who the - what the - HUH?

I'm WORKING on IT!

2010-02-06T20:45:00.000-08:00

ok ok Not that any of you are "on my back", but I am working on getting the blog moved over to Wordpress. I did manage to get my flash elements working in the test version of the blog, so once I get it working the way I want it, I'll be good to go.

In the mean time -- I thought when I re-launch, it would be fun to do a collaborative piece. That is to say, work with a few of you on writing a story. A fine example of such a story can be found hereThe Vanishing Date. Now, this story, written by a remarkably talented group of writers, was written around Halloween, so the story is themed as a "scary story". BUT it will indeed give you all a fantastic example of how a collaborative story could work.

I figure, we can each post the root part of the story (the beginning) - with the author's name (blog persona or otherwise) and link at the end of it -- then the next writer will continue the story - and a third person can go from there. The trick will be to plan who is going to write parts 1, 2, and 3 (and so on) and then figure out how to collaborate. I have a few ideas on how this might work, but I am not completely sure which would work the smoothest.

IDEA 1- communicate (probably through email) before posting the pieces of story once we are all done.

IDEA 2- first writer posts the introduction piece, then "tags" the next writer. (Um TAG, you're it!) - after which that person writes part two... and tags someone else.

The problem with that would be - people might get confused about when to post or you have other people post the next part on their blog.

IDEA 3- probably the better of the ideas, would be to post PART 1 in the weblog, then have people add to the story using comments.

This, however would involve people actually reading the post, then the resulting comments in order to continue the story properly. (So we wouldn't have two people submit part 3 and getting the story all jacked up.)

Anyway, it is an idea. In the meantime, I am going to be working on the weblog-transfer-to Wordpress-- but won't be doing too much with it tomorrow.

If you can think of other ways to get the story idea to work out smoothly, or would like to take part in writing with me, let me know.

If nobody replies, I guess I'll have to write the whole thing myself.

In Search of -- a new blogging tool

2010-02-03T09:58:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I've been playing with WordPress, but unfortunately, they have deemed it necessary to prevent folks such as myself from using FLASH elements in the webpages that utilize WordPress... which would mean - no wordalizer, no holiday headers, etc. (foo).

So, I did some research - (that is, I traveled as far as Rob's site and found some useful information on this topic.

Those of you who are using Blogger (like myself) on your own domain (again, like myself) will be interested to know that there are options that can help you.

(Deb, and Tim, you are included in this group of people, as are many other people I know.)

I considered using Posterous, since they support publishing to one's own domain. Tumblr has a nice website and may also be another one to consider if you are in the market to find a new blogging software.

I am also looking into MovableType... which I had done in the past (about 3 years ago) when I decided to stay with Blogger... well, now, IT is TIME to move ON!

Once I have it working, I will fix the overall DESIGN of the page, and put the wordalizer back up. If the MT install is relatively painless, I may even update the Wordalizer before puttting it back up.

I am hoping to make this transition painless (for myself), and once I get through it, will be willing to try to help anyone else having to "relocate" their weblog.

Blogger - you suck.

2010-02-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

Ok... I have considered, many times, in the past to leave BLOGGER and move my weblog to a different server. Now they have given me reason to get it done.

Dear FTP user:

You are receiving this e-mail because one or more of your blogs at Blogger.com are set up to publish via FTP. We recently announced a planned shut-down of FTP support on Blogger Buzz (the official Blogger blog), and wanted to make sure you saw the announcement. We will be following up with more information via e-mail in the weeks ahead, and regularly updating a blog dedicated to this service shut-down here: http://blogger-ftp.blogspot.com/.

The full text of the announcement at Blogger Buzz follows.

Last May, we discussed a number of challenges facing[1] Blogger users who relied on FTP to publish their blogs. FTP remains a significant drain on our ability to improve Blogger: only .5% of active blogs are published via FTP ? yet the percentage of our engineering resources devoted to supporting FTP vastly exceeds that. On top of this, critical infrastructure that our FTP support relies on at Google will soon become unavailable, which would require that we completely rewrite the code that handles our FTP processing.

