Monday, December 29, 2008

The Big Work Begins...

This afternoon after work, I'm going to go get supplies to begin our home improvement project. This means that the big work on the project will begin really soon now.

One of the more onerous tasks I have to deal with is the fact that I now have to dig a hole outside my house to locate and seal the source of a slow seep into our basement where the renovation will occur. In case you've not been reading along, I'm recovering from a sprained wrist and we have had atrocious weather recently.

I'm planning on doing what I can inside and hoping for a warm weekend or something that will allow me to be outside for extended periods of time while working without freezing. :) None of us likes to freeze, so here's hoping...

Anyway, I'm not whining about it, I'm just informing you all that I'll be really busy for a while and I may appear to be a bit cranky for a few months. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters U, G, H, and the number 133.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

It's a Sprain - I Think

I sprained my wrist I think. I know it's not broken, I can use the wrist for the most part like normal, but twisting motions hurt something fierce. It's better now than Sunday afternoon, but it certainly isn't pleasant. Sometimes I feel like an idiot for injuring it in the first place, but then again, I had to relocate all the cold white stuff on the driveway and sidewalks. :)

How did I do it? You're dying to know, aren't you? :) Well, that's a quick story. I was shoveling and the shovel hit a seam in the concrete sidewalk and stopped dead. Unfortunately, I had just started the forward stroke of the shovel, so the abrupt jarring from the handle of the shovel sent a sharp pain up through the handle and into my wrist where it got mired down in all the ligaments, bones, and whatnot that lives in my arm. It pitched a tent and I've spent the last couple of days trying to evict it. :)

Here's the part that will make you realize just how very stupid I am. When this happened, I just shook my arm, cussed a bit about it, and continued shoveling. :) I had to shovel the snow, you see.

I think I may have just nominated myself to go to the shallow end of the gene pool. Good thing too, because I can't float! :)

This post was brought to you by the letters P, A, I, N, and the number 127.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

A BOY!!!

Woot! We're having a boy! Not that I don't like my daughters. I do, but I've wanted a boy for quite some time now and according to the ultrasound, that's what we're getting! :)

I'm stoked to have another male in the house to commiserate with. :)

I'm sure the Queen will update her blog one of these years and give you more details.

This post was brought to you by the letters X, Y, and the number 3.

Friday, November 28, 2008

The Day After...

Hey, that was an old movie title. Hmm. Anyway, today is the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday and I'm at work. Apparently on some bad intel, I neglected to request the day off. Ooops! I will remember that for next year. :) Anyway, the Queen went off on a shopping spree and I was left to bring the little folk into work with me. They are currently quietly enjoying a movie here in my office. Once the Queen is done with her insanity, she'll come retrieve them.

There have been a few other developments over the course of the last couple of weeks as well. The Queen now has Bronchitis (she gets it about 2 or 3 times a year) and as a result, her mother was at out castle helping her last week and fell off my deck. It is about a 10-11 inch drop, but she fractured her right fibula and sprained (possibly fractured) her left ankle. That made Turkeyday really interesting this year since we celebrate it at the Queen's mother's place.

At least everyone liked my turkey. I'm glad of that and it turns out I could have started it a couple of hours later that I did, but who needs sleep, right? :)

Now that it's over, I just want to take a nice long nap, but I have to be here at work manning the fort. Luck for me, it's been really dead so far and I've already completed one of the two things I need to finish for the day. Once I'm done with that, I'll just surf the net until I can leave for the day.

What a week! I'm glad it's nearly over. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters M, W, O, and the number 5.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Thank You!

To all our veterans, I say Thank You! I never served in the military and I didn't have any immediate family serve that I can remember. I had a great grandfather serve in WWII and certain times of the year remind me that I miss him greatly.

I so wish I could talk to him about things that are going on or introduce him to my 2 little girls and my wife, but he's been gone for the better part of 2 decades.

Patriotic holidays and his birthday really upset me because it reminds me so much of what he was about. I miss him greatly and wish I could tell him Thank You for all the freedoms he helped defend.

I'd like to extend that thanks to all the veterans of all our military and civil branches who put themselves in harms way for our sakes.

Thank You!

This post was brought to you by the letters D, G, H, and the number 2

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Listed.

The car has been listed with a local paper website. Hopefully we'll get some interest in it soon and can get it sold shortly. If there's anyone in the SLC area who is interested in it, please feel free to comment.

The car has served us well for over 10 years. We'll miss you Lizzzie! Yes, the car has a name. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters C, A, R, and the number 7.

Friday, November 07, 2008

Need a Boot?

If you're anything like me, you wear boots nearly all the time. Whether you're looking for hiking boots, work boots, hunting boots, military boots, or some other type of boot altogether, workbootsusa.com is the place to start. With brands like Caterpillar, Danner, Belleville, Matterhorn, Bates, and more, the selection is such that you're bound to find something you'll like.

Also, they're made right here in the good old United States of America. The makers stand behind their products and orders of $50 or more get free shipping! If you're in the market for a pair of boots, go check them out.

This post was brought to you by the letters B, O, O, T, S, and the number 5.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Election!

The election is over and Barack Obama has won. I'm proud that my fellow American people have decided to choose an inclusive, change-bringing leader. I hope he can live up to the promises he's made and can deliver on those very same promises.

I have a bit of hope in my country again as a result of our choice. I understand that shome of you will disagree with my choice and that's your right, but I feel we chose the better of the two candidates this time around.

Hooray, America! :)

This post was brought to you by the letters B, O, J, B, and the number 2008.

Parking Ticket - Really?

So what that the registration ran out on the car at the end of last month. We got a new car and haven't been driving the car that got the ticket, but it happened to be parked on a public street, so it got a ticket after only 4 days. Grrr!

Wish us luck on selling it! If any of you are interested in a 1996 Dodge Intrepid ES, please comment. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters C, A, R, and the number 12.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Announcement!

I have an announcement to you all. What better way to deliver said announcement than to send you to the Queen's blog and let her do it. :)

LOL! You should see the look on your face right now. :)

Seriously, go check out her blog.

This post was brought to you by the letters X, Y, and the number 13.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Happy Birthday to the QUEEN!!! :)

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday Dear, Queenie!
Happy Birthday to YOU!

This post was brought to you by the letter D, O, B, and the number... er... (Queen's age)

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Instant Party!

I was just directed to the Emergency Party Button and I think it's really cool. :) Of course, I'm a geek and this kind of thing really interests me. :)

Apparently, this guy is as much (probably a LOT MORE) of a geek as I am and just decided to make what he was thinking, happen. I WISH I have the cajones and the dinero necessary to do some of the things that pop into my head like that. Too bad I'm not rich, eh? :)

Anyway, I thought you'd enjoy the fun.

This post was brought to you by the letters E, P, B, and the number 6.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

A New Ride.

Yesterday, we purchased a new ride. I'm sure the Queen will be happy to tell you all about it in depth, so I'll summarize. We purchased a Red 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT. It has Sto-n-Go seating, dual powered sliding doors, 3 zone AC and only 31k miles. We're happy to have it and our little princesses are stoked about it as well.

We now have enough room for them and all their assorted stuff without feeling crowded. We're going to sell our old family car (a Green 1996 Dodge Intrepid ES) and part ways with an old friend. We'll miss you, Lizzzie.

