Monthly Archives: December 2002

hard to port Mr. Withers!

Posted by on December 24, 2002 2 comments

It a few minutes here Melissa is going to pick me up from work and we’re going to head up to Detroit for Christmas with the Fallats. Before that though, we’re going to drive by a house that was foreclosed on a few days ago. Apparently it’s pretty nice.

Melissa and I have been looking at our options for housing over the last several weeks. We’re considering both buying and building. Renting is just too much of a money sink I think. My money is just gone every month. *poof*

One of the sorts of houses that we’ve been looking at are Deltecs. They are round houses that you can buy in kit form or as plans to build one yourself. One design we really like is this one. A round house appeals to us because it is different, but they still make a lot of sense. It is the most possible interior floor space for a given amount of exterior wall and it minimizes exterior surface area for heat loss (an issue close to my heart right now).

We’ve no idea what we’ll do at this point. Our lease on this place is not up until after May, so we’re stuck here a while. We’re just talking things over and probing some ideas at this point. A house is such a huge commitment that I want to take several months deciding anyway. (:

We might not blog much over the next couple days, but we’ll be back this weekend to haunt your blog reading once more. Guten Abend!

two windows and two towers

Posted by on December 23, 2002 4 comments

This weekend I got two things of note done. Firstly I got plastic put up over two of my upstairs windows to help cut down on air flow/heat loss. It’s kinda nifty stuff. You cut this plastic to size and hang it with double sided tape. Then you hit it with hot air from a blowdryer to shrink it down to size. It’s not bad. It seems to help some too, as it stays warmer in the two rooms I put it up in so far. Hopefully during the holidays I can get several more windows covered.

The other thing of note that I got done was watching the Two Towers. Wow. Well done. Melissa and I both got a chuckle out of the scene with Merry and Perigrine talking with Treebeard. When treebeard says “Well that makes no sense to me but you’re very small, so perhaps you’re right.” She turned and told me never to use that on her just as I was going to use it on her. Definitely something to tuck away for future reference.

I changed the thermostat on my car this weekend too. I suppose that could be considered note-worthy, but who’s counting? I froze my fingers off doing it but the car heats up a lot faster now. Definitely a good trade-off.

oh, that kind of crash

Posted by on December 23, 2002 No comments

My webserver computer crashed this weekend, but not like you’d expect. I knocked it over with my foot. I usually use it and the border router as a foot rest. I moved a little too much and over they went. They border router didn’t mind a whole lot but the web server didn’t like it at all.

It probly had something to do with the web server not having its cover on. And the CD drive falling out. Stuff like that generally makes even the most stable computers unhappy. Anyway, I fixed it. Life is good.

ok, so I’m a geek

Posted by on December 20, 2002 7 comments

So I’m making this entry from a mac. Not just any mac, my very own macintosh. I bought three 5200/75LC’s on Monday when I went to view that test. It turns out that one of the schools in Ohio that was damaged in the tornados a few weeks ago was selling their computers, since many of them were damaged when their roof came off.

So now I have two (the third one doesn’t really count, it’s broken and just for parts) mac’s. I think I’ll probly give one away. If anyone coming to the new years’s bash would like a free mac, just say so. (:

Ten bucks for the whole lot, I could not resist. Too much fun. I was very sad when I found out that linux doesn’t run on them. I was even sadder to learn that not even netbsd runs of them. Maybe I can find a hair better motherboard to put in it. I’ll just have to see.

Anyway, that’s my toolish entry for the day. (:

Better Days

Posted by on December 20, 2002 No comments

After a horrible start to the week things are back in the sunshine again. Dave managed to help me feel tons better.

Today I am excited to go riding. I haven’t gone in a couple days because it has rained constantly here. I am thinking of taking my video camera so that I can get pictures of Dakota for everyone to see.

I am also going to pick Dave up from work. I love doing that simply because it’s nice to just sit with him and talk on the drive home. He sleeps through the whole drive most times though, lazy butt.

I plan on spending a rare weekend at home. Most of the time, Dave and I are driving here or there for visits. Sometimes we go shopping, and most often he treats me to a nice dinner. This time though, I’d just like to stay home and relax. After all the events of this week, we both need it badly.

On Tuesday night we’re heading up to Detroit to spend Christmas with my family. I am looking forward to it. I just realized though that I can’t wait til I get to my parent’s house to shop for Dave’s present as I originally had planned. We have WAY better stores in Detroit, but I won’t get there until 10pm or so on Christmas Eve. Blah! Silly me, what was I thinking?!

So much for proudly being a last-minute shopper.

