Let it SNOW, doodlbg!

My truck in the snow...
I am in Conway, Arkansas, as I write this post. And there is snow all over the place! It did not snow on the way up here, but as the group I am with ate supper, the snow began to fall... When we came out from eating, cars and roads were covered. In fact, everything a bit slick, as was evidenced by the numerous vehicles we spied in ditches along the way back to the hotel...

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Since I knew the trip to Conway would be long, and at the time I thought I might run into some bad weather, I figured I would occupy my time. Much of it was spent flipping from one radio station to another... Whoopie! (That's sarcasm, for those who do not recognize it). At some point, however, I thought it would be different to jot down the web addresses I saw along the way. Most of them were on the backs or sides of 18-wheelers... Maersk was the first one I spotted. As it turns out, the next one I spotted said PONL.com, but that also took me to Maersk. So, we learned that Maersk and POLN are run by the same folks... Don't say I never taught you anything! :-) Next on the list was Hill-Rom. The name was familiar, but I couldn't place anything they did... Medical supplies, as it turns out... I passed a Bob Evans truck, and the jingle from my childhood instantly popped in my head: "Bob Evans....Down on the farm!" Hey, I never said it was a prize-winner.... Finally, the last address I wrote down (having grown both bored with the game and tired of driving) was Forbes-Hewlett. Part of the reason for ending the game came in the form of a license plate - DOODLBG. It was attached to a red (or perhaps orange) new-style VW Bug. Yes, in fact, it WAS a doodle-bug! :-)

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I debated whether or not to include this next item, and well, here it is, for what it's worth (nothing, really)... One of the trucks I passed (none of the ones mentioned above!), had a mudflap that read, "Be a flirt, lift yer shirt." Now, this was a new expression to me, so naturally, I looked it up online. I'm not an idiot, I know what it MEANS, but I was trying to understand just how anyone would think this was an effective means as a 'call to action.' Now, the truck's flap said "YER" but that got me nowhere. Changing the term to "YOUR shirt" brought up all kinds of sites. Some people sell hats, stickers, you name it, with that on it. But, one site that seemed intriguing had people asking other people if they actually DID IT. Now, for the record, this was/is a British site, but I was surprised at how many people said they had flashed a trucker... And some were doing much more than lifting their shirts, according to their own posts... My first question, upon seeing the phrase was "what kind of redneck would put such a thing on their truck?" But, after reading through more than my share of tales, I began to wonder, "What kind of woman would DO this?" Now, some of the women posting said they did it in college or when they were a teen... One woman even said she wished she hadn't done it, because of stupid and meaningless it was... I don't know. But, I *do* know that those are six words that will *NOT* be scrolling on my LED license frame..... :-)

CyberpowerPC...

During the Christmas break, as something of a 'surprise' for the family, I decided to upgrade my computer at home. I have been reading PC Gamer for a couple years, and thought I'd try some of the companies they feature in their ads. One in particular was CyberpowerPC. They have an incredible web site, as far as allowing you to customize EVERYTHING about your computer.

I put together a system (barebones, since I was going to use parts from my computer) and placed an order. Well, the address I wanted it shipped to was not 'valid' since I had not registered my home address with my credit card company. I cancelled the order and waited.

On January 4, I decided to try again, but use my credit card address as the shipping address. Now, one of the last options during checkout is how fast do you want the computer. I looked over the options, and the least expensive was 5-10 business days to build the machine, then 5-10 business days to get it in your hands. I'm an optimist, so I figure 5 days to build, 5 days to ship, I'd have it in about two weeks.

Wrong. Dead wrong.

My 'order status' showed the PC was to ship on 1/15, which I knew was a federal holiday, so I emailed the Saturday before that to make sure we were cool. No, we weren't cool. The expected ship date was pushed to the 18th because of assembly back-up and the holiday. I figured that was fair, since I had picked the cheapest shipping and all... They have an online status checker, so I checked... and checked... and checked. Finally, I emailed again and they said it should go out on the 19th. That is FIFTEEN days after I placed the order. Fine. I checked again... and again... On the 22nd, I emailed and called. The system was still in testing. TESTING? I waited for their email reason as to why the system was still in testing. I decided it was time to act. I sent them an email demanding next day, expedited shipping or else I would cancel my order and demand my money back.

Look, I am as easy-going as the next guy, but come on... I could have ordered the parts from eBay, built the thing myself and saved some money - all in less time to boot!

01/22/2007 - Received word that the network card on my motherboard was bad and that the folks in testing were going to replace the motherboard. Was told the system should ship 1/23 or 1/24. No answer on my demand for next day shipping. In my reply to CyberpowerPC, I told them that if I did not get upgraded shipping, I would be forced to cancel my order.

01/23/2007 - Initial response from Cyberpower was that they had bumped my computer to the front of the line and would be shipping the unit that night, but that they could not (or more accurately WOULD not) secure quick shipping. I let them know that I was not happy with that, given how long this was taking. Then came the response I had been hoping for: My computer would ship FedEx 2-day shipping (which given how late it went out, really, it is 3-day, but that's okay by me).

This post was originally going to be a word of warning to anyone thinking about buying a CyberpowerPC. We'll see how things go once I get the unit in hand...

01/26/2007 - Unit delivered! So, 22 days after I ordered my computer, it finally arrived! I couldn't decide between the yellow case or the blue one. I picked yellow, should have gone with blue. "Yellow" evidently means different things to different people. This is more like.... something I once saw in Tyler's diaper... Okay, not that bad, but not far from it.

I plugged it in and flipped the switch to the power supply, hit the main power button, and suddenly, it was a blue light show! The front has a clear plastic facing, and everywhere the facing attaches to the case, there is a blue LED. There are three fans in the case, and two of them (complete with alien-head covers) light up blue. VERY COOL stuff! :-)

My next step is to move my old components to the new case, and I'll work on that this weekend.

Overall, as of today (1/26/07), I would have to say that I recommend CyberpowerPC with a grain of salt... They did a very thorough job of testing (thus, discovering the bad net card), and also did a nice job of cable management, which they did not have to do. Communication could have been better, as I had to contact them instead of the other way around. The shipping delays are inexcusable. Period. Now, I admit, I picked the slowest method... If you are going to buy from them, pay the extra bucks to get faster build/delivery times. It will be worth it. They also included installation CDs for the motherboard, video cards, etc. I'll let you know how happy I am with everything in about a week as I put it through its paces and let Shan and the kids do the same...

