Popped in my head today...

I bought a 32-inch LCD a while ago, so we had to move the 26-inch "regular" TV out of the room. Right now, it's collecting dust, but I thought I would jump on "the Bay" and see if people actually sold USED television sets - or more accurately to see if anyone was BUYING used TV's... Well, my search turned up this hilarious post
from a very scorned woman. John and I howled...

---

Many of you know my distaste for Internet Explorer 7... One of my biggest complaints is (er, was) the fact that the address bar was at the top of the screen. I hate(d) that! Well, after some poking around, I found a site that offers up the registry fix for the problem!! By installing this registry entry, you can move the MENU bar to the top, where it should be! :-) (Please note, if you click on the link, you will be asked if you want to install/run the file. Only accept if you WANT to move your menu bar). In case you decide to move the bar back, you can use this registry file.

As it turns out, the site where I found this info has several other handy little doo-dads (that is a highly technical term, by the way...) you can feel free to read about and install, if you so choose....

---

The videotape sale mentioned in the post from the other day is going pretty well, I think! :-) I'm hoping to sell them all, of course, but the ones don't sell will be re-listed (possibly as 'sets')... My overall selling experience on eBay has not been a huge money-maker by any stretch, but sometimes we manage to do alright... :-) I'm sure I could do better at it if I took the time to research products, etc, but well, I'm not doing that at this stage of things... :-) Who knows what the future holds....

---

Ever wonder what the difference between Dell Dimension and Optiplex machines was? Well, you can find out for yourself... :-)

---

The fine folks at MVPS have a cool page that talks about the HOSTS file on your computer... You "can" use the HOSTS file to help block access to unwanted sites. This is a trick that was first discussed (in my world, anyway) during an email exchange with school techs around Arkansas. As it turns out, the list provided at MVPS is constantly updated and you can join their mailing list to be notified when new additions/changes are made. Neat stuff!

---

I got a message from Amazon today... My mTurk account has been "idle" for a while... LOL, yeah, that would be because I'm NOT USING IT! :-) As it turns out, I have about $.43 in my account... Yes, that reads forty-three cents... Yee-haw...

---

See? You never really know what is going to pop in my head....

OH, that reminds me... Check this out: A database of cover songs... And there is also Coverville, which sports a top 101 worst cover songs list... :-)

---

I am pretty sure there was something else rolling around in the space between my ears, but it must have fallen out on the floor when I wasn't looking....

Upside-down biscuits and the sugar NOBODY wants...

Okay, class, today we have a lot of ground to cover... :-)

Shan made Paula Deen's Pineapple Upside-down Biscuits at my request. And, man were they awesome! If you have not tried these, either make them yourself or find someone who will do it for ya!

---

Emily had a pretty busy day today - running around, went bowling, shopped for Tyler's Christmas presents.... While getting ready for bed, she came running into the room where Shan was, very excited about a discovery she had made.... Sitting on the floor, she spread her toes and proudly exclaimed, "Look! Sugar!" Aren't you glad I told you about the biscuits BEFORE this? :-)

---

Have you ever been somewhere (say, Wal-Mart) and saw someone you were pretty sure you recognized, but couldn't seem to place them in a context? And then, that person recognizes you while you are still trying to place that person... I am not very good at the whole 'poker face' thing, so I'm sure my dumbfounded look was very obvious... Then, of course, after Emily comes out of the restroom, we start to walk off, and I say goodbye to the person, and Emily shouts out, "Who is that, Daddy?" I was humiliated... As it turns out, I initially thought it was one person, then later realized the person I could not place was the PRINCIPAL at one of my schools! UGH! I feel pretty stupid... Now, I face the dilemma of saying anything about it to her or not... My gut tells me to blow it off, and hope she never mentions it and she doesn't hold it against me come performance evaluation time.. :-) I've decided that if I am ever in that situation again, I will be forthcoming about the whole thing.... Maybe.... :-)

---

I was feeding the goats on Saturday, and noticed their water container seemed to be frozen solid... After a quick check, however, I realized that there was more like a couple inches of ice, but the rest was water... So, I dumped out the ice, and to my surprise, what came out was a huge "highball glass" shaped piece of ice! Evidently, the sides had frozen to a thickness of about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch and the (now) bottom of the 'glass' was about 2 inches... I wish I had taken a picture! It was one of the coolest things I have seen! It was literally a glass of ice! :-)

---

The other day, we watched the CMT Top 20 Merriest Christmas Videos, or something like that... What I thought was going to be a heartfelt compilation of warm, fuzzy holiday videos was instead...well...a lot like being stuck in the middle of a redneck version of Dr. Demento... In my opinion, the guest commentators were the best part of the show! Hilarious "insights" (especially the Ornament!)...

---

While doing some housecleaning in preparation for Christmas, we decided to sell a bunch of videos the kids don't watch anymore. Turns out there are exactly 100 of them that we opted to sell on eBay (Wanna see?)... I never realized just how many videos the kids had until I made a database of them to help with my selling... I also never realized how many Pooh videos we had... :-)

---

Okay, I mentioned earlier that Emily had gone bowling... Well, Tyler had been invited to a party and to help kill time, Emily and I bowled a couple games... This is something I should not admit, but I will because I can take it... The first game, Emily and I bowled the EXACT same score.... 91... Yeah, I nearly got my rear handed to me by a four-year old that I have to help push the ball down the lane.... She is also very quick to point out that she knocked down more pins than I did (referring to her strike)... I tend to get overly competitive, so it was good for me to tie her... :-) I need a little humble pie sometimes... Evidently, I must have been starving based on the past few days alone (refer to the Wal-Mart incident, and also see my Aunt's response to my whole SEMI thing....Oh, and I guess the whole "song covering" thing, too...)...

