Tonight, we had to run over to Wal-Mart to pick up some house paint. The paint guy, while crabby at first, turned out to be very friendly and helped us try to match the existing paint in our living room. It turned out a little darker, so we'll probably have to repaint the entire walls. Oh, well.  read more »

With this recent storm disaster that we are still struggling to recover from, I have been re-examining our net "worth". Right off the bat, we were presented with a figure from our insurance company detailing how much our home would be worth in a total loss. It seems kind-of low. Perhaps I need to have that looked into. Our homeowner's insurance also covers all of the possessions in our home. That number seems somewhat high. I don't doubt that the replacement cost for everything we own would be comparable, but I certainly don't value most of these "things" that much.  read more »

Choosymom and I have been living with only one vehicle for almost three years now. Prior to that, I had a work-issued Ford Explorer that I would use for my interstate business travel, and we had our minivan. So far, we've managed to live with only one car with few problems. Since we live in a small town, and our current home is situated close to town, one of us can always walk or bike if necessary. Even when the car is being repaired or maintenanced, the mechanic shop is only a fifteen minute walk.  read more »

As much as I like to think of myself as a budding luddite, I must admit that there is information available on the internet that was so much more difficult to find before. Where a private investigator was once the best way to find out about someone - be it a potential employee or even a date, you can now find TONS of information about almost anyone with a quick search on Google. My faith in the net was recently confirmed when I was able to retrieve a bunch of information on the general contractor who is putting our home back together for us.  read more »

Our new lot is waiting for us. We just need to sell this house first. I had our new house plan drawn up and it was about 95% complete. But the storm has changed all of that. While we were thinking of building on piers before, to reduce cost and to place ourselves above the ground and farther away from ground-based insects and pests, we have decided that a basement is a must. After seeing the damage that this last storm caused, I just can't imagine not having some sort of underground area where we can protect ourselves from danger.  read more »

As I've mentioned in my sidebar, I am something of a musician, audio engineer, recording nerd. The fourth bedroom in our house is currently setup as a home office / music room, and that includes walls covered in Auralex acoustic panels. I figured out how to hang about half of them modular-style, using backing boards and wall anchors. The rest were glued to the wall.
*big mistake*  read more »

Now that we've had all of the damaged drywall, insulation, and carpet padding removed from our home, and the massive air movers and dehumidifiers have done their job, the moisture that entered our home when the tree fell on the roof should be gone. But will it stay gone?  read more »

We just got back from having dinner at a friend's house. She made us these little pizza shells and let us make our own pizzas with lots of tasty toppings. It was yummy. Then, she put on The Iron Giant for the kids, although they were more interested in terrorizing her daughter's hamster and propelling each other off the recliner.  read more »

Birthday and holiday cards have gotten too expensive. I was picking up some things for a friend's birthday recently, and after a bit of searching I finally found a decent one for less than $2. I can't believe that people are willing to spend $4 or $5 on a card. While paper products across the country have gotten cheaper, cards have gotten ridiculously expensive. You would think that by now people would have staged some sort of unofficial boycott of the most expensive brands.  read more »

Choosyboy has wet the bed the last two nights. He has been wearing regular underwear in lieu of pull-ups for several weeks now, and until recently he hadn't had any mistakes. Last night was particularly problematic, since he snuck into his sister's bed in the middle of the night, and her bed does not have a plastic mattress protector.  read more »

Today, I've been watching old Chuck Jones cartoons with my kids. We picked up the 6-feature Chuck Jones collection on DVD. While you may not remember his name, he was a phenomenal animator of the late 70s and early 80s that created animated favorites such as The White Seal, Mowgli's Brothers, and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. I was looking for these on Amazon, and just happened to discover this DVD collection that includes them all on one disc, along with three Chuck Jones animated Cricket features.  read more »

How's this for the perfect website to describe our lives right now?

