Well, Thanksgiving is done. As usual I at too much, but at least I was walking 3 of the 4 days (my gym was closed on Thanksgiving). My average mile is getting closer to 16 minutes than the 17 they have been running. Given before my gym closed to tear it down, I mean finalize the new building, I was doing 15 minute or less miles on the track I am WAY out of shape. I tend to walk considerably slower when I am outside, and I was outside all summer. I also hate to walk in the rain, so anytime it rained I did not walk. Normally I would have been inside on the track on those days. Even with all of this I still have more miles in this year than last year. Typically I take the first few laps slow to warm up and get into a rhythm, but I have been getting shin pain after about half a mile until I complete 2 miles, then everything is ok again. I know that it is a combination of speed and distance that is causing the shin pain, but my last mile is usually faster than either of the first 2 that I do. Weird, I know, but that is me.
I am looking forward to settling into a semi-regular routine for a few weeks. I do need to get out and do some shopping for Christmas. I avoid the stores on the day after Thanksgiving like the plague. I always have trouble with my sister in law, as does my brother, since she never wants anything. We can guess a few things, but a little clue would be helpful. I always coordinate my purchases for my nieces & nephew with my brother so we do not overlap, plus I need to get my brother a list of stuff that I will not be buying between now & Christmas but I would like to get. It is always tough to buy for adults, and my brother does not have the internet so sending him to say my Amazon wish list is useless.
I still have not decided what book to read next. I am thinking I either a book on crystals or First Eagle. Both look interesting, but I am not sure if I want to spend the time on something serious or something for fun.
Monday, November 29, 2004
Saturday, November 27, 2004
More fun than humans should have
I was up way too late watching videos last night (I got caught up in a disc of Farscape episodes from season 3), but I still managed to wake up at 5. As such I have been doing some mindless surfing of blogs and decided to post something. I am on my way out to get my walk in, plus do my shopping for the week before coming home to get some cleaning done. My dishes have not been done in almost a week. Granted I usually do not generate a lot of dishes during the week, but still it gets a little yucky.
Review: To Ride A Silver Broomstick by Silver Ravenwolf
I know a lot of people who are Wiccan, so I wanted to learn a little more about it. Besides other religions have always fascinated me. So I picked up this book on the recommendation of some people as a good beginners book.
I feel the book was well written. The writing style is aimed at a younger audience and does not get into some of the snobbish language I have found in some metaphysical books. As it may be good for a beginner, if you are only after the basics this is not the book for you. Yes the basics are covered, however the book is aimed at someone who is seriously considering being a Wiccan. Although some insight into the practices is interesting, at almost 300 pages it can get more detailed than what you would want. It took me awhile to get through it, mostly beause I would read some, put it down and read some other books, and then go back to it. I found it interesting because most of what she lumps under magical work I have read about in other metaphysical sources. Same ideas, just different lingo.
So if you are looking for a quick intro to Wicca, look elsewhere or borrow this book and only read the first section and chapters 21 & 22.
Review The Terminal. Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta Jones & Steven Spielberg. How can you go wrong? Well, it does not go too wrong. First off it is a bit of a feel-good film, and I think it was well done. I think, though, that given the situation something would have been done long before this. There needs to be a procedure for this, and even if there was not one I would think that they would have done something to have gotten this man out of JFK airport. Now I will admit that this is based on a true story, however even the man involved has been offered a way out (legally) several times, but has refused. Face it - this is a publicity nightmare for both the airport and the country.
Review: To Ride A Silver Broomstick by Silver Ravenwolf
I know a lot of people who are Wiccan, so I wanted to learn a little more about it. Besides other religions have always fascinated me. So I picked up this book on the recommendation of some people as a good beginners book.
I feel the book was well written. The writing style is aimed at a younger audience and does not get into some of the snobbish language I have found in some metaphysical books. As it may be good for a beginner, if you are only after the basics this is not the book for you. Yes the basics are covered, however the book is aimed at someone who is seriously considering being a Wiccan. Although some insight into the practices is interesting, at almost 300 pages it can get more detailed than what you would want. It took me awhile to get through it, mostly beause I would read some, put it down and read some other books, and then go back to it. I found it interesting because most of what she lumps under magical work I have read about in other metaphysical sources. Same ideas, just different lingo.
So if you are looking for a quick intro to Wicca, look elsewhere or borrow this book and only read the first section and chapters 21 & 22.
Review The Terminal. Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta Jones & Steven Spielberg. How can you go wrong? Well, it does not go too wrong. First off it is a bit of a feel-good film, and I think it was well done. I think, though, that given the situation something would have been done long before this. There needs to be a procedure for this, and even if there was not one I would think that they would have done something to have gotten this man out of JFK airport. Now I will admit that this is based on a true story, however even the man involved has been offered a way out (legally) several times, but has refused. Face it - this is a publicity nightmare for both the airport and the country.
Friday, November 26, 2004
Another day in paradise
Well, we got our first significant snow of the year on the busiest travel day of the year. Yey haw! Glad I was able to hole up early and not have to go out. Of course today most of it is gone since the ground is not frozen.
Thanksgiving was great. I went over to my brother's house to have dinner. I made the dessert, although the peanut butter cream pie did not set this year, plus I get the honor of making the turkey. My sister in law has a thing about raw poultry and pulling out the gunk (to use a technical term) from the bird. I don't particularly like it, but I know when I need to suck it up and just do it. At least this way we are not cleaning puke off of the turkey before we cook it.
Otherwise I spent all of yesterday and most of today watching videos. I have been avoiding doing any real work around my house, or on myself of late. I did cancel my Blockbuster Online account. They were just not turning films around quick enough for me to really get my money's worth. I have just not be happy with them at all, plus Netflix has a shipping center in Cleveland so I get movies quick.