Okay, I admit, seeing "Pentium D 2.8 MHz, 2 processors" pop up on the screen at boot up was very, very cool... :-)

01/31/07 - Update. I am going to tell on myself because I am the resident 'computer expert' around the house. I took apart the kids old Dell, stole various parts from it, and set it aside. I transferred various parts from my old computer into the new one. During the Windows XP install on the new computer (hereon referred to as "Ol Yeller"), I installed the parts into the kids' computer, booted it up, let Windows find all the "new" hardware, and made sure their stuff was in tact. Now, somewhere in one of my PC Gamer mags, I read an article about all the things you need to do to Windows before you swap motherboards and other major hardware. As I'm sure you guessed, I never looked at it once. I simply put the Dell's hard drive into my old case, and fired it up - let Windows do the walking, right?

Meanwhile, Ol Yeller, gets XP installed and I connect old drives, copy data, etc. When I'm pretty happy with things (meaning data is copied and I am ready to get off the floor and sit in a chair, thanks), I assemble Ol Yeller. The keyboard goes on the desk tray and the mouse goes on the desk. I boot 'er up, and the system is wigging out on me. I move the mouse, but it jerks and skips, like it can't get its bearings anymore. Hmm, must have something installed wrong.... So, I pull the computer out from inside the desk, check cables (yes, I had managed to unplug one of the slave hard drive cables at some point), put the computer back together, boot it up and...same thing... Well, dang. Okay, maybe a bad mouse. My brand new, Corvette-yellow mouse was already acting up?? I plugged in another mouse, and laid it on the keyboard drawer - everything worked fine. Hmm... Okay, so I unplugged that mouse and reconnected my yellow one (on the desk) - jerky. It hit me... The new mouse was more sensitive to the BLACK, TEXTURED desk than the other mouse was. When I moved the mouse to the keyboard drawer, it worked great! So, there ya go... Computer genius at work - so genius, I ran a gamut of tests and took apart my computer several times in order to discover the 'problem.....' OY...

All said and done, I really do like my new (upgraded) computer! Not only does it glow a cool blue color when it's running, but it also runs my games amazingly faster and better than my old computer!! The great thing is, the kids got the old, which runs all of their games just fine, so in a way, I got a two-fer! :-) Well, that's how I see it anyway....

Okay, you can stop laughing about the mouse now.....

Really..... You can stop.....

A quick clarification...

It turns out that both Tyler and Emily broke down at the news of Dad's not coming for their birthdays. When Emily came out to get in my lap, Tyler headed straight for bed. I guess he lets things out better than I realized! :-)

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Thanks for reading!

Poverty and Laziness are Brothers??

I should work on posting more often... Not because I know there are folks who quit dropping by since I haven't updated, and not because I have gobs of stuff to say. But, when I do finally post, I have so many things running around in my head that I either forget things, or my post becomes an 'epistle' (as I have been told.. LOL). Be all that as it may, buckle up... This could be a bumpy ride... :-)

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I had something of a brainstorm (or brain fart, perhaps) a while ago, and decided that I could upgrade my home computer and the kids' computer in one fell swoop. So, I ordered a computer (or, enough parts put together that I could use some of the parts from the existing computers). I couldn't decide between a yellow case or a blue one. The yellow one looked very cool (thought the blue would have probably matched my truck), so I got it along with (what I thought was) a matching keyboard and mouse. I'll post pictures, though pictures are deceiving. You see, in pictures, the keyboard and mouse are a bright yellow (what I call 'Corvette' yellow), and the case matches perfectly. In real life, however, the case is, umm... well... technically, it has yellow in it, though it's more like something one might find on the receiving end of a bad diaper change.... I couldn't believe I had made such a visual error. But, it turns out, when you take a PICTURE of the case with a flash, it *IS* Corvette yellow... It is truly one of the weirdest things...

None of that really matters because of two reasons: 1) The case sits in the 'tower' compartment of the desk, so you really can't see much of it, and 2) when you turn it on, the whole things lights up with blue LEDs! It is so cool! ("Wicked Sick" or "Tight" may also be substituted here) Like I said, I'll post pictures... There is also something of a saga behind the purchase, and it has been building as a 'draft' post. I haven't decided if sharing my story would help or hurt... By hurt, I mean "hurt" as is letting people see what can really go through this head of mine.. LOL

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We've been watching Idol, Nashville Star, and Apprentice... Emily and I also watch Cowboy U. I love that show! I thought it was pretty cool that Idol showed a couple folks from Arkansas. The guy from SAU (Southern Arkansas University) wasn't bad (or I didn't think so). We did not get to see the guy who made it through because that was during the 'black-out' version (see earlier post, if you forgot). On Nashville Star, Randy Owens keeps telling Zac Hackett to pick songs people know, but Zac is so good that you don't even realize he's singing something you've never heard! We were bopping along by the end of his "Memphis Women..." Of course, I have to say David St. Romain (DSR) is probably the best guy there, though the Tom Petty-looking dude is okay. Angela's voice is like Tanya Tuckers, if Tanya had smoked about 3 packs of cigs a day..raw, raspy, almost too much, really... And, off the top of my head, I don't remember the other women's names but tune in and you can learn 'em... LOL

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Found out Dad is going to Iraq. He's been in Kuwait so far. He is going to a 'green zone,' and is apparently the most fortified 'green zone' in the area. Scary and adventurous all in one... The way the 'vacations' work, he won't be able to be here for the kids' birthdays, and he sent them a card (e-card) letting them know how much he misses them and that he hopes he never has to miss another of their birthdays. Emily came in and sat in my lap, crying. But after we talked about it for a bit, she was back up and running around. She is very resilient. Not sure how Tyler took it - he is a lot like his Daddy - keeps a lot of things inside... He'll talk when he's ready.. :-)

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"Poverty and Laziness are Brothers" This is on a church sign that I pass each day coming to work (they change the sign at least once a week, usually more often). I thought about that. Brothers?? Cousins maybe, but not brothers. There are very, very wealthy people in this world who never lift a finger for anything. They are lazy and have no motivation to do anything because they don't "have" to. There are very, very poor people in this world who bust their tails every single day, working 2 or 3 jobs just to scrape by in poverty, and who wouldn't be caught dead lounging around being waited on hand-and-foot. Yes, some people are both lazy and in poverty, but I wonder what that ratio really is... The ratio of lazy poor people to bust-their-ass poor people, the ratio of lazy poor people to lazy rich people.... The other thing I thought about was that this sign is not in an affluent area. I am not in poverty and (generally) I am not lazy, and I have to say I am pretty offended at the message (or the 'tone' maybe?).... So, what am I going to do about it? Probably nothing.... (that's the lazy part of me, I guess)

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The Sharepoint saga has been growing into something epic. And, to make matters worse (or better?), every time we call Microsoft, we spend so much time on hold that we eventually stumble on the answer we were looking for. Well, almost. If you ever have the need or inclination to install Sharepoint, I recommend reading a few of the online guides from Microsoft and others. And even then, be prepared to blow everything away and start over again at any given moment. The last time I had this much trouble setting up and configuring software, was about 5 years ago when I 'played' with a very young version of SuSe Linux... UGH... Installing Sharepoint is not for the feint of heart. As John said, "Our mistake was not contracting with someone to come set the (danged) thing up!" Amen, brother!

