Insignifica

Happy days, Walk, Holiday Weekend, No Plans, Pet Peeve

It's the last Friday in June!

Picture of the day!

Easily one of the best from Halloween 2006. The girlfriend uses Chris' patented scream-face maneuver against him.

Pet peeve of the day - Instant Messaging software that doesn't allow logging. How am I supposed to remember who I said to what? Or what happens when the window gets closed? Come on, everyone - make it easy to turn off for people who don't want it, but give us logging.

Another great weekend with no plans - we'll see if we get anything done. The baby's getting into more and more stuff lately, and it's time to babyproof.

Speaking of the weekend, is this one the "Holiday Weekend" for 4th of July? Or next? Everyone keeps using the terms, but not defining it.

Only got in a short walk with the baby this morning (she woke up at 6), but still went about 3/4 of a mile. Better than nothing, methinks. Tomorrow we'll walk the Farmer's Market in Irvine.

Happy days, friends!

Party?, Invocations, Dinner, July, Exercise, Blog

Hey, it's Thursday!

Picture of the day!

Grand Canyon. I like the split in this photo.

New blog news early next week!

Jogged/walked 1.5 miles today. I'm down to 212 for the first time that I can remember. 210 is my next goal, and it's very, very realistic.

I'm having trouble believing it's already almost July. Our weather's been perfect for two months, and I'm not looking forward to heat. Maybe it'll be a mild summer...

We need dinner ideas - send yours this way.

Two weeks ago I sent out a letter to my city officials (and some city employees) discussing one of my pet projects, invocations at city meetings. I've emailed and even met with Santa Ana officials before, but now it seems like they might actually be ignoring me. Maybe I'm getting something done - but do any of you have good ideas for forcing the government people's hands in such situations?

If I threw a "hey, we're just gonna have a party, OK" kinda party, would you attend? How about one with a "theme"? What are you looking for in social gatherings? Lemme know, and thanks for reading!

Bonds, Haveli, Walked, Power, Hump

Happy Hump Day!

Picture of the day!

Super cute picture, with lots of views. I didn't post this before, did I?

Today is "power outage day" at my house - Socal Edison is supposed to kill power around 9am, and it should be back around 3pm. We'll see what happens at lunch - I might have to go out, or eat a cold sammich, again. As an aside, you should have seen the number of SCE trucks in the parking lot near my house. You'd think they were replacing every wire.

1.4 miles today, mostly walked. I've always heard that the same number of calories are used over a given distance, so that's good.

We're trying a new restaurant tonight - Haveli Fine Indian Cuisine. Chris says good things, and it's somewhere we've wanted to try for a long time.

Yesterday's call for people interested in a Barry Bonds HR pool have so far yielded three players. If you're interested, contact me and I'll forward you the instructions.

What's new, my friends?

Pool, Mile, Baby Glesser, Baby Walking

Good day!

Picture of the day!

Katie, wearing her bowl at lunch.

It's very strange to see my baby walking - just a week ago she wouldn't take more than a couple steps between objects, but now she's using it as a primary means to get from here to there. She can stop, turn around, stand up from a sitting position on the ground with no support, open and close things while standing - little ones develop so fast.

Speaking of little ones, congrats to Adam and Kim on the birth of Jonathan Patrick Glesser!

Walked/jogged just under a mile today (each lap around my complex is just under a half-mile, and I did two laps). Better than nothing.

While not an addict, I very much enjoy gambling and games of chance (hence my frequent requests for "friendly wagers"). If you've got one, I'm game. If you're looking for one, please join me in a friendly "pool" for choosing the date that Barry Bonds will beat Hank Aaron's home run record. If you'd like to play, let me know, and I'll get you set up.

Otherwise, life here is good. What's new with you?

Explosions, Newport Ave., Jogging, Delicious, Birthday

Happy Monday! Happy Birthday to Teresa today!

Picture of the day!

Some statuary at the Huntington.

Great weekend - baby's feeling better (though she hates her medicine, still), got a lot done around the house, had some good beers, and did a lot of cooking of delicious food. Awesome. I also found that the baking stone I have in my oven isn't just good for cooking pizza, it's great for reheating it - it re-crisps the crust and gets the cheese just melted enough. Of course, that requires turning the oven on and warming it up, but if it's already warm, or you don't care about the energy waste, go for it!

