What is This Place?

Now that I've been doing this blog thing for over a month, I've been wondering what I should do with it.

Lately the blog posts haven't been as long or as entertaining but that is completely my fault. I'm hoping to improve them but need your help.

Answer me this: What direction should this blog go?

Looking at the traffic histories the personal stories and gaming/techy posts get the most comments. I'm going to try and cut down on the number of "Nothing happened today but here is a post" type posts.

The original idea behind The Four Way Stop was to symbolize that this was the place to go to chatter. I wanted to try to get you talking about subjects that interest me. What I've found though is that trying to find stuff that interests me and The Readers (that is you), isn't very easy.

So, leave a comment. Tell me what you think I should try. Note that I may be trying different ideas out for a few weeks or so at a time.

Final note, when I move I won't have internet at first in the house I'm crashing. I'm hoping to get something setup but have no time line. I'm going to post on breaks from work but we'll see what their policy is on that.

Hunting Cars

Looking a used car that is in my price range has turned out to be like pulling the ears off a Gundark. We test drove only one car yesterday and it wasn't what I would call an improvement over my car. It did have working AC but that was about it.

I'm hoping to visit Carmax later this week but my hopes of finding a decently priced car are quickly disappearing.

Friday Round Up

Being home with a sick kid gave me plenty of time to surf and watch The Wiggles. Here are some links and news that you need to check out.

1. Blogger has release a new draft version of Blogger that is the testing ground for new features. Currently they have added a button to allow you to upload video. Very nice. Look for video of the Big Bike my grandpa built that I mentioned awhile back.


2. I'm not a reality TV show fan but Paul Potts, a contestant on Britain's Got Talent, blew the judges away with his voice. This is what finding undiscovered talent is all about. There is a second video of Paul winning the semi finals. I can't imagine being able to sing like that.


3. The Kansas City Royals have beat up on my Cardinals for most of the week. Here is hoping we can return the favor when we play them in St. Louis.


4. Computer usage is all about speeding things up, right? Use this cheat sheet list to find the keyboard shortcuts and other time saving information for whatever program you may need. (From: Lifehacker)


5. Speaking of shortcuts, did you know that the middle mouse click in Firefox will cause a link to open in a new tab? Or that the same middle click will close an open tab? I'm a middle clicker now!


6. Ars Technica has another computer building guide that provides a nice look at building a complete system with monitor and peripherals. Their Budget PC comes in at $800, take away the monitor, speakers, mouse and keyboard and you are looking at only $586 with Windows XP home.

Have a great weekend!

Free is Free

I mentioned back on the first of June that if I linked to Jim Boykin I would get a free clock. Turns out ... that next day I got an email asking for my address and on that Friday the clock arrived. Thanks much!

I really dig free stuff. Seeing as how I'm sure some of you are very web savvy, how can I get more free stuff?

I can think of all kinds of neat stuff I might be able to get free. A hdtv, a new pc, a new cellphone (thanks for making me want one Scott), an iPod (who cares if they are evil as long as it is free) and a new car.

Which brings me around to another point. I'll be shopping for a new (to me) car this week and next. Problem is I'm cheap. I don't want to spend money on a newer car. I don't want to invest a bunch of money on my current car either. Looking for a car just makes me want to hurt something. Who knows what I'll end up with.

I haven't mentioned it here yet, but I'll be changing jobs starting July 2nd. I'm looking forward to doing something that I went to school for. We will also be moving closer to family which was the primary reason I started looking. Don't be surprised if the blog misses a day here and there at the start of the month.

Why All the i's?

Okay folks. It is 2007. Can we stop with all the products beginning with a lower case i?

iPod - evil.
igoogle - nice but not necessary.
iProspect - Never heard of it. Saw a link to it from Searchengineland.
iPhone - Overhyped, too expensive for me. Like all Mac products.
iProducts - Are you serious?

Any product that feels they need to throw a fancy 'i' in front of their product isn't going to get my business unless I have no alternative. I'd take a free iPod or iPhone though.

As a marketing ploy, all these companies really need to think about being original instead of just creating an 'i' product. It can't be that hard. With all these type of products or sites around, it screams "I fit in! I'm hip! I'm cool!". Usually the people that are doing that kind of promotion are the Farmer Ted's of the world.

Top Ten Reasons Top Ten Lists Are Popular

1. They are often witty. Wittier than you.


2. Who doesn't like thinking something they have thought about is the norm?


3. Easier to write than paragraphs.


4. Easier to read than paragraphs.


5. Allow the author to state their beliefs as truths. Doesn't matter if they even mean to or not.


6. They are the new Members Only Jacket.


7. Offer information that might otherwise be missed. People are lazy.


8. Blogs and social networking sites love them. That makes them A-O-K.


9. Everything you read on the Internet is true. Right?


10. David Letterman be damned, I'm the king of lists!

Yes, I know I've already done a Top 10. If you don't like this one ... tough.

