Bogieblog

Reading

Since I have been laid off, I have read close to 25 books. I have re-read the entire Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey (except the 3 in the Vows of Honor trilogy), which accounts for 23 of the books afore-mentioned.

Last night I finished New Spring the Novel by Robert Jordan. This book is a prequel to the 10 books (so far) in the Wheel of Time series. This was a much shorter book than his usual tombs; 334 pages instead of the usual 800, or so, pages. New Spring introduces us to characters that are pivotal to the finding of the Dragon Reborn.

Morraine (who discovers Rand in The Eye of the World), is the main character as she rises from Accepted to Sisterhood in the Blue Ajah with her friend Siuan. Other characters that are important in later books of the series are also touched upon; Sherriam, Cadsuane, Elaida and more. New Spring explains how Lan became Morraine's warder as well as the beginnings of the suspicions that the Black Ajah is working against the Dragon Reborn.

We are brought into the story just before the Dragon Reborn (Rand) enters the world so I am sure there will be at least one more book to bridge the 15 (or so years) between New Spring and The Eye of the World.

This was probably the most enjoyable book to read of Jordan's, since the Eye of the World. In later volumes of the series, Jordan seems too caught up in explaining every little detail in a scene. In New Spring The Novel, there is much less of that so I didn't find myself skipping long paragraphs on how a flower smelled!

Carnival Time

Da Goddess is hosting this week's edition of the Carnival of the Vanities. It's truly uplifting how Da Goddess supports everyone who submits an entry!

New Series Coming?

If you are a Stargate SG-1 fan, as I am, go read Greg's post on a possible new series.

I am a fairly new watcher of the show; I started watching about 6 months ago. I never watch SG-1 on Fridays (when the new shows come out), because it is on too late for me and I am hopelessly behind on what has gone on. However, I have been slowly catching up as I watch at least 3 shows on Mondays, which is when the Sci-Fi channel runs several episodes during the evening. I'll have to keep a close eye on developements.

Natural Disaster in the Making

Here at the Bogie household we have a very dangerous situation. I figure if we don't blow ourselves up by an external means, then we will certainly explode from the internal pressure.

We have had a lot of gaseous emmisions in the house lately - we are talking about natural gas here.

Friday night we had Mexican-type food, which of course included refried beans. Refries, dolled up with cheese and salsa, are probably our favorite part of the meal. Saturday, at Harry's Blues party, we were treated to a nice thick, filling chili. Harry doesn't add meat to his chili - so all the thickness and fillingness were supplied by the beans.

Sunday we opted for left-overs for dinner, since the fridge was rather full. We also opted for the Mexican-type leftovers since we had meatloaf for lunch and WS was planning on taking a hamburger for his lunch Monday. Yes, another can of refries had to be opened and dolled up. Last night we had the leftovers from Vals Award Winning Chili, which I had thawed out during the day.

So yes, lighting anything in this house (the woodstove, the burners on the cooking stove, cigarette lighters etc.) is risking our immediate health. The good news is that I forgot to put the leftover chili in the fridge last night, so I have to toss it out. The bad news is that there is still about a burrito's worth of combined beans and taco meat left in the fridge. I may have to break down and have it for lunch today.

If you don't hear from me, you know what happened!

Worms

OK people, let's all say it together: "I, (insert name), do swear to install and update a virus checker on my computer in a timely manner. Additionally, I will periodically check for critical updates and patches to my MS Windows product."

Yes, I spent yesterday afternoon removing W32 Blaster from someone's computer. This worm was downgraded from a catagory 3 (moderate threat) to a catagory 4 in October. Said person had installed the 2003 version of a virus checker in December but never activated it or tried to update it (either he bought the virus checker way before he installed it or he got someone's old copy after they got the 2004 version since the update capabilities expired last week - I know it wasn't on sale that late in the year). Yes, he installed the virus checker after he had the worm (and the virus checker was so old that he needed the non-downloaded updates for it to even recognize the worm). No, he hadn't downloaded the MS patch which was available in September. No, he hadn't downloaded any of the critical updates for Windows XP - ever. Yes, I have told him repeatedly to do the above actions.

Yes, I had to run between his house and my house because first I had to figure out what he had, and then download the removal tool at my house, then go back to his place to run it - because of course the worm blocks some websites and makes staying on the Internet an iffy proposition (it shuts down the browser and IP link after only a short period of time). Yes, I had fun trying to download the patch (after removing the worm) and some of the updates because he is on a dial-up connection with a 28.8 modem. Yes I was aggrevated!

ARRRGGGHHH!

Winnings

As a plaintiff in a lawsuit, I have won - and won big time*. I have become like a Powerball winner** and have to make choices in making sure that I spend the money wisely. I'll have to contact both an attorney and an accountant to make sure that I make the maximum gain by investing my money, yet protect as much of it as I can from the IRS.

I told you about the lawsuit a long time ago; I joined the class action lawsuit brought on behalf of purchasers of music CD's (yes, the only way we get our music is by buying it). The Attorneys General for most states were concerned about questionable pricing/advertising policies by music producers.

The terms of the court-approved settlement entitled me to the sum of $13.86.

*Well, I got more than I thought I thought I would anyway.

**Those winners that match only a couple of numbers.

Differences

Do you know what the difference is between living in Texas and living in New Hampshire is (besides the accents)?

People in Texas are starting their plants for the garden.

I have to wait another month and a half before I can even think about it!

Blues Party

Harry had his Blues party last night, so of course we went. Harry's Blues party is always an excuse to have a bonfire, which is the real attraction for firebugs such as myself and the Wonderful Spouse. Since Harry is a contractor and does a lot of carpentry work, he has lots of scrap lumber to burn. In addition, this year he tore apart his old barn and that all went into the scrap pile as well.

I'm not sure who gets the best of the deal when we go to his annual party. We get to play with fire and Harry makes excellent lasagna and chili that he provides so we can stuff our faces . He gets people that are willing to pull (more like wrangle) the scrap lumber out from beneath piles of snow/ice and burn it for him. I think it's really a win-win situation!

WS decided this year that it would be a good thing to get rid of his easy chair. The springs are totally shot and it has had a piece of plywood to prevent sitters from sinking down to the floor. What does that have to do with Harry's bonfire you might well ask. Easy, WS loaded it into the bed of his truck and near the end of the night we threw it on top of the fire. Furniture always burns hot - so hot that the people immediatly move back another 10 feet or so from the fire (which we were already back about 20 feet to begin with). The furniture also adds all kinds of weird and crazy colors kind of like fireworks except there are no explosions.

We all had a good time and caught up with some friends that we don't see as often as we would like. The gathering broke up about 11 (showing what old farts we really are).

Now the most noticable piece of furniture in the living room is a fold up camp chair. Maybe we'll start a new decorating trend!

Stupid Quiz

Found a quiz at Drumwaster's that I thought was pretty funny.

Yankee or Dixie?

And my score was . . .

78% (Dixie). That is a pretty strong Southern score!

Amazingly inaccurate!

Friday Five

I haven't done the Friday Five for a while, so here goes:

When was the last time you...

1. ...went to the doctor? About 7 years ago

2. ...went to the dentist? 4 or 5 months ago (I'm to lazy to look at the card for my next appointment)

3. ...filled your gas tank? Last Saturday

4. ...got enough sleep? There is such a thing?

5. ...backed up your computer? Last month (I do so once a month, right after I update the info on Quicken).