Who is DrXanadu?: 2005

Work Rules from 1872

These are the work rules if you went to work for the Geiger Company in 1872. If you think you have it bad at your work, listen to this:

Office employees will daily sweep the floors, dust the furniture, shelves and showcases.

Each day, fill lamps, clean chimneys, turn wicks. Wash windows once a week.

Each clerk will bring in a bucket of water and a scuttle of coal for the day's business.

Make your pens carefully. You may whittle your nibs to your individual taste.

The office will open at 7:00 am and close at 9:00 pm every day except on the Sabbath, on which day it will remain closed. Each employee is expected to spend the Sabbath Day attending Church and contributing liberally to the cause of the Lord.

Men employees will be given an evening off each week for courting purposes or two evenings a week if they go to church. [This is interesting, because they never mention that the women were given this same thing. I imagine the men were out there alone.]

After an employee has spent 13 hours of labor in the office, he should spend time reading the Bible or other good books while contemplating the glories of building up the Kingdom.

Every employee should lay aside from each pay a goodly sum of his earnings so that he will not become a burden upon the charity of his betters.

The employee who has performed his labors faithfully and without fault for a period of five years in my service, and who has been thrifty and attentive to his religious duties, is looked upon by his fellow man as substantial and law abiding, and will be given an increase of 5 cents per week in his pay.

Got info? try: 1-800-FREE-411

Tired of gettin' ripped off by your wireless provider for 411 calls?

Cell phone companies are ripping people off by charging $1.25 (at least that is the charge on Verizon) for calls to 411. You can get to 411 directory services by dialing 800-FREE-411...

You can save this number in your cell phone under speed dial (or whatever method you use). Of course you will be charged for minutes but not the additional cost for dialing 411.

My wife works for Sony Electronics and they recently had an internal photo contest to see which employees have taken the best pictures with a Sony camera. I submitted one that I took in 2001 in Hawaii (north side of Kauai at sunset).

I won 2nd place! How cool! Keep snapping those digital photos folks - you never know what you will do with them. This is a small version of the picture that won.

Old Farmers' Advice

Some old - some new - most true ..

~ ~ ~

Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

Life ain't about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.

Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.

Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.

Meanness don't just happen overnight.

Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.

Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

You cannot unsay a cruel word.

Every path has a few puddles.

When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

The best sermons are lived, not preached.

Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.

Don't judge folks by their relatives.

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

The easiest way to eat crow is while it's still warm, 'cause the colder it gets, the harder it is to swaller.

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

It don't take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep.

Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with watches you shave his face in the mirror every mornin'.

Always drink upstream from the herd.

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Family Watchdog

A big THANKS to Kevin W. for sending me this:

The link below sends you to a site called Family Watchdog which gives you free access to a system that shows you a map of where you live and the locations of registered sex offenders in your area. Further, you can click on any of the little colored indicator boxes on the map and be shown a picture of the offender, his exact address, and his sex crimes.

I'm posting this with the intent to put a little more power in your hands and with the hopes that none of us ever have to deal with any of these individuals.

I was surprised to find 4 offenders within walking distance of my apartment complex.

Family Watchdog -- http://www.familywatchdog.us/

Sidewalk Chalk Art

This is SO cool!

http://andy.saturn9.ws/Photo%20Albums/sidewalk/

The End of Six Feet Under

This post is for fans of the HBO series "Six Feet Under". If you are a fan and have seen the series finale, then continue reading.

Warning: This post contains spoilers!

Ok - here we go:

David / Keith -

I thought they wrapped this up nicely with David *finally* attacking his attacker in his dreams and coming to grips with it. It was nice to see Keith and David work thru their issues. I also loved that fact that they moved into the Fisher house and finally made some nice changes to it (they could have shown more of that).

Federico / Vanessa -

This was a great wrap-up showing how couples can get back together even after one of them cheats. I like that fact that they got their own business and the Fishers are still in business.

