terpfan1980

Assorted thoughts in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

First, before I forget to comment more on this, I note that in today's print edition of The Washington Post there's yet another article about problems at Arlington Cemetery. That would be ARLINGTON, freakin', NATIONAL, CEMETERY. A place that should be hallowed and respected, but which apparently has had no end of political infighting and stupid mistakes which have resulted in a complete and total lack of respect to the dead and families of

And I thought it was hot a few days ago... in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

The record temps continue. Looking at the temperature widget (sidebar item in Windows 7 actually) a little bit ago I noticed that even though the sun had set hours ago the outside temps were recorded at 91 degrees (F, not C for those that use those silly metric units). The temps today peaked above 100 (F) and tomorrow isn't looking much better in that area. I went out with my daughter to get food and do a little shopping and after fetching the mail I stopped back by the hous

Concert was fun, but... in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

The concert tonite was fun, though I was reminded yet again why I tend to not enjoy myself as much at "Rock" concerts... Tonite's concert (for me and my daughter) was Dave Matthews Band with Zac Brown Band opening for them. We were there because we enjoy both acts, though I especially like the Zac Brown Band. Regardless, the crowd was, as it always seems at Nationals Park, late arriving and late getting into their respective seats so when Zac Brown Band started playing the

Just a bit over 24 hours and counting... in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

I've been waiting (im)patiently for tomorrow to get here and well, the point that I've been waiting for is finally, almost, here. Just over 24 hours (from the point I'm posting this) for another concert that I've been waiting for ever since it was announced and I was able to buy the tickets for it. My daughter and I are both looking forward to it and will (hopefully) be finding our way to our seats about this time tomorrow evening. The only bad part is that the current weath

I am sooooo disappointed in Politics JoeUser Forums

I am soooooo disappionted... Blago will apparently not be testifying on his own behalf. I was really looking forward to that potential circus and the fun it could lead to since just about anything he could have said would either have been a bald-faced lie or should have incriminated his obviously guilty self. It's truly a shame that his case isn't in front of Judge Judy. That would really have been entertaining. [e digicons]:w00t:[/e]

Another day of heat and humidity in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

Yet another awfully hot day in the neighborhood, though from what I saw of the local weather forecast, it looks like this weekend will be even worse. Enough with the heatwave already. We don't need to give the global warming types any reason to suspect that they might actually have a point. Me? I'm ready for the next ice age. :D

A year ago today in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

It was a year ago today that my family's life changed dramatically. Middle of the afternoon on a bright and sunny July 19th in the year 2009. I'd picked up groceries, gotten myself my daily $tarbuck$ and come back home to find the police officers parked outside the house. The news they passed along wasn't anything I'd ever have expected or wanted to hear, though the blow was softened in finding out that it was just my wife in the vehicle and that my daughter wasn't

Car shopping is done... in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

Car shopping is done. For now, I am the owner of a shiny new Kia Soul. In the future, it will be my daughter's car. The for now was for technical reasons as my daughter is just a little too young to sign legal documents and such. That won't take too much longer to change though. It seems to be a pretty nice set of wheels. Reasonably roomy inside, does well in crash tests (not that we intend to find that out), and sits up enough off the road to be comforta

The weekend nears... in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

While some people might read the date/time stamp on my post and figure out that I'm posting after 5PM and therefore the whistle should have blown and I should be on the way home I actually have just a little more of my work day left, but it is almost time for the weekend to begin and for that wonderful invention called the "nap" to begin for me. Well, once I get home that is. I'll probably catch a few winks for the afternoon and then wake up a little later tonite when the temps

As if I planned this... in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

One of the servers at work decided to go non-responsive in the mid-morning today... basically the middle of the work day, so of course I get the pleasure of having to reboot/recycle the box at a time that was completely off the regular schedule for any sort of system maintenance. Sure enough, a few users pick up on the loss of the system almost immediately which is to be expected since I wasn't able to send out any advance warning via e-mail (my own e-mail and that of several others is

Car shopping starts to move to the fore... in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

Now that the vacations have wound down, it seems that it's going to be car shopping time. I'll be working with my daughter to get her a vehicle. I think I already know what we'll be getting her, but am keeping options open for now. Perhaps by the end of the weekend we'll have things all wrapped up, but between now and then I'm going to visit my credit union and see what financing options we might get by going with them rather than the manufacturer's provided financing.

