BBC - Languages - Homepage

Ha! And yet again, Ha! I can learn Irish and Welsh.

BBC NEWS | Americas | US sparks row at UN over abortion

Yes, by all means, let's ban abortions so we can go back to the good old days of abortions performed by any hack with a wire coat hanger and the scruples of pond scum. Let's go back to the good old days when women died or were irreparably damaged.

Lessons from the Shark Tank

When Users Get Creative

Client is giving contract developer pilot fish the requirements for a new system to manage his transport business. According to the client, an open ticket should be valid for return travel up to a month after the outbound journey. How should the system calculate "a month after"? fish asks. Thirty days later? "No, one month later," says client, "the same date in the following month." So what is the date one month after Jan. 31? asks fish. Client: "February 31."

Time-out!

This machine shop uses PCs just for time and attendance reporting. But one morning, arriving first-shift workers call the help desk to complain that they can't clock in. "They said they could see the log-in screen but couldn't type their IDs and passwords," IT pilot fish says. "A trip to the shop floor proved them right and made it clear we needed to lock down the PCs much tighter. Someone on second shift made a screenshot of the log-in screen, then saved it as the wallpaper on all the machines!"

Yeah, but It Worked, Didn't It?

User is getting an error message she doesn't understand, so support tech asks her to send him a screenshot so he can see what she's talking about. "A few minutes later, he gets a PDF file attached to an e-mail," reports a pilot fish on the scene. "She took a picture of her computer with her digital camera and e-mailed the picture to him."

Learning German | Deutsche Welle

Ha! I need a refresher since I haven't had any exposure to German since college back in the Dark Ages. Although I can still understand my mother when she drifts off into German every now and again, I can't keep up with anything else any more.

I didn't need a quiz to tell me that

You Aren't In the Best Of Moods

While you aren't full on depressed, things aren't going your way. You may be hurt, angry, frustrated... or all three. Not to worry - you'll be feeling fine in no time.

What Mood Are You In?

I'm still not in my right mind

You Are 55% Left Brained, 45% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Martian gases pose life question

Longmire does Romance Novels

I snagged this link from Ultrablog. Another bit of humour to brighten a grey and miserable day.

Hey, Best Friend! You might want to pass this along to the Romance Reading Sister-in-Law. She might get a guffaw out of it as well.

National Geographic Photo of the Day: Elephant Swim

The sight of this brightened what was already the beginnings of a gloomy day. I'm still smirking.

Oh, and it's now my wallpaper.

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Computers (Sober K)

I'm sorry, but only a complete fool would believe the FBI would send them an email, never mind sending one like this:

Dear Sir/Madam,

we have logged your IP-address on more than 40 illegal Websites.

Important: Please answer our questions!
The list of questions are attached.

Yours faithfully,
M. John Stellford

++-++ Federal Bureau of Investigation -FBI-
++-++ 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 2130
++-++ Washington, DC 20535
++-++ (202) 324-3000

If the FBI is going to accuse you of wrong doing, they are going to show up at your door with warrants in hand to cart you and your stuff away. They are not going to email you and ask you to explain yourself.

Animal Planet :: Dragons

Whoa! This is so way kewl! I'm gonna hafta mark this on my calendar so I can watch it.

CDC - Influenza (Flu) | Weekly US Map: Influenza Summary Update

Red state, blue state, with just a hint of purple.

I wonder if it is 'flu that has all of us in its grips and just won't let go.

BBC NEWS | Wales | South East Wales | Astronomers find star-less galaxy

BC NEWS | Health | Marijuana may block Alzheimer's

Freedom of choice

"In America, through pressure of conformity, there is freedom of choice, but nothing to choose from." -- Sir Peter Ustinov

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | History of modern man unravels as German scholar is exposed as fraud

Epilogue.net is finally, really back!

Lindsey Cormier : Buttercup

christophe vacher : Sacred Hour II

Laura Bayless : Plunder

Meredith Dillman : Lady of the Ivy Gate

Cari Buziak : Dragon on Dinosaur Bone

BBC NEWS | South Asia | UN warns of fresh Afghan chaos

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Mars pictures reveal frozen sea

faineant

from Dictionary.com/Word of the Day:

faineant \fay-nay-AWN\, adjective:
Doing nothing or given to doing nothing; idle; lazy.

noun:
A do-nothing; an idle fellow; a sluggard.

