Friday has arrived and with it comes a trip to Mobile.
We're really looking forward to this weekend. We haven't been down to Mobile in a while and with the holidays coming up, we might not get to see our friends again for a while. We're having a cookout tonight and then tomorrow I believe Edwin and I are going to take in the University of South Alabama's football game along with Don and his family. Should be a blast.
So I got kind of long winded yesterday and I've got some stuff to do before I leave for work to get ready for the trip this afternoon, so I'm going to call it here. Have a good weekend and and a good Friday. Also, don't forget to set your clocks back Saturday night and enjoy your extra hour of sleep. Usually, I have to get up and go to work and keep an eye on everything but I managed to not draw the short straw this year. Anyway, see you on Monday.
--Paul
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
I Look at the Floor and See It Needs Sweeping
On Monday President Obama attended an event at a new solar power plant in Florida. While there, he announced an allocation of over 3 billion dollars of the bailout money that will go towards smart grid initiatives. This money will supposedly be match by private investment of over 4 billion.
I'm actually not all that upset about the smart grid stuff. A lot of that money will be used for things that are pretty cool. There is one thing about it that bugs me though. The P.R. spin. They make it sound like this investment will revolutionize the grid and solve all our problems. It won't even get close. If you look at the numbers in this PDF (Link), you'll notice that there's a lot of money going to smart meters. Outside of that, there's a not a lot of solid information about what's going to be done with the money. You can say you're going to install a new system that's going to save power all you want to, but in the end, it might not work out. It also only awards money to 100 different utilities. That's a fraction of the total marketplace.
It's a good start, but if the industry can invest 4 billion of its own money in this, then why does the government have to hand out 3 billion of our tax dollars?
The other thing that bothers me is the so called "green" aspect. The technology they're talking about this money making available can help save power, yes, but if you really want to cut carbon emissions the easiest and cheapest way is nuclear. If the government would ease the permitting process and help move applications for new nuclear facilities towards construction, this country could be well on its way to being over 50% nuclear by 2030. We're already 25% nuclear and that just with the plants that we have. A new plant hasn't been constructed since the 70's.
I also want to talk about the solar plant that was the centerpiece of the announcement. It's rated for a max production of 25 megawatts (per hour). All the people that think solar and wind are the answers are wrong. At times, the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine and what are you going to do then? The other problem is the investment versus return. That solar plant is reported to have cost of $150 million to build. All for 25 megawatts. A mid-size factory of some sort can burn through twice that in an hour. Solar and wind are never going to be capable of supporting the base load on a grid. They may be great for peaking, but who's to say that the sun's going to be shining on a cold winter morning when a system peaks?
Nuclear has to be part of the equation and it's just not something you hear anyone talking about in the current administration.
Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
I'm actually not all that upset about the smart grid stuff. A lot of that money will be used for things that are pretty cool. There is one thing about it that bugs me though. The P.R. spin. They make it sound like this investment will revolutionize the grid and solve all our problems. It won't even get close. If you look at the numbers in this PDF (Link), you'll notice that there's a lot of money going to smart meters. Outside of that, there's a not a lot of solid information about what's going to be done with the money. You can say you're going to install a new system that's going to save power all you want to, but in the end, it might not work out. It also only awards money to 100 different utilities. That's a fraction of the total marketplace.
It's a good start, but if the industry can invest 4 billion of its own money in this, then why does the government have to hand out 3 billion of our tax dollars?
The other thing that bothers me is the so called "green" aspect. The technology they're talking about this money making available can help save power, yes, but if you really want to cut carbon emissions the easiest and cheapest way is nuclear. If the government would ease the permitting process and help move applications for new nuclear facilities towards construction, this country could be well on its way to being over 50% nuclear by 2030. We're already 25% nuclear and that just with the plants that we have. A new plant hasn't been constructed since the 70's.
I also want to talk about the solar plant that was the centerpiece of the announcement. It's rated for a max production of 25 megawatts (per hour). All the people that think solar and wind are the answers are wrong. At times, the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine and what are you going to do then? The other problem is the investment versus return. That solar plant is reported to have cost of $150 million to build. All for 25 megawatts. A mid-size factory of some sort can burn through twice that in an hour. Solar and wind are never going to be capable of supporting the base load on a grid. They may be great for peaking, but who's to say that the sun's going to be shining on a cold winter morning when a system peaks?
Nuclear has to be part of the equation and it's just not something you hear anyone talking about in the current administration.
Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
It Took Me Years To Write
I did get into the Xbox software beta Friday night and got a chance to play with the new features Saturday.
I have to say that, while they're pretty cool, they're just a step away from being incredible. The three main new things are Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm.
Facebook is probably the most functional in that you can see your friends and can even see what friends you have on Facebook that are also on Xbox Live so that you can add them to your Live friends list. You can browse pictures and do pretty much any of the base functions of Facebook.
I've come to find the Twitter app not quite so useful. It's cool to be able to send out a quick tweet from the Xbox, but when reading your feed, a lot of times, people will include links to websites. Since the Xbox doesn't have a web browser, these links do nothing and it cuts down on the usefulness of the app. I do like the interface though. Tweets pop in as little bubbles at the top of the screen and then scroll down as new tweets come in.
