Dad T took a bit of a fall the other day. I’m sorry I’m a little late with posting, very busy as usual. But I guess he slipped and fell to the floor when getting out of bed early Monday morning. Clayton was there though, and said he lost consciousness for a few minutes as well. Clayton called 911 and had an ambulance take him to the hospital. He’s alright, and he looked ok even when we first visited him right after he got to the hospital. They’re keeping him for a couple days for observation, to run some tests, and to have him do a little therapy. They’re looking for possible clots in his legs, etc., but no word yet on any problems found. I’ll try to keep everyone posted more promptly.
Category Archives: News
Socks Scare
We had a scare with Socks yesterday. Sandy came home with groceries, so Matt and I went out to help bring them in. As usual, the dogs ran out too, so I tried to keep them inside the gate while we went out to get the groceries. They like to get out just to check out the neighbor dogs and mark their territory, but fortunately they don’t run to get away. So yesterday Socks managed to sneak around my legs and bolt out the gate as fast as he could. I yelled, but he was off and running and ignored me completely.
He immediately ran across the street, got cornered in a yard surrounded by bushes, and excitedly barked at the kids across the street from it. I walked over to get him, but then he reversed direction when he heard the neighbor’s dogs from across the street from us barking. They have a tall wooden fence around their backyard, and they have a German Shehperd and a smaller dog. Socks ran up to the fence and began sniffing and barking at their smaller dog through a small hole in the fence. The barking continued to escalate for a moment, and then the German Shepherd suddenly scaled the wooden fence and came right over the top of it!
Socks stood up to him, which was his downfall I think. They growled and barked at each other, and then began fighting rougher. I was yelling, trying to shock them enough to distract them a little so I could grab Socks. The German Shepherd tried to grab hold of Socks’ neck, but Socks squirmed away quickly and fought back. Then the German Shepherd got more aggressive and grabbed Socks by his hind quarters with his mouth, picked him up and shook him like a rag doll in his mouth for a few seconds. This was terrifying, and as I continued yelling I had no idea what to do. I didn’t want to get attacked by this German Shepherd, but I needed to get Socks out of there before he was killed.
The neighbors who own the German Shepherd then came out and called their dog back. He didn’t seem angry, and backed off a bit while Socks continued to be defensive until I calmed him down and picked him up. He cried and yiped quite a bit, and was shaking tremendously as I held him. I brought him into the house and checked him out. Amazingly there was no blood. The big dog somehow avoided drawing any blood at all, and seems to have only bruised Socks. He’s not limping or anything, and gets around ok, he’s just extremely sensitive in certain areas if you try to pick him up or pet him, and he won”t jump up on things like he usually does, right now.
Perhaps he’s learned his lesson now though. We can only hope. Having a run-in with the “neighborhood bully” just might have put him in his place a bit. He’s sure not barking at every little thing during the day when I’m trying to sleep now! But I think not being able to jump up on the back of the couch and SEE every little thing out the window to bark at helps with that though. We’re keeping a close eye on him now, just to make sure his injuries aren’t more serious than we think.
Bugs
We went to a great Fish Boil today, an annual event held by a friend of Sandy’s. We’ve gone for the past few years and the food is just great every time. It was just as great this year. The only problem we had, which seems to be getting worse, is Kevin’s fear of every little bug he sees and even plenty of those he DOESN’T see! Anything moving around him small enough to maybe be a bug frightens him.
In thinking about it, it explains a lot now. Kevin never wants to go outside and play with his friends any more. We figured maybe he just doesn’t feel like it whenever his friends are outside, but now I think it’s actually his fear of bugs. He just can’t concentrate outside at all without whipping around, back and forth, constantly checking his surroundings for any sign of a bug. We continue to explain that most bugs are totally harmless, try to get him to look at them more on the computer and in books, etc. Hopefully he’ll just outgrow this problem, but it’s pretty disturbing at the moment. ParentCenter.com had this to say on the subject:
For now, your job is to acknowledge his anxiety and help him feel more comfortable with creepy crawlies. Encourage him to talk about what scares him and reassure him that you understand why he’s frightened. Resist the urge to laugh even if his fear of flies seems a bit silly. If he has had an unfortunate encounter with a bee, he’s got ample ammunition for his aversion. Recognize that contact with some critters can indeed hurt, but do so in a calm, matter-of-fact fashion.
