If it’s New Year’s Eve, it’s time for Settlers of Catan, Teeny Tiny Travel Edition this post enabled by airblogging.com….
If it’s New Year’s Eve, it’s time for Settlers of Catan, Teeny Tiny Travel Edition
this post enabled by airblogging.com.
And, it should go without saying (but I say it nonetheless) that I resolve to be the bestest partner, lover, hubby and friend to Margie, the most wonderful woman in…
And, it should go without saying (but I say it nonetheless) that I resolve to be the bestest partner, lover, hubby and friend to Margie, the most wonderful woman in the world.
So there.
Let’s start off with a review of last year. 1. Spend more time with Kitten. Managed to do this, actually. Continued the tradition of driving her home from after-care on…
Let’s start off with a review of last year.
1. Spend more time with Kitten.
Managed to do this, actually. Continued the tradition of driving her home from after-care on the couple of days of the week she was there. Went with her to karate. And spent more time (the both of us did) assisting with homework.
2. Try to cut back on external commitments some. Family first.
Didn’t do nearly as much stuff outside the house. Continued to spend time with Margie playing CoX, etc. Tried to prioritize even my work schedule around Katherine’s needs.
3. Write. Edit. Write.
Fell down more than a bit here. While I did the April Storyball, and even set up my own Writing blog, my attempts to prioritize working on existing works, and extending into others, didn’t go anywhere (heck, even . Even resolutions to do the next best thing, GMing, never really gelled. An “activity too far.”
4. Keep the weight off, and walk 1,500 miles to nowhere.
When all was said and done here, I felt pretty good in this category. Weight went up during the year, but since October (and, ahem, excluding any tracking over the last week or so) I dropped about 15 lbs to go under 200. So huzzah there.
I’m probably going to be about 20-25 miles short on the 1,500 miles — too many times I just didn’t get the walking thang done. But I managed to really stick to the walking at lunch, and that helped a lot in a lot of ways. And Margie and I walk together a mile or two on the track while Katherine’s in karate, so it was all pretty good.
And what about next year? Well, I don’t know as I’d call these “stretch goals,” but how about
Happy New Year, all!
While Texas governmental officials have to report on all gifts given them — they don’t have to get too specific … A Texas official who receives any sum of cash…
While Texas governmental officials have to report on all gifts given them — they don’t have to get too specific …
A Texas official who receives any sum of cash as a gift can satisfy state disclosure laws by reporting the money simply as “currency” without specifying the amount, the Texas Ethics Commission reiterated Monday.
The 5-3 decision outraged watchdog groups and some officials who accused the commission of failing to enforce state campaign finance laws.
“What the Ethics Commission has done is legalize bribery in the state of Texas. We call on the commission to resign en masse,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith, who heads Texas Citizen, an Austin-based group that advocates for campaign finance reform.
Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, a Democrat, said the “currency” interpretation would render it “perfectly legal to report the gift of ‘a wheelbarrow’ without reporting that the wheelbarrow was filled with cash.”
To be fair, the commission says it’s hamstrung by poorly written law.
“The question here is whether the description of a gift of cash of over $250 is required to include the value of the gift,” the Ethics Commission opinion said in part. “The term ‘description’ is not defined in Chapter 572 of the Government Code, nor is it defined anywhere else in the Government Code.”
“In our opinion, the requirement to describe a gift of cash or cash equivalent may be satisfied by including in the description the following: ‘currency,’ or a description of the gift, such as ‘check’ or ‘money order,’ as appropriate,” the ruling stated.
This was the second time the commission ruled on the issue of cash gift disclosures. In March, it ruled that a gift of two checks for $100,000 could be listed simply as “checks.”
Legislators and the governor say they’ll fix all that next session. Unless, of course, someone offers them enough “currency” gifts …
(via ThisIsTrue)
George Lucas has announced that filming on the next Indiana Jones film will commence next year, to be in theaters May 2008. Lucas said he and director Steven Spielberg recently…
George Lucas has announced that filming on the next Indiana Jones film will commence next year, to be in theaters May 2008.
Lucas said he and director Steven Spielberg recently finalized the script for the film.
Lucas kept mum about the plot, but said that the latest installment will be a “character piece” that will include “very interesting mysteries. … I think it’s going to be really cool,” Lucas said.
“It’s going to be fantastic. It’s going to be the best one yet,” the 62-year-old filmmaker said during a break from preparing for his duties as grand marshal of Monday’s Rose Parade, the AP reported.
Given that he thought Star Wars I-III were cool and fantastic …
Still, one can but hope. And the SW-related stuff for the Rose Parade is sounding very cool.
I love corrupting my daughter into news media addictions … this post enabled by airblogging.com….
The original trilogy works pretty well as a silent film. (via Mary)…
The original trilogy works pretty well as a silent film.
(via Mary)
While there are plusses and minuses to naming your children with very common (or uncommon) names — do the same apply to pets? Regardless, in case you’re worried (one way…
While there are plusses and minuses to naming your children with very common (or uncommon) names — do the same apply to pets?
