Ideal Band

I think, for me, when the kids move out in less than 10 years, that will be when I seek out an Ideal Band. I'd like to join a band that doesn't rehearse, that has a 'jam' feel to it. I envision having about 6 hours of rehearsal to go through whatever songs we're going to play and to nail down the material. I would want to work with established musicians that are non-beginners. Not necessarily a lot of band experience but just people that do their homework prior to rehearsal so there's not a lot of 'what chord is the first beat of the verse" discussions among the bass and guitar players. Setup, play, tear down.

I've even come up with a list of songs I'd like to play.
Set 1
Takin' Care of Business - BTO
You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
Take the Money and Run - Steve Miller Band
Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes
Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
Sunshine of your Love - Cream
Paranoid / Iron Man / Sweet Leaf / Paranoid medley - Black Sabbath
Just What I needed - the Cars
Tush - ZZ Top
Purple Haze - Hendrix

Set 2
Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple
Slow Ride - Foghat
Take it Easy - Eagles
Rock and Roll All Night - KISS
You Really Got Me - Van Halen
I've Done Everything for You - Rick Springfield
My Hero - Foo Fighters
Basket Case - Green Day
Copasetic - Local H
Enter Sandman - Metallica

Set 3
Crazy Train - Ozzy
Back in Black - AC/DC
Rock You Like a Hurricane - Scorpions
You may be right - Billy Joel
Seattle trio:
Even Flow - Pearl Jam
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden
My Own Prison - Creed
Hey Joe - Hendrix
Limelight - Rush

Set 4
Walk - Pantera
Shout it Out Loud - KISS
Don't stand so close to me - the Police
Look what the Cat Dragged In - Poison
Girls Just want to have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
8675309 Jenny - Tommy Tutone
Living after Midnight - Judas Priest

In the 11th hour...

I haven't been on the PC much this week.

On Monday, I mowed the front part of the neighbor's yard and started on the back. Then, when my mower ran low on gas, I quit. I then took a shower and Karen and I went to Bennigan's for supper.

On Tuesday, I mowed the rest of the neighbor's yard and did two strips of our yard. Then, I took a shower and Karen and I went to Red Lobster for supper.

On Wednesday, I arrived home @ 5:20 and we left for Cedar Rapids. The original idea was to see the 4th Indiana Jones movie b/c I thought the movie was @ 7:30. Turns out, the movie was instead @ 6:30. So it was decided rushing to get to the 6:30 movie was a stupid idea so we went to the Edgewood Road theater to see what was available. I lobbied for "Journey to the Center of the Earth" but it was decided the 3-D aspect might not be something to see. "Mama Mia" was one of the choices that Karen wanted to see. I relented and said that if we saw that tonight, we'd go see "The Dark Knight" tomorrow, assuming the kids weren't coming home until Friday. Keep reading.

After supper @ IHOP, we went to see "Mama Mia." It wasn't terrible, but I wouldn't pay $8.50 to see it again. I thought the plot wrapped itself up too conveniently. During the movie, the kids called. They were on vacation all this week - hence why we didn't cook - with my parents in MI. They told me they were coming home today.

After the movie, a light illuminated when I turned on the headlights after starting the car. It was quickly diagnosed to be a burnt out headlight. We went to Advance Auto Parts and a nice worker there, Brendan, replaced the headlight and sent us on our way home. Instead of returning to NL @ 9:30-ish, it was 10:15.

So the kids are home and thanks to my parents for coming home a day earlier than expected. We thought they would come home on Friday so we gave our in-home daycare provider the week off. Karen is off @ 2 and they'll probably sleep in, per each of them. Vacation was rough - they were up @ 7 each morning. They'll spend the day by themselves. Even when I told my father on Monday "We don't have daycare for them on Friday," they still came home early. Maybe my kids are brats or maybe people really only hear what they want to hear.

So, as it is, I had an unproductive week. I didn't work on my contract and I didn't work on this blog and I didn't write any music reviews.