Be sure to point out examples, such as fireflies and butterflies, which are beautiful and harmless. Check out bug books from your local library, then sit down together to read about the wonders of the insect world. The more he understands about spiders and their habits, the less fearful he’s likely to be. Taking a trip to an insect exhibit at a natural history museum is another “safe” way to expose your child to beetles and bugs. You can also casually introduce him to insects on your walks together — just don’t overreact when you encounter something that stings. Say, “Look at that lovely blue dragonfly.” And, “Watch out for the wasp.” In their own time, most kids combat this angst and go on to become fascinated with everything six-legged and small. Your child may wind up keeping worms or collecting cocoons for pets. So if a moth lands near him now, go ahead and help him shoo it out a window. Eventually he’ll learn to appreciate these creatures of nature.
So there you go. It sounds like good advice. We’ve taken him to the museum many times and focused on bugs, looked at their parts under the microscope, etc., so we’re doing what we can. We’ll see how it goes I guess.
I’ve been busy
My apologies to those loyal readers of this website who visit daily (I know there are at least one or two of you). I try as much as possible to post SOMETHING every day or two, whether it’s in the forums, in this blog, or even just a funny photo in the daily photos section. But the past few weeks have been extremely busy for me, and I’ve had to put the website on the back burner for a bit. But we’ve still been getting regular postings, and I did still pop in almost daily for a minute or two at a time, even though I haven’t had time to actually compose a forum post or blog entry. I’d sure love to have the activity that KenoshaOnline.net gets though, and I always keep dreaming that I DO still get as many visitors, they just don’t POST here much, they just read.
But anyway, I’m still here, I’ll never give up on the site. I am now back to gainful full-time employment after a short period of searching, and I feel really good about it. I’ll still try to provide meaningful content and news as much as possible, and you may even notice some slightly outdated postings in the forums tonight. I added those just “for the record”, so I’d have the complete timeline of major current events on my site for future reference. I don’t “prune” any of my content, so I intend to end up with quite a bit of accumulated worthy content some day. Hang in there with me.
In Memory of Donna J. Trottier
Today is the anniversary of my mother’s birthday. She passed away in 1992, but her memory will always live on in our hearts. In honor of her I’m re-posting the sermon by Reverend Charles King, written for her funeral service:
Donna J. Trottier
by Reverend Charles King
First United Methodist Church, Kenosha, Wisconsin
March 5th, 1992
Yesterday my wife and I went out for lunch and, as usual, we discussed what we had done that morning and what we planned to do in the afternoon. I mentioned to Nancy that I had spent time at the Trottier home talking about Donna and this service. Then my wife asked, “Do you have a theme or an idea for your message tomorrow?” And I said, “Not yet. In fact there is so much to share I’m not sure right now what I’ll say.” Later in the afternoon an idea came to me. Donna was a great collector and compiler. She put together many scrap books and photo albums. In fact she made albums for all the family members, and wanted to make sure there were pictures for every occasion. And it occurred to me that what I had on paper and in my head was a series of pages from a scrapbook of her life. So let’s open that book now and talk about what is there:
On my first page are memories of Donna and her sisters–growing up both in Kenosha and in Iowa. Five girls in one house. Just saying that can lead one’s mind off in all sorts of directions–the teasing that must have gone on; arguments; discussions; sharing of belongings. The hours that they spent playing with paper dolls; listening to the radio–not so much music like teenagers today, but the dramas–Inner Sanctum, the Shadow, and so on; and can you visualize a room whose walls were entirely covered with pictures of movie stars? Her’s was. And of course there were responsibilities around the house. As a teenager Donna hated to cook and so she traded off with one of her sisters–“I’ll do your ironing if you’ll take over my cooking assignments.” All those experiences created a real closeness which has continued through phone calls, visits, and a regular Round Robin Letter among the sisters.
Another section of the scrapbook would include travel photos. In childhood there were trips–both on foot and on bicycle–out to Petrifying Springs Park; trips to pick apples and strawberries; later as the family scattered there were yearly trips to the family reunion and, in one of those facts that causes a lump in the throat–an unfulfilled plan–she had her airline ticket for an April 23rd trip to see Charlene and Mary Ann in California. And the recent purchase of the van by Harold and Donna opened up all sorts of travel possibilities for them. That usual sparkle in Donna’s eyes was especially brilliant some months ago as she told me about the new van and some of their plans for its use. I also heard sadness and regret in her voice last week as I stood at her bedside in the intensive care unit and listened as she spoke of illness this winter which had kept her home more than she wished, now that they did have the van available to use.
