Year is over

This year is over. Well, almost, but close enough for government work.

I always look forward to the start of a new year. Just something about what feels like a fresh start.

I hope everyone has a very safe New Year.

Growing Up

Today, my son and I went and bought my wife her birthday present and then went to McDonald's to eat lunch. We ordered and ate then afterwards he played on the indoor playground.

While I sat there and watched him play, I realized how fast he is growing up. I watched him as he interacted with the other kids. I saw kids that were still in diapers and how it wasn't that long ago he was their age. In a couple of weeks, he'll turn 6. It doesn't seem like it's been 6 years since he was born. In another 6 years, he'll be 12... almost a teenager.

I love my children. I missed watching my daughter grow up during this time of her life. And like most parents, I feel like my boy's time will soon be over, and he'll not want me around anymore.

He is so sweet, loving, caring and innocent. I don't want to see those qualities in him change.

I'm going to get off here and go play with him some more.

Parents, enjoy your children. Don't try to rush them from one stage of their life to another. It will be here before you know it.

Busy Vacation

I took this week off from work to lounge around the house, and not do a whole lot. Well, my wife and daughter changed my plans. My wife and I have switched rooms with her.

My daughters room was green and purple, and our room was a cream colour. Well, after repainting the rooms, our room is now summer pecan (light brown) and our daughters room is now hot pink and black.

This has been a lot of work. You don't have a clue how much work. Here are some pictures to help get across how much work this was. We nearly filled up a dumpster with the trash we moved out of the room and there was only a path through the living room during the move. There wasn't a single room in the house that didn't have some of my daughters stuff in it.

Downstairs room was:



Downstairs room now:




Upstairs room was:





Upstairs room now:

12/31/2005 > 24 hours

I was very interested in this article I found at CNN.

Long story short, December 31st will have an extra second added to the last hour of the year. Clocks usually go from 123:59:59 to 00:00:00. This year, the atomic clocks are having a second added. So, the time will go from 23:59:59 to 23:59:60 to 00:00:00. This will happen when it is midnight in the GMT time zone if I read the article correctly.

Looks like we will get to enjoy New Years Eve a second longer this year. What I did find interesting, is this is not the first year for the leap second. In fact, the first leap second happened in 1972. The last leap second was added in 1999.

A leap second is added to keep uniform timekeeping within 0.9 second of the Earth's rotational time.

So, not feeling just right, like something is off? Well there you go.

Home Improvement

Monday morning, we started the latest home improvement project. Well, if you want to call it that. My wife and I are moving upstairs to the largest bedroom in the house and our daughter is moving into ours.

So far, so good, but it's been crazy.

We have removed tons of trash and everything out of her room. I've just finished painting, and hopefully in the morning, my daughter and I will be able to put the trim back on and start moving everything from my current room to the new one. Once that is done, we'll paint the downstairs room and move all of her stuff from the living room, hall way, and anywhere else we have it stored, and into it. Then the hard part of cleaning and setting stuff back up. Though, that is one of my favorite parts.

Anyway, I'll have pictures soon. I'm too tired to mess with it now.

Christmas Part 3

Today, we had our Christmas get together with my dad's side of the family. It was really good to see everyone. I probably see this side of the family less than anyone else, and the sad thing is they live the closest to me.

We had a nice dinner, and then got to open some presents. I got some very nice wind chimes from my grandmother. I really like them.

My boy made me smile tonight. After he opened his presents, he said "I thought I would get more than that." hehehe. He had about 3 or 4 presents to open I would guess. Definatly the smallest set of presents of the 3 stops so far.

Tomorrow night, we'll have one last Christmas get together with the whole family on my mom's side. Same crew as Sunday, but more than double the people that were there. I think there will be close to 25 or so. Sunday, there was only 12.

Christmas Part 2

I finally woke everyone up around 7:30. Well, my wife got up a few minutes before I was about to wake her. We had several things to do this morning, so we had set a backup time for 7:30, never imagined we would use it.

My boy wasn't ready to get up till I said Santa has been here and he set up in bed so quick it was funny.

We had a good time opening presents. My wife loved her Ape Escape 2: Pumped and Primed PS2 game. My daughter enjoyed her DVD surround sound system that Santa got her. My boy loved all his presents especially the the Lights, Camera, Pants Spongebob Square pants PS2 Game and he even liked his Bicycle.

I got a Silicone oven mitt, a Chronicles of Narnia book I can read with my boy each night, and I think the best gift of all, Star Wars Episode III.

Once we were done here, my wife had to go to work for a while and me and the kids went to church. Afterwards, we went to my grandparents house. It was a lot of fun. I got a new leather jacket. Since my last one had a broken zipper and wasn't usable, this was a GREAT present! Thanks mom. (Not that she reads this.)

We all had a great day! We still have 2 more nights of Christmas to do and we'll finally be done.

I'm exhausted.

Waiting / Christmas Eve Recap

I'm sitting here waiting on the family to wake up so we can open presents.

I've been up for over an hour, but that really has been nice. I've been able to read my Bible and spend some time with God this morning before the busy day gets going.

Last night, we went to my in-laws. It's a big tradition that they have a big Christmas Eve shindig and as usually, it was a lot of fun, but as usually, we left late.

We have a Dirty Santa over there last night. I had number 2. Probably the worse number you can have in the game. The present I opened was a very nice BBQ set. I was ecstatic, but within 2 or 3 people, it was gone. So off to the stack to pick again. This time, I wasn't as lucky. I got a set of 4 OCC coffee mugs and 2 packets of coffee. Did I mention I don't drink coffee? Anyway, it was a lot of fun!

My daughter got a new car yesterday. It was the one I spoke about earlier. She is too happy. We sold her old car to a salvage for a whopping $50. Considering we spent $1300 when we bought it, that was sort of depressing. Hopefully she'll take better care of this one since she is paying for it.

Well, the family should be getting up shortly. Have a wonderful and safe Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be to all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
Luke 2:10-11

This is what today is really about. God sent his one and only son to earth as a baby. This was the greatest gift we have ever been given!
A couple of years after his birth, Wise men from the east, magi, came to him bringing gifts and to worship this child.

While you celebrate today, I pray you remember that Christmas isn't just about giving gifts to friends and family. It isn't' about food, or what you might get.

Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of our Lord! But the story doesn't end there. The story doesn't even end when Jesus was crucified. The truth is, the story hasn't ended. Christ rose from the dead that we may have eternal life. It is a free gift that He has offered us all. All any of us has to do is accept this gift.

I wish you a Merry Christmas, but more than that, I wish you the peace of accepting Christ as your personal Lord, Savior, and King.

Happy Christmas Eve!

Today is Christmas Eve. Many have already started their Christmas activities and may already be traveling.

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" - which means, "God with us"
Matthew 1:23

This prophecy from the days of Isaiah came to past over 2000 years ago when Mary gave birth to Jesus.

With all the activities, shoping, preperation, gift wrapping, hanging the light, traveling, the contriversy of Christmas vs Holiday; Remember that Christmas really is about Christ.

Happy Holy Days, and Merry CHRISTmas!

Whew

I finished making my last present of the day.

The thought of my day actually has me amused.

I woke up and worked on the car and truck.
I had a nice walk.
I did sevearl loads of laundy.
I cleaned out my daughter car and removed the stereo before we send it to the junk yard.
I worked on my grandmothers computer.
I did dished and more laundry.
I did some sowing
I wrapped some presents.

No wonder I'm tired.

Night all.

Happy Christmas Adam!

Yes!
Happy Christmas Adam!

What's Christmas Adam? Well, tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and everyone knows Adam came before Eve.

Busy Day

I did it! I replaced the radiator in the pick-up and it didn't have any leaks!

It really wasn't as bad as you would think it would be. I replaced the radiator, 2 hoses, 4 clamps and the thermostate for about $205. Not too bad.

I also got the car's oil changed and cleaned it up a bit and a couple loads of laundry done.

I'm exhausted. I'd like to rest, but I have to get some dishes done and finish up the laundry.

Look, I'm a mechanic... I hope.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day for me.

I will be replacing the radiator in the pick-up and changing the oil in the car.

I'm strangely looking forward to this. Maybe I'm sick?

This could be interesting.

