Rotting Food and Time-Lapsing Videos

Time-lapsing videos are getting ever popular over at youtube. I first discovered these after seeing a time lapse video of a rotting pumpkin. The pumpkin was carved on October 16th of 2005 and the pumpkin "owner" took photos of it everyday for 58 days to monitor the status of the pumpkin rotting.

The way time-lapse video's work is you take a photo every day for whatever the time period is and then using a video editing program you combine all the photos and create a video.

Since the pumpkin experiment was so successful (there have been over 72,000 views on youtube) Our time-lapsing video guy, "tlapse", has created videos of rotting bananas, rotting watermelon, a homer simpson, Chia Pet, and more.

Here are some:

The infamous pumpkin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyvN59L4hJU

The watermelon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA6v7BVBcEU

The Chia Homer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n6Qpm_DZFg

The rest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n6Qpm_DZFg

Happy Halloween

On Halloween I bring you a hodgepodge of "Geeky" Halloween stuff:

• How to make a pumpkin computer. This is a must see for IT freaks! http://www3.uark.edu/bkst/pumpkin/steps1.htm


• 25 Terrifying Information Technology Horror Stories: http://www.cio.com/specialreports/horror.html


• IT is scary. Take this quiz to find out if you speak "Geek" http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci1018265,00.html


• Emoticon Jack-O-Lantern over at cooking for engineers: http://www.cookingforengineers.com/article.php?id=1


• Halloween computer graphics http://www.thealmightyguru.com/Halloween/Culture/Halloween-Computers.html


• Geek Costumes http://www.engadget.com/2005/11/03/winners-of-engadgets-halloween-costume-contest/

The finished product of the Pumpkin Computer:

Quick! Own a piece of 24!!!!

There's alot at stake and theres not alot of time, these auctions end at 9:15AM PST, on Halloween . Check out this address on ebay ASAP so you can own a piece of 24! http://stores.ebay.com/VIP-AUCTIONS_24_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZQ2d1QQfsubZ6QQftidZ2QQtZkm

For sale from Season 4 of 24!
Tony's shirt
Chloe's shirt and tank top
Audrey's tank top
Curtis's shirt
Mandy's shirt
Erin Driscoll's suit jacket
Behroozes shirt
Debbie's blood stained shirt (my personal favorite)
Andrew's Jeans
Maya's Jeans

These are good deals, It doesn't take a doctor to figure it out. Remember, as I told you, there is a time issue.

(Note several 24 quotes in this important communication)

Fried Coke, try it at a fair near you

The new fair food? Forget funnel cakes, fried Coke is in this year. This sounds so disgusting to me but I had to share it anyway:

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyid=2006-10-27T124827Z_01_N26343691_RTRUKOC_0_US-LIFE-COKE1.xml&src=rss

Elections coming up......

In preparation for the upcoming elections next week, I suggest you vote your party, with your wallet. See below what percentage of contributions from your favorite retailers go to each political party:

Retail:
Circuit City-96% Republican
Home Depot-78% Republican
Target-74% Republican
Costco-89% Democrat
Borders-100% Democrat
Bed, Bath and Beyond-93% Democrat

Restaurants/Food:
Dominos Pizza-93% Republican
Olive Garden/Red Lobster-89% Republican
Brinker Intl (Chili's, Maggiano's Corner Bakery)-83% Republican
Outback Steakhouse-98% Republican
Hardrock Cafe-100% Democrat
Arby's-100% Democrat
Starbucks-100% Democrat

Gas:
Exxon/Mobil-88% Republican
Shell-56% Democrat

Airlines:
Southwest-73% Republican
Jet Blue-88% Democrat

Even though my advice is to vote with your wallet unfortunately, I can't totally take that advice because there is no way I can give up my Chai tea. I guess I'll just have to compensate by doing a bunch of shopping at Home Depot and Circuit City and having dinner at Chili's and Outback.

In Memory of

My grandmother who would have been 85 today. Happy Birthday, Mia. We miss you....so much.

