Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Tonight -- The Adventure Begins

My stepson's mom is traveling to Boston for the holiday weekend, starting tonight. And for those of you who know the saga, yes, she is taking a vacation from her very stressful life. Anyway, the four year old is coming to stay for the week, starting pre-school on Wednesday, visiting with relatives from out of town, going to a babysitter for the first time -- and all within the seven days. I feel bad for the little guy. So much adjusting in a short amount of time. From his point of view though, life is good. His backpack for the school year is Thomas the tank engine. What more could you want or need?

MSNBC - Lonely granddad seeks family to adopt him

How sad. I'd write and offer to move him to the states, but I already have one "elderly" living with me and don't have room for a second. Just think of the stories he could tell, the history he has lived through. I know that he is offering money, but I'd do it for free. Heck, when it is all said and done, I'd probably need to pay him.

Monday, August 30, 2004

Finding Carpet in the Living Room

The weekend was somewhat productive. I found my living room carpet again. It was under the Little Peoples, Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, blocks, books, blankets, and crumbs. The crumbs were what started the search. Vacuuming was desparately needed. The kids hate it when I pick up. It usually occurs when they go down for a nap or outside to play. While they are occupied, I capture every last toy and return it to its proper container, shelf or basket. Then the vacuum comes out and picks up the microscopic pieces that were left over. Unless the dog got to the crumbs first, that is. When they get back inside, frantic to play with the various toys that had been out, they inevitably groan and say, "Oh man." (Translation -- now I have to take everything out again and make a bigger mess so she won't clean it next time.) Ah, the joy of kids.

First caught book!

My third release book was caught by someone new to bookcrossing. Joy and Bliss!

Saturday, August 28, 2004

Wedding showers

I'm co-hosting a wedding shower the first weekend of next month, which also means I'm the matron of honor. To complicate matters more, I live in good ol' Wisconsin while the Bride is in South Dakota. This is an arrangement I would not recommend. The upside is we talk alot. The downside is, I am working with others to get it all pulled together. I'm a type A control freak personality. I don't do this well. So far is it okay, but so far all we have done is pick a date and divide some of the responsibilities. Nothing major. But I am in need of some shower games. Any ideas or websites? The other thing I have to do is a speech at the reception/dinner. I'm okay speaking in front of a large crowd of people, but have no practice with writing speeches. And I don't think I can just wing it. Help, please!

Friday, August 27, 2004

If you don't have cable...

Fiat Lux, of If you don't have cable and your library card is expired, has posted the referring links for the last 24 hours. People from here have jumped there a grand total of three times. But it got me mentioned at her sight. I love the way she writes. It's self depreciating, proud of her "white trash" background. What makes it great, however, is how smart she is. She sprinkles in $65 words like nothing, properly used, better than I could ever do. I know from one post that she doesn't have a job; I wonder why. It's certainly not a lack of talent.

MSNBC - New jaw bone grown in man's back muscle

Things like this just scare me. At what point does science go too far? Man is supposed to live and die. Will experiments like this lead to man living longer than intended by God?

Thursday, August 26, 2004

Work Week Update

The working week is almost over. As it is Thursday, the egocentric obnoxious intern is over at the Training Center. And tomorrow is her last day here. Sliding into the home stretch with good news always makes the day go by. Now her problems, counted and recounted for the world at large will annoy someone else. Anyone else, actually. It is a good day.

Welcome to Gmail - you are a loser

I suck. I got a gmail account, completely by accident through my lame joke. Now I can't remember my login or password. I'm such a moron. At work, I keep a file. I do the same at home. I have too many to be able to remember them all. And I don't like to use the same one for my bills as my emails, well, for obvious reasons. (At least they should be to the security sensitive.) Anyway, now I have an account I can't get to. Thank goodness I hadn't started saving stuff to it like I was going to. I planned to use it for off-site storage for things like my digital pictures and writing so that just in case my computer burned down or something of that nature, I would have back-ups. Now I have nothing...nothing I tell ya. No gmail, no back-ups. Sniff, sniff. It's a great pity party day.

