Archived News starting from 07-01-2007 and earlier
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Ten months after my last
Google Adsense check, another one has appeared in the mail. While not as exciting as the first one, it's still nice to get a
free 500GB hard drive from time to time, especially when on the quest for two terabytes.
The great majority of Lisa's relatives live in Pennsylvania, so for their convenience (and not because it means 2 wedding showers) Lisa decided to have her
first shower this weekend. I survived by drinking
Arrogant Bastard Ale which intoxicated me sufficiently for gift unwrapping. The next morning was her grandparents
60th anniversary dinner where Lisa informed me she'd be looking for a place to bury my body on our 60th anniversary. Special thanks to Jenny for keeping us entertained throughout the trip, and somebody needs to buy me a
stuffed snake.
This weekend Lisa and I loaded up her excess furniture in a U-Haul trailer and towed it to her brothers house for donation. While we were there, some flatlanders showed up demanding we accompany them to Steak and Shake. Not one to cross a flatlander, we agreed on condition they would release us afterwards. We survived with only minor indigestion, but my inability to carry a camera left the entire encounter undocumented. My barn is now 75% empty, which means I can once again park a vehicle in it.
Tonight I was given the opportunity to go to Cleveland for some focus group testing for my work. It was my first experience with a 2-way mirror and was a little creepy. Volunteers shuffled into the "bright" room and were asked various questions, then shown some fatheads, then asked more questions. Meanwhile we were in the "dark" room with cheese snacks, candy, soda, and even beer to enjoy while we watched the moderator interview everyone. The volunteers were told about the 2-way mirror and camera taping them, but after a few minutes they ignored it and we could watch every ones reaction to the fatheads. It was interesting to see how many people had heard of Fathead, and how they reacted once they saw one up close (they weren't told what they were going to be reviewing prior to arriving). It felt good to know I work for a company that makes a universally "cool" product, that everyone wanted once they saw it up close. The creepy part was seeing and listening to someone for an hour and then realizing they had no idea who you were when you walked past them in the hallway.
Last night I reloaded my
Windows Home Server to upgrade my primary drive from a 40GB to a 120GB (and test the "primary drive failure
recovery" in the process). After spending an hour with the recovery lastnight, I should not have been surprised to see the
RC1 release, which requires a complete reinstall, was now available. Happier about the RC1 release than I was frustrated about the wasted CTP reload, I quickly downloaded and did a fresh install, which also requires reinstalling the connector software on all my computers. 2 hours later the only difference I can tell between RC1 and the CTP is an install DVD that is 100MB smaller, and about a half-meg larger install for the connector software. After my 3 hour CTP to RC1 odyssey, I'm content to let Home Server secure my data quietly without any love from me. At least until the final release is available.
With summer here, my number of planned weekend events far exceeds the number of Lisa's available weekends. The solution: a second girlfriend. A loophole in international law allows me to be engaged to Lisa in the United States, and have a girlfriend in Canada. Melinda accepted the girlfriend contract and was nice enough to drive me to the
annual Niagra Falls trip since Lisa had to work the weekend. After some time practicing of first aid in the
imaginary and actual pools, we braved the 90° weather for dinner, the arcade and a visit to the falls. After a night of flatulence and shenanigans, we were off to the park for the annual picnic where we managed to feed a seagull to the point it could no longer fly. Another successful trip with our record of no arrests still in tact.
Riding to work today a cop stopped quickly to turn right and instead of running into him I went around him on a yellow light. He of course immediately turned on his lights and pulled me over. He asked why I ran the yellow light and I told him so I didn't end up in the back of his car. After going back and forth a few times he eventually started telling me about his motorcycle and the conversation switched to motorcycle models. He ended with "nice to meet you" and let me go without a ticket. Had I been in my
Cougar he would have written up the ticket before even leaving his car and simply handed it to me. Needless to say my motorcycle is now my primary transportation option.
Lisas plan to take over my house got one step closer to completion today when she demanded I move her furniture into the bedroom. Since she has expensive taste, the furniture is naturally heavy italian wood that is impossible for one person to lift. Lisa was conveniently at work when she scheduled me to move the furniture, so who to turn to? The
Morlock of course. I summoned him from below and he agreed to assist in exchange for a laser mouse. I'm assuming the mouse will control a bone-grinding machine or some other morlock device. My now patented
wheelbarrow moving technique was a great success, although the Morlock refused to grant my request for a wheelbarrow ride.
After a planned trip to Florida with coworkers failed to happen, Lisa decided she'd
take me and go anyway. Flattered that she thought of me after her coworkers, and that she remembered I love Florida, I agreed. Since Joseph moved back to Michigan, my resident welcoming committee was notably absent this year, and we had to brave the harsh Whorlando airport by ourselves. Once we arrived at our Cocoa Beach destination, a strict schedule of beach and sleep was implemented immediatly, interrupted only by trips to
Kennedy Space Center and
Medieval Times. Lisa was
very excited about visiting NASA for the first time. She took me on the
Up Close tour which was cancelled due to terrorists last time I visited so this was the first time I got to see the shuttle launch pads from 500 feet. Lisa was upset neither pad had a shuttle ready to launch due to a recent hailstorm, but rolled her eyes in excitement after I assured her we would come back again and again until she saw one on the pad. After a full day of calming Lisa down from the space center, we went to Medieval Times where Lisa enjoyed the soap opera which I had previously ignored. Apparently all the talking they do between the fighting and jousting actually creates a storyline. The absence of the Josephs from the greater Whorlando area definitely tuned down the fun factor, but being on a sunny beach with a hot woman helps make up for it.
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