10/366
6 years ago
Heartbreaker
Originally uploaded by hillidaa
This is my little heartbreaker. Those big blue eyes, that soul searching look. He melts my heart!
Too bad he's got big giant nerd genes that will activate throughout high school. But in college (should he choose to go), he'll melt the hearts of all his nerd-girl classmates.
I might be biased, though.
Too bad he's got big giant nerd genes that will activate throughout high school. But in college (should he choose to go), he'll melt the hearts of all his nerd-girl classmates.
I might be biased, though.
Nerd Rage
I read this newspost today, from Tim, the creater of the comic Ctrl-Alt-Del (linked in my sidebar). It's a comic whose central theme is gaming, but is still non-specific enough that I can appreciate it's humor. (Note: If you go to check it out, be forewarned that some of the comics do have vulgar language)
Here is what Tim wrote:
So you may have heard about the global Playstation 3 meltdown (or 'ApocalyPS3') earlier this week when a small error in the system's internal clock as it relates (I assume) to leap years rendered many systems unplayable for a whopping 24 hours.I imagine I don't need to tell you, some people flipped.The conspiracy theories flew, and the fury and threats boiled over, and it was quite the spectacle to behold if you cruised by some gaming forums in the heat of it. I'll admit, I was personally thankful that I'd finished Heavy Rain the night before. I'd have probably been a little irritated to find that I couldn't sit down to play it after work. But man oh man... forget corn, we need to get our scientists working on a way to harness nerd-rage as a renewable energy source.Hook one of these angsty geeks up to some machines, tell him his favorite game service is down on his day off, or that Michael Bay is directing a Thundercats movie, and power New York City for a month straight. It'll work I tell you. The science is out there.
You know, this could work. In fact, there are several ways I could see using human emotion/energy as a power source. You wouldn't want your life support systems to be powered that way, but hey, your toaster is a pretty safe bet. The question is, how to harness this energy using less energy that it produces... I wonder if people are looking into this sort of thing.
Wow, a quick Yahoo search is all it takes to discover:
From http://blog.fitnessoptions.co.uk/index.php/hong-kong-health-club-harness%E2%80%99s-human-energy/
- The California Fitness health club in Hong Kong has connected car batteries to exercise machines so that they can harness human energy to reduce their electricity bills.
- There are shoes that convert walking into electricity and can generate around six watts, enough to power a mobile phone and dance floors that turn vibrations into energy.
- The Ridgefield Fitness Club (in Ridgefield, CT) cycling studio, comprised of 17 indoor cycles, is connected to the club’s electrical grid through an inverter, so that human electricity can be used to power all aspects of the facility. This maximization of electricity helps reduce carbon emissions and lowers the community’s demand for fossil fuel based-energy. Any excess electricity generated from the club has the potential to return to the power grid for others in the community to use.
And this is the website of a workshop that focuses on how to add the human powered element back into things we do in everyday life anyways:
It's times like these you really do think that humans aren't going to kill themselves off the way the naysayers predict.
WARM
Today was my first day volunteering for WARM, or Wilmington Area Rebuilding Ministry. My church had stuffed orangish flyer into the bulletin one week, and I held onto to it, knowing that I wanted to get involved. Last week, while picking up my Angel Food order at the mall, there was a Home Improvement Expo, and WARM had a booth. I filled out the volunteer application on the spot.
They called within a few days, interested in my data management experience. I am so excited! I have been wanting to find a place where I can volunteer and be useful. WARM's mission is to repair substandard housing for those who are physically or finiancially unable to do so for themselves. I'm starting by entering in data on volunteers and applicants, and I hope that my moderate experience with data management will be useful as I learn their system.
1000 Thanks - 977 To Go!
Another round of thanks to perk up the morning! I am thankful for...
11. Being valued at my job.
12. The lessons in humility I learned working under my former boss.
13. The amazing works of MC Escher.
14. Grant money that allows Tom to go to school.
15. Watching episodes of Doctor Who on the computer with Tom.
16. The great big smile I get from Harper everyday when I come home from work.
17. Angel Food Ministries and all the good food we now have!
18. A weekend away with my best friend.
19. The new Bath & Body Works scent Butterfly Flower that reminds me of tropical adventures.
20. The power surge this morning, which inadvertently allowed me to sleep in after a night of restless Harper.
21. Autosave.
22. Three hole punches that work.
23. Slow cookers.
1000 Thanks - 990 to Go
I love it!
