Monthly Archives: December 2008

Why our 2008 sucked

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This was a horrible year.

I know we all have shitty days and problems and yes, there are people that have worse problems that we do, but it’s fair for all of us to complain about them. And this year was full of wonderful suck that has pretty much lasted all year. To help cleanse the 2008 palette I’m going to vent through some of the biggies (and the smallies). And misery loves company, so feel free to unload your own troubles with us.

The Great Cancer Scare of ’08 Jen underwent major surgery this year to have a huge, 6-inch tumor removed on her back. She had slipped on dog slobber and landed on her ass in the summer and naturally a bump formed where she fell. We didn’t think much of it because you always get a goose egg when you bump, but this goose egg didn’t go away. We finally saw a doctor and was informed it was a giant fatty tumor with a possibility of cancer. I’ve had a really good, safe life, as has Jen, so this was incredibly scary and was totally one of those “can’t believe it’s happening to us” type moments. After many doctor visits, poking, prodding, and worrying she went under the knife and had the thing removed. Of course the doctor couldn’t say he was 100% sure it wasn’t cancerous, but thankfully it was not. It was quite literally a ball of fat. The surgery itself I think was pretty simple, it was completed in under an hour. By far the recovery was worse. To help in draining fluids that had built up, she had to carry about a little fluid sack thing with a hose that ran into the stitches where the incision was. Talk about a pain in the ass. Fear of it getting ripped out was there and it happened once or twice thanks to our damn dogs, but it was by far the most inconvenient thing I think we’ve ever had to deal with. It was a very rough 3-4 month period of which she’s still feeling the effects of. We count our stars it turned out to be just an inconvenience, but jesus, it was awful to live through.

Our Poor Dog We found out early in the year that our oldest dog, Colby, is prone to seizures. The first one happened the same night we brought our puppy, Roxi, home. We dealing with her running around and pooping on everything when all of a sudden Colby freezes up and starts to act like he is choking. We had no idea what was going on. I stuck my fingers down his throat thinking he was choking but that didn’t do anything. I had to pick him up and put him in the car to rush him to the vet. But dare I forget to mention that this was the night that the “blizzard” rolled in to town so the roads were shit, wrecked cars everywhere, and there I was rushing my poor dog to the vet at 9 o’clock at night. By the time we got to the vet Colby was fine, however, seemingly unaware that anything had happened. The vet didn’t have much to go by besides my account of what happened, but she’s sure it was some type of seizure and suggested he might have some sort of epilepsy. Since March he’s only had three seizures. They are few and far between, but it’s quite unsettling not knowing if he’s having an attack while we’re both away at work. There’s not much we can do or give him to help with these things. They don’t last long and the don’t seem to effect him on the outside, we just don’t know what’s happening on the inside.

Crazy Ohio Weather We here in Ohio aren’t used to hurricane-force winds, but this year we had them. Not only did it knock out our power for three days and blow out a window on our patio room, it nearly took out some shingles from the roof. Again, it was a mess that ended up fine but was a huge and costly inconvenience. The only good thing that came out of it was it gave us a reason to clean out the fridge. And at least we didn’t suffer as much as some people down the street, whose metal siding I watched tumble down the street. And as if the winds weren’t enough, just a few months prior we had the biggest snow fall that I had even bared witness too. About 20″ of snow fell in a very short amount of time pretty much crippling the entire city. We couldn’t get to work, couldn’t go anywhere…just disabled. The dogs loved it, but it was a bitch to deal with.

Stupid Burglars We don’t live in an unsafe neighborhood but we had two break-ins of our shed in the back yard. It’s very unsettling to be out in your yard cleaning up dog crap and finding the lock on your shed busted right off. Granted, it’s a shed and not exactly locked up like Fort Knox, but all the same. I took inventory to find they had taken nothing from the inside. At the time of the first bust in, I had a nice bike and lawn mower in the shed. Both were left in place. Stupid burglars. I mean, c’mon – if you’re gonna bust in, take something, otherwise it’s just punk-ish. Nonetheless, I replaced the lock and shuffled some things to the garage, but that didn’t stop them.

They jacked the lock again and once more took nothing. Even though (we think) it turned out to just be stupid, bored kids being asses, knowing that someone was in you yard busting shit up is very unnerving. I couldn’t tell you how many times I got up in the middle of the night, flashlight in hand ready to find the Hamburglar in my back yard. The only hint of good from this story was that the yard was covered in dog shit, so at least I hope the fools that jumped the fence stepped right a big ol’ pile. Jerks.

