Coffee, Tea or Me?

As I walked down the hallway toward my office, burning my hand with hot water sloshing over the rim of my styrofoam cup, I was reminded of a not-so-fond memory regarding tea water...

I was around 9 or 10, and my sister and I were accompanying my mom to the hospital as she visited my grandma. We weren't allowed into the room, so we had to wait in the waiting room, and as I'm sure you're aware, time passes v - e - r - y slowly in a place like that, especially when you're nine (or ten).

There were three pots on hot plates at the edge of the room - one with coffee, one with decaf coffee, and one with hot water for tea. I decided I would make myself some tea, since I didn't drink coffee at the time, so I wandered over to the counter with my sister in tow. She would have been about 3 or 4 at the time.

I poured the water into a styrofoam cup, and replaced the pot on the hotplate. So far, everything was going according to plan. A wrinkle developed when I let go of the handle on the pot and reached for a tea bag. Somehow, I managed to backhand the styrofoam cup, spilling the entire contents down the front... of my kid sis. Needless to say, this would have caused an adult to gasp, as fairly hot water sprayed down your shirt and pants is uncomfortable, to say the least. To a three- (or four-) year-old, this was cause for screaming. Loud, sustained screaming.
Hey, good thing we were at a hospital, right? If you're going to sustain third-degree burns, what better place to have that happen? I suppose right in the burn ward would be better, but not by much...

Anyway, she didn't sustain third-degree burns, or even second-degree, but she did cry long and hard, and BOY did that make me blush in front of about 30 strangers in a waiting room. She pulled through, but every time I get tea in a styrofoam cup that memory plays in my mind like it happened yesterday.

When PayPal Goes Bad

One of my biggest gripes is when companies that try to make things easy really make something totally complicated. Right now, PayPal is on my short list, because I can't get them to allow me to add a bank account to my new PP account.

A long time ago, my wife signed us up for a PayPal account, but I don't know what email address/password she used (and we probably don't use it anymore, anyway, as we recently switched exclusively to GMail). Apparently, she added our bank account to that account, and now I can't add the same bank account to the new PayPal account that I just created....

I even went so far as to guess at her old email address, and specified I wanted to close the account when they indicated it was 'inactive.' But that didn't solve my problem! Their 'help' is also a bit suspect, because they make you jump through a few hoops before you can communicate with them. If I get the frigging account set up, then maybe I can order my new Betta fish kit.

Who Says a Website Can't Be Your Friend?

Today I discovered SitePal, an interesting, albeit creepy service today. Visit the site to play with the demo and create an interesting character that follows your cursor with its eyes!

If this was a free option, I might consider something like this for a gag. But not for $9.95/month! I can't imagine that this would add a sense of professionalism to any site....

I Am a Geek

I checked out an oldie but a goodie - Geek Test. I'm only 22% geek (phew!). I need to work harder to get my score up, I think.....

Lazarus, Rise!

Hello, world. I greet thee on my return from the Otherworld....

Seriously, though, I had no idea how long it had been since I last posted, until Wes pestered me about it. I've been keeping myself busy playing with Frank and studying VB.NET, HTML, CSS, ASP.NET, ADO.NET, SQL Server, and all other things code. Fun stuff. Actually, it is fun, but also tiring when tackled all at once.

So I'm making a conscious effort to post regularly again, to keep things light. This post contained nothing of substance, but hopefully enough of an explanation for you to forgive my absence these few weeks. I hope to find my voice again and continue to treat you to the delicate niceties of my mind =)