Mike stopped by the other day- he had been telling me he had some records (yes, actual records) to give to me. I had a few for him as well,- a good chunk of Rod Stewart (I'm not a big fan) and Elvin Bishop that I somehow inherited through one of my many moves over the years.

Anyway- I got a good bunch from him as well-- let's see:
Crosby Stills Nash and Young- Deja Vu
Allman Brothers- Beginnings
The Band
Peter Tosh- Legalize It!
Steely Dan- Countdown to Ecstasy
Stevie Wonder- Songs in the Key of Life
Earth, Wind and Fire- Gratitude
ZZ Top- El Loco
Willie Nelson- Stardust
Patti Smith Group- Easter

I've got some listening to Do!!!

Computers Suck!

Last night, I decided to move the "fileserver" machine- (read: my old computer) underneath the table where the printer is and set the printer up on it as well. This was after I had turned off the new computer for the night. After shuffling around computers, cabling, furniture and peripherals, I decided to test out the printer. Turn the new machine back on.

What do you know? The new computer all the sudden had NO network support!! Ok, let me see. Check the cabling- OK. Reboot the router- ok. Still no network. Reinstall the 10/100 card- whoops! The computer no longer recognizes it! Switch to another card slot- No go!!. Back we go to the old 10 Base T card!

After fighting with the configuration, I still wasn't able to get the DHCP server in the router to work properly. No internet access either! Rebooted the router again- Success!!!!

So much for a totally 10/100 capable network!!!

I've added a link in the side bar to the EFF Blue Ribbon Campaign. The EFF is the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization I was involved with years ago (1992) when I first went on the net at college. So, check it out, ok???

Last night, I went out to Sully's Pub in Hartford for the Open Mic. I hadn't been to an open mic since I had been going to Rookies in Cromwell. That was like April last year!!

Anyway, Emily had stopped by and she suggested that I go last night. It was cool!! I'd never been to Sully's before, and there were some really good performances! Of note, Emily did this freeform experimental thing that was pretty intense. Another guy, Chuck Warda did a layered vocal effect on a Miles davis tune, and then ripped on the guitar as well.

It was a great time..those yof you who know me know that I love seeing live music, especially open mics when you never know what's gonna happen. Maybe sometime, I'll get up and do something...yeah, right!!!

Day three of playing with computers. I decided to swap out the Ethernet card (10 base-T) in the newer PC with a 10/100 Fast Ethernet Card so that the whole home network will be 10/100 throughout. While I was at it, I also swapped sound cards with the Soundblaster card from the old PC. The newer one didn't have the audio output that my speakers needed to get loud enough. Both hardware re-configurations went off without a hitch.

Well, I've managed to convert over all of the Email functions to the new PC, including the address book without a hitch!! I've got the My Documents folder arranged the way I like it, and even did the favorites in Internet explorer.

There's some software that I'm going to install in the new machine over the course of the next couple of days. So far things are migrating over rather smoothly. Maybe when I get done with this, I can actually discuss something else again, huh??

Oh, ok I got one for you so you're not disappointed-
A Guide to The Onion's Many, Many Knockoffs - this has many links to keep you occupied almost all day :)

I'm spending some time migrating all of the stuff from my old PC over to the new(er) one that Bill set me up with. So, I've got both PC's configured in a local network through the DSL router/switch. That definately makes transferring files that much faster!! Just when I thought I had my PC set up the way I wanted it!!!

I'd like to thank Bill for gifting me his older 800 MHz machine to me. I hadn't realized how painstakingly SLOW my old machine was until I got DSL, and now running this machine, it's pretty incredible. And it's got a newer version of Internet Explorer, so that I get the "better" blogger interface. I like that!!!

Well, it's off to export my old Outlook address book and mail folders from the old machine and put them in here!!! I hope this goes well!!!

Today, I'm taking Delilah to a program at the Russell Library in Middletown. They're having a family drumming event with Baba David Coleman. That should be fun. I met Baba once when Craig and I played down at Pete's event at his house last fall. Delilah is really looking forward to going...

I spent the whole night after putting Delilah to bed pretty much sitting here at the computer. Well, I did light up some candles and set up some "happy space." But at the computer I spent most of the time playing around with Winamp and creating playlists of the songs that I've got on the hard drive.

I've always had this dream of programming radio station, and I figured that I might as well create my playlists with that in mind. I think if you gave me over the music programming of 105.9, I'd show them what they're trying to do!!

At one point, the BIG playlist I have had something like 12+ hours of music on it!! After spending time in the "happy space," I created another, shorter playlist of songs that, well, would be best if played while kickin' back a couple of White Russians. Lebowski, anyone???

