Woot! – One Day, One Deal: “Watergate. Jim Jones. ABBA. If you have any doubt that the 1970s were a confused, disturbing time, just look at what they were doing with Jell-O brand gelatin dessert. The New Joys of Jell-O is a glimpse into the void at the heart of a lost people. I don’t want to give too much away, but the weak-stomached among you should know that sauerkraut makes an appearance…”

From here to there and back: “I had heard stories of the crowds in the Coach store over the weekend. I didn’t go in, but I glanced in the window – the store was packed, huge lines. Not sure just what sorts of discounts and prices were going on in there, but I’m not sure it matters. The Coach bag is emblematic of class, a badge of honor for the bourgeoisie. People here would stand in line for hours at the thought of scoring a deal on this label.

It is, after all, all about the labels. You’re no one if you aren’t wearing/driving/carrying a brand that identifies you.”

Tammy promised about 12 years ago to be with me “in sickness and in health”. Right now, we’re working on the health part. I’ve been going to a personal trainer for the last six weeks with mixed results. Today, my workout was very strenuous and he pulled me aside and let me know the facts. Unless I change what I eat and start drinking more water and taking vitamins, there was no way I’d ever see any benefits.

I knew he was right. I was so exhausted I thought I was going to throw up.

Change is hard and the worst kind is change that you *know* has to happen. I have to give up my “foodie” status for awhile and eat simple protiens, less carbs and well, less fat. The worst is cutting things artificial which is next to impossible in this modern age of processed foods.

Wish me luck…

I’m trying to spend more time writing and less time telling myself I have no time to write. Drinking coffee on a Saturday monring means I have my Mac open and on the table.

I’ve spent the last 7 hours installing Windows Small Business Server. 7 hours is a long time in life to give up for something this mundane. Yesterday, I took an hour and wiped the machine, added the disks in a drive array and prepped it for today’s install, hoping I could be on site with our customer at 1PM. Nope.

First, the Windows install needs a driver before even the first files go on the disk. That’s really not a big deal since HP warns you multiple times and provides you with a driver. The worst of it is that it requires a floppy disk. That’s because there’s no way for the setup software to recognize a USB drive, the “floppy” of the modern age. So I spent 15 minutes digging up a USB floppy drive and a blank disk, then copying the drivers and rebooting the machine. Progress!

That’s when the real work began. I’ve been feeding the machine disks for *six* hours and now I’m watching Windows Update download over 42 updates, patches and software adds. Yuck.

Some of this is expected, but 7 hours? C’mon!

Autoblog: “Honda has announced that next year it will cease motorcycle production at its Marysville, OH manufacturing plant. That facility’s output, along with that of the Hamamatsu, Japan factory, will be shifted to the the company’s brand new bike plant in Kumamoto next year.”

Tammy and I made it back to Springfield safe and sound.  What’s more important is that we both are rested–mentally.  A weekend in one of our favorite places is usually enough to help us relax but the weather cooperated with a couple of fantastic days of sunshine.  I’ll try to write more in the next couple of days and post a picture or two.

GusMueller: “Acorn 1.1 has been released, woot. And it’s about time too- the ‘intro’ price was starting to look a bit permanent. You can read the release notes on the Acorn wiki.”