Random Access

Sunday
Jess went to work at noon today. She worked until midnight last night; needless to say: she was a bit tired when she got up this morning. While she was at Ye Olde Office of Posts, I headed to Adrian’s to talk Linux and help him move some things around in his workshop.

I went to B&N and did some drawing. I also found a Linux book, Linux Administration for Dummies. It was on sale for $6.98; it was originally $24.99. Truly a bargain that could not be passed up.

After Jess got off work, she, Adrian and I went to see xXx. I liked it. In the words of Captain James Tiberius Kirk (to Captain Jean-Luc Picard): “It was…. fun.” I think that I figured out a good S.A.T.-like analogy to describe my impression of the movie:

xXx is to James Bond movies as Armageddon is to Deep Impact.
How so? Consider the following:

• Both groups are of a specific genre – spy/espionage and cosmic threat to Earth, respectively.
• Xander “Triple X” Cage is the extreme sports athlete (with a dislike for rules and authority) turned secret agent while Cmdr. Bond is the perfect spy (training, diplomacy, etc). Bruce Willis’ team in Armageddon is a bunch of misfits (with a dislike for rules and authority) while the characters in Deep Impact took a more scholarly approach to the situation.
• Xander had Virg, Bond had Q (and now R).
• xXx had Samuel L. Jackson, Deep Impact had Morgan Freeman. (Alright… this one doesn’t really count in this argument. I just wanted to add it to the mix.)
• xXx and Armageddon were geared towards action-seeking, testosterone-rich crowds; the Bond movies and Deep Impact, while they have action, are/were targeted to more mature and/or emotional crowds.

All-in-all, it was a good (and fun) way to spend the evening. And, the movie had some decent quotes, too.

I talked to my father tonight. I figured that I’d either catch him on his stopover in Kansas City or that he’d call me when he got home. I got no answer, so I took it that he was in the air. My phone rang a couple of minutes later. It was Dad. He was still in Oklahoma. Hmm. Having made the reservations, I knew that he was absolutely, positively, unequivocally NOT supposed to be in Oklahoma at this time. Something in Adam’s ROTC testing had to be postponed, so Dad decided to stay the extra day and make certain that all goes well.

And now, these words from our sponsors…
I have just seen a strange commercial for Butterfinger.

It starts off with a wide-angle shot of an elderly couple seated at a dining room table. Cut to a close-up of the man eating the Butterfinger… enjoying it immensely. Cut to the woman… Butterfinger-less and looking dejected. Back to the man, writhing with glee, still eating his candy bar. Back to the woman…. still sad. The man looks at her and realizes that she wants to share in his excitement. He puts down the candy bar and passes it across the table… but the old woman still looks sad.

He passes her his teeth. She beams with joy.
::: end of commercial :::

Peace.

Saturday
Still haven’t been to sleep… but I am going soon.

Good day: Borders. Bowling. Breakfast. In that order.

Something came to mind yesterday, while I was getting ready for work. Unfortunately, I forgot about it last night when I wrote my post; but like a good boomerang, it came back to me. Bear with me, this is a little off the beaten track. (Note: After re-reading this, it seems that I may have listened to a touch too much Douglas Adams in the past few days. Hopefully, I have been able to express the following sentiment in a manner worthy of such comparison. However, if I have failed, the world will continue to turn and life will go on. But, watch out for passing Vogons, just in case…)

Deodorant. I’m sure that most everyone here has heard of it and, of that number, many have used it. Roll-on. Stick. Gel. Spray. Different forms, same task. Some may have even ventured into the realm of “Anti-Perspirant / Deodorant.” Well, bully for you! Cheers, even!

In getting ready for work on Friday, I had a revelation. No, not quite. It was more like the nagging suspicion that you had forgotten to do something that was bloody well important… and remembering what it was would set things in their proper order. The suspicion, which worked its way on to a feeling and then a memory was this: I had run out of deodorant on Thursday and had neglected to procure a new one on the way home that night.

There it was. No frantic waving of arms. No ticker-tape parades. It was there in full view. Unabashed. “Here, my Emperor, are your new clothes.” Right.

This left me in a bit of a spot: I needed to get dressed (we have this sticky little thing at work known as a “dress code”) and the clock was ticking. As I saw it, there were two options available:

1. Go the virtual ‘commando’ route and go to work sans deodorant.
2. Go into the other bathroom… and use Jess’ deodorant.

