I Choose Hope
The 2024 US Election was held just over a week ago. I’m disappointed that the elections didn’t go the way I preferred. Regardless of what one thinks of the P...
Posts by Year
- 2024 7
- 2023 7
- 2022 5
- 2021 34
- 2019 1
- 2011 3
- 2010 4
- 2009 6
- 2008 47
- 2007 28
- 2006 22
- 2005 26
- 2004 54
- 2003 76
2024
The Downside of Home Ownership
The last several weeks of home ownership have been challenging. Earlier in the month, intense storms came through the area. Radically changing weather is rel...
Happy Belated Birthday
My birthday was last month. I don’t particularly appreciate celebrating it because it tends to be overshadowed or grouped with other celebrations. For exampl...
Aurora Borealis
Yesterday was an unusual day. I was outside refilling bird feeders when my wife mentioned that we might be able to see sunspots. While I hadn’t heard the new...
Total Solar Eclipse
When I was in grade school, I experienced my first solar eclipse. We were told it was a total solar eclipse. Still, we either weren’t in the path of totality...
Winter Chill Out 2024
Rachel and I have attended Cedar Point’s Winter Chill Out for a few years. It is an opportunity to see rides up close, sample some new food, and get a first-...
New Year’s 2024
Happy New Year! I don’t know if one word can describe 2023. Looking at the news, especially the political bits, the year could have been better.
2023
Anniversary Week
This past week was Thanksgiving in the US and, for my wife and I, our twenty-second anniversary. Many people travel and visit family and friends this time of...
Echoes of the Night
In the late ’90s, my after-hours work routine was a quaint reality. The office turned into a realm of solitude where the hum of 9-track tape drives and the g...
It’s Not a Tumor
A few months ago, I noticed a lump on my chest. While it didn’t feel hard, I could still feel it under my skin. I saw a slight discoloration in the area as w...
Vacation to Columbus
Last week, my wife and took a vacation to Columbus, OH. She wanted to see the Tutankhamun exhibit at COSI. Aside from that, we didn’t have concrete plans and...
Trip to Boston
At the end of last month, I added two more states to my visited list: New York and Massachusetts. I was visiting my company’s headquarters in Boston.
Spam Processing
In my last post, I talked about writing a spam processing application with the aid of ChatGPT. That code is now available on my GitHub site. While I didn’t c...
Updates
It has been a while since I’ve written, as I have been doing other things. I’ve been staying away from various social media platforms. While I like being in ...
2022
All Systems Clear
During my last physical, my doctor mentioned that 45 is now the recommended age for most people to start getting colonoscopies. I had expected to wait until...
We Can See Clearly Now
After living in this house for over two decades, it is way past time for some much-needed improvements. This past summer, we were able to get a new roof. J...
Birthday Vacation
Last weekend, Rachel and I took an extended break to celebrate my birthday and have a mini-vacation at Cedar Point. We stayed in a cabin at Lighthouse Point...
Goodbye Tri-C
Since 2009, I have worked at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C). In 2021, I decided that it was time for a change and decided to leave Tri-C. While my full...
New Year’s 2022
Happy New Year! 2021 (and 2020) seemed to take both an inordinate amount of time as well as no time at all. I am sure that the pandemic is the biggest conc...
2021
Soup vs. Treadmill
I am not an overly social person. So, self-isolating during the pandemic hasn’t been especially difficult for me. Of course, I have virtual meetings throug...
Giving Thanks
With Thanksgiving this week, it is an appropriate time to give thanks. First, I’m thankful for my wife. This week we celebrated our twentieth anniversary. ...
Docker Tutorial Troubleshooting
My new job doesn’t start for several days. And, while I am spending some of my time teaching and relaxing, I don’t want to be completely idle. So, I’ve bee...
New Beginning
Just over two years ago, I brought a jade plant into work. When we made the shift to remote work, my boss took over the watering duties. Once it became app...
Interviewing
I am currently knee-deep into the job application and interview process. I had forgotten how tiresome and sometimes frustrating this process can be. But, I...
Vacation to Hocking Hills
Happy Friday the 13th! Recently, my wife and I returned from a five-day stay in Hocking Hills. I don’t remember the last time we took a proper vacation. B...
Time for a Change
In October 2008, I lost my job at GED Integrated Solutions. While I didn’t relish the hour-long commute each way, I still enjoyed the work. It was a drasti...
Happy Independence Day
I hope you have a safe and happy Independence Day.
Huel
I am far from a picky eater. I’m just as happy eating junk food as I am eating healthier options. However, I have challenges with both portion control and ...
Cedar Point
Since I was on vacation on Monday, we decided to go to Cedar Point for the day. Actually, we planned to go over the weekend. But, with the current pandemic...
Memorial Day
Happy Memorial Day! I am thankful for those who have served in the military to protect our freedoms. I’m particularly grateful for my dad, who happens to a...
On Vacation
One thing I do not do an excellent job is using all my vacation days. I receive about fourteen holidays with federal holidays and the week between Christmas...
No Hello
With the pandemic, more people are working remotely. This leads to more conversations via technology instead of in-person discussions. While I’ve gotten mo...
Doorbell Cam
Recently, I switched to SimpliSafe for my alarm system. But, I had an issue with the doorbell buzzer: it was always buzzing. I was able to disconnect the t...
Happy Birthday
I turned forty-five today.
Passing
Today marks the first anniversary of my mom’s passing. I’m not quite sure how I feel, but I’m missing a lack of closure.
Fully Vaccinated
Today, my wife gave me another early birthday present: a t-shirt that reads “fully vaccinated club.”
Moss Ball Pet
Even though my birthday is about a week away, Rachel decided to give me an early present. We were in the living room when she received a delivery notificatio...
Alarmed
In 2006, we put an alarm system on our house. While the system worked fine for several years, it was well overdue for an upgrade. Many of the sensors were ...
Pi-hole
I’ve been a fan of small computing devices such as a Raspberry Pi. At one point, I wanted to have a display mounted to my office door where passersby could ...
Clear as a Bell
This morning, I attended a free, monthly webinar hosted by Ratliff & Taylor. They provide services such as career transition and executive searches. I ...