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See? I had some other things I was going to spew forth from the rattlings in my head, but I have forgotten them... I really need to post more often....

American Id.....uh...??

We decided we weren't going to watch Pres. Geo's address (LOL, decided, like we were ever going to watch it, that's funny...), and instead, we set the DVR to record American Idol while we did the Biggest Loser workout.

After the workout was over and we all time to recover (well, recover enough anyway), we began watching American Idol (Memphis). Almost exactly halfway through, in the middle of a commercial, the playback stops (freezes) and the screen goes blank... UUUUGGGHHH!!!! The timer still shows things progressing, but the screen is black... Strange things are afoot at the Circle K, Ted.... So, we saw all of day 1, but none of day 2... Tartar Sauce!

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So, the Steelers hired a defensive coach to head the team... A defensive coach whose previous team had the WORST defensive record in the NFL... Umm... Maybe it's just me, but WHAT THE BLANKETY-BLANK ARE THE ROONEYS THINKING!?!?!? As they say in Star Wars: I have a bad feeling about this..... Maybe I'll be proved wrong....

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Tyler came to me last night and said, "You know that Yahoo Answers thing you do? Well, if you want, I could help answer some Pokemon questions on there..." So, this morning before work/school, we did just that. We sat on the couch, I searched for open Pokemon questions, and we answered them - sometimes truly, sometimes with just a smart-alec remark (depending on the question and how many answers were already posted). It was one of those cool Father-Son bonding things... :-)

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We've been (TRYING) to set up the new Portal software for work... We're on the 4th or 5th attempt... What should be straightforward is more like installing software with the instructions written by Billy of the Family Circus - a lot of going here and there, not really sure that where you're going will take you to where you WANT to go.... :-)

I prefer mine barbecued, thanks....

Yes, I'm talking crow here... How the Patriots lost is simply beyond my comprehension... Well, not really, but still... I guess that's why I don't gamble on sports, or for real money at all, really... I watched the Pats go from a 21-3 lead to losing by 4 points and an interception...

Well, the biggest news will not be about the Colts. It won't be about the Bears. The only thing everyone will be talking about from now until a good 2 hours AFTER the Super Bowl is over will be the fact that not only is this the first Super Bowl with a Black head coach, but BOTH teams have African-American coaches. What that has to do with anything, I have no idea. But, there it is. And, like Cowher leaving the Steelers, it's all the media will focus on.. Bet on it... Wait, given my track record, I wouldn't bet on it, after all....

Dang Bears....

Well, Shan told me that last week I said the Saints weren't going to make it and that I didnt want them to win. I obviously forgot that because today, I wanted them to win. Though, it doesn't matter because the Pats will beat them in the big one anyway... :-)

So, Who Dat Gonna Beat Da Saints? I guess Da Bears....

Isaiah Washington, Geico Caveman, and whatever else

This whole Isaiah Washington thing is so stupid. If you don't know what I'm talking about, he is one of the actors on Grey's Anatomy that called another actor a 'faggot.' There are online petitions to fire the guy. Finally, someone came up with a DONT fire him petition. The KEEP I.W.'s JOB petition only has like 72 sigs at the time of this writing. I don't really care where you fall on the whole gay/straight thing. Frankly, I don't see why people feel the NEED to 'come out' in the first place. Who cares if you're gay, straight, neither or both. What or who you have sex with is your business, so keep it to yourself. Yeah, I know, some people say, "But it was derogatory..." Depends on your own personal viewpoint. Frankly, I think the whole thing could have been dealt with privately if the other guy hadn't been so whiny abut the whole thing.. "Mommy, Isaiah called me a bad name..." Grow up. Deal with things like this directly with the person that hurt you, don't be a baby about it.

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I don't know about you, but I think the Geico commercials featuring the whining caveman are stupid. Why would a company create a commercial and character that make fun of their own company? I mean, the goofy gecko was bad enough, but to go so far overboard with the world's longest, dumbest "cover your butt" ad campaign wore out its welcome after the first showing... Please, Geico, hire a new creative team. Really....

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Have you seen the new Orville Reddenbacher commercial? They got someone to wear an Orville suit to make it look like the old guy is doing the commercial... He died in like 1997. The commercial looks stupid, fake, and is so contrived it comes off as...well, kinda scary.... Really... I mean, the old man suit they used for the Six Flags commercials was surreal enough... Ya know, now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure they're using the same outfit.... Hmmm.....

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Welp, guess that's all for now folks.... :-) Thanks for dropping by... You never know what'll pop in my head next....

More shopping swap-outs and you're a bus.

Have you paying attention to what people are "swapping out" at the store lately? You know what I mean, when you find a child's outfit in the cereal aisle because the shopper decided they needed Shredded Wheat more than the outfit... Now, I can understand finding various toys in the food section. Afterall, how many of our parents would slyly take the toy out of the shopping cart when we weren't looking? Or, it is even possible that the action figure lost the battle with the Pop Tarts... :-)

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Maybe it's just me, but is it really THAT hard to return the shopping cart to the corral? I mean, at most places that provide shopping carts, the corrals are closer than walking the cart back to the store, right? Yet, people just leave them in their parking space, or in the space next to their car, or rolling down the road for that matter.... Come on, when you take the cart to the car, walk the few feet and put the cart where it goes. It won't kill you. Really. And, while you're there, take two seconds and line the carts up together. How hard is that?? Yes, I know there are people who get paid to collect the carts, but how would YOU like to have to travel all over the blankety-blank parking lot chasing shopping carts in the pouring rain... I know what you may be thinking, "Why should *I* walk in the rain? *I* am not getting paid for it!" You're right. You're not, and no one will pat you on the back for doing it. And that is exactly why you SHOULD do it... Okay, I'm done preaching... :-)

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Many of you may already know this, but it is something I had never thought of before... While in line at the DQ, Shan looked at the vehicle ahead of us and said, "I would never own a Subaru..." Think it had to do with fact that the vehicle in front of was falling apart, I prepared myself for something along those lines. Instead, she said, "...because Subaru backwards is "U R A Bus!" And you thought what popped in *MY* head was out there.... :-)

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While walking around Wal-Mart, I saw a remote control Dukes of Hazard car that plays the "Dixie" song when you press a button.... And I thought, "ya know, I could modify that to hold a PC..." I told Shan, and she said I could have it play the song when I turned it on! Brilliant!! :-)

May the Mods be with you....

