Acknowledge, Move on!

Wanna hear God laugh?

2010-08-25T09:06:00.004-05:00

Tell him your plans.

Yeah, that plan I wrote about (at 5AM yesterday) is already out the window. Yesterday, in addition to my planed cleaning of the kitchen, doing laundry, hosing off the deck,...I also watched Z all day. Not Slick's fault. She was tired, then she had to go to the dentist, then while she was out she stopped at the store for eggs (untainted, hopefully.) Then she needed a nap. Finally, Slick took the night shift. Which was still probably more effort than my whole day.

And then this morning? Well, isn't it obvious? Z and I have been hanging out since 5:30AM.

Plans? HA!

Daddy Shift Gets Easier & Harder

2010-08-24T04:08:00.004-05:00

Z has been having digestive issues since the weekend. He finds it difficult to burb and even harder to poop. We were learning to manage this with more vigorous burping, bicycles with his legs & Mylicon. Poor guy must not have been dealing as well as he should because he got Colic.

Colic, I've learned, - One learns a lot in a very short time when a baby is born, especially a preemie - is a "catch-all" term for baby becoming extremely fussy due to stuff like digestion issues. And when I say fussy, I mean occasional periods of 20-30 min where he screams at full volume even though he's been changed, fed, burped, held, etc.

The Dr gave us marching orders on Monday. Not only do we need to keep at this gas/constipation issue, we've also got to get him gaining more weight. So, more feeding, more formula, Mylicon as needed, new burping technique, and ways to help him poop.

Which I prefer to avoid sharing.

This all translates into Z being fed as much as 12 times a day right now. Slick and I are, for the time being, doing something of an 80/20 split with responsibilities around here. She's doing 80% of baby time, I'm doing 80% of everything else. We'll do this for as long as we can.

Possibly until she returns to work in 4 weeks.

So, Daddy time is "easier." I get him for my usual 5AM shift. I'll get him for ~2-3 other shifts. I'll feed him formula during this time. I'll put him in the stroller at sunrise and walk the dog. By the time all that's done, Slick will take over. This sounds really simple, right? Wrong.

Poor guy is always fussing. Sleep is a real challenge for him. Sometimes he just needs to scream bloody murder. Comforting him can work, but doing bicycles with his legs actually seems to have a better long-term effect. A couple good farts, some poop & he's able to rest for a bit.

Oh and don't be confused by Daddy time. I'm still helping all the rest of the time. But Daddy time, which lasts for 3-4 hours at a time, is Daddy-only time. Slick uses that time to get extra rest, take a break, do anything on her 20% to-do list. I'm just afforded a full 4-6 hours of sleep at night while Slick can never get more than 4. And 4 is only if she's really lucky.

And of course, through all this, my dog supervises me. He sleeps when I sleep. He monitors the baby when I monitor the baby. He checks the baby regularly, too. He's been better than the monitors at knowing when Z is really needing us. Max runs over to Z's room, then runs back crying for us to go check on him.

Oh well, everyone warned me and I'm not surprised, but today I finally did ask, "What have I gotten myself into?" As hard as it's been with the hospital stay, the reversed nights/days, the digestion problems & the colic, it's still worth it. I love the little guy.

Wow, he just let one rip from the bouncy seat beside me. Never thought I would be so excited by a baby farting.

Night Shift

2010-08-17T03:31:00.002-05:00

Z came home Saturday. Thank goodness my sister & inlaws are here. They've been awesome. Meals, errands, cleaning, and helping to watch Z.

Saturday night, Z & Slick had a hard time getting into a rhythm feeding. Sunday night, Z became a night-owl. So Monday evening, I went to bed at 8pm. Grammy & Auntie took care of Z until Midnight. Slick took the 12-2am shift. I'm the overnight shift. Slick's still getting up to feed. But between feedings it's all me.

I setup his bouncy seat next to the computer, put some lullabies on Pandora, and have been relaxing with leftover coffee & web-surfing.

Hopefully, we can move Z to a day-time schedule quickly. Feeding is one thing. Being wide-awake ALL night is another.

Months Later...

2010-08-13T06:44:00.004-05:00

I know I've not been blogging. I had plans of writing funny stories about pregnant Slick, but then at week 18 we found out that we had lost one of the twins. We still have the other. In fact, he got tired of waiting and showed up during week 34-5/7.

My son - whom we'll refer to as "Z" - is 2 weeks old today. This means he's still days shy of 37 weeks. This means he's still a preemie.

Soon after his birth, we nearly lost Z to a collapsed lung. The doctors & nurses in the Presbyterian Hospital in Matthews, NC worked all night to keep him alive. A decade ago, this may not have been possible. That was then, this is now. My little dude lived. My little dude is beginning to defy expectations. He's a fighter. (Old school, first edition D&D)

The first few days were hard. He was constantly watched. They had more than one additional intervention. Yet, once the weekend was over, he started to surprise everyone. Z began to improve rapidly. Nurses would go home for their nights off and come back shocked. He started out with a ventilator, chest tube, feeding tube & a nutrient tube in his belly button. By the time he was a week old, they started removing tubes and wires to expose one damned-cute baby to the world.

Now, even though the image of my son looking like a Borg-baby is still fresh, there's serious talk of us taking him home. We're "ready." We've got the gear. We've had infant-CPR. We've been working with the nurses daily to understand how he's the same as (and different then) any other baby. And yet, we're old enough and just wise enough to know, we're not ready. One can never be ready for their first baby to come home.

Preemies have special needs for the first 2 to 6 months. All babies need caution around people and germs. Z won't be going "public" for at least 2 months. No sick people are supposed to visit. If we get sick, we're supposed to wear masks around him. For the next several months, we're supposed to be germaphobes.

None of this worries me like my fear of him having lung problems. The CPR class is helping to alleviate some of that anxiety. In the hospital, he's got wires all over monitoring his vitals. He's got his nurse, nurses all around, doctors & respiration specialists at a moment's notice. They all know him. They all look at their job in NICU as a "calling." They can protect my son. Can I?

These are all natural fears. And, I'm a big fan of verbalizing fears. I'm a bring my fear into the light and confront it sort of guy. It's probably why I would have taken that infant CPR class even if it wasn't mandatory for all NICU parents.

And yet, let me tell you, there's been nothing better than my nightly visit with Z. Nearly every night these past 2 weeks, I've driven the 30 minutes to the hospital just to help feed and change him. Then I hold him, rock him, hum softly to him. And then I go home alone. The drive itself is draining to do over and over. But the reward is worth it.

At some point during one of my drives, 10,000 Maniacs popped into my head. The song suddenly makes so much more sense to me.

These are the days.
These are days you'll remember.
Never before and never since, I promise
Will the whole world be warm as this
And as you feel it,
You'll know it's true
That you are blessed and lucky
It's true that you
Are touched by something
That will grow and bloom in you

I don't know if this is a blog-resurrection or not. This is a place for me to write when I need to. Sometimes I don't write because I have nothing to say. The last several months I haven't written because I had too much to say. Now, I'm just bubbling with joy & fear.

These are the day!

Twelve Weeks And Counting

2010-02-22T13:28:00.003-05:00

December 31, 2009 started out unlike any other day of my life.

The day's plans were to be simple. I would sleep in a little and get up to start preparing from our New Years weekend house guests. My wife had left for work early and I had indeed gotten up late. Tired and sore from a ton of holiday traveling, I wanted to stay in bed but my bladder had other plans. So, like a zombie-movie reject, I lurched towards my bathroom. On my way, I picked up my Crackberry. I had set it to "bedside mode" the night before with the goal of sleeping in. The plan - never to be used again - worked oh so well. I noticed 3 missed calls, several emails, voice mail and texts. All from my wife! My urgent need to pee disappears. Panic - I knew - was milliseconds away.

I don't know what made me see it. But in that void between need to pee and need to freak, my eyes spotted something white stuck to the mirror above my sink.

"Yes," My brain told my legs. "Move towards the white thing. Perhaps it will save us! It's only 4 steps away. We can make it. DON'T PANIC!"

Unnnggggg....

Plod...Can't see it yet. Why did I grab my phone instead of my glasses?

Shuffle...It looks like a post it note.

Plod...Yes, a post it note. Dammit! Still can't read it.

Shuffle...Words! There are definitely words. Wake up! You can read them. Huh? Wait? These words don't make sense to me. What language is this?

We may be pregnant!

Look at phone.

Look at sticky note.

Look at phone.

OMG Yes!

I remember my wedding. I remember breakfast in Hawaii on the first morning of my honeymoon. I remember Venice and the Grand Canyon. I remember all the great moments of my life. They are snapshot of beautiful places and moments surrounded by loved-ones. Suddenly, those perfect moments would share space in my mind with my dirty - someone please clean it or put up hazardous waste signs - bathroom.

I called and talked to Slick for several minutes, she in hushed tones at work and me in my "top of the world" voice.

Amazingly, the day was mostly crap-tastic and I didn't care. BABY! Clean... BABY! Grocery store... BABY! This is the worst...BEST day ever!

Best, except for 2 weeks later at the ultra-sound when the technician said, "And here's the second sack."

Brain to ears! Did she just say 2nd sack? What's going on?

"And here's the 2nd heart beat."

OK, seriously, what's wrong with you ears? She's saying something that doesn't compute. Get her to say it again.

At which point, Slick pulled herself together long enough to confirm that this woman was not crazy or insane. Yes, we are having twins.

Not One but TWO!

The odds of twins according to the internets is less than 3%. Twins are most likely to occur if you use fertility drugs, are over 45, have family history of twins, are born in places like Massachusetts or Nigeria. Not being in any of those statical categories, one might think we're "safe."

Never tell me the odds!

So amazingly improbably is this whole twin thing that it took us several minutes to convince my sister that we weren't shitting her. She believed baby. Heck, she figured out Slick was pregnant by reading between the lines in a cryptic email where we begged out of a family event this summer. But twins? I had to swear to her that we were not lying. It's just not the kind of gag I could pull.

The family all knows. Last week we started telling friends. Today, 12 weeks +1, I'm finally breaking my blog silence and writing about it. It's literally been killing me to not write about this. Pregnant with twins is a constant source of material.

My father apparently stops mid-thought sometimes, looks at my mom with this incredulous look and says, "Twins?" My mother-in-law saw the ultra-sound for the first time this weekend and was just dumbstruck even though she's known for weeks. And our friends. Avouz was so happy for us but unsurprised when we told him Slick was pregnant, but utterly speechless (really hard to do) when we added the twins part.

And before you ask. We have no idea - for at least 6 more weeks - what their genders are.

More to follow...

My Showboat Coin Cup

2010-02-18T16:16:00.003-05:00

I've been doing some heavy cleaning this week. While cleaning, I moved the well-faded Showboat casino coin cup - which I keep all my loose change in until I turn it into a Starbucks card - and set it on my desk. I've been looking at said cup all week and thinking about my college friends. Why?

It's the only remaining souvenir I have left from my bachelor's party 11 years ago. I love my friends, but admittedly didn't enjoy my party much. The party all made sense of course. We had free access to a beach house just 20 minutes from Atlantic City. It was a bachelor's party for goodness sakes. There was just one unfortunate detail: I don't like gambling.

And yet, the cup - when it's not sitting on the floor of my computer closet - is a constant reminder of their efforts that weekend and our friendship which has endured since freshman year nearly 20 years ago.

I don't miss those times - I was a rudderless person back then - but I do miss the company.

I cherish my stupid showboat cup.

My Money's on the Man in the Yellow Hat

2010-01-24T09:49:00.002-05:00

Sometimes Sheldon cracks me up.

E A G L....sigh

2010-01-22T14:43:00.002-05:00

The pain of the Eagles horrid finish has left me frustrated for the most unusual reason: I got a ton of new Eagles gear over the holidays. My Eagles hoody is the most comfortable sweatshirt I own, but I just haven't been able to bring myself to wear it.

Well, screw it. The Eagles are still my team. It's hoody time!

Feeling Minimalistic

2010-01-22T14:39:00.003-05:00

Layout change.

Posts have been flowing so infrequently in the past year that I've got this urge to make this simple. Maybe a fresh start will encourage creativity.

Weekend Planning

2010-01-06T10:33:00.001-05:00

Attached is a copy of an email I sent to my friends warning them that I would not be available this weekend...

I'm sorry, but you will be losing me to football Saturday night. The Eagles vs Cowgirls is scheduled for 8pm. Since the Eagles will be winning the Super Bowl (hope springs eternal) there will be other weekend schedule conflicts over the next several weeks. I may desire to watch the other games as well. I will attempt to pry myself from the TV as much as possible.

Exception Clauses:

- In the unfortunate and unlikely event that the Eagles lose, I will be a lot less interested in football.

- If the universe decides to crap on me and the Cowgirls (that's right, it wasn't a typo) were to make it to the super bowl, no one is permitted to mention the word football again until June...maybe August.

Turn Tail And Run

2009-12-23T10:06:00.003-05:00

We're up at "the Farm" this week (Slick's Grandmother lives on the family farm way up in Potter County, PA) for Christmas.

Max and I were out hiking in the snow this morning (brisk 17 deg) when we came across a confluence of fresh tracks at the tree-line. Because of the blowing snow, any tracks we found were from today. We studied them intently. The fist-sized tracks were probably bear. The multitude of dog-like tracks were probably the coyote we've been hearing about. Max found this very interesting. He sniffed and sniffed. He dug at a few tracks. And then...

Max head snapped up and looked into the tree-line. He stared intently, sniffed the air, sniffed the tracks and proceeded to drag me down the hill with all his might.

I've never seen this kind of response from him. He's a "charge headlong" kind of dog. It's part of the reason I usually have to leash him while hiking. I once lost him for 30 minutes when he bolted after a deer while hiking in SC. We've been in the woods in question many times. He's flushed grouse & turkeys from the fields. He's chased deer into there so fast that my in-laws' collie had to go find him for me. But, run away? This was a first.

At first, I was going to make him stop. Except, well... His tail was tucked as far as it could go between his legs. His ears were as tight against his head as he could get them. He kept whipping his head around looking into the woods. He kept dragging with all of his might.

I couldn't see anything, but the tracks were there. It was cold. AND, the dog was completely freaked.

So yeah, I decided to trust his instincts on this one. We came down off the hill.

Video Hardware Hell

2009-11-25T00:48:00.004-05:00

I'm really hoping that posting this will make me feel better. I keep reminding myself that my problems are nothing compared to the problems of others. Doesn't make them any less infuriating.

Over the last year, I struggled with outrage at the apparent "lemon" of a video card I got with my Dell Inspiron 530. My wife got a 530 just two months earlier and loves it. So, I shopped the deals and got the same system (only my video card was an ATI card and her's is an NVidia.) After months of agitation I finally decided to upgrade. That process was not without it's pitfalls. Most new cards require bigger power supplies than my system has. But, I eventually found a 1Gig card that runs of a 350Watt Power Supply. For 2 weeks, I learned about all the cool things I'd been missing from Lord of the Rings Online.

And then today my 20" widescreen Samsung display died. It binks on/off once every few milliseconds. It's painful to watch. There's no fix out there that I can find. I've tried all sorts of variations, it's as much a lemon as that stupid card was.

I fought back the urge to toss it out the window (it would be my own yard I would clean) and proceeded to make an old 19" standard res LCD monitor work. I'm "in business." I hate it, but it works. Time to take stock of the situation.

15 hours ago, I selected to use my big "super giftcard" to get gifts at REI & B&N books. I didn't need these items. But knowing now, I wish I hadn't bought new exercise gloves, attachments to use my hiking stick in snow, and books. I could have applied the whole amount at Tiger Direct I would have covered the bulk of the price of a new monitor. Everyone would have been happy. BUT NOOOO.