Remote Reboot
When I’m done with the workday, I like to reboot my work computer. This gives me a clean slate to start the day. It also makes it easier for the networking...
Vaccinated
This morning, I received the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Just like the first dose, it was a quick and easy trip. I spent longer in the waiting roo...
Excel Extract
I just completed a recent project where the lynchpin was sending data to another entity. My preference is to use an API or web service. This setup makes it...
Google Analytics for Subdomains
Adding Google Analytics to a site is relatively straightforward. You create an account, get the tracking code, and add it to your site. I know that my site...
Old Blog Entries
I was finally able to migrate my old blog entries. Well, as much as I cared to. I pulled much of my blog from archive.org. But, it didn’t archive all the ...
Index Cards
One of my ongoing struggles is how to keep track of everything that I need to do. I’ve tried different systems such as Trello and bullet journals. Currentl...
Return to Work
A “return to work” was recently announced. Since I’ve been working remotely for more than a year now, it is really a return to the office. I last worked in...
Vaccine
Today I received the first dose of my COVID-19 vaccine. I could have received it a bit sooner. But, since my wife and I are still in isolation, it wasn’t c...
Fancy Zones
At home, I have a dual-monitor setup. When writing software, I have my IDE (integrated development environment) full screen on one monitor and the resulting...
Registration
My birthday is coming up. That means it is time to renew the registration on our vehicles. I was able to renew mine online. But, my wife’s vehicle needs a...
Removal from Archive.org
I like the Wayback Machine. It has saved me multiple times when researching an issue only to find that the website is defunct. But, after deprecating my ol...
In Progress
I am still working on my blog. In fact, my to-do list keeps getting longer:
Hello (Again) World
I started blogging back in 2003 after moving from Northern California to Northeast Ohio. Since I was suddenly working from home, I felt the need to fill the...
2019
Changes
When I started my Toastmasters journey five years ago, I did not quite know what to expect. I started on June 1, 2014, when an impending work presentation le...
2011
Pharaoh’s Curse
After nearly a quarter century, I have beat Pharaoh’s Curse! But, I am getting ahead of myself.
One Wish
If you could be granted a single wish, what would you wish for? For some reason, this thought popped into my mind a few weeks ago as I was drifting off to sl...
Happy New Year 2011
It has been quite a while since I have written on my blog. With everything going on my life, it has been difficult to sit down to write a few paragraphs. And...
2010
How To Not Repair A Street
On Friday, April 16, my wife and I captured an event that inadvertently became a media sensation. One of our security cameras captured a road construction ac...
With Spring Comes Changes
It is difficult to believe that another month has already passed. Fortunately, we did not experience too many problems. As usual, we had our ups and down. Bu...
Short Month
I know that February is a short month. However, it seemed to go quicker than usual. As typical, we had a bunch of snow. Once weekend, the snow almost prevent...
New Year’s 2010
Every start of a new year, it is a weird feeling to write a different year on documents and such. It is even weirder to write years in a different decade. As...
2009
Merry Christmas 2009
I hope that everyone had a good Christmas. They say that this is the time of year we get together with friends and family. However, most of my friends out of...
Wicked
To celebrate our eighth wedding anniversary, my wife and I went to see Wicked at Playhouse Square. Both of us had read “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wic...
Valentine’s Day 2009
Whew! Things have been crazy here. My main computer at home had problems a few weeks ago. I ultimately had to wipe the hard drive and start over. I did not l...
Inauguration Ceremony
Rachel and I went to the Lorain Palace Theatre to watch Barak Obama’s Presidential Inauguration Ceremony. I am not really a political person. However, I had ...
New Job
I started working at Tri-C (Cuyahoga Community College) last Monday as a Programmer/Analyst in the Distance Learning department. So far it has been a fun and...
New Year’s 2009
I hope everyone had a good holiday. Unlike most years, Rachel and I actually dressed up and went out to celebrate. It is the first time since our wedding sin...
2008
Merry Christmas 2008
I hope everyone had a good Christmas or whichever holiday your family celebrates. It has been a crazy past couple of weeks. Pizza Hut finally contacted me ab...
Anniversary Couple Of The Day
Recently, Rachel and I received mail stating we won a contest. Considering the recent problems with our bank account, we initially thought it was a fraud. Bu...
Weekly Update
It has been a busy past few days. On Wednesday, I started my next school term. This term I am taking IT350: SQL, IT274: Intermediate C#, and EL205: Prior Lea...
How To Meet The Chief Of Police
On Monday, I was reviewing transactions on my bank’s website. I noticed two charges at a local gas station that totaled over $540! I knew that they did not b...
Thermal Shock
On Sunday night, I was upstairs programming when I heard Rachel call me from downstairs. I hurried downstairs to see what the problem was. She pointed to the...
Happy Thanksgiving 2008
Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! Still being unemployed, it is difficult to be thankful. However, I understand that times are tough for everyone. I am optimisti...
Happy Anniversary
On Monday, Rachel and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary. Actually, “celebrated” is probably not accurate. With our current situation, it does not ...
Squirrel Vs. Kelly
On more than one occasion, our beagles have caught a squirrel. Yesterday, we let the dogs out to go the bathroom. I looked out a minute later and Kara and Ke...
I Have A Pounding Headache
One of the benefits (if you can call it that) of being unemployed is that I can sleep in. Of course, I cannot goof off all day, but I no longer have to wake ...
Election Results 2008
So, it looks like we have a new President. Considering how yesterday was Election Day, it is not that surprising. It is also not surprising that Barack Obama...
Happy Halloween 2008
I know that today is Halloween, but it does not feel like it. It is probably because Rachel and I did not buy any candy this year to hand out (or for us). Wi...
First Snow?
It is bad enough being out of work. Being sick is only worse. Over the weekend, I had major breathing problems. It felt like my chest was in a vice. Fortunat...
Last Day At Ged Integrated Solutions
I go in to work today like normal. But, it was taking an awful long time to log into the network. I got down on my hands and knees to trace my cable back to ...
Waiting In The ER
I need a break. A few Fridays ago, Rachel started feeling sick. A few days later, I was also sick. I was out of work from Monday through Wednesday of last we...
Sitting In Traffic
On the way to work, I hear about an accident on the radio. The accident must have been a big one as officials blocked three of the traffic lanes. Sure enough...
