130,000

Just turned over 130,000 miles on my Explorer this morning wow I've been here and back again in it.. I've been pretty happy with mine. It has performed well never gotten stuck and only need two major repairs. But man 16 to 18 miles to the gallon is not so good when gas is $2.18 gee whiz.

Now do I just keep it till it drops or should I start looking a new car/suv. I also really like an SUV even with the gas mileage. But I'm not sure I want to keep paying so much for gas. I've set in a new Explorer and I'm not sure I like it as much as mine. I've looked a the VW Toureg and like it but gosh it costs a lot I mean a lot. Like $56,000 that is to much money.

If I had a two car garage I might just get a newer car to drive to work that got good gas mileage and keep the Explorer or get a new SUV. Oh well decisions.

Rio Audio : Rio Carbon 5GB Player

It is here!!

Okay nice features. You plug it in and it shows up as a hard
drive. Start dragging mp3's to it and you are good to go. This
is a requirement for any mp3 players I get again. My MPIO FL100
is okay but that one feature really kept me from really liking
it. And many of the other players in the space have to use a
proprietary app. to put music on them, the Creative Zen, the
Ipod family, and the Dell DJ's. So drag and drop the Rio Carbon
has!!.. Oh Yea..

Also 5 Gig is a lot. I've got it nearly full now and I have 4.4
days worth of music on it.. I like that. And it doubles as a 5
Gig portable hard drive. And with USB 2.0 it can accept
transfers faster than I can pull the songs off my file server.
When the MP3's are local it is really fast.

Battery life seems to be pretty good. I've been trying for a
couple of days to get it discharged so I can give it a full
charge. Since I had it plugged into to various computers
uploading 4.4 days worth of songs I've already given it a fair
charge since it charges over usb. But I also have this nice
little plug in that you hook the usb cable up to for charging as
well.

I can make playlists in winamp and save them on the player and
boom they work. I've not been able to figure out how to make
playlists on my Mac OS X IBook yet. The best I can come up with
is to use VLC drag the files to it save the playlist (comes out
as .m3u) and then edit the playlist to pull out the directory
entries that I don't need, you know the /volume/carbon stuff.
Need to write a script for that.

Not to many misses. Would have like to pay a little less for it.
Can't make playlists on my Mac, well if you know how let me
know. And the silly case they sent with it. It protects it
nicely but it covers up the controls and the read out. Duh...
Some one was napping there. Anyway give it a thumbs up. And a
better than IPod rating, because I can drag and drop songs to it

Rave-MP SPORT Flash based digital audio player 128MB and 256MB, sleek pocket size

This player looks like a great player from a specs stand point and price. What with being able to expand it with a SD/Media card, FM radio and voice recorder. Then it has the old Microsoft Playsforsure logo on it.. Well let me tell you looks can be deceiving. The firmware sucked on this. Had some real major problems. It continually locked up and you would have to pull the power on it.. Also some of the features it was supposed to have did not work. I mean they really just did not work. So back to Amazon with it.. I've order a Rio Carbon. It has gotten some good reviews we will just have to see. Will post again when I get it.

Trying w.blogger

Just started using w.blogger. In fact this post is with w.blogger. Hope there is no spy ware in here. But thought I would give it a try and just see how it works. Sort of like the idea of being able to do posts offline and then put them up later. Thinking about doing that for vacation mainly. Well back to TV.

E-books

Check out Baen publishing. They have a large number of pretty good FREE e-books on their site. They are mostly Sci-Fi and Fantasy action adventure novels but if you are into that, they are one of the leading publishers. I would recommend Keith Lumar, David Drake, John Ringo, Mercedes Lackley just to name a few. Just be warned they are a lot of books that are the first of a series so if you like them you will probably end up buying some books from them too. So it is a good marketing technique.

I have to say that I would prefer to read E-books now. As long as you are not a speed reader, reading on a 3X5 screen is really pretty easy. You can carry around 60 or 70 books on a device half the size of a paper back.

I recommend using a cheaper general use PDA for this instead of a dedicated book reader. I'm finding the Pocket PC Windows to be a pretty good bet. I have not look at a later generation palm so I really can't tell

Any how fire up the browser get over to Baen down load some books put them on your favorite PDA and enjoy.

