Liloia.com

Three short things

- Read the very first issue of Action Comics from June 1938 online. Even if you're not a superhero fan, the ads from the 30's are interesting.

- A hilarious picture that someone sent around at work. I only wish I knew where you could find something like this...

- I saw the South Park movie this weekend and recalled that my parents had walked out of the theater just a few minutes in. I wondered two things: 1) Why did they go see the South Park movie if they've never watched South Park? 2) Did they walk out at the exact same time that the cartoon audience walked out on Terrence and Phillip? And is there any irony in that?

Leader of whale suicide cult meets with MA senators

Won't they just let us die?

The charismatic leader of the Pilot whale cult, coincidentally named Richard Dawson, but no relation to the former Family Feud host, met with Massachusetts legislators to discuss religious freedoms today. Approximately 40 members of his group, The Church of The High and Everlasting Blood of the Manantee, beached themselves along Cape Cod in an apparent group suicide attempt yesterday.

Well-meaning vacationers along the Cape spent several hours hoisting the whales back into the water. One parishoner of The Church of The High and Everlasting Blood of the Manantee told reporters, "Time was, you could just throw yourself up on a beach to die and no one would bother you. Nowadays, people are dragging you back into the water all proud of themselves. Just leave us alone!"

Dawson, who has led the whale cult since 1992, addressed several senators in a closed chamber regarding his position on religious freedom, "The Constitution of this United States provides for the expression of one's beliefs. We, The Church of The High and Everlasting Blood of the Manantee, chose the Massachusetts shoreline for our group ascent into Heaven, in part, because of the liberal slant to this state's legislature. We had hoped to attain our highest spiritual goal with your blessing."

Dawson's efforts were hampered by the fact that humans cannot understand whale speech. "I just hear a high-pitched squeaking. Like the screen door on my back porch." said Senator Stanley C. Rosenberg of Amherst. "It's a damn shame," said Senator Steven A. Baddour of Methuen, "he seems very earnest. I wish we knew what he was saying."

After the closed session, the senators assisted Dawson back into the waters off Cape Cod, after which, he promptly threw himself back onto the beach. "They're messing up our chance at Nirvana." lamented one pilot whale who asked not to be identified.

"Perhaps it's because we don't have a corporate sponsor like those Heaven's Gate people did. Do you think maybe Speedo or Sea Doo are interesting in sponsoring our mass suicide?"

Sizable Cephalpod

I was reading current news on the National Geographic site, and came across this really cool story.

Anytime we can state that we have just encountered largest invertebrate on Earth, is cause for excitement. This amazing cephalopod is the third of it's kind (and the largest) to ever have been found. The other two washed up on the shores or Tasmania as well; the first in 1986, and then in 1991.

If you aren't going to read the linked article, at least check out some of these interesting facts.

• Largest invertebrate on Earth
  
• Weighs about 550 pounds
  
• Around 50 feet long (some sites claim 60 feet!)
  
• A teuthologist is a squid specialist
  
• It's beak is strong enough to cut a steel cable
  

UFO's

I don't know which is more interesting about this. Is it the fact that the Washington Post is writing serious articles about UFO's or that government officials admitted to chasing a UFO that "disappeared". Either way.

F-16s Pursue Unknown Craft Over Region (washingtonpost.com)

New Directions

Right now Clay (Don't bother, it is down right now) is on his way to his new home in Georgia. While I am sad that he is gone and won't be spending Saturdays with us anymore, I wish him the best in his new venture. Good Luck Clay!

Friday Five

1. How long have you had a weblog?
I've had a personal site with blog-like updates and links since 1994. I found the Internet during my second year of college when my class (Politics of Black America) assignment was to learn more about Louis Farrakhan's newspaper, The Final Call. I was too chicken to approach one of the bow-tied men in the street, so I decided to try out this new-fangled Internet thing. I'm glad I went online because it directly led to the career path I'm on today, but I'm not afraid to talk to the bow-tied men anymore. They're generally quite nice.

Anyway, I digress... Dave and I created what is commonly known as a blog in March of 2001. It was here at Liloia.com, but it had four categories of posts that fed into four boxes on the front page. You could choose from Read (journals and essays), See (images), Books (books and other products that we reviewed), and Links (reviewed sites). It all got consolidated into one running line of posts, but behind the scenes, we still classify the posts into those four categories just in case we ever decide to separate them again.

