I realize I haven't been blogging as much lately, but I decided to take most of August off. It was to hot to do much more than sit in front of a fan with the AC cranked. Luckily, the heat wave seems to have broken. We've had almost normal temps for the last couple of days. Hopefully, we will start getting some rain soon.
How bout an update on my list of things to do? My Latin is stalled out, mostly because of me taking a break in August (I know, nice rationale). I start back up again tomorrow. I'll see how much I remember. I managed to make an inroad on my list of books to read. Of course, I went to the library with a list of about 20 books and only managed to find 2 of them. They were Winnie-the-Pooh and Pillars of the Earth. I did find quite a few books on the deeper meaning of Pooh. I haven't read any of them, but I'll see if I can get hold of one or two of them. I am still working through Pillars of the Earth, but so far so good. I did get my bedroom cleaned and organized this weekend. I started Friday night and finished up on Saturday. I was surprised that it went as quickly as it did. Of course, its easy to clean/organize when you are throwing half the crap out!
One quick note on the rock tumbling. For something that sounds so cut-and-dried, it is amazingly frustrating! I left the tumbler on while I was on vacation and one of the parts melted on me. (I think it was designed to melt easily to avoid the motor burning up.) Of course, the parts are only sold by the manufacturer and the ONLY way to order them is through the mail. No Phone calls. No website. No emails. I have to get my order in the mail soon.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
Back From The Beach
Well folks, I know its been awhile since my last post, but I have good reason, honestly. I was on vacation. And no, there was no easy Internet access. I went to the outerbanks of NC. Nags Head to be exact. In theory, they have free WIFI access throughout the town. Unfortunately, no one explained that to the cottage I was staying in. My computer could detect the signal, but it was to weak to do anything with. Oh well......
Except of the lack of Internet (actually not a big deal) the vacation was absolutely wonderful. The weather cooled off enough so that the days were warm and not hot and the nights were perfect sleeping weather. The surf was just enough so that most of the "big" people could enjoy themselves, but small enough so that we did not have to worry about all the "little" people. The water temperature was just warm enough so that you could stay in it all day if you wanted to. I was out there with most of my extended family and friends. There is nothing quite like breakfast for 20 or so people every morning! I did bring a couple of books and little projects to work on ( studying Latin), but didn't finish any of the books and did not even attempt to study Latin. I was the King of Doing Nothing.
One of the odd things about this year's beach week was that a niece and nephew both turned 21 this past year and both were present and accounted for. It is a little disconcerting when you have that first drink with a niece or nephew. I was happy to be able to share brew with them. It was a lot of fun to see people who were really enjoying their drinks simply because the "newness" hadn't worn off yet. Hopefully we old timers were able to show them that you really can have more fun when you drink responsibly. The old timers feeling, however, was not so much fun. It doesn't seem that long ago that both of these kids were scared to death of the ocean and would not even get close to the water. It seems like yesterday when I was carrying them out into the water because it was always over their heads. Oh well, what's one to do. Can't stop time.
Except of the lack of Internet (actually not a big deal) the vacation was absolutely wonderful. The weather cooled off enough so that the days were warm and not hot and the nights were perfect sleeping weather. The surf was just enough so that most of the "big" people could enjoy themselves, but small enough so that we did not have to worry about all the "little" people. The water temperature was just warm enough so that you could stay in it all day if you wanted to. I was out there with most of my extended family and friends. There is nothing quite like breakfast for 20 or so people every morning! I did bring a couple of books and little projects to work on ( studying Latin), but didn't finish any of the books and did not even attempt to study Latin. I was the King of Doing Nothing.
