US Warns Cuba May Have Biological Weapons

The Bush administration has warned that Cuba may have a biological weapons program that represents a terrorist threat to the United States.
The U.S. State Department has accused Cuba of harboring terrorists and has listed the island as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Excuse me?! Didn't we put the terrorists there? Aren't we, the US, the ones "harboring" terrorists on Cuba?

In fairness to the wife, there was more to the story than I told. Yes, Noah was shoving the other boy around and "not letting him go home" but it was in an attempt to assert himself for which he should be commended.

I feel as if I mishandled the entire evening. I went from an afternoon of having Sarah's therapist saying how well she and I are doing to making her cry over something schtupid. (fortunately I finally backed down and gave her a long hug, just long enough to let the dog eat Sarah's dinner). The baby was mad at me because I wouldn't hit her up with another fix of Children's Tylenol despite her bringing the bottle to me, cutely asking, crying, then acting completely pathetic. I gave Tommy the "you only care about yourself speech" -- that was like talking to a wall. And Noah got his over the fight. At least I didn't get upset with the cats, fish, dog or wife.

Took Sarah to her theraphy appointment. Returned to find Noah bullying one of the neighborhood boys. I wanted to enact a swift punishment (having already made Noah apologise to the other boy and his father) and Cathy defended his actions. I understand more and more everyday why the traditional roles have the woman raising the kids and the father away from the house most of the day earning the money.

I put another voicemail in with the company that helps our special event annually. I may need to drop in on them.

Listening to Eric Clapton Unplugged.

Looking?

Trying to search blogs? Try Queryster I have not yet tested this.

Other search engine news: Upstart Competitors Try to Outdo Google

The cat absolutely doesn't want me to work on the computer today.

Amy is up.

I have the strong desire to brew. But I can't brew just a cup. I don't know how! I suppose it's time to do some ratios.

I almost forgot to mention that Amy was up most of the night with random crying. I felt horrible that I could not figure out what was ailing her.

The carpool crew left out the door at 7:04 and I warned Tommy that his bus would be here in 5 minutes and his response was "and you'll be back in what, 10 minutes?" As we were waiting in the driveway of the carpool friend Tommy's bus drove by. So I went back to the house to make sure he was at least making an effort to get on the bus. He was in his room panically putting on clothes say "I know. I know. It's here." So I left him to his on accord and last saw him walking barefoot to the bus carrying his shoes and socks. At least I'm certain he didn't have time to sneak stuff.

The others were dropped at school in great spirits. The carpool friend has spiked hair today; I have been forgetting to spike Noah's hair and he hasn't been mentioning anything. His allergy cough was bad today. I need to get out and buy some Claritin for him.

Starting to really enjoy Blogshares. This is my latest purchase. No particular reason. I'm playing penny stocks with it and it has links to music.

Castles and Artillery I can't read the words but the pictures of Europe are interesting. This is my random blog peek today.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Slept hard. Vivid dreams but no details remembered except I know one was about the kids and another was about waking up.

When I talk to the 7 year old and he stares back blankly, it gets on my nerves.

Today's primary goal: Filing cabinet and office cleaning. Secondary: New client acquisition.

Last Night
Watched Charlie Sheen on "Terminal Velocity."

Rough afternoon. I became increasingly intolerant of Tommy.

I did finally get a "round tuit" and cleaned out an entire carload of Goodwill stuff! What a pleasure!

Took Tommy to group therapy and Amy to a park. I had the opportunity to give some climbers advice on how to walk a slack rope and taught them how to stand on each other's shoulders. Amy got a good laugh out of me trying to walk the slack rope. I just thought that we should have one in the yard. I bet the boys would get a hoot out of it!

Amy loves the outdoors and thoroughly enjoyed the park. Tommy had an outstanding group session "his best ever."

Returned home to cook fish sticks and crab legs for dinner. Now I'm weary but don't dare lie down.

Tommy and I are off for the afternoon. First Goodwill, then group therapy.

The task. The biggest two things that would help this household are 1) predictable income and 2) cleanliness. The predictable income will take time and can be arranged while others sleep. I think I'm set off on #2. The variety of choices are unending. I think I will begin with a trip to Goodwill.

I think if I achieve something useful today I'll reward myself tonight learning about stocks on Blogshares.

Wow! I've always been fortunate to have interesting opportunities befall me. I'm going to be interviewing soon for a software quality assurance or "other" position here in Knoxville that does all their work with the military. That's a bit scary. Guess I have some background checks in my near future! I suppose blogs make that a bit easier on these agencies. The FBI didn't need Carnivore, it just needed Blogger! We did the work ourselves!

Max Headroom

I was a huge Max Headroom fan. Taped every show I could.
Thanks to Ken Mondschein for this wonderful write-up of Max: Thus Spracht Max Headroom

The look and feel of the show was early cyberpunk—William Gibson was even a fan

That could explain my passion

It's 'bout time Max made a little comeback, ain't it?

Hear hear! I'll 2nd that!

Fergus Falls teens swap nude photos of themselves on Web Oh if only technology had been a little further along when I was a teen!

Seven boys and three girls used digital and Web cameras to snap the pictures. They then sent those images by e-mail. ...
"If they're playing on the internet have the computer where it's visible, where it's in the living room. Don't have it in the basement or in the kids' bedroom where you don't know what's going on."

I was thinking of setting a computer up in each of the kids room. Now I'm reconsidering...unless! I could do some neat tricks with Exchange Server...Must ponder..

Smallville fans! Great article!
Special thanks to the wife for finding it.

I am much more together today although I haven't fully focused on which of the enormous number of tasks I will take on.

Play time over. Groggy wife is upstairs and needs her computer. I must feed her some eggs then get to doing something productive.

Stats

I find stats interesting. Sometimes they are bizarre! These are the recent search engine referrers to Tommy's blog:

Last 20 Searchengine Referrers Unique Visitors
12 Feb, Thu, 14:49:26 pro-corporal punishment for kids
21 Feb, Sat, 09:44:32 Yahoo: boy asperger's
22 Feb, Sun, 21:51:28 Yahoo: classroom for aspergers teen
03 Mar, Wed, 16:09:41 my milkshake bring all the boy to the yard Huh?
04 Mar, Thu, 14:05:45 Yahoo: asperger "teenage boy"
08 Mar, Mon, 09:12:18 Yahoo: teenage boy room ideas
08 Mar, Mon, 11:31:08 Yahoo: Teenage Boy Behavior
08 Mar, Mon, 15:41:07 Yahoo: Aspergers Speak Loudly
10 Mar, Wed, 18:13:17 Google: teenage+boy+normal+behavior
12 Mar, Fri, 17:03:29 Google: teenage boy masterbate
13 Mar, Sat, 17:00:45 isolation biological baby boy
13 Mar, Sat, 19:29:17 isolation biological boy foot
14 Mar, Sun, 00:28:02 Google: immature boy aspergers
14 Mar, Sun, 08:13:23 Google: milk spilled on gameboy sp
15 Mar, Mon, 21:19:02 MSN Search: teenage aspergers
18 Mar, Thu, 13:23:42 Yahoo: teenage asperger's
23 Mar, Tue, 10:03:59 Google: pacing assignments and Asperger's
25 Mar, Thu, 12:19:03 Google: my 14 yr old girlfriend says I make her wet when i french kiss her What?!
25 Mar, Thu, 14:33:05 Google: teenage sarcastic sentences
27 Mar, Sat, 19:21:00 Google: aspergers interrupted

Amy is manic today.

