A quick update on some projects. I started Audrey for the first time last night. It works. I also ordered a USB ethernet adapter for it. This is not the "official" Audrey ethernet adapter -- it requires modification of the EEPROM to get it to work. We'll see how well that goes... :-)

I've been able to spend a little time working on the new weblog. I'm designing the layout as a static HTML page first, so I can get it to look the way I want it before I script it. I'm not entirely happy with the layout, yet -- what can I say, I'm a programmer, not a designer.

Ok, I promised toilets, so here it is... Last night, Angela & I were doing some odd jobs around the house. One of them was replacing a toilet seat. Simple job, right? Wrong... Apparently, many years ago, there was a major problem with people stealing toilet seats. So, they installed them with metal bolts that have plastic molded to the head -- molded in such a way that the two are almost inseparable. That is the only explanation I can come up with for why someone would use something like that. First of all, to the surprise of no one (except, I suppose, the designer), the metal bolts rust, making the nut impossible to remove. And, although the metal bolt does not want to be separated from its plastic case, it doesn't mind turning inside there when you try to remove the rusted nut. After much cutting, melting, pulling and prying, I ended up pulling the first bolt up through the hole in the toilet. After that, I went to work on the second one, with some instructions Angela found on the internet. I was able to get the plastic off, but I couldn't get the bolt out, so I decided to try to pry it up through the hole like the other one. And, of course, that's the point where I broke the toilet -- cracked the ceramic right there on the side. *sigh* Oh well... that means we have a new project this weekend... :-)

Christmas weekend has come & gone, and now we're back at work. All in all, it was a good Christmas. We had a nice visit with Angela's family in Texas, then came home and hosted a pretty good Christmas for my family.

In between the family get-togethers, we found time for our own Christmas. Angela got me an Audrey. This will be a fun toy. I've got all kinds of plans for the thing, and I haven't even turned it on yet. :-) I gave Angela a free-standing punching bag. There's something oddly satisfying about having something to hit after the holidays are over... :-)

We also bought a "present" for the house -- a pool table. That was quite an adventure. :-) We started looking for one shortly after buying the house -- we thought it would be fun to have in the sun room. Even the used ones, though, are way too expensive. Luckily, we found one on sale at Sears for a good price. It's a cheap model, but it's good enough for two people who are lousy pool players. :-)

So, we bought it. It had to be ordered, so we figured, since we were getting a good price (and the fact that pool tables are huge) we would just have it delivered. When we asked about having it delivered, the sales guy told us we didn't want to do that -- delivery would be about $65... and besides, it would fit in the back of our car. Oh, ok then, we'll just come back & pick it up...

Well, we come back the next week to pick it up, and two guys bring it out to our car on a big cart. And, lo & behold, the thing is huge! Oddly enough, it's as long & as wide as a pool table, & very heavy. So, there we were, with 2 stock boys looking at us like we're nuts for bringing a small SUV, and us looking at that pool table, wanting to strangle the sales guy. Obviously, he'd never even seen one of these pool tables -- if he had, he wouldn't tell everybody "it will fit in the back of your car." We did manage to get it in, with just a few inches hanging out the back. The stock boys got us some rope, and we started tying it up as best we could. We decided not to chance getting on the interstate, so we drove about 10 miles down one of the main OKC streets with that thing hanging out the back. It was quite a stressful trip -- if that pool table had decided it wanted to leave, there wouldn't have been anything we could do about it, and I didn't have much faith in that flimsy rope they gave us. But, we did make it home, and we finally got to put it together yesterday. It'll be fun to have -- definitely worth the trouble. But, if I ever see that sales guy again... ;-)

We also went to see Lord of the Rings last night. Great movie. Visually, it's very impressive, and the themes and characters are faithful to the book. Some people have said this trilogy will be the next Star Wars, and I agree. It has that same "galaxy far, far away" feel to it -- it creates a complete world that is totally different from our own. I think I'll do a review of it on the COM website.

Oh yeah, work... I knew there was a reason I was here... :-)

I believe I've finished all my Christmas shopping -- I'll have to take inventory before I know for sure. I'm exhausted, but it's one of those good exhausteds, if you know what I mean. I should be getting ready for bed, but I wanted to jot down a couple of thoughts before I do.

