Where Are You?

Posted on July 7, 2004 by Frog

We went to see Spiderman last night with my sister and her husband. The good news is that we had popcorn for dinner. The good news is the movie rocked. There is no bad news.

Miscellaneous questions that really shouldn’t give away the plot if you haven’t seen the movie:

1) Who can blame Mary Jane for wanting to kiss those Peter Parker lips?
2) Does Aunt May have spidey sense?
3) Doesn’t James Franco resemble Willem Dafoe?
4) How cool was it, at the beginning of the movie, when that car went flying through the air with the greatest of ease?
5) How many Sam Raimi regulars did you spot?
6) Who else chuckled when Peter Parker complained of a bad back?

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Caulk and Paint

Posted on July 6, 2004 by Frog

We have needed to caulk various places on the porch for longer than I’d care to admit. We got most of it done yesterday. We ran out of caulk and after working outside with a heat index of 100, we didn’t run to the store for more caulk. We took showers and then siestas.

Today since I came home early to wait for the Directv tech to show up and he’d already been there (scheduling incompetence is one of my most favorite things), I thought I’d put some paint on the end of the porch. I could only take care of the lower 3 siding boards and the piece that runs between the siding and the screen using the 12-foot ladder. I probably could have taken care of the 4th board but I thought it was too scary to be that high up without someone holding the ladder.

I have to say it already looks so much better. I can’t wait to finish the last 8 boards. But, I’ll need my trusty sidekick. I’m sure he won’t mind spotting me (and setting up the other taller ladder) while I paint.

Once the painting is done the exterior of the porch will finally and officially be done. After another couple of hours all the caulking of the interior will be done and then we can sit back and not say to ourselves “we really need to do this, that and the other to the porch”.

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That Popping Noise You Hear

Posted on July 6, 2004 by Frog

We had an appointment with the local Directv lackey to come out and upgrade our system since the mothership wants all Local Channel customers to upgrade equipment. Our appointment this afternoon was from 1pm-5pm. Don’t get me started on why television related service gets scheduled in 4 hour increments but everything else on this planet is a definite time.

I took off work this afternoon to be here. Guess what was laying in front of the garage when I got home at 12:30? Our old dish. Guess what is installed on our post? The new dish. Guess who ran into the house cursing?

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July 4, 1986

Posted on July 4, 2004 by Frog

In the summer of 1986, I visited Germany for a month as part of an exchange program through my high school. A group of 15 (or so) kids from my school hosted kids from the Nattheim Gymnasium (that’s what they call high school in Germany) from Nattheim, Germany in April and we traveled the day after school let out. As it happened, I graduated one day and flew to Germany the next.

I thought it would be fun to pull out my diary from that trip and present here what I wrote down on July 4th. I’m sad to say that there are a lot of entries with McDonald’s involved. That’s one travel habit I’m happy to say I have since broken.
—-

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And she puzzled and puzzled ’till her puzzler was sore.

Posted on July 2, 2004 by Frog

I have an interesting project to work on where I have to figure out how to deploy technical training to a population of workers who are over 60 and may have no computer skills. These workers will eventually get classroom training but that’s a whole other kettle of fish which will be dealt with later.

I need to work on the prerequisite for that training. Our team wants to make sure that this population of trainees understands certain basic computer concepts and develops certain computer skills prior to attending classroom training.

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On This Day

Posted on July 2, 2004 by Frog

On July 2nd
In 1776: The Second Continental Congress voted in favor of independence from foreign rule.
In 1839: There was mutiny on the Amistad slave ship.
In 1881: President Garfield was shot.
In 1900: Count Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin demonstrated the hydrogen filled rigid airship.
In 1937: Amelia Earhart disappeared.
In 1955: The Lawrence Welk show premiered.
In 1964: President Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act.

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Virginians Should Wear Black Today

Posted on July 1, 2004 by Frog

Today is the beginning of a new year as far as laws and regulations are concerned here in the backwards Commonwealth of Virginia.

From the Richmond Times Dispatch: “Michael Schewel, state secretary of commerce, read a statement from Warner [Governor Warner], who is on vacation.

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A Bright Shimmer of Hope

Posted on June 30, 2004 by Frog

This afternoon I was catching up on the reading and became crazy excited to read what was probably a throw-away line on ugly green chair. She reports that her local pub is restocked with Strongbow Cider. So, now I know that Strongbow is in the states. I can’t describe how happy I am about this.

We (or I should say I) drank lots and lots of Strongbow when we visited the UK. I tried it in a pub shortly after arriving in London and while I dallied with other fine beverages in Wales, England and Scotland, I had on average a Strongbow a day.

I’m on the hunt now to see if I can find it nearby or at least from someplace that will ship it to me. Cheers.

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All Dressed Up

Posted on June 29, 2004 by Frog

I got up at the crack of dawn this morning to make an appearance at the contract job. I haven’t been in that office since the beginning of the month. Anyway, I get there and find that the team needs something scanned. Normally, I scan at home and then email the pdf back to the office. But, today, the team needed the material right away because of a tight training schedule.

We looked for the office scanner but it was attached to the Admin’s computer and she wasn’t in today. Normally, stealing a piece of equipment, using it and putting it back doesn’t bother me. However, we didn’t know where to find the software so there was no sense in stealing the hardware.

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Jan the hygenist RAWKS

Posted on June 28, 2004 by Frog

I just got back from the dentist and there was a new hygenist instead of the annoying one from the last two visits. She is now my most favorite hygenist in the whole wide world. Laid back, funny–in the way I like and not in the yucking it up way and did a marvelous job without all the stupid chatter. May Jan, the rocking hygenist, stay with my dentist forever.

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