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Saturday, July 31, 2004
Weakness leads to weakness
Boneheaded me left one end of the siphon in Tommy's fish tank and tied the other end of the tube to the fish tank. I casually went to look for a book I could read while draining the rest of the tank. The siphon tube having an intelligence far greater than my own untied itself and proceeded with the work of draining the tank all over Tommy's floor. I don't think anything took any irrepairable damange.
The first weakness: Having intelligence and not using it.
The second weakness: I lost my temper but should not have. As hard as I tried, yelling did not make the water jump back into the tank. Apparently water doesn't scare easily.
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The first weakness: Having intelligence and not using it.
The second weakness: I lost my temper but should not have. As hard as I tried, yelling did not make the water jump back into the tank. Apparently water doesn't scare easily.
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Fish Heads Fish Heads..
Taking a break from the computer to thoroughly clean Tommy's fish tank. This is gross! I am surprised the fish are alive!
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Cool!
Twins x 3
Many men have this silly fantasty about being in bed with twins. What about SEXtuplets! warning: picture may not be work-safe. Risque. Link goes to Stuff's page.
Link
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Link
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Storm Brewing
Big thunderstorm rolling in. Wish we had that screened in porch.
My focus is on balancing the books for the next hour or so.
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My focus is on balancing the books for the next hour or so.
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Knox County Sample Ballot - With Commenting!
The Knox County State Primary and General Election Ballot is available at http://august5ballot.blogspot.com/ with the ability to anonymously comment and help influence the voting public. Only 4 days left! (effectively)
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Bad Dad
There is no milk for the kids. No apple juice for Amy. The bank account is low. It's a horrible feeling not providing well for your family.
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Dog Training Humans
The dog seems to be making an effort to get to the door. Now the humans need to be more diligent watching the dog. It's hard. You blink and an accident has happened. You think you are watching and you aren't.
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I woke this morning at 4:15 but did not drag myself from bed. Just keep trying Just keep trying. At 7 I heard rustling and hoped it was Noah because I wanted to hide in bed. Closer to 7:30 I decided the dog needed a walk (outside she said no) but outside I could hear Amy's voice. That ws when I remembered the boys were at the grandparents so at 7 it was Amy playing.
Amy helps with the dog. As I brewed coffee I asked Amy to "get Molly a chew toy" and she instantly emptied the cage of chew toys placing them on the dog bed.
Having great quality time with Amy! She is sitting in my lap eatting raisins and calling them "candy." We read a book together and she has told me all about Molly's chew toys.
She just showed me "o" on her book in multiple words.
Sarah rises. Amy runs off them comes back saying "a monster! a monster!"
Sarah takes some time to horse around with the puppy then is off to fix breakfast.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I woke this morning at 4:15 but did not drag myself from bed. Just keep trying Just keep trying. At 7 I heard rustling and hoped it was Noah because I wanted to hide in bed. Closer to 7:30 I decided the dog needed a walk (outside she said no) but outside I could hear Amy's voice. That ws when I remembered the boys were at the grandparents so at 7 it was Amy playing.
Amy helps with the dog. As I brewed coffee I asked Amy to "get Molly a chew toy" and she instantly emptied the cage of chew toys placing them on the dog bed.
Having great quality time with Amy! She is sitting in my lap eatting raisins and calling them "candy." We read a book together and she has told me all about Molly's chew toys.
She just showed me "o" on her book in multiple words.
Sarah rises. Amy runs off them comes back saying "a monster! a monster!"
Sarah takes some time to horse around with the puppy then is off to fix breakfast.
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Friday, July 30, 2004
Dropped the boys off with the grandparents then picked Sarah up from camp. Amy was thrilled to see her. On the way to get her and back I started relearning some old haunts. I love backroads! Pleasant dinner and evening with the girls. Was reminded that this really is a small town when one of Sarah's tent mates showed up at the same restuarant that we chose. Amy is thrilled to have Sarah home and giggled for an hour before going to sleep.
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Creative Blogging
Humiliated Cat
The cat fell asleep and rolled off the monitor onto the keyboard. I have to catch that on video one day!
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Tension
Fee Checking..I mean Free Checking
So as I'm finally getting around to reconciling my bank statements I am noticing a regular $9.00 service charge on top of the regular $5.00 service charge. I called the bank and they responded with "um.. this account is so old that we don't even offer it anymore. hang on. I just talked to my manager and she explained that this type of account had a $600 minimum balance requirement so if you slip below $600 during one month you get charged $9.00. Would you like to switched to our Free Checking?"
I'm being fee'd to death!
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I'm being fee'd to death!
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Progress!
Another bank statement reconciled.
I remember that Sarah must be picked up this afternoon.
On to programming.
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I remember that Sarah must be picked up this afternoon.
On to programming.
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Life!
Free Hosting Down
It appears my free host for Silicon Holler is down, ergo my pictures are not showing right now. Just goes to show you get what you pay for!
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What next?
The air conditioning unit sits smack dab in the middle of the house within the garage. Ever since I busted the garage door too much outside air makes it into the garage creating much condesation on the unit. It has a pump that collects the condensation and pumps it 30 feet to the outside of the house. It is a total abnoxious setup and the pump has gotten to such a state that it runs all the time now.
Well, I think last night it may have died. Which is good in that we won't hear its horrid noise all the time. But bad in that I may have a water problem to contend with quite shortly. Fortunately, I have already contrived a solution. To my wife's chagrin it may involve tearing out a piece of wall!
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Well, I think last night it may have died. Which is good in that we won't hear its horrid noise all the time. But bad in that I may have a water problem to contend with quite shortly. Fortunately, I have already contrived a solution. To my wife's chagrin it may involve tearing out a piece of wall!
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
My brother and his wife will appreciate that I am listed on Chiropractic Blogs!
I like numbers. So I woke up this morning at 4:44 and then again at 6:06. I should have stayed up at 4:44 of course.
Anyhow, today's focus is purely programming. I want to make major headway on my european project.
Today is the last day for early voting so I must get that done so I'll have to take some time to look up some issues and make sure I'm thinking correctly rather than thinking what I've been told.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
My brother and his wife will appreciate that I am listed on Chiropractic Blogs!
I like numbers. So I woke up this morning at 4:44 and then again at 6:06. I should have stayed up at 4:44 of course.
Anyhow, today's focus is purely programming. I want to make major headway on my european project.
Today is the last day for early voting so I must get that done so I'll have to take some time to look up some issues and make sure I'm thinking correctly rather than thinking what I've been told.
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Half Naked Thursday
My half naked Thursdays have almost become half naked Fridays. Thanks to Tim and Cathy for reminding me!
I think that's about half of me.
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I think that's about half of me.•
Thursday, July 29, 2004
The evening
Took Tommy to STAR and on the way North Shore was flooded so I had to re-route us but still managed to take back roads almost to Lenior City. I love back roads! I really enjoy rural TN. It's interesting when a tree is down across a road or it is flooded around here because you get this long backup of traffic in one direction then have an occasional car drive by the other way. Seems no one ever thinks, "at this time of day shouldn't more cars be coming?" Of course, the only way to discover what is truly going on is to drive to the point of the closure and turn around to become one of those few cars going the other way that no one thinks to question. Well I question them now!
While Tommy got some horse riding in, Amy, Cathy, Noah and I played on playground. I demonstrated to the 8 year old some climbing techniques that had mom frowning and will have my back aching later. Amy only got kicked in the face once. She is so tough and plays so hard and tries to keep up with the big kids so much that she constantly looks abused. Between Tommy and Amy I am sure we will have an interview with DCS one day.
Ended the evening with a unique pleasure! A very good friend of mine looked me up and we chatted in length. He even suggested an employment opportunity that will require some deep thought and heavy consideration. I could have talked the rest of the night. It really makes my day when old buds find me or I find them. In our crazy adult parental lives it is so easy to become so egocentric that you begin feeling alone and without friends. Of course, communication and maintaining friendship is a two way street and I don't even stay in touch with my family enough much less my friends.
Time to hunker down to some coding. I had promised the wife some quality time tonight. I'll have to rain check for tomorrow.
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While Tommy got some horse riding in, Amy, Cathy, Noah and I played on playground. I demonstrated to the 8 year old some climbing techniques that had mom frowning and will have my back aching later. Amy only got kicked in the face once. She is so tough and plays so hard and tries to keep up with the big kids so much that she constantly looks abused. Between Tommy and Amy I am sure we will have an interview with DCS one day.
Ended the evening with a unique pleasure! A very good friend of mine looked me up and we chatted in length. He even suggested an employment opportunity that will require some deep thought and heavy consideration. I could have talked the rest of the night. It really makes my day when old buds find me or I find them. In our crazy adult parental lives it is so easy to become so egocentric that you begin feeling alone and without friends. Of course, communication and maintaining friendship is a two way street and I don't even stay in touch with my family enough much less my friends.
Time to hunker down to some coding. I had promised the wife some quality time tonight. I'll have to rain check for tomorrow.
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Whoa! and Progress!
Progress!
2 psuedo-marketing emails sent
appointment scheduled with ITT Technical Institute admissions. I need to get paper from somewhere. I'd like to have a degree from UT but ITT or Devry will have to do. My ego doesn't like it. I feel they are 2nd hand but its better than buying a fake one. Perhaps my impression will change after I visit them on Tuesday.
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appointment scheduled with ITT Technical Institute admissions. I need to get paper from somewhere. I'd like to have a degree from UT but ITT or Devry will have to do. My ego doesn't like it. I feel they are 2nd hand but its better than buying a fake one. Perhaps my impression will change after I visit them on Tuesday.
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Progress!
Domain name transfer requests along with all email, ftp etc information compiled for 5 domains and sent. That will both save $129/mth and allow me to turn on the heat with my http://www.sidesigns.com and http://templates.sidesigns.com sales.
Resume and letter of introduction sent to a recruiter in Washington DC.
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Resume and letter of introduction sent to a recruiter in Washington DC.
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Report: Saddam has chronic prostate infection
...Saddam Hussein suffers from a chronic prostate infection and has refused to have a biopsy to rule out any chance he has cancer...
Saddam overheard to say, "ewe will notf look up my arse. you vill not gets so much as tvis finger up my buttocks! Take er instruments of probfing and run along. Vou will find no weapons of mass distruction in there either."
Someone else heard him say, "Pull my vinger. I will blow the cancer out!"
"One Orange Mocha Frappachino!!! I promise no one die in some freak gas fight accident." Other great quotes
Link
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Progress!
Unbelieveable! Another bank statement reconciled.
Time to move onto Domain transfer paperwork. Estimate: 1 hour labor.
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Time to move onto Domain transfer paperwork. Estimate: 1 hour labor.
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Tubo Charged Mind
It's that time of the day. The part of the morning where the decision about what to do next influences the total outcome of this day.
My mind races!
-Finish documenting email addresses, ftp information etc for domain transfers
-Send nasty gram to Sears DNC Request
-Call my state representative to start pushing fair credit/collections laws (I know..there are some out there but Joe Public doesn't know their rights)
-Continue reconciling accounts and bills in MS Money
-Program
-Social Networking
-Sales calls for Content Monkey
-Submit Resume(s)
-Update Dice, Monster, Linked-in and other online job tools
so much more..
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My mind races!
-Finish documenting email addresses, ftp information etc for domain transfers
-Send nasty gram to Sears DNC Request
-Call my state representative to start pushing fair credit/collections laws (I know..there are some out there but Joe Public doesn't know their rights)
-Continue reconciling accounts and bills in MS Money
-Program
-Social Networking
-Sales calls for Content Monkey
-Submit Resume(s)
-Update Dice, Monster, Linked-in and other online job tools
so much more..
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Of Grasshoppers
A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I did not get much sleep last night. As a result, I have started the day panicy. To success I have to do the work of 4 or 5 people. I really need help.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I did not get much sleep last night. As a result, I have started the day panicy. To success I have to do the work of 4 or 5 people. I really need help.
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Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Tired and responsible
I promised to get a piece of code working in the next 5 hours but I'm dead tired and the code is cryptic and undocumented. Ugh!
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Of Grasshoppers
Student: How can I expect my kids to learn when I cannot even teach myself?
Teacher: Oh they'll learn alright!
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Teacher: Oh they'll learn alright!
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Of Grasshoppers
Father Duties
Progress
I corrected some coding issues with my overseas work.
AND
I have a strong start to my documentation for the domain transfers.
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AND
I have a strong start to my documentation for the domain transfers.
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Living Again
My brain turned on today! "I can see clearly now the rain is gone.."
The immediate focus is to get the domains transferred. I can't sell a content management system if I cannot walk someone through the backend. This is the utmost importance.
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The immediate focus is to get the domains transferred. I can't sell a content management system if I cannot walk someone through the backend. This is the utmost importance.
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Amy Awakes
ok. Next delimia. Do I wake Cathy (I can keep working) or do I take care of Amy myself (1 - 1.5 hours of my day potential wash away and the odds of getting sales calls in drops to near 0)?
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Ambivalence
Do I reconcile another bank statement?
Do I program?
Do I open Act and put in contact information for sales calls today?
Do I skip Act and just start calling people?
