Quizzilla.com

If have not noticed, i like online quizzes. They are silly and fun and this site is one the better ones. Check it out here.

Silent Night in German

I miss hearing Silent Night sung in German so hear it is.

The Curse of Siberian White

Let me start this off with three facts:
1) I needed to mail off some bills.
2) Kai loves to go for walks and hates if I don't take him with me when I do the mail.
3) Kai is part Siberian Husky and is constantly praying to the snow gods for snow and rejoicing when they deliver.

I got all bundled up to do the mail. I am glad I did because even with the warmer temps, it is still none too warm out there. My head sock helped keep me feeling very toasty. The only thing that was remotely cold was my legs and even then, long johns would have made me warm and sweaty rather than just nicely warm. I also took my hiking stick along and I am glad I did. We had an ice storm earlier this week and between that and the cold temperatures, there is a lot of uneven and slippery ice out there. the hiking stick gave me the stability I needed to not wind up on my butt.

Kai has he say on how far we went. I only wanted to go to the mailbox and back but Kai wanted to get as much out of the walk as he could. He loves walks and the cold, and the snow gods are about to give him more of what he really loves and that is snow. The biggest reason I gave in other than I need to get out more is the expression on Kai's face along the walk. He had a big open mouth smile with snow and ice on his whiskers. One happy dog. The snow gods were smiling on him and he was rejoicing.

I really should not mind. Both Kai and I did not get out enough this fall and we both need to get out regardless of weather.At least it was on the cold side of seasonal instead of suck your soul out through your nostrils cold.

Kai Memory

This picture was taken a few years ago at a family reunion a few years ago. Kai was a hell puppy when we first got him and almost took him back to the pound a few times. It was at this weekend that Kai showed that he could be a good dog to the family and to me. I almost thought that it would be another bad visit when the weekend started off. Fortunately it turned around fast and this scene was one of the major turning points.

Winter Solstice

It is winter solstice and it feels like the third or fourth week of January already. The average high temperature for today is 34 and today I think the high was about one degree Fahrenheit. I am already looking forward to spring and doing a count down to Ground hogs day when the temperatures start marching warmer. It is going to be a long harsh winter this year. It does not help that I did not get outside as I wanted this fall (I never do) but dang it the weather is not only cold but it is a soul sucking cold. At the least we are at the solstice and the days are not going to get any shorter. I think the almanac said that tomorrow will be 2 seconds longer. It isn't much but at least the days are not getting any shorter.


Grump!

what color should your car be?

You Should Drive a Silver Car

You're the type of driver who doesn't really pay attention to other cars on the road. You are calm, focused, and clear headed. Driving is simply a task for you. And you aren't one to be too fussy about what you drive. Basing your status on a car is a little beneath you.

What Color Car Should You Drive?

How old do you think?

You Act Like You Are 27 Years Old

You are a twenty-something at heart. You feel like an adult, and you're optimistic about life. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. You're still figuring out your place in the world and how you want your life to shape up. The world is full of possibilities, and you can't wait to explore many of them.

What Age Do You Act?

I think this one was off.

Space Zombie Christmas

Obama License Plates

I saw an article where the good people of Illinois are asking for an Obama license plate to commemorate his election to president. there is an article here about it. Why are they so anxious about it? I thought an honor like that would only occur after a president was out of office or after he died. Not to take anything away from Obama (he did win the election after all), but lets face it, he has not been voted in by electoral college yet nor has he been sworn into office. Right here, right now, I do not how good of a job he will do as president. He is going to be facing some tough challenges. The most I can say about him is that I don't agree with him on many issues. That does not make a bad person or a bad president but I do think it is far too early to change the Land of Lincoln into the Land of Obama. There is a part of me that is wondering if this is a hoax story just because it seams so dang early to praise Obama this much this early. Just one person's reaction.

Must be Santa by Lorne Green

I heard this song on 740 out of Toronto and had to post it hear. It is so bad it is funny.

Bail Outs

I have been watching the government hand outs. I find it interesting that bail outs for the hanks are going faster and with less question than the bail outs for the Big Three Auto Companies. What's the difference? I know the media is notorious for not giving a whole lot of detail but it seams like the automotive companies are the red haired step child that nobody on Capitol hill wants to help. I am not necessarily for the bailouts because it smells to much like socialism but can't say I am totally against it because of the damage that could be caused by these companies failures to the economy. I am also scared that these bail outs could cause more damage by keeping a float companies that should go under. It is frustrating and scary how little good information there is. All I really know is that I would not like to be the incoming president with the mess that there is to be taken care of.

This is a bit of post script for those of you who like to entertain conspiracy theories. I was not impressed with the Republican ticket this time around. There is a part of me that wonders without taking it too seriously if the Republicans wanted to loss this time around because they knew the mess that was coming.

ClustrMaps

Clustrmaps.com is another neat site if you have your own blog or website. It is a widget where is shows where in the world the visitors to your site are coming from. It is not that hard and is just a matter of cut and pasting some html code which most blogs and free websites make rather easy to set up. So if you want a widget taht is sort of a utility for your website, check it out.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has been over for a week and I still feel like doing nothing. I think it is because it has been a cold gray week. Winter feels like it has come early this year. It does not help that fall was warmer than usual only to be followed by a cold November. Normal in weather in the averaging of ten non normal years. It still seams like we have been getting more abnormal than normal weather. It just seams like it has been either very dry or very wet, very warm or very cold. Maybe i am just getting crankier.

funny quote

"Whenever you want to marry someone, go have lunch with his ex-wife."