My friend Phil sent me a link to a Youtube video of a heavy metal monk:

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I think there are a lot of good reasons why August is going to be busy for me. At work, here's the scoop. We have our Client Conference in a couple of weeks because, for Client Conference, I have a lot of work to do. I am designing the Windows UI for a major new system that was coded on a text-based green screen. When I get that done, it will be time for Client Conference.

Beginning the week of 8/18, I will begin working on the projects that are slated for the next release. There are a lot of projects. I went through my 8 page list of projects that are confirmed to be on the next release and guestimated that I have 481 hours of work to do. Divide 481 by 40 hours in a week and you get around 12 weeks. Unfortunately, I am not going to get 12 weeks. I am going to get 5. Serious. And that is not counting all the projects that are likely to be added to the release that could, possibly, not even by known about yet - things happen fast and new projects surface daily. So, my job for the next 5 weeks is to complete 12 weeks worth of work. Granted, the 481 hours is based upon rough estimates and up to a 5 line description of the project. I can say this - I will be jamming to Count the Stars, Spitafield, Bonerrama, the Twits, and a slew of other releases while I do my work.

Little Thing

So... after a couple of e-mail messages from various people about not being able to access a PDF file, I send out the following message:

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 1:12 PM
To: All Employees
Subject: Online Help
Hi. Some of you may have noticed that you get an error message when you attempt to access a PDF file through the following page: (link) that says "File does not start with '%PDF-". The same error will display from the [internal] Print Documentation page (link)if you attempt to open a PDF.
I'm aware of this issue. It is actively being addressed by our System Admin department. Until the PDF corruption issue is resolved, you will not be able to access PDFs through [either of these links]. I promise I will let you know when all is well. If you have specific doc needs in the interim, let me know & I'll do what I can to help you.

Then, after the files were restored to the server, I sent out this message:

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 4:15 PM
To: All Employees
Subject: RE: Online Help
I have some good news!
The PDFs have been restored!
You should be able to access all the PDFs from both (link) and (link). If you attempt to do so and you see the aforementioned error, please let me know ASAP!
Thanks for your patience!
Today's Writing tip: Don't overuse exclamation marks in your writing!

to which my witty co-worker Dave replied:

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 4:16 PM
Subject: RE: Online Help
Thanks! I appreciate you letting me know!
Dave!

Little things like that make my day.

Metallica Song List

http://www.metallica.com/index.asp?item=601036 has the list of songs that are going to be on Metallica's "Death Magnetic" release. "The Unforgiven III" is sure to raise a few eyebrows and set off a fury of speculation that Metallica was running out of ideas so they decided to write a second sequel to "The Unforgiven." I like the title "All Nightmare Long."

Ahoy!

Ragbrai, the annual bike ride across Iowa, stopped in North Liberty tonight. We went over and I'll say this - I was amazed at the number of people there. We were home by 10:00 and saw the local news. One station reported 800 cases of beer would be consumed tonight by the riders and their support staff. I believe it. It reminded me of Ragbrai stopping in Coralville in either 1993 or 1994. Karen and I went down to the beer garden and people were drinking 1/2 gallon milk cartons of beer. Tonight, people walked around with 2 16 oz bottles of beer. It would have been fun to stay. We saw a lot of people we knew so it was a social thing.

Another Farewell

After January 1st of 2008, our neighbors Jim & Karen moved from North Liberty, IA, to Tulsa, OK. Their son and Alex played a lot and their move was hard for Alex. It was hard for me as well as Jim and I were friends. We both liked a cold beer and good conversation.

Tonight, in Coralville, IA, Jim hosted a surprise party for Karen's 40th birthday. It was a total surprise and it went off without a hitch. A lot of our neighbors were there and it was good to catch up with them since we are, for the most part, gone during the weekends of the summer when we would otherwise be social. This is our 6th and final weekend in Elkader.

Anyways, at the end of the night, about a 1/2 hour ago, we had to say good-bye again to our friends and wish them a safe trip, just like we did in January.