I just came across an article from PC Magazine (sorry, I could not find a link to the article) about "renting" music instead of buying it. As the author pointed out, 100 CDs will cost about $1500. At $10/month ($15/month to download to a player) you can get get a lot more streamed music. I have been giving serious thought to giving it a try, although I do get tired of all these little subscription fees that keep popping up. Maybe I am just getting cheap in my old age, but it just seems like I keep coming up with more and more stuff that needs to have $10-$20/month. Oh well, I guess that is the kind of society we are becoming.
Thanksgiving was great. I went over to my brother's house to have dinner. I made the dessert, although the peanut butter cream pie did not set this year, plus I get the honor of making the turkey. My sister in law has a thing about raw poultry and pulling out the gunk (to use a technical term) from the bird. I don't particularly like it, but I know when I need to suck it up and just do it. At least this way we are not cleaning puke off of the turkey before we cook it.
Otherwise I spent all of yesterday and most of today watching videos. I have been avoiding doing any real work around my house, or on myself of late. I did cancel my Blockbuster Online account. They were just not turning films around quick enough for me to really get my money's worth. I have just not be happy with them at all, plus Netflix has a shipping center in Cleveland so I get movies quick.
I just came across an article from PC Magazine (sorry, I could not find a link to the article) about "renting" music instead of buying it. As the author pointed out, 100 CDs will cost about $1500. At $10/month ($15/month to download to a player) you can get get a lot more streamed music. I have been giving serious thought to giving it a try, although I do get tired of all these little subscription fees that keep popping up. Maybe I am just getting cheap in my old age, but it just seems like I keep coming up with more and more stuff that needs to have $10-$20/month. Oh well, I guess that is the kind of society we are becoming.
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Stuffing & queers & global warming oh my!
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and it is time for the debate to start - which is better: stuffing or dressing? Aren't they the same thing? Sort of. Stuffing is when you cook it in the bird (stuff it in, stuffing, get it?) and dressing is the same thing but baked in a pan. Personally I'm a dressing man, although I will admit usually we use the "Stove Top" variety from a box. Please, no rotten food projectiles ;).
Last night was the Queer Eye For The Straight Guy's Thanksgiving show. It was the first new Queer Eye in some that I have gotten to see. This is the one reality show that I do watch (ok, Monster House, but is that really a reality show?) regularly. I admit I am not much better than many of the guys they feature on the show. As a single guy living alone it is real easy for me to not clean things for awhile until they get really grungy. On the up side I have started to use conditioner in my hair and wash my face with something other than regular soap. One thing the show has done, I feel, is to break down some barriers for straight guys. We all may not be running out to get manicures & facials, but it is more acceptable. Also it has allowed some of the closet clothes horses that I know to be a little more open about it.
It is almost December and here in Akron they are talking temperatures in the 50s over the weekend. Normally by now we would be well entrenched in the 30s, with occasional peaks into the 40s. I have been having trouble getting comfortable at night because of it - too cool for just a sheet but too warm for the blankets that I have. Time to go digging to see if I have anything lighter. I still have not put the windows in my screen doors yet - which just goes to show you how warm it still is here. Granted I have not had the doors open much.
I was a bit shocked when I got 3 electric bills, all addressed to me, yesterday. WTF!?! Turns out, for some reason, I got the current bill and 2 months previous bills. Weird, but ok. Turns out somewhere along the line I got seriously overbilled and have something like a $200 credit. I know I got a $80 bill in August and a $40 before that, but where in the world did that come from. I am not sure what is going on, but I will enjoy it for now. Fortunately I owned nothing on all 3 bills. Happy dance!! I forgot to check my last gas bill to see where I stand with that. I use a budget payment plan that averages out my natural gas bill all year. Yea I pay $83 in the summer, but then again I pay the same in the winter. I just got a new furnace this year - a nice 90+% efficient unit that replaced a 50+ year old gravity furnace with a serial number of 2 (I shit you not - 2). I normally keep things a little chillier than most people, and if I had a programmable thermostat I would even keep it cooler at night. I am hoping that the extra $1500 was worth it.
BTW has anyone gotten one of those high efficiency furnaces put in? I was shocked by what had to happen. Now I will admit my install was not exactly standard - new wiring (no electric to the old furnace), new gas lines (not current code), new duct work (WAY too big for the new furnace) and of course the size difference was considerable (something like 80,000 BTU to 15,000 BTU). But I was not ready for some of the other stuff they had to do. I expected they had to put in a chimney liner, that is the current code, but my furnace vents out the side of the house, not up the chimney. They had to put in a liner just for my hot water heater (replaced last year). Also there is a drip line to help with accumulated moisture in the furnace (which, of course, runs across the floor of my basement since there is no drain anywhere near my furnace). Oh and they ripped out the incinerator from my grandparents that has not worked in 20+ years. Now all I need is to get the programmable thermostat installed, which looks pretty easy.
Last night was the Queer Eye For The Straight Guy's Thanksgiving show. It was the first new Queer Eye in some that I have gotten to see. This is the one reality show that I do watch (ok, Monster House, but is that really a reality show?) regularly. I admit I am not much better than many of the guys they feature on the show. As a single guy living alone it is real easy for me to not clean things for awhile until they get really grungy. On the up side I have started to use conditioner in my hair and wash my face with something other than regular soap. One thing the show has done, I feel, is to break down some barriers for straight guys. We all may not be running out to get manicures & facials, but it is more acceptable. Also it has allowed some of the closet clothes horses that I know to be a little more open about it.
It is almost December and here in Akron they are talking temperatures in the 50s over the weekend. Normally by now we would be well entrenched in the 30s, with occasional peaks into the 40s. I have been having trouble getting comfortable at night because of it - too cool for just a sheet but too warm for the blankets that I have. Time to go digging to see if I have anything lighter. I still have not put the windows in my screen doors yet - which just goes to show you how warm it still is here. Granted I have not had the doors open much.
