I took Amy and Tommy to a park that was primarily slides. Tommy mostly watched Amy play and Amy did things like climbing open rung ladders that impressed me to all ends. She had such a good time that she threw a royal tantrum when it was time to go. She arched her back to stay out of the car seat, rolled out of it and sat in the regular seat determined not to get into the car seat. I've never seen her act this way over not wanting to leave.

My wife remains cold and distant to me. Reading our son's blog makes me think perhaps she just needs to be left alone today.

Movie: The Passion of the Christ

This is a difficult one to review. I have to say the 2 hours and 6 minutes went by rapidly which implies a good movie. However, I'd have to say that if someone that had never heard of Jesus Christ, had never read the bible, and had never been told any of the backstory, this movie would have lacked plot and given the viewer the impression that they were watching a documentary about how unjust and horrid our lives where 2004 years ago as seen through the eyes of a crazy man being persecuted.

I say "a crazy man" because if someone in ragged clothing ran around today declaring that he was the son of God would we not persecute him? I don't think a crucifix would be today's choice; instead we would lock him in a tiny room and give him regular treatments of antipsychotic medicines.

Mel Gibson's choice of using subtitles and not English was superb! Had it been done in English, I believe the movie would have had no credit whatsoever.

This movie mirrored Braveheart in style. The violence and bloodshed was not as sickening as other reviews I read would have one believe but it is amazing that the body continued to move after the beating and beating that they presented it.

The summary on iwon tells the entire movie. Having read that summary, you would be watching only for the effects and violence.

A New Day!

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This Morning
I am finally starting to feel like I'm mending. It still hurts to swallow but I don't twitch as badly when I do. Tommy has cooked blueberry muffins and I can actually smell them (and they smell great). I'm toying with the idea of eating one.

Goals today: clean for the next 2 hours, pinewood derby, program, clean between all changes of activities

Took Sarah to a party at a karoke bar 30 minutes away from here. Didn't make sense to drive home then go back for her so I pretended to be invisible and enjoyed a Coke float.

Returned home and collapsed for the afternoon. Didn't mean to but then if I didn't, the wife would be disappointed.

Save "The Passion" tonight. I'm going to have to think this over before giving a review. I'm not certain that I can say more than one or two sentences about it.

A New Day!

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This Morning
5:20- Noah up and playing gameboy
6-8: went upstairs several times to ask boys to quit yelling.
Throat is on fire. Hurts to swallow. Fever gone (I think).
Baby just woke.

Yesterday
Spent the day sick with a 102.1 fever. My whole body ached. Stayed off the computer. It's difficult being sick in this house; I feel guilty for not continuing on as normal.

Sex too loud and too long!

Woman Reports Neighbor for Disturbingly Loud Sex

A German woman took her male neighbor to court for noise pollution after he repeatedly kept her awake through half the night and had at least one four-hour sex session

Hold the phone! This guy needs medical attention not a lawsuit according to this!

Woman has a litter

Ohio woman gives birth to sextuplets in one minute, "It was like a popcorn popper"

"...like a popcorn popper"! We named this one Orville and that one is Jiffy and the little one is Olive Oil and, oh yes, the one that is so alert is the Kernel and of course don't forget Butter and Salt.

Lounged on the couch and stared at the television: Pyramid, History Channel, Aliens, and Bourne Identitiy (obviously not to completion). My symptoms are worse; my attitude improved.

The weather is improving dramatically also.

Bad Crash

My wife awoke early so I came downstairs 9ish. My body was aching (physically shaking) and my mind racing so I gave into a "nap."
* 9am sleep
* 9:20am phone rings, wife is looking for me; I'm up but return to bed
* 10 am awoke paniced
* 11 am awoke terrified
Here's the internal details. Sleep was incredibly deep with unbelievably vivid dreams (and no, I took none of Cathy's Tylenol). Most of the dreams centered on tasks that need to be done and how to accomplish them; some of the dreams revolved around getting my lazy tail out of bed; and some of the dreams were so dark that they won't be mentioned here beyond this sentence-you know, dark in the way that make psychologists put little flags in their notes.

Now I'm up but so cold that I'm wearing leather duster to work. Typing has helped center me and bring some necessary calm.

Amy sits on her Radio Flyer car and leans to the right and says "whoa! Whoa! WhoA!" then sits upright and rolls around.

The wife stirs. I feel tired but I must work.

I just sat Amy (the baby) on the table in front of me with her back to the computer and her face to me. I gave her a kiss. Then asked her "what are your plans for the day?" to which she replied with seriousness "rgmph mmm ew Ah rgmple gratz" and I looked at her and studied her then said "you are a great baby! I love you!" and without saying a word she leaned forward, wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her cheek on my shoulder. After a great hug, she lowered herself to the ground and went to laugh at the snow.

Nevermind. The baby has declared she wants out.

The wife will be up in an hour and a half. We will spend some time together. I will go downstairs and try to be focused on my work. I want to complete all my work today by 3pm so that when Noah returns home we can work on the pinewood derby car together. There is so much to do!

Well, I've got my act together today! Apparently after cooking eggs, toast and sausage (Thank you George Foreman!) I apparently left the eye on the stove turned on while taking the kids to school. Then I stopped and put gas in the car (13.784 gallons at $1.559per totaling $21.49) and bought a gallon of milk and 1 lottery scratch off ticket (I've now bought 4 - $4 and won $2 so I'm in the hole $2 -- I wonder how deep in the hole some of these addict are?). The catch? Apparently the whole time my pants zipper was down; fortunately I had my shirt untucked so I think I was well covered.

The baby has stirred. I must move down to my computer and try to accomplish something. I still have that 1 hour's worth of work that must be done and I'd like to put another 3 hours into the project just to impress. The client called yesterday and I'm afraid to listen to the voicemail.

Sarah (10 yr old) did a beautiful job on her hair but we are late as all get out and she is moving in slow motion. Fortunely our carpooler called in sick today.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Woke at midnight to fight a shadow for the wife. Shadow flew back to Peter Pan like nobodies business! Who da man?!
* This morning I have a sore throat; hurts to swallow or talk. And some sneezing. I despire being ill.

Profoundness from a 7 yr old: While I am scrambling eggs in the kitchen, "Sounds like you are in a rock band!"

Too tired to carry on. Gonna add tonights wood to the fire and go to bed.

Get into business

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1. Real Estate


2. Pets


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4. Technology


5. Organic Foods

Large Penis Syndrome

We just had an erectile dysfunction drug commercial on tv that said "...although rare, erections lasting longer than 4 hours require immediate medical attention" BAH! Can you imagine!

[sidebar] I think in high school I probably needed medical attention on more than one occasion although I'm sure attention from any of the cheerleaders would have sufficed.

Closet Case Exhibitionists Rejoice!

A new way to view London: from a toilet -
Usable bathroom exhibit boasts one-way mirrored walls

... The contemporary art exhibit, which allows the user to see out while passers-by cannot peep in, toys with the concepts of privacy and voyeurism. ...
“The construction site makes it interesting because portable toilets are at construction sites all the time ... "
The use of the sterile prison toilet and sink unit stems from the fact that the site once housed the Millbank Penitentiary, where prisoners were held before being transported to Australia in the 1800s.
But peoples' fears of being seen with their pants down still hold strong. ...

Focus problem! Heart is not racing buy my chest feels like it is. The cold of this office isn't helping.

Snow snow snow!

Took entirely too long but had much fun editing our photos for our snow day. see them here

I used to take such good care of my things. My cd collection was alphabetized and no scratcheds. Now my discs are regularly used as frisbees and half of them can't be found and the other half can't play without several episodes of skipping.

