Tuesday, July 19, 2005
"Ah, great it is to believe the dream as we stand in youth by the starry stream; but a greater thing is to fight life through and say at the end, the dream is true!"
More from Edwin Markham:
Weather: July 7... warm with a gentle breeze. July 11... back to hot (100°'s ?) with hotter days predicted.
Locked into 100° Fahrenheit days through the 16th. Gail finally borrowed an area fan for some relief the 15th... our ceiling fan in the bedroom giving comfort at night. Note: No apparent brownouts nor blackouts due to power consumption. Still hot through July 19th... hovering about the 100° Fahrenheit mark.
Gail at the Grand Canyon July 7, 2005... vertigo hindering the full splendor for her... Grandson David said it was 'awesome'. No one took the $50.00 USD day ride by donkey down to the Colorado river. Gail arrived home late Sunday the 10th the worst for wear (driving) with a mixed bag of memories.
I did manage to install a lantern lamp outside our home while she was gone. We purchased the lamp in brand new condition, in the box with warrantee, for $5.00 USD at a local thrift store. It can be activated by motion detection or by off/on switch. Just had to run to the local ACE Hardware store for some longer sheet metal screws... the electrical box was inset to the wall a bit and I had to improvise.
Earthlink virus blocker message status... Message deleted... Virus Detected: W32.Mytob.C@mm
Message Details: From: ('spoofed' address) To: (me) Subject: (none) Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2005 10:12:18 +0200
... Thank you Earthlink !!!
Best to:
- Keep your firewall updated and running.
- Keep Windows (or applicable OS) and Mail programs updated/patched.
- Keep your anti-virus program(s) updated and scan often.
- Use adware/malware blockers and scanners and update them frequently.
- A word about 'worms' from the a² knowledgebase.
- Do not visit suspect (porn/'warez'/'phishing'), or 'pharming' sites.
- Do not open attachments (unless you're absolutely-positively sure you know they're safe)... period.
Sports:
BLOGGER 'bugs' still causing me an inordinate amount of time editing due to spurious code being thrown in. My last battle in the previous posting was to rid the post of at least (20) false "font" tags thrown in after I pasted my HTML into the BLOGGER engine. Also, when I edit the post of extra line spacing sometimes the font colors and sizes sometimes change? Dunno... perhaps it's my coding, but I don't quit the HTML editor I use (AceHTML 6.0) until it gives my code the o.k. after I've gone through its debugging/editing checks. Dunno. Not to mention the weird way the BLOGGER engine codes for emboldened text. Today extra 'anchor' tags and closing 'anchor' tags being added... and... dunno.
The van... I managed to get the door that was damaged closed and latched. I had already dismantled the fender and got the stripping off to adjust the hinges that were torqued out of shape when Gail called from Arizona to tell me to leave 'it' alone... sigh. So I did, after I adjusted the hinges and put 'it' back together. Estimates running approx. $3,000.00 USD for repair... or 85% of the complete loss value of the van and we have PL & PD coverage only.
The gear shift lever (linkage?) went out, again... again my Father-in-law repaired.
Learn Guitar chords online. I still need an amp or an output device of some sort to begin learning on the guitar I was given, but this little gem of a page I found in my Lockergnome Windows Fanatics newsletter (dated April 13th, 2005) just might let me practice virtually by ear... cool!!! Jimmy Page... (Led Zeppelin)... watch out!!!
I started watering the lawn (such as it is) at 11:00 p.m. one evening and finished just after 5:00 a.m.. It's just too hot during daylight... and so cool and quiet and starry out in "the wee hours".
Saw my first live skunk since moving here 14-years ago scurrying on the road before dusk one night. Too many of the dear critters litter the road in sorrowful repose. At home we have had occasional evidence of their presence and needed to close all the doors and windows... phew!!!
Learn American Sign Language...
Michigan State University's ASL (American Sign Language) Browser... requires Apple's "Quicktime Player" version 5.0 or better (freeware).* Note: on my humble 700 MHz Athlon box some videos took nearly a minute to render both in the current versions of IE6 and Firefox... I'm sure most of your experiences will be more robust than mine (with my antiquated eMonster 700k)... however, the sign language is also depicted in clear written form (prior to the video) if you do not have Apple's Quicktime installed.
Just click "Take me to the ASL Browser" on their webpage (or this direct link), when ready, to learn ASL...
["The hands create a cool breeze as they fan the head"] !!!
Bug in the bug fix... Firefox 1.0.5 needs to be updated to 1.0.6 due to 3rd party extension problems with 1.0.5. The freeware Firefox 1.0.6 (web browser) is now available.
Firefox is now my default browser with IE6 serving beside it... on occasion. The function I've been using the most is the [ Control + ] key stroke tandem to view web pages with the type enlarged. The download utility in Firefox is still a bit slow for my taste (being constrained by dial-up) and so I'll use Leechget to speed up my downloads a bit (plug-in needed for non-IE users)
Our prayers answered: Gail's follow-up exam on the 14th gave us the great news that there is no need for concern for fibroglandular densities... perhaps only a shadow of adipose tissue on the initial mammogram.
Puppies: Surprise appearance of five puppies (one of which passed away)... from the apparent union of one of my in-law's Malemutes, Big Foot, and an Alaskan Husky, Sky. My granddaughter, Ashley, has adopted the name "Angel" for a female pup she hopes to keep. The remainder of the puppies' futures are dubious at this point.
Shake me!!!... USGS Earthquake Hazards Program... recent earthquake activity around the world.
(All quiet on the BIG QUAKE front.)
My entries... poetry.com: " Poetry in Motion "...
& Haiku daily contests:
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" Crux ( αωε ) "... 'Crux' defined; and from the Greek alphabet... I am in awe.
" A Daydream "... I started in another direction (waves of green grass swaying in the wind melodically) based on the 'tiles' I had first uncovered, then reconsidered when I found the "ocean" 'tile' and diverged from there... as is my wont.
" Awaken " ... Another pious piece profferred.
" Vanity " a Haiku: ... The photo for inspiration was of a rose-colored full Moon above a craggy canyon rim in an azure sky, probably at dawn, with a few craggy trees about... one in the appearance of reaching out at the Moon.
" The Watchers " a Haiku: ... The photo for inspiration was of two cheetahs on guard over a kill while a third partook of the feast.
" Fair Beauty " ... a piece of fluff.
[Hand high, flat, palm down, fingers wagged all together] !!!
C'ya.
... digg.com
