I’m writing this post on a brand-new MacBook; it’s my Chanukah/Birthday present to myself. I have only been using it for about 20 minutes, but I already love it. The screen, keyboard and trackpad are all noticeably better than the ones on Lizzie, my 12″ PowerBook.

More later

Dave Ramsey is a radio host that I’ve begun to listen to. His show is on all over the place and, here in KC, it’s on for three hours a day, from 11:00 – 2:00. I can’t listen to him live, so I download his PodCast, which is currently among the most-dowloaded PodCasts in the Business section of the iTunes Store [iTunes Store Link].

In a recent show, Dave spoke to a caller who had inherited some cash and wanted to know if he should invest it (conventional wisdom) or use it to eliminate the mortgage on his house. Many people advise consumers to retain a mortgage, since it is “good debt” and provides, among other things, a tax deduction. Unsurprisingly, Dave disagrees.

Give a listen; it’s worth the 8 minutes and 9 seconds. Here is the call:

[Click for MP3](http://blog.dimbert.net/audio/ramsey.mp3) (6.5 MB, 8:09)

The New York Times [reported](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/sports/basketball/29auerbach.html?ex=1319774400&en=5a9ed5bdbc403098&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss) today that Red Auerbach, the man who created the Boston Celtics dynasty, died yesterday of a heart attack.

Every time I read about the death of someone I admired as a child or young man, I find myself repeating: “Man, *everyone’s* dying.” I suppose that it’s just a part of growing older, but I think it’s sad. I was never much of a sports fan… except for the Celtics.

Their hard-working, never-say-die attitude inspired me. As a child, I idolized Larry Bird, but, if I had been born in another decade, could have just as easily worshipped Bob Cousy or John Havlichek. Those giant men played the game the way I had to, smart, often against taller, more atheletic opponents, and they won through hustle and teamwork.

Red Auerback built a sports dynasty. I’m sad to see him go.

In his Linked List today at [DF](http://daringfireball.net/), John Gruber [pointed out](http://daringfireball.net/linked/2006/october#tue-17-inman) that Shaun Inman, the creator of [Mint](http://haveamint.com/), [announced a redesign](http://shauninman.com/post/heap/2006/10/16/the_9th_incarnation_of_shauninman_com) of his personal weblog. Now, I’m not much of a site designer – I use a pretty standard copy of [K2](http://www.getk2.com) here – but I noticed something interesting. Check out the screenshots; Shaun’s site is to the left.

This second screenshot (below) is from the [personal weblog](http://jogin.com/weblog/) of Tomas Jogin, a Mac-using designer from Sweden. (On a side note, his site was dark for a while and I’m glad to see that its back up.) His site runs on a blog engine called [Mephisto](http://mephistoblog.com/) and his design uses Ruby on Rails and CSS. Of his design, he says, “All rights reserved. Don’t steal my shit or I’ll hunt you down and kill you.”

Now, hold your horses. I’m not suggesting, even for a minute, that either of these gentlemen stole anything from the other; I’m just pointing out the similarities in the designs. Given the recent [brouhaha](http://joyeur.com/2006/09/29/falkner-winery-hands-off-unless-you-ply-me-with-wine) regarding site design between [Corkd](http://corkd.com/), [Joyeur](http://joyeur.com/) and [Falkner Winery](http://www.falknerwinery.com/), this similarity startled me. Things get even more coincidental when you realize that both sites feature an almost-centered single column of lightly-colored text on a dark background, just like [Daring Fireball](http://daringfireball.net/), the site on which Gruber pointed out Inman’s redesign. I guess that this could all be explained by the simple maxim that “great minds think alike.”

Of course, Inman’s new site does some [magic with CSS](http://shauninman.com/post/about/the_heap/) to make the site’s pages change colors over time…. using *over 33,000 different CSS files*. So, my point may become increasingly moot over time.

Interesting, nontheless.

Stop number two on the geek tour of the East coast’s Apple Stores was the biggie, Nerdvana, Geekstock… the 5th Avenue Apple Store.

Here I am. That’s me on the right (with the toothpick in my mouth) and that’s the elevator on the left (the thing I’m pointing to). And, yes, I’m wearing the same shirt I wore to the Garden State store.

What’s a geek on vacation to do?

Well, one thing he can do is start a meaningless tour of Apple’s retail store locations. Here is shot #1 of me at the [Apple store](http://www.apple.com/retail/gardenstateplaza/week/20060827.html) in the Garden State Mall in New Jersey. Assuming everything goes according to plan, the next shot in this set will come during my visit to the 5th Avenue store in Manhattan.

I love you, babe.

So, in case you didn’t know it, I’m a Mac guy.

A little while ago, Apple announced the new [Mac Pro](http://www.apple.com/macpro/), their newest deskop and last machine to transition to the Intel processors. It’s a powerhouse, monster, hella fast computer, the kind of machine you might use to make movies on. I believe that its predecessor, the PowerMac, is the machine that Peter Jackson used to make the Lord of the Rings trillogy.

Let me say this up front: I don’t need one.

That being said, I would really like to have one. To save you the trouble of shopping, I’ve gone ahead and filled out the online store’s order form; as you can see here, I’ve tricked out the computer and filled it with the options I would like. The total comes to a hair over eighteen thousand dollars.

For that, you will get me:

* the fastest processors Apple ships: two dual-core 3GHz processors
* 16 GB of RAM
* a total of two terrabytes (that’s equivalent to 20,000 floppy disks)
* a stupid-powerful graphics card, which I will need to power my two 20-inch Cinema Displays
* two SuperDrives so I can burn two DVDs at the same time
* Bluetooth and wi-fi
* A Fibre Channel Card, which would allow me to connect my computer to a RAID (if I ever bought one… maybe next year?)
* a modem (just in case I take my $18,000 desktop on the road and the hotel doesn’t have broadband)
* a wireless keyboard and mouse
* a bunch of software I don’t really need
* the AppleCare extended warranty

Or, if that seems like two much, you could just buy me a MacBook for about $1,500. OK?

I just found this picture and had to share it.

This one is for prosperity.

Listen up, Gedaliah: I’ve realized over the last two months that you’re suffering the fate of all babies-in-the-family. You’re ignored quite a bit. You see, your mother and I don’t mean anything by it, we’re just caught up in the demands of daily life: soothing boo-boos, making dinner, folding laundry, getting to work on time, etc. Your brother and sisters aren’t *more important* than you are, they’re just more difficult to ignore.

That’s why you spend so much time on your own.

I came downstairs earlier this week to find you, by yourself, on your [Gymini](http://store.babycenter.com/product/toys/by_type/arches_and_gyms/2205) in the living room. There was nobody else in the room and you were just lying there, playing happily. Of course, sometimes, you sit and scream for a while until we come and pick you up – again, not because we like hearing you scream, but because, despite your temporary discomfort, we know that you’re safe and sound, so we can take care of some other crisis before we come to comfort you.

Now, I know that, once you’re old enough to talk, you’re going to learn quickly to speak up for yourself. When you’re one of four kids, that’s a talent you are forced to learn, so I’m not worried… you’ll be an effective self-advocate in no time. 🙂