Car problems, -2 +1

Tuesday night, the Mass Air Flow Sensor and the Crank Shaft positioning sensor were replaced on my car. I actually did the Mass Air Flow while a friend worked on the Crank Shaft sensor. It's nice driving without that silly check engine light staring at me.

However, As I stated before, with the truck overheating, it is time to replace it's radiator. Guess I get to learn something new next week.

Winter begins

At 12:35 p.m. today, winter officially starts.

What I find amusing is it is warmer than it has been in a week or 2.

Welcome Winter.

Funeral today

This morning is 2 of the kids funeral that died Sunday morning.

My wife and daughter are going to one of them. They are at the same time at 2 different locations, so they will not be able to go to both. Personally, I think this is good for my daughter. She was close to only really one of the kids, but after the loss of her best friend almost 2 years ago, the thought of her sitting through the funerals of 3 other kids isn't something I think she needs to do. Each of these funerals will bring back the memories of her other best friend she lost 2 years ago.

Please pray for both my wife and daughter though. This will not be easy for them.

Big Bang Theory

Ok, do you see the title there? Big Bang Theory.

Theory. hmmmmmm.

Lets look up theory in the dictionary and you'll see several different definitions. My favorite is:

An assumption based on limited information or knowledge; a conjecture.

If it is a theory, an assumption based on limited infomration, then why are we even teaching this in the schools? And why are they teaching it as fact.

When I was in high school, we had about 10-15 minutes on the Big Bang. She said something to the effect of:

I do not believe in what I am about to teach you, but the majority of you will be going to college, and you will at least need to know about this. So here you go...

There are all these complaints and law suites, etc about Intelligent Design and Big Bang Theory and Creationism, etc.

Here is what I think, and I know that is very little.

Don't teach any of it.
That is right. Don't teach Big Bang, don't teach Creationism (well, except in church), don't teach anything else. Then, there isn't this big to do.

Truth is, it all comes down to Faith.
I belive in the Big Bang... God spoke and BANG it happened.
So, I belive that God created EVERYTHING! Why? Do I have any proof other than the Bible said so? No. So why do I belive it? FAITH.
Can any of these scientists really prove what they belive? No. why do they believe? Faith. Now they wouldn't say that, but it's true.

Hebrews 11:1 - Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

None of this is seen, we all take it on faith.

So, as long as they are teaching something that comes down to faith, then Faith is still being taught in schools.

Tron anyone?

While over at Gizmodo, they had a story about lighted frisbee's.

These look cool. You can find these at The Cool Hunter

Tron anyone?

Car problems (again)

I've had an interesting morning.

This evening, I will be getting 2 sensors in my car fixed finally. They have been going out for several months but we didn't have the money to get them fixed. Now I do. So I've made arrangements with one of the men in my church who is a mechanic and he said he'd fix it. I got the parts ordered, and we are to fix it tonight. Because of this, I was going to have my wife take the car today so it wont get as hot as if I had driven it into Tulsa. That left me with the truck.

The morning started pretty good. I got up and round and left on time. Dropped my boy off at day care and was on my way to Tulsa and it appeared I would be at work on time.

Just after I passed Owasso, my "check gauges" light came on and the truck was getting close to 250 degrees... Still out of the red zone on the gauge. I pulled over and steam was just came billowing out of the engine. Once I got the hood opened, what I found most interesting was the cap to the radiator was cool to the touch, not the least bit hot.

I knew the truck had a radiator fluid leak, but it had never gotten bad enough to overheat it, even when pulling a loaded trailer in the middle of summer to Falls Creek.

Well, my wonderful wife was able to leave work and come help me out. We got the truck filled with fluid and off again. We took are car to where we will work on it tonight, so it will be nice and cool when replacing those sensors. We then went to my wife's parents house and they let us borrow a car for the day. My wife took the truck back to work, and I followed her to make sure she got there safe and sound. Once she was at work, I finally made the trip into town. I was only 1.5 hours late. Oh well, guess it could have been worse.

PS2 Adaptor

If you have a PlayStation 2, your AC adaptor may need to be replaced.

You can find the full text here on Sony's web page.

So, stop reading this and go take a look at your Playstation and it's AC adaptor.
You will need the following information for their web page.

• PlayStation 2 model number
• PlayStation 2 barcode number
• AC Adaptor Manufacturer
• AC Adaptor Date of Manufacture

This is for Playstation's sold after October 2004.

17 years ago

17 year ago today, I had a car wreck.

I had gone to see a friend for her birthday. I was driving home down a gravel road, and topped a hill like I had done hundreds of times before, but this time, there was a car topping the hill in front of me. At the bottom was a one lane bridge. (and I knew you could not get 2 cars across a 1 lane bridge at the same time)

I hit my brakes as hard as I could, but not too hard, gravel handles like snow), and the other car got across the bridge and I tried to get my car onto the bridge and missed getting my right tire on the bridge by about 2 or 3 inches.... The car flipped into the creek.

Long story short, I ended up having some complications in the hospital. I had 105.8 degree temperature, 106 is brain hemorrhaging. I had NIGHTMARES and only remember bits and pieces of that time. I ended up with rheumatic Fever. I opened my Christmas presents in the Hospital that year, but I didn't (and still don't) remember doing it. When I finally got home from the hospital mom had to show me the presents.

God was watching after me during that time. The doctors told my parents that they could do nothing more for me, and whether I lived or died, it was up to me. (Course we all know it was up to God)

I had planned on talking a bit more about this, but it's late.

car wreck

We got word this morning that my daughters best friend was killed in a car wreck overnight with 2 other kids. I do not believe her friend was the one driving. Without going into much detail, they were in a little honda and pulled out in front of a semi.

She is so upset right now.

Please Pray for:

1. My daughter.
2. These kids families.
3. The driver of the semi. I have no information about him. I'm sure is is probably fine, but emotionally, I doubt it.
4. My wife and I as we try to help our daughte through this.
   

Road Condition Numbers

I am proud to anounce Oklahoma has joined the surounding states in offering toll free road condition checks.

Here are the numbers for the 5 state road conditions:

800-245-1672 - Arkansas
800-585-7623 - Kansas
800-222-6400 -Missouri
888-425-2385 - Oklahoma
800-452-9292 - Texas

Christmas Shopping Done

I finished up my Christmas shopping today.

I went one of the Stores in Owasso today looking for something for my wife. I got to the store, and they only had a display. I asked someone about it, they looked it up in the computer and showed there was one in Claremore. We called the store and the person we talked to said they had it. We had them put my name on it, and off to Claremore I went to get it. I got to the store, and couldn't find it where they said it would be. I found someone and asked them about it. Turns out they were out afterall. Someone had put the wrong item in the bin and it was inventoried that way. So, ended up leaving empty handed.

I was able to find the last of my wife's presents and what I need to make my present for the Dirty Santa at my grandmother's house inspite of the adventure.

I can't wait till Christmas!

School Party

Today was a first for me.

I went and helped out in my boy's class for his Christmas party.

It was a lot of fun, and I didn't find myself going crazy at all. I was a bit concerned before going.

Afterward, we went to his Baby-sitters house and got to see Santa, and he got to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas.

It was a fun afternoon.

Car Shopping

Well, it appears that we have stumbled upon a very nice deal on a 93 Saturn SC2 Coupe.
It has spoiler, leather (or pleather not sure) interior, electric locks/windows/right mirror/sun roof. It has a 124 HP twin-cam and gets around 25 city/34 hwy

We may get rid of the Mazda 323 letting my daughter buy this car instead. We explained we would not buy it since we bought her a car already and she has trashed it. That isn't our fault.

Her insurance will go up a bit, but if she can get that B average back, it would actually drop.
The car belongs to one of my wife's bosses son. But before Christmas, she may be sporting a new set of wheels... We'll have to see.

Doom

It appears that there is now a movie based on the fun first person shooter Doom.

What I find most amusing is that it was released on October 21st, and I've just found out about it. Doesn't sound like it's going to be a blockbuster or anything.

Happy Holidays?

Ok, I just had to add my 2 cents in here.

Happy Holidays? I don't have a problem with the phrase. If you are wishing many groups of people Happy Holidays. You don't know what holiday they are celebrating. They may be celebrating Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukkah, or something else.