Shelley Winters

I am a slacker

I am a slacker or at least I feel like one. Projects around the house are not getting done or at least they are behind schedule. I have not gone caching for almost a month. Benchmark hunting is going on hiatus while the snow is on the ground. I think a part of it is me getting grumpy because is is feeling like winter a bit too early for me. With the colder weather, I am also behind on my reading but that is nothing new. I think one of the problems is that I have the hobby of collecting hobbies. there is no way on God's green little earth that I am going to have the time for all my interests. I wish there was a way to get a mix that I could at least be happy with. I am sure there is one and is probably easier than I think but I just can not see it right now. I guess it will come with time. Until then.

Free Web Site

Need or want a free website? Try freewebs.com. It can be a bit clunky to use but not bad. I have setg up a site here. Itis not that great and it has been orphaned for a while. Hopefully I can get back to it and make somethingout of it.

Gutter Duty II

I am done with gutters for this year. All I have to say is that wunderground.com lies like a cheap rug or has out of date information. there is ice forming in those gutters and they still say it is 36 out. Let us just say that my eyes and my hands were saying otherwise when I was dealing with ice and leaves strips as I was cleaning out the gutter. I really can't complain too much since it is ultimately me who was responsible for not getting it done sooner but for this one post, I am going to do my little rant and move on. My left hand hurt from the cold water and ice and still is not totally warmed. I think the cold soaked clear to the bone and is going to ache until it comes back out. this is my rant about a job done too late in the year. Laugh or feel sorry as you will.

Gutter Duty

I am currently taking a break from doing the gutters on the house. I really wish I had done them earlier. Whether it was laziness, poor planning, getting too busy or just wishful thinking that that the good weather would hold up, I am now stuck doing the gutters in 36 degree weather. That is not too bad for most of my body but my hands are taking the worst of it. I don't have gloves that warm enough, water proof enough and and nimble enough to clean out the leaves out of a wet gutter. If I leave it, then they wil only freeze into place and cause more of a problem. At least I can go out as long as I can stand and then come in and warm up. It makes for some slow going but at least I am getting a blog post out it. At least I am pretty certain it will get done today. It was doing som snow showers this morning and I hope they stay away until I get done. With Thanksgiving coming, I am under the gun to get done. I better get away from the keyboard and ack to the job at hand.

Alice's Restaurant

Getting a late fee for paying too early

I will not mention the company here but we have a car loan on our most recently purchased car. I should also mention that we have been paying regularly on this car and not only regularly but early based on when the money comes in and not based on the due date except for the fact that it is not late. I got a letter in the mail today saying our loan on the car was delinquent. Some genius at the bank labeled one payment not as one of our regular payments but as pure principal payment and thereby we were late. To make it worse, it had become not late not because they caught the error but because the next month's check went in. Not surprisingly, I got an apology for the mislabeling of a payment and it was corrected. With service like this, no wonder there is a credit crunch in this country.

Men-The New Black

Whether it is internet humor or tv shows or commercials, men seam to be the latest group to be stereotypically lampooned. Guys can't cook, clean or do any domestic chores and and never are as smart as their spouses. If I were to spout the equivalent sediment about women or any ethic group, I would be instantly slammed as a misogynist and a racist. Most people just say they are being funny but the sad truth is the fact it is just as racist or sexist to do the jokes about guys. The only difference it seams is that it is the thing to do to rag on men. The battle of the seist is still alive and well: it just has changed the way it rears it's head.

It's snowing!

We are getting the first snow of the year. Once again, people have forgotten that snow is slippery. I understand not being used to but really people. The utilities are putting in new meters. They can read them at a distance so that is nice. I won't have to call in utilities every month now. The problem was that I did not want to leave the gate open and let the dog out. Kai is a good dog but I don't want him getting loose.

I also got to submit a waymark this week. (here) I know not everyone is interested in the different church waymarks but if you are looking for a local church and you don't know the area, then this is a source of information. Between Kim and I, we are describing Garrett pretty well.

Turkey Trivia

Here a quiz about turkey's.

How to fstun a telemarketer

I was amused and I feel rather smug. A telemarketer from Dish TV called and wanted me to start up my service today. I am not interested and I have better things to spend my money on. The one ploy they use to get you back on is state that tv is going digital in February and that you need to do something to keep getting the channels. I promptly told him that i watch so little tv that come February, i won't care about what little I am missing. Smirk. He started tripping over his tongue and saying how busy I must be. I ain't that busy that I can't squish out a few more hours of tv watching. I just don't care to. I guess I am an anomily that I don't want to watch the time sucker as much as I use to. Besides, I have the internet to suck up my time. I have to keep up my blog some how.

The Accordian of Death

This is so wrong on so many levels. Thanks, Wade.

Election Results

Like I said yesterday, I am a bit behind in my posting. One of the good things about last week's elections results was the turn out. A lot of people showed up to vote. The other good thing is that three states voted in favor of traditional marriage. It really honks me off that some judges and legislators are still trying to go against the will of the people on this issue. I really resent being called dumb and a bigot while someone tries to ram their world view down my throat. I was also disappointed in Obama winning the presidential election. I was, however, not surprised that he did. The McCain/Palin ticket left a lot to be desired even though I voted for them. I really wish there was a real third choice this time around. I think I will start researching the other parties, especially the libertarians and get really informed on them. I am tired of the Democrats and Republicans right now. I really feel that this was a none of the above election cycle for me this time.



In the meantime, I would like to encourage you to thank a vet on this Veteren's Day, tha twe have the right to debate the way the country goes.

All Saints Vespers

I am a little behind in my posting. I went to the All Saints Vespers at Kramer Chapel at the Fort Wayne Semianry. I always love the services there. They do music for the service that your average Church just can't touch. The good thing is that I get to hear it. The bad news is sometimes I would like to do the music back at my church. I guess you can't have everything. Sigh.

Komets Hockey

It is still early in the hockey season and I thought I would throw the website of the team I am following right now. the Fort Wayne Komets. Their website is here.