Anyway, this post was brought to you by the letters R, O, O, M, and the number 7.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

I made the mistake of caving to the Queen's pressure to get a Facebook account in an effort to shut her up make her happy and I think it has backfired. I'm now playing this Dragon RPG on there and slowly becoming addicted to it. Woe is me...

Anyway, It's at least amusing and it plays pretty well. It isn't WoW or W:AR (Warhammer: Age of Reckoning) by any stretch, but I can at least amuse myself a bit by playing it and we have another thing in common.

You know you want to get a Facebook account and add us as friends. :) You KNOW you want to...

This post was brought to you by the letters R, P, G, and the number 6.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Are you one?

WARNING! GOOD-NATURED RANT FOLLOWS!

Are you one of those people who have a cell phone? If so, why did you get it? If you got it to be cool, then great - you're cool. If you got it to keep in touch, please do what it takes to fulfill that? If you have it for emergencies only, please be sure not to give the number out.

This post is for the people who have a cell phone to keep in touch.

I know it reads as if this is a targeted posting, and to some degree, it is. In my defense, I have recently run across this issue in personal life as well as professional life and it's truly annoying to try calling someone only to get voice mail over and over again. After finally getting in touch with this person, you find out time and again that they didn't bring their cell phone with them ("I forgot to bring it"), or the battery is dead ("I forgot to charge it"). WHAT?!

I'm going to use the Queen as an example here (please accept my apology, btw :) of how she needed to run an errand and wanted me to make a phone call to correct a situation for her. Unfortunately, I didn't have all the information I needed and when I tried calling her to ask a quick question, her cell phone which happened to be in the next room, began making pretty noises. She had left her cell phone at home, sitting on the table. I'm happy I was able to wing it and ecstatic that nothing happened to them or the car while she was out, but I would have been very hard pressed to get in touch with her in the event of an emergency.

If you don't have it with you and charged, what's the point? If you're one of the people who has given your cell number out to the majority of the people you know, do them a favor and keep it charged, on, and with you. :)

Now that I've ranted about cell phones and called out the Queen (again, sorry about that), I'll step off my soapbox, and relinquish the microphone. FYI: I am fully expecting to be flamed by this post and I probably deserve most if not all of it.

Queen, dear, please be a good sport about me calling you out. You just happen to be an easy target. Please forgive. I'll be sure to get some chocolate or something to make it up. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters C, E, L, L, and the number 5.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Job Quality

What has happened to the job quality of NFL officiating recently? So far this season, I have personally seen enough horrible calls from the officiating crews to last an entire season. I have also seen replays (in real time mind you) of others that were completely ludicrous. Why don't they have any pride in what they do this year?

Obviously, I'm not happy with the Cowboys' loss today, but I saw 3 blown calls go against the Cowboys today that could have made the difference in the 2 point loss to the Redskins. You're right that the Cowboys should have overcome the bad calls and won anyway, but if all things are equal, then the game would probably have ended differently.

That's my $.02, and you are welcome to have a different opinion in this particular game, but overall officiating has gone pretty far downhill so far this year.

This post was brought to you by the letters W, T, F, and the number 3.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

First Impression...

My first impression of Warhammer: Age of Reckoning is this. FUN! I have a few minor issues with the interface, but I'm sure I'll either figure out an alternate way to do what I'm trying to do, or Mythic will correct it within a patch or two. I won't tell you any specifics other than the fact that there isn't a built in PTT system like in WoW. I guess I'll have to make use of Ventrilo like most of the other folks I play with. :)

Anyway, I'm happy with the game overall in that it's fun and the graphics quality is actually a bit better than WoW's.

This post was brought to you by the letters U, I, and the number 5.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Clarification...

After reading my previous post, it's possible that I gave the impression that I never say the words. That's not the case. I just don't say them very often. I have noticed that I have said them less often that normal in the last while and I'm accepting my failing in that.

I just didn't want you to get the wrong impression from my lack of eloquence. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters E, D, I, T, and the number 4.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

I Love the Queen

Just in case you hadn't heard, I love the Queen. No, I'm NOT talking about the Queen of England, I don't know her personally, though I suppose she could be an OK person. I'm talking about the Queen I married.

I know I don't say the words very often, but it is a fact. I do love her and hope that she realizes that every time I make a meal for her, or get her water, etc. I think too many people put too much stock into saying the words and not following up on them with actions. Therefore, I'm more likely to say it with actions and not the words. It's a failing of mine, but that is PART of ME. Don't try to make me change, because I won't do so. You like/love me (or not) for who I AM, not for who I could BECOME. I'm also a Taurus and very stubborn. That is also a failing of mine. :)

In fairness to her, I should and WILL endeavor to say the words more often. At least once daily when she's awake and can hear it. It's not my fault if she's ignoring me at the time and misses it. I'm at least trying. ;)

Anyway, I just thought you should know that little bit of info about me. Perhaps, it will give you a little insight into me. Then again, maybe not. Oh well, laters!

This post was brought to you by the letters F, E, E, L, and the number 11.

It's About Time!!!

I finally have my pre-order code for WarHammer Online and can download it and play early. Unfortunately, the download is huge and will take all night and a good portion of tomorrow to download. I'll be able to play it as early as tomorrow night, though. :) Of course, there's a conflict of interest because the Dallas Cowboys are playing tomorrow night.

We'll see how it all rolls around. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters R, S, T, L, N, E, and the number 6.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

7 Years

It's been 7 years since September 11, 2001 changed our world. It's too bad we can never go back to the way things were. Of course, that's part of what got us into this mess to begin with, but I'm not posting this to rehash the whys.

I'm posting this to remember all those who died that day on American soil as a result of those attacks. I'll never forget.

This post was brought to you by the letters U, S, A, and the number 911.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

WarHammer Online

I'm going to give new game a try. It's called WarHammer Onling: Age of Reckoning. Go take a look. It's supposed to be a bit like World of Warcraft, but more Player vs Player centric.

The biggest reasone for me to try this game is that the people I used to play WoW with have all quit and I have a ready-made guild waiting to begin WarHammer Online. I'll give it a try and we'll see what happens. I always have the option of going back to WoW since my character will remain on their servers indefinitely. :)

We'll see if I like it.

By the way, the open Beta has just begun. :) Come give it a try.

This post was brought to you by the letters W, H, O, and the number 18.

Thursday, September 04, 2008

What a Person Says...

Does what a person says to you mean anything? Are we a society full of liars?

Those of you who know me know that I rarely make promises. Instead, I will tell you that I will try my best deliver on what I said, or something similar.

I have a reason for not making promises. (It seems to be a really good reason to me, but you may have a different opinion.) The reason I don't make promises, is that it absolutely tears me up inside to break a promise.

Perhaps, it's because of all the broken promises I received as a child (remember the abuse and all. Or some other leap of logic on my part, but as a result, I VERY rarely promise anything. I'm sure the Queen and the Princesses aren't too happy about that fact, but there it is.

I'm bringing this up because as much as I try not to make promises, I also try to always do what I say I'm going to do. I'm not always successful, but I try. I also, tend to expect this of others. I have an issue with people telling me they'll do something and then blowing it off. It seems disrespectful to me.

Perhaps, I'm just too caught up in the old ways, but I was raised that "A man's word is his bond" and "You have my word on it" were simple truths to live by.

