AJAX Diagramming Via The Web.

This is a web-based AJAX diagramming application. I don’t know how it stacks up to VISIO yet, but it’s worth a shot.

AJAX Diagramming Via The Web.

This is a web-based AJAX diagramming application. I don’t know how it stacks up to VISIO yet, but it’s worth a shot.

Please Stand By.

Looks like my business server is down a couple days ahead of schedule—it’s getting an overhaul this weekend. Until further notice, use the idiot address if you need to get in touch with me.

Houseblog Update 6.27.06

I updated the houseblog yesterday with some basic details of the rain barrel project. In light of the record rainfall these past couple of days, it was right on time.

Houseblog Update 6.27.06

I updated the houseblog yesterday with some basic details of the rain barrel project. In light of the record rainfall these past couple of days, it was right on time.

Rain Barrel Project.

This is the first weekend I’ve had the rain barrel set up on the southeast corner of the house (where the majority of the runoff from the main roof empties out to the driveway.) I set it up and we left on a weekend where Maryland and D.C. saw some of the worst flooding in five years. When we got back on Monday night, the barrel was full and the overflow was shooting out of the side where I hadn’t plugged one of the threaded valve openings.

Tuesday I returned to the barrel with a handful of 3/4 PVC fittings and pipe length, and rigged up an overflow valve that empties into the driveway. The next project is to install the second rain barrel underneath the first to catch the overflow, and then rig up an overflow drain on that second barrel. That’s going to be trickier, because the second barrel is cheaper and lacks a threaded outlet at the top like the first barrel does, so I’m going to have to get creative.

Plus, the gravity platform I put in is not sturdy enough (it needs cross bracing) and needs a stronger platform to carry the weight of a full barrel.

Virginia Travels

Jen and I are back from a quiet trip through the Virginia countryside to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

We stayed at a quiet cabin in the woods called Montfair, which was better than any Motel 6 could have been. The cabins are owned by a family who are reviving an older campsite, and I’d recommend the cabins to anyone, including families with children. Every detail is thought of, from extra towels and fresh organic coffee to corkscrews and air conditioning. (By chance we met one of the owners of the campground, who turned out to be a fellow MICA graduate.)

Monticello is a beautiful, inspiring place set high on a hill overlooking the rolling mountains. There’s a ton of things to do and see, and now that the second mountain is open, tours are available to learn about the history of the area as well. I learned more about the Founding Fathers on this trip than during twelve years of public school. Luckily, we missed most of the rain that plagued northern Virginia and Maryland, and by the end of our day we were strolling the grounds in sunshine.

Monday’s journey back home took us north and through sleepy one-lane backcountry until we hit Montpelier, purely by accident. We stopped and took the tour of James Madison’s country estate, which was also worth every penny. The house is currently under a massive restoration, so we were able to walk through stripped plaster and lathe and see the generations of changes made to the house since its beginnings in 1760.

What was meant as a relaxing, inexpensive getaway turned out to be more than we could have hoped for—we returned back to Baltimore happy, relaxed, and invigorated.

Garden Progress, 6.21.06

Here’s a shot of one of our four tomato plants, with only a few of the fruit visible. The leaves are very dark, which could be some kind of tomato blight, or simply the way this particular variety grows—whatever the case, they’re getting much bigger. We have cukes coming in too, but the pictures I snapped of them didn’t come out so well. Maybe tomorrow.

Microbusinesses Uninsured.

Most microbusiness owners lack health insurance at some point. No shit, Sherlock. You had to do a study to find that out?

Meanwhile, the American Medical Association has endorsed a proposal requiring individuals who make at least $49,000 a year to purchase a minimum level of health insurance.

Which only goes to show just how far up their ass the AMA has their heads. We have a “minimum” of health insurance, which translates to a sky-high deductible and no prescription coverage, in case we get hit by a bus or actually are crazy enough to try and procreate. I’d guess somebody at the AMA is being lobbied heavily by the insurance industry, who seem to think that the lower middle class/small business owners of American don’t have enough bullshit to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Hopefully, whatever stupid small business association lobbying group is supposedly representing my interests in Washington gets this particular “proposal” shot down, and quick.

How about the AMA decides to bite the hand who’s obviously handing them Milk-Bones and start going after the insurance industry for jacking up malpractice insurance rates? (That’s right, I live in one of the more doctor-unfriendly states, which is why our G.P. recently decamped to Delaware for “Family Reasons”.)

nearly a third of those who responded to the poll said they couldn’t find simple, easy-to-read information about their health care options.

