Blogging Blues

This is pretty much me watching the Sunday
political shows.

Hello, faithful reader! Why has Greenlee Gazette been so bereft of new and interesting things the last couple of days? Blame it on post-Thanksgiving, pre-holidays blahs I guess. Throw in post-election political burnout, and current "don't give a flying fig about the 'fiscal cliff'" and you get one disconnected blogger! Also, today, I've got social obligations all afternoon.

Which is not to say that I won't be blogging again. I will. And soon. I just wanted to drop in here and say that I still draw breath, I'm still here, and I'm not going away. In case one or two of you were concerned! 

Henri--the Cat with Ennui--on Halloween

What better way to wrap up Halloween than with an Henri the cat video?

So, How Was Your Christmas?

A scene from The Ref, one of the best Christmas movies ever.

It's the day after Christmas, and it's a Monday. That's a helluva combination right there. You've got your post-holiday blahs, and the most depressing day of the week rolled into one. In fact, it's probably the second worst day of the year, after January 2, the day we all have to go back to work when the holidays are really and truly over.

There is good news, or at least there is for me! I have the week off! It isn't paid time off, so it isn't all great. But it is time off. A whole week of it. I'm already sad that I've burned up three days of it, but there is still a week to go! I'm quite certain that it will be over with before I'm ready. But I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. BUT. . .the irony of all of this time off, is that even though I have the time, I'm unlikely to be a prolific blogger this week. Oh, I'll get some stuff up. Probably even some good stuff. The Iowa caucuses are coming up, after all. But it isn't going to be a banner week.

So, please, if you're here for some snarky news nuggets and political commentary--thank you--and please come back when more is going on! Thank you, and please forgive my laziness!

Unplanned Vacation Day

Don't bother me. I'm on vacation.

Ah, the economy. We like to have an "attitude of gratitude" about having a job. But the waning benefits of regular employment can be a strain. I, for instance, have found Columbus Day to be a new work holiday. Unpaid. I don't blame my bosses. It's a way to save money, and keeping me employed and the business functional is the primary thing. And really, an extra day in the weekend can be its own reward. But I'm not sure it's going to lead to extra blogging. I'll let you know. . .

Happy New Year!

2010 is ending, and good riddance! It wasn't a particularly good year for a lot of people, your editor included. It wasn't all bad, as several good things did happen. Off the top of my head, some of the positive things were

- "Don't ask, don't tell" was repealed. Or at least pre-repealed. Definitely a positive step.
- The Walking Dead premiered, was good, got good ratings, and got renewed.
- My sister announced that she's going to have another baby.
- I got a new(ish) car.
- Even though Democrats lost big in November, the uber-crazies (Christine O'Donnell, Joe Miller and especially Sharron Angle) lost.
- Election 2010 was nothing if not entertaining.
- The stock market went up (even if my own meager stocks declined).
- I got my first Mac. And didn't get assimilated into the Cult of Mac collective.

Okay, so it's not much of a list. And I did no research. I may tomorrow, if the mood strikes. Hey, I'm on vacation, cut me some slack! Bad stuff doesn't seem like a good thing to dwell upon, though I may visit a little of that too. For now, I'll leave you for now with a couple of observations:

- 2010 is the last year that those goofy New Year's Eve glasses will be credible, being the last year with two zeros in it (without a giant number in the third slot, at least). I have no doubt that the trinket hustlers will try to make them with 2011 and beyond, but they'll look dumber than they already did.
- 2010 is the end of the first decade of the 2000s, but it is also the last decade-ending year of the century that will be viewed that way. 2020 will be the last year of the teens, but will be viewed as the start of the '20s, much as 2000 is included as the beginning of this decade, even though it was not. Which is why you're seeing decade retrospectives this year, rather than last year, and they start at 2001.
- We got through a whole decade without naming it. I suppose this is normal. I'll bet the "gay nineties" wasn't thought up for the 1890s until later (and wouldn't get a name like that today!). But what was it? The oos? The two-thousandsies? The aughts? The lost decade? Or is that to come?

Anyway, have a very happy (and safe) New Year's Eve, and a prosperous (or at least better) 2011 than we had in 2010.

Endings and Beginnings

Christmas (and all its attendant festivities, not to mention competing festivals) has come and gone. The week of holiday limbo that follows has likewise been crossed off the calendars. New Year's Day marked the end and beginning of a year and (kinda) a decade. And now most of us have seen an unusual new year's treat--not having to go back to work until the fourth of the month--sneak up on us, even if we've had the previous 8-11 days off.

