I got an email from The Shadow Lady showing me a link that let me be "Simpsonized"... so I went to it, uploaded my picture, answered a couple of questions, and wa-la... I'm 2D!

I think its pretty accurate...

This is the picture I used to generate the base pic...

Here's the Shadow Lady's Simpsonized pic:

To get Simsonized, go here: http://simpsonizeme.com/#

 
On Saturday, I went outside, and saw something that really made me sad... I have a mole in my yard.  I stomped down the mound, but this morning, another one was pushed up... Not a biggie in most states; you get a mole trap, and in a day or so, its done... but in this state, riddled with Greeners and "Environmentalists", mole traps are against the law.

It figures it'd happen now... just as the lawn is recovering from the weed removal I did to it.  What a mess!

Thanks to the greeners - who for the most part live in a condo in the middle of a city, and have never seen a mole, let alone have a yard they take care of - it'll be a few weeks before I finally find a "non lethal, environmentally firendly, PETA approved" method of coaxing him happily to leave. 

Hopefully a neighbors' cat will get him.  At the very least, I hope it won't take too long to get the lawn recovered from the damage this little pest is causing!.

Microsoft has done a round of incremental updates to its Live Maps website, and I REALLY like the new and improved graphics!  This view of North Bend goes a long way to show off what you can see using their site... But even the 2D maps are better, in my humbe opinion, than anything that Yahoo or Google have.

Check it out at http://maps.live.com

 
Every so often you come across a news story where you roll your eyes in amazement that someone could display such a lack of brain cell usage... and this guy is supposedly a doctor!

Here's the official story:

Federal prosecutors in Seattle on Thursday charged Kou Wei Chiu, a 31-year-old Tennessee doctor, with making a bomb threat because he missed his Northwest Airlines flight out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, forcing the plane to turn around in midair Wednesday. A detention hearing was set for today.
(clipped from the Tacoma News Tribune - http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/crime/story/119736.html)

The back story to that is that Chiu was travelling to Tennessee from Seattle with his girlfirend and her friend.  They made the plane, but he was late.  He tried to talk them into bringing the plane back to the gate, but they told him it had already left, and they would not have done that anyway.  So, AT THE TICKET DESK, he said "There's a bomb on the plane", thinking that that would make the plane turn around so he could get on it.

Are people REALLY that dumb?!?

 
I finally figured out what they're building at the exit to North Bend... a traffic circle.

It was a four-way stop, and I guess traffic backed up there... they've been working on it since we moved there, and now its done enough so I recognize where they're going.

hopefully, it'll make things go smoother  -- ESPECIALLY once folks figure out how to use it!

I parked in a new place near a client site in Seattle... across from the parking garage, they're working on the oustide of a building. A couple of guys were putting up scaffolding, and it caught my attention - I was on Floor "M", quite a ways up, and they were right across from me... NO WAY could I do this!

Where the guy was working, there weren't even any boards under him... he was walking around the pipes as calmly as I might have walked on a monkey bar set when I was in grade school!

It was crazy!  They were using a rope to pull up more pipes

Not the job I would want to have!  Someone's got to do it... but I'll leave something like that to the pros...

Last night, I was trying get my Treo to syncronize with my PC.  It was having troubles, and I narrowed it down to the connector on the phone - If it was JUST right, it would work... sometimes.  So, since the Shadow Lady didn't want to jump to the Motorolla "Q", I switched to use that as my phone, which was no problem at all for Verizon... the problem came when I tried to add my "Q" to the Windows Vista Sync Center.

I fussed around with it for a while - I consider myself somewhat of a "techie", so its a defeat for me to call the help desk.  But, since I was wanting to get on to other things, I called Verizon's support.  They handed me off several times, and eventually I got to someone who knew the deal: The Motorolla Q drivers are not supported by Windows Vista. 

