Day: 3/25/08

For those that may not have noticed, I have been quite busy on the internet of late. I have added a number of Blog feeds and links to the side of this blog. The "links I like/use" has been changed to "Whims of Chaos" because typically these are things that I just came across without really looking for them, so the name seems more fitting. I have also added a "Shop-A-Holics" section of internet stores and a "Forums" section for message boards and online discussion sites. Next is the "Temp (to be investigated) links" section that changes all the time. These are just sites I've come across and have yet to delve into to see if they have anything I consider worthwhile on. Most things that get here are moved up to the "Whims of Chaos" but not everyone works. For those that have actually gone all the way to the bottom of the screen, the list of online comics has been cleaned up, added one, and moved a couple of other sites out and up to the "Whims of Chaos" where they belong.

Life outside the internet has been pretty stable. Nothing of particular note to mention at the moment. Perhaps the rest of the week will liven up. :)

Day: 3/23/08

Well now, Easter time again. I hope everyone had a nice holiday, and those of us that got a three-day weekend, it just didn't seem long enough, did it? Oh well, back to the daily grind.

We were a bit heavier in the company department this year with the addition of my uncle, aunt and cousin from Texas coming up for the holiday. It's been quite a while since we have seen any of these family members, but we knew they were family as soon as we saw them. Must've been the weird look in their eyes. :)

Now, we have a few traditions in our family when it comes to Easter. First is the meal, I think everyone has this, but we usually have the standard fare of chicken, ham, lamb, assorted vegetables, pastas, and rolls. Next up is the kids. We are running low on children of age enough to participate in an egg hunt, but the three we did have had fun looking for the various plastic eggs around the yard. My son walked away with $0.90 this year for his efforts. As for the adults, we have the annual 'Beer Hunt'! This was started a number of years ago as a way to give the adults something to do besides stand around and talk and eat. I don't know where the idea came from, but pretty much everyone looks forward to it. One of the highlights of the Beer Hunt is not necessarily the hunt itself, but the trading that goes on afterwards. Everyone has their favorite beer, and some of us are willing to try just about anything. So, we all stand around trading until we get a good selection of brew to have. I walked off with 4 Killian's Red, 3 Buds, 7 Corona, and a Red Stripe.

For the most part, the whole weekend was kind of slow. We welcomed in the new washing machine on Friday, did laundry all day Saturday, and relaxed when we had the chance. Not a bad weekend, at least it was a three-day weekend so I was able to get a little extra sleep for a change.

Day: 3/20/08

Ok, as if looking for Wiccan things and finding a Protestant message board isn't bad enough.

So I was browsing through ask.com 's blog engine for 'chaote' and what do I find? A Baptist message board, weird, yeah? The Landover Baptist Church Forum. Once again I wonder what in the Chaos the Chaos is doing giving me this place, so I dive in and start reading. In honesty, I can't recall a forum where there was so much bad-mouthing in the name of the Lord and His work before. At least the Protestants were civil about the whole thing...for the most part.

Speaking of the Protestant board, I haven't gone back since my last post regarding it. Apparently, boredom set in faster than I thought, so I guess I'll chalk that one up to a whim of Chaos. Maybe I'll figure something else out about it later.

Back to the Baptists. No, I'm not jumping into this forum, I really don't want to waste the energy attempting to discuss anything with these. Read around a bit when the non-Baptists chime in and you'll see what I mean. Of note, I have seen Bob, a self-made Eunuch, a couple of Atheists (one of whom is James T. Kirk), and even a couple of Satanists (although I think one of them is making it up, along with some random claim to being a Chaote too).

So, I've updated a number of feeds on the blog here, added a couple of links, and generally been making a nuisance of myself around the internet, aside from that, not much else going on.

Day: 3/19/08

Please give a moment of silence for my friend, Aradiana and her family. Today they have lost a dear loved one after many months of struggle.

Author's note: I have invited a couple of my dear friends to join me in blogging here, hopefully you will see some of their work in the near future. In the meantime, I will continue to blog here as best I can and hope that Lord Darkfyre and Lady Aradiana join me soon. Happy blogging!