I'm a potential iTunes customers for sure!

Today's Music

For productivity, today the boom box contains Sublime

What a day!

So far a great day! Playing board games with the kids, sledding with the kids, and now Microsoft Office 2003, One Note 2003 and Business Contact Manager 2003 arrived! Woot!

The sledding reminded me how fun it is to be a kid and how thankful that I can relive it as a parent. I think the rest of this snow the hill is all theirs and my bottom is staying dry. I went down the hill tandem individually with Noah, Sarah and Amy. Unfortunately, Tommy at 191.5 pounds (86.86 kg thanks OnlineConversion.com) is too heavy to ride together; besides, with our combined weight we would have gone into the creek and probably a mile beyond that. Sarah and I had trouble steering together and we toppled...brrrr. Amy and I picked a small hill and she giggled profusely. Noah after a couple of runs says "I want to play with Amy." What a great brother!

I'm back inside and dried up. I may go out again but this time will be totally as an observer and cheerleader.

Going sleding with the 7 and 10 yr old.

Diving board made from cardboard.

Problem. Diving board missing. Cooking shears missing.

Losing to the Kids

I'm playing Mouse Trap with Noah and Sarah and could not have had a worse run of luck. I just now got my first piece (the stairs) and only have 2 slices of cheese. The kids have put on a total of 8 pieces and have huge piles of cheese. They are having a great time.

I felt myself being short and gruff with the 13 yr old and quickly put it into check. Anger is too strong an emotion to describe my feelings but I will use it for lack of a better word. The 13 yr is having a good time building a model that my father bought him during our Christmas visit. My true anger was directed at myself; I should have given him the time to help him learn modeling by now. I wanted to teach him how to trim the flash, make looking up ways to paint it fun, and enjoy the time with him building a great looking model. I also had some directed at the grandparents for allowing him to start this model because he looked unguided; my main irritation being that no newspaper was put over the work surface - glue everywhere. No irritation with Tommy. The model thus far looks good and I told him so.

I recognize that my feelings are greatly misdirected and that I can still teach Tommy modelling and now he has some experience to grow on. I have grown and learned.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Woke at 5am. No snow on the ground.
Woke at 6am. News says schools are cancelled.
Woke at 7:30am. Light dusting. Ground can still be seen through the snow. Looks like someone lightly sprinkled powdered sugar on the ground. I get frustrated with myself because at this point I could have put in 2.5 hours of work. Now it will be another 1.5 hours before the wife gets up and I won't be able to do anything.
8:02am. Weather warning for heavy snow between now and 4pm. Prediction 3-6 inches. Earlier it was mixed with rain and barely visible in the air. Now it's coming down much stronger. Looks like a Christmas card in the air.

Last Night
Went to the Jeff Foxworthy show as a Red Cross volunteer. No incidents so we got to enjoy the show. My favorite part was listening to Foxworthy talk about the stupid things our generation was allowed to do versus the rules imposed on our kids today; things like running wild in a car versus carseats and seatbelts. Had more affirmation that lawyers are destroying our society. Had more affirmation that our society needs to move to socialized medicine as I talked to an elderly man whose health insurance costs were rising while his pension was lessening.

Phone rang. IM beep. And in-laws walked in the door. Nothing to get done before the show.

t-minus 45 minutes

I can't get any programming done today. I can get in my chair and bring myself to be focused long enough to knock out this 1 silly piece of work. Probably 1 solid hour is all it would take but my mind is racing with "review first aid materials" (don't want to look like a moron tonight), "clean floors," (mother in law babysitting kids here) "chop wood" (they are now saying we are getting 4-8 inches of snow tonight--the kids are in shorts right now!), "get upstairs and check on the 10 yr old watching the 21 mth old," (house really needs cameras all over the place), "oh, the 13 yr old should be checked on," (he's got strep) "I need a bath," (not gonna happen) "everything needs to be done in 45 minutes" (ugh!).

Returned from Doctor's office

Took Tommy to doctor's office.

Picked Tommy up from school due to sickness.

Went to Red Cross to buy shirt for volunteering at the Jeff Foxworthy show tonight.

Amy loves the outdoors. To help her calm down, we just stepped outside and she identified birds, looked at a dead mouse, laughed heartily when the wind blew in her face and tussled her hair. I never put her down because our yard is in such a horrid state. I hope this spring that I can do several thousand dollars in landscaping.

Time - money - materials - ugh. Need them all at the same time!

Amy in a contrary mood this morning. Maybe that's not right. She wants a specific thing and everything else is going to make her mad. The first challenge was that she wanted her juice not milk. We worked it out through sign and her spoken words combined. She is happy and identified the outdoor cat on her own as "Gray." (that is the name we have given the outside cat)

Kids carpooled to school. Tommy's bus called to say she is running late and will be here after 8 (arrived 7:45). Tommy on his own worked 4 math problems before I returned on his home work and got another 8 done in a 30 minute time span. He did just under the same amount of work that took him 3 hours last night. Amy awoke screaming. I get her out of the crib and she screams as I carry her, pauses, in perfect calm says "ere's mama?" to which I reply "nite nite. sleeping" and she bursts into screams again. She's a manipulative one! She is happy now but not ready for breakfast.

Haloscan Commenting is down. Perhaps I should write my own system.

Day going to pot quickly. Must keep a positive attitude. The baby is screaming now for some reason. I thought the wife was going to join us this morning; I disappointed that she's not because I enjoy her company but she isn't a morning person. Screaming seems to have subsided.

Depressed Children

I hate anyone being sad. I spent half my life tettering between extreme happiness and extreme sadness. Too much effort goes into sadness. Sadness causes lost productivity, missed opportunities, more sadness, loss and other negatives; but always negatives. Even attention received because of sadness is negative attention.

I asked Sarah, "Are you sad?" and she simply frowned and shrugged her shoulders. I asked "why are you sad?" Another shoulder shrug but definitely a frown to make the point. I asked Sarah if she had friends and she said yes. I asked she something was wrong at home (I'd guess "too much screaming" "the baby is in my space" "you are unfair to me") and even asked if there is too much screaming around here. I said we cannot guess what's in her head that if she needs something, she has to ask. I said I reserve the right to say "no" but I want her to be happy and I want her to have what she needs. Without lecturing, at least I hope it didn't come across as lecturing, I encouraged Sarah to talk to myself, her mother, her grandparents, her school counsellor or her therapist.

Sarah does have a therapist in the same office as Tommy's therapist. We had multiple reasons for getting her some therapy. The main reason in her mind is to have a private outlet to discuss her hatred of Tommy's. My main reason is because she clams up and keeps so much bottled up inside her; that's the kind of thing I did growing up and I know the devasting impacts. I also think she has something unsettled in her mind about this guy that periodically calls on the phone and makes her call him daddy.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Woke at 5am to get Sarah going since she has unfinished homework. I think she is sleeping in the bathroom.

Last Night
Sat up and finished Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan. I will follow with a book review.

Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan is a fantastically inspirational book about a woman that at age 50 seems drawn to Australia and destin to have a walk-a-bout with an aboriginal tribe of loving. spiritual people. Her views, and the readers, are challenged as these simple people discuss concepts such as materialism, the damage the Mutant People are doing to the planet, love, anger and more. The book is posed as fiction but hinted at being non-fiction.

I personally read this book whenever I need to get out of the doldrums. I find it spiritually uplifting. The content also makes me think philosophically upon my own materialism, my outlooks and my habits. The book is short and an easy read. I highly recommend it.

