The Last Place You Look

I figured out why the network wasn't running correctly. There's this kinda buff colored cable, you see...And it plugs into the laptop at one end and the router at the other end. And, well, the end connecting to the laptop had jiggled loose and wasn't connected securely. *{Blush}* I'd tried just about everything to try and get the darned network to recognize both computers, and that's all it was. A loose cord. Sheesh!

Confucious say, things work best when plugged in.

I Love Hand-Me-Down's

What an unexpected and appreciated Christmas present! Our best friends gave us a hand-me-down Pentium 350 a year or two ago, and now they've upgraded again, so we've traded THAT one back for their latest hand-me-down, a Pentium III 866. Whooo! The old 350 will go in their son's room; their son's only three, so his games aren't real processor or graphics intensive..yet, LOL.

Anyway, we swapped out pieces parts and did a fresh install of Windows XP and I'm happily installing all my goodies back on my hard drive. The one bad thing is, our version of Norton Systemworks is 2001 and it won't run on XP. Therefore, I can't do a ghost of my hard drive once I have the drivers and network stuff installed. I'll live. ;) I am having trouble getting the network to work again since we did the new install. Once I get that figured out and can share files on the network again, I will be the happiest camper in the world. Until then, I can't get to my backed up data without using our little USB drive to transfer files back and forth.

Just rambling here on Howie's laptop until some updates are finished on the desktop. God bless us, every one.

Our church, Vineyard of Licking County, had its first official service in the new facility yesterday. Wow, what a cool building it is. I'll link to pictures soon.

I sew wish...

That is, I wish I could sew like her. These are incredibly intricate and beautiful quilts by the wife of one of the members at Dave's Garden. Wowsers, what talent! I'm so glad her hubby is proud of her work and made sure people would see it.

Battered Brian Barely Beats Bumpkin

I know...Old news. Still, that headline from Survivorfan.com made me snort. Poor Brian...First his wife won't choke down a big, juicy cockroach for him, and then when he gets home, he has to call the authorities because she's hauled off and punched him in the nose. Gee, I wonder if things are better since he won the million. Maybe it was just the stress of wondering whether he was going to get a million dollars or only one hundred thousand. Pardon me if I'm a bit jaded here.

You know, toward the end, I actually was rooting for Clay, especially after the final two were grilled by the jury. I have to wonder if Helen only said that to Ted about Clay's supposed racist comments to get Ted to vote against Clay...And I'm with Jeff Probst on wondering why in the HECK someone didn't realize Brian was a huge threat and vote him off of there! Early on I thought Helen would have a really good shot at being in the final two, but that sure didn't happen. I think most of them kept Clay around thinking he'd be the perfect one to bring along because so many disliked him.

Just some scattered thoughts here. We just finished watching the three-hour backstabbing-fest on videotape and my thoughts haven't quite gelled yet.

Starting Fresh

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day, you shall begin it well and serenely... " -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

My day is finished and I am off to bed. I will read this quote tomorrow and try to follow Mr. Emerson's good advice. We can't go back and change yesterday, so we must squeeze all there is from today and go from here.

Hearts Big as Texas

The more you love, the more you let yourself love, the harder some things are. This story by Big White Guy touched me so deeply. I'm still sniffling, because I know how horrible a decision these folks had to make and I can only imagine how hard it was for them.

I'm a Randy Gal

Looks like I'm Randy. How about you?


Which A Christmas Story Character Are You?
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The Siren's Song

Just a bit ago, I was fixing some toast in the kitchen and heard the distinctive siren of an ambulance as it sped by our home. Our street is not a main thoroughfare, so that in itself was pretty unusual. That sound always gives me pause, and of course it raises my curiosity - what if it's heading to the home of someone I know? We have several elderly neighbors on this street, and the possibility of one of them being in need of an ambulance troubles me.

This time, though, the ambulance pulled into the gradeschool parking lot behind our house. It was followed by a firetruck. The school parking lot and adjacent running track/field often serves as a landing pad for the medflight helicopters, so it was hard to tell why the vehicles were parked there - for the school, or for a pickup. I've not heard any helicopter approach, so I assume it was for someone at the school.

