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GRAFFITI -- September 05, 2005 thru September 11, 2005>> Link to the Current Week <<Last Week << Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun >> Next Week Welcome to Orb Graffiti, a place for me to write daily about life and computers. Contrary to popular belief, the two are not interchangeable. About eMail - I publish email sometimes. If you send me an email and you want privacy or anonymity, please say so clearly at the beginning of your message. |
 
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September 5, 2005
No post.
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September 6, 2005
0726 - Good morning. Now it is officially September, since I've rolled the month number here. Actually, that was yesterday, but in honor of the holiday, I took much of the day off from the machine, and did a spot of gardening and shed organization. In the late afternoon, Linda Rose dropped by and we had barbeque chicken and garden salad (with tomatoes, carrots and cucumber from our plot). In the later hours, I played Half-Life2 for a while.
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A few days back, I managed to get the camera in my hand while the dogs were relaxing butt-to-butt on the floor of Marcia's office. Just my luck that they both stuck out their tongues at me simultaneously. Also, over the last couple of weeks, I've been alternately stripping and sanding out the old coffee table that we got from my paternal grandparents. In the middle above, you can see the table with sanding complete. Previously the table was a pretty deep orange with shellac. But there was a significant amount of water ring and transit damage, so we decided it was time. Following the removal process, I started with staining it using a dark walnut to really highlight the grain. After several hours, I then coated it with Danish Oil to really stand it out. I'll let that set for a few days, then multi-coat with a semi-gloss oil-based polyurethane. Once that's hardened (by the 19th, I'd imagine), I'll bring that table up into the living room.
Now I'll attend to my morning email then head off to the dental surgeon's office for a checkup before he releases me to get the next step done by my dentist in three of the four implant sites. The fourth is where the bone-graft was done, and that requires another couple months of integration before we can put a post and crown on that sucker. Anyway, from there, I'm off to work, so have a lovely day.
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September 7, 2005
0704 - Good morning. I'm already at the office. Shortly before 0530, Molly had a fairly vocal bad dream, and since I got out of bed to gentle her down, I figured I might as well stay up. So I showered and hit the road. Even with a bit of a backup because of an accident further around the Beltway, I still got into the office by 0650. Unfortunately, there isn't really anything interesting to report at this hour. Bob Denver (aka "Willie Gilligan") will be missed, as well as the thousands of lost souls down in Louisiana and Mississippi. Have you managed to make a donation to the American Red Cross yet?
Okay, time to work. There's plenty to do. Ciao!
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September 8, 2005
0812 - Good morning. A slightly later start today: I didn't get to work until 0730. I do note that Jerry received an interesting voodoo-related email yesterday (section marked"puzzlement"). I've sent him this missive outlining one possible course of action...
Subject: Voodoo Doll Jerry. Sure, why not reply to the mystery voodoo doll writer? You can say something like: ****** Hmmm. It always has worked for me. Send me some hair and fingernail trimmings Send your own, of course. I'll know by DNA testing if you're trying to get me to affect someone else. That's called a Voodoo Joe Job. Then if you start feeling mysterious pains thereafter, you'll know that voodoo works and you were just doing something wrong. Send materials to me at the following address: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 best wishes, JEP PS: Please be sure to include your return address on a prepaid postage envelope if you wish your materials returned to you. ****** There's all sorts of potential fun to be had! grin, .brian
It is going to be an eventful day, including some eval shipments that I need to prep machines for, a new infrastructural list server to start building, and probably a last minute revenue shipment or two, as well (those are always welcome additions to my tasklist). I'd best be about my duties. Ciao!
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September 9, 2005
No Post... but Happy Friday, all the same.
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September 10, 2005
1022 - Good morning. A slow-starting day, with a rushing about to begin shortly. We're taking the mutts to the vets office, as Molly's in need of a nail trimming and we want them to look at something that was the size of a golf ball under her skin last Sunday, but is now less than a raisin, all on it's own. Lucy is coming with us, simply because it's easier to bring her than to have her going insane staying here on her own. One dog goes, both dogs go. After that, I'm going to first-coat the coffee table with polyurethane, then do some maintenance work around here. I'll probably be back to post more later. Ciao!
1749 - Hullo, again. First up, yes, you're still safer running Firefox or Mozilla than IE, due to the built-in ActiveX scripting capabilities that IE makes so hard to turn off (after all, that breaks Windows Update, and you'd hate that, wouldn't you?). But yes, Virginia, there are vulnerabilities in Mozilla products, including one current in the 'zilla browsers. Open up a new browser window now. Type about:config and press [Enter]. In the Filter toolbar, type network.enableIDN ... if the value field is True, double-click the value to change it to False. Close all browser instances, reopen the browser, and redo the above steps to ensure that the "False" setting stuck. Go to this Mozilla site page for more information.
After we returned from the vet's office, I headed downstairs to put the first coat of semi-gloss polyurethane onto the coffee table. At left you can see how it looked right before the process started. I went 'round the edges once, just doing the stretchers and underside bits. Then I coated the sides, and finally the top with a quite liberal coat. In 24 hours I'll go over it lightly with a bit of steel wool, then hit it with a tack cloth to pick up all the dust and such. Then I'll topcoat the whole thing. If I feel particularly ambitious, I may rinse, repeat, and put on a third coat. At right you can see how it's looking after the poly's been drying for a few hours. The grain really pops now, and the table is reflecting nicely.
Now it's time to go help cook supper. We're doing a chicken stir-fry tonight. Have a lovely evening!
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September 11, 2005
0934 - Good morning. Four years ago today, Islam attacked America. Today, we still don't address the enemy properly because of the intellectual flaws of giving primacy to diversity and political correctness. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem getting along with people of any stripe, as long as they don't want to kill me or convert me. But Islam only offers those two choices to its adherents. Why don't we (as a government, as a nation) see that? Fighting where it's safe, W and his administration spent the lives of ten young Americans in the effort to make the Middle East a less hospitable place for terrorists to train and breed. Good luck to the policy, and my thanks to the soldiers who fight and die in our stead.
I must wonder, though. Of the ten, four deaths appear to be the result of HMMWV rollovers. Are seatbelts not indicated? And what of Lance Corporal Nass? I personally count any gunshot as hostile, were it to penetrate my flesh. Or does non-hostile mean friendly fire? Or suicide (self-hostile)? Anyway you look at it, another young life gone in our service. Hats off to our servicemembers! (And wear seatbelts, dudes!)
Now we're off to shop for the week, then I'll sand and second coat the coffee table. Ciao!
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Visit the rest of the DAYNOTES GANG, a collection of bright minds and sharp wits. Really, I don't know why they tolerate me <grin>. My personal inspiration for these pages is Dr. Jerry Pournelle. I am also indebted to Bob Thompson and Tom Syroid for their patience, guidance and feedback. Of course, I am sustained by and beholden to my lovely wife, Marcia. You can find her online too, at http://www.dutchgirl.net/. Thanks for dropping by.
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