Case Modding. Heard of it? Know what it is? Well, if you don't, "case modding" is when you take an 'ordinary' computer case and modify it in some form or fashion. The most common 'mod' is to cut a hole into the sideof the case and then cover the hole with a piece of acrylic or plexiglass or something. This is called 'windowing' your PC (because you just added a window which allows people to see into your case). Modding is nothing new. I wish I had kept it, but once upon a time, I had taken an old IBM-XT case and modified my Commodore 64 parts so they would all fit in the case (the computer, a 1541 5.25" floppy drive, a 1581 3.5" floppy drive, and all their power suppiles). It weighed a ton, but I no longer had to lug all those parts individually! It was called....drum roll please..... XT-C (say it)... Yeah, silly, I know...

But, I digress... I was poking around, looking to see what modders were up to these days. What I found will make your head spin, make you throw up, or make you scratch your head in utter (or in at lease one case, udder) bewilderment... :-) Now, for my purposes, a case mod MUST leave the PC in working order. Some other day, I'll show you what some people are doing with old cases, which will also make you go "Hmmm..." Before we get started, I want to say that my original plan was to only talk about "standard-sized" cases (mini towers, mid towers, desktops, towers), but I got sucked into the world of mini-desktops during my hunt... Mini-ITX computers have a main system board that is only 170x170 centimeters. If you need a frame of reference (and you'll get plenty below, too), a Mini-ITX motherboard will fit in a lunchbox, an old-fashioned muffin tin, an Underwood 5 typewriter... Get the picture? Speaking of which - also fits in a picture frame (or more specifically, a shadowbox). Yes, I will show you the pictures because what some folks have done will simply boggle the mind.... So, we will have some 'traditional' case mods and some 'cutting edge(?)' mods for your optical amusement... Why? 'Cause it popped in my head! :-)

Paint Job Mod	DOOM-inspired major mod!
Hand-painted case	Etched drawing into black case
Etching on other side of same black case

As you can see, some modifications are 'simple' in nature. I dare not say 'easy' here because there is a lot of work that goes into every mod. Finding the right kind of paint, sanding, cutting, molding, etc... Some mods take a few hours while others can take a year or more. Of course, like many projects, the modder may never feel like their creation is ever truly 'complete!' Many times, cases will have LEDs to add light and color to the inside (or outside!) of the case. There are even modifications that can be done to CD Drives and Hard Drives that put a clear window on the drive with a light to give a pulsating, cool effect (plus you can watch you CD spin around, if that is your kinda thing...). To spare you from scrolling through a billion cases, I just showed a couple examples. There is a list or sources at the end of this post if you'd like to see more...

Now, let's look at some more... interesting case mods:

Yes, that's a PC in..umm.. there...	If your biscuits are burning, there may be a PC in your tin!
An old Underwood No. 5 converted into a PC!	I'm not sure this is what E.T had in mind when he needed to phone home...
Gotta love Star Wars mods! Here's the Millenium Falcon!	That's a Batman lunchbox running a PC! Talk about your fortified meal!
Watch what you plug into those udders!	Guess we know where Scooby is now, huh!?
It may be hard to make out, but there is a HAMSTER HABITAT in that computer!	This case is coated in 24k gold plating... Starting price?? $13000...
Please don't stick your Pop-Tarts in there!

Sources:
Neatorama's Ultimate Case Mod List
Mini-ITX, home of the ultra mini desktop motherboard
Museum of Modder Art - Popular Mechanics
MNPCTech
BlueSmoke Mod Gallery

Taking care of business, Getting pulled over by the police, and 100 posts...

Thursday, Emily woke up with a slight fever, so I stayed home with her. It wasn't long before her fever had subsided and she was ready for all the fun and adventure a day off from school affords - "Ice Age: The Meltdown," followed by "Dora's World Adventures," which was playing in the background as Emily played with the Dora World toys she got for Christmas, which led to Emily getting out her Dora Candyland and Dora Chutes and Ladders games. Somewhere in there, I played the 'lunch card.' I don't know about you, but I play that card when I need a few minutes to myself... :-) So, we did lunch, and played some more, watched TV some... We had a good sick day...

Shan is working on her National Teaching Certification, so I took Em with me to the school to videotape one of Shan's lessons. Emily kept busy with some markers and a dry erase board... Now, she started off with DRY ERASE markers... At some point, she discovered the Sharpie in the desk drawer... Sharpie=NOT dry erase... Somewhere amongst the cobwebs in my head, I remembered that you could 'color over' permanent marker with a dry erase one and wipe the slate clean... Worked like a champ! Shan's lesson went well (I thought - she was not happy with the kids' behavior and stuff - we'll see when we 'go to the videotape'... :-) )...

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Emily's fever returned, so Shan decided we could run up to the school and get her lessons ready for the sub and she would stay home with Emily. Driving along, a police car zips past us and in my rear view mirror, I see brake lights... Yeah, I was speeding a little, so I braced Shan (and myself) for the inevitable. As with all good officers, he turned around and took 5 years to catch up to me, and once he did, he tailed me very, very closely until he was sure I wasn't going to speed off anywhere, then hit his lights.

I pulled over, and he walked up, introduced himself, and said, "I pulled you over because your license plate lights are out." I was dumbfounded. The look on face must have said it all because he asked if I wanted to see what he was talking about. I got out of the truck, walked around to the back, and I showed him where my license plate lights were. He was obviously fishing for a reason because my lights were fine... Honestly, I think he was hypnotized by my license plate frame (LED's that scroll various messages - the one I got for Christmas). We talked about the frame for a bit, and then he let me go... :-)

The funny thing is that had I gone to Sonic like I thought about doing, I wouldn't have been on that road at all and never would have been stopped. Each choice make, no matter how small, has some impact on the grander scheme of things, even if we don't see that impact right away...

