Today marks a milestone in the Nobot household. It’s
a red letter day around here. Yes, today marks the
first day where the final CRT has been laid to rest.

This process started a few years ago when I decided
that it was time to replace my old 17″ trinitron with
a flat panel display. That was an *excellent*
decision. The clarity of an LCD cannot be touched by
even the finest of CRTs.

So the score:
CRT: 3 (arti’s computer, work computer, TV)
LCD: 1 (zs computer)

Soon after, my machine at work started looking waaaay
to fuzzy for its own good. The final straw was when
we were reorganized into “bullpens”, where three
people shared the space of two cubes. I got the
“middle” spot, which left no room for a keyboard once
the 20″ CRT was placed on the meager desk space. The
others in the cube were positioned in the corners, so
they had sqrt(2) times more depth than me for a
monitor.

I tried and tried to have work pay for an LCD for my
cube spot, but they wouldn’t budge. So I showed them — I bought a new LCD for home, and brought the
“old” one in to work on. Haha … suckers.

Score:
CRT: 2 (arti computer, tv)
LCD: 2 (zs computer, work computer)

We then decided to get a new computer for arti, and
subsequently traded monitors, since I was doing most
of my work at home on a laptop (with an LCD), so she
got the nice display.

Score:
CRT: 2 (zs computer, tv)
LCD: 2 (arti computer, work computer)

Working on the laptop in the living room was nice.
But then I got to thinking — working on a GIANT LCD
in the living room would be even nicer!

So out goes the TV set, in comes a 37″ LCD. Oh yes.

Score:
CRT: 1 (zs computer)
LCD: 3 (arti computer, work computer, tv)

The final step in this saga came today. After talking
with some old workmates, I learned of a new company
policy allowing those in bullpenned cubes to get LCD
monitors to compensate for the reduced desk space.
Off went my request to IS, and in came an “official”
LCD display for my work computer. Back home went my
“old” LCD, and in the trash heap went the final CRT.

Score:
CRT: 0
LCD: 4

when i was 16, i had a 1977 VW Scirocco i raced with my dad in D
Street Prepared SCCA Solo II. being young and poor, i
couldn’t outfit the car to the maximum spec allowed
all at once. so i saved and saved until i could come
up with the $500 or so for a set of Koni SAs — the
end-all, be-all piece of hardware for me and my fellow
VW buddies.

the Koni shocks for this car were externally
adjustable on the front (”Firm->” knob), but on the
rears you had to remove the shock, compress it fully,
twist to adjust it, then reinstall.

when we went racing, i would crank those babies full
stiff. the car on a smooth track on Yoko A-008 RSII’s
would respond really quickly because there was pretty
much no suspension movement ;-). we’d get to the
track early enough to do this procedure, since the 2
hour drive from the SF Bay Area to Crow’s Landing
Naval Air Landing Field (where most of the events were
held) would not be fun in a car with essentially no
suspension.

anyhow, went to an event, adjusted the schocks, did my
runs, worked the course for the rest of the day, and
was plum tuckered out in the afternoon. it was a hot
day, and the last thing i wanted was to get under the
car to remove / adjust / replace the rear shocks for
the drive home.

“I’ll just soften up the fronts” i told myself.

fateful mistake …. being a lazy teenager (which
leads to lazy adulthood, btw), i neglected to soften
up the rear shocks for an entire week after the event.

next comes a lesson in vehicle dynamics….

driving home from my job selling “furniture” (sawdust
+ glue + camlock hardware == furniture???) at the
local Home Express store, i spotted a friend on the
road up ahead in his trick 280Z and sped up to catch
up to him.

rounding a nice 90-degree sweeping corner that i
enjoyed every time i went home from work, the car hit
a small bump about 1/2 way through the turn.

the soft front handled it fine, but when the rears
went over the bump — bounce! the tires lost traction
for just enough time to send the rear of the car
swinging out wide. oversteer in a FWD car — what a
suprise ;-).

countersteering, the rear hooked up again just in time
to send me straight into a fire hydrant on the side of
the road.

the car stopped on top of the hydrant, and I heard a
loud thundering/hissing noise. the rear of the car
began to lift into the air (honest). i unlatched the
seatbelt and jumped (honest) out of the car and looked
back and saw the rear end about 1-2 feet off the
ground, water spraying furiously from under it. the
car rolled forward off the column of water, and i took
off running for the nearest phone to call 911.

the fire department came with several trucks, and
three police cruisers showed up too.

i walked back to the car just in time to see the a
fireman opening the car door and water just poured
out. it must have been up to the window sills. the
rear window was broken out and the windshield was
cracked in many places. the pretty-good paintjob was
ruined — the column of water had lifted all sorts of
gravel and rocks up with it, which all rained down on
the car.

after it dried out, the car still ran and drove fine
– i just needed to replace the glass that had broken,
i threw away the moldy carpet and rear seat, had the
moldy seats reupholstered, and i left the dented
bumper on the car as a reminder.

i continued to run the car in Solo II, having lots of
fun with my stripped, “full-race” (to me — remember,
i was 16) scirocco. i ended up selling it for $400 to
a guy who never registered it, and drove it to Mexico
where it was later found abandoned — neuspeed
suspension, 16v wheels, and schroth harness removed.

-zs

ps — that was the 2nd fire hydrant i “took out”. the
first was when, 30 days after i got my license, i
rolled my dad’s new car over a hydrant after
experimenting with excessive speed. i’m lucky to
still be alive and to have not hurt any innocent
bystanders ;-). no accidents since then!

Dear Sweet Lord, there’s Laura Bush again, waiting patiently and tactfully until everyone else is out of the house or her immediate surroundings before once again commencing one of her increasingly regular weeping sessions. On this particular day, her tears are intimately linker to her very private distress over not fully knowing who she is, where she’s going as a person, and why she’s ultimately here.

Just playing “the good wife” and following the script of a satanic oil family’s clan has set her psyche back into vice-like ontological grip. Behind that “all’s okay” plastic smile is a manic depressive who can ill cope with the increasing absence of the time and space necessary for securing transcendence and peace of mind…