ndrosen

I was walking from the Pentagon City Metro station to the bus stop, and on a corner, when I saw a bus at the stop, on the other side of Army-Navy Drive and a small distance east of the corner. I thought that I would need to wait for another bus, but the driver waited while I crossed the street, and then walked or ran to where the bus was. I thanked him, and I would like to acknowledge his thoughtfulness on the Intertubes.

We’ve had cold weather lately, with ice and snow on the ground. I notice that I seem to be hungrier than usual; my instincts may be telling me, “You need to take in more calories to be keep warm and be active in cold weather. Also, you should put on more weight, since there are likely to be hungry times ahead before new growing plants and spring animals will be available.”

No, not drama about people doing stuff with each other in bed. More than a week ago, my bed frame broke, after giving me twenty-six years of faithful service, so on Friday, November 8, I went to Mattress Firm in Potomac Yard on my way to work, and arranged to buy a new bed, to be delivered on Monday. Came Monday, and the deliverymen arrived with a new bed frame and mattress, but when they took the frame out of its box, it turned out to be damaged, with a part of the metal frame being improperly bent. I was able to use it, but a replacement would need to be delivered for long-term use, and in the meantime, they did not wrap the mattress in its mattress protector (anti-microbial covering).

I used the mattress as it was, and had further discussions with Mattress Firm. On Friday, a different pair of deliverymen arrived, set up the new bed frame, and wrapped the mattress in its mattress protector. I laundered the bottom sheet that I had been using, and remade the bed. All seems to be well.

About two weeks ago, if I recall correctly, I had water leaking into my apartment from above, probably from the HVAC in the apartment above mine. Whatever it was, Maintenance succeeded in shutting it off, but by that time, there was damage to the plaster of the walls and ceiling. They’re coming in Wednesday to fix things, which means that I need to remove various possessions and clutter from that area, and stash them elsewhere.

I took care of some of that today, and will have to do more tomorrow.

The exterminator is scheduled to come to my apartment on Wednesday, and I will have to totally disassemble my kitchen, and put stuff from the drawers and cabinets elsewhere, remove everything from the countertops, and so on. Oh, well.

I was working in Patent Office headquarters in Alexandria Friday, where they didn’t have water problems, but in the late afternoon, I got to chatting electronically with a friend who was teleworking, and she told me about a water main break in Arlington, and it turns out that I live in the part of Arlington which was affected.

We have been advised to boil water, so I’ve been drinking boiled warm water. I had stuff in the refrigerator for dinner, but I made a tomato, cucumber, and bell pepper salad, with no lettuce or arugula. Washing the pots and pans after dinner was an extra hassle with boiled water instead of untrustworthy tap water. The boil water advisory will last until Sunday morning.

My telephone didn’t have a dial tone, and I thought the problem might be with the physical phone, so on Monday, I went to Best Buy, and bought a replacement telephone and a set of AA batteries. Later, I got around to checking again, and my phone was working; presumably, the problem had been with the connection somehow, rather than with my own telephone. I considered keeping the new telephone, since it has features which my old one does not, but on Saturday, I returned my purchases to Best Buy, and also went to Macy’s to buy some new clothes.

Gwyndyn and Jonathan are a couple who have suffered a series of misfortunes lately, and money is being raised to help them pay their bills and make their next mortgage payment. I admit that I cannot testify of my own knowledge to the accuracy of what has been posted, but I have chipped in some of my own money to help. Beth Patterson will be giving a livestream concert Sunday at 7:00 PM, so I thought I would post the link.

If you would like to hear some music (I don’t know just what kind), or are willing and able to spare a few dollars for a couple who are down on their luck, see the link. Money is also being raised on GoFundMe, so you can read about the case, and donate if you are moved to do so, there.

First: I am not on duty at present, and not speaking for the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

There was a patent attorney and science fiction writer named Charles Harness, who was still alive when I started working at the Patent Office back in 1998; I wondered whether I might deal with a case of his, but I never did, and according to something I found online, he had retired from legal work by that time.

On Monday, I was reminded of a Charles Harness story that appeared in Analog decades ago, “The Venetian Court.” The reason is that we received a communication from management that an inventor has to be a natural person, not an AI, so the Patent Office will not issue a patent to ChatGPT; it may issue a patent to John Smith and Rosalind Jones, even if the two inventors made use of artificial intelligence in developing their invention. Again, I’m not speaking for the USPTO, and what I say here should not be relied upon.

In “The Venetian Court,” big corporations had locked up inventions by having computers process information on, for example, all chemicals that might have value as drugs, and obtain patents on them. (I’m going by memory, and there was more to the story than this background.) So it seems that real-life patent policy will save the country from the situation which a science fiction author envisioned, and did not like.

Decades ago, I earned an M.S. and then a Ph.D. in Materials, so I was struck by the latest cartoon from XKCD. I am not certain, however, that I can endorse it as gift advice.

In other news, I gave blood on Thursday (the USPTO let’s me write off time for doing so). I had a dental appointment Friday morning, but the dentist wasn’t in, as I did not find out until I arrived at the dental office; they had tried to notify, but not gone about it successfully. I have a new appointment for January, or maybe earlier, if someone cancels and I can be fitted in.

Patent Examiners sometimes get praise and thanks from inventors and attorneys when we are able to allow their applications without too many additional limitations, and sometimes are excoriated for making allegedly unreasonable rejections, or for allowing cases that either are, or can be made to sound, improper or ridiculous. For the most part, though, we aren’t much in the public eye, so I was a little startled the other day to find someone lauding a pair of “USPTO Patent Examiners.”

I was reading a legal weblog, the Volokh Conspiracy, when I came across a brief post by Professor Volokh himself, in which someone who was litigating about something else, and making much use of four letter words, lauded the two patent examiners. I don’t think I could have been one of them.

And now to begin my day’s (tele)work.