Psalm 91-King James Version
Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God
1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler[a] And from the perilous pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you.
8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”

A little more on Ms. Pac-Man

For those that didn't see the post from MTC (Maya the Champion) in the Ms. Pac-Man blog from Monday I suggest you go back and read it. She makes some interesting observations and has assured me that I had a super high score. I can now rest easy.

One more item on Pac-Man from Ben: Watch the Pac-Man movie on You-Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWL6j0SvqV0 I just finished watching, it's hysterical. I love the end.

We're first! (Rose Parade 2007-part 1)

October 26th and the Rose Parade saga begins. Tonight, I marked the spot on the parade route and this year I was first. Take that, Quadramed man and the nasty neighbors up the street. I did invade your usual space.....Last year, when I was a bit lazy our Rose Parade spot was a little tight. It didn't end up mattering since it rained for the first time in 51 years.

So tonight, I put on my blue cap, blue sweats and blue Mercy Gilbert T-shirt and I headed out to the center median with 2 cans of spray paint. I picked prettier colors this year, as I marked up our location (on the grass) with pink and white spray paint. I think next week I am going to paint some yellow flowers out there. LOL. Anyway, suffice to say, the spot is marked and nobody better mess with it :)

As usual, everyone and their famlies are invited to our Rose Parade party (for those that do not know, our house is on the Rose Parade route) and I am sure, as usual, we will have a great crowd. More to come on this in the coming weeks. For now: I leave you with these pictures from Rose Parade's past......

New Game: What's on your Tivo?

Currently on mine:

• 24 (8 episodes)
• Amazing Race
• Criminal Minds
• Desperate Housewives
• Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello
• Everyday Italian (3 episodes)
• Flip that House
• General Hospital
• History's Mysteries (2 episodes)
• I Love Lucy (5 episodes)
• Landscapers Challenge (3 episodes)
• Modern Girls Guide to Life (2 episodes)
• Nine, The
• Office, The
• Phantom of the Opera (The 2004 Movie)
• Seinfeld (2 episodes)

Tip: I have my Tivo Now Playing list sorted in groups. While viewing the "Now Playing" list press number "2" to toggle groups on and off.

So????? What's on your Tivo?

Five phrases....

Here are five phrases I learned the last couple of days:

• My heads in the oven, my butts in the freezer, my stomach feels about normal
• When it's up, it's up and when it's down, it's down
• Program managers sound pretty trendy but I don't know what they are for
• Projects are sexy
• It's like death from 10,000 papercuts

Another Ms Pac-Man Champ?

For those of you that read the blog last week, "Blogging 101", you know that I got my nickname, "The Champ" because I rocked at Ms Pac-Man. Tonight, I had a very disturbing conversation with a fellow Ms Pac-Man Champion (I use the word right now, loosely) who seems to think that she is a better Ms Pac-Man player than I am. As I sit here pondering my successes at Ms. Pac-man I have to wonder, am I truly "The Champion"?

I don't know my high score. This other player, let's just call her Jane McKay, knew her high score. It was 675,000. If I was truly as good as I thought I was, wouldn't I know this information?

Sure, I know that the pretzel was worth more than the strawberry and the strawberry more than the cherry but isn't that just trivial information that probably everybody knows?

I know that if I ate Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Sue I got a full 1600 points. Yeah, okay, I didn't always get all of them. Sometimes, I'd only get 2 or 3.....Sue was elusive. I'll bet "Jane" got all of them......everytime.

For every 10,000 points you earn an extra "Ms Pac-Man". That means that "Jane" earned an extra 67 lives during the course of her high game. I am sure I never did that good, I'm afraid I didn't even come close.

And yes you earn 10 points for a Pac Away dot and 50 points for an energizer. You pass the first couple of boards you get an intermission, the first one "They Meet", the next one "The Chase" and the final one "Junior". I've got down all the basics of this game, thats not in question here. To be a true Champion though, you need more than the basics, you need results.

So really, what makes me so special?? Did Maya just shout out "You are the Champion" for the heck of it? My self esteem has officially tanked.........forget the pretentious, self absorbed, bombastic, disposition that I once had, I have now been forever humbled.

