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Thoughts on just about everything from rock-n-roll, sports, kids, to geek speak -- by John Bullock About John Subscribe to this blog  |
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February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 September 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 |
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Friday, February 25, 2005 |
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Ultra Sensitive | |
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I know I blogged the other day about respect but there is a flip side to this. Here is an example of some people just being too sensitive. I guess Kraft is making some new candy like gummi bears that come in the shape of flattened (road kill) animals. It doesn't promote killing animals, it is not life like (they could have sold road kill stuffed animals), and it is not offensive. I'm sorry, I just don't understand why anyone would be upset about some candy. It isn't like they are selling unborn fetus candy... | |
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Sports Blogs | |
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I found this site by accident today. It has links to tons of sports blogs. http://www.sportsblogs.org/index.php |
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Friday! | |
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Did anybody happen to get the number of the truck that ran over me last night? I got home from work and went straight to bed. It had a 101 temperature but I'm doing much better today (back at work, didn't miss a beat). Here's a little humor to get your weekend started off on the right foot.
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Wednesday, February 23, 2005 |
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Respect | |
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I saw the following quote from Joe Torre on the Yahoo Yankees feed in regards to the mud slinging between some of the Yankee and Red Sox players: "I think as a whole theres a lack of respect, and it's unfortunate,'' he said Sunday. ``I know I speak for my generation or part of my generation. It's just reality, unfortunately. I think part of the reality is the reality shows on TV.'' I think the world would be a much better place if we all respected one another a bit more. One of the positive things I see the kids learning in kindergarten is to respect one another. If we we all a little less quick to judge one another and try to be more respectful, I think the world would be a better place. I do want to add a few thoughts on what I think it means to be respectful: The first bullet point encompasses a huge amount of stuff. Basically if we are nice to others, hopefully they will be nice to us. What do you think it means to be respectful? |
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Friday, February 18, 2005 |
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Multi-Blog Post | |
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There are a few things that I've been meaning to blog about lately but haven't found the time. They include concert tickets, cassette tapes, charity and moving. They all tie together in various ways. Suzanne and I decided to bypass Valentine's gifts for each other this year as we are putting all our efforts and money into the new house and furnishings for it. To get more to the point, we have been doing some major housecleaning. We been going through stuff that we should have years ago but didn't for one reason or another. One thing that I am not throwing out or donating are all of the concert ticket stubs that have saved over the years. I don't have the stubs for all of the shows I have seen but most of them. It was pretty fun to think back on all these different shows that I have seen. As I have located ALL of the ones I have saved, Suzanne put them all in a picture frame for me as a Valentines gift. It turned out really cool. The only issues is that only a select few can be on top and visible. The other issue was I found about 10 or 15 more tickets after she did it so we will have to make a second pass. However, I wanted to post it anyways. Although all of them have some significance, mostly just for me, there is one of note that I would point out. The blue and yellow Eric Clapton ticket from Alpine Valley. Although not printed on the ticket, Robert Cray and Stevie Ray Vaughn also played this concert. This was Stevie Ray Vaughn's next to last show before he died in a tragic helicopter crash killing everyone on board.  I also have a bunch of tickets from sporting events that Suzanne is going to frame. We might even do two or three of the sports ones as I have so many tickets. I would have to say that I haven't even saved half of the sporting event tickets though. There are a few tickets that I already know will go on top including: So enough of the tickets. I was also going to discuss cassette tapes and charity. I have found out that it is very difficult to give away some useable items. For example, I had to pay to get rid of my old computer (it was a 486 upgraded to a Pentium). Also the old monitor, old TV, and old stereo. We had four charity pickups since the beginning of the year. Just this week we finally found somebody interest in our old family room furniture, Suzanne's dresser, coffee and end tables, on some other stuff. And tomorrow I'm making a run to the dump to get rid of some other items that we cannot give away such as old mattresses (stained -- ooooh), waterbed (insurance risk!), old bike rack, etc. Another item that I have run across during all this cleanup are all of my old cassette tapes. My friend and coworker, Mike Prilliman, recently wrote about his trials and tribulations of trying to convert all of his old LP's to digital format. I had a very similar dilemma in ways. Many of the the old cassette tapes were illegal copies that I dubbed from friends during college. I threw all of those out due to a guilty conscience as well as poorer quality. However, there were a large amount of cassettes that I did purchase that I still do not own on CD. These I will keep until I do get them on CD but I really only kept ones I would replace. There were a bunch of others that I would not replace or had already that I gave to charity (they were legal so I could do that in good conscience!). |
