tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181670662024-03-13T06:21:33.353-05:00Lumoto's Woes! ! ! W E L C O M E ! ! !
comments are always welcome, even if it's just to say Hi.
Thanks for stopping by.Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.comBlogger229125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-25716567925437582142012-08-06T06:37:00.006-05:002012-08-06T07:35:53.821-05:00GoDaddy's server limitations RetractedLast year I had a lot of trouble with my genealogy program, <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">TNG</span>, that was being hosted on <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">GoDaddy</span>; and I laid out these problems in a blog <a href="http://lumoto.blogspot.com/2011/02/godaddys-server-limitations-be-warned.html#links"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Lumoto's</span> Woes: <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">GoDaddy's</span> server limitations - be warned.</a> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">GoDaddy</span> subsequently sent me an email stating that they had found the problem; and it was a specific script that was causing this look of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">queries</span>. It was all over my head. I asked <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">TNG</span> programmer if that script was familiar to him, and he stated no, it was coming maybe from a report. Since I was moved and all was going well, I abandoned the idea of trying to fix anything. I just left my site up at <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">GoDaddy</span> but the database was deleted.<br />I was having pretty good luck with the new home, though it would crash periodically; one time for over a week and another time for about a month, which was last May (2012; over a year after the move). I went back to the email <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">GoDaddy</span> had sent me and looked at the offending script again and figured out what report it had to be in; verified the script was there, and deleted the report. Why it didn't cause a problem on the new server site I can't say. But since I was crashed there for their own reasons, I decided I should rebuild my database on the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">GoDaddy</span> site and see what happened. I found that a little complicated, but thought it through. I had a couple of questions and called <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">GoDaddy</span> and the young man was very helpful and though he didn't know the program I use, he did know enough that he guided me and together we figured it out. I was so happy!<br />I've been using it now since May and so far, so good. Looks like that script had been the problem all along, and all that other discussion about how <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">TNG</span> was too data intensive and how <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">GoDaddy</span> wasn't capable of handling large databases and various other guesses of why I kept crashing were all wrong. It had to have been the script all along.<br />The 2<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">nd</span> site finally got back on line; but by then I seemed to be stable with <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">GoDaddy</span>. I've opted to keep both hosting sites and though I'm posting to my <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-error">GoDaddy</span> site, giving out that URL, I am still keeping the other site as a clone copy. That seems to be the safest thing to do since these servers do leave you vulnerable. Besides, at the moment, Google searches seem to find the 2<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">nd</span> site a lot better than the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-error">GoDaddy</span> site. I guess I have to register it again. I need to refresh myself on how to do that.<br />In defense of my 2<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" class="blsp-spelling-error">nd</span> host, the people who run the server - or part of the server I am on - have been amazing. They do everything they can and work very hard to keep things running smoothly and efficiently. The crashes were further up the food chain, the actual owners of the server - and as I understand it, they sort of contract out some of it and they manage that. I'm not sure exactly how that works. They were probably more frustrated than I was. I couldn't directly communicate with the top tier on my own, which was a big drawback.<br />Anyway, I wanted to <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_19" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">reprieve</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_20" class="blsp-spelling-error">GoDaddy</span> of my complaints against them. My site seems to be stable; and whenever I have any question at all, their support staff are always so nice and helpful and readily accessible and would highly recommend them for anyone who needs a hosting site.<br />I guess for completeness' sake, I also have a little program Gallery that I use for my photographs. For some reason the new site could never keep that working. Since genealogy was my biggest concern and Gallery always has worked on the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_21" class="blsp-spelling-error">GoDaddy</span> site, I haven't worried with it; but it has been a negative to the newer site. They haven't really wanted to help me with that and I haven't pushed it. But it is another reason I'm happier at GoDaddy.Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-51196697906667660502011-02-22T18:00:00.009-06:002012-08-06T07:38:29.694-05:00GoDaddy's server limitations - be warned.Just two years ago I decided to go online with my genealogy file. I found a very cool php program called The Next Generation (TNG) and had to set up a MySQL table, which was new to me.I had been using GoDaddy's free space with the little ad banner at the top. But it was conflicting with TNG, so they assured me I would be fine with their shared server. It was $4.99 a month and they offered a bit of a discount if I paid for a year. Then they introduced me to Gallery, which I enthusiastically added to my site, which required another MySQL table, but they set me up and I was happy, happy.<br /><br />Then one day relatively soon my Gallery crashed and I learned there were thousands, thousands of spam or some garbage in the comments. So, I ended comment capability. but after that the damage was done. Gallery was quite slow loading. Then soon after that, my genealogy file would not perform correctly. Never anything specific, but not right. It wouldn't export correctly. A whole xnotes table had gone bad. It would hang up on me or time out. Troubleshooting and tweaking, fixing, it'd be okay, then start performing poorly again. So, I was constantly fighting it, contacting the developer and/or GoDaddy till I got lined out again.<br /><br />Since I'm no expert, I was caught between the two and staying frustrated. Let me say this, though. My genealogy file is pretty big. When I first went online I had about 16,000 people and have added to it till it's now almost double that.<br /><br />Everything unstable yet again, I posted a query on a forum and an "expert" who also uses the TNG software responded and offered to upgrade me to the newest version and help me get lined out. He quickly saw how poorly GoDaddy was performing and copied all my data to his own server. Everything worked like a top! I mean, it just sings!! His own personal file is 425,000 people! So,it proves it's just a poor server that GoDaddy puts us on.<br /><br />Thankfully the move of both TNG genealogy program and the Gallery were already in progress when TNG on GoDaddy totally.crashed - I mean unrecoverably crashed. (TNG cannot communicate with your data" crashed. And Gallery is like the old dial-up.<br /><br />Bottom line, GoDaddy said TNG is to "too data intensive" for their shared server and I should be on a dedicated server. They said my searches were stacking and stacking and not closing off and that was a network violation. So, I suppose it's like trying to wash a full commercial load of laundry in a little apartment size stack-up washing machine. But what they said isn't completely true. The server I moved to isn't dedicated. It's shared, and has files more "data intensive" than mine on it! It's ust their server is crappy and they're trying to make it "my" fault!<br /><br />So, I'm more than a little annoyed with GoDaddy that they didn't caution me of this. When I had to ask them what mySQL was, that should have told them I was novice at this. We trust them with our precious data and if they aren't going to be able hack it, or if you have limits, they should tell you that up front.<br /><br />I do have other webpages that don't involve tables. And they're doing okay. Since I don't want to have to rescript them for the new server, I'll keep using GoDaddy and just pay for both places. I think I have the links and flow simple enough leading from one to the other that maybe a user won't really even notice.<br /><br />The move has been quite painful, though. It started almost two weeks ago, and just yesterday, I think I'm just about lined out. Seems like everything that could go wrong did. No matter how simple something should have been - it turned out to be major. Example -- I use Filezilla as FTP client -- it just would not work, wouldn't access the new server. So, I downloaded about three other free ones, and none worked satisfactorily. So, I'll have to purchase Cute FTP Lite. But at this point, I'm glad to do it. Because Gallery was so full of garbage, we couldn't just do a restore.. So, I had to go through and redo all my album descriptions, reset thumb sizes, and do a lot of work that a good backed up data table should have done for me. But it's getting there and works so much better.<br /><br />As far as this brilliant and patient young man who helped me get through this disaster -- oh, my gosh, I owe him my life!<br /><br />PLEASE SEE UPDATE: Aug 6, 2012<br /><a href="http://lumoto.blogspot.com/2012/08/godaddys-server-limitations-be-warned.html">GoDaddy's server limitations - Retracted</a><br /><br /><a href="http://lumoto.blogspot.com/2012/08/godaddys-server-limitations-be-warned.html">http://lumoto.blogspot.com/2012/08/godaddys-server-limitations-be-warned.html</a>Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-80443543766508766622010-09-20T00:17:00.006-05:002010-09-20T01:40:10.260-05:00GPS, custom Google Maps and Firefox and Adobe woesOne of the features I wanted to have on this GPS was that I could upload a custom map from Google My Maps. Well, I don't know how or something is wrong. I had a map with six points on it, and I followed the directions in the video that I posted the blog "GPS - finally got one" on the 17th, using http://www.takitwithme.com/ Once I put the link to my map in the space and told it to get my map it said at the bottom it was retrieving my map but never did quit spinning. So, I told it to upload to the GPS and got the error "fatal error. File Path: String Stream line 1, char 1. message: invalid document structure." I thought it might be Internet Explorer, so I used Firefox. That time it still didn't retrieve my map. When I clicked for it to upload, it took me to Garmin to get the app it wanted. That process said it was successful. But I couldn't ever get the custom map to upload. I got the same error as with I.E. Searching around I found somebody posted on a forum or something that they couldn't get that feature to work with multiple points. I went back and did it with a start point and one end point, and the same results. It never said it retrieved my map and I go the same error message. <br />I went to Garmin's site for some kind of help and nothing. Nothing is in the startup booklet about it, and I can't find it in the programmed help section in the unit. Nor does there seem to be a user's manual you can download anywhere. But yet the stats on this unit says that you can upload custom maps. Crap!! I hate this! <br />I'll have to call Garmin tomorrow and see if they'll tell me how, but I bet they don't do that kind of support. I also tried to just manually type in the coordinates but the keyboard is not active. I couldn't even find the coordinates on Google Maps -- had to look somewhere else to find them. Grrrr!!