Last.fm is also designed well. It's easy to browse stations and find artists that you want to listen to. Recommendations are there along with the ability to rate songs and artists, favorite them, etc...
What keeps all these apps from being awesome though is that they don't extend into the Xbox Live environment outside of their apps. If you want to tweet something in the middle of a game, you'll have to quit your game and load the Twitter app to do it. Same for Facebook. The greatest use for Last.fm would be to turn on a station and leave it playing in the background while you do other stuff, but as soon as you leave the Last.fm app, the music stops. I understand why Microsoft wants these things to be separate apps, but it holds them back from being something really cool and useful and something that Sony and Nintendo aren't even close to pulling off.
Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
I have to say that, while they're pretty cool, they're just a step away from being incredible. The three main new things are Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm.
Facebook is probably the most functional in that you can see your friends and can even see what friends you have on Facebook that are also on Xbox Live so that you can add them to your Live friends list. You can browse pictures and do pretty much any of the base functions of Facebook.
I've come to find the Twitter app not quite so useful. It's cool to be able to send out a quick tweet from the Xbox, but when reading your feed, a lot of times, people will include links to websites. Since the Xbox doesn't have a web browser, these links do nothing and it cuts down on the usefulness of the app. I do like the interface though. Tweets pop in as little bubbles at the top of the screen and then scroll down as new tweets come in.
Last.fm is also designed well. It's easy to browse stations and find artists that you want to listen to. Recommendations are there along with the ability to rate songs and artists, favorite them, etc...
What keeps all these apps from being awesome though is that they don't extend into the Xbox Live environment outside of their apps. If you want to tweet something in the middle of a game, you'll have to quit your game and load the Twitter app to do it. Same for Facebook. The greatest use for Last.fm would be to turn on a station and leave it playing in the background while you do other stuff, but as soon as you leave the Last.fm app, the music stops. I understand why Microsoft wants these things to be separate apps, but it holds them back from being something really cool and useful and something that Sony and Nintendo aren't even close to pulling off.
Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
One Way Ticket, Yeah
It seems like every day I come up with a list of different things that I can use for the next day's blog and then when the next day comes, I can't think of a thing.
Evidently the back-off has set DeAnne's cooking mode on high. She made a stew yesterday that was awesome and she was going to make some bread, but her Mom wanted some of the starter, so instead of making the bread she poured off the starter for her. And don't think that I'm complaining either. If it keeps up, I may be bigger than Terrance Cody, but I'll be happy.
I picked up the new Creed album out of morbid curiosity and as much as I wanted to hate it, it's really not that bad. In fact, there are several songs that are good. I think the album runs a little long, but since most people never buy or listen to an entire album any more (which is incredibly sad), I guess it doesn't really matter. And Mark Tremonti makes me sick with the way he can play a guitar. Nobody should be allowed to move that fast.
Have a good Tuesday.
--Paul
Evidently the back-off has set DeAnne's cooking mode on high. She made a stew yesterday that was awesome and she was going to make some bread, but her Mom wanted some of the starter, so instead of making the bread she poured off the starter for her. And don't think that I'm complaining either. If it keeps up, I may be bigger than Terrance Cody, but I'll be happy.
I picked up the new Creed album out of morbid curiosity and as much as I wanted to hate it, it's really not that bad. In fact, there are several songs that are good. I think the album runs a little long, but since most people never buy or listen to an entire album any more (which is incredibly sad), I guess it doesn't really matter. And Mark Tremonti makes me sick with the way he can play a guitar. Nobody should be allowed to move that fast.
Have a good Tuesday.
--Paul
Monday, October 26, 2009
You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello...
Hello, Hello!
What a weekend it was. Friday started it off with us going out to eat with DeAnne's Mom and Step-Dad and a couple of their friends at the new Mexican restaurant in Opp. It's where MD's used to be. The food was good, the staff was great and believe it or not, they had a four piece mariachi band that was pretty awesome. The band would walk around and play a song for each table. Most of the songs were Spanish tunes but they played a few songs that we recognized: "It's a Small World", "The Chicken Dance" and (the coolest one of all) "Sweet Home Alabama". It was hilarious, surreal and incredible all at the same time.
After that, Saturday was pretty much a bust. DeAnne had a shower to attend and then Auburn fell so much farther down the tube that the only good part of the day was watching Tennessee take Alabama down to the last play. If they win a championship this year, then when Cody graduates, the boosters owe him some money or something for saving that game twice.
Last night was the Harvest Festival at church and it was great. We had an incredible turnout of both members and non-members. The band was great, the kids loved the games and slides and there was some stiff competition in the back-off. I'm happy to report that DeAnne won 3rd in the women's division with Me-Maw's pound cake. I didn't judge the women, but I sampled afterward, and let me assure you, she made one fine pound cake. I did judge the men's side and it was a hard decision, but it was a task I took very seriously, much to my own detriment. The dinner was incredible too. Best of all, Matt reported on facebook last night that there were 15 salvations! So the festival was a great success and I'm already looking forward to next year.
Have a good Monday.