Faineant is from French, from Middle French fait, "does" + néant, "nothing."

This pretty much describes me and what I did yesterday. I managed to go all of Sunday without turning on my computer once. I napped and watched TV and did logic puzzles and munched Starbursts and snuggled with kitties and napped and watched TV. It was a lovely day.

This and that and then some

I had a dental appointment at eight this morning. It was just for a teeth cleaning, but my jaw is still sore from holding my mouth open and my teeth feel kind of achey. I'm not sure what keeps possessing me to schedule my teeth cleanings so early in the morning, but my next one is for 8:00 a.m. as well.

I went to breakfast after I was done at the dentist. Naturally I went to IHOP since it's the only place in town to get a decent one. This morning I just had eggs, bacon, hash browns, and wheat toast. And coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. While I read my book and munched my toast. It was a lovely break after the trauma of listening to the hygienist scrape my teeth with a metal pick. ~ shudder ~

And lastly, I dropped off my prints to be framed. One large print of two birds in a tree and five postcard sized prints of butterflies, daisies, duckies, oranges, and a birdie in a tree. It's going to cost me an arm and part of a leg to get them all custom framed but it will so be worth it. The large print has a simple black mat with a green wooden frame which looks mildly distressed and goes really well with the soft greens in the print. The little birdie in the apple tree will be double matted with a margarine yellow on the inside and black on the outside with a very simple black frame. The daisy print and the still life with oranges will be unmatted and framed with the same simple black as the bird. The ducks will be framed in a warm, yellowy brown frame. And the butterfly will be framed in a deep brown red frame. The ducks and the butterfly are also unmatted. They should be done the early part of next week. I can't wait to get them back and hung.

My legs are still sore from the fall up the stairs I took a couple of days ago. It's interesting the bruising, or lack thereof considering the amount of swelling and the rather significant area of painful to the touch. The right leg, which bore the brunt of the fall, is still swollen from the knee to half way down to my shin yet the only visible bruise is one at the bottom of the swollen area and it's only slightly larger than an old dollar coin. The left thigh has two large green and purple bruises and a couple of smaller ones even though pretty much the entire outer thigh is sore. I am happy to report that my feet have stopped changing size and I can once again walk, talk and chew gum. ;D

I am feeling a great need to be lazy today so I'm going to grab my book, pop a movie into the DVD player, make me a nice cup of tea, and plop my happy rear down on the sofa with a couple of cats and be useless the rest of the day. That's what days off are for, after all.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Radar details large Titan crater

B.C.

Out of the mouths of babes . . .

Scotsman.com News - Sci-Tech - Hormone could be the elixir of youth

B.C.

So that's the secret!

BBC NEWS | Business | Feta cheese battle reaches court

Yahoo! News - Young Blood Gets New Meaning with Fresh Study

Does this mean the next fad is going to be blood scrubbing?

Yahoo! News - Farmer Paints Pigeons to Ward Off Predators

B.C.

Forward momentum . . .

Walk, talk, and chew gum

Ever have one of those days where you can't walk, talk, and chew gum at the same time? I had one today. I managed to trip UP a flight of stairs while holding a twelve ounce mug of almost hot coffee.

Coffee flew all over the stairs, but not a drop spilled on me except on the hand holding the cup. The cup did not break which was really a good thing because I would have had to go home and be depressed if something had happened to my Winnie-the-Pooh mug. I did, however, manage to bruise myself up something fierce. My left thigh and right calf are two giant bruises. The one on my right leg is actually quite painful and I would be in my nighty this minute except the Prodigal Son has friends over and I don't have a robe to wear over my nighty.

Today was just one of those days where my feet suddenly and inexplicably grew several sizes almost every time I got up to walk because I kept tripping over them since there was nothing on the floor for me to trip over. Thank goodness the day is over and I'm at home and I can kick off my shoes and dig in with my toes. So far I've managed to make it into the house and into my room without a misstep. I consider that a major accomplishment.

