That time of year again?
September 21, 2005, 8:33 AM
It’s September! Can you believe it? That means it’s almost redesign time again!
And, like last year, I go into this season once again wondering what the heck I’m going to do. Of course, last year, that turned out very well, turning my site, which still featured “College Life” and “Web Cam”, among other things making the site a college student kind of thing, and gave it a shift to being more an adult kind of thing. College Life was shifted off to its own subsection, Web Cam is gone, and more emphasis was placed on my Journal and Life and Times.
All throughout last year, Life and Times was a bit of a “lost” section, though, housing the Journal as well as a few mostly-transplanted photo sets, but with no strong purpose. It was just a mess. The redesign repositioned it, plus with the introduction of the hybrid photo set style (narratives with photo sets), it gained a reason to live.
Continue reading…Categories: Schumin Web meta
[expletive deleted]
September 17, 2005, 7:13 PM
What can I say? Sometimes simple, well-intended things yield up unexpected results. Why do I bring this up? I was reading my Discussion Forums, and one thread went into state fairs and such. A link was provided to the Web site for the Haddam Neck Fair in Haddam Neck, Connecticut. The address of haddamneckfair.com, due to the way the domain name is formatted, coupled with my forum’s built-in swear filter, caused the URL to be rendered like this:
had[expletive deleted]eckfair.com
I knew that the swear filter would render certain words (the famous seven-plus-three, plus a few others) as “[expletive deleted]” when displayed on-screen, but I never thought it would filter out a URL like that. Still, that’s pretty efficient for the swear filter, even rendering the URL incorrectly in its mission to filter out the profanity I’ve told it to watch for – something no one expected it to do. After all, it took the “damn” right out of haddamneckfair.com.
I ended up fixing the problem by taking “damn” out of the swear filter. I rationalized it on the forums by saying, “I figure we’re all old enough for ‘damn’ on here, and since it’s interfering with legitimate activity, I’m going to let it through.”
That was quite a strange thing to happen, though.
Categories: Language, Schumin Web meta
Finding “Waldo” in my old photos…
August 30, 2005, 8:44 PM
I was really excited to find out that the photo of the soldier that was prominently featured in a photo in the Day of Activism photo set was actually Casey Sheehan. From there, a little research led me to find that Cindy Sheehan, along with others, were at the funeral-style procession. I also was able to positively ID the photo – that is Casey Sheehan in the large photo. His name is easily read on his uniform in the high-resolution original photo.
I’m just amazed. Makes me look at “Day of Activism” a little differently now, since now I find that someone who has become a bit of a household name was at the same event as I was, and even possibly appeared in some of the photos.
Wow.
Categories: Activism, Schumin Web meta
Packing up for a nice vacation…
August 21, 2005, 9:13 PM
I’ve got my suitcase all packed up, and all I have left to do is to properly pack Big Mavica, unhook my alarm clock and my cell phone charger, and put together my entire toiletries kit. Not too shabby. Then over here on the Web site, I’m going to change the photo feature to an image from last year’s trip to the beach (the black-and-white photo of the woman in Dupont Circle was deliberately held longer than intended to time this next feature), and then I’m going to put a vacation message on the updates list.
All in all, I’m excited! And I think that everyone at work knows that I’m going on vacation. I told everyone, and even was nearly counting down the minutes until 4:00 (which is “quittin’ time” for me). I also jokingly told a few more coworkers I’d get them some sand as a souvenir. And then other coworkers were saying it’s going to be so quiet around the store without me for those five days.
Also, I had one of those priceless moments at work today. In a slower moment, a coworker needed a CSM. They ultimately needed to page over the squawk box for them. So they dial the number to page, and thought they were paging. What do we hear? A voice without amplification. So I said, “I don’t think you got it.” So they try again, and they still don’t get on there. So I give it a try. I dial to page, and I’m live on the PA system, and successfully deliver the page. I hang up, and turn to the coworker: *raspberry*. Yes, I couldn’t resist doing the old “Bronx cheer” there, giving them the raspberries. They knew I was being silly, and so it was all good.
Categories: Schumin Web meta, Television, Travel, Virginia Beach, Walmart
After three days, I am back online…
July 16, 2005, 11:22 PM
Three days of no Internet and four updates ready to go (Photo Feature, Childhood Days, Transit Center, and Journal) will drive a person completely up the wall. There’s just something about knowing that your Internet connection is down that makes you crazy. No Email. No AIM. No forums. No Web updates. Seriously, everything grinds to a halt.
Of course, it could be worse. I could be one of those people who do their Web page right on the server, and thus not have a local copy to do. I have the whole Web site right here on my computer, and that’s my “master” for the site. What you see online is simply the latest update from the master on my computer.
Still, it makes a person crazy to have all these updates ready to go and nowhere to put them. Hopefully, now that we’ve had the cable guy in to fix it, the connection will stay up. They rearranged how everything was wired together, giving the cable modem its own cable jack and somehow making it work. So I’m pleased.
Categories: Internet, Schumin Web meta
What a wonderful two days off I had, and now back to the salt mines…
July 15, 2005, 5:35 PM
Wednesday and Thursday were such wonderful days off. I ran some errands, ran around a bit, and also got a lot of work done on the computer.
On Wednesday, I spent much of the day out. I first went to the RadioShack store in Waynesboro to return that RF switch that I ended up not needing to hook up my Super Nintendo. Interestingly enough, it wasn’t the switch that was the problem, but rather where along the line I was hooking it up. So no problem. The Super Nintendo works, and I got my thirteen bucks back.
Then I went over to Staunton. Since the Harley-Davidson shop moved to its new location in Staunton, I’d heard a lot about it. Add to that the fact that they had their first annual “Rally in the Valley” about a month or so ago, and that generated a bit more buzz about it. So I went over to take a look. Now I’d never been to the old Harley place when it was in Waynesboro, so I had nothing to compare this to. Still, I was favorably impressed, even though biker stuff isn’t exactly my thing. First of all, the sense of space really gets you. The place is huge. And that’s not even the whole place. That’s just the main salesfloor. And on the salesfloor, there are bikes on display, there are sections for parts and accessories for one’s motorcycle, sections for men’s, women’s, and kids’ apparel, a section for shoes, a section with hats, helmets, sunglasses, and goggles, and even more. Then on the other side of the building, there’s a service area, and a well-appointed waiting area for people whose bikes are being serviced. And then outside the building, down a hill, is a course for people to take on their motorcycles. With it being down a hill from the main building, it makes for a great viewing area. As I said, I was favorably impressed with the place, even with biker stuff not being my thing. The place is very high-visibility (it rises high above the VA 262 loop), but actually getting to it is a little weird, since you have to go south on US 11, turn left onto Rolling Thunder Lane, which is almost right after you get onto Route 11. Then Rolling Thunder Lane is a longish, slightly-curving road with the Harley place looming up at the end.
Categories: Blue Ridge Parkway, Schumin Web meta, Shopping, Video games, Weather
Talk about a trip gone off course…
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.
Categories: Driving, Schumin Web meta, Weather
It only took me a month, but it’s done!
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!
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…
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!
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!
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…
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…
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!
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