Election Day Walk

I walked over to the polls today. There was a line out the door when I got there and there was 9 or ten people behind when I left. One of the poll workers said that that was the shortest the line was since 5:30 that morning. I saw one home made sign on the way sign that said " Do you want a Muslim for President or a maverick? (This sign protected by the second amendment.)" Yes, the second amendment (right to bear arms) and not the first amendment (freedom of speech). This is going to be an ugly election. It already has been ugly and I fear it may get worse. If Senator Obama losses, I wonder if there will be race riots because the Man cheated him. The race card is not a good reason to vote for or against him. As Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, we should judge people on the content of someone's character and not the color of their skin. I am sure there will be plenty of people who vote for and against him for the wrong reasons. Let me just say for now, he did not get my vote, but that still leaves a few other options which I won't say now. It will be interesting to see how the election unfolds.

Claymation Chess

With the election going on and all the fuss that goes with it, I thought I would post some silliness. I will do some comments later.

The procrastinator's creed

I found this on the internet. Enjoy!

The procrastinator's creed
-I believe that if anything is worth doing, it would have been done already.
-I shall never move quickly, except to avoid more work or find excuses.
-I will never rush into a job without a lifetime of consideration.
-I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.
-I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for new technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my obligations.
-I truly believe that all deadlines are unreasonable regardless of the amount of time given.
-I shall never forget that the probability of a miracle though infinitesimally small, is not exactly zero.
-If at first I don't succeed, there is always next year.
-I shall always decide not to decide, unless of course I decide to change my mind.
-I shall always begin, start, initiate, take the first step, and/or write the first word, when I get around to it.
-I obey the law of inverse excuses which demands that the greater the task to be done, the more insignificant the work that must be done prior to beginning the greater task.
-I know that the work cycle is not plan/start/finish, but is wait/plan/plan.
-I will never put off until tomorrow, what I can forget about forever.
-I will become a member of the ancient Order of Two- Headed Turtles (the Procrastinator's Society) if they ever get it organized.

Halloween

Halloween went well last night. The weather was perfect. The police were giving out candy from their patrol cars last night. That is one thing I like about small towns. Someone was doing a hay ride in town. Halloween in small towns are great.

White House Halloween Quiz

Since today is Halloween and the presidential election is so close, I am posting a link to a white house Halloween quiz. I don't know which is scarier, Halloween, the choices for this election or the quiz. Click this link and find out for sure.

Vampire Quiz

Extreme Pumpkins

If you are having problems decorating your pumkins check out the Extreme Pumpkins here.

In the name of the Pizza Lord

Over the last week, Kim and I got to enjoy some of the best Pizza ever!. It is from the New Bethel Ordinary. For a write up about it, check out this waymark. One thing I love about the pizza is how filling it is. One to two slices will fill even the hungriest adult. Yum! I think it was amusing that when we were trying to figure out the logistics of going, we checked out the waymark we had made rather than googling for a website. I look waymarking and using it for the information we need. That's why the website was made.

Speaking of waymarking, I got to enjoy doing some benchmark hunting, geocaching and waymarking. It was nice to get a mix in since I have been finding way too many micro caches lately. Yuck! Micros have their place but a steady diet of them is less than satisfying. Having a mix is a great solution if you are in any kind of rut.

One Comfy Dog

Halloweeen horroscope

Halloween Horoscope for Aries

You're a total candy hound who will do anything for a sugar fix. And to get the most candy, you'll wear the wildest costume possible. Costume suggestions: A superhero or famous rock star Signature Halloween candy: Mini Snickers bars Scary movie you should celebrate Halloween with: Shaun of the Dead

What's Your Halloween Horoscope?

Howitzer Gun In Lebanon, Indiana

There is a category of waymarks called Static Artillery Displays. I recently listed the one pictured above. This is the information I found out about the Armory and the Hotwitzer.

A little history on the Lebanon National Guard Armory and the HOwitzer

Battery C, 2ND Battalion 150TH Field Artillery Regiment

The building was dedicated on July 4, 1941 to replace the old armory located on Indianapolis Avenue. At that time, the howitzers were pulled by horses.
The piece sitting in front of the Armory is an M110A2 Self-Propelled, 8-inch howitzer. This piece was fielded to the unit in 1972 when the battery changed from towed 8-inch to self-propelled.
In 1996, the Battery changed back to a towed unit and changed from Battery D to Battery C. At that time, this 8-inch howitzer was demilitarized and placed in front of the armory on display.
The M110A2 Self-Propelled 8 inch was manned by a crew of 7 and could fire its 200-plus pound shell up to 18.6 miles with devastating accuracy. The howitzer’s lethality was defined by a 75-meter kill radius and a 200-meter burst area. This howitzer was last fired at Camp Atterbury in June 1996 before being demilitarized for display.

The link for this waymark is here.

Doggy Daycare

I woke up to the sound of barking this morning. A couple dogs got loose in the neighborhood and the son of the people we are visiting took them in because he did not want them to run loose. I don't blame him. I hate seeing dogs going loose and possibly getting hurt. I was a bit disgruntled at getting woken up the dogs needed to be penned somewhere and one was a husky and I still have a big dumb bone in my head about northern dogs. The owners came by and picked them up and I can nap for a little bit to make up for getting up early. I like it when things work out.

Kim's Injury

It's been a while since I have said anything about Kim's leg that got broke back in May. It is pretty much healed. The only problem now is getting the full functionality back. She still uses her cane but it is more for speed and insurance against a long hard day. She can do a lot of stuff without it and sometimes forgets where she left it when she is doing stuff around the house. It is frustrating to wait for the half life of getting back to normal to come.

H.P. Lovecraft

One of my favorite horror authors is H.P. Lovecraft. There is a website here that tells about him and his works. Check out both the website and his works and I hope it gets you in the mood for Halloween.

Novel use of the Davinci code

I was running through some blogs and came across a funny yet practical use of the book, The DaVinci Code, by Dan Brown. The book was used as insulation to thermally stabilize a transmitter. To see pictures and get more detail check out this link.

