Those who can laugh without cause have either found the true meaning of happiness or have gone stark raving mad.

Norm Papernick

It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating. Oscar Wilde

I hate the outdoors. To me the outdoors is where the car is - Will Durst

I am actually not quite that bad. But my idea now of roughing it is staying at a Holiday Inn.

"The problem with any unwritten law is that you don't know where to go to erase it - Glaser and Way"

War Room - Finger bitten off at healthcare rally

War Room - Salon.com: "It was one thing when protests over healthcare reform at town halls featured a lot of angry people yelling over each other. Not exactly a great way to conduct an important debate, of course, but nothing out of the ordinary, really -- and we do have that First Amendment thing, after all.

But when people's fingers are getting bitten off, maybe it's time to cool things down a little bit."

Quote - Think twice before you speak....

Think twice before you speak, and then you may be able to say something more insulting than if you spoke right out at once - Evan Esar

Monday stuff

Over the weekend, John's adult care was moved to a new location. I was dreading this since my drive time to work is going to increase quite a bit.

Today was the first day and it didn't go too badly. The good news is that traffic wasn't as horrible as I thought it was going to be once I got past the nasty bottleneck on the expressway. The new facilities for the adult care seem a lot nicer also, so that is good.

For the last 18 years or so, I have a nice easy commute to work generally on back roads. I live close enough that I often just drive home for lunch. I just hope no one tries to schedule me for an early meeting ever again at work though.

Guilt

Barbara is back to school, so I am dropping John off every morning at an adult day care (for lack of a better term, I am sure I will be corrected later.)

I have to say that I am feeling very guilty about this. On one hand, I know that I have to make a living and that it is an okay place for him to be, he is taken care of, entertained, fed, and they won't let him hurt himself. On the other hand, I don't think he belongs there. I get the impression that he is certainly brighter and more aware than most of the other clients.

One of the reasons we chose this particular facility was because it is close to our house and pretty much on my way to work and on the way home for Barbara. This will all change next week, they are moving to a place where both of us will have to fight traffic getting there and coming back.

I am not sure what are alternatives are at the moment.

When John was diagnosed 19 plus years ago, we decided to take him to a learning center in Irving Texas, which was on my way to work back then. As I recall, he was only there for a few hours a couple of times a week, but it was heartbreaking leaving him there, I could hear him cry all the way out to my car. He doesn't cry now, but it doesn't feel much better to me.

Such is life. I of course am grateful that we found this place through one of my co-workers. Maybe we will find something better.

Police: Baby spotted in parked car before his death

This is such an incredibly sad story. Dad forgets that there is a baby in the back of the car and leaves the car in the hot Texas heat.

Then someone thinks they see a baby locked in a car and then they go inside and tell the security people who can't find the car with the baby.

Lesson: Call 911 and wait by the car until someone shows up.

Why I always dress casually

No one has ever had an idea in a dress suit.

Sir Frederick G. Banting
Canadian physician & physiologist (1891 - 1941)

The Salt Lake Tribune: Disabled children need spiritual nurturing, LDS moms say

I already posted this on Facebook. I wanted to be able to reference the article later, so here it is on my blog also.

I personally have very bad memories of trying to take John to LDS services. If I kept him in the meetings, I got nasty looks, if I took him out in the hallways, I would get 'shushed.' It was easier for both of us when we started staying home and letting the other family members attend without us.

Though it could have been worse. Quote from the article:

Some parents of the disabled ask whether church is worth the struggle.

For Jeni Grossman, the answer was a definite "no."

About 25 years ago, Grossman and her husband joined the LDS Church in part because Mormon missionaries taught them that "those born with physical disabilities were once valiant spirits in the pre-[mortal] existence" and that the Mormon priesthood "has the sole authority on Earth to heal in the name of Jesus Christ."

The bishop promised them their son Zachary -- who had spina bifida that left him unable to walk or run -- would be able to do so when he went on a mission at 19.

For the next 14 years, Grossman said, her son endured humiliations such as having to crawl up the steps to his Sunday school class because there was no ramp.

When Zachary was ready for his mission, though, the bishop politely informed them the LDS First Presidency instructed bishops to stop sending the disabled on missions.

Their world collapsed, Grossman said, and they left the church. Their son has since earned a college degree in religious studies, traveled all over the world by himself and become a Catholic.

"With the Catholics, he finally felt God's love again," she said.

Does it really save gas to roll down your windows instead of flipping on the AC?

Does it really save gas to roll down your windows instead of flipping on the AC?: "It's summer, which means many drivers will be cranking up the AC or rolling down the windows to keep their cars from turning into mobile toaster ovens. Which method uses more gas? In a column first published last summer and reprinted below, the Green Lantern explained that it depends on how fast you're driving.

[more ...]

"

Facebook Error

Quote on Disasters

Treat all disasters as if they were trivialities but never treat a triviality as if it were a disaster.

Quentin Crisp

Cynic

A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.

H. L. Mencken
US editor (1880 - 1956)

Another End of World Scenario

I grew up hearing that the world was going to end at the end of the century. I figured that I would be in my later 40s at the time, which at the time seemed like a very old age.

Since that was over nine years ago, I suppose that people are coming up with other scenarios.

