12-30-2003: Sigh.

Earl Hindman, the wonderful actor that played "Wilson" on TV's Home Improvement, has passed away from his battle with lung cancer.

That's really sad - I liked him a lot. CBS News has a quick story about Hindman.

12-28-2003: Well, I'm on the road for a few days, visiting some friends in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. I can still update the site from here, so I'll publish a little something here and there.

On the way back into Iowa, I'll be swinging through Cedar Rapids for our annual New Years party. Woooo.

12-26-2003: You know, I've been giving this some thought. With my recent windfall over Citibank, I've decided that I should spend it all in one obscene orgy of shopping. It's not often a person gets a payout like the one I received, so I want to make sure I enjoy it completely.

Doing some math, it appears that I can purchase 3.11% of a movie ticket for my next flick. And that's assuming I go to my usual matinee - otherwise, I'd only be able to purchase 2.33% of a ticket.

I could also purchase 0.70% of a new DVD, assuming a $20 purchase price.

This is turning into a pretty difficult decision...

12-21-2003: Well, I've hit paydirt. I have been part of a class-action lawsuit against Citibank for quite some time, and the case was finally settled.

Rumor has it, Citibank miscalculated our interest payments a while ago, and this lawsuit was created to get that back. I didn't know anything about it until I got a letter in the mail about a year or two ago, stating "that I was eligible for refund" yadda yadda yadda.

Well, that payment has finally arrived! WOOHOO! I'm hitting the bank in the morning, cashing it, and going shopping after work.

It's so nice to get some cold, hard cash before Chrismas.

12-16-2003: Well, we're coming up on Christmas time again, folks. For those of you of different faiths, a Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Ramadan to you. If I skipped your holiday of choice, it wasn't on purpose.

For those of us in the United States, the US Marine Corps is wrapping up their Toys For Tots program. They accept unwrapped toys at many locations throughout our cities, but I prefer to donate monetarily. If you would like to do so as well, here's the stuff:

Please make checks out to Marine Toys For Tots Foundation

Checks should be mailed to:

Marine Toys For Tots Foundation
PO Box 1947
Marine Corps Base
Quantico, VA 22134

12-15-2003: Well, the code is 99.98% complete. The yak is the last category to be database-ized, and with that we breath a huge sigh of relief. This was a lot of work, but it was a fun learning experience.

Is it perfect? Hell no. It never will be. However, this will make it a lot easier to update the site, and all of the archiving will be done automatically (it used to take an hour or two when a month rolled over). I do ask that if you find something that's broken or doesn't look right or whatever, please let us know.

And that's about it. By the end of the week, everything will be dynamic and we'll be a lot happier. To the three people out there that actually read our crap - thanks for the patience. :)