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Moneyless | |
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Last night I launched money so that I could pay a bill on-line really quick. However, when I logged in, none of my accounts were listed and all my transactions were gone. I opened my backup file and it was the same way. Ahhh! WTF??? In general, I have had a very good experience with Money but this is not acceptable. Luckily I did have a third copy but it was a couple months out of date so I had to spend the next couple of hours bringing everything up-to-date. After I got everything back to normal, I backed up to my normal location as well as a USB drive to make sure I have good backups. I also chnaged my Money settings to backup to my USB memory drive every two weeks in case it happens again, it will only be two weeks worth of catching up, not two months. On a related note, I have to say that online banking has to be one of the best uses of the PC ever. I'm not sure how I ever managed before. p.s. Sorry about another bad pun this week, might be that I'm not getting enough Vitamin B or something. |
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Wednesday, February 16, 2005 |
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Headlines | |
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I guess it is one of those days, I just couldn't resist the headlines. However I did have a couple of comments on these items. On the battle of the feta cheese name, don't people have more important things to worry about? Christ, give me a break. On Armstrong, from a selfish perspective I'm glad he is racing again. However, he has everything to lose and his competitors have everything to gain. The competitiion would get to say they beat him, where a seventh tour victory would not add much to an already amazing resume. I'm sure he did it more for the sponsor contract that anything, but I'll be curious about how hungry he is to win another one. On the Kyoto Protocol, this is just another example of Bush's wonderful policies he is bringing to this country. He and his cronies are physically destroying the land and do not give it a second thought. GRRR! |
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Spring Training | |
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Spring Training has officially begun! Pitchers and cathers reported today for three teams. Two of those are my favorities. The New York Yankees and, my new NL favorite, Washington Nationals. I was checking out some of the Nationals merchandise. It isn't anything fancy, more of a classic look. I bet I can expect a hat or something for Father's Day. | |
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Monday, February 14, 2005 |
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Parenting Observations | |
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Thursday, February 10, 2005 |
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Tickets | |
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I ordered tickets for three baseball games (no longer Rockies as I've disowned them) last night. The first set is for opening day. There is nothing more fun than opening day baseball, even if it is a game for a team that is not competitive on any level. The second game is May 30th against St. Louis. I got four tickets to this game as it is one that will include fireworks. We didn't get the Fourth of July game as we think that is the first day of first grade will be the Fifth of July so we can't be keeping the kids out late. The last game is against my new favorite National League team, the Washington Nationals on August 13th. Go Nationals! | |
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Tuesday, February 08, 2005 |
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Latest Lot Photo | |
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Here is the lastest photo of the lot. They did not break ground yet, another 2-6 weeks, but they have been busy on some of the homes around us. One of the homes directly behind us is getting more of the internal and touchup stuff, the frame and stuff is pretty much the same. However, you can see the houses behind us on the other side of the street that were not there last time. The good news is that they will not be blocking our views at all! The sign in front shows our lot number, elevation, and address. The only put signs up on the lots that have been sold :) This photo was taken from across the street. Even zoomed out all the way, I could not get the entirely of the front of our lot in the photo
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Sunday, February 06, 2005 |
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Super Bowl | |
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Saturday, February 05, 2005 |
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Snow Mountain Ranch | |
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Last weekend we went up to Snow Mountain Ranch near Winter Park. We stayed in a cabin with my parents, brother, and his wife. It was a total blast eating, playing cards, talking, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. I had never been snowshoeing or snowmobiling so both of those were firsts for me. I wanted to post two quick photos from the trip. The first is of Suzanne and the kids when we were snowshoeing (before the kids got bored and tired. The next photo is Alex on Uncle Bob's (AKA Uncle Paco) snowmobile. Alex fell in love with this. Bob said that whenever he would slow down, Alex would tell him to go faster! 