Decisions, decisions. Not much of a choice to make. And thus, I marched straightaway into the master bathroom, took up the goods, and began judicious application. Disaster averted, I could go to work secure in the knowledge that not only was I safe from offending my co-workers, but that I was protected by a product that was “strong enough for a man…” even if it was “…pH-balanced for a woman.” And out the door I went!

It wasn’t until I got to work that the ramifications of my actions became more apparent to me. It seems that not only was I being afforded the benefits of protection from odor, but – at no extra cost – I was always the beneficiary of a light floral scent! Joy of joys! How delightful! I first became aware of the aroma when it wafted past my nostrils after I had sat down at my workstation, adjusted it for comfort (which is something a little less than “perfect,” a little more than “There seems to be gravel in my shoe”), and had commenced working. Wonderful.

It was as this point that the formative stages of an odd question came to mind: If the purpose of “deodorant” is to keep one from being… well… odorous, why do deodorants have scents? Doesn’t that somewhat defeat the purpose in the first place? Granted, the product does its job be keeping you from emanating a foul aroma, but what makes it necessary for us to smell “Springtime Fresh” or “Powder Fresh” or, and this one REALLY makes no sense to me “Sports Scent.” Sports Scent?!? What great idiot thought this one up? And, even more to the point: Who was it that agreed to go along with marketing and production after hearing R&D Scientist Jones say “We have a revolutionary idea for the next deodordant scent. It’ll really blow you away. It’s… you’re going to love this…. ‘Sports Scent!’ ”

::: boggle :::
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t ‘sports scent’ what we are trying to avoid? A person doesn’t want to sit at the dinner table with the spouse and children and go, “Oh, don’t mind that smell, it’s just me. I was just down at the club playing racquetball with George before coming home.” I don’t think that the family would take too kindly to that at all. So, rather than offend their delicate sensibilities, he stops in the locker room, takes a refreshing shower, and then, with all of the due reverence, pomp and circumstance…. he applies his favorite brand of “Sports Scent” deodorant! Mission accomplished, he dresses and heads home for a lovely pot roast and vegetables and genial chat with his family.

And so, I put forth to you the following: When you go to the store to pick up your next roller/spray/stick of deodorant, think about the absurdity that you might be picking up an item that will not only prevent you from giving off a foul odor… but it just may give you a new one, to boot!

Goodnight.

Friday
I actually woke up and got out of bed before the alarm today. I was slightly amazed by this; I was quite happy about it, also. Again, it all balances in the end.

Work. Despite temptation, I worked a full 8 today.

After work, I hung out with Adrian and Land. We went to The Pie for dinner. We sat. We talked. We ate pizza. After dinner, we headed to Adrian’s. When I told him that I wanted to get back into electronics, Adrian hooked me up with an assortment of electronic doo-dads and gizmos that I could experiment with.

Rob + circuit board + various electronic parts = ???
NPR/PRI Stories
TotN – Science Friday: Cows with Human Antibodies / Alzheimer’s Update
TotN – Science Friday: Nursing Shortage / Male vs. Female Doctors
All Things Considered: Catholic Survey
All Things Considered: Bounty Hunters
All Things Considered: Palestinian ‘Human Shield’
All Things Considered: ‘Hairspray’ (John Waters. Baltimore. What more need I say?)
All Things Considered: Baseball Strike
All Things Considered: Elvis
The World: China Psychiatric Abuse
The World: Asteroid
The World: Rave on the France-Italy border

And now, it’s time to get some shut-eye I think that I am just going to stay up. I’m not tired. *sigh* I might get a little EQ playing in. I might just surf. I might play with my new tech toys. Who knows…?

Peace.

I was talking with and she mentioned that her husband was doing a favor for their landlord. She’s not very happy about this. The first thing that came to mind was Eddie Murphy’s SNL skit “Cill My Landlord.”¹

Of course, with that in mind (and the fact that I could not remember how it went), I looked it up. I was surprised with how many references there were to it. Why I was surprised, no clue. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, here it is:

Dark and lonely on a summer night
Cill my landlord, Cill my landlord
The watchdog’s barking,
do he bite?

Cill my landlord, Cill my landlord

Slip into his window, break his neck
Then his house I start to wreck
Got no reason
What the heck?