Three years ago we launched Custom Domains[2] to give users the simplicity of Blogger, the scalability of Google hosting, and the flexibility of hosting your blog at your own URL. Last year's post discussed the advantages of custom domains over FTP[3] and addressed a number of reasons users have continued to use FTP publishing. (If you're interested in reading more about Custom Domains, our Help Center has a good overview[4] of how to use them on your blog.) In evaluating the investment needed to continue supporting FTP, we have decided that we could not justify diverting further engineering resources away from building new features for all users.

For that reason, we are announcing today that we will no longer support FTP publishing in Blogger after March 26, 2010. We realize that this will not necessarily be welcome news for some users, and we are committed to making the transition as seamless as possible. To that end:

o We are building a migration tool that will walk users through a migration from their current URL to a Blogger-managed URL (either a Custom Domain or a Blogspot URL) that will be available to all users the week of February 22. This tool will handle redirecting traffic from the old URL to the new URL, and will handle the vast majority of situations.
o We will be providing a dedicated blog[5] and help documentation
o Blogger team members will also be available to answer questions on the forum, comments on the blog, and in a few scheduled conference calls once the tool is released.

We have a number of big releases planned in 2010. While we recognize that this decision will frustrate some users, we look forward to showing you the many great things on the way. Thanks for using Blogger.

Regards,

Rick Klau
Blogger Product Manager
Google
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043

[1] http://buzz.blogger.com/2009/05/ftp-vs-custom-domains.html
[2] http://buzz.blogger.com/2007/01/blogger-custom-domains.html
[3] http://buzz.blogger.com/2009/05/ftp-vs-custom-domains.html
[4] http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55373
[5] http://blogger-ftp.blogspot.com/

----
This e-mail is being sent to notify you of important changes to your Blogger account.

Recently Found... Randomly Shared.

2010-01-31T17:10:00.000-08:00

Every now and then, I get burned-out (internet-wise). I sit down, open the browser, and decide that there is nothing left to read; so I close the browser and find another way to occupy my mind and my time. After a few (days, weeks, months, who knows?) time, I spend time searching for new (to me) and interesting (possibly only to me) sites. I decided that I would share some of the sites I have recently discovered, in no particular order. Click. Enjoy! Feedback is welcome, as always.

1 The Printed Blog The world's first daily newspaper comprised entirely of blogs and other user generated content. Sadly, due to cost issues, it is not currently being printed... maybe with enough readership and help (ie, money) it can live once again. As it is now, 16 issues are available for each of a few different cities.

2 The Periodic Table of Videos Shared primarily for having a different layout; not only are there videos here for every element, but the site plans to offer "films about other areas of chemistry, latest news and occasional adventures away from the lab." My kid is taking Chemistry in school, so I thought this would be useful to her.

3 The Morning News The Morning News is an online magazine, published weekdays since 1999.

4 Best Ever Recipes The best recipes on the internet. (Submit your own--become famous!).

5 The invisible internet Invisible or Deep Web: What it is, How to find it, and Its inherent ambiguity. Seeks to change the way people share and interact with news from the world around them. This reader-submitted content website is designed to function as YOUR HUB for connecting us with blogs, articles, photography, music, events and other content that YOU deem worthy of sharing with your own community. (Many city editions are available for download).

Well, if nothing else, that took up a bit of your idle time. Happy Reading!

Crapcircles. They do exist.

2010-01-29T07:09:00.000-08:00

I feel unwell, and the dog is SICK. It is my day off; the first one I've had in a while, since I have been picking up any available shift lately, and I am beyond tired.

Normally, I have trouble sleeping. Normally. I was sleeping SOUNDLY this morning, and around FOUR O'CLOCK, the dog comes into my room, moaning and whining. I know what this has meant in the past, so I get up to let him out. Then I look into the livingroom and find , circling around in a spiral pattern. The only term I can think of that can give you an accurate image would be "crapcircles". It mocked me. "Ha ha ha! Good morning to you, sir!"

