Getting chilly

Good news about your monitor, Mr. Beagles.  Your problem as you described it drew a blank.  If you had an old style CRT monitor a big magnet could cause that kind of distortion but it would have to be very big and very close.  A flat screen LCD monitor can act funny if the cable is kinked, but that's all I've got regarding a solution.  My laptop screen is completely non-functional because of the cable and hinges but HDMI to the rescue; it's really nice to use the 32" TV as a monitor.  The resolution is good enough and with an external keyboard (nice, big Microsoft unit) and mouse I can kick back and get some work done without hunching over and squinting at a little screen.  There are a couple of USB peripherals I'd like to use but I don't think the laptop has enough juice for them, some kind of issue with the USB 3.0 drivers that I have installed.  Old computers with old operating systems can be problematic, lacking support from the manufacturers.  Neither Intel nor Microsoft can be bothered, it seems.  I might have to go to the local computer recycle shop and see what they have; many good deals are to be had.

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Ah, the Orange Garden.  I know it's been around since the late 50s when my family moved into the area but I didn't know it's the oldest Chinese restaurant in Chicago and their neon sign might be the oldest one in Chicago, too.

I may have eaten there twice, the last time being ten or fifteen years ago.  Not impressed, much better restaurants around and nobody I know, friends or family, have a good opinion of the place.  All of the good reviews online are a mystery to me unless they've greatly improved the quality of the food.  Some of the best Chinese food I've eaten lately is from Young's, a few doors north of the Ten Cat but I haven't eaten there in quite a while.

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Standing guard duty is something I was able to avoid for the most part.  Due to some fluke my name didn't make it to the duty roster and I wasn't about to correct the oversight.  By the time I made it to the duty roster I had enough rank that I just had to sit in the office most of the time and ride in the jeep during shift changes.  They gave me one of the 1911 Colt .45 automatics but no ammo, strictly for appearances.  It was a little scary handling that thing, even with no ammo since I had no training whatsoever with it.  All I could really use it for would be to conk somebody on the head; it was a hefty bit of steel.  If I was into handguns I would definitely want one of them.

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Not long before the frost is on the pumpkin.  The other day I noticed a few porches with Christmas lights on them already.  My, how time flies!