Dolphins, dolphins and more dolphins

In a belated tribute to Douglas Adams, over 1,500 dolphins have recently gathered off the coast of Pembrokeshire. Echt has the picture.

Not meeting Michael's challenge

I am not certain that I can live up to Michael's challenge this week.

see Big Orange Michael and The August Challenge

Today's Stupid Fun

1. Go to Google's Language Tools.
2. enter the following line into the translate textbox:
   Susan Hughes's mom is nice and cool
3. Translate from English to Spanish
4. Copy the translated text, and translate it back from Spanish to English

With apologies to Susan. Thought you might enjoy a little Internet fame.

Bitter Old Man

I am well on my way to becoming a bitter old man. Due to economics and time constraints I continue to see opportunities and be unable to act upon them.

I owned a beautiful domain name once and because I was dead broke at its renewal time I let it go. A squatter grabbed it up and sat on it for years until someone purchased it and turned it into a beautiful example of what I intended it to be. I should move forward and use it as a lesson to not procrastinate on developing the domain names that I do own. I still have a hard time not being bitter about it.

My wife and I were in Ohio and visited a franchised store that we thought would be extremely successful in West Town Mall and fun to run to boot. I even made a phone call on it however the startup costs were out of my league. That store is now in West Town Mall and I bemoan it.

I see a real estate oppportunity. I'd need tens of millions to make it work. I'd quadruple the money.

So why not get some venture capital? Why not find a backer or angel? Why not get investors? Because it takes money to get money. You have to be politically active and know people. You have to do due diligence and write business plans and presentations all the while feeding your family.

Blingo has a blog!

I don't think I've made a big enough deal about Blingo. I now use Blingo 80% of the time reserving my trips to Google for speciality things like money conversions.

Blingo now has a blog. What is Blingo? Blingo is a search engine that returns the exact same results as Google (since it is powered by Google) but gives out prizes (currently limited to the United States, I think).

You don't need to sign up to search. But if you sign up as a Blingo Friend when you win, so does your friend!

Spy Journal Tech Tips alerted on Blingo in December of 2004.

(reprinted from Spy Journal Blog Tips)

Today I am happy...

...because last night I had a date with my wife.

...because, disquieting as it is, I'm facing my demons.

see Big Orange Michael and The August Challenge

Task change

Album is done and I nary made a dent in the mail. This Friday is an evil deadline. The world shall try to crumble under my feet.

Next album for productivity: XTC: Skylarking. Task: quote a job.

Time management by the album

Got behind on the mail again. 

Let's tackle the mail to the sounds of Black 47's Fire of Freedom. When the album ends I change task. While the album plays I am not allowed to slip off task.

The Atom Feed is back!

Thank you Rasita! Had she not mentioned that my feed was down I never would have fixed the problem. Turns out my feeds to the Rocky Top Brigade had stopped and many readers went without my life influencing bits and bytes.

The probem turned out to be laziness. In one post I decided to turn on Blogger's Compose tab and cut and paste from MS Word to Blogger. MS Word's xml is horrible! And conflicted with Blogger's Atom feed. The MS gibberish has been removed and everything returns to "normal."

Of Grasshoppers

Student: I'll never reach the end.
Master: Just get over the next hill.

Today I am happy...

...because Tommy had a fantastic birthday party at Ben & Jerry's. Tommy is thrilled! The manager ran the party and did an exceptional job! We tie dyed t-shirts (and they all came out great! Matching the personalities of the makers.) When we took out our rubber gloves I spoke up, "So, any of the adults thinking Howie Mandel?" to which the store manager said, "Howie who?" We all laughed and he said, "No, seriously!" And my mother-in-law laughed and called me an "old person." Good moment!

...because I made major headway on fixing a closet that has been neglected since September 1997.

...because we are getting some pleasant and much needed rain.

see Big Orange Michael and The August Challenge

Celebrating tommy at ben and jerrys

Kids are snart..let them decide!

