Kindle screensaver images

Ever wonder what those pictures are that appear on your Kindle? Here are a few of them...

Painted Finch, John James Audubon
Ophiuchus or Serpentarius, from "A Celestial Atlas", A. Jamieson
Palladio's Villa Rotonda, Andrea Palladio
The Heavenly Machine, Johannes Hevelius

Anyone know what any of the rest of them are?

It's a boy!

Mother, father and baby are all doing fine. Well, maybe a little jet lagged, but nothing a few days of rest won't cure.

The scam continues

Turns out someone's been using my debit card to purchase items on the internet (including the Magic Jack) and something at a store in Pennsylvania (the card information was keyed in there). The bank put a block on the card, which I discovered when attempting to purchase refill pages for my planner. (I love my Franklin planner!) Anyway, not much damage done to our accounts -- under $50 of stuff was fraudulently purchased. Kudos to Wells Fargo for figuring out something funny was going on.

So, was this related to the calls I got today, where someone was signing me up for stuff? I wouldn't think the timing was a coincidence.

Now I just need to survive a week or so without a debit card, while they send me a new one.

I'm getting scammed!

I've been getting a bunch of calls here at work today from a variety of companies. Seems like someone has gotten a hold of my name, home address & work phone number, and is signing me up for a bunch of stuff (so far, security systems, satellite TV, investment funds). The only thing that doesn't match my info is the email address. That one ain't mine.

Has anyone heard of anything like that, and if so, what's the point of doing it? Other than to annoy me. :)

A lovely day

I chaperoned a field trip for Ashlie's German class today. We saw The Diary of Anne Frank at the Park Square Theatre in St Paul. After that, we had lunch at the Glockenspiel. I got to spend some time with Ashlie, everybody was well behaved, we saw a really good performance of a moving play and had a great lunch with a fabulous dessert! All in all, a wonderful day.

Greatest album cover ever

Without a doubt, it's Rock and Roll Over. Or at least that's my take on the subject.

Inside the sausage factory

Based on a conversation at work, I just got done re-reading Jamie Zawinski's article on webcasting legally. It's one of those situations where I think I might just be happier not knowing the details, because knowing how it works just makes me mad, and there ain't a whole lot I can do about it. Here's a teaser:

Someone said to me, "how do they [the RIAA] expect the little guys to survive?'' I replied, "No Mister Bond, I expect you to die.'' They're trying to legislate webcasting out of existence, because it stands in the way of their progress toward a completely pay-per-view economy. Remember: these are the kind of people who once tried to outlaw the VCR. (That was MPAA, not RIAA, but they're the same snake with different scales.)

Emergency home repair

Started off this weekend on the right foot -- the 8' wire shelf in Ashlie's closet that you hang clothes underneath came off the wall. The previous owners of this home cut some corners when it came to installing this shelf. Including not anchoring it to any studs. I thought that was a nice touch. So had to make a run to Menards to pick up a bunch of anchors and supports, some of which only come in "contractor quantities". Needless to say, I've got leftovers, which ought to come in handy.

Actually, they probably will -- I checked around, and found some other wire shelves that aren't mounted properly. One of which has all my old compact discs on it. I've got about five hundred of them. So that's a ticking time bomb, waiting to come crashing down...

Rest in peace Carl Pohlad

Carl Pohlad died today at the age of 93. While it's true that the Twins have always been a bit on the stingy side, and when MLB wanted to reduce the number of teams, he was ready to throw the Twins to the wolves, his team still provided me the highlight of my sports-watching life: attending games six and seven of the 1991 World Series. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for anyone associated with that series -- Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, Bob Casey, Jack Morris, even Charlie Liebrandt. And even the curmudgeonly owner. I've always respected the fact that he seems to have let baseball people run the operations, as long as it was within the financial parameters he set. Sure, I'd like to see the Twins spend a little more in the free agent market, but when it's all said and done, at least I can look back on '91 and smile.

Fantasy football update

With the end of the regular season, I thought I'd report how I did with my four fantasy football leagues this season.

