be vewy, vewy quiet - i'm hunting wabbit

Terrible start to my day. I let Salem out in the backyard, and after 15 minutes, he returns with a dead baby rabbit in his mouth. I was so disgusted with him. In a matter of 1 hour, he brought me 2 more!! Why did I let him out each time? There must be a nest somewhere. The dog next door wanted in on the action. Salem could not figure out why I was so mad at him. Normally, he'd hide under the bed. Instead, he craved my attention. No, I think it was my approval he wanted. He's a mix of cocker spaniel and beagle. So the beagle in him is a natural hunter. And he seemed very proud to bring me back his prey. I feel terrible for the rabbits, but I felt just as bad for scolding Salem. I need to check the perimeter of the fence to make sure no more rabbits get into the backyard.

Salem hiding

Salem hiding
Originally uploaded by tenyjr.

caught Salem in the bay window

Borders 30% Off Coupon

Borders 30% Off Coupon - this is valid Thursday 4-28 thru Sunday 5-1. Pass this link on to a friend!

AKA Secretary Day

What a long day; not being able to listen to the iPod drove me crazy. Not as busy - just long and slow. One bright moment: Hillman and I did get a nice surprise from our fellow co-horts in the office, since we're considered "administrative professionals" (Hillman still insists he's a "case aide" and should not be classified with me). We both received a card signed by everyone, along with gift cards - one of the girls made some delicious sweet treats to feast on all afternoon. A BIG thank you to my fellow team members. The gifts were too much (food woulda been enough; you know I love to eat), but I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Thank you :)

I was reminded of the great team I belong to. I feel guilty knowing I plan to quit when the right opportunity comes my way.

crap

damnit, forgot my headphones.
i need my music, my tunes, and i don't have my headphones!!
man, this sucks.
so stupid.

slow progress

Web sites take a lot of work. And a lot of time. I'm learning that the hard way. I know for sure I won't keep my blog on Blogger. Too much hassle to publish one thing to both places. I want to move most of what's on my blog to my main homepage, but I need to manually write up a draft before I can tackle that. I hope to do another podcast soon. I was able to set up a feed so aggregators can download my podcasts (news aggregators can also download my blog posts).

It's been a while since I talked about work. Pete's out til Thursday; on vacation or at a seminar, who really knows. Sly has been doing his best to get a grasp on the daily functions of the dept. I like Sly, but I think he should slow down and take things one at a time. Me? I'm doing fine, but I still can't get a handle on what it is I should be doing anymore. I feel like I've been demoted from an office manager to a secretary in less than 2 months. I don't do things on my own anymore; I do what I'm asked or told. To tell you the truth - it really sucks.

tenyjr.com

I think I did it. For the time being, tenyjr.com is this - my blog. The only difference is the address. The blog can still be accessed at Blogger, via tenyjr.blogspot.com, at least for the next week or so. Then I will post that I will no longer update this on Blogger since I have my own space now.

"teny.com"(?)

I'm still trying to figure out this web hosting bit. It will take time to sort out all my files, figure out where to put them, and learn how to make it all mesh together. I got my own domain and more web space to play with now. D is anxious to do another podcast, and he wants to know why other people haven't listened to what we got so far. I have a lot of learning to do as far as presenting it to the masses and getting it out there in the podcast world. Can you say "RSS"? How about "aggregator"? Words I've heard a lot of since the beginning of the year but don't know much about.

D told me Grandpa was reading my blog. He wasn't quite sure what a "blog" was. So I thought I'd give a shout out to him - "Hi Derek!!" For a definition on what a blog is, click here.

Some may have noticed I used a different photo site for Victoria's pictures - Flickr.com. It's free, easy to use, and looks good too. I'm sure I'll host my own pics, but until I figure that part out, I thought I'd give Flickr a try.

Cards sweep Astros

St. Louis 8, Houston 5

Mulder lasts 10 innings

St. Louis 1, Houston 0

support our troops

Remembering Pat Tillman - Tillman left the NFL after the 9-11 tragedy to "pay something back" to his country. It was a year ago yesterday that he died in a firefight in Afghanistan.

Armed Forces Tribute - We take a lot for granted these days. We should remember not only those who have sacrificed their lives to serve America in our Armed Forces, but the many men and women who defend our freedom to this day in the US and overseas. We thank you - our troops - and pray for a quick and safe return home!

