Random Thoughts: Appearance Matters

As I sit here debugging a problem with fonts on a new system, I can't help but think about the fact that I am spending hours trying to fix (aka, change) the appearance of something to look normal. I have never been one to care much about appearance, in either myself or others. Don't get me wrong, I recognize attractive people (my wife, my daughter, etc.). I just never assumed anything about someone based on how they look. I realized that some of the stagnation of my career can be traced to this attitude. I do what I do without concern for protocol and other people's perceptions. More often than not, this gets me into trouble.

As I write this, I thought about speculating that I might try to change that personality trait. There isn't really a reason to do that, though, because I have a general rule that I don't change for anyone else. The only change I undergo is solely for myself and the betterment of my experience of humanity. Changing to make someone else happy is pointless.

Random Thoughts: I'm a winner

I won an auction on eBay! That is only the third time I have won. Every time I ever bid, I carefully research my item for past bids, increase a reasonable amount past that and place that as my highest bid. Usually I am outbid significantly as the item sells for 2-3 times what it has ever sold for before. In this case, I managed to get it for half what I expected to pay, so that's good for me I guess. Hopefully, it turns out to be the correct part, as advertised.

Other than that, I'm looking forward to eating one or two chickens for dinner tonight. Should be tasty.

Random Thoughts: Soooo Boored

I really want to go home, but I have to stay for another half hour or so. I have pretty much exhausted all the internet has to offer me and I pretty much wrapped up the major parts of what I was working on and don't want to start something new. I don't quite know how many more times I can check the local news page for updates. Perhaps I will go Google search for ancestor's names. The futility of that is that my site contains a good portion of the top links for any unusual names and common names are pointless to search for.

On another note, I really don't like "cobweb pages." If you are unfamiliar with the term, a cobweb page is a page that is old and outdated to the point of having figurative cobwebs on it. Anyway, as I was saying, there are a lot of pages I have found that have interesting content that is well written. For most of them, I have gone to the effort to read all the old, existing content on the site to catch up on everything. Once I finally catch up, the feed stays in my RSS reader never to be updated again. One of the problems is that I regularly ignore the most recent post date which often indicates that the site hasn't been updated in months or even years. I dive right in and read the old content and then get annoyed and complain about it.

Well, writing this post has taken fifteen minutes because I got distracted by work.  I guess that means that I can leave soon.

Random Thoughts: Go away, damn it!

I have this nagging feeling that I am being nagged. I don't really know why, but I'm in a touchy irritable mood today. Actually, that isn't really true. I have gotten irritated by someone due to his words and his actions. This is made worse by the fact that I am biting my tongue and not saying anything. I don't want to make the mistake of posting too much information in the internet, but lets just say I am not willing to take the risks associated with telling this person off.

That said, how does one succeed in the face of impossible odds? How does one fight perceptions and assumptions to earn the respect and recognition one deserves? How do you know when you should fight a battle and when you should walk away? I feel like my only option is to bend the universe to my will and make others accept me or just step aside and let it pass me by. I feel like I am at a critical threshold and I have no idea how things will turn out in the end. I want rewards without risk. I want change while still having stability. I want freedom but I want routine. All my wants, needs and desires are coming up to a head and I will either break away in a new path, follow a slight bend in the trail or fall off a cliff. Only time will tell which one I choose or, possibly, which one chooses me.

Random Thoughts: I had a pretty good weekend

I'm actually surprised, because I thought it would be hectic and stressful, but it was quite the opposite. I went for a 6.5 mile run. I replaced the heater valve and tie rod end on my truck with the help of a coworker friend. The wife and I played outside with Laura blowing bubbles for her. Lastly, I ate hot wings and chili while (sort of) watching a football game. While I'm not a huge (or even mild) fan of football, it was fun watching it.

All in all, I would say this ordinary weekend was probably one of my most enjoyable in the past few months. Of course, due to the nature of my work holidays, I am working today on Martin Luther King, Jr.  Day. They give us "floating" holidays which can be used to take off the standard non-major days. Alternately, you can save them for some other time. Normally, I only work four hours today, so it works out quite well because I can get a few extra hours and still have a short day. Then, because I banked the holiday, I can use it to turn a normal weekend into a three-day or a three-day weekend into a four day.

I'm thinking that will be good come spring/summer. I really want to take a bunch of mini-vacations or at least one or two medium-sized vacations. Also, I will probably end up needing to take some time off to finally install that foundation drain along the high side of my house. Digging a hundred foot trench should be fun.

Random Thoughts: Risk oblivion?

My site is going to move at some point in the not too distant future to a new server. Given the past history and troubles I have had with my site, I am certain that the transition will bring certain doom to my site, at least for a couple days. I think I have everything copied over, with the exception of the databases, but I can't test them effectively until I re-point the domain. I really don't know what I am going to do. If you happen to notice my site completely broken some time in the next month(s), it's probably due to that. I don't know when I will do it, because I would want to ensure that I have a full weekend to work on fixing it, and that isn't going to happen for the next three weeks. Anyway, I really shouldn't have to be concerned about this because my technical abilities would allow me to fix almost anything. The primary reason I have this concern is because I don't have the control that I would like. When it comes right down to it, I guess being out of control in any situation is potential cause for concern.

Random Thoughts: Good morning

Well, it's 4:11 right now and I'm already at work. Is that normal? I go to bed sometime around 10:30 - 11:00. Usually, I wake up two to four times a night. The final wake-up can occur any time between 2:30 and 6:00. What is most strange is that I don't feel overly tired throughout the day. It is only mid-afternoon when I start to drag, but I pick right up as quitting time nears. I guess I am just more efficient than the average human being. Alternately, maybe I'm not really human. In fact, now that I think about it, my parents did have giant black eyes with big gray heads. Hmm... Something to think about...