Hurricane Ike
Yesterday, Rachel and I were relaxing. The weather started okay, but quickly became quite windy. Apparently, remnants of hurricane Ike was passing through. A...
Race For The Cure
Recently, Rachel asked if I would like to volunteer for the 15th Annual Komen Northeast Ohio Race for the Cure. Other coworkers of Target were going to help ...
Short School Break
On last Saturday, I turned in the last final for my classes this term. I am happy to state that I received an “A” for all three classes this term. This means...
Jury Duty
A few days ago, my mom called to say I received some official-looking notice via the mail. She forwarded over to me. It was a form to determine my eligibilit...
Sunrise, Sunset
Rachel and I wanted to get out of the house for a while. The only problem is that we do not have a lot of money. Therefore, any overnight trip is out of the ...
2008 Crystal Achievement Award
Recently, Window & Door Magazine awarded my employer, GED Integrated Solutions, the 2008 Crystal Achievement Award for “Most Innovative Machine.” It was ...
Flour Power
I have been baking bread recently. After doing the math, I found that it is not cost-effective to bake your own bread. At least if you buy the ingredients in...
Mmm Cornbread
Not to be outdone by my recent bakery prowess (all of four loaves of bread), Rachel made some cornbread last night. It was very good. We have been trying to ...
The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread
Lately, I have wanted to make some bread. Rachel and I used to own a bread machine. However, I did not like having a gaping hole in one end of the loaf. As s...
The Detour
I live in Lorain, OH and commute to Twinsburg, OH (about an hour away) each day. For those familiar with the area, I take 611 to 90 to 176 (Jennings) to 480....
The Dark Knight
Rachel and I went to watch “The Dark Knight” yesterday afternoon. The movie was great. Heath Ledger did an excellent portrayal of “The Joker.” I was a bit co...
Off To The Races
After a few months of being without my treadmill, it is finally up and running again. My mishap a few months ago fried the main circuit board. Last week a re...
Independence Day 2008
So far, today has been a quiet day. I imagine that as it gets darker outside, it will become louder. Several of my neighbors have been setting off fireworks ...
Microsoft Certified Professional Developer
Last week, I was supposed to take my Microsoft 70-548: Designing and Developing Windows-Based Applications by Using the Microsoft .NET Framework exam. On Mon...
Slinkity
“What walks down stairs, alone or in pairs, And makes a slinkity sound?” A Slinky of course! At my desk at work I have a small slinky collection (about a doz...
American Diabetes Association Tour De Cure 2008
Rachel and I recently go back from the American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure. This is the third year that we have done the bicycle ride. Like last yea...
I Am Now Microsoft Certified
Last Wednesday, I took the Microsoft 70-536: .NET Framework 2.0 Application Development Foundation exam. I was a bit nervous. The testing center is located a...
Memorial Day
I hope everyone had a safe holiday weekend. I did not do too much. I mostly stayed inside and worked on school work. I am off of work for the next couple of ...
Can You Hear Me Now?
I switched to Vonage several months ago. It is about half the cost of using the local land line provider. Since voice mail is a free feature, I no longer hav...
Time Marches On
This past week has been relatively quiet. So far, my schoolwork has been easy; I do more complex stuff at work. Rachel and I recently finished The Simpsons G...
Wii Have A Problem
Recently, the US Government approved a stimulus payment to us taxpayers. The payment schedule was based on the last two digits of the taxpayer’s Social Secur...
Gas Shortage
I know that gas prices are steadily increasing. The only solution is to stop using gas. One could use a vehicle that uses an alternative energy source (such ...
How Easy Is It To Ignite Gasoline?
I do not normally think about how easy it is to ignite gasoline. I know that flame (as from a match) or a single spark can ignite gasoline. Anyway, as I was ...
Back From The Hospital
During a routine checkup, our veterinarian noticed that Kara’s teeth needed cleaning. As all three dogs have the same routine, we are not quite sure why her ...
Everything Is Coming Up Aces
I finished my two classes, “Introduction to Web Design” and “Networking Concepts,” last week. Today, I received my official grade report. As typical for tech...
To Everything Turn, Turn, Turn
As the weather is starting to turn, it is time to change the direction of our fan blades. However, I can never remember which way it should be blowing. So, I...
Going Green
As Kermit the Frog often said, “it ain’t easy being green.” Isn’t that the truth? Yes, I try to recycle and such, but it is not enough. A blogger mentioned t...
Running Into A Wall
I know that runners occasionally talk about “hitting a wall.” This usually means a sudden loss of energy. Yesterday, I “hit the wall” while jogging on my tre...
Jaguar Faucets
I have been noticing a number of people reaching my site who are looking for “Jaguar faucets.” At first, I was wondering if the famous car maker was branchin...
The President’s Challenge
The two most popular days to start an exercise regime are “tomorrow” and “Monday.” Tomorrow kicks off the National President’s Challenge. The goal is to get ...
Led Controller: Digg The Digg Button
I was looking for some side projects when I ran across an ad on craigslist. The name sounded familiar, but I could not place it at first. Little did I realiz...
American Diabetes Association’s Tour De Cure
It is that time again to start accepting donation for the American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure. It is essentially a cycling fundraiser for Diabetes. ...
2007
Keyboard Changes
As a software developer, I spend an inordinate amount of time pounding away at my keyboard. Recently, my wrists have started to bug me while at work. Several...
I Can’t See The Tv
I just received the following e-mail from Dell about a TV we had purchased from them a few years ago:
Drinking And Driving
Today was a good day at work. One of our vendors bought lunch for a few of us. In addition, he asked us out to dinner. I typically refuse dinner requests. Th...
Halloween Costumes
Rachel and I have been invited to after Halloween party at my boss’s house in a few weeks. Costumes are not required, but they are preferred. I am not much o...
Keep Your Own Trash
Rachel found some pizza in our back yard. Apparently, the people who live behind us were throwing pizza over into our yard. Our dogs, of course, find the foo...
Credit Card Company Conundrum
Due to lack of income, I have been behind on my bills. Consequently, I receive a number of phone calls from credit card companies, banks, and whatnot looking...
Lack Of Entries
I guess if I actually read my own blog, I would realize that there had not been any entries this month. I am not sure if anyone really reads this on a regula...