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(Extended) Model Tour Part V | |
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This is the final leg of the extended tour and the visit of the inside of the model home. First off we will head back upstairs. Once we reach the top of the stairs you can look down the hallway towards their bathroom, bedrooms, and back down the stairs.  To our immediate left, if we are facing back towards the kids rooms, is the laundry room. In addition to the standard laundry hookups, there will be cabinets on either side of the room as well as a utility sink and cabinets down below.  Further down the hallway we pass the kids bathroom. It is divided into an area for the tun/shower and double sinks and the toilet area.  Next we will quickly go back to the loft and look down on the family and dining rooms.  Thanks for hanging in for the entire tour. Our very last stop is the master bath (quit holding yourselves) where you can get a view of the tub, shower, and the adorable chilldren (non-standard).  Please do not forget to tip your tour guide on the way out! |
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(Extended) Model Tour - Part IV | |
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I want to welcome everyone to the extended tour of the Pinot Grigio. I would like to begin this portion of the tour by going down to the unfinished basement. There isn't a whole lot to oh-and-ah over, but you can get a feel for the size and the layout. These photos are from the three corners of the basement.   This last photo of the basement shows the root or hub for all the cable and ethernet (computer) wiring.  We will head back up stairs and get a couple of closer looks at the ktichen. The first photo shows a closeup of the appliances (minus the double oven), the bar, and most of the cabinets.  The next photo shows the kitchen nook, pantry, built in desk and double oven.  If you turn around come our current postion you can see the family room and through there the dining room.  If we proceed through the family room and turn around, we get another view of the family room and kitchen. The really cool thing about this photo is that it gives us a good view of the three sided fireplace and the entrance to butler's pantry, doors to the basement and garage, and passage to the kitchen.  We've now hit the mid-way portion of the extended tour. From here you can visit the powder room.  Next stop we will head back up stairs... |
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Friday, February 04, 2005 |
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Model Tour Part III | |
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We've completed the tour of the main floor so now we will be heading upstairs. At the top of the stairs is the laundry room. I will post photos of it on the extended tour, along with photos of the downstairs bathroom and other things I pointed out that were not in the photos. Just past the laundry room is the 4th bedroom. You have the option of converting this into a loft which we have chosen. Just to the left of the photo is a handrail an open area that looks down on the family room. We will be setting up the kids entertainment area up here. If you go left at the top of the stairs you head towards the master bedroom. I took this photo of the master bedroom back from the corner. Right behind me is patio door out to the master deck. To the left of the photo is the entrance. The doorway that Alex is peaking out of is the closet. You cannot tell but it is HUGE. Straight ahead is the master bathroom. The bathroom has a separate door for the toilet, and separate bathtub & shower.  If you were to to right and turn around at the top of the stairs, you will go past the kids bathroom (photos later) towards the kids rooms. On the left is Lindsay's room.  And on the right is Alex's room.  This concludes the standard portion of our tour. If you paid for the extended version, which includes bathrooms, hallways, stairs, unfinished basement, and more, please follow me to future blog posts. Have a great weekend! |
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Thursday, February 03, 2005 |
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Model Tour Part II | |
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OK, I hope you've refilled your beverages and restocked your snacks as we are ready to resume our tour. Our next stop is the study. You saw the entrance previously in the photo looking back on the main entry way. This photo shows book cases along the wall but these are not included with the house. If you turn 180 degrees, so that you are no longer facing the entry way, you will be looking at the living and dining rooms. The mirror and shelf along the wall in the dining room are not included with the house. However, all the awesome windows are standard. The entry way that you see in the back right side of the picture goes into the family room. Not pictured in this photo is the 3 sided fire place as well as the entry to the butlers pantry.  Next, we are heading into the family room. It is hard to tell from this photo but there is a bunch of space in this room. The built-in entertainment center helps this out. You get a good view of the fireplace on the right hand side of the photo. Just another reminder to please ignore wall colors and flooring options as they will be different in our house.  