Recommending Weather Underground.

No, not the 70's radical political group.

This is a great weather website. They pull info from the National Weather Service as well as multiple "backyard" weather stations.

My favorite feature is their radar map. Click on the radar image and you get a highly customizable weather radar. I can zoom in for a more precise information, but I like to keep the entire state visible.

There are several tweaks you can apply to the map. I max it out to 6 frames animation. this is usually about 20 minutes of radar info. The REALLY cool part is, I leave it in a tab in Firefox and it just keeps updating. I've had it up several days already with no problems. So I just click on the tab to check and 2 seconds later I've had my weather fix.

Here's the site.

New Blog!!

Introducing Ava A Day!

Every day a new picture of the cutest granddaughter I have. :)

Some days will be floods, but I'll try to put up one pic every day. (now I get to look at autoposters...yeehah)

Coming soon.....the new band site. We should have a name in the next week or so. We'll have a myspace page as well as a blog and pics and everything! (whee)

Right now, we are learning a new batch of songs that will feature Karl and Shelah's multiple talents. Keep looking in. Both of you. :)

PS....I noticed that a post I did about Karl and Shelah coming to practice wound up on my high school website instead of this one. My bad. :) These guys are great people and great players. We're gonna have a LOT of fun and get out on the road soon, so keep looking for us.

Paul Stanley...

Paul Stanley had an accelerated heart rate during soundcheck today. Missed a gig. More info at paulstanley.com.

Yard Sale Days

Ok. I admit it. My ass is kicked.

90 degrees. High humidity. Moving around for a change.

I'll put more up later.

Maybe

Marijuana makes you Psychotic

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/27/marijuana.psychosis.ap/index.html

So what else is new. :)

Today is the big yard sale. We dug around all day yesterday. We supposedly open in 15 minutes. There's enough stuff out there to interest people.

Ill try to take a few pictures and post them.

The band is making great strides. This is like meeting that sexy 18 year old girl and falling madly for her. I think this is going to be a very special group. So I get to yard sale today and tomorrow and practice my ass off all next week.

Chrissy and Mike and Mel and Toby and Ava are coming out tonight. Chrissy has some stuff she wants to sell. She's gonna stay overnight. Mike has to work in the am, so he's gonna go back down and come back up tomorrow.

I'll post later

cya

I would LOVE to see this....

I don't even wanna say anything about, except the girls are pretty hot. :)

http://stage6.divx.com/Refuse-Life/blog/8825/

Had lunch today with Linda Case, a friend from high school. It's not fair that people can walk back into your life after 32 years and look exactly the same. (with slightly "less full" hair, but that's not a negative)

We met at the new Panera Bread on the Pike and had a wonderful, albeit short chat. Looks like it may be a regular thing.

I need to blog more. We have practice this weekend with a new drummer and his girlfriend. They have a band called The Patchwork Quilt Fallacy. I want to check out a band called Queen V on myspace as well. Very hot looking.

later folks

Overheard......

.....at a party across the street, I swear to god.

"Sooooo, if I need anything tonight, like bail?...I'm gonna need your number."

Yard Sale the last Friday and Saturday of July.

Come one come all. Tell em you saw it here and get my eternal thanks, absolutely FREE! (limit one per customer, offer void where not heard)

Paris.....Free At Last

Paris Hilton went to jail late Sunday night after the MTV awards. She was released today. The Sheriff is citing medical problems.

The judge in the case is NOT pleased.

It seems that the Sheriff made the decision to release her on his own. I guess that's not so bad, but the judge found out she was released through news reports.

The judge wants to see Paris tomorrow at 9 am to discuss matters.

I'm really torn on this one. I like her. Probably because it isn't easy to. It's very easy to hate her. I saw a man on the street interview on CNN the other day that was very creepy. People who had contact with inmates were saying that they want to "get" her.

The problem is, if she were to be "gotten", the lawsuit would boggle the mind.

She screwed up and admits it. She turned herself in and was apparently willing to do her time. I think you have to give her a little credit for that.

It'll be interesting to see what happens tomorrow. I'll try to remember where I hid my keyboard and type something about it.