"SH!T," I think, quite literally. I spent the next twenty minutes picking up droplets of crap, spraying carpet cleaner on the darkened spots of carpet, and scrubbing the carpet in smaller circles with a brush, and disposing of paper towel waste in a . Once that task was completed, evil whispered in my ear, "Check the room that serves as the office." I wandered into the "office" and turned on the light. More crapcircles.

Sometime around 5:30am, I finished cleaning up the crapnel from the floor. My very light beige / near white / carpet seems unstained... but I am not entirely sure yet. I have the Bissel Carpet Steamer out and ready--I just wasn't wanting to use such a noise-inducing machine when there were people sleeping. I have an appointment and an errand to run today, afterwhich I will steam-clean the areas affected by the dog.

This is not how one should start his or her day.

Now, I Begin to Wonder...

2010-01-26T10:08:00.000-08:00

Regarding my previous post (the one demonstrating my mini-mid-life crisis), I was asked why some such part of my site is taking up too much space in the browser window. (more or less, here you will find a screen shot of the word exchange).

I am fully appreciative when people alert me to random issues with my site (and believe me, there are many issues), and I actually encourage them to do so. If they find an issue and know how to fix it, I applaud them when they not only point to the problem, but also offer a solution.

The problem now is, I have run a "cross-browser" check, checking the browsers I CAN actually check, and have not replicated the described problem. (Of course, I do not have AOL), so if she was indeed using AOL, I have no way of checking that without installing AOL, which I will not be doing at this time, since I no longer use AOL and do not really want to have such software occupy over 100 MB (I don't know exactly what space it requires) of my hard drive.

Being that I needed to test my site across many different browsers, I decided to utilize the tool found at browser shots dot org, and found out that in most of the browsers (or at least the most commonly used ones), it appears normally, (or as it should). This can be found here, for a limited time. I am sure they will not keep this available for very long due to server space and other related things.

It frustrates me when I hear that my site has some display issue that I can neither replicate nor view myself. I cannot fix what I cannot see, and cannot understand what I cannot see. Since I cannot see what she saw, I have been unable to fix the problem. However-- if that was the first time that issue appeared to her, since my site has not been re-written (but merely had been recolored and had a new graphic placed for the header), I think it might be more of a local issue with her browser. [?] This is not my way of saying, "It's not you, it's me"... I have not made any major changes to my site in years [2003], and quite honestly, I am not even really finished with the changes I started in 2003.

I am working on it, I promise.

Lately...

2010-01-25T08:34:00.000-08:00

purposefulness: the quality of having a definite purpose

Lately, I have been wondering why I am here. Lately, as in, well, lately... the past few weeks. Here, as in on the Earth. Work is still work. I get up most mornings (extremely early), go for a run (treadmill or street, depending on the weather conditions), shower and shave, get dressed and leave. I work for the duration of my shift, and leave.

I head home, often pausing as I drive past the many pubs along the way; think, "I could use a drink", but never stop to have one. Soon after that, I arrive at home, usually before my daughter arrives home from school. I shower, change into regular clothes, and typically spend the next hour staring at random images on the television screen. I cook dinner, and attempt to talk to my (not such a) kid about her day, then go to bed to start all over the next day.

My point is, I feel as if I have no purpose. Get up. Go to work. Come home. Cook dinner. Go to sleep. Get up... (sigh).

Sick Burn!

2010-01-22T10:06:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, while cooking dinner, I burned my arm when reaching into the oven. (Sure, I realize there are ways to avoid this... but I cannot really shield my entire arm just to reach in the oven to fetch an item once it has completed its cooking process.) It is only a FIRST degree burn, so it wasn't really as bad as the one I received from STEAM back in 2003. That burn was about the size of a credit card and was a 2nd degree burn. That one was much more painful and took a (very) long time to heal.

This one was doing well... until this morning. I had managed to keep it from "peeling" -- that is, I was able to keep the "scab" from peeling or falling off up until today. I know, that is "GROSS" (in the words of my daughter), but lately, I have had a lack of post topics.

