Anyway, life online is pretty boring right now. I'm not doing much other than chatting to friends. Anyone wanting an update on what happened with the whole Placebo saga will have to stop checking. I'm still moderating on the fanclub forum, but everyone there gets on so well I have little to do which is nice. The group blog for it is still up but no one is using it much. My own forums are gone until I find a new host. A guy I know from this town was hosting them for me, but he lost his job and access to the server it was on so that's that. No big loss really. Sometime when I'm flush with cash again I'll buy webspace with PHP capabilities and set them up again.

Short blog this time I'm afraid, I'm knackered.

I've got a huge papercut on my right index finger today that goes from about the middle of the pad to the tip and I blame it on TiVo. So, check out this pattern of events that led to the gash on my finger that inhibits my ability to type quickly: A few weeks ago my grandmother brought up the subject of TiVo to me and Rick while we were visiting. She wanted to know what it was. I had a vague idea, Rick had a better idea, but neither of us knew where you go to buy it. A little while passed and I kept my eye out for commercials on TV and everything but no joy. Grammy mentioned it again the other day and that's when it occurred to me to look it up online (duh!). So yesterday I'm perusing the TiVo website and I notice that you can download their brochure and print it off. I do so, and since it's a two-page brochure, I decide to glue the papers together to fold it properly. As I'm folding, I run my index finger right up the sharp edge of the two papers, gashing my finger and dripping blood all over my keyboard. Maybe I should blame my grandmother as well. Damn TiVo anyway.

I guess that also goes to show me that even though I spend so much time on the Internet, it still is not second nature to me to go to it and look things up. Odd that.

Church is silly anyway. But that's a debate for a different blog. My daughter has decided to be a severed head on a dinner table this year. I tried to talk her out of it, because it's a rather awkward costume, but she was determined to wear it to her first school dance. Is it any wonder I love her?

So here's how it turned out :)

Not bad for a costume that cost a grand total of five bucks.

I've recently discovered that the creator Blogger, Evan something or other, is from Nebraska. I think that's pretty cool. Of course he lives nowhere near it now, but all I can say to that is "lucky bastard." Guess I'd better get started becoming a famous web designer extraordinaire so I can get the hell out of here aswell :) hehehe, just kidding. I love my job here, I really do. I just wish it wasn't located in the middle of nowhere in particular, and surrounded by churches who don't let you dress up as a witch on Halloween.

So I went to AAA and picked up my TripTik thingie (a bunch of maps with my route highlighted). Looks like getting to Kat's house is a straight shot down Interstate 80 so that should be cool. Getting to Rick's house in Oshkosh might prove a little trickier but I'm going to spend the weekend teaching the kidlet how to read these maps. Or maybe I'd better go buy a GPS system.

Today was a bit nerve-wracking as I spent most of the day anticipating the wrath of one of the directors who's not very easy to please. At our last meeting between me, her and my vice-president she was specifically told to write her own copy for her section of the website. the following week I receive a booklet (an outdated one no less) covered in post-it notes that I'm expected to decipher and turn into the introduction for her department. So I had a bit of a whinge to my boss who told me to return it to her and remind her that my department will be happy to edit it, but we won't be, basically, doing her work for her. Then she got pissy about her board member photos being in black and white. All day long today I expected her to waltz into my office and yell at me. Thankfully, she didn't, and I got a call from my boss telling me not to 'get my liver in a quiver' over her. I think I just might have the coolest boss in the world - at least until I become my own boss. Until then, I'm more than happy to let him deal with her.

So today I'm thankful for the Internet. It saved my ass bigtime I think.without getting too deeply detailed and boring, I was on the verge of a major panic attack complete with crying jag and hyperventilation after discovering (via the net) that my bank account had been stripped and I had no money to cover the rent check I'd revcently written. AAAAHHHHH! So I'm freaking out, calling people all over the place trying to sort it out, calling off my Chicago trip, looking at trying to get a small loan from my bank to help sort this mess out and it's as I'm talking to the loan officer that he reminds me I can withdraw money from my retirement fund thingie I have set up through my hospital. I didn't even know I could do that or it sure would have come in handy during some other tight spots I've been in. So I pop online, download the withdrawal form, find out what the penalties are (nothing I can't live with) and in five days I'll have the money I need to sort out this wretched mess plus a bit extra to set aside for Chicago. Whew. If not for the Net, I'd still be panicking until I puke. I apologise to anyone I might have spoken to this morning while I was wigging out.

He does pose an interesting situation: How cool would it be to be able to control various aspects of your home from anywhere in the world a la the Jetsons? Quoting from his 'Why?!?!?!' page:

Home automation is still mostly a hobby because people don't really feel the need to control all their appliances by computer when its just as easy to do so manually. There's no advantage there. But how many times were you away from home and you wish you could turn on some lights because you'll be home late? How many times were you about to cook something then realized you didn't have what you needed. Leave the oven on? Want to start the AC 30 minutes before you get home? Need to record something on TV? Want to see who came by while you were away? These are real world advantages to a home automation system and don't in any way limit the typical uses.

You CAN control your lights. If online grocery stores exist in your area, groceries can be ordered automatically. You'll always have what you need. As long as you're near a computer with internet access, you'll have control of your house. No matter where you are in the world. This website is here to provide a demonstration of those capabilities. And sure, its fun to screw around with someone else's stuff, but remember, you could do the very same things with your own stuff. Perhaps this isn't useful. But you never know. Someday, it might be.