Tuesday, July 08, 2003

I started the dial-up process at 6:23pm. Got disconnected.

Redialed up. Got disconnected.

Repeat two more times. So I called Earthlink to see what’s up. Because my dial up problems have been getting worse in the past few weeks. At the end of the conversation I had given the tech support guy all the info he needs to start the DSL process, but I need to wait for my next paycheck in a couple of weeks. I will have DSL by the end of the month.

I dialed up three more times with no success, with a crawl under the desk to investigate the dust situation at the back of the computer. Pretty clean.

Are you with me? That’s 8 unsuccessful attempts. I tried a ninth followed by a reboot of the machine.

Tenth attempt was successful (so far), I was finally logged in at 7:56pm.

I couldn’t talk about this, but we had a big trial in the courthouse, and the verdict was a long time coming.

A federal jury convicted a former naval intelligence officer from Fort Washington of kidnapping resulting in death yesterday for the disappearance of his ex-wife in 1996.

The jury of eight women and four men found that Jay Lentz, 43, lured his ex-wife, Doris Lentz, 31, to his home on the pretense of picking up their daughter, Julia, then 4. Mrs. Lentz’s body was never found.

Prosecutors argued that Lentz’s motive was to end a contentious relationship and relieve himself of more than $40,000 he owed Mrs. Lentz in child support.

Lentz could be sentenced to death. Jurors are scheduled to return to U.S. District Court in Alexandria on Monday to begin the penalty phase of the trial.

Seriously, gentlemen, just pass on by this one, it’s not for you.

This Public Service Announcement is for the ladies.

LATER: I’m not kidding or joking around here. Craig can attest to that. Heh...although if any of you men do happen to read further, please feel free to share the info with your wives (if you’re married).

Just Because...

1.  Strawberries or blueberries? Neither, but only because I don’t like the mouth feel of either. I prefer blueberry flavor over strawberry flavor though.

2.  Legally Blonde 2 or Terminator 3? Both.

3.  Hamburgers or hot dogs? Hot dogs

4.  Boating or hiking? I’ve been sailing and hiking and I much prefer the sailing over the hiking.

5.  Suntan lotion or sunblock? Sunblock, which for me is in the form of not going outside in the summer. It’s too hot anyway.

6.  Big Brother or The Amazing Race? Please...The Amazing Race, of course. I disagree with Dave, who says, “Although I’d give it all up for just one more season of The Mole, with civilians.” I love The Mole too, but TAR is better.

7.  Beach Boys or Jimmy Buffett? I know I’ll disappointment many people with my answer here - neither. I never liked the Beach Boys much and I cannot stand Buffet. I don’t get his appeal.

8.  Grow your own produce or buy from supermarket/greengrocer/farm stand? There’s nothing like fresh corn on the cob. That said, I get my fresh corn on the cob at the sto’.

9.  Drive with car windows/top down, or with air-conditioning on? A/C, always.

10.  Go away for vacation, or stay at home? Depends, I prefer staying home, but I love a good trip too.

The Cooties brought two or three grocery bags of these things called Quakes for my Dad when they came down last month. I don’t know how they found out that he ate them and loved them.

Anyway, they’re these mini-rice cakes and my Dad’s favorite flavor is chocolate, but he can’t find them in this area. That’s why they brought them down. He was very excited and promptly opened a bag for us to sample. Now, I was really skeptical because I’ve tried all manner of rice cake and they’re just awful. But these are good. Really yummy, and I never thought I’d say that about a rice cake ever.

So yesterday while at Wal-Mart, I noticed a display and I remembered that Dad said the ranch flavored ones were excellent as well. I looked for the chocolate, but they didn’t have them, but they had plenty of the ranch. I bought a bag and opened it last night to test.

Oooh, they’re as good as Dad said.

Monday, July 07, 2003

I had a good day off. Usually I get really restless by the end of a long weekend. I had my restless day at the beginning, so it’s been a good few days off of work.

The tea was lovely, as usual. It’s funny, these are ladies that aren’t that much older than I, but they’re more my mother’s friends than mine. And yet I have a friendship with them as well, not only because of being my mother’s daughter, but in my own right. Three of them have known me since I was a teenager - they are the ones that I’m enjoying getting to know as peers now. And it’s funny because as a youth leader in my church, I now have mentor-friendships with their teenage kids.

I ran errands on the way to the tea. Let me say that stay at home moms have it made - I breezed my way through Wal-Mart. It was crowded, but nothing like it is on Saturdays. Wow.

It’s days like today that I think it would be nice to win the lottery, quit my job, and do what I want to do during the day. But then I think of the restlessness I feel after a few days off and I know that I would be bored out of my mind. So I would still work and I would probably volunteer more. Of course, I need to play the lottery to win the lottery, but that’s another issue.

First off, my computer is s-l-o-w. ARGH!

Second, I’m taking today off from work for a nice long weekend.

Third, I have errands to run that I postponed from Saturday when I went car shopping with my parents instead. To update that, they did not buy the Outback yesterday as there was not one available at Carmax. So I don’t know what they’re going to do now. I know you’re all on tenderhooks for the latest news.