SayUncle shows us a cartoon from Time on intelligent design. Nice perspective!

Today I am happy...

...because I have the most loving, understanding and supportive wife in the world.

see Big Orange Michael and The August Challenge

Dukes of Hazard Movie Brings Memories....and horns

Anyone remember in the hayday of the Dukes every 4th car had a horn that sound just like the Genneral Lee? Da na naa na Naah nah Naaaah Na I find it ironic that as the Maryville Board of Education tries to make history disappear by banning references to our heritage that a cheesy movie will undoubtly bring rise to the sale of confederate flags and custom horns for your cars. Yes, beeping your horn may be illegal in Tennessee but sounding a charge will become just a friendly hello from one good ol' boy to the next. Road kill anyone?

Btw, the horn law is Sec. 17-382. Horn; bells, sirens, etc.; warning devices on emergency vehicles.

(a) Every motor vehicle, when operated upon any road, street or highway of the city, shall be equipped with a horn in good working order capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than two hundred (200) feet, and it shall be unlawful, except as otherwise provided in this section, for any vehicle to be equipped with or for any person to use upon a vehicle any siren or exhaust, compression or sparkplug whistle or for any person at any time to use a horn otherwise than as a reasonable warning or to make any unnecessary or unreasonably loud or harsh sound by means of a horn or other warning device.

Tool of the moment. Let's go see how important that nub of a stud is in the girls room. Eh... That sentence kind of reads wrong. 

Of Grasshoppers

Student: Master, how am I to focus with so many distractions?
Master: A farmer does not catch his dinner by chasing all the chickens.

New Zealand Dinks Bush

Have a look at these billboards in New Zealand picturing GW Bush and saying "Even Hell has its standards" and "Hell. Too good for some evil bastards." Apparently its advertising for Hell's Pizza.

One for the guys

Have a peek.

Today I am happy...

...because the kids are excited to be off to school.

It appears I missed my happy thought yesterday. I wonder if not looking for a happy thought contributed to how unhappy I was yesterday.

see Big Orange Michael and The August Challenge

More Photos

My brother and sister-in-law have posted pictures from their visit including great shots from the horse show.

The Buses Rally

Tommy is off to school. 

Tommy's bus arrives at 7:10am. Last year the bus and Tommy were very much in sync. As the year went on Tommy would be more and more difficult to wake giving himself less time to prepare. Often he would go to school without breakfast. We tried sending him with a poptart on the bus but it seemed like too much of a reward plus he makes such a mess that he'd have food all over him, his face and the bus. Ironically as his wake time became later and later so did the arrival time of the bus eventually moving from 7:10 to 8:00.

Noah's bus arrives at 7:22am. I spent 3 years fighting to get the bus off of Northshore Drive, a busy 45mph road frequently traveled at much higher speeds. Last year the street sign marking their offical bus stop was knocked down by an out of control driver. The stop sat just over the peak of a hill and at a blind corner, most blocked by overgrown honey suckle, where cars zip into the neighborhood.

Noah is off to school. 

Last year the bus driver, a kind older gentleman, agreed to turn into the neighborhood and pick the kids up at a much safer intersection. Upon his retirement halfway through the year the battle ensued again with a young punk driver writing me up as a "belligerent parent." Several heated phone calls and two days later a new driver was picking our children up at the safe intersection. I am happy to report that this year it is listed as the official pickup with Northshore as the official dropoff which is fine by me since the door opens to toward the neighborhood. The Northshore pickup originally had them crossing in front of cars and the bus to load.

In the past years other issues with this bus had been eratic pickup times and sometimes ignoring the stop all together. Officially the bus can be 15 minutes on either side of the noted pickup time. At one point this bus arrived as early as 7am and as late as 8am. Schools starts at 7:45am.

This year the bus arrived on time and at the right stop! Here's hoping for a hassle free school year!

Sarah is off to school. 

