[ * February to 25 March 2005 * ]

[ * 27 March 2005 * ]

[ * 27 March to 30 May 2005 * ]

** CLICK thumbnails for larger image, which open in new browser window for convenience

Check out my new personally selected for useful info and fun stuff

* J A N U A R Y *

1 JANUARY 2005 / Saturday -- I was so tired last night that I crawled into bed at 21:30h and did not get up until 04h of today!

-- Gee, whiz, thanks, you nerdy geeky techy dotCom IT Dude -- I try my best! Although I started these computer toy generated news pages way back in 1994, I thought it might be kewl to bring the formatting/theme more up to date with a BLOG concept this time, since it seems to be the InterNUT trend for the last couple years -- but I beat them to it by several Kondratieff winters!

Today the outside temperature rose amazingly close to 60+ degrees, and it was sunny! I had been planning to work some more on the garage doors, so I went out to start seeing how I might replace that lower panel on the left garage door. I finally saw the neighbor for the first time this Holiday -- they were in Puerto Rico and just got back -- I gave Carlos the bottle of wine I had wrapped for them, and his wife gave me a plate of cookies and candies from their Madre Patria. Since I got a new set of pots for Christmas, I retired all the old ones I had been using, and gave a box full of them to the neighbors. I hate throwing anything useful out -- hehe!

The garage work was not really a piece of cake, though -- I discovered that the panel next to it needed changing too -- I thought that each panel was held in place much like a picture frame glass, with small wood strips securing it. Unfortunately on these doors each panel frame is composed of wood actually having a channel in it for the panel, and in theory, one would have to disassemble the entire frame to do the replacement thing -- plus, the channel is not as wide as the 2 pieces of wood I already cut for them -- not to worry, I bought 2 thinner panels of wood a couple weeks ago, and each may provide 5 panels, with any luck. Although half the panel was hanging loose, the other half was firmly stuck in the damn groove -- using a wood chisel I loosened the things and finally got them out, cleaned the channels and cut two new panels with the electric saw -- not all that easy because I cannot bend down all that well to secure the wood with my foot or knee, but got it done somehow. The upright thingy between each panel came out sort of easily enough because the tongue-in-groove ends were broken, and in the space where the upright was removed I could slide one of the new panels in -- first one panel, then the upright, then somehow I got the 2nd panel in -- it was sort of less wide than it should have been, but adjusting the position of the upright and the adjoining panel it worked out satisfactorily -- -- working inside the garage was not all that easy, either (I did not raise the door to do this work), because there are things piled up all over the place inside the garages with barely enough room to move around -- I am slowly also working on that little problem.

Then I used the smaller ladder to coat the bare wood on the upper part of the door frame with that green wood preservative, and also painted the new panels I replaced with the same stuff -- I got a couple sets of 6 paint brushes at the Dollar Store a few months ago, and used one of them -- I knew they were shit, but for a dollar, who cares -- after 10 minutes the hairs start falling out, but since this kind of work is not all that demanding or precise, instead of cleaning out the remains of the brush, I just throw it out and good riddance to 20 cents worth of pure crap! Years ago I got small boxes of good quality brushes, from a hardware store that went out of business, for my normal paint work, and I do clean them out and reuse them (still have a few left) -- matter of fact, with one 2" brush I did all the inside trim work on the West Trenton property over many months when I still owned it, have the brush somewhere and wanted to frame the thing! I still may.

It was slowly getting dark and I could not even attempt to start on the right garage door, where I have quite a few panels to replace.

I have not gotten together a batch of goodies for eBay yet, and may not today. It is still New Years Day and I guess I should keep celebrating wildly? Oh, and now I can get to that half roast chicken I got at Bernar's yesterday! The cats will, naturally, partake of my feast, as they always do. I also started using my 2005 agenda / appointment book that I got a couple months ago at a Dollar Store -- basically, all I write in it are somewhat notable events such as when the recycling Saturdays are, when I get a haircut, do wash in West Trenton, take a shower, and stuff like that. Although I have 2 other things to write about here, they can wait until another day.

2 JANUARY 2005 / Sunday -- OK, this is the first of the two things I was working on -- if you remember that possible eBay glitch, mentioned in the final entry to last years YES, early this morning I completed an entire page dedicated to my observations, including all the screen shots I took of the pages.

5 JANUARY 2005 / Wednesday -- I think I finally concluded that infra red mice may do some damage to bare wood table tops, and perhaps others, as well. I theorized a couple years ago that there may be some kind of an effect of the IR on whatever is beneath it, and always seemed to notice unusual spots where I usually have my mousie -- anyways, the page about it is at Tail of a Churchmouse for anyone who might be interested. Maybe it is just like cell phones -- no company is going to tell their paying users that they cause cancer if used frequently. And what about all those so-called WiFi hot spots around the world? Not only your head, but your entire body is being exposed to radiation there, even if you just go to read a book or newspaper.

Peter, a dude on the aol Apple Computer message board sent me a couple yummy New Years links , but somehow I suspish this one is just a tad, ehhhhhhh......, undercooked or whatever for inclusion on my Holiday page -- New Years Pastry -- what do you think? This one suggests it is Christmas music, but the tune did not sound like any Holiday carols I know -- Holiday Music -- I could be mistaken.

It has been raining all day, but at least the temperatures have not really dropped all that much yet. I went to West Trenton a couple times to do wash, and the ice that had formed on the koi ponds melted.