Brenda / Nate / Mia / Willa -

What a GREAT way to open the episode with Willa's birth instead of another "customer" for the Fisher business! Very nicely done. I had some issues with Brenda and her handling of Mia and not letting Nate go. But they wrapped that up nicely too with Ruth taking back her role as the ultimate mom and realizing that Mia needed to be with Brenda. My only pet peeve was the quick switch with Nate where he was saying the baby was going to die and the next scene he's holding Willa with his dad looking over his shoulder and everything is OK. Maybe they could have made the episode another 5 minutes longer and made that transition smoother.

Billy / Brenda's Mom -

Nice finish here too. I loved Billy's last scene with Claire's lawyer/boyfriend in the kitchen.

Ruth / George / Maggie -

George can be such a jerk - Look at the tirade that Maggie does in her final scene where she really tells him off - Long overdue! The rest of the time George is a nice, supporting guy to Ruth. Ruth FINALLY gets out of that house and moves on. I think they did a great job wrapping these story lines up too.

Claire -

Loved the scenes where her new lawyer/boyfriend agrees to some nude photos - a good way to get Claire *back* to being creative. To have the show finish with her driving to New York to start a new life (thank you Nate for telling her that's what she needs to do) was a nice finish.

And finally - the end. Love the fast-forward to see how all the main characters meet their fate - Perfect for a show based on death. And I LOVED that song that was playing (Breathe Me by Sia, available on the Vol. 2 6ft Under soundtrack).

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Links:
Six Feet Under Main Site
Vol 2 Soundtrack (highly recommended!)

Space Shuttle Discovery returns home safe

I am a NASA and shuttle nut and have been following the shuttle program since the beginning. I have lost much sleep on STS-114 as the space shuttle program resumes after the tragic loss in 2003 of Columbia (I watched both the Columbia and Challenger disasters live, when they happened). Discovery touched down safely at 7:12AM (CST) this morning, after waving off the 4th attempt at Kennedy Space center in two days.

I'm going to guess that the next launch will be in November of this year.

YEAH!

NASA Return to Flight site

True Facts about Golf

Thanks to J & J for this (I play Golf and didn't know 1/2 of this):

Golf

The following is not intended to offend fans of hockey, basketball, football or baseball. It is, rather, an attempt to put everything in its proper perspective. However, if you are offended because of your favorite sport, please tell someone else.

Ever wonder why golf is growing in popularity and why people who don't even play go to tournaments or watch it on TV?

The following truisms may shed some light:

1. Golf is an honorable game, with the overwhelming majority of players being honorable people who don't need referees.

2. Golfers don't have some of their players in jail every week.

3. Golfers don't kick dirt on, spit on, or throw bottles at, other people.

4. Professional golfers are paid in direct proportion to how well they play.

5. Golfers don't get per diem and two seats on a charter flight when they travel between tournaments.

6. Golfers don't hold out for more money, or demand new contracts, because of another player's deal.

7. Professional golfers don't demand that the taxpayers pay for the courses on which they play.

8. When golfers make a mistake, nobody is there to cover for them or back them.

9. The PGA raises more money for charity in 1 year than the NFL does in 2.

10. You can watch the best golfers in the world up close, at any tournament, including the majors, all day every day for $25 or $30. The cost for even a nosebleed seat at the Super Bowl costs around $300 or more, unless you buy it from scalpers, in which case it's $1,000+.

11. You can bring a picnic lunch to the tournament golf course, watch the best in the world, and not spend a small fortune on food and drink.

Try that at one of the taxpayer funded baseball or football stadiums. If you bring a soft drink into a ballpark, they'll give you two options -- get rid of it or leave.

12. In golf, you cannot fail 70% of the time and make $9 million a season, like the best baseball hitters (300 batting average) do.

13. Golf doesn't change its rules to attract fans.

14. Golfers have to adapt to an entirely new playing area each week.

15. Golf doesn't have free agency.

16. In their prime, Palmer, Norman, and other stars, would shake your hand and say they were happy to meet you. In his prime, Jose Canseco wore T-shirts that read "Leave Me Alone."

