Sometimes I go weeks without dreaming, which is fine by me and then other times I canÂ’t get to sleep because all I do every time I close my eyes is dream. And theyÂ’re not pleasant dreams either. Sometimes itÂ’s things that will happen to people in the next few days (like getting into a car accident or suffering a fall), other times itÂ’s things that will happen farther into the future and that are equally sad. One thingÂ’s for sure, itÂ’s not a restful nightÂ’s sleep.

Well, Sunday night was one of those nights in which I havce one dream after another. No sooner would I relax long enough after waking up suddenly from one of these dreams that I'd drift off to sleep to dream another dream about someone new. Luckily for me though, none of the dreams were tragic. Though some of the dreams were sad, none were of a serious nature to humans, so in my book they really canÂ’t be considered nightmares.

The truly tough part comes in deciding whether or not I should mention something to the person I dreamt about, or whether I should wait and see if the situation will begin to unfold just as I dreamt it. What stops me from sharing my knowledge with each person, well, there's alway that little thing called choice that each of us have.

You remember one of the laws of Physics, don't you? For every action, there's equal and opposite reaction. Well, since my thoughts and actions, whether I share them or not, will have a ripple effect on others, I sometimes wait and see if a person will conciously make choices that will draw them to the scene or event in my dream or whether their choices will take them in a different direction.

If they don't head in a different direction, then there's no sense in me saying anything anyway because the choices they made altered their destiny and the chances of my dream event happening are small to nil.

So tonight, to assure myself that everyone was well, I decided to call on some of those people that I dreamt with and see if any of them should be told about my dream. Well, to my surprise everyone I called was either watching Jack Bauer/24 or about to and so they couldn't talk anyway. Since none of my dreams were life altering, I decided to let things go for now. However, curiousity got the better of me and I turned the show on to see what I was missing. Sadly, it turns out nothing.

To say I was disappointed is to put it mildly. Why, you might ask? Well, not only was I able to figure out an action before it happened, the story line also had more holes in it than a sieve. DonÂ’t even let me get started with the repeated network security breaches that I saw, because in the real world, half of the staff, would either be fired or taken out in handcuffs, whether they were duped or were the culprits themselves. Sorry, but I give more credit to the NSA than this show does. IÂ’ll just leave it at that. Now I think IÂ’ll go to bed and try and catch up on some much needed sleep.

Posted by: Michele at 11:05 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Sorry for not responding to the excellent comments I received in the previous post, but I've been in court for the past 2 days and there's still a few more to come. Which means that each night we review that day's occurrences and strategize for the following day. It's all stressful, time consuming and makes me glad every single moment I'm there that I am not a litigator. That takes a very special talent which I thankfully don't posses.

I will respond as soon as I'm able. Hopefully by Saturday, till then enjoy life

Posted by: Michele at 03:42 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 Well, I didn't leave a comment yesterday, but I'm leaving one now. But.... from where? **ahem**

Posted by: Tuning Spork at January 12, 2006 09:56 PM (MlTWc)

2 Jealous... I wish I could sit in on court precedings.

Posted by: Contagion at January 14, 2006 12:38 AM (e8b4J)

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New YearÂ’s a year for taking stock of the past, so we can learn from it and look forward to the year ahead with a little more wisdom and understanding. Last year I made a few predictions which garnered a lot of criticism and some hate mail from people across the blogosphere. IÂ’m sure this year will be no different. The one prediction (made in 2004) that garnered the most hate mail was "Dan Rather would be forced to retire as a result of his overzealous (and often inaccurate) coverage/portrayal of Bush and his record."

This year I've expanded my predictions to include some items that are Odd & Humorous... so here goes:

Ohh, before I forget... the legalese: The information contained here is a by product of Michele's opinion and research. If you take what's contained herein as Gospel truth, then you should contact me immediately because there's some wonderful illegal outsider information on some bridge shares in Brooklyn that you should consider buying. more...

Posted by: Michele at 12:01 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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They say imitation is the higest form of a complement some one can give you, so here's this chap, who has recently adopted the premise of my blog and publishes his email correspondence.

Though we have nothing in common, especially politics - since he's a socialist- he still finds my site interesting. Well, I'm pleased, Sgt. Hook and Harvey did that for me, and now we've almost come full circle. All that's left is his education (not indoctrination as they do in the socialist movement) on democracy and the principles of capitalism.

