Mystery Project
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Author Archives: bilborg
When Duty Calls
Our condolences to the families and units of these fallen warriors:
- Spc. Daniel L. Elliott, 21, of Youngsville, North Carolina, died July 15 in Basra, Iraq, when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
- Master Sgt. Kenneth B. Elwell, 33, of Holland, Pennsylvania, died July 17, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
- Pfc. Tyler M. Springmann, 19, of Hartland, Maine, died July 17, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
- Lance Cpl. Jabari N. Thompson, 22, of Brooklyn, New York, died July 17 of wounds sustained July 13 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
- Sgt. Mark A. Cofield, 25, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, died July 17 in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.
- Lance Cpl. Christopher L. Camero, 19, of Kailua Kona, Hawaii, died July 15 of wounds suffered July 6 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
- Staff Sgt. Kenneth R. Vangiesen, 30, of Erie, Pennsylvania, died July 18 in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his convoy with an improvised explosive device.
- Sgt. Edward W. Koehler, 47, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, died July 18 in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his convoy with an improvised explosive device.
- Staff Sgt. Brian K. Mowery, 49, of Halifax, Pennsylvania, died July 18 in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his convoy with an improvised explosive device.
- Cpl. Raphael R. Arruda, 21, of Ogden, Utah, died July 16 in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
- Staff Sgt. James M. Christen, 29, of Loomis, California, died July 19 in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
- Sgt. Jacob Molina, 27, of Houston, Texas, died July 19 in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
- Sgt. Omar A. Jones, 28, of Crook, Colorado, died July 18, in Balkh province, Afghanistan.
- Master Sgt. Benjamin A. Stevenson, 36, of Canyon Lake, Texas, died July 21 in Paktika province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire.
Sundry
Events of the last couple of days were … relatively uneventful. That is, my ‘oscopy was much more unpleasant to prepare for than it was to sleep through. The doc reported snipping out something small, and biopsy results pend until Tuesday, but either way, it ain’t the big C. Depending on the type, I get another screening in three years, or in five. I’ll be happier with five, thanks. And Marcia’s molar extraction in the afternoon was as simple as could be hoped for: no jackhammering, and minimal pain already today.
* * *
The summer garden
The summer garden is doing fine. It’s hot and humid these days – they say the heat index yesterday was in the 115 degree range. I do know that the thermometer which is in the shade after noon, peaked over 102 by mid-afternoon. This morning, it was up over 90 by 9 AM. But anything that isn’t heat tolerant in full sun ain’t doing so good. The cucumbers are almost done, the zucchini is long gone. The beans are nearly toast between the sun and the Japanese beetles (but they’re still producing). Tomatoes and peppers are coming into their own…
Second crop basil
The new batch of basil is well started, as you can see. And what’s coming out of the garden now makes me very happy, even though it’s a month later than I’d hoped for…
Fresh from the garden
Two Days Off
Today and tomorrow, I’m off work. Yes, of course I checked email a few times. But that’s it. Today was all about schoolwork. I’m caught up with everything, and ahead of the game in a few things – all of this weekend’s due items are already submitted.
The downside is that all I’ve had today are clear liquids. And I just finished my first of two SUPREP rounds, before tomorrow’s “Gosh, it sucks to be 50” diagnostic test. So I’ve got a stack of magazines, and perhaps some video gaming to while away the hours this evening… while I drink another gallon of fluids. Oh, joy.
Just Like A Thingy…
It Came From The Garden
The green beans and tomatoes are welcome, but I think I’m going to have to put the cucumber on eBay … It’ll probably prove to be as popular as Baldrick’s turnip.
What Day Is This?
I have it on reliable authority that it is, in fact, Tuesday. That’s amusing, since this clearly isn’t Belgium. But with a bunch of reorg work yesterday in the data center, and fun with ZFS and the backup system today, I’m all a-whirl!
Things to do next:
- Move the watering over to the next flower bed.
- Get cracking on a final review of the database course project.
- Figure out why my WordPress instance insists on correcting my writing to British english.
- Start on the reading for the applications course.
That third item is fun, because I’ve been known exhibit Anglophilic tendencies in my writing from time to time. So I’m going to get a different set of corrections after finding and killing that configuration. But I rarely spell that word in the first paragraph “centre”, so I think it’ll be a net win.
I would comment on more important things, but there are reasons not to, so I won’t. Politics and position don’t always converge neatly, I’m just sayin’ … anyway, Ciao!
Hope: #FAIL
Every week, I open the pages on the DoD website, hoping that there have been no casualties since my last report. That’s still not happening. Our deepest condolences to the families and units of these fallen warriors:
- Sgt. Steven L. Talamantez, 34, of Laredo, Texas, died July 10, in Al Amarah, Iraq, of injuries suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with indirect fire.
- Spc. Rafael A. Nieves Jr., 22, of Albany, New York, died July 10 in Paktika province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fires.
- Sgt. Christopher P. Soderlund, 23, of Pineville, Louisiana, died July 9 in Logar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with rocket-propelled grenade fire.
- Lance Cpl. Norberto Mendez Hernandez, 22, of Logan, Utah, died July 10 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
- Lance Cpl. Robert S. Greniger, 21, of Greenfield, Minnesota, died July 12 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
- Seaman Aaron D. Ullom, 20, of Midland, Michigan, died while conducting a dismounted patrol in the Now Zad district, Helmand province, Afghanistan, on July 12.
