November 10, 2005
by dhoytt
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Nice Grounded Week So Far

Not too much special this week so far. Waiting for a person to come and get the items they bought at my garage sale so that I can get to the intent of the garage sale, getting more space to maneuver in.
Also had a couple of nice runs this week both in the 6 mile range I need to keep that up and hit the weights once my space in the garage is once again free.
I still have quite a few things to get rid of from my garage including numerous computer monitors. The monitors are all CRT’s since I moved totally to flat screen models in my computer room. The flat screens are much easier to move around than some of the CRT behemoths I had before. This flexibility is important since I’m always moving things around.
Well hopefully this weekend I will put another dent in moving items out of the house!!

November 7, 2005
by dhoytt
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Garage Sale & Kitchen Floors update

Floors and garage sale how do they go together? Well I
moved things out of my house plus acquired a few new pieces of furniture the
past few months to replace or sell and moved that furniture to storage until my
floors were done.

            Well I ended up a bit sick and also my tile
wasn’t available in the store when I took the time off to install the tile or at
least the main portion of the install.

Well I then ran into some killer
furniture deals at auctions and knew that these windows of opportunities at
those prices so gotta take advantage and then decide which pieces I wish to
keep.

I always take advantage of the
storage specials of half a month off or 1 dollar a month when doing things like
this and this was no exception. This time however my timing was off because of
the tile not being in stock and my getting sick.

            So to move these
things out I had a garage sale so I could get things out of storage without
costing more money and keep things off the floors since I’m not totally done. I
just have to clean the grout haze and seal the tile. Then I will place the pics
up on the site.

October 4, 2005
by dhoytt
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Kitchen Floors Taking a While

The kitchen floors are taking a while since I can only dedicate a few hours a day to the venture. I like to test out each new step to make sure I have the techniques correct and that the work is quality. I don’t like having to redo things! Now if I make any errors on one section by doing it a step at a time I can go back and see what I did and correct those issues. I also have so many other things to do that are time sensitive plus my regular home maintenance things are moving forward but just not in leaps and bounds. This is where attitude comes in anyone can start something with enthusiasm but finishing when going through some crazy things I cannot talk about, well hey knock the dirt off and keep rolling hard baby!
Here are a few pictures not the current situation but I’ll try to update that later this week. The tiles are 16″ x 16″ (16 inches squared) slate.
Before:
HPIM0148.jpg
Partial Dry Run:
HPIM0149.jpg

September 27, 2005
by dhoytt
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Trying To Catch Up With House Chores & Projects

Getting things rounded into shape including the body and house.
I’m getting the tile slate laid out that I’m placing in the kitchen. I started the cuts so that I can have the cuts done really get busy after mixing the mortar. I really wanted to find out what techniques I needed to use for the cut using the saw I bought. Well good thing that I did that after 3 cuts of the same length the guide on the saw broke! I returned that saw went to another store and picked up a saw that is sturdier and has less moving parts and those that move are designed better. This is why I like doing these types of projects you learn not only the obvious but what too look for in tools for instance.
A lot of people are scared to do something they have never done before. I have never understood this. How can you say you are learning and accomplished if you are afraid of learning something new. So many people are scared to look like they don’t know what they are doing they refuse to learn new things. I’m not just talking about learning things at a trivial level where you don’t pick up the nuances. I mean diving in and learning the theory and then executing it to see if your theories of a great way of doing something really works or is a bunch of crap. I don’t understand that narrow and confining behavior. You don’t have to try everything but try something new sometimes!
Anyway the slate is tougher to work with than normal tile especially cutting the 16″ x 16″. I do think putting the tile down will be easier after the cuts are made than dealing with the 12″ x 12″ pieces. I noticed that while working with the slate pieces you also have to be very wary of easily chipping the edges.
Anyway doing the tile floors and trying to keep up with the regular maintenance like the pool and moving things out of the house and trying to get a garage sale or something together. Oh well maybe next week.

