This and That

As predicted in my last entry, I did not receive an email from the MS OneCare Help center. Bastards! Another annoying thing that OneCare did when in the restore mode was to restore dozens of files I'd deleted months ago. It didn't restore the files I wanted, but it did clutter up my desktop and a bunch of other files. So I had to spend more time going through and re-deleting garbage files. If I would have just manually entered the 150 names and addresses in my Contacts file, I would have saved a lot of time, effort, and aggravation.

I'm going to see The Golden Compass this afternoon. I just finished reading the book yesterday, and as fantasies go, it was pretty good. The book is set in something like an alternative Edwardian England, where zeppelins fly and gaslights are common, and where people's souls are visible companions in animal forms. The heroine, predictably, is a noble-born orphan girl with special powers who is destined to save the world in a battle with the forces of evil. I missed the whole Harry Potter frenzy, and I hadn't read a fantasy since I read The Lord of the Rings trilogy way back when in my misspent youth, so this was something new to me. I'm not sure it was good enough to make me want to read the other two books in the series, but maybe the movie will inspire me. I'll report back after I see the show.

Occasionally, when I feel the urge to get some exercise, or if I need a fix of Spam or some other pseudo-food not found at my local PCC, I take the 25 minute walk up to the QFC grocery store in Wallingford. The store is a couple of blocks away from a high school, so at noon or after school, the store is jammed with high school kids getting lunch or junk food or whatever. I was there around noon a couple of days ago, and was struck by the high percentage of African-Americans there. Generally speaking, there aren't a lot of blacks in this area, so I guess they get bussed in. The guys were all in their hoodies and baggy pants with the crotches down to their knees, which isn't surprising. What was surprising was that a lot of the guys were East-African immigrants who spoke the language of the streets but called their friends Abdul or Mohammed. (I assume they were East-African because they had that fine-featured look of Somalis or Ethiopians.) Those who study assimilation of immigrants might find something interesting going on here. Good or bad, I don't know, but certainly interesting.

The presidential primary races are interesting as well. Especially the Republican one. There is no clear front-runner. Guiliani is imploding; Romney is distrusted by all, and Thompson's high point in the polls was the day before he announced. Huckabee is rising, and though loved by the evangelical crowd, isn't going to make it because he doesn't have enough money to get past Iowa and New Hampshire. He is also loathed by the Republican establishment. That leaves McCain. He is loved by no one, but may be the least-disliked of them all. I'd put my money on McCain. On the Democratic side, it sure looks like Obama is surging, Hillary is fading, and Edwards is holding on. I'd put my money on Obama, but I wouldn't count Edwards out. I'm in Obama's camp, but I'd be happy with Edwards.