For a long time I noticed what looked like blackheads on Kamiel's tail -- he is one of my original Sphynx, born on 3 October 1994, a male. Terry, a pal in Texas mentioned that hairless Chinese Crested dogs get this too, and it is due to a buildup of oils on the skin -- he said that what breeders of those dogs do is to dampen a paper towel with Listerine and wipe the animal's skin with it to keep the oil from building up. I do not usually have Listerine in the bathroom -- in the past, the few times I would go to a local country auction I would get box fulls of wines and liquor for next to nothing, left overs from estate sales, so I have used bottles of vodka, gin or other things as a mouth wash for a couple years already -- some of the unopened full bottles of goodies I have given as gifts. OK, so I gave the poor cat a vodka wipe, and the towel was discolored by the oil that was removed -- Kamiel did not seem to get drunk in the process, which was a plus!

He does seem to be eating a lot less than before, lately -- he constantly has the runs, especially when I feed them canned food. One of the dry stuff brands I feed them -- Purina -- appears to make them all throw up a lot, for whatever reason -- they prefer Iams, which is 3x more expensive! When I have a plate of both on the floor, they invariably eat the Iams before munching on the other stuff. Bernar says the same thing, and that Purina has a lot of fillers, while Iams is higher protein or something.

Kamiel is always on the table when I eat there, wanting to grab whatever is on my plate, and I allow him to do it -- I always have leftovers for them after I am finished, anyway. He is only slightly over 10 years old, and although still somewhat active, he has been worrying me a lot -- a month ago I took him to the vet because of the diarrhea, and all the vet said was to be careful what I feed him, which did not help a whole lot. Devi was 17 when she croaked last year, and I really would not look forward to another critter dying on me again this year.

Monday morning early I went to Donald Duck's deli down the street (he is the local Godfather and fencing joint) -- I do that every so often ostensibly to get coffee and cream donuts, but primarily to check on local news, which he always has a lot of. Hey, I even got the Seiko watch I am wearing from him for 5 buckies!

If you recall what I wrote in my December 2004 YES, a neighbor has told me several times that the city is thinking of knocking down this entire block of properties to make room for a parking lot for the nearby Arena. So I asked Donald about that -- he had not heard anything about it -- what a relief! Then I sprung a question about Erwin's, the tobacco and candy wholesaler, across the street from me, who closed their doors forever during the Holiday. He immediately began the entire history about the closing -- Erwin's employees had been stealing cases of cigarettes and other stuff from the wholesaler for many years -- he should know, because I have seen several peeps bringing in cases of cartons of smokes to sell to him over the last few years! That is why the other candy wholesaler further down my street closed last year -- same problems. I was sort of amazed, somehow. He gave me, as usual, some day old stuff for free with my coffee and 2 cream donuts, and then on my way back home I stopped at Erwin's -- their door was locked but the owner's son was inside.

Although they told me last year that they were closing, I really did not believe them simply because it did not make sense. I told him what Donald said -- he seemed only mildly surprised, and added that, of course, Donald would know because he is the one who bought them all! Apparently they did 10 million/year in sales -- when the other wholesaler went out of business, their sales picked up and they hired a couple of the other one's employees. Business boomed during the Holiday, but they also lost an enormous quantity of stuff through theft. Over the years they only fired one hired hand because they caught him stealing. He said it would have cost them too much to keep better track of things and prosecute those they thought were grabbing stuff. Is this the way businesses usually operate, or fail to, in other places?

The nearby large supermarket has changed hands three times since they first appeared at the Roebling Complex not that many years ago -- once I asked the manager why they were closing after only a few months, and he said they were losing too much through theft! Not a big surprise, because the guards they hired were at the exit chatting with friends and cute babes, while other peeps were leaving via the entrance doors further down the street with bags of things they filled up and just walked away with -- it is still happening! I can remember seeing a really fat lady putting an entire large roast up her skirt and just walking out with it! Last month I bought 5 bags full of stuff at Super G to eat , and for the cats -- when I was about to leave, there were only 4 bags sitting there -- the cashier noticed and called a guard, who went to the parking lot and was able to retrieve my missing groceries -- he said the person ahead of me simply made a mistake!

As a curious, sad, aside -- Donald used the word nigger (he uses it frequently) when he mentioned Erwin's help that was stealing from them (half of his employees were black, but they seemed like OK dudes to me) -- unfortunately, the font color of the cases I personally mention above just happens to be the skin color of the individuals I noticed grabbing things! Is that so-called nasty racial profiling, or just they way things are? Does our disgustingly poor public education system and generous social welfare system breed and perpetuate this kind of behaviour? Where are all those family values (or any kind of positive value system, for that matter) that the politicians are always harping about? Does the same thing happen in other countries? How do they deal with it?

All of this seems too much liketo me somehow, but I cannot enjoy it as much as many of Dalí's works! How can any country continue to succeed and even exist if business, the backbone of their economy is in such a state of pending failure all the time? They cannot outsource absolutely everything. Maybe I am missing some obscure fine detail here? Is there logic and reason in anything these daze?

6 JANUARY 2005 / Thursday -- Lordy be! I just got a large envelope from the UK -- -- the story behind it is at --

12 JANUARY 2005 / Wednesday -- The weather has been unusually mild -- lots of rain, though. I have not been very active on eBay over the Holiday, and am finding some things on the backburner that needed my attention.

I award certificates to WAG winners from the AOL Apple Computer Message Board, and had a backlog sitting here since 2002! The problem was that I did not have the kind of paper that I wanted to print them on, so two days ago I went out and checked around -- found a large store that specializes in paper, PickQuick, at a small local mall, very kewl -- there was even a large flock of seagulls warming themselves on the asphalt of the almost empty parking lot in front of the place. They have more of a selection of paper and envelopes than even those office supply places such as OfficeMAX. I found a paper stock and style that I sort of liked and got that and a couple other things I needed. One thing they did not have were the kewl two sizes of airmail envelopes I like to use -- they are what they call DIN sizes (a German standard), and I usually get a bunch in the Canaries the infrequent times I have gone there -- I do not have any left. Matter of fact they had NO airmail envelopes! Fuzzy chinned Ahakkine, who showed me what he had (in the paper line -- get your minds out of the gutter!) and was generally very helpful -- his name almost sounds like a Jedi warrior, but sans lightsaber -- hummmmmmmm.

Three days ago I spent most of my waking hours using The Print Shop app to redo the certificates which were originally done years ago using FileMaker PRO. Then I had to entirely redo a 4-page illustrated brochure thingy that accompanies the WAG award, which is a silicon wafer, the thing they make computer chips out of -- for that I also did the same application switcheroo as I did with the certificate. So I finally took 8 packages to the post office yesterday. I also went to do more wash in West Trenton and see if there are any leftovers in the fridge that I could munch on last night -- nothing to eat, but Bernar was there and was very grouchy and annoying, as he seems to be some times -- I left quickly and quietly because life is too long to have to endure his temper tantrums.

I am really fed up with the damn visitor counter I have been using -- it is the same provider that does them for eBay, and as with anything that eBay has, it does not work correctly too frequently -- within minutes of each other I took a screen shot of a counter on one of my pages and got this number, which IS what it should be -- I think I mentioned the same thing last year --

then I refreshed/reloaded the exact same screen and got this dumbass low number, which is the usual low numbers found on any of my web pages -- as a general rule of thumb, free anything usually sucks -- I would have to get into simple CGI script and such things to make my own bare basics hit counter that works for any and all of my web pages -- I am not really that techy/nerdy, yet!

Yesterday afternoon the yearly MacWorld gathering in San Francisco was held, and Steve Jobs, one of the founders of Apple Computer, gave his always highly anticipated keynote presentation, highlighting all of the new innovations they have produced in the last year. I, and a couple dozen other peeps were able to follow his spiel via an AOL chat room Ron set up at a satellite connection of the keynote he was invited to -- it was almost like being there in person.

Incidently, in the early to mid 1990s I would visit chat rooms of several flavours on a daily basis -- it was loads of fun connecting with peeps and making some virtual cyber friendships, as fleeting as they were in those early daze (and still are) -- then the chat room thing became way too overcrowded, the messages sprang up from too many peeps at the same time, and it was impossible to keep track of who was posting what -- I have not gone to any in 7+ years. One of the curious perks of chat rooms was the ability to roll dice -- when someone typed in some simple code instead of a message, a message appeared that that person rolled some dice and gave the random numbers that resulted from the dice roll -- I kept the code on a small index card, and it is still sitting here on a very yellowed card, to the right of my puter toy -- apparently, those who knew how to do it either no longer visit chat rooms, or forget how to do it. Donna, a virtual Mac pal, asked me what the code was a couple days ago, so I took some screen shots of the code and what it resulted in -- Dice Roll Code --

I think the biggest wowser surprise of Steve's presentation was an amazingly small and simple Mac Mini computer which will be available later this month -- it is kewl as shit, and it is only about 6.5" x 6.5" x 2" thick! Way smaller than even that technological wonder, The Cube, which they made several years ago. Look at the size of the freekin retail box! And the retail price is extremely attractive -- $499, which at this point, with the currency conversion, is about a measly 366 Euros, more or less! And anyone having a connection with a school or university (student, teacher, or other school employee) can get an education discount through the Apple web site or even at the Apple Stores located throughout the world. I would seriously suggest to anyone contemplating acquiring one of these computers, to also add more memory and get the slightly more expensive model having the CD and DVD burning capability -- it is called a super drive --

you can find the specs of the Mac Mini, locate your nearest Apple retailer and find the education discounts by clicking the link near the bottom of this page --

Peeps usually say that Macs are expensive compared with the price of off the shelf PC Wintel crap they find piles of anywhere, but they do not seem to realize that Macs also come loaded with fabulous easy-to-use apps that they would have to buy extra with any Windows puter -- should I also mention the amount of time/year that PC users lose due to crashes, extremely poor customer service, bugs, installing patches, and all the rest of the things Microsoft and the Dark Side clone makers are amply noted for? Macs are easy to use right out of the box, easy to understand, have a fabulously stable operating system, and are just a lot of fun to play with, with no down time! They are simply more productive and much less frustrating.

Cyber friends always send me links to neato web pages on many subjects, and I thought it might be kewl to list the latest couple at the end of each YES update, at least when I have any to include -- so here they are --

-- Sherry / Bird Song -- Mare / Before-After Tsunami Pics -- Joy / FOX News -- Sherry / More Before-After Tsunami Pics

14 JANUARY 2005 / Friday -- My -- -- Birthday --

The day was quiet, I slept later than I wanted to, it rained all day, as it has been recently, and it was not too cold outside or inside. I did not even get the trash out this morning because I overslept -- tomorrow is recycle day and I better not snooze again until I get the bunch of glass, aluminum, tin and plastic on the curb before 07h -- I hope some neighbor does not steal the large yellow recycle bin as they did 2 weeks ago!

I packaged 4 more long overdue WAG things to send out, which I wanted to do today, but got up too late -- and I still have a few eBay wins to package and send out, and it better be tomorrow or the peeps are going to start complaining!

My birthday was sort of like any other day -- you can read my final entry in the Holiday page that tells all about it.

Computers seem to have taken away a lot of the traditional ways of doing things that peeps used to do -- the same feelings and thoughts may still be there, but the format seems just a tad robotic to me somehow. Actually, I have done a lot more writing over the last few years on the computer than I think I ever did in the extensive number of folders of hand written or typed letters I ever wrote way back when, most of which I have filed in one of my dozen or so metal filing cabinets. Of course, filing all the cyber stuff on the puter toy saves mountains of file cabinet space, paper folders and all, but when I change computers, all the older stuff remains on the old computer, which makes finding older things a lot more difficult. I always try to transfer more or less important stuff from old to new, but invariably there are things that are left behind.

I do have everything from the TiBook in a partition of the external hard drive (which I use as backup), but have to do the same thing for the Cube, the original iMac, as well as the yet older UMAX in the bedroom.

Thanks everybody for all the birthday wishes and all -- I am going to the kitchen now to have my second slice of the yummy birthday cake I got a few hours ago.

-- Sherry / Female Brain -- Sherry / Male Brain -- Chuck / Bush Bashing -- Flo / Tell Me a Story

17 JANUARY 2005 / Monday -- Last night it snowed for the first time this year -- today it is all gone! It has been below freezing all day.

I did get the WAG things sent out on Saturday, and hopefully, this evening I can get a bunch of eBay late Holiday wins packed and ready to take to the post office. After the post office I stopped in West Trenton to do a batch of wash at Bernar's -- I noticed a box of 8 bottles of opened red wine near where he keeps the trash outside -- some bottles looked as if they had been in an Egyptian tomb for millennia, covered with dust -- I assume they were leftovers from wine tastings at the liquor store he manages and they were stashed in the basement for some time -- mostly 1998 vintages from various wineries, foreign and domestic -- I took them all, of course, and had some from one bottle last evening with my turkey -- it was great.

For the first time in over two years I presently have nothing listed on eBay -- I have been sort of enjoying my inactivity there and resting slightly more than usual. I already reformatted a batch of goodies for tonight and have another bunch selected for tomorrow but have to reformat them yet. Last night the final two things I had listed did not sell, but it was Sunday, and Sundays are usually always slow.

That turkey breast lasted the cats and me 3 days of dinner, and I only have a single piece of birthday cake left to pig out on.

Oh, and I think I forgot to mention before -- I was delighted to find that the stainless steel and glass lids from the old pots I gave to the neighbor, exactly fit my new seamless stainless steel pots! I knew they would come in handy for something. When I cook supper, I usually make enough for 2-3 days, and reheat in the microwave, using those old glass Pyrex trays of various sizes instead of the ceramic ones I have -- they clean up easily too. I used to use plastic containers of various kinds, but they usually get stained and/or pitted after a few uses. I may on occasion reheat in a porcelain dinner plate, but many times the juice of whatever seeps around the edges of the saran wrap and can get slightly messy. Tonight I may make salmon, with rice pilaf or kasha and a can or two of New England clam chowder I got at Sam's Club, something George told me about last year.

Since I did not see him appear in my Buddy List window for many days, I called him on the phone last Saturday to see what was new and to ask him about the cat scan -- his son in law answered and said George was in the hospital under observation because the cancer apparently is taking calcium from his bones and dumping it into his blood steam, causing him to dehydrate or something. They seem to have that under control, and he is in good spirits, as usual. Say a prayer for him, please.

-- Donna / iPod Store Update -- Donna / Grocery Shopping -- Me / Tech-Geeky News -- Me / Weird News -- David / Windows PC -- notice the jaguar-like cat under the PC, and the apples, one of which is used in the OPUS, bottom left / both subliminally refer to Apple Computers, of course! NO, Macs never crash!

19 JANUARY 2005 / Wednesday -- My cousin Ted emailed me that his granddaughter, Brandy, was chosen by the Brevard County (Florida) Republican Party to be the one to hold the bible that George Bush will be sworn in on and make sure it is right side up!! [it was a joke, of course!] Can she also teach him how to understand the words and what they mean? Her Mother, Linda, wrote that news about her daughter's honor will probably appear on the Orlando FOX-35 News channel, and that a reporter from Florida Today will be traveling with her school group of some 40 honor students, maybe even from the band she plays in?? I think the inauguration is on Thursday, 20 January. Curiously, I always sent them emails with Bush (who I usually call Shrub) jokes in them, and never got any kind of a reply -- hummmmmmm -- maybe they actually voted for that moron wonderful, caring, peace loving peep?

The last I heard today is that they are enjoying their grand tour of DC, and that some of the group never saw snow before! Brandy uses her cell phone to report back home with frequency. I do not even have a cell phone because I think the radiation causes various things in humans, cancer being one of them, and the effect is even greater in the very young, according to recent reports.

I did get 10 items listed on eBay two nights ago, and in each I had the following note --

Due to a rise in eBay fees I DO NOT accept Papal - I cannot continue to absorb their fees as I have for MANY years.

With all the InterNUT glitches which always seem to popup, not to mention constant PC SECURITY issues

(which Mac users NEVER have), it is way easier and MUCH SAFER for you to write out a check OR

get a money order at a post office/supermarket. This is the only way I can continue to charge the same amount

for shipping as I have for the last 5 years. HAPPY BIDDING and GOD BLESS!

In last nights batch I worded it slightly less negatively sounding and added comments about NOT using that dumb WATCHING option.

It snowed again all day today, not a whole lot, and it may stay on the ground a few daze due to the projected low daytime temperatures.