Jogged/walked 1.3 miles today. Didn't have a whole lot of time. Glad to get that in, though.

If you're in OC, take a drive up Newport Ave. sometime, north of 17th street (the one in Tustin, not the one in Costa Mesa). It curves and becomes this winding road through the hills - 4th street east of Tustin also kinda does this, as does Santiago Canyon (of course). I love drives that give you the illusion of being out of the city, even though you're only a couple miles from home.

The cool kids around my neighborhood have decided that huge explosions at 10pm are perfectly acceptable, since it's less than 2 weeks until July 4th. That's great.

That's all I'll subject you to today. What's new?

Weekend, Gas, Laughlin, Walking, Exercise, Recovoring

Hey, it's Friday!

Picture of the day!

David and Chris, Halloween 2003.

Normal schedule today, finally. Baby's feeling pretty good, and now that we've gotten her to regularly take her meds (by forcing them on her in her sleep), we don't think her infection will relapse. Good news!

Jogged/walked 1.4 miles today (that seems to be a usual route for me). Baby and I will probably walk several miles tomorrow, too.

Speaking of walking, Katie pretty much started walking for real yesterday (the last few weeks have been a few steps between objects, for the most part). Now she's using it as a means of locomotion, and is pretty darn good at it. That child learns quickly.

I'm still trying to find people interested in a nice cheap vacation with me to Laughlin. Gambling, river activities, a beautiful drive through the desert in August - let's go! If you're interested, let me know and I'll add you to the evite.

I saw gas at two stations today for $2.99. That's refreshing, if not still too high.

Any big plans this weekend, friends? I'm still looking for something to do tomorrow. Your suggestions welcome! Have a great weekend!

Shirts, Spam, Saturday, Seven, Solstice

It's Thursday! It'll be another day late to the office, as I'm now in charge of the baby's metabolic appointments. That's what sick time is for.

Picture of the day!

Happy baby.

Happy Summer Solstice! It's all downhill from here, but it'll be good ride.

Katie decided to get up at 7 (even though we could have slept in until 8:30), so we went for a walk today and got in 2 miles. That'll do.

As a father's day present, I'm getting Saturday night off. Now the choice is between a religion/god debate, sleeping/relaxing, or cleaning my house. In all honesty, all three of those options are appealing. We'll see if anything else comes up, too.

My spam levels have remained pretty constant, but lately I'm getting a BUNCH of spam for casinos and casino products, all with lower case subject lines. Weird.

Man, I got myself two nice new shirts last week, and both shrank on their first watch - one of this is pretty much too small now, and now in a way I can lose weight to fit into (unless you know a way to shrink your shoulders). Damn the man.

One more day this week. Any plans for the weekend? Any suggestions for mine?

Summer, Exercise, Four Words, Game Show Push, Meds

Wednesday!

Picture of the day!

Baby and her momma at Sequoia. This is the 20th picture in my 20th set.

Finally back on the fairly normal schedule, though baby still doesn't like her medicine. I put it in juice and sent the sippy cup to daycare. Hopefully that works.

Next time you see me, ask if I'm working toward getting on a game show. Most require video tape auditions. If I say "not enough", push me. Like, physically push me. Thanks!

Chris made me laugh yesterday with his entry: fill in the blank (and be funny/odd) - "Four words that will end any date: _____ _____ _____ _____".

I didn't get any real exercise in this morning (not enough time), but I did some stretching and sit ups. Tomorrow Katie has a doctor's appointment early, but I hope to get back on the horse Friday.

Summer starts tomorrow! We should celebrate. Any ideas?

New Blog, Light Sharpener, Antibiotics, Vodka

Happy Tuesday!

Picture of the day!

A picture from the vodka set. At one time, I was intent on doing an illustrated write-up of my Christmas Vodka production process (hence all the pictures). Alas, that never happened. But you can still look at the pictures and get a good idea.

I'm on a weird schedule. Baby's feeling better (she's back at daycare), but I've been trying to arrange a new antibiotic for her all morning, as she won't take her current one in any form except an injection. Is it too much to ask for a unflavored powder? Even if it's a bit bitter, mixing that in fruit or veggies won't give the same horrible taste or consistency that adding this pink abomination provides.