Amy is playing control games with me. "Dada bop!" So I give her the pacificer. And she immediate gets excited and chants "Dada Dada Dada!" and hands the bop back to me. I'm so under her thumb!

I need to record her words. She asked for chocolate syrup to be added to her milk and her pronunciation of "chok liyte" is precious!

She is finally eatting her eggs and toast with jam.

Another random look has be checking out Meadering in malta I'll have to read through this one and enjoy some travels that I otherwise wouldn't be able to do.

This reminds me of Robert Silverberg's Majipoor Chronicles. A fantastic series randomly recommended to me by a strange in a mall because I juggle and the main character juggles also. At one point in the series, Lord Valentine uses a device that allows him to visit recorded memories of people as if he were in their body. Blogging is the early non visual stage of this. Eventually we will move to video snippets of our lives and that will lead to a way to instantly plug those into another person's mind so that the "memory" can be experienced faster than real time. Imagine getting to live several lifes!

43.75 %

My weblog owns 43.75 % of me.
Does your weblog own you?

Discovered this on a random peek at Todo Nada.

I told Amy "new diaper" and she hyperventilated and run, like a rocket, to hide in her sister's room. She then peaked out at me with a pixie like grin and cackled loudly.

Amy rises.

Sarah finally finished breakfast.

Sarah is fancying up her hair. I told her she has to eat breakfast first from now on before making her hair fancy.

A New Day!

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This Morning
I slept like a rock last night! A rock with vivid dreams.

I got up and fixed the kids eggs so they could have a good breakfast for TCAPs. Noah wet his pants in the living room. Sarah is dilly dallying to the point that she is going to have to skip breakfast. Tommy is refusing to get up.

Yesterday
Yesterday was totally unproductive as far as trying to aquire new work or accomplishing task around the house. I mostly spent the day playing with Amy. That was fun. The kids came home from school and Tommy went riding his scooter. I was talking with the neighbors and watched him come to a sudden stop and fling himself forward. The chain had popped off and jammed in some bolts on the tire and Tommy went flying foward, dropped to his needs and caught his body mass on the handlebars. He handled the crash well and didn't cry or overreact until he got in the house. I was at the neighbor's and watched the whole thing. He calmly and quietly walked home. Apparently he saved everything for when he got in the house; apparently he can't show emotion unless he has an audience.

I took Amy on the trampoline twice. She loves the "bounce" and says "boing."

Cathy left for errands and I lost my temper with Noah over his perpetual lying. Noah has a pants wetting problem that I don't yet know how to curb. It's not the wetting that bothers me; he will grow out of it; he's been tested enough at the doctor's. It's that he won't take the time to stop and change his clothes after he does and he tries to lie about it. Playing is more important than taking the time to clean up.

The evening was spent on hamburgers and getting children bathed. Amy and I walked down to a neighbors and socialized then returned home to both head to our individual beds and drop with exhaustion.

I just checked my worth at Human for Sale and am happily valued at : $2,357,860.00.

All interested parties should contact my broker directly.

Panic

I have achieved a state of anxiety and panic again. The factors being: 1) no definitive income again - must acquire another contract rapidly 2) overwhelming amount of work to be done around the house 3) no plan - I should have used my planner last night. It's almost as if I am forgetting to do something important.

The yard needs attention. The peach tree needs to be retransplanted but that probably involves a piece of heavy equipment. Parts of the yard need scrapping and leveling. The french drain needs completion which involves a backhoe and some lintels. And will lead to the repair work on the retaining wall. A word splitter needs renting (that has to happen on a Friday) and lots of wood work needs to be done. Of course, the drought has us in a "no burn" state; no burn permits are being issued. Kids bikes need work. A shed needs to be built. The bathroom drain needs to be snaked. Paperwork paperwork paperwork. More.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Tommy set his watch alarm to go off at 6am. I took the watch and learned how to turn the alarm off. I left him in bed and didn't give him medicine until 6:30am. At 6:40 I told him to get dressed. At 7 he was just finishing breakfast and as the others and I walked out the door I told him "your bus will be here shortly. I hope you are dressed."

I dropped the others at school. Returned home to remove contraband from his backpack (in this case, D&D books and dice). And his bus picked him up moments later.

I thought I could grab a few zzs but no rest for the weary. Amy rose and I rose to the occassion. She and I had breakfast and playtime.

Wow! The cat just let Amy lean her chest into the cat. Now Amy is touching her paws and saying loudly "feet feet" oops. Her feelings just got hurt. The cat just batted her hands away--no claws.

Amy sits in my lap now am=nd we are playing a game with her hair barrette. She asks me to put it in her hair then she takes it out. Repeat.

Amy is now wrapped in a blanket that makes her look like a little Yoda. She was playing "nite nite."

Yesterday
I wasn't anywhere near a computer to be able to blog! That was wonderful!

The day started out with me tending to the children until I had to leave. I went to a friend's ranch and we groomed a couple of horses then went riding up the side of the mountain. My friend will be 60 next week and acts like he's 35. He and I do the aggressive riding that his wife doesn't enjoy. Rode through this one area with these beautiful rock cliffs about 30-35 feet tall and years of garbage poured down the side. Look like a scene that Arlo Guthrie might sing about. It'd be nice to own that land and clean that area up as a place for meditation! We returned to the ranch, cleaned up the horses and shared some conversation over ice tea.

I returned home to replace the brakes on Tommy's scooter. I'm still terribly unimpressed with the scooter's performance and will now make efforts to have it replaced or refunded so we can get a different brand. At least he can ride it now as long as he doesn't have to climb any hills.

After I was done with the scooter Cathy commented that "she's not getting the chance to go out" I misinterpretted this as "let's get everyone out of the house" and we took the crew plus one of Noah's friends to a park. They had a blast. I had a blast! The 7 year olds and 10 year old ran all over the place. The 13 yr old sat in a tower where he had a good vantage point of the chaos but didn't have to be involved. And Amy ran and played in the pea gravel and slide on the slides and cackled and had a great time. Afterwards Cathy, Sarah and Tommy were dropped off at Target (general merchandise) and the boys, Amy and I went to Bi-lo (grocery). Amy was so tired that she rode quietly and nicely in the cart the entire time while the boys raced up and down the isles as I sent them on errands. Even the store was good time.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Amy started her day off asking for a "cookie."

Amy sits in my lap while I blog. She's talking up a storm. I should try to record her thoughts :) Tommy and Cathy are resting well. Sarah and Noah are with the grandparents so they can go to church today.

Amy is now playing dressup. She is trying to be like her mom.

I am going to go horseback riding today. I want to be working on the yard to give Amy and the others bettering plaiying. That means lots of top soil, moving the soil, leveling the soil and planting grass at the least.

Amy is now carrying my guitar case around. She likes to use it as a chair. Just discovered it opens and is sneaking peaks. I wish I had the video camera right now.

Big girl just slide a chair out and climbed into it to sit down proper at the kitchen table for her banana and milk.

Hehe. Stressed. "Da DA. daaa daa" "Are you stuck?" "sctuuuck"

Yesterday
Yesterday was a wonderful day! Cathy and I became best friends again.