One of the odd things about this year's beach week was that a niece and nephew both turned 21 this past year and both were present and accounted for. It is a little disconcerting when you have that first drink with a niece or nephew. I was happy to be able to share brew with them. It was a lot of fun to see people who were really enjoying their drinks simply because the "newness" hadn't worn off yet. Hopefully we old timers were able to show them that you really can have more fun when you drink responsibly. The old timers feeling, however, was not so much fun. It doesn't seem that long ago that both of these kids were scared to death of the ocean and would not even get close to the water. It seems like yesterday when I was carrying them out into the water because it was always over their heads. Oh well, what's one to do. Can't stop time.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Winnie-the-Pooh
I just finished reading Winnie-The-Pooh by A A Milne. It is actually the first time I have read the book. I have seen the TV shows, but I have never actually read the book. I chose the book because it was on the MLA (Museum and Library Association) list of 100 top books to read. (There were actually about 14 books on my list I took to the library. Out of the 14 books on the list, there were only two available at the library.) Winnie-the-Pooh is as endearing as everyone says it is. It exudes wholesomeness. You feel like a kid again when you read the book. However, there was one thing about the book that I couldn't quite figure out. The whole time I was reading the book, I got the feeling that I was missing something. I felt like there was some hidden message in the book that I was missing. Have you ever walked in at the tail end of a funny story and everyone is laughing, but you have no idea what the heck is going on? That is how I felt when I was reading Pooh. Everyone was enjoying the "hidden" message, but I had no idea what was going on. I am going to have to see if anyone has dissected Pooh; maybe there are hidden thoughts and ideas in the stories. Did A A Milne have a agenda with Pooh, or is it just my own flights of fancy? If anyone out there has any leads, I'd appreciate hearing them.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
The Dog Days of Summer
I can hardly believe that it is already August. Didn't the summer just start a little while ago? August is not one of my favorite months. Mostly because here in Raleigh, it is to hot, to muggy and there are way to many skeeters out. You really cannot fully understand and appreciate the term "dog days of summer" until you spend an August and September in central NC. Most of the gardens are spent because of the heat. They are waiting for the cooler weather of October to pick back up again. The mosquitoes swarm around any body of water bigger than a soda bottle cap. They are just waiting for you to step outside to commence an unrelenting attack. Repellent works fine, but after using it May thru July already you get really tired of smelling like DEET. Even walking the puppy dogs is a chore. They are not very interested in walking around for an hour or so when it is about 90, but considering it doesn't really start cooling off around here until about 10p, we don't have a lot of choice. Some things just have to happen; a dog walk is one of them. It's not even comfortable eating at an outdoor restaurant in the evening. The heat and humidity simply hang around to long in the evening.
It used to be that February was my least favorite month because of the cold and short days. I think that is probably gonna change. August is probably gonna take the honors as my least favorite month. Can one hibernate thru a summer month?
It used to be that February was my least favorite month because of the cold and short days. I think that is probably gonna change. August is probably gonna take the honors as my least favorite month. Can one hibernate thru a summer month?
Monday, July 30, 2007
Welcome to Monday
Usually, I do not mind Mondays. It may take me awhile to get out of bed in the morning, but that is usually the extent of my Monday blues. Today was an exception, a big exception. I do not know what it was today, but everyone wanted to argue, complain, piss and moan or need to be hand held thru everything. For those of you unfamiliar with me, I work in customer service. Specifically, I work in a call center doing customer service. Yes, I am one of "those" people that everyone loves to hate. I realize that EVERYONE has a horror story about their calls to this call center or that call center. I also realize that some of those stories are actually the fault of the customer service agent. But folks, let me explain something about our fair country, we have a lot of stupid people here. We have a lot of people who do not read (not cannot, that is a different story). Everyone has at some time done something incredibly stupid and then called to get it fixed. I can handle stupid people, you get used to them in my business. I can handle people who will not read; I have read more than one form word for word to them. I can certainly handle when otherwise intelligent people make really stupid mistakes. What really gets me is when people blame their mistakes on us. It is NOT bad customer service when I remind you that you were the one that sent in the wrong form to us, even though you insist you sent in the right form. It is NOT bad customer service when I tell you the form you sent in was incomplete, even though you insist it was complete, and I have a copy up in front of me. It is NOT bad customer service when I tell you we need certain information to complete the transaction. There is a reason we require that information and no, it is not debatable.
Folks, next time you talk to your friendly customer service agent on the phone, please remember that most of us are well trained, hard working people. There is a lot we can do to help you out, but we will not be able to fix everything all the time. And, please, don't blame us for your own mistakes.
Folks, next time you talk to your friendly customer service agent on the phone, please remember that most of us are well trained, hard working people. There is a lot we can do to help you out, but we will not be able to fix everything all the time. And, please, don't blame us for your own mistakes.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
The Dogs of War
As a bonafide, papered Hokie, I feel compelled to comment on the situation with Michael Vick and his indictment on dog fighting charges.