Last year was Sarah's first year in middle school. Her stop was across Northshore, so I thought. I was bothered by her crossing Northshore but at first I would take Noah and her to Noah's bus stop where I was watch over the elementary students. Her official bus time was the same 7:22 as Noah's and since I could not be in two places at once I would let her walk up the block, cross Northshore and wait for her bus.

Over time I became uncomfortable with her crossing that busy road so I changed my route and would drive Sarah to her bus stop and drop her off. I'd then take Noah to his stop and stand watch over the elementary students. Soon another parent joined the watch.

Stories surfaced that a white pickup truck was cruising Northshore trying to pickup middle school girls a few miles from Sarah's stop. I left the watch of the elementary stop to the other parents and have changed to being at Sarah's stop. Occasionally I let her walk. Oh, I learned that her official stop is on our side of Northshore but all the kids like to gather together on the other side. The stop is down to Sarah and one other friend and I'm sure my presence has nothing to do with that.

Battle over. I started to help Amy. I put one thing in; she put in two. The neighbor was walking her dogs and Amy said, "I want to pet the puppies." I told her that she could after the mess was cleaned up and she scooped up the clothes in 20 seconds flat. 

What would you do with 3 hours?

• Fight with a toddler.
• Clean desk.
• Reconcile accounts that have not been reconciled in 5 years.
• Phone interview.
• Install TurboTax for 2002.
• Make a business a website for free.
• Make another business a website for free.
• Write a specification.
• Make a low dollar website.
• Work on the house.
• Sales calls.
• Work on my own websites.
• Pull $2500 from thin air.

The Stand Off

Ham 

So here I sit. Unable to go to my computer and work for need to stand guard over a bawling toddler. There she stands. Night gown pulled over her face as she forces tears, sniffles and sobs. Why do we do this? Because I came home from taking two of the children to their bus stops to find that Cathy and Evan had returned to bed while Amy woke and dumped clean clothes from the folding basket to the floor.

Angry. 

She's gone silent. That means she is trying to sneak away from her responsibility. Responsibility at three?! Yes. All she had to do is pick up the clothing from the floor and put it back in the basket. What will power!

We are in a stand-off. If I help her am I teaching the wrong lesson? I certainly cannot let her go without picking up any clothing. She cannot have her cartoons.

Privacy? Garbage!

For you privacy buffs out there and for those of you that don't think our government is acting like Big Brother, have a read of this Williamette Weekly article. It's four pages long with some redundancy but worth the time. If you find yourself starting to bail, skip to the concluding paragraphs on page 4.

Portland's top brass said it was OK to swipe your garbage--so we grabbed theirs.

Template Store Updated

I've updated my template store at SIDesigns.com. So if you want a new look for your website or blog have a gander at the templates. You can also sign up as an affiliate.

Do the dumb things I gotta do

Touch the puppet head

We smile, We type smiles, But we never look at the back of a smile

Ever wonder what the back of a smilie looks like? :)

Of Grasshoppers

Student: I have more than I can possibly do.
Master: Do what you must.

Gooder Grammer

So I had this somewhat embarrassing email for which I was very thankul. I used to write very properly. I was one of those human dictionaries that could pop out a correct spelling of a word I'd never used. Create whatever reason you want - age, laziness, too much in my mind, whatever - my spelling and grammar have deteriorated. My resume has a line that reads:

· Writing: Well written, exceptional grammar, technical writing skills

And then it is followed with this line:

· Organizational: very spatial oriented, structured, can work equally well with hierarchical or abstract concepts and organization, 5 years practical experience in Software Quality Assurance and associated training compliment organizational skills

I keep my resume at the Perfect Job. It needs updating badly. Now I've always been hardnosed when evaluating candidates' resumes for proper spelling and well formed sentences so I was quite surprised when someone took the time to send an email pointing out my horrid error of using "compliment" when I obviously meant "complement." I wonder how many times this was noticed and not mentioned.

How frustrating!