I've never been one of those people who get depressed during the holidays. In fact, I'm the exact opposite. But this year, in the middle of all the fun of buying people stuff, I did feel a little sad. I was trying to figure out what to buy for people, and I realized how little I know about the people I care so much for. It's a shame, and the only reason I don't know what they want/need is because I don't spend much time with them. Hopefully, that's something I can correct before next Christmas.

And then there's the person I know too well. :-) I kept thinking of more things to get for Angela... I finally had to remind myself that there were two other gift-giving occasions coming up soon.

I haven't had time to work on any of my projects, but I have given the weblog some thought. I was trying to figure out how I could create entries using HandX on my PDA and have those somehow get automatically loaded into a database. Well, here's how: I can create an update page that will take any entries not already in the database and save them there. Then, I make that page an AvantGo page. When I sync the Palm, HandX will upload the entries, then the update page will be run by AvantGo to load the entries into the database. Seems like that will be the easiest way to do it. Of course, by the time I get around to doing this stuff, they'll have the technology where I can beam the entries directly from my brain... :-)

(Somehow, my last journal entry got lost somewhere in the depths of cyberspace. If anyone sees it, please give it money for a phone call so I can come pick it up. Until that happens, here is my attempt at recreating it.)

Well, things are slowly returning to normal. The plumber has finally finished the repairs -- and I can't tell you how happy that makes me. The windows should be done this week, and that will be the last of the repairs that the previous owner is paying for. Our Internet service is working again, and the good people at Dell are sending someone to replace the motherboard that did not survive the move. Things are finally starting to fall into place.

Which means it must be time for Christmas! I love Christmas -- even if I am horribly behind on my shopping. I actually haven't even started yet. I had it all planned out, too -- I was going to do nearly all my shopping on the Internet this year. But, it's hard to have things delivered when you don't know where you are going to live. I do have my list mostly done, though, so it's just a matter of going out and doing it. And, I don't really mind Christmas crowds. Crowds any other time of year drive me insane, but there's something about Christmas shopping that makes it not so bad. Maybe it's all the eggnog coursing through my system... :-)

In other news, I now have 3 projects I hope to eventually find time for. One is the new weblog, which I've already mentioned here. I think the first version will be a simple perl script, which will allow me to update it via the PDA. The next version, after we (hopefully) move Smart Goat to a new host, will feature PHP & MySQL, so I can have comments on each entry, just like the Slashdot system -- even though that feature has yet to be used on my entries (*sniff*).

The next project I'm researching is an MP3 server. I want something I can connect to my TV and control via IR remote. I'm about ready to give up on finding a set-top box that would look nice in the entertainment center and just settle for a computer hidden behind the entertainment center with an IR sensor sitting on a shelf. I can build one relatively cheap, with either new or used parts. Above all, I want it to be Linux. Eventually, I want this to be part of a wireless network, with (for lack of a better term) dumb terminals in various locations that would simply accept streaming sound and output it to speakers.

My other project is stuff for the sun room. We're already planning to put a pool table out there. If there's room, I'd also like to build a MAME cabinet and possibly an MP3 jukebox (connected to the network mentioned before). All of these things will be very cool, when and if I ever find time for them...

I couldn't be more proud... :-)

If I were a work of art, I would be Claude Monet's Waterlilies .

I am soft and gentle, but very colourful. Although based in reality, I look at the world through a filter of impressions which shape how I see things. Splashes of light help to define my presence and bring an endearing quality.

Which work of art would you be? The Art Test

Well, we are officially 100% moved out of the rent house, and probably about 70% moved in to the house we bought. All our stuff is there, it's just not all in the right places yet. In between the fights with previous landlords, packing and unpacking, and long, drawn out repairs (BTW, if anybody would like to know who not to call for repairs in the OKC metro area, e-mail me), we've actually been able to enjoy the new place a little.

Unfortunately, there's one member of our family who did not survive the move -- our computer. I haven't been able to boot it up since we got it to the new house. I don't know what's wrong because I haven't had time to diagnose the problem. We didn't buy it that long ago, so hopefully it's still under warranty. That, and the lousy TV reception we get in Yukon are the only major (in my mind) problems we don't know how to fix, yet.