Glasses

Posted by on December 18, 2002 4 comments

I think the only thing more annoying than dried raindrops on my glasses is dried teardrops…

covert santa

Posted by on December 17, 2002 4 comments

So I signed myself up for this secret santa dealio at work. Basically it entails giving someone a small gift each day this week, then revealing your identity at the end. So far, I’ve had fun with it. I’ve already given canned corned beef (think spam, same sorta thing) and canned baked beans (Bush’s, only the finest). Tomorrow, I’m gonna give him these:

Please note that they are made by the “Porn Coconut” company limited. (:

Thursday, I plan to give these:

No catchy company name here, but I approve of fishies floating in a tasty sauce. I’m not too keen on eating them myself, but I might try them someday. I’m excited to see how he reacts. I haven’t decided what I’ll do for my grande-friday-finale yet. muhaha

Oh, and Melissa and I grabbed some coconut soda-pop while we were at the asian market. We’re waiting for it to chill. Hope it’s good!

Rainy Days and….Tuesdays?

Posted by on December 17, 2002 No comments

Yick, it’s supposed to be a rainy day today. That means no riding for me! That’s ok though. I have a ton of housework to do today. And I’d like to go Christmas shopping for Dave. I made the mistake of revealing one of his presents last night. I felt really stupid.

I have a hard time motivating myself in this big house all alone.

I miss Dave a ton. Yesterday he was out of town the whole day.

As usual, I don’t have anything really deep to blog about today. Things are continuing to go well for Dave and me. Marriage is so much fun! We are getting ready for our New Year’s Eve party. I am really looking forward to it. It should be a fun time.

Dave and I are planning on adopting another cat this week. I’m a bit excited about that. That will make three cats, two fish, two hampsters and a horse. =) I think that means we need at least one more horse, Dave? Heh

Tomorrow “The Lord of the Rings” hits theaters. I am really excited. Last year, Dave and I planned a special date to go and see it. I doubt we’ll go opening day, but neither of us will be able to contain ourselves for much longer.

I guess that’s it for me! To work, I go (hopefully).

Dakota Whiz

Posted by on December 16, 2002 No comments

Well. For those who care, and most don’t. I officially traded my Jade today. It was a hard thing to do, and the decision came about only after lots of thought and prayer. I now own a 4-year old registered American Paint gelding. He is a gray overo. Basically this means that he is white with brown spots. Two of his legs are black, his tail is black, and his mane is both black and white. One of his most interesting physical features is his left eye; it is partially blue.

He is not the athlete that Jade was. He is extremely mellow, where she was full of spirit. He is also a bit pudgy at the moment. I am hoping to fix that come spring. With winter coming on it’s good for him to have some extra weight.

He is taller than Jade was. I’d say he has several inches on her, and he is still growing. I can ride him bareback, double, or even backwards if I chose. He accepts anything without a fuss or an eyeblink. He is definitely not my dream horse, but he is what I will need in order to pursue my dreams at the moment. I plan on owning him for something less than a year (if all goes well) and then trade him for something of Jade’s caliber.

I will miss my pretty Jade. But in due time, I will learn to love Dakota Whiz too.

Hehem. “Dakota Whiz” is his registered name. I had nothing to do with such a stupid monicker.

Family Coming and Horse Dilemmas

Posted by on December 13, 2002 No comments

So yay! My family is coming today. They won’t be here until really late tonight, but they’re coming and I am happy. I plan on taking them to the stables tomorrow to see Jade. I’m not sure if I will ride her in front of them or not. It would be really awful if I managed to get hurt while they are there.

The situation with my horse being nothing less then a bronco is hurting me a lot. I need to speak with the horse trainer about her. He helps me all the time and is the only one who can whip her back into shape (that is NOT a pun to be taken literally). I feel badly about calling on the trainer so often. He helps me on his own time and for free. I really dislike the idea of taking advantage of him. So, even though this all might sound stupid to some of you, I feel the need to ask for your prayers. All this horse stuff is an absolute dream come true for me. I love the horse I have. She is an angel only half the time though, and I feel like after this last time I rode her that she can also be dangerous. So I guess my current dilemma is whether or not I should keep her. Granted, her bad behaviour the other day could be a spoof. But that makes her unpredictable. I don’t mind behaviour problems in animals. Those can usually be worked through with time and patience. I have both. Horses are a bit different though. And as Dave said, “We’ve paid for her to live for a whole month, and we’re not getting any use out of her.” Horse care is very expensive, and it wouldn’t be wise of me to keep an animal I can’t ride. It would literally be wrong.

On the plus side, there is always the option for me to trade her for another horse. Luke (the stable owner) has several eligible mounts for me in mind. It’s all a very big decision for me and it weighs heavily on my heart. Even though Dave is a bit frustrated (Jade tried to toss him a bit too), he is willing to allow me to make that choice. I love him for that.