I send out Christmas Cards! Why? cause that is what they are. I do not know if people send out Hanukkah or Kwanza cards or not, but I've never heard of them. They are Christmas Cards.

I have a Christmas Tree! Why? cause that is what it is. They don't have Kwanza tree's or Hanukkah tree's. They are Christmas Tree's.

I understand that the Christmas Cards that were sent out from the White House said Happy Holidays in them, well, yea. Think about who all their cards are going to. Why was there a fuss about it? They are printed generically. The white house could print and mail groups to all the different people and have their special holiday on the cards to those people. Course, that would cause people to throw a fit to. Get over it!

I don't believe we need to get bent out of shape over the phrase Happy Holidays, but removing the word Christmas from typical Christmas items is taking it too far.

Merry Christmas!

Oh, and if you are offended that I wished you Merry Christmas? You can get over it, cause you obviously get offended over silly things.

Christmas Shopping

We finished up Christmas shopping for my son last night.
So, I think we are all done except for a present I have to make for a dirty santa we are doing at my grandmothers house, and I need to finish up shopping for my wife.

She has given me a few ideas, but for some reason she is the hardest to buy for. I think it's because I want her to enjoy her presents more than anyone else.

Hopefully I'll get them taken care of this weekend.

Google Reader Update

I really did not intend on making a post so quickly about Googles new Reader, but after using it yesterday afternoon/evening and this morning, I just had to give my thoughts.

I really do like it as much as I thought I was going to. I had been using Bloglines as a reader but there were things about it I did not like. My main complaint with Bloglines was I could go several days without seeing an update for a site, and then have 3+ days worth of posts show up.

With Reader, it seems to find the updates much quicker.

Reader is a really nice tool.

Counting

My son, who is almost 6, asked me if he could count to 100. I told him I didn't know, and to try it.

Well, he did it. He actually when to 101.

What I find so funny is after Christmas break, they will be having their 9 weeks test, and on it, he has to count to 20.

I'm so proud.

Google Reader

Google has done it again.

Google has another program that is in beta that you can give a try.

Google Reader

It is an RSS feed reader similar to Bloglines for those that use it. I'm switching over all my blogs that I monitor using Bloglines to the Google Reader.

So far, what little I've played with it, I've liked. Just type in the address of the blog (i.e. tkjarrard.blogspot.com) and hit enter. It finds it and you can preview the feed. If that is what you want, click the subscribe button.

I'll try to give an update in a couple days and let you know what I think.

Kid Friendly PS2 Games

I'm a bit frustrated.

My son, who is almost 6, loves to play the PS2 (Playstation 2 for all you that don't know what I'm talking about). It seems that though there are a lot of sites out there, like GameSpot that review games, none really give me a good idea if it is a game that my son could play.

I know the ESRB ratings are there, but just because the game is rated for Everybody, doesn't mean my almost 6 year old is able to play the game. For example, Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius is rated E, and my boy is able to play that without much help from me. However, Heroes of Might and Magic is also rated E, but he could not play this game.

I haven't decided yet, but I'm considering getting a GameFly subscription and renting different games and playing them with my son decide if they are games that are games kids can/should play and then either starting a new blog or making posts here about mine and my boys thoughts of the game.

I know he would like that idea since he would get to play more games.... I'll have to think about this some more.

7 Things

I've just been tagged by Bowden from Counseling Notes.

So, I'll give this a shot.

Seven Things I Want To Do Before I Die
1. Live in the mountains
2. Watch my kids graduate from college
3. Have a house with a fireplace
4. Have a house with a pool
5. Give my daughter away to a Godly man
6. Watch my son marry a Godly woman.
7. Get (and stay) out of debt

Seven Things I Cannot Do
1. Stop eating Olive Garden bread sticks
2. Say not to Canadian Bacon pizza
3. Stop biting my finger nails
4. Understand my wife and/or daughter
5. Go a month without hurting myself in some silly way
6. Go a couple hours without checking my email.
7. Pass by Star Wars when it's playing on TV.

Seven Things That Attract Me To My Wife (romantic interest, best friend, whatever applies to you)
1. Her smile
2. Her laugh
3. Her honesty
4. How great of a mother she is
5. How beautiful she is
6. What a giving woman she is
7. Her Faith in God

Seven Things I Say Most Often
1. Theoretically...
2. No! (that's for my children)
3. Google it!
4. *sigh* (again for my children)
5. Does that make sense?
6. Loop it.
7. Let me check the weather.

Seven Books, Or Series, That I Love
1. JRR Tolkien Lord of the Rings/Hobbit
2. The Elric Saga
3. Neuromancer
4. Star Wars books
5. ShadowRun books
6. Star of the Guardian series
7. My Bible

Seven Movies I Would Watch Over and Over Again
1. Star Wars (all 6 of them)
2. The Lord of the Rings Extended (all of 3 them)
3. Pirates of the Caribbean
4. Hildago
5. Robin Hood: Prince of Theives
6. The Princess Bride
7. Harry Potter movies

Seven People I Want To Join In To
1. Tracey
2. Laura
3. Kimberly at Momma Moments
4. Hannah
5. Addie
6. Caitlin
7. Chad

It is amazing how difficult this was. It has taken me a several days to do this. The Movies/Books/ and my wife were easy to fill in, it was the others that took so much time.

I'm a Monkey...

I saw this cute survey on Stevens blog, and decided to take it.

You Are A: Monkey!

Monkeys are intelligent and agile, well-adapted for jungle life as they swing happily from tree to tree. As a monkey, you are a social animal who is quick to learn new things, loves to climb and is known to show off. A monkey's tiny primate features are irresistable, as is his gregarious personality!

You were almost a: Duck or a Squirrel
You are least like a: Chipmunk or a LambDiscover What Cute Animal You Are!

Give it a try, it's amusing.

I hate being sick

I hate being sick. Friday, I left work early because I wasn't feeling good. I think I got a cold. Well, last night, I also got the stomach virus that is going around.

Not been a good weekend for me.

Redneck Christmas pt. 2

A couple weeks ago, I had talked about Redneck Christmas lights.

Well, I have a new one for you, but this time, it's a bit closer to home. This belongs to my brother-in-law.


You might be a redneck if you have one of Santa's reigndeer hanging up for slaughter... in your front yard.

hehehe

Dr Pepper

I love Dr. Pepper. It is by far my favorite soft drink!

Well, I was at Walmart the other day, and found Dr. Pepper with the old 10-2-4 label. Not only was it the old label, but it was also made with Imperial Pure Cane sugar!!!

This made me soooooooooo happy. Soda made with sugar is so much better than when it is made with corn syrup. I've had it before. But only at the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas.

I hope this is not just a random thing and they will continue to ship Dr. Pepper with sugar.

If you see it and you like Dr. Pepper, give it a try. You WILL notice a difference!

Snow Fun

Last night, almost 9, me and the kids went outside and played in the snow.

Both kids made snow angels, and then we went and sledded in the road. It was a lot of fun even though it was a bitter cold 16 degrees.

Here are some pix of the fun event.

Sad Day

Today we had to put down Dixie, our German Shepard. She was a really good dog, but has been acting really strange the last few weeks. She has been on high doses of valium and benadryl, while the other meds take effect, but she just wasn't getting any better.

I was up with her till about 1 a.m. trying to get her to settle down and stop crying, but she never did. I finally had to put her in the bathroom and shut the door so I could hopefully get some sleep.

We are all very sad today, especially my wife.

Dry Gulch Christmas Train

I was reading this story on KOTV's web page that the Dry Gulch Christmas Train wasn't going to run this year.

We went a few years ago, and it was really fun. My boy first rode a pony while we were there.

If you have never been, it really is fun. Old West town during Christmas. While on the Trainride, you get to see the True Message of Chirstmas.

Bowling

I almost forgot to tell you. At bowling last night, I think I bowled my 2 best games ever.

I got a 149 the first game and a 167, I think, for the second game.

I know those aren't great, but considering I only bowl once or twice a year, that isn't too bad.

It was a lot of fun.

Fun night out.

Last night, when I got home from work, we had our $90 state refund check. So we went out to eat at a chineese buffet which is Miranda's and Tracey's favorite place to eat.

We had a coupon for a free game of bowling and shoes for up to 5 people. So we went and bowled. It was a lot of fun. As my wife already expained on her blog, fun times like that doesn't happen a lot. Not as a whole family anyway.

