Downtown Atlanta - Tornado

tornado1, originally uploaded by kenbruger.

A tornado came through downtown Atlanta last night. You may be aware that until a couple of weeks ago, we lived in downtown (actually, Midtown). We're OK, there wasn't any problem in Decatur (that we're aware of).

Last night, we walked to a couple of bars in the area and when we left the second bar at 9:45, it was pouring down. We ran to a convenience store and bought garbage bags to use for raincoats. We went to bed soon after we got home.

We were aware through the night that the storm was continuing. This morning when I turned on the TV, I learned just how bad it was last night.

Thanks to Ken for the great picture. Be sure and check out his flckr account to see his additional photos.

Jury Duty Recap

• 06:30 Arrived at East Lake MARTA station in Decatur
• 06:40 Arrived via train at Five Points MARTA Station in downtown Atlanta
• 07:00 Arrived at court location to find out the building doesn't open until 7:30
• 07:05 Walked around downtown until I found a place to get breakfast
• 07:35 Arrived at court location
• 07:45 Reported for 8:00 summons
• 08:30 Watched a video about how the courtroom experience will be.
• 09:30 First state jurors called
• 09:45 Started dozing off every five minutes or so
• 10:15 Unable to post to my blog, not sure why. Messaging application is hanging and I've rebooted my phone three times already.
• 10:30 First Superior court jurors report to courtroom 5b. This is my group, but I wasn't lucky enough to have my name butchered by the loud lady at the podium
• 11:25 More state jurors called. (They think they're so fancy with their red badges!)
• 11:30 A woman's stomach growled so loud that 3 ceiling tiles fell out
• 11:35 I decide to let y'all know that the last entry was entirely fabricated. None of it was true.
• 12:00 I was released. My service is complete.
• 12:15 Finally got gold teeth story posted on my blog.
• 12:30 Arrived back at East Lake station.
• 12:32 Headed to work. I guess I'll eat in the cafeteria.

Seems like a good deal...

I think most of us would be better served by a more subtle one or two gold teeth. Maybe this is a family special. If you're in Atlanta, I can give you directions to this place.

Jury Duty

Today I drove about a mile to the East Lake MARTA station and took the train downtown to Five Point Station. I walked about 4 blocks and am now waiting (having already been summoned).

I am in a room with about 60 people witing to hear whether we can go home or not. I'm an alternate, but I've actually been looking forward to this. Work is crazy and this gives me a bit of a break.

Goodbye Jeff

March 2, 2008

Guitarist and bandleader Jeff Healey dies in Toronto hospital

Following a lengthy struggle with cancer, Healey passes away on the eve of the release of a new blues rock album

Jeff Healey, arguably one of the most distinctive guitar players of our time, died today (Sunday March 2) in St. Joseph’s Hospital, Toronto. He was 41, and leaves his wife, Cristie, daughter Rachel (13) and son Derek (three), as well as his father and step-mother, Bud and Rose Healey, and sisters Laura and Linda. Funeral and memorial arrangements are pending. Robbed of his sight as a baby due to a rare form of cancer, retino blastoma, and he started to play guitar when he was three, holding the instrument unconventionally across his lap.

Our new neighborhood

Oakhurst Neighborhood Association

Great screen cleaner

This is probably the easiest way to clean your monitor (Ir even worked on my laptop).

Swedish Fish

Swedish Fish are neither Swedish nor Fish...

It's ours!

Front of the house, originally uploaded by eschulz.

We closed today and this is our new house. We will move in on Saturday!

5GB of free online storage

Windows Live SkyDrive Team Blog: Welcome to the bigger, better, faster SkyDrive!
With a Hotmail, Passport account or Windows Live account, sign up for 5GB of storage space which can have public or private folders. It is also no longer in Beta.

You've made two things clear since our first release: You want more space; and you want SkyDrive where you are. Today we're giving you both. You now have five times the space you had before — that’s 5GB of free online storage for your favorite documents, pictures, and other files.