Update: After an email discussion with Bou I decided to share with you a decent translation utility from Google that might help you all. Here's the link to the translated site.

Posted by: Michele at 07:38 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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1 Too bad there isn't a translation doohickie thing for those of us that can't read his language! Bah! I'll have to take your word.

Posted by: Bou at January 07, 2006 07:41 PM (iHxT3)

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Tech Tuesday - Live Treo Blogging

Tadaa! I'm blogging straight to Munu from my Treo phone, something I've wanted to do for some time. This will be a work in progress, so please be patient!

Some time ago, when I first got my nifty little smartphone, one of my dreams was for Treo users to be able to blog easily and navigate through sites as if they were using their PC's. In doing so one of my hopes was that it would redirect technological research to expand the horizons of mobile users and the web.

Well, ever so slowly it's coming to pass. I have 2 people to thank for this little post. The first person I need to thank is my blog brother Jon, of We Swear. He and I had a phone conversation, (while he was visiting NY in July) on how he wished he could blog from his PDA about his NY/NJ trip while commuting back to NJ. His major complaint was not having the ability to blog due to the time constraints on him and his limited PC access. When he got home he began to blog less and I thought to explore PDA blogging for our mutual benefit, so that our sites wouldn't languish and become part of the abandoned blog statistics.

I tested a few applications to see if it could be done, after all my Treo was able to handle everything else so far, except make me a sandwich. There were no good solutions for the blogging platform he uses. I however, fell in love with the opportunity to blog directly and seamlessly from my Treo to Blogger and used my camera on my cell to revive an old love of photography. The result was my companion site, NYC Postcards, which has been linked to by About.com, and several major European travel sites. Actually, in the short time that site's been up it's garnered more hits than my .munu blog. Go figure.

But the 2nd, and most important person I have to thank is Eric of Eric's Grumbles Before the Grave. He has helped me to search for a solution and has painstakenly tested out several in the hope of blogging directly to his site. He's gone out and not only done research, but also tested some of these apps on his own time and pocket. He not only came up with the template for Munuvians to use. He also discovered that Google recently developed "a WML gateway. It works in your regular browser OR your [web enabled phone] browser" so that it converts "any HTML page into WML" enabling anyone to view web pages easily on their phone." Just input the following URL and add the URL of the page you want to view through your phone at the end. He put my url at the end so I can easily see it. I have enabled the link so you can see what I see on my phone.

http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://lettersfromnyc.mu.nu

In doing all of this he's made all our sites easier for PDA users to read. Now you can put a link on your site so that PDA users can download or email the appropriate link to their phones and view any blog more easily.

I'm very grateful for all he's done as he's made this medium available to those overseas by simply sharing this information. You see in many countries in Asia, blogging and reading of sites is done via a small phone interface. His template has enabled my small European and Asian readership to see/read my site easily and without crashing. They are grateful for his efforts too.

So stay tuned as Eric pushes the envelope of Technology in small ways with big results. Don't believe me... then you need to read Eric's post on Technology and Liberty. He writes eloquently about the importance and role of Technology in extending our freedoms. These are the very reasons I am so passionate about pushing the limits of technology. If there's only one post you read this week, I suggest you read that post!

ps. I went in directly after my initial Vagablog transmission to update this post via my pc. Sorry, had too much to say.

Posted by: Michele at 04:53 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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A belated congrats to some of my favorite bloggers for achieving high honors in blogging, and becoming recipients of Weblog Awards in 2005 for their wonderful work:

Best Blog Daily Kos
Best Conservative Blog Ace Of Spades HQ
Best Technology Blog Engadget
Best Military Blog Blackfive
Best Religious Blog Evangelical Outpost
Best Parenting Blog Dooce
Best Middle East or Africa Blog Iraq The Model
Best Australia or New Zealand Blog Tim Blair

For the complete list visit here. (link fixed)

Posted by: Michele at 12:45 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I wound up in the ER early yesterday because my pediatrician suggested I go and meet him there as my son got very sick while I was visiting my mother. He's still sick as a matter of fact, but we're home now, but scheduled to visit his pediatrician first thing in the morning. So while I sat there in the exam room (as my son slept), I surfed on my Treo. Surfing on my Treo helps me keep from touching his brow every 5 minutes to check and see if his fever's gone down.

