Scooped up

Hello all you cone-aics

Last night a friend and I went to take advantage of a great deal. Baskin Robbins was having a 31 cent scoop night, limit three. So after some encouragement from Wendy, we went.

Charles and I made the trek to ice cream shoppe about 6:30 pm. The special took place between 5 and 10 pm. As we pull into the parking lot, we see all the parents and children standing around. We think "Oh, boy, but what do else do we have to do?" So we queue up. The wait was not bad. It took about 15 minutes to get to the counter.

Finally it was our time to order. I know BR has 31 flavors, but I could only see half. So I went pretty bland and got a scoop of Cookie dough and chips and Reese Peanut Butter Cup in a cone. Charles just some kind of chocolate concoction. It was good and cheap. Under five dollars.

We sat outside and ate our treats. No, I did not drop any of my ice cream. I came close a few times. I am glad the weather was nice. It would have been tough standing in storms. We watched all the children trying to eat their ice cream while it was dripping down their arms. At least their parents can put them in a timeout corner and they will stick there. Just kidding.

A local fire department was at the establishment trying to raise money. I am not sure how much they raised. They had someone dressed in a Dalmatian costume. He was walking around getting hugs from the children. Fortunately, we did not see him have to find a fire hydrant.

So it was a pretty cool night.

Punished by the movie

Hello all you buffed movie fans,

I watched the Punisher War Zone last night. This movie was not for the weak of stomach. In the first five minutes ten people are slaughtered. I am talking vicious, like as in decapitation. It was one gory movie.

The plot was a little weak. Guy goes psycho killing bad guys, accidentally kills a good guy, tries to retire only to find out he can't because he has to kill more people. When I saw kill I am talking about head shots, where the brain is exposed and that person's face is missing. It was a little too much for me.

It reminded me of several movies. Kindergarten Cop...because he has to look after a child who is being hunted. Saw...because it was so gory. Every one of the hit man movies...because he wants to be good. I had a bunch more while watching the movie, but cannot remember them.

The movie had about 12 minutes of previews. I know that because the information on the wrapper said 1 hour 47 minutes. The movie ended at 1 hour 35 minutes. All were horror movies.

If you are in the mood for violence and gore then Punisher yourself with this one. The first Punisher was far more entertaining.

You may find me off target with this review.

Sleeping around

Hello all you early risers or people staying up late

I cannot stay awake anymore. It seems that I am sleeping much more. I am either at work or asleep. It sometimes feels like I am asleep at work. I used to be able to get up early and do a few things. Now I get up early and fall back asleep.

Wendy gets so mad that I crash about 7 pm. Then I sleep off and on for a few hours and still go to bed.

Sorry this has been a real bore, but at least you can catch on sleep.

Involved in a tumble

Hello to all clothes in people,

It was another rough day yesterday. It seemed everything I touched fell to the floor or I had to repair. It ended with the dryer.

I was washing clothes and then transported them to the dryer. I set the dryer for its cycle and turned it on. Then I walked away. A few minutes later I felt heat coming from the laundry closet. I was thinking to myself, "Great! (Of course this is the sarcastic kind.)" It was another I had to waste my time with. The hose that transport the heat out of the house or something like that had become disconnected from the wall vent. This is not the first time this has happened. It is about the fifth.

So I squeeze beside the dryer to hook the tube back into the wall vent. Why do they always put washers and dryers in such tight spaces? It is good when they work because it is out of the way, but when you have to work on them it is horrible. I get the irrational desire to be a midget or weigh twenty pounds.

I am not sure if it is the wrong hose for the wall vent. A few months ago we switched out dryers from the one that came with house. I guess I will need to get some expert advice, either knowledgeable friends or home improvement gurus. I was finally able to get the hose hooked in enough so I could tighten the loop. Then I ran a bunch of duct tape around the connection. Probably not the smartest thing, but it is the only thing I know. I think that over time the heat affects the tape causing it to expand and become loose. I will need to have a more permanent solution. I sure do not want to keep messing what that.

Well it worked enough to dry the loads I had washed. So now I am nice and dry. Well at least dry.