I'm 50

My Cousin's Kid Makes the News

Bowdoin man busted on marijuana charges

Seth_Koenig@TimesRecord.Com

03/07/2007

BOWDOIN — Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Department detectives arrested Christopher Evans, 30, Tuesday, on charges of cultivation of and trafficking in marijuana. According to Chief Deputy Jay Manhardt, the detectives searched Evans' 625 Litchfield Road home and allegedly found 24 two-foot-high marijuana plants, 1.5 pounds of processed marijuana, paraphernalia, digital scales and weapons. "We estimate the street value of (the drugs) to be in excess of $4,000," said Manhardt. Evans posted $5,000 unsecured bail and was released Tuesday, according to Manhardt. Manhardt attributed the arrest to the department's increased collaboration with other law enforcement agencies and a stepped-up focus on drug abuse prevention. "This bust was a joint effort, as so many of them are, between (the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency), the Kennebec County Sheriff's Department and the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Department," said Manhardt. "It's part of the sheriff's department's ongoing aggressive effort to combat drugs in Sagadahoc County, and it's been very successful for us. ... If you're a drug dealer in Sagadahoc County, we probably know who you are, and it's just a matter of time before we come for you." The chief deputy said that while Tuesday's Bowdoin arrest was publicized, many more drug arrests are not, "because they lead to better information and often other cases."

Ramblings....

Ok. 30 some dead at Virginia Tech. President Numbnuts has to run and save his sinking poll numbers. Then he says that "We're all Hokies". Now, I know it's a solemn moment. I know you need to say something to reassure the nation. (Biggest gun murder in the U.S. Thanks NRA) But this is that whole "Dallas is America's Team" type of bullshit that I absolutely abhor. Yes, we're incredibly saddened by the events. No, we're not Hokies. Sorry.

A lot of talk after Columbine centered on how we could stop events like this from happening. "Pay attention.", "Tell someone in authority if someone is suspicious." You know the drill. "Dime out yer buddy.", "Be the Thought Police." I don't agree with these things because they smack of the Nazi state.

However, in this case, a teacher/professor who possessed fiction writings from this student went to University authorities AND the police. I guess they'll look into it now. I looked at one of the plays he wrote. Besides being....bad.....you can tell that there was some serious shit going on with the kid. I read another blurb online where two students were talking and didn't know who did it yet, but said "I thought it was Cho right away." There's always that guy running around.

I believe that things like this will happen. It's incredibly sad, but inevitable. Especially given our large planetary population.

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George wants the flags at half mast. Shame that he doesn't respond like this and actually attend a funeral for any of the troops he's had killed.

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Don Imus was fired this past week. He used the phrase "nappy-headed hoes". I tracked this when it happened and I was pretty sure how it would go down. First there was a big stink raised by the members of the offended community who usually raise the stink. (Rev. Al, Jesse) This was a no brainer, it always happens. Imus went on the Sharpton show and seemed genuinely contrite.

Then the Rutgers players had a press conference. I did not see it, but everyone who did said that they carried themselves very well. Another nail in his coffin, but still not a huge problem.

Then the sponsors started to go. P&G, Amex.....THAT's when I knew it was over. You can do damn near anything in this country, say "I'm sowwy", and get away with it....UNTIL the money starts to leave.

Personally, I listened to Imus a few times when I was in my Stern phase. Howard hated him and I could see why. Bigotry aside, the man mumbles and is basically uninteresting. But that's radio, stay there long enough and they have to pry you out.

I'd like to see some of the Clear Channel gang head for the door next.

In an unintentionally humorous side note. The Governor of NJ was on his way to mediate the meeting between Imus and the Rutgers team and was in a traffic accident. He was pretty banged up. Not wearing a seatbelt. So, the guy that does the PSA's saying "Wear Your Seatbelts, Kiddies", wasn't. The two troopers with him were, and they were relatively unscathed.

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Band is in hiatus until June. I'm giving them till Halloween to play out, then I'm off for greener pastures.

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That will give me lots of time to work on the basement project. This will be a big weekend. Hope to be 95% dejunked and ready to start ripping stuff out. AND......we may get to babysit the Granddaughter on Friday. We went over Sunday night. Had some pizza and enjoyed their company.

Billy is starting to work as an apprentice for a stone mason. Anybody need stonework or concrete countertops???

Big things happening for Mike. I'll let ya know soon.

later

Just a Little Bit of Help.....

......can go a loooooong way.

On Saturday, Toby, Melanie and Ava came out. Toby agreed to help me move some stuff into the trailer. They were only here about 2 hours. And of course, there had to be some granddaughter quality time. So he really only helped me move a few pieces. A couple of computer racks, a home entertainment center and the seats for the old van. But those few large pieces opened the floodgates.

By the end of Saturday we had 2/3ds of the garage area cleaned out. We could have moved it all but we're having company over the weekend and some of that stuff has to come upstairs. We also got the area cleaned out where the theatre will be.

Sunday we did even more. Pulling up (moldy) old carpet. Moving tools and hardware, etc.