Am I that old fashioned that I'm getting caught up on these things? Should I expect the worst from everyone?

I feel a little bit derailed, folks. I could use a little clarification. Better yet, don't tell me ABC unless you're going to deliver ABC.

This has been the first rant of the month by this old fart, but I really don't think it will be the last. You have my apologies for that.

This posr was brought to you by the letters W, O, R, D, and the number 9.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Last Rant of the Month... :)

I tried to give myself a bit of time to get over this one, but I did say I would post the rant, so here it is, finally.

So, here we are, paying an arm and a leg for airplane tickets on an airline that allows you to pick the seats you're purchasing and when we get there, the seats we chose are NOT available to us. WTF!!! Didn't I just mortgage off my spleen to pay for these tickets?! Didn't you allow me to choose my seats? Since that's the case, why in the living HELL didn't I get to sit in the seats I paid for?

If we don't get the option of choosing my seats, then remove that feature from your website you useless wastes of JP-10 (that's jetfuel). Along about this time, you're probably wondering who these CRETINS are who upset the Queen and I. Well, I'll tell you. The airline was Delta. Yes, I did indeed utter it aloud. It was Delta Airlines who introduced us to the shaft on this trip.

I suppose I should simply be happy we got there and back in one piece, but I can't help being a bit annoyed by their IDIOCY in screwing us over. That's why we'll try to give our business to someone else, like Southwest, United, or American the next time we fly, unless they are prohibitively expensive.

There... That's off my chest now. :) I can enjoy what's left of the Holiday. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters S, W, A, and the number 4.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Historic

Well, at least this election will be historic, whoever wins. :) We'll either have the oldest first term President and first female Vice President OR we'll have the first Black President.

And if - against all odds - NEITHER of them win and an Independent or Green party candidate wins, that will be historic as well. So for the fact that there will be some large historic strides made, I'm happy to be a part of this electoral process. As for the candidate for whom I'm voting... I'll keep you guessing on that one, unless you've figured it out already. If that's the case, please keep it to yourself. :)

America is good at doing historic things. :) I have to give us that much. We screw up a significant number of other things in the world, but we are certainly historic.

This post was brought to you by the letters H, U, H, and the number 8.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Sleep Inn - How Dost Thou Sucketh?

Let me count the ways. Not really, but I became quite annoyed when our room key stopped working each and EVERY day at our hotel stay. I swear, did they really not want our money? The service in that regard was so bad that they were constantly blaming us for the keys not working.

The room was not too bad overall, a bit on the small side, with only double beds, but other than that, the only real gripe I had was when we were continually locked out of the room and at times building unless we trekked all the way around to the front desk.

It is possible that they just had some really incompetent front desk employees, in which case they need to be either fired or trained. I don't know which was the case, and I don't care. The point is that they should have known how to program the cards so that they wouldn't lock us out each day.

This post was brought to you bu the letters L, O, C, K, E, D, and the number 5.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Family and Vacation...

Whew! We just got back from vacation. I'm not sure I can call it a vacation in that I'm as tired (or more so) as I was before we left. I suppose it's not a failure when all the people involved are still alive when it's over. I'm just not sure that some of what we went through was worth the trouble.

My girls met my mother for the first time during this vacation and I'm going to have to talk with them some time soon to see what they thought of the whole thing. They also met my mom's mother, and sisters, and a cousin and an aunt (this part was NOT planned more like SPRUNG) as the plan was to only introduce the girls to 2 people they'd never met. That part was annoying, but typical of the way that side of my dysfunctional family works.

The other side of my family has its issues (primarily planning just about anything), but once we are aware that they have planned something, we can just suck it up and realize that while it may not go as planned (and it usually won't) It's almost guaranteed to be entertaining.

So, all-in-all, it wasn't a complete wreck, but it was certainly not the IDEAL vacation that I would have hoped.

Hopefully, the next one will be better and a lot more relaxing.

Go, check out The Queen's Blog for more info and I'm sure she'll be posting pics soon. :)

The next posts will contain a few gripes about bad service, so if you're planning on flying with Delta or staying at a Sleep Inn, please stay tuned for future posts.

This post was brought to you by the letters C, F, and the number 12.

Thursday, August 07, 2008

WTF!!!

So... 2 nights ago, at about 1am, we're awakened by someone banging on our door and ringing our doorbell. We don't know of anyone who would do such a thing. WTF?!

My first thought was that there was some drunk guy trying to get into the house because he was drunk and thought it was HIS house. So, I carefully come down the stairs to try to see who it is and on my way down, mystery person starts trying the doorknob. Again, WTF?!

I turn on the exterior lights and then peer through the peep hole. There's no one there, but the banging, doorbell ringing and doorknob rattling continues. I think I'm going blind, so I try the box bay window beside the door and again I see no one, but the racket continues. Are my eyes open? WTF?!

I go back and forth a few times and realize that it has to be a smaller person or they are trying to avoid being seen. I bang my door from the inside and yell at them to back off the door, but they either can't hear me or refuse to back off. Finally, they begin to get frustrated and wander back to the steps before returning to my door and I get a brief look at them. It's a 6- or 7-year old kid. WTF?!

I tell the Queen what I see and then open the door. The kid starts crying and I tell him we'll help him and to sit on the porch for a second. The Queen arrives and figures out that he's gotten separated from his parents just a few minutes earlier and it turns out he needed to go to the house next door. She leads him over and he walks up to the door, opens it, and walks in. WTF?!

So tell me, what real parent is going to lose their own child at 1am between their car at the curb and their front door 25 feet away? How can this happen if you're IN ANY WAY a responsible parent? I can't imagine the circumstances that could have resulted in this silliness.

WTF?!?!?!

This post was brought to you by the letters W, T, F, and the number 1.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Projects...

I hurt so much right now. Since yesterday morning, I've been working on the girls' bathroom. The sink (and possibly the toilet) have been leaking in such a way that it wasn't readily detectable and has damaged the floor. In order to investigate the damage to the floor and to determine just how bad it was, I had to completely disassemble the bathroom. I will post images of the ordeal once it is actually complete. :)

In the mean time, The Queen may have a few things to say on the matter and I need to get back to it so I can complete it today. I'd like the girls to be able to use their bathroom and not ours.

This post was brought to you by the letters G, R, R, and the number 5.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Hospital...

The Queen has been in the hospital since about noon yesterday. She will undoubtedly tell you more about it if we can get wireless internet in her room. If not, I'll tell you more later tonight.

Not to worry, she's doing just fine and should come home tomorrow morning. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters O, U, C, H, and the number 15.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Moody...

Sorry to neglect you all , but I've been somewhat moody of late and I suspect that any posts would be complaints/rants, so I'll spare you all the ugliness. I have not forgotten you, but haven't been up to posting anything for a while. I'll get over it eventually.

This post was brought to you by the letters E, I, F, O, and the number 94.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Tagged...

So, I've been tagged and I'm required to think and tag some others.

"Tagged?" you ask.

"Yes, tagged." I say. Here's the scoop. Once, tagged, I have to post 4 lists consisting of 3 Joys, 3 Fears, 3 Current Obsessions/Collections, and 3 Random Surprising Facts about myself. After the lists, I have to tag 5 people by listing their names at the bottom of this post and leaving a comment on their blogs.

Sounds easy, right? Grrr... :)

OK. Here goes!

