A disaster in the making

We weren't sure our marriage would survive,
After the Universal remote up & died!
Eyes glazed over as we sup,
No way to get the tube to power up.
A curse of technology, this horrid hex,

Off we go for some pretty good sex!!

Where's the fun in that?

New Orleans Vows to Hold a Safe Mardi Gras

What would her mother say?

Willy the Hog Pairs With Antelope at Zoo

And this is a surpise?

Americans work more, seem to accomplish less

Ouch!

Want nacho cheese with that?

new Haiku

My twitchy curled tail

Slowly swirling twirling close

Who will chase it? Me!

So pretty

St. Valentine's Day Cake Massacre of 2006

Birdshot anyone?

Cheney Accidentally Shoots Fellow Hunter

Jesus, the Musical

Courtesy of Google Video

We have a winner

This quote has been all over - I even stole my subject line from a large metropolitan newspaper near the nation's capital - but it is oh so true.

24

• You can lead a horse to water. Jack Bauer can make him drink.
• If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Nina twice.
• If you wake up in the morning, it's because Jack Bauer spared your life.
• Upon hearing that he was played by Kiefer Sutherland, Jack Bauer killed Sutherland. Jack Bauer gets played by no man.
• Every time you masturbate Jack Bauer kills a terrorist. Not because you masturbated, but because that is how often he kills terrorists.
• Osama bin Laden's recent proposal for truce is a direct result of him finding out that Jack Bauer is, in fact, still alive.
• Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.
• Jack Bauer was never addicted to heroin. Heroin was addicted to Jack Bauer.
• 1.6 billion Chinese are angry with Jack Bauer. Sounds like a fair fight.
• Jack Bauer killed 93 people in just 4 days. Wait, that is a real fact.
• Jack Bauer doesn't miss. If he didn't hit you it's because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.
• Jack Bauer let the dogs out.
• Superman wears Jack Bauer pyjamas.
• Jack Bauer's favorite color is severe terror alert red. His second favorite color is violet, but just because it sounds like violent.
• If Jack and MacGyver were locked in a room together, Jack would make a bomb out of MacGyver and get out.
• Jack Bauer played Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun and won.
• Lets get one thing straight, the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.
• Jack Bauer got Hellen Keller to talk.
• When life gave Jack Bauer lemons, he used them to kill terrorists. Jack Bauer fucking hates lemonade.
• When you open a can of whoop-ass, Jack Bauer jumps out.
• Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead. It just makes him angry.
• The quickest way to a man's heart is through Jack Bauer's gun.
• Jack Bauer can get McDonald's breakfast after 10:30.
• Jack Bauer is the leading cause of death in Middle Eastern men.
• People with amnesia still remember Jack Bauer.
• It would only take 1 bullet for Jack Bauer to kill 50 Cent.
• Jack Bauer once won a game of Connect 4 in 3 moves.
• Jack Bauer has been to Mars. That's why theres no life on Mars.
• When the boogie man goes to sleep, he checks his closet for Jack Bauer
• Simon Says should be renamed to Jack Bauer Says because if Jack Bauer says something then you better fucking do it.

Caught red-handed!

With another girl.

If you see this security pop-up...

Don't click any options.
According to PC Magazine Winfixer looks like an authentic Windows security alert. However:

WinAntiSpyware and WinAntiVirus use aggressive advertising, drive sales using false positive results, and inappropriately collect personal data. Sunbelt Software's research center states that WinFixer uses false warnings to goad trial users into purchasing it. The eTrust Spyware Encyclopedia reports that it installs without the user's permission or knowledge, displays popup ads not related to the program itself, and uses false warnings of "severe system threats". Tenebril Software's Spyware Research Center hits these same themes, adding that it may permit execution of unsigned executable code. And of course that oh-so-polished warning screen was delivered to my test system by known malware.

Xtreme Ants Live Ant Habitat-Sports Park

Somehow I think the ants won't get the irony of this.

I can't believe alcohol was involved... .

NOT
Hiccups lead to two deaths

A bullet load of yum!

Dog Show USA -- Son Of A Gun

Tablet PC

Stanley learns to keep warm with my new tablet.

Damn!

Fur lined knickers banned

Adventure

A great twist on the very first computer game I ever played!
Hooray!!