Do I do the administrative stuff I've been delaying in order to get 4 domains transferred from one server to another?
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Do I program?
Do I open Act and put in contact information for sales calls today?
Do I skip Act and just start calling people?
Do I do the administrative stuff I've been delaying in order to get 4 domains transferred from one server to another?
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Progress!
Prior to running my own business from 97-01 I knew to the penny how much money I had. I kept a cash box in the house with "petty cash" from which I would use to put money in my wallet. I kept Quicken up to date and had an account for petty cash so I even knew where the cash was going and could chart it. To back up Quicken, I kept an excel spreadsheet that summarized my income and expeditures so at a glance (that Quicken never comfortably gave me) I could see how I was doing. I updated daily.
After 2001 I fell to pieces and have yet to regain a decent grasp of my finances. Today I know roughly what is going out and roughly what is coming in (nothing). It is very uncomfortable.
Well today I began getting things organized in MS Money! Perhaps I won't be so extreme as I was prior to 2001 but I am going to be able to do some decent forecasting and understand where our expenses truly are so that we can plug some holes.
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After 2001 I fell to pieces and have yet to regain a decent grasp of my finances. Today I know roughly what is going out and roughly what is coming in (nothing). It is very uncomfortable.
Well today I began getting things organized in MS Money! Perhaps I won't be so extreme as I was prior to 2001 but I am going to be able to do some decent forecasting and understand where our expenses truly are so that we can plug some holes.
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Death to TV
I want to turn our televisions, playstation and gameboys off for a week. Noah wakes and immediately turns on the television. I think I'll try to track how much tv per day he watches. I just went up and turned it off. I said, "why don't you read a chapter in a book then watch television?" He whined, "I read chapter 7 yesterday. Can't that count?"
He is hooked on tv like a drug. I gave up and just turned the television back on.
He is reading and make quick work of Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game."
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He is hooked on tv like a drug. I gave up and just turned the television back on.
He is reading and make quick work of Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game."
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Woke at 6:15! Yes! We gave the dog free reign of the hosue last night so I policed a little bit. Only one urine stand soaked into the wood floor that I could find. Took the dog outside for 15 minutes and she barked and lay in the grass and ate the grass but did nothing else. I brought her back inside and she immediately peed on the floor.
My new tactics! 1) walk her, bring her inside, and immediately take her outside again 2) I'm going to keep her on the lease inside the house immediately after her walks and 3) from her walks she will go straight to her cage then from the cage straight to another walk
We have to at least paper train this dog.
Last Night
Tried to do some more work but my mind would not settle. I decided to spend some time with the wife but I think she would have preferred me be in a different room.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Woke at 6:15! Yes! We gave the dog free reign of the hosue last night so I policed a little bit. Only one urine stand soaked into the wood floor that I could find. Took the dog outside for 15 minutes and she barked and lay in the grass and ate the grass but did nothing else. I brought her back inside and she immediately peed on the floor.
My new tactics! 1) walk her, bring her inside, and immediately take her outside again 2) I'm going to keep her on the lease inside the house immediately after her walks and 3) from her walks she will go straight to her cage then from the cage straight to another walk
We have to at least paper train this dog.
Last Night
Tried to do some more work but my mind would not settle. I decided to spend some time with the wife but I think she would have preferred me be in a different room.
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Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Melted
My evenings here are mentally and physically exhausting. By the time everyone is settled in I am too sore and flustered to do anything productive; and my head feels like it is stuffed with cotton. Usually all I want to do is have a beer and settle in for some mind numbing television. Instead I drink tea and listen to the sound of the washing machine and dryer and feel the pressure in my head continue to swell.
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Calgone take me away!
Today's video clips
30 minutes of my day in 30 seconds (2.77mb) note: watch the cat. I still have to learn compression.
Watch Amy Count (1 min 10mb)
I'm going to kill my bandwidth!
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Watch Amy Count (1 min 10mb)
I'm going to kill my bandwidth!
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Progress!
ok. I've done nothing to find money today. No job interviews. No sales calls. No programming.
However, I have found my desktop. I have thrown stuff away. I have sorted mail (some dating back to 2003). And am in the process of getting a grasp on my finances..something I view as important as income is managing your finances.
I still haven't figured out if I have already paid the money the collector seeks but I am getting in a better position to discuss it.
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However, I have found my desktop. I have thrown stuff away. I have sorted mail (some dating back to 2003). And am in the process of getting a grasp on my finances..something I view as important as income is managing your finances.
I still haven't figured out if I have already paid the money the collector seeks but I am getting in a better position to discuss it.
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Bill Gates has my house!
Microsoft Uses a Competitive Product - ColdFusion MX
Microsoft is using MacroMedia's ColdFusion MX instead of .Net or asp on the LiveMeeting site. More information on the site of The Man himself, Ben Forta.
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Constantly Screwed
You know rebates suck. 1) only 7% (documental fact) of all customers that buy products actually send in their rebates 2) of those 7% the company may or may not send the rebate and a lessor percentage will actually complain
Cingular owes me $200 from rebates and sent a letter on May 18 explaining that "something" was wrong with my receipt. I call the call center and get put on hold only to get a person that regurgitates the words that are in the letter "just highlight your receipt and send it back." I can't find the receipt because I had to use it for a repair! I have photocopies of everything else. Cingular will reprint the receipt but you start to question how much hassle is this savings worth. How many years am I taking off my life in stress over $200?! Well right now I could really use that $200!!
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Cingular owes me $200 from rebates and sent a letter on May 18 explaining that "something" was wrong with my receipt. I call the call center and get put on hold only to get a person that regurgitates the words that are in the letter "just highlight your receipt and send it back." I can't find the receipt because I had to use it for a repair! I have photocopies of everything else. Cingular will reprint the receipt but you start to question how much hassle is this savings worth. How many years am I taking off my life in stress over $200?! Well right now I could really use that $200!!
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The great desk cleaning
Ah.....
Good Cleaning
Yahoo! My initial goal is to help settle an account with a collector. I believe I have already paid but obviously the onus is on me to show that and I have become too disorganized to show those kinds of things. I am certain that in these past several years I have double or tripled my debt due to disorganization. I am also certain that I have been double and triple billed on some things.
Anyhow, in cleaning I found my CD of MS Security patches! Working on people's computers just got easier!
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Anyhow, in cleaning I found my CD of MS Security patches! Working on people's computers just got easier!
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The Cat says I stink
Of Grasshoppers
Student: Why am I compelled to help others when I cannot help myself?
Teacher: Are you sure you aren't helping yourself?
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Teacher: Are you sure you aren't helping yourself?
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I woke in a terrible panic but did manage to pull myself from bed 20 minutes earlier than usual.
Yesterday was all about other people's problems. Even when I sat down at the computer and committed myself to 2 hours on a very specific task I failed to start the task and helped someone else instead. Mind you, it was rewarding in that I was problem solving and succeeding but nothing I did yesterday contributed to preserving the well being of my family.
This morning I could feel the stress building horribly so I woke the wife early. I don't like doing that but I was going to crack. It is raining and I can't get the dog to pee outside. I watch her and when she squats I run her outside but the kids don't help. They are kids so they are oblivious to what goes on around them.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I woke in a terrible panic but did manage to pull myself from bed 20 minutes earlier than usual.
Yesterday was all about other people's problems. Even when I sat down at the computer and committed myself to 2 hours on a very specific task I failed to start the task and helped someone else instead. Mind you, it was rewarding in that I was problem solving and succeeding but nothing I did yesterday contributed to preserving the well being of my family.
This morning I could feel the stress building horribly so I woke the wife early. I don't like doing that but I was going to crack. It is raining and I can't get the dog to pee outside. I watch her and when she squats I run her outside but the kids don't help. They are kids so they are oblivious to what goes on around them.
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Monday, July 26, 2004
Ram Tough?
Since this is an edu and this wonderful tidbit is likely to disappear I've take the liberty of reproducing it here. I knew not how to contact the author so I give credit here.
Link
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It's hard to read this without thinking "Dodge trucks are for pussi..."
After years of health education in the renowned Cohasset Elementary / Middle / High School System, I know a thing or two about the female reproductive system. I can tell you all about your "ovaries," your "labia," your "uterus," the corpus luteum, estrogen, and progesterone- the works... This excellent background led me, as if guided by God Himself, to notice something truly amazing:
Many of you are familiar with the "Tough Guy" image that truck companies try to create in their television commericals - with all the off-roading and drag-racing up hills with boats in tow (because there's all that water at the top of hills)... Incidentally, most of what you see voids the warranty that comes with such vehicles... Anyway, I ask you how 'macho' a Dodge Ram can be when their emblem is basically the female reproductive system with nostrils:
I linked the Dodge emblem (on the right) to their site in case you want to buy a truck.
Many of you are familiar with the "Tough Guy" image that truck companies try to create in their television commericals - with all the off-roading and drag-racing up hills with boats in tow (because there's all that water at the top of hills)... Incidentally, most of what you see voids the warranty that comes with such vehicles... Anyway, I ask you how 'macho' a Dodge Ram can be when their emblem is basically the female reproductive system with nostrils:
I linked the Dodge emblem (on the right) to their site in case you want to buy a truck.
Link
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Bad Dad
Of Grasshoppers
Student: What is rain?
Master: The cleansing of the air, the cleansing of the mind, the cleansing of the soul, and the renewal of life...and the cause of much corrosion in New Jersey.
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Master: The cleansing of the air, the cleansing of the mind, the cleansing of the soul, and the renewal of life...and the cause of much corrosion in New Jersey.
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Peace
Ah! Rain...
One of the first things I am going to do when I have regular income is build a screened in porch.
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One of the first things I am going to do when I have regular income is build a screened in porch.
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Iraq Knews
What we know, what we knew, and what is not news....
Iraq Interior Ministry Says Report on Nukes 'Stupid'
CIA insider whispers "that's not where those are supposed to be planted, 'stupid'."
Link
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Geek Mode
This looks like a decent discussion of a weighted rotating banner system in ColdFusion. It looks similar to the one I wrote myself. I have the urge to review my code now and see if I need to make some improvements.
Link
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Link
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Plasma Mug
A gift from my brother-in-law (4mb d/l) I couldn't figure out how to compress the video any better. Looks even cooler with coke in it! ThinkGeek.com
Link
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From the mouths of babes
So Amy has this bad diaper and Cathy declares "whew! What's that smell?!" Amy replies, "Molly [the dog] did it!"
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Other People's Projects
So I get over to the inlaws and get the motion detecting light wiring finished rather rapidly. Spend some quality time with the father-in-law and on the way home hysterics erupt. Apparently he has called the mother-in-law urging her to get home--no other information. Her car breaks down and I quickly drop Noah and the trailer at the house to rush back to the inlaws house to find that the father-in-law has locked himself out. I drive him to the mother-in-law's office to get the house key. She has already arranged to have the car repaired. I return father-in-law to his house. I call one recruiter for the status of one job - "they went the .Net direction,"
I am finally home light headed from hunger.
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I am finally home light headed from hunger.
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Of Grasshoppers
Student: What have I done?
Master: As little as possible and as much as feasible in the time allotted.
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Master: As little as possible and as much as feasible in the time allotted.
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I ignored the dog all night despite multiple opportunities to walk her. I think she had one large pee episode but I found no poop. Either she is eatting more thoroughly or I missed it or by some miracle she went the whole night without making a mess. I took her outside and read a chapter in a Scott Card book and she laid by my feet. The minute we got in she pee'd twice and pooped twice. I am so glad we don't have carpet. I would be absolute neurotic (painted a target on myself there now didn't I?!).
The animals woke me at 3, 4 and 6 then the alarm woke me at 6:55. The cat had become trapped in the shower stall (yes, the one we have had in our bedroom for 2.5 years). I could not convince myself to get up.
I need stretching. My right shoulder blade is killing me. I need exercise.
Latest expense: Tommy broke a weld on his bed probably by repeatedly dropping his 200+ pounds (90.7 kg) on it.
I want sales but I don't know how to close them. I want more work but I don't know when I'll have time to do it. I want a job but I can't seem to get one.
A 45 year old man jumped off one of our bridges to his death this weekend because he could not find a job.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I ignored the dog all night despite multiple opportunities to walk her. I think she had one large pee episode but I found no poop. Either she is eatting more thoroughly or I missed it or by some miracle she went the whole night without making a mess. I took her outside and read a chapter in a Scott Card book and she laid by my feet. The minute we got in she pee'd twice and pooped twice. I am so glad we don't have carpet. I would be absolute neurotic (painted a target on myself there now didn't I?!).
The animals woke me at 3, 4 and 6 then the alarm woke me at 6:55. The cat had become trapped in the shower stall (yes, the one we have had in our bedroom for 2.5 years). I could not convince myself to get up.
I need stretching. My right shoulder blade is killing me. I need exercise.
Latest expense: Tommy broke a weld on his bed probably by repeatedly dropping his 200+ pounds (90.7 kg) on it.
I want sales but I don't know how to close them. I want more work but I don't know when I'll have time to do it. I want a job but I can't seem to get one.
A 45 year old man jumped off one of our bridges to his death this weekend because he could not find a job.
