To My Wife, on her birthday, a love letter

Happy Birthday, Kristie
-------- ----------- ---------

To she who has been my companion throughout the years,
I love you.

Others say "To my dearest ____, you are the most wonderful wife/husband/mate/F-buddy in the whole wide world!", but they are wrong.

Their mates are whores, a-holes, douche bags, pricks, meanies, compared to you.  On Facebook, they profess thanks, to God, for having the presence of their loved one, bestowed upon them, when in actuality, God had been busy elsewhere, when the couple hooked up, and like in Bryan Singer's 'Superman Returns' movie, when Superman had been off on a mission to [the blown up?] Krypton, and returns to Earth, to find some very boring, nondescript, vanilla dude had been bangin' his old lady, proclaims "WTF?!".

They think they've got it great, but they don’t.

Compared to being with you, they might as well be living in a Pearl Jam song.

They've settled. "This person is so great," they think, yet everyone - especially their parents and college friends - knows better, wondering how they could have chosen such a tool.

So, thank you for, via your very existence in the universe, and my life, for making it easy for me to see how everyone else’s relationships really suck. I don't cry for them, because I really don't care, having no horse in their race, but I do enjoy my life all the more, knowing mine is so much better than theirs (even if they are ignorant of that), because of you.

Others close their eyes and think of Ryan Gosling, or Scarlett Johansson, or that guy from Mad Men, or a cheerleader, but I don't have to do that, cuz I've got you, not being saddled with someone I met in a bar, back in the day, to whom I got hitched because I had nothing better to do, and I was getting old, and what the heck.

Love Always,

- me

http://www.1happybirthday.com/play_song.php?name=Kristie

2012-10-04 Obama vs Romney_Debate 01

As posted to my sister's page in response to a thread there, I place this item here, in my notes, so I can refer to it as needed.
- d.r.

I am judging the performance, in my posting, not the content. I thought both candidates were great debaters. Romney avoided directly answering several of the questions, and he did it deftly. Jim Lehrer, whom I've watched since the '70's, immediately lost control of the proceedings. I shed another tear for the loss of Tim Russert, who would have eaten both of those guys for breakfast, lunch, dinner, shat them out, and eaten them again.

I did not see Romney as either maniacal or psychotic, but as cool and professional. He operated extremely well within the confines of the rules*. That is, he got away with what he was allowed to do.

Obama performed well, but he looked tired. His words were well chosen, but his professorial approach hurt him here.

Make no mistake, Obama is my guy, but performance wise, Romney was the cooler cucumber.

That said, Obama was much FUNNIER. For that reason alone I'd vote for him, because comedy is my number one election issue.

As for content, it will take me days to read all the fact-checking stuff. For me, that's like pawing through the stats after a great game, and I love the task. I feel like Asimov sitting on the floor of his apartment and indexing his books manually, for fun.

*This sentence was written due to the assertion that "Romney looked maniacal and nearly psychotic", with which I disagree.

Webkey (ROOT REQUIRED) Remote Control Android App - Mini-Review

    I had been looking for an app to "take control" of my Android phone's SCREEN, and not just its functions.  Prior to trying 'Webkey' I had been using 'AirDroid', the latter of which, although great, did not give me a true screen control.  Webkey does just that.

    Currently (2012-10-02), however, my Samsung Galaxy Nexus' on-screen keyboard is disabled after running the app, requiring a restart of the phone prior to regaining on-screen keyboard functionality.

    My Google play review:

Information for Creating a Google+ Account

    To participate in a Google+ Hangout one needs a Google+ account, freely obtainable by Google.

1. If you already have a Gmail account...
2. Click the pull-down menu, on the upper-right portion of your Gmail screen, then select 'Join Google+', as shown in the screen shot below.

If you do not already have a Gmail account...

1. Navigate to https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?service=oz&continue=https://plus.google.com/?gpsrc%3Dgplp0&hl=en
2. Choose the "SIGN UP" button in the upper-right corner, as shown below.

Google+ Hangout & Other Phone Video Conferencing - Beware the Restroom Click

Yesterday, after working with a coworker and my boss, helping the latter familiarize herself with Google+ hangouts, I went to the restroom.  Sitting there, checking my phone's status updates, it looked like my boss had sent another hangout request.  I went to click it, with the idea of removing it from the droid notification list, but instead I launched Hangouts.  Since my last camera-related action had been using the forward-facing camera, I found myself looking at my startled self, upward from my lap.

I scrambled to turn off the hangout, before she signed-in, and in so doing, I was waving the camera around.  'Oh no!!!!', shrieked my mind, as the point of view blazed across my chest, my distressed face, and the walls.  Even navigating to my phone's home screen did not shut down the client.  I managed to find the appropriate command, and I exited the hangout, prior to anyone signing in, but it was touch and go (no pun intended) there for an eternal 20 seconds.

Beware, oh ye user of Google+ Hangouts, Skype, and FaceTime.  This could happen to you.

ITIL Family Restaurant & Bakery

Inspired by the events in today's ITSM meeting:

ITIL Family Restaurant & Bakery

My Service Portfolio, My Recipes
My Service Catalog, My Dining Menu
My Experts, My Suppliers
You, My Clients, My Diners

You consume my sauces
Which meet FDA inspection

I do not divulge where I buy my tomatoes
My suppliers request anonymity
Their relationship with me is
As mine is with you

I deal with them on your behalf
As your appointed proxy
Your champion
To illicit from them their best

My bread is tasty
You care not what flavor
So long it meets your nutritional needs
And is tasty with complimentary morsels

I provide meals
You ask not for a plate of ingredients

You and your party plan to return
You have seldom seen food appear so quickly
Hot
And Steaming

You eat
You enjoy

You purge
You are happy

You converse while you dine
Oblivious to the kitchen machinations

As it should be

Historical Timelines (Yeah, it's redundant) - We Humans Be Badass

I recently overheard a cafe conversation where a woman, while talking to her mother, said, "People have literally been around for over 3,000 years!".  While I do not know the full context of their conversation, but as I was cringing, I was reminded that many people tend to think of human history only in terms of the Egyptian pyramids, the earliest of which was probably some 4,600 years ago.  It is good to remind ourselves of the hundreds of thousands of years that preceded that, for hominids, and the likely 250,000 - 200,000 years of Homo sapiens since then.

Here are some options:

A heepin' helpin' of history, including timelines for "major civilizations".  Check out its "Pre-History" section too, which goes back to our humble beginnings: http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html

Starting at 10,000 BC (that's 12,012 years ago, Folks): http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/TimeLineDisplay.cfm?Era_id=4

U.S. History: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0902416.html

Contemporary yet very thorough timelines of specific people, times, and places.  Read it with a British accent: http://www.history-timelines.org.uk/

An interesting history of the Church (Christians, namely Catholics), and fascinating in that one can click on any period and expand it to more fleshed out little timelines: http://www.historytimeline.org/