As corresponding secretary of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society, last month I received my official key to the po box (ta-dah!) at the main post office on Fayette Street. The first time I went to pick up mail, the lobby was unstaffed as it was after closing, but the po boxes were accessible 24/7. I spent 10 minutes trying to open the box (there's a trick to it), and then I almost left the key because I couldn't get it out of the lock for another five minutes. I gave up, tried one last time, and out it came. Then a screw came loose and the handle on the front of the box was hanging down one one side. I screwed it back on as best I could. 

There was a notice to pick up a package, so last Friday I went back during the "regular business hours" as posted at USPS.com. They were supposedly open until 7 p.m., but when I arrived at 5:30, a sign informed me that, as of October 31, the po box service window closed at 5 p.m. Trick or Treat. 

This morning I called the 800 number for the US Postal Service and got a direct number for the main post office. I tried to find out how long they held packages, but the answer varied. The customer service rep also said there were different closing times for different services offered (no kidding). When I asked about the package, he said "it's a big building, you'll have to talk to that department." He took my phone number and complaint about the key, said he would pass the information on, and someone would call me back (I was skeptical). Tired of farting around I drove to the post office before going to work, almost making my husband late for an appointment (we have one car).

I was able to pick up the "article too large for box" that had been held for seven days (big sigh of relief) and was directed to a second service window to speak with someone about the sticky key. BUT-I was confronted with a "window closed" sign, which seemed odd at 10:30 a.m. Peeved, I moved to the regular service line until a staffer walking by asked what I needed. She pointed me to a specific clerk at the main counter. As I was waiting for the customer ahead of me to finish his business, my cell phone rang. It wasn't my husband calling to find out when I was coming home. It was a post office supervisor calling me back regarding the sticky lock complaint(!). He was pleasant and when he heard I was in the lobby, he came right out.

The supervisor tried my key and immediately had trouble with the box. Application of WD-40 didn't help. Using a different key didn't work; it jammed in the lock. Last resort: change the lock. By now I needed to leave. He handed me two new keys and said, "the next time you come in, the lock will be changed." He said to just return any other old keys. I thanked him and left. I also suggested to another staffperson that they update the business hours on their web site.

Kudos to the staff of the main post office for good customer service. Unfortunately, sometimes my local post office is just the opposite, like the time clerk number two, moving ever-so-glacially, decided to take a lunch break when there were 10+ people still in line. 

Overall, the postal service works. If the price of a stamp keeps going up and letter-writing keeps going down, perhaps the USPS could make money by delivering email (offering ISP services). Why not?

And other (Mis)Adventures in Computerland.

Last week: Brought Toshiba laptop into repair shop because it decided to stop recognizing/booting from the battery. Bought a new battery and even though it appeared to be charging, the computer still wouldn’t boot up on battery power. Unplug it and it instantly shuts off. Turns out both batteries are good and the motherboard needs to be replaced. Would have considered messing with it myself if it wasn’t still under warranty. I wonder if this is related to the fall off the couch (see below). Using netbook in the meantime, hope to pick the Toshiba up on Thursday. (You can do a lot on a netbook).

Last month: Brought same Toshiba laptop into same repair shop after it fell off the couch (ouch) and the wireless switch broke off. Unfortunately, it was set to OFF, not ON, and could not be turned on via the keyboard. Since it was under warranty, the repair shop set the wireless switch to the “on” position (decided I didn’t really need the toggle). Now the wifi can be turned off and on via the keyboard.

It was my cat’s fault. If Inky hadn’t gotten stuck in a space too small for her behind the couch, I wouldn’t have rearranged the furniture.

Last week at work: Slow clunky computer (could barely run MS Word and took 10 minutes to log into the SIrius Satellite Radio site via Firefox) was replaced with a faster, newer PC.

Today at work: Booted up the computer and YIKES! They loaded MSWord 2007. Did pretty well typing labels in spite of the fact I’d never used it before. There needs to be an easier way to copy text and paste it as plain text. Microsoft needs to bring back the “white text, blue background” option. And can someone tell me why they took away the pulldown menus? WTF?!

Two days ago: Narrowly avoided spilling coffee on my laptop. Instead it went all over the couch and my clothes. Would rather change my clothes than install a new keyboard again.

Two weeks ago: Started running out of space on my two Maxtor 1TB external drives that I use to store digital photos (one primary, one backup). Seagate has merged with Maxtor. Having had good luck with Seagate/Maxtor in the past, I purchased a couple of 2TB Seagate expansion drives online. They arrived last week, and I dutifully set about copying ALL my digital photos to a brand spanking new 2TB drive. Just one minor annoyance: the drive hummed very loudly, very sporadically, similar to the hum fluorescent bulbs make.

