The Grubby Halo

The Old and the New: Simon and Gilly

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:18:03 -0600

Something strange happened today. Our older cat (14) Simon stopped hating our newsest cat (4 months) Gilly. Simon's never liked change, but he eventually comes around. He's not been too pleased with Gilly since we brought him home. If Gilly came near, he'd run away, even if he was snoozing. That all changed this morning. When I was taking a shower, Simon was sleeping in the sink and Gilly decided to play. He jumped on Simon, and went for his neck as cats are want to do, and alternated between biting and licking him. Simon didn't appear to care. Amy caught them in similar behavior after lunch and got this great picture:

It's like someone flipped a switch in Simon, and now Gilly has a new friend.

Football Fail

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:12:58 -0600

Sigh. My first attempt at making a "Fail" picture...not the subject I was hoping for.

Eleven Years?!

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:55:22 -0600

Has it really been that long? In high school I took lots (took extra courses to avoid study hall even) of wood working courses. Upon graduating I always intended to get a shop up and running, but that was hard to do as a poor college student with no-where to set up a shop. So I waited, telling myself once I have a home with proper garage, I'd set up my shop. That was eleven years ago. Four years ago I got a home with proper garage, but I still never set up shop. Oh, I'd talk about making things, opting to not buy a piece of furniture because I knew I could make it better and cheaper. I never did though, something Amy would pester me about. Part of me even wondered if I still had it in me. Over the past few weekends I decided to finally put it to the test and I made a "critter rack" for Amy's rats and geckos so we could have them out in a public area of the house and keep the cats from jumping on the cages.

With the new house coming this week and Amy being a stickler for having things clean and setup properly, I have no doubt that my shop will continue to be up and running for a long time to come. Guess I still have it in me, I wonder what I should make next...

Oopsies Kitten

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:49:10 -0600

On Thursday we drove out to Fort Atkinson (45 minutes East of Madison) to buy a bay window for the new house. The couple selling the window had bought it for a house they were buying before their financing fell through, and when they ended up getting a house they didn't need it. They were storing the window at their parents farm, and as we drove up a kindle of kittens scattered across the lawn. Their supposedly spayed female had kittens. Oops. We took a liking to one of the little white ones that had a slight tuft of orange fur on his head. They said "go ahead and take him", so we did.

Amy named him 'Gilly', which I take as a nickname for 'Gilligan' and will therefore be calling him my 'Little Buddy'. She has contested this as saying it's either just 'Gilly' or that it's short for 'Gilbert'. He's still my 'Little Buddy' regardless :)

He's a purr machine, and super cuddly. He's always kneading, even the air, we have the most kneaded air around! We take him out and hold him while watching TV, but otherwise he's still in quarantine from the other cats until he sees the vet tomorrow.

Home

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:39:00 -0600

Word reached us yesterday afternoon, our offer had been accepted. We close at the end of July. Welcome to our new home!

Great Summer for Movies

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 07:38:10 -0600

I was looking over the upcoming movies list and realized that this will probably be one of the greatest movie seasons I can remember for a long time. I counted 14 movies that I'd want to see in the theater:

May 2 - Iron Man (5 stars)
May 9 - Speed Racer (didn't see)
May 16 - The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (3 stars)
May 22 - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (3 stars)

June 6 - Kung Fu Panda (4 stars)
June 13 - The Incredible Hulk (didn't see)
June 13 - The Happening (didn't see)
June 20 - Get Smart (didn't see)
June 27 - Wall*E (5 stars)

July 2 - Hancock
July 11 - Hellboy II: The Golden Army
July 18 - The Dark Knight
July 25 - The X-Files: I Want to Believe

August 1 - The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Can't wait!

Finally Flickr'ing

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 07:47:34 -0600

After many years of telling myself that I'd write my own online photo management system, and not writing one, I've finally decided to start using Flickr. So, for your viewing pleasure I present my online photo gallery: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jkarolczak

I've uploaded our recent trip to the South, hope you enjoy. Since iPhoto integrates nicely into Flickr, it's only a matter of time before I have all my back archives online (most importantly our Florida trip).

Fabo's Animals

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:40:29 -0600

One of the birthday gifts I got for Amy last year were a collection of prints I found on DeviantArt by an artist named Fabo. Matted and framed all the pictures and hung them in our kitchen/dinette area.

Stop over at his page and check out some of his art (and maybe buy a print or two). We're looking forward to collecting new Fabo animals as he creates them, we just got the "Hedgehog" and Fabo was gracious enough to offer up his birds in the 4x5 format that we got the other prints in.

Six Months of Chester

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 07:43:55 -0600

Chester's six month birthday came and went this week, during which he had "the operation". He's doing good though, and even though he's suppose to take it easy for the next few days he's been bouncing around the house and yearning to play in the 13.3 inches of snow we had yesterday.