--Paul
What a weekend it was. Friday started it off with us going out to eat with DeAnne's Mom and Step-Dad and a couple of their friends at the new Mexican restaurant in Opp. It's where MD's used to be. The food was good, the staff was great and believe it or not, they had a four piece mariachi band that was pretty awesome. The band would walk around and play a song for each table. Most of the songs were Spanish tunes but they played a few songs that we recognized: "It's a Small World", "The Chicken Dance" and (the coolest one of all) "Sweet Home Alabama". It was hilarious, surreal and incredible all at the same time.
After that, Saturday was pretty much a bust. DeAnne had a shower to attend and then Auburn fell so much farther down the tube that the only good part of the day was watching Tennessee take Alabama down to the last play. If they win a championship this year, then when Cody graduates, the boosters owe him some money or something for saving that game twice.
Last night was the Harvest Festival at church and it was great. We had an incredible turnout of both members and non-members. The band was great, the kids loved the games and slides and there was some stiff competition in the back-off. I'm happy to report that DeAnne won 3rd in the women's division with Me-Maw's pound cake. I didn't judge the women, but I sampled afterward, and let me assure you, she made one fine pound cake. I did judge the men's side and it was a hard decision, but it was a task I took very seriously, much to my own detriment. The dinner was incredible too. Best of all, Matt reported on facebook last night that there were 15 salvations! So the festival was a great success and I'm already looking forward to next year.
Have a good Monday.
--Paul
Friday, October 23, 2009
I Am The Eggman
I think I'm just going to start using Beatles lyrics for my blog titles. They'll never actually have anything to do with the blog, but I shouldn't ever run out of something to use as a title.
It's Friday. Something to be excited about I supposed. I am getting a free lunch today at least. It's our annual ACRE meeting and they always feed us. ACRE is a political action committee that looks out for the interests of electric cooperatives in Washington. Since most cooperatives are small compared to the public utility companies, it's easy for us to get thrown under the bus by new regulations that are introduced. ACRE works to make sure that doesn't happen. They also feed us once a year so that they can get all their members in one spot and tell them about what's been going on for the last year. There's also a chance to win a trip to Washington. I've got a feeling this may be my year. I hope so at least.
The big thing this weekend is the Harvest Festival at the Church on Sunday. It starts at 4:30 so if anybody reading this hasn't heard about it and would like to come, please do so. There's going to be games for both kids and adults, plenty of food and a bunch of other stuff. It should be a great time. I've signed up to judge the bake-off. It's the perfect job for me I think and I couldn't be more excited about it.
Have a good Friday and weekend.
--Paul
It's Friday. Something to be excited about I supposed. I am getting a free lunch today at least. It's our annual ACRE meeting and they always feed us. ACRE is a political action committee that looks out for the interests of electric cooperatives in Washington. Since most cooperatives are small compared to the public utility companies, it's easy for us to get thrown under the bus by new regulations that are introduced. ACRE works to make sure that doesn't happen. They also feed us once a year so that they can get all their members in one spot and tell them about what's been going on for the last year. There's also a chance to win a trip to Washington. I've got a feeling this may be my year. I hope so at least.
The big thing this weekend is the Harvest Festival at the Church on Sunday. It starts at 4:30 so if anybody reading this hasn't heard about it and would like to come, please do so. There's going to be games for both kids and adults, plenty of food and a bunch of other stuff. It should be a great time. I've signed up to judge the bake-off. It's the perfect job for me I think and I couldn't be more excited about it.
Have a good Friday and weekend.
--Paul
Thursday, October 22, 2009
So Close, But So Far Away
It's Thursday. We're getting there.
The Wii update yesterday turned out to be pretty much nothing.
The emails for the Xbox beta will be going out tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get one. I don't know why I'm so excited about this update, but I'm really excited to get to see it.
The main thing I wanted to mention this morning is on the political side of life, so consider yourself warned.
The Obama administration has been making cuts at Fox News the past couple of weeks and Fox has steadily been running articles on it's site talking about the way the administration is treating the news channel. The latest thing this morning is that Obama himself actually addressed the controversy in an interview with NBC. He pretty much blows the whole thing off and calls Fox News "a talk show radio format" (Article). When pressed on why White House people are coming after Fox, Robert Gibbs, the White House Press Secretary, pointed to the Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity shows. Both of these shows are known to be opinion shows.
As an American, I think all this is very dangerous. I think it also makes Obama look a little bit like a cry-baby. If he can't take the heat of two guys asking serious questions about his policies for 10 hours a week then he's got serious problems. What would happen if he took the kind of pressure from the press that Bush was under the last year of his Presidency? To try and use heavy-handed rhetoric to silence a critic runs against the grain of everything that is American. And it would be the same if it was a Republican President going after MSN. If they really want to cut the cries of the people saying they're leading America down a socialist path, then they really should back off of using techniques like this to try and control the press.
Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
The Wii update yesterday turned out to be pretty much nothing.
The emails for the Xbox beta will be going out tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get one. I don't know why I'm so excited about this update, but I'm really excited to get to see it.
The main thing I wanted to mention this morning is on the political side of life, so consider yourself warned.
