Talk about a trip gone off course…
4 minute read
July 1, 2005, 12:35 AM
First of all, welcome to July, which means I close out the journal file that I use for the first half of 2005, and open a new journal file for the second half. So that’s why none of the previous entries are showing on the front of the Journal. They’ve been swept off the page because I’ve switched journal files.
Otherwise, though, I did add one new feature to to the Journal with this new journal file for my own information. Now, whenever I post a Journal entry, it will capture the remote host name of the place where I posted the entry. Most of the entries will show the host name for my regular computer, but there are times when I post from elsewhere, like that time in the middle of March when I posted an entry on the Infoshop‘s computer while I was up in Washington on my first post-surgery DC trip. From your perspective, there will be no change in your experience. The host name information will not show on the site.
What’s ironic about this new feature, though, is that with this first entry in the new journal file that captures the host name, is that I’m writing it offline, thus there is no host name to capture. Why? A few reasons. First of all, my Internet connection is down for some unknown reason, and thus the online form that I usually use for it is inaccessible. So I’m writing this directly into the database. Secondly, I’ve not yet done any of the changeover work on the site for the new file. And lastly, this entry was not supposed to be the first July entry, but rather the final June entry, but a fly got into the ointment while I was out today after work, which made me FAR later in getting home than I wanted. That story follows.
Continue reading…Categories: Driving, Schumin Web meta, Weather
It only took me a month, but it’s done!
3 minute read
June 29, 2005, 11:41 PM
Yay! The closet is clean! It only took me a month to do, but the closet is completely devoid of all of my crap. And I took no prisoners. Sixteen tubs’ worth of crap went to the landfill. I have one tub’s worth of stuff that I’m keeping/selling/donating. Not much came out of the closet that was of any worth, though.
I did find some interesting stuff, though. One was an old videotape of early-1990s television that I had been looking for on and off for years. Turned out it was in my old toy box the whole time. How it got there, I don’t know. But that tape was a lot of fun to watch again. It contains, among other things, a re-airing of the original 1990 pilot of America’s Funniest Home Videos. Let me say this about it. The pilot was awful, but it showed great potential.
Speaking of my old toy box, we found it, and it’s in pretty good shape. I cleaned it completely out, and Mom and I are going to refinish it. Right now, it’s got some splinters in it, mostly around the edges, it’s got some weird marks on it, and some discoloration. So we intend on sanding it and painting it before it sees a new life storing whatever it is that I choose to put in there. It could hold a lot of stuff.
Categories: House, Schumin Web meta, Video games
At last, I have my Web site back again!
< 1 minute read
May 9, 2005, 11:24 AM
Finally, after about two weeks of server problems, everything is working properly once again, and I can do regular updates again. I am just tickled.
I know that everyone on the discussion forums will be happy, too, since the server problems caused more issues there than anywhere else. After all, that’s probably the most complicated part of the entire site. Most of the site is fairly simply done.
And then once everything got rectified, then it was a matter of cleaning up the forums. Any new topics attempted during the outage were lost, and so I had to manually create text files and posts for them (since the titles still showed up), and then delete them.
In any case, though, I’m just glad I have my site back.
Categories: Schumin Web meta
And we change the clocks again…
3 minute read
April 3, 2005, 12:27 AM
I can’t believe that our time with Standard Time has come to an end once again. And now it’s time for Daylight Savings! Amazing. I also can’t believe that it’s April, and that A16 is only two weeks away.
Meanwhile, Katie had a birthday on Thursday, March 31. So now she’s 23. She and I and her mother and her mother’s boss all went to Sanzone’s Italian Restaurant in Stuarts Draft for dinner. It was a lovely dinner, too. We all had some sort of pasta. And let me tell you… Sanzone’s is a wonderful restaurant. They really did a number on the old Tastee Freez building. Inside, you wouldn’t think that it was fast food. It’s a gorgeous Italian restaurant now. Now outside, its former use is still evident, as the drive-thru canopy is still there, though not in use, and the exterior looks like it was once fast food. But all in all, though, Sanzone’s is a good place to take your family if you’re interested in Italian food. Good food, and good service.