Do we prepare a page in which we address Donna’s physical weaknesses? I think so. Even as a child her health was often precarious and knowing the handicaps which she overcame makes her life and witness–her spirit–even more remarkable. A word that came to mind this morning was”courage.” I wondered what I might have collected in my files on the subject of courage and found an article bemoaning the absence of heroes in society today. There are heroes around, but most are nameless. And then the author proceeds to describe who are the courageous: “That person who, in spite bitter disappointments, still praises God as the Giver of all good gifts. All those who stand by promises and commitments made in good faith, who remain loyal to friends, who are truthful in conversation, who are alert to opportunities for helping others–especially the small and the weak.” According to those criteria, Donna was a courageous hero. And I think she was, don’t you?
This album of memories will contain a section for her husband, and their children, and the children of those children. Donna and Harold went to school together here in Kenosha and when the family moved to Iowa, Harold managed to cross Wisconsin to continue to see Donna. He was considered by Donna’s sisters, “Almost a part of the family.” But they had to wait until Donna was eighteen and had graduated from high school before they could get married, and so they did.
Obviously Donna loved her family, and I know that you who are here can fill in the blanks with example after example of her love and forgiveness and patience and the cheer that she radiated and which was kind of contagious. You are the ones who can share with each other sentences that start out: “Do you remember the time we. . .” I grew up in a very small family and when I was a child that was fine–one sister was even too much at times. But when I witness the support that larger families provide one another and all the interaction that takes place, I know that I missed something–like traditions at Easter and the entire family around to decorate the Christmas tree, and waiting until midnight and the start of Christmas to open presents. So there will be a large number of pages in this family section.
Should the next page be titled “hobbies”? I’m not sure. I want to mention that Donna was a collector–maybe even a pack rat as one of her children put it. There is her collection of angels, plates, and bells. The many books she read. And there is evidence all around of her work with plastic canvas. She was skilled at crocheting, but the arthritis eventually put an end to that. How many of you here have received one or more gifts “Made with tender loving care by Donna Trottier”? What I have is her gift to me and Nancy at the time of our marriage. And I used to have but have given away the little squeeze boxes with candy inside. Now can you imagine making favors for all the children who would show up at family reunions?””~year after year?-ÂDonna did that!
Let’s include one more section in this album, one in which we highlight her Christian faith and life. At the funeral home on Monday Harold handed me this key and key chain. As I looked at it, my face wrinkled up. It is Donna’s key to the chair lift here at church. And it is attached to a plastic holder which says, “I Love Jesus.” She did. We started Saturday evening services here in the fall of 1990 as an experiment. We didn’t know if many would attend; well they did, and do. Donna was able to get out to these late afternoon services, and I remember the statement that Pastor Hintzman made one day. “Even if Donna were the only one attending these Saturday services, we’d have them for her.”
And when she was unable to attend, she still participated because she listened to the services on cassette tape–singing along with the congregation as they sang, from her own hymnal–a hymnal, incidentally which I discovered had bookmarks noting three hymns: “He Touched Me,” “He Lives,” and “Because He Lives.” There is another entire message possible in an examination of the words in those three hymns and matching the lyrics with the life and faith of Donna.
Yes, Donna loved her church and her Lord and the Lord loved her! Via cassette she listened to gospel music as well as to the Bible itself. Years ago she was active as a kindergarten Sunday school teacher and I understand the teaching went on at home, for she was someone that her children could turn to in trying and difficult times. Her children could say something to her and know that it would be held in confidence; they knew that their ides would be heard and respected.
At the end of the month I will be preaching a Lenten sermon about ageing. I started my reading on this subject at the beginning of the week. Always in the back of my mind was Donna’s death and this service, so several times that which I was reading got put aside for possible use this afternoon. I want to share three of those things which spoke to me, in hopes that you, too, will find help and strength in these words for this time of grief.
The first is a single sentence: “No one should die before his life is over.” There are people walking around who are merely existing; something in them died long ago. Now often an illness or accident will create that condition–death before actual death. But we gather today to celebrate the life of one who, even from a wheel chair or hospital bed, expressed life with all its joy and excitement.
Next is a statement made by the Catholic priest and writer Henri Nouwen at the time of his fiftieth birthday: “Within a few years I will no longer be on this earth. The thought of this does not frighten me but fills me with a quiet peace. I am a small part of life, a human being in the midst of thousands of other human beings.
