Monday, August 01, 2005
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAW!!!!
Congratulations to the Wilton (Iowa) High School baseball team. This weekend they completed an amazing season by winning the state tournament (class 2A) to finish with a record of 42-0. They are the first Iowa team to have an undefeated season since 1973 and only the seventh in state history.
I was pleased to be able to watch the webcast of this game. The tournament has moved from Marshalltown to Des Moines and they now play at the park that is home to the Iowa Cubs (Chicago Cubs AAA affiliate). They still have a few bugs to work out such as the lack of play-by-play audio on the webcast and spending too long on graphics and replays of unimportant events so key plays were missed when they happened, but it was great to watch my old high school team play in a game while I was sitting in my home four states away. Now why couldn't the team have been this good back when I was in high school?
Congratulations to the Wilton (Iowa) High School baseball team. This weekend they completed an amazing season by winning the state tournament (class 2A) to finish with a record of 42-0. They are the first Iowa team to have an undefeated season since 1973 and only the seventh in state history.
I was pleased to be able to watch the webcast of this game. The tournament has moved from Marshalltown to Des Moines and they now play at the park that is home to the Iowa Cubs (Chicago Cubs AAA affiliate). They still have a few bugs to work out such as the lack of play-by-play audio on the webcast and spending too long on graphics and replays of unimportant events so key plays were missed when they happened, but it was great to watch my old high school team play in a game while I was sitting in my home four states away. Now why couldn't the team have been this good back when I was in high school?
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
It's tax time again. We managed to file very early this year and have both the federal and state refunds already. Our state refund arrived one week after we filed and the federal came just three days later.
Want to speed things up without paying an arm and a leg for those stupid refund loans? Go to the IRS website and check out the Free File program to see if you can file your federal return online for free through a participating company. You will need to check with the individual companies to determine how much they charge for filing a state return. You should also check your state department of taxation to see if they offer free filing directly through their website or sponsor corporate partnerships for free filing. Whether you file online or on paper, request direct deposit if available. This step speeds up your refund by almost two weeks. Note that some states require you to file electronically in order to receive your refund via direct deposit.
Want to speed things up without paying an arm and a leg for those stupid refund loans? Go to the IRS website and check out the Free File program to see if you can file your federal return online for free through a participating company. You will need to check with the individual companies to determine how much they charge for filing a state return. You should also check your state department of taxation to see if they offer free filing directly through their website or sponsor corporate partnerships for free filing. Whether you file online or on paper, request direct deposit if available. This step speeds up your refund by almost two weeks. Note that some states require you to file electronically in order to receive your refund via direct deposit.
Monday, October 11, 2004
The little one turned two on Thursday. Hard to believe! She's a good kid. She's still small but her weight is back on the growth chart now.
Got a new washing machine today. We chose the Maytag Neptune top loader. The old machine was dying rapidly. The floor in the old house was very uneven and it threw the machine way out of whack. The new machine in much quieter and should be more efficient. For those who don't know about this line, we chose it because it has a huge capacity because it doesn't have an agitator in the center of the tub. That means it is easier to get those socks off the bottom also. The top loader means less bending than when unloading a front load machine.
Another heads up for all you Civ 3 Conquests players: The Rise And Rule modpack is out and it is wunderbar. It is in its first version so there are still a few bugs but it is very playable and totally addictive. Warning, be prepared for a HUGE download (107.7 MB). This is a new-and-improved version of the wildly popular (and fun) Double Your Pleasure mod.
Got a new washing machine today. We chose the Maytag Neptune top loader. The old machine was dying rapidly. The floor in the old house was very uneven and it threw the machine way out of whack. The new machine in much quieter and should be more efficient. For those who don't know about this line, we chose it because it has a huge capacity because it doesn't have an agitator in the center of the tub. That means it is easier to get those socks off the bottom also. The top loader means less bending than when unloading a front load machine.
Another heads up for all you Civ 3 Conquests players: The Rise And Rule modpack is out and it is wunderbar. It is in its first version so there are still a few bugs but it is very playable and totally addictive. Warning, be prepared for a HUGE download (107.7 MB). This is a new-and-improved version of the wildly popular (and fun) Double Your Pleasure mod.
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Guess what? My last post mentioned a dying hard drive. Bought a new computer in February. In August the new computer's hard drive (serial ATA) also bit the dust. It is currently in the hands of a local geek shop in a data recovery effort. Of course the new machine is still under warranty so a brand-spankin' new drive is installed and I bought a second hard drive for data files just in case.
We are now one month away from DD's second birthday. She has learned to climb up stairs but not down them. This means we have to work harder to keep her out of things. She also runs on her toes and dances. Lots of babbling and even some words that we can understand. She still loves the Baby Einstein videos and her book collections although she has loved "Ten Little Ladybugs" to death.