Day: 3/18/08

Well, today was a pain in the bud. Sinuses had kicked up to high gear apparently and left me weak and not doing so well. After trying to convince myself I did not have a temperature, I broke down and took it; 102F...yeah, ok, so I'm sick. I figure the only way to get myself back up and running is to take the day and drug myself up so much that I just sleep the day away and let the body do its thing. Robitussin, Sudafed, Halls, and Tylenol all start hitting the system every four hours. I'm glad the Robitussin knocks me out, because when I was awake, I think I felt worse.

For most of the my day, I spend it curled up either in the bed or on the couch sleeping in shifts, 3-3.5 hours here and there and then up for a bit waiting for the next medicine dose. Some times, I didn't get very much sleep since my son isn't quite old enough to understand that when someone is sick, it is usually better not to try to play horsey or giddy-up or jump on daddy. I did manage to keep my temper in check, so I didn't go flying off the handle today though I thought I might a few times. Momma tried her best to keep the kid in check and let me rest when I could.

I suppose the saying that 'you get worse before you get better' still holds pretty much true for me. I always struggle with certain things before it finally bests me and takes me down for a day, but usually after that day, I recover more or less fully in the next few. We'll have to see how this one goes.

Of other notes, I haven't been up to much. My time has been pretty much absorbed by projects around the house and work. My online time has been spent just working the emails and doing random searches for others who think I have some magick power to find exactly what they want for them. Ever try to find pictures of Princess Tiger Lily? Apparently from Peter Pan she isn't one of the more favored characters and finding cels of her are hard. Oh, sure, Tinkerbell is a snap, there are entire sites devoted just to her. But Tiger Lily is second to Tinkerbell apparently. Oh well.

I have not returned to the bible forum to date except long enough to copy and save all the messages to date that I have been involved in. Call me cautious, but I like to keep things like this that irritate me in case I need it later. Eventually I will delete it and forget about it, but for now, my irritation is still up at this place and at the moderator that was rather pushy towards me. So, I may go back, as the days go by, my curiosity of this place fades and I think less and less about it. I still am not sure why I was directed that way, perhaps it was just to give me something to do for a bit. I always say, "Chaos is funny that way." :)

Day: 3/16/08

Today was a day of family and friends. We started the day by having one of our friends drop off her son for a few hours while she went to work. This is a good thing, as it gives my son someone his own age to play with. I admit that he is not often able to have time with those of his age group in that my neighborhood is mostly older couples whose grandchildren are all older than him. I can not, at the moment, afford for him to attend a day care where he could spend more time with children, so we take what time we can get with him and the children of our friends. Granted, now that we have had three kids in the house, my son's room looks like a dozen tonadoes hit it, but what can you expect of a couple of two year olds? :)

Once we were minus the extra child, we piled in the car and headed to my mom's house to use her washer and dryer since I have yet to replace ours. We spent a good hour there, before other responsibilities called us elsewhere. We had hoped to return here later, but events would prove that to not be the case.

After taking care of a few other issues in life, we drop off my girlfriends daughter at her house and return to town. On the return trip, before we were to return to my mom's we had a delivery to make. Turns out, that the delivery turned into a chat session and three hours later, we realized what time it was and decided that it was better to return home than to try to go anywhere else. Sorry hon, we'll get you some crawfish soon, promise. :)

For the greater part of the night, I spent it on the internet working through pages of appliances trying to find the best deal on a new washing machine. I found one for about $260 that is made by Maytag (even though it doesn't say it is a Maytag). I hope that the store has one in stock, I don't really want to have to clear $300 before tax. Here's to hoping.

