I got a wonderful opportunity at work this week, the chance to be a co-curator of a webpage on the company's intranet. It is the page of the Board that I am the chair of, but up until now whenever I wanted to make changes to the page I had to try to describe what I wanted to the curator and hope that she understood what I was talking about. So mostly I didn't update it very much because it was a hassle. It may not seem like much, but it means that I will get to take some basic training classes to learn Dreamweaver among other things, and I will get to work on my HTML skills. At work too, not just on my own time! How cool!

My little black dog, Louie had a problem starting back this past summer shortly after my eighteen-year-old poodle, Ollie died. Louie kept licking and gnawing at the same little spot on his right "arm." We took him to the vet numerous times, and tried just about everything on the spot and then started him on anti-depressants as the vet thought maybe it was an emotional thing. Finally, around Christmastime, he stopped licking the spot and the fur grew back and everything was great. We thought we had finally got him past whatever issue he was having.

But within the week or so, the little arm has turned up with a small bald spot again. We keep trying to distract him, whenever we see him licking his arm, but it makes me wonder why he started back at it. Poor little dear. What am I going to do with him. I hope we don't have to resort to this -below- again!

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I am taking a day or two off from blogging, I think. It won't be a long break, but I have a lot of stuff going on with work and all and need some time to relax. Not that I will be doing anything cool; I'll probably just be watching mindless television, but I need that every once in a while. So, don't worry about me, I'll be here with my feet up :) I'm sure I'll be back posting by Saturday.

I had an appointment with the dermatologist this afternoon, to look at the skin on the backs of my arms, which is strangely colored sometimes. Sometimes it gets reddish or purplish. What I was completely unprepared for was her deciding to chop a chunk out of my arm right then and there. It is probably better that I didn't expect it, because I would have worried about it all day anyway. And while it wasn't fun, it wasn't that horrible either.

She doesn't know what is wrong with my skin but says it is a "vascular problem." Of course it didn't make me feel too great that she brought two other doctors in to the room after she had looked at my skin because it was so interesting she just had to show them. That always makes the patient feel better, when their ailment is showed around like a novelty.

Anyway, if you remember my liver enzyme problems from a few months ago, they never figured out what was going on with that, but only noted that the enzymes were gradually coming down. I have been going in once a month ever since to monitor my enzymes, and the GI said if they are still high after six months he will want to do a liver biopsy, but I am in the holding pattern right now. April will be six months, so who knows what'll happen then. But the dermatologists think maybe my skin thing has something to do with the liver thing. I told her that everyone else was stumped, maybe she could figure it out. I think she is going to send me for MORE bloodwork, though.

Virgil is such an intertesting pet and really such a wonderful one in that he doesn't make any noise and is very easy to take care of but still interacts with us some and is fun to watch. We pick fresh weeds for him to eat twiice a day, and he also has thhe weeds that are growing inside his little home to munch on whenever he likes. His very favorite things are the little yellow flowers that grow on his favorite weeds which I think are dandelions. He attacks those with great gusto.

Lately Virgil has been going to bed very early. He crawls into a corner and partially buries himself in the dirt to go to sleep. I think the reduced levels of daylight have let him know that it is winter so he goes to sleep fairly early. He has got to be the cutest totrtoise in the entire world. He has such an intelligent look about him- that is what won me over the first time I saw him.

We had the most beautiful day today: sunny, clear and a little bit cooler than it has been with highs in the upper sixties. Believe it or not, that is a cool down for us. At work this afternoon, some of the guys came to find me and asked if I had my camera. I did, because I am rarely without it, and several of us took the van and drove just a little down the road to a spot I often walk to or ride my bike to at lunch, a body of water we call "Gator Lake." From these photos I took, you can see why we call it that. They had been driving by and saw the alligators stacked up on the banks like cars in a parking lot and wanted to share.

I have seen alligators there before, but I have never seen them in numbers such as what we saw today. The guys counted at least forty-eight huge ones all out of the water on the banks at the same time. Definitely photo worthy. The real close up photos you see really were taken from a very close distance from the huge dinosaurs, but I took them from the van, there was no way I was getting out with those guys out there! I am pretty sure the gators know that they are living on a wildlife refuge, because they are about as lazy and unconcerned as could be.