I was a bit shocked when I got 3 electric bills, all addressed to me, yesterday. WTF!?! Turns out, for some reason, I got the current bill and 2 months previous bills. Weird, but ok. Turns out somewhere along the line I got seriously overbilled and have something like a $200 credit. I know I got a $80 bill in August and a $40 before that, but where in the world did that come from. I am not sure what is going on, but I will enjoy it for now. Fortunately I owned nothing on all 3 bills. Happy dance!! I forgot to check my last gas bill to see where I stand with that. I use a budget payment plan that averages out my natural gas bill all year. Yea I pay $83 in the summer, but then again I pay the same in the winter. I just got a new furnace this year - a nice 90+% efficient unit that replaced a 50+ year old gravity furnace with a serial number of 2 (I shit you not - 2). I normally keep things a little chillier than most people, and if I had a programmable thermostat I would even keep it cooler at night. I am hoping that the extra $1500 was worth it.
BTW has anyone gotten one of those high efficiency furnaces put in? I was shocked by what had to happen. Now I will admit my install was not exactly standard - new wiring (no electric to the old furnace), new gas lines (not current code), new duct work (WAY too big for the new furnace) and of course the size difference was considerable (something like 80,000 BTU to 15,000 BTU). But I was not ready for some of the other stuff they had to do. I expected they had to put in a chimney liner, that is the current code, but my furnace vents out the side of the house, not up the chimney. They had to put in a liner just for my hot water heater (replaced last year). Also there is a drip line to help with accumulated moisture in the furnace (which, of course, runs across the floor of my basement since there is no drain anywhere near my furnace). Oh and they ripped out the incinerator from my grandparents that has not worked in 20+ years. Now all I need is to get the programmable thermostat installed, which looks pretty easy.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Track etiquette
Now I hate to sound like Ms Manners here, but I am starting to get really pissed about the track.
The gym (actually community fitness center) was recently rebuilt. Now I love the new building, and the space was really needed. However the new track lends itself to abuse.
Let me explain. In the old place we had 2 tracks, each 1/13 of a mile. Yea, a weird distance. One track was above the swimming pool and the other had raquetball courts in the middle. The new track is above the basketball court (not a problem) and has the cardio theater, fitness circuit & stretching area in the middle. Oh yea and it is also above the swimming area, although this is glassed off.
Now the basketball court has not been a problem while I have been there - no stray balls although you do get the occasional rash of bad language which is not a big deal to me. However the cardio theater/fitness circuit have been a real problem. The track is 4 lanes wide. Two really skinny people can walk side by side, but for most of us we need the whole lane. Traditionally the inside lane is reserved for walkers - been that way on EVERY track I have been on. For some reason people feel that they can just stop in the middle of the track and chat with people in the middle. HELLO!!! It is getting to the point I want to take a cattle prod to moooove these people along.
Worse yet are some of the stupid people tricks I have seen. There are 3 entrances to the track. Two of them are maybe 5 foot wide hallways, and probably closer to 3.5-4 foot. Now there is a huge stretching area that is (currently) unused. So if you are 3 teenage girls do you stretch in one of the little hallways or in the big stretching area? That's right - you stretch in the hallway blocking one of the entrances completely from use.
Ok, here are my rules for using a track. To me they are all common sense, but apparently some people don't have that.
1) Check the direction of the day, if there is one. If not, observe the traffic flow before jumping on the track.
2) Do not stretch on the track. Most indoor tracks have spots off to the side. Try to stay out of the flow as much as possible. Seems obvious, but I have seen many people just stop in a lane and stretch a quad.
3) Do not stop to chat (or for any other reason) on the track. Move off the track, even to tie your shoe.
4) Walkers on the inside, runners on the outside unless otherwise posted.
5) Enter the track with lots of space around you. Try not to cut anyone off.
6) Same goes for passing - check before you jump in another lane. Would you change lanes in your car without looking?
7) Do not walk or run more than 2 wide, and even 2 wide is not acceptable on some tracks. Use logic. One track I was on had a choke point where 3 wide lines dropped to 2 narrow lanes. I have seen people walking 4 wide blocking over half a track. Frankly you deserve to get run down by the sprinters then.
8) Label your water bottle, or have a distinctive bottle. I have seen a dozen bottles lined up at times. Also, if you drink on the track be careful not to spill anything.
9) DO NOT WALK AGAINST TRAFFIC FOR ANY REASON. This is one of the big offenders. Instead of "going with the flow" they walk against traffic. Most places lay out their cardio equipment so that you do not have to walk too far to get to it from either direction. Then again these are probably the same people who complain about walking from the back of the parking lot at the gym.
10) Be courteous. If some one lets you in, say thank you. As in golf, let faster people pass.
The gym (actually community fitness center) was recently rebuilt. Now I love the new building, and the space was really needed. However the new track lends itself to abuse.
Let me explain. In the old place we had 2 tracks, each 1/13 of a mile. Yea, a weird distance. One track was above the swimming pool and the other had raquetball courts in the middle. The new track is above the basketball court (not a problem) and has the cardio theater, fitness circuit & stretching area in the middle. Oh yea and it is also above the swimming area, although this is glassed off.
Now the basketball court has not been a problem while I have been there - no stray balls although you do get the occasional rash of bad language which is not a big deal to me. However the cardio theater/fitness circuit have been a real problem. The track is 4 lanes wide. Two really skinny people can walk side by side, but for most of us we need the whole lane. Traditionally the inside lane is reserved for walkers - been that way on EVERY track I have been on. For some reason people feel that they can just stop in the middle of the track and chat with people in the middle. HELLO!!! It is getting to the point I want to take a cattle prod to moooove these people along.
Worse yet are some of the stupid people tricks I have seen. There are 3 entrances to the track. Two of them are maybe 5 foot wide hallways, and probably closer to 3.5-4 foot. Now there is a huge stretching area that is (currently) unused. So if you are 3 teenage girls do you stretch in one of the little hallways or in the big stretching area? That's right - you stretch in the hallway blocking one of the entrances completely from use.
Ok, here are my rules for using a track. To me they are all common sense, but apparently some people don't have that.
1) Check the direction of the day, if there is one. If not, observe the traffic flow before jumping on the track.
