What if you crossed Pong with a marimba?

    It appears that there's no limit to how much I like hearing the marimba. This is a surprise to me, as I have never before betrayed any sign of marimba obsession. Returning to the iPad mad theme, one of the synthesizers that I mentioned is Soundrop. it is very simple. There is a circle on the screen; a dot drops out of it every second. You can draw a line to intersect the dots' fall. The dots bounce off, making a sound like a note on a marimba or chimes. You draw another line intersecting the new trajectory, and there's a new sound and another new trajectory. And so on and so on.
    I know, I know. It sounds less interesting than watching paint dry, but it's really fun. You also make some astounding sounds. Granted, everything sounds like "Discipline" by King Crimson, but what could be wrong with that? The app is free, though you can't save your work unless you pop for $2 for the full version. Thus, if you do something really brilliant, it's lost unless you leave the app open until the batteries run down. The full version also has other sounds besides marimba. But truth to tell, I kind of like the evanescence, and I really like the marimba. What a thing to find out at this advanced age!

Perspective

    Yesterday I went to Lowe's to get a new HVAC filter. They shelved them funny, so when I reached up from the second-best 14 X 25 filter to get the best one, I instead grabbed a 16 X 20. In another "Boy I'm dumb" moment, I didn't even look at it, just continued to checkout. And continued not looking at it until I had taken the plastic off and tried to install it. Not surprisingly, that didn't go too well, so I put the old one back.
    Not being quite a complete idiot, I had hung onto the receipt. Today I went back to get the right size. I had visions of the Returns person saying, "No way! You opened this!" but nothing of the sort happened. They credited my card and off I went to get my 14 X 25. And that's where perspective comes in. Because I've been buying this size for years and years. (Alice's central air took the same size filter.) And it looked just bizarre. Much too long and much too skinny. In my heart of hearts I was surprised when I got it home and it fit. Weird, huh?
    Again again with the cucumbers: on the fourth day, the fourth petite cucumber rotted. Not much, but still. So they're no good in the fridge and they're no good out. Oh well; hello English cucumber!

Again with the cucumbers

    I guess the big point I want to get across before I start blithering is one that no doubt everybody but me knew already: don't put cucumbers in the fridge. For all that "cool as a cucumber" stuff, it isn't a really good idea. It especially isn't a good idea for the petite cucumbers I've been obsessed with lately. They rot. And quickly, too. So I've been happier since I've been leaving them out.
    I did find out why they aren't marketed as being seedless. The latest batch do indeed have seeds, though they are very small. They haven't caused any reflux that I have noticed, though, which is all that's important to me.
    Publix sells these and the English (or Dutch) cucumber both from an outfit called Perro Family Farms. The petite cucumbers are from Holland; the English (or Dutch) ones are from Honduras. This caused me a quadruple take (a double each for Holland and Honduras). But really, I read correctly; the ones that are supposed to be from Holland are the ones that aren't. It also occurred to me that the Perros are one far-flung family. Gotta get around if you want to get ahead in the cucumber biz, I guess.

Fiascoville

    A few weeks ago, the dialysis facility changed Dad's chair time, making it fifteen minutes later. This would have been very, very welcome a few weeks earlier, when we were invariably having to wait. However, at the time they made the change it was insane since they had finally gotten their act together and eliminated his wait. Today, we were more than ten minutes early, and had to wait those ten, plus another thirty minutes. It doesn't help that his attendant, while very sweet, lies every time she opens her mouth, often contradicting the previous lie that came out of her mouth. But they got their act together once; presumably they can do it again. Color me unhappy, however.
    Also, Dad's left knee has been balky lately. Since Margaret got shingles, they haven't been going out, so he's walking around the house to get some exercise. Hopefully, it's just a minor strain that will clear up soon. Hopefully, so will Margaret's shingles. No fun at all.
    I could of course edit yesterday's post (still can, mind you) but that wasn't an autoharp, it was a sitar. I hadn't noticed the picture before, which is the only indication of the instrument you're playing apart from the sound. I did notice it didn't sound much like an autoharp, but it doesn't sound much like a sitar either. This isn't to say that it doesn't sound cool, though; it really does!

iPad mad

    My wonderful sister Anne gave or lent me (we haven't decided yet) her new iPad when she was down for Father's Day, and I have been going fairly kookoo downloading free apps for it. She started me out on this evil trail by pointing me to Tiny Piano. Since then, I downloaded a lot of games that I don't play anymore (including the text-based ones I've mentioned already and which were briefly an obsession), and one that I do. It's called 7 Little Words, and is nefarious. It's a simple word game, with a new one every day. Worse than crack.
    The other week, somebody was telling me the great future in store for us where everybody can work at home, due to the advent of the iPad. I said, "I just use mine to play Air Hockey." And indeed, one of my very best free apps is the Air Hockey one. It makes me crazy that a lot of these things seem to have disappeared from the App Store, particularly this one. But keep looking; maybe it'll be back.
    I also got a xylophone, a drum kit, congas, hand drums, a harmonium, an autoharp and marimba, a harp (Echo String) and Cat Piano Jr. which alas doesn't amuse or interest Amelia particularly. I also have numerous synthesizers. One, Synth!, allows you to record five second samples and use them on the keyboard. So far, creepy stuff like "Get out!" or "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy" don't come off as very creepy. The creepiest is "To be or not to be." Go figure. My favorite, though, is "We can dance if we want to."
    Other synths include SoundPrism, minicomposer (by a guy from Kraftwerk), Mugician (which I recommend to EVERYbody), RGBSound and Soundrop. And I got a sound studio setup called Hokusai. Never have I felt more William Gibson!

Bachman and Turner need not apply

    I've owned this '94 Camry for at least 5 years, and drove it a lot for the previous 5 years when Alice owned it. So I was pretty surprised to find a button on the gearshift that I had never noticed before. This may have been partly because it was pushed in. When you push it again such that it pops out, an "O/D off" light comes on on the dashboard console. So I've found the overdrive button.
    Opinion on the Internet seems to agree (mostly) that it's best to leave overdrive on all the time. Apparently, it's just a matter of having fourth gear available for highway and near-highway speeds, a gas-saving feature. I just feel like an idiot for not noticing it in all this time. But though I ain't seen nothin' yet, I'll try try try to let it ride in order to keep takin' care of business. Every day!

Greenville

    Columbia is the largest city in South Carolina, but the third largest metropolitan area. Greenville and Spartanburg between them form the largest, and between them is a large and busy airport. For some reason, Greenville Spartanburg Airport (GSP) is running radio ads in Columbia at least, and presumably throughout the state, featuring what I could call ostensible African-Americans. That is, it sounds like white actors trying to sound like African-Americans. Greenville is very white, and very Republican; I don't know if this just reflects their attitude about the rest of the state or what.
    I guess the nicest reading that can be put on this bewildering string of ads is that at least it shows a welcoming attitude towards African-Americans. Of course, a welcoming attitude extending only as far as the fastest way to leave might be considered a dubious welcome, but at least they're mainly advertising themselves as a quick way to go on vacation. So you're also presumably welcome to come back. The spot that makes me crazy is the one where a black female college student says, "Catch you on the flip-flop." Sooo, a person born in the '90s is using '70s CB lingo. Uh-huh. If you're going to be this weird, GSP, at least tighten up the writing and the acting, huh?