Saturday, April 24, 2004

New hat for vacation

Well, I'm not really going to wear it, but I did find a good deal online for a grey fedora. It'll go good with my Zoot. Anyway, this is probably it until vacation is over. See ya in a week!


Listening to: "All She Wrote," Firehouse

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, April 23, 2004

Hurried

Lots to post about, but no time. So Sheila Rene, Harvey, and Ria, if you're reading this, I want to post about thing we were talking/emailing about. But I haven't got time for te details yet. Maybe after vacation.


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday Five

Another week of no Friday 5. This was pulled from last year's archive for this Friday.

1. What was the last TV show you watched?
Actually, it was Berman and Berman on the Discovery Health Network. Susan and I watched a show on sexual positions. (Blush!)

2. What was the last thing you complained about?
A brochure printing/office politics minefield. I didn't know the field was there, and I jumped in with both feet. Got both my legs blown off.

3. Who was the last person you complimented and what did you say?
I think I told Susan she was hot.

4. What was the last thing you threw away?
A Dairy Queen Blizzard cup.

5. What was the last website (besides this one) that you visited?
Google. I was looking for "tech support Haikus."


Mood: Ready for sleep
Listening to: Billie Holiday

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Wednesday, April 21, 2004

Talk about guns and strange coincidences

This morning, Jim was talking to Barry about borrowing his automatic handgun. Somebody asked (Art?) about the caliber, thinking it was a .40. It's actually a .25, but that led Cam to mention a song he knows about a .45. I mentioned Blind Al does a song about a .45

Got my cold steel .45
Gonna put you in the ground
Put you six feet under
For your lyin' cheatin' ways and your runnin' 'round.

(Blind Albert and the Blind Albert Band do not condone spousal abuse of any kind, including murder.)

So then, in the car, I was listening to Lyle Lovett, and he's got a song about a jilted guy killing his old girl and her new husband. And what did he use? You guessed it, Frank Stalone. No, sorry, I mean a .45. Three .45 references in music before noontime. Crazy, huh.

Oh, and there's more in the "Get More Here" section...

Mood: Freaked out! (Not really)
Album in the player: Lyle Lovett's Pontiac

Set this day by the hand of Billy Rhythm [Link] [Get More Here]


Reasons 4 Love #47

Reasons 4 Love #47

Every Wednesday those who are involved in a relationship with somebody share a few (simple but significant) reasons for their love. I love Susan because:

She called downstairs to me on Monday to remind me that I needed to do some work for the office at a particular time. Knowing I was downstairs away from a clock, and knowing how things slip by me when I'm busy, she took it upon herself to remind me.
She's turning into quite the seamstress.
She's going with me to a supper of smothered beef on Saturday, and she doesn't like smothered beef. She's going for me--I love it, and since she hates it, I never get it.



According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Tuesday, April 20, 2004

Where is America going?

First, no prayer in school. Then, we take "Under God" out of the Pledge. Gay marriage is all the rage. And today, my wife brought home vanilla Oreos! The end is coming, the end is coming!


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Monday, April 19, 2004

Macquarium Madness

So I'm building another run of Macquariums. I cleaned the guts out of 14 Macs tonight. Soon, I'll start sawing out the naughty bits. I have 5 tanks pre-made, one is already water tight, and four need another coat of sealant. And my buddy Jim has agreed to rip some lumber for me on his table saw to make the stands the tank sits on. (Thanks, buddy!)

Speaking of my buddy Jim, he just got a new stainless bull-barrel Ruger 10/22. I've had the itch to get to the range for a couple of weeks. Now it's almost a burning!

Feeling: Dusty
Listening: Lars Larsen, Talk Radio

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Happy Patriots Day

Good morning all! Happy Patriots Day! If course, unless you're in Maine or Mass, you don't celebrate Patriots Day. We're the only two states to celebrate Paul Revere's ride, and the battles of Lexington and Concord. And today is the day Boston closes down for the marathon. Too bad today is also the day Dad has to go to Boston for his bi-weekly appointment. His appointment is one hour before the marathon starts. He hopes to get in before the ruckus.