8 years ago today...

... I proposed to the love of my life! (yes, I mean my wife) :)

It was a Friday.

I bought my wife a dozen red roses and sent her a 11 of them to her work. Thanks to her boss at the time, she noticed that 1 was missing, and she called and asked me how many I had bought. I told her "a dozen why?" That's when she said that there were only 11. hehe Little did she know I had more in plan for her. She did ask that when I get the other rose, if I could get something besides red. She loves the look of red roses, but they are not a aromatic as other colors. I told her I would see.

Well, That was my last day working for the City of Tulsa. So, being the last day and all, I got to leave early. Well, I went and picked up the single rose, and slid the engagement ring over the stem. I was ready to propose... Once I found a place to do it. So off I go to find a nice place to propose.

It took me a while, but I finally found it. I found a nice park with a beautiful pond and the like... It was beautiful. Now I had the problem of figuring out how to get her there.

I picked her up from work, and I started heading to the park. She asked me where we were going, and I told her I wanted to show her something. On the way to the park, there was a tree covered in shoes. It was the strangest thing I've ever seen, and anyone who knows my wife knows how much she loves shoes, so I thought it would be something to get us to that part of town.

Anyway, I showed her the tree, and drove the next couple of blocks to the park, and I pulled over and got out and walked around to her side of the car and opened her door. When I helped her out of the car, I reached down behind the seat and picked up the other rose. We walked over to a bench next to the water and as we sat down, I bent down on one knee and proposed.

It was beautiful. The took the ring off the rose and put it on her finger and just kept looking at it.

Of course, all of our special moments are always interrupted by something. As we were walking back to the car, some lady comes up to us and asks us if we are the couple looking for the kid. Of course, that wasn't us.

Well, as we left the park and got back on the highway, I looked over to her and said "I assume this is a yes since you haven't said anything?" hehe unfortunately, we had to go and get the ring sized, but did we have a story for the City Christmas party that night.

I love you honey!

Movie Night

Last night, my wife and I had the house to ourselves! I was a very nice change of pace. We haven't had more than an hour or so alone in a long time.

Well, we had a little dinner and then watched a couple movies that we had rented from Netflix.

We watched Batman Beings and Ladder 49.

Batman Begins was a very good Batman movie. I really liked it. It was very well done and I really didn't have any complaints about the movie. I think I would enjoy watching that again. I would not have a problem letting my nearly 6 year old watch this movie, but I'm not sure he would. It definatly showed more of Bruce Wayne then Batman. That isn't bad, but a Batman movie for kid it does not probably make. I may eventually purchase this movie.

Ladder 49 was an ok movie but I will NEVER watch it again. Not for me. Stop reading if you want to watch this movie and not know a couple things. Spoiler for Ladder 49 ahead.









Ok, last chance, I'm talking about it now.
I am a Sci-Fi/Fantasy buff. Love these types of movies. I usally only see a movie like Ladder 49 is when I'm watching it with my wife. It was ok. the first 90 to 95% of the movie was great! Infact, I would have enjoyed the movie very much if it had a different ending. As you are reading this, you have either seen it, or don't plan on it. But as you may, or may not, know, the main character Jack dies at the end of the movie. He does a very self sacrificing thing. That in itself was good, but he leaves his wife and 2 kids behind.

I've been told I live in a dream world, and maybe I do, but I like movies to have a happy ending. They should have saved Jack from the fire so he can go home to his wife and kids. Don't want to save him? Fine, let him sacrifice himself for the sake of the othe firefighters that are coming in to save him, but don't let the guy be married with kids.

Hildago - Lord of the Rings

A while back, I first watched Hildago. I love this movie.

Tonight, I just found out something new. The actor that played Frank Hopkins also played Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings.

That's right, Viggo Mortensen.


I've liked him in these 2 movies... don't care for his politicial views, but he is a good actor.

Windows XP PowerToys

One of the guys I work with found this very interesting link on the Microsoft web page

Microsoft PowerToys for Windows XP.

I few of them looked interesting.

1 in particular is really cool. It is Atl-Tab Replacement.

With this PowerToy, in addition to seeing the icon of the application window you are switching to, you will also see a preview of the page. This helps particularly when multiple sessions of an application are open.

If you are running Windows XP you can click here and download the executable. But I would suggest you go to Microsofts page and look at the other things you can download as well.

Let it snow

Monday we had our first snow. Now, don't get too excited, it was a very light snow. And when I say light, I mean a couple very light snow flurries. Probably shouldn't even classify it as snow, except I like snow and would like to see more of it.

Redneck Christmas

If you have Nascar's pulling Santa's sleigh instead of reindeer, you might be a redneck...

(Sorry the picture isn't better, but I pulled over along side the highway, with lots of cars speeding by and strong north winds. Click for a larger picture.)

You can find this light display at 126th street North and Highway 169. It is on the west side of the road.

Christmas Tree

I posted earlier about putting up the Christmas Tree, but forgot to post any pictures.

So, here you go.

Reindeer pretzels

My wife is so creative!!!
As many of you know, my wife created my son's halloween costume.

This evening, she made reindeer pretzels.

I helped a bit, but my wife and son did most of the work.

Shopping update

I had planned on making this post on Friday, but the day got away from me.

Anyway, I can give you the detailed version or the short version, and while I was shopping I had planned on the long version, but now that I'm typing I think I'll go short.

I left the house Friday at 7:15 and headed to Tulsa. Hit 2 stores and headed back to Owasso to finish up my shopping.

I ended up getting presents for 8 people on my list (only didn't get 1 person that I really went for), and bought a few presents for the kids as well.

I got my Christmas cards mailed out and I was home by 1:15.

I got the house cleaned up and we decorated our Christmas tree Friday evening.

I'll have to finish up my Christmas shopping in a couple weeks when I have more money.

Shopping

Well, I'm off to see the wizard...

Ok, not really, but I am off to do some Christmas shopping.

(Indiana Jones Theme song playing in background.) Ok, that will also probably be Christmas music, but you get my point. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to take just a moment and wish everyone a wonderfully Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you have a very good day today and can hopefully spend time with some friends and family.

I'll get to spend the day at my parents house eating too much WONDERFUL food. It should be nice day. My sister and her family will be up too. I'm sure I'll help my parents put up their Christmas lights.

Anyway, I guess I need to get around.

Have a good day all, please be careful as you go about.

Interactive Voice Response Systems

I hate them! Absolutly hate IVR's. Occationally, they are ok and they help me out, but that is about once every 100 times.

Well, Thanks to some handy recording of some interesting short-cuts, it may be possible to skip some of the "push 1 to return to the main menu, push 2 to scratch your butt", and actualy talk to a real person.

Anyway, here is a list of commands to by-pass the IVR's and get to a real person.

Christmas Lights

I finished getting my Christmas lights up tonight.

I was given some lights from my grandmother, and I wanted to get them up before going to my parents on Thursday because I'm taking everything I didn't use to them, plus some stuff my grandmother wanted them to have.

Anyway, here are the pictures.

Joke of the Day

Well, This is just too funny not to share, and you are the lucky ones I get to share with.

Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.

System requirements

I almost forgot how hard PC games were on your computer. And what I mean by that is the minimum and recommended requiremetns are that your PC needs to be.

Seems like it gets higher and higher. Now, I realize that as machines get faster, it is only natural that games use what they are given.

It also amazes me how far back my PC is. On a day to day basis, my home machine is fine, but it couldn't even begin to push these newer games.

Here is an example.
I ran across a game called Earth 2160 today. It really looked interesting to me. So I decided to check out the system requirements. Was I surprised.

Minimum:
Operating System: North American version of 2000/XP with latest service Packs
CPU: Pentium 4 1.5 GHz or equivalent
Memory: 512MB Ram
Hard Drive Space: 1.5GB
Multiplayer: 56kbps

Recommended:
CPU: Pentium 4 2.0 GHz or equivalent
Memory: 1 GB Ram
Hard Drive Space: 2.0 GB
Multiplayer: LAN or Broadband

Anyway, guess I'll not be getting a new PC game anytime soon.

Ouch!

Ouch, I hurt.