Amen, brother. Doing the preliminary research for our little family unit was like reading a Yugoslavian owner’s manual at the bottom of a dark well. And I’d have to add that the “options” are pretty spare. There was one plan that looked fantastic until we got to the part about pregnancy, and realized it was written for sterile people.

I’ll be thinking about that particular article the next time we fork out $120 on three months’ worth of birth control pills.

80′s Videos.

This is a magnificent timesuck. A compendium of 80′s videos on Youtube, everything from the banal to the sublime. I spent an hour watching videos last night.

CSI: Miami Drinking Game

Jen suggested we take a long vacation weekend specifically so we could stay in somewhere and get shitfaced playing the CSI: Miami Drinking Game. I think we’d be housed before the first commercial break.

Skip “V”.

I added Wim Wenders to the Alphabet Project today, after a three-week absence brought on by activity and paying work. There is a “V” in the works, but I decided that adding something was better than nothing.

Heat’s Back.

Yeah, the indian summer here in Baltymore is over. We’re now back to the low 90′s with typical Maryland humidity, which is to say, wet like a sponge. The beginning of June was idyllic, and I only wish I’d gotten out and taken more advantage of it. This weekend saw the long-awaited continuation of 2004′s outdoor projects—I finished reglazing the living room windows and replaced the storms. I cut in the rest of the siding on the South and West sides of the house, as well as scraped and painted a ton of exposed wood on the porch. By the time 5:30 rolled around, I was hot, tired, and ready for November.

I intended to get the first rain barrel installed in the southeast corner of the house today, but gave up on that pretty quickly after 5PM. The trick is to elevate the barrel so that gravity will do the work of irrigation for us, which means building a platform to put it on, diverting the gutter around a corner and into the top of the barrel (literally, a square peg in a round hole) and fitting an overflow valve. The hardest part will be the gutter portion, based on what I’ve found at the various Home Superstores around town, because there isn’t anything made for this particular application—which means I’m going to have to get creative with PVC and flexible tubing. Then again, I could just buy this peculiar-looking contraption, or perhaps this even stranger-looking thing.I think I’m going to look some more at Lowe’s first, because neither of these things allow for getting around a corner.

Ten Commandments.

Ten good reasons to keep religion out of politics. Because we elect assholes like this, who are dumber than a box of hammers. Perhaps you should spend a little more time reading your Bible and understanding it instead of trying to ram it down our throats, Congressman. (For the record, I had a brainfart and forgot Kill and Adultery, of all things, but I remembered the other eight. I’m a heathen.) (Youtube link)

Ten Commandments.

Ten good reasons to keep religion out of politics. Because we elect assholes like this, who are dumber than a box of hammers. Perhaps you should spend a little more time reading your Bible and understanding it instead of trying to ram it down our throats, Congressman. (For the record, I had a brainfart and forgot Kill and Adultery, of all things, but I remembered the other eight. I’m a heathen.) (Youtube link)

So Dangerous. So Very Fucking Dangerous.

I found this comparison of 14 flux core MIG welders via the MAKE: blog this afternoon, and it’s like an answer to my prayers. I’ve always wanted to weld some more—my experience was limited to some very basic lessons taught by my roommate Pat after hours in the sculpture lab at MICA—and there are many things I’d like to be able to do/build/fabricate given the time, money and equipment. Besides, I think real men should know how to weld. Meanwhile, the site is now in my permanent RSS feed. Any site that recommends a pocket knife as a Father’s Day gift is OK with me.

Blog Post Frequency Doesn’t Matter

According to Technorati, only 55% of bloggers post after 3 months of existence. Huh. I’ve been doing this since 2001, give or take a month or two. I do agree with the point about quality vs. quantity, but I also have to admit this blog’s purpose is as much to unclutter my brain as it is for anybody else to read. (ups to Mike)

Search Template Fixed.

Huh. I just noticed the search template here on Idiotking was completely hosed. It’s fixed now. Sheesh, you’d think I did this for a living or something.

iCal publishing, take 72

Publish calendars without .Mac in iCal. I haven’t tried this particular solution, but I’d wager it works. I’d rather have webDAV working on a local server here at the office, but I’ve never had luck getting it to work. Not for lack of trying, though. This could be cool, if it works.

Are You Looking At My Bum?

Repair work completed. Looks pretty good, compared to this: