more family time...

we went to a semi-pro basketball last night. we meaning me, my brother, my daughter, and my nephew. had a total ball! the team (battle creek knights) won handily at 131 - 103 i beleive. i have never seen any single team hit so many 3 pointers in a row in my life. i dont know what set them off but the knights were "on fire" last night!

it was cool cuz they (the knights) try to make it a family, interactive affair. with lots of screaming and loud music and dancing and give aways. we didn't end up getting anything but the kids were worn out from all the screaming and dancing lol

so far this summer is looking like it will be a good one...

family

i recently got to spend time with my little brother and his son. its funny calling him my little brother since he's about 6-1" or so, and about 285 or better LOL

anyway, i havent physically seen him in about 2 years. we both been kinda all over doing whatever and it seemed like we just couldn't get together. we loosley kept in touch via phone and my Gran. no matter what seems like he always kept in touch with Gran, and so I would get updates through her. we both have gone through several cell phone numbers over the years so Gran proved to be a good resource LOL

well he has been going thru his own trials, and came to the decision that he is moving back to the hometown also. that is awesome news! he came and spent a couple days with me. we had fun. it was great hanging out with him. we've never really hung out much with each other as adults, so when it does happen, i really enjoy it. we were also able to pick up his son and spend time with him also.

so i'm really hyped about him moving back here. i hope things go smoothly for him. he's excited too, to be back in his kids life full time. i think its a win-win for everyone.

the IM saga...

i've been IM'ing for over a decade. started out with BBSs, then IRC, went from there to ICQ (whatever happened to them?), then to Yahoo Messenger. i was a devoted Yahoo fan for years. i still use the original yahoo email address i signed up with back when Yahoo first "opened". over the years i have tried out many many other IM apps but none of them had really any chance of toppling Yahoo as the best, IMO.

the last few years have changed this. now there are so many decent IM apps out there, its hard to not try them out. as far as i'm concerned, Yahoo Messenger is still the best at what it does. But now there are so many apps that do what Yahoo Messenger does and MUCH more, that i have a hard time justifying my loyalty anymore lol

my favorite are the apps that combine the services of multiple IM services, as i have friends on various ones. i've tried out a few of the majors, Gaim, Miranda, MSN, Trillian and some others. they all perform as advertised but each one had minor flaws that didn't make them ideal for me. Trillian was the best of that bunch, but i don't really like the design of the program, and it wasn't as easy as it should have been to setup accounts, or make changes to them. i do recommend checking it out though.

my new direction has been in web based IM apps, of which meebo is the hands down favorite! that little app handles IMing for several services with ease and polish. so if you're looking for a web based app, i highly recommend meebo. also give ebuddy a look, they came in a strong second.

what i'm using currently is like a combination of all the above mentioned apps and a bit more. it's called Digsby. it has all the power of a stand alone IM app, plus all of the smoothness and seamless integration of a web app. it works with all of the major IM services, PLUS it can access/monitor your email! you can even send email right from the app without opening an email program (even yahoo/gmail). its also has a social aspect in that it can montitor your pages in Myspace and Facebook and others. no more running a bunch of different apps to keep up with things. just run Digsby. man if they ever add a feed reader, i'll never have to open my browser lol it also monitors Twitter..

so check it out www.digsby.com

sorry Yahoo :)

alone at last!!!

i moved into my new spot! I am soooo freakin happy about that. don't get me wrong, i love my old folks more than just about anything in this world, but OMG was i tired of living liked i was 75 instead of 40 lol

here's some preliminary pics of the diggs. it's still kinda empty of course but its coming along.

my kitchen and living room are HUGE. look at all that counter space? what am i gonna fill that with? lol

i think i'm gonna at least get a futon for the living room and maybe some type of casual chair, something from d3 or ikea, or someplace similar. as far as the kitchen i know i need a microwave, toaster, george foreman grill, blender...i'm sure i'll come up with more. feel free to chime in with suggestions...

i'll put up pics of the bedroom once i get some furniture in there ;)

so i got shot at...

seriously. remember that post when i said "..if i don't get shot. seriously..."? well dammit i'm a prophet cuz i got shot at today. by whom you ask? let me tell you, by the educated, normally professional acting, older woman whose belongings we were putting out by the curb.

i can understand her being upset. even though she's had every opportunity over the past 2+ months to make some kind of arrangements, it still sucks when it happens. so i understand that. and she did totally act like an ass when we showed up with the sheriff. tried every argument in the book to get us to leave, but by then it was way past too late. her son was there to complicate things of course. the sheriff was adamant though, so we started CAREFULLY placing her items outside. we were told we didnt hafta be nice about it, but we did cuz i don't roll like that.

anyway, we get all of her stuff outside without much incident. her daughter showed up to help watch the stuff while her son went and got a uhaul. she had just got the last of the stuff and i followed her out to the sidewalk. i was standing there when she got into a heated argument with her sons wife. it was kinda intense so i observed incase i needed to involve the sheriff. all of a sudden, she turned my direction, with a gun in her hand! it was all matrix-y and slow motion as she pointed it at me so turned and did like road runner for the door! i head a loud CRACK as i dove in, right down the stairs to the feet of the sheriff, who immediately drew his gun and went outside looking for her, but she had fled the scene.

so of course i filed a report and am pressing charges. wouldn't you? i'm sure she'll give herself up eventually. i mean until now, she was a pretty respectable person. she has a job, kids, i think she may have even gone to church LOL who knows? well thats all over now cuz she's going to prison. well at least jail.

i love my job. well.....