Had a strange dream last night. Mack Economy and I were riding in a sports car with Keith Wass. He was driving very fast on a roan along the side of an island. The road reminded me of where you cross the causway in Spruce Head, right along that rise by Vivian York's "Lobster Lane Bookshop." There was no guardrail, just some big bolders. Anyway, we end up going off the road, and, because we're going so fast, we skip like a stone across the top of the water. We end up in waist deep water on some other island. Good thing it was low tide. Anyway, we all knew the island (even though it isn't any island I know really), and did some browsing. We ended up finding this mysterious music store. It was mysterious in the sense that we had all heard about this great music store on this island, but none of us had ever been there. Seems that they don't advertise, and the only way you find them is if you stumble on them. We stumbled on them, all right. Inside, the place was packed! They had three pink paisley Fender Telecasters in stock! After shopping, we went to some kind of meeting--kinda like a cross between a Kiwanis meeting and a town meeting. While this was happening, I got word that an atomic bomb had been launched against a city nearby, and it would only be a matter of hours before we were all dead. So I got up and announced it to the meeting. Then I got up, went over to Heather Armstrong, and kissed her on the cheek, and said "That's from all the boys who rode the Spruce Head bus who had a crush on you." (Heather Armstrong was a nice girl that lots of people had crushes on, but she didn't ride the Spruce Head bus. The girl that rode the bus that everyone thought was cute was Gail Anderson. Maybe Heather was playing the part of Gail in my dream.) Then, I called Susan, and told her I would try to make it back to Rockland for one last time.

Feeling: Awake!

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Sunday, April 18, 2004

Just a quick Sunday afternoon post

I just finished the dishes. Well, not all of them, but a dish drainer full. I just wanted to do a quick email check. While online, I read everyone's pages.

Hey, last night at the House of David, four people got saved. And in the last five weeks, they've had about 125 kids saved. That's really awesome for a little surf shop in OOB.

Feeling: Somewhat wet
Music: Diana Krall

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Saturday, April 17, 2004

At the House of David

So I'm at the House of David right now. I was showing Mark the director pictures of the cocktail kit. I then found that a bunch of my pages were down. He's lent me his computer so I can get them back up. So they're back up now and working. I know you were concerned. :-)


Diggin': Sam and Dave

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, April 16, 2004

Friday 5

Another week with no Friday Five. So, I pulled last year's up from about this same week. What did I come up with? More lameness...

1. Who is your favorite celebrity? Beats me. Favorite for what? Looks? Elizabeth Shue. Acting? Harrison Ford's pretty good, as is Clint Eastwood. Comedian? Will Ferral's a riot. And Ringo seems like a good chap, as does Charlie Watts.

2. Who is your least favorite? Again, don't really have one. Barbra Striesand would probably be high on the list, though.

3. Have you ever met or seen any celebrities in real life? I've been in the opening band for Marshall Tucker and Leon Russel. I've played drums with a lot of "famous" blues musicians like Eddie Shaw (who still remembers the time I played with him when I was like 15) and Kenny Neal.

4. Would you want to be famous? Why or why not? Makes no difference, really. If I became famous, I wouldn't let it go to my head. I'd want to be a regular guy who just happened to be famous. I'd always sign autographs. (I remember this one blues guitarist whose work I admired. He played the blues festival. He put on an amazing show, and had a large crowd despite the pouring rain. Normally, the musicians came off stage, went into a tent stage left, and sold and autographed CDs for their fans. When this guy was done, he got off stage, and there was a huge line of people wainting in the rain to buy his CDs. He said (and I was under the tent, so I heard him say it) "I'm too busy for this. Where's (the bass player)? Have him do it." He would not sign autographs for the people. The rest of his band would, but not him. He was "too busy." How could he be too busy? The rest of his band was there signing autographs--where was he going to go?

5. If you had to trade places with a celebrity for a day, who would you choose and why? I haven't a foggy,and wouldn't have a clue who I'd pick.

Feeling: I gotta headache
Listening to: Some jazz tune Jim wanted me to hear

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Wednesday, April 14, 2004

Thanks Dad

My Dad's been thinking about a new car. He doesn't really like his mini-van that much. I mean, he likes it ok, but it's no Lincoln. And I, of course, am looking for a mini-van. So he had this idea: he would trade in Sue's Escort, give us the mini-van, and we'd make up the difference in the trade-in value. (The van is worth more than the '93 Escort>) But we thought we'd look around anyway. There a couple of little things wrong with the mini-van--nothing major mechanically, just weird stuff. So we'd thought we'd shop around. (We haven't had much luck)

Dad called the other night and talked with Susan. "Just wanted to make sure you didn't want the van" he said. Or at least, that's how Sue understood it.

He stopped by the office today. Dad wanted to talk to me. He explained that he kinda got the vibe that Susan wasn't understanding him. He wanted to give us the mini-van. Straight out. No trade thing, just a gift to the twins.