I spent the entire day and evening trying to install Apache 2, PHP 4.4.0, and MySQL 3.23 on my workstation. I'm mentally fatigued. I succeeded in installing Apache 2 and PHP 4 but my installation of MySQL 3.23 is not cooperating. I've thrown in the towel but this has been a gratis day when I need to be maximizing my returns.

I basically followed this document and summarized it with:

STEP 1: Go to Start->Control Panels->Add/Remove Programs and Remove PHP 5 (do NOT remove Apache2).

STEP 2: Download PHP 4.4.0 from http://us3.php.net/get/php-4.4.0-Win32.zip/from/a/mirror ( you can get to that link from http://us3.php.net/downloads.php and choosing PHP Installer under Windows 4.4.0 binaries ) Use the ZIP package NOT the installer.exe.

STEP 3: Install PHP

STEP 3.1: Extract the files to C:\ This will create a folder called C:\php-4.4.0-Win32.

STEP 3.2: Rename the folder C:\php-4.4.0-Win32 to C:\PHP

STEP 3.3: Copy the file C:\PHP\php.ini-recommended file to your windows folder: c:\windows (might possibly be c:\winnt)

STEP 3.4: Rename C:\windows\php.ini-recommended to C:\windows\php.ini

STEP 3.5: Copy the file C:\PHP\php4ts.dll to your windows system folder. For XP and ME this is c:\windows\system32\

Now you have PHP 4.4.0 installed and Apache 2 installed. Next we will change some configurations.

STEP 4: Edit httpd.conf (find this file by going to Start->Program Files->Apache HTTP Server 2.0.54->Configure Apache Server->Edit the Apache httpd.conf Configuration File OR go to C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\conf\ and locate the file httpd.conf) to change the line that reads

DirectoryIndex index.html index.html.var

To be

DirectoryIndex index.php index.html index.htm index.html.var

STEP 5: Open httpd.conf for editing. Find the section with references to “LoadModule” and after the last LoadModule line add

LoadModule php4_module “c:/PHP/sapi/php4apache2.dll”

STEP 6 Open httpd.conf for editing. Anywhere after the LoadModule line from STEP 6 add:

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php

Next you will edit the php.ini file which contains setting that control the behavior of php.

STEP 7: Open php.ini for editing. This file should be in c:\windows\ and find the line that says

doc_root =

Change it to read

doc_root = C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache2\htdocs

Now we will test.

STEP 8: Open Internet Explorer or Firefox (or browser of choice) and go to http://localhost/html/phpinfo.php If you see a screen that shows the php version and lots of variables then you have successfully installed the apache web server and PHP.

Next you will install the MySQL database server.

STEP 9: Get MySQL 3.23 (Note: The production server uses MySQL 3.23.39 which is why we aren’t using 4.1) from http://downloads.mysql.com/archives/mysql-3.23/mysql-3.23.58-win.zip saving it to a temporary location.

STEP 10: Unzip mysql-3.23.58-win.zip

STEP 11: Run setup.exe choosing the Typical installation.

STEP 12: Run C:\mysql\bin\winmysqladmin.exe to set a username and password for accessing mysql (don’t forget these).

Sometimes My Days Feel Like This

Author unknown. Thanks to Shae Leighland for publishing it.

I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mailbox earlier. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car
keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first. But then I think, since I’m going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.

I’m going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don’t accidentally knock it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye–they need to be watered. I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses that I’ve been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I’m going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won’t remember that it’s on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I’ll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:
The car isn’t washed.
The bills aren’t paid.
There is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter.
The flowers don’t have enough water.
There is still only one check in my checkbook.
I can’t find the remote.
I can’t find my glasses.
And I don’t remember what I did with the car keys.

Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I’m really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I’m really tired.

I miss my music

At one point in my life I had roughly 700 CDs all categorized and alphabetized and not a scratch on a single CD. Now, as important as music is to me, I barely listen to music anymore. When I do I listen to the same CD over and over and over until it is no longer music but a drone slightly more pleasant than the static and other white noise that engulfs me.