Podcasts for everyone!

Gabcast introduces a new service to allow anyone to create & export podcasts for their site.

Pat Robertson apologizes

He may have apologized, & said that his comments were insensitive, but I don't see anywhere he says that his comments were wrong... .

Farewell to a Princess

We had a sad morning as we took our princess cat, Winnie, for one last trip to the vet.
She was almos fourteen years old, & the last of the four cats that J & I had when we first moved in together back in 1995.
Winnie has had health issues off & on for the last couple of years, but we were able to keep her feeling pretty well.
Just after Thanksgiving, though, she really stopped eating almost anything, & began losing weight. After a trip to the vet last week, & lots of tests, we found out she was jaundiced, & having liver problems.

She spent the week there, receiving IV fluids, but still not eating willingly for anyone. She came home with us yesterday to see if she would eat for us, in her own home, but our vet had already said that there really wasn't anything long term that could be done for her since her liver functions were continuing to go down hill.
She didn't show any interest in either food or water, but was happy to curl up with her mom and purr while getting loved on. Winnie spent the night on the bed between us, & this morning we decided that she was telling us she was ready to move on.

She was such a princess all her life, always grooming herself to look pretty & pushing other cats aside to get attention from whoever was on the sofa.
And now she can play with her brother again, and her little girl who was lost as a kitten.

We love you, Winnie, & know you'll come back to visit. Thank you for all of your love & purrs over the years.

That smell

Throughout the day today, I've gotten an occasional whiff of something not nice, but couldn't quite figure out what it was.
Then while I was on my cell phone with the wife I realized... the familiar & faint smell of cat Spray!!.
Apparently one of the guys — & I'm sure he knows who — sat on my phone as it sat on the shelf last night, and got a little something on there... . YUCK!!
Guess I'll clean the phone & the holster with a bit of peroxide tonight when I get home.

Mr. Lobster

Mr. Lobster awaits his fate at The Boston Seafood Feast. The only place we could find open on Christmas night!
But well worth it.

No wonder...

They think they're royalty... .

Oh, yeah

We're spending Christmas this year someplace warm... & I can't wait to get a little sun, & away from the ice here.
Man, I need a vacation.

On a cold winter day

Snuggling with a buddy is good.

Larry the Lab

Larry came for a visit today ? for the second time this week.
He lives down the street & around the corner from us, a little more than 1/4 of a mile, probably.
Every now & then he slips his lead while his people are gone, & checks out the neighborhood.
He's discovered two fun dogs here to play with, & people who will let him inside to get warm — & give him treats!
His mom has a german shepherd who gets to go to work with her most days, & a nice tripod gray tabby, too.

Home again, home again.

Mr. White made it home yesterday afternoon, while the freezing rain was still falling.
He's been rather reticent concerning his whereabouts, but other than being very hungry, he seemed just fine.
Ane he was almost snuggly after a nice treat of canned food.

Love Hate Relationship

One of our cats is an all white tom that adopted us not quite two years ago. And even though the first thing we did was to get him fixed, he's never quite been domesticated ? this is the same cat that put my mother-in-law in hospital this past summer.
Every time he's in the house, I feel like I have to watch him like a hawk so that he doesn't attack the younger tabbies, or mark everything he can find as his territory!
He's one of the cats that really would have done well if we could have found him a home to be a barn cat, with minimal people contact; he puts up with us, but just barely.
But now that he's gone missing for two days in the midst of the crappy winter weather, we're actually worried about him! What's up with that?
Hopefully he'll turn up safe & more sound. He's a smart guy, & probably holed up someplace warm & dry. He did lose his collar recently, so someone may have invited him in to warm up & stay awhile.

I just knew it

Voice Of God Revealed...

The best laid plans..

of mice & men... .
A whole new meaning, huh?

What a deal!!

Even if she goes out of business, she'll never go hungry!