How could you ask for better parents than what I got?

This helps out immensly, of course. With the money saved, I can buy a vehicle for myself, and pay off the one credit card we have left. I can then sell the truck, and maybe get enough to pay for the deductable for the twins. It really helps out, and is a sure answer to prayer.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Feeling: thankful

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Reasons 4 Love

Reasons 4 Love #46

Every Wednesday those who are involved in a relationship with somebody share a few (simple but significant) reasons for their love. I love Susan because:

She took Julia to school today so I wouldn't have to empty the drums out of my truck.
She took Julia to do all kinds of wonderful things on Saturday.
She took Julia to Kippy Karnival without me, because I had to work.
She takes care of Julia a lot when I'm not home evenings. (Like tonight. And tomorrow night.)



According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Peter Lorre's been haunting me all day!

This is quite the rainy Tuesday. Seems perfect a day to be thinking about Peter Lorre. It started this morning, when I left a comment on a friend's web page. As I was writing it, I thought about how Peter Lorre would say it. Then, while I was looking at some paperwork with Paddy this morning, he busted into a Peter Lorre impression. I mentioned to him at that time how I had had one Peter Lorre reference already. Then, when I got home for lunch, we all watched Scooby Doo--an episode called That's Snow Ghost In it is a minor character who's done as an homage to Lorre, complete with accent! What is going on!


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Bank of America Sucks, and Lightning for my Beloved

"More people are killed by lightning (about 1,000 a year worldwide) than in any other kind of storm, including hurricanes and tornadoes. "

Source

"The chances of being struck by lightning in the United States is 1 in 600,000, but people can reduce those odds by avoiding the most dangerous activities associated with lightning strikes... taking a shower; talking on a conventional telephone..."

Yeah, I'll be giving those up soon.

About 75-100 of those are in the US, mostly Florida (sorry Maria and Melanie!).
--
In June of 2001, I posted a page about Bank of America, and why I will never do business with them again. For $12.78, I swore revenge. While looking at my stats today, I noticed something unusual. That page has been getting a lot of hits this year. Last year, it averaged about 150 hits a month or so. For this year, we got 343 hits in January, 468 hits in February, 664 hits in March, and this month, which is only half over, we've got 830 hits already! About 5,500 hits on that page, all over $12.78 worth of poor customer service. That's 2/10s of a cent per hit! They should've given my $12.78 back.


A little under the weather
Lisa Stansfield,

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Sunday, April 11, 2004

Three Button Deluxe Photos

Photos from last night. Full review to follow.


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Saturday, April 10, 2004

Some quiz I stole from Maria

1: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:

"Or it slips from your grip, falls to the floor, and hurriedly escapes through a mouse hole at the bottom of the wall."

2: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?

To my side, a cubicle. In front of me, the computer monitor.

3: What is the last thing you watched on TV?

VH1's 100 Most Shoking Star Momenets

4: WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what time it is:

9:24 am

5: Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?:

9:20 am.

(See the "Get More Here" section for the rest...)

OK

Set this day by the hand of Billy Rhythm [Link] [Get More Here]


Friday, April 9, 2004

What's in a name?

Trying to pick a Biblical name for one of your twin boys? Try here.


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday Five Part II

Hey, they put one up!

1. What do you do for a living?
Almost everything! I do P/R and marketing and tech support by day. I teach Adult Ed and private drum lessons by night. Then on the weekends I play in three bands. In my free time, I fix computers and design a web page or two.

2. What do you like most about your job?
I like that my daily schedule is set by me. I have certain tasks that need to be done, but I get to prioritize my own schedule. Plus, it's new and different every day. The coffee is very good too. And my co-workers are cool. And the pay and benefits are good. And we have cook-outs. And, and, and...

3. What do you like least about your job?
Sometimes dealing with customers who don't listen, or who won't take your advice, gets a little old. Like I helped this guy today set up his AOL over a TCP/IP connection. "Click here first, log in, then open your AOL." And he says "Why can't I just do this?" And I said, "Well, you can, but you run the risk of AOL connecting you to a long distance number. If you log into us first, you can be assured you dialed the right number." He still insisted "I can just do this, can't I?" And I said, "You can if you want, but I don't recommend it. You've already admited to me you don't know what you're doing, so I'd suggest you take my advice." I'm sure he'll decide not to follow it. Sometimes, in doing my job, I have to depend on others to do parts of it. And sometimes they don't do their part, which means my part doesn't get done, which gets old. But it doesn't happen a lot. I'm pretty happy with my job.