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And, this is my 100th post! YAY! I know, not a big deal to anyone else but me, but I appreciate you reading along through all that has popped into this head of mine for the last 100 posts... Guess we'll see what's in store for the next hundred, eh... :-)

Coincidence? Hmm....

I just read (on Yahoo! News) that Bush is asking for a review of the 'no-fly' list, and will seek to cut the list in half... This comes the day after Boston Legal had a case on the show regarding the stupidity behind how the list works (or, more correctly, DOESN'T work). As Alan Shore put it (paraphrasing), "I can store 20,000 songs on a device that fits in the palm of my hand, and yet the TSA cannot find a way for the no-fly list to check birthdates and addresses?" Absurd. To make his point, Shore asked anyone named Denny Crane to stand. He, of course, had loaded the courtroom with men, women and children whose name was Denny Crane (or various spellings thereof) who could not fly because of the list... I wonder if Denny Crane really WAS on the list.. Now, THAT would be funny! :-)

Coincidence that Bush decided to do this the day after the whole 'no-fly' issue was shown for the crazy system it is? As Shan said, Bush probably saw the episode, picked up the phone and said, "Is this true? is this how the no-fly list works?"

I would guess the White House will deny any connection whatsoever...but ya gotta wonder...

More Biggest Loser workout and other random stuff

Tuesday night, we did the weights portion of the Biggest Loser workout video/dvd... Much easier than the first night, I can tell you that! Of course, part of that may be because there is no way in h-e-double hockey sticks I can bend the way they do! LOL, though it was funny to see the one guy on there do about what I did, so I didnt feel TOO bad... :-)

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Watched the Disney movie "Jump In" the other night (I may have blogged it, who knows). Anyway, like dit so much, I surprised the kids by buying the soundtrack. Now I'll be bumpin in the ol' Hemi.. :-) Oh yeah, the kids get to listen to it to...sometimes... :-)

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I've been Chuzzling, as you may know, and collecting some of the trophies along the way. Mindless (well, not quite) fun, for sure!

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Somehow, we managed to miss American Idol Tuesday night! UGH! We had the DVR set to record all episodes of AI, but something went wrong...very, very wrong... :-( Well, hopefully, it's taping tonight (yes, I have the TV off so I dont watch until Shan and the kids are here....its..not...easy....to..resist....remote...control...) LOL

But, we did watch Boston Legal... Man, I love that show! :-) Though, I have to admit, the sex-starved chick is getting to be a bit much... Bethany tackling Denny was great, though! :-)

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Warning: Work-related entry ahead - I had a school that had been having problems with their distance learning classes ever since the Christmas break. I called the powers that be (which got me no where, thank you) and after two weeks of running back and forth troubleshooting, something finally clicked in my pea-brain today. So, I grabbed a fiber-to-ethernet media converter and headed the 35 miles south to the school. I ran a few tests, swapped media converters, and POW! Back in business! Why is this a big deal? because I had forgotten my own rule of thumb... Start at the end points and work your way out... Now, in my own defense, when I ran the ping tests over the last few weeks, they appeared to be normal. It wasnt until today I saw that he problem was internal to their network and not something outside their network.... In the end, everything was working AND, the best part, I talked with the High School Principal AND Superintendent about getting it fixed!! :-) Talk about good PR for me!! The Supt was impressed and I told him to remember this when it cam time for my annual review! :-) (All the Supts take part in my annual performance review... In a way, I have about 35 or so 'bosses' - Supts, Principals, DL Facilitators, the Co-op Teacher Center Coordinator, and the Co-op Director...)

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As you may remember, I have been playing around Yahoo! Answers lately.... Okay, some of the questions are kinda out there, and I really wish people would SEARCH for an answer to their question BEFORE they ask it... I cannot tell you how many "How do I set up a network" questions there are... Or, my personal favorite, "Whats this song?" with some lyrics posted... Maybe people don't think about it, but if you ever want to know the name of a song, or who sings it, just go to Google and type some of the lyrics followed by the word LYRICS...
Example? push it push it to the limit lyrics
There ya go.. Easy as pie... Not sure of the lyrics? Type what you THINK they are or even the few words you DO know... You'd be surprised... Have fun... :-) And if you really wanna have fun, try KissThisGuy, a site of misheard lyrics... Some of them are HILARIOUS! Of course, my all-time favorite is: "Sweet Dreams are made of pizza...who am I to disagree?" Sung by my own brother, so many years ago... :-)

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Until next time....

Oh, I forgot about holding Wee for a WII....

Have you heard about the 28-year old woman that wanted a WII for her kids so badly, she died? A radio station was having a "Hold Your Wee for a WII" contest. After some time, she complained about having headaches and she went home, crying. She was found dead later, from apparent water intoxication. During the contest, contestants were forced to drink water at set intervals. Evidently, it was more than her body could stand... Here is one report. But, what I find interesting is the fact that the WII has caused (or been the subject of) so many injuries, there is a website called Wiiinjury... AND, that site has so many hits, it exceeds the bandwidth allotted for it!!

I pray the woman's children will be taken care of. And, as callous as this may sound, that radio station had better give her kids each a WII and then some....

Burying the van, being killed by Bob, and interacting with the Globes

We had 5-6 inches of rain fall during the latest bout of bad weather. This translates to very, VERY mushy ground. Since we do not have a paved drive (okay, really, it isn't even gravel...in fact, really, we park in the yard), when we came home from church on Sunday, I decided to take the 'shortcut' around the trampoline to park. Did I mention MUSHY? Okay, so the van sunk in the mud... Being the brilliant person I am, I got out to push the van out of trouble... Yes, in my Sunday church clothes, in the pouring rain... Disclaimer: No one ever accused me of being smart. Now, I shouldn't tell on anyone by name, but I will just say that the adult who was in the passenger seat slid over to give the van some gas as I pushed. After pushing a couple times and getting nowhere fast, I finally had to ask if the vehicle was in drive... It wasn't...

Well, after some pushing, and after my father-in-law and brother-in-law came out, we got the van moved to rocky ground (translated as 'ground that is not sinking'). Yeah, so how stupid did *I* feel!? Yeesh... Moral of the story: If you're going through mud, keep on going, don't slow down, you might get out before your father-in-law even knows... (Yes, sing the tune....) :-)

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We decided to take the kids shopping today (yes, in the 32-degree weather) so they could finally spend the Sears cards that were burning holes in their pockets since Christmas... Well, while at Sears, we saw a video for Biggest Loser with workouts. We read the box, and saw there were a couple of 'low cardio' workouts that we figured would be good for all of us... Easy to do, low-impact, etc etc... What's that old saying?? Never judge a Workout DVD by the description on the box? If I'm not mistaken, my heart has yet to fully recover a good TWO HOURS later! And, I think I used to be able to walk... HOLY COW! Yes, it is low-impact. It is also a SERIOUS workout for people who generally lay dormant for much of the day... I had to bail out of a couple exercises, all the while, Bob is on the screen saying, "Don't give up! Get back in there and you can do it!" Like he was watching me fall over, writhing in pain, out of breath.... Dang it... Tomorrow, we try the weight training... If there is no blog entry tomorrow, it's because my arms fell off...