Okay, end of ringing endorsement. But they are good.
Categories: Katie, Schumin Web meta, Walmart
A week of mornings!
2 minute read
March 29, 2005, 3:39 AM
I don’t understand that one. I’m working mostly mornings this week. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Friday – all mornings. Usually I’m on evenings.
And then on Wednesday I’m going to Washington DC. In the morning. And of course, I’ll be there until late at night. Seriously, I usually hit the Orange Line at Vienna right around 10:00 in the morning, after the all-day passes become valid, and the guaranteed parking spaces become available. Then I don’t leave Vienna in the evening until just beyond 12:00. I do cut it close in the evenings, but I’ve never ridden on the last train of the night. Closest I’ve come is second-to-last, and another time the train I had just gotten off of at Vienna was going to be the last train of the night to New Carrollton. The last trains of the night all meet at Metro Center and Gallery Place-Chinatown depending on color before proceeding to the terminals.
Meanwhile, I am going down to Blacksburg on April 14 to pick Sis up. I figure that since it’s my event that we’re going to, after all (A16), I might as well do the Virginia Tech run at least one of the two runs. So I’m doing the pick-up run. I’m going to let a parent do the drop-off run, since I’m going to be all driven out after A16. You drive 150 miles each way the day before and see how much you want to drive another 100 miles in each direction the next day. At least the drive to Washington has a big urban area at one end of it, and requires busting a move in changing between I-81 and I-66. The Virginia Tech run is just a straight shot through the most boring part of I-81.
Otherwise, I need to come up with a good April Fool’s joke for use at work. I don’t know what I want to do yet, but I want it to be good. On the topic of good April Fool’s jokes, I’m still quite proud of my 2002 joke, which I ran in the quote space. I even X-ed out the logo for that week and changed the circle-pic. It was so much fun.
Categories: DC trips, Holidays, Schumin Web meta
Tomorrow… freedom!
< 1 minute read
March 14, 2005, 5:31 PM
Tomorrow begins that transition back into real life again. I have a follow-up appointment with the doctor, I have to swing by Wal-Mart to pick up and drop off some stuff, and lastly, I have to go to the bank.
What I can’t believe is that it’s officially been two weeks now that I’ve been at home. And with one short exception when Katie came to visit and I stepped outside, the whole time has been spent inside the house. Scary? Yeah. So it will definitely be nice to get out for a bit.
I also can’t believe that this time off of work is nearly over. Believe it or not, I have, overall, enjoyed my time off of work because of the operation. I got a lot accomplished in these last two weeks. I did a big Transit Center update, I put up a new photography set, and discontinued the quote, which necessitated a redesign of the main page. Plus I’ve finally gotten a chance to work on the total redesign and overhaul of the Today’s Special site that I have, and it’s getting close to being finished.
Of course, there were the unpleasant moments, like in changing the dressing on the wound, since it was still quite tender (and therefore painful) during the first week. After that, though, as things continued to heal, that dressing change got a lot easier.
Still, I’m just glad to be getting out of the house again. But at least things will be getting somewhat back to normal, which will be nice. I’m even thinking about going to Washington DC again later on this month. Hopefully that will be a go.
All in all, things are looking up!
Categories: Personal health, Schumin Web meta
I think you left your voice over in Europe…
2 minute read
March 12, 2005, 9:37 AM
Sis is back from Europe, and she had a lot of fun. But I think she forgot her voice over there. We’ll have to get Chris (her boyfriend who’s studying there this semester) to mail it back.
Seriously, though, she’s back, but she caught a cold while there. We hope she gets better soon. It must be a curse that comes with the second year, getting sick during spring break. One might recall that I was sick as a dog during my sophomore year spring break while at JMU. I was absolutely miserable.
But she did get a lot of cool pictures. Lots of pictures of things and people. It’s neat.