Victoria Eudora Welty

Friday evening, after taking D to rendezvous with his dad, CL and I headed to Missouri Baptist Hospital in St Louis to visit Terry, Brandi, Emily and their new addition, Victoria. We got to the hospital to find out they were discharged earlier that morning! So we called them up and paid them a visit. Brandi was nursing the baby when we arrived, so her mother force fed us dinner while we listened to Terry retell the past few days. Then Mom and Baby came out to visit; it was the first time I held a baby as an adult. I was terrified (the picture does no justice). She is so precious! Didn't cry once. We hope to see her again soon when Grandma and Grandpa come to visit in a few weeks. Thanks to Terry and Brandi for allowing me to post these, along with some of our own ...

Baby pictures
video clip
(file size 1.1 MB, playtime 10 sec)

Cards nail Cubs

St. Louis 4, Chicago Cubs 0

episode iii

Bought 2 tickets online last night for Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith! D doesn't know yet; I don't want his excitement to boil over. I think he's frustrated and thinks we're the only 2 big fans who have yet to buy tickets. It opens May 19, and we're going to the midnight show in Fairview. CL and I will allow him to miss school for that day since the school year's practically over. I was able to get the day off. I did tell D that if his behavior didn't improve, he wouldn't get to see the movie until it came out on video!

found some space

Successfully uploaded the lunch podcast to AOL. I will probably go with VizaWeb to manage my web sites. This includes the blog and my photos. Photosite.com currently hosts my pics, and I'm up for renewal in August. Once I figure out how I want to present them, I will cancel my account with Photosite. So I could be hosting my own sites this weekend!

Morris returns, shuts down Bucs

St. Louis 7, Pittsburgh 1

podcast - lunch in the park

Got away for lunch today. Talked about long lunches, lack of web space, podcasts, and work.

mp3
(size 8.2 MB, playtime approx 18 min)

Pope Benedict XVI

CNN.com - German cardinal elected new pope - Apr 19, 2005

lacking space

D stayed in bed this morning instead of getting up early ("tomorrow, I promise"). We'll see. Another gorgeous day, had lunch in the park, and recorded another podcast. CL and D went to Fairview to get him some summer clothes. The pup and I walked to the neighborhood park and back. The rest of my evening was spent trying to find a place in cyberspace for the podcast (with no luck). Lacking web space is really starting to get to me. I will look into VizaWeb, recommended by Leo Laporte. It sounds like my best choice for web hosting, it's cheap, and I can manage more than just my blog with it. This may mean I will require more computer time, but that's another issue for another day.

something new?

CL and D got up at 6 this morning to walk. D is trying to show that he can do something and stick to it. His dad won't let him stay in NC this summer as long as he'd like, so D needs to get on the ball and show some commitment by being responsible and active (not just a kid who sits in front of the tv all day). I hope that attitude spreads to other areas; I'm anxious for some improvement.

simple

It was a gorgeous day; sunny, high of 80. What a waste to spend it at work. Got the grass cut, had a nice steak dinner with CL, took Salem for his walk, and enjoyed a great episode of 24.

hodgepodge

Links of interest ...

• Fan interferes as Sheffield tries to field 2-run triple - Thursday night, Gary Sheffield for the Yankees took a hit to the face as he was fielding a ball. What is the world coming to? The fans that act like this don't deserve to ever attend another sporting event. You can boo and jeer and heckle them all you want, but when you want to get physical, be prepared to face the music. I know I'll hear about this, but I feel if they stop serving alcohol - that might teach some people a lesson.
• Star Wars - Episode III tickets on sale now - Thanks to Donny for the update! D cannot wait to see this movie, and neither can I. I've been disappointed with the prequels to this point, and I'm anxious for the saga to go out with a major bang. It's the episode SW fans have been waiting for. We know what happens; we just want to see it happen! I'm debating on when we'll see it; D's behavior needs to improve before I can say it's ok to see it on opening day.
• OpenOffice.org - a free productivity suite that is compatible with Microsoft Office. I just downloaded this the other day. Our PC has a 60-day trial for Office 2003; I'm waiting to see if this is a better alternative (not to mention cheaper).

Pics of my niece Jasmine ...

• Jazzy looking cute
• Jazzy's Easter pictures

My podcasts are on hold until I can figure out where I can put them. "The DNT Show" will be on hiatus as well until D gets his act together - can you say "attitude"?

