Posts

Showing posts from 2007

Happy New Year

Image
Make yourself some fireworks if you are at home looking at this and not out on the beach watching the real thing. or let PBS tell you a bit about them. OR, see fireworks like you've never seen them before ....The Netherlands, 2000.....fireworks factory fire and explosions. See another cameraman's movie of it. or watch this along with the Swedes who traditionally show this video at midnight. But listen to the weird words.

teejay's backsplash: glasklasen (glass cluster)

teejay's backsplash: glasklasen (glass cluster)

Whopper Freakout--funny

If you have not seen it on TV, watch the mini-movie online. Lots of careful editing, I am sure. (Requires Flash ver. 9, so overly agressive Adobe will attempt to auto-update.) http://www.whopperfreakout.com

Garage Lintel

Image
While I was gone, the big lintel for the garage door opening was trucked in and set in place. It is the largest individual piece of concrete in the house (except slabs). We have had a couple days of nice weather but rain is suppose to come back. It rained a lot right before i took these photos..you can see water standing here and there. The winter brings lovely sunsets. This last photo is in the entrance hall area where a recessed niche is suppose to go. Ted is making some special curved top-piece and shelf for it. Dan told me today that both floors will have a 9'2" ceiling height. He is talking to the truss designer about raising the upper ceiling into the attic space but he will have to re-design the trusses and don't know yet how much more that might cost. Another issue is cramping the area to run the A/C and waterlines, etc...by doing that. But I told Dan if we could gain a foot, it would be probably be worth it. We decided to add a foot to the windows on the first fl

It's oooooo-o-o-over.

Image
I am back in Gulf Shores. Flew to Mempho on the 19th and back on Xmas eve. Nice visit. Stayed w/ Momma. Amazingly, there was one day when all of us chullin were there together at one time. Stephen drove up from Mississippi, Lisa had just gotten back from taking her 3 grandchullin skiing in Colorado and Cary (w/ her two offspring) flew in for the day. Momma says it is the first time we were all together in a long time. I see all of them pretty much, so I didn't realize that. Now that i am back, I am doing web stuff ninty miles an hour. I have so many projects in motion. Tonight I am designing floor tiles to coordinate w/ Duralee fabrics. My good buddy, Marti, who works for Duralee and is a big hit w/ them for 'E' for effort & strong sales, is going to the annual sales meeting in New York in a couple days and I only found out yesterday. i want to have these drawings done for her to take w/ her. I have spent massive amounts of time researching classic Hydraulic Cement Flo

Bouncing Balls

Ruth S. sent this short, entertaining video. You may have seen this guy on the Tonight Show, I didn't. Wonder how long he had to practice to do this.

A Mom's Day in 3 Minutes

This is very funny, From my good friend Carol McC :

Tony the Dancing Cop

This guy, a grandfather, comes out of retirement every year at Xmas to direct traffic in Providence, RI. He even has his own website. http:// www.providencedancingcop.com where it tells what intersections he will be at on what day.

Sandy Xmas

Image
A guy who sends me occasional emails sent a photo of a sand tree he made in the middle of a store. The background had clothing displayed, etc...so I cut it out and put it out on a beach. Not our beaches, as they are white and his sand was pretty dark, but I found a pretty good match. He sells cool sand sculpture kits at www.CanYouDigIt.com

Google Game

http://images.google.com/imagelabeler You and another player have about 2 min to see if you can guess the same tags at the same time. It helps Google to identify images and is a bit of fun for you.

Not There

Well I wish I had been in Las Vegas for WebmasterWorld Pubcon this past week. Thanks goodness for the kind souls who work their fingers to the bone reporting what the speakers and panels are saying. I have only read a short part of the online accounts, but already have picked up one great tip that I put into place immediately on www.ScrapbookScrapbook.com that has made a big difference in earnings on that site. Speaking of ScrapbookScrapbook.com, last weekend I got an email alerting me to copyright infringement on eBay uk and I had to report it and the seller's account got canceled, now today, i have another email about another seller of CD's w/ my graphics included...seems to never end. UK is worse that U.S. for some reason. Fortunately ebay is really great about yanking the offending merchandise and dealing w/ the seller. Just takes time on my part. I have to be sure that it really is my work on their CD. New house work at a standstill due to crane repairs. No huge deal, a