JOYS:
1) Family when people aren't all grumpy/fighting. I love my family dearly, but can't stand the moodiness of the females in it. :)
2) RPGs/Computer Games. I've posted before that I like D&D and WoW, but they aren't the only ones that fall into that category. As for RPGs, I'm playing the Mutants and Masterminds and have played Sidewinder, Cthulu, and Star Wars in the past. On the Computer, I play Counter Strike: Source, Day of Defeat, and Call of Duty 4 as well.
3) Reading. I am a SciFi/Fantasy nut and read quite a bit, though not as much as I would like. :)

FEARS:
1) I will fail my family. I want to provide for my family, but It is a CONSTANT fear that I will fail to do so. A series of layoffs feeds this fear.
2) I'll become that which I can't stand. I was abused by my mother and that has had a profound effect on me.
3) Earthquakes. So why did I move onto an active fault line?

CURRENT OBSESSIONS/COLLECTIONS:
1) Counter Strike: Source. I need to get my average skill above 1000.
2) Yardwork/Garden: I want my yard to look great and I want my garden to be productive.
3) Web Comics: Check 'em out on the right side. I put a rating on them as a rough guide as to their content. :)

RANDOM SURPRISING FACTS:
1) I'm a good cook. I was taught by my Great-Grandmother. 'Nuff said. :)
2) I'm a Jack of all Trades. I can do all kinds of things.
3) I was raised by my Great-Grand parents. So I was raised old-school and I think it was great.

There are others, but I have to have something for next time. If there is a next time... :)

And now, for the unlucky suckers victims winners of my personal tagging contest. Please visit them and say hello.

Gorilla Buns
Lint Monkey
BopNopper9
Oh, The Joys
Gunfighter

Please visit them! :)

I call NO TAG BACKS! :)

This post was brought to you by the letters T, A, G, and the number 5.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Neglected

I'm sorry to make you feel neglected, but I really don't want to turn my blog into a mostly ranting, soapbox derby. (I really should make more use of my ranting blog just so I can do so. :) Most of the things I've been tempted to post recently have been rants and complaints, so i spared you all the nastiness associated with that.

I do have a question to post to you all. If you had a blog, (some of you do and some of you don't) is there a topic that you won't post about and what is it? I'm not asking to know why as you all have your own reasons why, but I'm curious about my readership - all 4 of you. :)

Thanks!

This post was brought to you by the letters A, R, G, and the number 6.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Memorial Day

Yesterday, We celebrated Memorial Day here in the United States of America. While I've never served in the Armed forces of America and I am not a fan of my nation's foreign policies, I believe in the people in our armed forces and I greatly appreciate what they do on a daily basis for our country.

I've had relatives in the armed services and friends in those same armed services. I hope the old friends I had are OK and I'd like to take this chance to thank them for their service.

Thanks to all our past and present military service men and women. It's a shame our country's policies put you in harm's way on a daily basis, but I thank you for hefting the mantle and doing a thankless job well anyway.

Thank you so much! Stay safe.

This post was brought you you by the letters U, S, A, and the number 4.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Explanation, Please?

So explain it to me using really short words. Obviously, I can't understand. Why is it that no matter what happens, it's a bad thing? And why the hell is it always my fault even when I did what was asked of me?

It's really beginning to frustrate me.

Apparently, I'm incapable of doing anything without pissing someone off.

And it continues even now...

I'm getting really close to being DONE!

PICK ANOTHER TARGET!

This post was brought to you by the letters W, H, Y, and the number 87.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

What Fun...

...it is to have your head ripped off and venom spewed down the hole as a GREETING. It's positively the absolute best feeling ever! Please note the copious use of sarcasm.

An apology would be in order here...

This post was brought to you by the letters W, T, F, and the number 8.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Mother's Day...

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there and a special Happy Mother's Day to the Queen. Loosing Nemo wasn't easy for either of us a few weeks ago. She's been a little edgy for a few days now and while I don't like it, I can understand it because I've been a little off for a while myself.

I could have done a better job with Mother's Day this year.

The fact is, I blew it. No Card. No Present. No Nothin'. I feel like an ass.

Happy Mother's Day to you all. Feel better, my Queen. I'm here. I'm sorry.

This post was brought to you by the letters M, O, M, and the number 4.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Birthday...

Today is my birthday. I know I'm old and my kids remind me of it each day. :) Not on purpose, mind you, but they are too full of energy to do anything other. :)

Anyway, we're having part of the family over for grilled marinaded steak, garlic mashed potatoes, pasta salad, fruit salad, and cheesecake with fresh cut strawberries in homemade simple syrup. :) I'm making the steak, potatoes, and prepping the strawberries. My brother-in-law is making the pasta salad and the other brother-in-law is making the fruit salad. The cheesecake itself came from a local supermarket bakery.

I also had a chance to go outside and do some yard work. :) Please be aware that I LIKE getting outside and doing yard work. It feels like when I grew up. :)

Hopefully it'll be fun. :)

P.S. The Queen is an evil lady. If you're here because she sent you, please return to her blog and comment with raspberries. :) I know that's what I'm doing right now.

This post was brought to you be the letters D, O, B, and the number 100. :)

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Outdoor Sportsman's Playhouse

If you're an outdoors man or woman, be sure to check out the 5.11 Tactical Pants and other items that are available at www.lapolicegesr.com. You might think it's a little odd to go there for sportsman gear, but think of it this way. What better place to get really good quality, rugged gear, than at a place where tactical teams go to get their equipment. You have to think the gear gets used in much the same way, right?

Anyway, go check them out and see what you think. I'm personally going to take a closer look at the pants I mentioned earlier.

This post was brought to you by the letters G, E, A, R, and the number 4.

Lettuce and Spinach!

We planted lettuce and spinach in the garden today. I figure that by the time they are close to germination, we'll be completely free and clear of frost danger. If not, then I've managed to waste some time playing in the dirt. :)

The garden is coming along pretty nicely. We have 3 rows each of lettuce and spinach and 4 rows of peas. The next things I plan to put into the garden is 1 hill of cucumbers, 1 hill of zucchini, 1 pumpkin plant, about 6 tomato plants, about 4 pepper plants, and a row or 2 of corn. None of the rest of this will be done before the middle of May. We'll be able to harvest something from the garden in late June if all goes well. :)

Anyway, I'll have to get some pictures when things start to come up.

This post was brought to you by the letters V, E, G, and the number 3.

Neet a Boot?

I was working on my deck just now and realized I could use some new boots. The ones I have on have seen better days and aren't as comfortable as they used to be. If you are in a similar situation, go check out the work boots they have at www.workbootusa.com. I personally like the Danner 453 the best, though the others look pretty good too. Some models even come with free socks. How's that for a deal?

Go check them out and if you like what you see, get yourself a pair of boots!

This post was brought to you by the letters W, O, R, K, and the number 8.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Not Your Fault

I realized last night that the Queen blames herself for our recent tragedy. I told her this last night and I want to say it again where the world can read it.

It is NOT your fault! I do NOT blame you!


Hopefully this will help her understand that sometimes things aren't meant to be. There was nothing she or anyone else did that was wrong and caused this unexpected and undesired loss.

I love you, Queen. I hope you can begin to feel a little better. You still have a loving family, albeit a little bent, battered, and bruised and we all still need and want you to be part of our little club. Remember that you can always talk to me and come cuddle up if you feel the need.