There was no word on when updated drivers would be produced, but the lady on the phone said that the majority of Q users are business folks, and they use the Exchange connectivity tools to sync their phones with Exchange, including the calendar and the like... that synced with the server, not with the PC. She didn't think they'd be adding a Vista-compatible driver any time soon, because there wasn't a huge need for it.  She showed me a way to get the email sync'd, using "WirelessSync", which got the email across, but the utility to get the contact list and appointments, tasks, notes, and the like from the PC to the SyncServer crashed during the install, and after a bit of digging, she found a note in the database that said it didn't work with any version of Vista other than the Media Version (I was using Vista Ultimate).

So, I slept on it, resigned to the knowledge that I wasn't going to be able to sync my calendar and my contacts with my phone...

On the way to church this morning, a 35 minute or so drive, I got to thinking... Pinnacle, which I used to use a LOT,  doesn't work with Vista... its newest version supposedly does, but it has problems, according to the forums... Paint Shop Pro X1 works with Vista, but it runs very slow on it.  PDF995, a small utility I used all the time to print PDF's, doesn't work.  Visual Studio gets crash-happy on Vista, because of "Digital Execution Protection" issues (which I suspect is EVERYONE's problem).  Roxio bails with a "C++ Runtime Error" half the time on startup... Frontpage has difficulty, although it doesn't say "why", it just bails in the middle of saving, which either doesn't save anything, or corrupts the page.... While Vista is a GREAT operating system, unfortunately, the programs I like to use don't work well with it.

The latest issue with the Q was the straw that broke the back of my resolve... for the first time since I bailed out on Windows 3.0 and went back to DOSSHELL, I decided it was time for me to give up on Vista, and go back to Windows XP Pro.

A quick format of the ol' hard drive, a re-install of the old OS, and after about 30 minutes of copying files, and looking for drivers, the familiar "Windows XP" logo sprung up...

XP is WAY faster on my PC... Its been almost a year under Vista (I was an "early adopter", and had been using Vista since the "Beta" and "Release Candidate" Versions), and I'd forgotten how much faster it was!  I installed my familiar-but-sorely-missed friends, and was happy to see they ran fine - and were downright Zippy to boot.  Everything runs perfectly, and after 250+ Windows Update items, over 5 rounds, I was cruising right along again!

The problem isn't the same one that sent me back to DOSSHELL, deleting my Windows folder all together... While Windows 2.3 and 3.0 were HORRIBLE, Vista is awesome.  It runs great, and does everything its supposed to do, and looks FANTASTIC doing it.  The utilities make sense, the dialog boxes it produces are very well designed and easy to understand, and it just WORKS the way its supposed to. 

Its the software that runs on it that have problems.  Until the software folks work out the kinks, and make their stuff work under the tighter "Digitial Execution Protection" rules... it'll be a tough road for folks using Vista.  If you're lucky enough to not use the programs that have problems, then you're reading this with an odd look - when it works, Vista outclasses anything, in my humble opinion.  But when it doesn't, its like pushing an F-250 up a hill in a snow storm... there's funner things to do!

So, I'm back to the 2001 version of Windows (with several updates over the years, of course)... and loving every minute of it - my favorite programs run the way they're supposed to again, and my computer is a LOT faster!

As for Vista... I think I'll miss the Media Gallery the most... that thing was AWESOME!

Comments on this posting:

I've had similar problems with Vista Premium Home Edition.

I use Norton Internet Security and had to upgrade (with 8 months remaining on my subscription!) from the 2006 version to 2007 because Vista warned of instability if I tried to continue the reinstallation of 2006 after the upgrade, and wouldn't let me continue when I tried to ignore the warning.

---

JIM Windows One Care, which I use on all my PC's, works well with Vista...

I bailed on Norton after an upgrade to Version 2003 hosed up my system... twice. I reinstalled, and then put down Version 2003, and it thrashed it the second time, and I went to Computer Associates' EZ Armor.

I switched to One Care about a year ago, when EZ Armor and Defender's Beta ran out at about the same time, and MS added Defender to thier AV/Firewall product, which they named One Care. I've been very happy with it.