---

Which reminds me... I am not a fan of the Eagles 'tribute' album... I understand why it was done, I guess, but when the originals are so great, everything else just comes off as karaoke... What's so funny is that I remembered I had once done a country version of a couple of Michael Jackson's songs (The Way You Make Me Feel - substituting things like 'you knock me outta my boots now, baby....') Yeah, it sucked... Maybe that's where my bias comes in... :-)

---

So, class, to recap today's topics: Upside-down biscuits, humble pie, and toe-jam sugar.... Does life get any better? :-)

Why a SEMI is a SEMI...

Okay, I found this:
"Semi-trailer is the name of the kind of trailer that a prime mover pulls, but in general use refers to the whole assembly. "Semi" refers to the fact that when attached to the tractor unit the cargo is half supported by the rear wheels of the tractor." (from the folks at ApparelSearch [what they are doing defining it, I have no idea...])

Now, I don't know about you, but I feel better... :-)

Lips of an Angel goes... COUNTRY!?

You may be familiar with the power rock ballad, "Lips of an Angel" sung by Hinder. On the way to a meeting today, I heard the COUNTRY version of this song... My first thought was, "Who is singing this?" which was immediately followed by, "WHY is he singing it in a country format!?" In my opinion, this version is horrid... Oh, before I forget, Jack Ingram sings the country version....

Now, I find it funny that Hinder claims the song is not about cheating, which I guess technically it's not... Not really about cheating so much as hanging on to a past love, maybe... In any case, it is a raw, ROCK ballad... Putting to country not only slowed the song down considerably, but it took the edgy bite off it... I mean, the singer is supposedly on the phone with a past lover while his current girlfriend is in the next room... Something the rock version pulls off nicely... The country version sounds like the guy is just singing it... Bad karaoke, if you ask me....

This of course started me thinking about other songs that have been 'ported' from one version to another with horrid results.... "Walking in Memphis" comes to mind immediately. Wasn't it nearly a country-rock song to begin with? Why mess with it? No reason to make it a 'fully' country song... Of course, there is Aerosmith's "I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing." Look, I love country music. I listen to it more than most other kinds, but come on... Leave the rock ballads as rock ballads... Then we have country songs that people try to make rock and/or pop... And, right now, an example escapes me... Sorry. If you have some examples, post a comment and I'll be sure to post my thoughts.. :-)

I did think of something semi-related - songs that get thrashed to pieces when re-made for an 'updating.' Example: the Disney "Cheetah Girls" version of Route 66... Heard this?? You have got to be kidding me.... I do think it's funny how Radio Disney gets the artist's to change the words to some songs though... Talk about the power of the dollar.... I'm waiting for the RD version of "Buttons...." or maybe "Ridin' Dirty?" Hey, maybe they have a version of "Lips of an Angel" too!! LOL, I'm being sarcastic... though, in all serious sadness, they prolly do....

---

Speaking of semi-related.... Why ARE "semi" trucks called "semi's?" I have done some poking around to try and find out. I found all kinds of information ABOUT semi-trucks, but not why they are called semi trucks... Now, I realize, after research, that part of that is because they pull semi trailers, which are called that because they do not have their own power/transport system, evidently... And, maybe it's that simple... Of course, that opens the whole question about the "tractor" reference... Why are they called "tractor" trailer trucks? They're trucks, right? Maybe I need to check definitions of "tractor...." Hmmm...

What even started this? Aww, come on, don't you know by now?

IT JUST POPPED IN MY HEAD.... :-)

Buckle Your Seatbelts...

This evening, I am spending the night at a Hampton Inn... After checking in, I got on the elevator and the door slid closed... As the door closed, a sticker advertisement posted on the door read, "Buckle Your Seatbelt." So far as I could tell, this particular model of vertical transport had no belts - seat or otherwise... In that brief moment before the elevator begins to move, I wondered just how fast an elevator could travel... Not how fast they DO travel, but how fast COULD they travel.... Buckle Your Seatbelt.... Holy crap! I'm on some kind of supersonic elevator... Buckle my seatbelt!? What if I hang on to the rail? Wait, this elevator has NO rails! Does this elevator have a camera? Is someone watching me pretend to freak out about how fast this thing is about to go??

And then, with a slight jolt, I ascend... Not at the speed of light, but a nice, peaceful ride...

---

So, have you ever wondered what kind of WEIRD things you can find on eBay? How about a few: A "specially-shaped chicken nugget, Hanging chads from the 2000 Florida election, or maybe you need some unique highlighters? Of course, there is always the store dedicated to, er, um, well, you'll have to see for yourself: Special Walking Canes... In the market for a casket? Yeap, just search for 'em... One guy is selling his soul... Okayyy.... Then again, you could try teleporting yourself with this handy gadget... Or perhaps you've fancied yourself a Lord or Lady of a foreign country?? Yeap, become a Lord... Perhaps what you really need are some party favors? How about some keychains? The gift for the person that has everything? I bet they don't have belly button lint!

Okay, I'm done for now... I mean, c'mon, how do you possibly top belly button lint?