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The Golden Globes were on Monday night, and Shan asked if I had gone on to NBC.COM to register for the $5000 prize. I had not, so I logged in and got sucked into the interactive experience..predicting who would win, answering trivia questions, etc.. It was a lot of fun! I missed a lot of the questions because we worked out during part of the show and I read Emily's bedtime story (currently, "Charlotte's Web"). I ended up with about 9500 points, which I dont think is TOO bad since I wasn't there for all the questions/voting... Top ten ranged from 29000+ down to 24000+ points... The live blog was kinda cool, though "Golden Girl" was more interested in whether actors were looking at her boobs (as evident by the entries she posted) that much of anything else... whatever.... In any case, it was fun....

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Oh, the kids got videos with their Sears cards, and Emily got a shirt, too... Shows what a good shopper she is! :-) Of course, she wanted something that cost 50 bucks, and then thought about a riding lawnmower... I told her that if there was a misplaced decimal point, she just might be able to get that mower... Unfortunately for her, the decimal was in the correct place... :-)

And the rains came down...

The rain that hit Arkansas seemed to have skipped right over us in Prescott. All day Saturday, we had cloudy skies, but we saw nothing of the tons of rain falling everywhere around us. I even thought we'd be skipped altogether... WRONG! The clouds finally had more water than they could hold, and down it all came, and still is coming at the time I'm writing this. And, the weather is so weird that the northwest and southeast corners of the state are under winter weather and ice advisories, while the midsection is under flood warnings! Talk about the wacky weather of Arkansas!

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Day late and a dollar short, we watched our DVR'd Nashville star today. I say David St. Whatever is going to take it all. It's funny how on these shows, the people I think sound great are the ones that the judges (whether on Star or Idol or whatever) say are pitchy or need more 'growth,' and the ones that sounds awful to me are the ones that the judges fawn over... Guess that just shows I'm in the right business, or rather I am not in the wrong one... :-)

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Well, I finally took time to get some of the stuff we want to sell on ebay posted. I decided to group some of the videos we didn't sell, and we also have some Spider-Man toys, Power Rangers, and other stuff... I guess if they don't sell this time, we'll just donate them or something... Sometimes, one man's trash is everyone's trash... :-)

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Have you heard about the American Idol karaoke game for playstation? It actually looks fun! I'm seriously considering getting it for the kids, and we have our own American Idol, especially when Greg and Michelle and their kiddos come over! LOL, now THAT would be a riot! Hmmm...

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I was not aware that some school districts do not 'celebrate' Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day until I had a conversation with someone that works with a couple of schools that do not... Some schools celebrate President's Day or they take their 'holiday' as a winter break. I don't know why this struck me as odd, but it did... I guess I thought all schools were off for it, but that just shows to go ya that I tend to be kinda clueless about some things... :-)

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I missed Friday's airing of Cowboy U, but that's okay, I'll catch a rerun! I love watching Cowboy U and so does Emily! I have a game on my computer called "Gun" which is a shooter-type game that is like Grand Theft Auto set in the old west. Anyway, Emily would play it, saying she wanted to play "Cowboy U!" Of course, she was only allowed to ride the horses and shoot the animals. No shooting people for her! Her favorite things was to try and shoot birds in the sky... In any case, I am very excited about this year's Cowboy U - it's in Colorado! I used to live there and love it!

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Keep dry. Keep warm. Keep readin... :-)

I almost forgot...

How could I forget to post about the latest gadget?? What is it?? The Fish-N-Flush, of course! Yes, a toilet tank and fish tank all-in-one! Words do not adequately fit this product... So, see for yourself:
Fish-N-Flush Homepage
Thrillist article on F-N-F...
And, believe it or not, an ABC special about it.

There, I feel much better now.. :-)

Gettin' Jiggy Wethet, 29-cent hamburgers, and who knows what else...

In addition to the "willit" craze, there is also a movement to condense other two-word phrases into single words... The latest? Wethet (as it is spelled (or misspelled) on students' papers)... Need context? "I would like a hamburger. And can I get a Coke wethet?" Sometimes, the kiddos actually spell it correctly, er uh, well, run the two correct words together, anyway... As in, "Let's Get Jiggy Withit!" All one word... Yeap... Of course, this reminds me of a story I once heard about a young boy who got in trouble for writing a word on his paper where his name should have been.... The explanation? The boy said he had picked two of his spelling words and wrote them down on his paper... The words? Pen and is... I'll let you do the math... :-)

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For whatever reason, my mind wandered to the land of the 29-cent Hamburger Stand. Are you familiar with this gem? Way back in the day (say around 1985), while living in Colorado, this chain of burger joints was everywhere... Of course, before we moved away, the price had gone up to 39 cents a burger. Yeah, they were about half the thickness of a Mickey D's regular burger, but come on! 29 cents, man! We used to cruise Wadsworth near Denver and hit the stand while we did. Of course, before we moved, you could actually still cruise Wadsworth. Don't know what it looks like now, but they had started putting up cement barricades so you couldn't go cruising... Stupid...

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I had to do a little inkjet troubleshooting today at work... The paper would only feed into one side, causing jams every time... After some poking and prodding, and some very up close and personal investigation, I discovered the culprit.... Cement chips.... Seriously... The wall next to the printer had some..movement.. and well, the pieces that are falling off the wall ended up inside the printer.... In all my years, you see something new everyday, I guess.... :-)

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I've been playing around with Yahoo! Answers lately... Some questions are good, some are, well, stupid, and some are just...there... One person asked who could come up with a story using as many Beatles song titles as possible. Okay, really, they wanted a paragraph or two, but once I got started.. Well... I couldn't stop... I wanted to write something with ALL the titles in it, but really, by the end, I was kinda bored with the whole thing.... But, for grins, I'll post my (slightly edited)response here:

Okay, what started out as a paragraph took on a life all it's own:

The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill... Across the universe, Dizzy Miss Lizzy began fixing a hole, the fool on the hill for no one, free as a bird. With the devil in her heart, her majesty ran here, there and everywhere, all helter skelter-like, yelling, "Help! Here comes the sun!" With lonesome tears in my eyes, I called out to her, "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-di!" Just then, three cool cats began to shout, "Too much monkey business!" But, I told them it was just between the two of us. They said, "Wait...Slow down...So how come your mother should know some other guy, Young Blood?" I said, "There's a place...down the long and winding road where the things we said today will lead to the bitter end... There is a sea... a sea of monsters, a sea of time... a sea of holes... I've been searchin', Ruby Baby, for the Norwegian Wood. I'm not guilty, not a second time, though, Ooh! My soul... I'm so tired...."

