Yay! The folks and I got home tonight and I’m now caught up in e-mail. But I think I’ll move to the living room to get caught up on LiveJournal. I mean, there’s Olympics to watch! Woohoo!

The wedding was a complete success. I will go into more detail when I have the chance. AND there will be photos! Of the lovely brides and the parents of the brides and even of the sister of the brides. The toast was a success as well. And Amy didn’t get angry at me once during the weekend. Woohoo!

So anyhoo, off to the living room to turn on, tune in, and drop off. 😉

Anyone here remember any of Dana Carvey’s old standup routine? One thing he did (which later made it into a Saturday Night Live) was a musician writing a song on the fly called “Chopping Broccoli.” Well, tonight, that’s what we did. Broccoli, peppers, carrots, cauliflower, etc. I chopped carrots and peppers for the Egyptian lentil soup that Amy is making for Saturday supper while others sliced peppers and carrots and other veggies for the Make Your Own Wraps for Saturday lunch. Friday night is the cookout – burgers (meat and veggie), dogs, etc.

We had the veggie cutting party at Ann & Jane’s place – friends of Amy & Rachel who attend the same church. Lots of folks were there – the Orvilles (Rachel & her folks) the Shorts (Amy and her folks and me), Michelle, Becky, Melissa, Shelly, Johnny, Joel, Ina, Ann & Jane, plus their dog and cat (who both LOVED dad, the guy who’s allergic to animals).

This morning, the folks and I went to Keys for breakfast. It’s a cafe down the street. (Our hotel is on Nicolette, which is also called “Eat Street.”) I had French toast plus a dippy egg and toast. Then we returned to the hotel where I discovered the free wireless. Next we waited around for the girls to show up. When they did, Amy took us off shopping and Rachel took her folks off shopping. Rachel went to the co-op while we went to Target and a number of other stores.

The shopping was successful, though how we’re gonna get everything to the campground is going to be an exercise of military proportions. I think we’ll manage it, but it will require about every vehicle we have at our disposal. 🙂

We had lunch at the Urban Kitchen, which was near the shopping area we were at, and I had chicken salad on sour dough bread – yummy! Amy ordered 8lbs of potato salad and 8lbs of cole slaw for the cook out tomorrow (er, today, I guess it is according to my computer’s clock). So even during lunch we were working. 🙂

Once shopping was done, we headed for Amy & Rachel’s place where I got to see Fruvous again. He’s their 10+ year old cat (and I don’t want to bother looking for an umlaut or whatever that his “u” needs). They managed to get everything into the fridge.

We then went to the Holy Land for supper. Yes, a quick trip to Jerusalem is always necessary in the middle of preparing for a lesbian wedding. 🙂 This was a deli, grocery, restaurant, general store that had awesome food. We got a vegetarian platter and a meat platter and we all sampled from both. Plus there was rice, falafel (the best I’d ever had), and for dessert, baklava. Some folks braved the Arabian coffee, but coffee is coffee and thus sucks for treen, so I opted out.

It was after supper that we went to Ann & Jane’s (and I apologize to Ann if I’m misspelling her name and I’ll correct it if I learn I’ve got it wrong). And now I’m back to the hotel and in the lobby. And tired. And I think I’ll head for bed soon.

OK, so the bartender doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Yesterday, I called down to the front desk to ask about high speed internet. They said there was connectivity in the bar, but no wired connectivity in the rooms. So later, dad and I asked the bartender about it. Yes, there are connections along those walls, she said, pointing. And there’s wireless connectivity down here, but it’s $8 a day. There’s also wireless in the rooms. Ah, I thought, that might explain the WEP wireless connection I saw while in the room.

So when we were back at the lobby later, I asked the front desk re: wireless in the room and they said there wasn’t any. Just around the bar. And this morning? Well, I’m sitting at the bar (in a nice comfy chair) with my cat-5 cable hooked to the wall and getting NOTHING. However, I have my wireless card in and am online. And, oddly enough, I wasn’t charged.

Anyhoo, after driving all day Tuesday and most of the day yesterday, we’re finally in Minneapolis. This hotel is only a couple of blocks away from Amy & Rachel’s apartment. Last night we had a successful meeting of the In-Laws (and thankfully, no Peter Falk in sight!) After a nice dinner at the Black Forest cafe (I had hassenfeffer! Or however that’s spelled. Maybe elsaf knows how to spell it. Or at least how to cook it) we met in our hotel room and got the cards set up for the “blessings” segment of the ceremony. Cardstock was cut into 8ths (by treen with measuring done by Ame) and then Lynn (Rachel’s mom) punked a leaf-shaped hole into the corner and mom and Rachel strung ribbon (which mom had cut into 1 foot lengths) through the holes and these were placed in the programs which Lynn and Doug (Rachel’s dad) had folded earlier.