I hung Christmas lights on the house yesterday and I'm sore. Moving and climbing the ladder, up down, up down, up down... I started around 1:30 or so, and finished around 7:30 or so. Thought the house is starting to look really good.

Hopefully I'll get the outside decorated before thanksgiving, so that will be one less thing I need to do on the weekend.

HEAT!

We have heat again!

Actually, we had it last night. One of our friends is a Heat & Air guy. I called him yesterday and asked him to come out and look at it. He confirmed my theory. The exhaust fan died. Actually, a fan blade rusted off... That isn't good. New motor would cost about 30% of a new unit.

The old unit was an 80% efficiency unit. We ended up getting a 93% efficiency. Hopefully we'll see some savings there!

We got it mostly set up yesterday. We had heat last night, but there was more to do today. My friend came over today and finished up.

Ahhh, a warm house.

Thanks Dave!

brrr

I bet you are going to guess I'm going to talk about the fact it is 6:47 am and it is 31 degrees according to my digital thermometer. Well, other than bringing that up, you would be WRONG!

I woke up early this morning, so I got up and around. While sitting in the living room reading my Bible, the heater, which has been making some noises (not as bad as they were), came to a crunching halt. It sounded like someone literally threw a wrench in the fan motor.

So, I turned it off until we can get it looked at. It was 64 degrees in the house we I did that. It is currently 61.2 and dropping.

Bunny Rocky Horror

A friend sent me this link today, and I was amused.

I use to be a huge fan of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I loved it in college.

Well, if you haven't seen it, here is the 30 second Cliff Notes version... with Bunnies.

Yes, the actors are bunnies. hehe

25 - 34

I just took a survey tonight, and I am still amused that I can answer that I am in the 25-34 age bracket.

I only have this year and next to answer that question, then I become middle aged.

Almost Time!

Well, it is almost that time. Thanksgiving!

This is one of my 2 favorite holidays!!!

Turkey, Ham, mashed potatoes, cranberry sause (the kind in the can that comes out looking like said can), homemade rolls, sweet potatoes with marshmallows. Then you can't forget about the pie a couple hours after dinner... (like there room for the pie right after dinner)

Then there is going through the sales cataloges and figuring out the shoping schedule for early Friday morning. Usually, when I come home on Friday, I've got most of my Christmas presents bought.

We already have 6 Christmas presents bought.
We still have about 9 presents to buy, plus finish up my wife, son, daughter, and my wife may have more shopping for me.

A cold front is to come through, to that should help the weather get back down where it should be and really help get me into the mood.

December 13th Vote

Well, it appears that residents of Tulsa County will be voting on December 13th.

Ted Wright had a sample ballot on his cvilleok.com web site. You can view the sample ballot here.

There will be 5 items on the ballot.

1) Juvenile Center & Courthouse Renovations
2) Tulsa County Parks
3) Phase 3 Expo Square
4) Improving Selected Tulsa County Roads S-Curve
5) Cell Phone Location For 911 Dispatchers

So, you can expect to start seeing more about all of this on the TV and Radio soon.

Successful Party

The party was a great success.

She didn't have the 50 people she first said, or the 20 she figured would show up, so other than having more food than we needed, things were about perfect.

There were a few people that were not able to make it, so that was sad, but there were several people here. I think overall, maybe 15 people showed up, but only about 9 for dinner.

My wifes ice cream cake was a hit! It was good, but too sweet for me. Course I'm not a huge sweet eater.

About 10 till midnight, the last 2 boys left. My daughter and her 2 friends that spent the night went upstairs to watch amnityville horror.

I think eveyone had a good time. Most importantly though was my daughter did.

Birthday Party Prep

We are having my daughters birthday party tonight. She's almost an adult even if she thinks she already is.

I'm hoping we wont have more than 20 or so people show up.

We are having a huge Mexican Extravaganza.

Homemade corn tortillas, chicken fajitas, homemade salsa, homemade guac.
She is having a ice cream cake. For those who don't know has an oreo cookie crust, ice cream, brownies, cool whip, hot fudge.

Well, still some cleaning to do, so I better get to it.

Say a prayer for me, after the party, a few girls will be spending the night.

This should be fun.... I hope.

Lost

Well, last nights Lost was good.

I'm not going to say much since my cousin wont see it till this coming week.

All I will say is from the commercial that says one of these will be lost forever, I see 3 possibilities on who that might be.

Microsoft... BAH!

At work, I have been beta testing Mircosofts Visual Studio 2005.

I go to upgrade to the offical realease version, and this is what I am met with.

For best results, install on a computer that has not had pre-release versions of SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005, or the .NET Framework 2.0 installed on it.

If your computer has any of the pre-release versions on it, they must be removed in the correct order BEFORE you begin installing the release version. This process is not officially supported.

Um, hello, I've been beta testing your stuff and you aren't going to make it easy for me to upgrade?

*sigh*
Doesn't make me want to beta test anything else of theirs.

Visual Studio 2005 - FREE

That's right, you can now get a free version of Visual Studio 2005 from Microsoft.

From the way I read their FAQ, you have 1 year to download them at no cost. After that year, you will not have to pay a license fee, so they stay free.

You can read all about it here.

Here is a quote from their page about these "Express Editions".

Lightweight, easy-to-use, and easy-to-learn tools for the hobbyist, novice, and student developer.

You can get Express Editions for:

Visual Basic 2005
Visual C# 2005
Visual C++ 2005
Visual J++ 2005
SQL Server 2005
Visual Web Developer 2005

If you are interested in programming and want to upgrade your software library, now is the time.

Lords Army

Last night we had a Sunday Night Sing. Basically, anyone in the church that wants to sing can. We also had a woman from another church sing last night too. It was awesome.

However, in my own personal highly biased opinion, the best song sung all night was from my boy.

Listen! - Sorry, I'm having technical difficulties. The link I posted earlier isn't working.

I was so impressed. He stood up on stage while I held the mic for him, and he just went to town. Especially on the second verse. He didn't do the motions, but that was ok.

I was so proud of him! The people in the audience didn't phase him a bit. He even looked around at the people while he was singing and didn't just stare at me the whole time.

:)

The week to come.

This is going to be such a busy week!

Today, I woke up early and once I get to work I have about 10+ things I HAVE to get done, and it will be hard getting them all done before the end of the day.
Tomorrow, we are going to my parents place. My sister and her kids are up. This will be the first time I've seen it since I helped move them in, and definitely the first since they've unpacked.
Wednesday is Church.
Thursday, finish getting ready for my daughters 17th birthday party.
Friday, my daughters 17th birthday party! We are having a Mexican extravaganza as I put it. Home make corn tortillas, cheese dip, home made guacamole and who knows what else. She's planning on inviting a lot of her friends over.
Saturday, my sons last soccer game this season.

Anyway, this should be a very busy, and hopefully good week... If we can get to the end of it.

Pirates!

Wow, now this was an interesting article! Imagine, being on a cruise with your sweet heart, and while on the cruise, pirates attack your ship, and try to board. They didn't use cannons and swords though, they used rocket propelled grenades and machine guns.

Well, that is what happened it Seabourn Cruise Lines' "Spirit" Saturday morning as they travelled off the shore of Somalia.

Now those people will have stories to tell!

You can read about it in this CNN story.

Windows XP Firewall Grayed Out and black screen

As I discussed yesterday, I'm working on another computer ravaged by viruses and spyware.

Well, after finally getting the machine cleaned up, I installed Windows XP SP2.
After the install, the screen went black after it got past the windows screen.
I finally went in through Safe Mode (F8) and the only thing I noticed was there were 2 video adapters installed. I disabled the on board video card, and all was good.

Well, with that part.

I went in to make sure that the firewall settings were turned on. Not only were they off, but they were grayed out. What I found was a program (probably a spyware program) put in the following 2 registry keys, both under the WindowsFirewall folder. With these keys disabled, even if you put Windows Firewall on your machine, it will not work, and it isn't easy to figure out. (I've spent hours.)

Under normal circumstances, the keys do not exist, so just delete the keys, reboot, and all is good. Well for me they were anyway.

As always, if you don't know what you are doing, don't mess with this, you screw up your registry, and you'll have a very bad day.

Anyway, here is what you need to delete

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Polices\WindowsFirewall

Here we go again!

