elm trees

We are proud owners of two Chinese Elm trees. They are each in "15 gallon" containers which I measured to be around 18 inches in diameter, 16 inches deep with the dirt being approximately 1 inch below the rim. I estimate that the tree trunk is 1 inch in diameter and the height is 10 feet.

Getting them into our minivan and getting them home was something of an adventure. Our friends with pickup trucks had other obligations, so minivan it is.

Gumby is most unhappy that I had not called before yesterday to get the go-ahead for digging. We'll have to wait for those folks to come out before we can plant the trees. They'll be planted in our front yard, which is currently devoid of any trees. We hope to have them planted (by me) before Mother's Day. We had originially hoped to have these trees in the yard by Easter, but the slew of rainy weather we've been having made that impossible. It's a little late in the season to be planting, I think, but we'll take the chance. We're so excited. These trees will give us such lovely shade when they're grown. We've already named them; they were named even before we ever decided what trees to plant.

work ahead

We haven't made any repairs to the damage from Hurricane Ike. No money from the homeowner's insurance (they say the damage is less than our deductible), no money from FEMA, and due to a glitch that I won't go into, unable to finish our FEMA loan application. I plan to slowly buy the lumber to fix our front fence and get that squared away first. Summer is approaching, that means lots of work around the house for me.

We also have Skip's house that we're keeping an eye on. More work. We're not doing much there, but it does take time to commute there and back. A few weeks ago I did replace the floodlights that were in front; the old ones weren't working right.

Yesterday, Sunday, I decided that I didn't want the whole weekend to pass by without me being able to get some work done at home (we were gone most of the time). So after getting back from Skip's house, around 6pm or so, I took a ladder and our wood saw out back and started on the tree. There were some branches that I've been dying to trim off. I sawed off two medium branches; there are at least two more I want off, but they're pretty big. I worked until 10pm hacking those two cut branches into smaller pieces that the trash folks can handle and haul away. I have discovered that the mosquitos are here. At one point, there must've been some 20 of them on my legs. Now I remember why I don't wear shorts outside--it's not because of the dog, it's because of the little blood suckers.

Today, my upper back and certain upper muscles are tired and perhaps a little sore.

around the web

Once in a while, I'll drop by Book of Joe and I'll usually find interesting things there. Here's a smattering of some of the recent posts:
Sport Stacking
Pocket Sax ... large variety of pocket sax here
Steampunk Giraffe

This fun reporting on Nightline caught my ear the other day.
Kogi on Nightline
Kogi on NPR

and here's a puzzle to tickle your noggin'
Japanese IQ test

ciao!

Woohoo!

Finally, after weeks of intermittent internet access, the problem seems to be resolved. Last week, between Gumby and I and AT&T, the modem was agreed to be replaced after talking to four AT&T representatives. First was tech support. Then account services. Then tech support again, I think, different person. Then manager because they said the modem is out of warranty and cannot be replaced at no charge. Manager asked for the serial number of the modem and then determined that the modem serial number is among those determined defective. Manager took care of the approval and transferred us to the equipment replacement department. That was Friday. Now Tuesday, the modem is here. All is hunky-dory. Mucho gracias, AT&T. I think it would have been resolved earlier, except the other time that we attempted, the equipment replacement department wasn't open (it was a weekend).

to quit or not

I'm off to 11am mass in just a moment. I do two volunteer gigs at my parish. I'm up for one of the gigs today. Truthfully, I don't think I've been all that great at them in the past year. Not too bad, I don't think, but not great either. It's just my opinion, I haven't sought the perceptions of others. I've been wondering whether I should quit either or both. I haven't jumped to any conclusions; it's just been on my mind. I have to volunteer in something, so if not these two things, what else? hmm...

cooking

Yesterday I attempted the Woman's Day Pasta Primavera with Shrimp and Basil. I suppose it went okay. But since I'm no cook, it took me several hours and the kitchen was a big mess. I forgot the salt and pepper until I got to the end and said, "Hey, where's the seasoning?" Heh.

Happy Easter

HAPPY EASTER!!!

may all be blessed

Wishing everyone a most blessed Holy Triduum.

Arrgh.

We keep our dog crated most of the time. He comes out to use the bathroom and if I'm not too tired, then he might get an hour of play at night. We don't like to keep him crated that much. So I've been trying to give him a little time in the house. Having this dog free in the house is like having football guys play football in the house. He's better these days, but he did manage to break a large Corelle bowl this morning with a fantastic glass breaking sound and fragments flying as far as some ten feet away.