Regardless, in case you’re worried (one way or another), here are the most common pet names (in the US) for …
Dogs (male)
Dogs (female)
Cats (male)
Cats (female)
It’s interesting that there seems to be a lot less gender differentiation of names for cats.
(via J-Walk)
… a fun Flickr set from around the turn of the previous century ……
… a fun Flickr set from around the turn of the previous century …
Happy New Year from Bankkruptcy-Divorce.com Sorry — I don’t care how good your services are — that just doesn’t sound like a “happy new year” combo to me. (intentionally…
Happy New Year from Bankkruptcy-Divorce.com
Sorry — I don’t care how good your services are — that just doesn’t sound like a “happy new year” combo to me.
(intentionally misspelling by me)
I guess it was last week that our families and friends out here were waiting to find out if we would be able to fly out of Denver before the…
I guess it was last week that our families and friends out here were waiting to find out if we would be able to fly out of Denver before the blizzard hit. This week it’s us, as Jackie and KK are flying out here to celebrate New Years today — just as another blizzard is due to hit.
Busy monitoring the flight status, watching the weather alerts and map … and thinking Good Thoughts their direction …
UPDATE (1:36p MST): BD reports United and Frontier are canceling flights … but follows up that it’s later (evening) flights. UAL and DIA are both reporting the flight is on time and not yet departed …
UPDATE (1:51p MST): Jackie’s on United — fortunately not on Frontier, which seems to be having the same sort of, ah, complications that they had last week.
The lines at the Frontier ticket counter were at least 3 hours long around noon, and the situation was deteriorating for passengers trying to get out ahead of the storm.
Recognizing that thousands of passengers were ready to miss their flights, Frontier agents tried to cull the long lines. They created one “close connections” line for people who only had 1.5 hours to make their flights. The agents tried to get those people to form a separate line. They tried yelling “Follow me” to the line, but without bullhorns it was hard to communicate with passengers.
Agents also tried to tell people in line who didn’t have a confirmed seat to go to another part of terminal for rebooking for another day. Frontier has already canceled 60 flights scheduled to leave Friday evening.
Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas said the airline is still advising people with confirmed seats to come to DIA at least 4 hours early. He advised those with only carry-on luggage to print out a boarding pass online so they could avoid the ticket counter. “Don’t come out here if you don’t have a confirmed seat,” Hodas said.
I suspect that people are a bit more forewarned this week, after seeing last week. I certainly would have been there significant hours earlier (and I’m concerned with some other critical tasks Jackie had to get done today before heading airportwards).
That said, if Frontier’s online boarding pass printing process is still as broken as it was last week, some of that good advice is for naught.
UPDATE (1:56p MST): Just got an IM from Jackie — she’s at the gate, no delays on the flight as yet! Huzzah!
UPDATE (2:20p MST): And her plane (well, the one she’ll be flying out on) has landed!
UPDATE (2:49p MST): And … she’s boarded. (Which means they’re running a bit behind, but …)
UPDATE (3:11p MST): And … away from the gate! And/or maybe in the air! Huzzah!
UPDATE (6:32p MST): And … she’s on the ground in California, picked up by Margie, and on her way here. Yay!
The PvP Christmas Special. Ho ho ho!…
The PvP Christmas Special. Ho ho ho!
While the TSA has determined that snow globes are potentially destructive devices in the Global War on Liquids, you’ll be pleased to know that cheesecake is not considered a forbidden…
While the TSA has determined that snow globes are potentially destructive devices in the Global War on Liquids, you’ll be pleased to know that cheesecake is not considered a forbidden gel — at least by some TSA agents.
I have going on a thousand images in my blog image directory, i.e., that I’ve posted here to DDtB (not counting ones I’ve posted elseblog). For a while I’ve wondered…
I have going on a thousand images in my blog image directory, i.e., that I’ve posted here to DDtB (not counting ones I’ve posted elseblog). For a while I’ve wondered what a random selection would turn up.
Well … now we’ll know. Each pic links to the original post.
Feb. 2004 – Well, she’s always first in my heart.
Feb. 2004 – Traffic at Stonehenge
Apr. 2003 – BT changes its logo
Nov. 2003 – Online snowflake maker (hmmm … maybe we should show this to Kitten).
Sept. 2002 – Ah, yes … Jack Chick’s classic “Dark Dungeous” tract never gets old.
Apr. 2004 – An anniversary gift for my sainted wife.
Version 2.2 is now out. Huzzah! I’ve been running various betas for the past few months, so it’s nice to see the last few bugs cleaned up. I remain (despite…
Version 2.2 is now out. Huzzah! I’ve been running various betas for the past few months, so it’s nice to see the last few bugs cleaned up.
I remain (despite occasional bitching) a serious ecto fan. It makes blog posting sooooo easy (though I’ll note that the “Clippings” extension for Firefox makes the occasional times I need to use the browser interface to MT a bit nicer for pasting in standard text/tags). I consider it an integral part of my computer’s tool kit.
