Friday, October 31, 2003

Found a really good internet radio station.

I have been listening to this station for quite a while. I normally stream it in while online. I classify it as "No-thought-required" music.

Sri Lanka's #1 hit Music Station. Covering Colombo, Kandy, and Islandwide.

YES FM Online.  Sri Lanka's best music.

If you want to hear news like you never expected it, this is the place. It has a weird "Third-person" feel that catches you off-guard. Sure, the audio is about AM quality, but it is fine when it is streamed.

Just click on the button and it will open up in a new window. They didn't have any buttons so I made one up real quick.


We all went out for the normal Trick 0r Treat this evening. The kids were looking forward to this for weeks. I think I heard more "Countdown to Halloween" than I did for Christmas last year. We stopped at my Aunts as we usually do. She was not there so we proceeded to the streets up on the top of the hill. It was about 1730 when we started so we started just at dusk.

While up on top, the kids only hit about 50 houses but came back with some much candy and things they were actually complaining about the weight of their bags. The people up there do not have inexpensive things either. Hershey bars, Milky Ways, M&Ms, and Twix bars. And I do not mean those tiny ones that take three for a whole bite. I saw in the bags, the big dollar each 3 Musketter bars and regular sized Hershey Chocolate bars. I am concerned they will go into some type of diabetic coma if they eat much of that. (Or I might if someone leaves alone in front of that pile)

The kids wanted to show "Miss Pam" their costumes so we drove by. She was not there but the kids will make arrangements later so she can see them. They really wanted her to see them. The good part is that they will have these for quite a while.

The highlight of the evening is that we go over to the Hunters home next door. They are the absolute best people. Melissa and Ian make these great big baskets which must take days to make up. I would guess that they would be about $50 in a store with all they do. I only hope that the can see how much We (I) appreciate this. It is like family having them next door.


Thursday, October 30, 2003

Remember what I said about government officials?

You should go find the 10/19/2003 12:38:42 AM entry titled "Did IQs drop sharply while I was away?" (I will try and post a link here later). Read that entry and then read this. I was sent this and had to post it. No, I have not investigated it yet but it was so bizarre I had to post it.

I was wondering why Court TV didn't pick up on the murder case being tried at the City Island Courthouse in Daytona Beach of the female day care operator in which the accused's mother was convicted of attempted to off the accused's girlfriend and the accused's new lover is a public defender who believes the accused is innocent, unsuccessfully represented the mother, and was ultimately forced to resign from the public defender's office for abusing attorney-client jail visitation privileges and accepting 212 collect calls from the jailed accused.

Yeah, me too. I had to read that one about four times to understand what happened. I am amazed that the mainstream media didn't pick this one up. Guess there is no money value on incestuous lesbian trysts in the court system, like there are with a big money basketball star(s) alledged a raping small women who deliver room service. Doesn't this sound familiar?


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Wednesday, October 29, 2003

Parts are in stock

This is the dryer hi-limit thermostat for the heating unit. total cost for replacement was a little over $20.This is the inside view with front cover and the drum removed.  The tube on the right is the intake and where the heating elements are located.  The ait enters the front of the tube and is drawn into the dryer drum by means of the blower on the lower left.  The blower is more of a vacuum which draws air through the drum, the lint filter, and then finally is blown out the back of the unit.  You can see my screwdriver kit on the floor in front of the unit.Disassembled the dryer. It was rather full of debris. Considering it is about 12 years old and never been opened up, it was impressive. The cleaning took as long as the tool work.

The problem is the high-limit thermostat on the heating unit failed. There is a parts store in Milford that has it in stock, so I am going over there now. It was either $24.95 online and a two day minimum wait, or get it now for $20.00, so I getting it now.

Casio WQV-1 Watch CameraNOTE: The pictures contained inside this specific blog entry were taken with my Casio WQV-1 Watch Camera. Clarity is not the objective of this camera, it is just to take pictures.


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Tuesday, October 28, 2003

My Lunchbox was not typical

Back when I was in grade school, I had a lunchbox which I thought was what about the things I thought were important. Sure, the other kids had the standard "Jonny Quest" and "Yogi Bear" for boys, or "Cinderella" and "Brady Bunch" for Girls, but I had what was important to me. I had an Apollo Astronauts lunchbox. And the best part is that I still have that lunchbox and the thermos bottle. I even used to use it a couple of years ago to take lunch to work. I even had someone where I used to work offer me several hundred dollars for it one day. I guess that means I picked something that really did mean something, but it took 30 years for others to figure it out.