WeNeedaVacation.com  read more »

I'm a bit concerned about the latest news regarding Washington Mutual. Our mortgage is (was?) carried by them, and while I don't think it is going to affect our monthly payments in any way, I am worried about our current homeowners insurance claim. The insurance company cut us a check, but included the mortgage company's name on it. As a result, we had to mail the check to them first. I had never heard of this policy before, but I guess it is pretty common.  read more »

Tonight during dinner, choosyboy said, "You know what? When I grow up and I'm a daddy and I get married to Isabelle and she's a momma, I'm going to use the adult scissors."  read more »

Ever since the oak tree fell on our home last week, I've been re-evaluating some of the things that I had to move out of the areas that sustained damage. I haven't needed to access most of these things, and it's been a week. Do I really need them at all? As much as I want to get out of this house (and mortgage), I'm certainly not looking forward to moving once we manage to sell the house. Getting rid of as much furniture as possible is high on my priority list before we move.  read more »

We have a new roof!  read more »

Over the years, I have slowly taken the lead when it comes to cooking in my household. Rather than act egotistical about it, though, let's just say that I like to experiment more than my wife. And over the years, my experiments have been met with a greater success rate than they used to. I like to try different ethnic cuisines, and I occasionally like to mix and match. When we lived in the big city, I loved picking up specialty ethnic items like coconut milk and exotic spices.  read more »

We now have roof decking with no tree-holes and new felt, and the contractors are supposed to arrive early in the morning to start installing the shingles. This is moving much faster than I expected, which is GREAT. The guy gave me a little bit of pushback when I asked about his insurance, though. Apparently, all of his subs are self-employed sole proprietors with certificates of non-coverage from the state. I don't really understand what that means when it comes to my liability, and I hate the idea of somebody getting hurt and suing me.  read more »

My last post served as a reminder that we still need to pick up a skateboard for choosygirl. Her Viking helmet still fits, but the skateboard that she has right now is one of those pathetic little half-size boards; you know the type, with plastic trucks, clunky wheels that barely spin, and some mass-produced pixelated graphic that doesn't look cool enough to be on the bottom of a skateboard. She got it as a gift from Santa, as we weren't sure how serious she was about wanting to skate.  read more »

As a kid, I remember saving up my cash for a few years so that I could purchase my first pro skateboard. Allowance money, birthdays, and holiday checks all went into my stash, along with money from odd jobs around the neighborhood - mowing lawns, washing cars, etc. I finally was able to "build" my own skateboard. I picked the deck, the wheels, bearings, trucks - even the grip-tape. It looked *awesome* when it was done, and I was so excited to take it out for its virgin voyage around the cul-de-sac.  read more »

Here is my gloom-and-doom post of the month - please look away if you can't handle it!  read more »

The general contractor just asked me if I had any earplugs. He was joking, but he may as well have been serious. Although I rejoiced at the sound of boots on our roof this morning, the stapling and hammering is getting on my nerves this afternoon. If my home office hadn't been damaged when the tree fell on our house, I'd be working in there. Instead, I'm sitting in the living room with the laptop, right beneath the noise. I'm hoping that nobody comes crashing through my ceiling. I'm glad that they're working so hard, but it is certainly difficult to concentrate.  read more »

This morning, I am working to the lovely sound of boots on my roof. Normally this would probably drive me crazy, but today I am smiling. After the last contractor blew us off time and time again, it is such a relief to have a crew show up when they say they're going to show up (7am) and to actually get some work done.

So I think it is going to be a good day. Heck, any day that I drag my butt out of bed this early and actually feel optimistic about something is a good day in my book.

I've been working with a handful of new clients lately, all of which are not local. As a result, I've been requesting payment via online credit card processing - PayPal to be exact. But I'm not thrilled about it. PayPal is taking well over 3% of each payment that I receive. I know that may not seem like much, but I really need my money right now, and every little bit that they take hurts. When I work on sites like Elance, I feel the pinch even more.  read more »

Well, I did it. I screwed up my back. I was out in the yard chopping up some fallen trees with my new chainsaw (Poulon Pro 18", by the way - AWESOME), and I went to lift a large log. I felt a sudden pinch in my lower back, and it has been bugging me for a few days now. I don't have good health insurance so hopefully this thing will take care of itself after a few days. But you know it's bad news when you can't even stoop over to put on your shoes without it hurting.  read more »

Lately, I have seen an increase in the use of cigar smokers in our town. Actually, most of the guys I see are chewing on cigars that aren't lit. Perhaps it is part of a multi-step program to quit smoking. Instead of switching to gum, maybe some people are switching to cigars. Honestly, cigars never bothered as much as cigarettes. Cigarette smoking is a nasty habit, but somehow cigar smoking seems more civilized.  read more »