Spanish at school translates to suspension

Controversy caused by Kansas City incident reflects national debate.
So, almost all public high schools require students to fulfill a foreign language requirement - and most of those classes are conducted in the language - yet they wish to make it wrong to speak anything other than English in the school?
Does that mean that students can't prepare for their French or Spanish exams during study hall for fear of being labeled anti-American?
That seems similar to the guy who said, "I'd give my left arm to be ambidextrous!"
I envy the kids who grow up bilingual & better able to communicate.
My neice was enrolled in a Spanish speaking daycare when she was two or three, & picked the language right up. It will serve her well as she grows up & interacts with the growing hispanic community around us.

Holiday representations

It occurred to me today that with all the hoopla over Christmas Trees vs. Holiday Trees that maybe I should buy a nice holiday candle holder for my Jewish friends!

Oh, man! Someone actually makes a minorah charm for pet collars!? Umm... Does that mean that I have to further humiliate the dog by getting him circumcised as well as neutered?

Best in Show

Dogster & Catster's Online Photo Contest

Office productivity for the "holidays"

Give Santa a hand.

BOW-WOW!

What a nice find —
A newsletter dedicated
to making work and workers more joyful, playful, and productive.

Dogster: Where No One Knows You're Human

Dogster: Dog Video
Cute.. not sure how funny, but cute.

Traditional

Cat in the sink image.
Old style, but still cute.

Mmm...

I just loves me some corn on the cob.

Only in Britain...

.... or maybe San Francisco...
The Sunday Times - Times Online

Finally arrived!

They didn't have my size in stock, so I had to wait two months for it to be made... .
Of course, now I have to wait for warmer weather to wear it much, but it's great! Plenty of room — underneath, & in the multitude of pockets!

Oops!

They did it again.

All I can say is

Ewww!

Hooray

Michael Jackson May Not Live in U.S. Again
Key quote

Michael Jackson is working on a charity single for hurricane relief with stars such as R. Kelly and Snoop Dogg.

They all shared a copy of Fundraising for Felons.

GOP Leaders Urge Probe in Prisons (Leak)

What's so freakin' amazing about this is that they don't seem to be worried about the secret prisons, but that the American people have found out about it.
Yeah, this administration is gonna burn in hell... .

It Doesn't Hurt To Ask

The Dilbert Blog: It Doesn't Hurt To Ask
Important quote:

It looked like someone had taken his dog and shoved it up his grandmother's ass, put them both on his driveway, borrowed his SUV and used his gas to run over them repeatedly in front of the kids.

How bout this...

After reading this article on MSNBC, I started thinking about just how insane this administration continues to be.
There has to be a more humane way to get answers, right?
So... Instead of torturing them after we catch them to get answers, we give the terrorists what they expect when they die: 72 virgins!
I bet they'd tell us anything we want to know.

And... We can promote abstinence, too:
T-shirts that say, "I'm saving it for Democracy!" passed out at every high school... . That should make the conservatives happy.
And not just for girls, as I'm sure that some of those terrorists might prefer guys, anyway.
Of course, in the military, it's still "don't ask, don't tell", so how do we know which men will want to join the new "Virgin Corps"? Guess we'll have to change that policy, which will make the liberals happy.
See, everybody wins!

Changing History

I noticed that Titanic is about to come out on DVD, with the option of an alternate ending.
Does that mean the ship doesn't sink?
Maybe when they hit the iceberg it cracks open to reveal a secret alien military base. Leonardo DiCraprio steals their weapons & saves mankind. (But the rich guys still despise him).

When your eyes play Tricks

I saw this headline from the Washington Post: Miers's Autonomy Will Be at Issue.
But I could have sworn that it said Miers's Anatomy Will Be at Issue.
One of those moments where you just want to be struck blind!

Quote of the Day!

Overheard in the Office: The Voice of the Cubicle

Who is Bush defining?

When Bush said this in his speech today:

"We are facing a radical ideology with immeasurable objectives to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world,"

Was he talking about Karl Rove, or Dick Cheney, or his administration in general?

Moral Dilemma

Wow.
The aforementioned job interview has turned into an actual offer! And I feel a little guilty since I'm not really looking to leave my position here.