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

MSNBC - Matt Damon gives upon dating celebrities

There's hope for me yet! The hubby and I have an open understanding about this sort of thing. Dating celebrities is one of them.

MSNBC - Dissecting the Swift Boat accounts

I wish I could say that this article helps, but it didn't. The whole Swift Boat vets is going to end-up distorted beyond belief. But you have to admire the guy for admitting he lied.

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

The Book Club

I'm thinking about doing away with this site. I don't have a tracker on it, so I don't know if anyone is using it. What I would do instead review the books I've read at raspberry-latte.blogspot.com I'm kinda lazy about reviewing, I found, as it requires a separate site. If you are really a fan of it, though, comment please and I'll keep them separate.

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth - Service to Country

Did you get a chance to see the ad before it was pulled? If not, this site documents what the ad says. What I know about the Vietnam War is very small and probably very biased. I have no relatives that served. It's too recent to have been in most of my history classes. I read a book called "We were Soldiers," which soldiers of the Vietnam war write about some of their experiences. I don't think anyone really knows what happened over there. Their piece and portion may be known, but as far as the overall truth...was there ever one? Just as many bad things exist about Bush. Just search for "skull and bones," a secret organization that both canidates belonged to while at college. Picking the lesser of the two evils is getting tiresome. And more than a little tricky.

Monday, August 23, 2004

MuggleNet.com - The Ultimate Harry Potter Site

Being that the title for book six was released, I spent some time on this site over the weekend. Fantastic design, layout and, most importantly, information. The team does some pretty thorough research of chats, interviews, books, etc. to confirm or deny rumours. Well worth a visit. Or more.

MSNBC - Scream stolen

If only I had known it was that easy. Walk it and rip it from the wall. The Thomas Crown Affair makes it seems terribly difficult to steal a painting from a museum.

Thursday, August 19, 2004

Lines in the Sand

Did you ever find yourself in one of those situations where everything needs to be double and tripled checked, but as you are doing said checks, you become more and more ridiculous with your criteria for acceptance and rejection? I hope that makes sense. I can’t go into further detail, as it is work related, but I feel the need to vent.

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Perfect Score

Last night my hubby and I watched "The Perfect Score." It wasn't bad. Parts of it were even really good. But it made me think back to being in high school and how the numbers of the standardized tests ran your life. I was one of those unique individuals who went to a boarding school that prepped its students for a career in teaching or preaching God's word. I didn't need as high of a score as I got to get into the college for this path. As my resulting path as significantly diverged from the intended path, I can appreciate the worry that students have. At 18, how can you possibly know what you want to do for the rest of your life. And if you can possibly decide, so much happens that you are more likely to change your mind than do what was intended. I have two small children. The skills I want to teach them are the "thinking" skills of life. And to learn to take chances. Don't settle for what you are told to do. Take the risks and do what you love, what you are passionate about. To hell with everyone and the consequences. If nothing else, I want to teach them to think. And take the risks like the six high school seniors did in this movie.

I caught a Wild Book

I caught my first ever "wild" book. After reading it, I'm going to return it to its natural habitate. Thanks for the opportunity, badgerjim. And thanks for re-releasing the book in Oshkosh.

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Bush Plans Large U.S. Troop Realignment

Who would have thought that the US troops were still in position to protect us from WWII and the Cold war enemies? Reorganization is only part of the solution. Americans need to stop riding the wave of security and trust. Americans need to take an active role in running their country, rather than trusting long-time politicians to do it.

Janet Evans plays Miss Manners

It is a sad state of a union when people honored as the greatest atheletes of all time need to have a "manners" coach. Even worse is the image Evans projects in the interview. I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt and say it is due to bad editing, rather than the editing is due to a bad interview. I might be giving her too much credit.

Monday, August 16, 2004

A GMail Account!

Who would have thought that my standard joke to anyone who knows needs a joke would have won me a gmail account. I'm so surprised, I didn't prepare a speech. But I am going to put my account to good use. Thanks much for the space and the opportunity, Craig. Check out Craig's blog to see how I won.