So while surfing, I learned a little bit about my online incarnation. For instance, I learned that I'm not considered to be very slutty at all.

In fact, according to the Slut-O-Meter I barely register on their chart. Yep, my claim to fame is measured at a Promiscuity level of 1.44% (400000 / 27700000) based on scale of 100% - one of their lowest so far. On the bright side, my popularity is ranked at 50%. Go figure!

In contrast, they have Jenna Jameson as the most promiscuous woman on their meter, with an 99.24% (67088 / 67600) ranking, giving her the high position of slut extaordianaire. While on the male side I was surprised to learn that Mr. Helpful has the top male ranking at 42.88% (47600 / 111000).
Unfortunately for him, his popularity ranking is a lowly 2%. Which goes to show in both sexes, sluttier isn't necessarily more popular.

Posted by: Michele at 09:21 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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My hands are finally starting to feel a bit better! Unfortunately, in order to keep them that way it means that I have to continue to focus on writing smaller posts, not an easy task for me. Mistress of brevity I am not. One of the things I have to give up in order to safe guard my hands is my private Medieval Kingdom a multi-player online game in which I am a Queen and Benevolent Ruler.

Now don't you roll your eyes at me! I didn't pick this role, it was assigned to me by the game's program after answering about 80 questions. I actually wanted the role of female warrior or witch, but the program had other ideas. It apparently believed I was a better Queen and Benevolent Ruler than a Wench. According to my profile:

"This type of Ruler is found in most of the thriving kingdoms of the time.

You are the idealistic social dreamer. Your overriding goal is to solve the people problems of your world. You are a social reformer who wants everyone to be happy in a world that you can visualize. You are exceptionally perceptive about the woes and needs of humankind. You often have the understanding and skill to readily conceive and implement the solutions to your perceptions. On the positive side, you are creatively persuasive, charismatic and ideologically concerned. On the negative side, you may be unrealistically sentimental, scattered and impulsive. Interestingly, your preference is just as applicable in today's corporate kingdoms as it would have been back in medieval times."

As a beta tester for this new game set in a Medieval World, developed by one of my tech friends at work, I was able to modify my Kingdom based on the vision I had for it and the agreements I forged to prevent war or plundering by neighboring Kings, some who were not so benevolent. At the time my friend developed this version, he didn't have many wenches, witches, warriors or damsels in distress, heck, he didn't have many women players period! So naturally I thought I would have a little fun. Although, I really got into the game, I really didn't get to explore the depth of my role within my kingdom. I was left wondering if I'm able to brandish a sword as Queen Boudicca did in defense of Brittania or if I would be forced, as Maid Marion was in the Robin Hood stories, into an arranged marriage of convenience.

I'm unable to give you any more details because I signed a non-disclosure agreement. Though I have temporarily given it up, I must say I do miss playing. It's my version of a fun medieval re-enactment. I'll be able to say more when the game is released next year.

Posted by: Michele at 10:48 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Yep, I'm still in pain from carpel tunnel, though the pain has somewhat lessened allowing the docs to reduce my pain/anti-inflamatory meds, enabling me to do my rehab exercises; but I still need to take care of myself, which means no blogging, very little online reading which includes emails. Hopefully soon I'll be well enough to come back full force. In the meantime, I'm searching for a home grown guest blogger to temporarily toss the keys to, in order to keep you all amused.

I did find Sgt. Hook's "blog boy" offer both intriguing and compelling. If he weren't so busy I would ask him to post some of his wonderful NY stories. Or maybe I should call him up and tell him how he was out to lunch (literrally) the day I went in to enlist. Hmmm, maybe that will be a story for my comeback.

There's so many things I want to say from what I've read on your blogs so far, but it will keep. I just have to let you all know that when I do get to read you, you all put a big smile on my face. Thank you! If you miss me, then go visit my pictorial blog or what I call my Treo (camera-cellphone) blogging. I have it set up so that I can do picture blogging with only 2 keystrokes after I take a picture. So I'll be posting funny and unusual stuff I come across, over there very easily. They say a picture's worth a thousand words, so I will let you all guess what I was thinking from the pictures I've taken.

Posted by: Michele at 09:35 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Yep, CT3 (Carpel Tunnel Pt 3). And it's not because I've been slackin' at my job like some people, or livin' la vida loca. No siree!