<br /><br />Through all this process Firefox said it wanted to upgrade. So, I said okay. It upgraded me to Version 3.6.10. Then it said I had to upgrade the Adobe -- whatever. So, I did, and now every time I start Firefox I get one of the cursed Vista warnings, "User Account Control - Adobe DLM, User Account Control helps stop unauthorized changes to your computer"!!! Then the Adobe Download manager screen is up and I have to close it before I can use Firefox!! Soooo muuucchhh Bullll sh*t!!<br /> UPDATE AT 1:39 A.M. About the Adobe DLM - I have no idea what DLM is other than it's Flash, I guess. Nor do I know if I need it or if not, how to get rid of it, if I even should. I didn't see it in the Add/Remove Programs nor did I see it in my Programs list, even though it had just been installed! But I did find where to turn off the User Account Control and that seemed to remedy all the frickin' authorization pop-ups. God, I hate Vista.Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-21843627943862359542010-09-17T13:46:00.004-05:002010-09-17T14:22:55.533-05:00GPS - dilemma resolved...(continued from blog "GPS - I finally got one" found directly below this blog)<br /><br />Wow, what confusion - but all is well. Here's the deal. I realized this morning that the opening in the cradle where I put the SD card was not the SD card slot. It was a slot for the dc power. Oh, no wonder it wouldn't pop out!! But then if that's the case, why does it see the jpgs on the card!?? I decided if I sent it to Garmin, they wouldn't fix it under warranty because that's not even where the card goes. So, I was going to just have to buy a whole new unit and chalk that $129 up to stupid. But one last ditch effort, I put all the stuff together in a bag and took it down ECP Computers. They've very nice there and helpful, and I thought just maybe they could get it out.<br /><br />Thankfully, they were not loaded down with customers; and the man there was super nice. He thought the card was in there, too. We decided might as well open up the cradle and see if it would come out. Once he got it open, lo, the slot where the card was - we thought - was not deep enough to hold the card. Now, that's just weird! Where is it? I looked in the slot on the unit where it's supposed to be, and granted, I can't see well -- but just didn't see the card. He said he didn't see it either, but when he stuck a little screwdriver in the slot -- out it popped!! JIMMINY! It was where it was supposed to be all along!! Oh, My God!! I'm really losing it. So, which is worse -- to put the SD in the wrong hole or to put it in the right hole and forget where you put it! Oh, My God! <br /><br />Well, the man was, as I said, very kind. He acknowledged he even thought it was in there, too. He put the cradle thing back together and was concerned that maybe the AC plug might not work, that maybe something got messed up with all that jacking around with it. He didn't charge me even a dime! And even gave me a little plastic bag to put my now retrieved micro card in so I wouldn't lose it. <br />As soon as I got back to the car, I plugged the unit into the cigarette lighter and the battery light on the unit came on like it was supposed to. IT STILL WORKS! GLORY BE!! So, walked back in the store to tell him it does still work! Woo-hoo!!<br />My mom said it was just a miracle. Well -- I guess that's a better way to look at it! But let me tell you --- getting old is hell!Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-62594784151767488352010-09-17T00:14:00.013-05:002010-09-17T18:03:34.552-05:00GPS - I finally got one.For a long time I've thought it would be cool to have a GPS but I didn't know what kind to get, exactly what they would do, and wondered if I even went anywhere enough to warrant spending money on one. But recently I've had a bit of a case of "buy something" fever - which I rarely get -- and decided I'd look into them. Besides, my birthday is this month -- so I figured I'm entitled to get myself a birthday present!!<br /><br />One of the things I wondered is if you can download routes from Google to it. Every now and then me and my mom like to take a day trip, and we might have a couple or destinations in mind and then have to hunt for where we're going. If I'm prepared, I'd look it up on Google maps ahead of time. I found a video about how that works,<br /><br /><object width="380" height="285"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/s4VrVqfUNNA?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/s4VrVqfUNNA?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="380" height="285"></embed></object><br />and it mentioned the brand-name Garmin. So, that was the first stage of narrowing down my choices. I'd go with a Garmin. Then after about two days of reading about what features they have or don't have, and contemplating what I would want or not want -- looking at a very handy comparison chart at <a href="http://gpstracklog.com/compare/garmin-nuvi-comparison-chart">GPSTracklog</a> and then looking up who had them for how much cost -- reading the reviews -- I finally made a decision and bought a <a href="http://gpstracklog.com/2009/04/garmin-nuvi-855-review.html" target="_blank">Garmin 855</a>; and got it from <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=" edpno="'6617613&CatId=" target="_blank">Tigerdirect.com</a>. It doesn't have bluetooth; but I figure I'll never use that anyway. But it does have the feature that I can give it voice commands. The guy at Tigerdirect said Garmin is the best brand and I picked out a good unit.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BmNQd-iwsII/TJMJihSN5mI/AAAAAAAAAGY/ecfqxJ6ogjM/s1600/garmin-nuvi-855.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 296px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 228px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5517764457113970274" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BmNQd-iwsII/TJMJihSN5mI/AAAAAAAAAGY/ecfqxJ6ogjM/s320/garmin-nuvi-855.jpg" /></a><br />One thing, though, the reviews said it's a discontinued model. But I guess that doesn't matter. And, I never like to buy refurbished; but looking at BestBuy and Walmart and Radio Shack -- they seem to all sell these refurbished. As long as it's warrantied - and seems to be how they sell these things - guess it's okay.<br /><br />Well, Tigerdirect was very good. I had ordered an extra ac/dc adapter that was $20-something more; and when the salesman gave me the total price, it included it. But when I got my email receipt it wasn't on there and neither was the $20-something. Not wanting to be without that capability, I called them and asked why it wasn't there. The guy who answered the phone told me it came with one; so they took it off my order. That's very cool! They could have easily got that extra purchase from me!<br /><br />It was supposed to be here Friday, but it came a day early -- Thursday (16th). So, while running the usual errands today, I tried it out. What fun! Definitely have a new toy There will be several things to get familiar with it so when I am driving, I won't be fumbling; but I figure now it's one of those things I'll soon wonder how I ever did without.<br /><br />My car has a very huge windshield and slants at a steep - slant. So, I don't want to mount it on the windshield. And I have a dash cover to cut down on glare; so I can't suction cup it to the dash. So, I found a<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380142033266" target="_blank"> vent mount on ebay </a>tonight and ordered that. I hope that will solve the positioning dilemma.<br /><br />I also didn't buy an SD card for it; and not too sure I'll even need one. But it uses a micro SD memory card. So, messing with it tonight, I took the micro SD out of my cell phone to try it out and then figured I would order one for the GPS. Well, it works, can see the pictures I had on it; but -- as my crappy luck would have it -- I can't get the blasted thing out! It's stuck in there! I figured it's supposed to sort of be a spring and push in a little and it will pop out -- well, it didn't!! So, I tried pushing harder on it with a little small flathead screwdriver to try to get it to pop out! It didn't!! Now I'm afraid I've buggered up the edge of it - and I'm in a state of almost panic!<br /><br />I called Tiger Direct, and he said it could be that that spring mechanism in the device that's supposed to pop it is faulty, but I have to call Garmin. Of course, as luck would have it, Garmin is only open regular business hours. So, I hope they can tell me what to do tomorrow. There's a little screw on the cradle that the SD card goes in, and I don't know if I loosened that screw, if it would allow the card to fall out. The guy at Tiger Direct said I shouldn't try it as it might cancel my warranty. Damn, I hate myself sometimes -- but it's not my fault! That's what the slot is for!<br /><br />Well, it will be all right. I guess worse case scenario is I'll have to buy another cradle. I was able to hook the GPS up to the computer and copy the pictures on the card to my computer hard drive. So, I won't lose them if the damn thing has to be dug out.<br /><br />Oh, well -- it's going to work out, and it's going to be fun to use and maybe even give me a little incentive to get out more to play with it.Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-41693557694218622382010-08-20T23:50:00.002-05:002010-08-21T00:01:25.288-05:00To All President Obama HatersTo All President Obama Haters<br />By admin on Apr 22, 2010 in Barack Obama<br /><br />I did not write this. I wish I had! It should get the point across, and everybody should read it. It was posted at a blog here:<br /><a href="http://www.thepresidentialcandidates.us/to-all-president-obama-haters/1199/">http://www.thepresidentialcandidates.us/to-all-president-obama-haters/1199/</a><br />Links to sources are at the original site. I've copied it and posted it and linked<br />back to the original because I don't want to lose it and with election time coming up, people need to read it.<br /><br /><br />You didn’t get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President. <br /><br />You didn’t get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy. <br /><br />You didn’t get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed. <br /><br />You didn’t get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.<br /><br />You didn’t get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us. <br /><br />You didn’t get mad when we spent over 600 billion(and counting) on said illegal war. <br /><br />You didn’t get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq. <br /><br />You didn’t get mad when you found out we were torturing people. <br /><br />You didn’t get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans. <br /><br />You didn’t get mad when we didn’t catch Bin Laden. <br /><br />You didn’t get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed. <br /><br />You didn’t get mad when we let a major US city drown. <br /><br />You didn’t get mad when we gave a 900 billion tax break to the rich. <br /><br />You didn’t get mad when, using reconciliation; a trillion dollars of our tax dollars were redirected to insurance companies for Medicare Advantage which cost over 20 percent more for basically the same services that Medicare provides. <br /><br />You didn’t get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark, and our debt hit the thirteen trillion dollar mark.<br /><br />(The above is a copy/paste of a nice rant about some of the many errors of the Bush admin. This rant has been making the rounds for awhile now and I don’t know where it originated. What follows is my addition.)<br /><br />Yet you get mad at President Obama for what exactly?<br /><br />Expanding health care coverage to over 30 million more Americans while making the worst health insurance industry abuses illegal and reducing the deficit? (source)<br /><br />Credit card reform which protects consumers from credit card company abuses? (source)<br /><br />Lowering taxes for 95% of working families? (source)<br /><br />Being on target to cut Bush’s huge deficit in half within four years? (source)<br /><br />The DOW going from 6500 to over 11000 during his Presidency? (source)<br /><br />Is it because he signed expanded gun rights into law while not making any moves towards gun control? (source)<br /><br />The recession reversing with job losses turning into job gains? (source)<br /><br />Working to reform Wall Street Reform so we don’t experience another economic meltdown like what happened under Bush’s “leadership” in September 2008? (source)<br /><br />Working to reduce loose nukes in order to decrease the chances of a nuclear attack on the US by terrorists? ( source )<br /><br />—<br /><br />Notice those last two are “works in progress.” These are things Obama is trying to do but the Republicans are doing everything they can stop him from being successful on these fronts (similar to how they pulled out every trick in the book to try to stop health care reform.) They don’t seem to care that stopping Obama from getting “political victories” (their biggest concern it seems) may lead to a terrorist nuking a major US city or another economic meltdown. <br /><br />Think about that. “Country First”? Hardly. The Republican Party of today seems to exist only to further it’s own existence. They will stop at nothing to defeat Obama politically. They don’t care how many lies they have to tell or what the long term consequences are for average Americans. <br /><br />It’s because of this that I think it’s of very much importance for the future of the United States that the “Republican Tea Party” be defeated this November. Do your part. Make sure you are registered to vote and get to the polls to vote against all Republican Tea Party candidates.