2005 – Page 13 – Ted's Blog

The Price of Water

I got my water bill today from Dekalb County. They announced that, effective January 1, the price of water was going up to $5.41 per 1,000 gallons. Of course they don’t tell you what the old price was, so I figured it out and got $4.30. That’s an increase of 26%.

Then I wondered when the last time they went up was. I keep a spreadsheet of past utility costs and discovered that prior to January 1, 2003 the price was only $3.50 per 1,000 gallons. That means water has increased in price 54% in only two years!

Grant’s Picture

There’s a picture of Grant that shows up on the main blog page every now and then where he is smoking a cigar on the porch down in Bradenton. That’s one of the funniest pictures I’ve ever seen.

Here’s a link.

The iPod Has Arrived

Today I realized that the iPod has really become a mass marketed device. I was standing in line at the register at Walgreen’s buying $2 t-shirts and among the impulse-buy items like batteries, lighters, and tic tacs, they had iPod accessories: a case, a belt clip, and ear buds.

Powerbook 5300c

As I mentioned in my ice storm entry, my Powerbook 520c died and I figured out the problem with the Powerbook 5300c adapter. I went to Radio Shack and bought a pack of butt connectors (despite what it sounds like they are plastic-coated metal tubes that you crimp on to wires) and was able to connect the wires to a standard power adapter tip that came with my Recoton Universal Car Adapter power supply. It is surprising that Apple would settle for a standard power adapter tip for one of their pieces of hardware. I got the adapter crimped on, tested the polarity twice, and hooked it up. The laptop, which probably hasn’t started in five years or more, made some awful beeping noises, and started right up. And the clock was only a little over a year off, stating that it was 1/1/04.

Continue reading “Powerbook 5300c”

Ice Storm

Yesterday it got very cold with the high in the 30’s. Then last night it started raining and sleeting. By this morning there was a layer of ice on everything and it continued to rain and sleet off and on all day. My car is covered in icy armor with icicles hanging down off the bumper and over the license plate. Katie and Clio do not like the ice. It crunches under their feet and covers up the grass. They don’t seem real sure about where they can go to the bathroom.

I didn’t go anywhere today, just sat around the house and watched TV and played on the computer. I pulled out the Powerbook 5300 Jeb gave me and figured out why the power adapter isn’t working: there’s nothing wrong with the adapter itself but the tip appears to be broken. So I cut it off and I get voltage through the wires, but will now need a tip. Meanwhile my Powerbook 520 seems to have died completely. I’m not sure why it won’t work anymore, but I think it is a fuse in the Powerbook itself (or the keyboard won’t work and that’s where the power button is).

I couldn’t even walk up the slight hill of my driveway without going into the grass where I could get footing. The street is mostly ice, but people have been driving enough that there are two tire tracks that are clear. I haven’t lost power, but I charged up all my batteries just in case. I’ve heard a couple of big branches snap and fall, but nothing major yet. Tomorrow it is supposed to go into the 40’s so all of this should melt.