General Thoughts

My Pants are All Shrinking…

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OK, so here’s the deal: I’m currently claiming more than my fair share of matter in the universe. I’ve had this struggle before, and it’s usually due to stress at work. (Well, ok, it’s indirectly due to stress at work, it’s actually due to eating lots of food and being a lazy SOB) It’s not that I’m terribly vain, and need to look like an Olympic swimmer to impress my wife, but I still need to lose weight. Here’s why:

  • My wife deserves to have a man that looks good. This is largely because she is way out of my league, and she loves me anyway. That’s the kind of woman that you want to look good for.
  • My heart tends to not like me a whole lot. It insists that if I’m even slightly overweight, that I must want my blood pressure to be dangerously high. No amount of fatty foods and couch sitting can convince it otherwise. I’ve tried.
  • I kinda want to be alive. Ya know, not dead and stuff. I don’t have the luxury of being mildly overweight and remaining relatively healthy. My body, my blood pumper specifically, has very strict guidelines under which it agrees to keep me alive for the long haul. This, by the way, sucks.

SO, if you see me walking down the street eating a cupcake, slap it out of my hand. Actually, most of you live quite a ways away from me, so if you see me walking down the street, it likely means I’m stalking you. Call the police.

That said, if I seem particularly grumpy in the near future — it’s not anything you’ve done. Except that you haven’t fed me. And that’s a good thing. Anyway, wish me luck. I need to lose about 25-30 pounds.

(Oh, and those of you thinking I look a nice healthy weight in my videos and such — you’re very kind, but unfortunately, I carry my weight well. Very few people guess that I’m pushing 200 pounds, but in fact, I am.)

Who Knew?

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Did you know Nathan had a blog? Yeah, you probably did. I however missed that train when it started.

Oh well, I found out, so all you guys trying to hide over at Nathan’s house won’t work anymore. 🙂

Funny Realization

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I was complaining a while back, probably on someone else’s blog, about when I search for my name on Google, I get a chiropractor and a pheasant hunting guide. Tonight, I realized it’s because I didn’t actually have my name anywhere here. It’s surprising Google found me at all!

So yeah, I’m narcissistic, and I put my name in the footer, and over on the right hand side. And I changed my username. Because I just gotta beat that chiropractor lady. So if you see Googlebot treats laying around, it’s just me trying entice the behemoth. 🙂

I Want One of These.

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tentacle_02.jpgI don’t know why. I know that I would like to wear it to work. And just one, because two would be silly.

If you want one, just click on the photo, it will take you to an online store. Please buy me one too, because there’s absolutely no way I could convince my wife it was a good idea.

The B Word

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My wife has been working in the elementary school for the past month, assisting a special needs boy. He has a horrible background, and because of it, has the worst social skills I’ve ever seen in a student. At any age. And he’s a second grader.

When Donna started working with him, he was violent, disrespectful, and quite honestly, a little scary. Today, however, he did something that was so funny, I thought I’d share.

Normally, this young man swears like a sailor (no offense, my naval visitors). In the time that he’s been with my wife, however, that’s largely diminished. Today was proof. He’s not having a very good day, which is to say that he’s been challenging to manage. He got mad at Donna for something, but instead of actually swearing at her like he would have a month ago, he yelled, “You’re the ‘B’ word, you know that?!?!”

I know, for most kids, that would be horrible. But for this young man, it was the most restrained he’s ever been. She told me about it at lunch today, and it made me laugh. Sadly, the trial period for Donna is ending on Monday, and the position will go to a union member with the most seniority — but hopefully the stint with Donna will help the new aide. As long as she’s not a B word. 🙂

The Day My Brain Saved Me $1,000

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I called the well man, and he came over right away. Which is nice. He took off the top of the well, took some measurements on amperage usage on the pump, and told me I needed a new pump. Not nice. So I told him to come over tomorrow and do it, I’d figure out where to get the money one way or another.