Aximsite - Axim Freezing or Sticking

Aximsite - Axim Freezing or Sticking

Thought I would throw this in for all you Axim users out there (you can see a picture of mine in an earlier post).

I had this problem with my Axim. Spent a few months with on off reset wiggle poke and stuff. Finally decided to fix this problem so I went and backed up all the data with the old back up facility. Went and walked around and stuff. Then came back and did a hard reset. I originally thought that it might be driver problem or something. Well I got stuck in the align your screen forever function. Okay time for google.

And I came up on this link I've included. And sure enough there was a worn spot on the mylar ribbon cable. Followed the instruction in the link an YEA!! it was fixed... So if you are having problems with your Axim not clicking where you poke the stylus check out this link. It is not as hard to do as it looks.

Cold

Cold
Originally uploaded by reboot95.

Okay so if the roof came off the world and all the heat escaped would it be any colder. I know it sounds wierd. But I just read a story about it and I don't think it was much colder in the Story.

Just a couple of hours south of here they have massive snow falls like 10 or more inches. Mo. is not set up to handle that. But up here we had no snow none, nada, not a flake. But it sure is cold brrrrr

Merry Christmas

Joy of Trout Fishing

Ahh the joy of casting your fly line in to a bucket of fish and still not being able to catch one. That is what Trout fishing is all about. The sheer frustration of being able to almost reach out and touch one of the little beauties but still having them come up, look at your offering, taste and spit it out just as you get ready haul him in. Or worse yet the crafty devils that seem to be able to untie fishing line just as you find a fly or lurer that really is working and you are down to your last one along comes that magical fish that can untie the line and run off your your prized fly. What a bother.

Well as you can see I did not leave empty handed this is from the catch made Friday afternoon on our trip to Rockbridge Mo. (http://www.rockbridgemo.com/) this Oct. I would really recommend it as a place to learn to trout fish. They have some pretty nice places to stay New House being the best. And the staff are always friendly and helpful. And even though you are in effect fishing in a bucket. You quickly realize that even with that you are at a disadvantage.

It is catch and keep so only catch as much as you can afford to buy and store. Helps to get a few people lined up before hand to pass the fish off to.

Fun time was had by all.

Moon Lit

Moon Lit
Originally uploaded by reboot95.

Are we on the edge of a field looking at a normal night sky or about to embark on a mystical adventure into a land where fair maids require rescuing and great wrongs are in need of righting. A place of daring deeds where strangers are not afraid to cast their strength to an impossible task because the land cries out against evil and wrong.

Are we men to undertake such action to rise up and go forward. Or should we cower in the darkness afraid of what the next step holds. Afraid of the terror in the ghostly forest. Afraid of the whispers in the dark. Afraid of the very inaction that we take.

No, I say rise up stand for what is right and true go forth to battle go forth to mighty deeds go forth to strive what ever the outcome may be go forth.

My Axim

dellaxim
Originally uploaded by reboot95.

Like to introduce you to my Axim and try out flickr. This is a neat little computer. Has all sorts of features. The thing I use it for the most is to read books on. www.baen.com has some wonderful free books that are really easy to read on the Axim. The other killer app for it is advantgo. I really don't use it that much for a pim. I think the Palm is still better for that. Microsoft took office and tried to cram it into a pda, it did not turn out that great but as a book reader it is great.

Well here we go

We just had our first dashing through the slush in a well you know the rest. Was not to bad we only had a short period that it was nasty. That was the time I was driving. And idiots taking pictures did not make it better :-) er well I thought the picture looked good and captured the fun of driving to work in the snow. Here's looking lots more winter driving.

Remember Beauty

Really like this image. Thought it was a reminder of the beauty in the world. That we should take time to see the little objects along our path appreciate what we usually over look. Try to take some of the beauty along with us as we walk away.

Mouthing the Words

Been reading about this Ashlee Simpson or what ever getting caught lip syncing on Saturday Night Live. And how it has lite up the phone boards so to speak on the old internet.

