As our pool project nears completion, Wendy and I have been shopping for a fountain to put on the patio. We’ve narrowed it down to a couple of choices. Both of the fountains below will fit in the place we need it to and both we could live with aesthetically. We’d like to get everyone’s opinion of which they like better if you’re so inclined!

1st fountain - - This is made of cast stone and depicts two cherubs aside a basin which water cascades down 3 more tiers. It’s a bit shorter than we would like (only about 3 feet tall) but we are fond of the fact that it is made of stone.

2nd fountain – This one is made of a cast poly resin material which makes it cost about 1/2 the price of the first fountain. The water streams from the lion’s mouth and gets diffused into 5 separate streams where it falls to the bottom basin. It stands just over 4 feet tall (Which we like, not so “squatty”).

So what do ya’ll think? Do you like one better than the other or do they both suck?

For most of my adult life, I’ve sipped my Starbucks Venti Sumatra blend and looked down upon tea drinkers with disdain. Such a “girly” drink served with cups and saucers, spoons, cream, honey & sugar in petite little flower covered ceramic pots was not worthy of my kidneys!

Then along came Stash Double Chai and now I’m hooked. I feel like such a failure to the race of “Manly Men”.

I’ve always enjoyed it when my Mother makes me cake. A fresh Mom made cake beats what you will find in the supermarket any day of the week. For the last few years, Mom has taken to making the Birthday cakes. You can tell she is getting better at her craft because they have grown in magnificence over the years. Here are some samples of her work.

Mark told Grandma he wanted TWO cakes for his 5th Birthday. She supplied chocolate and vanilla with a Spiderman theme!

Here is a Harry Potter themed cake which she did for Erick. You can’t see the decor too well because the lights were out but she did a nice job with Hedwig the owl and a Goblet of Fire.

This is her latest, and greatest in my opinion. This one she did for Wendy’s last Birthday. Isn’t it PURDY?

Stephanie is providing me with alot of material as of late. She turned me on to this nifty little utility called Email Stripper and now I’m here to share the bounty! This program is a small little executable that once installed, places an icon on your desktop to launch it. Once I ascertained that it contained no spy-ware, no ad-ware, no mal-ware, I placed it upon my Alienware (Hey, I made a rhyme!).

So what does it do? It’s brilliantly simple. Have you ever gotten one of those emails that’s been forwarded too many times and it looks something like this?

>>>>>Jack & Jill went up the hill,
>>>>>To have a little fun.
>>>>>Stupid Jill forgot her pill,
>>>>>And now they have a son!

Now simply open up the email stripper, copy this into it and click the button. It instantaneously strips the nonsense out of it and leaves you with a crisp and clean version.

Jack & Jill went up the hill,
To have a little fun.
Stupid Jill forgot her pill,
And now they have a son!

It’s brilliant I tell you! Now all one has to do is copy the edited version into a new mail and send it to their buddies without all the silly arrows! A must have for nerdy types such as myself! Thanks Stephanie!

Get it Here!

My oldest son Erick has always been a voracious reader, more so than I could have hoped. Many a day I’ve seen him holed away in his room engrossed in a thick book and I feel the pride only a parent can experience knowing their child has a love for reading. I’ve noticed his comprehension far exceeds my own and his vocabulary is expanding exponentially!

His two favorite books are Eragon & Eldest by Christopher Paolini. These aren’t your typical flimsy comic book thickness reads. We’re talking hard back & thick as the Bible epics. After reading the books multiple times, he discovered that audio-book versions were available and proceeded to beg. After obtaining the audio-books and wearing them out for another several reads, he began to pester me to listen to them. I brushed him off because I was too busy with other books at the time (**cough** Harry Potter **cough**) but finally, I relented.

Wow! I must say that I was deeply impressed. This Christopher Paolini truly has a gift for writing! I found myself totally involved and now I’m waiting on book #3 (It’s a Trilogy). The icing on the cake is that apparently this guy’s talent has not gone unnoticed and there is a movie in the works which I will be sure to watch when it’s released.

Out of curiosity, I searched the Web and found a fan sight. Imagine my surprise when I discovered Paolini was home schooled and wrote and conceived much of the books in his early teen years!