This dog does not care what he puts in his mouth, what he steps on, what he pushes out of the way, or what he knocks over; he gets even more destructive with temper tantrums. This is one destructive dog; it seems to be part of the breed. I've known people to give this breed of dog away due to the sheer level of destruction. I simply cannot see how Labrador Retrievers can be America's #1 dog. I can't help but wonder whether some of this could have been curbed had we had him when he was just a puppy.

I can really kick myself for "saving" this dog from his previous owners. I'm not doing too good a job myself.

Our cats are fully clawed. I'm waiting for the day when they teach him a lesson in respect. Since he isn't free in the house much, he and the cats haven't really tangled. But as he gets more time in the house, there will come a day...

Help! What is this tree?

It is deciduous. I don't think it has flowers; strictly for shade. I don't know if it has fruits or nuts. As you can see, it grows very tall/big. Its canopy seems pretty airy. Photos were taken today; the leaves are new growth. A few weeks back there were no leaves. From a distance, the bark seems smooth; close-up you can see that it's just a finer texture but not smooth. Help!!! What is this tree?

update: I think it's a Chinese Elm (otherwise called a Lacebark Elm?) or some variation thereof.

rainbow

on the blink

My internet connection has been on the blink. I can't figure out whether the problem is with my modem or filter or if it's on the service provider's side.

gracious

Every child would benefit from learning how to be gracious. Gracious in winning. Gracious in losing. Gracious in accepting compliments. Gracious in receiving criticism. Gracious in giving compliments. Gracious in giving criticism.

We're all humans. We'll all fail some time. We need to be gracious to ourselves when we fail; gracious to others when they fail.

changed world

Every day, we live in a changed world. Someone, somewhere, dies and is gone from this world every day. Someone is born. Something is destroyed. Something is created. Something is consumed. Something is generated. No two days are ever the same. We are never the same, one day to another so long as we can make new memories. Because we are all "different" each day, the world is "different" each day.

not enough hours?

We've all heard the expression: There's not enough hours in a day!

Hmm. God made day and night. I'd say there is enough hours in a day. We're just trying to put too much into our days. We won't be able to fit everything, no. We'll have to sift and sort and figure out how to fit what IS essential and important into the hours we have. Then let the rest go; none of us have any control over the passage of time.

Shuttle launch tonight

NASA's space shuttle is scheduled to launch tonight at 7:43:44 pm EDT. 

Count down clock here.

NASA TV options for watching the launch here. (There is a "Other View Options" tab on the right.)

The space shuttle is scheduled to be retired in 2010.  This mission delivers the last "big" piece to the International Space Station.

update: launch successful !!!

faces

multi-tool

I purchased an SOG S66 for a friend.  I had originally eyed the S63 but the S66's feature of having the knives available without having to open the tool sounded good.  I played with it some upon its arrival and indeed, the V-cutter rivet heads do rub against the neighboring tool, requiring a little manipulation to pull either one of those out by itself.  This thing is too big for what they call EDC (every day carry) in my opinion, but for my friend who may not have ready access to tools, this should be useful.  The grip on the knife isn't very comfortable, due to the top of the second blade biting into my grip.  But hopefully it won't be too much of a problem (wear gloves?).

For myself, I think I want a Leatherman E33B. Yup, just a decent knife with a nice screwdriver functionality.  Actually, I wouldn't mind it being even a shorter blade.  It looks great but I don't know how well it performs ... can't tell until you get it in your hands and work with it.  Some other reviews of the Leatherman bit holder design indicated that the bits tend to fall off (not good!).  I don't know if that is still true for this model.

tool love

I would like to own one of these babies (a Peter Atwood G3 Prybably XL) but they're not being sold any more.  Aside from that, they are just a hair beyond my budget.

However, I can still get the Pocket Wrench II. It's affordable. 

Other nifty stuff discussed here

Praise be to God!

Praise be to God!  I have knocked off $10K from my student loan balance.  I still owe more than the cost of an average new car, though.  I pay more on the student loan monthly than I pay on the mortgage.  The student loan balance currently is higher than the mortgage balance, but hopefully that won't be true by the end of the year.  It's a long, slow march, but progress is being made.

tent cities

Old news, perhaps, but I've been busy with my own problems and haven't given any consideration to the fact that people who lose their homes have to live somewhere.  And for an exceedingly large number of people, that somewhere is a makeshift shelter in a "tent city."

I have no solutions, I just wanted to raise awareness in case there are folks like myself who are not very aware.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26776283/

funeral

I cried my eyes out at the wake and some more at the funeral.  This was unexpected, as I had been cool upon hearing the sad news.  There were a few tears here and there as I drove home each day leading up to the funeral, but it was controllable.  I suppose God allowed me to set those thoughts aside so that I could be functional on my job.  But Thursday night, the sorrow grew deeper.

