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I need to be re-Googled so badly…

October 26, 2004, 9:57 PM

As of right now, most of my search results are bad. Specifically, at this time, it affects all pages in the Life and Times, Major Areas, Odds and Ends, and Photography sections. That’s because all my pages now end in .asp and not .htm, since the new menus require the new extension. And the aforementioned sections are the ones where the redesign has been completed. Journal, being a new section, is different because there are no old results. It just needs to be crawled for the first time.

So as a result, I can expect to see some of my site traffic dip until Google finds me again. I’ve done my part, though, and resubmitted the home pages for the changed sections, where all the links live.

Otherwise, I got out of the house for a little bit today. I actually went to Staunton Mall to get my glasses adjusted, and then went to the Staunton Wal-Mart to do a little shopping. In this case, Staunton Wal-Mart is crucial here. I don’t shop in the Waynesboro Wal-Mart on my off-days. Feels too much like going to work. So I went to Staunton. I hadn’t seen them in a while, and so that was nice. Staunton has now turned their Garden Center patio into a full-scale greenhouse like we have in Waynesboro, which I thought was cool. It definitely beats the heck out of the open-air patio that it used to be.

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“One person. One life. One Web site.”

August 20, 2004, 10:32 PM

Still working on redesign ideas, and I think I’ve come up with a theme for the redesigned site. Some sort of overarching theme for the Web site. Something that will stick in your mind. Something, at least. When I originally thought this up in the shower this morning (all my great Web ideas are thought up in the shower, but few actually leave the shower), I originally thought it up as, “One person. One Web site.” But that sounded too much like, “One person, one vote.” And while this is a presidential election year (SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE: Vote for John Kerry!), that’s not exactly what we’re going for on this Web site, which tries for the most part to keep politics out of frame. (The trick now is to say that with a straight face after I write my next quote article.) So I threw in “One life” in order to make it more personal, and as a reminder that this site is now more so than ever a 360-degree view of my life. So we’ll see how far that goes in the redesign, and how it turns out in the end. I do like that phrase…

Speaking of my life, though, my one hard drive is going to have to become multiple CDs sooner rather than later. I’m out of disk space! An 80-gigabyte hard drive, and I managed to fill ‘er up. Mostly with stuff from Big Mavica, which is a testament to how much use Big Mavica gets. Realize I’ve had to cut stuff on my computer to fit in three out of the last four photo sets. So we’re against the wall, as I’ve cut just about everything I am willing to cut. Time to burn CDs. This is going to hurt.

I also realized how few CD-Rs I have. I thought I had a big spindle of them. Turns out I was imagining one like my sister has as being one of mine. So that sucks. I have maybe ten blank CD-Rs in my possession, in a half-sized spindle, after realizing that my “stash of CDs”, which I had “hidden so well” was a lot smaller than I thought it was.

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Unexpected things…

August 16, 2004, 8:57 PM

First of all, I did not expect for one of the nose pads on my glasses to give out on me while I was at work. So after work I went to LensCrafters to get my glasses adjusted. That took me to Staunton Mall.

After I got my glasses worked on, I decided I wasn’t ready to leave quite yet, and so I decided to walk a lap around the mall. So I headed towards the JCPenney end of the mall. So who did I run into near Penney’s? Marie (a coworker) and her significant other (I want to say he’s her fiance, but I’m not for certain). The two of them were enjoying a massage in these automated massage chairs. $1.00 buys you three minutes. They told me that it was really good. So we got to talking while they got the massage done. Talked about the massage, and how nice it would be to have this at home. I chimed in that as nice as it would be, the really good massage chairs are pricey. At Brookstone at Pentagon City near DC, they sell the high-end models, and they cost a few thousand bucks. A little out of range.

Then when they finished, I parked myself in one of the chairs and gave it a whirl. It was a pretty good massage. Not the best I’ve had, but pretty good. It uses vibration, heat, and something that goes up and down your back in a few different motions. Pretty good massage. The only downside to it was when the back massager got down low on its track. There instead of working my back it was working my hip-bone. And that massager rubbing against bone is not comfortable. But usually on its first cycle, once you figure out where the uncomfortable zone is, you can adjust to avoid it.