You've heard me complain before about viruses and spyware and how to fix it. Well, I'm working on someone else's computer from my church. They had close to 350 viruses and about 113 spyware entries.

They had a virus scanner, but from what I could tell, they never updated the software, or hadn't in a very long time. Task manager would not even open, everytime you tried, the spyware/viruses would kill it.

Luckily, I had Spybot and AVG burned onto a disk with the latest updates. So cleaning this up has been better than when I worked on my grandfathers machine a few months ago.

I'm working on installing Service Pack 2 for XP right now. Once I turn on the firewall, that should help a lot. Still have a lot of work to do, but the machine is working so much better now. Will be even nicer once I'm finished.

There's a mouse in my engine!

You know what's so funny about that title? For me, today, it was true.

I just dropped my boy off at daycare, and was headed to work. Just as I was getting on the highway, I noticed a leaf and what appeared to be some kind of worm between the hood and the front left quarter pannel.

As I glanced at it, the worm started to come out, then back in, then out again, then back in, and finally completely in.

"That's a mouse!" I thought to myself.
Well, I couldn't take the suspense, so I got off the highway and pulled into Walmart, popped the hood, and there, in the engine, was a cute little grey mouse!

"Get out of there!" I screamed at him, and to my horror, he crawled down into the wires, hoses, etc. never to be seen again.

I hope he doesn't chew through any of the wires or hoses.

So, anyone know how to get a mouse out of your engine?

Can you get some Cadavers at the store?

There are some days, what you read isn't what is written.

We have a white board on our fridge that we put items on when we are out so we will remember to get them at the store. Well, yesterday, I glanced on there to see what was there and I read

Butter
Dish Soap
Dish Washer soap
Cadavers

Needless to say, I did a double take. What was actually written was

Butter
Dish Soap
Dish Washer soap
Cavenders

See cadavers are dead bodies, cavenders is a type of seasoning.

Don't want to get those confused.

Halloween weekend

We had a good Halloween weekend.

My wife and son went to a spook hay ride Saturday night and got home about midnight. After church Sunday morning, my wife wanted a nap, so my son and I stayed up and played, and tried to let her have her nap. By the time she woke up, I realized we didn't have any pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns. So I grabbed the kids, and we ran off to Walmart to get 2. When we got to Walmart, no pumpkins outside... that's ok, inside we go. None there either unless you count the bitty ones, and they don't make good jack-o-lanterns. So, we run to Home Depot since they were suppose to have some... none there either. Ok, I will not be deterred, but we are running out of time. Off to Reasors we go, but on our way, we passed an Albertson. Let give them a try. We pull, in and find some.... YEA! The kids pick out theirs, we pay and head home. Because we are in a hurry, I take a turn just a bit to fast, and my daughters pumpkin rolled across the floor of the car, and the stem broke off... I was in trouble. She has spend a lot of time looking for the perfect pumpkin. We get home, and while they are getting ready for the Harvest festival, I hot glued the stem back on the pumpkin.
Sunday night, our church had a Harvest Festival at the Skiatook Community Center. It was a lot of fun. We had a good turn out. Everyone was impressed with my boys costume.

As we were leaving, I told my wife that all his costume needed was a few lights on it, since astronauts usually have some sort of lights on their space suites. So off to Walmart we go.

She bought several of the rings you wear that when you press, they flash. We put 3 on his costume. It was cute.

Monday... Halloween... I left work later than I wanted. It was a busy day. When I get home, we start working on the kids jack-o-lanterns before the costume parade downtown. Just as we start I get paged. When I was done, so where the kids. :(

We got to the parade, and it was a lot of fun. We had so many complements on his costume it was really cool. My wife did such a wonderful job on it. She is so talented that way. :)

After walking down main street and seeing all sorts of costumes and getting some candy, we went to the fair barns for free hot dogs and hot chocolate. Then they had the costume contest. My boy was so excited about entering the contest. There were so many good costumes in the 4 & 5 year old age bracket. He won his bracket!!! He got $15 cash for his win! Which, as he has told several people, he plans on spending on a new video game. :)

Afterward, we hit more of the businesses in town and the church next to our house, then we went off the my in-laws to go trick-or-treating in their neighbor hood. My son got several pounds of candy when it was all said and done.

It was a lot of fun.

Daylight Savings

Well, it is that time of the year again. Time to change our clocks.

I hate time change! In my opinion, just get rid of it!

But since we have it, this is my favorite one. I love the extra hour of sleep.

Oh, but what kills me, I glanced at CNN's page, and they had a survey.

Should the US abolish Daylight Savings Time?
57% (19436 votes) - Yes
43% (14373 votes) - No

What are they thinking? No? There is no point to it anymore! Wasn't much point to it then.
Want more daylight? Get up earlier!

Oh well, complaining about it doesn't do anything.

Enjoy your extra hour of sleep.

Warren Duck Club

I got to go to dinner tonight at the Warren Duck Club.

It was the first time I've been there. It was good!

I had their specialty sampler. Was half an order of duck and blackend steak.

It was good. I would suggest going there when you have the EXTRA money to spare.

Glad it wasn't on my tab.

Halloween Costume

I just had to share with you this.

My wife loves to make our kids Halloween costumes. I think she has out done herself this year!

This is a really cool astronaut costume. What do you think?

Frost

This morning, we had our first frost.

It was a very light frost, but a frost non the less.

I'm happy.

Catch up

Well, it's been over a week since my last update. It hasn't been nothing's going on, it's actually been the opposite. There has been so much going on, taking the time to blog hasn't even come close to a priority. (Sorry y'all, not that you aren't priorities, just no time to type).

Early last week, my boy started not looking good, but still acted fine. Well, Monday after work, I picked him up from day care, and he was running a fever. I worked from home on Tuesday to take care of him, but with an implementation Tuesday night at work, it was a bit tricky. I took time out Tuesday and took him to the doctor. He had the croup (throat cold). Had to drop him off at my wife's work so she could watch him as I went to soccer practice.

I woke up at 5 on Wednesday to go to work because of the implementation. It was a major upgrade for our software. Over all, it went well.

Saturday, we had our 7th soccer game. My boy scored a goal! It was awesome. My wife had the day off, so she was able to watch. As soon as the game was over, she ran off to Tulsa with one of her friends to try out for the Wheel of Fortune! She didn't get on stage, but she said she had a great time. It would be awesome if she could have gotten on the show, she is so good at the Wheel.

I had forgotten to paint the lines on the soccer field last week, so after our game ended, My boy and I went and painted the lines on the field before the next game, then we ran home, changed, and headed to Bartlesville to help my parents move.

I got in the truck, and the fuel gage was in the red, so I stopped here and put $2.25 in the tank. I was wanting to make sure I got to B-ville to get gas since I could get it for $2.11/gallon, (about 8 cents/gallon savings, and since I was filling up the truck, that was a good amount. Well, I got about half way, and was in the red again. I wasn't sure if I could get to B-ville or not, so I stopped at another gas station and put another $2.00 in the tank. Well, I safely got to the B-ville Walmart to get gas. Put $46.50 in the tank.

Well, we got my parents bedroom, living room, office and fridge,freezer,washer,dryer also moved. Not as much as I would have liked, but it wasn't bad. Part of the reason we didn't get more moved was they people in the house were still moving stuff out, and it was a mess.

One funny story, they had an organ and a piano in their living room so they rented a piano dolly to move them. Well, I've moved my parents piano A LOT!!! After watching the dollys in action, I was impressed. We ended up borrowing it for my parents piano. After we got it loaded up, I talked my parents into just rolling it down the street instead of loading it into the pick-up or their trailer. So dad and I took the piano for a walk. We has several people come out of their houses to watch us. It was too funny. But it was sooooooooo much easier than loading it into the truck.

Anyway, that was just a small portion of my week, and may explain a bit why I haven't blogged.

Baking Cookies

My boy and I took some time this evening and baked some Jack-o-lantern and spider web sugar cookies.

They were very yummy. It's fun cooking with my boy.

Sony Clie Errors

Well, it turns out to be a problem with items in my datebook.
After downloading dbscan from Pimlico Software. Scanned my databases and corrected 2 errors. Seems to have fixed it.

All is right in the world again.

Technology problems

This is no my day to touch anything electronic it appears... in fact, I probably should be touching the computer.

