Posts from — August 2004

It's kind of embarrassing when your old school is boasting that it's students '>"might" get iTunes for free and 99 cent downloads from Apple. Sounds like quite a deal.  Good thing the university is looking out for them, otherwise they just might have to download it themselves and get 99 cent songs.  

I just hope this isn't an omen for the game this weekend, although the signs are out there.

Popularity: 1% [?]

My first thoughts are that concept-wise, the new iMac G5 isn't a leap as much as a natural step forward. And then, I look at the pictures and say to myself, "I wonder if Merrin would notice if I swapped my Dell out…." What?! Where'd that come from?! I'm a PC guy!

Popularity: 1% [?]

I think I've talked myself into wanting to go skydiving. Now, who's going to go with me?

Popularity: 1% [?]

I think it's time we revisit the much overlooked topic of just how freakin' great my wife is. These last few weeks have been trying for her because I've been a horse's ass more than once. But, for whatever reason, she's been nothing but nice. In fact, she's basically been taking care of my every single need. Little stuff that can easily go overlooked, but hasn't and shouldn't.

For example, a new washcloth laid out next to my sink. I certainly could have gotten my own (and have for years), but there it was none the less. She said, "Hey, my husband - despite being a horse's ass from time to time - needs a new washcloth."

Another example, we have a generally agreeable split of household chores. Her's are more substantial and infinitely messier than mine, but it's agreeable to the two of us. Well, she's been doing a lot more than her "fair share". Why? Because she knows I kinda needed some latitude for a couple days. Does she bitch at me? Nope. Now, she may wait until I'm not looking to roll her eyes at me or something, but she hasn't been hard on me about it - even though she should have.

My wife deserves the best. She hasn't gotten it from me lately. I guess you can make the argument that she's had to settle for years - nearly ten years to be accurate. But I don't like that argument, so you hush with it.

Merrin deserves nice things and thoughtful touches. So today, I replaced the batteries in her Tivo remote. They've been dead for awhile and I'm sure she's asked me to do it before. I realize that little things can mean a lot. They can add up to more than the big things.

I love my wife dearly and -again with the ten years thing- she always makes me feel loved. I know we say it a lot, but maybe sometimes it can mean more than other times. So, here goes: I love you, Merrin.

Popularity: 1% [?]

E-mail Addresses It Would Be Really Annoying to Give Out Over the Phone

MikeAtYahooDotCom@hotmail.com, One1TheFirstJustTheNumberTheSecondSpelledOut@hotmail.com, and other classics

via kottke

Popularity: 1% [?]

If you had told me this, I wouldn't have believed it. President Bush's tax cuts have lowered the tax burden on the nation's middle class and increased the taxes paid by the wealthiest Americans. Seriously.

A report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office…shows that Bush’s tax cuts have been “progressive” — that is, they have shifted the share of the overall federal income tax burden toward the wealthy and away from lower-income earners….. The report also shows that Bush managed to craft a tax reduction package that even benefits the lowest-earning taxpayers who already pay what amount to negative income taxes. That’s right, thanks to various refundable tax credits, before the Bush tax cuts the lowest-earning 20 percent of income earners not only paid no income taxes — on average they received money from the Internal Revenue Service.

What does all this mean? It means that President Bush was right - when you let people keep their money, they'll use it to increase their wealth. It is a conservative economic principle that has proved to be true every single time.

Popularity: 1% [?]

I like RSS Readers for some things - catching up on news, TV listings, etc. I try not to use them too much for blog reading because - well, blogs are (generally) labors of love & I want to see what you've been laboring on.
I've been using FeedDemon off & on during the trial period. It's very good and the price ($30) seems to be about right for a good app. That being said, I downloaded SauceReader yesterday and, man, it's great. It's still in a 1.7 beta version, but I haven't seen any bugs. Very easy to use - very similar to FeedDemon. Did I mention it's free? I really like it. If your on a Windows 2000/XP computer, check out SauceReader.

One caveat to my "see"-ing statement above, both SauceReader & FeedDemon (and a lot of other readers) will load the page within a client window if you choose, so you can blog read & "blog see", too.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Now that the mainstream media has caught on to blogs, its interesting to see how excited they were for bloggers attending the DNC. That being said, you sure aren't hearing/seeing much about the RNC bloggers. Shocking, I know.

Never fear 'cuz some guy named Kevin or his buddies have always got your back. This time it's blog heavyweight Kevin Aylward & friends have put together an aggregate site. Check it out:

Popularity: 1% [?]

When my wife was a little girl, her mom would "hot sauce" her with Tobasco when she told a lie. I thought she was the only one.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Paul Hamm? Carly Patterson? Kerri Walsh and Misty May? These are what we call "winners" at the Olympics. Of course, there are losers at the Olympics - people who finish dead f'in last. So far, Greece leads in last place finishes. Perhaps most pathetic, though, is Brunei Darussalam with one athelete who, btw, finished last.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Ever break a jar of pickles on your neighbor's patio? You kinda look at them thinking, "Man, that's gonna smell." And then it hits you, "Damn. Those were my pickles. Now they're gone."

Popularity: 1% [?]

The Dallas - Fort Worth blog, Y'allBlog, has a blog version of the old question: Who the hell are you?

What part of D/FW do you live in? The Town of Flower Mound
How long have you lived in D/FW? I hate math questions. Almost 9 years.
Best thing about D/FW? There's about a hundred million things going on at once, the people are nice (except when driving), and there's always a new restaurant in town.
Worst? Seen one strip mall, you've seen 'em all.
How long have you been blogging? Since May 2001 on Greymatter
Favorite D/FW blog? I have a couple D-FW must reads: RedHeadedBlogger, Y'allBlog, the wife, Dell's Diner and Texas Gigs, but not necessarily in that order.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Dear Santa, you might want to bookmark this page. Plus, Santa, I've got an employee discount with Dell and I'm always glad to loan you my card. There might be some better units out there, Santa, so do your homework - but a Pocket PC with built-in wireless & bluetooth looks pretty neat-o.

Popularity: 1% [?]

I've talked about Gmail tools before, but now Google has put out it's own Gmail Notifier for Windows. Damn fine - go get it.

Popularity: 3% [?]

OK. Here's a simple little test I've devised. Take a look that this and tell me what gets your attention.

Geeks will notice that the font in the "Swimsuit 2004" is Veer's Malbeck font. They've used it throughout the issue. Congrats, Veer!

Parrotheads will notice one thing: Free Jimmy Buffett CDROM.

Old schoolers will immediately see "Cheryl, Tyra, Elle, Christie, Heidi…" and get lost in sentimental bliss for posters on their walls.

Ladies might wonder why they didn't brush off sand of Veronica Varekova's butt.

Me? I'm wondering where the hell's the college football?! Well, mostly the football stuff.

Popularity: 1% [?]