Sunday Driver
Sep. 23rd, 2007 02:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeMount Shasta was doing its Fuji-san impersonation this morning (hiding behind the clouds) as I headed south on I-5. I stopped at a natural-foods store in Mt. Shasta City that is the only place Lisa has found that stocks a particular brand of tuna she likes, but for a change I was too early, and I didn't want to wait around for them to open. I stopped for an early lunch at at truck stop in Redding, then hopped down to Williams, where the coffee shop with the free internet access beckoned. (As I've stopped here before, the settings are already in my computer, and they don't change the password that often, so it's convenient for me.)
It's only 2 PM, so I can head over to Sutter for a while, but not a long time, as it will take me some time this evening to get the house rebooted, you might say. I did, however, find out pretty much what the minimum electricity usage I can expect from the apartment is, as my current billing statement arrived electronically, and it closely approximated the past month that nobody has been in the apartment. Under the best of circumstances, it appears I can expect the apartment to consume around $25 worth of electricity even with nobody in it. Not that it's completely shut down, of course, because besides things like the refrigerator and entertainment center, one of the computers in the apartment and the internet connections are always running.
That reminds me that I'm looking forward to putting my computer on the "Kill-a-Watt" device to find out exactly what sort of load it draws, preparatory to complaining to Northwest about how their in-seat power supplies are useless for my computer.
I also continue to contemplate uses for the $800 voucher from Northwest. I'd use some of it to go to SMOFCon, but I'm already booked on a USAir trip that was on a "use-it-or-lose-the-miles" deal from the ex-America West mileage. Speaking of use-it-or-lose-it, having saved a Sheraton hotel night coming off the Japan trip, I need to come up with a reason to stay at a Starwood property for one night relatively soon, because that was a similar "use the points now or they expire" deal. I wonder if booking the room and then re-depositing the miles counts as sufficient account activity to keep the points alive.
It's only 2 PM, so I can head over to Sutter for a while, but not a long time, as it will take me some time this evening to get the house rebooted, you might say. I did, however, find out pretty much what the minimum electricity usage I can expect from the apartment is, as my current billing statement arrived electronically, and it closely approximated the past month that nobody has been in the apartment. Under the best of circumstances, it appears I can expect the apartment to consume around $25 worth of electricity even with nobody in it. Not that it's completely shut down, of course, because besides things like the refrigerator and entertainment center, one of the computers in the apartment and the internet connections are always running.
That reminds me that I'm looking forward to putting my computer on the "Kill-a-Watt" device to find out exactly what sort of load it draws, preparatory to complaining to Northwest about how their in-seat power supplies are useless for my computer.
I also continue to contemplate uses for the $800 voucher from Northwest. I'd use some of it to go to SMOFCon, but I'm already booked on a USAir trip that was on a "use-it-or-lose-the-miles" deal from the ex-America West mileage. Speaking of use-it-or-lose-it, having saved a Sheraton hotel night coming off the Japan trip, I need to come up with a reason to stay at a Starwood property for one night relatively soon, because that was a similar "use the points now or they expire" deal. I wonder if booking the room and then re-depositing the miles counts as sufficient account activity to keep the points alive.
