Data Theft; Liz Taylor; The Lawn

Last week CNN among others announced the theft on May 3 of a laptop containing Social Security numbers of 26 million-plus veterans. The laptop was stolen from the home of a midlevel data analyst.

"The computer disk contained the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of every living veteran from 1975 to the present, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said Monday."

What on earth was the analyst doing with that amount of data? And what on earth was that amount of data doing in one place?

Do a "missing computer data" under Google news, and you'll come up with the IRS, Wells Fargo, Tops Markets, Hotels.com, YMCA, Douglas County (Minnesota) Hospital, etc.

Just one of those little items I found of interest.

I watched Larry King's discussion with Liz Taylor last week. So much of the publicity had indicated she was very ill, had Parkinson's or Alzheimer's. Instead she appeared cheerful and wanted to talk about her new jewelry line.

ShoppingBlog.com: Christie's To Offer New Jewelry Line By Elizabeth Taylor. I missed the last part of the interview, so I did not realize she would be designing for Christie's. So we're talking upper end items.

I knew of her love of jewelry from her book Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry. So it should come as no surprise that she would veer in that direction. The book is one of my favorites. Romantic and wistful and an incredible resource. (I think I've read that her collection is second only to that of Elizabeth II.)

She mentioned that AmFAR and the The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation have together raised over $270 million for AIDS research.

By the way about 15 years ago, AmFar was offering tee shirts with an exclusive image of Liz by Herb Ritts (dated 1991) for a contribution to AmFar. I bought two and gave one to a friend. Occassionaly, I think I may have the only one in existence. I've never seen another one. And on the rare times I wear it, I always get questions about it. Just now as I looked at it, it appears to be in excellent condition. I wish I'd bought about a dozen.

Work on the yard continues unabated. Amazing how the simplest task seems to take hours. I'm concentrating on the area between the carport and the north property line. Once I said I'd gotten up all the roots, but then I discovered several more sets.

I've totally reworked the walk leading to the patio. But the patio is in such bad shape from the roots, it will have to be completely reworked. I managed to clear the roots from about a two-foot section this afternoon.

At some point, three ornamental plants had been placed at the corners. Well, of course, the root systems have meandered all under the bricks. One day or other, I trimmed, and cut back one fo the bushes and finally got out the stump. This afternoon, I trimmed the other two bushes, and I'm hoping the stumps will be less difficult.

About 30-feet away from the patio is the storage shed. And I still have no idea what to do with it. Part of the roof is caved in. The doors no longer fit. Parts of the sides are crumpled.

One of the most pressing needs is the replacement of the front door. It will take about $500, which I don't have. I also need to have that estate sale, but I don't know at what point under the bankruptcy regs, I'll be free to "earn" money free of obligations.

PAX!