Todd Bradley’s Galaxy

You know how it seems like the stores put out their Christmas displays earlier and earlier every year?  Well I was in the local Target today, to find some stuff for my Halloween costume.  Let me say that again for emphasis: I was shopping for a Halloween costume, because it’s October 30.

And inside the store right next to the Halloween stuff, they had Christmas decorations and a big LED sign that said, “Christmas countdown: only 55 days left!”  Oh sweet Jesus!  It’s enough to make a guy want to become a Jew.

Those of you who know me know that I think my MacBook Pro is the best computer I’ve ever owned.  It’s turned out to be super versatile, reliable, and easy to use.  And it’s fast enough that I can do video editing (even HD) on it!  So I realized a few months ago that I don’t even really need my old Power Macintosh Dual G5 anymore.  That was my first Mac, but it’s got the old G5 CPUs instead of the newere Intel CPUs.

So I put up the PowerMac on eBay for sale, and the auction just ended last night.  Meanwhile, in case you don’t follow such things, Apple just released a new line of MacBook notebooks a couple weeks ago.  I had been saving my pennies for literally months, anticipating way back in the spring that Apple would be “refreshing” their notebook line this fall.

I was so excited about the new MacBook Pro product releases.  The “unibody” construction where the whole case is cut from a single piece of aluminum is really cool.  And I like that it actually has 2 graphics processors in it,  And that there’s a model that comes with 4 GB of RAM pre-installed.  I really wanted to buy one, but then I learned that it only comes with a glossy display.  For whatever reason, Apple has eliminated the matte display option from their notebooks.  I guess they figured that since people like the glossy display on their iPods and iPhones, they’ll like them on their MacBooks, too.

But for me, it’s a deal breaker.  I test drive one at the local Apple Store, and the glossy display is literally so reflective I could shave using it as a mirror if I wanted.  When I was using the display model, I could see every light overhead, everything in the room behind me, and my own big fat face superimposed on the video image.  It’s terrible!  I tried every angle possible, and there was just no way that I could focus on what’s on the screen without having reflections distracting my vision.

So instead, I decided to buy a refurbished MacBook Pro much like this one from right before they switched to the all-glossy product line.  I got it from the Apple Store at a several hundred dollar discount, and then added on the AppleCare service package just to make sure they’re obliged to support it for the next three years.  I also ordered new RAM chips so I’ll upgrade it from 2 GB to 4 GB as soon as the parts arrive.  It won’t be as solid or fast as a new glossy one would be, but it was a grand cheaper and still significantly better than the MacBook Pro I’m using today.  Plus it’ll have that look and feel and smell of “newness” to it.

Once I transfer all my files off it and clean it up, I’ll sell the old one on eBay.  I found that the MacBook Pros have been holding their value very well, so I expect that this whole upgrade will only cost me a few hundred bucks when all’s said and done.  And that’s about what my PowerMac sold for on eBay.  So in essence, I’m trading two old computers (one of which I don’t need) in for one new one.  Not bad, I say!

And it fits in perfectly with our ongoing effort to downsize and simplify our lives, so that makes me happy.  Spring cleaning for the mind.

I was so excited when I heard that “Sprouts Farmers Market” was coming to town.  But I went there twice in their first week and now I just think “bleh”.

I was really hoping to see lots of local products, when in fact I found none at all.

• Their vitamins/supplements/toiletries section is tiny – maybe 1/3 or 1/4 of the size of the same section in Vitamin Cottage.
• The produce section takes up a large part of the store, right in the middle.  But I didn’t see anything there I couldn’t get at Safeway.  Whole Foods’ produce section is way nicer because they clearly mark what’s organic, what’s “conventionally” grown, and where everything comes from.  At Sprouts you have to really look hard to find that level of detail.
• The bakery section is also small.  While they do have a few natural and organic and vegan options, it’s no better than Vitamin Cottage.  And I don’t think a single thing was locally baked.  Boo!
• The meat section was nice, and they had a lot of choices – definitely more than Vitamin Cottage, but no better than Whole Foods.  And again I didn’t get a sense that any of it was local.

So, I guess my opinion is that it’s somewhere between King Soopers and Whole Foods.  But Sprouts is nothing to write home about.  And I didn’t see anything that would lead me to believe their products are any closer to a real farmer than those of Safeway or King Soopers.

I read this article on the TreeHugger blog this morning:

Five Outstanding Green Restaurants : TreeHugger

Like it sounds, they review 5 “green” US restaurants.  Sadly, no restaurants from Colorado made their list.  What’s your favorite “green” restaurant using the same criteria as TreeHugger?  They said this:

From a pure food standpoint, we looked for restaurants where the chefs are serious about sourcing their food and prioritizing quality of ingredients over technique. That means the food at all of these restaurants is as local and seasonal as possible, decidedly simple, and assuredly delicious.

Personally, I like Sunflower in Boulder.  And I think Rioja in Denver uses a lot of local stuff, but their prices keep us from going more than once a year.  There was also a neat little vegetarian cafe upstairs at a bookstore in Aspen last time we were there.  Any others we should try?

This past week, I’ve been making travel arrangements for my wife and I to visit some friends in Tennessee for Thanksgiving.  I cashed in some United Mileage Plus miles in exchange for the plane tickets.  And after submitting my order, here’s the web page they presented me with.  See if you can tell from this whether or not the transaction was successful.

The page starts off with “Reservation complete.”   Great, it worked!

But then it says “We are unable to process your reservation at this time.”  Oh, crap, I guess it didn’t work after all.  Either that or they use the word “complete” to mean “we failed and gave up.”

However, the next section says, “Your reservation is currently being processed.”  Hurray!  I think.  Now I’m really confused.  Hmm.  Did the reservation succeed?  Did it fail?  Is it still processing?  I just don’t know.

And then, as if telling me three different conflicting bits of status information wasn’t enough, there’s the red text.  Red usually means bad, right?  The error messages are written in red text near the top of the page.  But then the flight details for the return trip (from ATL to DEN) are also written in red text, instead of black.  Does this mean there’s a problem with the return flight?  Why is the leg from DEN to ATL in black and leg from ATL to DEN in red?  Are they trying to tell me something or is it just a bug in the software that generates the page?

My awesome new television arrived yesterday.  It’s a Samsung LN46A750 high definition LCD TV.  To go with it, I bought a Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray Disc Player.  Together, they’re amazing!  The first two discs I bought are “Blade Runner” and “The Fifth Element”.  Last night, I watched parts of “Blade Runner” in 1080/24p and tonight I’m watching “The Fifth Element” in the same resolution.  Wow!

And watching them so close to one another, I realized a connection that I never quite put together.  I’d always thought that the character of General Munro in “The Fifth Element” looked familiar to me.

And I just realized while watching the movie tonight that it’s the same actor as played Leon from “Blade Runner”!

A quick search on IMDB confirmed it’s the same guy, named Brion James.  Sadly, Mr. James died of a heart attack in 1999.

I thought it was a weird coincidence that the first two Blu-ray discs I ever bought both have the same actor.