The skin on the burn softened as I showered, and it came off (partially). Partially is the key term here, because that means that it is still somewhat attached at one end. I have, in the past, pulled on these, and it not only hurt but also caused more trauma to the layers of skin. Indeed, I did know better than to PULL on the skin, but sometimes we act against our better judgement.

This hurts a bit, and to prevent it from snagging on (sleeves or anything else)... AND because now, it isn't just a darkened area, but a skin peeled off, exposing the tender new skin beneath it spot... I don't want it to STICK to my clothes, or get debris in it. (Yes, again, "GROSS". )

In any case, I have applied BURN STUFF" to my wound, and have been doing so since I burned myself. It is healing, slowly... although today's events certainly will slow the process.

It's OFFICIAL.

2010-01-12T12:13:00.000-08:00

I am old. I know this, because my FREE preview for Prevention "sampler magazine" arrived in the mail late last week. Inside the front cover was a short letter, which read:

"Please enjoy this FREE sampler of Prevention magazine.

Dear Friend,

In the following pages, you're going to discover dozens of simple ways to take charge of yoru health and happiness All in less time than it takes to brew your morning pot of coffee!" For example:

A simple way to melt away the pounds. (I have not included the paragraphs that accompany these bullet pointed items, because I am sure you can get the idea from them being here without them)

How to make your food work harder for you

Warning to anyone with a whirlpool or hot tub. (This one talks about fecal bacteria and other disgusting things and informs you of ways you can prevent it).

An article on why it isnt always best to sit up straight. I am not sure what this one is about.

Common mistakes people make when drinking tea that strips it of its health benefits. (are you making this mistake?)

Best makeup tips for women over 40, according to a celebrity make-up artist (I can't say that I even care, since I do not wear makeup)

Why over the counter cough medicines are worthless (and what to take instead)

Foods that help you sleep better (Wow. an article I would actually read... amazing)

OK, while there is a lot of usueful information in this magazine, I did not really feel that I was included in its target audience. I did not realize that I was "among the old" -- I guess I am... A bigger concern is, and I MIGHT be wrong, but--isn't Prevention magazine for women???

Sick and Tired

2010-01-09T03:00:00.000-08:00

Lately, I have been having problems sleeping. I know that those of you that have read this site in the past may be thinking, "yah, so, what's new?" The point in my stating that I have had problems sleeping *lately* lies in the fact that for the first half of last year, I slept 7-8 hours each night - consistently. Things in my life had fallen into place, and I felt at peace with my life. If you were to look in the dictionary under - I just might be listed as its definition.

Yesterday, I should have ventured to the grocery store. By five o'clock pee-emm, I still had not gone to said supermarket... I realize they are open (24 hours a day, even). I simply lack the energy to go to the store, push the cart around in a zig-zag pattern, pick up miscellaneous items (I have a list made) and then wait in line for the checker to scan them and give me the total dollar amount that I owe.

Among other things overlooked or unaccomplished by me, would be the fact that I have not finished washing the laundry, and I have not emptied the dishwasher... BUT the dishwasher has been run and is currently heating / drying the dishes.

As far as the list of things I actually did accomplish-- I can add vacuuming the house, cleaning the bathrooms, and dusting the furniture.

--added this paragraph at 7:30pm Saturday--
I did get the rose bushes in the backyard pruned down, as rose bushes like to be trimmed sometime in January/February -- depending on where it is you live, during their dormancy period. I feel a sense of accomplishment due to this.
---- now back to the end of the post as it originated ----

Even with all that I have done, there is still a long list of things I should get done. It's just that I have little ambition to tackle most of those items on the list. I guess I'll get them done eventually. I am just really damned tired.

I have plenty of time to decide...

2010-01-07T11:57:00.001-08:00

I have been wondering if I should attempt FebNoWriMo, a challenge to post 50 thousand words during the month of February. I have attempted this in the past, and failed severely. I have decided that I just might try again. (This, of course would not count such things as posting the list of words just added to wordalizer, or other things similar to it.) Before you get excited and go looking for new words in wordalizer... I have not updated it YET... but it is coming in the near future.

I have approximately 285 words to add, and my goal is to get the word count up to 2010 before the year ends. Currently, it holds 1715 words... so I only need ten more.