With the moon landings, I was so inspired by these people who risked their lives on what probably could have been a one-way trip. Just to travel to the moon and see what was there. That is where the term "No Fear" should have originated. They had to contend with the possibility of the spacecraft failing at any second, for weeks. The thought of a gruesome instantaneous death (literally) looming over their heads . at every moment. I can not imagine the thoughts that went through their minds.

I just wish I could have met one of these men at some time. I know that I am not someone who would stand out in scientific circles, or have medals all over their chest, (Even though I have 6 Navy medals I earned while on active duty) I am just a regular person, who would have liked to speak to them for a few minutes.

I have to say that I am disappointed to hear that Mr. Armstrong will not do interviews or the like. Personally, I feel that someone who is presented with the ability to be the first one to do something that effects the future of an entire population of a planet, should not be closed off and unwilling to share that experience. From what I can gather, these men are very quiet and such for the most part. I do not think that anyone would have been upset if they only shared a small portion of their experience to the world. Now, when the world truly needs real, honest to god hero, we can only hear from them if we buy their book or when we go to a convention to get an autograph signed.

This is where I think I saw mankind stop for a moment, glance down at their shoes, and then slowly walk away wondering what we did as a people, to be shunned by the men we had placed up so high on a pedestal. Did we put them up so high, that they could not come back down?


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Monday, October 27, 2003

It takes quite a while on a clothes line

I had forgotten how long it takes to get clothes dry on a clothes line. I had placed two loads out on the line about noon and the jeans were still not close to dry at sundown. There was a strong breeze most of the day too. Go figure.

For some reason, today's priorities are all screwed up. I intended to do more than bills and job searching (like dismantling the dryer) but it didn't happen. I did get three resumes out. None were in Cincinnati, but that does not seem to matter anymore. I need to make the dryer a priority tomorrow.

The one good thing that came from all of this was the kids and the clothes line. We had a bit of fun taking down and folding the dry things, and putting the towels and sheets out on the line together. I have to keep my eyes open for the bright side of all of this or I will get wiggy (as my Indian friends say).


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I passed the 4000 mark

Cool! I passed the 4000 visitor mark to my blog this week. (and BTW, I do not count hits from my own computer) I didn't know that many people looked at it. Is it that I make some sense, or they just found it by mistake?

No matter what the reason you visited for, I just want to say thank you for stopping by. Please do tell me if I am doing something right or even better if you tell me what I can do to make it better to read! It should be noted that I try and do all the changes in Notepad before uploading it.

Archives! Remember, if you don't know what is in the archives, your missing most of the point.


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Sunday, October 26, 2003

Pitcarin Island announcement

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
It has been asked by the Pitcairn Police & Customs Officer to make this announcement. Friends of Pitcairn and visitors to the island are asked NOT to send or bring honey, other bee products, or used hive equipment or clothing to Pitcairn. As many of you know, the Pitcairners have begun to expand their beekeeping efforts, and the island hives have recently been declared 100% free of disease. In order to keep the hives pristine, it is very important that the island not be accidentally exposed to products of bees from other areas that could contaminate the Pitcairn bee population. The Pitcairners and the bees thank you very much!


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Annoying PPC keyboard....

If you want to emulate the "Home" or "End" keys in an application using the tiny tap-on (soft) keyboard, do the following:

  • For the Home key, tap on the CTRL key and then tap on the left arrow key.
  • For the End key, tap on the CTRL key and then tap on the right arrow key.

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    Saturday, October 25, 2003

    The dryer is broken

    The dryer no longer heats. It figures that when things are getting to be really hectic, this happens. I can't be upset about it too much. It is a heater failure. The dryer is one I bought in 1991 while living in Kings Bay Georgia. It was just after I met Bridget and such. So it has lasted throughout 12 years and 6 moves. Not bad altogether.

    I will try and move it out into a larger area tomorrow and take it apart. I should be able to determine what the problem is without too much trouble. More on this situation as it develops.


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    Trend Micro was in the vendor area.

    Mr. Scott Bacarella, Regional Channel Manager for Trend Micro Incorporated.In the vendor area, I discovered the TrendMicro booth. There, I spoke to Scott Bacarella who is the "Regional Channel Manager". He was very nice and treated me a like a real human being, not like the other vendors who were smiling while gritting their teeth at the attendees.

    Casio WQV-1 Watch CameraNOTE: The pictures contained inside this specific blog entry were taken with my Casio WQV-1 Watch Camera. Clarity is not the objective of this camera, it is just to take pictures.


