Author Arthur C. Clarke dies

Stardate 61032.3
I wondered back when the tsunami hit Indonesia and Sri Lanka if Arthur Clarke was ok. He was, but he passed away this week.

Account Management

Stardate 61031.8
I've been spending much of my free (and not so free) time playing Pirates of the carribbean online . When patrick wanted to try it, it had me set up an account as well so I could put controls on his (who he chats with, who he can be friends with, etc). I was 'managing his account'm a phrase I used with April. She now refers to my time on the game with it.

Rachel complains that I run practices too hard, and they need more breaks. I thought they did take at least two breaks during Mondays practice. I did tell the girls I'd start doing 'Olly practice'. All but Rachel wanted to know what that was, so I told them to ask Patrick for details but it refers to his soccer trainer who worked the boys for three hours a night once a week. We have only one more week until the tournement in Pocatello , so I'd like them to work a little harder.

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Super Dell Campaign

Stardate 61031.7
Super Dell runs for office
I can't wait to see his campain ads!

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Post no bills

Stardate 61031.4
Thomas went to his second game of the week Wednesday. He did well the first three quarters of it, then just stood around. On the way home he complained that his legs hurt. After dinner he went into his room, and was asleep within a minute. Scouts was missed again, somewhat to my relief. Thomas has fun, but the den leaders do most everything, so I just sit around.

Thursday was dinner with Dad for the first time in a couple of weeks. With April being out of town and kids sick, I just could get down there. He is doing well.

No secret project this week.

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Code Buddy

Matt at Software Ninja (not sure when the name changed, it's still in my Google Reader as Matthew on Software) had a good piece on Code Buddies. I might grab a copy and present it to the PTB at Flying J.

Soccer and Scouts

Stardate 61031.2
Thomas has another indoor game yesterday, although I was not able to go April got to see it. She has not seen many of his games, and apparently he did not do well in this one. She said he mainly stood around, and made quite a few mistakes. I know he is at the bottom as far as skill level for the team, but he usually tries hard. He could benefit from some individual training, but the time to do that is hard to come by. April is questioning if he is on the right team, and I am as well. He enjoys playing, though, and there is not much we can change at the moment.

Patrick had cub scouts. He painted a design on a fish, and then transfered it to a t-shirt. It all went quickly and we got done with scout early.

Grades should be out soon. I'm interested in Rachels' because she has been struggling lately.

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Internet Explorer 8 proposed 'features'

#1: "This server is using a flavor of Unix/Linux therefore I cannot render the page. Besides you don't want to see a page run by a machine with such an inferior os anyway."

#2: "This page is using a .Net class that we deprecated because Bill Gates slipped on a banana peal, therefore I cannot render the page."

# 3: "You are trying to access your gmail account, and not your 100% secure, never ever been hacked, hotmail account. You do have a hotmail account, don't you? Therefore I cannot render the page."

#4: "You are trying to access your bank account to verify your balance, and not downloading the information straight into Microsoft Money. Therefore I cannot render the page."

#5: "You own a Mac!!!! pbbbbtttt Therefore I cannot render the page."

#6: "You are using a flavor of Linux. Therefore I can only render pages that include gifs of penguins."

#7: "You have not prayed to Bill Gates, and or, you have not placed a curse on Steve Jobs, today. Therefore I cannot render the page."

#8: "You have not installed Vista, therefore I cannot render this page."

#9: "You have installed Vista, therefore I cannot render this page."

#10: "You have installed the latest service pack, which will cause errors on this page."

#11: "You are attempting to access a site with anti-Microsoft content, you will be redirected to the nearest pro-MS site."

#12: "Based on our analysis of your tax forms last year, your year to date income, and a randomly selected number; you are behind quota in donations to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Access to the Internet is
denied."

#13: "Bill Gates is not number one on Forbes list of the richest people in the world, your internet access is disabled."

#14: "You have Firefox installed. Ouch he bit me, the rabid animal. Therefore I cannot render this page."

#15: "Open Office detected. Therefore I cannot render this page and we are
sending ninjas to your home."

#16: "Today is a good day to crash!!"

Feel free to add suggestions.

Basketball practice

Monday's practice went well. The girls are beyond the basics of dribbling and shooting, so know it's the much harder task of plays and strategy. It's a little more serious for them, but they still seem to enjoy it.

The kids had the day off of school (not sure why). They found some cake mix and asked me if they could make a cake. They added green food coloring, but it turned out good to eat. As one of his scout achievement Thomas needs to help prepare food, so a I am counting this. The down side is that Rachel got a burn on the outside base of her thumb. Nothing that needed a doctor, but it was a half inch blister.

There was a doctor visit, although it was to remove Thomas' stitches. We went to our family doc, and in his opinion stitches were not needed except to leave a smaller scar. The woun was on the top of his head and is covered by hair so I can't see how that would be a factor.

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Sickness again

Stardate 61031.0
Patrick was sick Thursday and Friday. Rachel had it about two weeks ago, and we assume Thomas will in two weeks. Fever, dry heaves, tired, all the common symtoms . He's doing better today.

Rachel's first basketball practice was Friday . The girls did well, except for some fits of giggling.

Thomas did First Confession Saturday morning. He was understandably nervous about it, and his sister did not help. He was much better after he got there and joined his class. I have to commend the teacher for doing a lot to keep him calm, as well as the rest of the kids. The worst part of it was that he was next to last, so it took a while.