As of this writing, it's not yet completed, but check out Rob Cockerham's Light Sharpener project. Great hack.

New blog now much more certain to be coming soon! Watch this space!

That's all I've got today. What can I do for you?

Katie Hospital Birthday Recap

Happy Monday, and Happy Birthday Katie!

Pictures of the day!

Family Day 1, and Family Day 339 (the most recent pic of all of us).

Speaking of Katherine, she decided that Father's Day wasn't any fun if we didn't spend it in the hospital, so she decided not to eat all day, forcing a trip to the St. Joseph's ER around 5pm last night. This, of course, interrupted her birthday party, but she didn't care. She wasn't feeling well starting Saturday, but we thought she'd be ok for the party. She was tired and irritable, but not listless and very strong when being asked to do something she wasn't interested in (like eating) - making her go about 7 hours without. She finally gave in about 30 minutes after we got checked in, though, so that made us much less nervous.

Her hospital stay consisted of trying, without luck, veins in both arms, and finally finding a usable one in her head. She didn't care much for being held down for that long, but was really a good girl, considering. Tests came back fine (in terms of metabolics), but she has a bladder infection that needs antibiotics. She got her first shot of those while were still at the hospital, and hopefully we'll be able to get her to take the rest (1 year olds don't care for medicine that tastes bad either, but they're smarter than the rest of us, and spit it out).

Thanks to everyone for Katie's presents and to everyone who cleaned up - I got back home and found the clubhouse good as new (I knew stuff had been done, but I wasn't expecting to find it THIS clean). We'll have to have another party, though, for everyone who couldn't come, and for the birthday girl, who really didn't enjoy herself that much.

Funny story in the hospital: After getting blood from her head (which made the whole operation look a lot more serious than it was), they wanted to give her some basic saline solution to rehydrate her. She was drooly and sweaty anyway (and I sweat when I've got a hot baby resting on me), so I didn't think much of my shirt getting damp. But after a while I looked and noticed she was soaked, as I was too - her IV wasn't in her vein, had deposited some fluid under her skin, and deposited the rest on me. I told the nurse about it, she got the baby cleaned up just as the doctor came in with the good news that there was nothing wrong metabolically. Oddly enough, the baby calmed way down afterward and played for about 30 minutes, but this was before any treatment other than the saline shower.

Baby's doing better today, and is already in better spirits (that first dose of antibiotics can work wonders).

In other news, no jogging today. Got up late, did breakfast, and have to head to work. But people have been asking about how I measure distances - I use the Gmaps Pedometer. It's also a great tool to see how far you'll be traveling, or how far something is "as the crow flies" instead of by roads.

That was my weekend. How's it hanging?

Busy, Myspace, UCI AAR, Red Lights, Baby, Sore, Images, Friday

Happy Friday!

Picture of the day!

One of my favorites from Halloween 2002. I hope I still have the originals for these - I realized today that I uploaded very small versions of most of that set (most pictures I saved/uploaded before 2005 were small sizes, for space purposes. I now upload a very large version of all pictures to Flickr, since I have the space and they make displaying any size image easy).

Little bit sore today - walked/jogged 1.6 miles. Other than taking a while to cool down (I'm a sweaty guy), I'm doing well with this.

My baby turns 1 on Monday! Yay!

Tori answered my red light question yesterday with an experience from driving school - You'd think that'd be a perfectly good source, but I keep hearing different stories about the law from driving school. You'd think the law would be on the California Laws site, but I can't find it.

We've got some new members of Orange County Atheists who are also in UCI's Atheists, Agnostics and Rationalists club. Not only is it awesome having more young people in the group, UCI AAR and OC Atheists will hopefully be able to team up for a blood drive in the fall. OC Atheists has had trouble doing it alone, as you need a location to run a drive, and we don't have one.

Myspace is on a tear recently with updates, after years with barely anything - and most have to do with usability. Easier editing of friends, searching friends, cleaning stuff up - is Myspace getting decent?

I've got a busy weekend - what's up for you? Happy Friday!

Weekend, Birthday, Halloween, Red Lights, Sammich, Flag Day

Thursday, and Flag Day! Hey, that's great. Good luck with your flag day.

Picture of the day!

From Cinco de Mayo this year. Yeah, I dunno either.