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Sunday, July 25, 2004
Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock
I achieved largely yesterday! I killed off a project that has had a red bucket c-clamped to our bookshelves for almost a year! I should be terribly satisfied (and I am). Yet I am not calm. Now I am driven to tackle another project but I cannot pick one. Soon we will go get Sarah and take her to Girl Scout Camp (Part II).
Choices: leaky faucets in upstair bath (never ignore water!!), heating elements in hot water heater, office cleaning, spray 6 week bug away application in yard, trash out of house, buy stamps, buy bug spray (for Sarah), hit an ATM (consider using our own account), program, clean, clean, clean (office, upstairs, desk - respectively), in-laws security light, bath, job applications, client management, contact management, financial management, meditation, self-improvement, exercise - more..
What a cool thought! Of course paper money will die soon but in the meantime what if ATMs were really on demand money. Instead of storing money inside it just printed new bills when needed and the bank would be responsible for destroying the equivalent number of bills. I know I know. Formula for disaster but still a cool thought similar to the BookMachine (thanks Kurzweil!).
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Choices: leaky faucets in upstair bath (never ignore water!!), heating elements in hot water heater, office cleaning, spray 6 week bug away application in yard, trash out of house, buy stamps, buy bug spray (for Sarah), hit an ATM (consider using our own account), program, clean, clean, clean (office, upstairs, desk - respectively), in-laws security light, bath, job applications, client management, contact management, financial management, meditation, self-improvement, exercise - more..
What a cool thought! Of course paper money will die soon but in the meantime what if ATMs were really on demand money. Instead of storing money inside it just printed new bills when needed and the bank would be responsible for destroying the equivalent number of bills. I know I know. Formula for disaster but still a cool thought similar to the BookMachine (thanks Kurzweil!).
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Of Grasshoppers
Here is another GMail linke Securing Gmail. It has some interesting links like getting notices when you have a new email message.
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Fruit of the Looms for Melons
Saturday, July 24, 2004
And there was plumbing...
So I actually did what I wanted today. Now, granted, I did not complete as much as I had hoped but I made a major milestone on a long standing project. Today I got our ice maker working! 
The initial installation of the plumbing required coming off the main water supply roughly 15 feet. I used a ball value to terminal the feed close to the main supply Then another to isolate the feed to the water maker and yet another to isolate what will become the feed for the washing machines new home. 
Perhaps we can attribute it to my fascination with submarines but I like ball values! So, the initial attempt at this plumbing ended in a single leak. To fix it required cutting through the pipes and doing some patching. This created a greater possibility for more leaks as well as it didn't look as pretty. Below are the initial, in progress and final pictures:
I am a strong believer that the right tools make a job go well.
Now for the fun! Have you ever considered sticking a propane torch into your ceiling?
Note the burn marks on the ceiling:
We had no leaks! (At least not yet) and we have made our first ice cubes! This picture shows the freezer connected to the water supply.
I shall finish the game! Of course there is drywall and painting left to do before I can completely write the project off but this completion was a major milestone!
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The initial installation of the plumbing required coming off the main water supply roughly 15 feet. I used a ball value to terminal the feed close to the main supply Then another to isolate the feed to the water maker and yet another to isolate what will become the feed for the washing machines new home. Perhaps we can attribute it to my fascination with submarines but I like ball values! So, the initial attempt at this plumbing ended in a single leak. To fix it required cutting through the pipes and doing some patching. This created a greater possibility for more leaks as well as it didn't look as pretty. Below are the initial, in progress and final pictures:
I am a strong believer that the right tools make a job go well.
Now for the fun! Have you ever considered sticking a propane torch into your ceiling?
Note the burn marks on the ceiling:
We had no leaks! (At least not yet) and we have made our first ice cubes! This picture shows the freezer connected to the water supply.
I shall finish the game! Of course there is drywall and painting left to do before I can completely write the project off but this completion was a major milestone!
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Help My Wife
My wife is participating in Project Blog to raise money for The Autism Society. Run over to her blog and help!
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Gentle Reminders
Almost just blinded myself in my left eye. So like if you are sweating pipes and standing under the pipe.. make sure you are wearing safety goggles.
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Plumbing on!
I'm 1 or 2 tools short of finishing the work on the ice maker. Now, either this will a) go well, b) I will burn the house, or c) I will have to basically start over again. As we know, sometimes starting over is better than applying patches.
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Of Grasshoppers
A New Day!
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This Morning
At midnight Cathy called to say Noah had a horrible nose bleed and needed to be taken to the ER but they got it under control. At 8:15 the call came again and he is off to Children's Hospital. Poor guy doesn't deserve it.
I have tasked myself with plumbing today. Unfortunately, to get my tools that may require a digression into cleaning the garage some. That act is so overwhelming and depressing to me that I find it debilitating. Tools that I took such loving care of have rust and are out of other. Items that I would have never allowed to be left to be weathered are unprotected in the driveway. The buildout in the garage is incomplete. The garage represents all my failings with chaos (lack of control), unfinished tasks (irresponsibility), negligence (lack of caring), pack ratting (the inability to let go), and unstarted projects (fear).
Last Night
Sent Amy to the grandparents. Sent Cathy, Sarah, and Noah to the zoo. So Tommy and I went with a good friend of mine to see "I, Robot" (trailer) Fantastic movie! You completely forget that you are watching special effects. Well done! I needed the stress break greatly. It was also the first movie I've been too in a long time where I didn't have to escort someone to the bathroom :) Tommy was on exceptional behavior with only one loud outburst during the movie, "What did he say?"
I would say I slept alone last night if it weren't for the cat and dog that joined me on the bed. Surprising and somewhat disappointing, Lucy, our older dog didn't come downstairs until morning when she needed to be let out.
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This Morning
At midnight Cathy called to say Noah had a horrible nose bleed and needed to be taken to the ER but they got it under control. At 8:15 the call came again and he is off to Children's Hospital. Poor guy doesn't deserve it.
I have tasked myself with plumbing today. Unfortunately, to get my tools that may require a digression into cleaning the garage some. That act is so overwhelming and depressing to me that I find it debilitating. Tools that I took such loving care of have rust and are out of other. Items that I would have never allowed to be left to be weathered are unprotected in the driveway. The buildout in the garage is incomplete. The garage represents all my failings with chaos (lack of control), unfinished tasks (irresponsibility), negligence (lack of caring), pack ratting (the inability to let go), and unstarted projects (fear).
Last Night
Sent Amy to the grandparents. Sent Cathy, Sarah, and Noah to the zoo. So Tommy and I went with a good friend of mine to see "I, Robot" (trailer) Fantastic movie! You completely forget that you are watching special effects. Well done! I needed the stress break greatly. It was also the first movie I've been too in a long time where I didn't have to escort someone to the bathroom :) Tommy was on exceptional behavior with only one loud outburst during the movie, "What did he say?"
I would say I slept alone last night if it weren't for the cat and dog that joined me on the bed. Surprising and somewhat disappointing, Lucy, our older dog didn't come downstairs until morning when she needed to be let out.
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Friday, July 23, 2004
So Frustrating!
I tasked myself with what I anticipated to be a 2 hour administrative task and gave myself a noon deadline. I haven't even started!
But I have a) managed two client relationships b) insured that we will have electricity until Aug 15 c) helped Noah grow socially d) ripped the 11 and 14 year olds new ones unjustly and felt horrible e) did some banking
I guess I've had a day. Much more to come.
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But I have a) managed two client relationships b) insured that we will have electricity until Aug 15 c) helped Noah grow socially d) ripped the 11 and 14 year olds new ones unjustly and felt horrible e) did some banking
I guess I've had a day. Much more to come.
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Virus Knowledge
I just spent a lot of time replying to an email with some information about viruses and spyware/adware so I thought I'd share it here.
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My profession is website design and computer maintenance and I see your issue frequently. One service I provide is virus and adware removal so I think I can lend you some information as well as some good links.
What:
Instead of getting technical about the differences between viruses, trojans, worms, adware, spyware, spam, 419ers, social engineering etc let's suffice it to say that some bad people have created programs that can use your computer in malicious ways. These programs may (but don't always) delete things from your harddrive. These programs may simply watch your websurfing habits and do nothing more than report statistics back to a company that sells statistics (nothings about a single person). These programs may use keywords on your screen to deliver an advertisement to you. Some use your machine as a mailserver to send spam and viruses.
Why:
So why are people you know sending you email with nothing in it or email that has viruses? Doesn't that mean they have a virus? Not necessarily. Your email address is in my address book because at some point I received an email from you. So if my machine has the virus that uses my machine as a mailserver, it will look in my address book and send email to all the people I know but it will randomly choose one of the names and make it appear that they sent the virus. So there is no way to really know where the virus came from (unless you get real technical).
How:
How do we fix this? A whole industry has been created to try to eliminate the above problems. For your part you should use smart computing practices. Computers and the Internet are nothing more than a reflection of the real world. If you were in the parking lot of the grocery and some stranger said "here, eat this" you would run away and report the incident to management or the police. So why do we open email attachments that say "look at this!"? Curiosity. Human nature. Accidental clicks. Many more. The best way to protect is to have a decent antivirus program on your machine and make sure that you have it regularly (nightly if possible) update its virus definitions. A good antivirus program will check your emails coming in and going out.
Spyware is unavoidable. It gets on our machines through sneaky tactics and even the most wary computer user accidentally installs some at one point. Running a scan of your computer once a week to remove spyware/adware is good preventative maintenance. Just like our cars need the fluids checked, our computers need their scans.
Firewalls. A firewall protects you buy allowing data to move from your computer to the Internet and from the Internet to your computer only if you've authorized it. Any suspicious activity is halted by the firewall. You received a message asking "do you want to continue?"
Passive vs Active. Some programs actively scan your computer. They run all the time and often update themselves automatically when you connect to the Internet. In today's computing world you must have an active antivirus program. Passive is a program that you run. Scanning for adware and spyware can be passive programs that you run once a week or whenever you notice a slowdown or peculiar behavior on the computer. Active typically has a cost where passive is often free.
Where:
Antivirus programs:
-Symantec (Norton) Antivirus ($49.95) Right now they have a special.. buy antivirus and get a cd of Atari games
Symantec has a variety of great products but with an old reputation of "slowing down your computer." I personally run Norton System Works and have no problems. I think Symantec is simply stigmatized from having been around so long and when harddrives were small and memory was a commodity anything "unnecessary" slowed your computer down.
Symantec runs the Symantec Antivirus Research Center (SARC) and provides passive scans onine SARC is a great place to research and identify hoaxes before sending out a bogus warning to your friends and family (effective the warning becomes the virus).
-Avast ($free for home use)
-TrendMicro PC-Cillin ($49.95) I periodically use TrendMicro's online scanner (passive) to double check and make sure my active antivirus is still doing its job.
-NOD32 ($60 Australian Dollars) I know nothing about this one other than I have a friend that uses it
-McAfee ($49.99) The Package. They also have a free online scan
Spyware/Adware Detection:
-Spyboy Search & Destory ($free) This is a MUST have program. Run it once a week. Make sure you have the latest updates.
-Ad-aware ($free passive; $39 active the plus version) Spybot catches things Ad-aware misses and vice-versa. They do a little double duty but better to overlap than miss something. I personally run Ad-aware Plus and it warns me whenever something is trying to change my registry so that if I wasn't installing something on the computer I can block the change. I recommend running this at the same time you run SpyBot
Firewalls:
-Most of the antivirus company's above offer firewall software also. I use a piece of hardware for firewalling so I cannot comment on software firewalls other than to say I've heard Blackice and ZoneAlarm are effective.
-BlackIce ($39.95)
-ZoneAlarm ($39.95 for pro) This page shows the pro version at $39.95 but shows a combined firewall/antivirus for $19.95 That pricing doesn't make sense. Buyer beware! Read the reviews and figure out what the difference is.
On the Internet, just like in the real world, you can find bargins but you typically get what you pay for.
I hope this helped! Feel free to call me or email if you have questions. My contact information is available at http://www.sidesigns.com.
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A New Day!
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This Morning
6am! I woke. I was wide awake! I had the energy to get up! But lacked the mental discipline. I had a panic attack and hid under the covers only to arise again at 7:30 and beat myself silly for the lost productivity.
Took time to walk the dog and play with Amy. I was happy that Cathy came upstairs earlier than usual but not happy about the circumstances. I had stepped from the room and the dog barked, Amy cried, Noah was unawares and I raced up to have Amy sticking her finger into her eye saying "eye hurt eye hurt." No scratches on the face and evertyhing seems fine. I don't know what happened.
Today is going to be hairy. Thankfully one of my clients has lifted a bit of weight from my shoulders. I must used today for some administrative stuff (regarding bills) and hopefully for marketing. Friday's are bad days for marketing.
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This Morning
6am! I woke. I was wide awake! I had the energy to get up! But lacked the mental discipline. I had a panic attack and hid under the covers only to arise again at 7:30 and beat myself silly for the lost productivity.