I'm going to hell . . .

. . . because I have leftovers in my fridge that are more than three days old.

According to Leviticus 19:5 through 19:8.

Who knew?!?

BBC NEWS | Europe | Portuguese mourn Fatima witness

Yahoo! News - Surprised Customer Says Penis Pills Don't Work

I'm not going to laugh . . . I'm not going to laugh . . . I'm not going to laugh . . .

Who am I kidding? This is funny. In the same way that making your boobs grow by taking pills is funny. Or that losing weight while you sleep after taking pills is funny.

B.C.

Luxury locomotion . . .

Where in hell am I?

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Sixth Level of Hell - The City of Dis!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	High
Level 2 (Lustful)	Low
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Very High
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Low
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Extreme
Level 7 (Violent)	High
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

Hey, Best Friend!

Since I don't have your email address here at work, I thought I'd drop you a blog entry to let you know I mailed the retirement card this morning. Would you let the Retiree know the check is in the mail?

Wonderfalls

I watched all 13 episodes of Wonderfalls included on the DVD. The show was wonderfully quirky and might have actually caught on if the network hadn't put it on death night in the definitely going to kill it time slot. Aside from the bad time slot, I don't remember the network promoting the show at all. If memory serves, the only reason I knew about it was because of the various Buffy / Angel lists I subscribed to which used to let us know what other projects the various producers, writers, etc. were involved in. Tim Minear, an Angel alum, was an executive producer for Wonderfalls.

If you get the opportunity to watch all 13 episodes, I recommend it. As I said, the show was wonderfully light-dark quirky fun.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Since I was reminded twice today, once by the Prodigal Son who mumbled "Happy Valentine's Day, mom" as I was packing up my stuff to come to work and a second time by one of the gentlemen at work who gifted each of the ladies in our section with a wine glass filled with Hersey's Kisses.

Until the Prodigal Son mumbled his benediction this morning, I'd completely forgotten about Valentine's Day.

How computer literate are you?

Take the quiz: "How Computer Literate Are You?"

Expert
GREAT JOB! You Are Up There With Bill Gates And Linus And The Best Of Them. Good Job!

CNN.com - Artist hits road to have dinner with ... you - Feb 13, 2005

Blogger does it again

I know Blogger is a free option, but I would hope they would have learned something from the last time they 'upgraded'. This time, they've modified how comments work. The only problem is, what you see isn't what you get.

This is what you see:


But this is what you get:


And neither is what I asked for. As far as I can tell, the only way to effectively change the date format is to republish your entire blog which is not something I want to do.

UPDATE: I've been playing around and it seems the date formatting works UNLESS you select the very first format in the list. It does not like that one and will default back to whichever format was selected last. Naturally, that is the format I prefer.

FoxTrot

Men and shopping . . .

I know what color I am

you are mediumauqamarine #66CDAA

Your dominant hues are cyan and green. Although you definately strive to be logical you care about people and know there's a time and place for thinking emotionally. Your head rules most things but your heart rules others, and getting them to meet in the middle takes a lot of your energy some days. Your saturation level is medium - You're not the most decisive go-getter, but you can get a job done when it's required of you. You probably don't think the world can change for you and don't want to spend too much effort trying to force it. Your outlook on life is brighter than most people's. You like the idea of influencing things for the better and find hope in situations where others might give up. You're not exactly a bouncy sunshine but things in your world generally look up.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

ReadyMade: Feature - Past Perfect Pillow

BBC NEWS | UK | Prince Charles to marry Camilla

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Titan winds pummelled Huygens

FoxTrot

Oh, the special bond between fathers and daughters . . .

Maybe I should have asked sooner . . .

It appears that Epilogue.net is back again. I wonder what happened to it this time. Heck, I wonder what happened to it last time.

Is it just me . . .

. . . or is Epilogue.net down again?

BBC NEWS | Health | Device to save premature babies

BBC NEWS | Health | World's smallest baby goes home

Wired News: Star Wants Out of Milky Way

Saturn Awards Nominations

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

by Patricia A. McKillip.