I got up this morning and turned on the Satelite for my boy and I got this wonderful error or my Dish PVR 501.

Error 311
A serious problem has been detected with your hard drive,
error code 0457

Afterward, I couldn't use any of the PVR functions, no pausing TV, no rewinding, nothing.
Well, I called Tech support (no one have a heart attack that I actually called) and after running through a couple of things, I ended up unplugging and waiting for probably 30+ seconds. Plugged back in and everything was good. She said this might have been related to the sound cutting in and out on me on my recorded shows. Lets see how long it lasts.

So, after that I come over and plug in my Sony Clie and sync up. Well, it got hung up, which it does often. So, I hit the reset button on it, but now I have a new lovely message that keeps coming up.

Fatal Alert
DateDB.c, Line:2537, An earlier alarm was found in skipped records
Reset

I did learn that if I hold the up arrow well, up, It will bypass loading software. course, now I have to figure out what was causing the crash and fix it.

*sigh*

Update

This is just a short update.

I've been incredibly busy at work, so not much time to blog, or anything else for that matter. I've already worked over 36 hours this week, and it's just Wednesday night.
I've also been busy trying to help some people at church. They really need all the prayers they can get. So, if you find yourself reading this, please take a second and pray. God knows who and what the situation is.

Because of this though, I've not had much time for my family this week... I'm really feeling it.

I hope I can spend some time with my boy tomorrow night. I'm not sure what we'll do, but I want to do something.

Kid Crafts for Seasons and Holidays

Ok, last one for tonight. I happened to do a google search for Fall, and I found an interesting page on crafts for kids for Fall. Well, as I was looking at the page, it isn't just for fall, they have crafts for all sorts of holidays and seasons, and any number of other things.

If you have kids, or are a teacher, stop by this page and take a look! I know I plan on doing some of these with my boy in the weeks and months to come.

It is the Crafts page at Enchanged Learning.

Fall

Wow, a night that I'm not totally swamped with things to do, nor am I so tired from the day that I feel like blogging.

I love Fall! I think it is the most interesting time of year! I love the sights, sounds, and smells.

How the air gets crisper, the days get shorter, the smell of smoke from peoples fire places (and wishing I had one). I love hot chocolate, chili, stew (lots of meat and taters, not many veggies), hot brownies, apple cider and the like. Some of these you may have at other times in the year, but they just do not taste as good as they do in the Fall.

I love hay rides and spook trails! Sitting around a nice fire on a cool, brisk night. I love the decorations people put out. From the scare crows, pumpkins, to bales of hay and some old dried corn stalks. It seems to me that everything just changes somehow as the temps start falling... and more than just the weather, I really can't explain it.

It's strange, every fall I am drawn to classical music, especially after time change, and it's often almost dark on my drive home. I don't know why.

With Halloween right around the corner, followed closely by Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years, I guess it's no surprise that I like this time of year.

I think for me, part of it is the temperature. I love the cooler weather, and the start of fall tells me that I have several months of cool (to cold) weather to enjoy.

I guess I'm rambled on enough.

Night all, just remember to take the time to enjoy the beauty of all that God has done for you.

Bread

This afternoon, I baked some bread! I do believe I'm getting better at it.

The first time I made bread, I was the only one that would eat it! Our German Shepard was in the house (either cold or storming) while we had gone out (probably church) and when we came home, a loaf of bread was on the floor... and 4 misterious holes were in it. (that would be Dixies Canines).

My wife laughed so hard!

The second time I tried it was better, but today, well, I thought it was great! I was way proud!

Football

OU lost today! That should make all pokes fans happy!

On that note though, the Pokes also lost. Though from the final, it was a much closer game that last week... this one might have even been interesting. Missouri beat Oklahoma St 38-31

This season isn't looking to hopeful, well, atleast till we get to OU.

Pepper Harvest

I took out the last of my okra plants last night. I still need to clean up the old fallen okra so I dont have unplanned okra, but it's basically done.

I've also probably picked the last of my peppers. I have one plant left outside, but with the
temps dropping like they are, I don't expect to get anymore, well of any size.

I harvested 2 1/2 quarts of jalapenos!!!
I've sliced them and canned them. 5 pints of canned peppers... that will help me get through the winter! :)

I love peppers.


Pepper Harvest

Urban Legends - #90

Well, i got the email again today... you know, if someone calls you saying they are from the phone company, and ask you to dial #90, don't do it or they will have full access to your phone, or something like that.

Well, I'm having a rough allergy evening, so I decided to do some research (AKA Google) and see what I can find about it.

What I did find amusing is that it is TRUE... sorta.

What the warning letter floating around the Net doesn't say is that this scam only works on telephones where you have to dial 9 to get an outside line. Unless you have to dial 9 to get an outside line at home, this scam does not affect residential telephone users. Dialing "nine-zero-pound" on a residential phone will only give you a busy signal. That's it.”

You can read the whole article here or a similar story here.

So anyway, there you go. You and your pets are safe from this horrible scam as long as you don't have to dial 9 to get an outside line.

Catch up.

For those of you that think I've forgotten all about my blog, I haven't, but it isn't on the top of my todo list... At least not this week. But let me play catch-up.

Work is continuing to be busy, I don't have as much extra time as I would like, though I guess the days really do seem to pass by quicker.

Friday was homecoming, and in a small town, that is a big thing. So we went to the game, and from the look of the crowd, so did everyone else. It was packed!!! Now, I do like football, but I like to be able to see the game. Because we got there just a bit before the game started, we ended up on the second row around the 20ish yard line. For those that don't know, that isn't great. I like sitting higher up in the stands, ya get a better view, but we didn't get that... ok. Well, then again, maybe not. Everyone was walking by, and stopping, and talking, well, ya could hardly see the game. A few minutes before half, my boy and I went to go get a drink and go to the bathroom. (he has horrible timing so I made him go). On the way back to the stands, it started raining. Lightning also started, so we decided to go home... The game wasn't worth getting electrocuted.

Saturday morning, it was still raining. My boy had a soccer game, as long as it's not lightning, we'll have the game.. All the parents but one called me to ask if the game is still on. I had just told them either that week or the week before that in soccer, you play in EVERYTHING but lightning. Well, I guess they didn't think I meant it. Well, we had the game. But it was cut short because of lightning. It was a good game.

After the game, I went to B-ville with my cousin to check out a sound system at a church he'll be leading revival at in a couple weeks. (and yes, it's my dads church). That was a lot of fun. After leaving we had lunch and then stopped at Hastings to just look around. Well, I saw something in there I have never seen before... Jesus Christ the Action Figure. Oh, and it spoke. It was wrong, but it made me laugh... I just never saw Jesus as an Action figure.

Oh, and I'd hate for you people to think that I only cheer for my Pokes when they win, cause that isn't true. They got CREAMED Saturday by Colorado, it wasn't pretty. 0-34. Hopefully we'll have better luck this weekend.

Sunday was a pretty good day till after church Sunday evening, then it sorta turned crappy, but I guess ya shouldn't let a few people ruin your day, or your whole next week, course, that might just happen.

Anyway, I guess I'll stop typing this novel.

Zombie Attack!

Could you survive a Zombie attack?

Well you are in luck, there is a Zombie Scenario Survivor Test.

I scored a 79% and was listed as an Official Surviror.

Whether through ferocity or quickness, you made it out. You made the right choice most of the time, but you probably screwed up somewhere. Nobody's perfect, at least you're alive.

I also scored higher than 77% of others of my age and sex.

It was fun, give it a try and tell me how you did.

Some people...

Oklahoma City (AP) - A seven-year-old boy was at the center of a Oklahoma City courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulations requiring that family unity be maintained to the degree possible.

The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried out that they also beat him.

After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him. After two recesses to check legal references and confer with child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Oklahoma Sooners, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.

So, did you see that coming? Thanks Laura!

4 8 15 16 23 42

For those that don't know, those are the "Lost Numbers".

Ok, I'll start off with last nights Lost was great, but since my cousin hasn't seen it, I'll not talk about it.

Now, for those of you that can't get enough of Lost, one of the guys I work with sent me this link. It talks about the numbers, and how we've seen them in relation to the show.

Some people have way to much time on their hands.

Blahs

Well, I really hate it when I get this way, but I sorta have the blahs, and I'm not sure why.