Toshiba says to quit HD DVD

Toshiba says to quit HD DVD | CNET News.com

Last month, my father-in-law bought one after I emailed him the following:

In the last couple of weeks, it appears that Blue-Ray might win out over HD-DVD eventually. Because of that, there are some great deals on HD-DVD players. Here's a Toshiba HD-A3 720p/1080i HD DVD Player for just $134.98 Shipped Free! Get 5 Free HD DVDs after Mail-in rebate!

Eventually equals 35 days...

Server 2008 Evaluation Download

Evaluate the Windows Server 2008 Release Candidate today

Rejected Valentines Cards from Shoebox

Grammy Winners 2008

GRAMMY winners from 2008. Wow. Amy Winehouse cleaned up!

Car PC

navisurfer II: a complete pc in your car’s dashboard on [technabob]. This is the coolest indash entertainment center I've seen. It doesn't seem overpriced, even though it would be hard for me to justify $500 for it.

A river runs through it.

This view is what awaits you after a short walk down the hill from the cabin.

Welcome to Rivertime

This is the cabin in Weaverville, NC, where we're spending the weekend. It's a cool place!

Weekend Getaway

Tomorrow, Amy and I are each working until about noon and then we're driving to Asheville, North Carolina for the weekend. We're going to stay in a cabin and we'll see an old friend from Austin, who moved there about the time we moved to Atlanta.

We haven't booked every minute of our time there, so check out the Official 2007 Visitor Guide to Asheville, NC and make a suggestion for something we should do!

DIY: 200 Dollar PC

DIY: 200 Dollar PC - PaulStamatiou.com

Looking for a small and affordable computer to add to your collection of boxen? I’m not talking about the Everex gPC, OLPC or the Asus Eee PC. I’m talking about building your own mini-ITX form factor computer. For around $200 you can have a computer with the following specs: 1.2GHz Intel Celeron 220 processor, 1GB DDR2 RAM, 250GB SATA hard drive and a small 90W power supply - more than enough juice to run your favorite Linux distro.

Important Chart

AMC Entertainment - Best Picture Showcase

Last year, we went to the AMC Entertainment - Best Picture Showcase. We plan to do it again. This year, we'll see the following movies:

• Michael Clayton - IMDB Rating 7.7
  
• There Will Be Blood - IMDB Rating 8.9
  
• Atonement - IMDB Rating8.0
• Juno - IMDB Rating 8.4
  
• No Country for Old Men - IMDB Rating 8.7

February 23, 2008 - Check it out and see if this is available in your area. If you love movies and you want to see all of the Best Picture nominees, be sure and attend.

• Five Nominated Films
• Free Large Popcorn
• Unlimited Refills All Day
• Collectible Pass
• All for only $30

If you are going to be in the Atlanta area and want to go with us, please contact Amy or I by phone in the next week or two.

Another priceless quote from American Idol

Randy Jackson: Hello. What's your name ?
Amy Catherine: I'm Amy Catherine. Amy. Amy Catherine. AC. Whatevs.

Orchestrated Deception on the Path to War

Iraq: The War Card - The Center for Public Integrity
Interesting Reading...

White person complaints...

Quote from American Idol

To get somewhere, you've gotta give up some stuff sometimes. So, I'm willin' to do it.

Drew Poppelreiter,
Saltillo, MS

Lights of the city

This is just a test of video upload from my phone.

Snow at our new house!!!

Our new home!

Yesterday, at 14:40, the following email arrived in my inbox.

Hi Amy & Eric,

I am very pleased to tell you that the seller did accept our last offer.
CONGRATS!

This is truly a beautiful home!

When you have a moment today, please give me a call and we can discuss next
steps.

Kind regards,
XXXXX

So, we will soon be homeowners again! If you didn't already see the pictures, Here they are! Our new House ? - a photoset on Flickr

Yes, please!

I'll get one when it's $199.

Our new House ?

Our new House ? - a photoset on Flickr
Tonight we put an offer in on this house! We're very excited about it.

Free iTunes Downloads

This is an awesome blog where they list free content on iTunes and it goes beyond songs; there are TV shows and short movies. There are some LOST recaps on there today in preparation for Season 4, which begins this month!

Not quite as catchy...

I can't drive five.

I got a buddy in Austin..

...who has one of these that's not quite this pimped out. Ewan, this one's for you!