Personally, I've been off work since Christmas Eve. I've managed to accomplish at least as much as my cat in that time, and in fact have picked up a habit or two from her. Sunbeams do make fun napping places! But there is a counter-inutuitive bit of time perception that happens on stay-at-home weeks of from work. Usually, if you waste time by doing nothing, time crawls. Actually trying to waste time seems to make it go on and on. But when you do this at home--rather than at your desk at work--time actually seems to accelerate. Here I am on day 11 of my break, staring at returning to work tomorrow morning, and I'm thinking, "already?!?"

So, I'm making my last leisurely brunch/late breakfast. I'm on the last day of my waist-expanding project. I'll resume my low-carb diet tomorrow, along with a slightly-better-than-halfhearted attempt at regular exercise. And, I'll try to return the blog to more than a post a day. But that project could be difficult if this morning's Sunday political yack-fests are any indication.

I actually had to check my DVR to make sure that I wasn't watching last week's Meet the Press with David Gregory. Seriously, did nothing happen in the past week? Nearly the entire program was taken up with the Christmas Day attempted underwear bombing. There was absolutely nothing new to be heard, with Gregory (who is turning out to be a piss-poor substitute for Tim Russert) asking the same batch of loaded questions he asked last week. Pathetic.

FOX "News" Sunday with Chris Wallace was no better (as though it ever is). The vaguely creepy host continued to embarass his father by dragging the allegedly "hard news" segment of FOX "News" into the partisan gutter as he does every other week. Wallace also seems to think it is last week, with--as I watch this--nothing that would let you know an entire week has gone by since they talked about the exact same thing. That's 9 days since the non-event "happened."

I may have to zip through the rest of the program with the remote, especially when they haul out the ludicrously named "Power Panel," the rag-tag (surely skeleton crew) group of arch-conservatives and milquetoasty moderates that constitute "fair and balanced" on this stupid program. Then, unless it is preempted by tennis or golf or girls' field hockey, it'll be time for This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Unless they've replaced him. At least he has the "Sunday Funnies" segment, which usually proves amusing. Except all the comics have been on vacation, so good luck with that, George. Maybe my New Year's resolution should be to stop watching these increasingly lame shows? Maybe. But habits are hard to break.

Happy New Year!

If you've stopped by in the last 24 hours (or the last week, for that matter), you may have noticed a few less posts than usual. Sorry about that. I can't even claim to be busy. Here I am, with New Year's a little over an hour away, sitting at home watching the new year in on telly. Which is about as low as you can go, sweetie. (Thank you, Edina from Absolutely Fabulous)

I just wasn't in the mood this year for revelry, I can't really say why. Part of it is that The Other Half is working early tomorrow, and can't participate. Another is, I dunno, I guess I'm holidayed out. Maybe the February blahs came early to me this year. But I'm here on the blog, and I should have the thing up and running at normal speed in a couple of days. But my "vacation" still has three days left on it, so I might just continue to take advantage of that. But by Monday! Tuesday at the latest. . .

Meanwhile, Happy New Year!!!

Up Early on Boxing Day, Computer Rant

So, I woke up early this morning and couldn't sleep any more. So I got up, and tippy-toed off to the kitchen/family room, trying not to wake The Other Half. Got the coffee cooking, peeled some potatoes to partially boil (feeling like hashed browns this morning), and opened up the laptop computer to see what's going on in the world. And I was confronted with a couple of things from my pet peeves list, from my little Dell Inspiron 1525.

Now, I've been using Windows 7 for a while now, and for the most part I love it. It looks significantly "grown up" from its more cartoonish-looking predecessors, it's sleek and clean and works pretty well. That doesn't mean I can't crash it if I try, but it doesn't do that with any frequency. I've been dubbed a "computer guru" for my self-taught progression from Windows 3.0 to the current version, a title I only partially agree with. I'm often a bumbler, and sometimes just get lucky stumbling upon solutions to computer woes.

There are a few things about Windows computers that have never worked particularly well, like networking and printing controls. Or rather, they often don't work well for me. If you've sent a document to the printer and want to cancel it, you're often SOL, and if a computer on your network can't "see" any of the others, it can be a brain-squasher figuring out the problem. If Windows 7 has made the networking a bit easier (if no more understandable), there hasn't been any change to printing controls. But these weren't my problems this morning.