It is good to be young, to grow old and to die. . .God became flesh to share with us in the simple living and dying, and thus made it good. I can feel today that it is good to be. . .What counts are not the unique accomplishments in life that make me different from others, but the basic experiences of sadness and joy, pain and healing, which make me part of humanity. The time is indeed growing short for me, but the knowledge sets me free. Mourning and joy can now both deepen my quiet desire for the day when I realize that the many kisses and embraces I received today were simple incarnations of the eternal embrace of the Lord himself.”
And the final thing I saved out from my reading was this passage from a devotional booklet: “[Al suggestion for coping with growing older is to acquire or possess a meaningful faith. . .We need the faith of the psalmist who testified in Psalm 71 to the strength and help God gave him in his youth and who knew that even as the years went by he never would be alone because God would be with him. Yes, the older we become the more we need to hear and take to heart the words of Helen Keller: “˜A simple childlike faith in a Divine Friend solves all the problems that come to us.. .Difficulties meet us at every turn. They are the accompaniment of life. . .The surest way to meet them is to assume that we have a friend who slumbers not, nor sleeps, and who watches over us and guides us–if we but let that happen.'”
Donna had such a friend, and so it is in confidence that we commend her now to that friend in heaven–to the eternal embrace of the Lord himself.
Our day at Six Flags Great America
We spent the day at Six Flags Great America Wednesday (8/25/04). We had the day planned a couple weeks in advance, and got a good deal on the tickets, so Sandy, Kevin and I went with my sister Beth and her daughters Brianna and Ashley. The six of us had a great time. I printed all the park info beforehand (ride height requirements, etc.) and even printed the hourly weather forecast for each hour we were at the park since it was supposed to rain all day–sometimes heavy–on Wednesday. As it turned out, we had a few sprinkles throughout the day, but that was it. No downpours at all, and no heavy rain. Nice going, weather.com. As it turned out though, I think the awful forecast helped us out a great deal. The park was pretty empty! It looked like most people cancelled the day or rescheduled it, probably expecting a lot of rain, so the park was very empty for us. There were no lines for nearly all the rides, and the few that did have lines were short with only a few minutes wait. We were able to ride several rides multiple times, and Kevin even went on several rides by himself, with no one else on them but him. Brianna–Beth’s daughter–even did the karoake studio thing and recorded her own single.
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Kevin even won a stuffed animal (Pirate Taz) from one of the games and he got a few other toys as well. We took a few pictures and even got a preview of some of the great Fright Fest sets that were already in place for their annual Halloween celebration. They were pretty cool. One demonic statue had blood contantly dripping from its tongue hanging out of its mouth!. And there was even a headstone for me and my sister Karen, side-by-side, and a Fright Fest hearse. All of the pictures are right here, so take a peek if you want.
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As expected, the dancing old man from the Six Flags commercials was plastered all over the park, and there was even a giant inflatable version of him just inside the park entrance to greet everyone coming in. And, of course, that wacky music that always accompanies his dancing could be heard over and over throughout the park, and during the morning opening of the park at the carousel all of the Looney Tunes characters danced to it as well. That silly song is still stuck in my head.
Prairie Family Days
We spent the afternoon and evening at Prairie Family Days today. We got there about 4:00pm, staked out a great spot on the lake to watch the water, laser, and fireworks shows, and then visited the games and vendors.
Kevin did the Titanic slide again–twice, the moonwalk, and played just about all the games. He won a bunch of small toys and had a very good time. He was a little disappointed that he couldn’t ride the Kiddie Train this year though. He was looking forward to it a lot, and it was even advertised in the paper as being there this year, but once we were there it was nowhere to be found.
I don’t know if it was just me, but the laser show seemed much better this year than last. It seemed like there were more lasers this time, surrounding us completely. I only remember two sources last year, located on the opposite side of the lake. It was awesome, something that must be seen in person. Pictures just don’t do it justice. The fireworks were great too, and they combined the lasers and the fireworks very nicely a few times throughout the show. The medley of television theme songs were also a treat. I was able to identify every show they played, and it was very funny when they played the “Friends” theme and hundreds of people did the four-clap part right on cue!
I took over 160 pictures throughout the day, and I uploaded the best ones tonight. Take a look.
Tall ships are just around the corner!
It looks like Kenosha’s 4th of July Festivities were a huge success this year. No major incidents or accidents, 200 fireworks calls–but those were normal for the holiday though, and no major problems reported at the fireworks, which reportedly attracted 19,000-20,000 people to the lakefront to watch. Just like our little home-based event, everything went off without a hitch for the most part. It’s actually a relief to see something nice reported on the front of the newspaper for a change.