As I started to write this I figured I wasn't the only person to think of this idea. Turns out I was correct. This was done over on Modern Life last year. Go read that link, it was pretty good.

Why is it called Work?

After reading about Joe's wish to stop the spam, I got to wondering about all the other stuff that goes on in an office that seems to be the norm. For instance, there have been days were I know that I haven't gotten any real 'work' done. Sure, I've done SEO/SEM research, maybe even learned a thing or two, but the amount of effort that takes is minimal.

What if there was some fancy gadget that actually paid you based on how much work you did instead? That type of thing would totally change the office setting. I can't even really imagine what that would be like.

It is strange to me that I get paid to, sometimes mind you, surf the Internet for 8 hours a day. Today I actually have had a ton of different projects to work on but this is what made me realize how I sometimes spend my days at work.

Why is it that we work for 40 hours a week? How much work do you do in any given day? How about in a week?

Everything I Need to Know I Learned in College

Okay, probably not but it makes for a good headline.

Someone dugg a blog post by Leah Culver titled "A Computer Science Degree Doesn't Hurt (Much)". The site seems to be having issues right now but basically she talks about many of the things that I can remember thinking in college. Some of the classes I took were about as enjoyable as watching someone drive a car in a circle. Yes NASCAR fans, I'm talking to you.

I found it interesting that not only did someone else have almost the exact same thoughts as I did but even a specific experience was the same. The author mentioned how knowledge of Scheme had helped but she had thought that it was worthless. I took an AI class that involved using LISP, which Scheme is a derivative of. I remember thinking that I would never use that language again. Turns out I was wrong. The program that I help support here at work uses Scheme for all the customization.

This has gotten me to thinking about how college doesn't only help you learn the specifics of whatever field you are studying but also the broad ideas around that field. College for me was never about partying or making a ton of friends but rather about getting that degree so I could get a job. Plus, I love to learn. I'm sure many of you probably feel the same way. For me, the learning was the fun part and the degree was really just to show to the employers.

I remember hearing someone say that college wasn't just to teach you subject matter but to teach you how to learn. I can really get behind that kind of thinking.

My Grandpa, the Hero

No, I'm not joking. My grandpa is a hero. Last night I received this email from him:

I heard a soft voice say, "Dwight come here."
I had heard that voice before and knew something was not right.
I was by her side -- real fast -- saw the snake and knew it was time to play HERO.
I followed the thing downstairs and shot it with my pellet gun.

INSTANT HERO Feels good ( the hero thing )

Oh --the picture of Colleen with the snake was taken after it was dead.
Things are back to normal now-- I will wear the HERO HAT for a few days and then back to normal until the next time she needs me to play HERO.
Y'all have a nice day

Now you may be thinking, 'Big deal, he killed a snake.' Not me. I don't do snakes. Sure I might be okay if I was at the zoo and got to touch one being held by a trainer but i'm a firm believer that snakes should either be a) in the wild b) dead. I'm sure I should be more pragmatic about it and while I realize that snakes aren't evil, they still scare the *expletive deleted* out of me.

My grandpa is going to turn 80 in August. This means that not only did he manage to be a hero but at 80 he is doing things that would give me pause. I'd probably be on the phone to the pest control or grabbing my neighbor (who is a cop) to borrow his gun (not that he would let me). I sure as heck wouldn't try to kill it myself with a pellet gun.

I've seen my grandpa do some pretty amazing things. He took two old bikes and a lawnmower handle, welded them together so that my brother and I had a super tall bike. I need to find a picture to really show you what that looked like. We even took it through the parade around town that year.

I can remember as little kid thinking that grandpa could fix anything. Seems like he was always building or fixing something. He even managed to survive almost falling through our porch roof back in Callao. He cut down a tree in that yard too.

Grandpa Patterson is always good for a laugh or joke. He can even do magic. He cut our hair, used a saw to cut out wooden figures and always has some neat little toy or gadget to show off.

He also taught my how to 'be an Indian'. I miss sitting on the floor, doing my best to not move or laugh because if I did that imaginary snake would bite me. Funny thing, I can still use that to make it through pain.

Edit My mom left a comment that I had somehow forgotten:

Your grandpa has also performed CPR on his neighbor more than once and probably saved his life both times.

I don't believe the grandparents are reading my blog but I know some family members have. I feel like I've probably taken having such an awesome set of grandparents for granted. This is my shout out to them.

We love and miss you.

See How Nice I Was!?!?

Joe's post about small talk which has gotten quite a few comments. I've read some of the comments and because this morning I'm in an antisocial mood here is my Top Ten list of things to remember for work.