I took the girls in our car and the grandparents took the boys in their car and we met Cathy's brother, his wife and 2 children (one 1 mth older than Amy and the other new born) to go for a visit at the Chattanooga Aquarium. It is definitely one of our favorite aquariums. I wish I had a photographic memory because I could write an essay from all the cute things that were said and done during out outting. The toddlers enjoyed each other and also had many jealous moments. Amy was captivated with the fish and "things" around her. She seems to be unsatiable in absorbing knowledge. Tommy remained in control having to be spoken to very few times, basically kept his good manners on, and generally stayed in good spirits. Sarah probably thought she was along for babysitting but was asked only once that I can think of to watch any of them. Noah was very happy. Cathy and I talked and held hands and kissed and made up.

Afterwards we went to Nursery on the mountain and I helped capture one of the horses that had gotten free. I enjoyed having the knowledge to capture it and lead it back to the barn. It was too busy for us to hang around and socialize. Tommy, Amy, Cathy and I in one car; Noah, Sarah and the grandparents in the other car took our own individual routes back to Knoxville. Our car load got to the house and remained only a few minutes then decided to go to a park. Tommy played and read D&D books while Amy cackled and ran between playground equipment yelling "play! play! play!" She was exhausted when all was said and done. Must say, I slept heavy with some peculiar dreams myself.

Sarah is our creative child. I discovered last night that she has used pipe cleaners to create these wonderful signs for the bedroom doors. I will have to post pictures. She did this unprompted. She has also created light switch covers.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Something continues to bother my wife. She won't talk about it or even give me hints. This is one of those times I am "supposed to know" and do the right thing. She remains tense and turse with me. If you asked me how is my relationship right now I'd have to tell you I don't have a relationship, I have a job.

Home sweet home! And greeted with wonderful hugs and kisses from the wife and girls. T

Done. Packing up and hitting the road! Waaaahoo!

My family chose not to look at me yesterday or today. I'm packing the camera up now in anticipation of hitting the road shortly.

Finished the next major milestone that was the "other work" now I have to propagate it to 6 places.

typing like a mad man. server dies. on hold.

Beginning the process of santizing the office.

3 Musketeers for lunch; Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for desert

New task. Shouldn't be more than 1 - 2 hours code plus testing.

All milestones achieved. Testing and corrections complete. For all practical purposes, my work here is done. Now to see if the client wants to "busy" me.

Yahoo! Emails from the wife!

Wonderful Essay - a must read!

Ok. Here is a fantastic essay which I will not even attempt to pull quotes from except for the initial paragraph. Take some time, read, ponder, absorb. What You Can't Say

(This essay is about heresy: how to think forbidden thoughts, and what to do with them. The latter was till recently something only a small elite had to think about. Now we all have to, because the Web has made us all publishers.)

Drink Water for Health and Longevity

I am frequently telling my wife that she and the kids need to "drink more water." I know the kids get their fluids in other forms but I wish they would at least get a periodic glass of h2o. Here is another article emphasizing the importance of water.

Health-care providers say water nourishes the entire body. "Water is a life-sustaining beverage," says Leslie Bonci...
"Water helps flush the system,"
Water may also play a role in preventing colorectal cancer.
"Take a third of your weight in pounds and that's how many ounces you need to drink daily," she says. A 150-pound woman, for example, will need 50 ounces, which translates to a little more than six cups of water.
Experts also say it doesn't matter if all those cups are filled with water. Beverages such as juice and milk also count.
Signs of severe dehydration, ..., include lethargy, headaches, dry lips, decreased urination, a burning sensation in the stomach, an abnormally fast heart rate, inability to concentrate and fatigue.

A New Day!

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This Morning
On the way into the office I stopped in downtown Franklin to answer the first question in the cipher which allowed me to get the coordinates of the 2nd clue. Out of time and slightly befuddled by the 2nd clue, I came into work. This is a great multicache!

I can't wait to go home today although I'm a little apprehensive as I feel my wife is unhappy with me.

Last Night
Paid my rent helping my friends get started on hanging some window treatments. Watched some Easter Eggs on Pirates of the Carribean dvd and can't wait to share one in particular with the wife. It's uncanny!
Completed the cipher.

No instant messages from the wife.
No sms from the wife.
No phone calls from the wife.
No answering of phone calls to the wife.

I hope she is ok and just busy.

Blast. The head dog wants me to come in for a wrapup tomorrow. I suggested Monday and put several spins on it even resorting to the "kids last day of spring break - haven't seen them at all" emotional spin but he wasn't comfortable with Monday.

On the positive side, tomorrow is the last day for awhile. There is other work but they want to get their ducks in a row before continuing.

Milestone 7 of 7 done.

Milestone 8 of 7 is debugging and corrections. Onto that now.

started into milestone 8 of 7 and half way through decided to complete milestone 7 first. Right on the edge of being done with it.

My mind has felt clearer these past 3 weeks or so than it has in the past 3 months! I credit that to the reduced cafiene intake.

Now I follow that with a contradiction: Have you ever worked so hard that you get a buzz? That's where I am now (which spurred the thought above).

The distraction of the task switch to bug fixes has thrown me off kilter. Must get back onto milestone 7. Of course, skipping lunch probably isn't helping. Candy bar to the rescue!

I feel like Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel.

One issue a bit of a curveball.. let's see

Wahoo! Change list is minor!

Milestone 6 of 7 complete. Add milestone 8 for change list.

The dreaded change list is on its way. This could be the curveball that changes my departure date.

TN voted down recognizing Civil Unions. Morons. I understand that their reasoning is more economic (employers required to cover spouse, tax breaks, etc - concerns over people just 'declaring civil union' to beat the system) than moral but if we'd redo the health system and other things in the united states it wouldn't matter.

Another milestone achieved! 2 out of 7 left go. Each one is faster than the prior.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Woke at 5am with no alarm and went right back to sleep until 6:15. Now in the office and ready to bang keys! I want to get home to my family. I want to take them to the zoo all day tomorrow. Of course, if I were the project manager, I'd want my programmer to stay on one more day. If they go there, I may do a sell on them testing Friday (lower cost) and me returning Monday to help further testing and make corrections. I'd drive up and back in one day.

Last Night
Got thrown a bone and dropped into the wrong mindset. Allowed myself a dinner of sushi with a slice of chocolate cake for desert. The desert was quite a waste of money.

Got started on my proposal!

Whew! I'm blazing now. I am in the home stretch! Code complete by lunch time tomorrow is plausible provided no big curves.

This is the hardest time of day for me to concentrate but I'd managed to get myself in a groove. Was thinking "shit, if I keep this pace up I'll kill this work off by lunch tomorrow, test all afternoon and be home by 10 pm tomorrow night". So my wife drops a fucking bomb on me and now I can't concentrate enough to even remember why I am here. For that matter I no longer give a shit why I am here because its all rather pointless.

I think I'm going to quit for the day and go cry in a park.

Tommy is wacky out of control and I'm 3 hours away from being able to help. By the time I got there the situation would be totally different. This is why I hate working away from the house. I should be there to help.

Right now I'm having a difficult time seeing myself home before Friday afternoon or evening.

My mind is numb

Wow! The quary went a little heavy on the dynamite that time!

In trying to brainstorm and help my 13 year old boy find something to occupy his time, I had these words to my wife:

This is hard. When I was 13 I just wanted to be out riding my bike. I wanted to explore. I wanted to be in the woods. I wanted to make things.
I'd ride my bike down to the levee and we'd play in Lake Pontchatrain or go out on the docks and check the crab traps. We'd go to the end of the airport runway and lie on the grass and watch 747s take off and land 50-10 feet over our heads.
We'd take BB guns out in the woods and shoot at dragon flies, birds and rabbits.