4. When you have a bad day at work it's usually because...
...of something stupid. Somebody stepped on my toes, or said something not so nice, or just acted like a jerk. And I take that personally. And then unfortunately I take it home.

5. What other career(s) are you interested in?
I could see myself as a chef. Maybe a high school English teacher. How about vintage drum sales and restoration? That'd be cool!


Ready for more coffee!!!

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday 5

Another week of no fresh Friday 5. Who's running this meme, anyway? I've pilfered Paddy's post.

1. What is your favorite restaurant and why?
Sadly, I have no favorite right now. For years, Susan and I always went to Ingrahams for our special occasions. It was quaint, the food was delicious, the prices reasonable, and the service attentive. Too bad they closed. So I'm left with a lot of nice restaurants in town, many of them decent, but not one that stands enough above the others to be called a favorite.

2. What fast food restaurant are you partial to?
Truly fast food? KFC or Wendys. If you include chain restaurants, as Paddy did, then I'd say The Macaroni Grill. There are always about a dozen dishes there I want to try. And since I only get there 3-4 times per year, I’ll never run out of dishes to try. (I always try to get a different one every time I go.)

3. What are your standards and rules for tipping?
Tipping is earned. It’s not required. I have left nothing before. I have left the one penny turned heads down before. Once, I was having a very late night/early morning meal with some friends at a roadside diner. The waitress was rude and inattentive, spending time hanging with her friends. As I recall, she never came to ask how things were, and never offered to refill my coffee. Took order. Delivered food. Brought check. That’s it. Not only did I not leave her a tip, but when my friend wasn’t looking, I took his tip off the table too. (He felt obligated to tip.) I gave it back to him when we were in the car. 10-15% is my norm. Friendly service gets more. The waitstaff doesn’t get retribution from me if the kitchen screws up either. They’re two different things. As long as the waiter/waitress goes to bat for me in the kitchen, then everything is cool as far as their tip is concerned. And, also like Paddy, the percentage is higher at breakfast, simply because the check is lower.

4. Do you usually order an appetizer and/or dessert?
Not usually an app. I just get too full. Sometimes I splurge, but not usually. Dessert? I’d say the odds are a little better there. If I’m not totally full from the entrée, and there’s something on the desert menu that tickles my fancy, then I’m in. Blueberry gingerbread? Something lemony? Chocolate destruction torte? Ok, I’ll buy that. Plain cheesecake? Carrot cake? Brownie sundae? Not so much.

5. What do you usually order to drink at a restaurant?
What meal? Breakfast is black coffee. Sometimes grapefruit juice if it’s available. (It usually isn’t.) Lunch? Probably water or a Coke. But it depends on what I’m ordering. A Buffalo chicken sandwich might require a beer. And beer selection depends on the weather. Supper out? Usually water with the meal, and coffee for dessert. Depending on budget, there may be a glass of wine in there. Usually red, but it depends on what I’m ordering.


My right hand is kinda cold...

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Thursday, April 8, 2004

Filtered!

I'm teaching my beginner's Internet class right now. I've only got two students, and we're pretty much done. We're just practicing a little bit, and I'm here to answer any questions they have. So I thought I'd swing over to Sheila Rene and Piquant, and Ron over at Random Abstract. Too bad I couldn't get there! The school here uses some Bess filtering thing. Sheila Rene is blocked because it's "pornographic," and Ron's blocked because of "Tasteless/Gross Jokes, Profanity, Nudity." What kind of friends do I have? :-)

slight headache

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Chocolate

Chocolate. I love it. I want to thank my friends for keeping me in some serious gourmet $#!+. (That's an homage to Pulp Fiction and pal Jimmy T.) It started with my wife Susan. I bought her some truffles in a heart from Godiva one Valentines. In all honesty, I don't think their chocolate's worth the money. Lovely packaging, but their truffles aren't worth $2 a piece by any stretch. But in the selection I bought her was a foil wrapped piece that contained 72% cocoa solids. (Godiva has their site set up so you can't right-click an image to get the address. Fine. Make me pull apart your code so I can hump your product for you, you expensive yet cheap hose-heads!) And that, let me tell you something, was good. Then one day my buddy Paddy hooked me up with some Scharffenberger 70% cocoa. Bigger portion, and available here in town. But at like $6 per bar, it's a treat seen infrequently. Today, my bud Gina hooked me up with some Lindt 85% cocoa chocolate. This stuff is almost unsweetened baking chocolate. It's rugged stuff. If bittersweet is the French roast of chocolate, this stuff is the espresso. We've got quite a few chocolate heads here in the office--like Gina and Mike. They wouldn't eat it. I ate two squares with a cup of coffee! Now this isn't your everyday snacking chocolate. The circa seventy percenters are in that class. This is like the Bookers Bourbon of chocolate. Only for special occasions, or after a hard day. And since I've had quite a few of those days this week, I may have to have another square!