Two good articles about Facebook

The first is about avoiding FB disasters. It offers some good reasons why you don't necessarily want to accept every application request you might get. I almost always turn down requests.

The second is the more interesting one to me, and that is how to set up FB privacy.

I get a lot of questions about FB privacy, and I would probably get more if people even there was such a thing as privacy on FB.

I thought you should see this story

Tiger escapes magic act, ends up on Vegas streets

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_16032/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=3HZQQJxz

Sent from my iPod

Egotism

Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity.

Frank Leahy

If you want to feel better, write a love letter!”

From a good 12 step friend of mine.

How to write a love letter/inventory

Begin by writing out steps 1, 2 and 3…

Step 1

I admit I am powerless over…so and so, (him, her, them or me) my pain, anger, finances, God, Higher Power, emotions, feelings, my mother, my father, my son/daughter, my husband/wife, AA/OA/NA/CODA/CEA HOW, my surgery, someone else’s surgery, the landlord, the doctor, insurance company, department stores, the grocery clerks, the weather…(whoever or whatever still causes you pain) and my *lives (and their *lives) are unmanageable by me.

Step 2

I do believe that you and only you, God, can restore me (and them) to sanity.

Step 3

I make a decision to turn my will and my *lives and so and so’s *lives over to your care and protection.

Write out: Please God, help me to be honest. Write through me your liberating and healing truth. Guide my hand, ,my heart and my mind in writing my thoughts in this matter.

Step 4 (or Step 10)

Write using the following format. Move through all the levels of feelings, until you get down to the love. Write as much as you can on each topic you can. Freedom comes from the writing, healing comes from sharing the writing (step 5) and peace comes from taking the rest of the steps on the writing.

1. Anger and Blame

I hate it that you…

I’m fed up with….

I don’t like it/didn’t like it when…

2. Hurt and Sadness

I feel hurt when…

I feel disappointed because…

I feel awful because…

I feel sad when…

3. Fear and Insecurity

I’m afraid that…

I feel scared that…

I worry that…

I should have/shouldn’t have…

*Lives – refers to the many roles we play: work life, home life, school life, etc.

4. Guilt and Responsibility

I’m sorry that….

I’m sorry for….

Please forgive me for…

I didn’t mean to….

5. Intention

I want…

I need…

6. Love, Forgiveness, and Understanding

I love you because…

I love when….

Thank you for….

I understand that…

I forgive you for…

Write out: Thank you Lord and so and so, for the revelations in this writing that are necessary for my growth.

Take Step 5

Read your writing to a friend, sponsor, mentor, etc. (not to the person the letter is addressed to!) then take the rest of the steps out loud with the friend or sponsor.

Take Steps 6 and 7

Repeat out loud with your sponsor:

“I am entirely ready to have you, Lord, remove all these defects of character (and if I am not willing, help me to be willing)

I humbly ask you to remove my shortcomings (the ones I see so clearly and the ones I’m not even aware of)”.

Seventh Step Prayer

(Repeat aloud)

My creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength as I go out from here to do your bidding. Amen.

Steps 8 and 9

If amends are due, we work steps 8 and 9.

Step 8: We make a list of all people we have harmed and become willing to make amends to them all.

Step 9. Make direct amends to such people wherever possible except when to do so would injure them or others.

Steps 10

This letter is a 10^th step.

Step 11

(repeat aloud) “I am seeking through prayer and meditation to improve my conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for me and the power to carry it out.”

Step 12

(repeat aloud) “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of “taking these steps”, I will try to carry this message to alcoholics, (addicts, compulsive eaters, codependents, anyone in need) and to practice these principles in all my affairs.

Thank you Lord, and amen.

IOU by Bertha Munro

This poem was read in a recent church service. I liked it enough that I wanted to blog it so I could find it again sometime. It was written by Dr. Bertha Munro, academic dean at Eastern Nazarene College from 1923 to 1957.

"I owe you respect for your personality. You too are that climax of God's creation, made in His likeness. I owe you a right to your opinion. You may differ with me without fear that I shall raise a barrier between us if we do not see eye to eye. We can disagree and still be friends.

"I owe you belief in your integrity. Since I do, I shall put the best possible construction on your actions. I shall trust your words and deeds, even those I am unable to understand.

"I owe you honest treatment; I shall not steal people's good opinion of you. I shall voice the sort of comment on you and your actions that I should wish made on me.

"I owe you a "taking off place." Though I value your friendship, I shall not enslave your spirit nor bind you so closely to me that you will lose the wealth of other friendships, or even fail to develop your own best potentialities.

"I owe you thoughtful consideration. I will not steal your time when you are evidently busy, just because I have free time to "kill."

"I owe you honest wages if I chance to be employer, honest work if I chance to be employed, honest measure and just weight in any case.

"I owe you special help in time of special need: my hand, my ear, my voice. I owe you patience with what seems to me your stupidity or slowness. I owe you the identification of Golden Rule imagination. I owe you "love unfeigned."

"I owe it to you not to push you down in order to lift myself. Rather, I owe it to you to see you forge ahead of me without any reaction of envy or jealousy- even to give you a push.