House of the Rising Sun/ Amazing Grace

Haunted Indiana

Since Halloween is on the way the weather is usually pretty good for Halloween in Indiana I thought the would post hauntedindiana.com as this week's weekly webness.

Happy B...

Happy Birthday to Wild Strawberry!

Fort Wayne Tin Caps

I have to laugh at the Fort Wayne minor league baseball team. First of all, they are moving from a spot in Fort Wayne that is easy for those in and out of town with plenty of parking to down town Fort Wayne where it is harder to get to and with less convenient parking.

Second of all, they change their name from the Wizards to the Tin Caps. This is to honor Johnny Appleseed. I find this funny since they are moving their stadium further away from his grave site.

Third os all, one part of this project of getting a new stadium was to make some more condos. Since there is such a down turn in reality due to the banking crisis, they are having to make this a smaller project. I wondered from the start if this a project born of Cadillac eyes and now I am getting more certain of it. Dumb, really dumb.

Check out their website here.

Bail out Bill

There is a lot that I am scared by this bail out bill. One is the amount of government control it will give. Another is how much it threatens capitalism. it is just scary. According to cnet.com, ther is also a finger print registry. The article is here. The scares me a whole lot since it smells of Big Brother is watching. The whole thing is freakin' scary. It makes me made since this is happening in the one Presidential cycle where I have detested the candidates the most.

Fear The Boot

I like role playing games and I like podcasts. This week's webness is the Fear The Boot Podcast which is a RPG podcast. This podcast is a funny and entertaining podcast focusing on RPGs. Their website is here.

The Vice Presidential Debates

I really wish I did not listen to the debates last night. All I found out is that I don't agree with Democrat's candidate and the Sarah Palin sounded like she had AD/HD because she could not stay on the topic. I agreed with her positions but she did not come over well when I was listening to the radio. Between the debate and how poor she has done with interviews, I am really reconsidering my willingness to vote for her and McCain. I view myself more as a conservative rather than a Republican and I am finding it hard to want to vote for anyone again. I know I do not want the Democrats in but the Republicans are not looking much better.

GPS Games Whine

My wife and I have been in gecaching for 5&1/2 years. That is pretty good for us for doing a hobby. Some hobbies we do longer and some we hardly stick around for at all. I think that is the nature of past times. Caching has changed for me. I got in for the caches with nice walks and a lot of them seam to be urban micros now- not my favorite kind of caches. We have been doing waymarks and benchmark hunting but we are past the honeymoon phase with those. too. I think a lot of it is the fact we have been in for a while. Some of it is the fact the hobby has changed. Does not help that the price of gas is hideous and Kim's leg got hurt which really has put a bamper on things. I don't want to sound like I am blaming Kim. Her injury is only one factor and not like she did it on puropose but it still affects things. The real grump is that geocaching is not the fun it once was. I guess it is time to reprioirtize and do the things that give more fun for what I am willing to put into it. Nothing else I can do. Please indulge or ignore this grump as you will. I guess I just wanted to write it up, own it and get rid of it. Much better now.

Earthcaches

Earthcaches are another neat form of caches and is a program for making caches that is run on geocaching .com but did not start there. It is a very interesting program. The earthcache program website is here and you can find them listed on geocaching.com. Take a look around. You can find the detail on the sites better than I can do in this short little blog post.

Errands Continued

I had a coupon for a free value meal at the McDonald's in Kendalville. There was a cache about 200 feet away so i planed on doing that as well. Everything went well until i started to go home. The lever to adjust the driver's seat broke again so I drove the explorer home in a reclined position. Needless to say, it was not an easy drive and neck ended up really sore. It is better today.

I also went to do the license plate renewal for the cars today. That's done and I also got the pictures for the waymarks I started yesterday so I can work on submitting those today. Thre was belly puickering thing that did happen on the way in to get the plates renewed. I had noticed yesterefdday that the gas on explorer was getting low. Due to the seat, I failed to register how low it was when I got home. I almost ghet into Auburn when I had to wait for a train, only then did I noticed the gas gauge solidly on EMPTY. Thankfully that gauge is set up to give you a llittle more time because I made it through waiting for the train and drive to the gas station. The truck is a lot happier on 3/4 of a tank.

Anyway, that is my erranding around for what I can make of it. A bit or irratation but nothing undo. Until later.

Errands

Ever have one of those where your errands don't quit get done. It's time to do the license plates on the car again. I forgot to check that the BMV was closed on Monday. I was also going to do some waymarks on the way there and the batteries on my camera dies so that was out. I guess i start over tomorrow on the way to the BMV tomorrow.

Canada's National Animal

quiz for today

My pirate name is:

Dread Pirate Cash

Like the famous Dread Pirate Roberts, you have a keen head for how to make a profit. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Google is Weird

I must confess that I like statcounter.com. It helps me track who is looking at my blog. Not out of some commercial reason since i don't do ads and not because i am some sort of weird cyber stalker reason. I am truly interested in seeing who is reading this silly little blog of mind. For those of you that keep coming back, I thanks you for your interest.

Getting to the point of this post. I have been noticing that I have been getting a lot of hits for my Sarah Palin post. To be more specific, the image of my Sarah Palin post. That got my attention. I did not upload any images for that post. I started to look a little and found out that the Animal Crackers movie poster I had put at the top of my blog that is always there was connected to the post in image searches on Google. There are probably a lot of people going through the image and wondering what the heck does a Marx Brothers movies have have to do with the VP candidate. Nothing except what the google web crawlers think goes together. The short comings of automating some things.

Pirate Day

Today is International Talk like a Pirate Day. You can check out a website about it here.


And here is a video.