Take note even a Chimpanzee can play Ms. Pac-Man:

Disneyland "Name Tag" controversy

There is a controversy right now at Disneyland over Disneyland's updated name tags. The new tags for the 50th anniversary include Cast Member's (everyone that works at Disneyland is called a Cast Member) hometown and the year they started with Disneyland. Well, there are alot of people ticked off that this information has been added to the name tag and that it ruins the experience of Disneyland. The thought is that the year and the hometown are out of place. If someone is working at the Haunted Mansion but has a name tag that reads "Class of 2005" they are out of the 1800 time period and therefore Disneyland has just ruined your experience..........come on.....these die hard, Disneyland freaks are unbelievable. (And I love Disneyland, even had an annual pass for many years and I do respect and want to keep the integrity of Disneyland) Some comments written by these nut jobs are as follows:

• Disneyland is dying, and the management is responsible with these asinine decisions that demonstrate this mind-boggling lack of understanding about said management's own business (huh????)
• Disneyland is going to die due in part to the new name tags
• My friend and I talked to a CM in City Hall a few days back and asked about the new name tags. The CM told us that a lot of people have been noticing the hometowns and inquiring about them. So while the CM talks about his hometown in Iowa, the theming of Main Street, U.S.A. is thrown out the window because the CM then goes into personal stories, noting specific places and times, that have no relevance to the history and theme of the land that City Hall is placed in.
• After noting a caucasian CM that had China Hometown one responder said "If you see these joke name tags, make a note of the location, time, etc. and go report them to City Hall. " (this is what these people do while at Disneyland, instead of ENJOYING the experience)
• It is the duty of us hard core fans to speak up when we see things begin to slip. Even if that slippage is just a simple name tag or poorly themed trash can. (Poorly themed trash can. LOL)
• Disney's "quality of show" is being thrown under the truck of managerial ignorance and incompetence
• They could build a Starbucks in every land!
• The name tags are indicative of a larger lack of understanding on the part of Disney management. They don't even grasp their own business, and they dismiss Walt Disney Imagineering.
• The functionality of the badges does not necessarily have to conflict with the believability of the fiction.

These two deserve a special paragraph:

Question: There is a picture of a CM walking around with a flashlight on his pirate belt. I noticed this when I was stuck on the Pirates ride. I just can't ride pirates anymore knowing the theme was not correct. I don't think pirates ever had flashlights before. What would Walt think of this?

Answer:Now the proper way to do it would be to have the flashlight suitably disguised in a covered leather holster so it is not readily apparent what it is when not in use - you could even use a replica pistol holster and have a fake pistol butt handle sticking out the flap.Same thing with two-way radios.

I also have to highlight Barbara from Chicago. She offers this very interesting commentary:

Last Year during the 50th Anniversary, I went to both Walt Disney World, and Disneyland. When I was at Disney World, I purchased a name tag. It was gold, and I had my name put on it. I wore it during my entire vacation, and many times, I was stopped by other guests who thought that I was a cast member. The same thing happened on my recent trip to Disneyland. Many people thought that the gold name tag meant that I was a Cast Member, it was very annoying being bothered all day long. I think that if they are going to sell these name tags to Guests, they should say Guest somewhere on them. I also think that Cast Member name tags should say Cast Member on them. That's all they need. Their name, and Cast Member. (Yeah thanks for your two cents Barbara. I have an idea, take the name tag off)

My take on this: Name tags serve 2 purposes:

1. To identify employees
2. To help you remember an employee's name when he/she's given you excellent or poor service

Get over it, people.

A couple of videos

This first video is of my Uncle Will. I tivo'd it off of the KCAL 9 news when the Dodgers won the NL West in 2004. See if you can spot him, he is the photographer that is "on the move". Also, Uncle Will takes the most amazing photos. You can see some of them here: http://www.sportsshooter.com/members.html?id=294

OK. Here's the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1iS_lJ1S-U

The second video is of my mom and dad's house when it was used in the CBS show "Close to Home" earlier this year. They filmed this as part of the episode entitled "Escape" that aired in March. It was amazing to see how much effort went into this little scene, there were probably over 200 CBS staff and support onsite. Their house is the neighbors house (the one with the brick accents). Close to Home airs on CBS on Friday's at 9:00PM.