"I owe you a good example, a Christian testimony. I owe you the gospel of Christ to the limit I possess it. I owe it to you to prove its power to the full, that God may challenge and encourage you by the sight of what He has done for someone else.

"All this I owe you, and much more. I owe it to you not to fall behind with my payments. I shall always owe the abounding love that will meet those unforeseen and unexpected demands of the emergency and will save me from "Thou shalt" and "I must."

"Owe no man any thing, but to love."

Dear Prudence: Autism

I don't always agree with the advice given, but I enjoy reading the column. I got in the habit when I was a kid of reading Ann Landers in the paper.

Anyway, in today's column, she answers the question from a woman who had two pre-school daughters, the younger of the two has autism. The woman is irritated because her mother-in-law does not treat them the same.

I understand where the woman is coming from, but I also see the side of the grandmother. I think it is great that the grandmother can give the older daughter individual attention.

The hardest part about being a parent of a child with autism is also being there for the other children. I don't think I have always succeeded there. On my recent trip to Utah, I ended up spending the majority of my time with my son John, because he needs the majority of my time sometimes. He loves his siblings, in-laws and nephews, but it is hard for him sometimes. The week before we drove to Utah he was saying "Hello, Rachel, hello Rachel" over and over again.

Barbara reminds me that it takes a village to take care of a special needs child. That is just as true in John's case at age 22 as it was when he was 3. I am very grateful for the help that we continue to get from friends, family and church members. I am also grateful for those who have given my other children attention when they needed it.

Anyway, the letter.

Dear Prudence,
I have two beautiful preschool-age daughters. My youngest was diagnosed with autism a year ago. Since the diagnosis, my mother-in-law has been treating the girls very differently, inviting only my oldest daughter to dance recitals, holiday celebrations, movies, etc. She just called to invite her on a weekend getaway. I told her no, it wouldn't be fair to my youngest daughter. I believe she is ashamed or embarrassed by my little girl. My husband doesn't understand how his mom can be this way. I am this close to prohibiting my in-laws from seeing the children. My youngest is going to understand soon that she is being excluded from events. I was so afraid of how strangers would treat her, and the real problem lies in the family. What should I do?

—Fed Up

Dear Fed Up,
Your mother-in-law may be ashamed or embarrassed, but she also may just be afraid. Afraid that a child with autism is too much for her to handle, that your youngest daughter may act up in a way that leaves her baffled and helpless. Instead of getting angry, you and your husband should have an open, nonjudgmental discussion with her. Start by saying this diagnosis is painful for all of you and means a readjustment of your expectations of your family life, but that you can all agree you love your youngest and everyone wants the best for her. Allow your mother-in-law to air her concerns, and then come up with constructive ways to address them. Educating herself and getting to know other grandparents dealing with this would be particularly helpful. Direct her to the Web site of the Autism Society of America, where she can get information about autism, find a support group in her area, and get a list of books that will help her understand her granddaughter better. You might want to give her The Way I See It, by the remarkable Temple Grandin, a distinguished scientist with autism. But also don't insist that your mother-in-law always take both girls. In any family, it's wonderful for each child to get time alone with their parents and grandparents. Your youngest daughter, by necessity, is going to require a lot of attention and extra help from you and your husband. You will all benefit if your older daughter can enjoy some special time with her grandmother.

So, you want to be a Gmail ninja?

 

 

Sent to you by davidaustex via Google Reader:

 

 

So, you want to be a Gmail ninja?

via Gmail Blog by The Gmail Team on 6/23/09

Posted by Zach Yeskel, Product Marketing Manager

If you got 100 new messages, how long would it take you to get through them all? An hour? Five minutes? How would you find the important ones, reply to the ones that require an immediate reply, and mark the ones that you needed to take care of later? Would you use stars, filters, keyboard shortcuts, labels? What about Gmail Labs like tasks or canned responses?

Everybody has their own system for managing email, but some are definitely more efficient than others. Even if you only get a few messages a day, there are probably some simple things you can do to make it easier to get through your inbox and maybe even have a little fun along the way. We know time is valuable, so we asked lots of Googlers for their tips and tricks on how they make the most of Gmail, and we combined the best of these into a guide at www.gmail.com/tips, cheekily entitled "Become a Gmail Ninja." The tips are categorized into ninja belts (white, green, black and master ) based on how much mail you get each day.



For a handy reference that you can pin to your wall or keep on your desk, we even made a printable version of the guide where all the tips fit on one page front and back. And for the first 1024 of you who want them, we'll send a limited-edition, laminated guide for free. Just fill out this form with your address. Sorry, we can only ship to addresses in the US. If you're not one of the lucky 1024, you can still buy a laminated guide at www.barcharts.com/gmail.



If you're already a Gmail ninja and have your own tips you'd like to share, let us know and we'll add the best ones to the online guide.

*Our lawyers asked us to make sure it was clear that your contact information won't be maintained longer than necessary to send you the laminated guide and that this offer is "void where prohibited and only while supplies last."

 

 

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• Subscribe to Gmail Blog using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

 

 

Thought for the day

From a good friend and former sponsor. This is very appropriate in my situation today.

"...can develop gratitude for all conditions, good or bad. Each has its necessary place in our development as healthy, happy (people.)"

