"Laws of war"; Doors and Lights; Bankruptcy; Old Shed; Who

Interesting quote from the February 27 issue of "The New Yorker" in an article by Jane Mayer "Annals of the Pentagon." It's the story of Alberto J. Mora, former general counsel of the United States Navy, and his challenge to the manner in which detainees were being treated.

Mora went on, "It seems odd to me that the actors weren't more troubled by what they were doing." Many Administration lawyers, he said, appeared to be unaware of history. "I wondered if they were even familiar with the Nuremberg trials--or with the laws of war, or with the Geneva conventions."

Thursday, I ordered the back door, and it will be installed Tuesday. The installation cost is more than the cost of the door. But I certainly have no idea how to go about installing a door. I remember seeing some of what went on when the back door was installed at my prior home. And it looked to be fairly complicated.

I also picked out the hardware. A two-piece set with a deadbolt at the top and a thumb latch and handle underneath. In a very unobtrusive dark bronze finish. But then after some thought, I realized that set is a tad too fancy for a back door, so I'm going to use it for the front. Today I went to another Lowe's and found a deadbolt and a knob in the same bronze finish that will fit with the back door.

Friday, I went looking for lighting to replace an old unit in the bath and a broken unit in the hallway. There must be at least several hundred varities in all shapes, colors and sizes. At first, I selected a fairly simple-looking dull silver unit with three bulbs. But I could not find a matching single unit for the hall.

Then I noticed the track lighting which offers some very modern units. I finally choose an s-curved unit with three bulbs for the bath and a similiar one-bulb unit for the hall.

Previously, I'd mentioned wanting some type of small lamp that I could use to highlight the items on the wall. I found something that looked like a bulb in a tin can, but they were out of it. Then I spotted a lamp about 12 inches tall with a Frank Lloyd Wright-type of shade. So I got two of them, and they are just right. They add a nice decorative touch and do a really good job of throwing light onto the wall.

This type of comparative shopping wears me out. After a certain point, I'm not sure what I want. It all becomes one big blur. Picking the lighting units was especially tiring because I kept having to stare into bright lights.

The next item is to have the front door replaced. And to add some external security lights.

According to the bankruptcy laws, there's a $10,000 limit on the market value of what you can own. I asked what if the value was say $15,000. The lawyer said he'd never had a case where the value was in excess of $10,000. But if that were the case, then the creditors could come in and pick and chose as they saw fit.

This resolves my qualms about saying that the household items have a market value of less than $10,000.

When I peeked in the door last week, I realized it had not been cleaned in years. It contained old flower pots, an aluminum ladder, sheets of rotten plywood, a rotten wooden chest, jars, garden utensils, cans of motor oil, plastic containers for bedding plants, metal spools, etc. It looked like things had been thrown in there over the years and forgotten about.

I made a dent in throwing out junk. Actually, I'd like to have the shed removed. A limb fell on it during hurrican Katrina and part of the roof is smashed in. The doors don't move, in fact I finally removed them. Maybe I can find someone who will dismantle it and cart it away.

The last season I remember seeing was the one about "The Trial of a Time Lord" with Colin Baker which according to Bevis and Duncan's Doctor Who Guide ran in the fall of 1986 in the UK. Which means it may have popped up here a year or so later. I don't remember ever having seen any of the Sylvester McCoy lot on tv. However, I have several episodes on VHS that I purchased.

Chris Eccleston certainly makes for an energetic character. Almost hyper. And has the most nondescript wardrobe. About the only characteristic element I could find was a short leather coat over a sweater.

I'm sure it must be very difficult for an actor to put his personal spin on the Doctor without being derivative. Doctor Who must be unique in the annals of tv to have ten people over the years play the same character.

PAX!