I should mention that I’ve had Maxtor drives for several years that are still going strong. Usage has not been 24/7, but it has been on a regular basis.

Today: After four or five days of backing up digital/scanned photos from the last decade and a half (and before), just as I finished copying the 2009s, the Seagate drive started clicking like a robotic cricket. This would go on for about 10 seconds, then stop, then start up again sporadically. It didn’t seem to matter if the drive was being accessed or idle. The humming was annoying, but the clicking was even more distracting. While the drive seemed to be working nominally, the extreme noisiness made me wary. I did not expect it—the Maxtor drives are fairly quiet, with the exception of one that makes a sound similar to a quietly babbling brook when it is accessed. A search online revealed that the noise issue with the later Seagate drives was somewhat common. Some people claimed the clicking was a sign of impending data loss and their drives did not last long; some claimed that, according to Seagate, it was normal for the drive, because the larger drives more frequently aligned their drive-heads in order to minimize damage from being dropped or moved. The Seagate technician I spoke with today confirmed this and suggested I hook up the second drive I bought to see if it also made noise (it immediately started clicking). In response to my question, he said they hadn’t received complaints about noisy drives, but reading computer forums about Seagate drives tells me otherwise. The technician also said that what sounds noisy to me probably wouldn’t sound noisy to him, but he’s not me. He’s probably half-deaf already from years of playing X-Box. I called back, obtained an RMA number, and shipped the drives back via FedEx Ground for a refund. At the very least, Seagate customer service was helpful and their return process was uncomplicated. I next went to Office Depot and purchased three portable Verbatim Clone USB drives, 500GB each. They are a little slower, but more portable and extremely quiet. My cat Selene is enjoying the boxes they came in her new toys.

Dear Santa Geek: I want an external USB drive of at least 2TB that is the size of a digital camera and can fit in my pocket. It shouldn’t be that hard to do. A 2TB drive needn’t be large enough to slap Bill Gates unconscious. Get your nerdiest elves on it.

I haven’t figured out which is worse: a city with a great public transit system (Philadelphia) that goes on strike, or a city with a lousy public transit system (Baltimore) that never goes on strike. Neither is helpful to the commuter.

While I am not usually a food critic, I am compelled to comment on the dinner I experienced this evening at the Marriott Courtyard Downtown in Philadelphia, PA. Tim (my husband) and I are here because he is attending a criminology conference. Not being a criminologist, I am accompanying him, doing touristy stuff, and visiting friends.

We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant-cum-sports bar this evening. At the same time, the World Series was being televised (Yankees vs. Phillies). When I got up to bring our check to the cashier, I was amused by the fact that every male patron in the place, including Tim, wherever he was sitting, was glued to the TV set above the bar (the Phillies lost BTW). I even changed seats with Tim so he could watch, and he doesn’t follow baseball regularly.

But, as they say, I digress. I ordered Caesar Salad with grilled chicken. I  couldn’t understand why the chicken tasted fishy to me, and finally asked the server if they had accidentally substituted tuna fish instead of chicken. She sad no, it was chicken, but it probably tasted fishy because the dressing was really anchovy dressing(!). Tim said he has read that some people make Caesar Salad dressing with anchovies, but I have never heard of that. My salad was basically iceberg lettuce garnished with a few overlarge tomato wedges, topped with very little dressing and something that looked like chicken and tasted like tuna fish. If a restaurant is going to include fish-flavored dressing in a salad, it should advertise it as such in the menu. Caesar salad with grilled chicken should NOT taste fishy. If I wanted fish on my Caesar Salad, I would have ordered the grilled salmon topping. In that case, I bet someone would complain that it tasted like chicken.

We also had “dinner rolls” that were so hard that I asked the waitress (giving the restaurant the benefit of the doubt) if they were actually breadsticks. She said no and ended up taking them away. They had obviously been sitting around for a long time and were not fresh. If I had thrown one at Tim in a fit of pique, it might have inflicted severe damage. The rolls in question were better suited for hockey practice than ingestion. It’s a shame, because the turkey pesto sandwich I got for lunch from this very same restaurant earlier in the day was pretty good.

It is also a stupid idea to have the same person tending bar and serving food. The restaurant, while not too crowded this evening, was still understaffed, to the detriment of all. One person to tend bar and serve food and one person to bus tables is ridiculous in a downtown hotel restaurant that regularly hosts conferences. This is not fair to patrons or staff.

On another note, I guess all Marriotts are not created equal. The Hunt Valley Marriott that hosts Balticon boasts free parking, not valet parking for $45/day. Maybe it is a space issue in Philadelphia. The Hunt Valley Inn is out in the Baltimore suburbs, surrounded by huge industrial parks.