Interesting link from Slashdot

Study holds new promise for patients recovering from spinal injuries / UCLA Newsroom

quattro

We strolled over to Quattro tonight for dinner. They make a great hummus. It was a nice evening on their patio. Amy had Rosemount Chiraz and I had Birra Moretti. I doubt that the next place we live will have so many restaurants within walking distance.

New experiences in 2008!

I've done a couple things this year that I haven't experienced before. I tried Muenster cheese and today I had a dog pee on me.

Yep, you read that right...Muenster. Oh, you meant the other thing...

OK, here goes. I'm walking down the hall of our apartment complex to the elevator, because I have stuff to take down to the garbage. I hear a man and his dog walking behind me and so I stop to push the elevator button and the dog runs up in front of me, so I say "Nice dog" and start to pet him and the owner of the dog says "Move your foot!!". It is about three seconds until I realize that the dog has just peed all over my foot (and shoe). Luckily, I was wearing Crocs, so they washed out easily.

A tripod in every wallet

Available from their website:

The new credit card size compact tripod gadget. Always carry it folded up in your purse, wallet or handbag, ready to use anywhere, anytime. Get yourself in the shot. No more blurry night-time shots. Use it to watch movies with your Ipod Touch, PDA or media player

Panoramic 1

Panoramic 1, originally uploaded by eschulz.

This is the first panoramic photo I took with my Kodak Z812is camera. It's made up of three separate photos that the camera stitched together. The resolution of the photo is 4316 x 1664 pixels.

Brookstone Charging Valet

Brookstone Charging Valet, originally uploaded by eschulz.

This was an awesome Christmas gift. It's a charging station for our devices. This has my new camera battery charger, our Bluetooth headsets and both of our phones and we still have room for other devices. If you have a geek in your life, especially one with a very organized wife, this will make a great gift. Thanks Sara!

New Poll - Christmas presents

It's located just over there on the right of the screen. Be honest...

Poll Results - Car Audio

Suprising!

Great recent posts from Lifehacker

Source: Lifehacker

• Feature: Breathe New Life into Your Old Gadgets
• Feature: Lifehacker's 2007 Guide to Free Software and Webapps
• Merry Christmahanukwanzaakkah: How to Set Up Your New Computer
• Open Source: Find Free, Open Apps at Open Source Living

SmallNetBuilder

SmallNetBuilder - Home
This is an awesome website for everything related to networking PC's. It features seven categories (Wireless, NAS, LANs and Routers, Multimedia, VoIP, Security and Everything Else). In each category, it features at least 5 information types (Reviews, News, HowTo's , Tutorials and Features). Additionally, it includes benchmark information for Wireless, NAS and LANs and Routers. This is an amazing resource.

Wine Still Life

We're at Wired and Fired and Amy is painting a bowl for a present. I didn't want to paint tonight, so I am enjoying the Beaujolais Nouveau. It's one of our favorites and it's only available for a short time each year. This bottle was a Christmas gift from my brother-in-law and his wife. We carried it over here in a neopreme wine carrier that was a gift from them as well.

New Server?

I have several PC's on the network here at home, but we really don't have the space for them. It's also not very energy efficient. I am considering getting a NAS system. NAS stands for Network Attached Storage. This works very much as a dedicated storage server.

The one that I'm most interested in is the LaCie Ethernet Disk mini, which is available from Newegg for $181.99. For less than $200, this is quite a piece of technology. It includes an SMB (Server Message Block) server, an iTunes server, an AFP server (great for Amy's Powerbook), an FTP Server and others. It contains an 500GB hard drive, which is sufficient to back up our notebooks and other PC's and contain a share iTunes library available to any PC on our network. This will contain every CD and our favorite DVD's. The great thing about this particular NAS device is that it is expandable. It has a USB2 port to which you can attach external USB drives (of which I have several) that will enable us to have a terabyte of data.

Horses

Horses, originally uploaded by eschulz.

Another picture I took with my new camera (which I left in Alabama...)

Merry Christmas 2007

Merry Christmas 2008, originally uploaded by eschulz.

Santa's exhausted...

I'm a published photographer!

So, they are making use of this picture, which you can see at their travel guide site

It's not one of my best, but it's nice to have the pictured honored like that.

