Hodge Podge

On the agenda tonight, cleaning out my Hotmail inbox...

1. The sad fact is that I'm turning 40 on 12/4/69. No tears, please. Karen threw me a great party last year and totally surprised me.
   However, if you *still* want to buy me a present, pick up this for me.
   Mouse
   I'M KIDDING!! DON'T BUY ME A DAMN THING....
   I just wanted to have a clever (?) way of introducing the hodge podge of ideas that are going to be in this post. Rather than have a series of small insignificant posts, I'm going for one longer insignificant post.
2. I can't say enough about this blog post as something parents should really read.
3. I listened to Machines of Grace a lot today. I tried to find a youtube video but couldn't. I like their groove.
4. This is not exactly what we are going to be looking at in the near future, but I think it's pretty close. The pictures are of a camper that we like, sight unseen. We are trying to figure out a time to make it up to Ketelsen's RV to look at it. I'm not committing to its purchase, but by the pictures, I admit I like what I see. It's not parked next to my house yet. Don't hold your breath.
5. I subscribe to Jared Spool's UIEtips newsletter. In the issue that arrived in my Inbox today, there is a very relevant to online Help article about breaking up large documents for the web. In the article, it talks about thinking about the content as "topics" not books. You can read this article on this web site.
6. Vincent Latella, a frequent Techwr-L poster, sent this to the list today: "I know that we've been through the whole "do you really need a printed manual" thing before on TECHWR-L, but at this very moment, presumably non-writer types are hashing out that very topic as it pertains to automobiles on The Truth About Cars.
   Reading comments on the topic from random individuals (instead of technical writers) is interesting, I think, so I thought I'd share. ...
   The basic gist of it is this: Chrysler is apparently replacing its owners' manuals with DVDs and abridged printed guides, and there's a blog post about it. The poster indicates that he wants one "in the glovebox, in paper form, ready to go." The people posting comments seem divided. Click here to read the comments.
7. Shadows Fall play two nights in Maplewood, MN, on their current tour and skip Iowa altogether?
   9/28 Colorado Springs, CO @ The Black Sheep
   9/30 Omaha, NE @ Sokol Auditorium
   10/1 Maplewood, MN @ The Rock
   10/2 Maplewood, MN @ The Rock
   10/3 Chicago, IL @ V Live
   It doesn't really matter as if they played in Iowa on 10/1, that may be the only night we have free to look @ the camper in #6. 10/2 is my brother-in-law's band in Cedar Falls. The next morning, I have a CEW meeting in Waterloo so it really doesn't fit into the schedule.
8. Don't really know much about this site but it looks interesting: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
9. Five Finger Death Punch have a new CD and I like it a lot. This is the current single.
   
10. Kind of related, Five Finger Death Punch has OTEP opening for them on these dates. There had better be a second leg of this tour that includes Iowa...
    Sep 22, 2009 San Francisco, CA, US @ the Regency Center
    Sep 23, 2009 Fresno, CA, US @ Crest Theater
    Sep 24, 2009 Pomona, CA, US @ The Glass House
    Sep 26, 2009 Phoenix, AZ, US @ KUPD's End of Summer Scorcher
    Sep 27, 2009 Albuquerque, NM, US @ Sunshine Theater
    Sep 28, 2009 Colorado Springs, CO, US @ Black Sheep
    Sep 30, 2009 Omaha, NE, US @ Sokol Auditorium
    Oct 1, 2009 Minneapolis, MN, US @ The Rock
    Oct 3, 2009 Chicago, IL, US @ Club V
    Oct 5, 2009 Toronto, ON, ON, CA @ Opera House
    Oct 6, 2009 Clifton Park, NY, US @ Northern Lights
    Oct 10, 2009 Hartford, CT, US @ Webster Theater
    Oct 11, 2009 Sayreville, NJ, US @ Starland Ballroom
    Oct 13, 2009 Philadelphia, PA, US @ TLA
    Oct 15, 2009 Pontiac, MI, US @ Crofoot Ballroom
    Oct 16, 2009 Madison, WI, US @ Orpheum Theater
    Oct 17, 2009 Grand Rapids, MI, US @ Orbit Room
    Oct 18, 2009 Louisville, KY, US @ Expo Five
    Oct 20, 2009 San Antonio, TX, US @ Sunset Station
    Oct 21, 2009 Lubbock, TX, US @ The Pavilion
    Oct 23, 2009 Little Rock, AR, US @ The Village
    Oct 25, 2009 Sauget, IL, US @ Pop's
    Oct 26, 2009 Oklahoma City, OK, US @ Diamond Ballroom
    Oct 28, 2009 Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
    Oct 30, 2009 Magna, UT @ The Great Salt Air
    Oct 31, 2009 Boise, ID, US @ Knitting Factory
    Nov 1, 2009 Spokane, WA, US @ Knitting Factory
11. Back to work-related stuff:
    