This afternoon, I stopped at the grocery store after picking up the kids from school. I just wanted to grab a few things - bottled water was on the top of my list, since our filtered water dispenser in the refrigerator is disconnected until the contractors can get our kitchen back together. The shopping itself was quick and painless, but choosyboy had a total meltdown at the cash register over a pack of bubble-tape that he wanted.  read more »

Assuming that we can get our external siding replaced with something affordable, and we do a certain amount of the restoration ourselves (like the painting, staining and flooring), it looks like we may end up with some extra cash from our insurance settlement. We could just keep the extra cash, or we could sink some of it back into the house for extra improvements that could help the house sell faster. It's a tough call. We've already lowered our price twice and I already fear that we're going to be losing money on it.  read more »

After a bit of splitting hairs with our insurance adjuster, we finally have both an accepted estimate and a roofing contractor. They are supposed to arrive tomorrow to start tearing the old roof off and get the new roofing felt laid down. Can you believe that the morons who installed our current roof didn't even put roofing felt underneath? It is amazing that our roof hasn't been leaking all over the place.  read more »

Now that we have found a contractor who seems intent on actually getting our home restoration work done, it is only a matter of days before half of our home is going to be sectioned off for new drywall installation. I would imagine that we're going to have to stay in a hotel again, if I can convince the insurance company to pay for it. Our last stay was kind of a joke - they didn't even get us a mini-fridge and microwave until the day that we checked out. So much for our temporary home away from home. I already mentioned the cockroaches, too.  read more »

Although our kitchen is still a complete mess, we are having a typical day in the choosy household, particularly since my parents returned home today and the kids are in school. This left choosymom and I with a long overdue day to ourselves. Aside from the obligatory afternoon nookie, we had some alone time to talk about our predicament and help to calm one another's nerves. Having a tree smash through your roof can be an emotional roller coaster. Fortunately, choosymom and I are really good at balancing one another out. If I am feeling pessimistic, she is convincingly optimistic.  read more »

I've been thinking about picking up a stun gun, but not for the same reasons that most people would get one. We already have a handgun, and my wife carries her own little bottle of pepper spray, conveniently disguised as a lipstick. I've actually been looking into picking up a stun gun for a totally different reason.  read more »

Choosymom was picking up the kids from school yesterday when the school counselor stopped her in the hallway to inform her of an issue involving our daughter. I'm glad I wasn't with her - I probably would have turned sheet-white at the thought of my daughter being involved in something that required intervention from the school counselor. She was either in big trouble for some sort of wrong-doing, or was the receiver of some misfortune or abuse. Instead, the counselor proceeded in informing my wife that choosygirl's teacher was being let go.  read more »

One of the things we are really looking forward to doing once we have sold this home and built our new one is gardening. Our new lot is quite large with a good acre and a half of flat area that gets great sunlight. So we're hoping to set up a large vegetable garden in that area. We have neighbors who regularly bring us tomatoes, cucumbers, and various peppers form their gardens and from what they have said, the climate here is wonderful for many types of greens.  read more »

This morning, I we awoke to the sound of our phone ringing at what I like to refer to as the "butt-crack of dawn". It was our new general contractor, calling to see if he could swing by the house early. That's a BIG change when compared to the the last contractor, who would schedule work and then blow us off time and time again. He would sometimes call and claim to be "on his way" and then show up three hours later. What a joke. I am glad to be rid of them. And this new guy seems honest.  read more »

The spiders are back in full swing around our home. While walking around our yard and cutting up felled trees, we kept walking through spider webs. Now they're starting to build large webs all over the deck again. We deal with this every year. While most of these spiders aren't poisonous, they still bite and can leave a nasty welt. So we try to keep them at bay with a broom. Unfortunately, there is no sure-fire way to keep them away from the home. I do use a granular poison around our home perimeter every summer, but it doesn't last forever.  read more »

We had choosyboy's birthday party this weekend and everyone seemed to have a good time, regardless of our partially dismembered home and non-functional kitchen. A couple of friends who work in construction talked shop while the kids spent most of the party chasing each other up and down the stairs. The women were all gathered in the breakfast area, before our stripped-bare walls, and my wife managed to snap a few candid shots of the fellas hanging outside on the damaged deck.  read more »

Do you hire companies based on their appearance? Do you ever choose a company based on their web presence? As a web designer, I admit that a number of my decisions have been made based on how professional a company's website looks. While that may not exactly be very fair, that's just how I am. I feel that a website usually reflects how much care and attention a company takes in presenting themselves. And when a company cares how they look, the usually care about how their customers perceive them.  read more »