So, now negotiations will have to begin w/ Slick for me to get a new video monitor. I'm so accustomed to wide screen display, I'm not sure I want to go back. This sucks. I can't emotionally or financially justify the monitor. I loved my old one (before it broke) but I don't need it.

Sigh!

Nope: Don't really feel better. Ah well.

Can I Upgrade to Windows 7?

2009-11-19T17:32:00.002-05:00

Microsoft has a nice little utility to download to examine your computer for Windows 7 portability.

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

The Advisor scans your computer and lists compatibility issues and suggestions for the move. Our computers are mostly ready for Windows 7. Unfortunately, I will need to do a clean install in order to move to the 64-bit version.

Microsoft also has a support page for that.

Performing a custom installation of Windows 7

I'll pass along any additional tidbits if I find them. I'm eager to get started, but I need to find a copy of the Windows 7 "Family" pack (which is out of stock everywhere.) Still, it's forcing me to research, backup, plan and hopefully avoid making mistakes.

Vanilla Ice Ruined My Life

2009-11-18T11:38:00.004-05:00

In the early 90's a hack named Vanilla Ice wrote a song that sounds like the opening to the great Queen song "Under Pressure." Nearly 20 years later, when I hear the beginning of Under Pressure, I think someone has essentially Rick Rolled me with "Ice Ice Baby!" I get confused, I reach to change the station or fix my Pandora feed. EVERY TIME!

"Khaaaaaaan!"

Damn you, Ice!

"To the last, I will grapple with thee... from Hell's heart, I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!" - Moby Dick

Because I'm a Frackin' Toaster!

2009-11-17T16:54:00.004-05:00

Some friends blew into town for the weekend to geek out with us. Years ago this would have meant a marathon weekend involving D&D books, character sheets, cold pizza and a few gallons of Mountain Dew. We still geeked out. We just did it with better food and more sleep. Our gaming has also shifted from D&D to a combination of Rock Band (Wii) and cooperative board games like Arkham Horror.

This time around, Cainam brought Battle Star Galactica the Board Game. Everyone chooses a member of the crew, fight off toasters & spin up the FTL drive in hopes that our next jump will lead us home.

The game has one twist: Someone may be a Cylon. In fact, before the game ends, there will be at least one Cylon. Who is it? Who's working against us? Is it the Admiral? The President? Boomer?

Last night (actually the whole weekend) I was the cylon right from the word go. Whenever possible, I sabotaged the crew's efforts. Choose the better of two cards? I think not. Add extra support when victory is assured? Absolutely! Anything to throw off suspicion.

And then Cainam got a card that let him check my loyalty. Crap! What do I do? Bluff, of course! In fact, I bluffed us both into the brig long enough for the game to spiral out of control. (My job as the toaster after all!)

Note: I really only pulled this off because of a combination of luck and Cainam's reputation. I'd been the cylon in every game that weekend. So, it seemed unlikely that I would be it AGAIN. Cainam had done a number of things just before calling me a cylon that, put together, seemed suspicious. It's totally in his character to be the cylon and accuse someone else to throw off suspicions. So, he called me a cylon and I called him a lying liar. Can't believe it worked.

At some point in the game, I got officially revealed and disappeared to the resurrection ship - where I wrecked even more havoc - but not before I we able to change my wife into a Cylon too. She proceeded, in a masterful stroke, to lock everyone else up in the brig. Before they could right the ship and kill her off, Galactica was just too far gone. I was so proud!

BSG the Board Game is a total win for people who like long-play co-op games. It requires at least 3 people to play. It really takes 4 or more to make it good. Three people makes it a lot easier to find the hidden Cylon.

Disk Space Math

2009-11-12T15:46:00.003-05:00

I got a new 1.5 TB (Terabyte = 1,000 Gigabytes) external backup drive today...

300 Gigs of music, video and downloaded videogame content is just too much to backup via DVD ROM. (And that's not including the wife's PC or the multimedia machine.) The drive was on sale at my local Costco for $110. The cost was much better than New Egg & Amazon. Reviews are mixed, but I'm sure it'll do the job just fine.

Except, as all computer geeks know, it's not really 1.5 TB. The actual disk size is 1.36 TB. This is in keeping with accepted hard-drive space calculations. My head understands this. My heart, however, feels robbed out of 140 GB of space. That's a hard drive worth of space. It's one thing when my 16 GB iPod Touch is 14.5 GB. (Well, actually, I sometimes run out of room.) It's another mathematical beast when we start getting into Terabytes.

A few years ago, the EPA changed the fuel economy standards. Car nuts & fuel savers have known for a while that the sticker estimates were based on out-dated calculations. Guess what, the world continued to spin AND consumers were better protected. Why can't we have truth in advertising with disk space? As disks get getting bigger and bigger the "lie" is only becoming compounded.

I, for one, would welcome the change.

Anyway, full backup scheduled for tonight. This is all in prep to move us to Windows 7 sometime this winter. I need solid backups either way, but I really want them before upgrading. My plan is to get the family 3-pack license. Just trying to decide if I want to wait until after holiday expenses are dealt with.

Note: Have you noticed that car commercials now don't talk about the city/highway mpgs? They only talk about highway mileage. It sounds great when a car gets 30/mpg. Except that you've got to catch the fine print at the bottom of the commercial to see it's misleading.

It Goes Up To Eleven

2009-11-06T08:34:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is our 11th Anniversary. In honor of this feat, our friend posted the following as his "Quote of the Day" email thread. Enjoy.

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...
Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.
Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi: I don't know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.
Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.

- This is Spinal Tap

The truly fun part is that we've dubbed this the "It goes up to 11" Anniversary. It's a much better year than boring old 10. Why? Because, it goes up to 11!

Kids Grow Up

2009-11-02T14:10:00.005-05:00

In what feels like a lifetime ago, I was a young, direction-less 20-something living with my parents again, doing a bit of volunteer youth ministry at Bethesda Lutheran in New Haven CT, while working 2 part-time jobs. Looking back, it was one of the best & worst times of my life. I met amazing people (including my wife.) I was also feeling the brunt of shame coming from crawling back home to my parents. But I digress...

Amazing people...

One of "my kids" from youth group came to visit us this weekend. She's now an adult trying to make her way in the world. I, apparently & unfortunately for her, had a great deal of influence on her innocent mind. Twelve years ago we had a "passing conversation" about faith. Today, she points to that single conversation (which I couldn't even remember when we talked about it) as a major turning point in her life. It lead her to seminary and a call to ministry.

Remember: Watch what you say to children. They remember stuff!

At some point over the weekend, it became obvious that this "kid" I helped teach Luther's Catechism and treated to pizza is now an adult. She's a world-traveler and is currently doing hospital ministry in Tennessee. During a dinner conversation Friday night, she totally impressed the hell out of me. First, she properly corrected my paraphrasing of one of Paul's letters. Then she proceeded to make my point for me. (Damn, know-it-all kid!)

The other really cool part of her visit is some music she shared with me. During my time at Bethesda, I got to know several of the really little kids. One of them is now a talented musician & songwriter. Only 16, he's got a band that's got an old-school punk-rock edge. I was really impressed. I would pay for his music and he's still in high school. I got a real kick listening to his music and reminiscing about my time in New Haven.

It made me feel real good to see my friend all grown up. It was amazing to be reminded that I helped give someone direction even at a time when I had none. We can give so much to each other even when we think we have nothing to give.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to add some music to my iPod's alternative & punk playlist.

The Dreaded Highlander Stormtrooper

2009-11-01T00:01:00.004-05:00

Saturday, we took our house guest to the Carolina Renaissance Festival. It was a great day. Sure it was overcast, but that kept the temp down.

We caught several comedy shows, watched some jousting, saw some friends who perform at the show. It was great.

It was also Halloween. Festival guests who dress up tend to run the gambit of outfits. Very few are "traditional" Renaissance garb. Some is well-done from other periods or catch the wave of fantasy genre. Add Halloween to the mix and stuff gets a little weird? How so? What about a Stormtrooper in a Kilt?

I'm torn between having a Highlander/StarWars Mashup quote or a Braveheart/Starwars Mashup. Is this some sort of special unit? Whatever, it was just wrong. BUT, funny enough to be picked on in the one comedy show we attended.

Still, I'm lost on this one. What about?...

"There can be only one, but strike me down and I will become more powerful than..."

Or Perhaps

"I've got a bad feeling about this, they may take our lives...."

But I digress...

It was fun!

Things that Don't Make Sense

2009-10-30T11:40:00.002-05:00

Our town's recycling truck is the beat up 20+ year old monstrosity that spews smoke every time the driver hits the gas. He hits it hard every 20 feet.

I'm sure the value of recycling outweighs the impact of this monster, but it's just plain stupid.

Good Customer Service Still Happens!

2009-10-29T12:34:00.004-05:00

I got an email today from Netflix saying that my next DvD isn't available at a local center, but is shipping from another part of the country. Bummer right? I won't have a new DvD for days. Except, Netflix took care of that issue. They added a 4th DvD from my queue that will certainly arrive tomorrow.

I bet this was all automated. It's still great.

Too often I've seen companies fail their customer when things go wrong because they do not have effective measures for dealing with problems. Customer service doesn't have to mean that someone has to go out of their way. Good customer service means that a company has a system in place to provide good service to customers.

This is a very simple example of the right way to do business. Take care of your customer before they even ask. It's the kind of little thing that keeps me as a customer & makes me tell my friends about a business. It's true for a local store as it is for an online shop.

NBA League Pass for Broadband

2009-10-28T23:00:00.003-05:00

Until November 3rd, the NBA is offering free access to it's online streaming service. I'm hoping the service blows me away so I can ask for it for my birthday. Then I can watch the Sixers (and several other teams) this season.

Check out the service at NBA League Pass Broadband.

Note: Go Phillies! What a great game 1!!!

Awesome Nod to Firefly

2009-10-27T14:57:00.002-05:00

Dear Firefly/Nathan Fillion Fans,

Goto Hulu immediately and watch the opening sequence of this week's "Halloween" episode of Castle. You will not be disappointed.

If you don't watch Castle, why the F#^$% not?

RSS or Visit the Page?

2009-10-26T11:09:00.002-05:00

Today, Gamer Geek and I were reminded why visiting a website is still important. XKCD, a favorite webcomic of ours, redesigned the entire page to look like an old-school Geocities website...complete w/ under construction signs & broken links. If you've been on the web long enough, you've seen these pages (heck, you're probably had one of these pages. I know I did!)

RSS is great for reading blogs & news, but you can miss out on the creativity of a site. There's also been a long debate that RSS kills the very sites you're reading. Why? By not going to the site, you cause them traffic but fail to bring them ad revenue or ever buy their stuff. I'm not going to debate this point, I'm just mentioning it.

BTW: Just RSS my blogs. I don't care!

Browser War

2009-10-13T13:59:00.006-05:00

Something interesting happened this week. (Maybe sooner, but I only noticed it last night.) Netflix stopped requiring Internet Explorer to operate it's "Watch Instantly" online service. This is a significant thing for me. It means that I can stop using 2 to 3 different internet browsers. Frankly, it means I'll be finally moving (almost) exclusively to Google Chrome.

Before today, I've been alternating between Chrome & Firefox for my routine browsing then swapping to Internet Explorer for Netflix. I've been a big supporter of Firefox, but Chrome feels so amazingly fast in comparison. My unscientific stop-watch tests support this theory. On average, new browser sessions load twice as fast on Chrome over Firefox. Internet Explorer seems to taken it's place in the middle of the pack. It also feels more stable than either FF or IF. This again, may be subjective.

What about other Browsers like Safari & Opera? Mostly, I don't use them because neither seem to offer any additional benefits for swapping. Safari's bookmark management is really convoluted and when I first tried it there were some security holes. I'm sure they've been plugged, but there's been no reason to go back. My experience with Opera was fine, but there wasn't anything eye-catching enough for me to keep using it over Chrome or Firefox.

I'll keep watching for a reason to return to Firefox. I miss Foxmarks (great multi-computer bookmark sync) and No Scripts (which lets you manage the scripts on pages you visit. Great for visiting new sites.) Sadly, neither of these add-ons are enough for me to stick with Firefox.

The good news, IMHO, is that all browsers seem more secure and reliable than they were a few years ago. I think this is the value of competition. I used to worry about family and friends using Internet Explorer. Microsoft seems to have stepped up their game with IE8. I think this is a direct result of the pressure from Mozilla & Google.

This means, I no longer care which browser people choose. They're all good. Just keep your applications up to date, run a good spyware scanner, & clear your browser cashe on a regular basis.

New Fall Network TV Line-Up is a Complete Bust

2009-09-29T12:16:00.003-05:00

It's Fall and that means that new shows are here & old shows are returning. Here's some highlights...

The Good:

Castle - Castle picks up where it left off. It's good. The characters are well-developed. The mysteries are always interesting. The actors have chemistry. Nathan Fillion is quickly becoming my favorite actor.

House - I hate that I like this show. It's well-written, well-acted and it's just good TV. The premier was yet further proof why House is a great anti-hero.

The Bad:

Heroes - This season's villains are Carnie freaks? Really? Sigh. I keep wanting desperately to love this show. On one hand, we have House (which I should hate but love) and on the other we have Heroes (which I should love but hate.) Can't win.

Flash Forward - Epic fail! The pilot completely failed to capture the grand scope of events. The lead actors have the emotional depth of paper bags. They clearly wanted to rush forward to the broad plot of the series. In doing so, the show misses everything. The first episode should have played out like a disaster film. ER's should have looked like MASH centers. Lights should have failed to work. Cell networks should have been down for weeks. National Guard troops should have been everywhere. And really, some lowly FBI field agents are in charge? Pass...

The Ugly:

The Forgotten - Huh? Really? Regular citizens solving the unsolvable in no-time flat. Wow. That sounds really, um... Concept good. Holland Tunnel-sized holes. Pass...

NCIS LA - I love NCIS. It's almost a guilty pleasure. I laugh every time the shows tries to pretend that NCIS is some "other-spy" organization, but I accept it because the character acting is great, the plot moves along nicely and it establishes rules that conform with the Hollywood version of reality. NCIS behaves like a law-enforcement arm of the US Military. Domestic Spying was never the focus of the show's makeup. It's more of a byproduct. The spin-off, on the other hand, is all about domestic spying. The intro/cross-over episodes of NCIS last season were the worst episodes of the season. The changes for the season premier actually made things worse. The fact that the first episode started with a dead navy officer is irrelevant. It's a spy show. The premise sucks. The show sucks. The chain of command makes no sense. Their place in the grand scope of things is confusing. They have no place even in the NCIS version of reality. Don't just pass, RUN AWAY!

Play Ball

2009-09-21T09:31:00.002-05:00

We're home from Turner Field. It was a wet, but fun time. Our first "real" trip to Atlanta and I never even really saw the skyline. It was too foggy and rainy whenever I looked that way. In fact, I never really saw anything aside from Turner Field & our hotel. We did drive through the Olympic torch site. Maybe if we go back next season, we'll actually spend time seeing Hotlanta.

Anyway, here are some highlights...

Turner Field

Turner Field attempts to merge that throw-back feel with the modern. It does it very well. The entire exterior is the same brick with green metal-works that give you that old-school feel.

Entertainment

The real gem of the park is the entrance area with live entertainment, the best food at the park and the big shops. The BBQ sandwich was really good. Unfortunately, this area has no sight-lines to the ball-field due to the position of the main scoreboard.

Breast Cancer Awareness Night

Saturday night was breast cancer awareness night. Hundreds of survivors took the field and released pink balloons. YES, it made me think of Karen.