Boy do I miss Memphis--NOT

Thanks Mark B. for passing this news story on to me. Mark is making a trip to Memphis for biz in a few weeks, so he must be reading Memphis news just to be ready to face what may come at him while there. Rarely do I copy /paste a whole news story but this one is so great, and I am afraid the link might now work or somehow you'd miss this, (note the use of "fightin" and "takin" in the quotes).... so here goes : I call it : "I guess that just pissed them off worser" Memphis Police continue to search for search three cross-dressing crooks who started a fight at the McDonalds on South Mendenhall Sunday night. It was definitely not business as usual at a local McDonald's Sunday night as a carful angry transvestites pulled up to Martez Brisco's drive-thru window. "Men trying to look like women, drag queens, transvestites is what they were," Brisco said. There was an argument at the window and that's when things started to get a little s

Important

Here it is Buying Frenzy season again, so PLEASE, use this Amazon search box on the top right of this page for all , ... ALL ...your Amazon purchases. It will display the top search matches in the grey frame and you can click the best match. Amazon sells everything now, and I find they often have the best price (cameras, inkjets, etc) Remember, I spend all this time, (over 1000 posts in this blog) telling you about important and cool things, and I do it for free....so pls, use my Amazon search box so I can earn a few cents commission when you make any Amazon purchase. Happy Buying Frenzy Season from all of me to all of y'all.

Who Knew ?

Image
Get a Tan?: Velma from Milwaukee writes; "I was in Mexico a couple of years ago and a lady saw me tanning outside the hotel and I just couldn't tan, she then said, " want a great tan"? Of course, " I said". She said buy some Coke, not diet coke, cherry coke or generic, just plain Coke and apply it over skin. Believe me, I did, and laid out for a while, I got up, and I had the best tan ever. It lasted for about 6-7 months. So, now I do it here in Milwaukee when it gets hot, I even use the coke in the tanning machines and it really works. And, no, bugs will not eat you. The coke dries in your skin and then your skin is silky. This is the best tanning lotion I have ever used." Thanks Velma! I can't wait to try this out myself! Read more scientific uses for Co-cola. And better print this stuff out as these tripod sites have a tendency to come and go.

Thanksgiving in Sunglasses

Image
At good friends Becky and Warren's beach house.

Ideal Weather

Image
Could there be any better weather than this ???

Cute Boomer Video

Walt Handelsman Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist and animator Watch It thanks, Nancy K.M.

This is great

Image
Click the photo if she is not turning on your page... Do you see the dancer turning clock-wise or counter clockwise ? This is a test of dominant hemisphere brain function. Supposedly if you see her turn clockwise you are right brain dominant, counter-clockwise= left hemisphere dominance. When I first looked I saw her turning clockwise, I suppose that indicated the right brain kicking in first. Doesn't surprise me, itis the fun side of the brain :o) With a little effort, I can switch her back and forth. Try crossing your eyes and see her dancing with a partner. Just kidding.

Dr Laura Doll

Image
$30 (plus s&h) gets you on-demand advice. The Dr. Laura Doll might be the perfect gift for that dysfunctional loved one.

Memphis Corrupt City Councel

Well, the mostly black voters within Memphis city limits have already re-elected Ricky Peete once after a prison term...lets see if they re-elect him when he gets out this time. Probably. How about voter registration reform, require one to pass the ACT/SAT or similar to vote. Guilty Again.

Another Chinese Children's Product Recalled

Image
Even tho I am finding that I have no time for bloggish chit-chat lately, I must pass along this alarming photo that I received from Martin Choate. And since I am here in blogger-ville, this is my news. House is progressing nicely. Weather has been perfect for it. Latest twist: A supplier of a fabulous ceiling product want to supply material for it, this is great news as it is a beautiful coffered wood ceiling that comes in various species and finishes, including a lovely natural cherry. I'd like it everywhere, he asked for the sq footage of areas I want it in, I even included the garage...ha ! Bob Maplestone, Instructor, Engineering and Technology at Highline Community College, Seattle wants to use a photo of mine for the website about the fund to finish the construction or a marine science and technology (MaST) center located on Puget Sound. It is a photo of a boat mast...the fund raising logo is “Help Raise the MAST, Change the Future” I said sure , if he'll give me a link b