Better, thank you.
Matthew Sweet, 100% Fun

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Wednesday, April 7, 2004

What's up around here

Couple of things from some recent comments. Jim noticed there'd been a lack of posts for a bit. It's true. Like last weekend, I didn't even turn the computer on. I was just too busy. There was just too much going on. And this week's been no different, really. I added another drum student, so I'm teaching every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Tomorrow night I'm teaching adult ed. Saturday I'm working until noon, and have a gig with 3BD in the evening. So Friday is my only night off, and I don't even leave work until 6pm.

Paddy also noticed that most of my Mood posts were of the "I feel eh" variety. I guess if I'm just feeling normal, I don't put anything in the Mood section. I really only use that feature when I'm feeling really good, or feeling really bad. And lately, I've been in a funk. Not sure why. Just life. It's kinda funny--when I look at what's going on in my life, there's some stuff in there that might make you down, or worried, or whatever. But it's not those big things. I'm not worried about Dad, or the babies, or finances. I'm bummed about stupid stuff. Like the lawn's a mess, and the kitchen floor needs to be mopped, and that Windows machine today that sucked up all my time. Why I should let that stuff bother me is beyond me. But it does.

Ok, enough gloom for this evening.

OK
Watching: Mail Call and Good Eats

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Reasons 4 Love

Reasons 4 Love #45

Every Wednesday those who are involved in a relationship with somebody share a few (simple but significant) reasons for their love. I love Susan because:

She said I didn't have to rub her neck while I was talking to my boss about after hours business. How thoughtful! :-}
She hardly batted an eye when I asked her if I could bid on another snare drum.
She has mentioned, even in jest, me not doing a R4L in almost a month!
She made a batch of chocolate chip cookies that were nothing short of amazing!



According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Tuesday, April 6, 2004

Grammar and eggs

Grammar God!
You are a GRAMMAR GOD!


If your mission in life is not already to
preserve the English tongue, it should be.
Congratulations and thank you!


How grammatically sound are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

And you know what? Question #7 has a typo!

Perhaps more will come later, and I can discuss points raised recently by Paddy and Jim.

Eh.

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Monday, April 5, 2004

Bayview Concierge

I designed a website for Bayview Concierge. They offer this really cool service--think of it like your own personal concierge service. Here's how they describe themselves.

"Looking for assistance in today's busy world - Bayview Concierge, Camden's premier source for lifestyle management, is looking to assist with all of your day-to-day needs. Everyone finds it difficult to balance work, family life, and recreation. Save time by allowing our professional assistants to complete the details for you. Everything from running errands, making travel arrangements and reservations, to planning weddings!"

I thought you might like to check it out.


According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

Friday, April 2, 2004

Friday 5

No Friday 5 again this week (groan). I'm using the one Paddy from Double Taps picked.

1. What are the first things that you do in the morning to start your day?
Get up at around 6:45. Bathroom. Shower. Brush teeth. Go downstairs to get clean clothes. Throw in a load of laundry.

2. What are the last things that you do at night before going to bed?
Well, if it's a "regular" night (which are few and far between recently), we go upstairs around 10pm. I usually read a couple of chapters worth of whatever Bible book I'm reading at the time. Then, kiss Susan and tell her I love her. Recently, though, I've been getting in so late, I just crawl into bed.

3. What daily routine have you recently added to your day?
Nothing really. I know what I should be adding to my routine. Some excersise and some drm practice on the pad.

4. What routine do you wish you could get rid of?
Waking up at around 3am to empty the bladder. Not only is is a pain, but since I'm up, I usually get a drink of milk and a snack--which caloricaly, of course, I don't need.

5. What's the one thing that makes you feel like something is missing if you don't do it some point within your day?
Hugging and kissing my girls and telling them I love them. There are days when I kiss Julia goodbye in the morning, and don't speak to her again until the next morning. I miss Susan too, of course, but it's different with Julia. It breaks your heart to hear things like "Are you going to be home tonight?"


Sorta OK
Shoop, Salt N Peppa (not really)

According to the prophecy of: Billy Rhythm [Link]

 
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