No Time, No Money

Steelers going to the Super Bowl...

2009-01-18T20:56:00.000-08:00

My beloved Steelers are back in the big game - I really didn't think they would make it this year, but they have been the most consistent team in the league. And the fact they had the extra week off, that really helped them be ready for both the Chargers and the Ravens. Now they have another week off and then the big one in Tampa. Let's go Steelers!!!!

Iron Man Movie

2008-05-06T19:17:00.000-07:00

Ok - So last weekend my kids and I helped make Iron Man the number 1 movie in America. The movie was awesome. I missed about 20 minutes of it because my son (who is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts) had an allergic reaction to the popcorn (at least I think that's what it was - sometimes they use peanut oil to pop the corn), and I had to get him to the men's room, watch him get sick, run out to the car and get the Benedryl, clean him and the stall up, ask him if he wanted to go home (says no - I feel fine now, dad), get back to our seats and have my daughter get us caught up in what we missed. WHEW!

Needless to say, I missed one of the best parts, but at least it didn't spoil the movie completely. I recommend the movie highly - 4 out of 5 stars (****)

Convert Array to ArrayList

2008-04-02T16:57:00.000-07:00

I found a really easy way to convert an Array to an ArrayList without having to iterate through the array collection.

I found this on a website - http://www.dotnetspider.com/kb/Article1709.aspx.

The original code was in C#, but I converted it to VB for my purposes...

Dim ArrayListObject As ArrayList = ArrayList.Adapter(ArrayObject)

Just too simple...

Saving Green by Going Green...

2008-02-28T07:30:00.000-08:00

I've heard a lot recently about how much money we waste on home electric via "power vampires", adapters, phone chargers, etc., that use energy even when we're not using them.

One of the main culprits mentioned are home computers, whether they be laptops or desktops. Experts say that shutting these items off when not in use can save a ton on your electric bill. I decided to try this, since I am not made of money :)

I started looking for some type of software that would shut off my computers at a specific time of day, say, middle of the evening when no one is awake. I found several software titles (mostly shareware), but since I am frugal (cheap), I decided to do some investigating of my own to see if my operating system already had such a feature - in a way, it did, and here's how I'm doing it...

First, I did a search for a line command in Windows XP (my OS) that would shutdown my computer automatically (without clicking or typing anything). I found that "shutdown.exe" does exactly this and it has options to go with it, such as displaying a message to the user, to forcing all programs to close no matter what. So now I had a way to shutdown the computer with a single command line - how could I get this to run at a specific time of day? I didn't have to look far...

In Control Panel, there is a lonely applet called Scheduled Tasks. It's usually empty and never used, except for certain programs that utilize it to run certain programs or commands on a certain schedule - just what I was looking for.

To make this post shorter, here's what I did next:

created a batch file and put the shutdown.exe command in it with the command arguments I wanted.
placed the batch file in a folder by itself in the root of drive (for simplicity purposes - I knew where it was and what it was)
created a scheduled task that runs the shutdown batch file at a specific time each day (in the late evening)- I did the same to all my computers so they would all shutdown around the same time.

I'm not sure how much money I am saving by shutting all the equipment down when not is use, but I am sure that it can't hurt.

One of my favorites...

2008-02-16T09:20:00.000-08:00

Saw this on the web and just had to put it here for all to see - enjoy the trailer to the new Indiana Jones movie... it's above on the top of the blog space...

Super Bowl thoughts...

2008-02-04T07:18:00.000-08:00

After watching the Super Bowl game last night, a few things stick in my mind...

No one is invincible. The Pats showed that a whole year of not losing and the building pressure that goes with it adds up to a big letdown and loss. It would have been better to lose the next to last game of the season and cruise through the playoffs without the undefested monkey on your back waiting to slap you silly.

The Giants wanted it more. They were flying around the field like possessed men. They beat the Pats in every area, most importantly, the final score.

Class acts overcome money. All the money and all the king's men, couldn't guarantee a Super Bowl win. Enough said.

Spygate will play out without much consequence. Even if the powers that be find some smoking gun from the past, I doubt that little will come of it, even though a coach is ultimately responsible for his and his team's actions. I think the owners should also be held responsible - they chose the coach and they could have fired or suspended him, but it seems that was overlooked so as to achieve the goal of winning at all costs, to keep revenue up and fans in the seats.

Other than that, it was a wonderful Super Bowl, actually more interesting than the commercials this time...

Speed Racer the movie...

2008-01-25T10:18:00.000-08:00

Ok - I had heard abou this for a while, but now its true - there is a live action movie based on the Speed Racer cartoon I loved as a kid. Go to the movie's website - http://www.speedracerthemovie.com/ for the trailer. From what I've seen, I'm not sure if it will be as popular as the cartoon, but its about time someone made this movie...