WFFL
This is the league I've been in for more than fifteen years. We play during the NFL playoffs, and I'm happy to report that my team, the Cannibals, made the playoffs, finishing in fifth place, despite my 7-10 record and a four-game losing streak at the end of the season. I haven't won this league yet, so I'm hoping this is the year. Given how balanced all the playoff teams are in the NFL, I think I might have a shot.

KCFFL
I started this league up a couple of years ago, and won it the first season. My team, Negative Treatment, finished the season in eighth place and missed the playoffs. Which was a blessing, since there's no money on the line, and I couldn't keep track of all my teams anyway.

BAFFL
I joined this league this year, and my team (Crazy 88's) finished the regular season in sixth place, barely making the playoffs. With a couple of good weeks, I got to the championship game, but lost. But I'm very happy with my finish there.

CoFFL
A new league created this year, where my team (Immutable Objects) missed the playoffs, but won a couple of games in the consolation bracket to officially finish in fifth place. I wasn't quite as committed to this team, due to the fact that I didn't pick the players (it was an auto draft).

General thoughts:

• It was good to play a bunch of different teams on a bunch of different websites, with a bunch of different rules.
  
• But, four teams was too many. I couldn't keep them all straight. If I remember correctly, I've had four teams before, and had the same problem. One of the problems with getting older is making the same mistakes over and over again.
• I went a little too heavy on Steelers, having Big Ben and Fast Willie on multiple teams. Was expecting more production from that offense. Luckily, I was able to find production from other pickups, like Matt Ryan and Tyler Thigpen.

Stay tuned for further updates from the WFFL playoffs!

Annual Christmas letter

One of my regrets is that I don't take the time to send all my friends and relatives Christmas cards. Seems like I should be able to find a couple of hours to accomplish this. But the holiday season seems to come and go so quickly, that I never get around to it.

I've also had a desire to run Christmas lights across the roofline of my house, but that never happens either. Just too cold once I get around to it.

Even though we don't send out Christmas cards, my wonderful wife takes the time to write up an annual Christmas letter. So those that are interested can take a look, and see what we've been up to for the last year. I've copied it below for your reading pleasure.

Mortimer/Maberry/Tisland
Annual Christmas Letter

I am now too lazy to send out an annual Christmas card although I have 3 boxes of them sitting on my desk! So, the Christmas email has arrived from us!

We didn’t win the lottery; our kids didn’t win the spelling bee, try out for the Olympics or break a school record in academics!

Life has been good and bad and I will try to send some of the highlights!

Jeff celebrated 20 years at Thomson West this summer. He received a gift of luggage-is this a clue? He also was downgraded from a cube to a shared space along with most everyone else! He does continue to enjoy his job and has a lot of good friends he works with. The company, fortunately, has not been doing any downgrades.

I finally got my dream job this summer. I am now the Farmington High School Nurse. It is a great job and allows me time off when the kids are off and to visit my family. I am learning a lot about teenagers in the process. Next year the high school is moving into a new building and I am looking forward to being the first nurse there!

Michael continues to participate in football and taekwondo. He has achieved his brown belt in taekwondo and is working hard towards the next level. His football team finally won a game and he was so excited! He is busy with 7th grade work and turns 13 this month.

Ashlie is taking piano lessons and participates in speech team at school. She also tried out and made Varsity cheerleading. She loves biology and is starting to check into colleges. She will be 16 in July and has her learners permit! She was confirmed in the Spring and we had an awesome weekend with friends and family.

We have made several trips back to South Dakota this summer and one trip to Omaha. We always love spending time with family and friends. In June Ashlie and I went on a church mission trip to Ohio. We had so much fun and learned a lot while helping other people. We will be going again this year and this time Michael gets to go. The trip is to Lead, SD. Jeff got away a couple times this year to his friend Greg’s cabin for a work weekend. Work and fun was involved both times!

We remain active in our church and enjoy the fellowship of so many awesome people there. We are involved in community service, youth group, Sunday school and Jeff is the financial secretary. We hosted the youth Halloween party.