Amy showed me a map of the campground and I discovered something that will put judiang at ease. The cottage that she, Deanna, and I are staying in has it’s own toilet. And when we need to shower (and we WILL) we can walk over to mom & dad’s cabin and use their inbuilt one. And yesterday at the Target (tar-ZHAY) Mahal I got a bath robe for any trekking about in me nightie.

Today is grocery shopping and vegetable cutting and things like that. Should be a good day! (But first, I must wait for the ‘rents to get ready so we can have breakfast.)

This morning, the parental units and I will head Oop North to Minnesota (though we’ll probably stop in Illinois tonight to sleep). We’re off to help out for Amy’s Wedding! Hooray!

My little sister is 4 years younger (but often more mature) than I. And her girlfriend, Rachel, is 4 years younger than Amy. They’ll need to correct me on this, but I believe they’ve been going together for 2 years or so. And this Saturday, they’re getting hitched! Woohoo!

They have friends from all over North America and so wanted to have a longer period to have folks around so that they could actually see people. They came up with the idea of a camping trip! So Friday, folks will gather for a cookout at the campsite (which is in one of the state or national parks) and then play games (ooooh! Dutch Blitz! Played by people who know the rules!) Then sleeping in cabins (with bathrooms conveniently located down the path) and waking up for a pancake breakfast! After that is the ceremony, followed by (not necessarily in this order) a reception (where I do the toast – woohoo!), a puppet show, a softball game, and a talent show. (I hope to recite poetry why throwing (and catching?) a boomerang.) Saturday night, another sleep at the campsite, then Sunday folks leave (*sniff*).

judiang agreed to come along, so she’ll get to taste her first “real” camping experience. (Don’t laugh, barbthebrazen – cabins are camping, too!) I think she’s starting to get nervous, so any words of encouragement you can give her while I’m traveling will be most appreciated. 🙂

Once we get to the campsite, Judi and I will be ‘netless. *gasp!* I’ve no idea when/if I’ll connect before then. So this journal may get quiet for a little while. But I’m not promising anything! 😉

So, I’m off now to help pack up the car. Little Leo is in the hands of my cousin, Brandi. I’m sure she’ll do a great job looking after him. Ta ta for now!

I’m sure some of my readers have heard of wardriving. Others may recall the term that judiang coined, which is warbussing (wardriving for those who use public transport). Well, today, dad and I witnessed warwalking.

In order for our network to reach 3 classrooms which are too difficult to wire, we’ve decided to put in a wireless network. Today, our technology partner, Dean, came to the school to help me test some of the wirelessness. While he was on the second floor, I told him about the Linksys network that one of our wireless cards found. We went into the room and he tested with his laptop, and found it as well. The signal was sporadic, but definitely there. So dad and I started to speculate on which house nearby was the likely culprit.

There’s a church across the street and a house next to it – another house catty corner to that, and then another house down the block a bit. Dad wondered if maybe the used car lot might be responsible – it was two blocks away, but had a clear line of sight to this second floor office.

So Dean decides to find out. And with laptop in hand, he started walking around the neighborhood in front of the school. During the course of this warwalking, we discovered 4 wireless networks other than our own (only one encrypted). As Dean and I walked down another block near the church, dad went across to the car dealership. Then as Dean and I neared the dealership, we confirmed that it was his wireless network that we were seeing.

Dad had already introduced himself to the owner and then introduced me and Dean. And turns out Dean knew the fellow. So we told him about unencrypted wireless networks and that the school techs are available (on our limited schedule) to help out local business owners but for really good service, Dean was the man.

We returned to the school and then checked to see if we could see our wireless network in the basement. Thanks to metal walls and doors, the simple answer was “no.” But we think we might be able to drop a wire to the basement so that the custodian/maintenance guy can talk to the rest of us.

So a piece of unasked for advice to those of you playing at home… If you have a wireless network, put encryption on or any ol’ wardriver, busser, or walker can hack into your network! And that could be BAD. (And Trina, when you’re done testing your new wireless network which doesn’t have encryption on yet, turn it OFF before going away on a trip to Minnesota.)

In other tech news, Dean also showed me Ghost 8 Corporate Edition and Ghostcast. Man alive! I never set up a classroom full of cloned computers so fast! This is going to be a mega time saver for me! Woohoo! Shame I’m going away for a week, or I could set up the other two big labs tomorrow!

So, today dad did his E=mc² sermon. It was very well received by the congregation (the UU church I talked about two weeks ago), though they did wonder about spirituality and how that figures in. So I see a sequel sermon… 🙂

Afterwards, dad and I had Mexican at a place in Greeneville we’d never been to before. It was good, so it’ll have to go on our list of places to eat on the way home from church. We headed on to the Lake to get things ready for mom’s gathering of friends. She invited some folks from work to help her clean out the freezer. So we had grilled hot dogs, smokies, steaks, and burgers. And managed to get most of it eaten. I made vanilla ice creams and one of mom’s coworkers’ hubbies made brownies. Good combo! Someone also brought evil no-bake cookies. I hope I never find out how those are made. I’d be 400lbs in no time!