Susan Boyle my blood

Hello all who have ears and eyes

I am sure by now you have seen the video clip of Susan Boyle, the 47 year old who wowed British audiences and now the rest of world? It seems like big hype to me. Granted I am in the minority and I hate stories that get a lot of attention and become in the repeat loop.

Now don't get me wrong, she was talented. I have to wonder, what is that show going to do for her? Sure it will give her some fame and maybe make her an answer to a trivia question. I think those talent shows are somewhat of a waste for the contestants. Do we ever remember any of those contestants? Maybe it is just me. I cannot think of anybody on those shows. Of course I did not watch them.

I think it is more the hype this story is getting in the news. Wendy will tell you that I do not like to hear the same over again. It becomes old to me fast. I just don't see the big deal.

I finally watched the video clip of Boyle's performance. Not by choice, but by being in the same room as it was playing. I think it has finally reached its course because it was used in a sermon illustration. No offense to my pastor friends, but when a story reaches that point it is overused. This is a generalization in my part. I think of it like slang when it is used by the good ole boys.

People enjoy this story because they like to root for the underdog. We like those people interest stories. Since she came out of a nowhere background it makes it worth investigating.

I do wish the best of luck to Susan Boyle. It sounds like she had a rough life. I hope she is able to achieve her singing career. When she does just don't interrupt my regular programming.

Hitting the covered wall

Hello all you domicile duds,

You have probably read Wendy's blog to see that we had a home improvement weekend. Well it is sort of bare now, but Wendy has big plans. It was a productive weekend.

Friday night we had dinner plans, but had to change our schedule. Wendy and I had just walked in the door when I received a phone call from one of my friends whose car battery died. Fortunately, he was close by so in a few minutes his battery was juiced enough to get him home. Unfortunately, he needed a new car battery. It gave him no warning, just would not turn over.

Saturday was a run around day. Our church had a yard sale to raise money for the youth to attend summer camp. It started at 7 am and lasted until 12 pm. We arrived at the church parking lot at 7:30 to look around. There was already a good crowd. We found an unused one touch trash can. It was very affordable so we bought it. Wendy and I had donated several items to the yard sale. Talk about spring cleaning the easy way! Then Wendy had a meeting and I helped a coworker of Wendy's move furniture. It was the parents of one of Wendy's coworkers. They are doing some work to their house to sell it and possibly move to West Virginia. The furniture was loaded into a U-Haul and then taken to a storage area. They had help which is good because those items were heavy. I felt like a wimp compared to how the other guys were lugging those items around. After helping with the move I return home and Wendy is removing wallpaper in the master bath. So we work on that the rest of the day. Our friend, Charles, comes by and greatly speeds up our process.

Sunday, we go to church. After lunch we start back scraping wallpaper. We finish the master bathroom. Wendy also wants to do the downstairs bathroom. It looks to be already peeling and you can see the seams. So we think might at well find ourselves a-peeling. What we thought was going to be 30 minutes turned out to be 3 hours. That is the way it always is with a house, you think something will take a short time and it becomes a long job. The wallpaper was so old and thick. Once we got the paper off we were able to scrape the residue. Charles joined us again to provide his awesome help. The bathroom is mostly clear of wallpaper except for a few spots.

Now we need to schedule time to touch up the sheet rock and paint. Wendy is in the home improvement mode. It may take awhile, but the house we be looking good. Special thanks to Charles who has helped us greatly in this never ending process.

Apology accepted

Hello to all who were wrong and now right

I just read the book The 4th Secret of the One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Margaret McBride. It was all about the use of apology in business and in life. Apparently these authors are speakers on manager techniques. The other three one minutes proposals are: one minute goals, one minute praises, and one minute reprimands.

This book was able the cost of mistakes. It is written in narrative form about an assistant whose boss makes a mistake which could bring down the company. The board is very upset and the boss is arrogant. The story was hokey and cliche in some parts. The assistant just happened to have a friend/mentor who was a career coach and invite him to a family gathering during the July 4th weekend. However, the truths of the book are good. In the end everyone has an epiphany and everything works out.

The premise of the book is that when a person makes a mistake, he should immediately offer an apology. That is the only way to restore the relationship. It is not good enough just to say "I'm sorry," but the person must offer true feelings. There must be a change of behavior. Actions must carry the words.