Here's the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kUt5NTxQUI

Be vigilant and always on alert

Those Homeland Security messages reminding the public to be vigilant and alert are being heard loud and clear in Lima, Ohio. On October 11th, a quick witted citizen mistook a Judo class at the local YMCA for a hostage situation.

The citizen called 911 to report the incident and also informed the police that one of the gunman had escaped in an SUV. The SUV, she described, happened to be leaving the parking lot during the "hostage" crises. Well, come to find out, after the police pulled over the "gunman's" car that it was a woman on her way home from work with her four children.

How the concerned citizen thought this was a hostage situation is sad enough but then to target some random car leaving the parking lot as the gunman is unbelievable.

The best part? The woman driving the SUV is now trying to sue the police. LOL

Blogging 101

We have been blogging here for a couple of a weeks now and I have received many questions about blogging in general. I thought I would use tonight's blog to answer some of those questions:

Question: What does blog stand for?
Answer: It's an abbreviation for web log.
Question: What is a blog?
Answer: A blog is basically a frequently updated online journal or account of events. Some blogs are specific to a topic while others are more random.
Question: Do I have to register to leave a comment?
Answer: No. Enter your comment on the comment page and then under choose an identity you can either, log in (if you have an account), choose "other" and type your name (or fake name) in or choose anonymous.
Question: What's the deal with all the "24" references?
Answer: Read "The 24 Obsession" blog from Monday
Question: What's with Kim1Champ?
Answer: Well, it's kind of stupid (not kind of) but MTC (Maya the Champ) named me the "Champion" because in college I rocked at Ms. Pacman. So when I set up my very first email address in 1995 I picked Kim1Champ and well I guess it stuck.

Other Information:

• The Blogosphere has gone from under 2 million blogs in 2003 to 50 million in July 2006
• Every second 2 new blogs are started
• A blogger is someone who blogs (blogger also stands for http://www.blogger.com/)
• A sideblog is a term to describe the misc data listed on a blogsite (anything on the blog other than the posts. On mine, the links to the right, top books etc.)
• Trackbacks are used when someone reads something in someone else's blog and then wants to write about it themselves. An example of this would be the Healthcare IT guy blog I referenced last week.
• Real Simple Syndication (RSS) is a format for syndicating news and other items. There are 4 RSS feeds on this blog (1) Reality TV, (2) Wired News, (3) Perot Systems News and (4) Slashdot news.

So far the blog has been all over the map with the topics. Please vote in the poll (in the sideblog section) if you have an opinion regarding how I continue this blog.

P.S. Back to the Airforce Memorial: If you want to see the video of Ross Perot Jr talking to Larry King, it's here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nysAxYPc_ps

I'm still suffering from a bit of amnesia

Where was I today? What happened to me? These are the only clues:

• Under apparent false pretenses, I was instructed to take drugs, 4 yellow and brown pills (I think they were mind altering and induced my temporary amnesia) What follows is the only things I remember:
• When I arrived I was greeted by a very nice and pleasant woman under the alias of Debbie
• Through humor, (and I'm sure the drugs) I let my guard down and I was quickly hauled into a back room.
• I observed someone lying in a chair who looked like they had been knocked unconscious. A woman wearing a mask walked up to the victim and shut the door behind her. (uh oh)
• I was forced to view pornographic pictures (if that wasn't enough, then they emailed them to me and told me it was a Christmas present. Trust me, I deleted them immediately)
• My pallet was read by someone who doesn't know what "google" means
• Maniacal laughter ensued from the outer rooms as I was beatin with blunt objects
• Someone attempted to drown me with a device called a Cavitron
• During my ordeal, Paula Abdul's "Rush Rush" played in the background

Luckily, once again, my Treo 700w came through for me and before the drugs (I had taken earlier) took effect I struggled and managed to gather the only real evidence to this kimnapping:


If you see this woman, do not approach her, turn around and walk briskly in the other direction.

