Computers have arrived! (And other, smaller events of the day.)

We may be an awesome species, but there are moments that make one want to quit the human race.

This morning I was YouTubing instructions on how to dance the waltz (don’t ask). At the end of a video that showed no more than the basic 1-2-3-1-2-3 box step, there came a warning: Do not try this without supervision, specialized equipment, and further training.

Fortunately there was no caution about the waltz being known to cause cancer in the state of California.

But really, people. Really???

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Back on the good, even grand, side of human nature …

The White Truck of Happiness showed up with these about an hour ago.

That’s twin Acers for setting up my main and working backup systems, a really big Dell, power cords, a carry case, and a SpinRite CD. These are all courtesy of M, a man who seems to have a magical (and legal!) supply of recent-model laptops that would otherwise be recycled — and a generous heart for sharing them.

The Acers are, at my request, stripped of any operating system. And — without me even asking — they have their cameras pre-taped. No spying eyes.

The Dell, which has Win 10 on it, is for me to check out then share with a friend in need (but I confess I’m quite impressed with the look and feel of it, myself). The SpinRite CD is borrow-only, in respect of creator Steve Gibson’s rights.

I haven’t fired up any of the computers yet. I’m guessing they spent a long, freezing night in that truck, so I’m letting them warm up to room temperature first.

Even then, I’m not going to get right on them. I have longstanding plans that will keep me away from computers for much of a week, and after that it’ll take me a while to set everything up.

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Once I do get set up, I’ll owe multiple thank yous for one-time donations, multiple coffees, and new (or enlarged) Patreon signups. Thank you for your patience; I’ve had very limited email since the crash, but I know where thanks are owed.

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In comments a few days ago, Pat asked for recent pix of the rock wall with its healthily growing plantings and the new lawn.

This really isn’t the time of year for it. The new grass is covered with brown leaves, the plants in the wall are past their summer prime and also starting to get covered with leaves and cedar needles and fronds. But here’s a bit of a glimpse.

When I planted these Alyssium (the purple flowers), they were tiny, puny, sick-looking things about 1/10th this size. With watering and Miracle-Gro, they took off in August and haven’t stopped blooming since.

And here’s a long shot of the wall that isn’t anything special but gives you an idea of how much the greenery is spreading. By next summer, it’s going to be pretty wow (if the green, which is sedum, makes it through the winter).

The house and wall taken from across the street. The grass is still young and fragile, but we filled holes with top soil and it’s going to be sooooo much nicer to walk (and picnic) on than the former weeds-n-pits ever was.

Finally, a close-up of the sedum between the rocks. These were just tiny plugs when I put them in. Now they’re thick mats and some of them are starting to drape over the rocks (which is exactly the idea).

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Finally, in continuing honor of our World Gone Mad, the Babylon Bee (satire, satire, satire, for the people over at Snopes.com who can no longer tell the difference) and the dedicated journalists at CNN expose the alleged hero dog who helped take down Al-Baghdadi: the dog was revealed as … well, it’s just too shocking. Let’s say when it comes to bad behavior he puts certain Supreme Court justices to shame. 🙂