Please contribute! It is much more worth knowing that your contributed words are indeed in the wordalizer.

The sooner you submit words, the sooner I'll hit the 2010 point and do the update! (It would be great to be able to surpass 2010 words and leave that in the dust) -- let's go for 3000 by the end of the year!

Home Invasion - Stage 2

2010-01-05T11:20:00.000-08:00

For the past few weeks, I have been finding these nasty little beasts in my home. I despise them--and want them to die.

I have been looking for information on some kind of environmentally sound approach to ending their existence on my property, and will let you know if I find one that works. I am not looking for non-cruel methods, since I intend to kill them -- but I want to select substances toxic to them - without harming the non pesty inhabitants that might be lurking in the flower beds and yard.

(Stage 1 - was an ant invasion that took place a few years ago).

Play Ball!

2010-01-03T15:16:00.001-08:00

I am currently assisting Tim work with a monster baseball card collection in order to find out the value of the set in its entirety. There are literally cases and cases of these things... which used to be at his place and have now "found their way" here - parked in the closet of the spare room, and scattered around the floor area between walls and furniture.

(OK, in his defense - the mess has the look of some attempt at organization, although nobody other than Tim would ever really understand it.)

Baseball card collecting is not something I was involved in while growing up, and I have to say it is not something I would care to take on myself even now; but, since it is difficult for one person to go through each box, find out which cards are not in "the set", and input them into the Beckett website. It is kind of a set precedent that whenever he has some mundane or task to get through, he comes to me for help.

More likely than not, after today he will probably be off doing whatever it is Tim does, and leaving cases (and cases) of boxes of baseball cards in the third room of my house. This will lead me to believe he is "never to return", and I will get tired of looking at all of the mess and spend my days off finishing what he started (entering all of this into the Beckett website) so that I don't have cases of boxes and boxes all over the third room. After all... WHAT IF someone drops by and needs to use the third room?

Maybe I should peruse the collection for the one single MINT condition card, worth some obscene amount of money, which he has no idea is in the collection, and keep it for myself as a consultant fee?

Current (Estimated) value of cards entered:

New Year - 2010

2010-01-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

Here is the header as it was for the New Year's Holiday!
Since the header was taken down on January 5, I thought I'd place it here (although smaller) for anyone who missed it.

How I (almost) Avoided Christmas Shopping This Year...

2010-01-01T13:36:00.001-08:00

... that is, at least, in the classic sense.

Present state of the economy in mind, like last year, we opted to "draw names" and buy "One Gift" in lieu of having to buy for each-and-every-person a "something". In past years, I had actually spent around $50 on each person... people being "family" -- since one cannot simply tell a girlfriend, "Gee, I would have purchased a gift for you, but we drew names and I didn't get you. And, since you are not actually involved in that name-drawing, you get nothing from me... but I did get off cheap this year!" However, this year, I spent Christmas sans-girlfriend, so that unpurchased gift scenario is not something with which I was burdened... (Where was I, before I veered and wound up here?) Oh, right... the name drawing thing.

As it turned out, I drew the same name I drew last year, and purchased an iPhone case and a $40 gift card for the iTunes music / app store. I did this through the use of the internet, which allowed me to avoid (MOST OF)the places (such as) the mall, or other over-crowded shopping venues... (although I did end up in a very crowded BestBuy store to get the gift card.) I had gone into BestBuy to see if they had the type of case for which I was looking (which they did not, but I managed to get the gift card). I then returned home and bought the case using the internet, and even though I ordered/purchased it on December 17, it arrived on time.

The holiday celebration, overall, went well. I have been better in past years about not being a Scrooge, but this year, my heart was just not into the festivities. I had hopes, at least earlier this year, that I would have more cause for celebration, but as things turned out, the year dealt some events that I'd rather not have received. Life, however, marches forward; and we cannot sit around drowning in what-if(s) and why-can't(s) for too long, or we will find ourselves in a pool of . I am working on facing 2010 with positivity (if I may use a yet another word which I am not entirely sure exists) and spending much energy on optimistic effort. (This, as some of you know, is a LOT of work for me, since I am a perpetual pessimist.)