This gets me thinking to my self what the heck is going on in this Country. We are in a war for our very way of life for our very beliefs. We are at a critical juncture of that war we will be voting in about a week on which way we want our Country to go and people are more interested in some silly little kid Mouthing Words on a silly little TV show. Come on it is not even real like Star Trek is (that is an old private joke).

More thinking on my part, we are a nation that is just mouthing the words we don't care about any thing but silly stupid little fluff. We act big we get up on stage and say what we have heard other people say. We are in effect lip syncing our way through our lives and maybe that is why we are so interested in seeing some one getting caught we don't want to give away our own act.

Remember in the end we stand before God at which time we will stop mouthing the words and confess what we really did in our life. Will our lives have counted for any thing or will we have just immersed our selves in whether or not some teenager was using her real voice or memmorex.

How would Jesus Vote.

The Key to Job

Think about Job, how he spends nearly the entire book complaining about what had happened. Seeking counsel and comfort from his friends. And he had the idea that if he could just present his case to God, God would see the validity of his claims. Now remember Job was probably the man closest to God on the earth at this time.. He understood that he would see God even after he died. He wished for an advocated to plead his case before God. So close to God that God remarks about it..

However when God confronts Job it is so much more than Job had ever guessed. All Job can say is "I am unworthy-how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer- twice, but I will say no more." I just think it is most truthful moment in human history. That when confronted with God in truth all our complaints all our wishes all our arguments about how things should have been, just become nothing, in the face of who God is.. Pretty cool and reassuring that even in spite of this, He loves us so much that He sent his Son to redeem us..

New Cube

Moved into a new Cube at work. Pretty much like a ledge hanging on a cliff feel like I need to tie myself in so I won't fall out. I've been working there for 15 years I think my cube would be fine for an intern or someone that has been there for a year but at 15 years you just have to much stuff to fit in one of these things. Oh well I'm sure thing will change. And at least the cube walls aren't short so we don't all look like a whack a mole game.

Stop the insanity of Electronic packages

Okay how many people are like me they get home with some new keen thing they just picked up at Best Buy or Comp USA, or yes even Walmart. Say your first thumb drive, or maybe that neat new MP3 player you have been wanting. So there you are standing in your home going "cool" can hardly wait, but before you can use your new wonder toy you have to tear your way through it's tamper proof, child proof, open proof plastic encasing. DOH!!!!!

Come on what gives with this, I own the product why do I need a hack saw and a blow torch just to open the silly thing. I don't really thing this industrial strength Kevlar impregnated obstacle slows down thieves that much but it sure is annoying to us consumers when we get the product home..

See I'm a country boy at heart and still carry around a pocket knife (except at airports now, stupid terrorist). Anyhow even equipped with one of the most wonderful inventions made of man, right up there with fire in usefulness, I still struggle and strain to get at my new toy.. I've even sliced open my hand with those silly packages (never the knife just the package).

So here you have it an open letter to manufactures to make it a tad bit easier to get past the packaging of our favorite new gizmos. Come on Please..

What am I for

I've been looking at some of the stuff on the Internet regarding
people running for office. And just to start this off I'm going
to vote Republican (I can explain later). But I noticed
something about both parties that is showing in the ads and
blogs. It seems that people define their idea by how bad the
other side is not by how good their side is.

Most people that support Kerry spend more time complaining about
Bush than they do extolling how good they think Kerry is. But
the same is true from Bush supporters they tend to speak more on
how bad Kerry is than how good Bush is.

It really made me question somethings. I don't really want my
position to be defined by being against the other party. I want
to be voting because I'm for the party and the ideas of the
person I"m voting for. Not just because I am against what the
other guy stands for.

Seems that the candidates and the people that support them have
bought into the idea that people are only choosing the lesser of
two evils.. So they work to make the other guy seem more evil.
Not convince people that they are better.

So I guess I need to think in terms of what I'm for, not what
I'm against.

So why am I going to vote Republican. I can think of reasons
why not to vote Democrat but I want to think of why to vote
Republican..

One I got a lot of money back on taxes this year. But I pay a
lot I mean a lot in taxes. So anyone who can lower that tax
burden for me is a plus.