I'm exhausted. I spent the latter part of the afternoon with Sarah in the doctor's office. She is so strung out that she has a nasty fever blister and it looks like its spreading to her eye. Unfortunately tomorrow is school pictures. Why is this child so stressed? Does she have too many adult figures in her life she is trying to please? 2 Grandparents, 2 parents, and 1 biological father. Are we too critical of her? Is she asking for things and not getting them because we aren't listening or think we are hearing one thing when she is actually saying another?

I wish I could describe the looks she gives. She has reached that mature age of 10 where she is certain that her parents are retarded (and I choose that word intentionally) and she has all the answers. Whatever you do, please don't try to reason with her or contradict her even if she is wrong because you are going to catch Valley Girl attitude (that should have been with a capital A).

Got home expecting a battle with Tommy over his math homework so I approached it very calmly and sedately with book in hand so I could read while he screamed. I was determined to not let his noises and attempts to rile get to me; unfortunately, I forgot about everyone else. The tired baby started feeding off of him, the mother with migraine turned up the television to drown him out (noise and chaos bad for an aspie - new term for me learned recently), the brother in his normal oblivious cloud took no notice, and the sister that just wouldn't hurry up and get to bed (I almost detected some competition for attention briefly) helped proliferate the chaos which ended with Tommy receiving a "get your act together" slap in the face. We avoid such treatment at all possible costs but Tommy had left reality and was starting to spiral out of control. He came back to reality albeit with many tears. He and I moved to a more controlled location in the basement and he screamed, cried, insulted, said hurtful things, masterbated, pretended to fall asleep, complained and did about everything he could think of to try to upset me. I calmed sat there reminding him to use an inside voice and to work on his school work. Eventually I got smart and gave him a choice. Tommy likes choices even if they are both not in his favor. He quieted down, calmed down, quickly did his homework with ease (some guidance from me) and then went to bed.

Taking Sarah to doctor

Jokes at other people's expense

Ok. I know the following is in bad taste but due to its nature I can't help myself...
Man dies in 11-storey fall Tragic ending to birthday party

A CARLETON University engineering student participating in a spitting contest with friends plunged 11 floors off a downtown high-rise to his death late Saturday night ...
...took a running start to try to spit further than his two friends when he unintentionally vaulted himself over the balcony railing.

Note: An engerineering student

"Two ladies came in and started screaming for me to call 911," said Armstrong, adding a group of about eight of Jinah's emotional friends rushed to his side.

I hope the friends used the stairs! Otherwise I could hear the ladies now, "That one was first. Then these came in rapid succession."

"He was one of the smartest, most polite guys I ever met in my life," ...

Excuse me! He jumped off a balcony...

"... He had a maturity beyond his age."

...in a spitting contest.

Armstrong said Jinah always made a point to stop and chat on his way into the building ...

Perhaps he should have stopped before making his way out of the building.

His roommate, Eric Hwang, was too distraught to comment on what happened.

Sure. He's probably thinking "I can't afford this place on my own."

ok. That poor commentary is going to come back to me karmically somehow I'm sure.

Watch Them Closely!

Brothers, 4 and 2, take mother's SUV and crash into tree

The older boy, who was driving the car ...
The younger brother, ... climbed into the back seat of the Acura SUV and buckled himself in ...
..."I guess he knew he was going for a ride,"...

I can easily picture my baby girl trying this.

Trackback example

For anyone trying to figure out the purpose of a trackback, look at the comments and the trackback in this post. Remember the titles in the trackback are clickable and open in new windows.

I need help! I've spent the morning reading news, blogs and email and posting information within my own blog. Time to work!

(but I had a really good time!)

Visit your dead stars

Final post for awhile.

Celebrity Tombstones

Everquest Addicts Beware!

The Department of Defense is commissioning a re-creation of the entire planet from online-sim maker.

Looks like Kurzweil's future could be coming to life. This would be a good time to read Diaspora by Greg Egan

"The Singularity" is a phrase borrowed from the astrophysics of black holes. The phrase has varied meanings; as used by Vernor Vinge and Raymond Kurzweil, it refers to the idea that accelerating technology will lead to superhuman machine intelligence that will soon exceed human intelligence, probably by the year 2030.

  

Hydrogen Powered Cars in 2004

United Nuclear is currently in final testing, and will shortly be producing Hydrogen conversion systems / Hydrogen generators for most fuel injected, Gasoline powered vehicles.

Juggler's mind: Hydrogen? Hydrogen? Let me think... Wasn't there something in our history that might concern cars?

What's long and hard and full of sea men?

Millions of Condoms Seek Optimistic, Busy Owner This of course for the man that can't get enough.

The condom factory was built as a joint venture as part of a complex arms purchase deal which saw South Africa award Germany a $594 million contract to build submarines.

Condom factory! Submarines! Bah haha! Those must be some HUGE condoms!

Disney Blasts Town with Laser Beam

Disney, borrowing style from Fantastsia, scorches town to orchestration

What chu saying Willis?

I received this expedia ad in a popup today:

Now, without slipping too much further into poor taste, read the words closely then stare at the picture and ask yourself "just where is she getting away to? why does she have to 'come to expedia'? what's the smirk about? why did they crop her right hand out of the picture? And can't she do this from home?"

In all fairness to Expedia, clicking on the ad will take you to their marketing page.

Sex - What should the kids do?

Here's an interesting and disturbing article. It's difficult being a dad with a girl that will be entering her teens and already thinks she is 16. I know around 10 years old I knew certain things felt good. I know around 12 I wanted things to feel good with girls. I know guys are supposed to and girls aren't so just who are the guys supposed to with? Below are some highlights that will give parents thinking material..not that we don't have enough already.
I believe sex is a good thing but when thinking about your daughter being used, hurt or taken advantage of, you start to question your own views. I would certainly not want to deny anyone such a pleasurable activity and do not want to give it mysticism by making it taboo. I hope that I can instill a sense of dignity and self-worth in my children that they do not use sex as an escape and wait until they truly feel love before giving up their bodies.
Welcome to the G-Spot

I love sex. I love talking about it, thinking about it, arguing about it, doing it and sometimes even watching it. But because I don't have a penis, I'm supposed to keep these thoughts to myself. Guys overly concerned with sex are "players" while girls are called sluts...
I entered high school as a wholesome princess. I was class vice president...
...when I was 16, I lost my virginity...
...I wasn't supposed to have sex! Well, it just kind of happened. ... And so began my journey toward becoming a "slut."
I managed to do a 180 on my good-girl status. As the slogan goes, "Once you pop, you can't stop." ...
...trying to use sex to find love. ... I never did.
...Who knew that it is entirely different when you are actually in love with the person?...
I am self-assured in my sexuality. I have sex, and I like it. I don't think porn is always bad, I know the meaning behind Britney's song "Touch of My Hand," and I've been to the "sex shop." I carry a condom in my wallet and have more beside my bed. I'm not ashamed to admit that I have a sex drive. ...

News - Environmental

Climate Change Linked to Civilization Collapse What goes first? Society or the planet?

Two scientists have linked climate variations to the collapse of societies around the globe. Sometimes slight, sometimes intense, ... the changes were enough to forever alter the lifestyles of the people living under changed conditions. ...
An article in a 1995 issue of Nature pointed to drought as one cause of the demise of the Maya civilization. Its writers argued that internal factors, including population growth and environmental degradation, worked with climate change and led to the Maya collapse. ...
The worst case scenerio ... is if the world does not make any changes in its activities—inaction that would cause an 11-degree temperature change. "That would have some pretty horrific implications," he said. ...