The other thing to notice on the above photo is the giant Coke Bottle and Cow. In Philly, we have the Bell. At Turner Field, they have a Cow that does "the Chop" and a really amazing Coke Bottle that lights up, changes colors, displays all sorts of messages & shoots fireworks. I'll still take the Bell.

The turnout Saturday was great. This helped us to experience the full force of "the Chop." When something big happens, the Cow chops, every screen has giant chopping tomahawks, and ever fan chops and chants in unison. It's something to experience. I felt like General Custer.

Of course, the "stranger in a strange land" feeling we got from the Chop was nothing in comparison to when the entire crowd launches into "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" during the 7th-inning stretch.

First Pitch from Our Seats on Sunday

Saturday was fun, but the Phillies lost. Thank goodness for Sunday. The Phillies were aggressive from the get-go. Victorino got himself ejected when he was called out at 2nd. His outburst was in response to a bunch of questionable calls (I checked with iDad, who triple checked the play(s) from home.) The guys were fired up from there.

There was a long rain delay during the 5th inning. Knowing we had a 4-hour drive ahead of us, we were really worried that we would have to leave before the game ended. But, the game resumed just in time for us to get home at 11PM.

Will we go back? Absolutely. I can see us going to a weekend match-up next season. I doubt we'll splurge for the really expensive seats, splurge on dinner at the Chop House or buy Tomahawk beer next time.

Note: This trip was our "It goes up to 11" anniversary present to each other. It's hard to go see a baseball game in November.

Weekend @ Turner Field

2009-09-18T11:33:00.003-05:00

Joel, you wanna know something? Every now and then say, "What the fuck." "What the fuck" gives you freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future. - Miles, Risky Business

Miserable 2-weeks here at our house. It started with my feet being a mess, making it hard to walk. (Yes, it's all related to my Fibro.) Then Slick got utterly hammered at work. She even brought the dreaded black bag (the one with the laptop in it) home last weekend. She worked all-day Sunday then followed that up with multiple days of getting up at 5AM to get to work early.

This morning, while looking over the Phillies boxscore from last night, I noticed that they would be at Turner Field all weekend. Miles pops into my head. Before I noticed, the wife and I have hotel reservations across the street from the stadium and really good seats for Saturday & Sunday's games.

Happy early anniversary to us.

I Still Won't Buy Norton, But A Great Ad Campaign

2009-09-16T22:22:00.001-05:00

Cover Art

2009-09-15T17:48:00.008-05:00

or Why Google Should Go Ahead And Organize The World...

One of the most hyped parts of an iPod Touch is the "Cover Flow" view. This is supposed to allow me to visually skim through my music library. There's only one problem. Huge portions of my library is missing cover art. And not just because I have "free" music. Most of my music collection is still from CD's the wife and I accumulated over the years. No, iTunes hates collections, movie soundtracks, greatest hits and all sorts of random songs. And of my music with cover art, some of it isn't even the right cover. For the longest time, one of my Green Day albums didn't have cover art. Why do I mention this? Because, Mindy Smith had the missing Green Day art.

So, I started my cover art project. Sometimes, it was as simple as deleting the current wrong cover and having iTunes search again. Sometimes, I had to fix the album title or artist name. Slowly, I found myself with three categories of music still missing covers. 1) Old MP3s missing tons of info. 2) the dreaded "collection" and 3) all my Beatles music.

Today, I made my big leap forward by downloading art from other places and manually matching it with my music. This may seem like a pain, but I wish I had just done this from the begining. It's easy. Go to to a place like Amazon, search for the song/album, save the cover art and then copy it to your album/song info page.

This is the part where Google gets my vote for organizing the world....

Time and time again, Amazon would give me a "can not find" message. I would then google the item in question, only for the top choice to come up as...you've guessed it...Amazon. How can Google index and track info on Amazon's website better than Amazon? That's not a question for Google, but one for Amazon.

Of course, none of this is surprising or important.

No, what's important is that I finally have cover art for Abby Road when I decide to listen to the Beatles.

Which is quite often because Abby Road is - as my niece would say - awesomely awesome!

Week One: Eagles vs Panthers - Sigh

2009-09-14T08:31:00.002-05:00

The Eagles won. It's what I wanted. So, why am I so miserable?

My "home town" team vs my "home" team was great...

Until it wasn't.

Having lived in Charlotte for 5 years, I've earned the right to pull for the Panthers in all things except when they play against the Eagles. So, what I wanted yesterday was a hard-fought, exciting matchup where the Eagles won late in the 4th quarter. Instead, I got uncertainty.

Delhomme was horrid. Sure, the Eagles defense had a lot to do with it, but he was horrid. I was excited and worried when I saw a clock-draining opening drive from Delhomme and the Panthers. The Eagles responded with some great play on defense & special teams. In the first quarter, the Panthers took over 8 minutes to score 7 points. In the second quarter, the Eagles took less than 5 minutes to pour on 28.

If I could have stopped the game there, I would have been happy. But NOOOOO... We had to play a 2nd half. Delhomme had to stink it up even more. The Panthers were just horrid. But that wasn't the worst of it.

Donovan's got a cracked #@%@ing rib. It was like a movie drama. The "hero-king" gets hurt and the screen flashes to the once exiled friend who's next in line. Is that concern on his face or is he coldly calculating his position? The audience is spell-bound. This is money in the bank for the NFL. It's painful for the fans.

So, now I get to watch and wait as both teams figure out what to do with their quarterbacks before week 2. Sigh!

Oh Happy Dog

2009-09-12T20:47:00.000-05:00

Friday was beautiful. I spent most of the week with my feet up because they hurt. But on Friday, they felt better and I couldn't resist the weather. It was a comfortable 82 degrees, sunny with a pleasant breeze. It was perfect. Nothing to do but take the dog to Cane Creek for some hiking and rolling in the grass.

Letting Go of World of Warcraft Blogs

2009-09-10T10:31:00.003-05:00

The following is a repost of my post from today on OrdoSerp, the Lord of the Rings Online blog I participate in.

Funny thing about giving up World of Warcraft...

It's life-altering.

I "forgot" to cancel my subscription last month. Part of me kept thinking I would hop back on and play. But, then I saw that I hadn't logged on since early July and I realized that my wife & I had wasted a combined $90 for July, August and September. It got easier to hit the cancel button after that.

My RSS feed contains a lot of WoW blog. It's hard to let go. But it's time to say goodbye to them too. Here is a list of the blogs & podcasts I will miss the most. (Yes, there are more. Yes, I'm pathetic.)

Goodbye Daily Druid, druid-news aggrigate extreme. I even appeared in your listings once or twice. I haven't glanced at the feed in months, so it's not a hard break for me.

Goodbye Flyv. You were a guild-mate and a teacher when I started to learn to feral tank. You've also moved on from WoW. But, your direction and my interests have drifted apart. It's time for me to accept that and move on.

For months, I really hoped Phaelia would return and provide us with more Resto4Life. Now, I'm glad you didn't. You helped make my wife an amazingly awesome tree and amused her endlessly. She had so much fun reading your blog that I started reading it and eventually tried to learn to Boomkin & Tree when the dual-spec option happened.

Goodbye Pike, reluctant leader of the hunter community. Most hunter-blogs flare bright for a while then burn out. Yet, Aspect of the Hare goes strong. Elitist Jerks may have taught me how to raid, you taught me how to enjoy it. After I swapped to full-time feral druid to off-tank for my little 10-man guild, I kept reading your blog. Now, sadly, we have no place in each other's lives. I may miss you most of all.

Goodbye Kalon and your blog ThinkTank. Think tank is the ultimate tanking (mostly feral) blog around. Yours may be the hardest break. How is it that 2 months have gone by since I last played Rhus, yet I'm still reading your theory craft? Why do I care about the Feral loot-tables in the Coliseum? Why would I care if I should keep T8 cat gear or not? (Especially since I slowed and then stopped my progression before getting any T8 gear for my cat.) Your blog is like catnip rolled in honey. What feral off-tank (current or retired) can resist you?

Goodbye Randydelux & Scott. Last week when I caught myself loading your latest podcast on my iPod before a hike, I knew it was time to stop. There are no LotRO podcasts that can even hold a candle to the Instance. I've seriously considered listening to your show just for the fun of it. It's not going to happen. ExtraLife will continue to be part of my day and I'll be tryingExtraLifeRadio.

I continue to follow and support Andrew over at Of Teeth and Claws in his game-blogging endeavors. I'm glad that he's branched out from WoW to write about all things gaming. I think his latest crusade against subscription MMO's is thought-provoking. I have a lot to say about subscription MMO's and why they work, but that's a different post.

Goodbye World of Warcraft, I've canceled my subscription, deleted all the theory-craft sites from my bookmarks and now, I'm not even going to read blogs about you.

My gaming time is now taken up by Lord of the Rings Online, Mario Kart & Rock Band 2.

A Funny Thing Happened...

2009-09-06T22:52:00.004-05:00

...on my way to write new posts this June. I started having the best summer I've had in years. I felt good, the weather was great, my wife had a lot of vacation time and I just didn't give a rats-ass about blogging. Sure there were a lot of times when I considered posting about our Summer adventures. Our multiple bear run-ins while hiking in the Shenandoah National Park nearly got me posting. My 10-year-old niece singing a near perfect "Eye of the Tiger" on Rock Band 2 also ranked up there. And let's not forget getting to see Tiger Woods roar back LIVE at the Bridgestone Invitational. But all that's in the past.

Now, with Labor Day upon us and remaining vacation time limited to Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'm thinking about getting back to my normal routine. So, what about this blog? Good question. Do I even have any readership anymore? Some folks probably neglected to delete me from their RSS feeds. But then, this blog has never been about "readership."

When I stopped posting this spring, I joined Facebook at the behest of some friends. I found it a mixed bag. On one hand, it's a virus-laden, time sink. On the other, I reconnected with dozens of high school friends. Unfortunately, it made me realize that highschool was 20 years ago. Yet, instead of reminding me of all my highschool horor, Facebook has helped me rediscover the good times. For that, I'm glad to have joined. Just don't expect me to do anything on Farm Town or Mafia Wars. I've got a lot better games to play.

My Facebook experiment can't/won't replace blogging or other online-networking in my life. Facebook isn't about close friends or deep thoughts. It's about broad, social networking. I don't have 80+ close friends. I have 80+ "friends" from multiple phases of my life.

Oddly, the biggest news in my life since starting my blog-break is probably our exit from World of Warcraft. After over 3 years, WoW stopped being the best MMO for us. So, the wife, our friends and I all moved over to Lord of the Rings Online. The gameplay is similar enough to make the transition fairly painless, but different enough to breath fresh life into online gaming nights.

Now, before you worry that we simply replaced wow-addiction for LotRO-addiction, rest assured that Slick and I have moved past the 7 nights a week MMO insanity. Our group officially tries to meet 2 nights a week. I expect that we'll have some weeks where that number will be more like 3-4, but gone are the marathon Warcrack days.

Our main recreation source is still online videogames. But instead of just playing the MMO de jur, we're doing more stuff on the Wii. We've got an online Rock Band 2 group and I've been trying to organize weekly Mario Kart Online night with my college friends and hope to start a weekly session this month.

We've also been getting together with our neighbors for dinner, trying to make friends with other couples on the block & even make friends with some of Slick's work friends.

So, that's my quick recap.

Let me finish this post with a shout out to my friend, Pobble over at Pobble Thoughts. She's been going through a blog-writing crisis much like the one that lead to my taking a break from blogging. Her plight was a major reason why I decided to finally get this first post back out of the way. I've been close to starting back up for weeks, but avoiding it. This is my lame attempt at solidarity with her. Good luck Pobble!

and now to hit publish without spellchecking or proofreading. Why? Because I'm tired and I feel like it. Night all! And welcome back me.

Miss Me

2009-09-06T08:56:00.001-05:00

Don't make a big deal about it, but...

Urge to post rising...

Dun dun dun...

Exercising My Demons

2009-04-16T10:03:00.004-05:00

I've not been posting a lot lately. There's a lot to say about "why." It started with writer's block. I would find a subject to write about and become completely inarticulate. Posts, even bad ones, would not flow. Then in turned into a disinterest in posting about anything.

This blog, first and foremost, has been a place for me to channel my frustrations about my health. Even posts having nothing to do with my fibromyalgia often flow from it. The blog is my outlet. It's been a purpose in a purposeless existence.

No, I'm not trying to depress you.

My mother-in-law, the wise woman that she is, suggested something profound to me recently. The writer's block is a good thing. I forget her exact words, but it boils down to this...

I needed to talk and now I don't.

What does that mean? This blog has been like a therapist in my life. It was my "keep a journal" project. I had finally found the right job, our lives were headed exactly where we wanted to go, things were great and then my health made it all go away. I gave up "everything" to get healthy and focus on the things that matter. It was a very painful decision, but continues to look like the right one.

And so it happened. I stopped having to talk about "it."

Unfortunately, that's also meant that I don't need to vent about the economy, comment on the new "first dog," or share my sadness on the passing Harry Kalas. I see this writer's block as a good thing, but it's also created new concerns.

This blog has always served three purposes.

1) A place for me to work through things, "exercise my demons."
2) A place for my family & friends to check up on us.
3) A place to write.

I'm done exercising my demons through this blog. I can find other ways of writing. But what about my readership?

My plan is to go silent from blogging for a month or so. There are other things I've been devoting my blogging & feed-reading to - mostly exercise.

Exercise - daily - focused - even when I'm in a lot of pain or suffering from fatigue - but careful exercise has become the next major step in managing my health. It's the one post I still have left in me, but doesn't need to be written.

Simply put: the Wii Fit is an amazing piece of technology.

When/if I return, this blog will probably undergo a face lift and become focused on things like "vacation photos" and blurbs about home-improvement projects. I may even look for another online home.

This is not goodbye from blogging. This is shalom.

OMG WTF AIG part 2

2009-03-25T22:07:00.004-05:00

So, this AIG exec has turned in his resignation in the NYT. He's giving his $742M bonus to charity. He feels "unfairly persecuted by elected officials."

Read his letter in the NYT-OpEd section here.

You can decide for yourself.

OMG WTF AIG

2009-03-18T21:26:00.003-05:00

A.I.G. Chief Asks Bonus Recipients to Give Back Half

Ever gotten a "bonus" at your job? Maybe it was enough to to cover a down payment on a new car or pay off a credit card. Did it feel good to be rewarded for your efforts? Maybe your department or even whole company had an "off year" but you performed well and were encouraged to work harder because of it.

When I heard about the A.I.G. bonuses, I wanted to believe that most of the $165M in bonuses were to folks like you or me. Hard-working middle-class people who got a little extra in these hard economic times. Yeah...not so much.

Of the 418 employees who received bonuses, 298 got more than $100,000, according to the New York attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo. The highest bonus was $6.4 million, and 6 other employees received more than $4 million. Fifteen other people received bonuses of more than $2 million and 51 received $1 million to $2 million.

It baffles me. It knocks the wind out of me. It was shocking that the company gave out bonuses. Harder still to believe that these "bonuses" were clearly not tied to actual performance, but instead contractual. And still, none of that bothered me, angered me, as much as the actual per-person pay outs.

How is this shit not criminal?

I don't have a problem with people being rich. But good grief.

I could go on, at length, with an even more curse-laden diatribe but you get the idea...

.

Who Will Save Us?

2009-03-16T18:16:00.006-05:00

Funny story here. Just a few days ago I was in an email chain describing my relationship with my friend "Cainam." It went like this...

Don Quixote had Sancho Panza! Shrek had Donkey. I can't go chasing windmills without Cainam.

Note: For some reason, I can't seem to adjust this picture to fit in my blog. Just click the image to read the whole thing. Also, if you don't already, read XKCD!

The New Symbol of America's Troubles

2009-03-06T01:46:00.003-05:00

This from MSNBC...