2) Do not stretch on the track. Most indoor tracks have spots off to the side. Try to stay out of the flow as much as possible. Seems obvious, but I have seen many people just stop in a lane and stretch a quad.
3) Do not stop to chat (or for any other reason) on the track. Move off the track, even to tie your shoe.
4) Walkers on the inside, runners on the outside unless otherwise posted.
5) Enter the track with lots of space around you. Try not to cut anyone off.
6) Same goes for passing - check before you jump in another lane. Would you change lanes in your car without looking?
7) Do not walk or run more than 2 wide, and even 2 wide is not acceptable on some tracks. Use logic. One track I was on had a choke point where 3 wide lines dropped to 2 narrow lanes. I have seen people walking 4 wide blocking over half a track. Frankly you deserve to get run down by the sprinters then.
8) Label your water bottle, or have a distinctive bottle. I have seen a dozen bottles lined up at times. Also, if you drink on the track be careful not to spill anything.
9) DO NOT WALK AGAINST TRAFFIC FOR ANY REASON. This is one of the big offenders. Instead of "going with the flow" they walk against traffic. Most places lay out their cardio equipment so that you do not have to walk too far to get to it from either direction. Then again these are probably the same people who complain about walking from the back of the parking lot at the gym.
10) Be courteous. If some one lets you in, say thank you. As in golf, let faster people pass.
Monday, November 22, 2004
Just Another Manic Monday
It is probably not a good thing when you start quoting lyrics in your title, huh? Sunday was spent hanging out around the house cleaning and the like. I did get to the gym to do some walking (about time) but otherwise I pretty much did the house thing. On the upside I have food for the week, clean clothes and a house that is a little cleaner. It never feels like my house ever gets completely cleaned, but as a single guy I tend to have a fairly high tolerance for dirty.
To that end, I have been trying to follow the plans set out by The FLYLady. I still have a long way to go, but then again I am still going through stuff from my move 18 months or so ago and stuff from my mom. I have a feeling eBay and I are going to be come close friends. Of course I have been threatening that for some time. I have probably a dozen or more DVDs and maybe twice as many VHS tapes to get rid of from mom. These are the ones that neither my brother or I wanted. Plus my brother found a cache of Beta tapes that I am going to try and unload. Mostly Disney stuff, but you never know. I also have some ancient computer equipment that I would like to find a good home for. It all works, it is just old stuff that I figure some hobbiest may want. Beats throwing it all on the junk pile. The only problem I have is figuring out how much something weighs. Maybe I'll call the UPS store and see if I can take in some stuff to get it weighed.
Yours truly is finally getting the hang of this web thing. I have only been on for what seems like forever, but then again I just got a high speed hookup fairly recently. I finally started an Amazon Wish List, if you want some further insight into my personality. It is still a work in progress, but then again aren't all wish lists? I will admit this was in response to ThinkBlank's Secret Santa Project which sounded interesting. It is cool sometimes to get a semi-random gift from someone you have only met through the internet.
To that end, I have been trying to follow the plans set out by The FLYLady. I still have a long way to go, but then again I am still going through stuff from my move 18 months or so ago and stuff from my mom. I have a feeling eBay and I are going to be come close friends. Of course I have been threatening that for some time. I have probably a dozen or more DVDs and maybe twice as many VHS tapes to get rid of from mom. These are the ones that neither my brother or I wanted. Plus my brother found a cache of Beta tapes that I am going to try and unload. Mostly Disney stuff, but you never know. I also have some ancient computer equipment that I would like to find a good home for. It all works, it is just old stuff that I figure some hobbiest may want. Beats throwing it all on the junk pile. The only problem I have is figuring out how much something weighs. Maybe I'll call the UPS store and see if I can take in some stuff to get it weighed.
Yours truly is finally getting the hang of this web thing. I have only been on for what seems like forever, but then again I just got a high speed hookup fairly recently. I finally started an Amazon Wish List, if you want some further insight into my personality. It is still a work in progress, but then again aren't all wish lists? I will admit this was in response to ThinkBlank's Secret Santa Project which sounded interesting. It is cool sometimes to get a semi-random gift from someone you have only met through the internet.
Saturday, November 20, 2004
A Yucky Saturday
Kind of a yuck day outside. The temperature is dropping and it looks like winter may finally be coming to Ohio. Looks like it is time to get my storm windows in. On the up side I did get to go through some stuff. Just not much going on today to talk about.
Friday, November 19, 2004
A night of contemplation
I did not do anything I had originally planned on doing last night. This was not even because of some crisis that came up.
For whatever reason something at the end of the work day kind of spun me out mentally. This put me in something of an introspective mode. Not a bad thing, but my mind was racing which is not always conducive to introspective. As is typical when this happens I start getting all kinds of info, more than I can really process in anything that resembles coherence, which leaves me stuck on a problem because I cannot process it all.
As is my usual way I tried to do other things to get my conscious mind off of the current topic (in this case, me) and let my subconscious process everything. This has worked for me all my life and it produces great results. Unfortunately it did not work as well as I would have liked, so I still have things pinging around my head, and my morning e-mail check did not help any with this.
I don't want to get into this right now here, because everything is still kind of fragmented and not really making sense. I hope to get with some people this weekend that I can bounce some things off of. Sometimes you just need to talk, and although this space is called Lunatic Ravings this is still too random to be included here.
For whatever reason something at the end of the work day kind of spun me out mentally. This put me in something of an introspective mode. Not a bad thing, but my mind was racing which is not always conducive to introspective. As is typical when this happens I start getting all kinds of info, more than I can really process in anything that resembles coherence, which leaves me stuck on a problem because I cannot process it all.
As is my usual way I tried to do other things to get my conscious mind off of the current topic (in this case, me) and let my subconscious process everything. This has worked for me all my life and it produces great results. Unfortunately it did not work as well as I would have liked, so I still have things pinging around my head, and my morning e-mail check did not help any with this.
