Zoolander

Oh, gawwwwdddd, save me! I just wasted 2 hours of my life watching Zoolander. It had a few good parts - Owen Wilson and Milla Jovovich were great - but otherwise it was a waste of time. Man, I coulda been playing Xbox live!

From /.

From SlashDot, one of my faves to read, a new blog about spam. I'm really a nerd to enjoy that!

Speedbumps

A guy from down the street just came by the house asking for signatures on a request for the city to investigate whether we need speedbumps on our street. Yes! I am so happy! I've been thinking of calling myself to see what had to be done to get some. There are two people (at least) that blaze down our street: a little red, souped up, foreign car and a guy on a motorcycle. I would be so happy if we got some speed bumps!

janello rant

What an interesting post. The description reminds me of me. The way it's written, I mean, not the actual description of the woman. Haha. That's the kind of detail I like when I'm reading something.

Calling in dead

Oh, man, I am going to so call in dead tomorrow. I'm up way too late and it's all because of XBox live. I just started my free 2 month trial that came with Halo 2, and I love it!!! My stats are here. I'm just a little fish now, but I'll get better. I've already joined a clan: the t3ar1ng t0rnad0. Haha. Lots of fun, but I'm going to be oh-so-tired at work tomrrow. It's worth it...

Blog Vandalism - Doh!

Here's what my blog would look like if attacked by egg thowing vandals.


Click it for a bigger version.

I saw this on J-Walk. Here's where he got it.

Very cool!!!

First day here

I had a really unusual feeling this morning as I was walking across campus to work. I had the feeling that it was the first time I had been to the campus. I thought about that for a while and decided that it was caused by a combination of two things: The temperature and humidity level and a smell that I noticed while walking. I must have stored those two factors way back in my brain when I noticed them almost 12 years ago. September of 1993 was when I was first here. It was a really great feeling of newness and excitement, and it made my day a little brighter.

I'm back

Well, I'm back from Easter break so that I can go back to work. Jen and Bren stayed at my folks for the week because they didn't have any commitments. It'll be nice to have some me time but I'm sure I'll start missing them by Thursday...

New Vehicle

I got a new (to me) '99 silver Dodge Durango today. It has a V8 and 3rd row seats. Yahoo!

Here it is!



I really like it. There are a few things about it that are going to require some getting used to, but all in all, it's great.

Friday with Les

Today we had a really nice visit with my old high school friend Leslie C. I hadn't seen him since his wedding last June, but we have emailed a few times since. He showed us the new house he and his wife have just had built. It's very nice. I think they are moving in tomorrow. He said they're actually hiring movers, which I think is wise since they live on the third floor of an apartment building and have a grand piano. Just kidding, no piano. Anyway, we rode around with him and just chatted and had a great time. He's fun to talk to. I even went to ace hardware with him to get fireplace tools. The new house has a fireplace, needless to say, or I would have been a little concerned. I had him hold a stone like the one that we were using to build our flower bed and he was surprised at how heavy it was.

We're enjoying being up here at my folks in North Texas for a while. Brendan really likes it up here. He definitely talks more while we're here, as he's getting constant interaction from someone. It's good. We're going to color eggs tomorrow and get ready for Easter on Sunday. I've watched two episodes of one of my favorite shows, Modern Marvels. One of these days we're going to have good cable...

Easter Break

I'm counting down the minutes until my Easter vacation starts. 1 hour, 58 minutes to go. We're going to my folks for Easter and I'm leaving work at noon. We have to take Brendan to his 2 year doctor appointment, and then we are outta here! Ooh! 1 hour, 56 minutes now!

I stand corrected

I got a comment on the last post that read:

Cinders said...
Hate to burst your bubble but I am a printer (typesetter actually) and raised printing is the cheapest, least expensive printing you can get on business cards - hence the crappy typesetting and typos.I suspect that English is not the primary language of Mr. Edgar and whoever set this card should be fired. The old printer's saying . . . "Trash In, Trash Out" probably played a role in this disaster.

I emailed her:

Hi there, and thanks for the blog comment.

> raised printing is the cheapest, least expensive printing you can
> get on business cards - hence the crappy typesetting and typos.

Really?!?!? I can't believe it? Why is it cheaper? I'm glad you pointed that out. I'm always willing to learn something! I just had to post that tirade. You are right, thought, there are several people to blame in this situation. I was wondering, what do most printing houses do when something like that comes in - do they say "we print what you give us" or do they point out to the person that there are errors. I could see it both ways. Help out the customer by pointing things out, or not say anything and not open yourself up to a customer saying "but you said that word was spelled right". I'd love to hear your thoughts on that, and thanks for reading me. :)

And her reply:

Hi Darrell - Most raised printers are speciality houses that "gang" their cards, printing several orders together and volume always equals discount in my business. I can send out raised cards for 50% less than what I can print them in-house. Sad but true. Choices are limited (color and stock) but heck, most people are happy with the cost and there is a common belief that raised is better!