This post was brought to you by the letters N, E, M, O, and the number 3.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

WTF!?!?!

I HATE UTAH WEATHER!

If I've said that before, please forgive the repetition. If I haven't said so in a while, please allow me to say it again. The weather here SUCKS!!! I hate the fact that yesterday it was 80 degrees outside and today there big fat snowflakes falling to the ground at an astonishing rate with 35 degree temperatures.

WTF!

Why can't we have a steady, gradual change to the seasons like other parts of the country? I was hoping to be done with snow and the like until the latter parts of the year. Sheesh!

This post was brought to you by the letters W, T, F, and the number 35.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Firearm Equipment

I have several friends who target practice with handguns. I've also had several friends in school over the years who have gone into the military and possibly into law enforcement. Any of these friends may be familiar with safariland holsters and would be able to tell you a lot more about them. I've always had tremendous respect for the people who protect us and uphold the law. It looks as if I have a chance to look at some of the equipment they use in order to complete their assigned tasks.

Take a look at what www.lapolicegear.com has to offer our law enforcement/military protectors and be sure to thank the next military service member or law enforcement officer you meet for a job well done.

This post was brought to you by the letters G, U, N, S, and the number 4.

Spring has Sprung?

Guess what? It's 80 degrees outside! Wow! I love it! Unfortunately, my little princesses are outside blatently violating the Queen's rules about Christmas Music. According to her rules, it shouldn't be sung except between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Other than that. It's BANNED! Silly girls.

This post was brought to you by the letters H, O, T, and the number 80.

The World of the Paranormal

How many of you out there believe in something paranormal? Whether it's ghosts, spirits, or even UFOs, you can find a Social Network about Paranormal activity out there somewhere.

I'm not convinced either way just yet, but if you're at all interested, you should be able to find a like minded individual over at www.ufogaga.com to chat with or exchange ideas. I'm fairly certain the truth is out there somewhere. You just might be convinced that there are such phenomena or you might just find a new friend.

This post was brought to you by the letters U, F, O, and the number 3.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Goodbye Nemo...

We lost what could have been our new son today. The Queen suffered a miscarriage last night. She appears to be recovering pretty well, but I already miss him - yes, I had been thinking of the fetus as a him. We had been affectionately calling him Nemo.

On April 1 we decided to play a joke on all you readers and announce we'd have a child in November and then mentioned that we were indeed posting on April 1 insinuating that it was an April Fool's joke. We intended to reveal our deception at the end of the month, but sadly, Nemo's time came first.

There are more details at the Queen's blog. I'm not sure just how much I can stand talking about it without becoming particularly emotional. Yeah, that's kinda hard to imagine, right?

Rest in Peace, Nemo.

This post was brought to you by the letters S, O, N, and the number 1.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Interesting Phone Call

So, I just got off the phone where someone I don't know tried to guilt me into going to a religious ceremony for a religion I am not a member of and don't agree with. How screwed up is that? I mean come on! I consider myself pretty intelligent. Isn't it possible that I've thought through the arguments you've given me and made up my mind?

Give me a break!

So I'll toss it out to you all. What's the most interesting phone call you've gotten in the last few days. Post it on your blog and put in a link to it in the comments. If you don't have a blog, just post it in the comments.

This post was brought to you by the letters W, T, F, and the number 6.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

What's the Holdup?

OK. In 5 days, tax returns are due. How many of you fine folks have completed and filed them? A lot fewer that should have, right? :) If you're getting money back, why haven't you filed them?

I know why they haven't been filed if you owe, but it just doesn't make any sense not to file if you're getting money back. If you wait until the last minute, it will take longer to get your money back. It just seems like a no-brainer to me, but I'm sure that far too many people out there haven't filed yet. It's a shame really...

OK, enough of the finger shaking. Hopefully you'll all get a giant return and will be able to afford a huge trip or something. :)

Please forgive my rant, I just needed to get it out. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters I, R, S, and the number 15.

Monday, April 07, 2008

Custom Thank You Cards!

We all have to send Thank You cards at some point. In some cases, we have to send a lot of them. Most of us will trek out to our local department store of choice and pay a lot of money for a generic card that looks like all the others and says something that isn't your words. Why not use your own words on a card that you customized so that it will be unique? Why not do all this from the comfort of your own home? Take a look at these Thank you Cards and pick one out that you like. You can even customize the text on the interior.

This one was my favorite even though it's a business card. They have a pretty large selection of cards. They are geared towards business cards, but most of these have personal applications. I'm sure we could all find at least one that matches the way we do things. I'm pretty sure my wife would prefer to have this one.

Be sure to go to www.cardsdirect.com and take a look at what they have. If you don't like what they have in stock, you can customize cards with a picture of your choosing.

Get all these options for a better than most price! Check out their prices and be aware that you can have custom, professional quality Thank You cards for a niceprice in about a week. How can you do any better?

This post was brought to you by the letters C, A, R, D, and the number 4.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Leeches...

I gave blood to the American Red Cross today. So now I can say that I've contributed to society. :) Unfortunately, I seem to have the same sort of difficulty with the needles they use as with the ones the doctor's assistants use to do blood draws at the doctor's office. The thing works for a moment and then the person has to giggle the needle around in my arm so that it'll work again.

OUCH!!! Please, for the love of all that's nerdy, DON'T DO THAT!!!

At least this time the needle didn't go all the way through my vein and hit the nerve.

Anyway, I gave blood and they'll be able to tell me my blood type. :) I can give again near the end of May if I remember what they said correctly. Hopefully, that experience won't be the same as today's um... fun.

This post was brought to you by the letters A, B, O, and the number 470.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Interesting.

Just how much stock can a person place on announcements on April 1? :) Why not see what the Queen has to say about those sorts of things. An additional hint could be found in the sponsors of my last post. A little rearranging and you'll get there. :)

Good news! I now have an office at work! I got a call this morning asking which tasks I was working on and to move my equipment into an office around the corner. Apparently this office was earmarked for me already, but I wasn't put into it when I was hired. Go figure! :) I no longer have a window, but I do have an office.

I'll have to use the company webcam for a periodic view of the outside. :) Besides, I'm in IT and we typically don't like too much of the "Evil Day Star." :)

This post was brought to you by the letters O, F, F, I, C, E, and the number 23.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

April...

Wow, it's April already! Time flies these days. Things have been busy and both the Queen and I have been slacking on posting regularly. We have our reasons, of course, but the Queen is much better with words than I am so I'll let her tell you all about it.

Meanwhile, I'm preparing to put in the first crop of our garden (if the snow will ever stop that is). At least as a result of the very wet winter, we are officially out of the drought! Yay! Water! :)

The pager went off twice last night. :( I was up from 2am until 4am with about 10 minutes of sleep in the middle when I fixed one issue before the second one hit. I'm pretty tired at this point.

I'm going to get back to work now. Later!

This post was brought to you by the letters, O, D, L, F, O, E, and the number 1.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Happy Birthday Princess!

The Princess had a birthday today. Unfortunately, both the Queen and I are under the weather and her celebration was quite minimal. I have to apologize to her for ruining her celebration. Hopefully whatever I have (it feels like the stomach flu or some such) will clear up enough to allow me to go to work without too much issue.

So, in keeping with traditions...