One thing that seems consistent are the carpets. The Hunt Valley Inn’s carpets look like they were designed by an interior decorator who was on a bad LSD trip. The carpet in the Philadelphia Courtyard Marriott restaurant is not as bad, but is still way too busy.

Tomorrow I’m planning to check out the Reading Terminal for lunch.

Work

Filing in a cold windowless room
that smells like feet,
listening to "Muskrat Love"
on an mp3 player.

There is more to life than this,
even at $15.90 an hour.

So it's just past 3:30 a.m. and I'm still awake, mostly because I don't have to go to work tomorrow. So far it's been a sort of productive week.

I've just finished putting a bunch of stuff on Ebay while watching Star Trek: the Next Generation. Unfortunately I accidentally listed the same item three times while trying to revise the listing by adding a second category and had to delete the duplicates.

Spent enough time filing at work today that my back hurt when I came home. Might look into portable satellite radio or mp3 player to listen to while at work.

Had a productive weekend at the BSFS Clubhouse doing a final count of every last Balticon t-shirt for sale. There are 284 of them. After bagging, sorting, and labeling them by convention and size at various times over the last 8 months (with the kind help of other BSFS members), it felt more like 2,084. Maybe some will sell next weekend at the Baltimore Book Festival.

Tim's sinuses were acting up last weekend so we didn't do much. I ran errands and went to the BSFS Clubhouse. Bought some household odds and ends at Ikea. Hopefully this weekend will be better. Would like to get out with my camera-bought a new Tamron 18-270 mm lens for it a few weeks ago (Canon EOS Rebel Ti DSLR).

Broke down and purchased an ASUS EEE PC 1005HAB netbook that was on sale at BestBuy. With the gift card I got for my birthday from my stepbrother, my cost was just under $200. This netbook has a maximum screen resolution of 1024X768, enough to run programs such as Canon's Digital Photo Professional, so one can convert raw photo files to jpeg. Useful while on vacation and not wanting to lug the larger Toshiba notebook. Yes, a netbook can run Photoshop CS3. Don't expect warp speed, but I've found it to be more than adequate. Spent the last two days loading programs.

Turning Circle gathering Friday night. Will probably ask my mother if I can come visit Saturday instead of Friday. Didn't see her last week as we were both getting over colds.

Had a condo association meeting in my building last night. It was lively, to say the least. At least there seems to be more interest among residents to attend meetings than in past years.

*Poopy Neighbor Alert*: The apartment next door REALLY IS EMPTY at the moment except for the occasional contractor. Have heard rumors that they are planning to sell it. May the gods smile on us all.

What a geeky post this is. Should probably go to bed soon if I can tear myself away from the computer, which is misnamed. It should really be called an entertainment center. Now that I think of it, someone did call me a luddite once because I preferred a PC over a mac.

Well, it appears that my deviant neighbors may finally be gone, at least for the next few months. The druggie son's going to "rehab" in another state; the mother is going to an assisted living facility (appears to have Alzheimer's); and the son's druggie friends posing as her "caregivers" got the boot. Locks have been changed on the door, and according to the management, no one is supposed to be in the apartment for the next few months, except the maintenance man to periodically check faucets, toilets, etc. While I don't wish ill on them (bad karma for sure), these people have been a pain in the posterior since we moved into our building in the early 1990s. Living next door to them has been sheer misery and every day I have asked the gods to PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE have them move. I hope my neighbor gets the help he needs, even though I don't like him. He and his druggie paparazzi have been an unending source of petty theft/crime (e.g. stealing residents' bikes and pulling the fire alarm), minor drug dealing, harassing/panhandling other residents, shady people coming and going at all hours, occasional drug paraphernalia in the parking lot, our neighbor's scrungy friends banging on his window trying to get his attention, noise (whenever they argue the f-word gets tossed around like a football), cigarette smoke through the vents, not paying bills, and just being an all-round nuisance. For the last two years their apartment has been a flophouse for assorted junkies posing as "caregivers"; the one guy was in and out of jail like tourists in a four-star hotel. The owners finally got cited for having too many people living there. Maybe our condo association can make an offer on their place. On one side of me is a man who we've fondly nicknamed "the Hobbit" because he is reclusive and quiet and keeps to himself (I might make him cookies for Yule as a thank-you); on the other side are the Neighbors From Hell (aka the "cockroaches" because once they are there you can't get rid of them). Anyway, today I can't believe my luck.

I should add that, in spite of a few "rumpfaces" (my husband's colorful term), most of the people in my building are great. Other than the idiots next door (and our resident busybody--that's another story), we've made friends in our building and generally like living there.