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    Microsoft Office Launch Event in Columbus Ohio.

    a picture of the beautiful Pam Sullivan, taking notes at the Microsoft Office Launch Event in Colombus Ohio.  She is busy taking lots of notes.I attended the Microsoft Office Launch Event in Columbus on Friday. It was very nice and I learned a lot from it. I took Pam with me since we are going to hopefully be working together in the near future. I wanted to see if she could work with me and what better way than spending a whole day together in a geek-fest a hundred miles from home?!?

    The seminar as a whole was complete information overload after about 90 minutes into the first breakout. What happened was you could choose from one of 4 tracks as to what specific perspective you wanted to see in reference to what you wanted to learn about Microsoft office.This is the inside of the Hyatt Regency ballroom where the Microsoft Office Launch Event took place.  It was a very large room.One was tech stuff, one was the business side, another was deployment, etc.... And with each track, there were three classes or sessions. I stayed for the tech classes and learned about the front end and various things. The second picture is just of the ballroom at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus. Another picture of the beautiful Pam Sullivan.  Pam took notes through the whole nine hours The room capacity was 964 and I have no doubt that there were 964 people there. It was packed.

    Now, why did we go all the way to Columbus for this seminar? Because I knew I would not see everything I wanted to see and learn, and I am signed up for the Cincinnati Launch event next week. That way, I can go through two tracks of information and learn twice as much. I think it is a good idea.

    Yes, Pam took notes through the whole nine hours. I am glad she had her portable desk drawer with her. That way she had all the writing and note taking utensils with her.

    Casio WQV-1 Watch CameraNOTE: The pictures contained inside this specific blog entry were taken with my Casio WQV-1 Watch Camera. Clarity is not the objective of this camera, it is just to take pictures.


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    Wednesday, October 22, 2003

    It just doesn't work

    Understanding a computer problem via e-mail is like trying to do surgery over the phone. It just doesn't not work.


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    Dropping off the pine needles

    Pam in her kitchen before she created a really great smoothie for Bridget and after she paid the kids for collecting the pine needles.Today, we dropped off 6 bags of pine needles at Pam's. She "contracted" the kids to provide her with 6 bags of pine needles and have them delivered to her condo. Well, the kids came through and we delivered them. She paid each of them a dollar and they even received a nice halloween treat to boot. Now we have to see what she does with them. More on this as it happens.

    Before we left, she created this great smoothie to take to Bridget @ work. I am glad we went directly there to give it to her. It was so good, I probably would have drunk it myself if we had to wait more than a few minutes. It was great.

    Casio WQV-1 Watch CameraNOTE: The pictures contained inside this specific blog entry were taken with my Casio WQV-1 Watch Camera. Clarity is not the objective of this camera, it is just to take pictures.


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    Monday, October 20, 2003

    One of my favorite websites.

    Analytical Graphics is one fo my favorite places on the web. It is the front-end for the Satellite Tool Kit® or STK®. This is an application which is above and beyond anything else on the planet. Analytical Graphics, Providing commercial off-the-shelf [COTS]] analysis and visualization solutions to more than 30,000 aerospace, defense, and intelligence professionals via the Satellite Tool Kit® (STK) software suite. It does satellite analysis and all other things relating the Pre-launch, launch, support, tracking, monitoring, etc. It has to be the one piece os software I want to learn, not what I need to learn. I have pretty much caught up with all that I needed to learn.

    What I am trying to shoot for is certification for the Satellite Tool Kit®. I figure that if I get my "STK® Certification, I will not have a problem getting a job anymore.

    OK, shoot me, I'm a friggin' GEEK!


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    The Uncle Al Show

    The only people who are going to get this are Cincinnati area people.

    The Uncle Al Show!I am happy to see that WCPO in Cincinnati is bringing back stuff from the "Uncle Al Show" aired on WCPO from the early 1950's until the early 1980's. For more information on this, go to either the Main WCPO site or the Uncle Al Pages. It is a hoot to see the old photographs. I still have my picture when I went to see Uncle Al back in the 60s.


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    Secway encryption for Yahoo messenger (update)

    NOTE: If you tried to download and run SIMP encryption for Yahoo messenger, you probably will not get it to work. Reason is, there is a patch for the newer version(s) of Yahoo messenger software. There is a download you can get to fix the problem. To get it, go here.

    Also, I am really limiting the amount of people I chat with on Yahoo messenger that do not use the SIMP encryption or any type of encryption for that matter. I just don't feel safe sending plaintext messages.


