Ups and Downs of the week.

Well Deserved Retirement - Capt. Sully Sullenberger announces retirement. I hope it’s a long and enjoyable one.

  Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day - Today was the annual excuse for drunken stupidity on campus.

Photoshop Text - I’ve actually been having fun playing around with creating substance text.

I figured after nearly four years it was time for a new image at the top of the blog. The image you now see is the city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber (Rothenburg over the Tauber) as seen from the ramparts by the former royal gardens.

Ups and Downs of the week.

Facebook - I finally broke down and put up a page. Kind of neat seeing so many friends and acquaintances from the past.

  Budget Woes - To think we could still be a long way from the bottom. The next few years are really going to be tough.

Weather - Hardly spring yet, but it’s slowly improving.

  Partisan Politics - We’re up to our knees in ice water and the idiots can do nothing but trade blame for hitting the iceberg.

They’re getting bigger, but they’re still kittens.

Ups and Downs of the week.

Olympics - Glad to see American athletes doing so well. But NBC’s coverage is pretty lousy. No surprise there.

Red Sox - Spring training begins.

Bureaucracy - The tune is the same. The lyrics have changed. Now “It’ll save money” will get almost any idea accepted with little or no thought and no real proof of savings. Just like speaking out against our loss of freedoms was “unpatriotic,” speaking out against ill-conceived “money saving” plans is now considered “irresponsible.”

Weather - Yet another storm coming this weekend.

Ups and Downs of the week.

Olympics - While I’m glad the Olympics are on, the games are not off to a rousing start. One tragic death (fix that wall) and a balky Opening Ceremony. Let’s hope it only gets better from here.

Red Sox Truck Day - Baseball is coming.

School - Got class tomorrow. I hate Saturday classes.

Windows 7 -I’ve installed it on several different makes of laptops now and it’s been flawless. I’m impressed.

Weather - So sick of winter.

Photoshop - The more I use it, the more I like it.

Ups and Downs of the week.

Michael Schumacher- Back in Formula One. It’s going to be a good year to watch.

Homework - I swear, no more classes for me after I’m done with this program. Ever.

Video-calls - Got it set up on my laptop. I’ve had a few very clear face-to-face conversations with my friend Dana back in MA.

Weather forecasting - Still a best guess scenario. Hard to even call it a science.

All Wheel Drive (AWD) - Sure was nice having it today.

Former Rep. Tom Tancredo and the Tea Party Wingnuts - On the one hand, the more they talk, the more psychotic they appear and the less people will take them seriously. On the other hand, that’s what people thought about the Nazis when they first started out.

Ups and Downs of the week.

In-car iPod - Got the aux input installed in the X5. Love having 200+ songs at my disposal in the car. Next up, the Z4.

Illinois politics - For years both sides have been making a mess out of this state’s economy. Now everyone is pointing fingers at everyone else. Pitiful.

Photomatix Pro 3  - Very cool HDR software. Stay tuned for pics.

The NFL - Do they really think they own the phrase “Who dat?”

Internet forums -More than once I’ve been saved by info found on these various forums. The wiring diagram for the aux input in my X5 was wrong, so it didn’t work. But someone on the X5 forum had endured the same problem and had figured it out and posted the solution. Saved me a trip to the dealer.

Ups and Downs of the week.

iPods - Ok, I drank the Kool-Aid. But my new iPod Nano is very cool.

Negative Campaigning - I’m so disgusted with the Democrat choices for Governor of this state and so against the stance of the Republicans that I think I’ll be voting for the Green Party candidate again. The negative campaigning of both the current governor and his state comptroller opponent will only play into the Republicans’ hand. Self-defeating and stupid.

Windows 7  - So far, so good. There are a few nits to pick, but mostly it seems fast and stable.

Weather - What January thaw? The promised warmer temps never happened. We haven’t seen the sun in a week or more. And this weekend it’s supposed to rain heavily and then turn to snow. Ugh.