Regarding memories

I don't know about anyone else, but my my memory of events tends to be faulty. That is, the date may be wrong, or the place might be wrong. Or, any number of other related details may be wrong.

On the other hand, I have an excellent memory of scents and textures. I'm not certain that this is important or peculiar, but judging by my own observation, it may be both.

For those who might be skeptical, I'd like to ask: which of you has taken in the aroma of an infant child? If you have, I think you'd agree it's unique. There are a lot of other olifactory triggers out there-  a powerful one for me is diesel exhaust.

Eh?

Sometimes, even things which are not exactly pure and wholesome can trigger pleasurable responses. Earlier this past week, I had pulled in to a parking spot at my workplace, when I was accosted by a fairly heavy scent of diesel exhaust in the air. To most folks, this would be the exhaust of an overloaded, dirty truck rumbling by.

To me, though- the aroma of diesel exhaust takes me back to younger days. It reminds me of high school and college. Of days when my Dad and I (or sometimes just me) would get on a Greyhound bus and travel to Minneapolis... or sometimes beyond. It reminds me of my 1st taste of Jack Daniels (and I still don't like Jack Daniels). It is (apart from the Jack Daniels) a happy scent memory. Likewise, burning leaves. When I was growing up in Chicago, everyone seemed to gather their leaves in the gutters of the streets and burn them. It was such a happy aroma. Nowadays, it's illegal- something might get burned down. Funny... I never heard of anything getting burned down back then.

But, we're so much smarter now- and the leaves are so much more nefarious. I jest, I jest.

In any event- probably for the better- folks don't burn their leaves in the street anymore. When they do, though- it takes me back to grade school days. With a smile.

Data and "stuff" update- our third Arduino is scheduled to arrive from the Arduino, USA store on Monday. Mr. T and I have gotten back into working with the Arduino, and are currently using Jack Purdum's most excellent book Beginning C for Arduino Second Edition.  We're only starting the second chapter, and have already learned quite a bit about this cool little board.

A curious problem has arisen with Jennifer's computer: the case fans have stopped working. I'm not happy about this on a few levels. First, because this is the SECOND ASUS motherboard we've put in this computer in two years. Second, because it's the second ASUS motherboard we've put in this computer in two years. What's the problem, ASUS?

One other "interesting" problem developed this past week relating to both the Arduino and Secret Undreground Lair. I had installed the latest version of the Arduino IDE (1.6.5) on one of my PCs and tested it with a simple two line program. Much to my dismay, the program "bombed out". Being a person of legendary patience, I tried a few more times with identically dismal results. After looking at the log, I realized that this particular PC has a problem with its front USB ports. I ran the program from my laptop; the board is fine- the PC has issues.

As always, I am hochspeyer, blogging data analysis and management so you don't have to.