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    If you have Sam's Club Credit, rethink it.

    We used to use Sam' Club Credit (from Monogram Credit Card Bank of Georgia) but after 9 months of grief and hassles, we had to make sure it was closed with written verification.

    The problem started when we started to try and use their online system for payments. The account would get locked out because they has changed the site so much, you have to determine how to navigate through to where you could pay online. The instructions were terrible, and the phone staff were less than congenial. Matter of fact, I was so convinced that one of the last phone support people were capable of abusing their security into my account, I felt I had to request a letter from Sam's Club that the account was closed. At least that way, any transactions past the date of the letter would not be mine and traceable back to the culprit.

    One of the major problems the site had was that the phone support could reset passwords and accounts, but the user who wanted to get something accomplished had to wait 24 hours for a reset of the system for changes to take effect. This resulted in you having to wait sometimes from Friday to Monday to pay your online bill. Even then, I had several times where I went in on Monday after getting the account reset on the prior Friday, to only find that the account was still locked out.

    I can only say that if you are considering the use of a Sam's Club Credit account, think twice. Even though Wal-Mart has their system pretty much perfected, Sam's Club Credit online system is impossible to use. That in itself makes me question the practices they have put into place to safeguard account information. Anytime I have to talk to someone with phone support about a website issue and they have no idea what I am having a problem with, they are not reliable enough to have my bussiness.

    Sorry, I will not post any graphics for businesses I can not feel safe using.


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    RAV antivirus swallowed up by Microsoft.

    In an interesting move, Microsoft has enveloped a Romanian software company.

    "Due to the aquisition of RAV’s IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) by Microsoft Corp., GeCAD Software SRL is currently engaged in a strategic reorganisation of their operations, involving the scaling down and eventual discontinuance of the anti-virus related business."

    I guess they must have written very good code.


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    Sunday, October 19, 2003

    Pail of Sand Cake

    PAIL OF SAND CAKE. This novel cake, topped with crushed cookie 'sand,' will be the hit of any beach party. After your kids eat it up, scrub the pail and let them fill it with real sand (no eating allowed).it even looks and weighs the same as a pail of sand, which might cause future problems if the kids get hungry while at the beach!

    Ingredients:
  • One (1) baked 8-inch round cake,
  • One (1) 8 to 9-cup capacity new plastic sand pail,
  • 24 oz. unsweetened applesauce [or One (1) 3-oz. package pudding, prepared],
  • One (1) cup crushed graham crackers or cookies,
  • Shell candies,
  • One (1) plastic shovel. (Remember to get a shovel that is sized for what you want to do with it. For serving, you can use the standard big shovel that usually comes with the pail. For using it as a matching utensil, you will have to look around for one more in line with a standard spoon. Unless you want to watch the kids make a mess, which would be fun to watch the kids using the big plastic spoon to try and shovel the cake in with. Makes for great video to watch them eat a pail of sand without anyone knowing the truth.
  • Directions:(Now this is not Rocket Science so take your time, For rocket science, please go here)
    Step 1:
  • Cut the cake into 1-inch slices,
  • Fit the slices into the pail,
  • Alternating layers of cake with applesauce or pudding,
  • Ending with applesauce.
  • Step 2:
  • Sprinkle on the crushed graham cracker or cookie sand,
  • Top with seashell candies,
  • Now dig in with the plastic shovel and enjoy!


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    India Approves Moon Mission

    Article from Space.com about India's mission to the Moon.  To view, please click on the link at the bottom of the paragraph.NEW DELHI, India -- India will send a spacecraft to the moon by 2008, prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said in his Independence Day address to the nation Aug. 15. The announcement has put an end to suspense over the fate of the roughly $100 million project of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) that was waiting for a formal sanction for over eight months. (For the whole story, click here)

    And you can't tell me that this does not chap NASA's butt (a lot). With the monstrous successes and catastrophic failures since the Apollo missions, they have to be hurt with by the drive of the Indian people to get this done. All the NASA people hear are scoffs, jeers, and accusations.


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    Saturday, October 18, 2003

    Did IQs drop sharply while I was away?

    Here is another reason that I feel that Darwin is right. While I was away on active duty in the Navy, things changed drastically. Americans are no longer the forerunner in ambition, initiative, or drive. Most United States citizens ** are constrained by their indolence for "personal time", or too bottled up in their compassion for forlorn (murderous) prison inmates, the forsaken trees rights, and court battles about who alledgedly sodimized who. This is all while sitting in front of the television with a 12 inch subway and a diet soda, while cheering on the guy in the commercial for losing 245 pounds his gluttony and sloth managed him to gain in the first place.

