That Ominous Dark Cloud is Back

My iMac died today... It froze and wouldn't restart. It would get to the little apple symbol on the startup screen and go no further. 

I did some diagnostics, everything checked out okay except it couldn't figure out what kind of hard drive was in the machine. I put the system CD in with hopes of reinstalling the OS or even reformatting the drive (I back my system up on an external drive every couple days, just did it yesterday, so I wouldn't lose much), but the installer kept telling me I didn't have a hard drive in the computer anywhere. I told it to look under the couch, but it was adamant -- no hard drive. 

So now my Mac is at the fixit shop. I hope it doesn't cost much to fix -- things are tight enough that this might be the end of my little business... 

I'm scared. 

Tagged

I've been tagged. Oh, the joy of having friends!

The rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

Okay... I'm a sucker for these things. Oh wait! I can use that!

1. I'm a sucker for these things. I don't know if I have an unmet need to parade the innermost parts of myself in front of the world, or if I'm just too polite to decline the request, but I always play these reindeer games. And I usually enjoy it.

2. I enjoy letting my hair down while it air-dries. My beloved wife Dagmar alvays tells me, "Don't do dat -- it makes you look like a vildman!" I guess at my advanced and increasingly creaky age I sorta like looking like a wildman... And it gives me a headstart on my impending cootdom.

3. Every day I wash my nose out with a saline solution (1 cup warm water, 1/8 tsp. baking soda or baking powder or whatever it is in that yellow box, and 1/8 tsp. salt). Whatcha do is get yourself a turkey-baster thingy, stand over the sink, crank your noggin around as much as you can, and squirt water into one nostril until it starts coming out the other. Then you just kinda irrigate for a while. Tip your head the other way and do it with the other nose-hole. You'd be ASTOUNDED how much goop gets washed out, and how much crud you get when you blow your beak afterwards. I haven't had a head cold since I started doing this.

4. I've found that I have horrible stage fright UNLESS I'm in control of the stage. When I was an officer in the American Legion Riders I had to give a little officer report at every meeting, and it scared the bejeezuz outta me. I'd sit there and wait my turn, rehearsing the words over and over in my mind, until finally it was my time to give my report -- and I'd freeze. Invariably. But now that I'm the President and I run the meetings, I'm fine. I don't know if it's a control issue, or if I finally realized that when I'm at an ALR meeting I'm surrounded by some of the best friends I'll ever have, and why be nervous in front of your friends?

5. I will trim my fingernails any time and any place the whimsy strikes me. I always have to be reminded that it's rude. I don't want to be rude, mind you, but I have a gift for it...

6. Lately I've spent so much time on FaceBook that not much else is getting done...

I'm not really gonna tag anyone (I hate to force people to do things) but I'd like to see Soul Pump, Veggie Killer, and maybe Dad Andersen's answers if they wanna play along... (Dad A. has often railed against the silliness of posting things about yourself in public places, so it'll be interesting to see if he plays along.)

Ode to my Wife

I love Jesus...

I wish puppies could purr

Things I wish:

1. I wish people wouldn't swear on TV. (I'm not calling for censorship, mind you, I just wish people would have the decency to self-censor when the cameras are pointed at them.)
   
   
2. I wish I hadn't made decaf this morning.
   
   
3. I wish the ice on my driveway would melt.
   
   
4. I wish President Obama well. He's got a tough row to how.
   
   
5. I wish my wife felt better. I really wish my wife felt better.
   
   
6. I wish I could speak Esperanto. And German. And Latin.
   
   
7. I wish puppies could purr.
   
   
8. I wish the people who make Internet browsers were forced into w3c compliance rather than the 2 million web designers. (At the moment if you want to design a web site that looks the same in FireFox, Chrome, Safari, Opera and Internet Explorer you have to write your code in a horribly uncomfortable way as the different browsers all use different conventions. Wouldn't it be easier for the BROWSERS to be forced to use one language rather than making all the web designers in the world learn all the foibles of each browser?)
   
