Author Archives: Peter

200,032.5

Well, now that Becky’s home and the Camry has returned, I’ve taken an official photo of the 200,000 mile odometer, with the additional 32.5 miles she put on it today.

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Hooray!

Apple or Open Source?

The three most important applications for my computer use at home are, in order of importance:

Web Browser
Email Client
Instant Messaging Client

I am constantly re-evaluating which is the best software solution in each category. I know there are a lot of choices in both categories, but to simplify my life, I’ve whittled it down to either a solution by Apple Computer on one hand, or a particular Open Source solution on the other hand.
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Turned Over 200,000

At 8:35 a.m. today, high atop the ***Tobin Bridge|http://www.massport.com/bridges/about.asp***, my trusty 1994 Toyota Camry LE turned over 200,000 miles. Sadly, I was not in the car to witness this event. Becky had to drive my car in to Boston today since her Golf is having exhaust problems, but she was sweet enough to call me on the phone and give me a first-hand narrated account of the turnover. The turnover occurred just before she went into the tollbooth. Though I am sad to have missed the occasion, I am happy that my car has made it this far.

The car was originally purchased by my grandfather, Clark Keefer (my mom’s dad, Pop-Pop to us grandkids). He put the bulk of the miles on it, and took fantastic care of it. He retired the car in 2000, with about 147,000 miles on it. I received it as a gift in the spring of 2000, and I have since logged 53,000 of my own miles on it. That’s an average of 11,778 miles per year, or 226.5 miles per week. Appropriately, the Camry turned over 180,000 miles last August while we were driving to Pennsylvania for Pop-Pop’s 80th birthday celebration.

On an average day, I drive the Camry roughly 10 miles – the round trip from home to work and back. We frequently make trips into Boston, Cape Cod, and other parts of New England. Our longest trip, however, was a journey from Woburn, Mass to Dunedin, Florida for our friend ***Joanna|http://gallery.prwdot.org/joanna_sean_wedding***’s wedding. That was over 3,000 miles round trip, and the Camry even made the trip with a crack in the radiator which I didn’t know about until I returned to Mass.

The Camry isn’t an exciting car to be sure – not fast, not sporty, not cool, not rugged. But it is what I need in a car: dependable, long-lasting, comfortable, spacious, and excellent gas mileage after all these years.

Here’s to the Camry.

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Changing a headlight on the way to Dunedin, Florida|ppp

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On the beach in Dunedin, Florida|ppp

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Before a trip from Beverly to Mount Vernon|ppp

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Getting ready for our Route 62 Adventure|ppp

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Chilling out in snowy Jackson, NH|ppp

You can get a full view of the Camry ***here|http://gallery.prwdot.org/1994_toyota_camry***. Though I wasn’t able to take a photo when it turned over 200,000 miles, I hope to take one later tonight when Becky returns.

Cheap Books

If you need or want any technical books by ***O’Reilly|http://www.oreilly.com/***, check out this ***43%-off sale|http://www.bookpool.com/.x/skwrrxz5v1/ct/65*** at BookPool… could save you a lot of money.

Crimson and Scarlet

Today in New England, “The Game” referred to the classic football matchup of the Harvard Crimson vs. the Yale Bulldogs. Harvard beat Yale to a pulp, ***35 to 3|http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/recap?gid=200411200131***. This finishes Harvard’s season with a perfect 10-0 record. Congrats to the Crimson!

In the Midwest, on the other hand, “The Game” referred to another classic football matchup, The Ohio State Buckeyes versus the Michigan Wolverines. Ohio State beat Michigan by not such a wide margin, ***37 to 21|http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/recap?gid=200411200033***. Congrats to the Buckeyes!

I guess that makes me two for two today with wins from a team in my original home state, and a team in my adopted home state. 🙂

He Died Happy

Fred Hale, Sr., the world’s oldest man and lifelong Red Sox fan, has ***died at the age of 113|http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/3936073/detail.html***, just four weeks shy of his 114th birthday. I had previously ***written about Fred|http://prwdot.org/?p=archives/002094*** during the World Series, and I’m glad that he got to see the Sox win one more time before he passed away.

An Okay Shot

Last night after the movies, Becky and I took a chilly but refreshing stroll down to ***Independence Park|http://gallery.prwdot.org/independence_park***. I had hoped to capture some nice night shots, but most of them were disappointing. The area is lit by very bright floodlights at night, which is nice from a pedestrian safety perspective, but is horrible for photography. Anyway, I did manage to get one shot which looks pretty decent, after having been cropped to fit as a banner for our site. See if you can guess which one it is!

Life Affirming

Becky and I saw ***The Incredibles|http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/incredibles/index.html*** tonight at ***Chunky’s|http://www.chunkys.com/***. It’s really great to watch a terrific, life-affirming family-friendly animated adventure, especially one that also happens to be wicked cool. Four thumbs up from The Woods.