I missed much of the wake service.  Apparently this is how the Sisters give a send off to one of their own: they do their own funeral service of sorts (there was a program with music, scripture, prayers) and folks were invited to come and tell their stories as it relates to the deceased one being honored.  This is the time for eulogies. As one Sister put it: it's intimate.  I'm sorry that I was not able to hear most of the stories.

The funeral was difficult as funerals go, but it was good.  Three bishops were present, along with a smattering of Brothers and other priests.  Religious from other communities, some from out of town, were present.

Lent begins

So Lent has begun.  I hope everyone who wanted to was able to attend an Ash Wednesday mass or service.  Yesterday's no snacking was really tough for me.  This year I will once more give up sweets (candy, cake, cookies etc.) as well as sweet drinks (soda, punch, etc.) while giving myself an "out" by allowing juices.  I'll also commit to setting aside some fixed amount of dollars per week for alms.  As for prayer, I will have to work on that one.

Wishing everyone a good Lent!  May this be a special time of growing closer to Christ for all of us.

Funeral on Friday

I have a funeral to attend on Friday.  Christian burial of a most wonderful person.  I'm sure the ripples from this loss extends to the ends of the earth.

The Reader

We saw the movie "The Reader" this morning. One word: complicated.  The movie itself is not complicated.  What's complicated is the human dynamics for the circumstances presented.  This is not a feel good movie.  If you want to watch a movie and then go to dinner afterwards and have a philosophical discussion of "should's" and "ought's" then this is it.

Slumdog

The day was taken up by major traffic snafus.  Major accidents had highways shut down.  We spent hours in that stuff.  

"We'll exit here." 

"No, that exit is closed off." 

"We'll exit here." 

"No, everybody's trying to exit there. Just look at the line."

So we end up exiting many miles beyond where we need to be, and doubling back via neighborhood streets.  A trip that normally would take 45 minutes now took two hours.

And that was going.  Coming back was the same story.  The freeway was still shut down and on top of it, rush hour was starting.  Oy, what a nightmare.

Any how, we later caught the 9pm showing of the movie "Slumdog Millionaire."  Good movie, but it's not as good as "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."  It has a unique story line, culture exposure (learning value), different music, and it does have a more upbeat ending.

a long time ago

color photo source

Congrats to Chandra Wilson for her "Supporting actress in a drama series" award at the 2009 NAACP Image Awards.

We were in class together one year in grade school. She must've made an impression on me, because I don't remember any other names from grade school. I remember hearing her name on TV one time. I then went and dug out my only yearbook from grade school and sure enough, it's her (that's the black and white photo). I suppose that's about the same level as "Hey, I sold her a hamburger one time."

Well, I just thought y'all might find it mildly interesting.

No, I still don't watch much TV and am only vaguely aware of the existence of the show "Grey's Anatomy." I can't name a single character in the show and I still don't know who "McDreamy" is and whether it's a nickname or a real name for the character.

great movie: Benjamin Button

We saw the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" this morning. It's a great movie; both entertaining and thought-provoking and altogether well done. You just have to see it for yourself!

no, really, I can't

I think we all have one of those friends: really nice people whom we wish were not SO friendly. A few weeks back, they heard I was sick and cooked for us. Except neither Gumby nor I can eat their cooking (waaay too salty). And they loaded us up; it wasn't just a single meal. I tried to eat it, but got a tummy ache. This isn't the first time. And probably won't be the last. Yes, I feel bad about throwing out food, but what am I to do? It would help if they'd just make the offer and give us the option to decline.

why not err on the safe side?

Some atheists pooh-pooh the idea that there is a higher being, a heaven, or a hell because there is no scientific evidence for such things.

So let's take the flip side: if science says it is so, does it make it true? There was a time when science proved that women are intellectually inferior, that they are incapable of growing intellectually beyond a young girl's intellect. Okay, so that was flawed science. Until just a few years ago, science believed that dogs cannot see colors. They've since changed that position, saying that dogs can see colors, but not as well as humans do. Bottom line: science can be flawed.

Now to go with the science as positive evidence, I say that just because you don't perceive or understand it doesn't mean "it" doesn't exist. As far as my dog is concerned, heartworms don't exist in his world: he never sees one and he'll never understand what a heartworm is or does.

I love the observation "your God is too small." Anyone who expects to be able to wrap their mind around God is suffering from the "your God is too small" syndrome.

I wonder if the people who demand evidence of a higher being to their satisfaction also demand evidence for everything else. Do they demand proof that you were where you said you were: I've been at the store. Look here are groceries. I was at pool hall. Look, here is the receipt. I didn't go anywhere this afternoon; I was at home taking a nap. Here's the video.

