The Blarg

This could probably be two posts, but that seems like cheating.

I’ve been looking a little at rechargeable batteries and found this super cool technology. Apparently a problem with regular Nimh rechargeables is that they self-discharge extremely fast. Yes, I said self-discharge on the blarg for the first time. What happens is you charge the old style batteries, put them in your digital camera, and when you go to use them a month or two later, they’re almost dead! Well there is a newer technology that maintains the charge. They’re super cool looking too. One of the more popular brands is Eneloop by Sanyo. There is a great review here and sure to please all the techies.

My second topic is about Romney and Huckabee. I was listening to some talk radio tonight and they were discussing his immigration stance, and I’ve had a big breakthrough in who I’m considering voting for. Huckabee supports a pathway to citizenship for the illegals already here, and Romney doesn’t, and for right now that is giving Romney the edge. Here is another Presidential calculator to try. I got a 0% match with Obama. Haha. Overall this website, On the Issues, is pretty neat. They have a lot of information on all the candidates, including their sources.

Oh how I pine for the Christmas vacation. Thee are too far away from thy present. Please hurryeth.

Nothing going on really. Rachel gave a shot out for my blog, so I’ll give a shout out for hers. New post up about Presidential election stuff. Suppose I should go over there and make my voice heard!

Kevin has some snippets from his quickly growing library of work. The second post down on his site has a link to his myspace page. Go check out the stories. Some intense stuff!

I’ll go completely random on this post. So far the Dodgers haven’t made any big moves this off season, and I couldn’t be happier. We’ve got some amazing young players, so let them play.

Is it Christmas vacation yet?

Chris’ recent struggles to create an interest in his Looney Tunes posts made me think about posting on the blogosphere. There are a lot of reasons people have for posting on their blog, and some encourage more comments than others. Just because you don’t receive any comments on a post doesn’t make it a bad post. Here are a few generalizations about different types of posts.

1) Diary Posts

This is probably the most common type of post. I usually make these when I have nothing in particular on my mind to write about. I’ll find a few interesting occurrences over the last few days, and ta da, I’ve got a new post. There’s nothing wrong with these posts, but don’t expect a flood of comments to roll in. The problem with a post like this is that it doesn’t invite very much discussion. To make a simple diary post more interesting, don’t simply recount what you’ve done like an encyclopedia, but make sure you mention how it made you feel. Give the reader some insight about why you felt it was important enough to share.

2) Creation Posts

These are really rare, unless your name is Paully Wally. These are posts where you’ve created something from nothing. Whether that is art, writings, video, or something else of that nature. I think these are fun posts because it takes the blog beyond just words.

3) Opinion Posts

I like these kinds of posts. They can cover a wide range of topics from politics to religion, and they are almost always passionate. These are usually a rant of some sort and always entertaining to read, whether you agree or not. These posts are great for discussion because when you’re passionate about something it can illicit responses from other people that either agree or disagree. You will most certainly receive more comments about your opinion regarding thong underwear than letting people know you went to the market yesterday for milk.

4) Discussion Posts

I would say these are similar to opinion posts, but with different intentions. Sometimes I’ll use an over the top rant opinion post to force people out of their shells to post, but a discussion post is a much more agreeable way to spur blog discussions. The most important thing in a discussion post is that it has QUESTIONS! If you’re tired of never getting any comments, then start asking people questions, and go beyond the basic yes or no variety. Force people to think about something they haven’t yet and some great discussions will evolve.

I’m sure there are more varieties of posts, so I will open the floor and make this a discussion post. What other types of blog posts are there that we can categorize, and what is good and bad about them? This would also be a great opportunity for people to share the ups and downs of posting on their blog. What has been rewarding about it, and what sucks about it?

This year we did two Thanksgiving meals, and we have a third today. We spent Thanksgiving Day itself with my family, and then the day after with the wife’s family. Today we’ll be eating leftover ham for a special third and final day of food.

I was thinking a little about how family get togethers have changed over the years. My most memorable holiday gatherings in my mind are from my younger days when there were three generations, and sometimes even four, all gathered together under one roof. Granted I was a kid, and I was using the “everything is more WOW” kid eyes, but I look back on those days fondly. Right now most of our family events are only two generations…our parents and us. While I do have a grandmother left, the chances to see her are rare. Come Easter though we’ll be back to three locally (go baby!). I look forward to those days, this time through the eyes of one of the middle generations instead of from the kid table. If all goes well, some day I’ll be posting as one of the eldest generation.

No big after Thanksgiving Day sales for us. Anyone have an especially memorable Thanksgiving Day or post-Thanksgiving shopping experience?

Today we answered many important questions. Below is our baby at 22 weeks! According to the size in the ultrasound the baby is at 24.5 weeks, but the OBGYN said the original 11 week ultrasound gives a more accurate due date, which has not changed.

Before you click, take your guess!

We find out if we’re having a human baby today, and if we are, then hopefully the gender also. Because we don’t know yet, there has been little preparation needed. I’m sure once we find out things will kick into high gear. I’m kind of hoping for a girl just so I don’t have to paint the purple wall.

One baby prep I’ve been working on is getting the computer and PS3 off the living room floor and moved under the TV. I thought I had a solution by removing the shelf and stacking the computer and receiver on top of each other, but it only leaves a quarter inch of breathing room for the receiver, which isn’t good. I bought a smaller HTPC case that should be here soon. And frankly it won’t look as silly either.

Apparently I’m one of the few people that didn’t get Rockband yesterday. Two buddies at work got it and so did Angelo. I dunno…I played guitar hero 3 the other week, and it was fun, but not enough to devote hours of my life to it. I’d rather devote hours of my life to playing fictional baseball games. When Saito gets a strikeout in the 9th and we’re only up by 1 I pump my fist in the living room. It’s awesome.

OK, back to the doldrums of a 5 day weekend.

I’ve taken this test three times. Twice this morning, and once just now. My results are below.

Test #1: 84 wpm, 3 mistakes
Test #2: 84 wpm, 0 mistakes
Test #2: 84 wpm, 2 mistakes

I’m consistent! Anyone out there beat my 84 wpm? Test yourself now!

Edit: Went for a fourth test and hit 93 with 2 mistakes! haha.

There are a few people who I should be threatening with Dead Blarg status. My question for you is, how long until someone becomes dead? In the past I’ve used a month without a post typically…but that seems like an awfully long time. Should it be shorter? Three weeks? Two weeks? A month is nice because I don’t have to do any fancy math. I understand if someone has a busy week, or two…but a whole month?

Unless anyone can convince me otherwise, I think a month is a very reasonable posting length. After all, we are talking about DEATH. Anything shorter might be cruel.