17. You can hear birds chirping on the golf course during a tournament.

18. At a golf tournament, (unlike at taxpayer-funded sports stadiums and
arenas) you won't hear a steady stream of four letter words and nasty name-calling while you're hoping that no one spills beer on you.

19. Tiger hits a golf ball over twice as far as Barry Bonds hits a baseball.

20. Golf courses don't ruin the neighborhood.

21. And Finally: Here's a little slice of golf history that you might enjoy.

This is old but maybe you haven't seen it

Why do golf courses have 18 holes -- not 20, or 10, or an even dozen?

During a discussion among the club's membership board at St. Andrews in 1858, a senior member pointed out that it takes exactly 18 shots to polish off a fifth of Scotch. By limiting himself to only one shot of Scotch per hole, the Scot figured a round of golf was finished when the Scotch ran out.

Google Earth and Moon

I know I tend to mention Google a lot here, but they just keep cranking out the cool stuff!

First, to commemorate the first lunar landing (July 20, 1969), Google has created a Google Map of the moon. This is pretty cool! BTW, try zooming in all the way.

Second, Google has created Google Earth. Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips. Try the free version. It's pretty amazing. I use it when I'm going to travel somewhere to get a feel for what's around the area where I'm going. Plus, it's just darn cool to play with. Go to a major city (in the US) and turn on "Buildings". Then try the Tilt feature.

BTW, Google Earth is pretty resource-intensive on your computer, so make sure you have a machine that can handle it.

Enjoy!

Don't Throw It Out - Freecycle It!

Have something you would normally throw out or donate? Another option is to Freecycle it. Visit the web site for more information. There is probably a local Freecycle group where you live. I've given away lots of stuff that I would normally have thrown out or I couldn't sell at a garage sale. Makes you feel good that somebody is getting some use out of it and it's not just more garbage. I've also gotten good stuff (especially baby stuff) that was useful and in great condition that someone else simply "didn't want".

The Plumber

As seen on Rondout:

A plumber was hired to restore an old farmhouse. He had a tiring day at work as a flat tire made him lose an hour of work at job, his electric drill quit, his old truck refused to start. As I drove him back home in the evening he sat in stony silence.

On reaching his home he invited me to meet his family. As we walked towards the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. I could see, he had undergone an amazing transformation. Now there was smile on his face and he looked cheerful. Upon opening the door, he hugged his two small children and his wife.

After some time, he came to see me off. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do at the little tree.

“Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied “I know I can’t help having troubles at the job, but one thing’s for sure, those troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home & ask God to take care of them. Then in the morning I pick them up again. Funny thing is,” he smiled, “ when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging them up the night before.”

MORAL OF THE STORY
We have to learn the art of living.
When we take our troubles from one place to another place, we are spoiling the pleasure at home & atmosphere at work.
It is our presence that brings meaning to life of people around us. It is the way we touch our loved one’s heart gives life beautiful meaning.

author unknown

From – Prose ‘n Poems
prosenpoems-subscribe@yahoo.com

To See a Volcano

Reprinted from the 6/10/2005 issue of Rondout (a most excellent e-zine):