<br /><br />George W Bush, RepublicansLumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-57147655983221209132009-10-21T22:10:00.007-05:002009-10-21T22:55:04.939-05:00Rolling Stones Rock n Roll Circus - London 1968<b><span style="font-size:100%;"><div><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">"You are about to be transported to another age; swinging London in the late Sixties. The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus is a time capsule. Two days in December 1968 that in many ways capturee the spontaneity, aspirations and communal spirit of an entire era. ...for a brief moment it seemed that rock 'n' roll would inherit the earth."</span></span></div><div align="center" style="text-align: left;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">--- David Dalton (founding editor of Rolling Stone Magazine)</span></span></div></span></b><div align="center"><b><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></b></div><center><b><span style="font-size:130%;">Invitation - December 11, 1968</span></b><div></div><div align="center"><b><span style="font-size:130%;"><img border="0" alt=" " src="http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/lumoto/Rock-n-roll%20Circus/circus1dec11_1968invite.jpg" /><br /></span></b></div><div align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div align="center" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size:130%;"><img border="0" alt=" " src="http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/lumoto/Rock-n-roll%20Circus/circus2-invite.jpg" /><br /></span></b></div><div align="center" style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size:130%;"><img border="0" alt=" " src="http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/lumoto/Rock-n-roll%20Circus/circus3invite.jpg" /></span></b></div><div align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Rock and Roll Circus</span></span></div><div align="center"><b><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmlvcnIub3JnL2lvcnIyNy9jaXJjdXMuaHRt" target="_self">http://www.iorr.org/iorr27/circus.htm</a></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span></b></div><div align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><b><br /></b></span></div></center><div></div><div><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It is early morning Wednesday, December 11, 1968. Paul Lovell has catched the first train from Birmingham into London. Today he was supposed to have an exam at school, but nowit is more important business to take care of. </span></span></div><div><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Last month, he had received the monthly fan club letter, telling about a special concert to be held by the Rolling Stones on Dec. 11. Being fan club member number 10,435 since Oct. 1964, and knowing the fan club had grown to probably 20,000 by now, he realized he didn't have much chance of getting tickets to the special event. Much to his surprice, the tickets arrived, red print on a yellow card. He even got an extra ticket for Barbara! </span></span></div><div><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">About 300 people has queued up outside the </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Intertel Studios, Wembley</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, in the morning. There seems to be one entrance only for the place. While queuing up each of the performing artists is arriving. John Lennon arrives in a Rolls with Yoko Ono, being one of the first times they show up publicly together. The Stones and all the others walk by the fans queuing up. This is really developing to something very special... </span></span></div><div><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">When entering the studio, which is a TV recording building, he has to turn in his ticket, signing on it, stating his appearance on any film taken is not his property. All fans are given special red, orange and yellow ponchos, and large, strage hats. Inside the studio, the Stones have arranged for a Circus being built, like a half circle part of the circus, so that there is space for the cameras and crew. The fans are free to find a seat in the half circle around the center canvas, and Paul is selecting a central spot a couple of rows from the front. </span></span></div><div><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The show is soon starting up. Mick Jagger is saying welcome, dressed up as a ringmaster. and the first band is on. </span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Jethro Tull is a new group. They do their song "Song For Jeffrey".</span><br /><msprm name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gIbI6Yl8J_U&hl=en"><msprm name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /><object height="355" width="425" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/gIbI6Yl8J_U&hl=en"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gIbI6Yl8J_U&hl=en"></object><br /><br /></msprm></msprm><div><msprm name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gIbI6Yl8J_U&hl=en"><msprm name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /></msprm></msprm><div><msprm name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gIbI6Yl8J_U&hl=en"><msprm name="wmode" value="transparent">Then The Who is on with their set.<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QW3lCBkJPrk&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QW3lCBkJPrk&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This is not a normal concert. The songs are done several times, and film shooting is not done all the time. There are plenty of breaks. During the breaks, the fans are free to walk wherever they like. Paul is finding himself standing next to Mick, then some time later next to Keith. Being a veteran Stones fan by now, since his first concert in 1964, he does not want to bother any of the Stones, asking for autographs. But when he bumps into John Lennon, he simply ask for his autograph. After all, John is a big star, but not in the same league as the Stones, at least not to Paul...<br /><br />Taj Mahal is next.</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ll6yFD1aKGk&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ll6yFD1aKGk&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Then the important appearance by Marianne Faithfull. This is the apperance when Mick wants everything to be right. Marianne is to be a major star, and Mick has been working hard on the set. Marianne is beautifully located in the center of the circus ring. She performs Something Better, and the camera is rotating 180 degrees around the circus ring, making a perfect panning.</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/44qEgxRn1AU&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/44qEgxRn1AU&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />This is really a strange event. There are circus artists performing in-between the sets. Nobody have planned this in detail. Things seems to take much longer time than originally planned for. People are getting tired and hungry. There is a break in the evening for food. Then there are more rehearsals and camera takes. During one of the breaks, Paul find himself next to Brian Jones on the men's room. Again, privacy first, no autographs...<br /><br />It's about midnight, and still the Stones have not been on. this will probably take till tomorrow! John Lennon is showing up, leading a supergroup of himself, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell.<br /><br /><msprm name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JIcsHhUg0qs&hl=en"><msprm name="wmode" value="transparent"><object height="355" width="425" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/JIcsHhUg0qs&hl=en"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JIcsHhUg0qs&hl=en"></object><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Then Yoko Ono is joining. It's now about 2 o'clock in the morning, and finally, it's time for the Rolling Stones! Mick has changed into causal wear, and they jump into their set of songs taken from Beggars Baquet, being released just before the week-end.<br />Jumping Jack Flash is on. The Stones are great! Then Parachute Woman and No Expectations.</span><msprm name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9xflo4_UCtA&hl=en"><msprm name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VBPZWNgKpAk&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VBPZWNgKpAk&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YZ1QRx4a23s&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YZ1QRx4a23s&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HJidI_bv3BY&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HJidI_bv3BY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Brian is great; great slide. They do several takes. Some people in the crowd is now really sleepy! You Can't Always Get What You Want. More takes. The Stones doesn't seem to be satisfied with what they are doing.</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xbDLA9iB2DY&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xbDLA9iB2DY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Then Sympathy For The Devil, which they have been rehearsing a while back for the One Plus One film. At 5 am in the morning Sympathy is perfect - may be not to the Stones - but it's perfect!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0wSLp3yIHhs&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0wSLp3yIHhs&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Then they all move into the crowd, all wearing ponchos, the chords of Salt Of The Earth is sounding, Keith and Mick is singing the closing song.<br />(Salt of the Earth)<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0wSLp3yIHhs&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0wSLp3yIHhs&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Then it's over. Not a usual concert, but a memory for life time.The fans are saying goodbye. The Stones have rranged for transportation. Paul and Barbara is hanging around in London for the first train back to Birmingham. Well, doesn't bother about the exam, the concert, the rehearsals and the happening is still strong in the mind... </msprm></msprm></msprm></msprm></msprm></msprm></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><center><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"><img border="0" alt=" " src="http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/lumoto/Rock-n-roll%20Circus/circus4.jpg" /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"><img border="0" alt=" " src="http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/lumoto/Rock-n-roll%20Circus/circus5.jpg" /><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"><img border="0" alt=" " src="http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/lumoto/Rock-n-roll%20Circus/circus6.jpg" /><br /><br /></span></div><span style="font-family:Arial;"></span></center></div>Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-29104269866417907742009-09-23T16:38:00.005-05:002009-09-23T17:09:11.692-05:00ATT and wireless -- tech support sucks!There's not too many things in life I hate worse than having to call any computer tech support! Today was one of those days. I have ATT/DSL. All was fine till I left the house to go mail in my reason for not being able to serve on Jury Duty (ah, yes, another woe, but not worth a whole blog) - and when I got back, I had no internet connection. I hit the reset on the modem, and that didn't work. I called them, and the recording said, "Did you unplug modem and restart?"<br /><br /> Well, no, I didn't. So, I hung up and did that. But I still didn't have a connection. So, I called back. Apparently hitting the reset erased my password; and the guy walked me through setting a new one. All is fine -- so far.