I regret missing the Patriotic Pooch contest though–that would have made for some pretty cool photos for the site I think. And if Kevin were able to ride his bike well enough, we would have even participated in the Kids Bike Decorating Contest and Parade that they had. He’s just not to that point yet, but we’re working on it. Hopefully he’ll be good to go for next year’s event. We’ll keep him “in training” for it until then. And if we could just get Socks to keep a stars and stripes top hat and coat on for a few minutes he’d certainly win the Patriotic Pooch Contest walking around like that on two legs! The Tall Ships Festival will be here next month! (August 4th-8th) So we’re anxiously awaiting another good time.
In other news, Louie got a very perty new toy to play with! I was going to post the photos on my site, but since Pam did it already, I’ll just point you over there, since it’s their new toy anyway. There are very few RumbleBees made, and each one is individually serialized, as you’ll see in the photos. They also cost a pretty penny more than the “simple” Ram 1500 that they’re based on, based on the info on DaimlerChrysler’s website. Zoom zoom. Whoops, wrong vehicle ad… Gotta Hemi?
Independence Day 2004
We hope everyone had a great and safe 4th of July! WE certainly did, and all without leaving the house. We had a small assortment of fireworks I picked up from Extreme Fireworks on I-94. It’s a great fireworks store with a nice buy-one-get-one-free deal every day. I only spent $20 on the fireworks, and it was still way more than we could do in an evening ourselves. We ended up giving some away to the neighbors after we were thoroughly exhausted ourselves, and we still have a ton of bottle rockets, Yellow Rose Texas Rockets, and Snaps left over! We especially enjoyed the colored torches–they’re just like sparklers, only they come in various colors like red, blue and green, and they look closer to road flares than sparkers. They burn pretty much the same though, and Kevin had a blast with them. I got a few nice shots of everyone enjoying themselves, so take a peek if you want.
We didn’t want to bother with all of the traffic and hassle of the big show at the lakefront, so we stayed home and had our own little show here. As it turned out, watching all of the neighbors shoot their fireworks off turned out to be very exciting anyway! We were surprised by how many there actually were, and they were going off in all directions from our house, so we were never sure where to look next. We had some minor ground spinners, a couple of parachutes, sparklers and torches, but a few of our neighbors seemed to have the real deal–they sounded like cannons going off, and then there would be a full bloom or several blooms above the houses. Really neat.
Oh, and don’t forget the Fireworks For Fun link in my links list if you’d like to play around on the computer with your own fireworks.
Yard work and steaks
I spent a few hours working on the yard yesterday evening. I know, that doesn’t sound like me, and you’re right, it’s not. But I needed some time away from the technology, even if only for a few hours. So I grabbed my laptop and portable police scanner and headed out back… Just kidding… No laptop, no scanner, just me and the weeds (and two obnoxious Chihuahuas trying to bark a Briggs & Stratton lawn mower into giving up).
The yard was a bit out of hand. I realized this the other day when I came home from work and found some weeds over 3 feet tall crawling up the side of the house! I swear they popped up overnight, I hadn’t even noticed them before this, and I walk just inches from where they were growing every time I come and go from the house. I managed to rip most of them out by the roots, but some broke off, so I know they’ll be back soon. Time for a chemistry experiment I guess.
I mowed the lawn, then pulled weeds for awhile, and cleaned the back yard. Kevin helped out too, which was nice. After that, we practiced riding his bike for a bit. He seems to be underdeveloped in this area. He’s 6 years old and can’t ride yet. I don’t think he really “gets” it yet, and he’s still trying to grasp the whole pedaling and balancing concepts. But I explained how much more we’ll be able to do–ride to stores and buy toys, ride to McDonalds, ride to the park, and all over the place–and that seemed to help him put forth more effort. He asked if he could get a bag or basket for his bike to hold the stuff we buy, and I explained that first we need to learn to ride, then we’ll work on that stuff.
