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"Murphy was an optimist!"

Wednesdays, my favorite worst day January 25, 2006 7:33 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, Lost, Philosophy, Poetry, TV / Movies
, 8comments

Wednesdays are Lost
Work is Lost to the children’s needs
Lost as a taxi service
Preschool, preschool, high school, STAR
Time Lost to the kids is precious
On Wednesdays I am in paradise, Lost
In the island of my mind, I am Lost
Lost in self-flagellation and meditation
I so look forward to Wednesdays
My favorite times have always been Lost times
I would not trade my Lost Wednesdays for anything
Best of all, Wednesdays end with Lost

“I can’t do this all on my own. No, I know, I’m no Superman!“

8comments

Of Waking and Cool Numbers January 25, 2006 6:57 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life
, 1 comment so far

I woke around 1:00am again and was excited that I would be getting more work done while everyone slept. The next time I opened my eyes it was 4:44am. I was so mad that I had allowed myself to drift off that I lay in bed punishing myself then I opened my eyes at 6:37am.

I love it when all the numbers on the clock are the same. Often I wake at 4:44 or 3:33 and so on. I always find it amusing, and although it is a coincidence, I can’t help thinking that my biological clock is somehow tuned to these numbers.

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True talent January 24, 2006 1:34 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Cool Sites, Of Interest
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Where do you talented people come from? In this case, sandfantasy.com.

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How to accurately determine your iPod battery life January 24, 2006 1:20 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Gadgets, Technology
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I could have used this document when troubleshooting Cathy‘s iPod.

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Success! January 24, 2006 9:35 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life
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I started today’s task 1 at 1:00am and finished it at 8:00am with a few minor breaks. That dead horse is beat! Took 8-9 to drive a child to school and am regrouping for task 2.

I need more days like this!

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Anyone use TinyMCE? January 24, 2006 6:56 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Programming, Technology
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Has anyone implemented TinyMCE to accept cut and paste from MS Word? I’m having an issue where it takes the cut and paste within Firefox correctly but alters the formating when pasted within Internet Explorer

IE: *p**font face="Times New Roman" size="3"* */font*/p**strong*
FF: *p class="MsoNormal"* */p* *p align="center" style="text-align: center" class="MsoNormal"**strong**span style="font-size: 20pt; font-family: Tahoma; color: red"*

Note: To get this example typed in within WordPress (which used TinyMCE btw) I had to replace my greater than and less than signs with astericks. Has anyone worked through this? I’m so frustrated I’ve switched to trying to get Xinha working but am running into a whole different set of issues.

UPDATE: Xinha works great!

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Meme of Four January 24, 2006 4:31 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : MeMe, Of Interest
, 5comments

I’ll play. This one took a bit of time! I’m not tagging anyone but feel free to participate.

Four jobs you’ve had in your life:

  1. Sold plants and flowers at an Amish market;
  2. dormitory Resident Assistant (Clement Hall & Reese Hall);
  3. Manager of 60 people testing software;
  4. Owner of an Internet service provider (dialup connections)

Four movies you could watch over and over:

  1. Das Boot;
  2. Hunt for Red October;
  3. Monty Python and the Holy Grail;
  4. Life As A House

[hard to list only 4]Four places you’ve lived:

  1. Cary, NC (3 years 76-79);
  2. Kenner, LA (New Orleans) – roughly 1/2 mile east of the west levee break (4.5 years 79-83);
  3. Medford, NJ (3 years 83-86);
  4. Germantown, TN (2 years 86-88)

Four TV shows you love(d) to watch:

  1. Lost!;
  2. Boston Legal;
  3. anything on the History Channel;
  4. Futurama (Note the 2007 date on the “in production” episodes!)

Four places you’ve been on vacation:

  1. Jamaica;
  2. Lake Tahoe;
  3. Chattanooga;
  4. Ocean Isle, NC

Four websites you visit daily:

  1. Rocketboom;
  2. Domestic Psychology;
  3. No Silence Here;
  4. KristyK

Four of your favorite foods:

  1. Gumbo;
  2. Jambalaya;
  3. Pork Ribs;
  4. French Toast

Four places you’d rather be:

  1. Ocean Isle;
  2. backcountry in the Smokies;
  3. at a park with my wife and kids;
  4. in a larger house
5comments

Pounded January 24, 2006 1:54 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Daily Life, History, Medford
, 2comments

I don’t feel like living anymore.