We Hate Cars I may collect Hot Wheels, but I hate cars. I know nothing about cars and they’re just expensive blackholes that bring little joy. First Jen suffered a HUGE tire blowout on the freeway, of all places. And I’m not talking the tire just goes flat, I’m talking F1-quality blowout. The sides blew off…smoke, sparks, the whole nine yards. Thankfully she was close to home and near an off-ramp. A call to roadside assist yieled a Geo Metro bearing a 400-pound man with a tire iron. Whatever works. Could have been worse but expensive and not fun. And why would car problems stop there? I found out I needed a new manifold in my car. Yeah. Suck. The engine light was on and off for a few weeks and when I finally took it in they quoted me about $120 based on what I had told them was happening. Much to my surprise the return saw that quote go from $120 to $700. It seems I took the car in at just the right time before things got “really bad.” Whatever…I hate cars.

Parental Worries My dad is 60+ and has had his share of kidney stones in the past. He’s out of shape, doesn’t do anything, and has a horrible diet (as if I’m one to talk), but it all came to ahead just this past month when he magically lost 30+ pounds, turned yellow, couldn’t walk without a cane, and had his foot swell up to the size of a watermelon. We weren’t sure what the deal was, all we knew is that he actually had to go see the doctor for the first time in 15 years. With no family medical records to go on, we had no idea if his problem was something he had been carrying a long time or if it was the onset of cancer or what. Turns out it was just a small stone blocking the bile duct in his liver – a kidney stone in his liver, basically. He got off easy. I doubt it will change any of his habits to avoid such an occurance in the future, but if he’s not careful next time it won’t be “just a stone.” Unfortunately, at 62 years old he’s as stubborn as the Kool-Aid stain on my carpet.

Shy of all that…

…the year was pretty normal with few other surprises. We both have jobs we enjoy. We have pets we love. We have a house we love and we have friends and family close by that we love. I guess when you have it good for so long you have to have downs to appreciate the ups. I’m all for having downs. It’s just part of the game and part of that thing called “balance” we all need to live properly and happily. But here’s hoping 2009 can deliver fewer downs than 2008. But I guess considering we had to deal with a lot of crap in 2008, if we could go through 2009 with only one or two minor deals, we’ll be good. But…we’ll take what we get and we’ll kick ass.

Christmas number 29

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This was Christmas #29 for me and I find it somewhat funny to think about Christmas presents over the years. Every year we get presents for Christmas, but how many presents to we actually remember getting and loving? Most of those are from our childhood, supposedly when presents were a big deal. But sometimes…just sometimes…you get a present that is a big deal even when you’re an adult.

The one Christmas present I remember getting that literally changed my life was my Nintendo. I got it when I was in fourth grade and it actually wasn’t much of a gift because I had to pay for half of it. I saved up $50, which was a feat when you’re 10, and dumped it all into that Christmas. Then without much surprise, the NES was under the tree Christmas morning. I still have that NES and it still works and still gets used. It has been a very well loved machine that I have to blame for my gaming addiction.

Outside of the Nintendo Christmas, presents seemingly blur between birthday and Christmas. I remember toys that I think I got for Christmas, but they might have come on my birthday. Hard to say. Another big present I remember getting was a slot car set. I wanted one so bad because a friend had a huge set. Well, I got it and it was loved for about a month, then it just sat there. Slot cars are really a team sport and being a solo kid I put more effort and care into my model train.

I remember getting a lot of GI Joe guys and toys every Christmas from relatives, along the lots of LEGO sets. All of this was great until Santa died and presents became less and less fun, at least those that came from the parents. But I admit, during my teens I was probably very hard to buy gifts for – or at least I made them think so.

By that point it was all about video games and not much else. And at that point in time the whole pop culture trinket market wasn’t quite as robust as it is today.

But sharing your Christmases with someone special changes everything. I’ve already stated how cool my wife is, and this Christmas she proved it yet again. Along with the requested video games, DVDs, and other Christmas list items, there was a small box of which I had no idea what was inside. Honestly, this Christmas I had forgotten most of what I had asked for. I figured I blew my wad on the Xbox on my birthday, which I accepted, so most of the Christmas gifts were legit surprises. I unwrapped the small box to findSpace GhostI was truly floored. It was a Space Ghost Christmas ornament. It wasn’t anything fancy or anything I could get much “use” out of, but it was something that was so personal and seemingly so rare that it just lit me up. Cartoons, and Space Ghost imparticular, have influenced my life just as much as video games. I owe a lot to Space Ghost, believe it or not. But Space Ghost got canceled years ago and alas there isn’t much out there for Space Ghost anymore. So to see something new with Space Ghost was just a treat.

It was the one gift I didn’t plan on getting. A true surprise. And those are always the best gifts to receive.