I have a pretty decent job, the pay is not bad — for a state agency — I don't hate or even dislike the majority of my co-workers, I have a kick ass office (formerly a hospital room) with a huge desk covered with all my techno-geek stuff & a great view of a river flowing by down below.
As jobs go, there's not too much stress on a regular basis, just the occasional blips of emergencies & rushes that come up, I would imagine, in most businesses.
And they call & make me an offer?! The other applicants must have sucked, huh? Or maybe I just talk a better game than I realized. I mean, they did call all the references & still were interested.
The job is a little more money, not a huge increase —near the bottom of the next higher pay schedule, but I really do think that it could be immensely over my head.
And I know that the people offering me this new position are not looking for someone short term, they're just entering the second phase of a long project that will, in all likelihood, take two or three years to complete. And I would be a real schmuck to go over there for just a few months, & then leave on my own venture just when I was settling in to their routine.
I really feel that I shouldn't take their offer, & am still amazed that I was the top pick. Hell, I was just trying to get out there and put my face around a little, ya know?
Should I feel guilty about not taking their offer? I certainly don't want to leave a bad impression with them. But, as is often the case, I think, I don't want to bolt from something secure that's not too bad a thing.

great plate

I saw a license plate today, that I think was supposed to denote that he is from Kentucky.
What it said, though, was 1KYGUY. So, maybe he just needs a little lube for those family get togethers in the hills... .

Lost in translation

My wife seemed surprised when I called & asked if she wanted to have lunch - surprised that I really meant lunch (& not sex!)
Maybe for dessert.

Change of venue?

Over the last few months, I've felt a little stuck at work. As if I really wasn't going to be able to accomplish the things I'd like to see happen technologically. And that would be because of the inertia from above — if someone higher up the food chain had the will, then they could find the money to make it happen.
But, we're the red-headed step-children of the whole bunch, so don't look for it to happen anytime soon.
A while back – long enough that I had forgotten about it – I had dropped an application at another nearby state agency on a tech Support Analyst job. When their office called me yesterday for a phone interview, I had absolutely no idea what the woman was talking about for the first five minutes, & just played it off the cuff until I was able to figure out what was going on.
I must have talked a good game, because she called again today to ask me to come in for a sit-down with the other people there.
I'm not sure how I would feel about leaving my current cohort shorthanded, which they would be for a while if I left, but there is a little more money involved, & would be working closer to the dojo, which has its perks.
I've been here for five years, which is forever in the technology world, but barely a flicker in the state employee world.

As the wife & I were talking about the possibility last night, & little details that would go along with it, I commented that it would be great to have a doggy day care somewhere to make it easier to exercise the boys — which would be harder if I were to have an offer on the job, just because of the location.
I realized later in the shower — where all great thoughts are born — that maybe the answer was for the two of us to open our own doggy day care for others to employ!
So I'm spending a little time today researching that idea, & actually have found an affiliate program that we can use as springboard to get going… .
A job where we could both work with dogs all day long?? Hmm… .

Vicious fish...

I came home yesterday to find that our Fantail Calicos (goldfish) had eaten out algae eater!
I mean there was nothing left of him but the head with the spine attached. How creepy is that?! (Very)
I'm not sure if he died & then they ate him, or if he was sick & almost dead, & they ate him anyway.
Whichever, I'm not sticking my fingers in that tank!!

:-( sad

Another no-go for us, I'm afraid.
She was 5 or 6 weeks along, but now her HG(?) levels are dropping off, instead of going up.
Both of us were trying to be optimistic, and were very hopeful, especially since we weren't even trying!
Hopefully, her body will be able to take care of getting back to normal without any pharmaceutical help this time.
I may take the rest of the day off so that we can be together if she needs me to.

One of our students has just returned after a long hiatus, & has been bringing her 7 month old with her when she can't find a sitter. He's a sweetie, & last week just before we did find out we were pregnant, I was was playing with C when I suddenly really wanted one for us!

Soon, maybe... .

One of those days

Last night was one of those classes where it was hard to stay on the same page as Sensei.
Testing is right around the corner, so it's pretty important to get everyone moving towards doing technique the way T. Shihan wants it.
Ever since receiving my unofficial job to help students at our dojo stay on track, it's been hard, especially when Sensei gets going o his own track — which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just not in line with the overall view of our school's technique as it's passed on from Japan.

