Chip pointed out today that apparently my blog wasn’t responding. Sure enough, I got a blank page when I went to http://weblog.jtn.us/; the index.php file in the root directory was 0 bytes long. Oops. I think my last attempt at an “automated” upgrade badly broke it. So I fixed that only to find out I needed to do an Apache configuration change since I’d added a AAAA record for weblog.jtn.us and needed to add a stanza for the IPv6 address. Now it’s all happy, running the latest version of Wordpress, and its accessible via IPv4 and IPv6.
Posted in Computing.
Tagged with oops, wordpress.
Starting this Monday, 6 July 2009, I have decided to get serious about getting healthier. This includes improving my diet and getting more exercise. I’m not totally sure at this point how I’m going to change my eating habits, but it will include smaller portions and possibly cutting out all land meats from my meals, and seriously increasing my vegetable and fiber intake. One thing I definitely want to do fairly quickly is consult my doctor to be referred to a nutritionist for some advice.
I have tried the low carb diet before, and it had noticeable gains in the short term, but it was unmaintainable in the long term; all my gains were lost in a relatively short time.
Of course, any medical professional will say that no diet can work without being coupled with a regular exercise program. My plan for that is to get a membership at one of the local gyms and include an ever-lengthening walk in the evenings after work. I worry initially about just diving into a serious workout program for fear of causing more serious strain on my body, so I plan on consulting my doctor about that as well.
I’m not really sure what brought this on, it just feels more serious now, so I want to be more serious about it. My only real worry is the lack of personal support; that’s what killed my plans years ago to get healthier. Maybe its spawned from my overly socially-dependent personality but I know its something I’ve got to think about.
Posted in Personal.
I finally uploaded my Xmas 2008 pictures to my Gallery at this link. Its mostly of the kids opening their presents and showing them to the camera, then some pictures at the end of Molly playing with her kitty and being happy, but I had almost forgotten I had them on the camera until I went to offload my pictures from earlier this month visiting the White Mountains with my friend Tom (available here). The initial pictures start off on I-93 northbound heading towards Woodstock, then heading east along the Kancamagus Highway towards Conway. The sun started getting too low to take pictures through the notches, but I did get a few neat pictures of a covered bridge on Conway before it got too dark.
Posted in Personal, Travel.
I received a call yesterday morning from my daughter’s mother. It appears that Molly broke her leg (left tibia) while shopping with her grandmother. The fracture extends along the axis of the bone, as some kind of stress fracture. Apparently nobody saw exactly what happened, but based on what I heard, I speculate that her foot got caught under something, she fell, and her tibia happened to give way before her ankle bones did, given the somewhat softened configuration of the ankle pre-puberty. She’s doing fine as of yesterday, and on some kind of medication to keep her calm and out of some of the pain. As she’s too young/small for crutches according to the doctor, she’ll get a wheelchair for the time being. I will know more this evening of what’s going on, as far as casting, her ability to travel, and other concerns.
Posted in Personal.
I returned to New Hampshire this morning at approximately 4:30 am local time after a painfully long road trip from Bloomington, Indiana to Manchester, New Hampshire, a trip in excess of 1,000 miles. It involves crossing Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia (admittedly, only a 20 mile wide portion at Wheeling), Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, then finally into New Hampshire. We stopped once just outside of Indianapolis for lunch, once in Ohio because I had a call from work about an issue with the phone system rejecting calls into the main number on weekends, which was remedied by re-inserting a missing context into the configuration (???), one stop in Pennsylvania for fuel at the Midway turnpike rest area, then various delays and stops for accidents along the PA Turnpike (five this time: a new record for me), various delays on the NJ Turnpike and the GW Bridge going into New York City. The final stop was around Hartford CT where I pulled over and turned over driving duty to my roommate as I was having difficulty maintaining focus on the road.
With only two days and some number of hours left in 2008, I briefly pondered developing some kind of “new year’s resolutions” but once again decided against it. I have similar goals to those I always have, and I see no particular reason to alter or abandon them. Instead, I look forward to continuing work at my job (which I enjoy and feel comfortable at, finally) and poking away at my various hobbies and interests in my free time.