Back To Pa
I am back in Pennsylvania this week on business with a few coworkers. We left yesterday. Since we’re staying at a golf resort and motel, my coworkers are pla...
Back To Work
After not being in the office since June 14, it was weird going to the office today. I will have to get used to waking up early again. Falling asleep at 1:00...
Independence Day 2007
As always, I hope that everyone had a safe holiday yesterday and that you did not lose any fingers and toes. When I was in Pennsylvania last week, I was temp...
Heat Wave
Okay, it is not quite that hot. But, with an air conditioner that is not currently working, it seems like it is. The compressor stopped working yesterday. As...
Statistics Finals
Being on the road for the last two weeks did not give me a lot of time to study. Consequently, my homework and exam grades for the last two weeks suffered. A...
Travelin’ Man
Starting last Tuesday, I was away on business. As typical, the trip did not start out as smoothly as hoped. My coworkers and I were supposed to leave by 9:00...
Digg The Digg Button
I don’t know if anyone of you watches systm. Anyway, on the last half of Episode #10, they showed an LED panel that reflects the number of Diggs a particular...
Tour De Cure 2007, The Aftermath
Yesterday, Rachel and I rode in the American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure 2007. We signed up to do the 10K ride. We had a good time, but we should hav...
Timber
Last night, we heard a large crash and went outside to investigate. Well, we tried to go outside. A large branch from one of our oak trees had fallen. It fel...
Work Shift
Recently my employer instituted a policy that would let employees work four 10-hour days instead of five 8-hour days. At first, I was against it. My days see...
Time In A Bottle
I suppose that the title of my last blog post, “Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is,” is rather appropriate. My last post was in March. I generally like ...
Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?
I hope that everyone (in the US and Canada) “sprung forward” their clocks on Sunday. I did not have any computer problems; all of the computers’ patches were...
Taxes
I got most of our taxes filled today. Well, at least I thought I did. Shortly after I had sent in the returns electronically, I got an e-mail that they were ...
Code Monkey
I am still enjoying work. I keep thinking, “I can’t believe that they are paying me for having fun.” It is good to have a job that you enjoy. At any rate, I ...
Mp3 Mania
I am an eccentric music lover. At last count, I had about three thousand songs in my collection of MP3s ripped from CDs. I could listen to my collection twen...
Valentine’s Day Blizzard 2007
I can finally say that I have experienced my first blizzard. On Tuesday, the snow started coming down heavy in the afternoon. By the time it was time to go h...
Sitting On The Tiger
Rachel and I went out to lunch today. I had received a gift card to a local restaurant. Unfortunately, they were closed today. But, it was okay. Rachel and I...
Domain Switch
I finally got my domain name, silverjaguar.com, switched to a new web-hosting provider. I liked old provider, but as they did not offer discounts for multipl...
Super Sunday
Today was the Super Bowl. As I am writing this entry a few days late, I cannot remember who was actually playing. (My wife, who must have a good memory, said...
Chipotle
Rachel and I went to Chipotle (or as we like to say, “chip-poodle”) for the first time. It is kind of like a fast food restaurant in that you stand in line t...
2006
Parents Visiting
Recently, my mom Ellen, step dad Fred, and nephew Cody, flew out to California to pay Rachel and I a visit. While they were only here for a few short days, w...
Tour De Cure 2006
Before I talk about our ride, I just want to say thank you for all of your donations! Rachel and I raised $675.35 for our team (Team Beagles). The American D...
Birthday Party Remix
This week was a bit more exciting than the previous week. Of course, exciting does not necessarily mean enjoyable. On Tuesday, I had two filling replaced. Ev...
Birthday Blowout
This week was quiet. I recently replaced the faucets in the bathroom. The downstairs bathroom faucet was a pain. I ended up having to remove the sink just to...
Please Support Us In Tour De Cure!
Rachel and I recently accepted the challenge of cycling in the American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure fund-raising event. We are taking part in this ev...
Galleries Galore
I just finished putting up a new photo gallery. I still have a bit of tweaking to do. But, it is done for the most part. The new gallery can handle more pict...
Moving Down The Road
Now that Rachel and I got our bikes back from the shop, we are back to riding. The repair shop did a good job with our bikes. Rachel is able to shift again, ...
Breakout
Two brown, black, and white dogs were last seen in the vicinity heading eastbound. After several attempts, the escapees were finally apprehended.
Born Again
A week or so ago, I left my dinosaur plant by the window for some much needed sunlight. Unfortunately, for the plant, I left the window open all night. When ...
Upgrades
I have wanted to have a security system at the house for a while. But, with estimates into the thousands, it was way outside our price range. Recently, Rache...
Spring Forward
I hope that everyone remembered to “spring forward” his or her clocks an hour for Daylight Saving. We changed all of our clocks last night. Therefore, after ...
Have Your Cake And Eat It Too
Boy am I stuffed! I just got back from Don Tequilas (a local Mexican restaurant). The last time Rachel and I went there, I dropped my business card into a bo...
Pickles And Sour Cream
Rachel and I like to tease our dog Emily. In fact, we have vanity plates with her two favorite phrases: “Treats” and “Car Ride.” Of course, the teasing is al...
Dinosaur Plant
I have wanted a plant for my home office for quite awhile now. However, as I do not have much of a “green thumb” I decided to get something simple. I found a...
Valentine’s Day 2006
Happy (belated) Valentine’s Day! Rachel and I did not do anything extremely exciting. However, we did go out to dinner with some family members. I got Rachel...
Snow Day
We have not had a lot of snow here lately. I was a little depressed because this is the first year that I am well prepared. Each winter season, I add a bit m...
Heavy Lifting
One of my resolutions for this year was to ease back into my exercise program. This week I added strength training (weight lifting) and started with the ligh...
Mixed Up Drinkers
Lately Rachel and I have been experimenting with some mixed drinks. Last week we tried some strawberry-rum-vodka concoction. The drink tasted okay, but we ha...
Happy Birthday Rachel
Last Friday, we celebrated Rachel’s birthday at Yanni’s (our favorite restaurant). There were probably a dozen or so people there. We ate dinner and cake. I ...