It's been a long time since I've updated this -- we've been pretty busy, and some things just keep dragging out. Soon (hopefully), I'll be moving to a new weblog. Although I like having this on Slashdot, I think I'll be able to update it more often if I move it to our website. For one thing, I'll be able to update it from our PDA, which is just too cool. :-) And maybe I'll learn some things in Perl and/or PHP while I'm at it.

And now it's time to start Christmas shopping -- so don't expect another update anytime soon! :-)

Angela's been doing some great craft stuff -- stationery, notepads, pens, cards, etc. She's really been making some neat things. I don't know how she comes up with so many different ways to make stuff beautiful.

My mom has also been making stuff -- silver jewelry, mostly. So, in an attempt to make money off their talents, this past weekend we had a booth at a craft show.

What a waste of a weekend. :-( We hardly sold anything. There were various reasons for it, and ours wasn't the only booth that didn't do well. But that doesn't make you feel much better when you're taking home almost all of the stuff you brought. It was pretty disappointing for everybody. Oh well -- win some, lose some. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Life is like a box of chocolates... :-)

In better news, I passed the Mensa test. They didn't tell me my scores, of course, but I wish they would have at least told me which tests I passed. So, will I join? Yeah... I have no real desire to be a Mensan, but I've been told if I join, I get to be webmaster, so that seems worth it. And, if there's anybody else out there who would like me to pay them a yearly fee for me to be their webmaster, call me... :-)

Speaking of... we got the site setup with Mensa. When we asked about a database, we were told they don't have that and that text files are good enough. Apparently they don't realize websites are more than brochures. So, we're going to dump them and pay to have the site hosted elsewhere. We found a place -- they're cheap, give us everything we want, and I found nothing but good reviews of them on the Internet. It sounds like a really small company, but I'm hoping it will work out. If hosting the Mensa site works out, we'll probably move Smart Goat there.

So, I did it. I took the Mensa test. It didn't seem that hard, actually. It was a lot like those standardized tests they give in high school -- No. 2 pencils and everything. :-)

It actually consisted of two tests -- a fast 12 minute, 50 question test and a more drawn out 120 question test. All I have to do is pass one to qualify. I think I did well, but who knows? We'll find out in 2-3 weeks.

Unfortunately, I won't find out my actual score. They used to give scores, but they got sued by psychologists who realized they were losing money. Seems a lot of people would take the Mensa test just to find out their I.Q., rather than pay a lot more to a psychologist to give the test. Oh well -- if I don't pass, at least I don't have to know just how dumb I really am... :-)

Why did I take the test? Curiosity, mostly. I've always wondered if I'd qualify. Plus, if I join, then I can help Angela with the Mensa stuff in a more official capacity. Like being webmaster, for example.

Speaking of which, we finally got our user name & password for the Mensa site. One of the things we're doing, as the new webmasters for our local group, is taking advantage of the free hosting available through the national office. It looks like we're going to have everything we need to setup a Slash site with non-Slash software. I'm really excited about that. People are going to be totally amazed by this. As far as we can tell, no other group is doing anything remotely like this. And what's great is, it's so easy. When other Mensa webmasters come asking, "How'd you do that?" we can show them how easy it is for them to do it, too. For a small fee, of course... :-)

Well, we've been fired, again. :-) Ok, not exactly fired. Our clients have decided to put things on hold while they decide if they really want to continue with the site. *sigh* Oh, well... It's kind of frustrating for us, but it's understandable. With the economy the way it is, this probably isn't a good time to be taking risks. I hope it works out for them, whatever they decide. I won't be too heartbroken if I never have to use Miva again... :-)

With the world currently being a pretty depressing place, I thought I'd share something that boosts my spirits. Go to Amazon and click on the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. It's been less than a week since the tragedies in NY, DC, and PA, and they've already raised over $6 million. They didn't hold a telethon or anything, they just put the link on their front page, and word-of-mouth has done the rest.

Now, here's something else that I find interesting about this page: Since it started, the average donation per person has been going up. That is the opposite of what I would expect. I would think that, as people see how much is raised already, they would tend to give less. It's just amazing to me.

So, if you're feeling down because of all the evil in the world, go to Amazon and see how much good there is...