Juggler: Horrific like no more shuffling snow or having to bundle the kids up so much they look like the Stay Puff marshmellow man.

I work very hard to -- no that's not true -- I want to provide my family a good life with good health but when I try to give my wife good health she fights it. She won't go to doctors and she won't go to the dentist. It's comparable to trying to get a child to eat beats.

We cancelled her appointment. It will now be 6 months or more before she can get in again.

I was reviewing my drafts in my blog and discovered this about my impatience with Tommy (the 13 yr old). I am not sure why I didn't publish it. In hindsight, it seems insightful for the moment it was written.

The baby is awake. I really had hoped to get more done before she arose.

I must retrain myself to start waking earlier again.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Noah (the 7 yr old) comes down at 6am as I'm getting up to get dressed. He is a great morning person! Stirred Sarah (10 yr old) at 6:12 or so and gave Tommy his medicine at 6:25. Now time to try to stir him. I also need to get Noah some Clariton and Sarah some cold sore medicine.

Last Night
Wife and I were much more relaxed and happy together. Chatted much and spent the evening together watching The Guru. That film is a riot! Having the wife explain who is who and what movies they've been in adds quite a bit to the enjoyment of the movie. The movie is basically about a guy that comes India to America and falls in love with a porn star. The choreography is quite well done. One of the guys in the voice is a voice on The Simpsons and has a role in Office Spaces.
     

Walked the yard today and observed the sinkhole in the creek. Still not sure what to make of it. After a long dry spell I will play with it. Met the neighbor that recently put up a fence. I hate fences! And his was a spite fence serving no purpose but to draw a line between his property and my next door neighbor's.

Sarah (the 10 yr old) is interacting nicely with Amy (the baby) while Sarah brushes out her own hair. Noah (7 yr old) is spacing out in a book; he was so lost in the book that Amy stuck a toothbrush in his ear and he didn't know. Tommy (the 13 yr old) is lounging in the bath (on his stomach rocking back and forth--interpret how you want). Amy just laid her head down on the couch then quickly realized what she was doing and switched to sweeping the floor. Sarah just remembered some unfinished work. Amy went through all her see-n-say animals and noises with me at high speed. She is so smart! All the kids are!

Cathy is at a meeting but we have relative calm around here. She is still missed.

Cingular service is crap

Using the Force

I keep forgetting to describe this. I've had a lot of friends that believe strongly in the more natural or mystical in our universe so I've participated in many debates and discussions that had no real answers but were plenty thought provoking. One such subject is the use of visualization for improvement. Well, this is really an unarguable one; if you visualize success, you are more likely to success; if you visualize improved performance or perfection, you are likely to improve. I personally have never applied visualization techniques to much of anything; my mind is too undiciplined.

Last night one of the tasks I wanted to get done was chopping wood so we would (pun) all sleep well with a good fire. Outside there is no moon so it is pitch black. I set the wood on the stump I use for chopping and grab my ax. I can't see much of anything; perhaps a small outline of the wood. So I close my eyes and visualize where the wood sits. I see it in my minds eye with a nuclear green outline to the edges then a I swing the axe. Kerrack! I ended up with more accurate and more productive strikes than I normally have with light. Thank you Obi Won!

Lots of tears from the Sarah (the 10 yr old). Her teen years are going to be HARD!

Ran to the bank, Cingular and the dry cleaners. Back home to work. Need a tension breaker. No time.

Boom!

THE AWESOME POWER OF THE SUBMARINE LAUNCHED MARK-48 TORPEDO

On Monday June 14, 1999 the Australian Collins class submarine, HMAS Farncomb, fired a Mark-48 war-shot torpedo at the 28 year old former Destroyer Escort TORRENS.

The firing was part of the Collins class trials requirements and was designed to validate the submarine's combat system...

Good pictures!

Seems like I'm always craving things that are just outside my reach.

Amy very unhappy. I worry she is perhaps not well. This confounded approach to getting employed won't have us insured through a regular company for at least 6 months which screws up major plans.

Fast Computer

Scientists to look back in time with IBM computer

The computer, which is due to be delivered by the middle of 2005, will crunch data at a rate of 768 gigabits, or 768 billion bits a second. That's the equivalent of the amount of data created in one second if every person in the United States participated in 100 telephone calls at the same time...

Juggler's comment: Can you imagine playing Doom or Descent on that?!

Amy just took another bad fall to the floor. If I get the job that I think I may, I'm installing carpet before the end of March.

Fun News

The Bottomless Cup and the Topless Waitress?

BOSTON (Reuters) - Facing stiff competition from nationwide coffee shop chains, one Maine businessman wants to offer more than just a regular cup of cappuccino to perk up his customers -- so he's hiring topless waitresses. ...
"He has the go-ahead as far as the town is concerned," ...

Juggler's thought: I can picture it now "You want cream with that?"

And even though city laws do not require the Heavenly Angels to impose an age limit, St Michel has decided to only admit those 18 or over. ...

Juggler's thought: Can you imagine if St Michel didn't do that? "Son, I've noticed you've taken an interest in Victoria Secrets catalogs. I think it's time you learned to drink coffee!"

Getting in gear and getting to work!

Amy helped me cook eggs for she and her mother. While cooking I got an unprompted pucker kiss! She is enjoying her eggs now and chatting up a storm. I really need to get minidisc microphone and do some recordings of her. I've only done one recording and the microphone wasn't very good.

A good friend of mine once suggested that I record her once a week to tape (not video) then when she is about 2 you put the tape into one of those children's tape players and he says its good for about 20 minutes of babysitting! I personally just enjoy listening to her voice develop.

Amy seems quite pleased with herself this morning.

I intentionally leave the television off in the mornings. Amy is now in her playhouse chatting and drawing and having a good time.

Baby up. Diaper changed. Amy (20 mths) really weepy for Mommy. Elmo toy singing "shake rattle and roll." Elmo has made her happier. Let's add some food and reading.

Got the kids off to school. Noah made certain to get his hair properly spiked. Couldn't find the good gel but the cheap one seemed to work ok. Not sure that Sarah had any breakfast. With the baby still asleep I had to decide between getting right to work or cuddling with the wife in peace. I, probably wrongly, chose some calm time with the wife but my presence seemed to be disturbing her slumber and the panic worked its way back in. Grabbing breakfast and going to try to get some work done before the baby awakens.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Laid in bed and had a pretty decent panic attack. Anxiety still high but subsided. Got myself moving at 6:08 and stirred the kids by 6:20.

Last Night
Had the energy to work late but not the focus. By time I started to feel focused I didn't have the energy. Watched The Guru with the wife then wasted time on the computer looking at useless websites until 1amish. Went to bed at 1:30.

Anger mostly subsided. Now I feel drained and overwhelmed by the incredible amount of tasks I wanted to accomplish this weekend that are left undone.

I now have to work on the tension between my wife and myself. Time to grovel. I just want to go to sleep.

I got retasked at a critical moment in my project. Now I've lost my light and am hosed.

Beautiful day shot to hell.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Woke several times in the night. Tommy's (the 13 yr old) stirring about this morning had me up at 7:20. The wife asked if she could enjoy the favor of getting to sleep in and naturally I said yes. She doubts she will be able to because she expects Tommy and I to end up in a fight and the baby to end up crying. The correct side of me wants to give my wife these opportunities as frequently as possible without any expectations; the selfish side of me wishes a favor in return. The selfish side fo me doesn't hold that much weight. It's like 90% unselfish/10% selfish because I get a whole lot of reward out of making my wife happy. Nothing in life feels better than doing for others!

I want to get some cleaning done before the baby arises but it isn't going to happen.

Yesterday
I was just a poor blogger yesterday. I really enjoy this outlet and hope that my readership does too!

The highlights:
Noah's (the 7 yr old) maturity level often concerns me. I'm freqently torn between letting him be a 7 yr old and correcting the behavior. I know he can make good decisions. He is a smart guy! But it often seems like he just turns off his brain. His incidents at the pine wood derby workshop. We arrive and immediately start eating pizza. I'm talking to the adults and I turn around to see that Noah has gone over to the group of boys and put this plate with his pizza on the floor so that he could take the hood of one of the boys sweat shirts and is putting all his weight into forcing it over the other boys face. I'm appauled and drag Noah out to have a discussion with him about why were are here and how to behave. Just a few moments pass and one of the younger siblings launch a Nerf football from the playarea into the eatting boys. As an adult asks the children not to do that, Noah, the boy furtherest from the play area, deliberatly sets his plate down, runs through the older boys, grabs a plush toy (stuffed animal like a beannie baby), and violently hurls it over his shoulder like throwing salt over your shoulder, and almost hits in the face the same adult that was reprimanding the kids. Noah's energy and intent had me thinking he was going to alternate hands just wildly throwing as many toys as he could so I dragged him out again and asked if he wanted to go home.

I must make more attempts to get him around other kids. I want him exposed not just to the same group of children he always sees but more and more boys his own age.

The baby arises so I will cut to the evening. At the mall I shock everyone by saying that Noah needs to stay with us and spend the afternoon with me. It was totally selfish because I wanted to fly his kite with him (his request). I felt like I flabbergasted the grandparents. They were also concerned I didn't intend to bring to their place so they could take him to church in the morning. On the ride over there, Tommy (the 13 yr old) is in rare form and being particularly rude; I was being reactive and not smart in my handling of him in the car which irritated the wife because she just wanted a peaceful evening. We spent longer at the inlaws than she intented but I found it quite pleasant. The baby slept in my arms and eventually rose to play with the grandparents. The wife, Amy (the 20 mth old), Tommy (the 13 yr old) and myself returned home for the evening routine and sleep.

Took Noah (the 7 yr old) out to fly his kite. I owe my brother one! We had much fun!

4:17pm. Todos: fly a kite with Noah (the 7yr old), work on Noah's racer, take Noah to his grandparents, find Jeep manual so I can change out the starter motor.

Busy Day

Dragged myself to a start. Finally got a bath and dressed. Noah (the 7 yr old) and I took the digital camera out to see Sarah (the 10 yr old) and the wife. Noah was terribly excited about working on his pinewood derby race car for scouts and terribly irritated with my initial sluggishness and then the distraction of going to the GirlScouts Thinking Day. What a great event! Noah had much fun but when he reached his fill he was itching to get to the pinewood derby workshop. Took many picture of Thinking Day (will post later). Noah and I got back in the Jeep and rolled it to a start (did I mention the starter is out). He gets a hoot out of that. He particularly loved it when I got out and started pushing to make it roll faster then jumped back in. Mom will be mad!

Some below age level behavior at the workshop but otherwise fun. We are struggling through the boring part. Noah wants a complicated car. We may end up wtih a wedge of cheese. The great cheese racer! That would actually be fun. I got all my questions answered except for forgetting the all crucial question "how do the wheels actually go on?" Our design should grab the prettiest but I'm not sure how we will do on speed. Next year we will go for speed!

Met the rest of the family at the mall and returned home minus 2 grandparents, 1 great grandparent, 1 10 yr old girl; heavy 1 7 yr old boy, 13 yr old boy, 1 wife and 1 toddler. Oh, roll started the Jeep in front of mall security. That should generate some interesting breakroom conversation. "Uh, George, I think I watched someone steel a Jeep today..."

A New Day!

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This Morning
* awoke when the alarm went off at 7 but quickly returned to deep sleep and didn't drag myself from bed until 8

Last Night
* Apparently needs some explanation - nah...

A little too sticky to write right now (that was fun).

Short version: Dinner with only 2 of the kids. The wildest 2 away with the grandparents. We kept the picky eaters. 7 yr old falls asleep in the restaruant. All eyes on Dad as he carries the young one out to mummerings of "how cute!"

Spray glued myself to the porch.

Sleep time.

(better writing later)

Sad - Like labels on coffee cups stating "Contents May Be Hot"

You know, it's really sad when Symantec has to publish a response like this:

The Irish Virus is a hoax and it should be ignored. The following is a sample of the hoax message:


Greetings, You have just received the "IRISH VIRUS". As we don't have any programming experience, this Virus works on the honour system. Please delete all the files on your hard drive manually and forward this Virus to everyone on your mailing list. Thank you for your cooperation.

The actual Symantec page.

Techno-Dad and the Neutron Babysitters

So, I'm now very inspired to put video cameras all over the house. I was able to use one of the computer cams to keep an eye on my daughter while she watched Blues Clues. I had the pleasure of programming while watching her try on her sisters hat and watch tv and play. Mostly she watched television. Here is my wife's impression.

Public Outrage!

Bush dictates ideology to deaf community through secret censorship. Advocates for deaf charge censorship in closed captioning

The Bush administration has cut off its closed captioning for nearly 200 TV shows, prompting charges of secret censorship to promote an ideological agenda. ...
..."What they are doing is telling the nation's deaf what they can and can't watch,"...
..."They put a fast one over on all of us because they didn't go to public notice and comment. They just secretly did it."...
...The blocking of the 200 programs was not a cost-cutting measure, Justesen added. ...
...He said the new ruling also discriminates against people who use captioning to learn English as a second language and hearing parents with deaf children who might want to choose what they watch on TV together. "Talk about family values."...

View the complete list online: Recently Approved and Disapproved TV Programs for U.S.
Note the inclusion of programs such as "Courage the Cowardly Dog," "AMC Documentaries," "I Dream of Jeannie," "What's New Scooby-Doo?," and "Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius - Nickelodeon."

In other backwards stupidities, Bush attempts to keep the US living in a bygone era through futher senseless censorships:

An internal memo in 2002 instructed federal government Web sites to eliminate content that "does not reflect the priorities, philosophies or goals of the present administration."


This included the disappearance from the Centers for Disease Control Web site of instructions on how to properly use a condom to avoid sexually transmitted diseases.

Help save the United States! Vote NO to Bush in 2004!

Mis-interpreted News

As a follow up to yesterday's Mis-interpreted News

US: Leave Haiti While You Can

(CBS/AP) The latest U.S. travel warning for Haiti advises Americans to leave now...

Juggler's made up interview responses:
"Get out! We have no weapons of mass destruction!"
"Party's over mon!"

Credits: Picture from http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/ Original article seen on http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/02/06/world/main598583.shtml

CSS Correction

To anyone using the following css:

.PostComment{padding:20px;margin:0px;color:#444444;font-size:80%;}

It needs to be updated to have "padding" changed to "padding-left". The old method caused the top to be padded 20 pixels and therefore any links within 20 pixels of the top of something designated class="PostComment" were "covered up" and difficult to cliclick on.

.PostComment{padding-left:20px;margin:0px;color:#444444;font-size:80%;}

I'll continue to try to provide better and better CSS as people need it.

Nix tapes. I need music right now.

Listen to tapes for productivity

Several days ago I was recalling that my most productive times were when I regularly listened to "productivity" tapes while driving. Then my brother mentions he is listening to tapes. And my 10 yr old girl is on the radio today so I pull out an old boombox to record her. Now! I have a tape player by my desk. I think I'll listen to tapes while I work.

