Going BYOND...

Howdy! Been awhile since I last posted... Been pretty busy with Christmas coming up! As of the moment I am writing this, it is now officially Christmas Eve!! YAY!!

---

One of the things I have been up to is learning BYOND and helping Tyler create a game using the interface/program. Talk about brining back memories! When I was a tyke (say, 8th grade), my friends and I sat around our Commodore 64's, typing in programs from Compute's Gazette and other magazines... While walking through a couple of the tutorials, I was reading the code while Tyler typed it in, and then I would explain what that piece of code was for (creating a character, making grass, attacking monsters, etc..). Before long, we had a functional 'game' in which the player could walk around, killing monsters and collect gold for his/her trouble! With a little ingenuity, we added our own "inventory" system, though it is very rudimentary. The program (BYOND) is actually pretty easy to understand once you start. Turns out, it is also FREE! Get it from BYOND.com... What is great aout the program is that it is inherently multiplayer - that is, as soon as someone knows the address to your game, they can just join in!

---

Dad is finally on his way to Kuwait as I type this... He left Houston at 4pm and headed for Dulles. From there, he began his flight straight for Kuwait. He was excited and nervous all in one fell swoop. My Mom said we can track his flight, but I forgot to get the info... DUH! Hopefully he'll be able to keep in touch with email and Mom said something about him getting a calling card from the company... Guess we'll have to wait and see... :-)

---

The kids are getting more and more excited about Santa coming! They wrapped the presents they got for each other today, and put those presents under the tree. They were both excited to see the packages they got for each other. Emily helped me wrap Shan's presents, and of course Shan tried to sneak peeks. I fully expect her to be shaking, squeezing, and guessing... I think Tyler has been checking out the presents we put under the tree for him and Emily. I'm not sure if Emily has been poking around or not... We decided to put out just a couple of the kids presents, then lay out the rest when they go to bed before Santa comes. That way, when they wake up, they will have our gifts and Santa's, too! I seriously considered getting the kids Polar Express jingle bells... I thought about it too late for this Christmas, so maybe next year.. Then again, maybe I'll leave that for Santa... :-)

---

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Last minute gift ideas and few diversions

I couldn't help but take a cue from Leno the other night and check out some last minute gift ideas... How about a unique ornament idea? And, if you scroll down the page, you'll find other gift ideas, too... Also available are knock-off Chia Pets... And the gift for the person whose dog suffers from flatulence only when visiting YOUR house: Try this less-odorous version... I also thought the funky pacifiers were good to give to new mother... And, how would like to freak out your mother (or father) this Christmas?? Get the tattoo sleeve for yourself and show 'em some love... :-)

Okay, not everything I like to find is rude or crude! How about computer/MP3 speakers for the animal lover? Or, for the person who simply can't get enough "Deal or No Deal??" How about a handheld version? Got someone that is a photo nut? How about a wreath with picture frames?

---

Now, maybe you're just looking for a diversion or two? How about Simon Sez? You tell Santa what to do... We've told him to dance, sing, rock, ride Rudolph, kiss, and yes, we told him to fart... The only thing we asked that he did not do was stand on his head.... Be warned, the site seems to be getting lots of traffic and may be slow...

Love to play with bubble wrap? Play with it ONLINE or you can download a standalone version for your PC, and if you're REALLY desperate, how about a PALM version!? Then again, you may be in for something else to occupy some of that holiday dead-time... Maybe you didn't get all of your decorating 'fix' taken care of: Decorate a virtual tree... How about an online sliding puzzle of Santa? There all kinds of things you can do...

---

For those of you wanting to know, my Dad got the "all clear" to head for England, Kuwait, and eventually, Iraq... Of course, he can only take 50 pounds of things with him, so he bought a new carrying case, which when loaded was more than 50 pounds... Turns out the new bag weighed almost 10 pounds alone! Ooops! So, he took it back and bought something else... Guess we'll see...

---

Got these in an email, and thought I'd share them with you:

Ten Cowboy sayings that will never mean the same after Brokeback Mountain:
1. "I'm gonna pump you fulla lead!"
2. "Give me a stiff one, barkeep!"
3. "Don't fret—-I've been in tight spots before."
4. "Howdy, pardner."
5. You stay here while I sneak around from behind."
6. Two words: "Saddle Sore."
7. "Hold it right there! Now, move your hand, reeeal slow-like."
8. "Let's mount up!"
9. "Nice spread ya got there!"
10. "Ride'em cowboy!"

