New Years Meme

This New Year:

1) Big Party or stay at home alone? Work 12 hours overnight, from 7pm-7am, and back to work 8 hours later.

2) Stay up to watch the ball drop? It might be on the TV at work, but I'm sure I'll be taking calls of drunk drivers and gunshots rather than watching the ball drop.

3) Will you make any resolutions? Nope. Never have, never will.

4) Is Dick Clark a good host for New Year's Eve? Sure, why not. He's like a tradition. And definitely better than Regis and Plastic Ripa or Ryan Seacrest .

5) Do you know the words to Auld Lang Syne? Does anyone? (without Googling it)

How about you?

New Years Meme

Christmas Recap

Many other bloggers are posting what gifts they got for Christmas, a few are also posting gifts they gave. I guess I'll give it a go too.

My sister-in-law is a big Mt. Dew drinker - she lives on the stuff 24/7. Awhile back I had myself a 20oz Mt. Dew and the cap had Buy One Get One free inside it. I saved that cap for her and included it with the rest of her gift. She loved it.

My father-in-law bought a DVD-camcorder late last year and gave me all the DVDs he’s taken so far (each less than 20 minutes). I ripped them all and made them into a single DVD for his viewing, and made a copy for my parents too since they don’t get to spend as much time with my kids as my in-laws do. Those DVDs were part of their gifts.

Earlier this year, my co-workers all submitted recipes to me and I compiled them into a small recipe book for everyone I work with. I gave copies of this recipe book to some of my family members as part of their gifts.

I filled out a survey for a work-related magazine earlier this year and recieved a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate for doing so. I used the gift certificate to order three books for Rubi, ostensibly for Christmas gifts, but we agreed not to exchange gifts this year (we bought ourselves a digital camera on Black Friday - that was our Christmas Gift to each other) - so she got the books a couple of weeks before Christmas.

At church, my kids get “Bible bucks” for memorizing their Bible verse, bringing their Bible with them to church, being there, brining a friend, and so forth. The kids get to spend these bucks on things like pencils, small Christian themed toys, larger items like Bibles and Bible covers, etc. My oldest daughter saved hers up and bought my wife one of those little blue and white plastic snow globes with a snow man scene inside for her Christmas gift.

At our small group a few weeks ago, I noticed that our hosts had several ornaments on their tree their kids had made out of CDs (like AOL CDs) and thought they were really neat. My oldest daughter made me one in her art class and gave it to me for Christmas.

And… my in-laws gave Rubi and I a new dishwasher, among other great gifts, and my father-in-law helped me install it yesterday! Our old dishwasher quit working probably over a year ago and I've been hand-washing them since. This will definitely free up some time during my day!

That's not the complete giving and receiving list - just some of the highlights.

I had to work 3rd shift Christmas Eve and Christmas, I went in a couple of hours on Christmas Eve so the supervisor working (my regular) 2nd shift could get to her grandkids house and help wrap gifts. On Christmas morning, my relief came in 30 minutes early so I could get home and spend Christmas morning with my kids. Aparently, my kids got up around 3:30am and pretty much stayed up waiting for me for three and half hours!
After about 20 minutes with my family on Christmas morning that included me reading the Christmas story from Luke 2 and the family singing Happy Birthday to Jesus, I went to bed. Rubi and the the kids got cleanup and went to her parents house for the day. A few hours later, I got up around noon and joined them about an hour after. We spent most of the day snacking on delicious food Rubi's mom had prepared, until Rubi's sister and that sister's boyfriend arrived. Then we did the presents. Around 5 we had dinner, then sat around watching the kids play with all their new toys.
We got home around 8:30 that night, and I went in to work around 11 and then had to double back and work 2nd shift on the 26th.

Yesterday, my first day off, we got our dishwasher installed and ran a few errands. Today, my second day off, we'll probably run a few errands but that will be it and I won't be doing much of anything constructive (as witnessed by this post).

Back to work tomorrow, for a week that includes more crazy scheduling over New Years. It can't be helped though - I work in a 24/7 environment where someone has to be there, otherwise people could die.

Happy Holidays (post-Christmas, pre-New Years)!

Christmas Recap

Thrice Perilous

MCF again reveals the answers, relying on bloggers to come up with the correct answers in the Third MCF Perilous.

