Category Archives: Friends & Family

An acquaintance of mine is a translator and author who lives in France. He posted some pictures of the view from his yard. Wow. They’re even better than John’s frosted leaves.

Arlene got a special treat today: a jury summons. The questionnaire asks all sorts of interesting things (have you ever had a bodily injury claim filed against you? who’s your lawyer? are you friends with any law enforcement officers?). My favorite was the exemption checklist; apparently in Wood County you can be exempted if you’re in poor health (but only if you’re also over 70) or if you’re a cloistered member of a religious organization. Since she doesn’t qualify, we’ll wait to see if she gets the “yellow card” that notifies her that she’s been selected for an actual trial.

Julie, according to this article, you’re not a spacker. The term has been hijacked to mean a “new breed of computer crackers who earn a living in cahoots with spammers.” Of course, the article’s author is a bit of a spacker himself. Perhaps WordPirates should get involved…

Yesterday I had the pleasure of addressing the Perrysburg Rotary. The topic, you ask? Computer security, of course. Just like usual, I ran about 15 minutes long (people who have been to my sessions at TechEd or the MEC can attest that I’ve gone longer), but it seemed to be well-received. The presentation itself is here.
I also got three raffle tickets for our annual auction. 250 tickets, at $50 each, makes a nice chunk of change for the Rotary Foundation’s local projects, including the new park near Ft. Meigs Elementary. The winning ticket nets some lucky person their choice of a Caribbean cruise to Cancun for 2, a ski trip to Colorado for 2, or some cash. Winner need not be present. If you want a ticket, let me know. (I know I have one or two Toledo-area readers… think of how nice a February cruise would be!)

My dear mother is worried that we’re not reading enough. In an effort to reassure her, I thought I’d share the contents of my current reading stack, in no particular order:

• Bayou Farewell: Mike Tidwell’s account of the ecological destruction of the Louisiana marshlands and the way of life surrounding them
• When the King Took Flight: overly earnest but still fascinating history of Louis XVI’s flight, capture, and execution during the French Revolution. (I’m about halfway through this now)
• Empires of Light: fascinating account of the three-cornered battle between Edison, Westinghouse, and Tesla for economic and technological supremacy in the early electric industry. Jill Johnnes is a terrific storyteller. (Halfway through this one too).
• Fistful of Rain: I’ll read anything by Greg Rucka.
• Positively Fifth Street: journalist goes to Vegas to write about the World Series of Poker and ends up placing fifth. Absorbing. (I still count this as in the queue even though it’s returned ’cause I owe an overdue fine on it).

First, my old pal Tara Calishain (author of the NYT-bestselling Google Hacks) has a hysterical new blog. She reads press releases and sorts the wheat from the chaff. Today’s installment: Hello Kitty Tongue Tape, along with items both obvious (apologizing can often deter lawsuits) and unexpected (Sony introduces new robot dogs). Go there now.
Scoble’s blog turned me on to this fascinating blog, where Loren is busy building learning applications (like WritingPractice) for the Tablet PC. I may have unloaded my Tablet a little too soon…

This is what I should have done in the first place: set up a gallery for Arlene’s craft pictures. Here it is.

Wow, my wife’s creativity is endless! I can’t believe no one is posting comments. I guess my techno-nerd stylings have scared away all readers with a taste for rubber stamps and crafty scrapbook stuff. (Hey, maybe if I write “Stampin’ Up!” ten or so times this page will rise to the top of Google’s search. Worth a try, eh? Stampin’ Up !Stampin’ Up! Stampin’ Up! Stampin’ Up! Stampin’ Up! Stampin’ Up!) Note: the cards themselves are here now.

And another one… actually, it’s now in the gallery.

Another note to Pauline: a) please get a faster Internet connection. b) Here’s a scrapbook page for your consideration… actually, it’s in the gallery now.

Personal to Pauline: here are the pictures you wanted to see: one, two, three, and four.
UPDATE: make that five projects, as you can plainly see.

Tonight we had my brother Tim and two of my aunts from South Louisiana, Norma and Debby. Thomas has been on an age kick lately and frequently asks people how old they are. Transcript:

I wouldn’t share this with just anyone, but I know I can trust y’all not to rat me out. One of my publishers sent me a pound of chocolates, for no particular reason. The boys and I plan to eat it all before she comes back (in between swilling beer, playing poker, spilling cigar ashes on the carpet, and watching ESPN HD Discovery HD). Shhhh!

According to this story in US News & World Report, a 7% reduction in body weight lowers your risk of diabetes by 58%. That’s a hell of a trade. The original source for that datum is here. Even when you factor in the 30 min/day of exercise that the NIH recommends, that’s still a pretty good deal. Compare the 58% reduction to the 31% reduction obtained by taking Glucophage, and it looks even better.
So, here it is. I currently weigh 195. That makes my target weight 181. I’ll keep you posted.

This is what Dad, Tim, and I did over Memorial Day weekend– it took us all day Saturday and all day Monday. Arlene and Mom made a couple of lumber runs and supplied (or is it plied?) us with good food. I spent some time the following week adding the glider on the right and making a few structural mods, then the following weekend Dad, Tim, and I added the tube slide. The kids have been enjoying it immensely, and it was tons of fun to build. The only work left to do is minor; I need to hit it with the belt sander and follow up with some stain. If it ever quits raining, I’ll be able to finish it.