Category: Interests

Why Idiots Shouldn’t Own Snow Blowers

GAD 7 Comments

I like to think of myself as a relatively intelligent person. I can program in six languages, can play multiple musical instruments, run a small server farm in my garage and design networks for Fortune 1000 clients. Recent events would indicate, however, that I am not smart enough to own a snow blower.

For the squeamish amongst you, fear not. I did not sever any digits nor did I wound any appendages. No animals, human or otherwise, were harmed during the making of this story. No, the only thing harmed in this tale was my pride, and the control rod of my 15-year-old snow plow. (more…)

My Fragile Dead Kindle

GAD 2 Comments

I liked my Kindle. At least for the 30-some hours it worked. The screen suddenly stopped working as shown in the included pictures. I tried rebooting it through the menu and by holding the power switch on for 15 seconds. Neither technique solved my Kindle screen woes. The Kindle seemed to function fine. The menus worked and my computer saw it as a drive when connected via the USB cable, but the screen was toast. (more…)

Kindle Wireless Fix

GAD 2 Comments

Like untold others, I got a slick new Kindle 3G + Wireless as a Christmas gift (2010). It connected easily to the 3G network, but it would not connect to my wireless network at home. This was baffling, because I live in the woods and my wireless security is as simple as possible. I wrote a book on networking, and my wireless security is woefully out of date. Why? Because I live in the woods. Anyone who would get close enough to hop onto my wireless LAN would be eaten by my dogs. My dogs love tasty wireless thieves. (more…)

Peenut Guy Revealed

GAD 1 Comment

I am honored to have been asked by Ricman to write up a bio for Peenut Guy, the main character in a comic he’s been drawing. Peenut Guy can be seen on his webpage over at PeenutGuy.com, and for you guitar-lovers out there, the strip is posted daily on TheGearPage.net.

Who is Peenut Guy? He is you and me. He’s every one of us who’s had a bad day. He is every one of us that’s ever made a mistake or a poor decision. There is one defining characteristic of Peenut Guy that separates him from most of us though:

Peenut Guy never lets life get him down. (more…)

Cozy Tales – Preface II

GAD 12 Comments

I would like to thank all of my readers who responded to my original Cozy Tales Preface. Most of the comments were very helpful, and as a result I decided to abandon most of that preface.

The following text, entitled Introduction, is an edited form of the original opening chapter for Cozy Tales. I think it conveys the spirit of the book better than the preface. I posted. I look forward to reading what you think. As with the last example, I encourage you to either post on the forum where you saw this, email me, PM me, or contact me in any other way you deem acceptable.

Cozy Tales – Introduction

In the life of every dog lover, there is one special dog. For me, Cozy was that dog. Cozy was a 160 pound Newfoundland who, as a puppy, chose me to be her companion in life. My wife, Lauren has always said that Cozy and I shared a special bond. The logical part of me says that Cozy just saw me as her Alpha male. I’d like to believe that there was more to her affection than simple canine hierarchy though.

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Cozy Tales – The Preface

GAD 10 Comments

I would like to try something different today. As many of you may know, I have written a book about my life with Cozy, my beloved Newfoundland dog who was put to sleep in my arms some four years ago. In an effort to make the book appealing to agents, I am rewriting the beginning, which I have included here. I am also you asking for a favor.

Please pretend that you are standing in your favorite book store (or hovering over your ebook device of choice) and reading this passage. Imagine you’ve picked up the book because of the stunning graphics and handsome author’s picture, and intrigued by what you’ve seen thus far, turned to the beginning to see if it’s worthy of purchase. (more…)

Vacation with Two Newfs – The End

GAD 3 Comments

On our last day of vacation, something miraculous happened. OK, perhaps it wasn’t the stuff of miracles, but given the week I’d had, it sure seemed that way.

You may remember from day one of our most restful and enjoyable of vacations, that Guinness has an extreme prejudice against two-wheeled vehicles of all kinds. As we drove along the New Hampshire highways, the first group of biker’s passed us. Like beaten prisoners we all flinched in preparation for the onslaught of barking and general carrying-on that always accompanied the drone of oncoming motorcycles. Only this time, nothing happened. (more…)

Vacation with two Newfs – Day Seven

GAD 2 Comments

Saturday, our last full day in New Hampshire was the perfect day for a drive to the top of Mount Washington. The sky was perfectly clear, the temperature was in the 80s, and there was no wind at all. That translated to a 45 degrees, and 35 MPH winds on top of the mountain, and that’s a balmy summer day up there. In my almost 40 years of coming to New Hampshire, I had never been to the top of Mt. Washington. We had bought “next day free” tickets for the water park though, and the kids wanted to go. Worse, it was two hours to get to the auto road, plus at least an hour up and back, 30-60 minutes there, and the water park closed at six. Knowing I couldn’t disappoint my kids, I had to take the disappointment myself. I was a very grumpy bug. (more…)

Vacation with Two Newfs – Day Six

GAD 2 Comments

Once again the scary ball of fire hung in the sky, confusing those of us who had previously known only darkness and rain. First thing in the morning I took Guinness outside, but the moment I got him down the stairs, he tried to bolt for the van. Seeing as how I controlled his rear legs with the beach towel sling around his belly, he could steer but had little traction. He slowly pulled me to the van and then sat there, pawing at the door. The poor boy was done with New Hampshire. He just wanted to go back home where good dogs weren’t given away. He was breaking my heart. (more…)

Vacation with Two Newfs – Day Five

GAD 4 Comments

For the first time in nearly 600 years, it wasn’t raining when we woke up. The cool New Hampshire air gave way to warm New Hampshire air, while we all recoiled in fear from the scary new ball of fire floating in the sky. Our vacation of doom was coming to an end as the future promised three days of unrelenting sunshine, white puffy clouds and an endless supply of Whoopie Pies.

We decided that on this, the end of monsoon season, we would take advantage of our free tickets (thanks Grandma!), and take a ride on the M/S Mt. Washington, a large passenger ship that sails on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. This ship has been sailing in one form or another since 1872 when it was a side-wheeler paddle boat. For as long as I’ve been going to New Hampshire, I’ve been riding on the Mt. Washington, and given the fact that I collected coins during this country’s bicentennial celebrations, that’s a long time. (more…)