Today Painting Chef wrote about how her husband gets wrapped up at work sometimes and has to stay late and how he now calls her every few hours so she won't worry. Of course this is after putting her into a major panic once because of lack of communication. She worried he was dead in a ditch somewhere of course, like all of us worriers would.

Andy used to regularly scare me nearly to death the same way. He works second shift, and I am on first. He normally gets home at about 11:30 at night, but sometimes he will have to stay over until as late as 4:00 in the morning. I am usually asleep when he gets home anyway, so when he finds out that he has to stay late it is already so late that he doesn’t want to call and wake me up. Trouble is, when I wake up at 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning and he isn’t home, I start to worry if he is in a ditch somewhere bleeding to death. I have woken up many a time in a panic because it was several hours after the end of his shift and he still isn't home.

Now we have a system. He will send a text message to my cell phone if he is going to be late, and if I wake up worried, I will go downstairs and check my phone for the message. It works out well, and if I don't wake up on my own and notice he is late then at least my sleep won't be disturbed by a ringing phone. I think I have almost always woken up when he is late, though. Must be the subconscious worrier in me.

Today we got an FRCS, which is a space shuttle's Forward Reaction Control System. You might recognize it, it fits on the orbiter just below the "windshield" or the windows where the commander and pilot look out, right across the nose of the ship. This particular one belongs to Discovery, which just returned to earth from space in December. We have a little bit of work to do on it to get it ready for its next mission, so we transported it to our facility today. Lifting the FRCS into the building and onto the stanchions it rests on is a big ordeal, a hazardous operation due to propellants on board. Here are some photos I took just before the lifting operations began showing the convoy arriving at our building and the FRCS on the trailer.

I get hundreds of spam or worthless comments on this blog everyday, comments that serve only to publish links to spammers' websites and increase their page rankings with search engines. I think most bloggers deal with this in some form or another. I have some pretty sophisticated comment filters that instantly junk it, and it ends up in my junk comment section. Generally I do a quick scan of my junk comments before I delete them just to make sure a real comment wasn't inadvertently junked. Most junk comments are just made up of tons of links to other sites, or they might say "nice site" or "good site" or something to try to appeal to the bloggers sense of vanity, I guess.

But I have noticed a new type of spam comments lately. Ones that contain the usual links, but will say "Please do not delete, I need money for my children" or "Do not delete URL, I need the money." Of course all of those get deleted from my junk folder just like the rest, but it is funny how brazen the spammers have gotten. To me it is just like saying, "I am going to steal this from you, but it is okay because I need it." It is really sad that there are people out there with nothing better to do than try to pollute the websites of others with their shitty spam.

I think we need a National Do Not Spam list where we could list our email addresses and websites and it would be illegal for someone to spam us, kind of the like the National Do No Call list was supposed to be, although hopefully it would be more effective because it would not make exclusions for political campaigns and financial institutions. Either that or wouldn't it be great if there were a way to send a little electrical shock through the internet to zap the spammer every time they send an unwanted comment or email?

This afternoon, Andy had to go in to work, so I decided to pay a visit down the street where there is a newly listed house for sale that was having an open house.

The realtor was just finishing showing the house to a young couple and then they left and I talked with her a bit. She told me that the house was already under contract, and it looked like the sale would go through because it was only contingent on the home inspection. That was pretty amazing because the house had only been on the market for a week, and houses in this area have been languishing on the market for months lately. I hope it means that the market is starting to improve. She said it was definitely starting to pick up. I told the realtor that we would be looking to sell our house in the next year when the new one is built and we chatted about how it compared to the house for sale. Oh, how I can't wait until the time comes to put ours on the market!

And interesting things are happening in our quest for the new house as well. I have detailed them over at Tortoise Hollow, so go on over there if you'd like to see what is going on.