Woo-hoot! The contractors have begun working on our deck. They replaced the railing and some of the broken deck boards. They are planning on coming back next week to finish that part of the job up. We were hoping that they would start on the siding today, too. While their boss claims that they work on weekends, the material won't be in until Tuesday. So I guess we'll have a quiet weekend after all. I was wondering how we were going to have choosyboy's birthday party with all the construction noise in the background. I still think we'll have to make it an outside party.  read more »

One of the best parts about working on the internet are all of the passive income opportunities. While I haven't yet secured enough opportunities to pay all of my bills, I do have a steady stream of income from various net-based sources that help us to pay the bills each month. The only problem with much of the net ventures that I participate in is that they are over-saturated with competition, and as times passes it gets more difficult to find good niche markets to target.  read more »

It must be nice to not have to stick to a schedule, and to blow past milestones with little regret. Perhaps I should become a contractor. These guys either have no sense of time or they just don't care about the promises that they make. They'll blame their tardiness (or absences) on lots of things - traffic, material delays, backorders, prior jobs that took longer than expected. But what it comes down to is that they have a job where schedules apparently do not exist. There is no such thing as an estimate of time to completion. ETA is an unknown phrase.  read more »

Today, the insurance adjuster made it out to the house. After spending nearly an hour, he came up with 21 pages of repair estimates totaling about $12k. I have to admit that this is less money than I thought it was going to be, but his estimate doesn't include the tree removal that we already had done. What really shocked me was that he sat there in his van and printed out the estimate and the check and handed them to us.  read more »

With the price of gas sky-rocketing, the perfect affordable getaway just got that much more hard to find. The hotel that we were staying at for the last few days was charging the insurance company $99/night and yet there were roaches. It wasn't that fancy, either.  read more »

We will be sleeping in our own beds tonight. The disaster recovery crew finally came and removed those loud obnoxious air movers and dehumidifiers. So we checked out of our hotel last night (after a dip in their pool).  read more »

Family birthday celebrations usually serve as reminders of how happy I am to have such a wonderful marriage. I have seen so many of my friends' marriages end in divorce and heartache, and if there are any children in the family, that heartache only intensifies.  read more »

Choosyboy turned 4 years old today. I can't believe it. As if him starting school wasn't crazy enough, now our "baby" is another year older. I feel sorry him too, because his party is going to be difficult to plan with the house in shambles. We may just have to move everything outdoors. Luckily, the weather is extremely agreeable right now. In fact, with the air movers in the house, it is actually warmer in the house. Outside, it feels like fall is here to stay. I hope that it is, as Autumn is my favorite season.  read more »

We stopped at McDonald's today for lunch with my parents, and I must admit that I was shocked that they each ordered yogurt parfait with their meal. My father is generally a "meat and potatoes" type of guy, and my mom's approach to dieting is something of a shotgun method of moderation. She seems to moderate her intake of certain foods while eating all she wants of others. Her latest craze was with a new candy bar (Abba Zabba?) that she discovered at a local grocery store.  read more »

My name may as well be Paul Bunyan today. We picked up a chainsaw at Wal-Mart this morning and have been happily chopping up the downed trees in our yard. First up was a large oak that happened to fall across my neighbor's property. I felt responsible since it was technically my tree. The chainsaw that I bought is an 18" model by Poulon Pro and it works like a champ. My only complaint is that I had to assemble the blade, but I guess it is good to know how the whole thing goes together, for when the blade gets dull and needs sharpening or replacement.  read more »

On the night of the storm, I didn't get much sleep. The wind was very strong, and once the tree fell on our house, I knew that we were dead-center in a disaster area. I knew that the neighborhood was going to look like a warzone the next morning. But I wasn't sure how my neighbors would react. Most of my neighbors are very...well...neighborly. We look out for each other. But there is always that one house up the road where the people are trashy and you just don't trust them.  read more »

My parents arrived in town yesterday. They have decided to stay in the one bedroom of our home that wasn't affected by the downed tree - my daughter's. The other rooms are either missing parts of the wall, or too hot and noisy from the air movers. It feels a little strange having them stay in our house while we stay in a hotel, but the rest of the bedrooms each have some sort of problem.  read more »