Still, it did feel good as it vibrated and heated, and as the back thing pressed, kneaded, and pulsated. And it’s surprisingly addictive. I got the three-minute massage, and then the 15-minute massage. The 15-minute massage was SO good… so relaxing that I actually fell asleep in the chair! That was an odd experience, to wake up in the middle of Staunton Mall. I hope no one saw me napping in the mall…

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“Bad fashion makes baby Jesus cry.”

July 17, 2004, 12:51 AM

That’s what my sister told me once. She said that bad fashion makes baby Jesus cry. She doesn’t like the way I dress, it seems. In case you’re wondering, lately, I’ve gravitated to contrasting solids. If I wear dark pants I wear a light shirt. If I wear light pants, I wear a dark shirt. Then of course there’s always all-black, which I also enjoy. And I try to make my colors work, too. I don’t wear something that obviously clashes. I try to look good when I go to work.

Maybe it’s the shoes. I have been known to regularly wear sandals with socks.

But anyway…

I also recently participated in the Wal-Mart cross-town merchandise shuttle. On Thursday, my day off, I went to Staunton Wal-Mart for some odds and ends (did I mention you should never go shopping when you’re really hungry?). Of those odds and ends, I bought two great big throw pillows. They were black with fake fur on one side, and plain on the other. So I got them home. I put them on my couch. One word: YUCK. They were too black for my decor. So back to the store they went. Where did I return them? Not to Staunton. Oh, nay. I had to work the next day. So I returned them to Waynesboro, thus completing the shuttle.

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Categories: Clothing, Family, Shopping

See anything in this picture that raises an eyebrow?

June 14, 2004, 10:24 PM

It is official: I have ordered two Strong Bad tees!

June 2, 2004, 10:39 PM

Yes, my birthday present is now officially on order: two Strong Bad tees. If only it worked like this, though…

Hey Strong Bad,
Get Bubs to give out free luncch (sic) specials and I’ll show you a hot girl.
Sincerly (sic),
Someone

Maybe if I can get Bubs to say his name backwards minus the first B, legend has it we can get a free lunch special, and maybe a free T-shirt if we’re really lucky.

Now if we can only get him to make another appearance on H*R as the Thnikkaman, and life will be perfect.

Though I should let you know that the current plan for the June cover photo (and by extension an explanation why one is not up yet) is that I am planning on dressing up as the Thnikkaman for the cover photo. A little tribute to one of my favorite Homestar Runner characters.

Still, I can’t wait to get my Strong Bad T-shirts. It will go quite well with my sister’s Teen Girl Squad T-shirt.

Let me tell you about Lake Moomaw…

May 21, 2004, 2:25 AM

What a wonderful day on Wednesday! I admittedly got a late start, not leaving for Covington until 1 PM. But I still had fun. Stopped at Wal-Mart in Covington to grab some cheap flip-flop sandals (palm tree print!) and some sunscreen, and then went off to the lake.

I found the swimming beach, and the little bath house next to it, and changed into my suit, and went to soak for a while. It was fun. Very cool and refreshing. Very quiet, with the Interstate and the city of Covington far away. It’s really a great place to let your mind just go. Way out in the mountains, where you can just let your mind relax. I do love Lake Moomaw. I need to go out there again some time.

Meanwhile, the Covington Wal-Mart is amusing. I think it’s perhaps the smallest Wal-Mart Supercenter I’ve ever seen. It’s also what I’d describe as a “transitional” store. On the outside, it looks like the older-style Supercenters, like Staunton. But on the inside, it’s just like the Dayton Wal-Mart, which is a newer-style Supercenter (the ones with “Always” over the entrances). But it’s painted gray inside like the older Supercenters. It’s also amusing about the signage. You know how practically every Wal-Mart says “Thank you for choosing your (city name) Wal-Mart”? Well, in Covington, over the Grocery entrance, it says, “Thank you for choosing your Covington Wal-Mart” (right over the doors, mind you, vs. over the cart area). Over the General Merchandise entrance, there’s nothing at all. My semi-humorous interpretation is, thanks for shopping at Wal-Mart if you’re buying groceries, but if you’re not, thanks for nothing. We realize that this is probably an omission rather than something done intentionally, but it’s amusing.

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My birthday is in 24 days!