Day: 3/15/08

Ok, so when things go wrong, they usually do so at the worst possible time. Take for example my now deceased washing machine. While I am working Saturday, I get this cryptic call from the house saying that the "washing machine is making a funny sound." Now, guys, if you've dealt with a lot of women in this department, you know what this means. So, I say that there isn't much to be done about it right now, and I'll look at it when I get home. I get home that evening and proceed to yank out the dryer, and then the washing machine. Ok, so far, so good....except what is that black stuff on the floor? Oh great, metal filings, not a good sign. Ok, plug it up and check a few cycles to see what happens. Lots of noise, but not much motion to the ocean. (Almost like a bad sex video ;) ) Yeah, this is not a good thing.

I hang up my belt and hit the hay. At midnight, there isn't much that can be done to this machine or the clothes still in it.

RIP: GE Washing Machine, 3/15/08

Work for the most part was a pain. We were down a number of good people today, and on warehouse day, that is not a good thing. So those of us that were there and know how to do the work required busied ourselves as best we could at trying to put out as many warehouse totes as we could. We didn't get as far as we wanted, but did better than we could have hoped.

Day: 3/13/08

I have once again been carried by the winds of Chaos into unknown and unfamiliar territory. This time, in the effort to research one thing, I was delivered to another.

This site is what I refer to: http://bibleforums.org/forum/index.php

This site is a Protestant Christian bulletin board system. If you were ever curious about this branch of Christianity, I would have you read here as these individuals are very devout and versed in their particular branch of religion. If you should fancy to post in this forum, I highly stress that you read and take time to understand the many and varied rules to accompany such a decision. This is triplely so for those not of their religion.

Now, many would ask themselves why a learning Chaos mage would even bother to venture into such a den of religious belief. Honestly, I don't know. For the moment, I would but chronicle what has transpired since my arrival within the scope of my knowledge in some hope that maybe I will have such an answer.

On my first day, I spent much time debating with myself as to why I should proceed into this forum to begin with. As I don't know expressly why I was sent along this line, I figured that I could at least entertain the idea and, if nothing more, learn more about this particular faith. From experience I know that trying to read a board of this size without being a member is a lesson in futility. Being registered allows read discussions to be marked in a different manner than those that have not, so it is only logical to have that benefit if nothing else.

So, I go and create my userid, and start in on the rules and regulations. Honestly, I have not frequented a board where there are so many rules regarding the usage of the board. There are even special rules directed to those not of their faith. In regard to these rules, I am kind of dismayed that if I label myself as non-Christian, my access will be severly limited in the manner I may discuss faith or lack there of. For the most part, my access is restricted to a select few pieces of the board that I may post freely to (or near freely to) and all the rest I may read only. This is all done on the basis of their prior experience with members of other faiths, so I know where they are coming from on many things, while I hold a firm disagreement with other items. As it is said though, "their board, their rules, like 'em or leave".

After jumping here and there around the board for a few hours, I decide the best way to get things going was to introduce myself. Simple enough I would think. I do my quick introduction, and I figure I may get a hello or two, but am not expecting a grand fanfare for my appearance, perhaps a little panic, but nothing major. :) Needless to say, I was quite shocked to find more than just simple hellos aimed my way. Do not take that the wrong way, I have not been attacked in any manner, but other issues did arise that I will get into that in a moment. I had not fully considered the effect of making mention of the path of Chaos in my introduction. (Don't you just love how hindsight is 20/20? :) )

It turns out that I become quite the curiosity to some of the members of the board. So much so, that I/we managed to have our messages relocated to another portion of the board (luckily somewhere I still had the ability to post to). Well, it comes that one of the other members presented a question to me and I am put into a quandry. The rules of the board for non-Christians is that we are not permitted to teach or preach our faith or belief. The question regarded that in particular, my beliefs of God, Jesus, the Bible, etc. You see where the problem is. So, I take the issue to a private area and address the moderators on the subject while leaving the question kind of hanging in the air. I guess that got noticed and a second moderator stepped up and moved the previous discussion into the 'secret area' where I was pretty much hidden from the board. Not a big deal mind you, but rather unexpected.