The Last Man on Earth

Internet Archive: Details: The Last Man on Earth

Based on the chilling Richard Matheson science fiction Classic "I am Legend" and later remade as "The Omega Man" starring Charlton Heston, and also "I am Legend", starring Will Smith. This classic features Vincent Price as scientist Robert Morgan in a post apocalyptic nightmare world. The world has been consumed by a ravenous plague that has transformed humanity into a race of bloodthirsty vampires. Only Morgan proves immune, and becomes the solitary vampire slayer.

According to Wikipedia, this film is the most faithful of all three film adaptations and adheres fairly closely to the book.

Robot Guitar

Gibson calls it a Robot Guitar, but Automated Self-Tuning guitar is probably more accurate.

In case you get an iPod for Christmas...

• Feature: The 20 Best iPod Utilities
• Feature: The 23 Best iTunes Add-ons

Both of these are links to Lifehacker

New Camera

I got a great deal on a new camera. Since it was on sale, I got a bunch of accessories, including a couple of batteries and charger and a printer dock with ink and paper. It's gotten good reviews and I received it tonight. I can't wait to take some pics this weekend. It even shoots HD video and has a 12X zoom which should be great for shooting golf tournaments, piano recitals and beauty pageants, in case I ever have a need to take pictures at events like these.

Qty. Description Unit Price Extended Price
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 KODAK EASYSHARE Z812 IS Zoom $237.96 $237.96
Digital Camera, discount applied

1 KODAK EASYSHARE G610 Printer Dock, $67.96 $67.96
discount applied

1 KODAK Li-Ion Universal Battery $29.71 $29.71
Charger K7600-C, discount applied

2 KODAK Li-Ion Rechargeable Digital $25.46 $50.92
Camera Battery KLIC-8000, discount
applied

1 KODAK Photo Paper Kit / G-50, $21.24 $21.24
discount applied

1 KODAK SD Card / 2GB, discount $0.00 $0.00
applied

1 Order Discount -$100.00 -$100.00


Shipping & Handling: $16.50
----------
Sub-Total: $324.29
Tax*: $24.61
----------
This amount will be billed to your credit card Total: $348.90

Are these news stories related ?

Jamie Lynn Spears, Britney's Sister, Is Pregnant - News Story(For those of you who don't know, this is Britney Spears' 16 year-old sister.)

Lynne Spears' Parenting Book Put On Indefinite Hold - News Story(For those of you who don't know, this is Britney and Jamie Lynn's mother)

You're right. It's probably just a coincidence.

gOS

Hack Attack: Turn Your Old PC into a Webapp Monster with gOS
I plan on trying this on an old PC sometime.

OPENhulu

OPENhulu - Watch TV Shows for FREE! This is the new TV-Links! Watch Hulu Videos without an invite!
This is a pretty awesome way to watch some TV shows.

2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees

• Leonard Cohen
• The Dave Clark Five (Dave Clark, Lenny Davidson, Rick Huxley, Denny Payton and Mike Smith)
• Madonna
• John Mellencamp
• The Ventures (Bob Bogle, Nokie Edwards, Gerry McGee, Mel Taylor, Don Wilson)

OMG! MY POPS STOLE MY BOYFRIEND

OMG! MY POPS STOLE MY BOYFRIEND, originally uploaded by eschulz.

Spotted at Pride Festival in Atlanta. Check out the bottom right corner of the cover.

Virgin Islands

Cruise 2007 181, originally uploaded by eschulz.

Taken from Paradise Point, St. Thomas, US Virgin Island. In the lower right hand corner, you can see the only two cruise ships I've ever been on. I think this is one of my better pictures ever.

The 50 Worst Cars of All Time - TIME

Complete List - The 50 Worst Cars of All Time - TIME
Obviously, General Motors vehicles are well represented, fully 20% of the list.

Petrino was never up to the job

Jeff Schultz: Petrino was never up to the job | Sports Columnists | ajc.com
Ouch! Arkansas will miss Houston Nutt.