---

ROBERT - We have 9 desktop PCs and a couple of laptops, all fairly powerful. (One is a Dell XPS we use for High Definition television editing.) We also have a Mac. All the PCs run XP-Pro. We tried Vista (after all it is the latest, greatest....... right? And the GUI is pretty like a Mac.) However, even with lots of ram and multiple processors, they still ran slow. But worst of all, very few apps (video, audio editing, graphics, etc) would work! Some office apps work and I understand that gamers love it. But as with any new OS I think we will wait until everyone pays to be 'Beta testers' (Even though the interface is pretty:-)

 

I REALLY do.  This little city really suits me.  We were walking from an eatery to the movie theater, and got a really nice view of Mt Si.  While I waited for the "Walk" light at the one redlight in the down town area, I took a picture of the Mountain that provides the backdrop for the city.

The low clouds down in Seattle and Bellevue ends up being fog up here... today, it made for a very nice backdrop... you can just see the outline of the familiar peak.

The weather also brought out some of the the best in the movie theater, as well...

What a great place to live!

COMMENTS on this post:

ROBERT - It sure beats Tulsa (OK), but I've been watching the weather there (in the PNW) for years and my idea of ideal weather is along the south shore of the Straight of Jaun Defuca, from Port Angeles, west.

---

JIM - Sequim has GREAT weather, if you like less rain! It gets about half the rain, and more than 250 days of sun a year... have you seen this?<

http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=445754&refer=

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that Twede's has a "Peanut Butter and Jelly" hamburger... I also mentioned that I'd try it sometime... well, "Sometime" was today...  :-)

Suprisingly enough, it was actually quite good... I'd order it again without reservation.  The Jelly adds a sweet tang to it, and the peanut butter mixes surprisingly well in with the peanut butter... even dipping the fries in the jelly was good...

So, I guess the joke was on me... it ends up that it's a good hamburger.  The owner said that when folks order it, he gets very few negative coments about it.

Who Knew?

COMMENTS on this post:

ROBERT - Does anyone remember the packaging that the original Egg-McMuffin came in? It was open-faced and served in styro-foam and came with a package of jelly. It was actually pretty good. I do like peanut butter and jelly. I do like burgers....... I guess I would try it :-)

---

JIM - I do remember that... the Jelly was a bit runny for my taste, if I remember right.

We're heading to Mt St Helens today... I checked the webcam, and was treated to a nice view!

I'm sure they'll be a "Currently" coming with that as the topic!  :-)

I got an email today from a good friend of mine.  I forwarded it to some folks, and then figured I'd add it to my blog... BabyJ is in week 24, while the baby in the story was in Week 21.  Check it out... its just simply Incredible...

I added it to my Interesting Stuff section... its almost unbelievable!

http://www.mypnw.us/Stuff/Interesting/HandOfHope.aspx 

 

I read in the paper some time ago that these cracks were "Superficial"... but to me, they seem to wrap around the column... which happens to be holding up the highway near the I-90 to I-5 Interchange...

I was walking in Seattle, heading to our client location, and while waiting for the light to change, I looked around, and noticed the artistry on an older building... you don't see detail like this anymore.

I think this is the building that houses the 5th avenue theater, and the faces are of Chief Seattle.... I'll have to look more closely in the coming days, and figure it out for sure.

We get the Seattle P-I... or at least we're supposed to - the paper carrier keeps dropping off the Times, instead.  Anyway, on the way in to work today, this picture, which I've walked by many times, caught my attention...

The Seattle P-I apparently had 6 employees back then...

The Times unfortunately is choking the P-I out... it probably won't survive the next round of "Joint Operation" talks.  Its somewhat sad to see a bit of Seattle history fade away into the yellowing gray and white pictures of our past.

 

A good friend of mine is moving away to follow the Lord's call for he and his wife.  Over the last few years, I've really gotten to talk with him about issues and questions I had - he's also a former 'church of Christ' attendee, and his insight helped me make sense of some things... he'll be missed!

They've invited us out to visit them... It'll be some time after BabyJ is born, obviously, but it might be something I'd like to do!

