#104 Pine Walls

Today I'm on Phase III of the south wall in our dining room. Phase I was demo, I removed all the drywall from the inside of the exterior wall, repaired holes and cold leaks and replaced any stained or damaged insulation.

Phase II consisted of installing new recepticals for the electricity, replacing Knob & Tube wires (dead wires, not in use) with 14/2 wiring, and replacing the old vapour barrier with bubble wrap.

Phase III began with 3" horizontal strapping every 16" with an extra strap centered at 24" from the ceiling to accommodate the railing that will hide the new pine/drywall border. I finished off today by putting up the first 4' of pine.

Here's a picture of the finished bathroom which already shows what the dining room walls will look like. I'm not certain if the colour scheme will change, but the pine/drywall combo will definately be a nice touch. We will also be continuing the dark hardwood flooring (bamboo) in the dining room as well as most of the rest of the house.

I feel a little better getting my hands on something that makes sense...

... and playing with compressor tools.

--
Friar Greg

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?"
- Marianne Williamson

Sister Anna's Birthday

Anna is now 1/4th of a century old. I can remember my first quarter. It was like yesterday, only 6 years ago really. Funny how things can change in so little time.

I want to do something special for her birthday but as usual, I've messed up my finances and can't afford anything since we all went out on Saturday night to get drunk. For some reason, buying her a pitcher at the bar just isn't special enough for an official birthday gift. Funny how things change in 6 years. I'll have to find something better.

In the mean time, Love you sis.

and Happy 25th Birthday!!!

Your Bro

---

Friar Greg

Remembrance

A choice worthy of hero worship.

--
Friar Greg

#101 - People who feel the need to swear in polite conversation

I swear, I use foul language and often profanities unbecoming a gentleman.

I do make an effort not to swear around elders, and definitely control myself around children. It's much like when I first started smoking. 15 years ago, my good friend Mike (the alien) would discuss the ethics, behaviors and attitudes of smokers in public. We came up with our own little code of conduct for public smoking and I've tried to live by these rules ever since. Mark the word tried; I'm still human.

since then, the province of Ontario has banned smoking in all public places, even at bars, one must step outside to light up. Bar/tavern owners have gone out of their way to provide outdoor patios for smokers in order to extend the area for drinkers, that way we don't have to keep paying the cover charge, or leave our drinks inside. This is good business.

Getting back to foul language. I realize that Yahoo feels the need to censor their users of inappropriate language, photo's and discussion topics. But why would they just delete thousands of threads & photos for the words and postings of 2 people incapable of self control?

would it not have been more productive to block those individuals, or blank out the inoffensive material and post a warning to admins? It WAS a monitored thread was it not?

and what was with the twitter comment made by the person responsible for the censoring? "I hate your freedom". That sounds very messed up; almost like she had a personal grudge against the group, or even the idea of free speech. It also reminds me of many political actions both here in North America and around the world, people in positions of authority rubbing out statements (or people) that don't fit their ideal society.

China was responsible for the deaths and disappearances of countless freedom speakers. The Nazi party also was responsible of propaganda and killings. When and where do governments/corporations get the right to do this? One deleted comment here, One nuked community there... should I expect to find dead bodies next?

Yahoo overstepped their authority. This is the plain and simple truth. On the other hand, people need to learn some self control. Becoming a member of a monitored community is the first step. By putting their work into the hands of the community admins they are respecting the decisions and ethics of those admins. In other groups, it's the general population that makes the decision to block or censor content that they deem inappropriate. Nowhere in that model does the corporation have the right to blast into non-existence anything without at least multiple warnings and possibly banishing the few people involved. We the people are quite capable of dealing with our own. We don't need Big Brother holding us down until we call "uncle". I agree that we do need to show a little more self control, but that's our problem. As for people who sniff around trying to find something to be offended with? Those self appointed censors can show a little more appropriate behavior as well.

After Ontario passed the no public smoking bill, they did not send cops into bars and shoot the smokers dead. There were warnings, pressure was applied to tavern owners and fines were placed on smokers and owners alike for ignoring the laws. But mostly, owners sent smokers outside and many patrons took it upon themselves to point smokers to the door. This is appropriate. Only when a smoker was behaving stubbornly and refusing to accept the needs of the community should the authorities be called in.

In my own opinion... I've never liked Yahoo. I stopped using geocities as soon as Yahoo bought them up, and I refuse to use any of their services (accept Yahoo mail which I use only as a dummy account to send junk, a fitting use in my books). I am quite capable of controlling my indiscretions, and I approve of my fellow humans mentioning to me personally and privately if something seems inappropriate. That's where discussion, debate and consensus comes from.

--

Friar Greg

from sources:

https://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/actions/new-twist-yahoos-ads.html

The Infamous 100th Webisode

Oh jeese, it's here... you figured it wasn't coming, but it came. I didn't figure I'd get anywhere near 100 posts. Mostly garbage I'm sure, as most personal blogs are, but this one, actually took a little bit of thinking. I mean, it's not ALL garbage. I'm pretty sure.

Anyway, I sat down way back in June 09 when I realized I might actually make the ol' triple digits and tried to think of what would make a good 100th episode. My mind was quite blank, having just completed 2 scheduled blogs, and it was 4 am with lots to do the next day, I couldn't think of anything. So, I think I'll just stick with a Year-at-a-glance summary and YOUR top 5 lists.

In chronological order by publish date (because I can write 10 in 1 day and have them come out in mixed up order), here is a brief summary of the last 99 blogs (not including the top 5 which I'll describe a little better.)

