" Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you, never excuse yourself. "

--Henry Ward Beecher... a link !

More from Henry Ward Beecher: " Genius unexerted is no more genius than a bushel of acorns is a forest of oaks. " and
" The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't. " and
" In this world, full often, our joys are only the tender shadows which our sorrows cast. " and
" Troubles are often the tools God fashions us for better things. " and " Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven. "... what excellent thoughts !!!

Need a calculator ?... click the link for more calculators than you'll know what to do with, for many, many disciplines. I was alerted to this find by http://www.tudogs.com/ to whom I subscribe to their free newsletter.
* Interesting sidenote... when I type 'calculator' in my word processing program, NoteTabLite - my preference over Window's Notepad, the Windows calculator pops up and the word disappears. I have to actually mis-spell 'calculator' and then edit with the spell-checker when logged on in ( in on ? ) BLOGGER to get the word displayed... weird !!!

The Sacramento Kings ( basketball ) have won their first round play-off match-up against the Dallas Mavericks !!! And... I missed the game on the telly Thursday evening !!!!! Congrats Kings !... next !!!

Friday... warm weather... just this side of hot... the slight breeze cooling things down a bit... but also flaring up the allergies terribly.

Since Gail passed her retest for Vocational Rehab ( Property Management ) I treated her to lunch at a Chinese restaurant, " The China Star " in Rancho Cordova on Sunrise Blvd - near Sacramento, ... $ 16.00 USD for the two of us... including tip ( 15% ) for all you can eat buffet of some of the most delicious food I have ever eaten, as well as 2-Pepsi's for Gail and 2-Lemonades for me... ummmmmmm-ummmmmmmmm ! Dinner will NOT be necessary !

While eating lunch I had my glasses repaired... $ 32.00 USD... ouch ! Needed to be done and an eyeglass repair store was available. The right lens was always popping out due to the frame being broken... for the last two years or so. I've already a large chip in the lens in a spot not affecting my vision. Guess I'll have to wait on my printer ink this month... no problem !!! My aluminum can collection is 'prolly' up to $ 5.00 USD by now !

Wrote a note to Elder Thompson and mailed it out Friday. I copied the previous BLOG entry and jotted down a quick aside. Still haven't heard if Elder Talbot has been re-assigned. Both are excellent young men who will go far...

British Writer and Humanitarian Denis Hills has passed away... a link !!! Noteworthy to those who remember/studied World War II and the Ugandan reign of terror of Idi Amin.

Make that zero for four ( 0/4 ) on the " Call For Help " daily quiz. Friday's quiz was a toughy ! I can't recall in the last three years of participating when I've done so poorly !

I just found out that I'm one of only a thousand selected to participate in Google's Gmail service ( beta )... go figger ! The offer was right there when I logged in ( on ) my Blogger account ( now owned by Google ). I use Google conservatively ( 20+ ) times a day. I also mis-'spoke' the other day in an email to my brother Robin, my email storage with Gmail is not 100 MegaBytes... but rather 1000 MegaBytes ( (1) TeraByte )... cool !!! Some people are even auctioning off their Gmail accounts on EBay !... how weird is that ??? I hadn't been receiving mail though in response to my poetry entries as expected... sooooo... I tested by sending gmail to my Earthlink mail... that worked !... then responding from my Earthlink received message back to Gmail... and that worked ! Dunno why Poetry.com responses aren't getting through... will have to check.
* side-note: The 'search mail' feature in Gmail is awesome !!! Luv it !

" Wistful Desire... Ocean  "... Perhaps more wistful desires to be related at another time. Something odd I keep in my bedroom... tucked away, a jam jar ( sans jam ) given to me by a co-worker when I worked in Chico, California, circa 1989. She had gone to visit her old home in Santa Barbara, and knowing my love for the ocean she filled the jam jar with Santa Barbara ocean water and gave it to me as a gift on her return. The jar is still somewhat full.