The future will be better tomorrow.

Dan Quayle
US Republican politician (1947 - )

Yellow Bus

For almost 19 years (since John was 3 in Euless) we have had a school bus come by our house to take John to school.

John still refers to the bus as 'Yellow Bus' and through the years, that is what I call a school bus also.

The school bus will make its last stop at our house next Wednesday, June 3, 2009. It is definitely an end of an era for us.

It is going to be very difficult to explain to John why there isn't going to be any more high school, summer school, and of course, no more yellow bus.

Quote from a fried

And a former sponsor. "Sometimes all I can do is trust that all is well, even though it's not as I had hoped. On bad days I need only to reflect on the past to know that I am moving in the right direction."

This American Life: Where’s King Solomon When You Need Him?

I was listening to this today on my way to and back from church on my iPod. It was heartbreaking.

I think that this will extra meaning to those who have an LDS (Mormon) background.

Reporter Ted Gesing interviews Mike Nyberg about adopting a little girl from Samoa, only to learn over time that her Samoan family had no intention of giving her up for adoption. The US adoption agency had told the Nybergs that their adoption would be closed, and that their little girl Elleia had been living in a foster home waiting for adoptive parents; but in Samoa, Elleia’s parents were told that their daughter could come to the US and receive a better education, and that the adoptive family would send money and regular updates on their daughter’s progress. The whole situation leaves the Nybergs trying to find their way through sticky moral territory. (31 minutes)

I would think a jail cell would be more boring

'Extremely Bored' runaway juror faces jail time

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7735/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=NF4SbMHF

Sent from my iPod

Oh my

Rotten office fridge cleanup sends 7 to hospital

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7735/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=2kqZxmDr

Sent from my iPod

One more reason I don't rob banks

Police: Bank robber nabs $3K, leaves wallet behind

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7735/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=UbGhMx4Z

Sent from my iPod

I thought you should see this story

Police say accused Ohio shoplifter applied for job

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7735/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=XvjfcbCB

Sent from my iPod

Qoute on seeking truth

If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.

Rene Descartes
French mathematician & philosopher (1596 - 1650)

Project Spectrum: recognizing the talents of children with autism

 

 

Sent to you by davidaustex via Google Reader:

 

 

Project Spectrum: recognizing the talents of children with autism

via The Official Google Blog by A Googler on 4/24/09

A couple of years ago, the Google SketchUp team began hearing from a new group of users -- people on the autism spectrum. After consulting with some experts, we learned the connection between autism and SketchUp isn't particularly surprising. Many people on the autism spectrum have visual and spatial strengths, and 3D design software plays to them. With this in mind, we started a program called Project Spectrum.

As part of Autism Awareness Month in April, we've launched a new webpage showcasing some great SketchUp artists (Rachel, Jeremy, JP and others). We've also created a Getting Started with Google SketchUp video for anyone who wants to learn the basic tools to start modeling. More of the Project Spectrum models can be seen in the Google 3D Warehouse collection. Watch the video below to hear the story behind Project Spectrum and meet some of the kids involved:



Googlers around the world are working with the autism community to introduce kids, teachers, parents and adults to SketchUp, and we've been inspired by the results. We hope you take the time to look at Project Spectrum and share it with others in your community. For more detail, check out the Google SketchUp blog.

Posted by Tom Wyman and Chris Cronin, Project Spectrum Team

 

 

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One more quote - pursuit of happiness

The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase; if you pursue happiness you'll never find it.

C. P. Snow
English novelist & scientist (1905 - 1980)

Answers to prayers

From my dear friend Irish. Something for me to remember also.

I need to always remember that God's timetable is eternal: "Our prayers will be answered, sometime, somewhere. Of that we can be sure. They will be answered for our greater good. And they will be answered at the right time, the right place, in the right way."

Will You Dance With Me?

From my dear friend Susan.

READ THIS VERY SLOWLY.... IT'S PRETTY PROFOUND.

Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.

I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word 'refrigeration' mean nothing to you?

How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, 'How about going to lunch in a half hour?' She would gas up and stammer, 'I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday. I had a late breakfast. It looks like rain.' And my personal favorite: 'It's Monday.' She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.

Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!

We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I plan on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.'

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.

Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?

Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to you.

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask ' How are you?' Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow.' And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say 'Hi'?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away..... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.

It's National Friendship Week.. Show your friends how much you care. Send this to everyone you consider a FRIEND. If it comes back to you, then you'll know you have a circle of friends.

To those I have sent this to.... I cherish our friendship and appreciate all you do.

'Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might as well dance.'

What I am listening to on my iPod

I am a religious follower of NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. I heard this last night on my way home. I laughed so hard I had to pull over. I don't even know who Paula Deen is but I thought it was hysterical anyway.

Chef Paula Deen plays our game called "It's colorless, flavorless, vaguely slimy ... and yumma-RIFF-ic!" Three questions for the Queen of Southern Cuisine about tofu.

Help hand quote

It was on my fifth birthday that Papa put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Remember, my son, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.'

Sam Levenson
(1911 - 1980)

Quote: Progress isn't made by early risers....

The creed of us software developers.

Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.