It seems like every retail establishment operating today has a “Bonus” Card. I know people who have entire wallets or key chains dedicated to them. Of course stores call them “Bonus” Cards in order to fool you into thinking that you are in some way special. I suppose I shouldn’t knock them totally, I mean you get the “Sale” prices & an occasional coupon here and there. What a deal huh?

The trade-off for taking advantage of their “Bonus” Card is pretty much a measure of your own privacy. You fill out an “application”, they assign you a unique barcode, and you shop to your little hearts content. Now lets examine what you generally have given the Retailer…

* Your Name (Application)
* Your Address (Application)
* Your Phone Number (Application)
* Married/Single (Application)
* Number of Children (Application)
* Your age range (Application)
* How often you shop (Scan Data)
* What you buy (Scan Data)
* Coupons you use (Scan Data)
* Money you spend (Scan Data)
* Cash/Check/Charge (Scan Data)

Most of us generally consider this to be a small sacrifice on our part in order for us to take advantage of the “Bonus” buys, and the Retailers are very good about protecting our privacy. It’s not like they are out there selling our private information to “Spammers”. What they are doing however, is marketing an entire targeted customer base.

Think about it… if you happen to be Proctor and Gamble, and you happen to make Pampers baby diapers. Would you rather send some coupons in the mail to a million houses who may or may not have toddlers or would you rather have a million coupons spit out at the cash register to known mommies? You’d probably pay a retailer a good deal of money to put a $1 off coupon in the hands of folks who are most likely to buy your product! It’s a dream come true for the Retailer, they get to “Sell” their customers in a way that doesn’t violate the privacy agreement.

Now you might not think this sounds like a bad deal at all but opponents of such things as a National I.D. Card have put together this little Flash Spoof as the future road we could travel in regards to privacy.

Check it out! <—- Click Here

Here’s a letter Wendy received that’s making the rounds in email. It brings up the very valid point as to the priorities of our Government. Are we looking out for our own?

Dear President Bush:

I’m about to plan a little trip with my family and extended family,and I would like to ask you to assist me. I’m going to walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico, and I need to make a few arrangements. I know you can help with this.

I plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. I’m sure they handle those things the same way you do here.

So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Vicente Fox, that I’m on my way over? Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:

1. Free medical care for my entire family.

2. English-speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need, whether I use them or not.

3. All government forms need to be printed in English.

4. I want my kids to be taught by English-speaking teachers.

5. Schools need to include classes on American culture and history.

6. I want my kids to see the American flag flying on the top of the flag pole at their school with the Mexican flag flying lower down.

7. Please plan to feed my kids at school for both breakfast and lunch.

8. I will need a local Mexican driver’s license so I can get easy access to government services.

9. I do not plan to have any car insurance, and I won’t make any effort to learn local traffic laws.

10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from Pres. Fox to leave me alone, please be sure that all police officers speak English.

11. I plan to fly the U.S. flag from my house top, put flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.

12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, and don’t enforce any labor or tax laws.

13. Please tell all the people in the country to be extremely nice and never say a critical word about me, or about the strain I might place on the economy.

I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all the people who come to the U.S. from Mexico. I am sure that Pres. Fox won’t mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely.

However, if he gives you any trouble, just invite him to go quail hunting with your V.P.

Thank you so much for your kind help.

Sincerely,

“A Concerned Citizen”

Is it just me, or have any of you noticed that the last few years have marked the rise of commercials advertising prescription drugs on television? Perhaps I pay more attention to it than I should because I work in that business but I definitely have the impression someone feels I should be taking their drugs!

I get a kick out of these infomercials because apparently there is some requirement for them to disclose the “side effects” of the medication. An advert for a sleeping pill will end with the fella telling me that “side effects may include dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, nose bleeds, cramping, nausea, excessive urination, constipation & in rare cases… death.

I’m thinking to myself that I’ll just remain sleepless!

Ok… time for a tattoo! But what to get? Maybe a traditional navy style anchor on the forearm… nahh!! How about one of those very kewl tribal tattoos all the guys are getting…? Nope!!

OH! Eureka! I have it! I’ll have an enormous Nintendo Paddle placed across my sternum in permanent ink. And just for giggles, I’ll have it done as to give the impression the cord is imbedded in my chest! That should impress everyone!

Here’s another pix I happened across while browsing my collection. It’s one of those images that can be looked at in two different ways. Anyone see it for 10 NightOwl points?

I’m thinking this one is too easy!