My wife responses with a sad but current view:

most of the things you did would get me arrested for child neglect

Today the Supreme Court considers removing the words "Under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. Many people don't realize that these words were added in 1954 "after a campaign by the Knights of Columbus."

I heard this on NPR this morning. Now reading the text is not sufficient. As a matter of fact, I'd recommend not reading the text at all; close your eyes and imagine Red Skelton on the stage speaking to you. You must turn up your speakers and listen to Red Skelton deliver this commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance.

I personal view is that the separation of church and state should have the pledge revert to its pre-1954 state without the words "under God."

A New Day!

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This Morning
Trying to get a whole bunch of computer stuff done. I said proposal last night "helll or high water" I guess exhaustion doesn't fit into "hell" or "high water." Set the alarm for 5am but didn't get up until 6:30am. I am in the client office and if my laptop won't cut the mustard I am just going to step over the boundary and use their machines to get this proposal written (off the clock of course).

Tim has me interested in Blogshares so I need to budget some time for a signup and a little recreational time playing with it.

Last Night
I had a really good time cooking my first vegan meal. It was delicious! By the time I was done cooking, our first guest had to leave so the guitar playing was very short but I did have the pleasure of getting them started on Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here.

Calling it a day. Heading to my friend's house to cook vegan.

My wife will get a kick out of this. I'm working for the company that makes Dr. Martins!

Got groceries. Trying Mai's Pad Thai. My first truly vegan meal.

Tonight has been declared "guitar night" and apparently several people are getting together at 6:30 to have vegan food and play guitars. I may not even leave here until 6:30. I've been asked to prepare a dish. I'll be up late tonight trying to get this proposal written.

One of my projects that is 6 years behind schedule is now a danger to the boys. One of the neighbors has a parts car that he has half buried in his backyard. My boys are now playing under it and on it. Hope their tetnis (sp?) shots are recent. The neighbor was supposed to have removed the car from the property within 30 days of my purchase of the house. Time to talk to him.

My mind wants to wander today. Music is helping greatly.

Milestone achieved! Moving to next task with a goal of completing it in 3 hours.

2 cups of joe today. I'm cut off now.

I have finally retired my piece of crap Sony Erickson T68i. Incase anyone every searches on that I want them to know it is the worst phone every made! I bought it because it was the only blue tooth supported phone that Cingular had but the phone was so lousy that the blue tooth headset was pointless. I'm now using a low end Nokia phone until I can afford a new phone and decide which one it will be.

FDA Issues Warning on Antidepressants

Possible Suicide, Severe Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks in Children and Adults

The FDA has sent a letter to drug manufacturers requesting labeling changes on these antidepressants -- warning of possible suicide, worsening depression, anxiety, and panic attacks in adults and children.

Antidepressants have the potential for provoking a manic episode in [bipolar] people

The FDA has been closely reviewing studies of antidepressants in children for the past year after an initial report on studies of Paxil and other drugs suggested an increased risk of suicidal thoughts in children given antidepressants. No suicides occurred in any of the trials, the FDA reports.

A New Day!

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This Morning
When I travel, I am healthier. Everyday has stretching and flossing and often exercise. I should do the same at home. I awoke early today so I had the pleasure of some relaxed blogging since I cannot get into the office at work yet. Now I am off to seek breakfast.

The first week here I at the entire week for $15. That was dinner and lunch; breakfast was included with the hotel. The 2nd week my friends fed me dinner all except one day and I ate mostly fast food for breakfast and lunch. Expensive week. This week has been similar to my 2nd week although I think I will go to the grocery for lunch and try to replicate week 1.

Hopefully I can find time for creative writing in the blog this week.

Last Night
I made a correct to a post below realizing that it sounded like I could be losing this client. This client is happy. I'm concerned about the client awaiting a proposal from me. Hell or high water it will be done tonight!

I stopped by the Franklin Covey store in the mall and exchanged my $32 pack of paper for my planner for a $25 pack of paper and since I had no receipt had to find something to make the difference which was easy because I've needed extra tabs for the planner for a year (literally). I ended up owing $1.04 so they profit on the exchange. I had bought the daily view and I use the weekly view. From the mall, went to my friend's house where his wife had cooked a lovely meal complete with a delicious desert. And I know it was heathly because as they ate the described the "points" for each item. After dinner, I started the arguous task of cleaning out the phone book in my cell phone. The pain of this task was eased by the viewing of Mel Gibson's Braveheart on my friend's new HDTV. I had phone numbers in there of people that I know I will never talk to again and others that I just plain didn't recognize. Using IR I backed them up to the Sony Clie PDA just incase. When the phone cleaning was done, I collapsed without enough energy to finish watching the movie.

Exhausting day. Now I'm heading to the "hotel" to work on a proposal. Hopefully I haven't lost a potential client due to delay.

I'm going to sleep like a rock tonight. It's amazing how something so inactive as programming can wear you out so.

Unfortunately, all the interesting stuff I have to say today I don't have time to put down.

I've been a little overwhelmed trying to kill off a javascript validation and still make my other milestones today.

Flash demo stuff:
The Man Project
Pyramid of the same thing

Arrived at client site. Took 3 hours but I had a breakfast stop. Not thrilled to be here but ready to work. Set up web cam for family.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Woke without an alarm at 4:55. Lay in bed holding my wife while I bounced between letting my mind race and forcing it to calm. Toyed with the idea of calling and saying I would not be in until Tues which would give me all day today to work on finances and would make Cathy's hectic day smoother. Still toying with it. The other thought is to ask for an advance on this next paycheck but that would be easier if I was in Nashville.

Online banking erroring out so I can't check my balance and the online system for the cable/Internet doesn't give me a total just says "past due" which means in 2 days we will be cut off if I don't get them a payment. Great! With those two balances I could have been more secure in making a decision about whether to call in today or not. Guess I'd better get going.

Last Night
Wonder evening! Stress dropped greatly after I got packed and knew I would have clothes for this week.

I've been lousy company this afternoon. More than a bit snippy. I suppose it could be the stress of having to hit the road at 5am tomorrow with so many things undone. I got the kitchen cleaned minus the fridge and the floors. I wanted to get all of the floors done and to do an exceptional job on the bathroom. It'll just have to wait until Friday. I really wanted to get the whole family to a park today and it didn't happen. I have to get an idea of where the finances stand. I just don't see how the one account can possibly stay in the positive until after the first. I feel so screwed.

Head throbbing. Family going to Cici's pizza.

I am very angry right now. I don't want to be angry but I am. I am not speaking to Tommy which is a mistake because in about 7 hours I won't speak to him again for a week. Cathy and I are tense with each other. My plans for today are shot.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Tommy is pulling out all stops in trying to upset me. I guess this is the punishment for having left town and planning on leaving again tomorrow.

Amy and Cathy have joined us upstairs. Time to cook breakfast.

Yesterday
Yesterday was a blur! I wasn't near a computer long enough to do anything.

The day started with a Girl Scout meeting. The boys were with the grandparents so I joined Amy, Sarah and Cathy at the meeting to help collect monies from cookie sales. Amazingly, everything is coming together and the numbers are working out! I made an inappropriate joke about tattoos and had to spend some time digging out of that hole.