<br /><br /> Then he has me turn on my laptop, which I might mention has not been turned on for quite some time - months - but it had connection when I used it last. But I agreed a good idea to check it. Good thing, because there was no connection. <br /><br /> He had me do several things; then had me delete the connection, let it create a new one; didn't work. An error message came up, something about the ISP wasn't compatible. Then the phone went dead. I suppose he hung up! They make it a big deal to get your phone number so they can call you back - but he didn't call me back. <br /><br /> So, I called them back, started over. "Let me connect you to the wireless tech support." GEEZ! Okay.<br /><br /> Then we go through the same things again, answering the same basic questions about modem and operating system and all that . She does the same stuff the first guy had me to do - properties, look at this, look at that -- then delete the connection; let it create a new connection, etc. Got to the same place - three or four times. Each time she would say, "Can you hold while I check your account?" Sure, I'll wait. Then she'd come back to do the same thing we did before. <br /><br /> Then she's quiet - then asks me, "You are having trouble getting the wireless to work on your laptop; is that right?" YES!!! Damn!!<br /><br /> I tried to tell her about the message, the ISP wasn't compatible; but she pretty much ignored me and said bla bla bla about ATT supporting Internet connection and I could connect; apparently it was something wrong with my laptop; and did I want her to connect me to the Connect Tech Support? I said there's nothing wrong with my laptop, and I thought that's who she was!! Yes, connect me.<br /><br /> Well, getting connected to that department, the recording alerts me that it is fee-based and to have a credit card handy. OH, NO YOU DON'T! So, I hung up; got out my ethernet cable and hard wired it, and it connected just fine. <br /><br /> Once again, I got the message about the ISP not being compatible; but when I tried to click on the error for more info, it went away. By this time I had wasted well over 2 hours, maybe even three, of stress and rising blood pressure; so I gave it up. I know I'll have to call them back and go through the whole thing -- again! But it won't be today! <br /><br /> There's no reason in this world that so much time and mental energy should be expended on something that should be so minor!Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-55004869072482138662009-09-14T17:24:00.002-05:002009-09-14T17:36:54.964-05:00How the GOP got hijacked by Right-Wing Authoritarians<strong>How the GOP got hijacked (as well as ANY religion!) by Right-Wing Authoritarians</strong><br /><br />As we are witness the unfolding of a rather bizarre health care debate, one can't help but be amazed at the jaw dropping lunacy of the folks on the right who are amply represented by an assembly of "creationists" "birthers", "teabaggers", "screamers" and now "deathers"...<br /><br />~snip~<br /><br />Somehow the leaders of the GOP seem to have convinced a majority of their followers that;<br />1. President Obama is not a naturalized citizen and therefore his presidency is illegitimate (birthers).<br />2. Obama's healthcare bill will put seniors to death by their government (deathers).<br />3. Obama's socialist administration will come and get your guns (teabaggers).<br />4. Obama hates God (creationists).<br />5. Obama plans for the government to take over Medicare (screamers).<br />6. Obama plans for America are similar to Nazi Germany. (Limbaugh).<br />7. Obama's death panels will kill my baby (Palin).<br />8. Obama's defense policies put the country on the edge of catastrophe (Cheney, Gingrich).<br /><br />~snip~<br /><br />At the end of Chapter Two appears a list of those traits that are typically found in Right-Wing Authoritarians. When reading this list, think GOP leaders Limbaugh, Gingrich, Cheney and Palin.<br /><br />Right-Wing Authoritarian - Leaders:<br /><br />* Typically men (Palin is the exception but think masculine phrases used to define her such as "hockey mom", "basketball point guard", and "field dress a moose")<br />* dominating<br />* opposes equality<br />* desirous of personal power<br />* amoral<br />* intimidating and bullying<br />* faintly hedonistic<br />* vengeful<br />* pitiless<br />* exploitive<br />* manipulative<br />* dishonest<br />* cheats to win<br />* highly prejudiced (racist, sexist, homophobic)<br />* mean-spirited<br />* militant<br />* nationalistic<br />* tells others what they want to hear<br />* takes advantage of "suckers"<br />* specializes in creating false images to sell self<br />* may or may not be religious<br />* usually politically and economically conservative/Republican<br /><br />When reading the below list of follower traits, think of those angry white faces (actually more red than white) at your typical "teabagger" party and recent Town hall "screamer" secession.<br /><br />Right-Wing Authoritarian - Followers:<br /><br />* men and woman<br />* submissive to authority<br />* aggressive on behalf of authority<br />* conventional<br />* highly religious<br />* moderate to little education<br />* trust untrustworthy authorities<br />* prejudiced (particularly against homosexuals, woman, and followers of religions other than their own)<br />* mean-spirited<br />* narrow-minded<br />* intolerant<br />* bulling<br />* zealous<br />* dogmatic<br />* uncritical toward chosen authority<br />* hypocritical<br />* inconsistent and contradictory<br />* prone to panic easily<br />* highly self-righteous<br />* moralistic<br />* strict disciplinarian<br />* severely punitive<br />* demands loyalty and returns it<br />* little self-awareness<br />* usually politically and economically conservative/Republican<br /><br />While reading this list you may have asked yourself why these current followers, who display a deference to authority, are not following the head guy; the President of the United States. The answer is a simple one. The glue that binds the current out of power leaders to their pathetic followers is clearly and unambiguously RACE...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-11447LA-Science-and-Tech-News-Examiner~y2009m8d10-How-the-GOP-got-hijacked-by-RightWing-Authoritarians">LA Science and Tech News Examiner: How the GOP got hijacked by RightWing Authoritarians</a><br /><br />(and I might add to RACE - PERCEIVED RELIGION and ISLAMOPHOBIA)<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VqmMdPKw378&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VqmMdPKw378&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />I wish there was such a video about hijacking Christianity, too! If this behavior were all one had to reflect what Christianity is all about, who would want it!Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-78636187621690681562009-09-04T19:29:00.006-05:002009-09-05T13:26:09.238-05:00Fears of Obama speaking to school kids<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/IXpHZaGGfE4&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IXpHZaGGfE4&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br />The Obamaphobia just keeps going from bad to worse. It's hard to believe "adults" and so-called "educated" people have fallen into the snares of the extreme, radical right. This event is something nice for the kids, to be addressed by the "office of the president" - no matter who holds that office. With our education system crumbling, our nation practically illiterate, and dropout rate on the rise, just maybe our kids might need a pep talk to stay in school and give it their all! But God forbid if it be our President Obama to be the one to offer that encouragement to our kids to better themselves with a good education!! This whole thing is the height of complete and utter lunacy at its best!<br /><br />Even IF (stress IF) Obama did say something partisan -WHICH HE WON'T -- so the heck what! He's a Dem pres. That's part of our government system!! Two PARTIES!! Hello!! These students are not babies. They're kids who should be learning to listen to differing views and forming their own thoughts. It's called learning to think for themselves. That's part of an education, too. It's more scary if parents won't let their kids learn to do that! They're only teaching their kids to have a closed mind, never listen to opposing views than those of their parents! That's what's extremely dangerous!!<br /><br />Locally it seems our schools cow-towing to this mania; and </span></span>it is most disheartening. If this is how our schools are, then Pres Obama has more work to do with the schools than maybe first thought. It appears our educators are the ones who need some education!<br /><br />Sounds like too many of the teachers/administrators, as well as parents, are have become "indoctrinated" by FIXED NEWS!! WHAT IRONY!!Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-30985601065897818772009-09-03T20:58:00.000-05:002009-09-05T22:19:20.701-05:00Restriction A - with corrective lenses<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BmNQd-iwsII/SqMlFEKsplI/AAAAAAAAAFk/BFDBoPeCRlg/s1600-h/dmv.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 260px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BmNQd-iwsII/SqMlFEKsplI/AAAAAAAAAFk/BFDBoPeCRlg/s400/dmv.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="DMV Beaumont, Texas" /></a><br />Alas, it is that time of my life when I had to renew my driver's license again. It's been six years, but I know I didn't have my picture made 6 years ago. They used the one I had. So, if I had been stopped with that 12 year old picture, it might would have turned into being somewhat of a humiliating experience to admit how much I've aged in the past dozen years. <br /><br /> But that wasn't what worried me. What did worry me was the eye exam. This was not going to be so easy. I'm getting cataracts, I can't see worth a flip, and I haven't gotten new glasses in three years. So, I was really stressing about this. In fact, I played out the mental daydream (nightmare) scenario that they would take my license away from me and I would have to call somebody to come pick me up.<br /><br /> Well, my birthday is on the 28th; so I knew I had to get down there early enough that if I didn't pass, I would have time to get new glasses and take the test again. So, I took a deep breath and went today, the 3rd. <br /><br /> First off the bat, I was standing in the line and when they flashed the light to take a person's picture, the light was right in my line of vision; so I saw bright spots for a bit. Oh, great. Well, I had to wait long enough, that corrected itself. <br /><br /> A lady from the back came to her station and called on me, as I was next in line. I had been watching the two ladies who were working their stations, wondering which would be nicer. So, when the 3rd lady came and I was her first, I felt a sense of relief for some reason, and it proved to be true. She was very nice. <br /><br /> Well, we exchange the pleasantries and preliminaries, and the moment of truth arrives. She pointed me to the machine you look in, and told me first without the glasses. "Line 5." Oh, boy. I couldn't see a thing. She was very kind and told me to go to the machine next to it. Maybe that would be better. Nope, it wasn't. "Okay, girl," I tell myself. "Stay calm. You knew you'd need to wear your glasses."<br /><br /> I have two pair of bifocals and took them both. One pair is computer/reading; and one pair is distance/reading. I always wear the computer glasses, but while driving up to the DMV, I got out the distance/reading to see if it made much difference; and it didn't at all. So, I took the computer glasses I had in my hand and put them on. Absolutely NO improvement. I couldn't read a thing. <br /><br /> Now I'm starting to feel the ol' heart start to be a little faster, but I quickly grabbed the other pair.