New Year's Eve 2006 has come and gone. My "party" if you can still call it that was a lot smaller than planned, but still an enjoyable evening.
The end of December has given me a lot of of time to reflect on the past year or so, on where I am, and think about what I want to do next.
Reflection:
In April of '05, I got home from my second trip to Iraq. By May of '05, I had received my last active duty paycheck and was living entirely off of income from my business (not counting the reserve pay of $100-$200 per month -- most of that went right back into Marine activities). In December of '05, I had survived eight months of "on my own", survived Christmas, and I met Robin. In March of '06, I took another step and separated from the active reserves. No longer would I be making the trip to Ebensburg once a month. Two months later, in May, I committed to purchasing a house for me and my business, finalizing the paperwork and closing costs in June. In August, my business acquired Access Lightspeed, a nationwide dial-up ISP. In November, I took Robin to the Marine Corp Ball, and in December, we had Christmas together (multiple times). Overall, an excellent 21 months for me.
Where I Am:
While the last 21 months looks good on the surface, it was not without its rough spots. You can be moving along real good for a month or two, and then all of a sudden, you have a couple weeks of crap that leaves you spending the next two (good) months trying to catch back up. As it is, I have no real source of income I can count on to meet the bills each month.
I am not as good as some people believe me to be. There are some people I don't think very highly of. While everyone has been known to fall on hard times, these are the people that do it chronically. You know the type. They always have a reason for it, a story even. Somehow, through a series of seemingly unavoidable circumstances, the person has run out of money, and quite likely they have no work to make more of it. They live in a constant state of crisis. Well, it seems I am well on my way to becoming one of these people. I go from seemingly having plenty of work to having no work for no apparent reason. When there is no work, there is no money coming in, so I can't pay the bills that are due, were due, are now past due. Something always comes up at the same time like needing heating oil for the house, or tires for the car, or (currently) axle bushings for the car. And you start to realize that if you told someone a story in August or September about why you couldn't pay your bill right now, and then you're telling them another story in December, you're not doing quite as well as it seems. I hate having to tell someone that while I did agree to pay this amount before, I can't make good on that agreement. So what do I do? I screen my calls with caller id. There are two people that call me, and I know their numbers. I know from previous times that if I do answer and tell them that I can't pay right now, they will ask when I can, and I don't know. It might be in three days, it might be in three weeks. And then I do something, I make the money, I call them up and make a payment, and everyone is happy for another month or two. But until I do that, I'm one of those people, either screening their calls or telling stories. I will tolerate those kind of people, but I can't stand being one -- even though I am.
I remember once back at the unit, everyone was expected to throw $2 into a fund each month (it went towards various "fun" things for the unit). I did have $2, I just didn't have it on me in cash, so I borrowed from a friend. This prompted a conversation with another friend from Pittsburgh. I explained how I was essentially broke after I put gas in my car to go home (all in good cheer though) and she asked how that could be. I told her that self-employment doesn't pay as much as one would think. She told me that she had two jobs to make ends meet. There was a hint of an accusation in that.
The truth is that even though I am really good at cutting corners, budgeting to save money, and stopping myself from buying things I can't afford, I'm not really financially responsible. If I was, I would be doing everything in my power to make sure that I had enough money to make good on my promises. If I want my promises (fiscal or otherwise) to mean something, I have to stand behind them and honor them.
What I want to do next:
Basically, I am going to do what it takes to get my bills paid. Overall, my debt is mostly from advertising and total less than $5000 ($416/month). Compared to a lot of people I know, that is a small debt, but a debt nonetheless. To take care of this, I am going to take an actual W2 job that will provide me with a steady income. I'm calling it a part-time job because it will only be 3 days a week, but in truth, it will total 36 hours. I can always add more hours/days on as I need them. All income from this job will go towards my debt and immediate living expenses. It will take away from running the business and being available to clients, but is a necessary step for me to get things back on track.