A kind father took Sarah and one other scout to do a booth and we later saw them as we deposited money at the back in the grocery where they had the booth setup. The banker said "this is the first dad I've seen participatiing" and our slow thinking minds failed to say "you've got another dad on the sidewalk right now."

Since it was now just Amy, Cathy and I, we had the pleasure of 3 deep naps; 3 puddles of drool. I needed that so badly. Amy lost a pacifier and roused me so I got her a new pacifier (she calls them "bops") then went upstairs and sat on the couch until the girls were delivered. Shortly there after Sarah and her friend were dropped off at the house and immediately went to the trampoline. I was thankful that Amy and Cathy continued to sleep. I worked on the cookie numbers in the spreadsheet.

The weather today was unbelievably beautiful. We got to drive to the mall behind a tight pair of jeans. I miss my motorcycle.

Our next booth was at the mall. A serious hot spot and we were low on cookies! The distributor wasn't answering the phone; anxiety high. The parking lot was nearly as full as it would be at Christmas. People were sitting in their cars waiting for someone to leave so they could get a spot. As I walked Amy to the food court to get her some food (since she slept through lunch), I was slightly overwhelmed at the quantity of people in the mall. It was a carnival! I was trying to take in more than my mind could process. I was looking at items in stores, trying to decide what to do about my cell phone, and people watching. And there were entirely too many people to watch. The number of belly buttons, butt cracks, visible thong panties, and accentuated breasts were astounding. The pants cut so low in the front that the shape of the groin area becomes visible and because the way the body curves there leaves the jeans pulled away from the body as if inviting a peak down their pants. The pubic hair that they've only just developed has to be shaven to prevent it from being visible. It's hard to believe the statistics that I'm reading that "teen sex is down" "more teens waiting until marriage" I'd like to wear my 16-18 year old shoes again for a few days in this mall; I sure don't remember my teen years being like this! I saw one woman that was so ridiculously over endowed that I am certain that unless she runs into something that as long as she is standing she has no other way to stop her forward momentum. Then my thoughts drift to my 10 year old girl. The one that is already gives us fits over trying to wear clothing that is too small, won't wear jackets in the winter because "they make me look fat," and is trying so hard to "be cool." Then I think about my wife's words "I kept a change of clothing at school and would simply change the minute I was out of the house" and "as a teen, I never wore a bra." You can only protect them by preaching common sense and teaching good morals and ethics and lots of prayer. I can only imagine what it's going to be like when Amy is a teen. I suspect by then women will be going topless in public and maybe even wearing transparent pants. I should be a designer! I'd make a killing with just a little saran wrap!

We used an employees exit to leave the mall. Made packing up much simplier and really helped since it was raining. I love using "privileged areas" There's a sense of excitement. When I would entertain in places like Liberty Land Memphis I would get to use the employee shortcuts. I was always amazed at how those amuzement parks are designed in such a way that it takes the consumer 15 or 30 minutes to walk a certain area but there are hidden shortcuts that span the same space in 2 minutes. It's special to be back stage or in areas that the regular visitor just never sees.

After the mall we shot to a Kroger grocery where we saw a mother from Noah's soccer team (and once Sarah's soccer team). We seem to follow them at several places. Since a storm had come, Kroger let them set up inside. The previous booth sold 77 boxes! We had all of 25 or so left. I left the girls to sell out and Amy and I returned home to get forgotten luggage and shoes. We returned to the grocery and I drove circles in the parking lot (Violent Femes was playing "36-24-36") then when the song ended I joined the girls to hang out while they sold. We decided to pack up and someone bought most of their remaining cookies because they were packing up. The cookie booths are done! The sales very well! I really enjoyed helping the girls with the booths.

We then took Sarah and her friend to the grandparents where I got to see Tommy and Noah for the first time in a week. Noah instantly gave "Dad" a huge hug. Tommy needed to be prompted as he was lost in television (Hunt for Red October--I don't blame him). We all ate some KFC and chatted as Tommy energetically showed us the treasures he aquired from the cleaning of the garage. He then told us "I found enough quarters, about $20, to buy my book" so the interogations began and the lies unfolded. When I had to move him from the front seat of the car, his pocket buldged with change and the ugly confrontation began. Noah even lied to try to "protect" his brother. This bothers me because that means he'll lie for his friends which will lead to him getting in much trouble and more so getting used by his friends. There is already evidence that Noah allows himself to be used.

We made it home with a basically silent Tommy. And got everyone to sleep.

Had 2 voicemails from the mortgage company, one on Mar 10 and one on Mar 11. Called them and they said "everything is fine." Strange.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Woke feeling hung over! Man was I ever tired.

Promised Erika to be more interesting this week. Going to be a mad, mad weekend then I return to the client site on Monday. This is the final weekend of Girlscout cookie booths. I hope we end up heavy on case of tagalongs :)

Must dos:
* spend time with the kids
* finances
* marketing
* cleaning

Yuck. Sears bill colletor.

Last Night
Got to spend some time with the wife. We reintroduced ourselves.

Home sweet home! Hopefully next week will be the end of this commuting.

Hitting the road.

I weighed myself last night on a professional type scale coming in at 178 pounds....exercise exercise exercise!

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This Morning
I get to go home today!

Last Night
Tried the Caesar's Library geocache again to no avail. I am better than this! Perhaps doing it at dusk is a mistake. Maybe there are words on the physical library I can't read in that light. Grabbed a quick bite to eat (sushi yum) then headed to the place I'm staying and talked to late with a friend of mine.

Done for the day

This day is dragging on.

I am ready for this day to be over! I want to sleep. However, I still have much work to do. Then I have to get the oil changed in the car. Then I want to do the Caesar's Library Geocache. Then I have to drive 45 minutes to Mufreesboro. Of course to return another 45 minutes.

Maybe I should do Mufreesboro on the way home tomorrow evening?

Head swimming a bit. Stomach ill from Twizzler's. And it feels so good to be working and still not able to make ends meet or keep the creditors at bay.

Thank you Fark!
Minority population may triple in the U.S. in the next 50 years, making minorities 50 percent of the population. Also, there's a chance they won't be a minority any longer, but the math is difficult

1 small cup o joe

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This Morning
Rough start. Everything seemed to be going well. I got up early with no alarm clock and got dressed. Walked out of the house wearing the wrong shoes and forgot my cell phone. Realized all this about 5 minutes out. The car is reporting low oil and low gas. Returned to get the phone, changed shoes, then headed out and got gas. Will chance the oil in the car during lunch (it's pretty old oil). On the way in I drove right past McDs so I had to u-turn to get breakfast. Is this day going to be redo's on everything?

Tried calling home on the way into the office but I think Amy and Cathy is sleeping.

I am aching to be home. I miss my family. I miss my wife!

Last Night
After being booted from the office earlier than usually (5:30) I headed to Matt's house to have dinner with Matt, Linda, Ellie (their daughter), Julie Paddleford Dobbs, and her two daughters (7 and 4ish). On the way Matt called to ask that I pick up some groceries so I grabbed fixings for Thursday and Fri lunch and snack.

This 1 hour time difference blows. By the time the guests left I felt it was too late to call home.

Great concept! Monthly allowance, not weekly

Walls just shook again.

Federal class-action lawsuit filed against school system claims new test discriminates against students who can't pass it
There it is! America is finished..