<br /><br /> Ohhhh, there it is!!! I rattled off the letters/numbers so fast I even stumbled in my words on the last number "5" -- no, "6." Whew!! <br /><br /> She laughed a little and informed me we'd have to put a restriction on my license. NO KIDDING!! <br /><br /> Now that it's all over I wish I could go back to those machines and do it again. I'm wondering if I just didn't have my head lined up right in the first place because I know my 2nd pair of glasses just aren't that much more correcting than the first. But whatever, at least I've got them and I'm good for another six years!! Such a simple thing as renewing your license turned out to be a major stressor, but God is good and got me through it! <br /><br /> I lifted the picture above of our DMV off Google Maps. But just as an aside comment, that is the same location I went when I took my boys in the 80s to get their beginner permits and then licenses when they turned 16. And, indeed, it is the same building that I went to when I got my very first driver's license when I was 16 in the early 60s. I can remember sitting in the back room taking the written test; and then later when it was time for the driving test, I remember the officer told me to turn left and I made a very nice and controlled right - right into a parking lot! I wondered why he wanted me to go in that parking lot! lol He was kind, acknowledged that he knew I was nervous, and passed me. Gosh, that was such a long time ago.Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-72577237534944447542009-07-12T12:05:00.010-05:002009-07-12T13:07:17.553-05:00The Case of the Missing Historical Marker<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://sherrysharp.com/southpark/demo-phase/HISTORICAL-MARKER.jpg" /></div><br /><br /><a href="http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/lumoto/SP-misc/historical.jpg" target="_blank"><br />Texas Historical Commission Marker No. 10566 issued 1988</a><br /><br /><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BmNQd-iwsII/SloeETIUOUI/AAAAAAAAAFE/KTNAzH_0G5o/s320/HISTORICAL-MARKER1.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 384px; height: 268px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357627765914089794" /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BmNQd-iwsII/Slof4VdL5rI/AAAAAAAAAFM/oeBjENL7L5s/s1600-h/HISTORICAL-MARKER-MISSING.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 384px; height: 268px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BmNQd-iwsII/Slof4VdL5rI/AAAAAAAAAFM/oeBjENL7L5s/s320/HISTORICAL-MARKER-MISSING.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357629759403321010" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">umm - where, oh, where could it be? It used to be there. The State of Texas Historical Commission put it there. But now it's gone. It was still there at our Pep Rally on June 6th. But by the time of the press conference on July 1st when we announced filing an injunction against BISD, lo and behold, it had disappeared. All that remains now is a faded mark on the bricks revealing where that marker had graced and honored that building for over two decades.<br /><br />It seems reasonable to assume that should the marker be removed, that since it was placed there by the STATE, it would have to be removed by the STATE. But, we know from the letter that the STATE Historical Commission sent to BISD <i>(see the letter below)</i> that BISD hasn't even informed them that they planned to destroy the building. So, it also seems safe to assume that the STATE didn't come and get it.<br /><br />Well, BISD, we would all like to know why you were in such a hurry to remove that marker from the building? After all, your own web site says you are not planning to destroy the school until September. So, what was the hurry?<br /><br />Perhaps one of our lawyers in our midst, or someone with the Historical Commission, will answer this question: Is this <u><i>legal</i></u> for BISD to have removed that marker? After all, isn't that plaque maybe even <i>property</i> of the STATE? Just askin'....<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BmNQd-iwsII/Sloh0QDp8xI/AAAAAAAAAFU/kMTK47L8d30/s1600-h/let-frm-hst-to-isd-sm.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 268px; height: 384px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BmNQd-iwsII/Sloh0QDp8xI/AAAAAAAAAFU/kMTK47L8d30/s200/let-frm-hst-to-isd-sm.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357631888257839890" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Click </span><a href="http://sherrysharp.com/southpark/demo-phase/let-frm-hst-to-isd-.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">here</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> to view page 1 full size.</span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:-webkit-monospace;font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-size:15px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:-webkit-monospace;font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;font-size:15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; font-family:Georgia;font-size:18px;"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BmNQd-iwsII/Sloj7zwHV7I/AAAAAAAAAFc/xUjcJSsfrck/s320/let-frm-hst-to-isd2-sm.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357634217121896370" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 257px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:-webkit-monospace;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">click <a href="http://sherrysharp.com/southpark/demo-phase/let-frm-hst-to-isd2-.jpg">here</a> to view page 2 full size</span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:-webkit-monospace;font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:-webkit-monospace;font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:-webkit-monospace;font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">For more about the "Save South Park" movement, Please visit: </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:-webkit-monospace;font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://savesouthpark.org">http://savesouthpark.org</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:-webkit-monospace;font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div></span>Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-73771331693679887982009-03-19T22:45:00.008-05:002009-03-20T12:50:28.615-05:00Debut of my Genealogy via PHP and my new Web PageGenealogy has been a big hobby of mine for about a decade or more, and I have collected a lot of information, both from my own research and info others have shared with me. I've used Family Tree Maker from the beginning, and still do, though I haven't liked the newest versions since Version 11.<br />Well, anyway, I've wanted to put my collection on the web, but didn't like Ancestry.com's layout, and debating on the LDS Family Search site. With a bit of Googling, I came across a program called <a href="http://lythgoes.net/genealogy/software.php">The Next Generation</a>. It's a PHP program, which until I found it had no idea what PHP was, but I looked at the other users' pages, and samples, and liked it very much and decided that's how I wanted to do it. All this was last Friday, the 13th. So, I paid my $30 and haven't hardly looked up since. Last year I had tried doing my genealogy with HTML, but it was crap. We had Hurricane Ike and I never got back to it, mainly because I wasn't happy with it anyway. So, I'm more than excited about this program.<br />It was a bit complicated to get installed because I had to convert my webspace with GoDaddy from Windows to Linux, then later I had to call them back to get MySQL, which I still don't know what that is. And finally before it was all over with, I opted to pay GoDaddy for my space, $5 a month as I had been using their free space with the ad. The ad, as it turned out, interferred with the program.<br /><br />An individual, Darrin Lythgoes, <a title="http://lythgoes.net/" href="http://lythgoes.net/">http://lythgoes.net/</a> wrote this amazing program. There's also a pretty extensive mailing list and<a href="http://www.tngforum.us/index.php"> TNG Forum</a>. It's quite a "club" I guess you could call it. Though I have communicated with questions to Darrin, I haven't taken part in these other vehicles of support yet. So far it seems most of the users are way advanced of my non-existent PHP abilities.<br />But I'm up and running. I've installed the program, carefully according to the ReadMe instructions, and created my gedcom, and uploaded that. My Cute FTP client crashed, and GoDaddy told me about <a href="http://filezilla-project.org/">FileZilla</a> Client, which is free and is working great. Anyway, I started uploading cemetery pictures and documents I had already scanned, like marriage records, obit, and assigned them to the corresponding individuals.<br />By now it's Wednesday, yesterday; and I realized before I went any further I needed to create a web page that would incorporate my other web pages as well as the genealogy pages. So, after some thought, and browsing through my own photos, I came with a plan and created as I went, taking my old web page and totally redesigning it - all with basic html. That took me all day yesterday. Now, short of a bit of tweaking, I think I'm ready now to get back to uploading documents. I have sooo many, and will probably never finish that task in this lifetime.<br />Well, I guess this is the official unveiling. I have told a few select friends and relatives about it, but I have not listed it with <a href="http://ancestry.com/">Ancestry</a> or posted it on any of their boards yet. That will come when I get more of my documents added and linked up to more individuals. But for now, here's my new site: <a href="http://sherrysharp.com/">http://sherrysharp.com/</a> Of course the <a href="http://sherrysharp.com/genealogy">Genealogy</a> Link takes you to the wonderful, fabulous TNG program!Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-15224747910680385032009-01-25T11:20:00.006-06:002009-01-25T11:28:44.927-06:00Four Months After Ike - Texas Gulf Coast<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BmNQd-iwsII/SXygTrbpeBI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/C6NkyGQMm18/s1600-h/P1030576-sm.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295283521817507858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BmNQd-iwsII/SXygTrbpeBI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/C6NkyGQMm18/s320/P1030576-sm.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div><br /></div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BmNQd-iwsII/SXyf94MKVpI/AAAAAAAAAEA/ktberp2bYlY/s1600-h/P1030462-sm.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295283147285091986" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BmNQd-iwsII/SXyf94MKVpI/AAAAAAAAAEA/ktberp2bYlY/s320/P1030462-sm.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BmNQd-iwsII/SXyfzjEBsAI/AAAAAAAAAD4/J64_bAcpt_c/s1600-h/P1030460-sm.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5295282969815134210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_BmNQd-iwsII/SXyfzjEBsAI/AAAAAAAAAD4/J64_bAcpt_c/s320/P1030460-sm.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div>I finally got down to the beach last Friday (1/16/09) to see what remained after Hurricane Ike. I suppose it was about what I expected, but still, it was hard to comprehend so much devastation. Since I assume there are many who are not able to get down there, I thought I would share my pictures. I will say that there was lot of activity with the workers scurrying around in the cold trying to bring it back. Not seeing it beforehand but trying to visualize what it looked like right after the storm, I would imagine a lot has been done, but there's still so much more to do. </div><div></div><div align="center"><br />The link to my collection of shots is here:<br /><br /><a href="http://cid-e35c7c7d5121e71c.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Beach%20-%20Hwy%2087%20-%201-16-09?lc=1033"><span style="font-size:180%;">Beach - Hwy 87 - 1/16/09 </span></a><br /></div></div>Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-14826313846421659332008-12-13T23:55:00.000-06:002008-12-14T00:10:10.732-06:00Saturday -- Dear DiaryMy morning started out at 8:15 with someone knocking loudly on my front door. It woke me from a sound asleep and I don't go to the door anyway. But the person was insistent and called me. I let the answering machine get it not wanting to get up yet, couldn't hear the message. I couldn't go back to sleep and figured they were gone, so I got up to get my coffee and saw that there was a mobile home trying to get out. They needed the parking spaces in front of my house where my car is parked to make the curve with the trailer and thus needed me to move my car. I hollered at one of the guys to come get the keys to move it. Then my neighbor came up, apologized for waking me. "Is that you that's moving out?" I asked. It was. He's been here a long time. He told me he was getting evicted because he had a girlfriend living with him and didn't tell the office. Damn! I know that's in the lease, but so is a lot of things that aren't abided by in this park. He said he was taking it to small claims court, but I don't see how he'll be able to recover the tremendous expense of moving a mobile home. I felt bad for him.