It's funny how life plays tricks on me. I go through something once and it's really hard. Seven months later, I'm faced with the same situation - saying good-bye to Jim and Karen - and even though I have grown as a person, it is still sad to go through the same thing, even though I have accepted that Jim's job is in Tulsa, OK, and will probably never again be in Iowa. I also understand that life brings people into your life for a reason and you should enjoy those people while you can. That is why I was happy to see Jim and Karen and accepting that I had to say another farewell to them. They are special people and I am happy that I lived down the street from them for the time that they were here.

And, on a side note, the international wire transfer happened so I've now been paid for all the freelance Technical Writing work I've done this summer. I still have project C to work on next week, when the kids are on vacation in MI with my parents.

Font Wars & Good News

Arroxane, from the Techwr-L list, forwarded this link to the list. Hilarious!

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Project A is to proofread a Help system - this project ended on Friday. Will be paid tomorrow! - Not quite. This is an international wire transfer and I was told that it may be up to a week.
Project B is to edit/rewrite a Getting Started guide - this project also ended on Friday. Will be paid this week. - Received my check in the mail today!
Project C is to write/update an online Help system. I have had Project C as a freelance gig for nearly 5 years. Will focus on Project C for this week after my wife and kids go to bed. - This has not happened. Next week for sure. Tomorrow is something, Thursday is Ragbrai in CR, and Friday is leaving for Elkader.

Other than that, life is good. Mowed our yard tonight. Started @ 5:30, finished @ 6:30.

Mondays Gone By

It occurred to me that my life has really changed a lot since 1998. In 1998, I was only Megan's father and Alex had not been born. I was working @ a company that had ~5 employees in the Cedar Rapids branch. The company was having $ problems and we'd sit around the lunch table and hope that the mail person would bring us a check from a client so that payroll could be met. The president of the company used his personal funds to help make payroll during that epoch.

As it turns out, I became very interested in finding a new position that would hold more security for my family. That led me to my current employer, where I have stayed since 10/1/98. Twenty-two days after starting, Alex was born.

Another aspect that is different is that I used to be hopelessly devoted to watching what is now the WWE. It was called WWF then and there was a competitor, WCW, that I watched as well. I attended more than one live wrestling show at what is now the US Cellular Center. I saw at least one Nitro, one Thunder, the WCW PPV "Souled Out," and at least 2 different WWE shows. At one of the shows, Kane and the Undertaker were a tag team. At another, John Cena made the crowd go nuts.

I caught a glimpse of WWE Raw tonight and, frankly, I wasn't impressed. At the PPV last night, Chris Jericho made Shawn Michaels bleed and then proceeded to kick the holy crap out of him. There was blood all over. It was sickening. The product has changed so much since the days I watched it. I refuse to let Alex watch it, though he saw a little bit tonight. It is still a "Daddy Show" in my eyes but I am getting old enough to question, "Why do I even care about it anymore?" The product is not as appealing to me as it used to be.

Part of it is life. I spent time with Alex tonight, demanding that he practice his piano for his lesson Wed, then doing 20 minutes of flash cards, then reading some of a book called "Children in Hiding." Finally, I tucked him in his bed, told him I loved him, and talked about how he will spend every day, for the rest of his life, reading and doing math. I declared that I was not doing reading and flash cards to be mean to him, that I thought the more he practiced them, the easier they would become. I pointed out that "tomorrow" used to be a hard spelling word for him and now, he rattles it off. He memorized it and has it entrenched in his brain. I want 5 x 9, 6 x8, 25/5, 21-9, and 8 + 9 to all be in his brain to the degree that he doesn't have to think about it - he just knows the answer.

If I go back another 10 years, I was a newly graduated senior in high school, about to enter Mount Mercy College. I think, by this time, I was no longer dating the girl I was hung up on all through high school, but that doesn't mean I didn't have strong feelings for her. I remember taking her out to lunch to Carlos O'Kelly's. On the way home, my car died. We pushed it to a median and a nice stranger took us to the Twin Pines golf course. I called a tow truck - I didn't know what else to do - and she said to me, "I don't know how you'll get me home so I'm going to find a bus." At the time, I hated golf and being stuck in the clubhouse was hell. I hated it and I hated the fact that this girl I liked left me - abandoned me - when I was in hell. So much for her, eh?

