Cafe Du Monde is closed today

The floodgates in New Orleans that usually keep water from flowing into the city may be opened to let water out if they can, in fact, get them open. Another concern is fuel storage tanks floating free and spilling into the area creating the strong possibility of fire. Read about it at The Times Picayune. This is a local newspaper in the New Orleans area and a pertinent source of topics relevant to this awful tragedy. Another informative, up to date site is MississippiPolitical. Thanks and props to CW for an awesome job of keeping us informed about current matters concerning this dilemna.

It cannot be stressed enough to give money, blood, time and prayers. NOLA, the Mississippi Gulf Coast and surrounding areas are devastated. Thank God my friends and family are safe. Returning to this area will not be easy for them. We must pull together as a mighty nation and reach out to help those in need. Such havoc in this historical area that I love dearly is sad enough, but the plight of the people tugs at my soul.

Donate to the Red Cross. Help the saints, sinners and all concerned go 'marching in' again.

"It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it."
-Einstein

Riders on the Storm

It looks like a disaster area around the beach house. No major damage, but the streets are full of debris and water is standing in small pools everywhere. It amazes me that when weather is sane and pretty in this area a local yokel weatherman will interrupt TV to tell us about storms in Texas or Louisiana. Last night I think that horse's butt was hiding somewhere. TV coverage sucked. Here we are in the midst of a tropical storm at 7:00pm and they are showing clips from 6:00am that were filmed over 300 miles away. Go figure.

The storm shelter is decent, but not my cup of tea. People in the neighborhood use it. Last night after I knew that my daughter and son-in-law in Baton Rouge were okay, things became anticlimatic. Went to bed somewhere between 9:00pm and 10:00pm and slept with the windows open. Arose late this morning and trying to survive an earache. Has anyone ever died of one? One of these days I hope to be ailment free. We should have intermittent showers and sunshine today. Haven't seen our star shine this morning. Still raining.


If Arnold, opossumus germanicus austriabodicus, was in the front yard oak tree last night he received one bang up ride. Never seen it whip around like that. Some of the branches were beating against the veranda. If it had blown over the massive wisteria vine would probably have held it upright. Now it's time to put the hanging plants back out and start picking up limbs that have blown off the trees. Thanks to all those that have been concerned. Many calls were received last night and this morning. Your emails are appreciated too.

Have a pleasant day and remember those people in Florida and on the Gulf Coast in your prayers.

"Storms make trees take deeper roots."
-Dolly Parton

Catergory 5 or 4? Katrina, not cable

No wind yet. And it's not raining. That will change drastically before the day is over. Most of the regular readers know that my oldest daughter and her husband reside in Baton Rouge, LA. Talked to her at 11:00pm last night and they are staying due to his duties as a physician. Fortunately, he will be able to return home during the most intense hours. It's my guess he will start making rounds at the hospital in another hour. They have filled the tubs and 'battened down the hatches,' LOL. She went to the grocer late last week and their stock of emergency supplies has been replenished.

The track of Katrina is still on course for a collision with New Orleans. The Weather Channel Geeks are predicting severe power outages and extremely high water levels. Our friends there have evacuated as have those on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Baton Rouge is over an hour away from New Orleans and it seems most residents there are staying. Yes, I am worried. This day will center around an important phone call from crawdad country. Have I mentioned lately how much I love both of my awesome daughters?

"I know a girl
She puts the color inside of my world"
-John Mayer, Daughters (for complete lyrics try lyricsdepot)

Be careful where you step on the computer trail

Had any experience with StopSign? This is a supposed "antispyware, antivirus tool" that grabs your machine and dumps popups/ads onto it while gleaning information about you. The parent company is eAcceleration. Vaguely I remember something about them and occasionally see this show up in the Spybot S&D list as well as Ad-Aware. If you have had experience with this malware please get in touch. Trying to help someone rid their machine of this infection. Garbage like this is written by people that are horse turds on the computer trail of life.

Let's go over some basic protection ideas. Hey, this is not a claim to have the perfect defense and the beach house gladly receives any input from people that have alternatives. This formula works here and on many networks in this area. Far be it from me to not incorporate a new idea into the protection scheme. If you remember, CCleaner was added to the arsenal just a month or so ago.