A person who has been wronged can ask for an apology. This seems weird to me, but makes sense. What has the person to lose? If the offender did not know and apologizes the relationship is restored. If the offender does not apologize then the person asking forgiveness did not lose anything. It all depends on how important the relationship is. The more important the relationship the more work will have to be put into it. If you do not care about the person, then you do not care what he does.

The first part about restoring a mistake is being honest. A person must be honest with himself in recognizing a mistake is made. It could have been an action taken or even not acting in a situation. If a person is not honest about himself, he will not see the need to change. A person must be honest about the situation. Recognition comes before responsibility and then restoration.

Integrity is the next component. Once a person is honest, he will know whether he wants that to be his behavior. If it is not the behavior desired, then change it. Then the person is free to make amends. This seems hard because integrity is the part that everyone sees. You can hide honesty because it starts with thought, but you cannot hide your actions long. Many people consider integrity important, but few people live it. The book shows that we can live with integrity because we have the love we need already. Many people try to achieve love by gain and not by gifts. Granted there are some people who do not share their love unless conditions are met. You can either work with them or leave them. It can be a hard decision.

One interesting story in the book was told by a minister. He closed his sermon with a story about playing Monopoly with his grandmother. His grandmother always beat him until one game. Then the grandmother teaches the boy a life lesson. "It always goes back in the box." This means no matter how much you accumulate in life in the end you are only left with your self worth. People may remember what you had, but they will remember more how you were.

Something to think about and I am sorry about rambling...

It is all in the con-text

Hello all you tech bubbles.

Is it just me or is technology all around us? I suppose you cannot even go to the bathroom without some form of technology. I am grateful for this. It is amazing all the innovations that we have today. Most are helpful, some have been created to be harmful. People have made a great deal of money because they had the foresight to be ahead of the technology.

Today I think we are living in a time when we cannot go without technology. It helps our lives immensely. We would be completely lost. There are inventions today that we take for granted that previous generations had never even heard of. We can watch television and talk to people away from our house!

These technological advances come with a price. We are in a new age. I call it the Dork Ages. If this has already been created, then oh well. I am doing what I normally do and write without all the facts. I call it the Dork Ages because we are so reliant on technology for everyday tasks. Nearly all the population has access to some form of personal communication. It is interesting because most of the personal communication is done many miles away from an actual person. If the person is in the same room that you want to contact, it is easier to talk to them through a device. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy these forms of contact. Even though for me they are far in between. I also enjoy the time killing of getting online and being able to do "research".

I think that the Dork Ages are bringing down our generation. I am a somewhat young person and I admit we are screwing up the world. I am sure there are other circumstances that are bringing our world down, but the only evidence I see is us. I admit I want everything I can get without working for it. It is amazing to me all the knowledge and energy that previous generations had. They could run circles around me. Then those in the hover chairs will just run over me.

I think we are living of the past generations. What great wonders have we come up with lately? Hmmm, devices that make it so we don't have to see each other. Contact without the messiness of people.

I know this post has been full of generalizations and errors, but I think a few nuggets of truth escaped. Well I have to go check if anyone wrote me, check my favorite cartoons, and microwave my breakfast...all while watching a recorded show. Of course I am forwarding through the commercials.

Ain't life grand, even if it costs that much?

Curious?

Dear Question marks and I hope you find the answer

I was thinking that I will never make into the big time. It seems that everyone who becomes successful has a drive. My is in park. It also seems they have a sense of wonder. I have a sense of wonder what in the world is going on.

I think one of the best qualities in life to have is the ability to question and come up with a good answer. If you do not really seek an answer then you are just complaining. Granted everyone is good at that. It is those that come up with answers that become a success.

I admit I have the sour grape syndrome...It is can't be done quickly, then is it worth doing? I guess that is the beauty of time, if you are still alive then you have got some.

Answer me that one.

Running out of things to say

Well to all of you sneaking around,

I have been trying to think of something to write about for the past little bit, but cannot think of anything to write. Ironic, isn't it?

Not much is going on in Parker Place. It is the same old routine of work, home, sleep, rinse and repeat.