Gaming to get stuff done

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Chores suck. Nobody wants to do them but we all know they need to get done. From dishes to trash to scrubbing floors, it’s hard to get motivated to do things around the house. And if you’re like me, you’re not really motivated until it gets to a point of bad, and only then do you do something about it.

But a link tossed to me from Don the Idea Guy puts a new spin on common chores that may just be what I and others need to get motivated to do a little more work around the house. Enter Chore Wars, a simple on-line RPG engine that puts quests in your house instead of at the local renaissance festival.

Simply put, Chore Wars lets you create a party of friends (or you can go solo) and you create “quests” for things like mopping, dishwasher duty, laundry, etc. Then for each quest you complete you get experience points and some gold – just like any other generic RPG. And that’s pretty much it.

So what makes it so great? Not only does it turn housework into a game – which I believe any task (home or at work) is much better when presented as a game – but you can also play with friends, which may spark some friendly competition to see who can get the most items/gold/experience.

The only lacking part of Chore Wars is real motivation. I don’t blame Chore Wars for this, they’re just providing the tools, but otherwise it is just a game and doesn’t provide any tangible reward for playing. Sure, competition between husbands & wives may be enough for some, but after a while it will level out and no one will care – unless there is something to win.

renaissance_festival_028_aa_lr

To make things better, there have to be real world rewards based on in-game accomplishments. Just like back in elementary school, if you’re nice for the substitute you get a pizza party. It worked then, and that will work not. Well, maybe not the pizza party but you get the idea.

But as a married man even a real world prize offered by the wife is somewhat hard to use as motivation because I know whatever item is purchased all comes from the same pot. It’s not like I’m really gaining anything I couldn’t otherwise just buy anyway. Many husbands like myself might get excited at first about Chore Wars as a game, but it will wear out quickly. So here’s my solution…

To make it work well you need to play with friends and pool resources for rewards. As to not take a husband or wife side with this, lets say you have four households playing together. Everyone agrees to put some money (or items, like a gift card) into a winner’s pot.  Chore Wars is setup with somewhat generic tasks that can apply to every household. Then the first player to achieve a preset level of experience and/or gold wins the pot.

If there are specific chores, I mean, quests that apply to individual households then those are handled separately and don’t qualify for the pot since others may not get similar chores. So say gold gained from quests is good for in-house rewards and experience is good for party prizes…or whatever. There are some other aspects that need figured out still, like confirmation of completed tasks and other checks-and-balances things, but that’s be pretty simple to plan out between friends.

Playing for real rewards that don’t just come from your own pocket will work, but everyone has to play along with the idea or it won’t work.

Chore Wars isn’t very complicated or feature-rich, but it has all the basics to setup a framework that has the potential to be a real motivator. I for one am willing to give it a try. I’m a sucker for games and the whole simple rewards system really works for me, but there needs to be a balance between work and reward. Because apparently a clean and tidy house life isn’t reward enough (and I’m just a guilty as the next guy – or girl).

Head over to Chore Wars and check it out. Word of warning, however. Your character can only belong to a single group, or party. So if you create an account and then create your own party, you’ll have to create a new character to join someone else’s group. I have setup a Morning Toast party that you are welcome to join. [Updated link] Jen and I will be using it for our household and everyone else is more than welcome to try it. Or you can create your own for your house.

Toast to go

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Do you have one of those new fancy “smart” phones? Something like an iPhone or Black Berry? If so, then you’re in luck because you can now get the Morning Toast to go – Bonus!

Technically, you’ve always been able to get the site on a mobile browser but it just got all squished up. I didn’t have any mobile-specific stylesheets setup so if you tried to visit the site it was pretty much unreadable. Well, with my new upgrade to the latest WordPress, I also added a handy mobile site plug-in.

I found the MobilePress plug-in that creates a mobile-friendly version of the site with zero effort. OK, maybe not zero effort, I did have to create a database table manually, but after that it worked wonderfully. I go to the site with my normal desktop browser and it looks normal. Hit it on my Black Berry and it looks…well…mobile.

And one nice thing I have yet to exploit with MobilePress is the ability to create themes just for MobilePress without effecting the normal site theme. But right now I’m happy with the default theme.

So boot up that smart phone (do you boot up phones?) and hit the Toast and tell me what you think! No special web address needed, just hit the web address like normal.

And actually, if I can get nostalgic a moment, I must boast that my previous web site (MoogMan.com) was also phone-ready, way before any phone was considered smart. I had programmed a WAP page that gave you two options: get the weather, or check the daily quote. Pointless but it worked.

Organizing with wallpaper

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I do my best to organize my work, my at-work work and my home work. One of the things I really enjoy is figuring out how to help people get organized with their work. Finding that sweet spot that lets them have ready access to whatever they need while keeping them confident about their work. That’s why I enjoyed creating software for so long. I’ve made dozens of programs that essentially organize information for people, (hopefully) making their job a little easier. But sometimes it’s the simplest methods that make organizing work best.

While doing some reading around on grid-based design, I came across a blog post that summed up such a simple method of organizing files on your computer desktop that I just sat there smacking my forehead. Once again, I missed a simple solution because I overcomplicated things. I’ve downloaded programs, made my own, looked for widgets…all that in an effort to keep me on track with computer work. But this time the solution is just wallpaper.

This being the wallpaper you add to your desktop. The same wallpaper that is right now quite possibly a picture of your family, your pet, or that pretty little scene of a grass-covered hill that comes with Windows. The problem is I love to use that wallpaper as a form of expression – mine at work prior to today was of Bender – it was particularly useful but looked good when  my computer was locked.

 

  

I honestly never thought about using the wallpaper as the organizing tool. I think most people will naturally organize their icons around their desktop, often using whatever picture is on the desktop to create regions of the desktop. This wallpaper gives you columns in which to place your icons, and each column is labeled. Simple. Effective.

I took the base wallpaper and edited the labels in Photoshop, which can also easily be done with good old Paint, but it’s easily done by just about anyone and gives you a quick, easy, and always-present organization tool. One problem many org tools have is that you have to load/launch/access them when you want them. In order to achieve effective organization, your tools have to fit in naturally with how you work. Your computer desktop is always there without any effort.

Thanks to Sarah France to creating the base wallpaper for this method. Just try it out and see how it works for you. Maybe not at home, but at work at least.

Messin’ with WordPress

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It’s not usually a good sign when you blog about blogging, but in this case it’s not really about getting down on my writing or complaining about how I don’t blog anymore. This time it’s about the technical side of blogging, which then leads to the writing side.

I had to do a fresh install of WordPress at work for a project and after going through the normal (and easy) installation found that the WordPress interface had changed entirely. I was blown away. I know the version of WordPress that runs the Toast is several years old (although not for long), but it has worked perfectly without problems, so naturally I never had a reason to upgrade. I don’t really pay attention to WordPress news either, so this change completely out the blue…and for the better!

I installed the Tiger front end for WordPress some time ago to give me better looking control over the (then) crazy ugly interface that WordPress used to have. But the interface included with this upgrade (2.7) is heads and tails over the Tiger overlay. No knock to the maker of Tiger, it is pretty awesome. So my next little project is updating my WordPress 2.0 to 2.7, which I’ve never tried before and I typically don’t do upgrades. I’ve said before, ending is better than mending, and for computer programs it usually goes the same way.

But the discovery of the new WordPress was completely secondary. My purpose of the fresh install of WP in the first place was to play with a concept I want to try for my blog at large – themes per entry. Otherwise, having the design of the site change per article. It’s something I spotted over at Jason Santa Maria’s blog and I really liked how it looked and presented his articles. As you all know my articles here are pretty long winded, so all that text can lend themselves to great designs. Since I don’t typically do one-off posts here, this lets me play with designs more often within a theme, something I like to do, plus it keeps the challenge going. However, if I do things properly, not every article will need a fancy design…ideally it should be a very flexible template that lets me style on-demand without having to change the site entirely like I’ve had to do in the past.

I don’t want to copy the JSM site by any means, but it has inspired me to try and get more creative with how I present my articles. Plus it’s a nice little WordPress programming challenge. Two birds one, one stone, and it might to something for the writing too. I think the type of presentation JSM has accomplished is something newspapers and magazines should really look hard to trying. With paper dying slowly and looking for ways to capitalize on this “new fad” the internet, this is the way to do it. It preserves the design of print but keeps publishing simple for editors. Just saying…it’ll work…

Oh, so if you hit the Toast one day and it looks a) all messed up, or b) doesn’t load at all – it’s probably because I F’ed something up with the upgrade. Live and learn.

Our first radio show, successful?

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Our first radio show back on the air wasn’t too bad. A lot of friends showed up to listen and chat and even though we were late to the dance thanks to some technical fooling, all went pretty well.

The new Ustream service we picked up worked pretty well. The built-in chat was a little to be desired, but it did work and let us talk with listeners. The lag between us and Ustream was very short, so when we asked a question on-air, people could answer in chat and we’d still be on the same conversation.

