Posted on 1 Comment

Respect to the Mommy Bloggers

In the brief times that I solely try to simultaneously watch and keep Evan happy in the name of giving Cathy a break I have accumulated dozens of half finished draft blog posts. How do you guys do it with infants, toddlers, and other assorted rug rats?! On top of producing great content for our reading pleasures, the Mommy Blogger Brigade tends to the emotional, spiritual and physical needs of the children and even squeeze in time to clean house, cook, and in some cases work a job or two among all the other varied things on their calendars. Amazing! I salut the Mommy Bloggers!

I’d say more but Evan wants me to be a jungle gym for a bit…

Posted on Leave a comment

Are your ports blocked?

Many ISPs, particularly residential, block ports to control traffic or protect their users. This means that if you want to run a webserver from your home and your ISP has blocked port 80 then you have to jump through some hoops to make it happen. How do you know if port 80 (or some other port you need) is blocked? Use the Can you see me? service.

Posted on Leave a comment

From the mouths of babes

Dad, point out some studs in the house: "Noah, what are these for?"
Noah: "To keep the craddle from turning over."
Dad: "It’s a crib not a craddle."
Noah: "To keep the craddle from turning over."
Dad: "It’s a crib not a craddle."
Noah: "To keep the craddle from turning over."

You know, kicking expensive phonographs always helped in these circumstances…

Posted on 4 Comments

CORRECTION: TN Does Not Separate Church and State Either

Earlier I posted that Arkansas does not allow Atheists to hold government office nor testify as witnesses. I went on to suggest that TN had been out done in their efforts to live backwards by legislating beliefs and morals. I was wrong. Per Article IX Section 2 of the TN State Constitution.

Section 2. No person who denies the being of God, or a future state of rewards
and punishments, shall hold any office in the civil department of this
state. [Source]

As a matter of fact, religion [implied Christian] is so important to the state of Tennessee that Article IX Section 1 specifically excludes ministers from holding office since their duties are far more important.

Section 1. Whereas ministers of the Gospel are by their profession, dedicated
to God and the care of souls, and ought not to be diverted from the great
duties of their functions; therefore, no minister of the Gospel, or priest of any
denomination whatever, shall be eligible to a seat in either House of the Legislature. [Source]

Arkansas and Tennessee are in good company. Apparently, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas all require the believe of a supreme being and/or afterlife and in some cases you must specifically be a Christian to hold office or be a witness.

So, not only are Atheists going to Hell (a place they don’t believe exists) but they cannot hold one of the most corrupt jobs known to man for which they would go to Hell anyway.

Posted on 2 Comments

Today’s construction lessons/reminders

  1. Just because you have a rotary tool doesn’t mean you should use it
  2. Drywall is made out of dust
  3. A razor blade cuts drywall very well it’s just not as cool as a rotary tool
  4. Razor blades also cut fingers
  5. There is a reason your safety goggles are in your working pile of tools instead of in storage in the garage
  6. Razor blades do not automatically cut straight lines
  7. Take your time or take a lot of time…it’s your choice
  8. Do not walk away and think the mess will clean itself up
Posted on Leave a comment

A recycled continent

Bob Grimac, Al Gore, and Ed Begley Jr should get excited over a floating mass of garbage almost twice as large as Texas! We could move hordes of environmental nuts to their very own recycled continent in international waters away from the non-environmental nuts in the White House.

I still like Al Gore; Bob Grimac is one of the nicest people you will ever meet (and the only Rocky Hill teacher to get a standing ovation during parent orientation); and I think of Ed Begley’s house with every home renovation I make asking myself, "Can I do this more environmentally sound?" Let’s keep these guys and move the White House people to the floating mass of garbage.

The largest dump in the world isn’t outside New York or London or Shanghai but in a desolate stretch of the Pacific Ocean nearly a thousand miles from the nearest island. Held together by a slowly rotating system of currents northeast of Hawaii, the Eastern Garbage Patch is more than just a few floating plastic bottles washed out to sea; the Patch is a giant mass of trash-laden water nearly double the size of Texas. [Source]