7:20 PM |
I am officially a hacker-in-training. Well not really. But I expect some of it is easier than it might first appear.I am in Nova Scotia uploading photos through Dropbox, i.e., soon to be huge company because Photostream doesn't work. There is a public folder. It is not mine. Can't resist. Not only is there a document named Bank, but it contains every account, user name and password this company has. Another document has all the IP addresses for its internal network. And business plans. And medical photos. I presume the latter belong to the user and they are not from a demented serial killer. Didn't look at them. Couldn't. Also found a ton of files from a company that actually SELLS information technology services.
So whatta you do? Copied bank numbers just because it was fun. Logged into bank. Ditto. I think I am a criminal. I don't think I've ever been a criminal before. Well, okay, stole this picture off of evolution of hacking site. This guy's name is in folder name, like Joe Smith's Folder. By contents of folder find out the name of the company he works for. Email him there, suggesting to change bank accounts. Another folder has a bunch of stuff for, shall we say, a medical practice. Emailed them through Contact Us on web site. I left my real name and email. Since the company is apparently a client of theirs, I think it will be, well, startling when they get my message. Done my white hat thing for the day. But boy is this fun.
Note to self: Delete all documents titled Bank. Future note to self: Delete all documents.
I am in Canada. During football season. They have Canadian football here. The only thing I know about Canadian football is that you play it if you can't get into the NFL. Canadian football has a longer field, only three downs and some other stuff I don't remember. The Eagles once had a kicker from the Canadian football league. He was good. Still NEED to watch my Eagles.
You ever try to watch the NFL on your iPad? Don't. You will pay AT&T a fortune just with all the googling you have to do. Also, it is illegal. There was a good way to do it through a site called frontrowseats. You have to download some kind of browser-video-converter-or-something app to do this. Followed directions from random blogger. Feel very sneaky. I don't even illegally download music. This is what frontrowseats looks like now. Hope they don't track browsing.Here is your option: subscribe to NFL Sunday Ticket. You have to subscribe to DirecTV. I once had DirecTV and they put screws into my cedar shake roof. When we got finally got Fios out here in the country, called DirecTV to uninstall. They left the dish on the roof. Oh no you don't. Took dish. Left screws and holes in roof. Fixed it 6 years later. Now wait. Maybe it was Dish. Don't remember. Anyhow, I want to get NFL Sunday Ticket even though it costs $250. You have to swear that you don't subscribe to DirecTV, cannot get a signal for DirecTV as you do not have proper line of sight, and cannot get DirecTV in your neighborhood. I lie. Well maybe I don't like because I may have had Dish.
And for those of you that think there's a different way, don't get a new (or whatever they call it) iPad. Verizon doesn't work on it. You'da thunk that nearly a whole football season after the release they'd figure it out. Note to self: check to see if still have iPad 2. Another note to self: don't bother. Already paid $250 to DirecTV. Last note to self: don't ever EVER leave home during football season again.
Going on a Rolls Royce Silver Ghost tour. I do not like tours. I do like Rolls Royce Silver Ghosts. In Quebec. Well, anywhere really. Staying in a hotel I cannot afford. Le Chateau Frontenac. It is not the Repotel which if you think about it sorta looks like Repo-tel. Mortgage gone bad? I do love that the rooms at the (excuse me, Le) Chateaux Frontenac are teeny because most people bitch about it and I do not. Also, they are on very long halls that remind me of The Shining. Bet it is really creepy here in the winter.
They get 10 to 12 feet of snow in Quebec and it is sometimes 40 below Centigrade. That is also 40 below Fahrenheit, the only time that happens. The number of degrees below zero is the percent the local fast food is discounted on that day. I know that because Francois told me so. This is Francois. I know you can't see him in this photo. Neither can I. Live with it. More on Francois later.
This is the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac. I did not take this picture because I only take hotel pictures when they pertain to amenities or hygiene. The Silver Ghosts are not allowed to park in the courtyard. They must be in the garage where there is no light so you cannot see in your engine. You must pray that your engine is A-OK.
This is the view from my room. It would be very nice except there is construction outside (at the entrance to the garage where the Rolls Royces are) and the glass is dirty like in an old person's old condo. I hate dirty things. The little door on the air conditioner where you reach the dial to fix the temperature is really dirty inside. I hate that because you get dust in your air which is not ideal especially since you have dust in your Rolls Royce. Otherwise, this old place is clean, clean, clean. 
