Thursday already. Man, time flies when your having fun… Here’s the Thursday Threesome.

Onesome: Hot Dogs -Spring picnics and cookouts are coming! Is it hot dogs or hamburgers you want to have on your plate as you head back to the table?
How about one (or two) of each?! I love the way these taste when they come off the grill.

Twosome: and - …and what else is on that plate that you just cannot be without as you work your way through the crowd? Potato salad? One of those huge pickles? Come on, there has to be something {g}!
I LOVES me my potato salad. Of course, KC isn’t such a big fan of it. I still make it kind of like my Mom used to and eat it one serving at a time.

Threesome: French Fries - …and the real toughie: do you have to have “fries with that’? …or will chips do well enough for you. Just curious…
Chips will do well enough. Hey, man; you can’t do french fries on the grill as easily as chips and I’m all about easy when it comes to food prepartion. (Especially when I’m hungry!!!)

Wednesday already; here we go with Are you more…

01) Thinking that the way people typically write email/IM is fine or thinking that the way people typically write email/IM is atrocious and they should learn to write properly?
In general I’m quite surprised by the bad grammar and spelling used in most of the email I receive at home. Of course a forward of a forward of a forward of a… (you get the idea) isn’t usually spell checked or grammar checked.

02) American Idol judge Simon Cowell or American Idol judge Randy Jackson?
I haven’t watched American Idol since about the third show; not the third show this season, but the third show EVER. Don’t think too much of it. It’s simply The Gong Show done serious.

03) “Life ain’t nuthin’ but peaches ‘n honey” or “Life ain’t nuthin’ but bitches ‘n money”?
Peaches ‘n’ honey. Hey, I ain’t got no bitches or money, so it HAS to be peaches and honey!

04) Proud of your morals or proud of your accomplishments?
Well, there’s cracks in both; but all in all I’m pretty proud of both.

05) Spicy Indian food or spicy Thai food?
Can’t say I’ve had spice either. Yeah, I’ve had Indian and Thai food but I didn’t think it was too spicy. Maybe I need to try some more, huh?

06) A vicious fighter or a sissy fighter?
Sissy. I don’t want to fight; I don’t like to fight; I want fights to end quickly. But I’ll run from most because most things that others want to fight about aren’t really worth fighting about.

07) Easy going with yourself because hey, man, who needs the stress or hard on yourself because you know you can do better?
Depends upon the area. I’m pretty easy going in general, but I do tend to be hard on myself about certain things. I guess I am a “vertical market perfectionist”: for a few things I stress and strive my hardest; for most things it’s “If I can’t do it today, I’ll get to it tomorrow!!”.

08) Lazy or a compulsive worker bee?
I think it goes in spurts. There are times where I’ll let things slide and do nothing about everything. Then, when the mood strikes me right, I’ll be a dynamo and get everything done and then some. (Of course, the mood doesn’t strike me but about once every other week!)

09) Likely to be kind to a complete stranger or likely to be indifferent to a complete stranger?
Kind. Why not? It doesn’t take any more effort to show someone basic courtesy and respect than it does to be indifferent to them.

10) Gifted or blessed?
Blessed. I believe in God and that he blesses us with gifts.

Here it is, folks…. the Happiness Fairy:

So I get to browsing again and decide it’s time to start a new skin for my site. Yeah, that’s right. I must be fidgety; why else would I start on this when I have a “honey-do” list as long as my arm? Maybe because I don’t want to do any of the items on that hone-do list? I’m not really sure why…

So I’m on Christine’s site, InfinitePink, and I see a nice looking horizontal menu. Now hers isn’t the first site I’ve seen such a menu, but it is one that I really take notice of it. I’m thinking, “That looks pretty cool and it saves some sidebar space” So, let’s look at the code to see what’s going on. A quick “View” - “Page Source” in Firefox gets me to the code and I see it is a simple list done inline; that’s a horizontal list in HTML lingo. So a little coding and a little trial and error to get the spacing right and voilá! Now I have the “My Cool Pages” and the “Administrivia” areas on the horizontal menu making it easier to navigate the site. Pretty cool, huh?

Just finished reading an interesting article here. I knew that Microsoft was practicing the “embrace and extend” policy. That is they would take a particular format or standard and change one thing within the standard (making it non-standard), thus extending the standard’s capability for Windows. Reading this article makes my blood run cold. Microsoft should NOT control the internet any more than Ford should control the highways. Nor should Microsoft continue to try to change existing formats and standards to suit their own needs, which in all cases in the past means charging money for them. Some things should just be free. Document format standards should be free not proprietary; that goes for ALL documents: HTML documents, text documents, etc.

The Onion had an interesting satire at one time, which can only be accessed now by getting a subscription to their fine satirical “news” service. The “article” I speak of is titled “Microsoft Patents Ones, Zeros” and a reprint can be viewed here. While it was written in 1998, it seems that the satire has been proving to be more truth than poetry, as a friend of mine used to say.

Can’t take that day. (With apologies to “The Mamas and the Papas”). So here I am at work and our department isn’t officially working today. Well, KC had to work today and I didn’t want to sit around the house by myself attempting to shorten the “honey-do” list (every married guy on the planet knows that list NEVER shrinks!). So I volunteered to come in as not all of our business units are closed today. We haven’t been too busy, but it’s been busier than I thought it might be. (sigh)

Weather-wise it looks like it’s going to be a great day, although it’s pretty easy to beat last week with the snow we had. It is around 65° today and the forecast says tomorrow is to be over 70°. Just goes to show you: in Iowa, if you don’t like the weather then wait a day.