May 6, 2004, 3:10 AM

My birthday is in 24 days, which makes it May 30, which means that today is the 6th. If not, I got up at 4:00 for nothing.

But anyway, though, I figured out what I want for my birthday. So tell me… do you know who this is?

Strong Bad

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Twelve hours at work…

May 4, 2004, 12:56 AM

This is what happens when we don’t have enough help at the Service Desk. So I worked extra beyond my regular shift to cover the Service Desk. And I did pretty darn well, too. Sometimes on a regular day, I get fatigued in the last couple of hours. On days when lunch doesn’t agree, I get fatigued soon after lunch. This, by the way, led to my no-rich-foods-for-lunch rule, which came about after I ate some of the very rich (and very expensive) “Cherry Cheese Delight” that we sell at the Deli proceeded to not agree with me, and wrecked the entire second half of my day.

Still, today I was going like gangbusters from 11:00 AM when I came into work, through my hour-long lunch break where I had a hoagie and some fruit, and right on through to 11:00 PM when I finally was able to get the heck out of my little Service Desk cave.

And just think… I’ve made it through however many days I was scheduled for, and now I’ve made it to my two days off! And what am I going to do for these days off? Gooooooooooood question! I know that I’m going to spend at least a little time on the phone, trying to find a good price for a garage to put new brake pads on the Previa. Additionally, I need to also find someone who can look at my car’s air conditioner and tell me what’s wrong with it. Since trust me… no air conditioning during the warmer months is HELL. And considering that the air conditioning was weak in 2002 and non-existent in 2003, I have a feeling it may just need a “recharge”. Of course, it might just be more than that, which means it can get quite pricey.

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“I’d like to know if you all sell vibrators, but not the sexual kind.”

April 15, 2004, 1:00 AM

A customer actually did ask one of our associates that one time (not to me). But that’s besides the point.

You see, I have found a non-sexual vibrator. Let me tell you about my experience with my cell phone today. I went to DC as planned. I was planning to meet up with Dad midway through the day, since he was coming up to DC as well. Well, I was concerned with being able to hear my ringtone (which is Sakura Saku from Love Hina, a Japanese anime cartoon) on the Metro, with all the other background noise from trains and people and such. So I set it to ring and vibrate.

Now I keep my cell phone in my right front pocket when I’m out and about. So there I am railfanning on a Rohr train, on the Blue Line between Pentagon City and Pentagon. Next thing you know, I feel this fierce vibration on my leg, and Sakura Saku starts playing. Let me tell you, I nearly SCREAMED when that thing started vibrating on me. That’s definitely one way to wake up a 28-year-old rail car. I’m sure the other passengers would have really appreciated it if I’d let loose with a scream. As it is, I jumped up from my railfan seat when that thing went off on my leg.

Needless to say, I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever put my phone on vibrate again.

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I finally took the advice of a friend…

April 2, 2004, 11:41 PM

In taking the advice of a friend, I went and bought a six-pack of Mike’s Hard Lemonade after work. And it’s pretty good. It tastes like lemonade, but has a little kick. So far, so good.

Meanwhile, I’m in pursuit of some new pants. As you know, I’ve stayed the same size for about five years now. And so I don’t have to buy new pants because I outgrow them. Instead, I buy new pants because I wear out the old ones. And considering I have some pants I bought in 1999 and still use, plus replacements in between, they’ve done quite a job for me. And now I’ve worn out enough to make it where I need to get some new ones.

I went to Casual Male in Roanoke, and tried out a lot of pants. Different sizes, different styles. I don’t want jeans, but I also don’t want dress pants. I actually tried out some cargo pants that I really liked, but we had a slight problem when it came right down to it. If they were the right waist, they were the wrong length. If the length was right, the waist was wrong. We figured out what the magic combination would be, but of course they didn’t have it in stock. Quite frustrating. So now I’m trying to figure out what to do next. I want something that will be able to take some abuse, be comfortable, and look good. Probably will find another Casual Male location or find another store that has what I’m after.

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One computer down, and one more to go…

March 30, 2004, 8:39 AM

Well! Monday night at Becky’s (the person whose computer I was fixing) in Harrisonburg was productive and fun. It was determined to be the W32.Welchia.B worm, after a Norton Antivirus scan was run. We also did some general housekeeping, running my favorite “spyware” cleaner, Ad-Aware, as well as getting rid of some unused programs.