At the print shop I work for we always do our level best to make the customer aware of issues like spelling, grammer - stuff like that but bottom line is that the customer has the final say and always sees, reads and signs off on proofs making them 100% responsible. With all the cheap and dirty operations and places like Staples offering printing I don't think everyone gets the level of service we try to offer. Then add in all the low wage / maybe high school graduates doing the printing jobs these days and I guess folks get what they get! Makes me cringe but cards like the one you found are getting more common.

Hey - happy birthday to your baby and belated congratulations to both you and your wife. Kids are so very wonderful. And please excuse typos but I have MS and have hand issues and am not taking time to proof this as I am dashing it off at work! Feel free to cruise my blog at http://totoro.inmybook.net/


I'm always willing to learn something and I sure have today. Thanks Cinders for setting me straight. :)

Edgar Roja, San Antonio's #1 idiot

I found this card taped to a gas pump. I usually pick things like that off and throw them away so as to prevent unsuspecting fools from being drawn into things they aren't smart enough to avoid...but this time, this time, something stopped me. Was it the crisp whiteness of the card? The bright red lettering? No, it was the fact that the red lettering looked raised and I'm really a texture fanatic. I had to feel it, to rub my fingers across the letters like a blind man reading Braille.

Screech....I don't know where all that came from, but anyway, I didn't throw it away, I picked it up and (after feeling the print and going Oooh!) read it. You should read it too, and carefully.



Do you see why I have dubbed Edgar San Antonio's #1 idiot? If not, read it again slowly paying attention to the spelling.

Wow!!! Edgar must not be making much money off his Primerica business because he can't even afford a freakin' dictionary!!! I've never seen such bad spelling. And here's the kicker, well two kickers actually: the card is really nice quality and the raised print must have cost a lot. The Moron wasted money on this, a lot of it. Do you want to take business advice from someone who can't even get business cards printed right? I don't think so. The second thing is that you know the poor guys at the printing house that made this had to be laughing their asses off. I can just imagine the clerk taking this in, and after good old dopey Eddie leaves, running back to the printer guys waving it in the air and saying something like, "Hey guys, look at this!"

So, here's to Edgar Roja, San Antonio's #1 idiot. May you finaly get pay what you worth.

Pedometer Update

Today's number of steps: 5808. Looks like that's about my normal day.

His Holey-ness

I was just reading the blog of my good friend His Holiness (Update May 05: now he's called Le Miserable) , and noticed that he's fainlly put something in his profile.

I really get a kick out of Blogger's random profile question. His is:

Q: This is a colon : and this is a semi-colon ; - what's a semi-truck?

A: A colon is also a part of the body that connects to the rectum and thus to the anus and thus, sometimes, to my gloved finger unfortunately.

Ah, to lead the easy life of a medical professional!

2 year Birthday for Brendan

Today was Brendan's 2nd birthday. We didn't do a whole lot, since we had a big birthday party for him last weekend, but we did go into his room at 5:18pm during his nap and kiss him and hug each other. That's exactly when he was born 2 years ago. I can't believe that he's already two. Time sure flies.

Here's are some photos from two years ago today.





We are planning to take him to Taco Cabana sometime soon because just about his favorite thing to eat right now is chips and queso.

Also, we finished D&D on XBox today. Fun game, but the ending, as it is with so many games these days, was pretty poor. Open sentence to all game developers: If I've put hours into a game, I want at least a five minute closing video - preferably longer!

Today

Today was a good day, being friday, but a busy one. Still good! 8-]

Pedometer Update

Today's total: 5550 steps. Going down as time goes by.

Thursday

Oh, this thursday is lasting forever. Sure wish it were tomorrow already. 8-]

Proxy Falls Oregon

One day some time ago I was searching for a Proxy program and I ran across pictures of Proxy Falls Oregon. I'd like to see it some day.

I'm looking for some computer wallpaper with a nice rainbow photo on it and can't find any. I really like http://www.mikebonnell.com though.

Slow Gmail

Wow, my Gmail outgoing is sloowwwww today. Apparently it's that way for everyone. I was trying to figure out why and I came across the Internet Traffic Report, which I had heard of but never really looked into. I added their counter (higher numbers mean better) into my sidebar. Kinda neat...