Took time to walk the dog and play with Amy. I was happy that Cathy came upstairs earlier than usual but not happy about the circumstances. I had stepped from the room and the dog barked, Amy cried, Noah was unawares and I raced up to have Amy sticking her finger into her eye saying "eye hurt eye hurt." No scratches on the face and evertyhing seems fine. I don't know what happened.
Today is going to be hairy. Thankfully one of my clients has lifted a bit of weight from my shoulders. I must used today for some administrative stuff (regarding bills) and hopefully for marketing. Friday's are bad days for marketing.
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Thursday, July 22, 2004
Reason to Be
Losing Ground
From the mouths of babes
Of Grasshoppers
Of Grasshoppers
A New Day!
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This Morning
Exciting morning so far. I woke at 4am (my goal) but my wife complained that I cannot do that anymore. I am getting closer to training myself to get up but I haven't quite made it yet. Without sleeping in a different room I am not sure how to pull this off if I cannot set the alarm.
Woke at 6:30 and got out of bed closer to 7am to find the dog had urinated but not defacated so I raced her outside and I believe we are succeeding in teaching her where she needs to go.
I turned my attention to waking the household by bathing both dogs. Yelp!
Then I raced off to a Business Network International marketing meeting. Good group of people.
Returned home in time to help send Cathy, Sarah and the dog to Tommy's school. Gave Noah some quality time on Battleship which is helping Amy be less jealous. She played nicely near us without trying to disrupt the game.
She has asked for a nap but now begs to get out of the crib.
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This Morning
Exciting morning so far. I woke at 4am (my goal) but my wife complained that I cannot do that anymore. I am getting closer to training myself to get up but I haven't quite made it yet. Without sleeping in a different room I am not sure how to pull this off if I cannot set the alarm.
Woke at 6:30 and got out of bed closer to 7am to find the dog had urinated but not defacated so I raced her outside and I believe we are succeeding in teaching her where she needs to go.
I turned my attention to waking the household by bathing both dogs. Yelp!
Then I raced off to a Business Network International marketing meeting. Good group of people.
Returned home in time to help send Cathy, Sarah and the dog to Tommy's school. Gave Noah some quality time on Battleship which is helping Amy be less jealous. She played nicely near us without trying to disrupt the game.
She has asked for a nap but now begs to get out of the crib.
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Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Non-productive Productivity
Spent the day basically upgrading my development environment. Felt good. Is really going to enhance my ability to get work done. But didn't really lend to helping resolve the issue of paying bills in the short term.
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Of Grasshoppers
Finish the Game
Wahoo! I shall finish the game! Document that I'd procrastinated on completed and faxed to client. Should have never delayed that long but now its done!
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Of Grasshoppers
Out of the mainstream hate fests
The Daily Show sums up the democratic ticket Well worth the watch! You may want to warn your coworkers that loud chortling will emanate from your desk momentarily.
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Of Grasshoppers
Today's Geek Link
Graphical Chart of GUI Interfaces for several operating systems their version and their applications
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Now your plants sing to you
Called the "Flower Speaker Amplifiers", the gadget made by Let's Corp is hidden in a vase or a potted plant and sends music at just the right frequency to vibrate up the stems and then be converted into audible sound by the plant as a whole.
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Of Grasshoppers
Student: Sometimes I feel like everytime I patch a leak in the dam, 3 new leaks form.
Teacher: Maybe it is time to build a new dam.
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Teacher: Maybe it is time to build a new dam.
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Of Grasshoppers
Student: Master, obligation gets in the way of desire.
Master: Is it the obligation or the desire that is misplaced?
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Master: Is it the obligation or the desire that is misplaced?
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A New Day!
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This Morning
The basement flooded again...except this flooding came from an overexcited puppy. Thank goodness I haven't put down carpet yet!
I feel somewhat crazed today..like my temples are going to pop. My head throbs with stress.
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This Morning
The basement flooded again...except this flooding came from an overexcited puppy. Thank goodness I haven't put down carpet yet!
I feel somewhat crazed today..like my temples are going to pop. My head throbs with stress.
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Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Of Grasshoppers
Of Grasshoppers
Do as I say!
I'm always saying to the kids "Don't put things down, put them away!" but I cannot seems to abide by this myself! I have a meeting in 30 minutes and my face looks like I've been living in the woods for a week. I need a shave and cannot find my razor. It is dead and needs a charge. The charge takes 30 minutes and I'm supposed to leave the house in 10 minutes.
This makes me want to explode but I've been working very hard at not showing anger so instead I feel like breaking down in tears.
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This makes me want to explode but I've been working very hard at not showing anger so instead I feel like breaking down in tears.
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A New Day!
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This Morning
I started my day at 4am by going back to sleep until 5am and eventually getting up at 7am. I swear that if I could force myself to do some serious exercise that I would quit sleeping so much.
Can't find my shaving razor. Today is all about meetings and coding.
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This Morning
I started my day at 4am by going back to sleep until 5am and eventually getting up at 7am. I swear that if I could force myself to do some serious exercise that I would quit sleeping so much.
Can't find my shaving razor. Today is all about meetings and coding.
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Monday, July 19, 2004
Of Grasshoppers
Eight But Not For Long
I am eight and act brain-dead but am alive
No drugs in this body but perpetually glazed over eyes
You are not talking about Yu-gi-oh, Playstation or Teen Titans
So your words are foreign and frightening
How dare you imply that I might do something outside!
I am innocent and working hard to change
I have grown up nice but some things must be re-arranged
How can I truly understand by which values I will stand
If I have not experienced them firsthand?
My brother and father have taught me to curse
Perhaps that's the sin I will try on first
Already I am willing to stand my ground
I won't do what the kids and my brother say
Even if they push me around
Time to have things my own way
You don't have to call me by my name
From here on out just call me Burger King!
I am sweet and nice and try to do everything right
Still people get mad at me and sometimes they scream
It blackens my heart and tears my soul apart
Why don't they say "thank you" and teach me right?
I know, although I've been told I still mess up
Give me a second chance, a third, a twentith! I can learn!
I live to please you. I am too young to understand
That whether your are eight or thirty-five
We are all fallible because regardless of age
We are simply man.
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No drugs in this body but perpetually glazed over eyes
You are not talking about Yu-gi-oh, Playstation or Teen Titans
So your words are foreign and frightening
How dare you imply that I might do something outside!
I am innocent and working hard to change
I have grown up nice but some things must be re-arranged
How can I truly understand by which values I will stand
If I have not experienced them firsthand?
My brother and father have taught me to curse
Perhaps that's the sin I will try on first
Already I am willing to stand my ground
I won't do what the kids and my brother say
Even if they push me around
Time to have things my own way
You don't have to call me by my name
From here on out just call me Burger King!
I am sweet and nice and try to do everything right
Still people get mad at me and sometimes they scream
It blackens my heart and tears my soul apart
Why don't they say "thank you" and teach me right?
I know, although I've been told I still mess up
Give me a second chance, a third, a twentith! I can learn!
I live to please you. I am too young to understand
That whether your are eight or thirty-five
We are all fallible because regardless of age
We are simply man.
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Needs
Of Grasshoppers
I'm a Tipi; I'm a Leanto
Of Grasshoppers
A New Day!
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This Morning
Noah did his morning man routine and was up before anyone else watching cartoons.
I could not get out of bed quick enough to help the dog make it outside.
I hate not waking up early enough but man doesn't body wish it could stay in bed longer.
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This Morning
Noah did his morning man routine and was up before anyone else watching cartoons.
I could not get out of bed quick enough to help the dog make it outside.
I hate not waking up early enough but man doesn't body wish it could stay in bed longer.
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Sunday, July 18, 2004
Of Grasshoppers
Goodbye Google - We will miss your logos
I took this from Kurzweil which looks like a direct quote from The Guardian but it was so exciting I had to quote it directly.
The Guardian, July 15, 2004
Blinkx is a new search engine that's taking on Google. Launched today, it has been recording 6 million hits a day solely from word of mouth.
Blinkx doesn't only search the web but simultaneously scours news sites, blogs, emails, attachments and your own hard disk. It does all this unobtrusively in the background until you pass your cursor over icons at the top or bottom of the page, when it reveals a digest of related sites as well as material from Word, Excel or PDF files. If you are working in a word processing document, it provides the same service.
And unlike Google, it uses artificial intelligence to rate stories, not page rankings.
Note from the Blinkx website "blinkx is not currently available for Macintosh or Mozilla, but due to your requests, we're working on it!"
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Anti-Bush
Republican dominate Knoxville, TN gets an anti-Bush mention in this article Couple in anti-Bush T-shirts were arrested at president’s speech
...two documented incidents between September and March: one in Little Rock, Ark., and one in Knoxville, Tenn...
Link
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Of Grasshoppers
Gargoyle Cat
You should work at this computer. The cat rolling off the monitor in deep sleep into your hands is something to experience. When she does, she feels like a rag doll with absolutely no bones in her body.
The cat's whole body just rose 2 inches and returned to the monitor as if it were in a Warner Brothers cartoon when the dryer buzzer went off. Then she slowly turned to me, squaked a complaint and returned to sleep.
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The cat's whole body just rose 2 inches and returned to the monitor as if it were in a Warner Brothers cartoon when the dryer buzzer went off. Then she slowly turned to me, squaked a complaint and returned to sleep.
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Of Grasshoppers
Of Grasshoppers
Student: Teacher, I am not in control of my own life.
Master: Come with me. I will tell you what to do.
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Master: Come with me. I will tell you what to do.
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Saturday, July 17, 2004
Of Grasshoppers
Student: Professor, I have amounted to nothing. My life is a waste!
Professor: So what are your plans for tomorrow?
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Professor: So what are your plans for tomorrow?
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The Struggles of Pre-teendom (Part I)
At eleven I act five
I wish my breast were alive
I think I deserve to be seventeen
Give me independence
Don't be so mean
When I am there
I can declare I am free to be me
When I am there
He is not here
And I can worry only about me
My parents are dorks
One brother is a jerk
The other a pain
My sister is adorable
But only when we are playing
I hear them say I am smart
Which means I am special
So I mouth off alot
It is what adults do
And I have to be as responsible as you
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I wish my breast were alive
I think I deserve to be seventeen
Give me independence
Don't be so mean
When I am there
I can declare I am free to be me
When I am there
He is not here
And I can worry only about me
My parents are dorks
One brother is a jerk
The other a pain
My sister is adorable
But only when we are playing
I hear them say I am smart
Which means I am special
So I mouth off alot
It is what adults do
And I have to be as responsible as you
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Of Grasshoppers
Student: Why start? I'll probably do it wrong anyway. Why finish? It won't be good enough.
Master: Isn't something never begun wrong already? How is the next great adventure to begin if the prior is not placed behind us?
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Master: Isn't something never begun wrong already? How is the next great adventure to begin if the prior is not placed behind us?
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All Perspective
West
Today the toilet overflowed potentially damaging our cabinetry and tainting the insulation and other wall innards that were pieced together with such care, perfection and attention to detail. It overflowed because I was overconfident and careless.
East
Today we were given inspiration to finish some things that we were waiting to "get around to it". Today started out great and has been given reason to be even better. Today we are reminded to take things in stride.
North
Today no one was hurt. With minimal effort a mess was cleaned. All damage easily repaired.
South
Today tools were out of place. Parts were missing. Today I felt lost, incapable, lazy and not living up to my full potential. Today I scared my child and insulted my wife.
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Today the toilet overflowed potentially damaging our cabinetry and tainting the insulation and other wall innards that were pieced together with such care, perfection and attention to detail. It overflowed because I was overconfident and careless.
East
Today we were given inspiration to finish some things that we were waiting to "get around to it". Today started out great and has been given reason to be even better. Today we are reminded to take things in stride.
North
Today no one was hurt. With minimal effort a mess was cleaned. All damage easily repaired.
South
Today tools were out of place. Parts were missing. Today I felt lost, incapable, lazy and not living up to my full potential. Today I scared my child and insulted my wife.
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Of Grasshoppers
Inescapable
Choas reigns
In perpetuity the circle spins
Hands grasping at grains
Unstoppable
Tears removing happiness
Innocence bellows away
Desire seeks the path of least resistance
Following downward deeper into despair
Futilely Man tells Nature The Order
Scornfully Nature disciplines Man
The Law is unforgiving
Inaction is individualist
Unallowable
Hurtful to others
Ambivalence is a choice
There is no easy way out
Of a hole that only grows deeper
When the dirt you throw out
Never reaches the top
And all you want to do
Is stop stop stop
Trauma to begin
Trauma to grow
Trauma to end
A butterfly in Kansas
A tsunami in Japan
A farmboy with a magnifying glass
A sudden calm in the storm
A tired child rests
The hay flares up
And Choas reigns
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In perpetuity the circle spins
Hands grasping at grains
Unstoppable
Tears removing happiness
Innocence bellows away
Desire seeks the path of least resistance
Following downward deeper into despair
Futilely Man tells Nature The Order
Scornfully Nature disciplines Man
The Law is unforgiving
Inaction is individualist
Unallowable
Hurtful to others
Ambivalence is a choice
There is no easy way out
Of a hole that only grows deeper
When the dirt you throw out
Never reaches the top
And all you want to do
Is stop stop stop
Trauma to begin
Trauma to grow
Trauma to end
A butterfly in Kansas
A tsunami in Japan
A farmboy with a magnifying glass
A sudden calm in the storm
A tired child rests
The hay flares up
And Choas reigns
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Friday, July 16, 2004
A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Only got up to clean dog poo twice last night and only neglected to procrastinate on it because of the rancid smell. I must find time to learn how to train the dog..of course, having a backdoor that opened would help and having a thick lawn of soft grass instead of hard dirt and sticks would make a huge difference. All in good time.