I guess I am under contract and now my words are drawing up.

Yesterday the awful

Hello all you good dayers,

Have you ever had one of those days that nothing goes right. You take one step forward and it puts your foot in crap. Yesterday was that day for Wendy and me. It started off to a bust. We had high hopes that were dashed like the stones blocking our sunshine.

The hardest part of having a bad day is when it happens on your day off. I feel like I need a day off to recover from my day off.

We had our share of disappointments. Now it is back to the dreaming board. Hopefully, we have hit the bottom and our ready for the bounce.

Technological wonder?

Well all you thumb typing text fans I heard about something right up your alley.

A church in Matthews, NC during their Easter Sunday service was encouraging its present congregation to Twitter during the worship service. The idea was encouraged by the creative worship team, which just so happens to be made of twenty something year olds. The congregation was to place updates on Twitter about their worship experience.

I am not sure how I feel about this. I can see how this is a good idea and a bad idea. Maybe part of it is me being cynical about churches trying to remain ahead of the culture curve. In a way it is a way to encourage growth and help to improve their witness. Sometimes I think it is just a way to use cool technology.

The use of technology is a good way to reach a larger audience. It is amazing how many people will look up sermons or church websites. A church would be able to minister to many who do not even enter its door. Most people today want to see the service on screen. They enjoy reading the words on the screen. I think it reminds them of a concert. In the case of Twitter, if you have followers, you can testify to your friends about what God is doing. It can be used as a witnessing tool.

Now the part that concerns me about Twittering during church. Part of me thinks that it is sad that a person cannot go an hour without updating some form of status. Yes, church is meant to be a personal experience between the worshipper and God, but it is also a time of instruction. Perhaps I am wrong, but how can someone concentrate on the sermon when he is texting on his phone. It just seems like this would be a distraction in trying to listen to the sermon and learn to apply it.

Well at least the worshippers were doing something productive in worship rather than daydreaming.

The daily grind

Hello to all you chomping at the bit

Last week I had my routine appointment to visit the dentist. I have to go about every three months. I know the tooth hurts. Fortunately, I do not have mouth pain, I just have bad teeth. My family did not get the good teeth gene. My gums have a little bit of recession that the dentist's office feels like watching. So every three months, I have an exam. At least I do not have to use a number two pencil.

It is amazing to me that with all the sophisticated equipment the dentist office has they still at some point have to use that metal scraper. I try and keep my teeth clean. I brush after every meal and floss a couple of times a day. I even use mouthwash twice a day. Yet I still have the tartar build up. The good news is that these frequent visits do not have to come out of my pocket. Wendy and I have a flexible spending account, which helps greatly. It is sort of like free money, that comes from us technically.

This past visit the dentist came in after the exam to discuss the results of my teeth. He said they wanted to watch my gum recession. It could let to problems and I do not want that. He said there were pockets around my teeth which looked to be from teeth grinding. Apparently, gleaned from Wendy complaints, I grind my teeth while I sleep. The dentist office said they could set with up with a 400 dollar mouth guard to help prevent me grinding my teeth. I told them I would think about it. As I was telling Wendy this news, one of her coworkers heard my story and said she uses a 30 dollar mouth guard that works as well.

Wendy and I were in Wal-Mart doing other shopping and I thought I would check out the dental care section. I found an inexpensive mouth guard and thought I would try it out. That was a couple of days ago. I'll see how it works and I am sure Wendy will let me know also.

Well keep your teeth clean and smile to impress people. You will make yourself and others happy.

The Last of the Last Supper

Hello to all you around the table

Some may know, many may not that this past weekend I was asked to participate in an Easter drive thru at our church. The Easter drive thru had several different scenes that depicted the life of Jesus leading up to His resurrection. I was asked to be a sleeping disciple in the garden where Jesus was praying before His arrest.

I had no idea what to expect since this was my first time. Wendy and I are usually out of town for the Easter weekend. This year was so busy with church activities that we were unable to leave Cary. The only practice I had was a dress rehearsal in which my costume was shown to me, I tried it on, and I was shown my place during the drive thru.