OK, seriously, though. I should go start working. Gotta have some proof that I actually work. Although, I don't think all the proof in the world will matter much if no one is around to see it. Get in early, you must be slacking off. Stay ungodly late, what a hard worker!

Random Thoughts: My knees hurt

Actually, mostly it is just my right knee. I did a 6.5 mile run on Saturday, and the predicted weather on Monday caused me to run on Sunday as well. I probably definitely shouldn't have done it, but I did and now have to accept the simple fact that my knees hurt. I'm sure they will be fine by Wednesday which is the next time I plan to run. If they aren't I will just take it easy and run again next Saturday.

On another note, I hope you all enjoyed my double-shot of videos today. I had been meaning to post the first one. I couldn't resist posting the second one because Laura was just too cute. As such, I just posted both of them.

Other than that, I did watch American Graffiti this weekend and realized something. I had already seen it. I vaguely remember a former friend insisting that I watch it. He was a guy who said he would "go gay" for Harrison Ford, if given the opportunity.  I don't recall much about the first time that I watched it, but I certainly remembered Carol riding around in the yellow Ford hot-rod. She was the underage girl who was Judy's little sister that "wanted" to ride with him. Maybe it's the father in me, but the thought of my daughter riding around with an adult male until the early A.M. hours makes me want to load "the ol' shotgun." Of course, I would have to buy one first. Maybe I should do that before Laura is of dating age.

Baby Video: Laura has a snow day

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/GIWl0ni1adc" width="425" height="355"/]

Baby Video: Laura's Little Leap Pad

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/fvG6lxoTprc" width="425" height="355"/]

Movie: My AFI Top 100 Page

I made a new page for everyone (which is almost certainly no one) who is interested. I pulled the American Film Institute's (AFI's) Top 100 American Films and turned it into a check-list of what I have seen. Here is my version of it: http://www.therhodeislandreview.com/?page_id=97. This weekend, I will probably watch American Graffiti, so that will be another one to check off. If this writer's strike continues, I will probably watch a bunch more in the coming months.

As a side note, at some point, I have to make my own personal top 100 movies. My biggest problem with the AFI's list is that it is filled mostly with movies that are of no interest to me. I will probably still watch them, just to see why someone thinks they are so good, but knowing something is good is different than liking it.

Baby Gallery: Merry Christmas Baby

A new gallery is up for Laura and friends and family for the month of December. Here it is:
http://therhodeislandreview.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=13106

Sorry I didn't get it up sooner Kris. :)

Random Thoughts: Oil is expensive

I had to fill my tank the other day. Prices are up to $3.25 per gallon. For the math challenged, that's $702 dollars out the window. My wallet feels lighter already.

Random Thoughts: Holy crap! It's cold!

• Temperature: 10°F


• Wind Chill: -5°F

How much would it suck if all those Iowans had to go out and caucus in this kind of weather? I am quite interested in the outcome of todays primary. No matter what, I think we're all screwed.

On the democrat side, how does one choose between unknown, evil and princess? On the republican side, I think the only one who is nationally electable is Fred Thompson, but he doesn't stand a chance in the primaries. Seriously, Romney has two things that I see keeping him from winning a national election. The thing most people point out is the fact that he is a Mormon. While I think that may register in many people's minds, I think the fact that he is from Massachusetts is a much bigger strike against him. Meanwhile, I think the biggest thing Huckabee has against him is this: Will people really vote for a guy with a last name like, Huckabee? Other than that, Mcain is a potential dark horse candidate, but I just don't think he has the numbers to pull him through.

Whatever happens, I am still hoping beyond hope that the great people of this country never get a chance to put Hillary in the white house. I just can't help but feel that people will elect her for all the wrong reasons.

Random Thoughts: And we're back

Well, it was a nice vacation, even though I didn't go anywhere. I was sorry to leave my wife and baby and come back into work. Man, it sure would be nice to have a couple million in the bank so I could live off the interest. I've made the offer before, but if anyone wants to give me that, I am more than happy to accept.

On another note, we started talking about going someplace old and someplace new. Realizing that we haven't seen some friends in six years, we are considering going for a short trip to Florida. Also, realizing that we have been to Florida before, we are talking about going someplace new, like the southwest. A spring trip to Colorado, Utah, Arizona, or Nevada would be lots of fun. Most likely, it would be a fly-to-Vegas-and-drive-from-there trip. I know my in-laws stayed someplace inexpensive out there, so we will have to look into that. I don't know how long we would stay out there, but I am guessing something on the order of 1-2 weeks. Of course, you never know... this could all fizzle out and we may just go somewhere else.

Actually, now that I say that, I think I will also plan a couple concrete long weekends this summer. I need to take some trips with my family that are fun and memorable.  I'm thinking upstate New York, Maine and Vermont are likely destinations for that. Every year we talk about doing that and never follow through. I think this may be the year that we finally go ahead and make it happen.

Happy New Year 2008

I thought about putting the standard three exclamation points (!!!) on the title, but it didn't quite seem worth it. I appreciate the passing of another calendar year as much as the next guy, but I the triple-bang is a little extreme. I was asleep with the passing of the east coast ball drops. I was awake at 11:30 and again at 12:40, but not at 12:00. I don't think I missed anything.

I must say, however, that there is some small part of me that is excited to see what the turning of the calendar will bring. I'm sure there will be lots of changes. Of course, I'm sure that most things will stay the same. Actually, the most significant changes will most certainly be in my daughter. One year from now, she will be two years old and even more of a sentient human being than she is now.

Going forward, I plan to live by the following motto (as much as possible): Remember the past. Anticipate the future. Live in the present.