Cill my landlord, Cill my landlord

C-I-L-L my landlord

This came out in…. 1986 or ’87. I remember this because one of my classmates and I wrote a parody of this called “Cill My Teacher.” Ahh… high school. I should see if I can dig up a copy of that somewhere.

Peace.
¹ – “Cill” is pronounced “kill.”

I knew it!
There HAD to have been some kind of insidious connection!!!
I couldn’t put my finger on it… until now.

What is it?
See for yourself.

Thursday
I had something of an introspective day today.. I’m not really certain what was the catalyst, but it was definitely one of those “I am not in a mood to be bothered” days… and it was apparently very evident. I don’t think that I got to the source of my uneasiness, but I am feeling notably better.

Oddly enough, I have the late Douglas Adams (yes, that Douglas Adams) to thank for it. I was listening to The Salmon of Doubt, a collection of Mr. Adams’ last manuscripts. General musings. Random thoughts. Speeches. Articles. Pure, unexpurgated Douglas Adams. And it made me smile. No, it did more than that: It made me laugh. It gave an entirely new meaning to the phrase “So long, and thanks for all the fish.” Hmm… there’s a title in there somewhere.

NPR/PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation: Harlem Revival
Talk of the Nation: Learning About Islam / UNC Lawsuit
All Things Considered: ‘Take August Off’
All Things Considered: Tissue Recall (Organ tissue, not Kleenex®)
All Things Considered: ‘Stereotype Cafe’
All Things Considered: ‘Spam’ (email, not the canned ‘meat’)
All Things Considered: Spam Song

“Hi” and “Thanks,” to

That’s it for now. Think I’ll go and write for a bit.

Peace.

Wednesday
Woke up this morning to… whatever was playing on the radio. The next thing that I know, my phone is ringing. And it’s a good thing that I heard it… because when I looked at the clock, it was over an hour later! It was my dad; he was calling to tell me that he’d received the itinerary for the trip to OSU.

Then it was work-prep time. And then, work.

After work, Jess and I were off to m3l and Darren’s for dinner (turkey, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli, salad). Larry, Carson, Nise (Carson’s wife), and Scott were there. After dinner, we got into the topic of cartoons and other shows that we watched many rains past. We had a good time. And it was fun watching Bonkers (m3l’s cat, who looks like she could be Xena and Sissy’s triplet) go neurotic while chasing the red light from the laser pointer. We were also scarred while watching Darren and m3l make some superhero dolls (the kind that you get out of those ‘claw’ machines at restaurants and stores) do ‘weird’ and ‘naughty’ and ‘weird & naughty’ things to each other…. while making Teletubbies’ sounds. ‘Surreal‘ doesn’t even begin to cover it.

And after work: EverCrack!

NPR/PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation: Decriminalization of Marijuana
Talk of the Nation: Airline Industry Update

Fresh Air: Nick Cook – Anti-Gravity Research
Fresh Air: John W. Jones – America’s Black Holocaust Museum

The World: Frisbee Maker’s Obituary Report
The World: Human Trafficking / Sex Slave Trade
The World: Nanotechnology Report

All Things Considered: Alzheimer’s Disease
All Things Considered: ‘Buzzsaw’
All Things Considered: ‘Sept. 11 Commemoration’ – A Commentary

Quote of the Day (per Dee’s request): Dee, Lynn and I were in the break room during one of our breaks and (surprise) EverQuest came up. Dee asked me something about my character which I didn’t remember (It’s been probably a year since I have played with anything that even remotely resembles ‘regularity.’ And even that might be an overstatement…) I told him that I didn’t remember what the answer was to what he asked…

Lynn: What do you mean you ‘don’t remember?!?’ What the Hell’s wrong with you?

Me (dejected and pitiful look, deadpan delivery): I’m a jackass and a stupid idiot.

And that’s it for tonight.

Peace.

Tuesday
Adam, my brother, called me this morning. He’s leaving in a few days to start his freshman year at Oklahoma State. He’s been talking about wanting a laptop for about a year; they are getting one tomorrow or Thursday. What I got, after “Hello,” was basically: “I need to know what laptop to get.”