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Dungeons and Dragons Creator Dies

Don't keep up with Google Reader for a few days, and then find this on Carl's blog:
Gary Gygax, 'Father of D&D,' Dies at 69 (Ok, more or less. The one on Carl's linked to SlashDot, but more news outlets are picking it up.)
I played the original a lot as a kid. I don't have the time to put into it anymore, but it still would be fun. Many fond memories of looking through Monster Manuals, Player Guides, multi-sided dice.

Thanks, Gary. You have progressed to the next level.

Thomas with stitches

Stardate 61030.4
Saturday started out simple enough. I was doing laundry and cleaning (plus sneaking onto Pirates of the Carribbean Online in between loads), and the boys were taking advantage of the relative warmth by playing on the trampoline. I was planning on heading outside to do a few thing when Thomas came in and said "Daddy, I need help." It should have clued me in that he never calls me Daddy anymore, but the blood streaming down his face was a better indication. I checked the top of his head and found a quarter inch cut. There was no telling how deep it was, so I announced that we were heading to the emergency room. I called April along the way, and she got us into Tanner Clinic instead. One of the advantages of her working at the hospital is she can see how busy the ER is. Thomas ended up about an hour later with two stitches. He panicked when the doctor told him he needed them, but on the way home he said it wasn't too bad.

At dinner April and I asked what happened. The boys were shooting hoops on the trampoline, blocking each other when Thomas leapt up and smashed his head. Patrick saw the blood, and told him to find me (we harassed Patrick for not escorting Thomas, but he did show good skill in seeing it and knowing what to do). Patrick also said Thomas stopped to put his shoes back on, and he told Thomas not to bother. My guess is this is when the blood started to run done his face.

So the first injury requiring stitches. Not too bad. I worked with a guy who was in the ER about every week with his youngest son, so I consider myself lucky.

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Thomas's party

Friday I got a call from St. Joseph Elementary; it was Rachel who wanted know if she could play on the basketball team and go to Pocatello at the end of March. I ok'ed it. A few hours later I get another call from the PE teacher; can I help coach? Ok. I'm not sure it's a good idea yet, but it should be fun.

Thomas had his party at the Lazer Tag in Sunset. Seven eight-year-old plus Patrick, Rachel, and her friend Audra. Everyone had a good time. The eight-year-olds ran around in a pack, so it was easy to pick them all off. Surprisingly, the girls had fun. Patrick was pleased to have out-scored me in the third game.

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Thomas's birthday

Stardate 61030.3
Patrick's team lost thier game Thursday. Part of the problem is the keeper doesn't want the position anymore. Patrick was black carded (two minutes out of the game) at the end for slamming another player into the wall. It was not intentional, he was keeping his eyes on the ball and ran into the kid. I think the ref knew that, but the rules are clear.

Thomas had dinner at Golden Corral, and then home to open his presents. He had been asking everyone he could think of if they knew where his mom hid them, incuding his teacher. April got him the same cake that he wanted to get at the cub scout aution, so he had a good birthday.

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Blue and Gold #2

Stardate 61022.9
Thomas had his pack Blue and Gold banquet on Wednesday. It was much more sedate than Patricks. Different pack, differnt way of doing things. It's a pot-luck instead of buying the goods, which makes for a bigger variety of food. Patrick and Rachel did not want to go, but I made them anyway. It sometimes seems to me that this pack gets the short end of our attention. Last week they went to the state capital. All of our family initially said they wanted to go, but only Thomas and I went. Rachel started up a fever again, so I understand, and April stayed home with her. Anyway, the banquet was fun, and not very long.

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Beggars can't be choosers

Interesting bit on KUER yesterday. They are covering the state legislator session. The UTA audit was discussed, where they found that UTA executives are getting paid more than contemporaries in other cities, ridership is declining on buses and TRAX, etc. UTA responded by saying that no one was looking at the positive points; such as how much Federal money they brought in. IMHO, being good at begging and panhandling is not much of a positive.

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Blue and Gold #1

Patrick 's Cub Scout Blue and Gold banquet was last night. The pack does its' fundraiser at the same time. The fundraiser is a cake auction, with the cakes being donoted by the families. Last year we did the Pirate cake, and this year we did a campfire. We always do a test run with making the cake to see how it turns out. The cake tasted great, and looked good to boot. It only went for $75, though. Thomas really wanted one cake, but I had to stop him as the bidding climbed over $100. He cried the rest of the evening because he didn't get it.

Thomas had his third indoor soccer game just before the banquet. The team lost 4-10, which is a major improvement over the first game where the lost 0-25, and the second loss 1-10.

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Pinewood derby #2

A few weeks back, Thomas did his Pinewood derby . It was a slightly larger group than Patrick 's. He could not come up with a design for his car, so I looked up the simplest designs on the web, and had him pick one. He choose a Wii (pronounced 'weee') controller. Pretty easy since it's just a block. He painted it white and used clay for the buttons. I was surprised that it was still a half an ounce light. He won about half the races, and came in second the rest.

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My Name Is Inigo Montoya

You killed my father, Prepare to die!

Run Away!

Monty Python's Trojan Rabbit Toy

Planning ahead

STAR TREK ™ Line of Urns and Caskets