McAfee virus protection

A candidate icon for Portal:Computer security (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Time Warner Cable switched to McAfee for virus protection.  I am quite pleased with McAfee virus protection so far.  The older versions of McAfee always seemed to be a nuisance but this version is very clean.

Crohn's disease is keeping me awake again.

Walking for a cure for Crohn's disease (Photo credit: Geof F. Morris)

The joys of Crohn's disease.  My body feels like its the site of a major battlefield of tiny little men with flamethrowers and grenades in my GI tract nether regions.  It never hurts when I see the Doctor but it sure as hell hurts at other times like now.  Sleep is impossible and only sitting up in a soft chair is almost comfortable.  Maybe I will try to get some sleep but it probably won't work.

Related articles

• Curcumin Turmeric for Crohn's Disease? (wisdomandhealthblog.wordpress.com)
• Is milk the carrier of Crohns disease? (thebovine.wordpress.com)
• Crohn's Disease: Your Treatment Options (webmd.com)
• The Crohn's Disease Suggestion Box (cozyblanketsnowflakerepetitioncompulsion.wordpress.com)

I actually make pretty good scrambled eggs.

Walmart Supercenter sign (Photo credit: Ron Dauphin)

I made some eggs this morning and even my finicky son said they were good.  Judy did the hard work of cleaning the frying pan.  She really deserves an automatic dishwasher.  The only one that will fit in our apartment is the Danby portable from Walmart.  Customers all seem to give it a good rating and I intend to buy one one someday.  Walmart's price seems to be the best for this product.

I need more comments on my blog

I seem to get thousands of views of my blog but very few comments except for crazy people and spam.  I don't publish junk comments but I really would like to see more regular comments from people.  I am not sure how to make that happen.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

Life is unfair

Some people believe that life should be fair.  It's not and never will be.  You need to do the best with what you have been given.  This is hardly an original thought but it's true.  I am probably a maximum offender with this problem but if I live long enough my attitude may improve.

Expenses

We have had some high but necessary expenses this month so now we are hanging on by the skin of our wallet until we get paid again.  I just hope everything holds together until then.

Leave of absence

My son is going on a leave of absence from one of his jobs so that he can concentrate on his new main job.  He may come back to the old job also because it is only one day a week but I suspect when the new job is going well he may decide not to bother with the old job.

Cherries!

The Bing cherry owes its development to the Chinese-American horticulturalist Ah Bing. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have actual cherries on my Carmine Jewel cherry bush.  I have waited a long time for this.  I grew it from a tiny stick the size of a pencil.  Now I just have to hope they don't freeze off or get eaten by the birds.  The plant even looks kind of pretty but I am more interested in the fun of eating the cherries.

Almost time for Dr Who watching on Netflix with Judy.

The Mark 2 fibreglass (Tom Yardley-Jones) Tardis as used in the 1980s - photo taken by me Zir 23:49, 18 May 2007 (UTC) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are over 80 episodes of Dr Who and Judy intends to watch them all.  If it makes her happy why should I complain?  I almost like them enough to actually watch them myself.  To the Tardis ...

Related articles

• Dr Who Tardis Schematic (geekwallpapers.com)
• Stupid Netflix (memebase.com)

My son has three jobs.

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK - DECEMBER 14: A member of Greenpeace demonstrate dressed as 'Death', one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, on December 14, 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Politicians and environmentalists are meeting for the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 that runs until December 18. Some of the participating nation's leaders will attend the last days of the summit. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

My son has turned out to be quite an industrious young lad.  He has three jobs at this time and one of them is a good full time job with benefits!  Who would have thought that this could happen?  Is the world approaching the Apocalypse and is this one of the signs?

Related articles

• Future History: Apocalypse Then (scepticon.wordpress.com)
• Just in Case: A Designer Survival Kit for the Apocalypse (apocalypseart.wordpress.com)
• Topic Brainstorming: Apocalypse in Le Guin's The Word for World is Forest (aml24101614.wordpress.com)

My older son has a job

My older son just got a pretty good job.

The Bible

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs." (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What makes the Bible unique?  Many arguments to reason could be given to show that the Bible has singular origins but ultimately the only thing that matters is when a person reads the Bible and sees that it makes a difference in their life.  Jesus said he was the Way, the Truth and the Life.  The totality of his words are reasonable enough to prove to me that the Bible is accurate and capable of making a difference in a person's life with out any other proof needed.

Related articles

• Take a walk through the Bible, starting with Genesis... (patheos.com)
• The Pope and the truth and inspiration of the Bible (insightscoop.typepad.com)
• April 23 - Is The Bible Really Infallible and Inspired? (lelandfleming.wordpress.com)
• The Embarrassing Truth About the Bible: It's STILL Being Edited (skepticalteacher.wordpress.com)

The perfect Church.

11th century Hebrew Bible with targum, perhaps from Tunisia, found in Iraq: part of the Schøyen Collection. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have found that there is not any perfect Church by using the empirical method.  I have probably joined close to ten different Church's of various denominations in my life time.  They all had problems but if you want to worship Christ it is necessary to have some type of corporate worship.  I am not an expert on Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic but the ministers of the denominations I attended claim to be and yet they obviously do not agree with each other.  I found most of them to be decent people.  Clearly human imperfections are obstructing the Bible's original message but the Bible is fairly clear on it's major points especially in the New Testament.