Today I just spent 5 minutes trying to find a specific CD that I've wanted to listen to for the past several days. After digging through a disarray of CD cases I found the CD case I was seeking. Naturally it was empty. In the process of trying to find the case, I experimented and open several CD cases in a row. I went through 20 cases before finding one with a CD in it.

I might quit consulting and go back to work just so I can afford to shop at iTunes and once again fill my ears with music.

Update:Found it!

Same Google Results, Win Prizes!

Today I am happy...

...because, despite all that could fall apart at a moment's notice, I don't feel stressed.

see Big Orange Michael and The August Challenge

Tech We Miss

C|Net brings us Top 10 tech we miss An enjoyable read with memories.

Technology evolves. Good technologies and products usually survive; poor ones usually go extinct. But not all of the technologies and tech products that have swirled down the drain of the tech gene pool deserved their fate. Here are some big, and some small, ideas that we thought we'd have with us forever, but that unfortunately have gone the way of the dodo.

Thanks to My Likes and Dislikes for the link!

Technically, it's no so easy

I have a client taking their dynamic site to a trade show on a laptop since they don't want to rely on the trade show's wireless connectivity. So, I say, "It's easy. Just install PHP, MySQL and Apache on your laptop [windows XP]." After 5 hours of hair pulling yesterday I realize that versions on this stuff are as important as they say. Turns out version PHP 5.04 installer for windows does not automatically configure apache. Also apparently apache 2 is better for windows but php likes apache 1.3 better.

I'm returning to PHP 4 for this install.

Ah! Same error:

Sorry, the software to automatically ocnfigure the Apache httpd.conf file has not yet been written. You will have to configure Apache manually. See the install.txt file for more details.

My first pass at this error I got to a stopping point in the install.txt. Had I read further I would have found:

Installing as an Apache module

You should add the following lines to your Apache httpd.conf file:

Example 2-3. PHP as an Apache 1.3.x module

This assumes PHP is installed to c:\php. Adjust the path if this is
not the case.

For PHP 4:
# Add to the end of the LoadModule section
LoadModule php4_module "c:/php/php4apache.dll"

# Add to the end of the AddModule section
AddModule mod_php4.c

For PHP 5:
# Add to the end of the LoadModule section
LoadModule php5_module "c:/php/php5apache.dll"

# Add to the end of the AddModule section
AddModule mod_php5.c

For both:
# Add this line inside the conditional brace
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php

# For syntax highlighted .phps files, also add
AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps

So the instructions in the install.txt continue to make no sense with Apache2 referencing files that aren't there, lines of the httpd.conf that are non-existent and finally I find an exceptional answer that points out:

the problem is that the instructions that come with the php distrubutions only cover installations for Apache 1.3.x and not the 2.0 versions

And further directs us to "Installing Apache 2.0, PHP 4.2, MySQL 3.23, and PHPMyAdmin" by Jeffery F. Hill This looks like an excellent guide!

Another odd thing is just to the right of my cut is a verticle stud that runs the length of the wall. I paniced thinking my fish tape had come down between the this stud and the one to the left of the outlet but reaching into my freshly cut hole I find the tape right at my fingertips! 

I've been promising Tommy and Sarah and Internet connection in their rooms for some time. I probably should have just gone wireless. So I take measurement after measurement to determine where to drill from the attic down into the wall. See, when renovating a house, you never know what's in the walls. Using the window and an existing outlet I judge the appropriate spot to drill. The outlet without the cover shows us a verticle stud to its left which means the next stud should be 16 inches to its left. So I cut my hole for my gangbox between those 16 inches and what do you know! There's a tiny piece of would innocuously in my space. A rip saw will take care of it but why is it there? 

From the mouths of babes

So I'm under Sarah's desk marking the wall where I will cut out the hole for gang box that will hold her wires for her internet connection and Amy (3 years old) strolls in under the desk to slowly and poetically say: "I just want to be an archy tect like my daddy." Alright, while I laugh and smile let me wipe these tears from my eyes. Where does she get these words?!