Happy Birthday to you-
Happy Birthday to you-
Happy birthday, dear Princess,
Happy Birthday to you!


I could go on, but I don't think I will. :) Hopefully I'll feel better soon.

This post was brought to you by the letters F, L, U, and the number 8

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Queen Grump.

The Queen is not feeling well. This is NOT a good thing. When the Queen is not feeling well, her fuse is clipped to the length of about a millimeter and packed with a lot more punch. Woe be to you if you're in her line of sight when the fuse becomes lit.

In her defense, we were pushing her buttons, by not feeling badly. We should have known better. Silly family... :)

I can understand her shortened temper as mine becomes shortened when I'm not feeling well just like hers, but it's a real bitch to be on the receiving end of it. :) I'll have to try to do something that may help her feel better. Hmmm... perhaps I'll offer her some chocolate (anyone have some Belgian chocolate), a warm, comfy blanket (we've got a couple of those around here), and a hug (any time she wants one). :*

Wish me luck! :)

This post was brought to you by the letters S, I, C, K, and the number 6.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

10 Years

The Queen and I've been married for ten years now and we're going out to celebrate tomorrow night. :)

Happy anniversary to us!

This post was brought to you by the letters H, I, T, C, H, E, D, and the number 10.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

1 Month!

Today marked 1 month at the new job. So far, so good. I'm getting the hang of things and people seem to appreciate my efforts and understand that I'm new. I think it'll all work out and I'm beginning to understand how all the software interacts with the various databases. Yay! :) I've put a lot of hard work into learning the particulars of this specific position.

Next week I have training for 3 days which means 3 consecutive days of getting there at 7:00 and leaving at 14:30. Joy - NOT!

So far this week the pager has disrupted my sleep each and every night. I'm hoping tonight will be different, but I doubt it. Anyway, I just wanted to mark the occasion. :) Now I can get back to my regular posting. :)

This post was brought to you by the letters D, B, A, and the number 1.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Leashed!

I am now officially leashed! My new job has seen fit to provide me with a cell phone/pager with which to keep me in tune with the SQL Servers.

Yipee!

Then again, maybe not. Along with the leash, I was informed today that I'm now going to get a turn in the rotation... starting on FRIDAY!!! As in 2 days from now! Sheesh! I thought I had until at least the 1st of next month before I was thrown to the wolves. Oh well... :)

Wish me luck!

This post was brought to you by the letters T, R, E, O, and the number 750.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Paintballin'!

I've always wanted to go paintballing, but have never had the opportunity. I'm still interested and I'm planning on looking for someone out here to play with. You know of anyone? If you're interested, please let me know. If you're really into the game, I know where you can get some good paintball equipment. Go check out the folks at www.pntball.com and check out their selection of Tippmann guns, Smart Parts guns, spyder guns, and more. There's a whole laundry list of other equipment from Empire, Gen-X, VForce, Draxxus, and others.

Whether you're looking for a new mask, a nice extra capacity hopper, a new elbow, or a new barrel, or even a complete kit, www.pntball.com is the place to go. Hopefully, I can get a group of people together this spring and summer and we'll be able to go paintballing.

This post was brought to you by the letters F, U, N, and the number 4.

Monday, February 25, 2008

First Week

The first week is now over and I've started the second week. I have to say that last week was nothing but tiring. There was so much information thrown at me that I haven't recovered yet.

I will say that so far this week, I've had a chance to digest more of the information that from last week. I've been able to actually USE some of it productively. :) Yay me! I still have quite a way to go with it though.

They're interested in me enough to have me look into some training courses they could send me to which means they're interested in investing more into me. It also could mean that they think I need a lot of help, but we'll just stay on the positive, right? :) Right!

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you how things were going at the new place. I'll post at a later date!

This post was brought to you by the letters D, B, A, and the number 2005.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Day One.

Today was my first day at my new job. I met some pretty nice folks there and I think I'll be fine there once I get up to speed. I'll have a bit of homework to do in order to freshen up my DBA skills. Ayone know where I can find some good, free, online tutorials? :)

Please keep in mind that it's possible that I've seen a particular tutorial, but I appreciate anything that you recommend, because it's quite possible that I didn't see it with my search. :)

Anyway, I'm off to do a little homework. Wish me luck at work!

This post was brought to you by the letters J, O, B, and the number 5.

Friday, February 15, 2008

An Excerpt...

Seen on a VD card the Queen gave me yesterday.


FRONT:
Roses are red,
and sometimes they're thorny.

When you're not with me,
I get really...


It starts out pretty interesting doesn't it? I'm supposed to be thinking a certain way on VD, right?


INSIDE:
...corny.

I know what you were thinking.

Shame on you.


Tell me which one of you wouldn't have been caught by that one?

No lies! Be honest!

That's better... :)

FYI: I still wore all black yesterday. I can't stand VD. :P pthpthpthphthtph!!!

This post was brought to you by the letters C, O, R, N, Y, and the number 7.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

New Entertainment

I have found yet another way (or twelve) to decrease productivity. Find some web comics! :) I have a few links to some of the ones I follow on the right side over there, but there are tons more available. Check out www.keenspot.com for a couple dozen different ones.

I'm going to add a few more to my list of frequented webcomics. Be warned, that they may not be agreeable to you. They are NOT the same comics you'd find in your Sunday paper. :) You have been warned!

This post was brought to you by the letters C, O, M, I, C, S, and the number 6.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Accepted!

I have accepted the position I was offered yesterday. There is a pay increase of just over 12.5%, a LOT more benefits (costing me slightly less out of pocket), and a TON less responsibility. Not to mention, the company is a LOT more stable than my old one.

I'd say I'm MUCH better off now. :)

My thanks to Dubby and everyone else for the great reference. I start work at 8am on Monday!!! Woot!

This post was brought to you by the letters J, O, B, and the number 18 - yeah, I repeated the sponsors - sue me. :)

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

An Offer!

Today, I picked up a packet of paper from my second choice of employment. It is a job offer and since it appears that the curse of "The Financial Department" has delayed the decisions of my first choice, I'll probably accept it.

As a result of the curse, it will be a couple more weeks at least until my first choice would have an offer for me. The other drawback about my first choice is that they want to bring 3 contractors for a short term contract and at the end, offer the best 1 person the position. The offer I got today from my second choice is a direct hire position. Which do you think is better for me and you only get 1 guess? :)

I'm pretty sure that unless my first choice pulls something out of a hat (like an offer for a permanent position) tomorrow morning, I'll be accepting this offer. They want me to start on Monday. Can you tell I'm pleased? :)

This post was brought to you by the letters J, O, B, and the number 18.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Bullseye.

Perhaps I need to get a personal fire-suit. You know, the kind professional race car drivers use to protect them from fire. I say this because apparently, I wear a shirt with a giant bullseye painted on it. This bullseye happen to be completely invisible to me. It's either that or I'm blind. I'm not sure exactly which.

Twice today, the Queen has become unglued about something completely out of my hands, and directed her ire at me. Trust me, you don't want to be the recipient of that fire storm. I can accept her flames if I'm the actual cause of it. You know, if I had done the typical husband thing and screwed up her plans or her property, I would actually deserve it.

I see no reason to be anyone's whipping boy just because they need to be pissed off at someone. I could even deal with it if I got an apology when I'm wrongly persecuted. Unfortunately for me, that's not happening and I need some creative assistance in resolving this issue.

