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What a wild and wacky weekend.
Each August Green Guy (link-o-rama.com & greenguyandjim.com) hosts a small webmaster gathering at his home near Buffalo.
This year's gathering featured the wedding of Emerald (smutgremlins.com) and BlueBrit (blue-candy.com).
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WOW! What a week. I had a great time, but was very ready to get back home. My flights each way were uneventful and on time, not quite sure how that happened. ;-)
Monday
I arrived at my brothers place in SF about dinner time. We met a couple of his friends at a little neighborhood restaurant a few blocks from his apartment. The menu had a Portuguese influence, and the prices were modest. Good food and excellent service. Just what the weary traveller needed.
Tuesday
Cybernet Expo got underway, so after lunch with my brother I checked into the hotel, got settled into my room, and picked up my conference badge. I made connections with the rest of the Oprano crew and we managed to kill a couple of hours until the lounge opened at 4:30.
Conversation eventually turned to dinner, and after a phone call or three, eight of us ended up taking two cabs to The Brazen Head. The Penne Ragu was absolutely wonderful and the others gave similar reviews to their choices. I'm still not sure how Brad Mitchell (MojoHost) managed to snag the check. Thanks Brad :-)
Not being a party animal I skipped the offsite after hours party and hung in the lounge and shot the breeze.
Wednesday
Most of the day was spent at seminars. Nothing all that noteworthy, but it's always good to get a read on what the current industry hot buttons are even if they don't necessarily apply specifically to what I do.
We mustered again at the lounge before heading out to The Stinking Rose for a sublime garlic feast. The bagna calda appetizer was killer, as was the prime rib. To top it off we all shared a couple of orders of garlic ice cream. Another fantastic dinner. Thanks Hell Puppy!
I begged off on the after hours party again and spent a couple of hours doing some site updates. The wireless connection at the hotel kept cutting in and out. It was a bit frustrating, but two of my sites hadn't been updated since I left Houston, so I had to muddle through.
Thursday
More seminars in the morning, then a roundtable luncheon. The buffet was a pleasant surprise. After all the rich food the past three days I went heavy on the salad and fresh fruit. The discussion at the table I was at focused on the recent Max Hardcore obscentity case and it's ramifications. An interesting way to spend a couple of hours.
Come dinner time, most of the crew seemed to have prior plans. That left just Gonzo, Hell Puppy and myself in search of some seafood. If you want the freshest seafood in SF there is only one choice, Scoma's. We all chose the Alaska salmon and it did not disappoint. Food and service were both first rate.
After waddling back to the hotel after dinner we caught the shuttle to the Kink in the Kastle party at the SF Armory. Built in 1914 it is now owned by Kink.com and is where they shoot all of their content. They put on a great party, and most of the ladies in attendance were dressed accordingly.
Friday
I slept late then I packed up my stuff and checked out of the hotel. Most everyone else had already headed out for home or would be soon. I went back to my brother's place. We walked about six blocks to Nob Hill Grille for lunch. Without question the best Reuben sandwich I've had in a very long time. After lunch a number of my brother's friends dropped by and we just sat around shootin' the bull until time to go to dinner.
My brother had made reservations over a month ago at 1550 Hyde. As it turns out the restaurant is co-owned by a guy that my brother used to work with about ten years ago when they were both working at Plumpjack, which explains the extensive wine list. We ordered a couple of appetizers, and the owner sent us another complimentary appetizer. Antipasto, a seafood sampler, and a fruit plate. All were excellent, as was the sparkling wine we had with them.
For entrees two of us chose short ribs, two chose pork chops, along with a bottle of Pinot. The short ribs were done to perfection, needing barely any coaxing to remove the meat from the bone. Carmelized onions in a rich beef stock with fresh peas and red potatoes. Fairly simple fare done exceptionally well. The pork chop received similar review, and my brother is a fussy sumbitch.
Dessert was out of this world. I had an arborio rice pudding that was incredible and the others all had the signiture chocolate pot de creme.
A superb meal that didn't break the bank.
Saturday
In the morning we made a grocery run in prep for the evening meal. Some roasting chickens and the go-with-its for some beer can chicken cooked over the charcoal. The chicken was good, though I'm not sure it's good enough to justify all the effort. The company was first rate and we all sat around stuffed to the gills most of the evening.
Sunday
Breakfast at my brother's favorite local diner, then back to his place to pack up my stuff. I was uncertain how long the wait would be getting through airport security, so I left myself plenty of time. As it turned out there was very little wait, so I had time to get a sandwich before going to the gate to catch my flight. They did serve a "meal" on the plane, but the best thing I have to say about it is that it was still hot.
A very nice trip. No major issues, did some business, met some people in person that I'd only known from the boards, plus I got to spend a few days with my brother. I'm already looking forward to next year.
