Freecycle

In Columbus, and cities across the country, there is now a group called Freecycle where you can get rid of stuff you don't want and take up other people on their offers of free stuff. It's amazing and simple. All you do is post an email saying you have something free to offer or that you are looking for something free. About 1000 people read it every day and someone is bound to offer. I got rid of a couple of small kitchen items and gained a box of kids books for my niece. It's a Yahoo group, so just go to http://groups.yahoo.com and search for your city.

Another great source of free/cheap stuff is Craigslist. They are in most cities across the country. You can also sell stuff here or look for jobs, etc.

Both of these resources are a lot of fun to play with!

Almost stairs!

The framing is done most of the external drywall!!! The upstairs is 10 degrees warmer than it was this morning.

Here you can see the drywall in 3 stages - latheboard, insulation over the frame, and drywall on the underside (which is over the 1st floor stairs).

Next we will add drywall to the inside of the stairs and place the actual steps.

Who put a tail there?

We take her to puppy school and here's what she learned.

Stairs moving right along

I didn't realize how long it had been since one of us last put up a post. Though it is not as if nothing has been going on. For example we have made a ton of progress on the new stairs.

The only things left to do are to dry wall and nail in the actually stairs (treads and risers for you carpenter types)

Honeymoon ideas

Okay so we need honeymoon ideas that are within 24 hours driving distance from Columbus Ohio.

So far we have:

Key West (Southern Tip of Florida)
Maine
Adirondack Mountains (upstate New York)
Great Smokey Mountains (Eastern Tennessee)
Massachusetts (Probably Western Mass. or the Cape)
Savannah, Ga
Canada
Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Basically somewhere resort like or middle of nowhere, the Keys are on the outside range of the 24 hour drive (for reference).

Flying is out, not a negotiable point.

Thank you BBB!

On a recommendation, I took Maddy to Columbus All Breed for Beginning Obedience. The instructors were terrible and used aggressive methods that seemed counterproductive to building a relationship of trust and learning. For example, the teacher told us that if your dog jumps on people as they come in the door, lock the dog in the closet. She also said that if your dog is sniffing the ground when you want to walk, then you should walk faster. Neither of these problems are solved by ignoring them! They also use a choke collar which they call a "training collar." It would be nice if they explain that on the website.

Anyway, I asked them for a refund and they refused. The Training Director called me and offered to put me in a new class. Had he agreed that there was a problem with my class, then I would have gladly agreed. However, I didn't want to continue with the same methods.

I finally filed a complaint with the BBB. It's not a surprise that they are now willing to refund my $75. Thank you!

This is the second time I've used the BBB, and it's been a great tool. It's one of the only ways that a consumer has recourse. The other time I used them was when I paid for a magazine subscription through a 3rd party that never came. They had a fake customer service phone # and a bouncing email address. There was no way to leave a message, so this was my only option.

We start positive/clicker training with Civil Obedience on December 10th (Jim's birthday!). I've heard rave reviews about them, including from my vet.

Save the date!

We have finally set a date for our wedding - May 25, 2008. It's the Sunday before Memorial Day. We are holding it at a place called, I kid you not, the Taylor Mansion. Here are photos of the wedding site.

Gobble Gobble

Kitty Wake Up Call

Rant of the day

I'm dressing up as a melting polar ice cap

Because that's scary. Almost as scary as the possible reelection of the party of the scaremonger in chief.

By Bill Maher

Oct. 27, 2007 | New Rule: This Halloween, every time you see something that's supposed to scare you, like a skeleton or a severed head or the ingredients in diet pudding ... take a moment and think about fear: What are you afraid of; what should you be afraid of. What's really scary this Halloween is that the same group of idea-free losers who won the last presidential election could win the next one by making us afraid of the wrong things. Which is why this year for Halloween, I'm going as something truly horrifying: a melting polar ice cap.

This week -- as every week -- all the Republican candidates talked about was who was toughest in the war on terror. While the country's most populous state literally burned. The Democrats, as usual, said nothing, because they didn't want to offend fire.

The Republicans, including the scaremonger in chief, sell themselves as protectors of our safety. But since they're all, except for McCain, armchair warriors, they're only comfortable protecting us from fears they made up. Like the way Iran is itching for a war with the United States now. Ahmadinejad is pure evil! Terror has a new name, and it's nearly unpronounceable.

At the Republican debate this week, Mike Huckabee said, "Islamofascism is the greatest threat we ever faced." Really? More than the Nazis? And the Russians? And the Redcoats?

In his latest ad, Mitt Romney warns eerily that Muslim jihadists want to establish an Islamic caliphate covering the whole world, including America.

And I thought the people scared of gays and Mexicans were paranoid. Islamic terrorists taking over America? They can barely get across the monkey bars. Our defense budget is 600 billion a year, they're using guns they took off a dead Soviet in 1981 -- I think we can hold Charleston.

We're the most powerful nation on earth with the largest economy and the best military, and we're made to act the fool by a few thousand cave dwellers who still put out their video on VHS.

And that's because over the last seven years, because of the incompetence that goes by the name George Bush, we've become the most insecure, paranoid superpower ever. We don't think we can get anything right anymore. We can't take care of our own citizens after a hurricane, or plan for our wars, or maintain our infrastructure, and our celebrity rehab facilities obviously aren't working at all.

Some people looked at this fire and saw not a dangerous phenomenon brought on by man's activities and requiring a scientific solution, but a cleansing catharsis sent by God to punish liberals. Even though it mostly burned Orange County.