1. Cosmos. Who was the cute green flying saucer Transformer?

2. Donner. What Director recently released his version of Superman 2?

3. Blixem. What is a weird curse vaguely remeniscent of the name of one of Santa's reindeer?

4. Donna Dixon. Who was the "hot blonde" on Busom Buddies?

5. Sleepy. What condition is blogger Kev in as he comes up with these answers at 1:20 in the morning?

6. Doc. To whom does Bugs ask the question "What's up?"

7. That was how he got to Luchow's. Why did Roger Hall from Austria backpack through New York in 1964?

8. “COLOSSUS!!!” What did MCF exclaim when he first saw the character by that name in X-men 2.

9. “Did they teach you that fancy psychology in college?” To what question should you always answer "No, I majored in liberal arts."

10. Haim Saban; Paul Dini; Bruce Timm. Who are two people involved with the Justice League cartoon and who is not the composer the theme music of that show?

11. Alfred E. Neuman. Who's the dorky guy on the MAD magazine covers?

12. Because I threw his leather coat out of the car when he dared me not to. Why'd that guy throw you out his moving car?

13. Rey. Who was the driver of the car in #12?

14. They make saliva. What do Saliva glands do?

15. “Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.” What does Optimus Prime say at the end of the new Transformers movie trailer?

16. Hyperballistic. What condition was MCF in after he saw the trailer for the new TF movie?

17. A single, thick eyebrow. What is that thing on Burt's forehead that Ernie never mentions?

18. It could summon help, warn of danger, grow in size, cast energy blasts, act as a shield, and unlock an ancient tome. What special features did MCF's cloak have before Rey ran it over with his car in retaliation for the leather coat incident?

19. Eye contact. What should you never make with Medusa, not including the answers in #20?

20. Lettuce, Flan, and genuine Chinese food. What goes good on a sandwich or hamburger when paired with tomato? How did Nathan Fillion once mispronounce the word "fan" that has become a word used to describe his fans? What won't you find at most Chinese Restaurants in the United States?

Thrice Perilous

Humorous Christmas Greeting

For The Liberal:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an
environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive,
gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the
most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular
practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion
and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to observe religious or secular
traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally
fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the generally accepted
calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of
other cultures.

For The Conservative:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and may God bless you and yours, and hope for better in 2007!!

I saw this posted on a work-related listserv and just had to share!

Humorous Christmas Greeting

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all.

And Happy Birthday to Jesus!


I'm at work now (yes, it's just after 1 am here). When I get home around 7 am I'll do my "family Christmas" with Rubi and the kiddos. I'll try to remember to read Luke 2, and maybe sing Happy Birthday to Jesus (we've done that in years past). Reading Luke 2 at the start of our family time is a tradition I like to try to keep.

After the kids open their gifts, I'm off to bed for a few hours. Then I'll get up around lunch time and meet Rubi and the kids at her parents house for the extended family Christmas.

Then back to work tonight again on third shift.

Merry Christmas

What Christmas Tree Am I?

You Are a Cranberry and Popcorn Strung Tree

Christmas is all about showcasing your creative talents. From cookies to nicely wrapped presents, your unique creations impress everyone.

What Christmas Tree Are You?

I'd rather be a fake plastic Christmas Tree with pretty lights and lots of ornaments, some home made, others that were gifts, and others that were store bought - all with specific memories associated with them.

What Christmas Tree Am I?

Year in Review Meme - or not

I was considering posting my answers to this meme.
But as I reviewed the questions, I realized how boring my life would sound in the answers.

Nothing new here.
Nothing new on the horizon.
Nothing significant has changed since last year.

Now, granted, my life is not boring. With three busy kids, a crazybuzy wife, and the work I do - nope, definitely not boring.

Year in Review Meme - or not

My Twelve Days Of Christmas

For the twelve days of Christmas, your true love will send you:

Twelve robots drumming Eleven marshmallows a-puffing Ten elves a-leaping Nine ladies singing Eight llamas a-milking Seven gingerbread men a-crumbling Six drunks a-drinking Five golden necklaces Four calling prank callers Three French berets Two stale fruit cakes And a monkey in a cherry tree

What Will You Get for the 12 Days of Christmas?

I'll agree with the six drunks and four prank callers, since I'll be at work over Christmas and I'm sure those numbers will be much larger.

My Twelve Days Of Christmas

Trek Moving Forward?

Star Trek next incarnation (beyond the next movie) not a prequel?
And animated?

Hmm... that'd make the special effects much less expensive to do.