Hope everyone had a nice weekend; here we go with a new week. Have a good one!

weekend

This week is a blur. Podcasting has dominated my time since I acquired a microphone for recording. And D is anxious to hear what others think about our own podcast. I was finally able to upload it and create our site last night. Check it out - "The DNT Show". Again, our podcasts are large files, so be patient in downloading (those of you who dial into the internet, I'm sorry).

I am terrible with birthdays. My niece Jasmine celebrated her 3rd on April 10, and I'm planning on sending her a gift, but I won't be able to order it til next paycheck. She's a fan of Dora the Explorer, and I saw a dollhouse on Amazon I'm sure she will enjoy. Some might think it costs too much, but I feel horrible that I've missed 3 birthdays now, and her Tito needs to make up for it. Also, a special belated birthday wish goes out to my brother-in-law, Steve. I'm sorry I missed yours as well (April 12). I STILL owe you a set of pictures (I need to get my act together).

A special mention (and long overdue congrats) to my cousin Rowena and her husband Dave on the birth of their son Hamilton Joseph. If I have their permission, I will post pics of the little guy; he looks like a Jose! (no offense, Dave)

Busy day (as usual); good thing it was Friday, and I got to leave early. I also made my rounds for the first time since I was caged in February. It was kind of liberating to see the building again and those I work with in their environment. I hope to do this more in the near future.

Well, I'm going to go relax; it's Friday afternoon, the weekend, and I wanna enjoy it. You do the same!

DNT

D was so pysched about recording our own podcast that he wouldn't stop talking about it. He kept throwing out ideas of what we would do and how we would do it. I needed to get D used to the whole recording thing, so we took Salem for a walk while I recorded. Well D started to script everything by acting like he was talking to an audience. I told him to not do that; I want him to be natural and be himself. When he first heard our test recordings, he was like, "I sound like a dork!" I told him that what he hears in his head is always different than what everyone else hears. In time, you'll get used to it. We finally got started on the podcast after dinner.

I'm surprised we were able to get one done after roughly 2 takes, 2 phone calls, and nearly 2 hours of importing, editing, and recording! We call it "The DNT Show" (Danny and Teny) and it's basically a review podcast where we talk about a something and give our opinions. Our first one is about Star Wars - Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and it lasts 20 minutes. I honestly felt it sounded uninteresting. I didn't feel any flow, and I think that stemmed from the fact that we were "performing" for an audience. Listening to our recordings earlier, those sounded natural. But the actual "show" was awkward; I think D tried to hard too shine. It doesn't sound bad; besides, it was our first.

I still have to create a website to represent "The DNT Show" and provide links to the podcast (D's classmate called when I got home and asked where he could download it, and we hadn't even started!). Oh, and I don't have enough webspace to store all the podcasts. I still haven't posted part 2 of my walk! Podcasting takes a lot of time, and I don't like hogging the computer, because once I get started, I can't stop!

Anyway, I hope to have the DNT website up tonight, along with the 1st podcast.

i hate monday

Today ended on a sour note. I interrupted my partner as he told our manager the situation with one of our other members, and I finished explaining it for him. Terrible for me to do. It wasn't intended that way; he was very busy, and I tried helping him out. Then he had to tell our manager what was going on, and I had to butt in. Stupid. I feel horrible about it. It made me feel like the "chicken of the sea" (if you know what I mean). And that's the last person I want to emulate.

When I got home, D was having problems with his homework, and I tore into him. It was unfair of me to take it all out on him. He got it all, the frustrations I have had in the past few weeks. He took it pretty well. I apologized and told him I would help him with it.

Anyway ... to sum it up, (pardon my french) it was a really shitty day.

my first podcast

Ordered the Lapel Mic Thursday, and got it Friday! Put it to use Saturday AM when I took the dog for a walk. Aside from occasional noise (wires rubbing together, the mic swung as I walked), it sounds great!! I used my MiniDisc recorder with my iPod headphones to monitor the sound. A lot of rambling, really. I noticed I seem to talk like Mr. Adam Curry - I must stop that immediately! This is my own podcast, and I have to be myself. It may sound loud, so be prepared to lower the volume. I had to split the MP3 file into 2 parts so people could download smaller files (plus I have limited webspace for now).
Here's part 1:

Started recording when CL and I went to Waterloo and South County; after maybe 15 minutes she noticed I was taping and wanted me to stop, so I did. After talking to her today, she sounded as if she may allow me to post it. But she needs to listen to it first!