To See a Volcano
By April MacNeil

     My son sits across the aisle from me, his whole body beaming with
anticipation. Playfully he puts on the headphones handed to him by the
stewardess. He turns to me and signs, "I didn't know there were movies
on planes."
     I just smile, wanting to laugh - and cry.
     Kevin is a handsome, blond, blue-eyed fourteen-year-old who has
been deaf since birth. But throughout his life, I have tried to teach
him not to give up. And he hasn't, excelling in both academics and
sports.
     In the fall of 1997, I received a phone call from his teacher. She
suspected that Kevin was having problems with his vision. We took him
to the doctor and they told us that he had Usher's syndrome. His
peripheral vision will get narrower and narrower until, eventually, he
will be completely blind.
     "How? This can't be true," I cried. How could my dear, sweet son
be both deaf and blind? It was incomprehensible to me.
     When I was finally able to muster up enough courage, the counseling
staff at his school helped me break the news to Kevin. He sat quietly,
paying close attention to this diagnosis - a deaf person's worst fear.
     He is a brave young man, but from his body language, I knew that he
wanted to cry. However, he made sure the tears waited. With all of his
strength and smile he simply asked, "Can I please go back to class now?"
     Kevin's world was closing in on him, and I struggled against the
rage and injustice of it all. A short time later, after putting some of
my anger and fears of the future aside, I asked Kevin, "Before things
really change, what one thing do you want to see more than anything
else?"
     He thought for quite a while and then said, "A volcano . . . I want
to see a volcano in Hawaii."
     I choked back my tears and responded simply, "I'll see what I can
do," all the while knowing that short of a miracle, there was no way I
could take him to Hawaii.
     I spoke to everyone and asked everywhere, and just when I was about
to give up on Kevin's dream, I heard about an organization that works to
fulfill the wishes of chronically and critically ill children. So with
great hope, I crossed my fingers and phoned them.
     In a couple of weeks, we were interviewed, and three months later
we were sitting on the plane bound for Honolulu.
     On the morning of the big day, we climbed into a helicopter and
headed toward the volcano. We were all excited. While hovering over
the cinder cone, we could see the vibrant red, yellow and orange colors
sluggishly moving around. We could feel the immense heat on our faces.
We could smell the pungent stench of sulfur seeping in. As we hovered,
I was struck not only by the volcano's raw beauty but also by its
strength, and I thought of Kevin's strength.
     Looking over at my son, there was a peaceful glow about him. I
tapped him on his shoulder. I wanted him to look back so I could sign
and ask him what he was feeling. He signed back, "Not now...if I look
away, I'll miss it." He was right. He needed to see all he could see -
now.
     Kevin had an offering for Pele, the fire goddess. It was made of
tea leaves, her favorite, and a symbol of good luck. He stuck out his
hand and dropped his gift. Then he bowed his head and signed, "I wish
she can be strong for an eruption."
     As we watched the leaves fall into the lava, the most amazing thing
happened. The sluggish mixture began swirling around and started
popping - a tiny eruption began before our very eyes - Pele's gift to
Kevin.
     With permission from the gods, we brought some lava rock home.
Every now and then, I catch Kevin sitting with the same peaceful glow he
exuded in the helicopter that day. When I look a little closer, I
notice the small piece of lava rock in his hand.
     I pray that our journey will last forever in his mind's eye,
especially when the disease finally consumes Kevin's eyesight. Then
I'll know that my son still sees the swirling hues of red, yellow and
orange, and not just blackness.

from Chicken Soup for the Soul - 6/6/05

Forwarded from Barb D

Post-note: Sadly, the Rondout e-zine is no more since the original author passed away in 2007...

Water vs. Coke

I've received this a few times over the years and it's worth repeating here. Interesting...

WATER

1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.

2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.

3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%.

4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.

7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzz short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.

8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer.

And now for the properties of COKE:

1. In many states (in the USA) the highway patrol carries two gallons of coke in the truck to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.

2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.

3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous China.

4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.

5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals:
Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.

6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before the ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.

8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains.

9. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.

For Your Info:

1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about 4 days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase in osteoporosis.

2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must use the Hazardous material place cards reserved for Highly corrosive materials.

3. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years! Now the question is, would you like a coke or a glass of water?

The Price of Gas

Thanks to Aunt Adrienne for this little FYI:

Think a gallon of gas is expensive?

This makes one think, and also puts things in perspective.