Of Grasshoppers

Student: I am facing adversity.
Master: Turn around. Put it behind you.

Today I am happy...

...because Evan really enjoys sitting in my lap. We need a dads chair and a larger television.

see Big Orange Michael and The August Challenge

Today I am happy...

...because my daughters' room received a beautiful paint job, my brother and sister-in-law were here, and I survived, without cardiac arrest or conniption, my 12 year old daughter's "boyfriend"'s father calling to discuss their first [group] date (and a chaperone).

see Big Orange Michael and The August Challenge

Aunt and uncle visit

Today I am happy...

...because Tommy gets to show off his riding skills and it makes him so confident that he beams with glee. I am also very happy that my brother and his wife are coming to town to see the kids.

see Big Orange Michael and The August Challenge

Today I am happy...

...because I finally took some time to post on Spy Journal Blog Tips, Spy Journal Tech Tips, and Reality Me from links I've been keeping in open browser windows for weeks. Now my work environment feels less cluttered and I had fun!

see Big Orange Michael and The August Challenge

This should be a good discussion!

Barry makes an insightful comment on to Air Quality Action Day. It was so good that I wanted to highlight it here so that it wasn't missed in my influx of posting today.

PRESS RELEASE: Co-Star of Bruce Lee Visits Knoxville

Co-Star of Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" To Visit Knoxville Karate School

John Saxon, co-star of Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" classic Martial Arts movie will be visiting Jack Butturini American Karate Bearden location on Saturday August 6th. Mr. Saxon will be signing autographs and giving interviews from 1:00pm to 5:00pm.

John Saxon, in addition to co-starring with Martial Arts legend Bruce Lee, appeared on over 100 feature films including "The Unforgiven, Posse from Hell, Warhunt, Joe Kidd, Fast Company, The Electric Horseman, Blood Beach, Wrong is Right, Nightmare on Elm Street 1, 3, and 7, Beverly Hills Cop 3, Dusk til Dawn, The Road Home and Outta Time."

John was also a regular on prime time television show "Falcon Crest" during the 1980's.

Recently John appeared on stage with Debbie Reynolds in "Love Letters" and is currently writing a screenplay.

Jack Butturini American Karate Bearden is located at 5718 Kingston Pike, between Sonic and Nixon's Deli.

For more information, contact Mr. Todd Potts at 865-330-9992.

Make that 11 planets

The Martian Anthropologist points out that my post on Xena as the 10th planet could actually be the 11th planet.

Zipfizz.com no longer resizes browser

In my post Anti-coffee - Man I could use a cup right now! I listed some Caffeine alternatives and included a link to http://www.zipfizz.com/ as a Caffeine alternative with a warning "WARNING! Some evil web developer thinks it is ok to resize your browser window." Shae of Zipfizz paid us a pleasant visit yesterday which prompted me to revisit her site. I was pleased to find that it no longer resizes your browser!

I have avoided the energy drink craze. Perhaps I'll have to try one of these. They certainly make it tempting. The store offers a single for free (you pay $1.79 shipping).

Do you know about Blingo?

I've been slowly introducing clients to Blingo over time as an alternative to Google. I was shocked yesterday to find out I had not told my wife about Blingo.

I told one friend and two hours later he had won a music CD. Apparently they either didn't have the refer a friend program or I didn't know about it or I would have one also. Just incase you missed that, if you refer a friend to Blingo and your friend wins so do you. For example, yesterday Busy Mom won an iPod Shuffle which means that Lauren's Mommy also won an iPod Shuffle.

The following is reprinted from a post I made on Spy Journal Blog Tips:

Blingo now has a blog. What is Blingo? Blingo is a search engine that returns the exact same results as Google (since it is powered by Google) but gives out prizes (currently limited to the United States, I think).

You don't need to sign up to search. But if you sign up as a Blingo Friend when you win, so does your friend!

Spy Journal Tech Tips alerted on Blingo in December of 2004.

Featured Blog

If you like celebrity news this blog looks like it has hours of great reading. Careful! Some risque pictures.