I've been having a little bit of trouble keeping up with my work while we're dealing with this house crisis. My clients seem patient and understanding, but I hate to delay their site progress. Since my home office is located directly below the kitchen and breakfast area (where the tree fell on our house), the contractors had to cut the drywall out to check for moisture. They found a little, and have some of those massive air driers placed in there. So, I have to work elsewhere.  read more »

Yesterday, one of the contractors was asking me if we wanted him to replace the little herb garden pop-out window above the kitchen sink with a regular vinyl window. While I like the idea of having a little herb garden, this one is on the North side of the home and gets zero sunlight, so nothing grows there. It was also single pane, prone to mold growth, and not very pretty looking. So we decided to have them install a regular vinyl replacement window in its place, as the contractor suggested.  read more »

This morning I woke up early - too early. I waited for the sun to come up, got dressed, and headed out back to try and gather up some of the larger chunks of tree logs that the arborists had left. Apparently, the insurance company will only pay to remove the tree from my house and deck; not from the yard.  read more »

Yikes!!!!

I was just blogging and I felt something weird on my hand, and when I went to scratch it I knocked a big cockroach to the floor. Gross! Now I've got the willies...you know that tingly sensation where the hairs stand up on the back of your neck and arms? It took me three good stomps with my shoe to squash the bugger, too. I had noticed a dead cockroach near the hotel bathroom earlier this evening, but thought nothing of it. If I see any more, I think I may have to ask for another room. This is just nasty. Must be because we're on the ground floor.

This afternoon, while I was swimming in the hotel with the kids, there was this creepy guy watching us from an upper level. He didn't say anything, and since I take off my glasses when I swim, I couldn't exactly see his facial expression, but it made me feel uncomfortable. He would even walk from one end of the terrace to the other...I don't know if he was trying to get a closer look at my kids or what he was doing.  read more »

For dinner, I took the kids to a buffet near the hotel. Since we only have one vehicle and Choosymom needed it for work, I had to find a place within walking distance from the hotel. Honestly, I haven't eaten at a buffet like that in a very long time. And it wasn't very good. The building was old, with missing panels in the drop ceiling and this annoying vibrating air unit. The food was typical geriatric buffet fare - very bland, lots of old stand-byes like mashed potatoes, roast beef, fried chicken, carrots and corn. They had good-looking ribs, but they were almost as chewy as beef jerky.  read more »

Today, our contractors never showed up. I know that some of them told us they wouldn't be out for a couple of days until the walls were dried out more, but the carpenters were supposed to start working on some of the roof repairs. Perhaps they couldn't get the materials in time. We left a message with the "boss" and never heard back from him. Frustrating...  read more »

I know I've been whining a lot about the big tree that fell on our house lately. Realistically, I think we've been quite positive throughout the whole experience. I generally try to put things into perspective when I realize how minimal our experience is when compared to the distress of many other people. After all, I can't imagine what it was like for the people of Galveston to see their town obliterated by Hurricane Ike.  read more »

I am so relieved to report that we have approval from the insurance company to stay the night at a hotel for the next couple of nights. We will finally be able to get a good night sleep, and there is even an indoor pool to keep the kids happy. We also get free breakfast! I should have called and complained earlier...  read more »

As you can probably tell from my last post, I'm not too thrilled with my insurance company right now. It's not just their attempt at being cheap. I know how that game goes - they are in the business of making money, so they're going to be as stingy as they can. Even if we take that out of the equation, I have several other complaints.  read more »

I'm exhausted. I have been awake for the last three hours or so, and cannot fall back to sleep. It doesn't exactly qualify as insomnia, though, because there are a number of extraordinary circumstances keeping me up.  read more »

I was working with contractors all day. Some were removing the tree from our roof. Others were tearing down drywall and assessing water damage in the ceiling. Although they were here for the entire day, I didn't see a single one of them eat. Only the tree arborists took a break to run to McDonald's, but I swear they were gone for less than 15 minutes. I've heard of fast food, but isn't fast food unhealthy enough, without having to practically inhale it without chewing?  read more »

The massive oak that was protruding into our kitchen yesterday is now lying in chunks in the yard and at the curb. The arborists said that they can probably take most of it for firewood, but I'm starting to wonder if there aren't other uses for it. Considering that we are planning on building our new house as soon as this one sells (which is going to take longer now that we have a hole in the roof), I am seeing these logs as a potential building material of some sort. Most are less than 3 feet long, so they're no good for traditional log cabin building.  read more »

My legs are itching like crazy - must be chigger bites. I can't believe that I forgot bug spray again. Today, I was trying to remove all of the brush and tree limbs from the yard as the arborists were removing the oak tree that fell on our house. This is the second time this year that I have forgotten to spray myself when working in the woods. Last time, I ended up with over 35 bites on my left leg. I didn't even bother to count the right. The biggest problem with chigger bites is that there is no quick remedy.  read more »

Okay, technically Ike is not a hurricane anymore. But that didn't stop "him" from blowing down a big oak tree on top of our house!

