Google Docs Keyboard Shortcut Problem Workaround

Google Documents sometimes ignores keyboard shortcuts. This happens when the computer shifts its attention to another program. For example, copy a block of text from a Google Doc, switch to another program and paste. Or hit the key command to have the text block read aloud. On returning to the Google Doc and selecting another block of text, the keyboard shortcuts may not work. In the menu bar, the copy command is disabled, as if no text was selected. Sometimes the menu command or even the keyboard shortcut works, but not consistently.

The workaround is to click in the Google Document window, type a single letter and then backspace over it. This gets Google Docs attention, and menus and shortcuts work as usual.

Workaround for Hotmail Keyboard Shortcut Problems

When I try to copy and paste something out of a Hotmail document, I get an error message that says "Hotmail was not able to complete this request. Microsoft may contact you about any issue you report." Same thing happens when I select a block of text and hit the key command to get my computer to read that passage aloud. Apparently Hotmail is unwilling to accept key commands from my computer while I am reading a message.

There are two workarounds. The copy and start speaking commands in the menu bar still work, so one can use those in place of the key commands. Alternately, one can hit the reply button. This opens a window including the entire original message quoted. Since this window expects you to be typing, it allows key commands.

Bin Laden, a bus and the Milky Way

Apparently there was something in the news about some guy getting killed in Pakistan. But the big news today is that a car hit the Streamline bus I was riding in from Belgrade.

Net results: Obama poll numbers have just got to go up. John Negroponte, G. W. Bush's UN ambassador, answered a question on NPR which included mention of the fact that some previous administrations had downplayed the importance of getting Bin Laden. Which previous administrations those might have been was not mentioned. Negroponte assured us that Bush never lost interest in getting Bin Laden for a single second. There was damage to a bus wheel and damage to the already damaged car which looked like it had hit some other bus before it hit our bus. I got to spend half an hour sitting in a sunny bus reading a fascinating article in Scientific American while the police did whatever it was they were doing.

What we know: Bin Laden and his people were hiding in a huge house very near a Pakistani military facility and Pakistan says they did not know it. We flew a helicopter strike force into that area meeting no resistance from Pakistan, and we say we did not tell them we were coming. The kid who hit the bus says he ran the red light and hit the bright yellow bus which was clearly illuminated by the sunlight coming from behind him because he was picking up something he had dropped on the floor. Everybody who hears this assumes that what the kid had dropped was his telephone. And, most importantly, matter constantly flows into and out of galaxies to an extent not previously imagined. We already knew that the heavier atoms in our bodies, everything above lithium, were formed by fusion reactions inside stars. Now we know that many of those atoms that make us up were probably formed in stars in galaxies outside our Milky Way. Bits of Osama Bin Laden now resting on the floor of the ocean came a very long way to get there, and will someday return to intergalactic space.

Cinnamon Meringue Torte

This has been served at our Christmas Eve party for many years, and is my personal favorite. My mother used to make it, but my sister has taken over that duty and gave me the recipe printed below.

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Meringue: Cover a cookie sheet with a piece of heavy paper and draw a circle 8 inches in diameter. Beat two egg whites with a 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. vinegar until soft peaks form. Blend 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon together. Gradually add to white until very stiff peaks form and the sugar is dissolved.

Spread meringue within circle on paper. With the back of a spoon, build a rim about 2 inches high, leaving a 1/2 inch thick bottom. Bake in preheated 275°F oven for 1 hour. Turn off heat and let shell cool 2 hours or longer. Do NOT open oven until total time is up. Shell should be cool before filling.

I usually make the shell the night before and let it stand overnight in the oven.

Filling: Melt 6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate bits in a double boiler. Cool slightly, then spread 2 tbs. over the bottom of the shell.

Blend two beaten egg yolks and 1/4 cup water together. Add to remaining chocolate. Chill until thick, around 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Whip 1 cup heavy cream gradually adding 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, beating until cream is stiff. Spread half of whipped cream mixture over chocolate in shell. Fold remaining whipped cream into the chilled chocolate mixture and spread on the whipped cream in the shell.

Chill several hours or overnight. Garnish with whipped cream, chocolate curls or pecans.

This can be a tricky recipe, depending on the weather and humidity. Sometimes, it works perfectly. Sometimes, not so much. Make sure the egg white and whipped cream are beaten to stiff peaks. I usually double the cinnamon. The egg yolks are NOT cooked so this is a forbidden recipe by modern standards. Mom liked it because the yolks and white were even. Most meringue recipes, you end up with something left over.

Hotel to Airport on Marta

From hotels around the Peachtree Center Mall, like the Atlanta Hilton, Atlanta Marriott Marquis or Hyatt Regency Atlanta, the Marta Station in the mall is a dandy way to get to the airport. Going back Sunday I found the Mall locked, so had to go around the outside of the building, but there is an exterior entrance to Marta there. The machines inside will be happy to take three one dollar bills and convert them to a Breeze ticket and fifty cents change. The concierge at the Hilton warned me not to use a large bill to pay, as the machine gives change in heavy coins. It was not obvious how to buy the $2.50 one way trip at first, but after pushing the first button, the one-way ticket option appeared. Once you have the ticket, you tap it on the pad at the gate, then step forward and through. Keep the ticket, as you use it to get out of the gate at the other end.

Both the red and yellow lines go to the airport. They also go north away from the airport, so make sure you get the train on the correct side of the platform. A sign on that side tells you how long it will be before the next train to the airport, and it was accurate. You can't miss the airport as it is the last stop. I finished checking out at the Hilton at 8 a.m., took the Marta, and was through airport security at Hartsfield Jackson airport by 9:15. Of course, your experience may vary.

If you are used to bus or subway travel, you will love it. Like any public transportation, there will be a good diversity of folks on board. The Marta site suggested walking purposefully as a safety measure. I am a generally nervous traveler, and felt comfortable the whole way. If strangers worry you, of if you have baggage of checkable proportions, you will want to spend the extra loot for the Airport Shuttle. But for a guy with a laptop and a duffle, Marta was a fine way to go. Thanks, Atlanta.

Acronyms

There is a rule in journalism that says the first time you use an uncommon acronym in a document, you must spell it out in full. After that, you get to use the acronym. This should not be a rule of journalism. It should be a federal law.

Digging Out a Car in Montana

• When possible, wait for a sunny day. No sense digging out a car on a miserable day when you don't really want to drive. Take the bus.
• Go at it easy, especially early in the season. You may be using muscles that don't get out much, so be gentle with them. If you have a heart attack, the fact that your car is cleared off won't help that much.
• Don't damage that paint. Swing your pick-ax parallel to the surfaces of the vehicle, not perpendicular. When you are within two feet, switch to a shovel. Within three inches, use plastic tools to break up the snowpack and a broom for bulk removal. Use a brush and scraper combination tool when you are down to the last inch of snow and ice.
• Go inside and warm up from time to time. Especially when you can't feel your fingers and toes anymore. Hot chocolate is good, but no peppermint schnapps if you are going to drive today.
• Let nature work for you. If you are not in a hurry, expose the windows, then go inside and write a blog entry while the sun melts things for you. (see photo)
• If you enjoy life, remove snow from the hood, roof, bumpers and tailpipe, for various safety reasons. Remember the time you saw someone driving with just a patch in front of the driver's eyes cleared? There is a reason you don't see that every day.
• Don't forget to clear a path between your car and the main road. No point doing all that work just to get stuck right away.