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Over a year ago, I posted this post about how I thought the practice of docking the ears and tails of dogs was a bit barbaric. There were some really good comments discussing the issue at the time, and some interesting views on the topic. Just last night, I got another comment about it and this is one I will share. Here is what the commenter had to say, unedited:

How do you feel about a man being circumcised? Yes, we could say that the pain is cruel...but speaking from my own experience...you do not remember it. So, did it really happen. If a tree falls in the middle of a forest with no one around...does it make sound? You saying that it is wrong and NOT to do it...is no different them to take MY freedom away to have it done. People push their beliefs on others...debating them is one thing...forcing them is another!!!

My reply to the commenter was as follows:

Rodney,

Thank you for your coment.

If you had read the comments above yours, you would see that I had already answered your question about circumcision when other commenters brought it up, here is what I said about that:

"I don't even know what I would do if I had a son, but I feel it is slightly different in that there are some hygiene issues and a social stigma involved with circumcision."

Not having a penis myself, I do not really feel qualified to offer more than that on the subject. The issue with dogs ears and tails is different in my mind because it is not done for any purpose other than aesthetics, and I do not even think it looks good.

You saying that I am taking away your freedom to have it done, well that is just silly. I am talking about dogs, and you are talking about penises. What dog would choose to have its ears or tail cut off? There is no social stigma for dogs, they don't care what others think of them. And there is no health or hygiene benefit to tail and ear docking. You are comparing apples and oranges.

I don't know if you noticed, but the site you posted the comment on is a personal blog. A blog is a place for a person to post their personal beliefs, opinions, and so on. I am not forcing anything on anyone. If you don't agree with my opinions, you are welcome to make use of the little X at the top of the window and close it and not visit my site anymore. Or, you could choose to expand your horizons a little bit and maybe learn something by reading the opinions of others that have differing views from your own. I read blogs every single day written by people who see things completely differently than I do, and I think it is a good exercise to do so; it is an eye opener.

Jen

Here is the reply I received from him:

Well Jen,

First of all my must of not received the whole blog...because there was nothing about circumcision that I read and I even went back to what was forwarded to me. When I was writing about freedom I was not speaking of my penis as I was choice.

Hygiene...? That is questionable! I have several friends whom have not been and they are healthy.

You said that this was a personal blog...that IF I did not like it...then click on the "X." I disagree with you and the way you think. If all you wanted was other peoples opinions that are the same as yours then why discuss it at all. So, when you read the other blogs...do you not reply? Taking about narrow minded...WOW!

BTW...they do not cut ears off....

Do you kill insects? Any kind? If you are going to protect life...than all life...right? You probably are the first one to squash a mosquito biting you.

and lastly...if you are going to make a comment about someones comment...then spell comment correctly!!!! It's called spell check! "Commenters"...I don't know about that grammar...how about "other whom have commented"???

But, if you would like to share other ideas...let me know!

Rodney

And then my response to him was this:

Well Rodney,

You are really smart to pick on my one typo in the same email where you write the statement "First of all my must of not received the whole blog." Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. And all the comments were there, right on the very page you posted your comment on, just above the little window where you typed it in. Here's a link so you are sure to find it: http://www.for-the-birds.net/2005/12/barbaricism.php.

And you are wrong. I do value the opinions of others that are different than mine. I hear them out and they make me think. I do not respond well to people who make personal attacks and claim that I am FORCING my opinions on others when they came to MY website and no one held a gun to their head and made them read. And yes, I reply to many of the blogs I read and offer my opinions when I have something pertinent to say, but I do not attack the author in my comments and tell them that they are forcing their beliefs on me.

By the way, they do cut part of the dogs' ears off in many breeds. Have you ever seen a boxer or a doberman or a pit bull? Their ears are not pointy like that when they are born, a large piece of the ear flap is cut off and then the remaining piece is splinted during healing to make them stand straight up. Don't act as if I am some kind of moron when it is you that don't know what you are talking about.

As for your correcting my grammar on the word "commenters," you might check the dictionary first next time. A derivative of comment is commenter. It is a real word and I have used it properly.

Jen

So, what do you guys think? Apparently we bloggers are FORCING our opinions on poor unsuspecting people that are unable to close the page or move on to something else. What a load! If I can't express my beliefs and opinions on my own personal blog, where can I?

