yummy punch

Tropicana Peach Orchard Punch is yummy. We try to look for alternatives to soda. Usually it's lemonade, tea, Hawaiian punch and maybe occasional other something such as the V8 Splash punches. This peach punch is the best. Yum!

On a side note, I had once thought that carbonation was bad for your health. However, I do believe carbonation has been exonerated of such charges. Still, we look for alternatives to soda anyways. We do try to keep some Sprite on hand for easing upset stomachs; they often get consumed even when there are no upset stomachs.

lamenting the loss of a great feature

"Smart" phones seems to have lost the "alarm" functionality. My cell phones that were primarily phones with added features were great alarm clocks. They were loud. They'd still give an alarm even when they were turned off. They were great.

I inherited the Cingular 8125 smart phone when Gumby got the iPhone. Maybe I just don't know how to use them, but neither one of these are good at being alarm clocks. The alarm isn't very loud, and they only work when the phone is on. That sucks.

My old Nokia candy phone finally died about a month ago. I had been using it for years as my alarm clock. It also had a timer function that used occasionally. Now I'm using my old Motorola to wake me in the morning; it was my cell phone until about a month ago. I could take a lunchtime nap and be confident that the Motorola would wake me. Not so with the Cingular 8125.

Does anyone have tips for extending the usefulness of the Cingular 8125? I've never updated the OS, so it's still Windows Mobile 5.0. Its main feature for me now is that I can play Sudoku on it.

milestone

Lookee. The principal balance on the student loan is finally less than the principal balance on the mortgage. I had to pay more on the student loan than on the mortgage for three years before I got to this point. Yup, like paying for two houses.

This is It

Trailers and stuff here.

There is no denying that Michael Jackson was very gifted. Absolutely genius. As has been said, "Nobody moves like Michael."

Yeah, go see it and be entertained. Some might be inspired.

kudos to NASA

Yay. Nice launch of the test rocket.

iPhone app picks

iPhone rocks! Gumby has one and I've been setting it up. Here are the chosen free apps in alphabetical order:

Alarm Clock Free: I don't know what it does yet, but it looks like a nice clock interface.
AOL Radio: So we can go beyond our music collection and listen to other stuff.
Around Me: Mainly so we can find near by eats.
Balance: We're going on a trip; this will help tally up the cost.
Catholic Calendar: Because it's Catholic. And it's free.
Catholic Lite: A little too lite; candidate for deletion.
The Catholic Directory: So I can find near by parishes, their phone numbers and mass times. Also has the mass readings.
Dictionary: of course
DigiDrummer Lite: just for fun
Drum Meister Lite: more fun
eReader: in case we get a hankerin' to reading a book
ESPN ScoreCenter: for those rare moments when we actually want to know the score
Falling Balls: mindless fun activity; candidate for deletion
Google Mobile: find info fast
iTV: 'cause we don't have a TV Guide
iDict: In case we have to communicate in another language.
iHandy Level: just handy
Note Me: 'cause folks have said it's good
NYTimes: news
Pac-Man Lite
Quick Graph: Never had a graphing calculator. Neat to see stuff graphed in 3D.
Shazam: to ID music we hear and like
Space Shooter: mindless entertainment
Soduko: of course
uDrummer Lite: fun
USA Today: another source of news
Virtuoso Piano: fun. This one lets you do glissandos. It will span the whole keyboard, but difficult to do so smoothly. It's the same graphic, but the pitch changes.
The Weather Channel: weather, of course. This is in addition to the weather app that comes with the iPhone already. This one might get replaced ... still to be determined.
Yelp: mostly so we can find near by eateries
Feb 2011 update: (too many to discuss them)

digital camera review links

The following sites are not hard to find. They'll show up on a search for digital camera reviews. These are just the main ones I'd look up instead of wading through all the links that are available.

Jeff's picks at Digital Camera Resource Page My favorite page for doing a quick look. Nice large photos, picks are arranged by price and there is a brief commentary for each pick.
Dave's Picks at Imaging Resource Here the picks are arranged by function if you need it that way. If you scroll down, there are picks arranged by price. It's a longer list to browse and the pictures of the cameras are much smaller. If Jeff's picks were too few, maybe Dave's list will do the trick for you.
Ken Rockwell My favorite page if I don't need a lot of options. He gives a "This is the best camera, hands down" opinion. He does have some other picks but if you're tired of thinking about it, take the "one best camera" advice and run with it.

Steve's Digicams and Digital Photography Review (links below) have a list of favorites as well. If I see a camera show up as a favorite on all of these sites, then I figure it must be good. These lists are good place to start. I really don't want to read through the entire plethora of digital cameras on the market, so I start with these shorter lists. From there, I can check out in-depth reviews of whatever camera I want to zoom in on.

My favorite sites for an in-depth review:
Steve's Digicams This is my first love as far as camera review sites goes. The format has changed recently. I'll have to get used to it.
Digital Photography Review Steve can't review them all. So between Steve and this site, I should be able to find most any model.

Then if I want to see what the "general word on the street" is on a camera, I'd browse a larger set of websites. For example, I think the micro four-thirds format is promising. I would scan several articles on that instead of heading straight for the in-depth review.