::: braincramp :::
I love my family, both sides (Mom’s and Dad’s). But, I am the only technomancer in the bunch. Thus, I get questions like this quite a bit. This also makes trips home ‘fun,’ because I get to:

• Answer all tech questions,
• Fix (or try to) the computers,
• Recommend upgrades,
• Install said upgrades (IF they take my advice and buy them),
• Try to convince them of the benefits of buying Item X,
• And so on… and so on… and so on.

So…. I got to explain to Adam (and Dad) why I can’t just spit out a name “just like that.” I told them that I’d look into it and get back to them after I got in from work. They said that would be fine… of course, there weren’t many options to the contrary if they wanted my input. *shrug* Dad also asked about purchasing tickets for their trip online. I gave him my 2¢ worth and suggested a few sites for him to check for the best fares.

Work. Typical day. Not much to report there.

Came home. Dad called both about the laptop and their travel arrangements to OSU. There was ‘something’ about the site that Adam didn’t grok, so they decided to wait until I got home and then ask me to do it. I did. Then I told Dad the quoted fare. (Note: I also did this a few weeks ago, but they didn’t get them then. Unless you’re a semi-regular traveller, you’d be surprised by the differences in price. I wasn’t. Dad was.) I found him a better fare on another site. Much better.

I also gave them the laptop info. Adam had looked at one today; he wrote down the basic specs, but didn’t get the model number.

::: braincramp :::
It turns out that one of the systems that I looked at was the same one that he had seen. Then I had to explain why they are more expensive than desktops and the reasons not to try and go for the most inexpensive one that you could find. And again, they said that it would be fine.

I [heart] my family. I do; but that doesn’t stop me from finding them amusing at times… and they find some of my antics questionable/amusing, too. So, it all balances out in the end.

NPR/PRI
Talk of the Nation: Women’s Health Series (Part III): Auto-immune Diseases
All Things Considered: Korean Airliner That Was Almost Shot Down on 11 Sept
All Things Considered: Turkmenistan’s President (You’ve GOT to hear this.)
All Things Considered: Housing First: ‘For Teen Moms, Just a Start’
All Things Considered: ‘Drought Patrol’ in Denver, CO
All Things Considered: Dog Ranch
The World: Steve Coogan and 24 Hour Party People

Oh, yeah…
I played EverCrack EverQuest tonight. And I didn’t die!

The End.

Peace.

Monday
Work. Run of the mill day. 7½ hours in Providence letters. Can you say “drudgery,” boys and girls? After today, I can. After (barely) remembering to d/l a new book to the laptop this morning, I wound up listening to music instead of the book. Go figure.

NPR/PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation: Medical Privacy
Talk of the Nation: Child Abduction – History and Psychology
All Things Considered: The Future of Baseball
All Things Considered: Confessional Windows
All Things Considered: Liars’ Table
All Things Considered: Child Smuggling Ring
The World: Northern Snakehead Report (for and )
The World: Edinburgh Fringe Festival

I finally got “Mockingbird” out of my head. I still have no idea why it was on “endless loop” in my head this morning. Madness! Madness, I tell you. I mean… it could have been something cool like “Fire” by Hendrix or “Artificial Flowers” by Bobby Darin or anything by emmet swimming or Rush. Even something by Jimmy Buffett. But, it wasn’t. Not even close. Carly Simon and James Taylor. Don’t get me wrong: I like them. (Yes, I did freely admit that.) But, first thing in the morning, I’d prefer something a little less…. cheesy as the first song that pops into (and gets stuck in) my head.

Stray Toaster of the Day: After hearing a news story about British Foreign Office Ministry officials meeting with Libyan leader Mohammar Qaddafi (or any of the various spellings), I remembered hearing about him and his ties to the Pan-Am crash in Lockerbie, Scotland, U.K. “In today’s news, Colonel Mohammar Qaddafi said (blah blah blah)…” He was in the news for for weeks on end.

Here’s the thought that came to mind today: If you are the leader of a country, wouldn’t you want your title to be something that makes you sound like the baddest man/woman within your borders (and possibly even outside of them)? After all: As a “colonel,” he can be outranked by his top military official. “General” Qaddafi. Now that’s better. Even “King” or “Marshall” or “Lord High Emperor of All That He Surveys.” Hell, you could even make up something: “Grand Poobah Slugbutt” or something. But, “Colonel?” What?!?! Is he trying to be modest? Puh-leeze. The President of the United States of America is the “Commander in Chief” and he has to split the power with the Judicial and Legislative Branches. I’m thinking that if you are “The Man” (or “The Woman”) in a country, you deserve something of a promotion in rank. *shrug* Maybe it’s just me.