wednesday

Image
Today I got an automated phone call from UPS w/ a ladies voice...you will be getting a package today and it requires a signature....first time ever...she asked at first what language I wanted to hear her message in ..I said English...shudda said pig-latin....but hey, it was a first and I thought it might be something to do w/ Ed McMahon and Publishers Clearing House so I didn't want to jack them around.... it was a replacement battery from Sony for my little tiny laptop. I noticed that the battery didn't hold a charge the other day. It had always worked before, and I know there have been alot of battery woes for computer manufacturers lately, so I went to Sony's website and looked to see if there were any important updates, etc...for my model...I saw that I was to return my battery for a replacement, so I got out my electron microscope to read the battery serial number (after i removed it first ) and then I entered all the microscopic digits into the various online forms

Software and more

A court in France has awarded a man 311.85 euros as the cost of the pre-loaded software on his new Acer laptop. His case was that he didn't want the software but that he had no choice but to buy it. Could have implications? http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/09/26/acer_laptop_microsoft_windows_french_ruling/ (312 euros = £220 = $440) (from webmasterworld comments) New Age Stone Builders worked both Sat and Sunday on new house. I have photos but they are still on my camera. Shrimp Fest is coming up. This weekend, we loaded about 300 previous years posters in cardboard tubes. And discovered that this years posters will not fit in the remaining 800 tubes I ordered due to two things, ...poster printer did not roll posters like they did last year, and tube co lied in specs about inside diameter of tube....so, I think all posters will have to be unrolled and re-rolled to fit in the tubes..if we can get some high school volunteers on Wed, it will be easier to do that than re-order tube

weird

I wrote a big 'ole post last night, all text and it is gone today ! (note, it is back now, more weird) While I investigate that, you can use the corporate BS generator to get ready for your next meeting.

Monday,Monday

I talked to a number of possible local house vendor participants today. Kitchens, countertops, appliances, fastners like big hulky hardware, etc...went to phone co and got a handful of DSLfilters for other phone and fax lines (Not for new house). Millie was 25 min late for lunch. I went on and ordered and my food arrived when she did. She is usually late so I took stuff to work on while I waited. Ate at the new restaurant at The Wharf...Villagio, owned by Ginny Lane (restaurant) owners. It was good. Sorta neuvo Italian. Big tile covered visible oven...for the fancy pizzas. Would be pricey at dinner....no doubt about it. Lunch for one ran almost 20 bucks w/ ice tea and tip and tax. I took some photos for web so it could be a biz expense. I'll do a little review later tonight on one of my websites. She had been there a couple times before, so I got good feedback from her w/out me having to spend so much to try different stuff. Found a place that sells American Greeting cards for 10/

Prison Needlework

Image
In the UK there is an organization that sends volunteers into the prison system to teach needlework to inmates who work on projects in their cramped cells to be sold thru the Fine Cell Work website. It is called FineCellWork Lady Anne Tree was a prison visitor for twenty-five years, entertainments officer at HMP Wandsworth and a prison inspector, she founded Fine Cell Work and continues to contribute her wisdom and support to the charity. Both men and women participate and by looking around their website, it looks like certain companies may donate some supplies. The laws had to be changed to allow these people to earn money outside of the penal system. Most send the earnings home to children and spouses and save some for living expenses if and when they are released. Website includes pillows, rugs, quilts, bags and takes private commissions. Now a former prisoner (15 yrs) who learned needle crafts in prison is out and trying to get a similar program stated in the States. His gallery sh

Best little 2 min movie ever

Cannes Film Fest award winner...

Howdy

Today I think I will have to make a decision on my windows and doors. I am waiting on a cqll back from the Swift's Supply Weathershield Window fellow, Joey. I'd have already talked to him but for the fact that occasionally my cell just doesn't ring, and the called leaves a message and immediately the phone does seem to have enuf signal to give me the "yo, message left" beep-beep. Patty w/ Vetter has given me what I think is a really fabo price. Esp considering they will be impact glass (think car windshield) . gotta continue later...