Tiger Woods wins his 4th Masters in a playoff with Chris DiMarco

Sunny day, and it hit 80! Actually, it all depended on what side of the street you were on; in Swansea, one bank sign said "83" and another said "77". Cut the grass today. I hope to spend more time outside next weekend.

It'll take some time to get used to the technical side of podcasting. I'll probably do this once a week. Until the next time ... g'night!

last opener at Busch

Friday! A beautiful day, sunny, low 70's, with the Cardinals opening their final season at Busch Stadium against the Phillies. Cards are down at the moment, 4-5, bottom of the 8th, 2 outs, and the bases are loaded with Larry Walker at the plate. Exciting stuff! Man, I wish I was at Busch right now.

It was dress-down day at work to support the Cardinals. I went to the 10:00 meeting regarding Code 44. Code 44 took all but 3 minutes. The rest of the time they talked about ABN's. Wasted my time.

My foot feels better, but there is still pain. I can walk now without looking like a dork. I'll continue the ibuprofen until it goes away.

They walked in the tying run! Bases loaded, and Albert Pujols is up.
Omigosh, they walked in another ... the Cards are now winning 6-5!

Anyway, busy day at work; very unmotivated due to the circumstances I explained at the beginning of this post. Discovered someone else is unhappy with one of the team members. I just wonder if there's an end in sight to the frustrations we feel in the dept.

Hope to get a lot done this weekend outside. I also hope for it to be slow and relaxing. Yeah, right.

Cards win!!

Til the next time ... have a great weekend!

successful test

I think my audio test with Audioblogger went well. Sound quality isn't great because I was on my cell phone. It definitely served its purpose, and I'm quite happy with the result. Is that how I sound everyday?? I sound like a dweeb! Until I figure out how to do my own "podcasts", I will go with Audioblogger for the time being. I will definitely use them when we're on vacation; it's free!

A shout-out to Sonja at FM99 for playing "Ten Years Gone" by Led Zeppelin during Free Form Lunch! Unfortunately, I didn't request it. Someone called in and asked for any song by Zep that you wouldn't normally hear on the radio. And this is what Sonja dug up. It was awesome to hear this gem played by someone else other than me.

Gonna go rest; hope my foot heals in the next day or so or I'm off to see a doctor.

my 1st audio blog

podcasting

I mentioned before that I’d like to do my own podcast. Maybe a weekly thing. I’d keep it simple and talk about, well, anything (or in some cases, nothing). It’ll be like having a conversation with Teny, only I'd do all the talking (which is no different than my real life conversations; just ask CL).

My iPod requires an accessory to record, like Griffin's iTalk. But it records in mono, and I want the podcast in stereo. So I won't use the iPod. I have a MiniDisc recorder that I can use for on-the-go recording; only downside I see is I'll have to encode to MP3 after recording (kind of like recording twice). Adam Curry uses an iRiver flash MP3 player/recorder, which records and encodes in MP3 all in one step. But I can’t afford to buy me a new gadget right now.

I’ve been browsing around for a decent microphone. Target and Walmart have headsets that could work, but I'd hate to invest more than $20 on what could give me bad quality. Griffin sells a Lapel Mic that has received good reviews from actual users on the Web. And it's only $15; that suits me just fine.

D said he'd like to give podcasts a try. He got hooked after listening to Michael Geoghegan's Reel Reviews. D liked listening to his movie reviews of Heat and Get Shorty. So now D wants to do his own reviews. I told him he could once I had the right gear.

I know while we're on vacation I won't have access to a computer. But I should have a cell phone. So I will probably "blog" via cell phone one night to update as to how things are going. The audio blog should post here, and it will be in MP3 form. You'll just need to download and listen to it. I'll be testing this out before the end of the week.

catching up

My left foot is killing me. Woke up yesterday with pain, and I can't put much weight on it. As the day goes on, I can walk (I try to ignore the fact that it hurts). It really hurts when I haven't been on it for a long period of time; I practically fell out of bed this morning. I don't know if it's a pulled muscle or a sprain or if something's broken (CL laughs at me). This has happened before, and it took a week for it to go away.

Pepsi/iTunes promotion - Free songs to date: 70! This ends Monday, 4-11. After that, I'll try to clean up whatever caps are still on the shelves (caps expire in May). Thanks again to everyone for their donations.

