Monthly Archives: December 2012
Happy New Year !
After a quiet morning with coffee and conversation, we headed out about 12:45 for clients, movie, and dinner. Well, that’s the way it started, but not the way it turned out.
After spending a couple of hours with two clients, we were planning to catch a 4:45 movie and then have dinner. But we decided we wanted some Landon time instead as we hadn’t seen him since Christmas.
When we got there Landon was still napping so I tried to help Lowell with a VPN problem he was having. His company requires him to communicate with the company computer using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection for security.
Before he and Landon went to Oklahoma after Christmas it was working fine, but now back home, he can’t make a connection. These VPN connections are always kind of finicky to set up, and Lowell said he had to spend some time on the phone with Tech Support to finally get it working.
I tried several different tricks I’ve used in the past, but with no luck. This VPN is a little different in that it uses an RSA SecurID card to authenticate the user.
The SecurID card generates a constantly changing 6 digit code that must be entered during login along with Lowell’s 4 digit pin. I’ve seen problems with these in the past when they get out of sync. I finally suggested that Lowell deleted all the VPN software and just start from scratch with the installation.
By this time everyone was hungry so off we went, and since everyone wanted steak, it was back to Outback again. Jan and I just ate there night before last but had no trouble going again.
But just like last time we had a great meal, but not so great service. So I guess our last visit wasn’t a fluke. Brandi especially was upset because she worked there for several years in the 90’s while she was in college and hates to see this.
Saying our goodbyes at the restaurant, Jan and I headed back to the rig to celebrate the arrival of the New Year in our normal fashion: falling asleep before midnight even arrives.
Happy New Year!
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Thought for the Day:
Power can be checked only by other power.
adadfadsf
Still Nothing from Antarctica . . .
Well, we did it!
We pretty much did absolutely nothing again today. We didn’t even leave the rig. Nice!
This was fine with me as I’ve been fighting off a low-level cold for the last few days. Just nasal congestion, no cough, no sore throat, nothing else. And for feeling under the weather, what could be better than chicken soup?
Well, Chicken Tortilla Soup, anyway. I shredded a couple of the chicken breasts I had poached a few days ago, put them in the slow cooker along with some of the liquid from the poaching, and another container of chicken stock. After it started getting warm, I added containers of Monterey’s salsa and pico de gallo, along with some extra cilantro.
Then it was off for a very nice nap. It’s been a cold, dreary day here. I don’t think it even got out of the 40’s. You’d almost think Nick was in the area. But just perfect for a good nap.
Up a little after 4 pm, I dished out the soup, added some shredded Monterey Jack cheese and crumbled tortilla chips, and we sat down to some delicious Chicken Tortilla Soup.
Later, Jan made some fantastic Baked Kale by taking fresh kale, spraying it lightly with olive oil, sprinkling it with salt, and then baking it in the convection for about 10 minutes. It comes out crispy, crunchy, and delicious.
Try it.
I got my yearly blog report from WordPress today and it was a real eye-opener.
In 2010 we had 56,000 visitors to the blog. And last year we had 133,000.
But this year we jumped to 174,000 visitors with them coming from 144 different countries.
And still no one from Antarctica. I had visitors from the other six continents, just not Antarctica. I keep hoping that someone down there at one of the research stations would check in sometime. Just once, OK?
For some reason I had only 147 visitors from Mexico, but 233 from Brazil. And 2 from China and 1 from Nepal. Nepal?
We also had 62 from South Korea, but 0 from North Korea.
Hey, just because your country is an oppressive dictatorship, doesn’t mean you can’t check in once in a while.
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Thought for the Day:
Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is, it’s the only answer.
fasdfadsf