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I've been putting off buying new pants, but with my upcoming trip to Cybernet Expo in San Francisco just a few weeks away I had to bite the bullet and go shopping. I can buy most clothing online, but even with the weight loss pants are still a tough fit. I just can't avoid going to the stores so I can try them on. On top of that I just plain detest going to the mall. I worked in them for years. I've done my time.
My first stop wasn't a complete waste. I did manage to find some every day, very casual pants. Kinda like sweats but in a light-weight cotton rather than fleece. Light-weight is a necessity here in Houston. Temps are already in the 90's. I moved on to store number two and after trying on several different styles I settled on two pair of Haggar dress/casual slacks in a dark tan/khaki linen-look fabric.
With pants crossed off the list I then went in search of some shoes. My Air Jordans just won't do with the new slacks. No luck at store number two, so on to store number three. Now, having spent 14 years selling shoes for a living I knew this was the worst time of year to shop for shoes. All of the Spring styles are selling down, making room for the Fall inventory that will start arriving in another six to eight weeks. I wear a fairly common size, so of course my first choice wasn't available in my size. The salesman, a nice guy in his early 60's that had been in the biz almost 40 years, brought me a few other choices and I finally found one I liked that fit.
Now by this time I'm clear at the opposite end of the mall from where I parked. I'd spent about two hours, including the stop I made for a quick bite for lunch, and had spent about $200. All things considered, far less painful that it could have been. Now I just have to take the pants down to the tailor to have them shortened.
I'll post again after my trip. That should be far less boring than this post.
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Some of you already know that I've been on a serious weight loss plan since the end of Sept. I've not made a big deal of it publicly, as I'm really not into the recognition. I'm doing this for myself, simply because my weight and dietary habits had gotten out of control and the older I get the more serious the health implications.
I'm happy to report that as of this morning's weigh-in there is now 30% less of me than there was on Sept. 27th. (see ticker below). The NutriSystem commercials you see on TV are for real. The plan works if you stick to it.
103 pounds gone, 55 pound left to reach my goal weight. :-)
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A summary of my last 48 hours...
Tue AM:
1) Post question about AutoGalleryPro on JMB support board.
2) Get reply, no easy way to do what I want. Find out at same time that all support for AutoGalleryPro will cease on Sept 1.
3) However, there is discount upgrade deal on the new script (TGPX, which is what I'm already using on Stocking-Vixens) but it ends that day.
4) I'd planned to upgrade all my AGP sites anyway so I get a quote for additional discount for buying 4 licenses. (great deal actually, $90 each at regular price, $50 each upgrade special, I got 4 licenses for $125)
Tue afternoon:
1) Run errands and MAIL TAXES (had to pay more for '07, plus make 1st quarterly for '08)
2) Early afternoon we lose phone/DSL service
Wed AM:
1) Been offline since yesterday, waiting for AT&T repair crew.
2) 9:00 AM repair crew arrives and begin to isolate problem.
3) They finally locate and repair a ground issue in a junction box up the block. While here they run a new wire around side of house for DSL to remove old repair (line was cut by yard service guys last Fall)
4) Finally back online a little before 11:00 AM. I have two TGP's waiting for a daily update, plus other pending updates and everything else I couldn't do while offline.
Wed Afternoon/Eve:
1) In the process of updating my AutoRank I discover that I hadn't cleaned up all the infected files from the server hack last month. All 3 of my AutoRanks had to be cleaned, PLUS most of my galleries that I've built over the last 5 years were infested.
2) I spent most of the evening going through the files on the server, reuploading all the HTML files for the galleries. I took the opportunity to also clean out some dead stuff that was still sitting on the server.
3) Finished that up about 11:00 PM.
WHEW! I'm tired again just typing all that. I may go back to bed.
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Hey yo! It still works! ;-)
It's been a while since I've posted anything here, kind of forgot about it along the way. So, I guess an update on what I've been up to over the 16 months would be in order.
I've launched a couple of new TGP's in that time. http://www.DressingForSex.com, just shortly after my last post in Nov of 06, and http://www.Stocking-Vixens.com this last November. Locating enough quality content, from sponsors that actually convert, in order to update four fetish wear TGP's every two or three days keeps me pretty busy most of the time. Managing traffic trades is also a big time part of my usual routine.
Not everything has been that mundane. Late last September I finally decided that enough was enough and it was time to finally do something about my ever increasing waist line. I was already heavy, but had added another 60 pounds since moving from Oregon to Houston in April of 2003. I joined Nutrisystem and have been religiously following the plan. It works, the commercials are for real. I've lost 90 pounds so far, with about 70 more to go.
Also on the not mundane list, is a new ride. Working from home I don't put many miles on a car, so replacing my aging 92 Plymouth Voyager van hadn't been a priority. License and inspection were coming due, and I wasn't real confident that it would pass again without some costly repairs. I'd been setting aside come cash every month for quite awhile. I went with a "late model used car" or "previously owned" as they say these days. I bought a 2005 Cadillac CTS in a sexy dark red. It's been quite some time since I've owned a nice car, so I'm going to enjoy this one.