ROUTERS: A good router helps alleviate some of the stress. Not a switch or hub - a router. The router must be next to the internet connection. Yes, you can use a router on dialup, but the device has to be capable of handling a dialup connection. A router can be used with one computer. No, you cannot use wireless on a dialup due to lack of bandwidth. If you are using a small network, here is an excellent site that goes into detail about the various aspects -> Schmidt Consulting. This is indepth, precise and well written.

ANTIVIRUS: AVG Antivirus rocks! If you insist on using Norton's, Symantec or whatever they are named today go ahead. Just use the Antivirus program. Stay away from Norton Internet Security (NIS) and Norton System Works. You will pay good money for software that is sluggish and hard to use. If you are using McAfee Antivirus, God help you not only with computers, but with everyday decisions in life. Some folks like AntiVir, Trend-mirco, and there are other programs that create protection from the baddies. After 5 years of using AVG...well, if it's not broke, don't fix it! Don't forget that AVG has a free edition for non commercial users.

ANTISPYWARE: Spybot Search & Destroy, Lavasoft Ad-aware SE, and Javacoolsoftware's Spywareblaster are a must. They are free downloads and all can be found at MajorGeeks. You can donate or upgrade. Please consider helping out these folks that provide us with great tools. While at MajorGeeks, go look at their Geekwear section and other areas. I like this site. Back to the anti-spyware stuff - just installing the programs won't cut the mustard. You have to setup properly, update and scan on a regular basis. They won't work by just residing in your program list. An additional area of this site is under development that will provide a step by step installation and usage guide. This is taking some time, but there will be pictures! If you click on the line just below the beach house pix above, you can find individual links to these wonderful programs.

BATTERY BACKUP: Throw away that $10.00 power strip and get a real backup unit. Please see the post dated Tuesday, August 23, 2005.

Hope this helps. Please feel free to send input or make a comment. As Red Green says, "We're all in this together."

"A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing."
-Emo Philips

Let's all go to the lobby

I love movies. Sometimes a good black and white classic is a great escape from a fast paced world. Just sit back with the remote, turn on the DVD, and enjoy the magic in comfortable surroundings. The trip to the Malco is made on occasion. Star Wars, Revenge of the Sith, was seen on the first day it was shown and so were the three Lord of the Rings films.

Going to the theater can be troublesome. Nowadays many parents do not teach their children manners. During the first LOTR film, I had to get up, go out and find the manager to stop some 15 year old brat from kicking the back my seat. This was after giving serious thought to jerking him up and dragging him with me. I have that technology. How rude for this ill-mannered urchin to come between Frodo and me?!?!

On the other hand, during the second LOTR classic we saw a young man get down on his knee and propose to a young lady. She accepted. He had put up a series of pictures interlaced with the ads that ran before the previews. This ended with an onscreen, "Will you marry me?" There was a spotlight on him as he proposed. Everyone stood up and applauded. Very warm and refreshing. There were tears of joy in some eyes. Smiles were abundant.

The outrageous price of popcorn and soft drinks also dampens the spirit of a night out at the cinema. This is covered by Ken "Caesar" Fisher in a very insightful article at ArsTechnica titled Hollywood faces the music: bad movies mean bad ticket sales. There are some interesting comments; just click the "Discuss" button at the bottom.

Now I must work up the courage to go see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. A friend emailed several weeks ago and highly recommended this Johnny Depp vehicle. Hopefully, there won't be any rude monsters at the late showing.

"For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake."
-Alfred Hitchcock

This brings a smile to my face

Ever tried to escape the throes of AOL? Okay, you think you have eliminated AOL from your computer? Do a search and type in AOL. Tell it to search your "C" drive. Aha! You only thought it was gone. You have seen the light and the dark side of the force still lurks trying to do evil to your style of computerese.

There is actually a free download over at MajorGeeks that helps you remove AOL. Sad that someone had to spend time and write a piece of software that gives us the ability to eliminate something we DON'T want on our PCs. Sounds like malware, huh?

Back to the topic at hand; Charles Jade has a great article about justice in America at ArsTechnica. The title of the post is You got fined! No small fine either. Thanks and props go out to our Northern friends in the state of New York for setting an example of how to deal with this annoying, "internet provider." Now if the folks in the Mississippi legislature will pay attention...