Online Bad Behavior

There is a common virus that infects about 1 out of 1 forums that being little political online turf wars. It might be someone being a troll and fishing for a reaction or just clash of personalities. Sometimes it is not being able to communicate properly online or just being clear. Sometimes it is a matter of not reading it right. It can devolve into a sophomoric high school squabble. Let's face it, it is a lot easier to be callous to people when you don't see them on the other side of the computer screen. You're just playing a video game , right? There is also the problem that as people get to know each other, they get to see all the imperfections in each other and that gets annoying after a while. It is really easy to see the smallest problem in someone else and miss the problem of epic proportion in yourself. This is just another example of people being idiots. Myself included. It just gets irksome when all you want to do is hang out and have fun and the general current of things has an undercurrent of being angst driven.



FNORD!

A September Evening Walk

I finished up some paperwork and some bills and wanted to take care of the mail tonight so I would not forget to get it out in tomorrow's mail. It was an evening of long fall shadow's. The sun was still warm but the shadow's and wind were chilled. The sky sky was mostly clear with white clouds with grey bottoms. Kai the dog was feisty as heck because it was getting cool enough for him to be full of beans. I smelt a recently lit BBQ and could smell the lighter fluid still being burned off. The sky was pale blue and turning yellow as the sun headed for the horizon. The noise in this little town was pretty quiet I also heard a lawn mower off in the distance. It was a peaceful walk with my dog and my hiking stick of many years and many memories. .Man, am I ever glad that fall is here.

What fair ride would you be?

Barack Obama is Your New Bicycle

I read the book Barack OBama is your new bi.cycle by Mathew Honan. It is subtitled 366 ways he really cares. It was started by the author's desire to make his wife laugh. While she was campaigning for Senator Obama, he set up the website, barckobamaisyournewbicycle.com. From there, came the book. I will give you a few examples from the book but hopefully not too many so I go beyond fair use.

Barack Obama gave you a puppy.
Barack Obama mapped out a new dungeon and rolled up a totally bad ass paladin for your first game of D&D.
Barack Obama called your mom on mother's day just to say hi.

It was trite and yet very funny. It was an incredibly fast read and worth the time to read it.

And if Vicar Stewart Wade Turner in Buffalo, Illinois reads this, give me an e-mail and let me know how you like the post.

National Registry of Historic Places

I first found out about the National Registry of Historic Places from a category on waymarking.com. On their website (here), you find the historic places around the US. It breaks it down by state and then county and it is interesting to see what has been put on the registry both locally and around the nation. Check it out.



FNORD!

World Wide Presence/ Outreach

I have been really noticing how easy tit easy to have a world wide presence on the internet. By no means am I or Kim big time movers but we still have a world wide presence. We recently did a geocoin trade with someone from Germany. Someone from England found our earthcaches. I am not sure about Kim's blogs but I get people looking at my blog from around the globe. It is just weird that someone can have contact around the world via the net even if it is a small one. That is neat to this geek.

Geocoins

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This is a continuation of a theme this week. Pictures I was meaning to post but did not get around to. We have been trading mostly for them. Most of them were from the geobash. The German one was by mail. They were a neat bunch to get. Enjoy the pictures.

Noble County Fair

We went to the noble County Fair back in July. Once again, we forgot about the pictures. Here they are. Enjoy.

WAlking Leaf Bug

This was a walking leaf bug we found on Kim's cara while and forgot we had a picture. Enjoy.

McDonald's Handicapped Parking

Kim and I went out to McDonald's for breakfast. Her leg is getting much better but not quit all the way there yet so we wanted to use the handicapped parking. One problem- the handicapped parking was between the building and the drive through lane and since they are busy on Saturdays there was no access to the handicapped parking. Kim was able to make it in ok but about those those people who really need it. It was only for a Mcdee's breakfast but handicapped people want aas normal of a life as anyone else and things like this just make it harder. Poor planning. I guess seeing the mobility issues Kim is having has made me a lot more sensitive to the everyone who has mobility issues. Time to turn off the soapbox.

DM of the Rings

Dm of the Rings is a webcomic spoof of Lord of the Ring. It was written as if the story was played a group of role playing gamers. Really funny stuff.

Cool Down

Looks like the hold that summer had our our weather has finally broken. Ir rained last night and the temperature did a nice colling down. They are also predicting highs in the seventies instead of upper 80" to 90 plus. Felt good when I had to run to get something in from the rain last night and actually felt chilly when I got in. I have felt over hot for so long that feeling chilly in on the platinum scale for feeling good. I am looking forward to feeling that more often.

Sarah Palin

I got to hear the Republican Candidate for Vice President last night. She is Sarah Palin and I am quite impressed with her. She is for lower taxes, against pork spending and a watch dog against corruption even from her own party. She is for oil exploration. She is pro life and is raising a special needs kids when a lot of parents would have aborted. She also descried herself as a hockey mom. Yu have to know that scored points with me even though it does nto affect her job. I also liked the joke she made about being a hockey mom. What is the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom? Lipstick. I am impressed with her enough not to be waffling. It is weird that I like the VP nominee more than the the candidates for president.

Jerry Reed Passes Away

Jerry Reed just passed away. I have enjoyed his music as well as seeing him on Star Trek in one episode and the time he was on Scooby Doo. I remember some of the oddest things.

Here is a video to enjoy. It's not safe for work or at least some of the pictures are not so watch at your own risk.

Waiting for the Cool down

It is the beginning of September and still feels like mid August. It is actually hotter now than it was for mid August. The worst is that is is almost getting cool enough at night to be comfy but not quite. It is suppose to rain and bring cooler air with it tonight. I really hope so.

Trip to the Post Office

Today was a bit interesting to go off to the Post Office. First of all, i had tired putting a hold on the mail last month. It wound up not going through and I found our why: I had dated this month instead of last month. Talk about a stupid mistake. The only thing I figure is I was thinking about it being the end/beginning of the month and dated it wrong.