Ghost from my past and repressed memories trying to surface

geocache won -- maybe another day

Grabbing lunch and doing a geocache.

server troubles. thumb twittling.

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This Morning
Feeling good but want to be home. Can't stop thinking about my wife. In the office now.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! May the luck be with you!

Last Night
Stayed at a friend's house. They generously fed me. I played with the baby, chatted and then we played guitars.

Ohio Shooter This dude looks like he could be a relative of an old friend of mine.

Finally got the letter that the recruiter wanted on Friday sent out. Let's see. He needed it on Friday. I left message saying he would have it Monday morning. He gets it Tuesday night. Oh yeah! I've got my act together!

Heart racing like mild anxiety.

NEWS FLASH! - Morgantown, WV----- West Virginia's worst air disaster occurred when a small two-seater Cessna 150 plane, piloted by two West Virginia University students, crashed into a cemetery earlier today in Morgantown. Mountaineer search and rescue workers have recovered 300 bodies so far and expect the number to climb as digging continues into the evening. The pilot and copilot survived and a are helping in the recovery efforts.

Thank you Dean and Jeni!

Back from lunch

Time for lunch and banking

The building just shook again. Feels like being in California. It's not an earth quake. A couple of miles down the road they are doing blasting and the aftershock is strong enough to move the walls here.

I slipped and allowed myself 2 cups of coffee.

Road trip to client site was 2 hours 38 minutes. That included a 10-15 minute delay for construction, a stop for gas, and a stop for McDonald's health food.

I start the day today with 1 cup of coffee. And a call to Cingular Tech Support.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Almost ready to hit the road. Another 4 days of hell. Wife has already bitten my head off once today to boot.

You know what disheartens me more than anythiing else? Not being able to find things in my own house! There was a time when my life, regardless of the clutter, was organized. I could find anything and everything had its place. Now, nothing has a place and it doesn't matter if you put something somewhere specific in order to remember where you are putting it because it ends up somewhere else anyway.

Life is so short and there is so much I want to do. So many obsticles...

I am sad today. Watching "Life As a House" doesn't help.

Unfocused. Feel like I'm forgetting something huge.

Good article on how Star Trek has influenced the technology you use everyday

How I've Been Found

I thought it would be fun to show how people have been finding my blog. My history only keeps the past 20 searches and last I looked I was on 5 or so. Apparently something changed:

Google: Did President Eisenhower talk to alien ambassadors
Google: "pinewood derby" jeep
Google: "picture of justin And janet"
Google: carleton student dies balcony
Google: 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. Ameer "AJ" Jinah was celebrating his 20th birthday in his 11th-floor apartment at 199 Ke
Google: carleton balcony spit OR spitting
Google: carleton university student dies from fall spitting
Google: "tyco xfo"
Google: spongebob pinewood derby cars
Google: dr ashen
Google: Dr Ashen
Google: find repetitions coldfusion occurrences -php
Google: elizabeth book daytona beach pictures
Google: "Dr. Ashen"
Google: "Elizabeth Book" protest
Google: "Elizabeth Book" topless
Google: dr. ashen
Google: "Shirley Mason " topless
Google: dr ashen how to build a computer
Google: pinewood derby spongebob boat

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This Morning
I have a letter to get to a recruiter. Dry cleaning to pickup and dry cleaning to drop off. The baby woke early but I've so much to do I've left her playing in the crib hoping she would return to sleep (not gonna happen). The Internet connection wasn't working so I had to trouble shoot that. And we let the indoor cat's food run out (refilled last night) so I knew I'd have cat puke this morning and sure enough I did. Hopefully I found it all. Tommy is refusing to get dressed but that's his problem. I have to get the others to school.

Stress up but managed.

Last Night
Felt the need for selfindulgence but could not find any good television on. Besides, usually what I want to watch does not appeal to the wife so in the end I chose sleep instead. We did get to watch some Arrested Development and the end of Star Trek Nemisis.

Got the kitchen counters cleaned, the spice rack, the mixer, the coffee maker, the microwave, the stove, the window (the outside had not been done in 6 years), and sink. Left to do the fridge and the floor. My weekly diligence on the kitchen has made each consecutive cleaning easier but it still feels like I can't get out of the kitchen to the rest of the house!

Trees are bluming and the outside feels like Spring. I'm longing to just spend days on end working on the yard.

Having too much fun working on Cathy's excel spreadsheet. Realizing how much I've forgotten. Probably good that the excel job fell through. I may have needed to lean on Tim too much!

I figured it out! Babies speak Yiddish! This last conversation with her phone had lots of "oiy oiy ydipth oiy"s in it.

Also, I forgot to mention that Bacharach was in all 3 Austin Powers movies.
     

I wish I had a way to record Amy's every movement. She just took a remote control, pushed some buttons, put it to her ear, said "hello" then in a heightened state of excitement shook her head back and forth while talking and yammered "ew oh oh eeww ew yup" then would hang up. What does this tell us about our lifestyles? :)

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This Morning
Got up groggily and am preparing for a day of cleaning.

Last Night
Saw Burt Bacharach in concert by volunteering with the Red Cross. Awesome concert! Fantastic performer! He's got that style that I think a stage performer should have. You felt like he was just having the best time of his life and that it was a personal performance for you. The orchestra flubbed a few times but it was taken in good humor. One of Burt's entourage made a mistake during a solo and had one other error but again it was taken with a smile.

For those of you asking, "who is Bacharach?" take a look at his hit compositions. He has written many of the songs that you love as well as many movie hits. A few are Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head, Alfie, Do you know the way to San Jose?, The Man Who Short Liberty Valance, and I Say a Little Prayer for You.

Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach

"A synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the word you first thought of. -Burt Bacharach"

A bio from InfoPlease (an excellent resource)

Beginning in the late 1950s he gained acclaim for his scores and songs for films, including What's New Pussycat (1965), Alfie (1966), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), and Arthur (1981). He won an Academy Award for Best Score and Best Song for Butch Cassidy, which featured the catchy “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head”. He was married to actress Angie Dickinson (1966–80).

How to make a successful kids' movie. Step 1, Kill the parents

The grandparents bought Amy some new clothing. Amy put them on herself. I turn my back for a couple of minutes with the 10 yr old upstairs with Amy and with the clothes tags on Amy spills red staining stuff on them.

I guess this is my weekend to mend clothes. Thank goodness the clothing fits her and didn't need to be returned!

Ran out of WD-40. I know there is a tall can in the garage but the garage is so stinking unorganized that I'd never find it.

Took Noah to a friends and dropped Sarah and cookie supplies at the mall for their next booth. Will pick them up in an hour. Now off to get more WD-40.

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This Morning
Got the proof! WD-40 and/or a combination of 2 cups baking soda with liquid tide and oxiclean gets crayons out of clothing! I ran old rags through the dyer all night long and nothing came off on them so I suspect the crayons are in hiding or the jeans absorbed them all. I think the dryer is fine.

Off to buy more WD-40 and prepare for other chaos today.

Last Night
Spent the evening working on the clothes and the dryer and catching up with the wife.

Made it home in 3 hours (half hour delay in rush hour Nashville). Was sent on cookie errand and decided to go to store for cleaning supplies so I could spend the night getting crayons out of the laundry. Should have bought more WD-40. It's working great! I'm out now and have several items left. Will probably sleep a bit.