Fourth, my mother invited me to a birthday tea for her best friend. Actually, there’s a group of ladies who started this tea thing years ago. They get together about four times a year to celebrate the members’ birthdays. So her best friend’s birthday is July 4th and the tea is this afternoon and since I’m not at work I was invited. Since I love these ladies, I’m excited to go.

Sunday, July 06, 2003

Bill Whittle of Eject!³ posted his latest on July 4th. It’s lengthy, but good, as usual. A snippet:

Where you stand on the political spectrum, what you think of rich and poor people, and what you think about rich and poor nations and how they should act in the world, comes down, in my mind, to one single issue, and one only: Can wealth be created, or can it only be redistributed?

If you believe, as I do, that wealth can be manufactured out of thin air, then there is no limit to the amount of wealth you can amass. And since you are creating it out of thin air, there is no moral onus on making money – you work hard to create it and have stolen from no one. There is an expression for this: you earned it.

Indeed, since charity depends on excess wealth, excess capacity, the more you make for yourself the better off everyone else is. You can even throw charity out the window if you are so hard-hearted; the fact remains that you will spend that money to get the things you want, and the more you have the more you can spend. That money goes to other people. This interchange is called “the economy,” and rich societies are rich because they understand in their bones the centerpiece of Capitalist thinking: Wealth can be created from thin air by human ingenuity and hard work.

Now people on the left have, in their guts, a revulsion towards the rich and the wealthy, because when ever they see wealth they naturally assume that it was stolen from people without any – the poor. That rich man in the private jet has taken the wealth from all the poor people and is therefore a criminal.

Click on this link. You will chuckle. It’s guaranteed.

[via chewie]

There’s a great show on the Food Network called $40 a Day - the “host” (who also does 30 Minute Meals, which I love as well) goes to a location and has $40 for her meals in one day.

So for the episode on right now, she’s in Vermont and just went from Manchester where she had breakfast to Woodstock. But someone recommended a place in Quechee, so that’s where she went instead (for lunch).

Here’s why I mention this at all - when I lived in New Hampshire, I had a friend in Quechee (he’s still there). It’s a great little town on the border of Vermont and New Hampshire. It’s famous for the Quechee Gorge, which is HUGE and amazing. You drive on this little bridge over the gorge to actually get into the main town. It’s fantastic.

And my friend has this great authentic saltbox house not far from the Gorge. It’s so New England-y. Just thinking about it makes me miss it.

After church, I went to lunch with Mom and Dad (as always) and I asked if they had narrowed down the car decision. Mom said she was going to defer to Dad, let him decide. And then he chimed in with an alternative.

Why not get both?

Here’s how it’s going to work:

1. They are currently at Carmax buying a used Subaru Outback (which will make Dad happy).

2. They will then trade in their Toyota Avalon for the Toyota Highlander (which will make Mom happy) later this week.

Everyone wins. And I’m happy too, because both cars are cool in their own ways. And I’ll have access to the cargo hauling space if I need it. Woot!

Saturday, July 05, 2003

We in my family hold in our heads a massive collection of useless trivia. As my Dad said today, I could win a lot of bar bets with some of the information I’ve managed to remember. And today, Dad added a new tidbit.

Did you know that Chernobyl means wormwood in Russian?

And you’re thinking, who cares? Well, wormwood is mentioned in Revelation (8:11), so I’m interested.

Here’s the thing...I’m not saying that the accident at Chernobyl in the 80s was the result of third angel’s trumpet (read Revelation 8 to understand what I’m talking about). But it is pretty interesting.

Here’s some information about the Chernobyl incident.

Is it bad when your computer reboots itself?

I was refreshing my page when I got a series of errors and then the screen went black. A couple of seconds later it started booting up. Weird.

LATER (9:30pm): It happened again, I clicked on a link and the screen went black, and I’ve spent the past 30 minutes rebooting the machine twice and dialing in twice. What is going on?

I finally got a picture of Harry and Spanky from my Dad. It’s a favorite as it shows the two of them laying on a rug together. Harry is looking up at the camera with this look that says, “Please don’t tell the other dogs that I’m doing this.”

Truth is that Harry adored that cat and would protect her from my Annie, who loved to torment Spanks at any opportunity. Occasionally, we’d hear a loud meow from Spanks who was tearing around a corner followed by Annie who was followed by a barking Harry.

Oh, and David, this is an example of how cute that cat is. I know I mentioned it months ago at your blog.

My mom just called to ask if I want to go car shopping with them. They are still with only one car since they gave the Explorer to the Cooties back in April. It hasn’t been an issue with Dad in California with his contract. But I think that’s getting ready to end and he’ll need to have a car.

They’re looking at the Subaru Outback and the Toyota Highlander.

So I’ll be gone for a big chunk of the day.

LATER:  When my mother called she said the goal was to get out before it got hot. She then called me a bit later to say she was running late. When I got to their house, the thermometer in my car was reading 91 degrees (at 10:45am). So we were out in the hottest part of the day. Yay!

We went test driving both cars. This is going to be my mother’s car, so she drove them. Both are nice, have their pluses and minuses. I freely gave my two cents. What’s interesting is that one of them wants one and the other wants the other, I think. So since they’re not planning to buy until next week, they have a week to hash it out. Basically it comes down to whether or not they want an SUV or a car--both have 4-wheel drive, they both have about the same cargo space. I’ll be interested to see which one they decide on.