As it all stands now, I am engaged in a private discussion regarding just how to approach questions such as the one presented with moderators. I have done my utmost to adhere to their rules and honor their requests and they have tried to assure me that I am in not any particular level of trouble. I have tried to assure them that I am not there for any mischief, especially since I don't know for sure why I am there in the first place. Of course, I think Mischief likes my butt or something about me because it has the tendency to follow me around. I don't typically try to start it, it just kind of does it on its own. Chaos strikes again is the best I could say. :)

On other matters, there really aren't any. This issue of the Bible board has me pretty occupied in my thoughts. I figure I will eventually either find what I'm looking for here, or grow bored of the whole thing and wander off somewhere else. Chaos can be confusing sometimes. :)

ADDENDUM (3/14/08): At this last hour, it would appear to me that I have been 'attacked' in a way and placed in a position where I felt the need to defend myself from messages that felt demanding and near threatening. I expressed my feelings in a response, answered one question demanded of me, and took my leave with the explanation that I may or may not return to continue any further dialogue.

Day: 3/09/08

Ok, so it has been a few days since my last post. Admittedly, there just really hasn't been anything of any note worth talking about. I haven't had much time to read, been sick to a point where my mental processes are just working enough to keep me mobile, and, well, it's a dull ride sometimes. :)

However, with that said, I did have an interesting consideration today. I found myself questioning, "why do we have toenails?"

In my own effort to figure out this question, I took to looking inside my own thoughts to find some glimmer of why embedded in there. I considered that, in ancient days, they may have had some usage as a weapon, similar to a cat's claw. In this day and age, I think that these particular nails have lost much of their use in this respect as anyone who has torn a nail from it getting snagged on something will testify, it hurts, a lot!

So then I considered that they were instead more of a protective measure. If I recall properly from my days in the Boy Scouts, nails on the hardness scale (of which a diamond is rated a 10) are rated a 5. Pretty impressive being half as hard as a diamond. Ok, so, again, as many will agree, you drop something on that toe, it is going to hurt and in some instances, the nail will be damaged and fall off. Not much of a defense mechanism there.

With our fingernails, we are given a better ability to pick up objects. Perhaps in some ancient age our toes had much more flexibility and having nails on them allowed us to use our feet to pick up objects too? I don't know about you, but my toes aren't much good for picking up much of anything.

Ok, so my internal thoughts aren't helping much. I then hit the internet. Certainly some have questioned this before, maybe they fared better.

20 pages of Ask.com later on "toenails" did not fare me well. I found a number of sites from doctors regarding ingrown toenails, fungus infections, and runner's black toenails, but nothing anywhere that said 'why' we have them. I did encounter one site that approached the question, but it was not much better of than I am.

So now I head off on one of my tangents regarding black toe nails. I had at a time considered taking up walking/running and in a book (that I need to get back by the way) that covered the life of a person who wanted to run the New York City Marathon and how they lost a toenail or two in the training process. I went to find out if this was truth or myth. Ok, it's a truth, if you get the shoes right. Apparently there is a lot of data and science to getting the right pair of shoes for walking/running. And here I thought I was well informed regarding getting a good pair of shoes. Did you know that in a training session your feet can swell up to a whole shoe size? The things you learn. So it turns out that I have established another reason to avoid running/walking for the time being, I won't be able to get the proper kind of footwear to protect my (useless?) toenails from falling off.

This brings me back to the internalization, that perhaps we just have toenails to keep our digits all looking alike. Fingernails and toenails, just for a symmetry effect. To my mind now, I think of what a toe, or even an entire foot, would look like with no toenails, kind of creepy in a weird way. But, at the same time, it is only weird because I have toenails and understand that they are part of the toe and to not have them it would be an odd looking toe.

Perhaps we have toenails as a mean to provide support for the structure of a toe. If we didn't have a toenail, would we have little round rolls of whatever they are composed of to support us? Would it be able to support us and offer stability? Stability, that is a choice to consider. If our toes were rounded, they wouldn't be much good for stability as they may have more of a tendency to roll under pressure. The toenail, to some degree, seems to give the toe a more oblong shape, which in turn offers more surface area and that in turn provided additional stability.

Maybe toenails were put there for the purpose of giving us something silly to consider. :)