Jogged just about one mile today. Good stuff. Afterward, I made a breakfast sandwich with two pieces sourdough, two veggie sausages, one fried egg, and one slice of cheese. Then I wrapped it in foil to let it sit so I could bring it to work. That's tasty.

I have a theory - if you were to ask ten cops and/or judges what constitutes "running a red light" in California, you'd get at least 5 different answers. Do you know? I don't, and I can't find a good definition in any state publication or website. If you have insight, tell me.

I have two competing ideas for Halloween this year (which is only 4 1/2 months away!) - and I won't tell you either. One would be super showy, though, but isn't really a specific character or costume, just an archetype. The other would be very funny if I got it right. I've still got a bit of time...

Baby's birthday is this weekend! I realized yesterday that we haven't rented the clubhouse in over a year - her baby shower was the last time. Since then they've refinished the pool tables, so that's good.

One day until the weekend, friends. How's it shaping up for you?

Hump Day, OC Atheists, Pedopeter, Jogging, Alaska

Happy Wednesday!

Picture of the day!

Katie in her seat with a wee hat.

If you're awesome, check out Chris and Marek's Trip To Alaska. Those dudes are hardcore. Chris can tune a travel harp on a train by ear. He's my hero.

I jogged/walked just under 1.5 miles today. I think that's a good start for the first day of a new workout routine. Updating everyone here is one more incentive for me to keep it up.

If you'd like to see how far you've jogged/walked/ran/drove/flew on any given trip (even one with lots of twists and turns), I highly recommend the Gmaps Pedometer. I use it at work all the time, and it's quite handy.

Orange County Atheists meet tonight! More information at our website forums.

How's your humpday?

Sad News

TV's 'Mr. Wizard' Don Herbert dies at 89

LOS ANGELES - Don Herbert, who as television's "Mr. Wizard" introduced generations of young viewers to the joys of science, died Tuesday. He was 89. Herbert, who had bone cancer, died at his suburban Bell Canyon home, said his son-in-law, Tom Nikosey.

"He really taught kids how to use the thinking skills of a scientist," said former colleague Steve Jacobs. He worked with Herbert on a 1980s show that echoed the original 1950s "Watch Mr. Wizard" series, which became a fond baby boomer memory.

I used to watch him every morning on Nickelodeon, and he's one of the few television personalities I can point to and say "this man greatly influenced the direction I took my life". He's been out of the spotlight for several years, but it's very sad, nonetheless.

Athests, Laughlin, Father of the Year, Tuesday

Tuesday! It's Tuesday, right?

Picture of the day!

Family picture at the Grand Canyon.

Groggy morning. Woke up with the baby at 3am, and she was far too awake for the hour, so we tried just putting her in bed, hoping she'd calm down and sleep (which usually happens). Instead, while I nodded off, she escaped the bed, escaped the room, and started down the stairs. Father of the year, I'm not, but it's lit a fire under my ass to make my house look like a construction site with new fencing.

So, Laughlin? It'll be fun...

The next meeting of the Orange County Atheists will be held Tomorrow, June 13 at 7:30PM at the International House of Pancakes at 18542 MacArthur Blvd in Irvine. If you consider yourself an atheist, an agnostic, a freethinker, a humanist, or are just curious, check out this month's event. If you're planning on attending please RSVP at our website forums. Hope to see you there!

That's it for today. What's up?

Weekend, Spam, Poker, Monday

Happy Monday, friends! For whatever reason, this seemed like a long weekend, even though I was busy. Could be the lack of sleep, too, makin' me spacy. Life's just so darn interesting!

Picture of the day!

Neat view of the Grand Canyon with Colorado River. The haze is due to getting a nice closeup shot down in.

Good times at poker, and because of a healthy combination of cleaning, drugs, and not sitting on the furniture, neither my allergies or asthma got the best of me at Gary's place. Also: baby loves cats.

Is there interest in a poker party at our clubhouse sometime this summer? Nice place to do it - lots of room, loser's lounge with pool tables and shuffleboard, kitchen, etc.

I've been getting a lot of spam telling me I have tickets to go see Oprah, or wanting to know if I think Letterman or Leno is better. Weirdo spammers.

How was your weekend, mi amigos? Who's out there reading?

Weekend, Poll, Myspace, Spelling, Workout Routine, Birthday

Hey, it's Friday already. For a five-day week, this one went by pretty quickly. Happy Birthday to Ethan!