What struck me about all of this today was the child, a little girl. She and her mother happened to be walking out of the school building when I peeped out the window of our back door. Mom was holding the girl's hand with one hand and carrying some sort of bundle (maybe a younger sibling?) in the other, and walking. The girl, maybe six years old or so, was skipping. She was eyeing the big emergency vehicles and skipping happily along. To her, it was hubbub and excitement - the flashing lights, the wailing sirens, the uniformed drivers! To someone else, there in the school, it might have been life or death.

I looked back at the mom and wondered if she was, at that moment, thinking about how lucky she is to have her girl skipping by her side? Did she make the connection that, were it not for circumstance, it could have been her child the ambulance was there to aid? I hope so, and I hope it made thankfulness well up in her heart for the blessings in her life. For some reason, it reminded me of this passage from Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

``And how did little Tim behave?'' asked Mrs Cratchit, when she had rallied Bob on his credulity and Bob had hugged his daughter to his heart's content.

``As good as gold,'' said Bob, ``and better. Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see.''

Seeing the ambulance made me think about how fragile our lives really are, and turned my thoughts toward thankfulness to Him who loves and keeps us.

Trade me heads?

It's a sinus-migraine day here at home, bleah. I need to get our humidifier cleaned up and ready for use, and I need to find/order a replacement wick for it. The dry air is really hard on the respiratory system, and I've been having a lot more headaches since it's been cold and we've had the heat on 24/7. Once we get some moisture in this house, things should be better...And once the basement work is completed, it will be interesting to see if some of the problems I've had have been caused by the mold down there. If I suddenly am headache-free, we'll certainly know it had a major role in them! In the meantime, does anyone want to trade me heads? I'd like to keep my brains, though, so maybe just the sinuses would be negotiable?

Senile Virus

This is frightening. When I read this warning, I recognized that some of my friends are afflicted with it (you know who you are). But what's worse is, I think I might be, too!

Just got this in from a reliable source It seems that there is a virus out there called the Senile Virus that even the latest Norton AV cannot take care of, so be warned. It appears to affect those of us who were born before 1950!

Symptoms of Senile Virus

1. Causes you to send same e-mail twice.

2. Causes you to send blank e-mail.

3. Causes you to send to wrong person.

4. Causes you to send back to person who sent it to you.

5. Causes you to forget to attach the attachment.

6. Causes you to hit "SEND" before you've finished the

Ads.com, RIP...Joe Boxer Lives On

Ads.com, say it isn't so! What do you mean you "weren't able to raise the funding necessary"? You were a website featuring nothing but corporate commercials, for the love of Rosie! I am so bummed. But at least the reason I went to Ads.com just now is still out there. Joe Boxer just tickles me!

By the way, do any of you use the K-Mart's Bluelight.com internet, or know someone who does? We're shopping for a new low-cost ISP for the folks, neither of which are online much at all. Bluelight even has a local access number for our town - wooo.

Scavengers

Remember the Chevy I listed on eBay for one of Howie's coworkers? Well, it sold offline to one of the people who'd seen the listing, so this fella decided to have us get him a laptop on eBay for his daughter. We bought an a used IBM Thinkpad 600 and had it shipped here so we could get everything configured on it for the friend. The display on that IBM is so much brighter and nicer than the one on my hubby's Micron - you can tell it was a lot better made to begin with.

Well, combine that obvious disparity with the realization that my old Sony monitor is still functional, and what do you get? A scavenger, that's what! Quick as a wink, Howie had his wingback chair and cart re-arranged so the old monitor was hooked up to the Micron and perched atop The Cockpit. Hey, it was easier than carrying it down to the basement. Plus, with the headphones on and the room lights dimmed, it makes for a pretty darned nice movie experience, all curled up in the wingback chair there.

Old Dog. New Trick.

Well, it's new to me, anyway! Here's my mom's cat Tigger, in a nifty little pop-up window. I peeked at somebody's code and learned something new tonight - woooo!

Freezing Rain'll Do That To Ya

I am bummin', I admit it. I'm really missing my spot on Lisa's porch right about now. The weather's been cruddy in Ohio and I've been missing the rope hammock and the nice sunny days in the 60's and 70's. Whimper. If I were magically teleported there right now, I'd plant my behind in that comfy hammock chair and read. Little anole lizards would again creep out from their hiding places in the ginger plant on the porch and join me in sunning. Oh, and all the sweet birds! The titmice and chickadees, especially, would again come to the feeder hanging right above me, chittering their gossip to all who'd listen. *sigh* And Miss Sally could teach me new things from her five-year-old perspective. Ahhhhhh....I've gotta quit this!