The pain is back, and all as a result of 3 major things and some little ones:

1) working remotely from home on a big.. a really BIG, actually a HUGE project involving roping in the Gov, the Mayor and some high level Chinese dignataries for a big (did I say huge?) event. In fact, its so freaking big we had to get, not 1 but 2 corporate event planners to help us with this.

2) my laptop has been getting worse in the middle of all this and I've been doing some minor fixes and patches trying to hold off some major failures... but it's not freikin workin'! As of this moment I've spent close to 5 hrs doing tweaks hoping it'll work and so far it hasn't. The worst part is that I know what's wrong. Some of it has to do with BIOS settings issues, including the default speed setting which affects my laptops power mgt kicking in either automatic sleep modes or reboots (sound familiar _Jon); the remaining part has to do with software incompatabilities which will require me to do uninstalls and re-installs in specific and meticulous order, and systematic upgrades of software and updates of drivers or plugins... which I don't have time to do now. Now I'm sure that Mr. Santa Helpful has lots of brilliant ideas on what I can or should do, but I'm not really in the mood for them right now.

3) this is topped off with bits of voyeurism (what you guys call lurking) and escapism in the form of excessive commenting, fun blogging, and lots of emailing to my wonderful pen pal soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. They make me laugh and cry the hardest because they live so on the edge of life themselves.

As if all this writing wasn't enough... my firm has it's year end closing on 11/30/05, which means reports out my wazzu! Until such date this post will remain at the top as a reminder of the living hell I'm going through! Since I'm being made to do crappy work (at Belzebub's beckoning), I get to do all the data crunching, number confirming and pie chart configuring for the reports. Oh JOY, stats heaven... NOT! Of course I first have to develop a mechanism for reporting these damned things, but hey, give it to the lackey... you know, the new girl... she's smart, she'll figure it out and make us all look good.

more...

Posted by: Michele at 02:33 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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1 Noooooo...... We will miss you too much..... Take care of yourself. I'll have you in my prayers. But we will sooo miss you.....

Posted by: Tammi at November 03, 2005 07:05 AM (LU5am)

2 Can't you just glue a pencil onto the end of your nose and use *that* to type? Sheeeeeesh. It's not all about you, ya know! ;-P And as an idiot in IT, I'll have you know that those "games" that I play all day are actually eye-hand coordination development exercises. Yeah, that's the ticket!

Posted by: zonker at November 03, 2005 08:23 AM (/y7q3)

3 Hang in there dear! We'll be here when you get back.

Posted by: oddybobo at November 03, 2005 09:52 AM (6Gm0j)

4 But... But.. But... Where else am I going to get a sane New York perpective on the world?

Posted by: Contagion at November 03, 2005 12:32 PM (Q5WxB)

5 do your exercises......

Posted by: _Jon at November 03, 2005 02:20 PM (/R7YK)

6 If I wasn't already tied up, I'd offer to be your "blog boy" and take dictation for you. Hope you heal up soon.

Posted by: Sgt Hook at November 03, 2005 02:49 PM (jlMVG)

7 darn it, zonker STOLE MY IDEA!! NO FAIR!! I'm telling MOM!! beyond that, since youve made it so clear you're not in the mood for my er...help (not that I blame you) i wont offer any of my other ideas including the one which consists of the cure for the common cold. oh well...i'll just wait until a more appropriate time to bring that one out, eh?

Posted by: mr. helpful at November 03, 2005 05:51 PM (U28kD)

8 You need to learn to type with your toes, they don't do much all day so putting them to work would be a good idea.

Posted by: Machelle at November 04, 2005 01:15 PM (ZAyoW)

9 What a bummer... I'm so sorry about the CT. I think you need a voice activated laptop... :-)

Posted by: Teresa at November 04, 2005 10:42 PM (FZwDL)

10 This so sucks. I'm sorry!! GRRR. Oh on my performance eval, I left the middle part about goals blank. I handed it to my boss and said, "Tell the big guy that I'm happy and have no issues." He just kind of stared and I walked away. I couldn't lie.

Posted by: Bou at November 05, 2005 09:43 AM (5JHEt)

11 *hug* Heal quickly, please :-)

Posted by: Harvey at November 06, 2005 06:27 PM (LU5am)

12 ok, looks like some drastic measures are necessary. so, here we go... "we want michele" "we want michele" "we want michele" "we want michele" come on everyone, join with me... "we want michele" "WE WANT MICHELE!!" "WE WANT MICHELE!!!" heh heh heh...