2. What was your first post about?
I could have sworn it was about the proliferation of square plates. By prediction that they were an up and coming trend has proven true as most home stores now sell at least one line of tableware with four corners. But if you look at the first entry in our latest setup, it's a review by Dave of the book, "One to One Future".

3. How many changes (name, location, etc.) of your weblog have there been, if more than one?
There was the one on GeoCities that I created in 1994 and it stayed there until 2001. I can no longer access the GeoCities site, because Netaddress became a paid service that I wasn't willing to pay for and I can't get my new GeoCities password. So it's there, but several years outdated.

4. What CMS (content management system) do you use? Do you like it or do you want to try something else?
We started out with a homegrown PHP/MySQL system because that was the best way to get the complex 4-blogs-in-one setup to work. But when we changed our content categorization last year, we gave MovableType a try. Dave is the primary administrator so I can't say much more about it than it's easy to use.

5. Do you read people who have both a journal and a weblog? Or do you prefer to read people who have all of their writing in one central place?
I'm not sure what the point of having a journal and a weblog is. I guess that's because I expand the definition of weblog to include more personal, journal-like entries. My least favorite weblogs are those that just list links. My second-least favorites are those who list links with little explanations. My almost favorite are those that tackle politics, world issues and abstract theories. And my most favorite are those that delve into the nitty gritty personal lives of those who write them. I don't watch soaps, so this is my drama fix. If I found a site with a journal and a weblog, I would probably just read the journal.

Salon Blogs

In an attempt to capitalize on the popularity and stickiness of the weblog phenomenon, Salon is now offering a package deal that includes blog hosting and software at the annual price of $39.95. The included templates have a distinctly Salon-like look (unless you change them) and it seems that the default blog template also carries a large Salon navigation banner on top as well as several Salon-related links in the navigation area.

On the plus side, and Salon bloggers are included on several exclusive online lists. We all know how great that is for traffic. If you blog and no one reads it, you might as well be writing in a coffee-stained legal pad at home.

If you're new to blogging and haven't the foggiest idea how to set up a weblog, then Salon blogs may be just the thing for you. But for experienced webloggers, the paltry offer that Salon is making isn't nearly enough to make anyone want to jump ship from their current setup.

That said, I'm a little jealous, because my blog is quite relevant to the Salon audience (I often write commentaries on Salon pieces); however, I don't want to fork over the price of admission just to get on those exclusive lists, since I won't be using the hosting or the blogging tools. Ah well, back to relative obscurity...

Biker Blockade

Harley riders clog parts of highways in charity event

A roaring caravan of more than 6,000 finely buffed motorcycles shut down traffic briefly on Route 128 and two other major roadways yesterday while their riders raised tens of thousands of dollars for families of children with cancer. The delays - which stretched to 35 minutes - were worst on Route 128/Interstate 95 northbound in Westwood where state troopers blocked the highway with their cruisers at 11:30 a.m. to let the riders take to the road.

''It's for a good charity. They'll get over it,'' said John Barbush, 40, of Londonderry, N.H., who rode a Honda motorcycle to help generate money for the Boston Ronald McDonald House in Brookline Village. ''What's 10 minutes?''

...of course I decided to head up to Clay's place in Arlington at exactly 11:30. It was an impressive sight, but it took me 90 minutes to get there. So, although I was in awe of seeing so many motorcycles all in one place, I would have gladly donated $20 for them to not block the highway for so long. Perhaps that should be their tactic for next year.

Also, it wasn't 10 minutes. The cops kept the road blocked off even at locations they had passed for the duration of the ride.

Pick up a pen

U.S. Rep. Howard L. Berman , a democrat from California, is introducing a bill that would allow large media companies to essentially 'hack' into P2P networks (like Napster and Kazaa) and shut them down.

This bill would allow companies to "use technological tools to thwart P2P piracy without fear of liability" (Berman). Considering the recent cases of corporate law-breaking, large companies need to have *more* fear of liability, not less. I think we should have more faith in our legislative branch. Close down P2P file-sharing companies by predetermined legal means instead of giving conglomerates permission to break the law.

Two wrongs do not make a right. There are other ways to stop file-sharing that don't involve hacking an open network.

Your part:

Read the Introduction of the Peer to Peer Piracy Prevention Act and think about it.