Eagle survives crash through windshield

It may not be a Bald Eagle & that truck might not be the mortgage crisis, but it's the perfect symbol of this entire debacle. The truck windshild is fucked up. The bird's face is messed up too. But both are getting patched up.

So, remember as you watch Citi fall below a $1 a share, watch in awe as unsubstantiated fear rips health GE stock prices down the toilet & GM's living on a respirator and waiting for someone to pull the plug on bankruptcy.

The Eagle Lives! It lives in spite of all those moronic talkers on CNBC & Fox. It has been hit by the runaway truck of American excess & greed, and it's going to live to fight another day!

And never forget this isn't your daddy's Bald Eagle. He's the jackass driving the buss taking America to Hell. No this bird is our Golden Eagle. For we too feel like we've been hit by a truck. And if that golden can recover to fly someday, then so can we.

P.S. Dear Political Talking Heads! Fuck you too! Instead of being rabble inducers who talk out of your asses, try helping the President save the Eagle (that's us) from the truck!

Always make posts like this...on sleep meds...teatering on the edge of passing out...unable to think clearly...It's how Wallstreet's been managing our money all these years, and look how well their doing. The've gotten bonuses for screwing up all our lives. I wondered what their soul cost them?

Power

2009-03-02T18:36:00.003-05:00

That storm system that swept across the eastern seaboard dumped about 4-5 inches of snow on us. That's saying a lot for the southern tip of North Carolina. There are just enough salt trucks in the region to hit the major interstates, but our town's snow plan is to wait for it to melt.

Around 9AM, just as the sun came out, the whole town of Waxhaw lost power. It stayed off until about 4PM. The house got down to about 55 Deg. Just as I was about to "free" my car (garage door opener didn't work) & drive to a mall or the library, the power came back on. It stayed on until about 5:30 then dropped for another hour. Hopefully, that'll be it for the night. But, we are taking some precautions.

I've gotten out the flashlights. Since the temperature outside is predicted to be in the teens tonight, we're cranking the heat for the rest of the evening.

It totally makes you think about people who lose power in ice-storms for days on end. I mean, no coffee, no computer, no heat is frustrating, but I didn't really suffer. I spent the day in a sunny room reading. I could "escape" anytime I wanted. Some folks aren't so lucky.

Wall Street? What About Pro Sports Pay?

2009-02-27T13:02:00.005-05:00

Let's see...

Redskins land Haynesworth for 7 years, $100 Million

The Dodgers and Manny are fighting over $25 Million (for 1 year)

Jayson Werth's winter contract is worth $10 Million for 2 years.

$20 Million here, $10 Million there. Where's the outrage when sports stars ask for such money? Sure, they aren't responsible for the economy. But the players & the people who employ them are just as guilty of milking us. We can't watch most of their games without paid television services. The tickets, parking & food is too expensive for a family of one. We're forced to fund their new stadiums with local tax dollars under the threat that they'll move somewhere else.

When the owner of Lowes Motor Speedway wanted to build a drag strip, the town of Concord, NC didn't want it. So, he just threatened to move. Next thing you know, not only did he get to build his drag strip, the town helped.

We're so enthralled with and dependent on our sports that they have a strangle-hold on us. Yet, as we sink players like Manny Ramirez can demand millions. A-Rod, Bonds, Big-Mac. They cheated, but A-Rod is still playing. And you can bet that Bonds & Big-Mac would be too if they were still young enough.

Marbury acts like a complete jackass in New York and what does he get? He gets to join the world champion Celtics for a $20 Million contract buyout & a minimum veteran's salary of $1.3 Million.

The players aren't the only ones I blame here. They are just one part of the great sports machine that's milking us for all we're worth. Will the economy get bad enough that fans stop paying for their fancy channels & cramped seats? What then? Will the NFL be asking for a bail-out? Will NASCAR be begging for fuel-subsidies?

I've grown weary of it. Maybe I should start following my local little-league teams.

Squirrel Chasing Injury

2009-02-26T17:01:00.003-05:00

My dog is limping. Seems he hurt his left-front paw or the dog-equivalent of a wrist. As best I can tell, it happened Saturday when we were cleaning the kitchen floor. The dog saw a squirrel out by the bird feeders, raced to the back door, and lost traction. It definitely hurt because he stopped chasing the squirrel for a moment...but just for a moment.

And then he seemed fine. My in-laws arrived - why else would we be cleaning - with their dog. Max & Stewie played. Everything seemed fine. Sometime between Sunday & Monday we noticed that he was limping a bit. Otherwise, he seemed great. By Tuesday, the limp would come and go. Once he started moving around, it would disappear. If he sat for a while, it came back. Sprain right?

And now, suddenly today, he's really limping. Except of course when there's something to do. Every time Stewie barks at kids, Max runs over to help. Every time Max sees a squirrel in the yard, he runs after it. Then, when it's all over, he's pathetic again. If he couldn't use it at all or if he wouldn't let me touch it, I would have taken him to the vet days ago. Instead, I'm in limbo with it. My gut tells me that all this extra activity is aggravating it. How long do I hold out? If it's "just" a sprain, then dealing with a vet trip will only make it worse. If it's not just a sprain...

For now, I'm making him hang out in the computer room with me and not letting him run around barking at stuff. It sucks for him. It kind of sucks for me.

Stupid squirrels...

Mm...Fail He Does

2009-02-26T00:36:00.002-05:00

Muppet Fail Theory & Star Wars from PvP. It's funny because it's true.

“Wait, I was just thinking that Yoda is a muppet. As with all muppets, everything he does fails. He talks about how Anakin is troubled, but still lets him become a padawan and a Jedi. He works closely with Palpatine AKA Darth Sideous without ever so much as thinking twice. He’s the general of the so-called Clone Army, which kills all of his Jedi but Obi-Wan. He effs up the fight against Sideous.

He doesn’t want to train Luke. Then, when he does want to train Luke, he doesn’t want Luke to leave. If Luke hadn’t left, the whole rebellion could have fallen.

Not until Yoda dies do things go right for the rebellion against the Empire. Yoda’s rise is the rise of the Empire.

Dude is a muppet through and through.”

When $300 Doesn't Seem Like a Lot of Money

2009-02-18T16:02:00.002-05:00

There are a lot of good things about being a home-owner. It's been nearly 7 years since my wife dragged me kicking & screaming into our first home & I don't regret it. Having a home means having a dog, a garage with tools & room for all my crap. I like being handy even if my health has curtailed my projects a bit. Still, there's one thing about home-ownership that's not fun: The ever-present fear of that major repair. Today, was one of those days.

Our downstairs toilet & the dishwasher have been backing up. I finally had someone come in and snake the sewer line to the tune of $300. The line is right next to a tree. The guy had a really hard time snaking the line. Yipe! He told me to call the county because the problem spot is where the line meets the street and that it was probably tree roots. If the county won't fix it, the price will start at $1,000 because his boss would have to come out with a team & a camera. Visions of heavy machinery, trenches in my yard, a felled tree filled my head. So much for our savings.

Except, everything is "fine" now. They came out. The blockage is clear. It's all good. Well, it might not be great. It's possible that the snaking is only a temporary fix. It's likely that I'll have to have work done in the future. For now, however, I'll pay my $300 & know that I got off easy.

Where Did I Go?

2009-02-17T09:45:00.003-05:00

The silence on this blog is deafening. Don't think I haven't noticed. I'm here, just not posting.

Over the last several years, my medical problems have developed a certain ebb & flow. My Doctor & I are well aware of the seasonal element of things. February & March have been especially bad times for me. Why? Well, that's a story for another day.

The story today is one I've told you many times.

One mistake we made early in my treatment was to vigorously fight my symptoms as things that could be "cured" through aggressive medicating. We also fought many of the symptoms at once. This was partly because I had not been fully diagnosed. Why would anyone assume that a slightly overweight man in his early 30's have Fybromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue? Treat the sinus headaches, migraine symptoms, the severe muscle pain, chills, depression and gastrointestinal problems all as separate conditions. Ignore the possibility that the mix of high-octane medications could be compound these issues. Why would medicine make things worse?

It took my current Doctor to put it all together. That's mostly why he's the "current" one. It took us a while to come up with a strategy to manage/reduce my symptoms through a mix of diet, exercise & medication. Yeah, I take several "controlled substances."

The story isn't over yet though.

In January, we upped the dose of Lyrica. It's having a net-positive effect on me. However, I also tend to take longer than others to adjust to side-effects. My energy level - which is never good to begin with - has been very low.

This isn't a bad thing. This time of year my energy is always low. If the medications improve all my other symptoms - which they have been - then I'll eventually get used to the side-effects & my energy will improve. Fingers crossed.

I've had other problems of late, all related to my fybro & sinus conditions. What to do with those? The current plan is to not repeat mistakes of the past. We're not introducing new medication into the mix unless I get very sick. I need to manage them with existing strategies until I've been taking the max dose of Lyrica for a month or two.

So, the silence on this blog has been a point of frustration for me, but we've got to just accept it. I'm "fine." This could be my best Winter in years. That doesn't mean it's going to be a productive time. I'm surviving with a lot of low-impact leisure activities mixed with small, targeted periods of productivity. This is my usual strategy, but right now it's magnified.

I'm focused, as always, in managing my health & become a more active person. I'm hopeful about the advances in Fybromyalgia treatments. The Lyrica has definitely been a good step.

Anyway, that's where I'm at right now. My short-term goal in this blog is to keep it up to date with fun stuff I find & mini-updates from me. Don't expect a lot of deep & reflective posts for a few weeks.

What's So Hard About Paying Taxes?

2009-02-05T15:01:00.004-05:00

I've had a number of conversations with people about the tax issues surrounding Obama appointees. I thought this post on the Freakonomics blog sums it up nicely.

Tax Cheats or Tax Idiots?

Nova: The Spy Factory

2009-02-03T15:02:00.001-05:00

Tonight on PBS, Nova is showing a special on the NSA's eavesdropping practices.

Like Blogging Constipation

2009-01-30T00:57:00.004-05:00

Yes, I'm still here!

You ever had one of those weeks were nothing, absolutely nothing, gives you that "I've got to blog about that" feeling? Yeah, it's one of those weeks. There's plenty of interesting things happening around here. The news has been filled with stuff for me to pontificate on. I have some health-stuff to post about.

Sigh!

Who am I kidding. I'm just not feeling it. Heck, it's taken me 20 minutes just to write this much. We'll just give it a few more days. If I don't start getting the urge to write soon, I'll find the equivalent of a blogger laxative.*

* I assume this would entail watching "Fix News" until I get so angry that I have to blog about it or explode. Five minutes should be enough.

Trust Issues

2009-01-22T08:23:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. It's been a long strange trip. Last week it became readily apparent that I needed to drive back up to New England to help my sister with a few things & spend more time with my family in general. It's been a good trip, more or less, that enabled me to spend some time with my college friends watching the Eagles game (sigh) & playing Wii. But I digress...

I got a TomTom (GPS) for Christmas. It's been a great traveling companion. Not so much because I need GPS -- Lord no, I have an uncanny, almost supernatural sense of direction -- but because it's been great helping me track the details like ETA, miles, how far to the exit. Getting to a major divide and having this nice British lady say, "In 2 miles, stay right" is just really helpful when you're traveling in heavy traffic on the Jersey Turnpike. So, in many and various ways the TomTom has been complete and utter Awesome Sauce...

Until, that is, she failed me...

For those who have not experienced GPS devices, the thing I learned very quickly is that they often plan routes differently than you would. To get the full value from the device, you must decide to follow (or not follow) it's directions. Once you start listening, you may find yourself on a stretch of road you've never been on. You may find yourself at the mercy of some strange British woman. I call her JaneJane...

As I approached the George Washington Bridge into NY, Jane showed me an alternative to the bridge. Route 9 to Palisades Ave. I went with her. It really worked. Jane had saved me minutes & it was a nice little shortcut. It was a reminder to me to trust her. Jane would never steer me wrong...

As I crossed the bridge, I did everything she said even when my instincts began to question her.

"Stay Left"

"But Jane, that's the lane that exits to the Hudson Parkway. 95 is the right lane." I've done this hundreds of times.

"Stay Left"

"Jane, if I don't get over now, I'm going to be on the streets of Manhattan."

"Stay Left"

"Jane you ignorant slut!"

Jane fell silent. Jane's screen began to do that recalculating thing. I, as I suspected, was getting off onto the Henry Hudson Parkway.

"At the end of the ramp, turn left."

"Jane, you're back! What do I do?"

"Turn around as soon as possible!"

"You have failed me for the last time!" In my best Darth Vader voice.

Lost - Ahem - is not something I experience outside of video games. If I've seen something once, I know it. It's like the good Lord took all my abilities to remember names, phone numbers, dates in history away & used it all on this weird visual memory. It's great, except that my crappy memory for all those other things sucks so much. I can't even remember street names. It's just this odd feeling of knowing a place and where it leads me. In 36 years, the only thing that has ever kept me from remembering how to get back to something has been modern construction. My family tells stories about people asking me for directions at the age of 6.

So, here I was on the Hudson Parkway and I remembered the time, 11 years ago, that Slick & I got a ride out of Manhattan with some of MrsMetsFan's friends after seeing Rent with the college gang. We had been on that road & I knew were it would get me.

"Jane, try to keep up."

The Hudson Parkway goes to the Sawmill to the Cross County. Jane starts to come around to my plan. Once I hit the Cross County, I was on a road I had been many times & knew that it would become the Hutchinson & eventually the Merritt. By the time she started 'helping' me, I was already in my element.

So, listen to your GPS, trust your GPS, but trust yourself too.

A wise man once told me that life is made better through the art of story-telling. A bad situation can make for good stories.

Khan!

2009-01-14T18:22:00.002-05:00

Ricardo Montalban has died. The greatest Star Trek villain from arguably the best Star Trek movie is gone. In his honor, I leave you with my favorite line from the movie.

Khan: [quoting Moby Dick] To the last, I will grapple with thee...from Hell's heart, I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!

Thanks to imdb.com for helping me remember the quote

American Automakers...Lying Mu#^%$@ers

2009-01-13T11:32:00.005-05:00

The 2009 Detroit Auto Show is upon us and all I have to say is BULL SHIT!

I've had a beef with the "Big Three" for about a decade. Their trucks, SUV's, CUV's all kept getting bigger and more elaborate while small & mid-sized cars kept getting less & less enticing. I got on my soapbox about GM caring more about their short-term shareholder profit than they cared about quality vehicles that consumers really wanted to buy. If they had a long-term vision for fuel economy, practicality & fun cars to drive, we might not be in this mess.

The argument against these points is two fold. One, American consumers demanded bigger. Two, nobody could have foreseen the meltdown. I find both points inexcusable. American consumers took what they gave us. Had the Big Three actively pursued quality, budget-friendly vehicles for American consumers, we would have bought them. Sure, we'd also be driving our F-150's, but there would be a better mix of options from Detroit on the road.

The writing has been on the wall that the Big Three business models were behind the times for years. But has there been any real efforts to produce revolutionary products? Has anyone been to a car show & been wowed by something that's fresh & practical? No. Well, from Toyota & Honda, sure. But what has Chevy given us? The "holy grail" named Volt? They've been advertising that shit for years and it's projected price tag will be $30-40k. How's that practical?

So, they whined for a bail-out. Under the circumstances, I even support giving them the money. (Mostly because it's a pitance compared to that miserable TRAP effort.) $15-Billion could save the industry & jobs. If it doesn't, it was "only" $15-Billion.

But, I digress...

The Auto Show is now upon us. What do we see? Hybrids & practicality. Where were they hiding these cars? Some are existing European products. Some they pulled out of their asses. Thus lending credence to my belief that they could have easily given us better a long time ago.

