Problem solved!

ok, after doing a little research, I changed the MTU setting for the router to 1500, and now I can log into and get into Hotmail at home. Hopefully, this also solved the problem with posting blogs from home. If this blog gets posted, it worked!

Rolling Stone Magazine

I recently got the latest Rolling Stone Magazine in the mail. I've got two complaints: 1) Too many ads! 2) Come on! "Like a Rolling Stone" the #1 song of the 500 Greatest Songs of all time? and (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction the #2 song? Yeah, right. I remember those songs when they came out in the sixties; I thought "Like a Rolling Stone" was a crappy song back then. Now in 2004, I still think it's a crappy song. The tune is at best mediocre; the voice is whinny, and the organ sound could drive you up a wall. The lyrics are probably the best feature, and they're not that good. Come on; imagine going to a dance or listening to a juke and hearing the song-not something for an evening of enjoyment. As for the #2 song; well, I never did like the Stone, and again, I thought that song when it came out was crappy, and I still think it's crappy. I can think of livier Stones tunes that I think would better deserve the #2 spot. Altogether, I'm thoroughly disappointed in those choices; in fact, I'm totally disappointed with most of the choices listed. I agree that the Beatles and some others do belong in that list, but there were a bunch of song choices that I just cannot agree with.

free music

For those who didn't get this month's issue of Wired Magazine, you can download the music here:

http://creativecommons.org/wired/

About yesterday

Wouldn't you know, the original posted only the header and nothing else.

About yesterday

Test

This is a sort of test. The last few times I've logged on I haven't been able to post. I wonder if whatever is causing my problem getting into hotmail is causing this same problem.

Jury Duty

Yesterday and today I had jury duty. My reaction to the whole thing: what a waste of time! Yesterday I had to show up and wait while people gave the old spiel about civic duty, your right/obligation to serve when summoned, etc. We had to sit for a couple of hours while the judge made lame jokes that I didn't think were funny but people laughed at because I figure they thought they had to (or perhaps they did find them funny). For example, he made a comment about some people missing work, the ones on hourly wages or self employed and therefore not getting paid. "Well," he said, "you're getting paid..." (chuckle, chuckle) (audience laughing). I'd have liked to ask him how much he earned for being there while those he was addressing were only getting paid about $16 for the day. Anyway, we were finally dismissed for lunch and told to report to the courthouse in the afternoon. We returned and were assigned to different panels for the different courts. We waited to go into the court so they could select the jury, but eventually someone came and told us good news/bad news. The case was settled out of court, but we were supposed to return the next day (today) at the same time. Today we returned to the auditorium at the court house again and waited and waited. Finally some came and called roll and then asked what we wanted first, the bad news or the good news. Someone said "The bad news." So the person told us today's case was settled out of court, so we wouldn't get to serve on jury duty after all; the good news was we could all leave. So, the way I see, we wasted a couple of days on nothing. Not that I wanted to serve. I've found serving on jury duty disappointing the few times I've been selected. For example, once we (the jury) send the judge a note asking for a transcipt of a witness's statement. Our reply, "Decide based on what you have..." I always though the jury had to be thorough and be sure before a decision was based, so I always get upset when I think about this event. I wonder if juries always find themselves in similar situations or if things actually happen as shown on tv.

Anyway, I thought the last two days were a waste of time when it came to jury duty.

Ok, so I've got writer's block

I guess that's one reason I don't post too often. I remind me of some of the students I've encountered at the university when they can't think of something to write about. I used to require my students to keep a journal so that I could check how their writing skills progressed throughout the semester. After a few years of this, I started to suggest what they could and could not write about after I got journal entries from a students who apparently all he did was watch fishing programs on tv and on the weekends go fishing. And another just wrote about football. I started emphasizing they should write their opinions on different topics, etc. That helped; still, most of the entries were rather short and not worth developing into workable topics for some of their essays.

So I've finished reading the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. I liked it; I was surprised at the ending, however. I should have expected it to turn out the way it did, since if you think about it, there are a lot of clues as to the eventual fate throughout the entire series. But the ending reminded me of what I've been working on.