This is the wastebasket in the bathroom. It does not have a plastic bag which I usually swear by because the guy before you may have put something nasty in there. But this one is so clean you don't need a plastic bag. On the second day of my stay, there was a little white paper circle in the bottom of the thing. I must have put something nasty in there and they are protecting the next guy. Dental floss?
Back to Francois. Francois is a tour guide. He was a sports writer for the hockey team before it moved to Denver. Francois went to Leval (I think that's it. sp?) University for sports writing. He has now recycled himself (his words) as a tour guide and bus driver. He has been doing this for a long time. This is Francois leading a tour. One of the things I love about Francois is that he can trace his heritage in the Toilettes. Well kinda. Francois says that people from a certain area all have the same last name. This is like all New Yorkers being Jonses and all Texans being Smith. Quebec is 90 percent white, 90 percent Catholic and 90 percent French. That is why they have so little crime. Hey, Francois said it, not me. 
Anyhow, Francois can trace is family 8 generations back. Quebec was founded in 1608. Francois said that is important. He never said why. Anyhow, we can see Francois' family memorialized in a plaque in the hall of the public Toilette. This is Francois' family plaque. They are Pares. I thought Paree was Paris, but what the heck. This is the Paree plaque in the Toilettes.
I hate cities. This is why. There is a cruise ship docked here. I do not go to places cruise ships go. This is the same place but with the black lines that outline where Montgomery's house was. There was a lot of fighting between the English and the French in Quebec. I guess the French won.
This is a fire walls on a roof. As I said, hey have a lot of fires in Quebec.
This is a very nice mural. You can see all four seasons in it.
This is a shop sign. I love this shop sign, well you know.
This is the stairs from this part of Quebec. it's old but it's not because it was all rebuilt after a fire forty years ago. Not sure if the fire was forty years ago but I guess it doesn't really matter because they have so many fires here. The stairs go to the (I mean Le) Chateaux Frontenac. There are at least 500 and they are called the spine breakers because that's what happens if you fall. As you know, I have a tendency to fall even on flat ground, but Ron-The-Hun is not going to be happy if I do not exercise. I take the stairs. I live.
Back in the room, peruse room service menu. The prices range from 45 to 230. That's a lot of money for an assortment of fruits or a bowl of popcorn (you can have your own movies night right in your room!). Cannot figure it our. This is the room service menu. Turns out that I really need my glasses, because if you look really closely, the 5s are really $s. You can have vegan, macrobiotic, gluten-free, diabetic, cardiac or raw menus. Really. If you want a Japanese breakfast, you have to allow an hour and a half. Also true.
Wander into a meeting area by mistake. Skinny girls in black suits (and later black cocktail dresses) snap that I must be in the wrong place. Look up. This is a thing put on by Juvederm. You know, fillers. The stuff that the Real Housewives have. I do not look like a plastic surgeon. I do not belong here. Bitch.
Enjoy Rose 51 lotion with flip-top cap. I think Rose 51 is a good brand here. Note to self: ask someone discretely if Rose 51 is a good brand. Do not ask skinny bitch.
Have you ever been to the Betty Ford Center? I have. For someone else. Really. I know you don't believe that but really. It's very nice to make my first personal glimpse at rehab. I have been feeling totally out of the loop because I don't know Lindsay Lohan. But I have seen her father on Celebrity Rehab. Now I am part of the It crowd. Well sorta. Not staying 28 days. Don't know the serenity prayer. Anyhow, Betty Ford is really nice and not at all what I expected. There are a million doctors and psychiatrists and psychologists and specialists. They are all very nice. The place is gorgeous, with manicured grounds sporting a desert chic vibe. That's all you need to know. Do not go there.
This is a picture of Joshua Tree National Park. I did not take it. I wanted to use a picture of the landscaping at Betty Ford but they are very very private. Anyhow, the landscaping has this feeling. Also we drove by Joshua Tree on the way there.
This is a picture of Joshua Tree National Park. I did not take it. I wanted to use a picture of the landscaping at Betty Ford but they are very very private. Anyhow, the landscaping has this feeling. Also we drove by Joshua Tree on the way there.