"There is little success where there is little laughter."
-Andrew Carnegie

Things Google

If you use any type of instant messaging download Google Talk. This will be huge. After using their simple interface and understanding the ease of making voice calls it is apparent Google has once again taken a technology and put a very positive spin on it. Even though GAIM is the beach house interface, it saddens me to use the spyware plagued Yahoo service in any shape, form or fashion. GAIM lets you use most of the known IMs inside their software eliminating the background clutter. If you need a Gmail account (you do) please email me for an invitation. It's easy to enroll, the installation is quick and this is the best email service in the solar system. Hey, they give you 2 gigabytes of online storage space!

Must crawl to the Flexeril. That falling off a ladder early this week was dumb, dumb, dumb. K, outta here before I lapse into turbowhine.

"The worst pain a man can suffer: to have insight into much and power over nothing."
-Herodotus

Monitor Blues is over and new IM

Need a new monitor? OfficeMax offers a StarLogic 19" Flat Screen CRT for $139.95. They have a few left and will be on sale until Saturday. Dot pitch is .25 and maximum resolution 1600x1200. Great clarity and even though it's a CRT the depth and weight are minimal.


Heard about Google Talk? It is a new free instant messaging service that has no ads! They use your Gmail account name. Don't have Gmail? Puh-leeze crawl out of that cave! Email me for an invitation! Finally, a way to escape spyware carrier Yahoo (every time you use Yahoo you are supporting one of the largest spyware thugs -> Claria) and the most annoying MSN Messenger. BTW, you can turn off MSN Messenger permanently in Outlook Express.

Google Talk is compatible with GAIM, a great opensource IM that covers many formats of instant messenger services. It will run in Windows, most flavors of Linux and can be tweaked to run on those Apple thangys. GAIM is in use at the beach house and it rocks!

Have a cool and casual day unless you are in the spyware business.

"Evil begets evil. Shooting it only makes it stronger."
-Father Cornelius, The Fifth Element

Protect thyself from radical free electrons

Battery backup units are just like closet space, kitchen cabinets and computer memory; you can't have too much of any of these things. During the power outage due to stormy weather yesterday, my battery backups sat chirping their beeps until the noise became irritating and they were turned off. After bringing everything online when the power was restored, my connectivity was null and void. Why? The router had taken damage during the return of power. It has been replaced and would still be working if it had been on a battery backup unit. The expense of a new router is over twice as much as the cost of a battery backup unit. Needless to say I will purchase another battery backup today. Here I am preaching about protect yo' stuff all the time and now through my own stupidity and neglect the wallet has become lighter.

Here are some links to local businesses that sell these units:

OfficeMax
CircuitCity
Walmart
BestBuy

DON'T buy a cheap surge protection strip. DO buy a backup unit with a battery in it. These units have software that will automatically shut down your computer properly in case of a power brown out. They also protect your system from surges while the power is being restored. One more piece of advice - never plug your printer into one of these units. They use mega-amperage during start up and will defeat the purpose of the battery backup.

"I was trying to daydream, but my mind kept wandering."
-Steven Wright

Dreaming about Iuka

The temperature is supposed to drop this weekend according to the weather witchdoctors. It'll be time to go forth and do battle with the heat in about an hour. Starting early to avoid the frying time that commences around high noon. May try and cook an egg on the pavement if back at the beach house during the afternoon. Saw Bif Henderson attempt this feat on David Letterman's show a few months back, but I don't think New York City receives the blistering heat found in the Deep South. Will keep you posted. Should I ask Arnold, opossumus germanicus austriabodicus, how he likes his eggs? Nah!!! He'll probably want cheese grits, biscuits, country ham, gravy and coffee on the side...

Anyone have a report on the success of the Furniture Market last week? Comment or email me. Have a memory of the ice house era? I remember going to the ice house in downtown Iuka. It was just behind the Court House. Comment or email me.

"It's a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water."
-Jones

Laughing out loud

Check the Ashby Rhett Culpepper, III, Esq, post from Friday, August 19, 2005, titled Diabhi's Wild Ride over at SouthernPhried. Gosh, lotta commas in that last sentence. Anyway, this is a tale that will have you rolling on the floor. It involves a squirrel that I think has taught our frequent visitor Arnold, opossumus germanicus austriabodicus, a trick or two or three.

"He who laughs, lasts."
-Poole

Chill baby, chill

It's hot outside. I was out and about before 7:00am and it is sweltering. The humidity must be about 2000%. The predicted overnight low for tonight is in the mid to high 70s. Summertime in the South. Gotta love it. Please be careful and stay inside unless absolutely necessary. When the heat index soars to well over 100 it's time to read a book, do some housework, watch TV, catch up on email, browse HomestarRunner and possibly say a prayer for those of us that have no choice about being in the heat. Have a casual and cool day.

"Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do
But there ain't no cure for the summertime blues"
-penned and originally performed by Eddie Cochran, covered by Blue Cheer, Rush, Alan Jackson, etc. - also part of the soundtrack of Easy Rider

Things that go bump in the night

Early morning marsupial wake up again. I've got to move the small grill that Arnold, opossumus germanicus austriabodicus, returns to steal every week or so. He's hellbent on it going somewhere. Tyroneus and I have decided he likes the residue of grillings past even though it's been Brillo scrubbed and doused with boiling water. The picture of possums sitting in the top of a tree with the gas burner flaming, singing Italian and Austrian ballads while drinking Chianti or Riesling just won't leave my mind. Probably cook some type of roadkill. If he does manage to drag it off I certainly don't want it back!

Now that the noise has subsided it's time to try for a few more winks of sleep. Maybe dream about a trip to Lowe's later today. There will be a an anti-possum log chain/padlock combination in the near future. Wonder how long it'll be until Arnold has a key to the lock? Think those Italian buddies that he hangs out with are some sort of criminal element? Possum Mafia? After all, my first glimpse of them was while they were trying to turn over a Ford Escort Station Wagon a few blocks over that they had mistaken for a dumpster...

Stay casual. L8R.

"We are confronted with insurmountable opportunities."
-Pogo

Monitor Blues

Anyone shopped for monitors lately? My 21" Trinitron flat screen CRT has bit the dust. I'm sick. It has to be replaced. To me, CRTs ( the big ones that are shaped like TVs) are easier on the eyes and seem to have more information. If you know of a decent buy, please use the comments or email me. The monitor I am presently using just won't do the job. I've worked on the 21' CRT all morning and it just won't revive.

Time to get outside and do some work. Everyone have a most casual Wednesday.

"The only thing God didn't do to Job was give him a computer."
-Stone

Cool drink

The long, hot summer never goes away, at least during August. Furnace index has been well into the 100s. Whine, whine, whine. It's great to be alive and in Mississippi. After losing 5000 pounds in water weight, the beach house is a nice respite. Just glad the air conditioning is alive to aid my recomposure. Don't go out in this heat!

Ahhhh, relaxing and recovering I must say, the music is great. Mairead is playing violin and Lisa, Chloe, Maev n Orlagh are singing. Don't understand? Read the archives. Celtic Woman Rocks!!!

"Sing with me, sing for the years/Sing for the laughter'n sing for the tears."
-Steve Tyler, the Aerosmith dude

Catfish are jumpin'

It is summertime in the Deep South. Even in the early morning hours the air is so heavy that it feels like an extra layer of clothing. Early morning starts for outdoor work are mandatory this time of the year. Yet, it's nice to travel in light traffic, coffee seems to taste better this early and there is an illusion of calmness to be enjoyed. Exhaustion will be prevelant come the afternoon. Humidity and heat sap strength. Somewhere there's a prayer in here. Thanks for another day.

The melancholy is over. Time to 'turn to' and head out. Make Monday casual. Just think, you could be out in this heat.

"A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken."
-Dent

Pass the low-cal dressing? Yeppers, that's what I'd like to do...

Salad burnout is a horrible nasty thing. Not so much the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, shallots, carrots, and all the rest of the vegetable family, but to do without whole dressing for an extended period makes me turn inward and socially isolate. Right now I am in the throes of Blue Plate withdrawal. Any true southerner knows that there is ONLY ONE mayonnaise. It is slightly expensive, but well worth the price. The good folks at Reily Foods have blessed us with many great products since their humble beginnings in 1902ish New Orleans. Luzianne Tea & Coffee, Swans Down Flour, Wicks Fowler Chili and Carroll Shelby Chili are some of their products. There are rumors of a tabasco flavored Blue Plate mayo and my search has begun.

Have a casual, easy Sunday. Remember our troops in your prayers. On my way to purchase a drill bit later today there will be a detour by the Kroger to see if that spicy mayonnaise has made it to the local shelves.

"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found."
-Calvin Trillin

Dr. Strangelove and the heat

Does it bother anyone that Iran is developing nuclear technology? If you think this is good then your children are probably playing with loaded guns. Folks, these maniacs aren't worried about a thrifty energy source. They have oil for centuries. May I remind you that this is the country that brought us the Ayatollah? They also let Iraqi fighter planes land in their country during the first Gulf War. Yep, they did this at the same time they were sworn enemies with Saddam's bunch. You really think they should handle nuclear devices?