I don't want to get into this right now here, because everything is still kind of fragmented and not really making sense. I hope to get with some people this weekend that I can bounce some things off of. Sometimes you just need to talk, and although this space is called Lunatic Ravings this is still too random to be included here.
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Another day, another dollar
Well, it sounds better than "same shit, different day". At least last night I got a chance to get some reading in. Wednesdays are usually bad for me because I get home around 7:30/8:00 and start getting ready for bed at 10. Usually I get nothing done the middle but glance through the paper and get everything together for the next day.
Last night was a pretty good night though. I was able to walk on the track without too much shin pain, which is good. I survived tai chi class, although it feels like I caught myself with my staff on the leg on my way out.
I still have not gotten much of a chance to really play around with the template for the blog though. Hell I have not even put a message on my old one to show where I moved to. I am at least getting better at posting, even if there is not much to what I am posting. Hopefully this weekend I can take some time and dig in and get some reading done on what some of the special tags mean here at Blogger. On the upside tonight the Theosophical society will be doing a lecture on Islam. Should be interesting. I am always fascinated by comparitve religion, and frankly Islam is a little vague to me. Sometimes there just seems to be too much to study and not near enough time. Maybe someday I will win the lottery (which I guess means I should play it) and not have to go that pesky job ;).
Last night was a pretty good night though. I was able to walk on the track without too much shin pain, which is good. I survived tai chi class, although it feels like I caught myself with my staff on the leg on my way out.
I still have not gotten much of a chance to really play around with the template for the blog though. Hell I have not even put a message on my old one to show where I moved to. I am at least getting better at posting, even if there is not much to what I am posting. Hopefully this weekend I can take some time and dig in and get some reading done on what some of the special tags mean here at Blogger. On the upside tonight the Theosophical society will be doing a lecture on Islam. Should be interesting. I am always fascinated by comparitve religion, and frankly Islam is a little vague to me. Sometimes there just seems to be too much to study and not near enough time. Maybe someday I will win the lottery (which I guess means I should play it) and not have to go that pesky job ;).
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Tired and The Internet A-Z
I stayed up way to late last night watching The L Word and I am paying the price a little this morning. On the upside I got my car E-checked and I am good for another 2 years. Guess I need to go and get all the routine stuff I was hold off on done now. E-check is the program in Ohio for controling car emissions. It is only every other year, so it is not bad but I do hate the fact that they have to drive my car on rollers and that it costs $19.50.
Another idea I have seen from other bloggers. I went through my favorites from A-Z, justing hitting the key. I skipped any folders that came up first since I tend to use a lot of folders to organize my favorites. Here is my list:
A - A book of Five Rings
B - Best Buy Reward Zone
C - Center For A New American Dream
D - DiaryLand
E - eBay
F - Fantasy Art by Jessica Galbreth
G - Gallery 1 of SpiritStone Trading Co.
H - Home Depot
I - ING Direct
J - Joanne Shenandoah
K - Nothing
L - Lowe's
M- Metagifted
N - Netflix
O - Old Time Candy
P - Peace Breath
Q - Quicken.com
R - Rainbow Embroidery
S - SetiAtHome
T - The Bad Movie Review Site
U - Unconventional Ideas
V - Video ETA
W - Web Events (soon to come off)
X - Nothing
Y - Yahoo Groups
Z - Nothing
Another idea I have seen from other bloggers. I went through my favorites from A-Z, justing hitting the key. I skipped any folders that came up first since I tend to use a lot of folders to organize my favorites. Here is my list:
A - A book of Five Rings
B - Best Buy Reward Zone
C - Center For A New American Dream
D - DiaryLand
E - eBay
F - Fantasy Art by Jessica Galbreth
G - Gallery 1 of SpiritStone Trading Co.
H - Home Depot
I - ING Direct
J - Joanne Shenandoah
K - Nothing
L - Lowe's
M- Metagifted
N - Netflix
O - Old Time Candy
P - Peace Breath
Q - Quicken.com
R - Rainbow Embroidery
S - SetiAtHome
T - The Bad Movie Review Site
U - Unconventional Ideas
V - Video ETA
W - Web Events (soon to come off)
X - Nothing
Y - Yahoo Groups
Z - Nothing
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Ok, Now I Am Hooked - 100 Things About Me
I definitely like this place a lot more than Diaryland. I like the control I have over things here. I posted my referral link to Free iPods, and I hope some of you can help out. Feel free to email me (I'm not sure how/if I am notified of referrals) and I will try and help out on any of the free programs you are participating in.
Yesterday was kind of dull, and I was trying to put together an Internet alphabet that I saw on a couple of blogs and I am still working on it. I am still trying to get used to the new track I walk on, and it really zapped my left shin yesterday. Otherwise it was just kind of a dull day.
As another thing I have seen on some blogs, here are 100 things about me. I am looking to make that a permanent part of my blog, along with getting a photo of myself on the web.
100 Things about me
1. Few people actually guess my age, usually being off by as much as 10 years either way.
2. I got my first application to AARP at 35.
3. I like to do genealogy, but do not have the time to really research.
4. I love music, even though I am not a great musician.
5. In high school I played the baritone, having switched from trumpet in junior high school
6. I only marched in one parade in band, playing trumpet to help fill out a full line for a parade in Canada
7. I was born and raised in Akron, Ohio.
8. I currently live the furthest I have ever lived from the hospital I was born in - 1.25 miles.
9. I graduated from the University of Akron with a BS in Computer Science.
10. I minored in Psychology.
11. My first computer class in college actually used punch cards. The students did not have access to a sorter, so if you dropped your program you were screwed.
12. The first computer class I took was when I was a senior in high school, the last semester to boot. We had the first computer lab in the city.
13. I was born in 1964.
14. I was born in the year of the Dragon.
15. I am a Sagittarius sun, Cancer moon and Libra rising.
16. I love Tai chi. I started almost 10 years ago.
17. I am with the same teacher.
18. I am certified to teach Tai Chi, but currently do not actively teach.
19. I have been told I am a good teacher, particularly in Tai Chi.
20. I do not feel I am a good teacher for large groups, but feel better in groups of 2 or 3 or 1 on 1.
21. About the same time I started Tai Chi I started studying the Moon phases and similar astrological cycles. I find it fascinating and eerily accurate.