If you would like to voice your opinion on this issue, (pro or anti), you can find an online form to contact your house representative here:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/

What did you say?

Last week, on Tuesday morning we had a scare with Trevor.

He was in the living room watching cartoons and I came in behind him and said "Good Morning buddy!", no response. Brushing it off as him ignoring me for the cartoons, I repeated my greeting with no result. So, I walked up to him and put my hand on his shoulder and said "Good Morning Trevor".

He jumped nearly out of his skin, turned completely pale and started crying. He said that he didn't hear me and that I had scared him. I picked him up and gave him a hug and told him that I was sorry. Through the tears he said to me "What did you say?". I repeated my apology. He looked at me with a frightened look and said, "Daddy, I can't hear you".

I immediately got Tara up and we tested and talked to Trevor, much in the same way that Richard Dreyfuss in Mr. Holland's Opus did with his son, Cole. Trevor could not hear anything above a yell, and had no other symptoms that would indicate something else at work. I couldn't see anything stuck in his ears, redness, and he said that nothing hurt him.

We called the doctor's office immediately and scheduled an appointment for that afternoon, and in the meantime Tara took him with her to get some errands done. When she was able to get him in, they immediately looked into his ears and said that he had two bad ear infections and that was the cause of his hearing loss. They put him on antibiotics and within two days he was starting to regain his hearing and feel better.

For the 7 hours between finding out that he couldn't hear and getting the diagnosis from the doctor, had to be one of the most stressfull times that I have had in the last few years. Thinking that he might be deaf was a scary possibility. I know for certain that the three of us would have come together and overcome it, but it was still something that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

Bedroom Fan

Tara and I just finished watching Il Postino, which was by the way a good movie, but nowhere near as great as the world made it out to be, and we are getting ready for bed.

In the window we have a box fan that is on the setting LOW, primarily because it is a cool night, and we just wanted some air. This setting is proving to be too much for tonight.

Tara suggested that perhaps there could be a setting between LOW and OFF, something that would send a slight breeze into the room. They could call it LOFF.

That is all. Good Night.

Open House

Today we spent the afternoon with some great friends, The Morey's. They recently purchased a new home and we attended their open house party. After lulling everyone into a false sense of security by filling our plates, then stomachs with great food, Darryl started recruiting people to play volleyball.

Five games later we broke free and I was able to grab a soda. I was hot, sweaty and feeling great. I haven't had that much fun in a long time.

After I dried off and grabbed a second drink, we spent some time chatting with some of Tara's friends and co-workers. All in all it was a great afternoon. Thanks guys!

This is the thing that bit me.

It's apparently a stag beetle and it's no wonder he's going stag; he's a jerk.

I was getting the mail (we have a box attached to our house) and it's up too high for me to see into the box. So, as usual, I stuck my hand in there blindly. After getting out the letters, I felt something crinkly, like a candy wrapper at the bottom of the box. I grabbed it and it dug into my finger.

Your brain can work so fast that in one second I thought all of these things:
- Ow, it's a binder clip and it's pinching me.
- No, it feels more like a pushpin.
- Why is there a pushpin in the mailbox?
- I didn't grab it hard enough to break skin, but it sure feels like it's breaking skin.
- Let go, moron.
- Hey, it's not letting go of me!

I yanked my hand out and saw a huge (2 inches long) beetle stuck in my finger. I screamed and shook it off; Trevor screamed and ran into the house. Then I had to go in and pretend for his sake that it was the funniest thing ever. But I was sure I was going to die from the venomous bite.

I hate poetry

I really do. I don't know why, but I just can't stand it. I read some poetry that just really ticked me off this morning and I've got a great big ball of poetry anger that I have to work off now with an angry poem:

Your book of poems is shining
shining and crackling
crackling and burning
in my fireplace.

My life as a cartoon

This is me as a South Park character. Thanks to Mike of Curiousfrog.com for the link.

UPDATE: (Dave) I tried this thingee out too! Nice site and cool generator

CYA-speak

I've been known to do some translation work here and there. Today I'd like to translate for you the euphemistic instructions on commercial items:

Serving suggestion - "There is not a chance in a million that you can get what's in this package to look like this picture."

Not for children under three - "Please don't sue us."

Contents may settle during shipping - "We've cheated and sold you a half-bag full of air."