Deep Thoughts about Nutrition

After spending an extraordinary amount of time indoors, I've had some time to contemplate a few things. Television is a good promoter of deep thoughts. For instance, the state of Wisconsin is trying to "crack down" on non-seat belt users. A portion of their campaign includes a television ad showing two young guys being pulled over by a female officer. The officer chastises them for not wear their safety belts. They confess that they don't have a good reason to not wear them and promise to do so in the future. Not to mock the usefulness of safety belts (formerly known as seat belts,) but why is the state concerned with our safety? Wisconsin proudly touts the title of "Beer & Brat" capital. Are they safe? Of course, in proper proportion. Couldn't the same be said of safety belts? Safety belts are only necessary in an accident. The catch is that no one knows when they are going to have an accident. But no one knows when they are going to have a heart attack either. A large variety of food offerings could cause one or push the consumer over the edge. As a solution to this situation, I propose that eating patterns be monitored. Every time someone orders a meal that contributes to heart disease, attack, stroke, etc., a card should be swiped. Ideally the card would be an identification card such as a driver's license. But as long as it was universally recognized, any card would do. If this society existed, I'd want to work at McDonald's. Just so I could say, "I'm sorry, Mr. Consumer. You seem to be at your limit of Big Macs for the week. Would you like a fruit and yogurt parfait?" And then I'd duck.

Friday, August 13, 2004

Enjoying Life

Life has been good for the last 24 hours. The baby seems to be over whatever it was that was causing him to scream for no apparent reason. The cute, cuddly, happy baby is back. I'm 7 hours away from the weekend, which is 60 hours of family time. I have money in the bank, or will once we get paid. The cupboards are full, which means I don't have to go to the store to shop for groceries. The puppy is happy and full of spunk. She loves going for rides in the car. Today just seems like a good day. And for all of the little reasons.

Thursday, August 12, 2004

Yesterday

Sorry about not posting yesterday. I had a sick child who needed to go to the doctor. Nothing obvious is wrong with him, so we need to keep an eye on him for the next 24 hours and watch behavior. I think he is better this morning. Seemed like it anyway. After his doctor's appointment, we both ate lunch and took a really long nap. Mine was shorter than his four and a half hour one, but only by an hour. Taking a nap in the middle of the afternoon is one of life's greatest pleasures. I cannot imagine anything better. Work should be like all day kindergarten with nap time. How can this be made socially acceptable, I wonder?

Tuesday, August 10, 2004

Night out on the Town

My hubby and I went out with a couple of his co-workers last night. We went to a bar in Appleton that serves big-ass beers. They really mean big ass. I was a little drunk. It was enough fun though, that all parties agreed that we needed to do it again and soon. We discovered that all of us suck at pool. More beer didn't help. So we tried darts. No good at that either. Then we worked on the drinking aspect. We were all really good at that. Next time, we'll skip the games and focus on what we are good at.

Monday, August 09, 2004

The Scene

Quick explanation for the new link. The Scene is a local monthly that has great writing while swinging widely to the left. Every issue has good points of view, good variety of content and the listing for all of the "cultural" events in the area. The online edition is the same as the paper copy which is available for free around the Valley. I was disappointed that the online edition is still last month's copy. The cover article for August is a great story about Gannett newspapers and the monopoly they've established in NE Wisconsin. It slings as much mud and muck as any political rally, but with facts to back up each and every accusation. And both sides of the story are presented. Cheers to Tony Palmari for the excellent article!

Downed Network

Just received notification that the network was down on Thursday and Friday. As if I hadn't noticed as I was unable to access any of my files. They had a big enough problem that files needed to be restored from a tape back-up. Thank goodness I spent most of my time of Thursday working the phones and most of Friday waiting to see if I could get back on the network. Rather productive couple of days, don't you think? I was lucky compared to some in my department. They now have to recreate whole spreadsheets that were the entire purpose of being here those two days. It reminds me of being in college...and yes, we use the same network that they did.