And, while I'm on a redneck/cowboy kick:

An Alabama couple had 9 children. They went to the doctor to see about getting the husband “fixed”.

The doctor gladly started the required procedure and asked them what finally made them make the decision — why after nine children, would they choose to do this.

The husband replied that they had read in a recent article that one out of every ten children being born in North America was Mexican, and they didn’t want to take a chance on having a Mexican baby because neither of them could speak Spanish.

Yeah, I know.... Wait til you read this, though:

An Irishman, a Mexican and a redneck were doing construction work on scaffolding on the 20th floor of a building.

They were eating lunch and the Irishman said, "Corned beef and cabbage... If I get corned beef and cabbage one more time for lunch I’m going to jump off this building."

The Mexican opened his lunch box and exclaimed, "Burritos again! If I get burritos one more time I’m going to jump off, too."

The redneck opened his lunch and said, "Bologna again... If I get a bologna sandwich one more time I’m jumping too."

Next day - the Irishman opens his lunch box, sees corned beef and cabbage and jumps to his death. The Mexican open his lunch, sees a burrito and jumps too. The redneck opens his lunch, sees the bologna and jumps to his death also.

At the funeral - The Irishman’s wife is weeping. She says, “If I’d known how really tired he was of corned beef and cabbage I never would have given it to him again.” The Mexican’s wife also weeps and says “I could have given him tacos or enchiladas I didn’t realize he hated burritos so much.” Everyone turned and stared at the redneck’s wife. “Hey, don’t look at me,” she said, “He makes his own lunch.”

And one for my techie friends:

How many programmers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
None, that’s a hardware problem!

---

Say Good Night, Gracie..... "Good Night, Gracie..."

How long is TOO long?

On Sunday, we headed to my brother's house to pick up Emily's new bed (more on THAT in a minute). On the way, we stopped off at Cracker Barrel for... let's call it brunch... We arrive at approximately 11:00 and are seated almost immediately. After 10 minutes or so, the waitress takes our orders... There are eight of us in the group... We wait for our food... and wait... and wait... and wait... Now, if I were to write out the phrase "and wait" once for each minute we had to actually wait until our waitress finally says something about how long it's taking, I would have-to write it out 45 times... Yes, FORTY-FIVE minutes before the waitress comes over to tell us our food is late. Okay, the truth is, we called her happy butt over and were demanding to know what the blankety-blank was going on. The Assistant Manager, or whoever he was, came over and apologized - something about our ticket being blown behind the grill because of a vent fan... Whatever. When we DO get our order, it's not complete, and if I remember correctly one of the orders was not even right... Our retribution? We were offered free desserts, but by that time we were running behind, were not hungry, and we just wanted out of there. They knocked 3 dollars off ONE bill (we have 3 separate checks). In retrospect, Shan said we should have all taken the desserts to go (to which I thought - yeah, and let them watch us throw them in the trash on the way out the door...). So, how long is TOO long to wait for food? Yes, I realize the mistake could have happened to anyone (in fact, 3 other tables had their tickets also blown away). But, having been in the food service industry, after about 15-20 minutes, I would have checked on the order, and immediately told the customer what was going on.... Maybe that's just me....

---

Emily has been upgraded to "Twin Bed" status as of Sunday... When my brother and his wife said they were giving Emily a new bed, we didn't know this new bed was going to require a ladder for her to climb up into it! :-) Her bed is taller than just about any other bed I have ever seen (not including loft-style or bunk, of course). Thanks to the wood frame railing, Emily can get into it, though. Of course, getting a new bed meant rearranging the room... Luckily, there were several hands-on-deck for that part. So, now Emily has a new bed with Bratz sheets and covers. She's very excited to have a 'big girl' bed! :-)

---

While poking around the Blogger world, I came across Damn Cool Pics. And, well, it's very aptly named. For fun, here are a couple examples of things you'll find there:

3-D Street Art - flat images painted on the street to look 3-D...



And one of my favorite street art designs:




There are also strange accident pictures:





And, yes, I truly, truly hate to see this one:



(Yeah, that's a Corvette under there.... :-( )

There are a lot more pictures and all kinds of different things, so check it out... :-)

---

After that last pic, I just had to do a Google search for Corvette accidents... I'd post some of the pics here, but really, it's just too brutal... I mean, they ARE 'Vettes, ya know.....

