I decided to go to the district polling station before it opened to-day, in the hope of avoiding a line. My thinking was that, while I would be waiting for it to open, I would spend less time in line, for a net savings. In the event, there was already a significant line when I got there, but the line grew dramatically behind me. I might have reälized more savings had I got there five or ten minutes still sooner. On the other hand, there may be times later to-day when the line is much shorter (yet before the polls close).

As per my previous declarations, I did not vote in the Presidential election. I remain persuaded that none of the candidates was adequate to hold so much power. I am convinced that the next President is going to prove a very great fool or a very great knave or quite likely both, and that the next two or more years are just going to be a rolling disaster.

I'd like to be able to connect my note-book computer to a better antenna than those built into it.

I could drill a hole in the case, and mount an RP SMA jack there, connected to the internal Wi-Fi card. The patch cord that I would use fot this would cost me $20.50.

An alternative would be to get a new USB or PCMCIA[1] Wi-Fi adapter with a built-in external antenna connector. Setting aside units that I fear would be even cheaper than they are inexpensive, it appears that an adapter with an antenna jack or jacks would cost at least $40, and then not support the forthcoming 802.11n standard.

Thus, basically, if I bought one of these Wi-Fi adapters, then I'd be paying $20 or more to avoid drilling a hole in the case of my computer, and for the convenience of not having to open-up the case whenever I wanted to switch to-or-from the internal antenna that would be disconnected to enable the RP SMA jack. (A patch cord with bulkhead U.FL-R connector instead of an RP SMA jack would spare me that latter awkwardness, but I've not found such a cord.)
 

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[1]I don't much like the idea of surrendering the PCMCIA slot, as I only have one; but I have six USB slots, and have never used more than five at one time.

Something about being out during bright, sunny days quickly exhausts me. I'm okay from late after-noon into dawn; and I'm okay in shade or in a room with little or no direct sunlight. But about ten minutes in the sun from later morning until mid-after-noon (it doesn't seem to matter whether I'm walking or in a car) leaves me wanting to lay down and sleep.

I headed home this after-noon, thinking that I would thereäfter either run errands or organize my apartment. Now I doubt that I will do the former or much of the latter.

A very attractive young woman made a couple of attempts to catch my eye last night. Even though I am quite off the market, it's still flattering. But I anticipate a time when this will no longer occur. Perhaps I should cultivate a combination of a speech defect and Scottish accent.

Critter-Cages sent e.mail to me last night, announcing that the Habitrail Mini and accessories that I had ordered from them on 20 October have shipped. UPS reports that the package was given to them earlier in the evening. Given that it's coming from the Los Angeles area, I would expect to receive it to-day.

I am very glad that I'm apparently going to be able to include Habitrail parts in the home that I will give my mouse, mostly because of the Mini Loft — I remember how Bob and Ray used to sleep in their loft (which was hamster-sized, because Hagen wasn't making mouse-sized Habitrail things back then), which was apparently where they felt most secure. It may prove that the Crittertrail is where the new mouse will want to spend its time sleeping, but I wanted it to have the option of the loft.

Up-Date: The package indeed arrived this after-noon, and seems to be quite in order.

A man and woman who live in the same apartment complex as do I have a little table that they keep just outside the entrance to their unit.

Last year, as Hallowe'en approached, they decorated the area in front of their apartment, and began leaving a bowl of candy in front of it, unattended, night-and-day. I bought a bag of small Butterfinger bars, and one night surreptitiously added them to the bowl. This act apparently disturbed someone, as the bowl was thereäfter taken-in at night, and returned sometime in the daylight, until Hallowe'en had passed.

In December, they placed a small Christmas tree on the table. Early one morning, I slipped a gift-wrapped large Butterfinger bar under it.

This season, they again put out the Hallowe'en decorations, and the bowl, but they take it in when they retire. I have been carrying-around another bag of small Butterfinger bars, hoping for a chance to add them undetected. But, repeatedly, when I have gone by their unit, the fellow has been sitting near the window, such that he might turn and look at an unfortunate moment.

However, last night, the bowl was out and there seemed no one at the window. I grabbed three or four small bars — more bars would have taken more time — and added them to the bowl. Then I walked on towards the mailboxes. Seconds later, the man came round the corner, returning with their dog from a walk. I greeted the dog by name (I don't know the name of the man), but kept walking.

Perhaps I am now a person of interest in their investigations. In any case, the bowl was not out when I returned late last night.

I learned yester-day that PetSmart, at least in this area, does not sell mice of both sexes at any of its stores. The store on Murphy Canyon Road sells only female mice; that in La Jolla sells only male mice; and so forth.

I guess that this practice is to avoid any accidental pregnancies. Certainly, some customers would be very unhappy to find Minnie producing an unexpected litter.

When they notice that I have shut-down my computer and am packing to leave, people intending to be helpful sometimes unplug my computer. Unfortunately, they often or always do so by pulling on the cord itself, rather than the plug. Largely as a result, I have had yet another cord begin to fail recently. I have some replacements on-order, but I also plan to repair the three failing cords that I have at-hand.

A failure is almost invariably where the plug joins the cord, such that replacing the plug will restore the unit. Further, I could get a plug with some sort of sleeve, so that people would be grabbing that, rather than the cord.

To-day I have looked for replacement plugs at CVS, at Fry's Electrionics, at Radio Shack, and at Target, unsuccessfully at each place. (I could have bought a whole power cord at Fry's Electronics, but I need a cord with a special sort of plug at its other end, to join it to a power adapter.) I was fairly certain that I could find some at Ace Hardware (to which I would have gone to-day had they been open while I was running errands); but my search of their website yielded surprised disappointment.

It used to be that replacement plugs were readily found at the sorts of places to which I went. There world has changed in a small-but-telling way. People are far less inclined to repair electrical devices than once they were; they more often simply discard them. A large part of that shift is almost surely economically efficient — repairs can consume more resources than replacements — but it's also part of a larger trend of people becoming ever less able to do things for themselves, and that saddens me.

Up-Date (2008:10/27): ForensicEye (by way of the Woman of Interest) informs me that he gets replacement plugs at Home Depot

Up-Date (2008:10/30): I noticed that the website for Home Depot did not list any replacement plugs, in spite of the assurance from ForensicEye that plugs can be found in their stores. So I called to check whether a similar situation obtains with respect to Ace Hardware, and was told that they carry them in their stores despite the lack of listing on their website. So the plugs are more difficult to find than once they were, but we're not reached the point where Ace Hardware doesn't have them.

This picture was taken in low light, and thus with a long exposure; the cat is a bit blurred because it was in motion, eating.

The vendor from whom I originally ordered a Habitrail Mini and some accessories has failed to deliver.

I'd placed an order on 08 October with Fresh Marine, I was provided with a URL for checking on the status of my order. When, after ten days, the Mini and accessories had not arrived, I went to the page and discovered that the order status was simply blank, so I sent an e.mail query. To-day I received e.mail stating

Unfortuantely your order is cancelled as we do not have an eta when hagen will have the items.

All-in-all, this is markèdly poor performance from Fresh Marine. The order status page could have reported that they were waiting on word from Hagen, were that the case. It appears that Fresh Marine were completely inert until my query.

I have found another vendor, Critter-Cages, offering the same products, and at lower prices. And, fortunately, I do have the Crittertrail Mini Two, and I even recently acquired Expansion Kit 3; so there will be much for the mouse when I get one, even if I don't have a Habitrail.

For what it's worth, my orders from Better Homes & Gardens (Crittertrail Mini Two), UPCO (water bottles), and PetCo (expansion kit) have all gone well.