I saw a picture of a UAW worker protesting outside of the Auto Show. He had a sign that warned us to buy American or the next job lost could be ours. Yes, the scare tactic. That works well on me.

Somewhere along the lines we got fat & happy. Complacency set in. Innovation stopped happening in Detroit.

When it's time to get our next car replacement, I hope to have honest, value-added options. I'm looking for small, but comfortable. I'll be searching for a vehicle that finds that right balance between fuel economy & performance. A hybrid would be nice. Right now, there are zero American cars in production that interest me. I really hope that changes.

Stop trying to "advertising campaign" your way out of this. Build & innovate. Better yet...

Evolve or die.

Granny Did What?

2009-01-08T23:31:00.003-05:00

As mentioned several times, one of the big highlights of our Christmas holiday was getting Slick's Granny to play Wii Bowling.

The whole thing started on a whim, like most of my crazy ideas. I generally assumed that she would talk her way out of doing it. But my mother-in-law gave me an encouraging look and I pressed on mostly for her.

Well OK, I admit that it might have been a dubious look. It's the same sort of look Slick gives me when I'm about to be excessively silly. But 70-80% of the time Slick laughs "with" me when the dust settles. Further, I haven't broken anything or ended up in an emergency room in years. What could possibly go wrong? Right?

Well...

My cell rings tonight at 8:30. It was the Queen.. We had just queued up a DvD for "movie night." I was attempting to get the DvD to skip the seemingly mandatory previews, so I just passed the phone to Slick.

"...bought a Wii!? ... Really?"

My brain, still attempting to get to the title screen, lurched at this 1/2-conversation. Did Slick just? Who? Crap...went too far...no I didn't... Wait? A What? Who? Why won't the stupid home button just... A Wii? Huh?

"Granny?"

*Pause*

My brain, having successfully convinced my fingers to click the pause button, suggests that I listen just in case I'm in trouble or something. For once, I heed it's advice.

"...has been going over in the evenings to play with her?"

I asked my brain for confirmation. Unfortunately, it can't process this strange information & locks up. I'm on my own.

Thankfully, Slick is now off the phone laughing uncontrollably. Whew! Dodged another one!

It appears that Granny had a family member pick one up when they went to the "big-town" mall. Granny can't actually turn it on by herself. Instead, Slick's Aunt has been going over in the evenings and playing with her.

Never ever underestimate so-called "old" people. They will surprise you.

Think I should get her a copy of Mario Kart (assuming I ever find myself a copy?)

On a side note: the whole thing made us extra silly, thus making Kung Fu Panda even more enjoyable.

Frosty's Estranged 1/2-Brother

2009-01-04T01:36:00.001-05:00

Crapper the Snowman

Strategic Placement of Light Pole

2009-01-04T01:33:00.001-05:00

The light turned red. I sat looking at this one just long enough to make a snarky comment. Pictures were taken just as the light changed.

Can I get a drill in mauve?

Vending Machine Decisions

2009-01-04T01:27:00.004-05:00

Road Stops in Northern PA require careful reading when you use the vending machines...

Pepsi or Live Bait? I just can't decide!

Everywhere I Look, it's the Mighty Susquehanna

2009-01-04T01:25:00.000-05:00

We spent nearly all of our time in PA riding along the Susquehanna. First up from Harrisburg through Williamsport to the farm. Then along Route 6 into Scranton.

The Taste Testers

2009-01-04T01:20:00.000-05:00

Christmas Morning On the Farm

2009-01-04T01:17:00.001-05:00

Fat Lootz!

White Christmas

1913 Miles Later...

2009-01-04T01:08:00.002-05:00

We're home from our tour of Northern Pennsylvania & Southern New England. Crazy-long hours spent in the car, but worth it to see both our families for the Christmas & New Years holiday. Not sure we can repeat it next year, but glad we did it.

Pictures to follow...

This isn't a game...It's BOWLING

2009-01-02T07:42:00.003-05:00

It turns out I learned something about my parents this Christmas vacation. (I may have known this and forgotten.) Growing up in a small mining town in NE Pennsylvania, they were once very serious bowlers. In another lifetime, iDad apparently won league championships and trophies.

So, it comes as no surprise that my father became obsessed with getting a very high score on my Wii. When Slick and I went out for New Years, he practiced his technique. He broke 200. He became a "Strike Machine." Of course, he learned the cold hard truth about Wii Sports - Bowling. Bowling on the Wii is not bowling. It's a fair simulation, but it's not the real deal. At some point, more "serious" play can throw off your game.

Enter iDad's nemesis...

In corner one we have...
iDad - 6' - 180lbs - Bowling Trophies - High Score on the Wii (Over 200)

In corner two we have the Grand Daughter...
"Princess Kitty" - 4' - 70lbs (maybe...dripping wet) - Has tried a Wii at a friend's house.

Kitty bowled first...

Strike... iDad was beside himself as he barely picked up his spare.

Strike... "She can't do that!" As he misses his spare.

Spare... "But she doesn't know what she's doing!"

Princess Kitty proceeded to clear all but 3 frames and bowled an incredible 179! iDad's game got progressively worse as we all howled and cheered Kitty on. We won't mention his *cough* score.

And Still We Wii

2008-12-28T08:24:00.002-05:00

I know that I'm a tad behind the times getting a Wii this year, but wow. Even with just one controller, WiiSports and a very small space to play in the farm house, we continue to just play, play, play...

The amazing part is Slick's 81 year old Granny. She's bowling great. She only left 2 open frames last night. Sure, we're helping her position and click buttons until it's time to swing, but she's directing us. "Don't forget to move me over."

flyDad loves the golf. No surprise there. He's analyzing the course, looking for places to shorten the hole. He's reading the greens. He's then helping the rest of us when we do it.

The Queen & I are really into the tennis game. We totally need two controllers to play together. Of course, there's no room here for both of us to play anyway. Can't wait to get it home in my TV room.

I've started researching games & accessories to pick up. Obviously, we want at least one more controller. What about the voice accessory? More controllers? Do we want the Fit (Which is expensive.) Can't wait to get it hooking up to my network and try out all the other features as well. Cainam has already told me that we can Mario Kart together over the internet.

Slick wants a guitar game. She's just not sure which. So, we have to look into that as well. My gut says that we'll get a 2nd controller, a guitar game & a used game and enjoy those for a while.

This is seriously going to cut into our World of Warcraft time.

WoWii

2008-12-25T21:19:00.003-05:00

Merry Christmas! Slick and I are up on her Grandmother's farm.

It's been a great time here. Last night all 35 members of the family gathered and had the annual party & gift-exchange. Today, most of us gathered again for Christmas dinner. Slick's family is a group of bright & diverse people. Conversations are varied. One minute I'm talking with one cousin about literary giants, then I move on to a conversation with the BMW-driving Network engineer and the next minute I'm talking to Slick's uncle about the bear he shot. Again, varied...

After making us agree to cut back on gift prices this year, the Queen & flyDad surprised us a Wii. Apparently, flyDad sat in a KMart parking lot before 6AM to get one. Needless to say, we are surprised and excited.

So tonight after dinner, we hooked the Wii up to Granny's TV and started playing WiiSports. I got Granny to play. She "humored" me and tried bowling with us. The Queen tried tennis & flyDad played some golf. I think they should have gotten themselves a Wii for Christmas instead.

John Adams on DvD

2008-12-22T21:54:00.005-05:00

A number of my readers (both family & friends) are American History buffs. To them, I say rent John Adams!

Of our founding father's, none is more perfectly simultaneously praised and vilified as our first VP John Adams. This is the man who worked with Ben Franklin & Thomas Jefferson to get the Declaration of Independence written. He's also the fool who signed the alien & sedition act. A one-term lame-duck who tried to honor Washington's wishes to remain neutral in the war between France & Great Britain even in the face of saber rattling inside his own cabinet.

HBO did a mini-series on the life of John Adams which is now available on DvD. For anyone with a passing interest in the Revolution, the founding fathers or the early years of our great nation, this is a must see.

As a person who grew up fed on the "perfection" of Washington, Jefferson, Adam, Franklin...well, Franklin was the "odd" "eccentric" grandfather in the room. We were taught to laugh at his antics & admire him even more. Instead, HBO humanizes these men. He paints a deeply flawed Adams, a hopelessly idealistic Jefferson, a Franklin who knew "the game" of politics and enjoyed it a bit too much. Only Washington remained the larger than life figure I remember from history classes. Yet, even Washington was painted a pawn to Hamilton's federalist ambitions.

This HBO series is the kind of dramatic interpretation that rekindles my curiosity and makes me want to dig through my college books.

Watch it. Love it. Note that the minor historical inaccuracies or simplifications mean nothing. They have captured the time, the events and the emotions to make them more real than real. HBO films did such an incredible job casting Paul Giamatti that I forgot thinking about him as the actor.

You will learn to simultaneously love and despise John Adams by watching this film.

Test Post

2008-12-22T11:59:00.001-05:00

This is just a quick post from a new iPod/iPhone app for blogging. Headed out of town for the holidays and will only be bringing the ipod for blogging.

The app is called blogwriter lite. It looks easier to use in the touch screen than google's interface, but I can't really do more than post text.

Safe holiday travel to all of us. We have a 12+ hour drive ahead of us tomorrow. Wish us luck.

Almost Like Losing a Member of the Family

2008-12-20T01:33:00.003-05:00

Majel Barrett Roddenberry died this week. She is the voice of the ship computers, she was Nurse Chapel, she was Troy's mom. When she did a guest appearance on Babylon 5 it was a sign to a lot of us fans that the show had arrived in SciFi circles. There has never been Trek without her. She will be in the upcoming JJ Abrams reboot, but after that...

Trek has been a part of my life for so long. I was in high school when the Next Generation came out. My friends, the geeks that we were, all took on the persona of crew members. Being the youngest & shortest I was, sigh, Wesley. Actually, they called me Mr Crusher. :-D

This is something I've kept hidden for years because of all the Wesley-haters out there.

But frankly, Will Wheaton and his blog is becoming a sort of hero of mine, so I don't care who knows anymore.

In our 2nd year of college, every night 11PM was "Trek" time. So many people watched the nightly ST:TNG reruns that you could walk the halls of my dorm (men's and women's sides) and never miss a beat from the episode. Star Trek movies would often come out just in time for my birthday. Our old Nissan still has my "Klingon Warrior Academy" window sticker on it.

I just plain like Trek.

Thanks for helping to keep your husband's dream alive and for being a part of my life for so long. You will be missed.

Holiday Update aka Victims of the Almighty Sarlacc

2008-12-18T15:59:00.007-05:00

You know all those letters you get in your holiday cards from people with the exciting stuff like "and our son just got accepted in a Doctoral program at Oxford." Yeah well, this isn't one of those updates...

It's been a "growth and development" year at the LRN's household.

Slick's job is absolutely nuts. Filed under "be careful what you wish for" Slick started 2008 looking for new career challenges and found them working on the development of a new product for her company. Of course, the project was "inherited" in an already precarious state wracked with uncontrollable and utterly unforeseeable setbacks. She with the support of her new boss has helped to guide the damn thing from the brink. My analogy has been that the new product was Han Solo trapped in carbonite. They've gotten to the point where they've rescued him from the carbonite. Currently, Slick is now stuck in chains and everyone's about to be fed to the Sarlacc.

Of course, things aren't all that bad from my end. Remember what Princess Leah was wearing at that point in the film? ...

Oh, I'm so dead for writing that.

Oh, it was so worth it!

Honestly, from my limited view, things are going exceptionally well. Sure, she's stressed as hell. Sure, she's working like mad. Sure, there's that whole Sarlacc thing. BUT she's been "noticed" at work for all the right reasons. And, I honestly think they are going to succeed. They just need to watch out for Bobba Fett.

Bobba Fett? Where?

As for me, it's all about putting one foot in front of the other. After another year of living with Fybromialgia, I'm still missing out on a lot of my "old" life. The new medications are providing hope, but they've also contributed to my re-gaining 5-10 lbs.

Hey, it's not the 50-extra I started with and it's better than being stuck in carbonite!

In a lot of ways, it's been a bad luck year for me. The intestinal infection this spring took months to get over and forced me to start over with a lot of my exercise program. This fall has been all about changing medications and dealing with side-effects. Every change has meant new adjustment periods. Yet, I honestly see myself moving in the right direction. My energy, my symptoms, my worst days are still never as bad as they were the year I stopped working. I still need to get to the "next level" - whatever that means - but it's still progress.

Let go your feelings...

I accept that dealing with a "life-altering" condition isn't about taking some pills and going about my day. These things take time. If nothing else, these last few years have taught me patience & acceptance. Those are big - HUGE - lessons for me.

Hmmm...size matters not...

I really wanted to do a lot more in the garden this year. I wanted to plant some shrubs, work on the lawn, start a veggie garden. None of that was really possible. So, I compromised with the indoor garden. Our house-plants are really happy with me. I'm enjoying it. It's baby-steps. Again, patience & acceptance.

I sense much spaz in him...

The Moose is currently barking at the kids playing outside. Turning 6, he's no longer "young." He's still a spaz at times, but he's a generally happy & healthy dog. His new thing this year is that he's learned to pull back the covers and make a nest in our bed. He also likes to snuggle up with his head on a pillow & tucked under the blanket with Slick when she goes to bed. This is fine until I want to go to bed.

I know I tend to be overly optimistic around New Year's, but I'm really excited about 2009. I mean, what's the worst that can happen? Well, I suppose my fybro could get really bad, Slick could lose her job and thus our house, & the dog could find a skunk or get lost chasing a deer.

Because if I think of the worst thing that can happen, things usually work out much better and I stay happy.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year & above all watch out for intergalactic bounty hunters!

Would You Shut Up & Let Them Debate!

2008-12-15T23:02:00.003-05:00

On Sunday, Meet the Press nearly featured a really great debate about health care between Gov Granholm (D) of Michigan & former Gov Romney (R-MA). Unfortunately, David Gregory cut them off.

The core question was the magical $2000/car extra labor cost. Both governors were articulate, knowledgeable and passionate about the issue. Gov Romney was making the union-busting argument based on the idea that American car companies can't be competitive due to all the salary & benefit costs. Gov Granholm was making the counter-argument that non-American companies have a leg-up due to government health-care and related government support. The debate, which I was very interested in, started there...

And then got quashed, dismissed really, by David Gregory. Actually, I thought his moderation style was rushed and lacking style. I don't like his presence in the least. But, I digress...

In a world of cable news & talking heads, there's never really any time for actual discourse. Everything is spun and filtered. Everything is presented in Sesame Street speed. Countdown (which I love), O'Reilly (boo), & all those shows is still just about listening to pundits ramble. Blah, blah, blah! Once and a while I want to hear people with "actual" knowledge & passion about an issue engage in healthy discussion. More importantly, I was really impressed with both of the Governors and wanted to hear where this was going.

The problems with the "big 3" are broader than the UAW, but the way that this is handled is going to have lasting ramifications for the American labor force. So, I don't get why these two had to be cut short so we could listen to David Gregory talk to two other reporters about how Obama's transition team is or isn't managing the Blagojevich question.

Maybe my real problem is that I'm a big enough dork to watch Meet the Press.

Legend of the Seeker

2008-12-12T22:58:00.007-05:00

One of the best fantasy writers I've had the pleasure of reading is Terry Goodkind. His "Wizard's First Rule" was an instant classic and launched The Sword of Truth, a series of dark and violent sword and sorcery style books centering around a young protagonist named Richard Cypher. My good friends Crash & Cainam are huge fans of the series. I unfortunately found myself forced to stop after the 3rd or 4th book. Goodkind's descriptions of Richard's various "trials" became too much for me. I am not a "detached observer" when I read books. Still, I recommend any fantasy fan pick up the first book and go from there.