This is not a joke and it could happen to you if you are not careful. Follow these tips and it will reduce your chances of enduring this ordeal: (1) Do not take yellow and brown pills if they are offered to you. (2) Do not show up at strange locations and let your guard down. (3) If you observe unconscious people, run. (4) Do not engage in pornographic picture viewing (this always leads to trouble, you already know this if you have ever watched Law and Order or CSI). (5) Never allow someone to read your Palm or Pallet. (6) Use two tanks on the Hydrofloss (7) If you hear Paula Abdul's "Rush Rush", I would advise you to take her advise and RUSH on outta there.

This is not an urban legend. Be Careful, forward to all your friends in the next 12 minutes or this will happen to you.

Math Problem (I Love this stuff)

1. Grab a Calculator
2. Key in the first 3 digits of your phone number (Not area code)
3. Multiply by 80
4. Add 1
5. Multiply by 250
6. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number
7. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number, again
8. Subtract 250
9. Divide Number by 2

Pretty Cool, huh? Take that Mr. Ladner

The "24" Obsession

If you have been reading my Blog you will notice repeated references to "24" and "Jack Bauer". Simply put, "24" is the best television show ever. If you are not familiar with the show, here is a couple of brief points:

• Each Season represents 24 hours, there are 24 episodes representing the 24 hours in the day
• Jack Bauer is the star and he is an agent with the Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit
• The show is made up of approximately 75% action, 20% drama, 5% comedy. (Comedy starts in Season 3)
• Each Season is also referred to as the Day (Season 1=Day 1, Season 2=Day 2 etc.)
• There have been 5 seasons with the sixth season starting January 14th

I had held off watching "24" because everybody I knew stated that "24" totally stressed them out. I figured I had enough stress at work that I didn't need to induce stress by watching this show. I also heard it was soooooo good that I didn't think it could possibly meet my expectations. Well, in August, I finally decided to give it a shot. 5 weeks and 120 episodes later I was caught up on the most amazing show ever!

Since then, I have shared the "24" experience with three new "24" fans that are watching it just about as quickly as I did. They agree, there is not another show out there that is this good.

There are many people at I work that watch (and love) the show and we will begin having weekly debriefing sessions once "24" starts back up in January. We will also start playing "Guess the 24 quote" game, this should make our conference calls go so much quicker :) Lastly, we will also have a screening of the Season 6 prequal as soon as it comes out on DVD, in early December.

So.......if you want to get in on the "24" fun, I suggest you start watching soon. This show rocks, it will not disappoint. Go Jack!

Personalized License Plates

Today on our way back from Sequoia National Park (We had a great time, BTW) I was heading up the grapevine and I started thinking about one of my trips back from Bakersfield Memorial a few months ago. It had been a good day in Bakersfield, I went up, had two meetings, took the associates out for a steak lunch (which was excellent) and then was heading back to Pasadena.

So thank goodness I was having a great work day (It's always great to see the Bakersfield crew) because I got stuck behind this car with the license plate KWT URJB! I had my handy little Treo with me so I snapped a shot of the car and the license plate. Anyway, I couldn't get away from the car, I would change lanes and then she would change lanes. No matter what I did I could not get around her and I followed the car for about 80 miles. It was like a subliminal message telling me to quit my job. Luckily for my mortgage I did not succumb to the pressure. But I did start thinking about getting a personalized license plate.

I have been wanting a personalized plate for awhile but I haven't been able to either come up with something clever enough or it is already taken. Of course I would want "Champ" but apparently someone in California already has that. Plus that would be a bit....oh what's the word.....pretentious. (Haven't we talked about that already)

If I ever find a personalized plate that works for me (and that I don't mind shelling out the initial 90 bucks plus 70 for each additional year) I will go with either the Palm Tree/Beach or the Yosemite plate. All the options are available on the California DMV site. https://vrir.dmv.ca.gov/ipp/PerLicensePlateServlet It is kind of fun to poke around at whats available and whats not. You pick a plate and then test out any personalization on it.