22. I am a facilitator for the For Purpose, Inc's conference.
23. When my time is done as a facilitator I will be the youngest elder in the community.
24. I currently work as a computer programmer for Intuit.
25. I work for one of their vertical market divisions in Cleveland, OH.
26. Although I studied scientific programming in college, I have written accounting software ever since I left.
27. Professionally I have only worked in BASIC.
28. My favorite movie of all times is The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai.
29. I am a second generation Trekkie. My mom watched it all the time and got me started.
30. Although old enough, I do not remember watching the original series when it was on. I probably did.
31. I also do not remember the Moon landing.
32. I do remember Watergate and the president resigning though.
33. Since I turned 30 I have had an extreme interest in metaphysical, what some call New Age, topics.
34. 30 is the start of a new cycle age-wise BTW.
35. Although I study astrological cycles, I know very little about "real" astrology.
36. I have had a hand held computer since the time of the old 'palm tops'. My first one was a Psion Series 3a out of England.
37. Currently I have a Palm Tungsten T3.
38. I only switched to the Palm style interface at the recommendation of a columnist who felt that it would be beneficial for people to become familiar with the interface.
39. Although I am something of a geek, I only recently got cable and a high-speed Internet hookup.
40. I like arena football. It is the only sport that I will go out of my way to watch.
41. I hate cell phones. I only have one because of my drive to Cleveland every day.
42. I have had the same phone number since I was 6.
43. I own the house I grew up in.
44. When it was time for me to move out after I graduated from college, my mom and brother moved out instead.
45. I have lived alone since.
46. I am single and do not feel the desire to get married right now.
47. I have never been married.
48. I have 1 brother, and a half brother & sister.
49. I am the oldest of all of them.
50. My brother and I sound exactly the same on the phone. His wife has confused us at times.
51. I love to walk. I am an avid volksmarcher, and participate in all local walking programs that are non-charity based.
52. I am not a competitive walker.
53. I got my Eagle in Boy Scouts
54. The Boy Scouts' recent decision to ban gays has me totally pissed off, even though I am not gay.
55. Even with that decision I still incorporate several of their ideals into my beliefs.
56. Although I believe in God (or Goddess, who really knows?) I do not follow the dogma of any given church.
57. I find organized religion unnecessarily restrictive.
58. I have had psychic happenings, and consider myself psychic.
59. I may never do the psychic fair thing though.
60. The first computer I owned was a TI/99 4a with 16 K (yes, K) of memory and a tape recorder to store programs on.
61. I currently have a Compaq Preserio laptop with .5 gig of memory and a 40 gig hard drive.
62. I love to read and never spend enough time doing it in my opinion.
63. I am a fan of science fiction, mysteries & fantasy-adventure for fun.
64. My serious reading is usually metaphysical or new age books.
65. I rarely read anything for work outside of magazine articles.
66. I have 20 boxes of books in my to be read stack.
67. I watch too much TV. Of late the various CSIs & Enterprise have been my favorite.
68. Netflix has been a wonderful thing for me.
69. I tend to get old TV series on Netflix, and documentaries.
70. I do not watch much PBS, Discovery or History channel.
71. I love owning a home, but I hate cleaning it.
72. If I were not so cheap I would probably hire a maid.
73. As a teenager I played Dungeons & Dragons. I still sometimes play BattleTech.
74. I played Magic: The Gathering for a while, but I have other interests I would rather spend my time on.
75. I am a big fan of Star Wars as well as Star Trek.
76. The only 2 series of books that I have not gotten rid of are Harry Potter and The Hitchhiker's series from Douglas Adams.
77. I am a big Dilbert fan as well.
78. When I got my cable Internet connection I also got a wireless router. Now I am trying to get the Bluetooth connection for my printer to work.
79. I now absolutely love the wireless hookup, and wonder why it took me so long to get converted.
80. I now spend too much time watching TV & surfing the Internet.
81. I hate coffee. My grandparents let me drink it as a kid, but eventually I just stopped.
82. I do love tea though, particularly chai.
83. Even though I work as a programmer, I usually only have 1 cup of tea a day for caffeine. Maybe some Pepsi if we are having a company lunch.
84. As for soft drinks, I prefer RC to both Coke & Pepsi.
85. I do not mind doing dishes. I worked in high school as a dishwasher at a fish fry once a week. To this day I still have not owned a dishwasher other than my 2 hands.
86. I enjoy cooking. Everyone loves what I make, although it looks like crap.
87. Presentation is not my strong suit, both cooking and appearance wise.
88. Just about all my clothes match so I do not have to think when I get up in the morning.
89. I rarely use an alarm clock. I get up most days at 5:30, plus or minus 10 minutes.
90. The down side is even on the weekends I at least wake up at 5:30.
91. Growing up I hated seafood.
92. My recent trip to VA Beach got me to try some seafood. I am now experimenting with cooking it.
93. I love spicy food, although not necessarily hot food. There is a difference.
94. I love both ginger & birch beer, even though they are very hard to find.
95. I do not drink, smoke, or do recreational drugs. The running joke with my friends is that I drink 2 beers a year, which has been more than I have had the last few years.
96. I never did mix tapes/CDs until I started blogging.
97. Although I am cheap (I mean frugal), I do not believe in music/movie/etc swapping/pirating. I feel that if I like something enough to pirate it I should be willing to pay for it.
98. I do buy used music & the like. I would probably buy second hand clothes if I were a more normal size.
99. I have 3 TV's, 2 DVD players and 3 VHS units even though I live alone. My laptop also plays DVD's.
100. I would like to get a TiVo, but think the monthly service fee is stupid. Plus I do not need another thing to encourage me to watch TV.