Beware Of Programmers Carrying Screwdrivers
Last weekend was very quiet especially compared to the prior weekend. Rachel and I slept in late on Saturday. Around 10:00 PM, we finally got out of the hous...
A Visit To The Emergency Room
Last Saturday was supposed to be a relaxing day. I had planned to sleep in late and work ahead on my schoolwork. Of course, things do not always go according...
New Year’s 2006
I hope that everyone had a better New Year’s celebration than I did. Rachel and I spent New Year’s Eve at my mother-in-law Pam’s house. We spent the time wat...
2005
Abcdefghijkmnopqrstuvwxyz
Hi, I hope that everyone had good Christmas or whatever holiday (or holidays) that you celebrate. This year’s holiday season was dampened both by the recent ...
Media Bonanza
The recent theft of our outdoor Christmas decorations has set off a minor media bonanza. Shortly after the theft, we noticed a letter to the editor of The Mo...
Tigger Theft
Yesterday, we took down our inflatable turkey and put up our inflatable Christmas Tiggers. They did not last long. Sometime between midnight and 6:00 this mo...
Happy Thanksgiving
I hope that everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving. Rachel and I slept in most of the day. Around noon, we decided to get up and do something. We met Rac...
Sleep Paralysis, Anniversary, And Beans
A few weeks ago, I received a ham from the HoneyBaked Ham Company. After removing as much meat as I could, I was still left with a rather large ham bone. Ins...
First Snows
Yesterday, we got our first snows of the cold weather season. While the Snow Belt just east of us got six to eight inches, we only received flurries. Rachel ...
Durango Despair
Recently, we took our Durango for its first oil change. Even though we had some issues with Wal-Mart before, we took another chance and had them do the oil c...
School Daze
Today I started my last class for the year. It is another English class. As English is not my favorite subject, I usually dread the classes. Fortunately, the...
Catching Up
I am still trying to catch up from my recent vacation. I had several pages of material to write for my blog. I had written a number of entries on the trip to...
Back From Vacation
Four train rides, one bus ride, and one car ride later, and Rachel and I are back home. It was a long trip. Maybe next time we go back to the West Coast we w...
Waiting In Chicago
When we woke up this morning, Rachel and I did not feel like having breakfast (we were still full from last night’s dinner). So, we skipped breakfast, took o...
From Utah To Colorado
Today’s journey on the train was uneventful (read relaxing). Rachel and I got up around 6:30 and headed down to breakfast. I do not remember what she ate, bu...
On The Train Home
The taxi ride from the hotel to the train station was interesting. The station was only two or three blocks away. But, with all of the traffic and with half ...
Last Day In A Hotel
Today is the last day in a hotel room before Rachel and I get back on a train. We are eager to get back home after being on vacation for so long. But, at the...
Let The Gambling Begin
Rachel and I woke up later than we normally do; we were on vacation and did not really have anything important to do. We started our morning with wonderful b...
On The Road To Reno
After another restful night in our hotel and a filling breakfast from the local cafe, Rachel and I packed up our belongings and prepared to travel again. We ...
Working On Vacation
Rachel and I again had breakfast at the local cafe before I headed to the office. I spent four hours there working and talking with my coworkers. Around lunc...
One Last Reunion For The Night
After a brief rest at the hotel, Rachel and I headed to my mom Ellen and step dad Fred’s house for dinner. My mom told my younger half-sister Megan that she ...
Back To Work
Just after 1:00 PM, Rachel and I decided to grab some lunch and head towards my office. We made a quick stop at a nearby Taco Bell / Pizza Hut express before...
More Reunions
Around 10:00 AM, I called my mom, Ellen, to see how things were going. We talked for a while before I told her that I was busy and that I would have to call ...
My Tattoos
For those observant people who check my photo gallery, you may have noticed something: I had my body tattooed, not once, but twice! The people who have seen ...
The Tattoo
My wife Rachel is diabetic. She is supposed to advertise that fact with a medical alert bracelet or necklace so that paramedics would be better able to treat...
Truck Returned And No Solicitation
We finally got our truck back on Friday. The first thing that I noticed was that the truck was a lot cleaner; there was no salt or other road grime plastered...
Rachel’s Birthday And Emily’s Graduation
On Tuesday, Rachel and I decided to do some shopping. I had run out of paper in the midst of a printing job. Also, we decided to spend the gift cards that we...
Accident And Trees
After sliding off the road less than a month ago, on Saturday Rachel managed to duplicate her performance. Fortunately, she was not hurt this time either. Ho...
Happy New Year
I hope that everyone had a fun and safe holiday season. With the exception of large amounts of snow, everything was quiet here. Since Rachel and I knew what ...
2004
Lots Of Snow
I do not mind shoveling snow, however today was a bit of a pain. It had been snowing quite a bit yesterday. We had shoveled our driveway twice as well as sho...
First Day Of Winter
Today is the first day of winter. Surprisingly, today has been warmer than the last couple of days. Yesterday, the temperature dropped to seven degrees and i...
Let It Snow
Last night when Rachel and I were watching TV, the wind started to howl. I think that we were getting gusts of up to fifty miles an hour. In addition, the te...
Overflow
Well, I thought I was done writing for the night, but I have another entry. Our upstairs toilet overflowed. I was able to shut the water off to the toilet, b...
Back From Vacation
I have been on vacation this past week. Rachel and I went up to Casino Windsor to celebrate our third wedding anniversary. The trip there took about four hou...
Busy, Busy, Busy
(This is a long entry so please bear with me). This week has been extremely busy. But, as it is nearly midnight, the week is fortunately almost over. On Sund...
Graduation, Lunar Eclipse And Long Lost Relatives
Yesterday was Kara and Kelly’s last day of advanced training classes. They both got diplomas. Like last time, they got their pictures taken as well. The uppe...
Vacation And School
The company that I work for doesn’t allow me to carry over vacation years from one year to the next. Consequently, I am taking Wednesdays off for the rest of...
Id Tags And Inflatables
When we got our dog Emily, we had problems seeing her in our backyard at night. She has a dark coat and at the time we didn’t have much lighting in the back ...
Long Overdue Update
I guess I’m overdue for a new blog entry. So, here goes: As you may (or may) not have noticed, autumn is upon us. Keeping with the season, I’ve changed the b...