Picture of the day!

Poorly framed, but too cute not to share. Daddy eats baby arms.

Since the baby, my "go to the gym a few nights a week" routine totally disappeared, as I'm in charge of watching her in the evenings. I also didn't want to leave The Girlfriend with her for an hour, as she'd been with her all day. But now that Katie's in daycare and I can establish a bit of a routine again, I'm considering a morning exercise routine, though not in the gym. It'd require me to get up 30-45 minutes earlier every day, but it'd likely be worth it, especially if I can make it a regular thing. Thoughts?

My spelling has improved dramatically since using the new Firefox with auto spell check in all web forms. I see what I'm misspelling as I go, instead of all at once in a traditional spell check, and this is really doing the job. Good work, Firefox team!

Lots more little changes at Myspace - the "home page" for profiles is cleaned up a bit, there are links to Comment, Message or Block a user on their comments to you, and more bulletins are displayed. Could Myspace be fixing all the little things? Time will tell...

Quick Poll: Do you wear a watch? If yes, is it the primary way you check the time? If no, what do you use instead?

Busy weekend, but I might get some time to clean my office. I honestly think that'll make me more productive in the rest of my life. I'm just like that. What's coming up for you? I hope you have a fantastic Saturday and Sunday!

Send You Something, OC Atheists, Ducks, Late Birthdate, Thursday

Thursday!

Picture of the day!

Booze. I liked the angle.

I realized late that yesterday was the day I wanted Katie to be born - she would have had a 06/06/06 birth date. Alas, she was 12 days later. But still...that would have been awesome.

Congrats to the Anaheim Ducks on their Stanley Cup win - apparently the first for a California team. We wisely avoided Anaheim streets last evening.

The next meeting of the Orange County Atheists will be held Wednesday, June 13 at 7:30PM at the International House of Pancakes at 18542 MacArthur Blvd in Irvine. If you consider yourself an atheist, an agnostic, a freethinker, a humanist, or are just curious, check out this month's event. If you're planning on attending please RSVP at our website forums. Hope to see you there!

My call to have you send me something has so far gone unheard, so I'd like to send you something. Drop me your address, and get a weird/funny care package. I've done this before too, and it was entertaining. You can leave it in the comments if you're brave, or email me if you're smart.

What's this weekend look like for you, friends?

Ducks, Angels, Atheists and Candidates, Stress Balls, Vacation Mode, Hump Day

Happy Hump Day!

Picture of the day!

Katie eating soap. We didn't think she'd be able to chew through the plastic - we were wrong. The taste didn't seem to bother her any (it's Trader Joe's Honey Oatmeal variety), so I had a taste myself. Not the best idea - that stuff lingers in your throat. That'll learn me.

I've been on vacation mode for the last few weeks, even when back at work (because of a short week and the then-pending Santa Cruz trip). Now I'm pretty sure I'm done traveling long distances until August's Laughlin trip (which you're invited to!), so it'll be nice to not be in the car. I logged almost 2000 miles between last weekend and the Grand Canyon trip.

I found one of those stress balls floating around the office a few weeks ago, and I've really been using it a lot lately. I think I like it because it's one of those with the really thick, stretchy rubber skin and filled with little beads. Not that I'm stressed. Work is usually mellow.

There's a lot of God Talk out surrounding the presidential candidates - God was a topic of conversation for the Republicans (who really look like a stereotype of old white men in dark suits) at yesterday's debate, and the Democrat frontrunners had an "evangelical forum" Monday. AP had a story this week on the issue too.

The faith of the candidates is one thing - I fully realize that we're not gonna see much in the way of non-Christianity in our candidates - but lately it seems both the Dems and GOP are tripping over each other to show how Christian and spiritual they are. We'll see candidates at a variety of churches, more religious forums, and the topic will continue to be in the forefront. I doubt highly you'll see any of the candidates even mention atheism or non-majority/non-Abrahamic religions, for fear of offending the voters for whom that might be a touchy subject. But with estimates of non-religious Americans upwards of 15%, or 45 million people, it's interesting that the topic of non-belief isn't one that's likely to even be touched.

I thought this quote from yesterday's AP recap of the Angels game was funny:

Angels manager Mike Scioscia made an impressive bid to become the eighth big league manager to get ejected this week, but Davis let him have his say despite a heated argument.