I had 3 amaretto sours and am feeling mellow. 🙂

Woohoo! I have cleaned out my den closet and my reading room closet! There’s actually room in both to store a bit more stuff, if needed. And there’s some semblance of order in them.

I’m currently working in the reading room and have all of my books to reorganize. And maybe *sniff* find some books to take to a Used Bookstore. (There’s a boatload of old physics/chemistry books already earmarked. Since I have a further boatload on my shelves, I’m not too distressed about them.)

BTW, if any of you are in need of old Dreamwatch or Dreamwatch/Doctor Who Bulletin magazines, let me know. I’d like to get rid of ’em and I have a LOT of ’em. They’re currently just taking up space in my den closet. (Along with other magazines and comics that I should also get rid of, but not yet.)

I’m easily pleased. Despite the fact that my attempts to set up a wireless (sub)network at work felt like a waste of a day’s work, I had a good day today. And what made it a good day? Cream of Broccoli Soup, CD Connection and Staples.

My favorite soup of all is cream of broccoli soup. My favorite cream of broccoli soup is made by Frische’s Big Boy. They don’t have this every day, alas, but from time to time I call to see what the soup of the week is. Today, I got lucky. When I arrived at Frische’s, I ordered the soup, salad, and fruit bar. I had salad and 3 bowls of soup, but no fruit. (Most of it was melon – blech!)

Contented from supper, I moved onto CD Connection, a New/Used CD store. I only ever seem to get there when I go to Frische’s since they’re near each other and otherwise, it’s inconvenient to get to. I bought a used Rasputina CD for $6. (Alas, they had no Pet Shop Boys! Well, I think I have all the Pet Shop Boys CDs, but still! And no Pulp or Oasis either.)

I returned to the car and drove across the street to Staples, an office store chain. Mmmmmm! Office Stores! Does anyone else get all tingly inside when they walk into an office store? It’s so exciting! Everything you need to Get Organized! (Except for the Get Organized Gene, which I don’t actually have.) I needed some printer ink, so I got that and some more t-shirt transfers. Seriously, I was excited to be shopping at Staples. (And they had all sorts of Back to School supplies. I may not be ready computer-wise for school, but I love Back to School supplies!)

I finished off my pleasant evening at Walmart where my sole purchase was 4 litter box filters. Wow, you say, a year’s supply? Well, no, Leo’s toilets require 2 filters each – and he has two toilets. Still, 4 bucks every 3 months isn’t *that* terrible. It sure beats litter box smell! 🙂

So, all in all, a good evening. It’s the little things in life that make it all worth while, you know?

In the five years I’ve been a network administrator/computer repairman, I’d yet to have any computers catch fire on me. I’ve seen power supplies fried by others. I’ve heard power supplies fried by others. I’ve smelled – well, you get the picture. I once had a monitor catch fire while I was teaching. (Simply unplugging it put out the fire.) But today, I got to have a REAL power supply fire! Flames and everything!

It was an old 233MHz machine that I had turned on looking to see if there was anything that needed saving off the hard drive. It had just finished its POST when I heard snaps, crackles, and pops and then saw fire. I turned off the power strip that the computer was plugged into and rushed into my computer lab for the CO₂ fire extinguisher. Alas, by the time I returned, the fire was out. I sprayed it anyhoo. (Actually, I sprayed the one next to it first, accidentally.)

So now I’ve had a real computer fire – pretty cool. (Well, cool in that it wasn’t *my* computer and there wasn’t a lot of collateral damage, especially to *me*.)

The hard drive, BTW, didn’t have anything useful on it after all. I ended up reformatting it and using it in one of the first grade rooms.

Well, no, we’re not doing this for profit. But we sure as heck had fun doing it. And today I have the results of yesterday’s tie-dying experience. The shirts are currently air drying and I took photos of each. And here are the five shirts that judiang and I did yesterday.

Here is my rainbow colored attempt. I need to remember in future to wrap a bit looser and then I’ll get more color and less white in the shirt.

This was Judi’s tightly wrapped shirt. You will soon see why tightly wrapped isn’t as nice as loosely wrapped…

This is my red & yellow shirt. I love the colors! And you can almost tell there’s a spiral pattern there…

I *love* this shirt! It’s my favorite! Alas, it’s Judi’s shirt! (She did the wrap – and it was a wonderful loose spiral wrap. I did the actual dyeing.) You know, she lives ALL the way in Chicago… And it’s at MY house… And it fits me, too! Hmmmm…

Yet again, a spectacular shirt. This one was 100% Judi – the wonderful loose spiral wrap and her own dyeing method. She’s got talent, has our Judi!

So, a wonderful set of shirts, if you ask me! Judi’s a natural, in my opinion. I last did tie-dying nearly 10 years ago, but it was her first attempt at it. It was fun and messy – the best sort of activity. And we got to do it in my chemistry lab – another plus. Can’t wait to make some more shirts with Judi!