feeling better
Been fighting what seems like a stomach virus since Tuesday. Did not go to work the past 2 days. I’m not quite 100%, but I am able to eat without having problems. So not much has happened since our return from CT.
I did promise to take D to see King Kong today, and thankfully, I survived.
What a fantastic movie! Excellent effects, a classic story, and driven well by good acting. Probably not “Best Picture” material, but a great popcorn movie. Certainly a keeper; I highly recommend it.
feeling ill
We’re home now, safe and sound. But my stomach is killing me. Must be something I ate. It’s been on and off since we left New England yesterday. A couple more hours til I need to get ready for work. Not sure if I’ll be going; can’t move much without feeling nauseous.
To say the least, this sucks. 
flying is fun
We’re in CT visiting Mom and Dad for Christmas. Our flights were fine, although delayed. The flight out of Lambert didn’t leave on time due to short staffings and the lack of ice (?) on board. A small plane; the guy next to me was 6′ tall and took all of my leg room space. When we landed in Charlotte, our connecting flight to Providence was supposed to be boarding already. The airport tarmac looked like any mall parking lot the day after Thanksgiving (but with planes, of course). Our gate was D5, and they dropped us off outside E20. Remember the airport scene in “Home Alone”? We got to reenact the mad dash.
Luckily, the attendant at D5 (Jack from “Will and Grace”) explained that the crew was just arriving from Los Angeles, and we wouldn’t be boarding for maybe 10-15 minutes. A larger plane with more space and leg room (plus the flight was not full; CL and I moved to the row in front of ours). We took off 35 minutes late because they couldn’t find the guy to refuel the plane. What were they doing when they were waiting for our LA crew?
Anyway, we’re here safe and sound. It’s in the 40′s – a heat wave for the Northeast. We see NJ tonight, and we spend Christmas day at home tomorrow. Monday is a “whatever we want” day. We’ll probably just rest. We return home on Tuesday.
Til the next time … Merry Christmas 
Happy Holidays!
We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Neil, Christine, Daniel, and Salem too!
Follow these instructions to view a nice Christmas greeting:
Click here to start.
Right-click on the “Now Loading…” for a small menu, and click on Play.
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printable coupons
WowCoupons.com – For you last-minute shoppers, check this site out for printable coupons.
Christmas in Connecticut
9 days til Christmas, 7 til holiday vacation – life is good.
It’s also busy. But that’s life for ya.
Just about done with shopping (thank God). A few stragglers here and there. D and I hit the stores hard yesterday after I got home from work. We shopped at 8 stores in 2 and a half hours; we did pretty good. Now I face the monumental task of wrapping gifts. Yay.
Friday the 23rd, CL, D, and I fly to New England to visit my folks. It will be our first family Christmas in Connecticut. D has never had a Christmas without CL’s parents, so this will be a shock to the system. But he’s 13 now, and he should be fine. It’ll just be a different experience.
I’m hoping for snow when we’re in Connecticut. Lots of it. An extended vacation would be nice. I could take the family on a ski trip. Of course, it can’t snow until after we land and we’re safe at home.
Borders 30% off
30% off coupon – good on regular price of 1 item, now thru 12-19-05
"how's the new job?"
People have been asking me this. I’ve been with IT for 2 months now, and I must say that I like what I’m doing. Helping others with their computer problems and teaching them how to fix and prevent them. I do like it.
What most don’t know is all the hostility that resides within the department. A lot of workplaces have this, I’m sure. I guess I’ve never really been a part of one this tense (or intense, for that matter).
An update from previous posts (10-3, 10-6) …
Both my partner and I now listen to what we want via headphones. We’d like to turn a radio on, but there’s no reception in the basement. So I catch up on podcasts as I work at my desk. It’s nice to be able to listen to something, and I listen to what I want without disturbing anyone else.
The crappy desk isn’t so crappy anymore. It is my desk now, while my partner has her own. The office is set up now that we have our own “cubicle”. I still have yet to personalize mine with pictures and other items.
People are starting to figure out that I like to eat. I have a tub of dry cereal that I “graze” from all morning. My partner scolds me for all the little pieces of cereal that I drop.
Camaraderie: there is camaraderie, but it comes in spurts. IT is like a small high school with all its little cliques. I guess I belong to all of them because no one gives me trouble and everyone tells me what they think of the other. We’re losing our secretary due to the “cliquish” (is that a word?) environment, and my partner has threatened to walk after several instances. My plan is to do what I’m told and stay out of it.
I really do like my job.
“how’s the new job?”
People have been asking me this. I’ve been with IT for 2 months now, and I must say that I like what I’m doing. Helping others with their computer problems and teaching them how to fix and prevent them. I do like it.
What most don’t know is all the hostility that resides within the department. A lot of workplaces have this, I’m sure. I guess I’ve never really been a part of one this tense (or intense, for that matter).
An update from previous posts (10-3, 10-6) …
Both my partner and I now listen to what we want via headphones. We’d like to turn a radio on, but there’s no reception in the basement. So I catch up on podcasts as I work at my desk. It’s nice to be able to listen to something, and I listen to what I want without disturbing anyone else.
The crappy desk isn’t so crappy anymore. It is my desk now, while my partner has her own. The office is set up now that we have our own “cubicle”. I still have yet to personalize mine with pictures and other items.
People are starting to figure out that I like to eat. I have a tub of dry cereal that I “graze” from all morning. My partner scolds me for all the little pieces of cereal that I drop.
