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20 row(s) meet your search criteria for August , 2003.
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Great Birthday Card from the Inlaws - August 28, 2003
I celebrated my birthday a weekend or so ago and got the best card from Marie's parents.....(click front to see the inside)
;)
Wireless Desktop - August 28, 2003
Back in December, I wrote about the Wireless Desktop I got as a Christmas present. At that time I thought the thing was great. While I still do, my only criticism is that it churns through batteries on the mouse like you wouldn't believe. I'm on the computer everyday (not all day, but most of the evenings), but it requests news batteries about every 6 weeks!
The only other criticism of the keyboard is that it's shape prevents Garrett's Tonka Joe playset appliance from seating correctly, and sometimes it doesn't work getting him all upset.
Vacation Picture - August 28, 2003
We were on Vacation last week at the Oregon Coast (Cannon Beach). The weather was absolutely perfect, the accomodations (more) were wonderful (2 blocks from the sand).
I've got a batch of pictures to post, some of them are actually not bad. I'm still working on getting them cropped so you can actually see who is in photo. But as I go through that process, I discovered that the Unibomber was actually paroled and is hanging out at Smuggler's Cove (caution: 500k picture).
Garrett Sings - August 28, 2003
Garrett really impresses us with his memory sometimes. Lately, while riding in the car he's been really into listening to the Veggie Tales CD that Marie bought. One of the songs he's got memorized....
One of his favorites he likes us to sing. So we start off:
Ma/Pa:I've got the..
love of Jesus
love of Jesus
down in my heart.
Garrett: Where?
Ma/Pa:Down in my heart.
Garrett: Where?
Ma/Pa:Down in my heart.
It's really a crack up that he picks up little things about the songs and sings those parts with us.
He has also professed to "Hey Diddle Diddle" being "my favorite song". I think I'm going to hate that song in the near future.
Speaking of Disgruntled Employees - August 27, 2003
I don't normally talk about work on my "Notes from the Field". Too many people get in trouble for bitching about work on their Blogs. However, in the spirit of full disclosure, I am announcing that I have begun the divestiture of my employer's various stock plans. Soon I can be free of any financial ties to this company.
For the last year or so, I had been hoping to not get layed off before September 1, 2003 for this was the 4 year anniversary of the acquisition of my friendly small "boutique" Oracle consulting shop by the Indian offshore outsourcing company. As an employee owned company, I worked side-by-side with the owners, had a voice in the management, direction and ultimate success of the firm. In recognition of this role, I was granted 2000 options as part of the original acqusition, vesting in increments each year. After 4 years, I would be fully vested. Monday is that day.
For the last 4 years, the stock performance has been mediocre at best, not much different than the rest of the market. So the options that have vested over the years, have not been worth much more than the cost to exercise those options. However, in a strange quirk of fate, the stock has climbed to near 52-week highs in the last 6 weeks. The news on the stock has not been anything of note. Profits were up on reduced revenue (this should read - "we are screwing the employees and exercising maniacal cost reductions in order to increase profits artificially). The company also declared a 1-time cash dividend to stockholders as of August 29, 2003. I think that is driving the stock price up. While this is good for the short term, this type of manipulation is "lipstick on a pig". It can't last for long before the inevitable return to mediocrity.
However, the sudden rise in stock has provided me enough incentive to sell what I have vested (1200) shares as the options are finally worth something. After the dividend is paid I predict that the stock will drop back to its comfort zone (16 or so) and languish there. Hopefully, the drop will not be instant, so I can get rid of the other 800 shares and be done hoping for the fantasy of meteoric stock prices resulting in Stadium Naming Rights.
Another Workplace Shooting - August 27, 2003
Six people died today in Chicago during a shooting by a disgruntled employee at the workplace. This is tragic. But what disturbs me more is this:
Tapia had been arrested a dozen times in the past 14 years on various charges, including illegal possession of a weapon, domestic battery and assault.
Anybody who opposes legislation of the "Three Strikes" variety should take a look at this case and think hard about why this guy was not behind bars. Instead he was taking a gun into his former place of employment and "hunting" down the employees and shooting them dead.
The only positive of this story is that the Police shot him dead, sparing us the inevitable legal battles and courtroom wrangling over mental compentency. He got his death penalty, swiftly, and justly.
