The Kindle - Has Its Time Come?

Amazon.com is selling the Kindle 2 for $359. That's only for Kindle itself - it doesn't include any books or subscriptions to magazines or newspapers. So it's pretty expensive, and it doesn't make sense to me, especially since I economize by borrowing nearly all the books I read from the library.

But here's an astounding thing I read today - The New York Times costs twice as much, over a 1 year period to print and distribute as it would cost for the Times to buy each of its subscribers a Kindle.

Perhaps the Kindle's time has come faster than I had anticipated.

But what about the crosswords?

Today's Oneword - Trained

Go to the OneWord website and write about today's word.

I don't know what I was trained to do. But I'm fairly confident that I'm not doing it.

Today's Oneword - Neglect

Go to the OneWord website and write about today's word.

Sometimes I neglect my blog. But when I get into blogging, and reading the blogs of others, I neglect pretty much everything else, including getting enough sleep. But I'll sleep when I'm dead!

Ross Park Mall Soon To Have No Affordable Stores

Ross Park Mall announced today that it would soon be closing to the middle class, as no affordable stores will be permitted to exist there. Ilori Boutique, which sells designer sunglasses; Johnston & Murphy, the shoe store; and Lacoste, a sportswear boutique, will be opening at the end of March. All three will move into vacant spaces at the complex.

We won't be lamenting the reduced traffic on McKnight Road, unless the Goodwill Store gets packed out. I've gotten some great deals at at that place.

Today's Oneword - Install

On my new computer from work I can't install anything without groveling for admin rights. So, I wanted to watch some visualizations with Windows Media Player. NO WAY! Gotta genuflect to the IT gods and get admin rights first!

King Cake Photo And Haiku

Here's the King Cake I

made for Monday's staff meeting
hope they all like it

Today's Oneword - Mental

Go to the OneWord website and write about today's word.

I get a mental block every time I see a word on oneword.com. But I'm not going to worry about that as I have a mental block most of the time.

Today's Oneword - Loop

Go to the OneWord website and write about today's word.


There are people who are in the loop. I am not one of those people. Nor am I among the people who even know who the people are who are in the loop. That used to bother me.

Questions That Should Perhaps Be Asked - And Answered

From Ray Delgado's blog...

Today's Oneword - Interview

Go to the OneWord website and write about today's word.

When I was in Australia I wanted to get a newspaper from New Zealand to see if there was anyone who might give me a job interview.

Today's Oneword - Dimmer

Go to the OneWord website and write about today's word.

dimmer glimmer simmer rimmer slimmer. Well, that's all I can conjure up at this hour.

Today's Oneword - Thread

Go to the OneWord website and write about today's word.

Thread. Thin. Holds things together. Like the thin thread of ice holding the thick parts together in Lake Erie. It didn't work too well and now the ice has fallen apart. Like it usually does when the weather warms up. But this time 150 not-so-smart ice fishermen were stranded.

The Perils Of Ice Fishing

When you think about ice fishing (and I almost never do) certain thoughts could come to mind. Most of which have to do with being cold. I mean, brrrr! Ice fishing is a cold thing to do. Deer hunting is cold, and I've spent my share of time shivering in the woods. My feet always get cold, but you can always do some walking to help that. And if you're fortunate enough to get a deer, you have to clean it and drag it out, rather than throw it in the stack and wait for another. Plus, deer season is usually done by mid-December, before it gets super cold.

But with ice fishing you've got to stay put. No walking, or you might miss your chance at that lunker.

But now there's another hazard with ice fishing. You have to stay put, but you can't trust the ice to do the same! So found more than 150 ice fishermen and others who were caught on an 8-mile long ice floe which broke off from the Ohio coast near Toledo and started to drift north. Rescue activity is currently underway, and at least one person has lost his life.

The incident took place during a spring thaw. Although the ice was 2 feet thick in spots, the weather was conducive to the ice breaking up. Ottawa County, Ohio Sheriff Bob Bratton said that those on the ice should never have been there in the first place, and stated that "if there was a section in the code about common sense, we would have had 150 arrests out there today."

A-Rod To Be Inducted Into Baseball's Hall of Dopes

According to an article in Sports Illustrated, baseball star Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two anabolic steroids in 2003, when he won the American League home run title and the AL Most Valuable Player award as a shortstop for the Texas Rangers.

Rodriguez joins 103 other players who tested positive that year. But it probably doesn't matter! Major League Baseball has prohibited the use of steroids without a valid prescription since 1991. But, as of 2003, there were no penalties for testing positive.

Plaxico Burress Does Shots - Michael Phelps Does Bongs

Plaxico Burress. Michael Phelps. What do they have in common? They're young, talented athletes intent on throwing away big piles of money.

Burress faces 3-1/2 years in jail and could lose $30 million for shooting himself in the leg. As for Phelps, it's unclear how much money he could lose. But he has already been ditched by Kellogg's, so don't look for his face on [inhale] boxes of Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes cereal boxes anytime in the near future. [exhale]

Today's Oneword - Drawer

Go to the OneWord website and write about today's word.

The Steelers put the Cardinals in the drawer. Then they opened it a little. They heated it up. They allowed them to fly around a little. Then they put them in the freezer and slammed it shut.

Stealer Defeated by Cardinal Dye

One of the things that you need to do to succeed in life is to carpe diem, to seize the moment. That's exactly what one man did, or attempted to do, during today's Super Bowl celebration parade in Pittsburgh, or Sixburgh, as we're calling it for now.

The robber entered the Huntington Bank branch located on Smithfield Street, approached a teller window, and handed the teller a note demanding all the money.

That's pretty good thinking - the cops were going to be outside focusing on the parade, and the robber, who was wearing a black and gold Steelers jacket, could just blend in with the crowd watching the parade. But there was just one little thing...the money that the teller gave him had a red dye pack inside. Once outside, the dye packet exploded, the robber threw the money to the ground, and made his getaway. All of the money was recovered.

Police described the suspect as white, between 6 feet 1 and 6 feet 3 inches tall, wearing a black and gold Steelers jacket with a gold hood, and blue jeans. That describes a lot of Pittsburghers!

Pittsburghers Acting Like They're From Morgantown

When the West Virginia Mountaineers win (or lose) a big game, you can count on a real Morgantown celebration. That means that couches and dumpsters are gonna be set afire.

It's always great to make fun of those WVU students, but now, Pittsburgh students are apparently in the same category. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, One of America's Great Newspapers, reports that over 100 people were cited overnight for "riotous behavior" after the Steelers' Super Bowl victory last night. Couches were set afire in Oakland and the South Side. Blazes in garbage cans and dumpsters required visits by cops and firefighters.

We can only hope that a sizeable portion of these revelers transfer down to Morgantown in the fall.

Girl Scout Cookie Lightweighting Alert

It's that time of year. Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow. We get 6 more weeks of winter. And Girl Scout cookie sales start. Last year I wrote a posting about getting shortchanged on Girl Scout Cookies. In it I show how the boxes were underpacked, with 26% empty space at the top of a box of Thin Mints.

And now, the Girl Scouts have gone to confession, as reported in an article by Sally Kalson in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, One of America's Great Newspapers. The cost of ingredients has gone up, so, according to the article, each $3.50 box of cookies sold by the Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania will be lightweighted by an ounce (Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos and Trefoils) or a half-ounce (Samoas and Tagalongs.) This could mean two to four fewer cookies per box.

There's nothing in the article about the packaging. They could definitely save some money on packaging, unless they still want people to think they're getting the same box of cookies that got last year.

I'll buy some, get out my trusty ruler, and report on it.