massive push

to get this office organized! i'm not the world's worst packratter - but i'm pretty sure i'm close. there's no such thing as a clear horizontal space in my office. the stacks have spawned new stacks; and the spawn are promising to be more statuesque than the parents.

1. this could be dangerous
2. it's very hard to find things when i need them
3. i have to move stacks to get at
a. other stacks
b. the printer
c. the cintiq
d. my desk
4. getting at the back of the PC is currently impossible

i have a deadline to do this. next tuesday, i'm switching to FIOS. the installation takes "hours" according to the service center. easy access to the backs of the TVs and computers is mandatory. i'm afraid the installer will take one look and run away screaming.

so i'm throwing stuff out. lots of stuff. if i'm not using it - it goes. if i'm using it, but it can't be put away properly - it goes. it's time to be ruthless. and really PUSH on the "destroy" button, if necessary. or i'm going to rent a backhoe...

the leprechaun trap

my grandboy is in kindergarten. they do so much more in kindergarten than i remember from his daddy's time in the same grade. they read, do math, practice presentations... they even have homework!

last week's homework was to make a leprechaun trap. the grandboy called us three nights in a row asking about what kind of trap he should make. it couldn't hurt the leprechaun, but it had to have something special to keep it in the trap (they're magic, you know). we talked about the things that leprechaun's like, and what they don't like. we talked about things that would tempt them, or trick them. we talked about things that might scare them. after we talked with him, we got out our copy of darby o'gill and the little people to watch and remember. parts of it are still too scary for our grandboy, but it was fun thinking about sharing it with him in a couple more years.

eventually, he made a shoebox trap. the lid was propped open with an irish flag. the walls were lined with chocolate coins. the outside was green, with a sign that said "annual leprechaun's meeting -- free gold inside". he called us after school friday to tell us his class voted his trap one of the best! this was very, very exciting!

better, yet! saturday, he went out to breakfast with his parents and grampy. when they got back, they found the trap had been tipped over. there was a trail of chocolate coins leading to the patio outside. in the flower pot, the grandboy found some "shamrock" glitter and a new toy car! the trap "almost" worked! he almost caught a leprechaun! and the leprechaun appreciated the effort so much, he left him a toy to say "well done".

i love the boy's imagination, and the way his parents encourage it. their enthusiasm for learning will go so far in this world of ours. this is just one example, but it's the most recent, and fitting for the day.

happy st. paddy's day

p.s. monday nite, he called me again. the leprechaun came back! this time he stole more of the coins. he left another car and a note:

"pretty good trap, kiddo, but i'm smarter than that! try again next year!
~~lenny, the leprechaun."

creating a logo

well, actually not. what i'm doing is cutting a logo from a photo using CS3. this could be really tricky, depending on the photo. but photoshop has some cool tools that really help.

the photo in use is one i took at the Star Trek Tour. over the entry was a huge and beautiful panel and the picture i took shows it very clearly. the Queen Mary Dome is white on top, but the entrance is dark. selecting just the logo should be fairly easy.

the quick select tool is really a bonus. with a little patience, i was able to select the entire border and not the doorframe. but there are a few blurs along the edge where the contrast fades away. not too bad, really, but the edges look a little choppy at first.

copied it onto a new layer, hid the background and now i've got a very sharp contrast. i also have a great cintiq 20WSX monitor. can easily zoom in, and move around the edges. can expand and contract the eraser easily, too. so now i'm just smoothing out the edges a little...

i'll be using it in a newsletteer reviewing the Tour for the O*W*C.

doing the taxes

well, i don't... i just assemble all the files for the hubby to do them. ;-)

supposedly, all the paperwork is supposed to arrive in january. they do, but they don't seem to start arriving until the last week of the month. i just keep adding them to the tax folder until the middle of february. then i compare what they say to what my records thru the year say, and try to reconcile them as much as possible. then i give the whole pack to him, and leave town if i can while he works on them in turbtax.

our copy of turbotax arrives in september, usually, but there's no point in installing it before january, as ther are always updates to be downloaded at the end of the month. and we downloaded the state versions. bad enough we have to pay taxes in CA, but we also have to pay them in new mexico. blegh!

somehow, even with all this preparedness, we never seem to have them done until the last minute. my mom is hiring a financial manager...boy, do i wish that were an option for us!

a normal day

it's saturday. i've spent most of the day in the office. SOP. grampy is visiting #1 son and his family - won't be back 'til after 9:00pm.

this is routine. i start with e-mail, and catch up on a few podcasts. log in to the #techguy chatroom a little after 10:00am, and listen to the KFI broadcast when it starts a little after 11:00am. yes, i do multi-task throughout the show, mostly in 'puter work, sometimes a little fiber arts, but always within earshot. today i synced the iPod and the iTouch and made sure they were thoroughly charged. i trimmed some of the rubber stamps i had on the desk, and put away one of the afghans i'm working on (until the rest of the yarn arrives). i added my name to a couple knitting blogs and caught up on past submissions.

NOTE: why does google insist on using the same password for e-mail that is used for google checkout? it doesn't encourage me to use google checkout--that's for sure! and it means i have an really complex password just for checking my e-mail...

when the chatroom closes, i sometimes take a nap, but usually i do a few household chores--often with podcasts playing in the background. i love my airport express (broadcasts to the stereo equipment downstairs).

today, i ordered a game for the DS from amazon, placed an order for rubber stamps and paper, balanced the checkbook, edited a catalogue of images in lightroom,  and followed tweets from SXSW. lazy day. but very normal. it's really been pretty quiet--#2 son has been away all day.

tomorrow is my mom's 77th b'day. we're going down to visit around noon, staying 'til a little after dinner. standard visit includes balancing her bank accounts in quicken. my brother helped her organize all her tax papers this year. that's a real blessing; my eyesight isn't that much better than hers when it comes to reading the print on the papers she needs every year.

i really enjoyed my day. and i'm looking forward to the day, tomorrow.