My first problem is just the time and clunkiness involved in "waking up" a computer from sleep or hibernation mode. Windows 7 does a great job waking up from "off" (compared to earlier versions), but from a suspended state, there is much whirring and clicking--and waiting. At least I've figured out how to wake up my laptop. If I unwittingly press the "moon" button on a desktop, and it goes to sleep, I haven't the barest clue how to "wake it up," as there seems to be no button for that. I suppose I should look it up.

The second problem is with virus-checking software. I use McAfee because it's free with my Cox Cable. But every single time I turn on my laptop, the McAfee program insists I have a problem, and that it can "fix" it with a click of a button. But "fix" does nothing but start a scan, and the scan will not finish. And next time I pop open the laptop, same thing. Grrr.

The third problem is an intermittent one with the text cursor. Often, when typing for the blog or in Facebook (or anywhere), my text cursor will hop up to a different location. If I'm not looking at the screen, I may type several words right in the middle of something I typed earlier. Inordinately frustrating, and worse when you try to find a solution. The Googles are great for finding solutions to problems, but there is more frustration to be had there as well.

It will never cease to amaze me, when I go to message boards for computer issues, how many people will try to help solve a problem when they've obviously never experienced the problem themselves. How can I tell? Because they'll start off with, "Well, have you tried?. . ." or "What exactly were you doing when. . ." or "What version of Windows/processor/browser/etc. are you using?. . ." or "Well maybe you accidentally. . ." Each of these lead-ins tells me, they're fishing. If they knew the answer, they'd say: "Do this:" And when you run into one of these kinds of answers, it is like a eureka moment. My cursor problem isn't me. It is either my hardware, or it is my software, or it is a combination. But I'm not the only one it has happened to. So, why isn't there a computer problems database out there somewhere that just has answers?

ps. Yes, yes, get a Mac some will say. They have no problems whatsoever, are perfect in every way, and will even boil your potatoes for you. Sure, sure.

Merry Christmas from Greenlee Gazette!

I honestly don't know how much I'll be posting this weekend, due to the holiday. Experience teaches me that almost all of the blogs--and much of the news--goes practically dark this time of year. So, scouring for interesting articles and features is doubly hard. And shoot, I'm on vacation! So, I'll pop in and out occasionally these next few days. . .but not very much.

In the meantime, have a great holiday (whatever it may be, unless yours is already over, in which case, enjoy your Chinese food!). It's time to open presents, so I. Am. Outta here!

ps. Yes, Virginia, the picture is Photo-Shopped! (Click to embiggen)

And for the curious, here is a link to the original shot: AwkwardFamilyPhotos

I Can Has Easter Eggs

Yes, Easter is over, and most of us are back to work today. Not me though, since I took a long weekend to visit family. So, I won't be able to blog much of anything until Tuesday night (Wednesday morning to some of you). And right now, I'm still in the Easter spirit, so I thought why not one more post. It's probably as disturbing to some as the previous post, but I thought it was funny. . .



Source: ICanHasCheezburger?

'Twas Two Days After Christmas. . .

'Twas two days after Christmas, and all through the blogs, the hit counters weren't ticking, they were sleeping like dogs. . .

Seriously, I haven't had traffic this low since I started this blog 19 months ago. I knew that traffic would slow after the election. I knew that it would fall even more over the holidays, when people have other things to do. But right now, if you are reading this, you are probably alone in the world.

The world! Billions of people could find things I've posted--over 4,000 posts--and do you know how many have in the last 24 hours? Thirty-nine. That's sobering. So, while I've felt a little guilty for not posting much in a few days, I'm not sure there would be much of a point anyway. I see why the other big blogs have either slowed to a trickle, or are hibernating. I just worry that if I take too much of a break, I'll fall out of the habit. And this hobby has been too much fun for me to let it whimper and die.

So, over the next few days, I'm going to try and find something interesting every day. It might be two or three posts, but it will be something. In fact, before bedtime (I'm writing this in the wee hours), I intend to find something interesting to share. And with a little luck, a few lonely blog readers out there will find and enjoy it. Say hello, won't you? Later!

Happy Monday, Happy Shopping

The long holiday weekend presents problems for bloggers like me. There is something of a news vacuum, and finding interesting stories to relate can be difficult. Many bloggers took the opportunity as a vacation from blogging, and believe me, I get that! But I found the habit more difficult to break.

