News and Updates

1. The Elite 8 haven’t even tipped off and already our brackets are done. Kim has been declared the winner and will be awarded the Fabulous Prizes whenever we determine what, if anything, they are. Thanks for playing! See you all next year.

2. Somewhere in Hong Kong is a person using Chrome on a Mac who has been pinging this blog over a thousand times a day for the last few weeks and I have no idea what they’re getting out of this exercise other than older. There can’t be any money in it. Whatever useful information I might have was probably already sold by the guy in Singapore who did this a few months earlier. Drop me a note and say hello, my guy.

3. It’s not even April and we’re already making travel plans for summer and in some cases it’s clear that we might have waited too long but in other cases we’re pretty much good to go. We’ll see. But we’re going to take advantage of the opportunities as best we can while we can, because at some point there will come a time when those windows close. I’m already in my Travel Anxiety stage of thinking we could just stay home and relax instead, but I know from experience that I will have a very good time once the process is underway so I just ignore it. I have no baseline expectation of comfort and I do like being other places even if the set-up for it drives me mad. So on we go.

4. I went back to FamilySearch to see what new stuff was there, after a long hiatus where I have been mostly plinking around on Ancestry when I manage to find time to do this at all. FamilySearch organizes their search results quite differently, but once you get the hang of it you can find some interesting things. I looked up my grandmother and found a family tree she’s in, and if the guy who put it together is correct I may be somewhere in line for the English throne, as my grandfather – the one who flaked off in 1940 – can claim descent from Edward I. I find myself not terribly impressed with this, since a) far too many amateur genealogists claim royalty in their background and I won’t be convinced it’s even remotely plausible until I do the research myself since I’ve seen how other amateur genealogists have classified people I actually spent time with and from a reliability perspective it is … not pretty, b) large swaths of Earth’s population are in line for the English throne if you cast the net wide enough, and for me to exercise my claim would require a catastrophic depopulation event the likes of which would probably leave me as the only person in London, and c) Edward I was kind of an asshole even by the generous standards of English kings. But it was interesting to see.

5. Kim and I went to the nearest Apple Store the other day to go to one of their classes on how to get more out the iPhone camera, and it was useful if somewhat odd to go to a retail store for classes on how to use their product. The instructor was exceedingly enthusiastic and I did learn a few tips and tricks, and perhaps I’ll be able to do more than just point and tap with it. It’s lighter than my DSLR and raises fewer concerns from officious docents at historical sites when we travel, so we’ll see how it goes.

6. At some point one of the many felony indictments against der Sturmtrumper has to result in conviction, right? He can’t keep oozing his way through the system without consequences, right? Don’t answer that. I already know the answer and I don’t want to hear it.

7. I’m trying to go through some of the boxes of papers I pulled out of my mom’s storage unit after she died, most of which were untouched after my dad died, and it’s interesting what my parents felt was worth saving. I suspect my own children will have the same response someday, though perhaps I’ll try to edit things down before it gets to that point.

8. Did you know it’s Easter weekend? This came as a bit of a surprise to me, which probably says something about the current state of my life. It’s just going to be us this tomorrow, as the larger family event has been pushed back a bit to accommodate everyone’s schedules, so we’ll see how things go.

9. I finally ordered more Cooper Sharp cheese from the only place in the US which will ship it to me, apparently – if you go to the website for the manufacturer they redirect you there. It arrived promptly and then I had to take it over to the supermarket deli where they sliced it for me last time and then convince them that this was acceptable. Fortunately the manager remembered me and okayed it, and now I have a Supply. I am a happy Philadelphian.

10. The Flyers continue in a playoff position with less than ten games remaining in the season, which is a place that nobody expected them to be in back in October. They’re a fun team to watch and I hope they make it in. I suspect they won’t go far, but then they weren’t supposed to be this close at all so who knows what will happen. It beats paying attention to the news.