It is more important to be straight with Jesus than to please people in a Church denomination.  I do not think that any individual Christian denomination has a monopoly on the truth.  At the same time it is almost impossible to be Christian and not belong to some type of denomination.  The Bible is the only reliable source of truth that I have found and I believe that God inspired specific people to write it accurately.

There are many different types of literature in the Bible and people may have legitimate disagreements over passage interpretations.  The major simple parts of the Bible are easy to interpret by anyone who reads them with a good reasonable attitude.  I have seen the Bible misused many times but this does not negate the truth it contains.

Related articles

• The Bible's Dark Ages (crossexaminedblog.com)
• THE CHURCH WITHOUT WALLS by Ray Spellbrink (trinityspeaks.wordpress.com)
• The Local Church Defined-william Macdonald (ioan17.wordpress.com)
• Christian Denominations Statements On The Saturday Sabbath (paradoxparables.justparadox.com)

Doctor Who

The Mark 2 fibreglass (Tom Yardley-Jones) Tardis as used in the 1980s - photo taken by me Zir 23:49, 18 May 2007 (UTC) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We are watching Doctor Who on Netflix.  I never thought I would like it but Judy talked me into watching it.  It is really not that bad and it is starting to grow on me.  To the Tardis ...

Related articles

• Doctor Who TARDIS Mini Safe

• What's New With Doctor Who: Real Sonic Screwdriver, Dalek Race, and Lego Doctor (geek-news.mtv.com)

Armour glass bottle cutter.

Diving for bottles (Photo credit: eclectic echoes)

Pontiled soda or beer bottle excavated in New York City. The cobalt colored antique bottle is embossed "J.H Yale - Middletown, CT" (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am using the Armour bottle cutter to cut bottles with mixed results.  It takes practice.  I finally decided to permanently mount the bottle cutter to the bench with screws and this looks like it will help the cutting success rate quite a bit.  I will probably make some glass planters.  I can't work for very long periods of time because of Crohn's disease but even a short while cutting glass bottles forces you to concentrate on what you are doing instead of life's problems.  If anyone want to give me some free bottles to recycle into art, they would be appreciated.  Almost any type of bottle or jar will work. 

Welcome Ecuador reader of my blog!

Español: Mapa de la Red Vial del Ecuador (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There is a new reader from Ecuador on my blog.  Welcome Ecuador!

I do not like formally joining any Church.

Olalla Bible Church, Olalla, Washington. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Many Churches seem to like to make people jump through man made hoops in order to join their Church.  Many of the requirements that I have heard different Churches impose may not be bad of themselves but I didn't read these requirements for Church membership in my Bible.  I have come to a point in my life where I just do not care very much what people think.  I care a little bit but not enough to jump through a hoop for a cookie.

Related articles

• What I Love About The Bible (christianlifehacker.wordpress.com)
• Church Culture - Don't Drink The Kool-Aid (bornundercalicoskies.wordpress.com)
• Marks of a gospel-centered church (Jesus Exalting) (garrettventry.wordpress.com)
• Turning the Other Cheek (momentumofjoy.com)

Bummer of a day!

All of our recent good news was shot to hell today.  More on that in later posts.  Hopefully the bad news will be eclipsed by later good news.

Cutting glass bottles for a hobby is going well at least.  It forces you to relax or you always fail to cut the bottle properly.  I plan to make a few glass wine bottle planters as gifts.  It is not something you can make money on but it takes your mind off other things.  If anyone wants to give me any larger size bottles, jugs, jars or other glass containers ...  I would really appreciate it.  I got a bunch of wine bottles from someone already and they work well.  I do not drink any alcohol myself due to Crohn's disease but I do like the bottles.

Carmine Jewel Cherry plant

The Bing cherry owes its development to the Chinese-American horticulturalist Ah Bing. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am growing a Carmine Jewel Cherry bush in a 30 gallon Smart Pot on my porch.  It just flowered for the first time so I may get some cherries this year.  The plant is hardy up to zone 2b or it never would have survived the over wintering in a pot.  Gurney Seed and Nursery company is one place that sells the Carmine Jewel Cherry and I think it is an excellent plant.  I love cherries and I can't seem to kill this plant even with my best efforts.  I believe that Gurney guarantees its plants for life anyways.

The Smart Pot is a good product also.  It is basically a very tough fabric pot that stands alone when filled with potting mix or soil.  It is inexpensive compared to any standard pot and you can fold it up for storage when not in use.  It is possible to machine wash it to avoid cross contamination between plants when planting something new that is sensitive.  The extreme cost savings for the large pots are what originally attracted me to the Smart Pots.  These pots are an easy way to grow small fruits and large vegetables in a container.  They air prune the roots automatically which produces a better root system and plant.