Choosymom and I had finally figured out what we were going to do for our wedding anniversary. We planned on picking up all the crab legs that we could eat (and then some), boiling them up ourselves in some tasty Cajun seasoning, and then going out to a very fancy restaurant for desert. We were eyeballing several different possible restaurants downtown, so that we could walk around the town afterwards.  read more »

Tomorrow marks our 12th wedding anniversary! It is amazing to think that we have been together for so long. It is also a bit frightening, as it reminds me of how close and irreplaceable we are to one another.  read more »

We're still undecided on our decision to abandon our landline. As much as I'd like to drop the $80 phone bill each month, I'm not sure if I'm ready to drop the DSL. So we're focusing on ways to try and reduce other expenses.  read more »

I was just playing the old Dreamcast system with the kids, and they requested that I show them some things in Tomb Raider. Honestly, I never really got into that game very much when we first picked it up. I couldn't remember why exactly, so I tried it again. The frustration quickly came flooding back. Could they possibly have made a more annoying game?  read more »

Today, I was at a loss for something fun to do with the kids while my wife was working. The weather has been gloomy and overcast most of the day, and I'm just waiting for the downpour to begin. I think that we're seeing the final remnants of those hurricanes from down South. The kids were playing the Dreamcast again, but I really wanted to get them (and me) out of the house.  read more »

Are your kids emo? Does your son have backwards hair? Does he wear pink shirts, spiked belts, and a mini backpack? Do you even know what emo is? "Emo" started off as a subgenre of punk rock from the mid-80s and has slowly been mutated into what it is today - a fashion-inspired blanket term to describe a style of dress, life, and attitude by lots of disenchanted youth. Personally, I see them as kids who want to look "weird", but not too weird. After all, if they were truly hardcore weirdos, they'd be goths. LOL.  read more »

Choosymom says that when she was a little girl, she thought she was going to marry her father when she grew up. Last night, I was tucking choosyboy into bed and we were having one of those "when you grow up" types of conversations. Instead of focusing on careers, we were talking about family and I mentioned that one day he would probably be a father and have kids of his own. When I asked him what type of girl he might want to be married to, he responded very matter-of-fact that he was going to marry his sister.  read more »

A friend of mine recently approached me at the library about a photography book that she would like to put together. Knowing that I have both photography and layout skills, she asked if I'd like to be involved. She promised a 50/50 split of profits. So I said, "sure".  read more »

One of my clients my be a little annoyed at me right now. I keep pushing his project back at him. It's not that I don't need the money or want the work. I just need more details.  read more »

In my last post, I mentioned how a tech support position at an insurance company single-handedly turned me into the family tech support guy - apparently for the rest of my life. Honestly, I am not complaining. Although I get a little disenfranchised with the internet and our obsessions with alternate online existences, I can't say that it hasn't kept me employed over the years. That same job also ended up being my first layoff experience, which also changed the way I looked at corporate America at such a young age (I was only 19).  read more »

I used to do tech support for an insurance firm. It was my first "tech" job and certainly one of those trial by fire situations. Prior to that, I had only worked odd retail and grocery jobs as a kid. It was a pretty neat experience - very laid back and "experimental" in nature - the older techs would just throw random mystery problems at me and let me break down the computers to try and problem solve. Let's just say that it was a nice way to learn about pc maintenance and repair. Ever since, I have become the default go-to guy for computer problems in my family and circle of friends.  read more »

Our laptop seems to be taking FOREVER to load lately. At first, I suspected that Google Desktop was the only problem, as it lags considerably at startup. I don't know if it has to do with the modules that I use, but I am seriously considering blowing it away.