Great Little Timewaster

Get your celebrity real estate kuv-ridge right here. we as a culture are obsessed with celebrity and celebrity lifestyle. We all want to know where they go, what they wear and who they're sleeping with. And of course, where they live. This blog is focussed on who lives where, who's buying and selling and for how much. Real Estalker

Crane Arrived

Image
Finally....several days late, it came this afternoon. It looks wonderful. I put a bunch of photos on ConcreteCottage.com but I will put one here. I tried making a little movie of the first block it picked up, i just used my regular camera, not a movie camera, so will see if I can upload it. Well , it looks like it uploaded. This is an unedited video, so no telling what it is like. I have not seen it yet. It says it is uploaded but processing. I think Blogger automatically changes it from one file type to another...OPPS--no audio, not sure why...maybe my digital camera doesn't do audio, but I thought most did now. I know my older ones did. Also, excuse the sideways shot of grass in the middle :o) Guess I dont know where the off button is.

Great Idea...maybe

Image
Bike Dispenser s for metropolitan areas....park that car or get off a train, bus, etc and slide your card to get a bike, return it to the same or any other bike dispenser location when you are thru. Gulf Shores wants to re-do the beach front area, they want to re-route the hwy....this would be perfect for resort area pedaling. Oh wait....salt air....rust.....

Fine Mosaics

Image
See some great examples on MiaTavonatti's site

OTHER PEOPLE'S GROCERY LISTS

Image
Save time, recycle, just print out one that has already been made http://www.grocerylists.org

Unlocking your iphone

Image
Is this covered by warranty ? Hot Phone

Ban Boring Laptops

Image
does your laptop need an awesome paint job? This place will do it for you.

Tips for Parallel Parking

Hyundai cars used here, your results may vary... watch

Medival Tech Support

See they were just like you.... watch the early struggles....

Facial Hair Competition

Image
In Britian this year, glad none of my family members were entered.... See some wild hairs

Just look how handy cranes are !

Image
Burning Man was set ablaze ahead of schedule by some psycho according to the report and the commenters...I think you have to be pretty psycho to go to Burning Man anyway...what would it be this year, 120 degrees out there in the desert ? I have never had any desire to go, I know some go just out of curiosity...any of y'all ever gone ? Burning Man Resurrected

Watch a Gmail Go 'Round the World

Image
Great fun collaborative video

Coming up for air

Well, it is 10 pm and I am over at the Lagoon house uploading new scrapbooking sets to that website. Heather has been busy making the various components all week. Ever since we started making the pages in both the US letter size and Europeran A4 size plus the increasingly popular over-sized printer scrapbooker preferred paper size of 12" x 12" , my goodness, we have multiplied our tasks many-fold. We have so many site visitors from overseas now...and believe it or not, they are the ones who make the most free-will financial contributions to the site. The percentage of people in the UK and Netherlands who make a donation far surpasses the US or Canadian %. So we like making the pages in the sizes that their paper comes in and their printers are set up for. I suppose it would be just as hard for them to purchase our 8 1/2 x 11 paper locally as it would be for us to buy their A4 paper. Funny thing is that there is only about a half inch difference in both directions. A4 is a t

See some awesome drains

Image
Drains of Canada-- hope you have broadband, big photos, but cool ones. also from same blogger: Single Hauz This guy must get paid to do all this good and time consuming blogging...I see he is a green housing speaker, etc...so I suppose it is part of his 'job'

Airport Anguish

This might help in planing a multi connection flight so that you don't miss your flights....(that is assuming the flights are not canceled or delayed as often happens). Anyway...you can check the typical wait times of the various levels of security checks at all the airports here : http://waittime.tsa.dhs.gov/index.html

French Scrapbooking Website

Image
I was quite surprised to see the legit looking site at www.feeduscrap.com Ran across it while doing some image searches. It is in French and the name of the online scrapbook supply shop appears to be: Fee Du Scrap Unfortunate choice of a URL. www.FeedUsCrap.com