Blast! I forgot my errand I was going to run on the way home. Time time time....no time.. It's a Monday task now.
So I was hungry this morning and cooked 5 eggs to share with Amy, Cathy and Tommy. Ran out of time and had to take Noah to Zoo Camp so I figured with the past few times the eggs were prepared, there were always some left over and I'd have a few when I got home. I know Amy had some. I had a nibble. And Cathy had a bite. Tommy ate nearly all of the 5 scrambled eggs and one slice of toast. Cathy wanted to hide this fact from me because she was afraid of my reaction. I am confused. I reacted with surprise not anger and surprise that Tommy would be so thoughtless as to horde the eggs from his mother; I really didn't care that I did not get any and cared more that Tommy is gorging himself more and more. I reacted with action not violence. I required Tommy to get dressed and work off a few calories. Of course, he responded with "I don't like exercise and I won't." So he now sits on the front porch grousing. Cathy is tense around me and I am befuddled. I suppose I am to cater to Tommy's every whim just to keep happy. During times like this I feel like the happiest families are the ones where the man goes to work (out of the house 40+ hours a week) and just accepts whatever happens at the house and does only what the wife tells him "I[wife] need you to discipline the child and this is what is to be done." "yes dear."
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Only got up to clean dog poo twice last night and only neglected to procrastinate on it because of the rancid smell. I must find time to learn how to train the dog..of course, having a backdoor that opened would help and having a thick lawn of soft grass instead of hard dirt and sticks would make a huge difference. All in good time.
Blast! I forgot my errand I was going to run on the way home. Time time time....no time.. It's a Monday task now.
So I was hungry this morning and cooked 5 eggs to share with Amy, Cathy and Tommy. Ran out of time and had to take Noah to Zoo Camp so I figured with the past few times the eggs were prepared, there were always some left over and I'd have a few when I got home. I know Amy had some. I had a nibble. And Cathy had a bite. Tommy ate nearly all of the 5 scrambled eggs and one slice of toast. Cathy wanted to hide this fact from me because she was afraid of my reaction. I am confused. I reacted with surprise not anger and surprise that Tommy would be so thoughtless as to horde the eggs from his mother; I really didn't care that I did not get any and cared more that Tommy is gorging himself more and more. I reacted with action not violence. I required Tommy to get dressed and work off a few calories. Of course, he responded with "I don't like exercise and I won't." So he now sits on the front porch grousing. Cathy is tense around me and I am befuddled. I suppose I am to cater to Tommy's every whim just to keep happy. During times like this I feel like the happiest families are the ones where the man goes to work (out of the house 40+ hours a week) and just accepts whatever happens at the house and does only what the wife tells him "I[wife] need you to discipline the child and this is what is to be done." "yes dear."
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Thursday, July 15, 2004
Good Nap
Had one of those 15 minute naps today that just blow your mind. You wake in a sudden panic thinking you've been down for hours but it turns out to be 15 minutes so you allow yourself to lie down again and then you are there for 2 hours.
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Drove through the night to get home. Nearly drove into the concrete barrier once and decided to sleep in a parking lot for a little bit before continuing. Took another cat nap a short time later and finally got home at 5:15am to find the dog found new places to defile, and the children had crawled in the bed with Mom leaving nothing but floor for me to sleep on (I finagled some room at the foot of the bed with the dog). After a brief rest I took Noah to Zoo Camp to discover that I was wrong about the phone bill...I had not paid it. In hind sight I should have called and asked them yesterday but we got cut off again. I tried reestablishing the service but was cut off twice, one operator hung up on me because the Jeep was too noisy and when I got home the dog pulled the phone from my hand disconnecting my call a fourth time. I gave up.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Drove through the night to get home. Nearly drove into the concrete barrier once and decided to sleep in a parking lot for a little bit before continuing. Took another cat nap a short time later and finally got home at 5:15am to find the dog found new places to defile, and the children had crawled in the bed with Mom leaving nothing but floor for me to sleep on (I finagled some room at the foot of the bed with the dog). After a brief rest I took Noah to Zoo Camp to discover that I was wrong about the phone bill...I had not paid it. In hind sight I should have called and asked them yesterday but we got cut off again. I tried reestablishing the service but was cut off twice, one operator hung up on me because the Jeep was too noisy and when I got home the dog pulled the phone from my hand disconnecting my call a fourth time. I gave up.
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Star Gazing at 80mph (128 km/h) - 1:44
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Arrived safely. 2 hour 53 minutes.
--
Mobile Email from a Cingular Wireless Customer http://www.cingular.com
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Mobile Email from a Cingular Wireless Customer http://www.cingular.com
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Driving to Nasvhille with Caskets - 1:19
Progress
Answered an part-time asp/.net/sql position from Sunday's paper. Accepted a contract in Nashville for a wiring installation. Hopefully I can get up and back in 9 hours.
Now I must make sure the house doesn't loose utilities while I am gone.
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Now I must make sure the house doesn't loose utilities while I am gone.
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Tech Alert - Web Developers Beware
Fine-Tune Your Web Site for Windows XP Service Pack 2
The following questions/topics are addressed:
- Does Your Web Site Use Microsoft ActiveX Controls?
- Is the ActiveX control distributed in a cabinet (CAB) file?
- Does your Web site have different behavior based on whether an ActiveX control was installed (for example, automatic redirect or special behavior on refresh)?
- Does your Web site have images of the Authenticode dialog?
- Does the ActiveX Install dialog prevent the control from being installed?
- ActiveX Best Practices
- Does Your Web Site Allow Users to Download Files?
- Does your Web site launch automatic download prompts?
- Does your Web site contain files with file extensions that do not match their Content-Type?
- Does your Web site have images of the download dialog on your site, or images/text showing where to click to accept the control?
- Does your Web site have downloads that should be digitally signed?
- Does Your Web Site Use Pop-up Windows?
- What does Internet Explorer consider a pop-up window?
- How can I tell if Internet Explorer has blocked my pop-up window?
- Does your site redirect or close a page based on a blocked pop-up?
- Does your site launch a pop-up from a pop-up?
- Do you launch the setHomePage() dialog automatically?
- Does your Web site open a new window if information is requested asynchronously?
- Does your Web site launch pop-up windows through ActiveX controls, or other objects on the page?
- General Pop-up Recommendations
- Does Your Web Site Depend on the Microsoft Java Virtual Machine (MSJVM)?
- Does your Web site position windows so that the title bar or address bar is above the visible top of the display, or the status bar is below the visible bottom of the display?
- Detecting Internet Explorer in SP2
- Does your site use showModelessDialog() or showModalDialog() calls?
- Does your site re-direct to another Web page when content is blocked?
Link
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Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game
Time to review Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I've been keeping this one on my desk to review it for some time. I want to pass it onto Noah (8 years old) as I found the same book in the children's section of Books-a-Million except the print was larger. That is a compliment to the book not an insult. This book has influenced the lives of many adults and teens. There is certainly nothing in it to keep from introducing it earlier.
I found the book completely captivating. It is science fiction. Card writes such that you can't help but be sucked into empathising with the main character during his trials and tribulations.
It's been too long to give this a decent review other than to say "buy it! read it!" I'm working the 2nd in the series and hopefully can give a decent review on that one.
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
The puppy made it through the night without pooping in the house! (at least I haven't found it yet).
Got Tommy up for school and Noah off to Zoo Camp. Returned home with hot doughnuts and a fire inside me to get some resumes off before lunch then spend the afternoon with some marketing and sales and the evening on development.
Took a few minutes to experiment with Blogger's Post Pages (Settings->Archiving->Enable Post Pages). I had not done this yet as I was afraid that anyone with a link to the old style of permalinks would lose their link. Today I confirmed that Blogger used some good planning and the old style links do not break! Everyone should enable Post Pages!
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
The puppy made it through the night without pooping in the house! (at least I haven't found it yet).
Got Tommy up for school and Noah off to Zoo Camp. Returned home with hot doughnuts and a fire inside me to get some resumes off before lunch then spend the afternoon with some marketing and sales and the evening on development.
Took a few minutes to experiment with Blogger's Post Pages (Settings->Archiving->Enable Post Pages). I had not done this yet as I was afraid that anyone with a link to the old style of permalinks would lose their link. Today I confirmed that Blogger used some good planning and the old style links do not break! Everyone should enable Post Pages!
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Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Good day overall
Overall we had very pleasant children today. My morning was exceptional and after I got my stress under control in the afternoon I maintained well. Hooks got hung in the bathroom, 3 clients received attention (2 maintenance, 1 project), irs said I'm not going to jail and it looks like the kids will settle down early tonight.
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Found - Chaos Begins
Wallet found in passenger floorboard of Jeep. Evening chaos begins with Tommy becoming surly, Noah starting to hold his own against Tommy, Noah and Amy in tub, dinner needing cooking, puppy defecating and urinating on everything, setting sun's glare so bright on monitor that I can't see to type. Wife frustrated and irritated. Amy screaming. Sarah sassing. Tommy grousing. Noah spacing. Me blogging.
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FREAKOUT!
Ok. I'm calm. But having a mildly hysterical moment inside. Often I removed things from my pockets when I'm not going anywhere. It's bad to sit on your wallet all day. I always put them in the drawer by the bed. Everything is in my pockets. Except my wallet! Think Think Think....
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The Pied Piper of Six Flags
Irony and Anger
I lost my temper badly with Tommy because he came down right as Amy woke and I had not made the milestone I was hoping for. I was angry with myself and took it out on Tommy. I feel horrible.
Ironically, the temper revolved around a neighbor's borrowed DVD "Anger Management." I even broke the case in a show of anger. I feel like to total schmuck. This was a Murph moment.
I think I made ammends and saw the err of my way.
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Ironically, the temper revolved around a neighbor's borrowed DVD "Anger Management." I even broke the case in a show of anger. I feel like to total schmuck. This was a Murph moment.
I think I made ammends and saw the err of my way.
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Zipcode Coded
Ben Fry's zipcode viewer Ok. This is awesome! Type a digit to highlight a zipcode area. See all the areas by typing 0-9 (one number at a time). Now type your zipcode and watch the region shrink while you type. Next, type Z to turn on soom then retype your zipcode. Pretty nifty! Good work Ben Fry!
Link
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Fish Story
My Uncle was in good spirits
So after helping my client I decided to drop in my Uncle. My Uncle explained that I had not filed taxes in 4 years and that on the first 3 of those it looks like I did not owe anything but the first 2 I would have been due refunds (no longer available). My Uncle was pleasant and assured me that I'm in no real trouble and told me how to get on with the paperwork.
Did you know that if it looks like you owe money and you don't file a return that the IRS will prepare a return for you (with zero deductions) and send you a bill? That is what I'm working on avoiding with this past year.
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Did you know that if it looks like you owe money and you don't file a return that the IRS will prepare a return for you (with zero deductions) and send you a bill? That is what I'm working on avoiding with this past year.
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
The morning went well. I've learned how to park downtown so I had fewer hassles (although I was 1 penny short of the $1.50 parking fee). I was able to fix my client's woes rapidly.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
The morning went well. I've learned how to park downtown so I had fewer hassles (although I was 1 penny short of the $1.50 parking fee). I was able to fix my client's woes rapidly.
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Monday, July 12, 2004
She's a movin on up!
Amy's nightmares
I've now given Amy something scary to dream about. Tommy and Sarah got excited about driving through a car wash. I thought fearless Amy that enjoyed the fireworks so much and loves the rain would get a hoot out of it. She became so terrified that I almost just drove out while the machine was running. I felt so helpless.
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Motorcades
President Bush is in town today which means traffic woes and votes will be bought.
We missed getting stopped by a road block by 30 seconds. Whether it was for the presidential motorcade or the assine 100 days of road blocks to raise money for the police department I'm not sure. I still think those should be illegal. By what right do they have to stop me if I'm not breaking any laws? Seems completely unjust! Of course, we are breaking a law by not having Noah in a proper child restraint device and that will cost us $300-500 but that's another story.
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We missed getting stopped by a road block by 30 seconds. Whether it was for the presidential motorcade or the assine 100 days of road blocks to raise money for the police department I'm not sure. I still think those should be illegal. By what right do they have to stop me if I'm not breaking any laws? Seems completely unjust! Of course, we are breaking a law by not having Noah in a proper child restraint device and that will cost us $300-500 but that's another story.
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The music starts again
Like musical chairs I'm off to another meeting. The first one went well. This next is Tommy's doctor and we will all sit around and say "hmmmm" then change his antidepressant.
Some good looking ads in Sunday's paper. Must answer them.