I'm sure I'm not the only one around here with this problem. How do the rest of you handle it. I'm not sure whether to become unglued myself (probably not a good idea), scream something sarcastic back at her and let her stew in her own juices, shut up and take it (I KNOW this one isn't a good idea), demand an apology and tell her to redirect her anger at the true target, or something else that I haven't considered.

Do any of you nice folks have a suggestion? I'm on my knees and asking for assistance. Thank you very much.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Upset!

Wow! What a game! The Giants won 17-14 over the Patriots! That was not expected. I guess the Giants just wanted the win more I guess. :)

Congrats to the Giants! They beat my Cowboys on the way here and now they've beaten the unbeatable.

Congrats!

This post was brought to you by the letters W, O, W, and the number 1.

Monday, January 28, 2008

The American Money Sink...

You all have 3 guesses to figure out what the Great American Money Sink is. OK, so you don't really get 3 guesses and this isn't the one at the TOP of the list, but it's pretty close. :) A house is at the top of the list, but the automobile follows closely behind.

The multi-function light/windshield wiper/washer switch in the steering column of our 1996 Dodge Intrepid died today in the middle of what can only be described as a mini-blizzard and when it died, it did so rather dramatically. :)

Apparently, there was acrid, black smoke that poured from the steering column for a while while the switch was in its death throes. This absolutely freaked the Queen out and she called me nearly hysterical. Like a knight in shining armor, I went to her rescue and once the machine was back home (I drove it :), I investigated and found the source of the issue.

Tomorrow she'll be picking up a used replacement part for $35 (a new one runs $145) and I'll install it tomorrow afternoon. Joy! :)

Wish me luck!

This post was brought to you by the letters C, A, S, H, and the number 145.

Friday, January 25, 2008

The Interview

It went well! :) I'm happy to say that it went much better that I had anticipated. I was grilled of course, but the same thing had been done to me when I interviewed for the place that just gave me my pink slip.

I was impressed with the scrutiny of the people interviewing me and I think they were impressed with my responses, at least the remarks they were giving each other during the process seemed to indicate that. They also said to me point blank that they were recommending me for a second interview. They also used some of the interview time for the next guy to talk to me further. After they kept me for 15 minutes of the next guy's interview time, they introduced me to the man I'd be having the second interview with and I talked to him for an additional 20 minutes. I'm not sure if I had my second interview already or not. :)

Their plan is to bring in 3 people on a temp-to-perm basis for this job, work us like mad for a month or so, and then keep the 1 or 2 that did the best. They seemed to indicate that I was by far the best of the crop they had interviewed to date.

Wish me luck! We'll see what comes of it.

This post was brought to you by the letters L, U, C, K, and the number 1.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Interview...

In less than 2 hours, I have an interview with a local company. Although it's another smaller company, I'm hoping it will go well. If it does, then I'll have income again after only a short time without. :) I really like the sound of that. If it's not what I'm interested in, at least I'll have had a chance to polish up my interviewing skills.

Wish me luck! I'll post later today with my impressions on the interview.

This post was brought to you by the letters H, O, P, E, and the number 3.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

The Search Goes On...

So far the search has been exhausting. I've looked into at least 60 positions and have applied for about 30 of them. I have a lot more to do, but I have confidence that I'll have a new job by the end of the month. Wish me luck in achieving that goal. :)

Anyway, if you're wondering why I haven't posted since last Tuesday, this should answer that question. I apologize for not posting something about my situation sooner.

This post was brought to you by the letters R, E, S, U, M, E, and the number 30.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Nailed!

The hammer fell today at work and I happened to be one of the 2 folks caught under it. That's right people, I was laid off today any I'm not happy about it. I could rant and rave about how I hate the company and spit bile about the situation, but I won't. I'll simply say that through no fault of my own, I'm no longer a full-time employee there (I'm a contractor until the end of the month) and I'm available to anyone looking for a full-time Senior Systems/Network Administrator in the Salt Lake City area.

The owner of the company decided he wanted to suck more money out of the company into his own pocket and decided that since he doesn't like IT, I was just so much overhead. He'll find out shortly, when the systems begin to crash that I wasn't for show. I wish the rest of the IT staff good luck in finding employment elsewhere, because they'll need it.

Stay tuned for the next development...

This post was brought to you by the letters P, I, N, K, S, L, I, P, and the number 2.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Relationship Maintenance

Hey guys, (ladies too) are you looking for some ideas to help maintain your relationship with your significant other? You might want to get some romantic ideas from RomanceForEveryone.com. They have a lot of suggestions and ideas on how to keep your relationship from fading.

Whether or not you're a romantic at heart, you could probably make positive use of the information found on the site. I know we could use it here in the castle. :)

Anyway, make sure you check out their sweet love notes or the read a love poem to your wife. You can also do this for your husband, girlfriend, or boyfriend. Take a look and see what you can find. There's plenty of information for anyone who happens to be picky.

This post was brought to you by the letters S, A, P, P, Y, and the number 2. :)

The Lumber Is Gone

The tree has been disassembled! It's nice and cozy in its box in the basement. The lights (lingerie) came off it pretty easily. :) We now have a lot more usable space in the living room now. It's a nice change.

If the weather will cooperate with me, I'll be able to take down the lights on the outside of the house, but it looks like that won't happen before February, if then. Oh well, such is life, eh? :)

This post was brought to you by the letters G, S, I, N, V, and the number 45.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Art Appreciation

I'd love it if my daughters, Pink Princess and Purple Dragon, became famous artists and supported the Queen and me, but I won't count on it. In the mean time, I'll continue to check out Park West Art Gallery to see the good stuff. I don't claim to be an art connoisseur, far from it in fact, but I do know where to see the kind of art I like.

You should try them out as well. If you really like something, you can get it from them as well. They have auctions frequently and I'm sure there will be something you like there.

Who knows - you might discover the next Van Gogh!

This post was brought to you by the letters A, R, T, and the number 7.

Timber!!!

The Queen is stripping our Christmas tree. Soon, it'll be mostly naked and it'll be up to me to remove its lingerie and bed it.

For you gutter-minded folks, that means remove the lights, take the tree apart and pack it in its cardboard box. :) You should be ashamed you even thought that way about our innocent tree. :P

Anyway... The tree and its associated decorations are coming down and will soon be packed away.

This post was brought to you by the letters X, M, A, S, and the number 9.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

I Want To Go On A Cruise...

...for my honeymoon, albeit 10 or so years too late. The Queen and I never went on a honeymoon when we were married oh so many years ago. I've wanted to go on a cruise again since 1992 when I got to cruise to the Bahamas with my college roommate. I know the Queen hasn't really gone on a cruise and I think she'd really enjoy herself.

As I said before, I cruised to the Bahamas. It was incredible to be out on the ocean in the sunshine simply relaxing and forgetting all about anything that had worried me before. The ship made port in several locations and I got the chance to go snorkeling above a live reef. That was one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had.

I think I'd like to cruise to the Hawaiian Islands next time, though I'm not sure how long that would take. :) I'd also be interested in another Caribbean cruise, only this time with the Queen instead of my college roommate.

If you've been considering a cruise to somewhere warm and exotic, try Apple Vacations, Disney Cruise Lines, Princess Cruise Lines, or any of the others you can reach through the good folks at www.all-travel.com.