Another gem from Mary K

Well, I never rewrote that paragraph. It was just ramble anyway. Now that the weekend has passed, I have lots to write. Maybe I can get around to that tonight. In the meantime, here's another little gem from Mary K.

"Welcome to the mental health hotline"

Bren's Birthday - 2 Years

Brendan had his 2nd birthday party today. Mary K and Leonard came, as did Paul, William, and Michael Frish, my parents, & pawpaw Dobie. It was fun. We had way too much food as a lot of the people we planned on didn't show, but that was OK. Poor Bren cried when we sang happy birthday to him - for some reason that scares him. Awwwww.

HIs real birthday isn't until the 20 th, but this was the best time to have is so that my folks could come.

Stupid Internet Explorer

I wrote a paragraph to post and then IE ate it! Damn. I'm going to eat lunch and maybe I'll write it again later. Arggghhhhhh!

The Wall

Tonight we almost finished the wall slash flower bed we're building in front of the house. Once it is finished, I'll post a picture, but here's the beginning of it. We only need about 30 more stones.

The first stone with Brendan on top of it.

Gotta stop - Jen wants to play D&D on XBox

A funny picture

My friend Mary K. sent me this picture.



"Hey, ya got any fresh dog in the fridge?"

A good night

I'm at work again, but this time NetIQ is up! Guess they got their shipment of little blue "e" pills. (See Blast!!! and At work, now? entries below) I don't want to jinx it, but I think the upgrade I have been trying to do is going to work out. Finally!

Working

At work and listening to Yanni Live at the Acropolis.

Pedometer reading from Friday: 4524.

Hopefully it will be a good and low-stress week. It's spring break!

Blast!!!

Blast NetIQ! They need some wwwiagra so they can get their web server up! I'm goin' home!

At work, now?

Well, here I am at work. I had some work to do after the club meeting Friday, but the website that I needed to get info from to do that work was down. So, I went home. Skipped it last night just because. Now I'm here tonight. (I forgot how quiet and peaceful it is here when there is no one else here. I kind of envy the police officers who work this time of night. It must be nice.) I figured I'd be smart about it, so I checked the website at home to make sure it was up, and it was. So, like Carson, I motored on over. And guess what! Now that I'm here, the site is down again. Blast those janitors for tripping over the cords at NetIQ!!! I hope that in the time it takes me to write this post, they'll be back up. I just have to laugh.

Unloaded the stones in the truck today and went to get another load which are now out too. I have to weigh one of those stones. Jen says they're like 20-25 (I stand corrected) pounds, but I think they're more like 10-15. We'll see. Still dripping at home, so not much got done. We did have a late lunch at my favorite chinese buffet, Wan Fu*. That made it a good day.

Guess I'll post and hope that NetIQ is back...

*Wan Fu Chinese Restaurant
(210) 523-0534
5309 Wurzbach Rd
San Antonio, TX 78238

8-]

Sleep

Well, I went to bed last night (this morning) at like 12:45 after watching two eps of Monty Python's Flying Circus from DVD 3. I'm still not sure I get the Sci-fi skit with the tennis playing Blancmanges. Weird-o British humour.

I forgot and left my alarm set for 9am, so I didn't sleep as long as I probably could have, but that's OK, as I'm getting to do this. So, it's OK I guess. I might go play some Xbox-no-live-o. That'd be fun.

Still raining. Stones still in back of truck. Expect it to stay that way.

A bad evening

I am so annoyed right now. And annoyed at myself too. Brendan has absolutely stomped on my last nerve today. I think it is the combination of:

tiredness (I rarely get to sleep in on weekends anymore)
pain (my muscles hurt from all this yard work)
&
needing quiet me time (and not having much of it)

He has this problem where he is hitting and he often hits me in the face. I get mad and put him in his room, or yell at him, or pop him on the butt and then I feel bad. I don't want to be a bad father, but I can only take so much of that. I hope that my patience level increases (guess I need to do a Vulcan Meditation) or that he will get over this phase.

I've always dreamed of having a soundproof room in my house where I could lock the door and no one else could bother me for as long as I wanted to be in there. It would be behind a closet or something where it would be hidden and no one would know where it was unless I told them. I think it is kind of like that movie Panic Room. I haven't seen that but I've heard about it.