The Obama administration has been making cuts at Fox News the past couple of weeks and Fox has steadily been running articles on it's site talking about the way the administration is treating the news channel. The latest thing this morning is that Obama himself actually addressed the controversy in an interview with NBC. He pretty much blows the whole thing off and calls Fox News "a talk show radio format" (Article). When pressed on why White House people are coming after Fox, Robert Gibbs, the White House Press Secretary, pointed to the Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity shows. Both of these shows are known to be opinion shows.
As an American, I think all this is very dangerous. I think it also makes Obama look a little bit like a cry-baby. If he can't take the heat of two guys asking serious questions about his policies for 10 hours a week then he's got serious problems. What would happen if he took the kind of pressure from the press that Bush was under the last year of his Presidency? To try and use heavy-handed rhetoric to silence a critic runs against the grain of everything that is American. And it would be the same if it was a Republican President going after MSN. If they really want to cut the cries of the people saying they're leading America down a socialist path, then they really should back off of using techniques like this to try and control the press.
Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
This Is Getting Hard
I still don't really have anything to talk about.
The Wii is glowing this morning. That usually means that Nintendo has sent out a message or system update. I looked around the internet this morning though and I can't find any news about it so I'm not sure what it is. When the Wii first came out Nintendo went through a series of pretty good updates where they introduced new channels like the "Everyone Votes" channel and the Mii sharing channel. The last few have mainly just been about breaking the hacks that people have come up with for the Wii.
Speaking of system updates, I signed up for the beta for the next Xbox 360 system update. According to the guy who does Xbox community relations, they should start sending out acceptance emails on Friday. Basically what it means is that they'll mark my Xbox as able to download the new system software before it's made widely available so that they can get a better testing pool to make sure everything works okay. It's a risk in that they may break the box (at least temporarily) but you get to try out all the cool new features before the mass majority. They've done this in the past but this is the first time I've signed up to participate. This update is the one that will bring Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm integration along with some other new features. It's lame, I know, but I'm looking forward to sending my first tweet from my Xbox.
Well, I managed to come up with a couple of decent paragraphs after all. Go figure. Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
The Wii is glowing this morning. That usually means that Nintendo has sent out a message or system update. I looked around the internet this morning though and I can't find any news about it so I'm not sure what it is. When the Wii first came out Nintendo went through a series of pretty good updates where they introduced new channels like the "Everyone Votes" channel and the Mii sharing channel. The last few have mainly just been about breaking the hacks that people have come up with for the Wii.
Speaking of system updates, I signed up for the beta for the next Xbox 360 system update. According to the guy who does Xbox community relations, they should start sending out acceptance emails on Friday. Basically what it means is that they'll mark my Xbox as able to download the new system software before it's made widely available so that they can get a better testing pool to make sure everything works okay. It's a risk in that they may break the box (at least temporarily) but you get to try out all the cool new features before the mass majority. They've done this in the past but this is the first time I've signed up to participate. This update is the one that will bring Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm integration along with some other new features. It's lame, I know, but I'm looking forward to sending my first tweet from my Xbox.
Well, I managed to come up with a couple of decent paragraphs after all. Go figure. Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Titles! Who Needs 'Em!?!?
DeAnne got in to see the doctor yesterday and was promptly diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection. A shot and some antibiotics and she seemed to be doing better already by the end of the day yesterday. She even played a couple of songs with me on Beatles: Rock Band. Just a couple, but still, that's something for her. Also, from all I could tell, she actually got some sleep last night, or at least she didn't wake me up coughing, so that's a definite improvement.
Other than DeAnne being sick, there's not much else going on. Nothing really exciting happened yesterday. I apologize. I guess I'll just call it here and try and come up with something better for tomorrow.
Have a good Tuesday.
--Paul
Other than DeAnne being sick, there's not much else going on. Nothing really exciting happened yesterday. I apologize. I guess I'll just call it here and try and come up with something better for tomorrow.
Have a good Tuesday.
--Paul
Monday, October 19, 2009
Dig A Pony
DeAnne left me behind this weekend while she went to Ft. Walton with her Mom, so I spent the better part of my time playing The Beatles: Rock Band. It's a fantastic game if you're a fan of the group. If you're not, then probably not so much. I happen to be a fan and thought it was incredible. The only real problem with the game is the length. There's only 40-something songs in the game and the majority of those are pretty short. Early Beatles songs rarely ran more than three minutes. I was able to finish the story mode in a few hours. The challenges took a little longer and while there are some other aspects of the game I want to play and explore, I've pretty much unlocked everything and seen all the bonus content there is to see. It's still a great game though and I imagine I'll be playing it for a while.
After DeAnne was out in the cold all day Saturday, she came home and promptly got sick. It's not any better this morning, so she's going to be calling the doctor at 8:00 to see if she can get in to see him today.
Being sick yesterday, she missed the church visitation campaign for our fall festival. I went with several guys through our neighborhood and we met several people who I haven't met before and who seemed interested in coming to the festival next week. We had a good time and I'm glad that we went out and made the effort to get people to come.
Have a good Monday.
--Paul
After DeAnne was out in the cold all day Saturday, she came home and promptly got sick. It's not any better this morning, so she's going to be calling the doctor at 8:00 to see if she can get in to see him today.
Being sick yesterday, she missed the church visitation campaign for our fall festival. I went with several guys through our neighborhood and we met several people who I haven't met before and who seemed interested in coming to the festival next week. We had a good time and I'm glad that we went out and made the effort to get people to come.