Move forward. Retain high hopes. blah blah blah.

Christmas is done.

2009-12-29T13:38:00.000-08:00

Glad that's over! On to 2010.

I am not even sure if anyone ever reads the rants - but if you haven't, go take a look. They are postings from before "blogs" were so easy to update (when you had to type all the HTML by hand in a regular text editor (like Notepad or Textedit) and had to put in all the html character code crap.

Well, anyway, I am (finally) getting around to fixing the old rant pages that are not yet formatted to the "new" (2005) page styling. This can be a bit of a Pain in the butt, so I have put it off for (oh, about 3 years now). While doing that, I am attempting to play "help desk" to a kid who wants to get her ipod working but doesn't really want to read the book - and apparently is only following half of the trouble shooting process.

So, my day off is being spent sitting here, trying to work on the site, also trying to play tech-support for my daughter who has a new iPod Nano that isn't synching up to the computer at her mothers house. The darn thing won't even recognize the Nano, and we are trying to do troubleshooting through instant message. NOT so easy. She is getting frustrated (you know how even typed text can have a tone?) and part of that is due to the fact that she is most likely talking to friends while talking to me, and listening to her mother (b!tching at her)and trying to concentrate on what directions I can give her-- never having used a Nano in order to really know for sure that what I am saying is what it needs.

whew... that was alot of detail but now I feel better.

At some point, I will have to get off the couch and make food to take to the New Year's eve celebration. I should also consider eating something and have to shower...BUT since there is nobody here to harass me about doing any of it - most likely, it won't get done until (much) later today.

Test Results

2009-12-21T16:56:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of going in for my annual blood tests (for health not drug screening) two weeks ago. For these tests, I fasted for roughly 18 hours. Today, my doctor called with my results.

Total Cholesterol: 284

The breakdown:
Triglycerides: 89
HDL: 65 (this is the "good" cholesterol).
LDL: 219 (this is the "bad" cholesterol).

As you can see, I have to figure out how to "fix" this. I have been able to do it in the past (without "drugs"), and I intend on doing it again. It has become apparent that I will have to make more permanent changes in order to remain in good health.

Other results indicate that my glucose levels are reportedly good. This makes me happy, since I had some problems with blood sugar levels in the past. At least I am doing something right.

Glucose: 98 (below 110 is "good" for fasting glucose levels).

So, what IS considered NORMAL?

Here are the three basic categories for total blood cholesterol:
Total Cholesterol
Optimal: Less than 200
Borderline high risk: 200 to 239
High risk: 240 and above

LDL Cholesterol
Optimal: Less than 100
Near or above optimal: 100 to 129
Borderline high: 130 to 159
High risk: 160 to 189
Very high risk: 190 or above

HDL Cholesterol
Optimal: 60 and above
Acceptable: 40 to 59
Higher risk: Less than 40

Triglycerides
Optimal: Less than 150
Borderline high risk: 150 to 199
High risk: 200 to 499
Very high risk: 500 or above

I have considered following a vegetarian diet for a while...

in order to see how my cholesterol is affected by it. I have yet to determine if I can actually stick to a vegetarian diet. The thought of trying scares me. Out of the kindness of my fat-clogged heart, I have included this convenient link for naturally lowering cholesterol.
_______________

(Cholesterol Numbers) read more about it.
(HDL is good) - read more about these numbers here.

I'll think of something.

2009-12-01T16:00:00.001-08:00

Ok... Got the battery for the laptop - and it fixed the problem. It was not actually "CHEAP", but it was cheaper than a new laptop.

1 Aluminum G4 15" Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery NEW -
Aluminum G4 15" Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery NEW $84.95

Shipping & Handling (UPS Ground) : $6.99

Total: $91.94

Getting to avoid spending money on a new laptop anytime soon - GIDDYUP!

I know that now that the battery is new, I can get at least a couple of years out of this laptop...

I hope to have something worthy to post here in the next couple of weeks.
__________

In other news...