I've been spending a bit of time of late getting arrangements sorted for attending Cybernet Expo in June. Conference Registration made, hotel reservation made, and as of two days ago airline tickets purchased.
That about sums things up. The life of a TGP owner isn't really all that exciting most days, which is just fine with me.
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This story gets a little technical, but understanding all the specifics isn't necessary to understand the point I eventually try to make...
A couple of years ago we built a new PC for a friend, who also happens to be our neighbor and our dentist. When the old IDE secondary drive (that we'd used from his prior PC) failed, we set him up with a pair of new SATA hard drives configured as a RAID type 1 array (mirrored drives), so that he has an automated on the fly backup.
Some time later his daughters gave him an iPod Nano for Father's Day. He installed the software and connected the iPod to the PC. No problems, everything worked fine, or so we thought...
...The PC is usually left on 24/7, and a month or more had passed after installation of the new iPod when a nasty thunderstorm prompted a full shut down. When the PC was powered back up, it booted up from the old IDE primary hard drive that we'd left in the PC so that the old data was still accessible. It had been there since the new drives had been installed and had never been an issue up to that point.
Once we figured out what was happening we restarted the computer and went into the CMOS setup to see what had happened to the boot device settings. Low and behold, the RAID array was no longer listed, the iPod Nano had been inserted into the list, and the old IDE drive was now at the top of the list. I edited the list, dropping the iPod off and reinserting the RAID array at the top. Everything booted up again as it was supposed to...
...BUT, anytime the PC was completely powered down it would revert back to the incorrect boot device settings, even if the iPod hadn't been hooked back up to the PC in the interim. Since he didn't power down that often it wasn't a major issue, and he had a cheat sheet with the steps to reset the boot device list.
Well, over the last few months he's needed to power down the PC more frequently, and resetting the boot order each time has become rather annoying. So, last night we went over to perform an iPod exorcism. He'd long ago disconneted all the iPod hardware, and we'd tried uninstalling the software too as a solution some time ago without any effect on the problem. This time, I unstalled all the iPod and iTunes software then went into the Windows registry and removed any remnants that the uninstall routines had left. We did a complete power down and restart and it booted up with the RAID array as the boot drive. Fingers are crossed that this has finally resolved the problem.
The moral of this long boring story is...
...Don't Fruit the PC! MAN LAW
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First, a little background...
A couple of months ago, right after I returned home from Interext in Florida, I get an ICQ message from a webmaster friend. He wanted me to take over the two TGP sites that I'd been helping him with. While I'd been away he received a job offer he couldn't turn down, and was not going to have time to work the sites. So, we negotiated a price and transferred everything to me.
I was already behind on several projects before I'd left for Florida, and of course was even further behind after being gone for a week. I managed to work on one of the new TGP sites [http://zeesporn.com] a hour or two here and there over the next month and got it to where I'm reasonably happy with it.
The other site is a MGP rather than a TGP (movie galleries instead of pic galleries). Most of that is pretty hardcore stuff, and that just isn't my forte. So, I want to completely redesign the site and turn it into a fetishwear TGP... Stockings, pantyhose, high heels, boots, leather, latex, pvc, etc.
This is where the ever elusive design inspiration comes into play...
I just don't have a good vision of what I want the look of the site to be. I keep waiting for an idea to strike me while I'm in the shower or in the middle of some other task equally inconvenient for stopping and writing ideas down. So far nada. I do know that I don't want something graphic intensive, like most of the paysite tours you see these days. Something clean and simple, yet elegant and distinctive. And different from my other TGPs. [http://www.babes-in-boots.com & http://www.well-heeled-women.com] Of course the fact that it's a TGP, with blocks of thumbs, somewhat limits the layout options. I also have to be careful that it doesn't look too much like any other TGPs in the same genre.
Inspiration will come, in fact I've had a few bits and pieces on some of the details, but I'm still seeking that "big picture".
I guess you just can't rush creativity. {heavy sigh}
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OK, so it's officially not summer anymore. But, I'm in Houston and we only have two seasons. Summer and not summer.
I've been suffering with a stuffed up head since late Sunday. Sleep has come as short naps at odd hours, not that I keep all that regular a sleep pattern when I don't have a cold.
Besides the sleep, or lack thereof, cold meds turn me into a space cadet. I can't seem to keep a train of thought long enough to blow my nose. Productivity this week has been off the bottom of the chart.
I may have to pull out my old college days remedy, a shot of Nyquil followed with a shot of Bacardi 151. That usually put my lights out for about eight hours.
Toby, aka Sleepless in Houston
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restless
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angelholic's journal
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