Firefox

Due to the concerns about Internet Explorer's security bugs (which includes comments from the Department of Homeland Security), we decided to download and install Mozilla's Firefox browser. Spouse's already impressed enough to make it the default browser. I'm a little more skeptical (and less paranoid) so I'll continue to play with the freeware for a bit.

Gmail

With all the hoopla over Google's Gmail, I finally decided to sign up and give it a shot instead of giving/selling the account to the rabid hordes of 'edgeware' testers.

My Gmail account's on my blog under Profile for those who are interested in finally contacting me. I've also configged any comments to go to my Gmail account.

It's here!

New fridge* has been delivered. Working fine except no water and ice dispenser. Apparently the water piping (hookups) from our pipe system for the fridge is corroded and the wrong size. The delivery folk recommended a plumber to replace it. We thanked him and I've made a mental note to contact George Brazil about another job for them.


*The old one's now been moved to the garage.

Random for the Day...Not!

Amazing. Three tries and all I got were non-English blogs. What's the chance of that?

Money pit*

We'll be receiving our new refridgerator sometime Saturday. I called Southern California Edison earlier this week to see if they'll take our old one. (It has a small leak.) They said yes but need to schedule the pick up two and and half weeks in advance. Yikes! So tonight and--probably--tomorrow morning, I'll have to make space in the garage for the old one, then empty it of food. I'm not concerned about the food: one of the gifts we received from R.'s mom was a full-sized freezer. R. didn't want to get rid of it so we've kept in the garager keeping ice packs cold. Waste of electricity? Perhaps. But it's nothing compared to our air-conditioner bills during the summer time.

I'm hoping to discuss with R. about more house stuff this weekend. My biggest concern right now are the master bedroom sinks. Both are old: mine, for example, has a hole in the basin. I don't dare fill it up. Normally not a prob except both sinks are clogging. There's no financial issue replacing them (remember the line of credit?) or who will do the work (Corey from George Brazil). Interestingly enough, the issue is the type of sinks.

You see, the prior owners used a brass motif for the house fixtures. No prob with us. We like brass. However, the owners didn't match the brass. We have lamp fixtures, for example, made from bright brass and the antique variety. R. and I agreed a while back to standardize everything to bright brass. However, R.'s really picky about household thingies. (You should have seen our search for bookcases. Brrrr.) I just know we're going to be driving around every weekend to find the 'right' sink fixtures.

And until we pick out the right sink fixturings, I can't call George Brazil to install them.

Grrr.

Then there's replacing the roof. I won't even get started about that!


*For those who don't know, the title refers to how ownership of houses continually drain their owners of money due to maintenance, improvements, etc., hence the term 'money pit'.

Finally!

According to my Blog profile (User Stats), I'm now average 4 posts a week (up from 3). Yeah! Happy dance for me!

Now the goal will be 5 a week....

Link of the Day

Bloggers Suffer Burnout

Interesting. Anyone suffered this yet?

Changes

Moved links on writing and fitness from Words, Weights, Whatever to the new blogs.

Random of the Day

Tired of Men

Is this how women really think of us?

What have I done?

First, I want to thank all those folks who replied to my request about multiple blogs. I successfully resisted the Create Blog function since then until I received my latest set of Xena DVDs a couple of days ago.

Oops.

I've been watching the episodes nearly non-stop. Ultimately, the combination of outrageous martial arts, silly escapades, high angst and low humor, finally jelled my already emptied mind. (You try surfing the Internet all day at work.) More seriously, I was reminded about my two personal goals in life: writing and fitness. I realized, after watching the episode, The Way, that I had lost my way in pursuing both goals.

But how is the creation of two blogs going to assist in achieving my goals? Check them out. The links can be found in my profile under Blogs.

Random for the Day

Kinder's Garden

Regarding the title of this blog: I like the play on words.

Review: Dragon Weather

For thousands of years, dragons ruled the world. Mankind had tried to either kill the monstrous creatures or at drive them away with weapons and sorcery, but failed each attempt. Suddenly all the dragons vanished; story and rumor stating they fled deep into the bowels of the earth.

For hundreds of years there are few sightings of dragons. Humanity expanded across the world. They never forgot about their draconian foe, though: when the skies become almost unnaturally thick with clouds--during dragon weather--the creatures emerge into an orgy of destruction.

Arlian is a young boy in the village of Obsidian when he notices the darkening sky. Only by what appears to be sheer luck is he spared the sudden attack of dragons while everyone is killed. Events worsen though, as he is captured and sold by looters led by the near immortal Lord Dragon. As Arlian's lowered into the mines that would be his home for over a decade, he swears vengence on both Lord Dragon and the dragons who destroyed his home. He gets his chance after inadvertantly saving the life of his slave master....


I found Dragon Weather, written by Lawrence Watt-Evans, an engaging read. The plot moves briskly with most chapters five pages or less. Unlike some books, Watt-Evans keep each scene interesting in its own right and without repeating prior scenes. Also interesting is that every scene is from the viewpoint of the main character, Arlian. While this is common for stories told from a first-person point-of-view (POV), I rarely see it in third person. I found the choice worked well: there are many mysteries and surprises in the novel that could have inadvertantly been revealed by switching to another character's POV.

Character development suffers a bit in the novel. The story is strongly plot-driven by Arlian's quest of vengeance and I felt many of his other emotions (such as his love for Rose) almost cliche or unrealistic. And many of the secondary characters are even worse though Watt-Evans gives most an interesting background and/or viewpoint.

Being plot-driven didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book. I love mysteries and I found many the answers to Arlian's questions (e.g., what happened to the dragons, the true goals of the Dragon Society, etc.) intrigue and unique to the genre. I look forward to reading the rest of the series and give Dragon Weather 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

Random of the Day

Doctor Disgruntled

Ah!

Monday

Highlights include crawling out of bed around noon; finding out my sister was admitted to a hospital for observation but is fine and released; breakfast at 3PM; watching LOTS of DVDs; romantic time with spouse just nuzzling and giving each other back massages.

Details to follow. Well, except the back massage stuff...

Sunday

Hightlights included finishing Dragon Weather and seeing the movie, Spiderman 2. Oh! My sister got into an accident while driving back from Las Vegas. Fortunately she's okay. Details to follow...

Happy Fourth of July, y'all!