Smoking

A while ago I had posted about how I had started on the patch -again- to try to quit -again. That didn't work out as well as it did last time. Almost 18 months ago I quit for 5 months using the patch. Now, the patch has helped get me down to 5-8 cigarettes a day, but no further.

So now I'm trying Chantex. I started the starter kit last Sunday. Tomorrow I start on the regular dose, morning and evening. So far I have still smoked some, but I can feel the effects of smoking diminishing. I expect to have no need to smoke this week. If I do, I'll get no rush of nicotine, just a bad taste and guilt I suppose.

So the main challenge is changing my habits. At home is easier than at work. I don't like to go to the cafeteria during lunch, and I'm not allowed to stay at my desk. But if I go to my truck like I usually do, well, things may happen. So starting Monday I will have to suck it up and sit in the lunchroom. I will make sure I have plenty of newspaper to read and wear my headphones. If it gets up near freezing or better I will be walking around the campus most breaks, like I did before winter. I'm sure I could use the exercise!

People In Order: Age 1 To 100

Fascinating. A must-see for your sense of mortality.

People In Order: 1. Age from James Price on Vimeo.

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Digital Guitar

Is this the future? If so, I hope it is the future of video games and not real music. It just doesn't seem right to me.

Okey Dokey Artichokey!*

Madison has made the Top 5 Gayest Cities! ...Not that there's anything wrong with that!**



* "2 1/2 Men" reference.
** "Seinfeld" reference, as if you didn't know.

25 Bizarro Years

Dan Piraro is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Bizarro comic. All my congratulations, Dan! I've been checking his blog for quite a few months now, and he seems to be a pretty good guy. Give him a visit at his Bizarroblog.

Here's a classic he posted today.

No Toast For Poe This Year

"BALTIMORE – It is what Edgar Allan Poe might have called "a mystery all insoluble": Every year for the past six decades, a shadowy visitor would leave roses and a half-empty bottle of cognac on Poe's grave on the anniversary of the writer's birth. This year, no one showed."

I remember hearing about this from time to time over the years. I thought this news was worth pointing out. Six decades, who's to say what really is happening? Just enjoy the mystery... unless it is over.

Musical Birds/Rock Chicks!

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New W.A.S.P. Video

Babylon's Burning

This is a wide one; click on it to watch at youtube.

My Wife's Birthday

My wife's birthday is coming up (Tuesday) so we have been celebrating it this weekend. Last night we met several friends after work for drinks and food at a nearby tavern. It was alot of fun. We don't really go out much, especially since it got cold out, but we really had a nice time. We didn't stay out terribly late, probably just late enough to get home safely. Besides, they were starting karoake so we had to get out of there or listen to bad singers sing bad songs.

Today, we met up with my in-laws at a restaurant for lunch. It turned out rather well since one of my sisters in law didn't show up with her 3 hellion kids. The other sister in law is getting married soon. They are planning on a St. Patricks Day wedding in Jamaica, where my wife and I got married (not the same resort, though). They tried to plan a wedding here and soon realized how much less a headache it is to just run away. I'm very happy for them. My wife and I still want to get back to Jamaica, maybe in a year and a half on our tenth anniversary. That would be nice.

It was supposed to get above freezing today, but I don't think it did. It sure didn't feel like it anyway. I didn't see much, if any, sun today either. Damn weatherman...

The Badgers play tonight, so I will put my feet up and enjoy that game. Tomorrow I will temporarily be a Cowboys fan. Well, not really. I just hope Favre fails miserably, but I'm not bitter (ha!). Eff Favre and the Vikes. I hate to say it, but I wish the worst for him now. On second thought, I don't hate to say it!

Have a nice Weekend!

Helpful Hints

I liked this helpful hint in a post from Bits & Pieces. Just because we now own a new dryer since we bought the house. I don't think we've used the dryer sheets in it ever, just fabric softener in the wash. Still, good to know. See the full post here with some other helpful hints.

INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS

The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load of clothes.) He took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material . I’m sure you know what your dryer’s lint filter looks like. Well …. the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn’t go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh – that’s what burns out the heating unit.

You can’t SEE the film, but it’s there. It’s what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box … well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush ?at least every six months.

He said that increases the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?! Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn’t know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I’d share!

Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it … the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn’t any puddling at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!