Why not err on the safe side? It's not going to be awkward to face God eventually and say, "Uh, I thought you didn't exist." Now if God didn't exist but you believed He did, the only consequence is a life lived in faith, hope and love.

sniffle

I think I have the cold. I'm all stuffed up. Kinda hard to breathe.

any coverage of the march for life?

hmm... was there any coverage of the march for life on January 22, 2009 (and here) by the major TV networks? Any coverage in any newspaper?

paper house

paper house via Gizmodo

Dominican Retreat

January 23–25, 2009

registration due January 14, 2009

The retreat begins
Friday at 5 p.m. and ends
Sunday at 11 a.m.
San Antonio, TX

click for more information

Carmelite discernment half day

All women ages 14 to 30 who are open to the possibility of a religious vocation are invited to spend the afternoon with the Discalced Carmelite Nuns.

Saturday, January 31, 2009, 10am-1pm

A small community of contemplative women, The Discalced Carmelites live in a wooded area 30 miles north of Houston in New Caney, Texas.

You will have the opportunity to join the Carmelites for questions and answers, experience midday prayer with them in their chapel, followed by lunch and conversation.

RSVP: For details about this event and to RSVP, please contact Sr. Pauline in the Office of Vocations at (713) 652-8239 or

Ptroncale at archgh.org

Important: Parental permission required for those under 18.

job opening

Enjoy the beach? Good with communications? Check it out.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090113/od_afp/lifestyleaustraliatourismoffbeat_20090113032028

a little theology

aye. Theology can be difficult for me to grasp.
What does Jesus's dying on the cross have to do with our salvation?
What is our relationship to "the Law" -- what is the law to us? (I get this one!)
What is the sacrifice of the Eucharist?

question and answer session recording here (starts at 26:00, but there is a nice story about a kitten at 18:27)

See if your answer matches Dr. Scott Hahn's.

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it.

best commercial (Honey Baked Ham Christmas)

wanted: action figures

We saw the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still" on Saturday. Wow. I gotta have the action figure of the new Gort when they come out with it. Man, that is one gooood lookin' Gort. He'd make a great action figure.

I want the Iron Man action figure too. (You see I'm not very fast at acquiring these things.) Someday...

a lull

Not a low. I don't want to call it a low. I'm at a lull in my church life. I'm still trying to get used to our new pastors. I don't miss my former pastor in the sense of heartache, but I do miss his presence and HOMILIES. I, who am very talented at snoozing and can sleep soundly in busy airports, bus stops and doctor's waiting rooms, can also snooze during mass. It's become the norm to attend my parish mass and be bored. Gumby visited the parish a few times over the holidays and I have to say, "Yeah, that's about how it is (boring)."

No, we don't come to mass to be entertained. But in the words of Fr. John Corapi, the priest is supposed to be on fire, and the people come to watch him burn. Our bishop, too is a big believer in priests who are supposed to know how to preach. But he inherited the diocese and he can't quite fix it ... there are other matters to pursue.

It won't discourage me from attending mass, it just keeps me expectant that I will be bored. I still do my two volunteer gigs. One I'm reasonably competent with, and therefore comfortable. The other, not so comfortable and I still feel like a fifth wheel and wonder sometimes if I'm not a liability. There isn't much oomph in my "church presence" -- I'm at a lull.

two easy lessons in chocolate

1. Don't ever leave chocolate in the car if there is even the slightest chance of it being a warm day.
2. Don't attempt to eat a melted Hershey's Kisses. You may can navigate the wrapper, but you won't be able to navigate the embedded strip of paper.

Now excuse me while I go change shirts so that I may run the errand I was too embarassed to run with the chocolate-enhanced shirt. I suppose it'd be normal for a toddler or for one taking care of a toddler to walk around with such a shirt, but not for me.

more bulletin bloopers

more bloopers found at link:
http://kevinbussey.com/2008/04/08/new-church-bulletin-bloopers/

The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been
canceled due to a conflict.

The ladies of the church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

This evening at 7 p.m. there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

stuff I might actually buy this year

Nikon D40 DSLR (good enough according to Ken Rockwell)
Panasonic DMP-BD35K
SOG S63 EOD eyeing it as a gift for a friend
L.L. Bean Solar Dynamo Radio Light
Fisher Price Amazing Animals Hippo (Thanks Natty!)

snackin' Christmas

Merry Christmas

M E R R Y

C H R I S T M A S

to

ALL !

off to midnight mass

This year, my volunteerism is not needed at any of the services at my parish. That leaves me free to attend midnight mass at the cathedral. Yay! We'll take off in a few minutes. Christmas carols precede the mass.

corn dog lunch

big photos of the shuttle

The Big Picture tells stories in B-I-G photos. Here's a set of photos of the shuttle.

NASA looking for rubber ducks

NASA offers $100 to first person to find their rubber duck.

