The Case Against Sugar”.

So in essence I’m planting the poison pill in the family. Who knew Amazon could be so much fun.