With every single technique that Sensei showed last night, I knew that someone from the U.S. home dojo, or from Japan, would say something like, "Where did you learn that?" They probably wouldn't say it as nicely, though.
The old rule of thumb is that whoever is teaching, that's the correct way of doing the technique, & that's fine insofar as the idea that everyone does things a little differently, & each person's technique evolves to suit their bodies over time. So I was very good, & didn't say anything, though I did point out to a few senior students getting near the black belt level that this or that pinning combo wouldn't be good to do on the test.
It drives me crazy, though, because I remember all of the habits I had to break after T. Shihan was hear a number of years ago, & went off on how we were maintaining the techniques as they were handed down.
And after training with him, I had much more respect for that viewpoint, & for the way he expressed technique.

I'm teaching the weekend classes, though, & that's (partially) the time to stress the traditional aspects of what we do in training.

Last Days of Summer

Every year, the County Parks & Rec Department opens up the county pool to local pooches for a Humane Society fund-raiser.
The boys got to do a few laps, and play with their friends in the water.
What a life, huh?

Cool new <geek> toy

When I saw this, it was a must have! I'm glad it doesn't generate much heat, too.

Courtesy of Dave Barry

what the?

I swear I came here to post something of great import... .
Only now I can't remember what it was.

Location, location, location

Oh, yeah, and money, too!
Once again someone who doesn't have to sell first has put a contract on the house we've been trying to buy for the last three months!
In some ways, it's a relief -- we won't have to keep the house up to 100% constantly, and worry about showing it on the spur of the moment.
On the other hand, we were really looking forward to having a little land to garden on, and put in a dojo.

Look Ma, no rope!

Rudy's big day!!
He played for at least thirty minutes at the park off-leash without running off to the woods to chase rabbits.
This is a huge deal for us, & makes Mr. Rudy a much happier puppy, too, since he can get more exercise (and more treats every time he comes back to us).

Tell Me a Secret:

With stories like this, is it any wonder that the Iraquis don't believe they'll have a fair shake after the new government comes into being?

Just a typical evening..

.. at home.

And Junior is feeling much better and more feisty every day!

This is how he looked before. That was just after the accident that we now think was caused by a fan belt!
We've just started letting him go back outside on his own, but he isn't strong enough yet to make the jump over the fence, which is a bit of a relief for us, since he's still pretty weak in right hind leg.

Well that's such a helpful error message!

Aargh

I've been struggling all week long with font issues on my Windows machine as I transfer InDesign files from the Designers with OS X machines.
I was finally able to figure out the proper way to use Transtype from Fontlab, and how to install the fonts properly - so at least half the problem was in my not doing that part correctly.
So I finally get all the fonts installed, and now InDesign keeps crashing every time I try to start it up!

AArrghhh!

Hold the Seafood

Sigh.. Instead of filling up on crab & beer, I'm here in a room next a sleeping spouse :-(
We came back here for a brief nap before dinner, but she woke up not feeling well, & I really didn't want to leave her with no way to get dinner if she feels up to it.
That was two hours ago, and she's still sawing logs.
We'll go grab something when she's up, though. Like any good college town, there's all kinds of local food to enjoy.

Working on the Road

I don't get to travel much in this job, but when I do, it's just nice to get the hell out of the office, ya know?
We're near the beach, & going to pig out on seafood later on this evening.

Another day another dollar

On my way to the dojo this evening I was the thinking about the total disarry of things in my office & at home.

The house is once again on the market, as the buyers of the place we want backed out of their contract.
We found that out on Friday night - late- & have been scrambling ever since to get our place back on track. That meant a weekend of power-washing the decks & siding & starting in on the re-staining of the back deck.
On the first go-round of this desl we spent almost $3000 on two new vinyl floors, carpet, & a newly paved driveway.

On the work front, there is an inordinate amount of crap piled up for me to get through.
I have two more iMacs to set up for staff & one more PC. After that's done, though, I'm turning my tech support responsibilities back over to the help(less) desk. It has just become way too much work on topof everything else as the systems have gotten more complex, & as people expect more from our web jobs.

At least J. has her new toy to help out if I get too busy. ;-)

Arts & Crafts

So, the missus was in a creative mood this weekend, & made one of these (NSFW).
As long as it doesn't turn out better than the original, we'll be fine.
And, guys, if you make one... you may want a little shave first - trust me!