I worked Monday, but took today off. We continued pulling up carpet and moving stuff out to the trailer. A small miracle occurred when I was able to start the tractor on the first turn without jumping it. I also got the snowblower running and took that down to the barn. It was 77 degrees here this afternoon so, of course, they're calling for snow showers tomorrow nigbt. :)

I'll try to keep you posted

aloha

Snow Day

I'll cut to the chase.

I think we need a holiday called snow day. The 1st time in February that it snows would be snow day. If it doesn't snow by a certain date, you pick a date for a deadline.

You have to go get that bread and milk anyway. Pick up a snow day gift.

I don't mean just taking off for a day, which is ok in itself. I mean a bone fide holiday.

It used to be that adults that live in the same household would see each other. This really is a holiday borne from our hectic lifestyles. You just take that day and everybody agrees to stay in and celebrate something. Don't make it religious or political.

Somebody come up with a few more ideas.

Invasion!!!

Switzerland has invaded Lichtenstein.

About 170 Swiss soldiers (complete with knives) accidentally wandered into the micro nation Lichtenstein last week. The soldier were carrying rifles, but had no ammunition.

How embarraskin' :)

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The band is officially on hold as we look for new members. I've made a vow to myself that we will be seen in public by the end of the year, so stay tuned.

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We went to Philly on Saturday to see my ol' roommate Buzz. We got there around 10am. Met him at his hotel (Marriott, 13th and Market) and hit all of the old haunts and a few new ones. Had an excellent cheesesteak, bought a few CD's and visited.

It was Deb's first time in the Farmers Market. We're talking about maybe taking the kids down and doing a Fri/Sat overnite. Shop and Drop.

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I will be updating the Two Sister's website this evening. In the next week or so I will be updating my web software to Dreamweaver 8. Look for a cooler fitzlandia.com (I got some good ideas today)

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Congrats to Ursala and her new beau, Chrysler. 1000's of jokes to follow. :)

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that is all

later

Big storm a'comin'

They're saying 6 to 12 inches. I'll be surprised if it's 3.

The tricky part could be the ice. I have to work noon to 8:30 tomorrow. We'll take a look in the morning and see what's what.

I do have to check the ol' snowblower tho.

Lovely Anna.....

I don't get shocked too often, but that was a shock. 39 and frozen in time.

I don't know if you've seen a recent pic of her. With the media coverage the way it is, you'll probably be able to see EVERY photo of her. I thought she looked better recently than she did at her zenith. Especially in the face.

It's turning into a long, stupid media circus, but I guess we shouldn't expect any less. I like the late addition of Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband, that really stretched it over the top. He was having an affair with her and wanted to ADOPT her. So Bizzare.

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If you get a chance, look for a vid clip or still of Ivanka Trump on Leno. Not the fiasco with Andy Dick on Kimmel. Ivanka bought new boobies and the dress she wore was extreme even for late night standards. I loved it. :)

Thank god she inherited mom's genes in the looks department.

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Basement work goes extremely slowly. I hope to hit it a little tomorrow. But honestly, it's been sub freezing for over a week. Maybe I can rearrange the deck chairs down there and get one section ready to go.

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Tonight is GAME NIGHT. Toby and Mel are coming over. I guess we're gonna give Toby all of our money playing poker. I'll let you know what unfolds.

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The band has a drummer to audition. I think we're gonna get together next Saturday and take a run at him. Learning some new songs, the Bad Religion tune in particular sounds like a crowd pleaser.

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Toby and Mel, Karen and Fred and us spent Super Bowl day together. Everybody left before the game. Karen bought Guitar Hero and brought it up. We had a little duel and I kicked her ass. But that's just the loving uncle I am.

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I will get some pics on the picblog this weekend. I've been getting grief from all sides. I went to see the Luv Gods a few weeks ago and took some pics of them. Some of them may be on their site.

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More news as I collect my thoughts.

ciao bella

Day number.......oh Forget it!

It's a noble idea. But I don't post everyday so I can't do it. I did get a little bit done down there this week. My schedule will settle a bit next week, so i can do some stuff and I HAVE to practice this week. Guitar is coming out very soon.

I've been reading an online comic called "Crap I Drew on My Lunch Break".

She does nice work, send her money.

I have to post some baby pics from xmas. I'll do that later. Everything is backing up. But at least the house is clean.

It's 21 degrees here. I've got a friend out in Wichita, KS that I haven't heard from. I think that they're buried in ice.

It's a little later in the evening. There was an article in our local paper this week on drinking chocolate. I made some tonight. I used Ghirardelli baking chocolate. I'm not really thrilled with the chocolate, but the process is cool and I can definitely see trying some of my favorite chocolate this way. It really opens up the flavor. I could taste orange in this cup.