TheFairest is holding a contest to select (with ongoing voting) the prettiest picture. They are all certainly … very strikingly gorgeous. There’s a similar setup going on for the funniest…
TheFairest is holding a contest to select (with ongoing voting) the prettiest picture. They are all certainly … very strikingly gorgeous.
There’s a similar setup going on for the funniest picture. Which is, of course, even more subjective.
(via Randy)
Spiffy view of DIA last week under its blanket of snow (photo by Ashley Niblock). For a side-by-side showing the un-snowy view, go here. (via BoingBoing)…
Spiffy view of DIA last week under its blanket of snow (photo by Ashley Niblock). For a side-by-side showing the un-snowy view, go here.
(via BoingBoing)
Bits and pieces from around the Net … How to build a cult-like following. “Be accessible as a person but present your knowledge and wisdom as being rare, expensive, mysterious,…
Bits and pieces from around the Net …
(via various sources I was too lazy to write down, though probably mostly BoingBoing and GeekPress)
Got this one from Scott: the Year in Review, based on the first sentence(ish) from the first blog post each month. January: I’m getting more than a bit irked…
Got this one from Scott: the Year in Review, based on the first sentence(ish) from the first blog post each month.
January: I’m getting more than a bit irked by airblogging.com, which seems to be now forwarding on about one out of five photos I send to it from my phone.
February: While what one does in the privacy of their own home is pretty much up to them, as far as I’m concerned, what one does in the privacy of their own motor vehicle is another matter.
March: Lent is a good Anglo-Saxon term, relating to the lengthening of days leading into Spring time, and referring specifically to the 40-day season (plus Sundays) leading up to Easter.
April: Google extends its reach, leveraging its broad services to enter yet another arena (in Beta, natch): Google Romance.
May: Either I was hallucinating on Friday when I tried my office key in the key to the suite my new office is in, or else they came in and rekeyed stuff over the weekend, because … well, I’m presently sitting in a cubicle outside the suite, out of which I appear to be locked.
June: Fascinating paper and gallery here of Florida Harvester Ant ant hills that have been flooded with orthodontal plaster, and then the earth removed from around them.
July: And Honey makes three. Or four. Or six. Depending on how you count it. 🙂
August: At Mist and Indy’s long-overdue checkups a couple of weeks back, a dental cleaning was highly recommended.
September: I’d kind of expect it to be green, though. Maybe a pesto.
October: Watched Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion and the “New Earth” episode of Doctor Who on the DVR last night.
November: Posted as a public service announcement … So I’ve been noticing more and more trackback spam with a random number and the words “Blog Verification.”
December: Got my “flu shot” yesterday. Being a guy who’d rather do nearly anything other than have someone stick a needle in my arm, I went for the “live, intranasal vaccine,” i.e., a squirt up the nose rather than a shot in the arm.
I don’t know how profound a cross-section that is, but … well, there it is.
At the very least, I determined that my Monthly Archive stuff is frelled up. Really need to do something about that, in my copious free time.
Just in time for the holidays, Uncle Cecil dishes on trans fats. Judging from what I’m seeing in blogs and such, people just aren’t getting this trans fat thing, despite…
Just in time for the holidays, Uncle Cecil dishes on trans fats.
Judging from what I’m seeing in blogs and such, people just aren’t getting this trans fat thing, despite the uproar surrounding New York’s recent ban of manufactured trans fats in restaurants. It’s not about Big Brother, you dopes. (“Will they ban sugar and salt next?” Sheesh.) We’re talking about an industrial product used in food preparation because it’s cheap and convenient, not because it makes anything taste better. In the old days, when nobody knew trans fats from transvestites, the stuff seemed harmless.
Now several big studies strongly suggest trans fat is even worse than saturated fat, formerly the hemlock of American cuisine.Let’s take it from the top. Although some trans fat occurs in foods naturally (mostly in animal products), the major source in the U.S. diet is partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Hydrogenation, in which hydrogen gas is forced into oil under pressure, reduces rancidity and makes the otherwise liquid oil semisolid at room temperature, both useful features in products like margarine. Trans fat is created as a side effect of this process. It’s similar to the other two common types of fat, saturated and unsaturated,
except the carbon and hydrogen atoms are put together differently — where unsaturated fat molecules have a pronounced kink in the middle, trans molecules are straighter, more like those of saturated fat.Why should this matter healthwise? Damned if I know (nobody else seems to have much idea either), but it does. One long-term study of more than 80,000 women showed that, compared to carbohydrates, every 5 percent increase in saturated fat consumption resulted in a 17 percent increase in the risk of coronary heart disease, while every 2 percent increase in trans fat resulted in a 93 percent increase. Interestingly, the study found that consuming more non-trans unsaturated fat relative to carbs reduces the
risk of heart disease.
Assuming one trusts Cecil’s stats, it certainly sounds like TFs are seriously bad news. My biggest beef (so to speak) over the current furor on TFs is that I really don’t think it’s something that should be regulated on a city level (way too much slippery slopiness there); the statehouse or the FDA or Congress (not to mention the marketplace) seem more effective and proper places to fight the War on TFs.