Posted by: mr. helpful at November 09, 2005 01:22 AM (U28kD)

13 Do we need to do a Michelle-a-thon? (Please note that there's no "g" on the end of that, Mister Helpful.)

Posted by: zonker at November 09, 2005 08:41 AM (/y7q3)

14 so noted, mr. zonker. i applaud your restraint, sir! a michele-a-thong....oopss...i mean michele-a-thon just might do the trick. you could be "vice president in charge of mullets" for the campaign and i could be "vice president in charge of using google earth satellite images to try and locate michele's whereabouts". given that kind of executive firepower, there is no doubt in my mind that we could do some serious damage to the credibility of democrats everywhere!

Posted by: mr. helpful at November 09, 2005 01:18 PM (U28kD)

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Bou is sitting in the middle of the storm listening as the tiles on her roof are getting torn off one by one by the wind and rain; and I can't help but sit here at work worrying about her. I know the sounds, the smells and what the fluctuation in barometric pressure feels like all too intimately as you ride out a hurricane. All I can do is sit and pray for all Floridians. So I pray for all to be well, for there to be minimal damage, and for life as they know it to return to normal fairly quickly. Bou, I'm sending hugs and many positive thoughts your way!

Posted by: Michele at 08:00 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Dear Mr. Helpful!

A pictorial poem on your Birthday (entirely work safe)!

What do you get a man
that has everything he possibly needs
who shares knowledge by the planting of seeds
has been on cruise ships and plenty of planes
has travelled in automobiles and a number of trains
of great possessions he has quite a few,
though none so precious as his lovely two.

So what do you get a man like this?

At first I thought of a sweet sexy pair just for you,
to sweeten your day and keep away the blues.
Next it was soft special skin that is firm to the touch
but being a woman I thought it too much
so instead, my dear friend without further ado
here is your present, and it's all just for you!

Update: I see I'm not the only one who appreciates the old man's helpful bits.

Posted by: Michele at 12:01 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Posted by: Michele at 11:57 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The amount of funds promised from readers was $225. As promised, I will match that in the amount of $225, which brings the total to $450.00. What I neglected to mention is that I will take that amount and donate it via my firm's online matching program (providing everyone agrees), which will quadruple the donation to $900.00. YAY!

Thanks for the financial donation and link support.

Finally, for those who still wish to give, please make sure that when making a donation, you are practicing informed giving and that your chosen organization also practices charitable integrity. You can check on an organization by visiting Give.org.

Posted by: Michele at 01:19 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Today, the blogosphere will attempt to turn its sweaty keyboards for good. Hugh Hewitt challenged bloggers to help suvivors by raising funds through blogging. Instapundit then suggested a date and our beloved NZ Bear will be Tallying the Results.

Update: A way to give in threefold! Command Post's Strengthen the Good members have been asked to challenge our readers by matching their donations. So, if you send me proof either via fax, email, snail mail, etc., I will match any reader's donation upto a $300.00 maximum. I will make the matching donation via my firm, as they are matching dollar for dollar all employee contributions. I will post proof of my donation upon my return from vacation.

Now, if you can't give money, then I want your blood. Here's the site where you can go and make an appointment to donate blood at a center near you!

Another way to participate is through auction blogging, where you put up items for bidding or sale (as I will do below), so that others can bid or buy on your items. Another is to support your favorite blogger (select one from the Tallying Results link above) by purchasing or bidding the items they have for sale. Either way it's for a good cause and you'll be receiving something in return. All of the proceeds will go to Habitat for Humanity and shipping costs will be covered by me. (Thanks to Laughing Wolf who also has items for sale/bidding)

Items For Bidding:
Sam's Teach Yourself Moveable Type in 24 hrs

The Complete Reference Book on Access 2002

Microsoft Special Edition: Using Outlook 2003

Special Edition Star Wars Trilogy Videotape Set

Items for Sale:
A Personalized Sexy Voice Mail Greeting recorded with your choice of wording [nothing profane] and in any format. Cost per message is $10.00

Manuscript Editing/Proofreading Service - for review of 1 complete draft - Cost is $1.00/page. So if you have a manuscript for a book that you're hoping to get published I can help with the editing process and give you guidance on "how to submit a book for publishing to get results." My credential are:
- Edited 3 books (1 for a prominent author) that were published by different publishing houses.
- Self-published a book of children's poems
- Guided 2 professors at Hunter College to successfully get their memoirs published by different publishing houses.