Thanks for visiting...

2008-01-24T20:49:00.000-08:00

I've noticed a lot more visitors to my blog in recent days - thanks in part to co-workers who have linked my blog to theirs...

I know that I don't write as much as I should, but there is a fine line between cleverness and stupidity, and I don't like to cross it (very often)...

About the only things that are going on are the political ads for the South Carolina primaries - real good stuff, if you're into personal bashing of views, clothes, hair, spouses, etc. Really can't wait until the whole thing is over - the elections have become nothing more than a popularity contest.

I think most people today, if offered the presidency, would turn it down - there's too much "stuff" for anyone to make a difference for the better...

Share your views, if you like...

100 hits on my blog!

2008-01-15T19:55:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, most of those hits are mine due to hitting refresh too many times...

What the...

2008-01-11T19:27:00.000-08:00

While driving to my parents house on New Years Day, we passed several cars pulled over by the state patrol. I slowed down so I don't get pulled either (my wife says this is impossible because I never exceed the speed limit and drive way too slow for her and everybody else).

No more than an 1/8 of mile after passing the stopped cars, this black Cadillac comes flying by almost taking my driver's side mirror with him. He had a packed car and must have been going at least 90 mph. Right behind him another car is racing with him - this second car is a beater and I can only imagine that he's trying to race the Caddy to the open road ahead - this old car also almost takes my mirror with them in the chase with the Caddy...

I say to my wife, "where's the cops when you need them?"

These words are still hanging in the air, when the beater car flips on the blue lights and pulls the Caddy - nice to know that sometimes the cops are there when you need them...

He gots the Apnea...

2008-01-10T19:50:00.000-08:00

Since I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2007 (or was it 2006), its been interesting to hear from others about their experiences.

I was prescribed the CPAP machine, or as my wife calls it, my snufleupagous (like Big Bird's imaginary friend on Sesame Street). It certainly has made a big improvement for me - like, not stop breathing during sleep 60 times an hour.

My wife used to kick the bed to stop me snoring. She really loves me - she told me to hold my breath until I stopped snoring, but that really didn't help the situation.

I resorted to sleeping in other rooms, much to the dismay of my children, who were fearful of the night monster who made loud snoring noises at night...

I never heard myself snoring, but I've been told that several small animals are missing and presumed dead due to the noise - "all were gone, even the mouse..."

I always tell my story to others who are going down the same road I did...
- 2 sleep studies,
- the wonderful wired medusa look, complete with heart monitors and sensors all over the body.

Trying to explain the shaved areas legs was a little tough, especially the neighborhood kids... Trying to convince them that I didn't do this all the time was even harder - I still don't think they believe me...

I feel much better now since using the CPAP - so do my wife, the neighbors, small animals, the next county over, etc.

Blog Status

2008-01-09T19:16:00.000-08:00

Well, my blog has been accused of being less than spectacular (you know who you are). I can understand since I don't put an entry in every day. I would love to make an entry every day, but sadly, my life is BORING!

If my life was anymore routine, it would be printed in the newspaper weeks in advance.

Sure, I long for a wider variety of activities in life, but lately I'm all funned out.

Anyways, this entry probably won't make the grade either, so there...

Happy New Year! (let's hope its happy...)

2007-12-31T09:28:00.000-08:00

So much has happened this past year - I'd like to forget about most of it...

Some of the bright spots were leaving a job I disliked, getting a job I enjoy very much, meeting new friends and seeing old friends.

I hope 2008 will be a quiet year of good fortune, good friends and family, and less stress...

Happy 2008!

Frustration

2007-12-28T05:47:00.000-08:00

I don't know why some programmers out there have to make their explanations for coding solutions so complex and confusing - just give us the code, how it works, and shut up. Don't go into how smart you are and talk above everyone's head - this isn't a lecture hall and things would go much smoother without you trying to one up the rest of us.

Man, I been waiting to say this for so long, its like a motto to me - cut the crap and let's get on with it...

OnClientClick function

2007-12-28T05:43:00.000-08:00

Found this great functionality by accident while trying to get a hidden field value to be set BEFORE the page was refreshed. I spent hours trying to set a hidden field value to a default value, but couldn't find a good way to do this. Turns out that OnClientClick happens before the page is refreshed. Something to remember for future use. I set the OnClientClick="javascript:document.some_field.value=X;"

Welcome to my blog...

2007-12-27T20:06:00.000-08:00

Well, here's goes nothing...

Someone told me that blogging is therapuetic - let's hope so, since I can't really afford a good therapist right now...

I plan to post about work and some personal insights, but I'll stay away from politics and religion, since those 2 areas bring out the best/worse in me...

Well, enough babble, on with the show!