Lord forgive me, I gotta work.

I procrastinated(see yesterday's post). Now I am up and running to get two days work done in one. Contrary to the belief of some lunatic fringe religions, my work day is not 24/7 and sometimes it is just good to slow down. Please, my cell phone is on its last leg so bear with me if trying to call. Complain to Cingular. It has decided to turn off at random, so spending extra time checking to see if it is on frustrates me to no end. The backlog of work due to recent crisis should end in a few days. Thanks to those that have been supportive of my efforts to regain control. Y'all da bomb!

Red Dragon and I will look at lead sleds late today. Got two 75s in mind that are 'build from the ground up' material. The Dragon can do it! Great reward at the end of the day. Thanks to Forest Whistler for the great help in the continuing GW saga. The Teamspeak server is once again back up and bear with me if I don't answer during the game. Most likely I am on the junky phone or at the door dealing with the fringe. Have a glorious Sunday and please remember me in your prayers.

It'"s a shame that the only thing a man can do for eight hours a day is work. He can't eat for eight hours; he can't drink for eight hours; he can't make love for eight hours. The only thing a man can do for eight hours is work."
-William Faulkner

Stormhouse Gathering

Last night the weather outside was frightful. As I saw the internet go down while shouting hello into the cell phone with no answer it was decided a planned night of Guild Wars would not transpire. Being in a rush all week meds have been forgotten twice and the container of emergency dosage went with the stolen lead sled. Must remember to put some in the latest ride. Anyway, taking meds at 6:00pm or so after a long day made for a nice extended nap on the couch. After the internet returned a bit ago my latest quandary is whether to work today or procrastinate and do it all tomorrow. Hmmmm, will make that decision this afternoon.

Teamspeak is back up and running. Sorry about last night, my weather controlling technology lacks perfection. If it rains today, grill out on the veranda I say. Later, y'all.

"Doing nothing is very hard to do...you never know when you're finished."
-Leslie Nielsen

Orchard Invasion

Yes it's true. The rumors about running Windows on Apple machines has come to light. Read about it at PCWorld's Techlog. My question is , "Why?!?!?!" This seems backwards to me. I want Apple's OSX operating system to run on PC machines. That would make more sense. OSX is based on FreeBSD and might be a viable option to the ever dominating Windows family. BTW, the most popular software for OSX is Microsoft Office. Next thing you know Mr. Gates and Darth Jobs will be seen on the golf course together, probably taking lessons from Tiger.

Have a casual Thursday. Eat an apple today. . .okay, make it apple pie.

"Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday."
-Dale Carnegie

Music Truly Moves the Soul

Works days are still long and fun. Playing catch up is surely coming to a close. The past few months have been difficult and getting through all of it has been very tough at times. God in Heaven has blessed me with friends that have such great timing. An injection of hope here, a bright light there, constant encouragement, a continuing bolster of the ego and patience in listening are such great things to have and experience. Truly, I am a blessed man with many friends and a great family. No man on earth could ever have felt the joy and delight of my two daughters, IMHO, the best ever! My heart sings happy melodies.

Why so melancholy and reflective? I've been listening to Todd Rundgren and Warren Zevon. Ever heard Tenderness on the Block? Mr. Zevon, I'd like to think, wrote this song for me. If you love your daughter/daughters and listen to this song without a tear then please seek therapy. And hey, what can I say about Todd? A Wizard a True Star is in the all time top five of Dock's favorite's. His Something/Anything album has one of the most moving ballads I've ever heard - It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference. It's all about forlorn love and recovery. No, she doesn't read this page. Don't let the dates fool you. This is some of the best engineering ever! Interesting note; Mr. Rundgren plays all the instruments and sings all the vocals. Awesome.

Have a most casual day and listen to a great old favorite today. Or try one of the above. Outta' here and loving my job!

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all art and science."
-Albert Einstein

Email Early Sunday Morning

One of my best buddies sent this to me and I thought why email it, post it!

