Daily Doings at the Line of Death Bar & Grill

Using a DVD+RW disk for the original digital mastering did the trick. This afternoon, I dubbed a copy of the VHS tape my dad made in 1991 containing all the Christmas, family gathering, and vacation movies. This evening, I added chapter breaks, split off a few separate titles, and added title pictures. All of these changes were written to the disc.

I then booted up Ubuntu, and copied the DVD+RW disc to a DVD+R disc. I'm watching the final result now. I now have a DVD I can burn copies of and give to my relatives. I'd still like to send the original 8mm films to a conversion house for a better transfer to DVD, but the verion they produce won't have my dad's narration.

I also ended up making a couple of coasters trying to copy my tape of Tiny Toy Stories, a collection of the first 5 Pixar shorts. The tape has copy protection on it, which I didn't find out until a few seconds after I started dubbing. Grumble, grumble. (I had a power glitch the first few seconds of the first dub.) Anyone want a coaster?

Of course, I now need to get more DVD+RW discs for the sole purpose of DVD editing.

I got up early this morning and restarted the transfer of The Mind's Eye to DVD. This time I didn't delete any titles. I spent about a half hour putting in the chapter breaks and disc title. When I finalized the disc. ejected it, and played it on another DVD player, I noticed my chapter breaks weren't there. Instead, it used the default breaks, spaced 10 minutes apart.

Later, I did the same with Devo: The Men Who Make The Music. This time, both the disc title and chapter breaks didn't stick.

I also scanned the cardboard covers of the tapes and printed them out on specially perforated DVD cover stock.

I'm not completely satisfied with the results, but I'm satisfied enough to be able to watch these shows on DVD. After all, it's a personal project for private use. I have no desire or intention to make further copies. Unfortunately, that may not be good enough for the FBI, who are always on the lookout for video piracy.

I like shopping. I like hunting for bargains. I like driving. But lately I think it's been taking its toll on me.

Last week, I went to 4 Big Lots stores to pick up a stack of 100 DVD+Rs for $16. That's a damn good price. Micro Center wants $21 for their stack of 100. But it took me traveling to 4 stores to do it. T‎his week, the object of pursuance was an HP 4 Gb flash drive, also at Big Lots. This find took me 3 trips. (Yes, brands, sizes, and styles matter.)

I sometimes think about the gas I'm wasting, along with the wear and tear on the car, and the time it takes to chase down these deals. Is it really worth my time and energy to save a few bucks?

Yesterday's "Writer's Block" topic was boycotts: What companies do you boycott and why?

( Here's my list. )

I've been using my "older" laptop this week. Tardis Mk III is a Dell Latitude CPx with a 650 MHz CPU, a 40 Gb hard drive, and 512 Mb of RAM. It's dual-boot Windows XP annd Ubuntu Linux.

Last year, I purchased the RAM form a vendor on eBay. It passed the Memtest86+ test, so I kept it. Two weeks ago, I purchased replacement RAM from computermemoryoutlet.com. It too passed the Memtest86+ test, so I kept it in the machine as well.

Despite the new memory, I boot up, and I get a read/write error early on into the second DIMM during the POST test. At one point -- and it happens at two different locations -- it writes 00EF00EF and reads back 00EF00EE, or something like that. And so the BIOS automagically reduces the available memory to 256 Mb. I can run both OSes on it using only 256 Mb of memory, but it's darned slow.

I tried taking it to a laptop repair place, and they were reluctant to look at it, since it was an older machine. I don't think they'd do a repair beyond replacement memory.

So now I'm thinking I have a memory socket -- or probably a solder -- that's going bad, or gone bad. I can limp along with what I have, or start saving my dollars for a new laptop, or both. I found a nice model on overstock.com that I like. But the purchase will have to wait until I'm gainfully employed again. I hope one will still be available but the time I'm ready to buy.

Once I retire it, what can I do with this laptop and accessories? It's not exactly working well, so I probably can't give it away like I did its predecessor. Maybe someone can use it for spare parts.

The past few days, I've been listening to the ads on the radio for summertime events -- beach parties by bars, lawn fetes by churches, and clambakes. Which led me to thinking: I haven't had clams in a long while.

I know about the current health advisories, that it isn't exactly safe to be eating clams these days. But I used to love them when I was a kid. Steamed clams, clam broth, clams on the half shell -- I loved them all!

One of my favorite memories of my father: eating clams on the half shell with him. Dad would shuck clams with a knife he made himself from some scrap metal he found at work. He'd then add some vinegar and a few drops of Tabasco sauce onto each clam. Then he'd add a little ketchup. And my dad and I would eat them. Mom and my sister didn't care for clams, though. That left more for us.

Now, I have a commercially made clam knife, and a ready source for clams. But it's just not the same eating them without Dad around.

I found a nice recipe on allrecipes.com for a clam bake, with potatoes, shrimp, mussels, chicken broth (!), and corn on the cob. I also looked at the calorie count, the fat count, and the cholesterol count. Yikes! This is something I'd probably want to do once or twice a year.

I just saw this and want to share it with everyone I know. Longtime followers of my LJ know that this is one of my favorite poems, or verses.

Marianne Williamson narrates her poem "Our Deepest Fear".

mseuphrates posted a great cartoon on her LJ today: The 24 Types of Libertarians. Too funny not to share.

I returned to work late last week. I got my car back on Sunday after services. The company laptop has been set up and configured. And I had the OK to work from home today. Right now I'm on my lunch break.

So, thanks to the events of the past couple of weeks, I now have to do a better job watching what I eat -- fats, carbs, sodium, calories, cholesterol, etc. I will need to cut down -- or cut out -- some of my favorite foods. I'm already cutting out most fast food. So I'll have to find new places to eat.

One of the places I used to go to on an occasional basis was the local MCL Cafeteria, in Kettering. It's a regional chain, based in Indianapolis. It has a reputation of being popular with senior citizens, as evidenced by some of the jokes I've heard about the place. But hey, if it's good enough for older people with their own special dietary needs, it's good enough for me. Besides, it's still the official restaurant of the Black Book Band (as far as I know).

This evening, after dropping M off, I headed over there. I had a dinner of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry relish, orange gelatin, and iced tea. All for around $12. I think I'll be returning soon, and maybe become one of their regulars.