Things you should know about your nerd

Rands In Repose: The Nerd Handbook

Rollup of Interesting links from the last month or so

From the MAKE: Blog:

• The stunning temples secretly carved out below ground by 'paranormal' eccentric

From Techbargains:

• Free: DriveImage XML - HD Backup/Restore/Copy

From FreewareGenius:

• iTunes Art Importer
  

From ZDNet:

• The $363 19-inch dual-core all-in-one LCD PC

From Lifehacker:

• Hack Attack: Six Ways to Catch Your Favorite TV Show

• Lifehacker Top 10: Top 10 Ways to Sleep Smarter and Better

• Featured Windows Mobile Download: Add Tabs To IE Mobile With Web Viewer

• Step By Step: Share Your Mac's Printer with Windows Without Samba

• Hack Attack: The Power Traveler's Checklist, Part One: Pre-Flight

• Geek To Live: The Complete Guide to Mac/Windows Interoperability

• Telephony: Get Free VoIP In-Calling Anywhere with GrandCentral and Gizmo Project

• Top 10 Free Video Rippers, Encoders, and Converters [Lifehacker Top 10]

• Get It Done on the Go with Floppy Office [Featured Windows Download]

How to use a Bluetooth GPS with a Motorola Q

buyGPSnow.com Community - Setting up Bluetooth GPS with Motorola Q

Bluetooth GPS's have gotten inexpensive recently. I bought a GlobalSat BT-328, but was initially unable to use it with my Verizon Motorola Q, because of Verizon disabling the Bluetooth Serial Port Profile. These instructions worked to get past that problem.

The GPS receiver is about the size of a Zippo lighter. Since it's Bluetooth, it requires no cable to the Q. Now when I use Google Maps Mobile and ask for directions, I can use my current location as the starting point. This should be very helpful as we start looking at houses to purchase.

What happens below E...

The big gray beast was thirsty!

What a view...

We are celebrating Thanksgiving at relatives and this is a tiny portion of the view from their back porch.

Table at airport

This is the edge of a table at Hobby Airport. If you look closely, you should be able to see that it has regular power outlets for charging you laptop and USB power outlets for charging cell phones and MP3 players. I've never seen this before in a public place.

Best meal ever (in an airport)

Pappas Burger. I assume this is the same company that brought you Pappas Seafood Kitchen, Pappadeaux, Pappasito's and Pappas BBQ. This wasn't like airport food at all.

Just dropped off the rental...

We thought it was gonna be a Grand Cherokee, but it turned out to be a Jeep Commander. We liked it and it served us well. There was just one problem; There was only a slot for the key on the driver's door and no keyless entry. It always made it inconvenient to get in the passenger side or the liftgate.

When in Austin...

..., you gotta see some live music. We're just hangin' out at Club 115 listening to Jabarvy. They kick ass...

Welcome to Houston

It certainly felt welcoming. We got off the plane and they were blasting Clint Black in the terminal. Amy's gettng the rental car (Jeep Grand Cherokee) while I wait at baggage claim for our luggage. We should be at Chuy's in 45 minutes.

Yep it's a bride...

We're just sitting at a sports bar (Jocks and Jills) watching the Auburn game and there's an entire wedding party here. What's up with that?

Aston Martin Vantage

Snapped inside Lenox Mall in Atlanta during Christmas shopping outing...

New Poll - Car Audio

It's located just over there on the right of the screen. Keep in mind that this is in your car, not your spouse's!

Poll Results - Auburn Game

I assume that the four that didn't make it live in Texas...

I don't know all of these

25 Skills Every Man Should Know - Essential DIY - Popular Mechanics

My favorite obscure 70's song

The song is Mirror Star by The Fabulous Poodles. They were way ahead of their time; this looks like an obscure 80's song.

Auburn won

Toomer's Corner got rolled when Auburn beat Ole Miss 17-3.

New Poll - Auburn Game

It's located just over there on the right of the screen. I will try to publish a new one occasionally. Once the results are tallied, I will publish them in a new blog post. I'm bringing in a whole new level of audience participation to Does the fun ever start? Thanks for your support!

Pregame waiting

The crowd goes wild.

One again on the field...

Pat Dye Field is an awesome place to be on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

Tailgating in Auburn...

The fire feels good. It's got everybody hip-mo-tized.