Caution: Hot liquid - "Please don't sue us."

Lift to open - "We believe our customers are missing chromosomes and need to be told where to open a box."

Do not ingest - "Please don't sue us."

Best before January 2003 - "This product has a shelf life of 27 years, but we want you to throw it away and buy a new one in six months."

Shake before serving - "We couldn't quite get the mix right, so you get to finish the manufacturing process in your own home."

Sweetened with aspartame - "We put some sweet chemical in here that we really don't know much about. Enjoy. Oh and please don't sue us."

Roll Models

On my continuing quest to discern the causes of the Great American Weight Gain, I've stumbled across this suspicious pattern: Many of the cartoons, mascots and characters that exist to sell us food (particularly junk food) are overweight. Some seriously so. Just take a look at these role models with rolls to spare:

When a chubby Cap'n Crunch makes us smile and buy his cereal, are we also buying into the desire to be as adventurous and likeable as the fearless Cap'n?

Aunt Jemima used to be huggably soft, so much so that The Quaker Oats Company updated her look recently. The revamp must have included some time at the gym, because new Jemima is looking a lot more svelte.

Speaking of Quaker Oats, the Quaker Oats man is not looking all that trim himself. Odd, because oatmeal is quite good for lowering cholesterol and is also a great source of fiber.

We all know of the ironic fate that befell Wendy's founder Dave Thomas. He was a victim of his own bacon cheeseburgers.

The infamous Keebler Elves. Pushing cookies and cholesterol to kids in all 50 states. Not a single elf in the bunch that couldn't stand to lose 10 lbs.

Is it any wonder this character's name is Grimace? There are 34 grams of fat in one Big Mac and Grimace looks like he's been stocking up.

They're clever and they seem to know lots of celebrities. Pop a few M&Ms to be just as popular - and rotund - as these crunchy candies.

Arguably the character that works the hardest to capture our hearts, wallets and stomachs. There are strict rules that the Pillsbury doughboy must always be a helper, teacher or friend in appearances. Who wouldn't eat bread from a friend?

Hey look, a tall, thin, muscular guy! What he selling? Vegetables!

Wish List

Sometimes when camgirls and bloggers put up wish lists, online admirers see fit to send them gifts from the list. So I'm asking you, Liloia.com readers, what will it take for you to buy me the Kitchenaid Artisan Stand Mixer?

Should I post my Star Trek fanfiction? Do my best impression of Father Guido Sarducci? Express as a ratio of integers?

Helping Robbery Inc.

This organization, Humane Borders, assists Mexican migrants who are attempting to cross the desert illegally into the US. They offer directions, food and water to those voluntarily making the illegal journey across the 120-degree desert.

In related news, I have just set up a new company called Helping Robbery. I will be providing would-be thieves with a list of vacationing homeowners, maps to poorly secured homes, latex gloves and ball peen hammers.

Monday Morning

Slowly moving, I am trying to get myself going. I am really tired this morning. Tara and I stayed up late watching bad movies; The Others and Reindeer Games to be exact, and then we ended up talking for far too long. It was nice to chat with her, but sacrificing our sleep was probably a bad move.

We ended up having a great weekend. I only had to work on Saturday night and had the rest of the weekend off. We played a lot, and got some long needed chores done. The highlight of the weekend was probably having a water balloon fight on the driveway. We all giggled a lot and Trevor showed us some of his Kung Fu moves on the balloons.

This coming weekend is the same, I only have to work Saturday night, so far. It is possible that they will put me on Sunday, but they have hired a bunch of other book pimps, so perhaps I am to be spared.

Something funny that occured the other night at work, there is a new person, let's call her K. She informed me that she intends to leave for NYC in the next few weeks and pursue a career in the fashion industry. I asked if she let the store manager know that when they hired her and of course she didn't. That said, she will probably not give two weeks notice before she leaves. I can't wait to see how angry they all get when she dissapears at the end of August. Also, at the same time all of the kids going off to college will be leaving, and at last count there are about 10 of them. Out of about 45 employees, having 10 or so leave at one time is going to be interesting.

Reign of Fire

Adam, just went to go see the cinematic masterpiece, Reign of Fire and has submitted his review of the movie. I thought it was pretty funny, so I am sharing it with the masses visiting Liloia.com, all 6 of you.