Answer the following in your own thoughts

1. What time is it? 6:35AM

2. What is your full given name? Let's leave it at Mike West or Dock or Big Daddy or ole Lard Butt

3. What are you most afraid of? The smelly thing that lives in the SW corner of my garage.

4. What is the most recent movie that you have seen in a theatre? LOTR III, yeh, I should get out more

5. Place of birth? Memphis, TN and shortly thereafter returned to Mississippi thank the Good Lord (the dinosaurs attacked us on the way back, Mom said)

6. Favorite new food? All except stuff with curry powder - that stuff sucks!

7. What's your natural hair color? Various shades of gray with highlights of brown and scalp

8. Ever been to Alaska ? Do they have beaches, palm trees and boat drinks? If so then yes I've been there...

9. Ever been toilet papering rolling? Not in 6 or 8 years - thought about it as a profession

10. Love someone so much it made you cry? oh Lordy yes.

11. Been in a car accident? yes - thought about it as a second profession

12. Croutons or bacon bits? Pork Fat rules!

13. Favorite day of the week? If I ever get another day off I'll enjoy that one (hope it's a Sunday)

14. Favorite Restaurant? Automatic Slims, possibly the only attractive thing in Memphis - well there is the Peabody for dessert after eating just across the street at Automatic Slims

15. Favorite Flower? Dutch Iris

16. Favorite sport to watch? Ole MIss Football, you can have the rest of it

17. Favorite Drink? Real Coke w/rum or sans rum

18. Favorite ice cream? Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip

19. Disney or Warner Brothers? Gimme the Mouse House although I aspire to be Yosemite Sam or that fat pig

20. Favorite fast food restaurant? Taco Smell! Weak right now for a bean burrito

21. What color is your bedroom carpet? Builders' grade tan, it sucks

22. How many times have you failed your driver's test? Never, but I am permanently banned from a certain go cart track

23. Before this one, from whom did you get your last email? PNY trying to sell me memory

24. What do you most often do when you are bored? Start with Homestar Runner on the internet then Guild Wars!

25. Bedtime? Determined by supply and demand

26. Who will respond to this e-mail the quickest? Only Kim, doing this to blow her mind!

27. Who is the person you sent this to that is least likely to respond? George W.? Osama? The Donald? Kathy Lee Gifford? Oprah?

28. Who is the person that you are most curious to see their responses? Oprah, of course!

29. Favorite TV shows? Friday night Sci-Fi channel, love Firefly (of course it's been cancelled for 4 years now)

30. What is your most cherished possession? Used to be my lead sled el camino until it was stolen...uh uh I must shut up now - promised not to warp whine anymore.

31. Ford or Chevy? Chevy of course

32. What are you listening to right now? Mindi Abair, awesome soft jazz with a rock flavoring

33. If money and time was not a barrier where would you go on vacation? To Alaska silly looking for palm trees n boat drinks - that way I know if I'd been there before.

34. How many tattoos do you have? None, almost got the Grade 'A' Prime USDA seal on my butt when in Nam

35. How many pets do you have? None, but I do create these nasty little bone horror thingys in Guild Wars. Hey, I like 'em

36. Which came first the chicken or the egg? Have no idea but I bet Colonel Sanders was lurking in the background when this event took place


37. What would you like to accomplish before you die? To see those Alaskan palm trees


38. How many people are you sending this e-mail to? lol

On occasion I will return some email thangys. I liked this one! Thinking about retiring to Alaska now. Can't wait to laze under the palms!

Later ya'll, must get ready for work.

"A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you've been taking."
-Earl Wilson

Ready for Uber Cute?

When the article read like this:

ToeSocks06 writes "The cutest site i've ever or youve ever seen is this one CLICK IT NOW LOL!!! because they have the cutest pictures you will ever see :) :) :) Like hamsters wearing SO CUTE hats and so many kittens zomg i love kitties especially that brown one i hope they show him with hats to LOLOLOLOLOL!!! Ok I gottta go now bye!!!"

it was impossible for me NOT to click on it. Try it out! Stolen from Slashdot. Thanks to Toesocks06 for the link!

I've always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, "Ain't that the truth."
-Quincy Jones

Almost the Weekend

The weather is overcast, the humidity is up and it feels like rain. The birds are singing even under heavy cloud coverage. A good rain on Friday will make for a great weekend. The ugliest fence is Lee County may be in its last year of life. The wisteria usually covers it in summer, but Morticia, Cousin It, Lurch and Gomez have nothing on me during the winter months.

Some time this weekend battle will be done with the smelly thing that lives in the SW corner of the garage. Since re-integration of the PDA (Palm Tungsten) a few days ago my desire to organize has increased. The patio needs work and the plants go back on the veranda this weekend. Springtime is casual.

Enjoy the weekend. Go for a walk. Ride a horse. Visit the zoo. Fire up the grill. Use that front porch swing. Plant some flowers. Just get outside. It'll boost that morale.

"Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn."
Lewis Grizzard, Kathy Sue Loudermilk, I Love You

It's Just a Game, a Great Game Though

Just over at Slashdot and found an article that all my GuildWars compadres should read. The titles is How to Help a MMORPG Addict. LOL! Wish I had more time to spend in the world of Tyria. BTW, Slashdot is still the best blog on the planet.

Did you update your anti-spyware programs today? Do it! Don't let these creeps have their way with your PC and personal information.

"Be as beneficent as the sun or the sea, but if your rights as a rational being are trenched on, die on the first inch of your territory."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Orchard Litigation, OS Rivalry and Rambling

Looks like the Beatles are going to put Darth Jobs and Apple in their place. You can start reading about it at BusinessWeekOnline. Very deserving for an arrogant, ill-mannered liar and not nearly soon enough. Yes, Apple is trying to catch up to modern technology as is proven through their recent agreement with Intel. Yes, I do like Appple OSX and whatever has superceded it. Yes, I do hope it is made available for Wiindows PCs at a REASONABLE price.

At least they have one version and it is based on the super opensourced FreeBSD. Again, why didn't Windows learn from XP and the confusion about two different versions? Now I hear they will have EIGHT versions when Windows Vista finally hits the market. Rumors of pricing are indicating a horror story in the making. Hope such gossip is not true. Sheesh! Greed does funny things, huh?

Work will be late and long for the next several days. You have no idea how good that sounds. Most of the time will be spent around people that I really like and that helps. Lot of tasks ahead, but it's the best scenario possible for someone that is trying to stop engaging warpwhine. There's also the added bonus of dancing with UPS for supplies, tools, etc. Gotta' love 'em.

Due to the good heart of a friend there is a PDA back in my life: Lobotomy city without one. It'll take a few days to import data, but the prospect of hearing that alarm and checking notes makes even the first day of use a relief. What wonderful devices. They've come a long way since the days of Palm 3s and 5s. The Palm desktop is a great utility that is easy to use. Tried the Outlook sync thangy and that marriage won't work for me.

Time to get bizzy. Weather outside the beach house is beautiful. Get casual and enjoy the day.

"I can't complain, but sometimes I still do."
-Joe Walsh (uber guitarist for the Eagles)

New Approach

This past few months have not been easy. It's been tough trying to put stuff back together. Worry has stifled good thought process and getting to work will help alleviate a lot of problems. My anger is based on self disappointment and a few days were needed to align some goals. Thanks to all my friends and family for help during this time. Encouraging words mean a lot. I shall try to return to my sub or ab normal mode.

"The only correct actions are those that demand no explanation and no apology."
-Red Auerbach

I Don't Want a Pickle

It's good to have friends that look out for you. Someone advised me after having the truck stolen not to broadcast when I'd be out of town. There were many things that referenced this site in the El Camino and one of the cretins might actually have a smattering of brains and check it out. My Palm PDA has been sorely missed since it was the viable part of my brain, lol. It contained a huge amount of data and will definitely have to be replaced.

I'd just like to inform everyone there are people watching the house and they own large caliber weapons. I have the best neighbors in the world! Also, you can stand on the veranda and see City Hall. The police station is located in that building. Why mention all this data? Call it a dare. Nothing would suit me better than for the creepy little thieves to show up and die. After all, this is Mississippi and we do have 'gunslinger laws' that allow us to carry weapons. One of these days I'll try to let this go...

Congrats out to Murf from Kentucky on the new Harley Heritage.

What a nice way to travel. Yes, it's likely I'll die dreaming of owning one of these darlings. Title to today's post? Think Arlo Guthrie.

"The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship."
-William Blake

To Schedule on Not to Schedule

Mozilla is talking about their new calendar program. Slashdot linked to them this morning and the working name of the project is Lightning. This means hope for small businesses everywhere that need a networkable calendar that can track events. Don't be too hasty about downloading and implementing this software. They say on their front page that there are known bugs in the program. Just watch. The Mozilla folks have been good about letting people know when their products are stable. The beach house will keep you posted.

"Time is the longest distance between two places."
-Tennessee Williams

Rain, It's a Good Thing

It's early, I am running late, the coffee is cold, it's raining outside, my aching back is activating the warp whine machine, but somehow I am going to get thru a bad start. Waiting for another PC to start up and thought it'd be a good idea to look around the web for tech news. No earth shaking revelations this morning so far. Mebbe a good thing, huh?

If you are local wear a raincoat or carry your umbrella. Look forward to tomorrow! Hang in there. Don't let a 'rainy day n Monday get you down.'

"The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain."
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Green Friday

The luck o' the Irish to ya! The Celtic Woman CD is filling the house with Gaelic sounds. Suil A Run is currently making my ears very happy. This CD has been #1 on the international charts for 52 weeks! I love the new tunes, but the traditionals have such a haunting presence, conjuring images of Leprechauns and Druidic Mages meeting on green rolling fields under the full moon. And no, I haven't had a toast to Eire this morning.

This is a traditional day of festivity with good food and drink of all sorts abounding. Keep it festive - DON'T DRIVE DRUNK. Call a cab, or a friend, even walk. Just remember; the life you save may be my own.

"Humans are amphibians--half spirit and half animal. . . . As spirits they belong to the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time."
-C.S. Lewis

Laugh and Lighten Up

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

These tests crack me up. I am addicted. Took one the other day: Which classic movie are you? It said Easy Rider! LOL! Sometimes it's good to laugh. Thanks Beagle, your the best!

Speaking of laughing, have you heard Cheney's Got a Gun. This is hilarious and I am a Republican! Everyone enjoy Thursday.

"Never say uh-oh, just say interesting."
-Billy Wobblynife

McAfee Users Beware, Googleites Rest Easy

Running the so called McAfee Antivirus? You best quit reading this now and go check out REALTECHNEWS. How do these people stay in business?!?!?! If you have heeded my warnings down through the years then this won't be a problem.

Google has some really neat pixs of Mars if you click on their titlebar today. Anytime the letters are altered it's a good idea to take a look at what they are highlighting for the day. You can look for another on the 17th. Bet it has something to do with green.

Heard about the online web word processor named Writely? It's now a Google property. Read more about it at BusinessWeekOnline. This is worth watching. For years it's been predicted that a lot of our applications would be web based. Well, the times, they are a changin'.

"To weep is to make less the depth of grief."
-William Shakespeare, King Henry VI

Off With Their Heads

In the process of answering an email question let me say - no I am not abandoning this site. Having a vehicle stolen that contained 95% of the tools I used in work is a BITCH from which to rebound. Now there is the added worry of restocking the tools and repaying a loan. This is not my idea of fun and if I ever find the sorry creep/creeps that have devestated my life I will probably not prosecute. I just want their addresses so I can find them and kill them.

Now, please find something constructive to do instead trying to piss me off. I'll start posting again when the worry stops taking up most of my day. Go ahead, do idiot comments. It's expected. Now it's time to clean weapons. Later...

30 Days Hath September n' Pass the Cool Whip

For years the search has been on for a decent calendar program. A scheduling program that can be used over a network for small businesses is just hard to find in the freeware arena. Well, it looks like Google is coming to the rescue. Read about it at CNet's Blogma. Hate we had to find out when the Googlemeisters were trying to keep it on the down-low, but nice to know it's in the mill.

Fasting Lab day is approaching. We'll see if the med is unclogging the arteries and I am sure something will be said about my inability to lose poundage. It's been hard to diet the past few months. I must get right down to it and push my lard butt away from the table and EXERCISE! Thinking about a serving of Breyer's Vanilla with chocolate syrup and strawberries makes me weak. Excuse me while I lapse into a sugar coma.

As that Texas philosopher Ed Coffin would say, "Have a better than expected day."

"Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie."
-Jim Davis, (from the comic strip Garfield)

Grand Music

Yesterday was David Gilmour's birthday. He's 60 years young. The new album is going to go thru the roof. The new album? On an Island. Who is David Gilmour you ask? Ever listen to Pink Floyd? How about Dark Side of the Moon or Wish You Were Here? Graham Nash and David Crosby sing on some tracks. Wow! How's that for backup singers?!?!




This album was recorded in his Thames River houseboat/studio and the orchestra tracks were laid down at Abbey Roads. Thinking back, I have been listening to Mr. Gilmour and the other Floydites all of my adult life. What tremendous musicians. Alas, never seen any of them in concert. I hope that changes.

Check out the neat video on David's site. Hats off to a major influence in modern music!

"A painter paints pictures on canvas, but musicians paint their pictures on silence."
-Leopold Stokowski

Saturday AM Ramblings

It's Saturday morning and task of the day is to clean up around the pigsty, uh, beach house. The weather should be in the 60s today and the sky is clear and beautiful. Time to try and put everything back on schedule which will be hard to do without the Palm PDA. I REALLY miss it. Guess the car thief creep is using it to schedule his next theft or some other abuse. Sorry, I regress.

Think we will have another freeze? Be nice to get the plants back on the veranda. Enjoy this awesome day.

"Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party!'"
-Robin Williams