I will add to this list later tonight when I get home. Bidding/Purchase should be done via the comment section for all to see. Checks can be made payable directly to the charity of your choice. I will also ship to winning bidders upon being given proof of online donation to a charity of your choice. Please send any questions to: lettersfromnyc**at**yahoo.**dot**com.

UPDATE: Response to Rich's email: I do have a verified Paypal account if funds wish to be transfered securely in that way. However all bid/offers must be made publicly through the comment section. THANKS!

THIS POST WILL REMAIN AT THE TOP UNTIL ALL ITEMS ARE SOLD/AUCTIONED.

Technorati tags: flood aid; Hurricane Katrina

Posted by: Michele at 11:52 PM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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Being used has its privileges.

I was in court midmornng for an hour. After I was done I called into my office and was given the good news. I had the rest of the afternoon off. My reaction: Woohoo, I'm headed to the BEACH!

So here I am, having just finished a wonderful dinner by the water, enjoying the start of my weekend.

Tammi, this is for all the times I read your Florida beachside posts wishing it was me living life!

For full envy effect pictures will be provided later!

Posted by: Michele at 06:58 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Michele found one sure way to get out of Jury duty even after being placed on a case. She was dismissed earlier today because she became so ill she nearly had to go to hospital. Running a high fever and what seemed to me in a somewhat incoherent state (she kept referring to me as John), she told me that a court officer had helped her get into a taxi to get to her doctor's. Afterwards I learned she had a fever of 104 and had been diagnosed with Strep throat. Apparently there was a bit of a fracas w/her doctor because she wouldn't bend over and let him give her a shot in her butt. Sorry Michele but that was an interesting imagery.

So instead she opted to swallow pills which to me sounds a bit more painful. Poor thing can barely talk. So I'll do the writing for her tonight and will only note nice things about her. Like for instance her calling me to see how I was doing after the fright of this past weekend.

Which brings me to the Email portion of this post. It seems we have received quite a bit of email in which some of you are concerned that there might be friction or a rift between Michele and I. Not so.

We are still the same co-bloggers / work collegues we were before. I was just very spooked by that psychic episode but that's because nothing like that had ever happened to me before. I'm relieved to know that Michele can't read my mind and therefore no charges of sexual harassment can be brought against me for my thoughts.

Michele assures me that she isn't psychic, if she were she'd "be a rich lady living on easy street, because then [she'd] know which stocks to buy and which to dump." What a relief it was to hear that. But then I thought, imagine that, as sick as she was she wanted to make sure I was okay.

In 3 other emails I'm both asked, and offered if I'm interested in blogging, at my own site. Nope, not at all. Michele knows me too well and knows I cannot have expectations placed on me, and I cannot commit to anything, not even blogging. In fact, I will be leaving in the next few weeks as I've got a business trip that will begin in London where I'll be for 2 weeks, then I'll continue for 2 weeks in Germany, followed by 3 weeks in Russia (one of which will be vacation where I'll take time to savor slavic delights). I'll then continue on to Beijing for 1 week before returning to Wash DC, in time for some interesting meetings and some social engagements.

Too bad Michele refuses to do some of these DC social things. I rather enjoy them, but then again I'm a social animal. She on the other hand, tells me she hates them because she's a homebody. If it's not quality time with people she likes she refuses to do it. Her usual answer to all my invites is: "Thanks, but I really want to spend more time with my son." Although I find her approach to parenting highly commendable, it is one of the reasons I don't ever want to have children of my own, they consume too much of your life and time.

As one of my female co-workers puts it: "At first you're excited that you have this divine force growing within you. Then it comes out and there's no time for you as it's all about them. And they continue sucking the life/blood out of you for 18 more years and even then it doesn't stop because then there's grad school and unemployment after grad school. The only time you stop giving is when you're dead, and buried 6' under." That's pretty much my take on it.

Anyway, so as you see, though I'm enjoying this inmensely, I'm one of those kind of guys that's here today and gone tomorrow. Although in this particular case I'm having so much fun with the blog and Michele that I have to say I will be back. I still have a few weeks here yet so I'll see what interesting things I can come up with as parting gifts for you to read. Any suggestions?