So today when I came across a new show on Hulu based on the Sword of Truth series, I tuned it. In the muddy and disappointing waters of fantasy TV, the pilot episode of "Legend of the Seeker" stands out. While it essentially follows the same basic premise of the first few chapters of "Wizard's First Rule," it's admittedly not on par with the books. It faces a daunting problem for fans of the books because it very quickly avoids many of the moral grey areas that make the books what they are. Book to TV/Movie purists like Cainam will be hard-pressed to like this show.

Given all the crap in the fantasy/scifi TV genre, past and present, this pilot stands firmly in the middle. For every Battlestar Galactica there's an equally horrible show like the original Battlestar Galactic and it's spin-off BGS 1980. *puke* Even the best, long-running shows like Stargate & Star Trek:TNG started with so-so pilots. And while there are also plenty of quality modern fantasy shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there is a massive void in the classic sword and sorcery end of the spectrum. There have been modest attempts in the past like the short-run Roar with a very young Heath Ledger. There have been tons of OK miniseries like Earthsea. Still, the most popular shows I can think of were the Hercules & Xena shows. This pilot, while cut from the same cloth, was much better than your standard Kevin Sorbo fare.

If this review is leaving you with a lukewarm feeling, I understand. Still, if your a fan of the genre, it's worth checking out. I assume that it's available on cable TV, so set your DVR and watch when you're looking for a distraction. Or if you're like me, catch it on Hulu while playing Warcraft or writing in your blog.

addition

I just watched episode 3. I take back what I say about it being "much better than you standard Kevin Sorbo fare." Now that they've covered the backstory, it's essentially Hercules without the campy humor. The special effects are modernized & the fight-sequence use some Matrix-style slow-mo, but it's still just another legendary journey. Sigh!

On Advent & Absent Friends

2008-12-11T22:28:00.003-05:00

The other day Posey reported that Forest is missing. This made me think about the time, years ago, that my old cat went missing for days because he got stuck the neighbor's garage. I remember how miserable I was. I remember having given up hope then hearing him crying out at 2AM. I went outside and listened. As soon as I realized where he was I woke my sister up and made her call our neighbor. My parents were away somewhere. My sister did not hesitate to rescue my cat.

I keep hoping that they find Forest because I know exactly what they are going through.

Tigger was a Christmas present when I was 12. He was the best cat a boy could have. All through High School, I never needed an alarm clock. Instead, Tigger would wake me up every morning at 6AM by standing on me and meowing for breakfast. When I would come home during college breaks he would always greet me with the "where have you been?" look before hoping on my lap and reminding everyone that my lap was his personal space. He lived with my parents for years after Slick and I got married. He might have moved in with us. Alas, it just wasn't possible. After years of separation, I became horribly allergic to him. Besides, by that point he was old and set in his ways.

Tonight, I was sorting through some old photos using Picasa when I found this picture of Tigger at my parents during Christmas of 2000. In the same batch, I also found a picture of my Grandmother, iDad's mom. Neither of them are with us now.

Tigger
Best Cat A Boy Ever Had

The holidays are a bittersweet time. They bring back joyful memories and fill us with sorrow.

Advent, the weeks leading up to Christmas, is a paradox. It's about hope, yet it's also like the gravedigger in Hamlet. Death lingers over Christ's birth the way it lingers over our holiday decorating. We get closer to celebrating the birth of Christ, but it's also a long prelude to Good Friday. Every year, I listen to Handel's Messiah when we trim the tree. This year, my fingers hung over the butterfly ornaments that once adorned my grandmother's room in the nursing home. As I hung them on the tree, I thought of her and I thought of Karen. I remembered Posey's phone call last year telling me Karen had died and realize what a bittersweet Christmas this will be.

"The voice of him who crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the lord."

Was the voice of the prophet the sound of a courageous trumpet or the sound of a scared and hungry cat? Sometimes, I wonder. But then the words of the prophets come to me in song.

"Comfort ye my people."

I think of those words and I know that everything will be alright. Absent friends are not so far away. Pain and sorrow turns to grief and hope. That's the message of Christmas. The foregone conclusion is not a Shakespearean room full of dead bodies. It is Easter morning. It's my hope for lost family and friends. I listen to the prophet sing those words of comfort and I know we need not be afraid. I hear it clearly and recognize the voice for what it truly is...

The voice of the prophet is a big sister who rescues your cat.

Random Late Night Observations

2008-12-11T00:58:00.002-05:00

I'm tired, but can't sleep yet. My mind is racing through a bunch of potential blog topics. So, here comes another random topic post.

I'm fairly certain that I'm not sleep blogging...

First, I learned tonight that Doug Glanville writes a part-time Op-Ed Column for the NYT. Check out his page here. Doug Glanville was a favorite in our house when he played in Philly. I think Slick even had a secret crush on him.

NBC Nightly News did a segment on the increase of public Library use. Well duh! Slick and I re-discovered the library over a year ago as part of our own cost-cutting strategy. Of course, this comes at a time when municipalities are cutting library funding. I should really consider how much money we're saving checking out library books & the donate a small % back to our local branch.

Observations stop here because this is where the medication starts doing the talking. Now is the time I can stagger into bed and pass out. Now is not the time for me to check the deals on gifts on Amazon.com.

John Stewart is My Hero

2008-12-10T11:33:00.003-05:00

Check out last night's Daily Show via Hulu.

He's having this long interview w/ Mike Huckabee. Huckabee is arguing this point about not trusting government to handle issues like the auto industry & social services. John Stewart comes back with...

"The fact that you would trust the government with tanks and neuclear weapons but not to pass out cheese to poor people..."

Thank you John.

Update: John then grilled him on gay marriage. It's awesome. Must see...

Fibro-Frustration

2008-12-09T11:19:00.004-05:00

I'm going to vent today so I can just get this out of my system and try to move on to salvage this week.

In many way, I've gotten used to my weird cycle of fibro symptoms. For the most part I can manage a week around them. I can have a few productive days (or hours in a day) and then need a few days or hours to recover. It leads to an almost normal life. It starts to make me think about a future where I'll do more thing like work part-time or volunteer. It gives me hope.

Then weeks like this one happen. Several of my most egregious pain & muscle fatigue symptoms are in full bloom. And yet, I'm feeling active and aware. In other words, I'm not having a chronic fatigue week where I'm hazy and tired, I just HURT! Being hazy and tired would almost be preferable. At least when I'm hazy and tired I have but one choice, go lay down.

Instead, after surviving a fall chock full of fighting off sinus migraines, I'm dealing with a mid-December pain onslaught. My back hurts. My neck hurts. My legs hurt from my hips to my toes. My arms hurt from my shoulders to my finger. Heck, my fingers hurt enough that I feel the click of every keystroke writing this. Gripping my fucking coffee mug hurts.

I'm completely and utterly conscious and in need of mental stimulation. I just can't seem to find something to occupy my mind that doesn't HURT!

This all started Sunday and has gotten progressively worse all week. Today, I just want to find a dark corner and crawl into it.

And now, having gotten that out of my system, I'm taking a deep breath, grabbing the iPod for some soothing music and will attempt to walk the dog.

The Football Mistress

2008-12-08T18:26:00.003-05:00

Tonight my other "home town" team prepares for MNF. The game is actually being broadcast on network TV, so I can watch. I really do "like" the Panthers. I can't imagine ever really being a fan. Football teams are like wives, you can't have two. Sadly, following the Panthers week-in and week-out means that I'm beginning to know them better than my Eagles. I feel dirty. Is this what cheating is like?

Coach Fox is a stand-up guy and calls a hard-nosed style of football that I like. Steven Smith is a headcase, but Fox generally keeps him under control. Delhomme plays with passion and loves to throw under pressure.

They strike me as a team that plays better with a lead, but then they amaze me with their ability to run the 2-minute drill. That's something that Reid & McNabb have consistently disappointed me on through the years.

And tonight is the kind of game that's perfect for MNF. It's December. It's a conference showdown. The winner takes first place in the NFC South.

Are you ready for some football?

Damn, this is the kind of excitement I want for my Iggles.

Eagles

2008-12-07T23:57:00.004-05:00

Now that the Eagles have ripped off a pair of impressive wins including one against the hated Giants, I've got to pontificate.

flyDad and I talked at length about this over Thanksgiving. Even after the wins, my gut still says the same thing: It's time...

It's time for Reid & McNabb to consider moving on. I am grateful for them the way a fan should be, but maybe next year needs to be a rebuilding year. It's got to be considered even if the utterly improbable takes place and the Eagles "earn" a playoff bid by winning all the rest of their games & getting a LOT of help.

Even after last season when I nicknamed McNabb "Bounce Pass" I regularly defended Reid, McNabb and the Eagles system. Unfortunately, it sure feels like that system has run it's course in Philadelphia.

Reid's style of west coast offense has consistently missed a power back and a deep threat to spread the field. Over the last two seasons, teams throughout the league have developed defensive systems to stop the screen pass (Reid's version of the run) consistently. Perhaps teams really have figured him out. He's adjusting, but for how long? It's the nature of the beast. Systems come and go.

McNabb continues to live a "what-if" life. What if he hadn't gotten so many season-ending injuries? What if the team had invested in real receivers? (We do not speak of the T.O. era in this house.) Maybe he is still in the top 25% of QB's in the league. Maybe he still has some good years left in him. Should they really be in Philly?

Then I think, "What about DeSean Jackson? He's the future right? McNabb could throw to him." Sure but Jackson and McNabb are starting to feel like two ships passing in the night. If Jackson is going to be the future, then shouldn't he be the tip of the spear, not the end of it?

Brian Westbrook is my favorite NFL player of all time. He has redefined the all-purpose back role and opened the door for players like Reggie Bush to flourish. Well OK, Marshall Faulk did the redefining, but Westbrook is still da man! Unfortunately, da man is also becoming the Millennium Falcon of the NFL - down for service more than running. The Eagles should have paired him with a durable power-back years ago. Instead, he's shouldered too much of the burden and lost almost as many games by his absence as his presence.

All these points don't even get into the aging defensive secondary or the long-term cohesion of our offensive line. I don't want to be a sub-500 team anymore than the next fan, but I also don't want to languish just outside of play-off range year after year. It's the curse of the aging 10-6 team. 10-6 looks and feels really good. Tickets get sold. The team makes money. There are exciting games. Fans have "hope." You slip into the play-offs every now and then. You talk about "next season" but are afraid to make any significant moves for fear of going 9-7 or 8-8.

The problem is that you do go 9-7 or 8-8. And eventually the wheels can fall completely off the bus because you didn't make the hard choices and you become the Detroit Lions or the Kansas City Chiefs.

We are where the Packers were last year only McNabb is no Brett Favre and the Link is no Lambeau Field. Even if the Jets win the Superbowl, the Packers should not regret moving on. They should regret how they moved on, but not moving on.

Perhaps it's time for the Eagles & McNabb to do the same.

I try really hard to let that warm glow of World Champion Philadelphia Phillies & President Elect Obama shelter me from my football negativity. Then I see the tie game on the Eagles record and I get a bit worked up.

It's not the money, smoke or my inability to drink that keeps me from going to the sports bar to watch the Eagles. It's my fragile mental health that keeps me from going to the sports bar to watch the Eagles. It's stuff like that stupid tie that makes it so fragile. tie, tie, tie...

I mean, FUCKING TIE?!?!

Who the fuck lets a game end in a tie? This isn't hockey! It's football! Win or have the common decency to choke down a loss. Don't let someone tie with you. Stupid tie...

This blog post has been stopped to protect my home and my hand from being broken before I hit that rather inviting wall over there.

Comfort is a Warm Doggy

2008-12-07T20:51:00.003-05:00

It's Sunday night and I'm feeling fuzzy, tired and hurting. So the dog and I are snugged up on the couch, watching football, surfing the Internet on the iPod & eating cookies.

Of course if Baltimore continues to crush Washington, I'm going to need something else to watch besides SNF. Few things please me more than watching a division rival get beaten, but blowouts are boring.

Oh No! Smart People?

2008-12-07T10:31:00.004-05:00

What are we thinking?

Academic elites fill Obama's roster
Critics worry about insularity as Ivy League graduates crowd cabinet posts

Oh thank God! The best and the brightest from our nation's best and brightest academic institutions are being selected by Obama to work with him.

Seriously, I don't want people like you or me running this country. I want people SMARTER than you or me running and fixing this country. The Bush Presidency's demystification of the White House is complete and utter foolishness. The "every man" should not be running the country. Also note, even with plainspoken manner and all those Bushisms, Bush is still an Ivy League grad from an aristocratic family. He's retiring to a 2 million dollar home.

I am not saying that smart people don't come out of small liberal arts colleges or state schools. I'm not suggesting that the every-man doesn't have things to offer. I'm saying that our country depends on Obama's selections, so I want him to pick really smart people.

And, IMHO, anyone who disagrees with me automatically joins me on the list of people "not smart enough to run the country."

House Plants

2008-12-06T15:04:00.006-05:00

I've been busy with the house plants since my last post about them. I took some parts to some old IKEA storage shelves I had in the shed, combined it with some scrap lumber I had in the garage and *presto-chango* instant plant shelves.

The Green Zone

This house plant haven faces SW, gets light all day and good afternoon sun. The plants are flourishing there. Bob, the ivy plant, is doing exceptionally well in his new pot and is taking over much of the right part of the shelf. I have to rotate him every couple of days because his leaves turn to face the sun. Part of me wants to see just how much he can grow.

And yes, I named the ivy plant Bob. Your point? We also have Grace the Spider Plant & Fred the nearly dead peace plant.

Bob, the Ivy

During her Thanksgiving Visit, the Queen bought me a Christmas Cactus. It's in bloom and adds some much needed color to the green zone. There was some obnoxious debate about what I would name it. Out of revenge, I've named it pRick. The P is silent.

pRick, the Christmas Cactus

I'm also trying to root some more plants. Grace produced two more babies (in addition to the 8 she gave us this fall) and I'm seeing if I can get some of Bob's vines to root.

The Nursery

The other project is an indoor herb garden. This is requiring regular care because the house is so dry. I'm spraying them with a water bottle twice a day and wondering how they will handle our leaving for Christmas.

The herbs have already been put to use to make some leftover ham & lentil soup and some turkey soup. Mmmm...homemade soup with fresh herbs! I've decided to not name any of them since they are technically food.

Herbs

Note: When I originally posted this, I accidentally wrote that Bob was a fern. The Queen corrected my mistake.

Bill Ayers in NYT Op-Ed

2008-12-06T01:25:00.003-05:00

In case you missed it.

The Real Bill Ayers

It's a quick read but thought provoking. I think intelligent people (just like the idiots) can draw their own conclusions about Mr Ayers. So, just read the piece and decide for yourselves.

Friendship, Video Games & Learning About International Politics

2008-12-05T00:07:00.006-05:00

Every now and then I realize just how much I don't know about the world.

Because of my World of Warcraft playing, I know people who live very far away from me. I've played with people who live in Australia, Thailand, Germany, parts of South America, Canada and all across the United States.

After logging in and chatting with people every day for months, conversations move past game-play or idol chit-chat. There are a number of people that I know a great deal about having never met them, seen their faces or even knowing their real names. In game, people become identified by their "main" character. My name is Beroth. Even after switching to a new main character, I'm still Beroth. But, as usual, I digress...

One of these international friends is a guy we call Karthis. Karthis lives in Canada. He and I share a lot of the same passions including politics. We like to chat about stuff a lot including politics. Through these conversations, we've learned that we are not speaking the same language.

