OK. Let’s see how I do with this uploading images thing.
Nelia in South Park
OK This is the aviator i came up with. I modified it in Photoshop. I saved it with a transparent background but when i uploaded the transparent one it acquired a black background so i changed it from transparent to white.
I would appreciate opinions. Do you like with or without the nose? Noses were not an option… is that important?
OK I modified my avatars. Ramona has a bust and i want one. I didn’t realize that was an option. I also changed the default mouth i chose so it has a little smile.
I like Kevin’s beer. I would have given Luke a beer had i thought of it. He said to give him a gun. hmmmm We’ll see.
Other possible Lukes
thoughts on the new design
yes, it is very new. And very different.
I like the new font and the new way the author & date are displayed.
I like the Wishlists tab and pull down list. We should think of some new tabs. Was recently reminded of the recipe idea … I should fill that in. I think it would make a decent tab. But at the moment I haven’t put anything in there. 🙂
I’m not entirely sure about the monochromatic scheme. I’m sure I’ll get used it it, but it will take some getting used to.
And the South Park avatar … we should all get one 🙂 We should fill up the whole line with our own little selves. You could solicit volunteers to make them for everyone .. I volunteer 🙂 This is the site I know about – http://www.southparkstudios.com/fans/avatar/.
Are there any other changes in the wings? Anything I neglected to comment on?
Doh! and a question
Two things. First, the quicky: Does anyone mind if change up the appearance of the website? I’ve been playing with another theme and I’d like to show off the basic modifications that I’ve done with it.
Second, the Doh! around here.
See, a few weeks ago I had an overheat in my car. I didn’t think of it as a really big deal. Except that I had to run the engine HOT for too long to get to a safe place to pull over. I found the top radiator hose popped in a most impressive manner and was able to replace it without much fuss. Then the other day I checked my transmition fluid – car was misbehaving a bit and in the past this was a sign of ‘add fluid’. Well, there was something ‘extra’ on the dip stick. Something that was chocolate milk-ish in color, kinda like hand lotion in consistency. Almost like… oil. A quick call to the car shop and they agreed – that overheat probably busted a seal somewhere, most likely the head gasket. Quick Estimate was 1200 – 1800 to replace and clean out everything that would need it. Then again, if something managed to get really busted – say, a crack from the overheat – well, I’d go north of 2000 pretty fast. He wouldn’t make an estimate of how much north, as it was a ‘well, it depends… ‘ moment. You kinda get an insight to the mechanic’s thoughts on a repair when their other question to you is “so, is the rest of the car in good shape and without problems?… “.
Apparently we’re now in the market for a new car.
I mean really, if I’m going to drop 1500-2000 on a car, I might as well make it a down payment. Not that I have that much saved up right now. All our spare money has gone to killing off these credit cards off. (getting so close too!) At least there is a program (Drive Clean Across Texas) that should get us a nice 3000 or so twards a new car… if we can wait a month (or so) for it to be processed. And before you say “oh, if only you’d used that Clunkers program”… well, my car was 1 (O-N-E) MPG higher than the cutoff range. So it wouldn’t have helped me anyway.
Sigh. It seems every year comes up with *something* to keep us from doing serious saving.
Mini Reviews, July books
Hi! Well, I’m pretty late in this, but here’s a list of the books read last month.
Read less in July, and am on track to read much less here in August. Not sure how much of that is life getting in the way and what might be that I’m catching up with the too-long-denied need to be reading.
Um
Windswept
Dark Banquet
The Left Hand Of Darkness
To Kill a Mockingbird
Tea Review
I have an automatic tea pot at work and so I’ve been getting into the tea thing a bit more these days. All of the teas below come from Adagio; tea type is in () next to the name.
Jasmine #9 (oolong) – I like Jasmine tea. Some people find the flavor overpowering (it is), but I think as long as you don’t brew it too long the flavor is great. Case in point, this tea comes with a recommended time of ‘3 minutes’ to brew. I find it much more pleasant to set the tea maker to something closer to two minutes.
Chamomile (herbal) – A nice standby. I haven’t really had it at work as it has a tendency to make me a bit too relaxed. It is a good tea to drink near or at bedtime though. We’ve used it to calm upset stomach as well, especially for the kids.
Spearmint (herbal) – This is a standby tea of mine. Everyone recognizes the scent and as long as you like the smell of spearmint you will like the tea. I also use this one in other teas to give them a little extra something.
Yunnan Jig (black) – You probably won’t find me drinking this too often but it is one that brews up with a great dark tea look. Earthy taste that I won’t go for all the time but when I have that yen for the earthy taste this tea delivers.
Chasm Lake hike
We hiked to Chasm Lake (that’s the training hike for Longs Peak).
It’s 8.4 miles round trip. Doesn’t sound like that much – but it’s a pretty intense 8 miles. 2400 feet elevation gain. Took us 7 hours.
The weather was unbelievably perfect. This may have been the best hiking day of the year (for this route).
Employment
I don’t remember what we have told who and doubt that nobody knows the whole, so here is the new job from my perspective. If your dad would post, he might give a different report.
He started 2 weeks ago. When he went in he only knew that he had a job, that it was with a company that Jacobs bought, which operates independently but is in the Jacobs building and, so far as insurance and 401K, is the same as working for Jacobs, and that the project would be taking down an offshore platform. Luke has always worked the “downside” of production, meaning the refining and storing end. This company works the “upside” which is finding and pumping. During the week he learned more:
1) He will not be going offshore often or for long. (that was a relief for me because of the heat and physical exertion.)
2) This company is the only division of Jacobs petroleum that is growing so it is a good place to be.
3) Probably because it is growing and the other parts of Jacobs are still laying off, many engineers have tried to make the move to this company. Very few have been accepted. VERY Few.
Luke feels like this job is a test, that if he does well he will be assigned to other jobs, and if he does not, he will be sent back to Jacobs where he will be either assigned to another project, put back on leave, or laid off. Since the latter 2 seem quite likely, he is trying especially hard to do a good job and make a good impression. Fortunately, his bosses are usually pleased with what he does.
He went offshore Wednesday the 29th and came home Saturday morning. All he did was meet with the representatives of the company that is to do the actual work and look over the platform. He said all that was physically stressful was the ladders. Because the platforms are as small as they can be, different levels are accessed by steep stairs which stick out over the water. (that would freak me out). Climbing steep stairs was hard; his thighs are sore. He intends to start taking the stairs at work instead of the elevator. The stair thing that concerns me (and i wish the man would go to a doctor!) is that one of his heels is wobbly (the heel itself moves). That makes going down steep stairs a little more difficult.
I am glad he is not going to be going offshore often or long. He did enjoy it though…. the weather was blustery with little thunderstorms forming and moving over.
And that is about all i know…..
I asked if he knew how long this job will last and he doesn’t, though he did tell me the duration will be measured in months.
They say the recession is over. I will be glad when we can tell it.
short video
You know how a few days/weeks/months (whichever) ago, I posted that bit about the movie Ink?
Well, the filmmaker has done other things, and it turns out the short videos are on You Tube.
So, you should all go watch Spin.
It has nothing to do with Ink, the movie, but gives an idea of the creative approach of the filmmaker. And it’s fun.
On the subject of painting rooms
Two quick shots I took after we got the bed all setup and the girl was having a bit of fun with it.