Have a good Monday.
--Paul
Friday, October 16, 2009
Friday Grab Bag
Looking at the forecast, it's actually supposed to feel like fall this weekend. A high of 63 and low of 42 tomorrow should make for a nice, comfortable day to cut the grass (hopefully for the last time this year).
DeAnne's made plans to go with her Mom to Ft. Walton for tonight and tomorrow so it looks like I'm on my own for the majority of the weekend. Outside of cutting the grass, there isn't much else that needs doing so I should have some time to dive into The Beatles: Rock Band. I've also got shows to catch up on. I haven't watched the last episodes of Heroes or Dollhouse yet (both shows DeAnne cares nothing about). I also have a couple of movies to watch that DeAnne doesn't care about seeing. So I should be able to keep myself entertained the next day or so.
That's about all there is to it. I'm looking forward to Sunday. We're going to canvass the area door knocking and inviting people to the fall festival on the 25th. I've never gone door-to-door (outside of my job with the Census) and I'm looking forward to the experience. I'm excited to see what the Lord can do with me in a new situation.
Have a good Friday and a good weekend.
--Paul
DeAnne's made plans to go with her Mom to Ft. Walton for tonight and tomorrow so it looks like I'm on my own for the majority of the weekend. Outside of cutting the grass, there isn't much else that needs doing so I should have some time to dive into The Beatles: Rock Band. I've also got shows to catch up on. I haven't watched the last episodes of Heroes or Dollhouse yet (both shows DeAnne cares nothing about). I also have a couple of movies to watch that DeAnne doesn't care about seeing. So I should be able to keep myself entertained the next day or so.
That's about all there is to it. I'm looking forward to Sunday. We're going to canvass the area door knocking and inviting people to the fall festival on the 25th. I've never gone door-to-door (outside of my job with the Census) and I'm looking forward to the experience. I'm excited to see what the Lord can do with me in a new situation.
Have a good Friday and a good weekend.
--Paul
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Buying Power
The deals were rolling last week and I was definitely buying.
First up was GameStop. I got a couple of codes though Twitter. One for 16% off used games and one for free shipping. I checked and they had The Beatles: Rock Band used, so I grabbed that. I've got a membership card, so that's another 10% off used games and I had a $25 gift card, so I got a game that's $60 new for about $11.50. Not too shabby.
Then I finally used a $30 Best Buy gift card I've had for a while to get a chat pad that attaches to the Xbox controller. Microsoft is adding Facebook and Twitter to the Xbox so I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to get the chat pad. It came in yesterday and it's pretty slick. It forms right to the bottom of the controller and it doesn't get in the way at all. The keys are backlit and light up when you're typing. The keys are a little spread out, but I think it's just a matter of getting used to it.
Finally, on Saturday, I got an email from Amazon offering $10 off the new Snow White Blu-Ray/DVD that just came out. I checked and it was only $20, so I went ahead and grabbed that and with shipping I think it came out to be around $12.50. Wal-Mart is selling it for something like $25, so I figured that was a pretty good deal.
So that was the little shopping spree I went on. The deals were just too good to pass up. Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
First up was GameStop. I got a couple of codes though Twitter. One for 16% off used games and one for free shipping. I checked and they had The Beatles: Rock Band used, so I grabbed that. I've got a membership card, so that's another 10% off used games and I had a $25 gift card, so I got a game that's $60 new for about $11.50. Not too shabby.
Then I finally used a $30 Best Buy gift card I've had for a while to get a chat pad that attaches to the Xbox controller. Microsoft is adding Facebook and Twitter to the Xbox so I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to get the chat pad. It came in yesterday and it's pretty slick. It forms right to the bottom of the controller and it doesn't get in the way at all. The keys are backlit and light up when you're typing. The keys are a little spread out, but I think it's just a matter of getting used to it.
Finally, on Saturday, I got an email from Amazon offering $10 off the new Snow White Blu-Ray/DVD that just came out. I checked and it was only $20, so I went ahead and grabbed that and with shipping I think it came out to be around $12.50. Wal-Mart is selling it for something like $25, so I figured that was a pretty good deal.
So that was the little shopping spree I went on. The deals were just too good to pass up. Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Trees and Art
The apple trees that were between our house and our driveway are now gone. Wayne (DeAnne's step-dad) came by yesterday and cut them down for us. DeAnne's been wanting them gone for years now but I've been hanging on to the big one beside the picture window in our dining room because it basically shaded that entire side of the house from the afternoon sun. So the question is: what now? What do you plant to create a decent amount of shade in a short period of time. There's no telling what a summer with no shade on that side of the house will do to our power bill.
I was sad to see this morning that folk painter Woodie Long has passed away. My high school friend Chris and his family were old friends of the Long's and I had the opportunity to meet Woodie on several occasions. He was as nice a person as you could ever meet. He cared for and loved not only his family and friends but for everyone and he expressed that through his art. He could also play the dog out of a banjo. He may not be a national celebrity like Billy Mayes or Michael Jackson, but for me and a lot of people around this area he easily makes the list of celebrities that have died young this year.