My day in a nutshell:
1) meeting
2) pt sql fax
3) tommy meeting
4) lunch
5) another app
6) noah
7) irs or swingi
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Some good looking ads in Sunday's paper. Must answer them.
My day in a nutshell:
1) meeting
2) pt sql fax
3) tommy meeting
4) lunch
5) another app
6) noah
7) irs or swingi
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Only cleaned up puppy poo once last night...then 3 times this morning.
Off to a meeting!
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Only cleaned up puppy poo once last night...then 3 times this morning.
Off to a meeting!
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Sunday, July 11, 2004
Afternoon/Evening
Our new dog is smart...too smart. Escaped her cage 1.5 times today. At 2 mths she's already learning to play fetch. She'll chase a tennis ball then follow me all over the house to return it to me!
The grandfather took the boys and I to the gun show today. Saw some really cool stuff dating back to the mid 1800s. The WWII generation stuff made me think of my own grandfathers one picking bodies out of the water at Normandy and the other working with chemical weapons in Kentucky. There should be many stories there. I would have liked to been the Keeper of Tales for the family but was not gifted with the ambition nor the memory.
Afterwards we spent some time at the pool then returned home for fairly typical evening chaos.
Overall happy family today.
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The grandfather took the boys and I to the gun show today. Saw some really cool stuff dating back to the mid 1800s. The WWII generation stuff made me think of my own grandfathers one picking bodies out of the water at Normandy and the other working with chemical weapons in Kentucky. There should be many stories there. I would have liked to been the Keeper of Tales for the family but was not gifted with the ambition nor the memory.
Afterwards we spent some time at the pool then returned home for fairly typical evening chaos.
Overall happy family today.
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Whoosh!
The day is flying by. At least I've made some progress in the bathroom (sure.. let your minds wander).
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Woke 3 time last night to clean up Puppy Poo (say that with a Scrappy Doo voice). Almost got myself to stay up at 3am and work. Instead slept in until 10am (what a bum!) but how refreshing! I so needed that!
Brewed my last half pot of coffee and am now heading up for the final cup. Yikes! I could use a full pot today.
Yesterday Afternoon/Evening
Laundry got interupted for evening plans but it was well worth it. The grandparents took the kids, wife and I to see Spiderman II! It was exceptional!! I give it a high recommend.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Woke 3 time last night to clean up Puppy Poo (say that with a Scrappy Doo voice). Almost got myself to stay up at 3am and work. Instead slept in until 10am (what a bum!) but how refreshing! I so needed that!
Brewed my last half pot of coffee and am now heading up for the final cup. Yikes! I could use a full pot today.
Yesterday Afternoon/Evening
Laundry got interupted for evening plans but it was well worth it. The grandparents took the kids, wife and I to see Spiderman II! It was exceptional!! I give it a high recommend.
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Saturday, July 10, 2004
Tommy just asked Amy to "be a frog" and she obliged him by getting on all fours with butt up in the air and hopped around the floor. It was definitely a video moment. He is good to her and she enjoys him!
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I've never DNS so slow to propagate as what CFXHosting did this round. DomesticPsychology.com back up..it's email still down. CFNinja.com remains down...it's email still down.
This morning I wanted to be left alone to hide under the sheets while everyone else started their day. Just 30 minutes however circumstances would not allow that and for that I am happy. Cleaned a very messy dog situation. Amy wandered down the stairs on her own to say "Gmorning!" I could hear someone slowly coming down the stairs and thought it was Noah trying to be sneaky. Apparently Noah and Sarah were caught up in their television and morning doings each failing to realize the gate to the stairs was open and neither recognizing that Amy was missing. Very humorous.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I've never DNS so slow to propagate as what CFXHosting did this round. DomesticPsychology.com back up..it's email still down. CFNinja.com remains down...it's email still down.
This morning I wanted to be left alone to hide under the sheets while everyone else started their day. Just 30 minutes however circumstances would not allow that and for that I am happy. Cleaned a very messy dog situation. Amy wandered down the stairs on her own to say "Gmorning!" I could hear someone slowly coming down the stairs and thought it was Noah trying to be sneaky. Apparently Noah and Sarah were caught up in their television and morning doings each failing to realize the gate to the stairs was open and neither recognizing that Amy was missing. Very humorous.
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Friday, July 09, 2004
Banner is back
Ok. Due to my inability to pay the bills through my ineptitude at getting a job we had a slight billing issue that brought down the family websites. This was corrected and then today due to the hostings company's misrecording of the payment the problem arose again.
Therefore, we are changing the location of her Project Blog promotion banner. If you want to help promote Cathy's efforts to raise money for The Autism Society of American please include the following code on your site (and also become a sponsor!)
<a href="http://www.siliconholler.com/site.php?site=project-blog.org";><img src="http://www.siliconholler.com/djuggler/pics/projectblog120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" alt="Project Blog Helping Charities" border="0"></a>
Thanks!
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Therefore, we are changing the location of her Project Blog promotion banner. If you want to help promote Cathy's efforts to raise money for The Autism Society of American please include the following code on your site (and also become a sponsor!)
<a href="http://www.siliconholler.com/site.php?site=project-blog.org";><img src="http://www.siliconholler.com/djuggler/pics/projectblog120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" alt="Project Blog Helping Charities" border="0"></a>
Thanks!
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Ohh OHH OOOH Dog lovers
Quiz: Dog Toy or Marital Aid I'd rate this as safe for work.
On the warm-up round I proudly scored 13 out of 14.
On the difficult round I nailed 11 out of 14.
I did not play the user submissions.
Link
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Must Take a Load to the Dump
TechniHell
As I type this my cell phone beeps "low battery."
So I have delayed taking my friend up on getting my domains moved to her servers. She is going think me ungrateful. CFXHosting received payment but recorded it incorrectly so DomesticPsychology goes down. It's fixed now but will require 4-6 hours to propagate the DNS. Of course, they have to give their standard answer of "sometime within the next 24 hours." This wasn't my problem!
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So I have delayed taking my friend up on getting my domains moved to her servers. She is going think me ungrateful. CFXHosting received payment but recorded it incorrectly so DomesticPsychology goes down. It's fixed now but will require 4-6 hours to propagate the DNS. Of course, they have to give their standard answer of "sometime within the next 24 hours." This wasn't my problem!
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Noah lets Amy catch a spider - 0:37
A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I awoke with my mind slipping away.
This day is going to be rough.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I awoke with my mind slipping away.
This day is going to be rough.
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Amy brings in the day - 1:07
Half Naked Thursday
So apparently there is this meme going around. Sounds like the kind of thing you don't want to catch and that's assuming I'm pronouncing it correctly. Anyhow, Below is my half naked picture.
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I am victorious! (said with Russian accent of course)
I managed to get the viruses off my friend's machine! It was down to the line but the machine is fine tuned and humming! I am king of the geeks!
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Thursday, July 08, 2004
Gooble Gooble
Cooked my first turkey ever today and I might say its looking pretty. Special thanks to Allrecipes for confirming the various information in other cookbooks and other sites.
Link
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Link
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Mental Retreat
I need a weekend of meditation in the mountains. I need to hear no whine of monitors, no "blrumpant" of windows rebooting, no beep of incoming email, no farnkt of virus alerts and just escape technology for a day and a night.
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Vasectomies no longer necessary; sterility available with a phone call
Mobile Phones May Damage Sperm? Where your phone on your hit to prevent brain cancer! Unfortunately this is not a technique you will be able to share with your kids.
Carrying a mobile in hip pockets or a holster on the waist could cut sperm count by nearly 30 percent...He added that the study did not seem to analyze stress levels, the type of jobs the men have and whether they smoked, which could all influence sperm count.
Link
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I should audio blog this!
Things you miss without kids.
"You didn't ask!"
yelling yelling
"QUIT IT!"
various bustling about noises.. parent awaits one child to clock the other
"Mooom! Noah called me an idiot!"
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"You didn't ask!"
yelling yelling
"QUIT IT!"
various bustling about noises.. parent awaits one child to clock the other
"Mooom! Noah called me an idiot!"
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Doggone Cat
The cat is irritating me today. Everyone else is fine. Oh.. except for this computer that I'm repairing which has decided to take its sweet time getting the security updates from Microsoft.
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Today's Thought
The hardest thing in life to do
Is convince others
Not to make the same mistakes as you.
-DM May 15, 1990
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Is convince others
Not to make the same mistakes as you.
-DM May 15, 1990
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I feel like my head is going to crack open. It's not a headache. It's more like a pressure cooker that cannot release the steam.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I feel like my head is going to crack open. It's not a headache. It's more like a pressure cooker that cannot release the steam.
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Wednesday, July 07, 2004
Performance Anxiety
Couple had sex on stage during concert (WARNING! Pictures show nudity)
...A banner was raised on stage informing the audience that the couple was having sex to save the rainforest...Last time Ellingsen and Johansson had public sex, they managed to collect NOK 100,000 (USD 14,677), but nobody wanted to take the money.
Link
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Beast Boys and Dixie Chicks
Somehow judging by the Beast Boys latest lyrics I think they will not be voting for Bush.
Link
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It Takes Time To Build lyrics
If you don't like the news then press eject
Baby Davis getting older can't take a rain check
It's time to let'em know what we expect
Stop building SUV's strung out on OPEC
Hold up wait up you know we come correct
You wanna change things up, well hey just get set
It's easier to sit back than stick out your neck
It's easier to break things than build it correct
We've got a president we didn't elect
The Kyoto treaty he decided to neglect
And still the US just wants to flex
Keep doin' that wop we gonna break our necks
It takes a second to wreck it
It takes time to build
You gots to chill
Hate filled people wanna keep us in check
Tearin' down each other is what they expect
If you want love well hey that's a bet
We've got to give before we can get
Waiting like a batter who is on deck
When it's time to wreck shop then shop I'll wreck
So let's calibrate and check our specs
We need a little shift on over towards the left
I don't really know but I suspect
I think it's due time that we inspect
How they get their information and their facts are checked
Another press conference someone's talking out their neck
It takes a second to wreck it
It takes time to build
You gots to chill
So step up to the window and place your bets
Is the US gonna keep breaking necks
Maybe it's time that we impeach Tex
And the military muscle that he wants to flex
By the time Bush is done what will be left
Selling votes like E-pills at the discotheque
Environmental destruction and the national dept
But plenty of dollars left in the fat war chest
What the real deal why you can't connect
Why you hating people that you never met
Didn't your mama teach you to show some respect?
Why not open your mind for a sec?
It takes a second to wreck it
It takes time to build
You gots to chill
Link
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X10 adverts for Phoenix Online
A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I had a dog sleep on me all night. It was pretty cool. I received many slobbery kisses. Still doesn't hold a candle to my wife's. I best get to bed on time tonight! I woke well rested but didn't really want to get moving today.
I've made hordes of progress on my friend's computer. Still fighting a virtual memory problem and one hijacker. Will return the box tonight. Could stand another couple of days but that's always the case with any computer repair.
Stress level way down.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
I had a dog sleep on me all night. It was pretty cool. I received many slobbery kisses. Still doesn't hold a candle to my wife's. I best get to bed on time tonight! I woke well rested but didn't really want to get moving today.
I've made hordes of progress on my friend's computer. Still fighting a virtual memory problem and one hijacker. Will return the box tonight. Could stand another couple of days but that's always the case with any computer repair.
Stress level way down.
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Blogging for a cause
My wife will blog every half hour for 24 hours straight on July 24 to help raise money for The Autism Society of America. You can help by sponsoring her. Please find her name in the list of sponsors and select the bullet for her. Thank you!
If you wish to include this image on your blog or website use this code:
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If you wish to include this image on your blog or website use this code:
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Tuesday, July 06, 2004
In Summary
Received a check from a client today bringing the account slightly positive..not to last long.
Fretted a lot.
Worked on recovering friend's pc with hopes of returning it to her tomorrow.
Contacted another recruiter only to have her email bounce.
Did I say I fretted a lot?
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Fretted a lot.
Worked on recovering friend's pc with hopes of returning it to her tomorrow.
Contacted another recruiter only to have her email bounce.
Did I say I fretted a lot?
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Heart attack pending. Doggone I feel like my spring has been way over wound!
The expected deposit has not come through so the monies promised to CFXHosting and ATT cannot be delivered.
My list of todos is growing to a disproportionally ridiculous level and just cannot be done.
I applied at Home Depot and even they did not call me back. Am I diseased?
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Heart attack pending. Doggone I feel like my spring has been way over wound!
The expected deposit has not come through so the monies promised to CFXHosting and ATT cannot be delivered.
My list of todos is growing to a disproportionally ridiculous level and just cannot be done.
I applied at Home Depot and even they did not call me back. Am I diseased?
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Marketing Progress
I spent much of the day giving Superior Internet Designs a new look. I consider this an alpha version of the site as much more will come with an emphasis on the plans available for the content management sales.
Played D&D with Tommy and crew in the dark for the evening (the storm knocked out the power giving a great atmosphere).
Link
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Played D&D with Tommy and crew in the dark for the evening (the storm knocked out the power giving a great atmosphere).
Link
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Monday, July 05, 2004
Another quiz
Thank you wife!