The other thing that seems to be moving at molasses speed is my free anti-virus program. I basically have to login to Windows, and walk away from the computer for about ten minutes. By the time I return, I can actually start working. I guess you get what you pay for, eh?  read more »

Are you a font collector like me? I've got about 1400 fonts installed on my computer. My guess is that I use about 15% of them regularly, the rest being one-off fonts that I used once for a unique application. Every so often I go in and purge the fonts folder after having taken note of the ones that I don't use anymore. But the count always climbs back up after a few months of designing.  read more »

The more I think about it, the more I really would like to be a researcher for a private investigator firm. I've contemplated a career in genealogy or title searching, so why not go for the gold and get paid to actually dig up dirt on people? I could do that. Heck, I already have; I just never got paid for it. I've also got photography experience, which may be a helpful skill during "stakeouts". Gosh, doesn't that sound so Miami Vice?

At first, I was thinking that the internet must be making these types of jobs obsolete, but then it dawned on me...  read more »

I enjoy digging for details. When I was researching old deeds on the piece of land that we purchased this summer, I spent hours in the county courthouse. The women working there kept acting like they felt sorry for me, but I explained to them that I actually enjoy doing that type of research. I've always been something of a collector and organizer of information. I have a large music collection, all alphabetized. I'm one of the foremost genealogical researchers of my family name (at least that I know of!). I love doing genealogy research, and combing through old land records turns me on, too.  read more »

In my last post, I discussed some of my frustrations with online auctions, and my relief that most of my income doesn't come from that part of the online world. I do, however, have a number of websites that process payment transactions using Paypal. I was recently on a forum where someone asked the question, "Why would you use Paypal for items that you aren't selling on eBay?  read more »

I consider myself fortunate not to depend entirely on eBay sales for my net-based income. Aside from the aggravating aspect of dealing with total morons who don't understand the concept of researching a product before they buy, one of the more recent changes on eBay has many sellers waiting for an alternative with baited breath.  read more »

I just saw an article in the local paper stating that brown recluse bites are up this year, which comes as a bit of a concern since I found one yesterday behind the fridge. Choosymom was bit my a brown recluse once - or at least we think that is what it was. The problem with brown recluse bites is that you rarely see them when they bite you. You can only assume that a recluse was the culprit when the effects of the bite show up. Choosymom's bite was an open wound for several weeks, but necrosis never settled in (thank goodness).  read more »

I hate it when I am right about these types of things. A few days ago, I mentioned that I had found an ant in my office, and speculated that soon enough there would be hordes of the little buggers in my home. I was half joking, but I was right.  read more »

Choosymom doesn't like it when I talk about death. She doesn't like the idea of being a widow, but who does?  read more »

I'm worried - very worried! I just ran across an ant in my office. That's right - one ant! Normally, I wouldn't be so worried about a single insect wandering around our domicile, but ants are different story. They send out a scout. He leaves a scent trail everywhere he goes so that the rest of his tribe can find their way into your home. I squashed the little bugger. Hopefully that is enough, but I may just have to clean the carpets in here.  read more »

Regular readers of my blog are probably wondering why the sudden spike in posts? Well, to be honest it is just as surprising for me as it is for you. I can only attribute it to one thing - the kids are both in school now, so I have more time on my hands. And to think that I was going to quit blogging altogether several months back!

It's amazing how much time and attention my son used to require when he was home with me during the day. As much as I like my new quiet time, I must admit that I miss having him around.

:(

This morning I took choosypup for a walk up the street. We walked for about a half of an hour - I'm not sure how far, but probably about a mile. Honestly, I feel bad. I need to take her for walks more often. In fact, I should take myself for a walk more often, too. Sitting in an office all day doesn't help my physique much.  read more »

...to be paid for your time!  read more »

Do you ever feel like you owe your parents cash for something that you did wrong as a child?  read more »

Today, I received a wedding invitation in the mail for one of my cousins. I was a little excited at first. It's neat to hear from relatives that you haven't spoken to in years. Included in the envelope was the invitation...and nothing else! No RSVP card, no return envelope (much less a self-addressed and stamped return envelope), not even a mention of the wedding reception afterwards. There was also no map or directions to the wedding hall. What does this invitation say to you?

From my point of view, the sender is saying one of two things with this wedding invite...  read more »

We hear about rising foreclosures rates all the time. Will the early 2000s be remembered as the decade of foreclosures? Or the second great depression? It's hard to say, but it seems like the economy has been flushed so far down the toilet this time that there is no single product that will serve as the "item of the day" anymore. The last one that I can think of would be the iPhone. Perhaps people will remember that, instead of the hard times that seem to be affecting all of us. Everybody thinks that our next president w