Diet Snapple 16 oz $1.29 .......... $10.32 per gallon
Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz $1.19 ...........$9.52 per gallon
Gatorade 20 oz $1.59 .............. $10.17 per gallon
Ocean Spray 16 oz $1.25 .......... $10.00 per gallon
Brake Fluid 12 oz $3.15 ............. $33.60 per gallon
Vick's Nyquil 6 oz $8.35 .......... $178.13 per gallon
Pepto Bismol 4 oz $3.85 ......... $123.20 per gallon
Whiteout 7 oz $1.39 ................. $25.42 per gallon
Scope 1.5 oz $0.99 ....................$84.48 per gallon

And this is the REAL KICKER...
Evian water 9 oz $1.49..............$21.19 per gallon?!

$21.19 for WATER - and the buyers don't even know the source. (Evian spelled backwards is Naive.)

So, the next time you're at the pump, be glad your car doesn't run on water, Scope, or Whiteout, or God forbid Pepto Bismol or Nyquil.

Free Credit Report

For those of you in the Midwest, as of March 1, 2005 you now have the ability to get a one free annual credit report each year at AnnualCreditReport.com. The Eastern and Southern states will be available later this year.

Adware, spyware, viruses oh my!

How many of you have a high-speed internet connection at home? How many of you have a firewall AND virus protection (and have it configured to update automatically)?

Does your computer run slow? Lots of stuff in the system tray? Do you keep getting annoying popups?

You need to PROTECT your computer from viruses, adware and spyware. Everyone should have the following:

Firewall: This protects you from unwanted programs on the internet trying to access your system via open ports that you might have. It can also 'hide' your computers real IP address from other programs on the internet. If you have a hardware firewall or router, make sure it is properly configured. Windows comes with a firewall - it's not perfect, but a good start. An even better option is Norton Internet Security. This will cost you a little money, but it's worth it. I also recommend Zone Alarm, which comes in a free version and an inexpensive version that has more features.

Anti-Virus: You need an anti-virus program that will monitor your system and squash viruses before they do damage. Make sure you have one that checks you email too (email is a popular way for viruses to enter your system). I personally run Norton Anti-Virus, which again will cost you, but it's worth it. A free virus-checker that I recommend is Grisoft's AVG 7, but keep in mind that it doesn't scan email (at least not yet). Make sure that any anti-virus program that you get is set to update automatically. There are new viruses every day.

Adware / Spyware Removal: You should also have at least one adware/spyware removal tool that you run at least once a week. These tools find and remove annoying and potentially harmful adware and spyware programs on your computer. Go to What is the Difference between Malware, Adware, and Spyware? to read more about what these programs are, how to prevent them from infecting your system and how to remove them.

Most of the viruses I receive are from friends/family that have infected computers and my email address is in their address book. I used to get my share of Adware/Spyware, until I switched to FireFox and I don't them anymore (see previous post about Firefox).
Any question, feel free to ask!

Keeping up with Technology

I often get asked how I keep up with technology, especially what magazines I read: It's hard and there is too much going on and too many areas to keep track up. So I have several general sources that I use, plus I have specific things that I track regarding database technologies, project management, and business integration.

Here's my list of magazines:

I also subscribe to many email newsgroups, too many to mention here. If you want information on something specific, let me know. Hope some of this helps.

Dump Internet Explorer

Dump Internet Explorer? I know what all you IE fans are saying "But it's my favorite browser". Maybe not for long. In case you haven't heard it, the browser wars are back thanks to FireFox. This free, open-source browser is AWESOME! I have been using it for 6 months and I will NEVER go back to IE (except when I come across a site that only works in IE :) . FireFox doesn't support Active-X (where many ad/spyware programs take advantage of), it's very secure and very fast. FireFox uses tabs for open multiple sites at a time (instead of launching a new browser), and that makes it very easy to switch between sites. You can add "Extensions" that add functionality, like a little weather indicator that sits on the bottom status bar and shows you the current weather and forecast. I'm also a big fan of Gmail - there's an extension for that too that sits in the status bar and tells you how many unread messages you have. Plus a lot more. Try it out - you won't regret it.

Who is DrXanadu?