PolarLava::Blog » Archive of November 2008

Site Update

I've been doing a bit of housecleaning on the site over the past couple of days…

First off I finally updated my resume. Not really looking for work, but generally it's a good idea to keep it up-to-date, right?

Another thing I've been going to do, but just hadn't found the time for was adding a Beer page. This is basically a single-page index of the Beer! blog topic. If nothing else, this helps me avoid creating duplicate entries…of which I did find one while working on it. See, once again beer has helped to make things right! ;)

November 29, 2008 @ 11:53 pm | Category: PolarLava Website

Summit India Pale Ale

November 29, 2008 @ 01:00 am | Category: Beer

Summit Extra Pale Ale

November 29, 2008 @ 12:54 am | Category: Beer

What have I done?

I came across this meme and liked it so I thought I'd give it a shot…

I did this.
I ain't did this.
Kinda dun it.

Started your own blog
Slept under the stars
Played in a band
Visited Hawaii
Watched a meteor shower
Given more than you can afford to charity
Been to Disneyland
Climbed a mountain
Held a praying mantis.
Sang a solo
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Taught yourself an art from scratch
Adopted a child
Had food poisoning
Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
Grown your own vegetables
Seen the Mona Lisa in France
Slept on an overnight train
Had a pillow fight
Hitch hiked
Taken a sick day when you're not ill
Built a snow fort
Held a lamb
Gone skinny dipping
Run a Marathon
Ridden in a gondola in Venice
Seen a total eclipse
Watched a sunrise or sunset
Hit a home run
Been on a cruise
Seen Niagara Falls in person
Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
Seen an Amish community
Taught yourself a new language
Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
Gone rock climbing
Seen Michelangelos David
Sung karaoke
Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
Visited Africa
Walked on a beach by moonlight
Been transported in an ambulance
Had your portrait painted
Gone deep sea fishing
Seen the Sistine Chapel in person - Seen the outside, they wouldn't let me in!
Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Gone to a drive-in theater
Been in a movie
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business
Taken a martial arts class
Visited Russia
Served at a soup kitchen
Sold Girl Scout Cookies
Gone whale watching
Got flowers for no reason
Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
Gone sky diving
Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
Bounced a check
Flown in a helicopter
Saved a favorite childhood toy
Visited the Lincoln Memorial
Eaten Caviar
Pieced a quilt
Stood in Times Square
Toured the Everglades
Been fired from a job - It was mutual and on good terms though.
Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
Broken a bone
Been on a speeding motorcycle
Seen the Grand Canyon in person
Published a book - Self Published
Visited the Vatican
Bought a brand new car
Walked in Jerusalem
Had your picture in the newspaper
Read the entire Bible
Visited the White House
Killed and prepared an animal for eating
Had chickenpox
Saved someone's life
Sat on a jury
Met someone famous
Joined a book club
Lost a loved one
Had a baby - Fathering counts, right?
Seen the Alamo in person
Swam in the Great Salt Lake
Been involved in a law suit
Owned a cell phone - Although I don't "own" one now! (corp)
Been stung by a bee
Read an entire book in one day - I'm lucky if I can read one in a year!

November 29, 2008 @ 12:33 am | Category: Brainwork

Arts and Crafts Rocking Chair

My wife and I are both fans of the Arts and Crafts style. We're slowly remodeling our home in this fashion, including furnishings. A couple of years back my wife bought herself an arts and crafts rocking chair. I was jealous and thus we began searching for one for me. So back in February we finally came across one at an antiques shop that, although a grimy and in need of repair, was basically solid and seemed comfortable to me. And best of all, it only cost $50... Read more…

November 28, 2008 @ 09:49 pm | Category: Brainwork

Killing Sandy

I was way out of the loop yesterday due to some personal issues, but it was truly bummed out this morning when I found out that Sandy (previously discussed in My Organizational System (GTD)) will be shutting down on December 8th.

The announcement calls it a fork in the road. At this point it's more like a fork in the heart…Sandy's or mine I'm not sure. Rael Dornfest, the CEO and developer is shutting it down, while he and the IP from Sandy (and it's predecessor Stikkit) are moving to Twitter. Maybe at some point Sandy's functionality will reemerge there, but a complete and immediate Sandy shutdown leaves us loyal users high and dry. There's a lot of bitter words in the comments of the shutdown message (above), but it's not completely unexpected from my perspective. But it was a very small company and times are tough in the free Web 2.0 world so I'm not completely shocked. It's just that I never expected a full shutdown. I always felt it would get gobbled up if nothing else —which it has, but that it would keep running until fully absorbed. That's unfortunately not the case here.

I was using Sandy a lot in the past, but then had waned a bit when I joined the iPhone Cult. I thought I would move on to something else, but after a while I found that even with a more full featured phone I didn't really want to use another service/method. Guess I will be now. At this point it's likely to be Remember The Milk or Toodledo.

Goodbye Sandy, I'm going to miss you!

November 26, 2008 @ 11:22 pm | Category: Brainwork