Dizzy Miss Lizzy interrupted, "I don't want to spoil the party, but I forgot to remember to forget that Doctor Robert said I'm getting better, though everybody's got something to hide. I feel fine, but I got to find my baby. Do you want to know a secret?"

"I just don't understand!" I shouted. "Why? I should have known better! How did this happen?" She simply replied, "Maxwell's silver hammer....Mother Nature's son...." Her face blushed a little... I was confused. "Sweet Georgia Brown!? Where did this happen," I asked. "I want to tell you. Memphis, Tennessee... or Kansas City... Maybe back in the USSR? Perhaps Moonlight Bay! Though, certainly not on Penny Lane..." Her mind seem to drift as her eyes shifted slightly out of focus... My mind raced... "Ya Ya..You can't DO that! Hey hey hey hey! Tell me why! What's her name?"

"Ain't she sweet? Carol...Clarabella...Cayenne! Girl, Boys can't buy me love... From me to you, every little thing in spite of all the danger in my life, it won't be long... Just keep your hands off my baby and leave my kitten alone!" She was losing it again... "Julia!? Lucille? Where is lovely Rita?? And Michelle?"

"Let it be," I told her. "Lend me your comb.. and an old brown shoe, Lady Madonna. It's all too much... I'm no soldier of love, sure to fall in love with you. Who else? the Taxman? Did you call out, 'please mr. postman! please please me!?' I guess I'm goin' nowhere man..."

"We can work it out," she cried. "When I get home, why don't we do it in the road? What you're doing, that means a lot - something... Words of love... You really got a hold on me, you'll be mine!" I looked at her. "You like me too much. With a little help from my friends, Wild Honey Pie, this boy don't ever change! Don't bother me! You won't see me any time at all. You know what to do. You know my name - look up the number... Think for yourself! It's the end." Falling at my feet, she cried, "The Honeymoon song, and the night before... Yesterday! Take your ticket to ride and rip it up, teddy boy! What I'd say when I'm sixty four is 'step inside love...let's dance like dreamers do!!' I'm ready Teddy! Oh! Darling, Mr Moonlight, it could be a real love!" I shook my head, in disbelief in myself, but reached down and picked her up. "That's all right, Mama... Yes, it is... Yer blues taste of honey, like strawberry fields forever... Don't let me down, don't pass me by... I need you. I call your name..."

"Good morning, good morning! Good day sunshine! I am glad all over!" She was jumping up and down. "How do you do it? We'll have golden slumbers and a good night! I've been crying, waiting, hoping..."

Later that night, I slipped downstairs. Mean Mr. Mustard, our stupid dog, slept soundly. Misery. I looked in the matchbox and found the bullet. I called out, but there was no reply. "Nobody's child..." I thought to myself, "Sweet little sixteen! HA!" Happiness is a warm gun... I put the bullet in the gun, closed the chamber and spun it... "Revolution," I thought to myself, "Revolution 1..." I spun it again... and again and again, counting each time. "Revolution 9..." I stopped spinning the chamber. I heard rain...and rock and roll music... "Roll over Beethoven," I thought, "Run for your life..." Rocky Raccoon was on the television with the three piggies... "Polythene Pam," I said to the tube, "What a stupid name for a pig... better than Sexy Sadie, I guess." Sometimes you've got to hide your love away in a yellow submarine. Tomorrow never knows the word...the hippy hippy shake... There's nothin' shakin' here... Give me a shot of rhythm and blues while my guitar gently weeps...that'll be the day... No thanks... "Mailman, Bring me no more blues!" I shout to no one... I whisper, "Thank you girl... P.S. I love you."

Kids make you fat... and roller coasters...

While driving into work this morning, I heard a story on the radio: Having the kids at home makes adults eat more fatty foods. First Mickey D's made us fat, now it's our children making us fat... Next, kids will be the number one source of stress... Oh, wait... Nevermind... :-) Just kidding! But, I'm sure they will cause cancer by the time it's all said and done....

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I was poking around the 'net last night, looking for virtual roller coasters. Why? Who knows, just something that..well..popped in my head, really... So I found a couple of interactive roller coasters that were kinda neat:
Java-based physics model uses the roller coaster to show the effects of height, speed, weight, gravity and more... For the record, I was able to make the coaster get stuck in the upside-down position in the loop... :-) (Click on picture above to see the gory details...)

The Make Tracks roller coaster program is a Shockwave-based program in which you drag and drop pieces onto a track and watch the effects (includes a "I wanna ride!" 1st person option).

Of course, my favorite find was not a virtual coaster, but a video of a coaster someone had designed using Roller Coaster Tycoon 3. Please note, this video contains cartoon violence (for lack of a better word):
Roller Coaster Massacre

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Did you watch "Boston Legal" Tuesday night?? Hilarious stuff!! Do you think the writers will ever have Denny Crane or Alan Shore actually LOSE a case?? I doubt it...and I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad one... Hmm...

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A house burned down in Prescott Tuesday afternoon... The story as I understand it goes something like this: A family moves out of the house, but still has some of their belongings there. A relative (young guy - teenager, maybe?) goes to the house and starts cooking something in the microwave. Whatever it is catches fire. In his panic, he runs away. By the time someone called the fire station, flames were shooting out of the house. At one point, the flames were so high, they could be seen from the highway about two blocks away... Let's back up here... The kid ran away when the microwave caught on fire... Now, I'm not saying he should have stayed to fight the fire himself, and I understand that he was scared since he wasn't supposed to be in the house, but still.... Yeesh.

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Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken, Jr. were both elected to the baseball Hall of Fame the other day! I happen to be a big fan of both guys, and they deserve to be honored among those who have been honored before them!! Awesome!!

Quick clarification....

Evidently, my comment regarding 'bald shrimp' hit a tender spot among some Arkansans... I apologize. 'Bald Shrimp' do not exist in Arkansas - they come from Louisiana... As in, "WE don't say 'bald!' Louisianans say 'bald!'"