Just finished it. A+ story telling.

This is the 7th McKillip book I've read and the 6th that I have unreservedly enjoyed and would recommend.

This one is about being able to face yourself.

The Liveship Traders

by Robin Hobb.



I finished the last book of the trilogy on Saturday while I was home visiting my parents. It was a quiet lazy day just made for reading.

The trilogy was a very quick, mindless read. None of the characters ground on my nerves as the Fitz did in the last book of the Farseer trilogy. My only real complaint with the trilogy is that it had a very much too "happily ever after" ending where everyone got what they deserved. There were no real bad guys in the books. Those characters who were meant to be bad weren't even dark enough to be grey. They were just grimy off-white. The good guys all learned from their mistakes and became much better people because of them. The people who needed to die, died. The people who needed to live and learn, lived and learned. Those who were broken, repaired.

The books aren't bad if what you want from 2400 pages is the comfort feeling you get from a warm bowl of oatmeal on a cold winter morning. If you're looking for steak and potatoes after a hard day of work, this isn't it. I was in the mood for oatmeal so I enjoyed them.

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Study Identifies Trade-Off between Motherhood and Longevity

How interesting.

BBC NEWS | Health | Dolly expert is to clone embryos

"As national science academies all over the world have stressed, we want to see the message made clear.

"Individual countries should be allowed to make up their own minds about therapeutic cloning, but extending these techniques to attempt to produce a cloned baby is scientifically unsafe, ethically unsound and socially unacceptable."

B.C.

A little bit of nothing . . .

I'm back

I made it back home. I'll post all the grisly details later since I'm pooped right now.

There is one thing I want to share before I sign off. I nicked this from Tati's Weblog. If you'd like to sing along, Karen has the lyrics.

Feeling great . . .

. . . in a death warmed over sort of way.

I ran to the bank this morning to get money for the trip. Then I ran to the grocery store and stocked up on food for the Prodigal Son so he wouldn't starve while I was gone. And now I'm taking a little break before I tackle the laundry so I can have clothes to take with me.

I didn't watch Wonderfalls last night. Instead, I plugged in season one of 24 and watched the first six episodes. It's about time I got around to watching the DVDs so I can send them back to netflix so I can reduce the number of discs on my queue so I can add more discs to my queue. I also read about 150 pages in my book while I was watching 24.

Well, enough of a break. I need to get cracking on the laundry.

Up and at 'em

I went to work today. I really don't know why since I missed Monday and Tuesday and I have vacation scheduled for Thursday and Friday. I guess it's just that nasty German work ethic goading me to organize things before I leave them to fall apart.

Since I was sick all weekend long, I'm not going home tomorrow as planned. I'm spending tomorrow catching up on laundry, bill paying, and grocery shopping. I also have to pack and check the laptop to make sure it will run when I get to Mom's so I can get online for her. She thinks it's just nifty that I can order stuff for her on my computer.

As it stands right now, I'm driving down Friday and driving back on Monday. The Prodigal Son is staying home because he would be bored and he just couldn't survive four days without his girlfriend. It also makes looking after the cats easier if he's home to do it. I just have to call him several times a day to have him count the cats to make sure he hasn't lost another one.

I finally got my silly W2 so I can file my tax return and get my refund. I'll probably finish that tomorrow since I do it electronically.

Right now I'm off to read. I would watch the State of the Union address, but I don't really feel like being lied to. Maybe I'll plug in the first Wonderfalls DVD. I got my set today and I'm really looking forward to seeing all the episodes that never made it to TV. Actually, that sounds like a plan.

Later!

Almost human

No more fever. The cough has eased though it's not yet gone. I can almost breathe without making that strange rattling whistling sound. Now I just feel completely drained, worn out, and used up.

And I actually feel hungry today. Which isn't really surprising since I ate almost nothing for three days while I was in bed trying to decide if I was burning up or freezing to death. What I'd really like is a steak and eggs, hashbrowns and toast, juice and coffee. What I'll settle for is a bowl of Raisin Bran Crunch. The former I'd have to dress and go out for. The latter is in the kitchen pantry.

B.C.

Knit wit.