It’s been a busy couple of weeks with little time for writing notes.  The good news is that we shipped the “final” version of the product to the client.  We’ll be doing a little more work in May to add some features that we think should be there, but after that the funding is over.  Guess I’ll have to start looking for work.  In the meantime . . .

• Regarding my post of April 26, Pete Albrecht posted a much more informational note on April 22 (Earth Day).  Pete knows this stuff.  He’s an automotive engine designer or some such.  The most important point he makes is this:  Putting “oxygenated fuel” in a modern, fuel-injected car with a three-way catalytic converter doesn’t do squat for emissions.  The italics are his.  Modern cars (anything 15 years old or newer) have very sophisticated sensors and regulators that make sure the emissions from the car are at a particular level.  If you add “oxygenated fuel” in an attempt to run leaner, the system will burn more fuel to enrich the mixture.  Read Pete’s description.  It’s enough to make you cry.
• Pete also posted information about the biodiesel boondoggle.  It’ll work for a handful of hippies to run their diesel Rabbits off of McDonald’s fry oil, but there’s no way that biodiesel can replace even 1% of the diesel fuel and heating oil used in the U.S.
• Friday afternoon I listed about 50 books for sale on Amazon Marketplace.  I had orders for two items within a couple of hours, and I’ve received a few more orders since yesterday afternoon.  I’m not going to get rich, but I’ve already collected more than the $15.75 that I got for the box of books I took to Half Price Books.
• I renewed the Norton AntiVirus subscriptions on my laptop and Debra’s laptop the other day.  The automatic renewal wouldn’t work on my machine and I actually had to call Symantec Customer Support so that they could tell me to go to the renewals section of the Web site.  Automatic renewal worked on Debra’s machine, though.  Strange.  The other strange thing is that my upgrade was $29 and Debra’s was $29 plus tax.  Maybe I shouldn’t do the automatic renewal next time.
• It’s almost impossible to lose weight if you’re not paying attention to what you eat, how much, and how often.  Exercise is helpful, and important for overall fitness, but if you’re not controlling what goes into your body, you’re almost certainly overeating.  Yes, it involves counting calories in some form or another.  Whether you call it “net carbs,” “points,” “calories,” or “food units,” it’s still a numbers game.  Do the math or keep the fat.  Your choice.