Rather, I went to college, thinking about her all the time and kind of hung up on her. In fact, when I first met Karen, I remember talking about this girl all the time. Then, Karen and I got serious and I didn't think about her. Then Karen broke up with me, shattering me. On New Year's Eve 1988, I met up with her at a party and she gave me a ride home. We tried dating again - I brought her up to a Mount Mercy College dance and I remember introducing her to Karen. I didn't do that to be mean, though it may have seemed that way at the time. That fizzled out and on 2/14/89, Karen and I started talking about getting back together again. We talked a lot during those days, and our conversations would last and last.

Fast forward 20 years and we're coming up on our 15 year wedding anniversary, we have two wonderful kids, and the rest of our lives to share with each other. The point, I guess, is that life changes when you consider the changes in life in 10 year increments.

Goody for me

I had a good day. We went to Alex's baseball team's barbeque @ 1. We stayed until ~3:30. Then, as we were walking home, Alex noticed the neighbors were out so he went to their backyard to play. Karen and Megan went shopping @ the mall for clothes - I assured them I didn't need to go - and so I laid down on the couch and closed my eyes. Around 5:30, I woke up, folded the laundry and then went over to see what Alex was doing. I stayed there until Karen and Megan returned. Then we ordered pizza and, as we ate our pizza, we watched "Bridezillas" on the WE network. HOLY COW!

What was the funniest is that a groom-to-be was being trained to say "Yes dear" after she said something. That's what I say to my wife when she tells me to do something. Now saying "yes dear" has a link to Bridezillas.

It's 11:16 and I'm done.

Contract Status

Project A is to proofread a Help system - this project ended on Friday. Will be paid tomorrow!
Project B is to edit/rewrite a Getting Started guide - this project also ended on Friday. Will be paid this week.
Project C is to write/update an online Help system. I have had Project C as a freelance gig for nearly 5 years. Will focus on Project C for this week after my wife and kids go to bed.

Dip to the archives

Before I ever started writing this blog, I met someone famous (gasp). I interviewed Jeff Pilson, who was the bassist for Dokken at the time. For the pic below, Dokken drummer Mick Brown showed up.
Here's proof.

Currently unavailable...

Home

It is Sunday AM. Last night, we got home after a nearly 2 hour ride from Elkader to North Liberty. Our original plan was to come home today.

But around 7, one of Karen's cousins asked us if we had heard about the approaching storms. I suggested going home. We looked at the weather on KCRG and decided to pack up and go.

We got south of Manchester and WHAM! Rain, lightening, and high winds. It was hell to drive home, especially with 2 scared kids and not being able to see very well.

So we finally got home, all safe. We had to stop at my work and get my car as Karen had picked me up from work on Friday.

I am glad we are home. We would've spent a lot of time in the campground's bath house, which would have been a lot safer than our camper but it still would have been not a lot of fun.

In the thick of it again...

It's already Tuesday and, already, this week seems long. I have three projects that I'll call A, B, and C.

Project A is to proofread a Help system.
Project B is to edit/rewrite a Getting Started guide.
Project C is to write/update an online Help system. I have had Project C as a freelance gig for nearly 5 years.

I'm making a major push to complete project A by 7/31, which means working from 9-1 (an hour past my normal bedtime!) to get more work done. I figure 35 more hours of work are required to complete this project.

Project B is wrapping up. I predict only 1 more hour on that project.

Then I have to move on to project C. I expected project C to be long done. There were delays beyond anyone's control and I got project C while I am working on projects A and B. I only went out to find projects A & B only because project C kept being delayed. Then, as you might expect, I suddenly have 3 projects competing for my time.

No one really writes about that - what do you do when you have 3 authentic number one priorities? Blah blah blah "time management" blah blah blah "diligent work habits." But HOW do you split your time in 3? I was not able to do so. Project C has sat for a couple of weeks. I had thought I would be able to start last night, but project A has taken over.

Back to work.

What the ...more drums

The set in the next clip is visually amazing.

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And... wow. If you hate TS, you don't like me much today. BUT... this video is worth watching because AJ Pero kicks butt in this song. Truly, a classic song for drummers.

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More Reviews!

