Life Is Such A Sweet Insanity.

I’m taking more and more delight in reading other blogs on a daily basis. I don’t know if it’s because I enjoy peering into the lives of others or if there’s a certain comfort to read about the trials and tribulations of other people, but nevertheless, I’m finding I’m paying more attention to blogs and less attention to porn on the internet these days. Here’s a partial list of what I currently read on a daily basis:

Elf Reflection

Thoughts Made Bald

The Wildhunt Blog

The Daily Pequod

OCDGRL

Zeitzeuge

Tainted Life

Morgan Spurlock (from SuperSizeMe)

Bald Sarcasm

The usual…

This is by no means a complete list, as I employ Newsfire, a free RSS reader for Mac OS X to do my blog reading. Oh hell, since I’m sharing, I might as well share that list with you too. This is my OPML file from Newsfire, it can be imported into any RSS reader. There’s news sources too and some geeky stuff if you’re interested. You can download it from here. I should probably put all the bookmarks on a page somewhere convenient, perhaps I’ll do that someday soon.

I’m finding myself doing less mundane, random browsing of the internet and more in the way of blog reading and such. I don’t know if it’s an improvement or what, but it does make me feel a little more productive in some sort of way.

So the medical saga continues. Today I had to go for a CAT-SCAN, which I guess is properly called a CT-SCAN. Or maybe it’s not. Who knows.

I had a scan back in 2000 when they were trying to figure out if I had a brain tumor or something else going odd with my head. They never found anything. Wrong with me, that is. They found the usual stuff in my head, just nothing unusual. Which I find a little humorous since if I was asked for three words to describe me, one of them would definitely be unusual. Another would be odd. I’d like to think that people would use likeable or even loveable for the third word, but I don’t think the question has actually been asked. It’s all hypothetical.

So I’ve undergone this little procedure before. The best part was that they didn’t have to inject any dye in me this time. Which is a good thing, because they were scanning my abdominal area, and I don’t think I could have taken pissing dye. That would have freaked me out. Plus, the dye made me feel a little sick to my stomach, even though they assured me it wouldn’t.

Anyways, they had me pull down my pants, hop up on the table and pass through this mini version of the Stargate. Here’s a funny thing – I got dressed in the dark this morning and had no idea which boxer shorts I had pulled out of the dresser drawers. Turns out they were red, white and blue boxer shorts! Earl asked if I ran them up the flag pole for the stargate tech. I told him I wasn’t inspired enough. I love it when we talk in code.

So the table moved me to position and a curt, electronic voice said “BREATHE”. So I did. Then it said, TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND HOLD, with all the warmth of an ice box. And hold my breath I did, for 22 seconds to be exact. While I was holding my breath, the table slid me through the mini Stargate, where my feet entered another dimension briefly (lack of oxygen no doubt) and my abdomen was scanned faster than a head of lettuce at Wegman’s.