While I worked in the yard, Sandy cooked an awesome steak dinner on the grill. I can’t remember the kind of steak she said it was (it’s the CRS kicking in again, I’m afraid), but it had string wrapped around it. It was awesome though, very good steak! She also cooked me up an awesome “garbage plate” for a breakfast over the weekend. I told her to write down the recipe because it was very good, but she said she just threw some things together, and didn’t really remember. (she’s probably picking up my CRS through osmosis)
Anyway, I work with all sorts of weird and hazardous chemicals at work all day, and I’ve spilled my share on my hands and have had to scrub them off several times a day. They always look clean when I’m done though. But after working in the yard pulling weeds last night, I can STILL see black dirt embedded in areas of my palms and fingers! How can simple dirt possibly be harder to clean off than the chemicals and indicators from work?!? I was certain that an Iodine stain would be more stubborn to come off than our backyard dirt… I guess I was wrong. Even after all my testing and washing several times at work today I can still see the dirt. That’ll teach me. I’d better stick to repairing and building computers, it’s a lot less damaging to the body parts.
Tombstone
Well, today we went on a Wild West Adventure! We went to Tombstone! We had a great time! Tons of little shops and still some of the original Saloons! We even had a famous Bloody Mary at the Crystal Palace! That was where the “Cowboys” and the Earp’s had many encouters. It was right across the street from the Oriental Saloon (the Earps were partial owners of the saloon). We saw a reinactment of the famous O.K. Corral gunfight (the video is in the pictures)! It was alot of fun and very interesting. Boot Hill (the famous graveyard of Tombstone) was also another infamous spot to see. If anyone wants to see more, we have the map of the town and a book on Boot Hill. Just let us know.
Earthquake
Did anyone there feel the earthquake? It originated 70 miles west of CHI town and was felt in Milwaukee! It registered @ 4.1 on the Ricter scale. I just just wondering if anyone felt it? They said windows rattled and things as far north as Milwaukee.
Kenosha Parade 2004
We went to the parade Sunday and had a great time. We got a little burnt, even though we sat under a nice shady tree in our usual spot–at the Strawberry Festival at First United Methodist Church on 60th Street and Sheridan Road. We had some of their awesome enormous hot dogs & chips, barbeque, and, of course, the strawberries and ice cream. Kevin got a Spyro inflatable and Sandy got a new hat. I took 170 pictures, and all of them are here. Click on the image to view them.
A good decision, or a last-ditch effort
Wow, I was impressed with Bush’s decision to turn over the transfer of power to Iraq a few days early. It probably saved many lives. Hopefully the surprise won’t tick off the worst of them though, they still had several hostages, from what I last heard.
I’m sure the decision to turn it over early wasn’t Bush’s though. It must have been his team of political spin doctors trying to earn him some points in the polls, I’m sure. That’s all anything is about these days. We won’t know what any political figure is really like until after the November election.
Serious new Internet threat
Internet security companies and cybersecurity experts in the federal government are warning computer users to guard against a new online attack that can affect PCs running the Windows operating system. Specifically, the INTERNET EXPLORER web browser. What makes this latest threat particularly scary is that computers can be affected just by visiting a Web site that has been compromised by hackers. As I stated before–numerous times–don’t use Internet Explorer!
Many popular websites were hit, although specific site names were not released. They are being patched quickly though. A couple of the sites we DO know were infected were Kelley Blue Book’s site and one other medical site, but those are now patched as well.
Norton Antivirus and all of the other popular and frequently-updated antivirus programs already detect this threat and catch it before you’re infected, so make sure your antivirus program is updated! What this infection does is install a trojan on your computer which grabs all of your keystrokes (logins, passwords, etc.) and tries to transmit it back to a russian website. Many ISPs have already blocked traffic being sent from their customers to this site. I wish they’d also release the list of ISPs that took this action–I certainly hope MINE did–It would certainly give them points in MY book.
Update: One important factor I failed to mention above: This latest worm only infects Microsoft servers (go figure), so don’t worry about our website being infected, since it is Linux/Apache-based. And visiting these infected sites can still harm you if you’re using Internet Explorer. Also, I heard this evening that the Russian website that this worm sends its data back to has now been shut down.
My thoughts on website content
I love free website content. The more the better. The vastness of the Internet itself gives way to some amazing content, free for the taking (usually only for non-profit uses), from thousands of various commercial and non-commercial websites. The way I’ve seen it, a few years ago there was even much more free content than there is now. Not to say there is any LESS content on the Internet, just that there’s less FREE content available. Remember Webshots? It used to be a free application and all of the nice images on the website were free as well. Banner ads were on their site and in their program, but this was the cost of using their service. Well, they–like thousands of other Internet content providers–went the “pay” route and turned their site into a pay service. Sure, you still get some of the “standard” resolution images (you can call these “free samples”) for nothing, but if you want the full-resolution images and the extra features then you’ll have to shell out some cash for a subscription–and pay for it regularly.