MLB Stadium Bill - PASSED! - August 27, 2003
In a blinding storm of (even more) legislative voodoo, the MLB stadium funding bill, cleverly described as a "Jobs Bill", passed the Senate, and the House over the weekend and now awaits the signature of the Governor (who has stated he will sign the bill). I'm not sure I can clearly understand let alone articulate what all happened, but it passed and that's all that matters.
Now this.....
....edges closer to reality! (click to enlarge)
MojoMark Field..... I like it! I wonder if I can get a loan for the $30 mil or so for naming rights.... Maybe I should play Powerball this week. UPDATE: Not a winner. Ho hum. But nobody else did either. $140Mil this weekend. Another chance!
More info can be found at the The Oregon Baseball Campaign site, especially in the forums.
Friday Five - August 15, 2003
1. How much time do you spend online each day?
Almost the entire work day. When I get home I do a quick email check, and then try to focus on family for a few hours, at least until the kids go to bed. Then depending on my feeling, I may spend another 2 hours or so working on my many projects, or reading blogs.
2. What is your browser homepage set to?
my.yahoo.com - I've got it highly customized in a three column layout: on the left is Yahoo search box, my Bookmarks, Stock prices, and My Local Team Scoreboard. In the middle (wide) column is 5 news feeds: Reuters, Baseball, Sports, Entertainment and Oddly Enough - which is very funny sometimes - and tonight's prime time TV lineup. On the right is a link to Yahoo Mail, a calendar, calculator, weather reports and map links. This is my home page at both home and work, and is a great dashboard for jumping off and keeping informed.
3. Do you use any instant messaging programs? If so, which one(s)?
I have AOL Instant Messenger at home, not at work, but don't always logon. I've too often left it logged on when I go to bed at night, and since I have DSL, its always on.
4. Where was your first webpage located?
members.aol.com/mojomark - it's still there but re-directs to my second website which only partially exists.
5. How long have you had your current website?
April of 2001 was when Mojomark.com was built and came online.
What time is it? - August 15, 2003
Every now and again there comes down the pike a graphic so good the fresh concept blows you away.
The joke goes like this:
The University of Poland science students have finally finished their digital clock they have been working on for 4 years.
Best Sports City - August 15, 2003
The Sporting News (a Fair and Balanced sports publication) has released its apparently annual list of Best Sports Cities and ranked Los Angeles/Anaheim #1.
Let that set in a little.
WTF? Is it April Fools day? Are you kidding?
Granted, it has been a good year or so for SoCal sports. They cite:
- The Angels are World Champs.
- The Mighty Ducks went to the Stanley Cup Finals.
- The Lakers used to be pretty good.
- The USC QB won the Heisman.
- The Dodgers, the Kings and the Clippers; annual PGA Tour and pro tennis stops; Winston Cup racing at the California Speedway; the newly opened Home Depot Center, an athletic venue of Olympic proportions (and new training camp home to the San Diego Chargers ... hmmm). The WNBA's Sparks and Major League Soccer's Galaxy; eight Division I basketball programs, not to mention the Pond's playing host to the NCAA Tournament West Regional.
I have a number of rebuttals for The Sporting News. 1st, they have lumped all of the Southern California together (except for San Diego). What they don't realize is that LA and Orange County very different geographies. I don't think they took into account the fanbase between the two geographies.
2nd, quantity does not make quality, except when it comes to a free buffet or beer (as goes the phrase, "the only thing that makes bad beer better is more of it!").
3rd, Most people in SoCal go to events to be seen by others driving up in your new Hummer talking on your micro flip phone/PDA/Camera with your new trophy wife who just finished 3 courses of Botox from the same surgeon who did her cousin's wife's friend's breast implants and liposuction procedure.
4th, SoCal only supports winners. I'm not going to look, but you can bet the attendance at Angels and Ducks games was probably much less at non-playoff games than what was seen on TV.
I'm not going to suggest that Portland is a better sports town than LA-Anaheim (Portland is ranked 39th, which is a discussion for some other time). But is LA-Anaheim the best? The quality and loyalty of the fanbase says more about a "sports town" than the periodic and fleeting quality of their teams.
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