But we Ohioans are made of strong stuff (though not nearly so strong as Minnesotans) so we'll muddle through this somehow. Sometimes I can see why people become snowbirds!

Barely Blooming Yet

I read this in today's Dave's Garden newsletter and loved it:

"As seedlings of God, we barely blossom on earth; we fully flower in heaven."

-- Russell M. Nelson

This-N-That

I'm overdue in posting Tuesday's This-N-That from the Passionate Ailurophile, but here goes!

1. Real or artificial tree?
Artificial for us - no needles, no waste, virtually non-existant risk of lights igniting a fire, and stronger branches for holding ornaments!

2. Real or artificial wreath?
Artificial, though I wouldn't mind having a real one made with the trimmings from a fir tree (hmmmmm....have two of those out back).

3. Open gifts on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day (or do you do another holiday such as Hannukkah)?
Some of each, usually. As a kid, we'd have dinner, go to the midnight Christmas Eve service in town, then drive around looking at Christmas lights. Magically, Santa always came while we were away from grandma's house. ;)

4. "It's A Wonderful Life" or "Miracle on 34th Street"?
They're both great, but I guess "It's a Wonderful Life" - I love Clarence.

5. Outdoor decorations, or just indoors?
Both! Bummed that the basement work this year is keeping us from putting up indoor decorations (save a tiny 2' tree on the table). We're "on call" for having the work done, so there's no telling when they'll be here to do it, and we're afraid of extra dust making the tree into a nightmare clean-up job!

6. "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" or "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer"?
Rudolph, always. I like "Here Comes Santa Clause", too. It's all fun!

7. Miniature lights or the larger ones?
Miniature inside, big fat ones outside (plus miniatures!).

8. Store-bought or hand-made ornaments?
Both. We have a really eclectic tree, full of ornaments both gaudy and lovely - all memorable and cherished.

9. TV Specials: The Grinch or Charlie Brown?
Another tough choice! We just watched Charlie Brown Monday evening and loved it, all over again. Gotta love those dancing kids at rehearsal. But the Grinch is a classic - I'd probably go with him.

10. Will you be staying at home for the holiday, or going visiting?
Well, considering we went to Louisiana for Thanksgiving, I think we'll just stick close to home. We always do, anyway, since both my folks and my MIL live in the same town. It makes things very simple! When I was a kid, I lived in Illinois and we travelled to my grandma's in Ohio each year for Christmas. *sigh* - I miss those times at grandma's.

PromoGuy's Monday Mission

I'm finally getting back into my blogging routine after vacation. And here is the most regular of the regular, Promoguy's Monday Mission. Hey, as I typed Promoguy, I accidently spelled it Promogoy. He's not Jewish, right? So either name would technically be considered correct, right? It's not often typos work out that well. Kinda reminds me of The Missing Consonant. ;)

1. Do you get sick very often? What illness do you find that you've had most frequently?

I am the sinusitis poster child, but other than that I get a few colds per year. I'm weathering one of those infrequent treasures right now, actually.

2. I know a man who flat out refuses to go to the Doctor's office. You'd need an ambulance to get him near a hospital. Not me, I'd rather go as soon as I feel sick so I can get better. Do you mind going to see the Doctor when you get sick? Do you know anyone who just refuses to go to a Doctor when they get ill? Any idea why they are like that?

Yes, I know several people like that. Part of it could be the fear of finding out something worse is wrong with them than they thought, I think. Some refuse to go because of costs involved. And some are just stubbornly prideful that they just don't need anyone's help (though I suspect that's rooted in fear a lot of the time).

3. How about visiting the Dentist? Do you go get a check-up every 6 months? Or do you dread going?

When we had insurance, we did. When we didn't have dental insurance, we didn't. Now that we have coverage again, we do. My toofers got a clean bill of health this last time, but Howie's gums are in poor shape. He has to go for deep cleaning/scraping appointments, and they hope his gums will heal up well following all of that. No fun!

4. I've heard about a diet pill called "Thermolift" that allegedly gives you quite an energy rush (oh boy mentioning this will surely bring us all a ton of Google hits won't it?). Although I've thought about getting some of these pill for the times I need a boost, I'm probably not going to take the plunge. Have you ever taken any diet pills, energy pills or energy drinks? How did they make you feel? Do you still take them? How come?