PHOTO here.

new HDD

Brrrr. Pretty cold these days.

My friends, I have spent an inordinate, exorbitant amount of time setting up my new hard disk drive. My computer, from which I blog and do all things digital, has been a one-drive system from the day I bought it almost two years ago. I have gleefully acquired for myself another drive (hereon referred to as "HDD") and plunged into unfamiliar territory of setting it up; hence the crazy amount of time it took. In my case, I want the new drive to be my main, or "system" drive with a clean install including clean install of applications.

If you would like the full details, please e-mail me. In fact, if you ever have questions, please e-mail me. In brief, the tasks for setting up were:
(1) Decide how to partition the drive -- I opted for two partitions, a 30GB for the operating system and programs, and the remainder of the HDD for data. Both NTFS.
(2) Enable AHCI in the BIOS.
(3) Perform clean install of Vista. During installation, there is an opportunity to partition the HDD; that's when the partitioning happens. No need to pre-partition the HDD.
(4) Install Vista updates and drivers, especially for your motherboard, monitor, and graphics card. Also any drivers that will help your internet connection gain optimum speed. In my case, I had forgotten the password to the modem and had to get that reset ... it ended up being among the last things that got accomplished. Regarding Vista updates, if you have service pack 1 (SP1) alread downloaded, it probably would help speed things up. I had SP1, but couldn't find it when I needed it.
(5) Edit registry so that Vista will create user directories in the data partition, not the system partition. There may be other ways, I don't know.
(6) Create user accounts.
(7) Install applications.
(8) Copy files from the "old" user accounts to the user accounts on the new HDD. Very important that folder options be used to enable viewing of hidden files ... e-mails are under those. If you copy files into each folder under each user, then the Vista folder icons will remain intact. If you copy the whole user folder over, the folder icons will be just the plain ones.
(9) Perform any other set-ups for other applications. In my case, I set up Windows Media Center so that I can watch and record TV, where to save the recording, and also tell it where to find the recordings already in the older HDD. E-mail was already set up when I copied the e-mail folders over. However, it will require that you confirm your password on first login if you have the "remember password" option enabled.
update: (9b) If you have collected fonts over time, copy the fonts over to the new drive.
(10) Use the back up feature in Vista to back up the system partition onto DVD's so that you won't have to go through this craziness again. (I have Vista Ultimate ... other editions might not have this feature.)

After a month or so, I may delete the old files. Alternatively, I can back up the data files onto DVD and go ahead and wipe clean the old drive.

The details of hunting and searching for "how to's," of false starts, wrong paths, and "grumbling" (putting it nicely) are not included in the list.

Now that it's done, I can go back to being busy about other things. Happy computing to all!

monks chant

I've been looking for a Gregorian chant CD by monks. Yes, I want all men's voices.

The Best Works of Gregorian Chant by the Monks of Santo Domingo De Silos Abbey turns out NOT to be what I'm looking for.

However, I kinda like the following two (and now I'm tired of searching and will stop here):
http://www.clearcreekmonks.org/CDforSell.htm update: also here
http://www.chantmusicforparadise.com/
I'm not sure what it is I'm looking for; perhaps a rich bass undertone (without tweaking the equalizer).

I'm leaning towards Chant Music for Paradise.

If y'all have a suggestion for other CD's along these lines, please drop me a note. Thanks.

random shot

I believe this is the chapel at University of the Incarnate Word

free rice

Free Rice was a bit addicting for me. It's multiple choice on the meaning of a word. They'll give you the correct answer and eventually the ones you got wrong come back around.

I never got to level 50, though I tried until I'm falling asleep in my chair here.

The Advent Conspiracy

seen at Waiting for the day





The Advent Conspiracy

undersink

Consider it done. I replaced the bottom of the kitchen sink cabinet. The old bottom was fiberboard or pressboard and it crapped out after getting soaked. I removed the failed cabinet bottom and have put plywood in its place. I painted the plywood (after applying primer) with some trim paint I had lying around. The replacement is not as good a job as I would have liked, but I think it's functional enough. If we put everything in a few rectangular buckets and let the buckets sit on the cabinet bottom, I think it'll work beautifully. The link to the series of photos can be found at the earlier post.

puppy cam

(click on image to go to the live cam)
update: it doesn't seem to be working any more

I love this guy

His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo

... or it's 'Ol Dan to me, respectfully submitted

He's very accommodating with the public. He'll spend time to talk with you; and if you ask, he'll pose for your very own photo. It helps that he's quite photogenic. Those qualities are just icing on the cake. His Eminence happens to be well qualified and is befitting of his office.

I hope he doesn't mind me posting a photo of him.