I know our show is one about “nothing” and we kind of pride ourselves on the rambling, this first trip back made me realize how tough it is to keep a show conherent and structured. I work for a radio station and am involved with a talk show everyday. They make it sound so easy and they’re just talking about sports (most of the time).

Before the show we had a list of stuff we wanted to talk about but I think we only hit two of the topics. Our gift of gab took the lead and we found ourselves talking about more about ourselves than about our opinions on things. Oh well, first show jitters I guess.

I still need to find or create some decent intro music for the show. The show started and ended not so well…at least not as well as I would want. It’s hard though considering there is not preceeding us or following us. We’re just an isolated 2-hours.

I also need to figure out the right way to use Twitter and the chat room during a show. I had trouble determining when to Twitter something and when to drop it in the chat…or when to do both. Obviously the people in chat are already listening (we assume), and Twittering may drag in people that aren’t, or at least that’s the thought.

I’m sure I’m hard on myself for us only being one show in, but getting this all out will help me figure out what I need to work on for the next show. If you were listening to the show, please drop a comment and let us know. I also setup a board in the forum for talks too. If you’re a member, you can drop your ideas and links for future show.

And please, if you come across any good stories while bouncing around on-line, please tweet us, mail us, or post in the forum. We want to talk about what you guys are interested in, so let us know!

Learning from the intern

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My intern’s last day of work was this past week. While it seemed to have been very short, he was here for nearly three months. The experience overall was a good one. However, I don’t think I’m ready to be a supervisor. Sure, it’s “fun” to be able to tell people what to do, but it does take away from what I’m doing and right now I still like “doing” rather than “telling.”

I also discovered that I’m not a good teacher. There’s a reason the Wife teaches and a reason I sit at a computer all day. However, I also think that people going through internships should know that the people they are working for are not teacher or professors. Everyone is doing their job for a reason and unless you’re interning with a teacher, don’t expect too much one-on-one time. It’s just not practical. I felt kind of bad not being able to teach him all that he wanted to learn and all that I know he needed, but that’s the way it goes.

luke_skywalker.jpg He has quite a head up on some people I’ve met. My intern’s design skills were really good. He “got it,” which is far more important than being able to technical do things. Anyone can learn how to use Photoshop and other software, but I don’t believe you can teach good design or art. Of course, in my world, there’s no time for “art,” it’s all about making sure colors are correct, logos are where they need to be, and that the design communicates well. I was fortunate I could give him a task and could trust that by the end of the day he’d have it done and done well. Unfortunately, my method of teaching is “here’s your task, you have the tools, figure it out.” Trial-and-error is how I learned, so that’s the only way I know how to do it.

But perhaps the best part of having an intern was learning from him. I’ve spent most of my career as a one-man design team, and that leads to a lot of similar designs and results. You get comfortable with what you do and don’t work too hard to really push yourself. Afterall, if “just enough” keeps people happy, why waste your effort? But intern’s take on designs really opened up my thoughts to how to design and what can be done. If anything, that’s the benefit of the “just do it” method of teaching. I gave him minimal constraints and let him run free and the results were great.

I’m almost emabarrased to say that I now know how to use Photoshop brushes thanks to the intern. Since I was never formally taught Photoshop, I figured out how to do things on my own and just kept doing them without exploring what Photoshop really has to offer. The intern came in and when we were working over a design said, “why don’t you just use a brush?” And I was like, “huh?” I’m sure at the point the intern thought to himself, “and this guy is going to teach me?”

Brushes are a pretty simple feature in Photoshop that makes adding pre-made designs (think clip-art stamps) very easily. It’s something I never learned about so to get the same effect I usually relied on wingding fonts and editing found images. Honestly, learning about brushes entirely changed how I come up with and create site designs. There are tons of brushes out there that give you quick designs and all you need to do is drop them in the right spot. But this trick also showed me that all the cool sites and designs I’ve seen where I thought the person must have mad design skills could very well be faked. When used properly, brushes can make your design look twice as professional and twice as expensive.

I’m not sure if I’d take another intern, but I told people I would, so we’ll see if anyone knocks on the door. All I know is that I don’t have the time or skill to teach any skills. Any future interns will have to come with some knowledge and otherwise just need real-world projects to hone their skills. If they all come like this recent intern then I’ll be completely happy. And it should be known that my intern’s work actually got used. It wasn’t throw away work and wasn’t all shit work.

If you’re in a spot like mine where you aren’t really interested in being a “manager” but have the chance to take on a intern, do so. Keep in mind that no matter what your intern knows or doesn’t know, you’re the expert. They are there to watch and study YOU. Even if they’re older, younger, or come pre-loaded with great work and skills, you’re the Yoda, they’re the Luke. Simple as that.