- Sgt. Jeremy R. Summers, 27, of Mount Olivet, Kentucky, died Jul. 14 in Paktika province, Afghanistan, after enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire on Jul. 13.
- Staff Sgt. Wyatt A. Goldsmith, 28, of Colville, Washington, died July 15 at Camp Bastion Hospital, Afghanistan of injuries suffered July 15 when insurgents attacked his unit with rocket-propelled grenade fire in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
- Sgt. Lex L. Lewis, 40, of Rapid City, South Dakota, died July 15 after injuries suffered July 15 when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire in Farah province, Afghanistan.
- Spc. Frank R. Gross, 25, of Oldsmar, Florida, died July 16 at Kandahar province, Afghanistan of wounds sustained at Khowst province, Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device caused a military vehicle roll-over.
What To Do?
6.25# of pesto sauce
Over 6# of pesto, all told. Just looking at it, I gain weight … and happiness.
Pesto preservation
I preserve the pesto by freezing it in ice cube trays. I turn the pesto cubes out into a bag and keep frozen. Handy for pulling out just what’s needed for a meal or two at a time. I have no idea how many trays all told; Two at a time is going to take a while.
Neonatal salsa
The ingredients are sufficient for salsa. Tomatoes, onion, peppers, cilantro, and garlic. Only the garlic isn’t from our garden. And yes, that’s too much onion. I’ll find another use for the two that didn’t go…
Salsa on the menu
… into the salsa. There’s still some left, but we’d already put a dent in it by the time I thought to get the camera back out. Only a one-jar batch. Once the tomatoes are rolling, I tend to do a steel bowl full, which is just about a gallon. That much salsa might last a week. This batch will be lucky to last for the day.
Bright and Cheery
More tiger lilies...
For those who wanted more tiger lilies, there you go. On the other hand, for those that like pesto:
Harvested basil
Laid out on the counter, you see about 25% of the basil I harvested in today. It’s a mix of about half large leaf Italian and half sweet basil. In the bag on the blue tray is another quarter. The remaining half of the basil is already pesto, in the fridge. I’d have kept processing, but I ran out of pine nuts, garlic, and parmesan cheese. So, I’ll whip up the second two batches tomorrow, and freeze the lot. I did put a generous helping on to the penne pasta this evening, along with fresh tomato and some mild italian sausage. Yes, you do see some more tomatoes in the background there. They might be enough for a small batch of salsa. That could happen tomorrow, too.
Be well.
Just Don’t Lie To Me
Karon(09:06:39): Hello. Thank you for choosing Verizon and visiting our Verizon chat service. How can I help you place your order?
You(09:07:06): Old bundle expiring, looking at new bundles… Confused by pricing, let me explain:
Karon(09:08:42): Thank you for being a valued Verizon customer.
Karon(09:08:52): Please go ahead with your question.
You(09:09:07): I select the bundle with Ultimate HD, 35/35 Internet, Freedom Essentials – price listed as 139.99. I click the button to do a 2-year deal. The next page shows the price: 139.99 (same as before), only it *ALSO* says “Price included these discounts: $5 24-Month Contract Discount”.
You(09:09:22): There’s no actual $5 discount reflected.
You(09:09:42): What is the truth?
You(09:12:00): Ping.
Karon(09:13:00): You will are seeing already discounted price for the service.
You(09:13:21): But its the same price that was displayed BEFORE the discount was offered!
Karon(09:13:56): You will be able to see Discounted price on your screen.
You(09:15:12): No, you’re not understanding. PRIOR to selecting the 2 year plan, I was shown $139.99 for a one year price. AFTER selecting the 2 year plan, it says I’m getting a $5 discount for 2 year plan, but it still says $139.99.
You(09:15:36): The discount is NOT reflected in the price.
Karon(09:16:41): I would suggest you to proceed with the customization of the service and proceed till “Review Order” page to see the detailed information on this. I am right here to assist you.
You(09:18:06): No $5 discount applied.
Karon(09:21:16): $139.99 price is already discounted price.
Karon(09:22:11): You will get 12 months price guarantee with Month to Month plan and 24 months price guarantee with 2 years contract that’s the only different with the contract.
You(09:22:19): Read above. Seriously. Your website is NOT changing the price, but claiming to have applied a discount. I can always ask the Maryland Public Service Commission to look into this for me.
You(09:23:34): The FIRST page doesn’t claim to have applied a discount and shows 139.99. The later pages claim that the $5 discount applies to 24 month contracts, but doesn’t change the price. That’s funny accounting, and is wrong.
Karon(09:25:49): If you are getting message saying “”Price included these discounts: $5 24-Month Contract Discount” it means that price is already discounted price.
Karon(09:26:04): It already includes the discount.
You(09:28:52): You’re wasting my time, and the pages for signing up for bundles are showing falsehoods. One of two things is true: (1) The language claiming a $5 discount for 24 month contracts is incorrect, or (2) the discount is true, but the discount is not being applied to the monthly price. When I read your web page, there are no other possibilities – something is wrong. Please advise.
Karon(09:28:52): Do you have anymore question I can assist you with today?
Karon(09:29:52): You can confirm this information with our Local Business office and check with them.
You(09:30:21): Good luck with that script…
Ah, the joys of life dealing with big corporations. If I can’t get a straight answer out of the local folks on the phone later today, I will refer this to the Maryland Public Service Commission, claiming to apply a discount without having done so is a problem.