In other sports news, the Ducks stand a good chance tonight of bringing the Stanley Cup to Southern California for the first time. While I don't care much for hockey, that would be exciting.

That's all for today. How's it hanging?

Game Shows, Myspace, Walking, Flickr, Recovered.

Ah, Tuesday, and no longer hung over. I forget sometimes that alcohol, for all its wonderful effects, is a poison, and your body treats it as such.

Picture of the day!

Amy and me, in Santa Cruz this weekend. We hadn't seen each other in 7 years, and decided to get together for lunch and downtowning while I was there. Yay for old friendships!

In Flickr news, apparently the service is out of Gamma, and now "loves you". That's fine and all, and yeah, it's seen a lot of me, but do we really know each other? Really?

My baby decided she was just gonna start standing around yesterday, occasionally lifting a box over her head. Her balance is fantastic. I still predict fairly regular walking by her birthday on the 18th.

I love Myspace, but when someone deletes their profile, instead of letting me know, it's just gone, and it leaves a hole at the end of your friend's page - it doesn't tell you who it was. You have to hope you either remember, or a search engine indexed it at some point. I'm amazed with the money they're bringing in, and the additions they've made, that they haven't thought to fix this or a host of other issues. Weird.

I'm not trying very hard to get on any game shows lately. Perhaps I should. Cause it's fun to be on TV when you didn't commit a crime.

That's it for me. How's it hanging?

Atlantis, Alaska, Tan, Party, Recovering, Monday

Good day, and happy Monday!

Picture of the day!

Gary says hello. Eric makes a face.

I'm not fully recovered this morning - I don't recommend partying too much in Santa Cruz then driving home, hungover, on five hours of sleep. I strongly considered getting a room for the night somewhere in between, but I stuck it out.

On that topic, awesome birthday party in Tori's honor - lots of people (new friends for me), great food, ample drinking, and a very entertaining bar scene in Santa Cruz (I was kinda straightedge some of the time I was in college, I missed out on a lot of that). Tori also gave me my birthday present - an amazing painting called "Goddess Space Aquatic". It's easily one of my favorites she's ever done, and I was surprised to find out it was mine. Thank you!

I'm wearing a tan shirt today. Wanted to change it up a bit, but being out of black/dark colors is VERY strange.

Chris and Marek are in Alaska, kayaking. That's all kinda of awesome.

Stargate Atlantis is a show I watch regularly, but I don't keep up with spoilers the same way I do with Heroes or I did with Star Trek. Due to that, I think, this week's episode, "Sunday", was that much better. I won't give anything away, but if you watch the show, make sure you see this episode. I predict it'll win some awards.

How was your weekend, friends?

SME, Link Reorganized, Weight Loss Blog, Santa Cruz, Day Care, Tempus Fugit.

Happy Friday, and Happy June! I can't believe we're almost halfway through 2007, and it's my baby's birthday month. Last year at this time, I was regularly telling everyone "no baby yet". Tempus Fugit.

Picture of the day!

Home Depot caution sign. Or as I like to call it, "Caution: Breakdancing ahead".

In baby news, she very much seems to be enjoying daycare. I like to ask her "how was your day" when I get home, but she just giggles at me, so I can't get a clear answer. But her day care provider seems to think she's enjoying herself, and she always likes other kids, so it's good so far.

I'm leaving for Santa Cruz tomorrow! I expect to be in town by 4pm at the latest, baring car explosions/alien abductions/wacky adventures.

Since none of us are posting (I don't even know if we're playing anymore), I've removed the feed from the Weight Loss Blog. It's still there, but it was taking up valuable page real estate on Insignifica.

I've also reorganized some of the links to the left (adding a "Social Networking" category, adding contact methods, fixed some spacing and tag issues, and moving more stuff to "links"), and made the whole thing easier for me to update, though that's invisible to readers.

I think it's time for a "mail something to mike!" event. So, if you would:

Michael Doss
P. O. Box 10541
Santa Ana, CA 92711

Anything legal you'd like to send me is fine. Last time I did this, I called it a "Snail Mail Extravaganza". This time, just send me something (and let me know that you did - sometimes I don't check that box often). Thanks, and Happy Weekending!