OK, you can't tell, but there's been like a 15 minute hiatus in this writing where I got annoyed at him (Bren) again for dumping out a huge box of crayons. I just had to have quiet, so I grabbed my keys and exited house front to go sit in my truck and listen to the radio. Problem number 1: It's raining. Problem number 2: espee's cut fronds are all over the sidewalk. Problem number 3: we've tilled a "moat" which is now inconveniently MUD in the front yard. Problem number 4: Damn it! I'm barefoot! Hahahahahahahahaha!!!!! Well, mud or razor sharp fronds. Hard Choice. I took the mud and listened to one song before I came back in and laughed and told Jen the story. Whew, that was a little bit stress relieving.

Yard work

Posting from my PDA again. Did a lot of yahd work again today. Dug up part of Sago Palm. Dobie took some of the cut fronds to his stall at the flea market and sold them all! He told me he could sell sh to a plumber. Nyuk nyuk. He wants the rest to sell for palm sunday which is coming up.

Going to set out some 6 tomato plants that we bought if the rain will let up. It's just sprinkling, so maybe we'll just do it. Today's been good and FFT. Man, all this digging and stone lifting is making my body ache. Oh, I forgot to mention that we started laying our Pavestone flower bed border today. As of this writing, there are 20 stones in, and 20 waiting to unloaded in the back of my explorer.

Tourbus excerpt

Here's something cool that I just read in my email:

-----------------------------
HEY BABY, WHAT'S YOUR NAME?
-----------------------------
The Baby Name Wizard is an interactive visualization of baby namechoices. Type in a name, letter by letter, and you'll see popularitytrends rise and fall over the past century. Turns out that "Bob"peaked in the 1930's, and some of the hottest names now are Emily,Hannah, Jacob and Michael. Check it out here: http://babynamewizard.com

It's from The Internet Tourbus, to which I've subscribed for many years.

Pedometer Update

Yesterday: 4638 steps. I'm slacking off, darn my feet!

That's not counting the tilling!!!

Today I tilled...

Today I tilled the freakin front half of the world! I'm serious, just look outside and it's quite likely that you'll see tilled earth. Yup, that was me. And with a small rented tiller no less!

We decided to tear up the not-so-nice landscaping in front of the house and make something nice out of it. We dug up a mess of ferns and dirt and put them in the trash can. Side note, do you know exactly how heavy dirt is? I don't mean a little dirt, but a lot of dirt. Like, each shovel full, large shovel full, must weigh about 8 pounds. I put many of those shovels full in our garbage can. Fortunately we have automated trash pickup where a nifty large truck with a robot arm comes by, snatches our trash can from the curb, lifts in it high in the air and dumps it into its waiting maw. That's cool because we can put up to 335 pounds in our large trash can and not worry about having our trash men get workers comp for their back injuries. It's great. I love it. Anyway, mega heavy trash can. Hopefully mr roboto-garbagetruck-o will be able to pick it up.

The tilling was annoying at first and then kind of fun. We rented a tiller from the local mega home improvement store instead of buying one. The cheapest one we found was an $150 electric that was a bit too rich for me. So, we rented one for 30 bucks. The guy at Tool Rental started it and showed me how to use it. No Prob! So we got it home and tilled for five minutes then it died. I tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried to start that damn thing! I even went and bought gas because I thought it might just be out. Finally after 1.5 hours of trying, I returned it to the mega store and got a replacement. Diagnosis: Tool rental guy told me backwards which side was choke and which was run on the switch. I tried all those times to start it on choke and flooded it hopelessly. The replacement started easily and we worked for about 3 hours straight with it. After the jackhammer-esque vibrations, my hands hurt, my back hurts, and everything else does too. We got the place torn up though. Now it is supposed to rain on my freshly turned earth. Drat!

Female Roomie (at Jen's encouragement) started hacking away at the big Sago Palm in the front of the house. :( It's been nice knowing you esspee.

We planted some red corn behind the house in a tilled spot, and I can't wait to see if it comes up. Our own fresh corn. What a treat!

Afterwards, I got a message from an old friend of mine saying that he's started a blog in not so many words. His message:

Date: Tue, 01 Mar 2005 17:29:05 -0600
From:"His Holiness"
To:darrellh
Subject:Re: Top O' the Mornin' to Ya

I shouldn't have done this. I haven't the time.
http://wretchedones.blogspot.com/

That's going to become one of my permanent links as soon as I get around to it.

Pedometer

No, not a device that alerts me to the nearness of pedophiles, rather it counts my steps. Mary K gave it to me! My first day using it (yesterday): 6327 steps!

Link: 2 from J-Walk

*Beard Be Gone
A cool video of a guy getting his beard shaved. Begin: He's 55. End: 25 years removed!
http://j-walkblog.com/blog/index/P19135/

*Kaki King
A singer J-walk likes that I want to check out.
http://j-walkblog.com/blog/index/P19142/