Robert Heinlein, Time Enough For Love
US science fiction author (1907 - 1988)

Comparing my insides to other people's outsides causes me problems.

I looked up this quote on Google, it is something I have heard over and over again through the years.

I have sometimes have Facebook envy - it seems like everyone is living a happier, more fulfilling life than I am, at least it seems that way from reading their posts.

As Barbara put it, reading Facebook is like reading Christmas newsletters.

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.

Peter Drucker
American (Austrian-born) management writer (1909 - 2005)

Nothing says Easter like Legos

Swedish parishioners unveil Lego statue of Jesus

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7735/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=D12ZxTni

Sent from my iPod

Open-mindedness

Not exactly the usual Easter type of posting, but I think this is very interesting.

A look at some of the flawed thinking that prompts people who believe in certain non-scientific concepts to advise others who don't to be more open-minded.

A man can sleep around, no questions asked, but if a woman makes nineteen or twenty mistakes she's a tramp.

Joan Rivers
US comedienne (1935 - )

Yikes!

Hammer time for cell phone used to run up $5K bill

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7735/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=lUesCQLH

Sent from my iPod

You talk to God, you're religious. God talks to you, you're psychotic.

Doris Egan, House M.D., House vs. God, 2006

History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.

Napoleon Bonaparte
French general & politician (1769 - 1821)

Too close to home

Monday's Dilbert

I know about the survivor's guilt and the reality of looking for a new job.

The Colbert Report - David Plotz

David Plotz learned that the Bible is a lot messier than what we were taught in Sunday school.

I have been listening to David Plotz on the Slate's Political Gabfest for years. I remember when he was writing his blog while reading the bible.

Trying out vegan diet

I may need to apologize for not supporting my daughter Rachel as well as I should have years ago when she was a vegetarian.

One of my co-workers announced a few months back that he was going vegan. He let me know that the correct pronunciation is VEE Gan not VAY Gan. After I finished making fun of him, and reading an article in our local newspaper about the Engine 2 Diet, I started asking him some questions about the diet. His main motivation was an attempt to lower his cholesterol and his weight.

Last week he brought in a copy of the Engine 2 Diet book and I spent a few hours after work browsing. I told him the next day that I wish I hadn't looked at it because it seemed to make a lot of sense.

Anyhow, the hardest part was telling Barbara that I was going off my low-carb diet which has stopped working anyway and on to something new. She took it well, yesterday for Sunday dinner we had spaghetti squash with a tomato and tofu sauce. It was very good. I am going to take the four week challenge and see what happens.

Do Re Me

I posted this on Facebook already, but I like it so much I thought I had better put it in my blog.

Quote from Dorthy Parker - I'm never going to be famous

I'm never going to be famous. My name will never be writ large on the roster of Those Who Do Things. I don't do any thing. Not one single thing. I used to bite my nails, but I don't even do that any more.

Dorothy Parker, Here Lies (1939), "The Little Hours"
US author, humorist, poet, & wit (1893 - 1967)

Quotation #125 from Michael Moncur's (Cynical) Quotations:

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't

Erica Jong

That is why they call it the good book

Ind. police say meth makers wrote recipe in Bible

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7735/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=QAdR38jd

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Maturity is only a short break in adolescence.

Jules Feiffer
US cartoonist & satirist (1929 - )

Quotation #797 from Michael Moncur's (Cynical) Quotations

I was the kid next door's imaginary friend.

Quotation #23513 from Michael Moncur's (Cynical) Quotations

Emo Phillips
US comedian

Memories of Russell's Birth

Russell asked Barbara and me to tell him something we remembered about his birth. It was 25 years ago, so I had to think a little bit before the memories started flowing back. And so many of them....

Here are, in no particular order (which is why I am going to use the HTML unordered list option) some of the memories I have about Russell's birth.

• We lived in Euless, but I was working on the other side of Dallas, and Barbara was concerned about not being able to find me when it was time for Russell to be born. This was way before cell phones, so we rented something called a Baby Beeper. Russell asked me if we knew the sex of our children and I told him I couldn't remember. I suppose we had a good clue Russell was going to be a boy since I rented a blue beeper instead of a pink one.
• I had gone to visit a client with a co-worker after getting the beeper. We were returning to the office and were stuck on Central Expressway in Dallas. I managed to get off the expressway (I imagine at 3 in the morning, it would have lived up to the express part of the name) and I was able to find a payphone at a service station. As it turned out, it was a false alarm. Barbara was as surprised as I was that the beeper went off.
  
• Russell was our third child, the first to be born in the hospital that was just down the road from where we lived. Our two previous children were born in hospitals in Fort Worth.
• James (then aged 4 and Rachel aged 2) were given a special tour of the maternity ward before Russell was born. As I recall, they both got to wear miniature surgical gowns. They assured us that if we were not able to get to the hospital on time, they now were trained enough to help deliver the baby. Luckily, their services were not required.
• A few weeks before the due date, I was asked to substitute as the teacher for an early morning church class (seminary). After finishing my teaching assignment at the church, I drove on to work in Dallas. I recall just getting settled in at my desk when I my beeper went off. Barbara had gone to the doctors for her weekly checkup and the doctor asked her how long she had been in labor. The long and short of it was that the baby was going to be born then, not on his due date.
• I rushed home and we were off to the hospital. Barbara must have got James and Rachel off to some friends.
• As I recall, it was an easy delivery. At least easy for me. This was new at the time, but at the hospital we were put into a room that more resembled a nice hotel room. Towards the end of the labor, it more resembled a television studio with the bright lights. I was impressed to the see that the bed came apart in the middle so Barbara did not have to change beds at the last minute.
  