Tough Week

We still don't what happened to our sweetie, but he's home after five days at the clinic, & slowly starting to feel a little better.
He had ten stitches in his thigh, & four or five in each hind leg!

Break Time!

Such good helpers deserve a good break!

Meetings

Okay - so not everything about morning meetings sucks!

Snap!

The boys meet their first snapping turtle, & really didn't know what to make of it... .

M-pire Wallpaper

Close Call

Wow, We almost destroyed the whole neighborhood last night!
I made the mistake of putting a bag of Dark Side M&Ms in the same bowl with a bag of the Jedi Mix!
Those little guys were going at it, let me tell you!
;-)

Cleaning cats

We all know that cats like to keep themselves clean, but come on!

Nice weather

We had a nice break from the chilly days & got the boys to their favorite swimmin' hole.

Store Wars

Not the best animation in a spoof, but the character names crack me up!
Join the Organic Rebellion.
On a par with The Meatrix.

Congrats!

To my wonderful wife on her graduation from the master's program at Virginia Tech!!
I wonder what life will be like with two full time incomes in the house?!

I love you, sweetness.

Get ready to slurp

Free Frosty Day!

I picture myself driving around the county from restaurant to restaurant.... with a cooler of dry ice in the trunk to store them!

And in case you haven't tried it, a little (or a lot of) kahlua in your frosty is a pretty wonderful thing...

Raze the roof..

But please don't let it fall on our heads!
As well as installing a new chiller unit on our building, the university is replacing the entire roof. Why they couldn't have done this before we moved in to the top floor, I'm not sure.
It sounds like a freakin' herd of elephants over our heads at least five hours a day, and will take another couple of weeks before the work is done. It's surprisingly hard to concentrate when it feels like the ceiling is about to fall down on you.
This must be what it's like to live in California!

The rare & improbable free lunch

What a treat, not a huge treat, because it was Burger King, after all, but still nice. I ordered lunch at the BK nearby, and whipped out my credit card to pay for it when the manager said that their card reader was down. I was out of cash, and that's all I had to pay with... .
But he wanted repeat business enough that he wrote the meal off rather than see me head up the street to the competition!
I wonder how much money the store will lose today because there was no backup system in place?

Find Your New Imaginary Girlfriend Today!

Imaginary Girlfriends. How cool and bizarre is this?

Control the Center

In class last week I was teaching a variety of knife techniques & noticed that people really got too focused on the knife. Now, it's a good thing to know where that knife is when it's coming toward you, but like so many things, the more you concentrate on it, the more it slips away.
As with tai jutsu, if the attack is coming from uke's center, then that is what has to be controlled.
A good blend, tenkan, followed by good entry, irimi, is still what is needed.
What needs to be different is how we think about the blend when there is a weapon involved... . Going inside may suddenly be more dangerous than going outside, and vice versa, using ikkyo instead of gokkyo, etc.

I guess that I have enough time on the mat (but nowhere near enough!) that I don't think conciously about those changes too much in the middle of technique. I suppose it's good that they're becoming second nature, & getting into my muscle memory, but it takes more thoughtfulness to remember those details and to teach them now.

Too Tired Dogs

Over the weekend we were in C'ville & took the opportunity to run the dogs at Darden Towe Park. We stayed for almost two hours letting them play & have an all around good time, the took them for a little swim in the Rivanna River. All in hopes of tiring them out for the ride home Sunday evening.
It obviously worked — not only did they sleep all the way home, but when I got up on Monday morning they stayed in bed; they didn't even get up long enough to eat breakfast! And it was yesterday evening before they even felt like playing again.
Of course, we were worried about Rudy since he almost always gets car sick, & hates to travel. But this trip we switched him from Benadryl to knock him out to Dramamine.
Man, what a difference! He still drooled a lot over the first part of the trip, but he didn't get sick, & he was even a little perky when we got there! I think we were both tickled to death over how much better he did.