So I’ll get the results in a couple of weeks when I go for my follow up appointment. They think I might have a kidney stone. If they get rid of it, perhaps I’ll lose an extra pound!

~~~

Like father, like son… Tom is spending the night at the vet’s. He needs to have his teeth cleaned in the morning, plus a urine test to make sure he’s free of an infection he had a month or so ago. I will never understand people that say they don’t like cats. Our home doesn’t feel right tonight without the patter of paws.

I’ve created a new blog to offer Windows assistance, as I didn’t feel it was appropriate to be included in this blog. I’m too mac elite around here.

Anyways, the new blog is here. Enjoy!

Earl commented this morning that I’m starting my day out in the dark. I don’t think he was calling me dense, though he could have been alluding to that in some way. He doesn’t really understand why I start out the morning, especially this week on the early shift, walking around the house getting ready for work in the dark.

It’s just that I enjoy the natural light, be it starlight, firelight, moonlight or sunlight. I also enjoy watching the neighbors shower, and keeping the house dark allows me to peer directly into their bathroom without their knowledge.

I’m kidding.

Really.

I went on about this recently but I just find natural light so much more pleasing and centering. I have a better focus throughout the day if I don’t assault all my senses with the harsh, bright glare of artificial light. On the other hand, perhaps I’m hiding in the dark from what I don’t want to face throughout the day. I can psychoanalyze myself from here to eternity and back.

I guess it’s better being in the dark than going through life in a fog.

When I was a kid, I was always the type of guy that went to bed early. I usually called it a night around 10:00 p.m. and woke up, reluctantly, around 6:30 to get ready for school. I’ve always treasured my sleep and to this day I still do.

I didn’t discover the art of staying up late until college. It was there that I discovered the joy in staying up until 2:00 a.m., or later, and sleeping in until the crack of noon, 8:00 a.m. classes be damned. No wonder I never finished school.

I’ve pretty much lived the “night owl” philosophy since then, opting to stay up until wee hours of the morning. Goofing off at parties back in my single days or just dinking around on the computer these days. Now that I think about it, perhaps I was dinking around in my single days and goofing around now.

This week marks my first week on the early shift. We take turns rotating shifts, and I’m now in the rotation, working 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. I was all paranoid about it last night, turning in at 8:30 p.m. and then waking up every couple of hours to make sure that I didn’t oversleep. I hate it when that happens.

I ended up getting out of bed at 5:15 a.m. this morning and I can not believe how much I have accomplished today and how wonderful I feel! I don’t feel the groggy, sleepy, hangover feeling I get after sleeping in until 10:00 a.m. I feel alive, I feel well rested and I feel wonderful!

Perhaps there is something to being an early bird to get the worm. Maybe I should try this out for the next couple of weeks and see how it goes.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, so I thought I would share a little Window goody with you.

There is an alternative to Internet Explorer called Firefox. I’ve used Firefox for quite a while at work, both at my present job and at my previous position. I’ve been using the program since it made its beta debut a while back. It’s based on Mozilla, which in turn is based somewhat on the old Netscape. It has a few more features than Internet Explorer and it is much more secure. I’m also a big fan of Thunderbird, which is an e-mail and usenet client from the same group of people.

There’s no reason in the world that you can’t use Firefox and Thunderbird on a Windows machine, even though Microsoft has built Internet Explorer into the operating system. Give it a try. I’ve included a “Get Firefox” button over on the right side on the page for your convenience.

When you install Firefox, it’ll import your settings, bookmarks (aka favorites) and cookies from Internet Explorer right into Firefox, making the transition very smooth.

Happy surfing!

While the Philadelphia Eagles are celebrating their victory against the Atlanta Falcons, headed for the Super Bowl, I am celebrating my own little victory as well.

I won the fight against the snowblower.

We purchased a new snowblower a couple of weeks ago at the everpresent Lowe’s, another one of those behemoth corporations that I have occasionally vowed to give our money to. The weather forecast contained snow, and since this is the first winter without the benefit of Earl’s work truck (he drives a car now being a big executive), I was not about to tackle our long driveway with a shovel. So we purchased a mid-range, mid-price snowblower. It was pre-assembled, pre-tested and ready to tackle any job, big or small. Except whomever assembled it installed the fuel line incorrectly, resulting in a pinched line that was starving the engine of fuel. This did not make the task of snowblowing as wonderful as it could have been. Quite the contrary. It caused frequent stalling and frequent cussing.

We called Lowe’s and they advised us to bring the snowblower back. Not an easy task to accomplish during a major snowstorm. So I decided I was going to fix it myself. A few clamps, a little bit of extra fuel line, a snip of the scissors and a quick plug in the fuel tank, and viola! we were in business.

I think Earl’s impressed that I figured out that the problem was with the fuel line and that I knew how to fix it. I guess I don’t seem like the grease monkey type.

So while the Eagles are celebrating their trip to the Super Bowl, I’m celebrating the fact that we have a clean driveway.

The big topic on the news today has been the weather. Half the country is being socked by a snowstorm. The people of the City of New York are in a panic because it’s been in the single digits for the past day or two.

It was 18 degrees below zero when I started up the car yesterday morning for work.

I don’t mean to sound indifferent to the hysteria that seems to grip people when wintry weather arrives. The nerve of Mother Nature, blanketing us with snow! In January of all things!

Right on cue, drivers have abandoned all pretenses of following the traffic laws and common sense while on the roads. Turning right from the left lane and left from the right lane is o.k. during a snowstorm because after all, you can’t see the lines under the snow. There’s a nasty rumor that the lines on the road have heading south for the season, but I don’t believe a word of it.

Then we have the folks that purchased an SUV because it’s “safer” and “easier to drive” in the snow. I can’t think of anything more safe than a Hummer sitting in the ditch along Route 5 with the driver, dressed to the nines in her furs, waving down passerbys for assistance. Like my Impala is going to be able to pull her big Hummer out of the ditch. I waved back and resisted the urge to throw red paint on her furs as I passed her by. Perhaps the Hummer should have been left in Iraq where it belonged. And don’t get me started on the SUVs with handicapped plates. Somehow they can lift themselves up into their Escalade, but they can’t walk from the parking lot to the front door of the store.

Earl and I attended a beauty pageant scholarship program today. I was a judge, Earl ran the lights and sound. There were only 15 people in the audience and three contestants on stage. I guess beauty pageants scholarship programs don’t stop for inclement weather. On the way home, we stopped for a few groceries at a grocery store that rhymes with “Lice Hopper”. We noted that the management there is really swift. With everyone stocking up for the storm and jamming the checkout lanes, they sent most of the staff home on account of the weather. And Earl refuses to use the self serve checkouts because they don’t offer a discount for doing the task yourself. The waiting made me a bit frosty, I must admit.

And last but not least, I must give major kudos to our fine neighbor, who plowed out our driveway, simply as a nice gesture. It was must appreciated.

Keep warm!

All the house is in darkness, save for the dim glow of various electronic devices scattered about. The thermometer shows the outside temperature at 19 degrees below zero, and falling. As I look outside, the surrounding houses are in darkness as well, their inhabitants tucked away snug in their beds, undoubtably sleeping peacefully. Earl is upstairs, sleeping peacefully as well after a long week of hard work.

As I get ready to gather my thoughts, center myself and prepare to enter the dream world for the night, I take a moment to look outside. The sky is brilliantly clear. Stars are twinkling and shimmering to their heart’s delight. The moon is basking in all her illuminated glory, shining a cold, yet comforting light upon the backyard. No creatures are stirring in the woods behind, as they are probably snuggled up with one another, sharing the warmth of their companions.

It’s a beautifully clear night. What a peaceful way to end the work week and begin the weekend.

For those of you on Microsoft Windows, I’ve made an important discovery today. The Microsoft Anti-Spyware solution is a piece of shit.

Shocker.

I installed it a week ago on my work computer (because of course, we’re all Apple at home) hoping to keep out spyware that was trying to invade my machine. It appeared to be doing its job, even though my computer was running very slow. Just for kicks, I ran a different spyware program on my computer this morning. That program wiped out 33 different spyware threats and sped up my computer considerably!

I’ll post a link to the software I used later this afternoon so that you can download it. It comes with a fully functional 30-day trial. Now that I think about it, perhaps I’ll create a spot on the website where you can download the goodies I come across. Just another public service for the internet.