Now that’s not a cry for help and no need to put me on a suicide watch. It means “the they” have won. I’m beat. Beat down.

I used to suck the marrow out of life. There was no challenge I wouldn’t accept and very little I didn’t want to do. Early on I set my eyes on hang gliding. Haven’t done that one yet and I have yet to “jump from a perfectly good airplane” either. But I was fearless and I have done much!

In the 9th or 10th grade I was at a school dance taking a break from the noise of the gym and talking with friends in the hallway. Something landed in my hair and I turned around and mouthed off at some muscle bound nimrod that had obviously thrown whatever it was. The first punched landed before I had fully turned my attention back to my friends and I momentarily blacked out as I slammed up against the lockers. Just as my vision returned I took another punch to the face and discovered blackness again. I received about five consecutive hits just under the left eye. Blackness returned to light just in time to see the fist, blackness, repeat.

I could not get a punch off and could not get my arms up to block the punches. I could hear a voice, “just walk away.” Is that where I am in my life? I am definitely taking repeated blows. Am I to “just walk away?” And for the literal readers, no, not family. I would never abandon family. I mean dreams. I mean desires. I mean Willy Loman. I mean Sam Lowry.

One week later, my blackened eye was traveling to Virginia to embarassingly visit relatives.

I don’t feel like living. I don’t want to hang glide or parachute anymore. I don’t even want to leave the ground. And I am tired of having to explain my blackened eye.

(Of course this post is a result of exhaustion, stress and economics. Let’s see how my tune changes if I ever get back on top.)

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Scott County’s future looking prosperous! January 23, 2006 5:20 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : News, Of Interest
, 1 comment so far

In November I posted “Future headlines we might see in Denver’s paper” Now we have “Charges have been dropped against Eric Footer”

Eric Footer was the first person arrested in Denver under state marijuana law since the city’s voters wiped out penalties for adults who possess small amounts of marijuana.

And it looks like Nevada is quickly following in Denver’s footsteps. The dam is breaking and legalization of marijuana is coming.

In related news, Michael Silence discusses the fact that TN already accepts taxes on drugs and the impact it has had on drug users that have neglected to pay their taxes such as this found on Say Uncle:

In Tennessee, a 60 year-old man recovering from cancer smoked marijuana to alleviate the pain and depression. He has since been arrested and had his money and cars seized and a lien placed on his house. All this without due process of law, which is blatantly unconstitutional. The fifth amendment states that […]

Now that’s not right.

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Huh? January 23, 2006 3:54 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Philosophy
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Why is weird such a strange word?

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ColdFusion Programmers on Skype January 23, 2006 3:39 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : ColdFusion, Programming, Technology
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For you ColdFusion programmers out there looking for community and have Skype, try <cfSkypeCommunity option=”true” />

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Get Free Cable January 23, 2006 3:27 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of Interest, Technology, TV / Movies
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I’m looking for the small print. XOrbit puts a piece of equipment in your house to monitor cable signal strength. In return, they pay you $75/mth. Considering I want to monitor the signal strength anyway, sounds like a good deal!

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Could THIS be why Firefly was cancelled?! January 23, 2006 2:43 pm

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Of Interest, TV / Movies
, 1 comment so far

Now this is television!

NEW YORK (AP) — More than a decade after 16-year-old Amy Fisher had a sexual relationship with a much-older car mechanic and shot his wife in the face, the one-time “Long Island Lolita” and Joey and Mary Jo Buttafuoco have agreed to appear together in a televised reunion.

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Firefly Season 2 Project January 23, 2006 11:11 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Firefly / Serenity, Of Interest, TV / Movies
, 3comments

For you Firefly fans that are still seeking a season 2, Browncoats Rise Again may not be taking donations but The Firefly Season 2 Project looks to be encouraging a pay per episode approach.

see also: Firefly Fans Create Website for 2nd Season and Browncoats Defeated…again

UPDATE: A discussion regarding Firefly Season 2 Project. And this one which claims “We intend to license the Firefly Intellectual Property from Fox, produce the show on our dime, and sell to the highest bidder.”

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Job Trends January 23, 2006 10:27 am

Posted by Doug McCaughan in : Programming, Technology
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Ah, my job sector!  A graph of PHP, Java, JSP, ASP, and Coldfusion jobs. Explains a lot.

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