That's all I've got for today. Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
I was sad to see this morning that folk painter Woodie Long has passed away. My high school friend Chris and his family were old friends of the Long's and I had the opportunity to meet Woodie on several occasions. He was as nice a person as you could ever meet. He cared for and loved not only his family and friends but for everyone and he expressed that through his art. He could also play the dog out of a banjo. He may not be a national celebrity like Billy Mayes or Michael Jackson, but for me and a lot of people around this area he easily makes the list of celebrities that have died young this year.
That's all I've got for today. Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Let's Get Polotical
I'll probably get some comments on this.
The Senate Finance Committee is getting ready to vote on its version of the health care overhaul today. Of all of the various versions of a health bill, it's probably the only one that really has a shot and it still includes items that are troublesome.
The biggest problem I have is a government mandate that everyone get insurance coverage. I'm not crazy enough to drop my coverage and go without it, but the government should not be telling people that they have to buy coverage. It's too oppressive, too socialistic and not what the federal government was designed to do. And I'm sorry but it's nothing like being told that you have to have car insurance. With car insurance, you're only made to carry liability coverage so that if you hit someone else and either damage them or their car, they don't have to pay for it themselves. There's no form of health insurance that you can buy that covers someone you do harm to. And no there shouldn't but such a thing either. If somebody tries to break into a house and they get shot then the person who's house is being broken into is the victim and they should not have to pay for the robber for the robber to be taken care of.
If anyone actually wants to reform heath care then they need to start with tort reform and limit excessive malpractice awards. Then they need to open up competition across state lines. It's been studied and time and again these two things have been mentioned as items that will do more to bring down heath care costs than anything anyone in Congress is talking about passing. The best part, neither of these two suggestions costs the taxpayers a cent.
OK, end rant.
Have a good Tuesday.
--Paul
The Senate Finance Committee is getting ready to vote on its version of the health care overhaul today. Of all of the various versions of a health bill, it's probably the only one that really has a shot and it still includes items that are troublesome.
The biggest problem I have is a government mandate that everyone get insurance coverage. I'm not crazy enough to drop my coverage and go without it, but the government should not be telling people that they have to buy coverage. It's too oppressive, too socialistic and not what the federal government was designed to do. And I'm sorry but it's nothing like being told that you have to have car insurance. With car insurance, you're only made to carry liability coverage so that if you hit someone else and either damage them or their car, they don't have to pay for it themselves. There's no form of health insurance that you can buy that covers someone you do harm to. And no there shouldn't but such a thing either. If somebody tries to break into a house and they get shot then the person who's house is being broken into is the victim and they should not have to pay for the robber for the robber to be taken care of.
If anyone actually wants to reform heath care then they need to start with tort reform and limit excessive malpractice awards. Then they need to open up competition across state lines. It's been studied and time and again these two things have been mentioned as items that will do more to bring down heath care costs than anything anyone in Congress is talking about passing. The best part, neither of these two suggestions costs the taxpayers a cent.
OK, end rant.
Have a good Tuesday.
--Paul
Monday, October 12, 2009
Randomness
Here's your Monday bag of randomness:
I finally managed to 100% Batman last night. I really enjoyed the game and while some of the challenges were annoying to get through, for the most part they were pretty awesome. The only achievement I'm missing now is the one for beating the game on hard. I think I may give it a shot and see how it goes. Of course, that all depends on how distracted I get by Beatles: Rock Band.
On Friday I got a tweet that contained a couple of promo codes for GameStop.com. One was for 16% off used games and the other was for free shipping. I checked and they had used copies of Beatles: Rock Band. I put it in the cart, added the codes and my membership card (another 10%) and then used a $25 gift card and ended up getting the game for $11.50. I'm pretty excited about it.
I got another good deal on Saturday when Amazon sent me a $10 coupon for the new Snow White Blu-Ray. It's already only $20 on Amazon so I went ahead and picked that up. With shipping it was about $12. We don't even own a Blu-Ray player, but it comes with the DVD also, and one day we'll get a Blu-Ray player, so for $12, I couldn't pass it up.
I'm sure everyone's already aware, but Auburn lost Saturday. I'm of the opinion that Auburn never plays morning games well. I'm not sure what it is, but if they play a tough opponent in a morning game, it's at best going to be a nail-biter if not a loss. The defense has looked weak all year and Arkansas was just the team that finally figured out how to work the flaws. I still think we can win 7 games this year, if not 8 but it's going to be hard to do and I would be happy with 6 wins considering it'd be an improvement over last year.
Have a good Monday.
--Paul
I finally managed to 100% Batman last night. I really enjoyed the game and while some of the challenges were annoying to get through, for the most part they were pretty awesome. The only achievement I'm missing now is the one for beating the game on hard. I think I may give it a shot and see how it goes. Of course, that all depends on how distracted I get by Beatles: Rock Band.
On Friday I got a tweet that contained a couple of promo codes for GameStop.com. One was for 16% off used games and the other was for free shipping. I checked and they had used copies of Beatles: Rock Band. I put it in the cart, added the codes and my membership card (another 10%) and then used a $25 gift card and ended up getting the game for $11.50. I'm pretty excited about it.