<br /><br />I didn't try to intall the graphic dirver yet. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel like tackling it. But I am moving my huge address book to Windows Live. I've used Incredimail for years, and they really don't let you export your contacts where they come out looking right. I hate the Windows Contacts way of doing an address book. So, it's just going to have to be one at a time. Besides, I have contacts for various genealogy family lines, contacts from my photography group, contacts from our attempts to save the high school from destruction -- lots of them I'm not even sure who they are now. So, I need to put them in related folders. There's bound to be a better way to keep up with contacts, physical addresses, and phone numbers. Ths is going to be a big project. I made it to the letter D today. lolLumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-50618161000219613482008-12-12T22:30:00.000-06:002008-12-12T22:47:07.781-06:00new toy for my computerThe past two weeks I've been involved in setting up, learning, and transferring files for my job from an antiquated verison that operated on Win 95/98 -- yeah -- really! -- to a version that will operate on my Vista. I've had the old computer set up side by side with my Vista PC, using it only for work, and using the "good" computer for everything else. Finally, the move is done, and I am about ready to put the old tower into retirement (in the corner of the room where I have three other defunct towers). <br /><br />Anyway, I did have a nice 17" flat screen monitor I have been using, as well as the 22" flat screen I use with the Vista - both are Samsung SyncMasters, Analog/Digital capable. So, I got the hairbrained idea that instead of putting the 17" away, it's time to expand my desktop -- have two monitors! I have a feeling once this is set up, I'll wonder how I ever did with out it. <br /><br />I'm not THAT computer saavy, so I had several questions, did a little Googling, and decided to go for it. Not exactly sure what to get, I went to Best Buy and trusted the saleman's advice and bought a VisionTek PCI, Radeon HD2400 PRO, 256 MB, which he assured me it ample. He asked if I had the Digital Interface Cable that came with the monitor. Um, well, I had a hunch I would need it from what I had read on the web and looked everywhere I could think of before I went to Best Buy, but I don't guess one came with the monitor -- or else I put it in a "safe" place. So, I bought one.<br /> Guess I will tackle installing it as soon as I get brave enough. I'll let you know how it goes.Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-69775117322833304942008-12-12T21:54:00.001-06:002008-12-12T23:55:31.483-06:00OMG it Snowed in SE Texas!Well, it's been quite some time since I've added a blog. Almost a year. My man won the election, will be taking office very, very soon! But that's not what today is about.<br /><br />Actually, it snowed yesterday (Thurs, Dec 11th), which was my granddaughter's birthday -- she turned the magical age of 13.<br /><br />I had gone outside about midnight to take out the garbage and it was sleeting/raining. Not wanting to drag it out to the street in the rain, I decided there wasn't that much; it could wait till next garbage day. I went back in, watched some TV, went to bed -- snuggled up and finally dozed off. Didn't even think about snow! My mom called at 8:00, apologizing for waking me up, but "Look outside!" Wow! How beautiful!!! I found out it the snowfall had been around 1:30. Damn I hate myself sometimes. I should have looked up and out! I'm so UN-observant! And it never fails that I live to regret it!! But nevertheless, it was such a treat to see white! Last time it snowed I think was 4 (?) years ago on Christmas Eve and before that was something like 1987??? It don't snow much around here! So, it should be declared a holiday. It was pretty much melted away by mid afternoon, but what it was very, very nice.<br /><br />I got the camera out, of course. Been so long that I tried to take pictures with anything put the Program mode, I forgot how to change settings! But I got quite a few around the yard. Nothing very photogenic where I live, but, hey, it's home.<br /><br />Here's a couple. Click<a href="http://cid-e35c7c7d5121e71c.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Public/It%20Snowed%20in%20SE%20Texas!?uc=3"> here</a> for a few more.<br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 650px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 473px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://kkf7kw.blu.livefilestore.com/y1p6YdjW9UjUeFpc18e8Z-N05TlyqEmybVMj4B1wWZJhYVkQLb76ESpgj11jy5WUZHksa8UsXQa3Q57h1fpAqj4zQ/P1030318.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 650px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 481px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://kkf7kw.blu.livefilestore.com/y1prlgOScFeWEsiCQhVHzXvnQUWASksfWCHqfLqsvdQgcyy7inRq7Zd7NxvBXCI3kEnIwQ3ZjKX3V6C4boWaEXufg/P1030339.jpg" border="0" />Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-73662315111782745332008-02-21T14:48:00.004-06:002008-02-21T15:21:18.592-06:00VOTE DEMOCRAT -- I CHOOSE OBAMA!<div align="center"><img alt=" " src="http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/lumoto/061209_ClintonObama_vl_widec.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:8;color:blue;"><b>MY </b></span><span style="font-size:8;"><span style="color:red;"><b>VOTE</b></span><span style="color:blue;"><b>GOES TO</b><br /></span><br /><img style="WIDTH: 295px; HEIGHT: 375px" height="511" alt="" src="http://z.about.com/d/usliberals/1/0/G/1/SenBarackObama" width="295" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><img style="WIDTH: 290px; HEIGHT: 226px" height="291" alt=" " src="http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/lumoto/obama08.jpg" width="290" border="0" /> </div><div align="left"><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Since Edwards dropped out of the race, that left Hillary and Obama to choose from. I choose Barack Obama, and here's why.</span></div><p align="left"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>First and foremost,</strong> if we're looking for a change in this country, which we sure do need, she isn't change. She's status quo. Granted she's a Democrat, and if she winds up legitimately being the nominee by honest means, I'll support her. But she was for the war for a long time. She won't commit to bringing home ALL the troops. Besides, it's time we have fresh blood in the White House! The Clintons and the Bushes had dominated the "ruling" dynasties for far too long. If Hillary winds up being the nominee by stealing the election by only superdelegates or playing that childish cheating game of trying to count Florida and Michigan, then I guess I just won't vote!</span></p><p align="left"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Second,</strong> I think Obama will go very far in bringing back honor to this country and restoring world opinion. I think he will also go far in blending at least some of the radical ends of the parties into a cohesive unit; though granted, there will always be those on the both extreme ends of the political spectrum.</span></p><p align="left"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Third,</strong> I think Obama has a vision for the country that far exceeds the others. The others are all stuck in the quagmire of "now" and "now" isn't working. He isn't just talk of "hope," though that is nice to hear -- but he has plans that would be good for this country - besides bringing the troops home, he has definite plans for the economy, our infastructure, education, health care, even the treaties with the Indians and their problems. He's against NAFTA, which Hillary and Bill set into play -- and NAFTA leads to NWO. Will he get everything he wants? No. But it's a darn good start! And I have no doubt it won't be his fault if we don't get it all!</span></p><p align="left"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Fourth,</strong> to the nay-sayers who are soooo freakin' worried about his "Muslim" background or his name. Give it up, for God's sake!! I don't know what influence if any his Muslim background played in the formation of his opinions and beliefs. But he's not a terrorist!! Why do people continue to equate "Muslim" to "terrorist"? That's totally ignorant and biased, prejudiced, and narrow-minded. He is a Christian. But just give this some thought --- IF he had some exposure to Islam, then just maybe he might have a better understanding of their views and can help bring about peace in that part of the world. But if you're worried about his allegience to Israel, his words to the Haaretz, </span></p><p align="left"><em><span style="font-size:130%;">"My view is that the United States' special relationship with Israel obligates us to be helpful to them in the search for credible partners with whom they can make peace, while also supporting Israel in defending itself against enemies sworn to its destruction."</span></em></p><em></em><p align="left"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Fifth,</strong> his name -- get real. All I know to say to that argument, or justification as to why he should not be the Democratic candidate because of his name, much less President, is to just say simply -- GROW UP!!! I suppose by that thinking, after this regime of George Bush, with all his war crimes, immeasurable blood on his hands, ruination of our country in every area imanginable -- by the mentality of a prejudice against names, then by all rights, the name "George" should never, ever be used again!!</span></p><p align="left"><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>Sixth</strong> -- last but not least, </span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>HE CAN HANDILY BEAT McCAIN!! Hillary cannot!! </strong></span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">She is too devisive!! Even moderate Republicans and Independents are falling into Obama's camp. They would never line up behind Hillary. If McCain wins, we are truly doomed to more of the same. It is said that McCain will be in effect a 3rd term for Bush. Listen to his platform! He's full of praises to Bush and continuing on with everything Bush is doing. He even said he would like to keep Robert Gates on as Sec of Defense! McCain will only advance the ruination of this country that Bush has set into motion -- and might I had, has done a damn good job of it!<br />One thing that helped me make a comfortable move to Barack was his "Yes We Can" Speech that he gave when he won New Hampshire. What a speech it was! It should go down listed among the greatest speeches ever.<br /></span></p><p align="left"><span style="font-size:130%;">If you've never "really" listened to it, here it is. You owe it to yourself to spend 13 minutes and really listen!</span></p><p align="center"><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Fe751kMBwms&rel=1&border=0"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Fe751kMBwms&rel=1&border=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object></p><p align="center"><br /><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;"><span style="font-size:130%;">America needs Barack Obama!<br /></span>He is, indeed, this country's only hope --<br />at least in this election! We've deterorated so much now that I worry it can't be fully restored. But if things continue on the present course, we </span></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;">WILL REACH THE POINT OF NO RETURN!</span></strong></p><strong><span style="color:#cc0000;"><p align="left"><br /></span></strong><span style="font-size:130%;">And PS -- in the event Edwards winds up endorsing HIllary, then I sure will be disappointed in him and will never support him again! In my mind, that would only mark him as a sell-out, just like the rest of them! I can only hope that his integrity will prevent him from succumbing to backroom deals.</span></p><br /></span>Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-66306099216835070472007-12-30T00:12:00.000-06:002007-12-30T01:49:48.541-06:00Christmas Unwrapped - The History of Christmas<span style="font-size:130%;">Now that Christmas is over and leftovers are about gone, credit cards are maxed out, and all is left is taking down the decorations, it's a good time to watch this very interesting program from the History Channel about the history of Christmas. I saw it a few days before Christmas and wished I had recorded it. I thought to myself, everybody needs to see this! Fortunately YouTube has it! So, I highly, highly recommend you watch it. Unless you're really up on history, I think you'll be surprised at just how "recent" our "traditional" Christmas really is. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Must See! </span></span><br /></div><br /><a href="http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=71925"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); font-weight: bold;">From The History Channel</span></span></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">Christmas Unwrapped </span><br /></span><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">The History of Christmas</span></span><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">From Santa Claus to the Christmas Tree, this is an enchanting look at some of the most beloved holiday traditions.<br /><br />People all over the world celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th. But why is the Savior's nativity marked by gift giving, and was He really born on that day? And just where did the Christmas tree come from?<br /><br />Take an enchanting journey through the history of the world's favorite holiday to learn the origins of some of the Western World's most enduring traditions. Trace the emergence of Christmas from pagan festivals like the Roman Saturnalia, which celebrated the winter solstice. Learn how Prince Albert introduced the Christmas tree to the English speaking world in 1841. And discover how the patron saint of children was transformed into Jolly old Santa Claus by British settlers in the New World.<br /><br />Come in from the cold for a Christmas celebration that has it all.<br /><br /><br />Part 1 of 5<br /><object width="425" height="373"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/A5T5ibb2E9I&rel=1&border=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/A5T5ibb2E9I&rel=1&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="373"></embed></object><br /><br />Part 2 of 5<br /><msprm name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qAZDGKSveD8&rel=1"><msprm name="wmode" value="transparent"><object enablejsurl="false" enablehref="false" saveembedtags="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/qAZDGKSveD8&rel=1" height="355" width="425"><br /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"><br /><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qAZDGKSveD8&rel=1"><br /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /></object><br /><br />Part 3 of 5<br /><msprm name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hQ3BvK1R6hI&rel=1"><msprm name="wmode" value="transparent"><object enablejsurl="false" enablehref="false" saveembedtags="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/hQ3BvK1R6hI&rel=1" height="355" width="425"><br /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"><br /><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hQ3BvK1R6hI&rel=1"><br /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /></object><br /><br />Part 4 of 5<br /><msprm name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OvopeBfS89w&rel=1"><msprm name="wmode" value="transparent"><object enablejsurl="false" enablehref="false" saveembedtags="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/OvopeBfS89w&rel=1" height="355" width="425"><br /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"><br /><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OvopeBfS89w&rel=1"><br /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /></object><br /><br />Part 5 of 5<br /><msprm name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CqjQpu3cctk&rel=1"><msprm name="wmode" value="transparent"><object enablejsurl="false" enablehref="false" saveembedtags="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/CqjQpu3cctk&rel=1" height="355" width="425"><br /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"><br /><param name="allowNetworking" value="internal"><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CqjQpu3cctk&rel=1"><br /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><br /></object><br /><br /><br /></msprm></msprm></msprm></msprm></msprm></msprm></msprm></msprm></msprm></msprm></span><br /><br /><center><br /><a href="http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/lumoto/?action=view&current=Christmas-unwrapped_.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/lumoto/Christmas-unwrapped_.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a></center>Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-90802355625160776862007-10-20T13:52:00.001-05:002008-12-14T12:28:06.186-06:00ATT DSL does not give free webspace.<span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>THURSDAY OCT 18</strong><br />I received my wireless modem Tuesday, and my account was turned on Wednesday, late in the day. Setting up the wireless modem was very easy, and programming my laptop was equally painless. However, I DID NOT sustain a download speed of 11 MB as the woman who signed me up damn near promised I would get! That was sheer B.S. I clocked at about 5400 KB as compared to Roadrunner when I would get 6800. But truth be told, I really can't tell a difference at all. So, I'm not upset over it. That's fine. I think the DSL will be more stable.<br /><br />But Thursday I called to find that 20 gig of web space I would get free. I'll shorten this. After two hours of torturous transferring to six or seven different departments it was finally confirmed there is no 20 GB of free disk space. There is no 1 MB of free disk space for a web page. I could get 5 GB for 11.95! LIARS!!! There was no way I could get hold of "Eddie" again who was in billing and was in West Texas. The last woman I talked to the longest -- her name was Janice -- was fully aware of the horrendous experience I had had with getting the phone hooked up, and then being lied to about the web space, which, by the way, was the main reason I decided to go ahead and switch - anyway, Janice consulted with her supervisor and to appease me, she offered me a $5 credit a month for a year and then a one time $50 credit. Well, whatever. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">So, that means that when it's all said and done, I'll actually make a little money off this, even though it put a few more gray hairs in my head. With my rebates and credits, It actually adds up to about $325, less the hundred I have to pay for the modem, gives me about $225 profit. Of course, it will take about four months before I get it all. Maybe I'll try to put it in my piggy bank as it comes in.<br /><br /><strong>FRIDAY, OCT 20</strong><br />I had found a site that offers free web hosting, called <a href="http://000webhost.org/">http://000webhost.org/</a> that I had signed up for. Now that I won't have Roadrunner anymore and ATT lied about having any free web hosting, I moved my web page there. It looks like it will be a satisfactory new home. I have reassigned my domain name, <a href="http://lumoto.com/">http://lumoto.com/</a>; so hopefully it won't be too painful a transition. It's not that my web page is so awesome, but I had collected a lot of things on the </span><a href="http://lumoto.com/southpark"><span style="font-size:130%;">Save South Park</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> fight and I really didn't want to lose all that. 000web host offers 250 MB of space as opposed to Roadrunner's 4 MB. So, I guess I'll live. Monday I'll call Roadrunner to disconnect me. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"> (on edit - 12/14/08) I happened to notice this old blog and thought I should update this information for anyone who might stumble into this post -- 000webhost did not prove to be successful for me. Something happened I couldn't log in and they couldn't seem to get me logged in; told me best thing to do was to sign up again. So, I was forced to abandon it. I am now using godaddy's free web space that goes with the domain names I have with them. It's working out very well. They offer ample space, and I highly recommend it. Of course, you have to have a domain name to get it, but if you are going to have a web page, you will want to have that anyway. Otherwise, it's free. my page is <a href="http://lumoto.com/">http://lumoto.com</a></span>Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-3815538651405870392007-10-15T19:28:00.000-05:002007-10-15T19:47:44.392-05:00Supreme Court Gives Gore's Nobel to Bush - w/photo evidence :)<center><img style="WIDTH: 415px; HEIGHT: 292px" height="378" src="http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/lumoto/gorelosesnobel-1.jpg" width="415" /></a><br /></center><p><br />From the Oct. 14 Borowitz Report<br />by Andy Borowitz<br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:180%;">Supreme Court Gives Gore’s Nobel to Bush<br />Stunning Reversal for Former Veep<br /></span></strong><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Just days after former Vice President Al Gore received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts on global warming, the United States Supreme Court handed Mr. Gore a stunning reversal, stripping him of his Nobel and awarding it to President George W. Bush instead.<br /><br />For Mr. Gore, who basked in the adulation of the Nobel committee and the world, the high court’s decision to give his prize to President Bush was a cruel twist of fate, to say the least.<br /><br />But in a 5-4 decision, the justices made it clear that they had taken the unprecedented step of stripping Mr. Gore of his Nobel because President Bush deserved it more.<br /><br />“It is true that Al Gore has done a lot of talking about global warming,” wrote Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority. “But President Bush has actually helped create global warming.....”<br /><br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">note: I photo manipulated a photo of Gore from Saturday Night Live, imposing the faces of Bush, Condi, Clarence Thomas and Anthony Scalia, as well as the Nobel Peace Price from other photos in Google Images.<br /></span></em><br /><br /></span><br /></p><center></center>Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-71958545082067811232007-10-12T15:46:00.000-05:002007-10-12T16:13:15.097-05:00ATT final chapters? Maybe not. DSL reconsidered<span style="font-size:130%;">I got my first bill from ATT. It was for $103.17! WHAT? Back on the phone, wait, hold, "This department can't help you. We have to get billing on the phone." geez.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Bottom line, they never cancelled the DSL portion of my bill. She made the adjustments, applied my $25 "we screwed up" credit, and I paid her $40.47. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">She asked why I canceled DSL. I told her because I was worried about speed and because I couldn't get web space. I explained I tried to find that out one day, spent two hours on the phone, went through 6 departments and nobody knew, said there was no web space for a webpage.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">She said she has the elete plan that I was going to get and because she is close to the terminal or whatever it is, she gets 11 MB speed Internet connection, even though they say 6 MB. She said I was the same distance as she is, and that I should get the same as she does. Wow! If that's right, that's really some smokin' speed! "Okay. Then what about the web page space?"</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">She put me on hold, came back, asked me to hold again, she wanted to verify and be absolutely sure, came back and said I would get 20 GB webspace! "That cannot be right," I said. You mean, 20 MB?" </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">"No," she says. "20 GB. I'm sure. I doublechecked. ATT wants you to be able to have a nice webpage!" Holy cow!!! </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">I really do not believe this!! But I decided to once again sign up. I will get my modem Monday. No techs this time. I can do it myself. She also explained I will not have to use my Linksys router for my laptop, that their modem will also serve as the wireless. That's a nice plus. They also provide free dial-up for emergencies.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">I will have to pay about $100 for the modem, but it will be mine. I will get $50 back, but it might take a few weeks. I'll also get 3 months of Internet free. However, she says, the way that works is you pay for those months, then the 4th month you get the money back. I'll also get $50 back for the phone, but that, too, will take about 3 or 4 months! Kinda pathetic they make you wait so long, but whatever.