George, from Alabama, called me twice on the phone earlier tonight, and seems cheerful, as usual -- he opted out of the hospital because he preferred to be at home where he can get the same meds they started giving him there, and be able to move around normally, even getting back on the Internut when he feels like it -- it is a great hobby of his -- puters, movies, food and wine! Mine too, in my own way, but I rarely seem to find time for the movies.

I went for some foody today in the snow covered roads and once again found that one of my main sources of cheapy clothes and stuff seems to have closed -- it has not been open since late December. It is owned by some Pakistani or Indian, located in a sprawling old dilapidated industrial complex, and gets their things to sell, according to the owner, by buying containers of stuff, used and new. I saw bales of the things in their monstrous back room, and really wonder how they ever got anything out of the huge bales in decent condition -- they sort of look like old cars when they are crushed in those machines, making sort of neat, tidy box-shaped masses of steel and glass. II have no idea how much buying things in that way costs, but he certainly was not making millions selling the things at low prices -- maybe he had other businesses or whatever. to make up the difference.

There is a FOR SALE sign on the side fence. Last year he attempted to get some of the excess space rented out to artists as an Atelier, or for storage or whatever -- I checked it out in November 2004. The spaces were enormous, but no heating, many broken windows and extremely dirty, of course -- he made no improvements. The rent was not really excessive. Apparently he did not have any luck at that venture.

It also occurred to me that it might have been a money laundering scheme of some sort -- who knows what was inside those large unopened cloth wrapped bales of clothes and other stuff -- he sort of watched me very carefully when I looked at them and asked questions as we passed to see his rental spaces -- I even got the impression that he was sorry to have brought me back there as I was leaving. Maybe it might even be a terrorist setup, which would not surprise me in the least.

Somehow I suspish that the real estate boom is starting a slow crash. Prices are astronomical all over the country, and peeps lusted after all those high priced homes and properties. Celsia also tells me it is the same in Italy, and Tzes, who returned from China recently said their booming economy is creating a new wealthy middle class, lusting after the same things many in the US and elsewhere seem to. Interest rates charged to banks are starting to climb, and mortgage rates are following. This year may either make or break this fragile economy, not helped very much by the increase of the value of foreign currencies, including the Euro, relative to the almighty dollar. The problem is that world markets are very tightly tied together with that dumbass World Bank, and if we have problems here, it is felt worldwide. Can Bush correct all the mistakes he made in his first term? I doubt it!

The AOL Welcome Screen has a changing main news mini slide show sort of thing, and I find that some of the pics they include and the accompanying logos are funny as hell!

This one shows Prince Andrew, but look at that nose of his that seems to be as wide as the distance between his pupils! It looks more like a platypus beak than a human nose. At least his ears do not seem like the Dumbo jobbies his dad sprouted! Donna asked me which of Princess Diana's quasi secret lovers he most resembled -- who knows. Which one had red hair and a roming snout?

Of, course the Golden Globe Awards were a big news item -- check out this pic, and read the caption on the right -- hummmmmm -- yes sir! Nicole's globes do have a certain style about them! Darng in peacock, they write? Who the hell is looking at the freekin peacock? I suspish that all the tits hanging out at these award shows is the reason for the name of the award -- globes they are! Is that guy leaning over her in the background sniffing the feathers or trying to get a better view of her boobs?

-- Me / Swift Boat Hamster -- Sherry / Bush Second Term -- Denise / eBay Price Increases

21 JANUARY 2005 / Friday -- Linda updated me yesterday about what Brandy was doing in Washington, DC, and what she had seen on her historic visit to the Inauguration --

Brandy just called looking for Grandpa Ted. She was wondering if he
could get her a Washington Post to mail to her. She said they are
still standing in line, hadn't gotten in, and it wasn't much fun. I
told her that the Vice-President had already been sworn in and the
President was giving a long speech. I asked her if she saw the
Marine band and she said she couldn't see anything, just people. I
asked her if she heard the band, no. I asked her if she saw the
fireworks last night, she said they were taking a group photo and
when they turned around it was over. So I told her that I had saved
a nice picture of it from the newspaper. I asked if there was still
a lot of snow and she said it was about 34-degrees so it was starting
to melt. Hopefully they will get to see some bands later since
Brandy has such an appreciation for music (it would be nice for her
to hear a really good band).

A few minutes later, an update --

Since I know Brandy does have her phone, I sent her a text message
because the roaming is eating up the minutes she bought before she
left. I sent her a message when the Star Spangled Banner was on
about 12:30 PM and she sent back a message "We already left. I don't
know where the evil tour guide is taking us." So I told her to have
fun anyway, and she sent a message a few minutes later that says "I
think we're going to find a place to watch the parade." I hope they
can see the parade at least.

GAWD, so they have been visiting museums (and gift shops!) that they could have seen any day of the week, and the most hypothetically important event they missed? Tour guides get kickbacks from places they take their groups to -- it is one of the perks to being a tour guide, just as all the free travel and end of tour tip / gratuity / propina are! When I travelled in my younger daze, I did it on my own, went where I wanted to, saw what I wanted to see, all on my own time -- and was not being bussed for quicky stops 10 times a day or herded like a sheep -- how peeps can take an expensive tour of somewhere, seeing 10 major European or American cities in a week is beyond me -- the greater part of their time is spent in transit!!

I waited until today to update with fresher news -- it just arrived --

I hadn't heard from Brandy since a couple text messages about 24
hours ago. Guess they didn't get to see the inauguration or the
parade. From what I heard on the news, there was not enough
security, so I guess that must have kept a lot of people from seeing
anything. Hopefully she did get some pics. If not, I will be
emailing the other teachers and students who went, hopefully they can
email me their copies. I know she said they missed the fireworks
because they were taking a group picture (when they turned around,
the fireworks were done). They will be back Saturday morning.