Otherwise, I spent some time yesterday redesigning my main page, which currently looks like this:
Categories: Family, Schumin Web meta
I might not have been able to go to DC, but I did get something accomplished…
3 minute read
February 24, 2005, 11:18 PM
I did actually get something accomplished today! Inspired by the umpteenth Email about pictures not working, or the odd state of multimedia on the site, I finally pulled out all my Webmaster’s tools and went to work hammering out that long-deferred new design for the Today’s Special site. In order to keep things neat, there will be a strong influence from the current version of The Schumin Web. To keep its Today’s Special character, the color scheme and a number of other stylings will remain from the existing site.
So let’s compare old to new:
This is the old site. It’s got a classic layout and look, but it definitely needs an update. But it is indisputably Today’s Special. Note the inclusion of details from the Children’s Department on the show along the top of the screen.
Categories: Schumin Web meta, Today's Special
Blacksburg!
2 minute read
February 16, 2005, 1:01 PM
I’m in Blacksburg today, taking photos of the BT, formally known as Blacksburg Transit. I’m also visiting my sister later on in the evening.
I’ve been really successful today with my BT photos. Only disappointment is that Blacksburg Transit doesn’t run their Flxibles in regular service anymore. They run their New Flyer low-floor buses on regular service, and only pull out the Flxes for special events. Still, I’ve done fairly well, taking a huge amount of photos of the BT’s buses that are running. I also got an interior photo of one of the buses (can’t remember the bus number offhand, but it’s in the photos). So that’s good.
Meanwhile, I recently found out that a long-time fan of mine, Rodney Anonymous, found the Web site A Little About Everything, run by a Mr. Randy N. Townley. I can see why he’d say “evil twin”, but I tend to disagree. Though it seems that the “evil” part fits. I quote from his response to Rodney Anonymous’s original message:
Categories: Internet, Schumin Web meta, Transit
“Do you see what I see?”
“I don’t know what you see, but what I see is me!”
“I see me, too!”
2 minute read
February 14, 2005, 1:35 AM
This snippet from the Olsen twins’ movie It Takes Two basically describes my reaction to finding a picture of me from J20 on not one, but two Web sites.
About finding pictures of me, it’s interesting the way I see it. First of all, simply having a picture of me on the Web is no longer a big deal for me. I have a bazillion pictures of myself on the Web already – most of them on here, and taken with the intention of using them here. Finding pictures of me on other people’s Web sites that originated from my site is interesting, but still not as interesting, since it’s nothing new photographically. I’ve already seen all the photos from my site, thank you very much.
However, the occasional spoof is amusing, such as that which was done on Spinnwebe, which used an exaggerated version of my style to create a photo set about a trip to Starbucks. There, they used original photos. On that topic, though, I still find it amusing to read this line: “About the most interesting part was what wasn’t there, which is who the hell am I and how the hell did I get his phone number.” Reason that wasn’t in there was twofold. First of all, I already knew who Spinn was and knew about that which was Spinnwebe for some time, having first discovered his site via Dysfunctional Family Circus (the DFC). I thought it was funny as hell, too. Twas a shame to see the DFC go away, though I understand why it did. And as for how did he get my number? This was in my Potomac Hall room at the time. At that point in the year, there was only one place to find my number: JMU’s Web site. Kind of narrows things down, doesn’t it?
Categories: Activism, Photography, Schumin Web meta
I’m getting there…
2 minute read
January 28, 2005, 8:23 AM
Aside from fiddling with the new Internet connection and clearing space in my room with the intention of organizing, sorting, and deciding the fate of junk, I’ve also made considerable headway on my J20 photo set in Life and Times.
The photo set will be modeled on the Million Worker March prototype – broken into parts, with a modified narrative from the Journal. And unless something changes between now and the release, the set will have 109 photos, and seven movies (as a point of comparison, the Million Worker March had 75 photos and 14 movies). Right now, the only things that I can tell you are totally complete are the movies. Those are converted, freeze-framed, and uploaded. Done. I thought about offering one up as a preview, but upon looking at them, realized that they don’t stand up too well on their own, and that they need a photo set to support them.
I’m also going to do a “Literature” section again, containing PDF files of some of the pamphlets and such I’d gotten along the way. That, however, is the furthest from completion – I haven’t even scanned anything yet.