Yesterday, I went to Wal-Mart to return a shirt. While standing in line, I watched a guy ahead of me returning some items you don't normally think of as returnable: hamburger buns, 3 bottles of BBQ sauce, and 2 large containers of cole slaw. OK, so he bought too much for his cook-out. Strange that he's taking them back, but understandable.

As he gets to the counter, a young boy (I'm assuming his son) wheels over another basket with more things to return -- 3 bags of ice. That's right, he was returning 3 bags of half melted ice. And, of course since he had a receipt, Wal-Mart took them back.

I'm not sure which is weirder -- that someone would return ice, or that a place would accept returned ice. I stared in absolute amazement at the entire transaction. When it was my turn, I couldn't resist asking the question, "How long does a person have to return ice?" The cashier, who had been working the customer service desk alone this whole time, clearly was too tired to get the joke. She responded, "We have a 90 day return policy on most items..."

So, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to leave a bag of ice in my car for 90 days, then return it to Wal-Mart. I'm going to carry my bag of water to the customer service desk, with receipt in hand, and complain about how no where on the bag does it mention that the ice could melt... :-)

Well, the Labor Day weekend officially ends in about 40 minutes. Pretty good weekend for us -- Angela & I went to the Dusk 'til Dawn Blues Festival for the third year in a row. This festival is what music should be: People who play because they love to. Every night for 3 nights, there is non-stop music from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. We went for 2 nights, & although we didn't stay up all night, we definitly got our money's worth.

It's weird... it wasn't that long ago that I couldn't stand blues music. Back in high school, when I first started listening to music, I always hated it when a blues song would come on my favorite radio station. Now I can rarely bring myself to listen to that station. I won't go so far as to say I've grown up, but I've definitely changed...

After that, we came home & worked on our clients' website. Ugh. Every time I work on that thing, I regret choosing Miva Merchant. What a time waster. Oh well -- lesson learned...

Well, now there's only 32 minutes left of the holiday... I believe I'll go spend it with my wife...

I gave InventorBot tank treads. Nothing fancy, but I'm pleased. It's the first thing I've created instead of just following instructions. It still needs some work, though. The body is basically just sitting on the treads -- I haven't come up with a good way to attach it, yet.

I haven't had a chance to work with NQC yet. There's not much I can program InventorTank to do -- with only one motor controlling the treads, it can't turn. And I refuse to give up the throwing arm. :-)

So, I finshed the InventorBot the other night. I am very unimpressed by the "Squeeze Arm." I imagined it capturing things in its vice-like grip. It has no grip -- you squeeze it. The throwing arm is cool, though.

I think the next step will be replacing its stand with tank treads, then playing with some programming. I made a program for it with the official LEGO software. Lame. I'm going to try NQC next. I think I'll like it better.

OK, I got my MindStorms set out again the other night. I'm determined to do something cool with this thing. I've decided to work on it whenever my wife is working on her crafts. We're each doing our own thing, but we're doing it together -- seems like a good thing.

My struggles will be documented here. My first project is the InventorBot that's in the included book. Not very impressive, I know -- I'm just following the steps. But I've got to start somewhere. Hopefully, at some point, I'll receive some divine inspiration of what to create next. One project on my list is a card shuffler -- after seeing how one works, it seems like it would be pretty easy to make with the parts I have.

Eventually, I plan to build an army of intelligent killing machines that will help me TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD -- assuming I get a lot more sets for Christmas...

So, /. now has journaling. Cool. I like the new features. Congratulations to the /. and the /Code teams for a job well done.

And what will I do with my journal? I suppose I'll keep a log of my work on various projects and occasionally vent about various topics. I have a few things in the works right now. Angela and I have our business that we are trying to get off the ground. We also do some work for the local Mensa chapter, so I may have some interesting things to tell about that, as we attempt to take over their website. Another thing, I'm planning to play with the Mozilla source code, see if I can add a button to disable any future attempts by a site to open a pop-up ad. I know it can be done, I'm just not sure if it can be done by me. :-) Finally, I'm playing with LEGOs. I've got a couple of entries about my LEGO work from another online journal that I will be posting here, just to keep everything together.

Well, I guess that's all the introduction necessary. Let the hilarity ensue!