He is risen indeed! Happy Easter to all of you. Our church had a nice sunrise service today (of course, our church decreed that the sun would rise at 7am!!!) It was a great weekend. ZDog and J were here; KC and I had expected them to go to J’s parent’s place this weekend, so it was a nice surprise that they came here. They got here Friday night, which again was a bit of a surprise; but a good surprise! Breezomatic came down after she got off work Saturday, so we had a house full. KC made her world-famous lasagne (no, I won’t post that recipe as it is her family’s recipe) and we stuffed ourselves silly. Then this morning after the church service we had the “traditional” Easter dinner of ham.

All in all it was a very enjoyable weekend; the first of five consecutive weekends where KC and I will be extraordinarily busy. One down and four to go!

The Friday Five this week is about movies; well, one movie in particular.

1. What is your favorite movie of all time?
I’d have to say it’s Bull Durham. Brings together baseball, the struggle of striving for a known unattainable goal, interpersonal relationships and a lot of wisecracks.

2. How often do you watch this movie?
Well, I have yet to get it on DVD; but I’ve had three copies of it on VHS and worn two out.

3. What’s your favorite line out of the whole movie?
“Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman’s back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.”
Of course, a close second is:
“A good friend of mine used to say, “This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.” Think about that for a while.”

4. Who’s your favorite character from this movie?
Of course, Crash Davis, played by Kevin Costner! Although, for sentimental reasons, Max Patkin (who plays himself) gets very strong consideration. Max was known as The Clown Prince of Baseball.

5. What scene do you love the most?
When Crash comes out to the mound to talk to Nuke when Nuke’s dad is there watching. Nuke isn’t doing so well and Crash is trying to get his head on straight. Then the first baseman comes in and says his girlfriend put a hex on his glove; then the shortstop says that Millie and Jimmy are getting married; then, finally, the pitching coach comes out to find out what’s going on. Hell, I thought they always talked strategy on the mound!

While it seems like Friday since I’m not working tomorrow, it really is Thursday. Around here that means it’s time for the Thursday Threesome.

Onesome: Wine - or beer? Or do you prefer your beverages non-alcoholic?
Beer. And I don’t mean the lagers that are out there, I mean the pale ales and such. My typical guideline is “if you can see through it, it isn’t REALLY beer.” If there is no beer, then give me some Diet Mountain Dew.

Twosome: Women - and men. We’re entirely different creatures. What do you think makes the opposite sex tick? Or do you consider their behaviour a complete mystery?
I’ve been married to KC for almost 27 years and there are still too times where she is a complete mystery. I think there are things about women that will always be a complete mystery to men, and vice-versa. As I was told by someone wiser than me: “There are only two ways to understand women and no man knows either one.”

Threesome: and Song - What’s your favorite song? Your favorite band/ musician?
I’ve got way too many favorites to have a single favorite song or band. As far as songs go, right now my favorites are: “Jesus Jones - Right Here, Right Now”, “Pat Travers - I La-La-La Love You”, “Johnny Lang - Lie To Me”, “Spatterdash - Learning to Crawl”, “U2 - Elevation”. As far as bands/musicians, right now my favorites are: U2, Spatterdash, Cheese Pizza, Ellis Kell, Ernie Peniston.

Yeah, that’s what I found last night. The perfect geek picture; 5 of us total.

Wednesday on a short week. It’s gonna be great! Here is this week’s Are you more…

01) “If I’m irreversably brain-dead, keep me alive as long as possible.” or “If I’m irreversably brain-dead, pull the plug on me and let me die.”?
Pull the plug. If my mental faculties are gone, what’s the point? Free my soul rather than trapping it in a brain-dead shell.

02) Pro-euthanasia for your loved ones in hopeless cases or anti-euthanasia for your loved ones, even in hopeless cases?
Pro-euthanasia. (I think that euthanasia are not any different that youth in America!!!) If it is a hopeless case, let them go - they are probably not in their body anyway.

03) Likely to have a Living Will or likely to not have a Living Will?
The wife and I talk about a Living Will a lot and we also talk about getting our “Last Will and Testament” together. We’re getting up there, ya know. So far, though, no Living Will.

04) Euthanising is best done by pulling all life-sustaining things out or euthanising is best done by injection of something that will put them to sleep, akin to how we euthanise animals?
Pull all life-sustaining devices. You don’t need to inject them, Kevorkian.

05) Sickened by the whole Terri Schiavo story or tired of hearing of the whole Terri Schiavo story?
Tired of it. It is NOT something that the press ever should have gotten in to.

06) A big fan of Cookie Monster or a big fan of Grover?
While I eat like Cookie Monster, I am a HUGE Grover fan!

07) A stickler for proper spelling or someone who doesn’t see waht all the shenaginans is all abot?
I try to spell everything properly. I strive for it, so I guess I’m a stickler. However, striving for something and achieving it are two different thingks.

08) Organized or disorganized?
I tend to run in ordered chaos. Disorganized…. definitely disorganized.

09) A seeker of truth or a seeker of happiness?
Seeker of happiness. What good is the truth if you are unhappy?

10) Trusting to a fault or cautious to a fault?
I tend to trust more than I should. I’m not necessarily trusting to a fault, but I lean that way.