Not enough security? With the billions they stuck us with in tax monies going to so-called HomeyLandia Security, and they do not have enough security? A link to the story is at FIASCO -- then came an update on the update --

Hey ~ Brandy and I are both in the paper! No pic of her though that
I've found yet. I don't think they were ripped off exactly, they did
get to go to DC and see snow and some museums, but I won't say "no"
if they do offer a partial refund although I doubt the students will
get it (it will probably stay with the school or school board for a
future trip). And about the Ball, that was included, so I doubt
they "chose" it. Hopefully it was fun. The trip by Rep. Dave
Weldon, a local politician, to the House had also been planned in
advance.

So they apparently only did the museum trek thing and some saw snow for the first time -- I wonder what each kiddo spent on souvenirs, cell phone calls and things not included in the trip fee?

I replied that they should get full refunds or start a class action law suit -- did you notice that the whole thing was planned by a Florida Republican Representative in Washington?? I wonder what his cut of the trip monies was? They always seem to have their own personal finncial agenda and under the table favors before they do anything, nicht wahr?

I checked that newspaper link and found another story and pic that was interesting --

Shrub giving his own Texas version of a victory sign, and at the same time showing his contempt to the protestors and Democrats with that usual retarded smirk of his! Screw you too, you sleezy SOB! Hopefully, at least, he gives another tax refund this year! Maybe I may get one -- I did not last year!

And another story from the State where Shrub's brother, Jeb, seems to have a lot of clout, saying that there was little interest in watching the inauguration on TV in public places -- Watching Sports -- I was in the kitchen and listening to the radio, as usual, and heard the national anthem sung really well by some dude in the military. That was totally all I listened to while it was happening, and I did not pay 700 clams to join a really organized tour group to do it! I feel really sorry for Brandy -- I know she was looking forward to all that neato stuff.

OK, Ted later answered my quasi critique of the trip sponsors -- curiously, it seems to be very similar to many news stories about Shrub and how his ratpack of misguided over zealous cronies has handled public events in the past -- he wrote --

From the local news up here as well as the Washington Post:

The reason for Brandy and others not being able to see the inauguration or parade was that tickets for both events were given to those who contributed significantly to the Bush re-election campaign and friends, such as those from Texas. The same with the balls. Some military were allowed into the balls without tickets that went up to over $100,000.

The whole thing was a sort of private event. The general public was excluded for the most part from the inaug and parade. It was basically a showcase show for TV and foreign news and their governments. (Some might call it propaganda.) There were a few tickets that could be had, but they went for between $400 and $1000.

The reason for the width of the security zone (about a 100 blocks) was to keep protesters out of earshot. - Anyone admitted with a banana or apple or other fruit has it taken away from them in case it might be thrown at the vip's.

Don't blame the tour guys... this was the first time that the public was not invited to watch the inauguration. It was a tightly controlled political show. Terrorist security had nothing to do with it.

not a very nice picture of things in this so called wonderful demoCRAZY -- and they almost swim here from Cuba? I guess it has to be the money, then? But they have better rum and cigars in Cuba, and way cheaper! Money is not everything, and sure as hell is not the root of happiness!

-- Dallas / Recycle Stuff -- Flo / Frost / Kennedy / Ancient Rome / Bush -- Me / Baccus Drinking Song -- Me / Our National Anthem -- Me / God Save the Bush -- sound familiar?

25 JANUARY 2005 / Tuesday -- I finally got page six of my LOGO pages up, although I did not yet get around to doing the quicky link to its sections as I did with the others -- after I updated the others, I checked to see why page 6 was not up yet because it has been sitting here in my folder since last year, but it still had a little work to do on it yet -- I may get to doing the link thing one of these days --

our first little snow fall was on the 19th -- -- it was gone the next day -- here you can see two cars sitting in my handicapped space, the one on the left was there for 3 days already, and it didn't have a front license plate nor a neighborhood parking permit --the yellow pickup pulled in while I went shopping, so I called the cops, as I always do in these cases -- the Hispanc peep showed up a few minutes later and drove away, and I was able to back up the white jeep into my usual space --

it snowed all day Saturday and Sunday -- Saturday I decided to go to Bernar's to see if he has any leftovers for me and to drop some late bill payments off at the post office before it closed at noon -- roads were snow covered, everybody moving at about 35mph -- as I moved from the left lane to the right one so I could make the right turn at the corner, my car started skidding, and it seemed to skid faster as it swerved around hitting the chainlink fence and coming to rest backwards on the side of route 29 -- it all happened so fast, and luckily there was not anybody right behind me -- the car started up after that, and I moved it along the side and got out to quickly see the damage -- I was not wearing a jacket or gloves and it was bitter cold outside -- the entire front end was smooched up, with damage to the driver's side door -- I think I must have used up at least 8 of my nine cat lives already!

this is a pic of the car parked beside my place with the first snow of Saturday, taken at 14:04h -- -- before I shovelled the sidewalks -- there may be 5" on the ground thus far, and it was still snowing -- curiously the few other peeps who were out there were dressed as if they were on an arctic expedition, while I was dressed in my cord pants, cord shirt, work boots, knit hat and gloves, and felt comfortable, matter of fact I was quite warm and was even sweating! It felt good to be in the biting cold as the snowflakes whizzed around me, and I only stopped a couple times to catch my breath while getting rid of huge shovel fulls of snow into the street or in 2 handy piles near the garages --

Sunday I went out, dressed the same, to shovel what had come down and drifted since the day before -- -- taken at 14:10h -- making an estimate to the amount of snow that fell on the garage roof, I see about 12" -- I got rid of what was on the sidewalk and also did around the car, although the side street is barely passable at this point, and they never seem to plow here for some reason (in New York they plow all the streets, even the small ones!) --

Linda updated me about the trip a couple days ago --

Brandy was looking for her pic ~ the reporter told her there was
supposed to be one in the paper (maybe tomorrow or in the community
weekly on Wednesday?). She also said that she was one of 7 kids that
the reporter picked to get a copy of the inauguration speech to
comment on.

