A Conservative Techie

I sit in front of my computer take a look at my to-do list and do not do anything with it.  A new email comes in and it is something I need to deal with, so I mark it for follow up and then promptly do nothing about despite countless reminders.  I read through my emails and see various people have responded to bugs that I have asked for more information and I don’t feel like doing anything about them.

I wonder why…. is it because I have to much on my to-do list.  Or is it I’m just sitting here waiting for my wife to go to into labor?  Whatever it is if you were waiting for a response from me, I have marked it for follow-up and will be getting to it when I can.

Sorry about that

I’ve been trying to use the Google’s Calendar to Outlook Sync and I can’t get it to work.  I have no idea exactly what is failing in the sync, but I am getting an error that I can’t sync all my appointments.  It seems like a good idea but if it doesn’t work then it’s not a useful application.

Anyone else using this?

A new service I just started using and stumbled across is TripIt.  A great new service for those that travel a lot.  The best part about this service is that I just forward my confirmations from the various travel sites I use and tripit plans it for me… I don’t have to schedule a thing.  One of the great things about this, is when you print out the iternary you can also include directios from the various locations and to all your locations for the week.

One of the great things is if you have friends around it will show who is exactly near you.  If you know me and would like to follow my travel schedule send me an email.

Jonathan

My friend Rudy has started a web development company.  He does a great job of designing web sites, been doing it for a long time.  Anyways the name of his company is Intrepid Web Design, and can be found here.

Some of the sites he has done include the Grand Rapids Marathon, and Concentrek. 

Just a quick note as my wife and I get ready to head out to a party with our running group friends, wishing everyone a happy and safe New Year’s Eve and also a happy New Year.  Maybe I’ll do a year in review post tomorrow or something.

One of the things I have recently learned is how hard it is to get into a doctor’s office when you travel as much as I do.  I average 2.5 weeks out of 4 that I am on the road, which makes it hard to squeeze doctor visits in.  Also I have a flexible schedule which changes, so I make an appointment weeks in advance and then often times have to reschedule it.

Let me give you an example, I have recently learned I have a food allergy and also have dealt with pericodits (inflamation of the heart lining) which both have required doctors visits, and also unfortantely ER visits but that is a different story.  So made sometime with my primary physician and then was sent to a cardiologist, the cardiologist needed some test ran, which he could run “next week.”  However next week I wwas out of the office so needed to schedule it that day which was successfull.  However for my allergist I am currently waiting to see him and have something scheduled the week of the 18th of January.  Will I be in town?  No clue…..

What I would love is the ability to schedule appointments when I was available, not neccesarily when the doctor’s office scheduled me.  So I would be able to see a “Free/Busy” schedule and then make my appointment when I was able to attend the appointment and also reschedule the appointment if needed without having to call and wait on hold forever.  Of course this scheduling would work only when the doctor’s office wasn’t open and the doctor was available.

This would be even better if I could somehow link it to my personal calendar and then see when I would be out of the office/on the road versus when the doctor was busy.

Can you imagine how much simpler this would make our life?   Let’s not just limit it to Doctor’s visits, I want to be able to schedule everything.  When is the lady who cuts my hair available?  Just check the schedule and book everything there.  Need to schedule a babysitter?  Why just check his/her schedule and book things there.

OF course there would have to be some way to handle double bookings, but let the office or person resolve the problem.  Now if someone could just implement this for me….

Seriously??? One of the most beloved characters of the Harry Potter series is no gay? Why at this point in the ballgame would we bring something up like this? Does JK think that now that the books are all sold and she’s made a ton of money, she can go back and change things?

Harry Potter fans, the rumors are true: Albus Dumbledore, master wizard and Headmaster of Hogwarts, is gay. J.K. Rowling, author of the mega-selling fantasy series that ended last summer, outed the beloved character Friday night while appearing before a full house at Carnegie Hall.
After reading briefly from the final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” she took questions from audience members.
She was asked by one young fan whether Dumbledore finds “true love.”
“Dumbledore is gay,” the author responded to gasps and applause.
She then explained that Dumbledore was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards. “Falling in love can blind us to an extent,” Rowling said of Dumbledore’s feelings, adding that Dumbledore was “horribly, terribly let down.”

To me this seems nothing more then pure political correctness. Why should this be in the book at all? I’ve had a hard enough time dealing with my love of the series amongst some of my Christian friends, now i have to deal with this as well?

I’m not a big fan of Mr. Bonds, but you have to admit, he has great skill and has accomplished something amazing with (as of now) tying Hank Aaron’s record.  I’ve read a lot of blogs and stories in regards to his alleged steroid use, but still now matter how many “roids” I take I couldn’t hit 755 home runs.

 In this article, the author looks at the arm guard that Barry wears that is totally different then anything any other atheletes use.  Is there anything to it or just another player hater?

