Dr. Phil's Home

Rants, Facts and Other Distractions...

Provided for your amusement... and nothing more.

Cold and rain and gray,
Hot and muggy, it's May,
Spring has finally sprung,
Winter, we think, is done,
Is it ever too early to think,
About taking off the snow tires?

Dr. Phil's Pearls of Wisdom

"I am a computer professional. I trust computers as far as I can throw them... and I have a bad back."

"I have no real strong opinions on anything."

"Everything is Physics."

Dr. Phil's Take on the 2002 Oscars

Dr. Phil's Views on the Fall 2003 Movies ,

and past looks at the Summer 2002 Movies , Fall 2002 Movies and the Summer of 2003 Movies!

Dr. Phil's Theory of Optimized Procrastination

Dr. Phil's Rule of Sequels

Updated 05/11/2004 and should display better now.

What in the world did they THINK was going to happen?

Current news is filled with stories of waste and annoyance.

• The Pride and Honor of the U.S. military is on the line
  • How can these "guards" be so poorly trained AND SUPERVISED?
  • Those who knew OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN must take responsibility.
  • You cannot cover up anything in this digital/Internet world.
  • "As you sow, so shall ye reap"
• Was Martha Stewart convicted of:
  • Some new charge of lying which has never been used before
  • Or just being Martha Stewart?
• Enron cooked its books by recording deals as income that weren't really deals and definitely weren't income.
  • Millions were made by top execs, while they couldn't meet the payroll.
  • Promoted employee stock investment while they were selling.
  • Is anyone actually in jail for a long time YET?
• Worldcom -- see Enron
  • They're back to being MCI now
  • After legally wiping out billions in debts from the growth 90s
  • Unlike all their competitors, who still have their debts
  • Ain't it a wonderful country?
• The Commissioner of Baseball comes to his senses for once
  • There will NOT be advertised printed ON the bases in Major League Baseball
  • What is Spiderman 2's connection to baseball anyway?
• gets booed by his home town crowd because he forgot the 2002 All-Star Game was a game.
  • The managers were worried that their last pitchers would work too many innings.
  • Everyone forgot that the Rules allow for the pitcher to change places with a position player.
  • Third basemen CAN throw the ball.
  • Pitchers ARE baseball players and can field the ball.

Hang 'Em High!

We have three cats, all different colors but from the same litter, and they all match our house's woodwork, carpeting and furniture very nicely. The teleological implications of this are staggering.

Michigan Road Warrior Projects 2004 · Allendale to Kalamazoo

or "You Can't Get There From Here"

1. M-45 Rebuild (Allendale towards Standale) · It's Year 5 of the big rebuild project and they keep on putting up orange signs and barrels, as they STILL work on the landscaping. The double line of fancy street lights at night does look pretty.
2. I-96 from Coopersville to Marne · The Good News is they've done a beautiful job setting up the eastbound/westbound crossovers; The Bad News is the 68th Avenue bridge at Exit 16 is GONE (though it should be back by end of July?) and there is a six mile detour to get to my Chevy mechanics; 16th Avenue Bridge at Exit 23 in Marne isn't closed, but it is one way.
3. M-6 Henry Freeway Interchange with US-131 (South of Grand Rapids around 68th Street) plus the US-131 widening project between 44th and 84th Streets · Sign poles are up and the official rumors are that the M-6 may open from around Rivertown Crossings and I-196 to the airport late this fall, rather than in 2005. My question remains: Why the heck didn't they open from US-131 to the airport, especially because of the huge bottlenecks of 28th and Breton and 44th and Breton, where both intersections are one lane in all directions -- 28th and 44th are both the logical cross streets to get to the airport.
4. I-196 is always being torn up creating huge delays for downtown Grand Rapids.
5. US-131 Repaving on the big hills between Plainwell and Kalamazoo. Again, quite nice setup with fancy crossovers. Oh, but how painful when the southbound/uphill run goes to one lane -- first day of this arrangement and the speed is running about 10-15 mph...
6. US-131 Repaving in the "speedway" north of Ann Street in Grand Rapids? Not sure when this will really get underway, but they are doing the prep work. Due to the construction in #2 above, don't always go this way...
7. And finally, but no way least, we have the chaos of the WMU Western Entrance project. Or, you can get to near campus, we just won't let you in or out. I understand they're closing a road at the Eastern Entrance, too.

Did you know that Kalamazoo got a new Area Code in February 2003?

The old 616 Area Code for the west half of Michigan has been divided. The new 269 Area Code follows a line including Saugatuk, Hamilton, Wayland, and points south. So all Western Michigan University numbers changed from 616 to 269 Area Code -- but not Dr. Phil's home phone number, since I live far north of the dividing line.

Computer Rants & Roses

Nominees for the "2002-2004 Jar Jar Binks 'How Rude' Prize in Software Installation"

1. TurboTax 2001 Deluxe (Intuit)
2. Internet Explorer 5.5 (Microsoft)
3. TurboTax 2003 Deluxe (Intuit)
4. Microsoft Windows Security Update CD

Tales of the Jurassic PC

• The Odd Case of Math Type 3.1 and Windows NT 4.0 SP6a (HARTREE)

Chairman Bill's World vs. Dr. Phil (Probably need to Update this Real Soon Now)

Last Update: 11 May 2004 Tue