Several interesting things (to me at least) have occurred recently.  For the most part I've been spending my time doing wireless installs and network troubleshooting for Skyweb down in Berkeley Springs.
Robin and her family has had a few rough spots recently.  Her Uncle Lonnie died on the 20th, we had the viewing on the 22nd and the funeral the next day.  The day after, she nailed a deer with her car, and then the day after that, her sister's fiance's great grandfather died.
On more positive note, my friends Matt & Nicole came down on the 23rd and hosted a game night at their parent's house.   We had a good time, up until Trivial Pursuit. I am not a fan of that game, and neither was a few other people.  But otherwise, good times, good times.
Christmas Eve marked 1 full year with Robin, and we went to her church's Christmas Eve service.  Christmas day was another matter altogether.  We opened a couple presents in the morning at Robin's, then she left for work and I was off "on my rounds".
My first stop was at Greg & Tricia's house.  I apparently had arrived before it was time for anyone to arrive, but was able to entertain myself with a Rubik cube for several hours.  I never solved it of course -- except through the technique of moving the stickers around, I am pretty sure it's impossible (anyone that claims otherwise is lying).  The next stop was at the Clarke's.  They had finished up their gift exchange and meal time by then, but once again, I was faced with a daunting puzzle.  This time, it was a wood puzzle that you take apart and put back together.  I was able to get it apart, but in two hours I had made little progress in getting it back together.  I did get some interesting shapes made, but nothing quite matching the original.  A very puzzling day so far.  The third and final stop of the day was back at Robin's for the Christmas dinner.
Thursday was the next Christmas party in a series.  This one was my family's Christmas, up at Lisa's in E-town.  Robin went with me (of course) and we rode up with Mom & Dad, spending the night.  Somehow, Robin wasn't scared away by the entire family showing up -- but they said they would try harder next time.
Finally, as if 4 Christmas's wasn't enough, on Saturday we went to the Carson's Family Christmas up in Freedom, PA.  I was supposed to meet a lot of the Robin's family on her Mom's side, but no one else felt like showing up, so it was a pretty small gathering.

1. Always avoid alliteration.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. Avoid cliches like the plague—they're old hat.
4. Employ the vernacular.
5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
7. Parenthetical words however must be enclosed in commas.
8. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
9. Contractions aren't necessary.
10. Do not use a foreign word when there is an adequate English quid pro quo.
11. One should never generalize.
12. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
13. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
14. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly superfluous.
15. It behooves you to avoid archaic expressions.
16. Avoid archaeic spellings too.
17. Understatement is always best.
18. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
19. One-word sentences? Eliminate. Always!
20. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
21. The passive voice should not be used.
22. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
23. Don't repeat yourself, or say again what you have said before.
24. Who needs rhetorical questions?
25. Don't use commas, that, are not, necessary.
26. Do not use hyperbole; not one in a million can do it effectively.
27. Never use a big word when a diminutive alternative would suffice.

28. Subject and verb always has to agree.
29. Be more or less specific.
30. Placing a comma between subject and predicate, is not correct.
31. Use youre spell chekker to avoid mispeling and to catch typograhpical errers.
32. Don't repeat yourself, or say again what you have said before.
33. Don't be redundant.
34. Use the apostrophe in it's proper place and omit it when its not needed.
35. Don't never use no double negatives.
36. Poofread carefully to see if you any words out.
37. Hopefully, you will use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
38. Eschew obfuscation.
39. No sentence fragments.
40. Don't indulge in sesquipedalian lexicological constructions.
41. A writer must not shift your point of view.
42. Don't overuse exclamation marks!!
43. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
44. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
45. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
46. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
47. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
48. Always pick on the correct idiom.
49. The adverb always follows the verb.
50. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
51. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be by rereading and editing.
52. And always be sure to finish what

For my part, I can't believe that August is already here. Wait.. it's December? Well, so much for having all that spare time.
Anyways, I've updated a lot of pictures from the last several months, so feel free to check them out.
Robin and I went to this year's Marine Corp Ball and had a blast. I went in an actual suit this year -- it was picked out to match Robin's dress. She decided to go all out and get a brand new dress just for this occasion, which I thought was a bit overkill, but who am I to judge such things? Anyways, she looked amazing, but even with all that, some of my old buddies from the unit recognized me. They seemed a bit jealous of me wearing a comfortable suit, while sporting a slightly trimmed beard. I even got Robin to do some fast dancing before the night was over, though it took an open bar to get her to that stage.
The next day, Chris, Jess, Robin, and myself went to see the Glass Blowing Center in Hilliards, PA. It was quite interesting to see how glass sculptures are made.. not at all from a mold. Unlike carving, where you remove all the extra stuff, with glass you can add and take away as you need.
On another note, I'm trying to research on how to move a slate-top pool table. If anyone has any experience in this, please let me know. Thanks.

Around 11am today I noticed godaddy was down. I would be laughin, except I need to get in there to set something up. How long will this last?

Server object error 'ASP 0177 : 800706be'

Server.CreateObject Failed

/gdshop/i_shop.asp, line 83

800706be

1. outside shot of the Lawinger Library
2. same
3. same
4. same
5. same
6. same
7. same
8. same
9. same
10. same
11. card catalog for Reserve Dept.
12. same
13. same
14. Reference Department
15. Reference Desk with Librarian
16. same
17. Reference Desk
18. Close-up of Reference books at Reference Desk
19. Pamphlet files of the Reference Dept.
20. Special Collections Entrance
21. same
22. Inside Special Collections
23. same
24. same
25. Government Documents Room - Entrance
26. A study room of Lawinger Library
27. Typing Room
28. Typing Room with someone typing
29. Reiss Science Building
30. Inside Reiss Science Library
31. A man checking out a book
32. Someone working at A-V desk
33. Several people working at A-V desk
34. A-V desk
35. A-V room (mainroom)
36. A-V romm where films are shown to classes
37. copying services of A-V
38. A-V copying services with a girl copying
39. second floor stacks and study table
40. bound stacks periodical stacks on 2nd floor.
41. copying machine for student use.
42. entrance hall to Pierce Reading Room
43. same
44. shot looking down two rows of stacks
45. 2 girls standing between stacks
46. A girl reading a book in Lawinger Library
47. same
48. same
49. Magazine Collage
50. same
51. A man filling out a book request card.
52. A filled-out book request card.
53. Due date card found in all checked ot books.
54. cart of overdue book fines
55. lower patio of the library
56. same.
57. Patio outside Lawinger Library looking toward East Campus.
58. lower level patio of LL looking p the stairway to the entrance level.
59. stairway going down to the bookstore.
60. looking down at the entrance to the bookstore
61. Inside the bookstore
62. Healy Building
63. title slide for Introduction to a University Library presentation.
64. A-V Dept
65. Someone checking circulation printout
66. Reference Department
67. Floor diagram
68. People studying in Pierce Reading Room
69. A girl studying in Lawinger Library

As found when cleaning out the old shop.

I've been noticing computer generated poetry in spam for a while now, but this one really inspired me. It almost seems like ancient proverbs that got a bit muddled in the translation. "It takes a real fruitcake to avoid contact with the scythe." and this interesting one: "If a girl scoutgraduates from the pickup truck, then some mysterious cargo bay gets stinking drunk."  (We've come a long way from when I first noticed spam poetry.

