Decrepit Old Fool

A steady, cool rain has settled over the Land Of Lincoln today.  Lot of events are canceled, the water park is closed, and there’s no fireworks, but a quick aroma-check out the back door tells me that a lot of people are still barbecuing.

But all those activities are ancillary to the real purpose of this holiday: reflecting on US independence.  The outrages of King George, the colonists’ demands for representation, the Declaration, the French-assisted struggle and our eventual victory. 

I understand that King George wrote in his journal on this day in 1776; “Nothing of importance happened today.”  He should have logged on and checked Google News!  Boy would his face have been red.

I had something of a milestone this morning as MrsDoF and I rode our bikes to McDonald’s for breakfast.  That was the first time I’d been on my bike since the surgery.  I had to use “granny gear” a good part of the way, but it still felt damn good to ride. 

I’m hitting the treadmill harder every day and tomorrow I will attempt some crunches and low-back extensions.  I’ve been lifting 2-pound weights, which is a pretty serious comedown from 25.

Yesterday I rebuilt my desktop machine with Ubuntu 9.x, and liked it so well that today I did the same for my X40 laptop.  I also set up a snazzy new HP 2159 monitor in place of my old ViewSonic 17” CRT, so I’m enjoying a lot more screen space.  Which is good, because I’m trying to learn more about CMS programs and the tutorials are a lot easier to view on the big screen.

Another project this weekend is to make a fractal VHF antenna for my TV.  I have a balun somewhere around here, and some PVC sheets I can use to mount the dipoles on – finding them is the challenge.

Happy 4th!  It’s been a busy day all around the world.