So small it could almost be a miniature elephant

So small it could almost be a miniature elephant , that is how much time I have had to work on this blog in nearly a year!

Crazy Hot Heat in Dallas broken by rain!

If you are in the Dallas area, you have been affected by the extreme heat. Temperatures have actually reached 110 degrees Farenheit, not counting the infernal heat index.
In the wee hours of the morning, I was awakened by a loud popping sound. I went to turn on the light, and discovered that the power was out. After making sure that the alarm was still on (it has a separate back up battery) I went back to sleep, thinking "Funny, that sounds like rain outside."
When I woke up this morning, I was greeted by the wonderful sights and smells of rain.
It has been glorious to watch the rain, but funny as well because my dog would not go down the stairs in the rain to relieve herself. Finally, I convinced her via an umbrella that the rain was safe.

Amazingly, people are in a wonderful mood about the rain. It has been so hot here for so long, that it has been good to feel the rain on our shoulders, rain on our faces, and see the rain on our lawns.

I have just finished rereading a favorite book of mine. Lamb by Christopher Moore. Christopher Moore is a very talented writer, with a knack for hitting you right in the funny bone. I knew someone a long time ago that used to become very irritated with me when I was reading a Christopher Moore book because I would laugh out loud in places as I read his book. Fast forward a few years, I needed a laugh and picked up this book to reread. It was time well spent, and the funny parts were just as funny as the first time I read them.

Full body scanners...would you let them scan you?

There is a growing debate in the United States about fullbody scanners, which the TSA is installing in many airports across the United States. Some of the concerns involve the exposure to radiation, and the amount of radiation that is used to create the images. 
Another objection is that the full body scanner allows a very clear picture of the person that is being scanned, completely and fully showing their genitals in a way that allows for the person reviewing the scan to have a very good idea of the size of the genitals that are seen in the scanner. 
Supposedly, the image cannot be viewed in a way that allows for the reviewer to be able to identify the person, but, that has been dis-proven. All that needs to be done for the person to be able to be identified is to reverse the negative image to positive, and a clear image of the person can be seen. There is now a company that sells patches made of silicon to cover the breasts and genitals of passengers, so that in the event that they are chosen to go through the full body scanner, their private areas are shielded from the eyes of the person reviewing the scan. 
Finally, another objection is that for persons who work in the flight industry, they could be exposed to these machines several times in a day. A pilot recently refused to be scanned by one of these devices, stating that he did not believe that it has been proven to be a safe device. 
Although I am a staunch supporter of doing everything that we can in order to make traveling in the United States safe, I do not think that these machines are necessarily the best way to go. It has already been determined that there have been many pieces of misinformation that have been distributed by the TSA, so I support waiting until further information is out to fully use these machines.
In the event that you are chosen to go through one of these and you do not want to, you have the option of being manually patted down by a person instead of going through it. 
In the event that I am selected, I will go through it once, so that I can have the experience and write about it here. 
Other than going it through one time, I will decline and be manually patted down. 

Frontier Airlines adding Kansas City-Fort Myers to routes

Frontier Airlines is expanding its' line again with a newly announced route Kansas City to Fort Myers. 
The airline has been adding quite a few routes lately, which is very good to create competition in the airline industry, and some of the routes are very interesting, such as this one from Kansas City. 
Frontier says that initially, they will only fly the route once a week, increasing the route to twice a week in the beginning of 2011.

Qantas Airlines to offer iPad as inflight entertainment

Qantas Airlines will be offering the iPad for rent on its' Jetstar flights. The rental fee will be appx. $10.00 US.
I wonder what the deposit will be, as well as how the devices will be tracked so that there is no loss or theft. On the link, it mentions that it will provide a streaming service, presumably for music and videos. I think that it is a nice way to make entertainment without everyone having to watch the same video that is on the main screen at the front of the plane. Plus, I would imagine that everyone gets a set of headphones, so I do not have to listen, which is nicer. 


There are some really nice accessories for the iPad. I have a friend that has a tabletop stand for hers, and she tells me that it makes all the difference in the world between her using it, and it simply sitting on the charger, a useless device. 
A leather carrying case can be had from this vendor for less than $10.00! A great price to protect your very expensive gadget. 






















Finally, the last of the iPad gadgets that I will write about, a screen protector. If you end up using it, why not protect the screen to make it last longer and respond better?