Are You Smarter Than A Football Player?

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 07:15:26 -0600

Ever wonder if you're smarter than a football player. Every year a test is given to NFL draftees, called the Wonderlic, comprised of 20 questions, each worth 2.5 points, for a maximum score of 50. The average score in the NFL is 21 (which equates to an IQ of about 100), with some players above the curve (Drew Bledsoe at 37) and some below (Vince Young rumored at a 6 (which doesn't quite add up, that'd be between 2 and 3 questions right)).

I took the test and got 17 of 20 correct for a 42.5, the questions that tripped me up were number 10, 18, and 20. If the average score for a QB is 25, what does a 42.5 get me? How about Monday Morning Quarterback, perfect hindsight :)

Take the test, let me know what you got.

(via GeekPress)

You Suck At Photoshop

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 07:14:10 -0600

Hilarious tutorials for Photoshop, funny even if you don't know the first thing about Photoshop:

(via MyDamnChannel)

Ouch, That Stings

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 09:46:03 -0600

Last night Amy and I took her twin to Red Lobster as kind of a "sorry you can't go to the NFC Championship game" apology. Our waitress was really talkative and inquired as to the twinness of Amy and Jess. She then said something that horrified me: "out for a night with dad eh?". I guess the look on my face gave it away, because she said "oh, my ex-husband used to have that same look, we were 29 years apart in age". Amy and I are only 7 years apart, but I didn't think I looked like I could be her father.

A Very Small Measure of Justice for Brian

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:00:39 -0600

As some of my readers know, I lost a dear friend last year in a drunk driving accident. My friend Brian was driving up a residential road (speed limit 25) on Christmas night, 2006 when he was struck by a speeding (estimated around 75 MPH based on the damage), drunk (0.12+ BAC), underaged (19), who ran a stop sign. He not only killed Brian, but another person in his own car. This happened within a mile of my house, on a road Amy and I had driven up not 30 minutes before.

After a year, judgement has been passed and we know what Wisconsin thinks two lives are worth: 13 years behind bars and 15 years of extended supervision. That's 6.5 years behind bars and 7.5 years of supervision for each person he killed. I could not be more disgusted at the Wisconsin legal system, the judge, and everyone involved with this farce of a judgement. The murderer was allowed to plea bargain, why, I could not say, but it resulted in leniency from the court. I can tell you this much, Brian's life was worth much more than 6.5 years behind bars. As if the judgement wasn't a slap in the face to Brian's memory, while we were waiting for the legal system, the murderer was let out on bail for several months, free to do as he pleased, and only went back to jail when he failed a drug exam. Great system we have here when someone who obviously killed people by drunk driving is allowed out of jail to do other drugs, crack in this case.

And so goes how Wisconsin treats drunk driving offenses. I read nearly every day how some jerk just had his or her 8th DUI, and somehow they keep on driving. There's a man I know just down the road from where I live, who uses the roads Amy and I drive on everyday, and he's been convicted of 3 drunk driving offenses, but he still is drives. I read nearly every day how someone was killed by a drunk driver, but I rarely if ever hear of the drunk murderer being put away for life. Hardly ever do the drunk driver kill themselves, where is God, or Fate, or Karma, or whatever?!

I grew up believing that the death penalty was wrong. I no longer believe that. I grew up filled with faith, and now I question it daily. I grew up believing that the government and legal system was fair and just. I know better now. I could not be more disgusted at the whole situation. I'm also disgusted at myself because part of me hopes that he messes up while in prison and gets what's coming to him. I never used to have such thoughts.

Brian got a very small measure of justice in my opinion, his life was certainly worth much more than what is being paid.

T'was a Dark and Snowy Night...

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 07:46:33 -0600

...at Lambeau Field. Amy, Terry and I went to see the Packers play the Seahawks on Saturday, and I think it's safe to say that I've never been to a better game. The game was one that will inspire legends in years to come. I've never been to such a snowy game, nor seen a better Packers performance. After the jitters of the first few minutes, it was all Green Bay.

The snow was so heavy at times that we couldn't see the far end of the stadium!

We had so much fun we're going back next Sunday!

GO PACK!!!

Rover 'O Rover, When Will the Asteroid Pass Over?

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:43:44 -0600

Late last month I was reading some articles about how there was an asteroid that had a 1 in 4 chance of hitting Mars on January 30th. Not that it'd be visible with small backyard scopes, I was hoping for a good show, perhaps on NASA TV or something, but reports from yesterday have nailed down the chances to 1 in 10,000. Bummer. I remember the excitement when Shoemaker-Levy broke up and hit Jupiter, and granted this was one small asteroid, but it could have made an interesting crater and flash.