Monday, December 03, 2001

Mon
3
Dec
2001

Checking In

Current mood: okay bear blah
I'm not feeling bad, not feeling good.

Doing some much-needed housework today. I've still got the roasting pan and pie pans from Thanksgiving dinner still sitting on my counter waiting to be washed. Gross, huh? Marcus usually does the dishes when I cook, but since he's been sick lately, it's not getting done. I don't have to go to town today. Yay for that. I do have to run to Bennett to take my Thanksgiving decorations to storage and pay the storage bill, but that's about it. I'm contemplating grabbing some Christmas stuff while I'm there. We'll see how much housework gets done before then. We're going to Divide this weekend to cut our Christmas tree. We've done this the last few years. It's so cool how long the tree lasts and how good it smells. We always manage to bring home a tree that is way too big. Funny how they look a lot smaller out in the woods. Oh, well. Kindling for the fireplace.

Speaking of the fireplace, I made a really good fire last night. That's a cool thing about living out on the plains--no woodburning restrictions. Someday I want a gas fireplace, but nothing beats the smell or the feel of a real wood-burning fire. I'm also a bordering pyromaniac. I love fire.

I just watched the Barenaked Ladies on Live with Regis and Kelly. I love them! I think it is so neat to watch guys perform that seem to really enjoy it. You know they're not in it just for the money. I remember when Marcus first liked them (before they were famous) and he aksed his mom to buy him one of their CD's for Christmas. She was shocked and refused to go into a store to ask for such a thing. HA!

I heard that a lot of the AT&T customers should be switched to their service no later than tomorrow. The new address is supposed to be .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). I sent mail to dad using that address. It hasn't been returned. I'll have to check in on him later this afternoon and see if he has service yet. I sure hope so. I got him addicted to the internet and now he can't even send mail. I'm still mad about the whole thing.

I'm going to work on a Christmas redesign this afternoon. Speaking of Christmas design, I downloaded a great screensaver from the Coca-cola website. Cheesy, but cute. Here's a screenshot of the one I chose:

Coca-cola Santa screensaver


Well, back to housework.

Sunday, December 02, 2001

Sun
2
Dec
2001

Gimme A Break

Today's horoscope. How true, how true!

>>Your Daily Horoscope for December 02, 2001.

Dear LaDonna,
Don't let another day go by without patting yourself on the back for being the incredible person you are, LaDonna. It could be that you are constantly striving for perfection, but never satisfied with all the work you've done and the person you really are. Remember that the cleanliness of your house is not a reflection of the cleanliness of your soul. Give yourself a break.

Best wishes for today, from the astrologers of Astrocenter.com

Sun
2
Dec
2001

@Home Fiasco

Current mood: angry bear annoyed
I'm so ticked off. I finally have some time and all I want to do is email my friends and my father, but alas, most of them have @home addresses and therefore cannot be reached. All because AT&T wants to be a butt and be the only cable company that doesn't want to work with Excite to reach a service agreement. Here's a story about the whole fiasco on CNN.com. I know AT&T wants to buy Excite@Home, but this is not the way to go about it. Way to provide customer service and put the customers first. Jackasses. The company told my friend Mike that he would probably get his service restored in about six (6!) days. Laura is a victim of AT&T's oh-so-clever business dealings. I really liked how Kimberly summed it all up.

On a happier note, Jean Auel is finally releasing a new book. She is the author of the Earth's Children series: Clan of the Cave Bear, The Valley of Horses, The Mammoth Hunters, The Plains of Passage, and (finally being released in April 2002) The Shelters of Stone. I have been waiting for what seems like forever for a new Auel novel. I read The Plains of Passage in college and that was over ten years ago! I can't wait. I had been checking this site regularly, but I fell out of the habit and missed the announcement of the new novel (it was last June). Oh, well.

Thursday, November 29, 2001

Thu
29
Nov
2001

Gloomy

Current mood: ?gloomy
I hate cold, dreary weather. It makes me want to crawl into bed and stay there all day. It's even a major effort just to put this post in the old blog. I'm in a "feeling sorry for myself" type of mode. School's done, work sucks, I'm boke with Christmas coming fast, I'm feeling rather inadequate. I know I need to find a new job, I'm just dreading the process of finding it. I know there is a recession and a lot of good people are not finding work. I'm not feeling confident about knowing anything I supposedly learned from that stupid school. I've got to get over this fear I have and just move on. I think I need a vacation......

Monday, November 26, 2001

Mon
26
Nov
2001

Floppy Disk Care

As seen in the Lockergnome Techspecialist 11/23 newsletter:

(Im)Proper Care of Floppy Diskettes
  1. Never leave diskettes in the disk drive, as data can leak out of the disk and corrode the inner mechanics of the drive. Diskettes should be rolled up and stored in pencil holders.
  2. Diskettes should be cleaned and waxed once a week. Microscopic metal particles can be removed by waving a powerful magnet over the surface of the disk. Any stubborn metallic shavings can be removed with scouring powder and soap. When waxing the diskettes, make sure the surface is even. This will allow the diskette to spin faster, resulting in better access time.
  3. Do not fold diskettes unless they do not fit into the drive. "Big" diskettes may be folded and used in "little" disk drives.
  4. Never insert a diskette into the drive upside down. The data can fall off the surface of the disk and jam the intricate mechanics of the drive.
  5. Diskettes cannot be backed up by running them through the Xerox machine. If your data is going to need to be backed up, simply insert two diskettes into the drive. Whenever you update a document, the data will be written on both diskettes.
  6. Diskettes should not be inserted or removed from the drive while the red light is flashing. Doing so could result in smeared or possibly unreadable text. Occasionally the red light remains flashing in what is known as a "hung" or "hooked" state. If your system is "hooking" you will probably need to insert a few coins before being allowed access to the slot.
  7. If your diskette is full and you need more storage space, remove the disk from the drive and shake vigorously for 2 minutes. This will pack the data enough (Data Compression) to allow for more storage. Be sure to cover all the openings with scotch tape to prevent loss data.
  8. Access time can be greatly improved by cutting more holes in the diskette jacket. This will provide more simultaneous access points to the disk.
  9. Diskettes may be used as coasters for beverage glasses, provided that they are properly waxed beforehand. Be sure to wipe the diskettes dry before using. (see item 2 above)
  10. Never use scissors and glue to manually edit documents. The data is stored much too small for the naked eye, and you may end up with data from some other document stuck in the middle of your document. Razor blades and scotch tape may be used, however, provided the user is equipped with an electron microscope.
  11. Periodically spray diskettes with insecticide to prevent system bugs from spreading.