With the heat index in the 100s work for the beach house starts early and stops early. It's hot out there. Stay inside under conditioned air if possible. If outside, drink plenty of liquids and get somewhere cool at the first sign of dizziness. Time to go load the truck. There's only 3000 feet of cable to go on this latest project that suddenly has to be finished Monday. Ahhhhhhh, living for the weekend! LOL

"What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance."
-Jane Austen

Harleys, hacking and a horror story

Glad to report that Kentucky Murf is returning from a great trip to Sturgis, South Dakota. The annual Sturgis Ride was a great success. Murf stayed at Buffalo's with a record crowd of 35,000. God speed and Harley well. BTW, August the 19th starts the weekend festivities at Sturgis, MS. Read all about it in a really kewl biker magazine, Thunder Roads. Be sure and turn the sound up!

Just love it when the bad guys receive a big ole plate of what the deserve. Darth Jobs is probably throwing the hissy fit to end all hissy fits. Read about the latest usage of Apple's OSX at Wired News. Apparently there's a pirated version that runs on Windows machines. It can found at Bit Torrent. It's certain that Bill Gates is watching.

Remember the two thugs that killed the 4 students and 1 teacher in Jonesboro? Well, one of them turned 21 and was expected to walk out of prison yesterday or today. Some idiotic technicality is permitting this to happen. IMHO, hope one of the parents shoots this no good son of a bitch!!!! Sorry bastard does not deserve to live. Read about this horrible mistake of the Arkansas "justice" system in the Washington Post. Remember, this is the state that brought us that worm Bill Clinton.

"When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers."
-Proverbs 21:15

Google, Discovery, etc.

A very interesting article about the use of Linux at Google and other web sites, businesses, countries, etc., can be found at Computer Business Review Online. Chris DeBona is interviewed and he was a frequent guest on the now defunct TechTV. His participation converting Linux Red Hat to solely enterprise status did not make me happy, but he is savvy about things Linux. Very well written article.

If you watched the Discovery return from space yesterday morning I hope you were tuned into the Fox News Channel. Their coverage was awesome. It's great to have the astronauts back home safe and sound. Have a productive and casual Thursday.

"Success is blocked by concentrating on it and planning for it.... Success is shy - it won't come out while you're watching."
-Tennessee Williams

Geekarama Trauma

Spyware is really, really bad. There are so many things that could be done instead of having to deal with this slime. Why are we putting up with these cretins? To the volcano with them all I say. My possum watching is down to almost nothing and my yard suffers because it seems there are machines or remnants of machines always sitting around waiting to be de-spywared.

There's updates to be done, networks to be managed, cables to be pulled, a garage that needs painting, a new Best Buy that needs checking out, my family that misses me, having a pet is out of the question, the leadsled air conditioning needs attention (it has to feel neglected), the checkout people at Kroger sent a note wondering if I was okay since I hadn't been down to lust over the donuts and the cable company is amazed because even though the cable modem is in great use, my TVs are never on anymore. Wow, that was almost a one sentence paragraph.

If someone from the health department saw my sink and the dishes they'd have me put in a home. The thing that lives in the southwest corner of the garage won't even growl anymore. Think it's sulking because of all the new computer carcasses that adorn it's domicile. Spyware is taking over my life. Please note the time of this post. Have a nice day unless you are associated with spyware; all you creepware jerks need terminal wedgies.

"There are many here among us
who think life is but a joke
but you and I, we've been through that;
this is not our fate.
Let us not speak falsely now, the hour's getting late."
-Bob Dylan, All Along the Watchtower
(Jimi Hendrix rendition...w00t!)

I say again, Yahoo is BAD juju

Have you heard about an alternative browser, Maxthon, based on Internet Explorer? It's been used at the beach house for several days. It offers some neat features, has good looks, and they take donations. After some search on the web about how to rid it of the HORRIBLE Yahoo search engine and replace it with Google, it seems to be the opinion of several folks that Maxthon is adware. Well, I read the EULA and didn't find any indication, but not having passed the bar there may some wording that has flown over my head. So, since there is such talk around the net and I can't use Google as the default search engine, it has been uninstalled. Any input will be appreciated.

