For Dr. Nebula

Rumor of unknown origin¹ says there's a new all-in-one astrophotography rig on the market.  Aimed at the amateur astronomer, it combines telescope and CCD camera in a single unit with an equatorial mount and locator.  In its standard configuration, it has a quarter-degree field of view.

Naturally, it's called a Warhol.  It has, after all, fifteen minutes of frame ......

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[1] Who, me?

Fun with bureaucracy

So, as previously noted, I got my New Hampshire permanent disabled plates and placard last week.  Yesterday, I went to the DMV office in nearby Merrimack (as instructed by DMV head office in Concord) to have them remake my license with the little wheelchair icon in the corner that constitutes the verification that I am, in fact, entitled to them.

They couldn't do it.  When they pulled up my license, it transpired that somehow (be it a bug, or operator error) the system had failed to associate the disabled-operator placard issued to me with my license.  They tried several different things, but nothing would make the system cooperate.

So, they've cancelled my placard and re-issued it.  When the new one arrives in the mail, I get to go back to Merrimack.  Hopefully, this time it'll be in the system properly.

So long as they're remaking my license anyway, I'll have them take a new photo for it.  When I went up to Concord to get my NH license, I had three vehicles to register at the same time, plus additional DHS verification stuff because I'm a foreign national, and by the time I actually got to get my license photo taken, I'd been on my feet standing in various lines for more than two hours.  I was exhausted, and it showed in the photo.  Maybe this time around I can get a better photo.

Speaking of cell phones....

(Well, I wasn't, but mazianni was.)

Anyway ... since we moved to Hudson, our Nextel phone service has been terrible.  Poor signal, awful voice quality, often can't get a connection at all, just a "USER UNAVAILABLE" message.  We figured it was just due to weak signal here, since Nextel's coverage maps online show us well within their Boston-area coverage, or maybe due to service changes since the takeover by Sprint (since it seemed it got worse around then or shortly after).  I typically get only one bar of signal here, at best.

So, yesterday, I was talking to Nextel customer service trying to find out when our contract expires, and I mentioned the signal and clarity issues and our dissatisfaction with same.  "Oh," says the NXTL rep, after looking up our location, "that would be becuase we don't have any service at your location.  As a matter of fact, we have no service in a six-mile ... no, twelve-mile radius of you."

Look at that map link I posted above.  On that scale, we're maybe an eighth of an inch east of Nashua.  Does that LOOK as though there's no service within twelve miles?  We checked before we moved here that they had coverage.  Their site says they do.  Now their customer service says that they don't.

They also say that the fact they have no coverage anywhere near us, although their site says they do, is no reason for any latitude in their early termination fee.  (Speaking of which, the issue I was calling up to check on in the first place is that the one-year contract I thought we signed up for has somehow turned into a two-year contract at some point along the way... probably some piece of small print we missed along the way.  When we did a market switch from Bay Area to Boston area, I think the customer service rep said something about it extending our contract by a year, so maybe that's it.)

So, color me very unhappy with Nextel right now.

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Update:  Calling them again today, I'm told that they can't verify what coverage we have or do not have because their systems are down, and that contrary to what the rep who did the market switch for us did NOT extend the contract, but "could have, depending"; this rep claims we were on a two-year contract from the start.  I'm getting closer and closer to just saying "Fuck the early termination fee, I don't want to do business with these people any more."

Newness

• The livingroom screen door, which had become very tattered and extensively patched with duct tape, is now rescreened.  The new screen is heavy-duty, purportedly pet-rated material, asserted to be seven times stronger than regular-weight fiberglass insect-screen material.  Time will tell; we'll see how it endures our cats.  Oddly, the first roll of screening material had a seam about 18" or so from one end, sewn with white string.  "No," the folks at Home Depot said when I called, "it's not supposed to be like that.  Bring it back, we'll exchange it."  Must have hit the end of a roll by sheer chance.  Five points docked from $MANUFACTURER for poor quality control.
• Picked up a black powder-coated steel rack from Bed Bath & Beyond: starting price $50, minus 40% for clearance, minus 10% because it was the display model and had no box, minus 20% for Bed Bath & Beyond coupon.  The discounts multiply rather than add, so final discount is 56.8% rather than 70%, but still, it means we paid $21.60 for a 72"x18"x18" five-shelf rack (the kind with round posts and collets).  It's already at least half loaded....