In the last photo along the left hand edge of the photo, you get a brief glimpse of the kitchen area. This photo was probably taken from the same spot as the last one. You get a feel for the size and number of cabinets in the main part of the kitchen. However, to the left, which is mostly not pictured, is the kitchen nook, built in disk, double oven and more cabinets! I will have to post a photo of that area during a later part of the tour. If the notice the bar area in the center of the photo, there are a bunch of built in cabinets on the other side of it that we cannot see in this photo.  If you walk around the bar, into the kitchen, and then to you right you are in a little hallway that joins the kitchen back to the living and dining areas. In this hallway is the door to the garage, the door to the basement and the butlers pantry. The butlers pantry is optional but we didn't even think twice about not getting it.  Go ahead and take this opportunity to use the restroom before we continue the tour upstairs. That reminds me, I did not include a photo of the main level restroom. It is a half bathroom as in between the study and the living room. Maybe I will show you after we complete the tour of the upstairs area. |
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Blogged My Quota | |
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Apparently Comcast decided that I've done enough blogging. Actually, I ran out of disk space on my personal web page. I saw this coming a while back and inquired about getting more and was even willing to pay for more space. However, Comcast indicated it was a fixed amount and there was no option to increase it. A couple nights back I was trying to upload the model home photos but it was not working but I was not receiving an error. I finally realized that I ran out of space. For the short, and painful, term, I have created a new E-mail account that has another personal web page. This is free so I just moved all of my images over to the new personal web page and then changed all the existing blog pages that used images to pull them from the new personal web page. I will add all new images and other content to the original web page for the forseeable future. I will be OK for a few more months but I will need to explore longer term options. One option would be to host it on my own equipment and expose it to the world but that is too much work and there are security considerations. The next option is to look into using one the free blogger sites that offer to host it for you. I don't know if they have similar limits. Another option would be to pay for something similar to MSN spaces or possibly contact an ISP to host it. Anybody knowing of a cheaper and relatively maintenance free option please let me know! p.s. I think the limit on personal web pages is just 25MB. However, Comcast gives you 250MB for you e-mail account. Seems pretty backwards to me but then again I don't save old e-mail. |
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Wednesday, February 02, 2005 |
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Model Tour Part I | |
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A couple weeks back I took a bunch of pictures at the model home. I did this so that we would get some ideas for our own home as well as to show others what the home will look like. Not to mention that we can look at them whenever we start jonesing to see the model. I was in a bit of a hurry so the quality of some of these leaves a bit to be desired. I did edit to improve somewhat but as the originals were not high quality to begin with there wasn't much that could be done. Regardless, lets proceed with the tour. It is free and open containers are allowed as long as you are not driving. Come to think of it, you shouldn't be surfing if you are driving. This first photo is a picture of the entire house from out front. Although it is not the exact same green, it is close so you can get a feel main and trim colors. The door color will be different on our home though. It is hard to see in this photo but this is the stone color and style that we chose. Two other significant differences are the garage size, we are getting a three car garage where this is two and a half, and the other is that our floor plan will be reversed. By this I mean that our garage will be on the left instead of the right, along with the rest of the layout. Included standard with the house is free landscaping that you can get a feel what ours will be similar to.  This next photo is a closer photo of the front porch area.  The next two photos are from the back of the house. The first one shows deck attached to the patio door which is off the breakfast nook area in the kitchen. We probably will not have the builder include this deck and we think we can find somebody to do one we like better for a cheaper price. The second photo shows the deck off the master bedroom. As this is a structural option, our deck will look like this one. We chose to get this as we should have great views of the hogback along the front range from here.   The last photo of the night, so I can get to bed, is just inside the house looking back of the front door and entry way. In addition to the front door, to the right is the door to the study. There will be more photos of it later. 
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