We saw this sign at McDonalds... is it because its too difficult for the employees to count change? 

Remember the days when they WANTED change?

COMMENTS on this post

Jim,

Haven't you ever been in line at the checkout stand behind a little old lady who digs to the bottom of her purse to find 3 pennies so she can give the exact amount for $1.58, and start digging in your pocket for 3 cents so she can just MOVE?

People do that at the drive through, too...and McDonald's is all about moving people through the line quickly.

---

JIM - True... but I also remember a sign at a Burger King that said "NO changes are allowed once to drive up to the window"... :-) I see the point, but sometimes, its nice to remember to smile at the quaint little old lady, and remember to call your grandma. :-)

--

I take your point.

Like the sign says: "Don't complain about the coffee. You'll be old and weak someday, too!"

"Your baby is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound. "  TOO Cool! 

So now its week 23.  We're well into the "smooth" trimester, and things are coming along nicely, it seems.  We're starting to be able to feel him kick and push from the outside, which is cool.  I haven't felt it yet, but The Shadow Lady assures me that I should, and will real soon.

 

I saw an email today that was supposedly about a poem some Marine sent to his dad.  I don't know if its true or not - I'm not the "poem" sort of person, anyway, so I wasn't overly interested in that part of it... until I saw this picture...

THIS is part of the problem with our society today... many are misguided and misdirected, largely by the media, and they seem to have lost thier ability to do what the other lady's sign says: THINK for themselves.

Lady Bird Johnson passed away today.  Some of the "Regal-ness" of the Whitehouse is lost.

She was First Lady when I was born, although I don't remember it.  She got the nickname of "Lady Bird" when she was young.. but it fit very well.  The story goes that her African American nursmaid said "She's as purty as a ladybird", and the nickname replaced her given name for most of her life.

President Bush yesterday called her "An extraordinary first lady and a fine Texan. ... She brought grace to the White House and beauty to our country."

I noticed that "Sicko" has only made $11 million.. lets hope that ol' Mike will be loosing money on this one!

Maybe then he won't make any more.  Its a nice dream! 

I was driving around Seattle, and noticed that its in the Neptune movie theater, which prompted me to post on it.

Heading out to The Mountain in a couple of hours, so I checked the webcam... NICE!

Should be a good day for viewing!

I'm sure they'll be a "currently" page before too long!

 
A satellite image of China's new nuclear ballistic missile submarine is available on the Google Earth Internet site.
 
 Hans M. Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), spotted the images, photographed by the commercial Quickbird satellite in late 2006.
 
 One photo is of what is apparently the new Type 094 Jin-class SSBN at the Xiaopingdao base near Dalian, FAS reported.
 
 The Jin-class is about 35 feet longer than the Xia-class SSBN, "primarily due to an extended mid-section of approximately 115 feet (35 meters) that houses the missile launch tubes and part of the reactor compartment," according to the report.
 
 The extended section is to make room for the larger Julang-2 ballistic missile and may also be due to the size of the reactor.
 
 In late 2006, the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence projected China could build five Jin-class SSBNs. The estimate was not cited by the Pentagon's May 2007 annual report on China military power. 
 

Original Article:  http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2007/ea_china_07_05.asp

We celebrated with family and friends down in Grays Harbor County... good times!

The greatest place to live gets a year older.  231 years... Not really a long time when you think about it. 

We watched the fireworks the night before, actually...  they launched them on the beach... we had our fill - they fired them off from about 8pm to past midnight... we stopped actively watching after a couple hours.

Albert and Einstein, Star and Spirit's eaglets, are learning how to eat on their own... they still don't have it down, though... so the parents still have to feed them...

It won't be too long before they start heading for the branches, and fledging the nest.  (Sigh)

Is it just me, or is this year flying by?

I mean, its JULY already!  When I was a kid, they said "Time flies when you're having fun".  I think you can change that to "Time files when you're working a lot"... or even "Time flies when you get older."

Its amazing... we're already more than half way through 2007!

 

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