As I was going to the Post Office, I say a class of I think either kindergarten or first grade walking across the intersection. It reminded me of a time when a much taller friend and I were walking through Ann Arbor. Some kid about the same age looked at me and shouted, "Look at the little man"

I was glad of what was in the mail. We had done a trade with someone in German with our geocoins. They did not have any personal coins but we did trade for specifically German coins. They wwill make for a nice addition to the collection. One of them is trackable which is a nice perk. I base my trades on how nice the coins look rather than just trackable but being trackable is just a nice add on.

A friend of Kim and I's also sent us the book "turn and run like hell". It is about unconventional military tactics. Looks like some good reading.

WOWO Blunder

Let me start this with I am not an Obama supporter nor am I totally dissatisfied with WOWO radio. I am however, sad with their choice of programming. This past week, instead of airing Obama's acceptance speech. They aired a preseason game and post game show. I realize they get revenue from the advertising of those shows but they also claim to be a talk and news show. Somehow, I think politics ranks a bit higher on the importance list. I want to be an informed voter and this time, I think they made the wrong choice. To their defense, there was other outlets for hearing it and they did having streaming on their site. I would just have handled it differently. Just one person's voice in a sea of many. Feel free to leave a comment.

Steve Jackson Game's Website

Steve Jackson Games is a great company for games and especially role playing games. They have chess games, board games and miniatures games as well as role playing. They had a podcast for a while until other priorities stopped it for now. They are not a big company and had other more pressing issues to take care of. One of their more popular games is the Munckin game. My favorite will always be Toon.

Obama on Abortion

Senator Obama was asked when a child get human rights?

After a bit of waffling, he said the answer to that was above his pay grade and that he was pro choice. If the man who wants to be president can not answer this question, then maybe he should not br president because that is what is required of the person who wants the big chair. The fact he is also pro choice does not sit well with me.

Senator Obama never has impressed me and McCain is finally becoming less of a hold my nose and vote for him anyway. This is a tough campaign cycle for me and I still wish the choices were better.

Musings

I woke up this morning and I actually feel chilly since spring. Kinda nice since I usually run on the warm side.

My ear infection that I have had for the last couple of days is on the mend. It came on fast and took me out Thursday and Friday. I did not get much done over the weekend but at least I am getting there now. Nothing like getting some cottage cheese like white puss from your ear.

The LaOtto had there all you can eat Corn Roast as a fund raiser. Mmmmn, fresh sweet corn.

Waymarking.com

Waymarking is another form of gps games. It replaced virtuals and locationless on geocaching.com. As much I miss virtuals on geocaching.com, I think overall it was a good combining of the two types of caches. It helped categorize the virtuals so you could find points of interest by what you are interested in and made locationless a lot easier to deal with. I really hated trying to make sure that no one else had logged a spot when to owner had that requirement. The site has been picking up steam over the lack couple of years and so has the quality of the site.

Going Indy

I think it is funny that the more I go digital with my entertainment, the further from network TV and corporate radio I get. I have one mp3 player for nothing but music and another for nothing but podcasts. Between that and shortwave, I have very little for normal commercial radio. With DVD's, that eliminates commercial TV for the most part. I am getting far too use to what i want on demand. It does not hurt that I have several hobbies to keep mind and body busy. I guess that is why i thought it was funny when the dish satellite guy asked me what i would do for TV when the digital turn over came in. There is more to do than watch the one eyed mind sucker. Don't think I don't like some mindless entertainment but it is my choice to indulge instead of being my derfault thing I do.

You're so vain

I always thought the lyrics of this song were funny as hell. Sometimes it strikes me funnier than others. Enjoy the video.

The Butcher Block

I love the Dresden Files Series of novels by Jim Butcher. There is a podcast out about him called The Butcher Block. I am looking forward to checking out but I have been waiting to finish reading Small Favor so I don't get any spoilers. Hopefully I can get around to listening to some before the scheduled publishing of this article. I probably will. If I can I will come back and update this before it gets published.


Update:


I have been able to check this podcast out more. It is a very irregular podcast. Not all podcasts can be and I would rather have it more irregular and good content than below par quality and regular. This podcast started out with a not uncommon roughness that a lot of podcasts suffer from. The podcast is finding its voice and I look forward to the upcoming episodes. I enjoy hearing things about Jim Butcher and the land of Harry Dresden. I also enjoy the sidetracks telling about different RPG games. Check out the website and the podcast.

Self Closing doors are Evil

Kim has been joking online about self closing doors being evvviieeelll. The joke grew into it being a conspiracy. This evolved into Kim being told to start wearing her tin foil hat. This picture is the result.

Geocaching don'ts

Let me start this ost by saying this is one's person's opinion who is probably guilty of the things I will complain about.

While I was at geobash, I noticed some behaviors that were a bit off putting but understandable. It was a case of people putting themselves in th eone up position because of being in the longest or that path tags are better than geocoins or who is better at this, that or the other. It is very human to want to be good and be recognized for that. I am not free from it either. Sometimes that can across wrong. Some of it may be me and some of it could be the other person. Some of it is the nature of comparison where usualy one person wins and the others loses.

The other thing that got me a little when some guy we did not know demanded a pathtag from us. I understadn they are popular and that they get traded and gave away all the time. I enjoy trading coins and getting free swag but that goes around on the basis of the good will of those involved. It is not anyone's right to be traded with or get free swag. It happens as it happens and I am grateful when it works out.

Please don't take this as a big rant. In the long run it is not a big. I just wanted to rant a post worth of rant and let it go. NOw that this post is over, time to let it go.

Geobash 2008

There is a lot I want to covere with this year's geobash and hopefully I won't be too random.

First of all, I had a great time and the weather was almost perfect. I got to meet up with a lot of cacahers I have not seen for a while. Kim with her still healing leg did a lot better than I thought she would but still is paying a price for it today. I also got a bunch of pathtags and geocoins. One cacher recognized me from quit a distance from the ptih helmit I use from my avatar. It was kinda silly when I first got it but it is making for a great avatar.