McCurdy takes Terrapin Hills

Check out the article at SJGT.com. Be sure and note that Will is tied for first place in the SJGT point standings.

Terrapin Hills (Day 2)

We're back for day 2. Will is one under after 12 holes. He has quite an entourage again today. This is an awesome way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I still have almost no desire to play the game.

Terrapin Hills

Today we are all watching Will compete in the SJGT tournament at Terrapin Hills. He is 3 under after 10.

Go Dawgs!

You may wonder:

1. Why did he title a blog post after the University of Georgia's war cry on a day when Auburn is playing LSU ?
2. Why did he put a picture of a cat on blog post that is titled with a canine, rather than feline, theme.

Well, the answer to both is simple. Our cat, Sabrina, is very ill and the the doctors at Intown Animal Hospital referred us to the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine. Yesterday, Amy drove Sabrina to Athens and she spent the night in the Intensive Care Unit. She was found to be anemic and hasn't eaten since Wednesday. She is in danger of a couple of life-threatening conditions and we want to be sure that we do the right thing by Sabrina.

She's been in our lives for 8.5 years. Amy and I picked her out together after we had been dating for about 5-6 months. We got her in February or March of 1999 and has lived with me (and later us) ever since. She was about a year old when we got her, so her tenth birthday is not far off. Please say a prayer or hold a good thought for the next few days.

If you have Verizon Cellular service

Slashdot | Verizon Wireless Opt-Out Plan For Customer Records
Verizon is giving away some information about you...
I'm going to call and opt out.

The 100 Greatest TV Characters

The 100 Greatest TV Characters: Famous Television Stars and Pop Icons - Official Bravo TV Site

BCS Standings are available

FOX Sports on MSN - COLLEGE FOOTBALL - PollsAuburn is ranked at 17 and next week's opponent, LSU, is ranked number 4. It's gonna be another tough game on Saturday.

My next vehicle

It doesn't currently exist (and never has), but I hope that changes in the next couple of years. What I want is a compact pickup powered by diesel hybrid powerplant. This should get 30 miles to the gallon and still provide a usable truck bed.

Alabama Park

As most of my loyal readers know, Amy shares her hometown with the band Alabama (most of my loyal readers are from this same hometown). The band has done much for the city of Fort Payne and they are being honored at this city park. The entrance is very nice. Last week, my mother and I went for a walk on the sidewalks inside the park. There is a small pavilion with a BBQ grill and picnic tables.

Auburn vs Florida 2007

Crazy Dice Stacking

You gotta see this to believe it!

Christmas in September?

This was a picture I took Wednesday night at Target. Within five feet of where I was standing, I saw Christmas stuff, Halloween stuff and back-to-school items. The picture is crazy blurry, but I thought it was interesting enough to bbe included here.

Celebrity Sighting

Last night, at the Braves game (we won), I saw and greeted Bernie Marcus. He and Arthur Blank founded The Home Depot in 1978. Less than thirty years later, The Home Depot employs 355,000 associates.

Another Braves game ?

I swear this isn't turning into a sports blog. We're here to see the Brewers and Braves.

Now I'm gonna see if I'm Brave enough to order a Brew.

Auburn to go with two-QB system

SI.com - NCAA Football - Struggling Auburn to go with two-QB system - Tuesday September 18, 2007 5:57PM

Welcome to Turner Field...

I won tickets at work, so Amy and I are here tonight to see the Braves play the Florida Marlins. We thought we had executive box seats, but they're just seats. They're about twelve rows behind Charles and Rosalie, who are also here tonight.

Root, root, root for the home team!

Standing on Pat Dye Field...

This is quite an honor. I've never felt anything likle this before. I'm here because Will invited me.

Tiger Walk!

Amy, Susan, Hunter, Will and I are at Auburn to see them beat the Bulls. More info as it becomes available...

Good luck, Michael Righi!

Nearly three years ago, I mentioned on this blog that it is possible to avoid the receipt checkers at Fry's. I continue to avoid showing my receipt when leaving a store. If they ask me to show it a second time, I always let them. Here's a great story about a guy that refused to and the trouble he got into. I'm sure that his lawsuit(s) will be successful.