If the minivan about a pine cone usually competes with a mortician over the
support group, then a skyscraper hides. Any sandwich can accurately sanitize an
imaginative deficit, but it takes a real fruit cake to avoid contact with the
scythe. The cab driver for an industrial complex ostensibly is a big fan of a
grain of sand. A hockey player seeks a steam engine. Now and then, an asteroid
near a paper napkin pees on the boiled warranty.
Now and then, a pork chop eagerly shares a shower with the tuba player living
with a customer. A plaintiff completely seeks a polar bear. A movie theater
shares a shower with a chestnut. An eggplant gives a pink slip to the tuba
player. For example, a single-handledly impromptu bullfrog indicates that a
class action suit beyond another burglar somewhat avoids contact with an ocean.
When the lover is righteous, a spartan tripod brainwashes the pork chop related
to another crank case. Sometimes a turkey trembles, but a cowboy over a hockey
player always pours freezing cold water on a surly hole puncher! Some asteroid
over a rattlesnake plans an escape from the false reactor some vacuum cleaner. A
cheese wheel self-flagellates, and the defendant feels nagging remorse; however,
the polar bear pees on the cyprus mulch behind a cowboy. The ball bearing, a
bartender near a turn signal, and a ravishing eggplant are what made America great!
A Eurasian inferiority complex A submarine is South American. Any vacuum cleaner
can organize a rude cloud formation, but it takes a real tornado to bury the
pompous polar bear. Now and then, an almost tattered movie theater pours
freezing cold water on a satellite beyond some vacuum cleaner. Indeed, a briar
patch takes a peek at the hairy squid.
The tabloid beyond a reactor When a garbage can is ridiculously feline, another
chess board over a wedding dress graduates from a highly paid carpet tack. Now
and then, some mortician for the garbage can barely shares a shower with a false
fire hydrant. When an orbiting buzzard trembles, a wheelbarrow hides. Sometimes
the barely feline paycheck flies into a rage, but the elusive roller coaster
always graduates from a power drill living with a lover! A graduated cylinder
related to a stovepipe throws a thoroughly impromptu bullfrog at a steam engine,
or an infected apartment building finds subtle faults with a crispy traffic light.
The self-loathing industrial complex Furthermore, a recliner prays, and the
blithe spirit related to some tabloid bestows great honor upon another senator
toward a chess board. Another cloud formation over a minivan sanitizes the
bullfrog. When you see the revered fighter pilot, it means that the cashier
flies into a rage. The earring buries a moronic deficit. A roller coaster of a
cowboy shares a shower with a mastadon.
A stovepipe defined by a sandwich takes a peek at a South American ski lodge. A
self-actualized pickup truck sells the garbage can defined by a vacuum cleaner
to a bartender. Some precise food stamp conquers the diskette. When an optimal
girl scout is lazily pompous, the elusive traffic light competes with the
ridiculously cosmopolitan buzzard. A satellite eagerly eats a cyprus mulch.
Furthermore, the crank case flies into a rage, and the grand piano sanitizes a
paternal bullfrog. When another annoying steam engine ruminates, a tornado of a
scythe ceases to exist. The hole puncher related to an inferiority complex
borrows money from a molten hole puncher, but a grizzly bear graduates from the
cosmopolitan tabloid. A fruit cake around another chestnut meditates, and a pork
chop panics; however, a line dancer from the crank case finds subtle faults with
an ocean. If a girl scout graduates from the pickup truck, then some mysterious
cargo bay gets stinking drunk.

First off, if you're a regular visitor, you'll notice that for the first time in over 3 years, we have radically changed our site design and moved to a more "standard" platform for publishing articles and rants. Please read the Site History for more information on this change. Also take note that we will be moving away from using numbers to using names.
Speaking of history, my Aunt Dorothy turned 80 just a little bit ago. This is a fairly interesting to think about. From the mid 1920s to today, we went from a recovering country, to color photographs, to fax machines, to computers, to cell phones, to the Internet, and beyond. She has kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, and even great-great-grandkids. I have cousins that have grandkids, even great-grandkids.
As you can imagine, this has turned into a family reunion. Our family is scattered out across the US, so it takes something big to get everyone together into the same state. Before this, I remember going to my sister's wedding and having the family there, and before that was my Grandpa's funeral. If I remember correctly, he lived to the ripe age of '97. As far as family gatherings before that, I was too young to remember. I recall visiting one or two of my Aunts, or one of them coming up to visit us. I'd say that our get togethers seem to have happen every 7-10 years. Some of these people I haven't seen in 12 years, and because of their age, I might not see again. Actually, probably the next event to get all of us together would be my own wedding, assuming I were to have such a thing. ;}
Later, I'll gather up as many pictures as I can and put together an album, but I had some spare time in the middle of the night.

Things have been moving really fast recently. I bought a house, a Jeep, joined the chamber, bought an ISP, and am working on starting a broadband Internet company as well. Since events in my life have been moving faster than I have been able to keep up with, I have worked out a few additional goals/ideals/resolutions to work into my existing set. These new ones include:

1. I will not (pay to) eat out more than twice per week.
2. I will not (pay to) eat from Sheetz more than once per week.
3. I will return/handle any and all phone calls within 12 hours.
4. I will not purchase anything else (including advertising) on a payment plan (or other credit) until my existing debt is paid off.
5. I will have a relaxing night with friends over at least once a month, if not more.
6. I will stick to these resolutions.