I asked if the orange juice was Florida or Japan, and Brandy said one of the
kids had asked and she read the package which said it was from
Maryland (I didn't know Maryland had oranges...).

She texted me this morning when they were 10 minutes from school and
said the news would be there. They never showed up. Then on the way
to the credit union, we passed the news van. We drove back by the
school and the news van was parked there, just the chaperone teachers
left. I'm sure they had plenty to say. (Maybe the news planned it
that way...)

Brandy said one teacher was talking to Worldstrides headquarters on
his cell after the snafu and could hear him say, "I understand there
were unforseen security problems, but let me tell you all the things
you did wrong..." (and went on with a long list). Brandy said after
a while Mr. R disappeared, they later found out that was because
he was cussing at them and didn't want the kids to hear. They hadn't
found out until the morning of the Inauguration that Worldstrides
never had the tickets that the kids were supposed to receive.

Brandy also said the tour guide did not know her way around DC, was
taking them around in circles, and was constantly asking security
guards for directions or trying to read a map. I said "you probably
know DC better than her...what about Mr. B?" (who had also been
there several times before). She said the tour guide did not like
Mr. B (along with another teacher), was annoyed at him, and
kept trying to lose him and leave his group behind.

Brandy continued to read yesterday's paper and got to the abortion
protesters. I asked her about the protesters and she said they had
graphic posters and there were lots of small kids standing around and
she felt bad for the little kids who had to look at the signs.

Brandy said the ball was lame. They voted for the ice skating, but
Worldstrides made them "choose" the ball (which was included
anyway). They had also told them it was formal at first, then before
the trip told them it was more casual. So there were some kids in
jeans or skirts, and younger kids in gowns and tuxedos. She said she
walked around with a male friend and they giggled at the 5th-graders
in tuxedos.

They were also promised a pizza party by Worldstrides to make up for
the mix-up, but they were supposed to get dinner anyway. And she
said they kept feeding them snacks instead of the meals they were
supposed to get and the guide kept taking them to expensive places to
eat for lunch so she used a lot of her money. She said there was
another tour company that some kids they met at the ball went with,
and she wished her school had that tour company.

She did get lots of pics, we'll have to send them out this week for
developing.

I drove what is left of the Jeep to the repair shop yesterday. Still waiting to hear from them whether they can fix it or not, and when. The van is apparently buried under snow in West Trenton, and I really do not have a way to get there and would not relish having to shovel all that snow somewhere. My car insurance seems to include a car rental for 30 days, but I never tried that before -- I just finished speaking with the peeps on the phone about this, and they are supposed to get back to me.

Early this morning I signed up for a FREE Internut phone service I heard about months ago -- Skype -- they have software for any kind of computer operating system, even Linux -- my eMac only has a small microphone in the front of the case, so I was not sure I would be able to talk or not, but I assume I could -- after I made my user profile for SunCat, and set some user preferences (which took about 2 minutes) I did a Skype search for any Kardas that might use them, and found about 20, mostly in Poland! Within 5 minutes I had incoming calls from three different peeps in Poland! One understood German, the other some English, and the third one only Polish -- apparently they could hear me well enough, and I was absolutely amazed at how well their voice came in -- in any case, I ordered a Plantronics DSP-400 Foldable PC Headset, which should arrive tomorrow. It is a special deal through the Skype website, and gives you 120 minutes of calls using their other service which allows you to call from your computer to any actual phone number anywhere on Earth, and the per minute rate is really low! Gawd, this makes me sort of a super geek already! Now I too will be able to sit in front of this toy with the headset on and look really way out sexy techy!

-- Warner / UFOs in Art -- Joan / SpongeBob -- Me / Bush Around the World -- Bryan / System is Down -- Me / The First Mac - 1984 -- wowsers, watching this was an almost orgasmic spiritual experience!

26 JANUARY 2005 / Wednesday -- Let me begin with more about what they call VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol -- in particular, the Skype service I mentioned yesterday -- a couple more friends signed up for it since then -- in my LINKS section following this update you will find one about what VoIP means and how it is accomplished -- I made a somewhat smaller KEWL LINKS gif that sorta fits in better and, naturally, uses less box/table space -- I am an always restless and self demanding creature, constantly trying to make my presentation as kewl as possible, loaded with piles of information in as small an easy to navigate package as I can -- in my next life I should update all my old pages too!

The headset I ordered is made by Plantronics -- they have analog, digital and even Blue Tooth models (for wireless connectivity) to choose from -- I did some checking and the same models are more expensive on both the Plantronics and the Apple web sites, and DO NOT include the 120 FREE calling minutes! The one I ordered through the Skype accessory page, which has not arrived yet, is this mid priced USB model, which apparently folds for easy transport when traveling, not that I do as much as I might like to!

