Than One Foggy Christmas Eve

Well, it certainly is foggy here in any case. Fog is a cloud at ground level. Isn’t helping any. After 4 days of overcast skies and rain I’m wishing I could send the weather back marked: “Return to Sender.” Back home where they’re headed toward the third blizzard in a week I expect they’d rather mark it: “Refused.” With highs predicted in the seventies there’s no chance of a White Christmas in Austin but there’s every chance of one in Oakville.

I suppose I shouldn’t be complaining about free Wi-Fi but the only time I get a good signal here is between 2 and 4 AM in the morning. At other times things c-r-a-w-l. Remarkably Windows seems to have the ability to adjust for slower download speeds and I’ve been getting fewer failures recently. What I have discovered is that the application that has the best ability to access a signal and keep it active is iTunes; the weakest performer is Windows Mail. In fact it helps if I have iTunes engaged in making a download while I attempt to send mail. I just applied Microsoft’s latest patch for Internet Explorer/Windows Mail. Who knows what new havoc they are going to wreak.

Unfortunately I discovered rather promptly what the latest patch could wreak. It is causing problems for my Norton Anti-virus programme as well s Lavasoft AdAware. After thorough scans I’m satisfied I have no malware or viruses to cause a problem so that leaves me with the latest update. I can live with vulnerabilities but I can do without an anti-virus programme so if problems persist I may have to attempt to roll back that update.

Here it is Friday and the weather is still soggy. After an over-night low of 64º F I suppose I really don’t have all that much to complain about compared to the people back home contending with inches of snow and another blizzard on the way but one tends to take what one has for granted. Austin could use some real rain rather than simply overcast days. Aquifers and springs are drying up here after a prolonged drought.

Read the news this morning and revisited the melt-down of yet another young actor. Back in 1993 the teenaged Lillo Brancato was plucked off a beach on Coney Island to play the part of Robert De Niro’s son in A Bronx Tale. Hailed as a look-a-like for De Niro’s younger self, on the strength of that performance Hollywood threw work Brancato’s way including a stint on the Soprano’s Franchise. Unfortunately fame and the ability to handle it do not come hand-in-hand and Brancato has been in and out of hot water in recent years culminating in his present appearance before the courts on a murder charge after being present when a partner shot a New York City Cop.