Friday arrived and so did the rain. The church decided if we had rain then the drive thru would be cancelled. It is after all outside. We had rain and storms on Friday night so there was no drive thru. Saturday arrived and the weather cleared and was very nice.

I arrived at the church at my check in time to dress. When I walk in the door I find that I am promoted to the table for the Lord's Supper scene. It appears instead of sleeping I would be eating. The scene consisted of 13 guys, twelve disciples and Jesus, sitting around eating and talking. It was interesting because there was real food. There was crackers, fruit, and cookies. They had real bread to pass between us. We only had empty goblets though. Imagine having to eat for an hour and a half!

From what I heard the drive thru went well. There were over 200 people who came to see it. There was one incident were someone in a vehicle ran over the CD player, which was the narration to our silent drama. However, no harm was done, except to the CD player, because someone from the church brought a spare player.

I hope your Easter weekend was spent with someone you love because someone first loved you.

Egg-actly

Well it is that time of year again to load up on chocolate and other goodies, have time off work or school, wear new clothing, visit family, and oh yeah go to church.

Yes, Sunday is Easter. Today is Good Friday. On a side note, it is good because we are off work. This is time when we Christians celebrate the great sacrifice of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. He was put to death, but raised to give us eternal life. This is the most celebrated time of year for the church. It is exciting to take bad news and turn it into good news.

Now I know that I am not the most theological person or even speak well Christian-ese, but I was thinking about Easter and the aspects we put to it. In my twisted way I am going to my an analogy. Now granted as I grew up and still somewhat feel that way now, Easter was a time to see family and get goodies. Of course church was in the mix. One of the things that children and some adults love to do is the Easter egg hunt. I participated in a few.

I got to thinking about the eggs. Most of the ones that were used in the hunts I participated in were plastic filled with candy. Some people used real eggs and decorated them. How can that relate to us as Christians? I know that this is a real stretch, but I came up with something. Take a look at the egg. It has a hard shell and a soft center. Sometimes it is decorated. I think that can be the good actions we do. Then there is the hard shell. We should stand up for what we believe. Things we try and crack us. Then there is the gooey inside which represents our faith. It should be soft and able to grow. That is part that in real egg people use. Jesus said his yolk (really yoke) was light.

Oh well, just a few not well pieced together thoughts.

Happy Easter!

It is in the fine print

Well here is another machine related anecdote

Wendy and I were sitting around the house after work like we do most nights. We were trying to decide what to do with our free time. It seemed like a good time to get something to eat. We had talked about going to a restaurant that we like to visit that serves buffet salads. Yes, for those who know it is Sweet Tomatoes. It is good but a little pricey for us. We only go once in awhile. Wendy and I were going to go for lunch on Friday, but decided last night.

We had a coupon to buy one meal with two beverages and get one meal free. Sounds good enough to eat, right? Unfortunately, I left the coupon at work, where I had printed it. Wendy still had the e-mail with the coupon, so I thought no problem I will print it here. So I drag out the old printer we never use and plug it up.

However, it will not print. It gives me no indication it wants to print. So I reinstall the print driver. Yet nothing happens. I cannot get it to print this e-mail. After 45 minutes I am still messing with it. I am getting upset, Wendy is getting upset, and the printer is still not concerned. I get it to print something, but it is not what I want.

I give up after being literally dragged away, kicking and screaming, by Wendy. We are both in bad moods. Wendy realizes that there are coupons laying on a shelf. I go take a looksey and right there are ST coupons. One of those coupons is the same one I have been trying to print for an hour. So we cut it out and get it out.

Fortunately, we had a nice dinner. Even though it was an hour or more after we were hungry.

Beeedeeep. Beeddeep. Just in case you don't care that coupon cost us more than the other coupon. Using the coupon we used we had to pay full price for one dinner and two (high priced) drinks. We should have used in retrospect a coupon that knocked a dollar off two meals and ordered water. The thing you learn after the fact.

What is bugging me?

Hello all you computrons,

The other day at work I was minding my own business when tragedy struck me. I was looking around on the Internet, yeah I think you have heard of it, when the virus protection software stepped up a notch. It alerted me that it found a virus and deleted it.

