That’s one more step…

Something else I had on the checklist can now be marked off: get pictures made.

We had family and individual portraits done this weekend. They won’t be in until September, but they’ll be nice. We’ll have several with all three of us, some with just me and Jim (engagement pics), some with just Jim and Jessie, some with just me and Jessie, some with just Jessie, and a couple of just me (at Jim’s insistence).

We agreed on a pretty large package, there will be plenty enough pictures for all family and friends who want some and even Jim’s ex who will want the pics of Jessie. We’ll even get a portrait of the three of us as part of the package. It’s funny, when we were comparing packages I was already sold on it, but the lady was pitching the sale as it could be a wedding or anniversary gift, that kind of thing, hehe.

Anyways, it will be nice to have some updated pictures of us to be able to add here to the site, and to have on my desk at work. Part of me wonders though why my folks have never asked for any?

Save the Tata’s

I often get lost in thought while I’m driving. It’s a very bad habit I admit, but it’s bound to happen — in the shower and while I’m driving are often when I have my best ideas.

I was replaying my recent doctor’s visit in my head, going over the symptoms I discussed with my doctor. Going back to previous migraines, comparing them to the ones I have had in the past. I was trying to think of anything that I may have neglected to mention to my doctor … anything that would need to be brought up during my next appointment.

I looked up at the van in front of me. It was nothing special. Red. Older model. Three men inside. It had earlier cut me off and I remember thinking something along the lines of “No blinker, no manners!”

I had just noticed that it had a pink ribbon magnet on the back. I thought that was kind of touching and smiled. I looked over and noticed that there was a bumper sticker next to it.

I love reading bumper stickers.

It said “Save the TATA’s!!” and had another pink ribbon beside it.

That struck me as so funny that I cackled out loud. I know the lady in the lane next to me thought I was a little off my rocker. It’s such a “typical guy thing” to say, but in a sweet context.

It also reminded me of a recent conversation with a friend of mine … for privacy’s sake, I’ll call her “Jill”…

Jill and I were talking about charity work and discussing some upcoming projects. I’ve got a couple in the works and was showing her one that was linked on my website. She saw the Boobiethon button and asked me about it. I went to the site and showed her a few pages of previous years’ entries and casually mentioned that I was thinking of entering this year with a few of my friends.

You’d think I had just announced that I was leaving to go be a real estate broker in Antarctica.

Jill: Nicki, you CAN’T be serious!
Me: Why not?
Jill: Be reasonable, you’re a grown woman now. This is not Girls Gone Wild!
Me: Oh come on, Jill, they’re just boobs. This is for a good cause. Besides, you don’t actually SEE the whole BOOB anyway, give me a fuckin’ break. There are no faces to identify people by so the only way people know it’s me is if I *TELL THEM* which I’m not!
Jill: I won’t speak to you anymore if you do this.
Me: Now YOU’RE the one who’s not being reasonable.
Jill: I mean it.
Me: Ok.
Jill: I MEAN IT!

So guess who hasn’t spoken to me since? ;P Oh well … we weren’t close or anything, but I do think it’s kind of funny.

I guess I hoped for too much

I woke up about 30 minutes before the alarm was due to go off with an all-too-familiar piercing, excruciating pain on the right side of my head. I had another one of my headaches. I had made it a whole week using the Topamax as a migraine preventive. I got up and got ready and popped one of the Axerts that my doctor gave me “just in case” and cautiously awaited the “loopy” side effects.

Nothing.

I had a brief moment where I was a little light headed and that was it — and it lasted all of 5 seconds. So I was a little late for work and I am still in a bit of pain. Not as much as I was when I first awoke, but when I was driving to work all I could think was, “Dear God, please let me make it in before I throw up.”

What a way to start off a day! ??:

SharePoint: How do I get started?

I’ve spoken a little about it here, but hadn’t really expanded as much as I’d like. I must admit that I’ve advanced farther on my own than the O’Reilly or Sam’s books had covered. (Yay me! ) I’m not near as far as I need to be yet, but not bad for only a coupla months’ work, I think.

Anyways, a few of you had asked me where and how to get started with SharePoint and I thought I’d share a few things I’ve found:

Free SharePoint hosts

• AppTix – Free trial, 30 days. 25 MB storage, 25 users. You get your choice of SharePoint 2003 (Version 2.0) or 2007 (Version 3.0). Note: You must upgrade to a pay account or move to another host BEFORE your 30 day trial is up! (This is what I’m currently using.)
• Frontpages – 5 MB storage, 5 users. No credit card required. SharePoint version is 2007 only.
• Microsoft Office Live – Choose the free option for a “starter” account to play around with. 500 MB storage, 25 user accounts. Note: You can register a domain, but this will require a credit card and a small fee. SharePoint version is 2007 only.