Stitches Removal And Birds
I know that beagles will eat most everything; lately I have caught one or more of the dogs eating acorns, cicadas, dragonflies and other miscellaneous bugs. ...
Stitches
I was supposed to have a nice and quiet weekend. I was relaxing in bed on Saturday morning when I got a call from Rachel at work. She said that she had cut h...
Locked Out Of The House
Yesterday, after work, I was sitting outside with the dogs. When Rachel came home from work, I asked if she wanted to take the dogs for a walk. She said that...
License Reinstated
Rachel got her driver’s license reinstated on Thursday (though we didn’t find out until I called the BMV on Friday). This means that I no longer have to spen...
Course Catalog
I was going through some online documents at Saint Leo. One of the documents that I found was the course catalog. Unfortunately, the document was over a hund...
Suspended License
This has been a rather long weekend. Rachel got a notice from the Ohio BMV (Bureau of Motor Vehicles) on Friday saying that her driver’s license is suspended...
Back To School
Today was my first day at Saint Leo University. My first class is an orientation class. The class is progressing fairly smoothly; I’ve already completed my s...
A Good Weekend
On Thursday, we picked the pictures of Kara and Kelly. It was hard to decide which pose to take out of all four, so we ended up taking all for poses. In fact...
Puppy Graduation
Yesterday was Kara and Kelly’s last class of basic puppy training. Their final command is BOW. When they bow, they lay down on their front two paws while kee...
Back From Vacation
This past weekend, Rachel, Pam (my mother-in-law), Lynn (Pam’s sister), Nana (Pam’s mom) and I took a road trip to Kentucky. We were going to see some of Rac...
Diploma
Well after working for four years I’m finally finished with my two-year degree. My diploma and final transcript came in the mail yesterday. I’m glad that it’...
School And Weight Training
After a couple of years of working on my Associate’s Degree, I’m finally finished! The school received my final project last Friday and I got my grades yeste...
Reading, Cleaning, Rearranging And Exercising
In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been doing a lot of reading recently. To that end, I’ve created a web page that tracks what I’m reading, what I’ve read, an...
The Dryer
Our dryer conked out on us; it still heats, but it no longer spins. Consequently, one of our comforters got slightly burnt/melted. Fortunately, the house did...
Central Air
We recently got central air installed. Previously we had two window units; one was in our bedroom and the other was in my office. The upstairs one worked gre...
Happy Belated Independence Day
I hope that everyone had a safe Fourth of July. I spent the afternoon and most of the night at my parents-in-law’s house. Since we were going to be away from...
Out Of The Hospital
Kelly’s doing much better. When we took her to the hospital, she just sat on our laps, hardly moving. When we picked her up this morning, she was moving arou...
Happy Father’s Day
Last night I received a card and the first season of A-Team on DVD from Rachel. That should last me a few days. Today, from my dogs, I received a new shirt a...
Strawberry Popcorn And A Computer
Since it’s summer again, Rachel decided to plant some strawberry popcorn again. Out of four seeds only one plant survived. That is until very recently. Kara ...
Pet Training
Rachel and I decided to enroll Kelly and Kara in an eight-week basic training course at PETsMART. They’re slowly learning with us. But it would probably be m...
Home Again
We brought home the dogs from being boarded yesterday. The person at the front desk said that they were good, for the most part. Apparently Kara and Kelly ma...
Shopping
Since we had some free time last night, Rachel and I decided to do some shopping. We got a cover for Kara and Kelly’s crate (just for when we need to transpo...
On Vacation
Me, on vacation? No, not really. Rachel had to recertify in food safety. Since they were holding the recertification at the Cuyahoga Falls Target and since s...
Data Recovery
I had one of my hard drives crash on me. Since I had some information that I couldn’t reproduce by any other means, I sent my drive into a data recovery plac...
Bad Day
Well, my day had been going good. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case. The hard drive on my home computer died on me. Most of what I lost isn’t a big de...
Dog Updates
It’s been over a month since our two new additions. We had been treating Kelly for tapeworm, but she is now clean. Also, both Kara and Kelly have gained some...
A Year In Ohio
Well, it’s been just over a year since my wife and I moved from California. So far, most everything has been going great. There have been the occasional prob...
Reinstalling
Grr… I’ve got a Windows 98 SE machine that I’ve used for several years. I have only had one problem with it that is until now. Lately, it has been locking up...
Fencing And Wiring
Well, it’s another rainy day in Lorain. Of course, that’s not too unusual. Fortunately, we got most of the cement work done around our new gate. We still hav...
Digging A Hole
My father-in-law and I spent the weekend on a new gate. We spent Saturday measuring, buying supplies and digging holes. Well, we tried to dig holes anyway. U...
Relaxing On The Bed
Well, it has been nearly a week and the new dogs are starting to settle in nicely. They’re still not quite housebroken, but they haven’t made a mess in the h...
Puppy Pics
As promised, here are a few pictures of our new babies. Kara and Kelly are tri-colored (brown, black and white) Beagles. Kara has a darker back and the white...
Counting Calories
I’ve been exercising for several weeks, but I wasn’t getting the results I had hoped for. Sure, my blood pressure has dropped from the Stage 3 Hypertension r...
New Additions
After trying for some time, my wife and I have a new addition to the family. Actually, we have two new additions. Their names are Kara and Kelly. When things...
Wind And Relics
Today has been extremely windy. This morning the wind blew a picture off of our staircase and ended up shattering a drinking glass. We had hoped that was ext...
New Monitor Cable
I can see! I can see! For a few months, the color on my monitor kept changing. Some days the white would be blue, red or yellow. Sometimes, it would keep cha...
Valentine’s Day
I hope that everyone had a good Valentine’s Day. Due to some work conflicts, my wife and I weren’t able to go anywhere exciting, but we still had a good time...
House Fire
I was working upstairs yesterday (like I do everyday) when I heard a siren. It sounded fairly distant so I didn’t think anything of it at first. A few minute...
Walking
Lately, I’ve been taking walks around our block. It helps me get away from my desk. Also, it’s good exercise. My wife has been voicing her concerns though. S...