Related articles

• These Really ARE Smart Pots (yardlovertimes.com)

Bottle Cutting - Dremel Tool

A single-speed 'MultiPro' Dremel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have a hobby of making things out of cut bottles which helps relax me.  I use a truly ancient Dremel rotary tool to grind the edges and engrave designs but the thing looks like its ready to give up the ghost.  I bought it over 30 years ago when I cut bottles during High School and it surprises me that it still works at all.

I would like to eventually get Dremel's latest and best cordless rotary tool model which has a 12 volt lithium ion battery.  It really looks nice but I don't have the money right now.  I might try selling some of my glass creations on ebay to pay for a new Dremel but I doubt that they would bring in enough money.  The purpose of the hobby is just pure relaxation.  I don't believe that I would ever make any type of profit.

Related articles

• Featured Artist - Dremel or Rotary Tools (alchemistsvessel.wordpress.com)
• Dremel "Heaven" (auburnfair.wordpress.com)
• Bucking trend, Dremel picks Web over mobile apps (news.cnet.com)
• Trimming Your Dog's Nails: Equipment (clancyaussiedoodles.wordpress.com)
• Dremel Challenge, Anyone? (lifewithlight.wordpress.com)
• Steel Carving (bepositivecampaign.org)

Haier dryer

Our old dryer broke down so we decided to buy a small Haier 120 volt electric dryer and put it in our kitchen. I like it and it makes our lives much easier.  It runs longer than a large 220 volt dryer but it gets the job done in a convenient manner.  You can mount it to a wall but we just put it on our table.

Oatmeal

Oatmeal really works well for breakfast when you have Crohn's disease.  Every time that I eat oatmeal and coffee for breakfast my pain is reduced significantly.

Mitt Romney for President?

I think Mitt Romney is the best Republican contender for the Presidency.  He at least had the brains and compassion to start universal health care in his state when he was the governor.  There are many right wing religious republican nuts that do not like him because he is a Mormon.  I am more interested in how somebody votes on the issues and Romney's record is fairly good from what I have seen.  I think Obama is better for the country in general than Romney with the exception of the abortion issue.  Romney is constrained by the extreme conservatism of his party from doing whats right to help the poor, middle class and those with medical problems achieve a decent standard of living. The cruelty of extreme Republican dogma will prevent Mitt Romney from being a good President if he wins but he may be able to eek out being a mediocre President.  At least he would be better than Newt.

Related articles

• Nobody Really Believes Mitt Romney (citizentom.com)
• Sen. Orrin Hatch says Obama will attack Mitt Romney for his religion (dailykos.com)
• Hatch: Obama might attack Romney on Mormon faith ()
• Mitt Romney: We're 'not going to have a discussion about religion' (dailykos.com)
• Why Are Latino Democrats Calling Romney "Radical?" (thehispanicblog.com)
• Romney Quickly Shoots Down Audience Member's Question About Book Of Mormon (mediaite.com)
• Mitt Romney to Make America Mormon (newsflavor.com)
• Is Mitt Romney the bastard child of the Republican Party? (lameducks.wordpress.com)

11,551 page views for this blog

People from many countries have viewed this blog 11,551 times since I started it.  I never knew my life and thoughts were that interesting.  I always thought I was rather boring to most people but I guess something on the blog must interest them.  However, I do wish that I would get more comments on my blog posts even if people disagree with what I think.

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead (Photo credit: andres musta)

The Walking Dead is a TV zombie show that my whole family seems to have fallen in love with.  I don't like zombie shows but they all keep trying to convert me.  I find gruesome shows of this nature very unsettling and I try to avoid them at all costs.  There are a few good scenes that they have showed me that provide some interest but they seem insignificant when compared to the gore.

Related articles

• [TV] The Walking Dead: Season 2 (geeky-guide.com)
• The Walking Dead: How computers help zombies multiply (thenextweb.com)
• The Walking Dead Q&A: T-Dog on Survival and Whether We'll Ever See Him Again (tv.com)
• Exclusive: See How The Walking Dead's Most Gruesome Scenes Come to Life (seattlepi.com)
• Walking Dead Visual Effects Reel of the Day (geeks.thedailywh.at)

Amazon Instant Videos and Roku

Roku Netflix Player & Cables Packaging (Photo credit: yonnage)

We own a small number of instant videos on Amazon and we recently purchased an inexpensive Roku TV box so I could finally play them in our bedroom instead of just in the living room.  The Roku is an inexpensive little device that does a lot and I fully endorse it.  It handles Amazon videos, Hulu plus, Netflix, a large number of free channels and it plays some games.  It even hooks up to our crappy old little TV that doesn't have HDMI but the Roku does have an HDMI hookup when we finally convert.  The Roku is inexpensive, simple and makes me happy.  Few things can do those three things at once.

Related articles

• Roku 2 XD Streaming Player - $70 + free Ship (gadgetreview.com)
• Cord Cutters: A fist look at Plex for Roku (gigaom.com)
• Roku's Canada launch imminent - Online Video News (digitaltvnewssummary.wordpress.com)
• The Tech-pert: $50 Roku LT is This Year's Hot Holiday Gadget Gift (savings.com)
• Deal of the Day: Roku 2 XS 1080p Streaming Player (gadgetreview.com)