Monthly Archives: September 2003

No call legislation

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Both houses of Congress have never acted as fast as in enacting HR 3161/S 1654, giving the Federal Trade Commission the authority to implement the “Do Not Call” List. Just a week ago, a federal judge decided that the FTC acted beyond its authority in passing the federal code that would bar telemarketers from calling people on the list. The bill was introduced yesterday, and passed by the Senate by 7:00 p.m. EDT today. Wow, the USA PATRIOT Act didn’t pass this fast. So, it makes me wonder what’s more important: privacy or infringing on our civil rights to prevent terrorism. At any rate, I’m happy that this bill is on its way to the President’s desk. Now I can continue to enjoy my dinner in peace. More information available on Thomas.

In other news, I’ve discovered a web site. Call me a liberal at heart… better yet, call me an outright liberal. I never really considered myself as such, just a person who believes in common sense and has noticed that it’s not very common… speaking of which, there’s yet a new quote about common sense in the Quickies. The new link is available in My Links (it’s all the way at the bottom… for now).

Okay, now for some cool stuff. Zapwizard has one of the coolest computer case mods (short for modification) I think I’ve ever seen: an Ammo Box. You can even see more cool stuff at the his site: www.zapwizard.com.

New soapbox quote

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I added a new quote to the Soapbox Quickies. I also realized that I had an error in the printable version. I’ve cleaned up some of the code and the formatting. Work will continue on the guitar page this week.

The problem with digital pictures

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Work will continue on some things I’ve been promising for a while. I expect to have the guitar stuff up by this weekend, and the web site evolution stuff up before the end of October.

If you’ve been keeping up, I have a digital camera. That means that I can instantly see pictures and post them to the web. Unfortunately, I can’t give paper copies to those that don’t have a computer. So, I have to burn them onto a CD and take them to the photofinisher. That’s to be done tonight. More to come on the outcomes… in an upcoming soapbox.

I just finished watching the first new episode of 8 Simple Rules, and I am still in shock that John Ritter is no longer with us. It hits especially hard for me because it reminds me of my uncle who was also full of life and spirit who also passed away only a few days later. So, this blog is dedicated to those who brought joy into our lives and is no longer here to share it with us.

My Bio modifications

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I’ve made a few more modifications to sections of My Bio. I also spent more time working on things for the new site. As I’ve stated, please let me know if you have any suggestions for updates. In case you need to know how to contact me, just remember that my e-mail address is at the bottom of this page. Just to avoid confusion, I’ve cleaned up the format and made it bold to make it easier to copy and paste.

Updates – September 2003

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Not much going on in my life. I spent an evening in Wisconsin Dells hanging out with a friend who was on his way back from South Dakota in his RV. I haven’t spent much time on the desk, but I’m looking at finishing it soon (woo hoo!). I’m also working out stuff for the new site. I had one idea, but it seemed to suck so I trashed it. I also found something that will help me determine how to make my home page hopefully more useful. I did fix the Hobbies page in My Bio and added some stuff about my computer. See… nothing exciting.

My Uncle Babulal dies

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Last night I lost a wonderful uncle. He fought a battle against an abdominal aortic aneurysm in which his surgery was somewhat successful, but there were complications. Unfortunately, he had suffered a mild heart attack, and some internal bleeding occurred recently. After two attempts to revive him, the decision was made to grant his wishes and let him go. I was looking forward to visiting him next summer, but I won’t get that chance now. But I am glad to have known him and have grown to respect him. All of my memories of him are positive, and I know that he was always that way. He gave a lot for his family, his country (he worked for the Federal Aviation Administration), and his friends, and I know that all of their prayers are pouring out to him. Mine do as well. Today’s blog is dedicated to my uncle, Babulal Shah.

Johnny Cash, John Ritter die

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Yesterday, the world lost two extremely talented performers. The first, Johnny Cash, was legendary in the realm of music. His melancholy sound and baritone voice connected with the common man (and woman) for over fifty years. The legacy that he left behind will always be remembered, and his music and spirit will always live on in all of us.

The second, John Ritter, was a talented and amazing actor. I remember growing up watching his character, Jack Tripper, on Three’s Company, and always thought that he was the greatest comic ever. As he moved on to other roles, I realized that he was not only a comic, but an excellent and often underrated actor. His return to television on 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughters was a great moment, because I had the opportunity to appreciate his comedy once again. Like Three’s Company’s Jack Tripper, Ritter brought Simple Rules’ Paul Hennessey to life only the way he could have. The shock of his death frightened me and really hit home, because he died from the same problem that my uncle was diagnosed with: a weakening of the aorta. Fortunately, they diagnosed my uncle in time. Unfortunately, they didn’t catch Ritter’s problem. Like Cash, Ritter will be missed, but never forgotten.

