We made a little progress on cleaning the house this past week. My mom and dad came over a few days to help, and we got a couple of large items moved into the basement. What became clear is that the whole house needs to be cleaned/straightened up, not just a couple of rooms. The basement needs to be organized in order to fit more stuff down there. And there is a lot of stuff I need to go through to determine what to keep and what to pitch. But we got started, which is often the hardest part, so things are under way. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for helping to get me going. Now it's just up to me to keep the ball rolling.

I guess that it is not so much a Christmas wish list as it is what I would buy if I had the money and a job. But for months now, I have been itching to buy a Sony DVD recorder and an HP digital camera.

The Sony DRU-500A records DVD's in both +/- R and RW formats for just about $50 more than the single format recorders go for. I was looking around the internet at it tonight. It's a popular item, being out of stock at many of the places I visited.

As for the digital camera, I would buy either the HP 2.0 megapixel or the Kodak 2.0 megapixel. I have seen photos taken by the HP 4.0 megapixel camera, and they are beautiful. But I would be a little more reserved if I had the money right now, and go for the 2.0 megapixel camera, mainly because it's about half the price of the 4.0 megapixel one. But if I had a good job, I might splurge and get the better one.

And as long as I'm wishing for things I cannot afford, add to the list a digital camcorder.

Those are the last three items I would buy myself before the twins arrive. They could all be used for preserving memories of the kids' childhood. All three are digital, and would preserve those memories in a sharp, crystal-clear format. But, without a job, and with my unemployment money running out at the end of December, wishes are all that they will be.

Now that I got that out of my system, it's time to come up with a reasonable Christmas wish list to share with the family. It's getting harder to come up with one, as I'm accumulating over the years almost everything I've ever wanted. But there's still a few things that I don't have that I want or need. I just wish Lori could come up with a wish list as easily as I can. She's always hard to buy for.

Wednesday night, Lori and I watched The West Wing. Lori commented that she has never laughed during an episode of that show. I was laughing out loud! I found it to be quite funny. I haven't seen many episodes of The West Wing, especially this season, since I had my A+ classes that night. But I would like to see more.

It looks like it's the end of the Birds of Prey. Earlier in the week, I saw an article that rumored that the WB's Birds of Prey has been cancelled. That's too bad... I liked it, although I haven't watched every episode. I do have them all on tape, though. That's one of the reasons I tape the shows I like.

Spent the day inside with my lovely wife today. The doctor is already hinting that he may order her to stay off her feet soon, in perhaps another month or so. It's due to the fact that she's the age she is and pregnant with twins. He doesn't want to take any chances on them coming any earlier than they have to. He's already ordered her to sit most of the time, so she's trying to get used to relaxing and letting me do most of the work around the house. She's taking to it like a duck to water.

I, on the other hand... I'm trying to get used to doing more things. I'll probably have to learn to cook sometime soon. I do pretty good at it when I want to, but if I have to do it all of the time, we'll probably eat a lot of take-out. Or those frozen-meals-in-a-bag. Then there's Hamburger-, Tuna-, Chicken-Helper. We'll eat... it just may not be pretty.

A winter chill has settled over the stateline area for a few days. I actually broke out my winter coat Friday night. The nice thing is that it's only supposed to last a couple days. It's supposed to get back into the mid-40's for most of the upcoming week. I guess winter is on its way... but I'm not ready yet!

My friend, Don, and I attended a meeting of the local Linux Users Group on Friday night. It was very informative, if somewhat over my head. I have been thinking about installing and trying out Linux on an older computer I have, but that's as far as it has gotten so far. I'm still thinking about it, but I also think that I need to focus solely on my upcoming MCSE training for the time being. I wouldn't want to get confused between the two different operating systems.

At the meeting, they showed the Knoppix distribution of Linux. I found it interesting that Chris Pirillo mentioned the same distribution over on his blog earlier today. What's unique about Knoppix is that it can be run from a bootable CD. If you are into Linux, check it out.

I finished my A+ training on Wednesday. Yea! Now, I just have to take and pass the two exams. That should not be a problem. I have two weeks before the MCSE training begins, so I'm planning to study and take the A+ hardware exam before then. My goal is to have the A+ certification before the end of the year.

Hello and welcome to anyone coming here from my old blog/journal. I'm abandoning the old site for awhile to try this one out on a more permanent basis. I hope you like it.

If you have any comments or suggestions, or just want to say "Hi,", click on the word "Comments" below any entry. It will pop up a form that will allow you to write whatever you wish. I just ask that you keep it clean and/or constructive.

Thanks for reading. I hope you come back again.

Saturday turned out to be a busy one. It was beautiful out... in the 60's today. So I did a little outdoors work. I've got a couple more things to do, so, if it doesn't rain tomorrow, I'll try to get more done.

I figured out how Newman was getting out of the cat pen, so I fired up the ol' chainsaw and took a branch off of the tree in the pen. Let's see how smart he is now! I figure it'll take him two days to find a new way out. Any takers?

I was taking water out to the cats this afternoon when I came around the house and saw all of my cats wandering around in the yard outside of their pen! After a half hour of chasing cats, I got them all back in the confines with the exception of Bengee and Ghost. They're prisoners in the garage again. They are the two most skittish cats I have, and getting my hands physically on them always takes some creativity. Another project for Sunday.

Happy belated birthdays go out to some of my favorite people. My niece, Alison, celebrated her 9th birthday on 10/30. My nephew, Christopher, celebrated his 12th birthday on 10/28. My friend Rick celebrated 36 years on 10/27, while my friend Don celebrated 36 years on 10/24. The end of October sure is a busy one. Looks like March will become just as busy for us if the twins make their appearance before their April 7th due date.

Sorry I haven't written in over two weeks. I haven't had much to report. Things should pick up again this coming week, when I start going through some of my stuff and deciding what to get rid of and what to keep. I'm kind of looking forward to that.

Plus, my A+ class ends this coming Wednesday. Then it's just up to me to study and pass the tests. I've got to move quickly on taking at least one of the A+ tests because the first MCSE class starts on December 2. I don't want to get too far behind on the test taking. I hope to be A+ certified within a month's time.

I've been having an electrical problem with my truck for a couple of months now. I think (I hope!) the problem got fixed earlier this week when I took my truck to the shop. Something about a corroded electrical cable. So far, no further problems. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

And finally, two of the cats have found a way to escape Alcatraz. Newman and Ghost have found their way out... Newman has done it numerous times. I'll have to watch to see how Newman does it, and then try to fix it so he can't do it anymore. I've got Ghost trapped in the garage again. It's a scared-y cat and won't come to me. I'll have to figure out a way to catch it and put it back in the pen.