Not terribly inaccurate!
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You remember when alt.lemur.frink.frink.frink and alt.2eggs.sausage.beans.tomatoes.2toast.largetea.cheerslove was distributed on reel-to-reel tape strapped to a carrier pigeon.
Not terribly inaccurate!
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Last hour was not as planned
So an hour has passed and instead of focusing on the jobs section of the news paper I have had coffee, breakfast, blogged for Tommy, got Amy's milk, Amy told me that she had to poop so we ran to the bathroom and dropped her diaper only to realize that she had already had a wet messy one, cleaned mess, took overflowing diaper pail to trash can, walked dog, policed yard, and took the kitchen garbage to the can.
Now I am back downstairs am trying to get to that jobs section.
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Now I am back downstairs am trying to get to that jobs section.
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Stomach in knots. Deposit from Paypal still has not come through. Bank charging $32/day while the account remains negative (keep the poor man down!). Fingers crossed that checks will arrive in mail today. The next hour will be devoted to the jobs section of the news paper. At some point I need to spend 1+ hours on administrative duties updating the contact manager and quickbooks.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Stomach in knots. Deposit from Paypal still has not come through. Bank charging $32/day while the account remains negative (keep the poor man down!). Fingers crossed that checks will arrive in mail today. The next hour will be devoted to the jobs section of the news paper. At some point I need to spend 1+ hours on administrative duties updating the contact manager and quickbooks.
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Finally I get to do the dad thing! Poop report!
Amy, turned 2 on June 10, alerted that she had to "poop" 3 times today and all three times made it to the toilet!
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Tech Doctor cont..
Offline NT Password and Registry Editor has a nice option to force the recovery mode to skip the administrator password mess. Perhaps this will do the trick.
Link
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Link
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Sunday, July 04, 2004
Tech Doctor
This is a good definition of what should be in the tech doctor's black bag when on call. Mine is a bit different but similar.
Link
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The Super Utils CD is usually a roll-your-own project these days. I just use it in its 4 or more CDs in CD wallet form:
1. ebcdpro cd.
2. latest Norton Systemworks CD (older versions optional)
3. Partition Magic 8.0 CD
4. Windows 2000 Resource Kit
Optional:
5. latest Knoppix CD (comes in handy now and then).
6. Windows 98 Resource Kit (depwalkr.exe, especially)-- mostly for recovery of consumer computers.
7. Ghost, if the Systemworks CD is not an Enterprise or Pro version.
8. Drive Image if Ghost not handy.
PM on floppy, DI on floppy, Rescue Floppy set from SystemWorks are also handy tools if used VERY CAREFULLY (especially the systemworks rescue set).
John Danielson.
Link
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Tech repair
Making progress. The ultimate boot cd is amazing! Its antivirus program found and removed 109 virus related problems.
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The Day
Dropped Tommy off at church for his 2nd week in this class..probably his last. Cathy and I then went shopping for the remaining needs for Sarah and met the crew at Ryan's for a buffet lunch. We learned that Tommy was asked to not return to the church class unless he was accompanied by an adult. Amy started to cry at lunch we Cathy and I showed up because she thought we had come to take her away from the grandparents.
Cathy, Sarah and I parted from the rest of the crew and took her to girl scout camp. We were going to get there way too early so we drove up to an old grist mill and spent some time at the museum. On the way there we were all startled by anvil shoot at the Museum of Appalachia. Yes, they use black power to launch a blacksmith's anvil into the air. Wile E. Coyote commentates.
This is what happens when good ol' boys get bored (and perhaps liquored up).
While at the grist mill I had a phone conversation about Tommy's lack of seriousness at the D&D games and how it could lead to the demise. Tommy loses group activities at school, church, therapy and now nearly with friends. What can be done?!
We return, the loooong way accidentally ending up in Oak Ridge, to the inlaws pool to recover Amy, Noah and Tommy. Noah ends up staying to help work tomorrow..haha. The kids love their grandparents so much! I cannot say how great it is to have such generational family involvement.
Amy falls asleep in the car as we pull out of the driveway. Tommy, Cathy and I decide to snack and lounge tonight, albeit I am working on computer repairs and activities between lounging.
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Cathy, Sarah and I parted from the rest of the crew and took her to girl scout camp. We were going to get there way too early so we drove up to an old grist mill and spent some time at the museum. On the way there we were all startled by anvil shoot at the Museum of Appalachia. Yes, they use black power to launch a blacksmith's anvil into the air. Wile E. Coyote commentates.
This method of celebration has its roots deep in our country's history. It involves placing one anvil upside down and filling the cavity with a fine grade of black powder. A second anvil is placed on top. The powder is ignited, and the resulting explosion thrusts the 125-pound anvil over 100 feet skyward. The explosion literally shakes the earth, and the sound reportedly can be heard as far away as 15 miles.
This is what happens when good ol' boys get bored (and perhaps liquored up).
While at the grist mill I had a phone conversation about Tommy's lack of seriousness at the D&D games and how it could lead to the demise. Tommy loses group activities at school, church, therapy and now nearly with friends. What can be done?!
We return, the loooong way accidentally ending up in Oak Ridge, to the inlaws pool to recover Amy, Noah and Tommy. Noah ends up staying to help work tomorrow..haha. The kids love their grandparents so much! I cannot say how great it is to have such generational family involvement.
Amy falls asleep in the car as we pull out of the driveway. Tommy, Cathy and I decide to snack and lounge tonight, albeit I am working on computer repairs and activities between lounging.
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Another tool for the tech box
Thus far..
Dropped Tommy off at church.
Went to target and bought some necessities and camping supplies for Sarah with some money that appeared out of nowhere.
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Went to target and bought some necessities and camping supplies for Sarah with some money that appeared out of nowhere.
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Happy Independence Day
A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
4th of July is here and for Americans that means cooks outs with hot dogs and hamburgers, gathering in parks, swimming and fireworks. There will be lots of red, white and blue today and before 9/11/2001 it was the most popular day of the year for everyone to bring their flags out. (9/11 had everyone flag happy.. the flag manufacturers were thrilled. I think that is fading some not unlike some of the flags that were put out and never brought inside during bad weather.)
For me, today means I'll have a hard time selling anything tomorrow.
Today we take Sarah to girl scout camp. We packed her in an real US Army duffle bag. She's going to beappauledappalled.
Had a cool dream last night. I was doing improv comedy in front of a live audience again. I started off directing a group and got pulled into it. Was rusty but quickly fell into the grove. It had a very Saturday Night Live feel to it and the jokes were good!
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
4th of July is here and for Americans that means cooks outs with hot dogs and hamburgers, gathering in parks, swimming and fireworks. There will be lots of red, white and blue today and before 9/11/2001 it was the most popular day of the year for everyone to bring their flags out. (9/11 had everyone flag happy.. the flag manufacturers were thrilled. I think that is fading some not unlike some of the flags that were put out and never brought inside during bad weather.)
For me, today means I'll have a hard time selling anything tomorrow.
Today we take Sarah to girl scout camp. We packed her in an real US Army duffle bag. She's going to be
Had a cool dream last night. I was doing improv comedy in front of a live audience again. I started off directing a group and got pulled into it. Was rusty but quickly fell into the grove. It had a very Saturday Night Live feel to it and the jokes were good!
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Saturday, July 03, 2004
Dell corrupts administrator password
I figured out why I cannot log into recovery mode on this Dell computer that I am trying to repair. Apparently, dell uses sysprep for their installations and it corrupts the administrator password. So now I have to figure out how to reset the administrator password without actually being able to log into Windows XP Home...or the dos prompt for that matter.
Link
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Link
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Purse Found! Negative karma of thinking someone stole it to last years...
Sarah's purse was found in an obscure cranny under the front seat of the car. She squealed! We celebrated by taking a direct trip to Toy's R Us and spending the Toy's R Us card dry. Amy slept through the trip and awoke briefly as we were leaving. The wrinkled brow and slow glowering seemed to scream "hey, I missed the fun place." In the car she return to sleep.
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Couldn't focus on the electronic stuff so I went out in the yard and went to town on the holly tree and the shrub beside it. Those bushes must of felt like Bruce Springsteen after his motocycle accident and his father had the barber come to the hospital and cut off all his hair. I found our mosquitoe breeding ground and could actually see the hundreds of larva swimming around. Hopefully the front yard will become safe for play now except for the fact that the bushes no longer offer much of an obsticle to the retaining wall. Perhaps its time to see how much fencing costs.
That little bit of yard work brought afternoon sun to the driveway and cleared away any habitat for the nasty bugs and mosquitoes. Was a giant step toward doing some proper landscaping.
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That little bit of yard work brought afternoon sun to the driveway and cleared away any habitat for the nasty bugs and mosquitoes. Was a giant step toward doing some proper landscaping.
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Whirlwind
Time to regroup. No focus. Too much going on in head.
Promised wife: a) fix http://www.domesticpsychology.com and b)get the plants out from under the deck DONE
In process: a) restoring friends OS
Need to: a) put a sales form on Superior Internet Designs b) update TN Lottery Results c) work on overseas client site -- begin formalizing the spec and outlining the code structire -- create development environment and basic documentation
Want to: a) do at least one part of one home improvement project and b)a little yard work DONE
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Promised wife: a) fix http://www.domesticpsychology.com and b)
In process: a) restoring friends OS
Need to: a) put a sales form on Superior Internet Designs b) update TN Lottery Results c) work on overseas client site -- begin formalizing the spec and outlining the code structire -- create development environment and basic documentation
Want to: a) do at least one part of one home improvement project and b)
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I am the commander!
Cathy points us to another personality test and I discovered I am Sober Emotional Destructive Leader. This makes you a dictator.
results --personality key
Wackiness: 44/100
Rationality: 28/100
Constructiveness: 44/100
Leadership: 58/100
You are an SEDL--Sober Emotional Destructive Leader. This makes you a dictator. You prefer to control situations, and lack of control makes you physically sick. You feel have responsibility for everyone's welfare, and that you will be blamed when things go wrong. Things do go wrong, and you take it harder than you should.
You rely on the validation and support of others, but you have a secret distrust for people and distaste for their habits and weaknesses that make you keep your distance from them. This makes you very difficult to be with romantically. Still, a level-headed peacemaker can keep you balanced.
Despite your fierce temper and general hot-bloodedness, you have a soft spot for animals and a surprising passion for the arts. Sometimes you would almost rather live by your wits in the wilderness somewhere, if you could bring your books and your sketchbook.
You also have a strange, undeniable sexiness to you. You may go insane.
Link
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results --personality key
Wackiness: 44/100
Rationality: 28/100
Constructiveness: 44/100
Leadership: 58/100
You are an SEDL--Sober Emotional Destructive Leader. This makes you a dictator. You prefer to control situations, and lack of control makes you physically sick. You feel have responsibility for everyone's welfare, and that you will be blamed when things go wrong. Things do go wrong, and you take it harder than you should.
You rely on the validation and support of others, but you have a secret distrust for people and distaste for their habits and weaknesses that make you keep your distance from them. This makes you very difficult to be with romantically. Still, a level-headed peacemaker can keep you balanced.
Despite your fierce temper and general hot-bloodedness, you have a soft spot for animals and a surprising passion for the arts. Sometimes you would almost rather live by your wits in the wilderness somewhere, if you could bring your books and your sketchbook.
You also have a strange, undeniable sexiness to you. You may go insane.
Link
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A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
As predicted, I am sore but I really enjoyed last night. Amy awoke at 8am and I could not pull myself from bed. She played until 8:30 and I reluctantly ask Cathy if she would let me sleep in (which I did until 10:30--what a bum!).
When the fireworks started lastnight, Amy could have startled, screamed, cried and jumped into the nearest adult arms. Instead, she rose to her feet in one bound, squealed with joy, clapped her hands (which is always so cute looking), yelled "yeah!" and laughed. For most of the show she was enraptured. About 2/3s of the way through she lost some interest but was overjoyed with our outing. Tommy was on pretty good behavior. Sarah had a friend and was naturally perfect (with the exception of not owning up to dying Amy's hair). And Noah is the angel always is. The boys had a real tough time not participating in the juggling show (they like to yell out the punch lines and otherwise heckle but its thrilling for them and I need to nurture that somehow).
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
As predicted, I am sore but I really enjoyed last night. Amy awoke at 8am and I could not pull myself from bed. She played until 8:30 and I reluctantly ask Cathy if she would let me sleep in (which I did until 10:30--what a bum!).
When the fireworks started lastnight, Amy could have startled, screamed, cried and jumped into the nearest adult arms. Instead, she rose to her feet in one bound, squealed with joy, clapped her hands (which is always so cute looking), yelled "yeah!" and laughed. For most of the show she was enraptured. About 2/3s of the way through she lost some interest but was overjoyed with our outing. Tommy was on pretty good behavior. Sarah had a friend and was naturally perfect (with the exception of not owning up to dying Amy's hair). And Noah is the angel always is. The boys had a real tough time not participating in the juggling show (they like to yell out the punch lines and otherwise heckle but its thrilling for them and I need to nurture that somehow).