Crabby Baby and the Boat Ride

The baby is teething again. Which wouldn't be bad, except this is the second battle that has resulted in no teeth. And he is a true man. Whiney, whimpery, clinging, and in general miserable. I'm talking about me. Or how I would be if I was to give up, admit defeat and act the way I feel. The poor kid is miserable, I know. He isn't eating (one of his favorite activities.) Yesterday he had a few goldfish crackers and half of a Yumsters yogurt. This from the child who normally eats a cup and a half of mac and cheese. Obviously, he is ill. My darling husband, seeing my level of frustration escalate through the day, suggested a sunset boat ride. Really he was afraid I'd blow my temper on him. However, I loved the idea and it worked. The baby was sleeping, afterall. My mom was able to finish the book she'd picked up at the Library. And I got to enjoy the wind in my hair, the waves and my dog at my side. And some good conversation with my husband. We're at one of those crossroads where we need to decide what we are going to do regarding several aspects of our lives. The open air is a great place to air the thoughts that had been rattling in both of our heads. Perhaps I'll share some of the not-so-evil ones with you later...

Friday, August 06, 2004

Reason for Linking

The increased number of links may need an explanation. Rather than tying up my "favorites" folder with all sorts of links and try to figure out some filing system that makes sense, I'm using this as a vehicle for storing them. Sorry for the lack of thoughts. I'll try to include more of them in addition to the links. My brain has been rather empty as of late. Ta-ta.

Not working at work

I should be running around like mad, reporting logistic related data as it is the first week of the month. However, due to a network outage, I am instead doing my best to look busy. My main attempts at this are to find websites that I can use to "enhance my professional abilities." Don't be surprised at some of the links I may record for prosperity.

Templates Home Page

A good feature if you need a ready-made calendar or certificate. Microsoft has several templates for most anything you can think of. I use their fax and memo templates for stuff at work. They have even thought of hard-working teachers and have included a section for them as well. Not too shabby.

Thursday, August 05, 2004

NASCAR fines Johnson $10,000

As if Nascar wasn't bad enough all ready. Can you imagine what would happen to the NFL if they followed the same rules?

Institute for Naming Children Humanely Homepage

This site should be part of the child birth classes. After a recent wave of "new babies," I have several names that would belong under the listing of "Let me spell that for you." Let the child be different of their own accord, not because of the way his/her name is spelled.

Political Joke -- Don't read if easily offended

Of course, this could be adapted to fit the other party, but I favored this version... There was this new bar in town that everyone was talking about because it had a robot-bartender. A man walks in to see this for himself. He sits at the bar and sure enough, a robot was bartending. The man orders a drink, and the robot asks him what his IQ is. The man replies that his IQ is 150. So the robot begins discussing nuclear physics, hydrogen power cells, and the current state of the global atmosphere. The man is amazed. He has to see how good this robot really is. He leaves the bar and comes right back in and sits at the bar. Again, the robot asks him for his IQ. This time the man replies "100." So the robot discusses football, basketball, and the proper way to grill a steak. The man leaves and comes back in for a third time. This time he tells the robot that his IQ is 50. The robot replies: "So, are you democrats really going to vote for Kerry?" (Thanks, Tensie)

Wednesday, August 04, 2004

You might be

Joke of the day...week...year. A whole site devoted to the idea of "You might be _____ if..." And yes, cheese heads have their own listing.

People Search

Every so often, I will search for myself in various engines, just to see who else is out there bearing the same nom de plume as me. Addresses.com is fun to use as it also gives the option of using reverse look-ups for phone, email, etc. I try it every so often on wrong number calls too. It keeps life interesting.

J-Walk website

Every time I try to get on the J-Walk website, I'm denied. I wonder if work found out about it and is blocking access. Or maybe he is having hosting problems. Could someone check and let me know? Thanks.

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

My husband turns 30 this year. To properly celebrate, we are going to charter a fishing boat for some of his friends. It all started because I was teasing him about having a "pirate-themed" party so they could do "piratey things." It evolved into this. He found Dumper Dan's Sportfishing Charters of Sheboygan, WI, an uninformed participant to our diabolical minds. The piratey things will entail beer drinking, eating, joking, ribbing and perhaps some fishing. By the way, drop him a line and wish him happy birthday. He'll thank me later, I know. rpenney28 at yahoo.com