My deepest apologizes to my fellow Arkansans.... :-)

Will't, Wont to, and not the same old Apprentice...

Evidently, there are words being formed each and every day. For example, the kiddos at Prescott Elementary have created their own contraction: Will't - as in Will It... Used in context: "We're going to the cafeteria." "Oh, will't have milk and cookies?" Willit, and it's contraction, Will't... Learn them - they'll be on the benchmark...

Ah, but why should things end there? How about taking a contraction and making it whole? Apparently, the students 'wont to' do many things.... At least, that's how they WRITE it... When asked if the students in question "wont to" do something, as opposed to "WANT to" do it, they simply nod in agreement. "You WONT to have a puppy?" "Yes!" "Don't you mean, 'you WANT to have a puppy?'" "That's what I said! I WONT to have a puppy!"

Somehow, I don't think there any winning this one... You see, I have been having this same argument with folks ever since I came to Arkansas... Things like the word "pin." You see, down here, "pin" when spoken can mean a straight pin, a writing utensil, or the place where a pig stays.... And, my all time favorite is 'bald shrimp.' You see, I had no idea shrimp had hair to begin with... 'Oh, wait, you mean "BOILED" shrimp?' 'That's what I said, "bald shrimp!"' 'Nevermind...'

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Please, Mr. Trump, bring back George and Carolyn. Ivanka just doesn't have what it takes to be taken seriously. Come on... Look, I know Carolyn got axed because she was concentrating more on her publicity (that YOU created, Mr. Trump) than her work... oh wait a minute... Isn't she just emulating her supervisor?? Hmm... And, where is George?? Having the 'winning' PM sit in George's spot is stupid. At first, I thought it was a neat twist. Instead, it comes off as ridiculous. Really.... And, look, I know Robin has her duties in NYC, but come on, simply yelling at the folks waiting to fired is very unprofessional... Give Robin her day in the sun, and then she can be fired and join Carolyn in their world-wide publicity tour!

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For 'fun,' I ran 3DMark05 on my computer at work, and then on my computer at the house. Now, why use 05 when it is 07? For starters, the newest version is only 06 at the time of this writing.. Secondly, the 06 version requires much more up-to-date hardware then I have on either of those machines... Now, on COMPARABLY-EQUIPPED computers, the one at work ranks 11th and the one at the house ranks 1st! Not bad, right? Kinda.. It's a lot like comparing your 2004 Dodge Ram to comparably equipped 2004 Dodge Rams... The big difference would be that maybe I had, say, better quality gas, or maybe I installed one of those performance mod chips... It'd still be comparing apples to apples...er, uh, PCs in this case... Of course, for fun, I compared my home computer to all the other systems tested... Mine came in at the 1.5 million mark... Yes, that means there are 1.5 MILLION configurations/computers that perform better than my home pc... LOL.. What does this mean in the grand scheme of things? Nothing....

You see, in my opinion, as long as your computer does what YOU need it to do, then you're just fine. When your computer can't do what YOU need it to (or want it to), then it's time to look at upgrading... (There ya go, free computer consulting, and you get what you pay for, right?) :-)

Tony Choko and Cowher for President?

So, by now you hopefully figured out the answer to my advertising quote. If not, though, it was in reference to Polaner All-Fruit... Ever see the commercial? The folks are all standing around in their fancy-shmancy clothes and one guy says, "Could you please pass me the jelly?" Everyone goes ballistic, freaking out because the doofus called it "jelly..." Anyway, that's what popped in my head when I saw the jar...

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Well, just a day after a botched hold, T-Shirts for "Tony Choko" are now on sale on eBay. Turns out the same folks have a suggestion for what Cowher should do, now that he's no longer thrusting his jaw along the black-n-gold sidelines:

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While talking about various things, the topic of the new concept cars came up... GM has the VOLT (an electric car) and Honda has the Step Box... This looks like the Scion thingamabob, only .. well.. worse, if you can belive it... Well, really, it's like an Element only plainer... well, like a box:




Of course, Chevy showed off its new 2007 Camaro Convertible... Basically, it's a rip-off of a Mustang in my opinion, but you decide:

New Year's and then some...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So, had you decided I had dropped off the face of the earth? No such luck for ya! :-) We had our 'partying on' for New Year's Eve alright... We hung out, ate too much, played games, and nearly missed the countdown... You see, we had the TV set for channel 7, which unbeknownst to us had already aired the 'live' countdown from NYC. At about 11:58, it clicked that they were showing some singer instead of the countdown... So, we quickly flipped over to some other channel and barely caught the countdown! Party hats, noise-makers, yelling and screaming - and that was just the adults! Emily covered her ears for at least two solid minutes before yelling out, "Are y'all done yet!?" She had fun, but enough was enough already! :-)

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Okay, much to my Aunt's chagrin, I feel the NEED to talk about Bill Cowher leaving the Steelers. I say chagrin, not because he is leaving, but because evidently in the 'Burgh, that is all they have talked about for weeks now (from speculation and rumor to his press conference). Pittsburgh does not get rid of its head coaches on a whim.. Since 1969 (the year I happened to have been born in), they have had all of TWO head coaches.... I grew up watching Chuck Noll and then grew to respect Cowher as a coach, though frankly in my eyes, he could never replace Noll. In any case, I expected this to happen, especially with the season going the way it did for the team. He says he does not like the sound of 'retirement' because it makes him feel old.... Okay, I can see that, but it just seems to me the 'right' thing to do is retire from the Steelers, then come 'out of retirement' for whatever purpose he serves in the future. I'm sure he'll find a coaching job, but man, I think he would make a great commentator... Sit him next to the Bus! :-) Maybe someday.... Well, good luck, Bill, and thanks for the One for the Thumb!

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And, what would be a post to my blog be without at least one reference to shopping at Wally World?? While walking around, my eyes happened to catch a product I hadn't seen advertised for quite a while... And my first thought? "Whatever you do, don't call it JELLY!" (Know what product I'm talking about? I'll let ya know next time!)

Oh, and while shopping, Emily was helping pick out some muffins, all the while yelling out, "Ho-Ho's! We gotta get some Ho-Ho's! We gotta have Ho-Ho's!" We didn't realize the impact she was having until a man walking by said to her, "Don't forget your Ho-Ho's! Ya GOTTA have Ho-Ho's!" :-)

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And, I leave you with one word: Chuzzle. Look it up, and don't blame me if your productivity at work goes through the floor.....