I got another good deal on Saturday when Amazon sent me a $10 coupon for the new Snow White Blu-Ray. It's already only $20 on Amazon so I went ahead and picked that up. With shipping it was about $12. We don't even own a Blu-Ray player, but it comes with the DVD also, and one day we'll get a Blu-Ray player, so for $12, I couldn't pass it up.
I'm sure everyone's already aware, but Auburn lost Saturday. I'm of the opinion that Auburn never plays morning games well. I'm not sure what it is, but if they play a tough opponent in a morning game, it's at best going to be a nail-biter if not a loss. The defense has looked weak all year and Arkansas was just the team that finally figured out how to work the flaws. I still think we can win 7 games this year, if not 8 but it's going to be hard to do and I would be happy with 6 wins considering it'd be an improvement over last year.
Have a good Monday.
--Paul
Friday, October 09, 2009
The Time Has Come
It's taken almost two years, but I've now gained back nearly all the weight I lost when DeAnne and I went on our diet. I guess it's time to put in the effort to get it off again. So last night we picked up Wii Fit Plus. It's a $20 upgraded version of Wii Fit. From what I've read and can tell, it's mainly just minor upgrades, but things have been upgraded across the board. It has a few new exercises and a handful of new games, but I think the major upgrade is in being able to save a workout routine. They also provide a couple of predetermined routines for you to work though. We didn't have time to try it out last night but I'll let you know how it goes next week.
I'm on call this weekend, so no major plans. There's a bit of yard work that needs doing and at some point we really need to go clean out and clean up the storage building. It's getting to the point where there's just too much stuff scattered around in there. A lot of it needs to go to Christian Service and the rest needs to be reorganized.
Have a good Friday and a good weekend.
--Paul
I'm on call this weekend, so no major plans. There's a bit of yard work that needs doing and at some point we really need to go clean out and clean up the storage building. It's getting to the point where there's just too much stuff scattered around in there. A lot of it needs to go to Christian Service and the rest needs to be reorganized.
Have a good Friday and a good weekend.
--Paul
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Another One of Those Days
It's another one of those days where I'm struggling for a topic. Hey, at least it's Thursday.
How about the old fallback...music? There seems to be a pretty steady stream of albums coming out that I'm interested in. It's kind of strange. There's rarely this much activity music-wise and I'm really not sure how to handle it all. So let's see:
Alice In Chains: It doesn't happen often, but when a band changes singers, it's always a little strange to me. Fuel did it and I would say failed. Evans Blue did it and I would say failed. Now Alice In Chains has done it and I think they may have pulled it off. One thing that's different with AIC is that they lost their singer to death, not just creative differences. The new guy doesn't sound like Layne Staley, but the overall sound is still Alice In Chains and with the backing vocals from Jerry Cantrell still there, the album comes off feeling just like an Alice In Chains album. It's not their best album, but they're kind of starting over and I have to say, it's a good start.
David Gray: He's been around for a while now and I've always like his stuff. His new album is every bit as good as any of his others.
There's several others, but I'm short on time and I think I'll save them for another day when I can't come up with anything. Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
How about the old fallback...music? There seems to be a pretty steady stream of albums coming out that I'm interested in. It's kind of strange. There's rarely this much activity music-wise and I'm really not sure how to handle it all. So let's see:
Alice In Chains: It doesn't happen often, but when a band changes singers, it's always a little strange to me. Fuel did it and I would say failed. Evans Blue did it and I would say failed. Now Alice In Chains has done it and I think they may have pulled it off. One thing that's different with AIC is that they lost their singer to death, not just creative differences. The new guy doesn't sound like Layne Staley, but the overall sound is still Alice In Chains and with the backing vocals from Jerry Cantrell still there, the album comes off feeling just like an Alice In Chains album. It's not their best album, but they're kind of starting over and I have to say, it's a good start.
David Gray: He's been around for a while now and I've always like his stuff. His new album is every bit as good as any of his others.
There's several others, but I'm short on time and I think I'll save them for another day when I can't come up with anything. Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
FlashForward
We finally got around to watching the second episode of FlashForward last night and it was just as awesome as the first. It's definitely a show we'll be sticking with. The only problem I can see is that I'm not sure how they can stretch it out past the first season. I think it's pretty obvious that it's designed so that the season finale will coincide with the April date that everyone saw in their flash. So if the date of the flash is the season finale, then what do they do for season 2? If you go past the flash date then don't you loose the whole reason for the show being called "FlashForward"? Of course, the most apparent option is to have another flash event. In the first flashes it was clear that they hadn't figured out the mystery yet, so it's easy to keep the show going on that end. I just wonder if the show can keep up the intensity if there's a flash at the beginning of each season or if it will just get silly. Of course, there's "Lost" where six of the characters made it home for a little while and weren't really "lost" anymore. But the title of that show seems to me to be more of a description of the characters souls than their physical state. Anyway. FlashForward is pretty cool so far.
Sorry to cut it short this morning, but I was dragging getting out of bed and getting through my shower. I really just did not want to get up. Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
Sorry to cut it short this morning, but I was dragging getting out of bed and getting through my shower. I really just did not want to get up. Have a good Wednesday.
--Paul
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
You Might Be A Redneck...