The weather is GREAT!!!! I love it, so that isn't my problem. Work is going pretty good, so that isn't it either.

I did stumble across an interesting blog today that I wanted to share with everyone.
It is called Photo-A-Day. There are some really nice photos on the page.

Enjoy

I wanna play

Sorry to sound so whiny. I just want to play some games. I miss Everquest, shoot, I even miss Gemstone. I don't have the time to really play, but I still want to. I didn't mind paying a monthly fee when I was playing almost everyday, but I can't stand paying when I'm not playing.

I've got a few PS2 games that I'm playing, but still isn't the role playing games I love so much.

Anyway, I guess thats enough whining... Guess I'll got tuck in Sky and watch Lost.

Finally, an update

Sorry for the lack of posts, just not a lot post-worthy going on.

Work has been a bear! Busy from 8 till at least 5, and no time off for lunch. Seem to barely keep everything straight, and I don't see this getting any better anytime soon.

Monday night is visitation at church, so I rush home from work try to get a bite to eat, and head off to church.

Tuesday night is soccer practice. A bit slower of an evening, but still a busy day!

Wednesday night is of course church! So again, rush home from work, try to eat and head to church!

I did get some stuff done last week that didn't involve work. We got the rest of our garden pulled out and tilled except for the okra and jalapenoes. I did some tree trimming last week, well, I think it was last week, and I got all that hauled off on Saturday. Course, before I could work on that, my boy had his soccer game! Now that was a great game! A real intense game, especially for 4,5, and 6 year olds! I'm seeing some improvement in them, especially in one of my youngest players. That makes me happy.

After the game and the yard work, I went to a wedding. One of the guys I work with got married Saturday. It was a very nice wedding! And that really is saying something since I'd usually rather go to the doctor than a wedding! My believe is that most men only really want to go to 1 wedding, and then only cause they have to (that being their own).

Oh, and my daughter had a flat this morning... (well, I'm not sure how flat it was), but it has at least a 4 inch hole in it... When I reached around it, I could feel the metal in the tire. I just got off the phone setting up an appointment for tomorrow to get it fixed.

Well, enough gabbing I guess. Time to get back to work.

Lost Premier

Well, the premier was tonight... WOW! Since my cousin doesn't get to see it for a week, you'll get no details from me, other than to say WOW! Can't wait till next week.

Oh, and the 7:00 show was basically season 1 in 1 hour. Did a decent job. If you missed season one, defiantly watch it! Even if you hadn't, watch it!

Lost

Well, tonight starts season 2 of Lost at 8 p.m. CT.

At 7:00 tonight, there is another Lost titled "Destination Lost". I'm not sure if this is a Lost rerun or a show where they talk to the actors. Might want to turn in early to make sure.

Poke football - Arkansas State

Well, another game not televised.

Game final 20-10 Pokes!!!!
Arkansas state gave the pokes over 100 yards in penalties... probably should have been a better score than that.

I did have a chance to go. One of the vets at my wifes work was on call this weekend, and offered us the tickets for $40. If we had really had the money, I'd been all over it... but we didn't... not really.

Go pokes!!!!

Never happy

I just posted about President Bush's speech, and talked about how he would get flack for a stance he took, but would get it if he didn't take it?

Well, I happened to cruise over to CNN's web page, (I know, what do I expect from them), and they had a poll.

What do you think of Prsident Bush's Hurricane Katrina recovery plan?
Too ambitions
Just right
Not enough

Do you want to guess what people are saying?
Too ambitions - 28717
Just right - 26487
Not enough - 22147


Can't please anyone.

President Bush's New Orleans Speech

I listened to President Bush's speech last night. It was a very good speech!

1. He tried to convey that these people are not alone! The country is here with them, and we will help them rebuild. The government will not abandon them.
2. He took responsibility for the problems they have had getting help. In my personal opinion, this was not his fault, but as he stated in his speech, since he is the President, it is his responsibility. This I believe, I hope, is a good statement. I've heard so many people basically blame the hurricane itself on President Bush. That is just silly! Along the same lines, he also took responsibility to make sure people get the help they need! I'm sure he will get some flack for that, but I'm sure he would have if he hadn't taken that stance.
3. He was not afraid to speak of God in this time! I know he has taken flack from so many people and organizations over this Faith, and how he doesn't care who knows!!!

As he was finishing his speech, he used the example of the old funerals you may have heard about in New Orleans... It's a very mournful dirge on the was to the funeral, but afterwards, it is joyful! He stated, we are in that dirge right now, but a time of celebration is coming!

"God Bless America!" is how he ended he speech!

Thank you Mr. President for that great speech! My God continue to bless you!

Free Word processor?

Well, there appears to be a new open source project out called Open Office.

In seem to have a word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentation maker, vector drawing tool, mathematical function creator.

Now, I'm not sure on the last 2, but the first ones would be the equivalent to Word, Excel, Access, Power Point.

With the cost of Microsofts products, this may be very interesting.

Focus on the unseen

While reading my Bible this morning, I came across a verse that really struck a cord in me.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Cor 4:18

How I wish I could say that I do that, but many times, we turn that around. We get too concerned on what we are wearing, what we are driving, the speed of our computers, the size of our TV's, etc. But not on the condition of our hearts, of those of us around us.

What have you fixed your eyes on?

Lottery

I was disappointed to find out tonight that my favorite convenience store, Quik Trip, will sell lottery trash.

I have a feeling that it will become very difficult to find a convenience store to use once all this starts going.

Once I find a store that will have the moral backbone to stand up to the government bribes to push their ware, I will not only use that store, but I will promote that store!

I pledge Allegiance

I cannot believe what I just heard on the news tonight.

If you haven't heard, then you can read about it here, but a judge in California has declared the Pledge unconstitutional! That confuses me. Not only that, but the more I think about it, the more it makes me mad!

The people of that state should be ashamed to have such a man be a judge in their state!

We cannot allow small minded people to ruin this great country! If we do, it will stop being a great country, and we'll be a "once great" country. These are the same mistakes that Israel made that you can read about in the Bible.

You can sit back and think this will never stand... But we, as Christians, have done that before. What have we got? Prayers are no longer said at school. Prayers are no longer said at games. The 10 commandments cannot be posted at any public place.

So, what do you plan to do about it?

I pledge allegiance to the Flag
of the United States of America,
and to the Republic for which it stands:
one Nation under God, indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all.

SQ 723 Dies!!!

YEA!!!

The State Question did not pass! Not only did it not past, but it was creamed.

With 99% of the precincts reporting,

Yes: 50,969 13%
No: 347,795 87%

FIRE!!!

I was sitting at work today, working on a problem that sorta has me stumped, when the air conditioner fans cut off, and the fire alarm went off.

Well, we all start looking around, trying to figure out what to do.
"Is it real or a drill?"
"If it is real, they would say something over the intercom"
"They usually send out an email stating there will be a fire drill today"

Well, we decided to go ahead and go outside. I took my laptop, cause I love it so.
As we head down the stairs, smoke came out of the second floor door.

Wow, it's real.

Well, we ended up with about 6 fire trucks, and an ambulance here. after about 30 minutes or so outside, first and third floor people could come back in.

What seems to have happened was a belt on one of the A/C's was smoking, or something like that.

Anyway, a little excitement in my day.

Go Vote!

Remember to vote on SQ 723 sometime between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

If you want gas prices to go up another $.05 on the gallon, remember to vote YES.

For all the sane people out there, that would be the NO box you're looking for.

If you aren't old enough to vote, encourage others that are to get out and vote. Just because you aren't old enough to vote, doesn't mean you can't be involved.

Seriously though, get out and vote! Some people die trying to gain the right to have a say on the things their government does that effects them, don't take your privilege lightly.

Win an XBox 360?

A friend sent me this link earlier that I wanted to pass along.

Mountain Dew is giving away a XBox 360 every 10 minutes.
Just enter a code on their web page.

I would expect this to make Dew sales sky rocket.

Soccer Update

I just found out that one of the women I work with had a daughter on the opposing team yesterday. She gave me HUGE complements on our girls and how great they played, and how embarrassed her daughters team should be.

Her daughter, who usually plays competitive, commented about it as well. How we should never have gotten the ball and all the drama that was going on on their team.

Way to go girls!