I have been busy writing reviews for http://www.dailyvault.com.

This is my Offspring review - http://www.dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=5552 - & this is my Bret Michaels solo release review - http://www.dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=5557.

More to come in the near future.....

Working for Free...

I would like to say that this weekend was pretty good. Not only did the weekend go well, I also have no inkling as to what is awaiting for me tomorrow AM when I return to work. I am a Logmein.com user and when I signed off of my PC Thursday PM, I thought I was rebooting my PC. Well, apparently, someone turned off my PC b/c I cannot log onto my PC - it says it is "Offline." Which is great. It's fantastic.

Why?

I would do work for free tonight for my employer. I would log on to my PC and do work and then not log those hours as hours I worked. What do I do when I log onto my PC? Check e-mail messages for things that come up. Thursday PM, a Support rep couldn't find information about something so I, quickly, located it and replied back with a link to where the information she was seeking is located.

Simple requests get my attention. "Can you add "The sky is blue" to the "Item File Maintenance" topic?" Sure. It's 10-15 minutes and I make my reader happy.

Yet... I am working for free. Free. As in "I'll do the work and you don't have to compensate me for my time." Free.

How freaking stupid is that?!?

I have to stop.

And the funny thing is ... I've said this before. In the early days of working @ this company, I would explore the Internet and download WinHelp files, on my own time, decompile them, on my own time, and inspect their .hpj file, on my own time, to figure out what that Tech Writer did to get their WinHelp file to do whatever functionality had captured my interest. Early on, it was the CB macro, which would create a user-defined button that could go anywhere, that captured my attention. Then, it was adding menu options to the right-click menu.

Then, it was the fact that I could have a single file with all these startup macros stored and by adding or removing a line and recompiling all the WinHelp files, I could ripple my changes through all my projects. But even before that, it was figuring out how to write a DOS batch file and compiling all my projects without ever opening my Help Authoring Tool (HAT).

All these things I would explore and figure out on my own, sitting at my PC in my den, and relishing as I expanded my knowledge. I became a WinHelp guru and one of the last to leave the format. I remember one day posting that as much as I loved the format, I was no longer going to write WinHelp files. I had joined the HTML revolution.

And even with HTML, I am in the midst of learning. And learning. I got turned on to Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and am now in the midst of converting from a layout that uses tables to control formatting to using CSS to control my formatting. It is a strange new world. I've learned about how to add color and depth to various tags and laughed myself silly as I watched the changes to a single line impact over 1000 HTML files.

But even with all that, it is hard for me to distinguish between work and play, between work for which I should receive compensation for and work that is for my own knowledge.

I think it boils down to this: I cannot work for my employer for free any longer. If I log onto my PC, I need to track that time. Period.

Writing that may seem like common sense, but it feels like a boulder off my shoulder...

A Good Deal... On to Elkader!

Time goes by so fast during the summer. We were home Monday night and we leave tomorrow AM with our kids. Additionally, Joel and Jamie, friends of Alex and Megan respectfully are going with us. The forecast is for rain so hopefully that will pass by quickly.

I am glad, though, I was home tonight. A local car dealership has opened up a service garage. A guy came around tonight selling a card worth $350 for $39.95. With this card you get 4 free oil changes, an evaluation of a "Check Engine" light, air conditioning refresh when you buy a pound of freon ... hell, two oil changes will pay for the card and, frankly, I was thinking about my ex-neighbor who runs a heating and cooling company. A couple of years ago, I went with Bill to have him put some freon in my air conditioner. The freon has since been used up or something because there is no cool air coming out of my car when I turn on the air conditioner. On top of that, my driver's side window doesn't go down - well, it does, but there's a part that, if it broke, would cost ~$200 to replace so I don't even roll that window down - so I rely on rolling my back windows down to create a cross breeze. On 90 degree days, it sure would be nice to have air conditioning for the 1/2 hour ride home. So, I convinced Karen to purchase this card. I usually have my car work done at a place in CR but I can't pass up using this local guy.