I've always liked to consider myself a man of broad, general knowledge. I knew that my understanding of the Canadian Parliamentarian system was limited, but I had no idea just how limited. Even the lingo throws me. Perhaps it's my "American" hubris, but I've had this image of Canada as being more like the 51st state. Yes, I know how that sounded. Karthis' reaction has been similar to mine, although I think he understands more about our politics than I of his. The big issue is terminology. Political parties, ideologies, stances on various issues don't appear to fit into the traditional framework we put on our Republicans and Democrats.

As far as I can tell, Karthis is small government, fiscal conservative but with fairly liberal social viewpoints. His read on me is that I'm a left-leaning centrist. That's generally accurate.

After today's big issue with Parliament, Karthis sent me a link to his favorite political blog, Macleans.ca.

He warned me that the writing would be "somewhat off-the-cuff, but hits on a lot of issues we're struggling through right now." I'll be honest, I'm going to be doing a lot of Wikipedia searches to get through the most resent post. But, I'm trying. It's an opportunity to learn something about a friend, my neighbors to the north and broaden my understanding of the different forms of democracy in this world.

Now, the challenge is for me to send him something. What should it be? Do I simply send him to the NYT OpEd section where I get most of my political commentary? Do I go all out (and show my party loyalty at it's most extreme) and send him the link to Daily Kos? Perhaps I really try and freak him out by sending him to The Huffington Post. Do I explain that I can't stand watching Fox News and get generally frustrated with any news shows. OK, I admit liking Keith Olberman, but he's more for the entertainment factor.

The truth is that I start with the NYT. I skim Daily Kos and then use google new feeds to find interesting stories. When possible I watch PBS to watch the NewsHour With Jim Lehrer. I then look for the BBC new service. It gives me a lot of news about us from the outside world's prospective. And, I eventually catch Keith's show on the iPod over breakfast the next morning.

Any way, the change for you, dear readers, is to learn something about something you "thought" you knew but really don't. Let me know how it goes.

No, leave me alone so I can decipher this blog his sent me.

Tree-like

2008-11-29T20:25:00.000-05:00

Well, we finally did it. We got a "fake" tree. Actually, it's an anniversary present from the Queen & flyDad. For the last several years, we've been away for 1-2 weeks at Christmas. Spending $60-80 on a tree only to come home to find it completely dried out and having to spend hours cleaning up pine needles seemed impractical & dangerous. Artifical trees are a lot nicer than when I was a kid. This one setup in minutes and came with lights built in. So, now we get to enjoy the season without the Christmas tree argument.

We decorated today. Heck, Slick & the Queen even put up lights in the windows. It's rather festive around here.

My iPod Touch: Typing

2008-11-29T15:49:00.001-05:00

This is a little interlude for the ongoing series of posts about the iPod Touch.

One of the great features of the iPod touch is the multi-touch screen. This allows me to actually type fairly efficiently. It lacks the tactile feel of dedicated texting devices and the auto-correct software can struggle with names and unusual words.

Still, with a little practice I've gotten efficient enough to publish this blog post using nothing but my thumbs.

My iPod Touch - Part Deux

2008-11-29T08:09:00.004-05:00

Stop!

Consider reading My iPod Touch - Part 1 before moving on here.

Good to go? Excellent...

Let's get Technical

I have the 16gig 2G iPod Touch. I settled on 16gigs after weighing considerations between storage space & cost. I surmised, correctly, the 8gig version would not be sufficient for my storage needs. That bed was too small. The 32gig, while attractive, was just way too close to the cost of a new laptop. That bed was too big!

iPod Touch Techical Specifications
iPod Touch Features

Music, Music, Music...

Because my Nano "only" had a 2gig capacity, I was selective in my music choices. Currently, the digital portion of my music library is hovering around 6 gigs. That may sound like a big library. But truth be told, it's a modest sum. It's from a mix of sources including CDs, iTunes, free sources & other digital download sites. I probably have 50% of my CD collection that still hasn't been converted. The Nano's size meant that I was simply reluctant to unload favorite mixes to get at the bottom shelves of my music collection. Great stuff like Rush's Moving Pictures went unplayed. Other stuff like Sound Garden hasn't even been transfered from CD.

The first thing I did was load my entire digital collection onto the iPod Touch. The 8gig model would have been done then and there. With the 16gig model, I've started converting more CDs and adding them to the collection.

Now, the delema with that much music is playlists. You can forever make playlists and always miss music. You can hit shuffle on everything and never get a good mix. Apple added two really good features to their current Touch/iTunes software to help. First, they finally added playlist shuffle. This means that you can shuffle a playlist on the fly without have to resort. Second, they added Genius feature.

Genius is an "opt-in" option for iTunes. By opting in, you sync your music collection with Apple's database...

No really, I turned this feature on! It's an uncomfortable experience knowing that someone is looking over your shoulder even if they "claim" to make everything annonymous. Visions of the RIAA coming along with a Lawsuit to look over Apple's client info crept into my nightmares. Folks know that I'm a bit of a goody-goody and even I've got some "free" music scattered about my collection. But I digress...

Once the sync is complete, you can choose any song in your collection for iTunes Genius to create a 25-song playlist around. They also, not surprisingly, use it as a vehicle to "suggest" music from the iTunes store. At first it was "good." Then a recent iTunes update improved the song selection. Then last week's Touch software update 2.2 came along and made it even better by allowing me to Genius playlists directly on the Touch and to "refresh" song-based playlists when I'm ready for a change.

And the results?

Sometimes I get surprised when Dusty Springfield shows up on the same playlist as AudioSlave. And yet, on that playlist based on Seven Nation Army by White Stripe, it totally works. In fact, I'm hearing and loving songs that I've not heard in a long time. I, for whatever reason, rarely listed to any of my Pink Floyd, but now it's appearing on my Genius playlists.

Genius is yet another example of Apple's ability to make Net Neutrality, Open Source-lovin' types cringe. For those of you who don't know what this means, it's like Libertarians on the internet. We (yes I include myself in this crowd even though I'm an Apple-Lovin' Fool) want nothing less than a free and open internet where people "respect" intellectual property rights & privacy, yet share ideas, bandwidth & software freely. Apple's system is so controlling & invasive, but it's so amazingly good.

So, now you've got your music, your playlists, your Genius playlists and your ready to listen. Now, the Touch's cool-factor kicks in. The iPod Touch music navigation starts with a really efficient menu system and then converts to a cover-art flow. I've never been about the extras. Yet, the extras are just too cool to ignore. Skimming through my music collection with a flick of my finger is a fun experience.

But how does it Sound?

Sound quality, oddly, is a bit of a low priority for Apple. If you're a true Audiophile you hate MP3 music anyway. But, truthfully, the only thing holding my iPod back is the earbuds. Better earbuds, just like better speakers, make most digital music sound great.

Next post: the other stuff...
Which is to say a lot is still left to cover. We haven't talked about iPhone/Touch Apps yet. We haven't discussed WiFi access.

My iPod Touch - Part 1

2008-11-28T23:30:00.006-05:00

Back in Sept my 1st Gen iPod Nano's battery stopped holding its charge. The charge was already going for months, but by Sept it was finished. The click wheel had also been giving me trouble for a few months. So, 3 months shy of it's 3rd birthday, my Nano was essentially dead. Now what?

The anti-iPod/iTunes crowd are right in their criticism of Apple's system. iPods are expensive. When the battery dies, you're kind of stuck. iTunes can be cumbersome. Apple's DRM system locks you in. I couldn't agree more with any of these complaints. Yet, my first instinct was another iPod. Heck, my 2nd, 3rd & 4th instincts were another iPod.

It was a great 3 years. I tend to take care of my gadgets, but when I like something - as I did my iPod - I use it a lot. The Nano went with me everywhere. I would use my Nano to walk, exercise, hike, work in the garage, nap, eat, clean, took it on my one and only trip to Europe, sit in coffee shops, grocery shop, even used it once to get a promotion at my old job (That's a funny story.)

When I went from Doctor's office to Doctor's office, from test to test trying to get a diagnosis for my Fibromyalgia, the iPod was there. When I learned that relaxation was an important part of managing my condition, I went straight to iTunes to download meditation podcasts onto my iPod. When I drove 12 hours to see my dying Grandmother in the hospital, my iPod (loaded with audio books) was my travel companion.

My wife openly admits that my iPod was the single best Christmas present she's ever given me. Whatever replaced my iPod had "big" yet small, portable shoes to fill.

At the same time as my iPod's unfortunate demise, 2 other events were occuring. First, we were coming to terms with the state of our 6 year old laptop. With it's minimal hard drive, dead battery & scratched up screen, it had long become little more than an over-sized email device. Second, Apple announced their new iPod lineup including the new 2nd Gen iPod Touch.

Why were these two events important? I knew that I needed a new MP3 device (or a repair of my Nano.) I also knew that we would have to start seriously considering something to replace the laptop. We both just got new desktops this year, so neither of us had any interest in buying another computer. Was there an alternative? I wanted an MP3 device. I wanted "mobile" access to my email and the web.

I wasn't considering a smart phone. Sure, I know plenty of people who love their Crackberries. iDad loves his iPhone. But, there was no long-term justification for the extra monthly cell phone costs. It just didn't fit my lifestyle or our budget. No, what I wanted was a portable WiFi device that would play music, videos, and games while allowing me to check my email & even do some web surfing. What I wanted was the new iPod Touch.

For a few more weeks, I pondered. The new generation Touch was minutes old. I'm purposefully not an early adopter. I'm skeptical of day-one reviews of products. The price tag was daunting. Still, the more I waited, watched, read, drove Slick nuts as I debated about it to her (not with her) the more I liked it. So, one day - perhaps out of a sheer desire to shut me up - Slick told me to buy one. I did.

Now, after nearly 2 months, I decided that it was finally time to write about it. Yes, I absolutely love the damn thing. But is it worth the insane cost? Yes and no. Did it replace my Nano, Laptop & even my Nintendo DS Lite? Yes and no. It's not flawless as the Apple-gushers might have you believe, but with the recent release of software version 2.2, it's getting even better. Mostly, it's right for me, but may not be right for you.

Every negative thing said about the new iPod Touch is 100% true. It's stupid expensive for an MP3 player. It's stupid small and lacking in Flash support for a web-surfing device. Most of the "Accelerometer" based games will suck your battery dead. For these reasons, people who waste their money buying these for their kids are either stupid or rich or both. Some 3rd-party applications crash regularly. Because it's not a phone, there are times when you can't check your email or use the web. It's basically an iPhone without the Phone or the camera. (Or the monthly service fees.) Did I mention that it was expensive? Did I mention the word stupid?

It's all true, but it's all missing the mark. The cost is high for an MP3 player. But it's not just an MP3 player. It's high for a video playback system. But it's not just a video playback system. It's also not just a portable gaming device or a mobile WiFi device. The Touch is not a "replacement" for a laptop or desktop, but a reasonable option when one is not available. It's all these things. You can find individual things that can do one part or another better, but the complete package is what makes it a very good value.

In Part 2, I'll break down the features, discuss issues like battery management & get into iTunes controls.

Frustrating Weekend

2008-11-25T00:39:00.003-05:00

After a wonderful date w/ my wife Friday night, I was so eager to get my day started Saturday. I felt ready to be productive around the house, ready to for some solid gaming time on the 2nd full weekend of the new World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King expansion.

Then at 8:30AM, I realized that the "unthinkable" had happened with my gaming account. After years of system security obsession, my game password had been stolen. I had been Hacked. (Click the link to get the whole story.) Blizzard Entertainment had taken the necessary steps to freeze my account and start restoring my virtual stuff. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. I obsessively needed to do a complete security review of every piece of hardware and software on my home network. No cleaning, yard work, meals or anything would get done until I knew that I knew the cause for this breach & had quashed it.

I'll skip the boring details and just say that I used "not my regular" computer to log on to WoW after it had been turned off for a while but before new virus definitions could be loaded. I should have, duh, changed my password (sooner than my usual once every 60 days) but it never dawned on me that I could actually have been hacked.

I'm back on the game today. I've made adjustments to my system security and have purchased authenticator keys which will make my video game security more protected than most online bank accounts. Sad really!

But, that one event was like a snowball at the top of a miserable weekend. I was pissy about the computer security. Slick was pissy about things needing to get done while I was dealing with the computers. Eventually we got a little pissy at eachother. Eventually we got a lot pissy at eachother. "Fights" are so rare in our household, that to have one on my birthday weekend is like the biggest anti-gift ever.

Thankfully, the whole thing became a catharsis for us. We both eventually started laughing and being really obnoxious with one another. Stuff started getting accomplished. And, while my account lock-out frustration kept rearing it's ugly head, we just kept moving past it to find "something better" to do with our time.

Sunday proved to be a bit better. Still no game access, but we moved passed that to get an over-due Costco trip out of the way. The house cleaning was finished for our guests. I accepted the reality of things. Slick played WoW and I watched my Tropic Thunder DvD from Netflix. Not our usual, intended, Sunday night, but it worked out.

It's going to be a good week with Slick's family and that's all that matters...that and questing after everyone goes to bed. Must level my Feral Druid Tank to 80 before Christmas vacation!

Bond, James Bond

2008-11-22T23:02:00.003-05:00

Last night, Slick took me to see Quantum of Solace. Let me cut to the chase and say, I enjoyed it. Instead of giving a potentially spoiler-ridden review of the film, I bring context for the life-long Bond film fan.

In an odd way, I have not seen a more angry, driven 007 since License to Kill (1989.) Yes, I acknowledge that Dalton's two lackluster outings are barely worth mentioning in the cannon of Bond films, but hear me out. Of the 22 (23, or do you really think "we" could forget Never Say Never Again!) theatrical releases, three stand out above all others as containing moments where Bond reached real moments of happiness, even contentment only to have them shattered by tragedy that can't just be forgotten with a quip, a drink & a one-night stand.

One was Felix's wedding at the beginning of License to Kill. One dead Mrs Leiter & a shark-eaten Felix later and we have Bond forgetting Queen & Country and focusing only on revenge. It was a disappointing film, yes, but it's still the best way I can describe Bond's mindset at the start of Quantum. Or is it?

Consider if you will, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969.) At the end of this singular George Lazenby (who?) portrayal, Bond gets married to Tracy only to have her killed by Blofeld in the closing sequence. Yes, Lazenby was a disappointing Bond. But, it was one of my favorite Bond films. (Just missed my top 5 at #6!) And it ended tragically with the death of Bond's one true love. "There is no hurry...We have all the time in the world."

Tracy Bond is the "one true love" alluded to throughout over 40 years of Bond films. When Bond drinks all those Martini's and sleeps with all those women, is he trying to block out all the faces of all the men he's killed or is he trying to forget the face of that one woman?

Unfortunately, Bond fans had to wait over a decade (6 Bond films) for anything remotely qualifying as "continuity" for the opening sequence of For Your Eyes Only (1981.) Sadly, this continuity comes only as part of a truly disappointing opening sequences. Here we see Bond at Tracy's graveside before a harrowing remote-controlled helicopter ride at the hands of Blofeld. (Remember that one?)

What might have been if Sean Connery or a very young Roger Moore had been given the opportunity to chase Blofeld & Specter for the death of his wife in an entire film?

This is the true beauty of the Daniel Craig reboot. Unlike the decade following Tracy Bond's film death, we didn't have to wait to see the weakest of all Bond pre-credit opening sequences to see Bond get Blofeld. Unlike License to Kill, we didn't have to agonize through a bad 80's drug-lord story-line to see Bond driven for blood.