• We were so happy and thankful when Russell popped out to see that he was a perfectly healthy baby.
• We hadn't really decided on a name yet, but after Russell was born, the decision was more urgent. All of Barbara's brothers have Russell as a middle name, since that was my mother-in-law's maiden name. We decided that we would name him Russell after his maternal grandmother's family and Walker after his maternal father's family. Barbara's youngest brother goes by Russell but his first name is Thomas, so we joked that we could call our baby Tom. We never did that of course.
• After making sure everyone was fine, I went and retrieved James and Rachel from their friend's home. Rachel refused to go to the bathroom anywhere but home, so I didn't dare wait too terribly long to get her. They were very happy to have a new baby brother.
  

Some people are too stupid

Man tosses gas bomb in fight, sets own cars ablaze

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7735/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=ns8HcQ2E

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Religious Belief Linked to Desire for Aggressive Treatment in Terminal Patients - NYTimes.com

Talk about counter-intuitive. This is exactly opposite of what I would have thought. Then again, that is what counter-intuitive means....

"“People think that spiritual patients are more likely to say their lives are in God’s hands — ’Let what happens happen’ — but in fact we know they want more aggressive care,” said Holly G. Prigerson, the study’s senior author and director of the Center for Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care Research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston."

Real-life Spider-Man rescues eight-year-old boy from ledge

From my lovely and talented daughter-in-law Sarah Jane.

My son John would require either one of the Mario brothers, Zelda or Winnie the Pooh.

 

 

Sent to you by davidaustex via Google Reader:

 

 

Real-life Spider-Man rescues eight-year-old boy from ledge

via SCI FI Wire by Wire Staff on 3/24/09

A Bangkok firefighter dressed up as the comic-book superhero Spider-Man rescued an eight-year-old boy who had climbed onto a third-floor window ledge, the BBC reported today. The man used his unusual disguise in order to coax the boy, who is autistic, from his dangerous perch.

Efforts by the teachers to convince the pupil back inside had failed. But a remark by his mother about his passion for comic superheroes prompted fireman Somchai Yoosabai to rush back to the station, where he kept a Spider-Man costume in his locker.

 

 

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I don't care what is written about me so long as it isn't true.

Dorothy Parker
US author, humorist, poet, & wit (1893 - 1967)

THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER

On his way to work, a driver swerved to avoid a box that fell from a truck. Seconds later, a policeman pulled him over for reckless driving.

But another officer had seen the carton in the road. The policemen retrieved the box and found that it contained tacks. "Nonetheless," the first trooper told the driver, "I have to write you a ticket." Amazed, the driver asked why. The trooper replied, "Tacks evasion."

Kim :)

The greatest mistake is trying to be more agreeable than you can be.

Walter Bagehot
English economist & journalist (1826 - 1877)

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.

Harry S Truman
33rd president of US (1884 - 1972)

Quote of the Day

"The first thing I do each day is get down on my knees and pray,
'Lord, take me where you want me to go, let me meet who you want me to
meet, tell me what to say, and keep me out of your way.'"

-- Father Mychal Judge

Very bad joke - G rated

Bob Hill and his wife Betty were vacationing in Transylvania. Driving in a storm, they had a wreck. Both were hurt, especially Betty. So Bob carried her to a nearby farmhouse. A hunched man, Igor, answered the door, and called to his master, a scientist. The Hills were taken to the lab downstairs, where they were placed on tables. Despite the scientist's best efforts, both died. Disconsolate, the scientist went upstairs to play his piano. Igor, cleaning the lab, noticed that both Bob and Betty were moving. He ran upstairs. "Master, master," he exclaimed. "The Hills are alive with the sound of music!"

Quote of the day

Even monkeys fall out of trees in Japanese is which is read saru mo ki kara ochiru.

Are Facebook applications safe? - Tips from The Kim Komando Radio Show® & Web site

I decided when I opened this Facebook account that I wasn't going to accept very many applications. Click on the link to read the entire article to see why.

"Facebook lets any developer create and distribute applications. It does nothing to verify or approve the applications. So, the applications don't necessarily adhere to Facebook's standards."

Quote from today's sermon

I actually do pay attention to the sermon at church, even if I am trying to keep John quiet. This quote stuck with me.

"Rosa sat so Martin could walk; Martin walked so Obama could run; Obama is running so our children can fly!"

Quotes for Sunday

The truth is rarely pure and never simple.

Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895, Act I
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 - 1900)

All programmers are playwrights and all computers are lousy actors.

Unknown
Quotations by unknown authors

I am amazed she got away with it as long as she did

Ex-Calif. bookkeeper accused of embezzling $10M

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7735/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=8MZSzFXb

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Quote of the day

I have noticed that the people who are late are often so much jollier than the people who have to wait for them.