My uncle’s condition is slowly improving, but there is still a slight problem and more work must be done. I hope that things work out for him, and I wish him and my family well.

Today’s blog is dedicated to these two wonderful performers and to my uncle.

In other news, I continue to work on new ideas for the next web site format. Since I’m still planning, collecting ideas, and testing things, it is difficult to determine when the new site is expected to go up. As I’ve added above, though, please let me know if you have any ideas for improvement. Thanks.

Madeline’s third birthday, good news about my uncle

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I have posted pictures of Madeline’s third birthday party. We all had a great time. I was surprised at how many children there were… three of Karen’s friends have had kids all within the last year. Although I didn’t get pictures of the friends’ kids, I hope I got plenty of pictures of Madeline and her older sister, Isabel. You can find them in My Scrapbook, My Nieces, Madeline’s Birthday 2003. Unfortunately, I haven’t added pictures from previous events. So, I’ll start working on that in the next few weeks (hopefully).

Elsewhere in the good news department, my uncle came through surgery alright and is recovering. He was in the intensive care unit for a couple of days, and is now in light recovery. My prayers continue to go out to him and his speedy recovery.

I also have a new web site in progress. I’m soliciting ideas, so please let me know if you have any suggestions.

Computer fixes and music fan club orders

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For those of you who may have noticed, I had to fix a link in My Soapbox. I had to change the “printable version” link for the PC Upgrade article. So, if you had problems with it before, I apologize. It’s all fixed now.

I just spent the last couple of days fixing my old PC for my parents. If you’ve read the PC Upgrade article, you know that I have an older PC (about three years old) that was giving me problems with Windows XP. However, reloading Windows 98 seemed to go virtually flawlessly. I did have to install a new network interface/ethernet card, though, but it was a fairly inexpensive part and a very simple install. The trip I made to buy the card was interesting. I stopped in a local computer store that I had never been to before and found the card I wanted for about seven dollars less than anywhere else. Even CompUSA cost more. On top of that, I had to use the old floppy drive in my old PC, so I bought a new black one for the new PC. That also cost less than I expected. I think I found a new computer parts store to shop at. I also took the time to install the latest critical updates and drivers, and I tested everything to make sure it all works. The old PC is assembled and ready for the trip to my mom’s house.

That reminds me… I really don’t like Creative Labs sound cards. Ever since I can remember, I have had problems installing them. I even tried to install the latest Audigy Platinum EX hardware (the one with the break-out box for musical instruments and 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound), but my computer crashed. If you know me, I try to follow directions as often as possible, which is what I did in that case. Anyway, while putting together the old PC again, I wiped the hard drive completely clean (thanks to a “nuke disk” program) and performed a full reinstall. I had to reinstall two drivers: the graphics card and the sound card. The ATI All-In-Wonder Pro went flawlessly. The SoundBlaster, on the other hand, was a little annoying. I eventually got it to work, though, and I successfully tested the CD Player using one of my favorite albums: Metallica’s St. Anger.

Speaking of St. Anger, I was really impressed at how quickly my Metallica Club order arrived. I ordered a copy of the St. Anger guitar-transcribed book (yeah, it’s already available) and a “ninja star” medallion last Friday. They arrived in the mail today, even after the Labor Day holiday. That’s what I call service!

Now when was the last time I wrote an update this long?

Summer 2003 is officially over

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Happy Labor Day! This hasn’t been a quiet weekend for me. Although I didn’t find time to really update the site much, I did get out and have a little fun. I’ve added pictures to my scrapbook. I really spent most of the weekend cleaning the apartment and taking it easy. So, for those of you keeping track, I still have a lot of work to do. I hope to have some web projects done in the next month, such as the web site evolution and the guitar pages.

Summer is essentially over. I couldn’t help but think about some of the cool things I did this year. I spent two weeks in England, I went to Minneapolis to see Metallica, saw the Packers play a preseason game at Lambeau in Green Bat, and I made progress on my desk. I also bought a third electric guitar, a new digital camera, and computer upgrades. All of this was worthwhile, and I hope next summer is just as fun and exciting. Next year, I’m thinking about taking a road trip to the East Coast, visiting Irishfest, and upgrading my PC’s sound processor so that I can record music into it. And of course, I’m looking at buying a house by next fall. But do me a favor… don’t wait for a year to see what I’ve accomplished, since I’m always updating (or at least trying) this site.