12. I don't do anything with SEO - maybe I should? - but it seems like an interesting topic. Google does not read keyword metatags: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag.html
13. Time Magazine now confirms: "Under the Baucus plan, like the House plan, certain individuals would get government subsidies to help buy private insurance in a publicly-established exchanges. There would be a guaranteed choice in each health insurance exchange between at least one plan that does not offer abortion services beyond rape, incest and the life of the mother, and at least one plan that does, allowing consumers to choose their preference."
    Great.
14. Can't let this post end with the negativity of federally-funded abortions. Beware the colorful language in this song...
    

Catching Up...

Friday night, our wedding anniversary, did not go as planned. There was torrential rain and lightening and wind and it was not fun. If it wasn't for the fact that this storm arrived at 5 AM Saturday AM, it would have been our worst wedding anniversary ever. As it was, the sun dried every thing out, the college group went canoing, I was sober doing so and every thing went fine. On top of that, I only played one game of Euchre and my team won. We had brat burgers and hamburgers for supper, I ate two brat burgers, and my full stomach made me sleepy. The next thing I know, Karen is waking me up to go to bed. She woke up at 8 on Sunday AM and noticed the dark clouds so we quickly packed up the camper prior to going to eat in Cresco at 10. That turned out to be a good decision because while we were eating, it began to rain. Because we had hooked up the camper, we did not have to drive back to the campground and pack up in the rain.
We got home last night, fairly early, because I thought Immaculate Conception Sunday PM Mass was at 5, but it was really 5:30. Guess who arrived 30 minutes early? It was okay because we were able to say the rosary because a lady was leading it.
We got home, ordered pizza, and then the dark clouds and a storm came our way. As the storm hit our area, the Pizza Hut guy arrived. I tipped him $2 (instead of my usual $1) and we watched Bridezilla as we ate. Because of the storms, I didn't bother sitting at the PC.
Tonight, then, is a catch-up night. I watched WWE Raw (of course) so it's now 10:50. I need to register Alex for school, I need to find out more about the LAMB OF GOD show in Des Moines, IA, on Friday, October 9th - PLEASE, LET ME HAVE NOTHING PLANNED!!! - and I also need to get this blog caught up.
And the first way to do that is to listen to Zach Gill's "Don't Touch My Stuff"

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One of the kids on the Dudes has left the team because he was asked to play on another team. You wouldn't know him but he is a good player. I liked coaching him the last couple of years. I had visions of him being a leader for the team because it seemed like everyone likes him. As of now, I will be the assistant coach. I know we will be able to have a good season with the remaining players. We started to play well towards the end. I am hoping each member realizes that teamwork is the key and PASSING is the key to a good team.
So, yes, Lamb of God is playing in Des Moines on a Friday night. They are headlining 25 shows and opening 25 shows for Metallica on this tour. Unfortunately, the show in Des Moines is - and this is said as positive as possible - just them and Job for a Cowboy:

GROSS!!! Plus GWAR!!!

I don't know if I can tolerate Job for a Cowboy and GWAR...

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So let's pause a moment. I don't like Job for a Cowboy. But I like this song by Otep:

Fair? Does that make sense? No? Oh well...