LukPac.org

12.31.2006

Well, this year's holiday season is winding down, as is the year itself. I was actually more in the spirit this year than in recent years, although it didn't begin to compare to when I was a kid. I put lights up outside, and we actually got the tree up and decorated. Unfortunately, Amy started going crazy today taking it down, and I didn't yet take a picture. Next year, I suppose.

We've been in the house for over a year, and some things are finally starting to get organized. I will refer back to "starting", though, as there's a long way to go. I'm not always the best at keeping things clean and organized, but I do like them that way, and *will* put forth the effort from time to time to make them that way. Mainly, I need a spark. Once I get on a kick, I'll do quite a bit, but it's getting on that kick that's the problem.

I have a bit of a headache at the moment, which is odd for me. Maybe I need to take a little break.

Happy New Year and all that jazz. It's 2007 somewhere, right?

[3:10 PM] post a comment

Dear Kevin "Tex" Tubb,

Please put the "Chicken Fajita Taco" back on the menu at your taco palace. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Luke Pacholski

[3:08 PM] post a comment

12.25.2006

Well, it's Christmas, although it doesn't much feel like it. There's no snow, and it's a Monday. Plus I had off on Friday (a rainy Friday), and the family gathering was on Saturday. I'm a bit more festive now than in recent years (the tree is up and decorated, for instance, and I put up lights outside), but in general I'm just not in the spirit. I remember being completely wrapped up in everything as a kid, but these days it just feels like another day.

There are a few new toys around here, much to Amy's chagrin. Maybe I'll take a picture or two and tell you all about them.

[10:00 PM] post a comment

12.13.2006

Jason, shouldn't you be working, instead of surfing the web?

How's that 1575 imp coming?

[11:07 AM] post a comment

12.12.2006

Jesus Christ.

Milwaukee schools Superintendent William Andrekopoulos says the school system must come up with a way to deal with the heavy use of cell phones when trouble breaks out at a school, an innovation that has increased the severity of incidents such as a fight Monday morning at Bradley Tech High School.
[...]
On Monday, Kovochich said a staff member came to him during a routine weapons check at the door as students arrived for school and said two girls were arguing over a boy. The staff member thought trouble was about to start.

Within moments, Kovochich said, "all I could see was a ton of cell phones coming out of pockets." A crowd gathered quickly, and the fight began. Police officers arrested one 17-year-old girl on allegations of substantial battery and issued disorderly conduct citations to another two.

Kovochich said one student must have called her extended family because a short time later, four adult males arrived at the scene, pushed aside the metal detectors, jumped the tables and attacked safety aides and others. Police eventually arrested all four men. Kovochich said he saw the butt of a gun sticking out of the pocket of one of the four.

What the hell is wrong with people? Who thinks that's a good idea?

[8:35 AM] post a comment

12.11.2006

Some people meticulously archive their photos in albums. Others look at them and then leave them in the envelopes they came in, destined to sit in a box in the basement. For the most part, I'm in the former camp. Just about every film photo I've ever taken is stored in an album (or is ready to be), and while I don't post every digital photo for public viewing, I keep everything neatly organized by "roll".

I'm pretty much like that with e-mail as well. Unless it's bulk e-mail of some sorts, or maybe a mailing list I don't care much about, I save it. Incoming and outgoing.

I picked up some of my old photo albums from my parents the other day, which got me thinking about this. My old 110 photos are 3x5 or smaller, and are probably fading by the day. I don't think negatives exist for any of them. Once I switched to 35mm, things look a bit better, but still 3x5 for several years. At least I have most (all?) of those negatives stored in sleeves. But I worry about those too. I want to digitize them all before it's too late, but that's a task I can't even comprehend at the moment.

Which leads me to the crux of the matter. When I'm dead and gone, who is going to care about all of this? Is anyone going to want to read my e-mails and see my pictures when I'm dead? Am I going to want them to (at least for the e-mails)? Is any of this stuff going to exist in 100 years? Who would preserve it? Who would want to?

Does anyone care now?

[10:30 PM] post a comment

I've been really bad with blogs lately. Not only have I not been writing much, but I haven't been reading others much at all. I think today was the first time I made the rounds in about a week or so.

Saturday night we went to Josh & Heather's for their annual holiday party. Nothing earth shattering, but a good time was had by all.

Heidi and I decided to participate in a holiday cookie exchange at work, which was today, so yesterday was the big baking day. We decided on toffee bars, using a recipe that my mom and aunt have used for years. For the most part, they turned out fairly well, although the first batch was a bit crispy (recipe says 20 minutes @ 350; by the end we were doing 14, and that could probably have been even less), and the kitchen was a mess. It also took a lot longer than we were expecting. I think we were kind of slow, plus we had to wait around while one batch cooled before we could do another (since we were using the same two pans over and over). Whatever the case, we made a heck of a lot of bars, and the saga is documented here for your enjoyment.

Not a whole lot else to speak of. I'm back on a bit of a puzzle kick, and the other day we found a 2000 piece Big Ben. I think I've only done 1000 piece ones before. I've just started...we'll see how it goes.

[9:23 PM] post a comment

12.04.2006

Am I the only one that has been deluged with spam lately? I probably get a few hundred spam e-mails on my lukpac.org address daily. Not to mention several handfuls of spam user accounts on my forum daily. The spam has even been ramping up on Gmail, where I usually don't get any. I do SpamCop from time to time, but it doesn't seem to help much. Anyone have any good ideas, short of swearing off the Internet?

Went to see my parents yesterday. The plan was to fix a few small electrical problems and then head up to the Domes. Well, the one "small" electrical problem took a few hours, and I never got to the other one. Basically fixing the cock-ups of the original owner *and* the siding contractors. And, I'll admit, some *small* issues with what I had done in the past. At least they have power in their garage again.

Sorry for the lack of updates. As usual, I've only thought of things to blog when the opportunity was not available. Not too many photos as of late, either. Maybe some soon.

[11:18 PM] post a comment