2008 consisted of 4 posts: I watched a movie, took my son to fanExpo, watched my daughter get on the bus for the first time and candled my ears. Probably all the most exciting stuff happened in those 4 posts, but we'll carry on anyway.

2009 so far has consisted of: taking a panoramic photo, rewiring the phone lines, tried to teach my wife how to blog, uploaded a picture through email, made a stupid joke about alphabet soup, played a facebook game, referenced my first webcomic (which I posted again later when I merged the two feeds, this shouldn't count, but who can argue with numbers?), posted a joke from Aunt Catherine, had a weekend with the wife and kids, posted another joke from Catherine, listened to a crankpot (stupid me) about magnetic energy... probably a scientologist, yet another joke from Catherine, adopted deRothschild, got a puppy (though wife gave the puppy away 4 weeks later, made me sad), shaved my 'stach (Illianer Style!), compared my youngest child to Lau Tzu, commented on the new Spock actor, learned how to prewrite my posts for future syndication (lazy bastard), advertised my skills building outdoor furniture, posted yet another joke from Catherine (SBF picture is not my puppy btw), compared my mother to a psycho woman with a gun (hehehe... sorry), another joke from Catherine, another COOL joke from Catherine, a really funny joke from Catherine, a joke from India... lied... it was Catherine's too, TRIED to write an article about Queen Victoria but failed miserably, another Aunt Catherine joke, endorsed the 4 Agreements (GOTTA READ IT!!!), referenced a life concept from a fantasy novel, posted a poem I wrote back in high school, another joke from Catherine, posted a ... video from Catherine (that was a first), another joke from Catherine, A JOKE FROM CARL!!, Another joke from Carl (I'm not capable of humor apparently - I post everyone elses jokes), and ANOTHER joke from Carl, OOH OOH - I wrote a short essay on what I want to do with money, 4 jokes in a row from Carl, then I got bored and started watching YouTube and sharing it here, I made my first GoogleDocs Form, which was really cool but it doesn't work anymore, I posted some informational vids for my wife to learn about synching her phone online, another YouTube this one about gay marriage, Since I was losing my ability to write anything coherent I began re-posting old entries from 7 years ago when I was on walkabout, more funny vids, and here come the webcomics I referenced before but posted later, the 3rd webcomic was actually a poem I wrote in my head on the way home one day after feeling really bad about myself, another Walk the Earth re-post, a poem my son stepped on (fathers day poem - not mine - so cute), and another WTE re-post, lyrics I really like, a post on tiny homes, top 5 on litter, a Catherine joke, a poem about twittering, created some cool widgets, a grasshopper joke from Catherine, tomato joke from Catherine, trailer joke from Carl, another joke from Catherine, a pride picture of my daughter, 2 more Catherine jokes, 2 WTE re-posts, my wife's birthday (darling woman), another WTE re-post, unique time stamp, funny vids on weddings, RAC ranking, discussion on teen personalities, my daughter turned 6, a top 100 (my first) from buddy Scott, an article on marriage issues, RAC update, a personal values statement (warranting my first non-relative comment!), a count down referring to the this post, Kinks tribute, 2 RAC updates, some cool pics of the kids, my son's first day on the bus, FanExpo visit, a mobile post with my sister, a redefinition of my role in life, a reminder that this post is on it's way, a catchup post with pics of the boys, another mobile post from the underground with poems, a youtube video playlist, the introduction to my new Video Blog, and a video of my adventures in Residential Plumbing.

Statistical Summary - What's really sad is that of the last 99 posts I have published:

37 were Jokes (16 from Aunt Catherine & 8 from Carl. Very few were my own jokes, how sad.)

10 were videos I hijacked from YouTube, 2 were my own.

6 were re-posts of a 7-year-old journal/blog (which I will be continuing)

47 were useless mutterings or whoohooing myself for learning something new.

And the worst of all...

only 39 were actually my own writings for a blog, interesting stories about my life or an interest in getting a message through to the audience.

Here's a brief synopsis and YOUR top 5 list in reverse order of my own interest in them:

#5

#4

#3

#2

#1

Notice the empty spots in the list? That's because no one picked any best/worst fav's from the list. In fact, there aren't any comments anywhere either.

I am a sorry, pathetic excuse for a blogger. I know, I'll make some resolutions (it's not New Years yet, what am I doing?).

From this day forth;

1) Jokes shall not exceed 1 in 5 articles.

2) These jokes shall be at least 50% of my own creation (or 1 in 10 if I can't think of anything funny)

3) I shall only publish articles that I feel I have put my best effort into.

4) All of my articles shall have a subject or theme and will meet all the requirements of a complete article.

*5) At least 2 in 5 articles must be about my family life ( no more humor to cover my lack of communication).

6) Every month I shall post between 10 and 20 articles. ( I've been keeping up with this so far, we'll see how it goes with the new rules)

7) I shall continue scheduling articles in advance to make sure that there are enough to meet the set quota.

There, that sounds about right. I'll make sure I post these rules where I can see them every day. I do this, just for you, the readers (and my own need for attention). So please, send me your feedback, comment on anything and everything you read. Praise my awesomeness and blast my idiocy. It's public for a reason, if I didn't want your feedback, I wouldn't post it. If I get enough comments and feedback, I may even begin a bi-weekly email corner, like Foamy Fanmail. Those were funny... hehehe.

Well, that's it from me here at the Oh, Brother web log. Thanks for reading my first 100 entries, and here's to another 500 more.

maybe, if I find the time.

---

Friar Greg

friar.gregarious@gmail.com