I thought to myself that is weird. So I went and ran a virus scan. It was running and doing its thing. It did not find anything out of the ordinary that I saw. So I thought I would defragment my computer was I was trying to be proactive. When into the blue the icons on my desktop disappeared. I thought to myself this is strange. So I shut down my computer. Then boot it back up. The icons appear only to disappear again. I try to sign into my work e-mail account. It lets me sign in only to kick me out. I try to get online, but it blocks me giving me some kind of error message. I keep getting error messages at every task I am trying to perform.

So I go the way of tech support and call our IT department. An hour later one of the gadget gurus comes down to see what can be done. He fiddles around and sees I have a root virus. This is apparently a rough one because it takes hold of the computer and uses your files to replicate itself. He was deleting programs trying to take away its foothold, but it was still hanging on and replicating itself. This root virus would take control before the virus protection program could kick in. He would delete where the root virus was and it would pop up again.

After trying to get rid of my not so friendly new friend on my system, he tried on two other systems. However, it already infected my computer. That is right you people in the know, my computer had to be wiped and completely reinstalled. Everything must go! After several hours I am the proud possessor of an old machine with new updates. So far it has not given me any problems, I hope it stays that way.

I have no idea how I received this bug. The IT guy thinks it was through an e-mail or website. Those of course are the common ways of the sneak attack. I do not think I opened any bizarre e-mails lately. The only site I went to that I had not gone to before and the virus protection site warned me about was...our very own town's website. Maybe I should write them and ask them to refund my property tax for the angst and distress they caused me.

Keep surfing, but watch out for the crashing waves.

Quick, it is an emergency

Hello to all you sitting on the edge

Quick! Call 911! There is something wrong with my food! I know it is just me, but what is going on? I heard in the news another person called 911, the emergency service because something was wrong with her food. I think she did not have shrimp in something she ordered.

An emergency with food? Come on! There are many 24 hour places to eat. You can have any food choice you want if you pay for it. If you have a bad experience at a restaurant, then you can complain to the restaurant or not go there anymore. Maybe yammer about it on your blog.

This gives me an idea for a business venture. Why not create a number for people to complain about their food service? You have 911 for emergency and 411 for information. How about 711 or something like that? People can call and complain. Why stop with food service? Everyone loves to complain. Then charge them for the call. It sounds like a great idea to me.

Like the slogan, "Call someone who cares" or at least cares about the money.

A day like every other

Good to see you, by not directly looking at you.

Well, Wendy and I are back in our digs. We finished our squatting for the time being and have returned to the homestead. It is back to the custom of reading, watching tv, online activities, and watching the cats.

Yesterday, both Wendy and I felt like we were a day ahead. I have no idea why. It is rare that we both feel that way. I am always confused what day it is. I guess it is because all my days are the same. On the bright side this will be a short week. We have Friday off. If you are going to have a day off, Friday would be a good one. I know it is a reach, but work those laugh muscles. Good Friday.

Wendy and I went to a pretty good restaurant last night. It was called Anna's Pizzeria. We were told about it by a coworker who highly suggested it. He was right about the good food. The prices were not that bad for all the food we received. Next time we visit we will spend something, because there was that much food.

It is finally the day I thought it was. So now I guess I am back on schedule. Ah, yes, time to check off my next thing on the list.

Busyness

Hello all you self starters and shelf starers

I have realized that are world is all about business. If you are not in business then you really have nothing to offer. Transaction is the name of the game in society. You are either wearing the jersey or buying a hot dog in the stands.

Maybe I have been reading some bizarre books lately. Of course these books are hard to understand. I found them in the business section. I read two books on the concept of Flat Tax. Some of it seems like a good idea, only pay for what you buy. I still do not understand the whole process. The way the conservative authors talked we are getting money sucked out from us and we don't even know it.

It is amazing that in every period people talk about how bad the economy is. I hope that these wave passes. I am ready for an upswing.

Anyway, back to business. The books I have been reading have talked about starting your own business. That seems to be the answer for the unsatisfied, go getters. Why work for someone else, when you can work for yourself? At least you would have a hard time not getting along with the boss. I am sure it is tough, but I bet the rewards of good. If you succeed of course.