We also had a load of fun that evening. We went to Chili’s on East Market Street for dinner after running the system scan, and then while we were out, went to OfficeMax to see if we could cash in on the “STORE CLOSING EVERYTHING MUST GO” sale going on. I didn’t get anything, but Becky and her roommate both found something. At 50-70% off, it’s quite a deal. Becky’s roommate got a DVD-RW for like $75, which I thought was pretty darn good. Amusing product: A do-it-yourself divorce kit. It’s actually a little box that supposedly has everything you need for getting a divorce. No wonder it was marked 70% off. I’d love to hear testimonials of people who used it: “I got a divorce-in-a-box and look at me now!”

After OfficeMax, we went a little bit down the street and headed over to Wally World, a store that all of us are much more familiar with. We bought some stuff, and we had a blast, and I brought my cell phone with me, and so we have pictures. A sequel to the Wal-Mart photo set from 2000? I don’t know, but I definitely got enough to make a photo set out of it for Life and Times. That will also mark the first time that the cell phone gets some extensive use with the Web site. But we had a blast, buying up some junk food, some stuff you want to keep away from the “bad ol puddy tat” (you’ll see), as well as hamming it up with the “quintessential Wal-Mart item”, Spongebob Squarepants, etc., etc., etc.

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Categories: Computer, Friends, Shopping, Walmart

This proves that I can sing…

March 23, 2004, 11:52 PM

It was an associate’s birthday, and so I got to sing Happy Birthday over the loudspeaker for them, at the urging of one of our CSMs. So my rendition of “Happy Birthday” was the talk of the store today. So that was fun.

Otherwise, I had a little shopping disappointment after work. My order from Casual Male was waiting there on the porch for me. That was exciting. So then I took them in and opened them up. Now I wasn’t sure what “French Terry” meant exactly when I ordered the “French Terry Cargo Pants”, but I expected more along the lines of what you would think of as cargo pants. These were more like sweatpants. They were too much like sweatpants to use at work. So I never even took those out of their little bags.

I also got some Dockers corduroy pants. Those fit the program as far as appearance, but failed in the fit, being too small in the lower leg (that’s a new one – usually it’s quite loose around my calves, and I’m worrying about waist and thighs). So I neatly folded the pants back up and put them back in their little bag. How disappointing.

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I have been to the JMU Bookstore for the last time ever, if all goes well.

March 4, 2004, 12:05 AM

I went up to Harrisonburg, and bought my diploma frame. Very nice thing, too. And it had better be for $200.

And let me reinforce the fact that I am now officially NEVER going back to the JMU Bookstore, EVER again. They just outdid themselves today when it came to poor customer service. I come in. I look at where the diploma frames are. I ask if one of the clerks, three of which were standing around behind the counter doing nothing, would come out and help me with the diploma frames. I consider this a reasonable request. Help the customer, and facilitate making a sale.

So they tell me that their frame people have already gone home for the day, and to come back tomorrow for assistance with the frames. No “sure, let me help you with that”, but instead, I was basically told go away and come back tomorrow. What kind of customer service is that?

I know that if I did something like that at Wal-Mart, my butt would be in some VERY hot water with management.

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Categories: JMU, Shopping

I really can’t tell the difference between them!

February 28, 2004, 11:44 PM

I tell you… I cannot tell the difference between the name-brand fruit juices and the Sam’s Choice brand juice. Sam Walton chose well with the Sam’s Choice juices. They’re good. And they cost at least a dollar less than the other brands.

And those Welch’s commercials with the kid giving the lecture are only bankrolling the competition. I drink Sam’s Choice grape juice that is just too good to gulp. So I watch as it flatters my mouth with flavor (pardon – fwavor, as the kid says it), and feel it fill my cheeks.

And it costs a heck of a lot less, which is a major selling point.

And if you can’t tell already, I swear by my grape juice. Serves two purposes for me. For one, it’s just good. I like it. And secondly, it keeps me out of my father’s orange juice.

And before you ask, though, I cannot stand Sam’s Choice soda. There’s no store-branding when it comes to soda. I know my specific flavors too intimately to pass on them.

Categories: Shopping