Update- there has been more communication. Notice how in this email the whole focus has shifted away from the original issue.

Ms Jen,

By the Way, I really was not attacking you and your point of view...that is what is wrong with non-personal communication. I was being a "commenter" myself!

And NO, I did not have the whole tread...it was sent to me and when I commented...I did not go back to read the whole blog...I ass-u-me-d my secretary sent me everything.

Rodney

And my response was:

Mr. Rodney,

Spell check isn't all it is cracked up to be. It hasn't caught all of your mistakes, such as "speck" instead of "speak," "taking" instead of "talking," "tread" instead of "thread," and "them" instead of "then." But let us not make this about grammar and spelling. I have made one typo in my original email to you, which I typed before six o'clock in the morning and was still half asleep, and you have continued to focus on it rather than discuss the issue at hand.

And yes, you WERE attacking me and not just being another commenter. It was the statement where you wrote, "You saying that it is wrong and NOT to do it...is no different them to take MY freedom away to have it done. People push their beliefs on others...debating them is one thing...forcing them is another!!!" that is a direct attack on me, saying that I am forcing my beliefs on you. I don't think there is any other interpretation of that statement.

As far as you not seeing the other comments, fine. I don't know how you could have typed your comment into the little box on my page without seeing them, but okay, you didn't. As for why your secretary would be sending you a post of mine from my little personal weblog, I have no idea. Perhaps you and she should be focusing more on your jobs and not worrying about what I have to say. Don't you have more important things to do?

Jen

I think that animals probably enjoy the same kind of weather that I like, because today was the most gorgeous day here and I saw lots of wildlife at work, out enjoying it. There was this cute little raccoon that I spotted running across the road with his mom and siblings and took this little video of.

Then there was this crazy huge turtle by the retention pond behind our building that was completely unafraid of people. I have never known a water turtle to be so brave. Generally, as soon as they see you they hop right into the water not to emerge again until you've left. Secretive little devils. But not this guy. I walked right up to him and he just looked at me. He kept paddling his giant back feet in the air, probably trying to warm them in the sun.

I love being able to work around so much wildlife- you never know what you'll see!

I found out today that if all goes well I will be getting to meet in person another blogger I have known for about two years now. She is coming down to Orlando for a week in February and we are planning to get together. I can't wait- I just know we will have a great time. I just love the way the internet can bring friends together that ordinarily never would have met.

So in case you have been under a rock all day or haven't paid attention because it isn't your thing, Apple revealed its new iPhone today at Macworld. It won't be available until June, Apple says, but is it ever slick. The iPhone will be part iPod, part smartphone, part mobile computer. It will have wi-fi, bluetooth, a two megapixel camera, an OS X operating system, and all kinds of other neat features. And I am going to have my hands on one of them as soon as possible! I am thinking I am pretty lucky right now to be a Cingular customer, as Apple chose to partner with Cingular and the iPhone will only be available through them. And even luckier still is the fact that I am due in May for a new phone- it will be two years since the last one, so I should be all set, $499 price tag be damned. I'll save my pennies until then.

Anyone else excited about this thing?

Andy came home from work early tonight- he is still on second shift and he wanted to be able to watchthe Florida vs. Ohio State football game. It is a big game here in this area due to our vicinity to the University of Florida, and also Andy is from Ohio, so he is somewhat interested.

I noticed earlier when I glanced out the window from our bedroom upstairs, that out on the lanai of the neighbor's house they had set up a TV. Great, so they are going to watch the game too, like everyone else. Only problem is, I can hear every fucking word they say when they are on their lanai or glorified back porch when I am in my bed, trying to sleep with all of the windows shut tight. And my dogs that are in the bed with me can hear every time they cackle, or scream or their big dog starts barking out there as they party in the middle of the night. And then they want to bark, making it impossible for me to sleep.

And this would all be fine- it is a special occasion, a game that doesn't happen all the time. But unfortunately, their partying does happen all the time, and it happened until the wee hours of the morning last night so I hardly slept then. I have to get up at 4:30 again tomorrow morning as always, so I am in no mood for their crap again. Damn old fogies who act like teenagers, they are. It makes me wonder what is so horrible inside their house that they MUST BE OUTSIDE MAKING NOISE CONSTANTLY LATE AT NIGHT.