Faucet, Wrong Number And Cotton Candy
Since my wife had to work Friday night, I thought that would be a great time to install the faucet. I turned off the water to the house and let the remaining...
Happy Birthday Rachel
My parents-in-law and I celebrated my wife’s birthday yesterday at the Texas Roadhouse. This was my second or third time there (I don’t remember). The place ...
Snow, Ice And A Faucet
It has been a fairly cold couple of weeks. I couldn’t see out the side mirrors of my truck because they were coated with ice. Fortunately for me since I work...
Stress Ball And Exercising
One of the gifts that I received this Christmas (and probably one of the most used) is a yellow stress ball. The ball has several error messages and annoying...
Happy New Year
I’d like to say happy New Years to everyone out there. I hope that everyone had a safe time last night. My wife and I had a nice dinner with my parents-in-la...
2003
Mmm… Turkey….
My wife and I were planning to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving, but our schedules didn’t allow for it. So, for Christmas Eve we’re going to cook a turkey. Act...
Frozen Bushes
Yesterday was an interesting day temperature-wise. The temperature would go a few degrees above freezing for a bit and then drop back down below freezing. Th...
Christmas 2003 Letters
This week we got our Christmas letters out in the mail. If you don’t receive a letter within the next few weeks (and would like to receive a letter), just se...
Advanced Search
I’ve added an advanced search feature to my website. I was getting tired of not having the ability to sort the results. I’m still testing this feature, so us...
Printer Problems
I was trying to print out some letters yesterday on my printer (I have an Epson Stylus C80) and I was having some problems. After printing about a dozen lett...
Shoveling Snow
Well, today was the first day that I had to shovel snow. About half of the driveway had about an inch or two of power. The remainder of the stuff (what I’m s...
Cell Phone Invoice
After living in Ohio for over six months, I finally decided to change my cell phones from California phone numbers. Since I didn’t want to pay the early term...
Snowballs
After watching the rain all day Thursday, it was kind of nice that the weather changed to something else on Friday. As you can see from the picture, we got j...
Happy Thanksgiving
My wife and I spent the afternoon at my father-in-law’s parents’ house for Thanksgiving. I spent some time helping to rewire their television setup. Afterwar...
Anniversary Continued
On Monday night, my parents-in-law took my wife and I to Olive Garden. I think that’s the first time that I’ve ever eaten there (I don’t remember). Anyways, ...
Icicles
Well, we’ve got our first icicle, three of them actually. Okay. So they’re only about a quarter inch in length. But they’re still our first. It was about 60 ...
Popfile Continued
I’ve been using a mail-sorting program called POPFile for the last couple of weeks. So far it’s been great. Since I last reset the statistics (on 11/16/2003)...
Anniversary
Since my wife and I were both unable to take time off this week (due to the Thanksgiving holiday), we decided to take vacation time last week to celebrate ou...
Popcorn Popper
My parents-in-law recently got back from their vacation. They drove through Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia. Anyway, when ...
Snowing
The snowfall is starting to get a bit heavier. It doesn’t seem like snowflakes though. The consistency is somewhere between snowflakes and hail. It’s similar...
Windy Day And Night
It has been a very windy day and night. Last night, we came home to find that our garbage can (and the trash inside it) was missing. We walked up and down th...
First Ornament And Karoke
We put our first ornament on our tree. It says “First Christmas In Our New Home 2003”. I think that this was very appropriate for our first ornament. The res...
Outlook Problems
Lately, I’ve been having problems with Microsoft Outlook. I wanted to modify Outlook today (the startup page). However, each time I clicked on the Customize ...
Lunar Eclipse?
There was supposed to be a lunar eclipse tonight. However, due to the thick cloud cover, I didn’t get to see any of it. Fortunately, there will be two more n...
Popfile
I’ve been using a great program lately called POPFile. It’s a free program I found on SourceForge.Net. Basically, it’s a POP3 proxy server that sorts e-mail ...
Final Grades
After waiting more than two weeks, I finally got the results on my final exam. I passed. I got 100% on all of the exams except for one (I only got a 90% on t...
Happy Halloween
Well, my wife and I spent two hours handing out candy. It had been a few years since we’ve handed out candy before. It was nice handing out candy again. In t...
Vcds
I’ve been trying to make a VCD (a CD that’s playable in some DVD players) lately. Unfortunately, I haven’t had much success. My parents (back in California) ...
Finals And Bambi
I had a pretty good day yesterday. I spent most of the morning taking final exams. Now, I just have to finish my final project to get my degree. I would like...
Windy Evening
Well, after spending the other day picking up leaves, I’m a bit sad to say that there’s more on the ground today. Of course, this was expected. We’ve got fiv...
More Leaves
We spent most of the afternoon cleaning up leaves. It wasn’t as bad as it was last week. We filled up ten small pumpkin bags and three large trash bags. We p...
New Anti-Virus Engine
I’ve decided to use the AVG Anti-Virus software from Grisoft. I choose it because it is free and uses less resources than my prior anti-virus software.
No More News Feed
I use CenturyTel as my internet provider. A few days ago, I noticed that I stopped getting posts on their news server. I sent them an e-mail asking what was ...
Governor Schwarzenegger
Well, Arnold won the governor recall in California. I can’t help but laugh everytime I think about it. The movie Total Recall keeps coming to mind. I also wo...
More Winter Preparations
My in-laws came over today to help remove two air conditioners. Also, my father in law helped to repair my staircase railing. A few weeks ago, I had a nasty ...
Autumn Cleaning
My wife and I spent most of today cleaning. We did the inside of the house, then we did some yard work. We ended up with about a dozen trash bags filled with...
No More Blogger?
I’ve decided to stop using blogger.com. I have nothing against blogger.com. However, I wanted to see what it would take to write my own blogging software. I ...
Out Sick
Ugh. I’ve been sneezing all day. I think I’ve got a cold. Hopefully it goes away for the weekend. I don’t want to be stuck in bed all weekend (even if I do n...
Fastrak Is At It Again
Awhile ago, I got my fourth FasTrak violation. The violations, of course, were not my fault. Apparently FasTrak didn’t like my explanation for the fourth vio...
Virus Alerts
I get the occasional spam and virus-infected attachment in my e-mail box everyday. Normally, that’s not a big problem as I have software that filters out tha...
