Rants

If It Ain’t One Thing, It’s Another

Not only has the Sticky Image Plugin stopped working, but the image gallery thing stopped too. I did manage to get it going again, but the thumbnails don’t work.

As I’ve mentioned somewhere here before, the gallery script author is no longer supporting it (his web site has completely vanished,) but there is an enhanced version created by a couple other folks out there. I think I’ve even tried it, but for whatever reason didn’t like it. May have to try it out again.

My freeware HTML editor I’ve been using, TSW WebCoder, started throwing errors at me when I use it on the laptop. I went to the author’s web site to see if there was an update available and there was. Unfortunately it isn’t freeware anymore. Still seems to work OK on the desktop. Guess I’ll try the old uninstall/reinstall fix.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 200

So Much To Say…

…So Little Actually Worth Saying.

Are you as I tired as I am of the incessant promotions and marketing for the movie Cars? On ESPN’s Sportscenter last night they interviewed on of the actors who voices one of the cars. And some of the characters are so stereotypical they border on insulting; Mater, the slow speaking and possibly dim witted southern rusted tow truck voiced by Larry the Cable Guy. George Carlin the Hippy-Dippy Weatherman voicing the psychedelic VW van, Fillmore. Plus Ramone, the bright purple hydraulically enhanced low-rider voiced by Hispanic Cheech Marin.

Do we really need a movie version of Miami Vice? An 80’s style rap commercial for Pepto Bismo?

And speaking of commercials were these made by the same ad agency? For the Hummer H3 the stylish, eye catching “Urban Techno” and the totally lame and unimaginative “Goldilocks and the 3 Bears.”

Is it WordPress or more probably, my lame web host, but all of a sudden the plug-in I use to attach the thumbnails to posts is no longer working. Tried stopping and restarting the plug-in, but that didn’t work and if I shut it off all the past attached pictures disappear.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 192

Forgetful?

Didn’t get to post last night because my webhost misplaced my SQL Database. Put it down with his keys I guess… He must have found everything late last night because when I got up this morning the database was right where I left it yesterday.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 186

Great Company

Donna and I went to the local mall and did some shopping, a couple of shirts and a denim skirt for her, no action figures for me. After we were done in the mall she had one more thing she wanted to buy some place else, an ice cream cone. As we left J.C. Penny’s we noticed a ’95 M Edition Miata, that pretty Merlot color with the BBS mesh wheels, right near the entrance with its top down. Inside was a woman talking on her cell phone. I guess she wanted to finish her conversation while her driver was inside shopping. We walked all the the way out to the far end of the lot and got in our car, as we pulled out of the lot I could see that she was still on the phone.

A mile or so down the road we stopped to get that treat. The girl made a cone for Donna and filled a cup for me, then we went back outside, wandered over to a picnic table and sat down. A couple minutes later, what should pull into the ice cream shop’s parking area, but that same Miata. The woman was still talking on her cell phone. They parked and the man driving slowly walked around the back of the car giving the woman a few seconds to get out. When she didn’t, he opened the door then reached in and undid her seat belt all the while she is talking. At first I thought because of the way he was helping her she might be handicapped, but no, she finally stood on her own power and sauntered over towards the shop yakking away while he closed the door behind her. He managed to get half her attention with a question to which she nodded back at him. He headed into the store while she tried out a couple chairs looking for just the right one all the while with her cell phone glued to her ear.

A couple minutes later the man returned with what looked like two small sundaes. He placed hers down on the the arm of the chair she was in, sat down and started to enjoy his ice cream. At one point I think she braced the phone between shoulder and cheek to sneak a spoonful, but maybe not. By now Donna and I were finished, so we walked back to our car which took us right by the couple. As we passed I could see her sundae was untouched and his was half gone. When we got by, I asked Donna should I give him an MMC newsletter. She just shook her head no.

I started our Miata and he looked over, recognizing the sound perhaps, and gave us a thumbs up sign. I responded with a friendly wave and backed out of the spot. As we turned right out of the lot onto the main road, he was still looking and she was still talking on the cell phone. Maybe I should have given him the newsletter, because it seems like he could use some company that might actually involve him in the conversation.

Started up, went down, back up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 158

FOD

Donna’s stomach is feeling a lot better now. Took about 10 days this time as opposed to just 3 after chemo #1. She is still only going to do 5 hours days at work, because she tires easier than the last chemo too. But because she is feeling better she wanted to go back to her usual chores, one of which is mowing the lawn. I told her no, but she could help by doing the FOD walkdown prior to my mowing, picking up all the broken branches and stray pieces of paper that have ended up on the lawn.

FOD stands for Foreign Object Damage and is a left over from our Naval Aviation days. On shore duty every morning after after mustering in the whole squadron would go out on the ramp behind the hanger and walk in a wide row down the flight line picking up any detritus laying around. On the ship before flight ops the air boss would call for a FOD walkdown and everyone on the flightdeck would gather in a line on the bow and slowly walk all the way to the fantail cleaning every square inch of the deck. You would be surprised just how much damage a 1/4 long #10-32 screw can cause when ingested by a jet engine.

We were supposed to have tacos at home for supper tonight, but we ended up at Chili’s for ribs because of some FOD. Because it is only the two of us we only do half the meat of the usual dinner kit. I split a pound of hamburger in half, one part went into the freezer in a plastic bag and the other went into the pan. We had a half a pack of the powdered seasoning mix left from last time, so I used that instead of the new one. After I got everything mixed up in the pan and it was simmering nicely I noticed what looked like a big piece of red pepper. And a few pieces of green pepper or plant matter. WTF? Was it something in the meat? Something left in the 1/2 pack of seasoning mix? Nothing had gotten near the pan, so thinking better safe than sorry, we tossed it all in the trash and went out to eat.

Started up, went down, went up, back down, back up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 155

What A Great Stroke Of Programing Luck

NBC’s news magazine show, Dateline, just happened to be doing a show on possible damage if a major earthquake hit several US cities, when after that show ends the network would be airing 10.5: APOCALYPSE the story of major earthquakes hitting the country.

Please Hit The Damn Home Run Already

I’m not a fan of Barry Bonds, but I sure hope he hits #714 soon, so they will stop interupting baseball games on ESPN to watch him bat.