Just had a reason to retell this story:

I remember in high school I'm sitting there on my Apple //c clicking away on my 2400 baud rockin connection and Dad comes in, doesn't say a word, and gently places a hammer on top of the $600 modem. He walks to the door, turns around and says "the next time I try to call your mother before I leave the office and I get a busy signal, that hammer goes through the modem" This was before caller id, call waiting and affordable cell phones. It was very effective!

Work!

Morning play time over. Time to break the speed of CPUs!

Tim - Australian for "body armor"

Does anyone remember those Foster beer commercials "Foster's - Australian for Beer" Below is one (or a spoof on one):


I think my friend Tim's pictures should be captioned with "Australian For Bruise." This is one tough character! He was playing soccer with a broken collar bone! Now for us Americans the translation of "soccer" is "football." We aren't talking about the white and black ball that you can't touch with your hands; soccer means pig skin! [apparently I buggered that one]

Visit Tim and wish him well!

Ad found: here Looks like possibly the original work is by CaseyBatey.com

Apparently it is the morning for everyone to wake early. The 13 yr old awoke just in time to sit with the 7 yr old and listen to their 10 yr old sister talk on the Radio. The 10 yr old girl did a better job than the DJ! (proud Dad!) She really did well. She enunciated and gave full answers with the exception of one brief session of "uh huh"s. She would make a wonderful radio personality!

Wife just text messaged me that they will be on in 6 minutes.

Tape is recording the show. Let's hope the 10 yr old gets to speak in the next 100 minutes.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Woke at 5 and made sure the wife and 10 yr old were getting ready. Woke again at 5:25. The 10 yr old girl will be on a radio show this morning on WRJZ Radio (on AM station 620) talking about Girl Scouts. Very exciting!
The 7 yr old woke during our morning preparations and would not go back to sleep.

Last Night
Spent some silly time taping printouts from MapBlast together to help the wife in the morning.

What do you like to see in a blog?

What keeps you interested in a person's blog? Is it the writing style? How much of it is the content? Do the news blurbs or special subjects make the difference? Is it following their day to day activities? Or getting a peak into their psyche? (I'll correct that word as soon as the wife tells me the correction) A chance to compare your life to theirs? A soap opera in the making? Educational material? Or links links links?

Let me know in comments. Perhaps you can help mold this blog to your own personal perference!

I just spent an excruciatingly long time with my 13 yr old. Mind you, the time with him was pleasant. The time trying to remember algebra had the calcium deposits in my brain pouring out my ears. Pushed Alzheimer's back 3 years! (yes, I just screwed up my medical science also but the 13 yr old hasn't gotten there yet).

Moments like this are what make me long to continue a work from home job. I couldn't do this with a regular job. Even if they had a flex schedule that would let me make up the time the opportunity would not have presented itself.

Look to the stars!

Ike and the alien ambassadors

Fifty years ago tomorrow -- on Feb. 20, 1954 -- President Dwight Eisenhower interrupted his vacation in Palm Springs, Calif., to make a secret nocturnal trip to a nearby Air Force base to meet two extraterrestrial aliens.

Mis-interpreted News

U.S. to Send Military Team to Haiti

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration said Thursday it would send a military team to Haiti ...

Juggler's made up interview with soldiers:
"'assess the security of the U.S. Embassy' Riiight! We need a break from having to jump out of the way of falling helicopters! PaarTE!"
"Ya mon! Dar be no smokable plants in Iraq. Only sand!"
"Stress break. Had to be done!"

Credits: picture from http://ak.imgfarm.com/. Original article see on http://apnews1.iwon.com/

Back from dry cleaners and picking up Korean newspapers et al.

Car did that funny transmission thing so I ran it by a mechanic I know for evaluation. He gave me some things to look out for but he couldn't reproduce the problem and said the fluids seem fine.

Time to run the dry cleaning.

Incense currently burning: Precious Chandan
What a wonderful scent! Many thanks to my brother-in-law. This is a remnant (the last stick) from a Christmas present two years ago.

Today's Joke

Compliments of Fireblades.org (see thread at: http://www.fireblades.org/forums/showpost.php?p=118317&postcount=171 )

Two tall trees, a birch and a beech, are growing in the woods. A
small tree begins to grow between them, and the beech says to the
birch, "Is that a son of a beech or a son of a birch?"


The birch says he cannot tell. Just then a woodpecker lands on the
sapling. The birch says, "Woodpecker, you are a tree expert. Can you
tell if that is a son of a beech or a son of a birch?"


The woodpecker takes a taste of the small tree. He replies, "It is
neither a son of a beech nor a son of a birch. It is, however, the
best piece of ash I have ever put my pecker in."

Baby is talking to me and kissing the monitor for the webcam!

Blast. A bill I thought was paid has reared its ugly again. $675 in a collectors hands.

Still feeling out my style with PHP Liking the if (): else: endif: syntax.

Time to quit fooling around. Where's my water gun! The cat's gonna get it! That's better. Now she's a gargoyle on the monitor. Much better.

Don't Jump Here! Do It Over There!

[09:26] * CFNews reports: People with suicidal tendencies in Botswana have been asked to throw themselves out of trees instead of in front of trains.

"I am appealing to the people not to use the trains to kill themselves. If people want to commit suicide they should use trees not our trains," she said.

Now this is step forward in dealing with the rising cost of mental health care!

Schuweee!

Now, why is it that when you are changing the messiest diaper you've seen in a long time that the wipes refuse to cooperate and keep falling back into the container. At least the baby was very cooperative! I laid her down on the couch and she arched her back keeping only her head, shoulders and heals touching the couch. She was confused when I didn't return her pajamas to her. I must go find her clothes. I wish I could record her right now. She is talking talking talking talking. So fun and pleasant!

The first thing she asks for after being changed is "nana nana!"

When I squat in front of this computer to type, the baby stands on my legs and hops up and down watching me type.

Honk Honk

The 13 yr old's bus arrived today and despite me rushing to the front door and opening it wide, he still honked the horn! This irritates me enough that I go out and politely ask him not to do that because of the number of "sleeping babies" about. He's a nice guy but the horn should really only be used if we aren't responding at all.

The baby is awake.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Yikes! Overslept. I actually was up at 5:45 and refueled the fire. I should have kept moving. Went back to bed and didn't get the kids up until 6:30. Must prepare for carpool.

My cat says I've been on the computer enough. She is practically standing on the keyboard begging attention. She needs a bath and a grooming but I need my arms instead of bloody stumps.

Plea deal near in fatal crash

One of two people charged with causing an accident that killed a Camden nun is close to reaching a plea agreement, her lawyer said Tuesday...

I don't think its our court system that this person needs to be plea bargining with!

Tense moment with the 13 yr old I only raised my voice once and not that loud at all! He yelled enough to make my head throb.

Wow. Once we've trained ourselves to be short and snappy with people it certainly is difficult to not jump straight into barking mode; however, it is possible to retrain ourselves. These old dogs can still learn a few new tricks! I still slip up and am either overly firm or snappy with the teenager on things that I should be lighter about but each time I am a little less firm and less snappy or the incidence of it is more brief. And I can always analyze myself during and afterwards. Look out David Caridean! This grasshopper is growing!

Teacher Dad

Had the pleasure of helping my son practice scientific notation. Helping these kids with their homework is very pleasant as sometimes it makes the brain ache trying to remember the facts; makes you want to go to school again!

In Loo Of My Son

Oh my son
Life is fun
When you are seven
And there is so much to do

Let's pay attention
When a whizzing
And make sure
We aim true

With your little hose
So close to the bowl
Try to hit the water
and not your toes!