These are my URL ABCs:

• A is for ananova.com/ - love the quirkies
• B is for barnesandnoble.com/ - I like to read
• C is for cdwg.com - spend the state's money
• D is for defectiveyeti.com/ - Hey, that's where I found this time-consuming tool
• E is for eclasses.org - Always have to know more
• F is for flowerfire.com - work related
• G is for gpf-comics.com/ - General Protection Fault rules
• H is for home.threeweb.ad.jp/english/jpncntrl/bgnr_hp.html - Trying to learn Japanese
• I is for inpassing.org/blog/ - Juvenile, but sometimes funny
• J is for jobs.vt.edu - Sshhh... don't tell my boss
• K is for kingfeatures.com/features/comics/comics.htm - Who doesn't like the funnies?
• L is for live365.com/ - Gotta have my tunes on the job!
• M is for mozilla.org/ - Always an update it seems
• N is for nanahiro.com/compe/ - Office Productivity at it's best!
• O is for overheardinnewyork.com/ - There are some rude people in New York!!
• P is for php.net/ - Yeah, I'm a geek
• Who uses q?
• R is for radford.edu/ - Everyone's gotta work somewhere.
• S is for search.ebay.com - People sell the weirdest shit..
• T is for tabletpcbuzz.com - I'm still a geek.
• U is for us4.php.net/ - Damn, I really am becoming geeky
• V is for viral.lycos.co.uk/ - A great place for a chuckle
• W is for weblog.herald.com/column/davebarry - The funniest man ever?
• Y is for yp.yahoo.com/ - who needs a phone book when we have the internet?
• Z is for zwire.com/site/news.asp?brd=1719 - Just a random news link from the wires.

---

How to find your URL ABCs: Type the letter 'a' into your location bar, copy the first URL that your browser autosuggests as a completion, and paste it into the corresponding field below. Repeat for letters 'b' through 'z'.
I don't have the set up to post the form here, but you can see one on Defective Yeti.

Always close the door

After being out of town last Saturday, I noticed on Sunday that I hadn't seen one of the cats — our feisty former tom. She said he had been around on Saturday, so I wasn't too worried.
He continued not showing up for the next few days, & we both started worrying that something may have happened to him on one of his midnight roams.
Then yesterday evening, I was out on the back porch with the dogs, & heard him crying somewhere! I looked around and then grabbed a flashlight so I could see a little better.
I finally found him — in the shed! He apparently slipped in there last Saturday when J had the door open... .
Five days with no food & water is a long time for any critter, and he was happy to be out, though he was obviously dehydrated, & a good bit thinner.
After a night back inside with some canned food and as much water as he wanted, he seems more like his old self, but we'll still keep an eye on him over the next few days.

He still needs a new home, though, where he can be an only cat! With one or two dogs for company, & certainly no children.

Definitely like the idea... 

My wife has too much time on her hands this afternoon! But I like the sentiment. 

Overheard in the Office

Maybe it's just my mood today, but I cannot remembered the last time I laughed like I have been for the past few minutes while reading the archives on Overheard in the Office.

So sad

After such a nice day training with so many new people yesterday, and a wonderful dinner at The Blue Nile, an Ethiopian restaurant, I got home to find out that J had found another kitten that Momma apparantly had brought here last Thanksgiving while we were out of town.
We're not sure how the little grey one died; J found it between some concrete blocks on the deck while doing some spring cleaning.
The dogs never found it, & we never smelled anything, so it must have remained frozen there for a long time.
Now we know that there were in fact three kittens in her last litter, & that only one survived. But we know that Opus did very well, and found a good home.

Good Training

The boys got a nice surprise yesterday evening. The girl next door & a friend came over & asked if they could play! I brought the boys out to their leads in the front yard & let 'em have at it.
I was really surprised to see them stand BlackJack up on his back legs and dance with him! He hates it whenever J or I try to do that. It just shows how much he still loves little girls even though he's almost all grown up!
Rudy was very shy, though, and wasn't sure if he wanted them to get too close to them; at least until they picked up a stick for him to tug on!

I feel bad that it's going to be a nice day & that they can't come with me :-(
We're having an aikido seminar in Harrisonburg & there's no place there for them to stay while we're training. I am looking forward to training with everyone, though, since I haven't been able to get to any of the other dojos for a number of months.

U.S. Barred From Sending 13 Detainees Abroad

Another strike against our own terrorists:
U.S. Barred From Sending 13 Detainees Abroad

It's funny...

... because it's true.
Okay, and just a little bit tasteless, too... .