E. V. Lucas

Farewell

For laid off workers, so hard to e-mail goodbye

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_11704/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=YG6tljfH

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Not a well thought out plan

Man uses debit card to buy drink in alleged holdup

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7735/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=kwXVYkr5

Sent from my iPod

I thought you should see this story

Florida woman calls 911 3 times over McNuggets

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7735/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=I3V9jDo7

Sent from my iPod

What’s a Hulu? The Origins of 8 High-Tech Names

I was delighted to find out where Toyota got the name 'Prius.'

While developing the world’s first mass-produced hybrid vehicle, Toyota believed the Prius was going to be the predecessor of the cars of the future. So to name their groundbreaking car, they turned to the Latin word, “prius,” meaning “[to go] before,” the root of our modern word “prior.”

The Best Wireless Carrier Shortcuts - Solutions by PC Magazine

Now here is some very useful information. There are other tips in the article like how to send free text messages (free to you, not them) and deleting a voice-mail message while you are listening to it. I hate burning up my minutes and my time listening to someone's voice-mail greeting though.

"Skip over someone's voice-mail greeting. Tired of your aunt's 'Macarena'-backed voice mail greeting? Chances are, when it comes to her and anyone else whose greeting you're sick of, you already know their carriers. Here's how to skip ahead and get right to the important part: leaving a message.

AT&T: press #
Sprint: press 1
T-Mobile: press #
Verizon: press *"

PC World: 4 Ways to Save Money on Software

I didn't know there was an open-source alternative to Quicken and Microsoft Money. I might have to check it out.

I have installed and used the open Office suite before. Another alternative to MS office is Google. I have been using the Google documents for a couple of years now. Perfect for keeping track of stuff at work and at home.

I downloaded the Stanza reader to my iPod touch a couple of weeks ago, and it has quickly become my most used app. I downloaded some of their free books from my iPod touch. I also downloaded the desktop client which I used to add some pdf, text and html files to my iPod.

I will have to check out Gliffy. I used Visio years ago to make flowcharts, but that was before Microsoft bought them out and priced the software out of my range. I could always use MS Word to make flowcharts, but it is very frustrating.

Updates to attachments: multi-select and progress bars

Another reason to love Gmail.

 

 

Sent to you by davidaustex via Google Reader:

 

 

Updates to attachments: multi-select and progress bars

via Gmail Blog by Gmail Blog on 2/25/09

Up until today, it's been a little tedious to send large or multiple attachments with an email. You had to select each attachment individually and you never knew how long it would be before those bigger files were ready to send.

Today, we're making some changes to the way Gmail attachments work. If you want to send a few files from the same folder, simply hold down the Ctrl key (Cmd on OS X) and click on each file you want to attach to your message. You can also hold down the Shift key to select a continuous list of files. A definite time saver.



You'll not only save a few mouse clicks selecting files, but you'll also see progress bars on each file as it uploads.



Posted by Wes Carr, Software Engineer

 

 

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iPods help special-education students excel - MetroWest Daily News

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iPods help special-education students excel - MetroWest Daily News

iPods help special-education students excel MetroWest Daily News, MA At first, Smith's iPod lessons consisted of books on tape. But they have expanded, with the use of the iPod Touch, to everything from vocabulary to math facts to telling time to problem solving, writing and reading comprehension. ...

Sent from my iPod

Quote of the Day

"The wages of sin are unreported.
Unknown
Quotations by unknown authors"

Your diet may worsen seasonal allergies - Allergies and asthma

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29036809/

Sent from my iPod

Time marches on

No matter how young you feel,

This one still hurts...

Eddie Haskell, the Beaver & Wally

Quote Details: Dr. Joyce Brothers: Listening, not imitation, may... - The Quotations Page

One for me to remember.

"Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery.
Dr. Joyce Brothers
US psychologist & television personality (1928 - )"

Autism and vaccines | Salon

Granted, it is very difficult for me to be objective about this.

Autism and vaccines | Salon: "That said, we've never been a society with a worldview that holds science in high esteem. Consider the results of a recent Gallup Poll about evolution: On Charles Darwin's 200th birthday, only four in 10 Americans say they believe in the theory of evolution. As a result, from the Scopes Monkey Trial to Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District, we’ve sent conflicts between faith and science to the courts to arbitrate.

In the case of autism and vaccines, we've made the same decision. The debate has aroused intense feelings: On one side are physicians and medical groups, convinced that vaccines are safe and effective, perhaps the most lifesaving breakthrough in medical history. On the other side are parents, like Estepp, who struggle every day to raise a child with autism. Painfully watching their children become autistic after receiving vaccines is their lasting proof. It's the answer when doctors and medicine can't answer why. For them, the emotion of the issue can't be quieted by science's hypotheses."

ccleaner aka Crap Cleaner

My dad reminded me of another piece of free software that I use a lot. I think they changed the name to ccleaner but you get the idea.... This gets rid of all the temporary stuff on a computer that has been permanent. His remarks follow:

A tool I have used for quite some time is "ccleaner" which is available for
download from www.ccleaner.com

It "unclutters", is a good tool for checking startup programs, and I have
not found any unwanted side effects. It also works on registry

Can't Copy to Half-Full Thumb Drive—Why?