I will try to stay up to speed on the blog.

Later

Days 8, 9 and 10 (WD 4,5 and 6)

I'm a very impatient person.

I like to get stuff done.

This is driving me crazy. :)

I thought that I'd just be able to move stuff and get it in the trailer and that would be it. Well, it's not working out that way. Some stuff is just too heavy for me to move by myself. Some stuff (I think) needs to be trashed and my second opinion isn't coming down stairs. I also have to clean as I go. As well as the occasional minor repair to make things operational.

I've got a heating element that Deb used for her greenhouse placed in the trailer. We were down to 16 degrees last night. I don't want it balmy in the trailer, but I do want to try to keep it above freezing. If I can do that I'll be a little less paranoid about putting some things in there.

I need to get some stuff moved out of the middle room upstairs so I can move some of the more delicate stuff from the basement up in there. I'd hate to lose comix and stuff like that just because there was no room to keep them without moisture.

I think we will put the xmas stuff away on Sunday and store it in the truck, then I will continue on stuff Sunday and Monday. I'm into a couple of the big pieces now. Moving them out will make a huge difference in the view and my sanity.

Day 7....Guess What??

Man.....I felt like Death yesterday. I was really groggy at work. Went home and napped till the OSU/Florida National Championship started. Watched half of it and went to bed. No workee for me.

I don't feel 100% today, but I do feel a lot better. So I'll be cramming more stuff into the trailer.

I didn't see you with your belt brace yesterday?!?!?!

Day 4 , 5 and 6

The days that you see in the titles will be consecutive days since the trailer was dropped. You'll see another number (WD3) that will make it a day that something was done. This gives us 2 actual counds .

So.....day 4 was a trip up to MT. Carmel. We got our new speakers and tested them. It turns out we need another pair, so they are on order. We spoke about monitoring and are moving in that directions and we are selecting the "down the stretch songs so we can start playing out. The band weblog should happen in a few weeks.

Day 5 was practice and returning the speakers to the dealer. I went and met Deb met in Selinsgrove, We picked up some gifts and headed home to clean. Long freakin' day.

Today was another xmas dinner with Karen and her brood. Darlene wasn't able to make it, I don't knowwhen we will do those gifts.

So.....tommorrow starts WD 4/Day 7......come on over with your belt brace. :)

cya

Day 1, 2 and 3

The blog is now going to function as a journal of my remodeling. I'll be posting the occasional pic on the picblog as well.

Day 1 (Jan 1, 2007) Cleared out some trash and burned it. Put together new toolbox.

Day 2 Trailer arrived today. More trash burning. Put down a piece of plywood to access trailer. They were unable to get it in as far as I wanted, so it's a little inconvenient to load, but probably better in the long run. When the ground drys up, we may have a jockey come out from the plant to move it forward about 10 feet. Found a lock for it.

Day 3 More trash burning. Started moving equipment out. Actual progress!!! Teresa came out with the forms to sign and to get the check. We talked about radon tests and the like. 2 hours a day doesn't seem like much. I'm sure it will be much better next week. Should have most of the stuff out of the basement by then. This is a practice weekend, so no work Friday and Xmas gifts to get Saturday. Darlene and Karen come up Sunday but will leave early. I'll start hitting it after they leave.

More to come. BTW...Chrissy, I will get some Ava pics up soon.

Later

This is (a) gross, but.....

....only 144 days till my birthday. :)

Pics of the cute one will be coming soon.

I got a 50 foot semi in my backyard. We start loading it up this week so I can start the basement remodel.

More....

Later

2007.....Here we go!!!

Haven't posted for awhile because things have been nuts.

My wife's Grandmother had a stroke the day after we celebrated Xmas with her family. The 18th. She decided not to be fed, so we were on a death watch thru the holidays. She finally passed away on the 28th.

There is a lot of family infighting going on. I wonder how bad it would be if there was some money to fight over. One of the aunts has gone insane.

Anyway, she was interred yesterday. So that nightmare is over. But of course, the weekend was completely fucked because of funeral stuff.

My nieces come down for Xmas this coming Sunday.

Last year sucked pretty royally, this year is looking up.

I have a 50 foot semi coming in tomorrow. We're loading all of our shit on it and starting the remodeling downstairs. It won't be leaving until the remodeling is done and the yard sale has been had.

So I will be posting pics from time to time of the construction. I took some today of how crapped up the downstairs is, I'll save those til the end to do the compare. :)

Have a happy 2007. :)

Later