I’m sure there are a few more out there, but those are the ones that I’ve been playing with myself. Feel free to add to this list in the comments below!

Resources

There are a TON of websites out there, but these are the ones that I run to the most when I have a question, or need to hack something up and can’t find the answer inside one of my books:

• CSS Reference Chart for SharePoint 2003
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Server site
• Microsoft SharePoint site
• MS web-based training
• MS2D SharePoint boards
• SharePoint 2003 (v2) Resources
• SharePoint Boot Camp
• SharePoint Community Search
• SharePoint Kicks
• SharePoint Products and Technologies discussion group
• SharePoint Related Webcasts
• SharePoint Solutions
• SharePoint Team Services
• SharePoint Training Classes
• SharePoint University

If the above resources don’t have what you need, simply Google it. Just make sure you are very specific (e.g. “bernedes cookware“, LOL), get it?

Anyone with any good resources, tips, or otherwise helpful SharePoint related info please feel free to share via the comments form below…

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: My Thoughts

I have put this off far longer than I had wanted. Originally, I had planned to write this a few hours after finishing reading the Deathly Hallows, but time ran out on me and then things piled up. As it stands, I am currently penning this in a meeting and will type it up later in my blog! (That makes fine use of all these meetings that I have to sit in, I must say!!)

Forgive me as my thoughts will meander a bit, but I think for the most part my points will come across just the same.

SPOILER ALERT: If you have not yet read the last Harry Potter book and do not want to know what happens, proceed no further!

The Leak and The Casualties

Looking back, I’m glad that I was able to avoid the leaked spoiler circulating in various areas on the internet. However, the spoiler itself was a bit misleading in that it was not only one character that died in this book. This final chapter in the Harry Potter saga covered the end of the war between followers of He Who Must Not Be Named and those who chose to stand up and fight. Among those who were lost, the ones who come foremost to my mind are: Hedwig the owl, Dobby the free elf, Mad-eye Moody, Colin McCreevy, Severus Snape, Remus and Tonks Lupin, and last but certainly not least, Fred Weasley.

Many people naturally speculated that Harry would fall and at one point in the book, I found myself believing that as well. Harry learns that for Voldemort to be vanquished, they both must die. He prepares himself for his demise and sacrifices himself to save the world from this great terrible evil. (sound familiar?) This act of self-sacrifice allows Harry a moment to reflect and confer with Dumbledore, to discover truths which he already knew but needed sorting out and putting together in order to better fight. He awakens to find he is not dead after all and defeats Voldemort once and for all.

Snape’s Vindication

One of things I really enjoyed about this final volume was seeing Severus Snape’s name “cleared” in the virtual sense. Found dying of a bite from Voldemort’s snake, Harry is given a few strands of Snape’s memories, divulging his childhood friendship and lengthy history (and obsession) with Lily, Harry’s mother. He also learns of a mishap that dooms Dumbledore, and Snape’s promise to kill him so that young Draco Malfoy won’t have to. Harry learns that all of the “evils” that Snape has done have been for a good cause.

Similarities

Something else that struck me as peculiar … when Harry and Hermione were wandering around in the wilderness with a Horcrux that must worn around the neck, which brought the wearer terrible fears and loathsome feelings, and they despaired and often wondered when they would see their home and loved ones again … sound familiar? (Lord of the Rings, anyone?)

Tied Up

For the most part, I think Ms. Rowling tied up most of the loose ends pretty well. Harry and Ginny of course end up together, marry, and have kids. Ron and Hermione do the same. There was no mention of George, however, so I am left wondering about him. (What about the joke shop? Will he continue to develop new products? Too bad he doesn’t make radar detectors ;P)

Neville became the Hogwarts Herbology professor — no surprise there, but there is no mention of who he marries (if at all?). There has been speculation of he and Luna Lovegood, but I think Luna and Dean end up together. But that is not confirmed either. And what became of Bill and Fleur? Or Charlie Weasley?

Not a Great Wizard

Last but not least, I think what stuck out most about this story was that it finally became clear that Harry had long been assumed to be a “great wizard” due to his mysterious past and “you know who”, but this book proves this to be untrue in a sense. Yes, his spell-casting could be characterized as predictable, but not without its merits. He has his strengths and in areas where he has weaknesses he is blessed to have help in friends and loved ones to help out when needed. Harry is at last shown to have a strong and moral character, something that both does and doesn’t make him remarkable – and something that every hero should have.