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Friday, July 02, 2004
Juggling
The juggling at the church went exceptionally well despite my recent lack of practice. I had a terrific time and did some decent juggling. Everyone seemed pleased. I am too tired to say more at the moment.
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Bush (lagged) - 0:44
Sarah lost her purse with over $150 in gift cards she got for her birthday. This is a parental failure as our own disorganization and procrastination has led to the hurt feelings and sorrow of a young girl. I am distraught.
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I'm not handling the stress well this afternoon. My body temperature is up. I can feel heat emanating. I will end up enjoying tonight but the preparation for tonight and the distraction from the things I need to be doing is killing me.
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Bush Joy Ride - 1:12
Goals
a) practice juggling for tonight's event (I'm totally in the wrong mindset for a performance)
b) visit the IRS postponed
c) fix my Microsoft Partnership registration
d) sell something
e) answer 2 newspaper job ads
f) pick up friend's Windows XP Home Edition CDDONE
g) email overseas reference with pricing informationDONE
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b) visit the IRS postponed
c) fix my Microsoft Partnership registration
d) sell something
e) answer 2 newspaper job ads
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Family sites down
CFXHosting doesn't like my lack of paying them and has turned off our personal domains. A good friend had offered to move the domains for me to her servers and I had to put my priorities into finding money first. I also in good conscience could not switch services owing one money but now what's that got me?
Time to call customer service.
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Time to call customer service.
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The Gmail invite Heyday is over
The unofficial google weblog announces that a usage policy change prohits the selling or trading of invites for commercial gain.
News.com article
Link
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The Baby and the Shiner
A New Day!
Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
At 4am my alarm went off and I was almost convinced to get up. At 4:30 Amy fell out of her bed and I sprinted upstairs. When I got there Sarah was holding her trying to comfort her. She's a great sister to Amy! Sarah wasn't sure if Amy fell from her bed or Amy's bed. I suspect it was from Amy's bed but she missed the padding or hit the edge of the padding and bruised her eye. This morning is is blackened and swollen but Amy is in good spirits. We tried to get her settled and I tried to get some work done but she needed both parents to help protect and calm her. I knew if I returned to the bed I would not regain my momentum. Eventually Amy asked for "big girl's bed" so I put her upstairs. I fully expected that I was being conned and thought within a few minutes I'd her talking and playing but she actually returned to sleep and so did I. I awoke at 8am with super hyped anxiety but have since mostly calmed myself.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
At 4am my alarm went off and I was almost convinced to get up. At 4:30 Amy fell out of her bed and I sprinted upstairs. When I got there Sarah was holding her trying to comfort her. She's a great sister to Amy! Sarah wasn't sure if Amy fell from her bed or Amy's bed. I suspect it was from Amy's bed but she missed the padding or hit the edge of the padding and bruised her eye. This morning is is blackened and swollen but Amy is in good spirits. We tried to get her settled and I tried to get some work done but she needed both parents to help protect and calm her. I knew if I returned to the bed I would not regain my momentum. Eventually Amy asked for "big girl's bed" so I put her upstairs. I fully expected that I was being conned and thought within a few minutes I'd her talking and playing but she actually returned to sleep and so did I. I awoke at 8am with super hyped anxiety but have since mostly calmed myself.
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Boom!
About an hour ago Amy fell out of her bed. I think she missed the padded mat and hit the hardwood floor. She's gonna have a shiner for a bit. She is obviously uncomfortable as she keeps crying out.
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Progress and setbacks
I got some longer overdue administrative duties done last night including setting up email for a stagnant domain.
I also got http://templates.sidesigns.com/ functional and put the same code temporarily at http://www.siliconholler.com/ as well as one other domain.
The setback? I need a Windows XP Home edition CD to fix my friend's computer. I'll drop in on them first thing in the morning.
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I also got http://templates.sidesigns.com/ functional and put the same code temporarily at http://www.siliconholler.com/ as well as one other domain.
The setback? I need a Windows XP Home edition CD to fix my friend's computer. I'll drop in on them first thing in the morning.
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Thursday, July 01, 2004
IRS, my Uncle's Saga
So the IRS returned my call today. They were very nice. "So, you've gone a couple of years without filing and want to straighten it out?" Yes. He was very friendly and seemed to be genuinely interested in helping me through my problem. I like his parting comment in the phone call. "Oh, be sure to bring a photo id."
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Eve
Wow! I could spend the next two hours just writing stuff here.
Instead writing deep Pulitzer stuff I'll just summarize the evening by saying the whole family took Tommy to STAR and no Noah doesn't have his booster seat as required by law and yes Sarah rode in the middle of the front seat with a lap belt because that's how we fit. Teach me don't tell me! That's the difference between freedom and a police state.
Tommy's is getting wacky during his sessions again which basically means he's got a new teacher and he wants to see what he can get away with. While the other riders sat still and calmly on their horses, Tommy laid down on his, clowned around with his stops by leaning backwards, removed his attention from his riding to seek us out and wave at the family, and was disrespectiful and rude to the handlers. What does he gain by acting that way? He has everything to lose and not to gain...why would he sabotage himself?
I've had a productive day. Everyone is tried and cranky. I think its time to relax .. maybe a couple of tasks first.
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Instead writing deep Pulitzer stuff I'll just summarize the evening by saying the whole family took Tommy to STAR and no Noah doesn't have his booster seat as required by law and yes Sarah rode in the middle of the front seat with a lap belt because that's how we fit. Teach me don't tell me! That's the difference between freedom and a police state.
Tommy's is getting wacky during his sessions again which basically means he's got a new teacher and he wants to see what he can get away with. While the other riders sat still and calmly on their horses, Tommy laid down on his, clowned around with his stops by leaning backwards, removed his attention from his riding to seek us out and wave at the family, and was disrespectiful and rude to the handlers. What does he gain by acting that way? He has everything to lose and not to gain...why would he sabotage himself?
I've had a productive day. Everyone is tried and cranky. I think its time to relax .. maybe a couple of tasks first.
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Chiropractic Adjustment
If there is one good thing about having multiple computers its that you can blog while waiting for the other one to finish its task.
So my back has been getting achier and achier and I've really wanted to see a chiropractor to help me out. Well, last night I discovered a new technique that successfully rippled up my spine in such a way that I felt like Neo with the tubes popping out of his spine. The room sounded like a series of fire crackers exploded. Today I have felt energized and flexible! Um.. I'd share the technique but I'd have to put an age warning on the blog... (I'll revel while your minds wander..)
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So my back has been getting achier and achier and I've really wanted to see a chiropractor to help me out. Well, last night I discovered a new technique that successfully rippled up my spine in such a way that I felt like Neo with the tubes popping out of his spine. The room sounded like a series of fire crackers exploded. Today I have felt energized and flexible! Um.. I'd share the technique but I'd have to put an age warning on the blog... (I'll revel while your minds wander..)
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Hardware repair preparation
Procrastination Be Gone! (aka Stress Relief and Snapping)
So I took a much needed mental break and my head is much more clear. The break? I finished constructing Amy's Step2 Sand and Water Table (Naturally Playful Sand and Water Activity Center) (birthday present from the grandparents). I expect the big kids to use this as much or more than Amy. My only ill feeling toward this toy is that I know within a week the lid will have been left off and I'll now have an indoor and an outdoor liter box to clean regularly.
I came back in the house to find Noah eatting push pop ice cream on one of the pieces of furniture . We ask the kids not to eat on the furniture and this ice cream is particularly messy for Noah (Noah who can't drink milk without spilling it on his clothes and the floor). He doesn't use this as a push up, instead as he eats it down he slides his finger between the wrapper and the ice cream and squashes the wrapper down so that his tongue can eat the ice cream out like an anteater. I raised my voice and snapped at him not because I was angry but because of some natural instinct that said I should because he has been told hundreds of times not to do that but I instantly felt bad that I had snapped at such an innocent and good child and I made a quick course correction.
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I came back in the house to find Noah eatting push pop ice cream on one of the pieces of furniture . We ask the kids not to eat on the furniture and this ice cream is particularly messy for Noah (Noah who can't drink milk without spilling it on his clothes and the floor). He doesn't use this as a push up, instead as he eats it down he slides his finger between the wrapper and the ice cream and squashes the wrapper down so that his tongue can eat the ice cream out like an anteater. I raised my voice and snapped at him not because I was angry but because of some natural instinct that said I should because he has been told hundreds of times not to do that but I instantly felt bad that I had snapped at such an innocent and good child and I made a quick course correction.
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Ambivalence
I am struck by ambivalence over the multiple paths I have to walk. Each needs to be done and some are time sensitive meaning I must prioritize them because not all the time sensitive ones will get done during business hours today.
I need a diversion to bring my mind back to focus so I will put together Amy's sand and water table. Watch the big kids spend hours making mud!
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I need a diversion to bring my mind back to focus so I will put together Amy's sand and water table. Watch the big kids spend hours making mud!
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A trickle in the dam
Some referrals are starting to come through. Interestingly enough, the worthwhile ones are coming from overseas. Hopefully I can price appropriately to gain their business and not kill myself in the process. Underpricing can be as destructive as overpricing.
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Yuck
One project
Ok. I've agreed to one project and that is a good thing. It will be a fun project too albeit I am expecting it to be a lot of work.
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Back in the chair
Alright (one of my favorite words to hear Amy speak). I've picked up my friend's computer and will be making virus removals and repairs. This in conjunction with the virus removals I've done for the businesses is helping me develop paperwork to make this a documented and efficient process. Maybe I can do lots of these!
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Internet Folklore?
The New Desktop
Wow! What a fantastic presentation by Sun. Project Looking Glass Take a look at the future because if Microsoft does not embrace something similar to this, Sun or another company will find a way to steal their marketshare.
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A Domain Devoted to Me
I've uploaded my resume to The Perfect job. This is a domain I'd intended to develop a better job search engine around and still may. Right now I'll slowly add information to help people decide they want to hire me and then maybe some job resource information.
Link
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Link
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Koolaid Drink of Choice
Both bank accounts are drained (await $100 from paypal to reach one of them, awaiting $175 in checks from a client, awaiting $200 in rebates from Motorola--otherwise that's it).
No milk in the fridge. The kids are drinking Koolaid for breakfast today. Must scrounge $10 to pay for Tommy's prescription today.
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No milk in the fridge. The kids are drinking Koolaid for breakfast today. Must scrounge $10 to pay for Tommy's prescription today.
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Goals
a) clean up kayak and sell it TODAY
b) pickup friend's computer for repair DONE
c) visitCall the IRS DONE
d) cold call every real estate agent in the United States
e) take Tommy to STAR DONE
f) answer 2 ads in the job section of the newspaper
g) update LinkedIn
h) give Plasma
i) Find out information about Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
j) Find out information about Temp Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
k) email the developers already contacted
l) contact more developers and extend services
m) Upload resume to ThePerfectJob.com DONE
m) install network card in computer for repair DONE
n) evaluate and repair computer
o) send marketing info to overseas referral
p) evaluate how much work will be involved in setting up the template affiliate sales site DONE
q) put together Amy's sand and water table DONE
q) send Comcast sales tax refund
r) throw away 2 out of 3 dead monitors DONE
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d) cold call every real estate agent in the United States
f) answer 2 ads in the job section of the newspaper
g) update LinkedIn
h) give Plasma
i) Find out information about Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
j) Find out information about Temp Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
k) email the developers already contacted
l) contact more developers and extend services
n) evaluate and repair computer
o) send marketing info to overseas referral
q) send Comcast sales tax refund
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In TN? Comcast Owes You Money!
According to the Tennessee Department of Revenue in these "Procedures for claiming refunds of sales tax" Comcast (or other ISPs-check with yours) may owe you money.
House bill 3484 signed into law on May 18, 2004, established time deadlines for claiming refunds of sales and use tax collected by Internet service providers ("ISPs") on the sale of Internet access following the Tennessee Court of Appeals decision in Prodigy Services Corporation, Inc. v. Ruth E. Johnson, Commissioner.
Consumers seeking a refund must submit a written request to their ISP by July 17, 2004. Consumers may seek refunds extending back to December 1, 2000,...
Based on a case decided by the Tennessee courts, the Department of Revenue has indicated that internet access is no longer considered a taxable "telecommunication service" under Tennessee sales tax law.
Some companies, such as AOL, never charged a states sales tax, therefore, no refunds for its customers.
Get your money if your owed!
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A New Day!
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This Morning
Woke at 2am and again at 4am but neither time could I pull myself from bed but I was close. I want to return to bed now but I cannot and will not! My stomach is in knots. I have to get some money in my account today. I am considering scraping up change in the house just to make a deposit. I fear the bank closing my account worse than most anything else.
Today I have plans to visit the IRS office. This should be interesting.
Time to rouse Tommy.
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Let's start the day off with a PayPal donation link:
This Morning
Woke at 2am and again at 4am but neither time could I pull myself from bed but I was close. I want to return to bed now but I cannot and will not! My stomach is in knots. I have to get some money in my account today. I am considering scraping up change in the house just to make a deposit. I fear the bank closing my account worse than most anything else.
Today I have plans to visit the IRS office. This should be interesting.
Time to rouse Tommy.
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