Another thing I've been doing lately is playing with Paint Shop. CivFanatics Forum has a series of pages called Image Editing Fun where an original picture is posted and we have a week or so to make something funny out of it. It isn't just a caption/speech bubble contest. Lots of fun even for people who don't play the Civilization games!
Speaking of fun, we went to the Iowa State Fair last month. This year was the 150 anniversary of the fair. DD loved it since it meant she got all kinds of junk food (everything you could ever want served on a stick) and got to play with goats in the petting zoo. The theme in photography this year was Barns of Iowa and some of the entries were impressive. I really enjoyed the needlework exhibit also since it is now in the upper level of the newly air-conditioned Varied Industries Building. The bad part was the needlework was displayed in glass cases so the items were about 15-18 inches behind glass. Then the cases were cordoned off so you couldn't get within two feet of them. This made detail examination of the pieces impossible. There were a couple instances of entrants using the same design with one earning a ribbon and the other not. I overheard some people questioning why the one was considered better than the other. In one case it was quite obvious since the framed piece had visibly sagging fabric and wrinkles. Really sad since the person had spent a lot of money on a lovely velvet-like mat and fancy frame. I can only hope the piece isn't glued to the mounting board so it can be taken apart and remounted without any damage. I also want to give a shout out to Anne Long--I saw your work & loved it! I have Victoria Sampler's "Green Earth Sampler" (as well as the rest of the series) in my stash. Someday...although I always figured I'd do "Crystal Waters Sampler" first.
NickJr has become creepier. LazyTown, a show from Iceland, is now on the air. It features this pre-teen girl named Stephanie running around with an adult guy named Sportacus. These two and the world's most boring bad guy Robbie Rotten are played by live actors while the other characters in the show are puppets. The "Bing Bang" song is somewhat catchy but that is the only bright spot in the show. Hopefully this show will disappear just like Rubbadubbers.
Enough for now since it is time to go switch laundry and get ready for lunch.
We are now one month away from DD's second birthday. She has learned to climb up stairs but not down them. This means we have to work harder to keep her out of things. She also runs on her toes and dances. Lots of babbling and even some words that we can understand. She still loves the Baby Einstein videos and her book collections although she has loved "Ten Little Ladybugs" to death.
Another thing I've been doing lately is playing with Paint Shop. CivFanatics Forum has a series of pages called Image Editing Fun where an original picture is posted and we have a week or so to make something funny out of it. It isn't just a caption/speech bubble contest. Lots of fun even for people who don't play the Civilization games!
Speaking of fun, we went to the Iowa State Fair last month. This year was the 150 anniversary of the fair. DD loved it since it meant she got all kinds of junk food (everything you could ever want served on a stick) and got to play with goats in the petting zoo. The theme in photography this year was Barns of Iowa and some of the entries were impressive. I really enjoyed the needlework exhibit also since it is now in the upper level of the newly air-conditioned Varied Industries Building. The bad part was the needlework was displayed in glass cases so the items were about 15-18 inches behind glass. Then the cases were cordoned off so you couldn't get within two feet of them. This made detail examination of the pieces impossible. There were a couple instances of entrants using the same design with one earning a ribbon and the other not. I overheard some people questioning why the one was considered better than the other. In one case it was quite obvious since the framed piece had visibly sagging fabric and wrinkles. Really sad since the person had spent a lot of money on a lovely velvet-like mat and fancy frame. I can only hope the piece isn't glued to the mounting board so it can be taken apart and remounted without any damage. I also want to give a shout out to Anne Long--I saw your work & loved it! I have Victoria Sampler's "Green Earth Sampler" (as well as the rest of the series) in my stash. Someday...although I always figured I'd do "Crystal Waters Sampler" first.
NickJr has become creepier. LazyTown, a show from Iceland, is now on the air. It features this pre-teen girl named Stephanie running around with an adult guy named Sportacus. These two and the world's most boring bad guy Robbie Rotten are played by live actors while the other characters in the show are puppets. The "Bing Bang" song is somewhat catchy but that is the only bright spot in the show. Hopefully this show will disappear just like Rubbadubbers.
Enough for now since it is time to go switch laundry and get ready for lunch.
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Arrrgh! I turned the computer on this morning and it worked fine. When I came back after lunch it was wearing the Blue Screen of Death with the message that it couldn't write to C: and data might be lost. Uh Oh! It wouldn't budge from the BSoD so I had to force a reboot. Then it said it couldn't find the hard drive and I needed to insert the system disk. By this time I had one of my famous killer headaches. I shut it off for a few hours. Then I came back and popped the side of the tower to make certain all the cables were tightly seated for the hard drive. It did reboot then but I'm still having trouble. I'm not certain yet whether it is a Windows problem or if the hard drive is really failing. I pulled up a DOS prompt (since Windows Explorer wasn't working) and copied critical stuff to Zip disks like a fiend. Times like this I'm thankful I learned to use computers before the Windows era.