It's a better idea than the prequel movie...

Trek Moving Forward?

SG-3?

Now this is interesting news.

The producers have been saying they new the franchise still had life above and beyond SG1 and SGA... so we'll see what comes of this and the two SG1 movies.

SG-3?

Reading Fun

Since our kindergartner, Alexander, has been reading like - well, like Rubi and I do, Rubi signed him up at Book Adventure!

 

He recently finished reading the Wizard of Oz (after watching the movie, he wanted to read the book), and is now working on Treasure Island. But he also likes the old standards like Hop on Pop and There's a Wocket in my Pocket. He gets to take quizzes on the books he reads and accumulates points.  Once he gets a ton of points, he can redeem them for prizes. I think he said he's going to try for the 2000 point prize which is a subscription to the Highlights magazine.

 

He's having a blast doing it too. He loves using the computer and being able to read his own way through the instructions and tests.  It's fun watching him do it too.

 

I'm almost ready to think he enjoys reading more than Elizabeth does - and she has a voracious reading appetite.

 

 

Reading Fun

Annoying Website Things

This article was featured recently in the Lockergnome Web Developers Newsletter.

I pretty much agree with them all.  

Top 10 Web Site Annoyances

by Meryl K. Evans on December 12, 2006 at 3:19 pm ·

Categorized by Design / Related Information

• Arriving at a Web site only to get it in a pop up window with Flash. Takes control away from user. I want to decide how many windows I have open. 
• Forms that don’t make it easier for the user to fix when making an error especially those that erase the form when you return to it. 
• Navigation guessing games. Some sites use dots or other symbols to represent an item you can click. I’d like to know what they are before I move my mouse.
• Headers that take up half of the “above the fold” screen. Headers are good - but not when they take up so much space that you can’t see the important content.
• Tables used for formatting. Still done. (Okay, I still use table some, both on this blog and on my work webdesign. I can't help it - I only enough about CSS to edit existing code - and to be dangerous.)
• Accessibility overlooked. (I agree - that's a big problem - website that do #1 usually do this one too. I haven't taken pains to ensure this blog meets accessibility standards because I don't think anyone visiting would need them.)
• Gray-colored text on white background. This is very hard to read even to those with perfect vision. Black is old and boring, but it’s best.
• Small text especially with Flash text, which is not only small but also blurry. Never heard anyone complain that the text is too big. (Flash in-general is annoying. I know - my Flickr script uses flash...)
• Navigation with too many choices, especially when they pop up with more choices and you can’t pick the top-level item. Some people have trouble controlling the mouse and can’t quite get to the sub-items. Simple works best.
• An information architecture that’s noticeable. That means it’s not well-structured.

Agree? Disagree? What Web site features annoy you?

Tags: web sites, design, meryl k. evans

 

 

Annoying Website Things

Perilous part deux

MCF's second MCF Perilous has been posted. He gives the answers. Bloggers world-wide try to figure out the questions and earn points (even though the points don't matter).

1. Darrell.
Name the sandwich made with french bread, chicken strips, mozzarella sticks with marinara, and french fries.

2. Wendy
What is a common misspelling of the weather in Chicago?

3. Lorna
How did the director of the original BattleStar Galactica start every direction to Lorne Greene?

4. Joseph
What is the third name used in an almost blasphemous curse/exclamation?

5. Kevin
What is the first name of Mr. Conroy that provides the voice of Batman/Bruce Wayne?

6. Michael
What is the name KITT calls his driver?

7. Kelly
Name the hot chick that won the first season of American Idol.

8. Dave
What nice old man had a burger joint franchise?

9. Hal
What is the mane of the computer that refused to open the pod bay doors?

10. Nicholas
What is the first name of the actor that portrayed Xander on the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

11. Matthew
What tax collector wrote a book that was included as a gospel on the Christian Bible?

12. Clint
What name is often mispronounced as a word that is deemed rude in polite company?

13. Jesse
Who was the old uncle on the Dukes of Hazzard?

14. Sean
What is the silly Irish spelling of the name Shawn?

15. Cristina
Name the female co-host of the Podculture podcast.

16. Arthur
Name of the "Napping King".

17. Whorenelli
What is the name of the neighborhood restaurant serving Italian food to exotic dancers?

18. Ray
This type of gun is not available to the general public.

19. Kurt
What's the first name of the actor that starred in Big Trouble in Little China, Stargate The Movie, and Escape From New York?

