iBook Loses Power

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Set214_01 Well, the iBook is back in the shop, having succumbed to a bad DC-in port. The battery was down to 20% before I noticed that the AC adapter plug wasn’t working, and the thing went into power-save sleep before I could transfer data off it. I tried resetting PRAM and NVRAM, and when that didn’t work, I ordered a new 45W Apple iBook power adapter from an eBay retailer (they’ve gotten pretty cheap), and when that didn’t work, I tried yelling, and of course that didn’t work, so it was off to the Genius Bar.

Turns out the Genius Bar runs on appointments now; you need to reserve a slot with the Apple Store Concierge. I reserved an afternoon slot, braved a crowded rush hour Metro (I never ride at rush hour anymore, and yesterday reminded me why), and got to the store ten minutes late. No more Geniuses at the Bar. But one of the staff must have seen my angry scowl, because he came to the bar and helped out. The repair will cost about $150 (which is $20 parts and $130 labor, as the Genius half-joked), and I get the iBook back sometime early next week.

You know, looking back at all the problems this iBook has given me over the past three years literally from day one [1,2,3,4,5,6] I must say that it took getting a Mac to cure of me of being a Mac zealot. I can only recommend that if you do buy one, be sure to cough up the extra for AppleCare and some good external backup storage, because you’re probably going to need them. I certainly hope my next Mac fares better, though I still plan to hold on to this one, for sentimental reasons.

Stranded Chick (Update: Dead Chick)

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This sparrow chick was sitting on the steps outside the office today. He (She?) probably came from the same nest from which those other dead birds fell. This one was still alive, though, and rather scared and disoriented. I was able to coax him onto my hand, and he showed himself well on his way to full adult birdhood when he jumped off and shakily glided back down to the ground, wings flapping frantically. I picked him up again and left him in the bushes by the door, where I hope he’ll be able to find worms and grubs to eat — and not be eaten by them in turn.

Update: Well, I returned to the office today, and there on the steps: dead chick. I guess he just wasn’t ready for the grand adventure of life. The carcass is now in the trash, off to join its siblings.

Dead Chick Another Dead Chick

DC Heat Wave 2006

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Update: This entry was for the June heat wave of 2006. The following August, we had Heat Wave 2006: Part 2!

Heat wave! Apparently yesterday was as hot as it would get this summer, at least according to CapitalWeather. What I said back in 2002 still applies now: this weather was par for the course in Manila. Walking around DC in these hot, soupy summer days brings me right back to walking around Makati, through air so thick with ozone and nitrogen oxide from vehicle exhaust that you were almost swimming in it. Every day was a Code Red day. And this was in December.

WaPo has the science on heat and the body, and we have roundups from DCist and ReadExpress. (This all comes a bit late, of course. My windowside thermometer says it’s in the low 80s outside, rather than the low 100s it was yesterday.) More curmudgeonly “you youngins call this a heat wave” chest-beating from WhyIHateDC, and CartoonChurch reports that it is now rather hot in the UK.

Lemony BBQ Pork Chops

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I’ve cooked a few things, but until last week, I had never cooked a pork chop. Oh, I’ve eaten pork chops several times, but I’ve never actually made a pork chop meal for myself. That changed on Friday, as I purchased two nice big slabs to do with as I pleased, along with a little shaker of BBQ Grill Mate. Here, then, is my quick and dirty recipe for BBQ-sprinkled lemony pork chops.

  1. Sprinkle pork chops with BBQ Grill Mate.
  2. Drizzle with olive oil and squeeze a lemon or two over it.
  3. Leave to marinate in refrigerator for the afternoon.
  4. Broil at 450°F for 12 minutes. Use a proper drip tray to let the fat and excess olive oil drip out.
  5. Serve with optional apple sauce.

As with most of my cooking, all times and quantities are arbitrary. If you’ve got a grill or a George Foreman, grill away; it saves you the step of dripping off excess fat and olive oil, which I had to do since I don’t have a proper broiling drip tray.

Curled-Up Paws

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Sometimes the cat sleeps like this, and while she’s dreaming, she starts batting at the air.

Wasp On Sign

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Little wasp crawling around on a wooden sign in Harpers Ferry, WV.

Recent Reading: Manhunt, the 12 Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer

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Just finished reading: Manhunt, the 12 Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer, by James Swanson. As a dramatized compilation of historical accounts, Manhunt is excellently done, giving us a matter-of-fact chronological narrative of the assassination of Lincoln, the flight of John Wilkes Booth, and his various accomplices and adversasries along the way.

As literature, however, Manhunt does not get as high a mark. To its credit, the language is pithy and straightforward, very readable, but his prose occasionally goes on topically awkward, nonlinear rambles. There are also a few instances of his using the past tense for in-story flashbacks which I think should more correctly be rendered in the past perfect, and at least twice I noticed that he lapsed into the present tense, confusing characters’ thoughts or dialogue with the flow of the story.

All in all, Manhunt is an easy read which I would recommend to anyone interested in American history but still unacquainted with the specifics of Booth and the Lincoln assassination. I wouldn’t rank it as a pulse-pounding page turner, but that’s a good thing in my view, as the story suffers little unnecessary embellishment added to its written and oral sources. The wrap-up chapter at the end provides an informative synthesis of the places of Booth and Lincoln in history, and the eventual fates of those connected to them.

Further reading: Laura Keene, the actress at Ford’s Theater who cradled Lincoln’s bleeding head in her lap after he was shot; Boston Corbett, the more-than-slightly-bonkers self-castrated Union Soldier who shot John Wilkes Booth; a summary of Booth’s escape route from NPS.

Now seems an apropos time to post this photo of a Civil War banner at Harper’s Ferry:

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Mushroom

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Mushroom growing out of mulch near the rails on Virginius Island, just north of Harpers Ferry.

Harpers Ferry Day Hike

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This is Harpers Ferry, WV, the famous little historical town situated at “the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac” (as it is traditionally referred to), right on the borders of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. I and a few folks from church came for a day hike on Saturday, to check out the Split Rocks / Jefferson Rock trail and take in some of the history. (We actually lost the Loudoun Heights section of the trail, as it is rather well hidden along the road, so we ended up walking about 2.5 miles along the shoulder of US 340 back to Harpers Ferry from the Potomac crossing. But the rest of the hike from where it converged with the Appalachian Trail was great.)

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Here’s me at Jefferson Rock, the very spot (though not the exact same rock) from which Thomas Jefferson took in the view of the river and valley. (The four red pillars are there to keep visitors from rocking the rock, as it has not been entirely stable on its perch through the centuries.)

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IMG_7531.JPGThere were Civil War reenactors there, too, camped out in tents by the rails between the Lower Town and Virginius Island. One of the best scenes of the day came when a group of Army personnel in fatigues (possibly with the Army band, who were playing that day) dropped in on the Union troops to talk history. Soldiers from the future!

We were not able to visit Harper House or John Brown’s fort. One day I will return to Harpers Ferry one day to linger a bit longer in the town and bask in its history. More photos here (a few of which will be highlighted in coming days in the photolog), and more on hiking in the Harpers Ferry area here.