I believe that we should not fool around with gun control. In a
society that is only allowed to have sticks and stones the man
with a gun is king. And by definition is someone is going to
use a gun for a crime they are already a criminal so why would a
low against guns make them less inclined to use one. They are
already committed to breaking the law.

I believe that the whole sale destruction of unborn children is
destroying this nation. We need to slow or stop this. Just
think of the number of children killed each and every day. I
have to take the position because I believe that even though
they are unborn they are living aware children. And there is no
way to be comfortable with what is happening if you believe they
are children. If you don't believe they are children then I
guess you can live with what is happening but just think what
public out cry would be if someone was killing that many puppies
or kittens a day. Aren't unborn children worth more than
puppies or kittens. Save the Unborn Child.

Okay I guess I get to allow one thing that I'm against in the
democratic party to define why I vote the way I do. They tend
to be focusing on this us against the wealth. Pitting one class
of people against the other. The have's against the have not's.
This tactic has been used by way to many really bad people over
history.. The whole idea that the have not's should rise up
and over throw the have's is not a healthy idea for our nation.
And just think about this. From a global stand point all of
America is wealthy, and all of America are the have's..
Remember all American's are in this together and we don't need
to be splitting along class lines.. Oh and if the Democrats are
the party of the have not's and champion of the poor then why do
the richest of the rich, why do the wealthy celebrities support
them so much.. Hmmmmmmm

Okay so to turn that last one in to what I'm for. I'm for
people that do not promote class strife. For a party that will
foster they idea that we are all American's and we are all in
this together and we need to stand up for each other.

So there I've done it. I've tried to define why I'm voting the
way I do because of what I'm for in the party I'm voting for not
because they are just a little less evil than the others.

IBook

Well I finally went ahead and did it. I now have an IBook, and I am a
impressed. UNIX with a cool GUI. It is missing a few unix things and I
think I will still have Linux on my other laptops. And I still think my
Dell insprion 8600 is going to be my favorite but this thing is very
easy to carry around super lite and very full featured. But old Steve
Jobs needs to take a clue and put two mouse buttons on here it really
needs it. You can get a two button mouse with scroll wheel which I did
but when you are using it on you lap the sec

Yahoo! News - 'Fahrenheit' Sets Stage for New Crop of Documentaries

Yahoo! News - 'Fahrenheit' Sets Stage for New Crop of Documentaries

Oh great now we will have reality tv cloggin up the Theaters now.. I go to movies to see unreality I have enough reality at work and out the window at home. Okay I do like some real documentaries on like the History Channel or Discovery Channel and the Shakleton movie was interesting. But I really don't need to see that stuff on the big screen. And I really figure this is going to be more like Reality TV than real Documentaries. That is all we need is Survivor on the big screen. Come on give me fantasy. I'll stick to the real world for reality.

What is that Dark spot

I think you all have already heard about the new speed-o-meter for the bike.  The first time I rode with it though I noticed this dark spot on the display that was really annoying.  But when I got home and in the house it seemed to be gone.  So I thought well maybe it was a one time thing or maybe heat related.  I'll see what happens next time.  Well went biking Saturday with some friends and I noticed that the spot was back.  I decided I was going to have to take the speed-o-meter back and get it replaced.  I went to show it to my friend Dave..  I said see this here spot I guess I have to take this back.  And Dave was like what spot..  I'm like this Spot right here can't you see it..  I moved it around it was plain as day to me..  Why couldn't he see it.  Then the little light in my head went off.  Let me take my POLARIZED sunglasses that I wear for fishing but like also for biking because they have a strap on them OFF.  Lo and Behold the Spot disappeared...  Put the glasses back on Spot reappeared.  Spot on Spot off..  Hold up glasses so friends can see spot.......  Problem solved....

Biking

Hey got a new Bike seat, no more numbness...  If you have not ridden a bike as an adult you may not know what I mean if you have then you know..  The only prob is the new seat is sort of slippery with the bike pants and all so I have to keep moving back up the seat...  Oh well but the new seat with no numbness is pretty cool.

I also got a speed-o-meter.  That is really really neat.  Cool to be going along and look down and see how fast you are going.  Sort of mesmerizes you kinda of going along oh look I'm going 12 oh look 10 oh look 11 oh look 9 so cool so cool.