Another thing I learned is that I make nothing. I am constantly seeing figures of people who make at least double, sometimes quadruple what I make. I am sure they had to work hard to get it or be trust fund babies. It does make me wonder what I should have done differently. Oh well, no money earned is no money wasted.

Well back to work. The boss is calling.

Waiting for my starring role

Action. Lights. No camera.

Well I was in a brief drama tonight at church. I was playing a disciple in a cantsta. I was asked this week and told to show up. I had no idea what to expect. We did not have any practice. The first time we found out what we doing was tonight.

The performance was tonight at 6. We had to be ready at 5. So we were ready at 5:15. We were only supposed to be on very briefly. We were only to be on during a short narration. We were on for only 30 seconds. It seemed like a long time to wait for fame.

Here is to 15 minutes, one way or
another.

Trying it out

Hello all you readers

Well here is an attempt to update by a new device. I hope it works. I think it will.

Let's roll that film.

Short (sleeve) sighted

Greetings and warm wishes,

Well I have finally done it. I am wearing short sleeves today. It seems like it is going to be nice and warm today. Of course once the rain and wind clears out. It was already warm this morning. I have been wearing long sleeves and more layers recently.

I can fool my body, just like people fool me. As soon as I adjust my clothing I can adjust to the weather. Once in the cooler time periods I put on my jacket, that is it, I have to warm a jacket from then on. The same thing happens for the warmer moments. I can wear long sleeves up until I bring out the short sleeves.

It is always interested the clothes people wear. Some wear shorts and short sleeves all year long. I get too cold. My supervisor at work wears short sleeves all year long. He does not like the feel of long sleeves. Now he will wear a jacket when it is cold. Then on the opposite side of the body thermometer are those who wear jackets all year. I have seen some of those. Even in warm weather these frigid few are bundled in coats and hats.

You have my permission to wear yourself out.

Project yourself

Hello all you productive drones hoping for the end of the day...

I am right there with you. Have you ever had one of those days that has spread into two or more where everything comes back to be redone.

I have recently had one of those projects. From the start it has been a struggle. We were attempting to create some books for a conference this weekend. First the format was off. It looked to small or too far down. Finally the adjustments were made. At its first printing the top margin was wide, suddenly it came out normal. I had never seen that before. We did nothing out of the ordinary to cause the problem and nothing out of the ordinary for the solution.

Then the slick covers were trying to hang in the machine which causes a jam. When it does jam the copier asks you take out what has been printed. However, it then slides the cover through to be stapled and folded. Fortunately, we were able to proceed with few interruptions.

The project is done and with the ending of this post so is my working day. I am done and you can throw the book at me if you wish.

What's up Dog!

Hello to all you party animals,

Wendy and I spent our first night on pet patrol. We have had animals about two years and Wendy has grown up with animals, but now we are on the clock. We are house sitting and animal sitting for some friends for the next couple of days.

It is a good experience. The dog, Rustey, is great to watch. He is no trouble and loves attention. He will lay at your feet and only want to be petted. The cat, Kitty Belle, stays in the garage and outside. We just have to feed her.

Rustey loves walks, so it gives us exercise also. Maybe we will post some pics of us. Staying at a nice house is a perk also.

From me-ow to you, have a dog gone good day!

Raising a racket

Well all you sports fans,

There is not too much to report here. Wendy and I tried to play racquetball last night, but without much success. We were able to get in 30 minutes.

First all we were playing near closing time. It was 9 before we could get a court. The only available time was 5 and that is too close to the time we get off work. We would have never made it to enjoy the game. So we accepted 9. The Y closes at 10 so one would think that it would not be crowded. Well it was not crowded, but...

I go to the desk to check in and what do I find. They are out of rackets. Of course we cannot play without rackets. I am thinking to myself that I will be mad if we sat around all evening waiting to play and will not be able to. Finally after digging around the closet one of the employees comes up with two rackets. One is tiny and the other has no grip. Well we took them.

We went down to the court and played a few minutes. We realized that the drive was gone. One racket was too small and the other the grip was worn so the handle would dig into your hand causing discomfort. We called it quits about 9:30 and returned the rejects.

On the bright side they said they were getting 6 new rackets. Maybe that will get us in the swing of things.