Each of the above sites have other features as well. They're worth checking out. Have fun.

annoying

It is safe to say that Beyonce's singing annoys me. There is no depth to her singing; there is a serious lack of expression.

persimmons

Persimmons. I had picked them from the tree at the other property just last Saturday. I've been seeing them change to a brighter orange as they sit on the counter. Now they seem ripe already. I had one. It wasn't bad. Probably one more day of ripening would be safe.

flashlights ... hee

Like it? You can get it on the Animal Rescue Site.

took the day off

I decided to take the day off today. We took the critters to get blessed, on the occasion of Feast of St. Francis (of Assisi). We had three crates in my car: one for each of two cats and a medium one for the Labrador. We were late getting there and almost missed it. And since we were late and most people were gone, we were able to park right by the curb. Father came over to bless them in the back of the car; all the crates faced outward. Minutes later the other Father was picking up the holy water bucket when he saw us and offered to sprinkle them. Fortunately, all the critters came forward to the crate doors and they all got sprinkled.

Then we went to check on the other property, then stopped on the way back to get pie slices, then another stop to get lunch to go.

Unfortunately, we took too long to get back. The black and white cat is on diuretics for his heart condition, and urinated just as we got in our neighborhood. Oh well. That's why I had a mat in there, just in case of such accidents.

The cats are in a big cage at home. They get to come out when we're home and can watch them. Today they pretty much spent the day in their cage.

You see, I took the day off. I had lunch, then took a long nap. Woke up, took a shower, went out and got dinner, fed everybody, then washed dishes, and I'm going to go to bed in a little while. Cat bathing, crate cleaning, and house cleaning will have to wait until tomorrow at best.

update: Yes I did bathe the cat on Sunday. He's very sweet and gave me no problems. Then I took him out to the front porch and dried him with a hair dryer. He did try to leave a few times but that was all. No hollerin'. No biting or scratching. I did it outside since all that hair was flying. The time before, I had bathed him without blow-drying and he was pretty badly matted afterwards. So now I know I have to blow-dry him. It took a while.

random shot

good pen

The Uniball Jetstream Sport is a very smooth writing pen. I give it my stamp of approval.

personal problem

I have a problem. I have a problem with the "Lamb of God" being set to really festive, yahoo, hoe-down, rollicking good fun music. "Lamb of God" is where we acknowledge that Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for our salvation, and we beg for His mercy. I prefer this to be a moment of serious contemplation ... contemplation on the greatness and mercifulness of God, the significance of the sacrifice, our sinfulness, and our need for His mercy.

carpet is in

Yay. New carpet for that one room is in. So tired. Empty room. Guess what that means: best time to paint. I washed the walls last night. I have to find my spackling ... or go buy some. House is super topsy turvy now. We're getting some work done on the outside too. So tired. I have to go feed the critters now. And maybe tonight I'll not do any work. And just get some sleep.

what a guy

I just heard Bishop Kicanas speak this morning. Oh wow. This guy is awesome. If you ever get the chance to hear him, go for it!

laboring on Labor Day

I've been working on the room to be carpeted, trying to clear it out. I moved 4 large file cabinets, a small 2-drawer file cabinet, a small desk, a work table and some boxes. They got moved to the garage. I'm tired and I'm quitting for the day. I have to stop and feed myself and the critters.

There is still the "desk" - two planks of wood spread across two small file cabinets with a "hutch" I made myself. It's full of stuff. There's also still a small table, a pantry-like cabinet, and assorted odds and ends on the floor. The 11' x 12' room was packed to the gills; it's a lot of stuff to move. I had hoped to finish today, but I gotta quit now.

A contractor came today to look at the work to be done on the outside. The carpet store guy also stopped by on his way home this evening, to look at some other stuff Gumby had discussed.

It's been a full day for me.

Dominican discernment event

info on their website

event is Friday 9/18 - Saturday 9/19, 6pm to 6pm, for ages 20-40 yrs.

carpet shopping

We've been shopping for carpet this past week. For one room, for utility more than luxury.

The first place was a showroom. Great customer service, great atmosphere, prices more than I would be willing to spend.

The second place was more like a warehouse; it had cramped offices and a large unconditioned warehouse area. Prices more to my liking. But the product presentation and the attitude of the salesperson sucked. Gumby was infuriated by the attitude. No go there.

Third place was a very nice show room, the salesperson was fantastic, but they didn't sell retail. They deal with contractors. However, he did send us to their retail store.

So fourth place was a continuation of the third place. It was both a show room and a warehouse. It was great. Bigger showroom than the first store and the warehouse is huge AND air-conditioned. Very pleasant. The price quoted on the first go here was lower than even the hot warehouse! I upgraded on the carpet padding and that brought the price up a bit but it was still a figure I can live with. Not much choice on color, but again, the room is more for utility than luxury. It's not a bad color; it's one of those neutral hues and much lighter the the much-hated carpet we currently have. The carpet is slightly less luxurious than offered at the first store, but is a little plush (not the thin, hard office carpet type) and fits my purposes.

Whereas I am only looking short-term: just this room, Gumby was looking long-term. Gumby wanted a place that we could return to for flooring for the other rooms. This was the place. Customer service is paramount to Gumby, and this place has it along with reasonable prices. They also do tile and wood floors.

Next step: clear out the room, and await the call to schedule the installation.

Sunday Mass broadcast

Broadcast of the Sunday Mass
Heart of the Nation

They seem to offer a free missal. I like giving the missal to "new" Catholics. The ones my parish used to use was seasonal so it wasn't very thick and is discarded after the particular "season." It'd be the discarded ones that I give out. It had the order of the mass, the prayers and responses. It has the gloria, the profession of faith (the creed), the different Eucharistic Prayers and the four different responses to "Let us proclaim the mystery of faith", and the responses to a Bishop's concluding blessing.

It even has the Lord's Prayer, otherwise known as the "Our Father..."

It's just a great resource for learning the prayers and responses of the Mass.