  • Where else in the world can you live next to a hydroelectric dam and be on water rationing and have power outages, when the people they are shipping the water to are watering the lawn all day long and their power is on more than yours next to the dam?
  • Where else in the world can you be so stupid that you spill a cup of hot coffee in your lap, burn yourself, and collect several million dollars?
  • Where else in the world can you shoot an armed intruder who has broken into your home in the middle of the night intent on robbing and killing you, and you go to jail for protecting yourself and your family?
  • Welcome to the land of the free,

    (legally protected anarchists, Rich hollywood felons, Fifth generation welfare recipients, Elected malefactors*^*, and religious terrorists),

    and the home of the Brave.

    (Dead Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, Marines, Police, and Firemen,)

    Would someone please tell me what ever happened to common sense in the last 20 years?

    ** Notice I didn't say "Americans" above? Mainly because the only "Americans" I know, are people who place a higher value on what this nation stood for, than the all-mighty dollar. Between shipping our jobs overseas to the unions starving businesses what is the use anymore?

    *^* You really should take a look at how many of your elected officials (Senators, Representatives, Councilmen, as well as State and Local officials) have been convicted of felony crimes. And I am not even talking about Chappaquidic here. Do a Google search and see what you come up with. Lets do a few searches to get you brain started......

  • Congressmen and Murder,
  • Congressmen and Felony,
  • Senator and Felony,
  • Representative and Felony,
  • "City Official" and Felony,
  • "County Official" and Felony,
  • Councilmen and Felony,
  • "Federal Agent" Charged, and Felony,
  • It's scary when you get the information right in front of you and see the extent of general corruption of people we entrust to run the country. This is not a scathing overview that everyone in government is evil or anything. Actually, it is the opposite with the majority needing to be on watch for the minor minority of people who are not capable of trust. With the millions of people in government service and in power, we are going to be viglant of who is really doing what now, that accountability is not possible for 99.995% of these officials.

    (Yeah, the title is one of Ripley's lines)


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    Friday, October 17, 2003

    Bad breath if I do say so!

    This entry is currently under revision, Please check back in a little while.


    More than half of Britons could have breath that smells worse that their pet's, according to a survey. And women are the worst offenders, with three out of five failing a sulphur emissions test. This is according to research by toothpaste manufacturer Aquafresh.

    REUTERS News Service.


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    Thursday, October 16, 2003

    Optical Illusion

    My friend Alan sent this little tid-bit to me (and his mailing list) and I thought it was cewl enough to post. Please take it and send it to whom ever you like. I didn't get any copyright information with it and could not find it with a google search so I believe it is public domain material. I figure if I played around with it for 5 minutes, it passed the curiosity test so I better be good and share.

    If anyone knows anything about where this came from or who created it, please tell me so I can either credit the creator or remove it.

    Instructions

  • Relax and concentrate on the 4 tiny dots in the middle of the picture, (You will need to do this for about 30 to 45 seconds)
  • Then, take a look at a wall near you (any smooth, single colored surface will do), (NOTE: A white wall is best for this experiment)
  • You well see a circle of light developing,
  • Start blinking your eyes a couple of times and you will see a figure emerge...,
  • What do you see and who do you see?
  • OK, I thought it was cool, no matter what religion you are.


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    Wednesday, October 15, 2003

    Cincinnati Government Job Fair.

    I attended the Government job fair down at Xavier University. I can't say I learned a lot from it. But I can say I understand the job market in Cincinnati a little better. The bottom line: There are lots of folks out there who never expected to be looking for work, pounding the pavement for anything they can get their hands on.

    I did meet some nice people there. Richard who I met at the job fair.One gentlemen I met was Richard (See picture). He was also in IT and a veteran. Nice guy who is working on learning HTML. It is funny when you learn little things about people. I probably have seen him before. He is a member of the Lawrenenceburg,(Indiana) Ward.

    One thing that I did notice right off, was that the average age for people at this event was above 30. Probably somewhere about 32 to 35. There were younger people there too, but none I saw that were under 24 or so. More on this event after I sort through my notes.

    Casio WQV-1 Watch CameraNOTE: The pictures contained inside this specific blog entry were taken with my Casio WQV-1 Watch Camera. Clarity is not the objective of this camera, it is just to take pictures.


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