When I was in high school, I took Dexatrim. It gave me plenty of energy, but made me nervous as heck (not a good thing for an already angst-filled, messed up teenage girl). I've never consumed energy drinks, just SlimFast when I've wanted to jump-start a diet.

5. Have you heard about "Gastric Bypass" surgery that many celebrities are doing to loose weight? (The process reduces the size of your stomach to facilitate weight loss) What are your thoughts on this procedure? Would you ever consider it? How would you feel if a relative were to decide to undergo the procedure?

I am not one to have elective surgery, except for things which cause me great pain (i.e. hernia and a funky gallbladder). My husband and I are both very overweight and need to get back to a healthy routine. We did it once before, and lost weight, but lapsed into old habits and gained a lot of it back. I don't think such surgery would be of benefit to us -- we just need to do the right thing, and stick to it. I suppose that, in cases of extremely obese individuals, this prodedure would be helpful in weight loss. But it is so extreme!

6. What do you think the opposite sex needs to experience to fully understand what it is like to be your gender?

Every man should experience the unbridled joy of stopping to ask for directions, and being able to drive straight to his destination. Also, men need to experience a good bout of anxious, depressed PMS. It's the pits. They joke about the anger and erratic behavior, as do us women (if we didn't laugh, we'd cry...Or kill), but boy do they need to experience it!

7. And to lighten things up a bit before we go...What's the most worthless gadget, infomercial item or "looked like a bargain" item you have ever purchased or owned?

The Butter Butler. That's is the hands-down worst thing we've ever bought. In theory, it's supposed dispense a thin ribbon of butter as you turn its handle. If your butter is unrefrigerated, it might work for this, but it sure doesn't when the butter's in its next-best-thing-to-ice state. The handle is very hard to turn, and once the butter finally starts squeezing through the little slit at the end of the tube, it's hard to stop. I e-mailed the company we got it from (The Gadget Source) and they were as nice as pie about it, giving me a full refund without even asking I send it back first. I still have that stupid thing in the cabinet - all cleaned and re-packaged. How sad is that? I could re-gift it, but I wouldn't give that thing to anyone I liked.

BONUS: Why can't every day be like Christmas?
Elllllllvis!! Whatta guy.

Today's Comment Question: I have a new, faster computer and I am ready run some new programs and have fun. What do you like to do (games, programs, etc.) on your computer for entertainment?
I'm a photogeek. I love editing digital pictures and doing creative stuff with them. You'd never know it from my website, though, because I procrastinate and never quite get my online gallery ready and uploaded. Next to that, I love watching movie trailers and short films online -- I sure missed this broadband while we were on vacation!

Sushi Cues

If you're trying to find just the right gift for your favorite sushi lover, look no further. Where else can you get a sushi clock, sushi candy, and a host of other (more normal) Japanese stuff?

He Got His TV, I Got Mine

My Christmas present is right in front of me as I type. Howie got me a new monitor for the desktop today, my early Christmas gift. My old 17" Sony Multiscan 200sx has been a real workhorse since we got it in 1996, but it's days are numbered. The display is so dim and flickering, I could no longer edit photos and know they were true-to-color. I'd bring up my photos on other peoples' computers and think, woah - who took this??.

HH Gregg has a sale on Envison 19" monitors this week, $199 with a $50 mail-in rebate, so we picked up the Envision EN-910e. One selling point, other than the price, was the product's warranty. It's 3 year parts and labor. The salesguy at the store didn't even try to change my mind when I said right off that we didn't want to buy the store's extended warranty. It's like he said, for something only costing $150 to begin with, with that long of a full warranty, it would be crazy to purchase something extra. By the time three years is up, 19" CRT monitors will probably sell for $50 brand new, you know? Food for thought.

My initial reaction to this monitor is very positive. The text is crisp and the colors bright. And it's huge. Huuuuuge. It's quite a jump going from the 15.9" viewable on the old one to the 18" viewable on this. I still have the new one set at 1024x768, but it can go as far up as 1600x1200 with a 75mHz refresh rate.

Well, I won't bore you with the specs; go to Envision's site to read them if you are interested. I'm happy. :)

Everyone's a PUNdit

"I think that over the years my puns about eyes have got cornea and cornea." -- Graham Rawle