Quick Update

Image
Looks like we have found the crane....I may be the owner of a Link Belt 22 ton rough terrain crane (in TX called a cherry picker) w/ a 70 ft boom w/ a 25 ' jib, new tires, new paint. Sorry I have not added to the blog much lately, I just dont have the time. Ck www.concretecottage.com for more info. All well here, not as hot as Mempho or B'ham than goodness, but still real hot for those who work outside, like the two guys hand digging footing trenches for me today. My osprey is back every day now, so nice to hear him out there chirping. I get to see him dive for fish quite often. Going to see Momma and Daddy. Got to get some BBQ to Daddy, seems he hates the foods there and wants OUT. Frances went to see M & D today on her way to Houston. Oh and get this, the crane & owner lives 4 hours away but BY CHANCE...he has a Gulf Shores house on Little Lagoon, on Fort Morgan Rd. 4 doors down from me ! OK--bed time, nite nite

Blue Angels

Image
A couple of weekends ago Dave and I went to Pensacola Beach to watch the Friday Blue Angel air show. They flew the Friday one with five planes with the show in honor of the pilot that went down a month or so ago. Some of the maneuvers were done with four planes. Pensacola Beach has some nice beach homes. We watched the show from a houseboat docked at one of the marinas. The houseboat is owned by friends of Dave's. All around us people floated in every way imaginable and watched the zooming planes overhead. Great weather, perfect day.

Big Job

Heather has been working for several days moving www.ScrapbookScrapbook.com and the DAC-ART site to a new hosting company. It has been an ordeal. We are trying to do it in a way that is the least likely to cause disruption of the flow of traffic and search engine rankings. To move the site, we had to first move the domain to a different managing register. Then move the actual files that make up the site. My original hosting co, Radiant Communications of Vancouver was great back in the 'old days' . As they have grown, the customer service and screw-ups have become totally unbearable. It is the polar opposite of Network Solutions who got a bad reputation for horrid customer service and now have such excellent customer service that it is hard to believe. We will move all my sites that Radiant has hosted all these years, but have to do them one at a time. I have an appointment w/ a writer on Thurs. who writes for Better Homes and Gardens, but in this case it is a piece she is wor

WARNING

Lots of us have used TinyURL to make small URL's to put in emails where a really long link might not work if it gets chopped up in a delivered email, but there is a rogue site called www. tinyurl. cc ( I am purposefully putting spaces in there so it is not a link)...if you use it to make small URLs from your long ones, the person who clicks on the link in their email gets slammed with pop-up's and Dan said his anti-virus popped on and said it had detected a virus and removed it. So just make sure, if you do a search, that you use the real, older, trusted site, www.tinyurl.com not the .cc one. I was sending Dan some ebay links of boom trucks and accidentally used this rogue site ...i noticed it looked different but never imagined it was a bad bad thing...google had it in the search results for a search for 'tiny URL'...I will file a google bad site report.

Busy Day

Image
I met with John from Island Air, a local Trane dealer this afternoon and at same time I received a UPS package which was a lovely gift from Viking Range. It contained an assortment of Viking branded items including a mousepad, keychain, wine stoppers, apron, pot holder, oven mitt, coasters, and several other items. They said the local distributer would be in touch. Cool. My osprey has returned. I heard his loud CHIRP thru the house walls (only bird noise that comes thru my thick walls) and sure enuf, he was in a tree very near my house. Later in the day, he sat in the tall tree next door and Dave and I happened to be watching while he dove right in front of the yard into the lagoon and brought up a fish. He flew off to the east w/ the fish. I bet it is a 'he' and he was taking the fish to Mrs. Osprey and kids. Last yr he would sit in the tree nearby and eat the fish, but maybe he got married this past winter. Click these photos to see any of them in a larger size.

Slabs & Footings

Image
We are moving right along on the house project. My builder, Dan Zehentner is just the greatest. He stays so totally on top of every detail. He is in and out of the job all day....nothing gets by him ! I feel so secure about this project happening RIGHT. Inspectors came on Monday, Dan and I were there and first slab was poured Monday. Today the digging for the footer for garage and porches was happening. These heavy DAC-ART walls require a big ole footer, plus being on the water and recent hurricanes and all that. The center section of the house slab was poured first. What you see now, as slab, will be the above ground basement. No windows...no doors...no blow-out walls or vents. If water gets in there, it will be by seepage or because it got high enuf to enter front door or guest room door and went down the steps in the guest room to the basement. This room will be tall enuf to stand in and do art projects, etc...good lighting, but everything I store down there will be in rubbermaid