Other todos: create and email an invoice, create a cover letter regarding a qa job, household cleaning and repairs, vehicle maintenance

Preparing to head home.

There were 911 days in-between the Madrid terror attacks and Sept. 11, 2001
I bet there are fulltime positions being developed "911 Pattern Recognition Engneer Level 1---duties: figure out everything related to the number 911 Q Clearance required"

Caught Tommy using his mother's computer without permission. I almost said something provocative. Thank goodness he turned on the camera before I did!

I was wanting to get very angry with him for being on the computer without permission but more so getting into a chat with someone he didn't know and instantly turning on video and audio. I kept my cool but he tuned me out with "uh huh uh huh uh huh" during my lecture about privacy, Internet safety and impersonation.

Did some Geocaching on the way into work this morning. It was my first microcache and not as horrible as I expected a micro to be. I still don't want to set any micros unless they are clues to a multicache.

Checked out of the hotel this morning and am ready to go home. Just have to get through this day. I miss my family.

A New Day!

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This Morning
At client site. May not be able to blog today.

Funny Text to Speech. One of the first things I ever did on a computer :)

45 percent of women would let partner have sex with Nicole Kidman

Having good dejavu!

Coding. Mind wandering longing for home.

Visited an old friend and his wife and baby last night. Good times. They have a fantastic house! Made me realize its time to finish ours and move.

Getting back into a morning and evening stretching routine and it feels great!



Time to work!

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This Morning
At client site. May not be able to blog today.

Heading out to see a friend.

A year ago I toyed with trying to raise funds to enter this Robot Race. If I was more financally stable, these are the kinds of endeavors I would enjoy and I bet my team would have been in the final heat!

A buddy of mine gave me a heads up that a perm position in Knoxville was coming available then the phone rang seconds later from a recruiter describing the job. Under salaried; over specified--but something perm.

Proudly sporting my The ThinkGeek 'Ties Suck' Tie today.

I give it a "must buy" for all techies!

Made plans with an old friend for this evening.
Made plans with the wife and the Red Cross for Saturday night. (Reminds me of how I watched theatre in college. I ushered to see the show. Now I fix broken people to see the show)
Great progress on project.

Now breaking for lunch.

I feel energized and alert!

Good drive to client location yesterday. Productive day. Relaxing evening. Stretching this morning and feeling physically and mentally strong.

A New Day!

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This Morning
At client site. May not be able to blog today.

A New Day!

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This Morning
At client site. May not be able to blog today.

Wow! I just checked. Looks like we are doing ok on bills. The timing on this should work out very well.

Very tired and so many things left undone. The biggest is not applying for a web development position that popped up. Perhaps I will make that a must do goal before leaving. As long as I leave the house by 8am I'll be doing fine. I really need a laptop. I think the next computer purchase will be a laptop for the household.

Cingular is really making me mad. How do you know if its your phone that is bad versus your service?

Did some cache maintenance on two Geocaches today. That felt good. Renewed the tags for the Jeep so I'll be legal to drive tomorrow. Granted, I'm not mechanically where I need to be but as long as I'm not forced to parallel park or get boxed in, I'm fine.

I put a new battery in my watch that hangs from my belt loop. The 21 mth old has seen it for the first time and is determined to figure out how to remove it.

Bill collectors are back. But being very friendly!

Sad But Expected News

Body Found in East River May be that of Spalding Gray

(New York-WABC, March 8, 2004) — Relatives of Spalding Gray have been told by authorities that a badly decomposed body pulled from the East River yesterday may be that of the missing actor.
...so badly decomposed that the face was unrecognizable...
A report from the medical examiner's office is expected to be back later today.

Productive morning thus far. Paperwork in place for new contract. Finishing touches on a two day project that took 2 months. Client invoiced!

Now a lunch break and then I'll seek some paperwork. I either have to license the Neon today or the Jeep. One of the two must have tags. Then I drive with either a busted tail light or a busted starter. I'd prefer to take the car simply so I can lock up my stuff. Driving with luggage in a Jeep and taking a reststop are challenging to say the least but I've learned a few tricks.

More on the Coffee Front

Coffee May Pump Up Work Stress

Study says it increases anxiety levels, though men think it improves performance

I will personally vouch for that!

A British study says men who work alone may pump up their stress levels if they have coffee, even though they believe it will boost their productivity.

And men working as part of a team may feel less stressed after they get a jolt of caffeine, but it may make them less effective in their tasks.
...
there's also evidence to suggest that caffeine boosts confidence, alertness and sociability, along with improving performance ...

Today shall be crazy

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This Morning
The covers were so warm and cozy today. Cuddled up against my wife, The blankets seems to wrap tighter around our bodies holding us to the bed.

Tommy seems like he can't decide if he wants a battle or not.

I moved boxes and furniture today. Shopped for slacks (I hate that). Helped movie girl scout cookie stands around.

Am tired.

Still have 2 dogs to bathe, dinner to cook, floors to scrub, 2 client quotes to write, 1 project to finalize, paperwork for the next contract, and financial projections to make.

Seems like everytime my relationship gets good with one of the kids I find a way to blow it. Sarah is now upset with me. She got stubborn about a shirt and we were running out of ways to resolve the conflict (in hind sight we still had many options) so I resorted to emptying her closet to the floor and yelling. Was cool dad yesterday. Bad dad today :( This caused damage to Sarah and I, Cathy and I and Amy and I. All the ladies in the house are upset with me now.

Photo Opportunity!

Women Plan Topless Protest on Daytona Beach (link safe for work)

Two women are planning to lead a topless protest Sunday in Daytona Beach in spite of a federal judge's refusal to stop police officers from arresting them.
...Shirley Mason and Elizabeth Book intend to march with other shirtless women and men for a half-mile ...

Of course there are going to be men there!

The women believe it is unfair that only men are allowed to go topless in public places...

I don't disagree!

Their lawsuit claimed they should be allowed to protest topless under the free speech, freedom to assemble and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

Someone I think the following is going to get them. There are always 2 interpretations: 1) the people that can afford to have it interpretted, and 2) the people that can't afford it

officials have warned the planned protest violates city ordinances against public nudity, disorderly conduct and obstructing sidewalks.

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This Morning
Slept like a rock accept for the half a dozen times the dog woke me with barking, or the child with the smashing of a coffee mug. Other than some cat vomit we had no mess so I assume the dog was barking at the raccoons and other critters that roam at night.
I awoke paniced this morning then found calm. The wife is working herself into a tizzy over my leaving town. I'm not happy with it either but it could quickly turn into telecommuting and we need the money badly.

Last Night
Spent too much time on the computer and my wife passed out without our evening chatting. I goofed.

Unprocessed pictures

These pictures have not been edited, cropped, light adjusted (we had a bad lighting problem) or anything else. But to help move things along during this busy week, here are Pinewood Derby and more

Hover mouse for a description. Click for a larger image. Better quality pictures available upon request as usual.

Strange Birds

We get some strange looking fowl in E TN.

More worry for parents

As parents, we can do as much damage by being over protective than we can by giving no parenting at all. Articles like this one " Report: Local Teens Branding Bodies, Running Health Risks " make you want to never leave your child's side. Hopefully we can get through by having open communication and engraining right from wrong and the concept of making good choices. I know I did my fair share of stupid things as a child and teenager and young adult; shoot, I continue to do a variety of stupid things on a somewhat daily basis. I am thankful to be alive to be able to council my children. I just hope they make the right choices when presented with the options ahead of them.