Biked on Grant's trail was pretty nice.  It is all paved well at least the part I rode on was.  Lots of bladers and walkers and kids.  So you sort of had to weave in and out of the..   Got to see the Clydesdale out at Grant's farm..

  

On that home ownership is a pain thing

Well for the last few weeks I've heard the sound of water drip
drip dripping.. After a little looking I found that the the
toilet was running running running. Turns out that the little
thing that shuts off the water in mine is not made very well.
Lots and lots of complaints on the toilet forums (yes there
really are such a thing). So got a new fulidmaster 400a and put
it in. It was pretty easy. I'm turning in to a regular handy
man.. Well if the women don't find you handsome they should at
least find you handy.

Trees and wind

Well I'm a bit tired of wind in the trees. I had another tree
top come out of a silver maple and go cart wheeling through the
air. This must have been one heck of a wind (happened the night
of the ice storm). Snapped the tree off clean, and then carried
it about 20 or 30 feet through the neighbors carport. So after
talking with my law inclined friends it is the storm that did
the damage not the tree. And I don't have responsibility for
the damage it is all up to her insurance... But per her
insurance agent it is my responsibility to clean up the junk.
Oh well got the tree guys to fix everything up in my yard too
and now I have a little pile of firewood. You know home
ownership is sort of a pain..

Ice Ice

Well just went through the first hail storm at the house.  I think the biggest it go was jelly bean size.   Which by the way make a terrible racket when you are in the house.  But it does not appear to have caused much damage.  We also got a lot of rain and it is still thundering in the distance.  And oh year I'm in the dark which is a real pain since tonight was the Star Gate SG1 to Atlantis special.  Got to watch about 10 minutes of it then boom into the dark..  I'm only able to be on the Internet thanks to a big old back UPS..  I had one on the tv computer but it lasted only about 10 minutes before it went down hard.  So I'm ready my the lantern and hoping the power comes back on soon.  It is not to fun to sleep with out the CPAP any more.  And I have a 9:00am meeting oh bother...  Don't even have a working alarm clock..

   Steve

The Chronicles of the Unbeliever

I've decided to try and read The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever.   I've really not read it since the first time through.  And they I went about it backwards I think.  I read the second Chronicles first.  And even though they stand alone there are a lot of things that are confusing..  Really like Stephan R. Donaldson but man is he long winded.  I've read the first few chapters of Lord Fouls Bane a few times but sort of drift off to something else.  But really want to try and make through all six books this time.  I guess I'm reliving my childhood (teen hood) somewhat again..

Any how decided to let the Xanth novels set for a bit before I get back into them..  Fear that the last book may be a cliffhanger and would hate to get there before the next one is written ;-)

Wired News: Florida to Tax Home Networks

Wired News: Florida to Tax Home Networks

Okay I can not really think of anything more annoying than to have someone tax my network attached computers in my own home. That uses equipment I bought and that I installed. What the heck is up with this. I can understand taxes that are translated into some service some benifit but this tax is insane.

I understand that it was started for business that used their own infrastructure to do telephone calls and don't use the phone system. I'm sort of thinking that this is a protection for the phone system.

There is also the thought that it would go to schools. What is going on with that. How does my having a network in my home require me to be taxed at a higher burden for schools... Do not understand this at all

Xanth

I've been reading the Xanth novels again. Well some for the first time.. I read them many years ago when I was a kid. The were released on scrolls at that time. The newer book form is much nicer to hold in bed. And with electric lights it is so much easier to read after dark.. I still find them very entertaining. They are not exactly children books but they are really clever and funny.

I have just complete the isle of view.. I'm glad to see that Dolph's dilemma was finally resolved. And glad to see that Electra lived through the experience.. It is amazing to realize that, that book was written 15 years ago or so. Man do I feel old since I consider Xanth to be a part of my adult life. I probably read the first book before I could drive though..

I also have to say that the books that go with Split Infinity are really my favorite by Piers Anthony. Anyhow it has been nice to get to know and old friend and realize I still have more books to go than I have read. That is a big advantage of going back to a multibook Piers Anthony trilogy years later. I only have to wait as long as the Barnes and Noble's order to go thorough to read the next book.. Not years...