20. Jury
What is still out on whether or not MCF will continue with these?

Perilous part deux

Christmas Funny

Two young boys were spending the night at their grandparents the week before Christmas. At bedtime, the two boys knelt beside their beds to say their prayers when the youngest one began praying at the top of his lungs.
"I PRAY FOR A NEW BICYCLE..."
"I PRAY FOR A NEW PS3..."
"I PRAY FOR A NEW TIVO..."

His older brother leaned over and nudged the younger brother and said, "Why are you shouting your prayers? God isn't deaf."

To which the little brother replied, "No, but Grandma is!"

Christmas Funny

Re: Oops

Well that was dumb.

Instead of being able to simply copy and paste html directly into the template body, I have to add the sidebar content through Blogger Beta's new "add an element" template editing section.

Not nearly as user-friendly as it used to be.

And I can't figure out what I did to left-align the entire layout. And I can't figure out Blogger's css style to expand the width of the columns.

Oh well. I'll figure it out eventually.

Re: Oops

Oops

"Upgrading" to Blogger Beta really messed me up.

I can't get blogger to accept the various items I had in my sidebar before the "upgrade".
Which means I going to have to spend days rebuilding the entire sidebar, and then trying to get my template exactly the way I want it.

And the posting clients I used to post from without going the blogger website won't post to Blogger Beta yet.

If there's an upside to this - I like the blue.

Oops

Firefly Lives

This is just shiny!

 

I'll probably have to upgrade my PC for it - and I hope the MMO servers are free.

 

 

Firefly Lives

Be Famous Meme

1. If you could, would you be a movie star or a rock star? Which one, and why?
Movie - I love to act, like to be the center of attention (even though I'm an introvert, how weird is that) - and I can't sing or play an instrument.

2. Have you ever been in the media (TV, radio, papers)?
All of the above. I worked in radio for seven years. I've been interviewed on TV several times - starting when I was maybe 5 or 6 for school or church, all the way up until just a couple of months ago for work-stuff. I had a local newspaper columnist do a "profile" of me - basically a meme.

3. Do you know anyone who's been on a reality TV show?
Can't say that I do.

4. Have you ever met anyone famous?
Not that I can remember.

5. Who would play you in a movie?
I would play me in a movie.  If I can't - Danny Devito (before he gets too old). Can't think of any other short fat funny guys.

 

 

Be Famous Meme

Prepare for Winter

Winter technically hasn't started yet - but in many areas it's already crazy cold and snowing.

The Red Cross has some great tips for Winter Weather Preparedness.

 

Some of the material from that website, amongst much more, includes the following tips:

Prepare a Winter Storm Plan

• Have extra blankets on hand.
• Ensure that each member of your household has a warm coat, gloves or mittens, hat, and water-resistant boots.

Assemble a Disaster Supplies Kit Containing--

• First aid kit and essential medications.
• Battery-powered NOAA Weather radio, flashlight, and extra batteries.
• Canned food and can opener.
• Bottled water (at least one gallon of water per person per day to last at least 3 days).
• Extra warm clothing, including boots, mittens, and a hat.
• Assemble a Disaster Supplies Kit for your car, too.
• Have your car winterized before winter storm season.

 

Prepare for Winter

Grumpy.

I didn't dislike it because it "looked different". Well, not entirely. As a rule, I'm pretty resistant to change. Once something is the way I like it and I'm used to it, changing it around drives me batty. Touch of OCD anyone? Heh. So yeah, to a point, having everything moved around and "looking different" was not cool. But it made the whole darned computer run slowly. Kev said that's not possible. All I know is that when IEvil7 was downloaded, Outlook went to pieces. Opening the program would lock up the whole computer until it was finished doing all of it's "opening the program" stuff. The browser itself was similar. It was just slow, and clunky, and all wrong.

Happy it's gone.


So here I sit. Nursing my Grande mint hot cocoa with extra whip from Starbucks. (Kev brought it home because he's wonderful.) It's NOT improving my mood. I spent five hours at church helping several hundred kids through the after school program that I teach at. I've been doing it every Wednesday since August, and tonight was the last one for '06. There was just a lot going on. The kids were wired and crazed, from the season, the Christmas musical that they were putting on tonight, and from the promise of cookies and punch after the show. And I spent an hour and a half more than I normally do in the vortex, because of the musical.

