Nice job, courine. Thanks.

Everytime I look at the insignia, I think of a decoder ring...maybe a Batman version.

I hope to add another dual core Intel @ 2.0 GHz this week. I need to find time to work on it. I'm retired and I don't know how I ever had time for a job.

Our Mensa CultureQuest team scores weren't as high as I had hoped or as low as I had feared. It was my first time to participate and I hope to help the team more next year.

Shannah, our granddaughter, is preparing to return to the University of Hawaii at Manoa to begin her third year. Her dorm assignment was so poor (not even one of her four choices) that she and a another student are going to lease an apartment. Shannah isn't a Mensa member yet, but she is qualified.

I've got an AMD 4200+ dual core and an Intel 3ghz single core running in my office and they throw off enough heat make the room noticeably warmer. My electricity bill last month was over $500 - the highest ever. A big part of the problem is central a/c and 2 dehumidifiers in the basement though. The hdtv is no slouch either - drawing about 600 watts I think (lcd projection).

In New Jersey (east coast, near New York) the weather hasn't been bad. We've had some days in the mid 90's, but nothing above 100 degrees - as far as I've noticed. I think that might be due to more cloud cover than usual, but that's a subjective observation.

The a/c in my car finally died this year and had to replace the compressor. I have an old Honda civic that was one of the last models to use R12 (freon) refrigerant. It was never powerful enough to do anything more than cool the car down to the low 80's - and not even that if you got stuck in traffic on a sunny day. The new one uses R134a. I don't know if the compressor is more powerful, but it works almost twice as well. It seems to put more of a strain on the little 4 cylinder engine and it cost a bundle to install but it was definitely worth it.

I haven't had time to get another cruncher online. My wife, Johnnie, had a TIA (mini stroke) Sunday evening. She was admitted to the hospital for further tests and observation. Johnnie had a tough year in 2000 resulting in a mechanical St. Jude mitral valve and pacemaker. This was due to rheumatic fever as a child which led to calcification of the mitral valve. She will probably be home on Wednesday. An MRI showed no brain damage and the numbness in the lower portion of her left leg and the weakness in her left arm have gone away.

Welcome new members! Who's next? I can't keep track of you all, so drop in and say hello.

Thanks, Dieter.

Good news. Johnnie is home and she did not have a stroke. One of her heart medications (lanoxin) has been changed because it had reached a toxic level. It has been determined that her thyroid level is very close to the lower limit and she may need thyroid medication.