After he left, my brain started working. I think this is largely due to my desire not to spend 100,000 pennies. After using plain old Vulcan logic, I figured that the well pump itself isn’t bad (although, likely had much of it’s life taken away…), because it’s still pumping water. Pretty astute observation, no? Also, when it’s working, the water surges high and low pressure. Constantly.

So I thought perhaps the pressure tank, which is sorta supposed to store a bunch of water pressure (thus it’s name) wasn’t working, and the pump had to turn on and off constantly. I figured that wouldn’t be good for a pump. I know if I were a well pump, 200 feet underground, that if I had to keep turning on and off every 2 seconds — I’d probably give up after a while and go on strike.

So I crawled under the house, and tested the air pressure gauge on the tank, and water squirted out. Not good, but at least it confirmed my suspicion. Maybe I should go into the well guy business. I hear it pays well.

So for now, I drained all the water out of the tank with a busted bladder, and allowed it to fill with air. Then I capped off the air valve and turned on the well again. Guess what? It’s working quite well. I know I need to replace the tank, but in the short term, it will function fairly well. I’ll probably get a new tank this weekend, instead of taking off work tomorrow and selling my liver on the black market for cash.

And, I’ll start saving money for a new well pump, because I think it’s really taken a beating this past week. And if I never have to replace the pump? Well, I’ll have saved up money you see, and that’s never a bad thing.

So my tip for the day? Use your brain. Sometimes it pays off.

Continued 2008 Suckfest, and a Review.

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It appears as though our well quit today. This does not please me, because although a well is just a big hole in the ground, it’s a rather pricey hole in the ground. And apparently our well pump doesn’t suck, and it’s actually supposed to. What a weird world.

Anyway, wish me luck. The well guy is coming today at 5:15, and hopefully he’ll wave a wand and everything will be fine. Uh hu.

Here’s this week’s product review, however, if you’re into that sorta thing. OH, and the company is GIVING AWAY 2 of these products through the Linux Journal website. It’s another video thing, apparently, but the prize is a TON better than a T-Shirt. For the record, Brad (our local commenting buddy) was the only one that won a T-Shirt, so winning might be fairly easy. I dunno. Click here to read more details.

My New Schedule

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From now until, well, maybe forever — my works schedule has changed. I’m now working from 4AM to Noon. My blogging will likely take a bit to adjust to the new times, because quite frankly, I’m very tired.

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More later. Probably. Must sleep now, and finish reviewing this week’s Gadget. (It’s a really nice one, I want to keep it.)

Stuffy People Suck

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And now, my valued readers, I bequeath my laments forthwith…

My last post, which was little more than embedding my lastest product review, sparked some really *fun* comments. I love that we’re discussing a glowing eyed, half possessed, flame throwing desk accessory. It’s fun, light hearted, and occasionally enlightening. I thank you for that.

My frustrations lie with larger, stuffier sites. In this case, the Linux Journal website. They get tens of thousands of visitors a day, and maybe a dozen comments. And those are often guarded, timid, or cruel. In talking with the webmaster (webmistress?), she made a good point that because of the volume of visitors, people are hesitant to look dumb or get shot down. It makes for a stuffy online community that isn’t a whole lot of fun to be involved with. I comment my arse off there, because I think it has the potential to be a fun place to make some great contacts. But I digress…

My wish? That Linux Journal would be filled with folks like you that aren’t afraid to make a fart joke, or aren’t afraid to look silly just for the sake of looking silly. So if you read my blog, and are a Linux enthusiast, go to linuxjournal.com and help them all lighten up. If you’re not a Linux fan, feel free to continue making flaming fart jokes here. Either way, wherever we go online, let’s vow to smack down nasty people, k?

Send Al Gore!!!

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We’re having 2 days of thunderstorms here in Michigan. In January. Granted, rain is my favorite weather condition — but really, it’s odd to know that I just put the Christmas tree under the house for storage this past weekend, and today we’re having a thunderstorm. Weird.

On top of that, I think the pressure tank, and possibly pump for our well is going out. Both not good things to have happen, at all. And my brake light went on today in the van. And the van started leaking transmission fluid. And it’s currently our only vehicle.

So far, 2008 is not impressing me.