We were approved for adoption in July after a mountain of paperwork and are now in the waiting process. We have had some ups and downs and worries/fears but feel we are meant to do this and the rest will take care of itself. We are waiting for a boy or girl (or 2) under the age of 4! The call could come any day but should arrive by July. We will then travel to Ethiopia in 3-4 months for a 7 day trip. Thanks to all of you for your support and prayers.

We have had some sad events this year as well. My baby great-niece, Zoe, passed away in May from a congenital heart condition. In November my nephew, Adam, passed away unexpectedly. He was 23 and an awesome kid! The same month Jeff’s dad was diagnosed with prostrate cancer. Arlo is doing well and we are grateful for that. We are also grateful for good friends and family who hold us up in difficult times.

We will be heading to South Dakota for Christmas break and spending time with all of our families and friends. We wish you all an excellent New Year and hope Christmas is magical and full of wonder!

Jeff, Sayra, Ashlie & Michael
Chewy, Jack & Bean

Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.

Dealing with a death in the family

Just got back from an unexpected week in Pierre. One of Sayra's nephews, Adam Maberry, died unexpectedly. He was only 23 years old and had a bright future ahead of him. Although I didn't have a chance to get to know Adam that well, I could tell he was a great guy. I wish I would have had more time to spend with him. And it broke my heart to see how this affected his parents, his sister, his grandmothers, Sayra, Ashlie and Michael, and the whole family. I've been blessed with great in-laws, and to see them in this much pain was difficult. They're an extremely close family, and certainly didn't deserve to lose Adam so soon.

New Watchmen trailer

Schweet!

Time to rock!

Getting fired up to see Hairball at Bogart's on Friday night. Anyone in the southern metro area with nothing to do on a Friday night should check them out. Well worth the $8 cover charge, I guarantee it!

Rachel's Challenge

Just got back from the Farmington High School where I attended a presentation by Larry Scott of Rachel's Challenge. Great program, great message, great cause. Very moving story. What is Rachel's Challenge? As described by their web site:

Rachel Scott was the first person killed at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Her acts of kindness and compassion coupled with the contents of her six diaries have become the foundation for one of the most life-changing school programs in America.

Securing your passwords

Great tip from Joel on Software for securing your passwords. I had my email and eBay accounts hacked into a while back, and have become a bit of a password security nut. I had been using PasswordMaker for a while, but I like the PasswordSafe/DropBox combination better. It's those pesky user names that change from site to site that make the PasswordSafe a better solution, I think.

Weekend fun

As anyone tracking my Facebook status over the weekend knows, I was at my buddy Greg's cabin helping him put up some siding. You can check out some pictures over on his blog. The weather was great and a good time was had by all. Definitely rewarding to look at the before & after pictures to see what we accomplished and how nice it looks.

Snot's dead?

Nobody told me Joe Kudla, a.k.a. Thomas Snot, died. Total bummer. Kinda reminds me of Bob Casey's death. There's something else that's never going to be quite the same, ever again. I still get a little choked up at the beginning of every Twins game I go to. Probably a sign I spent a little too much time at the Metrodome after moving to the Twin Cities.

It'll be interesting to see another Puke n' Snot show without Kudla. Not gonna be quite the same.

Feed My Starving Children

Worked last night at one of my favorite charities, Feed My Starving Children in Eagan. Great organization, and really fun to spend a couple of hours working there. I was the warehouse assistant last night, which was the only job I hadn't helped with before. Other jobs include applying labels to the meal packets, filling them with ingredients, weighing the packets, and sealing them up & boxing them. So now I feel like I've gotten the full experience.

One of the reasons I like them so much is they've got really high ratings on Charity Navigator. Good to see that they're doing good work, and being really efficient with the funds they raise.

I'd encourage everyone to check them out, and support them in any way you can!

Gawd, I love the Minnesota State Fair

Chocolate-covered bacon. Yum yum!

Will it top a deep-fried candy bar on a stick? Probably not. But there's only one way to find out. Not sure if I'll make it to the fair this year, but if I do, trying a Pig Licker is definitely on the list.