I have one of those "noise" machine things, that plays like different nature sounds such as a stream, or crickets or waves crashing. I use it to try to drown out the noisy neighbors, but they are exceptionally talented. I can't turn it up high enough to cover the noise they make. Yes, they are that bad- it must be the wine.

So, I was glad Andy came home for the game. That way he will be downstairs watching the game and the dogs will mostly hang out on the couch with him, where the TV will mostly drown out the noise from next door and I will be upstairs trying to sleep. I will still hear the neighbors but hopefully our dogs will not hear them and want to bark in my ear. Wish me luck!

Yesterday in the mail we got the first of our year end statements from one of our mortgage holders that we need to complete our income taxes. This is just the beginning. Taxes for us used to be so easy I could almost do them by hand with a calculator, though we have been using tax software for the past six years or so. Still, our taxes have always been straightforward and have never taken us more than an hour or two to complete. This year may be a bit different.

This year in addition to our house we have our North Carolina property, which we closed on in January of last year. It should be considered "investment property" because we are not ready to build on it yet. Then we have the new property here that we are trying to build on, and its associated mortgage. Then we have dividends from my stocks and all kinds of deductions from property taxes paid on the three properties and interest on the different mortgages. It is more complicated when you actually have stuff- this is a first for us and I think it means we are getting old or something. It starts to get a little bit confusing. I wasn't sure if we should take our stuff somewhere to get help this year or not.

I decided to call my dad, who used to be a practicing CPA for advice. Surprisingly, he said it wouldn't be worthwhile to take our taxes to someone to have them done. He advised that we continue to use the tax software and then if we had any questions we should just call him and he would help us out. So I think that is what we will do. My only concern is that we make the most of our deductions- we want to get back everything that is coming to us as we think we pay enough in taxes already. What do you do at tax time in order to file? Tax software? Take your stuff to an accountant? Paper and pencil? Do you wait until the last minute or file your return as soon as possible?

Today at work we finished nearly a year's worth of work on one of Space Shuttle Endeavour's OMS pods. OMS stands for Orbital Maneuvering System, and the OMS pods are the two large "bumps" on the orbiter towards the aft on either side of the tail. They house the thrusters and associated systems that allow the orbiter to manuever in space. Here are some photos of the pod on the trailer getting ready to join the convoy to the Orbiter Processing Facility after we spent this morning completing preoperations and then finally lowering it down onto the trailer with a pendant crane.

I have lost a few pounds lately, and I got a compliment today. I always have mixed feelings about those kind of compliments, but mostly because my mind is slightly warped. Here what happens in my twisted little mind:

Receive compliment- "You've lost weight. You look great!"

Inner monologue- Was I that disgusting before? Was I a major cow? Is everyone listening to this? Do they all think I was a pig? Are they thinking I have a lot more to go? Damn I wish no one would notice- no that's not right either, I want it to be noticeable, but without them remembering that I was fatter before. I guess I need a mind erasing ray or something. Shit.

My response to compliment- "Thanks!"

The holidays have been wonderful; we have had time to decompress and complete projects around the house. Even though we made a real effort to get up early every morning and get things done, there is still a lot of projects that we didn't quite fit in. It is not like we slacked off or anything, it is just that there is so much that needed to be done. We had plans to paint the front and back porchrailings and columns, but the weather did not cooperate very well, so none of that was done. I also wanted to go through our filing cabinet and our closet and purge old stuff, but we never quite got around to those either. Oh well.

We did accomplish a fair amount of things, though. It gets frustrating trying to organize the house completely because there simply is not enough storage space and there is only so much I can do. That is one thing that I am really looking forward to with the new house- tons of storage and a place for everything. I crave the order that a setup like that would bring.

It is always kind of sad on the last day of vacation- I am never ready to go back, but I am sure I will be glad once I get there. The new year will bring all kinds of new challenges at work; I hope I am ready to meet them. I wish you all a happy and organized New Year!