A good night sleep is all that it takes...

Some time over night last night, my sub-conscious figured out how to get the slide shows for the house photos working. I tested a little prototype of the solution this morning and it does, indeed, work. I will be re-posting the blog tonight with the slide shows for each of the days.

Why were there links instead of embedded pictures???

Microsoft has changed their photo site and I haven't been able to figure out how to embed a slide show into a web page hosted on a different server. As soon as I do, i will replace the links with the slide shows. In the mean time, I apologize for the extra click that you must endure.

House Project 12/14/08

The outside is finished and a picture of the front of the trailer that we have been living in during this adventure.


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House Project 12/11/08

Siding is done. Still need leaders on the gutters


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House Project 12/09/08

Siding on the front is almost finished


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House Project 12/04/08

Siding begins on the front and is almost finished on the back of the house


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House Project 11/29/08

Siding on the left side of the house is done.


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The house project

Day 16 (11/28/08) - The pink panther arrives, so do the pools that no one will ever want to swim in, the septic tank is installed, and the siding is started.


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The house project

Here are the Day 0 (9/29/2008) pictures:


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Here are the day 1 (9/30/2008) pictures:


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Here are the day 2 (10/02/2008) pictures:


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Here are the day 3 (10/03/2008) pictures:


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Here are the day 4 (10/11/2008) pictures:


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Here are the day 5 (10/19/08) pictures:


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Here are the day 6 (10/22/08) pictures:


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Here are the day 7 (10/23/08) pictures:


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Here are the daY 8 (10/24/08) pictures:


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Here are the day 9 (10/29/08) pictures:


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Here are the day 10 (11/1/08) pictures:


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Here are the day 11 (11/03/08) pictures:


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Here are the day 12 (11/06/08) pictures:


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Here are the day 13 (11/07/08) pictures:


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Here are the day 14 (11/08/08) pictures:


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Day 15 (11/19/08) No pictures, just a quick update:

Nothing visually interesting is going on. The contractor is putting new subfloor on top of the old subfloor downstairs to stiffen it up.

The inspector came today and we passed! Yipee!!! The contractor couldn't complete the outside until hurricane ties were inspected. Now they can Tyvec, put up the insulation board and siding. It looks like they'll be doing that next week.

The town Inspectors were backed up because they all had to go to code training for 2 weeks! That's right boys and girls, all of them at the same time! Today was the first day that we could get an appointment.

The plumber is coming in tomorrow and Friday to rip out all old equipment (hot water tank, all plumbing that is not staying, heater, etc.) Then he will be back starting Monday to put new plumbing in place.

So there haven't been any updated pictures for a while. I might upload some this weekend as the contractor is almost done with a small extension of the floor in the kitchen to give us a little more room. You'll understand when you see the pictures.

Dear Mr Jobs, your itunes 8 software SUCKS! -- an open request for comment

Dear Mr Jobs,

I am writing to inform you that I am sick and tired of running into problems after upgrading to the latest version of iTunes. In the upgrade to release 8, the first time I plugged my iPod into my PC (running windows vista) it told me that I was missing components of the software and it is forcing me to remove and reinstall the software. The thing that I find most confusing, disheartening, and utterly annoying about this, is that version 8 was working fine for me until I plugged in my iPod. Imagine that, plug in the device that the software was made for, and the software breaks. Don't you people test this software before you release it to the masses???!!!

As I sit here pondering the prospect of having to remove and reinstall your iTunes software, and writing this rant, I am feeling a heightened sense of anxiety as to whether or not the iTunes installation process will be able to locate my library (over 40G worth of music) so that I do not have to wait hours and hours and hours to rebuild the database.

As for my percieved total lack of quality control that you and your iTunes team have exhibited, I would like an answer from you as to what you plan to do in the future to prevent these kinds of ameturish software release issues that iTunes has been plagued with.

In need of anew laptop...

I find myself in need of a new laptop. The one I am currently using is an HP ze4560us running windows XP and is as slow as molasses on a cold winter day. I've looked at all of the major laptop manufacturers (Acer, Compaq, Dell, Gateway, Hewlett Packard, Lenovo, Toshiba, and Sony).

I'm looking for a 17 inch screen with a minimum of 3 Gigabytes of ram and a minimum of 320 Gigabytes of hard drive space. I also want a Nvidia Geforce graphics in the laptop as opposed to Intel or Ati.

In looking over all of the options, I seem to be returning to this laptop at best buy. I think that it combines all of the features that I want while being reasonably priced for the power and features that it provides.

If anyone out there has any alternate manufacturers and/or models to suggest, please post your comments I'd love to read them.

Verizon FIOS is finally available!

After a couple of years of waiting, Verizon FIOS is finally available in my neighborhood! I currently access the Internet using Cablevision Optimum Online and have been paying a premium for their service (phone and Internet) for over 2 years. Now I can switch to FIOS on a 2 year contract and get some savings at least.

Then, when my 2 year FIOS contract is up, I will check the landscape and perhaps switch back to Cablevision for their package (with a savings naturally). I have no loyalty to any of these companies as the only loyalty they have to me is to the number of green-backs that they can liberate from my wallet.

Since I have my own domain with e-mail accounts I control from
I will be switching all of my e-mail to an address from that domain so that ISP hopping will be less burdensome in the future.

The Cablevision Optimum Online to Verizon FIOS switch is currently scheduled for 3/24/08...I hope the transition goes smoothly.