Posted in Personal.
I’m flying out to Indiana tomorrow morning to visit the kids and spend some time with them for Xmas (no, I refuse to type C*r*s*mas, eat me). Stupid three-stage flight: Manchester NH to Philadelphia PA to Charlotte NC to Indianapolis IN. It was the best I could do without 4-5.5 hour layovers in Detroit or Philadelphia, and even with the extra leg, I save total flight time with nice short layovers of 20-30 minutes in Philly and Charlotte. I visit until Sunday, then I drove back with my roommate Jason who has been out there since just after Thanksgiving visiting his family in Missouri and Indiana.
One little gripe before I end this posting however: why do people come in and insist on loading washers barely half full and use ALL of the ones not out of order? Especially when they see me already in there? Tonight, I was doing a last bit of laundry before the trip, and I’m sorting and haven’t even loaded anything when some woman comes in, and uses all 4 available washers before I can put anything in them. Are some people just so oblivious to everyone around them?
Posted in Personal.
Tagged with family, rant, Travel.
So tonight, Chip, Delia and I went to see the remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” starring Keanue Reeves and Jennifer Connelly. There were vast departures from the original movie from 1951, but it was decent in its own way. Ironically, the bronze-statue acting method Mr Reeves is known for worked out in his favor in his role as Klaatu. Other than a rather abrupt ending, I enjoyed the movie for what it was, considering my expectations were set moderately low to begin with.
As a side note, my faith in the 99 restaurant was renewed twice over. First, dinner was good instead of being disgusting like the 99 in Salem, NH. Second, I thought I lost my iPod Touch and it turns out it fell out of my side pocket while we were waiting for a table; well, the manager had it when we returned there after the movie. Whew.
Posted in Personal.
Tagged with food, movie.
The kids visited and we all had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at my parents’ house with my sister, her husband, and the kids’ Uncle Jason. I’ll post more later today or tomorrow, but for now, here is the link to the photo album.
Posted in Personal.
Tagged with family, holiday, pictures, thanksgiving.
Considering the bitterness and sour grapes I’ve seen around lately, I’m just going to sum up what I thought of this election cycle in this posting. That way, I’ve said my piece, I’m even leaving comments enabled so any of you can say yours, and that’s that. I won’t promise that any invictive left here won’t be responded to however.. but then after that, I’m done.
Fear, hate-mongering, hatred… the country spoke, ‘kay? Nobody wants that shit anymore. We’re tired of it, sick of it. Like the soon-to-be-ex-President paid lip service to, it’s time to work together towards common goals. Ironically, I agree with many of the things conservatives (REAL conservatives, not the assholes who hijacked your party) believe in, so those of you that will just dismiss me as some kind of looney, “Obama-disciple”, end it. All that “Messiah” and “god-like” famous bullshit all originated from the neo-conservative media outlets and the corrupt leaders of your hijacked party. The President-elect has his flaws, like any candidate I’ve ever seen in my lifetime, but something has got to shake up the “leaders” of the true conservative movement because nothing that happened in 2006 did.
But guess what? This time, you aren’t going to be allowed to monopolize the scene with your aforementioned tactics; we’re more than willing to let you play on the playground again, but you have to cooperate now. You have to grow up and act like adults and behave in a rational fashion. Throw off the childish elements who turned your chosen party away from its ACTUALLY conservative roots; you don’t have to remain in the dark like they are consumed with doing. Until the Republicans ditch them, focus on core beliefs like small government and decreased personal intrusions, and stop focusing on what people are doing in the privacy of their bedrooms, my vote will continue to tell them to go fuck themselves.
If you chose not to however, please, stay on the sidelines with your hate and fear. The rest of us? We’re DONE with it. Lincoln said, “With malice toward none, with charity for all, …let us strive on to finish the work we are in, …to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
Think about it.
Posted in Personal.
Tagged with politics, rant.
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