I'm having a Genie problem AND a 443 Port problem. I know, you say; who isn't? Lot of that going around. The DVR does not record series anymore, which seem to go against the whole idea of having a DVR that record series, so I went to the technical support forums. To sum it up:

Hey, all of a sudden my Genie isn't recording all the shows

Yeah, me too

I reset everything but it didn't seem to work

Hope there's an update

Okay then! Wife asks why her shows aren't being recorded, and I say it's happening to me. Look, here, in my browser history for proof I am on the matter. Top men are working on it. TOP MEN. Well, me. SHORT. MEN then. As for the 443 port problem, I tried to buy an ep of Fargo because the DVR decided I didn't want to watch it. Couldn't connect: make sure your firewall hasn't blocked port 443. Why, those are fighting words, sirrah. If I strike you as the sort of man who would configure his firewall incorrectly I demand satisfaction. Went to the support forums:

All of a sudden I cant connect to the itunes store it says I should unblock port 443 have I been hacked?

(boilerplate response from the level-headed guy who seems to answer every question in the Apple forums with a calm, reasoned tone that surely masks a boundless contempt)

Same thing happened to me after I updated to iO9.1.4. Over on MacThings they were saying I should unplug all my USB peripherals

(teeth-gritting response from level-headed guy explaining why that has nothing to do with anything)

Hey same thing just updated to latest build of El Capitan no prob now

Worked for me too - thanks!

So I upgraded to the latest version, and the problem went away. Makes me think back to all the times I rolled my eyes when there was a transporter or holodeck malfunction in Star Trek. How convenient for the plot. Seems realistic, now; I'm surprised the food replicators didn't spit out entire furry rabbits from time to time.

Two things that didn't make yesterday's cut: the first, on the left, is a partial acount of all the wifi networks by the gate at Reagan National. I've no idea why Lickety Split - the name of a"gentleman's club" here in Mpls, a purveyor of snacks at DCA - needs two, but there they are. It's the second one that cracks me up. Deep cover, man. Talk about blending in. AND they're using their phone. So someone is probably on a laptop, using his phone as a hotspot. Hope everything's superdupe encrypted. I'm sure it is. Probably the guy sits there and sees who tries to hack in, and then has them put on a list. The No WiFiFly list, maybe.

Below, a police callbox that's heard some dismaying stories.

YOU'RE KIDDING I CAN'T BELIEVE IT NO YOUR'RE KIDDING

Love the stylized acanthus leaves. The Romans would recognize that object. They might not know exactly what it was for, but the little pedestal with the leaves would be familiar. If there was a phone in there, you wonder how long it would take a Roman to figure that out. Once you pick up the receiver, you know what to do with it. Right? Or not? Is there something about the receiver that explains itself to anyone? The way it fits in your hand, the way it bridges the ear and the mouth - what else could it be for?

What remains of the infrastructure that supported the call-box system? You wonder whether there are miles of disused cloth-covered wire snaking here and there, held in place by ancient clamps, slithering up in between walls of old structures that haven't seen the sun in 80 years. Whether there's any plan to take these out. When I loved in DC these always struck me as signs of decay; they were usually plastered with stickers and scrawls, a piece of the old world left to break and rust. But now it's painted. Eh?

I started looking for others, but didn't find any. Wondered if there was a web page about them. Of course, there is. Holy Crow: "The use and history of the city’s police and fire call boxes has often provoked much curiosity by residents and visitors alike, with over 875 of the abandoned boxes having recently been scraped and painted by the District Department of Transportation over the past few years."

From the article I learned that was actually a Fire callbox, since they had the distinctive 'house" shape.

Every day you learn something more, and realize how much more you don't.

Back to the Christmas Club. No more sad orphans this time: they're either happy, jacked up on the butter-nut beans, or both.

The Coffee Delicious. Writing their ads Yoda did.

The can also had a ton of these, which look to be from an earlier age. Same Yoda slogan, with another great old line:

ASK THE MAN WHO DRINKS IT BLACK, because unlike ther rest of you wussies who have to dump cream and sugar into the cup, they understand actual coffee flavor.

Back to the wide, spread out, and curiously ruined town of Lamesa. Again, you can't judge everything based on my screengrabs of Google Street Views. But.

Once again, an old gas station . . .

But I couldn't tell you which brand. It seems as if it was sat upon.

A bakery sign peeks through; the green building says GAINES.

They kept painting until they ran out of paint and then they bought some more. DO THE AWNING, THAT'S WHAT I'M PAYING YOU FOR.

It's a strange decoration on the front, and I don't mean the thread spindle. Brickwork for decoration - it's cheap, but better than nothing.

A bank; what else could it be? The upper floor doesn't seem to secure, though.

What's up there, I always wonder. There has to be something up there.

WHOA DUDE

STOP REALITY! Stop it three times. These buildings, by the way, are around the courthouse square; last week's shots were on the outskirts of downtown. But the downtown has its own sense of odd vacancy.

No jelly? No?

The little booth fascinates me: what was that for? A parking lot attendant, perhaps. But what was any of it for, and wat happened?

JAM: why?

Maybe this is a Texas thing I'm not getting, but I don't see the point of those spouts . . .

To say nothing of trenching the sidewalk to funnel the water to the street.

It's not all empty; there's usually a new bank in towns like this "new" being a relative term.

Doesn't do much for the street, though.

I love it when the shots line up like this.

If you look closely, you can see a big rectancular block that used to be windows. Probably not original. Had its day. Then the view was removed forever.

More decoration done on a dime, but it has a nice 30s clarity to it.

Even though it looks like a block of slightly melted ice cream.

Let us sum it up . . . with this.

There's a homely poetry to that shot that reminds me why I spend so much time poking around the streets of towns I'll never visit.

And there you have today's diversions. Two restaurants below; see you around.