I've got a long story I've been developing, which can be broken down into three parts. I guess it would be about two or maybe three books worth of stories, or chapters. Part one would be about the influence of UFOs on a small group of people over a period of 22 or so years. Part two is kind of related to part one because it involves a second group of people coming into contact with something else that influences the group from part one. Part three involves the people in group one and two and the eventual results of the different influences. This is where the writer's block comes in. I've been stuck on the very last part, where the two groups are finally coming together and hopefully something is going to happen and they'll live happily ever after (or not) and maybe some mysteries or issues or whatever are solved, but I originally had an idea very similar to the ending in the Dark Tower series for one of the characters, but now that SK has used it, it'll seem like a rip off, so I need to think of something else. I don't know; the last part is about a forest that one of the characters has been dreaming about for years and years, and he finds out the forest is an actual place he's incorporated into his dreams and memories. The two groups (maybe) come together in the forest (I haven't written that part yet, so I'm not sure) and play their parts in whatever they're supposed to (not sure what or why exactly), but that's as far I've gotten. It's been a couple of weeks, and while I have an idea of what's happening, I just can't put it seem to develop it. Well, I'll just have to wait and see what comes up, I guess.

Movies (DVDs)
Recently I've watched "The Day After Tomorrow" and "The Butterfly Effect," and I have to admit I really like them. I was especially surprised that I like Butterfly, I guess because the other movies the guy from The 70's Show (Ashton Kutcher) has made have been comedies and not that good.

I'm still trying to decide whether to keep cable or switch back to DSS. I liked the channels on the satellite more than the cable companies although most are the same, but I seemed to get more channels I like with DSS. The drawback was that I couldn't get local channels and of course, we couldn't get Roadrunner either. Not we can get RR without a cable subscription, but it would also cost more. Well, decisions, decisions....

I wish they still produced Rockwell; I really enjoy watching that series on Sci Fi.

It's 7:40 am and I'm sitting here watching Rod Steward on A&E's "Breadfast with the Arts." While I admit it's good to see a legend still performing, it's somewhat disappointing to see him do his renditions of old numbers, classics by other people probably fromt he Tommy Dorsey/Glen Miller era. It's just not the same seeing him in front of an orchestra. When I first switched into the program, he was doing some of his classic hits, in the rock style that he's known for. While it was good to hear those old familiar songs, I found his voice to be different than it was. I guess it's mellowed somehow; I recall reading somewhere that he'd had some sort of tumor removed from his throat, so maybe that affected his voice; he can still carry a tune, though. I guess age also has a way of affecting the voice, and in his case, his choice of material. For example, at the moment, he's performing "That's All." Now, I never considered that type of song his style; I'd much rather hear something like "Hot Legs." Oh well, age...

Dell Customer Service

Wow, it's been over a month since I posted. Anyway, I just have to comment on Dell Customer Service. I think it's great, and not just because my daughter and son-in-law work at Dell.

A few days ago, my laptop's power adaptor quit working, so I called up customer service and ordered one. Although the person on the other end of the line told me it would ship in a few days since they didn't have any in stock at the moment (Friday), on Monday it was delivered at my front door. Not only was that quick service, it was also cheaper than the least expensive one at Best Buy. I can only say I am very happy with that company's customer's service.

I noticed my son asking for ghost stories on his blog. I'm not sure this counts as a ghost story, but a few years ago, he told us that when he was little, his closet was always bright at night, as if a light were on even though the door was closed. Anyway, one day he and some of his friends were playing hide-and-seek. One of his friends hid in the closet, and when she came out, she said that she heard a voice in the closet telling her, "He's coming, he's coming..." I think that's sort of a ghost story.

Here's something a little spooky. When I was in college, I picked up an oiji board (is that misspelled?) somewhere. I didn't think much about it and didn't believe a lot of the stuff I'd heard about those boards; I considered it just a sort of game. One day a friend borrowed it, and the next day he told he he threw it in the fire because it made him afraid. He and some other friends had started fooling around with it, he said, and as they played with it, the house and the surrounding area turned dark, a wolf like animal came to the door and started howling, and he and his friends quickly broke whatever contact they had with the board. Everything turned normal, but they were burning some trash outside, so he took the board and threw it in the fire. A sort of footnote to this incident: when my friend was very young, he used to see a green light (that nobody else could see) come out of a cemetery (at that time he lived across the street from one), and the light would go into his house and beat him up. I had heard of this but I didn't know he was that kid when I met him until later. I wonder if the two incidents are somehow related...l

These last few days I've been pulling tree trunks out of the ground. We had several trees that died over the last few days, and I usually cut them down and leave the trunks. I finally managed to get rid of the trunks, but there was one that must have weighed at least a couple of hundred pounds. I went through a power saw; my neighbor came and went through another power saw, but we managed to get rid of that trunk. Then we dug up another one that was also giving me trouble, but now the back yard looks...somewhat empty, I think. I really miss those trees; they were big and beautiful and provided a lot of shade; unfortunately, the ants got to them.