The guy in CR has been very good to me so I feel like I need to stop in every so often and see him. One time, he told me he had rotated my tires. I asked him what I owed him and his reply was, "I just did it." No charge. He replaced my starter, has replaced my battery, has charged my camper battery, has fixed my driver's side window when it first broke, and has changed my oil for the last year or so. If something goes wrong in CR, I'll definitely go see him. Otherwise, I plan to use the local guy.

Anyways, the point of this post is that we are leaving tomorrow AM for Elkader so I won't be writing over the weekend. If, by chance, the forecast is for rain Saturday night, we may pack up and return home Saturday, but since we're not going up until tomorrow AM, staying only one night seems like a waste.

The other big news is that my in-laws purchased a camper. You'll recall about a month ago, their camper was in the flood in Elkader. Their camper was totaled. They ordered a replacement camper yesterday. Good for them.

On to Elkader!

Waiting...

Waiting...
I keep waiting...
Waiting for some chick to go ...

Yeah. Okay. If you ever have the chance to listen to Cousin Oliver, listen to the song called "Head" on the (818) release. I don't know why this band has never released a follow-up that got into my mailbox in North Liberty. I can only hope it was an oversight since I gave (818) a very glowing review.

To get back on subject, I am waiting for

• a check from the realty company for mowing my neighbor's yard
• a package with memory to put in my PC
• a babysitting reimbursement check from my wife's employer

In the meantime, http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=100585 is a good read. I'm not responsible for any potty language you read on that page.

Bye.

Spiderwick, Cleaning My Gun, and Cactus

I think I may be the last person on Earth to have seen "The Spiderwick Chronicles." Alex and Megan went to see it in the theater and we rented it last night. I liked it. I understand the storyline but I was disappointed with the DVD's "Bonus Features." I wanted to see how the movie was made - how they coordinated the human actors with the computer effects. How long did it take to animate the Griffin? What about the climatic battle when the troll is chasing the kid up the house? What about when the cab runs over the monster in town? How were those shots made and what amount of time did it take for them to be made? Also, I didn't get a clear sense as to whether there will be a sequel.

On to other stuff. Megan and I were the only 2 awake when that movie ended last night. We had planned to be in Elkader until today but since the forecast was for rain (and we spent Sunday night in the camper during a storm), we were ready to come home. Alex had a birthday party/sleepover and coming home meant he could go there. Since we were on the Sycamore Mall side of Iowa City, we went to Carlos O'Kelly's for supper. By the time the truck was unloaded and the phone stopped ringing, it was after 9. Karen fell asleep and Megan and I watched the movie.

On to other things: I really am not a country music fan, by definition, but I really like Rodney Atkins' "Cleaning My Gun" and "If You're Going through Hell" songs. I also have liked, and continue to like, the band 1997. Pollstar revealed to me today that they are going to play @ the Maintenance Shop in Ames, IA on Friday, October 17.

Finally, I am not really a 'plant' type of person - as much plant person as a 'country music' person - but I just noticed that I have been able to keep my grandmother's cactus alive in the den. I don't even know what kind of cactus it is - it's not a prickly dessert cactus b/c it doesn't have prickly things. It has flowers and doesn't get very tall.

In other final news, I am still anxiously awaiting Metallica's Death Magnetic. The Internet says Tuesday, September 16th, is when it should be released, but until I see it officially... I'm not in line @ Best Buy for it yet. I do plan to buy it the night it comes out. In fact, if I remember correctly, it actually was in stores on the Monday night.

My review of the Offspring's new CD is @ Dailyvault.com

America

I love America and I'm proud to be an American.

Tomorrow is Independence Day and, frankly, I'm glad that I can enjoy the freedoms that exist in the country. Is this country perfect? Of course not as only God is perfect.

I am leaving from work for Elkader. I will be there until 7/9 @ night. I can't predict whether I will update this blog that night or if I will try to extend the "Vacation from the PC" one more night.

I know I have plenty of technical writing contract work to do - and that I will also need to mow the yard down the street on Tuesday so I hope it is not raining.

I hope you, reading this, understand that America is a great country. I hope you have a beer and a brat to celebrate.

New Review

http://www.dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=5533 is a review of the new ZZ Top DVD.