I blew a fuse two days ago. It shorted out the circuit controlling part of the kitchen, the laundry room, and our bedroom. It's STILL not back on. Kev's done everything he knows how to - replacing outlets, switches, circuit breakers, everything. In the end, he had to call in an electrician. He'll come in the morning, probably fix it in 20 seconds, and charge us a ton of money. Hate. Kudos to Kev, though. He spent a ton of time working on it, because he's wonderful. (Have I mentioned his wonderfulness once or twice? Well, too bad, because I shall continue to do so.)

In 60 hours, I will be sitting at a table in Santa Claus, IN, doing a craft show with Elizabeth. I've got some work on it that I really should do tonight, but I'm just exhausted, cranky, and brain dead. (Fire bad, tree pretty. Bonus points if you identify the quote w/o Googling.) Maybe tomorrow.

And now some internet buddies have hauled me into chat, and they're wonderful company, so I'm off to see how they are. (Bek, Rach, and Lisa. They're so cool.)

Grumpy.

Blech!

Have I mentioned that I extremely dislike IE7?

I installed the "upgrade" a couple of weeks ago. Right off the bat, Rubi hated it. "It looks different."
I tested it out for about a week. It crashed on me at least once a day during use - often more than once. The tabbed browsing wasn't as intuitive as in Firefox, even after changing the settings in IE7 to make it behave better.

Needless to say, I uninstalled IE7 and won't be upgrading unless they release updates to it that make it function better in XP.

I'm still one of those losers that uses IE mostly, instead of Firefox. I do have Firefox (and Opera) installed in my system, and sometimes use them - but many of the websites I use just seem to look and work better in IE.

I can't wait until my workplace upgrades to IE7 - that will be an adventure!!

Powered by Qumana

Blech!

Christmas Meme

Carrie posted this, and a friend of mine I rediscovered on myspace also sent it to me.

I guess that's a sign I need to answer it.

 

The Christmas Season Meme.

 

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate maybe once or twice during the season.

 

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? It was my understanding the elves did all the wrapping, and Santa delivered them.  Here at home - We don't really do Santa. The kids know about him, but consider him more of a celebrity they see around the holidays than as the guy who brings presents.

 

3. Colored lights on tree or white? I honestly can't remember what we had last year, and we haven't decorated this year yet.  I like the subtle beauty of white lights, but I also like the atmosphere of multicolored lights.

 

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope. Rubi doesn't need an excuse to kiss me!

 

5. When do you put your decorations up? We used to put them as soon as possible after Thanksgiving - that's when we had a fake tree (my favorite kind).  But now we do real trees (gah!) and usually wait until about 2 weeks before Christmas to buy a freshly cut tree so it stays fresh through December 25. That's when we've decorating lately.

 

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? The one sitting on the desk with the free candy in it.  As for food - my moms Christmas sugar cookies.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Reading the story of Jesus' birth from Luke 2 with the family.

 

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Don't remember.

 

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Sometimes.  Lately Rubi and I have been exchanging gifts on Christmas Eve after the kids go to bed so we can spend Christmas morning focused on their gifts.

 

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Everyone helps. We use lights and ornaments (that I can remember), put on Christmas music, Rubi makes hot chocolate for those that want some, and I take pictures.

 

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love the look of it, love seeing it fall from the sky and cover the ground. Love playing in it. Love taking pictures of my kids playing in it.  Love sledding. I don't like shoveling it or driving in it.

 

12. Can you ice skate? I've been a couple times, so... no.

 

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Anything Rubi gives me is my favorite gift!

 

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Spending time with extended family. Reading Luke 2 with my family on Christmas morning.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Mom's Sugar Cookies.

 

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Oh, I answered that in #14. Spending time with extended family, and reading Luke 2 with my family on Christmas morning.

 

17. What tops your tree? Dust.  Actually, I think we have an angel, but I can't remember.  I know we've been searching for the perfect tree-topper for years and just haven't found one we really like.

 

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Yes. I love to watch Rubi and the kids unwrap the gifts I give them - but, hey, I'm human and as greedy as the next guy - so I like to "get" too!

 

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Hmmm.... I can't think of one. Maybe something from Amy Grant's Christmas album, but I'm not sure. I know there are some I like, that by the end of the season - I'm sick of hearing because the radio is always playing them and they're on the muzak in stores and on commercials on TV.

 

20. Candy Canes? Maybe one or two.  I like to hang them on the tree as decorations.

 

 

 

Christmas Meme