I got to hear the reviewers panals. It was nice to hear that most of them had caches with hikes as their favorite. I also enjoyed hearing that Jeremy Iryshe started the geocaching website as a way to highlight interesting places. When I heard this i thought , yup that is why I got in for.

It was also cool that i got to meet MissJenn from groundspeak. I got the latest color version of the lackey coin and I got to impress her with some good ole Indiana corn. (There is more than corn in Indiana.) We had two potlucks at geobash and only with cachers can you have a darn good potluck while camping.

That is all I can remember for now. Maybe i will post more later.

Dresden Files RPG

Cool! A RPG involving The Dresden Files. Check it out here.

Life is too short for...

Geobash is kicking off tomorrow. I am and am not looking forward to it. I am looking forward to meeting up with the cachers I have not seen for a while that will be there but the events at the bash I could care less. If I did not know anyone showing up, I would not even bother going. Life is too short for bad caching. I was listening to the Fear the Boot Podcast and they did the line that life is too short for bad gaming. Their basic point was that role playing games are meant to be a fun escape from life and if is not, then it is time to move on. That pretty much goes for any hobby. Not to be judgmental, we have had highs and lows in our hobbies and sometimes you need to cut something out if the payoff is not there. It might be absolutely perfect for someone else but why waste your time and money if it is not paying off. Caching might have run its course with me. maybe I just need a break. I don't think I will ever get totally out. I still enjoy it and there are people who are in that I like to hang with. Does not help that gas went over $4 a gallon and I have been hitting too many micros lately. That was my fault for picking them the way I did.

Maybe the cooler fall weather will get me going. Time will see.

Changes

Kim has gone off to work in Indy for the first time without me. I hope her ankle holds up. I am pretty sure it will. Things has changed and it seams so different since I have been taking care of her or acting as a safety net for the last three months.

CHWO, one of my favorite radio stations is also changing. It no longer has the same call letters. Things change and that is the nature of life and living.

With that I will hand this post over to David
Bowie.

Kim's Ankle-Final Update?

This may be the last update on Kim's ankle. She is out of Physical therapy and is back to work.
She also had the last check up with the doctor. Everything is proceeding well. The ankle is not 100% but is has been going well. The only done side is that she could quite handle the drive home from Indy on Thursday and I had to take over for the last hour. Pretty darn good over all but still disappointing. The rest will come.

Midwest Geobash

With the Midwest Geobash coming up August 7-10, I thought I would post their website. I hope to see you there.

Caching Observations

I went caching yesterday. Nothing Special. I only found a light pole squirt lifter. What the cache itself lacked, the walk over made up for. I have noticed a couple of things about walking around. It is far more peaceful and you get to see a lot more of the area than you do by driving. People also assume you know the area if you are walking. That is generally true but not always.

The walk through the park was wonderful. The only down side was using the park's bathroom. The main door was chained open and there were no stall doors which gave it a fel of no privacy at all. Nobody could see me doing my business but it felt odd doing my business in that open of an area in that urban of an area. It is not like I have not done my business in the open but that is has been in a very rural area and very much in the woods.

Oh well, I still had a nice walk.

There is a post script to this story. While I was at the cache, I dropped my stylus/pen combo. I lost the cap and could find it. I started walking away and there it was. I am wondering if it was in my sandel and I got lucky looking down the second time when I did.

God's Speed Wade and Rose Mary

Of of our Sem Field Workers is going off to vicarage. So God's Speed to him and his family and good luck in Buffalo, Illlinois.

Ringo by Lorn Greene

This song is just too funny to ignore.

Dog's Dreaming

We took Kai our dog caching on Thursday. He got to see quit a few squirrels and chipmunks which really got him really wound up. It got him so wound up that he was dreaming about them. At least we think he was dreaming about squirrels since he was barking in his sleep. The most suggestible of our dogs was our greyhound Houdini (Dini for short). If he was sleeping and looking like he was dreaming, I would say "Get the rabbit, get the rabbit, get the rabbit" and he would woof in his sleep and his paws would start going as if he was running in his sleep. One time his dream got going so vivid and fast and that he barked himself awake. Poor dog had the expression of what the heck happened, I was in the middle of the most wonderful chase.

Potty Time Evangelism

Let me start this out with the fact that I am a Christian and this is being written from one Christian's perspective. Your views may vary.

I went to the Sam's club in Fort Wayne and I had to use the little boys room because breakfast was catching up with me. I just get settled when I noticed a chic tract and a mailer for a free bible study in the stall and left on the toilet paper dispenser. I felt a movement but I don't think it was the Holy Spirit and I am not totally sure if the stink I smelt was from me. It was a classic case of spam evangelism but more than that it was getting evangelized in the bathroom with my shorts around my ankles. Not a pretty sight.

I am sure that Jack Chic and the people who distribute his publications are well meaning people but to me, even as a Christian and someone who is behind Christian evangelism, spamming people with tracts in the bathroom is not the way to go. I don't think spamming people anywhere with tracts is appropriate. Even though they are well intentioned, I think their theology and tactics are suspect at best.

The one Chic Tract I really had to laugh at the hardest is one called Dark Dungeons. It is a tract that is specifically against Dungeons and Dragons and if used with a big enough brush can also be used against all role playing games. It portrays people who play as either getting into the occult or becoming mentally ill and committing suicide. Although I can appreciate people's concern with the magic and violent that is in Dungeons and Dragons and other role playing games, there is no correlation that I have seen between the two. People like to demonize easy targets like Harry Potter, D&D or even the Wizard of Oz for having witches and magic in it. By that definition than the Narnia series and Lord of the Rings should also be renounced and they were written by good Christian men. Maybe I am in need of help since I use the mind that God has blessed me with.

Below I am posting the links to the two tracts I have mentioned.