Casino Royale (2006) brought us the new Tracy, aka Vesper, for a new era. And in this new era, Quantum tosses aside Bond-film tradition and picks up where we left off, with an angry Bond grappling with loss, betrayal, resentment and a growing addiction to vodka. To make it worse for Bond, everyone else that he's remotely close to end up in danger in this film. This just serves to fuel the fire. It is pulse pounding. And how does Craig pull it off?

Craig's Bond in Quantum is a joyless, haunted killer on the verge of falling off a cliff. Gone is the disarming charm of Sean Connery or the silly ease of Roger Moore. But gone too is the forgettable acting of Lazenby and Dalton. Where Pierce Brosnan might have taken all the best laughs from Connery and Moore, Craig has taken all of their screen presence.

It is Bond's joylessness that has simultaneously become my biggest lament and biggest cause for praise of this film.

As for actual stuff about the film? Do you expect me to talk? No Mr Reader, I expect you to see the film!

Bonus Material:

LRN talks favorite Bond Films - I can pick out favorite moments from just about every Bond film. The second I start singling out 4 or 5 "favorites" someone will quickly ask how I can forget From Russia with Love or For Your Eyes Only. To you I say, make your own list!

- The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) - While Eva Green, aka Vesper, nearly dethroned her, Barbara Bach, aka Agent Triple X, is my favorite Bond "girl." This is the movie with the Lotus Esprit as a sub. The hot Russian agent, the return of Jaws to kill them both, Roger Moore at his prime and one hell of a kickass opening downhill ski chase.

- Goldfinger (1964) - When accounting for favorite Bond, best overall plot, villain, and considering everything that should be in a Bond film, this is my OTHER favorite Bond film. Not only does it have two of the best Bond quotes, it's got Oddjob! And..."My name is Pussy Galore." "Of course you are!"

- Octopussy (1983) - Perhaps it was because I first saw it at just the right age to start getting the sexual references. Perhaps I just loved the Bede BD-5J mini-Jet. Octopussy is a personal favorite without any redeeming qualities.

- Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) - I still contend that Pierce Brosnan got the Bond role 10 years too late. But, then again, if he had gotten it "on time" he may never have gotten to team up with Michelle Yeoh for one of the most creative motorcycle chases in film.

- Casino Royale (2006) - I admit being perfectly blown away by Craig's opening sequence, by Eva Green's piercing eyes, Judi Dench's solidly locking down her place as the best M of them all and the best overall Bond plot since the early days of Dr No & From Russia with Love.

And where do I stack the new movie up with these? That remains to be seen.

PS. Opening sequence music was meh! I like Jack White. I appreciate Alicia Keys. I think they should have listened to Sheena Easton, Duran Duran, Paul McCartney's openings a little more. They knew Bond music. Granted, big surprise, my favorite Bond song is from my favorite Bond movie because Nobody Does It Better sung by Carly Simon.

PPS. To Avouz & Crash, my fellow Bond geeks, it's good! You will not be disappointed!

Pathetic

2008-11-21T11:23:00.002-05:00

At approximately 11:20 AM EST, it dawned on me that today might, in fact, be November 21st.

One seriously has to question the sanity of someone who can get through the entire morning without realizing it's his birthday.

Sigh!

Star Wars vs Star Trek

2008-11-18T10:28:00.005-05:00

This is a follow-up of sorts to my really negative review of the Clone Wars DvD last week.

First up, the new Star Trek movie trailer is up and it's absolutely perfect.

Official Star Trek Trailer

Once in a great while, a trailer comes along that just gets me jacked up for a movie. The first Spiderman movie trailer, the first trailer for Watchmen with the Smashing Pumpkins music as the background, etc.

I am so jacked up about JJAbrams reboot of Star Trek, words can not describe...

But I digress.

So, what does this have to do with Star Wars? I'll let Scott Kurtz do my talking for me.

Sometimes guys like Kurtz, Johnson & Kovalic are able to say things in comics that we would never dare say and yet they just sum up everything in a few comic panels.

Of course, none of these "titans" of online comics do it better than XKCD.

Recent State Anti-Gay Marriage Laws

2008-11-16T01:45:00.004-05:00

Anyone else really bothered that states are passing laws to systematically treat a group of people as second-class citizens?

I would like very well to respect the "moral" arguments of fellow Christians and other religious people. I try really hard. The so-called moral decline of our society is a farce. Were we more or less moral after the Emancipation Proclamation or Women's Suffrage? Shall we undo those? And if so, how far back would people like to go for a more pure and moral society?

Shall we return to the time of Prohibition? Because, those were certainly moral times. Further? The Constitution? Folks were certainly less rebellious before then. Oh I know, let's go back to the times of Puritanism. Yeah, nothing like a good witch burning! Screw it, not moral enough. Clearly, all this is sinfulness is the result of so-called individual rights. Let's forget about the Magna Carta while we're at it.

Still not far enough back. Shoot, the Cruisades were an up-right "Christian" period. Just have to pick one. I mean, if we can't bring morality to the world by looting and pillaging once or twice, we'll try nine times over several hundred years just to make sure!

If I keep going back, I'll get all the way back to Sodom and Gomorrah right? The basis for every half-baked argument against gay rights. Yes, that's why all of society's problems are because of us Liberals right?

Everyone seems to have a lot of hang-ups about sex. (We seem fine with a little violence, but I digress...) I understand this is hard to wrap our brains around because of all "our" collective hangups, but Gay Marriage is not about Sex! It's about the rights of two equal people to share their lives together and receive the same legal and societal rights as anyone else.

And before the cowards start arguing that opening the law to gay marriage suddenly opens the law to other types of unions, just don't! One injustice a moral-buffer does not make. Defend or attack the rights of gays on their own basis. Do not lump them into the moral quagmire of other "alternative" forms of relationships.

Sorry for the rant. It's late, I've had a two-day migraine, I can't sleep and the top story on MSNBC was about this shit.

Clone Wars

2008-11-14T00:11:00.004-05:00

Every now and then a movie or video game disappoints me even when I've already set my expectations impossibly low. This is one of those times.

The new Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated feature recently arrived on DvD and found it's way into my Netflix queue. It was "highly" anticipated this summer, but I skipped it to watch on my small, yet big, screen. This new story of the intervening years between episodes 2 & 3, was also the launch-point for the new series appearing on Cartoon Network.

I have stated, numerous times to anyone who would listen, that the original Cartoon Network series of animated shorts is one of the finest parts of the Star Wars saga. The artistic style made famous in the Emmy award-winning Samaria Jack series was further proof that American animation could be as inventive and revolutionary as Japanese Anime. It was also further testimony that the animated medium could offer quality and compelling story-telling for adults and still be accessible for kids. It also saved the larger Star Wars saga for me, enabling me to rewatch the prequels and even connect with Anakin Skywalker.

Alas, Lucas Films is clearly plotting to destroy my last best hope for preserving my favorite childhood franchise with their latest film.

I want to start by saying that the film wasn't "bad." Nor can I say that the CGI was "bad." Sure, I miss the old animated style and that longing was sure to taint my perspective. They did a fine job. It wasn't mind blowing good. I think it should have been their goal. Knowing that they wanted to morph this into a weekly TV show probably shaped their decisions. If it was too perfect, the bar would be way too high to reproduce week in and week out. Still, my issue was and is not with the CGI.

The film had horrible pacing. The acting and dialog was so-so. There were times when I actively wondered if the actors had all done their lines separately in sound rooms and then it was all spliced together. The best animation can be destroyed by really bad acting. It's why some Anime (like Akira) must be watched in it's original Japanese. Inflection, tone, mood, interaction are all set by good voices doing their jobs right. That's not to say I disliked their voices, but it just didn't work.

It felt like a kids movie and not in a good way. I know that Lucas' intended goal was to make this for younger viewers. I don't fault him there. But great films for kids end up being great films for adults too. Movies like Disney's Aladin or Pixar's Finding Nemo are instant classics for all ages. I know adults who quote Finding Nemo that don't even have kids. That's quality cinema. So, I refuse to give Lucas a pass for the "Huttling" or the totally Gay Uncle the Hut. In fact, Lucas should be ashamed for drawing on such classic stereotypes for creating characters like that. Especially when the film is aimed at kids. Star Wars has it's androgynous token gay character. Adding a "flamboyant" hutt was in poor taste.

Still, the failure of the film was not the animation style, the phoned in voices, the bad choices in character creation, or even the truly flimsy plot (which was waifer thin.) No, the agregious problem was pacing.

It could have easily been done as 2 to 3 part premier episode of a TV series. It didn't have a sweeping movie plot. It didn't transition from event to event well. The sense of drama was completely lost. The big climatic moment of the film perfectly positioned itself to make a nice squishy plop like that of a freshly produced cow-pie. It was warm, stinky and you really wanted to avoid stepping in it. So close to a real Star Wars fight, but no.

And so, this is what they want us to ignore/replace the original Clone Wars series with? This marketing contrived, shallow, cow-pie of a movie?

I was so utterly disappointed with this film, I paused it several times to do some email, make some calls, by my wife's birthday presents on Amazon.com. Each time I went back expecting the next scene to be the one that propells this new franchise and convinces me to spend money to watch future episodes on DvD or iTunes.

Use the FORCE George, because it's the only thing you've got keeping me from never looking at another Star Wars product again.

Fybro Update

2008-11-13T12:58:00.002-05:00

The roller coaster ride continues this fall. I have a few good days followed by a few bad days. It took me 4 days to rebound from going to the Obama rally. I'm not regretting it, but it was hard. Over the weekend, we did some much needed yard work & were really busy. By mid-Monday, I felt like I had hit a brick wall. The fatigue the last few days has been really rough, but general pain is still down.

I also had my first "Ambien" events last week.

On Monday night, I fell asleep on the recliner until after 4AM and then could barely stand up to get myself into bed. On Tuesday night, I apparently got up, turned on the lights and used the bathroom and then went back to bed without turning the lights off. Slick reported this to me, but I have no memory of the event. Things are really out of sync.

Neither of these compare to what happened Saturday...

I was reading on the couch waiting for sleepiness to kick in, but it never seemed to. So, I got up and looked at my music library on iTunes. At some point the meds kicked in, but I didn't actually fall asleep. I just kept on surfing and then went to bed. I remember doing all this and yet it's all sort of vague. The next morning I found that i had bought several videos in the iTunes store. I have since changed my settings to make it harder to purchase things. One-click shopping is bad for sleepwalkers!

I was really embarrassed about that one and pissed at myself. I'm getting over it. Blogging about it and letting you share in my misery helps.

On Wednesday, I had a 4-week checkup to see how I'm doing with the Lyrica. I reported my sleepwalking to my Doctor along with my other symptoms.

The Lyrica and the Ambien together are probably doing this. Since, my Doctor wants to double my Lyrica dose now, we're going to try to see if I can be weaned off the Ambien.

Needless to say that my body is really pissed off at me today. I'm tired, I hurt, I didn't sleep well last night and I think I'm experiencing side-effects from the increased Lyrica dose. It's going to be a really fun couple days as I adjust.

Geek Anniversary Presents

2008-11-13T11:55:00.004-05:00

Ten years ago this week, Slick and I were in Hawaii on our honeymoon. It was our intent to go back in 5 and then in 10. Neither year has been particularly good years for spending the time or money to do so. So, what are we doing to celebrate 10 years?

On Friday, I made a romantic dinner complete w/ roses, candlelight, champagne, and all that stuff.

Today, we get our gifts. It's 2 copies of the new World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King which came out today.

I'm in the middle of installing the expansion on both computers while I type. This weekend we'll lock ourselves in the computer room madly leveling in brand new content only to emerge for food and to take the dog out.

Yes, instead of black sand beaches, we're killing virtual undead on a frozen wasteland located in a server in California.

Isn't it romantic?

The Versatility of Karl Urban

2008-11-11T23:40:00.003-05:00

Every now and then, Hollywood gives us an actor with versatility and the "hey wait, isn't that..." surprise. The amazing thing is the number of these guys who've been in Lord of the Rings. And yet, few seem to surprise me like Karl Urban. He's no leading man. He's not academy award kind of guy. Yet he's gotten some interesting supporting roles & he changes with the role.

It's hard to connect the assassin from Bourne Supremacy to Eomer in Lord of the Rings to Vaako from the Chronicles of Riddick, but I assure you that they are all the same guy. And now, to really shock and confuse your senses, I realized today that he's playing the new JJ.Abrams version of Dr McCoy from the USS Enterprise!

Frankly, I don't know which is more unsettling; hearing Silar say "Illogical" or hearing Vaako say, "He's dead, Jim!" Sadly, I have to wait until May to hear both.

Be Careful What You Say

2008-11-06T13:41:00.002-05:00

Several months ago, iDad jokingly challenged me that if I could "deliver" the state of North Carolina for Obama he would pay for a year of lawn care service. For weeks, he would razz me about how he was giving Connecticut to Obama and how if only I could deliver North Carolina then I wouldn't have to worry about my lawn. Then with the economic crisis, the tide started turning. iDad started backpeddling.

And now, with NBC announcing that Obama is the apparent winner in North Carolina, I just have one question.

iDad, when should I expect the work crews? I could really use one more mow and the leaves are starting to fall.

Voting @ 5:45AM

2008-11-04T11:32:00.003-05:00

This one is from iDad. He arrived at the polls at 5:45 AM and was greeted by a line.

#304

2008-11-04T10:33:00.002-05:00

I'm sitting at the little coffee shop in town drinking my free coffee for voting and surfing on my iPod touch via the shop's wifi.

Slick reported that she stood in line for an hour, but I was in and out in 5 minutes with no wait.

It's been an awesome time following this election. Hope for a happy ending tonight.

Unfiltered Photos

2008-11-04T00:05:00.004-05:00

I took over 100 shots during the rally on Monday & made three very short videos. There are some good shots, but most of it's crap, but instead of cleaning and filtering, I'm just going to let you see them all on my web album. Why? Because, the shots - good and bad - paint a good picture of the hours upon hours I spent standing around waiting for the speech.

Obama Rally UNC Charlotte 11-03-08

Enjoy!

Exciting Day

2008-11-03T22:19:00.002-05:00

Barack Obama Gives An Emotional Speach at UNC Charlotte

I'm home. I survived the drive, the bus ride to the event, the mile-long line, the hours of waiting in the rain and the horrible lines waiting to get back on the buses. I have over a hundred pictures from the event which I plan to upload unfiltered in a day or two for you all. I'm too tired to really go into the whole experience. He cried a bit when he talked about his grandmother and clearly went off-prompter for it. Otherwise, it was all the same stuff I've seen/heard him say on the stump these last few months.

The big, most inspiring thing was the diversity of the crowd (obviously bolstered by the students of UNCC.)

EST Sucks

2008-11-02T22:38:00.003-05:00

I love daylight savings time. Eastern Standard Time sucks. The only real problem I've ever had with EDT is the time adjustment playing online games with our friend living in Thailand. Now that we're back to "regular" time, it's a 12-hour difference. Aside from that, I see no intrinsic value to EST. When the sun suddenly set at 5:30 today, it just felt screwy. All I get from this so called "regular" time is less sunlight and a need to remember to turn on the front lights before Slick comes home. I don't understand why we can't just say screw it and adjust all the clocks 1 hour and be done with it. Who needs extra daylight first thing in the morning?

Seriously, if I wanted less light to be a "feature" I would move to Canada. Granted, if McCain wins on Tuesday...

There's A Place For Caps

2008-11-02T14:38:00.002-05:00

Slick and I went to Linens & Things today. She's been talking about getting some new bedding for a while & since they are going out of business, there's a huge sale.

Slick spotted this "Cap Rack" that hooks to closet doors & holds up to 9 hats. Well, I've needed a place to store my hats. It seems that all over the house on numerous chairs & hooks is inappropriate.

Yes, I know...

I need more Phillies hats!

Note: Sing this post title to "There's a place for us."