Matt and Kim are engaged!

Matt and Kim, congratulations on your engagement! We are thrilled to have Kim as part of our family. How weird, there is going to be a "Kim Evans" in the family again......You are stealing my old name!!!!! LOL, seriously, as far as I am concerned another "Kim" in the family can only bring good things :)

Other things happening this week with the family:

• Happy Anniversary, Becca and Jason
• Congratulations, James on making Varsity Cross Country. You have the stamina of Jack Bauer!

Fox News Live-Airforce Memorial

There is alot of coverage on the Airforce Memorial Dedication. It is very informative, the Thunderbirds are going to fly over, and there are many activities going on. Wave your flag today in support of the US Airforce. That's it, I am signing off to head to Sequoia National Park. Have a great weekend!

The Healthcare IT Guy

If you aren't in Healthcare or IT this post won't interest you.

I ran onto this blog a couple of days of ago and wanted to share it. http://www.healthcareguy.com.

So far, I have particularly liked this post: http://www.healthcareguy.com/index.php/archives/316 regarding getting the business to understand IT. It offers some good suggestions on how IT can help educate the business partners. Most of the article is about how the business just doesn't get IT but I focused in on a comment at the end that in my opinion wasn't emphasized enough: "The Geeks have the responsibility to make sure the business is armed with IT knowledge" This is absolutely critical to all of our success and something we should take very seriously.

When I worked at San Gabe we used to have IT brown bags and IT "Open Houses" that were fun, educational and helped us foster the relationships with the users, our customers. This article reminded me that those activities are useful and we should do more to engage our customers and get them excited about IT.

Dell Laptop Explodes

Indeed, those Dell batteries that were recalled can explode. http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32550

Check your Dell battery to ensure you are are safe. https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/Default.aspx

Thanks to Suida for the pictures of the exploding laptop.

I admit it, "I'm Lost"

I admit it, "I'm Lost" about "Lost". What am I missing when it comes to this TV show?

My TV addiction is….what is the word I’m looking for….significant. I watch many TV shows in many categories. Drama (The Sopranos, Big Love), Action (24), Soap Operas (The Young and Restless), Reality (The Amazing Race, Survivor and others), Comedy (Desperate Housewives)….I could go on and on but I will spare you that, and spare myself any additional embarrasment over my TV addiction.

People keep telling me how great “Lost” is and I have tried to watch it several times but for some reason it leaves me “lost” and frustrated.

If you are a "Lost" fan please tell me why? Personally, I think it's awful. I cannot get past the fact that these folks cannot get off this island. I cannot get past the fact that it is 2006 and nobody has barely even looked for the wreckage of this plane. Hello, Black Boxes? Hello GPS? Where are the Rescuers? What is this stupid invisible thing that kills people? Who are these people living on the other side of the island? Is there any plan to get off this island? Why aren’t they executing on the plan? These people are pathetic, they need to get a good leader, develop a plan and get off the freaking island. So, I beg you Lost fans, enlighten me.

If Jack Bauer was on “Lost” all of the bad guys (including the monster) would be dead. He would have made it off the island, gotten back to Los Angeles and sent in rescue squads for the rest of the survivors. By the way, he would have done that in 24 hours instead of floundering around with a bunch of losers who make little or no progress for months on end.

Airforce Memorial Dedication

This weekend the United States Air Force will dedicate a Memorial in Washington DC. The Air force is the last branch of the military to receive a Memorial. The chairman of the Foundation for the Memorial is Ross Perot Jr. Ross Jr has been working on the development of this Memorial since 1992, after years of red tape they broke ground on the Memorial in 2004.

The memorial sits next to Arlington National Cemetery and overlooks the Pentagon. Ross Jr calls this "High Ground" and he has stated"That's where the Air Force has always been". Perot, flew F-4 fighters as an Air Force Reserve officer from 1983 to 1991.