Reply to Larry King: CNN Loses a great interviewer in Entertainment Stardock Forums

Personally I think Larry King was better in much earlier days, on radio. He had gotten to be far too soft in his questions and instead of working on news he was definitely working on the entertainment side of his interviews. In the past he might have broken some news or at least helped listeners (and in the early days of his TV show, viewers) learn something new, but in his last several years appearances on his shows never broke any new ground and were just fluff pieces that were

Just another day... in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

Ah, settling back into the routine at work is just so much fun. Seriously, it always seems to be a few days (weeks?) after a vacation until you get back into the swing of the work habits and stop thinking about how you wish you'd had just a few more days of vacation. Such seems to be the case for me now as I'm trying to concentrate on work and remind myself that except for a few days off here and there between now and the end of the year, I'm pretty much done taking time away from work

And the bird pets have returned home in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

I picked up the bird pets from my co-worker's house where they had been living for the last few weeks... At least one of them seemed rather excited to see me and my daughter there to pick them up. I'm still in debt to my co-worker for being so kind in taking in the birds while I was going to be away from home. I think she enjoyed having them in her home, but it was still work and still a big favor for me. It had been so quiet in the house over the last few weeks. Tha

Vacation is almost over in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

Vacation is almost over. Heck, the travel part is basically done. All that is left is a some more local entertainment and then going to retrieve my pets from my co-worker's home (she and her s.o. graciously took my family pets in while we were away). I wish it hadn't gone so quickly, and really wish I had another 3 - 5 days to spend on the road. Actually I probably had the time if I had planned a little better, but then again, it would still have been much too rushed..

Reply to Not Getting Better? in Blogging Stardock Forums

You touched on one of the reasons that I got frustrated with donating blood at Red Cross drives. They used to bug the bejeezus out of me to come back again, and again, and again.... much as they do with giving them a cash donation, they seem to spend all of that money and much more trying to get me to give them even more as soon as they possibly can and that tends to ruin the good feeling that I might otherwise get as I think about trying to have done a good thing. There's

Asking a lot of faith (or for a lot of faith) in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

I was chatting on the phone with my mother last night, both of us having recently returned from the trip to see my aunt -- her sister -- and both of us wanting to think that the next few weeks and months for my aunt won't be her last. She's battling cancer for the second time and this time things don't seem to be going as well as anyone would like. She's a battler though and she is most definitely not giving up. She will try any treatment and push her doctor(s) to try any tr

In the nether period... in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

I'm in the nether period between trips... a fairly short period of time where I'm back in the office knowing that I'll be travelling again soon so I'm not as focused on work as I might otherwise be. I guess some might compare it to "twilight" anesthesia or something like that. It is kind of a nice experience, though I'll definitely be happier when the vacation picks up again and I get to enjoy myself with much less thought on work again.

Could still use some pointers for iPad usage at JU in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

I wanted to post a few articles over the last few days, but sadly I couldn't seem to get over the hump of getting a working blog writer app for iPad/iPhone. I did download a couple and follow a tip that was referenced in a prior article, but it seems that I need to do some more configuring and/or need a bit more of a push in the right direction. I can't recall now what I was originally going to write about. I'm sure it wasn't anything too important. Hopefully I'll be

Since when did SouthWest Airlines take over American? in Consumer Issues JoeUser Forums

Argh! I booked flights on American Airlines a few weeks ago and booked a later afternoon/evening flight so that I'd have time to get some work done during the day before flying out. As if! It seems that American Airlines has been taken over by SouthWest Airlines, or so it would appear from the the service that I've gotten from American thus far. When I went online to check-in for my flight I find that I can't check-in because I don't have assigned/selected seats yet.

It was 30 years ago today... in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

No, I'm not talking about Sargeant Pepper... As I took a walk around the campus at work I was struck by how frackin' hot it is outside and how it's the type of day that I tend to hate now as I'd rather it be more cool or mild than so unbearably hot. I was thinking that the last time I ever really enjoyed this sort of heat was around 30 or so years ago, back when my butt was firmly planted in a lifeguard's chair working at a pool (rec center not far from my hometown). I enj

Bye bye (for now) my pretties in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

I dropped off my pet birds at a friend's house today... she (a co-worker) and her husband will be taking care of them for my family for a little while. We've got some work to get done around the house and vacation mixed in along the way, so I took a look at the possible scheduling and made arrangements to drop the pets off today. A bit of a haul since my co-worker lives a decent distance away from my house (and our work site), but not too bad if I have time to make the ride and do

Off to go see Toy Story 3 in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

As mentioned in prior article, my plans for the day were changed. I was supposed to be going to a concert with my daughter, but instead we are going to go see Toy Story 3. We did take advantage of the rescheduling to go visit my in-laws so she could wish her grandfather a happy fathers day. We treated them to dinner (take out from the salad/buffet area at a nearby Whole Foods market). They seemed to enjoy that. Tomorrow is already planned out too, so it all w

And my plans get changed... in Life Journals JoeUser Forums

I had been planning on going to a concert this weekend but unfortunately I got notice today that the concert I had hoped to be going to has been postponed :( On the plus side, I guess that leaves me time to take my daughter to go see Toy Story 3. :)

Something to snicker about... in US Domestic JoeUser Forums

Something that had popped up in the news in the last few days was a note saying that thanks to Arizona's new "tougher" "anti-immigrant" laws many people that might feel some sympathy towards immigrants, including children of immigrants and/or legal immigrants, have been leaving Arizona and taking their families elsewhere. I have to snicker about this as I'm struck by just how much easier the law enforcement and immigration enforcement officers jobs will become thanks to this immigrant