Posted by: 1Colin at 11:59 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Mobile blogging is the current trend from Europe to Asia! With camera/video phones becoming a permanent accessory in US phones (though it's been available in Asia for the past 6), real time multimedia blogging is here to stay. Case in point is this post, being written and submitted via my Treo 650.

Earlier today, on my Live Journal blog (for my family), I posted my son's birthday party pics & video clips. My family is scattered worlwide and we truly stay connected via our mobile phones.

In Asia, there is no excuse for not reaching anyone, because cell phone coverage there is ubiquitous. The cost of PC's is still very high for the working class and the electric grid so unreliable, that it's useless to invest in a desktop. Seeing a golden opportunity, Telco's capitalized on cell phone solutions, and used them to fill all their customers needs.

Today, in many countries around the world, the primary device for user connectivity is wireless internet connectivity - mainly through cell phones. The main reason has always been lack of a reliable infrastructure (for both land lines & electricity) and high cost of existing wired solutions.

In a report I read recently I learned there are over a trillion (yes, that's right) a trillion cell users in Asia w/online capability. That number is expected to double by 2010. Just to give you an idea of how advanced their mobile infrasturcture is, when I lived in the Philippines a 5 years ago, I was able to pay ALL my utilities via my cell. That's right: my elec, gas, tel, cell, pvt postal service, cable,...and even my rent (through a wireless bank transfer between accounts)!

In the last 3 months my most consistent medium for commuinication has been my cell. I'm currently not able to access close to half of my Bad Example Family from most, if not all, public internet places due to their content. As a result, I've been forced to either read them on my PDA or not read them at all.

A great example of this situation is my adoptive blog dad Harvey, of Bad Example. Due to content safe software and word filters the only place I can read him is at home. While my pc is being repaired I can't read him anywhere and so I tried on my pda. Unfortunately, I failed because his 3 column site is so complex & link rich, it's too large & slow to load. As a result, I've been forced to miss his naughty & very wity humor.
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Posted by: Michele at 11:17 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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With the help of our illustrious Pixy, Paul, Ogre and Phin, I was able to get my sidebar up (when youÂ’re viewing my site in a maximized screen). THIS WAS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED! WOOHOO! ALL HAIL THE MUNUVIAN GENIUSES WHO VANQUISHED THE EVIL MERCURIAN FORCES!

Can you tell IÂ’m happy? Well, heck yeah. Now I will boldly go forth, defying once again the Mercurian forces, to finish:
- adding my category archives (which eventually will be in a drop down list)
- creating a PDA format of my site (so I can check up on ColinÂ’s posts)
- creating an Atom RSS feed format (so I can be read as easily and widely as the Instapundit!)
- fixing color schemes for active and visited links
- fixing all font sizes (Now it's the date header that's driving me nuts!)
- creating drop down lists for some of my link sections (like News Briefs & On the Left)

ThereÂ’s more, but that should take care of my idle time till the end of August. In the interim I'll try to find time to do some sports blogging:
- Larry Brown coming to coach the NY Knicks (yes, good for us!),
- Hockey season (finally!) resuming and Gretzky coaching the Phoenix ___?
- Bertuzzi returning to the NHL
- The NJ Devils loosing 2 of its top players, causing it's post season chances to look bleak at best!

Update: I'll be playing host to a couple of upcoming carnivals so I won't have much time to do sports blogging. But just wait till hockey and basketball season begins, you won't be able to shut me up.

Posted by: Michele at 08:59 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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As you might have noticed, I've been trying to use that "computer high geek" knowledge to finish the vision I had for the site a while ago.

Unfortunately, every time I implement a new phase of my changes my carpel tunnel acts up, so this will be slow going. I'm currently working on getting my sidebar back up on the right side of the screen again (right now it's at the bottom). What I had intended to do was to adjust the Index Template so that I could easily set up both, an Atom RSS feed and PDA version of my site, to make it more accessible for readers to view my site in different formats.

So, till I get everything fixed up and/or Mercury retrograde cycle ends and begins to move forward again (8/15), we'll have to live with my bar being at the bottom.

If you ask me, it's karmic retribution for my hubris of posting my "high geekiness" score. This post will remain at the top until things are fixed

Posted by: Michele at 03:10 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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