---

Oh, before I forget: Turns out Dad was missing the results of only ONE blood test! He wasn't told this until he went for the blood draw, of course... So, unless he fails that one (which Mom says she'll kill him if he does), he will be cleared for his European duties...

---

I love learning how things came to be... Recently, I have learned of the origin of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and where shopping carts came from... Though, I learned the origin of the shopping cart from one of the "Uncle John's Bathroom Reader" books... Nothing like passing... time... with an Uncle John's... :-) I also checked on a few things I had mentioned in earlier posts: An Uncle Tom is usually an African-American who 'betrays' other blacks by 'giving in' or subserving to whites and/or the 'white establishment.' Here is a much better explanation... And someone who refers to something being "John Brown," is usually referring to a violent solution to racial problem. Again, Wikipedia has a definition in progress... While I'm talking about that, I do not go to Wikipedia for everything, but it does offer (usually) well-researched, verified materials and definitions, so why not, right? :-)

Can a cat be scared by...well, you'll just have to read it...

I won't reveal the source of this tale, mainly so as to protect myself from certain premature life-ending retribution! :-) All I'm saying is that the kitten does NOT live at our house... While using the restroom, the storyteller was being pestered by my children's baby kitten (that might clue some folks in, as I may have talked about that kitten before...) at her feet. Well, as luck would have it, a sudden, and particularly loud, bout of flatulence caused the kitten to jump straight up into the air and land on the storyteller's head! That is quite a feat, I'd say... Not to mention quite a wallop... I hope there was no match-lighting anytime soon after THAT episode! :-)

---

We heard from my father, who was supposed to have flown out to England on Saturday morning... It turns out that during a review of his documents, someone mistakenly put his blood test results into someone else's folder. Do they know which folder? Nope. So, my Dad was not allowed to fly out, because he has to have his blood re-drawn and tested. That happens first thing Sunday morning. They will then expedite the vials to the lab (and the document examiner will accompany the vials, according to Dad's telling of what will transpire) on Monday. Then, instead of the usual 4 days wait, his vials will be tested immediately and the results will be back on Tuesday. The company said that on Wednesday, Dad flies out of Houston in one of two directions - either to England or back to Little Rock... The main thing they will be looking at (where Dad is concerned anyway) is his cholesterol level... Mom said she looks at it like this: The worst thing that could happen is that Dad would be sent back to Little Rock and he'd be here for Christmas. I thought that was a very positive way to look at things... :-)

---

Speaking of Christmas, I picked up a couple CD's at Wal-Mart on Friday... One is called "30 Christmas Stars" and the other is "Humbug! Gold." Now, the "30 Stars" CD has two discs - one with various 'rock/adult contemporary' artists and the other is all country artists... Okay, I never listen to Jethro Tull as a youngster. But, for some reason, I had it in my head they were a rock band... Are they not? Well, whatever they are, on this CD, they are like some weird celtic band.. I mean, we thought we would have to break out the river dance clogs, man... The rest of the first CD is a lot like that - not what you expect when you're looking at the lst of artists: Crash Test Dummies, Kenny Loggins, Kim Carnes, Nancy Wilson, Suzanne Ciani... The country CD is MUCH better - Suzy Boguss, Sawyer Brown, Asleep at the Wheel, Steve Wariner, and more... I'm making a clock with the first CD and keeping the other one for rotation in the 6-disc changer I won back in 1989... Yes, I still have it, and yes it still works great!



Okay, so let's talk about "Humbug! Gold..." It's ironic that I have been discussing cover songs lately, because this CD is full of parodies (ala Weird Al) of our favorite Christmas songs... I find it quite hilarious - a sentiment not shared by everyone in the family.. :-) But, come on, how can you not love songs like "Little Plumber Boy," "O Little Bank Americard," "Oh Tanning Bed," and others?! :-) Just for kicks, I knew I had to share some of the lyrics from my favorites on the CD:

"The Little Plumber Boy"
The little plumber boy, A rump a plumb plumb, They called him “Plumber Roy”, A rump a plumb plumb, He had no belt I spied, A rump a plumb plumb, His half moon filled our eyes, A rump a plumb plumb, Rump a plumb plumb, Rump a plumb plumber, Shall we tell him, A rump a plumb plumb, We see your buns?