This Was your Life.
Dark Dungeons.

Reading Planner

Ever wanted to be able to create your own bible reading plan? Better yet, did you want to take it along with you in a convenient manner? Go here. They have a program that you can load onto your PDA to use with a bible on your PDA or a paper copy. They also have bibles that can go onto your PDA so check it out and get your bibile study wired.

A Neat Caching Story

Kim's ankle is still getting better so we decided to go caching. The plan was to do a maintenance run on one of our own and find a cache we had not yet found in the park. We got a little extra. The cache we found was a neat find even though the cache needed a bit of maintenance as well. I guess it has been a hard summer on caches since ours needed filling as well. When we got over to Second Nature: Mushrooms we found a tb. I did not think much of it at the time since I am going to the Midwest Geobash in a week or two I picked it up without looking at the logs. When we got home, we found out this poor little bug had been missing since 2005. I am still wondering where the heck he could have been. Apparently there have been some other bugs go missing from our cache but hopefully it is just people on vacation who have not logged them yet. I hate to see them go missing and I love it when they are brought back from the dead.

Munchkin

Munckin is hilarious game by Steve Jackson Games. It can be found in both card and role playing versions. The reason I find it so funny is that is a parody of the RPG player who has to have the biggest, baddest and best character in the game and who will stop at nothing to level up his or her character faster than any else. I have played with these people both in the RPG realms and other hobbies as well. I think it is being a human thing and not limited to role playing games by any means. There is a seed in us all that wants to be good at things at the minimum and maybe harbor a desire to be best at something. It is a deep human need to be respected for what we do. I don't think many people need to be good or the best at everything but it is still nice to shine and be respected for something. To a degree it is very normal and healthy to want to do well but like everything it can be over done. I have nothing against success and competing unless the other person was not in it for competing. Just because I want to go for a bike ride does not mean I want to win the Tour De France. Nothing wrong with just going for a bike ride or doing the tour de France but it can be uncomfortable or frustrating when people have different levels of commitment or just have different styles of doing the exact same hobby and they are trying to participate with each other. Different goals and expectations are there at every corner and it is really no one persons fault. Sometime sit is more one person's fault but with all things no one is usually 100% right with the other in the total wrong. Does not mean it is not a clear cut problem just that everyone needs to work on handling things well.

Churches on Waymarking.com

I have been doing some waymarks again and got thinking about churches on waymarking.com. I was not targeting churches this time but one of the places on the Registry of Historic places was was a Brethen in Christ church. I decided to do a search on waymarking .com and see what i would get buy searching for the word church. The result I got was Abbeys, churches of the Nazarene, Church Cemeteries, churchyard crosses,country churches, historic United Methodist sites, Lutheran Churches, Medieval Churches, Mormon temples, and more. I don't think they are done with creating categories yet.No where even close. The site has been picking up steam and it is interesting to see what is pouring in.

Above are some of the churches that are waymarking.com. They have been done myself Captain Spaulding or with my wife as "Paws"itraction. The links for these waymarks are below.


Saint Joseph, Garrett
Zion Lutheran Garrett
Brethren In Christ, Garrett
Trinity Lutheran in Arcadia, MI
Saint Mark's, Milford, Ohio

I am going to stop here. There are far too many list.

More Wedding Pictures From Kim and Mike's Wedding

Geocaching

This week's webness is geocaching.com. It's been my hobby for a while and I have talked about it a lot in this blog. I got interested in it for the geeky toy of a gpsr and stay in to see neat places and things I would not have seen otherwise. Check it out, but be aware it is addictive and can be a money pit but what hobby isn't.

Dog Days of Summer

The dogs days of summer are definitely. Statically, we are in the hottest part of the year and it should but not guaranteed to start cooling down towards the end of the month or beginning of August. I certainly hope so. i think it is funny that people thought the heat right now was due begin closer the Sirius, the dog star. I don't think huskies or any other northern dog would buy that one. I would complain but it will not get me anywhere and the best I can do is start counting down to fall and hope the very most intense heat of summer will not last for long. One can only hope.

Happy Birthday Blog

This blog is now a year old. i did not think I would make it this far or what this would look like. I think it has grown and matured. It still not all that serious or good but hey, I started it for a lark and to see if I would come of it, if anything. So far it has proved that I can stick with this for a year. The content has shifted and will continue to. Life changes. It will be interesting to see how the next year will treat this experiment in cyberspace.

Beer Redux

These were two more beers that I got for being best man at the wedding. Both of them were good dark ales. The Orval Ale was darker and more bitter while the Chimay was was a lighter and smoother dark ale. I shared the Chimay with a friend of mine and he liked it even though he prefers more a pilsner beer. I don't blame him for liking the lighter beers. That is the most common served around here and even though I like darker ales, I still don't care for stouts. It is not a case of right or wrong but of taste since there is such a wide taste for the different beers. Both went done fine and the only problem now is that the bottles are empty.

OH MY GOD!!!!!!

I went to Walmart with Kim the other night to do some grocery shopping. I have seen people wearing some skimpy clothing but this one gal took the cake. Not only was she wearing low rider jeans but they were a bit big for her and they were riding too low. It was low enough that I knew she was going commando with absolute certainty. If she she had bent over, I was sure that I would have seen where the sun does not shine. It is not that I don't enjoy the female body but I don't expect to see that much butt crack at Walmart unless a small kid is going pee at the urinal. I hope this does not mean I am getting old. All I am asking people is that you exercise some modesty. Just say no to crack or I am going to have to speckle that thing shut.

What type of rocker are you?

This week the weekly web is a quiz instead of a website. Enjoy!

You Are an Emo Rocker!

Expressive and deep, lyrics are really your thing. That doesn't mean you don't rock out... You just rock out with meaning. For you, rock is more about connecting than grandstanding.

What Kind of Rocker Are You?