Is this a joke? Does anyone actually go to University of Phoenix online, and if they did, would they advertise? 
April 7, 2007
April 4, 2007
April 1, 2007
Walking Report
Here’s how my walking plan shaped up this week:
Monday — I went shopping after work and walked from the Target at Brier Creek to the Michael’s at Brier Creek, and back. I think that counts.
Tuesday — I can’t remember. I think Dave and I took a 19 minute walk after work.
Wednesday — No walking. I went to yoga, though.
Thursday — I took my 15 minute walk after I got home, before Dave got home.
Friday — I went to a yoga workshop, but no walking.
Saturday — W00t! I took a 2.3 mile powerwalk with Tyra.
Sunday — I spent about three hours rollerskating tonight, so I think that counts, too!
Adventures in License Plates
Dave and I got new license plates this year, rather than just renewing our old plates.
I looked through the available choices and just had to have this one:
I couldn’t believe this option was available. I’ve never seen it on the road before and I love how unique it is. Sweet!! (pun intended)
Dave got a Blue Ridge Parkway license plate. It costs an extra $30 but $20 of that goes to the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation so, cool.
Replacing license plates should be a 10 minute job. Not today. Mine was quick and easy but Dave’s was not and required a trip to Lowe’s.
His BMW has a bracket that affixes to the car, and the license attaches to the bracket. The license attaches to the bracket by way of four screws pockets built into the bracket. They contain threads appropriate for the screws and have a cushion on the back that prevents the paint from being damaged by the screw tips.
The screw pockets had aged and did not stay in the bracket when I tried to remove the screws – I took out three of the screw pockets along with the screws. You can see this in the left side of the picture below. The right side shows the only screw that came out properly.
So I had to improvise. I forced the fourth screw pocket out of the bracket and then I glued new screw pockets in place. I glued bumpers on the back sides to replace the worn-out cushions. I also had to buy new screws to fit the new, smaller screw pockets.
It worked really well! Here’s the finished product.
A close-up of the new screw pockets in place (on either side):
A close-up of the bumper:
Saturday Birthday Beers
I went to Ele’s for beers on Saturday afternoon after I took a 2.3 mile powerwalk with Tyra.
It was Will’s birthday and his father William’s birthday. William and his wife Joyce knew me when I was a little kid, living in Independence, Virginia. You may remember Will and I figuring out our shared past from this post.
This was my chance to re-meet William and Joyce. Of course, I don’t remember them at all, my memory is so bad. I’m so glad I got to see them and meet them, they’re such sweet people.
Here’s us at Will and Ele’s.
Happy Birthday Will and William!
March 31, 2007
Cayce’s Biopsy
Good news! Cayce’s tumor was a unusual microbacterial infection, not a cancerous tumor. Woot!
Bird Nest Update – Six Eggs!!!
Wow, she’s really going at it!! I’m going to take this as a compliment that we keep our birds really well fed.
On Friday we discovered the fourth egg, Umit.
Saturday morning at 8 AM we discovered Zowie (no picture) and Saturday at 10 AM there was one more, Broccoli. Six total!
Momma bird giving a look.
In case you wanted to see what the camera looks like.
Moles
That is a piece of me, a sample of a mole that my dermatologist sawed off.
Here are all three of the samples she took. She had asked me last summer to come in for a mole check, and I put it off becuase I am lazy. Besides, I was sure that nothing could be wrong with my moles. I needed to have her re-evaluate my acne medicine so I finally made the appointment for the mole check this past Thursday.
It wasn’t a big deal, you get mostly naked and she systematically checks almost every square inch of your body, deciding whether your moles are OK or not.
I was very surprised when she flagged three of my moles as suspicious. She gave me an injection of lidocaine at each mole, then waited about 10 minutes before coming back to slice off a sample at each site. No sweat, though they’re each still a little sensitive today. I’m keeping them covered by band-aids and using neosporin so they heal quickly and don’t get infected.
Have you had your moles checked?
Is it really hip to be square?
Saw this on the highway – very speedy little chap, so it was hard to snap the photo.
March 29, 2007
iLove it!
I got a free iPod Shuffle from a vendor at work. W00t!
It’s on the teeny ones with a built-in clip. It’s adorably tiny.
I’m still trying to figure out how to use this damn, non-intuitive iTunes software, but I’m delighted. I’ve never had an MP3 player before.
UPDATE: I’m a little disappointed to discover that I can’t import my *.flac files into iTunes. That means I need to convert my flac files to either MP3 or ALAC format, which means duplicate files of all the music I want to put onto my iPod, which is kinda silly, but disk space is cheap, I guess.
Still, I loved being able to listen to my book while waiting in the doctor’s office yesterday!