1) Don't act like you know me. A name is not a person.
2) I (probably) don't remember your name. No insult really, I don't remember the name of most people that I talk to once a month.
3) If you need my help on something, just tell me what it is. I don't need a background story about how something funny happened that made you realize you had messed it up.
4) See that look I just gave you? That isn't my, 'Oh let us chat it up, old friend' look.
5) When I go to get more coffee, it isn't a chance for you to waste more of my (and your) time. Fill your cup, we'll exchange nods and then get on with our day.
6) We have an email if you need something. Don't come over into my cube and bother me. Unless you have spontaneously combusted, then it might be okay.
7) Regarding that look in number 4, I probably didn't mean to melt your face with it. Sorry about that.
8) My job is technical and detailed. It requires actual thought and time. Trying to rush me will get your task pushed to the back of the line. Whoops.
9) I like to help people. I don't like to help people that stand over my shoulder when I'm working. I also don't like to help people that never learned to say thanks.
10) If I don't spend 20 minutes of my day chatting with you, it probably means that I hate you. Okay, not really but if that will make you leave me alone I'm all for it.

There is my attempt at humor for the day.

I'm not comfortable in social situations. It isn't other peoples' fault but I do tend to take it out on them. I often find myself walking around scowling just because I've found that I'm less likely to get 'chatted up' if I do that. I've tried to stop doing it but so far catch myself after the fact.

Like many people, I don't have these same problems when I'm on The Information Super Highway. I've made several friends over the web that I chat with on message boards or in games. While I would consider them friends, I'm not sure if we had met in person that it would have been the same.

I like to think that I'm a friendly person. Which is odd considering how I feel about social interaction. That initial 'chatting up' period is the part I really hate. What if after that first time I'm friendly and then everyday you come over and try to talk to me? Chances are you'll want to talk about stuff that makes me want to pull my hair out. Or you will be completely boring. I'm not willing to take that risk.

One final note to explain the title of this post. A few months ago we were going through the drive-thru and after we paid we could hear the trainer say those exact words to a trainee. It came out like this, "See how NICE I WAS?!!!?". I wish we had a recording of it.

Quicky

Just a quick note to let my wonderful readers know that I've added a favicon for the blog using the four way stop from Google Maps. Yes that was another plug for Google.

I'm sure some of you have already noticed that the banner at the top and the small image on the right are from Google Maps also. When I originally started the blog I wanted a theme or something to make it more interesting than just my name. Once I realized that the Four Way Stop sounded pretty good, I got to thinking of how could I make that work. A quick Google maps search later, I found not only the location of the four way stop in Callao but was able to find our house in Callao which is where the banner comes from.

I used Paint.NET to make the favicon and resize the small image on the right. I've used GIMP for awhile but I'm really liking Paint.NET better. It loads faster and while not as feature heavy as GIMP it does everything I could need.

I'm really impressed that the banner includes the railroad tracks which anyone who has stayed in that house is intimately familiar with.

The Light is Off

Wouldn't you know it after only five posts on the blog I'm having a day where I'm not sure what I want to talk about. Julie suggested I mention, as I did yesterday, that she and I are hoping to play some WoW tonight. That is, if Taylor behaves himself long enough for us to actually be able to sit down together and play.

I should mention that tomorrow Taylor is two. He has definitely been having days where he is acting two.

I just realized I haven't mentioned Scout in the blog. Scout, buddy! Get off the couch! Good boy.

We adopted Scout last October. The lady told us she thought he would get to about 50 lbs or so. Last we weight him he was 72. Yeah, good guess lady.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you mom's out there. Thanks for everything thing you do and everything you will do.

Love you Jules. I know, two sorta sappy posts in a row. Sue me.

Nine for a Lifetime

Taylor turns two on the 16th. I can't tell you where these last two years have went, other than in hundreds of diapers and tons of food.

I'm not going to get too mushy or anything but I do want to say that having a child is a treat. It is at times frustrating and then the next moment it is better than you can possibly imagine.

Love you Taylor.

There is only One

Early this year the company I work for changed most of the leadership and my group has now been put in charge of increasing our web traffic and coming up with marketing ideas. As Joe says here neither of us is a marketing person.

Sure we might be creative but taking on this challenge is something that, while exciting, can be very intimidating.

With that said, if you are reading this you are probably wondering why I've started a blog. Basically, I want to get a better feel for what it takes to maintain a blog. I'm going to steal Joe's idea and try to update every weekday and once on the weekend.

As for the name of the blog, I grew up in a tiny little town (the sign listed 332 as the population) called Callao in Missouri. Growing up, the town only had one four way stop. It was the place to meet my friends and also the place where we were most likely to try and get into trouble. I'm sure as the blog continues I'll be making you put up with more Callao, aka good ole days, stories.