Android Advantages

As you probably know, I love my iPhone. However, I thought these were excellent reasons to prefer Android.

The Tiniest of Blooms

Even the succulent on my kitchen counter knows it's spring:

By No Means Stellar

My internet is faster than 82% of the US - which ranks 32nd in the world. Texas is one point behind at 33. Austin? Slightly higher at 27.

Alien Invasion

When I opened the blinds today, I noticed that my red-flowering Pentas out front were missing almost all their leaves. Any other plant and I might have just written it off to heat or lack of water. But the Pentas were the one plant out front that have been doing really great.

When I went to go investigate, you can probably guess what I found. [Click the picture to see the video.] An infestation of caterpillars; Tersa Sphinx caterpillars to be exact. The buffet had allowed them to grow pretty big; each one was about the size of a finger. Funny thing, they were eating so much I caught a couple of them pooping pretty sizable amounts. Apparently, if left to go about their business, they'll eventually emerge as Tersa Sphinx Hummingbird moths; IMHO the least appealing of the three possible hummingbird moths. (I think I caught a Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth on my Duranta the other day.)

Now the question was what to do with them. By the time I found them, they had already stripped about 75% of the leaves off the Pentas. I'm happy for them to eat some but I think I have to draw the line at most. I didn't want to kill them though. On the far side of the garage, there's just grass, no decorative plants of any kind. So I decided to move them there. That wouldn't kill them (directly) but would pose an incredibly long trek to get back to the Pentas. If they manage to walk all the way back, they can have it. I hoped they'd be able to find some shelter and something to feed on (just not quite so ravenously). So I commenced relocating the undesirables, one at a time, to the lousiest part of the yard (all the while thinking "how republican").

At the time, I wasn't sure what type of moth/butterfly they'd become. I was a little worried they might have the potential to become something so magnificent that it'd be worth sacrificing a plant for. Turns out they'll just become monochromatic moths, so no great loss. However, I'm not sure that I took the most humane course of action. In the grass they might be too exposed and either get eaten or cook in the sun (I made sure to put them in the shade). I bet their mom laid them on the host plant because they aren't very mobile. So if they don't eat grass, they might starve. This page suggests that you can pull them off your plants and raise them in a bucket by rationing their host plant to them. I wasn't crazy about that idea either. Once you imprison someone they most certainly are solely your responsibility and then you have to take care of them. So I left them chillin' in the grass. Good luck little caterpillars!

They Don't Build 'Em Like They Used To

Funny. I would have thought that one of the selling points of a $100 million antenna test lab would be:

• Identifies totally wrong mapping from signal strength to little bars*.

* In less than three years.

If you opt for the $200 million deluxe edition, you get:

• Automatic warning of impending P.R. storm caused by placing sole groove in exactly the worst place to rest your fingers.
  

From Spicewood To Chasewood

So, long story short, I cleaned up my credit and bought a house. Actually, I haven't really 'bought' it yet, closing's in October, but the offer period's over and all the preliminary stuff is out of the way.

What I'm going to miss about my apartment:

• Location! 5 minutes to work and a Walk Score™ of 63. That's not bad at all.
  
• A gas stove.
• All the trees. I love having a view of nothing but my small forest. Deer and birds a plenty.
• Being so close to Katherine.
  
• An appropriate amount of space. I've just barley got enough furniture for my two-bedroom apartment (some would dispute that), do I really need three bedrooms?
  
• The security of a second floor. I'm convinced that no one would ever go to the trouble to break into a second floor apartment.

But:

• The new location isn't bad. Only 10-15 minutes to work. And Mopac and I35 are both very easy to get to.
• The house has a security system, so hopefully that will help with the crime.

What I'm excited about in my new house:

• I'm not throwing away money towards rent. (This is really the main reason I set out to move in the first place, so it's gotta be number 1.)
• A kitchen with some elbow room and more counter-top space. I hope people can finally join me in the kitchen and not be in the way.
• A change of scenery. It's pretty easy for me to get into a rut. I've been in this complex for six years. Probably time to move on.
  
• Not being attached or above anyone! Music as loud as I want.
  
• A yard where I can start my own garden.
• An attached garage.
• Being in total control. E.g., if the AC just doesn't cool in the summer, it can be replaced.
  
• Wiring. I'm looking forward to running cables in the walls with proper wall jacks. No more silly snaking of wires along the baseboards. (Although I've gotten pretty good at that.)
  
• Fall! I can't wait to have all the windows open with nice fall air flowing though while I cook.
• The jacuzzi tub. Silly, but I'm looking forward to trying it out.

That's The Truth

Congress Deadlocked Over How To Not Provide Health Care

Edit: This too.