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Update At I used to take about 20 minutes each morning and hit my usual tour of web sites. I'd check the news sites and other interesting information, and then get to work. RSS changed all of that. I was able to take a minute or two as soon as someone posted, and I could check on what they were up to. But then RSS exploded. When I last looked at my RSS reader, I had over 70 feeds installed and configured - everything from news web sites from England (the BBC), the US (CNN had five feeds) to local news and weather (two stations - one slower, but with a little better reporting, the other mostly regurgitating AP and Reuters reports of local interest). I had RSS feeds from vendors (NewEgg has an RSS feed), from the Minnesota DNR, from my Cub Scout Pack's Yahoo group all the way through to "Bloggers" galore. And I found that I was spending a lot more than 20 minutes a day reading stuff. I skipped over a lot of it (CNN is the worst - you'll get a headline and "see story for details" 95% of the time), but still spent a fair amount of time cleaning out the reader. Then my computer with the reader on it got unstable. First, it was a problem if I had an MP3 player going and my RSS reader would update. Then, after I turned off the music, the problem migrated to Firefox - it would stop responding when the reader was updating (I tried but could not handle one that worked within Firefox - I used Feedreader; it was a stand-alone package that was fairly straightforward). Late last week I killed the Feedreader process. I had the latest-and-greatest release, but it was getting slow and bloated, not quick and light. The difference was amazing. My computer actually worked again. So I'm going to leave RSS where it is - off somewhere as a useful thing for some people. For me it was a distraction (I would turn around each time the update ping sounded, to see what breaking news was occuring now - usually to be rewarded with some in-depth analysis on third-world migratory bird patterns and how their changes affected entire populations of predators, or something even more weighty, like Brittney's latest antics). And I don't need that.
[Link] I nearly peed myself when I hit the "daylight" picture posted by "neeners". If you've been around long enough, and seen enough flame wars, you know the age old adage "mention Hitler = you lose" bit.
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Update At Since that's about all I can say about that, that's about all I'll say about it. However, has anyone else noticed just how screwed up Britney Spears has gotten? I don't think the kid deserves to be the butt of every late-night joke (though Lord knows I was getting sick and tired of the Anna Nicole Smith jokes). I think she has some problems, and needs to sort them out. Mind you, bailing out of rehab twice in a week is a clear sign she knows she has problems - and doesn't have the stones to go to work on 'em. I never thought I'd say this, but Fed-Ex looks like a stable, reliable adult to watch over those two small kids Ms. Trailer Trash of the 21st Century has popped out. It is truly unfortunate that we can require drivers to be licensed, but parents, hell, go ahead, pop out a little blighter. Yeah, I know, I'm starting to sound positively curmudgeonly. Put it down to the fact that the February Thaw arrived just in time for Jack and I to go to "Polar Cubs" this weekend. They're predicting rain. Yes, rain. And we'll be spending the entire day Saturday outdoors. In the rain. At the far end of a one-way mile-long up-hill hike. Fortunately, it looks like it won't be in the snow.
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Update At One problem. Until this week, we had a total of 21 inches of measurable snow so far this winter. And this week, our cold snap snapped, and we got warm enough to get rid of nearly all of the snow in my back yard. So what, you might ask, has me worried? Oh, the weather forecast. The one about freezing rain now, followed by somewhere between 3 and 10 inches of snow tonight, followed by rain tomorrow, followed by more snow tomorrow evening, and - and this is the "best" part, he said in his best sarcastic voice - in the end, somewhere between 15 and 24 inches of snow. That is, if they're right. I'm guessing they've estimated a bit high - which would be OK with me. Except for one thing. We have to drive down some secondary roads, down some tertiary roads, down some dirt roads, and then into the Scout Camp itself, which has "roads" of the sort that, well, you just don't want to be on if it's going to be soggy. I can hardly wait. Film tomorrow - if I survive. Did I remember to mention I fell twice on the ice this week - landing on my good knee once, and on both knees the second time? Yeah, I'll be paying for that little exercise tomorrow. If you want to see what I'm looking at, here's my weather monitor.
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Update At Polar Cubs is a winter day camp where the boys go outside, and spend much of the day out there. I'd been dreading it ever since last summer, when Jack and I did our Camp Akela trip - and the temperatures hit the upper nineties. And we were stuck in canvas tents. On vinyl mattresses. Ick. The true "ick" part was the extra day we spent at "Outpost". This involved our hiking about 3/4 of a mile. What they didn't tell you was that this was the "shortcut" going up the hill to the "outpost" camping area. The "hill" part? The hike starts you at lake level, and then goes up to a meadow. From the meadow, you go downhill a bit to get to "Friendship Point" - which is a high spot about 300 feet over the surface of the lake. So the next person (such as my wife) who says "flatlander" can take that hike in 95 degree afternoon heat, and high (mid-eighties dewpoints) humidity. Or shut up. Now the reason for my dread of Polar Cubs was simple - last year's Webelos program occurred up at that high meadow camp. I expected to have to make that hike, this time over an ice-covered track that would take us probably an hour to cover - and we'd be allowed 10 minutes. Imagine my surprise when we got out of the Jeep at camp and discovered a couple of things. First, it was raining. Second, the Webelos events would not require us to hike out to the outpost, hike back for lunch, then return out there for the afternoon. All of our program was in the big open field we took our horse ride through last summer. So, in the end, was it fun? Well, it kinda depends. Do you like being out in 20-mph wind, rain, and temps in the low twenties? You do? You must be a Cub Scout. My opinion?
I think you get the idea. It WAS a lot of fun - but it sure takes a heck of a lot out of you. Next year, just to be smart, I shall do the following:
So that's done for another year...
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