Altering a received email's subject line in Outlook

Do you have emails you save away in various folders in Outlook? Do you dislike some of the subject lines that the sender used? If so, did you know that you can modify the subject line to your liking? This helps when looking back at a folder full of emails to quickly glance over them to know what they contain. To do this, follow these easy steps:
1) Double click an email to open in its own window.
2) Now click the cursor in the subject line field. It looks like there isn't an editable field there, but you can type away on the subject line to delete what's there or add your own text.
3) When finished with your changes, click the "X" to close the window (or menu file/close), and a dialog box will ask, "Do you want to save changes?"
4) Choose "Yes", and you are done!

Taskbar Shuffle is a Godsend!

I was listening to v1.9 of ColdFusionWeekly podcast, and Matt Woodward mentioned a little Windows utility that is literally a Godsend. Taskbar Shuffle lets you rearrange your Windows taskbar applications with simple drag/drop. Why this feature is not standard in Windows is beyond me, but this feature is literally AMAZING. I like to keep my apps in a specific order, but once your machine has been running for a period of time, and you've opened/closed apps or they crash, the sort order gets out of its feng shui flow, and the only way to recover is a reboot. This app solves that issue, thanks to Jay of the nerd cave.

BHTM Riviera CD Hidden Tracks

So tonight I was syncing songs to my Philips MP3 player. When I was doing my Big Head Todd "Riviera" album, there are two hidden tracks which were untitled according to AMG. I did a bunch of Google searches to find the song titles but came up empty. Song #13 is easy, as it is titled "Come On", which was re-recorded for their Crimes of Passion album. But #14 was a mystery, until I visited the bigheadtodd.com message boards. I found the answer in two posts, both saying the song was titled "Engine Light". Thanks for the help BHTM fans!

Carve a virtual pumpkin

This is a very cool site, where you can carve a virtual Halloween pumpkin. You can even email your finished jack-o-lantern to a friend. It might even be useful to experiment with different designs you have in mind before you carve out a real one to display on your home's front step. Happy Halloween!

Twins ballpark planning meeting

I'm thinking about going to this meeting next Monday. Might be interesting to see the early stages of the new ballpark planning and public input.

Public invited to Oct. 23 design forum on new Twins ballpark

Monday, October 23, 2006 at 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

A community forum on the design of the new Minnesota Twins ballpark and the surrounding area will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23, in the Board Room of the Minneapolis Central Library, 300 Nicollet Mall.Following a brief presentation about the ballpark and its environs by ballpark project staff, the public will be invited to provide their comments about ballpark design and the approaches to the ballpark.

Natural Ice

It's that time of year again when chapped lips occur with the cold winds. I have a favorite lip balm called Natural Ice, but it's hard to find. You'd think it would be at Target, Walgreens, etc, but I seem to only find it at Holiday Gas Station stores. I tend to lose these little things or ruin them in the hot car during the summer. It's time to restock - I like to keep one in each of my jackets. So, if you want a good balm for your lips this winter, head to Holiday and get some Natural Ice!

Toilet training

Ben is getting very curious about the toilet, and tonight was a major breakthrough. I walked in the door after work and he had just finished pinching out a couple small turds and even went pee in his own little toilet. We dumped it into the big toilet and flushed it away. Then we praised him like crazy and he seemed pretty proud that he went poopie like a big boy. Yeah Ben!

Kiwanis President response

Mr Pullis,

I appreciate your input regarding the Kiwanis Peanut Day sale at the stop
signs in St. Anthony.  To clarify some points to your questions, yes, we do
go to the City Council and receive permission to be able to continue a
tradition that has been in place for almost 60 years.  This is our one major
fundraiser each year that facilitates the funds for the kid's organization
that we support within our city.  The city council actually proclaims Peanut
Day for the Kiwanis and the proper steps are taken each year for that
permission.

As far as girl scouts selling cookies or football teams selling raffle
tickets I think you recognize immediately there is a difference.  We're not
asking people to stop and fill in a form, pick a flavor, take an opinion
poll, etc. As far as favoring the organization I think the only favoring
that is done is allowing a tradition to continue.  Sometimes, if we can stop
long enough in our busy and harried lifes we might find that continuing some
traditions are a good thing.  What's wrong really with signs being posted up
and down the street to warn that the sale is going on, and you having  to
stop for two seconds or hey maybe even a minute in your life to say good
morning to someone and either take a pack of peanuts and give money in
return or , just take the pack of peanuts and move on?  Are we really so
overtaken with time in our life that a minute means that much?

We appreciate your input and have to tell you that in 50+ years of the
Kiwanis selling peanuts on the corner of our village - not one accident or
injury has occurred.  I would be more inclined to think an accident is more
likely to occur from someone who is exhibiting impatience than one occurring
because someone took "a minute" out of their life for the day.

We wish you well and should probably let you know that the peanut day takes
place usually the last week in September every year.  We hope that this
inconvenience one day a year is really not too much for people to accept.

Regards,

Dianne Sparks,
President St. Anthony Kiwanis

Kiwanis group fundraising gone bad

So...each day I commute home from work through the small suburb of St. Anthony. Last Friday, the Kiwanis organization has a person standing in the middle of the road at an all-way stop intersection and they are asking for money from each driver who pulls up. This seems to happen a couple times each summer, although I can't remember the other group who does this. I am a bit confused and miffed as to why they do this, so I'm doing some investigating. I sent the following email tonight, and will blog again if I get any interesting responses:

Hi all,

I've sent this email to St. Anthony's Mayor, City council, and
Kiwanis leaders.

Can one of you explain to me how you have the right to post
yourselves at a 4/5 way stop and collect money.  Do you have a
permit? I admire the Kiwanis organization's cause, but that is not a
good way to do a fund raiser.

Why not let the girl scouts sell cookies at the stop sign?
Why not let the football team sell raffle tickets?
Where do you draw the line since your group does this?

Not only is it favoring your organization, it is also dangerous.
Traffic gets more backed up than usual, and the flow isn't normal,
leading to confusion and tempered drivers.

"Let's see, is it my turn to go, nope it's the other guy, oh wait,
that guy to my right is giving money, guess I'll go now...crash!
oops, I didn't account for the guy to my left trying to figure out
the same thing"

Please explain this to me, thanks.

Our new (used) Sienna

Our new (used) Sienna
Originally uploaded by webdh.

We jumped into the family minivan arena last weekend and purchased this used 2003 Sienna XLE. It's loaded with all sorts of goodies: leather seats, power driver seat, heated seats, power sliding doors, power sun roof, video system. 6 disc changer, and alarm. Now all that's left is our first road trip.

Division Champs

The improbable happened today for the Twins, adding another chapter to this remarkable 2006 season. The Tigers choked on the last day, holding a 6-0 lead early in the game, and managed to get beat by the Royals in the 12th. Thanks to the Tigers losing the final 5 games of the season, the Twins stole the Division Championship on the last day of the regular season. With that, we gain home field and host the A's, instead of traveling to face the mighty Yankees. Big thanks to the Tigers misery and the Royals bats coming alive for a huge 3 game sweep. Go Twins!