Air Quality Action Day

Today we have an orange alert Air Quality Action Day. That means that you can ride KAT Buses for free and carpooling is encouraged. Things you can do:

• Conserve electricity and set your air conditioner at a higher temperature.
• Choose a cleaner commute—share a ride to work or take a KAT bus or other public transportation. Bicycle or walk to work or for errands.
• Wait until another day to use gasoline-powered lawn and garden equipment.
• Refuel cars and trucks after dusk.
• Combine errands and reduce motor vehicle trips.
• If you’re going to stop your car for more than a couple of minutes, turn it off. It saves gas and reduces pollution!
• Wait until another day to use household, workshop, and garden chemicals.

Today I am happy...

...because I realized the reason we aren't buying diapers isn't due to lack of money but because we are using drastic measures to potty train Amy.

see Big Orange Michael and The August Challenge

Can't Move - with thanks to Bob Seger

I woke this morning to the feel of panic
Laid in bed and tried to handle it
Started thinking what had to be done
Ain't it funny how the panic grows
When you seem to have everything to lose
Strange because you can't move
With the walls closing in.

taken from Bob Seger's "Night Moves"

I woke last night to the sound of thunder
How far off I sat and wondered
Started humming a song from 1962
Ain't it funny how the night moves
When you just don't seem to have as much to lose
Strange how the night moves
With autumn closing in

I could have fun doing the rest of the song.

GizMag Wins Me Over--I could change careers!

In checking out these utterly cool aircraft (my favs the Gravity powered aircraft flies with no fuel and VTOL AirBike) I really became obsessed with GizMag. Between GizMag and Make: (which has a blog) I could really get depressed over not having enough money for these cool toys or enough live span to play with them. I guess in addition to these two I need to spend more time at Kurzweil AI learning how to live forever.

We can improve our gas mileage

This I have to try! Apparently, adding acetone to your gas (1-3 ounces per 10 gallons [29-87milliliters per 40 liters]) can increase gas mileage by 15-35%. Just make sure that your gas station isn't already adding acetone! Too much and your performance will decrease.

In other warnings, acetone eats paint and dissolves plastics. Should be stored outside.

Additional Benefits

In addition to increased mileage acetone added to fuel boasts other benefits such as increased power, engine life, and performance. Less unburned fuel going past the rings keeps the rings and engine oil in far better condition.

A tiny bit of acetone in diesel fuel can stop the black smoke when the rack is all the way at full throttle. You will notice that the exhaust soot will be greatly reduced and your truck or car runs smoother.

Acetone can reduce hydrocarbon emissions up to 60 percent. In some older cars, the HC readings with acetone in a 1986 GMC went from 440 PPM to 195, as just one example. Though mileage gains taper off with too much acetone, hydrocarbon emissions are nevertheless greatly reduced. Pure acetone is an extremely clean burning fuel that burns in air with a pretty blue, smokeless flame.

Acetone reduces the formation of water-ice crystals in below-zero weather which can damage the fuel filter. Change that fuel filter every year to protect injectors.

There are no known bad effects and every good reason to use acetone in your fuel. I have never seen a problem with acetone, and I have used ACETONE in gasoline and diesel fuel and in jet fuel (JP-4) for 50 years. I have rigorously tested fuels independently (with burns all over me) and am considered an authority on this important subject.

Kevin Costner did it first

Wired has a great article on NASA's attempts to recycle urine into drinking water. Excellent read!

Over the past five years, the agency has spent $60 million delivering potable water to the International Space Station on the space shuttle (6 tons at a cost of about $40,000 per gallon).

One gallon of that stuff would dramatically improve my family's quality of living. Two gallon's and we'd have a whole new life!

Alan Shepherd's first 15-minute suborbital flight was so short that no one thought to install a urine receptacle in his space suit. At T-minus 15 minutes, an electrical problem caused an 86-minute delay on the launchpad. Shepherd's bladder soon reached the bursting point, and he radioed the first-ever "Houston, we have a problem" message. After some deliberation, mission control had an answer: "Do it in the suit."