Should there be a miss
resulting in a puddled mess
Be embarrassed not
To clean up the lot!

(in all fairness, I think it was his friend)

Task 2

Play with the kids

Task 1 complete

Admin interface now lists products and has the ability to logout. Next will be the editing and deletion features.

Productivity sloow today.

Programming

Logout script now works

I've been contacted by an old friend! I considered him a good friend in college. He was very influential to me as well as very helpful to me personally and educationally. I was very embarassed by my collegiate demise and dropped contacts with many of the important people around me. It's nice to run across them again.

Book Referral

My brother-in-law gives a high recommendation to Designing With Web Standards by Jeffery Zeldman

Found the glasses

My eyes are very tired today so the screen is hard to concentrate on. What do I do? I've now walked up and down the stairs 4 times trying to find my glasses which were on my face not a few minutes ago. Not only is this wearing me out, it is frustrating me to the point that I won't be able to concentrate.

Wahoo! Thanks Microsoft!

I swear as I was taking the kids to school today I said "I'm a Microsoft Partner. I need to see if they can provide me a CD with the security updates so that I can fix my friend's computer." That would be the friend with a dialup connection in the country that pays per minute to use AOL.
So, thanks SlickDeals.net!

Free Windows Security Update CD from Microsoft. Good for those still on the 56k modem.

The Windows Security Update CD will be shipped to you free of charge. This CD includes Microsoft critical updates released through October 2003 and information to help you protect your PC. In addition, you will also receive free antivirus and firewall trial software.

Task 1

Program: in administration backend show products

Special moments with a baby

What a pleasure it is to have a little person have a serious talk with you! My baby was chatty this morning. Granted, only 40% or less of her speech makes sense but today she was talking with long sentences and sometimes serious subjects. She would yammer on and on with these happy eyes and jovial looks then suddenly for just a sentence or two her brow would furrow and her tone would change then she'd continue with the happier parts of the story. There is no better conversation!

The convseration can be frustrating also. At one moment this morning, the 20 mth old really wanted me to understand what she was saying. She made perfect eye contact and repeated her sentence over and over. I just could not make it out. She obviously did not have signs for it either because she didn't use her hands to help. I really wanted to understand her.



Here's a thought for you non-parents. How does toilet training begin? This will make your head reel. The word is modeling. Let me tell you! A dog growling at you during a special moment is nothing as disturbing as a toddler handing you toilet paper!

News of the Wierd

disclaimer: believe none of what you hear, only half of what you see, and nothing from the Internet; no sources confirmed
Magazine offers jungle holiday - with cannibals

A magazine is offering readers the chance to win a holiday with a tribe of cannibals in Papua New Guinea. ...
...Mr Barker appealed for members of the public to pay £2,000 to join him on the trip after his wife had second thoughts.
...The pair will have no maps or phones and the winner will be completely at the mercy of the tribesmen.
...they haven't eaten a Westerner for forty years," he said.

Juggler's thoughts: "Special dinner arranged with the winner!"

Cool, brisk, foggy morning.

6:30-6:50: The 7 yr old requested milk so I ran to the corner convenience store. The radio djs were talking about a letter to the editor that got my goat the other day. They read this lady's words that said she had to quit her job as a courier because the law enforcement in Knoxville refused to ticket speeders particularly through construction zones. I missed the phone number or I would have called in. Perhaps it is time for me to write another letter to the editor myself. See. I believe what makes our roads safe is predictability. Predictable driving comes from when everyone obeys the same rules. Everyone obeys the same rules when we have good teaching. Speed trapping causes unpredictable driving. I contend that if everyone is speeding but going basically the same rate, particularly on the Interstate, then nothing is wrong. When someone sees a patrol car and slams on their brakes, an unpredictable change has occurred and the roads have become dangerous.

I was once on the Florida turnpike in a perfect straight stretch of road with miles of visibility. The group of cars were all doing the posted speed limit. We come across a couple of patrol cars and the car in front of me slams on his brakes dropping to 10 miles an hour below the speed limit in a very short distance. I almost tailended him and had to do evasive maneuvers to avoid having an accident. I half expected to get pulled over for wreckless driving.

I'm all for pulling over wreckless drivers. But let's not arbitrarily say that because someone is driving faster than some posted figure that they are being "wreckless." Let's determine wrecklessness by the actions of the driver, the swerving, or the dramatic speed difference compared to the flow of traffic. A person zigzaging in and out of traffic is being wreckless and a person on the Interstate driving below the speed of traffic in the left hand lane is being wreckless as that person causes unpredictable behavior when people are forced to pass on the right.

Just teach people to drive.

A New Day!

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This Morning
* Woke at 4:45 and added fuel to the fire. I could have and should have stayed up but I allowed the bed monster to lure me back into the cosy sheets
* Woke again at 5:45 and rose at 6:05. Got dressed and roused the kids then refueled the fire for a long burn.

I sleep too much.

Time for snacks and rest

Useless Information for Today

Let's not forget Britney's Guide to Semiconductor Physics

I started writing these pages to help me consolidate some of the information I had been reading while studying for my MSD. ...

... I would like it to be a useful reference to anyone that wants to know about semiconductor physics of lasers and VCSELs. The strange addition of Britney Spears to the guide has made the web site stand out from the crowd. I hope that Britney does not mind being an ambassador of science and that the fan part of the site promotes her every endeavour in the future .

Charitable Causes

Ok. Buyer beware. I have not validated the authenticity of any of these sites but they look legitimate and they cost you only a click. Click a button and the sponsoring company donates food, mammograms, etc. Apparently you can click and help once a day.

    

Campbell's Soup does a similar program called Click for Cans which I can personally vouch as legitimate.

Task 4 complete

Afternoon spent playing with the 20 mth old and helping the 10 yr old with math (after she got started it was just reminders to keep working--homework took 3 hours). Chopped some wood. Helped the neighbors puppy find its way home. Tended the fire. Worked on the wife's computer on some long procrastinated maintenance issues. Shrimp for dinner. Kids to bed. Now I'm tired.

Managed to slip in several chapters of Mutant Message Down Under. My vote for the book as spiritually uplifting stands. On reading it I find myself questioning all my habits from how I deal with my kids to how I approach business to how I handle strangers in the mall. It inspires me to want to treat people better. I highly recommend this book.

Task 4 Redux

Watch kids.

Enter self-doubt. The job is obviously for a designer more than a programmer which will also pay less than I want; ergo, it is a waste of everyone's time for me to apply for it.

Task 4

Research company then send resume and coverletter.

Task 3 Complete

With food in belly and preparations to restart the fire begun. I'm ready to continue. Oh! I also called about a possible job and of all things it would be doing computer work in the entertainment industry. What a match!

Next Task

Remove layer of frost from hind quarters. I think this can be done by going upstairs for lunch.

Task 2 complete

Ok. The pictures of the wife's computer move and cleaning are done. In edition to editing the pictures, I went ahead and created a smaller viewed in ColdFusion just to confirm my skills haven't all but died.

Enjoy!

News

Disney boss gave cold shoulder to Comcast

Preparing for the monumental call, the Comcast team, over cold cuts and Caesar salad, had kicked around various scenarios, expecting Eisner to suggest a face-to-face meeting or tell Roberts he would discuss the matter with the Disney board....
..."he blew me off," is essentially how Roberts described Eisner's reaction, according to people on the team.

Yeah Disney!

This is true ®

Attention naturalists! From Tanya's Harp by Randy Cassingham (look in the righthand column below archives)

The New York City Transit Authority has ruled that women can ride the city subways topless. New York law dictates that if a man can be somewhere without a shirt, a woman gets the same right.