National Dog Week
Since this week is National Dog Week, I’ve decided to post a picture of my puppy dog. Her name is “Emily Jean”. though we usually call her “Emmy”. As I’ve me...
The Hurricane
Well, we’ve been getting a lot of rain due to Tropical Storm Isabel. The funny thing is that we’re getting more rain now then when a flood watch was declared...
Office Updates
After getting all of my Windows computers updated with the latest Windows service packs, I decided to update my copy of Office. I went to the Office Update s...
Resume
I added my resume to my site. It isn’t much, but at least it’s a start.
Rough Morning
Ugh. I’ve got a single-cup coffee maker. I put it on a timer so it makes my coffee about a half hour before I get up. Usually, it works great. I had some pro...
Last Exam
I just finished my last exam for my MIS class. Now, I only need to do my lab project(s) and my final exams and I’ll be done with my degree! It’s about time.
Black River Reservation, Day’s Dam
Today, my wife, dog and I went to Day’s Dam in the Black River Reservation. It is one of the local parks. We walked for about two miles. We wanted to walk lo...
Six Exams Down, Two To Go
I just finished my sixth exam in my MIS class. At this rate, I’ll be done by the end of the month!
Google Toolbar
I downloaded the Google Toolbar a few days agod. So far, it’s very nice. I love the pop-up blocker. :)
The Squirrels Are Driving My Dog Nuts
I’ve got a cute dog (Beagle/Springer mix) that just loves to chase the squirrels in my back yard. She’ll walk out very slowly. Sometimes she almost crawls on...
Search Bug
There was a bug in the my blog search tool. Sometimes the results would be duplicated. This has been fixed.
Halfway Point
After finishing the fourth exam in my MIS class, I’m now at the half-way point!
School Update
I just finished my third MIS book, Computing Resources For MIS, and the exam. I only have five more book(lets) and exams before I’m done with this class. Who...
Blogger.Com Changes
Blogger.com recently announced some new features for free accounts (like mine). The biggest feature (or at least the one I’ll probably use the most) is the a...
Search For A Game
I’ve been looking for a Commodore 64 video game. But, I don’t remember what it was called. It’s been over ten years since I’ve played it. The plot was to go ...
Fastrak Violations Aren’t My Fault
FasTrak, for those that don’t know, is California’s Electronic Toll System. Basically, you can pay in advance for tolls, and your vehicle will be tracked aut...
Morning At The Doctor’s Office
Well, so far it has been a long morning. I went with my wife to see the doctor (she’s a Type 2 Diabetic). Anyway, it’s the first time we’ve been to a doctor’...
Relaxing Weekend
Ugh. It’s Monday, again! Ah well. I had a pretty good weekend. I don’t think I accomplished anything in particular though. I did get to eat at Mr. Hero. I ha...
Php And Xml Update
Well, my blog now stores all of the information as XML files and then uses PHP to render the file. Again, there wasn’t a need to switch from HTML to PHP &...
Formatting Change
I decided to use PHP and XML for my Blog. I didn’t have any good reason other than wanting to learn. So, there may be some occasional problems as I work on t...
Oracle
Okay. So I spent about an hour downloading Oracle 9i Lite. But, was that what I needed? Nope. D’oh! Now I’m downloading Oracle 9i Enterprise Edition for Linu...
About Page
I just added an about page for anyone who is curious about me or my site.
Burning Cds In Linux
After downloading a copy of Oracle 9i Lite, I decided to burn it to a CD. I didn’t feel like waiting through another hour-long download if I could help it. S...
Web Server
Well, I finally got Apache running on the Linux machine. It took me quite a while to get it running; I kept going around in circles. I suppose that it would ...
Management Roles
I just finished the third chapter (Management Roles) in my MIS book (Introduction to MIS). It still isn’t the most fun subject, but I’m glad that it’s gettin...
Happy Labor Day
I hope that everyone had a good Labor Day. Hopefully, you didn’t have to work (well, not too much anyways). I didn’t do too much of anything. I tried watchin...
Linux Online
I finally got the laptop connected to the internet. In fact, I’m posting this entry from the laptop. It wasn’t too hard. Basically, I had to move the laptop ...
It’s Raining; It’s Pouring…
But I’m not asleep (though I do snore). :) The National Weather Service recently issued a flood watch for my area. A flood means lots of rain, right? We’ll y...
Linux Documentation
I’m not normally the type of person to read a manual when starting on something. I like to first get my hands “dirty” and then go back to the manual. Now tha...
Linux is Installed
Hi. The Linux install went rather smoothly. The only problem was that I had was a lack of a network connection. I didn’t have a cable long enough to reach fr...
Tivo Rocks
I recently got a Tivo unit that supports DirecTV. I must say that this is a must have item. You can pause live TV, record two different channels while watchi...
Linux Installation
Finally, after spending a day or so trying to get the installation discs downloaded, I am ready to install. Since this is my first Linux installation, I deci...
PayPal’s Back and my Linux Download
Well, I logged on to check to see how my Linux download was doing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. I tried downloading it again, but it said the server had too man...
Linux on a Laptop?
Well, I’ve got this laptop that I’m not using, so I figured why not put Linux on it? Anyways, I’ve got about another nine hours left on the download, so I gu...
Starting a New Class
Well, I just started my Introduction to Management Information Systems (MIS) class. I think that this is my last class before I get my degree. The class is a...
PayPal Gone?
Where did PayPal disappear to? I noticed that it has been unreachable at least since this morning.
ValueWeb Rant
I use ValueWeb as my web hosting company. Normally, I don’t have any problems with them. This week is different:
Return of Netscape vs. IE
Okay. Maybe it was just my IE settings. Anyways, I do like the “framed” look. And now that it’s working with IE, I’m happy.
Netscape vs. IE
Wow! There is a big difference between posting in Netscape vs. posting in IE. I think that I like the Netscape version better. However, it would be nice if i...
Done Formatting
Okay, I think that I’m finally done with the formatting of my Blog. I must admit that it took quite a bit to make it look like part of my site. But, it does ...
Let the Blogging Begin
Okay, I know what you’re thinking (actually, I don’t, but you could let me know). Why create a blog? Well, why not? I’ve got some free time. Maybe someone fi...