Yesterday was kind of dull, and I was trying to put together an Internet alphabet that I saw on a couple of blogs and I am still working on it. I am still trying to get used to the new track I walk on, and it really zapped my left shin yesterday. Otherwise it was just kind of a dull day.
As another thing I have seen on some blogs, here are 100 things about me. I am looking to make that a permanent part of my blog, along with getting a photo of myself on the web.
100 Things about me
1. Few people actually guess my age, usually being off by as much as 10 years either way.
2. I got my first application to AARP at 35.
3. I like to do genealogy, but do not have the time to really research.
4. I love music, even though I am not a great musician.
5. In high school I played the baritone, having switched from trumpet in junior high school
6. I only marched in one parade in band, playing trumpet to help fill out a full line for a parade in Canada
7. I was born and raised in Akron, Ohio.
8. I currently live the furthest I have ever lived from the hospital I was born in - 1.25 miles.
9. I graduated from the University of Akron with a BS in Computer Science.
10. I minored in Psychology.
11. My first computer class in college actually used punch cards. The students did not have access to a sorter, so if you dropped your program you were screwed.
12. The first computer class I took was when I was a senior in high school, the last semester to boot. We had the first computer lab in the city.
13. I was born in 1964.
14. I was born in the year of the Dragon.
15. I am a Sagittarius sun, Cancer moon and Libra rising.
16. I love Tai chi. I started almost 10 years ago.
17. I am with the same teacher.
18. I am certified to teach Tai Chi, but currently do not actively teach.
19. I have been told I am a good teacher, particularly in Tai Chi.
20. I do not feel I am a good teacher for large groups, but feel better in groups of 2 or 3 or 1 on 1.
21. About the same time I started Tai Chi I started studying the Moon phases and similar astrological cycles. I find it fascinating and eerily accurate.
22. I am a facilitator for the For Purpose, Inc's conference.
23. When my time is done as a facilitator I will be the youngest elder in the community.
24. I currently work as a computer programmer for Intuit.
25. I work for one of their vertical market divisions in Cleveland, OH.
26. Although I studied scientific programming in college, I have written accounting software ever since I left.
27. Professionally I have only worked in BASIC.
28. My favorite movie of all times is The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai.
29. I am a second generation Trekkie. My mom watched it all the time and got me started.
30. Although old enough, I do not remember watching the original series when it was on. I probably did.
31. I also do not remember the Moon landing.
32. I do remember Watergate and the president resigning though.
33. Since I turned 30 I have had an extreme interest in metaphysical, what some call New Age, topics.
34. 30 is the start of a new cycle age-wise BTW.
35. Although I study astrological cycles, I know very little about "real" astrology.
36. I have had a hand held computer since the time of the old 'palm tops'. My first one was a Psion Series 3a out of England.
37. Currently I have a Palm Tungsten T3.
38. I only switched to the Palm style interface at the recommendation of a columnist who felt that it would be beneficial for people to become familiar with the interface.
39. Although I am something of a geek, I only recently got cable and a high-speed Internet hookup.
40. I like arena football. It is the only sport that I will go out of my way to watch.
41. I hate cell phones. I only have one because of my drive to Cleveland every day.
42. I have had the same phone number since I was 6.
43. I own the house I grew up in.
44. When it was time for me to move out after I graduated from college, my mom and brother moved out instead.
45. I have lived alone since.
46. I am single and do not feel the desire to get married right now.
47. I have never been married.
48. I have 1 brother, and a half brother & sister.
49. I am the oldest of all of them.
50. My brother and I sound exactly the same on the phone. His wife has confused us at times.
51. I love to walk. I am an avid volksmarcher, and participate in all local walking programs that are non-charity based.
52. I am not a competitive walker.
53. I got my Eagle in Boy Scouts
54. The Boy Scouts' recent decision to ban gays has me totally pissed off, even though I am not gay.
55. Even with that decision I still incorporate several of their ideals into my beliefs.
56. Although I believe in God (or Goddess, who really knows?) I do not follow the dogma of any given church.
57. I find organized religion unnecessarily restrictive.
58. I have had psychic happenings, and consider myself psychic.
59. I may never do the psychic fair thing though.
60. The first computer I owned was a TI/99 4a with 16 K (yes, K) of memory and a tape recorder to store programs on.
61. I currently have a Compaq Preserio laptop with .5 gig of memory and a 40 gig hard drive.
62. I love to read and never spend enough time doing it in my opinion.
63. I am a fan of science fiction, mysteries & fantasy-adventure for fun.
64. My serious reading is usually metaphysical or new age books.
65. I rarely read anything for work outside of magazine articles.
66. I have 20 boxes of books in my to be read stack.
67. I watch too much TV. Of late the various CSIs & Enterprise have been my favorite.
68. Netflix has been a wonderful thing for me.
69. I tend to get old TV series on Netflix, and documentaries.
70. I do not watch much PBS, Discovery or History channel.
71. I love owning a home, but I hate cleaning it.
72. If I were not so cheap I would probably hire a maid.
73. As a teenager I played Dungeons & Dragons. I still sometimes play BattleTech.
74. I played Magic: The Gathering for a while, but I have other interests I would rather spend my time on.
75. I am a big fan of Star Wars as well as Star Trek.
76. The only 2 series of books that I have not gotten rid of are Harry Potter and The Hitchhiker's series from Douglas Adams.
77. I am a big Dilbert fan as well.
78. When I got my cable Internet connection I also got a wireless router. Now I am trying to get the Bluetooth connection for my printer to work.
79. I now absolutely love the wireless hookup, and wonder why it took me so long to get converted.
80. I now spend too much time watching TV & surfing the Internet.
81. I hate coffee. My grandparents let me drink it as a kid, but eventually I just stopped.
82. I do love tea though, particularly chai.
83. Even though I work as a programmer, I usually only have 1 cup of tea a day for caffeine. Maybe some Pepsi if we are having a company lunch.