If you do sign up for the free Skype telephony service, one of the first things you should do is make your profile thingy -- add as much or as little information as you feel comfortable with -- I add everything that I can, as usual! If you do not want to add a personal photo, put one in of your cat, dog or whatever as a indication of your interests, perhaps. Then do the Skype SEARCH to see if you can find family or friends using it, and place them on your contact list -- you might want to tell other peeps about Skype, and there is a handy link on their pages for that purpose -- look at the couple small neato animated video clips that you can send with your invite, including one in your invitation.

If you use a PC (NOT Mac) and have the usual firewalls to theoretically keep out bugs and things, Skype may not load or even work as it is supposed to -- read their FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about this on their web site.

The Enterprise car rental place has not yet delivered a loan car, paid for by my Allstate insurance -- it was supposed to be here Monday afternoon, then this morning at 08h -- I called them again and screamed that it better be here by 08h tomorrow morning because I do not have a lot of food in the house and I really have to get to the post office to mail some things out.

I mopped the kitchen yesterday, and did some vacuuming were possible around the boxes of stuff piled up from across the street -- I totally dislike living in an overstocked warehouse, but there is no other option, so I try to overlook this little problem which does not limit my activities in any way, so why tear my hair out and complain about it constantly.

I just checked outside to see if the headset arrived or they left the usual delivery notice, since few seem to find the doorbell button! I pushed the button and the very loud bell inside does work -- then I went around the front through the snow to see if they left a notice on the front door (which they should not do because I have a large sign in that unused door that all deliveries should go to the side apartment door) -- was amazed to find two spanking new large yellow recycle bins sitting in that entrance way -- they promised them to me 2 weeks ago when I called and said that somebody took my old one, which frequently occurs in this wonderful neighborhood. Bottom line -- no headset yet.

OK, about 20h I checked downstairs again and did find a note saying they left the package next door (stupid twits!) -- went over, got it and here is, graphically, what arrived --

See the back of the package for the technical specs -- contents : collapsible headset with DSP and volume control on a single cable with USB plug, instructions, warrenty card, 20x14.5cm drawstring carry baggy (folded in scan) and an installation CD only for PC users, which means that Mac users do not get the Audio Control Center -- we just plug and play ( and do not have to worry about searching for the appropriate driver!) and can use the more complete iTunes audio controls to play with the many sound settings. The cord between the DSP and the volume control is about 172 cm long, with another 85+cm to the headset -- the volume control with thin metal clip may be attached to the long sleeve of your shirt or to some nearby cable or your mouse pad. Oh, yes, and no sound card required -- that is contained in the DSP, I assume. The 120 FREE Skype landline telephone minutes code was also included. This headset now takes its place with my ancient Sony MDR-WO7 earpieces that I got many years go for some CD player -- the old Sony .I shall still use with my iPod, and the new toy with Skype and to listen to iTunes on my eMac.

I added a couple pics of me wearing the marvel, and as you can see, the sound quality while listening to my iTunes playlist made me smile, which some might say is rare! Problem is I do not have a tripod and had to rest the Nikon against something and take time delayed shots in a somewhat limited space, under really ratty lighting conditions.

-- Bob / Create a Comic Hero -- Me / VoIP Info -- Me / Character ANALysis --

30 JANUARY 2005 / Sunday -- It snowed again yesterday, about an inch -- still piles of the white stuff in the streets and on the sidewalks.

Oh, yes, on the 27th I finally got that rental car paid for by my car insurance -- since I do not have a pic yet, you will have to wait until my next update to see the details -- I do not even remember the make or model. Only used it once thus far to West Trenton to go to the post office and pick up some wash -- Bernar was there (and seemingly in a good mood for once) -- he finally gave me 2 cases of wine for Christmas! Better late than never -- he said that case of opened bottles that I took was bad wine, and he threw it out, being vinegar-like or whatever -- I told him I already finished those bottles and liked the stuff, so he gave me another dozen bottles of what he calls bad wine! He is currently repainting the dining room, with visions of selling the place when all the work is finished, as I suspected.

I made a Special Report about Skype, link below.

This page is already way too long a file, so I guess my first February update will be on a new page, same link as usual, and this one will be accessible via a handy archive link. I did not use BOLD for this one, which reduces the size of the file considerably, allowing it to load faster -- I hope you can all easily read the contents -- actually, you can adjust the size of the text which appears on your screen via your monitor and/or InterNut preferences, so I do not foresee a major problem here. On this original PageMill page I am now working on I am just able to see what I am writing, but when I access the page online, all the text is way larger than I view it now (am using the 0 font size, which is the default).

-- Bob / Horny -- Me / Skype Special Report -- Me / Skype For Business Use -- Me / Green Tea -- Me / Live Forever -- Warner / More Natural Catastrophies? --

[ * February 2005 * ]

God Bless !

Countdown to Valentines Day

Questions and comments may be emailed to the author of the above YES at

Your bids on my treasures help me pay the monthly bills and keep this web site chugging along

Christmas Page 2004

The Year End Summary Archives

[ * February to 25 March 2005 * ]

[ * 27 March 2005 * ]

[ * 27 March to 30 May 2005 * ]

YES - Main	YES - 2005 UPDATED ALMOST DAILY
x	YES - 2004	YES - 2003
YES - 2002	YES - 2001	YES - 2000
YES - 1999	YES - 1998	YES - 1997
YES - 1996	YES - 1995	YES - 1994
RESUME	x	SPECIAL REPORTS

This page was created with the able assistance of an Apple G4 eMac - the Perfect Home Computer!     PageMill and the PageMill logo are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated

Free counters provided by Andale.

COPYRIGHT © 2005 by La Atlántida Web Design. All rights reserved. due to the constantly changing nature of the Internet, some external links may no longer be valid Privacy Policy