The Family

Luke wants to have a Christmas List online that he can open easily and edit without using html. I have experimented and think I have found a way for him to do this.

If he writes his list as a message and i make a link to that message it opens the message only (and the form for comments). The only problem is that he cannot edit from that page. However, if i create a new category, “Luke” or “Luke’s Christmas List” or “Dad” or whatever, he can bookmark the category and if his list is the only thing in the category, it would be easy for him to find and edit.

So…. I think the category idea is the way to go… and then bookmark the category or the page so he can have a Christmas list link up there With Chris’s Christmas list link.

Chris, do you mind my messing with the message board this way? I do not think you will so i am going to go ahead with it before I hear from you if your dad wants to work on his list…

I was flipping thru the channels on the television today and ran across a show called bake, decorate, celebrate, #108.  I did not have a chance.  It caught me the first moment i saw it.  They have a website….  check out show # 108.  I have to try making those fondant flowers……  I just hope they taste terrible.

So, here I am in Fort Collins.   Been here maybe 3 full days now.   And the ground is blanketed in snow.

I must say, the place is lovlier with snow.  Without, it is just drear and brown and flat.   But perhaps that is the predjudice of someone moving from a beloved place with water and trees and such.
The people here are very nice.   These last few days, we’ve been driving about and shopping a bit and generally being lost and clueless – and everyone, on the road and in the stores, has been very patient with us.   We both long for a “Visitor Driver” tag to put on the back of the car, though.

I am all set up to work from home.    Figuring out how that will work and how I will like it.

Cats are making the transition OK.   Annwynn did perfectly well with the sedative and flight, but then he stopped eating once we got here – today was the first day I’ve seen him eat anything.  I was glad to see it, though; I was beginning to get worried.    Mileva took a double dose of the sedative and was still embarrasingly vocal on the airplane, but she settled into the new house in a matter of minutes.  Both cats are fascinated by the basement and would probably stay down there all the time if it were an option.   The basement is unfinished, all concrete and cobwebs and interesting smells.

Temporary living is quite posh.  It is going to be such a letdown to go back to our own furniture.   I think perhaps we might actually upgrade now.   The old stuff can go in the basement, now that we’ll have one, and Kevin is getting himself accustomed to the nice stuff.

Kevin is in the process of up-selling himself on the housing options.    A small number of houses in the price range have three car garages, and I think it’s becomming a requirement in his mind.   It is interesting the way they do it; they are called tandem 3-car garages – it’s a two car garage, but one side is extended so far that you could pull a third car all the way in.   It would make a great bike and workshop area, I will grant him that.

That’s about all I have.   Living out of suitcases, don’t know where anything is, still eating out all the time, and now the snow is sticking to the sidewalks.    Roofs are covered, grass is barely peeping out .. quite lovely, but now there’s some expectation that I drive in it.    We shall see –

I am thinking of my Christmas list.  One thing that i have been wanting lately is an air purifier.  They just sound like a good idea.  I thought i would look into them to see what brands are good and how they work and what they cost.  Well, they cost too much, at least the ones that do a good job do, but i did run across something interesting at one site that discusses them.  It said that they are a very good thing for people who have asthma, etc., but that for people who have no respiratory problems the best thing to do is just vacuum and dust daily and keep smokers and pets out of the bedroom.  Hmmmm vacuum and dust daily….   hmmmm  perhaps i should rethink my current dust and vacuum monthly schedule before i start looking into air purification systems.

Actually the site said that most allergens fall to surfaces.  I was thinking in terms of pollen which is occasionally a problem, but I know i do not vacuum and dust as often as i should and i almost never vacuum the furniture…  According to my research the allergens that are most likely to bother me are the things i would vacuum up.

Chris. I am happy to see your Christmas wish list up.  It is current, isn’t it?  I think this year I will post Luke’s and my wish lists here.  It will make them easier to find.
Looking at your polo shirts…   I was just telling Ramona how much I liked the LL Bean shirts she got for Luke last year or year before.  They stay nice.  A case of getting what you pay for…    Sometimes i wish we had bought the better brands years ago, but then i have to think of the budget we were on…..  We can all afford the good stuff now, but back then we really couldn’t.  It is nice to have the option.

Anyway, good to see your list….

Haven’t posted new pictures for those that don’t have the ability to come and see her on a regular basis, so here’s some pics:

Continue reading →

While I’m sure some people won’t like this video, the editing skills needed to produce it are impressive.  Everything just flows, even though you know much of it was cut/spliced/reworked to fit the new ‘speech’.

Evil State of the Union

Just for something totally different, I present to you the communist party:

I’m working on getting a gallery created. A place for me to upload pictures for viewing and such.

I’ve been writing my own; nothing really fancy, but a fun project.

I’ve also been looking at a few other pre-made versions.

Whichever way I go, I still haven’t figured out what size of photo I should put up on the site. The source material is 3000×2300 pixels; they are usually 2.5mb in size. I think those might be a bit overkill… but I’m not sure what size people are after.

So I’m left with a few things I can do:

• Upload huge versions and let ya’ll downsize as you want
• Upload not so huge versions and e-mail you huge versions on request
• Upload small thumbnails and e-mail sizes requested.

Considerations:

1. convience to users
2. space used on webhost
3. bandwidth

( #3 isn’t really an issue to me right now, but it’s a valid consideration.)

Thoughts?

Well, ok, she always had one.  But now we can actually see it!

Behold, baby with beily button!