   
9. I wish I knew how to run my business well.
   
   
10. I wish Putin would just go away.
    
    
11. I wish my cat weren't diabetic, the poor little guy. He takes his shots so well every day...
    
    
12. I wish common courtesy was more common.
    
    
13. I wish Fred Phelps would realize, could realize the pain he's caused spreading his hatred. If you don't know Mr. Phelps, you can go to his website at www.godhatesfags.com to see his venom. You can also learn about how bikers have banded together to stop this man and his church from disrupting the funerals of soldiers at www.patriotguard.org. Yes, Mr. Phelps leads his church when the protest at military funerals, waving signs reading "God Hates Fags," "God Hates America," and "God Bless IED's" (improvised explosive devices). Can you imagine losing your son, husband, father in Iraq, then having these guys show up at the funeral? So the Patriot Guard formed so we can stand in a line between the protesters and the grieving families. No one would care if the Westboro Baptist Church would protest in the grocery store parking lot, but at a funeral? Aw, come on... And they're not even protesting the war, they're protesting homosexuality for some reason. At a funeral. Kinda makes me wonder if Mr. Phelps isn't hiding something, actually... (When my wife and I heard about all this it took us about twelve seconds to join the Patriot Guard.)
    
    
14. I wish it didn't take so much time out of the day to shower, brush teeth, find clean clothes, eat, etc. A guy I know once said, "If it weren't for the necessities of being a carbon-based life form I could get a LOT more work done," and I know exactly what he means.
    
    
15. I wish greedy people weren't.
    
    
16. I wish I had an Egg McMuffin.
    
    
17. I wish our school systems could truly teach the next generation. We're falling behind. Maybe fund the schools so they could go to an 11-month school year or something? Take two weeks off for Christmas and two in the summer -- that's still a week's more vacation than I had after 15 years at the print shop...
    
    
18. I wish I knew earlier in life that most of the time people are cruel out of a sense of insecurity. It's rare to find a self-confident bully. In fact, often the more a person feels the need to bully or dominate others, the smaller his/her delicate little ego. Truly self-confident people lead or inspire without belittling others. (Something to remember next time you vote...)
    
    
19. I wish I'd spent more time with family when I was younger.
    
    
20. I wish I spent more time with family now.
    
    
21. I wish I didn't have to worry constantly about money.
    
    
22. I wish my wife didn't have to worry constantly about money.
    
    
23. I wish I could be more assertive at times. I tend to ask permission too often rather than just doing what's right.
    
    
24. I wish all Americans could speak intelligible English.
    
    
25. I wish people would realize that we need to take our lives back from the oil companies for two reasons. If you don't believe that carbon-based emissions are helping global warming, can you at least stipulate that it's STUPID for us to keep buying oil from foreign countries -- especially when many of them give naught but lip service to stopping terrorism? We're funding the people who want to kill us. Regardless of the price of gas, please don't buy a bigger car than you need. Encourage legislation that helps Detroit retool for electric, biofuels, hybrids, etc.
    
    
26. I wish the roads weren't icy. I miss my motorcycle.
    
    
27. I wish I could relax.
    
    
28. I wish Verizon would quit sending me e-mails telling me I'm eligible to upgrade my phone. Since when do I have to be "eligible" to buy something? If I want to buy a new phone, I'll go buy one. And why do they think I want to upgrade my phone anyway? Was the one they sold me last year so shoddily manufactured they assume it's broken by now? Do they think I didn't know what I wanted when I bought my last phone? I'm perfectly happy with what I have.
    
    
29. I wish I had an iPhone. They look SO much cooler than my cruddy old phone...
    
    
30. I wish they wouldn't make science fiction movies so spooky.
    
    
31. I wish cats had eyebrows so you could tell what they were thinking...
    
    
32. I wish I could sleep.
    

Whoa...

I stole this from Dale...

It's something to do...

One of my Legion Rider guys noticed a few months ago that the local Head Start (a preschool program for underprivileged children) didn't have any American flags in their three classrooms. I sent out an e-mail to our group and within minutes an anonymous buddy of mine replied with "I'll buy them flags and stands, no problem."

A few weeks later three boxes were delivered to me. Three flags, three stands, three poles... Nice flags, too -- the kind with the gold braid and fringe and an eagle on the top. (I looked it up online -- this guy shelled out over $250 out of his own pocket to buy the flags and give them to children!)

This morning a group of us are taking off work and trekking to neighboring village Le Mars to donate the flags and give the four-year-olds a brief lesson on what the flag represents and the history of the flag. "The children are so excited," the Head Start lady told me on the phone. "They've been practicing a special song for you guys."

Children scare me. Especially when they're in groups. I have NO idea what we're gonna say or how to teach children...

Wish me luck.