Right now, it's a little on the chilly side here in the U.S. Why not warm up the blood and go on a cruise.

This post was brought to you by the letters Z, X, Q, and the number 0.

Breakfast For Dinner

Tonight, we had breakfast for dinner. There were a number of items in the freezer that were various types of breakfast food and we needed space, so, we had breakfast for dinner. Toaster Strudel, Eggo Nutrigrain Waffles, and Pillsbury Maple Pancakes all played a big part in the sustenance had in this household tonight. Add to that a big glass of milk and we're all set. :)

What do you expect from royalty? We're known for being lazy anyway (royalty, that is).

I think every household should have breakfast for dinner every so often. It brings out the kid in us. Don't you agree? :)

This post was brought to you by the letters Y, U, M, and the number 6.

Monday, January 07, 2008

Now Where's My Password?

I've lost my password enough times that I need to have a utility to help me get them back or recover it using the Excel password recovery tool they have over at www.password-studio.com.

If you have a password or eight from an Office product or products, you need a utility like this. Take a look at what they have to offer and see if it fits your needs. I just wish I had something like this when I lost all my passwords. Everyone who has a computer needs a good set of utilities just in case the worst happens. Just don't forget your passwords, OK? :)

This post was brought to you by the letters O, H, N, O, and the number 5.

Quiet House

The house is strangely quiet. Just moments ago, the Dragon requested time to play on the computer. The Queen said no and the dragon proceeded to continue harassing her until the Queen raised her voice. Now the quiet is deafening. It won't last too long though - the offspring will be at each others' throats in no time.

I think the Dragon is getting a bit too pushy in pushing her boundaries.

So have your youngins done this recently?

Why must we snap to get them to understand no means no?

This post was brought to you by the letters N, O, and the number 8.

Recover a Stranded Web Site.

Have you had a computer failure and loose the local copy of your website? Want a local copy of your blog? Need to get that website you created for that long, lost computer course you made in college? How about the website you created several years ago and forgot the password to? You can get it if you have some software that can traverse and capture website.

Www.web-site-downloader.com has a piece of software that can download your site so you can view it or edit it while not connected or copy it to disc. The software indicates a quick, easy setup and download. Go check out their site and see what they have to offer.

I have had several sites that I wish I could recover and it took me quite some time to remember or recover a password, find ftp software and perform the download. This is another alternative. See what you think!

This post was brought to you by the letters W, E, B, and the number 6.

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Visitor...

We have a visit from Diana this weekend and while we considered simply haveing her watch our kids, it just doesn't seem fair to make her do so. So, we'll pay her to do it. :) Free room and board for the entire weekend as well as a feast of food preped with loving hands for her to consume. She'll also got some tech support thrown in.

I'd say we getting the better end of the deal. :) LOL!

Good luck at BYUID!

This post was brought to you by the letters F, U, N, and the number 4.

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Looking for Web Hosting?

If you're out there looking for a web host, be sure to compare for the best price and features according to what you're looking for. A good place to do your comparisons is over at http://www.webhostingchoice.com. With a few parameters entered, and a few clicks of the mouse, they'll churn out a comparison chart with a recommendation for you based on what you requested. You can then click on the hosts in the chart to get the specific features and services they each offer.

It doesn't matter if you're looking for a host for a personal site host or a business site. You'll find some good information at their site. Go on over and check them out!

This post was brought to you by the letters H, O, S, T, and the number 3.

Feeling Better

I'm feeling much better today. The chills, fever, and cough all seem to have gone the way of the Dodo. I'm really glad the worst of the sickness is over. :) Had it not been, this would have been an unpleasant weekend. :) Good thing I have the entire thing to relax and recover!

That's all for now, I'll catch you all later.

This post was brought to you by the letters G, O, O, D, and the number 24.

Friday, January 04, 2008

Inkjet Cartridges on the Cheap!

Which of you don't have a printer? That's right, very few of you. How many of you are rich? Again, very few of you. Why not save a bit of cash when you buy your inkjet cartridges? I thought you'd like that one. :)

If you're like me and have a Canon printer, please check out the cheap Canon printer cartridge at inkjetdeals.info. If you have a Brother, Dell, Epson, HP, or Lexmark printer, this is the place for you. Check out these tips for saving ink in your printers. There are some really good ideas in there.

Check out the site and save up to 80% of the cost of the name brands!

This post was brought to you by the letters I, N, K, and the number 80.

Sick Again

I'm sick again. That may explain my feelings of getting old. :) I went to work feeling down in the dumps and left within 2 hours because I began to feel even worse. I've taken meds for my sinuses (we're having some serious pressure turmoil in the weather lately), tossed back a few vitamin c tablets, Downed and Orange and some orange juice and napped most of the day under lots of layers of clothing and blankets.

I just took a shower and feel mostly human again. :) My head is still a little stuffy and I have an occasional cough from the drainage, but I think I'm through the worst of it. The aches and chills are all gone and I'm fairly certain I'll live.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

This post was brought to you by the letters C, C, C, C and the number 9.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Landscape LED Lighting

I just read about Landscape LED Lighting and I'm excited about the possibilities. I've mentioned before that I'd like to look into using LEDs all around my home.

Another possibility with LED Landscape Lighting is that it's possible to use solar panels to recharge the system and cut costs even more since LEDs require low voltage. It's not that you'd need to worry about the costs of using LEDs as they are up to 90% more efficient than standard lighting.

With creative use of up-lighting, back lighting, and indirect lighting, you can really make your landscaping POP! Take a look at the low voltage landscape lighting options at LizardLighting.com for more specifics.

I'll keep it in mind when I start planning out our landscape lighting.

Can we replace all our lighting with LEDs? It sounds like a good idea to me.

This post was brought to you by the letters L, O, W, V, O, L, T, and the number 90.

Feelin' Old

I'm feeling really old these days. It's really sad when you're falling asleep at 7pm. I took the Princesses to a movie at the planetarium tonight and part of the way through the movie, I found myself falling asleep to my horror! What's wrong with me?

I'm OLD! That's what's wrong. Perhaps I'll look into getting a new sporty car or something to help deal with this crisis.

This post was brought to you by the letters O, L, D, and the number 35+. :)

Decorative LED Lighting

Recently, the Queen told you that I expressed an interest in replacing out Christmas lighting with efficient LED lighting. I am indeed interested in replacing all our lights with LEDs. LED light strings can burn for 50000 hours or more! That's a lot of years of use.

They can be used year round if you're just a bit clever on your use. They can be used on the edge of a deck or in flower beds as accent lighting. They can be used along walks to provide some ambient lighting to avoid tripping hazards. When arranged appropriately, they can provide nearly any type of lighting you could want.

These lights are also extremely efficient. When a string of 2000 LEDs is used for 8 hours a day everyday of the year, they cost just $50 a year to operate. That's a lot more efficient that standard lighting. Please view the Christmas lights they have to offer at HolidayLEDs.com for more information.

I'm likely to use them for hidden lighting on the deck I'll be working on this spring and summer. That way I can make much better use of my deck well into the night.

This post was brought to you by the letters L, E, D, and the number 2000.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Happy 2008

Happy 2008 to you all! Hopefully, it will be a great and productive year for all of us. :) Please remember to be responsible for you actions and words. Enjoy yourselves!

This post was brought to you by the letters D, Y, Q, X, and the number 6.