Under the category of the more things change, the more they stay the same.....

Revo Uninstaller Freeware - Uninstall Software, Remove Programs, Solve uninstall problems

We have one of Rachel's old notebooks that was taking forever to boot up. Once you got on, it took forever to get Internet Explorer (IE) up.

I download a copy of Revo Uninstaller and got rid of a bunch of programs that no one was using anymore like a version of Office that had hooks for a defunct product to create webpages. Apparently at bootup, the Office software was looking to connect to the defunct product and kept hanging up windows.

I saw that there were all kind of toolbars for IE, some of which were probably no long supported. That explained why it took so long to get IE going. I used Revo to uninstall the toolbars. One of the nice things about Revo is that you can have it clean out the registry also.

After getting rid of some of the programs, I went to the tools tab and checked to see what was being launched at startup. A lot of the stuff looks like Greek to me, and I am in the computer business. If you right click on the entry, one of the options is to do a Google lookup and find out what it is. One of the first startup items on that notebook was some kind of a trojan. I was able to both delete from the startup list and get rid of it using Revo.

The long and short is that now it boots very quickly and IE fires up instantly.


"Revo Uninstaller helps you to uninstall software and remove unwanted programs installed on your computer even if you have problems uninstalling and cannot uninstall them from 'Windows Add or Remove Programs' control panel applet."

The Easy Way to Unclutter a New PC - Security Fix

I was on the phone with my son James last night and told him about a program with will get rid of all the trial-ware that comes with a computer. I misremembered the name of the program but found the right one. Thank you again, Google.
Just click here.

"Then, just this past week, I spotted the tool I'd been hoping some smart geek would create -- a free trial-ware banishing program called, appropriately enough, the 'PC Decrapifier.'

The list of crapware that this tool obliterates is fairly exhaustive: It nixes some 45 programs most commonly installed as trial-ware on new PCs, including, Sonic Record Now, AOL, several different types of Norton and McAfee and Trend Micro trial anti-virus products, Wild Tangent games, HP Rhapsody and MusicMatch, among others."

Quote Details: Herman Wouk: Income tax returns are... - The Quotations Page

Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today.
Herman Wouk
US dramatist & historical novelist (1915 - )

Historic Wreck Found, Rewrites History

Bad marriage jokes

When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her.

  David Bissonette

After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin; they just can't face each other, but still they stay together.

  Sacha Guitry

By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.

Socrates

Woman inspires us to great things, and prevents us from achieving them.

  Anonymous

The great question... which I have not been able to answer... is, 'What does a woman want?

  Dumas

I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me.

Sigmund Freud

'Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays.'

  Anonymous

'There's a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking. It's called marriage.'

Sam Kinison

'I've had bad luck with both my wives. The first one left me, and the second one didn't.'

  James Holt McGavra

Two secrets to keep your marriage brimming

1. Whenever you're wrong, admit it,

2. Whenever you're right, shut up.

  Patrick Murra

The most effective way to remember your wife's birthday is to forget it once....

Nash

You know what I did before I married? Anything I wanted to.

Anonymous

My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met.

  Henny Youngman

A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong.

Rodney Dangerfield

A man inserted an 'ad' in the classifieds: 'Wife wanted'. Next day he received a hundred letters. They all said the same thing: 'You can have mine.'

  Anonymous

What's the greenest way to dispose of my dead body? - By Nina Shen Rastogi - Slate Magazine

I would have thought cremation would be the better ecological option by a mile, but I was wrong. There is always some new down the pike though.

"If you can manage to stick around for a while, two new technologies have eco-geeks (not to mention sci-fi fans) excited. The process of alkaline hydrolysis involves liquefying your body in a solution of lye and water, resulting in a pile of bone ash and a bottle of biofluid that you can pour on your houseplants. One of its leading proponents, a Scotland-based company called Resomation Ltd., claims that the procedure has a carbon footprint 18 times smaller than a typical cremator. In the other procedure, called promession, a corpse gets freeze-dried with liquid nitrogen and then shattered into powder, Terminator-style. Neither of these options is commercially available yet, but both the Mayo Clinic and the University of Florida use alkaline hydrolysis to dispose of their teaching cadavers. So, you experimental types—why not turn yourself into the ultimate recycling project and donate your body to science?"

Keith Olbermann explains PDF Files

Quote Details: Marquis de la Grange: When we ask for... - The Quotations Page

Quote Details: Marquis de la Grange: When we ask for... - The Quotations Page: "When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice.
Marquis de la Grange
(1639 - 1692)"

Stop Internet Poachers from Stealing Your Wi-Fi

Cool article on how to keep folks off of your wi-fi.

Quote Details: George Bernard Shaw: A government that robs... - The Quotations Page

Quote Details: George Bernard Shaw: A government that robs... - The Quotations Page: "A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
George Bernard Shaw, Everybody's Political What's What? (1944) ch. 30
Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 - 1950)"

Quote Details: Doug Larson: If the English language... - The Quotations Page

Quote Details: Doug Larson: If the English language... - The Quotations Page: "If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.
Doug Larson"