How often do you wipe your computer clean and reinstall Windows? What was that? Wait a minute, you don't? You might want to gander at a very interesting article over at ArsTechnica by Josh Meier.

"An appeaser is one who feeds a shark--hoping it will eat him last."
-Winston Churchill

With a purple umbrella and a fifty cent hat

Is it just me or does anyone else find it amusing that Cadillac is using Led Zeppelin as their theme music? Another great site for fans of these British Rockers is Led-Zeppelin.com. Be sure and turn the speakers up!

"It's been a long time since I rock and rolled,
It's been a long time since I did the Stroll.
Ooh, let me get it back, let me get it back,
Let me get it back, baby, where I come from."
-Bonham, Jones, Page, & Plant

Links are returning, slowly but surely

There is a new links page which can be accessed by clicking on the phrase just under the picture of the Beach House. Yep, that one; right up there at the top in the center of the page. The list is an older one and it's not big on organization, yet. Change can sometimes be slow. For instance, one of my favorite sites, Mississippi Political is not yet listed, but will be soon. Links will be categorized and overall navigation will be easier. Hey, between the Possum Grill Wars, maintaining life and general paranoia, it's a miracle anything happens around here. So, please be patient. Any suggested decent links will be considered. Email addy is cybersouth@gmail.com. Please report any dead links found. Need all the help I can get!

"Politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax."
-Arthur Schopenhauer

Windows 2000 relief

Using Windows 2000? MicrosoftWatch has an article that will definitely interest you. eWeek also has an article concerning the 2K roll up. So does InformationWeek.

It's late and the bed is calling. Have a joyous weekend.

"Don't smoke too much, drink too much, eat too much or work too much. We're all on the road to the grave, but there's no need to be in the passing lane."
-Orben

Really neat gadget

Thinking about a portable MP3 player so you can listen to tunes while mowing the yard, walking the dog, or washing the car? Before you go to the orchard and flop down your hard earned money for an iPod, please consider the alternatives. The folks at Creative Labs now offer a new device called the Zen Vision. Several people have read beach house positive reviews of the Zen MP3 players. It's nice to report that 100% of the the people that purchased these devices and then contacted me are extremely satisfied. Use mine all the time. It provides melodic relief in a stressful world. But this new video/audio player with 120 hour capability of video? That's so cool that icicles are dripping from it. BTW, it will cost you the same as the 60gig (non-video) iPod. Thanks to Ken "Caesar" Fisher at ArsTechnica for a great heads up.

"Of all the music that reached farthest into heaven, it is the beating of a loving heart."
-Beecher

NOTE: Over the next few days there will be construction here - we are working to put the Links list back in place. Please bear with us. The site shouldn't be down for very long so please check back. Thank you!

Yoga...it's a good thing?

We face a world each day with terrorist threats from goobers that are mad because of the way we live and our freedom of religion, but the news media is reporting the activities of 'hardened', 'violent', mobstress aka Martha 'Gun Moll' Stewart. C'mon folks, give it a rest. She is being punished 3 more weeks with the ankle bracelet for attending a yoga class. The horror of it all. What's next? Will they send her back to jail if her souffle drops? Gosh, she might do something dangerous like stop by the grocer for blueberries or cilantro. Read about it at EOnline.

"I love women. They're the best thing ever created. If they want to be like men and come down to our level, that's fine."
-Mel Gibson

Possumnator speaks

I do have a set of keys to the leadsled (click on comments from last post).

"We have met the enemy and he are us."
-Pogo

Grill Wars - Revenge of the Possumnator

Around 3:00AM there was a noise outside the door. After falling asleep at the workbench this clatter startled me awake and it flashed through my mind what poor soul would be trying to steal the leadsled? Jerking the door open it was discovered that Arnold, opossumus germanicus austriabodicus, was once again trying to steal the grill not the El Camino. At least, not yet. What does he think he's gonna' do with the grill?!?! Put it in the top of the oak tree and invite his possum friends over for a roasted pocket bread soiree? I can see the headline - 'Foolish man chains barbeque grill to porch to keep local fauna from becoming thieves.' Or worse - 'Man found severely mangled after interrupting supply line of local United Possum Guild, #42.'

Good Lord, please deliver me from this denizen of brazen marsupials. The next thing you know he'll want my Emeril cookbooks! I must go rest now...

"Laughter is the closest distance between two people."
-Victor Borge