...It's been three weeks, but the scar and scabs and pus are still visible (pictured, left) on a local 16-year-old. She was branded, using a coat hanger, a blowtorch and seconds of pain....
...In high schools across the metro area, branding is becoming popular, 7NEWS reported. And since you have to be 18 to get it done properly, many teens are turning to friends and branding parties....
...Long term, because unlike tattoos or piercing, branding can never be undone. ...

March is Caffeine Awareness Month (ironically)!

The caffeine controversy - The wake-me-up stimulant is a fact of life for most people, but caffeine abuse is something Gov. Johanns wants Nebraskans to think about

...caffeine overdoses can lead to headaches, jitteriness, irritability, difficulties in concentration, mood swings and other maladies...
..."We've actually had people end up in intensive care because of issues surrounding caffeine," ...
...giving Boy Scouts caffeine after dark is like feeding a gremlin after midnight -- it only leads to bad things....
...If you're accustomed to drinking caffeine, you could experience withdrawal 12 to 24 hours after the last dose. Symptoms include headaches and small occurrences of anxiety, fatigue, drowsiness and depression....
...A normal amount per day is 200 to 250 milligrams.

In light of this article, I felt a reproduction of the comments to date from this post in order.

You must go 21 days to break a habit or routine ... keep it up! I haven't had a soft drink with caffeine in over a year and a half and it feels great.
Dean | 03.06.04 - 12:31 am | #

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the sweetener in coke and pepsi is actually a neuro enhancer - makes portions of the brain race uncontrollably and frenetically. Dont switch to diet coke - its worse. it contains aspartame which breaks down to formaldyhide (formic acid) which is ant poison when store in warm places - eg warehousesm trucks etc. Do a google search if you dont belive me.
stop drinking the stuff - go away panic attacks!
tim | Email | Homepage | 03.06.04 - 11:56 am | #

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I thought to break a habit it was 36000 repetitions (I've heard 21 days also)

The neuro enhancing effect that Tim describes (brain race uncontrollably and frenetically) is exactly what I've been experiencing dramatically for quite some time now often to the point of being dysfunctal.

As for aspartame, I avoid it with a passion. Someone in the grocery store influenced me greatly to stay away from processed and artifical foods. Granted, our lifestyle hasn't permitted the exclusion of highly processed foods but we use natural foods whenever possible.

I have not completely eliminated caffeine. I went without for 5 days and then allowed myself 1 glass of X (be it coke or tea or whatever) per day. A fog has lifted from my mind and my soul has achieved a calm not felt in a looong time!
djuggler | Homepage | 03.06.04 - 9:01 pm | #

Build a computer cheap!

Dr. Ashen shows us How to Build a Computer for Almost No Money At All!

Thanks for this wonderful post from Dr Ashen!

I feel dehydrated. I feel buzzed. I feel a hollow dull throb in my head. My sinuses still feel like they have glue in them. But overall I feel GREAT!

Had much fun with the family and the girl scout cookie sales. My wife is so together and organized that everything went very smoothly!

The baby had too much cuteness to report. The 7 yr old said too many funny things. The 10 yr was blowing in the wind. And the 13 yr old was going a mile a minute but stayed in control and managed himself well.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Sinuses really bad this morning. Wondering if the mold in the car we drop for the first time in about a year activated them, or if the warm weather and sudden plant growth is causing alergies, or if this is residual from the cold (which the heaviness in my chest implies). Perhaps I should take some allergy medicine just to be sure.

So much to do in 3 days!

Exhausted.

Less Caffiene

Because of my sickness I didn't have the energy to brew coffee for 4 days. I've now been an entire week on almost no caffiene. During the sales trip I had 1 coke and 1 sweet tea then wednesday I think I had 1 coke and today I've had 1 coke. My mind literally feels so much calmer! I had been drinking 2 pots of coffee a day.

The incredible unsleeping baby!

Students prescribed Vicodin for colds

...Employees at Campus Health said it is routine to prescribe Vicodin and other opiate painkillers for sore throats, as well as for a range of other ailments, including back pain....

Hey doc! My throat is sore and I think it's moving to my back. Wouldn't a little vitamin V go a long way?

Did much cleaning in the office. There is so much more to do. Did not find the car title. Did find some of the other paperwork. Took the girls to the warehouse with all the girlscout cookies then helped them set up to sell cookies in the mall. They could do really well! Now I'm home with the baby. At least one of the two of us needs a nap.

Still distraught that I'm going to be spending so much time out of town and away from the family. Equally worried that I don't have the finances to pull off this trip.

Through apathy I have been forced to act. Time to move some things around on the desk.

A New Day!

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This Morning
Exhausted from these past few days but relieved to have one stressor gone. Next stressor is Girl Scout cookie sales and employment.

The bank account is below $200. I've accepted a 3 week job that is onsite 3 hours from home. Of course, we all know that means they'll want it to be much longer. I am hoping that once it starts I can turn it into remote work. The first check won't come until after the 16th of the month. Paying for food, tags ($35) for the car, gas and hotel will be a challenge.

I put myself in this situation. I know how to get business into this house without having to travel 3 hours. I just am not doing it!

Called Dad and told him "thanks" for all the time he put into my pinewood derbies. Told him about our loss. He told me how we always cheated. He recounted the "secrets." Next year will be different!

Lost both heats in the pinewood derby. On a positive note, everyone cheered Noah's car!

Race in 2 hours. Time to glue the wheels on!

Race in 2 hours. Time to glue the wheels on!

A New Day!

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This Morning
Woke at 5 then again at 6. Got the kids up by 6:15 and began putting more paint on the racer. I wanted to add another coat of yellow but didn't have time. Quized Noah on spelling as I worked. Bus driver called to say the bus broke down in the yard so after carpool I drove Tommy to school. Then returned to work all morning on pinewood derby painting. Now I'm preping axles and realize I need to run an errand to complete this project. Weight in at 5:15pm. Yikes!

SpongeBob Racer continues to evolve. Turns out I have epoxy that dries in 15 minutes so I'm not so concerned about the wheels now. I guess I'm still living in 1977 thinking that things take so much longer to dry.

Pinewood derby hell

Tommy is getting on my nerves real bad tonight.

On a totally unrelated note, I'm feeling less than adquate as a dad with this dog gone pinewood derby fiasco.

Now ranking in one of the more dangerous jobs: Shop At Home Network shows swords video

Good info

Here's a great site for alternative word processors to Microsoft's Word.

So many viruses!

War of the worms is a wonderful explanation for why so many of us have so many emails generated by worms such as Bagle.I, Bagle.J, Bagle.F, Bagle.G, Bagle.H, Netsky.C, Netsky.C and MyDoom.F, MyDoom.G.

"We suspect that several virus authors – or factions of virus authors – are competing in creating the most successfully spreading worm. So far we see three different groups or persons..."

To help protect yourself from viruses, worms and hoaxes visit http://www.sarc.com/ to confirm all warnings before ever forwarding a message onto other people; frequently the threat of a virus or a virus hoax generates more email than the actual virus.

Here is a nice list of antivirus solutions. I cannot vouch for how current or accurate the information is.

I personally use Norton Antivirus (be aware they have many different versions: pro, corp, etc) and backit up with TrendMicro's online scanner. I also recommend McAfee, Doctor Solomon(appears to be McAfee now) and I have heard great things about f-prot.