84. As for soft drinks, I prefer RC to both Coke & Pepsi.
85. I do not mind doing dishes. I worked in high school as a dishwasher at a fish fry once a week. To this day I still have not owned a dishwasher other than my 2 hands.
86. I enjoy cooking. Everyone loves what I make, although it looks like crap.
87. Presentation is not my strong suit, both cooking and appearance wise.
88. Just about all my clothes match so I do not have to think when I get up in the morning.
89. I rarely use an alarm clock. I get up most days at 5:30, plus or minus 10 minutes.
90. The down side is even on the weekends I at least wake up at 5:30.
91. Growing up I hated seafood.
92. My recent trip to VA Beach got me to try some seafood. I am now experimenting with cooking it.
93. I love spicy food, although not necessarily hot food. There is a difference.
94. I love both ginger & birch beer, even though they are very hard to find.
95. I do not drink, smoke, or do recreational drugs. The running joke with my friends is that I drink 2 beers a year, which has been more than I have had the last few years.
96. I never did mix tapes/CDs until I started blogging.
97. Although I am cheap (I mean frugal), I do not believe in music/movie/etc swapping/pirating. I feel that if I like something enough to pirate it I should be willing to pay for it.
98. I do buy used music & the like. I would probably buy second hand clothes if I were a more normal size.
99. I have 3 TV's, 2 DVD players and 3 VHS units even though I live alone. My laptop also plays DVD's.
100. I would like to get a TiVo, but think the monthly service fee is stupid. Plus I do not need another thing to encourage me to watch TV.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
This & That
Ever have one of those days that started horrible but ended up great? For whatever reason I woke up at 4:30 and could not get back to sleep until about 7 and then sleep until almost 11. This was one day I did not want to sleep in. I had a surprise birthday party that I had to cook something for (which I bailed on and bought something) and another meeting after that. Originally I was not going to go, however I was notified that the local genealogy society was giving me an award for the work I have done over the years and felt I should. Made for a busy day, especially when I got up so late.
I will, eventually, have this up on my sidebar on the blog. I am still a little swamped to play around with HTML.
Currently watch: "The L Word", Season 1 Disc 1. Ok, I have to admit I have always had a small place in my heart for Jennifer Beals ever since "Flashdance". I probably know more lesbians than most straight men (at least in Ohio), which may also explain why I am still single. However I found it interesting enough to at least pick up the first disc on my movie pass. I thought the first 4 episodes (actually 3, the pilot was 2 hours) were pretty good, and I am not just saying that because of all the girl-on-girl action. Frankly I could do with a little less sex and a little more story, which would be my guess is what is going to happen. I don't have Showtime so I will have to wait until the second season comes out on DVD.
Currently Reading: I just finished "The Force" by Stuart Wilde. A short book (72 pages), but a nice, condensed book on some very basic metaphysical concepts. To me it is one of those books you keep around and reread when you start to get down. Also a nice book to keep around to read as a refresher. I have not decided what is next up. I wanted to read a book on crystals, although that has seemed to vanished for now. Maybe something a little more fun.
Currently lisenting to: Jewel "0304". Not a bad album. A lot more pop than her previous albums, which I at least feel is unfortunate. She is trying to do some updated big band sound. I like the more traditional big bad personally, but she did ok. My hope is that this is just a bone for the label and that she will get back to the folk/ballads she is so good at.
I will, eventually, have this up on my sidebar on the blog. I am still a little swamped to play around with HTML.
Currently watch: "The L Word", Season 1 Disc 1. Ok, I have to admit I have always had a small place in my heart for Jennifer Beals ever since "Flashdance". I probably know more lesbians than most straight men (at least in Ohio), which may also explain why I am still single. However I found it interesting enough to at least pick up the first disc on my movie pass. I thought the first 4 episodes (actually 3, the pilot was 2 hours) were pretty good, and I am not just saying that because of all the girl-on-girl action. Frankly I could do with a little less sex and a little more story, which would be my guess is what is going to happen. I don't have Showtime so I will have to wait until the second season comes out on DVD.
Currently Reading: I just finished "The Force" by Stuart Wilde. A short book (72 pages), but a nice, condensed book on some very basic metaphysical concepts. To me it is one of those books you keep around and reread when you start to get down. Also a nice book to keep around to read as a refresher. I have not decided what is next up. I wanted to read a book on crystals, although that has seemed to vanished for now. Maybe something a little more fun.
Currently lisenting to: Jewel "0304". Not a bad album. A lot more pop than her previous albums, which I at least feel is unfortunate. She is trying to do some updated big band sound. I like the more traditional big bad personally, but she did ok. My hope is that this is just a bone for the label and that she will get back to the folk/ballads she is so good at.
Friday, November 12, 2004
Blogs, this & that
I have played around a little with the new blog and I think I like it a lot better than Diaryland, although I am still trying to figure out how to handle things to make them look better. I was been awhile since I worked with native HTML, although I am sure I can pull down the source and edit it in Mozilla if I wanted. Not that I am overly familiar with that editor either, but it must be easier than hand-coding HTML.
Last night I went to a Theosophical Society meeting where the lecture was called "Flash Card Tarot". The basic idea was how to use the tarot in brain storming. The idea was to get away from the classic meanings of the cards and get a little more into what you think the cards mean. It was really cool and got me to want to break out my tarot deck again. I never connected with it because many of the meanings were so negative and/or dark. It seemed like the divination teach in Harry Potter that always saw gloom & doom.
Last night I went to a Theosophical Society meeting where the lecture was called "Flash Card Tarot". The basic idea was how to use the tarot in brain storming. The idea was to get away from the classic meanings of the cards and get a little more into what you think the cards mean. It was really cool and got me to want to break out my tarot deck again. I never connected with it because many of the meanings were so negative and/or dark. It seemed like the divination teach in Harry Potter that always saw gloom & doom.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Switching blog location
I am thinking about switching over to Blogger from DiaryLand since it seems to give a few more features and control over the appearance. I guess I will need to play with this a little more before I can see if I really like it or not.
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