"Oh Little Bank Americard"
O little Bank Americard, Like money that grows on trees. I sign my name, I feel no pain, Til late January. And if I reach my limit, Don’t think the shopping’s done.
Take heart dear soul, Don’t lose control, Just order another one.

"Dot.com All Ye Fretful"
Dot com all ye fretful, Joyless and disgruntled, Dot com ye, dot com ye,
Just buy it on line.

And, of course... "Joy to the World, Fed Ex has Come!"
Joy to the world, Fed Ex has come! They’ve saved me once again. I ordered much too late, To get it Christmas day, But for twenty extra bucks, They’ll put it in their trucks, And they’ll get it to me, So I won’t be a schmuck.

If you just gotta have this CD, you can get more info at the WonderWorks website, or hit your local Wal-Mart and visit the Christmas music display in the Christmas stuff section... :-)

---

We went and did a LOT of Christmas shopping today. We still have a long way to go, but it really did make a huge dent in things! :-) While out and about, I decided to buy a red bow for the front of my truck... :-) It probably won't stay on very long, but that's okay, it only cost a buck, so what the hey, right? :-)

---

I'll have to wash my truck off again and take some pictures... Sine the last pictures I posted, I've added some more vinyl and other doo-dads... :-) Let's just say it is getting easier and easier to pick my truck out of a crowd, which makes life a while lot easier after a day of shopping at the mall! :-) Naturally, I still have some things I want to do, but I haven't quite figured out all I want to add yet... And where/how I want to add it.. I don't want my truck to look stupid, ya know?

Losing big, Computerless Email, and IT'S CHRISTMASTIME!

I'm sure I've mentioned that we enjoy watching "The Biggest Loser" (no, that was NOT a reference to the Razorbacks...), and last night was the season finale... Jaron from Arkansas missed out on the $100,000 'bonus' prize by three pounds... Man, THREE pounds... Still, he lost a whopping 160 pounds in the process! Considering he now weighs 163, he lost HALF of his weight! That is truly remarkable... There were other amazing stories and weight losses, too... We were concerned when heard the promos for the show because they made it sound like Heather had given up ("only 3 of the 4 finalists will weigh in...")... In reality, she was 5 months pregnant! And, she received a decked out nursery as a surprise! I thought that was pretty cool that they did something for her since she could not weigh in.... The Salt Lake Tribune has more on her story... :-)

---

So, you want to send e-mail to someone that does not have or use a computer?? Check this out: MyCelery.com offers a printer/ scanner/ fax service that lets you send email to a private address and the printer spits it out... THEN, if the recipient wants to reply, they HAND WRITE the person's name and the service will recognize the name and send the scanned paper! Seriously cool stuff! Another, less two-way version is being offered by HP: It's called Presto. It is one-way (you send, they cannot respond).

I am very excited about Christmas this year! Maybe because I am getting older, maybe less cynical (well, let's not push it...), maybe because in the same year my oldest child gets the 'history of Santa' story, my youngest stares with wide-eyed amazement at anything and everything Christmas... I don't know what it is, but yes, I have the warm, fuzzy feeling of Christmas, and it feels pretty danged good... :-)

---

My Dad called me last night to chit-chat and to tell me about his new laptop. Sounds like he will have lots of of fun with it, but mostly lots of work... He leaves Saturday, headed for Amsterdam or Paris, then from there on to Kuwait. It turns out, he may be stationed in Kuwait and not in Baghdad, but that remains to be seen... He said the hardest part is all the 'military-related' things they have to learn - like how to whip out and put on a gas mask in under 10 seconds while holding your breath, then getting into the hazmat suit once the mask is correctly in place... He said he finally got to where he could do it in about 8 seconds... Pretty good for an old-timer... (heh-heh, just kidding, Dad). He will have email and he can take pictures of certain things, so we'll see what comes back from "The Continent..." :-)

---

In my zeal for mailing off videos to winning bidders, I sent the wrong video to someone - which means the person it was SUPPOSED to go to won't get it for a while... Ouch.. Hope it wasn't a Christmas present... :-( I sent email to both parties and hopefully we'll get it resolved PDQ... :-)

---

Just show I still hold some of my cynicism true to my heart, while looking for something else, I came across a cute little poster:

It turns out, Despair.com sells a whole slew of these "Demotivation" posters! Some of them are absolutely priceless... And, if you're really in the mood for a laugh or two, check out their FAQ section (click on questions to reveal answers) and their "Disservice" page.... Great stuff!