Many of the best applications and services have gone this route now–even Incredimail. They’ve gotten so greedy they need a constant payment stream from their customers, and Microsoft isn’t far behind. I heard a while back about possible “service-based” subscriptions to their Office applications–you pay a monthly or annual fee and you get to access particlar web-based versions of their applications when you need them. I guess they figure this will be a success, because it’s cheaper for everyone that way, and the customer always has up-to-date software. How many more monthly payments do we need though? I’d still rather buy an application outright and know that I own that particular application, to install it and use it as I see fit, whenever I need to, knowing it will be exactly the same a few years from now–that is, if I’m even ABLE to install it on whatever operating system I’m using at that time… You also rarely see company offer “Free updates for life” for a product any more either. A few good ones still do, but be warned there too–I’ve seen more than one company change their policy and actually revoke their “free updates for life” policy and start charging again for major version changes. I guess the old quote used in virtually every policy I’ve seen comes in handy: “Subject to change without notice.”
Jasc is still doing it right, and I hope they stick to it. Paint Shop Pro is awesome. You can buy it in the store for about $80. No activation, and not even any of the serial number entry during installation. Just a plain old fashioned install and you’re good to go. It just plain works, and works well. You can download a lot of additional content for it as well from many websites, including Jasc’s own site. You pay for their major version release only–updates to it are free from their website. But that’s enough Jasc advertising, back to the content issue.
There is still a lot of free content out there on the Internet, but using a lot of it brings up legal issues. For example, you can go to a site for just about every product, movie, or service in the world and get an image of it–My favorite technique for this is to go to Google Images and type in what I’m looking for–instantly I have hundreds or even thousands of thumbnails in my search results that I can go through to get what I need. But copy many of those images and use them on your own site or in a creation of your own and you’ve got possible legal issues.
My final point on all of this is that you’re here, at jimtrottier.com, and we have free downloads and free images. And here you don’t have to worry. All of our downloads are 100% free, no strings attached, and you can use our images freely without concern. It’s one of those old-fashioned sites, here for the public to enjoy, to hopefully make the Internet a friendlier place. No banner ads, no self-installing browser hijackers, no popups. Make it your home page. Use it as a portal to everywhere else. Our links list alone contains hundreds of great sites to jump to from here. But by all means don’t make it your ONLY home page–Install Mozilla Firefox and have as many home page tabs as you want! Just make jimtrottier.com one of them. What?? Still using Internet Explorer?? Then you haven’t been reading enough content on jimtrottier.com! Uhoh. Now I’ve gone and turned this entire posting into an ad for my site. Well, at least it didn’t POP UP on you! =)
I’m sure glad I got rid of AOL log ago!
I read today that 92 million AOL screen names were sold by an AOL insider to a spammer. The spammer used them to send out his own gambling ads and then resold the list to other spammers. So much for AOL’s privacy policy. It means nothing now. I smell one or two lawsuits coming. I dumped AOL years ago and never looked back. I have nothing bad to say about them, except that they tend to block messages from MY domain as spam for some reason. I think it’s because I’m somewhere within a block of IP addresses that regularly DO send spam, so I’m included I guess. Well, I’m sure they’ll be blocking a lot more now, that’s for sure.
Just add AOL to that growing list of infected ISPs. Thousands of Comcast customers recently got a dose of the problems of spam as well, when some hacker/spammers managed to figure out how to install a trojan on their particlar brand of router, causing their customers to unknowlingly become the senders of thousands of spam messages! Comcast took action by eventually selectively blocking port 25 from those IP addresses suspected of sending spam.
It’s hard to blame AOL for their latest problem though. They just had a bad (VERY bad) employee, who will hopefully pay the price now. I hope they make an example out of him. I say confine him to a cell for the rest of his life and make him eat nothing but Spam (the Shoulder of Pork/hAM product) for 3 meals a day.
I still always wonder who the heck actually acts upon ANYTHING they read in a spam message??? Who are these people that somehow make spamming worthwhile??? Apparently there are a lot of sad people out there with gambling addiction, erectile dysfunction and micropenis.