As you can see, it is letting me online now. It is likely to flake out again. I expect I need to hunt down my Windows cds and reinstall the OS. Next thing to try will be reformatting C:. If that doesn't work, this old girl is out of warranty (and already on her second hard drive) so I guess it is replacement time.
Once I did get it running again, I hurried to print off the tax data on it just in case it totally dies. I also put those files on a couple of diskettes (besides the Zips) so we know we have an accessible file.
Yes, tax time is approaching. This year's filing should be more chaotic since we sold the old house, had a lot of non-cash charitable donations (in the house cleaning process), and I got fed up with the bank's management of my IRA so rolled it to TIAA-CREF. I still have to make my 2003 contribution but cash is a bit tight. Maybe after next paycheck... After the taxes are filed it is time for the annual file cabinet cleaning. Oh, the joy! Will I ever again find time for stitching?
As you can see, it is letting me online now. It is likely to flake out again. I expect I need to hunt down my Windows cds and reinstall the OS. Next thing to try will be reformatting C:. If that doesn't work, this old girl is out of warranty (and already on her second hard drive) so I guess it is replacement time.
Once I did get it running again, I hurried to print off the tax data on it just in case it totally dies. I also put those files on a couple of diskettes (besides the Zips) so we know we have an accessible file.
Yes, tax time is approaching. This year's filing should be more chaotic since we sold the old house, had a lot of non-cash charitable donations (in the house cleaning process), and I got fed up with the bank's management of my IRA so rolled it to TIAA-CREF. I still have to make my 2003 contribution but cash is a bit tight. Maybe after next paycheck... After the taxes are filed it is time for the annual file cabinet cleaning. Oh, the joy! Will I ever again find time for stitching?
Sunday, January 11, 2004
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!
Saturday, January 10, 2004
It has been over a month since I've hit the blog. And what a month!
Sending out the Christmas cards really "paid off" this year since we got far more in return than usual. It is great to hear from people all across the country and see pictures of their families.
We took the large holiday road trip to see the 'rents & assorted others in Iowa. Miracles happen as we all stayed healthy. We did make sure DD had her flu shot before we hit the road. I've just uploaded four rolls of film for perusal and to prove we really were there. DD was totally spoiled since she was surrounded by more grandmas than you can shake a stick at. She is finally getting back into her home routine again. Of course she has a ton of new toys. We did squeeze everything into the Alero instead of renting a van. We expect to own a minivan or suv by next Christmas since the Escort has been steadfast for more than a decade but is rapidly failing.
DD had her 15 month peds visit this week and the little pudding still weighs just over 18 pounds. She sure feels heavier than that! Considering she is a good eater and seems to be doing all the things a 15 month old should, we aren't too worried. We'd both be better off if I could just give her some of my excess.
The spring semester starts on Monday so DH has to get back to the work routine. He has a night class this term which is going to be an adjustment for all of us.
I'm currently re-reading the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. I'm also playing a lot of Civilization III: Conquests (C3C). I recommend the Civ 3 games for anyone who is thinking about trying a computer strategy game. C3C is an expansion pack for Civ 3 or Civ III: Play the World. I prefer to just play against the computer however online gaming is available. Cable or DSL connection strongly recommended.
Sending out the Christmas cards really "paid off" this year since we got far more in return than usual. It is great to hear from people all across the country and see pictures of their families.
We took the large holiday road trip to see the 'rents & assorted others in Iowa. Miracles happen as we all stayed healthy. We did make sure DD had her flu shot before we hit the road. I've just uploaded four rolls of film for perusal and to prove we really were there. DD was totally spoiled since she was surrounded by more grandmas than you can shake a stick at. She is finally getting back into her home routine again. Of course she has a ton of new toys. We did squeeze everything into the Alero instead of renting a van. We expect to own a minivan or suv by next Christmas since the Escort has been steadfast for more than a decade but is rapidly failing.
DD had her 15 month peds visit this week and the little pudding still weighs just over 18 pounds. She sure feels heavier than that! Considering she is a good eater and seems to be doing all the things a 15 month old should, we aren't too worried. We'd both be better off if I could just give her some of my excess.
The spring semester starts on Monday so DH has to get back to the work routine. He has a night class this term which is going to be an adjustment for all of us.
I'm currently re-reading the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. I'm also playing a lot of Civilization III: Conquests (C3C). I recommend the Civ 3 games for anyone who is thinking about trying a computer strategy game. C3C is an expansion pack for Civ 3 or Civ III: Play the World. I prefer to just play against the computer however online gaming is available. Cable or DSL connection strongly recommended.