Peace.

Why in the Nine Hells has “Mockingbird,” by Carly Simon and James Taylor been going through my head for the past :45?

Sunday

• Slept in. Actually, I slept a little longer than I had planned.
  ::: Sleeping-in GOOOD!!!

• Lunch at the local Outback.
• I spent a few hours at B&N. This week, I didn’t get any drawring (not a typo) done today, but I was still pretty productive.
  • I helped Jess’ sister, Jenny, with her accounting homework. It’s been at least 8 years since I took an accounting class, but I was able to remember enough to help her.
  • I finally got off my duff, so to speak, and actually got back to working on a story that I have been “working on” for about a year-and-a-half. And, in that time, I had written a whole two pages. I don’t know WHAT has kept me from working on it; I’ve been talking about it for months! Last week, I fleshed out the plot lines and determined what things had to coincide with each other. Tonight, I incorporated what I had written many rains ago into the proper format and added some new text. It felt good to get to it and do something about (and with) it.
• Came home and putzed about. Although, amidst the aforementioned laziness, I did have a couple of good conversations with and .

I neglected to mention something last night: Chad, a friend (and former co-worker) of mine from N.C., called to inform me that another former co-worker of ours died Thursday after being in a car wreck; he was a passenger in a car in the D.C. Metro area and someone ran a traffic signal (at 60 mph) and hit his vehicle.

Randy was a musician/song writer; an author (1, 2); an avid boxing fan. He even worked on the old Vampirella comic book at Harris Studios (before it went to Marvel Comics and to on to Anarchy Studios). To say that he was just ‘a fan’ of schlocky B-movies would be a gross understatement. He was an all-around ‘good guy.’ And he was my friend.

And that’s all for tonight.

Peace.

Saturday

• Didn’t do much in the early part of the day. And that was peachy. It’s the weekend and as far as I’m concerned, that means: “You can dance rest if you want to…” Jess and I went to lunch at Hires Big H. It’s a… a… hmm. “Drive-in” isn’t right. And “diner” reminds me more of something like the Double-T Diner (Rt 40 and Rolling Road in Catonsville, MD). Hires Big H is… more like… Arnold’s from “Happy Days.” And, it’s 50s-themed, to boot!
• After that, I stopped at Adrian’s (again) and hung out for a while.
• Then… on to the bowling alley. I got there early and talked to Shawn for a bit and then bowled; Larry, Carson, Scott, Shawn and Tony (the gentleman who taught me to hook the ball) bowled on two lanes. showed up and provided moral support. I bowled something like nine games. Apparently, I’m doing something right (or at least better than I had been) because neither my back nor my knee hurt after the marathon session. That’s a plus!
• Traditional post-bowlin’ eats at the local Village Inn. The crowd tonight was pretty tame. *shrug* Maybe the sights will be better next week. But we did get to see Shelley, Mya and Mike (3 of our 5 favorite members of the V.I. waitstaff; Kate and Jon were not there).

Before I forget (again)…
I’ve had a few pictures that I have been meaning to post over the past couple of weeks, but I haven’t gotten around to it until tonight. So, without further adieu…

• Jess and I were driving down 106th South (South Jordan to Sandy) on Sunday and we saw this sign. We also noticed that the funeral home (1, 2) that had been under construction was now open. The thing that was… unusual about them was this. What in the Nine Hells?!? That was one of the last things that I ever thought that I would see. Ever. What, exactly, would a visitor there do or say? “Hi, I’d like to try a single for a couple of nights.” ?!?
• Random clouds over the parking lot at work. (1, 2, 3)
• And, finally… from my favorite Walgreen’s comes this.

And now, it’s time to surrender to the blissful oblivion of sleep.

Peace.

Friday
Work. Rather uneventful. Finished Children of Dune just before quittin’ time. (Mental Note: Remember to d/l a new book for next week.)