"i have seen the new dragon movie, and i'd like to express my admiration for that wonderful piece of cinematic history. The movie is titled "Reign of Fire." For you NON-dragon hunters out there, the movie is about a not-so-distant future, where ash eating dragons are in control of the world, and mankind is forced to hide in underground caverns to avoid being burned to ash and eaten by the mythical creatures. I can't stress enough how much this movie blew me away.. with an emphasis on "blew." It included such marvelous scenes as Matthew McConaughey jumping into the mouth of a dragon and dragon hunting skydivers. But the coup de gras of the film occurred when the camera did a "point of view" shot from the dragon's perspective, and we realize that dragon's see things the exact same way that The Predator sees Arnold Schwarzenegger. If you were unaware that dragons see things digitally... you were not alone, but i'm sure still pleasantly surprised. All in all, the movie was a 5 star masterpiece. My only complaint was that perhaps there weren't enough dragons. Or maybe the dragon's could have talked like they did in the Sean Connery talking dragon movie. But then again, how can you improve the Mona Lisa? At the very least, if dragon's DO ever take over the world... no one can say that we weren't warned."

Fun with corporations

Dear W. L. Gore & Associates,

I have recently had an unfortunate experience with your Glide dental floss. I had heard that naval sailors during WWII used dental floss to attach loose buttons to their clothing. I checked it out and yes, it seems that this was the case. So I decided to carry a container of Glide with me just in case I ever needed a quick clothing repair, plus the box is really compact and takes up barely any room in my purse.

I didn't need to use it for anything other than teeth cleaning until yesterday. A button on my blouse was getting really loose and I was excited to finally try the Glide solution. I popped into the bathroom for a minute and stitched it back on. But I didn't realize that Glide is a lot more stretchy than regular dental floss. Instead of tightly securing my blouse closed, the Glide stretched apart by an inch or two. My bust was exposed for most of the afternoon and I didn't notice until I got home from work. I think you should mention that on the container - not for sewing use.

Thanks,

Tara

Overlawyered

When I first heard of Overlawyered.com in a Salon article, I thought it was a fairly good idea for a site; it takes a thorough look at the rampant use of lawsuits for personal gain in America today. And when I arrived at Overlawyered.com, I was pleasantly suprised to see this message:

Welcome Salon.com readers, Bill O'Reilly listeners. We're cited in Janelle Brown's excellent article on parental lawsuits against teachers ("L is for Lawsuit", Jul. 12) which mentions our subpage on overlawyered schools...

Not only am I being personally welcomed, as someone who followed the Salon link, but in the same sentence I am linked to the exact page that the Salon author specifically mentioned. Many sites seem to be clueless that they've been cited in a popular news forum and readers are forced to search frustratingly for the information they want.

In addition, visitors who hadn't come from Salon were being linked back to Janelle Brown's feature. This is excellent site maintentance. Those behind Overlawyered.com knew I was coming, knew what I would be looking for and gave me a friendly, relevant welcome. And in return, I have passed their link on to you.

Making Connections

Over the last few weeks, I have been spending some time thinking about positive relationships, making connections and creating your own opportunities.

As mentioned in earlier posts, I have been frustrated with some aspects of my professional situation and keeping up a "poor me" attitude about this. What is feeling sorry for myself going to do, not a whole lot. So how do I go about fixing it? What possible solutions are there for curing my unhappiness?

Leaving my current job and looking for something better is a possible option, but not something that I want to consider right now. I like all the people I work with, and leaving after only six months will only make my resume look even more like I am a jumper, even though I am not. I am actually very loyal, to companies, friends and family.

No, that isn't the move, instead I have decided to attempt to make my own opportunities and develop something for myself here at work that will satisfy my short and long-term career goals. Basically, this entails being more forward with people, clearly stating my intentions, maintaining a positive attitude, and talking, a lot. Ask Tara how much I talk and she will probably tell you something about needing to leave the windows open in the house so that I don't use up all the oxygen in the room I am in. So far I have approached some people outside of my department for possible positions and networking. I am hopeful that this will help.

At the same time, I have been trying to employ this tactic outside of my job with people that I encounter during the day. The place that this seems to work best is at my part-time position at Barnes & Noble. As customers come up to the register, I talk to them. It is surprising how much information is available about people when they are buying something (this is to be mentioned in a post later) and this makes it easy to find something to talk about. I feel them out for a second or two, maybe see how they reacted to the person in front of them that I just assisted and then modify my demeanor to match theirs.
The next step is to ask them something about themselves. It's crazy, I tested this a few times and though it was a fluke. I thought people would be really reserved with someone that they don't know, but they aren't. People love to talk about themselves, and the more questions you ask, and the more interested you are, the more they are willing to give up. Through this method, I have some of the best conversations in recent memory and I get to meet some really interesting people that would have normally just passed through my life. Some of the interesting people that I have met in the last few weeks include:

Bruce Klacher is a consultant who specializes in Organizational Improvement, specifically employee satisfaction and surveys. He has collected information from thousands of people around the US and helps companies streamline their employee interactions, hiring, merit increases, etc. I receive his monthly e-zine and sometimes correspond with him via email.

John came in on a Saturday; he was being shipped out the day after I met him to Afghanistan. He said that they were keeping him there at least a year, regardless of what is going on over there. I wished him luck and asked him to stay safe.

I met a woman who has authored 3 books for elderly exercise. She claimed to be the person who first developed (in the whole world!! - she said that to me 3 times) a book and methodology for chair exercises for men and women over 90 years old so that they could stay limber. No offense to her, but there was nothing about her that looked fit or limber. I did believe that she had developed chair exercises, primarily because it looked like she spent most of her time in one, and she also walked with a cane.

Lesson learned from this - just because a book exists does not mean that the information contained within is either proven as valuable or taken from real experience. It only means that someone took the text that someone typed and printed it a whole bunch of times. To satisfy my curiosity, I looked her book up in our computer system, and it did exist but we had never sold a copy, ever.

Last night I met another consultant who hailed from Utah. He had worked at the Olympic games, and now is working at the new stadium for the Patriots here in Foxboro, MA. He specializes in Organizational Management. The areas that he works on are the training of management in hiring practices; legal issues surrounding employees, workforce motivation, etc. I talked to him about some of my interests and he asked for my contact info so that he could get in touch if an internship opened up. Pretty cool.

There have been hundreds of other interesting people, too many to mention here. If I meet anyone that compels me to write, I will post it here. Thoughts?

Cryogenics

I think that someday in the future, doctors (or janitors or a hierarchical society of talking apes) will thaw out our painstakingly frozen bodies and heads and find nothing but a soupy, useless mess. And they will have a hearty laugh at our expense before vaccuming it all up with a Sears WetDry Shopvac. There's no point to being cyogenically frozen today because there's a very good chance that we may not be doing it in a way that will actually preserve a person for the future.

Think of it like this: 13th-century scientists conceive of, and build, their idea of the automobile, but they don't know how to create a combustible material to fuel their creation. So they let it sit around until the future comes up with gasoline. Now imagine what technology these 13th-century scientists had to work with. Would the body of the car be reinforced steel? Would the door panels be fiberglass? Would there be airbags? I think you would have a flammable and dangerous wood, stone and canvas car for your trouble. It would not be safe to drive even if the engineers got all of the specs right.

And just think of this - if you are frozen and it "doesn't work out" what recourse do you have? None! You're dead! Talk about a bad return policy... If you want to spend your money with a company that knows you're never going to be able to check up on their purported service, pay to have a star named after yourself or adopt a cow.

Even those practicing cryogenics admit that freezing can cause damage to brain structures such as cell shrinkage, protein leakage and brain chemistry alteration. Sounds fun, eh? Alcor, the company that has Ted Williams' head has a white paper on how it *might* be possible to fix this damage with nanotechnology. They hope. This is why I won't be frozen. It's not that I don't trust the cryogenics of the future - I don't trust the cryogenics of the present.

Catching Up

Over the last few weeks, the Massachusetts sect of the Liloia clan has been keeping ourselves busy. We took some time off from work and school and tried to relax. While we were out and about we...

- Visited Norwalk, CT and realized that no matter how tasty Taco Bell is, the employees are still hostile

- Got to hang out with some family: North and South

- Purchased a most excellent kitchen table from IKEA

- Saw a few movies including Bourne Identity and Minority Report

- Went swimming like 80-90-20 times!!!

And some other fun stuff. I wish I was still on vacation, part of me feels like we did too much and didn't chill out enough. Maybe next vacation will be more mellow. Hopefully in the next week or so we will get settled again and post some more.