Monkeys’ Night Out!

Or rather, Ladies Night Out at The Monkey!

Any ladies lurking about town, in condo hotels, extended stays, or around the city in general, please feel free to join us at the Blue Monkey Lounge tonight to celebrate Jocelyn’s 30th birthday and Jen’s “departure from Hades” (sorry, Angie ).

Electro-what?

Apparently BellSloth is having issues again. For the last two days, anything sent from UAB to a BellSouth address has bounced. I’ve heard from friends at several other companies where this is happening, as well as those whose domains are hosted by BS and are receiving no email at the mo.

Lovely … and we’ve just been taken over by AT&T … that just makes *everything* better doesn’t it?

<insert gagging noise here>

The last explanation I heard was DNS problems — how funny. They’ve been denying having DNS problems for years! ??:

On a totally unrelated note: I was just speaking to someone on one of the floors above mine here at work. They are stripping out some of the materials in their walls and ceilings. Apparently it’s interfering with their equipment and they were told to install RFI Shielding to prevent “Electromagnetic Interference” (EMI) or “Radio Frequency Interference” (RFI). These are basically types of electromagnetic disturbances that interrupt electronic devices. I’d never heard of such a thing, but hey, it was pretty neat watching them spray the new stuff on.

Pretty and coppery!

I tell ya, it’s contagious!

Jim’s “house-mania” is catching. Even worse, I’m catching it. LOL! I found myself with a few idle minutes yesterday and before I knew it, was perusing the “homes for sale” section of the paper.

Personally, I’ve grown rather fond of the “house for sale” sites and realtor sites with the nice pictures that you can look at online at any time of night or day (and not worry about shoulder surfers or pushy opinionators, LOL!).

There was one that I looked at online last weekend that had a really nice listing. The owner had gone all out and put up a separate website with a nice picture gallery. One of the bathrooms had a set of bathroom vanities that made me DROOL!

Mark that on the wishlist!

Yeah, it’s catching …

Plugs and a cause

Every time I’ve sat down to blog something’s come up or someone needed something from me. I actually sat down to blog last night but was distracted by a very delicious bowl of red beans and rice. (Hey, what can I say? When it comes to food, I’m easy. *shrug*)

I wanted to give a quick plug to my favorite biker geek who’s currently going through broken bike woes. Ben, I think I’m gonna join up one of those Blogathon thingies and name YOU as my cause!

I’ve run across a few goodies lately that I wanted to share with you guys … first and foremost is something I’ve been wanting myself: a way to paste to your cellphone from your pc. How cool is that!!?? Sort of related is this: Useful items you never knew you could print out. The big name thingy I had seen before but had lost the URL, so this is great because I had been wanting to find it again. :mrgreen:

And last but not least a great WordPress article that I ran across — actually, this guy often has great WP-related tidbits, so you may want to bookmark his URI. It gives a great example of using WordPress as an online magazine.

I have a TON more open in my firefox session at home, but alas, I didn’t think to send it to myself here at work. Oh well, cest la vie and all that … I spent a little while last night helping a friend looking for some truck accessories that I had run across a while back. It was basically some tricked out Darth Vader looking stuff for a Ford Ranger — VERY wicked looking! Just wish I could remember where I saw it now. ;p

Speaking of Star Wars … my current ring tone is the Imperial March. Last weekend when I was at Jim’s mother’s house, my Helio rang and when it went off it (naturally) started playing. I didn’t hear it at first because I was in another room in the house. I heard Jim’s mother say, “What in the world is that?!”

LOL! :mrgreen:

I explained to her what it was and the significance of the song. She tells me, “You’re so geeky, it’s cute even!”

:cool:

What, what, WHAT?!

Just another example of Jessie’s mother’s “brilliance” …

We’re eating dinner tonight and we had been watching a show on Animal Planet. I like to keep it on there because for the most part, their shows are kid-safe and Jessie is instantly enamored by anything with animals in it. She and I had been talking about albino animals. Every once in a while Jim would pipe up with something funny, or expand on something I was trying to explain.

At one point during the show, she points out that a tiger is “acting funny” … then says, “She must be having her period.”

:shock: I think Jim about choked on his dinner. LOL! He suddenly takes a great interest in his email and says, “Wow, look at this california mortgage rate!”

I asked her what made her say that and she says confidently, “Mommy says that when cats makes lots of noise and want extra attention, they’re on their period and they need to be locked up or they poop kittens!”

:roll: Leave it to Bitchzilla to fsck up explaining a cat being in heat. *beats head on desk* So tonight, guess what I’ll get to try to explain to her. ;P

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