A prayer for a child
This message is for everyone, please send a prayer for one of Shell’s friends. They have a 10 year old son who was diagnosed wrong as an infant and givin the wrong treatment. So due to the wrong meds he is wheelchair bound and has constant seziures. Well, as of last week, he went into a very bad sezuire and as of tomorrow, they will be taking him off life support. The Dr’s are giving a very low chance of comming away from this one. I can totally respect their judgment for not letting their son suffer any more, but I must say, I give them credit, that is by far the hardest decision any parent could ever make! Were praying for the parents and their son and ask everyone else does also…the power of prayer out weighs the power of modern medicine!
Thanks All
The Circus
Last night we went to the Circus in Union Grove. We had ticket for a free child admission and another one for a free adult admission with a paid adult, so with Kevin, Sandy and I we only had to pay for one adult ($20). Before the circus, however, they had pony and elephant rides ($4 and $6 respectively), so Kevin took a ride on a pony named “Blackey.” He was an all-black pony, and I told Kevin he looked just like Socks. Then he noticed a tan-colored one and said it looked just like Peanut. I had to walk with my arm around him around the circle as he rode, and I think we did about 10 laps–quite the workout for me. After that we were in line for the main event.
Is it me, or does the circus seem more and more like just a money scam each year? This year the tent seemed smaller than last year, much less seating, and less equipment-intensive acts. This year even the human cannonball act was moved outside the tent and performed after the show as sort of a grand finale as everyone stood around the parking lot and watched before leaving. There also seemed like many more “money schemes”– a “official” circus coloring book sale for $1, in which several coloring books contained “hidden surprises” with coupons for either a free balloon, popcorn, or cotton candy (Kevin won the cotton candy) which was offered during the first 15 minutes of the show and not even during intermission, a photo op with either a giant snake or baby tigers, and even a peanut sale in which a tiny bag of peanuts sold for $1, again with many of them contain coupons for prizes (Sandy won nothing). The latter, of course, was no-doubt also a tool used to sell more drinks!
In addition to the tent being much smaller this year, the acts were much smaller as well. The trapeze artist/hoola hooper/stunt girl was a small child, maybe 9 or 10 years old! She exhibited some neat skills for a girl her age, no doubt. The balance of the show included two elephant acts (not sure even these were the same elephants in both acts though), a couple dog acts, a monkey act, some “clowning around” in-between acts, a lady doing rope-climbing tricks, and the human cannonball finale.
We enjoyed the dog and elephant acts the most I think. The dogs appeared to all be either Jack Russell Terriers or something similar. The appeared to be slightly larger than Chihuahuas. They looked like they were all from the same family too, having very similar appearance. I think there were 6 or 7 of them in the largest act. They’d jump through hoops, walk on their hind legs, slide down a slide, etc., and return right to their stand afterward. One of them even walked on his front legs! The other dog act was much simpler, and consisted of several dogs of completely different breeds with various stunt skills.
The elephants were fun to watch too, especially in the much smaller tent–they appeared to be that much more enormous! They did some dancing, handstands, and various other tricks that seemed next to impossible to do within the small ring they were in, but they performed flawlessly.
It all seemed smaller and shorter than the year before though, but I don’t think Kevin noticed one bit. He got a toy–a cool spinning ball ($10) with various LEDs of different colors inside that flashed at different times while spinning, which creates a very neat effect! I’ll have to try to snap a night-shot of it to post on the site, and he got his cotton candy, popcorn, and sno-cone, so he was very happy. As we were leaving the parking lot he was asking when the next one was, so he’s ready to come again, as usual.
One ticket to the circus…. $20
A toy…. $10
A ride on “Blackey”…. $4
Box of popcorn…. $3
Sno-Cone… $3
Bottle of water…. $2
Circus coloring book…. $1
Bag of Peanuts…. $1
The look of joy on Kevin’s face as he watched the performance…. PRICELESS
The Spectacular New Atari Video-Game Computer!
I did a little more digging through the old boxes tonight and found this! It thrilled me beyond words. View the full-size image by clicking the thumbnail, then click on the medium-sized image. Read the entire ad. This is a real keeper. Can you imagine? I can’t even remember what we initially paid for our first Atari 2600 system, but I know we did get one early in it’s release, so it had to be close to this price. Wow. I even played Yar’s Revenge for a while yesterday. I relearned the gameplay pretty quickly and I was again hooked. That was one of my all-time favorites.
I almost fear that all of this reliving of my past is somehow going to cause my mind to lose what it currently knows about TODAY’S computers. Kind of like a retroactive brainwashing… Uhoh. I feel the gigbytes slipping away and being replaced by “k’s”…
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