If you have a box that's too big to fit in your van so you strap it to the roof with a hanger and put your 13 year old daughter inside it to hold it down.
One thing that's great about Twitter is that if you follow a news source, every now and then something like this will come up: http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=11259806
So this woman was arrested because she needed to get a box home and it wouldn't fit in her van. She puts it on the roof, hooks a hanger to it and then has her daughter sit in it to keep it from blowing off. Someone going down the road see's it, calls the cops and then she gets pulled over. From reading the story, it sounds like the cops asked her if she was stupid and wanted to kill her kid and she responded: "the box was tied to the van with a clothes hanger".
Now I understand that this is a serious situation. I'm glad the girl didn't get hurt and I'm fine with the mother getting arrested. But you just know that these people are pure rednecks. I'm sorry but all seriousness aside, this is hilarious. I thought I was going to die when I read this yesterday. Made my day.
Have a good Tuesday.
--Paul
One thing that's great about Twitter is that if you follow a news source, every now and then something like this will come up: http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=11259806
So this woman was arrested because she needed to get a box home and it wouldn't fit in her van. She puts it on the roof, hooks a hanger to it and then has her daughter sit in it to keep it from blowing off. Someone going down the road see's it, calls the cops and then she gets pulled over. From reading the story, it sounds like the cops asked her if she was stupid and wanted to kill her kid and she responded: "the box was tied to the van with a clothes hanger".
Now I understand that this is a serious situation. I'm glad the girl didn't get hurt and I'm fine with the mother getting arrested. But you just know that these people are pure rednecks. I'm sorry but all seriousness aside, this is hilarious. I thought I was going to die when I read this yesterday. Made my day.
Have a good Tuesday.
--Paul
Monday, October 05, 2009
A Rainy Monday Morning
I knew it was supposed to rain yesterday but I didn't realize it was going to last on into the morning today. The weather's been so nice lately it kind of spoiled me.
It was showers of a different kind for DeAnne this past weekend. She helped host a baby shower on Saturday for our friend Lyndsay and then on Sunday attended one for one of her step-cousins. All this left me plenty of time to watch T.V. and be frustrated with trying to pick up the last few achievements in Batman. Mom also stopped by on Saturday and I got to spend about an hour with her. It's the first chance we've had to see each other in a couple of months and it was nice to catch up.
That was really about it though. Not much to report, I know. I am happy that Auburn is 5-0 and is now ranked. I'm not sure how the rest of the season is going to pan out but I feel like we should at least end up with 7 wins. It's a nice start for the new staff and I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do in the next two or three years as they develop the team.
Have a good Monday.
--Paul
It was showers of a different kind for DeAnne this past weekend. She helped host a baby shower on Saturday for our friend Lyndsay and then on Sunday attended one for one of her step-cousins. All this left me plenty of time to watch T.V. and be frustrated with trying to pick up the last few achievements in Batman. Mom also stopped by on Saturday and I got to spend about an hour with her. It's the first chance we've had to see each other in a couple of months and it was nice to catch up.
That was really about it though. Not much to report, I know. I am happy that Auburn is 5-0 and is now ranked. I'm not sure how the rest of the season is going to pan out but I feel like we should at least end up with 7 wins. It's a nice start for the new staff and I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do in the next two or three years as they develop the team.
Have a good Monday.
--Paul
Friday, October 02, 2009
About That Alarm Clock
So yeah, yesterday I had an alarm clock malfunction. It seems there was a user error that resulted in an alarm clock failure. I forgot to turn it on. It was actually pretty funny. I rolled over and kind of opened my eyes in that waking-up but still kind of asleep stage and I noticed that the window was bright with sunlight. And I thought to myself: "Wow, it's bright out. It hasn't been bright out this early for a month. Wait, the suns up! Holy cow!!!" At that point, it was full speed ahead to get ready and get out the door. I was only about 5 minutes late, so not bad. I am happy to report however that today we had a successful alarm function and I am on time.
Nothing really major to talk about other than that. We ran over to Kinston last night so DeAnne could pick up a few things for a shower she's helping host tomorrow. With the shower tomorrow, I'll probably have another lazy football filled Saturday. No plans for tonight though. We'll just have to see how the cards fall. I checked the movies and there's just nothing out that either of us care enough about seeing to actually go to the movie theater to see. We'll probably just end up catching up on the DVR. There's a lot of stuff that we record on Thursday night and we didn't get to watch it all last night.
Anyway, have a good Friday and a good weekend.
--Paul
Nothing really major to talk about other than that. We ran over to Kinston last night so DeAnne could pick up a few things for a shower she's helping host tomorrow. With the shower tomorrow, I'll probably have another lazy football filled Saturday. No plans for tonight though. We'll just have to see how the cards fall. I checked the movies and there's just nothing out that either of us care enough about seeing to actually go to the movie theater to see. We'll probably just end up catching up on the DVR. There's a lot of stuff that we record on Thursday night and we didn't get to watch it all last night.
Anyway, have a good Friday and a good weekend.
--Paul
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Overslept
Evidently I failed to turn on my alarm clock last night and woke up about 6:30 this morning. That's when I'm usually taking the dog out for her walk and after I've blogged. So, sorry there's no real blog this morning.
Have a good Thursday.
--Paul
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