HTML Fiddling

I finally took a few minutes to make the site more readable via non-IE browers. I put the main part in a clearly defined table instead of purse CSS and the site looks identical under both IE & Mozilla under WinXP. The right column shows up all the time now.
If you still have viewing problems, let me know.

Catching up

Last Sunday I went Geocaching with Martin. I finally got the story written up.
Enjoy the story of Geocache 17.
Also in catch-up mode is this photo:


I had run out of book in my ‘To read’ stack. After a visit to Amazon I bought Duke of Uranium by John Barnes, Vanishing Act by Thomas Perry, and Declare by Tim Powers. Duke of Uranium is standard Sci-Fi , Vanishing Act is a crime novel, and Declare is a spy/magic novel, all from some of my favorite writers. I’m currently reading Duke of Uranium.
That’s enough for now. Michele will beat me with a stick if I stay at the computer much longer.

Amazing Week

I’m back home now. I went with Michele to drop Mira off at nursery school. I was getting a little stir crazy and wanted to get out. I’m not sure if it was Michele’s driving or my breakfast of rye toast and tea, but I’m feeling a little queasy.
I stopped taking the Vicodin this morning. I’m just going to take Tylenol now. The Vicodin just makes me too loopy.
I hear some of my peeps are having trouble with Trillian and Yahoo IM. I was trying to chat with Casey last night and everytime he sent me a message, it was crash my instance of Trilllian. There is a patch here that appears to fix the problem. I pray for an end to the Great IM Wars.
Sitting here on the couch I caught and episode with Cory Doctrow talking about several interesting bills in congress about consumers rights that basically repeal parts of the DCMA. You can check it out here.
That’s it for now. I think I’m going to roll over and take a nap. It’s almost 9:30 and I’m tired. 🙂

Feeling Better

It’s Thursday night and I’m still awake. I’ve slept more in the last two days than in the last month. My internal clock is fuxxored.
Michele cooked up some homemade matzo ball soap today. Delicious! I’ve only eaten soup for the last few days due to my sore throat and the Matzo Ball soup was a treat. Sitting at the table with the girls for dinner was a nice break from sitting on the couch all day.
Oh yes, FUCK Delta Airlines. Due to my throat, I can’t fly to New York for my Alumni Weekend. It is quite a disappointment. I called Delta to tell them I couldn’t make the flight. They said I could postone the exact flight up to a year from when I made the reservation. This doesn’t work since I made the reservation in Sept. and Alumni Weekend ’03 will be in Oct. She siad I could turn my ticket back into frequent fliers miles. Sounds great, right? Then she said I had to pay $100 for the priviledge of not flying on Delta. So it was either pay $100 or lose a frequent flyer flight. Bastards. Go bankrupt on your stupid as fees and nonsensical fare system. I hope Southwest ends up running your stupid asses into a Chapter 11.
On a lighter note, I watched two movies today. I watched The Hidden Fortress and The Last Castle. The Hidden Fortress is one of the Kurosawa films that I haven’t seen. I had heard that Lucas based some of Star Wars on the film. I could see a few ideas, but overall it’s quite a different story. I do think the idea of the lightsaber duel does come from this film. I enjoyed the film, but like many subtitled films, you need to be paying a lot of attention to avoid missing anything. I have to rewind a couple times to catch what was going on. The second film, The Last Castle was good, but not great. Imagine Braveheart taking place inside a prison. The film is well acted but some of the scenes telegraph the plot way in advance.
The rest of the day was filled with weak daytime TV and naps.
Here’s the Friday Five for your amusement:
1. How many TVs do you have in your home?
Two. The 27″ in the front room and the 13″ in the bedroom.
2. On average, how much TV do you watch in a week?
Maybe an hour per weekday and perhaps 2-3 hours per weekend day, depending on what sports are on.
3. Do you feel that television is bad for young children?
Nope. There are television programs that are wrong, but television in itsself isn’t bad.
4. What TV shows do you absolutely HAVE to watch, and if you miss them, you’re heartbroken?
I’m not really heartbroken over TV shows. I don’t like to miss the Sopranos or Good Eats, but if they spend a couple days on the Tivo, it’s no big deal.
5. If you had the power to create your own television network, what would your line-up look like?
Hrrm. Junkyard Wars, Insomniac, Jeremiah, Sopranos, The Wire, Good Eats, Call for Help, Antique Roadshow, The Daily Show.

Strep Throat

Here’s the update. I have strep throat.
I left the meeting this morning early and drove up to see my doctor. He looked in my mouth with his light and said, ‘WOW!’. You really don’t want your doctor saying ‘wow’ when he looks at what is hurting you. He said I have a fairly bad infection and that it will take several days to feel better.
I’ve got a RX for anti-biotics and Vicodin. The Vicodin definitely takes the edge off the pain in my throat, but I’m still stuck eating only soups. I hadn’t eaten much in the last 24 hours and the chicken & rice soup tastes good.
I’m currently laying down on the couch with the laptop. Michele is flittering about like a nervous bird. She really doesn’t like it when I’m sick. I need to be careful to not give this to Michele or the girls.
I’m going to take a nap now. Later.

Sick

It’s six in the morning and I haven’t slept much. My throat is swollen, I have chills, and sweats. I think I’m sick.
I spoke to the hotel nurse and she said I should see a doctor in case it’s strep throat. Fuck.
There are two more days of this business meeting here in Anaheim. It would be good to be around, but I can’t even think straight right now.
I don’t want to end up in the hospital again, so I need to go see a doctor today. The joy.

Late

I just got back from Martin’s house. I was trying to ge his computer up and running again. I think I suceeded.
We drank some Michelob Ultra, the low carb beer. Not bad, but not good either.
It’s late, I’m going to sleep. I’ll post more soon. It’s been a busy week.

So close, yet so far…

Michele returns home in a little over 20 hours. After a full week of being a full time dad, I am ready for the arrival of my partner from her trip to Virginia.
The girls are currently in the tub. A 5 mintue break from the action.
I completly replaced the internal workings of the toliet today in my attempt to fix a leak. It was to no avail. After finished the replacement, I still saw a leak. It appears that the one thign I did not replace, the cutoff valve sticking out of the wall, is the leaky bit. To fix theat means anohter trip to the hardware store and then shutting off water to the entire house while I remove and replace the value. That is assuming I can get the valve off. It’s probably been on there for 30 years. If I can’t get it off easily, I’m going to call in the plumber. I do not want to fuck up the pipe in the wall or crack the tile. Where’s my WD-40?
OK, time to get the girls out of the tub.