"must see" movie

Do you love a good documentary movie? After hearing an interview on NPR, I think "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" is a must-see movie. It is about women who were sick of war and decided to do something about it. It's about mothers who just wanted a better life for their children. Oh, just to hear them speak... experience it for yourself.

Info from the movie website:

Tribeca Film Festivals' Best Documentary Award-Winning Pray the Devil Back to Hell is the gripping account of a group of brave and visionary women who demanded peace for Liberia, a nation torn to shreds by a decades-old civil war. This incredible, uplifting story has also earned awards at Silverdocs (Witness Award), Jackson Hole Film Festival (Audience Choice: Documentary), Traverse City Film Festival (Special Jury Prize: Non-fiction Filmmaking), and the Heartland Film Festival (Best Documentary).

Desmond Tutu, Winner 1984 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, says that "Pray the Devil Back to Hell"...eloquently captures the power each of us innately has within our souls to make this world a far better, safer, more peaceful place"

Find a screening near you:http://www.praythedevilbacktohell.com/nonflash/intheaters.htm

trailer? http://www.nowrunning.com/Video/default.aspx?t=2902&lang=ENGLISH

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all. If we were to go and read a historical account of the pilgrims and their experiences on these shores, we would find an amazing story of hope and perserverance in the face of great difficulty. In the midst of our difficulties, as life these days is no piece of cake either, may we open our eyes to the many blessings that we DO have.

layoffs

There seems to have been a plethora of layoff announcements. Companies typically layoff near the end of the fiscal year--that's no surprise. But this year, it seems higher than normal.

And it really bites when it's a hospital that's laying off:
University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston learned Wednesday that 3,800 people there will lose their jobs.

November layoffs
HP announces 24600 layoffs
Most notable IT layoffs of 2008
Jumps in unemployment

sad

Baby elephant dies.

a little OP time

Monday evening, if all goes well, I will be spending a little time with the Dominicans at one of their events/gatherings/ceremonies etc. I meant to get up early, get to work early, so that I can leave work in time to be at the Dominicans'. Considering that it is now 1:00 a.m. and I still have stuff I need to get done, I doubt I'll be able to carry out that plan. It probably just means that I will take the missing work hours as vacation.

replacing disposer

disposer

The disposer died on Thursday. After performing manual rotations using a wrench, it still didn't re-start and I gave up. I tried again before going to bed and it started. I thought it was fixed. It was still running when I checked Friday morning.

Friday night, Gumby washed dishes then drained the sink after finishing, and water flowed out from the cabinet under the sink.

So here I am, on Saturday morning buying a new disposer. I spent the late morning/early afternoon installing the new disposer.

I still need to figure out what to do about the cabinet. The pressboard sagged; all the water-logged cabinet parts need to be replaced.

disappointing

This year's election is once again disappointing. In one corner, we have a Republican. The record for Republicans speaks for itself. Aside from that, are you ready for Sarah Palin to be president--it could happen. In the other corner, we have a Democrat who vehemently supports abortion and speaks of "catching and KILLING Osama Bin Laden." So Obama wants everyone to have a better life, even if it means killing off some "for the betterment of others."

It sucks. Vote for whomever you like, then pray like crazy that God will fix it.

so far so good

Doggie is completing the first half of his heartworm treatment. This weekend, he will get to be his hyperactive self since we will lay off the acepromazine sedative. Monday he will go in for the second half of his treatment.

Our dog and two cats have cost us a fortune this year. May next year be better.

endorsement

I like Sherwin-Williams products. I use their products. Good paint should help you achieve good results; it is easy to apply, has flow quality that helps smooth out your brush strokes, don't dry too fast or slow, and gives good coverage (I think they call it "hiding"). Sherwin-Williams products always help me get good results. Their paint looks great. I also have one of their sash/trim brushes and I remember that not one time did I wish for a better brush while I was using it.

Painting is such a big and time consuming task that you might as well get the best you can for the job. Having to re-work a paint job is painful.

Benjamin Moore is probably another good bet. I just haven't tried their products.

a little humor

I find church bulletin bloopers absolutely hilarious:

• Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
• The third verse of Blessed Assurance will be sung without musical accomplishment.
• On a church bulletin during the minister's illness: GOD IS GOOD Dr. Hargreaves is better.