I have replaced the "blogroll" (since it had ads) with a hand-typed list of links. The list is just in whatever order I typed the links in, and has nothing to do with any thoughts I have of the blog(s) linked.

I am working on a script to place the links in "most recently published" order... or something like it. If you want to be listed here, send me an email

Woah on the Woes, Already!

2009-11-21T11:18:00.000-08:00

I have determined (read that GUESSED) that the problem with the power-cord is likely the BATTERY for the computer. This theory is based on the results from the observation that when using either of two different power cords, the battery for the laptop only charges to 54% capacity (just over half -- woe #1) It fluctuates anywhere between 48% and 53%, and never reaches beyond that. I ordered (read that as purchased) a new battery for the laptop. It is around $85.00, which is definitely more affordable than say, a new laptop.

Aside from that news, tonight I will be going to a friend's house to watch the (pay-per-view) UFC fight, and most likely have a beer or three.

In other news, DOG is getting older, and I am very sad to say that he is showing definite signs of wear-and-tear (old age is a b1tch, woe #2). I am hoping to keep him around at least a few more years... overall he is in good health, he just has issues with his hips and can no longer hear anything anyone says. [He does, however have his eyesight, and if anyone is (brave and or stupid) enough to break in, I am not so sure that the dog would not defend said home.]

I did finally replace the old television I had with a Sony. As much as I *wanted* the 80-ish inch, I decided to get one that would fit in the entertainment niche which is a built-in, and would require a bit of a hassle to re-model anyway (woe #3). So, I now have a Sony LCD and I love this thing. Now that I have hi-def capabilities, I have to call DirecTV and upgrade that so I can be up-to-date. [Go, Me].

Been busy with holiday-related stuff, mostly getting ready for anyone that burns down the carport or garage with a deep-fat-turkey fryer or random accidents with electric carving knives or other events, all which are likely to happen during the holidays.

I wish everyone a fantastic Turkey Day, think of me as I will be among the lucky folks working (woe #4) to ensure the rest of the people live to see the remainder of the holiday season (December).

If it's not one thing...

2009-11-02T17:20:00.000-08:00

It's another.

A while back my keyboard to my laptop POPPED a key - and I replaced the keyboard... all was well and good. For some reason, now, my battery will not charge, and is currently TIED DOWN (has to be plugged into electricity).

I have to find out if it is a) the battery or b) the power cord that is causing the issue. Then I have to purchase whatever part I need. I am hoping it is the power cord, because they are cheaper.

battery

power adapter
Somebody stole my good luck, and I would like it back.

My Head is Caving in.

2009-10-29T09:28:00.001-07:00

Either I am coming down with "something", or I simply over-did things this week. I woke up this morning, and (pretty-much every inch of) my body is sore. I am not talking slight muscle twinge soreness; I am talking about the type that makes you think, "I don't even want to move at all today" soreness.

I have been sneezing for two days-- but that COULD just be allergies (it is autumn after all). I do not have a sore throat or cough (so far) BUT -- my head hurts (across my forehead, in my sinuses, and at the base or my skull); my neck and shoulders hurt; my arms hurt. (This goes all the way down to my hands, making it difficult to type; but I am doing so anyway, because of all the things I *should* be doing... this is the least painful.) I have taken something for the cluster-headache and currently, I am still waiting for it to work.

(That could very well be a run-on sentence, and I do not care.)*

I have a lot to do, and no ambition to do any of it at this time. I am hoping this will pass soon, because I do realize that there is work to be done. I am trying to convince myself that I feel great. The power of positive thinking isn't working... maybe I forgot to pay the bill.

______

As a completely unrelated footnote / sidenote - or other observation -- I just realized that when one clicks the links in the blog rolling (list of blogs in the right column,) it tacks an AD to the top of the website. I apologize for this and I am going to go FIX this NOW. They have given an option for me, as publisher to opt out of the ads. I apologize for my site having added them to your pages when people visit from my site.)

Been kind of busy recently...

2009-10-22T20:40:00.000-07:00

But I'm putting the Halloween header(s) up. One is flash (same one from before - black with moving clouds and dripping "blood" and the other is for those nonflash having folks - Have a great Halloween if I don't make it back before it gets here -- otherwise I at least intend on coming back.