Still, I haven't got much to put up for today yet, and I'm off to work after a few hours sleep. But you're probably not reading this anyway, given that it's "Cyber Monday," and you're probably all shopping (maybe while at work? Tsk! Tsk!). I'll try to resist that temptation, though I did just buy a few things for the family before turning in.

I'll be back this evening, but please take a look at the posts from this weekend. They're varied and unusual in some cases, plus they were a lot of work! Enjoy, and thanks for reading.

Young Turks: Conservatives Hate Wall-E

Yeah, I know, another Young Turks video. But hey, I really like them, and we're coming off of a holiday weekend, where interesting blog stories are few and far between. And why am I apologizing?

Anyway, here The Young Turks discuss the crazy conservative outcry over the liberal, fascist movie. . .Wall-E. Seriously. I haven't seen Wall-E yet, but I might now!

Happy President's Day!

I got an unexpected day off today from work, and have used it the best way such a day can be used: I slept late, and am still in my jammies at 1:30! Unfortunately, I skipped the blogging thing so far, and now have an engagement to get to. . .

So, very light posting, until later in the evening. Add this to yesterday, and it's probably the lightest posting I've done since June. But, I'm still here! Enjoy the rest of your holiday, everybody.

Christmas is Over, Bring On New Year's!

Whew! Christmas hit like a freight train, with a very full day for this editor. All in all, it was pretty nice, but it leaves you a little winded. Today, we're having Christmas II: The Sequel at the Stupid Monkey's house, followed by Christmas III: This Time, It's Personal at another friend's house the next day.

After that, I believe we will have wrung every last drop of Christmas magic out of the season, and will be looking forward to New Year's Eve. In the mean time, posting around here will remain light. I see, after perusing my favorite blogs, that I'm in good company with the barely there internets. Until you're on the inside of the blogosphere looking out, you don't realize how difficult maintaining a blog can be during holidays and special events. Shoot, even weekends are hard.

The blog should be back with gusto on Thursday and especially Friday, when I will have more time to post. Until then, keep on having fun!

Holidays Strike Again!

Is there no end to this madness? Yet another holiday gathering once again prevents me for dutifully posting very many new goodies here on the blog. I know this this falls back-to-back with yesterday (and the day before), but what can I do? Deny my friends the splendor that is me? Heh.



Oh, I've got a little time to put some very newsworthy items up, just not enough time for scintillating commentary.


I'll try to post some stuff tonight (for morning readers), and surely over the weekend. Do come back. . .I will! I promise.

Greenlee Gazette Takes a Holiday

There is almost no chance that I'll have time to post at all today, as I'm working 9 hours, and then going to our company Christmas party. This is the first day in probably six months that I'll have only posted one item for the whole day, and even this is just a note to tell you nothing's here today!

So, if you've come by to see us, thank you. Please take a look to see if there's anything new that you haven't seen. And if you don't find anything, please come back to visit us tomorrow!

Holiday Time Ramps Up

Tonight we're hosting some friends for a nice ham dinner. As a consequence (or benefit, depending upon your point of view), posting will be fairly light this evening. I hope to have a few things up in the early evening, and possibly have a thing or two posted for tomorrow morning.

If not, mea culpa! I'll see you tomorrow!

The Holiday is Over, Prepare for the Holidays!

Now that we've finished Thanksgiving IV: The Revenge at our house, we can finally put away the roasting pan, and eat like normal people. For a few days at least, before the Christmas parties (and, ugh, cookie baking) start. But for a while, life should be reverting to normal.

And so should the blog. I'm in good company in the blogosphere, taking it a little easy these last four days. It's funny, on those days when I actually have more time to get creative, it's actually harder to fill this space with interesting things. The news basically going on vacation at the same time doesn't help.

But hey, something must have happened that was newsworthy in the last four days, right? I'll be digging, and hope to bring it to you later this evening. Until then, loosen your belt a notch to make room for the overindulgences of the last few days. No sense in being uncomfortable! Going back to work after such a stretch is uncomfortable enough!

One More Before I Go. . .

Photo from Wikipedia

I'm off to my traditional "home away from home" Las Vegas Thanksgiving dinner. As I've done at least 10 times before, I'll be spending it with--as he's known around here--Lesto's (and Mrs. Lesto's) house. It's always a fabulous spread, and unfailingly delicious.

It will also, traditionally, leave me incapacitated for the remainder of Thursday, on into Friday. Therefore, dear reader, the Greenlee Gazette will probably be hibernating right along with its editor. I'll be back tomorrow. Enjoy your Thanksgiving!