Vacation is a little over 2 months away. We'll do the Disney thing the first week with the family, then everyone leaves while CL and I head on to Tybee Island, Georgia for some serious RnR. I can't wait to not have a care in the world for 2 weeks.

St Louis 7, Houston 3

Work has been ok. I hate it when I'm there. I feel I've rubbed several people the wrong way since I got in trouble, and there's this cloud over me when they see me coming. I shouldn't worry what others think, but they were my friends, and now I feel like I've been shunned. I'm sure someone's been talking about me. Damnit, I hate gossip.

kids

I have patience for everything in the world. Except kids. Actually, it's just one kid. I don't know what it is. D has driven me to the point of madness with his ability to annoy, aggravate, and ignore me.

I feel we've spoiled him rotten this weekend. New "Star Wars" toys came out Saturday, and he wanted to buy 3 with his own money. Grandpa bought him 5, D bought 5 of his own, and I got him a special edition figure. He also asked me for a $15 advance on his allowance so he could get the novelization of "Episode III" (which he didn't get because Walmart didn't have it). This week, he got 2 new games for his XBox. Grandma bought him a SW poster, and CL bought him 2 more. Oh, and he got the novelization for the original SW trilogy.

Yet he acts sad or bored while the rest of us watch the Final Four Saturday night. Today, he talks to me like I'm his "homey", badgers me as to when I'm gonna finish doing my things so I can do what he wants, and during dinner and afterwards, he is obnoxious even after repeated attempts asking him ... no, telling him to stop. We all gathered to watch "The Incredibles", and he launches into a fit of uncontrollable, yet forced, laughter. I got mad at him, and now that I have his attention, he glares at me like I will pay the price for being mad at him. Once again, I left the room so I could cool off. He has no idea what respect or responsibility is, and no matter what I do or try, he continues to do what he wants until it's too late.

They are still watching the movie, and I am in the same room typing this. I'm sure CL is upset that I didn't stick around and spend time with the family. I know if I did, I would spend most of the time yelling at him. In fact, he's getting yelled at by the others as he eats popcorn (he dips it in his juice, threatening to make a mess). I'm gonna go shower and watch the Red Sox take on the Yanks.

Reality check

What a long day. I spent the majority of the day working on the dept's orientation manual. We have 2 printers that don't work well and the copier is a piece of junk. So needless to say, the manual looks like crap. The bosses would like one ready for a new employee who starts Monday. My daily charges were put off to the last minute. I was so busy with the stupid book I forgot to eat lunch. And I was so tired I was craving a nap. The end of the week continued the trend of "busy" and "slow".

No pranks took place, nor did I attempt any (I'm not that creative). The local radio station did something neat and changed their format from adult contemporary to basically whatever they felt like playing. It was kind of neat to hear Jimmy Buffett, AC/DC, Green Day, MC Hammer, and Leann Rimes all in the same hour.

FM99 also pulled a fast one on its listeners by allowing their intern to take over the station and play whatever he wanted. Unfortunately, I didn't get to listen to the stream because it was so friggin busy.

CL and her mom are out playing bingo. D and Grandpa are waiting for me to finish so I can join them in a game of "007 Scene It". Whoopee. That's ok, D's such a Bond expert it'll be over so quick I won't feel any pain. Have a nice weekend!

wow

A fantastic day! We got 2 new printers and a new scanner, got all the filing done, cleaned out the closet, one of our vendors bought us lunch from the Bread Co., won an iPod via the Pepsi/iTunes promotion, and our boss and his boss quit the company!!

I'm sure you know what today is.

(sigh)

Had a wonderful dinner last night with the family. CL made cube steaks, mashed potatoes, the works. It was delicious. Afterwards, I did the dishes, showered, and played a game of hoops on the ps2. I was planning to post while they watched their tv shows, but D was being a pain. Constantly talking when he shouldn't and with a smart mouth. We felt he was crabby and should go to bed early, and that sent him over the edge. I had to leave the room for fear I'd let him have it in front of everyone.

I'm so tired. I didn't get much sleep, and I don't want to go to work today. I heard today's practice for the Final Four teams is open to the public. I'd love to go, but - damnit, I gotta work. I really can't wait for June to arrive. I don't know if I can survive 2 more months til vacation and some much needed RNR.