The memorial pays tribute to 54,000 Air force men and women who have given their lives serving the United States. Many politicians will be attending the dedication this weekend. Highlights can be seen on CNN.

Read more here: http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/nationworld/reddy/100906ccdrNatReddy.1ffea556.html

A little personal tidbit on Memorials and Landmarks in Washington DC. My husband was the Architectural Engineer that designed the windows on the Smithsonian Castle when it went through a restoration in the early 1990's. The windows developed were made from modern materials but to the naked eye were no different than the original 1855 windows. Second tidbit: My grandmother worked in the Smithsonian Castle when the Department of Agriculture was briefly housed there in the late 1930's. The Smithsonian Castle currently houses the administrative offices and the Smithsonian Information Center. http://www.si.edu/

Baby "ESPN"

So, on Sunday, Leann Real gave birth to a baby boy in Biloxi Mississippi. She had a deal with her husband that if the kid was a boy, he got to name it. So this father (who loves sports) decided to name his new son, ESPN Montana. Apparently, this is the fourth baby ESPN born in the last two years.

This new trend called "baby name branding" is not isolated to ESPN. In the last couple of years naming your child after a brand has become quite popular. According to several baby names sources, the following brand names have become just about as common as Jack and Jill:

• Infiniti
• Nautica
• Timberland
• Del Monte
• Lexus
• Armani
• Nivia
• Pepsi
• Chanel
• Stetson

Several years ago there was a Seinfeld episode where George wanted to name his kid "Seven" after Mickey Mantle. I tell you now that if I ever name my child after a number, the name will be "Twenty-Four".

Outside My Office Window

Today, I was working in my office when Carlos pointed to the window. I turned to look outside and there were window cleaners and scaffolding right outside my office. The scaffolding was shaking in the wind and I am thinking that job must be terrifying. It was kind of creepy having this guy outside the window......Usually I am in the office alone, I wonder how often these guys clean the windows? I am never looking out the window so I have no idea. The last time I looked out the window and saw something interesting was when the Stealth Bomber flew by at the opening of the baseball season. That was really exciting, all of a sudden there was this really loud aircraft noise and I went to the window to look out and the Stealth Bomber came from the left flying towards Dodger Stadium. It was flying low and flew right over the Macy's (about 200 yards away). At the time, nobody exciting worked on my floor (Now I am surrounded by great office mates, Dawn, Tommy, Larry, sometimes Jose and Mr. JF) and I ran out of my office and said (with excitement) to the admin "Did you hear that? The Stealth Bomber just flew by", she just looked at me and said "Oh". Unfortunately for all of us, when the Stealth Bomber flew by I did not have my Treo or a camera handy but today, I grabbed my Treo 700 and took a picture. (Wouldn't you be startled if you looked out of your 7th floor window and saw this guy....

Joshua's Birthday Party

I couldn't resist uploading this adorable picture of my nephew. He just turned one and this was taken today as he was eating his first birthday cake.

Cerner....hmm another Sev 1??

Well, it is no wonder why I hear of so many Cerner related emergencies. I think they need to worry more about providing support and less about......well, just you watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE-k1MoXXbg

Blaylock Wellness Report

For those that don't know I am raging hypochondriac. Now, I have been much "better" lately and have drastically reduced my trips to various "specialists". I'm sure this will be discussed again at some point in the future....for now, you will just have to wait in suspense....

Today, I came across this article/advertisement at newsmax.com. Here is the full ad for anybody interested: http://www.newsmax.com/blaylock/22a.cfm?PROMO_CODE=2574-1

For those that aren't interested in reading the article I have pulled out some key phrases that any hypochondriac out there should clearly avoid:

• Is your ticker a ticking time bomb?
• Cardiovascular disease is so common that 64 million Americans suffer from some form of it.
  So if you're worried, you should be.
  And if you're not, you really should be.
• you've only got one heart.
• statistics are commonly used to lie to the public.
• atherosclerosis is not really "hardening of the arteries" as you've been lead to believe...but something potentially far worse.