Categories: Activism, DC trips, Schumin Web meta
New Year’s Eve…
2 minute read
December 31, 2004, 9:56 PM
As I write this, it’s less than 30 minutes until 2005 arrives. And people were ready at Wal-Mart. Practically every customer the entire bloody day bought all sorts of alcohol, usually multiple items. Beer, wine, you name it. Virginia has state-operated liquor stores, so we don’t sell liquor at Wal-Mart – just beer and wine, and other stuff that falls into those two categories, like that malt liquor stuff.
And it was hopping at Wally World. Lines all day. People want to get loaded full of food and alcohol, and they bought it in large quantities. Whee!
Meanwhile, the Deli got some new mashed potatoes and gravy. I think that’s going to be a hit, particularly with the associates. I had some of it with my lunch. Good stuff indeed.
Categories: New Year's, Schumin Web meta, Walmart
Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the day after
4 minute read
December 26, 2004, 9:45 PM
My, what an interesting three days.
First there’s Christmas Eve. The crowds at Wally World were just amazing. Practically all of Waynesboro crammed into our store and cleaned it out. And then at 6:00, just like last year in the Staunton Wal-Mart, all became quiet, as the store closed, and the customers went home. All of us as associates finally wished each other a Merry Christmas, and went on home. Hey, the store was closed, and we were going to enjoy every minute of it. Though I think I caught Evelyn off guard with a Christmas hug.
Speaking of Christmas Eve, I’m still sore from that day. For one, my arms are sore from all the scanning I did. Let me tell you something. I was scanning far more items than a regular day, and was scanning at warp speed. So I’m still sore from that. We’ll recover. I also got a bruise on my front. I noticed it this morning while I was getting dressed. Then at work today, remembering where the bruise was, I realized how I got it. I must have accidentally jabbed myself with the arms on the bag spinner at some point, since it was at the right height to be the spinner.
Then there’s Christmas itself. Mom was the star of the show in the morning, overacting for everything. Sure, it was a bit bad acting, but it was cute. Meanwhile, you know you’re getting mature when you realize that the Christmas presents will still be there in the afternoon, and you don’t have to open them at the crack of dawn. I had no problem sleeping until noon or later. But the family woke me up at 9:00, and so I kind of lumbered down the stairs to open presents.
Categories: Christmas, Clothing, Food and drink, Schumin Web meta, Shoes, Walmart
11 days until Christmas… let it all be over soon…
2 minute read
December 14, 2004, 9:06 PM
Goodness… let it be over soon! December 14 means ten more shopping days until Christmas, and please let these ten days go by quickly. Then maybe things can get back to normal.
Today, since we were short-handed, I ended up doing cart patrol for the last part of my shift. Let me tell you, too… there’s nothing like running around the lot with the QuicKart 2000, which is our automated cart machine, in the dark and in sub-freezing conditions. I’ve used the cart machine before, but this is the first time I’ve used it at night, and in this cold of weather. But let me tell you… that thing ran like a pro. And it sure beats the heck out of pushing carts manually. Then you can only do like five at a time, and plus requires pushing. Now, I can move thirty at a time, and all I have to do is steer.
Still, it’s very satisfying to see a clear lot after coming out to a full one. Though it was quite a cold time out there.
Otherwise, I’m off tomorrow, and I’m still job hunting in Washington DC. The Internet is a wonderful thing, as I’ve placed resumes on a few different job-hunting sites. Tomorrow will hopefully be productive, though before I do some serious work on stuff, I plan on getting some serious Zs.
Categories: Schumin Web meta, Walmart
And I’m not touching that bloody photo set again until the 2005 redesign…
< 1 minute read
December 14, 2004, 1:24 AM
I finished it. I have finally finished the Million Worker March photo set in Life and Times. See it in all its Million-Worker-March-ness. And just three days shy of the two-month anniversary of the march.
The most-photographed view of the Million Worker March, based on what I could find elsewhere online, looked like this:
As you can see, I got the obligatory camera angle as well. This was from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, looking towards the Washington Monument. It seems like everyone and their mother got a picture from up there.
Categories: Activism, Schumin Web meta