Ain't Complicated

Sidewiki

Another browser tool? And an expansion of Google Toolbar at that!

So I learned yesterday afternoon (and forgot to post it last night) that now Google Brings Commenting to Any Web Page:

Google today launched a new browser tool that enables users to add and view comments directly on any Web page they view while cruising the Web.

Sidewiki, the new tool, comes as a new feature of Google Toolbar, the company’s browser add-on for Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.

Once installed and activated, a pane appears in the left-hand column of a user’s Web browser. Within that area, users can view and contribute comments. Comments can be linked to one particular area of a page — selectable by highlighting — and also can be shared via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail, and on Google’s Blogger service.

Well, I don’t use Google Toolbar.

Maybe that’s too bad, because Sidewiki looks like something I might want to “exploit” for the benefit of my myriad Web sites and projects.

Nope. I won’t. Not now, anyway. I don’t need another project to distract me from what I’m supposed to be doing.

Subdue Your Unruly Filing Cabinet

In following up on a WordPress tips link, I came across something that could be very useful to me in an entirely different realm:

Beat Your Filing Cabinet into Shape with a Filing System Workflow

Whether your filing system has gotten away from you or it was never really under control to begin with, you can use our handy guide to beat it back into shape.

Many people have a filing system that is largely accidental. At some point they had more papers than they could store effectively on their desk so they started squirreling them away in cabinets, drawers, and so on. In other cases you inherit a filing system, like with a new job, and an office packed with paperwork.

What can you do to tame your file cabinet and make it a useful storage and reference tool instead of a paper orphanage? You need a filing system workflow. A filing system workflow is a road map for papers to follow as they navigate through your office. We can’t provide an exact road map for you, but by answering some of the questions below and assessing your home and office needs you’ll be able to construct an effective filing system workflow of your own.

Make an Assessment: What do you want from your filing system and what does your filing system need to provide? Whether looking at your personal file cabinet in your home office or a bank of cabinets in your traditional office, before you do anything with your file system you need to hammer out what exactly it is that you want from the system and why you’re displeased with its current state enough to be reading a guide to beating it into shape.

There’s much more to the article (of course), so you’ll just have to go to it if it seems you need it.

At the top of this post I intimated I really needed it. Well, look at these photos and you be the judge: Read it all

“Inbound Heavy B52, You’re Clear…”

“…for landing at Port 5 East.”

“Outbound Light B23, please use Port 2 North.”

Isn’t this a control tower?

Sorry about the distortion; the shot was taken at long range with the camera cranked up to its full 12X zoom.

To see the above photo in its context, click it.

So, anyway, if those things aren’t control towers for the bee hives, what are they?!

Production primers of some sort?

Sun-powered pre-heaters of some other sort?

Solar nurseries?

I really do want to know!

(And for those of you wanting to know, this photo was taken from our car by Andrew; the location is the north side of Oregon Hwy 211 between Woodburn and Molalla near Kropf Rd — aka Canby-Marquam Highway — about two miles from Yoder.)

I Saw Them in Our Kitchen

First, this on the window sill above the sink:

Lord, help us to touch each other.

When children were brought to Jesus, He touched them and blessed them.

Bless us, Lord….

That’s a great saying. Digest it, parents! (I love to hug and hold close my grandchildren. But maybe my grown children need that too…?)

And then (speaking of digesting) this, on the table:

A gross thought: lose weight; help feed America!

Lose weight; help feed America — General Mills, sir, that’s a gross thought to put anywhere, but particularly on the front of a wonderful breakfast cereal like Cheerios! Maybe the ad agency could issue you a partial refund.

😆

But to close on a better thought, how about a bit of a mind game: What’s the yellow stuff in the first photo?

Where Is ISS?

Emily Belz wrote over at WorldMagBlog:

Sometimes it’s nice to take a break from politics and go walk around outside, look at the trees, listen to the sounds around you, gaze at the sky – perhaps catch the International Space Station flying overhead?

A new service on Twitter called Twisst alerts you when the space station will be flying over you. (To our Twitter skeptics out there, I’m trying to win you over!) It uses the location you enter on your Twitter profile, then calculates when you might see a flyover and sends you a notice on your account.

Maybe I’ll update this later with a screenshot of where ISS is relative to me.

(Oh, hey! This post adds much-needed alternative rendering of “It all depends on what the meaning of ISS is”!)

In Woodburn

So I get up from my morning “nap” and my brother-in-law Wesley Yoder is waiting to invite me to Shari’s for birthday coffee.

I agree to meet him there for a while.

So after filling up with fuel at Safeway, I went over to Shari’s.

I found Wes at the counter and took my place next to him, ordered coffee, and set about to read the newspaper. And drink coffee.

And take some pictures. 🙄

There we are in the pie case mirror!

I’m about to leave, so we posed.

From there I went across the highway to BiMart to get some greeting cards, including an anniversary card for Russell and Shari — today’s their third anniversary as well as my fiftieth birthday and Shari’s sister’s birthday! I also got a print of the second photo above for Wes.

And while I was there, I took this photo:

I turned on the date stamp for “effect”!

Then I went over to Coastal Farm to buy a bag of chicken feed. And next door to Mega Foods (until recently, Shop’n Kart) for some bananas.

There I saw a neat old hot rod (I guess that’s what it is):

On my way home, as I was leaving Woodburn, I set my camera on the car’s dash and set the timer to take a photo. Here’s the result:

This evening was my second birthday meal, the first being on Sunday over at Madras with Luke and LaVay and Michayla and Lukes’ children. This evening, Russell and Shari were here as were my folks, Aunt Rosie, Miguel and Karen, and Brandon and Karina. (Wes arrived last night.)

Turning fifty was…well…not bad. I should do it more often.

Thanks, everyone!

PS: I’m just going to post this now. I think some things need fixing but it’s too late to do so now. Maybe tomorrow.

Rip Van Markle

Good ole Rip Van Winkle dozed off…and overslept.

Well, I didn’t oversleep but I did go to sleep in my forties and awake in my fifties.

😯

I guess I should find someone to pinch to see if I’m awake or still dreaming. (One of my transition dreams showed my Facebook account with 100 friend requests.)

Anyway, I went outside and took a self-portrait:

Yeah. Click for a larger image. But I wanted you to see the small thumbnail…and tell me if there’s a sign in the sky for me. (No, no, no! I’m not turning mystical or contemplative or any such thing!!)

I thought it an interesting atmospheric display.