You can read the rest of it here.

in defense of marriage

carnival

Every so often, a carnival comes and sets up in a large parking lot somewhere in town.

roof damage at school

A school with roof damage from hurricane Ike.

pumpkin patch

A local church has a pumpkin patch each year.

the tram downtown

elephant paints pumpkin

3-yr elephant paints pumpkins (video)

another hurricane lesson

When the power is out, a small flashlight is handy; it can be kept in a pocket, ready for action at any time. Handy, too, if it's glow-in-the dark in the event that it gets dropped and turns off when it hit the ground. Its glow makes it easy to find. If yours isn't glow-in-the-dark, I think there is glow-in-the dark tape that you can get and apply.

yuck

Our music minister decided to change the sung Our Father. The new arrangement is AWFUL. Bleccchhh! I hope everyone will continue to NOT sing this version. Our music minister is unfortunately not very qualified ... doesn't know how to direct, can't play an instrument very well, and is frequently prone to bad music choices. Hey if any of you are contemplating pursuing music ministry, please do. Apparently there is a shortage of qualified music ministers.

messed up

I was messing around with templates for this blog. Looks like I lost a few things. Well a lot of things. Not sure I'd bother with restoring them.

e-mail me, T.O.

Yo, T.O., if you're still lurking out there, send me an e-mail will ya? I finally got around to creating an e-mail account just for this blog. Thanks in advance. And happy Canadian Thanksgiving Day in advance.

Friday Five

For variety, here is my participation in this week's Friday Five.

So for today's Friday Five, you're invited to share your experiences with the exciting, challenging world of business travel....

1. Does your job ever call for travel? Is this a joy or a burden?
There has been some occasions where my job calls for travel. Not often. Most of the time, it's more "joy" than "burden." I mostly don't mind but one time it meant that I'd miss a certain event at church and I wasn't happy about that. It's also very helpful that I have someone who will take care of the pets while I'm gone.

2. How about that of your spouse or partner?
not applicable

3. What was the best business trip you ever took?
One time most of my team went. It was nice because I liked my team; we worked well together and we also had fun after work.

4. ...and the worst, of course?
I think all of the trips went well, meaning that the objectives were met. The worst, though would be the one where it was all-day meetings for three days straight. They have to justify your pay so they stick you in a meeting, whether or not that particular meeting was relevant to you. There was nothing else to do ... if we were not in a meeting, we'd be loitering.

5. What would make your next business trip perfect?
hmm...may God surprise me

surprise

Our former pastor presided over a few masses at our parish this past Sunday. I don't think I was the only one who was totally surprised that he was there. It was kinda awesome. It just seemed so right--him there at the altar presiding like he's done for so many years for us. I imagine this is what it feels like for parents whose kid went off to college. Then come the holidays and the kid is back and things just seem right, and home feels like it used to.

I didn't get to talk to him since I was working my volunteer gig. Then just like that he's gone again. I'm sure he was concerned about us--how things fared with Hurricane Ike coming through. He probably stopped by just to kinda check on us.

hurricane lesson: garbage disposer

The in-sink garbage disposer didn't want to re-start after the power had been out for a week. I guess it rusted a bit while sitting up. Fortunately, it has a motor overload switch that pops out to protect the motor. If you turn it on and nothing happens, then check the reset switch. Open the cabinet door and get access to the outside bottom of the disposer. If something is jutting out from what is otherwise a flat bottom, it's reset the switch. Push it back in. If it hums but doesn't turn, then it needs a little help. Turn it off. In the center of the disposer bottom (on the outside, accessed from under the sink) is probably a hex indentation. We used to have a "key" that fits that socket, stored in a vinyl pocket stuck to the side of the disposer. It's not there any more. Just get a hex wrench that fits that socket and allows you to turn whatever thingamajig that's in the disposer. Turn it a few times, remove the wrench, then try to turn the disposer on. If it doesn't turn on, turn it off and repeat the manual turning. After a few tries, the disposer should start.

** absolutely never put yourself in danger of being caught in the rotating parts of the garbage disposer, or in danger of having foreign objects flung by the rotation of the garbage disposer **

I had replaced the in-sink garbage disposer when we first bought the house. On hindsight, it probably merely needed the manual turning ritual to get started again.

choices people shouldn't have to make

from the Catholic Relief Services website http://crs.org/newsroom/releases/release.cfm?id=1501
"CRS staff around the world has heard stories of families who are stretched to the limits of life itself by the high price of food," Callahan, told a subcommittee hearing of the House Agriculture Committee.

In some regions of Niger, he said, families have started eating only one meal a day. In dire circumstances, people have resorted to eating anza, a wild plant with bitter leaves, to supplement their diet. In northern Ghana, students have been taking CRS-provided lunches home to share with hungry family members, sharing their only meal of the day.

"Some families must make do with eating less at each meal. They are already skipping meals, or even not eating on a particular day," he said. "Tragically, they may even have to decide which child or children may have the best chance of survival and which, already so ill and weak, will be allowed to die. These are the agonizing choices the global food crisis is forcing the poor to make."

using batteries

It so happens that when the power went out, it was during premier week. I'm not a TV fan, but someone around here is. The TV nut was quite upset but didn't really make life miserable. Shown here is a portable TV. The little TV ate batteries like crazy. One set of rechargeables (500mAh) was only good for maybe one hour.