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">I do have to sign a contract for one year. However, I have 30 days to decide with no penalties. I can keep Roadrunner and just unplug/plug the prospective modems for comparison until I decide for sure which is better before I disconnect one or the other.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The DSL is a little cheaper than Roadrunner, but the ATT phone is more than Roadrunner. Between the two, I think my bill will be about the same, maybe $5 more or something. It shouldn't be much difference. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">If she's right -- 11 MB speed and 20 GB webspace ----- well, we shall see!! I'll give it a chance. The modem should be here Monday, or possibly Tuesday. </span>Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-21497042288226558052007-10-12T15:12:00.000-05:002007-10-12T15:46:01.189-05:00ATT - final chapters, I hope<span style="font-size:130%;">Since I didn't blog on the appropriate days, here's the ensuing sequence of events)</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>(Friday, October 5)</strong><br />The day arrives that the repair service promised they would be here. From 3:00 to 7:00 they say. At 6:30 I get a call from a recorded message, basically "We're sorry nobody showed up. But we'll get to you in the morning." OMG!!! "Press 0 for customer service." Poor guy in customer service! Unbelieveable!!! He assured me he would call me in the morning and let me know what time the repairman would be here. I cannot believe how horrible this whole thing has been. Today is the 4th day I've had to wait home for a scheduled appointment! This whole fiasco started on the 28th! But what can you do! I could go back to Roadrunner for my phone, but the VOIP is just not all that great yet. One more day then!! (sigh)</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">_______________________________________</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>(Saturday, October 6)</strong><br /><br />Believe it or not, I have my phone jacks all working! It was sort of a comedy of errors this morning.<br /><br />My phone rang about 10:30. I had laid the phone handset down that I used last night on the night table (Radio Shack phone), next to the Motorola phone that was on the base. I was sleeping so hard I guess I fumbled with the RS phone or else I never hung it up properly, but I couldn't get it to answer. The answering machine was coming on. I grabbed the Motorola phone and said "Hello, hello" through the ans mach message but the guy hung up and immediately dialed my cell phone. My cell phone was in my office at the other end of the house. I jumped up and ran (well, stumbled very fast) to try to beat the voice mail cutting in, but didn't make it! Oh, no!!! Thank goodness for Caller ID!! I called him back and said "I'm here. I'm here!!"<br /><br />My neighbor on the left had every parking space filled up with his cars, including my 2nd space. I saw him out and asked him to move one of them, and he did, said the car that's in my space he can't get running, so he moved the one next to that. I see ATT driving up and he passes me!! I'm frantically waving at him! He pulls in the drive two houses down on the right ???? I holler at him! "Hey, ATT!! Over here!!" So, he walks over. Why did he park over there???<br /><br />He comes in to see where my lines are and, as as all good kitties do for us from time to time, Molly had left a hair ball right in front of the phone jack in my office (well, that was embarrassing).<br /><br />He got his job done quickly (this was not the same guy as the one who came out Tuesday and hooked up the two lines - Dorman). He said there was a line there that was easily hooked up that took care of the office and the L.R. He had to do something else with the back room jack. Either Dorman was either making excuses (lied?) about the line being bad and that I would have to buy a new line for $130 or else he didn't know his job very well.<br /><br />As soon as I get my phones moved back to their rightful places, I'm going to forget this nightmare!<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><span style="font-size:130%;">_______________________________________</span><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">(Monday October 8)</span></strong><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Even though my phones are now all working, I decided to call the office and report that Dorman had not properly hooked me up, causing me to have to wait several more days, and to also report that again, the technician did not come out as promised. They actually gave me a $25 credit for the piss-poor way they handled my account. Needless to say, that's hardly a compensation for this nightmare, but I'll take it and run with it. </span><br /><p><span style="font-size:130%;">I called Roadrunner to find out about returning the modem I have. This one is for Internet and phone, and I was told I had to return it and get one that is only for Internet. But the office said, no, I could keep this one. My telephone account was disconnected, and I would no longer be billed. So, that's good -- don't have to go down there and wait in line.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Okay. Now, chapter closed!!</span><br /></p><span style="font-size:130%;"></span>Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-63738243465158984952007-10-03T18:57:00.000-05:002007-10-03T19:32:54.486-05:00ATT v Roadrunner Saga -- Part 3<span style="font-size:130%;"> Being stressed and tired from the ordeal Monday, I indulged in sleeping late and called ATT about 2:00 yesterday. I was somewhat over my rage and was able to talk a little more calmly since I at least have phone service. A young lady named Kim answered the phone. Hoping to continue where I left off and not have to start over explaining the situation, I asked for Lisa, the manager (she wasn't there), well, then how about Becky or Troy - they were there, but busy. Kim assured me she saw my file and knew what was going on.<br /><br />So I explained to her about the phone jacks, that I had five working phone jacks when Roadrunner disconnected me last Friday. I explained that Dorman, the repairman who came out Monday, was rushed and told me he hooked up two lines only. He did not ask me how many phone jacks I had.<br /><br />Kim had quickly reviewed the file and needed no further history of the problems I had had so far. She promised me I would have all my jacks working even if they had to run new lines. She called the technician/repair department and talked to one of their managers (I didn't get his name - slap me!) and brought him up to date. On three-way he told me somebody would be out Friday between 3:00 and 7:00 and not leave until all five of my jacks are working. Kim told me that if anything happens where I am mistakenly charged for anything, jacks, new wires, anything, to call back. She said there are plenty of people and plenty of documentation in my file to show that they had far too many screwups on my install and I would have no problem whatsoever getting it credited, if something showed up. Well, at least ATT now knows who I am!!<br /><br />So, I have to admit, they are trying. The office crew has been nice enough. It's the guys in the field who seem to be the problem. Though Dorman, the repairman from Monday, was pleasant and I did not make any official complaints about him, in all reality, he did not do as he should have either. I should not have had to deal with a rushed install. He should have asked me how many jacks I had and made sure he had me back to my original layout of functioning jacks. But I guess sometimes compromise is the better part of valor. And even though it's pathetic to take this long, they're at least sticking with it till they get it right. <br /><br />Of course now the weather is predicting rain Friday! GEEZ!! Well, we'll see how it goes. <br /><br />I do think the phone quality is better than when Roadrunner was providing my connection. The volume of the sound I am receiving is much, much better. With RR I had the phone's volume turned up as high as it would go and still would have to strain to hear. The voice was usually muffled, as if talking into a towel or something. So, I would either have to ask for repeats or just miss things. My voice being sent would intermittently have an under-water sound, garbled and broken. VOIP is a great idea, and it is probably the communication of the future. It is cheaper. But the quality just isn't there yet. Besides, Roadrunner does have its problems with the Internet losing connection periodically, in which case the phone goes dead, as well. Having a lined phone will at least allow the ability to access the ancient mode of dial-up in case of dire emergencies.<br /><br />So, next I'll need to search for a free dial-up service, if one even exists. But that will wait till I have the phone jack in my office working again. Maybe next week.<br /><br /></span>Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18167066.post-61679690902031497342007-10-01T22:04:00.000-05:002007-10-01T23:16:14.909-05:00ATT saga continues<span style="font-size:130%;"> After a frustrating weekend with no phone, several failed efforts to contact ATT over the weekend, Monday finally got here. I diligently set the alarm clock for 8:00 a.m., so I could be sure to call them early enough to get them out here today! That was no easy feat for me because I didn't go to sleep till after 4:00 a.m.! But I made the call - even before coffee. After listening to excruciating music for 20 minutes, I finally got to talk to a gal named Becky and explained what happened. Becky declares matter of factly that the repairman came back out Saturday morning at 8:15 and could not get access. I was livid! "I was asleep!! How was I supposed to know he was coming!"<br /><br />I let her know with no uncertainty that that was totally unacceptable and I wanted his supervisor to know exactly what happened. She said she would tell her supervisor who would in turn tell his supervisor. I asked to speak to her supervisor, Lisa, myself. Both ladies apologized profusely, and Lisa assured me the technician's supervisor would hear about it. Becky then asked me if the correct number to call me is - and read off my home phone number!! I made conscious effort not to scream and said, "No, That's so silly!! That's the number that is not hooked up!!" grrr.. My patience level is really non-existent. The ladies both tried to be nice, but I didn't feel like making nice.<br /><br />It will be probably after 12:00 they said. By 2:00 I called again. This time I talked to a young man, Troy. Troy was pleasant but said it wasn't ATT's policy to call before they come out, like that should explain things. I said no, it's not a matter of ATT policy at all! It's a matter of that man having some manners and consideration himself, as a human being! How hard would it be for him to have called Friday and said, "I can't make it this evening, but I will be out by 8:00 in the morning."<br /><br />Finally at 4:30 (now two full days of waiting for them to show up and a screwed up weekend) the technician got here - Dorman I find out is his name. He said he didn't even need to come inside! So, that lame brained excuse about no access was a pile of b.s. Dorman said the man who never called had been complained about more than once for the same irresponsible behavior and he, Dorman, would personally see to it that the man's superintendent was informed via Dorman's superintendent, and then he gave me his boss' phone number.<br /><br />After Dorman finished in the back at their box and was leaving, I checked my phone in my living room, and it did not work. He informed me that he hooked up two wires. He said there was a third wire that was bad and would give me static that he would hook up if I wanted him to. But to run a new wire, he said ATT would want $130!<br /><br />Well, I had five working phone jacks when Roadrunner disconnected me last Friday morning. And now I only have two working phone jacks -- both at the far end of my house. That just won't do. So , this story isn't over yet. Tomorrow I have to call back and tell them I need my phone accessibility just as convenient as it was before. I'm now going on Day 5, counting my weekend, of total frustration trying to just achieve what should have been a simple task of getting phone service!</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />For what its worth, I do think the clarity of the voice is better than the VOIP with Roadrunner. Once these issues are worked out, if they ever are, I guess things will be better.<br /></span>Lumotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13301508867497072681noreply@blogger.com0