I am often ridden with anxiety, stress and other painful emotions that seem to attack at the oddest times. I've never learned how to appropriately deal with them, and they've ganged up on me recently. Giving thanks for all God's blessings seems like a wonderful way to begin changing my response to these stressors.
So I begin:
1. Free coffee at work, and those of us who rotate bringing in the good creamer.
2. Having a job that I love.
3. Puppies
4. The space heater in my office for those chillier days
5. Tom, of course, without whom, who knows where I'd be?
6. Harper, who even at 9 months, seems like he's been here my whole life.
7. Whiteboards and dry erase markers.
8. Paying off debts.
9. Mom, who always encouraged me to get out of Michigan.
10. Did I mention coffee? Yes?... Okay, I'm thankful for my own office, with a view and sunlight and everything!
That Sweet Smell...
The sweet smell of debt-less-ness is wafting through the windows in my mind. I can almost taste it! Now, granted, we still have a chunk of student loans to pay off, but we are getting there. I've freed up 10% of our monthly budget that can now go to paying off other debts even faster. In addition, we have a decent savings fund set up now too!
I know money is a touchy subject for some people, but for me, the weight lifting off my shoulders as I learn how to appropriately manage our money is so exciting that I just can't help but share. I am so blessed! I am blessed that Mom gave us the Dave Ramsey kit that helped us get started towards this place, I am blessed that God has allowed me to be a steward of his gifts despite my mistakes in the past, I am blessed that Tom and I can have open, frank discussions about money and budgeting, I am blessed that Dad trusted me, and I am blessed that I have begun to figure out this whole finances thing while I am still young.
To all of you who've helped me get this far, I thank you.
Schoolhouse Rocks My Socks Off!
TOUR GUIDE: To your left, folks, is the Washington Monument, to your right, the White House. And over there, just beyond the Capitol, is the National Debt!
TOURISTS: Oooo! Wow!
There's something huge
Red, white, and blue
That's grazing in D.C.
It's gobbling up the taxes
That are paid by you and me
It doesn't seem to notice
We really can't afford
The billions that it's costing us
To pay its room and board
It doesn't roam
But seems content
To dwell on Capitol Hill
As long as trucks keep pulling up
With tons of green-back bills
We've got to feed the big guy
We really can't forget
It has an awesome appetite
Tyrannosaurus Debt
TOUR GUIDE: The debt was born in 1790 when our new government took over 75 million the colonies spent in the Revolutionary War.
We've got to feed the monster
So it doesn't get upset
It's got an awesome appetite
Tyrannosaurus Debt
TOUR GUIDE: Alexander Hamilton, our first Secretary of the Treasury (he's on the 10, you know), wanted a federal debt to provide a reason to establish taxes to support our new nation.
The debt was young, they kept it small
They didn't know back then
In 1812 another war would make it grow again
By '66 the Civil War had cost the nation millions
The government in Washington now had a debt of billions
TOUR GUIDE: The Civil War ran up a debt of almost three billion dollars that still wasn't paid off by World War One.
We're spending money we don't have
Or so it would appear
The deficit is that amount we overspend each year
Though congressmen and senators
Make vows to cut its size
Despite their honest efforts
The debt just seems to rise
TOUR GUIDE: Now the debt's over 4 trillion dollars and still growing...
A balanced budget would be great
To spend within our means
To stop the monster in its tracks
Before we bust our seams
It feeds on just the interest
Its appetite is whet
It never, ever stops to rest
Tyrannosaurus Debt
TOUR GUIDE: And this is the U.S. Treasury. It sells Treasury Bonds, bills, and notes, and savings bonds to finance the debt. The U.S. government promises to pay the owner interest plus the value of each bond at a future date.
We've got to try to tame the debt
And bring it down to size
To let it grow unchecked like this
Is certainly unwise
The debt's a monster problem
That we really can't ignore
I guess we should be grateful
That it's not a carnivore
We've got to keep on servicing
Our trillion dollar pet
It's got a monster appetite
Tyrannosaurus Debt
A fiscal misadventure
With trillion dollar dentures
Tyrannosaurus Debt
TOUR GUIDE: Feeding time is ALL the time.
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