It normally takes 4 AAA batteries. We eventually went through all of our AAA's. The AAA is 1.2 Volts each according to the labeling. Four in series (typically the case when you have to flip flop the orientation from one slot to another) is 4 x 1.2 V = 4.8 Volts.

Here I've rigged up three double-A batteries. Double-A batteries are 1.5V (on the label), so 3 x 1.5 V = 4.5 Volts and it apparently was good enough. Stacking them as shown is the easiest way to make them connect to one another. The butt (the flat end) of the stack is pushed up against the last spring in the battery compartment. The top (with the nipple) is connected by a wire the contact tab (the non-spring) in the battery compartment. The triple-A battery is used to jam the wire up against that tab for a good contact; there is tape between the jamming battery and the wire to avoid making electrical contact to the jamming battery. Then I used tape all over to kinda hold things together with the right tension and such. (Oh, the hair band around the TV is for some other situation and is irrelevant here.)

heartworms

Doggie is almost 80 pounds now. He was diagnosed with heartworm some weeks back. He was supposed to start treatment but then the hurricane came and it got re-scheduled. We took him in to the vet yesterday morning only to find that we had the date wrong and was a week earlier than scheduled. But we have great vet and she went ahead and started treatment. He's back home today. He has to be very still. Keeping him still is probably like trying to hog-tie an octopus. So we use drugs. He's sleeping right now. Unfortunately he's going to have to be still for at least a month. This is just the first half of the treatment. Poor dog. Poor pocketbook too.

KickStart

http://www.kickstart.org/tech/index.html
"KickStart's mission is to help millions of people out of poverty. We promote sustainable economic growth and employment creation in Kenya and other countries. We develop and promote technologies that can be used by dynamic entrepreneurs to establish and run profitable small scale enterprises." What makes them great? Their products are designed for the targeted environment and economy. Check them out!

Ike damage in Texas

I know Ike came through and damaged many states, not just Texas coast. I'd like to acknowledge that fact, and that so many resources were sent to Texas that it left the other states short. My heart goes out to all ... Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri ... all you guys. So the following is not meant to ignore others: Here is a link to some photos of SOME of the damage left behind by Hurricane Ike on the Texas coast.

goodsearch

Use GoodSearch to donate to your charity. Select the charity, then use GoodSearch for your internet searches.

Houston Dominican Sisters is a great choice to donate to. ;)

update: Anonymous commenter also suggested http://www.click4carbon.com/ as another good search engine that benefits charity. However, you know I'm biased for the Dominicans. But it's all good.

Thanks commenter! Apparently once in a while someone does skim through this blog.

back online

Just got electricity back after a week of no power. We seem to have only minor damage from hurricane Ike. Still, we'll have months of cleaning up to do.

Our poor tree seem to have lost almost all of its leaves.

We have some of the decorative solar-powered yard lights. Gumby had said to bring them in so that they don't get blown away by the hurricane. So while we were without power, we used them in the house at night as night lights; during the day I put them out and they would get re-charged.

Some of the neighbors had portable generators. They were quite loud and the constant hum bugged the heck out of Gumby. I heard that the oil in them should be changed every 25 hours of operation - that's every day! I would prefer solar panels, but they'd have to be able to survive hurricanes.

Anyhow, I can probably go on and on about the ordeal, but I'm tired and you probably don't want all the gory details. Feel free to ask any questions you might have.

boarded up

Ike is making a lot of news. Coverage seems to be around the clock. We're not in an evacuation area, but my job is. So we left work early. Fortunately, we have plywood already cut for the windows--done back when I was unemployed. Today I got some Thompson's water seal and applied it to the wood before putting the wood up on the windows. I was able to treat all but one board. I wish I had purchased a sprayer for applying the water seal; the stuff is thin and would have covered more if I had had a sprayer. Else, having had two previous hurricane threats, we're pretty prepared.

Sisters of Charity retreat

in Houston, TX

Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word
8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
pdf here

Dominican Retreat

Dominican retreat in Houston, TX:

A Retreat for Discerners
Women ages 20 – 40)
September 5 & 6, 2008

pdf at this link

random picture

This is a Cherry Limeade. It was accidentally left to freeze in the freezer. When it was taken out to thaw, the cup was clean. But as it thawed, the red stuff oozed out of the cup.

Wind turbines bad for bats

Wind turbines are bursting bats' lungs. The motion attracts bats. Then when they get into the low pressure area of the wind turbines, their lungs burst. Clean energy. But still has environmental impacts.

product endorsement

I've tried Stink Free and Nature's Miracle for removing pet urine odor (sick cat = accidents). I prefer Stink Free.