The good news is "Dr Blaylock" has a subscription you can buy (for $48.00 a year) that will tell you the "truth" about your heart. IF you buy the subscription he will tell you key secrets that you need that will save your life! Such as a secret mineral ("that is a major heart diesease bombshell")

This is one of the most disgusting salespitches I have ever seen. The good doctor, will tell you how to save your life for $48 bucks a year.........what a load.

Great article on geekspeak (for techies)

This is a great article on Geekspeak and how the public in general isn't down with tech jargon. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5406498.stm

Pretension

My husband barely tolerates all of my bizarre hobbies, interests, obsessions...whatever. Anyhow, I didn't tell him about my latest hobby, blogging, until tonight. He looked at me with a "this is unbelievable" look and then said "My, how pretentious of you." LOL!

This reminds me of one of my all time favorite demotivators:

"Pretension-The downside of being better than everyone else is that people tend to assume you're pretentious"....a link to this demotivator: http://images.despair.com/products/demotivators/pretension.jpg

Gotta love those demotivators from despair.com. If you have yet to check out despair.com, it's definitely worth a visit.

"Elsie"

Today, I completed a presentation that I will be delivering to a customer tomorrow. Upon completion, I printed it downstairs from my office on the color xerox printer. A few minutes later I went downstairs to pick it up and it hadn't appeared to have printed. Being the technically savvy IT Manager that I am, I went to go see Elsie (One of the executive assistants that works for my customer) to assist me with my problem. Elsie is also a good friend of mine who worked with me for many years in the IT world. Elsie is a master at many things, some of which are:

(1) Knowing the ins and outs of the printer in the 7th floor copy room
(2) Making Turkey Chili
(3) Hmmmmmmm...I think thats about it

So, to make a long story short in Elsie's brilliance she located my presentation which had been hidden in the outgoing slot. (This is apparantly where all printed materials go-had I only known)

On the way back to Elsie's desk she introduced me to a new co-worker and she says to the co-worker "This is Kim Thomas, she works for the enemy". I was shocked to hear this hostility towards my company and I took as a shot to IT outsourcing in general. I believe I expressed my dismay with the appropriate level of shock on my face. I proceeded to spend the next 15 minutes or so berating her about her disrespect and letting her know in no uncertain terms that she would be featured on the blog (Elsie was just teasing about the whole enemy thing but I couldn't let her get away with it)

Now, I have changed her name because "Elsie" is a bit concerned about being posted about on the Internet. Of course, if you are reading this blog you probably know me and if so probably know who Elsie is and if not and you are curious, just ask me and I will divulge that information. (It's all in the name of privacy)

I would also like to add that "Elsie" really is a special person and friend. (I mean she is the topic of my second real blog post so she has to be pretty important, or at least almost as important as trash-sorry, I couldn't resist that one). Seriously though, "Elisie" is the type of person that you would be lost without having in your life and I would do anything for her. She is the best, even going so far as offering to be my desk return. Note this image from 2003: http://www.kim1champ.com/2006/Elsie.jpg

Monday is trash pickup day

Last night, my husband and I were getting our trash bins ready to roll to the curb for the Monday pickup, I start pushing my trash can out and there they are, the neighbors trash cans.

Our new neighbors find it necessary to place their trash bins in front of our house rather than in front of their own house. We don't really know why they put their trash cans on our curb (rather than their own) and it drives us crazy.

It is important to note that this family of three has a huge amount of garbage. Last night, there were 5 garbage cans in front of my house, Two recycle, Two trash, One yard and zero room for my two trash cans. (Note: We had one recycle and one trash) These are not small garbage cans either. You can see a photo of these monsterous trash cans here: http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/publicworks/smiwmII/images/refuseCanReview.gif

Our old (and wonderful) neighbors, Dan and Nicole, kept their trash in front of their own freaking house! I emailed Nicole today to tell her about this weekly frustration and she responded to say that a trash etiquite lesson was it order. This brings me to another point, the only reason I have not yet complained to the new neighbors about this is because about 50% of the time they bring our trash cans back in for us. Thats a task neither my husband or I care to perform.