September 15, 2005
by dhoytt
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Easing Back into My Workouts

I am getting back into my workouts now. Yesterday I hit the track at the local high school Natomas High and ran a disciplined but slow 3 miles. The main thing was that I completed it the 3 miles and felt ok doing it, never mind it took about 25 minutes! That time will come down a lot once I get in some type of shape and be around my normal times. Tonight or actually 9-14-2005 I also hit the weights for the first time in a while. I of course completed most of my leg routines reps but my upper body was a bit stiff.
After a few more workouts the flexibility will come back and then I can start pushing myself with more weight. The funny thing is that first getting back in there working out just getting set up with your routine takes a while and makes the work out that much more longer if you try to do all of your sets, even with lower weights and less reps. I have been working out in some fashion my whole life (some periods of time not as hard) so I always chuckle at how long I take between reps when I have been away from the workouts even for a few weeks. Then a few weeks later the same workout with more weight and higher reps you do in less than half the time!
Anyway its a start after this little sickness but I don’t think I will be able to run the Chevy’s 12k run, maybe I will just do the 5k this year. I know I will finish it but I like to have a certain base pace entering a run and I will not have that by the time the Chevy’s run rolls around. I will have to shoot for some other runs in the fall.

September 8, 2005
by dhoytt
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Been Sick But Getting Better

Had some parasite from something that I ingested but I’m feeling better now. Still not feeling myself but I feel better and would be really ok if I could get a good sleep.
I keep breaking out into cold sweats leaving my bed and pillows soaked with sweat the past several nights. I think it’s the medicines they gave me.
I actually think I felt better with the parasite!
The past few weeks I have been doubled over in pain and without an appetite and gone almost a week without eating solid food. When I do eat solid food my appetite is still not very much but it’s getting slightly better each day.
Now if I can move on to my workouts the way I like them nice and intense I will be very happy!

September 3, 2005
by dhoytt
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StyleCatcher Question??

I’m trying to find out what configuration file I don’t have set correctly to make StyleCatcher work correctly. I just upgraded to 3.2 that went fine and StyleCatcher seemed to go fine but…
I installed the plugin and everything seemed to go fine. I adjusted the “mt-static” root and “theme” directory by going to System Overview -> Plugins -> Show Settings.
I then clicked style catcher chose my template and it said applied successfully. I then viewed my blog site and the styles were blank. Yet it said it successfully applied them.
After playing around and checking what if any files did change I looked in my “styles-site.css” and it was pointing to my “mt-static” root directory for “base-weblog.css” and my “mt-static//theme-forest_green/theme-forest_green.css” file. Neither of course was there.
I re-loaded the templates using StyleCatcher chose “Forest Green” clicked on “show details” clicked on the theme-forest_green.css” file downloaded it and ftp’d it to my webserver.
I moved “base-weblog.css” into “mt-static” root then manually created the paths shown in my “styles-site.css” file and I was able to see the new theme.
How do I avoid this manual process?

September 3, 2005
by dhoytt
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Udpgraded To MT 3.2 Playing With StyleCatcher

I have upgraded to Movabletype 3.2 blog software on my Linux webserver. I am also trying the new StyleCatcher plugin so I will be changing blog styles back and forth for a while so bear with me as I tweak the site. This is going to be on an intermittent basis as I have other tasks to do non-computer and computer related.

September 2, 2005
by dhoytt
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Hurricane Katrina Response Shame

I started off earlier this week thinking the U.S. will show the rest of the world what a quick and positive response to a disaster is. After hours of watching the same information I realized that people are doing nothing except using this disaster as a photo opportunity.
I think this under scores our Era unfortunately everyone projects images that mean nothing and very little gets done. Words are everything but execution and action is poor. People are rewarded not for actions or ability but because they sounded politically correct and patriotic. We elect people who make us feel good not people who get things done. This is from the local to the presidential office.
One more point I would like to make is that also to blame are past broadcasts of storms. You have preening reporters in tropical storms to different categories of hurricanes over the past few years using the same conviction, cliché’s for all level of storms. There was never any information on what the different categories mean. People just figured hey another reporter or politician is trying to make a career on this storm. That could be the reason some people never left.

August 2, 2005
by dhoytt
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L.A. Dodgers Game Trip

I have been a big fan of the L.A. Dodgers since I was really young. Sunday 7-31-2005 I went to L.A. with my brother 2 neices and my one of my nieces friends.
Here are some pictures from the game (click on image for full view) :

HPIM0060.jpg
Me and my brother
HPIM0061.jpg
Niece, niece’s friend & brother
HPIM0062.jpg
Niece

Stadium shot of Players.
HPIM0069.jpg
Dodger Stadium Hills

dodger1.jpg

Camcorder Game Shot

dodger2.jpg
Camcorder Another Game Shot
dodger3.jpg

Another Game Shot From Camcorder Before They Told Me To Turn off Cammcorder During Game Action.