2009-09-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

After seeing the Refrigerator display (see previous post below), I was back at the GOOD website, looking at comments from people who viewed the photos displayed on the article.

While I was looking, a fat cell in my brain either melted or popped, and I recalled a photo I took [once upon a time], which I posted on my weblog. Instead of a photograph of my refrigerator, I had taken one of my pantry. This happened after a sizable invasion of ants made its way into my house; most likely to get out of the rain, and I had to evacuate the food that had been in the pantry and then spray insecticide in the spaces least likely to come into direct contact with boxes of food.

I was wondering if I had actually posted this photo, or if I had planned on doing so, yet never got around to actually posting the picture. I do know that I had taken some photos of the pantry, but have no memory of which year it was that any of this may have occurred.

While searching for the post that might contain the image, I read some of the old posts from April 2004. Having noticed that what I had to say was (in the very least) more interesting than it has been in the past 2 years (possibly longer), I feel inspired to write... more often or at least, about better things than as of late.

Here are a few more posts that I found amusing:
True Grit -- and a few more in that vicinity -- like
this untitled (and very short) one.

Way back in 2002, I shared a link to Dancing Paul... (a site which is still up and seems to be doing fairly well).

Among other "found things", I came across this one, which contemplates the possibility that I may have a pseudo-psycholgical identity.

Is it wrong that I have read some of these old posts and laughed?

Unfortunately, I have not yet found the post I was looking for.

But, I did find this one, which is at least ABOUT the pantry. If I find the one I was looking for, I'll come back and post it as a "post-posted thought".

I found it... [picture]

You are what you eat...

2009-09-22T20:58:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I am a pork tenderloin... or perhaps I am a green leaf lettuce salad with grape tomatoes, or perhaps I am left-over chicken stir-fry with a bit of white rice (which was what I had for lunch). Unless I should backtrack to breakfast, in which case I would be "nothing"... unless you count a 20 oz black coffee "breakfast".

Yes, I do realize that I should not "skip" meals. I was simply out of edibles, which led me to venture out and shop for some groceries this afternoon. I picked up (just about) everything on my list... the cost of the items came to just over $205.00. I am now the proud, albeit temporary, owner of food. [At least, that is unless Tim drops by.] Either way, I filled my pantry and refrigerator with .

"You are what you eat" is an idiom that I had heard often enough, but still didn't know where exactly it came from, or how it came to be so widely used, so I looked it up:

What you eat determines how healthy of a person you are. So to be fit you must eat healthy. It was first used in the 1960's (during the hippy era). It originally referred to eating wholefood.

Show Opening: You Are What You Eat This show is set for tomorrow, and I may just drop in on them to see what it's about.

What the... ???? !

2009-09-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

ok, so lately, the SHIFT key on the left-hand side of my keyboard has been acting up... [read that as not working half of the time]. This means that much of what i would capitalize using said left-shift-key [that would be the right-hand typed letters] - do not capitalize as i wish.

Today, the left-shift-key popped off my laptop. i tried to re-attach it via directions from a couple of websites [both of which sell parts such as this] -- and i was unsuccessful in my quest, having lost any sense of patience that i once had.

Tim dropped by to do laundry or some other such random favor or perk [such as FREE directTV with all of the channels] that he often takes advantage of having; and i passed the aforementioned powerbook to him and asked if he could possibly have more patience than myself in fixing the key-cap. he was able to get the stupidpieceofshit thing back on, however, it did not stay on - so that is chalked up to [along with my previous attempt] 'failure'.

So, here i am, attempting to type this post - unable to properly capitalize any of the left-hand shift key used letters... which causes the right-hand side letters to be not be capitalized. [Sure, i could go through the trouble of using the right-hand shift key and twist my hands around to capitalize said left-hand letters, but what would be the fun in that]!

So, now, i have ordered a replacement keyboard for around 85 u.s. dollars [plus shipping] and have to deal with this missing left-hand shift key for about five days. [give or take].