NPR/PRI Stories

• Thursday
  Talk of the Nation: September 11^th Observances
  Talk of the Nation: Obesity: ‘Fast Food on Trial’
  Talk of the Nation: Eating in Your Car
  The World: Aborigine Land Rights
  The World: Youth Orchestra of the Americas
  All Things Considered: Estrogen: ‘Marketing Menopause’
  All Things Considered: Funeral Sets
  All Things Considered: Suspended Surgeon (left in the middle of surgery)
  All Things Considered: New, Computer-enhanced BMWs

• Friday
  TotN – Science Friday: ‘Conjoined Twins’ and ‘Agriculture and Sustainability’
  The World: Tasmanian Aborigines
  The World: Growing Up Bi-Racial in Japan
  The World: Geo Quiz (answer at the bottom of this post)
  All Things Considered: WorldCom
  All Things Considered: Shaw University (N.C.) Mosque
  All Things Considered: Re-Segregation in Schools?
  All Things Considered: Koop

  Michelle Mercer reviews a new CD by the duo Koop. The group is from Sweden, though they sound at times that they are Brazilian, or from the 1960s or perhaps even Japanese. Their music is stolen from both these sources but what they do with those sources is truly a new blend of what Mercer calls “Ikea Soul.” The CD is Waltz for Koop by Koop on Jazzanova Compost Records. See http://www.k-o-o-p.com/

Miscellany…
Rana IM’ed me Thursday night (wee hours of Friday morning). It was the second time that I’ve talked to her since I heard about the military jet crash at a Ukrainian air show, but it was the first time that I remembered to ask her how far that was from where she was (at that time). She told me that she was either in Prague or on the way back to her village (‘good thing’) and that she was doing well (also, ‘good thing’).

I talked to my father at least four or five times today. I think that we have talked more in the past 36 hours than we have talked in the past month! And, for the record, I am not saying that this is a bad thing. I just find it amusing. For some as-yet-unknown reason, he didn’t get the file that I was working on and sent to him this morning.

::: braincramp :::

I had to get Jess to resend it this evening. It worked that time! I’m not sure if there was something wrong with the email profile/account that I was using to send it or if it can simply be chalked up to “It just needed a woman’s touch.” But, either way: It got there. He called me to inform me that he looked at the preview and that he liked it. Hoo-AH! He downloaded the file and took it to Kinko’s for processing and printing. And it was good. Amen.

“Move Along Home” was Thursday night’s episode of the Sisko Show. Another first season episode, but it was worth watching if for no other reason than to see Sisko playing a hopscotch-like game while reciting a rhyme and doing the accompanying gestures. Who says that station commanders never take time out for fun and games? “Repression” was Thursday’s Janeway and the Barbie Borg Show ep. It’s a decent episode, but this was the payoff. 24^th Century tech; mid-20^th Century retro-cool.

Peace.

Answer to Friday’s Geo Quiz

Thursday
Work went by pretty quickly. Listened to more of Children. Came home.

Got a call from my dad this morning. He needs me to design and create tickets for a concert (Morgan State University Choir) at his church in October. No problem. He needs it by Saturday morning at 09:00. He lives in Maryland; I live in Utah. Minor issue, but not necessarily a problem. I, being not only the prodigal but also the dutiful son, did it. Besides, I was glad to do it.

NPR/PRI Stories
Will be posted after I become coherent again Friday morning.

Quote of the Day:
Clint Eastwood(on The Late Late Show) : You know, I get paid a lot of money for squinting. I’m not going to come on here and do it for free.

Peace.

Wednesday
Worked the full 8 today – 4 in letters, 4 in flats. Nothing come up that was as amusing as “Captain Cock Road,” though. Oh well. Listened to more of Children today. More like “slogged my way through…” I started nodding off in part of it.

NPR/PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation – U.S. – Saudi Arabia
Talk of the Nation – Retirement
All Things Considered – Real Estate 1
All Things Considered – Real Estate 2
All Things Considered – Walter Cronkite on the Vietnam War
All Things Considered – Koalas (and Cars) in Australia
All Things Considered – HIV- Resistant to Drugs?
The World – Martha Stewart’s Japanese Fans
The World – Sydney Accidental Tourists

“Meanwhile, in yet another movie…”
Thanks to Adrian, Larry, and Joni and the helpful folks in ! I had forgotten my root password (Think “Administrator” for WinDoze). I could log in as a user, but couldn’t change any settings for the system. Of course, I didn’t realize this until a couple of days ago. So…. I spent the past few days trying to remember the #$(*&#$ password. No go. BAH!!! Thanks to the folks listed above, I was able to wrest control of the system from its kernel and change the password. Life is good once more.

Peace.