I happened to visit John's website today, and noticed there's a great picture of him, his daughter Sarah and Delilah from last year's Drums Around the World. Check it out, it's on the left side of the page. Click on image for a high-res version. (Ok, so the picture's here too, but check out his website anyway!!) PulseIntegration.com

Myshele had this great idea to start having "song circles", a chance for us to get together, and instead of focusing on all the bad aspects of the current state of the world, the Earth, and ourselves, we instead focus on the postiive ways we'd like it them to change. The spark for this idea came from her attendance at the Earth Activist Training Seminar last month.

So, at the last drum circle, Myshele, Ang and I all expressed interest in getting her vision off the ground in this area, all of us offered our homes on a rotating basis to host the song circles. We had the first one last night at Myshele's house. Even though only three of us made the first one, it was a good experience. I came home feeling very happy and positive.....

Ok, here's a random link for today-The Complete and Utter Idiot's Guide to Ordering Pizza. Just in case you forgot how to do it.

And another link- Earth Erotica Photography. Really amazing photography.

Thanks to The Daily Column for the links!!!

Ok, so I must be full of useless links this week!! I just found
The Black Table today, and I have to tell you, it's some of the funniest reading I've had in a long time....

You may have noticed (or maybe not) some new content on the left side margin of the page, including the humorous Sesame Street Terror Alert Level and a weather button... I guess the techie web-progammer geek in me refuses to die......

AT&T UPDATE

Today I contacted Covad, the company who supplies AT&T's DSL service and equipment. I put in a web-based Customer Support ticket with them. I'm hoping there's something they can do, since they are the ones who sent me the wrong information in their paperwork.

Maybe this issue will get resolved by them...if it dosen't, I'll have to take it to a higher authority. Even if that involves calling Dick Blumenthal, the CT Attourney General.

Big River

For a while, Danielle lived not far from the mighty Housatonic River as it flows through New Milford. We were talking about the river yesterday, and I searched for information on Google. I had known that the river had been polluted by GE up near it's headwaters in Pittsfield, MA. There were a handful of organizations whos' goals were saving the river and cleaning it up.

A couple links of note:
The Housatonic Valley Association
My Watershed.com- Connecticut

A few years ago, I spent some time hiking around one of the major tributaries of the Housatonic, the Shepaug River. I recall the awesome natural beauty of the area and wonder why some people abuse our natural resources. If you're interested in saving our rivers and nature in general, follow the links in the pages above and read on...

AT&T DSL's BILLING SUCKS

Well, I finally got a call back from AT&T regarding the rebate for my DSL modem. When they shipped me the installation kit, the paperwork included had incorrect dates for when I could send in my rebate form. When I went online the other day, I was told that I missed the deadline by 2 days. So, I called AT&T and asked to speak with a supervisor. They told me one would call back.

When I got the call back today, they told me there was "nothing they could do." Even after I threatened to cancel all of my services with them, they gave me the same response. At this point, I'm going to try to contact various agencies, including Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control and the Better Business Bureau of Connecticut.

This dosen't seem to be the first time that there have been issues with AT&T DSL service. I found a discussion forum that had many issues with both them, and Covad, the provider of their DSL services. Click here to view the forum.

Needless to say, I'm pissed...

I've been viewing this site for a while, being the photography buff that I am. Shutterline's Photo of the Day is a photo contest site (and you can submit photos yourself as well.) It's great seeing what other photographers around the world are doing...

And while I'm on the subject of entering your own photos and such, there's a soda company in Seattle, Jones Soda that allows you to submit pictures for use on their labels. I found out about Jones because they are now selling their products at Panera Bread

And that's what I've got today.....

Ok, So I'm out of work. So I have a little more time to browse the web.
So, all that said I give you yet another link....

Buzzflash.com. Tons of commentaries, discussions, and probably one of the best links list of news sources I've seen in a while (it's at the botton of the home page). Enjoy!

I found a couple of interesting links this morning that I got off the Blessed Beat list: here goes!

MyWay.com- a great news link site!

The Sierra Times- News, commentary and discussion.

While I'm at it, I might as well add another one that I haven't posted:

Salon.Com- great news and politics site

Looks like it's time to reorganize the links list again!!

this blogger powered by.....

Mmm...Coffee!!!!

Well, the job search continues. I have to tell you though, it is nice having a little more free time. I'm not too concerned right now, but I definately have to get a job before my severance runs out. That's a priority.

I've gone into money-saving mode, trying to eliminate expenses that I don't really need. First off was the storage space that I'd been renting in South Windsor for the past three years. It had gotten to almost $60 a month, and I really didn't need that.

Jack from the repeater came up Sunday and took the lawn equipment. I had been originally planning on selling the stuff, but it was costing me way too much to keep, so I gave it to him. Hopefully my good deed will come back to me someday :)

I had gone up to South Windsor again today to take the last few things, and turn in the keys. They didn't charge me rent for this month, so it worked out. After I decided to grab a little lunch and went to Panera Bread in Manchester. So, I decided to treat myself a little today....