Errors in English

When the world wide web was fairly new, I remember browsing random website just to see what a person or organization had to say. Back then, most websites were just text with the occasional picture thrown in for effect.

Speaking of effect and websites, I was writing a memo and needed to use the word effect - or was affect - I didn't know. So off I went to see what Google knew about that subject. The first website on the list was labeled "effect or affect" - that was perfect. Finally I was going to get an answer I could trust.

What I got was far more. This is a real find for those of us who love the language but just don't know all the rules.

You must check it out: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/index.html

Enjoy!

HowJSay it?

I've been studying diabetes lately and boy have they invented a new language. They've taken the "word invention-ology" science to a new level. Longer, more complex words like "Thiazolidinediones" - that's just too many letters for a word to have!

So I Googled it and one of the links was www.howjsay.com and I was totally surprised. First, what a creative name! Howjsay - I love it. You type in a word, it speaks it. This idea is not new, in fact a few of the online dictionaries use it. But for the cleverness of the name, I'm using Howjsay.com for my pronounciation look ups.

Where there's smoke there's fire

I've been building PC's since 1985, or should I say assembling PC's. Building often implies that your create something from scratch which, in this case, would take much more knowledge than I have. Assembling a computer takes a screwdriver and the ability to read or interpret pictures. Long and short, it's a piece of cake that can save you a couple hundred bucks.

Recently I wanted a computer of my own to play on. Everyone else in the family has one and I've been using the one issue me from my work, but due to other recent events (more on that in another blog) I've decided to stop using the issue machine except for work-related activities. Back to my machine - it's going to be a fast beast, capable of everything and as you'll read later one, it would do a few things I hadn't counted on.

I carefully selected the appropriate parts from Newegg and placed the order. Three days later, they all showed up and that weekend I assembled the beast. You need to understand that one of the first rules of assembly is that you don't put the case back together until you've turned it on to make sure it works otherwise you'll be angry when you realize you forgot something very small and you have to take the case apart to fix a three second issue. So the case is on it's side, cover off, and I plug it in. BOOM - the damn thing sparked, cracked, popped, and smoked. I unplugged it long enough to take a peek at the damage and there was none. Guess what I did - plugged it back in but this time no noise - just that smell of O3. It ran for about 3 hours and then died. I was disappointed but knew that things do fail. I submitted the online form to return the case and power supply for replacement.

A couple of days later I began thinking - I should just run up the street to our local reseller and buy a new case and PS - heck, they're only $50 bucks or so. I don't need a fancy one. Did that, went home put it together (2 hours) and turn it on. Wow, no pop, boom or smell. I was in luck.

Remember the rule about not assembling completely before testing? I did it - the computer lay at my feet without the side cover just in case I needed to fix something. I played on the machine for a few hours before the most amazing thing in world happened.

You will recall that I've built 100's of these things, rather assembled 100's of these thing. I'm not an amateur at this. As I sit there browsing blogs and reading email, I smell smoke. As my thoughts went to review the prior events, I was yanked back to reality when I saw smoke billowing - not a delicate drift, a full blow billow wafting from vicinity of my feet. No sooner had I looked and saw the source of the smoke coming from a wire bundle in the beast than it burst into flames! Did you hear that? A PC is burning at my feet in my den!

At this point, I have officially declared this project a fiasco, but having the tenacity of a wolverine, I march on over to the store and purchased the failed part.

Now I have a nice, fast, almost saved a couple of hundred bucks, beast of a machine that I'll enjoy for years. I also need to add the cost of a fire extinguisher to this project.

The moral of the story: Buy a Dell.

Bob's Visit

Tonight my brother Bob came over for a visit. We love it when he visits because he's so much fun and we have so much history together. So many things to talk about and ideas to share. We went to a favorite little Italian place a couple of blocks from the house and ate ourselves into oblivion. We then came home and watched an old favorite movie "A Mighty Wind" - a farce movie by Christopher Guest. All the usual suspects were in the cast. The funny thing about when Bob and I get together now is that we don't spend much time talking about "how it used to be", rather we talk about current events, family, kids, vacations, etc. By contrast, when I visit my cousin Kathy in Phoenix, we spend all our time recapping history and laughing like we were 12 again. I think that means that Bob and I have had adequate and frequent visits to get that out of our system so that our friendship is now current. I hope we can continue this way for many years to come. I love you Bob, you a great brother.

After thirty years

I had the forture this past week of seeing my first born son get married to a very lovely girl. Actually that's not exactly correct, I didn't get to *see* the wedding because they wanted a private (just them) ceremony at the local court house. Nonetheless, I am thrilled that he has finally found someone that extends him and makes him happy. We were talking with the two of them at dinner the other night and I had to tell them again how proud I was that they made this choice. I told them how different he was when they were together. When he was alone and she was away playing Army, he was a different person. But now, he was more. He is extended, larger, happier, complete. Thursday they moved to their new place in Fort Bragg, NC. Good luck Rick & Nikki.

What have I done?

I wonder if I will pay any attention to this blogging idea? So many technology-based ideas come and go and I've seen and tried most of them, but this one seems to be sticking a bit. I guess now that quite a few members of my extended family are bloggers, this may be a good way to shout out from time to time. I am arrogant and love to hear myself talk, who knows - this could actually be fun!