Next Task

This is a recreational task. Download pictures of computer move and post.

Task complete

Star paperwork done. Phone call to voicemail to see if they want it mailed, faxed or hand delivered. The paperwork was begun on Jan 30 and finished on Feb 17. That's ridiculous!

Took "sick" 10 yr old to school. She could have stayed home but it is too torturous for her to not see her friends.

Returned home and cleaned food off kitchen table to use as a desk so the wife and I could fill out this STAR paperwork. The baby sees me cleaning and immediately grabs her broom and starts helping. What a great kid!

I see the table the wife's computer now sits on is going to be hard to keep the kids from setting drinks on.

News

Thanks Fark.com for the continued great headlines! [08:21] * CFNews reports: Cingular wins bid for AT&T Wireless. Crappy service to remain unchanged

As a Cingular customer, I looked forward to the improved service in the long run. I don't look forward to the imminent price increases and lousy service during the merger of equipment and technologies.

Simplification

I'm setting goals 1 at a time today. As I accomplish each goal, I will set the next. I have a fuzzy set of goals such as clean office, program, make marketing materials, cold call, form letters, contact it managers and deliver resumes, contact old friend networks, etc. The objective goal I give myself right now is "fillout and deliver the 13 yr old's STAR paperwork."

cntl-c fails!

Has anyone else ever experienced cntl-c failing to copy into the buffer?! Mind you, this wierdness must be in my hand. My first thought "the key is sticking." However, I then go to a friend's house and experience it on his machine to have him turn around and make cntl-c work with no problem! This is terribly frustrating because when it does happen, I carefully press the cntl key then the c key making sure that the key presses are true and still, the clipboard holds old information!

btw, cntl-v never fails and right-click copy always works

A New Day!

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This Morning
I failed. Not only did I not get up. I over slept! Time to take the 7 yr old to school. Letting the 10 yr old sleep in as we suspect she is still not well.

Think I'll grab a couple more hours of sleep then try to get motivated to do something.

Doh!

[23:21] * CFNews reports: Simpsons movie slated for 2006.

Had a wonderful time this evening. We web cam'ed our conversation with our friends in Australia. The kids got completely worked up over it and are ready to run to school tomorrow to tell all their friends. It was quite fun!

Worked all afternoon moving the wife's computer upstairs so now she's so pissed at me that she won't speak to me. As is typical, I'm left feeling like crap and guessing what it is that I've done wrong this time.

Wife's computer now dust free. Reassembly beginning.

Back from meeting. Talked to much. Good reminder of how to handle and not handle myself in sales calls.

Car acting up. I fear the transmission is looking to die. Not a good thing when the bank account is running dry.

Meeting Time

Spent most of the day working cleaning the wife's computer. Now its time to head out to a meeting. I feel unprepared..more nervous that anything else. There is too much riding on these kinds of meetings for my confidence to not be a little shaken.

So much time.. So little to do!

Blast! Someone buy me a digital switch box please! I share 4 computers between 1 monitor, keyboard and mouse. This analog switch box doesn't support the usb mouse and frequently drops the keyboard and mouse when changing machines causing me to do a hard reboot.

Playing Store

I love watching the wife and kids play store. It amazes me that they value it so much. My wife keeps a checkbook for each child and as they do chores or other things that earn them "money" they can use it to buy things from "the store." This is a cache of trinkets and items that my wonderful wife has bought or collected for the kids. Sometimes she puts specific things in there for a certain child knowing he or she will end up with it. To watch from a far, the wife picks a task to do while the kids take a half an hour or so to finger through the goodies. They diligently add and subtract making painful decisions between this and that. It could be "do I want the hair pin or the pencil?" "If I buy the matchbox car I won't have enough left to buy the pad of paper." Every couple of minutes one of the children looks up and says "how much is this?" and the wife without batting and eye or getting distracted throws out a figure so matter of factly you'd think she had been part of the manufacturing process. What's more, she remembers every price she says so when the child challenges "how much was this again?" the same price immediate spits out! Logically I wouldn't think the incentives outweight the efforts for the kids because many of the treasures are things they could have simply by asking or receive regularly anyway. I love the kids! I love my wife!

Small things add up

I borrowed some video training tapes from the American Red Cross before Christmas. Every week since the staff person's voice booms in my head "please try to look at these are return them this week. If you don't do it in a week, you won't do it at all." I don't even know where the tapes and paperwork are.

This is the kind of thing that makes it hard for my mind to focus. I have thousands of undone little things. Ugh!

The Computer Move - Chapter 2

Pulled the case out to find that it has so much dust in it that the extra nic card just sitting on the bottom of the case isn't visible at all. Perhaps this is a contributing factor to some of this machine's problems. And perhaps the paper clip lying across one of the boards.

Next step: thoroughly clean this case with no static discharges (in this dry humid house)!

The Computer Move - Chapter 1

Network cable now run through the floor to the hubs and switches.

Next problem: power. I have lots of power supplies boxed up in either the garage or the bedroom. I may even have one under my desk somewhere. The ones under my feet are a rats nest of shared power; the unspoken implication of course being that all computers will have to be shutdown for this move and then some devices may be left without power. Wife's computer will need a power strip, preferrably a decent surge protector and beyond budget, a nice UPS. Hmm. I wonder if the old UPS removed during the "short hunt" awhile back works? Alright. That will give me a reason to remove the cobs webs. First I need to download all pictures from the Compact Flash cards because I want to photo document the office clean up and the computer move. Meeting in 2.5 hours.

Follow the trail of bouncing digressions...

Upcoming problems. What to do with her printer? Possible solutions: 1) move it with the computer, 2) hook it up to a different computer for networked printing.

I'd really like to build an addition to the house right now.

I also like having my wife near me and this is going to separate us; however, it could be a nice transition for me moving into an office job.

I am upset with myself that I can't move faster and that I have not put ourselves into an economic situation to be able to setup the household computer network the way I have planned. I am moving the wife's computer upstairs but I have a bad feeling about this and it's not the correct operating system for a shared environment and it needs to be behind a separate firewall that is more filtered and controlled. Time and money; time and money; time and money; mostly money.

Shrinking Money

I found this site on shrinking metals rather intriguing. Another "I must research" in the back of my head http://www.teslamania.com/

Played and read with the baby for a bit then gave in at 8:25 and turned on the television.
Had some coffee and read the paper.

After the 5am noise patrol, I fell back into a deep sleep. I should have stayed awake and worked. I had a bizarre dream that centered around the wife and I meeting some people with secret words in a cemetary. Had something to do with this elegant old historic house that was going to be sold off.

At 7:30 I heard the baby prancing around laughing loudly. The 7 yr old saved her from the crib (normally we let her play in the crib some but he did good). I medicated the 13 yr old and brewed coffee.

This basement is fridgid today.

A New Day!

Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:


This Morning
* Woke at 4am and tended to fire. Should have stayed up.
* 5am noise wakes me. 10 yr old girl awake in bed; I check fever and she seems fine (I think). 13 yr old boy awake in bed

Going to take a break to regroup my thoughts and maybe read. This is a bad sign. It's usually followed by deep sleep.

Evening Chaos slows

Returned home with the 7 yr old and unloaded the car. Began cooking pizzas for dinner and refueled the fire. Checked on the sick 10 yr old. Fever still high but feels cooler to me. Cooked 2 pizzas and fed the wife, the 7 yr old, the 13 yr old and myself. Cooked cup cakes for devouring tomorrow. Refueled fire.