My first comment is that we have a responsibility to allow the legal system to proceed. Trying a person in the media may sell a lot of things, but it is not justice. The basis of our system is still that someone is presumed innocent until proven otherwise. Now, I am not going to get into a discussion about the state of out legal system right now, so if you have any comments about that, save them for a later discussion. My point is that regardless of all the facts, stories, innuendos, and interviews that are in the media right now, it is still up to the courts to determine his guilt.
My second comment is that dog fighting, or any animal fighting, is unnecessarily brutal and culturally unacceptable. I understand that some forms of animal fighting have existed for hundreds if not thousands of years. However, societies and cultures change over time. This is one competition that is not acceptable any longer. If individuals want to watch a bloody, vicious fight, all they have to do is attend a professional wrestling match, a boxing match, or one of the new "ultimate" fighting matches. All of those sports (some more loosely termed sport than others) contain enough skill, blood, violence and betting potential to satisfy any person's blood lust. The one thing they do not regularly contain is the prospect of death. It is unusual for a contestant (combatant) in one of those events to die during the match. It is not so with dog fighting. If someone wants to participate in a violent event, they should learn to wrestle, they should learn to box, they should learn to fight. In short, the should have the balls to put their own blood and sweat on the line. Anything else and they are simply sorry-assed, ignorant couch potatoes.
My first comment is that we have a responsibility to allow the legal system to proceed. Trying a person in the media may sell a lot of things, but it is not justice. The basis of our system is still that someone is presumed innocent until proven otherwise. Now, I am not going to get into a discussion about the state of out legal system right now, so if you have any comments about that, save them for a later discussion. My point is that regardless of all the facts, stories, innuendos, and interviews that are in the media right now, it is still up to the courts to determine his guilt.
My second comment is that dog fighting, or any animal fighting, is unnecessarily brutal and culturally unacceptable. I understand that some forms of animal fighting have existed for hundreds if not thousands of years. However, societies and cultures change over time. This is one competition that is not acceptable any longer. If individuals want to watch a bloody, vicious fight, all they have to do is attend a professional wrestling match, a boxing match, or one of the new "ultimate" fighting matches. All of those sports (some more loosely termed sport than others) contain enough skill, blood, violence and betting potential to satisfy any person's blood lust. The one thing they do not regularly contain is the prospect of death. It is unusual for a contestant (combatant) in one of those events to die during the match. It is not so with dog fighting. If someone wants to participate in a violent event, they should learn to wrestle, they should learn to box, they should learn to fight. In short, the should have the balls to put their own blood and sweat on the line. Anything else and they are simply sorry-assed, ignorant couch potatoes.
Monday, July 23, 2007
A larger Perspective
Take a look at Galaxyzoo.org. It is a site where you can help astronomers categorize galaxies. That's right, the all knowing, all powerful Wizards of Oz need some help from the Munchkinlanders. We get the chance to assist in figuring out how all of "this" came about. Its actually pretty interesting to us amateur science geeks out here. OK, its interesting to me. I'm sure there are a lot more"me's" out there that a lending a hand with this. It'll be interesting to see how many people end up volunteering.
The premise is relatively straight forward. Advances in astronomy have led to a massive surplus of images that need to be categorized. There are not enough grad students with the time, nor professors with the research budgets to hire them to look at even a small fraction of them each year. That is where all us munchkinlanders come in. The people over at GalaxyZoo have developed an easy to use program that allows rank amateurs to categorize galaxies with a simple click of a mouse. They have simplified the categories to six options. After a short tutorial, we are turned loose onto the universe, literally.
It is actually quite a zen-like time. Can you think of better time to contemplate your navel than when you are looking at image after image of one galaxy after another? All you have to do is decide spiral or elliptical? Do your bit to further our understanding of life, the universe and everything (thank you Douglas Adams). Check out Galaxyzoo.org.
The premise is relatively straight forward. Advances in astronomy have led to a massive surplus of images that need to be categorized. There are not enough grad students with the time, nor professors with the research budgets to hire them to look at even a small fraction of them each year. That is where all us munchkinlanders come in. The people over at GalaxyZoo have developed an easy to use program that allows rank amateurs to categorize galaxies with a simple click of a mouse. They have simplified the categories to six options. After a short tutorial, we are turned loose onto the universe, literally.
It is actually quite a zen-like time. Can you think of better time to contemplate your navel than when you are looking at image after image of one galaxy after another? All you have to do is decide spiral or elliptical? Do your bit to further our understanding of life, the universe and everything (thank you Douglas Adams). Check out Galaxyzoo.org.
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