Camaraderie: there is camaraderie, but it comes in spurts. IT is like a small high school with all its little cliques. I guess I belong to all of them because no one gives me trouble and everyone tells me what they think of the other. We’re losing our secretary due to the “cliquish” (is that a word?) environment, and my partner has threatened to walk after several instances. My plan is to do what I’m told and stay out of it.
I really do like my job.
first snow
We got approximately 3 inches today, our first significant shot of snow for the season (although it is still fall; note the leaves on the tree).
final section of Busch Stadium falls
Roughly one month after the first swing of the wrecking ball, Busch Stadium is now a pile of rubble.
KSDK.com story
10 reasons why you shouldn't get an Xbox 360
Ten good reasons why you shouldn’t waste your money on a new Xbox 360. It is an interesting read that sees through the hype.
10 reasons why you shouldn’t get an Xbox 360
Ten good reasons why you shouldn’t waste your money on a new Xbox 360. It is an interesting read that sees through the hype.
Researchers Discover That Dogs Laugh
It’s sounds like a long, loud panting. And it makes other dogs happy.
Sound of Dog’s ‘Laugh’ Calms Other Pooches (ABC News) | digg story
dumb playlists
I’m still waiting for an update from Apple on fixing the pod’s smart playlist feature. I came across this site that sums up the problem very well.
update 1203
22 days til Christmas, 20 til holiday vacation, never enough time …
Went Christmas shopping last night with CL.
Good news – got a lot of gifts. Bad news – spent too much.
Work is better. Well, not really. It’s still tense and full of conflict. I guess I’m just used to it now.
Hamazahn.com – My cousin’s son Hamilton has his own site! I’m amazed what this kid can do!
It’s cold here.
Mmmm … I smell bacon. Catch ya later …
2nd coming of teny's iPod
Well, actually, it’s the 3rd …
iPods have a feature called smart playlists. The playlists dynamically update according to criteria I set for it. So if I want to listen to songs rated 3 stars or higher, played in the last week, but not in the last 2 days, the pod creates the list accordingly and updates as the list plays.
Last June, Apple released an update to the pod’s firmware to coincide with the podcasts function in the iTunes software. So, now I have a separate category called “Podcasts” on the pod. Unfortunately, this new firmware disabled the pod’s ability to use a “smart” playlist. In fact, the smart playlist was now a plain, simple playlist that repeated whatever was in it. The playlist would not update unless I plugged the pod to my PC; iTunes would then update the playlist.
The smart playlist feature is one major reason I wanted an iPod. Apparently, the newer Nano and 5th generation “video” iPods do not have this problem. And Apple has acknowledged the problem, but has neglected to do anything about it. There are many owners like myself who are frustrated with this situation.
What some of us have done is gone backwards by pulling up an old firmware update and restoring the iPod to that firmware. But you have to format the pod’s hard drive. Which meant, I needed to back up my songs. I did do this a few weeks back. I ran the old firmware update, and plugged in the pod to restore the older version. Once it wiped the hard drive clean, I went to restore all my songs.
The songs were gone. I felt like a fool.
So … I’m rebuilding my library, bit by bit. Thankfully, I had backed up songs I purchased off of iTunes on a CD. Once you’ve paid and downloaded a song on iTunes, you cannot do it again without buying it again. Retarded. But now I have my smart playlists back, so I can’t complain.
What’s rocking the pod:
Pretty Vegas – INXS
Blue Orchid – The White Stripes
Ch-Check It Out – Beastie Boys
My Doorbell – The White Stripes
Love Removal Machine – The Cult
Square Dance – Eminem
Betty – The Lascivious Biddies
(if you use iTunes, get the mix)
2nd coming of teny’s iPod
Well, actually, it’s the 3rd …
iPods have a feature called smart playlists. The playlists dynamically update according to criteria I set for it. So if I want to listen to songs rated 3 stars or higher, played in the last week, but not in the last 2 days, the pod creates the list accordingly and updates as the list plays.
Last June, Apple released an update to the pod’s firmware to coincide with the podcasts function in the iTunes software. So, now I have a separate category called “Podcasts” on the pod. Unfortunately, this new firmware disabled the pod’s ability to use a “smart” playlist. In fact, the smart playlist was now a plain, simple playlist that repeated whatever was in it. The playlist would not update unless I plugged the pod to my PC; iTunes would then update the playlist.
The smart playlist feature is one major reason I wanted an iPod. Apparently, the newer Nano and 5th generation “video” iPods do not have this problem. And Apple has acknowledged the problem, but has neglected to do anything about it. There are many owners like myself who are frustrated with this situation.
What some of us have done is gone backwards by pulling up an old firmware update and restoring the iPod to that firmware. But you have to format the pod’s hard drive. Which meant, I needed to back up my songs. I did do this a few weeks back. I ran the old firmware update, and plugged in the pod to restore the older version. Once it wiped the hard drive clean, I went to restore all my songs.
The songs were gone. I felt like a fool.
So … I’m rebuilding my library, bit by bit. Thankfully, I had backed up songs I purchased off of iTunes on a CD. Once you’ve paid and downloaded a song on iTunes, you cannot do it again without buying it again. Retarded. But now I have my smart playlists back, so I can’t complain.
What’s rocking the pod:
Pretty Vegas – INXS
Blue Orchid – The White Stripes
Ch-Check It Out – Beastie Boys
My Doorbell – The White Stripes
Love Removal Machine – The Cult
Square Dance – Eminem
Betty – The Lascivious Biddies
(if you use iTunes, get the mix)
Borders 25% off
25% off coupon – good on regular price of 1 item, now thru 12-4-05