As a species, we're failing at survival trick No. 1: prioritize the threats. Environmental catastrophe will visit all of us in the coming decades, in one way or another, and when it does I hope people like ... oh, I don't know, Lou Dobbs, says to himself, "Hmmm, maybe if I was going to spend my whole career obsessing about one issue -- it should have been global warming. The skin just fell off my face, and it turns out that really wasn't the fault of a Mexican."

From Ava to Jack

Below is the letter my sister read at a small memorial for Jack, her son. It's written from the voice of Ava, her daughter, who survived Jack.


My sister's intro: Ava and I talk about Jack every day. She asked me if I would read this letter from her at Jack’s service.

Dear Friends and Family,

Please join me in saying goodbye to my first and best friend, Jack Taylor Walton, who was born into heaven on August 2, 2007 at 7:33pm. Shortly before our birthday, Jack received a personal invitation from God to join her in heaven so that he could help watch over and guide our lives on Earth. Perhaps I shouldn’t admit this, but I know this to be true because I was ease dropping from the room next door.

Jack’s job in Heaven is perhaps the most prestigious and honorable job one could ever hold. It requires unimaginable sacrifice, exceptional maturity and profound insight.

Jack was not alone when he left Earth. I was by his side to hug him goodbye and see him off. Jack was not alone when he arrived in heaven. With open arms and much anticipation, he was welcomed by: his Great Grandparents, his Great Aunts and Uncles, and his cousins Dillon and Cole each of whom is well-prepared with a complete supply of diapers, onesies, burp clothes, receiving blankets, exersaucers, swings, bouncy chairs, etc. In fact, Jack’s “Sip n’ See” also takes place today at 1:00pm, in Heaven, hosted by the loving family members who greeted him upon his arrival.

In Heaven, Jack will be swaddled, soothed and swayed. He will be cuddled and cooed. He will learn, laugh and love. He will be loved.

Although I will not ask you to ignore deep sadness for Jack’s early departure, I will ask you to join me in feeling extraordinary pride; pride that one so young and innocent, in harmony with God, will guide and influence our daily decisions, quietly comfort us during difficult times, and magnify our happiness during joyous times.

I will miss him in life, but I am comforted by the knowledge that Jack is not gone. He is simply waiting in heaven. And, when the time is right, I will have eternity to play with Jack, and our parents will have eternity to hug him, hold him and kiss him good night.

With much love,

Ava Rose Walton

Save your newspapers

I'm now volunteering for the Franklin County Dog Shelter. They need so much help - the facilities are dirty, it stinks, and the dogs barely get out of their cages for walks. So, I'm stepping in and volunteering with the shelter and with their fundraising "Friends" group.

I'm going to start pestering everyone I know in Columbus to help in some way, even if it's just saving your newspapers. So, here's the start:

Please save your newspapers for me. They are used to line the dogs' cages. They can use the full-sized pages from papers like the Dispatch. They can't use glossy pages or smaller pages like in the Other Paper. They also need old blankets and towels. Give them to me instead of throwing them out!

Thanks on behalf of the sad puppies!

Pollworkers needed

Franklin County (and probably ever other county in the US) needs poll workers to help ensure fair elections on Tuesday, November 6th. If you would like to volunteer, call the County Board of Elections. You must volunteer via either the Democratic or Republican parties, depending on how you are registered.

Franklin County Democratic Desk 462-3819
Franklin County Republican Desk 462-5209

I encourage you to join me!

I hate Vista

don't have much time.

I just want to say if you a looking in to a new computer. Avoid vista like the plague!

Had it one week so far, on a brand new computer, it has crashed 4 times, additionally I have seen the blue screen 4 times. It is a pain in the rear about everything, those Mac commercials are true, every word of them. Especially this one about Vista's over-achieving firewall.

Red sox squash Angels

So it's official, the Red Sox are in the Pennant game.

After eliminating the Anaheim Angels last night they move on to play the winner of the Cleveland/New York Yankees series. The Indians and the Yankees have the only Division series that is going beyond 3 games. Which is great news for the Red Sox, because who ever comes out of that grudge match is going to have up to 3 days less rest than the Red Sox. As much as I would love to see the Yankees go down, I really want them to see them use up their entire pitching roster just to get past the Indians. that way the Red Sox can stomp on them.

Go Sox!
Yankees suck!

Scott's home

My brother is safely back in England after a 4 month "tour" in Afghanistan. Woo hoo!

Also, the infamous kitten has finally been adopted. She's going home with a new co-worker who has a kid and 2 dogs. She's going to be really happy!

Junk mail

Want to stop getting junk mail and solicitation calls? Sign up for these national registries and your mail will be dramatically reduced. I almost never get junk mail...


Do not call list (free): https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx
Do not mail list (costs $1): https://www.dmaconsumers.org/onlineform.php
No credit card offers (free): https://www.optoutprescreen.com/opt_form.cgi

like cheap AA betteries?

I'm starting to get a bit of an obsession with this whole video thing, but this shit is kind of cool.


6 Volt Battery Hack! You'll Be Amazed! - The most popular videos are a click away

Good T.V.

I don't even have cable, but I love this t.v. show. Weeds is about a suburban mom who using colossally bad judgement and some luck, after her husband's unexpected death, decides to get into the business of dealing bud.

Great Lakes surfing

I couldn't resist, story from NPR's only a game

Great Lakes Surfing