Friday, June 27, 2008

Colbert Report Heaven

From my good friend's blog, the joining of two great joys in my life, serious theology and political satire.

N.T. Wright was on the Colbert Report!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Download Firefox 3 today, help set a world record

Go get your copy of Firefox 3. Only complete downloads counts, not upgrades or updates. Help set the world record as high as possible! Go to http://www.getfirefox.com/

Friday, June 13, 2008

Google Browser Sync to go bye-bye

Argh. After lunch I read that Google Browser Sync is being discontinued, according to a comment at Lifehacker. Since it is just a comment, I'm hoping it is wrong, but given this post at Grant Midwinter, Google may truly be abandoning sync for Firefox 3.

It is probably due to the need to re-write the add-on because FF3 is a new product. Oh well.

But, hey, here's a solution: It looks like Mozilla Labs Weave 0.2 will perform the same functions.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Cathy's dad is sick (again?)

Here's a prayer request for Cathy's dad. We found out last week that one lobe of his lungs (there are five lobes) has collapsed and he has something wrong. Cathy's dad thinks it is an infection, while the doctors are concerned that, somehow, the cancer has reappeared.

This caused quite a stir for us; Cathy wants very much to spend time with her father, and I would like to work along side him at the church. After his healing in January we were not expecting this.

Please pray that God's will be done in all our lives, especially Cathy's dad. Please pray for his health and healing. Finally, please pray that God will provide a means for us to spend more time with him, especially Cathy. Thank you.

Keeping Up - the catch-up post

Wow, so much has happened since my laptop died. My last post was Memorial Day weekend, when my laptop died and we had another slab leak.

Here's a few things to catch my friends up to date...

Yeah, my work laptop died. I don't have a home laptop, so I've been using Cathy's when I needed one. At work, I have been working on old equipment on an incidental or occasional basis; I may use a different laptop or desktop each day. Ah, well, that's what is good about portable applications like Firefox.

My father's birthday came and went, and I spoke a lot on the phone with my mom. I found out that it takes up to four weeks for a check to clear. So when I sent a check home, it could be five or six weeks before my mom gets the money. And there is a $25 fee on this side and about a $15 fee on the other end. *sigh* Father's Day will probably be hard.

The slab leak was a liability; patching it means nobody will buy it, but re-piping is ridiculously expensive in comparison. Since we'd be on the hook for any repairs if there were another within 18 months, I opted for a 1/2 price re-pipe. That's over $7000 we're in the hole again, so that just about wipes out Cathy's income, which we were using to pay down debt. *sigh* The re-pipe is done but the walls cannot be patched until the city inspects it; who knows when that will be...

Still no buyer for the apartment. We had a lawyer look into the way the loan was originated and he agreed that "shady" and illegal practices were used, but did not know how we could get any relief. We could try to go after the license of the loan officer and broker, but that doesn't help us at all financially.

I have a tenant who just refused to pay rent and told me he was moving. Reluctantly, I started the eviction process. By the time I get the unit rented out again, I'll have missed another month (at least) of payment, so that puts us further behind. We can get a judgment for the rent he owes plus the cost of having him evicted, but I'll have to wait for that to come. Since the relationship has broken down this far, I would rather not have him living here anymore anyway. I hate the idea of evicting someone, but it is unfortunately necessary.

I'm going to post a separate prayer request for Cathy's dad. We found out last week that one lobe (there are five) has collapsed and he has something wrong.

Aside from feeling under a lot of pressure and a little depressed at times, Cathy and I are doing OK. We went to California Adventures this past Friday evening; I wasn't impressed.

If you would, please pray for Cathy's dad, my mom, and for us to trust God's will as we go through this unpleasant period. Thank you.

My first eviction

I just got a call from my lawyer that the tenant who refused to pay me got his eviction notice. He has almost two weeks to respond. That seems long to the landlord, but I'm sure it seems short to the guy getting evicted. *sigh* I hate this.

Monday, June 02, 2008

Coincidence?

My laptop died the day after this comic came out... what a coincidence...?

$52 for a tank of gas


Our 2003 Civic has a 13-gallon tank. It cast me $52.04 to fill up at Costco. That's insane.

At least Cathy drives a hybrid and gets 44 to 47 miles per gallon. I get about 35. Sheesh.