Troubleshooting Just Got Easier or too convenient

Thanks to Windows XP and MSN Messenger 7.0 I was just able to use Remote Desktop Assistant to get on my father-in-law's desktop computer to grab a file from his laptop computer and transfer it to a server in West Virginia using software downloaded from Atlanta.

I love computers!

Today I am happy...

...because I am accepting my challenges head-on. I am confident that everything will work out.

see Big Orange Michael and The August Challenge

Wahoo! Milestones met!

Ok. I'm an hour late and I missed on biggie but it will complete later in the day. Off to a client meeting.

Calgon!

I'm so ridiculously tired!

Program with external documentation

Visio Rules! If you program, build databases, or build database driven websites (which counts as programming) then you should be documenting your code within the code itself in the form of comments and externally in documents. My stand-bys are a site map (created in Visio), a data dictionary (created in Word), a data map (created in Visio), and a specification (created in Word). I also maintain a single document that records all my assumptions, questions, and notes about future upgrades or oversights that need to be modified "later." Maintaining these documents is enjoyable and having them on -hand makes the coding go so much smoother.

Of Grasshoppers

Student: I am losing my will to fight.
Master: Are you fighting for the right reason?

Names on my brain

Jeff Haas, Bruce Gay, Kirk Diebolt, Joanne Grist, Spy Farmer

Of Grasshoppers

Student: Quit?
Master: Or go for broke.

Wahoo! Milestone!

Aye! I finally hit a milestone at which I promised myself a reward. Tis good to achieve goals.

The Haze!

I'm sitting here...right here on the Group W bench with that nagging feeling that I'm forgetting to do something. Considering 1000 thoughts are fluttering around in my head like a swarm of bats in a moon lit mosquitoe infested Louisana buyou it is not unusual for me to feel like I am forgetting to do something. But this something has the words "I'll do that right now" attached to them...words carelessly spoken as one phone call ended and another arrived.

Of course, those words were attached to a request for a copy of my resume. Shining bright today aren't I?!

Today I am happy...

...because I chose honesty over making a white lie.

see Big Orange Michael and The August Challenge

On Sunday I wanted to list multiple reasons I was happy but for some reason felt compelled to focus on one. I wanted to add on Sunday that I was happy because:

• Noah had a great time on the camping trip
• Noah made friends and got to be a regular 9 year old boy
• I was able to impart knowledge on several boys and hopefully was a positive influence in their lives.
• I had adult conversations!
• No major tramas, dramas or injuries
• I still having camping skills
• I was home
• I was with my wife and family again!

Today I can feel the self-flagellations coming so I may need to post several reasons I am happy just to keep the negative thoughts at bay.

Overcoming Fears

I haven't checked email since Thursday due to the camping trip. I've avoided it all day. Here goes...

...that wasn't so bad.

Today I am happy...

...because Noah had a fantastic time camping.

see Big Orange Michael and The August Challenge

Update Your Science Books

Your kids will be learning some fundamentals a little differently than you. That is, every school in the country is going to have to do some quick updating and adults are going to have a hard time with this. That's right.. Our solar system has ten planets not nine!

1. Mercury
2. Venus
3. Earth
4. Mars
5. Jupiter
6. Saturn
7. Uranus
8. Neptune
9. Pluto (maybe not a planet?)
10. Xena [warrior princess] (temporary name is 2003 UB313)

Thanks to Boing Boing for the headsup.

Today I am happy...

...because tonight I get to sleep in my bed!

see Big Orange Michael and The August Challenge

Funny that. Lots of scouts at mcdonalds

Lunch

More weapons

Noah does flag ceremony for the entire camp

Checking out

Our check out paperwork is lost

On the road

Eating ice cream and cake

Making ice cream.

Flags up

Hot shower time. Left the jeep windows off last night.

A different child chatters. Water between tent and ground cover.