There are 7 different reasons behind this thinking and I’ll list them, but read the article as it goes into greater depth.

1. Apparatus is hinged at the elbow
2. Apparatus locks the elbow when the lead arm is fully extended
3. The wieght of the apparatus sels his inner upper arm to his torros at impact
4. Bonds performs less well at home run derbies when he is not using the apparatus
5. Apparatus allows him to turn mor rapidly on the baseball
6. Apparatus adds additonal mass which is not available to the average hitter
7. Apparatus allows him to lean over the plate without fear of getting hit.

Does this help him hit home runs?  I don’t know…. I do know he has been hit by over 103 pitches according to Baseball-reference.com

I hate Cars

As I write this post I am in the car dealership in Milan Michigan.  99% of the people who read this probablly have no idea where Milan MI is or that it even existed.  Anyways I was on my way home from Columbus Ohio today and noticed my car was chugging on the highway.  And then the temperature gauge started jumping everytime I hit the throttle.  Touch the throttle and the gauge would plummet to cold and then when I let off the throttle the guage would return to its normal position.  I thought maybe my car was overheating but there was no indicator that I was low on fluid, but to play it safe I got off the highway, US-23, and looked for the first garage or gas station I could find.  I pulled into Tim’s Auto Shop and while he said he was very busy he would look at it breifly to see if he knew what the problem was.  We checked all my fluids and then he took it out for a test spin.  If a mechanic ever says “I’ve never seen that before” you know you have a problem.

Which brings me to where I am at, the Chevy Dealership, my car is Chevy Cavelier, waiting for them to diagnose the problem.  The bummer is I was supposed to be at home today, supposed to be having dinner with my wife, supposed to be doing a lot of other things.  Currently its 12:53 pm and I have been here since 11:30am.  Hopefully it is nothing serious and I can get back on the round quickly and see my wife.  Did I mention I have been on the road 7 out of the last 8 weeks.  Yeah sucks doesn’t…

***** Update 1 ***********
Ok thed problem has been finally diagnosed, apparently the bolts that hold the computer for the car in place were broken and the computer was bouncing around and it finally broke.  Hence all the problems I was having with the gauges and everything else.  Now I am waiting on getting it fixed.  Another funny part of this adventure is one of the sales men asked what I did and when I told him I was a computer consultant he asked if I could take a look at his computer.  Larry needs a new hard drive for his Dell that is about 5 years old.  Blue screen of Death all the time due to drive failures.  Helped him copy his “customer list,” which seemed nothing more then a mailbox?  Don’t know for sure.  Apparently that was good enough for him to talk to the service manager and ask him to “help me out,” whatever that menas…..
It’s currently 2:30pm and still waiting to get back on the road, more updates as it follows.

*** Update 3 ************
It’s 3pm and still waiting for my car, this sure sucks big time, was supposed to be home and supposed to have a special date with my wife tonight.  Bummer on that, hopefully we can still get it to work correctly.

*** Update 4 *********
Car fixed and ready to roll.  Its 4pm which means I should be home by 6:30

subtitled: The cream doesn’t always rise to the top

If you are ever looking to see the finest of society in a town you are
visiting, please visit the Secreatary of State, or Department of Motor
Vehicles, whatever area of government is in charge of driver’s licenses,
driver’s tests, etc.  You will see the finest specimans of civilization.

I would like to state four examples of the finest the great state of Ohio has
to offer:
1.  Barefoot and Pregnant walking around in public:  Yes I did see a young
lady walking barefoot into work today while she was pregnant, or at least so
large I hope she was pregnant.  Dirty, wild, unkempt and unwashed
hair, “strutting” her stuff as she wadled into the BMV (Buerau of Motor
Vehicles).
2.  Car full of unbuckled people, including child.  A beater of a car was full
of adults with the “mom” holding what appeared to be a one year in her lap,
she was at least in the back seat of the car and not in front.  The other
child, was standing on the floor of the back seat with his head out the
window.  Classy….
3.  Handicaped because you are fat:  There should be a law that fat people
should not be able to get a handicap sticker for their car.  In fact, if you
are so fat your captains chair in your full size van must be reclined in
order for you to drive, there should be a law that states you have to park in
the furthest away spot and not take up the handicap spots from people who
really need it due to injury or other more serious actual diseases.  Being
obese is not a handicap, its your own stupid fault.

And just to round things out, the 4th and perhaps best example of the cream of
the crop is the “gentleman”, and I use this term loosely, with a pony tail
and a t-shirt that said “Hold me beer while I f$#k your wife, but without the
symbols.  Yes sir you are one classy gentleman.  In fact I’m so glad you
brought one of the mothers of your children with you because you are
re-applying for your driver’s license which was revoked.

None of these people should be allowed to vote or breed.