- If the Eagles had lost in the same situation that the Packers had, we would not be happy campers. Think effigy burnings. Especially of Juan Castillo (although I think he is underrated. So sue me). In Green Bay they're, like, go get 'em next year.
- Joe Paterno is not dead (he is).
- The defense is too small.
- Oh, yeah, here is the line on today's playoffs.
Of course, football will be back on February 5th when we break out the Cheez Whiz. Throw a jar of salsa in with it. Throw jar of salsa at TV. It's all good.
Spirits. This is what they call distilled alcohol if it is not moonshine. There have been lots of spirits in the newspapers lately. This morning there was a whole article on allowing "craft distillers" in Pennsylvania to sell their bottles at the tasting places at the fancy distilleries. Buy local. Locavores. Whatever. I like anything that gets you relatively blotto that I don't have to buy at the Pennsylvania Liquor Authority stores. Witness Maker's Mark Mint Julep right from the Kentucky source. Also Jack Daniels (Tennessee) although that is rather plebeian. Pennsylvania thinks that spirits tastings will bring tourism dollars to the state. I'm not sure we want tasting and driving visitors. Anyhow, the Inky says that on-site tasting coupled with the annual distillery licensing fee (from $5,600 to $1,500) "just might be the economic incentive needed to make Pennsylvania a new focal point for growth in a national movement toward sartisoan alcohol that's expanding exponentially on the heels of the craft-beer craze". Also there are only three micro-distillers that make a total of 100,000 gallons. Betcha any good 'shiner can make that in a year with only one guy and cousin Rascal. I can just see the job posting at the state place you have to go before you can claim unemployment. "Professional Booze Taster. Must have experience."
There's a potato vodka guy who worked to pass the bill. Must not have a lot of distilling to do. He is convinced that it's going to make Pennsylvania a "craft distilling hub." In Portland there is a place called Distillery Row that attracts bus tourists. They have more than 20 spirits in just that city which is 17 more than Pennsylvania. Turns out that Maxwelton, West Virginia, Smooth Ambler Spirits is just nine miles from the Greenbrier. Damn. First I missed the apple pie 'shine and now I miss Smooth Ambler Spirits. Smooth Ambler sells their "high valley mountain air" story and "friendly folks" behind a small-production "grain-to-glass" spirit as made by "local artisans," according to the Inky. As far as I'm concerned, my 'shiners are the real local artisans and damn good entrepreneurs, not to mention real West Virginia folk and not University of Virginia graduates. Shine on.
This is Smooth Ambler's Exceptional White Whisky. "Sophisticated moonshine." Are you kidding me? Note to self: renew search for horse guy to set me up with some apple pie.
There's a potato vodka guy who worked to pass the bill. Must not have a lot of distilling to do. He is convinced that it's going to make Pennsylvania a "craft distilling hub." In Portland there is a place called Distillery Row that attracts bus tourists. They have more than 20 spirits in just that city which is 17 more than Pennsylvania. Turns out that Maxwelton, West Virginia, Smooth Ambler Spirits is just nine miles from the Greenbrier. Damn. First I missed the apple pie 'shine and now I miss Smooth Ambler Spirits. Smooth Ambler sells their "high valley mountain air" story and "friendly folks" behind a small-production "grain-to-glass" spirit as made by "local artisans," according to the Inky. As far as I'm concerned, my 'shiners are the real local artisans and damn good entrepreneurs, not to mention real West Virginia folk and not University of Virginia graduates. Shine on.
This is Smooth Ambler's Exceptional White Whisky. "Sophisticated moonshine." Are you kidding me? Note to self: renew search for horse guy to set me up with some apple pie.
It is 19 degrees. It is time to peruse the seed catalogs and pretend it may get warmer sometime this year. I always get those Val-Pak kinda things with lots of postcards to fill in to get free catalogs as I have been targeted as someone who gardens. So have a bunch of other people. People who buy Hover-rounds (or however you spell it). I'm trying to understand how gardeners can be Hover-rounders. Hmmm. I do know that there is plant therapy at some nursing homes so that could be it. However, the Val-Pack or whatever also has a really great postcard: Take Full Control! ... with a Magnatrac. Become More Self-Sufficient! Conquer "impossible jobs"! Now this is a Hover-round for me. It is a front-end loader. Really. Note to self: order fava bean seeds and Magnatrac. This is a Magnatrac.
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